(no subject)
I've decided I need to update Semagic cuz this rich text tool annoys me. I miss the comfort of my good ole Semagic. I think I quite possibly had one of the weirdest holiday weekends of my life. Let's start with Friday, shall we?
I worked roughly 11am- 8:30pm on Fri. night. Walton was still there after coming in at 6 am so I suggested we go out for a drink. I was originally thinking we'd just go to 99 or Ruby's but I decided I'd rather get the hell out of Dodge and go to a dive. So, for the sake of appetizers, we chose JP's. That place really is a dive, but at least it's an upscale dive as far as Holyoke bars go. The bartender was really nice and it ends up she not only used to work at my store ("in the old building") but I also hired her brother-in-law, a sweeheart named Quinn. Small world. Especially when you're hanging out with Walton. She knows the entire W. Mass population. Anyway, we had a great time hanging out and laughing our asses off. The calamari was excellent and the bruschetta was really good too. We told the bartender we were going to pretend we were in Italy and she said that was cool with her as long as we didn't start ordering in Italian. She does know how to sing "Happy Birthday" in Italian and Polish though. Polish- I'm impressed. I can sing part of it but don't ask me to pronounce all the words correctly. I'll leave that to my Babcie. The bar closed just before midnight, probably because there were only four of us left. I wish all bars stayed open until 2 am at the earliest.
Saturday was an interesting night at work. As we were closing the store some associates turned a bag into Joann-- the remains of a nickel of pot. Neither she nor the associates knew if it was real or not so she brought it over to me and asked for my "expertise". I smelled it, confirmed it, and promptly informed them I'd be turning it into security and then stuffed the baggie into my bra with a mischievous look on my face. Then Lynnette wanted to smell it since she'd supposedly only smelled it once in her life. "Eww, that smells like a skunk!" Two associates: "Ooooh, that's good then!!" Me: "No, it's not good. It has lots of seeds and stems." Lynnette again: "It smells like an herb!" Me: "It is an herb, you dumbass!" Anyway, I washed it down the sink with Joann as my witness and showed Tim from security the empty bag.
Sunday involved Tim and Sylvia trying to play practical jokes on me. I was getting a flatbed at the dock when Joann told me to follow her into the security office. She had a journal roll in her hand so I thought she caught an associate stealing. Ends up some lady returned a pair of pajamas she had bought on the internet because they didn't fit. When an associate was re-folding them they noticed they had shit stains on the ass of the pants. Eeeeeeewwwwwwww. That's worse than the old man's peepee underwear I had to take back because he used high heat in the dryer and the waistband shrunk. (He had informed me to find the fattest woman in the store and that those underwear wouldn't even fit her. I don't know what point that proved. Then he also looked me up and down and informed me to keep smiling. That almost topped the time a guy was buying a $200 full-price electric toothbrush and told me that I had "a nice smile and great teeth, which means a lot from someone buying a $200 toothbrush".) Anyway, back to the Weekend Weirdness. So, as Joann and I were entering the security office Sylvia decided to sound the FREAKING LOUD alarm on a megaphone they have back there for some reason. Joann and I jumped out of our skins. I informed Sylvia that it may be 3 months from now when she doesn't even remember doing that to me but I WILL get her back. It was all in good fun. I watched the infamous "Peepee Poopie Security Video" (you have to ask me about that one in person) another 4 or 5 times again. I know I'm making it out to seem like I don't do any work. Just for your information, and any co-workers or bosses that may happen upon this post, this paragraph happened in the course of 10 minutes. So... later that day....
I was bringing my flatbed of RTV's (return-to-vendor merchandise) down to the dock. (See, I did accomplish something.) Of course I didn't have a straight path through so I had to move furniture waiting for a carry-out, discarded flatbeds, etc. While I was busy doing my crafty maneuvers Tim walked out of the office and sounded the megaphone. They didn't get a reaction out of me this time. I just swiftly walked towards the office and told Sylvia to get me her handcuffs. I took the two pairs hanging just inside the door and handcuffed Tim's arms to opposite poles. She gave me her own personal set and I handcuffed his belt loop to the middle pole. I then proceeded to take 3 Alfred Dunner cruisewear items off of a rolling rack and dress him. I put the floweriest, old ladiest one on his head like a turban and a disgusting knit one over his arm "because he had just been shopping". Then Sylvia took pictures of me holding the blaring megaphone inches from his face and posing. Tanya called after awhile and asked if we had heard the three fire engines. I almost fell down laughing at her. Then Kathy O-I, Tanya, and Nanci stopped down to join in the debauchery. Freakin' Tim didn't even put up a fight when I went to handcuff him, though even if he did he's a little runt that I would have completely physically dominated. I informed him on Friday that he's the kind of guy that if a girl was walking towards him on the street she'd cross to the other side of the street because of the freaking skeevy look he'd give her. He thought I was kidding. He tries to flirt like we all do with each other but he does it in a freaky stalkerish kind of way.
Sunday night a bunch of us got together for Christine's farewell dinner. We also threw in Margaret's second retirement with it. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see everyone again. A woman that retired about 5 years ago was there and she looked great!! She lost 65 pounds just by cutting down her portions. I need to get back in the groove by combining that kind of approach with a renewed gym membership (and a workout buddy and workout schedule!). Bridget, why do you have to live in NOLA?! ;)
Since yesterday was MLK Day (yay MLK!) I'll consider it part of the weekend. Emily came over just after 8 am and we drove down to see Julie in New Bedford. NB is nice!!! When she talked about it she always made it seem kind of ghetto, of which there are parts, but all in all it's a really nice town that reminds me a lot of Portland, Maine. Cobblestone, seaside streets, cute boutiques, a wine bar, etc. She had to cover a lunch at the Whaling Museum so Emily and I amused ourself with a tour of the museum. We watched an interesting video first. I didn't realize that both Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass were long-time residents there. We learned about the whaling industry and NB's history. Then we took some pictures next to two (obviously huge) whale skeletons suspended from the lobby ceiling. The museum was pretty quiet so it was fun to walk around without dealing with droves of people. We took pictures of each other pretending to sleep in The Lagoda's bunks. I took pictures of some amazing whalebone ivory artwork and TEH.CREEPIEST.CROSS STITCH.EVAR! Emily and I bought magnets commemorating the occasion. I'll see how advanced I can get and add some pictures as an addendum to this post at some point. Not quite the kind of thing I want to partake in at 5 in the morning after 3 hours of sleep. Anyway, it as an 18th century practice cross stitch by a young NB girl. There was a set of lines: "And when the clay-cold hand of death/ Shall chill my lungs and stop my breath" When I read it all I could think of was a horror movie trailer with a little kid eerily whispering that phrase while she was in a closet, in the fetal position, with long stringy hair covering her face. Julie later informed us that the young girl who created the cross stitch died before the age of 14. I'm convinced that she was truly the first goth of NB.
After the museum tour we stopped at the gift shop. I bought some really cute earrings that are 2" long sailing scissors, the aforementioned magnet, a sailing book that was 70% off for a Father's Day present, and an illuminated cut-out house for a Mother's Day present. Emily got some really pretty light amber-colored star earrings and a keychain for her mom. After Julie got off work we walked to a nearby gift shop. I found a cast iron pig with an antique clock in his stomach for $18!!!!! Picture in the upcoming pic post. The pig will be a welcome addition to my pig-and-apple kitchen collection. I also got an orange Yankee Candle car gel (25% off) and a Red Hat Society wire rim candle holder for $3 for the next time I host a month. Deals!!
We then drove the 2 minutes back to Julie's apartment and met up with Jon. We all went to Not Your Average Joe's for lunch and I LOVED it. Apparently it's a Boston-area chain that originated in NB. I had a spice-rubbed flank steak served with carmelized onions and yellow raisins, thick-cut sweet potato fries, and grilled asparagus. I cleaned my plate. They also have the most amazing ciabatta bread there with a dip consisting of red pepper flakes, fresh Parmesan & Romano, garlic, and olive oil. I MUST duplicate it in the near future. It's even better than Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian dressing which I could just drink.
After lunch/dinner we dropped Jon off at the paper because he had a few things to do and the three of us drove to the beach. It was so freakin' cold so we didn't spend much time outside but we walked about 1/4 of the way down the pier and took some beautiful pictures of the full moon and the rose- and orange-colored sun setting over the ocean. Then we returned to Julie's apartment, exchanged Christmas presents, and talked about her wedding plans some more. June will be coming up before we know it! Julie is proactively clairvoyant. Ever since inventory I've been having trouble sleeping and she had bought me a sleeping-aid tea and tea infuser spoon for Christmas. The tea has valerian root and other sleep-inducing herbs. Go Flanders!
The mini road trip with Emily was a lot of fun. We talked, almost turned the car on two wheels (it was a rental), I discovered a handbag loop in the dash on the passenger side and promptly used it for my new Coach, and we sang to blasted Fiona Apple, Death Cab For Cutie, and songs on a compilatiion I had made for Sarah in Australia. It was a lot of fun. It felt just like we were back in high school again.
This weekend has resulted in a few thoughts: I'm thankful that I've kept meaningful, lasting relationships with 3 of my closest friends from high school; NB isn't as bad as I originally thought, it's quite nice in fact; as shitty as work may be it can always be made fun; and finally, I'm so happy to return to having a social life that doesn't involve carpal tunnel .
I worked roughly 11am- 8:30pm on Fri. night. Walton was still there after coming in at 6 am so I suggested we go out for a drink. I was originally thinking we'd just go to 99 or Ruby's but I decided I'd rather get the hell out of Dodge and go to a dive. So, for the sake of appetizers, we chose JP's. That place really is a dive, but at least it's an upscale dive as far as Holyoke bars go. The bartender was really nice and it ends up she not only used to work at my store ("in the old building") but I also hired her brother-in-law, a sweeheart named Quinn. Small world. Especially when you're hanging out with Walton. She knows the entire W. Mass population. Anyway, we had a great time hanging out and laughing our asses off. The calamari was excellent and the bruschetta was really good too. We told the bartender we were going to pretend we were in Italy and she said that was cool with her as long as we didn't start ordering in Italian. She does know how to sing "Happy Birthday" in Italian and Polish though. Polish- I'm impressed. I can sing part of it but don't ask me to pronounce all the words correctly. I'll leave that to my Babcie. The bar closed just before midnight, probably because there were only four of us left. I wish all bars stayed open until 2 am at the earliest.
Saturday was an interesting night at work. As we were closing the store some associates turned a bag into Joann-- the remains of a nickel of pot. Neither she nor the associates knew if it was real or not so she brought it over to me and asked for my "expertise". I smelled it, confirmed it, and promptly informed them I'd be turning it into security and then stuffed the baggie into my bra with a mischievous look on my face. Then Lynnette wanted to smell it since she'd supposedly only smelled it once in her life. "Eww, that smells like a skunk!" Two associates: "Ooooh, that's good then!!" Me: "No, it's not good. It has lots of seeds and stems." Lynnette again: "It smells like an herb!" Me: "It is an herb, you dumbass!" Anyway, I washed it down the sink with Joann as my witness and showed Tim from security the empty bag.
Sunday involved Tim and Sylvia trying to play practical jokes on me. I was getting a flatbed at the dock when Joann told me to follow her into the security office. She had a journal roll in her hand so I thought she caught an associate stealing. Ends up some lady returned a pair of pajamas she had bought on the internet because they didn't fit. When an associate was re-folding them they noticed they had shit stains on the ass of the pants. Eeeeeeewwwwwwww. That's worse than the old man's peepee underwear I had to take back because he used high heat in the dryer and the waistband shrunk. (He had informed me to find the fattest woman in the store and that those underwear wouldn't even fit her. I don't know what point that proved. Then he also looked me up and down and informed me to keep smiling. That almost topped the time a guy was buying a $200 full-price electric toothbrush and told me that I had "a nice smile and great teeth, which means a lot from someone buying a $200 toothbrush".) Anyway, back to the Weekend Weirdness. So, as Joann and I were entering the security office Sylvia decided to sound the FREAKING LOUD alarm on a megaphone they have back there for some reason. Joann and I jumped out of our skins. I informed Sylvia that it may be 3 months from now when she doesn't even remember doing that to me but I WILL get her back. It was all in good fun. I watched the infamous "Peepee Poopie Security Video" (you have to ask me about that one in person) another 4 or 5 times again. I know I'm making it out to seem like I don't do any work. Just for your information, and any co-workers or bosses that may happen upon this post, this paragraph happened in the course of 10 minutes. So... later that day....
I was bringing my flatbed of RTV's (return-to-vendor merchandise) down to the dock. (See, I did accomplish something.) Of course I didn't have a straight path through so I had to move furniture waiting for a carry-out, discarded flatbeds, etc. While I was busy doing my crafty maneuvers Tim walked out of the office and sounded the megaphone. They didn't get a reaction out of me this time. I just swiftly walked towards the office and told Sylvia to get me her handcuffs. I took the two pairs hanging just inside the door and handcuffed Tim's arms to opposite poles. She gave me her own personal set and I handcuffed his belt loop to the middle pole. I then proceeded to take 3 Alfred Dunner cruisewear items off of a rolling rack and dress him. I put the floweriest, old ladiest one on his head like a turban and a disgusting knit one over his arm "because he had just been shopping". Then Sylvia took pictures of me holding the blaring megaphone inches from his face and posing. Tanya called after awhile and asked if we had heard the three fire engines. I almost fell down laughing at her. Then Kathy O-I, Tanya, and Nanci stopped down to join in the debauchery. Freakin' Tim didn't even put up a fight when I went to handcuff him, though even if he did he's a little runt that I would have completely physically dominated. I informed him on Friday that he's the kind of guy that if a girl was walking towards him on the street she'd cross to the other side of the street because of the freaking skeevy look he'd give her. He thought I was kidding. He tries to flirt like we all do with each other but he does it in a freaky stalkerish kind of way.
Sunday night a bunch of us got together for Christine's farewell dinner. We also threw in Margaret's second retirement with it. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see everyone again. A woman that retired about 5 years ago was there and she looked great!! She lost 65 pounds just by cutting down her portions. I need to get back in the groove by combining that kind of approach with a renewed gym membership (and a workout buddy and workout schedule!). Bridget, why do you have to live in NOLA?! ;)
Since yesterday was MLK Day (yay MLK!) I'll consider it part of the weekend. Emily came over just after 8 am and we drove down to see Julie in New Bedford. NB is nice!!! When she talked about it she always made it seem kind of ghetto, of which there are parts, but all in all it's a really nice town that reminds me a lot of Portland, Maine. Cobblestone, seaside streets, cute boutiques, a wine bar, etc. She had to cover a lunch at the Whaling Museum so Emily and I amused ourself with a tour of the museum. We watched an interesting video first. I didn't realize that both Herman Melville and Frederick Douglass were long-time residents there. We learned about the whaling industry and NB's history. Then we took some pictures next to two (obviously huge) whale skeletons suspended from the lobby ceiling. The museum was pretty quiet so it was fun to walk around without dealing with droves of people. We took pictures of each other pretending to sleep in The Lagoda's bunks. I took pictures of some amazing whalebone ivory artwork and TEH.CREEPIEST.CROSS STITCH.EVAR! Emily and I bought magnets commemorating the occasion. I'll see how advanced I can get and add some pictures as an addendum to this post at some point. Not quite the kind of thing I want to partake in at 5 in the morning after 3 hours of sleep. Anyway, it as an 18th century practice cross stitch by a young NB girl. There was a set of lines: "And when the clay-cold hand of death/ Shall chill my lungs and stop my breath" When I read it all I could think of was a horror movie trailer with a little kid eerily whispering that phrase while she was in a closet, in the fetal position, with long stringy hair covering her face. Julie later informed us that the young girl who created the cross stitch died before the age of 14. I'm convinced that she was truly the first goth of NB.
After the museum tour we stopped at the gift shop. I bought some really cute earrings that are 2" long sailing scissors, the aforementioned magnet, a sailing book that was 70% off for a Father's Day present, and an illuminated cut-out house for a Mother's Day present. Emily got some really pretty light amber-colored star earrings and a keychain for her mom. After Julie got off work we walked to a nearby gift shop. I found a cast iron pig with an antique clock in his stomach for $18!!!!! Picture in the upcoming pic post. The pig will be a welcome addition to my pig-and-apple kitchen collection. I also got an orange Yankee Candle car gel (25% off) and a Red Hat Society wire rim candle holder for $3 for the next time I host a month. Deals!!
We then drove the 2 minutes back to Julie's apartment and met up with Jon. We all went to Not Your Average Joe's for lunch and I LOVED it. Apparently it's a Boston-area chain that originated in NB. I had a spice-rubbed flank steak served with carmelized onions and yellow raisins, thick-cut sweet potato fries, and grilled asparagus. I cleaned my plate. They also have the most amazing ciabatta bread there with a dip consisting of red pepper flakes, fresh Parmesan & Romano, garlic, and olive oil. I MUST duplicate it in the near future. It's even better than Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian dressing which I could just drink.
After lunch/dinner we dropped Jon off at the paper because he had a few things to do and the three of us drove to the beach. It was so freakin' cold so we didn't spend much time outside but we walked about 1/4 of the way down the pier and took some beautiful pictures of the full moon and the rose- and orange-colored sun setting over the ocean. Then we returned to Julie's apartment, exchanged Christmas presents, and talked about her wedding plans some more. June will be coming up before we know it! Julie is proactively clairvoyant. Ever since inventory I've been having trouble sleeping and she had bought me a sleeping-aid tea and tea infuser spoon for Christmas. The tea has valerian root and other sleep-inducing herbs. Go Flanders!
The mini road trip with Emily was a lot of fun. We talked, almost turned the car on two wheels (it was a rental), I discovered a handbag loop in the dash on the passenger side and promptly used it for my new Coach, and we sang to blasted Fiona Apple, Death Cab For Cutie, and songs on a compilatiion I had made for Sarah in Australia. It was a lot of fun. It felt just like we were back in high school again.
This weekend has resulted in a few thoughts: I'm thankful that I've kept meaningful, lasting relationships with 3 of my closest friends from high school; NB isn't as bad as I originally thought, it's quite nice in fact; as shitty as work may be it can always be made fun; and finally, I'm so happy to return to having a social life that doesn't involve carpal tunnel .