Espana

Ok, I know it's been a month since Spain, but I've been busy doing a-whole-lot of nothing.

When we landed at the airport we were debating whether to take the metro or the cab to get to our hotel. Since Beck wasn't positive about which stop was ours and April "had enough adventure for one day," we went with the cab option. When we got out on the street, April said, "Taxi" and a guy came over and asked if we needed a taxi. "See, I can speak Spanish," which is when Beck gave us the bad the new: They don't speak Spanish in Barcelona (yes Barcelona, SPAIN); they speak Catalan, which is a combination of French and Spanish. Great for Becky, not so great for us--April knows about 5 words in Spanish and I have taken it since High School, so combine that with French, how the hell were we going to manage (Beck would be in class for two days, leaving us to fend for ourselves)?

We went to the supermarket to buy some food for lunch and while we were there we picked up some tradition Spanish candy (I got chocolate coffee and coconut). This little adventure of course involved figuring out if there were any nuts in the stuff, since Europe is obsessed with them. April found these chocolate chip donut things called doo-waps. We couldn't find any plain apple juice, so we got what we thought was apple-kiwi. When we tried it, it tasted a little creamy. After reading the ingredients, we discovered that it not only contained 45% juice (in America, it's usually 10%), but milk. Who the hell puts milk in juice?

That night, we had dinner with Beck's friend at one of their apartments. Such a crazy drunken night (if you want any gory details, you're gonna have to ask me personally). Let's just say we didn't get back to our hotel until the sun was coming up.

By the time Beck came over around 4pm on Sunday, I feeling hungover and April was still sound asleep. Beck did manage to convince us to get up and shower, but that's about as far as we got. We stayed in bed the rest of the day and night. We tried to order chicken pizza and two sides off the menu, but they brought pizza and two sides of chicken wings, which were crappy.

Since I did not pay $900 just to see Beck (but I probably wouldn't have gone to Spain if she wasn't there), and she was going to be in school all day, we had to go sight-seeing on Monday and Tuesday. Apparently the whole city was made my Gaudi (who I never heard of until that week). A lot of his stuff is really cool, but it's so new (being in Italy for four months with built/made in the 16th century or earlier, seeing stuff built/made only a century or so ago seems so new, and therefore, less impressive).

We went to the "Temple Segrada Familia" (Temple of the Holy family), which Gaudi began in 1850. It has been under construction ever since. This temple has three facades with different scenes. After looking around the church and the museum (where were learned that Gaudi was killed by a tram), we took a lift (elevator for all you Americans) up the side of the church. There we had a cool view of the city, the church and could even see the giant phallic symbol (which we of course got a picture with). The elevator was only one way, so we had to walk down the "straight spiral stairs" (does that sound contradictory to anyone else?). Most of the way down fine--wide stairs looping around in a large circle, but then at some point they became tiny windy stairs, it's amazing I didn't puke by the end.

After all this walking, we need lunch (which apparently is not called "amuerzo" like they taught us in high school). We went to a little cafe and had ham and cheese sandwiches. They put some sort of spread that was made from tomatoes. I like it, April did not.

Next we went to the Chocolate Museum. It was a lot smaller than we had expected, but the sculptures were really good. Some of them include: Arc de Triomf, Temple Segrada Familia, Finding Nemo, and Pinocchio.

By the time we found our way to Beck's University, we late and couldn't find her. We looked around for awhile and even tried to call her. When we got back to the hotel, we found her waiting for us famished (as were we). After looking at different places for a while, we found a restaurant that seemed good, although it was a little expensive. Let me emphasize the word seemed. The best thing that any of us got was April's steak (which she "considers American," not Spanish). Becky kept going on about sangria de cava (champagne instead of wine), so we ordered some which was good, but not worth how expensive it was.

Tuesday we went to Park Guell (this was designed by Gaudi as well). Beck warned us that there was huge hill to climb up to get there, but she also said there were escalators. We found the hill, but no escalators. After a couple hours and asking a few people for directions we finally found it. It was pretty cool, but not as impressive as everyone said it was. Shem and I got pictures with the famous mosaic lizard, wandered around, and then decided to head to see one more Gaudi building. We went out a different way then when we came, which turns out to be a lot easier. There were signs pointing us in the right direction to the metro, so apparently we should have gotten off at that stop.

After trekking across the city to see another one of Gaudi’s buildings, we decided to sit and relax instead of paying the 16 Euros to go inside. As we were sitting on the corner we began people watching—some people need to invest in a mirror and/or a fashion consultant. After having so much crappy food we decided just to go to McDonald’s. It was a good call. Even though they screwed up my order, the food was still edible. Surprisingly, they had free ketchup packets (unlike in Italy).

The Picasso Museum had about 20 rooms of his different periods. The first 15 rooms were pretty normal, not what you think of when you think about Picasso. Then there were is color periods, and even some porn drawings/sketches (which I of course enjoyed). And finally, there was his cubist period we he turned a perfectly beautiful painting (Velasquez’s Las Meninas) into crap. And it took him like 40 tries to get it just “right.”

April and I came to a couple theories about the artists: Gaudi has time to make this stuff because he never got laid (he had a lumpy twin bed in his room) and Picasso had too much sex (he drew porn and fucked up paintings. Actually, April thinks Picasso was perfectly until he had a brain aneurism causing his cubist and Las Meninas period.

After meeting up with Beck and Meredith, we went to the Erotic Museum. Some stuff was interesting, some was sickening, but the old silent porno was hilarious. I couldn’t leave there without a souvenir t-shirt.

Since April and I had determined that Spanish food sucks, and I wanted a shot glass anyway, we went to Hard Rock for dinner. The food and drinks were great. Ok, they weren’t spectacular but compared to crap they were great.

So after not enough sleep, April and I headed to the airport to begin the “Travel Weekend From Hell.”

Getting to España

On Friday, November 10, I worked a half-day, ran some errands, finished packing, had lunch with April and her parents, and then went to the airport to fly to Spain to see Becky.

Checking in was fine, but then we had to head to security. I understand that security is for our own safety, but seriously, there's no reason for the workers to be dickheads. First of all, the line was pretty long. About 10 people from the front of the line, TSA employees were checking passports and boarding passes, and they were pretty anal about keeping the passport open to the front page--because the front page is so hard to find.

There was a worker standing by a table saying, "If you have any liquids come see me." I had just a couple things in a ziplock bag--epi-pen, asthma inhaler, and a contact case with a tiny amount of solution. As I was walking over to show her my ziplock bag, a male worker said, "Just go through normal security," so I headed that way. But the woman said in a bitchy tone, "If you have any liquids, come to me." Well, not wanting to get in trouble for trying to sneak liquids on the plane, I started to go back toward her. The guy once again stopped me and told me to just go through. Apparently, she meant, "If you have liquids not in a clear plastic bag, come see me," but I guess yelling at people is just easier than being clear.

After sliding the bag through the x-ray machine, the TSA employee asked to go through by bag. Obviously, I didn't really have choice, but I wasn't upset about it or anything. I asked what he was looking for, so that maybe I could explain where it was, or what it really was, but he just ignored me. After he was pulling stuff out for a minute or so, she ignored her too. Now, if he's not allowed to tell me what he's looking for (which I'm pretty sure isn't the case because the TSA guard in Indianapolis told me he was looking for a lighter), he could just say that. There really is no reason just to ignore some one. Especially since I wasn't be rude in any way (well, until after he was an ass).

There weren't any more problems until Paris (we flew Air France, which I didn't really want to, but that's another part of the story, so we had a layover). There, we had to go through security again. Once again, I had my ziplock bag out to show the security guards. Well, these guards actually took the stuff out of the bag to look at it. They had a problem with the epi-pen. I tried to explain that I need it in case I go into anaphylactic shock, but they didn't speak English, and well, I know no French. Now, I'm not saying that everyone should speak English, but at an airport, you'd think they would. If I was in Italy or probably even in Spain, I'd be able to explain how it was necessary. I would have called Beck to explain, but Verizon doesn't have International service. After about 10 minutes of trying to explain what it was and them asking a couple people, I think they asked for a prescription, luckily, I had found copies from when I went to Italy.

On the plane, my faith of Air France increased somewhat. Besides having the map of we were, there was a camera to see what the pilot could see (unfortunately, it was night, so we couldn't see much). Also, the remotes could be used as game controllers. The food was pretty good. The only complaint I had was that The Break-Up wasn't playing on flights from Paris. Another plus, which I really didn't think would happen: we got all three pieces of our luggage (I know a few people who had luggage lost by Air France).

After claiming our suitcases, we walked right out the doors and met Becky. Anybody notice anything odd about this on an international flight? There was not a passport control check. Yup, the only people in Spain to ever ask for my passport was the hotel. Philly, does check passports on the way out, but they sure as hell look at your identification before letting you in the country. Spain, or at least Barcelona, doesn't really care that much about security.

Well, like I said, we saw Beck right away, which was both a relief and exciting. We wouldn't have to find our way to the hotel ourselves and we got to see Beck for the first time since Labor Day.

Last Weekend

After my fun date with my dad, I headed over to April's to watch a movie. Since she Blockbuster Online, we have a tendency to pick a hot actor and order all the movies he's in. Currently were are on a Christian Bale trend. One of the movies he's in is Empire of the Sun, which was made in 1987. Yea, he was like 12 back then. This wouldn't be a problem if the movie wasn't long, boring, and pointless. Definitely shit-tacular.

Saturday, I slept in, then hung out with April. We went shopping for a birthday gift and then had fun wrapping it. Sounds pretty simple, but not for us. First we had to go through newspapers and find the comics. Next, we had to tape multiple comics together to get a sheet that was big enough to cover the box. After it was all wrapped, we "sealed" every edge and place to slip a finger under to rip the paper. We wrapped a couple pieces of tape around the middle. To top it off, we each made a bow out of tape to put on top. By this point, we were kinda loopy, so we made up a song: "I made a boooow, out of tape, for yooooouuuu. So did she."

We finally decided to go to bed because we were tired as hell and had to get up early for the baby's baptism. I woke up at point and looked at my watch--9:20. Damn, only 10 more minutes of sleep. Then I realized I hadn't changed my watch back, so we had hour of sleep left. Her parents hadn't realized this and had gotten up at 8 instead of 9.

The baptism was interesting. They're Episcopalian, which normally has a service very similar to catholic mass. This was more contemporary church with a band and Christian rock music. The dress code was much more casual than usual. One person was even wearing shorts, a t-shirt and no shoes.

After church was the party...

At my suggestion, a few of us escaped upstairs. Later we played Kings up there. After everyone had left, we turned the dining room table into a beer-pong table. Good thing I had those beer-pong balls I had stolen from the bar in Rome.

Monday was Josh's birthday. Leftovers from the party and then a movie. Man of the Year was hilarious. I highly recommend it.

Old Tradition

When I was little, my mom would go out with her friends every so often. That would leave my dad responsible for feeding us. Since his cooking skill don't go beyond boiling water (tea and oatmeal), we ate out. For some reason we always went to Wendy's. After dinner we'd come home and I'd kick his ass in Candyland (let me reiterate--I was little).

Anyway, last Friday, my mom went to her 35th high school reunion. Instead of making food that was supposedly in the fridge, my dad and I just decided to go to Wendy's for old time's sake. I knew it wasn't going to be good as when I was little for two reasons: 1) Fast food is high-quality to 5 year-olds. 2) The quality of Wendy's itself has declined: They used to have an awesome salad bar with pasta and pudding (that's what I liked the best).

Well, I had fun anyway :)

Hope Bowl Hates Me

In the past 4 years, I've been to 3 Hope Bowls, and been in 2 car accidents on the day of the tourney.

Sophomore year, we were heading back to UDel for the Highlighter party when I had a little run-in with a Temple School bus (that was the front of my car).

Last year, I drove my house to temple to UDel to temple to home to UDel and back home the next day without any problems.

This year, I drove my house to UDel and then on my way back home, my car destroyed.

The night before the games I told someone, "I wouldn't miss it." Next year, I'm gonna have to think about it. Maybe I can go without driving any where that day.

Car

Here is the drama of my car...

Last Saturday, I was driving home from Hope Bowl at UDel. I was sitting at a light about five minutes from my house (State and Springfield for those of you that know the area)...when all of a sudden BAMM! Someone hit the back of my car, then even worse, I felt my car hit the car in front of me, so, I'd have to pay for that (I tend not to keep my foot fully on the brake when I'm at a light).

Background info: 4 years ago I was rear-ended and the guy never reported it to his insurance agency. It took forever for my insurance company to get paid by the douchebag's (so I had to pay the deductible). I was young and it was my first accident, so I didn't even think to call the cops, so there was nothing I could do.

Back to our regularly scheduled program...

The three of us pulled over (no one was hurt) to inspect the damage, exchange info, etc. Luckily for me (and her) the chick I tapped didn't have any damage (and the impact didn't cause any damage to the front of my car). She didn't feel like sticking around to wait for the cops, so she just left.

When I called 911 ('cause I don't the regular police number), I was outside on the side of the busy road, so I it was hard to hear. He was asking me all kinds of stupid questions (like does anyone need an amulance or tow truck, but the stupidest of all: are the cars smoking? I'm pretty sure I would have mentioned that. but apparently some people are retarded), and he got pissed off at me and accused me of not listening. Besides the fact that I'm impatient, should he really be tying up the 911 lines?

When the cop showed up and took all our info he said that it was a "non-reportable accident," which means that it wasn't technical a police report (but he still had to fill our forms and give us forms). The only reason that the cops need to be called is if there is a dispute over who's fault it was...hmmmm, last time I was rear-ended, there wasn't a dispute, but he still didn't tell his insurance company. I didn't want to take any chances.

I called my insurance company pretty much as soon as I got home. They told me I had to call Allstate (his insurance), which I did right away. On Monday morning as I was about to go into work, I got a call from Allstate asking me if I knew the other guy's phone number, which I didn't. Apparently, he hadn't called them. I decided to give it a couple days before I harassed him at work (I used some good detective skills to figure out where he worked). Luckily, but the time I called back, they had been in contact with him. She told me this meant that when I went to the estimate on Saturday, they'd give me a check right there.

Saturday rolls around and I go to get the estimate. Instead of getting a check, I'm told that the computer is down, so he'll talk pictures and notes and then sometime Monday, the estimate and check will me mailed to me and info faxed to the autobody shop. Well, today, they had trouble finding the estimate, but eventually it was found and everything will me mailed.

I left work early to meet my dad at the bodyshop. He looked at the damage and tried to open the truck (I hadn't tried that because I was afraid it wouldn't close. Well, it's a good thing because once he finally got it opened it wouldn't stayed closed. So we were discussing the damage and after saying how fucked up it was he said, "What do you want me to do if it's totaled?"

That would be the reason for the wine (and my absence at my psp meeting) tonight.

I Heart ABC

It occurred to me a few hours ago that I forgot to watch Grey's Anatomy tonight (I couldn't watch it last night because I was talking to Becky in Spain). I was kinda bummed, but I decided to search for a synopsis of the episode. ABC had a link to watch "previously on," which is five minutes of clips from the episode. This of course only made me want to watch the episode even more.

I saw this link that said, "Watch Episode." I was expecting it take me itunes or a similar site that would allow me to BUY the episode for a couple bucks. But NO. It was the FULL episode for FREE!! How exciting. I actually decided to watch Desperate Housewives from Sunday instead of Grey's since I have more time to watch that before the next one airs.

I've also discovered that my dad sucks at telling me what happened in a show. He left out most of the major points (except the ones I asked about because of seeing previews).

Last Weekend

Last weekend was mostly a blast.

Saturday, I had to wake up just as early as I do for work to head down to UDel for Hope Bowl. It's the annual flag football tourney for AIDS (for more details, check out Drew's Rantings). Luckily, I didn't have to drive anyone down, so I got to get an extra hour of sleep.

So, I get down to UDel's campus around 9am and head to the field where the game's have been played for at least four years...and it's deserted. I called my little, but she didn't answer. "Crap, now what do I do?" I thought. I figured no one from chapter would answer since the games were supposed have started. The only person who's number I know for AH was Drew. Even though he likes to make fun of me and piss me off, he directed to me to the correct fields, so that I was able to meet up with my chapter and the rest of the Brothers.

Our chapter had two teams this year: the rookies and the vets. Since all three of my littles are vets, I hung out with that team all day. They did well this year. The won the first game, but they had to face the team every one fears: the VTech alumni. The good news: they made it through the game w/o VTech scoring. The bad news: neither did they. Unfortunately, they lost in over time. Since it was double elimination, they another shot to make it to the championship. They won a couple more games and then had to face the UDel alumni. It was a good game that once again led to overtime. Unfortunately, we lost, but I'm proud of them. Everyone was pooped from waking up so early and pissed about losing, so we headed north. The plan was to split up, get food and sleep, then meet up for a party. That plan didn't go quite like that...

About five minutes from my house, I got rear-ended (I'm find, I'll write more about that later), so instead of sleep, I got to call insurance companies.

I finally got to the party, which had it's usual antics, with one exception: some one from chapter had taken a souvenir from one of the other chapters..hehehe...

Someone had the great idea of going to Pat's. The problem was it as 2am on a Saturday night. The line was wrapped completely around. Although it took at least thirty minutes to get our food, there was entertainment that can only occur in Philly. A couple drunk guys started "Dallas Sucks" chants and sang the Eagles' fight song.

Speaking of the Eagles and Dallas, the game was Sunday. The funniest part of the weekend was watching Matt McBriar fumble the the ball and then scramble uncessfully to retrieve it. I saw it five times and was still cracking up over it. It was an awesome game, and it was even better to rum it in a certain someone's face. I still remember when his dad (like any other normal person born in the Philly area is an Eagles' fan) said in reference to him being a Dallas fan, "I don't know where I went wrong in raising him."

Partying in Philly

I spent all weekend drinking in Philly and my weekend started on Thursday. Instead of going to Finn's, I went to South Philly to celebrate Matt S's 21st b-day. Obviously, since I had to drive home for work, I couldn't drink too much, but I did do a shot of Wild Turkey with him.

I made it through work on Friday and then headed back down to Philly to Matt's "21st-a-palooza." It actually turned out to be a huge frat party. Although, I'm definitely too old for that kinda crap, I still had fun with my brothers.

Saturday, I did some shopping and then headed to McGillin's for our open-bar fundraiser. After 4 drinks (including 3 Long-Islands), I decided to go bar-hopping with Gabe. For some reason, we went to Applebee's for a drink and some food. Then we headed to McFadden's because they were having $2.00 drinks. Somehow, Gabe managed to get us in for free. After hanging out there, we headed to Finn's (how could we not being just a block away and not going on Thurs??) Well, we didn't have to pay cover there either..WooHoo :) I was having an awesome time, but by midnight, I was pooped, so I headed to Julie's. A couple people were hanging out. At one point we started eating cereal. I was eating Cheerios, but they tasted kinda sweet, so I asked about it. Julie said, "That's 'cause they're Honey Nut*." Apparently, my Little wants to kill me.

Well, they didn't kill me and I lived to make it to Pop-Pop's for Sunday dinner. After Pop-Pop's, I hung out with April for a bit since I hadn't seen her since Wednesday.

*According to the ingredients, the only nuts in the cereal are almonds, and my mom as this theory that I'm not allergic to almonds.

Today's Daily School Shooting

Seriously, it seems like over the past week, someone has been shooting up at least one school a day. On September 13, there was shooting in Montreal; on Thursday, six girls were molested and one was killed in Colorado; on Friday, a principal was shot and killed by a freshman in a Wisconsin high school; and today there were two incidents: In Vegas, a school was locked downed to search for a gunman; and in Lancaster, a guy walked into an Amish school, ordered the boys out, lined up all the girls and shot them. The murderers in Colorado and Lancaster then killed themselves. Not only do these sickos kill innocent people, then they turn around and kill themselves.

Fuck Adults

I really hate people who are supposed to be grown up, mature, and responsible--'cause they're NOT!

I found out about a job through a temp agency a couple weeks ago. The woman at the agency was supposed to send me an email with the address and other information. I had to call her in order to get that information. Then, I was possibly going to work somewhere else for a couple, but she never told me definitely, so I had to email her to find out. Finally, she called me and told me I got the job, but she wasn't sure of the details, so she'd email me. Once again, no email. When I called her, she told me the HR department at the company never got back to her, so just go at 8:30 (even though I might not have to be there until 9).

I also work for a promotional agency. I found out about events through email. On Thursday, I got an email telling me about a Breakfast Promotion in Philly this weekend. I clicked the link as well as called the office. The person I was supposed to tell did not answer his phone, so I left a message saying I was interested a long with my phone number. I didn't check my email again until Friday night. There was no email saying, "We need you to work this weekend here's the info..." nor one saying, "sorry, we have all the help we need." I called the office again and heard the following message: "I will be out of the office with no access to voicemail until Monday. If you need to reach me, call my cell phone. If you are working this weekend, call your local rep." I was expecting him to give his cell phone number, but he did not. I would have shown up anyway just in case, but I didn't know specifically where it was. For all the other events, the email saying, "hey do you wanna work?" contained all the information.

I remember getting pissed off at my Fraternity Brothers for not caring out their responsibilities, but they were young, had school work, and many had jobs. However, adults are supposed to be more responsible and these are their jobs. I understand that they probably have other things to do and other things on their minds, BUT this is their damn job. GRRRRRRR

Word of the Day

I learned a new word last week: Nadir

Definition (from dictionary.com):

--noun
1. Astronomy. the point on the celestial sphere directly beneath a given position or observer and diametrically opposite the zenith.
2. Astrology. the point of a horoscope opposite the midheaven: the cusp of the fourth house.
3. the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME ≪ Ar naẓīr over against, opposite to (the zenith)]

Sentence: How is NOT getting tickled in the middle of the night a highlight? That should be the nadir of your GC!

Ocean City, MD

The weekend of August 18-20, I went down to OCMD to hang out with some fraternity brothers. After consulting with someone who drives down that direction every weekend, I opted to wait until later on Friday night to head down. It was a good decision--I didn't hit any traffic and made it to OC in 2 1/2 hours. I also learned that it takes exactly two hours to get to Dewey Beach.

I got there just in time to head to the bar with my friends. I ended up drinking a few magaritas (which I think is my new favorite drink). After going back to the hotel, five of us played Drinko (like Plinko, except with shot glasses and drinking). So after being even more drunk, we decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk on the beach. Only Gabe thought it would be even more fun to run on the beach instead. We tried to take some pictures, but Gabe was so drunk that he couldn't figure out how to use his camera. We found out the next day that it was because he had grabbed the wrong camera.

Saturday, after sleeping until noon (which was amazing), we hung out on the beach for awhile and then over Seacrets to drink and hang out in the bay. Seacrets is the greatest bar ever. Not only are there a bunch of bars to order from, there are tables and rafts set up in the bay to lay on while sipping (or chugging) drinks.

Saturday night, my cousin came over and we played baseball--a drinking game that is pretty intense. After finally getting through one game, we headed back to Seacrets. Another crazy night that ended with making sure a certain member of the group didn't kill himself by drunkenly swimming in the ocean.

Sunday consisted of breakfast, hanging out with bros on the beach, then driving home. Awesome weekend.

Ocean City, NJ

On Saturday, August 12, my dad suggested that we go down the shore. Since I surprisingly didn't have plans, I was all for the idea, and we managed to convince my mom to go along with it. It should take about 90 minutes to get down there, but there was crazy amounts of traffic and took 3 or 4 (I fell asleep for most of it). I realize that it's summer and everyone and their mother goes down the shore in the summer, but it was a Saturday afternoon (we didn't leave until 1 or 2). People that go for the weekend would probably go down on Friday night and those just going for the day you'd think would leave in the morning.

By the time we got to the shore, we were hungry. My parents were excited about this pizza place they had been to, but we also wanted to go to this nice restaurant that we've been going to since I was a baby. We decided to go the restaurant first and then if we got hungry later in the night, we'd get pizza. Well, when we got to the restaurant, it was closed!! We found out it had be closed for two years, even more shocking. We ended up going to the pizza place. It was actually really good and I got ricotta cheese and ham on my slices--it was like a calzone--awesome :)

As we were walking down the boardwalk, we saw that our favorite fudge shop (Shriver's) had opened a gelato place. It'd looked authentic, so we tried. It tasted authentic too!! It was freaking amazing!

Side note: I'm in love with Sesame Street and collect all the characters. When I was little I had a giant Big Bird. It had been stored in our basement, so I never got another Big Bird stuffed animal or anything. Last year, we had mice in our basement, and when my parents cleaned up, my mom claims that she had to throw out Big Bird because of mouse droppings. I was pissed. Actually, I think it was because she didn't actually tell me, my dad did when I asked about it. Anywho, I keep blaming her for me not having a Big Bird and telling her she has to replace it for me.

While my mom looked in some store that seemed boring, I went into the toy store next door. Guess what I found? Sesame Street stuffed animals, including Big Bird. The best part was that they were the softest things I've ever felt. Somehow I convinced my dad, to not only let me get Big Bird, but also Oscar. Well he said he'd buy Oscar, if my mom bought me Bird.

Later that night, I went on rides with Whit and Bob, who were staying in Avalon. She was hilarious--freaking out on the Sea Dragon (the boat that goes back and forth).

Past Couple Weeks

Work:

I have been working at the same company as my dad since the beginning of summer. I've always known it was a temporary job, but I never knew the exact date I'd be leaving. Around August 9, my manager told me that whenever I was finished the current project on which I was working, I had one more small project and then I would be done for the summer. This would have made August 14th or 15th my last day. On Thursday, the 10th, I was asked if I would be able to stay and help another manager with a project. Since I don't have another job, of course I said, "sure." However, when I met with him the following day he told me that he would be needing immediate help, but since I was not finished with the other projects, he probably wouldn't need be by the time I was finished. He told me he would let me know on Monday if had any work for me. Sure enough, he (and another woman) had some crap for me to do. Tuesday afternoon, he brought me down to meet the woman who need help. She had a couple projects for me to work on, then I had to help someone else, and then the following week, I'd be back helping her. On Friday (Aug. 18) morning, I had some training on the project I would be working on in two weeks. Then after lunch (2pm) I was called into the manager's office and was told that the projects he had wanted me to work on, had incomplete programs, so they were not ready for me. This would be my last day. I inquired about the the job I had been trained that morning and he told me that he did not have authorization to have me do that project, only the one I had finished. He did say that in a few weeks if the programs were ready, they might be needing my help. So basically, I'm officially unemployed. My plans: be a bum (and I'm sure I'll actually look for some jobs too).

Play:

August 11: Dashboard Confessional Concert at the Tweeter Center

August 12: Ocean City, NJ with the 'rents

August 15: Dorney Park

August 18-20: Ocean City, MD

Concert:

I surprisingly did not enjoy this concert as much as the other three I've been to. Beck and Shem agreed. The first problem was the sound. I'm not sure exactly what was wrong, but the I think the vocals needed to be louder and/or the instruments softer. The second problem was that most of the songs were from the newest album. Not everyone in the group knew all these songs, plus it's really not my favorite album. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy it (and I think a few songs are really good), but I like the "classics" better. He only played a couple older songs. The concert did end on a good note: After the ten-minute (probably an exaggeration) wait before the encore, he ended with "Vindicated" and "Hands Down." I think that's how he ends all concerts now, because he did the same thing at the last two as well.

After the concert we headed to Top-Dog since we were already in Jersey, Beck and I keep hearing about it on the radio. As we were pulling into the parking-lot, I went into my wallet to take out money, debit card, and ID to put in my pocket. The first two were there, but the ID was not--the worst thing to forget when going to a bar in this country. At first, I had no clue where it could be and it occured to me I had been driving around all day without my license. Finally I remembered that on Wednesday night, I went with a friend to Shampoo because he works there. I didn't bring any money in with me because I wasn't planning on spending any. The fact that there was no money in my pockets that needed to go back into my wallet, plus that I was dead tired when I got home (barely able to change and take out my contacts before passing out) led to me completely forgetting about the ID. I'm beginning to think that my friends and I are destined to never go out together.

Dorney Park:

Since I wasn't sure if I would have a job, I told the girls I would go to Dorney Park with them on Wednesday. When I found out I did have a job, I just told my manager that I had made plans when I thought I didn't have a job, so he let me take off.

I had a blast, but it is definitely better to go to an amusement park on an overcast day instead of a sunny one. Besides no (or very short lines), the sun is not beating down on you all day. I am so unaccustomed to waiting for rides. We waited nearly an hour for one. The line for the Talon wasn't that long and neither was the line for the front row :-D We tried the new (well new since the last time we were there), Hydra. I didn't like it. It seemed very slow, and it was very shaky (kinda like a wooden coaster). The one cool part was the slow corkscrew in the beginning of the ride. We finished the night with Shem and Fabs going on the log flume and getting soaked, then we went on Steel Force, twice. That's still my favorite ride.

After leaving the park, we went across the highway to McDonald's to grab some food. It was around 10:45 and I wasn't sure what time the restaurant part close and needed to use the restroom. I told April to drive through the drive-thru while I went inside. When I got back in the car, April said, "I think we missed ordering...we waited for about five minutes, then figured the machine was broke, so we planed to just go up to the window, then we heard it work for the person behind us."

Instead of going up to window and saying, "hey bitches, you never asked for our order, take it now," which cause all kinds of problems and probably not even get us our food, we decided to just go around. We were back in the same spot as were were went I left. Then we got charged for barbecue and sweet and sour sauce because no one had ordered chicken nuggets. This isn't the first time I've been charged for sauce, but it's this first time in a long time (in this country). Who made this "nugget rule" and why isn't it only enforced occasionally?

Anywho, after eating, we headed home. Luckily there wasn't any traffic. We got home pretty late and it really sucked having to go back to work on Thursday. But I had something to look forward to: OCMD on Friday. Read about that trip (and my OCNJ trip) in a future entry.

"Science" Experiment

As I was eating M&M's today, it seemed like the package had a lot of blue ones. Obviously, there are never an equal number of every color in each pack, but I started wondering about the factory. Do they create more of one color, or about the same of each color?

Here's my plan: count them. Every time I buy a pack of M&M's I will count how many of each color there are. Feel free to help in my quest. If you do let me know, please also tell me what size pack and what kind (plain/milk chocolate, dark chocolate, peanut, etc)--I want to see if differences in amount are related to type. Oh, and don't include holiday or otherwise special packs.

Thanks!

SHUT UP!

A month or so ago, the news reported that many of the surveillance cameras at the Philly airport don't work/aren't taped/aren't watch/not doing their job. Even back then, my friends and I were saying, "Don't announce this on the news, so criminals know where/when to commit their crimes.

So tonight, after the discovery the suicide bombers channel 3 news said that the cameras still aren't working. A reporter also said that she had lotion in her carry-on and it was not caught. Seriously! What does this help?! NOTHING! It only makes it worse, having one or both of the following effects:

1)Mass hysteria--people freaking the f*ck out b/c they're worried about getting blown to bits on their next flight

2) Bombers seeing it and thinking, "well, she didn't get caught, I can bring my explosives on and blow it up."

I understand that people have the right to information, but they should shut up when people's lives are at risk. The government should stop worrying about if someone says "f*ck" in their the songs or whether people can see a penis going into a vagina at 3 in morning, and worry about the news alerting criminals to good targets. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

7 Deadly Sins

Since I don't have enough motivation to create these things on my own, they have to come from somewhere...this one's from Duff

WRATH

1. Who did you last get angry with? Probably my mom

2. What is your weapon of choice? My hand

3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? been there done that

4. How about of the same sex? Yea

5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? I dunno

6. What is your pet peeve? Currently, assholes who feel the need to kill innocent people (reference to the suicide bombers discovered in London)

7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? Keep grudges

SLOTH

1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you didn't do? Eat breakfast

2. What is the latest you've ever woken up? I think 4pm, but once when I was hung-over I couldn't get out of bed 'til 5pm

3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? ummm...

4. What is the last lame excuse you made? I'm tired

5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through? You mean people usually don't?

6. When was the last time you got a good workout? Sometime last semester climbing to the top of one thing or another in Europe

7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarmclock today? I just turned the damn thing off...Let's just say I had to take a 5 minute shower

GLUTTONY

1. What is your overpriced drink of choice? Jack and Coke

2. Meat eater? Cows are so yummy, especially baby cows

3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in onesitting/outing/event? Once I get to that point, I stop counting. I have chugged 3 Long Islands, and another time I did 11 shots

4. Have you ever used a professional diet company? Nope

5. Do you have an issue with your weight? I could lose a little

6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? Depends, but usually sweets

7. Have you ever looked at a small house pet or child and thought, "lunch"? Only Mrs' annoying squawking parrot

GREED

1. How many credit cards do you own? Technically 4 (two are for stores and one is in my dad's name)

2. What's your guilty spending store? Gotta agree with Duff: Dollar Store--everything is cheap, but adds up quickly

3. If you had $1 million, what would you do with it? Pay off my debt, take a European vacation, and they buy/franchise a business/restaurant

4. Would you rather be rich, or famous? Rich

5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? Probably, I'm doing a boring job right now for just some bucks

6. Have you ever stolen anything? Only from my mom

7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive?: I dunno, maybe about 1000 or so

PRIDE

1. What's one thing have you done that you're most proud of?Graduated Temple in 4 years and managed to go to Italy

2. What's one thing you have done that your parents are most proud of? Probably nothing, maybe that whole-graduating thing

3. What thing would you like to accomplish later in your life? Having a life (job, family, etc)

4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Usually

5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than the other competitors? No, I have no skill

6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yea

7. What did you do today that you're proud of? Woke up, showered, went to work

LUST

1. Do you like/love someone right now? No

2. When was the last time you kissed someone? sometime

3. How many people have you kissed? More than 10, less than 100

4. How many ex's do you still talk to? All 5 of them

5. Do you watch porn? I have, but usually it's just softcore crap that I like to make fun of

6. Would you date a hot (but bitchy) person? No, I will NOT date myself, it would probably end in murder

7. How many people have you been sexually involved with? Define "involved"

ENVY

1. What item of your friend's would you most want to have for your own? I can't think of anything

2. If you could have any profession, what would it be? A house/apt of my own

3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be? Erica Kane (ok, not a real person, but I wouldn't mind looking as good as Susan Lucci when I'm 50+

4. Have you ever been cheated on? Maybe (who can ever be sure)--but none that I know of

5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different? I used to want bigger tits

6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Ability to sing and dance

7. Do you wish you'd come up with this survey?No

H&M

Random fact of the day:

I just learned today that H&M stands for Hennes & Maritz, and it's Swedish. I learned this because of Catholics bitching about Madonna. (The whole scandal is over an H&M add featuring Madonna on the Duomo in Milano).

Alcohol vs. Sulfuric Acid

I work for a company that creates standards for all kinds of things. In order to make these standards, experiments must first be performed. The project on which I'm currently involves going through these Research Reports and looking for references to standards. Occasionally I'll read some of it instead of just skimming.

Today, I came across a report that involved Isopropyl Alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol). There were all kinds of warnings about how flammable it is, and if it spills it must be cleaned up and washed with water immediately. I thought this was kind of odd since I don't really consider it a dangerous chemical. It can bought in dollar store by kids. I just figured it was because the report was done in the '60s and they were probably more cautious back then. Then I looked at the next chemical mentioned--Sulfuric acid. Even if you don't how dangerous H2SO4 is from the million science classes you took, just look at the name ACID. Pretty dangerous shit, and yet...NO WARNING.

Chuck Norris

Since so many people seem to idolize Chuck Norris, I thought they'd might be interested in this little fact: Hungarians may name a bridge in Budapest after the man. There is a new bridge being built, and citizens get to vote on the name.

For more information:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aDplGNo9mHCM

GC '06--Highlights

If you didn't read all the posts or just want a recap, here are the highlights:

• Attempting to hitchhike
• Missing the flight
• Making it to KC the same time we would have if we had made our flight
• Pizza in the bar
• Sauna
• Continuing traditions
• Not getting tickled in the middle of the night
• Seeing Alpha Chapter
• Hilarious bus ride
• Finishing business on Saturday night
• 18 shots lined in a row
• Trying unsuccessfully to order from Munchiez
• 4 hours in the pool
• 5am speech
• Indy and cardinal poop
• Asshole cab drivers

GC '06--Sunday

Since I don’t consider it the next day until after I go to sleep, my Sunday didn’t start until around 1pm. We went to lunch with our weekend roomies, and then Gabe and I had to run to get on the shuttle. The good news: we got there before it left. The bad news: the driver would only let one of us in (we could have fit another person, almost everyone were Brothers). Gabe took a cab, he got to the airport a few minutes after me. That was one tiny airport/terminal. Because we made sure to get there early so as not to miss our flight, we had to wait around for awhile. We had some good company because we saw Suzanne who had a flight right before ours.

There was an announcement saying that the plane was really small, so any luggage larger than a briefcase had to be cabin-checked. I wondered how small the plane could be. When I walked on, I got my answer. It was seriously (not including wingspan) the same size as the bus we took to and from CMSU. It held less than 50 people.

When we landed in Indy, we had 2 hours until our next flight. There was no line in security and there was nothing to do in the terminal, so we decided to step out of the airport. This way we could claim to have visited another city/state. When we got back inside, we did a little shopping. I spent as much at the airport as I did at the bar the night before. I bought a shot glass (‘cause I had now visited the state), a magazine, and a neck pillow. Gabe spent $9 on cardinal poop. “That’s the definition of expensive shit.”

Our plane landed in Philly around 10:40. I didn’t get home until 12:30. That’s about how long it took to get home from Newark. This is the second part of why I’m beginning to understand how people hate Philly Int’l. What the hell took so long? Well, first, I said “landed,” not pulled up to the terminal. There was a lot of traffic and construction on the RUNWAY. They told us later that there was also some sort of an emergency with a passenger, so there were also paramedics causing the delay.
Duff also arrived around the same time, so the three of us were going to take a cab to their place. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds. We walked out of the airport and saw a cab immediately. We hopped in and told the driver where we wanted to go, he said, “That’s close” and got out of the cab to argue with the dispatcher. We sat in the car for a couple minutes as they argued, and Duff called the cab the company and reported that driver wouldn’t take us home. When he found out how close we were trying to go, he said, “That’s why.” We got fed up, took our shit and found another taxi. Gabe took me home and I was finally able to get some sleep.

GC '06--Saturday

On Saturday, we went to Central Missouri State to get a tour of Alpha Chapter. Most of the buildings there were named after Brothers. Not only did Gene Seevers speak, an even older Alpha Brother was there. At that reception, it was announced that next year’s Alumni Convention will be in Orlando. On the way back, we decided to stop at the cemetery to see the grave sites of our founders and another important Brother. We reached the cemetery, got out of the bus into the 100 degree heat and started looking for the tombs. We were told that they could be seen from a flagpole, so that’s where we started. After about 10 minutes of us looking around hurting our feet on the burnt grass, someone figured out that we were in the wrong cemetery. We were looking for five-foot tombs in a field of flat stones. Only Phi Sigma Pi Brothers could end up at the wrong cemetery. We eventually found the correct site and it was nice to the final resting place of these great men. The bus ride back to the hotel was too hilarious for me be catch up on my sleep.

Business went smoothly on Saturday and we adjourned before 11. Yes, we were done for the weekend. What better reason to celebrate? We headed back out to Westport. We hung out in one of the bars until around 3. Just before last call, the 18 of us all did a SoCo and lime shot. The bartender put all of the glasses (yes, unlike most Philly bars, they were actually shot glasses) in a row. It was an amazing site. Right before we left, Gabe signed the bar with our letters.

The plan was for the taxi to stop at McDonald’s on the ride home. Maybe we could have another $63 bill this year. Unfortunately, the first MickeyD’s we stopped at was closed, and the line at the next one was too long to wait in (we didn’t need a $50 cab fare). Plan B was to order some food from Munchies which claimed to open from 4:20 to 4:20. The $9 delivery fee did not deter the 5 drunken Brothers who were hungry. Even though it was only 3am, they didn’t answer the phone. No food for usL.

We then decided to go hang out in the sauna again, but as we were passing the supposedly closed pool, we saw a bunch of Brothers and decided to join in. Between that time and 7am a bunch of Brothers came and went. When the security guard came by at 5 to open the pool, he didn’t say anything (It was shocking and relieving to be “caught” by security guards at GC and not get in any sort of trouble). Many were just passing through the area and didn’t have bathing suits with them, so they just jumped in wearing jeans. The funny thing is, hours later (while a couple of us were hanging out in the hot-tub part of the pool area); the security guard came by and said that there had been reports of people wearing street clothes in the pool. We of course denied this accusation (although I’m pretty sure a couple people were still wearing their pants…good thing there were bubbles).

The best part was the 5am speech that others have already mentioned. “It’s 5am, the pool is officially open and I’m in the pool in my jeans.” It’s always funnier when people you don’t expect to even be drunk are in the pool in their clothes.

After leaving the pool around 7am, Gabe, Brad and I had some breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty good, though I don’t think it was worth 13 bucks. After breakfast, I showered and finally went to sleep at 9am.

GC '06--Friday

This is a slight tangent from the fun stuff, but I needed to bitch. Friday, for lunch we went to Panera Bread for lunch. I had never been there before, but had heard good things. The prices are pretty expensive so I surprised to hear that the food is all pre-made (I had asked for a sandwich on different bread since I can’t eat pesto). It was very disappointing, but at least the food was good. On a side note, once again, I did not have sign the receipt when I paid with a card.

That night business went well and we were done by 9, giving us plenty of time to hit up the bars. There were a lot on Westport St, and none of them had cover charges, so we went to a couple. The last bar we went to had a pizza shop inside. This is an ingenious idea. The pizza cost $2.25 a slice, but we bought it b/c we were hungry and it was there. Bars in Philly really need to look into this.

When we got back to the hotel, I was planning on going to bed, but I bumped in Fresh. Since GC is pretty much the only time I get to hang out with him, I nixed the whole going-to-bed-idea. Somehow a small group of us ended up in the sauna. Interesting experience. There are some other fun details that best kept to myself, but let's just say I was able to continue a GC tradition.

GC '06--Thursday

Just as Wednesday night didn’t go according to plan, neither did Thursday morning (Gabe didn’t end up getting home from work ‘ti 3am). Gabe and I had planned to get a cab around 5am to make our 6:25 flight…

At 5:15 He came downstairs, and asked if he should call a cab. I had figured he had already taken care of that. So he found a taxi number online and called and said we needed to get to airport very quickly. The guy said the cab would be there in 15 minutes. At 5:30, there was still no cab, but we had gotten a phone call saying that he had to find a cab b/c I guess everyone was sleeping. We decided to walk to the main road to see if a cab was coming—no such luck.

After asking a couple people for rides (aka hitchhiking), we saw a bus that went to the airport. We got to the airport check-in around 6. This was too late to check-in at the machine, so we had to talk to a person. This, coupled with my experience on Sunday night is making me realize why people hate the Philly airport. By the time someone got around to helping us (and were second in line), it was 6:25, so our plane was already pulling down the runway. Luckily, there was another flight that was leaving at 8:50 that would get us to KCI. There were only standby tickets, so we took them. I was freaking out until about 8:20 when we got boarding passes for the flight. I did get to go to Delilah’s at 7am (it was the bagel place in the terminal). The flight was originally supposed to take off at 8:20, was delayed to 8:50, then even later because we had to wait for a flight attendant. Apparently the one scheduled for our flight had gotten sick, so we had to wait for another one to arrive from Detroit. This wouldn’t have been much of a problem if we weren’t worried about the connecting flight.

We landed in Minneapolis at 10:50 and the connecting flight left at 11:15. We bolted down the terminal to the next one. By the time we got to the gate, the plane was already boarded. We explained our situation and told the woman that we needed to get on the flight. She took our information and starting typing in her computer. A minute later, Gabe’s optimism kicked it, “That printing sound seems good.” It was. She printed out and handed us boarding passes. Our seats ended up being emergency exits, which were quite roomy.

When we got to KC, we didn’t have to wait very long for a shuttle, so I didn’t miss too much of GC business. I found out (from my mom who was tracking the flight that I was supposed to be on) that if we hadn’t missed our flight, we would have only gotten to KC 15 minutes earlier. The flight from MN was delayed due to mechanical problems.

For dinner, a bunch of us (probably 20-ish) went to a restaurant called, “A Streetcar Name Desire.” Although the portions were small, the food was good and pretty cheap. We didn’t get done with GC business until about 11:30, and most of us were pretty tired, so we just hung out for a bit and went to sleep.

3rd Amazing Grand Chapter

I had an awesome time and made great memories at my first Grand Chapter in Richmond, last in Pittsburgh was pretty damn good, but I think this year in Kansas City may have topped the charts. I just figured out why I have so much more crazy fun at GC than National Convention: the harder we work, the harder we play. The best part about this year, was that security didn’t have much of a problem with our shenanigans.

Since so much happened this weekend, I'm going to break-down the posts into days of the weekend, starting with Thurs...

Random Thoughts

So the plan was to go to work, have dinner at Pop-Pop's, meet up with gabe before the game, hang out/drink, maybe get a little sleep then head to the airport.

Everything was going according to plan until game, when I found out that Gabe had to back work after so no drinking. Now, I'm all alone at Gabe's (the other two are already in KC). Well, at least it gives me some time to write a blog entry.

Ever notice how there is like one week in people's lives when they actually want to get carded for beer? Think about it. Before you're 21, you don't want to get carded b/c a) You're not going to get served b/c you don't have a card, b) You're going to lose your fake, c) you're going to be worried about b. Then right after your 21st, you want to get carded because you can actually produce one. Shortly after that it just becomes a nuisance. It becames even more annoying after spending four months in Europe and they'll serve you if you look 16.

I thought of this tonight at the game when I saw the guys walking around selling beers. I asked my dad, "Do they card here?" I got my answer a couple innings later when my dad gave me the six bucks for a Miller and the guy carded me. I don't know if it's because I was in Europe and didn't get carded at all, but it seems that I've been getting carded a lot lately.

Last week, when I went out lunch with Dan, the waitress didn't card us until i decided to order a drink. Then I get carded tonight...

Ok, I just realized I'm nuts because I also didn't get carded at Applebee's (although I was with my 'rents) or at Famous Dave's.

Well, this long weekend should be fun, especially if I'm not tired the whole time. We have to be at the airport around 5am, and then meetings start at 1pm (12pm EDT).

Another Pilfered Survey

This one was stolen from Duff...


There are some pretty random questions, so i was amused...


1. Where were you 3 hours ago? My house

2. Who are you in love with? no one

3. Have you ever eaten a crayon? nope, by april has

4. Have you ever been drunk? I went to college for four years, you figure it out

5. When was the last time you went to the mall? a couple weeks ago

6. Are you wearing socks right now? Nope, I never wear socks in the summer

7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000? yup

8. When was the last time you drove out of town? A couple weeks ago for Jay's Pigroast

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? no

10. What are you listening to right now? Counry Mix

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? coke

12. What are you wearing right now? jeans and my "Top 10 Reasons to know your are Temple University Biology Major" shirt

13. Who do you think you are? wtf??...I'm gonna go with a carbon-based life form with two X-chromosomes

14. Last food that you ate? Macaroni

15. Where were you last week at this time?

16. do you like someone? surprisingly, no

17.Does anyone like you? how should I know?

18. What's the last sporting event you watched? in person: US vs. Slovakia Olympic Ice Hockey

19. What is your favorite animal? I'm gonna agree with Duff: Cow---Steaks are good

20. Your dream vacation? Traveling all over Europe/the world with someone else dealing with my luggage

21. Last person's house you were in? my grandfather's

22. How old are your parents? 55 and 52

23. Have you been in love? yes, and it's a motherfucker

24. Last disappointment? well this survey is getting depressing

25. Any pictures around you? My best friends, friends from Rome, Brothers

26. What do you think about james blunt? who?

27. What jewelry are you wearing? PSP ring, my grandmother's ring, two earings, necklace, belly ring, anklet (wow that sounds like a lot)

28. What are your plans for the day? It's 10 pm, so probably just talk online and read 'til I go to sleep

29. Are there any sharp objects around you? Do you consider nail clippers sharp?

30. Ever go to camp? My mom made me go to asthma camp

31. Were you an honor roll student in school? In middle and high school...damn I miss being smart

32. What do you want to know about the future? If I'll be happy or I should just shoot myself now

33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? it's the weekend, i'm not even wearing make-up

34. Favorite Starbucks drink? Mint Mocha Frap--it's the only thing I'll buy from there

35. Where are your best friend(s)? Becky, April, Celie

36. What are you angry about right now?nothing...

37. Do you have a tan? Yes, thanks to the Alumni Convention being in Puerto Rico

38. What are you listening to right now? Still the country mix

39. Any new bands you've been listening to? nope

41. Where do you wish you were right now? An island

42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw? yea

43. What does your last text message say? from me: I would see superman or da vinci code to me: yea i wanna see those also

44. Do you like hot sauce? as long as it's not in my liquor

45. Last thing you said? blue eyes and bouncing curls

46. Do you need to do laundry? Yea, i always do

47. What is your heritage? 100% Italian

48. Are you someone's best friend? yea

49. What do you think of rice crispy blocks? You mean Rice Krispies Treats?? They're good

50. What do you think of the person who took this survey before you? Love him like a Brother

Credit Cards

The reason credit cards have the white strip on the back for a signature is that when you (or the person using your card) try to purchase something, it is compared with the signature on the receipt. This doesn't work if the stores don't check the signature. And I don't mean the employee doesn't compare, I mean s/he doesn't even have you sign anything. Stores save receipts (or they're supposed to), so if it really came down to it, they could check the receipts for the signature.

When I worked at Express, I had to compare the signature on the credit card to the signature on the receipt. I was told that I had to compare both, even if I saw a driver's license, that technically wasn't good enough. In case you live on mars, driver's licenses have names and pictures. I personally think it's a lot easier to compare faces than written names.

Since I'm bitching about this, you've probably figured out that I've had some experiences with I was not asked to sign.

First, when you pay at the pump to purchase gas, there is no way to verify your signature. I've always thought this was a little fishy, but even if your card is stolen, how much gas can a person buy before you'd notice your card was gone (of course with the cost of gas these days, $100 is very probable)?

Last week, when I went to the UA movie theater in King of Prussia, I was not asked to sign. The same thing happend at the the Regal (which is under the same company as UA) in Edgemont. What pisses me off even more is that they give me the receipt with the signature line that says "customer copy" (possibly even the one that says "merchant copy") as well as a regular receipt. Why are they giving me useless shit? This makes it even harder to find and determine which little piece of paper is my damn ticket to get into the movie.

I Hate My Job

Warning: This is an entry of bitching, which is also probably difficult to follow, so: read at your own risk.

I have pretty much been doing the same thing since I started working here on May 8. Right now, the company has two (actually more, but I only deal with the two) programs that store customer information. We are switching over to a different program that can everything all the other ones can. This way we only have to use one program instead of multiple crappy-ass programs.

My job is to make sure the names of the companies are identical on the two programs, so that multiple accounts are not created. This is tedious and it drove me nuts at first, but I finally got used to it. It started out with 4,000 companies that to had be corrected. After I finished (or thought I was finished) the query was run again to see which companies did not match. I was shocked when there were still 1,000 companies. I realized that this was because that when I fixed one program to match an account, it no longer matched the other account. This might help:

Program 1......................................Program 2

Account#..... Name : ....................Account: ...........Name:

......1 ..............ABC ...........................Z.............. ABC Corp

......2 ..............ABC Corp ....................Z.............. ABC Corp

Both accounts 1 and 2 are linked to account Z. I would receive a spreadsheet with just 1 and Z because 2 and Z are identical (and I would not even know about 2). If I found out the correct name is just ABC. I would change account Z. Since I did not know about account 2, I would not be able to correct. So, when I thought I was finished, I really wasn't because when the spreadsheet is created again, I would see this:

Program 1.............................. Program 2
Account# .....Name : ...............Account: .......Name:
......2 ............ABC Corp .................Z........... ABC

This time I'd change account 2 so that it would match Z. Now both 1 and 2 match Z.

Today I came across another problem: Sometimes when I made changes in Program 1, they didn't show up in Program 2. This was the point where I emailed the IT chick and said (to myself), "Screw this shit. I refuse to work until I figure out what the hell is going on." (Un)Fortunately, my boss came by and I asked him what the hell was going on. It turns out that if the customer hasn't paid s/he is coded as "ind" instead of "mem" and only "mem"s appear on program 2. Luckily, this doesn't really affect what I've been, so it hasn't been for nothing (yay!). It does just make my job more frustrating. I spent the rest of the day going through the spreadsheet checking which inconsistencies were due to the "ind"s. There were a shitload. On the positive side, it means I don't have do research on all these companies to see which is the proper name.

Europe Pictures!!

I finally posted my Europe pictures on webshots. There are about 600 pics on three different accounts.

If you're interested:

Christmas-Begining of February:

http://community.webshots.com/user/JacMic1104

Feb--March (Geneva, Florence, Olympics, Spring Break, and more):

http://community.webshots.com/user/2JacMic1104

March-the end of April (Siena, Florence, Northern Italy, Easter, and more):

http://community.webshots.com/user/3JacMic1104

Fictional Characters

People who have watched TV and even some movies, know that I get really into it, especially if it happens to be one of my favorites. Lately, I've developed major "crushes" on the awesome boyfriends. They number one boy on my list is Ryan Atwood. He is so amazing even after all the shit Marissa put in through. Besides the fact that he's four years younger than and me just graduated high school(the character, not the actor, I've haven't strayed that far from reality), I still want to date him.

One of my favorite shows as a kid (and I still happen to love) was Full House. Uncle Jesse was always one of my favorite characters. I've always had a "crush" on him, but lately it's been rediculous. I realized why when I saw an episode about his birthday. He turned 26 (It was season 2). So that explains why I more of a crush on him now--he's actually my age. It's really weird how when the show originally aired, I coul related most to michelle because she was my age, and now 2 decades later, I want her uncle.

It's a damn shame that these guys aren't real, oh well c'est la vie.

Stupid Things

1st Stupid Thing on this list is my mom...

On Tuesday, she called me at work around 9:30 AM; this is how the convo went:

Mom: What is the strongest liquor in the house?

Jackie: I think the strongest is 80 proof, which is everything, why?

M: I'm sick again, I want to take a shot to kill everything, so what do you recommend taking?

J: I guess Scotch, that's pretty strong.

I called her and hour later to see if she was drunk (because she's such a light weight).

J: Drunk yet?

M: No, I didn't do a shot. I decided to put rubbing alcohol on my arms instead.

what the fuck??? Do I really have half her DNA??

My dad conference called me with her on the line around 4PM that day:

Dad: She's drunk

M (slurring her speech): I made myself a strong drink.

D: You had an oz and 1/2 of liquor

M: No! There were 2 1/2 , no 3 oz.

D: The amount went up from what you told me five minutes ago.

Later during the week, she called me to tell me about the bras she bought from the VS Semi-annual sale. She's going on an on about the bras for like five minutes, and then says, "Oh and then I bought a PC." Twenty-five dollar bras get a detailed description, but a $3,000 computer gets an "oh by the way..."

Stupid thing #2--Drivers

This is a constant complaint: dumbass drivers improperly using turn signals. Some people don't use one. Others forget to turn it off, so people behind them think they are turning at every corner or trying to switch lanes. But the ones that piss me off even more are those that put it on when they are halfway through the turn. By that point I know they are fucking turning. Sometimes I really wonder why turn signals are a standard feature in cars.

Stupid thing #3--Ticket agencies

This occurred today when I was looking up prices to the Dashboard Confessional concert in August. I've ordered from ticketmaster before, so I knew there was a "convenience" fee as well as a delivery fee. Since I obviously don't want to pay extra money, I decided to check out the Tweeter Center website. The convenience fee is more expensive, but standard and e-mail delivery is free. When I went back to TicketMaster to look at the delivery fees, this is what I found: E-mail (recommended)--$2.50; Standard mail (delivered no later than 48 hours of event)--$0.00. When they actually have to mail you something (and does cost them some money), they don't charge you, but to send a freakin' email, you have pay--CRAP, I tell ya, crap. The only logic I could come up with is that some people wouldn't want to worry about waiting until possibly 2 days before the concert to get their tickets, so they would rather pay the extra $2.50.

After my 1st plan failed to save me money, I went to option #2: picking up the tickets at the box office (I probably wouldn't drive to Jersey just to save $2.50, but I was still curious). Although it's cheaper, there is still a convenience fee. FOR WHAT? If there is no way to avoid paying a fee to buy tickets, how the hell is that charging for "convenience"?? Is the only way I can tickets without paying an additional is by winning them from Y100 or getting them from C hris (the lead singer)?? hmmm...Plan A is out of the question since Y100 is gone, and I don't think it would save me any money to go find Chris.

In addition to the fees already mentioned, there is a "processing fee" for the entire order. So, if you one $30 ticket, you actually have to pay about $42 (30 + $7.45 convenience + $4.60 processing). I've decided to go with option #3 to see if I can save any money. That's going to Boscov's and getting the tickets there. I'm pretty sure that I can at least avoid the shipping fee and maybe the processing fee.

Puerto Rico--Domingo y Lunes

Sunday was the official end to the Alumni Convention; only about a third were staying longer (I was lucky enough to be in the minority).

After breakfast, we went to the beach. Because the only place I've ever gotten sunburn was in Florida, I figured I had a good chance of getting burnt when I was even closer to the equator, so I loaded up on sunscreen--twice. At lunch, I was thrilled to see that I had a great tan. That excitement wore off later when I was burnt to a crisp and my shoulders were killing me, but still I wouldn't trade in the weekend.

Swimming and goofing around in the ocean made us hungry, so Kate, Becky, and I went for a $51 lunch. They each spent $13 for wraps. I was too cheap for that, so I got the $7 loaded fries. Even though it was expensive, it's not like I can have lunch on the beach of San Juan every day.

When we got back from lunch, more people had come to the beach. Kate had a water camera, so we took a pic with girls on the guys' shoulders. This gave us the idea to have a chicken fight (girls fighting each other while on guys' shoulders). I was on Gabe's shoulders and Becky M was on Jeremy's. It was a lot of fun and I think we went down at the same time.

Fun in the sun can be tiring, so Becky and I took a nap before meeting everyone at "six" (translation: 6-ish) for drinks. We decided to go to a nice Italian restaurant for dinner. It was really weird to read the menu in Italian and be in an Italian setting and then hear the waiter say "gracias" and speak with a Spanish accent. Dinner was amazing: great food, great setting, great company. It was going to be about $30+ per person, but it was worth it. When the check came, Karen (Kate's mom) paid for the whole the table, we were all in shock. She had been cool all weekend, but this was just so unexpected and generous.

Since it was a Sunday night, one of the only bars opened was the Oyster Bar (were we had lunch on Friday), so we there. We saw some Salsa dancing and Becky and Kate even participated. When we got bored with that, some people went back to the Wet Bar, but Becky and I headed back to the hotel and watched TV/wallowed in our pain (from the sun) with our roomies.

Monday, as usual, we had some breakfast with the group. Becky and I shopped for souvenirs for bit, then met up with Finn and Gabe at the Casino. I tried the slots at first since my grandmother loved them, but I just found them boring. I decided to cash out before I lost all my money on something I wasn't even enjoying. Luckily, I had only lost $9.

I went and played blackjack with the guys. Not surprisingly, I lost all of the $20 I played, but I had fun. It was only a $3 minimum bet, so the money didn't go too fast, and I actually did win some hands.

By the time our money was gone (well mine and Becky's, the other two won some) and we finished packing, it was time to head to the airport :( Four of us had the same flight, so we all went together. Even though there isn't a customs check for PR, we didn't have to go through a USDA checkpoint before we left the island (it's a safety issue to bring fruits, vegetables, plants, etc. back the continental US...speaking of safety issues, you can't bring 151 proof alcohol onto a plane because it's too flammable).

Luckily our flight home left on time and was pretty uneventful. Especially since we had to drive two hours after we landed in Newark to get home.

Such an amazing weekend...I realized that if I were rich, I'd fly to Puerto Rico at least one weekend a month.