How do you feel today? v. 3.0

[Menolly]

I've had a couple of *interesting* days...

Tuesday night hyperception's father, Beorn, and I went out to dinner while hyperception was working with a tutoring client. We were in our old beat up Astrovan, while hyperception was using his dad's Caravan. The old Lumina which is no longer running is stored in the carport.

While we were driving home, we were returning in a "white out" rain storm. Occasionally the wipers on the Astro stop working completely, in which case I need to pull off the road immediately and leave the engine running until they kick in again. Fortunately, they stayed on for this drive home.

However, as I turned in to the driveway, this greeted us:



A slightly better view of the limb which fell can be seen here:



We were lucky that both cars were elsewhere, and that the main part of the tree fell towards our neighbors house. Their tree was next to the fence which divides the properties, and was actually much closer to our house than their's. Even with the trunk snapping about ten feet above ground, the rest of the tree was long enough to cross their back yard and come to a rest against the back of their house. Fortunately, it seemed to do minor damage, and not have punctured the roof or anything in any way:



Chain saws came out and the tree had been logged and stacked for pick up Wednesday evening.

Then today, Beorn and I were driving to brunch after a visit to the department of children and families for a transition meeting regarding his disability health care since he will be turning 18 soon when the left rear tire on the Astro blew. I pulled over right away and the tire was still mostly inflated, but I was able to feel air rushing out of the tread on the top of the tire. I saw what looked like a slash in the tread, but there was no nail or anything which could have caused it, that I could see.

B"H for a spare tire and AAA. We had the spare on within an hour and headed to our mechanic to get the tire plugged and reinstalled.

By this time, after being in the heat and humidity of north central Florida for a couple of hours, Beorn and I came home and napped in the a/c. Our pre-college move preparations can wait for another day...

[Rigel]

Decided I'm tired of biking it everywhere, so I took the day off to go to the DMV (I don't currently hold a driver's licence). Took my written test, and passed w/ exactly 28/35 questions correct... the bare minimum to pass. Not bad for not having driven in 4 years, and not studying for the test at all

Now I have to schedule some time to take the actual drive test. Of course, I still won't be able to afford a car at that point as I don't want to finance one until I pay off some other bills... but it'll be nice to know I can if I want to

[sgt.null]

menolly - glad you were out during the storm.

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

[Cameraman Jenn]

Don't worry Null, there are other watchers who don't drive.

Rigel, I had let my driver's license expire not realizing it and when I did it had been more than six months at which time the California DMV makes you retest so I did. I nearly failed the driving test because of common habits of long time drivers. I kept pulling up to much into the crosswalk at minor stop sign intersections that did not have pedestrian traffic. I also only glanced at mirrors instead of actually turning my head and looking a few times. I did not know you got docked for that so while I passed my written with 100, I nearly failed my road test. I was also surprised that the CA road test was so extensive and nitpicky. Judging by the way people drive around here you would think they just have to prove they know how to put a key in the ignition and turn the vehicle on. Seriously.

I had a relatively normal day today. There were three things that happened that stood out. Edward was the only manager or keyholder on hand when I went to my lunch break. I get back and find the entire staff in fits of anger because apparently he was ignoring all manager calls to the point that Vivian was livid, shaking and teary when she was telling me how much she hates him and how awful it was to be repeatedly ignored while she was swamped and calling for Edward that HIS customer was at the copy center wanting to pick up his laptop, said customer getting aggressive and angry at Vivian for having to wait so long etc. This was apparently on the heels of Jasmine having to call him several times for something out of lockup. I guess when he finally responded to Viv and saw how angry she was he claimed that his radio wasn't working and made a show of getting another one. I checked his radio and it was working just fine. So THEN, I'm back so Spenser announces he's going to lunch. About ten minutes into Spenser's lunch, Edward announces he's going to final break. That left just Nate and I on the floor to help customers. After Edward got back I went up to him and talked to him about it. I said, "Edward, for the future please try to take your breaks earlier and not when Spenser is out." He started to protest that I had Nate for the tech department and I interrupted him and said, "You know that our shifts are staggered so that we can schedule breaks in a way that still maximizes floor coverage and that you should have taken your break a lot earlier so just please, for the good of the store, try to be conscious of that." He knew I was right so he said he would. Not that it will probably do much good but at least it felt good to call him out on that. I also feel the need to go to Ashlee about Edward during my lunch when I see her tomorrow and I haven't bothered to bitch about him in a long time because it doesn't seem to do any good but if you guys saw the look on Viv's face and the language she used to express herself about the incident you would feel compelled as well.

Finally, Viv gave me a ride to the BART station and on the way, while she was re-bitching about Ed, tellingme about some other frustrations and I was being a good listener, we got rear ended by a crazy lady in a VW wearing a starfleet academy shirt. Viv was a total trooper and kept her cool and after the info exchange was over I told her that she was going to get a whole new bumper on that lady's insurance company so that meant the big ugly scrape her brother put there will be gone as well. She started laughing and agreed that there was some good in it after all.

Oh wait, there's more. I found out some things that are soon to be happening with several members of the OD upper management in several stores. Lots of changes coming down the wire in the next few months. I'm still looking but there very well may be some interesting changes for me as a result.

[sgt.null]

jenn - i have a c/o tha has to have his cig break no matter how far behind we are. irritate the hell out of me. the other day we were swamped, he asked for a smoke break. i lectured him that a responsible person would wait til we were caught up - but i could't deny him the break - that he had to make the choice. he went for a smoke anyway, putting us further behind.

turns out that night he forgot to complete and turn in some paperwork - so i got to write him a contact log for it.

as to personal - been on the diet fourth day now - and my stomach has decided that it will comply with making me feel awful. (yesterday it was my head) this is worse than last time i started. but eventually i will feel better and start losing weight and be pretty again. the next e-fest all the gilries wanna get with sarge,

[Sorus]

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

I don't drive. Never have.

[lorin]

Well ...........woke up to the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I was watching AATE and they (don't ask me who) discovered a novel within the novel. It was a story of an overweight man in red tights and a mask (superhero style) that had to jump from a 200 foot ladder into a red bathtub inorder to save his life.

don't ask me 'cause I don't know................

[aliantha]

Well ...........woke up to the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I was watching AATE and they (don't ask me who) discovered a novel within the novel. It was a story of an overweight man in red tights and a mask (superhero style) that had to jump from a 200 foot ladder into a red bathtub inorder to save his life.

don't ask me 'cause I don't know................

Ooooh, I'll have to get out the dream dictionary when I get home....

Jenn and Menolly, that's enough, y'all can stop having car-related incidents now. Like, *right* now. Anyhow, glad everybody's okay. And Jenn, I still want to know whether the VW chick's shirt was red...

A pretty good day here. I powered through all the bills except the 200-page monster, but that one's not due 'til next Friday. They let us wear jeans to work today, and fed us ice cream, for no apparent reason, but I haven't heard anybody complaining. Looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, ahhhhh.... Also must take the phone to the phone store and see what they can do about the touchscreen, which stopped working *again* today. And we should clean the house. But I bet I can figure out a way to put that off again.

[Holsety]

Umm, I have had a boring day. Skipped group therapy to go to a doctor's appointment. We are still trying to figure out if my vomiting problem is due to medications or not. Gonna be sent to a GI for further investigation.

menolly - glad you were out during the storm.

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

Hi nullity. Why don't you drive? I don't right now, though I have done rush hour newark driving (with guidance).

I'm going to be working on driving. There are things I want to do here in the burbs which it's either cab or drive to get to, would rather just drive if I can bring myself up to that level. Might need a GPS though.

Well ...........woke up to the weirdest dream. I dreamt that I was watching AATE and they (don't ask me who) discovered a novel within the novel. It was a story of an overweight man in red tights and a mask (superhero style) that had to jump from a 200 foot ladder into a red bathtub inorder to save his life.

LOL

[lorin]

to continue on the car trend, I had my first accident in my Prius waiting for Danlo at the airport. AND I WASN'T EVEN MOVING

[Holsety]

to continue on the car trend, I had my first accident in my Prius waiting for Danlo at the airport. AND I WASN'T EVEN MOVING

Insurance?

[lorin]

to continue on the car trend, I had my first accident in my Prius waiting for Danlo at the airport. AND I WASN'T EVEN MOVING

Insurance?

nope - deductable too high (1000). Its on my dollar. ah well, life is good.

[I'm Murrin]

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

Nope, I don't.

[Cambo]

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

Nope, I don't.

Me neither. Don't even have my learner's license.

[Menolly]

does rigel getting a car leave me the only watcher who doesn't drive?

Nope, I don't.

Me neither. Don't even have my learner's license.

I was going to say Beorn doesn't drive, but he does have his learners.
In fact, except that we can't afford to insure him, he's passed all of the tests and all he needs to do is bring his certification from drivers ed, pay the fee, and have his picture taken to have his license.

But as a male under 25, our insurance covers him at no additional charge as long as he holds on to his learners (which expires in 2018) and he drives with a licensed driver over 18 in the front passenger seat. Once he gets his regular license, his insurance cost goes through the roof.

[Rigel]

To clarify, I'm not going to be driving regularly as I still can't afford a car... I'm just getting my license in case situations come up where I want to.

I'll still be busing it most of the time.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Ali, the shirt was red and actually matched her red plaid pajama pants. I know expendable.

Lorin, hugs to you, accidents suck. I had accidentally pocketed Viv's camera after taking the pics and took it home so she came in today and they called me when she was there so I came up front and no words, we just opened our arms and hugged for a minute and then I asked if she was doing ok and she said she was totally over it. Vivian actually reminds me of a young Julie in so many ways. She's a fabulous mix of sensitive soul but possesses a backbone of steel that asserts itself when needed.

So for my day, I got into work and immediately talked to Ashlee about my nemesis. She was mad cuz apparently she had talked to him about similar stuff from some other complaint earlier this week. Anyway, he got an ass reaming today. I walked past the office door which they left open and heard part of it and I found myself smiling and thinking, "Get him Ashlee" Then later when Viv came in for the camera I walked her out and told her that I had gone to Ashlee and Ed got called in and bitched out. She was very happy about that. The rest of my day was taken up by Ed being somewhat bitchy to me, which I could care less about and by hanging all the new wall hangings for the breakroom. It's looking hecka good in there. Ashlee specifically told me to have Nate help me hang the posterboard stuff and Ed was all pissed off because he actually had to function as sales leader while Nate and I were working and so Ed checked on us a few times and I know from another co-worker that he texted Ashlee to ask her if she had said to have Nate help me. I guess she confirmed as Ed didn't say anything further about it to me. HAHAHAHA, not sorry I made Ed actually work harder today. I'm sure it was a shocking change for him. So all in all a much better day. I did decide that since I had inundated Ashlee with reasons to call someone to task, that I would hold off on asking her about transfers today. perhaps I am putting if off on some subconscious level but I think I gave her enough to chew on for the day.

[sgt.null]

Holsety - i wouldn't be good at it.

when julie got home we went to the library book sale, grabbed a couple Encyclopedia Browns for myself. then we went to the books tore, found a bunch of graphic novels for under 4 bucks each. then we discovered a historical park on the way home. stopped for a bit but decided to revisit with the camera when it is cooler out.

julie is asleep right now, she has to work overnight at her 2nd job.

great day. oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nearly forgot.

did two reading over the phone for zombiac and his karaoke vampire film. he says they came out well (have my fingers crossed on that) hopefully i gave him material he can use. i was so nervous but he was a great director.

i read through the lines first for pronunciation and then tried to find a serious, scholarly attitude for the reading. my phone fussed a couple of times but only a few retakes. i reallyhope he can use the stuff. i am so excited to be a part of it!!!!

[Cameraman Jenn]

Just got home from work a little while ago. It was an ok day. Ed was a bit of a prick to me early on but he mellowed when he realized I wasn't taking any shit and that Ashlee had given me permission to task during "Depot Time" in order to get the sale prepped. I know he texted her after he told me I wasn't allowed to task, tried to force me to be sales leader of which I informed him that Nate was on board with being Sales leader and then ignored him while continuing to sort the sale. He let it go so she probably told him to leave me alone. HAHAHAHA! Tony heard me refer to Edward as the Edhole today and thought that was hysterical. Anyway, feels good to be home and I have tomorrow off thanks to Tony trading with me when I found out I was scheduled to close Sunday. I am working Monday now but I have a weekend day and Tony will have two days off in a row so it works for us both. I was kinda pissed when I realized I was scheduled because I really need my beach Sundays. I really like Ashlee but one of the things she does that makes me a bit crazy is she makes the schedule the Thursday right before the week starting on Sunday so you only know your next week schedule a few days in advance. That totally sucks.

On other side notes, Lucimay and Sorus (and anyone else if they are willing to travel to SF for an afternoon bbq), bbq here next Saturday. El Casual with my infamous infused burgers and various snorkers and potentially my infamous glazed salmon on the grill and homemade picanikity salad sides such as my infamous macaroni salad and BGB's baked potato salad made with actual baked tater chunks, sour cream and mayo and seasoning with cheddar and chives in it, and of course there will be excellent company. Put it on your schedules cuz NO is NOT an option, got it? GOT IT? Good. Oh and there will be PIE. Arrive as early as noon if you want, grill to be started at three. Fair warning, early arrivals may be put to small odd kitchen jobs so arrive early at your own risk.

[aliantha]

Hopefully LZ will let us know when your big debut is, Sarge.

Finally got sick of the problems with the touchscreen on my phone and took it to the Verizon store. As I expected, they told me that my phone was out of warranty so I would have to get a new one (or use an old phone -- oh haha, I gave all the old ones away). So I poked around the store for a bit and settled on an iPhone. It's shiny. Spent part of the afternoon playing virtual skee ball. Did about as well as I usually do in real life.

I realize now that I had to pound the heck out of the Samsung touchscreen to get it to work. With the new phone, sometimes it seems like just hovering over the screen is enough.

Anyway, now I am well and truly broke for the next several months....