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7/29/2002 Ugh. It never ceases to amaze me how close-minded some people can be. Not to mention idiotic.posted 2:43 PM / post It's only 12:40 and I've already checked in the UPS, Fed-Ex, and freight that's come in. It's gonna be a long afternoon. On the upside, one of our drivers who was out on medical leave came back to work today, so he's helping in the warehouse. By the time I came in at 9, all three desks had been completely cleaned of excess paperwork and organized. I like him already. ^_^Friday night, Ellie and I went to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the Capri. They took some liberties, of course, but it was funny. And very good. ^_^ I talked my mom into going, too, and she seemed to enjoy it. Charlie and his girlfriend ended up going to the same showing, but they sat a few rows ahead of us. When Charlie found out mom was coming with us, he came back to my room and asked, "How big is this theater?" Saturday, Trey came into town, and we went with Ellie to see Mr. Deeds at the Rave. It was... entertaining. Funny. I'm not sure if it was stupid funny or just funny, but it was interesting. ^_^ And Sunday I managed to sleep all day. Except for about half an hour around 11:00, when I got up for pancakes. So yeah, I'm kinda tired today since I didn't sleep much last night. Oh well. It was nice. Dad came in awhile ago and handed me a memo that says all staff must attend a safety training session August 10 at 8:00 am. That's a Saturday. It's also the day after I officially quit work. Of course, he wants me to come anyway. Yeah. Like hell. However, if I do go, I'll be paid overtime for about 5 hours. That's.... (calculating) ... $66.70. I'm not entirely sure it's worth it. Ellie quit working as of last Friday, so I don't have anyone to email back and forth with all day when I'm bored out of my freakin' mind. Not only that, she's at the beach now. I don't remember how long she said they'd be gone, either. Damn my bad memory. In other news, I have a new hard drive, but no computer to put it into. Hurry up, tech team! Damn it all to hell. I've only used up 10 minutes. posted 1:50 PM / post 7/25/2002 Busy week. Work drove me nuts the first few days. More than usual, I don't know why. But I feel better now, so, whatever. ^_^Got paid today, that's always a good thing. And I gave my notice yesterday. I'm working next week and the one after, and then I'm done. Then I'll have two weeks before school starts. Yeesh. Where did the summer go? I had an interesting theological discussion with Melanie the other day. Took over an hour. But it was interesting. I'm now determined to read the Bible all the way through even if it kills me. Maybe that will help with my arguments. ^_^ Tomorrow's Friday, thank God. Ellie and I will be going back to the Capri to see The Importance of Being Earnest. I saw the play at ASF when they performed it a few years ago. Actually, it was probably a really long time ago, but I don't remember. And the movie looks like it's done really well. So I'm looking forward to it. And then another weekend of sleeping. Joy and happiness.... posted 3:09 PM / post 7/22/2002 Almost 2. Just another hour.... Although, honestly, I might leave early again. It's just too boring sitting around with nothing to do. Except wait. And wait. And wait. For more stuff to come in. And since most everything comes in the morning, the waiting can get pretty monotonous.I had a lot of fun with Melanie and Dustin Friday. Mel was all excited about the apartment she found, and they were able to get tickets for the play that night, so all four of us went. And I'm so proud of Melanie. I didn't have to explain the plot to her afterwards like usual. She actually got it on her own! YAY! (You know I love you, Mel ^_^) After they left, mom said she thought they were a great couple. They are pretty good together. ^_^ And then I went back to bed and slept all Saturday afternoon. Then the night. And Sunday afternoon. And Sunday night. And this morning I was yawning. What's up with that? It was nice, though. Sleep is lovely. Ugh. I feel filthy. I need a bath. posted 2:59 PM / post 7/18/2002 It's another slow day at work. I came in an hour late and took about an hour for lunch, and I still finished all my work. I even have to leave early for a dentist appointment, but that's not for another 45 minutes or so.Charlie bought himself a new car stereo that came in Tuesday. He was going to put it in himself, but the wires are so messed up from when his original stereo was stolen, that he couldn't. So we took it in to have it done today. He took my car to work at 8:00, and then dad and I took his car in at 9:00, when the place opened. Afterwards, dad wanted to go check on his Jaguar, so we ended up driving halfway out to Wetumpka to the Import Auto Shop, but the guy wasn't even there. Typical. He's had the damn car for a year and a half but he hasn't worked on it for at least the last 12 or 13 months. To be fair, his dad just died, but still. A year and a half. Ugh. So we finally got in to work around 10, and Charlie and I went to lunch at 12, but we stopped at the bank first to deposit our paychecks. At 3:30, I have to go back to the dentist for a couple of fillings. Not really looking forward to it. It doesn't hurt, really, but it's still kind of a pain. And we're going out to dinner tonight, so I'm afraid my mouth will still be numb. Oh well. Mom and I finally got out this morning for another walk. It's been, like, two weeks since the last one. I'm really getting into shape now... ^_^ I'm running out of things to say, and I still have a ton of time to kill. Dammit. posted 3:13 PM / post 7/17/2002 I desperately need to kill time at work, so here I am.As for my computer... It's a very long story as to what we were doing with it when the, ah, problem occurred, but I'm reasonably sure that it was not something I did that made it go kablooey. I know I put it in correctly and hooked it up, and then... It started smoking. I turned it off right away, and it didn't appear to be damaged from the outside, but now neither of my computers will recognize it as a hard drive. Unforunately, I had just transferred all my personal files from the last year back on to it and deleted the backups that I had put on my other computer. So if I can't retrieve that stuff, that means it's all gone forever. It's not a complete disaster, since it's only a year's worth of stuff, but still... Anyway. I'm currently operating off of my HP until I can get the Gateway fixed. I emailed the tech team at Huntingdon and explained the problem, and they said to bring it in. Luckily, I've only had it for about a year, so it's still under warranty. There's good news and bad news about using the HP again. Good news is, I can play the Sims again. ^_^ Bad news is, the tower is too wide to fit into my new desk. So it's sitting on the floor right in front of it for now. And I still need to install my printer, but I might not even bother since I don't plan on using the HP very long. Oh well. We'll see. Charlie was very nice about it... Which is a damn good thing since it was his fault to begin with. ^_^ He even offered to let me have his new 80 gig hard drive that should be arriving some time soon. But seriously, what the hell am I going to do with 80 gigs? I only use about 10, and half of that is system files and not even my stuff. Ellie and I are going to see Much Ado About Nothing Friday night. And Melanie and Dustin will be looking at apartments here that day, so I'll get to see people. ^_^ Mel, let me know if you want to go to dinner with me and Ellie that night. Then you and Dustin can go do something while we're at the play (or you could probably still get tickets for that show if you wanted). Well. I think I'll check and see if there are any shipments to be received. posted 2:41 PM / post 7/15/2002 And now my hard drive is fried.And I have lost everything. And it was such a good day till now. posted 11:31 PM / post The rest of yesterday's pictures won't be up until sometime tonight or tomorrow. My computer required open heart surgery last night (a simple task gone horribly wrong), and it's not quite fixed yet. ^_^ Good thing I have a computer at work.posted 3:20 PM / post 7/14/2002 Going to dinner. Should have some more interesting photos when I get back.posted 6:43 PM / post This time I have two.4:40 pm #1 and 4:40 pm #2. posted 5:54 PM / post A view of my desk.posted 4:40 PM / post Charlie. He's awake and it's only 3:00!posted 3:54 PM / post Montgomery Mall, and no, that's not our only one.posted 3:23 PM / post Now I'm off to Walmart, so my next picture could be late. But it should at least be more interesting. ^_^posted 2:01 PM / post Dad installing VMWare on the Linux computer.posted 1:43 PM / post For my next picture, a very common occurence in my house...Mom studying. posted 12:51 PM / post Eek, I'm late, I'm late...Pretty kitty. ^_^ posted 12:01 PM / post And Photo Day begins. ^_^When I got my new desk a few weeks ago, my old one had to go somewhere. Since it's so old, mom didn't want to put it downtown in storage with the rest of our random stuff; she was afraid the heat would warp it. So we moved it to the only place in the house that there was still space. And I have to say, I think it's unbelievably funny that my mom has a desk in her closet. posted 10:52 AM / post 7/13/2002 We went to a restaurant up the street from the office for lunch today. Dad heard about it from a friend, and we haven't been to an actual restaurant for Friday lunch in a while. It was really nice inside. They didn't have any written menus because it changes every day, depending on what's freshest; so the waiter recites it to you. ^_^ It was kinda funny. They served our cokes in those little 8 ounce, glass bottles. The waiter would come over and pour it into the glass for us. But anyway, those little bottles don't last long, especially when poured over a full glass of ice, so Charlie and I went through about 6 of them. Then just before we were finished eating, the waiter asked if we wanted anymore, and Charlie decided that since we didn't know if we were paying by the bottle, he'd have one more, and then just drink water for the rest of the time, so he asked for a glass of water with his coke. So the waiter comes back, pours the new coke into the glass, and goes back for the water.He comes back with a half-liter, glass bottle of Evian. The water ended up being more expensive than a coke. Dad and I thought it was hysterical. ^_^ Yay for it being the weekend. Couldn't come soon enough. Sleep is good... posted 12:16 AM / post 7/11/2002 Sheppey was very good. Different than what I was expecting, but good. I hadn't ever seen or read anything by Somerset Maugham before, but apparently this was different for him, as well. But it was good. ^_^And tonight, Ellie and I saw Hollywood Ending, which was also great. Woody Allen's character was slightly annoying; he could talk for five minutes without ever actually saying anything, but it was very funny. And the ending was nice; definitely "Hollywood." ^_^ Yay for tomorrow being Friday and not having anything to do after work. It's been nice getting out for a change, but three days in a row is a lot for me. I haven't been getting home till 10 or 10:30, and then I pretty much have to go to bed right away since I have work in the morning. But tomorrow, I can relax all night. ^_^ Melanie called me this afternoon to tell me she's going to be living off-campus this year, after all. The school needs people to live in the dorms, so they can make more money, so they're really strict about letting people live off-campus. Only seniors and people with medical problems are allowed to. Melanie has incredibly bad back problems. It's painful just to watch. And the stress of living on-campus, around so many people, made it worse last year. I think it's probably that being around people so much, she got distracted more easily, and then stressed herself out trying to catch up on her classes. Which was definitely not good for her back. So yay for that! But now she has to find a place to live and a roommate. I'd offer to live with her, but I'm already committed to living with Robin, and I like living in the dorms. I get lonely too easily to live off-campus. ^_^ Ahh.... So. Now I need to upload some changes to the company website and start getting ready for bed. I was supposed to walk this morning, but we didn't, so we're going to try for tomorrow. Wish me luck. Argh. Listening to: Enigma posted 11:02 PM / post 7/9/2002 I was in such a good mood tonight. Felt nice to have energy for a change. ^_^I got up at 6:30 this morning and walked. Not long, just 25 minutes, but it's a start. Mom and I are supposed to do this every Tuesday and Thursday morning. I think she's going to have to make me. If it's just me, I know I won't go. After I got back, I went back to bed for another hour before getting up to get ready for work. Felt kinda weird. ^_^ So Ellie and I went to Outback tonight and had dessert (cheesecake), which was loads of fun. I never seem to go anywhere anymore. Working all day in a place that makes me very dirty and then going home to sleep doesn't do much for self-esteem. I always feel... icky. Blah. Anyway, tomorrow night we're going to see Sheppey at ASF, and the next night, we're going to see Hollywood Ending at the Capri. So hopefully, I'll be in a good mood for the rest of the week. ^_^ Now time for bed. Sleep is good. Sleep is very, very good. Oh, wait, I forgot. I've been meaning to post my little story for a week now. I was at WalMart last week, and I passed a red mustang in the parking lot. It's license plate read Sally. Heehee... I thought it was funny. ^_^ And now, good night! posted 11:39 PM / post 7/8/2002 My Grandma Rose died a short time before I was born. She was relatively young at the time, only 51 or 52. Obviously, I never met her, but I've heard about her all my life. Mom used to joke about her being crazy when I was little, but I don't recall ever really asking about her. In fact, I don't really remember ever talking about her, but I know my information had to come from somewhere. I'm just not sure when I got it or from whom.Rosie got pregnant either just before or just after she graduated high school. My grandfather married her, although I'm relatively sure that he didn't actually want to. Whatever his reasons were, they probably weren't the right ones. My mother was born on August 11, 1950. I know mom and Rosie spent a lot of time with my grandfather's family; there are some photos. I'm sure my grandmother needed a lot of help with my mom, but I don't know where they lived, if they stayed with her husband's family, or just went to their home a lot. My grandfather had quite a few affairs, or so I've been told. But Grandma Rose desperately wanted her marriage to work, and so my Aunt Rubye was born. After her came the twins, Donald and Ronald, and then the youngest, Mike. More children didn't seem to bind her husband closer to home, though, because he left in 1959. After that, I think Rosie didn't want to have anything more to do with his family, but that's just a guess on my part. All I know is that eventually, they stopped seeing each other, and this seems as good a reason as any. Grandma Rose never went to college. She didn't have a job. And she had five children, all young, the oldest only nine. She was mentally unbalanced, and a hypochondriac to boot. At the age of nine, my mother became the de facto head of the household. As far as I know, they lived completely off of Rosie's mother. I don't even know if my grandfather paid alimony or child support. It wouldn't surprise me to know that he didn't. Grandma Rose had occasional breakdowns. Men came to the house several times and took her away. She was given shock therapy, among other things. Probably a lot of medication, as well. I don't know how long she stayed gone at a time. Thinking about it now, I'm suprised social services didn't step in. In any case, she'd come back, seeming very... edgy. Shock therapy probably has that effect. That's about as much of the story as I knew till now. Last week, my mom and I saw Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I had never really thought about how it was for her during her childhood. What it was really like having a crazy mother. I never knew it was like that. I didn't know my grandmother was abusive physically. But apparently, she was. My mom told me a story once, around the time I turned 16. She said her mother had gotten angry over something on her 16th birthday, and Rosie sent mom to her room for the rest of the day and took back the gift. Because of that, it was unbelievably important to my mom that I had a perfect 16th birthday. Unfortunately, mom had to be away on business on the actual day, but she more than compensated by taking me and a friend on a cruise to the Bahamas over the summer. The woman got a brand new credit card and put at least $5000 on it, just so she could do something special for my birthday. I'm sure that my mom regrets a lot of things, and not having a chance to understand or forgive her mother is probably one of them. It was because of Grandma Rose that my mother came back after my dad had an affair. Of course, I'm glad she came back. If she hadn't, my brother and I wouldn't be here. But I know that it would have been so much better for mom if she hadn't. And I'll never understand why Grandma Rose would send her daughter back, why she would say, "You're never going to do better than this." I suppose because she herself never did. She had incredible talent. She could have been a fashion designer. Instead, she put her gift to work making home-made Barbie clothes for her daughters' dolls, and making clothes for her kids. She never got out. And maybe she didn't think mom could, either. Or maybe she didn't want her to. And my grandfather. I've never met him. He came to visit when I was very young, too young to remember. But there's a photo of me sitting on his lap. That's it, though. I'm not exactly sad about it. Even his own mother and siblings don't want anything to do with him now. And mom certainly doesn't. I think she gave up on him completely after that visit. Sitting in the car with him, in the driveway, just before going into the house, he looked at her and said, "You know, I was never really sure that you were mine." Goodbye, jackass. I know a lot now that I didn't know before. And that's just my mother's family. posted 12:54 AM / post 7/2/2002 Not going to Brannon's for the 4th after all. Don't feel up to it. I wish August would get here quicker so I could talk to Dr. B.One more day of work tomorrow, though, and four days off. And damn, I really need it. Thanks to Ellie, I finally discovered the joys of half.com. The Enigma soundtrack and Jewel's Pieces of You are on their way. ^_^ Makes me very happy. Ellie and I went back to the Capri last night to see The Cat's Meow. It wasn't quite as good as Enigma, but I still really liked it. Listening to: Music clips from Enigma because I can't find mp3s. Argh. posted 9:42 PM / post |