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...