December 2005

My blog engine of love, Wordpress has officially reached the 2.0 milestone. I have not upgraded yet. When will I? I’m not sure…but probably when I know that my favorite plug-ins still work, and when I’ve got a little extra time on my hands. I imagine that when I get around to upgrading, I should probably roll the redesign as well. Then it’ll be Wordpress 2.0 and jinkies.org 3.0.

While I’m a total dork, and once spent a bored evening making sure my site’s code validated, I’m not that much of a dork on New Year’s Eve. Plus I’m tired, and would be bound to arse it up nicely.

Soy un perdedor
I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?
–Beck

I’m not going out tonight to ring in the new year. I’m an old lady. It’s not that I wasn’t invited out. Hell, I even created going out plans for some friends (which fell through because a dam broke somewhere near highway 80 and one of the people they’re waiting for will be hours late) which I then flaked on. I worked today, I work tomorrow. And I was out until 2am last night playing fierce foosball and meeting Knight Rider. As well as getting to witness no less than four different instances of man-drama, all involving my hetero-life-partner, Amanda.

Getting back to my loser-ness, I’ll be staying in tonight. Bryan and I are going to lay about on the couch and watch DVDs. I’m thrilled. :D

He so pwns you, it’s not even funny. I got this yummy smelling box in the mail from DHL today. I didn’t know if it was for me, so I actually asked Bryan if I could open it. After further reading the label on the box, it appeared to my marginally literate self that the package originated in Jamaica.

Dave got me two freakin’ pounds of Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee.

/me faints

I won. I did! Last night I beat Amanda at foosball. Three damn times! It was a momentous occasion, celebrated with a bit of name calling and taunting, as well as bringing it up at work as often as possible today. The first game, I was down four points to none, but I came back and scored five in a row to take it. Of course, she then whipped my ass the next two games. When we went back to the table, I took two more from her, in even contests. Then the two of us absolutely destroyed two guys who were at the bar. Amanda is quite the shark, though our favorite bartender has promised not to tell. haha

But now Amanda is feeling ill. While it has nothing to do with foosball, I hope she feels better soon. After all, I can actually hang out after work tomorrow! And being sick sucks.

Fuck you very much, Sarah, for getting that stupid song stuck in my head. Every time I stop thinking about something, I start humming that damn song. Calling me this morning didn’t help. Feh!

We’re in Austin for the holiday, spending time with Bryan’s family. Presents were done tonight, and good god, what a spectacle. I forget how much wrapping paper goes into a Christmas at Nancy’s house…but it was definitely a sight to see. As usual, it’s great to see Bryan’s family. I wish we could see them more often!

Not much to write, except that we slept in, ate sammiches, then ate and ate and unwrapped our way through the evening.

*clap clap clap clap*

Girls night out tonight, involving some of my favorite Japanese food and some of my favorite gals. It was lots of fun to have a nice meal out with Amanda, Lorilee, and Jenine (neen!). Unlike last time I chose a restaurant (which was well-received by the people who actually like Chinese food), this went over quite well. Having been sick for a few days, Japanese food is definitely comfort food for me, and it was perfect.

Two more days of work before we head out to Austin…

I’m obsessed with giving the perfect gifts. People I buy anything for should be people I know well enough to get something which will suit them in a manner which makes them happy. For example, spending a few bucks on a bottle opener for Torrey last Christmas made all of us laugh because it was perfect. I hated going to his house and having to listen to the entire Purdue fight song every time one of us opened a beer. And I commented on it every time I was there. It was a gift for both of us, really. Which reminds me that I should go over there and drink beer more often. Can’t let that bottle opener get rusty from disuse…

We’re coming up on crunch time, and I only have a few “perfect” gifts. Yes, I have Torrey’s already. It was actually remarkably easy. He’ll about die. DIE, I say. But in a good death kind of way, not a bad death kind of way. It’s also more difficult because I’m going out of town this year. We’re heading to Austin to see Bryan’s family, so we’re not doing any holiday stuff here in California. But there are the folks that I need to gift before we leave… And some of my gift ideas should be easy to implement, but have resulted in more difficulty than I could imagine. Apparently when you try and buy old lady gifts, you can’t just pick them up at your local Target. I may have to go to Sears to get what I want, which seems weird to me.

Ugh. Luckily I’m doing Christmas with Rachel around my birthday, so I have extra time there. Except that I already have her present. Dammit! I think maybe retail workers should be exempt from gift giving until everyone else is done shopping. I hate being in a shopping crowd so much when I’m not being paid to do so.

So my friends, you will have to be satisfied with late gifts. Most of you, at least.

My pal FlossMan has posted some of his favorite song lyrics. Thought I’d play along.

• “If I had a dollar for every single time I fought her
  I’d buy a handgun.” –Jellyfish, “Baby’s Coming Back”
• “You’re such an inspiration
  For the ways
  That I’ll never ever choose to be.” –A Perfect Circle, “Judith”
• “A rebel without a clue.” –Tom Petty, “Into the Great Wide Open”
• “What I’m I doing here?
  Who is this girl in my bed?
  What is this shit on my face?
  My God, what is that awful smell?
  She may be an angel
  She may be a queen
  She might be black, white, Amercian, Indian or Japanese!” –Sublime, “What Happened?”
• “You fondle my trigger, then you blame my gun.” –Fiona Apple, “Limp”

Also, Friday night I went out, drank too much, and was actually at the bar until last call. Where I walked back to Savannah’s with her and Amanda, was a dumbass on the phone with Bryan at 3am, got picked up, passed out, and woke up for lunch at 11:30am. Now I’m trying to get un-sick. So I post this and head to bed.

Lorilee, I’m sorry I couldn’t go out with you tonight. :/

‘Tis the season to be a raging idiot, fa la la la la, shut your face.

I’m not actually that grumpy, but I never cease to be amazed at the amount of pent up anger which regular people suffer from when we get to the “doom” phase of holiday shopping. Based on the moods of the people I’ve encountered this week, the doom begins right about now.

Tonight I answered a phone call and the woman actually cursed at me. I almost wish I could get upset about it, but it was mostly just funny. I apologize to whomever at direct sales had to deal with her, but her demands were outside the scope of my job.

Please, be kind to your retail employees. None of us really enjoy the holidays because of you and your immediate needs. On behalf of every retail employee who is actually trying to provide you with good customer service in a very hectic environment, I will remind you that your lack of preparation is not my emergency. And if you’re going to be a jerkface, do us all a favor and shop online.

Short but amusing work story:

I take a phone call from another store, which involves me running around looking for something, but in the wrong place. The guy on the phone is understanding, since he sort of misinformed me, and I do eventually find the item his customer was looking for. I help out customer service by handling the information gathering which is required when we mail product out.

Our customer lives in the city of Cobb, California. For clarity, we generally try and break down words and credit card numbers into bite-sized pieces. The conversation proceeded thusly:

Guy: She lives in Cobb, California.
Me: Got it.
Guy: So that’s “c” like in…uh…”cobb salad.”
Me: OK.
Guy: And then…[pregnant pause]…”obb” like the rest of the salad.
Me: [dying of laughter]

Happily, he was just making a funny, and didn’t proceed with the rest of our transaction in that way. Definitely the high moment of my day.

Second highlight would be me emerging from our office area, zipping up my coat. I was on my way out to make a coffee run at Peet’s for myself, Sarah, and Vinny. Realizing that I can carry one more drink in a tray, I come out of the office, and do a quick scan of the sales floor. Helen looks at me for a second, then out of the blue tells me that she last saw Amanda in the warehouse. Apparently I had that certain Amanda-seeking look about me. High-five to Helen, even though Amanda wasn’t in the warehouse by then. :D

Third highlight has nothing to do with work, but I got to hear the story of Rachel getting rip-roaring drunk with her ex-boyfriend (from almost 9 years ago!) and basically spending the whole night ripping him a new one or trying to ditch him at a bar. That’s my girl!

Well it was, pretty much. Bryan and I took an anniversary trip down to Disneyland for a few days. It was really just all day Friday at the park, with a leisurely drive back up north on Saturday. Bryan has trouble reconciling my hate for Disney the company, and my love for the theme park. I’m sure I’d be troubled too, if I bothered to think about it for more than a minute. ;) The new Space Mountain is definitely sweet. Sadly, the Indiana Jones ride broke down late in the evening, when we were getting ready to head that way.

All in all, it was a great trip. We just got to hang out together and act like little kids. I’m so glad that Bryan and I travel well together. No fussing over the details (mostly because I’ve planned them all out, and he likes that I plan), and our basic motivation for travel is the same: total relaxation. Both of us answered the phone a few times, but his was a short work-related call, and while Lara’s call to me was sort of work-related, it was nice to talk to her. I spoke with her while I was in line for Peter Pan (Bryan was not impressed, and made me skip Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride), then caught up with Amanda briefly while standing nearish Pirates of the Carribean. She was calling me from the San Francisco Airport, on her way to a free and impromptu trip to Hawaii. As much fun as I was having in SoCal, Hawaii would have been a nice destination…

Today was Lorilee’s second annual not-tea party, involving much less dressing up this year than last. I brought heaps of wine, but we didn’t even make a dent. After last year, when I basically killed the fanciness by showing up in super-causal clothes, this year was just an excuse to get the girls together and drink. So we drank. There will be photos up soon, once I get the incriminating evidence from Lorilee. It was one of those days…drunk by 3pm, sober by 8pm. And I crashed the Fremont holiday party, which was sweet. By “sweet,” I mean to say that I enjoyed crashing it, not necessarily that the party itself was sweet.

I’ve reached the laundry event horizon at home. Today, I actually had to try and determine what on the floor I could wear to work. Ugh. So tomorrow will be all about the laundry, and a few last minute errands. Bryan and I head down to Disneyland to allow me to dork out while simultaneously celebrating our four year anniversary. Where we should receive gifts of linen. I think that means high thread-count sheets. Hmmm. We’re outta here on Thursday afternoon!

We had our staff holiday party tonight. Dave & Buster’s was the location. About 100 people showed up, which was a great turn-out. All the managers made it as well, so we were well represented. I had Bryan bring his camera and take lots of snaps, so Jenine (j9 or neen) would feel included even though she couldn’t go. I just did some quickie adjustments to the photos. Two notes: DJ’s hat ended up everywhere and you can get eight REI managers into a size 38 Speedo. As ever, click for full size. Neen, I hope you enjoy!

I am now, in the parlance of my employer, endorsed. All that means is that I’ve jumped through a few hoops, worked my ass off, and passed a short interview. While learning to break wild horses and make my own clothes out of the hides of rodents. Or maybe just the first part. Ultimately, what it means is that I can now apply for jobs at the level above my current peon manager status. Wish me luck…the job I really want will post in about 5 weeks.

Finally, a free (and sober) moment at home to blog. I’m sitting with a fresh brewed mug of Jamaica Blue Mountain, watching the rain blow like crazy in our backyard. It’s just a shame that the neighbor’s shitty little dog likes to drag trash around the yard, so I see wind and rain and leaves and….pieces of cardboard? Feh. Today is one of those days where, if I didn’t have two very full weeks in front of me, I would go and enjoy the first serious rain by playing basketball on an outdoor court. Despite knowing where a great one is located, and having someone who would probably go with me (yay Savannah!), I can’t afford to get this cold that Bryan’s been holding on to for over a week now. Ah well…it does bring back memories.

Let’s see…what’s been going on? Last Friday, Bryan and I headed out to the Warfield to watch a brilliant performance by Fiona Apple. [review] I’ve always been a huge fan of hers, and getting to watch/listen to that gigantic voice emerge from that tiny girl was a treat. Definitely the best show I’ve seen in a long time, watching her live only reinforces my appreciation for both her songwriting and her unique delivery and phrasing.

The weekend was just work work work. Our sale was winding down post-Thanksgiving, though as a specialty retailer, we did not see the Black Friday craze which broke the spirits of millions of retail workers across the nation. I arrived at work on Friday morning at 6:45am, and the line for the office supply store next door (I don’t name or link only because I never remember which one it is) was snaking out past our employee entrance. So glad I didn’t have to deal with that crap.

Monday was a day which I can honestly say was like no other. I went to bed early on Sunday night, got up with plenty of time to spare before work on Monday morning. My mistake was reading my email while I was putting on my shoes. To make a long, embarassing story slightly shorter (but no less embarassing), I arrived on time to work, but wearing two different shoes. They were only marginally similar, so I really have no excuses. On my left foot was a white and blue Asics running shoe, and on the right foot was a grey Montrail trail runner. I actually had to walk into the store and tell the other managers that I needed to return home. Amanda was one of the first people I saw when I walked in (and thus got to laugh at me first), and a good portion of my staff now knows that I totally fail at life. At least I’ve finally been outed as the biggest dork EVAR.

That night I got to catch up with an old friend on the phone. Hedyeh, I hope your ceiling isn’t leaking any more. And I’m sorry I couldn’t fix it over the phone. ;)

Tuesday and Wednesday were so full of drama, I can’t even begin to explain. But as of right now, Amanda is muchly recovered, much to my relief. I don’t have nine hours of typing time to even begin to explain, and I shouldn’t be putting this kind of dramarama out on the intarweb unless I feel like reviving my LiveJournal. Spent Tuesday night helping Amanda drink away her craptastic evening, and yesterday was one of those friend-days requiring hanging out and doing nothing. Bryan was sweet enough to “loan me out” to the girls for two days.

And that was last week! Hopefully I’ll be back to blogging regularly like I had been. Lorilee goes into withdrawl when I don’t update all the time, and I can’t have that!