Just quick thoughts..

It's almost lunch time, so here's the quick list of this past weekend, and what's going on....more later when I have caught up from being out of the office on Friday....

• Small towns have their advantages. IE - cheap, but good, food. Case in point - on Saturday E$ and I went to have breakfast at the local airport...It's only really for those people with lil 2 seater planes. Both of us ate for 10 bucks (and it was goooooood).
• Watch out in Indianapolis - While eating dinner, we saw this guy across the street grab his face as a huge group of people walked past him. Turns out one of them hit him in the face and just kept walking....I later found out this happened to another guy (friend of a friend) - but he was driving in his car! Watch out!
• Shopping to kill time is dangerous. E$ and I spent some time on Sunday at the Indianapolis mall...more specifically - Nordstroms. Luckily it all fit in my suitcase & carry-on!
• LAX - even busy at 10pm on Sunday! When our plane (finally) landed last night, we got stuck circling around on the tarmac because there were no available gates for us to pull into. Finally around 11 we were able to off-load by the Delta planes (we were flying Continental).

The major thing that I have to report is that I did decide to go ahead and apply for that job in HR. I worked with E$ on revising and updating my resume. I think I'll either apply tonight or tomorrow. I sincerely doubt I'll even get a call back, but it never hurts to try!

The final countdown....

I leave for my flight to Illinois in about 8 hours. I haven't been on a flight longer than 1-2 hours in over 7 years. Scary. And I picked a seat right by an emergency exit. There was this whole thing I was supposed to read about my "responsibilities" should we need to use me. Um, ya, I just clicked "next" real fast. I hope the flight attendants know what to do!

I'm flying out of LAX tonight. It's probably one of the worst airports in America. I usually try to avoid this at all costs. But the air fares are usally cheaper if you're travelling long distances. But, I'll get there about 2 1/2 hours early. Should be plenty of time to get myself through security and situated somewhere. I hopefully can find the gate pretty easily!

But, before I fly out, I have to make a call. It's my second call like this of the week. The dreaded "your job is over" call. The one earlier this week went ok. But the guy's a pretty nice guy, and he's getting some notice and we're helping him find a local job. But this girl, she was the one who didn't show up to work for a few days, is being let go. It's hard because I spoke with her in depth back then about what was going on. And I feel for her. I mean, my mom went through much a similar life. But, sometimes you have to work hard to keep both your work life and your family life going smooth, and not let one affect the other so much.

On a much happier note, yesterday I went on a search for one of those "traveler" pillows - the U shaped ones that you wear so you can fall asleep on planes. E$ recommended it. I didn't find that, but I did find some Reef flip flops. I bought these, but all white. Very comfy. I enjoyed my purchase. And, my mom found the pillow for me, so I'll be sleeping like a baby (hopefully!). Have a great weekend!

Just one more night....

Finally after tonight I'll be able to not sleep or be alone again! It seriously sucks. J is having the same sort of luck. He said he doesn't like sitting by himself in the room, with no one to talk to, no guitar to play, no music to listen to. He's decided he can never be a travelling salesman. lol. That is so beyond his normal nature anyways - but it's cute that he came to that conclusion.

Today he was up at the Capitol Clear Speak 2007 - Each year Sacramento welcomes up all the radio stations from across the state to meet with assemblymen, media, even the Governator himself. J was able to get a minute with him this afternoon - which he's extremely excited about. I was too. It's cool he got to meet with the guy who signed our diplomas from college, and who was in one of our fave movies - Kindergarten Cop. That movie cracks me up.

Last night I avoided going to sleep until after 11. I got stuck watching Sex and the City. I never watch that with J around. Before we started dating, I had just gone through a break-up and was watching the whole series on dvd. I think that this is a regular thing women go through. Break up, watch Carrie and the girls. It's therapy - and much easier on the wallet than Retail Therapy. Anyways, he swore (before we even thought about dating) that he'd never watch that with me. I laughed, because I had no clue that the scenario could even possibly ever arise. Anyways, so last night, I put it on. I tried resorting back to the college days when I fell asleep with the tv on (Shortie taught me this bad habit). But I couldn't do it. It was distracting me. Part of the problem was that when I would hear something funny (Friends was on after), I would look at the screen and start watching. See, before I had Lasik, I would go to sleep with the tv on, and I couldn't watch it because that would involve reaching over, getting my glasses, putting them on, and watching. By that time, the joke was over and the scene also. So now that there are no more glasses, it's easier to get hooked into watching it for 2 minutes, or 5 or 10 or 30. So, I had to turn it off.

It's so funny how habits that we thought we'd always have just end up disappearing, or you "get over it." Like, before I'd always leave the laundry for the last possible chance. I could have gone for 3 weeks without it. Usually I had to end up doing it because I had no more room for my dirty clothes. Never thought I'd be turned on to doing the ritual weekly. Also, I'd always eat ice cream. I always had some in the freezer. Now, we barely eat it. I'll have a container in the freezer forever, and by time I remember about it, it's all freezer burned. What else. Oh, I used to always be online - AIM. Now, it's only when I'm at work. Why? Because when I'm at home, I'm with J. I don't chat online. I used to, and it would piss him off. He'd wonder why I'd sit online when we could be hanging out. I get the point now. I'd sneak off into the cyber world instead of just laying around, flipping channels. Now we do that all the time. One channel we love - the travel channel. And learning about cruises. Seems like now that we've gone on one, we want to know all the inner-workings. It's pretty cool actually. How many tons of trash they have, and recycling, and how they have constant power for all the rooms. I am a geek for that kind of stuff.

I'd like Carly to be my new friend

Among working, my co-worker and I also enjoy time spent shopping online. More like cyber window shopping. Anyways, I found this and decided I would like Carly to be my new BFF. lol Oh it's so pretty!

But I just got a new purse at the outlets in Vegas last October. That means mine is only about 6/7 months old. But, when I visit my friend in Illinois in a month, we're going to their outlet. But I know they won't have Carly because she's new. Dammit!

Tired of having disappointment

I think I'm a tad over-analytical/emotional/judgemental today. It's probly due to some hormones flying around in my body. But ever since I got off work today, I've not been a happy camper. I'm not mad, just not happy. Not sure if it's anyone's fault but my own.

I ran some errands after work - Costco, market, usual stuff. I felt so old pushing a cart through the aisles of Costco. Luckily, I was reminded that i'm not too old because I'm not at the age to buy a lot of the stuff in there...Mainly because I don't have a house to furnish (they have a ton of garden stuff there now), nor do I have a need for all their fun geeky electronics (again, things I have now are just fine), and no need for all the crazy vitamins, elixirs, meds, diapers (for babies....well, I guess grown-ups too? lol). My cart was pathetic - shampoo, conditioner, a movie, toilet paper, and some peanuts for J.

There were quite a bit of families, but also people shopping for their businesses. I always think about when I'll be those people and some young girl will be toting around her small cart with just a few items because her salary/checking account isn't too big.


When I got home, I hurried to put the things away, empty out the fridge, put all the toilet paper away (I think there's like 30 or something rolls!) and J is like "just sit down, eat, relax.". Um, this is when the judgemental stuff comes in. Immediately I start saying (in my head of course)

Easy for you to say. You came home and all you did was eat and play your guitar. I have things to do because that's what I do. I am in charge of this house. I can wait for you to do it, but that'll take to long. Must be nice.

I told you I was being judgemental. To his defense, he did tell me (without any prompts from me) that he was sorry that he doesn't just think of things to do. Although I got bitchy and said "you didn't notice the dishes in the sink? did you think that maybe the dishwasher needed to be emptied and reloaded?" He said he would have figured it out...Of course that was 5 minutes before he was about to leave to go meet up with some friends. I did it though. Didn't really complain. I guess it's part my fault because I so easily made things this way. I don't let him touch the laundry, he doesn't shop for groceries (unless it's for something we need for dinner - he'll pick up stuff), and he doesn't clean. Like, he'll clean up but not clean. No chemicals.

So, after I was done being a brat, I watched tivo, and then decided time to go to the gym...I haven't been (really) since the cruise. Whoops! It's just so easy to find something else to do!

On the way home, I called my sister because I came up with a great idea for Mother's day. Yes I know it's a few days away. But we're late planners (well, I blame this on my indecisive sister). In my mom's garage (also she lives there), there's a huge box of photos that just are all mixed together. Some are in the envelopes from when they were developed, some are just thrown in there.

I said we should go to Walmart, get some cheap photo albums, maybe some cute pens (for captions when we get inspired by a funny photo) and then have that as a fun project on Sunday. My mom has always been meaning to put these photos in some sort of order, but (like the gym), there's always something better to do!

She said no. She said my mom wouldn't handle it. Give the woman some credit! Sure there have been better times in her life. But we're in the present day. We can't change what's currently going on. There might be some tears, but there will sure as hell be a lot of laughs too. I gotta work on her. Or buy the stuff, say "you lost" and just do it anyways. I'm great at that ;o) (being a pushy bitch sometimes).

Made a good accomplishment...at the end of a crazy day

Well, so far it seems as if every Friday gets more and more crazy. Last week was the flat tire friday, then there the friday when we found out a guy was arrested and couldn't start work, and before that were all the friday's before the Vegas trips.

Today was no different. 3 phone calls within the first 2 hours of work that people didn't get their full pay. 1 got a check because we really got her timecards on time, but 2 were out of luck as we never got them, and therefore are considered late. Also found out that one of our pendings had to be formally let go, bad background. Then a guy calls - FedEx didn't drop off some checks, his included, and he was mad. We offer direct deposit for all employees to avoid situations like this. But, he says he doesn't "do" direct deposity cuz he has problems. Well, HE doesn't have problems, but he'd always have problems with direct deposits. Oh well.

I did get paid today, which leads me to my title of this particular blog. Last year, I bought a fridge for my place. I had to, and decided to just go "new." I put it on a Lowe's credit card and just finally decided (almost exactly a year later) that I need to just pay the damn thing off. $198.21 to be exact. So I did. So now I only have 2 (huge) credit cards left. They both have their pros and cons. The higher balanced one has a much lower interest rate, so every payment really takes down some of the principle. The other one has a lower balance, but a HUUUUUGGGGEEE interest rate. So every time you pay the minimum, you only put like, 5 bucks towards the principle. (slight exageration there...) Anyways, with the Suze Orman YF&B book, I'll be working on putting more towards the lower balanced/higher interest card until that one is gone. And she has a calculator on her site. If I pay the same $175 each month, she tells me it will only take me 3 years to pay off. Imagine that! Hopefully some months I can put more towards it! lol.

Anyways, however you spend your weekend, have a good one!

Just a few more days

Well, it's just a few more days till the end of the week. Till the end of my challenge, till Cinco de Drinko, and possibly till a glorious afternoon in our town with lots of food and drink, for free! That one isn't in the bag yet, but J should found out soon if we can go. It's a pretty cool event - lots of local restaurants and businesses attend, offering some of their best cuisine and drinks. It's all inclusive with the purchase of the ticket. But, he might score 2 from his bosses. Nice!!

I was speaking with my friend on AIM today. We were discussing Coke's from McDonald's. You know, why they're soo great and so different from other restaurants. I explained to him that the syrup formula is still the same, but they add more CO2 to the mix in order to give it a different taste than other places. Many years ago, I worked in an fast food type place, and the topic of Coca Cola came up. A bunch of us wondered why it tasted different at different places. That was the reason we were told. I always wanted to crank up the CO2 there, but it was chained up and away from us measly employees.

So, I told him how I'd blog about it, give him a shout out - Hey JS! Anyways, I told him he should create a website that people can use to rate the different types of Coke's in the world (the beverage, not the drug). On the site, you can type in a location (approximate would work) and then rate their coke. There'd be a map that would pinpoit the spot, and give it a color rating. Green for excellent, Yellow for mediocre, and Red for YUCK! Anyways, he said that would be really hard to maintain, and he just got a new house and his gf is coming back soon and basically, all I heard was "blah blah blah." So I asked him if he had a blog, and he said only on his myspace. But I think even that is way outdated. Let me check. Yep. Last one was from 2005. yikes. I even suggested he could make a blog solely dedicated to his 500+ movie collection he has growing. But no. I think he's too cool for it.

Anyways, about the challenge. Except for the extreme cost of the tires from last week, I've not spent all the money. Oh, I did have to buy gas, but I had to put that on my credit card. Normally I don't, but when money is tight, you just do it. So, I have about 6 more bucks till Friday. Not bad. And I don't really have anything coming up that would need to use that cash. So yay for me! It IS possible!

I'd like a new car

Not sure why, but just feel like a new one. My car's not old. It's from 2004. Nice lil Honda Civic - 4 door. I was 22 when I got the 4 door, because I had only ever had a 2 door and that sucked. So, I realized I would have that car for awhile, and it would be a better investment to get a 4 door.

My co-worker and I are bored at work today. Not that we have nothing to do, but just don't want to do anything. She's been looking up the BMW and Mercedes SUV's, and I've been looking up the much cheaper types of SUVs. lol. I did a search to see how much I could trade my car in. But, I was looking under the wrong tab. Before I realized that, I was excited to see my car was still worth over $15,000!! Looking at the other SUVs, I realized I could upgrade, and still have the same monthly payment.

Then, she informed me that was the wrong tab. I was looking as a buyer, instead of a seller. When I clicked on the correct one, I found out it's only worth $12,200. Still, that's a huge chunk, but I wanted more! J has an SUV and it's so roomy and fantastic. My car is great, but it could be better. But, I guess I've been hit with a dose of reality and have to wait a few more years before I get a new car :o(