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[25 Nov 2009|01:20pm] |
So, I have a stupid situation to report on.
So October 30 I get a call from Providence about an interview. I have my "last" month's rent deposited at the house and I have to, obviously, use it to pay for a month of rent before I move out (or forfeit $500). So, while I don't know if I'll be moving out of the state at the end of November or not, I do know that I need to make use of this deposited money for a month of rent. If it means December 1 comes and I have to move in with my parents, that's okay, it's just a step I need to take in the relocation process in order to not forfeit $500.
I tell Steve October 31 that I want to use my "last month" deposit on November. I also tell him that I am *trying* to get a job in Alaska. If I do not get a job in Alaska I will not be moving out of the state. I specifically told him to not let me possibly staying another month stop him from filling my room and that I will move out at the end of the month if my room is filled. I basically told him I have my agenda, so you guys (the landlord, essentially) should have yours and we can look at the situation come end of November and decide if I can stay here.
Well, the response I got to that was that Eric wanted me to pay first and last month again if I stay for December (so pay $1000 on December 1). Steve told me this some time early November. Of course my response was no. I said I would be glad to pay a month, if not I can move out. I expected Steve to get back to me on whether that was okay or not, he did not (ever). After my second interview, I told them that I would know whether I had a job by Wednesday (Nov 18). That ended up not being true, because they called me on Thursday night (they were supposed to have called a week before). He was not around until Monday, when I told him that I'd be moving out of the house in one week. I told him that given the fact he hadn't gotten back to me about negotiating just one month instead of two months, I assumed one week was not even a question worth asking and just planned on moving into my parents for the last week I'd be in Washington. Steve said he empathized with both sides and he mentioned that Eric told him to ask if I could pay for half of next month's rent. Given what I did, that's... outrageous. But I did say I'd stick around for 4 days and pay $100 for it, in fact that's what I prefer.
Now, all of that just sounds like a crappy situation for them, if you ask me, but it's not like I did anything wrong. Here's where they really have no room to complain, in my opinion: There were already going to be 3 empty rooms come December 1, mine will make #4. None of those rooms are filled. Two of the rooms are undoubtedly better than mine. You could say that another empty room might push the motivation a little bit, but not enough to fill 4 rooms. I'm just annoyed because they're trying to make me an outlet for their frustration that these rooms are not getting filled. I told them to fill the room. You do yours' and I'll do mine, reassess at the end of the month. Now it's here and things are good for me, bad for you. Doesn't mean I should just give you $250 for nothing.
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[23 Nov 2009|04:17am] |
It's 3:46 am and I can't sleep. Fortunately I have an extra hour to get into work tomorrow (start at 9). I think I slept until 12:30 today, got up and vegged around until 3ish and took an hour nap or so then went to the store for pizza and ended up napping again from 7 to 9. So it's no wonder that my sleep schedule is messed up.
So I'm thinking my move will be a new chapter in my life and it got me thinking about classifying chapters of my life that I've been through. So I did. It's kind of crazy that I've lived with Brandon for over 3 years now. I guess it makes it more odd that we are moving away from WA within the same week and there's not a whole lot of rhyme or reason to that proximity. The main reason that he's moving right now is because I was talking about moving at the end of the year since around August and I think his situation with unemployment running out soon he needed to make a change and he decided in October that November would be his last month in the house. I expected to live here for at least a month after he moved out but things just came together for me. So I'm trying to piece together a timeline of my move. I remember I mentioned something to Celina in a FB message earlier in the year and I look, it's from just after Aly's B-day party in April (which was the weekend Amanda moved, purely coincidental). So I wanted to move to Australia at that point. But it wasn't a serious plan, it was just a wish. I did really want to visit Australia first, so I managed to save up and do that in September. By the time I went there, I was getting pretty serious about moving there, I was about 80% sure I wanted to do it. When I came back I set the end of the year as my goal to move there and started saving money (btw Australia is awesome and I still want to move there, eventually). Then one night Amanda called me and basically said that she wants to move to Costa Rica (or somewhere similar) and she thinks I should go with her. Then during the next weekend I was in Idaho and we were talking about this idea to move to Costa Rica and she said she couldn't do it until a year later because of work and school stuff. She asked if I could wait that long, I said "not really" and then she said that I should try to get a job at the hospital and move up there in the meantime. Three weeks later I had an interview and three weeks after that I had a job.
My timing really seems to be perfect. Reconnecting with people at the Halloween party kind of helps with a better history being left here. That might sound weird but I hadn't seen the Saturday night crew since April and if I didn't see them again it kind of would have been weird after I moved. Timing is also perfect because, as Verna said "you're abandoning a sinking ship." Julie was planning on leaving at the end of the year and that was basically going to suck for me and Charla. Selfish, yes, but the alternative would be misery so I can justify that. It's unfortunate when people are sad that I'm moving... I mean this in the least egotistical way, because I just wanted to bring up the quote, but it reminds me of "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone." I don't agree with the quote, even though it does seem to apply in retrospection. I disagree with the saying because say you have something you take for granted, then you lose it/get rid of it and then you miss it. Now, just because you miss something, doesn't mean you'd be better off going back and not getting rid of it, especially if you were taking it for granted. Because that would mean you didn't really appreciate it, that it really wasn't that great at the time. I keep thinking of that because I'm leaving a lot behind. Maybe I'll miss Seattle or ENTPSA or 9012. But I won't let myself forget that I'm tired of it right now and that even if I were to "downgrade" my life, the change would be worth the perspective I'd gain from it.
Hopefully I can go to bed now, 4:17 am.
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[20 Nov 2009|05:35pm] |
I got the job. I will be working at Providence Alaska Medical Center in a matter of weeks.
Last night I got home at 6:30, the commute is freaking horrible on the way home lately (I got off at 5, maybe killed 10 minutes between that and getting home that wouldn't count as commute). I take a nap when I get home and wake up to my phone ringing but can't answer it in time. Wait for the voicemail and it says "blah blah you have been selected for the position blah blah call me tomorrow morning."
So this morning I come into work and know that I will have to put in my notice and I know my boss will not be happy about it. We've gotten rid of a few of the office staff without replacing them but at this point, me leaving almost certainly means that Fred will have to hire someone. I was nervous as hell when I told him, it's only the second place I've ever quit from (formally, that is). Most people are pretty excited for me. Some people do not understand why I would leave ENTPSA to move to Alaska. Jonathan came in later in the day and said he brought me a present. He used to be an annoying brat but I think he's gotten to be an alright kid... and I guess he likes me for some reason. He got me a donut. Then I told him I was moving to Alaska and he didn't believe me at first, then when he did he says "So I'm never going to see you again?" And it's sad for someone to actually say that. It's like yeah... I probably won't see any of these people again that I work with, but we don't talk about that. It's really more sad sounding than it is when you consider out of sight, out of mind. So a lot of today was spent talking about me leaving, Alaska, etc.
So I found out how much I'm getting paid... not as much as I thought it'd be. But I knew when they were talking about making offers they probably understood that they had me by the balls when it's apparent I'm not moving to Alaska because I have to, it's just because I want to and I'd be really fortunate to have a job before I get there. So the guy calls and says they can pay me $14.44/hr and I tell him I want more, he says he'll talk to his person. He calls back a couple hours later and says they can't pay me any more than that. Okay. I'm told Alaska has a higher cost of living but I don't know how much that will effect me. I'll undoubtedly have lower fuel costs not driving 65+ miles a day (and that's just my work commute, $7/day) and rent is going from $500/mo to $300/mo. That's $300/mo probably, the dollar/hr I'm losing is $160 before taxes but around $130/mo really. Money's not that big of an issue if I'm having a good time. I'd just like to be able to save and fly home and back to Australia. Oh and just found out shipping my car is going to be expensive as heck. So I'm not sure if that means change of plans or not. I mean, it's $1500 (hopefully that is with tax included) and I don't know how my car will fare in Alaska. It might be a better idea to just get a $2000 car or something, I don't know. Oh a big con to shipping my car is that I can't load it with stuff to assist in moving, so that takes away a huge upside to having my car shipped.
Went bowling with Aly and Brandon last night. It was good times. Of course I had just found out I had the job so I was on cloud 9 anyways. I did not tell Aly and I don't really know if I will. It'll be messed up but she's probably going to be really annoying if I told her and she'll get over it if I don't tell her before I move there.
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[19 Nov 2009|01:19pm] |
So I was pretty bummed after I talked to that recruiter yesterday. He was kind of retarded all throughout the conversation. First he has no idea who I am even though I tell him my name, that he just e-mailed me yesterday and what the e-mail said. Okay, that can be understandable if you're not an idiot the rest of the conversation. So he's obviously confused, puts me on hold for a few minutes. Comes back with no information, asks me to spell my name. D-Y-L-A-N. "Die-lan.. err, Dylan". I do not understand why this happens, it happens with some people on the phone at work, too. You tell someone how something is pronounced, they even say it back to you, then they ask how to spell it (because they don't know how to spell) and suddenly they are starting over, pronouncing based on their poor knowledge of phonetics (this is more a reference to work than it is on my name, which is more common sense than phonetics). So then all he does is look me up on the hiring website, which I use, and he tells me the jobs that I have applied for even though I have expressed to him I know which jobs I applied for and am simply wondering why he contacted me. There are a lot of small things that really irked me about the conversation. I just don't get how dumb people get decent jobs (that I could do better) and I'm struggling here to acquire one that undoubtedly pays less.
So I'm bummed and go into my room to veg out. I end up taking a longer-than-usual nap until about 9:00. Still get to the gym and do an hour of cardio. Come home and break out the Wild Turkey 101. There wasn't too much left, maybe 4-5 shots worth, but I ended up finishing it. Played some Forza 3. Watched It's Always Sunny. Watched parts from the newest Family Guy (I love the parts with Stewie's clone, Bitch Stewie). Our hot tub is sort of broken, but if we turn on the jets the water will warm up eventually, so I turned on the jets for about 3 hours so I could go in the hot tub. So yeah, I had a late night. Talked to Brandon about shit. Got to bed around 2:30. I felt fine when I woke up but started feeling crappy when I got to work. The fucking hot water ran out again this morning while I was in the shower.
So around 9:30 or so I hear Julie on the phone saying something about "he's right here in the same room as me" which obviously means I'm the topic and the tone of the conversation is not like work. So she gets of the phone and quietly says "Alaska?!" So my intentions are out and about, but I don't think Julie has told anyone yet. Malena from Providence was calling on my references, which should be really good news, but I'm just going to wait and see. Of course it's impossible to not get my hopes up, but these people are not operating on my schedule. I wonder how much references really matter? I mean I heard Julie and she had all good things to say about me. However, the only other work related reference (I'm assuming they want someone from a different employer) I haven't worked for or talked to in about 3 years. I suppose I should have contacted him, hopefully it doesn't matter. Shit, I am just now thinking how F'd it would be for them to call my current employer as my reference and then me end up not getting the job. I suppose other workplaces may be different about people coming and going, but here... well everybody stays forever, I'm actually the second newest employee at 3.5 years and the person after me has probably been here more than 5 years.
I think we are going bowling tonight and it will be the last time. Well, I assume that Brandon moving will mean it's the last time. Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and then that's the end of November and Brandon will be gone.
Oh jeez, almost forgot this story. So this guy calls wanting to know cost of rhinoplasty and it ends up being a kind of long call because he wanted a lot of information. Then he calls back to schedule his consult, once again a long call because this guy needs tons of information. He won't give me his birthyear over the phone. That's fine, if a cosmetic patient doesn't want to give certain pieces of information that is perfectly fine because they pay cash (I guess this term really just means they pay upfront, not necessarily CASH) for their procedures/visits. So that was odd, but then at the end of the conversation he asks if I will be at the office when he comes in. I tell him I will but I'll be in the back. Kind of creeps me out, but I did give him a lot of info and sometimes people are actually grateful for that stuff. So I remember that he's coming in this morning and I specifically do not want to see him. Then around 11:00 (after he has come and gone) Charla remembers to tell me that he actually asked if I was here and that he wanted to meet me or something along those lines. She said I wasn't here. THANK YOU SO MUCH. She also said that he did seem gay, if there was any question there. Surprisingly he was only 25 and getting a nosejob, that's different.
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[18 Nov 2009|08:45am] |
So I get home yesterday, eat some dinner and then go onto my computer to find an e-mail from someone at Providence. Their title is "Talent Acquisition - Consultant" which is their name for a recruiter, I think. All the e-mail says is "Are you moving to Alaska?" So I have no idea what that really indicates. It's generally good that this guy is contacting me. He could be contacting me in regards to one of the jobs I interviewed for or it could be for another job I applied for and have not interviewed for yet, who knows. And the question he asks is a kind of dumb one since it's in my cover letter that I'm trying to get a job at Providence Hospital so I can relocate to Anchorage, AK. Meh, we'll see.
Been working out pretty consistently, enough that the girl that works at the front desk at the gym said "see you tomorrow" as I was leaving.
Finally got the bill for utilities: $302.06. But that's for 3 months+, so not really bad at all.
I downloaded It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia over the weekend. I'm not sure why I never got into the show, but it's hilarious. Brandon has watched it since... forever, I just have never really cared to watch it. Last night I watched the second episode and it was great. They got into an abortion debate. One guy had just found out he had a kid from 10 years ago. Turned out it wasn't his kid but he used him to get closer to the waitress he's in love with. So even after he found out it wasn't his (the mom told him) he took the kid again on the day to meet with the waitress for a big picnic event. But he ruined that by letting the kid get drunk and then yelling at him in front of the waitress lady. Then there was a guy that took the religious side of the abortion debate. He went to a pro-life office, met a cute girl and in hitting on her signed up for an anti-abortion rally. He ends up having sex with the girl right after (by showing her a list of abortion doctors he's going to kill... with two of them already crossed off). Then at the next abortion rally she's getting kind of weird and then she tells him that she's pregnant and he tells her she needs to get an abortion (LOL). Then there's a guy who is pro-choice, but ultimately just goes to Planned Parenthood on rally day to pick up chicks (where the rally is). Finds out the pro-choice side is not picking up what he's throwin' down so he starts to climb the fence over to the pro-life side and they think he's attacking them so everyone starts throwing eggs at each other. It was hilarious.
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[12 Nov 2009|09:25am] |
I'm waiting. Waiting to see what happens next. And I'm anxious. It's Thursday, on Saturday I will know if I got either of these jobs I have interviewed for. I'll know what I need to do come the end of the month (or at least have a much better idea). Instead, I'm tossing and turning emotionally, waiting for a phone call.
I realized something really unfortunate this morning. The more time that goes by since my interview (yesterday), the more I convince myself I won't get a phone call. That's not what is so unfortunate, though. What is unfortunate is why. Every time I have ever had the opportunity for something to be life-changing it always seems to fall through. Granted, I'm sure I've had my fair share of unreasonable wishes in the past that count toward that trend, it still leaves me pessimistic whenever something means this much to me.
To justify my anxiety a little bit, let me explain the housing problem. To make it so I could move at the end of this month, I had to give my notice to my current landlord. Before I did that I made sure I had a backup plan available of moving into my parents house come December 1 if I needed to. I am in a house-share where I pay $500/month for a room in a house with 7 bedrooms (technically a "4 BR" house but all 7 rooms are decent enough to live in). I paid my last month's rent upon signing my lease (which is now at month-to-month status) so in order to not forfeit that $500 I had to ask to apply it to November. I did explain the situation, that I am TRYING to move. At the end of this month, only 3 rooms are going to be occupied (Brandon, Linda and myself all gave our notice for this month). When I told Steve, there were only going to be 3 empty rooms (provided Steve didn't fill any of them) and he told Eric (the homeowner) the situation. Eric still wants me to pay first and last month if I stay here. I feel like Linda moving out gives me more room to play hardball back, and he'd be foolish to turn down a month's rent when there's no way they are filling all of the rooms any time soon. And really, why the hell am I going to give up on moving for a month just to stay at the house? I can move in with my parents and I'm sure that will drive me crazy enough that if I can't get a job in Alaska I will figure out something else to do. Still, moving to my parents is... moving. Moving sucks and it costs money.
Well, by Saturday I'll have a better grip on what's going to happen but as it stands I have 4 options come December 1 (in preferred order):
1. Move to Alaska
2. Stay at 9012 and only pay one month's rent
3. Move back home with the parents until I can move
4. Stay at 9012 and pay for January and February
I feel like there will definitely be some drinking to do this weekend. Either for celebration or sorrow.
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[11 Nov 2009|12:58pm] |
Was going to go in the hot tub last night... it was cold. Not sure what the deal is with the hot tub. It was cold forever, then it was fixed. Then Steve cleaned it out or something and since then it has been up and down, working and not. So instead I played some Forza 3. I didn't think it would happen but I once again had a hell of a time falling asleep with my interview in sight. Got to bed some time after 2:30. I woke up at 7 and didn't realize that I was actually running late (I'm supposed to get up at 6:30) until after I had put some clothes in the dryer and walked into the bathroom a few minutes later.
Interview went better than the last one. And while I'm perfectly qualified for the last job, I'm very qualified for this job because it's more close to what I spend the majority of my time doing here at work. And they said I can call on Friday if I have to, which the other lady kind of seemed like she didn't want me to call her (but she gave me the recruiter's name). If I get this it's going to be such a big deal. It will be great. So I just wait, hope. Amanda says I can live at her dad's house (where she lives, her dad does not live there) for $300/month. Until then I just save money and work out... Life has actually been kind of exciting the past few months but I can't get out of this 9012/ENTPSA rut until I move.
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[10 Nov 2009|04:03pm] |
Things have settled a little. I went to the hand specialist today and was pleasantly surprised with the assessment. He explained the break to me and how it's going to heal. Said it'll be about 3-4 weeks before I should lift weights. But it's already been 11 days and the finger is just weak, it doesn't hurt much anymore, so all the doctor really told me is what I've been able to conclude myself. It's good to know that they don't need to put it back in place and I don't need a cast or surgery (he said both of those things generally have more risk involved than reward in my situation, since a cast can cause aching and surgery benefits are primarily cosmetic). He even said I don't need to anticipate arthritis as a result of the injury.
Yesterday I get home from work and I take my computer out to the living room and I'm on facebook. I get a notification "Amanda Alvarez has just posted something on your wall." So I go to look at it... "Dilly I really hope you get that job!" DELETE. Good thing I was on facebook. Ultimately the consequences aren't that horrible. But I really don't want any of my coworkers knowing I'm looking for a different job, in a different state (I have two current co-workers as friends on facebook and several more former co-workers that sometimes communicate with current employees). And I don't want some other people knowing I'm trying to move until it actually happens (ALY). So tomorrow is an interview. Otherwise just hoping for a call on that other job, not that I'm expecting one. Ugh. I am going to be so happy if/when I get a job. I'm ready to smash this next interview. The first one I was just nervous and hadn't done an interview in over a year. Now I'm feeling a little more pressure to do well. It also helps that this job I'm interviewing for is more of a specialty of mine (health information) than the first one.
Sigh. We shall see.
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[09 Nov 2009|05:17pm] |
Ugh. So fucking disenchanted right now. Got my hand x-rayed today. It's ugly. Like I didn't really need anyone to look at the image... and I'm obviously not that qualified but I could see it's pretty f'd. What's really messed up is that it's been 10 days. I've lifted weights a few times. I'm typing just fine. Every time I type p or hit enter, that's this broken pinky. I just really hope they don't think I should have surgery or need a cast. I'm not really willing to do either of them.
As upset as I am right now, I was equally excited earlier when I got a call from "Unknown". Unfortunately it wasn't the call I was waiting on, but it was another interview opportunity at Providence in Anchorage so I'll be going for that on Wednesday. This one might be a little better than the other because it more suits my strengths (health information, computers) and also because this job has been listed for a while and them calling me today means they have not found the right person. The other job had just been listed a little bit when I got a call for it so I might have some stiffer competition for that.
This weekend was pretty fun. Good, eventful weekend. Brother's bday thing was on Sunday. Saturday night spent out with Will, Derek, Justin and Brandon. Good times.
I don't know if I'll make it to the gym tonight (for cardio only, of course). I can't work out for almost 3 months because I hurt my wrist. Then I spend 3 or so weeks working out, getting back to form and now this. There are pros and cons to it being my own dumb ass fault. At least I know I won't do anything this fucking stupid in the future. But it is insult to injury that my old stupid drunken behavior resulted in this injury and possibly arthritis later on.
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[05 Nov 2009|12:07pm] |
Yesterday I was apparently still maintaining a sleep debt, because I passed out when I got home. Took about an hour and a half nap. Had a tough time convincing myself to go to the gym but I did it, good stuff. Something is wrong with the hot tub... it's not hot. That sucks. Since I worked out pretty hard, I decided it was a good idea to get plenty of sleep. So I go to bed at 11:30. I laid there... and laid there... and thought about how my job interview was going to go. What kind of questions she'd ask me. I usually do good on job interviews but about a year ago I had a phone interview for a human resources position at UW and I just wasn't "on". Part of it is that I don't really have experience in HR, and that's what all of the questions were about, so it wasn't all me. But I was kind of nervous, not myself. I just find it easier to interview in person, communication is just a little bit better and I think there's a certain quality to how you present yourself and your demeanor that help you get a job. Then I'd think about moving. Am I going to have a going away party... how am I going to tell the people. More importantly, what about Aly and Andy? Aly because Amanda is her "best friend" and there is a little bit of history of Aly wanting Amanda to not pursue me. And, to clarify, I'm not in a relationship with Amanda nor am I planning on getting in one if I move there. And then Andy, who used to go out with Amanda and, I think, had issues with me hanging out with her. Regardless, I don't think he'd like me moving up there. Most of it was just anxiety about the interview and the weight of it. I didn't end up falling asleep until 2:30 or so.
Had my interview this morning. It went pretty well. I think I hit on every question she asked, essentially, but I didn't kill it. I've had interviews where I just killed. At Acura, I did really well on my interview but I wasn't qualified for the position, so the guy gave me a different job. Here, I wasn't at all qualified (no related work history whatsoever) but I was able to display that I'm smart and confident and I got the job. I think a major part of not doing particularly well was that it was on the phone. But I guess we'll see. Lady said she had a person to interview early next week and that the recruiter ultimately makes the decision on who gets hired. One superstitious plus is that this lady's name was Verna. I have known 2 other Verna's ever. One at my current job and one at my last job (excluding jobs I didn't work a full pay period at). Let's make it a trend!
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[04 Nov 2009|02:42pm] |
Last night I went to work out. I'm on the elliptical and it's been about an hour and I do sudoku. I look up and Steve is on a bike about 15 feet away from me. Wow, I must be really focused on my sudoku. So I get done working out around 9:45, head home. I hear someone left a thank you note and beer. I'm thinking someone came to the party and didn't bring anything to the party and they wrote a thank you note and brought beer. I mean, that would be weird, but seems the most likely reason. Nope. I read the note "Thank you for lowering the volume of the music and quieting the people at the party on Saturday. Your neighbor, Alan." HAH. Wow.
So here's what happened: I was still playing beer pong at the pool table and this guy walks up to me and asks if I know the owner of the house. I say he's not here because I've already gotten a lot of people asking if I was the owner of the house (thinking it's just another one of those) out of curiosity. I must have been pretty wasted because I also didn't notice that he's not dressed up for a Halloween Party. He says "I live next door and your party is keeping me, my wife and our baby awake." So I ask him if there's anything in particular, maybe the music, people inside or people outside? And of course it's music and people outside (it's ALWAYS people outside, even though hardly any people go outside). So I tell him I'll take care of it, I turn down the music then go outside and tell the people that the neighbors complained and to please quiet down and come inside when you can. So like more than half the people came inside. This had to have been around 10:30, it was not that late. And that was that. Come midnight I had completely forgotten about it and *I* was outside, probably not being very quiet. I'm really surprised that they didn't end up coming over again. Apparently they got to sleep though, judging by the note. BTW these are new neighbors and this is the first big party we've had since they moved in. The noise issue is nothing new, obviously. Fortunately the most common complaint is just people outside. So it's not so easy to control at a big party like the Halloween party but for most parties we just say don't go outside or if you do you need to be really quiet.
Then I had a beer and PASSED OUT around 11:00 watching Lost. I can't even remember the last time I went to bed before midnight.
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[02 Nov 2009|03:00pm] |
How did I forget to include the most important thing that has happened in the past week? Well, I know how, because the Halloween Party was too much. But! Friday morning I got a call from an "Unknown" number. Voicemail says "calling to schedule an interview with you." So, I have a phone interview for a position at a hospital in Anchorage on Thursday. I had basically given up on getting a job there (even though it had only been about 10 days since I applied for a bunch of positions) and started to lean back towards Australia. Hoping the interview goes well, maybe I can move.
The timing was... not ideal. Here I am thinking I'm going to live here at LEAST until January and then I get a call about a job which could have me moving at the end of November. The main planning issue with moving is that I have my last month paid for on my lease at 9012. Finding out on October 30th was crappy... but just in the knick of time. So I was able to tell Steve to apply my "last month" to November. I also explained that I may or may not have a job in Alaska come November 30th and if I don't have a job, then I'm not moving. If my room is filled, obviously I'm out of the house but if it's empty then I can stay another month even though I'm using my "last month" card. That means I was able to, instead of write a check for $500 yesterday, transfer $500 into savings today. I also had to make sure that I had a backup plan, so I cleared with my Dad that I could stay there for the month of December if I needed to.
So Friday I'm all excited about that and the upcoming Halloween Party AND the pre-party Friday night. So yeah Friday was awesome. Then the Halloween party was awesome. I reconnected with Derek, Justin Grimm, Andy H, Jeremy, Scott, Reid, probably other people I'm not thinking of. Made a few new friends/got to be better friends with people I know. So altogether it was great and that's in the lead-up to me moving. Bleh. My problem with Seattle isn't resolved with that, but a little bit of it is so that kind of sucks.
There's more but I'm actually getting busy at work, so I'll leave it at that.
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| Update |
[01 Nov 2009|02:45pm] |
Way too much has happened in the past couple days (or just last night) for me to expect to be able to cover everything, but I'll try.
Friday we got the kegs early (pony keg and a regular keg) and Brandon, Justin, Karen and myself cracked into the pony keg of Budweiser. We played some beer pong and flip cup. I decided to get rid of Justin's ping pong table box which had some particle board in it. We were cleaning up and somehow forgot a board. The board didn't come into play until we were all pretty drunk, then Justin wanted his girlfriend to break one of the boards. Then it was just a karate fest until the boards got really small. So the last time just Brandon and I broke a board and we both ended up hurting our hands. My pinky knuckle was quite swollen and sore. It's getting better, I'd prefer to not type P's, but it'll be alright tomorrow for work. Brandon and I have started hitting things and I think this was the end of it, fortunately neither of us got too badly hurt.
Saturday... I don't know. I went to the gym (also went Friday night). It always makes drinking just a little better if I work out beforehand. I guess working out just makes me feel better overall. Went with Aly and Brandon to get liquor and finish up my costume. And we ate Dicks. Made some modifications to my outfit that made it way better.
People were to start showing up at 10 but there were already 10-15 people here by that time. I'm not sure but I'm guessing there were 40-50 people over last night. Brandon and I started playing beer pong and we had to retire after winning 5 games because we wanted to mingle... and even if you win, 5 games in a row is getting you messed up. What are some highlights...
-The neighbor showed up to complain so I had to regulate on the people hanging out outside.
-Apparently a guy showed Brandon that he had a gun. The context is... apparently just weird. Brandon said him and the guy were kind of going back and forth verbally and then the guy showed Brandon the gun and it was creepy. I wanted to know who had the gun but apparently by the time I got involved Derek and Justin had "chased' the guy out of here.
-There is a story that a guy was getting in the hot tub naked and Justin's sister, Lindsay, walked in there and there were two guys talking outside of the hot tub and one naked guy in it... kind of weird. Glad I wasn't around for that.
-Derek got safed for the first time, I'm responsible for it.
-I enjoyed every person at the party so it was weird when people would complain to me about someone at the party.
-Derek and Justin showed up, that was awesome.
-All of the people Justin (roommate) invited were cool. His sister was cool, the Free Bird guy was funny and guy dressed as Fred from Scooby Doo was cool. Free Bird guy wrote "Sult Life" on his arm, which was meant to be Slut Life, hilarious. I got a fish tattoo from Justin, awesome. Some people liked my costume. Free Bird guy also tried to sleep on the trampoline (which was soaking wet and covered in pine needles and uh, it's November now so it was cold too).
-Derek kept going after Sexy Cat Woman (a large black girl) and that was kind of funny. He's into big black girls... kinda weird.
-A guy came as a firefighter because he is a firefighter and I talked to him a bit about firefighting and being a Norlander.
-The old party crew was here. Things have changed a little I guess, but we were all happy to see each other again. Sounds like a lot of people don't like Matt anymore, he showed up with his girlfriend. People were happy that Jeremy had broken up with his girlfriend recently but that just meant he was getting wasted and going to hang out with Aly. Scott was the first one here, talked to him a little bit. Talked to Andy when he showed up. Talked to REID. Fucking Reid just recently turned 21, apparently he got really messed up. Oh and I somehow got a lighter from Tim, those guys' roommate, not sure why that happened but it did.
-Speaking of not knowing why things happened, I for some reason was holding onto two different cameras for Aly throughout the night. Some confusing mess about me thinking I broke a camera. I didn't even know that there were two cameras until she told me TODAY.
-Alcohol turns you into a dumdum, fortunately it turns everyone into a dumdum and nobody notices.
-Justin said it hurt his feelings that I haven't visited his son. I explained myself and things are a little better but I guess I need to go see his little growth.
-Aly's roommate's friend got way too hammered, she was passed out in the passenger seat. However I did not see any vomit all night, people cleaned up after themselves pretty well.
-We did not decorate. I told Aly that she could decorate only what she's willing to clean up before leaving or first thing in the morning.
-Eric Whettam showed up and at 1:40 he said "I'm the owner of the house and I've been getting calls from the neighbors all night... but it's 1:40 with the time change in effect and you have another hour and twenty minutes to party on. Oh that reminds me of a story, the allegedly story. This is when Eric Whettam was still living here and his crew was living in the house. Steve allegedly got in his truck and got 3 blocks away before crashing into a car and totalling it. This cost him a supposed $20k, which is crazy. That same night he passed out and his head went through a column (think a wall but it's an isolated support column) in the living room. One of their other roommates got his VCR broken and then he threw the VCR at the guy that broke it and hit the guy in the leg and I guess hurt him.
I guess it was a little messier than I expected when I went upstairs in the morning but cleaning up wasn't too bad.
Overall just an epic night, talked to a lot of people. The party situation was kind of weird because it's a lot of people trying to hook up. I'm... not. I don't know, I think it just comes down to what will make you feel better about yourself in the morning and sleeping with some girl I don't know doesn't really make me feel any better about myself. I'll just say that situation kind of came up. Oh yeah, my costume was "Denim Dan" which is the same as a Walmart shopper or a redneck. I was wearing tight Kirkland jeans, a denim vest (customize) and a shirt with an American flag on it underneath. Oh and a cowboy hat and some cowboy-ish shoes. Had some fake smokes in my pocket too.
I'm not hungover, but I have no energy today.
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[29 Oct 2009|03:19pm] |
Looking forward to the Halloween party. I changed my costume idea again. I'm beginning to think I'm a little too impulsive. So I had settled on being either Champ Kind or Brick Tamland from Anchorman. I looked up photos and Champ wears a cowboy hat. Well, in the promo photos he wears a black cowboy hat but all throughout the movie he wears a tan one. I got a black cowboy hat (because it was the only color they had, the only ONE they had) and am kind of unhappy with that because if he wears a tan cowboy hat throughout the movie, that would be the right one to wear. Well, then I could be Brick, but I don't even really like that idea for a costume, it was just a last minute settling for something easy. So I thought of something different and it still utilizes the cowboy hat. I'm going to be a country singer/redneck/denim Dan. Hopefully going to find a denim vest and a pro-America T-shirt. We'll see. Goodwill and Value Village were PACKED last night. Going to be finishing my costume pretty late, but that's okay.
Last night I went to the gym and did 2 hours of cardio. I've been working out about every day lately. Typically I'll do an hour cardio and some weights, but sometimes I'll just do push-ups and abs or just do a lot of cardio. Dieting is still getting on track. My meals are good but I eat in between a lot (which kind of just means my meals are not sufficient). But it's also important to build a fitness base and I really hate starving myself when I'm sore because I find it hard to believe that's good for you (and by starving myself I just mean something like 1800 calories a day). So I'll get the muscle soreness somewhat out of the way now and then I can start eating better soon enough. And I'm not eating that poorly, but probably something like 2200-2500 calories. And I had no alcohol last night. I usually just have a beer or jack and diet, but I should start getting out of that cycle soon.
Otherwise...
-finishing up Lost, on episode 11 (of 17) of Season 5
-hot tub just about every night is nice
-Brandon got Forza 3 so we've been playing that a little bit.
-watched a couple episodes of The Ruins (RW vs. RR) yesterday. Major guilty pleasure and kind of takes away any ability I had to say TV sucks when I watch garbage like that, but it's interesting... really!
-Need a new mp3 player.
-It was dark half the way to work yesterday. Then this weekend we set the clocks back an hour which means it will be dark by the time I get home next week. I don't mind long days or short days too much (the short days start to irk me around March or so, though) but I find the transition kind of annoying. I'd feel differently if I still got off work at 3, but since I get home around 5:45, hungry, it doesn't do me much good for it to get dark any time before 7:30, so I just wish it was dark when I left work.
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[28 Oct 2009|12:45pm] |
So someone wrote a note in the employee bathroom on a paper towel: "DYLAN PUT DOWN THE TOILET SEAT"
Now, I don't want to be a source of unhappiness for the other employees here, but if someone wants to debate on whether the seat should be left up or down or whatever I will gladly participate in one. I'm not sure when women ever became entitled to having the seat left down, but it certainly isn't approved by me. I will say that if someone wanted me to put the toilet LID down, that is a fair argument. While I don't agree with it, I can see why someone would prefer the lid down and how it is just as much an inconvenience to them as it is to me. However, no one does that here, so that's not the issue at hand. What's even more messed up is that Fred was the last one in the bathroom before I was informed of this note (I didn't discover it myself, which is kind of F'd), so there's a decent chance the person that left the seat up was not even me! (not that that matters)
So I thought that there was this great argument women had for wanting the toilet seat left down until I actually asked them why (this has occurred over time, not today). One response I got was that they didn't want to touch the toilet seat... instead that I be the one that do all the touching of the toilet seat ("because it's gross"). Umm... obviously not a good reason. Then there's that story of the woman going to the bathroom late at night and falling into the toilet because the seat's not down. So I think the only real reason women want the toilet seat down is because they've come to expect it. Whatever. Not really sure what the note-writer expected to accomplish.
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[26 Oct 2009|03:52pm] |
Monday afternoon means front desk Dylan updating his LJ.
As much as I expect it, it still surprises me that I can't make up my mind on what I want to do come 2010. I was going for Alaska but now I am kind of leaning back toward Australia. The pro for Alaska was that I thought I might be able to get a job there. But I'm not so optimistic anymore, not for any reason in particular, just because. I suppose if I do get a job in Alaska that is the choice I'd go with. But if I don't get a job there, I'm not moving there. Australia, on the other hand, I'd be willing to move to without getting a job first. Then I've started to think about the option of places that do not start with A. Not that I mean anywhere in particular, but I'm not set on anything. We'll see, I suppose the good news is that I should have made some progress on what I want to do in a week.
I've come to realize that what this is is an attempt to legitimize the fact that I do not want to go back to school right now. If I stay at 9012, stay at ENTPSA and don't go to school, that's a big-time fail. Of course the "easiest" solution would be to... go back to school. Well, I don't want to. I hate schoolwork and I need some adventure in my life before I'm ready to deal with school. Once I play that out I'll hopefully be ready to come back to "the real world" and get myself a degree. While I don't really like the concept of... well everything... I don't have too much of a choice (as far as I can see) avoiding that if I want to have a decent life.
In other news, I am very unhappy to be at work today. Having to work until 6 really blows. That's because getting home at 6:45 blows. I need to eat dinner right when I get home which puts me at 7 or 7:30 before I can even do anything. I've had very productive Mondays getting home at 6:45 but that doesn't make me like them any more. Also, when the end of the day is 6, the day does tend to drag on a bit more than usual.
Halloween is coming up, we are having a party at our house which should be nice. A few people will be coming over that haven't been in a while, which should be nice, I'd expect maybe 30 to 50 people coming. I was going to be a white Rick Ross but it's looking like that would cost at least $50 to pull of (probably 100 to make it look halfway decent) and I'm not that into costumes so I decided to pursue other options. I was looking around today and I think Champ Kind from Anchorman would be a pretty easy and funny costume to do. Just an old looking suit and a cowboy hat. If the cowboy hat doesn't pan out I could be Brick instead.
Been working out a little more lately. My biceps are actually sore today, which is really good for me. My biceps and triceps rarely get sore, no matter what/how much I do, so I'm happy to have been able to exhaust them. My chest on the other hand was sore for about a week after doing 100 push ups (albeit in 10 minutes... but still). My wrist still isn't fully functional 3 months after spraining it. I did a dip at the gym on Saturday and right as I stopped at the bottom and started to go up it popped. It wasn't a painful pop but it was a "if you do this one more time you might not be able to lift weights anymore today and two more times you are going to be in pain" pop. My motivation for cardio... I bought a sudoku book on Saturday and I'm going to try to finish it. It's quite meaningless, I know, but it helps the time pass and sometimes I get really into them and forget I'm even exercising.
What else... I find it annoying at work when someone tries to joke with me about something that benefits them and negatively affects me. Like Julie joking about how she is going to Las Vegas next week so it's going to suck and I'll have extra phone calls and faxes to take care of. HAHA really looking forward to that, so funny! What I'm looking forward to is getting out of here! To be fair it has been a good job up until this point but I guess the economy is taking its toll on us and we've had quite a few layoffs or just people leaving and not being replaced. I'm now the youngest person in the organization and the second youngest is.... 30 years old. And I think there is just one other person under 40. It hasn't always been like that, there was a time that there were 3 girls younger than me, but no longer. And let me tell you, it sucks. It doesn't suck every day, but days like today I could really use someone to talk to to kill time.
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[23 Oct 2009|12:45pm] |
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So I've been applying to some jobs in Alaska. I suppose the last time this process started it went essentially nowhere. I was applying to jobs at UW and I actually did get a few calls back but I was too selective at the time and didn't take my opportunities. I can't say it was dumb, because taking a job at UW would have killed all chances of me going to school (because hours would not be flexible), whereas keeping my job at ENTPSA made it so I could only take one class a quarter, which is not worth it to me. But I just need one bite.
Last night was pretty cool. Did the Thursday night bowling thing with Brandon, Justin and Aly. I think everyone got a little more trashed than usual. I drove so I just had two double jack 'n' diets around 9, 9:30 so I was good to drive when 11:30 rolled around. On the way there we were listening to my MP3 player and some Daft Punk came on and Justin was like "do you have the entire album? You should play track 2." So I had to mess around a little bit on my cheap mp3 player but I got to Daft Punk track number 2 (Alive 2007 album). More on that later. Brandon was pretty wasted and he punched a hole in the wall (not at home). Justin and Brandon started talking about some stuff and now we have these plans for the next two weekends. I guess I find out tonight if they fall through or not, but it could be really fun. Then we leave and of course Daft Punk is on in the car. So of course drunk people want louder Daft Punk and also start dancing in the back seat. It was quite hilarious. Also, I didn't know that my stereo could play music that loud and still sound decent. Oh and the roads were wet so I was having a little bit of fun with that. Went home and watched Justin and Brandon attempt to play ping pong.
Now I'm sitting at work, waiting for 2 hours to go by so I can start my weekend. I need to get my halloween costume set up, I'm going to be a white Rick Ross (basically bald, beard, sunglasses, necklace with a medallion of my face on it and some type of stereotypical black outfit like a sweatsuit or something).
Hollie just got laid off today. Kind of unexpected. Although... since Dr. Becker left there is a bit of trimming that needed to be done. She left with maybe a quarter of the employees but she was about half of the work (because she was quite high maintenance) so we have gotten rid of quite a few employees.
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[19 Oct 2009|04:01pm] |
Since Ashley left, I have to cover the front desk after 4 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. So to me that means kill time at the front desk by writing in my LJ.
Friday was... different. I packed my stuff before leaving the house (I was supposed to do it the night before but I was so tired I went to bed at 11). I forgot to pack any T-shirts, which is kind of okay, but I'd need to get one on Saturday in Idaho. It was raining like CRAZY and traffic was horrible. Brandon was coming to pick me up to save a little bit of time. He was supopsed to get to the office at 3 but because traffic was horrible everywhere he didn't get here until 3:30 or so. In Ellensburg I saw porno magazines and just had that thought of "who buys porno magazines anymore". But then after I got in the car I was like "I've never bought a porno magazine... I NEED to buy one for this trip". Well, the rest of the gas stations we stopped at were in Oregon and Idaho. Oregon and I can almost confirm does not sell porno mags in gas stations. Idaho I wasn't able to find any. Got a call around 9 that Steve needed in my room because the power went out and wouldn't go back on and the breakers are in my room. So he got to go fishing for my spare key in one of three storage bins. Meanwhile, I was at McDonald's waiting days for my 20 piece because somebody fucked up. I have to hand it to fast food people for usually being really fast, but when it happens that one time they fuck up it is really annoying. Finally got into Idaho around midnight (which is 1 hour ahead of our usual midnight). Drank a little bit of Crown. There wasn't much on so we just lazily watched No Reservations. The sleep was great. Brenda and David had two spare bedrooms and two spare beds for Brandon and I.
So David was going to go ride with his biker gang, like he left looking kind of like a biker gang dude. The funny part is what I saw right before he got ready to leave and join his biker gang, which is something you'd never expect a biker gang dude to be doing right before he goes biking. He was sitting about 2 feet away from a big screen TV (and his face was only about a foot away), playing Need For Speed: Shift on XBox 360, playing on XBox Live. That's not what I'd expect to see.
The rest of the day...
-Donuts and coffee for breakfast (Brenda and David are so hospitable!)
-Headed to the city (Boise) for a shirt.
-Saw a board game: Bibleopoly, at a Good Will type store.
-Drove around in Boise. Neat, kind of like a mix of capital and college town just a little smaller than Tacoma.
-Saw a sunset that you can't see in Washington... We just don't get sunsets or sunrises like they do (I remember Denver had much better sunsets than Washington, too).
-Saw a car that had a gas container on top, feeding gas to the engine directly, so I guess the gas tank was no longer working, it was super ghetto looking.
-Ate at Buffalo Wild Wings
-Played Scattergories, which I won quite handily.
-Drank more Crown.
-Wrote to Rayna
-Talked to Amanda on Skype
-Watched several episodes of Lost and got Brenda hooked on it.
-Went to Cracker Barrel and got some Buckeyes (peanut butter slightly doughy confectionary coated in chocolate which is delicious)
...and then I passed out.
Next morning had a leftover donut and Brenda made biscuits and coffee. Watched a little bit of football and then headed to Sonic for the final meal in Idaho. Good stuff, then we were on our way. I was on a mission, still, to find a porno mag. Didn't get lucky until Yakima (whoda thunk, right?). I got a Hustler and it's kind of embarrassing because I had to ask the clerk to get it for me. It was 12 bucks, more than I expected. Surprisingly it had a lot of political articles in it and even some rather intelligent ones. I found an article comparing America now to "Rome, Spain, England and Nazi Germany". But then all of the interviews with the girls were retarded. They'd be like "I like to start every day by having sex" and "doggystyle is my favorite position". Then there were cartoons that were crazy. Oh yeah one girl said she masturbated with a shoe, which started by accident. But yeah, cross that off the checklist.
After I got home I beat Steve at ping pong. Then watched some Lost. Took a dip in the hot tub which had the temperature turned all the way up. I thought it couldn't be too hot, but I was wrong. All the way up is too hot. It starts to get uncomfortable after 5 minutes. On the bright side, though, when I got out I was ready to pass out, so I went to bed early last night.
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[09 Oct 2009|11:26am] |
Let's see, I actually think I have a bit to write about right now. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do this weekend. Last week I thought of going to this "Chimposium" that is in Ellensburg where they have chimpanzees that communicate via ASL. I'm quite fascinated by apes so this is an easy thumbs up as far as material goes, but it's a 2 hour drive... Saturday morning... and you are supposed to RSVP because they cancel shows if not enough people RSVP (so you might show up to a canceled show). So that's on the agenda for "eventually" but since it's Friday and I haven't RSVP'd, I doubt it will happen this weekend.
Brandon is planning on his last month at 9012 being November, he will be moving to Idaho to live with his sister. Now, before I knew anything of that, my hopeful... my wishful date of going back to Australia was the beginning of the year (to specify, I was hoping December would be my last month). With Brandon gone, I'll probably want to move ASAP. I want to digress on that point... I kind of wonder how good of an idea it is living with your best friend. The times when Brandon is out of the house contain the bulk of both the best and worst times I've had at 9012. The best times because I'll venture out a little bit when I don't have my best friend to hang out with. The worst times because any other bad times I can distract myself by hanging out with Brandon. So I just wonder if him leaving will be good or bad for me. I'd relate it to my job (something that's pretty good and safe). I could quit my job and whatever happens next would generally either be awesome or really shitty.
So next weekend I'm going to go with Brandon to his sister's house which sounds like it will be fun. I think he's moving some of his stuff over there. On that topic, Brandon texted me this morning some crazy information... His sister's HBO got turned off because he downloaded (and seeded, more importantly?) Entourage. I don't know how that happens or how it is determined or discovered that it's from pirating TV Shows but it's not that likely it's a misunderstanding. Brenda works for DirecTV (her cable provider... satellite whatever) so it's surprising that there's even a problem with it. THEY'RE WATCHING... However this is all via texting which decreases Brandon's ability to communicate effectively so I don't know if there are details I'm not aware of.
I'll probably be finishing Season 2 of Lost this weekend and also Import Tuner Challenge for XBox 360. May buy Guitar Hero: World Tour... or just go back to playing Forza. I have exercised every day since getting my membership at 24 Hour Fitness (Monday) and plan to continue that trend this weekend. I've finally convinced Brandon to do Power Hour, so we'll be doing that some time this weekend. It's sort of just a checklist thing (Power Hour, if you don't know, is a game where you take a shot of beer every minute for an hour. I even stumbled upon and downloaded an hour-long video of one minute clips from 60 comedies made specifically for Power Hour that I will be utilizing). This is weird and I probably won't end up doing it but there's a thing called the Ganzfeld Procedure (or Experiment) where you can supposedly induce hallucinations. It has to do with an "underload" of sensory stimuli. Of course I'm a skeptic, but I think it'd be interesting to try, and unlike most similar experiments it actually is said to have a scientific base.
I really should go for a hike or something. Although this week has been pretty good, it'd be nice to get outside the monotony my life has been since returning from Australia. This week consisted of exercise, beer, XBox, Lost and hot tub... almost every night.
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