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I'm the smartest, prettiest, funniest girl you ever saw, you just don't know it yet.
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20Q
A Twisted Day In The Life Of...
Anenigma
Danielle
Geek In Black
Glibbertysmidgeon
Go Fug Yourself
The Invincible Revenge Of Mr. Brick
The Marj Memoirs
Mark Pickerel
Waiter Rant
Warren Ellis
Weetabix
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[[ Hear: ]]
Do you remember awhile back when I promised to link to an MP3 of my singing? And then Kevin came for a visit, and my computer crapped out, and I got busy and never got around to it? If you remember and have been waiting in breathless anticipation, today is your lucky day. If you don't remember, or didn't read the promise in the first place, then today might be your lucky day as well.
Yes, it's me singing. Not bad but not great; comments are welcome.
After what seemed like the longest week ever, I got my adapter in the mail today. I didn't notice the box until right as I was walking out the door to go to work, so it sat in the house unopened for nine hours. As soon as I got home, however, I sliced that puppy open. I didn't even take off my shoes or change my clothes first. I found the nearest pair of scissors and slashed through the tape, tearing impatiently at the packing peanuts and shredded newspaper inside. I was a little nervous, as the adapter is labeled as a G4 Powerbook accessory, and the head didn't look exactly the same as my old one, but I rushed upstairs to try it out. I swear I almost cried when I heard the distinctive Apple start-up noise.
So, now I'm back in action. Work is going well, I'm picking things up really quickly. I got in a lot of hours this week because I was training, but next week I'm only getting 19.5 hours. I'm hoping that my schedule will pick up a little once Memorial Day hits.
Other than that, not much is new really. I'm sure my stats are abysmally low, but thanks to everyone who was patient and stuck it out through my absence! You guys are the best.
How many of you, upon reading this post, do not know that you must have a major credit card to rent a car?
If you were unaware of this little piece of trivia, please sign the comments section at the end of this post.
I'm sure the rest of you can see where this is going... Yes, we're back to square one on the matter of how to get to the baby shower. My mom and her boyfriend left for Ellensburg this morning, and I expected them to return with a vehicle big enough for four people. They pulled up to the house in the same Toyota pickup that they were driving when they left.
My mom came in the house bummed out because she didn't know that you have to have a major credit card and proof of full-coverage insurance to rent a car. I didn't know you had to have your own insurance, but when she announced her plans to rent a car I assumed that her boyfriend had a credit card. I assumed that she knew what she was doing.
After they arrived back home I said that D could go and I would stay home by myself. Mom was planning on heading over pretty early, so when she and her boyfriend were still holed up in the bedroom twenty minutes later, I asked what was going on.
"Oh, we're just trying to decide whether or not to take D. It's pretty cramped in the front seat of that truck."
D weighs 96 pounds. She doesn't take up much space. I don't even know why it would be a question, except that my mother is being selfish. A is going to be thrilled that, not only are D and I unable to come to the shower, mom is bringing her creepy boyfriend when he wasn't invited.
Mom and I had a pretty good day yesterday. When I got home from the library we sat and had a little chat. I confessed to her that part of my resentment toward her boyfriend was spawned by his taking up all of her time. For the last couple of years she and I have been really close. We would spend a lot of time talking, and went out for lunch or drinks at least twice a week. Since he came into the picture, she never has time for me anymore.
I also expressed my concern regarding his alcoholism. Before she met him, she was trying to ease off of her addiction to the liquor since it's largely what drove her previous boyfriend away after eight years, but the new guy is the type of man who always has a beer bottle in his hand, no matter what he's doing, and it doesn't really help my mom to kick her habit. During our discussion I left out the fact that the other reason I don't like him is because he's gross. I didn't think my mom would appreciate that much.
So, we went out last night for a little while and she had a few (i.e., six or seven drinks in an hour and a half) drinks, while I just had Coke. She is planning on renting a car to get to A's baby shower, so everything seems to be back to normal.
On the subject of resuming normalcy, I start my new job at Safeway on Sunday. I have a very erratic schedule this coming week, but I'll be working a total of 31 hours between Sunday and Friday, with Monday and Saturday off. When I was hired I was told it would be somewhere between 20 and 25 per week to start, so I'm hoping that I will consistently be assigned more hours.
On Tuesday I work from 6:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., but that's the only day next week when I won't be working when the library's open. I'll try to make it down for an hour or so to check email and post something quick here, but no promises. Unless I get the power cord for my computer before then (providing it's the right one), I probably won't have time to post for about a week. Once again, I plead with you to not give up on me!
A few weeks ago I got a call from the woman who was my Sunday school teacher back in the day before I became a Satanist. She and her husband were putting his mother into an "assisted living" arrangement, and with her Alzheimer's, they were worried she would wake up and not know where she was. She asked me if I would make a sign for her that said, "Mom, welcome to your new home at The Nursing Home!". Since I'm still a nice person, despite worshipping the devil, I agreed. When I dropped the poster off at her shop, she said she would take me out to lunch to thank me, and I agreed but didn't expect her to actually follow through. She's a great person, but she's very busy, and a little forgetful.
Last night she called me and said, "Eryn! Are we going to lunch tomorrow?" So today we had lunch. It was nice, and the dreaded, "So, do you still go to church?" question never came up. It just makes me uncomfortable because I don't like to feel like people are disappointed in me.
Subject Change:
My preggo sister's baby shower is on Saturday. With my mom having her license suspended for a DUI, there was some question of how we would get there. Upon being unable to procure a car and driver, she told my sister that I most likely would not be able to attend, but that her fuck buddy/boyfriend would be happy to take mom to the shower. Needless to say, I'm a little pissed off.
My mom has been more than a little touchy lately, snapping at me with little-to-no provocation and throwing unexpected nasty insults at me, inspiring me to hold imagined conversations in my mind. In these conversations, I retaliate to her accusations that I don't do enough around the house with, "What, parenting your teenager isn't 'doing' anything?" I remind her that, while my boyfriend might not have a job, at least he's not a drunkard idiot that calls me a cunt and sheds mass quantities of dead skin and empty beer bottles all over the house. I am witty, and not at all shocked into silence by her comments, and for once I stand up for myself.
It's just too bad that I am continually plagued with l'espirit d'escalier; when I walk away I have plenty to say, all of it valid, biting, sharp, and solid, but when I'm standing there being yelled at, I can think of nothing but the easiest way to remove myself from the situation. I freeze when confronted by an argument that I do not initiate and am not expecting.
Unfailingly, when my mother attacks me in such a manner, I am the one who ends up apologizing, making amends. She will not compromise. She will not be the first to budge. This gets old, as I've been taking the fall for everything since my early teens. Don't get me wrong; I know I'm not without fault, but I shouldn't be expected to back down every time she gets drunk and decides to pick a fight with me because something little has been bugging her and she's ignored it. Of course, everyone knows that if you ignore something that's irritating you, it gets bigger and bigger until you can't take it anymore, not matter how petty and small the issue was when it started out. My mother is infamous for this.
**iBook UPDATE**
After the highly disappointing receipt of the first power cord purchased on eBay, I found one that is listed as a G3 iBook adapter and looks like mine. The first one looked like mine except that the part you plug into the side of the computer was a different color and had a little notch on it to lock it into place when you're not using it. This second one is the same color and does not have the notch. According to the photos anyway.
I purchased it with money I don't really have, but I think I would go nuts if I had to live without my computer for the next several months.
The seller has left some interesting feedback for other buyers, calling a number of people 's!ut's. I am determined to not get on his bad side, and will send the payment with a delivery confirmation. I'm not interested in being verbally abused in the feedback forums of eBay by a Chinese Texan.
If there is any luck in this world, it will be the right part, and I will have it in a week or so. Cross your fingers for me, pretty please?
And, on a final note (last but certainly not least), thanks to everyone for sharing their stories and concern regarding my little crash in my sister's car. It's good to know I'm not the only person that ever did something stupid in a car!
"You bark every time there’s a knock at the door, you shallow-brained, carrion sucking, pig defiling, chemically-based cub of a masochistic-submissive parliamentarian."
"See? I'm not a terrible driver, am I?"
"No, except for that first turn."
I swatted at him and he kissed me. I had parked perfectly between the lines at the supermarket and I'm almost positive that I could hear my sister's V6 Grand Prix whispering, "Let's go somewhere that I can really show you how it feels to be free."
Having two of my favorite people at my dinner table I was on an emotional high. I just felt good, happy. The steaks were great, but my sister wanted to get 'fucked up'. I volunteered to be designated driver, eager for more time behind the wheel of the nicest vehicle I will drive for probably a number of years.
"Turn the wheel hard," she said.
As I followed her direction, my steering was blocked by my wallet, which I had forgotten was in the front pouch of my sweatshirt. I took my foot off of the accelerator and tugged at my pocket, forgetting to move my foot to the brake.
"Go," she said, grabbing the steering wheel and cranking it toward her.
Distracted by my wallet, bombarded by her instruction, I pressed down on the pedal. My intention was to stop the car and clear my lap.
"Whoa. Whoa!" He shouted from the back seat. I didn't even feel the car reversing, or see the darkened street speeding past my window. The 25 feet of road between us and the other side slipped beneath the tires in an instant before the sound of metal scraping metal made my foot find the brake.
We were jammed up against the neighbor's Mercury Sable and I crawled over the console, all of my good mood dropped out with the bottom of my stomach.
The neighbor's fender was scraped and dented, but my sister's car was heartier and came away with only a few scratches, transferred silver paint, and a cracked taillight.
I was frozen, with my hands over my mouth, as I watched them inspect the damage and decide to not wake the elderly couple at 11:30, but leave a note instead.
I cried in the bathroom until he came to comfort me, and my sister wanted more than ever to get fucked up on $2 rum and cokes. Still dazed I climbed into the back seat of the car, only to open the door again as she started the engine.
"I'm just going to stay here," I choked, starting to cry again, and feeling stupid for having crashed the car my sister bought only a month ago.
He comforted me some more and I went to bed. My first instinct when I feel bad is to go to sleep and hope that I will be better when I wake up.
When my phone rang, her name on the display, I almost silenced the ringer and ignored the call, but I decided that feeling sorry for myself wouldn't do me any good, and she probably only wanted to see if I was okay.
"Did I ever tell you about when I did almost the same thing to Grandpa's truck?" She asked over the din of the bar crowd.
"When I was 14 or 15 Grandma let me drive Grandpa's truck. This was when it was still brand new.
"She had me drive down the driveway and back twice before she told me to pull into her neighbor's carport. I got confused, and instead of pressing on the clutch, I pressed on the gas. I hit a 4"x4" support beam. Grandpa freaked out."
I started sniffling again, amazed and thankful that she was being so gracious and understanding, hoping the neighbors would be so nice.
"Don't worry about it; it happens to everyone. Do you remember when I hit that Mustang on Capitol Hill?"
I remembered. She was only 19 or so, and she was mortified when she backed into it. It was the newest model, and my sister has always had a certain reverence for Mustangs. To her, hitting one was devastating. The woman was nice and never called her about the scrape.
"Don't stress about it," she said. I could hear mom in the background, laughing at someone.
"It happens to everyone."
And the video's pretty good, too.
I have a crush on the lead singer of The Killers.
I received my newly-purchased power adapter in record time, and was very excited to try it out on my computer and get back online.
It didn't work. Well, I'm sure the adapter works, but it's not the right part for my computer. Apparently, Apple has different adapters for G3 iBooks that were manufactured in different years. And they all look the same. They even have the same model number. Just.. Some fit, others don't, and the one that doesn't fit is labeled with a little "45W" where the one that does fit has no labeling at all.
A friend is re-listing it on eBay for me, and hopefully it will sell. Of all the G3 iBook adapters on eBay, there appears to only be one that will work with my computer. I'm really broke, and I have to scrimp and save for the next few months (I'll explain why later), but I'm not sure that my sanity will survive more than another couple weeks without the internet. I might just have to splurge.
If I still have any readers, I will try to post at least twice a week. If I can't, please don't leave me. :(
Kevin and I went to Ellensburg yesterday to find something to do. Today it is really sunny, Wednesday it was really sunny, but yesterday it was cold and windy and rainy. Just my luck. We still managed to have a good time, and I spent another $8 at the Dollar Tree.
One of our first stops in downtown E-Burg was Threads and Needles, the used clothing and piercing shop where I got my nose done. For the last year or so I've been wearing sterling silver jewelry, and my skin seems to be sensitive to the silver. I bought a cute pink surgical steel stud and asked the piercer to put it in for me. One of the appealing features of silver is the very small gauge--the "bone" style studs I've been wearing are usually about a 22 gauge. The surgical steel straight stud that I bought yesterday was only a 20, so the piercer had to use a taper to stretch my piercing. I haven't been in that much pain in a long time, but the new stud looks nice and isn't as noticeable as my old one.
After having my piercing gauged out, I noticed that the tip of my nose is numb. It's not turning purple, so I know that it's not a circulatory problem. My best guess is that maybe the bend in the stud is pressing against some nerve in my nose. Hopefully when the swelling inside of my nostril goes down some it will relieve any pressure that might be causing the problem. I just hope it's not a bizarre MS symptom that was triggered by the stress and pain of the gauging.
In addition to my traumatic nose piercing experience we had lunch at Jack In The Box, a fast food restaurant that Kevin really likes but is not available in his corner of Canada, shopped at the dollar store, saw "Sin City" which I thoroughly enjoyed and will review in more detail later, and had dinner at The Tav. We did a lot of window shopping, saw Dick and Jane's Spot, and got in a lot of walking. Kevin also got a lot of DVDs at really good prices. It was a good, long, tiring day, and I'm glad that he got to see more of the area where I grew up.
**iBook UPDATE**
I stopped into Radio Shack a few days ago to see if their computer expert could pinpoint the source of my iBook troubles. He checked the power adapter for voltage, and got no reading off of it, so I deduced that the problem was the charger and not the battery. I ordered on off of eBay for $30 and should have it within a week, I hope.
My trusty iBook is having some problems. The battery won't take a charge, which means that either the battery itself needs to be replaced, or the power adapter is faulty. Since it wouldn't boot up with the battery removed, Kevin is inclined to think that it's the adapter. I don't know what to think. Either way, it's an inconvient expenditure.
I'm trying to find affordable parts on eBay, but most of the adapters are around $30 plus $10-15 in shipping, and batteries are even worse. I'm bidding on an adapter right now, but the auction doesn't end for almost three days. If I knew someone around here with a G3 iBook that I could use for my troubleshooting needs, I would know exactly which part to replace instead of playing roulette and possibly buying an unnecessary accessory
So, on to my second-string news.
The remaining balance on my unemployment is only enough to get me through the next five weeks, so I applied for a job as the fuel station attendant at Safeway. The hiring manager is someone I've known personally and professionally for a few years now, so after a quick ten minute chat this morning about what my hours would be I was asked to undergo drug screening tomorrow morning. Unless someone slipped heroin into my breakfast, I should be fine. I told her that I was going to take a class in June, but would want to continue working around that schedule, but I didn't mention that I would probably be taking a different job in July. I might decide to keep both jobs for awhile, or I might not even be offered a position with the clinic. The paperwork I signed when I completed my tests indicated that there is no guarantee that all successful graduates will be offered a job.
So, that's what's going on with me. Audioblogger hasn't been posting my clips lately, but I'll try to keep updating at least once a week via the library computers.
Kevin's bus arrived safely and more-or-less on time on Monday, and we've been having a nice time for the last four days. There's not much to do around here, so we've rented a few movies and made at least one trip to the grocery store each day. Last night we went out for our anniversary dinner, and while the steaks were a bit disappointing, everything else was good.
I know you're all wondering what kind of gifts such an amazing girlfriend as myself would present to her significant other on birthdays and anniversaries, so let me fill you in. When he got here on Monday night I cooked his birthday dinner and completed assembly of his birthday cake with a can of plain-old-chocolate frosting. His birthday was on the 21st, but his gift only arrived yesterday. I bought him "Beast Wars Transformers" season 3 on DVD. The eBay seller I bought it from dicked me around a little, but the important thing is that we got it without too much fuss.
Our anniversary was yesterday and we started the day with me getting my hair cut at 9:00 A.M. I had to harass Kevin pretty severely to get him out of bed that early. My harassment may or may not have included several very loud smacks on the tush. After I got my hair cut we went and had breakfast at The Cottage Cafe. My bacon and eggs was good, but Kevin was not so impressed by his Eggs Benedict.
After breakfast we exchanged gifts with one another. I must say that he did a good job of being thoughtful. He got me a Ditty Bops CD and some Ferrero Rocher chocolates, and in exchange I let him check his email for the first time in two days.
I had been scheming for awhile to find the perfect anniversary gift, and in January had decided I wanted to get him a Jenny Sparks action figure, but thought that it would be the icing on the cake if I could get Warren Ellis himself to autograph it. Warren Ellis declared his local postal service to be too unreliable, but offered to send Kevin an original script instead. I'm surprised by how nice he is.
When Kevin was finally allowed to check his email yesterday, he found an attached copy of the first edition of "Fell", due to be released in stores sometime this fall.
Kevin has already dubbed me the "Best. Girlfriend. Ever."
