Out With the Family
First of all, happy birthday to my little nephew Skylar, driving his grandmother and mother crazy at age 4.
Work was no problem at all today, something I appreciate after Tuesday. We had no trouble with the customers or with employees, I arrived on time, and my relief was on time. It was a good thing. I couldn't have stayed late today. Dad invited me to go out to dinner with him, Jodie, and Jessa for his birthday.
I went over to Dad's right after work with the pudding pie I made him and my laundry. Dad and Jessa weren't terribly happy with each other; Jessa flunked her driver's license exam and Dad got upset. Jessa wasn't as angry. She knew she hadn't practiced parallel parking enough, and she's not really all that interested in driving or cars. I think Dad (understandably) just wants her to be able to take herself to school and out with her friends.
Jess and I spent the afternoon playing a weird video game console thing some friend or the other gave her. It's a small penguin-shaped console filled with 110 classic video games from the Atari and Nintendo era, from Defender and Pac Man to Super Mario Brothers and the Disney Aladdin. She must have gotten the console from one of her anime-crazy friends. While everything is in English, some of the games are a little different from what we're used to - for instance, the opening titles of Super Mario Brothers has a "2" and Mario's face instead of the familiar title in the big block, and the original Mario Brothers is simply called "Mr. Mary."
For every familiar old favorite we played, we encountered two others we'd never heard of. I don't know what the Japanese were on in the 80s, but some of these games were pretty bizarre. In one game, you had to manipulate what looks like huge tacks in order get stacks of rolling pearls into little conveyor belts. The pearls eventually drop into numbered vents. Beware the vent marked "out" - a crab will come, eat your pearls, and end your game! There was another game involving two penguins you had to manipulate past spiders and spiderwebs to get to a goal...but you had to make sure both penguins made it. In another game, three little white creatures have to shoot at the balloons transporting foxes to their friends with arrows. Strange, strange games, and not nearly as easy as they sound. I couldn't get past the second round on any of them. (Jessa actually did pretty well with the pearl one.)
We had dinner at the Tappan Grill, a bar/restaraunt in Westmont, and a far nicer one than the Oaklyn Manor Pub down the street. We ate on an outdoor bar patio, listening to a local cover band. (Dad kept saying they were pretty bad, but they played good music.) Jodie and Dad had pizza. I had a delicious grilled chicken sandwich on foccacia bread with smoked Gouda, red onion, bacon, and argula. Jess had mini-burgers with cheddar and Italian Wedding Soup.
Dad and Jodie invited me to a Camden Riversharks (local minor league baseball team) game tomorrow night. I don't know if I'm going to go or not. I'm pretty tired; I've had a long month. I was really distracted and spaced out at dinner.
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Balancing Act
The dark, cool inside of Yogawood felt so good on a hot, humid, sticky morning. I took the Yin/Vinyasa class I went to two weeks ago. I like this much better. The class was smaller (possibly because of the weather and the middle-of-the-week day), and the yin (long-held poses to open circulation)/vinyasa (basic yoga poses) combination is much easier for my poor balance and coordination than vinyasa alone. I chatted a bit with Jill, the teacher for both classes, after we finished.
I spent most of the rest of the day doing chores and errands. I went to Walgreens to see if they had August's WCares WebKinz out yet. A girl reported that yes, they had the new WebKinz but hadn't put them out yet. She was nice enough to dig a Lil'Kinz Persian Cat out of the box stacked in the back amid cartons of aspirin. I also picked up a bubble envelope to send Lauren the extra copy of Yankee Doodle Dandy I got from Amazon.com for some reason.
I rode down Haddon Avenue to Crystal Lake Drive, then up to Cuthbert Road. I had lunch at the Crystal Lake Diner, which is almost literally under the Haddon Township Library on the hillside. The Crystal Lake Diner is your basic local hash house. The prices aren't as good as the Newton Diner on the White Horse Pike, but the food's good. I had a Western Omlette with real hash browns (not frozen shredded stuff) and whole wheat toast while listening to the (mostly elderly) lunch crowd.
I headed up to the library after lunch for this week's volunteering session. The librarians were all busy and had no assignments for me, so I just did the children's DVDs and helped some kids find the movies they were looking for. I made a quick stop at Super Fresh afterwards to buy ingredients for my birthday present for Dad and at WaWa for a Chocolate-Vanilla Coke Zero from the soda fountain before heading home.
I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom. It's a little early, but I figured, since I finally got to the dusting, I might as well do this, too. Besides, both were starting to look bad. The bathtub was getting scuzzy, and the kitchen sink had a ring from the tub I use for the dishes.
Oh yes, and meet Alice the Lil'Kinz Persian Cat! Named for the little lady from Wonderland (and because I just like that name), Alice is a quiet, thoughtful young would-be writer who lives with Yum Yum the Siamese Cat in the KinzBeach Resort Hotel. Alice is also fond of music and is one of the Webbies' biggest fans; she spends a great deal of time with them, listening to their rehearsals and giving them pointers.
The dark, cool inside of Yogawood felt so good on a hot, humid, sticky morning. I took the Yin/Vinyasa class I went to two weeks ago. I like this much better. The class was smaller (possibly because of the weather and the middle-of-the-week day), and the yin (long-held poses to open circulation)/vinyasa (basic yoga poses) combination is much easier for my poor balance and coordination than vinyasa alone. I chatted a bit with Jill, the teacher for both classes, after we finished.
I spent most of the rest of the day doing chores and errands. I went to Walgreens to see if they had August's WCares WebKinz out yet. A girl reported that yes, they had the new WebKinz but hadn't put them out yet. She was nice enough to dig a Lil'Kinz Persian Cat out of the box stacked in the back amid cartons of aspirin. I also picked up a bubble envelope to send Lauren the extra copy of Yankee Doodle Dandy I got from Amazon.com for some reason.
I rode down Haddon Avenue to Crystal Lake Drive, then up to Cuthbert Road. I had lunch at the Crystal Lake Diner, which is almost literally under the Haddon Township Library on the hillside. The Crystal Lake Diner is your basic local hash house. The prices aren't as good as the Newton Diner on the White Horse Pike, but the food's good. I had a Western Omlette with real hash browns (not frozen shredded stuff) and whole wheat toast while listening to the (mostly elderly) lunch crowd.
I headed up to the library after lunch for this week's volunteering session. The librarians were all busy and had no assignments for me, so I just did the children's DVDs and helped some kids find the movies they were looking for. I made a quick stop at Super Fresh afterwards to buy ingredients for my birthday present for Dad and at WaWa for a Chocolate-Vanilla Coke Zero from the soda fountain before heading home.
I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the kitchen and the bathroom. It's a little early, but I figured, since I finally got to the dusting, I might as well do this, too. Besides, both were starting to look bad. The bathtub was getting scuzzy, and the kitchen sink had a ring from the tub I use for the dishes.
Oh yes, and meet Alice the Lil'Kinz Persian Cat! Named for the little lady from Wonderland (and because I just like that name), Alice is a quiet, thoughtful young would-be writer who lives with Yum Yum the Siamese Cat in the KinzBeach Resort Hotel. Alice is also fond of music and is one of the Webbies' biggest fans; she spends a great deal of time with them, listening to their rehearsals and giving them pointers.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Working Girl
Never judge a book by it's cover...or a work day by how busy it is in the first half-hour. It was so dead when I arrived at work around 10AM, one of the cashiers who was supposed to be there all day was allowed to go home because she didn't want to stand around and do nothing. Of course, a half hour later, we get busy and stay on-and-off busy for the rest of the day. Of course, we end up calling in more help because the cashier went home and we had call-outs. I stayed an extra hour until one of the teenage girls arrived.
The moral, ladies and gentlemen? Even if you don't seem to be busy at work, stand around anyway. You never know when things are going to change.
Customers were a pain, too. It's the end of the month, and we have lots of annoying people getting their monthly Social Security checks. As I predicted, we had more complaining about that stupid $4.99 Pepsi coupon, too. For heaven's sake, people, READ THE COUPON. The ads clearly say "$4.99 EACH." Don't just assume that three 24 packs of soda and water are going to be $4.99 all together. That's unrealistic.
I hate my job. I'm never going to get OUT of my job. The economy's so bad, and no one's going to hire someone who hasn't worked anywhere but a grocery store for six years. I'm so out-of-place here. I must be the only single, childless college graduate living alone, without pets or significant others, in the entire South Jersey area. I've never met anyone else who wasn't living with their parents or pets or lovers or wife or husband. No one knows what it's like to be lonely.
I went for a walk to CVS after work. I was originally going to clean, but I didn't really have the time when I finally got in. I dropped by Dad's house really quick on the way back. He gave me some steak and lobster leftover from his birthday dinner last night, and I got to wish him a happy birthday.
Never judge a book by it's cover...or a work day by how busy it is in the first half-hour. It was so dead when I arrived at work around 10AM, one of the cashiers who was supposed to be there all day was allowed to go home because she didn't want to stand around and do nothing. Of course, a half hour later, we get busy and stay on-and-off busy for the rest of the day. Of course, we end up calling in more help because the cashier went home and we had call-outs. I stayed an extra hour until one of the teenage girls arrived.
The moral, ladies and gentlemen? Even if you don't seem to be busy at work, stand around anyway. You never know when things are going to change.
Customers were a pain, too. It's the end of the month, and we have lots of annoying people getting their monthly Social Security checks. As I predicted, we had more complaining about that stupid $4.99 Pepsi coupon, too. For heaven's sake, people, READ THE COUPON. The ads clearly say "$4.99 EACH." Don't just assume that three 24 packs of soda and water are going to be $4.99 all together. That's unrealistic.
I hate my job. I'm never going to get OUT of my job. The economy's so bad, and no one's going to hire someone who hasn't worked anywhere but a grocery store for six years. I'm so out-of-place here. I must be the only single, childless college graduate living alone, without pets or significant others, in the entire South Jersey area. I've never met anyone else who wasn't living with their parents or pets or lovers or wife or husband. No one knows what it's like to be lonely.
I went for a walk to CVS after work. I was originally going to clean, but I didn't really have the time when I finally got in. I dropped by Dad's house really quick on the way back. He gave me some steak and lobster leftover from his birthday dinner last night, and I got to wish him a happy birthday.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Frequent Flyer
First of all, happy birthday to my biological father Bruce! I'll be bringing my birthday present for him over when I do the laundry and go out to dinner with the family on Thursday. Bruce and Jodie called while I was at work and said they were making a special dinner and would be willing to save me some. Alas, I wasn't done until 7:30, too late to go anywhere but the shower.
I spent the morning sleeping in and catching up on paperwork and editing the short stories Lauren and I have written in the past few weeks. We're going to be starting August's main story tomorrow night; look for it in a few weeks!
Work was on-and-off steady, with no major problems, something I'm grateful for after all the rude and obnoxious customers last Monday. We had one pair who threw a fit when they thought the Pepsi 24-packs were $4.99 all together with a coupon instead of $4.99 EACH, but other than that, there were no problems customer-wise. (I have the feeling that coupon is going to give me trouble all week. It DOES say "$4.99 each" on the coupon...in small text.)
The store was more of a problem than the customers. The front end was a mess when I arrived. They were in the midst of cleaning under the candy and magazine racks in the front of the registers so they could install new ones. They did finally get them in towards the end of my shift, but there was still carts full of 20 oz soda, water, juice, and energy drinks, magazines, and candy and gum when I left.
First of all, happy birthday to my biological father Bruce! I'll be bringing my birthday present for him over when I do the laundry and go out to dinner with the family on Thursday. Bruce and Jodie called while I was at work and said they were making a special dinner and would be willing to save me some. Alas, I wasn't done until 7:30, too late to go anywhere but the shower.
I spent the morning sleeping in and catching up on paperwork and editing the short stories Lauren and I have written in the past few weeks. We're going to be starting August's main story tomorrow night; look for it in a few weeks!
Work was on-and-off steady, with no major problems, something I'm grateful for after all the rude and obnoxious customers last Monday. We had one pair who threw a fit when they thought the Pepsi 24-packs were $4.99 all together with a coupon instead of $4.99 EACH, but other than that, there were no problems customer-wise. (I have the feeling that coupon is going to give me trouble all week. It DOES say "$4.99 each" on the coupon...in small text.)
The store was more of a problem than the customers. The front end was a mess when I arrived. They were in the midst of cleaning under the candy and magazine racks in the front of the registers so they could install new ones. They did finally get them in towards the end of my shift, but there was still carts full of 20 oz soda, water, juice, and energy drinks, magazines, and candy and gum when I left.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Just a Big Black Rain Cloud
There were heavy clouds gathering over Camden County this morning when I called Mom for our Sunday chat. Mom said it was cloudy in Cape May County, too, and predicted rain. Mom was alone again. Dad was out fishing and Keefe was babysitting. She praised my going to Yogawood and fussed about Anny and Skylar and Anny not disciplining Skylar enough again.
It remained cool but very humid when I went to work at 11. Work wasn't bad, steady with few problems...until around 1:30-2PM. The clouds that had gathered all morning finally reached a dark, heavy critical mass shortly after my break. It was so dark, as Katie, one of the cashiers, pointed out, it looked more like 8PM than 2PM.
That was when it started to rain. And I mean really rain. It rained so hard, you couldn't see the sidewalk, much less the parking lot. There was a long line of people at both entrances waiting for the rain and thunder to subside so they could make a dash to their cars. Needless to say, we weren't busy for the rest of the afternoon.
The storm was down to a soft shower by the time I finished at 3:30. I waited for another five minutes as the storm died down to a drizzle, then headed home. I was thinking of going for a walk, but while the thunder and lighting did finally subside, it rained hard on and off for the rest of the afternoon. I spent the day adding numbers to my cell phone and music to my new MP3 player instead.
There were heavy clouds gathering over Camden County this morning when I called Mom for our Sunday chat. Mom said it was cloudy in Cape May County, too, and predicted rain. Mom was alone again. Dad was out fishing and Keefe was babysitting. She praised my going to Yogawood and fussed about Anny and Skylar and Anny not disciplining Skylar enough again.
It remained cool but very humid when I went to work at 11. Work wasn't bad, steady with few problems...until around 1:30-2PM. The clouds that had gathered all morning finally reached a dark, heavy critical mass shortly after my break. It was so dark, as Katie, one of the cashiers, pointed out, it looked more like 8PM than 2PM.
That was when it started to rain. And I mean really rain. It rained so hard, you couldn't see the sidewalk, much less the parking lot. There was a long line of people at both entrances waiting for the rain and thunder to subside so they could make a dash to their cars. Needless to say, we weren't busy for the rest of the afternoon.
The storm was down to a soft shower by the time I finished at 3:30. I waited for another five minutes as the storm died down to a drizzle, then headed home. I was thinking of going for a walk, but while the thunder and lighting did finally subside, it rained hard on and off for the rest of the afternoon. I spent the day adding numbers to my cell phone and music to my new MP3 player instead.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Return of the TreeHouse Cafe
Today was the earliest I've worked on a Saturday since the spring. On one hand, this meant I had to forgo my farm market/yard sale trip this week. (Hopefully, I'll be able to pull it off next week.) On the other hand, it meant I got out of work early enough to do some chores and enjoy a lovely, hot-but-not-humid summer afternoon. Work was steady, not too crazy (and no call-outs, surprising after yesterday and given the great weather). There were a few obnoxious customers, including one older man who didn't read the coupon for the $4.99 24 packs of Pepsi sodas and Aquafina water and thought they were $4.99 all together when they were $4.99 each and wasn't too happy about it. Otherwise, everything went fine and my relief was on time.
After I left work, I rode to Merchant Street in Audubon for the re-opening of one of my favorite local coffee shops, the TreeHouse Cafe. It was in Collingswood, but like Abbie Road, moved to Audubon when the rent got too high. The building it currently occupies is somewhat newer and less homey, and I miss the murals and the lovely old fireplace, but it's larger, with more tables, more light, and a much nicer kitchen area. I treated myself to a Chai Tea Latte Freeze (basically, a chai tea Slurpee). It was a little sweet but very tasty.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finally dusting my apartment and sweeping the porch. Both badly needed it. I think the dust was effecting my nose. I've been sneezing and am often stuffed up in the morning. I don't usually put off dusting this long, but I either haven't had the chance to do it or the weather got too nice or I had something else going on.
I had dinner on the porch for the first time in over a month, too, just burgers and a salad. I was attacked by a few flies, but there was a nice wind going and it wasn't nearly as bad as the last time I did it, when every mosquito for a hundred miles decided to use me as open bar night.
Today was the earliest I've worked on a Saturday since the spring. On one hand, this meant I had to forgo my farm market/yard sale trip this week. (Hopefully, I'll be able to pull it off next week.) On the other hand, it meant I got out of work early enough to do some chores and enjoy a lovely, hot-but-not-humid summer afternoon. Work was steady, not too crazy (and no call-outs, surprising after yesterday and given the great weather). There were a few obnoxious customers, including one older man who didn't read the coupon for the $4.99 24 packs of Pepsi sodas and Aquafina water and thought they were $4.99 all together when they were $4.99 each and wasn't too happy about it. Otherwise, everything went fine and my relief was on time.
After I left work, I rode to Merchant Street in Audubon for the re-opening of one of my favorite local coffee shops, the TreeHouse Cafe. It was in Collingswood, but like Abbie Road, moved to Audubon when the rent got too high. The building it currently occupies is somewhat newer and less homey, and I miss the murals and the lovely old fireplace, but it's larger, with more tables, more light, and a much nicer kitchen area. I treated myself to a Chai Tea Latte Freeze (basically, a chai tea Slurpee). It was a little sweet but very tasty.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finally dusting my apartment and sweeping the porch. Both badly needed it. I think the dust was effecting my nose. I've been sneezing and am often stuffed up in the morning. I don't usually put off dusting this long, but I either haven't had the chance to do it or the weather got too nice or I had something else going on.
I had dinner on the porch for the first time in over a month, too, just burgers and a salad. I was attacked by a few flies, but there was a nice wind going and it wasn't nearly as bad as the last time I did it, when every mosquito for a hundred miles decided to use me as open bar night.
Friday, July 25, 2008
In the Summertime
As my only day off this week, today was my official errands day. I went to work to pick up my paycheck and do a fairly large grocery shopping trip (thanks to working too early to make the farm market tomorrow). The customer service line was backed-up when I arrived, and I found out why when Greg, one of the managers, asked Shane, another manager who was off today and behind me in line, if he wanted to come in to work. Apparently, the store already had three or four call-outs, and it was only noon. Everyone decided they'd rather be on vacation on such a gorgeous day than work! I might have come in to help if this wasn't my only day off.
After I finally did my shopping and got out of the Acme, I quickly headed home for lunch and to put everything away, then went back out again. I went to the bank, then for a ride into Audubon. I hadn't been to Act Two Collectibles or Abbie Road in a while, and I wanted to see if the TreeHouse Cafe had re-opened. (They moved to Audubon, across from Abbie Road on Market Street, earlier this month.) I ended up with a Chicago LP from Act Two (their first record, I believe), two used CDs and a nice chat with Bob from Abbie Road, my favorite oversized chocolate chip cookie from Desserts by Design, and the knowledge that the TreeHouse Cafe is opening tomorrow.
I finished up the day at Uncle Ken's for the laundry. Dad and Jodie were the only ones at home initially. I ate Dad's homemade Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice and chatted with them. They suggested I should try getting substitute teacher jobs in the fall. They don't require teaching certificates, just college experience. I'd like to look into being a library aid, too.
My cousin Amber, her fiancee Brian, and his one-year-old daughter Ella came over as we finished our rice. Amber, Ella, and I went swimming together in the wonderfully warm pool (it was at least 85 today). Ella is such a cutie. She loves the water and especially loves jumping into her surrogate mommy's arms!
As my only day off this week, today was my official errands day. I went to work to pick up my paycheck and do a fairly large grocery shopping trip (thanks to working too early to make the farm market tomorrow). The customer service line was backed-up when I arrived, and I found out why when Greg, one of the managers, asked Shane, another manager who was off today and behind me in line, if he wanted to come in to work. Apparently, the store already had three or four call-outs, and it was only noon. Everyone decided they'd rather be on vacation on such a gorgeous day than work! I might have come in to help if this wasn't my only day off.
After I finally did my shopping and got out of the Acme, I quickly headed home for lunch and to put everything away, then went back out again. I went to the bank, then for a ride into Audubon. I hadn't been to Act Two Collectibles or Abbie Road in a while, and I wanted to see if the TreeHouse Cafe had re-opened. (They moved to Audubon, across from Abbie Road on Market Street, earlier this month.) I ended up with a Chicago LP from Act Two (their first record, I believe), two used CDs and a nice chat with Bob from Abbie Road, my favorite oversized chocolate chip cookie from Desserts by Design, and the knowledge that the TreeHouse Cafe is opening tomorrow.
I finished up the day at Uncle Ken's for the laundry. Dad and Jodie were the only ones at home initially. I ate Dad's homemade Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice and chatted with them. They suggested I should try getting substitute teacher jobs in the fall. They don't require teaching certificates, just college experience. I'd like to look into being a library aid, too.
My cousin Amber, her fiancee Brian, and his one-year-old daughter Ella came over as we finished our rice. Amber, Ella, and I went swimming together in the wonderfully warm pool (it was at least 85 today). Ella is such a cutie. She loves the water and especially loves jumping into her surrogate mommy's arms!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
By the Beautiful River
After almost a week of killer heat and/or humidity (and previous weeks of more heat), I opened the door this morning to find an 80-degree day. By the time I'd finally made it to breakfast, any remaining humidity and clouds had dissipated, and the sun shown through the trees bending gracefully over my porch.
I spent the morning reading The Stolen Sapphire and Gangsters at the Grand Atlantic and listening to summer/vacation-themed Broadway cast albums. I also got to vacuuming my apartment; I'll dust on my day off tomorrow. I ran the Shirley Booth 1953 vehicle By the Beautiful Sea and Carol Channing's first major hit Gentlemen Prefer Blondes this morning and the 1971 cast album for the famous revival of No, No, Nanette when I got home from work.
I liked Gangsters and Sapphire (which were, interestingly, written by the same author). I enjoyed Gangsters somewhat more for an unusual storyline involving rum-running and what people will do to keep up with the rich (and because I'm more into the 20s than the Victorian era), but Stolen Sapphire has a touch of Indiana Jones mysticism to it's plot about a sapphire disappearing during a cruise and Samantha and Nellie getting involved with the mystery when their French teacher is accused of the crime.
Work was on-and-off steady, not a surprise on a beautiful day. Also not a surprise was a few people calling out or not showing at all. It's a good thing we were dead when I left. My relief still hadn't arrived.
After almost a week of killer heat and/or humidity (and previous weeks of more heat), I opened the door this morning to find an 80-degree day. By the time I'd finally made it to breakfast, any remaining humidity and clouds had dissipated, and the sun shown through the trees bending gracefully over my porch.
I spent the morning reading The Stolen Sapphire and Gangsters at the Grand Atlantic and listening to summer/vacation-themed Broadway cast albums. I also got to vacuuming my apartment; I'll dust on my day off tomorrow. I ran the Shirley Booth 1953 vehicle By the Beautiful Sea and Carol Channing's first major hit Gentlemen Prefer Blondes this morning and the 1971 cast album for the famous revival of No, No, Nanette when I got home from work.
I liked Gangsters and Sapphire (which were, interestingly, written by the same author). I enjoyed Gangsters somewhat more for an unusual storyline involving rum-running and what people will do to keep up with the rich (and because I'm more into the 20s than the Victorian era), but Stolen Sapphire has a touch of Indiana Jones mysticism to it's plot about a sapphire disappearing during a cruise and Samantha and Nellie getting involved with the mystery when their French teacher is accused of the crime.
Work was on-and-off steady, not a surprise on a beautiful day. Also not a surprise was a few people calling out or not showing at all. It's a good thing we were dead when I left. My relief still hadn't arrived.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Beating the Storms
Spent most of the morning and afternoon at work. It was on-and-off busy, with no really major problems. The weather was ominous all day, not quite as hot as it was over the weekend, but still cloudy and VERY humid. If my still-wet porch was any indication, it rained overnight and had just begun to spit when I went to work around 10:30AM. When I got out at quarter of 4 after picking up yogurt and some other essentials that were only on sale this week, the sun was fighting a battle with the clouds that, as it turned out, it would lose. Just 20 minutes after I got home and changed into a T-shirt and shorts, I heard the first rumble of thunder. The storms have continued on and off for the rest of the night. I was going to go to Uncle Ken's and go swimming, but needless to say, I didn't end up going anywhere. I did some things around the house and took a look at my luggage to see what travel items I'll need when I go to New England in September.
Spent most of the morning and afternoon at work. It was on-and-off busy, with no really major problems. The weather was ominous all day, not quite as hot as it was over the weekend, but still cloudy and VERY humid. If my still-wet porch was any indication, it rained overnight and had just begun to spit when I went to work around 10:30AM. When I got out at quarter of 4 after picking up yogurt and some other essentials that were only on sale this week, the sun was fighting a battle with the clouds that, as it turned out, it would lose. Just 20 minutes after I got home and changed into a T-shirt and shorts, I heard the first rumble of thunder. The storms have continued on and off for the rest of the night. I was going to go to Uncle Ken's and go swimming, but needless to say, I didn't end up going anywhere. I did some things around the house and took a look at my luggage to see what travel items I'll need when I go to New England in September.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Library Days
Today was far more pleasant than yesterday, beginning with my library volunteering. I did the children's CDs (which badly needed it - they probably hadn't been done since the last time I did them last year) and shelved children's DVDs. I also helped the kids find the DVDs they were looking for. One cute little girl with blond curls wanted Angelina Ballerina. The mother of a little red-headed toddler said "we're a simple family - we like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Sesame Street," so I found two Clifford DVDs for her daughter. A slightly older girl with dark wavy hair asked for Barbie; she chose Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. Little boys and girls alike asked for Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a hectic and enjoyable morning.
I worked on editing the just-finished Monkee Role-Play in the early afternoon before work. Look for it tonight or sometime tomorrow, along with two adult-oriented short stories.
Work was steady-to-quiet and absolutely no problems whatsoever (I spent the last hour doing returns), which was most welcome after yesterday. I think I agree with two of my customers. Yesterday's rude crowd was probably caused by a combination of the heat wave and the full moon. The latter, incidentally, is supposed to break by tomorrow and be gone by later in the week.
Today was far more pleasant than yesterday, beginning with my library volunteering. I did the children's CDs (which badly needed it - they probably hadn't been done since the last time I did them last year) and shelved children's DVDs. I also helped the kids find the DVDs they were looking for. One cute little girl with blond curls wanted Angelina Ballerina. The mother of a little red-headed toddler said "we're a simple family - we like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Sesame Street," so I found two Clifford DVDs for her daughter. A slightly older girl with dark wavy hair asked for Barbie; she chose Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus. Little boys and girls alike asked for Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a hectic and enjoyable morning.
I worked on editing the just-finished Monkee Role-Play in the early afternoon before work. Look for it tonight or sometime tomorrow, along with two adult-oriented short stories.
Work was steady-to-quiet and absolutely no problems whatsoever (I spent the last hour doing returns), which was most welcome after yesterday. I think I agree with two of my customers. Yesterday's rude crowd was probably caused by a combination of the heat wave and the full moon. The latter, incidentally, is supposed to break by tomorrow and be gone by later in the week.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Unbalanced
Today did NOT go well. I went to Yogawood this morning for my second class. This class was all Vinyasa, and it did involve some standing on one foot...something I am NOT good at. I keep getting confused about which side to turn to, too - I look at the people on the other side of the room and not at what I'm doing. And I've been hoping to meet people I can talk to, but as usual, everyone knows everyone but me, everyone's been in the area all their lives, everyone has a family or a place to go. Guess who just went straight home after class? It won't stop me from going to a class every week I can make it, but I really wish I could find SOMEONE in this area who is single and living totally alone like me. Maybe I'd feel less like a weird creature.
Work didn't make me feel any better. The computer behaved this time, but the people didn't. EVERYONE seemed to be in a bad mood, culminating in a noisy shouting match between two customers when one stepped back so a man could get the right pack of water and the other and his wife walked right in with ice cream. The wife was so apologetic, but I was about ready to kill the other two and the man whose inability to read signs started the whole thing in the first place. People were rude. People were whiny. People were ignorant. I'm getting SO sick of it. The next person who gives me a hard time over water and ice cream is going to get said items shoved down their gullets.
At least things went well in WebKinz World. A week-long Wacky Zingoz Festival began on Thursday. You can click on the flying Wacky and win a Wacky Zingoz stuffed toy for your pets, and when you play the original (not the Extreme) Wacky Zingoz, if you manage to hit it past the 600 mark, you win a Wacky Zingoz 600 trophy! Not only did I finally win my third Arcade trophy and first Wacky trophy, but I'm up to four Wacky plushies (counting the one I sent to Lauren for her WebKinz). Not to mention I posted my best-ever scores on Triple Strike Solitare, Lilly Padz (which I used to be terrible at), and Hungry Hog (Level 17!).
Today did NOT go well. I went to Yogawood this morning for my second class. This class was all Vinyasa, and it did involve some standing on one foot...something I am NOT good at. I keep getting confused about which side to turn to, too - I look at the people on the other side of the room and not at what I'm doing. And I've been hoping to meet people I can talk to, but as usual, everyone knows everyone but me, everyone's been in the area all their lives, everyone has a family or a place to go. Guess who just went straight home after class? It won't stop me from going to a class every week I can make it, but I really wish I could find SOMEONE in this area who is single and living totally alone like me. Maybe I'd feel less like a weird creature.
Work didn't make me feel any better. The computer behaved this time, but the people didn't. EVERYONE seemed to be in a bad mood, culminating in a noisy shouting match between two customers when one stepped back so a man could get the right pack of water and the other and his wife walked right in with ice cream. The wife was so apologetic, but I was about ready to kill the other two and the man whose inability to read signs started the whole thing in the first place. People were rude. People were whiny. People were ignorant. I'm getting SO sick of it. The next person who gives me a hard time over water and ice cream is going to get said items shoved down their gullets.
At least things went well in WebKinz World. A week-long Wacky Zingoz Festival began on Thursday. You can click on the flying Wacky and win a Wacky Zingoz stuffed toy for your pets, and when you play the original (not the Extreme) Wacky Zingoz, if you manage to hit it past the 600 mark, you win a Wacky Zingoz 600 trophy! Not only did I finally win my third Arcade trophy and first Wacky trophy, but I'm up to four Wacky plushies (counting the one I sent to Lauren for her WebKinz). Not to mention I posted my best-ever scores on Triple Strike Solitare, Lilly Padz (which I used to be terrible at), and Hungry Hog (Level 17!).
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