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Anyone else who uses Firefox having this problem?
Anyway, not much else going on. Oh, we had an AWESOME meet up Saturday night. We meet at Lamberts in Sikeston, MO to have dinner. I tell you, if you've never been to Lamberts and you're ever in the Tristate are, you have GOT to go! It's an AWESOME restaurant! They've got a lot great food on the men, plus there's guys who walk around throwing rolls at the customers, and others offering fried okra (one of my favorite, if not exactly healthy, foods), and plus they serve their drinks in large plastic mugs, how cool is that?
I mean, seriously, one thing I hate about some "all you can eat" places, is they give me these crappy small ass glasses, fill them 2/3rds of the way full with ice, and after a second or two of sucking liquid through a straw, I'm like, "Dang, it's empty!"
Another cool part, I got to meet my NEW grand niece, Brae. She's a pink little cutie and the red marks on her face are starting to fade. Amazingly enough, despite all the ambient noise in the restaurant, she pretty much slept the whole time. I took some pics of everyone, even shot a video or two with my camera.
Only downside to the trip is Lamberts has this policy (would say it's new, but I haven't been there in a long time, so maybe not) that ALL the members of your party have to be there before they'll seat you. Well, me, mom and Jim arrived early, then Richard (my brother), his wife and child showed up, then we had to wait for the others. Ashley (new mom and oldest niece) and Brae showed up shortly after, but Tammy took awhile.
Now, I have to say, one thing I hate doing when I'm hungry is WAITING. I mean, I can be patient, but when my belly's rambling, it's difficult. And what's even crazier is Tammy lives just a HALF HOUR away from the place. We had to travel for an hour and half to get there...
Course, in fairness, she had two kids with her, so maybe it took them all awhile to get organized.
Still, once we sat down and go to eating, it was pretty nice.
Oh, they also had about five of those "sliding quarter" machines. I've talked about these before in my blog, but in case you don't remember/don't recognize them, here's a pic.
While I normally find them amazingly tempting, I only put in a few quarters before deciding, "Ahh, forget it." Even though technically you're supposed to be over 18 to use them, there were several boys who kept dropping quarters in. Once or twice a young lad would get several quarters and I'd say, "Dude, walk away while you can! You put them back in there, you're not going to get anymore!" But they didn't listen to me, and sure enough, all their money went right back into the machine.
So, the schedule has been changed around a bit, I'm working five days this and next week, breaking down to six days in a row, one day off, then four more in a row. FINALLY I'm at my day off (Friday). Seems like this week has really dragged.
In other news, I've been getting more exercise of late. After work I go into the exercise room and walk on the elliptical for awhile, and then I work on the weight machines. We don't have much in the exercise room, but I do have I can. I've been steadily increasing the number of minutes I walk on the machine, today I'm up to ten. I know, I know, to those of you who exercise regular that won't seem like much, but I'm not exactly wafer thin over here.
Well, dunno what else to say right now, so I'm gonna close.
Okay, first up, some old news... in order to make up for Alice leaving, the hotel hired a new worker, I'll call him Philip.
Dunno, I felt something was a bit off about Philip, he just seemed to be the type that thought he was cool and smoothe but wasn't. Plus I couldn't help but wonder why a guy in his late forties (actually he turned out to be 51) who was the manager of a hotel for several years and owned his own photography store would want to work a part-time, minimum wage position, but I figured, well, times are tough so, maybe he just needs the extra cash.
Now, interesting incident occurred shortly after I first met the guy. Me, him and our manager (not the boss, the manager) were in the backroom when suddenly she looked at me and said, "Mike, where is your name tag?"
I said, "Uh.. on my shirt?"
She said, "No, that's not your real name tag." I had on my "spare" name tag, as I'd grabbed that one from the car instead of my regular name tag.
I said, "Oh, yeah, well, my other one is in the car, I just grabbed this one without thinking."
And she goes, "Well, I need that name tag up here, and I need you to have on your real name tag. No one get two name tags around here, not even me."
"Uh, okay..."
What I find particularly weird about the whole situation thought was how I'd worn that name tag SEVERAL times in her presence and she apparently never noticed it till now. Personally, I think maybe she just wanted to show off her "managerial" power to the new worker.
Anyway, all this occurred a few days ago. I have to admit, despite my misgiving and concerns, I was kind of excited about them hiring a new night shift worker. With this guy taking over part time on night shift, and my co-worker Steph going to second shift, I was moved to working Sun through Wed, which means I would get Thursday, FRIDAY, and SATURDAY nights off! I could DO something on those nights, like maybe join one of the D&D groups that go on at the gaming store on Fridays, or something...
I told my psychologist this and he said that's perfectly normal, except in my case, because of my lack of relationship/social experiences in general, I wasn't quite used to the extreme terms of emotions.
Well, nice to know something's normal, even if it's behind schedule.
Anyway. Alice and I talked briefly. I asked her if I could get a "good bye" hug, and she gave me one. I told her I'd miss, and she said it feels weird to be saying goodbye to everyone. Think she was close to crying at this point. I tried to reassure her. I said to her (and I swear, these words just popped right then and there into my head), "Don't worry, Alice, you're like a duck."
"What does that mean?"
"Well, you know..." I said, "seventy-five percent of the world is water, so pretty much wherever you go you'll fit right in." (Technically, it would have been better if I said, "you'll take to it." but hey...)
You know, for better or worse, I think I came up with that on the spot...
Anyway, we said good-bye and she left. I felt a bit sad, but I pushed it aside in order to finish the audit. Haven't really thought about it much since then.
I just hope things work out for her okay... not fully sure was really into the idea of moving down to San Antonio, specially since her daughter and all her friends are up here, but hell, the job market down there has GOT to be better than up here. I just hope the marriage and everything works out and that she's happy.
Note: part of this entry was written (11-02) morning.
So, anyway, as I’ve probably mentioned before, my co-worker Alice is leaving today (Mon Dec 2). I believe she gets married tomorrow and is moving to
For starters, I’m a bit sad. For all her flaws, I liked having
On the other hand, I also feel a bit jealous… guess partly of the guy she’s going to marry, especially when it seems a bit like he kind pushed her into it, and yeah, I’m jealous cause I find her very attractive and I think maybe she deserves better (course, what’s “better” would probably be clouded by my lack of impartial judgment.)
I’m also eager for the situation to be over and done with. I hate to say it, but sometimes I’m just tired of her being around. Of late, she’s been so focused on her wedding she hasn’t been doing all the things required of her job, and that’s left the rest of us to pick up the slack. There have been a few days where her performance has ranked slightly above “warm body walking around” (while chatting endlessly on the phone.)
Of course, a lot of feelings are all jumbled with personal stuff. I’m sure part of my anger is just me being upset that she doesn’t talk to me much anymore (even before the incident I mentioned) seems to prefer chatting on the phone or to the regulars from the construction company who stay here every week. And of course, part is also anger at myself, anger at what I did to fuck things up between us. I know, realistic, if she didn’t have a boyfriend and wasn’t getting married, it was highly unlikely we’d ever hook up, but still, we were starting to be friends… even hung out together outside of work once… and I went screwed that up.
You know what’s really crazy though? I don’t think I’ve been invited to the wedding. I mean, seriously, she’s never mentioned asking me if I’d be there, I just haven’t asked her point blank if I am or not. In fact, today when she left she seemed a bit sad and was like, “I probably won’t see you again after this…” And I thought, “What about the wedding? Can’t I come?” But I figured it'd be rude to ask.
Dunno, maybe she just wanted to keep it small or something, who knows?
Another thing that saddens me is that, this seems to be my lot in life. People I tend to get along with always to leave. They move away, they just stop calling, they stop getting in touch, or they’re too busy to hang out anymore.
Here's a (IMHO) neat little picture I did I call "Creepy Cat Painting"
This based on the photo of a real tabby cat, which I turned into a line art picture and then alter with some filters and other techniques. I think it'd make a great image to see hanging on the wall in a "haunted house" type game.
So, what do you think?
Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts, thoughts, all tumbling around in my head: things to do, things I want to do, things I'm obsessing over, things I'm trying NOT to obsess over... it's all a bit crazy inside my head sometimes.
We had the time switch today, had to change some of the clocks here at work, and I’m going to need to do that to a couple of them at home as well. More weirdass dreams last night (well, afternoon in my case.) I was trying to cook a bunch of food and it kept disappearing on me, being taken and eaten out of sight by other people in the house. This time it was one of the houses I resided back when we lived in Missouri. Well, technically, it was a trailer not a house, but still… The trailer was a bit on the small side, I guess since at that point in time, it was only me, Tiff and Andy, so when my parents were looking around for another home, they felt we didn’t need that big of a place to stay at.
As with a lot of other things, Tiff got the shortest end of the stick in that deal, her room was right next to the living room and while she’d go to bed around 9:30, mom and Jim would usually be in the living room, playing some movie on their big TV with STEREO SOUND!
I can’t imagine how shitty that would be, trying to sleep with stuff like Cliffhanger playing at full blast in the room next door. Then another thing they’d do is hold conversations in that same room, sometimes about Tiffany herself and mom would say several not so complimentary things.
Not sure I’ve mentioned this, but in many respects mom was just really unfair to Tiff and Andy, especially Tiffany cause she was younger, and, I presume, easier to bully. Imagine living with someone that nothing you do seems to please them. They yell at your for everything, and things you do right is consider “what your were supposed to do” anyway, and you get a picture of our home life.
I guess it’s not surprising that Tiffany moved out at seventeen years old.
God, been nearly twelve years now and I still get angry when I think on some of the things she said and did to her. I also get angry at myself as well, thinking I should have stood up for Tiffany more. Told my mom that she was wrong, that was being an unreasonable bitch and that she needed to back off. I mean, in many ways, she was a hell of a more of a sister to me than my real sister ever was.
Anyone else have any experience with that? I mean, you know someone’s being treated unfairly but you just feel there’s nothing you can do. Standing up for things isn’t as easy as it sounds, especially when it’s family you gotta stand up to. I did manage a little bit, though… I’d get angry sometimes and tell mom she was wrong in the things she was saying, especially when she’d accuse Tiff of not doing some stupid chore or another that I saw her do.
I get amazed sometimes at how many things from the past I still dwell on… I can’t help but think I need to take a tall glass of Get The Fuck Over It and go on. I think part of the problem is that I’ve been on my own for such a relatively brief time (two years this December), that I’m still kind of trapped in the mindset I had before… it’ll take some time, if ever, before I can figure out what’s really “me” and what is just stuff that I’ve been forced to act like.
Course, part of the problem with the whole “standing on your own two feet” things the occasionally financial set back. I mean, here I am, trying to be independent, on my own, take care of myself, and then, boom, car breaks down, no money to fix, so who do I have to turn?
You guessed it.
I know, I know, we all need help sometimes, there’s always things that we can’t handle by ourselves but…
(shrugs)
Anyway, man, yesterday was weird... well, not too weird, just my body was acting all weird. I felt into this odd cycle of "sleep for a few hours, wake up and do something for a bit, sleep a few more hours, wake and do something, etc." I had planned on going into Carbondale to see Zombieland, but around 5:00 (was going to see the 7:50 show) I started to feel a bit drowsy once again, so I thought I'd take a nap, setting my alarm for 6:30pm. Next thing i know, I'm hitting snooze repeatedly and it's 10 pm (dunno if I hit snooze that many times or just fell asleep with the radio still on), and I decided to turn it off for good.
Woke up around 1am, not feeling so great in my stomach, but this weird, sometimes when my stomach feels lousy, I just need to eat something and it'll feel better. Rationally that makes NO sense whatsoever, but I guess there's something about going without eating for awhile that makes the regular rooms not apply (at least, when it comes to me). So, I began making some spaghetti (I'd left some stuff out to dethaw earlier.) I get a knock on my door (it's now about 2am) and it's my neighbor from down the hall, wanting to borrow some milk her coffee. I ask why she's up this late at night and she says she just, "Woke up."
Anyway, eat a bit of dinner, watch a film (an ultra predictable and overly long horror film from Spain called Blame), and then get tired again around 6am. Did a little bit of reading, but eventually fall back to sleep.
Kept having this weirdass dream I was playing some kind of fantasy RPG on the computer, but it wasn't like any game I really had. Come to think of it, the computer wasn't anything like I really had either. Also, now that I mention it, I was apparently in a really large, white colored kickass apartment with various members of my family, interacting with the neighbors (who were people I don't think I know in real life, or even based on people in real life) and I seemed to be having a pretty good time of hanging with them. I awesome the apartment was really a condo, but, since I've never been in a condo, I can only guess.
Not sure what all this means, aside the usual shit, of, "Blah, blah, wish I lived somewhere, blah, blah, blah, wish my mom had been more affectionate to me growing up, blah, blah, blah, wish I had more friends and could afford nicer material things." The usual junk.
Did have a job interview not too long ago. Well, actually, it wasn't even an interview, I just did some tests for this company that was hiring and filled out there loooong (like 18 pages) application. Why do companies insist on you filling out a paper application when most of the SAME information is on your resume? My handwriting sucks, so that completely works against me.
Anyway, I'll know in a week or two how that went.
My oldest niece gave birth to a little girl Monday night at around 8pm. She's six pounds, nine ounces (dunno what that would be grams, sorry friends from Europe!), and about 18 1/2 inches tall. Both mother and child are doing fine.
Anyway, I present to you: Braelyn Faith.
Isn't she adorable? (You'd better say yes, dammit!)
Against my better instincts, I pick up the phone. It's the other girl who works night shift, she says she's REALLY sick and wants to know if I could come in and work part of her shift. She asked me to come in at two, I begged for three. So, I went to bed, hoping to get a quick nap in before going to work. Well, next thing I know, the phone is waking me up, I'd set the alarm clock for twelve hours away (pm instead of am.)
I have to say, I REALLLY wish she had told me earlier she was sick and might not be able to work her whole shift. If she had said that, I would have taken a nap in the afternoon as a precaution. She said though that she thought she'd be okay, as she had been getting better.
You know, come to think of it, the hotel's owner as got sick not too long ago, as well as one of the other girls I work with. Damn, I'm working with a bunch of diseased people!
:)
Ahh, seriously though, just hope I don't catch anything. Course, I'm due a sick day or two, in the nearly two years I've worked I haven't missed a shift yet. Granted, we don't get sick pay, so what would be the point? Still, there have been times when I felt like crap and REALLY did not want to come into work, but did anyway because I know the other girl wouldn't be available and felt there was no one to take my place.
Anyway, dunno if she'll be well enough tonight, just have to wait and see.
This Wednesday though I've got an interview at a company who's hiring for various IT position. First thing they want me to do though is take some kind of test and, if I pass, I'll be eligible for an interview and whatnot. I got the directions to the place and everything, but I wonder if maybe I should call back and see if I can get more details on what, exactly, the test will cover. Maybe I can brush up on my info. I mean, IT is such a vast field, the test could cover all sorts of crazy stuff...
Anyway, wish me luck!
Hope everyone else is doing okay!
With the situation of my car breaking down twice in about a year's time, I finally decided I was tired of not having a way to call someone when this happens, so I made up my mind to finally buy a cell phone. I didn't want anything fancy (or expensive), didn't need a camera, to browse the net, send texts or anything like that, just wanted something that would dial numbers for an emergency. I went over the electronics section in Wal-Mart, told the sales lady what I wanted and she recommend I get a Tracphone.
Now, here's the funny part (well, the first funny part): turns out these guys who sell phones are smart, they won't let you get away with just "having" a phone and letting your minutes roll over from month to month without you paying anything, even with these so-called "pay as you go" cell phones. No sir, you have to buy minutes every so often (whether you need them or not) to keep the phone service active. In this case, it's once every three months.
I went ahead and got a calling card for 60 minutes of talk time to go with the phone (crazily enough the card costs the same at the phone itself, around $20.00.) I could have bought the $15 one, but I guess I wanted the pouch and the few other zany extras that came with it. According to the sales lady, without the card, I only would have had 10 minutes to start with, and you know, you can be on hold for that length of time with some numbers.
Taking my new toy home, I set about activating the new phone. I went to the website, put in my basic information, then I entered the activation number, then they wanted me to put in my zip code, and then the "SIM" number (no idea what "SIM" stands for, but it was a number I had to go navigating through the cell phone menu screens to find.) I punched in the number and I got an error message saying, "There is a problem with your number, please call Customer Service at (800 number)".
I hit the Back button and try again, same result.
Well, shoot, I thought.
I call these guys up and, after speaking a bit to a slightly accented fellow, he tells me he's going to mail me a new SIM number. I ask him why he needs to do this and he tells me the SIM number that came with the phone does NOT work in the zip code I provided.
Say what?!?
Ooookay. I have NO idea what that means. He tells me the new number may take up to "three to five days" to arrive. Now, here's the funny, I bought this damn phone for emergencies, and instead of getting it work the day I buy (like I wanted), I have to wait several more days. I tell you, if something happens between now and then and I gotta walk several more miles along the highway because this company couldn't organize their crap better, I'm going to be PISSED.
But, knock on wood, hopefully that won't happen.
Still, it's a monumental occasion for me, I've bought my FIRST cell phone. Woo-hoo! Now, if only I could actually use it...
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door"
-The Proclaimers, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
"Kyrie Eleison
Down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison
Through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison
Where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison
On a highway in the light"
-Mister Mr, "Kyrie"
Go ahead, ask me how my night was last Thursday. Go on, I dare ya.
Well, since you asked...
( Actually, this is a bit long, click if you want to read it... )
As of right now, it's about 4:40, Thursday, I've got the night off, but I can't go anywhere. But it's realy dark and deary looking outside, so that isn't helping my mood either. Granted, I guess I don't feel too bad, probably more tired than depressed. Stayed up kind of late last night and had some trouble sleeping this morning.
Well, got some news... I had decided to try and take this work at home position that would have began training on the 19th of October. The training would be full time for an entire SIX weeks. I had been delaying in making a decision as to whether or not I'd try to get the job as I wasn't sure if I wanted to risk losing this one on a job that may or may not be a guarantee (I mean, I was worried if I asked to have my hours cut at the hotel, they just decided to hire someone else.)
Come to find out, they were okay with cutting my hours (so long as I gave them enough notice) and with the incident with my car being towed and how much that costs I thought, "Well, that seals it, I need money! And if it means working two jobs at once, I guess that's what I'll have to do."
Put anyway, I had to get a second interview with someone with the company, and guess what? The next class session is already FULL. So, I'll have to wait for the NEXT session on January 18th.
Well, shoot.
On the upside, though, one of my co-workers is going on vacation, so I'll be able to get five days on the week she's gone.
And I did send out my resume on two local jobs I saw in the paper, so maybe one of those will result in something.
It kind of sucks, I really figured on getting into this class, taking some training and getting a new job, finally being able to start SAVING money and paying off debts rather than just "getting by" (and some weeks barely that), but it looks like the status quo will be maintained for a little while longer.
Anyway, it's still funny, enjoy!
Then, that morning I go outside and my car is dead again. A quick jump later (thanks to one of the housekeepers), I head over to a doctor's appointment in nearby Carterville. To be honest, I thought about canceling my appointment, because I'd already seen the doctor about two weeks ago for an unrelated matter (this was just a general follow up for my meds), but I was low on some of my meds and I needed some samples. (They got a decent patient's assistance over here, I get some of my meds from the clinic.)
My health seemed to be okay, but my blood pressure is still borderline high, despite the fact I'm on THREE different blood pressure meds. (Well, one's a mild blood pressure/water pill med, but still.) I asked the doc about that and he said that it really depends on the person. He's got some patient that are on five or six blood pressure meds and their pressure still hasn't gone down much. Some people are affected less than others by them.
Thinking that, once again, I need to look into trying to cut back on my sodium intake, but dang it all, seems like all the good stuff is loaded down in sodium these days. Get this, even a lot of the low fat/low calorie type foods has lots of sodium (probably to make up for a lack of taste), so it's hard to avoid getting some. I'll try and stock up on some more fruit and stuff when I get home.... and that reminds me, I'm low on yogurt.
After my doctor visit, I was half worried that my car wouldn't start again when I left, but viola, it did!
I decided to go over to my parents house and do some laundry. While I waited, I watched a bit of Everybody Loves Raymonds on their DVD player (I bought them the third and fourth seasons for various holidays). Watched a bit of the fourth season, including what's considered to be one of the show's funniest eps, Bad Moon Rising, where Debra's is going through a "lady day" and Raymond's inept attempts to try make her feel better.
You know, I don't care what anyone says, I like Patricia Heaton. I think she's a fine actress and seems to be a decent woman to boot. I just think it's crazy how much hatred there is towards her (and if you don't believe me, check out her imdb pages.) Personally, I just most of it because she has certian views that are a variety in Hollywood, and, despite claims of being open to all ideas, most in that world don't care for folk with disagree with them. But, anyway, that's off subject...
And on the subject of Debra, personally I can't blame her for losing it sometimes, I mean, seriously, look who she's got to put up with? Raymond AND Marie? I mean, Ray's parents are funny, but on some eps if I had to deal with people like that in real life, I'd literally kicking their asses out the door!
Anyway, back to my day...
After the laundry was done, I took mom's car back to the apartment, just in case my car wouldn't start later that evening. It's weird driving another person's car, especially for me. Most cars are WAAAY to damn small to fit me. That's why if I ever bought a "new" fuel efficient car, it's better have some damn leg rom (and a decent height in the ceiling), otherwise, I don't give a damn how environmentally friendly it is, I'm not going sacrifice driving in relative comfort (especially with all the time I have to spend in my car.)
In addition to being a little cramped, the steering wheel felt kind of tight to me. Everytime I turned, it felt like I was wrestling with a bull or something. And the gas was waaaay too sensitive. Slightest tap and the car would LUNGE forward on me. I managed to somehow carroal this beast back to my apartment parking lot and went to bed.
That night I drove it over to my parents place, and, lo and behold, my car actually started! (Dunno if it'll do that this morning, but hey...) I parked mom's car in the driveway and took mine in.
