Trying the online dating thing. So far, I've had one dude message me, but, I couldn't really understand his message. Rather disjointed. Then I realized English wasn't his first language. Does it make me a bad person that I didn't respond? Especially since I've sent out two messages, but have received no response back from those guys. Meh. Whatever.

Work is work. There is a possibility of getting vacation time from them over the summer. We'll see. It's all conjecture and hearsay and rumor and innuendo at this point.

I got some awesome toesocks from the Awesomesocks exchange via Reddit. They are cow themed. Nice. My giftee hasn't received her package yet. I hope she can pick it up tomorrow.

I've begun a tentative search for a new apartment. I'll probably move Thanksgiving week. If I can find a place that is decent, anyways. I hate the idea of moving AGAIN. I think I hate the idea of living here longer than I need to more than the idea of moving. So it balances out.

So, new dude quit.

He was scheduled at 9 this morning. It gets closer to 9 and he isn't there, but we keep rocking and rolling and kind of keeping an eye on the clock. Nothing. NG is usually early, too, so we are saying, "I have a feeling..."

9 comes and goes, no NG. Oh well, guess he quit, and we kick it into high gear because it's just the three of us from that point forward. Now I know I'll be staying late (which was fine, I agreed to do it) and begin hoping that I don't have to work on Monday, because, I really want my two days off in a row. REALLY BAD.

We do our thing, la la la, and one of the owners comes back from his break (he had a split shift today) and says, "NG sent a text to quit today! One minute before his shift was supposed to start. I just texted back to him, 'Oh. Okay.'"

I'm paraphrasing, but here it is: Per your threat on Thursday during our conversation, I have mulled my decision over since then, and I have decided. I Quit. Your pompous, high-seated, demeaning attitude is the main issue that I have with this job and how you treat highly educated, part time, minimum wage workers. Please mail my check to blah blah blah. Sincerely, Mr. New Guy"

Yes, he added sincerely. :)

And while he is right about the owner's attitude, it isn't ALWAYS that way, but, I have my own issues with the guy that I deal with in my own way. Generally, I cherish days when I have either no time scheduled with him or very little time. Just gotta put your game face on.

Anyways, I'm not too sorry to see NG go. He was nice enough, but, um, I think he thought the job was beneath him in some ways (please reference "highly educated" in the quitting text) and was generally kind of a hipster. In his defense, he wasn't emo, so that was good. :)

Good times. The happy ending of the story? I still get to keep my Monday off. YAAAY!

The "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" taping was fun. Seeing the people you listen to on the radio all the time has always held a special magic for me. Having worked in radio, it was always fun to see what these people who brought me happiness looked like. Rarely, did they EVER live up to my imagination.

Been having fun with Geeks Who Drink. I've been going for almost a year now, I believe. It is a nice way to spend an evening with friends. While I don't drink anything harder than water, it's still a fun time. :)

Been doing a lot of navel gazing in between working. I spent the better part of waiting in the jury selection room reading various books about health and psychology. Good stuff.

I'm currently serving on a jury. We begin deliberations on Tuesday. Hopefully, we can wrap that up fairly quickly. I had to do some crazy shift switching to get covered at work.

Speaking of work, we ordered a new espresso machine! Yaaaay! However, I know Crazy Dave will be hovering over it and yelling at us about how it gets used for the next six months.

My customer crush has been coming in a lot less, but as he puts it, "The dreaded B word is keeping me away. Budget." Poor guy. I'm guessing when he does come in (with his girlfriend, sigh)it is because she is paying. Although, he paid today. Hmmmm. He shaved part of his beard. He isn't rocking the chops as he should. Needs them to grow out more, I think. I'm beginning to wane on my attraction to him. Mostly because of the girlfriend thing. Whatever, he is still pretty to look at.

Anyways, off to bed with me. I have to be at work at 6:30. In the morning. Ugh. :)

I bought some pecan pie in honor of Pi Day today. :)

Tomorrow I get to go to a taping of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"! Yay! I have a new dress and everything. I'll see if I can get my camera in there if they have a picture session or something. Finally get to see Carl Kassel and Peter Segal. Yaay!

We hired a new guy at work. He is a nice guy. I got to work with him alone yesterday. Normally, that would be fine, get a little employee time in, get to talk smack blah blah blah. But, the problem, you see, is that he isn't fully trained yet. Effectively, I worked alone for five hours yesterday. Normally, that's fine, the problem is that we were busy. I had other things I needed to get done in order to get him out of there that I couldn't get to because I had to make drinks. I'm paying for it with my body today. Very sore. It should be a little easier the rest of the week. Even though it is just two people on Sunday, I'll be working with one of my other fellow employees, so I'll be able to get done what I need to get done without having to worry about taking care of windows.

Not much else going on in my world. Obviously, as I haven't been posting that much. And now to lay down and relax on the rest of my day off.

Oh, yeah, I got my new to me car today. Totally pimpin' in my convertible. :) :) :)

mood: ecstatic

Friday was an interesting day at work. Things are fine. La la la. We have five people in, because, hey, why not? Actually, it was a new idea that Crazy Dave was experimenting with, and it was a pretty good idea, too. But, that's a different story. Right, so I'm making drinks on Window 1 with this kid, let's call him Steve. Steve is taking orders, telling them to me, and cashing people out. Groovy.

( Ok, this got super long, but it is FULL OF DRAMA. Also, a picture. )

mood: DRAMA

I'm in a better frame of mind than I was earlier this week. Ok, two days ago :)

Coming up with a plan seems to help put things in perspective a bit for me. So that's good. I'm selling my "investments" with Sharebuilder (minus fees, of course) and should have that money by the end of the week. I'll be doing my tax return within the next two weeks, so that's a bit of money coming in. And then, I'll be headed to the credit union this week to see if there is a way I can qualify for a small loan of ~4-5000 dollars for a new to me car.

I may be able to sell my car to a coworker. That would be cool. I'm giving him full disclosure, but his father is a mechanic and he needs a car. I gave him the list of things that were wrong with the car, he can come back to me with his decision as to whether he wants to buy it or not. I also told him I would take payments on the car (I figured $1k was fair for it, but I'm willing to go lower, he doesn't know that, though).

I don't really want a car payment right now, but if it is a small enough payment then I can probably manage it on tips alone as well as paying over and above the payment amount every month with said tips. I'd like to get the damn thing paid off as soon as possible. The theoretical car, that is.

It's not the best thing ever, but it's a start. Yay!

Right now, the car is going to cost me $1200 to get fixed. I kind of have no choice.

fuck everything about this situation and the tidal wave of bullshit that is about to go down because of it.

just fucking fuck it.

My car has been having issues since "winter" has come upon us with occasionally not wanting to start. Eventually, I win out and it starts. Yay for me! It took a little longer to start today, so I decided to take it to the Big O Tires across the street from my house after work today.

I roll in and tell them that I think it has something to do with the fuel lines due to the chugging, but they determine it's the battery. Yay! Not a fuel pump. Awesome! Saves me however much money a fuel pump would be. They install the battery (had to order it as they didn't have the size on hand at the shop) and I wound up having to get the higher "quality" battery, but whatever, maybe I won't have to be here in 2 years for a new one, perhaps I'll make it to 3 or 4 years before a new one. $145 paid to the nice men and away I go.

I start up the car and it's doing the chugging thing again. I figure, "Hey, it's probably all 'Yaaay! Electric juice! So overjoyed! Can't hardly hold in my enthusiasm!'" So I back out and head into traffic. And...it dies. *head steering wheel* In traffic. Thankfully, I was able to get out of the way of traffic and be in a turn lane in the median. While I'm cranking the car, there is a lady opposite me who wants to turn right (I'm in the left turn lane facing her) and she is frantically motioning to me to decide which way I want to go as I have my hazards on.

Now, from what I remember, or you know, the common knowledge of hazards is that it is a warning that there is a vehicle ahead that is either disabled or not able to be at the speed limit or just "Hey! I'm here! I'm a car! Get used to it!" you know, whatever. I guess...I guess she didn't learn that? So, I persuade her in between trying to turn the ignition over with my own hand signals that she can safely make her u-turn. I can only imagine the conversation she has with her friends later: "So, this chick is just sitting there with BOTH BLINKERS ON! I was TRYING to figure out which way she was turning. I mean, how do you even GET both blinkers to turn on? It's crazy!" And I'm picturing the face of one of her friends when the realization hits them that she is very probably stupid.

Right, back to the story. Some guy sees that I'm having a problem and trots across traffic to help out. We pop the hood, but can't figure anything out, so he says he'll push if I steer. Now, he said to get in the car and all I would have to do is steer. I can't let some dude do that all by himself, especially pushing my fat ass as well as a one ton vehicle. So, I help push while I steer. Another dude getting off the bus sees us pushing across three lanes of traffic and helps out. Seriously, people rock.

Here is where the fun starts. I realize that the car is moving really fast and I need to stop it. We are on the side street at this point. I say to myself, "Self. You see this all the time on the television and the movies. Just hop in and hit the brakes."

Can you see where this is going? I think you can. After being dragged about thirty feet at 5 MPH I realize I should probably let go of the steering wheel AND move my other leg out of the way so that the back wheels don't run over it. I am imagining how badly my left leg is shredded and how much I want that to stop happening anymore. I let go and tuck in and the dudes run in front of the vehicle and get it stopped. And now I can't stop laughing nor can I stop gasping for breath. The adrenaline is pumping and I am amazed at my utter fucking stupidity in thinking that I am a freaking stunt woman.

The second guy makes sure that I'm ok and continues on his way. The first guy stays to make sure that I'm all right and waits for me to catch my breath to make sure I have a way home and everything. I tell him I'll be walking back to the Big O (remember the Big O?) to let them know that the car is dead even after the new battery. He starts in with some sort of sob story and I just stop him before he really gets started and hand him $20. Dude. For real? You just helped me push a car across three lanes of traffic. You just stopped my car from careening into a ditch (or the wash, or another car) while I was trying to play stunt woman. Take the $20. I don't care if you are the CEO of Safeway, I have to give you something for helping me out. And, you know, karma and all that. I go on my way, he goes on his way.

I get back to the Big O and the service writer sees me walking and says, "What happened?" I tell him that the car died and that I had to push it across three lanes of traffic, and it almost ran me over, but hey, it's right over there if you want to go take a look. Two of the mechanics go after getting the key from me and the dude says, "Man, the battery was dead. This sucks. I'd be so angry right now." I told him that there was no point in getting angry, it isn't going to solve anything. I just need the car fixed.

Guess what? I need a new fuel pump. HA. HA. HA. HA.
( Hawt Knee Pix )