27.9.06

I messed with blogger for a while today to try and fix some problems with the layout. If I have caused any more problems by doing this, please, please let me know. My blog looks different on my computer than it does on many others.

I came across a saved conversation that I had more than a year ago. It made me laugh, so I decided to reproduce it here. Screen names removed to protect the innocent:

Kyle: mornin :-P
Me: hiya!
K: how goes your monday?
Me: uhhhhhh......
Me: kyle, what universe are you living in?
K: what do you mean?
Me: Today is Wednesday.
K: WHAT??????
K: that's not funny
K: i have a project due thursday
K: AH CRAP!!!!
K: why does nobody tell me these things???
K: and it's 11 PM ?!? damnit!!!
Me: kyle, you're freaking me out
Me: what are you talking about?
Me: it's wednesday...
K: how the hell did i lose 2 days???
K: well, i guess almost 3
Me: kyle, are you serious?
Me: hmm
K: wtf! this sucks
K: :-K: good to know i can not exist for 3 days and nobody even notices....
Me: you didn't even go to class?
Me: I saw you walking on Monday
Me: !!!
Me: the real monday!
K: seriously??
K: when? where?
Me: yes!!! from red square towards Bagley!
K: i see....
K: and you didn't even say hi?
Me: Well, you were far away... and I was talking to this high school student prospect that I was showing around
K: high school prospect? can't find a guy good enough for ya in college?
K: :-P
Me: so, did you skip tuesday?
K: i'm in the labs
K: and are you sure it's not monday morning?
K: cause i swear it is
Me: kyle
Me: it's wednesday
Me: check on the intranets
K: i did
K: i don't believe it
Me: it's true
Me: you didn't go to classes yesterday?
K: no
K: did you?
Me: yes!
Me: kyle!
Me: omg
K: ?
Me: nevermin
Me: i'm going to bed
Me: night kyle
K: hehehe
K: April Fool's!
K: g'night :-P
Me: dork
Me: bye
Me: :-)
K: i'm slow, what can i say
K: bye
Me: wait you're serious?
Me: i don't understand you
Me: bye kyle!
K: what do you mean?
K: and nobody understands me, especially me :-P
Kids are retarded.




But I'll probably have my own someday anyway. Plus, you have to admit, his laugh is cute and duct tape IS pretty funny.

26.9.06

As always, the busier and more interesting life gets, the less time you have to blog about it. Such is the case as of late with yours truly...

I got home a few hours ago from my first day working at Trader Joe's. First day on the job, and I already feel like I kind of belong there. The staff is all really friendly, and some of them are so cool that I can't believe I've met them. (Okay, so this is first impressions here, but still.) The job pays well, but it's a lot of work. If you've ever been to the U-District branch, you'll know that the place is always bustling with staff and customers, since the store is quite small and not open 24 hours a day like many grocery stores in the US. So you're constantly on your feet, responding to calls, looking for something to do, be it stocking, making basket and cart collection runs, and dodging other people. Needless to say, I came home dead-tired. Now the laundry I was supposed to do is waiting for me in my closet, the paper I still need to write is still unwritten, and surprise! I'm working every day this weekend, starting Thursday. It's going well so far, though.

Of course, classes start tomorrow. I'm not quite ready, but ready as I'll ever be. So there's that.

It feels like life has been nothing but work, which is partially true; I'm still doing some stuff with parking, so I've been busy with that as well as interviewing and starting at TJ's. So I was working at a lot this morning and yesterday morning. Aside from getting up at 6.30, it hasn't been bad. We had to stand there and tell people they got to park for free in the Montlake parking lot, which elicited smiles, cheers, and brief, bright outpourings of gratitude. (The fee for the lot is usually $5, or $2.78 with a student I.D.) Today we realized that if we just taped up smalls signs over the card swipers that said "free parking today", we could sit off to the side and read in the early morning sun for three hours, interrupted only on occasion by a customer with a question. ("Why is parking free today?")

In comparing the jobs, I've realized that parking isn't so bad. Sure, it's a mundane job, and usually you're charging obscene prices, so most people hate you and the office you work for. But work times are super-flexible: you get an email stating dates and times that they need people, you sign up for what you want, and then you work. Usually half that time is idle time, either because customers aren't coming in droves at the beginning, or you're being driven from the office to the lot. Shifts tend to be short, only 3 or 4 hours at a time (except for football days). Plus, you get to work outside, which I've really enjoyed lately due to the nice weather. (I know that last point will change when the weather does, and that will be soon.) And the people at parking are a mixed lot. Some are awesome people working to make some extra money, and they're pretty laid back about the whole thing. Other people... are weirder. And I'll leave it at that.

In other, non-work-related news, Jeff and his parents showed up in Seattle last Friday. I took the bus to the airport to greet them, and we all helped Jeff get his stuff into his new house. He lives a good 20-minute walk from my place; it's down the hill, which is only an advantage in one direction, but there are buses. The next day, I worked parking all day and then went to the game with the three of them. It was a blast, and the Huskies destroyed the Bruins, so the evening was peachy. Sunday morning we went to Mass at St. James downtown, then to a lovely brunch at Ivar's. Related: I love crab legs. Mmm-hmm. After eating all that food (actually, after an entire weekend of wonderful food - we also visited The Ram and the Mongolian Grill within 48 hours), Jeff and I rode the bus back to the U-District and crashed. Four hours later, I woke up and proceeded to do nothing - something that I haven't been able to keep up since. We did try to go to Compline on Capitol Hill that night, but due to a mysterious bus disappearance, we didn't get there until 10 minutes before the end, so we missed most of it. Which sucked.

Yesterday was a fantastic day as well. After a lazy shift at parking, I interviewed at TJ's, which went even better than the previous interview. Then Andrea, in a move that involved absolute perfect timing, called me from France right as I walked out the door, and I proceeded to wander north through the U-District, not caring where I ended up as long as I still had Andrea on the end of the line. Talking to her definitely brightened my Monday. After catching up for a good half hour, she concluded that the people in line behind her for the phone should get their turn before they forcibly took it. By that time, I was on Roosevelt and near a thrift store, where I spent 5.73 on a cool jumper thingy, a shirt that Jeff told me was "me", and light bulbs that still don't fit the lamp I need light bulbs for. Grr. But anyway, the jumper made good attire for the Flogging Molly concert that Jeff and I attended on campus a little later that day, at 5 PM. I'd never seen a show before and frankly didn't know their music very well, but I'm glad I went because they rocked. Jeff and I moshed up front and got sweaty and dirty and bruised. So it was a success. I felt great being back on campus and seeing familiar faces again, and so I swang into social mode, handing out Parking Services flyers to as-of-yet jobless frosh, and greeting those people I recognized from before Germany. After the concert, we met the bass player, Nathen Maxwell, and he signed Jeff's flask with a skull and crossbones. His attention was directed to us because somebody had worshipfully given him some weed, and Nathen made mention of my dreadlocks, saying, "You're the one with the dreadlocks; you've gotta have some rolling papers!" I said I didn't, but would he mind signing my boyfriend's flask and letting us snap a picture of him. So that picture should be up on Facebook soon. Then Jeff and I dragged our butts up the Ave to WOW Bubble Tea, then took showers, then hung out at my house, exhasted, for the rest of the night. All in all, a pretty sweet day.

You know, that laundry's still sitting there, and it's not going to wash itself. Dinner won't cook itself, either. Plus, I think I've updated you on everything there is to update on. And there are classes tomorrow, which sucks a lot, but it's that time again. So have a good rest of your week, faithful readers, because you aren't going to hear a lot more from me in the next few days.