I have a confession to make. I'm a sucker.
Right now, I am basically working just what I need to work to maintain my bills. Which doesn't require me to work that much. This gives me some free time to sort through my stuff and get my affairs in order while I prepare to go to school and what not. I do have a plan however, it involves getting my own place, after I have significantly downsized my current possessions.
Meanwhile, well, I'm a sucker. I don't have to work that much, but if somebody comes up to me, begging me to take a shift that they are trying to get rid of because they are sick/ the shift conflicts with school/ they just want the day off, I undoubtedly grind my teeth, give them a dirty look, and tell them I'll take it.
What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever tell a person 'No! I don't want your freakin' shift! I just want to sit at home and burn crap in the fireplace I've been hanging onto for the last ten years for closure! I don't need hours!'
Well, actually, the burning of stuff in the fireplace is a bit more information then they need to know (but it has proven very theraputic!) but still, for some reason, I can't tell a person no when they ask me to cover a shift.
But hey, its not so bad, right? I mean, it could be that I really do need the money and I can't get enough work, so I'm counting my blessings in the meantime.
Now, I have to mail out the last parcel from my first eBay sale and get the ball rolling on my next one.
Meanwhile, the army overpaid me on my last paycheck, so for the next year or so of drilling, a portion of my drill paycheck will be going to paying back that debt. How am I not surprised???
A blog about a girl who speaks her mind and talks about whatever she wants. So its a blog about everything, and absolutely nothing, all at the same time. . .
2.27.2006
Woes from Work
When I was looking into a job change with the US Army, somebody mentioned if I wanted to do LPN. To tell you the honest truth, I would like to just get out of the Medical Field altogether. I don't think I could ever do the LPN bit and I'll tell you why.
I don't do puke, crap, urine or mucus. Which brings up the question of what will I do if and when I come upon having kids of my own?
One thing I don't like about people in the people pleasing business of customer service, is when we offer a public toilet and people decide that they need to use our facilities to do a doozy of a number two, so much so that it plugs up our plumping where we have to get the plunger out. Gross.
I don't get paid enough to deal with other people's poop. In a lot of ways, that is where I cross the line. But when we're closing, gosh, we got to clean the bathrooms too. I walk into the male restrooms and low and behold, some customer left me a present. I overhead paged some back up assistence while I started trying to unplug the thing.
People, if you really have to go and you know you're going to clog up the toilet, don't go to a public restroom to do it, please for the love of all that is holy. Just do it in your own private toilet. Don't leave it for some other poor soul to have to clean it up after you. It just plain stinks!
I don't do puke, crap, urine or mucus. Which brings up the question of what will I do if and when I come upon having kids of my own?
One thing I don't like about people in the people pleasing business of customer service, is when we offer a public toilet and people decide that they need to use our facilities to do a doozy of a number two, so much so that it plugs up our plumping where we have to get the plunger out. Gross.
I don't get paid enough to deal with other people's poop. In a lot of ways, that is where I cross the line. But when we're closing, gosh, we got to clean the bathrooms too. I walk into the male restrooms and low and behold, some customer left me a present. I overhead paged some back up assistence while I started trying to unplug the thing.
People, if you really have to go and you know you're going to clog up the toilet, don't go to a public restroom to do it, please for the love of all that is holy. Just do it in your own private toilet. Don't leave it for some other poor soul to have to clean it up after you. It just plain stinks!
2.25.2006
Television Shows
Like Movies, only its TV.
I recently gave some opinions on movies, but I thought it would be fair to do the same with some recent television shows I've checked out and watched (and in some cases, got addicted too)
Another thing I can do via my employer is rent TV shows that have come out on DVD. I guess I could also watch TV shows on their native habitat, but I don't like commercials very much. So, here's a review of some TV shows on DVD and what I thought about them.
Own and Watched at Least One Season - 'Nough Said.
Freaks and Geeks - the first TV show that I actually bought on DVD. I first saw this with my friend Marnie. It only lasted a season, about 18 episodes, and its a bloody shame. This show had promise. I don't know what it was showing on, but with its rotten luck, most likely Fox, which is notorious for canceling shows if they aren't instant hits. I think they ended it on a positive note however, giving the characters some closure.
Sliders - I watched the first couple of seasons of Sliders when it originally came out and found it pretty fascinating then. I still like it, although at times I note it can be rather preachy. Though I've also come to note that it seems like every world they visit is actually worse then our own, which kind of yells 'Yay for us!' Still, I've always had an interest with alternate dimensions. Which may be why I found this series so interesting in the first place.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I've only been harping about it for the last two months. I've known about Buffy since it came out, but I never watched it. Then one day I had to shine a pair of boots and clean a rifle and I prefer doing both of the above objects while watching the TV. I had HitchHikers Guide but felt it wasn't enough, so I bought the introductory disc of Buffy as well. Its all history from there.
What in the world is with Season 4? I love it when Hollywood tries to make a stab at what the military is really like, it is rather laughable. Still, I'm a sucker for Buffy now.
Angel - Buffy fallout brought me to Angel. Because Angel is one of my favorite characters out of the first three seasons of Buffy. This series is more adult then Buffy. Season 4 kind of brought major disappointment in the manner of the Jasmine storyline. The whole storyline gave me the squirmees, and when I got the squirmees from a show, it is never good news. Redemption came with Season 5, because Spike came over from Buffy and almost took over the show. That's both good and bad, good because Spike's one of my favorite characters out of the franchise, and bad becuase the show isn't about him, its about Angel. My own pet peeve is they ended this series without any closure, they better damn well hurry with that Spike movie I keep hearing rumors about.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - This is my guilty pleasure. Because when I was a wee kid of about 8 years old, I was seriously hooked on this show. When they came out with it on DVD, for pure nastalgic reasons, I had to buy it. In the process, I picked up the remake as well, just to see where they were going with it. Original - I probably wouldn't watch this if it weren't for the fact that I was so in love with the series as a kid. Theres just something about warping back to a time where things were a lot simpler and ninja turtles were the bomb. The animation now can be a bit painful to watch, but the story is the same and I wouldn't have it any other way. I grew up on these guys. Current - the current series is more stylized and geared toward an older audience (and hence, more Mature, the turtles don't have the same infatuation with pizza from before) from the original series, and I confess that if I weren't a fan of the original, I probably wouldn't be in the process of collecting this series as well. Still, I wish they had actually released the DVD in chronological order from the individual episodes. Damn them for screwing up my mojo, I have yet to see this show on Television and hence forth I'm not following it like its supposed to be followed. Sucks to be me.
Simpsons - You know, I have started collecting this on DVD (the first four seasons at least), but have yet to watch it in that format. Still, Simpsons have been out for how long? Who hasn't seen this show? DVD is different due to lack of commercial interuptions. And Simpsons are just classic.
Twilight Zone - The original series from the 60's, this stuff is pure classic. The storylines are original and its just fun to watch. That, and you can pick up any episode at random and watch it without feeling like you're jumping in the middle of something. I've got one more set to buy and I'll have this entire thing. Unfortunately, when I decided to buy it, they decided to re-release it in another format (this time by Seasons). Curse them.
Gargoyles - The animated Disney Cartoon. The first season was reasonably priced, the first half of the second season not so much. I don't think I'll be picking that up any time soon. It didn't catch my attention enough to warrent buying both at this time. Hmm, maybe later?
TV Shows on DVD in Process of Watching - This is something I'm currently in the middle of.
Firefly - I picked this one up because I've heard nothing but good about it. I probably need to watch the pilot again, because I decided to watch it while I was working on eBay, which meant my mind wasn't entirely on the show, and I likely missed somethings. So far, for a Sci-Fi western, it has proven to be suitably quirky and entertaining for my tastes.
On Deck - I plan to watch these in the not to distant future.
Smallville - Everything is screaming at me that this is bad news, do not buy this unless you want a repeat of an obsession to rival that which is currently happening in regards to Buffy. However, I've heard a lot of good about this show, and there's further good news! It is available to rent so I can rent the first couple of discs and make sure its something I want to get addicted too. A good friend of mine also recommended it as something to avoid for the reasons I mentioned above (he too got hooked on it) and further more, Buffy Fallout! James Marsters is guest starring in the current season as a villain, and I've become a James Marsters fan. Damn it.
Life or Something Like It - I'm a Freaks and Geeks fan. This is made by the same people who brought us Freaks and Geeks. I purchased it, never watched it, so now i need to make an effort to do so. Don't know if it is of the same caliber, don't know. It got canceled.
Aqua Team Hunger Force - I have heard so much about this bizarre series that i need to just sit down and check it out. I've already made the first step, I've got Season one on DVD during one of my impulse purchases at the PX.
Lost - Sooner or later, somebody is going to make me watch this. I better just get prepared for that.
Would Like to Buy - Name says all. If chance would have it, maybe one day I will own these. But they are purely wishlist, nothing more.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - I would love to pick up the entire series of Next Generation on DVD for similar reasons to Ninja Turtles. Catch? This series is expensive. Like a Hundred dollars a pop per season. I've overcome the fascination I endured over Next Generation a long time ago, this would be a pure Nastalgic purchase. And at that price, it's not worth it to me. Maybe I can find it used somewhere for cheap? Hmm, unlikely.
ST - Deep Space Nine - See above. And further more, these are the only two series in the Star Trek franchise I am interested in purchasing. Voyager wore out its welcome by season 2. The original series never caught my attention and I was out of the Trekkie phase by the time Enterprise debuted.
Avoiding Like the Plague - Erm, these are shows that I have no intention of watching. Ever.
Sex and the City - Not because it is bad, but because it sounds like something I wouldn't normally watch. I'm just not into shows like this. However, if I do brave a chance and sit and watch it, I'll probably end up collecting the whole series as well. I will save myself the time and financial burdon and forego ever seeing this series.
Friends - In a lot of ways, much like Sex and the City. I have seen episodes of this and it is actually really funny. Which is further reason to avoid. I will not have a show sap my life force away. That, and I'm not into Sitcoms anymore. Sitcoms are not worth watching on DVD.
Full House - I used to watch this show as a kid, but it doesn't hold the same nastalgic feelings like Ninja Turtles do. There is no way I'm going to collect the DVDs of it.
*******************
That is probably all I can think of at the moment. Yeah, Television. As you can see, I don't have a whole lot of series on my list, considering how many there are out there these days. Like I said, I don't normally watch TV. I don't like having that much life force sucked from my brain as it is.
I recently gave some opinions on movies, but I thought it would be fair to do the same with some recent television shows I've checked out and watched (and in some cases, got addicted too)
Another thing I can do via my employer is rent TV shows that have come out on DVD. I guess I could also watch TV shows on their native habitat, but I don't like commercials very much. So, here's a review of some TV shows on DVD and what I thought about them.
Own and Watched at Least One Season - 'Nough Said.
Freaks and Geeks - the first TV show that I actually bought on DVD. I first saw this with my friend Marnie. It only lasted a season, about 18 episodes, and its a bloody shame. This show had promise. I don't know what it was showing on, but with its rotten luck, most likely Fox, which is notorious for canceling shows if they aren't instant hits. I think they ended it on a positive note however, giving the characters some closure.
Sliders - I watched the first couple of seasons of Sliders when it originally came out and found it pretty fascinating then. I still like it, although at times I note it can be rather preachy. Though I've also come to note that it seems like every world they visit is actually worse then our own, which kind of yells 'Yay for us!' Still, I've always had an interest with alternate dimensions. Which may be why I found this series so interesting in the first place.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - I've only been harping about it for the last two months. I've known about Buffy since it came out, but I never watched it. Then one day I had to shine a pair of boots and clean a rifle and I prefer doing both of the above objects while watching the TV. I had HitchHikers Guide but felt it wasn't enough, so I bought the introductory disc of Buffy as well. Its all history from there.
What in the world is with Season 4? I love it when Hollywood tries to make a stab at what the military is really like, it is rather laughable. Still, I'm a sucker for Buffy now.
Angel - Buffy fallout brought me to Angel. Because Angel is one of my favorite characters out of the first three seasons of Buffy. This series is more adult then Buffy. Season 4 kind of brought major disappointment in the manner of the Jasmine storyline. The whole storyline gave me the squirmees, and when I got the squirmees from a show, it is never good news. Redemption came with Season 5, because Spike came over from Buffy and almost took over the show. That's both good and bad, good because Spike's one of my favorite characters out of the franchise, and bad becuase the show isn't about him, its about Angel. My own pet peeve is they ended this series without any closure, they better damn well hurry with that Spike movie I keep hearing rumors about.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - This is my guilty pleasure. Because when I was a wee kid of about 8 years old, I was seriously hooked on this show. When they came out with it on DVD, for pure nastalgic reasons, I had to buy it. In the process, I picked up the remake as well, just to see where they were going with it. Original - I probably wouldn't watch this if it weren't for the fact that I was so in love with the series as a kid. Theres just something about warping back to a time where things were a lot simpler and ninja turtles were the bomb. The animation now can be a bit painful to watch, but the story is the same and I wouldn't have it any other way. I grew up on these guys. Current - the current series is more stylized and geared toward an older audience (and hence, more Mature, the turtles don't have the same infatuation with pizza from before) from the original series, and I confess that if I weren't a fan of the original, I probably wouldn't be in the process of collecting this series as well. Still, I wish they had actually released the DVD in chronological order from the individual episodes. Damn them for screwing up my mojo, I have yet to see this show on Television and hence forth I'm not following it like its supposed to be followed. Sucks to be me.
Simpsons - You know, I have started collecting this on DVD (the first four seasons at least), but have yet to watch it in that format. Still, Simpsons have been out for how long? Who hasn't seen this show? DVD is different due to lack of commercial interuptions. And Simpsons are just classic.
Twilight Zone - The original series from the 60's, this stuff is pure classic. The storylines are original and its just fun to watch. That, and you can pick up any episode at random and watch it without feeling like you're jumping in the middle of something. I've got one more set to buy and I'll have this entire thing. Unfortunately, when I decided to buy it, they decided to re-release it in another format (this time by Seasons). Curse them.
Gargoyles - The animated Disney Cartoon. The first season was reasonably priced, the first half of the second season not so much. I don't think I'll be picking that up any time soon. It didn't catch my attention enough to warrent buying both at this time. Hmm, maybe later?
TV Shows on DVD in Process of Watching - This is something I'm currently in the middle of.
Firefly - I picked this one up because I've heard nothing but good about it. I probably need to watch the pilot again, because I decided to watch it while I was working on eBay, which meant my mind wasn't entirely on the show, and I likely missed somethings. So far, for a Sci-Fi western, it has proven to be suitably quirky and entertaining for my tastes.
On Deck - I plan to watch these in the not to distant future.
Smallville - Everything is screaming at me that this is bad news, do not buy this unless you want a repeat of an obsession to rival that which is currently happening in regards to Buffy. However, I've heard a lot of good about this show, and there's further good news! It is available to rent so I can rent the first couple of discs and make sure its something I want to get addicted too. A good friend of mine also recommended it as something to avoid for the reasons I mentioned above (he too got hooked on it) and further more, Buffy Fallout! James Marsters is guest starring in the current season as a villain, and I've become a James Marsters fan. Damn it.
Life or Something Like It - I'm a Freaks and Geeks fan. This is made by the same people who brought us Freaks and Geeks. I purchased it, never watched it, so now i need to make an effort to do so. Don't know if it is of the same caliber, don't know. It got canceled.
Aqua Team Hunger Force - I have heard so much about this bizarre series that i need to just sit down and check it out. I've already made the first step, I've got Season one on DVD during one of my impulse purchases at the PX.
Lost - Sooner or later, somebody is going to make me watch this. I better just get prepared for that.
Would Like to Buy - Name says all. If chance would have it, maybe one day I will own these. But they are purely wishlist, nothing more.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - I would love to pick up the entire series of Next Generation on DVD for similar reasons to Ninja Turtles. Catch? This series is expensive. Like a Hundred dollars a pop per season. I've overcome the fascination I endured over Next Generation a long time ago, this would be a pure Nastalgic purchase. And at that price, it's not worth it to me. Maybe I can find it used somewhere for cheap? Hmm, unlikely.
ST - Deep Space Nine - See above. And further more, these are the only two series in the Star Trek franchise I am interested in purchasing. Voyager wore out its welcome by season 2. The original series never caught my attention and I was out of the Trekkie phase by the time Enterprise debuted.
Avoiding Like the Plague - Erm, these are shows that I have no intention of watching. Ever.
Sex and the City - Not because it is bad, but because it sounds like something I wouldn't normally watch. I'm just not into shows like this. However, if I do brave a chance and sit and watch it, I'll probably end up collecting the whole series as well. I will save myself the time and financial burdon and forego ever seeing this series.
Friends - In a lot of ways, much like Sex and the City. I have seen episodes of this and it is actually really funny. Which is further reason to avoid. I will not have a show sap my life force away. That, and I'm not into Sitcoms anymore. Sitcoms are not worth watching on DVD.
Full House - I used to watch this show as a kid, but it doesn't hold the same nastalgic feelings like Ninja Turtles do. There is no way I'm going to collect the DVDs of it.
*******************
That is probably all I can think of at the moment. Yeah, Television. As you can see, I don't have a whole lot of series on my list, considering how many there are out there these days. Like I said, I don't normally watch TV. I don't like having that much life force sucked from my brain as it is.
Oh the Shame!
I may have made a cardinal sin.
I let a block of Swiss Chocolate go bad.
It was one of those things where you don't want to eat it, you want to save it and everything, you know? But the thing about Chocolate is it doesn't get better with age, like wine or some other alcoholic beverage that I don't know anything about. Especially since I think it was sat next to a heater on the flight home from Kosovo. Damn that Swiss Chocolate going bad! Swiss Chocolate is a rare pleasantry that can't go bad!
What's more, this is a sin times 3. Three bars of swiss chocolate. Oh the Shame!
In other news, I found that I can discover the finer points of military life when I'm discussing the military with an inquiring mind who wants to know. I got into the topic of discussing my European Vacation and military life in Kosovo (the finer parts) and got into a good conversation about it. I did mention my main peeve with the reserves, (the inability to decide on whether or not I am going to be deployed) but I think overall the military is getting a lot better at this. I think a soldier knows they will be deployed somewhere like a year in advanced now.
This will all be changed once we wage war on North Korea.
I'm also thinking about buying a Ferret.
I let a block of Swiss Chocolate go bad.
It was one of those things where you don't want to eat it, you want to save it and everything, you know? But the thing about Chocolate is it doesn't get better with age, like wine or some other alcoholic beverage that I don't know anything about. Especially since I think it was sat next to a heater on the flight home from Kosovo. Damn that Swiss Chocolate going bad! Swiss Chocolate is a rare pleasantry that can't go bad!
What's more, this is a sin times 3. Three bars of swiss chocolate. Oh the Shame!
In other news, I found that I can discover the finer points of military life when I'm discussing the military with an inquiring mind who wants to know. I got into the topic of discussing my European Vacation and military life in Kosovo (the finer parts) and got into a good conversation about it. I did mention my main peeve with the reserves, (the inability to decide on whether or not I am going to be deployed) but I think overall the military is getting a lot better at this. I think a soldier knows they will be deployed somewhere like a year in advanced now.
This will all be changed once we wage war on North Korea.
I'm also thinking about buying a Ferret.
Movies
Now that I'll be watching movies a lot more *rentals more then anything, I don't think I can go into the previous DVD buying binges I was once known for* I decided to maybe do some reviews on what I thought. Bare in mind, my opinions in regards to movies don't mean a whole hill of beans because I'm easy to please and I rarely look into the deeper meaning of movies. I'm just in it purely for the entertainment value.
Red Eye - I don't really watch thriller type movies, but for some reason this one peaked my interest. I actually saw previews to it while in Kosovo. I liked it, and it was a clean thriller. Very little cussing, some implied situations, but overall it does what its supposed to do, get you at the edge of your seat. It did me. And that's saying something, like I said, I don't generally watch thriller type movies. Or rather, horror movies for that reason.
Wallance and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - I've been a fan of Wallace and Gromit since the mid '90's, and was rather pleased to hear that they came out with a full length feature film. Somebody had recommended in Kosovo to watch it, unfortunately I never got around to it. This falls right in line with the shorts. It's good clean fun, made me laugh out loud more then a couple of times, and I sincerely enjoyed the film. Just good clean fun the whole family can enjoy. For that reason I usually enjoy family flicks. hehe.
Sad to say, this is all I've really seen lately. My current TV Show is Firefly, like I mentioned before, I haven't quite gotten into it, but I started watching it while I was distracted.
Um, if anybody has any movies that have come out on DVD in the last ten or so months that are enjoyable popcorn fodder, please by all means send them my way. To save you the time, here is a short list of what I have seen.
Million Dollar Baby - Good flick, tear jerker.
Just Like Heaven - Great date movie, clean, Reese Witherspoon = I have to see it.
Corpse's Bride - Typical Tim Burton Animation, quirky and a bit morbid. I wish the theater had a better sound system.
Domino - Any movie which makes jokes at the expense of actors from Beverly Hills, 90210 is all right with me. + Kiera Knightly = I have to see it, for different reasons then Reese.
Walk the Line - I'm a Johnny Cash fan. Plus, as mentioned before, Reese Witherspoon.
King's Ransom - I think the only reason why I saw it is because we were bored and had to do something with our time. And in Kosovo, movies are free. In other words, yeah, funny, but not laugh out loud and sometimes uncomfortable humor.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - I'm a Potter Fan. This is a given, I have to see this movie.
Underworld: Evolution - I was disappointed. Especially since I've recently acquired a Werewolf/Vampire fascination (not to the point of disturbance with me going all goth however).
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Quirky humor. I think this one is geared to the fans, but I do admit I enjoyed it.
Mr and Mrs. Smith - This has a lot of guns in it. But can I say I think these two have become seriously overhyped? I'm done.
Saints and Soldiers - I don't care what Murray says, past the historical innacuracies I liked it.
I may have missed a couple. But actually, my movie watching compared to years past has been limited.
Maybe every couple of weeks i'll post a couple more reviews.
Red Eye - I don't really watch thriller type movies, but for some reason this one peaked my interest. I actually saw previews to it while in Kosovo. I liked it, and it was a clean thriller. Very little cussing, some implied situations, but overall it does what its supposed to do, get you at the edge of your seat. It did me. And that's saying something, like I said, I don't generally watch thriller type movies. Or rather, horror movies for that reason.
Wallance and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - I've been a fan of Wallace and Gromit since the mid '90's, and was rather pleased to hear that they came out with a full length feature film. Somebody had recommended in Kosovo to watch it, unfortunately I never got around to it. This falls right in line with the shorts. It's good clean fun, made me laugh out loud more then a couple of times, and I sincerely enjoyed the film. Just good clean fun the whole family can enjoy. For that reason I usually enjoy family flicks. hehe.
Sad to say, this is all I've really seen lately. My current TV Show is Firefly, like I mentioned before, I haven't quite gotten into it, but I started watching it while I was distracted.
Um, if anybody has any movies that have come out on DVD in the last ten or so months that are enjoyable popcorn fodder, please by all means send them my way. To save you the time, here is a short list of what I have seen.
Million Dollar Baby - Good flick, tear jerker.
Just Like Heaven - Great date movie, clean, Reese Witherspoon = I have to see it.
Corpse's Bride - Typical Tim Burton Animation, quirky and a bit morbid. I wish the theater had a better sound system.
Domino - Any movie which makes jokes at the expense of actors from Beverly Hills, 90210 is all right with me. + Kiera Knightly = I have to see it, for different reasons then Reese.
Walk the Line - I'm a Johnny Cash fan. Plus, as mentioned before, Reese Witherspoon.
King's Ransom - I think the only reason why I saw it is because we were bored and had to do something with our time. And in Kosovo, movies are free. In other words, yeah, funny, but not laugh out loud and sometimes uncomfortable humor.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - I'm a Potter Fan. This is a given, I have to see this movie.
Underworld: Evolution - I was disappointed. Especially since I've recently acquired a Werewolf/Vampire fascination (not to the point of disturbance with me going all goth however).
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Quirky humor. I think this one is geared to the fans, but I do admit I enjoyed it.
Mr and Mrs. Smith - This has a lot of guns in it. But can I say I think these two have become seriously overhyped? I'm done.
Saints and Soldiers - I don't care what Murray says, past the historical innacuracies I liked it.
I may have missed a couple. But actually, my movie watching compared to years past has been limited.
Maybe every couple of weeks i'll post a couple more reviews.
2.23.2006
The Problem with the 91 Sierra
For those of you who don't know, my job within the army is 91S, Preventive Medicine Specialist. In theory, this job is really important to the army. The job itself is the prevention of Disease and Non Battle Injuries. Anything dealing with the prevention of Disease and Non Battle Injuries is detailed by my job.
The problem with this is it doesn't necessarily need a soldier to do the job. As is evident by the fact that more and more parts of the job is being contracted out to the civilian sector, leaving the crap parts of the job to the soldier. One of the reasons why I didn't particularly enjoy my times in Kosovo.
Another problem with the job is nobody knows what a 91S does outside of the Preventive Medicine Unit. In a hospital, often times everybody looks at the 91S as the red headed step children of the unit. Because we don't deal directly with patients or what not, we often get tasked to do other things. One of the job listings of the 91S should be 'Mundane Details' and 'Peon'. If the first sergeant needed something to get done, she would look first at the people who don't have patient care issues. More often then not, this would be Preventive Medicine.
Because nobody knows what Preventive Medicine does, it is somewhat of a Sham Job. That has its positives, to be sure, but because it is a sham job, it also gives an air of being a job that isn't very important. We could make ourselves as busy or non busy as we want to be. Unfortunately for me, I prefer to be busy when I work. With a goal in sight. I never really felt like I got this from my unit.
So, one of our main tasks in Kosovo tended to be Inspections. I hate inspections. I loathe them with a passion. I even mentioned this. But I didn't complain about doing inspections, I just mentioned that I didn't like them. More of a statement then anything. I just made it to the wrong people. One of the reasons why I hated doing inspections is because a lot about the inspections is its a judgement call on the part of the inspector. I like things to be written down, black and white. when I did inspections and found people telling me that I shouldn't do something, or somebody else putting something down as being a bigger deal then it was, I was always the one who wasn't listened to. My opinion never seemed to matter. And it seemed when we had one big joint inspection, the only person who made any mistakes always seemed to be me, according to the infinite judgement and wisdom of my former NCOIC, who I have mentioned time and again, is an enormous pompous Asshat.
I loathe the man with a passion. Just thinking of him makes my blood start to boil and I want to bash his head in with the buttstock of my M16.
Other people in my section often made mistakes too. I noted them, I mentioned them to the enormous pompous Asshat, but he didn't seem to care. He would turn around and point out my mistakes, because the other people in my section were angels that could do no wrong and I was the bastard stepchild.
Which brings me to another point of what was wrong with my section. It consisted of a number of soldiers from another unit (I can't mention exact numbers because that would be telling unit strength) who had all worked together and knew each other fairly well. Then there was me. I was the bastard stepchild from day one and I never fully fit in. What makes this worse is that this unit was overstrength as it was. The head sergeant, (who is he who I greatly loathe) never really did anything because he was incredibly lazy. I did mundane jobs here and there that really were not that big of a deal, but looked like a lot on paper (I was never really trusted to be able to do my job I think). The other soldiers in the unit could have easily took over my job duties and did their own with plenty of room to spare. What am I driving at? My section was overstaffed. By two soldiers.
I was one of those two soldiers, the idiot who supervised me was the other. Considering how small my section was, this was a lot. And often times we were made to stay a certain length of time just because we had to have somebody man the office. Often times I sat on my ass surfing the internet with lack of nothing better to do.
Another problem with my job? A lot of time is spent cooped up in an office. You know why I joined the army? Because it's the freakin' army! I love the army for the shooting of things that go bang, for the dirt and marching around and doing grunt hooah army stuff. I don't like sitting in an office staring at a screen all damn day. I could never be an office peon because I would so quickly get bored with that.
I need another freakin' job! Unfortunately for me, I'm in a job that is understrength according to army standards. I'm limited to the jobs that I will be allowed to do.
You know, I would go on another deployment in a heartbeat, honestly I would. I just don't want to go as a 91S, which in my opinion, has grown into one of the most pointless jobs in the army. Apparently, there is a lot of that to go around.
The problem with this is it doesn't necessarily need a soldier to do the job. As is evident by the fact that more and more parts of the job is being contracted out to the civilian sector, leaving the crap parts of the job to the soldier. One of the reasons why I didn't particularly enjoy my times in Kosovo.
Another problem with the job is nobody knows what a 91S does outside of the Preventive Medicine Unit. In a hospital, often times everybody looks at the 91S as the red headed step children of the unit. Because we don't deal directly with patients or what not, we often get tasked to do other things. One of the job listings of the 91S should be 'Mundane Details' and 'Peon'. If the first sergeant needed something to get done, she would look first at the people who don't have patient care issues. More often then not, this would be Preventive Medicine.
Because nobody knows what Preventive Medicine does, it is somewhat of a Sham Job. That has its positives, to be sure, but because it is a sham job, it also gives an air of being a job that isn't very important. We could make ourselves as busy or non busy as we want to be. Unfortunately for me, I prefer to be busy when I work. With a goal in sight. I never really felt like I got this from my unit.
So, one of our main tasks in Kosovo tended to be Inspections. I hate inspections. I loathe them with a passion. I even mentioned this. But I didn't complain about doing inspections, I just mentioned that I didn't like them. More of a statement then anything. I just made it to the wrong people. One of the reasons why I hated doing inspections is because a lot about the inspections is its a judgement call on the part of the inspector. I like things to be written down, black and white. when I did inspections and found people telling me that I shouldn't do something, or somebody else putting something down as being a bigger deal then it was, I was always the one who wasn't listened to. My opinion never seemed to matter. And it seemed when we had one big joint inspection, the only person who made any mistakes always seemed to be me, according to the infinite judgement and wisdom of my former NCOIC, who I have mentioned time and again, is an enormous pompous Asshat.
I loathe the man with a passion. Just thinking of him makes my blood start to boil and I want to bash his head in with the buttstock of my M16.
Other people in my section often made mistakes too. I noted them, I mentioned them to the enormous pompous Asshat, but he didn't seem to care. He would turn around and point out my mistakes, because the other people in my section were angels that could do no wrong and I was the bastard stepchild.
Which brings me to another point of what was wrong with my section. It consisted of a number of soldiers from another unit (I can't mention exact numbers because that would be telling unit strength) who had all worked together and knew each other fairly well. Then there was me. I was the bastard stepchild from day one and I never fully fit in. What makes this worse is that this unit was overstrength as it was. The head sergeant, (who is he who I greatly loathe) never really did anything because he was incredibly lazy. I did mundane jobs here and there that really were not that big of a deal, but looked like a lot on paper (I was never really trusted to be able to do my job I think). The other soldiers in the unit could have easily took over my job duties and did their own with plenty of room to spare. What am I driving at? My section was overstaffed. By two soldiers.
I was one of those two soldiers, the idiot who supervised me was the other. Considering how small my section was, this was a lot. And often times we were made to stay a certain length of time just because we had to have somebody man the office. Often times I sat on my ass surfing the internet with lack of nothing better to do.
Another problem with my job? A lot of time is spent cooped up in an office. You know why I joined the army? Because it's the freakin' army! I love the army for the shooting of things that go bang, for the dirt and marching around and doing grunt hooah army stuff. I don't like sitting in an office staring at a screen all damn day. I could never be an office peon because I would so quickly get bored with that.
I need another freakin' job! Unfortunately for me, I'm in a job that is understrength according to army standards. I'm limited to the jobs that I will be allowed to do.
You know, I would go on another deployment in a heartbeat, honestly I would. I just don't want to go as a 91S, which in my opinion, has grown into one of the most pointless jobs in the army. Apparently, there is a lot of that to go around.
Trust Issues
I've discovered as of late that I don't trust people like I used to. Well, to tell you the truth, I always had a certain amount of mistrust in regards to people around me, but lately I've discovered that it is hard for me to trust people that aren't family.
I think dealing with certain people in Kosovo killed a lot of my trust. In particular, somebody who I put a lot of trust and faith in who ended up stabbing me in the back multiple times. Something in my head was screaming at me to notice the warning signs and I didn't. I'll be paying for that for a long time to come too I wager. Jackass.
The roommate situation with my brother isn't quite working, for a variety of reasons. One, I'm rooming with boys, and how I've been raised, this goes against my better judgement. Now if it was just me and my brother, it would be just fine, but the third wheel is causing a bit of an issue. That, and actually, he keeps making me feel like I'm imposing on them. Well, the other roommate is the second issue I'm having. I don't really get along with him, and I don't trust him. And I can't live with somebody I don't trust. I don't think he'll take advantage of me or anything in certain ways, but he's already shown that he will try to take advantage of me in regards to weasling his way out of paying for stuff. I won't take any of that, and that really does rub me the wrong way.
Moving on, I don't know where I'm really going or doing right now with my life. I'm in a blah moment, I wanted to get this all figured out while I was in Kosovo and I'm not getting anything figured out. Moving back in *temporarily* with my parents while I sort through my stuff and get back into painting again. I really need to paint again. And if I do, believe me, this blog will focus a lot on that.
School is definitely on the agenda this fall, though I still don't know what I want to get a degree in. I was thinking education, I have a desire to teach. . . something, it has always kind of interested me. Funny, another part of me had often wanted to get into acting. Not for the fame part, strange, having a blog has told me that this is about as much fame as I can handle. Just the job itself has always sounded like fun. The chance to just be something you're not. Maybe that's why I always loved Halloween. A part of me can't act, but another part of me can. And I've been a lot less inhibited as of late. I think that's another lesson I learned in Kosovo.
That, and I can't trust people.
For those of you interested in knowing where I go from here in regards to the army, I'm still in for at least a year and a half. I'm debating on what I'm going to do, I don't want to stay as Preventive Medicine, I feel the job is becoming completely worthless and I have to be in a job with a purpose, or more importantly, a point. But I've hit a catch 22 in regards to that in that I don't want to reenlist until I get into a job I know I want to do and love, but I can't get that job unless I have more time left in service. Bah, leave me alone already!
But I'm safe from deploying. For now. Unless I volunteer for a deployment. And I don't see that happening any time soon. I need another job I actually feel comfortable deploying under first.
I think dealing with certain people in Kosovo killed a lot of my trust. In particular, somebody who I put a lot of trust and faith in who ended up stabbing me in the back multiple times. Something in my head was screaming at me to notice the warning signs and I didn't. I'll be paying for that for a long time to come too I wager. Jackass.
The roommate situation with my brother isn't quite working, for a variety of reasons. One, I'm rooming with boys, and how I've been raised, this goes against my better judgement. Now if it was just me and my brother, it would be just fine, but the third wheel is causing a bit of an issue. That, and actually, he keeps making me feel like I'm imposing on them. Well, the other roommate is the second issue I'm having. I don't really get along with him, and I don't trust him. And I can't live with somebody I don't trust. I don't think he'll take advantage of me or anything in certain ways, but he's already shown that he will try to take advantage of me in regards to weasling his way out of paying for stuff. I won't take any of that, and that really does rub me the wrong way.
Moving on, I don't know where I'm really going or doing right now with my life. I'm in a blah moment, I wanted to get this all figured out while I was in Kosovo and I'm not getting anything figured out. Moving back in *temporarily* with my parents while I sort through my stuff and get back into painting again. I really need to paint again. And if I do, believe me, this blog will focus a lot on that.
School is definitely on the agenda this fall, though I still don't know what I want to get a degree in. I was thinking education, I have a desire to teach. . . something, it has always kind of interested me. Funny, another part of me had often wanted to get into acting. Not for the fame part, strange, having a blog has told me that this is about as much fame as I can handle. Just the job itself has always sounded like fun. The chance to just be something you're not. Maybe that's why I always loved Halloween. A part of me can't act, but another part of me can. And I've been a lot less inhibited as of late. I think that's another lesson I learned in Kosovo.
That, and I can't trust people.
For those of you interested in knowing where I go from here in regards to the army, I'm still in for at least a year and a half. I'm debating on what I'm going to do, I don't want to stay as Preventive Medicine, I feel the job is becoming completely worthless and I have to be in a job with a purpose, or more importantly, a point. But I've hit a catch 22 in regards to that in that I don't want to reenlist until I get into a job I know I want to do and love, but I can't get that job unless I have more time left in service. Bah, leave me alone already!
But I'm safe from deploying. For now. Unless I volunteer for a deployment. And I don't see that happening any time soon. I need another job I actually feel comfortable deploying under first.
2.22.2006
I Hate Insurance Companies
Ok, I have a confession to make. I am far from a stellar driver. I have miraculously escaped many a accident on slippery icy roads in the past by merely pure unadulterated luck.
I also happen to own a lead foot.
In other words, I have had my fair share of speeding tickets, one of the more recent ones was just under two years ago while driving through the previously autobahn like Montana with its newly enforced speed limits. It caught me by surprise. I had done so well to clear my record that I was six months from a completely free driving record and I nabbed two speeding tickets within two weeks of each other. These things like to come in pairs to ruin your life.
Well, one of the upsides of being in Kosovo for a year is that no matter what happens, what happens in Kosovo stays in Kosovo and doesn't show up on your driving record. And fortunately this includes two minor accidents involving a HMMW-V. My record is clean of that, it happened in a foreign country.
Unfortunately, I did happen to get into an accident in January of 2004 as well. An accident I was not at fault for but still has managed to show up on my drivig record. Grr I hate that. Now i have to prove to my insurance company that it wasn't my fault and the other guy had to pay me for the damage. Unfortunately, if you've read my blog recently, you would know that right now my life is in disorder and I can't find anything, including former accident information.
Ergo more ranting of a policy that makes some sense but is still rather annoying
And then there is the discriminatory discount. I wonder if I could fight this? See, insurance companies offer a discount to their customers if the customers have been insured over a period of time without a break in their insurance. Ok, fine, offer a discount to people for maintaining their insurance, but what about poor souls like me who really find it a bloody waste of time to keep insurance on a car they no longer have when they are out of the country for the last year or so? People like Military? This discount is a slap in the face, how can I maintain a discount without paying the liability insurance of $70 bucks a month? What the hell is that? What is the freakin' point? But her answer, 'well, in six months time you'll get it back'. So? How do you deal with a discount you aren't allowed to have because though you had it before deploying overseas with the US military, you decided to forego the insurance when you got rid of the car because it was a freakin' waste of money. I'm single, I have no reason to keep a car on its last leg insured, there is no point in me being insured. But because of my break in keeping up with my insurance, I am no longer eligeble for this discount.
And here I am, serving my country in a (*cough cough*) war zone and I can't be waived for not having insurance because of it. Ok, I'm annoyed, for a variety of reasons, and they all compounded on each other.
Plus, well, this girl just grated on my nerves and made me want to slap her. What the hell, chica? You know the type, the overly nice ones who refuse to help you?
I don't like my current insurance. I think I'm going to try changing it this week.
And when did insurance get so freakin' expensive? Why is owning a car such a necessity these days? I learned that horrible lesson of why a car is important for keeping one's sanity while I was spending a pointless eleven days demobilizing in Fort Lewis. But now that I have a car, I really found I don't like driving it anywhere. Driving's a pain in the fourth.
That is one lesson we can take from the Europeans. They got great public transportation. Our public Trans is severely lacking. All we got is a bus system on its last leg (though a few years ago I learned a valuable lesson in the importance of having a working public transportation system when I lost my car for a few months. That was hell on earth right there). I had a rant there to. However, the US isn't set up to have a Public Transport system like Europe does because of how spaced everything is, especially here in the west. I did take a subway in Boston, that was valuable to have, wouldn't have gotten anywhere without it. Big cities, Public Tran (is there another name for this?) is important. In smaller cities, its still important but harder to justify. Curses.
Fortunately I've got a radio. I spent about five minutes at a stoplight tonight listening to the radio and thinking about life in general without realizing that I hadn't pulled up into the stoplights' sensors and it would therefore stay perpetually red. It took somebody else to pull along beside me before I snapped to my senses and realized that I was daydreaming (in the middle of the night, but still).
Find the not at fault thing for the insurance this week. Another thing to add to my growing doomsday list of things to do.
This is an example of a rambling done at one in the morning. It loses all train of thought by the end of the rant.
I also happen to own a lead foot.
In other words, I have had my fair share of speeding tickets, one of the more recent ones was just under two years ago while driving through the previously autobahn like Montana with its newly enforced speed limits. It caught me by surprise. I had done so well to clear my record that I was six months from a completely free driving record and I nabbed two speeding tickets within two weeks of each other. These things like to come in pairs to ruin your life.
Well, one of the upsides of being in Kosovo for a year is that no matter what happens, what happens in Kosovo stays in Kosovo and doesn't show up on your driving record. And fortunately this includes two minor accidents involving a HMMW-V. My record is clean of that, it happened in a foreign country.
Unfortunately, I did happen to get into an accident in January of 2004 as well. An accident I was not at fault for but still has managed to show up on my drivig record. Grr I hate that. Now i have to prove to my insurance company that it wasn't my fault and the other guy had to pay me for the damage. Unfortunately, if you've read my blog recently, you would know that right now my life is in disorder and I can't find anything, including former accident information.
Ergo more ranting of a policy that makes some sense but is still rather annoying
And then there is the discriminatory discount. I wonder if I could fight this? See, insurance companies offer a discount to their customers if the customers have been insured over a period of time without a break in their insurance. Ok, fine, offer a discount to people for maintaining their insurance, but what about poor souls like me who really find it a bloody waste of time to keep insurance on a car they no longer have when they are out of the country for the last year or so? People like Military? This discount is a slap in the face, how can I maintain a discount without paying the liability insurance of $70 bucks a month? What the hell is that? What is the freakin' point? But her answer, 'well, in six months time you'll get it back'. So? How do you deal with a discount you aren't allowed to have because though you had it before deploying overseas with the US military, you decided to forego the insurance when you got rid of the car because it was a freakin' waste of money. I'm single, I have no reason to keep a car on its last leg insured, there is no point in me being insured. But because of my break in keeping up with my insurance, I am no longer eligeble for this discount.
And here I am, serving my country in a (*cough cough*) war zone and I can't be waived for not having insurance because of it. Ok, I'm annoyed, for a variety of reasons, and they all compounded on each other.
Plus, well, this girl just grated on my nerves and made me want to slap her. What the hell, chica? You know the type, the overly nice ones who refuse to help you?
I don't like my current insurance. I think I'm going to try changing it this week.
And when did insurance get so freakin' expensive? Why is owning a car such a necessity these days? I learned that horrible lesson of why a car is important for keeping one's sanity while I was spending a pointless eleven days demobilizing in Fort Lewis. But now that I have a car, I really found I don't like driving it anywhere. Driving's a pain in the fourth.
That is one lesson we can take from the Europeans. They got great public transportation. Our public Trans is severely lacking. All we got is a bus system on its last leg (though a few years ago I learned a valuable lesson in the importance of having a working public transportation system when I lost my car for a few months. That was hell on earth right there). I had a rant there to. However, the US isn't set up to have a Public Transport system like Europe does because of how spaced everything is, especially here in the west. I did take a subway in Boston, that was valuable to have, wouldn't have gotten anywhere without it. Big cities, Public Tran (is there another name for this?) is important. In smaller cities, its still important but harder to justify. Curses.
Fortunately I've got a radio. I spent about five minutes at a stoplight tonight listening to the radio and thinking about life in general without realizing that I hadn't pulled up into the stoplights' sensors and it would therefore stay perpetually red. It took somebody else to pull along beside me before I snapped to my senses and realized that I was daydreaming (in the middle of the night, but still).
Find the not at fault thing for the insurance this week. Another thing to add to my growing doomsday list of things to do.
This is an example of a rambling done at one in the morning. It loses all train of thought by the end of the rant.
Entertainment News
I'm still horribly behind the times with the entertainment industry. Spending a year on a peace keeping mission in a third world country can do that to you.
In an attempt to catch up, I've been listening to the radio a lot while driving. I caught a few songs that I thought were pretty sweet, and already I've heard them so much I'm sick of them. Why does radio do that?
Today, I was driving and listening to one station when "Wake me when September Ends" starts playing. Look, I think this is a good song and all (yes, I'm a Green Day fan, to the shock of many) but since I've been home I seem to hear it at least twice daily while driving around, which has grated my teeth to the point that I bolt for my channel surfing button the moment I start hearing it (along with at least four other songs that have reached this level of repetativeness) and switch to another station that plays similar type of music. They are just coming out of a commercial break, and I breath a sigh of contentment, when low and behold, they start playing THE SAME BLOODY SONG!!! GARRR! What is wrong with these radio stations, is it a conspiracy with competetive radio stations to play the exact same song at the same time to drive their demographic mad?
Still, for the most part, a lot of what I'm hearing on the radio is fresh and new to me, and I've even broken down and bought a couple (used) CDs from my work. One was Gorillaz' new CD Demon Days, which is somewhat ironic from my earlier rant. I first heard of Gorillaz while I was in Bulgaria, we had German MTV on and (unlike American MTV) they actually had music videos, albight the same ones over and over again. I saw one of their music videos and the first time I saw it, I thought it was weird, the second time it started to grow on me, and by the sixth time I heard it in two days, I started getting annoyed by it. But I never saw the music video again, seeing I was back in Kosovo after three days. But the video stuck with me.
I saw a used copy of Demon Days so I picked it up to check out the rest of their sound. So far I need to listen to the CD a bit more so that the sound can grow on me.
And of course, my latest find happens to be Alanis Morrisette, Jagged Little Pill. Ok, so this is an old album and all, but I love Alanis Morrisette and this happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time (seeing as I know the entire thing by heart). Well, she redid it completely in Acoustic and I fell in love, as it is the same album done completely differently. I enjoyed muchly.
In other Entertainmnet News, well, what can I say? By the evidence that I have mentioned it once or twice, I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) fan. I knew buying that Introductory DVD to the series was a really really bad idea. Because I knew I would be hooked if I saw it. Curse my foresight and not listening to it and heeding its warning!
I haven't seen hardly any movies since I've been back however. Ok, I've seen Underworld Evolution (don't waste the time or money), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (IMAX), and the 40 Year Old Virgin. To name a couple. Only two in the theater, I've only purchased a couple of movies and watched them while working on other things (like sorting through my stuff in my room) which has caused me to not really pay attention to some movies. I've found that throwing on an episode of Buffy keeps me occupied enough that I have something in the background but it is still relatively fresh in my mind that I can step away from it for a moment and work on something and glance up now and again to see what's going on.
I started watching Firefly as well, but as it is a new series, I haven't quite gotten hooked on it yet, unfortunately I tried to play it as background toward me working on other things (like sorting through my piles of crap and eBay) and I have come to discover that this is causing me to lose the flow of the series. That, and other then Star Trek and Star Wars, I never really got into the Sci Fi picture much. I've always been more of a fantasy geek. So I haven't managed to grow and addiction to this series like I did Joss Whedon's other cult hits preceeding it.
And after being hooked on Buffy and going back to Sliders, I can't get into the story arc like the Buffy series. I still like the concept behind Sliders, but in a lot of ways it gets really preachy and cheesey. I hate that. Not to say that the forementioned series doesn't have plenty of its moments of velveeta as well. Sometimes I want Buffy to shut the hell up.
In book news, I haven't read much of anything over the last few months. In fact, I'm selling a ton of my books. To think that I used to be such a bookworm in the past? Hmm.
In an attempt to catch up, I've been listening to the radio a lot while driving. I caught a few songs that I thought were pretty sweet, and already I've heard them so much I'm sick of them. Why does radio do that?
Today, I was driving and listening to one station when "Wake me when September Ends" starts playing. Look, I think this is a good song and all (yes, I'm a Green Day fan, to the shock of many) but since I've been home I seem to hear it at least twice daily while driving around, which has grated my teeth to the point that I bolt for my channel surfing button the moment I start hearing it (along with at least four other songs that have reached this level of repetativeness) and switch to another station that plays similar type of music. They are just coming out of a commercial break, and I breath a sigh of contentment, when low and behold, they start playing THE SAME BLOODY SONG!!! GARRR! What is wrong with these radio stations, is it a conspiracy with competetive radio stations to play the exact same song at the same time to drive their demographic mad?
Still, for the most part, a lot of what I'm hearing on the radio is fresh and new to me, and I've even broken down and bought a couple (used) CDs from my work. One was Gorillaz' new CD Demon Days, which is somewhat ironic from my earlier rant. I first heard of Gorillaz while I was in Bulgaria, we had German MTV on and (unlike American MTV) they actually had music videos, albight the same ones over and over again. I saw one of their music videos and the first time I saw it, I thought it was weird, the second time it started to grow on me, and by the sixth time I heard it in two days, I started getting annoyed by it. But I never saw the music video again, seeing I was back in Kosovo after three days. But the video stuck with me.
I saw a used copy of Demon Days so I picked it up to check out the rest of their sound. So far I need to listen to the CD a bit more so that the sound can grow on me.
And of course, my latest find happens to be Alanis Morrisette, Jagged Little Pill. Ok, so this is an old album and all, but I love Alanis Morrisette and this happens to be one of my favorite albums of all time (seeing as I know the entire thing by heart). Well, she redid it completely in Acoustic and I fell in love, as it is the same album done completely differently. I enjoyed muchly.
In other Entertainmnet News, well, what can I say? By the evidence that I have mentioned it once or twice, I am a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel) fan. I knew buying that Introductory DVD to the series was a really really bad idea. Because I knew I would be hooked if I saw it. Curse my foresight and not listening to it and heeding its warning!
I haven't seen hardly any movies since I've been back however. Ok, I've seen Underworld Evolution (don't waste the time or money), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (IMAX), and the 40 Year Old Virgin. To name a couple. Only two in the theater, I've only purchased a couple of movies and watched them while working on other things (like sorting through my stuff in my room) which has caused me to not really pay attention to some movies. I've found that throwing on an episode of Buffy keeps me occupied enough that I have something in the background but it is still relatively fresh in my mind that I can step away from it for a moment and work on something and glance up now and again to see what's going on.
I started watching Firefly as well, but as it is a new series, I haven't quite gotten hooked on it yet, unfortunately I tried to play it as background toward me working on other things (like sorting through my piles of crap and eBay) and I have come to discover that this is causing me to lose the flow of the series. That, and other then Star Trek and Star Wars, I never really got into the Sci Fi picture much. I've always been more of a fantasy geek. So I haven't managed to grow and addiction to this series like I did Joss Whedon's other cult hits preceeding it.
And after being hooked on Buffy and going back to Sliders, I can't get into the story arc like the Buffy series. I still like the concept behind Sliders, but in a lot of ways it gets really preachy and cheesey. I hate that. Not to say that the forementioned series doesn't have plenty of its moments of velveeta as well. Sometimes I want Buffy to shut the hell up.
In book news, I haven't read much of anything over the last few months. In fact, I'm selling a ton of my books. To think that I used to be such a bookworm in the past? Hmm.
2.20.2006
eBay went pretty well this week. I was expecting to do ok, and I did better then Ok. I did awesome, wooHOO! I was planning on putting up some more stuff this week, but I got a bit sidetracked with work and stuff. So I'll have another set of things up next week. It will give me some time to get things set up I guess.
My sister is doing eBay as a form of income, she's doing awesome at it, I'm thinking of possibly getting into it myself. I think I would enjoy it more then working retail, and I can pick my own hours. Be as busy as I want to be. For now, I'll just sell things that are lying around my space.
That sounds like the plan for now.
My sister is doing eBay as a form of income, she's doing awesome at it, I'm thinking of possibly getting into it myself. I think I would enjoy it more then working retail, and I can pick my own hours. Be as busy as I want to be. For now, I'll just sell things that are lying around my space.
That sounds like the plan for now.
2.18.2006
Curse of Collections
The process of getting back into Civilian life is almost complete, save for the fact that I feel like I'm sleeping in a storage unit. On a cot. Now I'm working on going through my clothes, I think I'll sell clothes next on eBay. And a few more things of books. The dragonlance is out of my system now, that feels good. I have hung onto those for so long, collecting them that I got to a point that I was just collecting them because I collected them. I didn't even read them anymore. I realized that was kind of stupid and pointless. Kept the hardcovers, a couple of paperbacks, got rid of everything else.
Now all I collect is money. Er, foreign money that is. One of the few things I collect. I tried collecting stamps for a while, that didn't last to long.
Smile Time is the best Angel Episode. Ever.
Next series to watch is Firefly. Brother has it, supposedly. Except, well, he can't find it. So as soon as it shows up, I'll watch it, and I've got Serenity to watch as well.
I used to collect DVDs up the yahoo, however despite the fact that I'm working in a Movie/Music/Bookstore again, and working there with a lot more money then what I had before, I've been doing good at not buying DVDs at random. In fact, I think I'll be doing a lot more renting. Though they took my employee discount away for some reason, despite the fact that I was technically still employed there. Curse them. Its fixed now, but I didn't get them on discount when I could have used the ferkin' discount.
I do have a Coo-coo clock to hang up. I'll run it through the brother where he would suggest I hang it.
Have I bored you yet???
Now all I collect is money. Er, foreign money that is. One of the few things I collect. I tried collecting stamps for a while, that didn't last to long.
Smile Time is the best Angel Episode. Ever.
Next series to watch is Firefly. Brother has it, supposedly. Except, well, he can't find it. So as soon as it shows up, I'll watch it, and I've got Serenity to watch as well.
I used to collect DVDs up the yahoo, however despite the fact that I'm working in a Movie/Music/Bookstore again, and working there with a lot more money then what I had before, I've been doing good at not buying DVDs at random. In fact, I think I'll be doing a lot more renting. Though they took my employee discount away for some reason, despite the fact that I was technically still employed there. Curse them. Its fixed now, but I didn't get them on discount when I could have used the ferkin' discount.
I do have a Coo-coo clock to hang up. I'll run it through the brother where he would suggest I hang it.
Have I bored you yet???
2.15.2006
Work and eBay
eBay items are going well. It makes me happy to sell off practically my entire collection of Dragonlance novels. I collected them for years, one of my happy little addictions. But I haven't read them since the War of Souls novels really. Kept the hard covers, got rid of everything else. Its all just peachy.
I'll be putting up more items this coming weekend. Gotta go through my things and just start dumping it. I think clothes are going to be the next thing I sort through, and more books.
Meanwhile, it is the first week I started back on my civilian job again. For those of you who don't know, I work at a retail joint that sells books, movies and music, along with other miscellanious items of note. For a long time (well, before i got the job) i saw this place as primarily a bookstore/rental place.
Anyway, my first days back has me helping them reset the store. We just started buying back used books, however the store is not currently set up to really adequately take in the used books, so they are resetting the book section. I'm helping out by helping take down things so they can remove the fixtures.
I nearly got killed by a fixture. It fell on top of me, but somebody caught it before it could adequately squash me. I'm ok. I think.
Funny, my favorite part of my job is helping the customer find whatever they need. When they are happy, I'm happy. I've discovered a long time ago that I really enjoy making somebody's day. It makes me all warm and toasty inside.
I'm still working on the schooling issue. I just have to finish filling out info for financial aid and apply to my school of choice. I have decided to set aside a day next week to do this, cause it looks like I'll have some free days coming up next week.
This week, I'm just going to focus on not getting killed by any fixtures.
I'll be putting up more items this coming weekend. Gotta go through my things and just start dumping it. I think clothes are going to be the next thing I sort through, and more books.
Meanwhile, it is the first week I started back on my civilian job again. For those of you who don't know, I work at a retail joint that sells books, movies and music, along with other miscellanious items of note. For a long time (well, before i got the job) i saw this place as primarily a bookstore/rental place.
Anyway, my first days back has me helping them reset the store. We just started buying back used books, however the store is not currently set up to really adequately take in the used books, so they are resetting the book section. I'm helping out by helping take down things so they can remove the fixtures.
I nearly got killed by a fixture. It fell on top of me, but somebody caught it before it could adequately squash me. I'm ok. I think.
Funny, my favorite part of my job is helping the customer find whatever they need. When they are happy, I'm happy. I've discovered a long time ago that I really enjoy making somebody's day. It makes me all warm and toasty inside.
I'm still working on the schooling issue. I just have to finish filling out info for financial aid and apply to my school of choice. I have decided to set aside a day next week to do this, cause it looks like I'll have some free days coming up next week.
This week, I'm just going to focus on not getting killed by any fixtures.
2.13.2006
Kosovo Yardsale
Well, time for me to get rid of . . . stuff. I'm doing it in the form of an online yard sale, courtesy of eBay of course.
Um, right now, I'm going through all of my Dragonlance Books and relieving myself of a good majority of the paperback volumes in the series (hardcovers I keep) so if you ever wanted to read this series, well, now is the chance to check it out for relatively cheap!
I also got Gary Larson books (finally got his grand daddy volume, so I don't need the smaller books anymore) and a GPS system for sale too.
I'll post stuff online as I get around to it, things will rotate most likely.
My Yard Sale
Kalsanilasa is my secondary ID, story behind that one. However it isn't very interesting.
Um, right now, I'm going through all of my Dragonlance Books and relieving myself of a good majority of the paperback volumes in the series (hardcovers I keep) so if you ever wanted to read this series, well, now is the chance to check it out for relatively cheap!
I also got Gary Larson books (finally got his grand daddy volume, so I don't need the smaller books anymore) and a GPS system for sale too.
I'll post stuff online as I get around to it, things will rotate most likely.
My Yard Sale
Kalsanilasa is my secondary ID, story behind that one. However it isn't very interesting.
2.10.2006
You're Host is a Dork
When I was the tender age of 19, I just got back from basic training and acquired my very first computer. It came with a net cam, and I started recording video on it.
I was rather eccentric with it as well.
Case in point,
In case you ever wanted to know how to pronounce Risawn. . .
(for some reason, the sound system gave me a lisp) This was kind of an idea of introducing myself to the world with my website back in 2000. My parents kind of warned me that I might not want to display myself entirely on the internet so prominently, so I never displayed it. That, and my website had like 15 megs of space at the time and a couple of videos would have shot that all to hell real quick.
Well, now its too late.
What can I say? I've always been a bit of a dork.
I was rather eccentric with it as well.
Case in point,
In case you ever wanted to know how to pronounce Risawn. . .
(for some reason, the sound system gave me a lisp) This was kind of an idea of introducing myself to the world with my website back in 2000. My parents kind of warned me that I might not want to display myself entirely on the internet so prominently, so I never displayed it. That, and my website had like 15 megs of space at the time and a couple of videos would have shot that all to hell real quick.
Well, now its too late.
What can I say? I've always been a bit of a dork.
Good Times
So, work is back on. Go back next week and help shift the entire book section.
I'm just excited to get back to work.
In other news, came over to the parent's place and ended up spending the afternoon with my mom as she shopped around for an external Hard Drive and a new camera, as we dropped her other camera yesterday when she was taking pictures of things to sell on eBay. When we took it in, they took a quick look at it and deduced that it had broke in half. Or something. Something not good anyway.
So, External Harddrive, eBay, cameras, yes, I feel like I'm back at home.
Now I'm moving onto Gargoyles, the animated series. Good times.
I'm trying to get Creature updated again too.
I'm just excited to get back to work.
In other news, came over to the parent's place and ended up spending the afternoon with my mom as she shopped around for an external Hard Drive and a new camera, as we dropped her other camera yesterday when she was taking pictures of things to sell on eBay. When we took it in, they took a quick look at it and deduced that it had broke in half. Or something. Something not good anyway.
So, External Harddrive, eBay, cameras, yes, I feel like I'm back at home.
Now I'm moving onto Gargoyles, the animated series. Good times.
I'm trying to get Creature updated again too.
2.09.2006
Junk makes me Overwhelmed. A bit.
This room is a disaster. I didn't realize exactly how much crap I had until I found that I had no place to stick it all. I was thinking of building a Desktop PC but I'm starting to change my mind, I have no place to stick it.
First idea is to go through all of my books and weeding through the ones I don't want. I've got choices of what to do with these, one idea is taking them to the local used bookstores and seeing if they'll give me credit for them so I can go and buy other books or whatever they sell in these bookstores.
I need to also go through my assortment of clothes and dump the stuff that will never see the light of day on my body again. We're having a yardsale, I need to get rid of some things and the funds of said yardsale will be going to our yearly family trip to Seaside Oregon.
I feel a tad bit overwhelmed at the present. *sighs*
First idea is to go through all of my books and weeding through the ones I don't want. I've got choices of what to do with these, one idea is taking them to the local used bookstores and seeing if they'll give me credit for them so I can go and buy other books or whatever they sell in these bookstores.
I need to also go through my assortment of clothes and dump the stuff that will never see the light of day on my body again. We're having a yardsale, I need to get rid of some things and the funds of said yardsale will be going to our yearly family trip to Seaside Oregon.
I feel a tad bit overwhelmed at the present. *sighs*
Gah! Fangirl issues!
I have wireless internet in my house, and my computer really hates it. Give it about five minutes and it will just kick me off. Or tell me its not connected or something. Garr. . .
Oh well, I think I'm going to try to get this thing into the shop this weekend.
The rest of this post will be about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You are warned.
Meanwhile, I've learned that it is best to pace out television shows instead of just watching them as quickly as possible to get out from watching them. I'm having Buffy withdrawals, because I was kind of upset with how Angel ended. It was kind of a drop away, Angel didn't end with a climatic battle, it ended before the battle took place, just to keep it open that these characters may or may not survive. Apparently Angel was canceled rather suddenly, and when watching the show you can tell that there are unresolved issues at hand.
So, my whole spiel about Buffy and Angel.
I think I was drawn to the characters more then the storylines. There were plenty of bad plotlines to go around, one that comes to mind is the whole government conspiracy the army is doing sneaky things under Sunnydale thing was rather lame. I personally found it barable because it was the Season that Spike became a regular. I also found the fourth season of Angel a bit lame with the whole 'Jasmine' and Cordelia going evil plotline. It was a dissapointment, rushed, ya know?
And the best relationship was Spike and Drusilla. (Spike didn't work with Harmony or Buffy, in my opinion) I think all my favorite characters were Vampires. Well, now I got the whole thing on DVD, call it my splurge since coming back from over seas, so I can go back and watch the episodes I liked. The truly unique episodes were excellent, and they did very well with ones that were humorous. (the Angel episode Smile Time definitely comes to mind, this episode could have gone really wrong but it turned out hilarious.) Drama sometimes worked and sometimes turned cheesey. But I liked how they were able to poke fun at themselves throughout the series. Like the unusual deathrate in Sunnydale.
I had never watched this show while it was on the air, unless I caught snibbits of episodes. Now that I'm hooked on it though, I'm stuck with wanting to know what happens next. Are they going to make a movie? Hmm. . .
I have a strange desire to draw spoof cartoons.
Oh well, I think I'm going to try to get this thing into the shop this weekend.
The rest of this post will be about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You are warned.
Meanwhile, I've learned that it is best to pace out television shows instead of just watching them as quickly as possible to get out from watching them. I'm having Buffy withdrawals, because I was kind of upset with how Angel ended. It was kind of a drop away, Angel didn't end with a climatic battle, it ended before the battle took place, just to keep it open that these characters may or may not survive. Apparently Angel was canceled rather suddenly, and when watching the show you can tell that there are unresolved issues at hand.
So, my whole spiel about Buffy and Angel.
I think I was drawn to the characters more then the storylines. There were plenty of bad plotlines to go around, one that comes to mind is the whole government conspiracy the army is doing sneaky things under Sunnydale thing was rather lame. I personally found it barable because it was the Season that Spike became a regular. I also found the fourth season of Angel a bit lame with the whole 'Jasmine' and Cordelia going evil plotline. It was a dissapointment, rushed, ya know?
And the best relationship was Spike and Drusilla. (Spike didn't work with Harmony or Buffy, in my opinion) I think all my favorite characters were Vampires. Well, now I got the whole thing on DVD, call it my splurge since coming back from over seas, so I can go back and watch the episodes I liked. The truly unique episodes were excellent, and they did very well with ones that were humorous. (the Angel episode Smile Time definitely comes to mind, this episode could have gone really wrong but it turned out hilarious.) Drama sometimes worked and sometimes turned cheesey. But I liked how they were able to poke fun at themselves throughout the series. Like the unusual deathrate in Sunnydale.
I had never watched this show while it was on the air, unless I caught snibbits of episodes. Now that I'm hooked on it though, I'm stuck with wanting to know what happens next. Are they going to make a movie? Hmm. . .
I have a strange desire to draw spoof cartoons.
2.07.2006
The Brush Off
The last week has basically been me feeling a tad bit overwhelmed, staring at my piles of crap that is filling my room and knowing that I really need to do some house cleaning. I'm a packrat of the worst sorts. And I felt like I needed some time to just, well, vedge. So I completely ignored my blog and inbox for the last few days, in case any of you were wondering. So don't take it personally.
Been home for a week and a half and went into 'blah' mode. Which means that I really need to focus on going back to work. Getting some purpose back into my life, that sort of thing. The last week has been spent doing a lot of reflecting, thinking about what I'm going to do now, and watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel). Boy, I knew there was a reason I didn't watch Television. I tend to get hooked on things (Star Trek comes to mind) and Buffy is no different. But its still a pity they had to come to an end. I hate seeing things come to an end. Especially when the characters tend to grow on you.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks lost the superbowl. Not that I honestly mind, I thought it was cool that they went, but I spent Sunday on Silver Mountain in Idaho. Got pictures, maybe I'll post them. Later.
For now, well, my things await me. And I shall sort through them and get rid of them if I can muster it.
Been home for a week and a half and went into 'blah' mode. Which means that I really need to focus on going back to work. Getting some purpose back into my life, that sort of thing. The last week has been spent doing a lot of reflecting, thinking about what I'm going to do now, and watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel). Boy, I knew there was a reason I didn't watch Television. I tend to get hooked on things (Star Trek comes to mind) and Buffy is no different. But its still a pity they had to come to an end. I hate seeing things come to an end. Especially when the characters tend to grow on you.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks lost the superbowl. Not that I honestly mind, I thought it was cool that they went, but I spent Sunday on Silver Mountain in Idaho. Got pictures, maybe I'll post them. Later.
For now, well, my things await me. And I shall sort through them and get rid of them if I can muster it.
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