I Sense A Trend

I am, yet again, the proud owner of a car that requires two keys.

I am exceptionally good at wearing out ignition cylinders.

FYI.  Don’t let me too near your cars.  I give Simon’s another year or two before it gives in to my POWAH.

I Am So Ready For Bed

Today was a stressful day, with the exception of dinner.

It became clear today that my car’s ignition cylinder is done for, and my car had to be towed to the mechanic in order to get said cylinder replaced before Simon goes off to interview number one in Michigan tomorrow afternoon.

To the tune of nearly $400.

Then Sophie crashed on her way off the toilet she’s so fond of playing on, and she cried for a solid five minutes, distressing me and Hero to the point of near tears before she finally got up and started walking again (Limping, but walking.  She’s doing a little better again, but still limping and sometimes crying, still distressing Hero and I every time).

So not only do I feel awful about Sophie hurting, I also feel guilty at being relieved that we don’t need to come up with money for an emergency vet clinic.

On the plus side, Simon’s parents gave us a bit of birthday money with the instructions to spend it on something frivolous, so after the car was towed (but before Sophie’s incident), we went out for all-you-can-eat sushi with some friends.  That was really nice… also delicious, and I am stuffed to the gills with raw fish, rice, seaweed, avocado, and that fabulous tea they serve at Japanese restaurants that I love so veryvery much.

I seriously need some good sleep now.  Maybe my dreams won’t be so distressing tonight.

Day Three, Still Going

I’m currently at 5,540 words, and if I were aiming for the bare minimum each day, that would mean I’m still on-target for day three, and I’ve only written 800 words today!

(As a side note, the one thing I don’t like about WordPress is the lack of Javascript widgets.  I miss my LibraryThing and NaNoWriMo widgets that let people see my library and my wordcount right on the blog…)

This year the writing process is a whole lot smoother than last year- and I think I figured out why.  Last year, the main reason I decided to do NaNo was because it had been several years since I’d done any sort of regular writing, and the number of finished stories (not re-written and edited, just a plot line that wrapped up!) was able to be counted on one hand.  I used NaNo as a kick in the pants to get me to write something- anything- with some semblance of structure and at least an attempt at a plot.

Last year’s still isn’t typed up yet, but trust me when I say it’s downright awful.  I’m proud of the effort and dedication it took to knock out those 50,036 words in 30 days, but the story itself isn’t a pretty sight.

But that’s okay, because then when I got caught up in our 7th Sea game and decided to write for that, I wasn’t afraid to write something awful, because I knew that I could always change it and fix it at a later time (said later time has not yet come for 7th Sea, but it will, eventually).  For the past eight months, I’ve done regular writing, within the structure of the story we’ve already told, and have worked my way up to nearly 60,000 words on that, in addition to blogging, my journal, and random snippets of things I’ve been writing just for the joy of getting words down on paper.

It feels fabulous to be writing more regularly again, and I think that the practice has given me a better sense of how to express myself in writing more quickly… although I’m sure this novel will be pretty terrible as a first draft, as well.  I know about how to time the writing, I know about how many words I write on one page of wide-rule, and I have a far better sense of pacing this time around.

It’s going well, and I’m pretty pleased.

44,460 words to go.

Friday Was Another Grump Day

Grouches come in packs- I’m pretty sure this is fact.

Yesterday, though, I got one of the best ever.  In fact, it turned into one of the very, very few official complaints that have ever been made about me at work…

This is the conversation that I had- and it was clear that the woman (GL= Grumpy Lady)  was grumpy, which was why I felt it best to explain as I did.

GL:  I want an iced coffee, but you’d better only put a little ice into it, none of this nonsense where it’s entirely full of ice with only a little coffee!
Me:  Okay, ma’am, but just so you’re aware, the amount of coffee dispensed from our machine will be the same, regardless of how much ice there is- so if I put only a little ice in, the cup won’t look as full.
GL:  No, you’re going to fill it up all the way, but only put a little ice in.
Me:  I’m sorry, but the coffee capsules are inventoried, so I would have to charge you for two shots of espresso in order to fill it the whole way with only a little ice.
GL:  Well, I don’t want it then.  That’s just ridiculous!
Me:  I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s the policy.

…then she continued with her order, and I went to get her items that needed to be baked in the ovens.  As I returned, I saw her gesturing animatedly at the girl who was working the register next to mine, and Becky pointed out a manager to the woman.  I took the woman her food, and cheerfully said, “Have a great day and enjoy your movie!” not knowing what was coming next.

A few minutes later, the manager came up to me.  According to the woman, I refused to give her a coffee with only a little ice in it, and was rude to boot.  Apparently I got “snotty and uppity” with her, and “gave her attitude.”

I am thankful for two things:  One, that- while they couldn’t hear the words said- I had co-workers near enough to me that they could see that I obviously wasn’t copping an attitude other than a helpful, informative, and apologetic one; and Two, that she picked a manager to complain to who would actually believe me and not just hand over passes.  He apologized to her for any rudeness, of course, and promised that he would speak to me about it- which he did.  But he spoke to me to find out my side of the story, and he believed me.

As nice a lady as my GM can be in conversation, she hates confrontation (see Wednesday’s post), and actually believes that “the customer is always right.”  How can anyone believe that so unconditionally?

Working In Costume

I love going to work in costume on Halloween- especially since I started working at the theater, where I am forced to wear a silly polyester tux that doesn’t fit me properly because it is made for normal sized people, and doesn’t think tall, skinny people exist.

I wore scrubs, Simon’s white coat, and a surgical hat and mask.  My day was comfy and relaxed, because the chore f0r the day had already been done!

I actually felt really bad for one of my co-workers- she was dressed as Juno, from the movie of the same name.  She ended the day fairly upset, because despite wearing the exact same outfit that is on the movie poster of a fairly well-known movie on Halloween, while surrounded by all the other employees who were also in costume… she was getting snide comments and nasty looks from customers who thought that she was really a pregnant teenager working there (in jeans and a t-shirt).

She is neither a teenager nor pregnant.  The “belly” was a beanbag pillow that she pinned to a tank top.

Everyone else was happy with their costumes, which was good.

Simon and I opted to stay home tonight, despite being invited to a few parties- he’s still in pain from the oral surgery, and we really weren’t going to know too many people at either one, so he’s sitting on the couch, playing Megaman and slowing eating a bowl of mashed potatoes, and I’m typing up the little bit of 7th Sea writing I did today, counting down the last three hours until NaNoWriMo starts.

Time  change tonight means I can write a little longer before bed…

Three Days To Wait

I will freely admit to itchy fingers… I am just dying to start my NaNo novel.

I’m super-psyched for my plot, I’m fond of my characters (not adoring yet, but that will come once I get to write them down…), and there is a story in my head that isn’t content to rattle around my skull any longer.

Three busy days, then my November of pens and wide-rule notebooks starts.

I’m actually more excited than terrified at this point.

(I Wish He Weren’t A) Regular Customer

Today I found out that this man’s name is Dick.

Seriously.

I was a ticket ripper for five straight hours today (in addition to the cold and awful headache I’ve been carrying around since Saturday, now my back is sore, too), and when he came to me to get his ticket torn he stopped a few steps away and said:

“Hey!  Are you old enough to handle Dick?”

and looked at me like I was supposed to double over in hysterical giggles.

Instead I gave him The Look (yes, that one… the one that all women know how to use well), and held out my hand for the ticket, silently waiting until he chose to behave himself.

But that was not enough!

When he came out of his movie, he went to go chat with my GM, who was a few steps away from me at the time.  After he finished, he went to walk around me, but instead of continuing to walk, he grabbed my arm (so close to my chest I thought for a split second he was trying to cop a feel) and put his other hand on the small of my back.

I freaked out, and the next thing I knew, I was more than five feet away from him, adrenaline pumping and heart racing.  Panicked, I glanced over at my GM, who was still standing there, saying nothing.  Dick said, “You shouldn’t be so jumpy.”

After a few quick looks at my GM (wondering what on earth I can say with her standing there if she isn’t going to defend me), I just said, “I’m not accustomed to being grabbed by strangers.”

“Well, you should get used to it.” he said, and then walked off to talk to the cashier.

One of the assistant managers mentioned to me later that it looked like I didn’t like to be touched, and after a brief explanation of how I’ve gotten used to the light arm and shoulder touches that people do, despite not being keen on them, we figured out the problem…

…from the perspective of the GM and the AM, they didn’t see how forcefully he grabbed my arm, and they couldn’t see his hand on my back.  At least now they know.  I hope he gets banned.  But I know he won’t.

Scary part is that, if he weren’t so old and infirm, there is no way I could have leapt out of his grip, no matter how startled… that’s how solidly he held on to me.

I Love Beautiful Things

Between the song and the dancing and the clothes, I was tearing up by the end of the song…

I Think They Just Like To Whine

For the past couple months, I have had co-workers complain to me time and again about their lack of hours.  They tell me it’s because the manager who does the schedule hates them.  They tell me it’s because they keep hiring new people who then take the hours.  They complain, complain, complain.

Sometimes I don’t get enough hours, so I offer to take them when these people who don’t get enough hours try to get rid of a shift.

Then I got scheduled for far too many hours (in fact, more hours than I am listed as available for).  So, I went to all these people who are desperate for hours, and I offered them any one of my days- just so I could spend a day cleaning house, writing 7th Sea stuff, and getting a few last bits of typing out of the way (not last year’s NaNo Novel, as I have procrastinated on that) before November starts and NaNoWriMo takes over my life for 30 days.

And everyone was too busy to take any of my days- but not too busy to continue to complain about their lack of hours.

I don’t get it.

(I will still have time to clean, I just won’t have any time to type, write, or play WoW before November, now.  Boo-urns.)

Back From The Dentist

Well, Simon is.  Yesterday was The Big Oral Surgery, wherein all four wisdom teeth were removed, in addition to pulling out his baby canines and attaching chains to his buried adult canines in order to pull them out into his mouth.

There is a square cut out of his gum that the surgeon needed in order to get to the tooth on one side.  Stitches abound in his Frankenmouth.

He’s in a lot less pain today- he downgraded to 600mg of ibuprofen every four hours (down from yesterday’s percocet), with which he is immensely happier…  he is acting far more sober today.  After last night he was very sure that he doesn’t want narcotic painkillers ever again.

I got home from work yesterday to a loopy, hilarious Simon.  He talked for about forty minutes straight.  You see, he’s by no means quiet, generally, but I don’t think I’ve heard him talk so much ever.  Today he told me that he kept talking because his impression at the time was that I wasn’t responding appropriately to what he said.  He also didn’t know what was appropriate, since asking him about the surgery, checking to make sure he had everything he needed, and listening to what he had to say apparently wasn’t what Medicated Simon wanted me to do.  We still do not know what Medicated Simon had in mind.

I’ve been making him smoothies, and for dinner tonight I made regular potato soup and then ran it through the blender until it was cream of potato soup.  I felt better once he got some starches and carbs into him.  Smoothies, while delicious, aren’t exactly filling.

Tomorrow he goes back to his rotation, which very kindly gave him two days off for the surgery.  They even said that he doesn’t need to stay all day tomorrow, but he has to give a presentation, so he’ll be there first thing anyway… and will see how he feels then.

Six teeth out, only local and nitrous, and he’s only taken one and a half percocets.  The pain tolerance he has is impressive to me.