Blowin' in the Wind

It has been one of THOSE weeks. Perhaps because roughly half of the office folk have been gone every single day. The managers are on a retreat all week, which severely diminishes the number of people I have to talk to, especially when MC is also gone to Oregon. Also, I have finished most of the current time studies on the A shift. I started a new one, but there were only 2 people in that department so it didn't take long to wear out my welcome over there. This means that I have wasted much of the week fiddling around on the Interweb, mostly trying to find something supersweet to do for my dad's 50th birthday in October. Suggestions are welcome.

The weekend was great. Friday I was in (in MC's words) a "dreadful little mood", and after work we met up with Bob & Debbie at Tomfooleries, which ended up being a great time and so I was removed from my funk. Derek came out and we all watched a mediocre cover band all night and had our own band at the table, which consisted of silverware, glasses, the table, and loud singing. It was glorious. The actual band was made up of 4 aging white dudes in Hawaiian shirts - always a good sign. Xina and 'her boys' met up with us, which proved to make the night interesting. After Derek and I agreed to stay with them once the fam left, we ordered ourselves some beers and were less than halfway through them when these guys decided it was time to leave. We downed the rest of our beer and got in the car to swing through Burger King.
We are ordering when 'J' decides he has to pee, and steps out of the car and heads toward the retaining wall east of the drive-thru lanes. I can only presume that he thought there was something on the other side of the wall. The next thing I know, the car is moved and the Burger King man is yelling at me through the speaker. Derek walks up to try to get the food but he won't give it to him, as they don't accept walk-throughs. He's now yelling over the speaker to 'get out of the bushes before he calls the cops'. Now this is especially confusing as there are no bushes anywhere near me. Then I look over to my left to see Xina and 'D' carrying 'J'. I know for a fact he was not that drunk, so why they are carrying him is beyond me. I go over to tell them the cops are on the way, and see that 'J' is bleeding. A lot. And his ankle bone is exposed. Oh my. As it would happen, he walked over the wall and dropped approximately 15 feet to a grassy area next to I-29. Lovely. So we ended up cabbing it from the hospital to Derek's mum's house. And Saturday when I left town he was in surgery getting 2 plates & 3 pins installed...

Saturday - Tulsa. I had forgotten quite how much I miss Erica & Mickey. Erica and I got pretty lubricated, and I had a great time. The Effects put on a good show, and I got a new lady crush during the band that played before them. She was like Gwen Stefani when she was cool before she got really big. After the bar closed, we tried to get sushi, but the place inexplicably closed an hour early, so we tried another place that was also closed. Then E & I detoured to a random club which turned out to be awesome. We danced to a few songs, some drunk chick joined us, then the bar closed and we proceeded to get lost somewhere in Tulsa's railyard area. Ah, good times.

Here are a couple weekend pictures:





Others are less appropriate and thus not on my work computer. Now I must just bide my time until the next weekend comes, and brings with it the Mecca of neighborhood garage sales and Miss E Dat.

That is my life right now. I am spending all of my time pushing on a door that is clearly marked 'Pull'. It looks like it would be a push door, so I throw all of my weight against it only to find out that I am going about it completely wrong. I see an obstacle and pour all of my energy into it. The effort is futile because I'm simply going about it wrong.

Everybody is getting ready to head back to Rolla. Not me, I'm potentially getting ready to be jobless. Maybe I could get my online classes finished that way, I guess. And my house continues to be a source of stress. After all of this, I'd better get it! I'm going to come out of this with hypertension AND a house, not just hypertension! :)

I haven't been sleeping well, and it has made me quite a jaded little girl. I am hoping this weekend will be glorious - I am taking a trip to Tulsa to see Rocco's friends' band play, and will be hanging out with Erica & Mickey while there. I could not be more excited for these last minute plans - I miss those kids.

Last night was good - We went to Emily's apartment and played some SingStar. Also, I learned something about cucumbers. Inquire directly if you wish to hear more. :)

I'm listening to my old radio shows, and 2 things come to mind: 1. I miss Rolla, and 2. Damn, I have good taste.

Peace out.

I'm not entirely sure where that phrase came from, but I assume it has something to do with the fact that working approximately 50% of your waking life eventually results in there being almost nothing left of 'you'. You have been turned into a corporate drone - you go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed, and on the weekends take a trip to Home Depot and probably Wal-Mart.

I don't want that. At all. As much as I love my job and the people I work with, I am afraid it will eventually do this to me. I am afraid all jobs will. I would really like to just tie dye a bunch of shirts and travel around to music festivals in a VW van, selling aforementioned t-shirts for $8 (cheaper than the $10 the van next to me is charging), and call that a living. Because to me, that IS living. Spending the majority of your life at a desk is NOT! The problem is, it's nearly impossible to actually live a personally fulfilling life and be able to pay any bills you might have to pay. Even if you live out of your VW van, you gotta put gas in it! This is so unfair. I imagine in Canada it's different. Or in any other country, probably. This promised land, the Land of Opportunity... What's the opportunity? You are presented with the chance to waste your life away doing something you're not passionate about, the chance to be mediocre. And really it's more of a necessity than an option. Oh boy!

This is made even more true by the fact that you can basically only get decent healthcare here if you have insurance. You can't have insurance unless you have a job, and often not even then. Then, if you ever want to retire, you better have a good 401k plan. Otherwise, prepare to start working right after you graduate, and do so until you die.

I don't know what made me so bitter all of a sudden about this, but I just don't understand the workings of society. People who don't have jobs are labeled as 'slackers', but perhaps they really just want to remain individuals and not turn into corporate zombies. Perhaps these jobless people should be what we aspire to be instead of people we think of as lesser, inferior beings.

As I suspected, this blog has went long forgotten. Well, I shouldn't say forgotten - I've had good intentions, but no time.

I got a job, and I love it. It was strange, because I graduated with no job, and started my job before most of my friends who have had them lined up for months. I'm just THAT cool. Or cursed, depending on your take. Anyway, it's great. Half of it is doing time studies, which isn't really very great, but I am also the co-owner of our company's green initiative. My guess is they took one look at me and thought "Yeah, that girl recycles..." :)

Anyway, it's insane the amount of things to consider. I am pushing for us to get LEED certified, which I don't think is out of the realm of possibility. Our building is pretty new, so it has a lot of energy-efficient junk installed already. But I am also wanting to get LEED AP certified and that is HARD! Actually, one of my friends who was diligent enough to remain an Architectural Engineer when I was punking out and becoming an EMan, just failed the LEED AP exam a few weeks ago. And apparently they're making it harder come 2009!! Damn yous, Man.

Unfortunately, in the hubbub that has been my life lately (and perhaps also due to the lack of one certain Ashley), I have fallen behind on my documentaries and current events to the point that I don't have much to rant about. I guess what they say is true - ignorance is bliss.

I believe my song for today will be Right Said Fred - "I'm Too Sexy". Yeah, that's right.