Ups and Downs, Strikes and Gutters

This last few couple of days wasn't bad. Thursday night I got to go out, friday it snowed and I got a call from Joe (whom I missed severely), saturday at work was fairly slow, saturday night and sunday I chilled out and watched some varied movies with Tom, and monday I took my orange belt test (which I think went okay). Today though, has been just up and down like a rollercoaster.

Tom and I were talking about how he was going home for Thanksgiving, when he was leaving and when he would be back, and it really hit me how I wouldn't be able to spend thanksgiving with my family. It's really going to suck, and I'm really jealous of how Tom gets to spend it with his family. I miss my grandparents. I figured I would keep myself busy, clean the house, maybe cook a turkey. I'll probably end up moping around, try to do some laundry, but not hang up my clothes, and I don't really like turkey off of the bone that much (I just always wanted to cook one). Hopefully though, I'll get calls from my loved ones. I know my grandparents will call, but my Mom isn't that good about calling when she says she will and Tom is going to be busy with his family. Bleh... basically this whole being without family for thanksgiving has me really bummed out.

So I get to work today and Terri, my supervisor, finally got the call (After 3 months) letting her know that she got the Security job. Hooray for Terri! However, I was told that I wasn't really qualified for Terri's job, because I didn't have enough experience. But here's the deal, I'm in this catch-22 where I can't get the job, because I have no experience, and I can't get experience because I can't get the job. Bleh. So that has me thinking more intently about getting that MBA. Yeah, it would make me a business monkey, but I can't reset passwords for the rest of my life. But I really can't afford to front the money for the degree, even though it would be reimbursed. AND I'd have to sign a 3 year promisory note to Sky Bank. That means 3 years getting the degree, 3 years staying afterward so I don't have to pay back the money. Working at a helpdesk for 6 years is enough to make anyone go DEFENS (see the movie "falling down" with Michael Douglas). All those promises they shot at me about college and how marketable I was because of my degrees, blah blah blah. That bullshit is starting to wear down on me. I'm not an uber coder. I'm not a business monkey. I am just someone who was left behind because I didn't fit the mold and now I'm stuck. I feel like I'm spinnin' my wheels.

But it's snowing... and I get a pretty big paycheck on friday along with the morning off (hooray sales!). And I might get to see Joe when he comes up for thanksgiving. I'm thinking about going to Ann Arbor on saturday because I found out I don't have Japanese class.

Ups and Downs... Strikes and Gutters...

11.26.02 2:56pm(4 comments)

Take the Kristy Quiz!

11.22.02 8:46am(2 comments)

Strange Days Indeed…

Sparring without a cause:

So I sparred for the first time a week or so ago in my karate class. I never really figured that fighting would be an issue for me, I wouldn't have joined a karate class if it were. However, I just hit some sort of moral / ethical / prior teaching issue when I was sparring that really f*cked with my head. Now, Im not really much of a physically confrontational sort of person. I was never in any sports, or many fights. I was the smart kid, so with a few quick words, the fight was won... without any sort of physical interaction. So now here I am... trying to kick somebody's ass, and in the process getting my ass kicked also. AHH! What I need to do is make the distinction between sport and actual fighting. I want to win, but I don't want to hurt anyone, however, I have to hurt someone, to win. When it's a sport, it's okay... when it's actual fighting, it's not okay. This is what I need to determine, but it's still kinda hard. The night that I sparred, I went home and cried. I've got a lot to learn.

If Mamma ain't happy:

My jet setting mother was able to make a quick stop in BG on her way to San Francisco. I was very happy to see her as I hadn't since labor day. After an afternoons worth of cleaning the apartment, Mom showed up around 3 oclock and I gave her the apartment tour. I was pleased to see how impressed she was with what Tom and I have done to our humble little apartment. After the grand tour, I took Mom into work to show off Spaceship Helpdesk and she was impressed with it also. After that, we picked up Tom and headed to Thayer. Surprisingly enough, they tried to feed MY MOTHER a line of absolute bullshit. Well that didn't last for long and we were out of there with Mom giving me the advice to go somewhere else. I did, but that's another story. We headed up to Yoko in Toledo and Brandon met us there. He is up for a job down in New Orleans, so I thought it would be good if he spoke with my Mom about the place, since she just moved from there. The sushi was overpriced and subpar compared to the last time I had been there, so I wasn't that impressed. However, I got to have some Asahi, which is quite tasty. After sushi, Brandon led us to this awesome little coffee shop in Perrysberg called Finer Grounds (I think.. I'm not sure). It's connected to a dance store and a candy store with the coffee shop in the back. However, there's this perfectionist guy who owns it and he and his assistant make these artful cups of coffee that were just out of this world. There's a little sitting area with leather couches, warm red walls, coffee tables, and candle light. We all just chilled out there and talked for a bit, enjoying our most excellent coffee. After that, we all headed home. Saturday morning, I had my japanese class where I got a 100% on my latest hiragana quiz :) I headed home and hopped in the car with Mom for a trip down to Wright Patt airforce base. Fortunately for me, I got to sleep in the car a bit. Mom and I eventually got down there, got a visitors pass, and headed into the BX / commissary without event and without anyone checking my ID. We did a bit of shopping and I was quite impressed with the prices at the comissary. With the cheap prices, coupons, and no tax, I saved quite a bit of money. Someone even remarked how awesome my multicolored knitted scarf is and that made my day. I was unimpressed with the liquor store though, I have to say. There were some things in there that I could've bought cheaper at Legends in BG, oddly enough. Either way, I left there with a huge plastic bottle of Smirnoff with a handle. Don't worry, I didn't drink it. After shopping, Mom and I tried to find the Officers club, but were highly unsuccessful and drove all over creation. It is a HUGE base, so we got to see a lot, including all of the high class housing for the folks staying there. Eventually we made it to the officer's club and had quite an excellent meal. Mom had the prime rib, I had the filet mignon, we both had wine and iced tea, and the bill came to around 30 bucks. 30 BUCKS! Their house wine was Mondavi and Woodbridge, which really impressed me. They had chandeliers, candlelight, and a piano player. It almost makes me want to join the military.... almost :) After dinner we headed up the highway and went to visit some relatives. Of course I was signed up for the "fix my computer" duty, but it wasn't that difficult and now they think I'm so smart :) We had to leave after a few hours because Mom had to be at Toledo the next morning for her flight which left at 6:30 am. She was able to make it and got to SF with no event. Fortunately, sunday was rather uneventful. I got to spend some QT with Tommy, whom I hadn't seen much all weekend.

BG is Anti-Plum:

The reason why I bought a huge bottle of vodka was to make homemade cordials to give away as christmas presents. I got some cool lookin' bottles from Big Lots, some berries from Meijer, but I couldn't find a damn plum to save my life. Eventually, I was able to find some canned plums, but christ... It's almost christmas.. You know.. visions of SUGARPLUMS!!! What the heck folks! Anyway, I've made a few bottles of my cordials, so if you're lucky you might get one. If you're not lucky... YOU GET COAL! Just kidding ;)

See the USA in your Toyota:

So I was sick and tired of getting the run around from Thayer. Those assholes wouldn't bargain with me or even seemed remotely interested when I came in to get a car. In these days of decreasing car sales, you'd think they'd deal with me. But no. I don't recommend Thayer to anyone but masochists. So I noticed that there was a 1998 RAV4 over at Bowling Green Lincoln Mercury Jeep, with 5000 more miles than the one at Thayer, but 500 dollars cheaper. I saw it on autotrader, so I sent them a little howdy email through there and then called em up. Who answers the phone? None other than Becca Norwood herself, one of my sorority sisters. I'll be damned :) So I go over after work, test drive the car, they're treating me like a queen. Becca gets me the hookup, a really good deal, and they're giving me much much more for the old civic than I could've possibly fathomed. Even good ole sky bank came through with a loan for me and my barely any credit issue. So, I got my new sweet ride over lunch and now I'm pimpin' it out in my Rav4. This car is in impeccable condition. The person who had it before me had taken really great care of it, the carfax came out clean, the tires are in good condition, and my insurance only went up 47 dollars (which isn't bad considering that I didn't have collision before, just comprehensive). I will be giving out Rav4 rides, so if you want one, let me know :)

Oh yeah, and I got 40 bucks for ranking in some sort of break through service contest today at work. Blue skies, smiling at me... nothing but blue skies... do I see :)

11.19.02 3:21pm(3 comments)

Republicans win, the world is doomed

11.06.02 4:30pm(1 comment)