cobalt_blue’s Neighborhood

Things I took to Goodwill this year.

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Discovering needlefelting and other things

Scooter Kitty
2 days ago

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Before I begin..what is going on with Vox? It's been acting weird..first I inserted a photo and it ended up on some weird part of my screen. Now there's a weird vertical orange line in the content box...I don't understand?!?!

I have a new addiction...and it is called needle felting. Have you tried it? It's so fun. I also started wet felting. I've made this funny looking macaroon cookie thing. I need to buy thos weird googley eyeball things and stick it on it. I've made a pin. I wet felted some soap. And now I'm working on a weird cuff/corsage. I can't stop! I need an intervention where someone stops me from going to the Home Ec Shop.

You can take a class with Jenny Ryan, who is really nice and sweet and super supportive. I'm so glad I could take a class this time. I always miss out because they really sell out pretty fast.

Thanksgiving was super fun. We actually had an early celebration the week before and then the day of I hung out with Ambookgeek and Melle. So fun! We watched "The September Issue" and then ate at the French Market/Quarter in WeHo. I'm so glad I could spend it with 2 fantastic friends.

Also, there's only "14 teaching days" (someone corrected me this morning after I blurted out - "We have 3 weeks left til break!!!" - nope only 14 days.

I think I will bake my cookies for the staff & faculty next week. I have some new recipes and I invested in a Kitchenaid stand-up mixer. I already made this awesome chocolate pecan pie with it. Well I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

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Also, it's Worlds AIDS day today.

Nothing wrong here.

The Ultimate Warrior Meets Arsenio Hall

Whatever you're doing, you're doing it wrong.

Katie
4 days ago
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While I complain about my job as much as the next person, in general I really don't mind it. It's easy, it's mindless, it's money. But the past week has really tested my patience with it. Not only customers (I hate dealing with the public though I've gotten used to dealing with their asshattery so it doesn't bother me as much anymore) but also coworkers.

First, the owners. The liquor store is owned by two individuals, who are there during the day. They are nice people and I don't mind working for them but I dislike working with them. They micromanage and nothing is ever done how it should be. You're either working too slow or too fast. If you're doing Task A, you should be doing Task B, but then will get in trouble for not doing Task A first. We had a bottle stolen from the store today and it was, of course, the cashiers' fault. Similar to how a goalie will get blamed for letting the other team score in soccer, we got blamed for "letting" someone walk out with a bottle hidden in his hoodie. It wasn't the fault of the stockers or managers that were all on the floor and who can more easily monitor the entire store (the vodka aisle is way in the back and out of sight from the cash registers.) No, it was the cashiers' fault, or, more specifically, my fault. Fuck you. It's a liquor store, shit happens, shit gets stolen, deal with it. I didn't even see the kid, since I was doing OTHER WORK. But if I hadn't been doing that other work that was occupying me, I would have been reprimanded for "standing around."

On the day before Thanksgiving, near the end of the day when things were slowing down, around 8 o'clock, I was still running a cash register and was dealing with a pretty constant stream of customers. During a small lull, one of the owners commented that if I helped the other cashier who was currently stocking product at the front, then I could get out of there faster. Um? If I was doing that, who would do the cash register? I would certainly get yelled at for that. If I'm on the register, I should be doing something else, but as soon as I'm doing that something else, I should be at the register. How about you just fuck off and let me do my goddamn job? If, by the end of my shift, something I should have done hasn't been done, then maybe please remind me that next time I will need to do whatever it is that I missed. Don't talk down to me and boss me around about doing shit that is less important than what I am currently doing.

I also have a serious problem with the attitude that customers can't POSSIBLY wait in LINE for thirty fucking seconds. Today I had signed up a customer for our "value club" dealie, so after they left I still had to print a duplicate receipt and do some other shit to make sure that they would get registered in the system properly. This took me about 10 seconds, which was enough time for someone to walk up behind a customer another cashier was dealing with. One of the managers was around and basically said "Katie, you need to call customers over to you." Again: fuck you. I was working, finishing up a task from the previous customer. I'm not lazing about doing nothing and ignoring customers. Also, since when are customers completely helpless and incapable of doing things on their own? Can they not look around and say, oh, there is a cashier who is open, and go to that cashier?

One of the owners also has the feeds from the video cameras in the store on his computer at home so he can watch the store 24/7. This is fine and totally understandable, since there is a lot of alcohol in the store and a lot of money. But he takes it way too far into Big Brother territory when he calls in the evenings wondering, you know, "why is this person doing that" or "why hasn't that been done." Tonight he called because the ONE customer in the store hadn't been helped. Ohhhkay. Yes, someone should have asked the customer if he was finding everything alright, etc. But, seriously, buddy, get a life.

*sigh* Ok, just had to get that out lol.

An Internet Find: This guy is still using his iPhone

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An Internet Find: TK421 needs to get back to his post

muleshank
Nov 25, 2009
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Bg_Storm Trooper

Holiday brain dump

Katie
Nov 25, 2009
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We officially started the Christmas season the other day when my mom put on The Christmas Revels, a cassette (remember those?) that we had from way back before I can remember that we eventually replaced with the CD when it became available. Listening to it is one of our Christmas traditions and nothing gets me in the "holiday spirit" more quickly or more intensely than this album. It's very "traditional" and is what I guess I would describe as "really, really good church music." There aren't a lot of popular traditional songs, though it does have the Twelve Days of Christmas (which I cannot stand in any way shape or form), the Holly and the Ivy and the Lord of the Dance (my two favorite songs.) I can't find any of it on YouTube or anything, though I'll upload either the entire album or at least a few songs sometime before Christmas. BECAUSE IT'S SO GOOD AND DESERVES TO BE SHARED.

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Anyway, this weekend we are planning on putting lights up outside, as well as getting a Christmas tree. We probably won't set up the tree inside just yet, but we figure the tree we'd buy in 3 or 4 weeks is already out there in the tree lot at the grocery store, so we might as well get it now when there's better selection, and just let it hang out outside for a bit so it doesn't dry out so much.

So....for Thanksgiving we are having a total of 9 people plus a baby. This is the largest group we've had for a long time so that's awesome. It's going to be my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law, their baby Alison, my uncle (dad's brother), my grandpa, my other uncle (mom's brother) and his wife, and me. It's going to be fun!

Then for Christmas I think it's just going to be 6 of us, plus Alison. We're planning on having another turkey with all the fixin's, and maybe a ham as well. Mmmmmmm. We "do" Christmas on Christmas Eve, rather than Christmas morning. We do stockings and stuff on Christmas morning but our big dinner/presents/craziness is on the 24th. The 24th is my favorite day of the year, since the morning is spent cooking and cleaning (the only time cleaning is fun in any way) and listening to music and just having a good time, then having an amazing dinner and presents and all that. :D So exciting!

Also, good news: New Years Eve is generally one of my least-enjoyed holidays. It's even worse than being single on Valentine's Day, because that is more easily ignored. Ignoring New Years is impossible. AND I HATE NEW YEARS. But this year, I think New Years Eve is going to be a good time. When my sister and I were little we would play Monopoly and get Chinese food. Then everyone grew up and we all did stuff with our friends, etc. This year, though, I think everyone is staying home and I'm going to try and get everyone to do the old traditional Monopoly and Chinese food. My mom is already on board, and I know that everyone else will be on board as well. No pun intended, hardy har...

I LOVE this time of year. If that was in any way unclear. :D I'm not religious in the slightest, but I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the time surrounding both.

....And after I got myself all excited, now I have to go to work. Which is going to be INSANITY since everyone is going to be buying booze for Thanksgiving. I also work tomorrow, though only from 9-2 so that's not too bad. Still though....oh well. Nothing's going to get me down :D

An Internet Find: Mein Fair Lady

muleshank
Nov 24, 2009
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Lolz247.com

An Internet Find: Beard Thong

muleshank
Nov 23, 2009
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Aj_beard_thong

via afrojacks

metablog

Katie
Nov 21, 2009
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The other day I came into possession of a fancy dancy leather-bound journal that's pretty much exactly the sort of thing I've been looking for for a very long time. Now that I have it I am wondering how I should use it. I have written in a physical pen-and-paper diary twice: once for about a week in 7th grade (which is hilarious to read back on, by the way) and then while I was living in Spain for 8ish months a few years ago and didn't have a computer.

Other than that my journal-keeping has been all online. The first sort of blogging I did was on the Gamer Advisory Panel on the PlayStation.com forums in either late 2002 or early 2003. The only reason I remember it was around this time was because I remember blogging about how the release date for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix had JUST been announced that day, and I remember that news was announced in January of 2003 (because I'm clearly a nerd.) In March of 2003 I started my LiveJournal, which I still sort of maintain though I haven't posted there for a while (it's friends-only so if you're not my friend and click that you'll basically get my only non-friends-only post saying "fuck off pls" :P) Then I got my Vox like...I dunno, 2005? 2006? I beta'd it, but I don't remember when that was and I'm too lazy to look into it.

So, my "journaling" has evolved in a few ways over the years, from "this is what I did today" sorts of crap to whining and emoting and general rambling (often while intoxicated to some degree.) I think it's time to keep on evolving and change things up, and maybe my new physical journal will help. I'll still use my Vox and, to a lesser extent, my LJ, but I think I'll mainly just continue to use those to follow other people and less to post shit for people to follow me.

Also, wtf, blogging about blogging. I am lame.