One of my more embarassing moments as a person happened today... and after I swore I would never let it. I took the 'Evil Coffee Corp Experience Class' which doesn't teach you much, but really indoctrinates you into the culture:
Evil Coffee Corp Good!
Evil Coffee Corp Good!
Whoops sorry that's just my brainwashing misfiring...
Anyway most of the other employees at the class were high school or college age, please Lord deliver me from high schoolers, which is the norm for any coffee corp really. I figured I was the exception in the class, and there were two others who looked like they might be exceptions too. I ended up asking one of the girls seated next to me if she was in high school or college... yeah she's 28... so really one would hope neither. I'm pretty sure she wanted to hit me and I felt embarrassed because I get that all the time too (though I kinda like it... unless it's from a cute guy). My one consulation is that I will probably never see her again, theoretically, since she doesn't work with me.
It was fun, though I hate how high schoolers won't participate in classes - drives me nutso, and I drank lots of coffee to become pleasantly hyper. I was the only person being hired directly to Shift Supervisor... which made me feel a little special.
In other news you should check out my nightmares blog for the comments to end all comments... you guys are awesome!
Also J.K. Rowling released the title for the next Harry Potter book...(drumroll please)... it is to be Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Prince of what one might wonder. The whole article, which doesn't say much more than I just said, is found here.
In honor of the bouquet that was sent to me on what was supposed to be my first day of work two weeks ago, please see it here. It's a beautiful bouquet sent to me by 'George Gordon', a famous poet, who also supplied me with some good advice. Do you know who he is? Most people know him by an entirely different name. No fair looking it up on the internet!!
So first thing was to come into the store and I ended up reading a lot throughout the day. I meant Jenny* who I will be working with in the new store when it opens. She is really nice, an art student who will be going back to school full time in October. The person I will be working with for the next few days, Vicky*, and another girl that works there are kinda like perky cheerleaders... which was a little annoying.
Vicky is training me and is pretty anal about rules, not completely bad, but annoying. When I was leaving I asked if I could make my own drink before I left or if I needed to have them make it instead. Her response was 'well normally you have to walk around and ask us from the other side of the counter, but this one time you can make it'. I can't really immitate the tone of voice on the web... but it was odd because I (obviously) don't know yet and that's why I asked. Just tell me what you want me to do!!
They did make me try a 'whole bunch' of things I don't like: blueberry muffin and the new Strawberry Creme 'Frozen Drink'. But I survived... and if anybody likes strawberries they should really check out that new 'frozen drink', it's great. I was able to make drinks today, mostly the frozen ones since they haven't trained me so much on the espresso machine.
Overall the day went well, I met with my 'to-be' store manager again and found out some great stuff about the store, we will have hardwood floors and be almost of the the biggest stores around. We are also a 'proto-type' store where we will be getting a lot of visitors which is good because we can show how great we are. All of the baristas working in the new store are going to be new employees which will make it challanging to get running smoothly... but what is life without challanges??
*Names have been changed to protect the innocent... and not so innocent.
So I had a nightmare last night about my old job, you know working for ITS. In this dream an old student of mine got my ex-bosses job, it was horrible. I was very upset that I wasn't offered the job and I stomped around the lab. Really I wouldn't take the job, I was just mad that HE got it. (You'll have to ask me who 'HE' is, because I can't release it on the web). But let me tell you this: HE was not a very good student worker and cheated on exams and such.
The only other thing happening in my life is that I have to find BLACK shoes to work at Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0. It is taking me a while to find all BLACK shoes with good support. And actually I bought some a Payless Shoes, where you know it has CRAPPY support. But I don't know if I can wear other colors on my shoes yet or not, so I bought the cheap kind and will determine later how strict they are.
Work starts Monday!! FINALLY!!
So I watched AFI Top 100 Years... 100 Songs last night and other than learning that the top pick was Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz (duh) and number 2 was As Time Goes By from Casablanca. I like As Time Goes By better and I think it should've been number 1; but I'm getting off topic. I learned something important last night...
I want you all to think of the song from M*A*S*H*, and try to grab it from the beginning... if you need help you can find it here. And when the horns start begin singing these words:
Through early morning fog I see
visions of the things to be
the pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see...
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
Now the TV show theme pretty much leaves it there, but there are more words to the song, which can be found here (and that is also where I found the words above though I heard them last night). I guess I was just really surprised that a theme I had heard since childhood had such disturbed lyrics; though the show isn't always the happy-go-lucky image as it has often been projected. It is a searing social commentary on the Vietnam and Korean Wars and the changes those wars brought, though the show supposedly takes place during the Korean War.
Did anybody else see the show? It was interesting and most of the songs were great and it made my whole family sing whenever a song popped up. A lot of them made you cry too, well not me, but perhaps other people with weak tear ducts... my tear ducts never leak... what are you laughing at??
So I am waiting, patiently, for my work to start so that I can do something exciting. Not that going to The Home Depot and blasting Jimmy Eat World on the way there isn't fun... it's just getting to be a little old. I did stop by 7-Eleven today for one of their world famous SLURPEES, I didn't get a brain freeze... though they do have a warning on the side of the cup. Which makes me think, what is this world coming to??
Driving around in 90F weather with your windows down sweating? $2.11/gallon of gas. Blasting Jimmy Eat World while cooling off with a Slurpee? $1.18. Picking up nails at the Home Depot and REFRAINING from telling the person helping you that you 'need to get nailed'? (oh it still makes me laugh) Priceless.
I am so happy about what happened today, I feel no reason to hide my glee at the fact that my annoying step-brother was given an eviction date from my mom. She said he has to be out of the house by August 1st. This means I will get his room I think and that will be nice!! The whole family can have more privacy and Roland could come visit and not have to sleep on a couch.
Buying a walkman so you don't have to listen to your annoying step-brother talk? $50.00. Cost of a dictionary so you can learn even more words which he won't know, like 'the'? $75.00. Having him kicked out 3 months after you move in? PRICELESS!!
Ok, I'll try to be more like a Christian.... it's not working, so before I libel any other people I have to go.
But before I do here's some Quiz Time v 2.0 !!
On Saturday we all drove over the Sound, well actually we took the ferry, to meet my step-dad's parents, which would technically make them my step-grandparents. That is kinda nice since I only have one living related grand-parent left, my mom's mom.
It went better than the last time I met my PREVIOUS step-grand parents, Doug's mom & dad, I managed to disclose my step-grandma's closely guarded secret even though I was 7. She was in the bathroom, which I did not know, and I, being 7, walked in after knocking (I swear I knocked) and she was putting in her dentures. She screamed like the roof was on fire. I am pretty sure I went running back to the mom in tears and she, my step-grandma, was yelling I need to be disciplined because I didn't knock. I still don't have ANY idea why it was such a big deal, but apparently NOBODY knew she had dentures.
So there were no embarassing moments this time. Thank God, I think I've had more than my share in this life. Only one more week until I start work...
So I have decided to compile a little list about all the things that are different in this state. This is just minor stuff, so don't be sad if you aren't mentioned here.
1. Botts-dots. Oh how I love Botts-dots, they help me see the lines on the highway even in the rain. They make switching lanes fun, and are always a challange when you try not to hit them. (I should right a poem!!)
2. Mountains. I really think one of the most beautiful things in the world is the snow-capped mountains which appear to ring the valley I am currently living in. I especially like when 'the mountain' is out...Mt. Rainer, sure it may blow in a few years, but at least I'll be safe!!
3. Back roads. That's right, once again I don't always have to take the highway. There are all sorts of back ways to get around, sometimes three or four different ways to get to once place.
4. Circle K. If something is a foot at the Circle K I will be able to get there, not that I'd want to anyway... unless Keanu Reeves really was there...
5. 7-Eleven. Ok, it's my second convience store in a row, but everybody who lives in MN and knows what it is like to DESPERATELY want a slurpee and not be able to get them... well, you all know why this is on my list.
6. The Weather. It hit 87F today and that was warm for this area, and there was no hideous humidity to go along with it.
7. The Ocean. Even though I haven't really seen it yet, only The Sound, I know it is there.
Well that brings me up to date with what I love about this place. Of course feel free to tell me what I am missing back in MN... thunderstorms and tornados.
President Ronald Reagan's death last week brought into the forefront of American thought a very controversial issue. Stem cell research, which Nancy Reagan is supporting, has the possibility of aiding those suffering from many diseases, including Alzheimer's. I know this area is a sticky one because many people are heavily invested in the diseases that could be helped or cured. I just think there is something intrinsically wrong in creating life to kill it. However one of the items those proponents of stem cell research are lobbying for is the right to use leftover fertilized eggs, from the invitro process, to conduct their studies. Here is one article and here is the other.
While I believe that stem cell research should go occur and when I have children I intend to both freeze their stem cells and donate to research (if possible), I am not sure it is wise for scientists and researchers to be harvesting eggs from unsuspecting parents. While I am sure that those parents will be given the information necessary to sign away a fertilized egg what is to stop doctors from harvesting too many eggs from a mother and fertilizing too many eggs so that they are left with fertilized eggs when the mother has successfully become pregnant? It is not the research I oppose; it is the means by which the research is happening. If the embryo is going to be discarded, by all means please study it, but if you are creating life only to end it… shame on you.
Today parents of a child who is diagnosed with a disease which can be aided through stem cell advancements can decide to have a child that is a genetic match to the first child. In this way the parents receive another child into their household, but also are able to save their current child. What is most disturbing about this is the fact that the Scientists can create a genetic match for invitro and brings to mind the movie GATACA. How long until we are choosing our children’s eye color on a routine basis? And make no mistake: it is already happening.
Perhaps someday I can believe that humans will become responsible for their actions. That they will realize we all die of something, even as medicine progresses so will the diseases we die from.
Please let me know if I'm dumb, or missing some important information. That is what the comments are for!!
So I went to start my new job for Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0 and it was not at all what I'd hoped; mainly because of problems in the 'I didn't actually start' department. I met with Ed, who is going to be my store manager, and he was going to have me start this week, but then I would have a week or two downtime. So he decided it would make more sense to have me start in two weeks and get full time hours. This way the schedule wouldn't mess with my money income or my benefits and I would (hopefully) be able to remember what I've learned. I understand the theory, I've worked retail for a long time, but I have no benefits now so messing with them doesn't matter so much for me. I also have no income now, and he's really already messed with that so I don't see what the big deal is. However IF I really do get full time hours starting June 28th then I will hopefully make more money than our original deal. I'm not mad, just frustrated at the process. I understand it's got to be hard for Ed too, he's opening a new store and just hired a bunch of new people who all need to be trained at DIFFERENT stores than the one he is opening so they are ready to start when that store opens.
On the plus side, I had an embarrassing moment today which will live in history, if the construction guys don't get there first. As I was walking into A-Mall, where the Evil Coffee Shop is located, I noticed there was a lot of construction. Having only been to this mall twice before and only used this entrance once I was a bit confused. So I wandered around for a bit and finally saw a sign that said 'Food Court Entrance (arrow)'. Not knowing exactly what it meant I starting walking towards the area I thought was an entrance. There was a large sign that said 'No Mall Entrance' and looked as if it might block the way I was going, however it was pulled to the side and facing a different direction, so I decided it didn't apply to me.
I walked towards the Evil Coffee Shop and on a nice, paved walkway, past a least 5 construction workers, and came to an area blocked by 'do not cross' tape. I felt sure this didn't apply to me, since it was easy to walk over, and there were beautiful apricot colored paving stones set on the other side as well as glass doors to enter the food court. As I walked up to the glass doors I realized they were blocked, muttering under my breath I started walking towards Evil Coffee Shop and noticed there was no way to get to it, unless I wanted to break a window and enter that way. So I started walking back towards the way I came in and heard a horrible squeaking/squishing noise as I walked back towards the spot. I thought the sealent on these stones must not be dry and hurried towards the spot where I could exit. As I looked back I noticed that I had stepped in some of the caulk, that goes inbetween the paving stones, and tracked it all over about three stones. Whoops! So I hustled on out of there and finally figured out how to enter the mall (I would like to point out that A-Mall's second sign was hidden behind a green dumpster and would have helped me a lot if it was visable when I was trying to find the entrance the FIRST time); I then had to go to the bathroom to remove the 'evidence' from my shoe. Then I had to look away as I walked into the Evil Coffee Shop when I saw the security guard looking at the mess I had left. Maybe I will take a picture of it when that entrance opens up again, it is really quite a hideous mess I left, especially on those beautiful stones. But I contend it is NOT my fault; if the contruction workers had either A) put up better signage or B) stopped me when I was walking towards it then they would have had a beautiful paved area. AND my shoes are ruined, though that won't stop me from wearing them, and so they should just be lucky I didn't sue them (haha)... and I should be happy that nobody in the Evil Coffee Shop saw me on that side of the fence...
Who knows, maybe this is the start of a new career as the 'Wet Pavement Bandit' and I could harrass construction workers all the time.
I would like to thank my 'George Gordon' for the flowers today, even though I didn't actually start the job!! And I know who you are...
I have to state that the thing that peaked my interest the most about these little chips is the fact that 'they' (e.g. the powers that be) ran ads saying 'they' were out of Ritz Chips because of popular demand. And 'they' would be making them as fast as possible. So when I saw them sitting there on the shelf at Albertson's (can I just state I love being back around the West Coast brands) I grabbed them up.
Ok, so as to how good they are: (drumroll please)
Yeah they aren't that great... they are like lightly toasted Ritz Crackers (I expected this) with dusting on them, in my case it was cheese dusting. They aren't that bad, but they aren't that great either. Hmmm, I was a little dissapointed. I like Munch-Ems better, maybe because they are more buttery.
I am off to go to the Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0 for my filling out of paperwork and I am sure that will be lots of fun! I actually get to have a meeting tonight with the managers who will be running the store with me, like a staff meeting!! I am super stoked... my manager seems like a cool guy, I mean he hired me, and so I can't wait to meet the rest of the people he hired. I will write more after the meeting...
Maybe this will be like "Hammer Time", only better and longer lasting... say maybe the next 15 years? Do we have a date?
So yesterday we got rid of Jag, poor little kitty, he went back to live with his real family. It was Glenn's actual birthday yesterday too, even though we celebrated it last weekend. We didn't do anything special, actually Glenn had to work a double shift because somebody called in sick... but we got him a special present and I named him Quizzism (yes it's a real word) or Quiz, as in pop quiz, quizzary, or quizzie-poo (though I can't remember which prof at Bethel called them quizzie-poos). Isn't he cute? He's only one and a quarter pounds, so tiny, and so cute!!! Ok, I'll try and stop calling him cute...
He's not really my cat, instead he is the family's cat. We'll decide whether he goes with me or not after I get my own apartment. The only problem with cats is that they can't go with you everywhere, well they can't without you looking wierd anyway... of course, what do I care about looking wierd?? (Ha I beat you all to it).
Hopefully I will get a better picture soon...
UPDATE: Here and here are the two new pics... yeah I learned how to use the flash... don't you like how his little paw pads are black?
Yesterday I got the call from Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0 and they want me to come in for training on Monday, June 14th!! I am excited to discover the dark, nutty intrigues of the coffee world... er, something. I will have to memorize what goes in every drink and then I will have to vary it according to size, but I figure if I can memorize obscure historical dates then I shouldn't have a problem... I hope.
My mom said today if she had a blog she'd write about the squirrels and how they are always hungry... just to make you happy she's not writing this entry. (Personally I'd just get a bee-bee gun and shoot the squirrels)
We found the owners of Jag, our little stray kitty who's been here a week. They have three other cats in the apartment with them, which I think officially makes them a little insane. I mean we have three cats, but we're in a HOUSE. So tomorrow we are getting rid of the little kitty Jag, though his real name is Brandon.
Today I spent a lot of my day changing the colors from my website style template to the colors you see on Lo's website. I know they have other style templates on the MT website, but I couldn't get any of them to properly work for some reason. (I think they are not written correctly.) I even replaced Lo's main index to see if that would solve it, but it seemed it was only the style sheet that was the problem and when I transfered in mine it worked fine. So I spent part of the day staring at HTML colors trying to figure out which colors would look normal. I think we succeeded, and pink is what we wanted. I could blame the problem on the person that runs hackish.net, but I like my website the way it is... working!! :-)
Oh, and I decided not to do the temping job this week, because it's not worth it for only 4 days and plus the agency wasn't being helpful.
I'm going to go read some more, have a good night everyone!
So apparently the last few days I have been in a ranting mood. I'm actually surprised no one picked on me for the last one, but maybe you were all afraid I'd then fly over and beat you up, of course then at least you'd see me. Or maybe inside you all think I am right about sterilization and killing... though hopefully not.
So I called a student loan company, the one which handles SELF loans, because they had denied my forbearance. Really, I have no job but I am apparently expected to pay over 100 dollars a month to my student loans. When I called them I was not in the best mood (obviously) and the lady wasn't very helpful. She told me why my forbearance request was denied but she said she didn't want to send out another one because it would just be denied again... well actually it won't because I will change the information, but she doesn't need to know that. She tried to get me to sign up to have the payments lowered, though I don't know why this would help because I HAVE NO MONEY. Then, after I raised my voice a little, she said she was just trying to help. And I lost it and yelled at her 'NO YOUR NOT YOUR COMPANY NEVER TRIES TO HELP YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO SCREW ME'... which they are, because they harrassed me for missing a payment (which I actually didn't miss - they made a mistake) only ONE WEEK overdue. They are an insane, mean, destructive company and please NEVER EVER get a SELF loan if you can avoid it. You can't ever consolidate these loans because of some dumb-ass law.
But I got a second forbearance request sent out to me, so hopefully I will be able to get it approved this time.
And those of you who don't have loans are very, very lucky.
So now my rant is done. I will probably be working at some company or another, temping, tomorrow so I won't see any of you online. Actually the only reason I am going back is because of said loan company; and that Evil Coffee Corp (v 1.0) start date isn't coming up for a couple of weeks. Back to horrible administrative work I go...
Yesterday we celebrated Glenn's birthday and we all went to the zoo. I didn't get pictures of lions and tigers and bears (oh my). But we got a few cute pictures of penguins, jaguars (which are not all black), and giraffes (oh my). And of course my Mom, Glenn, Gabby, and I had fun. We had a lot of fun and saw a lot of animals, but no wolves so I felt jipped.
I got the plates for my car, as I said in an earlier entry, but I had some problems getting the old plates off the car. This was because the screws on the front were a little stripped and the screws on the back were very rusted. Glenn worked on it for a little while, but was unable to get one of the screws off so he had to take the head off. The screw is still in the car; here is the picture of the back plate. I am not too happy about half a rusted screw being in my car, does anybody know if this will cause problems (ie rust out my trunk) and/or how to get it out?
I am still waiting to hear back from Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0 on my training schedule. I am getting a little antsy because I need to earn some money and if they give me the schedule I can determine what days to call my temp agency and go work for them. Overall I am just really annoyed with a lot of things, and it doesn't help that I live with Robert (technically my step brother), who is the most annoying and dumb-ass person on earth. I bet most of you don't know that I can't stand stupid people, really I hide it well, but compared to all stupid people I have ever known... this one deserves to win a Darwin award and be sterilized or killed so that he doesn't procreate or annoy other people EVER AGAIN. But that's just my opinion...
In case any of you cared, and I think Betsy does, here are some of the pictures of my little animal family. This is Jag, or Jaguar, who has a little bit of a runny nose right now (he's pictured with me). Then there is Fluffy , who isn't fluffy and has been our cat since I was 9, he's pretty old and has outlasted two dogs.... but we don't think he's going anywhere too soon. And then there is Sammy (Sampson) who is mostly Abyssinian and so doesn't much like all of these people. He's pretty skittish. And you can't forget the animal who makes their lives hell, the dog, Tisha who most of you met. Oddly enough she's the only girl...
Not much else is happening. I hope you enjoy the pictures... and if anybody gets a chance they should try the Papa Murphy's de-LITE pizza, it's really good.
My step-dad found a stray kitty cat and brought it home yesterday. It is the cutest thing on 4 legs, okay maybe not as cute as my other cat Fluffy, but it has a purr like a motorboat and can meow without opening its mouth. It is all black, but looks a little dark brown in bright lights. My mom named him Jag, as in Jaguar. We are waiting to see if anybody claims him, he's pretty young and neutered and all of that, if nobody does I bet we'll keep him.
I went and got my Driver's License yesterday, and yes I did pass. Then I got my plates today, I was going to get vanity plates but apparently I would have to purchase them seperately... for 44.75 more. The plates already cost me 107!!! So I was pretty torqued about that, but calmed myself by purchasing a Coke Slurpee, Oh Thank Heaven I live around 7-Elevens!!! :-P to all of you who don't and know what a great thing a slurpee is, especially at 11pm at night...
I got my job at Evil Coffee Corp v 1.0 and my position is Evil Henchmen #3 (aka Shift Supervisor). It should be exciting, meeting a whole bunch of new people and everything. I don't know when I start training yet, but my boss, Ed as referred to previously, will call me by the end of the week and let me know. When he offered me the job he said that they would want to move me into Evil Henchmen #2 (aka Assistant Store Manager) as soon as I could handle it. This opportunity is awesome, I didn't think they'd say anything like that yet.
I saw Shrek 2 a little while ago and thought it was the cutest movie I've seen this year, if a little commercialized. It was great, and I think Puss-in-Boots deserves his own movie since I loved his stories as a kid. The computer graphics of Shrek 2 were so much more amazing than the first movie, plus I thought the story was a little better and got the point of 'be who you are' across better than the first movie. Shrek seemed to be in a better humor and more happy, but Fiona's character was less developed. The film focused more on Shrek and Donkey (and Puss-in-Boots) more than on Shrek and Fiona. I would highly reccommend this film to all who enjoy fun cinema, but not if you are going to compare it to the first film... then don't bother because it's not worth it.