OK so this week went by really really fast.

Wednesday after work our GM treated my entire department to dinner at a place called Albert's Riverside Restuarant and Pub in Windsor. It was a really nice place and the food was really good. The food was all mexican style being that it was Cinco De Mayo. He also told us to order drinks as long as we would be OK to drive home, so going with the Mexican theme I got Coronas.

Friday was the last service of the year. Afterwards me and Stacy went to Angelino's for dinner. Both of us were starving when we got there and then barely ate anything at all. Afterwards we headed over to Krispy Kreme and met up with Marissa, Carrie, Joe, Winston and Allan. From there we were heading over to bowling and told Winston to come with us so he didn't have to get crushed in the back of Marissa's car. So on the way there we were teasing him and telling him he should ask out Amy (which he wound up doing just after 1 that night). So we went bowling it was fun until like 11:30 when i got so tired I wanted to just pass out right there on the bench.

So yesterday spent WAY!!!!!! too much money. First I dropped Stacy off at school for her final, and headed over to staples. I need black ink, color ink and photo paper. Left staple over 100 dollars later. Over to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, Starbucks to get coffee and eat my bagel. Back over to campus and got talked into going to Hillel Saturday morning services because there was only 9 guys, so I stayed for like 20 minutes and then I needed to go to get the rest of my errands done. I went over to the bookstore and got my summerterm books...161 dollars. Then after that I wanted gas and figured I would stop by BJs since there were a couple of things I wanted...another 88 bucks. Came back here and dropped off the stuff and headed over to Target. Spent over 100 dollars there again, including buying 2 new pantries for my apartment. Over to Walmart where I spent another 80 something dollars. Then over to goldroc for another 10 bucks.

So afterwards we came back here and put together the pantries and Stacy's gift for Marissa while watching Gilmore Girls. We headed over to campus to say goodbye to people. First we wanted to head over to the duty box to give Marissa her present from Stacy and attempt to make her cry...but she wouldnt let it. Duty box was a lot of fun...it wound up being by the end Marissa, Me, Stacy, Rachel, Amy, Winston, Elysa and Jeff. Rachel had a great quote "I can be asexual I dont have a lover." So from there we went over to Stacy's and packed up a bunch of her stuff from her room. I took condoms from the duty box that I ment to put in Jamie's shoes but aparently they were Alison's...whoops.

Ok well now I'm up...time to go clean up the livingroom since it is still a mess.

Dear Patrons,
Hi it's me Jen. You bring me great painw ith your stupidity, and anger when what is impossible to do is what you see as possible.
"Hey Ms., if I print from my computer does it print on this floor?"
What kind of a fuckin question is that? No it prints on the third floor, or how about the roof. I should tell you it's going to come out of your ass. Beware of the most painful paper cut of your life.
"Hey Ms. Can I use those stairs?" *points frantically.
Ok,do you not see the huge sign above the door that says stairs. Why can't you read?
Speaking of not being able to read, when I put up like six signs that says I have no more computer appointments, please don't look at that sign for like 10 minutes and ask me do I have appointments. If I'm also hiding my head behind the signs, and I put boxes under the signs, so the signs at your eye level so you can read it, don't ask! When I say no more, there are no more. And please, please don't stand next to me for 10 minutes when you saw the sing, I told you there were no more appointments, and then ask me if I have one. Shouldn't you know if you were standing right by me that there; snothing available. No one handed me anything back. I can't magically give you an appointment. grrr
And if you want me to be sane, don't come up to me when I tell you, you can't use the express computer if you aren't signed up for it, even if it's empty it's the library's policy that it's only for those who signed for it. Don't come up to me everyday asking to sign up for it, and demand to speak to my supervisor who tells you the same thing every day. Policies don't magically change other.
So the point of this letter is to fuck off, assholes.
<2 Jen

I had a great time Friday night. I saw a lot of good friends, a lot of old friends, and met a few new people.

Jess and I went out to Julie’s apartment. Mike and Lisa were there. Nick showed up later on. We talked. We drank. We went out for margaritas. We came back. We drank some more. We went to a party in Euless. Lots of old friends there. We didn’t finally get to bed until around 3am.

I really miss these friends. I know I saw this almost every time I see them, but it’s true. My friends are great people, and they are a lot of fun to just be around. I wish I saw them more often. I’ve said this before but, I’m going to try to make sure that I don’t go so long in between visits next time.

Last night Jess and I went to my parents house to have dinner, play cards, and drink wine. Again, we had a wonderful time. My parents are great people and I feel incredibly lucky to have them, not only as parents, but as friends. We usually play poker, or spades. Last night was spades. My mom and I are always on one time, and Jess and my dad are the other. We played two games. We lost the first one—bad. Read bad. 516 to 74. However, we won the second game by about 100 points. It’s been a while since we won, so that was nice.

We sent my mom in New York some tulips (that wont be there until Monday) and picture of Jess and I for mother’s day. Friday, on my way home from work she called Jess to thank her for sending it. During this call she mentioned to Jess that my life was a wreck before she came along. She said that I wasn’t as bad as my brother, David, but pretty close and that she was grateful that Jess has straightened my life out and given me clear direction. Now, I don’t deny that Jess has been the best thing for me… ever. And I certianly don’t deny that my life is less complicated with her than it ever was without her. I can’t imagine life without her. However, before her, my life was hardly a wreck. I was doing well, making good money, paying most of my bills on time, and headed in a good direction, career-wise. Sometimes, my mom just talks to talk, and she doesn’t even understand what she’s saying. She’s crazy that way.

Today is mother’s day. Jess and I will be going to Keller to see my mom around noon. We’ll have dinner and goof off for a bit. In my usual manner, I neglected attempting to buy her gift until yesterday. I decided on a Cokin “P” series filter holder, adapter ring, and 2 filters (diffusion 1 and ND gradient 2) for her camera. Unfortunately, as I found out yesterday, Cokin “P” series filter holders aren’t easy to come by. Lots of places had the filters and the rings, but not the holders. So… I’m going to have to give her an IOU and order the items online. She’ll understand. It’s typical of me to work this way.

(Comments?)

I live in Marlboro, off of Igoe road and about 50 secons from the abandoned Marlboro State Sanitarium, I'm pretty sure theres a school back there now, or was one, it's really weird, the whole property is just gargantuan and the estate is extremely scary but easily accessible. The state let the Marines run battle runs through the buildings so now many rooms are desecrated with bullet holes and slugs, sorta cool, I have picked up many for myself....anyway, I have written to Weird Nj about several really ridiculously weird occasions on Igoe road and they have never even written back let alone published them, I can verify these stories and hope to share some if anyone is interested

Recap: I work in a call centre, giving out info on local public transport. One of these days I will make a big post, but I'm too lazy right now.

"Which bus goes closest to the main bus terminal in (capital city)?"

I don't think anymore needs to be added to that.

He also told me that he needed to arrive at his destination at 10.15, but wanted to leave at 10.45.

COBRA, for those of you who have never taken any interest in your health insurance, is a Federal law that allows you to continue your employer goup health/dental/vision/FSA coverage at the group rates after your are not longer normally eligible (due to, for instance, termination of employment, reduction in work hours, divorce, being too old to stay on your parents' coverage, etc). COBRA premiums are high ... I am not denying this ... but it's generally much cheaper than getting equivalent coverage through an individual policy, and the reason the premiums usually look so high is because while you're working, most employers subsidize at least part of your premium, whereas you have to pay all of it (up to 102% of the total premium for active employees) when you're on COBRA.

Not terribly long ago, COBRA was amended for the billionth time, and COBRA administrators can't termintate your coverage if you have paid less than the full premium, as long as the difference is "insignificant." My company defines "insignificant" as $5, which is more generous than most places, lemme tell you.

Now, once people learn this, they for some reason think that they can get away with just paying less than the full premium every month! And just send in whatever the hell they feel like paying. Um ... it doesn't work like that, your coverage won't be terminated due to an insignificant difference, but that doesn't mean your claims will continue to get paid while you're underpaid on premiums. And those small amounts of money will add up over several months ... we're not writing off those insignificant amounts, you still friggin' owe them and they are made up each month out of the short premiums you send in for the next month, so the only person you are shortchanging is yourself.

"Termination" in COBRA law means "your coverage has been cut off and you have no hope of reinstating it, have a nice life." The fact that we're not paying claims while people are back on premiums looks kinda like termination, but it isn't. Believe me, it isn't.

Well, on Wednesday I had a guy call because he hadn't been able to pick up his prescriptions in April while he was electing COBRA, and now that he'd elected it and paid his premium, he still couldn't get reimbursed for the prescriptions. I checked the payment screen - for the month of April, he was underpaid by $.35.

Now, 35 cents isn't much! But by god, it's less than the full premium, and if he got more than 30 days overdue for May's premium, coverage would be termed retro to the first of April. I dunno what makes people think that they can just invent their own premium like this ... His coverage hadn't been terminated, he still had a chance to pay that back 35 cents, but of course we weren't going to reimburse prescriptions while he wasn't paid up.

I explained this to him, and any consideration I might have had for the possibility that he just made a mistake when making out his check was dashed to pieces when he said, "I did that because I know you can't terminate my coverage for an insignificant difference!"

...

What kind of nutjob deliberately plays games with an insurance company over thirty-five freakin' cents??

Eventually, after telling me that this was no way for us to do business, and that he had hundreds of dollars in prescriptions and he needed that money back (obviously not as much as he needed that 35 cents!), and trying to force me to take it via credit card over the phone (we're not set up to accept cards of any type, and swearing at me will not make credit card capability magically appear), he finally asked who he had to write to to complain about this.

I told him, "The United States Congress."

Sometimes I love COBRA.

Death at Paulisnkill ruled accidental

For now.

Still this is a walking PSA for not going drinking when you're out exploring WNJ.

< ducks garbage, fruit and tomatos from crowd >

Happily staying with my brother at his flat.

I have obviously been doing the touristy things. I've visited Park Güell (I'm staying 2 blocks from there), the MNAC, Caixa Forum (a Salvador Dali Expo) and the Feria de Abril. I haven't visited the non-touristy Barcelona yet, but I plan on doing that soon enough.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:


NIGHTLIFE:
Last night my brother, a friend from Chile and I went to a club called LA SALSITA, near Plaza Real in LA RAMBLA. I liked the place, though the music the played was only electronic/techno which I'm not partial to. They did close with Soft Cell's Tainted Love which was a great way to end the first part of the night. Afterwards, my friend and I walked La Rambla; there were LOTS of people. We sat baside a statue, where it was packed with people playoing the guitar, drinking beer (you cannot drink beer in public places in Chile), smoking weed... it was different. A Chilean guy approached us and we chatted with him for a while.

DAYLIGHT:
Like I said, I've just done the touristy thing so far.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: God, I wish it were like this in Chile, especially the night buses. The subway here is drab and depressing, though, so I kind of miss the Metro de Santiago.

PEOPLE: Many people told me the Catalanes were rude and might no care to help when I asked for orientation, but they have been very nice and helpful so far.

Many pictures taken, but I don't have the software to download them yet, so they'll be part of a later post.

The Forum opened today, so that's where I'm heading right now.

Jetlag's a bitch.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/dave_barry/8619225.htm

So I was pedaling along on my bicycle, towing a little kiddie trailer that contained my daughter, Sophie, and her friend Sofia. I like to tow Sophie when she has a friend with her, because they quickly forget that I'm up there pedaling, so I can listen in on their conversations and find out what is on the minds of 4-year-old children. Usually it's something like this:

Back when I was a poor student, I worked as a waitress/bar staff - which is not unusual. My normal place of work was the County Ground here in Bristol, doing a job that I really did enjoy. Unfortunately, cricket is a summer game, so when I came back home at Christmas, I looked around for a little bit of casual waitressing work to earn a little pocket money over the holiday period.

Given the time of year, I found it too. The cricket ground had a few Christmas functions which I worked at (including one very entertaining one on Christmas Eve - it was an afternoon quiz, and while the time between the rounds was very busy [I was workning behind the bar and trying to serve 50 people at once isn't fun!] the actual quiz rounds wer very quiet, letting me join in with the quiz!), but this is a Customer's Suck post so you know what's coming next...

( New Year's Eve... )

Apparently my cousin is doing ok.. she had some teflon arterial grafts and one leg is fine and the other one is a matter of waiting and seeing... but she hasn't had anything chopped off yet, so that's a good sign I guess. Poor thing :(

Also, apparently this news article is about her.

Arrrg parking!

http://dubster.com/cars/index.asp?id=156

... Deadbeat Dad,

I'm sure you think it's sweet that you're going to rent a movie and a game for your kids. I'm sure they'll appreciate the shit your giving them in the place of love. But, OMG, don't ask me what's BEST for YOUR kids. I pointed out the kids' wall, and the game sections.

Bloody fuck, don't ask me what's the most popular game! I don't know. I don't sit and track game rents. I know a decent amount about games, and a goodly amount about the types I play. I have no godly clue what your kids are going to like. And for 6 bucks a rent, I'm not making a guess, either.

And when I finally DO crack, and reluctantly point out a movie I think some random kid might enjoy... don't dig out your cell-phone and CALL YOUR KIDS TO ASK THEM WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO RENT THEM FOR THEIR SURPRISE. cock.

Quit wasting my time.

----

[Ex-job, Denny's]

I've always, being a guy, thought of men as messy, gross things. We fart, we belch, we scratch, we sicken others publicly. Cleaning restrooms taught me that you ladies can be worse, you just hide it from us.

I swear. Toilet paper is FLUSHABLE. Make-up? Fine, toss it in the bin. A little bit of grime? Go ahead, toss it. ANY BODILY FLUID OR EXCRETION AT ALL? Flush that foul thing.

I can accept mensus. Leaving your biohazard waste out in the open, however, is not acceptable. And there is NO excuse for shit.

Do we even KNOW what the flush lever is FOR? More often than not, not only have they dropped their infested butt-wipes in the trash bin, what they DID leave in the bowl WON'T be flushed. I mean, COME ON!

The worse I've gotten out of the mens room? Some old guy's stinkie briefs abandoned in a bin. And that drunk that pissed on the wall between two urinals - "I must've missed." Otherwise, it was never anyworse or more out of place than I'd expect to see in a public restroom.

I am a pizza driver in Las Vegas, and deliver to the strip. The casinos don't let us go inside, we have to meet our customers at the valet area usually. As a result this can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

So this afternoon I pull up to the Mirage, and I immediately spot my customers waving at me. I pull over to the curb and get out to hand them their pizza, and an obnoxious cab driver starts honking. My customers shout, "She's moving! She's moving!" and give me a $5 tip.

Yay for cool customers. Boo for obnoxous cabbies (but the cabbies around here are another story altogether...)

So I'm bagging this guy's junk. Junk goes into bags on my happy fun time merrygoround bag rack (a hearty 'bite me' to the mental giant who thought those OSHA voilations up), but before I can turn the thing around, the guy comes trotting around behind me to grab them.

Uh, no. You don't horn in on the sacred personal bubble of the Register Monkey. It makes her nervous and you smell funny.

He starts to ask "So, miss, what--"

"Sir, sir! Please don't come back here." That at least gets him to move away, but he finishes what has to be the lamest question I've ever been asked, right up there with do you work here and are you open.

"So what brings you here at this hour in the morning?" (It was only 12:30 or so.)

I gave him the biggest how about a nice cup of DUH look I could fork over. "Uh, I work here."

I started out great with that trip to mexico thing, but now have degenerated into writing shit posts because I am really bored.

sorry



I need to need ,to need, to need to, definitely need to work out more regularly. I of all people, who places such a premium on being healthy, taking care of your body and looking fit. After a good workout I always feel so euphoric and relaxed and happy, I really need to get my ass out there more.

Fortunately, I have fencing class and yoga to keep me in ok shape, but I really could be feeling and looking much better if I would hit the weights and go jogging more often.

Eating bubblegum flavored candy is trippy, because the first rule of bubblegum is "do not swallow your bubblegum," except when its candy, that's what you're supposed to do.

Toby the beta fish died last wednesday. It was quite sad. 5/5/04 NEVAR FORGET!

Speaking of dead animals, I took a picture of the dead mother bird from the nest. The egg still hasn't hatched, I highly doubt it will.



Lately I've been getting into binaural beat frequencies, which are sounds of a certain frequency that stimulate the brain and help you achieve altered states. Its very cool, but a little scary how it works, I'm almost afraid to do it because certain ones make me so calm and relaxed and floaty that I wonder what other sounds could do, or what scary things I will imaging in my trancelike state.


Today at the thrift shop I found a pair of slippers that look like porcupines, and they were only $2. Then at a yard sale I got some Levis, but it was only after I got them home that I realized they are the 517s (funky, gay looking [no, seriously, they are], wierd men's flare leg style). Needless to say, it's time to bust out the sewing machine.

My new slippers and jeans.







A disused missile factory being converted into an orphanage and then undiscovered explosives detonating just one week after the official opening.

To review, I'm the exec. sous chef at an Italian restaurant here in Chicago.
First, the bad, because that's why we're here, right?
The guy who brought in his own no-carb pasta for us to cook. Damn you Dr. Atkins.

And the good:
I was hanging out in the dining room after the rush, just taking a break and seeing what was going on, when I walked by one table. A woman sitting there said, "Did you cook our dinner?"
"Yes..." I replied, not sure where this was headed.
"Come here," she said, motioning towards her. When I got closer, she planted a big kiss on my cheek and said, "That was absolutely incredible." She hadn't even been drinking.
A little closer than I like to get to strangers, but it was great to be acknowledged.