Thursday, April 28, 2005  

Saying good-bye to Constantine. It's okay yo yo man, yo! His performance was awful on Tuesday so he should have gone home, along with Scott and Anthony. Good to see Carrie in the top half. Was quite a shock tho.

   [ posted  @ 1:18 AM | ]

American Idol Thoughts:

Carrie's performance was super boring but i still want her to win over anyone else. Bo & Constantine's use of that stupid microphone stand is so unnerving to me i just want to change the channel. Ugg. Why do they have to do that? Scott sang off key sometimes [and that was a strange song choice], and so did Vonzell & Anthony. I would say Constantine was the worst of all of them -- just a dumb song choice. But i voted for Carrie. I want her to win if for no other reason than she seems like a nice kid. I'd give Anthony my vote for bravery and he did okay. I don't want him to win tho.

Remember my prediction of who goes next: I still stand by it but i think Bo is doing better with the fans than i realized. He got the most applesauce. I mean, applause.

Anthony-----1 (next to go)

Scott--------4

Vonzelle.......2

Bo--------3

Constantine-----5

Carrie...........6 (it will be close between constantine and carrie but

i think carrie will take it. )

   [ posted  @ 6:40 PM | ]

Mystery Solved:
I've always wondered if I could fit in my Dodge Neon's front driver's seat with the windows closed with my guitar in hand and play to the stereo...

Today I found out.

And if you were in the parking lot over by Matress Giant, OfficeMax, and Caribou Coffee (and that Kids Hair place) you probably heard me at 5:25 a.m. playing as loud as i could to Derek Webb's CD track 10 about 3x and then thru the entire CD for the duration of the rest of the half hour, after i realized my two opening associates decided not to come into work. You know, it is Friday and all.

Can't go into the building alone, so i just sat out there and threw a fit for the first 20 minutes. "Where is everyone?" i asked myself. Mentally, i reviewed this week's schedule (which i had to write, because my sales manager is a dork) and remembered scheduling both Sean and Kevin at 5 with me. Sean is on my black list (not unlike Survivor, vote out the weakest member) but Kevin's been doing a great job. I couldn't figure out where everyone is. I was starting to really steam - getting really mad. I was watching the outside clock by TCF bank tick on with each minute i was checking off things on my list of things to do this morning that would not get done. There goes that, there goes that too, there goes that one, won't be able to get that done, etc. Have a manager's mtng at 7:00 so i'll only have like one hour to get the store open and tills counted -that's when Joe-On-The-Go comes in at 6.

Then i drove to the bank and deposited a check my church gave me (wow they take good care of their volunteers... WOW. Did i say WOW?) at the TCF ATM, and then drove back. Sat and waited. Did i mention i actually got there 15 min. early bc that's just the kind of manager i am, so i was actually there from 4:45 a.m. until 6 a.m. when my next opener came? Sheesh.

And mystery solved, yes i can fit myself, my gutiar and my steering wheel in that little spot and i can jam just fine to my very loud stereo at 5:30 in the morning. And i didn't even scratch the guitar taking it out of the case backwards from the back seat.

I rock.

And my pecking order to get rid of the ppl i can't stand is on my 4th person already!!! I rock even more!!! Word to the wise: don't tick me off, bc i have a very strong alliance with my new store manager (who was a non-denom. pastor for like 12 years, so he's a believer like me, talk about an ace in the hole...) and i'm determined to get my way on every personnel change i've spied that needs to take place since i set foot in this store. I will get my way... It's just a matter of time. I've already weeded out one manager and 2 associates. I'm working on two more leaving, which should really not take me long... I had this conversation with someone yesterday: if you have me on your side you'll have the best carreer in the world. I'll spoil you crazy. But if you get on my bad side, it will be nearly impossible to make up for it, and i'll have your hours cut by at least 2/3 and weed you out of a job within just a few weeks. Since my store manager is new to this company, and since i've gained an ear with him, what i've said GOES.

Power trips in little ways are good for self esteem.

Great new show, have you seen it: THE OFFICE on NBC? Genius.

   [ posted  @ 1:14 PM | ]

** It's Amy's Birthday ** Happy Birthday to Amy!! **


Spring Cleaning has hit here in the apt., and I spent yesterday and half of today re-arranging. I realized that for two years since i resigned from River of Life that my apt. came to a stand-still and i've been in such a holding-pattern. Even today i was still putting study guides and training materials and more books and notebooks in a box from those days - things that had been at hand here for some reason for 2 years i never took time to clean it up. I don't much like how things turned out - but i brought my roll-top out the living room so i could set it up for studying better, and took the computer down. I don't really know what to do with the 3 computers i have laying around here... a friend told me this morning i should back up my files and just donate them. I probably will. Have to have the $ for an external harddrive first.

Instead of throwing things away, I only managed to reorganize them -- it used to be catagorized by "what" it was. I realized today that since i'm getitng so old, i catagorize by "when."

Hmm.

Got a 72cent raise yesterday. No idea why. Shhhhh. It just showed up on my paycheck. I have no clue... I am so afraid it's a glitch, that i don't want to ask anyone at work about it. I was in my car filling out my bank deposit and at first didn't recognize the difference on the pay stub, and then when i saw the bump up in pay i had to turn the check over to see if it was really my name on it... !!! I was screaming in the car... Suprises :)

Gotta love 'em.

I'm reading a lot right now. Here's what i am reading:

God's Smuggler I can't believe i never read this book before. It will go down in my top-ten as must-reads. What a faith-builder

Mission Possible (reading for the 2nd time bc a friend got me an autographed copy when he saw Marilyn Lazslo at a missions conference, thanks TYLER!)

Let the Nations Be Glad (This has been recommended to me many times... Finally bought a copy. It's a textbook on missions. My first John Piper book, i'm sure i'll read many more)

Smith Wigglesworth (Have had this since college but am only 1/2 way thru... It's only 850 pages what's my problem?)

The Growth of the Church in Africa Gotta return this one to the church library tomorrow. It's a good textbook tho.

The San of Africa another library book from the public library

And then there's the Greek stuff:
KJV Interlinear This one is in the breakroom @ work tho.
Summer's Grammar I have a cherished out-of-print version of this that i got off alibris about two years ago, and it's from a student named in the cover in his crazy handwriting as "Ira L. Holden" Moody Bible Institute Jan. 25, 1954 who has notes all thru it. I can only imagine what this guy went on to do after he got his greek grammar down. He used the book all the way thru, unlike me, who is stuck unendingly in lessons 4 and 5 (Nouns, 1st and 2nd declensions). Adjectives are right around the corner.

   [ posted  @ 1:47 PM | ]

Lady comes into the store.
Grabs a cart.
Goes out to her car.
Comes back into the store with 4 random office machines in her cart.
She's a big clueless lady.
I hear over the walkies someone tell me i'd better be the one to get this, and called me to the front to help this lady @ the service desk.

I, puzzled, look at the lady. Seeing her cart, i take a deep breath, knowing by even the way she is standing and breathing and what she is wearing that this is going to be something i am not going to easily get myself out of. I'm the only key-carrier in the building and it's BUSY in the store. People are asking for my help and i can't help them. I'm with this lady.

I ask, "Can i help you with something?"

"Yeah. Someone needs to get these working for me. Now."

"Ma'am, i'm sorry, but we do not provide any kind of technical support here. I don't have the staff or the resources to sit down and trouble-shoot with you. What seems to be the trouble?"

"They don't work."

I look her machines over. She's got
a. A Brother 6750 typewriter.
b. A Brother 3220c fax/copier
c. A Canon PC425 copier
d. A Panasonic FXP-335 Fax, i think, one that was recently discontinued.

She had bought all these machines here.

"What doesn't work about them?" I asked, extremely annoyed, now walking behind the counter so that i distance myself from the temptation to punch her in the mouth...

"Well i'd like someone to look at them."

"Ma'am, again, i'm sorry, but we do not offer those kind of services here. If you want to take them to a repair center, i can suggest some local places."

"Don't you know anything about these machines?" She demands to know of me.

"Yes, I know all about them. We sell them, but we do not service them in anyway here..."

Seeing that i was getting absolutely nowhere with her, she decides to put these 4 machines on parade and starts taking them out of the cart and puts them on display in front of me, spreading them out the length of the entire counter. This is her, like a male-dog, marking her territory, peeing all over my counter, telling me she's not budging. Not an inch.

She starts by admitting she thinks her copier is just out of toner. She has another one just like it at the office. She wants more toner. I see dollar signs all over the skies, so i gladly go grab her two of the toners she needs, and then bring them back to her, point her to the register, and think i'm done...! I can just ring her up $ and she can be on her way. Nope.

"I want someone to put them in for me."

So angry right now, that i can't even breathe, it's now been like 15 min. with her, people are calling for me all over the store and i cannot get away. I rip open one of the packages of toner, not able to look her in the eye, pull with all my might at this industrial thick plastic bag that covers the toner until my he-man strength rips it apart, so she can see i mean business, rip off the plastic strip from the toner, with no idea how to install it in her stupid copier, so i just start pushing every button on the thing until the machine pops open. I rip the old toner out (and i could tell it was not empty ! yes more money for me...) and slam the new one in. I close it.

I thought "yay, i'm done!"

And then she stares at me.

"This one won't fax."

She points to the Panasonic.

I let her know we don't carry that anymore and if she's having trouble with it, she should call Panasonic.

"Well it doesn't work. It never worked."

"Ma'am, what do you mean that it never worked?"

"It never worked right. I never got it to fax."

"What would it say when you tried to send or receive a fax?"

"It didn't fax."

"Okay then, how did you TRY to fax? What did you do?"

"I don't know how to fax," she finally admits to me. This is her 3rd fax machine and she doesn't even know how to put the paper in the tray, dial a phone number and hit the green start button.

I ask her if that is the same problem she's having with the Brother fax machine too. Yes, she says, it will not send or receive. I ask if she's got it plugged into the phone line. She said yes. I asked if she was expecting a fax? Because you know, if no one is faxing you, there will be no faxes to receive. This seemed like some sort of news bulliton to her, but she didn't want to let on.

Seeing the opportunity to make more money, i ask her to show me what's wrong with the brother (color) fax machine. I plug it in. She doesn't know how to turn it on; i show her. It says the ink is empty (the ink was full; this was a problem) - she says she's never used it; how can the ink be empty? I said, "Gee, i don't know, i should definitely go grab you some new ink then." There just went $250 in toner and another 60$ or ink. I rock.

She demands that i put it in her machine. I do, and i keep the full ink that i just took out. I am a theif and a swindler, and i'm sorry, but she deserved it.

Now, on to the typewriter. Why won't it type? Gee, maybe because you keep putting it in your car and the lock that holds the carriage in place is not SNAPPED TIGHT so the wheel doesn't hit the striker! hmmmmmmmmm??????????????????????

Then it's not spacing right bc she doesn't know how to hit alt+1 to make the line spacing go from single to double... So i said "this is in your manual. Do you still have your manual? It tells you how to run the typewriter."

She slams her fist down on the desk and says, "I don't keep my manual. I don't keep receipts and i don't keep the boxes." (I had asked several times if she had her receipt bc if she did, i could try to exchange one of machines.) She asked if i had a manual laying around for it. No, dork, i don't. I said she'd have to get on the internet and contact their tech support.

"Do you have internet?" I asked her.

"No." She said.

Figures. She wants the number for Brother, which i told her would be in her manual that she likes to throw away. I go find her a number.

30 minutes $300 later, I moved on to the next thing...

I hope i never see her again. Good thing i don't wear one of those WWJD bracelets, huh?

   [ posted  @ 12:31 PM | ]

Finished a great book today that i didn't even know existed. Got it at the church library. It was out of print for awhile, and it's back! I've read so much by Elizabeth Elliot - her writings have probably had more influence over me than almost anyone. This was an amazing quick read and deeply challenged me! It's like a lost modern day sequel to the book of Acts. Gotta love a true-story.

Click to see book.

   [ posted  @ 8:30 PM | ]

This is probably the happiest i've been all week. First, i am fitting into jeans i bought like 16 months ago that had no DREAM of fitting me in all my life and now i have room to move in them... holy crap what a great feeling; go LEAN QUIZINE!!!

Second, i found this amazing recipe and made it for lunch (so simple to make) and since my tummy is full and i'm now having some french vanilla & hazelnut coffee i'm all set to have a great afternoon.............. cleaning. [I've not ever been one to buy or cook pork in any fashion but i found some on sale which was boneless and looked really great so i bought a bunch and froze it and then didn't know what to do with it. This thing melts in your mouth!]

haha

It's my friend Isaac's birthday (well it was on Monday) but we are celebrating tonight OMG he's turned 30 and my 30th is just a few months away as well. So we'll be going to Timberlodge Steakhouse and then back here for presents, sinful French Silk Pie (another great recipe), Stratego, and maybe a movie if it's not too late and i don't fall asleep on him.

My tummy rejoices in all the great things i 'll eat today! lol

And it's my day off, and God is good, and i like the library, and it's nice weather outside, and my plants are still all alive, and i will probably get to come home in a two weeks (yay) for a little bit, and i have a great broadband fone, and my laundry is done, and i'm reading a good book, and i am coooool!

Oh, one more weird thing> i really did break my scale so i have no idea how much weight i've lost. I know it's a few inches but for months my scale didn't budge even 2 lbs and then i realized it's broken HAHAHAHA. :) Go crunches!

   [ posted  @ 10:56 AM | ]

The real question is...

How many of the clocks in your home have you not advanced one hour yet?

And

How long's it going to be until you change it?

Mine is in the living room - i may just leave it until October, when it will be correct again.

   [ posted  @ 4:25 PM | ]

Perhaps I should write about the inventory debacle of 2005. Where we had been closed for an hour. The gates are down. The doors are powered off and shut. We did not lock the doors bc the inventory ppl had to come in and out a lot. All of the sudden, this lady is standing in our store, who had pried the doors open, with a arm full of copies screaming at my manager. He had told her we are closed and all the tills are down and the copiers are shut off, and she was screaming and waving her arms that

"IT'S DAYLIGHT SAVINGS! YOU SHOULD BE OPEN! YOU NEVER CLOSE THIS EARLY! I NEED TO MAKE MY COPIES! HOW WILL I MAKE MY COPIES??!!"

Then my mgr informed her that it's daylight savings which starts the next morning at 2 a.m., and that would also mean the hour goes AHEAD one hour not back an hour, and since we closed at seven, we can't accept her order. She cannot comprehend this and is screaming about this and it was like watching a made for t.v. movie in slow motion. She had to be so confused bc the store was FULL of people in plain-clothes bc of us all counting things for inventory, it looked like we were open.

So my mgr got out a manual draft credit card machine (like from 1961) and had me power-on a copier and let her do her thing. Stood there for over an hour making her copies!!! omg! And then when she left she gave my mgr a small side-hug and thanked him. WEIIIIIRD! I guess she does this kind of thing a lot. I was writing S.O.S. notes to people as they came up to the desk to get more counting assignments (that was my job to mark off the map and make sure every section had been counted twice) such as "please don't leave me alone with the crazy lady!" or "What if she wants to check out and i'm the only one up here?!"

haha

Or perhaps i should write about me and Sarah trying to build a 36 foot steel wall last night with no instructions and with missing pieces. It took us a good 3 hours just to figure out the first 4 feet and by the time we flew thru the 2nd 4 feet, we realized we didn't have the brackets we needed to secure the wall to the existing wall - and so we had to sit there and wait for the strip&wax guys to finish our floor so we could leave. There was nothing else we could do. The parts we did try to make almost killed me about 3x. I was laughing so hard, and the strength had left my body several times -- these pieces are so heavy and i have no idea why they wanted two weakling girls to do this... So we had to leave that unfinished too. It was so frustrating to finally figure out how to build it, but then not be able to complete it. Home and Garden TV should have been there for "furniture pad make-over."

Or perhaps I should write about having to cut my message for the jr. high from 30 min to 15 minutes yesterday. I had worked on this thing for 3 weeks all to have it chipped away by announcements, kids sharing stories, etc., and that was a real challenge for me. I had it all planned out on the computer for slides etc., and then i had to do the intro and skip right to the end. Grr. I'm really glad that is over... I won't have to teach again for awhile. 75 minutes is not long enough for all we want to accomplish on a Sunday morning.

Or perhaps I should write about our Brazil team coming back in one piece. They did some great work down there & their stories are truly inspirational :)

All is well.

   [ posted  @ 10:59 AM | ]

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