Shababble

Some Gorilla Magic YO!

2008-10-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

So maybe you're having a crappy day....if you're me, maybe you got a stupid parking ticket when you weren't even the one driving and there are so no signs saying you can't park there (Damn right I'm contesting it )!

But then something just a bit fricking magical happens...and your shipment comes in with your order that just so happens to include A Gorilla set (mask, hands, feet). Pretty cool all in and of itself, right? Even if you paid for it, getting you're own Gorilla set is just pretty fricking fantastic ! BUT....then comes the magic! As you start to unwrap the contents, you realize that you got not two, but THREE gorilla hands!!

Yes my homies!! I now have THREE FRIZNATCHING FRACKING GORILLA HANDS? Jealous? I bet you are!

Today!

2008-01-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Today to MEEEEEEEEE =-)! Since I haven't had a day off since last Wednesday, I actually have today off - Woohoo =-)!!! Viva la Yay!! I need to make an exhilarating trip to Costco in a bit, in preparation for a little gathering tomorrow, so it is piecing together to be an exciting day ;-p. A call came in on my cell and I eagerly reached over to grab it thinking it might be someone passing along well wishes, but when I saw that is was my boss, I immediately let it go to Voice Mail. No thank you! You cannot call me into work today!! I got semi-jokingly asked to cover a graveyard shift yesterday by the woman who scheduled 12 people to attend something she forgot was canceled, and I said NO, NO, NO!!! So when I saw my boss's number I feared that's what it was about. As he went to voice-mail I found my work cell phone, which I had on vibrate, to make sure they hadn't been trying to call me. They hadn't, so I was perplexed at why he was calling my personal cell. When I listened to his message he started out with "No, I'm not trying to call you in to work a graveyard shift...". He goes on to say he had heard it was my day and that he "Just wanted to let you know I think you are a fabulous person and I am glad you're on my team." Wow. Who knew? You don't always have to dread calls from the boss!

Here I come next year of my life. Let's make it a good one!

I still exist!

2008-01-09T16:35:00.000-08:00

Wow - it's been a million years (or like 8 months more specifically =-/). Damn. Lameness, I know. We all know I am lazy and unmotivated, no surprise there ;-). I am also currently full. Too much yogurt and grapenuts.....it tasted so damned good I just kept going. Bah - FULL!!

Soooooooo....the last 8 months. Our boss got FIRED and we got put under someone else who inherited a GIANT, SINKING SHIP - so wouldn't want to be him! I do find it kind of humorous that poor, insecure Backstab Bitch had nuzzled her way into the good graces of our last UGH of a boss, and all that brown-nosery was for nothing =-). Hehe!! We did the next deployment location, and, as a total anomaly, there were no swing or graveyard shifts, so that was nice but it will probably never happen again =-/. Once we got the new boss we shouted from the rooftops over how desperately we needed more employees, and he did not listen to our plea's, so this deployment has been very challenging and draining. Tomorrow I will be working until almost 1 in the morning and soon I get to do graveyard. Woohoo - what fun =-[. Plus, not only do we have Saturday's scheduled, but we also have Sunday's. Tada! They pay us decently because our job sucks!

The good news is I am certainly better at my job than I was several months ago, even if I still don't like it. I just had my annual review today and I got good ratings =-). I would suggest that maybe the fact that I came in wearing my happy face ring swayed him, but he had it all typed up before he even saw the ring ;-). Although some people familiar with the new boss had advised me not to vocalize as many things as I have up to this point, he actually thanked me for my straight-shooting and commended me for it. Kapow baby! It was a calculated risk to be as honest and blunt as I have, but turns out homeboy likes that. I rock =-).

I did move into a new place and I love being the lone person on the lease! The move was at the end of June, and all these months later, of course, I still don't have everything situated and in place. But it is a groovy apartment, and nice and spacious. I hate not having washer/dryer hookup though and could do without the stupid key-entry building thing. I have an out-of-country visitor coming soon and would have no way for her to enter and leave without me there. Boo! And the key places yell at you if you try to get those "DO NOT DUPLICATE" keys copied. Bastards.

More reasons this place is good though is I so have spectacular friends nearby =-)! And I live close to the home office, so when I have to travel for work I get mileage reimbursement after only a few miles - whooppee! This is my first full year where I will only have one w-2 (or w-4 whatever they are) from a "real" job. And looking at my paycheck and trying to figure my taxes that way, it doesn't look like I will get back NEAR as much as I feel I deserve. Grrrrrr =-(. It seriously almost makes you want to spend time behind bars so you can feel like you are actually getting something in return for all those tax dollars! Bastards!!

So, one of the things I had told my boss (the new one) early on is that I am looking for a new job. A very slow, slow process because I don't really know what I want to do and I'm not going to jump ship for just anything. Anyways, I've recently had the opportunity to do a couple things that aren't in my normal job description and I actually, gasp, enjoyed them =-O. Good Lord - who knew? You mean there can actually be stuff at work that I don't hate?!?!?! Promising! So hopefully I will have a chance to seek and discover more things that don't make me dread work =-).

All in all, outside of work, I would say 2007 was a pretty damned good year for me. And work allowed me to meet more people and to move out to where I wanted to live, so it hasn't been all bad either. The last song I heard in 2007 was "Love Shack" and the first one in 2008 was "Let the Good Times Roll" by B.B. King. Neither of which is a bad thing =-).

So I am a happy and content Shababbler on many fronts, which is pretty damned awesome. My main goal is to get out of this 24/7 type of job, but then I'd be DAMN content, and that might be too strange to know what to do with ;-).

Trudging Along...

2007-05-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Almost a month since I've been here. The area's great, but I've been so wiped out or busy most of the time that I haven't really taken the time to explore it. Have made friends with the crazy wild turkey's though. Caught myself one time as I was calling out, "Well hello Mr. Wild Turkey" after he had gobbled my way, but realized some people might decide I'm crazy, which I prefer to keep to myself ;-p.

The area continues to be pretty, some of my coworkers continue to be groovy people, my housing continues to be lovely, and my roommate is still awesome - Yay for all of those things =-). However, my boss has cartwheeled her way into the "How in the Hell did this person ever land in management" club, and a couple people are still those people you have to watch your back around. This job is full of long and draining hours, and I think our boss has a vacuum pump set to suck our souls straight out of us and into the dark, dusty chamber in her shoe. The shoe, in theory, would be a stilletto heal set to spear our jugulars. Joy, joy, joy. And I learned today that there will be a couple of weeks in June where I will be blessed with pretty much the crappiest schedule possible. Yippee.

I have tomorrow off, which will be LOVELY. But I only have it off because I have to work on Saturday. I was just down in Southern California this weekend for the wedding of a friend. I think it's so awesome when fantastic people find each other and do that whole falling in love thing! Hahaha. Gee, love, what's that?! No, seriously, he's a great guy and I'm so glad he found a fabulous girl. Plus he used to be married to a psycho ex-friend of mine, so the fact that he came through that to find a terrific girl is a wonderful, much deserved thing. On Saturday I went to Disneyland with my lovely pal who also was my date to the wedding. He was my +1! I hadn't been to Disneyland in 11 years, so it was actually pretty groovy. I got the coolest Mickey ears - Yay! They are pirate Mickey ears with the bandanna and the earring =-)!!

So I have to believe life in general is still good. It's just so easy to get so gosh darn consumed by the one or two things in your life that weigh on you. Just need to start pumping Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" into my head on a constant feed while at work =-).

Backstabbery!!!

2007-04-10T22:09:00.000-07:00

So it turns out one of the coworkers that I had been friendly with IS AN EVIL WENCH!!! Woohoo....day two in the new spot and I'm already staring at someone and wishing they would implode. This is someone I have been friendly with, and turns out bitch is a backstabber. Hello? When did I go back to Junior High?!?!

Basically there was something I was doing that she evidently thought was a problem (funny how it was only a problem when I was doing it but not when anyone else was doing it....hmmmmm), and she told me not to do it. Please know that I am NOT that person that does crap I am not supposed to when it's not appropriate! The fact that she tried to make the situation into something it wasn't PISSES me off. Fine, whatever. I thought she was being a bit ridiculous, but whatever. Done. Until the next morning when another coworker pulls me aside to give me a heads up......lt turns out evil coworker ho had decided to tell the boss in a meeting (that only had the longer term staff) that, she didn't want to name any names, but "THE SHABABBLER was doing such and such." (Ya, I don't say my real name on this thing, but she said my real name right away). DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEE?!?!?!??! You DID NOT just go there!!!! I don't think there was a problem w/my behavior, but when you call me out on it and tell me not to do it, and I stop doing it, ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO GO TO OUR FREAKING BOSS AND TRY TO MAKE ME LOOK BAD BEHIND MY BACK?!?!?! At least have a meeting w/me there so I can share my side!

Homegirl messed with the wrong person. Those of you in my "real" world that know it's best for people not to mess with me may have trouble believing that in the "work" world I actually keep myself rather contained. Homegirl is not going to realize that I know she practically waved a banner in our boss's face trying to get me in trouble so she could look good, she will just assume I'm a little less friendly because she said something to me. But when you try to freaking throw me in a ditch, I'm not going to be your friend. Wow. What a day. And the day before she had evidently said some things that really pissed off another coworker, so she has a way of burning ties as she tries to manipulate and connive her way into favor with the boss. It's a trip when you get a glimpse of someone's true colors. And at the same time, I feel sorry for her because it makes it obvious, although she is evil and conniving, she's evidently really insecure too. Whatever. I'm done with her and now I know! Thank Goodness for a great living situation, an awesome roommate, and some cool coworkers that don't make the words "Skank" and "bitch" glide through my mind whenever they walk past me!!!

In the New Land!

2007-04-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it dear readers? Two entries in less than two weeks - wow! All 3 or so of you should be shocked and amazed, hehe ;-p. So moving out of one place and into another a day later is complete! Yay! Well, I guess I shouldn't say complete, because I have tons of unpacking to do, but hey. And shame on my brother for tattling to our Pop that his daughter had been blogging away when she should have been packing, hehe.

So ya, moving out was a several hour process. My peeps arrived and my Dad immediately came down to ask if I had done anything. I showed him my car, which was just about filled to the BRIM, and he asked, "Was all of this stuff in your closet?!?!" Ummm...ya....hehe.....I am a stuff whore. I am seriously never allowed to buy anything AGAIN! But dude - I so have a stuff addiction! I just need to transfer it to only buying stuff for other people, hehe.....I'm just a consumer, I like to buy.

When all was said and done there were three cars, two with seats removed or set down, moving me out of my sublet. Ya, three. Seriously. And the only place I had stuff was pretty much in my room! But it was good - the roommate there was a really good guy =-). Yay for non-psycho strangers that you find online! So my Love Lobster was rocking shotgun in my car and the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile pillow was doing so in the car my pop was driving. Perfect.

And the next day we managed to whittle it down to only two cars, because this place is furnished. One of my coworkers came over today and was floored by how much crap I had.

The new place is NIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCEEEEE!! Hell ya baby boy!! I scored the Master Bedroom and have a huge fricking bathtub and a lovely and enormous closet - WOOHOO!!! Yay for big baths and big closets!! Hot damn! My one little Pirate Devil Rubber Duckie looks lonely in such a big space. And I LOVE the floorplan of the apt.! Each room is on opposite sides of the living/dining room areas, so if someone is up for hours listening to music, ain't no thang!! Woohoo! Ya baby!!

Speaking of music, I FINALLY found some of my Remy Zero, which I have been searching for for ages, and I am stoked because those boys rock! I hate it when groovy groups break up, but supposedly they are potentially reuniting....we shall see.

My roommate came in today and I think we are just going to have a great time together. She's awesome and so am I so we are a good match ;-p! Hehe.

Work today was okay....I have some assessments, but won't bore you with them. I'm looking forward to when I finally get to the point where I have the knowledge down and can appear all knowledgeable and spiffy and all that crud, and hopefully at least a smidgeon entertaining! I find being entertaining much more fulfilling than being knowledgeable, but somehow that's not what's in my job description - bummer, hehe. I don't lead anything these first couple weeks, and will probably be lame to start out with, but will hopefully rock before I'm done here!

Since I have a lot of unpacking to go I couldn't find my work appropriate belt today =-/. So my next closest one has a studded star in the belt buckle, but I figured that was a much better choice than any of the three with the skull belt buckles, hehe.

This area is pretty. I went to the store yesterday evening and was blown away by the beauty from the parking lot. Standing there on top of a hill looking out as the sun was setting....it seemed like more of a scenic viewpoint off a highway, or a makeout lookout (not that I would know anything about those ;-P) than a grocery store parking lot. Wow. I love finding beauty in unexpected places. And this is the second time I have been blown away by the view from a grocery store parking lot! Back in 2005 I was prancing into a store when living in Tacoma and just stopped in my tracks when I realized that was Mt. Ranier above the store top. You just don't get views like that in my hometown! And tonight when my roommate and I were coming home from where we had been, I had to break for Deer!! Two of them!

So I think this place will be scenically stimulating for sure, and I have some really groovy coworkers (along with ones who aren't, hehe) at my fingertips, and a fabulous mall! Not that I am ever allowed to buy anything again, hehe =-).

So I'm sitting here typing away with my dollar-sign bling ring (because that's how I roll, yo!), and before I started typing this I made sure to test out how fun it was to bounce on this bed. I figured that was an appropriate way to celebrate my first day out of the cast. But ya, ankle wasn't really completely happy today, so I was bouncing more on the other foot.....kind of flamingo style if they ever took a lot of uppers or really had to pee and were waiting in line, hehe.

But now I must off, off and away. Things are good right now! And I wanted to give a special shout out to my amazing parents who are headed abroad for the first time ever tomorrow!!! Yay! And they better not be reading this tonight because neither of them had packed yet (gee, maybe that's where I get it from, hehe). It's awesome when you are able to be a part of making something amazing happen for people who are so unbelievable and deserving =-). And I'm not just saying that to get a fantastic souvenir, hehe.

I'm in a good mood - I hope you are too =-)!

Almost Go Time

2007-04-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

Hey Folks!! Here I am.....once again writing because it enables me to put something else off....in this case, packing up to MOVE! Hmmmm....life is pretty good right now. Cool. But let me catch you up...

I went on my trip, which was a little cruise that hit San Diego, Catalina Island and Ensenada. I was looking forward to being away from work and having a good time with my wonderful self....and I'm glad I got away, but it definitely wasn't the vacation of a lifetime or anything. To be honest, I kind of felt like a big loner the whole time =-(. There are several zones in the land of me, and one of those zones is the "Wheeeeeeee! I love people let me make friends with lots of them!" The only thing is....I was never in that zone on this trip. Instead I was in the place where I was constantly noticing that, on a cruise, pretty much EVERYONE comes with other people. Whether it's families, friends, significant others, whatever! So I just felt like the "Hey can you take our picture" girl or what-have-you, which made me kinda sad, because I hate it when I turn out not to be that person who can happily prance around the planet and feel totally content by myself. I have done the solo travel thing before and been fine, but it's really because I have made friends along the way, and, as it turns out....I'm a freaking people person, hehe. I would have to say the single moment that probably embodies how I felt that whole time was when I was sitting and enjoying the dueling pianos in one of the crowded lounges and this hot guy walked up and asked if the seat next to me was taken.....mind you, I didn't think he was going to hit on me, it was crowded and he wanted a seat, however, I completely did not expect him to hoist this heavy chair over his head and walk out of sight with it, leaving me sitting in the isolated chair all by myself, and breaking any illusion that I might have been with someone (anyone). Ya, how do you make the solo traveler feel like even MORE of a loner?? Why don'tcha haul ass as you take the chair away....mmmmmm, ya, mission accomplished!!!

I did snorkel for the first time at Catalina Island and that was cool. It was wetsuit snorkeling, but the water was cold enough that my brain was freezing, hehe. My room was really cool though....I had a big window on the 8th deck and a really comfy bed, and the whole place all to myself =-). I would totally do one again, but not by myself. If I had had someone else with me I would have had a blast. Next time.

The Saturday after the cruise was St. Patty's Day and I met up with a bunch of fabulous people for festivities in the Bay Area. Had loads and loads of fun (was so stoked to be rocking the friend time after 5 days of being Loner Girl). My outfit was super cute (Yay for cute outfits!), but I determined that one accessory was probably a mistake. Turns out if you wear a button that says "Luck Off" the leprechauns take that pretty seriously!! Even if you are also wearing Shamrock earrings and Beedely-Boppers....don't wear the "Luck Off" button!!!!!! The leprechauns attacked me during the night and by the time I went to the doctor a couple of nights later I left with a walking cast and crutches!! I didn't break anything, but I seriously irritated a certain tendon that caused major swelling and lots of bruising that gave people that "Ewww!" reaction. I'm still in the walking cast (which means that I can take it on and off), but I ditched the crutches a couple of days ago because I hated them. I only have to wear it probably through this week, but there is this rather large bump on my foot that doesn't seem to be planning on leaving anytime soon. I tried on my pink go-go boots to see if they would fit, and my foot practically bitchslapped me for even thinking that was a good idea =-/. Ho hum, ho hum, ho hum. Freaking leprechauns!!!

The good news is, overall I am doing very well right now. This is evidently quite unusual because when I called my Dad recently and replied with "Really well" when asked how I was doing, he was shocked and perplexed as he let out his surprised "REALLY?!?!?!". Hehe. We got our roommate assignments for corporate housing, and the girl I am going to be with is really cool, so I am stoked =-)! There are quite a few people I would have been happy being placed with, but some that would have not been cool, so I'm quite pleased! Plus, the housing looks like it will be pretty swanky - yay!! I'm looking forward to taking neverending showers to make up for the quick-speed demon water-turns-cold-too-fast ones I get here. Bah!

Plus, we got our work schedule for the next couple months and it's not as bad as I imagined it would be. Definitely not great at all, but not as doom-and-destruction as I imagined. I will have to be at work on many days FAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRR too freaking early, and we do have to work some weekends, but not all of them. Plus, the area we will be in is pretty, so once my ankle gets better it will be nice to explore it.

I've loved living in this area socially, so I've decided once this job deployment stint ends I think I will look for an actual apartment over here instead of just a sublet. The idea of living all by myself sends goosebumps of happiness through me over the thought of being able to be the Decoration Dictator - woohoo! There's a lot to do in this area, I'm near a nice bunch of good friends, and I've been lucky enough to make friends with some really cool new people. See, people make me happy, hehe! Unless they are pissing me off, then WATCH OUT! But groovy people rock my whirl =-).

On that note, time for bed....another week of the working world hullaballoo.

Night!

Saying Hello

2007-03-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

Gosh........another month+ has passed. I have been enjoying my time here socially, but not so much on the work tip. Although, the funny thing is that there are now several new people on my team. This is humorous to me because, as it stands, I am now one of the folks who has been on the team for a longer amount of time. Hehe. The survival rate on this team is SLIM! Some of the new people are super groovy, and just as leery of the entire process, but it just goes to show that groovy people can certainly make the mindless work days more tolerable.

I only have a month to go before being stuck in the next realm.....fairly bummed, I have met some cool people. Ugh....I can't imagine moving all my crap again....I've never fully moved all my crap in (shocker, I know).

We had a party here over the 3 day weekend in February....that was a lot of fun =-). And the weather was perfect.

So next week I am going on a little trip.....YAY! Not the trip I originally wanted to do, but should be fun. Going by myself, but I'm good company ;-p. Speaking of that though......I'm just doing this to put off packing.....gotta get started!

YAY!!

2007-01-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

Yay! What a great day I had, considering I had to work and all =-p. Today was that one day a year where it is supposed to be all about you......(and the zillions of other people around the world born on this day).....and it was just really nice =-). I treated myself to driving to work, an expensive treat when even the cheap lots are like $7.50, but way worth it for my birthday - a gift to avoid public transit and the crazy people that ride on it!! I also treated myself to doing very little on the productive side at work (oooops, hehe), and to answering my cell. And I got sooooooo many Happy Birthday, well-wishes calls =-)! Thank you so much to all of the people who remembered with e-mails, and e-cards, and phone calls! More people took the time to acknowledge me than I thought would even remember =-). Including an e-mail from someone who I would never expect to remember even though I have had birthday bashes at his house (Aubrey), and calls from people like my best friend from high school who was tremendously sick (and sounded so on the phone =-(), and from my friend Laura all the way from Paris! Plus, I had delivered to me the totally awesome and adorable specially-made card that was sent to my house (thanks Sam and Jon!!). I got to have dinner with my parents and my Lou-Dawg, and a couple of my coworker friends at work took me out to lunch.......yay for a great birthday! Thank you to everyone who helped make it special for me.....even the run in my pantyhose didn't ruin things =-). And no rain! That was really cool too ;-)!

2007-01-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

Loads has happened since my last post. Moved in a few days later to my new sublet that is closer to work (since there is no flexibility on working elsewhere as there was on my last team). I don't mind as I prefer the area I am living in now to where I was living before....but this place IS SO FREAKING COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!! I am wearing fingertipless gloves as I type this. It's 56 right now according to the thermometer that I bought after I started freezing here. It is usually 48 in the morning.

Anyway, the person I am living with seems pretty nice. A self-professed workaholic, so I don't necessarily see him so much. Plus, the place he works is open 24 hours, so he often covers shifts that start at all hours. But the place is freaking cold and the heat is only downstairs and it doesn't really work all the time. Plus he is very frugal. So life is COLD!!!!

As for the new position...........well.........ugh!!! The irony is my boss seems so nice every time you talk to her. I mean, really nice.....but she is evidently a bit of a Hitler when it comes to her rigid interpretation of the rules (as compared to all of the other teams). This includes a black out on taking time off when we are actively positioned in a location. To the tune of like 3 months at a time! NOT COOL!!!! And not the way anyone else does it either =-(. I'm just going to try to stick in there until I make it to my one-year mark, but even that is going to be a challenge. And people on this new team are kinda lame!! Not all, but many! UGH!!! Counting......down.....the.....days!

Anyhow, I still have a lot of faith that 2007 is going to be a groovy year =-)! Let's hope that rings true =-).

Note to self...

2007-01-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

....Just because you find it oddly humorous that during one of the most critical shopping days of the year (the day after Christmas), as you were in the wake of the DEMON illness that traveled the ranks of most of your extended family, and you just HAD to catch those day-after sales, only to end up spewing in the bushes outside of a major department store....doesn't mean that when your brand-new boss asks everyone on the team to share something funny that happened over the break, that you should share that when introducing yourself for the first time. Because, oddly enough, not everyone finds holiday spewing humorous. Hmmmmm. Will remember that next time =-p!

It wasn't that dreadful, but I do find certain humor in things that others do not. This fell into that general category, but I recovered nicely enough ;-p!

Ringing in the New Year with a Busted Zipper

2007-01-01T13:50:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 2007 EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

I have good feelings about this year -

I think it will be a groovy one =-)!

Let's hope so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I spent my New Year's Eve with one of my Lovely Pals and we headed out in search of something fun to do in a city that could never mistakenly be called "happening," haha. So we found a place and did our thing there, but, as is usually the case, it seems, when attempts are made to attend events on notable occasions, the festivities were just so-so. I was with a good friend though, which is always a stellar way to say goodbye to one year as you welcome the next, and we were dancing away as the countdown neared. About 10 minutes before 2006 said farewell I decided to take my final pee of the year......I completed the task and was about to be off to join my pal on the dance floor when - CRAP!!!!! My zipper was busted!@!#!*! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I didn't really think this sort of thing would seriously happen - especially not 10 minutes before 2007 danced into our lives!!! But it did, and I just couldn't fix it =-(! So I decided that I had no choice but to go with it! I was a bit upset with my zipper, because it's not like it had given me ANY warning that this would happen =-/!! But hey, whatever, it certainly makes things more memorable! So I met up again with my pal on the dance floor and I got my self-conscious groove on as I tried to make sure that no one could see my shiny gold busted zipper against my black pants. Lordy, Lordy!!!! But, I'm curious what sort of message was being sent my way by the various Gods-That-Be with my closing out one year and starting the next with my Busted Zipper! It could be the Gods of, "Girl-You-Gotta-Lose-Some-Weight!" but I prefer to think it is some more entertaining Gods that are giving me a shout-out through my busted zipper =-p! We shall see!!

2007 is already starting out with new things in store for me, I'll be renting a place closer to work and that will make my commute muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhh more manageable!!! Thank goodness for that!!! Sharing the place with someone I don't know, but the person seems pretty nice. I think it will be good! And I officially had my first (token) day in the new position, but won't really get a flavor for that until this week.

So goodbye 2006!!! You know what though? 2006 was actually pretty good to me when all was said and done, and no one in my life died! And sadly that's not always something you can count on being the case =-(. So thank you 2006, you were pretty good to me. BUT YAY FOR 2007!!! I have hopes that we will be GREAT friends!!!!!!!

I wish all of you (my dear 2 or 3 readers ;-p), a wonderful and fabulous 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ramblings of the evening...

2006-12-12T22:14:00.000-08:00

Wow - it's been more than a month =-/....hello again! I still exist. Hanging out in a hotel room this week for work and there is CRAP on tv tonight, so time to write again I guess. Barbara Walters has a special on - she has big eyes. Doesn't she?

Anyways, so before I was complaining about the freaking blizzard on my last out-of-state sojourn, but I must say that when all was said and done, I did have a good time. And I got to say hello to the ferretts who are illegal in my homestate. Well, we didn't actually hang out, but I visited them in the pet store. I've heard they're nasty little bastards though. Might be fun to be one in a future life =-). Visiting other places always makes you wonder about the place where you hang your hat. It's kind of crazy to think of how different your life might/can be if you choose/try to live it somewhere else. I wish there was an easy rotation option....kind of like co-ops (or internships, but paid) in college, where you can live and work in a totally different place for some risk-free period of time without having to worry about making sure you were doing (or attempting) all of the right things for your career and all that crap. Ho hum. Life just seems too short to stay stuck in one location/existence, but it is easy to lock oneself into such things, especially when you want to be near your people (and you aren't insanely rich =-/).

So, my job crap has settled. I will still be gainfully employed (three cheers for the continued paycheck yo!). Toward the end of the month I will be hopping over to a different ship, and that's going to be tedious. Will have to go into the office everyday it looks like (too much travel time), and I will ultimately have to work some waaaaaaaaay-not-cool shifts =-(. I'll hang with it for now though.....I like getting paid =-).

Last weekend was Vegas time =-). A couple of groovy friends were celebrating birthdays. Friday night started off slow, but I probably had more than my fair share of fun on Saturday night. Ah Vegas.....Vegas, Vegas, Vegas. Nothing like dialing your grandma on those wild nights and making all of your friends talk to her too....I'll have to give her a call and see what we chatted about. Politics maybe? Hehehe =-p. Good times.

One of these days I'd like to own a bulldog......or have a really good friend/neighbor who owns it and lets me play with and walk it but they happily pick up the poo. Ya, that might be better. Don't go out and buy me a bulldog though - too much committment right now. If you want to buy one for yourself and let me play with it that would be awesome though =-).

Voting (and lots of other stuff I don't have time to talk about yet)!

2006-11-07T16:04:00.000-08:00

Soooooooooo much has been happening in the last few weeks and I feel like a chicken who's head has popped off and I'm trying to figure out exactly how to get it back on and how I should reposition it if I can get it back on! Good LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDD things have been busy and stressful!! So I don't have much time right now, but later I might do that thing where I write multiple blogs at once and my faithful reader or two will just have to remember to scroll down ;-p!

So, to quickly summarize the craziness, I flew out of state the other weekend timing my arrival on the day of a freaking blizzard!!!!!!! Grrrrrr..........it was only a long weekend to begin with and I hadn't been there in 2 1/2 years, but I just HAD to plan my trip on the worst weather day in 3 years!!!!!!!!!! I got in 6 hours late that night AND my flight home was delayed too =-(. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!! Other than that it was a great trip, after having missed connections, being let off one of the planes first so I could start running up ramps hoping I'd make the just gone connection, having tears involuntarily stream down my face as the nice airline guy told me I was screwed....NO FUN!!!!!!!!!

Then, last weekend was the first wedding photography gig me and my partner had. Talk about stressful! Overall things were good.....although the bride and bridesmaids "Didn't have time" for us to shoot them after the wedding, so I seriously have like 60+ shots of the groom and Groomsmen (who we met with beforehand) and 4 (YES FOUR!!!!) freaking shots of the bridesmaids. It was one of those, "You gotta be kidding me" moments, but nothing we could do. My partner did a better job of hiding he was annoyed, because if they don't want the shots well, they don't get them, but he wasn't thinking (until later) about the fact that that was our chance to build up our portfolio and so we got a little screwed over there. That and the father-of-the-bride was doing a bit of photographic-cock-blocking too. Definitely a good learning experience!!!! And it helps give us ideas of the types of things we need to put in a contract in the future. And yes, I know the Groom sometimes reads these shababblings, and you know I think you rock, but ya can't deny what I'm saying here - you know it's true!!!

Anyways - my FAVORITE moment of the day was when the Groom made sure to tell my partner (who thinks you are very cool by the way Mr. Groom ;-)), "You know she's allowed to drink, right?!" HEHE! The advantage of shooting a laid back friend's wedding =-)!!!!!!!!! He came back with, "Hey, what about me?!" Hehe. Well, I also thoroughly enjoyed it when my great-sport of a brother didn't even bat an eyelash when I (unbeknownst to him) put in for him to Karaoke "My Humps" by the Black-Eyed Peas - Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!! The night was fun - especially after the stress of worrying about getting the shots of the wedding was over! I think I prefer portraits - MUCH easier!!!!!

So I said this was going to be short.........ooooops.....I suck at that sort of thing! My job crap is getting crappier as they pull our strings and toss us around like little ping-pong balls being chased by kittens by making us jump through hoops we shouldn't have to jump through for these freaking, supposed "transition" positions. They are making a game of giving us less than 24 hours notice on when we have to interview and telling us what we have to prep for our 20 minute presentation. The whole process is definitely tinged with evil and disrespect, not to mention kicking people while they are down. I hope things workout =-/.

And finally I get to the VOTING! You know what's weird? Whenever I go to the polls here they never check I.D. At all! I even popped mine into my pocket before I walked in just in case, but no one even asked to see it. It was the same thing last time I voted here (was out of state last year). So - if anyone wants to try to sneak in and fake vote like you are me next year you just might get away with it!

But I love getting my "I voted" sticker. Yay voting! And this time they had a new weird card reader thing. BUT, the cool thing about voting is you can do whatever the hell you want. I had some propositions I felt strongly about, but there were certain things that I wasn't too concerned about. After some deep consideration, I realized that instead of writing myself in for Governor (I don't have time for that shit right now ;-p), I would write in my best friend. She could certainly give Arnie a run for his money!! And we'd undoubtedly get a "Fat Tuesday's" in the Capitol building (YAY Fat Tuesday's!!! I will see you next month in Vegas!!!! I love you Fat Tuesday's =-)!!!!!!!). And, just to make sure it was a power team running the place, I wrote in her fiance for Lieutentant Governor!! Woohoo!! And as I told him, if I get my high-powered connections into the Big Building in Sac-Town, that means that if I ever got arrested for doing something like streaking across the Capitol lawn, I should have no problem getting "excused" for my behavior =-). Hehehehe - yay for totally unrealistic connections!!!! And ya......not the streaking type right now!!!!!

Anyways....how's that for "short"?! I seriously don't know what makes me think, with my serious history of endless babbling, that I have will ever have it in my skill-set to be succinct!!!! Not so much!!!! Back to the stupid job-searching/interview BS!!!! Oh....and about that......if anyone has a company looking for a well-paid "mascot" I totally have costumes =-).

Employment is overrated anyways, right?

2006-10-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

I've been wondering for a while how my work situation could last through the month that my contract indicated it should. So on Friday, those wonders were definitively addressed as a huge gaggle of us received notice that our jobs would be gone, finished, removed from the charts of existence right before that popular holiday in December (the Friday before). Ahhhhhhhh what kind and generous timing for all of those folks who actually like to be employed around Christmas time. But the part that is so insane to me is something that doesn't effect me at all, since I would not have been on the job long enough to be eligible. With this notification that the job would be slipping away also came word that all of those people promised bonuses for being on the project x amount of time by the time it finished, (and we're talking FAT BONUSES for some of these people - HUGE percentages of their salary for the people who had been on the project for a while), well - guess what - they conveniently decided those retention bonuses would no longer be fiscally responsible. "Sorry, we just didn't think it was right considering we were having to cut positions =-)....we know you understand!". So all of these people who were expecting to receive several thousand dollars for sticking it through, are now kicked to the curb. And guess what, the "Retention Bonus" carrot worked because so many of these people didn't even consider other job offers because they knew they were getting a fat payout really soon. It seriously blows my mind that they can just take that away at the last minute! Mission accomplished - those people were retained. I was talking to someone who has worked for this company for a long time and she told me that it didn't surprise her at all that they would pull something like this. Unbelievable.

Now the good news is that they did give us two months warning, and they froze some positions within the project that the 78 of us will have priority consideration for as long as we follow the quick steps to apply. Mind you, we still have to be qualified for the jobs, and I don't think I've been on this boat long enough to be qualified for several of these things. So job search mode has to be kicked into total high gear, and that age old question of, "What the hell do I want to do with my life?" needs to be addressed again. Ho hum - I guess I don't get to be too picky. It's been nice having benefits for a minute! Knowing that if I got stabbed on the street I could go to a hospital and not worry that I would be in debt for the rest of my life to pay off my medical bills! (Mind you, I got the college debt thing locked down - BAH!). So we will see what the next course of employment will be for the Shababbler....hopefully it won't be back to what I was doing before and hopefully I won't have to take a huge pay cut =-/.

Okay - now a bit of happy, lovely news. A super cool career moment for someone who went to the same college as I did. The one and only Weird Al Yankovic (who is so fun to see in concert =-)), has finally made the Billboard Top 10 after all these years!! Way to go Weird Al!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Making Friends (with benefits ;-p)!

2006-10-15T23:07:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a small group of us were all ready to tackle Oktoberfest in San Francisco, that is........until we saw the line that must have had at least a few hundred people in it! We debated it, and considering once we paid our admission and got in we'd still have to wait in line to get beer, we decided instead just to save the price of admission and hit up some bars in the area. First we went to a bar as a pitstop for some food, and then we headed off to another bar that happens to be a bit of a favorite. Mind you, I don't live in the city, so it's not like I've been there very often, but they have this oh-so-comfy couch with really cushy and lovely pillows and a great jukebox =-). Love the jukebox and the pillows =-).

So, to be honest, I'm totally not much of a beer girl, so the bar thing probably worked out better for me. I was talking to the bartender to try to figure out what I should try and he suggested a "Purple Hooter." YUM Purple Hooter =-)!!!! Never had one before - and damn, Chambord is tasty! Later I came up and spoke with Bryan the Bartender again and wanted to get a shot for me and my Nacho. This time we had "Sexy Alligators" - hehe. It looks really cool when it's sitting there waiting to be drunk =-). But let me tell ya, making friends with the bartender proved to be a damned fine move. He was stoked we were playing music and he brought over Mind Erasers for the four of us =-)! Made w/vanilla vodka, so I guess that made them a bit sweeter than usual. And later - after we had shifted to the lovely couch, he brought over another round for each of us. Yay for making friends with the Bartender - WOOHOO!!

When we left several hours later we went to Mel's Diner for late night grub. The Chocolate Malts were special delivered right from heaven =-). All four of us got shakey action and food-food. I think we all learned later though that mixing Malts and burgers and Beverage isn't such a good idea!!

The only bummer about the whole thing is that I realized the next day that I think I accidentally left my favorite pirate hook on the couch - I loved that pirate hook =-(. When I called to tell A-Dawg about it she lightened my heavy heart a bit by telling me that maybe one of it's last moves was to hook someone in the ass as they sat down on it =-)! Hey - it's plastic, it wouldn't hurt, hehehe =-).

Last on the List...

2006-10-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

This week for work I was in a different city, and something addressed during the last day made me think it was time to call my best friend from high school. I had just talked to her a few weeks before, but she's due to have her first baby on November 1st, so I thought I should give a call. She picked up right away and I asked how she was doing, to which she responded that she was tired. I asked if she was any more tired than usual or just regular tired (she had been put on orders not to work for the last month of her pregnancy, so I didn't know if anything else had happened). She said she was a bit more tired than usual and I asked if there was any particular reason why. She asked me if I had talked to her sister (also a friend) and I said no.

"I had the baby." "WHAT?!?!?!" "I had him on Saturday." WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Holy smokes!!!! So I was blown away and heartily congratulated her. I was just randomly calling and I thought she would still be a few weeks away from having a new little man in the house!!!!!!!! So wow! I was totally happy for her (yes folks, even though I sooooooooo don't want kids for myself, I can be happy for those other folks on the planet (the other 98% of you) who do want little ones).

But I have to admit that I'm just a bit floored. Because she had the baby on Saturday. Saturday......five days before Thursday. I was the one to call randomly on Thursday. She had the baby on Saturday. Every single family member (including the other two bridesmaid's from the wedding last year who happen to be related to the baby - but are also considered friends). But no one had bothered to try to tell me. No one even thought about giving me a call or sending an e-mail. Nobody. Not the grandparents to the new little guy (who consider me like a third daughter), not the sister to the Mom who is also a good friend and a former roommate, not the husband who has my e-mail. No one. No one thought to even try to notify me. For five days - and only then because I called. So it really kind of hurts my feelings, because wow - five days?!?! I mean, it's a case of slipping through the cracks, but still.......I don't matter enough for anyone to think to notify me =-(. I feel like I've been encountering this a lot lately. I found out an old friend (who I am still in touch with) got married only because I glanced at his myspace page, and my parents waited to tell me about one of my Uncle's having a heart attack just because they hadn't seen me. It's just depressing sometimes to think of who and what you share things with, especially things of such enormous magnitude, and to think that you don't even pop up on their radar, even if they are on yours =-/.

The Grass is always Greener.....

2006-10-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

I asked my Dad today if he thought there was any chance I was close to retirement. Sadly, his answer was no =-(. I am grateful for my job, it has been a blessing. But the idea of retirement seems so damn cool! Too bad I don't have a penny saved for it yet =-/. I walked by a travel agency today so I could glance at the vacation deals that I can now actually afford (for the time being), but have no time to take. Ho hum, ho hum. I now have a whopping 38 hours of vacation time accrued! And I already know how they will be used.

I have a friend who is spending the next academic year in France (living "Paris adjacent," hehe) and teaching. I'm excited for her, although having to find her own housing once she got there proved to be rather overwhelming and she ended up in a place that is pretty darn pricey. But man! A year living in a different country - what an awesome opportunity! I'm somewhat envious of her, because it's not often we get to have life experiences like that. At this point in time I don't think I would want to live out of the country for a year - but four months or so might be nice!

I'm (still) at a point in my life where I don't know what I want. For the longest, longest time my focus has been on trying to find a job that I liked and that was stable and that enabled me to exist, which this one sorta does for the moment. But it's not permanent, and I know in the long run I need something different. I just don't know what is going to make me happy in life. In relation to the whole "big picture" thing. There's lots of little things that make me happy, and those are what I need to learn to focus on, because all of the tiny brush strokes make the painting turn into what it will become. Speaking of paintings - my Dad and I participated in the community mural painting this weekend! It felt so "Gilmore Girls" =-p. I told him he was Lorelei and I was Rory, hehe. He said we needed to talk faster. Anyways - so now there's a painted wall in this city that has our names on it =-). We painted the dirt - hehe! And a couple of other things. That was really cool to participate in, I had wanted to do it before but we had never pursued it. So now we are muralists....or at least paint-where-we're-told-ists ;-p.

I'm just rambling....trying to put off the end of another weekend....in about 15 minutes it will officially be Monday. Blah. Happy Columbus Day....the holiday only the Government gets off. Good night =-).

HELP!! I'm OBSESSED!!

2006-09-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

Aaaaaaccckkkkkk!!! I....just....can't.....STOP!!! I got my first ever Ipod (YAY Ipod!!!) the other weekend, and I'm obsessed w/getting all of my music ripped onto my computer so I can load it up onto my Ipod! I had been away from home during the week, so I didn't get a chance to upload more....and I was doing other things this weekend. But now that I started again, I find that I keep telling myself....just one more CD, then I'll quit....just one more....no wait, just one teeny-tiny more!! AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!!!! I'm literally getting just about nothing else done!!! I've already filled 5+ Gigs, and I'm nowhere near finished. Yay music!!!! But dang - it sure would be nice to have a little uploading butler! This is taking me quite a while! I hardly want to leave the room just in case another CD is done ripping and I can shove another one in. Dang! I'm thinking I have to limit myself. Give myself a certain amount of time I am allowed to do this every day, because otherwise I won't stop until it's on there....and then I'll start dipping into other people's collections =-p. Too bad we can't load up all of those old cassette tapes! Alright....back to the obsession!

2006-09-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Wow. I can't believe the Crocodile Hunter (Steve Irwin) died. I was told late last night, and it made me really sad. He was so full of energy and zest and pizazz, and lots of that fun sort of crazy that you can't help but smile when you see. He really was one of those people you just sort of thought of as invincible. If I've learned anything in the last few years it's that death can claim anyone at any time, regardless of how many years and how much life you think they should have left.

This made me think about the movie American Beauty (which I haven't seen since it was released). But in the movie the character that dies (and is narrating after the fact) addresses the fact that when you get up in the morning on the last day of your life, you have no idea that that is your final day. I don't think any of us live our lives the way we would if we knew when it would all be over. If we did commerce would crumble because we certainly wouldn't be going into work! Or eating that "low-fat, low-cal" stuff or what-have-you. Anyways, regardless of what your beliefs are about what happens after someone leaves this existence, it's just sad, because forever doesn't exist.

I'm Still Here!!

2006-08-24T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks! Yes, I still exist, =-p....however, I have been off in Never-NeverLand long enough that I imagine my small smattering of reader's have given up on me. Isn't that always the case though? When things actually bother to get busy or eventful or (gasp) interesting then you never seem to have time to document it. Well, I may be pushing it if I say "interesting" - hehe.

So what it comes down to is the new job has been keeping me borderline insanely busy. The last couple weeks have been a lovely reprieve from the, typically, 50ish hour work weeks. Plus, I've been popping in and out of various cities for the job. Nowhere too interesting - it's certainly not international travel!! So I've just been wiped out as I adjust to the new schedule. The good news is - although I certainly don't see myself staying with this forever, I do actually like the work itself (yay - how cool is that?!). Although I could do without some of the ridiculousness (not to be described here ;-/), and learning how to deal with some of the "personality's" that I've been encountering, and a bit more, but oh well - we can't all be heirs to $zillion dollar fortunes =-p, so if I have to work, this will certainly do nicely for now.

Hmmmmmmm.....what else? The hotel I'm in this week is really nice and my bed is oh-so-comfy.....makes those pesky early-morning alarms even harder to listen to =-/. I went down to San Diego at the beginning of the month for a farewell bash for my pal who will be teaching in France for the next school year. Woohoo - have fun lady!! We got to stay in the amazing condo that belonged to the boss of one of the other people there. Twenty-third floor of this fantastic condo with an unbelievable view - we had no reason to leave! The next weekend I went with my Lou-Dawg to a great concert at the Berkeley Greek Theatre - which is just a killer venue for a concert. And guess what I did last Friday?? "Snakes on a Plane" and an Open Bar - WOOHOO - YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!! Does it get any better than bad movies and lots of beverage?!?!?!?! I THINK NOT!!!! And no, I don't really remember much of the movie at all - it was a very social atmosphere =-p. But lots of fun =-)!!! And nearly a week later I still have remnants of one of my fake-snake tattoos - thank goodness I didn't put any on my forehead =-p!

So that's a bit of an update for you on me for the moment. And guess what amazing coolness danced into my life this evening? As I was wandering about a store I don't have in my hometown I came across the beautiful, lovely, tastilicious liquid yumminess I have been cursing Costco for not carrying - a bulk pack of DIET ROCKSTAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! My Liquid heaven has found me in bulk!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what happens when people think you're sexy...

2006-06-24T00:47:00.000-07:00

I went to dinner tonight with my parents. We were sitting in the restaurant at the appetizer stage of our evening when the waitress came by with a drink and said "This is from the Gentleman at the table over there...". Wow. Later he came over and had me scoot over. Bold, right? I've never had a drink sent over to me. And tonight didn't change that - the drink was sent over by the Gentleman for my Dad, and it was water =-p. He wanted a piece of my Pop! Well, actually.....they used to work together, haha. But it was entertaining =-).

Being a Girl can be cool =-)

2006-06-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

You know what I love about being a girl? Not only is it okay to overpack, but it's almost expected. My apologies to any females out there who pack responsibly. I am not one of those people. Packing responsibly sucks! I've done it before and I was super disappointed with my lack of options =-(. So here I am, bouncing to and fro for probably about 2 1/2 weeks and I have my car practically overflowing (okay - that's the crappy part - loading and reloading). I brought my bike, my rollerblades, a very large suitcase, a not-as-large-but-still-definitely-big suitcase, a duffle with about 13 pairs of shoes, several books and magazines, a tripod, a couple of board games, a rubber horseshoes set, my Superman cape, my new wand, a metal arch, a couple of kites (okay, those are normally in my car), my devil horns, etc., etc., etc.!! YAY OVERPACKING!!!!!! Overpacking makes me happy =-)!

HELL HAS FROZEN OVER!

2006-05-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the devil ducky's skidding off the ice-covered pools? A friend and I were talking about the weird weather recently and he told me someone he knew said it was snowing where they lived, which evidently never happens. So it is becoming more and more apparent to me that THE END IS NEAR!! Go out - have some fun, and make sure you're enjoying the ride, because the world is definitely a bit off kilter, and the Devil himself just bought a floor-length mink coat.

You wanna know how I know for sure? I GOT THE FRICKING JOB!!!!!!! Ya - me - no one-ever-wants-to-hire-her Girl HAS FINALLY LANDED A JOB!!!!!!!! Seriously. I know, I can't believe it either, I am floored and blown away and pinching myself as I wait for things to somehow fall through. So not only did the job where I "entertained" them (hey - it wasn't a stripper audition - get your mind out of the gutter!!) call me back a lot quicker than I expected, but they really blew me away. I was expecting to be screwed on the offer, but it was for more than I expected, and for that I am stoked =-)!!! YAY!!! Could this part of my life FINALLY be coming together? It's all still a bit surreal, and I don't start for a while yet, but it looks like it's going to happen. Holy Crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will finally be able to hold my head up high and I will no longer be stuck in a job I hate! And they are going to pay me to be a happier person =-)!!!!!! So I'm just such an insanely pleased Kitty-Cat right now and it will be a while before it sinks in. But yay - this is good!!!!!

And if you want to know what the entertainment part of the interview was, look at the entry below, because those puppies are what made this happen for me =-) - Woohoo!

They Made It Happen!!!!

2006-05-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Simple Ramblings...

2006-05-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Ya know, the reason I had my type this big is because some of my relatives were complaining about not being able to read it w/my color choices any smaller. But none of them seem to even read it anymore.....rat bastards =-p. Since I am someone who checks out the blogs of all the friends and family that I know of who blog (not necessarily daily, but I still look when I know they exist), I can't help but be offended when people I am related to or very good friends with don't take the time to read mine...that they aren't even curious. As you will see tonight, I don't even have anything monumental to blog about, but still. When you would totally do (or in this case read) something for someone, it's kind of insulting when they have no desire to do the same. It's like any one of us writing a book, but our best friend doesn't want to take the time to read it when we give them a free copy. Ya, the book may be boring, but even if it's a detailed medical journal, if they were interested in you peering at it, wouldn't you at least skim? See how many words you understood =-p?? Anyways, I know some people are super busy, and I'm not even talking about people who are rarely online, just a little rant, and I have another site where I'm supposed to put rants.

So I am bummed about the tomorrow work day just because, dude, it's the end of the weekend - but it's off to the next location of my wandering work life. And the thing that I never seem to want to do is make my freaking lunch. It bothers the hell out of me for some reason. Lame, but true. So I splurged tonight and bought myself some lunchables =-), and they were on sale so I bought four. YAY!!! No lunch packing!!!!! Whoopeeeeeee!!!! Hehe....it doesn't take much to make me happy some times =-p.

Procrastinating..

2006-05-12T01:10:00.000-07:00

It's way too late and I have to work tomorrow morning, so of course I'm procrastinating. I actually had a stellar weekend last weekend =-). Yay fun! Visits with groovy-ass people and some good times. Had Ethiopian food for the first time (and it was mighty tasty) - drank some amazingly delicious Tejj (honey mead) (watch out Jager/D. Rock Star - you have some competition ;-p). I wore my dragon Jalapeno out and tried out a couple new bars. I was highly entertained (and amused) by the various people who joined in the evening (Friday), even though my tiara was stolen (well, based on our group that night I knew one of the guys would be walking away with it, haha =-p), and the ride in Betty was also amusing to me (damn meter maid =-(...). Anyways - Friday night was a blast - and I didn't get to bed till 6 a.m. (although - that's another story). On Saturday I got to ride the carousel w/my Nacho Chip and hang out in the Rumpus Room w/his nifty roommates. So it was good =-).

Now I'm tired and trying to convince myself that somehow I get to avoid the reality of my alarm clock in a handful of hours =-(. Boo - alarm clocks (or the need to have them rather) suck! Ah geez....I guess I gotta go make my lunch. But at least Friday is upon us...Yay Friday!

Crazy Week!

2006-04-30T15:24:00.000-07:00

Let me start off by saying, DAMN! I love Diet Rock Star =-)!! That stuff just makes me one happy, stoked girl, and it makes your pee fluorescent which is always amusing =-).

Now to the other stuff...WOW - what a week! Saturday to Saturday was probably one of the most eventful single weeks (aside from unexpected deaths) that I have had in ages. The week includes getting a new (well used, but you know, new to me =-p) car, having one of THE most insulting interactions at work ever, a job interview, and a meeting with a friend about the business venture we plan to embark on. Quite busy!!!!

The car thing happened super fast - we saw it on the lot Friday afternoon, got the VIN # Friday night to check it out, and Saturday by noon I was driving off the lot with the apprehension that comes from the financial guy making it abundantly clear that since we didn't get the extra warranty the second my tires touch the road, anything that happens is completely my burden. Needless to say I hovered at the edge of the lot for a bit before I had the balls to keep going - haha. It all happened so fast that when I visited a friend later that afternoon I couldn't even remember the car model (insert an image of me blushing for being such a "girl" but I did know the color - haha).

As for the work interaction, I'm not really going to go into details - but I was pissed enough that I will probably take it to the next level to voice my concern over how the higher-ups handled it, which was unacceptable. But no, it's not anything where I am or will be in trouble, but it's something that needs to be addressed.

The interview - well, that was my first interview in quite a while and I feel it went pretty well. I was referred by someone else, and it took them just shy of a lifetime to get back to him, so I don't think I'll hear anything anytime soon, but I know they'll remember me - haha. The interview also required a presentation, and the thing I chose to do had the person who referred me telling me "No you CAN'T do that. They will think you are mocking them" But I didn't listen to him and I went forth with my unconventional, but entertaining presentation and I know they were highly entertained. Mind you, I probably wasn't supposed to have as my goal "entertaining" them, but we all had a good time and if ultimately that ends up being the overall purpose of me on that day then so be it. I myself was amused and pleased and felt quite happy as I left, because now, whether I get hired or not I can say that I went into an interview for Corporate America and I did something unexpected and fun =-).

The final piece of my busy and eventful week was an IHOP meeting with a long-time friend about the business venture we are getting ready to embark on. It's something I have been encouraging him to do for quite some time, because he has a real talent for this sort of thing, but he knew my background and told me he wanted me to do it with him. I don't have as much experience in this as he does, so he will be the primary figure in our business, but I will be the secondary figure (hey - there's only two of us, so it would have sucked if I was anything less than secondary - haha =-p), but it is exciting (and intimidating) to be embarking on something of this magnitude.

So that rounds out my crazy week. You can go from having a reasonably uneventful existence to being inundated with tons of things, when it rains, it pours they say. During this week a friend of mine experienced a major loss and another friend announced that she was pregnant - life can be so crazy with all of the ups and downs it throws at us. Sometimes it's strange to contemplate just how many people are on this planet of ours and how every single person has a world of drama (good and bad) surrounding them at every moment.

As I wind this up I am sad to say I have slurped through almost my entire 16 beautiful ounces of Diet Rock Star =-(. When/if I ever become super financially stable I'm going to treat myself to a bulk purchase of Diet Rock Star at Costco. This shit's just too good to live without =-p.

And a wise man once said...

2006-04-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

The world is pretty well-informed about my struggles to obtain what I perceive to be a "Real" job. The fact that this has been quite a lengthy struggle is no secret to the masses. A recent conversation with a friend, who has a different struggle, but who was similarly lamenting how it was so easy for other people to achieve the very thing that he was after, made me think about the people I know who have had recent job success. In the last few months I have had a total of FIVE friends or family members who, with only casual effort, managed to experience positive job karma. FIVE PEOPLE!!! Four of those were new jobs and one was an unsolicited promotion. All of the job-seekers were already positioned in their jobs, most of which were reasonably secure and were looking to see what might pop up. And the one person of those that was actively trying to find a new job only had to look for a couple of months, which somehow this person thought was a long time (ha!).

So I've been just a bit stunned that, the one thing I've been searching for for so long has come so easily for all of these other people. The other day I was discussing this with my father. My Dad - the one who always has faith in my potential, even when the rest of the world fails to see it. So he told me my struggle reminded him of a fable or a tale he had heard or read about at some time in the past. There was a village or a land or a society or some such thing where everyone lived in bliss. Every aspect of their lives was beautiful and perfect - their work, their relationships....every element of their existence. But there was a price for this bliss. For all of the people to live such wonderful and blessed lives, one child had to be tormented endlessly. Occasionally people couldn't stand the thought of one child being tormented, and those people would walk away from their utopian existences because they couldn't reconcile the perfection of their lives being at the expense of another being.

When he finished telling me this tale, I was waiting to see what sage words of wisdom my father would next impart. Here's what he said: "Maybe you are that person for all of your friends." My jaw dropped as I said "WHAT?!?!?!" with disbelief. He started laughing and said "Not what you expected me to say, is it?" The I started laughing, because DUDE now even my Dad thinks I'm the tormented child of the job world

The Cooking Shababbler (an oxymoron evidently)

2006-03-25T22:19:00.000-08:00

Those who know me know I am not a cooker. In college when I lived with three guys (stereotypically the non-cookers of the world), one of them actually told me he thought it probably wasn't very healthy for me to eat so much food from the microwave. My thought at the time was "Dude - the microwave is cooking!". And that pretty much describes me - I AM microwave girl. I've had the occasional venture into the world of cooking and find it to be rather overrated - so much prep time, all the time for it to cook, followed by lots and lots of time for cleanup. Bleck!

However, I will occasionally wander into that land called the kitchen for something other than the microwave. Don't let me paint too impressive of a lead-in here.....it's only been within the last couple of years that I even learned how to do scrambled eggs.....and then I forgot how to do it and had to be guided when I attempted it recently (quite successfully I might add =-)). So that's me - the type of girl who would cringe at the thought of a guy who wants a lady that can prepare home-cooked meals. If grilled cheese sandwiches don't cut it he would be screwed (well hell, I wouldn't want a guy that expected me to cook all the time anyways!)!

In February I visited a couple of friends. The last time I went down there they had decided we would have a cooking evening (at which I quietly rolled my eyes - but went along with anyways and thought it turned out to be cool). The fella was in charge of the main dish and my female pal and I were in charge of dessert. Well, this time it was decided we would repeat the cooking bonanza. The duties were again laid out as before. This time we chose two desserts, and while one was a miserable failure, the other turned out to be pretty damn cool. "Phyllo Dough Nests." Mind you, we couldn't find the phyllo dough, so we created "Egg Roll Nests" instead and they turned out to be pretty darn groovy. I was so impressed that I bothered to copy the recipe (that alone would make some jaws drop).

My co-dessert creator recreated the nests with phyllo dough not so long ago and said it was the TALK of her function (to which she brought them). Well hot damn I was inspired!! And today was the day to present these lovely, lovely nests. I toiled for much longer than it says you will need to on the "prep time" - and realized phyllo dough can be a pain. I mixed together the proper ingredients and even halved the grapes to go on top. Wow - me, the Shababbler creating a smashing dessert - the world will be shocked!!!! So you can imagine my disappointment when the initial bites of my audience were coupled with looks of utter disgust. Seriously.

One of the two commented that it was the grapes (which she had bought, so I'm off the hook there) because they were sour. She picked those off and ate the rest. I couldn't keep my mouth shut in regards to their looks of disgust, but she commented "No, we said it was the grapes!" I came back with "No...you said it was the grapes, he said no such thing." He was racking his brain to try to unearth a way to explain away his disgusted face, but he just couldn't seem to come up with one. I continued along with my verbal acknowledgement of their disgusted looks. She told me "No, really....it was the grapes, they're okay." OKAY! Wow - well there's a recommendation to get me into culinary school!! He tried to tell me they were "Proud" of me for trying....which is probably one of the most disparaging remarks someone could make.

I know that I could have gone wrong by buying "low-fat" ricotta cheese instead of the full fat variety....but I think the true mistake came with buying the seemingly delicious (at least delicious sounding) chocolate/peanut butter chips instead of plain chocolate. It just didn't infuse as much of a powerful flavor.

So anyways - I think I shall return to my "I never cook" self. All of those future potential fellas who are looking for a lady who can cook? Turn your asses around homeboy because it ain't happening! And if my test audience is any proof, you wouldn't want me to try anyways.....there's a reason God created take-out and microwaves.

Here He Is!!!

2006-03-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

Yes - indeed - I am finally posting those photos of THE COOLEST TOY EVER!! Well at least one of the coolest stuffed animals ever =-)! And I know he looks evil - but in my world he's not. I haven't decided on the name yet - but I'm leaning toward "Poodle" =-). Viva la Poodle!!!

Taxes SUCK!!!!

2006-03-01T23:46:00.000-08:00

DUUUUUUUUUDE!!!! My brain about exploded tonight as I dealt with all of my tax crap - BLECK!!!!! Doing taxes is just a pain-in-the-ass, unless you have only one job and nothing else going on. I think I've had years where I had something like 4 W-2's, and it gets more tedious w/each one. However, I've never owned property or stocks or all of that other crud (yo - holla po' folk =-p) that makes people run to their tax prep people.

However, this year my life was more complicated. Those of you who know me or who have followed this blog know that I was state-surfing this year, trying to see how the rainier side lived. Ultimately I decided that for now my ass wants to be in CA, so I ditched the other place and returned (much to the immense joy of all of the state of California =-p). I knew taxes were going to suck - because the last time I lived in 2 states I ended up getting boned w/my state taxes. This year I was provided w/a "part-time resident" form for the state taxes - which I don't think I used last time....so that would mean I at least shouldn't get screwed out of money that was rightfully mine, right? Well - ultimately that's true......but to make up for the fact that you don't get screwed out of additional money - you have to NAVIGATE THE TAX FORM FROM HELL!!!!

"Divide line 21 by line 17. If more than 1, enter 1.000" "Multiple line 18 by line 22a" "Subtract line 22b from line 21" "Divide line 20 by line 19" "Remove your spleen with nothing but a plastic spoon and a chopstick" and ON AND ON AND ON!!!!

It was freaking TAXING as hell - UUUUGGGHHH!!! And when I finished I was wise enough to have someone double-check for me....and they found an error! Lucky it was easy to fix, and in my favor, but geez!! This experience was enough motivation for me to try and make sure I never work in more than one state in one calendar year again! All or nothing baby!

And the good news is that I fall in the "She Don't Make Shit" category - so I'm getting money back from both federal and state =-)! But I don't have the energy tonight to get the envelopes ready - I've been struck down by the tax demon!

And yes - I still owe pics of my super-cool toy.

Thank You

2006-02-19T17:16:00.000-08:00

Last night I went to a surprise party for a friend. It wasn't his birthday - but he finally got his piece of paper for the degree (the coursework for which was completed years ago, hehe), and his wife went all out to have this surprise celebration for him - although I guess he was kind of suspicious and he didn't seem so surprised, heh....she had to tell him his family was going to be there, but I don't think he knew about everyone else. She brought his freshly acquired degree to the restaurant and even got their son a cute little tyke-sized sweatshirt from our college. Congratulations on the degree Jon!

Anyways - it just got me to thinking about - even when it seems like life sucks - how awesome parts of it can be. I was thinking about how lucky we all are to have people who kick ass in our lives, or people, like at this gathering, who will drive for an hour or two to what feels like a remote and random place (as does where I live!!), to celebrate a friend or family member. I'm old enough now to where I've gotten to the point where I realize that life is too short to keep people in your circle that don't bring something positive to your life (and hopefully you bring the same to theirs). I may not have as many friends as I had back in the day - and the phone may no longer ring off the hook, but these days those friends I do have really bring positive things into my life. The other parts of my life may not be where I want them to be, and that has a really powerful effect on me at times - but I have some amazing people in my life.

I lucked out with a kick ass family (something I know not everyone gets), and my friends are phenomenal on so many levels. And another cool thing is when they marry or otherwise attach themselves to significant others who are also damned cool (as is the wife mentioned above and the counterparts for some of my other pals - like the fiancee of one of my best friends, and the husband of another).

Thank you to all of the amazing people in my life....you make it all worthwhile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Still to come in the near future - pictures of THE COOLEST TOY EVER!!!!)

My Weekend

2006-02-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

It may be midweek now, but I still need to talk about the lovely weekend I had. Upon realizing a couple weeks ago that I'd be having an extra long weekend (both Friday and Monday off), I decided it was time to pay some of my L.A. pals a visit. I drove down on Thursday night to stay with my friend Laura who was supposed to have Friday off (they rescheduled a meeting so she had to go in for that). We had a good mellow day and hit a park that had a massive assortment of birds (I've never seen so many pelicans at the same time).

Friday night I headed over to Santa Monica to stay w/my friend Manuel. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized just how cool his neighborhood is. We went to get coffee in the morning and then we walked to the beach - which was a whopping four blocks away =-). It was a gorgeous day and we walked along the beach-side path for a while before hitting the 3rd street promenade on the way back (it has all sorts of trendy little cute shops, dinosaur topiary's and you can walk in the middle of the street). Later that day Laura met up with us and we went to the Ashes and Snow exhibit (http://www.ashesandsnow.org/home.php) which was in an amazing space. It was a very impressive exhibit. That night we headed back to Manuel's space and got our "cook" on =-p. Hehe - the last time I was down, Manuel had decided he wanted to learn to cook or something - so he and Laura had acquired all sorts of cookbooks, and this time (as before) he did the main course and Laura and I took care of dessert. Sort of. One of our desserts turned out damn cool - but the other was a flop as we didn't heat the oil as much as we were supposed to it seems. The other one is tasty and easy!! It was "Phyllo Dough Nests" or something like that...but we couldn't find phyllo dough, so we used egg-roll wraps instead - hehe....sounds raunchy but it worked!

Sunday I headed out to enjoy yet another lovely day and Manuel stayed behind to do some writing. I walked to the beach and then rollerbladed down to Venice Beach. Hey - I know it's L.A., but I was not expecting to see so much LOVELY eye candy!!! YAY eye candy - WOOHOO!!!! It was so great to be out rollerblading on a gorgeous day right near the beach, skating by all sorts of tasty treats =-p. I switched to my sneakers once I got to Venice Beach and headed out to the water so I could take some pictures. I decided to climb these cool looking rocks - not realizing with how pointed and slippery they were that it would be a real pain in the ass. I was out towards the farther end along with a couple of other guys when a lifeguard in a truck got on his speaker to announce that we were not allowed to be on the wet rocks - only the dry ones. Ooops. So then I trekked over to the shop area, and I just love Venice Beach. There are all sorts of random people and cool/quirky shops and lots of cute dogs! I wish I had more time - but I was running late (although I did manage to do some shopping - hehe).

I bladed back to Manuel's because we had something else to do that night....we had a game to go to! His sister couldn't use her tickets, so we (Laura and I) got to fill those seats at my first ever NBA game!!! Yay!!! I don't even care that it was the Clippers - they were awesome seats!!! I like watching basketball (I got to watch a lot of it during all those benchwarming years =-p), and it was just awesome being able to go to an NBA game =-). Very cool indeed.

I said my goodbye's to each of them Sunday night as they both had to go to work, but in the morning I went back to this groovy toy store at the 3rd street promenade and bought myself THE COOLEST TOY EVER!!!! It's a combination of a bear/bull/bumblebee/and a devil. I know - hard to picture - hehe. I'll probably give it a photo session soon - but it's very cool!!!!

As I headed out I needed to first stop at a store, where I totally got hit on - which is always an ego boost. Of course, I wasn't feeling well and was buying some ibuprofren and really didn't want to be bothered, but it was still an ego boost. Mind you, I don't think the poor guy believed me when I said I didn't live in the area (I should have shown him the driving directions that I had in my hand), but it was entertaining. There's a bit more to the story, but I'm not going to tell it here - hehe.

I arrived back up North Monday night with a happy glow from my trip (or was I just sweaty? Hehe). I've always had a thing against the L.A. area - but my goodness, I loved Santa Monica! Loved it! Being able to live that close to some very cool things would be great. And my friends know that I am in a fairly transient place right now as far as where I want to live and what I want to do - so they made the offer that if I wanted to try out the general L.A. area that I could switch off staying at their places. Hmmmmmmm.....I never thought I'd be an L.A. girl, but I'm thinking about it!! We'll see what the next couple months bring, but who knows.

And now I'm back to my reality up here, but I had a great weekend =-)!

V-DAY

2006-02-14T01:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!!! For all of my friends who allow this day to get them feeling down - cheer up!! If it makes you feel any better - I adore you and think you are fabulous =-)!!! So go buy yourself some chocolate or just go to a restaurant and steal someone's box of it when they get up for a bathroom break - hehe =-p. Know that you are terrific whether or not someone else happens to be your Valentine on 1 of the 365 days out of the year!!!

Piercings

2006-02-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

I was talking to some little girls last week - 2nd graders - and we were talking about pierced ears. One of them had hers done, and the other had had hers done but had decided she didn't like it so she had taken them out....but was now ready to get them done again. I told the girls how my parents hadn't allowed me to get mine pierced until the 5th fricking grade! And as I talked to them with their pierced and soon-to-be-pierced-again ears I couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that it had felt like a hellishly long time to wait until the 5th grade, especially when you have fellow classmates prancing around with the ears they've had pierced since infanthood. So, all these years later I still think making me wait until the 5th grade was overkill! But I guess I made up for the wait by adding piercings at 18 and thereafter, much to the disappointment of my folks =-p.

Yay Fun Weekend!!

2006-01-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

In the life of me the weekends aren't always so entertaining. Some people I know seem to think I have a very active social life, but I don't know where they get that idea. Anyways - this weekend was the lovely exception to the boring normality that usually greets me.

On Friday I got to have dinner with two friends I haven't seen since December in Vegas (hehe). It was a nice time and tasty food. Saturday afternoon I got to see my Philly Girl who was in the area for an interview (and she kicked enough ass that they offered her the job on the spot (dude - I wonder what that feels like - haha)) and she'll be moving back to California very soon!!! Woohoo!! And eventually she'll be bringing along Ed squared (I still don't know how to make the raised 2), and it will be a festival of happiness for all to enjoy!!!! Yay!!

As for Saturday night.....well, that was the party at my dear Lou-Dawg's newish pad. It was soooo much fun =-). To give you an idea of how much fun I had, the next afternoon me and my boy had gone to get some food when I realized my elbow hurt....I took a peek and saw I had a cut...."How'd that happen?" I wondered. "You fell." "I did?!" "Yes....several times." "Really?" "Yes." And then he preceded to tell me when. Hmmmmmm.... And when I got home I found a cut on my other elbow and a bruise on my leg. Battle wounds from a lovely time =-). Man I love Jaegermeister (with my favorite mixer too, of course!). And there were such groovy people there, some I knew and some who were new to me. It was so much fun =-). Although in the midst of my apparent falls I managed to run yet another set of fishnets (my 2nd pair this month to run =-(), but I had a blast, and the inhabitants seemed to like my housewarming sock puppets too. The Rumpus Room was as much a part of the party as the people and proved to be a fabulous location for good and groovy times. Yay fun party!!! Woohoo!!

STOP THE REJECTION!!!!!

2006-01-26T23:22:00.000-08:00

Uuuuugggghhhh....dude, seriously =-(. I feel like I have weathered way too much rejection in this lifetime - at least in the last seven or so years. I guess a lot of people probably feel that way in different areas of their lives. And I know I can't really complain because so many people have such tremendous sadness and misfortune in their lives. But I finally got a rejection letter in the mail from a job that posted quite a while back....which, although things were starting to look grim, I just really didn't expect it to end this way. And this was an instance where, there was no doubt in my mind I would land an interview. I had so many things flying in my favor that I was super confident (which doesn't happen too often), and I didn't make it to that step. So, I'm at the point where I feel like I need to be pointed to the nearest cliff so I can stroll off. Or maybe I can join the circus. I can be the stupidly overeducated clown that gets mad at the kids and squirts them in the face with water and makes them deformed balloon animals as their mothers complain to the Ring Master about the Psycho-Pissed-Off-Clown-Chick....but oh wait, clown college is pretty competitive and they probably wouldn't want me.

Anyways, I tried to pop some of my "Happy Tabs" and they did pep me up for a bit. Yay - happy tabs =-). This weekend should be good though - I have some happy things on my social calendar, and promises of Jagermeister to come. And to be fair, I had a really nice Tuesday night this week, so not all is bad in the life of me.....I'm just not destined to have a "real job" that's worthwhile at this point in time. Bring on the clowns.

Working on it...

2006-01-22T23:31:00.000-08:00

A friend pointed out that my last few blog entry's have been bummers, so, I apologize for that. To what, my three or so loyal readers ;-p? Anyways - I have since purchased some "Happy Tabs" - no, nothing of questionable legality.....just fun candy with the tag line "Happy Tabs - Because Life Sucks." And just looking at them makes me smile, so perhaps we are on our way to happier blog entry's from me.

Goodbye Bogey

2006-01-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

My heart was broken tonight when I got the news that the most unbelievable dog on Earth, the amazing Bogey, didn't make it. His terminal cancer proved to be too much for his loving soul to handle, and my Aunt and Uncle had to say goodbye to our precious Bogey. The Vet who had been treating Bogey told them that he wished more Pitbulls were like Bogey because then the breed wouldn't have such a bad rap. I can't imagine going to visit without his happy, wagging frame greeting me at the door with his tail whipping about so enthusiastically that his whole body shaked. He was truly one in a million.

Where oh where has my sanity gone?

2006-01-12T22:35:00.000-08:00

SANITY!!!!!!!!! WHERE IS MY SANITY!!!!!!! That's what I found the voices in my head screaming as I was at work today =-0!!!! Aaaaaahhhhh!!!! What a day!!! Those of you who know the type of job I have know what type of people I deal with - and there were lots of them - and they were small and crazy and PSYCHO!!!! OHMYLORD!!!! And....to make matters worse....I HAVE TO GO BACK TOMORROW! Oh my goodness!!!! Please, sanity gods, PLEASE - stand by my side tomorrow!!! I need you!

Reflections

2006-01-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

As we enter into the second week of the new year, I'm finally going to take a moment to reflect back on 2005... an extremely eventful year in some ways and very uneventful in others. Considering how many things happened in the last year, it seems odd that I am starting the new year in the same place as I did 2005(albeit in front of a much larger computer screen that even my gaming brother thinks is a bit too big - hehe).

In 2005 I moved 800 miles away - and then came back again, I made and lost friends (and any that were lost, were not worth the energy of having in this case), I tried out a new type of employment - and subsequently (for the first time) quit a job without giving notice (screw you Mr. Loser Boss Man!!!!), I was in the weddings of two dear friends - one who had met the guy oh-so-recently, and one who had been with her guy for six freaking years, I had yet another loved one die too young and once again spoke at the funeral of someone who should have been around long enough to speak at mine, and even as all of these events swirled rapidly around me, I continued to feel as though my life was stagnant.

We battle through our lives and rack up our life experiences, and supposedly some things are supposed to make us stronger, but what if we don't want to be stronger in that way? Alas, we have no choice in the matter. And sometimes we strive for things we will never achieve or attain, and sometimes we attain things that we realize in retrospect didn't matter. Sometimes (often) I feel as though I am stuck and everyone is whizzing past me. I want to not be stuck.

I had high expectations for 2005 - the biggest of which was an expectation combined with hope and belief - and that one did not come to pass once again. So as I begin 2006 I can't help but have low expectations......optimism grows old as circumstances surrounding some of my hopes seem to whither, or rather, continue to do so. What is it like to be an optimist again? To see the sunny side of everything? I'm not sure if I was ever like that. Sometimes I wish I was a brighter person to be around.

And now 2006 has begun and I don't know if I have the heart to invest any hopes in this year. I just learned that my favorite, favorite, favorite dog, whose cancer we all thought was in remission, is now terminal, and will be lucky if he gets six more months, but that, evidently, is extremely optimistic. He lives several hours away from me, so I may not get to see him again.

So I have begun 2006 with sadness in my heart and the feeling of lead coursing through my veins. That doesn't mean it won't be a superb year I suppose....we're only nine days in. So 2006.....welcome - please be kind.

Happy New Year!

2006-01-03T14:05:00.000-08:00

Happy 2006 everybody =-)!!! I don't have much to say right now, so I wish you all well during the coming year =-).

Babble for today

2005-12-29T22:28:00.000-08:00

So the return to California went fine....a lot of damn driving! It's been a bit of a whirlwind since I returned - with the holidays and the further traveling and functions that that entailed....which means I am still dealing with the chaos of unpacking myself into a room that was already full of the stuff I had left behind =-(.

This was the first year since 2000 that we celebrated Christmas on the 25th, having had our fair share of holiday tragedies and emergencies. It's hard not to approach this time of year with a sense of dread when you have the track record we do. Yet, even with another tragedy suffered a few months back, we still went ahead and did things on the 25th, and it was fine. But still, the holidays will never be the same.

And now I'm back to wondering what will become of my life....if it will finally become more of what I want it to be, or if I'm supposed to just keep swimming blindly in the dark water.

But first, it will be New Year's - time to welcome 2006 and hope it's a better year. I'm having a teeny tiny little shindig - so that should be fun =-). My brother gave me some fireworks on the 25th - so that should make it even better =-)! I'm already thinking of resolutions I probably won't come close to keeping. If I don't write again before that point - Happy New Year's everyone =-)!!

Begin Countdown...

2005-12-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

The countdown has commenced for my final days of my short-lived adventure in the Pacific Northwest...my departure is right around the corner. I've gotten in my last couple visits (besides a quick guest appearance my always MIA roommate and long time friend will make tomorrow....wait a minute, I had a roommate? Oh ya - I guess I did =-p). I'm even almost done packing.....which, for those who know me, is miraculous. Actually, typing this is just a ploy to procrastinate further as I don't really have much to say.

So another phase in the journey of me is nearly complete. And I find myself still wondering if my life will ever move beyond the ordinary. You know that song, it's by Switchfoot....and the chorus asks "Are you who you want to be?" I always answer in my head, "Not yet." But sometimes I think of the question as "Are you who you're supposed to be?" And my answer is, I hope not. Not yet anyways.

Viva Las Vegas!

2005-12-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

I got back a little after midnight from my weekend in Vegas. Lots and lots of fun =-). And, as is appropriate for weekends in Vegas, some of what happened there has to stay there....hehe =-p. Well, I do suppose I have the pictures - hehehe. I was there for my dear friends wedding, and Friday night was the bachelorette party. YEEHAW!! Good & hilarious times were had by all =-). We had a wonderful tour of the Gardens and the Bachelorette had more fun then she can remember.

The wedding was Saturday and all went well as everyone said their "I Do's" just like they were supposed to =-). The guy who conducted the ceremony was a bit cheeseball, but oh well. We had an Elvis appear at our reception =-). He was too skinny for his costume though so his belt kept falling off =-p.

Saturday night turned into Sunday morning and we strolled back into our hotel around 6 a.m. There was one thing about this weekend that made me sad though. My last Vegas trip was 3 years ago, and there has been a major change since then. The major casinos no longer let you feed coins into the slots - you have to insert dollars, and when you win there's no joyful noise from the coins dropping into the slot tray, but just a printed piece of paper for you to take to the cashier =-(. I really liked feeding the coins....some of the magic is gone now =-(.

But my weekend is over and now I have yet another friend married and another great Vegas weekend under my belt =-).

2005-12-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

Shortly after I strolled into work yesterday I was told by one of the managers that she had gotten two of the days I needed off covered, and that the other one had got one of the days covered that I asked for. However, that left my Saturday shift and she told me I had to get that one covered, and if I didn't and I didn't show....she let her sentence trail off, but the implication was that I would be written up.

So I worked my shift, and fortunately it was with the one manager that I am rather fond of (who is training at this location). He asked me if I could stay an hour later and I said yes, but only because I liked him. One of my favorite coworkers was there and I told her what I was thinking of doing and she encouraged me to do so. So after my shift was over around 10:30 p.m., I sat down with the manager (that I like) and told him that I had decided that the shift I just finished was my last and that I was quitting without notice. He was somewhat surprised, and I gave him some backstory about my reasons, telling him that I have a hard time working at a place where I don't respect any of the managers and he was the only one I respected (but he wasn't going to be there much longer). I also told him how my feedback with the main manager had been received with hostility and I just didn't feel that was very professional. Not to mention the implication that I would be written up if I didn't get the shift covered that I had asked for off well in advance.

He was awesome about it, and I don't think it was because he personally wanted me gone - hehe. He told me he completely understood and that he would never work in a place where he didn't feel comfortable. I told him that I had decided to quit with him instead of the main manager because I felt much more comfortable with him. I know if I had gone in today and quit with any of the other managers it would have been a much more hostile situation. So I went home last night after work and washed my uniforms and gathered up all of the materials I needed to turn in and brought them right back so I could turn them into that manager. I picked up my last batch of tips and he happily signed off on my makeshift contract saying that I had turned everything in. I have never ever quit a place without giving notice!!!! But I'm relieved not to have to worry about their crap anymore! The only thing I am dreading is picking up my last paycheck - that's going to likely be the first time I come face-to-face with any of the other managers and I'm sure they won't be happy to see me!

Holy Crap!

2005-11-30T03:08:00.000-08:00

The folks on the news said it might happen, so when I got up this morning and looked out the window I saw the proof - it was SNOWING!! Holy Crap!! Well, that's what I exclaimed. Yes, it's December and all, but it's been a VERY long time since I lived in a place where it snowed right outside of your house =-p. So I got up and went outside to take some pictures and to try to catch a few snowflakes in my mouth, and then I called some people to say "Oh my gosh - it's snowing!" and then I went back inside to where it was warm =-). Later in the afternoon I made a snowball and threw it at the garage, but I didn't make any snow angels or anything.

In other news - my job drama continues (the scheduling manager scheduled me for every single day I asked for off for my friend's wedding (not that I told them why I needed the time off - when I don't respect you you don't get all the details), claiming she never got my note (I had left two of them). They don't seem to understand that I don't care if I'm scheduled, but I won't be there =-). So when I go in tomorrow (Wednesday - today I guess), they are going to tell me what they have decided. I love that they think I care =-p! Of course, they don't realize that I was going to quit by the 14th at the latest, so they have no idea that I will care very little if I have to quit a week sooner.

And I'm thankful for...

2005-11-27T13:56:00.000-08:00

Let's face it - I'm pretty good at being thankful for the important stuff (not that you see it on this blog, but I am). Maybe there were some annoying Jr. High years, but after that, I've pretty much known that my family kicks ass and that I have some amazing friends.

I worked this Thanksgiving, and then I went and hung out by myself as I ate some Mozzarella sticks. I didn't care that much that I had nothing to do and no one to do it with, and a few people even took the time to call and wish me well, so it was fine. But it got me to thinking.....besides the genuine stuff, what am I thankful for? And here it is - I'm thankful for my underpants =-). I finally bought the Superman underwear that I've been wanting for a while - and I love them =-)! I now have two pairs of super underwear! And when I wear them I am transported back to the days of UnderRoos and I feel like the Super-Shababbler!! Woohoo! Yay for Superman underpants!!!!

All in a day's work...

2005-11-20T05:52:00.000-08:00

I know in "real" life I'm very vocal, but in "work" life I tend to be rather quiet (depending on the job and my comfort level). On one of my most recent shifts someone poked me in the side to try to make me jump, and she said she only messed with the quiet ones. Hehe - if she only knew. I'm a good worker - I come to work on time and I do my job. Do I dance across the hall with bells on, no, but who does?

So, the conclusion to my Saturday night shift was a bit unexpected. You've seen me complain here before about my bitchy manager. Well - this didn't involve her, it involved the one who I had thought was rather calm and collected (aside from the cussing out of an employee and manager he had thought were talking about him - but I didn't witness that directly).

I won't get into all of the drawn out tidbits of the "discussion." But - basically it all started after he asked me how I was doing after I was once again being let off much after the schedule said I would be. Mind you, by this point I know they don't let us off on time, but this night was on top of every other night every single employee has had to stay way past scheduled. And the fact that they never ask you if it's okay - they just assume you are their indentured servant for the duration. I said I was fine and he said that now was the time to share anything that was on my mind as he was providing me with the opportunity.

So this seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring up, rationally, that I found it frustrating that we never got off when the schedule said we would. It all went downhill from there. He immediately started blaming the servers - me- the world - you name it, but everybody except for management. I also told him I found it frustrating that when we were understaffed that the managers didn't help - even when people were actually leaving the restaurant because it was literally impossible for us to get to them in the expected time frame. Again - everyone on the planets fault besides management, and in his huff, he even told me that he also would let us run ourselves into the ground (meaning he'd let us bust our asses as we tried to accomplish the impossible) because it was our fault for not reporting the amount of guests accurately on our tickets. Um okay. I never even knew that was a problem.

So things escalated, he accused me of having an attitude and I told him he had asked me a question and I had answered it, I also told him he was having an attitude with me. He told me that I had started "bitching" at him. Believe me - this is not the case, I know I can rant, but I can also be extremely rational and I was trying to present myself carefully so that he didn't take offense. Failed there! You'd think I'd stolen a 2 year-old's teddy bear and started punching it!

So on and on things went and he started threatening to cut my hours and suspend me. He told me he'd cut me down to one day a week and he'd make that one day Thanksgiving. Big deal Ass Hole! He wanted me to call his bluff and tell him not to suspend me or cut my hours, but I just kept huffing back "Fine!" He didn't expect that. Let me tell you - the best "I don't give a damn" tool to have in your arsenal when your immature boss is threatening you is the knowledge that you were planning to quit in a few weeks anyways =-).

Ya, as much as I dislike loads of things about the job, I could still use the money. I want money for my Vegas trip!! But I won't be annihilated if I lose a job I was planning to quit anyways. The ONLY reason I give a crap is because I don't want to have to check that damned "have you ever been fired" box on applications from here into eternity.

And for those of you who still assume I was the instigator, any of you who know my Dad know how calm and collected he is....well, he has been informed of things as they happened and he thinks the manager was way out of line. So as he threatened to suspend me and cut my hours I followed up with my request for the number for the labor board. Homeboy made the mistake of calling my bluff. Angrily told me to go right ahead and that the number was "up there" - so I wrote it down. He kept telling me to go ahead and call them. Alright then - consider it done. Unfortunately for him, he does not realize the cardinal rule of not messing with the Shababbler. Don't doubt me! I had thought about calling the labor board, but probably would have been too lazy to do so, but if you want to holler at me To go right ahead, you can bet your ass I will.

Anyways - that's my joyful little work story =-). As of my departure I was not fired, suspended, or reduced (hours), but who knows what I shall see when I next go into work. It will be interesting to see how the managers treat me because I know they will have been warned. Will it be eggshells or thorns? I'm hoping it will be middle ground....but at the same time, I'm also not concerned because I know he has no grounds for disciplining me and that if I had any desire to waste the time and energy taking them to court I could. I don't feel like wasting that much energy on such a negative and unproductive endeavor, so let's hope my countdown till quitting goes smoothly. It will be like the Christmas chocolate countdown calendar's - each day I work is one less day until freedom - yay!!! Now I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside =-)!

And the spelling word of the day is...

2005-11-15T17:11:00.000-08:00

Today has been a really up and down day - some out of the ordinary highs and lows. However, the day has a definite highlight =-). By the end of this year two of my oldest friends will have gotten married, and they also happen to be sisters. The Summer wedding was a high stress affair, but the Winter wedding is going to be much more low key and done up in fun Las Vegas fashion. Woohoo Vegas - here I come!! Part of the reason the summer wedding was so stressful is that the bride and the fairly conservative mother didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things. It was a rather religious ceremony and the parents wanted a good example to be set.

So you can imagine the confusion created as the Winter bride told her sister that their mother wanted to get a stripper, preferably an Elvis stripper. Hehehehehehehe =-p!!!! The summer bride who had the stressful "good example" wedding told her sister that she must have heard wrong and that certainly their mother must have meant "singer" especially since she said Elvis. So I spoke to the December bride and she told me they were trying to figure out what exactly their mother had really meant, but for me to hold off for now on planning any bachelorette shenanigans.

Well, their parents consider me a third daughter, and so I decided to call up today and my plan was to eventually get around to settling just how she was spelling this two syllable-S word. Stripper/Singer - they start and end the same, but happen to have two very different meanings - hehe.

I talked to both of the parents for a bit and then the Dad got off the phone and the Mom went right in to telling me she wanted to get a stripper. S-T-R-I-P-P-E-R - yay!!! I told her both of the girls were shocked she had suggested it and didn't quite believe it was true, but she said she just wanted to make sure the Winter Bride had some fun. YAY!!! As you can imagine, when she started questioning me about how to go about things, I was delighted to share my knowledge =-). I definitely know where to find lovely male eye-candy in Vegas, but I have always "gone to the restaurant" (so to speak), I have never ordered in (which somehow seems seedier to me). She evidently had called the hotel to see if they just happened to have strippers on staff (or some such thing), and although they did not, they assured her that in Las Vegas it was quite easy to find as many as you wanted. I'd rather go admire the eye-candy in mass, but she'd rather do it in the hotel room where all the ladies can get a kick out of it. Being the dutiful bridesmaid and honorary daughter that I am, I told her it would be my pleasure to help her out =-).

Hello? Anybody there?

2005-11-06T14:30:00.000-08:00

In a rare occurrence, both my roommate and I were home during most of the day on Friday. At one point we were talking as I worked on something in my room and she sat outside in the hallway. She took a call from her Mom on her cell and we talked some more before she made a bathroom stop and then went into her room. About 15 minutes later she started looking for her cell phone again because her and her Mom were going out. She couldn't find it anywhere. We retraced all of her steps and then some. When her Mom arrived she helped us look as we all tried to call the phone. Nothing. I had to leave for work and they went ahead and went out, but with how dependent most of us are on our cell phones anymore - it sucks not to know where it's at.

When I got home from work around 1 a.m. there was a note taped to my door: "Shababbler - I know this is going to suck, but we are 99% sure that I flushed my cell phone down the toilet so please use it as little as possible." In that vicious "oh-thank-goodness-it-didn't-happen-to-me-but-damn-that's-funny-as-hell" way I started laughing my ass off!!!! SHE FLUSHED HER CELL PHONE DOWN THE TOILET!!!!!! We're not just talking dropped and retrieved - we're talking full on flushity-flushed-flushed-flushed!! Oh DAMN - how much does that suck?!?!?!?! But - also funny as hell - hehehehehe!!! Since it was so late the only person I could call to tell was my brother, but in the couple of days since I have announced it to the masses because I find it horribly amusing.

Her step-dad came over the next day to try to get it out - ya she won't be able to use it anymore (unless it has superhero-sewer-fighting powers given by the gods of Verizon), but her house has one bathroom and it's pretty old so that little phone can't have been a bonus to the already tempermental plumbing! Some other guys came over to help and as they worked on things every so often her stepdad would call down the toilet asking "Can you hear me now?!" Hehe. When I got home that night the toilet was reattached and up and running, but I have no idea if they found the phone (I assume they did) or what kind of condition it was in. Talk about a crappy situation - hehe ;-p!!!!

Halloween & then some...

2005-11-01T23:19:00.000-08:00

After I learned I wasn't actually going to be scheduled to work on Halloween (which is pretty much my favorite holiday anymore) I was super stoked and couldn't wait to figure out something to do. The Saturday before I met a friend and a couple of his friends after I got off work at a bar/club type place, but he didn't tell me that they had a costume contest that night =-(. He didn't know before he went, but he got there before I did - he just didn't realize I would have costumes at my disposal (of course I do!). So I was super bummed because I totally could have dressed up and I felt all stupid-conservative =-(. So he told me we'd dress up and go out Monday night (Halloween). I told him first I had to be around for trick-or-treaters (since my roommate never stays at homes and wouldn't even think about not hanging out with her boyfriend), so he said he'd come over for that too. Yay something to do! Monday morning - you're not going to believe this - I was actually out of bed and out of the house at 8 a.m. (phenomenal since that never happens if I don't have to work). My other friend had asked me to pick him up at the car dealership where he was getting his vehicle serviced.

So I went there and he took me to breakfast (but I had a really good coupon that covered most of mine =-p), and he had told me before that this one bar was having a costume thing so I asked him if he would go that night and he said probably maybe (had to work the next morning). I excitedly called my other friend and told him we'd give out candy and then go to that bar. Yay! Something fun to do!! So, when he called me back he told me he wasn't going to be able to go to the bar anymore - but he'd come over for trick-or-treaters. He had a midterm to study for =-(. This is the guy who is always telling me I need to just not worry about it and go out (the reason I rarely go out is because I rarely have money). I told him to forget the trick-or-treaters and just go with me to the bar later. No can do - it was going to be an all-nighter. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! THAT SUCKS!!!!! I was very disappointed - I already had my costume on and everything =-(. He said he thought my other friend was going, but I told him that friend was a maybe. So I called that friend up and he said he'd show up for a little bit. Alright, at least that's something.

So my trick-or-treater friend came over and he even dressed up for the candy-handing out. I answered the door most of the time, and we got way more kids than I expected. I was dressed kind of 70's funky w/my fro wig and disco ball earrings - but I don't know what I was....one little girl asked me what I was and I said I didn't know. Anyways - various kids complimented my costume and one kid even asked if the fro was real (he was just making sure).

So at 8 p.m. almost on the dot my trick-or-treater friend departed and I headed off to meet the other friend following the directions he had given earlier (and leaving a bag tied to the door with the minimal candy I had left)....telling me to go to this one street and turn right on 21st. It should have taken me 15 minutes - it took me about 40 or more =-(. Traffic? Not at all. Several phone calls to and from both of my friends did little to speed up the pace =-(. The friend I was meeting wasn't very patient with me on the phone when I tried to tell him where I was at - and he didn't understand how I was explaining my location. I knew he didn't really want to be out that night anyways, so as every extra minute ticked away I was getting more and more depressed - worried that he'd leave as soon as I showed up. It was also a matter of someone who knew where he was at and knew I had been there before, so he couldn't understand how I couldn't find the place. So I called my midterm-studying friend instead because he is newer to the town and has a map on his fridge. He very patiently helped me out and I had to call him back a couple of times. He told me he was going to buy me a compass. Want to know what the problem was? There are evidently TWO 21st streets. TWO!!!! How in the heck was I supposed to know that =-(.

So a million years later I finally arrived at the place and I felt like crying I was so frustrated. My fun and excitement had definitely fizzled. And in the hour and a half or so that we were there - my friend and I maybe talked for 10 minutes total. I think we were both probably projecting what the other person was thinking - him thinking I was annoyed with the directions, and me thinking he was pissed I didn't follow them correctly and he had to be out way longer than he had intended. Finally at 10:30 I told him we didn't have to stay because I knew he had to work the next morning. It's not like we were talking at all. He would have friends stop by who he would chat with for a while, but he's not much of an introducer - he introduced me to one person when they were done talking. So there were lots of fun costumes all around, but I just warmed a bar stool for an hour and a half.

So Halloween was much more of a bummer than I had hoped it would be =-(. Maybe I should have just stayed at home and handed out more candy. Hopefully next year will be better. Although - it was still way better than it would have been if I had had to work.

And that brings us to today. Not much news for today I suppose, but I did work tonight and the manager they just brought in is a total all-out bitch. She sucks - BLECK!!!! I talked to a few other servers tonight and they have the same assessment. I had to put in a recook a couple times tonight because I had brought out incorrect side-dishes and she barked at me in front of another server "ARE YOU NEW?!?!" I said yes. "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SERVING?!?! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT THIS STORE?!?!" It was so rude. She is a raving, snappy-ass bitch. And then she has the nerve to try to go sugary-sweet when you leave and she says goodbye. Screw-you psychopath! I do plan to quit in December, and believe me, if it was closer to that time I would be sharing loads and loads of choice words with her. This place is pretty negative in how they approach things with all of the employees (servers, dishwashers, cooks) and they NEVER give you all of the breaks they are supposed to. I've maybe received 5% of the breaks I am owed and then it's only because I say something. I was talking to one of the dishwashers today and he said he frequently ends up working during his half because they yell at him that the dishes aren't done and then he does more and gets chewed out for working during it. They suck.

And tonight I came home after getting off only one hour after being scheduled off (it's usually 2 or more) at 11 p.m. to find some punk-ass PT Cruiser parked in my space! BEHIND OUR HOUSE!!!!! There's no question that it is not a public space. GRRRRRRRR! So I refrained from doing what I really wanted (slashing their tires), and I wrote a note asking them not to park there again - but it's raining so I'm sure the note will get all smeared.

On a positive note (I know - I so rarely have them), my roommate was home today and baked a bunch of cupcakes, so I had one of those after I scratched off the note =-). Yay homemade cupcakes!! Now I'm going to wander off and find something else to do for the next few hours.

Plans to Take Over

2005-10-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

A bit back I joined myspace.com, although I'm not entirely sure what to do with the thing. However, they had been advertising a new calendar feature so I went in a few weeks ago and scheduled something for tomorrow (Thursday). Although I am off work, I'm not quite sure if I will get around to "Taking Over the World" from 2-3 p.m. in the afternoon. Therefore, I'd like to request that for that hour each of you do something that I would approve of if I were indeed taking over the world. Have fun =-)!

Monday Ramblings...

2005-10-24T23:37:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day =-). I am actually closing out the evening with very pleasant feelings about my today. It started out with mail! Yay mail! Although I was rather nervous to see a thin envelope from typo-job =-(. I called out to the job gods for it please not to be over yet, and then I opened it. It was a lovely form letter, which is never good....but in this case they were just letting me know I met "the minimum requirements" and was therefore being forwarded on to the hiring department. Yay minimum requirements! I'm not used to getting a letter telling me something like that.....but maybe that's because I usually don't pass that hurdle =-(.

My other piece of mail was ridiculously fabulous =-). My cousin sent me some terrific mail that really made my day. Her letter was a Dr. Seuss-like poem written just for me and I loved it =-)! It also had a pin that says "Party Ghoul" and some other things - including a collage with her trademark Monster and some booster words! Yay! Plus she gave me some money and told me I had to spend it on something fun - not anything like bills. Okay - if you insist! So I bought myself a "Bite Me" shirt, some Sesame Street undies (I really wanted Superman ones, but they didn't have the color I wanted), and then I used the rest to go see a movie at the cheap movie theater =-). Yay!

Before that fun little festival of goodness, I met my Pal for a round of Samples at Costco followed by a famed Costco Hotdog and Soda (his treat- woohoo!!). I followed that up by traipsing into Dollar Tree and buying myself two hats for little kid heads (I have hopes that they can be adjusted to fit my Shabbler-sized noggin), but....upon going to the craft store - I found a lovely purple pimp hat that was 70% off and totally goes with a Pimp Coat I got a few years back. Big Pimping!! After the movie (a romantic comedy that did not appeal to either of my male friends ;-p), I met up with my other friend for yummy goodness in the form of a Chocolate Malt and Nachos.

So all in all I had quite a lovely day - but maybe that was because I didn't work ;-p! They tried to call me in, but I told them I had plans....which, even if the plans were to go to a movie by myself, they were still plans =-). And - considering two of my three shifts as a server so far have had me getting off work 4 hours after I was scheduled to leave.....I knew I wouldn't make it to my movie. So I'm ending today quite happy =-).

No Need to Worry!

2005-10-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is in reference to my last post "Torn" in case you didn't read that one and are wondering what the heck this one is about.

It boils down to this - I SOOOOOOOOOOOO DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT THAT POSSIBLE JOB CONFLICT!!!!!!! Oh my LORD!!!! I did HORRIBLE on the phone interview! SO HORRIBLE!!! It was one of those situations where I was observing myself, so to speak, as the interview was in progress, and I was baffled at how I could be so thoroughly unimpressive! Seriously. My answers were so mediocre and I just didn't have ANY pizazz at all. AT ALL!!! My goodness it was pathetic. And short. They were just doing brief phone interviews to see who would dazzle them enough for in-person encounters, but I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the job-train stops here for me on that one. DAMN I SUCKED!!!! I mean, I REALLY sucked! I didn't think I could suck that much. And I don't think it's some subconscious sabotage thing - because I didn't want to give a bad interview. They said something in the beginning that threw me a little bit, but not enough to inject me with the mediocrity-serum that was coursing through my veins as I tried not to totally flounder with their not-so-complicated questions. My goodness....I don't know what the problem was. That was probably my least impressive interview EVER!! And it makes me a bit nervous too....what if I actually get a phone interview for typo-job? Is today's pathetic showing an example of the newly tarnished, mediocre Shababbler? My goodness, I hope not!

Torn

2005-10-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found yourself wishing and hoping that something that had the potential to be extremely positive wouldn't work out? I'm sure some of you have. For me it's job related this time out. I have scheduled an interview for a position I didn't apply for with an organization that had my resume on file from a previous submittal. They wanted to do an interview with me a.s.a.p. for a position they need to fill. When I read the position description I was surprised they would deem me qualified to interview for this one since I felt I was more qualified for the previous one and I didn't score an interview that time. I'm not sure how many folks they are interviewing, and I really think someone else will end up fitting the bill moreso than I, but I'm still nervous that they might want me. This is an organization that would, undoubtedly, be really rewarding to work for, which is what I want in a work situation. They have a very positive purpose and if I didn't have something else on my plate of possibilities I would be begging for this job. But isn't that always the way it works? Of course this is all extremely hypothetical at this stage, but it's one of those situations where you have been waiting for or wanting something for ages, and then when the time finally comes you have (possibly) two paths you have to choose from. And, as Murphy would have it, you never have a clean and simple (or in this case timely) choice...it always has to be complicated.
The other possibility on my plate is exactly what I have wanted to do (or I have convinced myself it is at least) for a very long time. And it would also involve a relocation that I would like to make. That organization is hiring for several positions, so my chances are greatly boosted, and I have a couple of other things that have the potential to boost my chances further. The problem? The deadline just passed for that one so it will still be 2-4 weeks before I learn if I even get an interview =-(. Before I thought my chances were extremely good at landing an interview until I realized I submitted my application with a cursed, overlooked typo =-(. AAAAAHHHHHH damn typo!!!!! However, even w/that stupid, stupid error, I still think I have a good shot at an interview.

So I find I am horribly torn. In all likelihood, if the job gods are to continue along the Shababbler job-path selected thus far, neither one will wind up happening, but what if, in some twist of luck(?), both are offered....only, by the time I knew the one I really wanted was or wasn't offered, it would be long past the time I would have had to make a decision about the first one. Timing. It's such a significant factor in so many areas of our lives and it can have such a huge impact on the directions our lives take, be it in relationships, opportunities, leaving the house 5 minutes later and unknowingly missing what would have been an accident, and on and on. I need to stop worrying about this because I sincerely doubt it's even going to be an issue since job one is a bit over my head (but who knows, someone besides my parents could suddenly decide they think I'm amazing =-p)...I just find the whole situation somewhat frustrating =-(.

Work Upgrade

2005-10-17T01:58:00.000-07:00

I've been at my "secondary" restaurant job for a while now - but I've been a hostess-type for the longest time (which definitely gets old). I started training to be a server a long-ass time ago, but then they forgot to schedule me to finish the training, and after that I had to leave unexpectedly for a couple of weeks. And of course, upon my return they forgot to schedule it. So FINALLY I have completed the training.

Today was my first solo day as a server and I was very nervous going into it. I still don't know all of the questions I'm supposed to ask about everything. For most of the shift it was very chaotic. Another person had me switch (to a shift 2 hours longer), but I stayed an additional 2 hours after that because it was so busy and we were short a few people (which means I totally missed the programs I wanted to watch because I couldn't figure out how to program my VCR before I left =-( sniff...sniff...sniff).

The main manager stopped by in the midst of all of the chaos and told me I needed to "work cleaner." He was complaining about how many menus I had sticking out, but I wasn't the only one putting them there. Eye roll, eye roll, whatever. Anyways - it was sheer madness for so much of it! You know how you get so annoyed when the waiter or waitress forgets to bring something out? Well, me too. But now I totally get how someone can get so busy with a trillion other things that they totally forget about you and it is completely unintentional =-(. I feel bad about it, but I see how it happens now. Don't get me wrong - when it's slow they don't have an excuse =-p.

So anyways - I survived and the people working with me told me I did a pretty good job considering how busy it was. There's one girl who I didn't like before because she seemed to be annoying, but she was super helpful and I realize I misread her previously. And it's not like I didn't mess up.....unfortunately I flubbed a bit on my VERY first order, which I wanted to go smashingly well to start off on the proverbial right foot. It seems I didn't bring the soup out earlier enough so everything else wasn't hot by the time they got around to it =-(. I was really bummed about messing up my first ever order =-(. I know I'll make more mistakes, but hopefully they won't be huge ones, and I know things will get better as I get more experience. The main bummer is you can never count on getting off when you're supposed to. But I survived day 1 and will hopfeully progress like a fine wine and improve each day.

Semi-Eventful Park Stroll

2005-10-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

There's a great park very close to where I live that has a nice little lake (or is it a large pond/goose toilet?) that is very nice to go to and stroll about. To mildy compensate for my carb-addiction, I will go there sometimes and just walk around. I know myself well enough to know - that even though it is pretty and pleasant - I don't have the motivation to walk around it more than a couple times even if I have the time and it's a gorgeous day.....so I've figured out how to trick myself into walking for longer by utilizing the time to talk to friends or family on the phone as I walk. Sure, some of the park people may find it annoying, but I have to deal with their squealing children running about, or with the man who decided it was a perfectly decent idea to yank a cool looking turtle out of the water and place it on the sidewalk or the older man who was bicycling about and decided that instead of using the park facilities that he would go and tinkle in the woodsy area (I wonder if he knew that I knew what he was doing)....so anyways - walking and talking isn't a huge crime in my opinion.

On my latest venture I had been strolling around the park for around an hour and a half (having spoken to a couple of different people and also just walking phoneless for part of it), and I was finally completing my last lap before heading back to my car. On the last straightaway I was mainly looking across the lake and at the sky, but I noticed in my peripheral vision that a man down the way seemed to be staring at me. I briefly straightened my glance and he looked away. I continued to mostly look across the lake as I approached - I like to smile and say hello to people (Shush! I am capable of being nice every once in a while ;-p), but if you smile and say hello too soon you have that awkward "Do I keep smiling or do I look away again?" thing going on, which I prefer to avoid. So anyways - as I neared I smiled and he said hello or something and I think I did too. I kept walking and he made some comment about how I had been walking for a while or something - which was true, but, had he been watching me for long or did he just notice my red cheeks? He then asked if I had time to talk or something, and I lied and said I was meeting a friend. I'm sure he was a perfectly decent person, but he was at least 15 years older than me and he was a smoker (bleck)....now if he was more my age, not smoking, and whatnot, maybe I would have been more inclined to talk (although that's still always a bit strange) - but most people wouldn't have wanted to randomly talk to my windblown self anyways.

So as I kept walking he asked if he could at least introduce himself or some such thing. Meanwhile a man and his teenage son were walking by in the opposite direction and I noticed the Dad turn around to see, presumably, if this guy was bothering me. I let him introduce himself, and after he asked my name I went ahead and told him. Evidently his ex-girlfriend had the same name (his eyes went wide and he seemed to shake slightly in fear with her memory - who knew there was another "Shababbler" out there ;-p). I then said it was nice to meet him, but I had to go. He asked me if I came and walked around often, to which I again sort-of lied and said only every once in a while. Anyways - the icing on the cake for me was this....as I was attempting to make my final departure he asked, "Can I at least offer you a drink?" I glanced at the bench upon which he had been sitting and noticed there was what must have been a smidgeon of beer or something in a cut-off plastic bottle. I politely thanked him as I declined the offer and continued walking toward my car. I was thankful that he didn't attempt to follow me, because I needed to attempt to scrape off some dog-poo from the bottom of my shoe before I got into my side-swiped soccer-mom car (yes, I lead a truly glamorous life ;-p).

It seems to me, although I acknowledge I must have that "cheap date" look (and hey - take me to Costco for a hotdog and soda and I'm a happy girl =-p), but it seems the offer of park-bench hooch is much more appropriate for a drunken teenager out past their curfew (and no Mom and Dad - I was never a drunk teenager out past my curfew....those times I snuck out I was barely a teenager ;-p), but maybe it's just me. So my park stroll was slightly more eventful than usual (including the shoe poo), and I just find it tremendously amusing that this man actually was trying to offer me a swig of his park-bench hooch =-p. My goodness.

COFFEE!!!

2005-10-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

Having moved to the Pacific Northwest, I am surrounded by Starbuck's. Sure - you're virtually surrounded by Starbuck's anywhere around the globe - but this is THE place for it, right? I've technically lived here since the tail end of May/beginning of June. So It's actually quite crazy to think that I have yet to patronize a Starbuck's - the staple of life for Washingtonians =-p (well, coffee anyways). Some of you are probably quietly cheering that I am turning my back on this supplier of, and force behind the Mainstream Addiction of the masses....but it's not that. I like Starbuck's, I do (insert sheepish grin here for all of those who are disappointed in me).....but what it comes down to is that I am a broke-ass girl who can't afford to pay $3 for a Mocha =-(. So even though I live right near what is rumored to be the busiest Starbuck's in the USA, and even though I have now traipsed by the very first Starbuck's on the planet (right across from Pikes Place Market) a few times, I still have yet to buy anything. I would have when I had visitors - but the one time we forgot until we were too full, and the next time my guest didn't like coffee (or the other stuff), and there's really no need to go to Starbuck's for orange juice ;-p. So for now I remain Starbuck's free, but the only thing it is a statement for is my pocketbook being lighter than I would like =-p.

THIS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

2005-10-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

Today is not a happy day for the Shababbler. To be quite honest, I'm rather unhappy. I woke up this morning at 9:30 to the doorbell ringing and then knocking blasting away. I thought it would be my roommate's parents because, even though she is never here, they often come over on Sundays to do her gardening. Instead it was my neighbor, greeting me in my pjs on this drizzly morning with the news that my soccer-mom car had just been side-swiped by a hit and run driver =-(. He heard the brakes, the crash and then the acceleration - but by the time he was able to look all he saw was the car behind. Brilliant. I went out and took in the damage. Ya - it could be worse - but for everyone who feels like that is an appropriate comment to make - GO BITE YOURSELF!!!!! Deep breath, deep breath.....I'm not taking it out on you, dear reader, but since similar comments have been made to me today, I'm finding it pretty damn annoying! Because they're really probably thinking "Could have been worse" - followed by the unspoken - thank goodness that didn't happen to me!

So there's about two feet in the back that is completely scraped up and some places where the paint is even down to the metal, and the side reflector light was busted and broken out. My tire was thrashed from the experience and I just had to spend about $80 at Costco to get their cheapest replacement for my wheel =-(. That may not seem like a lot of money to many of you, but to me it's a helluva lot and that $80 really could have gone toward something else....like oh, I don't know.....rent maybe. And - to make matters worse - even if I had the money for the deductible (which I don't) - I couldn't claim it anyways because they'd want to know why the hell I was up here and hadn't switched my coverage yet - I don't even think they'd be legally required to pay for it.

Had I expected something like this would happen (I was naive) - I certainly wouldn't have been parking on the main street in front (that I thought was safer because it was well-lit) when I could have been parking in the ominous back alley area. In the close to three years my roommate has lived here nothing like this has ever happened to her's or her family's cars, but when I started talking to the neighbor he started telling me about all of these houses whose cars had been hit =-(.

So I'm an extremely unhappy camper today, and even though it could have been worse, it still sucks that it happened at all. And when I spoke with one of my friends, the comment that was uttered from their lips was "It's only a car." Although this was over the phone, I could literally see the shoulders shrug with a lack of concern. This person went on to make another comment, which I didn't hear, and when I asked what they had said they responded with "never mind" - so I'm assuming it was another patronizing comment. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......so keep your "It's only a car" and "It could have been worse" comments to yourself because, quite frankly, I'm not in the mood for that!

Visitor Update

2005-09-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

So my penpal has now come and gone and I believe I did an adequate job of showing her around =-). We did Tacoma touristy things one day, and Seattle touristy things another day. She went from having a very efficient driver in California (my Dad) to having me - someone who had to call for directions on how to get to a park in my own town (and then I actually got lost inside the park!). When I told her my Dad was a better driver than me (direction-wise), she said "Yes, your Dad is very perfect" =-p. Now, of course I think my Dad is pretty damn close to perfect myself, but she meant efficient and precise on the driving and all that stuff.

Anyways - I think she had fun. And she bought about $100 worth of Ichiro stuff at a Mariner's store to bring as souvenirs to the folks back home (for anyone out there who is as baseball-uninformed as myself, he's a totally famous Japanese guy who plays for the Seattle team). We went to Safeco Field, to Pikes Place Market (I finally saw them throw a fish, but I seriously don't know what the big deal is!), up the Space Needle and all that good stuff. She got to eat a bunch of different stuff while she was in CA and WA, I also took her to one of those Spirit Halloween stores (since they don't do Halloween) and I took a picture of her with some of the stuff even though I knew I would get scolded by the teeny-bopper at the counter (TeenyBopper: "Ma'am - please don't take pictures in the store!!!" ME: "She's from Japan and she's leaving tomorrow." - I knew they wouldn't want me to take pics, so I waited until we were ready to leave, but I should have had a better comeback ready, like "Oh - we're only doing this so we can plan a Corporate takeover that will annihilate all Spirit Stores"), but the biggest achievement of the whole visit was probably that I even managed to get her to the airport on time in the 6 a.m. hour on Friday morning!!!

So I think she had fun - and it just impresses the hell out of all of us at how well she does with the language considering how crazy different it is from English. And now she's back in Japan where things are smaller and the food portions aren't so huge (evidently they totally have Subway over there, but the sandwich sizes are much smaller =-p - she also had my parents take a picture of her behind one of the "big" grocery store shopping carts =-p).....she wants to come back in a few years after she finishes up her PhD. Shoko and I have been penpals for about 15 years I think - pretty impressive (or is it frightening that me and my family are the representatives of the entire nation =-p)!

It's Bed-Time!

2005-09-25T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not quite beddy-by time, but I will try to venture that way soon. I always think it would be a spectacular idea to try to make myself go to bed earlier, but I rarely ever succeed in doing such. Anyways - that's irrelevant. Today I mustered up the energy to do the full-on bedding shift....time for those flannel sheets! A couple mornings ago I woke up begrudgingly when the alarm sounded, and I was SOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOLD!! Okay - not Eskimo-in-Alaska cold - but certainly Shababbler cold! So I vowed that it was time for me to bust out my soft and cozy flannel sheets. However, the container I keep my bedding in is kind of difficult to get to, so the task got put off. Today after work I took care of business, and even positioned my Velux blanket to boot. Yay warm nights and mornings ahead!!! Woohoo =-)!!!

On a totally different side note - as I was driving home tonight I noticed a cup in the road, so I swerved over and was pleased when I saw in my rearview mirror that I had managed to break it =-). It was plastic - and a lovely cheap thrill for me on my drive home =-). I had a moment of panic a second later though when I saw sirens coming my way. It wasn't a big swerve, but maybe they could have thought I was a bit tipsy. Fortunately they were whizzing past me on to things much more significant (potentially) than my cup smashing episode =-). Phew!!!

As if I didn't feel bad enough...

2005-09-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

I'm on my roommate's computer right now, and since it was recently worked on, all the old links are down....so I decided to do a search on "shababble" to try to get to my blog. The wonders of the world of cyberspace lead me to a link that mentions my blog and me to someone else in what I assume is their blog. This person is evidently feeling semi-something-or-rather about just landing a mediocre job as she is still working on her M.A. So the person I know pretty much said - "hey, at least you got a job, I know someone who is a total loser with a Master's degree and hasn't got crap to show for it.....here, check out her link to see how pathetic she is." Okay, so those weren't the exact words, here are the exact words:

"Hey, at least you picked up a job with benefits so quickly after getting out of school. You could be like my very good friend shababble (http://shababble.blogspot.com/) who picked up her masters in 2000 (I think) and STILL hasn't found THE job.. and barely even 'a' job... You should check out her blog there to see what I mean. ;-)"

So thanks a lot you-know-who-you-are, because now I feel even more pathetic than I already did, but I guess it proves my point, that maybe I'm just here to make other people feel better about what they perceive as their own ridiculous little work situations. I just didn't realize that that would expand to people I didn't even know. At least I was called "a very good friend". And the degree was earned in 2002, not that that would make me any less of a bulletin board for reasons not to go to college. So if anyone else wants to point out to someone just how stupid you think my existence is, maybe you should e-mail them the link so I don't read about it and feel like crawling into a hole.

Visitor!

2005-09-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

I have a visitor with me for a few days from Japan. She first went to visit the rest of my family, and then flew up to see me =-). My friend-retrieval skills are seriously lacking when it comes to airports =-(. When my super-wonderful pal was out in July I was eagerly waiting for her at what turned out to be the wrong gate =-(. We later met up in baggage claim. And with this guest I rushed to the gate.....and again it was the wrong one. Yes, I am an airport-guest-picker-upper-incompetent-jackass! I found her baggage carousel and rushed down - but she wasn't there, however there was a guy I had met recently who was waiting for his bags from a different flight, which is really random, so we chatted for a bit. Luckily he saw me first, so he can't accuse me of being a stalker =-p. He's kinda cute though, so I'm glad I had bothered to groom - haha =-p.

Anyways - I worriedly trekked up and down the escalators, and even stopped and asked some folks what flight they had been on.....and finally she came breezing toward the baggage area (as I was on the phone to my Mom asking if she had even checked a bag and what she was wearing). So now I have my Japanese penpal here for what will hopefully be a lovely visit, and the weight of the tourism world is on my shoulders as it is my responsibility to make sure she sees some good stuff =-).

A Little Less Crazy...

2005-09-16T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just for anyone who was wondering, the trip back wasn't nearly as eventful as the first trip. Phew =-)! We boarded, flew and landed on time and I wasn't sitting next to any psycho Samoan's or anything like that. Now please readers, don't think I have it out for Samoan's in this insanely PC world of ours....I just like the way it sounds and I think he was.

The only real thing of interest in the airport and on my flight was a guy who looked like he was in the WWE (isn't that what they renamed the WWF?). My Pop and I commented how he totally looked like a wrestler with his massive build and his long locks that were topped with a cowboy hat and shades (even in the airport). Well, he was one of those "spiffy" first class people, so you walk by them when you go to your meager coach seat. So I smiled just to be nice and I noticed a few seconds later (we were moving very slowly as people loaded their carry-ons) that he had nestled his funky cowboy-like hat lower on his head so people couldn't see his face. I thought maybe he was planning to take a nap, but since he was looking at the paper that wasn't it. I don't know if my small smile is what triggered this event (if so then my goodness - after the psycho Samoan I must really need to work on that smile!!!), but come on now!!!! I assume there was a modicum of possibility that he was some famous wrestler guy, but it's not like I ever actually choose to WATCH wrestling! Sure I took in some episodes of "Hogan Knows Best" when VH1 was having a marathon, but that's it. So if you are a famous wrestler and my smile somehow unnerves you, then RELAX - I Don't Know Who You Are!!!! I'm not about to blow a cover that I don't even know if you have! However, I would like to suggest to all of the famous wrestlers out there who don't want to be recognized (if he was indeed one).....granted, your massive physique is hard to hide, but certain elements of your "trademark" look can probably be covered.....If you have long hair, you can always put it into a low ponytail and that shouldn't wreak any sort of havoc on all of the hard work done by your hot oil treatments, plus - if you're the funky-cowboy hat wearing type, try switching to a baseball cap - it stands doesn't stand out nearly as much (except possibly in places like Texas =-p).

And as for me, I'm back to whatever existence it is I have up here, and in evident need of practicing my smile so it doesn't alarm the masses.

Flying the Crazy Sky's

2005-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Recently I had cause to take an unplanned trip - so I had a last minute flight booked with a one-way ticket. I knew I'd be red-flagged for that, so I wasn't at all surprised when I got selected for a special search. As the girl waved her wand all around it beeped on my butt....and she said something to the effect of "Our sensor has gone off in a sensitive area so I will be patting the area down with the back of my hand." So I guess my rear end is a high sensitive area. Then the fella meticulously went through all of my carry-on belongings...even going as far as taking every item out and opening things like my wallet and planner up. As much as I was standing there with a semi-grumpy look on my face, I was impressed with just how careful bag-searching-guy was at being nice to my belongings.....something I have rarely seen before.

So I thought my red-flagged search would be the limit of my excitement for this flight, but, I was wrong. As I approached my window seat in the plane I was pleased to see that there were only 2 seats in my row. I got situated, but then decided to go use the restroom. When I came back there was a big guy sitting in the aisle. After some people passed I asked him if I could get in. Sure he probably had just sat down and it's never convenient to get back up, but he turned and gave me an ice cold look as he got up. Alrighty then. So I moved over to my seat thinking that it was much more pleasant for him to get out than for me to attempt to climb over him, but perhaps he disagreed. Whatever. We both kept to ourselves as we waited for takeoff, but at one point we made eye-contact. An unplanned moment of eye-contact with your seat-mate usually elicits half-smiles or, for the non-smiling types, at least awkward nods of acknowledgement. Not from Mr. Aisle Seat. No, Mr. Aisle Seat greeted me with another ice-cold stare laced with some sort of anger that I had no idea what I had done to deserve. I made a mental note not to make eye-contact again and lowered down the armrest inbetween us, which I thought I had already done, but I guess not. Big Mistake!

Mr. Aisle Seat: "WOULD YOU STOP PUTTING THAT DOWN!!!!!" This was said with something that was about as close as you can get to a yell without (I think) actually being one. And, as I had come to realize is to be expected from Mr. Aisle Seat, it was delivered with the frigid stare and the angry eyes.

Now keep in mind, I thought I had put the fricking armrest down (because if you had been greeted by icy-cold, angry stares you would want a divider between you too), but when it was up again I figured I had simply forgot.

I said something to the effect of "I'm sorry I thought...."

Mr. Aisle Seat: "I HAVE PUT THIS UP THREE TIMES AND YOU KEEP PUTTING IT DOWN."

Shababbler: "I didn't realize you had put it up."

Mr. Aisle Seat: "EVERY TIME I PUT IT UP YOU PUT IT RIGHT BACK DOWN!"

It has been a bit more than a week or so since this happened, so the words are probably not exact, but the anger coming from him was insane to me. I don't scare easily, but I knew for damned sure I didn't want to sit next to the big, angry man for a full 2 hours. People had been switching seats, so I reached up and pressed for the attendant to come over. She came right over and I said "This man was just very rude and very hostile to me and if possible can you please move me to another seat."

Mr. Aisle Seat: "SHE STARTED IT! EVERY TIME I PUT THIS UP SHE PUTS IT DOWN AGAIN - I WAY 275 POUNDS AND I CAN'T HAVE IT DOWN."

Shababbler: "I didn't realize you had put it up!"

Mr. Aisle Seat: "YES YOU DID!!!!"

At this point the flight attendant told me to follow her and she took me up front and had me stand in the little cubby area where they stand. I told her I didn't realize he had been putting it up and she told me that he was being ridiculous and that it's my right to have it down anyways. I told her if he would have asked me to leave it up, I wouldn't have been happy, but I would have done it. She was very reassuring and went to try to see if there were any other seats.

All the while she was off and about she would come back and talk to me, and she told me every time she walked by Mr. Aisle Seat he would hand her over one of his vicious stares just daring her to challenge him. Unfortunately, the flight was full because some woman was being very bitchy about giving up the non-paid for seat she had her baby's carrier (and the baby in). Even though I was standing in the cubby, I heard the attendants talking and there was talk about booting Mr. Aisle Seat to another flight! Holy crap! I didn't want this mountain of anger to be displaced! I just wanted to be far away from him!!

I made sure to tell one of the flight attendants near me that he didn't threaten me, and she said they knew that. The original flight attendant came back in and I told her I hadn't wanted him booted, and that I'd even take a middle seat, but I just didn't want to be next to him. She told me that they didn't want to fly with a hostile passenger. As much as it probably would have been the noble thing to offer to take a later flight, my ride was already scheduled, so I couldn't. And as much as I could have said "Oh nevermind" - I don't scare easily, but this guy freaked me out and my pulse was racing.

They drew the curtain where I was and pulled him off to talk to him - some of which I could hear, but not all. He was NOT HAPPY. They started talking about having him take a later flight and he was pissed (understandably so). He was saying things like "I don't like the girl - but if I have to compromise I'll leave the damned armrest down!" Etc., etc., etc. He refused for a while to take the later flight, but finally realized he had no choice. In the meantime they were announcing over the speaker that it would just be a couple of minutes while they resolved a seating issue." Mr. Aisle Seat didn't know where I was, and there were attendants blocking where I was, but if he had seen me, at the very least I think he would have been analyzing every last detail for when we met again in the future.

All of the drama was resolved and Mr. Aisle Seat was given the boot. I walked back to my seating area, feeling the stares of dozens of disgruntled passengers whose flight had just been delayed by 15 minutes because of me. Needless to say I avoided eye-contact. I think the people near me hear his explosion and certainly wouldn't have wanted to sit next to the mountain of anger either, but oh well. When I arrived on the other end I made sure to remove some identifying details just in case Mr. Aisle Seat had a ride waiting for him who he had asked to find me.

So - much more excitement and drama then I'm used to in a flight. Oh - and ironically, because another man had been displaced several times due to the complication's caused by the woman's baby carriage, he got my seat and I was stuck in Mr. Aisle Seat's spot.

Life with and without employment.....

2005-08-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

So I used to be semi-kidding when I said this, but now I really think it is completely true. I've realized that perhaps the point of my existence, at least when it comes to work, is to be the person who makes everyone else feel better about the jobs and careers they have. "Well this sucks, but at least it beats the crap out of what the Shababbler has going on!" Ho hum. I'm serious. It's gotten to the point where I even feel stupid telling people about things I am applying for because we all know NOTHING WILL EVER HAPPEN!!!!

Some of my friends have even told me over the years that they really thought things would have eventually fallen into place for me and that they were surprised so long had gone by with nothing coming up. I've recently had a couple people tell me that perhaps it is time to essentially give up on what I have been trying to pursue for so long. Maybe so =-(. But then it makes me wonder why in the hell I wasted all that time and money to rack up a couple of degrees that I owe out the wazoo for now. What was the point? They really do brain wash you in high school and make it seem like life is going to be so much better if you go to college. They show you those charts with how much more you can expect to make over the course of your life compared to people without degrees. But they never emphasize the point that this is just what happens for some people and it may never happen for you. And they don't have a side bar stating "Psssssst....Shababbler.....pssssssst....not only will you not ever get a "real" job, but you are also going to owe more money than you ever imagined possible for going to school and you will have to base all of your work decisions for the rest of your life on whether or not each job will allow you to pay off your student loans =-). Have a great day!"

So let me tell ya'll about my latest interview experience. I got called in and met with 2 people, followed by three more people for the 1st interview. It seemed to go pretty well, so I was excited to get a 2nd interview, scheduled with just one person....the Head Honcho. I got the vibe that Mr. Head Honcho wasn't really seeing me as the best option, but he was nice enough. Earlier today - one week after the interview with Mr. Head Honcho - I get a call from the human resources office asking me to call back. I was surprised, but excited because even though I didn't think I had landed the job, maybe I did, or maybe they were calling to schedule me for an interview for another position I had applied for. The message asked me to call back. I ran and grabbed my calendar so I could know what my availability was for any given day.

Any guesses as to what Ms. HR had to say? "Hello Shababbler =-). You interviewed for a position with us last week and that position was offered to another candidate who accepted it, but I just wanted to let you know that if you choose to apply for anything else we keep your application on file for 12 months, so all you need to do is call us up or e-mail =-)." She was super pleasant. Don't you just love it when they have a smile in their voice as they call you to say "As you know - you suck and we didn't want you, but if you choose to submit your pathetic hiney for a position with us in the future you can just save a tree." Lordy did that do wonders for my self-esteem.

However, I am not completely jobless. I have recently secured my "secondary" job. I was at a party on Friday and talking to some people I had just met, and at some point it came up I had just started something, I said it was my secondary job.

Random Person: "Oh, so what's your primary job?"

ME: "I don't have one yet."

Random Person (with confused look on face): "So you have a secondary job but not a
primary one?"

ME: "Ya."

Random Person: "Oh. Okay."

Aaaaaaah yes.....nothing like strangers realizing you are a loser to make you feel like you are having a stellar day =-).

So I figure I'll talk some about this secondary job since I don't think any of those people will ever get to know me well enough to ever be given a link or even my e-mail. I had wanted to do waitressing type stuff in the past as a secondary thing (never as a primary), just because my former job was so nomadic and lonely. However, I'm low on the experience in this field, so I went to a place that's open tons of hours and isn't exactly a high-faluting place ;-p. I already know I will have to quit in about 4 months because they make everyone work on certain days that I already know I won't be available for. Quitting is probably going to be very easy to do. Very easy. I'm not a waitress yet because I have to train, for now I am a hostess. It's really interesting seeing what a crappy job some of the other employees do and how they expect you to do things that are what they should be doing. If I was a mystery diner some of those kids would be screwed, but instead I am simply a lowly employee.

So I find myself frequently wondering what in the heck I'm doing (at the new secondary job too, but I meant life in general ;-p). I don't know if a "real" job is in my cards or if I somehow offended my job gods back in the day =-(. And I don't know if I made the right choice moving up here, even though I don't think it would have been the right choice to stay where I was either. And I think it sucks that the going joke about people with majors within the liberal arts having one question they usually have to ask in their jobs after college...."Would you like fry's with that?" And I'll probably be asking that soon =-(.

DON'T USE TRAVELOCITY!!!!!!

2005-08-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

In this day and age, most of us book our airline tickets via the web. I've done so on pretty much every occasion that I've flown in the last few years. If you're looking to do something more elaborate maybe you talk to a travel agent, but usually if it's just a flight you book either with the carrier directly or through one of the travel websites.

As you can probably guess from the title of this, my last flight was booked through travelocity. After I booked my ticket (my first through them), it wouldn't register under the "my flights" information. I had to call to have a confirmation e-mail sent. This was purchased a couple months ago and the flight was completed last month - so this is a while back. However, in the course of my move one of my bank statements was either misplaced or it never joined me for the trip, so I hadn't gone back to balance my checkbook yet. As I did that online today I noticed that in addition to the $184.40 charged for my flight there was a separate charge by Travelocity of $5. I know most of you would think $5 was no big deal, but to me it is....especially when I didn't realize the charge was coming.

So I call up today and the guy informs me that it is a booking charge. I talk to him for a bit to clarify that it didn't come from having to speak with someone on the phone, and he told me that all tickets are subject to such a charge. When I argued with him that it didn't show me that charge on my final transaction with Travelocity he told me that it states on the web there is a charge for the booking fee. "So you charge us a booking fee even though we do all the work to book the ticket?" "Yes." He seemed content with his answer and was ready to let me go and I told him that if I didn't settle this with him on the phone right then and there I would be filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. He immediately told me he would credit the charge back and had me give him my credit card information. Supposedly it is supposed to credit back within one week, and believe me....I'll be checking =-(!

SO I went back to Travelocity after talking to him to find where the small print was. Mind you, I know I pay more attention to the small print compared to some people I know - so I was wondering where this was. I found it at the link that says "Total for e-ticket includes taxes and fees." That wording alone implies that all fees are included. If you click on the taxes and fees link, it goes over the standard stuff....if you scroll waaaaaaaaaaaaay down, it talks about the other stuff they can charge. I guaranty you that most people never see that because the wording on the link makes you think it is just a breakdown. Additionally, when you buy your ticket and print out your confirmation you are given no indication that there will be any further fees.

Watch out Travelocity!! You messed with the wrong Shababbler!!! I want my five dollars (picture me saying this as I ride a bike chasing after Travelocity over the course of a movie (inflation for those who get the reference))! Why would I use them when some of the other sites like that don't have this charge, or when I can go directly through the airline. Rat bastards =-(.

And then there were Darts....

2005-08-12T22:07:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday it was the birthday of a friend, so I grabbed another pal and we ventured off to the bar to meet up for mellow, but cool birthday grooviness =-). Lucky for all the ladies that his birthday fell on a Wednesday because it happened to be "Ladie's Night" which meant $1.50 well drinks!!! YAY!!!!

This is a pretty cool bar with some of the standard entertainment features.....pool......foosball.....darts. I wanted to play darts so me and the non-birthday-boy friend checked out the darts from the bar and wandered up to the dart board. It's a fairly large dart board that is mounted on a wicker rug type thing. I get in position and I throw my first dart. I WAS concentrating, but you'd never be able to convince the girl at the next table that. My dart did fly happily and eagerly toward the board - ready to make an indelible mark that illustrated my skill and finesse. However, somewhere along the way my dart became a little disoriented and managed to hit the board dart-butt first =-(. Okay - it happens, and when it does it usually flops down to the ground (I should know!). INSTEAD, my wayward dart decided to leap about 4-5 feet to the right and spear itself into the wall above the nearby table, about 8 inches from a very unhappy girl's face =-0. She REALLY didn't look happy about the whole thing. As a matter of fact she looked quite pissed.

I apologized and she just continued to look pissed. Come on now!!!!! It's not like I was TRYING to hit her!!!! It's not like I DID hit her!!!!! As a matter of fact I missed by about a full 8 inches!!!!!!!! She was just glaring and stewing and my apologies were falling on deaf ears. Sure she had a right to be shocked or surprised or worried....but I just don't see where she got off being pissed!!!! Maybe I should have aimed for her because then I might have actually hit the board!

So we realized darts weren't a good idea while anyone was sitting at that table, and instead decided to play foosball. Little did I know I was playing against someone who had actually entered foosball competitions in the past (geez!), so my butt got whipped pretty quickly.

Eventually grumpy girl and pals left the table that was too close to the dart board and I finally got to play =-). One of the things I learned is that if you throw all three at once, sometimes you can actually get into the red of the bullseye - WOOHOO!!!! Thankfully, the night ended without anyone being speared =-).

What a shocker - the Post Office Still Sucks!

2005-08-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today I ventured into the "unhappy place" to send a package to my grandparents. Keep in mind, I'm quite used to sending packages and do it more often than most Ordinary Joe-Schmoe's. After I enter the line, just as lots of people start to join it, of course one of the two cashiers decides this is when she has to leave. Typical.

The women in front of me hands the man a bunch of envelopes from a former addressee that she doesn't know. He informs her that she needs to write "no longer lives here" on each envelope in the future. Then he proceeds to do it there before he processes the rest of her transaction. You'd think they had a stamp.

This post office is also the only post office I've ever been to who won't take your letters at the counter - even if you're conducting other transactions there. I once saw one of the employees make a fragile older gentlemen with a cane take his envelope back to the lobby drop box. I can't believe they don't take envelopes at the counter!

So I get up front and hand him my package and ask if it is eligible for "Delivery Confirmation" - which is something you pay extra for just to confirm that they will actually be doing the job you are paying them to do to begin with. He eyeballs it and tells me no because it's not 3/4 inch. Grrrr. I ask him if he's just going to make that decision solely by looking at it and he pretty much says yes. I have a feeling it might have been close.

So I was mostly mailing envelopes and pictures within my package, and one thing was a ziplock baggy, folded in half with a couple things in it. This provided a bit of a bump to the manila envelope (the "zipper" of the ziplock), but nothing to write home about. So he feels my package and told me that first he is going to strongly recommend that I consider repackaging it in something firmer so that that hard point doesn't snag and all of my contents don't get lost. I tell him I'm just going to trust that the post office will actually do their job this time and will deliver my package safely. He tells me that it is my job to package the material properly. If you refer back to what he told the lady before me it would seem that he is big on telling others what their job is. Keep in mind I have seen people mail much more questionably wrapped items than this - the probability of any other post office from my past giving me grief about this package would, I imagine, be less than 2%!!!

So - he tells me my rate is going to be $1.50 (I'm almost positive that was the amount). But then he placed one stamp on it and left three more stamps on top of it for me to place. Every time I ever mail something like this at the post office they ALWAYS meter it. He told me I could put the stamps on myself (which came to $1.52 and not the $1.50 I would have paid for metering) and then drop it in the slot. I said I was paying for the postage here, why couldn't he just mail it at the counter because that's what always happens whenever I go to any other post office. He said that he is not going to put HIS meter on a package that I refuse to rewrap. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!?!?!?!? Meanwhile my mind is filling with profane words that I am not saying, and I am truly baffled that he is allowed to make such a decision. The "difficulty" of my package would probably be akin to placing a pickle in a sandwich. Before the pickle the sandwich was smoother, but after the pickle it doesn't really mess it up at all.

So I ask him if there is a phone number I can call to complain about my service today and he gives me the card for the 1-800 #. I call it quite soon after from a payphone (because I do think they tamper with people's mail and I don't want to call from the home phone), and of course, they are already out for the evening - even though this is the national hotline. I'm very unpleased at the moment. I can't believe he could pull something like that, like it was his own little dictatorship!

"City of Destiny"

2005-08-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. I live in "The City of Destiny" now. I didn't know this until I moved here and I was blessed with the knowledge by an unassuming postcard sitting on the rack. My roommate didn't even know and she's working towards her 3rd year here. But I found it encouraging that I had moved to "The City of Destiny" since it sounds so positive and since it was a bit of a leap of faith for me to come here to begin with. The Shababbler and "The City of Destiny" - it had to be a match made in heaven.

Well, as the weeks have been ticking away and I've notched up a couple of months, the job search is really starting to get me down. I'm going to admit right now that I am being picky, and that probably needs to stop....optimism isn't always a good thing, sometimes you need to admit defeat =-(. But I took my dejected self to The Dollar Tree (which isn't the one right near our house), and I strolled about in search of a few things. As I began to stroll I decided to look up "Destiny" in the dictionary that was staring back at me from the shelf. I knew what it meant, but figured I should clarify. And wouldn't you know it.....there were all sorts of encouraging words to greet me on the open pages as I skimmed about for my word of choice.....desolate, destroy, despair, devour (yes, even that word gets you down when you were in the mood I was in)....and finally - DESTINY. So I confirmed the thoughts that had started to enter my mind in the last few days....Destiny isn't necessarily a good thing. As a matter of fact, Destiny can totally suck, but we have a tendency to romantacize the word in our minds. Truth be told, Destiny can blow =-(. Here's how dictionary.com defines it:

des·ti·ny ( P ) (dst-n)n. pl. des·ti·nies

1. The inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot.

2. A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: “Marriage and hanging go by destiny” (Robert Burton).

3. The power or agency thought to predetermine events: Destiny brought them together.

So you see? The word Destiny really isn't as dreamy and promising as most of us make it out to be. My Destiny could be to be homeless or employed as a poo-picker upper FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE! My Destiny could be that I never pay off all of the student loans I built up because teachers in high school brainwashed me into thinking going to college was such a stellar idea. My Destiny could be to find the job of my dreams once I turned 98. You get the idea. So now the whole "City of Destiny" thing isn't nearly as inspiring =-(.

Cheese is Power

2005-07-30T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today I went over and traipsed around lovely Point Defiance park. As I was heading home, I decided to take the "scenic" route and explore streets I really don't know. And then there it was - a shiny and lovely 7'11 calling my beverage-loving name =-). Shababbler! Psssssst......Shababbler - you know you want a gigantic soda!!! How could I resist? I went in to get my tank of soda, opting for the 44 oz. super big gulp as opposed to the 64 oz. double big gulp (which I later regretted as those extra 20 ounces would only have cost 20 cents more.....you always regret it when you slurp up the last drops =-(... and I almost always get Diet, so it's not like the calories really matter).

Anyways - as I capped off my super big gulp and grabbed a long, colorful straw (yay straws!! I love straws =-)!!), I saw the nacho chip machine. You could choose your container of chips and then go crazy with the cheese and chili. Unlimited amounts of cheese and chili at your disposal!!! I'm not a big chili fan, but lord do I love cheese. YAY CHEESE!!!!! And I had just practiced restraint the night before in the grocery store and told myself that it really wasn't necessary for me to buy shredded cheese (even though it is quite hard to resist shredded cheese=-(). So here I was with my tank of soda in hand face to face with the marvelous gooey cheese machine. Cheese at my disposal, as much as I wanted! I'm sure there must be a small corner in heaven that has a gooey-cheese dispenser =-). So I grabbed the chips and opened the bag. My approach was to be one of maximum cheesage. A small layer of chips topped by loads of the warm, creamy, cheesy goo =-). Another layer, topped by another river of cheese goo. Followed by another and another and another....until all of my chips had been placed and were floating around in a lake of lovely cheese goo =-). Woohoo Cheese Goo!!!!!

My ride home took a while because I was guessing at the streets. Those who know me well know I have a tough time waiting to get home to sample tasty goods such as this, so at one light I risked getting cheese lap in order to partake in a bite of my warm, lovely, cheesy nachoey goo =-). A bit spicy for my spice-wimp tastebuds, but it was LOVELY, WARM CHEESEY GOO!!!

I finally got home and I did what I had to do and then set down my feast of cheesy-nachoey goo, along with the remainder of my "I-wish-you-were-a-double-but-you're-only-a-super-Big-Gulp." As I started to partake in this cheesy delicacy, I realized that, even though I didn't think it were true, it was possible to go overboard on the cheese =-O!! You can imagine my shock and disbelief....how can there ever be too much cheese?!?!?! But it was true, and my beautiful cheesy loveliness possessed perhaps a bit too much cheesy loveliness =-(. By this point the once crisp chips were soggy remnants that had long since drown under the demands placed by the cheesy lake. I had to bust out the spoon - and the spice was still a bit of an obstacle. Believe it or not, I actually put them in the fridge to come back to later. I'm hoping when I approach them later things will be better. I know the chips have now fallen from grace, but I can't just throw away all that cheesy loveliness =-(.

So the lesson, dear friends, is that yes, there can be too much of a good thing. Well - at least if that good thing is an endless supply of what you believe will be cheesy heaven. One must learn to pace themselves in the land of cheesy loveliness and realize that, the chips should not be entirely lost and forgotten in the lake of cheese. A river of cheese would have been more appropriate, but I was simply too excited to have control of the cheese button. Let this be a lesson for everyone - so that my chips will not have drown in vain!!!

Is the truth in the toilet paper?

2005-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

As you enter into any new living situation, you wonder if certain incidents represent singular occurrences or dreadful habits. When you are living with a dear friend for the first time, you hope that the things that might bother you are just "one-time things." The problem here lies in the inevitable discrepancy between what you view as "annoying" or "worrisome" behavior, and what your roommate views as such. Things that would never in a million years bother you may annoy the heck out of the other guy or gal and vice-versa.

Which brings us to the toilet paper. The first time I saw the roll left with just a scraggly sheet or two as our "stored-for-guests" roll (being in a more obvious place than the other stash) had been ripped open and left on the counter, I was certain it must have simply been because she had been too frantic in the morning to bother, and that she was in a rush for work. Because who would do such a thing if they were loaded with time? So that moment was worrisome, but forgiven. I was hopeful it was a one-time (or merely occasional) thing. Tonight proved this is not the case, and that sadly, my beloved friend of years and now roommate is crap at dealing with toilet paper (pun intended) =-(.

She got home this evening after work and was well into "relax-and-do-other-stuff" mode when I went in to tinkle. Before I even got to the task at hand I noticed a completely barren roll of toilet paper hanging nakedly on the rack (or whatever it's called). I was mortified. Not because I was in the middle of anything - I had only just walked in - but it became painfully obvious to me that my roommate didn't give a rat's behind about toilet paper etiquette =-(. Because this time she truly had plenty of time to deal with changing the roll....all the time in the world. Ho hum, perhaps it was a habit =-(.

I walked straight out and asked her if she seriously had just left the roll completely stripped and still on the rack like that. My tone was one of horrible confusion - not anger, but certainly a hint of accusation (without being downright bitchy). She smiled and said something like "ooops, sorry." But she then went on to say that she normally just waits until she goes in again to bring in another roll. Obviously she had forgotten she has a roommate now =-(. There was no hint of true concern or care. She must have forgotten that there was another roll stashed away right near the toilet. There was also no moment of "Oh - I'll make sure I do it next time" =-(. Even my brother changes the toilet paper roll. I must say, this incident has me worried. I'm a stewer and someone blatantly ignoring toilet paper etiquette will certainly drive me mad over time. Perhaps that's the plan? Maybe she didn't really want a roommate after all =-p.

FAKER!!!

2005-07-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

So I guess there's a city council election coming up, and that's why I've been seeing signs for "Denny Faker." As is usually the case with politician type campaigns, the last name is really big on the sign. VOTE FAKER. Hehe =-p. Makes me laugh, Such an apt name for a politician =-).

In other observations as I drove around today, I noticed a crow that seemed to be wearing little crow-sized snow shoes as it walked on the grass. Which was just silly since it's summer ;-p.

Happiness and Despair through Food

2005-07-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have had some wonderful highs and lows in the land of food as of late. As was mentioned in the last post, I recently went home for about a week and a half or so. Right before that trip home I bought some sliced mushrooms in the store. It was an unwise move as I hadn't even unwrapped the container before it was time for me to fly off. However, not wanting to lose out on what would undoubtedly be taste-a-licious mushrooms, I decided to make the freezer their new home while I was away. If any of you have attempted this before you know that that was a foolish mistake on my part. Very foolish =-(.

I returned from the scorching heat of the Central Valley with my head full of an assortment of thoughts. "Thank God the weddings over!;" "Damn I have a lot of crap to unpack.;" " Dude - I sooooo need to get a job!;" "I hope my precious mushrooms are okay." So I opened up the freezer and saw that what had once been strong, white mushrooms had turned into shrivelly-dark something-or-rathers =-(. I figured if I returned them to their former residence (the refrigerator) things would look up once they had time to defrost. That thought proved to be nothing more than misguided wishful thinking on my part. The next day I tried to sample one, and it looked dreadful (perhaps like a squishy brown slug), but the taste was that of a waterlogged mushroom (faint mushroom flavor anyways) that had seen better days. I did not give up on my squishy brown something-or-rathers! I had bought lettuce and other salad makings and decided to attempt to place some of the beasts onto my salad. Sadly I had to admit that there was just no way. They were slimey and disgusting to touch and I kept thinking of slugs, and the small smattering of flavor that still clung to the something-or-rather just wasn't enough. It was then that I made the painful (but wise) decision to dispose of the remaining 95% of the once beautiful mushrooms =-(. So I have learned a sad lesson, and hopefully by reading this you can avoid ever making the same error.

But what about the Happiness you spoke of Shababbler? You said it was both happiness and despair! Yes, it's true.....there have been some very happy food moments since I have returned. Perhaps the Food Gods are telling me that even when mushroom errors go too far, other tastebud miracles can dance around you and lift your gastronomic spirits =-).

On Friday I strolled into a supermarket in an effort to get just one thing. Whatever that one thing was I forget, but of course it turned into several things finding their way into my basket. I went to the salad dressing isle and I debated buying another dressing. I had one I had bought cheaply somewhere that just didn't float my boat. As I eyed the Newman's Own I debated splurging and buying another dressing. But when you have no job and you already have dressing at home, forking out that $3.50 for something that sounds good, but that may, in reality, suck, is something you have to debate. What if I didn't like the taste? It's such a risk on dressings (new ones anyways) - you take a leap of faith when you buy one, hoping that the flavor will be all you had hoped for. So I boldy took the risk and picked up the Light Sesame Ginger dressing with Paul Newman's animated face sporting a rice-paddy hat and a foo-man-choo mustache.

Before I left the store I saw an insanely reasonable - if not downright cheap - price on blueberry's. I love blueberry's!!! Love them, love them, love them!!!! And getting this larger container was actually cheaper than the smaller one with my club card =-). So I bought the hefty container of yummy blueberry's. Yay blueberry's!!! However, the disturbing thing about the blueberry's is that in less than 24 hours I almost ate the whole container. Nearly more than a pound of blueberry's!!!! Seriously. I just showed Gwen how many I had eaten and she was shocked. I really should be blue at this point.

But what about the Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing Shababbler? How was it? In a word......amazing! It was/is spectacular and delicious and everything my tastebuds had hoped for and more!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!! And it's fat free!

So there you have my highs and lows in the land of food over the last week. Depressing and delicious, but lessons have been learned and tastebuds have rejoiced in happiness =-).

My Trip Home

2005-07-22T19:44:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed I have increased my font size. I've had a few people tell me that, due to my color scheme (which I love), they can't read what I write. If, at this size, you still can't read it, but want to, I suggest copying the text into a word document. Okay - business taken care of =-p.

So, the other day I returned from a long haul back home =-). I love home because of all the groovy Shababbler-Approved people that reside there =-). Granted, I only moved up here at the beginning of June, but I had a wedding to participate in, so duty called. Almost everything was great....although the wedding I, perhaps, could have done without being more than a guest.

One of the home highlights had to be the super-fun rafting trip =-). It wasn't crazy whitewater (which I would have loved), or anything like that, but breezy and relaxing coasting and fun with my amazing family and some awesome friends =-). Yay rafting!!! Love it!!

We also had a couple of dinners to get more friend time in, and some visits as well. And even though I haven't really been gone long enough for people to really miss me, all in all I got a lot of good visiting in =-). Yay good visits!!

The bummer was, I was hoping to get work at my old job, but the timing didn't work out on that one =-(. So my butt continues to be poor and in need of employment, which, in many ways seems to be the story of my life =-p. If I hadn't gone to college I wouldn't have all these pesky school loans to pay!!

ANYWAYS!!! On to the reason for the trip! THE WEDDING!!! Now, I'm really not going to say much about it here at all. I doubt that the Bride reads my blog, but there's no need for me to write things down. The wedding itself went off nicely, and the temperature had managed to drop off a tad from the 103 degree days leading up to it. Ahhhhh the joys of the central valley in July =-p. It was a religious ceremony, and a religion where women are seemingly expected to be more subservient than in other religions. Needless to say, I had to remember that as a bridesmaid all of the folks in the audience who wanted to could see my facial expressions, so when the officiant was saying things I didn't approve of, I had to remember to try to smile, but a couple people told me they could see my lips tightening at times despite my best efforts. I wasn't the only one, one of the bridesmaids got her Masters in Women's History, so she had her moments too.

I had been given the impression the bride would not be speaking at all, so I was happy that she was allowed to repeat some vows. When you know the Bride is a strong, independent woman, you want to hear them say something, even if that's not the tradition in this religion. There was one glitch when the officiant said what we all assume was the wrong word and the bride hesitated before repeating...during the hesitation he cleared up that he did not mean that the bride would "humiliate" herself in front of her husband, but that she would be "humble." I know the bride was having the ceremony she did to appease her parents, but I am really glad she had the balls to say "Excuse me?" when the officiant made that error.

And then it was off to the reception, which was lovely and had belly dancers to boot. Let me say that the Bride looked beautiful and I'm sure the pictures will be lovely. However, she was snappy and biting as hell to myself, her sister (Maid of Honor) and her parents). Few others outside of the wedding party probably noticed, but us lucky four were the recipients of lots of angry, rude and biting comments that made me wish I had simply been a guest.

Now they are officially married, so hopefully her anger will fade away. The Groom is an awesome guy and I'm sure they will be great together. The only time I could tell her smile was absolutely genuine and heartfelt was when they were dancing their first dance together. And they are off on their honeymoon as the official Mr. & Mrs., happy I'm sure about it all being over. I'm happy it's over too =-p.

The Post Office Sucks

2005-07-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

Those who know me know that the post office and I have had a somewhat tumultuous relationship over the years. As an overall entity, due to our history, the post office leaves a sour and unpleasant taste in my mouth. Mind you, I know there are plenty of kind and admirable people working for them, I even know some. Even so, if I was asked to do a quick word association and the examiner said "Post Office," my first response would be "evil."

Considering my roommate has family members employed by the evil entity, I try not to voice my distaste too often. Today I am feeling quite vocal. My Grandma had told me she was sending a letter, and more days passed than I thought should be likely and I had still not received the letter. I spoke with her tonight and she told me it had been returned. I had her read the address off to me, and it was exactly as it should be written. The message they left was "Addressee Unknown"! Those liars!! I have received a package and a letter from my family, and now the postal people decide I'm unknown?!?! You jerks!!! Isn't it the responsibility of the tenant to decide if they know the freaking addressee or not?!?! I think so!!!!

And no, I didn't fill out a change of address form, but thousands of people around the country move every week without filling those things out. Normally I would, but I am clinging to my residency in my home state since I don't plan to spend forever in the new one. But, more importantly, I have been maintaining the old address because the job I have in my Sunshiney-Home State is one I can keep, and I don't want them to decide I need the boot if I change my permanent address.

I am soooooooo mad!! I guess my Pacific Northwest Postal Carrier has decided he is a Postal Superhero and is making it his own personal battle to keep my mail from going down the mail slot. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! I knew I was on a list!!!!!!!!

Fourth of July

2005-07-15T02:45:00.000-07:00

I know we've skated past the Fourth, but hey, I've been busy and I'm ready to go back to it now.

This was one of the most kickass Fourth of July's I've ever had =-)!! Yay Kickass Fourth of July - Woohoo!! I've had some lame-ass Fourth's before too. Like the time I worked at an Amusement type place and I was given the crappy 4-11 p.m. shift for my barely-over-minimum wage job and missed the supposedly killer fireworks display all my friends got to enjoy. Or the time I was working at a residential summer camp (where the Camp Director was a total Dictator), and we were in Fire Hazard country and couldn't even think about sparklers =-(.

Anyways - this Fourth was not one of those lame ones of years past!! It was absolutely groovilicious =-)!! My roommate's family have some friends who have a big shindig on the Fourth. They live on the Puget Sound and have a house that's right on the water. We got there and set up tents in their backyard and then it was time for the fun to begin =-)!!! We started off with a jet boat ride jamming around the Sound - wind in our faces and pretty awesome weather...it was pretty rocking! Then, we did time trials on a rowboat. Gwen and I lost the time trials to the young teenage boys, but it was fun and we got a workout =-p.

BUT - the ABSOLUTE COOLEST part of the whole shindig was getting to ride a jet ski for the very first time =-[)!!!!! YAY JET SKI!!!! Ohmygosh!!!!! That was without a doubt the most fun I have had in ages!! First I timidly climbed on back as Gwen took off, but after we had been whirling around for a while she asked if I wanted to switch. Driving is so much cooler!!!! You get all the power to drive as fast as you want (full throttle baby!!!), and you don't bounce as much as you do on the back. Later I went out by myself and took off just whizzing far, far away. Which did become somewhat problematic when I got confused as to which cove their house was in. I went out on my own twice and I loved it. I zoomed around for ages, coming back just to make sure no one else wanted to go out. I even saw a seal out in the Sound, and I cut the engine hoping it would come up again, but it didn't. It was a gorgeous day and I never would have come back in if it hadn't been time for dinner, even the blister I got on my hand was worth it.

The night was capped with a phenomenal private fireworks display. About 7 houses chip in for the display and one of the guys is a certified pyrotechnist. They rent a barge where the $10,000 worth of fireworks are shot off, this year it was to the tune of Frank Sinatra. The show was insanely cool! There were fireworks we'd never seen before and it was awesome!!! Definitely a Fourth to remember!!!

Spiders Suck

2005-06-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest....I don't like them. Out in the wild they are fine, but I see no reason for them to journey into my home. Daddy Long Legs don't creep me out nearly as much as the other guys because their legs are so skinny, but in a perfect world, I don't want to share my home with them either.

The first night I stayed in my new room I saw a spider scampering along the wall right next to my bed. I managed to get it, but that always stresses me out. The other week I saw a little one running happily along, but it ran too fast and I couldn't catch it. So you have to go to sleep with the knowledge that some little spider has the run of your room and may decide to scamper across your bed while you're in it sleeping. Sweet dreams.

Most recently I saw what must be one of the biggest house spiders I have ever seen hanging out on my wall. The friend that was on the phone with me at the time said I practically blew out his eardrum with my sounds of horror. This spider was HUGE. And then, in the midst of me being freaked out by the damn thing, it literally started gyrating! It was thrusting its pelvis as if to mock me and my horror. I was so unhappy with the situation, but I dug deep and found bravery within this spider-hating Shababbler, and I brought an end to the gyrating spider from hell. Three spiders in less than a month isn't that encouraging. And, not that I'd want to see one in my room, but I'd almost rather hold a tarantula than most other spiders. Well, only if the handler told me it was okay ;-p. I think that's because they seem more like furry friends than spiders. Anyways - spiders suck!!!

DUH!!!!

2005-06-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

The other day I was clicking away on my computer when my contact started to come out (I think I rubbed my eye or something). I carefully put it back in and went on about my business. Mind you, my vision isn't madly horrible or anything, so it's not like I'll run into walls if I don't have them in. Later that evening I decided to treck off to the store. When I started driving I noticed things were a bit blurry and started thinking....damn! I wonder if my contact that had come out got squished into a weird place? I go to touch my eye in search of the contact locale, and ouch! No contact there.....huh, it must have fell out =-(. Oh well, I still have the other one in place. So I drive, drive, drive on to the store and realize both eyes seem blurry. What the heck?! My prescription in still valid, so what's the deal? Meanwhile I'm on the phone with TheMightyEd as this is happening and rambling on about it....hey, I had on my earpiece, it's not like I was being totally reckless! Anyways, it wasn't until I arrived at the store that I remembered the ridiculous truth. I had taken my contacts off earlier that evening!! Uuuuuggghhh!!! Sadly it's true, the Shababbler can have moments of extreme jackassness every once in a while =-(.

Free Toilet Paper

2005-06-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Today I went with my roommate to a fair in the park. A yearly "Taste of" event, where you can go and choose from all sorts of food to buy from presumably local places. Various places were handing out freebies, and after we walked through the "Scot" diesel display house sort of thing we were given a lovely roll of free toilet paper. One for each of us! We had also received free ice cream somewhere else, but that's the kind of free sample you expect (and possibly even hope for). So three cheers for the originality and functionality of free toilet paper!! Yay toilet paper!!!

Thunder, Lightning & Sugar Daddy's

2005-06-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first official day of Summer; June 21st. I wouldn't have realized this if the radio hadn't been so kind as to tell me. Sunday and Monday (the 19th and the 20th) were the most beautiful days I have seen since I have been here. They were absolutely gorgeous, and all of the Pacific Northwest seemed to agree because EVERYONE seemed to be out and about. Well, once it was time for Summer to officially kick Spring to the curb, the tides turned. On the first day of Summer there was thunder rumbling away as lightning took the opportunity to splash across the sky. I've always kind of liked thunder and lightning, so I was impressed with having the display. Welcome Summer!!!!

As for Sugar Daddy's, since I don't have one, it is quite necessary that I find a job. Ho hum. So as I do that search, which seems to be endless over the years, I also registered with a temp agency. This requires testing and an "interview." The interview is mainly just to see what kind of placements you would be interested in. Anyways, at one point as the fella was trying to describe the benefits of accepting a longer term assignment, he was saying things like, "With the shorter placements you can sometimes go a week or more without work. I don't know if you are in a situation where not having a steady income doesn't matter, but...", so I cut his somewhat awkward explanation off and said, "No, I don't have a sugar daddy." Which was fine in this context, it really was, since he was around my age and seemed pretty easy-going. But after I said it a mental note-to-self popped in my head and said "Shababbler....In the future you probably don't want to use the word Sugar Daddy in an interview." Well, at least not with the types of jobs I'm usually going for ;-p.

I had been so nervous about doing the testing at the temp agency, but it actually went quite well =-). I was probably most nervous about my typing test, since I'm just at the threshold of what is wanted usually....but I came through for myself and even got 1 wpm above what I needed =-p!! Yay me!! And I have to send out a huge thank you to my friend Jon (yes, I've decided to use folks names now at times....as long as I don't use my own, the cyberstalkers should still be confused ;-p)! Jon is the king of sending handy little links to you when you don't even realize you need them. So when I expressed that I was nervous about the testing, he e-mailed me links to three different free online Excel tutorials, and the first one I chose was waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy handy!! I actually did better on my Excel testing than my Word testing! I think a lot of us take Word for granted and don't realize all of the things it can actually do. Anyways, thanks Jon!! You rock =-)!! Jon also has a blog that I am finding pretty entertaining, so I will attempt (not confident it will work) to provide you with the link: http://jandsw.blogspot.com/

That's all for tonight kids ;-)!! Sleep tight!!

2005-06-19T23:00:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to steer clear of online time-wasting (such an easy addiction to partake in =-p) lately because.....Hello! I need to find a job!! So, in the interest of not wasting too much time, and still providing my reading audience with something to view, I am inserting my previously written dissertation on showering at my new home. Here it goes...

And now about the shower. Showers are my guilty pleasure. Ridiculously long showers. Love them! And since I am a night showerer, I can just enjoy the heated water for minutes on end. In my new residence I am now in a new showering environment. She has a removable shower head, which I've always found quite handy. You can rinse off your toes with just as much focus as your hair when you have such a shower head. But I don't like hers. It doesn't suck, but mine back home was better. Mine had more power and options. Hers has a tendency to angle in one direction. Mine did to, but it would listen better when it was told to move. Hers doesn't listen as well. Which means part of my body will be experiencing the loveliness of warm water dancing upon my skin, while the other part (left side) gets cold and feels like a neglected step child. Poor cold left side!! Let me remove the shower head and warm you up. Brrrrrrrrr....one side is always a bit cold because the water doesn't bust out with the fierceness and coverage of other shower heads around the world.

Now, as much as I love removable shower heads, I only love them when it is a viable option to keep them in place in their holster to do things like rinse off your hair. This, I imagine, works perfectly for my roommate who is at least 4 inches shorter than me, but not so well for me. When I face the shower head we are at kissing level. My lips are even with the top of it. Which leaves the rest of my head. That sucks. So although I took gymnastics when I was a kid, I have to do quite the backbend on this one to get my hair rinsed without holding the shower head in my hand. In my non-scientific polls I have found that males seem to bend their heads forward in the showers and females seem to go for the backward approach. Odd that we're different, but it often (not always) seems to be the case for those I have asked. And no, this non-scientific study did not entail me peeping into people's showers to see how they bent! So anyways, I am having to adjust to my new showering environment and may buy a new showerhead at some point in time. I don't know if that could make it any taller though. But I probably don't have grounds to complain. Those who know my Dad know that he is a super-tall fella, and since my folks helped move me in, he too had to suffer with the short showerhead. It probably hit him a few inches above the belly button - haha!

Addendum: After writing this entry, and a couple weeks into my residence here, I did discover that the holster for the nozzle can be bent upwards, removing, at least somewhat, the necessity for elaborate backbending. It doesn't, however, have the strength to hold itself up for very long though, so this doesn't completely remove the backbend requirement =-(.

Epiphany of the week...

2005-06-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

As I interrupt once again my efforts to proceed with the job search, I have to share this newfound knowledge, because WOW!!!!

Heated kidney beans with melted cheddar cheese is.....dare I say it? Simply amazing! I'm blown away by this tastelicious combination and find myself wondering why, after all these years of loving both kidney beans and cheese, why did I never ever consider this magical combination? And even as the thought danced into my mind I felt as though I had to get permission from the person I was speaking with on the phone that this could indeed be done. I was given a definite approval, and my tastebuds will now be grateful for this tasty combination for years to come!!! Viva la kidney frijoles y queso!!!!! Yuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!

Parking Lot Beauty

2005-06-16T02:09:00.000-07:00

Towards the end of my day I toddled off to go buy some Febreeze in hopes of saying "Arrivederci" to the smokey smell that danced onto my jacket when I was hanging out with a friend at a bar in Seattle on Saturday night. It's the rain-resistant kind of material, which also translates into "Hello funky smells! Please cling to me so my owner will never be able to forget you!".

Anyways, that's besides the point. You'd think that at some point in my life I could resist the temptation to travel down the tangent path, but turning down a good tangent is like passing by free ice cream without indulging. Possible, but tough to do. Very tough. And yes, in the road of life for The Shababbler there are lots of tangents to be pursued.

Well, let me get to the point. I'm strolling out of my car and strolling toward the store with the hopes of buying some (hopefully) magical Febreeze, when BAM!!!! No, it wasn't Emeril Lagasse, but rather, Mt. Ranier. Right there on the horizon smack dab in the middle of Safeway and Kmart. Damn that was impressive! For a moment I seriously felt transported to the Swiss Alps. Okay, there's just one, so maybe the Washington Alp, but Wow. It looked like a painted backdrop. It was gorgeous and covered with snow. I should have remembered from a couple years ago that on clear days you can see it, but I had forgotten, and was mesmerized for a moment.

After my purchase, I decided to drive further down the road to see if I could continue to get a view of the mountain. I ended up in a nearby town whose name I can never seem to pronounce. I called home and as I was talking to my Dad and telling him what I saw, he advised for me not to drive toward it because it was much farther than it appeared. Haha, ya, I know. Last time I was here we went skiing and went off in that direction, and it took a bit to get there. But it's just kind of crazy that something so extraordinary can be seen from the Kmart parking lot.

Sometimes Projects Do Get Finished =-)

2005-06-14T02:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. Even people like me can occasionally conquer the home improvement project mountain! Well, maybe "conquer" is too strong of a word. How about, get to the top of the mountain and not slide face first back to the bottom (but rather, sliding much more comfortably on my derriere =-p). Indeed, I have managed to "finish" a couple of those madly exasperating projects that my twisted mind felt I should pursue.

One that sounds like it should have been way simpler than it was, was contact-papering my yaffa blocks. If you don't know what yaffa blocks are - they're like stackable crates used for storage. And they have all of those cratey-crevices that can cause one a world of grief if they ever try to dust them. Uuuughhh. Pain-in-the-rear. Therefore, I realized that I could contact paper them on all sides and make my dusting life much less tedious. I got cool contact paper, and this project was actually a success, just a slightly timely one. I don't have crazy-precision-cutting & positioning-superhero powers, so things like this take The Shababbler a bit of time. But now they're done and yaffa-stacked once again - so maybe I can get more unpacking taken care of!

But let me return to some of those other projects that have already been mentioned. As you can see by the dates, I opted to avoid those fellas for a bit before I struggled to convince myself that I wanted to return to the torture. When my roommate returned from her business trip and saw the hideous GhettoCase she asked why I didn't just spray paint it for the final step. Something she had done for a desk before. It was then that I realized she was an angel coming to save me (at least a little bit) from the hell the GhettoCase had sucked me into. Bless her for her brilliant idea! The next day I found some groovy spray paint and was able to buy it only after I switched lines and showed the girl my ID. The first cashier couldn't sell it to me because she was under 18. So I started spray-painting that night, and even though it was still a bit tedious, I felt free. I was no longer bound by the shackles of paintbrush-painting! Woohoo!! And I was reminded of how spray-paint actually smells really good and is fun to use. Ya, I know....I shouldn't enjoy the smell, but what can I say =-p. The only problem here was that I had only bought a couple cans and I needed more. The next day I went and got them and continued to spray in the crazy wind. Yay spray-paint! Yay GhettoCase!! Whoopee!! So now it is pretty much finished but it hasn't been brought in yet. And yes, it's still totally Ghetto, but now at least it's a little bit ghettofabulous =-p. The sad thing is, as easy as spraypainting was in comparison, I still couldn't do that perfectly either. But that's okay.....we'll take ghettofabulous =-).

And next up was the sorta re-upholstering of the fricking chair. I started the top tonight and actually finished in a couple hours. It too looks ghettofabulous now =-). Definitely not perfect, definitely waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy more time and effort than it should have taken. But now that it's done it looks pretty groovy =-). And I finally have a chair with a back to sit on at my computer, so yay for that! Although, you know how I mentioned previously that I bought a pack of 1,000 pins? I counted the leftovers when I was all finished. Now mind you, this was also after I had ruined some pins by trying to push them where they didn't want to go, and undoubtedly, I probably lost a couple that one of us will find rather unpleasantly with our feet sometime in the future, but I only had 164 left. Out of 1,000. That's a lot of fricking pins!!!! So if any of you ever see this chair in person you better not talk smack!! "Oh Shababbler it's AMAZING!" will be the correct response ;-).

Unfortunately, I had also thought it would be a good idea to make some simple shelves. WRONG!!!! Now don't get me wrong, I can use a power drill thingy, but there was something about the wood I bought. It just did not want to be screwed!!! I spent more time than most of you would even believe trying to drill the freaking screws. When I finally finished (after coming back to it another day), the shelf was wobbley, but functional. It was just going in my closet, so wobbley was okay. Since I had the spiffy spraypaint I decided to coat the wobbley shelf as well. Lovely idea Shababbler! Until I try to move it over after I'm all done and accidentally flip the whole thing (freshly painted), and get plastic drop cloth markings all over it =-(. That sucked. But, the next day I was wiping it and the GhettoShelve off preparing for their entry into the house =-). I was on the phone as I was wiping the shelves of the GhettoCase, and was kinda crouching over the wobbley shelf. Did I forget? Or did the home-improvement gods just want to strike me down? Well, I guess I put weight on the wobbley-shelf that it didn't want to deal with, and, in what I am certain was a violent attack from the vengeful gods of home improvement (perhaps Martha Stewart was feeling threatened and channeled her home-improvement-project-ruining Fury's), the wobbley shelf that had taken ages to screw together, crashed as though it had been in the midst of a violent earthquake =-(. Not only did the boards come off, but pieces on 3 of the 4 corners chipped eagerly away. I tried to rescrew but it was such a ridiculously lost cause. Sad me. Sad, pissed off me =-(.

But from suffering often comes brilliance, and my experience with the wobbley shelf was no exception. I'll use bricks! That was my amazing answer to my home-improvement-project-frustration prayers! Yay bricks! So I went to Home Depot and found the bricks, and heaved them with me all the way home. But my brilliance (another way of saying "how I overcame my stupidity") did not stop there! Oh no. The great mind of the Shababbler was hard at work in contemplating how to compensate for the loss of the pretty spray-painted shelf sides. Contact paper was the answer! Yes, I find brilliance in contact paper. So I covered each brick with cute contact paper (but not the same paper used on the yaffa blocks), and not only do I have a functional alternative that allows me to adjust the height, but I have achieved functional cuteness that Martha Stewart would envy! Okay, maybe not, but whatever....it works =-).

And now I find myself quietly hoping that there won't be any more projects popping up. My fingers are thrashed from pushing in so many pins and for having to violently scrub the heck out of them to try to get off the freaking spray paint. And I need to finish this off so I can go clean up the mess from all of this. If you have a home improvement project you are considering starting, let me offer a small piece of advice...Don't Do It!!!!

Alarms, alarms everywhere.....

2005-06-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

I've been in my new place for a little less than two weeks and I've already managed to trip not only the fire alarm, but also the house alarm. Seriously. Good thing I'm not a night prowler or a chef! Well, good thing for me anyways....I'm sure the cops would love someone who always managed to trip the alarms.

This is my first time living up close and personal with a house alarm, so it's a new thing for me. Kinda weird and a bit nerve-wracking. Sure I should feel protected and all that, but the piercing sound of the alarm is kind of intimidating....Especially when you know the alarm is there because someone has broken in before (nothing stolen, probably someone they knew). Anyways, my roommate was asleep and even though there are three locks on both doors, I figured she'd be upset if I didn't set the alarm on. Well, I forgot one key step, and that was to turn the motion off. When that one's on, any movement in the house can trigger it. Duh!

So the piercing noise busted across the house at the lovely hour of 1 a.m. I frantically rushed to the alarm not only in hopes of not waking my roommate, but also with the desire to keep the police away. I went and entered my secret code and felt a sense of relief as the sound stopped blaring. Phew....the code worked! Or so I thought. That is, until the alarm company phoned me at the house. THANK GOODNESS my roomie had given me the special verbal action to relay to the alarm company person when they called. I told her that I had just moved in and was new to the alarm thing. She told me that even though I punched in my code, there was one more button to press that I forgot. Oooops. My roommate had forgotten to tell me about that part. Luckily you only get charged for false alarms if the coppers come out.

If only one alarm had been tripped this week it would still have felt pretty eventful. But no, I couldn't be happy with just one alarm tripping in a week, I had to go for more. I decided to make myself some pancakes the other morning. Mmmmmmm...tasty pancakes, a rare treat for a non-morning person such as myself. And what's this? My dear roommate actually owns a pancake maker? How convenient is that?!?! Mixity-mixity-mix the batter and heat up the little pancake maker. Should I have been concerned when I saw on the package that it only cost $3.88? Probably. Splatter the mix onto the pancake griddle and get my watch out for timing. SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! Yikes! That alarm is insanely loud!! SHUT UP ALARM!!!! SHUT UP!!!!! Why won't it listen to me?!?! Wait, it just turned off. Phew. Now it's back on!! Uuuggghhhhh!!!! BE QUIET!! I run around trying to open all sorts of windows, and then rush back to turn over my black, crispy pancake and the alarm continues to shriek. STOP!! I frantically open windows and crawl under my bed to unplug the fan in my room for some ventilation. Curse me for not registering the fact that I had been told the fire alarm was very sensitive!!!! And so it continued for quite some time. And I know some of you are thinking, "Why, Shababbler....you don't cook. What made you decide to start? Were you hoping to meet some cute firemen?" But I CAN cook pancakes! I swear! I've done it before, and with a more elaborate mix than this one (before I've actually had to add an egg =-p). But now I know, and hopefully I'll remember. When I'm told the fire alarm is sensitive, that means I need to use extreme caution when cooking!!!!

Posting Comments

2005-06-09T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hey Kids -

I'm not sure how this whole thing works completely. Someone e-mailed me and said they tried and tried to post a comment, but even after attempting to set up their own blog, they couldn't. I checked my messages and the "allow comments" is set to yes. So I'm confused as well. If any of you do figure out how to post please let me know how it's done, and please don't use my real name as I have yet to overcome my fear of cyber stalkers =-p.

Oh - and just as an FYI for the uninformed....this lists most recent posts first, so if you want to see earlier ones you can scroll down or click on the link to the right. I have to bounce off now. The blue sky is telling me I have a date with the park before all the home improvement crud continues =-p!!

What is it with me and Home Improvement Projects?

2005-06-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't even finished the GhettoCase and I already moved on to another project. Somehow my brain has been the recipient of some delusional messages that make me think I have Martha Stewart capabilities =-(. Definitely not the case. Although I have grand ideas, if I was in the artist world next to the likes of Van Gogh or Da Vinci, I would be the one visualizing the same brilliance (well, similar anyways), and then having it come out looking like a bad stick figure on paper. The GhettoCase wasn't even the first time I had this problem. A few months ago I decided to sew a dress, and mistakenly thought that when the word "EASY" was boldly stated on the pattern, that it actually would be simple. Definitely was not the case, but I did an extended rant on that at another site.

However, even with the knowledge that I am a mere doodler in the land of fine artists, I get the smashing idea to do something, and I never get the memo saying it will take a trillion times longer than I imagine. Nor do I receive the memo that informs me that when all is said and done, I will be frustrated beyond belief before I'm even finished =-(. And that is why I decided to proceed willingly into the land of chair reupholstering. Well, just the cover part, and just going over what was already there. Okay, so it's not reupholstering at all, but it's still a helluva lot of work!! I got this chair at the thrift store (same one as the GhettoCase, but a different day) for six bucks. Groovy price, but it was kinda carpety cushiony, so my first order of business was to buy some carpet cleaner. I drenched the damn thing and it took forever to dry. BUT, you just never know where that chair lived before you or what kind of life it lead! Anyways, the carpet cleaner didn't really get out what I hope was just a coffee stain, so I decided to listen to someone's suggestion and cover the thing with a different fabric. Cool - that won't be too hard, I thought. Ya. Once again, I was wrong. At first I was going to sew it on, but that wasn't going to work, so I listened to the advice of my Pop and decided to pin it. I had bought this cool fleece-like Vegas fabric at the fabric store, and bought some pins while I was there. Luckily I am a cheap skate and returned them the next day when I realized that whereas I had bought 200 pins for $2.50 at the Fabric Store, I could get a thousand for a buck at the Dollar Store =-). Little did I realize how important the amount would be.

I decided to start this project, that I knew would be a little daunting, at around 9:30 p.m. As the hours ticked away I exhausted the offerings on On Demand (a couple of shows, a couple of Comedy Specials, even the 11 O'Clock news is on On Demand here!). I finally went to real TV and found that at 3 a.m. there's sure a lot of paid programming. Since I didn't want to watch "Worship Videos" I ultimately ended up on some public access government channel. Weird. But I didn't want to watch a movie and be tempted to stop working. I finally called it quits for the night at 4 a.m. AND I WASN'T EVEN FINISHED!!!!!!! Seriously.

I must have used a few hundred pins as I carefully positioned and pulled the fabric for hours and hours. And I learned only too late that instead of going front, left, back, right, I should have gone front, left or right, back. Because I failed to do that, I ended up with a pooch I just couldn't get perfect. Not that any of this is perfect. But there's a part towards the front that is full of its own little ugliness. Ho hum. AND THAT WAS JUST THE BOTTOM!!!! I don't know if I have the heart to do the rest tonight, especially since I first have to finish the GhettoCase.

But even with the spot of ugliness it does look pretty darn cool with the new fabric. A friend of mine showed me a chair her mom had reupholstered and it looked amazing. I knew I would never be capable of that, but I didn't realize her mom was a magician either. Anyways, even though I used my thimble at times (yes, I have a thimble =-p), my "push finger" is sore. Martha Stewart would probably kick me in the head with her Ankle-Monitoring-Bracelet if she saw the bad name I'm giving to home improvement projects. Sorry Martha.

And I thought this would be easy...

2005-06-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

I've already typed up a few messages that I have yet to post. You see, I've only just sent out the announcement about Shababble and I don't want to clog the thing with messages before people even have a chance to read the intro. However, the event of this evening is taking precedence over my other posts for now. Poor other posts =-(....don't worry other posts! You will make it to Shababble soon!

So what could be so monumental as to jump the line ahead of the other guys? Well, its not so much monumental as it is frustrating. In my infinite wisdom I decided it would be a good idea to buy a bookcase-type thing at the Thrift Store. Yes it was ugly and had odd dimensions, but I needed something for my books, and this would also work as a place to perch my television in my new room. Ultimately the television was perched on something else that worked even better, but I was/am still in need of a book shelf, as I left mine back in the sunny state I left behind. As I was contemplating the positioning of the bookcase-sort-of-thing I asked out loud where I would put it. My father, who was being quite helpful, expressed that he didn't care where I put the ugly-ass thing (it really was something along those lines that he said). It was decided that it would be placed in the office-attic. But, this thing really is quite ugly. And now that I look at it with a more discerning eye, the shelves aren't really made for books. Nonetheless, it should work, but when all is said and done I think it will only aspire to be a bookcase, when the sad truth of the matter is that it will probably never be more than a GhettoCase.

So, even though my GhettoCase is quite the ugly duckling, I still hope to give it a bit of a makeover. Think "The Swan" with sandpaper and paint. But that also means a helluva lot more work than I realized!!! Which began this evening and lasted for at least 2 1/2 hours before I stopped for the night. My goodness!!!Keep in mind that we just painted my room within the week, and I've always thought that sort of thing was fun. So yes, painting a room is fun, but doing finishing work on something with lots of little crevices and crap is simply a pain in the booty!!! A serious pain!

It started with the sandpapering. I've sanded things before, but with my Dad's power-sander tools. Now anyone who has used power tools before knows that they are just plain fun. But I never thought doing sanding by hand would be anything too complicated. And even though I didn't really understand why I needed to sand the GhettoCase, I did it anyways because people told me I should (wow - what a sucker for peer pressure I am =-P). Sanding by hand can be quite a workout!! And super-loud too!! Plus it was kicking up the dark brown paint (or stain, whatever it was), and it even got on my jacket (luckily it washed out, otherwise the GhettoCase might have had to listen to my screams of anger). That whole process certainly zapped away some of my energy.

But it turns out that was the easiest part of refinishing the GhettoCase. I busted out my white base paint (purchased for the bargain price of $4.99 at Big Lots), and set to work at a job I thought would be quick and easy (after the sanding I was no longer sure it would be fun). Fortunately I did have the foresight to lay down drop cloths on the deck before I set to work. And I put on my emergency rain poncho to shield me from the paint. I can't even begin to describe what a pain-in-the-ass painting the GhettoCase was. The first coating of the base proved there would definitely need to be two coats of the white. That sucks. But considering it was barely masking the ugly, sanded brown, it was a necessity. So the rain was drip-drip-dripping away (thankfully the deck is covered) as I plugged endlessly along getting the Ghettocase base-coated.

During the second coat I decided it would be a good idea to turn the thing on its back and just pour a small pool of paint into one of the shelves to dip from. Um, ya....we all know what happens when someone like me tries to pour "just a little." Luckily I didn't empty the whole can though, and eventually I did manage to sop it all up. But by the time I finished doing the two layers on the GhettoCase any thoughts I had of just keeping it white smashed themselves into the ground. Not only was I covered pretty close to head-to-toe with white paint (proving that there are indeed things whiter than my legs (although not by much =-p)), but the GhettoCase didn't look like it had been coated twice with what should have been a respectable white, but more like I had covered the whole thing up with White-Out. Loads and loads of White-Out. So now I have to figure out what other color I will buy to cover up the base coat on the GhettoCase. When all is said and done I am going to have invested quite a lot more time and money into this thing than I counted on when I picked it up at the delivery deck of the thrift store. So this is just the beginning of the saga for the GhettoCase, the battle will continue, but maybe not tomorrow.

And yes, it's true.....people can have blogs and talk for ages about things that would seem insignificant to the masses. For anyone who read all of this and is baffled as to how one can babble so endlessly about something as seemingly simple as repainting a GhettoCase, you must remember.....I am the Shababbler, and babbling endlessly is my specialty ;-p.

And so it begins....

2005-06-07T01:35:00.000-07:00

As I take my first steps into the land of blogging, I find that I feel a certain amount of trepidation. These are the feelings that have kept me from starting a blog before this. I have a tendency to disclose too much. I'm a babbler, and that's why this is called Shababble. I am also a bit of a contradiction. As much as I disclose way too much at times, I also want to maintain a certain amount of privacy. So I have held off for all this time in starting a blog because my tendency to disclose too much falls in sharp contrast with my desire to keep certain details vague, and I find I am torn as to whether to use real names for the people I know. I'll admit it, I'm afraid of cyber stalkers!! Yes, I know, perhaps a bit silly, but it's true.

However, my fear of cyber-stalkers and of there being too much information out there about myself is being swept under the carpet as I type these words. Hopefully I won't regret this! I'm starting this blog as I start the next phase of my life. It's not necessarily a phase that will be huge and profound (only time will tell), but it is one that begins in a completely new and largely unknown (for me) place. A place where blue sky is not to be taken for granted and where some refer to rain as "liquid sunshine." The Pacific Northwest. Washington to be exact. Let's see how this girl handles the transition from regular sunshine to daily gray.