Anyone in the Seattle area will probably agree with me when i shake my fist at the sky and curse it for yet more snow. Spring is supposed to be on our doorstep, not freezing temperatures and ice.
Surprisingly, after the snow decided to take a break from falling yesterday, the sun came out briefly. I found myself halfway home when i saw shadows and felt the sun's warmth.
It called to me, reminding of days when all the windows in my car were down, sunglasses on and i went speeding down the highway with my hair and fingertips flying in the wind.
And just like that, I didn't feel like going home. I purposely made a wrong turn and explored where it went occasionally adding a wrong turn here and there. I ended up 15 miles from where my apartment is, before the sun stopped shining and my stomach started growling.
But for that time, i felt so carefree, all the stress melted away like the snow under the sun.
I can't wait for summer to get here. For the day when I can put all the windows down and chance a speeding ticket. I know where I'll be:
Free.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Hanging with the boys: Crude Humor
This is why i love hanging out with guys. The following scene would NEVER play out around a bunch of girls.
Warning: Crude Humor ahead.
Starring: Kenny, Cory, Colin, and I
The scene: Kenny is playing the online version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Since you can only play one player online, the rest of us are distributed around the living room. Colin is also playing World of Warcraft on his laptop and Cory and I are half watching Kenny play the game, and half poking each other for no apparent reason.
Call of Duty 4 (COD4) has these announcements that pop up on the screen like "You were killed by" and "You killled" and "Airstrike called in by" Which are all followed by the online player's screen name. Kenny's screen name is Baka.
Naturally around a group of guys, they start talking about changing the screen name so that it sounds really funny when those announcements pop up. The names may not be 100% accurate, because there were so many suggestions flying around, it was hard to keep track.
Cory: "You were killed by a wet noodle!"
Kenny: "You were killed by your mom"
Colin: "You were killed by a rabid squirrel"
Me: "You were killed by your own stupidity"
Cory: "you were killed by the clap"
Me: "you were killed by a hammertoe"
to which Kenny looks over at me and says "what about a Cameltoe?"
Which natrually sparks off " You were killed by a Cameltoe" and we all laugh and decide that that is the winner thus far.
Shortly there after, Cory gets up to make food. I'm watching the names and all of a sudden the following pops up:
"You were killed by A_10_LB_Wang" I read off. Cory, in the kitchen looks at me, not sure if he heard me right and Kenny, somehow missed it even though it popped up on the screen he was supposed to be paying attention to. Even Colin looked up from his computer game to look at me. Sure enough, that was the other player's screen name. Shortly there after, someone by the name of "ThinkingofKY" joins the game. This spawns: "Yeah, you'll need some KY with a 10lb wang"
Needless to say: it just went downhill from there.
I love hanging out with guys, they're so much more fun!
Warning: Crude Humor ahead.
Starring: Kenny, Cory, Colin, and I
The scene: Kenny is playing the online version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Since you can only play one player online, the rest of us are distributed around the living room. Colin is also playing World of Warcraft on his laptop and Cory and I are half watching Kenny play the game, and half poking each other for no apparent reason.
Call of Duty 4 (COD4) has these announcements that pop up on the screen like "You were killed by" and "You killled" and "Airstrike called in by" Which are all followed by the online player's screen name. Kenny's screen name is Baka.
Naturally around a group of guys, they start talking about changing the screen name so that it sounds really funny when those announcements pop up. The names may not be 100% accurate, because there were so many suggestions flying around, it was hard to keep track.
Cory: "You were killed by a wet noodle!"
Kenny: "You were killed by your mom"
Colin: "You were killed by a rabid squirrel"
Me: "You were killed by your own stupidity"
Cory: "you were killed by the clap"
Me: "you were killed by a hammertoe"
to which Kenny looks over at me and says "what about a Cameltoe?"
Which natrually sparks off " You were killed by a Cameltoe" and we all laugh and decide that that is the winner thus far.
Shortly there after, Cory gets up to make food. I'm watching the names and all of a sudden the following pops up:
"You were killed by A_10_LB_Wang" I read off. Cory, in the kitchen looks at me, not sure if he heard me right and Kenny, somehow missed it even though it popped up on the screen he was supposed to be paying attention to. Even Colin looked up from his computer game to look at me. Sure enough, that was the other player's screen name. Shortly there after, someone by the name of "ThinkingofKY" joins the game. This spawns: "Yeah, you'll need some KY with a 10lb wang"
Needless to say: it just went downhill from there.
I love hanging out with guys, they're so much more fun!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Catch up = 3.75 hours
This is a bit of a rambling post, but to sum up:
Morganne's application was denied so she's not able to be my roommate. Quite a bummer since i think she and i would get along really well. I'm back to the drawing board...again.
I have been very very sick since about Saturday midday. Starting out as a headache that would just NOT go away, soon i was barely able to get off the couch to open the door. My fever of about 103, (i'm guessing because i don't have a thermometer or a mother's calibrated hand, but i had some minor hallucinations) finally broke Monday morning, only to be replaced with another one Monday night. My mom showed up to just drop off soup and proceeded to force feed it me and make me drink about a gallon of water. And i slept soundly all day and all night long. I pulled a half day on Monday, another half day Wednesday, and finally made it into work for a mostly full day thus far. And for the week, i managed to catch up in about 3.75 hours. And now i'm sitting waiting for the axe to fall.
I also completely lost my voice on tuesday, which was quite a pickle since i really needed to talk to Katherine. As it turns out, typing 70wpm has some uses, like dictating my response to her. We think we've worked out a plan for how to deal with the living situation and it's current status of unaceptable. While i don't believe her financial status is any of my business, when it affects me, i don't tolerate being lied to very well. I was told "i can't afford to pay march". Now i hear "it would be a bummer but we could pay through the end of the lease". I was less than calm to hear that, since our lease is up in august. But never fear,
The art of negotiation is letting everyone else have your way
Morganne's application was denied so she's not able to be my roommate. Quite a bummer since i think she and i would get along really well. I'm back to the drawing board...again.
I have been very very sick since about Saturday midday. Starting out as a headache that would just NOT go away, soon i was barely able to get off the couch to open the door. My fever of about 103, (i'm guessing because i don't have a thermometer or a mother's calibrated hand, but i had some minor hallucinations) finally broke Monday morning, only to be replaced with another one Monday night. My mom showed up to just drop off soup and proceeded to force feed it me and make me drink about a gallon of water. And i slept soundly all day and all night long. I pulled a half day on Monday, another half day Wednesday, and finally made it into work for a mostly full day thus far. And for the week, i managed to catch up in about 3.75 hours. And now i'm sitting waiting for the axe to fall.
I also completely lost my voice on tuesday, which was quite a pickle since i really needed to talk to Katherine. As it turns out, typing 70wpm has some uses, like dictating my response to her. We think we've worked out a plan for how to deal with the living situation and it's current status of unaceptable. While i don't believe her financial status is any of my business, when it affects me, i don't tolerate being lied to very well. I was told "i can't afford to pay march". Now i hear "it would be a bummer but we could pay through the end of the lease". I was less than calm to hear that, since our lease is up in august. But never fear,
The art of negotiation is letting everyone else have your way
Friday, February 20, 2009
Adventures in Roommate Searching
A situation that pretty much everyone can relate to from some point in their lives: Finding a roommate.
The only people I believe that are spared from this..."adventure"... are those who are financially able to live on their own right away after leaving their parent's keep (koodos), or those who never leave their parent's keep.
I was careful enough with my money when i was younger in order to fit into the former, and my parents made sure i would never, ever want to live with them for the rest of my life. So as i realized my college era was ending, i found a roommate and moved out. It was a pleasant six months, with an underlying stress that steadily grew until it exploded and I was forced to look for another roommate.
I put up an ad on craigslist and roommates.com and considering my complex is amazing, queries started pouring in. I forced myself to meet with anyone who fit my three main criteria: Female, Non smoker, financially able to afford the place.
So far i have been able to classify them into four categories:
1) The students: these are the ones who are pulling part time jobs and taking classes or are running solely on student loans and somehow have deluded themselves that they can afford to live with me.
These include:
The 19 year old who didn't know what utilities were much less that they were extra over rent,
The one who showed up 3 hours late and expected me to say yes because she was so awesome,
The ones who asked me if i was 420 friendly (i adamantly am not and turned their names over to the police department),
And the one who brought her bum ass boyfriend with her asking if he could essentially live with us (overnight guests are one thing, this was another)
2) The Not Impressed: The ones who walk through the door and you can visibly watch their faces fall, then they sit and half heartedly get to know you for some odd reason. Then they get up and leave and don't have the decency to tell you they're not interested.
These include:
the 28 year old who decided that she would rather live on her own
the snob...there's no other way to describe her manerisms
and the one who told me yes and then the next day told me about a much better apartment she found for 100$ more
3) The Robots: The ones who come and are as stiff as a board acting like they are in a job interview with donald trump, sit precariously on the edge of the couch and deliver pre-memorized, full fledged, complete sentence, answers to something as simple as "what are your hobbies". They are unable to carry a conversation unless it is a question - answer form.
These include:
the 'afraid to sit on anything' girl
the 'terrified 18 year old'
the 'all but silent' one who stared at me waiting for the next question.
and 'one who couldn't STOP selling herself' to me about why this appartment would be perfect for her.
4) The Potentials: These are the ones whom after speaking with them, I wanted them to move in. However in 3 out of 4 instances, they ended up saying no to me for various reasons:
one got a surprise engagement
one's boyfriend put an offer on a house and she figured she would be living with him more than at the apartment
the one whom i can only describe as fung shui, incense burning, mandala fan whom i later found out was a smoker and then said no to
and the most recent who has a very well behaved dog and i get along great with.
I have two more people to meet with tomorrow. I've had a stressful February and I'm done. I fully intend to make a decision by Sunday and be done with it all. I'm ready to know the answer to what will happen as of March 1 and just get it over with.
The only people I believe that are spared from this..."adventure"... are those who are financially able to live on their own right away after leaving their parent's keep (koodos), or those who never leave their parent's keep.
I was careful enough with my money when i was younger in order to fit into the former, and my parents made sure i would never, ever want to live with them for the rest of my life. So as i realized my college era was ending, i found a roommate and moved out. It was a pleasant six months, with an underlying stress that steadily grew until it exploded and I was forced to look for another roommate.
I put up an ad on craigslist and roommates.com and considering my complex is amazing, queries started pouring in. I forced myself to meet with anyone who fit my three main criteria: Female, Non smoker, financially able to afford the place.
So far i have been able to classify them into four categories:
1) The students: these are the ones who are pulling part time jobs and taking classes or are running solely on student loans and somehow have deluded themselves that they can afford to live with me.
These include:
The 19 year old who didn't know what utilities were much less that they were extra over rent,
The one who showed up 3 hours late and expected me to say yes because she was so awesome,
The ones who asked me if i was 420 friendly (i adamantly am not and turned their names over to the police department),
And the one who brought her bum ass boyfriend with her asking if he could essentially live with us (overnight guests are one thing, this was another)
2) The Not Impressed: The ones who walk through the door and you can visibly watch their faces fall, then they sit and half heartedly get to know you for some odd reason. Then they get up and leave and don't have the decency to tell you they're not interested.
These include:
the 28 year old who decided that she would rather live on her own
the snob...there's no other way to describe her manerisms
and the one who told me yes and then the next day told me about a much better apartment she found for 100$ more
3) The Robots: The ones who come and are as stiff as a board acting like they are in a job interview with donald trump, sit precariously on the edge of the couch and deliver pre-memorized, full fledged, complete sentence, answers to something as simple as "what are your hobbies". They are unable to carry a conversation unless it is a question - answer form.
These include:
the 'afraid to sit on anything' girl
the 'terrified 18 year old'
the 'all but silent' one who stared at me waiting for the next question.
and 'one who couldn't STOP selling herself' to me about why this appartment would be perfect for her.
4) The Potentials: These are the ones whom after speaking with them, I wanted them to move in. However in 3 out of 4 instances, they ended up saying no to me for various reasons:
one got a surprise engagement
one's boyfriend put an offer on a house and she figured she would be living with him more than at the apartment
the one whom i can only describe as fung shui, incense burning, mandala fan whom i later found out was a smoker and then said no to
and the most recent who has a very well behaved dog and i get along great with.
I have two more people to meet with tomorrow. I've had a stressful February and I'm done. I fully intend to make a decision by Sunday and be done with it all. I'm ready to know the answer to what will happen as of March 1 and just get it over with.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Dear Soon to be Ex-Roommate
This is a vent or perhaps a guide for when leaving an apartment, All things included in here are what I believe to be common sense when exiting an apartment and not unreasonable expectations especially considering that someone will be continuing to live in that area after you leave. I hope you will read through this and realize how frustrating some of your behaviors have been to me and that we can come to a mutually agreable solution. This is also known as not being an oblivious blockhead. I have detailed some of your more grevious infractions below.
1) Stop with the Katherine Pitty Parties. I don't buy into them anymore. I know perfectly well that you were still sound asleep most days out of a week at noon when i came home for lunch. I also know that when i got home at 5, you were watching tv untill 2 or so in the morning. You could have gotten A JOB, ANY JOB to pay your bills. Instead, for 6 months, you decided to sit around like a lump and go to a couple interviews for the one KIND of job you felt like. By the end of the second month, you should have gotten some kind of minimum wage job, as a grocery store clerk, or waiting tables or something instead of letting mommy and daddy pay for you for six months. I have never in my life met a more overly indulged, 25 year old coward (yes, you heard me. That BS about texting that you're moving out while I was at work and couldn't respond was undoutably cowardly) that is so out of touch with reality yet claims to be very mature for their age.
2) Do NOT do all of your packing and shuffling and sorting RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER ROOMMATE"S DOOR TO THEIR ROOM and BATHROOM!!!!! Especially not when A) the coffee table is bigger, B) closer to the door and C) It's not in someone else's way!
3) Holes that I can stick my pinky through ARE NOT OK TO LEAVE! Are you kidding me? What on earth did you have hanging there? A full size GONG?!
4) Don't leave random magnets attached to the fridge because they're too sticky to get off. Get a putty knife, some kind of Goo remover and take the hour to get them off. Oh yeah, then wash up the residual! And no, you're not getting them back now. I put in the effort, they're mine and if i want to throw them out, I will. (except some of them are kind of cool)
5) When you tell your roommate who's staying "I'll be there before noon to pick up those plants that are in your way"....at least call and let her know that you won't bother to show up until after 4pm, wasting her time and effort to move them out of my way as I cleaned yet another mess caused by you. This will be detailed in number 5.
Thanks for vacuuming up after taking all the plants: Except you missed everywhere but the main pathway. Don't bother next time if you're not gonna do a halfway decent job. If you'd missed the corners, then whatever. But doing a once over in a straight line? Just don't fricken bother.
6) I couldn't believe that we were unable to use our deck for much more than walking out one step and turning around in a circle. That is a completely rediculous amount of plants you posess and guess what? HALF OF THEM ARE DEAD! This issue coupled with the clean off of the roof which dripped onto our deck left the deck smelling like old rotten seagull poop! Thanks for leaving that for me to clean cause i know there is no way in hell you would have bothered doing more than sweep as shown since they cleaned the roofs in October. It was dark green when it should have been lite tan! That is gross. At least now it's possible to walk more than one step outside.
7) I don't want your crap! If i say "No, I don't want that after you're gone." Then don't leave it in a pile on top of the dining room table. For that matter, don't leave the rest of the crap you are taking scattered around the living area and not show up for 4 days. Again, someone else is living there.
8) Even if you're just cleaning out one drawer....Show up once in a while, get some small thing done. You don't need one of your parents or your brother to escort you to pick up half a dozen small things. You have two hands, use them. It won't be so overwhelming if you chip away at it slowly. Or here's a thought...ask for help. If you asked me to patch holes, i wouldn't mind, it's just leaving them thinking they're ok, that bothers me.
9) There is such a thing as before 2pm. It's when most of the rest of the world is trying to get shit done. You should try it sometime!
10) This is more of a observation of your so called social life; Maybe you should try meeting more people than the 4 whom i saw or heard about in the entire 6 months i lived with you. It's a great thing to be friends with your parents and your brother and a neighbor. But when those are the ONLY people you hang out with and you NEVER agree to try and meet other people? No wonder you're depressed. You have a great personality and would do just fine in the real world. But you're hindering yourself! I invited you out constantly, but always recieved the response No. Try Yes once in a while. You'd be amazed at the experiances.
I realize that I have not voiced a single one of these complaints to you. Mostly out of the knowledge that it infuriates me to no end and i would rather avoid an enormous blowup from compliled issues. I have sat here for the last 6 months quietly biding my time and severly biting my tongue. I knew this would happen, and yet i let you convince yourself that you had it under control.
I hope this has been an educational experiance for you in Common Decency and Common Sense. While living with you was quite a pleasant experiance, your financial situation aside, I was shocked to see your behavior rapidly deteriorate.
To put my feelings about this simply: Grow up. You're not the saddest case in the world. And YES, i 100% fully believe you brought this on yourself and could have nipped it in the butt a LONG time ago.
1) Stop with the Katherine Pitty Parties. I don't buy into them anymore. I know perfectly well that you were still sound asleep most days out of a week at noon when i came home for lunch. I also know that when i got home at 5, you were watching tv untill 2 or so in the morning. You could have gotten A JOB, ANY JOB to pay your bills. Instead, for 6 months, you decided to sit around like a lump and go to a couple interviews for the one KIND of job you felt like. By the end of the second month, you should have gotten some kind of minimum wage job, as a grocery store clerk, or waiting tables or something instead of letting mommy and daddy pay for you for six months. I have never in my life met a more overly indulged, 25 year old coward (yes, you heard me. That BS about texting that you're moving out while I was at work and couldn't respond was undoutably cowardly) that is so out of touch with reality yet claims to be very mature for their age.
2) Do NOT do all of your packing and shuffling and sorting RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER ROOMMATE"S DOOR TO THEIR ROOM and BATHROOM!!!!! Especially not when A) the coffee table is bigger, B) closer to the door and C) It's not in someone else's way!
3) Holes that I can stick my pinky through ARE NOT OK TO LEAVE! Are you kidding me? What on earth did you have hanging there? A full size GONG?!
4) Don't leave random magnets attached to the fridge because they're too sticky to get off. Get a putty knife, some kind of Goo remover and take the hour to get them off. Oh yeah, then wash up the residual! And no, you're not getting them back now. I put in the effort, they're mine and if i want to throw them out, I will. (except some of them are kind of cool)
5) When you tell your roommate who's staying "I'll be there before noon to pick up those plants that are in your way"....at least call and let her know that you won't bother to show up until after 4pm, wasting her time and effort to move them out of my way as I cleaned yet another mess caused by you. This will be detailed in number 5.
Thanks for vacuuming up after taking all the plants: Except you missed everywhere but the main pathway. Don't bother next time if you're not gonna do a halfway decent job. If you'd missed the corners, then whatever. But doing a once over in a straight line? Just don't fricken bother.
6) I couldn't believe that we were unable to use our deck for much more than walking out one step and turning around in a circle. That is a completely rediculous amount of plants you posess and guess what? HALF OF THEM ARE DEAD! This issue coupled with the clean off of the roof which dripped onto our deck left the deck smelling like old rotten seagull poop! Thanks for leaving that for me to clean cause i know there is no way in hell you would have bothered doing more than sweep as shown since they cleaned the roofs in October. It was dark green when it should have been lite tan! That is gross. At least now it's possible to walk more than one step outside.
7) I don't want your crap! If i say "No, I don't want that after you're gone." Then don't leave it in a pile on top of the dining room table. For that matter, don't leave the rest of the crap you are taking scattered around the living area and not show up for 4 days. Again, someone else is living there.
8) Even if you're just cleaning out one drawer....Show up once in a while, get some small thing done. You don't need one of your parents or your brother to escort you to pick up half a dozen small things. You have two hands, use them. It won't be so overwhelming if you chip away at it slowly. Or here's a thought...ask for help. If you asked me to patch holes, i wouldn't mind, it's just leaving them thinking they're ok, that bothers me.
9) There is such a thing as before 2pm. It's when most of the rest of the world is trying to get shit done. You should try it sometime!
10) This is more of a observation of your so called social life; Maybe you should try meeting more people than the 4 whom i saw or heard about in the entire 6 months i lived with you. It's a great thing to be friends with your parents and your brother and a neighbor. But when those are the ONLY people you hang out with and you NEVER agree to try and meet other people? No wonder you're depressed. You have a great personality and would do just fine in the real world. But you're hindering yourself! I invited you out constantly, but always recieved the response No. Try Yes once in a while. You'd be amazed at the experiances.
I realize that I have not voiced a single one of these complaints to you. Mostly out of the knowledge that it infuriates me to no end and i would rather avoid an enormous blowup from compliled issues. I have sat here for the last 6 months quietly biding my time and severly biting my tongue. I knew this would happen, and yet i let you convince yourself that you had it under control.
I hope this has been an educational experiance for you in Common Decency and Common Sense. While living with you was quite a pleasant experiance, your financial situation aside, I was shocked to see your behavior rapidly deteriorate.
To put my feelings about this simply: Grow up. You're not the saddest case in the world. And YES, i 100% fully believe you brought this on yourself and could have nipped it in the butt a LONG time ago.
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