Atamido
4th June 2005, 21:30
I started off writing an email today, and then it turned into a chronicle of my past two weeks. All of the events, words, and thoughts that I've written down are 100% true. It is pretty long winded so you may find it boring, but I post it because someone might enjoy it.
It all started on Monday of last week. I was going to pick up this girl to meet up with some friends. I'd stopped my car when I got out to let her know I was there, and when we both got in, my car wouldn't start. That makes a guy look sooooo not cool. It's not even like I was trying to impress her or ask her out, it's just the principle of the matter. She's a girl, she knows other girls, and when she tells those other girls about the schmuck of a guy that came to pick her up in a car that wouldn't start, my social standing will suddenly take bit of a nose dive. Somehow, going out for ice cream had come up, so it looks like I'm supposed to ask her if she wants to get some. I don't really want to go on a 'date' of any sort with her, but it looked like etiquette required that I ask, so I do. It's obvious from her face that she doesn't really want to go, but says yes because I asked. So a few days later we go. I talked to her a few hours previous to picking her up because she wants to know if it's cool if her little sister comes. Cool, something to throw it in the realm of non-date But when I pick her up she says that it's just the two of us. Damn.
We go to a little ice cream shop that she's never seen and pick out what we want. She gets hers first and is closer to the register. While I'm getting my ice cream handed to me, another employee moves to the register and starts hitting keys. The girl reaches in her purse and pulls out a $10 and starts to put it on the counter. I am moving towards her at this, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet. Just as her hand is going down, the employee says, "that's two single scoops...." and she pauses. It is obvious that she was intending to pay for only for her ice cream. I pipe up and say, "well I was going to pay for the two of us, but if you really want too..." and shrug, putting my wallet back in my pocket. She pauses again, then reluctantly moves the money forward and pays. I would isolate this as the point where I went from having bad luck to bad karma.
One odd thing during the evening is she asked me what girls I think are hot and I laughed and said she was of course. (chicks dig flattery) She laughed and asked what other girls, and I responded that they all pale in comparison to her. (laying it on thick to try recovering from the money incident) She laughs again and we go into a discussion of what makes people attractive. Afterwards I ask her who she thinks is hot and she rattles off a couple of names, but doesn't mention me at all. Ouch, that was pretty cold to not at least make a joking reference. Fortunately things ended shortly afterwards.
I don't make it to work until Thursday because of my car. It turned out to basically be some corroded connections and replacing the cables fixed it. When I get to work, my boss tells me that Board has decided not to approve hiring me on as an employee instead of a contractor. It went from a sure thing hiring to jack in one meeting. He says he'll hire me the next fiscal year, but that isn't until October and I need money and health insurance. Fine, memorial day weekend is in a few days and I'll relax it off.
The next day, Friday, I have a dentist appointment in the morning to get some stitches pulled out of my mouth. (That's another story that is so far costing me about 1/5th of last year's income) They'd had to put in twice as many stitches as they expected, and the person pulling them out kept messing up and...the pain.... Afterwards I went home and checked my email to find out that they were closing early so I didn't have to come in. (That means no income from last week except for Thursday).
Around 5:30 I think to call someone to see what's happening that night. Wait, where's my phone? Oh no....It must have fallen out of my pocket at the dentist's office and they are closed now. My roommate left to Georgia the day before so I have no immediate access to another phone. In fact, other than email, I have no way to communicate with anyone aside from waiting outside of their home to see if they come home. That's just weird and not something I'm going to stoop too. A nice relaxing night at home. Did I mention that my other roommate moved out and took his TV with him so we don't have one now? I seem limited to whatever I can do on my computer. But having been on it a good portion of the day already, I'm bored with it. Nothing else to do.... Around 10pm I decide I'll watch a movie on my monitor. And I want pizza. I need pizza to watch a movie on Friday night. I can't call and order it without a phone. I can't even order it online because they can't call to confirm it. So I get in my car, drive to the nearest place, knock on the locked door and ask if I can get a pizza. They agree to take the order from me in person, but they have to deliver it to me....outside. It works, but I spend 20 minutes in front of a strip mall at 10:30pm looking like a dweeb. I get two large pizzas. It's going to be a long weekend.
Saturday is one loooooong day of boredom. No way to contact the outside world. It is later that I find out about all the fun things I missed, but at the time I am just bored out of my skull. I don't go places alone. I'm not going to the lake as the lone guy. It's weird, and I don't even know what I would do. Hours go by and I become convinced the universe hates me. Movies watched on the computer, 2. Simpsons episodes watched on the computer, 5.
I am a God fearing man, so Sunday I went to church. That gets me through the rest of Sunday. Human contact at last! Unfortunately I am so excited by actually having a person to talk to that I fail to consider planning ahead.
Monday is exciting because I can go get my phone from the dentist office. Oh wait, no I can't. The dentist office is closed on Monday, but I have no way of knowing that until I drive there because I can't call them. I still have no way to get a hold of anyone, and it is actually Memorial Day now. Boredom ensues Fortunately I got an email about some people meeting up so at about 6:30pm I check my email to make sure I have the directions strait and notice that I was supposed to meet up with them at 3:30. Double damn. Boredom continues. Roommate gets back in town sometime after midnight. Movies watched on the computer, 3. Simpsons episodes watched on the computer, 4.
Tuesday I get my phone back, yay! Missed calls, 11. Voice mails, 6. Accusations of ignoring phone calls, 1. I don't go in to work because that would require putting on pants. And no one should have to wear pants after a weekend like that. Fortunately I can call vendors about some projects we had been working on so it's still counts as work. I talked to my roommate and he as this 'great' idea of doing a juice fast. Basic idea is you don't eat, and you only drink water and juice. Juice is made of a variety of fruits and vegetables tossed into a juicer. Idea sounds good and he wants to start the next day, but we don't have time to talk details.
Wednesday I get up early to get to work. No chance to confirm juicing with roommate so I only drink water. When I get to my car I remember that I had left my windows down the night before because I wasn't expecting to stay home. The thunderstorms that had come that night and dropped and inch of water had soaked the inside of my car. Day at work starts with moving servers to a new room and other miscellaneous stuff. Nobody comments about the wet pants from riding in a wet car. Work day ends and I go home to get ready for a friend's birthday party. (was one of the messages) There are no fruits or vegetables in the apartment, but I still only drink water. Meeting friends at a restaurant is probably a bad idea. Somehow I manage to leave my phone at home so I can't even call my roommate to confirm that we're juicing. I am starving and end up ordering a salad because it is surely healthy. I also steal french fries from other people's plates. We karaoke until 2am and then I drive home.
On the way home, I set my cruise control so I won't speed and get pulled over. I am the only car I can see on the highway except for one pretty far back. An unmarked cop pulls on and drives right next to me. I look in the rear view mirror and the other car has sped up and is sitting right behind me. It is also a cop car. 30 seconds later the light are turned on and I get pulled over for an expired registration. Damn. Oh, and I don't know what happened to my insurance card. Double damn. Got a ticket. When I get home I discover that the rain water has made my electric locks no longer work. I also noticed a mildew smell in my car.
Thursday I get to work early and am moving computers and monitors up and down stairs. Still haven't confirmed juicing with roommate. The work is hard and the only thing to eat is candy. I eat lots of candy for a continual source of refined sugar. It keeps me going, but any semblance of healthy has gone out the window. The smell in my car is getting much worse.
Friday I decide to try and get the ticket taken care of. For some reason the county tax office decided to shut down it's convenient location, and their website doesn't tell you where the other locations are. The website seems to have one phone number for my city, and it is busy for the first several times that I try. When I get through, they give me a different number to call, and after several menus I actually talk to someone that I am convinced didn't want me to come to their office, but eventually told me where it was.
My license plate number is requested, but I can't remember it. I suck at remember numbers and I've never been able to remember my license plate number. A few minutes later of thinking about it, I suddenly remember it. I am so excited that I have actually remembered a number that I seriously considered calling a friend to tell them. The only reason I don't is that I saw something interesting and forgot.
Traffic is slow, the banks are full, and the smell in my car is becoming overpowering, but I eventually get me and my money to the office to renew my registration. They have a drive up window which seems strange, but I guess it's cool. Well, if my car didn't stink it would be cool. While I'm waiting for them to give me my new sticker back I begin to think that maybe God is trying to tell me something. But I'm still feeling pretty good about remembering my license plate number. Unexpectedly, they hand me a new license place. Apparently every seven years you get a new one. So much for feeling good. I look down at the new plate, but my thumb is covering the first number so all I see is "42 FKD". My next thought is that God has just given me the answer to the universe and then told me I am f*cked. Great. I am having a hard time convincing myself this is just a coincidence.
I head to the police station to get my ticket taken care of. I get a parking space relatively close and change from the tax office lets me get time on the meter. The guy at the medal detector is a bit of a jerk, but I get through. Inside it's boring but at least the line is moving fast. Once at the counter I hand the lady my ticket, registration, and a copy of my insurance card I had found. There is a problem. My insurance expired on June 1st, and I got the ticket on June 2nd. The fine for driving without insurance is almost $300. That would be more than I have in my bank account once the rent check clears. It's a good think I have two weeks to take care of this ticket.
On the bright side, when I got outside I still had 1 minute left on the meter so I didn't have a parking ticket too. Maybe things are getting better?
It all started on Monday of last week. I was going to pick up this girl to meet up with some friends. I'd stopped my car when I got out to let her know I was there, and when we both got in, my car wouldn't start. That makes a guy look sooooo not cool. It's not even like I was trying to impress her or ask her out, it's just the principle of the matter. She's a girl, she knows other girls, and when she tells those other girls about the schmuck of a guy that came to pick her up in a car that wouldn't start, my social standing will suddenly take bit of a nose dive. Somehow, going out for ice cream had come up, so it looks like I'm supposed to ask her if she wants to get some. I don't really want to go on a 'date' of any sort with her, but it looked like etiquette required that I ask, so I do. It's obvious from her face that she doesn't really want to go, but says yes because I asked. So a few days later we go. I talked to her a few hours previous to picking her up because she wants to know if it's cool if her little sister comes. Cool, something to throw it in the realm of non-date But when I pick her up she says that it's just the two of us. Damn.
We go to a little ice cream shop that she's never seen and pick out what we want. She gets hers first and is closer to the register. While I'm getting my ice cream handed to me, another employee moves to the register and starts hitting keys. The girl reaches in her purse and pulls out a $10 and starts to put it on the counter. I am moving towards her at this, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my wallet. Just as her hand is going down, the employee says, "that's two single scoops...." and she pauses. It is obvious that she was intending to pay for only for her ice cream. I pipe up and say, "well I was going to pay for the two of us, but if you really want too..." and shrug, putting my wallet back in my pocket. She pauses again, then reluctantly moves the money forward and pays. I would isolate this as the point where I went from having bad luck to bad karma.
One odd thing during the evening is she asked me what girls I think are hot and I laughed and said she was of course. (chicks dig flattery) She laughed and asked what other girls, and I responded that they all pale in comparison to her. (laying it on thick to try recovering from the money incident) She laughs again and we go into a discussion of what makes people attractive. Afterwards I ask her who she thinks is hot and she rattles off a couple of names, but doesn't mention me at all. Ouch, that was pretty cold to not at least make a joking reference. Fortunately things ended shortly afterwards.
I don't make it to work until Thursday because of my car. It turned out to basically be some corroded connections and replacing the cables fixed it. When I get to work, my boss tells me that Board has decided not to approve hiring me on as an employee instead of a contractor. It went from a sure thing hiring to jack in one meeting. He says he'll hire me the next fiscal year, but that isn't until October and I need money and health insurance. Fine, memorial day weekend is in a few days and I'll relax it off.
The next day, Friday, I have a dentist appointment in the morning to get some stitches pulled out of my mouth. (That's another story that is so far costing me about 1/5th of last year's income) They'd had to put in twice as many stitches as they expected, and the person pulling them out kept messing up and...the pain.... Afterwards I went home and checked my email to find out that they were closing early so I didn't have to come in. (That means no income from last week except for Thursday).
Around 5:30 I think to call someone to see what's happening that night. Wait, where's my phone? Oh no....It must have fallen out of my pocket at the dentist's office and they are closed now. My roommate left to Georgia the day before so I have no immediate access to another phone. In fact, other than email, I have no way to communicate with anyone aside from waiting outside of their home to see if they come home. That's just weird and not something I'm going to stoop too. A nice relaxing night at home. Did I mention that my other roommate moved out and took his TV with him so we don't have one now? I seem limited to whatever I can do on my computer. But having been on it a good portion of the day already, I'm bored with it. Nothing else to do.... Around 10pm I decide I'll watch a movie on my monitor. And I want pizza. I need pizza to watch a movie on Friday night. I can't call and order it without a phone. I can't even order it online because they can't call to confirm it. So I get in my car, drive to the nearest place, knock on the locked door and ask if I can get a pizza. They agree to take the order from me in person, but they have to deliver it to me....outside. It works, but I spend 20 minutes in front of a strip mall at 10:30pm looking like a dweeb. I get two large pizzas. It's going to be a long weekend.
Saturday is one loooooong day of boredom. No way to contact the outside world. It is later that I find out about all the fun things I missed, but at the time I am just bored out of my skull. I don't go places alone. I'm not going to the lake as the lone guy. It's weird, and I don't even know what I would do. Hours go by and I become convinced the universe hates me. Movies watched on the computer, 2. Simpsons episodes watched on the computer, 5.
I am a God fearing man, so Sunday I went to church. That gets me through the rest of Sunday. Human contact at last! Unfortunately I am so excited by actually having a person to talk to that I fail to consider planning ahead.
Monday is exciting because I can go get my phone from the dentist office. Oh wait, no I can't. The dentist office is closed on Monday, but I have no way of knowing that until I drive there because I can't call them. I still have no way to get a hold of anyone, and it is actually Memorial Day now. Boredom ensues Fortunately I got an email about some people meeting up so at about 6:30pm I check my email to make sure I have the directions strait and notice that I was supposed to meet up with them at 3:30. Double damn. Boredom continues. Roommate gets back in town sometime after midnight. Movies watched on the computer, 3. Simpsons episodes watched on the computer, 4.
Tuesday I get my phone back, yay! Missed calls, 11. Voice mails, 6. Accusations of ignoring phone calls, 1. I don't go in to work because that would require putting on pants. And no one should have to wear pants after a weekend like that. Fortunately I can call vendors about some projects we had been working on so it's still counts as work. I talked to my roommate and he as this 'great' idea of doing a juice fast. Basic idea is you don't eat, and you only drink water and juice. Juice is made of a variety of fruits and vegetables tossed into a juicer. Idea sounds good and he wants to start the next day, but we don't have time to talk details.
Wednesday I get up early to get to work. No chance to confirm juicing with roommate so I only drink water. When I get to my car I remember that I had left my windows down the night before because I wasn't expecting to stay home. The thunderstorms that had come that night and dropped and inch of water had soaked the inside of my car. Day at work starts with moving servers to a new room and other miscellaneous stuff. Nobody comments about the wet pants from riding in a wet car. Work day ends and I go home to get ready for a friend's birthday party. (was one of the messages) There are no fruits or vegetables in the apartment, but I still only drink water. Meeting friends at a restaurant is probably a bad idea. Somehow I manage to leave my phone at home so I can't even call my roommate to confirm that we're juicing. I am starving and end up ordering a salad because it is surely healthy. I also steal french fries from other people's plates. We karaoke until 2am and then I drive home.
On the way home, I set my cruise control so I won't speed and get pulled over. I am the only car I can see on the highway except for one pretty far back. An unmarked cop pulls on and drives right next to me. I look in the rear view mirror and the other car has sped up and is sitting right behind me. It is also a cop car. 30 seconds later the light are turned on and I get pulled over for an expired registration. Damn. Oh, and I don't know what happened to my insurance card. Double damn. Got a ticket. When I get home I discover that the rain water has made my electric locks no longer work. I also noticed a mildew smell in my car.
Thursday I get to work early and am moving computers and monitors up and down stairs. Still haven't confirmed juicing with roommate. The work is hard and the only thing to eat is candy. I eat lots of candy for a continual source of refined sugar. It keeps me going, but any semblance of healthy has gone out the window. The smell in my car is getting much worse.
Friday I decide to try and get the ticket taken care of. For some reason the county tax office decided to shut down it's convenient location, and their website doesn't tell you where the other locations are. The website seems to have one phone number for my city, and it is busy for the first several times that I try. When I get through, they give me a different number to call, and after several menus I actually talk to someone that I am convinced didn't want me to come to their office, but eventually told me where it was.
My license plate number is requested, but I can't remember it. I suck at remember numbers and I've never been able to remember my license plate number. A few minutes later of thinking about it, I suddenly remember it. I am so excited that I have actually remembered a number that I seriously considered calling a friend to tell them. The only reason I don't is that I saw something interesting and forgot.
Traffic is slow, the banks are full, and the smell in my car is becoming overpowering, but I eventually get me and my money to the office to renew my registration. They have a drive up window which seems strange, but I guess it's cool. Well, if my car didn't stink it would be cool. While I'm waiting for them to give me my new sticker back I begin to think that maybe God is trying to tell me something. But I'm still feeling pretty good about remembering my license plate number. Unexpectedly, they hand me a new license place. Apparently every seven years you get a new one. So much for feeling good. I look down at the new plate, but my thumb is covering the first number so all I see is "42 FKD". My next thought is that God has just given me the answer to the universe and then told me I am f*cked. Great. I am having a hard time convincing myself this is just a coincidence.
I head to the police station to get my ticket taken care of. I get a parking space relatively close and change from the tax office lets me get time on the meter. The guy at the medal detector is a bit of a jerk, but I get through. Inside it's boring but at least the line is moving fast. Once at the counter I hand the lady my ticket, registration, and a copy of my insurance card I had found. There is a problem. My insurance expired on June 1st, and I got the ticket on June 2nd. The fine for driving without insurance is almost $300. That would be more than I have in my bank account once the rent check clears. It's a good think I have two weeks to take care of this ticket.
On the bright side, when I got outside I still had 1 minute left on the meter so I didn't have a parking ticket too. Maybe things are getting better?