Lucky!

So lately I've been getting late to work... then the delivery truck dies. I forget to ask mom if I can borrow hers for the tow.

And today's double-delivery cancels. AWESOME! :p

And yeah, I've been slacking on the post a day bit.

Work Sucks (plus one funny thing)

I currently work for Harry & David, the gift basket people. I get to put boxes on racks from the line, and wrap & tag them.

It gets hard to do that when the materials co-coordinator doesn't show up for half-hours at a time, meaning I get to move the racks (her job) myself. Which means the second big issue comes up - the guy taping the boxes. On the other hand, she only does this once a night, and she is usually busy - but not being aware.

The guy, Alfred I shall call him, seems to be the epitome of you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I have no idea how old he is, but he is at least 55+ - senior discount for sure. The issues :

• He doesn't look when he pushes a box through the tape machine but rarely. Once or twice a night. Which means if the line is full, the boxes start falling off at the bend. I am thankful we have a bend - a straight line falls over when overfilled, requiring it to be set back up, and all the boxes put back on.
• He is the taper - why do I have to change the tape? He has watched me do it, I have shown him how while telling him what I am doing, I have done everything but tell him to do it himself - I think I might, next time.
• He gets to put the fruit nutritional info inside - and doesn't always remember to tell us he needs more when he is just low. Today, again, we had to stop and wait for the supervisor to get some from upstairs. The entire time, baskests keep coming through the shrink wrap ovens, and piling up.

Sometimes I just want to bash his head in (and I got a hammer next to me at all times! It's tempting!)

On the other hand, someone (lets call her Trish) was doubting (for whatever reason) that one of our co-workers was Jewish. Someone else offered to ask for the first person, who was being a coward and not wanting to ask him herself. So, when the helpful coworker went and asked on behalf of Trish (making sure he knew Trish was the one wanting to know) if he knew what a dradle is, and what kosher was, she added in "Did your parents have a bris?"

Trish looks pretty when she is red in the face :)

Getting ready

So, when asking who isn't going to show up at work tomorrow (or I guess, today - yay swing-shift-past-midnight), my supervisor was also asking why.

I won the free excused absence with "My friend from high-school whom I have not seen for about 9 months is in town for a little while".

So, trying something new for holloween - as part of dressing up as a ghost, I am trying to bleach my hair. I will know in about ten minutes or so how well it is doing, I guess.

And trying to think of what to do for NaNoWriMo - too many small ideas, not enough fleshed out :/

Birthday survived

It was Mom's birthday, and she was nicely awed by the pegusi mare/foal statue I found for her (not a winged unicorn! :p) Actually planned that one out two months ago - a record for me. Good thing - it had to get special ordered in.

Of course, my sholder-top angel demands I pay for mom's dinner I got dragged to (previous post) so I am going to sneak some money into her checking account tomorrow/today.

Yummy Food and Fire

So, to celebrate about three different birthdays (one being my mother's), a big group of family/friends went to a restaurant called Shoji's - one of those Asian-style food places that makes a big show out of cooking your food in front of you.

And they will, in order to clean the grill with a flair, light alcohol spread onto the grill on fire. As in, they tell you to lean away if you like your eyebrows.

The little tyke with us, who is about a year and a half old, kept clapping at the fire, saying "fire" over and over, and other general signs of a pyro. He also got the most out of the entertainment, it seemed.

So dinner was fried rice (and the rice was the only thing that was put onto the grill already cooked), grilled veggies, and teriyaki chicken and even some cooked bean sprouts. A lot of all of it. Had a taste of the shrimp, and it was great. I want to go there again.

It's awesome if you get a chance to go there.

Nostalgia

Lately, when writing in this blog, I keep thinking back to my childhood. Specifically, watching
Doogie Houser, MD., type into his journal at the end of the show. Occasionally even while reading others.

Thunder and Lighting, Very Very Annoying Me

I love thunderstorms, really. But we have two dogs.

The older one is afraid of it, and is currently trying to get under my desk as I type. It will take me about three minutes to get out of my chair, as I don't care to hurt her.

The younger is upset we won't let him out to prove he isn't afraid by barking at the thunder.

Now, if they could combine their feelings, we would have thunder-mellow dogs. I can dream, can't I?

Life is at a moderate "Blah" level.

Today was blah. Best thing is I started making a lanyard. Of course, I had to go and do an 8 strand, which has always been my limit, after doing none at all for a couple years now.

Today would of been 100% better on a Motorcycle. Maybe 500%. I wanna ZOOOM.

Irony at the Insurer's Office

Today, after grabing a cheap bite to eat at work after watching Pirates 3 and Ocean's 13, I tried to go though this strip mall behind us to take the easier way back to the freeway.

At that point in time, we had one deli and an All State insurance office in flames. About 30 feet high. Wonder what their fire insurance premiums are going to look like next month?

And right as I see even more hoses get in to the action, I notice the big sports/auto/outdoors store is advertising their water sports sale. You could almost demo in the store.

One idiot almost got a ticket for not clearing out of the parkinglot when an officer asked him to (and the officer thought the guy called him a dick, maybe he did), and many more seemed to be upset they were not allowed to pull into the parking lot and watch.

The fire took a little off the top of the Supercuts next door, too.

A little bit better

Original goal yesterday was to get up and ride my bike to work. About a 45 or so minute ride.

Got out of the shower with 15 minutes to be there.

However, I did take the time to shove my bike in the back of my car - so after work I was able to go the wrong way (adding 1.2 miles to my riding today, yay!) on the bike path, and walked around our little mall a couple of times, looking at stuff. Money burns, especially in the pocket.

Most interesting thing today was trying to stock the prep table with pizza toppings while our regional inspector guy was moving it around.

Kinda like having a little brother run while you try to give him a wedgie - minus the underwear, though.

Three-quarters of the Way There

On my birthday last year, in July, I was walking through the county fair.

I was thinking about things I had done, and what had happened to me, mostly in the last year.

Around May 06 I was fired/let go from where I had worked for nearly four years for stealing soda refills. They admitted I had paid for the original fill, but then said I would refill it and not pay. Said they had five copies - so I paid the 6 or so dollars (no refill price there, they made you pay full price each fill), and we went our separate ways. I can kinda understand, since apparently each time, it was under similar circumstances - who was and wasn't there, mainly. But still, I was pissed. I had benefits, and while I was finally stressed out enough to quit anyway, I wanted to wait a few more months for my anniversary (and thus, vacation) to roll around. Doing dairy and bottle returns, the deli work, was exhausting, and I was ready for a change.


Unfortunately, I kinda panicked. I went to the local 7-11, and got a job there - but it was too similar, and I was let go in a few months after that. I was pretty much stressed out, and wore out while working there. The worst thing is I had known the owners for the past 6 or so years, and I got the job because the owner had said I had a job whenever asked for it, and hated the fact that my burn out hit him.

While working there, though, is when the fair happened. I decided I really needed to change myself. As a sign, I got a nipple pierced, just as a subtle reminder that would stare me in the face each morning in front of the sink. I set some goals - the main ones being to make sure I get a job I can tolerate, lose some weight, and move out by my next birthday.

After this, I got fired from the 7-11. I didn't blame the guy. Then I got a grunt labor job at Harry and Davids for the season, and had my car break down. Also, because a several factors, mostly how I was not paying attentions, my piercing had to come out and be allowed to heal up normal. At the end of that job, I had my left nipple pierced, so I wouldn't forget my goals.

I found a job delivering pizza - low hours, but low stress. I am going to start looking for a second, or better job, tomorrow as the pizza parlor isn't giving me enough hours, even with the tips, although that is changing. I plan to get up early tomorrow, and bike to work. Several miles, but mostly downhill, and I used to do that kinda length semi-regularly in high school, and I know I still can if not as quick. It helps that the way there is downhill, mostly. So $2 goes into my wallet, just in case I don't get any tips. I can do this because the company I work for owns their own delivery cars (which is the only reason I drive for them). I hope to turn it into a regular habit, and maybe even get enough stamina back to do the return trip after work.


I already have a roommate lined up, thankfully, and so I just need to get the cash together, and we can start looking for a new place to live. Thankfully, the places were we will most likely end up working are were we would be looking for an appartment are close to both his and my (current) workplace, and pretty central to everything as it is.

Here is to being in a better place in three months.