The is pain will be worth it!

Tuesday was the day.....and what a day it was. I had a co-worker come in early for me because I wanted to run a few errands before I hit the tattoo shop. One of them was going to my old high school to get proof I was de-wormed when I was a kid. For some reason Kean University wants my shot records, and since I really dont have a primary doctor I had to go to the only place I thought might have them. Now I do have a doctor but I have changed docs throughout the years and I was pretty sure they did not have all my records.
Wow what a flash back that was, it has been over 15 years since I stepped foot in there and it felt like I never left. How strange is that? My wife calls me Al Bundy sometimes because of 2 facts: One, I talk about my high school days like it was my heyday. Well it wasn't that good but I had an awesome time there. And two, when we met I was selling lady's shoes....don't knock it, it was a fun job.
I would have loved to have walked around a bit but I did not want them calling the cops for some strange old guy wandering the halls smiling at everyone lol!
I knew where the nurse's office was, walked in spoke to the same lady that was the nurse back then, Ruth, and got my records. As I looked at it I had to laugh. In 1991 I was 5'11 and 141 lbs and by 1994 I was 6' 161 lbs! I am now 6'2 and 225 lbs, holly shit I gained two inches and grew 64lbs! I am still laughing about that!

From there I went to my tattoo shop to get started but disaster stuck, the machine that makes the stencils broke seconds before I got there! So this means he was going to have to make it up by hand! Now, most people have no idea what that means, basically when you get a tattoo they photo-copy it onto a temporary tattoo that they put on you as the outline. When making one by hand it is what it sounds like, drawing a picture that will be used as the outline on your actual skin. This made me a little nerves so he told me to come back in an hour....I said how about 2 hours, I did not want to rush this process! He said ok, so I went home got some lunch, played a little Call of Duty and rested.
I returned around 2 and he was still not done, no biggie so I sat in the shop reading magazines and laughing at a few of the characters that came in to get ink. One couple comes in and starts looking about, the guy is covered in ink. Random stuff, some good some....not so good. He had a Betty Page tat that was a bit off. It wont look so good in about 20 years, but hey you cannt knock a guy with a Betty Page tattoo, she was fucking hot! Now his female companion, who was either his sister or a friend of a friend was there to get a Marine tattoo, and old style Sailor Jerry tattoo! This threw me wayyyyy off, she wasn't all that pretty but by no means was she ugly. She had a nice shape, tone and had these jeans on that had rips in them that made the mind wander a bit. You know she paid extra for that lol!
Well, it turned out she is a Marine! Semper Fi! I know there are women in that branch but she did not look at alllllll like what I would have thought a female Marine would have looked like. But to add to the picture I was getting of her, her friend or whatever he was went in her purse for something and pulls out a can of chewing tobacco! And he asked her if she dips and she said , 'Hell yeah!' Man on man this girl is out to prove something, that is all I got to say about that! If anyone has had any dealings with chicks like this you will usually find that they are either out to prove something to someone and/or really really slutty! I dont mean that in a mean way, I love slutty chicks and attention whores! They are not the girls you take home to meet mom but they are sure fun to watch.....they are like fire works, everyone oooohsss and aaaaahhhhhs while the show is going on but as soon as its over they pick up their loved ones and go home leaving them littered all over the floor for someone to pick up later and throw in the trash. I just made that one up....I am soooo using it at some point in the near future!
Then after they went back to get inked another interesting person walks in. I paid no attention to him at first, he a few not so well done tattoos on his arms but nothing all that exciting. Then he starts talking to Eric, the tattoo receptionist....or apprentice. He is the house bitch until his skill is better, so he is the guy that answers the phone, does the set up for other artist and then cleans up afterwards. Hey you have to start somewhere.....But anyway this guy starts talking shop with Eric and I swear I have to strain to understand this guy. He is super dupper ghetto and he said he was from 'Da Bronx'.....yes he said it like that too. He also went on to say he was at another shop in the area....probably Physical Graffiti, don't go there they are assholes....and said they were asking way too much money for ink. He also went on to say that his boyz shop he used to go to closed and was looking for a new place. That explains his not so professional looking tattoos.
Well after about 10 seconds of questions he left mumbling in some incoherent ghetto language about these crazy crackers and their prices. He wanted a price on a large piece that was a rosary bead made of skulls....cool idea actually but Eric tried to explain that for something that big it goes by the hour.....$125 an hour to be exact. And all he wanted to hear was a base price because that is how his boy did it....well we can see how your boy did it, and guess what you got what you paid for! Never go cheap on any form of surgery, car parts, medications and tattoos. No frills is cool when buying junk food but when it comes to something like that, going cheap can really have some dire consequences!

As the time ran on I could see him in the back working away, and here is a picture that I posted earlier of what he was working with.

After he finished the drawing he had to put it on me and make sure it was place properly. Because once you get started there is no going back! By the time he finally finished with all the set up it was 4pm. The needle hit the skin a few minutes after that and we were on our way......Yeah....or Ow!

The areas that hurt the most were the elbow and the upper shoulder area. And I think the only reason the upper shoulder area hurt soo much was because it was the last area he went over. The nerves where raw by this point, we where on hour 3 when he got up there. My teeth where chattering by the time we ended out first session of many to come. He gave me my instruction on how to take care of it, I paid and went on my way.

Here are the photos the wife took later that night:

I am going back today to let him take a look at it to see how its healing. I have several more sessions of out lining before we get to the coloring...well actually probably just on session of outline. He got a lot done in that one sitting so the only thing keeping me from going faster will be money.********

The wife just called and told me I have to put the breaks on my weekly savings on my ink fund due to bills that have to be paid. I was pissed at first but let it go....there is no need to get pissy, even though I want to be pissy! So tonight we are sitting down to go over our finances to see where we stand on bills. We are strapped for cash and I really cannt get another job, I have no time to even try for one....if I did it would have to be flexible hours and nights only. Its funny I make a shit load more money now than i did years ago but I am still in the same boat I was back then.....what the fuck?!?!

So if anyone wants to make a contribution to my fund please do so, or if you have any ideas of how to make money without have to actually going to a job...I have no idea what that means I am just brainstorming.....ouch ouch...I think I just pulled something!

I think I need to get one of those cardboard signs...'Will Wok fo tattoo Moneys'

No seriously, I will work for money.......I can do all kinds of things...I am good with kids, have no problem cleaning houses (other than my own), do yard work, walk your dog/kid/wife/husband, maybe even ......oh hell I dont know! Whatever it takes (other than gay man sex) I will probably do it lol.

So my next session wont be until I get some more money together. I am hoping to pull a damn knot of cash out of my ass someday soon but till then I will have to think this one out.