My Twenty-Something Quasi-Soap

So far, so good (for South Florida, at least). Hurricane Dean - Category 2 14.1 N 58.7 W Moving W @ 25 mph Max sustained winds 100mph That's the 11 pm update, and almost all the computer models are showing that the storm will be of little, if any threat to my neck of the woods. So if anyone was trying to panic, there's no need. Everything's good down here for now...but there's still over 100 days left in hurricane season, so there's no time to rest easy. Constant vigilance! The parentals are down visiting for the weekend, so Dean will prolly have run its course by the time I'm back here. My computer's condition is worsening every day, so I might be out of commission for a while. Especially since I don't have enough time to blog at my super cool top secret job. Laters...

Aight, just so no one gets worried, I'll do my best to update y'all on the storm action down here so you know whether to freak out or not. Also: my computer is trying to die on me, so I'll do my best to not put it out of its misery. Anyway: Tropical Storm Dean 11.6 N 41W at 5pm eastern Moving west 21mph Max sustained winds 40mph Right now, it's nothing major for anyone to worry about. I'm just keeping an eye on it (rather excitedly, actually) and seeing what this guy decides to do. But he's a creeping along. Repeat: do not panic yet. I will do the panicking when it's necessary. Just letting everyone know that all is well for now.

I secured a job on Friday, provided that I pass the classic "pee in this cup and prove that you don't do drugs" test. Which is not a problem. I start training on Tuesday, then I go full time and start running shit next Monday. I'm really excited about the new gig, which is good considering that I'm taking a flippin' huge cut in pay. But there's a lot of opportunities that await me (and a promised increase to my quoted minimum salary by Christmas), so I can't complain. I really wish that I could tell y'all exactly what I'm doing. But since it's a fairly new enterprise and we only have one other competitor that we know of right now, I am choosing not to divulge too much information in the interest of...well...keeping my future looking as bright as possible. I mean, it's not like I've ever been totally forthcoming with the details of any of my jobs (with the exception of The Cheesecake Factory aka The Evil Place), so it's not like ...

Right now I'm taking a breather from de-ickifying our futon. I'll explain. When we packed up everything to move down here, we didn't put any type of covering on the futon mattress. Hence, it picked up all of the dust and other icky stuff that was in the truck and probably collected stuff on its many-hundred-mile journey down here. That's not good for someone who's allergic to practically everything under the sun. When my sister and I got the futon set up down here, though, we didn't clean it off or anything...just slapped the cover on it and we were good to go. However, I did notice that my nose would get all stuffy whenever I sat on it. Fast forward to Monday night. I took the blanket that had been living on said futon for two weeks and dragged it to bed with me because I was chilly. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning coughing and wheezing. After about 15 minutes, I figured that I was reacting to the blanket, so I threw it back into the living room. However, the ...

I am so over unpacking even though I still have lots to do. Went to a temp agency today to interview and hopefully start working soon. But I found out about the train system down here, and I think it will allow me to run around Miami for next to nothing...at least it's next to nothing compared to NJ Transit prices. I'm stoked...that will give me something to do instead of wasting away here in a half unpacked apartment by myself. And I can't go to the mall because I can't really spend any money. Hmmmmm... Maybe I'll go to Barnes and Noble to scope out books about the area. That will allow me to plan an itinerary on stuff to do this weekend. And this week. Until I get a job. Yeah, I think that's what I'm gonna do. It's better than playing Guitar Hero till my arm falls off. So, order of business. 1. Read the Times online because that's what I always do. 2. Go to Barnes and Noble. 3. Come home and wait for my sister to make me some damn dinner! (hee hee....

Not like I'm trying to freak anyone out or anything. I think I've found the one place on the planet that could actually be more bizarre than Jersey. Welcome to South Florida. Right now I'm just getting used to making left turns and u-turns almost anywhere the hell I want to. Additionally, I think it will take a while for me to get over being able to buy beer at the Super Target. However, I have yet to see a liquor store. Except for in the not-so-safe looking parts that I've driven through so far. They come up out of nowhere. You're just driving along...doo-de-doo-de-dooo...then all of a sudden you're there: liquor store, pawn shop, check cashing, storefront church, liquor store, chicken shack, pawn shop, repeat. And you're like, "Oh crap, I'm in the ghetto!" But before you have a chance to lock the doors, you're back in safe territory again. They have houses down here that look just like the ones on Cops. That's kinda scary. And in down...

Exactly a week from now, I'll be on a train and waiting to wrap up a 17+ hour journey that will take me to my new home in Florida. The reality is starting to sink in, and it's very strange. I'm really really excited, of course, but I wish I could just be there already and get the rest of this over with. I still have to organize the rest of my boxes, make sure they're all packed, arrange the utility set ups, shred old mail, wash just about every piece of clothing I own, say goodbye to my friends, finish work, buy and ship a birthday present to someone, let some people know that I'm moving (some people still don't know!), clean out my car... It's a lot to do. I'm moving to Florida. As soon as I get down there, I have to get a job. That should be fun. But I'm also looking forward to the fun stuff: Disney World, Yankees spring training, the Keys, the Bahamas, shopping, golf lessons, and relearning Spanish. Among other things. Well, just checking in and t...

Die, you scumbag, die. Die.Die.Die.Die.Die.Die.Die.Die.Die. I hate you and you will get your comeuppance one day. Yes, your uppance will come. You try digging through all these dusty old file and try to find pointless information and then be told that you didn't record enough stuff down and you have to go back through the files. Now. And by the way, you have to finish the f-ing write ups too. Now. I soooo should just leave effective this Thursday, but I need the money. I hope you get what you deserve, you moronic excuse for a VP. Grrrrrrr. Now I feel a little bit better.

If I wasn't already leaving this stupid job, I would quit. Today. I hate my boss and I want to punch him in the face and throw a knee to his balls. But he doesn't have any. He's a spineless bastard and I hate him and I can't wait until I leave here and I hope we don't find someone else to take over the position so he'll end up curled up under his desk in the fetal position crying because he doesn't know what to do with himself and his head's about to explode and that's what he deserves because karma's a fucking bitch. Making me try to write these stupid write ups about sites that I know nothing about, then flipping the script and telling me to fill out a different form after I've been spending all this time on these f-ing write ups (in between reading the news and other stuff) just pisses me off because I have wasted my time on stupid crap. ::deep breath:: I feel better now. I just needed to vent.

It's a little too warm in my room. It's also almost too quiet, but I don't want to turn on the AC because it would be too loud. I came home to a house with almost all the f-ing lights on, and I was mad. Then I realized that there's no point in lecturing...I'm leaving here in a few days. So now I'm just waiting for my brain to slow down and be quiet...which it never will be, but I need it to be. My stomach was all messed up last week. It was fine this weekend, now it's all messed up again. I think I know why. I don't want to admit it, but I know why. But I could be wrong. My half empty room is still a disaster and it has to be cleared out by Thursday night. But when I got home every night last week...I was too exhausted to do anything. My brain won't slow down and my stomach won't settle...and it's too damn quiet in here. I'll just take a deep breath and try to find something to calm me down.

Ok, time for the reveal of the big mystery from the last blog: I'm moving to Florida. Yes. Florida. It's a long story. Something that I was going to explain now. But my stomach is messed up and I am tired and slightly cranky, and typing in a position that will give me carpal tunnel. But I had to break the news. More when I have time...too busy packing and all that jazz. Peace out.

Earlier this year I said that 2007 was gonna be a big year. Later I said that it was going to be big, but I didn't realize how big it was going to get. Now it's freakishly huge. But I can't announce it to the Blogosphere yet. There's people who I still have to call and stuff because I know they'd be pissed if they heard it from my blog as opposed to hearing it from me directly. Yes, I know that you want to hear the good news, and you're always waiting with baited breath for a new post from me and that you'll just die if you don't find out what's going on. ("I'll just die if I don't get this recipe." Saw the original Stepford Wives movie last night. It was a lot lamer than I expected it to be. Why do movies from the 70's suck until the very end?) Ok, so I'm totally overestimating your interest in my random bitchings and what not. But I can't say anything yet. I want to, but I can't yet. Ooooooohhhh, I'm so excited...

The beginning of the end has arrived here at my job. My boss (and everyone else here) finally got what they wanted, and they went and fired our director of construction. This morning. As opposed to Friday. Bastards. He's a good guy, the now former director of construction. He knows how to get stores built, how to deal with the people that were actually doing the construction, and when to bust some balls and get the job done. He's a realist - a pragmatist. He has a great sense of humor. But mostly, he's the right guy for the job. Unfortunately, every decision he's ever made has been scrutinized and challenged and criticized by people who don't have a fucking clue about the work that he does. He is not a "yes man," bowing and scraping to the powers that be. If something ain't gonna work, he'll tell you in no uncertain terms that it ain't gonna work. And because my boss is a spineless sniveling ignorant piece of crap who looks dumber and dumber ev...

I feel like Bloo in any given episode of Foster's Home . Every possible thing that I could be doing right now is too boring to do. I'm essentially putzing about the internet and incessantly looking at the clock. 2 more hours...that's it. Just two more flippin hours... I am ready to go out and do some shopping (yeah friends and family hook up coupons!) and maybe get my nails done and play some more Guitar Hero and just be free from this place for 3 days. Tomorrow is going to be a most awesome day. It's going to be me, my sister (finally done with her exams and done with college!), Guitar Hero, the Wii...and a bottomless pitcher of margaritas. I. Can't. Wait. I've been looking forward to General Drunken Silliness day for about 2 months now. The job hunt continues and is still very difficult. And discouraging. But I'm keeping at it...it will have to get better. Soon.

Not even the fact that Thursday means "Loaf on the couch and watch awesomest shows ever" can lift my spirits enough to get out of the fact that I still have one more day of work to go. Bugger it all, is what I say. So I managed to hold myself together at Shoestring until the very end when the last show was over. I lost it for a little bit, but came through ok. I miss all of them already, and it hasn't even been a week yet! Today is a quiet and boring day. "El jefe" is out of the office, hence the quiet. My job is boring, hence the boring. So I'm killing time here before going back to the NY Times and surfing about. Dammit, it really feels like today should be Friday! Even after full well knowing that last night was karaoke night, I still feel that I'm not going to work tomorrow because it will be Saturday. Hmmm...anything soap-opera-y going on right now....(thinking)... Oh! The Real World: Bayshore Edition Season 2 is nearing its end and I won't be r...

Mad props and respect to Sondheim for today's title. It popped into my head today whilst I was viewing pictures from the Kentucky Derby. All hat pictures. Is one required to wear a hat at the Derby? I only pose this question so that in the event I actually achieve my post-grad goal of winning the lottery and living as a dilettante for the rest of my days, I'll be properly attired for an outing at Churchill Downs. Despite all of the nasty (understatement) history that's associated with the South, nothing would thrill me more than wearing a silly hat and drinking a mint julep at the Derby. Because I can. Or will. Eventually. Hopefully. My current goal is to send out at least one resume a day until I have a new job. While my current job is nowhere close to the atrocities suffered at MoMis or The Evil Place (see summers of 2005 and 2004 respectively as I have neither the time nor the patience to provide proper linkage), it is verging on an appropriate nickname. "The Office...

That's where I'm at today with work and this job. I'm over it. Can you believe that they're playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" in the break room right now? It's part of the Cinco de Mayo "fiesta" they're having. Maybe I'll go grab a virgin margarita, take it out back and spike it. That will make getting through today easier. Why are weekends so short? We're 1/3 done with the run of Shoestring and I haven't cried yet. I'll probably lose it at the cast party. Man, I hate it when they do events at work with free food. People always encourage you to eat. I never want to. Cheesy office events drvive me nuts. They feel so forced. We had a Superbowl "party" and a March Madness "shootout." I quote these simply to highlight the ultimate cheese factor and fakenosity of it all. It's Friday. I'll make up words if I want to, dammit. Oh well, the new job search continues. I think I'll take lunch early. ROTF...

I...am exhausted. Did the preview of the Shoestring show today, mostly while breathing through one nostril and suppressing my coughs as best I could. I've been struck down with a nasty case of allergic rhinitis, which feels like a sinus infection but it's not. I went home early from work on Thursday and called out on Friday. I have a doctor's note that will allow me to stay home on Monday, if need be. But I'm feeling a lot better than I did two days ago, so I'll probably be back on Monday. Good glory, this is totally boring and mundane. The Passion of the Wii continues here at the Bungalow. I had lots of free time yesterday, and I spent most of it playing Super Paper Mario. It is a wicked awesome game. It's a perfect blend of the side scrolling classic and interesting RPG. I heart this game. I will admit that I cheat sometimes and find a walk-through online to help me when I'm stuck, but I only do that so I don't get so frustrated with the game that I wa...

...seems like the Supreme Court took advantage of the Va. Tech tragedy to make their official decision on "partial-birth abortions." (I use quotation because there is no such medical term as a partial-birth abortion. It was penned by the anti-abortionists.) The procedure has been officially banned, and there is no allowance for an instance where the procedure would be medically necessary. I am pissed. Honestly, people need to realize that the government should not be dictating what I can choose to do to my body. The decisions I make should be my own, and between me and my doctor (and my family, when applicable). Some right-wing, red state, Confederate-flying redneck from West Bumblefuck does not get to tell me whether or not I can have an abortion. They can disagree with it. By all means, call me whatever you want, but you don't get to make the decision, and you shouldn't influence the people who make the the laws that control that decision. For a while I had been jok...

When they say that history repeats itself, they weren't kidding. My mom called me yesterday morning from her walk-in closet. She was going through a bunch of stuff and found an old fanny pack with ticket stubs and a receipt for funnel cakes from Great Adventure back in 1998. That made her realize that we've been living back in NJ for almost ten years now. We're on the phone reminiscing about old times, not so long ago, while Virginia Tech was in a state of chaos not unlike the happenings of eight years ago in Columbine. At that same time, the Raritan River was wreaking havoc on a town no more than ten minutes away from my parents' house and another city no more than ten minutes from my job, in a disaster similar to the flooding of '99, eight years ago, after Hurricane Floyd. While the these disconnected things happened at different times, in different years, it just feels strange to me how two years of my life (1998-1999) were ones of personal upheaval while things ...