Its Been A Long Time Coming...

Summer update: June 23, 2009 (I haven't had internet access in awhile, so the date posted is when i wrote it).


I know, I know, I know. Its been about 2 months since I've even touched this thing, and there's so many things to touch upon. My spring semester at VCU is over, and I'm technically a sophmore now, I moved back to Chesapeake for the summer to earn some money, Vicegrip recorded more songs, and life in general is good.

Finals didn't go as well as I planned. I failed my STAT 208 Final and got a D in the class. I got an overall C in Astronomy, and Bs in Human Sprituality and Focused Inquiry II. I did, however, get an A in Consumers in a Consumer Society. My average now is around a 2.6, which isn't good enough by my standards.
As the semester drew to a close, I was actually kind of bummed. I had a great time living with Chad and meeting all the new people I did. It was a great first year of college and I regret very little haha. I got a ride back to Chesapeake the weekend before move out and drove my mom's car back to Richmond so I could actually move. Moving all my stuff was a drag, no because of the physical act of moving, but by packing everything you own your head is flooded with memories of every little item you own. I was packing up a year of excitement into a Honda Accord haha. Surprisingly, it all fit, since I sold most of my belongings over the course of the two semesters when I was low on money. I'll be more prepared this year.
I wanted to say goodbye to all my friends, but it was late and I couldn't see ALL of them. I drove by my friend Mark's house and picked up the remaining Vicegrip shirts. I sat and talked with him a little bit and I realized that Mark's house was the first place I went when I first moved to Richmond, and it was also the last before I left. We gave each other a big hug and vowed to see each other soon.

I began job hunted a few days after returning home. I needed time to get all my stuff unpacked and get life organized. I almost got a job at Farm Fresh. Well, I had a job there, but the employment process takes weeks and weeks, so I just gave up and told them they were wasting my time. I could have had a job and gotten paid by now and they were stringing me a long. The best part of that whole employment process is when I had to take a drug test. I went to the clinic and pee'd in the cup. Something was wrong with the computer so the nurse had to transfer the unrine from one container to the next. She couldn't get the top off and ended up splashing my pee all over her face. It took everything I had in me to stop from laughing. She looked so dissapointed.

I got a job with Chesapeake Bay Tree, Inc as part of the ground crew when they cut down trees. The querky thing about this job is that I didn't go by my first name, Knox. Instead my boss thought it would be best that I go by another name so none of the other crew members would make fun of me. I told him I'd go by Robert and he shortens it down to Rob. The entire time everyone is calling me Rob, and I have a hard time answering to it since its not my name. I roped trees, cut trees, chipped trees, etc. 10 hour days in the hot summer sun is no walk in the park when you're using every muscle in your body to drag full trees to a chipper 15 yards away. I was first told I was going to get paid 100 dollars a day; but when I was handed by money at the end of the week, I was told I was only geting paid 80 a day. that really made me mad but I couldn't think of any other summer jobs that paid that good so I was content and told them I'd see them Monday. I get to the shed where we all met every morning at 7 and started packing up the trucks and fueling up the chainsaws (just like every other day). My boss comes out and tells me I'm fired because he needs to cut back on expenses and I'm the most expendable. I figured it was more along the the lines of I wasn't a heavy-handed good-ol-boy that didn't instinctively know how to operate every kind of machinery. If he really needed to cut back on expenses, he would have told me to not work full days all week. I could've worked less if he asked. He told me I could work that day but it would be my last, I said I would at first, but changed my mind before I got in the truck. I opened the door as my boss climbed into the driver's side. We locked eyes and I slammed the door and started back to my car. "Hey Rob, you outta here bud?" my boss said. I replied with a simple "I'm not your fucking bud." That was the last time I've seen any of those guys. The one guy I got to know pretty well was named Brett. He was my friend Kelsey's aunt's boyfriend, so we had a connection already. Hope Brett's doing ok. The others...fuck 'em.

I'm back at Auto Bell now, which was going to be my backup at first, but I recently got a promotion so I feel that it would be disrespectful if I didn't stay. I make good money on some days, pathetic money on most though. IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW GOES TO AUTO BELL, TIP YOUR DAMN DETAILER!

Vicegrip finally recorded 3 new songs at Double O Records for an upcoming split or EP. We replaced Joey Chapman with Philip Duntemann on guitar, and that's all I have to say about that.
The new song are heavier and better constructed than the demo (in my opinion).

Its great to see people I haven't seen since graduation/school started. Getting the gang back together is always a blast. i love my friends like brothers. I miss my friends in Richmond though. i haven't seen them since I left and I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to the majority of them. A visit is needed, but when will I find the time to do it?


- Currently listening to My Bloody Valentine - Loveless.

...This album puts me into a retrospective mood, and is a perfect listening tool for writing about the past...