Don Khuth Chronicles

Tonight is Devil’s night and tomorrow is Halloween. Devil’s night has always been a night where most of my friends would go out with a carton of eggs. I never bothered to go out with them because I wasn’t into the whole thing. I did go out trick or treating though but that was a long time ago.

I haven’t gone out to buy any candies for the trick or treaters yet. I still have time though. Usually if I buy them ahead of time, I end up eating them myself. Last year, I bought a box of chips, a couple bags of chocolate bars and a few bags of lollipops. By the time Halloween came, the box of chips were gone. So were the bag of chocolate. All that was left to hand out was lollipops.

Lollipops were the crappiest thing to get when you’re trick or treating. I hated getting them. It was the one thing that I didn’t like getting but it was also the one thing that I got a lot of. I wanted to get the bag of chips and the chocolate bars. The buildings were the best places to go if I wanted to get chocolates. Some of them would hand out the full sized one. Normally, I’d get the small like mini size chocolate bars but when I got the big one, I was surprised.

And then you get places that gave you apples. Who the hell gives out apples for Halloween. That’s so old fashion. I didn’t even bother eating those because I was afraid that they were poisoned applied. I prefer my treats to be wrapped. Who knows where that apple has been.

I remember one year, I went to some building for trick or treating. The people who were handing out the candies wouldn’t give you anything unless you told them a joke. I was a little kid and I didn’t know anything. So I told them the stupid joke ever. “What do you get when you cross a bat and a man?” These people were the worse actors too. They were like, “Well, I don’t know there. What do you get when you cross a bat and a man?” I was thinking, “Are you folks serious?” I told them, “Batman” and they laughing as if it was funny. It would have been funny if I said, “Nanana nana nananana nana Batman!” Either way, I got my candy. It was worth it too because they gave me a couple of hand full. I think they wanted to get rid of the candies as fast as they could.

Another year, I was out with some friends trick or treating. We went to the down on the corner of my street. We knocked on the doors but before anyone could open it, we yelled out “Trick or treat!” Then my friend added, “Smell my feet!” The guy came out and yelled at us for saying “smell my feet.” He told us that he’s not giving us anything because of that. We didn’t care because there were a lot more house to go to and the night was still young. But we ended up calling it quits early because it was really cold. I was a vampire that year but underneath my cape was a bulky winter jacket. You don’t see vampires in winter clothing often.

There were still a lot of kids going around trick or treating when I arrived home. It was cold but these kids must have really wanted candies. My house was slowly running out of candies so my mom stole some of the candies that I got and gave them out. I didn’t care for the candies because I just wanted the chocolate and the chips. I gave away all the lollipops that I collected that year.

The candies that I got from trick or treating didn’t last long. By the end of the second day, all my chocolate and chips were gone. All that was left were small stuff like Sour Tarts or Nibbs. After a week, I ended up throwing away the rest. The one thing that I got but never ate were black licorices. I don’t know what adult in their right mind would think that kids would like those. The red ones were fine but the black ones just tasted weird. I would never hand those out.

This year, I might have to take my little brother out. I don’t want to be the one that’s handing out the candies. Sometimes I would leave the bowl of candies out on the front porch and let the kids take it. It don’t matter to me. I want to get rid of those candies really fast. Normally, you hand out one thing at a time. I’ve reached into the bowl and just gave them whatever I could grab hold of. If I can get five things, that kid is getting five things.

But you want to know what will throw them off? If you really want to mess with the kids, hand out rice. I’ve got a few bags available in my basement just waiting to be handed out. I’ll just give each kid a couple of scoops. They’ll be happy that they got a lot of something. “Here you go kids! Rice! It’s high in fiber.”

Or even better, since the kids are asking for a trick or a treat, give them trick. Performing a magic trick for them because that way, you won’t have to hand out candies. The best trick to do that works on any idea is the trick where you separate your thumb. You know the trick right? Everyone knows that tricks. Everyone except the kids. Try it out and see how amazed they’ll get. Just make sure you have candies available for back up because if they’re not amazed, you house is getting egged next year.

Why do people like to send messages but not reply when they receive a message? What’s the whole point of starting the conversation in the first place? When I start a conversation with someone, I make sure I pay more attention to them then other people. I started the conversation so it’s courtesy to give them my attention. I’m the one that’s interested in hear what they have to say because otherwise, I would have started talking to them in the first place.

There are people on my MSN list, who shall remain nameless for now, who likes to send me a message and not respond after that. For the sake of argument we’ll call him Tan. Tan likes to greet me on MSN and then run away. As I typing this out I am still waiting for his reply. It’s been over ten minutes now and that message window is no longer open. I don’t know what he wanted. I would assume he wanted something since he messaged me but he didn’t bother to reply.

When I do get a response, it’s not even in English. It’s mumble jumble gibberish. It doesn’t even look like a sentence because it’s mainly a few consonant after another. It’s as if he’s typing in code and I have to deciper it in some way. They should make it so you have to pass a spelling test before you can use any instant messaging program.

Also, there have been people who call me to ask if they can call me back. What kind of dumbass question is that? Why bother calling me if their intentions are to call me back. People these days do not know the proper phone etiquette. They are wasting your time when they call you with nonsense like this. They don’t have the respect to call you and talk to you at that moment because something came up.

While we’re on the topic of talking on the phone, I hate it when someone calls me and then tell me that there’s another call on the line. That’s the thing I hate about call waiting. If I’m on the phone with someone, I could care less about who’s calling on the other line. A call from home could be an exception but what are the chances of that? When you take the call that’s on the other line, it makes the person you’re talking to less important. They may sound like they’re fine with you taking the other call but deep down inside they are getting a little depress. Nobody should have that done to them. If you’re on the phone with someone, you shouldn’t be doing anything else but talking with that person.

Throughout my life I’ve been patient towards a lot of things. Things that most people would throw hissy fits over but I’ve learned to deal with it. There’s no point in getting mad over it because that doesn’t help with anything. It’s not going to speed along the process any faster so why bother? So what’s the deal with people that do things like this? Doesn’t anyone think before they act anymore? It’s not like they’re in a situation that requires an immediate answer either.

I used to have a big collection of movies. A while ago, I started using Columbia House to order my movies from because I thought that I would be saving money. Five movies for forty nine cents each was a great deal. My first order included six movies ended up costing me $35 after shipping. That works out to be $7 per movie. In order to complete my membership, I had to buy four more movies at regular price. Since I’ve already saved on the first five movies, I didn’t mind paying full price for the last four. That’s where I made my big mistake.

I thought that regular price would be the same price that I saw that the stores but they weren’t. When I went to compare the prices, I found that Columbia House prices were a few dollars more than the retail stores. On top of that, I had to pay $2 for shipping as well. I wanted to get out of the program fast but I didn’t want to waste my money on movies that I wouldn’t like. So I quickly purchase the good movies, at regular price and canceled my membership.

I was with Columbia House for two years before I had canceled it. In those two years, I had purchased ten movies from them. My movie collection was off to a good start. But it didn’t last long because people started borrowing my movies but they didn’t return. People borrow a lot of things from me but they don’t have the courtesy to bring them back.

In total, I had about twenty movies in my collection. I had a wide variety of movies that ranged from action movies to dramas to romantic comedies. What was once twenty movies and been knocked down to six. I have no idea where they all went. I lend them to people but it’s been so long that I forgot who I lent them out too. These people are not kind enough to return them either otherwise my collection would have been restored.

After my movie collection was ruined, I started getting into literature. Over the last two years or so, I have a collection of books. I have lent them out but this time I am more cautious when I lend it out. Depending on the book that I lend out, I give that person a time frame. If that book took me a month to read, I would assume it would take them a month as well. If they can’t finish it in that time frame, that’s too bad. They shouldn’t have borrowed the book if they don’t have time to read it.

The library gives its patron three weeks to finish the book that they borrow so I’m sure a month is plenty of time. If the book is thin and I can finish reading it in a couple of days then I give the borrower at least a week. Two weeks maximum but that’s pushing it. I’ve managed to read a 400 page book in about 6hrs so two weeks to read the same amount is plenty of time.

At the moment, two of my books have been lent out. One book, “God’s Debris” is accounted for. The other book, “Religion Wars” has gone absent without leave. I have no idea who has it and it’s been months since I lent it out. Whoever has that book probably isn’t reading it because it’s been so long. It’s a thin book that contains around 200 pages which could easily be read in less than a day.

Right now, I have no choice but to replace that book. But the thing is, the book is no longer in publication. Bookstores don’t carry it now more so I guess I’ll have to check with my friend eBay.

In general, most people are slow. I don’t mean they’re physically slow. I mean they’re mentally slow. The things that they do makes me wonder if common sense is actually that common. There are a few things that they are doing that is starting to annoying me. I think one day, I’m just going to pop and start letting out steam.

After working my night shifts, I get home and try and get as much sleep as I can. Usually around 5:00pm, my brother would wake me up because I have to drive him to work. If he takes the car, it would mean that I would have to go get it before leaving for work.

Around 5:15pm, someone would come into the room and ask if I’m giving him a ride. This first person acts as an alarm clock. For some reason, my brother’s shift starts at 5:32pm. There’s rush hour traffic at the time so there can be delays. If there’s someone driving slow, my brother will yell at the guy even though he’s not the one that’s driving. He’s really impatient when it comes to other drivers.

When we get to his work place, he would get out of the car and then open the back door to get his stuff. Meanwhile, he leaves the front passenger door wide open. It’s the fall season now and it’s starting to get a little chilly. I don’t understand why he can’t get out of the car and close the door open behind him before opened the rear passenger side door. Is it too much of a hassle to do that? Every time he’s in my room using the computer and I walk in and let in a cold draft, he always complains about it. I’d reach over and close the door myself but I’m too lazy to take off my seat belt only to have to put it back on.

When I open a door, I have a habit of closing it behind me. If I open a cabinet door, I close it before I open the next one. It’s common sense to close the things that you open. Evening when I’m coding, I’m open and closing things because if I don’t, the code won’t run.

Another thing that is starting to annoy me is when people park in front of my driveway. It’s always the same people too. They come to my house, they know that there are cars that will be going into the empty driveway yet they still park in front of it. I don’t understand why they can’t just pull into the driveway and leave the street parking for others that will come. Usually there’s band practice in my basement so the street is going to be packed. There’s room for four extra cars to park on the street. The other spots are taken by my neighbours. There are five band members that come and take up those spots meaning that one of the neighbours has to park down the street. I don’t think they should have to do that because my drive way has room for two. If the band member pulled into the drive way, my neighbour would not have to park down the street and there would be room for one more car.

My brother does the same thing too. After work, he’ll drive home and park behind my dad’s van. The van has a permit on it so he’s allowed to park on the street. My brother’s car doesn’t have a permit so he usually pulls into the drive way but most of the time he doesn’t because he’s leaving soon. Before he leaves the house, I arrive and I can’t get park in the driveway because he’s blocking it.

I know that Bylaw is around the corner somewhere, just waiting for me to park illegal somewhere so he can give me a ticket. I don’t to pay the government anymore money that I already have. It’s a good thing I’m a good driver and can maneuver the car between tight places. In order to get into the driveway, I would have to squeeze in between my dad’s van and my brother’s car. The distance between the two vehicles leaves me about an inch on each side. I can’t only see that as I’m backing up. I can’t see how much space I’m left with once the two vehicles are out of the view of my side mirrors. I have been successful at my last few attempts so there aren’t any scratches on any cars.

And last but not least, people who gamble when they’re broke. I know that some things are addictive and you can’t stop doing it. But if you have no money, shouldn’t something click in your head telling yourself that you have no money? I don’t understand addiction very well because the addictions that I have doesn’t cost me anything. But to sitting there at a table playing poker with money that you don’t have is just dumb. When I gamble, I spend maybe $100 at most. Once I run out, I don’t gamble any more. I could easily walk to the ATM and withdraw more but I know my limits. When you’re in a casino, your money is nothing. You can lose $100 in a matter of seconds. The last time I was at a casino, I lost $100 in 15 minutes. After losing that money I stopped going to the casino. If my friends go, I’ll go for the free drinks but I’m not spending any more money there.

It’s a dog eat dog world out there and most people are looking out for themselves. If I did something that annoyed another person, that person would probably let me have it. But when that person does the same thing to another person, they probably think it’s okay. I’ve noticed myself do something that I find annoying. For some reason, when I do it, it’s okay. But when someone else does the same thing, I get irritated about it. The only differences between the two events are the people performing them. After realizing that, I try and think before I act.