Adrift

At least, that’s been the case for me.  As much as I love the color, I just can’t seem to ingest anything with such a hue.  Sure, broccoli is alright, and I’ll eat lettuce, but the chances of me fixing that stuff for myself is…pretty slim.  Close to nonexistant, really.

However!  I have recently discovered a solution to this nutritional shortfall: baby spinach.  I really like this stuff.  Oh so crispy, but still soft and gentle, both in texture and decibel level.  I’ve been eating it with bean stuff and, just tonight, mashed potatoes.  And it is darn good.

Now, admittedly, I’m not sure what it tastes like exactly, seeing as how its flavor has been masked by the things I’ve eaten it with, but I am optimistic that if I ever did eat it alone, it would be delicious.  Or, at the very least, it would taste better than adult spinach.

What is it that spinach loses in maturity that turns me away?  Body?  Possibly.  Flavor?  No, that’s what it gains.  Ick.  Innocence…?

Oh, and on another positive note, I’m going back to U of I in the fall.  I’ve signed up for two classes so far, one I need to check on July 5th, and the other I’ve sent an e-mail to the professor asking if I could snag a seat.

I’m only going to take four classes this year, see if I can keep from over-extending myself this time around.  However, I think I should be okay.  So far, I have a Russian Sci Fi class and a science class for non-science majors.  Booyah.

Here’s hoping I can squeeze into Symbolic Logic.  (Sounds so cool!)

My four-day respite from work ended yesterday around 4:48 PM.  It was then that I had to begin my trek from Woodstock back to Chambana.  The first leg of the trip was to take a train to Chicago.  Ace got me there three minutes prior to the train actually arriving.  I was worried about purchasing a ticket, and voiced this concern, to which he replied, “You buy that on the train.”  Oh yeah, that’s right.

So I get on, suitcase in hand and backpack on…back.  It is after a few moments of sitting down that my common sense returns like a sack of bricks to the face.  I have a debit card and a credit card.  Tickets cost money.  As in, cold hard cash.  Of which I currently have $0.00.

Thus was spent a few intensely embarrassing minutes with the ticket guy (conductor?), after which it was clear that I’d need to get off at the next stop and buy my ticket there.  I sat there feeling very embarrassed.

About a minute later, I heard someone get the ticket person’s attention.  “Where’s that man going?” I heard a female voice say.  “Chicago.”  I don’t remember the exact wording of the rest of that conversation, but not too long afterwards the guy called over to me.  He informed me that she had just paid for my ticket.

I really wish there was more I could’ve said than thank you.  Because that really doesn’t convey the gratitude I feel.  Heck, I don’t even know her name.

But it’s official now: angels walk among us.  You might be one of them.

It all started night before last; June 15th, to be exact.  An associate at JCPenney was leaving, and she brought muffins for everyone.  Large, Sam’s Club muffins.  With sugar.  I ate a banana nut one, which was delicious, and snagged another one to bring home.  I gave it to Bill and Bahiyyih.  I then ate the peanut butter cookies from a picnic a while back.

Day one: 1 muffin (banana nut), 2 cookies (peanut butter)

June 16th – as it turns out, and as I had seen the previous day, today is Associate Appreciation Day, complete with ice cream, caramel sauce, “hot” fudge, sprinkles and whipping cream.  I took part in this celebration wholeheartedly.  Upon returning home, I also thought I’d get around to eating a chocolate from that sale a long time ago.  It was still yummy.

Day two: 4 bowls of ice cream (2 chocolate, 2 vanilla), various toppings (including sugar cones, caramel, chocolate fudge/sauce, sprinkles), 1 JCP chocolate

June 17 – I come in at one o’clock thinking I’m just on time, when I’m actually four hours early.  That oughtta teach me to read next week’s schedule early.  Anywho, a sign has been attached to the fridge.  It basically says that everything in it is going to be thrown out by the next day.

Unwilling to let such things go to waste, I do my part in packing in the left over ice cream.  During lunch, I decide that, since I’m on such a roll, I’ll finally try some of those flavors at Great American Cookie that looked really tasty.  I now know that the domino and peanut butter blast cookies are delicious, as are their cookie cakes. (I had a slice)  I also tried a cone with just whipping cream.  It’s pretty good.

At the end of the night, I realize that there are still popsicles from some other sale in the freezer, and grab some orange ones.  A fellow co-worker saves the remaining three boxes from a fate worse than death.

Then, on the way home, I discover that the Moonstruck Cafe is still open…and their products are still delicious.  I also find that hot drinks can be useful on summer nights.  At least, I felt cooler after drinking it.

Day three – 2 bowls of ice cream (vanilla), various toppings (chocolate sauce, chocolate whipping cream, sprinkles, sugar cones), 2 cookies (1 domino, 1 peanut butter blast), 1 slice of cookie cake, 3 popsicles (orange), 1 chocolate bar (ultimate gooey), 1 malted mocha (caramel)

So, there’s a record of my more…extremist tendencies.  If I end up being diabetic, you’ll all know why.

But boy, was it delicious.

Edit: It would seem I have acquired a limit.  And broken it.  Severely.

Never.  Doing.  That.  Again.

Wow.  I haven’t woken up feeling nauseous and having to use the facilities at the same time ever.  Believe you me, it is not a pleasant experience.

Although, the resulting lack of movement on my part has gotten me to post, so I suppose that’s one thing it’s got going for it.

 In other news, I have recently found that I am still in the system for signing up for classes.  This is awesome news; or at least, it would be if I could actually sign up for stuff.  With the couple of classes I tried to sign up for that weren’t closed, one brought up a conflict I could understand (not honors student), and the other one I have no idea.  Plus, I still have my old classes on my weekly schedule.  Not my cue of ones I’m registered for, just the weekly glance.  It may have simply been showing a week from when I was there…

…oh, and apparently the advisors for LAS get the summer off, because the phone there rang without end when I tried calling yesterday.  Le sigh…

And, just to set the record straight, I have recently purchased a game with a mature rating. But we have a history, Max Payne and I.  And heck, it was only $15.  It may now join Jet Force Gemini, Cybernator, and Duck Hunt in the pitiful assortment that is my shooter section.

I also got “The Best Ice Cream Maker Cookbook Ever.”  Yum.

I had a weird dream last night.  It…it was something like, I had to leave my house, which was really a room in a big apartment complex, and anything I left would cease to belong to me.

So I planned to leave with a couple friends, and I was getting geared up, but I spent so much time deciding what to bring for one of them that the one waiting with me had to leave (ended up deciding on four pairs of different metallic-colored earrings).  It took me all day to figure out what I was bringing with me.  I finally left the room, with night falling and the guards of whatever organization was kicking people out, and I went out only to find one of the guys wearing a jacket of mine!  So I got upset and he gave it back, and I left to find my friends.  I didn’t feel hopeful that I’d find them though, because it was so late…

All of this with The Root of All Evil playing in the background…

…very weird.

Okay, so I had a more cohesive idea of what I was going to say earlier, but that was before listening to The Root of All Evil by Dream Theater.  However, I do remember the main point.

As it turns out, the charge app goal thing is continuing, and it does not seem that it will go away in the forseeable future.  This time around, however, I was asked how many I would get.  It was still a question I didn’t want to answer, but it was asked all the same.

So I put one.  And wouldn’t you know, the first customer I help wants to apply for a charge card.  Go figure.

Now here’s the thing — I personally feel like asking to apply for a credit card is tantamount to peddling poison.  I don’t want to do it, and it seems wrong to make getting them mandatory.

But when I got it, I felt good.  I didn’t want to, and I mentally  scolded myself after it happened, but it did all the same.  So now I’m morally confused a bit.

Oh yeah, and I missed the last casual friday.  The dress code changed, so now jeans are out 24/7.  Great.

I tried to get an application for the Baskin Robins during my walk home, but it’s really hard finding a legitimate way of talking to the drive-through window guy when you don’t have a car to drive through with.  Or at least, a way that doesn’t look like I want to hold up the place.

I can’t believe I forgot to say this before now, but Georgia has invented the single best band name ever: Smash Pancake.  It is my hope that I will someday be worthy enough to be a part of this phenomenon.

…Best…name…EVER…

So I forgot to post yesterday about the insane guy with a JCPenney card.  If he shows up again, I’ll get into more details.

What I really want to talk about is my day today.  It was not fun.  Not from 9:45 AM to 5PM, at least.

First off, there are “goals” that all associates have for getting JCPenney charge card applications (“charge apps” around the office) from customers.  Only, they’re not so much “goals” as “quotas”.  Yeah, you can get away with nothing for a couple weeks.  Which I have.  But now, having done that, I’ve been put on the “zero list”.  Pretty self-explanatory, right?

So, today I come in, and I’m presented with this sheet for making a personal charge app goal, or some such tripe.  Only, I didn’t fill it out.  Someone else had already written in how many I was promising, they just had me fill in my name.  There was no choice in this matter.  I expect I’ll be having a one-on-one talking to at some point in the near future.

But what really takes the cake is that I wasn’t even scheduled for today.  I went out to the store on autopilot, and I was put to work.  Again, I wasn’t given a choice.

Now granted, I was trying to punch in.  But I was doing so as part of “this is my job” and not “I really want to work on my day off”.  So, the same manager who wrote my empty promise for me also said, “That’s okay, we can use you.”

Did it occur to you, madam, that maybe I just came in on the wrong day?  Or that I’d like to sleep?  Or that JCPenney isn’t my life??

I’m seriously thinking about giving my two weeks’ notice.  Hopefully the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robins needs people for the midnight shift…that would be awesome…

And, while I’m being ranty, I’d like to announce that I’m going to do something totally selfish tonight: I’m going to get rid of my Maple Story account — without telling my ‘buddies’ in game.  I mean, I already tried, and the person I talked to didn’t get it.  So now, I must do this for me.

On a different note, I went grocery shopping!  And ate an orange!  Joy!

Also, there are too many games vying for my attention.  Radiata Stories, Dragon Quest VIII, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics…I want to play them all!  So much to do, so little time…

I have come to a realization: I am a creature of reaction.  Yeah, I have spurts of creativity and initiative, but I mainly respond to people’s input.

Is this a failing?  Am I too pathetic to make something for myself?  I mean, I haven’t worked on my book in…what is it, months?  I haven’t called the LAS advisor people to set up an appointment yet.  I wasn’t even doing much to help around the house until I was given the directive to make sure the dishwasher was emptied of clean things.  Which I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of.

But might not have done so had I not been told to.  Heck, if someone said, “Time to brush your teeth,” I’d probably be in better dental shape than I am now.

This is probably why I feel fearful and anxious when I try to think about my life too far into the future.

Anyways, on a mostly different note, Heroes of Ivalice is almost begun!!  I am so getting up at seven so as to roll up my character at eight.

It’s a good thing I stayed up until 5:30 AM writing Arylin’s bio last night.

-Adieu

Edit2: Oy, forgot about attachments.

 Arylin’s Bio

I had been thinking about sharing some things that had irked me, today and previously.  But, after reading Bahiyyih’s latest post, I just can’t do it.  Sully the day for celebrating all you wonderful bringers of life?!  For shame!

No, I’ll rain on a cloudy day.  For now, happy Mother’s Day.  Oh, and I have somethin’ for you, my dearest, favoritest mom.  I just, y’know, have to give it to you…when I see you next…

As a side note, following the trend of abbreviating holidays (i.e: B-day, M-day), would that make the Day of the Dead D-day…?

Yeah, I’m going through another period of feeling worthless.  It comes and goes.  Kinda like consciousness.

Oh, I also wanted to say that heavy whipping cream past its due date is scary.  I know this because yesterday I experienced just that.  Fortunately, I only smelled it and poured it on my corn puffs before decreeing it inedible (in my head).

But seriously, it smelled awful.  Like evil, revengeanceful paint.

PS: I am a horrible, horrible person for laughing at this.  Hysterically.

PPS: These too.