Ephemeris

Depressed. :(

2009-12-14T03:10:15Z

I'm going home in a couple of days. Normally, this excites me to an insane degree. I know things are going to be drastically different, though, and that's making it difficult enough.

Then, talking to mom earlier tonight, she told me that my grandma is planning on heading up to spend the holidays with the relatives that I seriously wish would just drop off the face of the planet. this is the aunt and uncle who came to funerals and started demanding stuff, or in the case of my uncle earlier this year, demanding his stuff before he was even dead. They're greedy, maggot infested, assholes from the 10th level of hell, and honestly if they were all to drop dead tomorrow, I'd probably feel nothing. But nope, they're making noises about how much they miss grandma, and other pity me bullshit that grandma, despite being an awesome woman, can never see through.

So, she's probably going to go spend Christmas with them. And the selfish little part of me is thinking, I already have to face a Christmas without grandpa, and now grandma's getting taken from me to.

I burst into tears. I can't explain it. I still feel weepy and depressed. I told my mom I love her. I really do. But after learning an aunt is leaving town, too, and won't be here for Christmas, followed by grandma maybe leaving, I just started crying, and wondering what's the point of coming home if some of the people I'm coming home FOR aren't going to be there?

I know, drama queen much? Like I said, I can't explain it. I hate it. I've been living with this stupid fear that I won't have any family left when I go to visit, especially after the crap year this has been, and it feels like I'm being proven right, as stupid as that sounds. And I know it sounds stupid, but can't help it. my brain's being stupid.

And this ends here, since I'm about to stop making sense. I'm probably due to start studying for finals again anyways.

Announcement!

2009-12-12T00:56:22Z

I have working water again!! WHEEEE!!

I was so excited, I ran straight into the bathroom and flushed the toilet...

Yes, I'm that much of a dork. Carry on, nothing to see here, folks!

Aaaaaaaand back to studying for finals...

It burns, precious!! (Or, how Jenn managed to scald herself something fierce in very painful places)

2009-12-10T22:46:56Z

Bear with me folks, I'm going on very little sleep and am going to try and put this in some semblance of order and coherence.

For the last week and a half, there's been a debacle going on in my apartment. I noticed a stain on the ceiling that kept growing and getting black. Fearing mold, I called maintenance. Turns out a pipe started leaking. A lot. A hole was cut out of my ceiling and bucket placed underneath it until said pipe could be repaired. I was warned it would take a few days, to get the correct parts and whatnot. It was supposed to have been repaired on friday, the 4th. However, we had a "winter storm" in Houston (Read: 2 inches of snow freaking everyone out, making them think it's the apocalypse.) So, of COURSE no one could drive to get the parts.

Monday arrives, and it turns out the local part shop doesn't have it. So, it's going to take another day, and causing the maintenance crew to drive farther out to the shop many many miles away to get said parts. Parts are obtained Tuesday morning, work is commencing.

Complications are struck. Work paused.

finally, FINALLY, I'm told, "Ok, it WILL be done by Wednesday!"

I come home. No hole. No bucket! Rejoice!

I go to take a shower last night. Turn the water on to the dial I know is my favorite temp. Grab towels, strip down, hop in, turn around to wet my hair.

Boiling. Hot. Water!!

I yelp, turn around and try to adjust it down.

There is NO adjusting it! There are two temperatures: Boiling Hot and Molten Lava.. I shut off the shower, but the damage is done. I'm scalded/burned down my back. Breasts, belly, face, ears and right knee, too (since I first hopped in the shower on the right side). Not to mention upon sitting, I discovered other areas that got burned, and that would be the nether regions. I test all the taps in my apartment. I have no cold water. At ALL. That's when I realize the toilet is making funny noises. I try to flush it. The tank is empty because it can't refill. No cold water.

I took pics of the damage. I was bright red and in pain, and wrapped wet washcloths I tossed in the freezer for a few minutes, on my chest and back, and wrapped around my knee. It burned.

I called the emergency maintenance line. Supposedly, if it's considered a real emergency, they'll call me back. Yeah, never got a call back. Went to bed around 1-2 after giving up on waiting. Called back at 5:30 to place another, regular maintenance request.

I went and talked to the office manager today once the office opened, but didn't actually get to see her until 10:30-ish, as she was running late. My cheeks and ears are still rather bright pink, and she asked about it. Perfect segue. I asked if there was someplace semi-private to discuss things because it's kind of embarrassing to talk about. She thought I was going to say maintenance barged in this morning without knocking while I was naked or something.

I explained what was going on and showed her one picture, the one I took of my upper chest and face immediately after getting out of the shower.

The maintenance guy who fixed my pipes in my ceiling was in the office and got on him, demanding to know if he fubared my water. He said no. She said to get to my apartment NOW and fix it. And this is before I even finished telling her the entire story.

When I told her where else I was burned, she was appalled. She did ask about why I didn't stick a hand in to check the temp first, but when I told her about always knowing the point on the knob for favorite shower temp, she understood. I didn't show her the rest of the pics, and told her where else I got burned that did not get photographed. She's very sympathetic. I also took a pic of my meat thermometer under the running water, and discovered that it was 153 degrees. She didn't think the water got that hot from the taps here.

Either way, maintenance was at my place when I finished talking to her, and he tested all my taps, and sure enough. No cold. No ability to flush the toilet because of an empty tank. He left, and for a while after that, I heard him outside the building, banging on pipes and clanging around, so I'm assuming he's fixing things.

I was told if I did in fact have to go to the clinic, to let her know. She'd see if there's a form or some kind of voucher I can take in, so the fee bill gets charged to the apartment complex. She's going to call her supervisor to check on that, and I'll get back to her later. She's also planning on finding out just who, exactly, was on call for the emergency maintenance line last night. I have my cell phone records showing I called them at 10:20 pm, and that the call lasted 3 minutes,so it wasn't just a dial and dash. I left all the requisite info, asked for a callback and never got one. I think heads might roll, but given the owwie achiness right now, can't exactly feel bad about it.

after maintenance banged around, clanked around for a while, and I went back to the office to find out what was going on, I get told that it's something to do with the city waterline, nothing to do with stuff that is the property's responsibility. So, if I were to try and get any medical attention and get compensation, I'd have to go through the city of Houston, because the property management company had nothing to do with my getting hurt. Apparently the valves to the city water pipes or mains or something froze, and they believe this means there is ice somewhere in the pipes, since the valves can't be turned. At least that's what I understand. Result is it's the pipes that affect my entire building. I'm just the lucky one who discovered it first. The water to my entire building has been shut off and a rush order to the city has been placed. City came out to assess the problem. They won't be out to fix it until tomorrow though, supposedly. We shall see.

I decided to give it until tomorrow to see if the burns on the sensitive regions start to feel better. If not, since i have to go to campus for a final anyways, I'll hit the health center there and talk to the pharmacist, see what she recommends. If it's a prescription, odds are i might be able to get an emergency one written and filled without being charged a copay for a doctor's visit, but we shall see. Good news is that nothing blistered. However, given the location of the burn around my inner thighs near my vagina, it's going to get irritated anytime i move, so most likely it's going to be red and raw for a while.

I'm exhausted right now, since I didn't get much sleep, and clothing chafes. A lot. I'm going to run a bath, but let it cool for a bit before I climb in, so I can get clean. I didn't get to take a shower so I still feel kind of ucky, even more so now.

Throwdown! - Kinda long, but FUN (at least for me!) (Cross-posted here & at CS.com)

2009-12-10T03:51:05Z

So, quick bit of background. We're not the only off campus bookstore. But the other one in existence is rather shady, and has some underhanded, just on this side of legal business practices. I know because I went into the store one day, looking for a book hoping to find it used because it was new only at my store, and even with the employee discount, it was quite pricey. I mention the class I'm taking, and they start trying to shove 4 books at me insisting I needed them because they were required for my class. I told them, no, I just need this one book, and it's "oh, no no, buy these, you have to have them your first day, your prof says so on the book request!" Mind you, said books have no relevance to the class I listed, and they still persisted despite my clarifying said class multiple times. Finally I got to the point where I told them, "Listen, sunshine, one of us here is lying. And it's not me."

Also, with their buybacks, they'll attempt to give the lowest possible amount they can get away with. One customer I helped yesterday came in and I offered $68 for his book. He said he'd been over there and they only offered $10. When the owner saw how upset he was, he haggled it up to $35, then pushed him to take it, swearing up and down he wouldn't get a better deal anywhere. So, we don't like other off campus store. It is now an established fact.

Fast forward to this morning. There is a duplex on the other side of a fence, on the south side of our property, which means it's directly to the left of us by our parking lot. Bossman comes in and he's rather upset, which is unusual, because he's the most mellow, laid back, easygoing boss I've ever worked with. Turns out other bookstore had set up a table on that other property, advertising textbook buybacks directly next to us. They put signs up everywhere and were trying to divert our customers to their table.

Ok, fine, they want to be competitive. Not much we can do. It's a private property next to us, technically residential duplex, but the owner gave her permission to use the property and chose not to charge them anything. Owner is a little old lady, who's looking to rent out the first level of the duplex, and try to turn it into a cozy little bookshop. Bossman says he's sure, and knows it in his bones, that other bookstore owner told little old lady, "Well, let me set up a buyback business there, to guage the traffic and demographics, and if we do well, I'll rent the property." All without the intention of renting said property. So, they've got their table up, and while bossman went out and took pictures, just for record purposes and to keep his regional manager up to date with what we deal with, there's not much we can do, because as far as we know, they're not technically breaking any laws.

And then the trash talking starts.

We get a string of customers coming in, who are upset because apparently the pushy little duo at the table (1 guy, 1 girl) started claiming that we weren't offering fair value on books, and that in most cases we weren't buy books at all. This makes bossman even more unhappy. He proceeds to call other bookstore owner, and tells him that while he respects competition, their practices are just underhanded and not right. And by the way, his employees are parked in OUR lot. So, move the cars, or get towed.

I told bossman slowly but surely, I'd bring him to the darkside. Looks like I was right because that's completely something I'd do!

Bossman calls our property manager, and gets permission to inform anyone parking in our lot to do business with the other bookstore table they would have to move, as they were not, in fact, our customers. Failure to do so would result in towing, as our lot is for customer parking only. During this, several of us brainstormed with bossman and came up with another alternate plan. Other bookstore employees were toeing really close to the line, waving their signs juuust on the side of our driveway to be considered not our property. So, we made a sign of our own, which read "The College Store We Pay More!" Our sign also pointed out that we had free games for extra cash, free fresh popcorn and free candy, plus coupons with chances to double your buyback cash. Much better than a stingy little card table out in the cold.

We sent one of our employees out with a bucket of candy, and he stood juuuust on the other side of the driveway, to still be on our property, and waved his sign around, whenever they other bookstore people did. And whenever someone stopped at the table, he loudly announced without ever moving closer, how much better our prices were, and all of the freebies. Oh yeah. Evil is FUN. So, we're approaching bookstore throwdown, and the competition is fierce. Everyone is actually starting to enjoy it, because we know we have them beat in every manner. Prices, incentives, customer service, etc.

I take my lunch break, and walk up to the local fast food joint because i forgot my lunch at home. On the way back, pushy girl from the other store's duo plants herself in the middle of the sidewalk in front of me. If I walk one way, I shove her partner into the street. If I walk the other way, I knock over her table. so I stop, and she moves in to strike. We have the following conversation, during which I speak nothing but 100% truth.

Her: Are you selling your books?!
Me: Not to you.
Her: Why not?
Me: Because you offer $10 for a book they *pointing to my store* offer close to $70 for.
Her: Oh, well if you get proof, we'll match the price and beat it!
Me: No. I've been to your store. You cheat people. Goodbye now!

I start walking, and she has no choice but to move or get plowed down. On the way to the store, I stop to talk to my CW, make sure he's holding up in the cold all right and see if he needs anything. He then informs me of how he got another customer to come into our store to sell his books, and after the games, coupons and whatnot, he ended up with $150. Pushy girl called him over, demanding to know how much he got, and when she was told, started claiming she SO would have given more, like $180 at least! CW managed to call over, still without moving from his spot, "Yeah, how can you guarantee that without ever seeing which books he was selling?"

CW also said that he was giving the candy away to whomever walked past him and pushy girl snapped at him "Those aren't students!!" CW just stares at her and shrugs, responding with, "Yeah. And...?"

I relay what happened to bossman. He's really getting steamed with how aggressive they're getting apparently, according to another CW driving back from break, they're trying to divert cars pulling in to park near them, without even knowing if they're sellign books back. (Not sure how that worked, exactly, never got details...) So, I go start on a project bossman had for me. I head to his office a few minutes later, and hear him on the phone with someone, and the following comes out of his mouth:

"...they are conducting business in front of a residence. I just want to know if that's legal to do without a permit?"

A few minutes later, after listening to whatever he was told, he asks, "And how, exactly is that enforceable, and is there anything I can do to see it's enforced?"

Apparently bossman called the City department on them now!

Unfortunately, they packed up shortly after, we think because it was too cold for them. However, after I clocked out and was wandering around, looking for my water bottle I lost, I see an official looking guy in a jacket with a badge. The back of his jacket says something like "regulatory department" or "Regulatory commission" or something like that. See, apparently, there was an anonymous complaint about us, that we weren't legally operating as a store, so he came out to see our sales tax permit, license to sell, whathaveyou. Gee, wonder how THAT happened!

Now, I'm wandering past bossman's office, still hunting for my water, and I get called in. Regulatory rep man is standing in there, and I'm told to explain my experience coming back from lunch. He has bossman email him the pictures taken that morning, and seemed REALLY interested in the fact that some of their signs were posted not on the private property, but on the large grassy median that separates the road into the opposite sides. He also said that to conduct buybacks on said property, Other bookstore owner needed to have a special permit. it's called an itinerant vendor permit, I think. And fun little factoid. If Mr. Bookstore owner does have said permit (very unlikely) and it's his name on said permit he MUST be present 100% of the time. If Mr. Bookstore owner sends bookstore minions, that's a nono. and if mr bookstore owner IS present, but has to pee, the entire operation must be shut down whilst he's in the can.

Regulatory commission man gave bossman his personal cell number, asking if he thought they'd come back. We think yes, because it's not likely to be as cold tomorrow. he says if they do come back call him. he finds this very interesting, and he guarantees they will not want to ever come back to that property again once he's done with them. This was the most excitement we've seen at our store for a long time. When we're not being robbed that is. I kind of wish they do come back because I wanna see them get pwned. But, I'm evil like that.

THE END!

I work with SLOBS!! (Kinda long, bit o' language, and kinda gross!!)

2009-11-30T05:22:14Z

I have to post this and get it out of my system before I turn in for the night. This is how my day went...

I get to work this morning, and bosslady tells me the back room is smelling kind of ripe, and that the fridge probably needs to get cleaned out, and the break area needs a good once over. I say ok, sure I can do that. Standard store rules state that fridge is cleaned once a week on Fridays, supposedly (I don't work Fridays, so I couldn't say for sure.) I knew the freezer needed a scrubbing because someone had an icee explode in there, but figured it'd be an easy job. I get to the back room and the smell. Dear gods, the smell. something was indeed rancid. Bosslady said someone probably just didn't get a chance to clear out the fridge and take out the trash because it was Black Friday this last weekend. Ok, I grab a couple trash bags and prepare to dive in.

First thing I discovered was the trashcan. Yes, there was a bag in the can. Upon removal of said bag, I discovered a layer of black slime, evidence that many someones had broken a rule to NOT dump garbage in a can without a bag, and left the resultant mess to rot and fester, until it became the aforementioned slime.

I gathered from that first moment that perhaps this was going to take longer than we had originally thought. I head back to the other back room we have, which has the cabinet of cleaning supplies. I first grab the box of gloves we keep for handling outdoor trashcans and the occasional spill around the coolers to avoid getting sticky. I then grab a jumbo size roll of paper towels, and large canister of Clorox wipes and the bottle of concentrated Formula 409. (we dilute it into spray bottles with water for cleaning purposes.)

I head back into the break room and scrap most of the solid bits out of the slime in the bottom of the trash can, and discover chicken bones. CHICKEN BONES. Bosslady ordered fried chicken yesterday to go with tailgating food brought to us by groups of people who were there for the last home football game of the season. This is evidence that this crap was going on YESTERDAY! Gaaah. Once the solid chunks are dealt with, I open the bottle of 409 and pour a layer of the concentrated solution into the bottom of the barrel and push it aside to soak.

then it's time to tackle the fridge and freezer. Gods help me. I open the refrigerator and proceed to start throwing things away. Oh look, pizza we ordered during homecoming weekend. (October 24th!). A small tub of what I believe started life as an avocado based dip, now a congealed brown mass with lumps. I think I just saw one move! A little to go cup of ranch dressing that solidified. Over here is a foil wrapped object, I'm not going to question what it is, I just know it's squishy and may start leaking at any moment. Moving on to the top shelf I find take out fried rice. It's black. Oh joy. And in the veggie bins I find hard boiled eggs. Eureka! The main source of the stench because they are now JELLY. The door of the fridge contains beverages and cups of fluids I'm not sure I want to contemplate on the age. Moving on the the freezer. Oh, big sigh of relief!! It's just some frozen candy canes and the exploded slushie goo. Easy enough, just need to grab the candy canes and pull them out and--they're stuck. Oh, ew!! Someone started licking this one then stuck it in the freezer. It's cemented to the bottom! Gaaaaah!!

After getting all the miscellany out of the fridge and freezer and unplugging the unit, now the fun part comes: Scrubbing. This took far longer than I thought because there were unidentifiable bits of viscous goo all over the place. Sticky, viscous GOO.

Sweet farkin' fruit loops, I think that puddle started life as a Red Bull... Buh!!

I go through a lot of Clorox wipes, but eventually, success! One veggie bin is clean!! One more bin, the door shelves and the main refrigerator floor left to go! I think I'm going to need more Clorox wipes, but wait! Can't get those because I have a line at the textbook counter, of people wanting to sell back books. Fabulous. Bosslady can't be bothered, and I'm the only other one in the store with access and authority to do so. Swell, a 15 minute break from scrubbing goo. I thoroughly soak the fridge with (diluted this time) 409 and let it soak in while I tend to this task.

Ok, back at the fridge. The 409 has made an impression, yay! But it's turned the thick viscous goo into a thinner, runnier viscous goo. Not so yay, though things do tend to move much more quickly, and the scrubbing is a bit easier on my hands, I may not, in fact, develop carpal tunnel through scrubbing the fridge out.

It takes a good 45 minutes before the fridge is cleaned, but that fucker sparkled! And, onto the freezer. It's a smaller portion of the unit, so it should take less time, right?

Damn, my optimism escaped for a second there, lemme fix that...

Yes, scrubbing slurpee goo off the bottom of a freezer? Not a quick, or simple task. Easiest way is to wrap a wipe around a pen, and then hack it to bits. Said pen was quickly disposed of once it's task was completed. So, another 30 minutes gone scrubbing the freezer out. That fucker sparkled, too! Shut the doors, and realize the outside needs scrubbing because my brainless farkwits of CWs managed to spill crap down the door, too! Sonofa--!!

Ok, I'm calm. Fridge and freezer done, the worst is over, right? I just need to wipe out the microwave and the table it's on, wipe down the black shelf above the microwave and wipe down the table, with is festooned with chicken grease and chicken crispy bits because my CWs can't even be bothered to wipe the table clear of crumbs! Then I can tackle the trashcan and sweep the floor.

I decide it's best to start with the shelf above the microwave. I hop on the stepladder, grab a Clorox wipe and start wiping. Hmm, odd. There seems to be a white spot here. Shoddy paint job, maybe? But no, there's another. And another. And--Holy fucking hell, this entire shelf is supposed to be WHITE!! Fuck me, what is this black shit!?!?! Ok, breathe, it's ok, you're wearing gloves. Just wipe it all down, and it's good as new!! Just ignore that creepy crawly sensation on your arms now, all's well!!

Probably best to just wipe down the table the microwave's on and clean out the microwave. I open it up and remove the revolving plate, and wipe that down with wet paper towels. Then I go to stick my head in and wipe down the inside real quick.

The horrors. There had to have been YEARS of food caked on the roof of the microwave. And the back wall! Oh gods, I can't believe I cooked food in there!! I'm so glad most of my meals don't require nuking!! I may never nuke again!! This is going to take creative scrubbing too. Now, where'd I put that pen...?

It takes another good 45 minutes to chip off food gunk, and scrub down the microwave. that fucker didn't sparkle. It is incapable of sparkling ever again because despite clearing out the caked on food, it left stains that cannot be removed. Poor, nonsparkling microwave...but at least it's safe to nuke in again.

Almost done! Yay! Now, to tackle the floor. A quick sweep, and life should be--hey, what's that? Oh, it's another, smaller trash can! Another, smaller trash can that has also been used without a bag inside. Oh look...more decomposing black slime... >.<

Cue the 409 once more into this can, and I start sweeping the floor. I'm finding all sorts of interesting tidbits, including the restaurant size bottle of seasoning salt. Still not sure where THAT came from, but it got thrown away for good measure. Ok, a good wipedown of the table to clean off chicken crumbs and grease, and all that's left are those godsdamned, slime filled trashcans.

Joy...

I go to the big one, because it's been soaking the longest. I'm so damn glad I had those gloves! It took almost half a roll of paper towels to clean off the bottom and deslime it. Once that task was accomplished, then more (undiluted) 409 was spritzed all over and the can was scrubbed, inside and out. Once clean, it was then doused with Lysol and left to dry.

Lather, rinse, repeat for the second, smaller trash can.

My fingers are really starting to hurt from the scrubbing. Cue CW paging me to do another buyback. All well and good, Lysol needs time to dry, after all. So, I wander out and good gods! Dude, I don't know what's going on, but you smell worse than those rancid eggs! And why in the HELL are you trying to sell me magazines from the early 90s!?! You just--and they're--gaaaaaah!!!

Ahem. After tending to that customer, it's just a matter of taking out the monstrous bag filled it biohazardous waster (i.e. all the leftovers) out to the dumpster, and placing clean bags into the trash cans. Success! I'm done! I'm so proud of myself! I go straight to the bathroom and scrub my hands and arms up to the elbows!

Total time it's supposed to take to clean out the break area? 30-40 minutes. Final time it took me today? 4 HOURS. 4. FUCKING. HOURS.

Yes, I know, I should have refused to do anything, but at the same time, if I didn't do it, no one else would have, and since I take my breaks back there, I have a stake in not contracting some debilitating or deadly disease from back there. Plus, for once they had the proper protective gear, so I was able to glove up, and there was even a little mask for me, and hair cover, if I wanted it.

Bosslady says she's going to talk with Bossman, who is in charge of the store, and swears up and down the cleaning will now be enforced. Sure, I'll believe THAT when I see it. but seriously, it HAS to change. There's NO reason for it to get THAT bad, especially if, as most claim, they clean up after themselves.

I immediately come home afterwards, and take a boiling hot shower, then eat dinner. Then decide I need to soak in a scalding hot bath later. I think I'm finally feeling clean. Thank fuck for that.

Fucking slobs...if this is how they live all the time, it's a miracle we're not all dead...

And now, bedtime.

I'm infected...

2009-11-17T03:22:51Z

so, I started feeling a little tickle in the throat last Wednesday, and thought it was post nasal drip. No big deal, get some psuedephedrine, and carry on with life. Thursday, full on sore throat and runny nose started. Ok, still no big deal, go pick up some over the counter cold meds, and drink even more tea than usual.

Friday rolls around, and my head's congest. "Great," I tell myself, "I've gone and caught a blasted cold. Fan-freakin'-tastic!" So, on Saturday, rather than doing anything of value in my school work, I stayed huddled in bed, doing NyQuil shots in between mugs of tea and mugs of soup, and basically sleeping as much as I could, hoping to sleep off the nasty little bugger I seem to have contracted.

Cue Sunday night into Monday morning. I wake up around 2 am, and breathing is a major problem, as in, everytime I tried to take a deep breath, it felt like someone had their hand around my throat and squeezed. Hard.

Eep.

So, I grudgingly dragged myself to the health center this morning to see a doctor, just to make sure I don't have anything worse than a cold, that apparently seems to have moved from my head into my chest. Should be simple, right? I mean, I've had chest colds before, and I generally know how to take care of myself.

Yeah, 45 minutes, several bouts of forced coughing, breathing, and hacking up mucus, I get told that given that I've had a virus for almost a week, and there's been no improvement with over the counter aids, that general points in the direction of Something Not Good.

I thought all colds were generally Not Good Things. Aren't they?

Yes, well, most colds generally tend to start easing up in severity after 3-4 days, not worsening. Of course, there's also the fact that my lungs don't sound great, and the amount of coughing I'm doing probably isn't all that healthy either. (though I figured that out for myself...really I did.)

In the end, the doctor said we're going to treat the different symptoms I seem to be having, as well as giving me an antibiotic, because there are a few signs this might be bacterial, though we're not 100% sure. (and wouldn't be, without more tests, which I can't afford right now). The big concern, so sayeth my doctor, is trying to ease the breathing issues (Funny, that's my biggest concern, too! How spiffy is that!?)

So, I'm now having to use an albuterol inhaler for the first time ever in my life, and after botching up the first two tries and somehow managing to spritz it out my nose (still trying to figure that one out, folks, but so far, no one can explain how I did that...), I think I've got the hang of it. On top of that, I've got the antibiotic I'm taking, which usually makes me sick to my stomach. (Yay!), and finally, I've got these wonderful wonderful pills called tessalon pearls, which are supposed to completely suppress my cough reflex. They don't 100% do so, because I'm still coughing a bit, but hey can't feel a thing! they also make me really drowsy and woozy, which is making writing this post really fun!

Interestingly enough, reading through all the contraindications and the warnings that come with them, you're not supposed to bite down on them or chew them because they make your entire mouth go numb. Upon sharing this with my best friend, she had a naughty comment about how else they could be of use.

And, now that I've typed up an entire post after taking said wonderful wonderful pills, I should probably go back to bed. I only woke up 45 minutes ago so I could eat some soup, take my next round of meds, and maybe take a bath, then it's more sleep. Sleep is great. Sleep is my friend.

sometimes it's the little things that bring you joy...

2009-11-06T01:28:33Z

...like pulling a pair of jeans you haven't worn in over a year out of your closet and trying them on, just to see if they fit....

....and realizing you now need a belt to hold them up! :D

And that's all I've got in me tonight, I'm stumbling off for tea and more studying. Yippee...

Just another day in my life. Or "Why I hate weather..."

2009-10-22T13:45:28Z

You know, I used to love rainy days…really, I did!

Until this morning…

I get up at 5 am, my shift at work starts at 8. It takes a little over an hour by bus to get to the store, but knowing the weather and how it effects bus travel, I plan ahead like a responsible young adult, and leave the house earlier than usual. I get to the first transit center, a park and ride area. Now, normally, I’d continue on the same bus the entire way, but one particular chunk of the route is so inundated with construction and everyone and their pet monkey getting on the bus and crowding it for dear life, it actually takes even longer to get where you’re going. I plan for this, too. I get off the bus at the park and ride, planning to catch another, more direct route to the second transit center, where I can hop the first bus line (but usually an earlier route time, go figure), and continue on to work.

Generally, it takes 15-20 minutes to get to the park and ride stop. Time it took this morning because of hellacious rains and roads flooding? 40 minutes. Looks like the plan to leave early was a good one. Time I arrive at the park and ride: 6:55 a.m.

I wait at the park and ride, irritated because despite having an umbrella, I STILL got soaked to the skin from the waist down. Anyone who knows me knows two of my pet peeves are wet denim and squishy socks. I had both. Add that to the brisk wind, causing me to shiver in the 73 degree weather, and well, I am not a happy llama.

Now, the connecting bus I need to catch generally shows up around 7-ish, give or take 10 minutes. Plenty of time, right? Riiiiight…

7:20 rolls around, I’m watching the rain start falling horizontally in sheets, and the roads continue to flood. I’m getting a little anxious because if the roads get really bad, METRO will stop service, and I really really don’t want to be stranded anywhere, most especially at work, all the way across town from where I live. I call my store, since we open at 7:30, and no one answers.

Great!

I keep this up at 2 minute intervals until 7:30, at which point I call my textbook manager’s cell phone. I don’t like that I have to call him that early and spend the first 30 seconds apologizing profusely. I explain the situation and that I’m stranded at the transit center, with the bus being about 20 minutes late and counting. He asks me if I’m going to attempt to go in, or if I’m going to just try and get back home. I explain that, given the weather conditions, I have a very real fear that I may not be able to get home if I do somehow manage to make it to work. Yes, it sucks relying on public transpo, but what can I do when I’m too poor to afford to buy and maintain a car? (and fuck it all, I am NOT going to ride my bike in this shit!)

He tells me he understands, and my safety comes first. I tell him I’d been trying to call the store, and he says the opening manager is caught in traffic, so she’s running late, but he’ll tell her for me. I thank him, but note that I’m still going to keep trying to get a hold of her so she can hear it directly from me. (I don’t say this part out loud, but this particular manager tends to get pissy when she hears things secondhand, and will no doubt write me up for not showing up/not finding someone to cover my shift. I want to have clear records of my informing BOTH managers of inclement conditions, so if I do get written up, I can note down dates and times of calls, and what was said in each conversation.) We hang up, and now I start scouring bus schedules to see how I can get back home.

Success! There is a bus that will drop me off across the street from my apartment complex and it’s scheduled to hit the center at 7:45. Completely doable as it’s 7:40 by now, and I’m figuring it won’t show up until 8.

I was right. It showed up at 8:02. I JUST got home, when again, it usually takes 15-20 minutes to get from this center to my apartment complex. The entire time I kept trying to call the store, so I could explain to the other manager my predicament, and still no answer, repeatedly. My last call was about 30 seconds ago, and I finally got through. Success!! I explain and she’s surprisingly sympathetic. But then, it took her 3 hours to drive to work in this mess, so yeah. I arrange to work longer on Saturday for homecoming, and she’s appeased. I hope.

So, in summation...it took me over 2 hours, 2 FUCKING HOURS, to make a 40 minute round trip, I got soaked to the skin, lost hours, (which hurts even more because I had to call in sick last week when I was running an inexplicable fever for some reason…), and had to slog through the river my apartment complex sidewalks have turned into, not to mention getting further soaked when assholes in cars continually played Splash the Pedestrian.

Fuck this. I’m going back to bed.

Yech. Fever...

2009-10-12T21:55:57Z

So, I went to class this morning, and felt awful, so I decided to cut my other class and came home. took my temp and I've got a fever of 102.8. Not sure how that happened, but I'm tired, and achy and generally cranky. and now my stomach is making rumbles that it's unhappy, and I've got a bitching headache (though I'm betting that's just from the sudden, massive thunderstorm that swept through here a couple hours ago.

Blech. Crawling back into bed now, but I think I'm going to call work now and tell them I probably won't be there tomorrow. I feel like crap.

If I remember, I'll post a real update tomorrow or something.

Ugh. Jenn feel craptastically icky. Make it stop!

</whiny>

Sadly, this is just so me...

2009-09-07T21:32:42Z

Given that Jenn as been uber busy the last few weeks with the start of fall semester and the astounding amount of asstardery at work, it's not surprising I've been a bit more scatterbrained than usual. This week's adventure?

apparently, I misplaced my cell phone sometime Friday. I of course didn't realize this fully, until I found it.

Today.

...that's right, folks, I didn't realize I didn't have my cell phone for almost 3 whole days. There could be several interpretations to this about how much of a space cadet I am, and yet, that begs the question what does it say about my social life, or lack thereof, hell, life in general that I lose the key form of communication with family and friends, and don't realize it for almost 3 days. Granted, it was on silent, so I wouldn't have heard it ringing, but all told, there was only 1 missed call in that 3 day span.

Kinda sad to think about, now that I ponder it fully, so I'm going to stop.

Oh, and for the record, it was NOT in my pantry!

It was in my bathroom drawer...

Anyways, I'm taking a break from studying to get some cleaning done, as I've kind of let things go in the last couple weeks.

I know, I know, some of you are saying "Oh, Jenn, you're such a neat freak, that letting things go for you is probably still super clean"

Not this time, my friends. Haven't done dishes in a couple days, the sink is full, the microwave is rather grimy, bathtub ring (ew!!) and stuff sprawled all and sundry, all over the place in my apartment. Hell, there are, at last count, about 4 separate heaps of clothing in various rooms of the apartment. Dishes are also littered all over my dining room table and near my computer desk, where I eat whle studying/researching stuff online.   Need to clean, it's starting to wig me out a bit. Couple hours tidying the place up, then back to studying. Joy.

*SIGH*  Time to dive right in.

Hope everyone's having a good holiday weekend.

Love,
Me.

Owwie. Paaaaaaain....

2009-08-19T00:36:12Z

Manual labor at work. Lots and lots of shifting books, moving shelves, squatting, lunging, lifting...ugh. Legs. PAIN!

And headaches galore. I swear students get dumber every year, and they all zero in on me at the store. Even had a couple of my managers going "wtf?" when I filled them in on what was going on with some of my customers. I just don't get it. It hurts, precious.

And I'm off to take an aleve pm, hope it kicks my headache's butt.

owwie again.

but, school starts soon, so whee! New classes! Stuff to learn. Squee!!

More randomness. Completed.

It's the calm before the storm!!

2009-08-16T22:41:51Z

Ok, the fall term starts a week from tomorrow. Yaaay. Law school has already started, so the suck has already started there, and they've been in session for a week. Naturally, we've sold out of a lot of the books they need,and they're getting cranky because they waited until the last possible second to buy their books and have assignments due tomorrow.

Brilliant. Really.

Anyways, zombie Jenn shall be making an appearance, soon. Except rather than "braaaaaaains" it's gonna be "booooooooooks"

(Corny, I know, but whatever)

Yesterday I took a Jenn day. Wandered around Meyerland plaza for a while, and had lunch at Le Madeline's. Tasty soup sandwich and salad lunch. And cheesecake. Tasty cheesecake. :)

I also went and got myself measured again, since my bras aren't fitting well since losing weight. I've lost an entire band size. So, I've still got the same cup size, but am one band smaller. 42DD down to a 40DD. Granted, couldn't afford to buy any bras, but it's a good to know when I go shopping. Maybe hit a few stores to find something cheaper, much as I love LB bras, just can't afford 'em...

Yeah, that's all I've got right now. I'm tired, and kinda hungry. Wandering off to get sustenance. Long day at work. Will be longer tomorrow. Yippee skippy.

Herein ends Jenn's randomness.

0.o Teh fuck....?

2009-08-14T14:48:13Z

As I posted about last month, my uncle passed away. Now, he lived in an assisted living facility, and my grandma was his legal guardian since he wasn't legally competent to care for himself.

When he passed, grandma wanted to have a full funeral for him, a Christian burial preceded by a viewing and a wake, because in her mind, that's what's proper, and anything else just isn't done. She couldn't afford it, though, and after much discussion and tears, she agreed to have him cremated and brought back home to be buried next to his sister, my aunt, who passed a way two years ago. She makes the arrangements, and decides that, to honor his passing, the family will have a memorial service on Labor Day weekend, as that's when most of us will be in town. (Except me...bah....)

So, arrangements are made. Uncle is going to be cremated, and grandma will pick him up when she goes to finish cleaning out his house, and whatnot. This is delayed when we found out my cousin died last week, she wanted to be there for that side of the family, and she called the necessary people to say she'd be delayed, etc, etc.

I call my mom today, just to check in, see how everyone's doing, and she says those dreaded words "I've got some bad news...."

Fark.

Yeah, turns out the crematorium lost my Uncle's ashes!!

As in, they had them one day, and they were gone the next. And, from what I can tell, are just scratching their butts, going "dur...?" whenever my grandma, or anyone from my uncle's facility calls to find out just what the fuck is going on up there!

Grandma is beyond upset and pissed. Grandma had to set aside a very big, personal belief because she couldn't go through with giving my uncle the burial she wanted. And now this mess has probably hurt a part of her in a way I don't think anyone will fully fathom. And the rest of us are all in various degrees of wtf-ness and pissiness.

Me? due to what I study for a living, and what I like to read, immediately thought of This place and shivered a little inside (Yes, worst possible case scenario, I know, but my mind's been following that path for quite some time because of everything that's happened this year...)

I keep this to myself, though. But grandma's already upset, and worried that when she does finally get ashes, how will she know they're her son's? She's having serious misgivings about the cremation, now, and it's hard to calm her down, according to my mom.

Mom's upset about this, and aside from talking to grandma, she's trying to be there for my godmother (who is the grandmother of the cousin who passed away last week). She took her out for coffee, just to let her vent, since she was holding together that family while she was there last week. It's pretty much a certainty it was an OD, they're just waiting on toxicology. But now noise is being made that someone deliberately gave him bad drugs, so another police investigation is possibly being opened, and there's talk of negligent homicide charges, or something of the like, which is upsetting that side of the family because they won't release the body until the officials are satisfied. We just want to lay him to rest, so his siblings and mother can start to heal. Gaaah...

Seriously, fates, dieties, higher powers: Can you please leave my family be for a while? Please...? Pretty please....?

buh...

I giggle at myself....

2009-08-14T03:36:09Z

In order to relax and unwind before bed, I decided, a nice, hot bubble bath is in order. (Note: When I say hot, I mean hot. As in, my skin turns pink and mama says I boil myself like a lobster). So, I run the water, pour in the soapy sudsy goodness, and slowly sink into bliss. Then I lower my hands into the hot, soapy water.

And realize I've accrued about a dozen different paper cuts on each hand from work today! And in some cases, plastic cuts, from plastic sleeves that the textbook shelf tags slide into.

Owwwie!! Flail! Yelp! Yank hands out! Cold air blowing on them stings, too! Yipes!!

Aaaaaand, repeat for about two minutes until hands finally get used to the water and I can truly start relaxing.

This Jenn moment brought to you courtesy of shelf tags. Yippee. :P

Stupid headaches...

2009-08-12T20:19:31Z

I have been plagued with a headache for the last 4 or 5 days running. Dunno what's causing it, but nothing touches it. Thankfully, it's my day off and I can go curl up back in bed again. But makes me sad because I was supposed to tidy up a bit. Rugs need vacuuming, floors need mopping, and I haven't dusted it over a month. Yech.

Ah well. To be done another day.

Aaaaaand back to bed. Meh.

Keeping up the assignment

2009-08-10T01:31:55Z

So, I'm putting up the last 3 days of the assignment I have from my counselor. It was a little difficult finding 3 things each day, but I found myself actively trying to make the best of being at work today, so maybe this is helping? Who knows. Either way, here they be. Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 3 good things each day that made me smile or feel good or just generally happy.

August 7, 2009
1. I colored my hair! It was nice to have an indulgent moment of goodness, and just give myself a treat that I’d been avoiding for so long because I couldn’t afford it. The color was on sale, and I had a coupon, so I bought it and dyed my hair.

2. Mom emailed me new pictures of my nephew! He’s gotten so big! It always makes me smile to see him, and as an added bonus, I did get to talk to him on the phone the other day, too!

3. I heard from my best friend tonight! We haven’t talked a lot lately, she’s been busy with moving and I…well, I’ve been a bit…off. But it was great! Got to chitchat with her for a while and catch up, and find out how her adorable baby is doing! Made me realize I missed talking with her. Yay!

August 8, 2009
1. Woke up this morning and got a good look at my hair after it dried. I had gotten a different brand of hair color because my usual brand didn’t have my usual color. I got what I thought was the equivalent, but it wasn’t. It was much darker. My hair is that blackish/purplish color of a beautifully ripe eggplant. After getting over the shock, I realize I kind of like it and I hope it doesn’t fade too soon. An inadvertent change that I really like, it makes me smile. That and I’m told I have anime hair now. Squee!

2. Mom sent me a card, one of those just because cards, letting me know I’m in her thoughts, and that she loves me and is always there for me. That makes me smile, and feel loved. It’s a wonderful feeling.

3. I discovered a new favorite song by accident! A while ago I got the new(ish) 3 Doors Down album, because it had 3 or 4 songs on it I knew I liked. Had it cued up on a playlist, and one of the other songs came on that I had never fully listened to. It made me get up and bop/pseudo-headbang around the apartment, which is something, considering Jenn don’t dance. I’ve played it repeatedly the last couple of days, and have yet to get tired of it.

August 9, 2009
1. I woke up this morning, planning on going to work with a smile on my face, regardless of what happened, just to see how it would work. My coworker said I was energetic, and it was nice, and you know what? Work was kind of fun, even if it was a little tiring setting up a second part of the law section. And, because I was determined to smile throughout the day, I had other people smiling back at me! It was nice to see people smile at me in turn. It really can give you warm fuzzies.

2. Another work related thing (Considering that’s where I spent my whole day, not too surprising, I suppose). I had a first year law student come and ask for help, while it was thundering outside. This knocked down our internet and ICS system. Yaaay. BUT, I somehow still managed to help her find her books through an interesting process I don’t care to repeat. It involved my boss’ cell phone web browser, a 26 page list of title/authors of law books I had on hand for other reasons, and a lot of pure luck. I still got her her books though, and she was so pleased and so thankful, she swore she’d never shop anywhere else unless she absolutely had to. And she hoped that whenever she’s in the store, I’m there to help her because I rock. :)

3. I found my Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD!!! Specifically, Beethoven’s Last Night. I have all their albums, but thought I lost that one in a move. Going through my software tonight, to find one of my discs for my printer, I saw a blank CD and popped it in the drive. It’s BLN!! Squeee!! I absolutely LOVE Trans-Siberian Orchestra. All of their other CDs are Christmas music, but this one isn’t, so I popped it in and bopped around to it while making dinner tonight. Found lost, loved music. This makes a happy Jenn.

All for now. Have to get up uber early tomorrow, for work, so I'm going to call it a night. Taa!!!

Love,
Me.

Homework assignment after a fashion

2009-08-07T02:20:17Z

All righty.   To battle the depression I have found myself in, I've started going to a counselor again. It helps, because, as was pointed out to me by someone whom I know will always give me truth: I haven't been ok for a while now. So, I took steps to try and be ok. Or at least get closer. Make sense?

Well, apparently I've got an assignment to help change my outlook on my current situation. Everyday, I'm to list 3 things that happened to me/I did that made me feel happy or just feel good. Few rules to the assignment, of course. Nothing's ever easy. Basically I can't give cop out excuses, like "I woke up" or "I made it through work" No, I have to be specific about it and it has to be 3 things, not one big thing. I also have to explain why the event/thing makes me feel happy good. So, I've decided to keep a running tally, and possibly post a couple times a week here, because hey, reinforcement is always good, right?

Here goes nothing. For today:

1. I had a customer come into the store who recognized me. She was a second year law student, and she looked thrilled to see me. She said she was happy to find me working because I helped her out so much last year. This made me feel good because it's nice to be recognized when I do a good job. I mean, this was a year ago, and she still remembered me. Makes me feel great despite all the crap I put up with at work.

2. My favorite manager pulled me aside today. I set up the entire law section by myself, and he wanted to say it looked wonderful. His exact words were something along the lines of "I just wanted to thank you for your hard work, Jenn. You've really done a lot in the last week" This made me feel good because it's nice to be recognized amidst all the blasted drama and stupidity at work. Positive reinforcement does wonders. I've become the law school book guru at the store, and it's nice to know that I'm invaluable in a way.

3. I stopped by to see my adviser after getting my prescription filled on campus today. I walked in and he looked up to say hi. Then he craned his neck. Then he scooted his chair out from the desk to get a full look at me. And the first words out of his mouth were, "You're shrinking!" This made me happy because it's validation and recognition of all the hard work I've put in the last few months trying to slim down, tone up and get healthy.   I've lost 25 lbs so far, and I'm quite pleased with myself.

And there are my 3 for today.   I'd like to ask y'all to ~~nag me into~~ remind me to do this more often, just so I can stay on top of things. Probably won't post everyday, mind you, but a few times a week. It'd make a nice balance against all the whinging I seem to have been doing a lot of lately.   We shall see where this assignment takes me, won't we?

Ow...sore...

2009-08-03T00:27:14Z

So, I kind of slacked off on the whole working out thing for a few weeks, and got back into it yesterday. Woke up with my abs and legs really sore. Yay...

I get to work today, though and find out that it's time to set up the law school section. Oh...yay.

Got to set up shelves, and then start unloading the boxes. Three pallets of boxes of books. Fun. I got through about 55-65 boxes of books today, but boy am I sore. Hurting. Owwie. *whimper*

Fun times.

Just thought I'd share. I'm about to eat dinner, then go pour myself into a hot bath, take an aleve and hit the sack. I get to hopefully finish the other half of the law books tomorrow. Joy...

Enough is ENOUGH!!!

2009-07-09T20:43:13Z

So, this morning started out wonderfully. There was an incident before work. According to the police report I had to give, and the incident number, it is officially listed as an assault. So that’s what I’ll call it.

I get off the bus at about 7:50 am, and start walking to work. I pass a guy nod vaguely in acknowledgement as we’re on opposite sides of the sidewalk, and I scootch my bag over so it doesn’t hit him as we pass each other.

Ten seconds later he’s behind me. With his hands on my ass.

I jump and pull away, and turn around, and basically say “Get your fucking hands off me. Don’t you EVER touch me again.”

He smiles and reaches for me again. I tell him to fuck off and start hustling down the street to my store, fumbling in my bag for my keys, which have my pepper spray on them, and my cell phone. He’s coming along in the same direction, and starting to move faster. This freaks me out so I open my phone and attempt to snap a pic of him, while calling the police, and inform him of this. (unfortunately, you cant' do both with this phone, so I failed to get a picture) I get to the corner where my store is across the street, take one glance to make sure there’s no traffic and haul ass across the street and inside. When I glanced back he was running in the opposite direction. I explain what happened to my manager, and she tore out of the store, to see if the guy was still on his way in, and shouted at my coworker to get me the number to the police line. She dials it for me instead.

I proceed to explain what happened and they promised to dispatch an officer.

A university officer shows up first, she was on her rounds in the area. She asked what happened and I told her, starting to get a little shaky and teary when I mentioned that he reached for me a second time, because she asked “So, you’re saying it was an attempted sexual assault?”

I don’t know! I was just freaked out because he was groping my ass and wouldn’t stop!

She took me out to her car, sat me inside and started to get all the details. While this is happening, two other police cruisers show up. One was another University cruiser, the other was a city cruiser. Thankfully, one of the officers in the other cruiser is a regular. He’s one of the cops who come in and stand as security guards during our busy season, and will occasionally stop by just to grab a drink or a snack and chat. He’s actually been featured in a few of my stories as Awesome Cop. It was nice to have a familiar face while I rehashed what happened. I gave them as detailed a description as I could. Then the city police stepped in and I repeated the story once more.

Once all the info had been taken, and it was decided that the city police would take custody of the case (since they could search more parts of the city than just the university.) I got the little card with the incident number, title (assault), officers on the case, and their unit number. All those happy fun details.

I then take a few minutes to go hide in the bathroom and call my mommy. I really wanted my mommy.

I decided I’d be well enough to work my shift and did ok for the first half. I was a little jumpy when people came in, but only a touch more than I usually am. I took my lunch and came back up to the registers.

Then I get a phone call. It’s one of the officers who took my report. They had a suspect in custody, and were bringing him by in a cruiser, so I could ID him. They pull up, guy gets out of the car and it’s not him. I don’t know why, but that made me even shakier, and more upset. After they left, I took another breather in the bathroom, came back out and continued working.

Then a guy comes into make copies. He’s belligerent over the fact he has to do it himself. He gets snarly when he finds out the machine is rather subpar and old. And he gets snappy when he gets told he has to pay for his copies regardless, even if he thinks he shouldn’t because he doesn’t think they’re the best quality. He snaps at me.

I burst into tears and have a mild panic attack.

At which point, I realize I can’t stay and finish my shift. My skin’s crawling, I’m weepy and just not in a great mood. So I get sent home early, and on the way to the bus stop, my mom is on the phone with me, and understands when I don’t want to hang up unless I absolutely have to. I have my keys clipped to my belt, like I normally do 99% of the time. This morning, I threw them in my bag as I ran out the door.

I’ve been beating myself up about the fact that I didn’t have them accessible. That I didn’t haul off and kick the guy. But I’m 6’0, and rather hefty. He topped me by a couple inches, and though we may have weighed the same, he was more muscle-y. I still feel stupid. My coworker told me she’s surprised I lasted as long as I did at work, and that she couldn’t have been as strong as I was. She would have gone straight home.

I still feel stupid, I don’t know how to explain it. It’s not like I was violently attacked. I was groped. I was startled, frightened, but I got away. My Awesome Cop said I did the right thing, getting away and getting to a public place and getting help, but I still feel shaky. And dumb. Physically, I’m not hurt. (Well, I bit my lip when I was groped the first time when I was startled. Police pointed that out.) But mentally and emotionally, I’m, to quote my grandmother, a basket case.

It’s just one more thing that gets added to the massive weight that’s already pressing down on me, as melodramatic as it sounds. I stopped by a free counseling center at school, and talked to a counselor. I felt self conscious and silly, because this counselor is there to help rape and sexual assault victims, who have it a lot worse than I did. Logically and intellectually, I know it’s stupid to feel that way, to belittle my emotions because regardless of what happened, I was technically assaulted. Period. I caught a bus, and came home and took a shower which has helped with the skin crawling feeling.

And then I found out just a little bit ago my stepfather is being admitted to the hospital and I don’t know why. My mom said she’ll call when she has more information. So, once again. Enough is enough is enough!! I don’t know why all this crap is being loaded down on my family and me, but I’d like it to ease, just a little. Between this and the frightening financial situation I find myself in, the stress and drama at work, the further stress of trying and failing to find another job, I just don’t know how much more I can take.

I think that’s it for this rant. I’m going to go make some tea, maybe cook something, which usually relaxes me. Thanks for listening/reading, as the case may be.

Feeling the burn!!

2009-06-28T12:55:05Z

I set a new personal best record!!

On my morning bike ride today, managed 3.82 miles in 35 minutes. Given my chunky butt and the killer humidity out, I'm quite proud of myself! According to my heart rate monitor, I also burned 343 calories. Go me!

And yes, I'm also being safe and healthy, and did about 7 or 8 minutes of cooldown and yoga stretching afterward so I don't stiffen up or pull something.

Staggering off to shower and get ready for work. (Ok, not really staggering, but my legs have that good kind of wobbly thing going on, if you know what I mean?)

well, he's gone

2009-06-27T22:34:49Z

My uncle passed away today.

Just got the call.

And my family is being the usual fucked up, pain in the ass, greedy, self-serving whorecorpses. Whoop de fucking doo.

Quick-ish update while I'm still conscious

2009-06-26T01:14:58Z

Life just keeps getting suckier and suckier in Jenn-world.

In the last week I've discovered:

1. No one wants to frickin' hire me!!  Still looking, but gods bless it's a slow slow process!

2. I somehow managed to pull a stupid and overdraft my bank account. For the first time. EVAR!!  I've NEVER overdrawn my account!  Not in the 10+ years I've HAD a bank account, either joint or single. Gaaaaah. Though, this is the one thing that can be and has been fixed in a timely manner. Supposedly.

3. My uncle is dying. They gave him maybe 2 weeks, but with all the information that's been trickling in, I'd honestly be surprised if he made it to the end of this week. Just out of the blue, two days ago, I get a phone call, saying he collapsed and grandma's on her way up to where he lives to see him and it doesn't look good. Fast forward, and yeah, he's going to die. No way to help him. My uncle has Klinefelter's, which is a genetic disorder, but one of the side effects is physiological issues and mental retardation. He can't take care of himself, he's got the mental capacity of, say, a 12 year old. He's also diabetic and morbidly obese (Over 600 lbs)

As of last night, his kidneys have stopped working pretty much entirely. Fluid has built up around his heart and the doctor's agree that risking any kind of surgery to remove it will kill him anyways. And even with being on life support to help him breathe, he's only maxing out at about 70% oxygen. Grandma, as next of kin, signed a DNR. Mostly so family can fly or drive down to say goodbye if they can make it. So, within months of burying her husband, and just over a year after burying her daughter, now she has to make arrangements to bury a son. Who the fuck did my family piss off in a past life?  Who did I piss off?

and finally,

4. I'm sick. I'm pretty sure it's a sinus infection, but since I can't afford a doctor's visit OR antibiotics, I'm going the natural route to take care of myself. I have tomorrow and Saturday off. Jenn will be sleeping. A LOT. And tea and soup and sudafed and mucinex.

<Sigh>  Sorry for whining. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. I should simply refrain from posting until I have something GOOD to write about.

Chalk another one up to Jenn's misadventures while tired...

2009-06-16T02:26:44Z

My kitchen is flooded again.

But this I can't blame on maintenance, oh no! I was filling the sink with hot water to soak some dishes.

And managed to forget I had hot water running until I hear the telltale sign of water hitting the floor. I had the dishwasher running, so I panic and think crap, it's clogged and backwashing again and run out into the kitchen

Where i proceed to slip and fall on my ass in lavender scented water.

FUN.

At least it smells better than last time, and less of a mess to clean up.

It's official. I'm super tired, and it is now bedtime. Just thought I'd share so someone could laugh with me.

....

Please laugh with me, and not at me out of pity that I pulled a stupid.

Please??

Hardcore house cleaning! Ding ding, round 1, START!

2009-06-13T14:23:36Z

So, since I've found yet another one of my personal articles in the strangest of places, it must be time for me to do some hardcore house cleaning and reorganizing. I especially need to tackle my closets and get those into some semblance of order rather than keep shoving shit in there and hope I can find it again. So, the list I have written out to get done is as follows.

1. Clean and organize closets
2. Clean and vacuum bedroom
3. Fold/Put away all my clean laundry dagnabbit!!
4. Clean and scrub kitchen
5. Clear off dining room table and organize shelving units
6. Organize pantry so the granola bars don't fall on me when I open it again
7. Clear and vacuum living room floor
8. Dust. EVERYTHING.
9. Scrub floors in kitchen, dining room, and bathroom.
10. Scrub down bathroom. Yes, maintenance fixed it and cleaned up for the most part, but there are bits that could use a good hosing off, to say the least.
11. Once it's all clean, make the teas I've been procrastinating on doing. And ice. Need to make ice. Gyah...

Think I can get all that done today? I think I can. And bonus, no need to workout, since housework does in fact burn calories. I'm looking at at LEAST 600 calories burned today, just by doing the above list. Quite nice. Updates as I progress/take breaks for meals!!

P.S. (Because it will be a Tiffy addition....)
12. READ PROPHECY!! :D

curled up in pain

2009-06-10T01:19:15Z

Killer cramps from outer space. They suck.

Rapid mood swings to the point that I'm crying one moment, pissed off the next, then giggle and hyper the next. They suck, too.

Feeling nauseated and like I'm about to throw up my dinner. Yep, that sucks.

And the fact that I'm back to passing clots whilst on my period. Most DEFINITELY sucks.

I lost it and flipped out on a customer today at work. And now I'm sitting here, wishing to gods I had a heating pad, and at the point where I'm contemplating lying down and sticking my laptop on my belly for some warming heat, that will hopefully help the cramps. I've had 2 mugs of women's tea. Nada.

I have I don't know how much motrin and aleve in my system. Urk.

Why yes, I AM whinging, thanks for noticing. :p

I miss my prescription. Wants it back. Wants it back NAO. That and a back rub...

But for now...I try to sleep...and hope it's mildly better tomorrow.

herein ends the mini pity party. I blame the hormones. >.>