Black Friday Vs. My Inability To Construct Any Semblence of a Plan

A good thing to do on Black Friday is make a plan of attack prior to 3am and believing you'll get somewhere.

I weighed the options of what I could get at Circuit City and Best Buy around 3:30am after an extremely long sessions of Excite Truck (don't believe mainstream press, this game is a MUST HAVE Wii title) and Wii Sports. After repeated "one more race" challenges, I eventually said, "Okay, let's hit it."

Last year was pretty well planned out... Or moreover, more planned out than this year. I went with a few people, went there earlier than 4am and had tons of things to do to keep me occupied (Dunkin Donut runs and dancing with a life size cut out of Shaq.) However this year, absolutely no one wanted to go, save my friend Victoria, who really went just to go and maybe see if any DVDs were on sale.

After weighing the options, I decided to hit the Best Buy I went to last year. Getting there pretty early, we were only about 100 feet away from the door and as far as I remember, pretty late compared to everyone else. All the free coffee was gone, people already knew what they were getting and as far as I remember, 4am SEEMED like a good time to leave this year. Prior to heading there, a mandatory Dunkin Donuts pit stop was in order. Assuming we'd only be standing around for about an hour in the moderate cold, coffee seemed like a good option. It was there we were asked, "Are you guys out to go shopping?" I replied that we were only to find out the girl asking worked at the Circuit City that was on the way to the Best Buy. Amongst other things we exchanged, she said, "Wow, you guys are pretty late." It wasn't until later that I realized my own blunder.

En route was pass the aforementioned Circuit City to see a line rounding the side of the building. It was then I should've guessed I was a moron. The Best Buy seemed like a good idea, especially because it was near Toys R Us and if all else failed, I could score a $35 Game Boy Micro for no reason. Pulling into the lot, the Toys R Us line was somewhere near 2 or 3 dozen people. Hardly anything. However, pulling into the Best Buy lot, all I could think about was Circuit City.

Not much to my surprise was the line at Best Buy ridiculous. Needless to say, I ended up waiting for my Game Boy Micro.

About 20 minutes later, I ran into a scenario of deja vu I again was to negligent to realize was going to occur. As far as I know, 5am is the time people are allowed to live out their consumerism dreams on Black Friday. However, as anyone in Bergen County, New Jersey knows, we dream differently. Regardless of what any circular or news paper will tell you, you will not be buying a HD TV, waser/dryer combo, DVD box set, or in this case, a Gameboy Micro at 5am. No Sally, you're waiting til 7am.

Now I remember why Black Friday last year sucked.

It wasn't the extremely bitter cold that was an issue. It was the fact that I endured it for 2 hours only to have the law makers, sleeping silent and more importantly, warmly in their beds, remind me they're fucking assholes. So as the sun came to shine last year and as my little foot shook with bitter chill, everyone all at once checked their watches and cell phones to verify the time. It was now 7am, cold and not defeated, we were ready to shop.

However, those two hours sucked so hard. All I got that year was Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2. And for all my conviction and fanboyism, it was worth the wait/discount. And while my Nintendo fanboyism will never go into question, I have a DS Lite, I don't want a Micro that bad. Not two hours more bad. So, disappointed in my severe lack of memory and planning skills. I scooted around Route 17 in hopes of ideas or at least something to do.

On the way back, Staples appeared to not only be open, but to be harvesting a line of would be shoppers. It was time to head home real quick, poop like a champ, hit the internet and ride.

Staples also carried an item I was interested in purchasing that every other place did: a large external hard drive. Oddly enough, it was the biggest of the bunch and the price was extremely reasonable. Off I went, only this time: alone. Needless to say, I got there around 6:30am, hoping to secure a spot on the very short line only to see the store was already open and customers were exiting. Hop to it. In a completely unorganized and unaware of the store lay out stupor, I searched frantically for my prize. About 10 minutes later, I eventually stumble pass where they were, after walking passed the spot at least several times only to realize the one I wanted wasn't even in the store. A deal even better than that was obviously already taken advantage of and I in no way really felt like buying anything even remotely close to retail price on a day like this. I almost purchased whatever the cheapest hard drive was, as almost a knee jerk response as well as something to validate the fact I'd been driving around all morning and wasting gas and time. However, I did the smart thing, admitted my defeat and lack of any sort of plan and headed home. I contemplated just browsing elsewhere, because "you never know," but I decided to go home and call it a night. I'll learn from my mistake and do a better job next year. Especially since HD TVs will probably cost less then!

To further make up for things and to make myself feel better through the act of buying shit, I went to the mall today at around 2pm and spend money on some clothes. While not so much a deal or bargain, I enjoy H&M's prices, color options and choices in fabrics and cut. I however, do not like that the clothes are ideally made for skinny euroboys. All in all, getting new clothes is always great motivation to lose weight. I also realized how huge my ass is.

But I guess some people like that sort of thing.

For your reference

Nintendo WFC Friend Codes:
Tetris DS: 403827 540154
Animal Crossing: 0086 - 6246 - 4165 (Jeff - Onett)

So you play Animal Crossing?!

Well, if you've found this site through Animal Crossing, then hooray!

There's not much else to say. Check out my links, check out this blog and hey, be a pal and leave me some contact info too, okay?!

Well, I think it's about time I update, right?

Every since I've begin working at Educational Direct, life has been REALLY awesome. For starters, I actually begin to like the place more and more everyday. Every new person I meet, completely blows me away. Today I realize just how AMAZING some of the people I work with are.

The girl I met the day I did a walk in interview, Jeauvon, is great. Incredible style, sassy, black and an amazingly powerful singing voice. She's been so scared to really bust it out, so I didn't know if she was just saying she can sing for the sake of saying so. But let me tell you, she doesn't lie. What really took her to bring it out was this other new girl that works in my department. Michelle is a really eccentric type. Blue and black hair, obscure fashion sense, cereal box turned purse and crazy make up. Most striking about her is her talent. She has such a varied vocal style, wide taste in music and deep musical sense. Today they blew away about 40 new employees and a few higher ups when we were sitting in training killing time. They just went song after song in acapella stopping everyone in their tracks. It was great. I sat in between both of them and while I was so impressed, I felt overwhelmed with excitement and fear. I was happy because these two are fast becoming two of my best friends at work. I get to make music with these two! Excellent! However I'm scared because I am not nearly as talented as them. I mean, I have a wealth of ideas for music, but no real TALENT to perform it. I know rudimentary stuff, but I REALLY need to buckle down and begin teaching myself. Let's all cross our fingers and pray I can get my Macbook next week and begin super hard training EVERY day so I can catch up and all 3 of us can just amaze the world (or at least northern New Jersey.... for now!)

Speaking of training, this is what needs to happen. I really need to stick to a tight schedule of working 9 hours a day, 5 days a week and then spending the time after work relaxing for a bit, browsing the internet and then getting down to business. After I enjoy myself, I'll start working out. I have a few videos, texts and other things to start me off. I am starting a new work out. I am starting slow so I don't overdo it and then end up not wanting to do it anymore. For the time being, less is more. Technically, the more I do, the stronger I can become, but, I want this to become a life long routine. If it's too hard at first, I won't want to stick with it. For at least 2-3 weeks, I am going to keep the work out strenuous, but not too long. I need to get my body accustomed to working out at least 3-4 times a week, even if it's not ball busting hard. It's the fact that it's happening and must happen 3-4 times a week that's important for now. Afterwards, another little cool down and relax session. Maybe more internet, maybe a movie or video games and then off to music work. I have a good music theory book that I can read from daily as well as some really excellent perfect pitch training mp3s. This will be great to build my knowledge of how music is constructed and why. Once I really absorb the material and understand it, the second half becomes easier. Once I get the Macbook, I can physically train in music. Practicing chord progressions, scales and sheet music every day will also really speed up the process.

I really wouldn't mind if this was my daily weekday routine for the next few months. Work is only getting easier and more busy (which is good.) I am going to be training to do something new sometime next week which is really excellent. The more I know and the more I can do around the office, the better. I already am doing simple date entry updating in between taking calls. I am asked to update around 300 files a day while taking calls on my own now. My supervisor knows I really hate being idle, so this is good. She knows I like to work and keep active. The other day I stayed an extra hour to help ship off a few Fed Ex packages that needed to get out that night. I don't know whether or not it made a huge impact that I helped, but I handled everything extremely fast and the people responsible for the work were very appreciative.

I'm also pretty popular around my office. All the people in my department really like me a lot and I get to sass everybody which is a major plus. More often than not when people are being loud and talking, I am usually involved with it. Which is good because I can only imagine how boring that office was before I got there. It's just more positive attention towards me, which will always be at my benefit.

I am also helping redesign these... things for my company. I don't know what they are to be exact, but I'll try and explain. One day I was walking down the hallway and the cancellation manager, who is in my office, was walking down the hallway too. He had shirt that had a really interesting design on it. While passing I mentioned it was great and that I am really into design and yadda yadda. About two days later, he called me to his desk to show me some stuff. It's basically an information package we give to employees that would help diversify our company (read: "black people and shit." PS: My cancellation manager is black.) It's a few sheets of paper with some nonsense about the company, our goals and our services as well as a few sheets of paper, landscape orientation, that look like they really should just be Power Point slides. As far as the information goes, it's pretty well thought out however the way in which some things are worded are too fancy or unecessary. The design of them is also extremely poor. He asked me, since I "like design," if I wanted to try fixing them up. Just for kicks. Maybe hand it off to some of the higher ups to see what they think. As far as he explained, we really don't use these things anymore, however, it's just another thing that will speak highly of me and my skills and my inclination to do well within the company. Some of that positive attention.

As far as other cool events, let me explain one thing first. Some people follow religion. Some people believe in philosophies and the like. I believe in only two things to be true: fate and karma. Pardon this cheesy example, but, I was watching the special features for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children and I watched something that sort of fell in line with some things I believe. Without relating this to the mythos or story of FF7, one of the creators said life follows a stream. Where at certain times, your stream crosses the paths of others, intertwines and so on. While his belief was broader than that, it really does fit with a belief of mine. If you really live your life along the same track, things don't change. Eventually the track loops and there you are. Once you see new places, do new things, meet new people, the loop changes. It breaks apart, it moves to and fro. Orbits around others, bounces, reacts, etc. It's even like a Ven Diagram. You start off on your circle and if you intersect another circle, that means that circle intersects another and so on! In so many words, once you do new things, new things come to you. It's a union of fate and karma. Back to the story, I went to Starbucks with my friend to visit his girlfriend. Funny thing is, I didn't even want to go. Thankfully, I didn't get my way. I went into a tirade about how the couches smell like kitty litter and that prompted a nearby person to ask us a question. "Do you know how to get to the sports complex?" Why yes I do. Long story short, this man is a driver for famous people like Bon Jovi, Usher and the like. He proceeds to tell me he casts girls for music videos and gets paid to do so! (The girls get paid too.) Next thing I know it, we're exchaning numbers and I promise to call him because my job has tons of girls in it that would be great... And then I mention that we're soon becoming a bank too... And he has two friends that are bankers coming up to NYC looking for work... So I give him my job's number too. Did I mention I get paid to get girls into music videos? (Like $200-$500?) And did I mention you get a referral bonus for new employees after they reach their 90th day working there? ($500 ya'll)

Well shit. I think I've had a pretty good week and even better ones coming this way.

Did I mention I am now considered a "Senior Loan Specialist?" I know more about federal student loan consolidation that 97% of the country. Not that bad. (Even though the title is sort of BS, strictly speaking but hey, looks good on a resume!)

Here's your update.

I started realizing a lot of important things about myself today.

Work
Even still, I am not happy. Yet. I have a decent steady job now, but, the enviornment is like a double edged sword. On the one hand, the pay is pretty good. We get free lunch everyday that is ALWAYS delicious and the atmosphere is really laid back. What's bad about it is that I work in a department that requires me to know a hell of a lot, where I am on of the only two males, everyone is at least 10 years older than me, 45% of them are pregnant and I really have nothing to talk to about with no one. In many ways, it's such an awkward enviornment, even for someone as outgoing as me. I've realized the departments at my job go in tiers (I work at a student loan consolidation company, if I haven't told you that already.) The sales floor is the most exciting. it has the most workers, it's fun, crazy and everyone is around my age. The references room has people around my age also. It's less subdued, however people are still very loud and excitable. Most of the time people are standing up with their headsets or talking. I work in status which is just another way of saying customer service departmnet. Everyone is middle aged, much more subdued and during last week's shuffle madness (deadline for new interest rates), it's been non-stop busy. I really am so displaced. In reality though, it IS the best department for me. I am a great listener, I am good at talking to people, people with bad attitudes do not bother me if not, humor me greatly and I love helping people. I'd honestly lose my mind with boredom being in references or data entry.

When I think about it, I really think I was one of the better candidates. As far as I can tell, you need to pay your dues before you become a sales person. It's the job that probably requires the most amount of knowledge, trust from the company and charisma. Out of everyone that got hired the day I did, I was the only one who worked in status. Everyone was either in data entry and two went to references. Either the boss speaks a good game, or he really thinks I am a good person, outgoing, smart and can see how hard I want to excel. Hopefully I get to step up soon enough because I can already tell working in status will not only bore me, but not challenge me enough to stay motivated.

Because of the deadline rush, I couldn't really be on the phones much. As it stands now, I do know enough to handle most easy calls, however, how can you tell when an easy call is coming in? Also, considering everyone was in a mad dash last week, the company didn't have time to train the new employees. So most of my first week was A LOT of watching and learning. Which isn't that bad aof a learning tool, but doing it for 9 hours straight gets pretty boring. Today was absolutely dead. For the last two hours, I just did data entry type work because my supervisor saw how out of my mind bored I was.

I like lunch because it's always free and always delicuous. It's also the only time I ever get to talk to people my age. Most of the harder workers just eat at their desks. Especially last week when work was hectic. But in the end, I feel extremely out of place at work and it's the only thing that makes me hate working there.

Motivation
Sparks of motivation are coming here and there and I only need some money (We get paid bi-weekly so I won't get paid til next Thursday) and time to set aside to get projects running.

The day I went to interview for my job, I met this really friendly and interesting girl named Jeauvon. We immediately clicked and decided we need to make music together. The idea of making the kind of music we can together really excited me. We both seem to have a completely different sense of style and flair that I think could mesh well given time to mix.

Also, a friend of mine not only opted to shoot and edit footage for me, but we also secured a spot on Clifton public access (which is the provider for the people in my area.) A few friends of mine have been kicking the idea around of doing a sketch comedy show and now is our chance!

Finally, now that I have a job, I can do some of the things I always wanted to do but never had the finacial means to accomplish. One of the more important of the few is getting tons of excellent magazine subscriptions. One of which is READY MADE magazine. I picked up a copy today and it has a lot of interesting things I want to make and buy. So, in the coming weeks, look out for some stuff and I cannot wait to subscribe and make even more radical stuff.

Finally...
Call it lame because it is, but there's times it really gets to you being single. Not that it matters so much, but there's times where it forces you into a hole you can either chose to ignore or acknowledge for what it is. The funny thing is that I am used to being single and used to not having my girlfriends be a constant part of the mix, when I WAS dating. But honestly, when 90% of your friends are not only in relationships, but have their other half be constant part of your circle of friends, you'll eventually be the odd man out one day. And even still, not being able to take part in public displays of affection or having someone cute to share dinner with is not a big deal. But, wandering around a bookstore alone, while your friends have someone to gawk at neat books with, just feels awkward. No matter who you're with, you'll just feel like a 5th wheel. It's never intentional. Both friends love you the same and probably don't even mind you're there, but, an odd man out knows when he's the odd man out. Don't we?

Couple that with the notion that I very well may need to move out next month or so, it puts your head in a spin. I may need a room mate. Maybe two if I want a lot more space depending on where we go. And therein lies my biggest dilema at the moment. For the life of me, I DO NOT want to live with any non-artists/muscians/creative types. Now, that may sound very artsy or frou frou of me, but, it's an important part of life. Is it really selfish to ask for someone who will do more for me than pay their half of the bill? Is it selfish to want someone who I can view as an equal, as a peer, as a rival or even a major inspiration? It's inevitable that we're all going to work shit jobs because they will pay well, but, everyone one of us with an ounce of creativity knows in our heart of hearts, that we don't want the food being put on our table to be from that source forever. We all have dreams. We can bite the bullet and just take the high road, the high pay, the high life even. But, you know the cost. It's that starving artist in us. The big, defiant and unrealistic voice that says, "I'd rather be poor and do a job I love every day than work a high paying job that sucks the life and color out of me!" Defiant. Big. Unrealistic. We know it. We sit besides our guitars, pencils and power tools thinking those will be the avenues of a better future. What scares us the most is knowing that maybe we'll slip and fall and never get back into the groove. We'll have to depend on our high paying desk jobs to have children, an oil changes, healthier food and premium cable.

What I am saying is that, if I can try and live an ideal life in some small way, then let me try and get there with people inching for the same thing. If it means living business casual with other poor souls with the same heart for a few years so we can one day save all our pennies, by super computers and huge amps, buckets of paint and better dancing shoes, then what the fuck, let me try to get there with those people. Is it too big, too defiant and too unrealistic for me to want to live with people willing to make it. Make it big, make it underground or just make. If I make a handbag out of a tennis racket case and think I'm the shit, doing video game journalism or performing on TV, can I just be happy with that? Can't I ask for you to live with me if you're doing that? And maybe that narrows it down to such a small few. People that are not ready to take the leap. To leave their parents houses and sell out for a few years so we can pray to the gods we've saved enough to press our own records and make our own t-shirts. You think I'm ready? No.

But I'd like to pray to the same gods that I can do it with someone.





PS: I realized I may or may not be a bit manic-depressive.

TV worth watching!

How I Met Your Mother has to be one of the best sitcoms no one really watches.

While the humor is in a different class all to its own, the real reason this show is such a gem is that, at the core, it has a heart. The backbone of the show is its main character Ted. The entire show is about the stories and events that lead up to the point where he met the woman who would be the mother of his two children. Ted is a true, die hard romantic at heart. Unlike most people, Ted goes to any length just to achieve the happiness he knows he wants. Along the way it leads to a lot of failure and rejection, at the same time, Ted learns so much as an adult. His never say die attitude can be seen as crazy to some but to others, it's a sincere quest for one man to find happiness within someone else.

Ted's room mate Marshall is engaged to his long time girlfriend Lily. As of recently, they've only played supporting cast members, but now, their relationship is being brought to the forefront. While the show examines how hard life is for someone trying to find love, at the same time, Marshall and Lily's relationship examines how hard being in love can be. At the opposite side of both sets of characters is Barney. The quick witted, lady lover. While Barney is largely seen as a source of comedy in the show, at the same time, he's everyone's true voice of reason. While Barney seems to be the easy come easy go bachlor, throughout all that, he is experienced in handling life and people. Ted's never been in a true long lasting relationship and Marshall and Lily have been dating for years. Barney's varied life experiences account for a lot of the knowledge passed down to his friends.

Throughout the series, Ted goes through a bunch of different girls and twice in the series, it was led to believe he's found the one. While the first, Robin, eventually stopped having feelings for Ted, considering she has a different view on life, Ted got to meet Victoria instead. It was there that everyone thought things would finally stay. Victoria was then offered a life changing experience that she had to take, ultimately ending their relationship. It was then that the series progressed and Ted's still undenying love for Robin resurfaced. At the same time, Marshall and Lily have been planning a wedding. It's at this point that the show shifts more towards the true drama that is a part of love.

Without spoiling so much, last night's episode was probably the most impactful. I am not the type to really enjoying hearing semi-well known songs in my TV shows, but at the climax of the show, they played "Bluest Light" from Bloc Party and it really made the ending all the more impactful. However, what also happened at the end was so unexpected.

I've never wanted to be so happy for one thing and at the same time, been so shocked by something else that I almost wanted to cry from a sitcom. If DVDs ever come out for this show, it's definetly worth seeing. Neil Patrick Harris as Barney is absolutely one of the best supporting characters in a sitcom. As far as the drama of the show goes, it is very slow going. What really carries the show through the first dozen shows is the humor and the understanding of each character. It hasn't been until recently that the show became more serious and filled with emotion. This is definetly one of the better sitcoms I've seen in a while.


Season 1 of Prison Break just ended tonight.

There's SO many praises I can go on about concerning the show, but I'd like to say this: For a show this damn good, this damn suspenseful and this well written, they hands down, create the WORST cliff hangers to end on. The first break they did, over the winter was such a "wait, you can't just end it there," and the season finally was just a big "oh, you got to be kidding me!"

Asides from that, the show delivers in every way possible. The show is so suspenseful that sometimes I wish I could just fast foward it or read what happens. The show gets you SO on edge that you can't take it. You really feel as scared and worried as the cast. This is definetly another show worth the watch.

Abusing Live Journal's Sponsored+ Accounts

Recently a friend of mine started a photo journal. I went to go check her info page to see what she had on it and I saw something different. On her account status section, it said "Sponsored+." I had no idea what it is, so I checked out.

Apparantly, it's something between a free account and a paid account. The point of a Sponsored+ account is to get users familiar with some of the features of a paid account but, with the downside of advertisements appearing on your journal, your friends page and your info page. Clever idea. Tease users with better privileges but annoy them with ads so if they become too used to those said privileges, they will get a paid account to keep them and not be annoyed. Ha!

For now, I don't intend to fall prey to it. 10 extra users pics, a gig or so of space and 5 phone posts a month is fine by me. Also, I suppose I somehow already Adblock'd whatever server Livejournal uses for their ads because the area where the ads appear are blank. They take up space by creating a table, but they are blank. So, while it's annoying that it creates a table on the side of the page, there is no ad there. All it really does is no longer make my journal center, it's just flushed to the left now.

To be honest, the only reason I changed my account type was for phone posts. My friend Bryan and I used to make the most ridiculous phone posts every month or so. He'd call me and if we realized our conversation was getting ridiculous, we'd call up Livejournal and just go nuts. It doesn't mean much to say it, you need to hear some of these. I'll upload some in the next few days. You guys may not appreciate them the way we do, though.

I have this weird cough. I am not coughing up anything. My throat isn't sore. I don't have any other symptoms of a cold or allergies, so I don't know what it could be. Either way, enjoy me talking about Sponsored+ accounts and coughing on my first Livejournal Phone Post.

Moving Out and Upward: Second Day Of Work

Man, I am pretty tired.

Work wasn't so bad but being out all day before it kind of was. I really don't remember what I did all day. Which isn't so bad because the same thing would happen if I sat home all day on the Internet or something. Except, at least now, I am forgetting what I did, but getting paid (well, at least not yet.)

Today I followed Angelo around. Today was also a lot busier. I helped more, I moved around more and I am getting a little better at remembering multiple orders and how to hold plates. I also noticed I work with a pretty cute girl.

The hostess for the day was the owners wife and she is really nice to me although from what I hear, she always has an attitude problem. She caught an attitude with Angelo today over something partially unprofessional on her part that Angelo had a problem with. All the waiters discussed it on the side and I learned that she can be a pain sometimes. She leaves notes for her husband about people's misconduct. What the hell is this, high school? She's nice to me and maybe that's because I am the son of one of the other hostesses. My mother also told me that she told the owner not to give me a hard time and to kindly explain things to me if I mess up. I know she's just looking out for me and wants this to be a pleasant experience since this is my first real job, but if I am working with him tomorrow, I am ask him to not baby me. If I fuck up, let me know. Just because I am the son of someone who's worked there for so long, doesn't mean the other workers need to kiss my ass. It makes me look like an idiot. Speaking of that, my mother made me seem like a total baby in front of one waitress and the girl with the herp. Way to make me look cool and way to fuck up my game, mom! Thankfully, everyone who works there is really cool and nice and know that my mother is insane. Understandably, everyone is nice to me now since I am her son and because I am starting out. They want me to feel comfortable and learn everything. I am sure once I become a part of the team and become good at working, I'll be treated like everyone else around there.

Any how, I went to the bathroom and started talking to people on AIM so I totally lost my train of thought. I need to be up pretty early to do laundry, dishes and get insurance for my car so I don't need to depend on anyone to go to and from work and to well... HAVE MY OWN CAR.

Moving Out and Upward: Step 1

The reality of everything is settling in and, it's not THAT bad.

Yesterday was my first day of work at the diner. It's not bad at all. The people there are thankfully not extremely boring. There's Eileen. I trained with her most of the day. Eileen is an older, blonde lady with glasses. Vulgar sense of humor. Nice, but not sweet. Likes picking on the other co-workers but all in good fun. Desiree is a younger, female co-worker. She's been a waitress since she was 16 and has to be around my age or a bit younger. Not my type of girl. My mother doesn't like her at all for some reason. Desiree doesn't know my mother well, but she knows all the other waitstaff likes her a lot so she assumes she must be a good person. Desiree doesn't seem bad, although, like I said, not my type of person. Angelo is one of the many Hispanic people there, although he's a waiter. He seems okay. Jokes around with Eileen a lot. Talks Spanish to all the busboys and seems to hav a good sense of humor. Rhustie is the young, Filipino guy I trained the rest of the night with. Rhustie is kinda of the attentive, somewhat effiminate Filipinos. He goes with Bergen also and is a Speech Pathology major. I have no clue what that entails. He's very nice and talkative and seems to have a good relationship with Desiree. I like Rhustie the most because he is my age, Filipino and a decent guy. The hostess I was working with was Maria. I think she's the daughter of the owner. She seems like the hard working, young female type. She seems determined and level headed, like she can have a good time, but she's very serious. Not so much a bad thing. It can feel a bit intimidating to have a bossy type of person around, but she isn't so bad.

The work itself wasn't hard at all. All I really needed to do was just know where everything was. Coffe's there. Soups here. Bread, coleslaw, spoons, milk, dessert, ice, glasses. Pretty easy. Writing orders wasn't that bad either. I just made the intial mistake of writing too small and writing everything out all the way. Eventually I got the idea. Oh, forgetting straws. Made that mistake too much. That's why waiters sometimes carry straws in their vests or aprons. It's an easy mistake to make. Learning to carry plates properly was by far the hardest thing to do. If you think it looks hard enough as is, try it. I totally suck at it. And I practicing it is hard. Because I can't spend all that time in the back with other waiters telling me how to do it while people are waiting for their food. Also, I sometimes have a terrible memory. So I know at some point when I am doing more than one order at once or a large order, I am definetly going to fuck something up. Then again, waiters usually tend to ask who gets what when they come to your table. No one is perfect. I just felt bad not fully remembering who gets what. I just hope I don't mix up orders or forget things. I mean, all waiters tend to do it, but, it's different when it's you.

All in all, it wasn't a bad day. I was there from around 5:30-10:30 and I wasn't very tired. Granted, I didn't do THAT much and the diner wasn't THAT busy. But, the worst part was just sitting around and thinking of things to do. You'd be like, "Well, okay. My tables have their food. Hm, now what? Uh, I guess I'll write prices. Okay, that's done. Well, um, okay, in 3 minutes I'll see if they need anything." etc. Friday and Saturday I know will be crazy, especially once it gets late, but thankfully those are the days I am working with my mom, so I can always ask her for help.

At first I felt a little intimidated working along Eileen and Desiree. They know what they are doing and a very quick to do thier job. Although Rhustie has only been a waiter for a month and he seems to have it down despite the mistakes I saw him do that night. So long as I can hold plates well and pray I don't mess up orders too bad, the job seems like it'll be pretty easy going. I only hope the money will be good.

Speaking of money... this is the rough part. Here's a list of stuff I am going to pay for:

Definite:
- My car: $3000 (over time)
- Allstate Insurace: About $100+ a month? Or more? I forget
- Gas
- Tolls if I take the parkway: $35 approx or EZ Pass $50?
- Pay back my mother for all the work clothes: $300 approx

Wants:
- My own food: $100+ a month
- My own toiletries: $100 a month?
- Pocket money + outside food: Who knows
- Games: Let's say a game a month if that: $50 a month
- Clothes: A lot, so long as I have money for it
- If money permits, a MacBook Pro: roughly $50 a month

Future:
- Rent: at least $500 a month if I can get a room mate for a 2 bed room
- Phone: I don't know if I will pay for it myself if I live without my mom
- TV: none
- Internet: $50+ a month
- House phone: $25

So, as you can see. That's a lot of money. And what that really says is that I need a second job. Here's some ideas:

- Waiter at a more upscale place. I work off the books now, so, all that money is mine. For now, I have no idea how much I am going to make a month there. It's not as steady, so who knows. A better restaurant means more money, but also means more work and stricter guidelines perhaps.
- Graphic Design: This is definetly the ideal. Unfortunately, I am rusty. I haven't done real design work in over a year. I want to get the Mac laptop so I can practice all my work any where any time and refamiliarize myself with Mac OS since almost every job uses it. My friend Sarah might be getting out of her job at newspaper and I can probably go there. Granted, it's far from what I want, nonetheless, it's still GD experience and will work mostly with layout, a part of design I don't like, but overall, is essential.
- Airbrushing: My brother does this freelance and makes $100 an hour and that's him low balling himself. He does that so he gets hired more often which means more chances to make money. Being that we're brothers and both artistic, it shouldn't be too hard for me to learn. So long as I can get my own equipment and practice enough with my brother and then on my own, I can probably take his place the times he can't, but who knows.

More over, to save up to get out of here by September, I need to get a second job and save. Bryan may not move out with me, so, for now, I don't have a definite room mate. My problem here is that I want to live with someone I feel 100% comfortable with who feels 100% comfortable with all my friends, my lifestyle, my diet, my taste in music and sleeping habits. Which, really narrows it down to two people for the most ideal...es....ness. And since one of them may not want to and the other cannot, being "ideal" leaves me shit out of luck. I am moving out because I can't stand to live with someone who always is needing me to do something or always interrupts me when I am trying to relax. Always uses every dish in the house before I can think of what to eat, leaves messes, takes up 95% of all the space in the house for their stuff and makes a lot of noise when she's here. So, obviously, I wouldn't want a room mate even remotely close to that. Either way, if I want to live with someone, it has to be someone I never want to argue with, who won't mind what I cook for dinner and vice versa, he gives me space and can take care of themselves, who isn't messy and who doesn't have any friends or shitty taste in music. I pretty much want someone I know very well and is probably more well behaved and easy going as me. In the end, a room mate is good for paying their half of the rent. It's going to be SO tough for me to want to move in with someone. Hell, people may not even want to live with me if I ask, you know?!

In the end, I have to just worry about making enough money to save up to prepare to leave. I want a room mate who I know can help me get things done. Who can push me to really get my act together and hopefully, I can do the same for. More importantly, someone who I can collaborate with on things as well. Amongst everything, getting a good room mate will be the hardest part for me. There's so much I WANT out of a room mate but at the same time, I know I can't get everything I want at the same time, I have to live up to the person they want to live with as well. But, give me a few more months to worry about that.

Part One: The Beginning

I need to post a blog so I can set a color. I really want an orange blog.