It was such a great day. Wasn't it?

Duh.

I showed up to work praying today that Tina (my back-up) would come to work and say "Hi Annette, I'm working all eight hours today, so you can go home!"

I wake up at 4:40 AM, rush out and am at work around 4:58. I see a shorter blond get out of a truck...and it's Tina. I almost jumped for joy. Then I went in, clocked in, grabbed the keys, grabbed the closing reports. No one walks in. She then bursts in and grabs a soda as I drill her about her hours today. She says she is staying the whole day. Inside I jumped a little and waited for Johnny to show up. Now it wasn't a total waste of time, since I got to pick up my check and as soon as Johnny gave me the "don't leave me alone with Tina" look I smiled as huge as possible and rushed out.

Meaning I got to spend the whole day doing anything I wanted. I haven't done that in five weeks. I always have work or school so I was in heaven. Heaven, I say. I came home and slept till 9:30 AM and then went down to La Cumbre to deposit my check and transfer funds.

Well, since the shopping mall was RIGHT there, I couldn't resist. In my defense, I haven't the things I need in my kitchen and room. I've even been putting it off for a while, so I went to ROSS and found these adorable glasses, very snobby. I also found these adorably funky and kinda retro set of dinnerware and storage stuff along with things I really did need and was being very creative with in the past weeks with, such as a potato peeler, spatula, ladle, etc. I was overjoyed.

So now that I had kitchen tools, I went to buy real food, like potatoes to peel with my new potato slicer. AND: I finally found the crepe pan I've been looking for everywhere. So of course I made sure I had all those ingredients and such.

Not only, but shortly after I got home Portia came back, I'm assuming from a job interview, announcing excitedly that she had a job. She also told this funny story about guys, a car, and a ride. Anyways, the important thing is that she made lunch. A pretty yummy vegetable soup. Although neither one of us has had the brain to buy spices and herbs so it was missing a certain "WHAM!".

Anyways, I have just enjoyed a couple of crepes and could not be more delighted. Boring Friday night you say?! Well,...screw you.

By the way, what is up with this taxing thing. It's just not fair. My paycheck suffers way too much every week. At least 1/4 of my check I don't see. Which means 1/4 of the time I'm slaving away, It's for free. Taxing and union dues are on my hit list right now. As a democrat I'm all for taxing, but come on, when you're barely making due with what you've got and trying to help out your family that $110 taken weekly really makes a difference. Then there's the stupid union that takes another $50.

At this rate I'm never going to able to afford all that useless stuff I want. [sigh]

I'm at the point of craziness.

Seriously.

So, this week at work we're all getting trained for the new change to vericash. Seems simple enough. Oh no! It's been a week of craziness, with midterms and complications with scheduling this week. In short, I ended up getting scheduled for six days of work this week, out of seven. I, the full-time student. For some reason, my back-up bookkeeper couldn't make it in on days she is scheduled for every week, of every month,.. you get the point. I hate her right now.

Anyways, when I got home today (work schedule usually runs 5 AM - 1:30 PM, or 2 PM if I take a longer lunch) I was deadbeat tired, from midterms yesterday, no sleep last night, and just work tensions and such. I passed out while watching The Godfather II. Here's the creepy part: I had a nightmare, because dream-me panicked that she hadn't filled out the fsm paperwork right and that the lawson reports had come back way off. 

In other words, I had a nightmare about work stuff. See that's when you know you work too much, and that work has become more than work. It's a part of your life. Yes, go ahead - shudder.

So I was thinking Thanksgiving. Since I haven't been there six months (or is it a year?) I don't get paid vacation, or sick days, yet. However, with this sucking up they're going for I am hoping to work four days off in a row. I mentioned it to Johnny (my twenty-two year old trainer/superior who I find really hard to take too seriously), and he's like "Sure!" I'm glad. I need to go home.

I can't cook. I cooked all summer. It was my job, even. Yet, I can't seem to make anything right. Grr. I tried making a baked apple dessert today. Entirely failed. Failed. They were not yummy. At all. The other day I tried making a pasta - a pasta! Something a ten year-old can make, and I overcooked it. My scrambled eggs came out burnt two days ago. How do you burn scrambled eggs?! I need home-cooked food. Some ceviche would be nice, flan would be better, or better yet some of those empanadas. Oh, yes. Arroz con leche. Chicken Soup. Real food. Even a torta, or a quesadilla. Everything just tastes so much better coming from my mum. Until then, I need to get out of this funk. Or I'll starve.

And apparently I've been saying mum (for mom) lately. It's annoying when I don't know when I pick up things from people and when I started it. I'm 99% sure I got it from Eleanor. Those bloody English.

PS: The Godfather - amazing. I finally got around to Netflix-ing The Godfather II and I've had it for three days without really getting to watching it. Every time I start it I fall asleep. It's not so much that it's boring (not at all!) I'm just so tired, etc. It's really bugging me. I need to watch that movie, so I can take in it's awesome-ness. I will say this, these movies make me want to be  in a mob so bad, you know get into something fishy and be able to cause someone's murder. Is it just me?

PSS: I'm not abandoning LJ, I'm just trying out that blogspot thing. I am NOT A TRADER!

Just:

http://barbyechick.blogspot.com

Fun.

Guess who has been the full-load bookkeeper for Vons here in Santa Barbara?

Yes, me. Me, working with numbers. Me counting, depositing, accounting, working with money. Having my own office, email, #, and a double digit hourly salary.

Ha. Ha. Ha

PS: This semesters classes are SO FUN. I'm not even kidding, I am in love with all my professors, except my photography prof, but that's just because he's kinda weird, but in a good way. Ethics, History, Politics, Macroecon, Photography. My favorite is my Poli Sci class, it is filled with such a diverse group of people that discussions get really interesting every time.

I get my paycheck tomorrow. Yes. Sadly, I have to start paying my union dues by Oct. 11, which sucks. There goes 50 bucks out of every check. That's two weeks of gas!

I am so giddy. I have a friend who is interning at The Progressive and he promised me he'd get me a subscription.

The huge magazine/newspaper junkie I am - I was excited to get my first issue in the mail today. FYI The Progressive is a monthly political magazine that is heavily biased to the left of the American political spectrum. So yes it is filled with Bush bashing and anti-corporate sentiment. It has tons of stories about people chaining themselves to objects/people to make activist statements protecting someone or something's political rights. The joy, the enthusiasm. My heavily right winged and Republican friends will enjoy my constant references to this at times weird publication.

I first saw it about a year and a half ago and was greatly impressed by the "No Comment" section. It's a special page where readers can send stories (verified, of course) from other publications and trusted sources that just leaves you with an overwhelming "...?!"

I'll share some from the August '07 issue:

McDictionary: McDonald's is lobbying dictionary publishers to change the meaning of the word "McJob," reports Time.com. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a McJob as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prosects, especially one created by the expansion of the service sector." McDonald's says the word denigrates its employees, and wants McJob to "reflect a job that is stimulating, rewarding... and offers skills that last a lifetime."

Loans to Lonely Hearts: A bank in South Korea is offering special interest rates to Korean soldiers jilted by their girlfriends, reports The New York Times. Soldiers need to show letters or e-mails to bank clerks proving their breakup. Military service is mandatory for young men in the country.

(can you imagine walking in to ask about this promotion? "Uh hey I heard you had great rates for...")

And my favorite from this issue:

The Bomb That Dares Not Speak Its Name: The U.S. military once considered developing a "love bomb" as part of its non-lethal arsenal, reports the BBC. The bomb would release an aphrodisiac chemical that would provoke widespread homosexual behavior among troops, causing what the military called a distatesful but completely nonlethal" blow to morale.

BTW: I just got a hold of The Society Islands new song, it's sweet. Very sub-pop indie.

As I open my mailbox every morning, I can't wait to see what treat I come into. Thanks to my frequest Amtrak rewards, coke rewards, mystery shopping and all other stuff I barely do but get free stuff for...I enjoy my benefits.

Little samples in the mail, great discounts for stuff I really need or wish I needed so I wouldn't feel guilty for buying it...or my magazines

Blender, Rolling Stone, Spin
Nylon, Jane, Allure, W, Clear
Glamour, Marie Claire, Elle, Lucky
Seventeen, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl
Time, Financial Times, Newsweek, U.S. News

I thank you for your awesome free subscriptions and extra entertainment. Extra thanks to the ones that gave me super long ones till '09.

PS: you have aided me greatly in my love for collaging my walls, book covers, and everything imaginable.

Still waiting on my Vogue sub by the way, I don't think it's ever coming [sigh].

I just finished the book Lolita by the way, Vladmir...wow is all I can say. Those Russians can write.