Come Up With Your Own Clever Title

Since Aaron gets all Whiney McWhiney-Pants when I don't update, and who am I to ignore my adoring public, I decided to jot down a few random thoughts today at work. I didn't blog in real time because... well technically I'm not allowed to while I'm getting paid. And that kind of makes sense, really, if you think about it. I also have to make it clear that the thoughts herein expressed are in no way representative of my employer etc. But you all know that.

The point is I now have two little pieces of paper with a collection of random things that came floating through my head. I am going to type them up now so that you can get a feel for what it's like being inside my head when I'm at work and it's really slow and I'm on desk all by myself. I present to you (in a bulletted Warhol Soup Canned list) the random thoughts from work today:

A lady was in here with puzzle pieces tattooed all over her head. Her head is shaved and the whole effect is really neat. I wanted to say something complimentary, but what does one say to someone like that? "Dude, sweet tats" is so cliche... not to mention stupid. The best I came up with was, "I like your head" but it amused me so much that I just sat silently laughing at myself until she left and it was too late. Which is fine. I didn't really need to talk to her anyway.



Skirts are fun. They are nice and cool in the summer. Much nicer than pants. Pants suck. If I swivel in my chair I get a little bit of a Marilyn Monroe effect from the fan under the desk. It's sort of fun. And potentially embarrassing. Skirts are fun, but risky.





According to the stupid book I'm reading (How To Make Someone Love You Forever in 90 Minutes or Less) the best and quickest way to connect with other people is simply by making eye contact and smiling. That was in the chapter that doesn't really have anything to do with making someone fall in love with you; it was about meeting new people. Anyway, people don't make eye contact much these days let alone smile. It's so simple, and no one does it. Just think about all the people you miss out on when you're looking down all the time. All the interesting people you could meet, or at least see. It's the simplest of connections, but I think it could be really powerful. I resolve to make eye contact with and smile at as many people as possible today. And tomorrow too. All week. Hell, It'll just be my policy to look up and smile and look people in the eye. Who knows, maybe that will lead to me making someone love me in 90 minutes or less after all.



There's a girl here with a bandage on her nose. She can't be more than 15 or 16. Nose job? Sad, if it is. She's way too young to be getting a nose job. That said, if I ever get Wegener's again (knock on wood - to not get it) I totally get a new nose out of it! Seriously, the chances of my nose collapsing if I have a relapse are pretty high. So I can get a new one. But who's nose should I pick???? Yours! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha. Just kidding. Your nose would look kinda funny on my face. I would probably just take and old picture of me and say "I want my old nose back please." It would be a picture from before I got sick the first time though. My nose is a bit wonky since then. You wont notice it unless you spend a lot of time looking at my nose, which I do, apparently.



I love it when guys try to show off and then fail. I just got winked at. Then the kid ran into a wall. Classic! And you thought that only happened in the movies! Yes, boys, I take much pleasure in your pain!






na-na-nana-nana-nana na-na-nana-nana-nana Batman! I'm totally going to see that tomorrow night. At midnight. Then I waking up at 6 to take the parents to the airport the next morning. And I have a paper due Friday too. Crap. And I'm working all day tomorrow. Hmmm I have some time between 6 and 8... or nine. Good thing it's a short paper.




The Batman theme song... the oldschool one from the TV show... is a traditional blues chord progression. Aren't you glad you know that now? So if you ever are with me and a jazz concert and you notice I am singing batman under my breath, it's only because I'm trying to determine whether they are playing blues or not. That's pretty much the only thing I remember from the Survey of Jazz (or whatever it was) class I took a year or so back. That and Johnny Hodges is an amazing sax player.

Have You Missed Me?

I've been spending all my free time outside the last few days. The weather here has been completely perfect and so, of course, I had to take advantage. Not that I've really had a lot of free time. The breif respite between spring and summer classes is over so I'm back in teh skules and I'm working as much as I can.

The job is going really well, actually. I'm not quite up to as many hours as I would ultimately like, but I'm pretty close. I really like what I'm doing. As I've mentioned before, I'm kind of floating from library branch to library branch as needed. I have a few branches already that are my favourites, and at some point I would like to get a permanent gig at one of those. The nice thing about that is, even if I'm only working 20hrs a week there, I would get benefits. Benefits are good.

Class also started up again this week. I'm taking two Lit History classes this summer, one at a time. They each go about a month and a half. So there's a lot to cover and not much time in which to cover it. So far I'm pretty impressed with the Prof of class #1. He's really easy to listen to and keeps my attention. That's important because the class is 3 hours long.

Like I said in the beginning, I've been spending all my time outside. Despite that, I haven't really found a lot of time to go biking. I've gone on two really short rides this week - both on my fixed-gear. Yesterday I rode Frankenbike about 6 miles and walked probably 3 or 4 miles. Plus I went dancing last night. By the time I went to bed, I thought my legs were going to fall off, and this morning I woke up to a painful cramp in my calf. It was a good day.

I'm sure you're all very concerned with my exercise routine... I only mention it because it's really nice that I've actually been outside DOING something. I feel like I'm accomplishing something, I guess. Or maybe I'm just writing about it so you who check this blog often will understand why it hasn't been updated in a while.

Quick Update

Because blogging is more fun than studying...

It's the end of the semester, and that means finals. The weekend and a good portion of today found me with my nose in a book (not always the same book) and have some more to do before I will feel really confident about the test I have tomorrow. But my brain needs a break right now.

I think I'm about due to give a State of the Universe (... that is, me) Address.

Thanks to a massive tax return and a decent cushion in my savings account, I managed to get by for an awfully long time after quitting Job-O'-Death. That money is now almost gone though, so it's a good thing that I have a new job. The job is for the county library... all of them. It's like temping, but just at libraries. Or, it's like being a substitute teacher, except I don't teach, I just work at libraries. When I've told people, they seem to feel sorry for me, like working at a library is something that no one would ever want to do. I don't care what people say though, I dig it. As you all know, I'm a book sort of gal. I love the library. So the way I see it, this job is just about as perfect for me as it gets.

Unfortunately, the training for this job goes on forever so I'm not going to get any kind of decent hours for another couple weeks. That means I wont get any kind of decent paycheck for a while. Oh well, somehow I'll manage to get by.

On the school front, classes are almost over, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I would be a lot more excited about that if I weren't taking classes through the summer too. But I will have a few weeks off, which will be very nice. Now that I mention it, I think I can register for Fall classes now... I should probably get on that.

On the romantic front.... Oh man, you don't want to know. Anyway, blogging about that kind of thing is dangerous. My love life is certainly not boring at the moment, and I'm enjoying myself. I guess that's all you really need to know.

I'm excited about the summer. I'm totally ready to go swimming, and eat peaches, and go biking, and dance outside, and go to the farmer's market, and go hiking, and drink iced tea. I'm hoping to get in a camping trip or two before it gets too hot. Speaking of hot, my apartment (which I still absolutely adore) does not have air conditioning. I'm not looking forward to inescapable hotness of the summer. But I guess it's a reasonable trade off for everything else that I am going to thoroughly enjoy.

I suppose I've wasted enough time by now. I must get back to academia. Wish me luck on finals!

Birds Do It, Bees Do It

This week spring seems to have finally really arrived. The last several days have been warm and sunny and absolutely lovely. Yesterday I managed to get out on my bike for more than the few blocks between my apartment and campus. I rode to class then my grandma's (she's out of town and I'm making sure her cats don't starve while she's gone) and back... all in all about 17 miles.

It was a beautiful day for riding. There was a little wind, which is never really fun, but otherwise it was perfect. It's really nice to get back on my bike. Really I need to get serious about riding again. I have two big rides in June I want to do and it's never too early to start getting in shape. Actually, I'm surprised I didn't lose more over the winter- I pretty much didn't do any riding or anything else to really help me stay in shape. Being back on my bike now is easier than I thought it would be. Maybe it's all the dancing I've been doing? I have no idea, but I'm not complaining.

My fun little ride ended rather tragically. First flat of the season. Blah. I had timed things so that I could ride home from Grandma's with about 20 minutes to clean up before I went to class. The flat kind of blew that for me. I actually called for a pick up because I didn't have time to fix the flat and get back home. While I was waiting for my ride, I patched my tube and had a major fight with my tire. I just put new tires on my bike and they are a bitch to get on and off- something that you need to do to fix a flat. Stupid tires.

Anyway, besides the lovely biking weather, spring is bringing good news on the employment front. I was offered a job at a credit union right by my house. It was a good, but kind of boring job, and I was supposed to be training for it this week. However, last week I landed a gig at the library (perfect for me, eh?) which is a much better fit for me. It's actually only part-time... sort of.

It's a sub job and there is a limit to the number of hours a year I can work. However, since I'm starting a few months into it, I can be working at least 30 hours a week for now and then I can cut back hours in the fall and go back to school full time. I basically get to create my own schedule - I pick which shifts I want to cover and how much/little I want to work. It does have it's downfalls though too: to really get a lot of hours, I'll have to go to libraries all over the valley, which means lots of drive time (but it could also mean long bike rides, which would be good!). But if the commuting sucks, this job is a great way to get into the system and makes it more likely that I will be hired at one of the branches if a permanent position opens up.

There's also a lot of training, which doesn't start until next week, and is only a couple days a week. So I'm not exactly going to be rolling in dough for a while. But that's ok. I actually haven't touched my savings since quiting DeathJob so I'll manage to get by for a little longer. My big money saving strategy: Start dating no fewer than 3 guys. They can pay for food and recreation so all I have to worry about is rent.

Just kidding. I wouldn't date someone just for their money.

Sha Na Na

Happy Friday kids!

Today is my last day of unemployment. Aren't we excited? Yes we are. Kind of. I guess the money thing is kind of important, but I'm going to miss having nothing but time on my hands. Today, for instance, I didn't wake up until 10, but I stayed in bed reading until I finished my book. I ate lunch and am now simply lounging around the apartment. This, my friends, is the good life. Sadly, it can't last.

Anyway, today is a lovely Friday, which is the best day of the week because it is full of hope and it starts off the weekend. My weekend is going to be super fun and super busy. I hope yours is at least the former, if not the latter. To kick it off, I leave you with something to make you laugh. Jeff Dunham is brilliant!

Marching In

Hooray! It's March! That means warmer weather (right?). And that means time to get out on my bike again.

I actually spent a few hours on Saturday fixing up my bikes. Bike1 got new tires, some truing (I actually am just learning how to do that) and a spiffy new rack. It was actually in decent shape to start out, except for the tires. Frankenbike (the fixed gear) needed a little more work. I got to mess with the chain and fiddle with the seat plus the usual fiddling with things and cleaning, you know, like you do. Both are ready to be ridden now though, I am pretty psyched about it.

Saturday afternoon it snowed. Aaron, I know you read this and will probably give me shit for not being an all weather biker. And, it's true, I had great plans to ride through the winter. But I am kind of a wuss and like it to be sunny and fine when I'm on my bike, or at least not freezing and snowy. Plus, it's been kinda windy. Wind= scowling frowny face. Hopefully things will turn (and stay) happy and warm soon.

In other news, I'm still searching for new employment. I haven't heard from the place I interviewed at last week. I had an interview at the library today, but there's a sub who's applying for that job and will probably get it. She's already trained and everything, so it makes sense. The hospital my dad works at is desperate for a PR assistant. I'm sending them my resume tomorrow. That could be a lot of fun because I would get to do a lot of traveling. I might have an edge there too because they all know me, and I'm a former patient.

In other other news (but actually kind of related to what I started with, thus bringing this post full circle. Aren't circles awesome?), my buddy Aaron (he's popular in my blog today) wants to arrange a cross-country bike ride to raise funds and awareness for Wegener's. How groovy is that? Of course, he's not allowed to do this without me. We're looking at next summer (2009). There is a lot to do, so anyone interested in helping out will be loved forever and ever.

Violet Sky

I am officially unemployed! Woooooooo
Good riddance to Job-From-Hell!

To celebrate, I went shopping for a Little Black Dress- because every girl needs a perfect little black dress. I failed to find one (well, I found plenty of black dresses, but none perfect). There is still time though. After all, a LBD is kind of just a wardrobe staple, and can be acquired at any time. I would like one by the end of the month though, because I will have a few occasions for a little black dress in March.

I am now home fairly early for a Friday night. Drinking tea and preparing for bed. I seem to be coming down with something (which will make my doctors appointment next week more or less useless. Odd, eh?). I've had a terrible cough all day yesterday and today, and my voice has been more or less absent. I feel pretty fine otherwise, but I'm sort of tired now tonight. A good night's sleep is certainly not going to hurt anything. Hey, at least I wont miss work though, because I have no work to miss!

Hopefully I will get a new job soon though so I can have money and stuff.

In other news, remember Thing 1 and Thing 2? Well, things have gotten very interesting with both of them. Part of me is highly amused with it all, but part of me is very wary about it. If things weren't happening to me personally, it would all be a very fascinating and absorbing story. As it is, I think it may be somewhat dangerous. I wont say any more about it though, especially since Thing 1 figured out that he is Thing 1 (it was almost as humiliating as I expected it might be) and so I shouldn't say too much.

It Is Done

Mark you calendar. We're celebrating February 22!

Wish You Loved Your Job?

I've added something else to my list of why my job sucks (I didn't quit yet, by the way, though I sometimes have to wonder why). It inspires non-confidence. Today I had the very arduous task of updating the company phone directory because a bunch of the guys downstairs moved their offices and have new extensions. It's not a hard thing to do, really. I just, you know, talked to the guys downstairs and e-mailed an updated phone list to everyone. A few hours after I sent out the e-mail one of the structural engineers called me:

Are you sure [name deleted] is still at 216?
Yes
He's still at 216?
Yes
So they moved the number over there? ([name deleted] moved his office, and his extension moved with him])
Yes
So they have two phones over there now?
Yes
Are you sure?
No, even though I asked both [name deleted] and [other name deleted] about the extensions. You're probably right, it's probably wrong. In fact, I just made up a bunch of numbers for the whole phone list just to fuck with you. Why would I do this? Well, I'm either incredibly stupid or I'm making an artistic statement. But I don't really know. Maybe you should ask El Douche. He will be able to assure you of my inability to accomplish even the simplest of tasks.*

Did I mention that this engineer happens to be El Douche's boss? He's a nice enough guy, but I'm pretty sure that entire department has discussed my every (over-exaggerated) flaw. Thankfully, I think E.D. has mostly kept his opinions mostly to himself, but it's impossible for him to keep quiet about everything.

I get talked down to by a lot of people here actually. I don't know if it has anything to do with El Douche. Probably has more to do with my comply apathy toward the job and my lackluster effort to do anything. I also don't know how much of my unethusiasm is brought on by people treating me like I can't do anything well.

I'm inspired to live up to the expectation that I am completely incompetent. And I'm wondering if I am, perhaps, a little paranoid.

*not what I actually said, obviously. But, my god, it was tempting to respond with something snarky and sarcastic.

Good Golly!

There are several things that I've considered blogging about which would be a good use of both my time (as a writer examining these things and putting organising them into readable order) and yours (as readers of such fascinating and important analyses). These topics have included, but are not limited to: my take on the presidential primary race, a review type thing of the Masterpiece Theater airing of Persuasion last Sunday, and/or a few observations about the poetry of William Carlos Williams.

I'm not going to blog about any of those. Why not? Because I am at work at job#1, or, as I like to call it, death. Being here is anti-stimulating. I start writing about something worth wile and within the first paragraph I run out of steam, sigh, and stare out of the window with a queasy feeling in my stomach. So it seems I am stuck with a subject I'm sure you're all tired of reading about. I am completely capable of endlessly complaining about my job.

I agree with most of you who say "so quit." And I will, soon. Yesterday I applied for a job at the library (which I may not actually be allowed to have, as my mother works there in a fairly high up position. She says that it should be ok though, as long as she's not my direct supervisor). Regardless of what might happen with that, I'm going to give my two weeks notice next week. I want to quit on a pay day so that my last day will be on a pay day. That way I can walk away from this place with money in my pocket and never look back.

In the mean time, I feel horribly guilty about quitting this time of year. I know the admin department is swamped what with all the getting ready for taxes stuff. I tried to get next Friday (25th) off for the ULX and was told that they absolutely could not spare anyone to cover the front desk. Incidentally, that will be the day I give notice. The point is, they're really busy down there (heaven forbid they let me do something to help out, I'm not at all incompetent, which I would think they would know by now). Adding to their plate the task of finding a new receptionist certainly isn't going to help them any.

I wouldn't care, but it's my job that I hate, not the company or anyone I work with (with one exception). I'd rather not leave under a cloud of resentment. However, I've become so listless about my job, that I have very little motivation to do it well. One would think that it would be impossible to mess up my job. What do I do? I answer the phones, I sort the mail, I receive packages.... what is there to mess up? Somehow I am finding little things to not do (perhaps I need to take back my previous statement about being competent. I'm certainly not making a good case for myself right now) and I can see that I'm sabotaging myself, but I absolutely Do Not Care. Shit, if I get fired, I don't have to work those last two weeks. I don't want to get fired, of course, but it certainly wouldn't be the end of the world.

Pfffttttt

This is the third time I've started writing today. Hopefully this time I'll get enough down before I get bored with it that I can actually post. Actually, the first time I started, I wrote the title of the post and then stared at the screen for a few minutes before I went off and did something else.

The thing is, my job has become suddenly deathly boring again (no surprise there) and therefore I'm going nuts at my desk but have nothing immediately interesting to inspire me to write. In theory, writing this little blog thingy should alleviate some of the boredom. And, actually, now that I've actually started typing, it kind of is. Not for you though, this post is boring.

That there is the rub, so to speak. Despite the common perception of me, I am not, in fact, so self aggrandizing that I think everyone will be enthralled with whatever I write. I am not so interesting that even the most meaningless drivel that is created by moi is worth reading and will be studied by scholars in years future. *tee hee* I can see it now! Some hoity-toity institution offers the class: Blog Literature of the Early 21st Century. It can be taken as an enhancement to Modern Classics: Literature of the Early 21st Century and, of course, I will be studied in both classes having made it as a famous authoress shortly after quiting my job as a receptionist.

I have cut back my hours here. I now get to leave at 2:00 on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The idea was that this would allow me to work afternoons at the bookstore. This week I'm working there Friday evening and all day Saturday. I can't say I'm unhappy about spending less time here though. It's already really nice having time in the afternoon to do stuff, and heaven knows I'm going to need it what with moving soon. Speaking of which, yesterday I used my newly empty afternoon to go take a look at the apartment that we're (hopefully) going to get. It's a sweet little place, quaint even. The manager said that he should be finished processing our applications by Wednesday and that he didn't think there would be any reason we wouldn't get it. That means we might get to move in this weekend. And I guess that would mean Sunday for me, since I'm going to be a the bookstore most of the day Saturday.

Enough of this now. I'm going to eat lunch. Mmmmm lunch.

That Time of Year Again

Every December things get crazy busy for me. At least half of the busy is not related to the holidays either. Just December fills up with activities and I find myself running around like the proverbial beheaded chicken.

Even work is busy. Yesterday and today I have had enough projects that I really have to focus to get them done by the end of the day. I'm not used to it, but it actually make my job interesting. It's a nice change, but I know it wont last and the torture will again ensue. But for the last few days I haven't really hated it here.

One really bad thing: being so busy I don't really have time to look for an apartment. Could be a problem. Anyone want to do it for me? I'll make you cookies.

Strange Ch-ch-ch-changes

I hate my job so hard today (and yesterday too) I want to scream.

I just called the bookstore and accepted the job they offered before. I'll cut back my hours at DeathJob to 3/4 time and look for another job so I can quit. Even if the gig at the bookstore is only for a month, it will be nice to have a little extra cash for the holidays.

Even if things are really difficult when I move out in January, I'd rather be strapped for cash than completely loose my spirit to this place. I seriously feel like I'm suffocating. (am I drama queen or what?)

Is it 5 yet?

The bookstore is supposed to call me sometime today or tomorrow and let me know about that job. I'm kind of obsessing about it.

The thing is, I'm not sure I can afford to work there. At the interview, C said that she wouldn't be able to match my salary now. Because of the nature of the job, there's no guarantee that I will even get as many hours and I have now. Plus, everyone they hire now is technically just seasonal so there's no guarantee that I would have a job past January.

I could live with a slight pay cut probably. Even with a small cut in hours. I dislike my current job that much. Granted, it would make things really difficult since I'm moving out in January (finally) and am going to have a lot more expensis.

It's the last bit that really gives me pause. If I take that job and it only lasts for a month or two I will be Screwed, with a capital S (hhm, that turn of phrase doesn't work as well when it's written down). Of course, there are things I could do to create some job security, but I wouldn't have a lot of time to get established.

We'll see. It's hard to say for sure what I'll do because they haven't even made an offer yet. I'm kind of stressing about it though. I really need to get out of the job I have.

Wooo! 5:00 is only 10 minutes away now. Sweet!

The Halloween Gods are Smiling Gimacing at Me

What a great day it is!!! No wonder Halloween is my favorite holiday.

This morning I discovered that a paper I thought was due Monday is actually due Friday. This is really good because I didn't actually turn it in on Monday. I was going to make up a really good excuse for its lateness, but now I don't have to.*

I'm wearing saddle shoes. It's fun. I dressed as a 1940's hep cat chick. I makes me want to go swing dancing though. God, I miss that.

At work for lunch we had a pot-luck thing so I actually got to escape the isolation of the front desk and mingle with the other people who work here. It makes my job slightly less draining to actually, you know, interact with people. Now that I think about it, it makes a normal day feel that much more draining and soul sucking. But there is this to make me smile about it:

Not that I would actually stab my boss. El Douche maybe. Still it's amusing.

When I went past the break room on my way back to my prison desk, I commented that there was enough food to last us quite a while if there was a zombie invasion and we all had to hole up downstairs. I love being a geek.

Speaking of Zombie invasions (and me being a geek), check this out and be afraid, be very afraid.

*I know my Dad reads this sometimes so I would like to take this footnote to hypnotize him into not remembering that bit about me not turning in a paper on time. And anyway, it all works out in the end. Dad, you are getting sleepy, very, very sleepy....

Workin' 9 2 5

Good news!
I have a job interview on Wednesday.



Wait... don't I already have a job?



Yes. But it is not a fun job. I have sometimes come home completely exhausted because I was so bored at work. Plus... well, the other day (at work) I made a list of 26 reasons why my job sucks.



Is it really that bad?



I guess not. That is, all 26 reasons were valid, but I was sort of nit picking. The interview I'm going to is for a bookstore though. Yes, it would be retail again (I dislike my current job so much I miss retail), but a part of it would be doing Storytime which would be super cool. Plus (you may have noticed) I'm a bit of a bibliophile so working with books is going to be awesome for me.



Good for you. Wait, Wednesday is Halloween.



I know. The only sad thing about this interview is it gets in the way of dressing up too much for my favorite holiday. This:








is not exactly going to make a good, proffessional impression. Although the sword might help things a little. Hmmmm.

Oh well, I will still dress up a little because we have a costume contest at work and I cant not dress up at all. Nothing too elaborate though. And I'll change for the interview.

Anyway, wish me luck on Wednesday.