The Baby, Job talk, holiday plans ramble

The baby take 2:

Mercedes Rose is 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long. It is still cute... as far as I have been told.

On to other things:

I wanted to let everyone know that I recieved a call right before I spilled the beans about my impending departure from the tux job. The call was from the new job saying that they wanted me to push back my start date until the 25th because I was licensed. So I am still working incognito at the tux place. I recently saw a bit of reality with the tux shop as far as pay is concerned and I have no intention of making a quick change to the tux job as a career. I was talking to the manager and she was telling me her annual salary would be still less then I would make with the insurance company. That included her commission. That was enough for me. It just isn't enough money to work as hard as you do. My back and feet are killing me and everyday I get less and less excited about the next day. Yeah it will be good to get out of there while I can still enjoy it. I wish I had some cash to take advantage of the dress clothes discounts but unfortunately I do not. I can order a suit and pay cost plus ten percent. Oh and I am not just talking tuxedos! Oh well.

So does anyone have any Labor Day plans? I was thinking about a little bbq action and maybe a beer. Then the landlord struck by leaving an evil note saying no bbq'n on the patio or the decks.... but it fails to tell you where you can bbq. This bums me out a bit and I have no back up plan. My dad is going to some fossil beds in Eastern Oregon with Maryjo. I had been thinking of heading down there and poking around but that is a no go. I will let you know what I come up with..... you should let me know what you are doing. And if you are wondering if my you means you you, it does. Hehe. You big group of non emailing peeps!

I have recently decided to pursue a degree in media arts and animation through the Art Institute and I will be sending in my application tomorrow. I had to wait because you need to pay the 50 dollar admission fee these days. I didn't have 50 dollars in fact I still don't. I am borrowing it from my dad. It will be an online degree so I can work it into my schedule no matter when I work. It will work with my focus on working a job and squashing my debts taking precedence. I like the idea of the flexibility and the curriculum had a lot of the things I want to learn anyway. SO I am just doing it.

Other then that I have nothing new to add..... Ramble out.

BABY!

Well I had some things to tell you but Kevin and Becky trumped me by having their baby yesterday at 3 am. I know that both baby and mama are doing well. The baby is named Mercedes Rose. Here is a picture for your enjoyment, courtesy of Kevin.



I do not know anything like weight or length or anything as of yet. I still haven't called him... Yeah I am a bad friend. He started it though by emailing me the news... so nanny nanny boo boo.

Kicking out the latest and greatest....

I suppose everyone is wondering where I have been.... or maybe not. I have been working all week and that pretty much sums it up. I am not filled with angst or irritation, I am not jobless or underemployed, in fact I have too many jobs... That is a first and that may be the reason the blog entries have decreased. I have to give my notice at the tux job this week. That ought to be fun (please read that line with a hint of sad sarcasm). I know that Carolyn (the store manager) likes me and Ed (the company owner) does as well. It makes it a little harder to leave knowing that but I highly doubt they are going to raise my salary up enough to make the other offer go away. I don't see why they would. If they did they would have to raise a lot of peoples wages and let's face it... that isn't good business. Or so they tell me. Good business is paying as low as possible and then complaining about the lack of loyalty and the difficulty in finding good solid employees. Good business is laying off hundreds even thousands of workers in order to prevent yourself from having a bad quarter. Good business is not trying new things because they might fail. Good business is not something I am interested in or even particularly fond of... I would love to be a multimillionaire but I really don't think I have the right mentallity to ever get that accomplished. I finally said it... I am not the next Bill Gates. Oh well. The reality of the situation is I want a livable wage and to not work myself to death to accomplish this. I know work is a necessary evil even though it galls me that work takes up so much of everyone's life. I have always felt that work should be less of a focal point in our day to day interaction. I have even wrote the line "I am not my job" in this very blog. Unfortunately other people don't see the world that way. You either have a respectable job and a good living or you are not worth the time. I want to get out of debt and work on building a future instead of worrying about how to get through one more week of poverty. That is why I am heading to the best paying gig since I left Liberty Mutual two years ago. This time thought I don't have to sell anything.... I just have to deal with upset people. Guess what every job I have ever had I have dealt with upset people. Do you know why? People are emotional creatures we go through a new set of emotions every few seconds. We are also a bunch of whiny windbags.... You know it's the truth. I mean my whole blog is full of me this, me that and a heckuvalota woah is me's! So I am returning to a call center but this call center will actually pay me a decent wage....

In the meantime I have made some interesting decisions about what I need to do to find a better fit in the future. I have been all over the place in the last month or so with different schools and what not but I am finally realizing that whatever I do it needs to be something creative. Photography, writing, animation.... maybe all of it. I figured that much out now I need to figure out how to make it happen.

Speaking of creative endeavors..... Kevin K has started taking photos at weddings for people. He asks for a little bit more then his costs and hands over tons of shots to people. He still is in the digital only stage but he is taking on a few projects where he will produce a whole album for a few weddings. I mean a hard copy album by the way. That is pretty exciting. In other news Becky K is very pregnant and the baby should be arriving sometime this upcoming month.

Their is another Kevin that has been in my thoughts lately. My college roommate and good friend Kevin C has announced his upcoming wedding recently. It seems I will be heading to LA sometime next year.

My mom has been on a rollercoaster so far this year with her new job as a Junior High resource teacher. She has had great days and horribly abysmal days. She is always seeking advice from me and other people and I have been telling her all along the same thing. Keep going into work everyday caring about these kids and things will work out. That is the only true path to achieving what you need to do, plugging away until the job is done. Everytime I tell her that I get to remind myself of that fact. The only way to get what you need is to go out and seek it out. The only way to do that is to get up everyday and work towards it. Whatever 'it' may be.

In other news my grandpa has been having problems with the government lately. Recently the government discovered the classified him wrong when doling out his pension and have decided tat he owes them for their mistake. So for the next 18 months he will not be getting a check.... Seems like a good call, right? I don't really get how a decision that is your responsibility and done by you or in this case by your human resources department is someone elses mess to clean up. The mistake is yours and the correct way to fix it is too stop overpaying and suck up the lost income. The mistake was on your end after all. The government is retarded. I love that their solution is too take it back by not giving him anything for a year and a half. There by making their error his problem. Talk about a compassionate system. To add to all this he has been having heart problems in which his heart slows down to scary levels which result in him not having enough blood pumping to get energy to do anything. On a good note he found some people to sell some of his garden's crop too. He has been making a little cash by selling Okra in town to some local business. He has had a few calls already for a new supply to be delivered.

Well I hope you are in good health as you read this.... Drop me a line sometime. crazedlunatik@gmail.com

The book reading

After I tinkled into a cup for the requisite drug test I hopped into my car and headed 20 minutes away to a Border's bookstore where the book reading and signing would take place with Adriene Barbeau. I was early so I grabbed a few comics to read while I waited then I migrated upstairs until I could get a great big comfy seat. I continued reading until she was introduced and started talking. It was alot of fun her stories she read were funny and she was extremely nice and approachable. I picked up a copy and then immediately prayed that I didn't need to gas up until after the 1st which will be my next payday. I stood in line while people that actually knew things about her career went up and talked to her about this or that. I really had nothing to say even though I had seen her in a few things so I had her sign my book, snap a photo and I asked about her website because I like everyone to be able to access people and things I talk about. She was gracious and showed me that it was on her bookflap.... I thanked her and ran away. I had really enjoyed listening to her talk and read. I would greatly enjoy getting an audiobook of this ladies stories. It is interesting to me that until 6 years ago she never considered herself a writer but in the first chapter of her book she talks about writing journals since she was in the fifth grade. You don't have to be published or hang out in coffee shops and read melodramatic poems to people that like the poem only when it makes no sense to be a writer. A writer is someone who has a hard time not writing everyday. Someone who struggles with the right words to fully express the emotions that flew threw them through the days. Someone that absolutely has to write even if they never plan on sharing them. A writer is more then a job it is a way of life. I am a writer. I write even when I am not posting it for you to read. I am a writer even though you can't buy my words in the bookshop or on the newsstand. It was great to hear how this book came about and that she will have future books on the way. She was signed to write a series of vampire novels, which made me giggle. From not thinking of herself as a writer to being published and then being tapped to write a series.... not a writer my hind parts! It was fun to hear her talk about the different projects she was a part of. The television shows, the movies, and the plays. She seems to be a fascinating person and I look forward to reading this book. So if you know who she is and if you don't chek her out... she seems worth her salt. The book is titled "There Are Worse Things I Could Do". You might recognize that line from a song sung by Rizzo in Grease. She was in the Broadway version.

http://www.abarbeau.com
http://thereareworsethingsicoulddo.com/

The up to date update...

Well it seemed like it was time to update. Last week was long and tiring. I wasted time Tuesday with an interview with Farmers. I accepted thinking that it was another claims position but when I got there I soon realized it was a sales position. Another position where they expected me to come out of pocket.... I have nothing in my pocket. Why do they require such an investment why can't they help you get started and set up a reinvestment program that a portion of your money made would go back into your business. They could even set it up that if you quit before making certain numbers you would have to pay a portion back. It would get the more serious people in the door and it would provide incentive to keep plugging away. Of course we all know that insurance companies do not like to part with money so none of this is relevant. They will keep doing things the hard way and not allow poor people to get started in their business.

Speaking of the evil insurance companies. Thursday morning I had another interview with a different insurance company. It was for a customer service position. I did the interview my way which was comfortable and then I went to work. Today I got the offer. They want me to work for them as long as I pass the drug test, background check and the credit check. I am sipping on a huge glass of water right now so that I can take care of the drug test. Doesn't it always seem that when you need to pee you can't? The drug test center is right up the street so I will head there in 30 minutes and then I am off to the Borders store for a book reading by Adrienne Barbeau. She has been an actress for many years. She was in Escape from new york, maude, carnivale, cannonball run, creepshow. Anyway she wrote her own autobiography and she will be reading from it and it sounds like fun.

In the Tuxedo world, they have hired and fired 3 people last week and they are in dire need of help. People all over the state will be leaving for college and there are major gaps everywhere. I am not sure what they will do about people and I am sure when I give my notice they will be a little dismayed.... I am waiting until the final go ahead from the insurance company. I want to make sure it will happen before I put myself out in the breeze. I have a large amount of debt floating around so that is the only thing I am currently worried about. Well wish me continued luck and have a great day.

The Job and my last 2 day weekend in the near future.

I survived my first 5 days of work. It is a lot of running around and pretending to have a clue about what is going on. Today we got 3 other trainees and one came in wearing a t-shirt. I was pretty amazed. I am slowly getting the hang of measuring people for their tuxedos. I am pretty good at walking the floor with them and helping them select styles. The other guy that started with me took an hour and a half with one couple. I was floored. Like anyone wants to spend that long talking to him. Speaking of the guy I started with this is an interesting story. I got to work on Friday, later then I would have liked but 5 minutes before I would have to start. SO I clocked in and went to work running around, measuring people, and talking to the guy who was leaving the company. I was at work for a half an hour before I noticed that guy was not there yet. We will call him J for the sake of this story. Anyways J was not there and he hadn't called. 2 hours later he was still MIA. They called his phone and he didn't answer. He did not call at all on Friday. So we wrote him off. We figured he had moved on to bigger and better things. So I show up today and we are looking at the schedule because he had figured prominently in this week's schedule and we had figured we had seen the last of him. It started getting busy and I was checking suits back in and sorting them out to be cleaned. All of a sudden I hear Carolyn (the store boss) say "J! What are you doing here?" He went into some stupid story about being on his way to work and having his car break down. He tried to get it startedbut it was not his lucky day. After 15 minutes he called someone to have it towed somewhere. At this point Carolyn says "Oh well we hadn't heard from you and we were worried. We thought you liked it but you just didn't show up or even call." J says well I called Pam (the regional mgr) because all I had was her number around 1 PM. She did not get back to me until Sunday.

Carolyn and I were talking during J's hour and a half sale. She doesn't believe him and neither do I. First of all how do you not have the number? It's in the yellow pages. Don't you think if it is your first week you would be trying to get in touch to tell people you are having a day of bad luck as opposed to being fired?

Seems fishy right. Let me help you read between the lines. For whatever reasoin J got up and did not want to go to work. Maybe he overslept, maybe it was the 9 am to 8 pm shift he put in or maybe he had a sweet interview to go to. I am not sure but for whatever reason he decided to not go to work today. He waited until late enough in the day to call Pam and wiggle out of it with a car break down story. Except she had had a full week and she had called it a day early. She got back to the phone and called him when she felt like dealing with it. Then J pulled out all the charm and talked his way back into a job.

Meanwhile that day of having him gone really earned me points and helped me build confidence in how I do my job. I can handle a lot of scenarios now.


So work is going well. I can't say I love it but I can handle it. My weekend was good though. Unfortunately it is the end of the 2 days off in a row as long as I have this job. My dad rolled into town Thursday for a Friday conference. Thursday night we headed to a Chinese food place in my near vincinity in his big ol' (make that new) Dodge Ram. Friday night my dad cooked. Saturday we hung out all day in downtown Portland. We rode the bus into town and we just went romping about. We headed to Henry's for the burgers. I had a Brewery BBQ Burger and he had the Mushroom Swiss Burger. We split them up so we could have half of each. I learned that I prefer my burger to his. We cruised around on the street car and ended up at Bridgeport Brewery. We shared a sampler and decided that if we had our druthers we would go somewhere else but we did find a few beers that we could stomach.We liked the Amber, the porter and (suprisingly) the ESB. We could tolerate the Stout and the IPA. We did not like the Pale Ale or the Barleywine. The Supris made us nearly revisit our lunch. From there we headed to Borders and spent some quality time with books we had no intention of actually buying. Then we headed back to Henry's for a beer during happy hour. My chice, Paulaner Octoberfest, had went bad and it soured my experience. Even the excellent Hoegaarden did not revitalize the experience. We threw in some great crab cakes into the mix and then headed back home on the bus. Sunday I cooked breakfast and we ran a few errands and then he headed back home.

The new gig...

I never knew how much choice went into selecting a tuxedo. I guess since I have never selected a tuxedo before I never really understood how many choices there were. I have definately worn tuxes but I have always been part of the wedding party and the marrying couple do the picking. I never went to prom and as best as I can recall I never got married not even all those drunken nights spent in Vegas. There was no Britney Spears moments that I recall. So if one day a lady shows up at my door claiming to be my wife I will be as flummoxed as you will be. So all these choices are being presented to me and I am trying to remember there crazy numbering system on top of it. Another thing that is completely new is having to measure people. I did it twice today and I was downright flustered. The other new guy I am training with seems to be a better fit for this vocation. He seems to be a little more in tuoch with his fashion sense and has opinions about things. I am pretty much good with all the styles but he can talk for hours about what he likes and doesn't. I am not sure that he is gay but he definately would be metrosexual. If you are new to the term google it.

The first day we spent reading, walking the floor and looking at the various styles, exploring the warehouse facility where they dryclean, press and configure the tuxedos. Today we started off reading about measurements, practicing measuring and then we spent the rest of the day helping out on the floor. I felt like an idiot measuring people because I could never get the tape to work with me. I did enter an entire order from walk in to walk out. I also assisted in the checking in and out of tuxes. It was pretty exciting, action packed and getting a chance to do it started putting things into perspective. I still feel timid about all this but I know that soon I will feel right at home.

Tomorrow we start at 9AM and burn until 7PM. We will start in the back wharehouse where we will put together several tuxes to be pulled for tomorrow. Then we will head up front and check out tuxes all day. It should be slamming busy and that will be a good way to learn.

I have to tell you that my feet are killing me. My dogs are definately barking! I have a good idea what I will be investing in when I have a few bucks to spend. Comfortable dress shoes made for standing all day. Do you have any recommendations?

BTW no one has commented on the new blog layout.....

The Rambling Review of CHICKEN LITTLE

There has been a lot going on in the past week. I have given up my cable because I couldn't afford it. I have taken and quit a job. I am about to start a new job o tomorrow. It seemed like a day to see a movie. I had canceled Netflix but apparently not before they took their $15.00 charge out. So when I checked the mail I had 2 films waiting for me. Chicken Little and Aeon Flux. I looked at the two and I thought Chicken Little is the safe bet..... so now I bring you the RAMBLING REVIEW of CHICKEN LITTLE!!!

(These reviews so need theme music)



This is a Disney movie that is retelling an old fable. Familiar country for that kid friendly giant with the mouse ears. Unfortunately everyone that made this film is a comlete and total idiot. Ok, maybe I am going to far. Maybe kids shows don't have to be good, I mean they are after all for kids. The same group that love Barney, Teletubbies and the Wiggles. It's not as if they are charging money to both child and adults to see this. Oh wait they are. This is not ok there is no excuse for this movie. This movie was just plain awful. It is not funny, entertaining or even all that clever. Hold on this is a review not a bash so let me step back for a minute.



The story. A small crazy chicken freaks out his town, not a barn but a town. Yes there are no humans in this town it is just like a Richard Scarry book brought to life, if Richard Scarry was the worst writer in the world! Anyway so he freaks out the whole town by telling them the sky is falling. Mayhem ensues and then they figure he must be crazy. His dad hurriedly pushes the my son is crazy angle. His dad is lame, there are no redeeming qualities in his dad. He doesn't believe in his son until the end and he basically makes Chicken Little feel like a failure through the whole movie. Great fun... laugh riot. I love movies about disfunctional family relations and I bet so do the kids!! Anyway so everyone turns it into a big teasing game. The other animals are mean to him except an ugly duck, a pig so fat it can't hardly move and and a fish with a divers helmet full of water. Yeah, gee, I wonder why he gets picked on. Of course we find out that something really did fall from the sky. It was a piece of an alien spacecraft. The aliens seem mean and chase Chicken Little and his homies around until once again Chicken Little alerts the town and the town misses the show completely and they think he is crazy again. Dad comes back in apologizing for the kid. Then Chicken Little discovers a little alien that was left behind. At that moment the aliens start invading but they don't want to conquer the world they just want to find their kid. So a lot of senseless and stupid mayhem ensues, Chicken Little and his dad make up, Chicken Little shows the ugly duck some love and then he, his friends and his pops save the day. Woofreakinghoo! But wait there's more! The end has them all watching a movie abut what happened. It was like channeling Pee Wee's Big Adventure's ending. This was the best part. The last 2 minutes.
They have some serious star power in this movie: Garry Marshall, Zach Braff, Don Knotts, Patrick Stewart, Wallace Shawn, Joan Cusack, and Adam West. I mean they have quite a list of people but the movie was just bad. There was nothing redeemable about this movie. It wasn't cute, the story was horrible, and the characters were annoying. This screen shot of the pig shows exactly what I thought of the movie - A real stomach turner!

The amazing allure of the dollar

So my life and my job status are in upheaval.... An interesting series of events have made me switch career paths already.... It seems that the best thing to do is write a blog about.... About shopping.

I headed out last night to get a gallon of milk. I had found out that the nearby Walgreen's had milk for sale at a $1.99 per gallon of milk. That is the most I am willing to pay for milk. Anything higher is too high. That was the only reason I was in there and that was the only thing I was going to buy. I was wandering about looking at things because you should always shop at a leisurely pace and you should never shop for groceries on an empty stomach. I was slowly making my way to the cooler when I spied a box of Crunch n' Munch for a dollar. Now had it been a dollar and change it would have been overlooked but something about the magical price of a dollar seems to make sense to me. Anything for a dollar has a higher chance of being bought by me. Once it goes over a dollar I debate the merits of the purchase. A dollar is the magic price for me. So I grabbed a box. I continued on and as I neared the milk cooler I first passed the frozen food section. Last week I had bought a small pint of ice cream at the dollar price and I was checking to see if that sale was still going. It wasn't but that was when I noticed microwaveable french fries for a dollar. I soon realized that I needed to stop leisurely perusing the store because all I had was 5 dollars to spend anyway. So I grabbed the milk and dragged myself away from everything else that was priced with a huge dollar sticker. I would have bought a pair of blinders had they been a dollar just to make it out of the store. I paid for the items and hopped into the car and headed home wear I dined on Crunch n' Munch and french fries. Talk about health nut!

So what is the deal with my compulsion to buy things at a dollar price range? What makes me spend so much at the dollar store? Something about knowing that my items only cost a dollar a piece give me the illusion of frugality. In reality I spend 20 dollars easily every time I hit the dollar store. I love Albertson's as well because they have the 10 for $10 sales all the time. I try things that I would normally ignore if they are at the excellent and amazingly tantalizing price of a dollar. It is crazy! I have decided that I want to let major manufacturers realize that I am more then willing to eat smaller portions if they price those at a dollar. I am more likely to get on the bandwagon of new items if I can get them for a dollar. That being said I still think Mac and cheese should be 10 for a buck, candy bars should max out at a buck, I should be able to get a six pack soda for a buck and a gallon of gas for a buck. I might be a little behind the times on somethings but you know that if everything had a quantity for a dollar you would buy it too....

I think next time I get a date I might take her to the dollar store and say anything you want is yours... hehe

My day or a lesson in the proper use of mental shielding

I should be in bed already....

I mean it is way too late to be up and writing a blog entry that I could have wrote hours ago. Unfortunately someimtes I can't fall asleep until what I need to do is done. This time I think it is a quick or semi quick entry and then maybe then I can fall into sleep. It's a big day tomorrow and I am nervous....

Today was a good day. Ice Cube wrote about a 'good day' in a rap song but this was a good day completely different from that one. I don't live in the 'hood and I don't get harassed by the police. I don't even get to duck during drive bys.... So not having those things happen is not a new experience or a good experience it is just a normal experience. Today was a good day because I went out and explored a little and it didn't even cost me gas. My mom hooked up the bus pass for the month of August. So all I had to do was get to a bus stop. On the bus I studied collegiate promotional materials and tried to decide what programs made sense. I was at a stopping point and still on the bus. So I took a few minutes to look around. I noticed other people buried in books, plugged into iPods, and otherwise staring out the window. No one spoke to each other. No one made eye contact everyone created a mental barrier and hid behind it. I returned to my perusing of the course catalog for Marylhurst University and retreated back to my secret wall. In reality I was staring at the book and periodically flipping the pages while I thought about the reality of today's world. We are so scared of bad people and awkward situations that most of us do our living in specific places. With a core group of friends and family, people from work and hundreds of people on the internet. We actively guard against unwanted contact so much that the person right next to us might have been the friend or special someone we always look for. I started thinking about my barriers and I started to slowly take them down. I put the book away. I sat up straighter and I let my mouth position itself into a smile. Unfortunately the bus and the tram that followed are not the places to make direct eye contact. The more you look around and watch the more people develop a hole in their vision for where you are. I was determined to not let that affect me. I stepped off the tram and, still wearing that smile, I went into the library to return the books I had had for a month and a half that I probably spent 10 minutes looking at. Then I headed into the fiction section and selected a few books to peruse. It happened to be busy and every table had a person (not people just a person) sitting there. One table was particularly long so I headed over there and I asked to share the table and was met with a mumbled ascent and the person reengaged themselves to reading their book. The smile had not worked so far. I read for a while and after getting a wee bit antsy I decided to look for a few other books. I headed up the stairs to the third floor where the art books were. I was looking for a book on bookbinding and figured it would be a good place to start. I was wrong and I had to descend a level. I was wandering around looking for my section when a librarian asked if she could help me. My instincts and reflexes produced "No, I'm ok." Then I remembered my promise. I turned back to her and I said: "Actually I am looking for this series of numbers but I must have missed them." She took me over to the section and I thanked her and she went back to collating or whatever it is that librarians do... I had made contact... not significant contact but it was a step in the right direction. I selected a book and headed own to the checkout area. I was heading towards the machines that let you do it yourself but I realized what I was doing and changed course. The lady checked the book to me and asked about whether I had done any bookbinding and next thing you know we had a conversation. Success! Unfortunately another person was waiting to check out and we said our good-byes. I headed from there to the art supply shop to look at expensive paper and try to price the book binding equipment suggested in my book. I had a few dollars in my pocket so I bought a paper awl and as I was checking out the art school kids running the counter were discussing the merits of Gone With The Wind. One girl behind the counter had only made it to the horse death scene where Scarlet rides and whips the poor thing to an early grave. She had quit there and had never looked back. Two others including the girl that was helping me were extolling the virtues of the movie. Calling it the greatest movie ever. I had been debating whether to get into this ruckus and this was my chance. I have never been a huge fan of the movie so I said "You have to see it. You have to watch it all the way through. You don't have to like it but it is a part of American cinematic history. It is referenced in pop culture still. You have to see it for the referencing alone. Then once you have seen it you never have to watch it again. I haven't." This got a laugh from the girl who had abandoned the movie and a newcomer who added his two cents "Worst movie ever made". The two lovers of the movie were shocked and with a giggle I left with my paper awl. I continued wandering around with my smile and my urge to socialize. I wandered a mall called Pioneer Place which is a 4 story indoor mall. It has two sections which means if you walk in on one street you come out 2 streets down at the other side. I rode the escalators up and down every level and then headed out and caught the tram back to the bus stop. Along the way the tram was crowded it was rush hour and I remembered why people put up a mental wall on the bus. This guy got on and he looked older then dirt. A lady kindly offered his seat which he exclaimed "I am only 39!" Then proceeded to ramble in his slurry speech about this horrible story and that horrible story. He survived cancer but his wife left him, his neighbor skipped town and left an annoying cat whining in his house that he was taking to the pound, every young person thought he was old even genuinely old people offered their seat to him, did I mention he was slurring his words and looked like he was older then dirt? So I put my smile back in my pocket and I brought the newly borrowed library book out and I checked back in to my mental barriers. I realized the likelihood of sitting and trying to fake my interest for a 40 minute bus ride would be to much and I decided to avoid that. SO smile when you can escape but be protective when there is no escape.

Good Night (or good morning depending on where you read this),
Reverand Michael James Williams

Thankfully, July is over!

Talk about a month to call it a day..... Seriously last month sucked big time! I was already in the middle of money troubles and the job was cutting way back on hours. I was a little worried but they kept giving me a new schedule. Imagine my surprise when I was told before I started the new schedule to take a hike. I had not liked the job that much and it wasn't doing me any favors with the low wage and the ever shrinking hours but not having anything was not a good thing. I have been job hunting for 2 weeks now. I lined up a bar job but I haven't started yet. I  have orientation Friday and hopefully I have a few work hours that weekend. I need money sooner then later. In the meantime I have nothing to do until then. I do have a bus pass so my plan to kill time will be to hop on a few busses and see what I can get up to. I do have another job interview on Friday. It is for a job with more money attached to it so I am still holding out hope. If I don't get it I will enroll in school and get a degree to do something neat or at least halfway neat....

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Hey all I wanted to announce my new line of clothing... Ninja Shredz Clothing!

It is all about showing your support for white collared criminals. They're rich which means that they can't possibly be guilty!

Ninja Shredz. You steal we conceal!, tm

My weekend

I had a great weekend. The days are just filled!

Friday was my day to head to Washington and get my Washington Insurance License. That occupied the afternoon. My dad had come up to help transport me since I am very broke. After we got done with that business and were back in Portland we decided to stop by this joint called Cascade'. It is a pipe and cigar shop with a bar attached. We picked out two Acid cigars and sat in the bar drinking a few glasses of beer and enjoying the cigar. It was very pleasant. We decided that after stoppping for lunch at Burgerville during our trip North that we actually needed a good meal. Burgerville sucks by the way...

So we headed to Winco Foods and bought steaks, sweet potatoes, green beans and some icecream for desert. I put them on my teeny tiny grill and had hardly any room for air to come in and keep the fire going. I managed to cook them anyway and we had a very good meal. After way too many stupid television shows I realized it was way past my bedtime. I had to work my call center job the next morning and the time I start is 5 am.

The next day after I got off work I went home and took a quick nap and then got up and decided to drag my dad along to Powell's City of Books so I could sell some books. I was hungry and so was he so we shopped at a spot called Philadelphia's for a cheese steak sandwich. It was damn good. Then we wandered around an IGA. After that we headed to Powell's and I made a few bucks on a few books I had brought. Usually he finds a book and settles down for a while but today he was looking ready to go which was fine with me because Powell's is a wee bit too large for me to comfortably shop. I wanted to drag him around town but had no idea where to go. We went to the central library and I showed him the old books they have a display of. Some books date back to the 1400's. I was still not sure what to do so we wandered around until I got a brainstorm. We would head to Henry's Tavern for a couple beers. We both had an excellent beer called Hoegaarden. Then we individualized our orders. He had a Boddington's and I had a Pilsner Urquell. After a while we decided to head towards home. It was still plenty early so I asked him what he wanted to do and he said go to Barne's & Noble. This made me laugh a little considering we had went to Powell's and a library. Apparently my dad likes certain bookstores. We stayed until 10 which once again got me to bed later then was prudent for my job's start time.

On Sunday, after I had a disastrous morning in which I wasted gas and lost an hour of work time because I left my f'ing headset at home and I went back to get them, I was ready for our trip to a Dim SUm place. If you have never had Dim Sum you are missing out. Certain Chinese restaurants offer Dim Sum, usually on weekends. They prepare a special style of food that usually comes in quantities of 3 to 5 pieces. A lot of the items are steamed and include fish and shrimp. There are a lot of wonderful flavors and it is something to experience and unfortunately a bit hard to relate. Dim Sum was extremely good and I was very satisfied. At this point we seperated he headed back home and I went to my home to sleep the day away. I was exhausted.

The Rambling Review of NACHO LIBRE!!!

It is hot today! This is the second day in a row of heat. It is so hot and I am without air conditioning. I hate the builders of apartments up here. I want air conditioning at 80 degrees and today it was in the 100 degree range. It's 98 degrees right now! I tried to move far away from that. "Just when I thought I was out, they bring me back in"

I spent the day making calls to local businesses and hearing a lot more dial tone then last time. About 3 PM we called it a day and I headed to the movie theater. I remembered it as a cool refuge from the heat. It always was in Phoenix. Up here not so much. It was cooler then my apartment or outside for that matter. but it was not cold and I wanted cold. I had already paid for the movie so I figured I better watch it. That is why today I give you the review of NACHO LIBRE!!!!!

This movie was made by the same guy that made Napolean Dynamite. If you just cringed stop reading now. This is not your movie. Jack Black stars as Ignacio the man of the faith that just has to wrestle. I have felt that passion myself a time or too. I unfortunately do not want to subject the world to me in tights. For Jack Black this is not a problem. He spends almost the entire movie in clothes even a reasonably fit man should not wear. That is the curse of the Luchadores!

Everybody knows that wrestling, or rasslin', is great. Everybody knows the Hulkster and the Macho Man. These people pale in comparison to the famed Luchadores of Mexico. The Luchadores are typically much more agile then their US counterparts. They fly off the ropes and take wonderful dives on top of each other and genuinely put their bodies at risk. In this movie Ignacio has always wanted to be a Luchador. We see him as a young boy making his own costume and prancing around only to get punished and put to work in the kitchens of the orphanage. That is where we find him today making awful looking food for the orphans. A new person is introduced to his world and things seem to mean something again. The new person is a very cute nun. She is the reason for Ignacio to make something of himself and as he tries to entice her into an engaging night of toast munching and awkward conversation another brother comes by and sends him off on an errand. On the way back he does his errands to get the next day supply of chips for the orphans when he is accosted by Esqueleto and he loses the battle and the chips. On his ride of shame he notices a famous Luchador mobbed by fans. He turns away to see a sign that says Lucha Libre and it tells him amatuers can wrestle the next night. His chance has come. He unites with Esquelito and together they become the worst wrestling team ever! They get paid anyway since everyone shares the profits and for a while he lives high on the hog buying fancy shoes and new clothes. He soon finds out that he is a horrible wrestler and that what he really wants is to win and be admired. About this time fe discovers that his idols, including the number one Luchador are all self conceited jerks. After a heartbreaking night he vows to give up wrestling and refocus on his orphans. That day he is found out at the orphanage and pledges the next fight will see him victorious and that all the orphans will see the profits. He has found the reason to win. At his low point he realizes he has to do it for the orphans....

The movie is stupid. Lets put that out right now. The other thing to let you know is that stupid can be good. I liked this movie. I think that it had the same type of awkward social interaction that Napolean had plus it had the crazy antics of Jack Black. It's true I hated Jack in King Kong but I like him as the funny guy. His facial contortion work for this movie. That being said I have to tell you that every reviewer I have read absolutely hated this movie. I am not sure what they were expecting. It stars Jack Black in tights and a mask how dramatic could it be? It does not have a gangly teenager that needs chapstick so it is not Dynamite II and after all their is no llama named Tina. If you want to see a dramatic movie about a monk that wrestles to save the orphanage all the while trying to find forgiveness for his impure thoughts I recommend you get a camera and start filming that movie because this isn't it. This is camp and silliness at an absurd level. The wrestling matches were fun. The little munchkin wrestlers were great for laughs and Esquelito's shrieks of pain were dead on funny. I really liked Esquelito and the nun they were great. They did not get credit for their acting skills. Sometimes the best way to act with a person like Jack Black is to just look confused and these two did a great job of that. I love the looks of shock from the girl who plays the nun.

GO see this if you like Jack or if you like stupid movies. Otherwise don't go see it. If you read this all the way through and you hate stupid movies, I warned you in the beginning so don't come whining to me!

Saturday is a fun day for exploring

The call center place is at it again. They sent me home early, 2 hours early. I was sitting next to someone who was upset that they sent me home because she had asked fto be sent home. At my job they give out VTO or Voluntary Time Off, in theory this allows people to go home early that would rather be home and leave the rest of the slackers that need to stay at work. What I was issued was MTO or Mandatory Time Off. I didn't ask to be sent home I was told to go home. This has happened a lot lately but the last 2 days seemed to be picking up as far as call volume so they had not offered VTO and were not handing out MTO. Today it was slow the minute I got in and 3 hours into my shift I was handed a slip for MTO. It was irritating to realize that she had requested time off and still they had made me go home. What is new?

So I was off at 8 which through my whole days plan into disarray because nothing opens until 10 AM. I had planned to go straight from work to sell some DVD's and CD's but I had 2 hours to kill. Which is pretty hard when you are broker then broke. I headed home and wrote today's first 2 entries. Then I emailed people that probably won't email back and a few that might. FInally it was 10, so I grabbed some books I had wanted to keep and I headed downtown. I parked in the $5 maximum parking and discovered in all my brilliance that I had left my card at home so I was hoping I made at least 5 so I could drive home I had no plan B. My luck held out and I was able to buy a full tank of gas, pay the garage fee and have a beer and a burger at Henry's Tavern. The beer and the burger were not my brightest idea as far as money was concerned but I have been selling things left and right trying to pay bills and it just felt like I should at least enjoy a moment this month. So I ordered a Brewery BBQ Burger and A Deschutes Buzzsaw Brown to wash it down. The books I grabbed at the last minute paid for this indulgence the cds paid for the gas and I had 9 dollars left for the next fill up. The Brewery BBQ Burger was really really good and it was huge. It had a slice of Tillamook Cheddar, ham, the burger (obviously), an onion bun, and a great BBQ sauce. I was thrilled with it. I was irritated by the beer selection. Not because it was a bad beer selection but because it ionly had 2 of the brewery's own beers on tap. I am not sure I mentioned this Henry's Tavern is Henry Weinhard's place. There were over a 100 beers listed and the list was great. It had imports, local and not so local small breweries beers, rare and hard to find beers and a beer for every palatte. That includes the uneducated swine that only drink a steady diet of Budweiser and Bud Light for their dieting days. The beer I chose was pretty good, probably one of the better beers I have tried from Deschutes so far. Deschutes is a beer brewed in Bend, OR and no I have not been to that brewery nor have I been to Bend. Just to paint a picture of the awesomeness of the beer list I want to tell you that they had a Hoegaarden White Beer that Kevin K turned me onto when I visited him before Maryann's wedding. I have not seen nor heard of that beer since and had I seen it before I ordered that would have been the beer I chose because I think it was on tap. That is always an adventure. The decor of the place was a little disheartening. The name may say Tavern but its aim is definately for high dollar eatery. They had huge windows and big thick window drapes. Everything was black including the waiters uniforms and it had the definate feel of swank. They need to rename it Henry's Fancy Schmancy House of Other People's Beers. I was pleased with my burger, my beer was good, and the service was great. Was it a unique must have experience? NO, it was just like every other brewery that is popping up. An overdressed place to drink a beer, next time someone calls ther place a tavern I want a darkened room and shady characters in it and I want the beer to flow like waterfalls of delightful thirst quenching goodness. Would I go back again? Yes I would, in fact I am fairly certain that when I do start making money I will go back and have another go at the ginormous beer list. If I happen to be brewery jumping (if a beer drinker ever comes my way this will be something we do) Henry's will be passed over since it isn't really a brew house.

From there I headed to the streetcar and hopped on for a ride around. I was inside fairless square which meant I didn't have to pay to ride and I knew no matter what my parking bill would still be $5 dollars so I decided to get a free tour of the Pearl District. I caught it going South so actually all I saw was the Downtown. I rode it to the end in the downtown area and hopped back on when it cruised back by to take us back North. When I got near Portland State University I hopped off and checked out the farmer's market. Then I hoofed it North past the detestable Art Museum that I just discovered is at least 2 buildings which explains how we got lost in it and how come we never saw the Egyptian items they kept talking about. I kept walking until I was near the area where the library was. I had never been to a library in Multnomah County and I had been meaning to check out the Central Library so I walked in and was marveling at the beauty of the place when I discovered an exhibit on the 3rd floor. It was the opening of an exhibit showcasing some books from the rare books room the library has. Some books were from the 1400's , one was an original Beatrix Potter book and they also had an excellent and beautiful copy of the Audobon book with the wonderfully colored illustrations. As luck would have it this was the opening day so I was treated to my dinner and a three part orchestra from the Oregon Baroque Orchestra. It was really neat to see the old books and munch on free food while being entertained by professional musicians. I found two books as the music was playing and I signed up for a library card and then performed a Waltz as I left the building and headed across the street to wait for the streetar to take me back to the Pearl district. As I waited I took in the beauty of the Library's surroundings. THe youth shelter behind me, the kids hanging around the door way until someone from the shelter told them to stop milling about. The half naked bums that kept talking to me about the weather, at least it wasn't about how much money I should spare for them. Might not be a bad idea to spare that dime next time and find out where a good spot is so when I get tossed out on my ear for paying rent late I would have a heads up. Hehe. Anyways it was strange to see that amazing division of people just by walking out of the library.

After all that excitement my feet were killing me and I decided to head home and relax.

Hey Sun! Go down already!

One of the things I have noticed about the NorthWest is that the sun never goes down.... ok that's an exaggeration it goes down but it is so late! Right now it is 9:23 PM at night and it is still working on setting! I am trying to go to bed and the sun is in my eyes! What is up!? I mean who would ever have thought that my bedtime would be before the neighbors' kids? Seriously they are out there right now running around and laughing! In fact they knocked on my door and made fun of me for being a big stupid baby head. I of course replied by exclaiming "nuh-uh!" and they said "nuh-huh!" and I called them a dumb dodo poop face and ran away crying.

Stupid neighbors' kids!

I am so not a big stupid baby head!

The Rambling Review of Peter Jackson's King Kong

It seems that all Hollywood can do is remakes these days. The movie doesn't even have to be a good one originally to warrant a remake. Hollywood is all out of ideas and way too afraid to take risks so they keep schlepping half-witted movies at us to see if they can make a buck. Peter Jackson decided he would actually try to present us with a good remake. So he assembled his cast loaded onto a ship and went to skull isl.... wait that is where they go in the movie. Peter Jackson takes the movie back to hobbitville better known as New Zealand. He takes the ideas from the original groundbreaker film of the same title sans the 'Peter Jackson's' part and tries to flush out the story a bit. I figure he felt that the 1933 version was a little light on the whys and he felt today's modern audience would need to know some whys. Actually I think it's just because he has no clue how to make a short feature since all his blockbusters clock in at 3 hours or more. After watching The Brown Bunny I was ready for a good movie and good ol' Petey did not disappoint.... well for the most part. Here is my review of PETER JACKSON'S KING KONG!!!!!!!!!!

The movie starts in depression era New York and Peter Jackson spends the entire opening credits making sure we get that. We are introduced to Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) an impoverished Vaudeville stage actress with big dreams and a reality that is about to go bust. The playhouse she performs in closes the doors and she is out of a job and hungry. Her old manager tells her to pursue her dreams of the big stage and she tries to but she is shut down by the talent scout and handed an address of a place that is hiring. He recommends she work there and then get out of this crummy town.... We head across town as Carl Denham (Jack Black) watches the film he has shot with the investors who of course hate it. When they decide to turn it into stock footage to get their money back he runs off with the film and decides to set sail that evening for 'Singapore'. At that point his naive assistant lets him know that his actress has dropped out and he sets off to find a new girl to fit her dresses. Ann shows up at the place she was sent to only to find that it is a burlesque show and with her dreams fading she takes off. Carl happens to see her before he is about to go into the burlesque show to search for his star. He somehow convinces her to go to 'Singapore' and they head to the boat. Where we have a reluctant captain that takes a check to set sail that night from a man he already knows is broke. He traps the reluctant author of his screenplay Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) on his boat so that he can get a completed screenplay. So Carl is a real winner a liar, cheat, con-artist and kidnapper. As they leave the docks the cops show up to late to arrest carl for stealing the footage he had shot, which makes him a fugitive as well. On the boat he reveals to Jack the real destination is Skull Island. The crew and captain freak out but this unlikable guy that Jack Black brings to life convinces them to follow his plan anyhow. Then the first mate and captain discover Carl is a wanted man and they are ordered to turn around just as a strange fog settles down and they crunch right into the big rock skull on Skull island.

At this point I was ready to call it a day. I was bored to tears and was afraid the movie would continue like this and that Mr. Jackson would totally 'Godzilla' this film. I had been reading the paper and doodling through the whole part and only stopped occasionally to wonder how Carl could convince people of his plans when no one seemed to like him. He was not all that compelling and his ambition was outright ugly to see. I know that there wouldn't be a movie if they didn't but what type of excuse is that? I like Jack Black but I did not like him in this movie and perhaps that was what he wanted to do with the character. Either way I had a hard time believing the crew of the ship wouldn't have knifed him a few times and dumped him overboard. The captain who seemed to deal in poaching and smuggling animals was a more likeable character. I almost stopped watching the movie when they were about to turn around because Carl was a fugitive. I couldn't buy that the entire crew had missed New York's finest send off at the beginning of the voyage. It almost derailed the film for me. It definitely made me stop and start doing other things. I washed dishes, made my bed, read email, went for a walk, bought groceries, talked to my grandfather, ate some grapefruit, cooked dinner, watched some tv, watched a made for tv movie, and took a nap. Then knowing that I had to finish it for the sake of the review at least I sat back down and started from where I paused it.

Skull Island. Carl steals a life boat and takes the film crew, the writer and the actor and actress to the island and they start filming on the 'deserted island'. It is really creepy and then all of a sudden the natives spring forth and start attacking leaving several in the party dead. The captain shows up and saves the day. Once again I was not real clear on why. They all go back to the boat and are getting ready to leave when Ann is taken off the boat by a pole vaulting native. The pole vaulting was rad by the way. Jack who has fallen in love with her by now realizes she was missing and sounds the bell as the captain is about to take off. The men, every one of them outstanding people that want to restore Ann to the boat for pure virtue, amass a rescue mission. They come in guns blazing only to miss the arrival of King Kong as he takes his snack back to his lair. Carl of course sees him and keeps it to himself and they all run out into the jungle to save her. Carl apparently figures that KK just wants to be a star and tags along with his camera. This is where it finally gets good. King Kong flings Ann around all over the place and you wonder how she would survive. I am betting she could have had a major whiplash case against KK had she pursued it. The boys run into a huge bunch of stampeding brontosaurus's for a spectacular scene where several men and brontosaurus's lose their lives as they run from what appears to be velociraptors. The remaining group of rescuers have a few people give up including the dashing actor who always plays the hero in his movies but is not so heroic in real life. The remaining group head further into the forest. Meanwhile Ann puts on a vaudeville act until KK gets a little rough and she is forced to put her foot down. KK has a major tantrum and when it doesn't work he runs away and so does Ann. She runs off through a jungle with the largest gorilla anyone has ever seen and does so with out thinking "Where the devil am I going?" King Kong terrorizes the rescuers as they are crossing a ravine and sends them all plummeting. Ann sees this and ends up running the other way. She of course gets in trouble with a few large lizards and then bigger trouble with a few large Tyrannosauruses. King Kong shows up from nowhere and takes on the T-Rexes. There are three of them in this version and this scene trumps the great brontosaurus scene. Flashback to the intrepid rescuers, a few survive the fall only to be assaulted by ginormous (pronounced like gigantic and enormous had a baby) bug and scorpion. They are saved by the actor and the captain and as they all decide she is dead Jack decided to continue searching on his own. Carl and the captain decide to hatch another money making scheme and try to capture KK as he follows Jack and Ann back to the boat. Jack rescues Ann, KK follows and somehow gets captured and then we are in New York.

It appears to be months later and Carl is promoting his show of the 8th wonder of the world. Jack is watching his play he wrote for Ann to star in be performed by another actress and Ann is elsewhere. Plug in the old story. KK sits chained in iron, Carl says he is harmless they have a show and camera flashes infuriate KK and he goes ballistic and starts smashing wintery New York. Trying to help out Jack shows his face to lead KK away from a trolley and KK remembering the jerk that took his special lady friend takes off after him. Ann arrives in time to save jack and to hang out with KK and just before they get married the army starts firing missiles at them. KK climbs up the empire state building to get away and once again just before the marriage the military spoils his fun. Airplanes shoot at him even though all he wants to do is smash up town and maybe eat a few people or so. She tries to save him but cant and he dies and falls off the Empire State building to make it complete.

Hope I didn't spoil the ending.... if I did do yourself a favor and see the original version too. I do recommend this movie just be ready for the stupidly long beginning. I enjoyed it even if it made me start thinking: How would the insurance companies respond to claims from large ape damage?

Oh yeah and: Do you think anyone was unlucky enough to have a 20 foot gorilla fall on them? Could you imagine telling that to your family? Hehe.

A Rambling Review of The Brown Bunny

Warning: This movie review is of an incredibly bad movie with a controversial scene. I give a synopsis of the entire movie including the ending..... So you might want to prepare yourself.

I was told by some guy on one of the many websites I visit that I needed to see Brown Bunny. Having Netflix I figured why not? If it is even half as good as that guy said it was it would be worth it..... So I requested it and watched it.... here is my review of The Brown Bunny.






Some of you may have heard of Vincent Gallo. He is a guy that seems to think of himself as a genius. He writes, directs, act, photographs, paints, races motorcycles professionally, musician, metal worker, sculptor, model, t-shirts salesman, and he even sells himself. Some people adore him and some people can't understand how he has gotten so damn rich. I am one of the latter group members. I think this guy is ridiculous. I have been told by fans that this is his whole point. He is mocking society with his jerk persona and his pointless movies. Whatever. The resume of his makes me wonder what scheme he is pulling over on us and every once in a while I watch something he mad and I regret it. The first time was the critically acclaimed Buffalo '66. I think I must have gotten a different copy then the critics did. That movie made me wish I had died it was so boring. Knowing all this why did I bother? Simple I forgot who this guy is. If I had watched a clip of this movie and seen him and equated him to Buffalo '66 I would have never requested this movie. You may remember that this is the movie that Mr. Ebert said was a horrible awful waste of time which inspired good ol' Vince to say that he hoped Ebert would get colon cancer and die. Yeah... maybe that might jog the memory. These are things I wish I had remembered YESTERDAY!

I'm Vincent Gallo and I'm scary, creepy and lame!


So here is the movie because no one should ever watch this movie ever. A motorcycle racer has a race, does he win? I have no friggin clue. He loads his bike into his black panel van and drives to a gas station. He begs the counter chick to go with him to California and she finally gives in. Then while he sends her into grab her stuff from home he leaves without her. Then we see him drive and look depressed. 30 minutes later he is still driving and looking depressed. An incredibly long time goes on with him driving, looking depressed and occasionally stopping. In one of his stops he talks to old people about some chick named 'Daisy'. In another stop he makes out with some random chick (Cheryl Tiegs) at a rest stop and then looks depressed and leaves her. Then he is in Las Vegas and he drives around stopping and talking to hookers and then driving on. One hooker he goes back for. He takes her to a McDonald's drive-thru and then starts looking depressed again. He stops the car, kicks her out, gives her money and drives off. Looking depressed and driving again. He has a flashback of 'Daisy' a couple of times and then he is in Los Angeles. He drives to a house which seems to belong to 'Daisy'. He knocks on the door for like ten minutes and then leaves a note. Then he goes to his hotel room and lays around looking depressed. Then 'Daisy' shows up. Daisy is played by Chloe Sevigny. They talk and he looks depressed. She does lots of drugs and they talk more. Then they make out and we have THE SCENE. Then we find out she is not realy there because she is dead and it's all his fault. They were at a party where she ends up getting raped while she was passed out and he did not stop it or help her. She choked on her own vomit. We then see him crying and then the next scene is Vince driving again and looking depressed. Then the movie is over.

I referred to THE SCENE earlier. If you do not know what I am referring to Google The Brown Bunny.... Or I could just tell you. Good ol' Vince receives 'Monica Lewinsky' for like ever from Chloe. Honest to goodness porn quality 'Monica Lewinsky' and still I would say there is no reason in the world to ever see this flick. The scene inspired a pretty funny shirt though.

I think what I am trying to say is don't watch this movie. Did that come across at all? If you want to watch Vincent look depressed for two hours and still have relations I guess this movie might be for you.

Just stopped in for a Quick Lunch.....

I had a few moments to kill while my food cooks so I thought I would say hi. I have no great news to report other then the callcenter job has been slow and sending people home early everyday. I talked them out of sending me today but I was not so succesful yesterday. Nothing beats losing 4 hours of pay that you already spent! Awesome! After I left I started worrying again and I ended up making myself sick. Now I understand the worried sick phrase. Another way to say that is to say that I was involved in an indepth porcelain inspection for most of yesterday. It pretty much knocked me out of everything yesterday so after I eat I have to get down to business. I need to get some leads so I can make some cash.

My bacon is almost done so I better stop writing. I just thought I would update now in case I don't feel like it tonight....

Do you ever run out of things to talk about? I seem to be having that problem today...


I will leave you with a random quote from the Simpsons....
"I'm a level 5 vegan. I don't eat anything that casts a shadow."

Things will work out, they always do

Well three days of training and I am back in the world of 5 AM calls from people needing their phones cut back on. Damn phone companies always cutting 'dees bidnes ownas phones off'. Unspeakable really. I mean why should they have to pay for using the phone I mean c'mon they are bidnes ownas!

I can't wait! I am so looking forward to being at work at 5am!! Woohoo! I love making nothing per hour it's awesome!

I learned a lot in the classes I was in. Like, most of the people only do AFLAC. They don't have a part time job and they are making money that way. I think the fact that they have to make money is a huge part of it. I wish I could do that but I am in a monetary situation where I am focused on paying last weeks bills and can't even face opening the mail box without freaking out. I am not sure if these people have a working spouse or if they actually had some money saved up because I couldn't even fathom leaving work before I had a few sales in the can. I also think that I am allowing this part time job to trip me up. I think I allow it to be an excuse for why I am not getting it done. It is a challenge but it is something I need to learn to work around. I need something that is guaranteed to keep coming in as long as I keep showing up until I can get some money rolling in from the thing that will end up absorbing every ounce of free time. It's free time wasted anyway.

I have learned that I really need to dedicate my week day to Aflac from 8 until 5. I think what I really need to do is to stop working morning hours at the dead end callcenter job and request a schedule change from the 5 am to whenever to the 5pm to 10 or 6 to 10. I hate the idea but it really is only temporary. I have said that I viewed jobs as temporary before but this time I already have my next big thing sitting in my lap. I never had that before. I was always confused about the next move professing wishes to be a journalist, a teacher, a peace corp volunteer.... anything that seemed like I might have a future with or that might keep me interested past the faked interview excitement I have been on autopilot for years and it is scarier then hell to turn that autopilot off and actually commit to something.

I think I need to work weekends and evenings at my part time gig and I need to focus on insurance the rest of the time. I will be filling out the schedule change request forms tomorrow. I am a little worried that the callcenter job will not work with me on that. The company I work for is a staffing agency and as far as I can tell they just keep you on for 90 days and I am getting real close to that time frame. At 90 days you either get the axe or you get hired by the company they staff from what I've heard but that probably should be taken with a grain of salt considering the accuracy of office gossip. I am highly doubtful that I will stay employed if that is true. I guess that this is a problem I need to stop worrying about until it happens. I am just wasting brainspace. When I am put in that position I will just let Jason (my district coordinator and trainer) know that I need to make dough and I need to make it fast and then I will become like glue and he won't be able to have a bowl of raisin bran without me there. I need to focus on making what I have in front of me at this moment work. SO making my crap job schedule less of a hindrance is the goal. The company either will work with me or it won't and until either happens all I can do is ask.


I keep telling myself things will work out because they always do......

Things will work out they always do....