I'm amused
I'm sitting here munchin on a crusty baguette cut in thin slices. I topped with pate' that is topped with a few white pearl cocktail onions (in vinegar). I'll make baked tilapia and steamed asparagus for John later. Maybe I'll have some dinner with him but I doubt it. This snack will probably hold me.
I have my quarterly meeting with my manager tomorrow morning to discuss goals and objectives. That ought to be a real joy-can't wait.
My mom said the funniest thing to me yesterday. She made my day. First of all you must know my brother just had a baby boy. He's all excited and decided in his own mind that the baby is his (he had his doubts months prior). "that baby looks just like me.....", he told me. whatever.....So my mom said in her slightly annoyed voice, "he's just so happy...he's just prancing around here like a cat with a kitten..." That made me laugh because I know she is not exaggerating.
Off I go to watch the Simpsons. I love these cartoons that come on regular TV. They amuse me. For John and I, Sunday night is TV night. We watch The Simpsons, American Dad and Family Guy. Love them all. Family Guy was so funny last Sunday with a scene of this guy driving recklessly on a highway in an enormous yellow Hummer waving his fist out the window yelling, "yaayyyyy Rumsfeld!!" Funny.
Thinking of the past
Most of my twenties was spent working 2 jobs. For about 10 years (minus 1 year of working at a sports bar as a waitress)I worked at this check cashing place called Cash Unlimited. It was in a shopping strip on the corner of Hillsborough and 22nd. The neighborhood it was in was a poor neighborhood not far from public housing projects. It was a busy place. Most people that patronized the place would cash checks, purchase money orders and wire money to Mexico or South America.
You would be amazed at the type of stuff that went on there. It was a place fit for a Jerry Springer episode. A typical day would consist of a customer coming in to cash a check. For whatever reason, one of the ladies I worked with would refuse to cash it. The customer would then argue with the employee about it. They would eventually start trading insults. The language would become increasingly abusive until finally, the employee would threaten to "come out there" into the lobby. It would not matter if the customer was a man or a woman. These two ladies I worked with were always willing to go out and fight over insults. It amazed me. These were women in their late thirties and early forties too! I've even witnessed our store manager running out into the lobby and after someone. Talk about crazy....
What amazes me is the fact that I was never robbed. I had the responsibility of opening the store and closing it by myself. I had keys, access to the safe that was filled with anywhere between $50K and $250K on any given day. I thought about the possibility of being robbed all the time. There were random security guards that worked the entire shopping strip but, they did not keep the same hours as the check cashing store. The way I prevented myself from being robbed was by being completely unpredictable. I never opened or closed the store at the same time each night. I left early and came in late-preferably when there was a line of customers waiting for the store to open. If I was going to be robbed, I was going to make sure there were plenty of witnesses.
One night, I closed the store at 10pm and walked out and to my car. Little did I know, my car had been stolen from the parking lot earlier. So there I was, little me out in the middle of a parking lot in a bad neighborhood at 10pm. Fortunately, there was a policeman parked in the parking lot. I had to walk up to his car, knock on his window and explain what happened. Then, I had to find a ride home. I didn't have a cell phone back then so I had to find a pay-phone.The car was a brown Pontiac 6000. It was a complete lemon. I had just spent hundreds of dollars getting it fixed before it was stolen. It was awful.
We use to get people arrested there all the time for trying to cash stolen or counterfeit checks. We would know in advance of the type of checks or customers to watch out for. These check cashing companies are very good at working together and sharing information. Well, at least they were back then. If someone came in with a check we knew was stolen or counterfeit, we would lock them in the store (without their knowledge of course). All we had to do was flip a switch that automatically locked the door in the lobby. We never had to actually walk out into the lobby to lock the front door. We would then stall the customer by pretending to call the home office or something for verification. We did this long enough for the police to arrive. This was a pretty common thing that happened especially around the holidays. I use to think it was fun but then I started to feel bad.
We found out that men were bribing young mothers in the parking lot by asking them to cash checks for them. If they successfully cashed the check, they were promised $50 or something. The women would attempt to cash the check not really realizing it was stolen. The women were typically young and poor with a child on their arm. I just started refusing to cash the check and letting them go without calling the police. Plus, I was always worried about running into one of them somewhere else later. I just did not want to deal with that responsibility.
Lebanon
NPR reported on this today. I was moved by the story. I'm not sure why. They said grown men were moved to tears when they saw the Hizbullah leader appear before them. I guess I was moved by the amount of courage and utter defiance of Israel and the US (who I see as one in the same) by Hizbullah. In all sadness, the war is not over. The US and Israel will not accept defeat and humiliation. They are just in the process of planning and strategizing. The November elections are so important. It's a matter of life and death for many around the world.
Hizbullah celebrates 'victory'
Staff and agencies
Friday September 22, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
The Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, today marked what he called the group's "divine" victory over Israel with a vow never to surrender its weapons.
In a defiant speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in a bombed suburb of southern Beirut, the cleric said there was "no army in the world" that could disarm Hizbullah by force.
He also said his group would not release the two Israeli soldiers whose capture prompted the Israeli assault, except in exchange for Hizbullah prisoners.
The rally was timed to coincide with the withdrawal of the final Israeli soliders from southern Lebanon, scheduled to be completed by the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, at sundown tonight.
As well as marking defiance to Israel, the event was a challenge to the Lebanese government.
Mr Nasrallah said he would only consider disarming Hizbullah once there was a Lebanese government strong enough to protect the country. "When we build a strong and just state that is capable of protecting the nation and the citizens, we will easily find an honourable solution to the resistance issue and its weapons," he said.
Mr Nasrallah said Hizbullah had more than 20,000 rockets after the month-long war - double the claimed figure of 10,000 before the conflict.
He told the crowd he had debated with his aides just half an hour earlier about whether to attend the rally. His predecessor as Hizbullah leader, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by Israel in 1992.
"They said that this square would be bombed and this stage would be destroyed to frighten the people and keep them away.
"But my heart, mind and soul did not allow me to address you from afar. You are proving by attending this victory celebration that you are more courageous than on July 12 and August 14," he added, referring to the beginning and end of his group's 34-day war with Israel.
Ahead of the event, roads toward the Lebanese capital were jammed with cars and buses waving yellow Hizbullah flags, while many hundreds of other supporters arrived on foot.
Hizbullah's popularity among Shia Muslims soared after it continued firing rockets into northern Israel despite fierce Israeli bombing.
Mr Nasrallah said he was at the rally to "celebrate a great divine, historic and strategic victory" over Israel.
Nearly 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict and 157 Israelis died, mainly soldiers.
It began after a Hizbullah raid into Israel from southern Lebanon on July 12 in which two Israeli soldiers were captured and eight more were killed.
There are currently 4,600 international troops in southern Lebanon as part of Unifil II, the new version of the international peacekeeping force in the area.
The UN security council resolution that led to a ceasefire on August 14 called for 15,000 troops, along with a similar number of Lebanese army troops, to be stationed in the south of Lebanon.
Shopping
I went to TJ Max today to do some shopping. I was there for quite a while. There were many things I had to just walk away from.
1. I was looking at some costume jewelry I liked. I noticed the "made in Israel" sign and asked myself, "do I really want to fund terrorism?". I walked away.
2. I searched for a new bag for school. The bag I have now is completely inadequate. I had a hard time finding one that was not brightly colored with bold patterns. I just wanted something plain but with a simple elegance to it. I don't want my teacher to associate me with my bag. I don't want to be known as the girl with the red bag or the girl with the powder blue bag or the girl with the over-sized lime green bag or the girl with the dingy white bag or the girl with the bright pink bag.... I had to walk away.
3. They had a pretty nice selection of quilts. They were on sale ranging from $20-$40. I thought long and hard about this one. I knew if I were to choose one, there was an 85% chance of John hating it. He would not ask me to return it but, he would get into this terrible mood. I can ignore his bad moods for only so long....I would eventually get pissed off at him for being in a bad mood over a quilt and trust me, no one wants that. So, I decided to just walk away. We'll go there tomorrow and pick one out together.
4. I saw a pair of jeans that I really liked. They were a size 1 and I'm generally a size 3. I thought to myself, "I can't possibly fit into these but I can sure as hell try". I tried them on and they did not fit.
I did find my bag for school as I was leaving. It's just a simple black shoulder bag. I liked it and it was on sale.
Thursday
Sometimes, I get so disgusted at work. If it was not for the excellent benefits, I would be so out of there. I would even be willing to take a pay cut in some cases. I've made a commitment to school though. Since they are paying my tuition, I'm stuck. I had a call today from a company that was very interested in me (yes my resume is out there). The salary would have been way more than my current salary but, they do not have a tuition reimbursement plan. Oh well.......
I bought a cd two weeks ago.
I listened to it once and let John hold it. I have not seen it since.
I had to buy a new calculator for my stats class today. I love it! It's so much better than my financial calculator. It's just a scientific one but I really like it. I wish I could use it for everything.
French Onion Dip
I was on a mission to find the best french onion dip on the market. I decided a month or so back that it was Frito Lay's french onion dip. I was at the grocery store yesterday and noticed "Helluva Good" french onion dip. I thought to myself, "well, they say it's good so I must try....". It doesn't take much to get me to sample. Well, I tried it and guess what, they lied. It sucked. I'm sticking with the Frito-Lay brand.
On a slightly different note, the quickest way for a girl to notice weight gain is if her underwear starts to feel tight.
Extreme laughable article of the day
what's funny is not what he said but the fact he was caught on tape saying something so stupid. He probably really believes it too:
Schwarzenegger: Cubans, Puerto Ricans 'all very hot'
SANTA MONICA, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger apologized Friday for saying during a closed-door meeting that Cubans and Puerto Ricans are naturally feisty and temperamental because of their combination of "black blood" and "Latino blood."
He said the tape-recorded comments "made me cringe" when he read them in Friday's Los Angeles Times.
"Anyone out there that feels offended by those comments, I just want to say I'm sorry, I apologize," Schwarzenegger said. He added that if he heard his children make similar comments, "I would be upset." (Watch Gov. Schwarzenegger apologize for his remarks -- 2:18)
The statements were captured on a six-minute tape made during a March 3 speechwriting session between Schwarzenegger and his advisers. On it, Schwarzenegger and chief of staff Susan Kennedy speak affectionately of state Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia and speculate about her nationality.
"I mean Cuban, Puerto-Rican, they are all very hot," the governor says on the recording. "They have the, you know, part of the black blood in them and part of the Latino blood in them that together makes it."
Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, told the Times the governor's remarks did not bother her.
"I love the governor because he is a straight talker just like I am," she said. "Very often I tell him, 'Look, I am a hot-blooded Latina.' I label myself a hot-blooded Latina that is very passionate about the issues, and this is kind of an inside joke that I have with the governor."
Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Margita Thompson called the governor's remarks "a small part of a long conversation that is taken totally out of context."
"The governor respects every member of the Legislature and holds them in the highest regard," Thompson said in a statement. "It is not uncommon for him to have fun and joke with the members while they're working, especially during very tense negotiations."
Schwarzenegger's communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, said the governor's office would not release the tape publicly because it was a private conversation.
The recording is full of frank and comic assessments of fellow Republicans from Schwarzenegger and his staff.
Republican lawmakers called 'unique, unruly group'
Kennedy, a Democrat who also worked for former governor Gray Davis, says Republican Assembly leader George Plescia looks like a "startled deer," and the governor calls Republican legislators a "wild bunch" and a "unique, unruly group."
Plescia declined to comment Friday morning, said his spokesman, Morgan Crinklaw.
Schwarzenegger aides routinely tape his speechwriting sessions so the writers can keep a record of his thoughts and speaking patterns. The newspaper did not say how the tape was obtained.
Schwarzenegger is running for re-election in November. His Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, said Friday that Schwarzenegger should "conduct himself with dignity."
"Once again, Governor Schwarzenegger has used language that is deeply offensive to all Californians and embarrassed our state," Angelides said in a statement.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/08/schwarzenegger.tape.ap/index.html
not much to say
I'm tired, and have been a little under the weather. I think I have some sort of virus or something. Just feeling really tired and run-down and achey. I'm starting to feel better. John's starting to feel bad. I hope it does not make him too ill. I felt bad off and on for about a week. I still managed to do happy hour on Friday night at Blue Martini with the girls. We had a blast! I ran into this guy there we know and he really disappointed me. He told me, "hey,you didn't see me here tonight okay? that will just make my life a lot easier....."
John and I had dinner at Vivian's Saturday night. It was fun. It was a small group of us there and John did the grilling. I left John there and went home early (after I ate of course) because I was tired.
School started last week. I had class tonight and I snapped at this girl that was sitting next to me. I felt bad afterwards but sometimes, I just want to be left alone. I tolerated our off and on conversation for a while but then she just crossed the line. I hope she doesn't stay mad at me. She seems like a really nice girl.
