New Car, New Life

I got a new car, and a few weeks after I got a new shift at work.  A shift that required me to wake up about the time that I was usually going to sleep.

It's been pretty bad, but the worst of it isn't that I have to wake up early, but the fact that in order to get 8 hours of sleep, I have to be asleep by 7pm.  People always say that it's awesome to get off of work early, but honestly when you have to be in bed by the time senior citizens are eating dinner, it pretty much kills life.

Thankfully, we just had another shift bid and I'm back to being a night owl again, which is what I love.  I also have a person I love back on my team at work, and 1 day off with my husband again instead of zero, which is nice.  It will be great to be back on the same sleep schedule, where we share a bed for more than 2 hours at a time.

When I posted a picture of my car on FB, my 6th grade best friend said "this car is totally you" which meant so much to me.  I feel like I'm getting my life back a little.

If only my thyroid meds were working better.  It's been 6 months, and all I've ended up losing is 4 pounds.  I'm eating under how many calories I'm burning a day, and 4 pounds is all I've lost.  And I'm still very tired all the time.  I guess that means it's time for another doctor's appointment.

Christmas Movies

I decided this Christmas season to watch all those Christmas movies that people talk about.  They always say how wonderful they are, and how they look forward to watching them all year.  I was not impressed by any of these movies.

Miracle of 34th Street-This was my husband's favorite, and I have to admit there is a certain charm to it.  It helps that I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is how it starts.  But then it just meanders on and on...and as a whole it's a nice movie, but not one I'd ever go out of my way to watch again.

It's a Wonderful Life-So, I really thought that this movie would have more to do with Christmas, but really Christmas was just sort of there while everything else happened around it.  And, I'm sorry, but I'm used to seeing Jimmy Stewart not be a huge jerk to everyone, and I didn't like it.  He's much better talking to an invisible rabbit or making filibusters. 

White Christmas-Again, it was a movie, where Christmas just happened by.  A cute enough movie, of course, but I never care about seeing it again.

A Christmas Story-I just found this movie overly strange.  Why doesn't he ever bring in the rest of the mail?  Why does he want a BB gun so bad?  He seems overly influenced by the media, isn't that bad?  Why in the world would anyone make an award into a chessy leg lamp? Kids curse all the time, why is it such a big deal in this movie?  Don't people know that this movie is based on a bunch of articles written for Playboy?  I think he only got that gun because he wouldn't have shut up about it otherwise.

Now, this is the one that everyone thinks is fantastic.  About 15 minutes into the movie, I posted a comment on Facebook about how I was watching it, and so far it was overly narrated, which it is.  I don't know how that's even debatable. 9 comments later, I found that no one is able to be objective about this movie.

No one has any actual valid reasons for thinking this is a good movie.  They just stand by it blindly because it's been part of their childhood, the same reason no one can say for certain why they like "Wizard of Oz."  It's because they can't remember their life without it, they can't seem to be objectionable.

What I do instead of buckle down

I decided today would be the day I started writing a novel I've been thinking about.  Unemployment looks like it's going to last for awhile now, so I might as well have a project, something to look forward to everyday.

So I sat down at my brand new desk, opened a Word document...transcribed what notes I had taken about it into the document....

And then I started dicking around.

I checked Facebook.  I checked Twitter.  I checked Tumblr, even though that site isn't really my demographic.  I tuned into Logo and found a Nip/Tuck rerun marathon.

Man, that Quentin fellow was creepy from the start, wasn't he?

And then I wrote a paragraph.  I did some research to back up what I just wrote, then realized I hadn't quite set up Skype yet.

So I told my sister to Skype me, and we troubledshot (troubleshooted?) until I figured out the problem with my new webcam.  I still can't get Dailybooth to work with the camera.

Then I went back to writing, and turned back on Nip/Tuck.  Did you know that the new Kinex for the Xbox only works on white people?  Apparently it only picks up white skin.  There's gotta be a racism card someone can play and sue them for that...

I'm pretty sure my ADD is too bad to write a novel.  But, I'm sure gonna try.

Dreams aren't always like this

It's not a sob-fest every night. For example, last night I had a dream I was going to some LA gym, and as I walked up I realized I forgot my lock.

I sat down at a table in front of the gym, which was completely made of glass. I could see the people upstairs running on the track, and swimming in the clear pool.

"Are you not going in" someone at the table next to me asked, and I looked over to see Garry Marshall. I am starstruck, but hold it together and tell him I'm "fixing" to go in. We have a laugh, then I look over and see Steven Speilberg talking to a little girl. He called her "Little Eddie" Barrymore, and was trying to make her feel better about a part she got.

I got up the courage to tell Steven that I was glad that he was not only a good filmmaker, but a humanitarian as well, and I was glad to meet him.

I turned around to talk again to Garry Marshall, who I really wanted to speak with, only to find he had left to go inside the gym. I was sad that I missed the chance to talk to my idol, and wasted my time with Steven Speilberg.

And I watched episodes of Lost last night, I have NO idea where that dream came from!

Sometimes They Twitter Like Birds...

Obviously nothing has happened to me worth writing about. I've been getting into the mini-blogging that is Twitter, that bas been nice. I could recount the immaturity of friends that I've had to deal with in the last month, but in all honesty it's to stupid to repeat. And it's all been friends of friends anyway. I'm not cool enough to have my own drama.

Mostly it just made me think about how selfish everyone is lately. A friend of mine blogged this, and It moved me so much that I had to steal it for my own devices:

"The Way We Live Now"

[Scott McLellan, in his recently published book] wrote that President Bush “convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment,” and has engaged in “self-deception” to justify his political ends ...

Bruce Springsteen once said "President Nixon legitimized 'the scam'" and gave people the green light to engage in less-than-ethical behavior throughout the rest of the 70s. The ends justifies the means. Never complain, never explain. And for quite a few years after that, ethics went out the door, and the country was never quite the same.

The same thing happened with Bush. Take a look around you.

Do the majority of people you deal with, aside from your closest circle of friends who hopefully you picked wisely, convince themselves to believe what suits their needs at the moment? Do people you work with lie with ease, and believe what are obviously lies to justify their own ends?

I've seen it get worse and worse to the point where an entire generation has entered the work force thinking this is the way life is, that you have to get ahead by believing you are better than anyone else around you and that's more important that hard work, loyalty and dedication.

Bush legitimized self-deception, proved that it works and that there is much to be gained by throwing people under the bus. It's not "What can you do for me?" It's "What can you do for me ... today?"

I hope Obama's impending election will change this, and that the laws of karma turn full circle. That's the change I want to see."

I don't necessarily agree with the political aspect, but more about how people are lately. It's sad that this has happened. I wish something could be done about it, but I don't see it happening in the near future.

Snap Judgements

My friend Melrose and I pulled up alongside an expensive silver bit of a car. I glanced over at the man driving it, and saw the slicked back hair and the matte black-rimmed glasses to match.

"So, this guy next to us? he's obsessed with Superman. He has the comics at home, the t-shirt that he wears under a suit at Halloween, and the cape, which he keeps in the back of his closet in a wooden box, so no one knows."

Melrose laughed and decided to play along too. "What's the girlfriend in the passengers seat look like?"

We let our car roll forward and not-so discreetly peeked into their car.

"Oh my god, his girlfriend is Asian! That means he's into the Smallville TV show, and she looks just like Lana Lang!" Momo said!

"He is so protective of her!" I said as he reached for her hand in her lap, "I bet you ANYTHING he has a huge hero complex! But he also feels like he can be a little bit dangerous...you know, like if some red Kryptonite was around"

The light turned, and SuperGuy sped off and cut in front of me.

His license plate read "GENTLMN"

Momo and I couldn't stop laughing for the next two lights.

Is it April 15th Yet?

Did you know the IRS hold music is The Nutcracker? I just found out now. I was doing pliés and arabesques all over my living room while worrying that the IRS was going to track me down and arrest me.

After a rousing romp through the apartment, I got the nicest lady at the IRS. No, seriously. I know it sounds sarcastic, but she helped me through some trauma. I had only gotten the $7.95 charge on my credit card, but not the amount that I owed. She told me what to do, and I felt so much better.

"So, that means you aren't going to send thugs to my door to beat me up tomorrow?" I asked her jokingly.

"Oh Honey," she replied, "We have bigger fish to fry. Have a nice day!"

Note to Self: Netflix the Nutcracker.

I can quit anytime...

Lover Boy and I are looking to save some money, so we've been discussing what we spend the most money on. Lover Boy thinks our problem is how many trips I like to take.

I can't help it. I love to travel. I love being in a new place, doing new things. Even old things. The grass is always greener and all that.

This January we went home for a week to spend time with family and college friends. This, to me, is necessary. We are also going away for a few days next month for my birthday. This isn't necessary, but I love taking a trip for my birthday. When I'm doing something during my birthday, I can forget that I'm getting older. This has worked for the last 3 years.

In May I'm doing a girl's weekend with my mom, as we are going to my cousin's wedding. This is semi-necessary. I really don't like my cousin, but watching her disaster of a wedding will give us fodder to mock her for years. Or until the divorce.

Lover Boy just got offered a trip through his work to go the opposite coast to visit a place I've always wanted to go. It's only going to be $650.00. If we planned the trip on our own, we'd be getting into the thousands for the cost. We have to go.

It's only February and I've used up all my vacation time already. I have two floating holidays, and three places to be.

I might have a problem.

But, I counted to Lover Boy, we go out to eat far to much. And that, surely, is more costly in the long run then a few trips over the year.

He agreed. Then he asked our waiter for the take-out menu.

Does Attempted Suicide Count? (I kid!)

"What's the most dangerous thing you've ever done?" ~Jamie

Depends on what you mean by dangerous. If you mean physically, I'm not very adventurous. I suppose that it could be when I rock-climbed...but that actually felt pretty safe. I think that's because it was indoors. Ooh, I went skydiving; also indoors. I'm just not an outdoor girl.

The only thing I've done that I've felt dangerous doing was when I walked out of a job. It was a temp job, and I told the temp agency how bad it was there, and if my immediate supervisor there was escorted off the job that day that I'd be right behind her. I did it, my heart pounding in my chest the whole time. I even took the stairs because I was afraid I'd run into the security guards coming back up. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, but this company had been doing the wrong thing to it's employees since the day I got there. Someone needed to show them. Of course, the Temp Agency 'fired' me, even though I let them know what was going down before hand. I just met my immediate supervisor across the street for margaritas. We were joined by another employee soon after.

I know, I don't take chances that much. I always seem to play by the rules, even though I always say what you should do is break all of them and see what happens.

I Read A Lot

Laughing Frog tagged me. I think she's trying to tell me something.

1. One Book That Changed My Life: Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. I never knew that a man could have such an amazing insight into women. CP is amazing, and you'll never read a novel by anyone else once you start on him.

2. One Book That You've Read More Than Once: There are dozens that I've read more than once, but I guess I'll have to say Wake Me When It's Funny by Gary Marshall. His autobiography is great and so funny, I can't help but read it at least twice a year. All the behind the scenes action on all his movies are wonderful.

3. One Book You'd Want On a Desert Island: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. His ability to take you away to another land is something I would need if I was stuck on a island!

4. One Book That Made You Laugh: The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. The tone tells me most of the story is true, and you have to laugh at how completely stupid parents can be. I really hope they don't screw this up as a movie.

5. One Book That Made You Cry: Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I love that book, and it was one of the few books that I just grew up reading. I honestly don't remember the first time I read it.

6. One Book That You Wish Had Been Written: Biography of Chuck Palahniuk. I want to know what happened to him to get him to come up with the crazy ideas.

7. One Book That You Wish Had Never Been Written: Anything by Jane Austen. The women kills me. I can't handle the crap-tacularness.

8. The Book You are Currently Reading: Everything About Me is Fake...And I'm Perfect! by Janice Dickinson. If you read her books you wouldn't hate her so much. Trust me.

9. One Book You've Been Meaning To Read: Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I finally finished The Da Vinci Code, I've heard that I need to read it.

10. Now Tag Five People: I'm not evil. Do it if you want to...But whatever you do, click this sad unemployed girl's ads. Thank You.

TDG and the Search for Wireless Internet

The $35 dollar gift card was burning a hole in my pocket on the way home from work. The idea of blogging on the couch from my neglected laptop was calling to me, and the wireless router was on sale for $50. It was going to be a steal.

The Office Depot was only 1/3 of a block from my house, so I could get it and be home. I promised a friend I'd be online to help him out with a problem by 6pm. It was 5:15 when I walked into Office Depot.

Why is it the only one on sale is the only one with that big gaping hole where it should be? With a sigh, I turned to mow down an employee. I came across Employee #1 and Supervisor #1. They said they'd look in the back room and disappeared. I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach…something was telling me it wasn't going to be back there. I was thinking of asking them to call another store when they came back with a piece of paper. They said they didn't have it in the back, but they gave me a list of the other stores, with an inventory of my router. This was better than a phone call! Or so I thought.

I went to the next closest Office Depot, who had 8 according to the sheet Employee and Supervisor #1 had given me. Here I found Supervisor and Employee #2...some of the stupidest men I've ever met. They were looking everywhere that I knew that it wasn't. Like, behind the pens. It’s not going to be behind the pens boys! They said it wasn't their fault because Store #1 hadn't called them to make sure they have it on hold. But, they will call Store #3 and make sure they are holding it for me. Supervisor #2 stays on the phone with Store #3 for about 20 freaking minutes. At this point my cell is dying, and I’m late for my internet meeting.

Because I don't have a choice, I head to Store #3, because they will only hold my router until closing. I’m so tired by this point I just buy what they hand to me (I was only paying attention to the price) and walked out the door. Of course halfway back to my car I stop. I stop in the middle of the road because the feeling suddenly hits me that it was to easy. I've had issues with Store #3 before, and they always screw up. I look in the bag and sure enough it is an adapter, and not a router. After dealing with Supervisor #3 and #4, and Employee #3, 4, 5, and 6, I was ready to kill someone. I pretty much deal with everyone in the store, and get this half-baked story about how the delivery is late so the computer doesn't reflect what they really have in the store. They refused to do anything for me, and were pretty much useless. I returned the adapter and headed back to Store #1.

Supervisor and Employee #1 are still there. I go in and let them have it. The whole story. I happen to add that I just drove 30 miles and am still without router. The sale will end before any of the stores get the router. When Supervisor #1 looked to not be breaking or cutting me a deal, I had to drop the "what are you going to do for me?" bomb. I happen to know from working in customer service that this is the home stretch. "What are you going to do for me?"roughly translates to "Do something for me or I'’ll throw a damn fit. Make it good asshole."

I walked out of the store at 8:30. He gave me a faster router for $50 instead of the original $90. Plus, don't forget I had a $35 gift card. I made out like a bandit! All I had to sacrifice was a little of my sanity. And the gas in my car.

So here I am, blogging while watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" It doesn't get much better than this.

Dumb Boys, and Who is Airwolf?

DragonFly, the picture-taking-parrot-loving-fool, asks:

“I really want to know…why are boys so dumb? I mean, why do you have to spell everything out for them? They take no signs, no hints and are oblivious to everything…”

I know on the surface boys look dumb. You’ve actually said it yourself; they are oblivious. We as girls over-think EVERYTHING! We are always on the lookout for signs, hints, and anything that something is going to happen. I’m not sure exactly why, but men just don’t work like that. They think “that girl is cute…I wonder if she likes me.” In the meantime we are thinking “Did he just touch my hand like that because he likes me?” Girls look for signs while guys just…wonder. Now-a-days it has to be the woman who clubs the man over the head and drag her off to her cave.

Do you want to know why a man loves a confidant woman? Because they don’t have to do any work. They just sit back and let it happen. The best thing you can do is just go after the guy with gusto. They are simple creatures who very rarely say no.

Rod, my favorite independent film guy, asks many questions! The first of which is this:

“Who’d win in a fight, Knight Rider or Airwolf, and why?”

Well, now that is a close call. It’s hard to answer, you see, because Knight Rider is amazing in defense, while Airwolf is all about the offense. Knight Rider had all sorts of cool gadgets to figure things out, and it was nearly impervious. It could get hit with a machine gun and it wouldn’t even ruin the paint job! On the other hand, there were really only a few episodes where they outfitted it with a laser or something, but they always ended up not having anything long term. Airwolf was made especially for battle, however. That, and Airwolf was faster than fast. I think it would end in a draw, like in Freddy vs. Jason. (Did I just ruin that for someone? I bet I did…and I bet no one cares!)

However, if you are talking about the men who man these machines and not the machines themselves, then it’s gotta be David Hasslehoff. How could you not love that guy?

Rod’s other questions answered and more all this week! If you would like to ask me anything, leave it as a comment!