today is not a good day

I have to get rid of the bunny. Allergy shots or not, I barely sleep at night anymore due to constant coughing and sneezing. There's nowhere in the house we can put her, and I don't feel like it's fair to her to stuff her in a cage outside somewhere. It's not what she's used to, and not what she deserves.

I just sent an email to the shelter I got her from, and although I offered to foster her until they find her a new home, it's just a matter of time.

:(

i hate hotmail and the whole male gender

Hotmail closed my account last night, said I was a spammer. Not my MSN account, no. Not the one that doesn't matter. Instead, they close the one I use to submit writing. So, for as long as they keep it shut off (I've emailed them), I could be getting rejections and not know it. And don't even get me started on what if I should happen to get an acceptance while this nonsense is going on. I hate Hotmail.

I also hate anyone who happens to possess the Y chromosome right now. The ones I'm interested in are not interested in me, but the ones I have no interest in are all over me. Sometimes literally.

The minor irritation here is that the guy I've been talking to for awhile is apparently annoyed with me that I didn't call him last night before he went out. So now he's not talking to me. Gosh, sorry I waited so that I could actually give you my full attention. I won't make that mistake again. Meh.

The slightly bigger issue is that some guy licked my ear at work today. Sure, I bullshit with him when he comes in, but what the hell? He just walked up behind me and licked my ear. That's just... gross. I actually went and washed my ear afterwards. Grr.

And most annoyingly of all, Hans bought the movie 'A History of Violence' a couple months ago. Because he hasn't figured it out yet, he told me when he bought the movie, "I'm going to wait to watch it till you come back because I know you like Viggo Mortensen."

I told him to watch the damn movie.

Well, I got home from work today to find the following messages waiting for me:

Fyrsten says:
I dreamt that I was visiting you in the states, that was fun
Fyrsten says:
and I havent watched the viggo mortensen movie yet

I'm sick of the whole freakin' thing.

Do you know why so many people bitch about their horrible exes? (OK, some of them really are horrible), but it's also because stupid people have no clue when it comes to niceties and subtlety, so the whole 'let's just be friends' thing never works. The only way we can get you to leave us the hell alone is to tell you to fuck off and go die in a hole somewhere.

Gah!

old schooled

As you all know, I've been learning to shoot pool for the last couple months, and yesterday after work, I talked Ralph into going down to the bar and playing a few games.

Now, what you need to know is that I'm not good at pool. I don't suck; I've passed that point, but I'm not exactly to 'good' just yet. Average, I guess, is a good word for where I'm at.

So we were at the bar, about halfway through our second game, when a coalition of older men walked through the door. These guys were all dressed to the nines, looking shockingly bad-ass, and they came striding through that door like the astronauts walking down the tunnel in Armageddon.

Truth to tell, it was a little intimidating.

But Ralph and I got back to our game, while each of the older men came back and wrote their names on the board to play. By an amazing stroke of luck, I won the game.

The first older gentleman racked the balls and I broke. As per my usual break, I moved 'em all around but didn't sink a one. So I stepped back to let the guy take his shot.

Now, mind you, when I say these gentlemen were 'old', I mean that the youngest of the bunch had to be around 80.

So this guy leaned way over the table to line up a shot and then thought better of it. It took him several attempts and many, many seconds to successfully get up from his leaning-over-the-table position.

He was that old.

But he lined up another shot and sank it without a problem. Not five minutes later, the game was over, and I'd lost without even getting a second attempt.

I got schooled by the little old man who couldn't even get up from a leaning over position. He literally ran the table on me while I did nothing but stand there and gawk at the shots he made. It was unbelievable.

Ralph and I hung around to watch them play, and every single one of them was as good as the guy I played. The best part about the whole thing was, even when we put our names up to get our asses handed to us again and again, it was a mostly good-natured ass-whooping.

The most heated the atmosphere got the entire night was just after Ralph lost his first game. He mumbled, "It's like a fucking retirement home in here all of a sudden."

The guy that beat me the first time heard this and said, "I'd kick your ass for that remark, but I'd probably break a hip."

I don't think I've ever had so much fun losing so miserably.

something sad to see

Two girls came into the pet store today to get dog licenses, and it took me about five minutes of surreptitious glances to figure out why I recognized them. I graduated with the younger of the two, and while we didn't really talk much during high school, she and I used to be friends when I was little. I remember spending quite a few nights at her house, riding bikes, and enjoying the last vestiges of summer as only little kids can do.

What's depressing to note, and the reason I couldn't recognize either of them, is just how wretched they both look now. Stacy (the older sister) is missing most of her front teeth. Rotted out, it looked like. Track marks and easily identifiable scars clearly visible on her forearms and wrists. Nicole (my former classmate and friend) didn't look quite so bad, as long as you ignored the matted hair, the emaciation, and the gaunt, haunted look of her face.

It reminded me of a line from that Against Me! song. "No mother ever dreams that her daughter's gonna grow up to be a junkie."

Despite the sarcastic comment I made when they left the store, I couldn't help but feel incredibly sorry for both of them, and to wonder just how they ended up like that. Nicole wanted to be a veterinarian when we were little.

Sad, isn't it? We all have such big dreams when we're too young to understand anything of what could be headed in our direction, and it's pretty horrifying to see just how badly things can go wrong along the way.

not complaining!

I just noticed that the last few posts on here were kind of whiny, so I figured I'd talk about something not irritating for once. A break from the monotony and all that. (It's just that the annoying stuff is more noteworthy than the fun stuff, especially when I'm still annoyed.)

But I digress... Had a hell of a good day yesterday. I didn't get to sleep in, much to my dismay, because I had to be at the doctor's office around nine-ish for an allergy shot. The good news is, this one actually seems to be working a little bit. I'm still a little congested, but the point is I can breathe without my nose whistling a tune.

Later on in the afternoon, I went to go see the new Harry Potter movie with Devin, Ralph, and Adam. Despite having a few complaints with a couple of the changes they made, I thought it was excellent. And apparently, I'm going to see it again on Saturday with Jonie.

After the movie, we came back here and played football, then frisbee, then we went swimming, played Marco Polo (again without the Marco/Polo part), then we went to CGs, I became a member (so I can go down and practice playing pool whenever I want), Adam and I got drunk (Devin and Ralph both had to go to work the next day), we all played a few games of pool (I didn't win, but I didn't suck either), then we came back home, played Wii Sport, and Adam kicked all of our asses at tennis.

Then I kicked them out, 'cause it was 2:30 and I was falling asleep. Still, it was a really good day. I had fun. Now I just hope today is a little quieter, because I have a lot of work to get done. I'm dreadfully behind on submissions for Loose Yarns.

End.

yaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

The party last night was massive bundles of fun. It really was. I got home from work at five-ish to people everywhere. (Funny how I don't mind that as much when I know it's going to happen.) Saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in years. One of them tried to strangle me--old grudge from my abrupt departure to Norway.

So after me and some friends got a few drinks in us, we played all manner of stupid games. Hillbilly golf, horseshoes, tackle football, and even Marco Polo (the hard version without the "Marco!" or "Polo!") There was music, dancing, fireworks, and general tomfoolery--all in all, a good party.

Now it starts to get iffy though. Stayed up till five in the morning, slept three hours, woke up, and went to work. Since I knew that was going to be a bitch, I wasn't too ruffled by the ordeal.

Then I came home to a house full of people again. Not the fun people from yesterday that I spent the day with, but most of the people that I don't really care to talk to or hang out with.

It's been five hours; they're still here. Music's going, little kids are in my pool, and I just wanna go to bed and sleep before I have to get up and go to work yet again tomorrow.

Seriously.

I spent a solid ten hours yesterday drinking, dancing, swimming, and having an unbelievably good time. Is that not enough for people? Am I unique in this respect--that after a night like that, I just want to be left the hell alone to recover in silence?

After party, my ass.

grr snarl bitch bitch

Current Song: Hate My Life by Theory of a Deadman

[rant]

I fucking hate my job today. Most days I just hate it, but today I fucking hate it.

First off, I got to work today at 12:15, as scheduled. Today is Wednesday. Every Wednesday and Sunday, all the small animal and bird cages get cleaned. It's a major pain in the ass, but it needs done. Now, the person who works 10-6 is the one that's supposed to do the cleaning. That wasn't me today.

Well, my greeting from Roe this lovely Wednesday afternoon was, "Hey Steph... Sorry, but you got picked to do cleaning today."

OK, we were really busy today, like all day. I don't care that Roe didn't get a chance to do the cleaning. I don't even care that I had to do it. What I care about is the fact that I know who did the picking (not Mike--he's on vacation), and that just pisses me off.

To be fair though, Roe did help and it only took about two hours to get it all done. Roe's cool. I like Roe.

About an hour into the fun cleaning, Dan came back to show me next week's schedule. What do you know, I get shafted again! Part one, I have to work Sunday. I have to clean again. Part two, our shindig this Saturday is going to go on literally all night, and I'm not missing out on this. So, Sunday morning I get to go to work on zero sleep, and probably still drunk to boot. Don't care. I wasn't supposed to work this Sunday.

The only thing that will make this worthwhile is if Amy and Erin have to work together next Sunday. That means Amy will have to clean. Amy never cleans. Amy can do no wrong at that fucking store.

It won't happen, I'm sure. But I hope.

So the rest of the day passed with little incident, minus an amusing lady on the phone who asked me if she could put piranhas in her pond to eat her neighbor's cat. But then she realized that if said piranhas could eat the cat, they might stand a pretty good chance of eating her three-year-old son too, should the little tyke fall in, so that idea didn't quite work out.

Six o'clock rolled around and Roe went home, leaving me and Amy to close the store together. Number one, we got slammed with people wanting tarantulas, hamsters, fish, and snakes. Not fun when there are only two people working. And number two, and let me emphasize this: I fucking hate working with Amy!!!

You can't talk to her, because no matter what you say, she turns it into something about her. Plus, she bitches the whole goddamned time, about nothing. She bitches about having to close (because she never has to close), but if she didn't close on Wednesday, she'd have to clean, and to be sure, she'd bitch about that too.

Not only all that--those are minor irritations compared to what really pisses me off about her--while she's busy bitching about everything she can find to bitch about, should a customer come in and ask me a question, she jumps in to answer it before I can even open my mouth. Even if I manage to answer quickly enough to beat her to the punch, she still jumps in, basically rephrasing everything I just said.

So for the better part of two hours, I visualized what it would be like to feed her to the red tail boa.

[/rant]

Have a nice night, peeps.

a lucky shot and a shout to the locals

Current Song: 'Misery Business' by Paramore

First off, I don't have any idea how many of you locals still read this. I know of one. If there are more, great. Anywho, my neighbor Spider (Dave) is throwing one hell of a shindig this Saturday. It's kind of a joint party between him and my dad, complete with a pig roast, lots of alcohol, music (supplied by me--so mostly good music), a bonfire, and everything else that goes along with a kickass brouhaha. So, if you're not doing anything around sixish, feel free to drop by. If you wanna bring a dish, great. If not, there'll still be plenty of food. Call or text me if you need directions, but the place is real easy to find.

With that out of the way, I've gotta share my good news. For the last few weeks, Ralph's been giving me pool lessons. I used to be pretty good (or so I thought) but now I really do suck. I've gotten better with Ralph's help though. I almost beat Devin earlier tonight, and then I did successfully beat Ralph at a game of nine ball.

Mind you, it was most definitely an accident. I was trying to sink the eight, but it bounced off the nine (unintentionally, I assure you) and knocked the nine in. I win, I win! Yay.

The drunk dude that had been hitting on me all night gave me a hug (awkward), and even the creepy guy that had been watching us play gave me a congratulatory smile. Or a 'you-just-got-lucky-bitch' smile. Either way.

Nevertheless, I did beat Ralph. So, I think I'll start challenging Ralph to nine ball from now on, and just keep practicing eight ball with Devin where I actually have a fighting chance to almost win.

Triumph!

rawr.

Current Song: 'Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll' by Blue Oyster Cult

Love this song! ^^

So sometimes pretty much all the time lately, I really can't stand my dad's girlfriend.

The other night (the cold, cold night) Ralph, Devin, and myself went swimming. We played with balloons while we did this, and because I haven't been home hardly at all since then, I didn't clean them up. They ended up in the pool and the filter basket from the wind and whatnot.

Yeah, I fucked up. If they actually make their way into the filter, bad things can happen. I admit that, no problem. Dad called me out on that one, which is fine. But while dad's telling me (calmly, I might add), Lisa's chiming in, half-screaming about how I can't be trusted and so on and so forth.

And this is a card I've not wanted to pull with her, because I know what kind of position it puts my dad in, but, well, this is the time of the month where I'm not going to be especially soft-spoken about anything.

So I said, also calmly, "Listen Lisa, I understand what could happen if the balloons get in the filter, and I'll gladly admit that I should've cleaned them up that very night. But this is something I want to make very clear to your right now. You're my dad's girlfriend. That's all. In no way does that constitute you being in a position of authority over me, so this whole lecture, 'you-can't-be-trusted' thing needs to come to stop right fuckin' now."

She gave me one of those 'oh-no-you-didn't!' looks and said to dad, "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

Dad shrugged his shoulders and said, "She's right."

Boo yah, biatch!

She's been out of town for a week, and I've gotta say, this has been one of the better weeks I've had since I've been home. No Lisa showing up unannounced, no Lisa getting drunk and crying like a baby over stupid shit, and best of all, no Lisa calling 37 times each hour.

'Course she's back now. Joy.

ain't got a good title for this one

Ha! I typed the title to this post, then stupidly hit enter, so I just published...nothing, really. Not sure why that amuses me so much, but hey, it does.

I'm in a pretty good mood, though I can't figure out why. Lots of little mildly pleasant things all added together, I guess. Went swimming in the cold, cold water a few hours ago with Ralph and Devin. And when I say 'cold, cold', I mean not only was the water frigid enough to make my legs and feet go numb, but the air was cold enough that I could see my breath. Still a good time though.

They're trying to get me to play WoW and that's just not working out for them. Games don't really excite me much anymore. Except, like, Guitar Hero, and on the rare day, Harvest Moon. I don't even think I could play a Final Fantasy game from start to finish now if I tried. I think I'd get bored. Le sigh.

So my stupid rabbit needs her nails cut and she's decided that I'm not allowed to pick her up anymore. And stupid Trouble Duck is just a pain in my ass. Still want a bearded dragon though, but dad's still scared of them and thinks I'd let the thing run around the house. (Have you ever smelled bearded dragon poop? Yeah, that's just what I want to get on my carpet.)

We had a cookout at work today, which was cool. In fact, it was made even cooler by the fact that I didn't work today, so I could go in and just stand around. No asking customers if they need any help or answering the phone to tell people what time we close. It was wonderful!

And apparently, we're all going to pick a day and go get something pierced. Not sure how I got roped into that one, but whatever. I've been wanting my eyebrow pierced for like...six years. That makes me unique because everyone except Dan plans to get their nose pierced. (Dan wants his nipples pierced. *cringe*)

I just wonder what Mike's going to say about it. No one's asked him if he cares if we get facial piercings, though I do remember something in the employee handbook about only having earrings showing. But that also says no visible tattoos too, and both Erin and Roe have those.

Ah well. I guess that's the end of tonight's babble. Oh, happy 4th, fellow yanks!