Phone interviews suck

The people from the land of the little lizard called me today about my application. Not really sure how I feel about working for the same insurance company that insures my car, but then I've spent the last three and a half years working for the grocery store that supplies my food, so I'm used to giving a large part of my cheque back to my employer.

I don't think I made a total ass of myself. I left out a few important pieces. Other than that it was like filling out my application all over again, on the phone, while being asked to expand on my answers. I think they could have saved me a lot of time, and them a lot of repeating work if they would have just asked for name and phone number on the application. Oh well, suppose every company has their share of "that seems like a lot of extra work". Guess it's all good.

The idea of a new job is kind of nice, even if a little unsettling. I'd feel better about it if I knew I'd get it, honestly. It's the whole uncertainty part that makes me feel like a blind person on a tightrope.

That aside I'm a few hours from leaving for my trip to see my girlfriend. Going to show up tomorrow afternoon, in time to go to sleep with her which is cool, that way we'll both be awake at night instead of her being awake, and me being the walking dead.

For now, it's time for food and other things of that nature.

Merry Yule

Just a few days before the commonly accepted December holiday and a few days before I got to see my girlfriend. Haven't worked out yet if I want to leave late on the 24th or early on the 25th. As things stand now I'm leaning more toward the 24th but I have a little longer to work that out.

Got to meet one of the most pleasant people I've met in a long time, my girlfriend's friend Melanie. Also had the pleasure of meeting an adorable orange and white kitty named Shag. I realize why girlfriend likes her so much, they're quite a lot alike.

Time for bed now; I have to work the midday shift, so tired or not I need rest.

All good things...

My girlfriend was here for the weekend but went home this morning just before I went to work. Which was probably for the best as I don't think I could have handled her leaving as well if I hadn't anywhere I had to be today.

We didn't really do much of anything while she was here. At least nothing that I'm willing to talk about. Mostly just hung out and spent every moment at each other's side. The plan was to meet up with her friend Melanie, but she was sick so that never worked out. Still is sick it seems, can't talk and all that icky stuff.

I'm going up to see her at the end of the month, which was the original plan. Not sure exactly what time I'm leaving, but I'm planning to be there late Christmas day until Monday afternoon. After that, I don't know, but it'll work out somehow. It always does.

Gotta love Mondays

Got up this morning to find out that I got a little carried away Sunday with Kathryn's upgrade (Kathryn is my local mail/DNS/DHCP/etc server) and overwrote the named.conf file... so I kinda broke local resolving. Now I usually have a pretty good memory when it comes to technical things, but first thing in the morning, when I'm still trying to focus on things more than a few inches in front of me, it's a little hard to remember what goes where in a file I've only looked at while I was making it.

Went back to bed after I got that working, then overslept and didn't get to take a shower before work. The manager was being a raving psycho today... wonder what mood she'll be sporting tomorrow, or if it'll be one of those "new mood every five minutes" days.

Now it's an hour into Tuesday, and I need to be getting to bed. Better luck tomorrow eh?

Gobble Gobble

The whole Thanksgiving thing is close at hand and I'll be glad when it's over. Partly because I work in a grocery store and this time of year the already insane hordes that are shoppers are even more psychotic than normal. Also, my girlfriend is planning to come to see me next week.

I miss her a lot and no amount of time together is ever enough, so the more the better. I asked for three days off while she's supposed to be here. Now she just has to get the time off approved. Here's to hoping.

Ring... Ring... Ring... and other things

Well, they have phones now. All three of them (Kenny too, Tammy's bf) got the same phone... and they got the same phone I have.

This not only means I need to pay attention to which phone I pick up when I go to visit girlfriend (because her father has the same phone I do) but I also have to pay attention whenever I'm home, or with my sister. Then there's the fact that my mother refuses to read directions for anything because she says she never remembers them anyway, so I'll end up having to show her how to do everything.

Wouldn't be so bad except that she won't sit down and let me show her everything at once she'll only come to me for one thing at a time as she thinks of it. So I've got a long road ahead of me.

Other people's phones, other people's business

Well for some reason my mother and sister have decided that I'm to go with them to get cell phones. I guess because I have one I'm a functional expert on them or something. *shrug*

They've decided on Sprint, mostly, I think, because of coverage. The downside is that since they will end up with unlimited phone to phone calling, and I already have it with Sprint, they'll have no reason not to call me ALL THE TIME. Argh...

Oh well, nothing much to be done about it. They'll get it if I go or not, and if I don't I'll just have to hear about how it was all so confusing, and how they wish someone would have been there to explain it all to them (as though that's not what the people at the store get paid to do), and I'll have to hear that for months, or even years.

So I'll go... it's easier that way.

Time, tunes, and other things that go bleep in the night

Got home from work about an hour and a half ago. I don't close too often, but it does happen, and it throws off my sleeping schedule a lot. I should get to sleep, but I don't think I can yet.

It's o'kay though because I have Club977 to keep me company. I did most of my 'growing up' in the 80's so 24/7 80's music is the best thing since the Rubik's Cube, which I never could solve.

I installed iTunes Friday on my Windows box, I've got to say Apple did a very good job of staying true to the Mac client. It's a little sluggish in UI matters, but I think that's more shortcomings on Windows part than problems with iTunes. I still have no intention of buying any major record label music any time soon but the idea of making the Apple Music Store available for Windows was a good one. I'm curious if they'll take the next step and go for the BSD systems and even Linux. Even better if it means they release QuickTime for them.

On another totally unrelated note, I think I have a new favorite piece of clothing. My girlfriend bought me a pair of low rise boot cut jeans while I was there visiting her last and since then they are the first ones I reach for when I get dressed. They're really comfortable, they actually fit well unlike most of the clothes I have to put on this oddly shaped body of mine and because of the low waist, they help balance out my torso to leg length. I need some slacks like these so that I don't look like I have my pants pulled up around my stomach when I'm at work. *smirk*

As the world gets back to normal

It's been a week since Isobel came through and mixed things up, and the old hometown is slowly starting to get back to normal. Work has been a pain. All of the people getting power back and coming in to restock their fridges. I'm just glad they aren't asking for ice anymore. I swear if anyone else asked if we had ice I was gonna snap.

My car took a little bit of a beating. Mostly just paint scratches, but she doesn't look so good anymore. When I get my schedule for next week I'll give Geico a call and see what they can do for me. I'm not sure if I'll be able to afford to have the work done, though, with my deductible, but we'll see.

Got to spend the weekend with my girlfriend, which was nice. I miss her so much I don't know how to express it. I know we'll be together for good soon, though not knowing exactly when makes it hard to wait.

Otherwise, I'm doing o'kay. A little sick, but nothing I can't handle. No serious damage from the storm and everyone is in one piece, so it's all good.

Lady Litter... I mean Luck...

I admit it, I'm a little weird (shuddit), I have a hard time walking past trash on the ground. Even more so if I know I'm about to walk past a trash can. Well, today I think that might have paid off. I picked up a piece of paper that turned out to be a lottery ticket, and if I remember the payouts correctly I think it's worth $75. I'll check it while I'm out tomorrow.

How to build a better B movie

Just when you think the entertainment industry couldn't possibly show any less intelligence.

"Let's see, we produce unimaginative drivel that's not worth the medium it's stored on. We'll spend exorbitant amounts of money making it seem far more exciting than even we could ever hope it to be, then because it fails utterly we're going to place blame, not on the fact that we couldn't produce a 1st grade Christmas play without making even little Suzie's parents pack up the camcorder and go home before they ever see the manger scene but instead we're going to blame the fact that people can now tell their friends while being subjected to our drivel that there's no sense in anyone else wasting their money on it."

Hmmmm... yep, makes perfect sense to me.

If the bra fits...

I'm sitting, waiting for my car's oil change and what do I see on TV but a commercial for Playtex bras that come in half cup sizes. Can we say 'about time'? Are we finally seeing the fashion world recognize people as individuals, and not plastic fitting models?

Now I wouldn't be surprised if they only go up to C 1/2, but it's a start, no?

I've taken all I can take, and I can't take no more.

O'kay... I've been thinking this for a while, but reading this article has made me realize that I can't do it anymore. I refuse to buy another movie, or music recording from the big media machine until they as a whole realize that being raving lunatics will not solve their inability to change with the times.

The RIAA and MPAA are forking nuts... I can't support idiots, and will no longer.

True, I don't buy that much as it is... just have other things that my money needs to go to, but the occasional purchase that I used to make is no more. I'll make do with mp3.com, and cable TV until these unimaginative morons realize that suing away their problems will not work. Only treating their would-be customers as though they care about them will.

Damn fools... *shrug*

Then there's this. Why in the hell do people think that doing stuff like this is a good idea?

Does anyone else want to get together with me and start our own country somewhere, and the first law we'll pass is that stupid people are to be put on the first boat off island.

A dog at my feet that isn't my own.

I've been with my girlfriend for a few days now, and already I'm hating the idea that I have to go back home in a week. Admittedly we've had a little trouble getting into the groove of being in the same place, but it's something that comes up now and then. That aside, though, it's great to be with her again.

Currently, she's laying in bed finishing up the fifth Harry Potter book, and Riley (the dog) is under the desk looking at my feet. She's a nice dog... big, really big, but nice. I like her; even if she does still smell a little like 'wet dog'. She got a bath a few days back, and she's got really thick fur, so it takes a while for her to dry. The smell is almost gone now, so it's all good.

Other than that there's not really much to tell. I just found out a little while ago that my sister got in a car accident while in Indiana (I think that's where she is, anyway). Apparently, she's o'kay but the car probably isn't going to make it. That girl has the worst luck with cars. Though I think this is the first time she's lost one for this reason. *shrug* Guess she won't make it home before me after all.

She's one chapter from finishing her book, so I'm gonna wrap this up and see if she wants to do anything, or just hang around the house since we have it all to ourselves until tomorrow.

And the days pass into weeks into years into my life.

Well here it is almost the 14th, and I've been 29 for a few days. I guess it's not really a big deal, even though I make it sound like it is to me. The only time it really gets to me is when I realize I'm over a decade older than most of the people I work with.

Nothing really happened that day. I worked that morning, came home, sat around, went to bed after a nice conversation with my girlfriend. I've come to realize why I don't much care about my birthdays anymore, though. I really don't get presents... seriously, as a little kid I'd get something to play with, and it was neat getting these new things that someone knew I wanted often without my even having to actually tell them; then play with it all day, and I liked that. Now I get a card, and usually some money, and maybe some kind of clothing. It's cool, but on some level, it's just not the same. Oh well, it's all good... just something I realized.

On a brighter note, Tuesday I'm leaving to spend a week with the aforementioned girlfriend. Actually a little more than a week. Not enough to be there for her birthday, though. Maybe next year we'll get to be together for at least one of our birthdays; but then maybe we'll be together to stay by then. I can hope.

Happy Hallmark Holiday

Well, it's Father's Day, a day that never really meant anything to me as a kid, and it means even less to me now that I am a father type person.

I don't know, maybe it's just the whole idea of a 'holiday for the sake of a holiday' that doesn't work for me; whatever it is, I just can't get behind it.

I've tried, really I have... but nothing.

Oh well, happy Father's Day to those that it means something to. To the rest, happy Sunday.

Home again, home again...

Work sucks, nuf said.

Other than that I'm doing o'kay. Came home to an empty house (save the dog and cats) which is nice. It's quiet. After spending all day listening to people complain, quiet is a nice thing. Some days the attitude of the customers doesn't bother me, others the weight of their anger is crushing. Such is the life of a customer service agent I suppose.

I think it's time to raid the kitchen... yes, yes that's what time it is.

Something else I won't keep up with...

My collection of journals keeps growing, almost as fast as the number of entries I have in all of them combined. I make no promises that this one will be any different.

I lose the motivation to keep posting or just let other things take up my time. Either way, once I've let one lay dormant too long I have trouble picking it back up. So a new one gets made and the whole process starts over again. This time, this time I'm throwing money at it with a domain name. Will spending money keep me motivated or will it just be something else that I pay for but don't use.

We shall see.