Books

I just finished "Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince" today and geez was it ever a wonderful book! I realize most people I know don't read Harry Potter so I won't go into any details on why it was so good ~ let me just say this, I really had a difficult time putting the book down and it's over 650 pages! I love reading really well-written books that not only have a good middle but also a good ending. I hate books with endings that make you say "Huh??" when you're done. The book I read before "Harry Potter" was also an excellent book; "Jackdaws" by Ken Follett. Today I started "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Yes, it's the book the movie was made after and I was curious to see if the movie follows the book. The book was actually written in 1955 by a woman named Patricia Highsmith. I like starting a new book ~ it's like starting a new adventure.

Friday Feast #60

Appetizer
Do you get excited when the season begins to change? Which season do you most look forward to?
I love the change of seasons. I especially like Fall when the weather is a little cooler and the leaves change color. I'm looking forward to my first Fall in almost 10 years!

Soup
What day of the week is usually your busiest?
For some reason Sunday has been really busy lately. I guess because I've been working most Sundays and Vic & I have to try to cram grocery shopping in before I go to work.

Salad
Would you consider yourself to be strict when it comes to grammar and spelling? What's an example of the worst error you've seen?
Yes, I consider myself pretty strict. I don't really mind goof-ups in emails or blogs, but it absolutely makes me insane when I see misspellings in businesses. For example, the word "stationary" was on the outside of a box of school supplies. Now unless the moron who stamped the box wanted us all to know that these notebooks were unmovable, he was wrong. And it wasn't just written on the outside of the box, it was stamped. So that means thousands of these boxes are floating all over the world with stationery misspelled because some yahoo couldn't take two minutes to check the correct spelling of the word. That makes me mad!

Main Course
Who has a birthday coming up, and what will you give them as a gift?
Vickie's birthday is in about a month & I can't say because she reads my blog.

Dessert
If you could have any new piece of clothing for free, what would you pick?
I need a nice Autumn jacket. I have Spring-y jackets and Winter-y coats, but nothing for the chilly days of Autumn. Something in green, please.

A Short Poem

Backyard birdies & backyard squirrels
More precious to me than a string of backyard pearls.

Little squirrels of brown & little squirrels of black
From my patio I watch them while sitting on my chair of Adirondack.

Nibbling on seed and tearing ears of corn apart
They're most relaxing before a long night of work at the WalMart.

But alas, now the time has drawn near
When I must depart for the WalMart where I shall long to hear,
"Attention WalMart customers. The time is now 11pm & your Roseville WalMart is now closed. Please make your final selections and bring them to the front where our friendly cashiers are waiting to serve you."

Maybe I should give them a call to say "I couldn't possibly work; I'm much too sick"
Then I'll stay at home scanning the classifieds for a second job for Vic!
(On the patio of course, with the birdies & squirrels)

The Test

I just returned from taking the preliminary exam for the dispatch position I'm trying to get and it seems like the only real qualification for this job is that you be breathing and can spell most of your name correctly 80% of the time. I'm not sure if having prior dispatching experience will help or not when I get to the oral interview phase, but it certainly didn't matter a hoot for the written civil service exam. There were 60 questions on this test; half were vocabulary and the other half were math. Some of the vocabulary words were "vacant", "repair" and "rapidly." The math had some basic addition/subtraction questions and the inevitable "Bob is travelling on a train headed west at 60mph...", but overall it wasn't too bad. If I'm one of the top 30 scorers on the test I will advance to the oral part and if offered a position I'll have to get a CDL license. The license is apparantly a requirement for anyone working in the roads department whether or not you actually drive equipment or not. I guess they figure that in case of a major snow crisis they'll need every able-bodied dispatcher out there plowing the roads. I'm sure it'll be a comfort for them to know that I haven't seen snow in over 10 years. Perhaps I won't mention that in the interview.

Quitting

I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to really try to give up Dr. Pepper and switch to something diet. So far I've been pretty successful. There is absolutely no DP in the house and I've really taken a liking to Vic's Diet Pepsi. I still have an occasional Pepper at work, but it's nothing compared to how I used to down them. And Vic, I'm proud to say, has taken steps to quit smoking. YEA!!! She's smoking less and buys really icky tasting brands so she can smoke even fewer. Cigarettes are outrageously expensive here in Michigan ~ over $40 a carton! Maybe it's Michigan's way of trying to get people to quit, although I'd really like to know what the state does with the extra cash. It certainly doesn't go toward defraying the cost of car insurance, that's for sure. My monthly premium is double what it was in Florida! I guess the cost of living is a tad more higher here. I wonder if it's high because we live near a big city or if it's this way all over MI? Either way, we will hopefully be a smoke-free house soon and won't have to worry about the cost of cigarettes any more.

The Weekend

Not a whole lot happened this past weekend. Had to work Saturday night, so that took up pretty much the whole day. When I got home Saturday night, Vic & I went through some boxes and got rid of some stuff ~ I don't think we got to bed until past 4am! Needless to say, I slept in Sunday morning until 1pm! At 3pm I finally had to go wake Vic up so we could get some grocery shopping done! We spent the rest of the day inside (it was raining outside). We hung a few pictures, watched movies and cross-stitched (the cross-stitching was me, not Vic). It was a great way to spend a day off ~ just relaxing and enjoying the house. Very uneventful, but sometimes those days are nice breaks. I have to take a written exam for a dispatch position on Wednesday night. The top 30 scoring applicants move on to the oral interview. Top 30!? Geez, how many people are they expecting? Wish me luck.

Just The Feast

I'm running a little late for work, but still wanted to blog something. So today it'll just be the Friday Feast #59. I'm off on Sunday, so maybe I'll have something interesting to write about this weekend!

Appetizer
Did you sleep good last night?
Yes. It was my night off and I did lots of tiring things around the house, so I slept great.
Soup
What is your current computer desktop image?
Just the basic clouds against a blue background that comes with Windows98. We had a great picture of Ireland that Vic took from the plane as we were landing, but it got lost when our hard drive crashed a few months ago and I haven't gotten around to uploading it again.
Salad
When was the last time you planted something, what was it and where did it go?
We planted tomatoes in the backyard. The little squirrels keep taking them just as they start to turn from green to red.
Main Course
What's your favorite condiment?
Tartar sauce. Interestingly, though, I hate fish.
Dessert
Share a quote that you like, for whatever reason.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Eleanor Roosevelt

Quirky

I can't believe I actually did something post-move related today! After cutting the grass and taking a bunch of broken down boxes to the recycling center, I came home and unpacked a few more boxes, organized my closet and dresser a little better, and cleared the books out of the front room (we still don't have bookcases). I separated my closet into two sides; Summer and Winter, lined up my shoes in order of how often I wear them and made little labels for my dresser drawers so I'll know what's in each one without having to open them first. Anal? I like to think of it as endearingly quirky. I think I shall now relax in front of the TV and cross-stitch for a while. (I also made a label for the back of the remote that lists our favorite channels!)

Hot Spots and Decisions

My sweet Shannon has developed a hot spot on her back at the base of her tail. It's driving all of us nuts! It started about two weeks ago, brought on by the unseasonably hot weather we're having (I guess). She's just started scratching a lot recently, too. I know she doesn't have any fleas and she's been bathed twice since this all started, so I'm really at a loss as to what I should do next. I read online that sometimes Benadryl can help, so we got some today. Hopefully that will ease her discomfort some and get her to stop chewing on herself.

I had a thought the other day about some of the advantages to being in a relationship with someone. One, which I really never gave any thought to, is that a lot of mundane decisions are made for you. For example, I really don't care what kind of toothpaste I use, but Vic likes a very specific brand and type, so her desire to use only Crest Extra-Whitening Mint Flavored Paste with the screw-on cap saves me scads of time I might have spent standing in the toothpaste aisle mulling over the virtues of paste vs. gel, tube vs. stand-up container, Crest vs. whatever the hell else there is. This also applies to television viewing, eating out, bath towel colors and shampoo. All this time spent not making decisions for myself leaves me heaps of time to blog!

Tigers Game

Tigers Game
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Vic & I attended our first Tigers game today! They lost, but to another stellar baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. So the day wasn't a complete loss. It was very very hot and we weren't in any shade, but we still had a great time. It took us about 15 mins. to get to the stadium from our house. Ford Field, where the Lions play, is just across the street. We wanted to stop in an Irish bar we read about, but had to get home because Vic's mom was stopping by. If the weather is nice next weekend we may go back downtown to take in a few more sites and try out the Old Shillelagh pub!

Fabrics & Feasting

Yesterday I took Shannon to the groomer's and discovered JoAnn Fabrics. This isn't just any Joann's, this is the grand exhalted poobah JoAnn's. Oh. My. God. This store was just wonderful! It's just like Hobby Lobby back in P'Cola, only a tad more expensive. I got on their mailing list, so hopefully I can partake of some scrapbook sales soon.

I decided to take a cue from Shawn and answer the weekly Feast questions. I have participated weekly, just never online. Wish me luck...

Friday Feast Fifty-Eight

Appetizer
Briefly describe your living room.
Rectangular, with two windows (kind of high up) and filled with boxes.

Soup
List 3 things you'd like to accomplish before the end of 2005.
1) Find a new, better job 2) Organize the house 3) Lose at least another 10 lbs.

Salad
When you're online, what do you spend the most time reading/playing/doing? Suggest a site for us to visit.
Reading email & blogs, paying bills, ordering stuff online, checking out travel sites. I really like www.newegg.com and plan on visiting that site after I get done blogging.

Main Course
What would the title of your autobiography be?
Casey ~ The Other Essence

Dessert
What time do you usually go to bed?
Around 3am. (I work until 1am, don't forget.)

Drain Master

The Drain Master came this morning and $250 later we can now flush without cringing. Of course the cheaper snake-thing just wouldn't cut through all those pesky roots, so he went back and got the mack-daddy industrial strength expensive sucking machine. Well, at least that's out of the way. The only thing left on my agenda for the day is to take Shannon to the groomers for a bath tonight. I was considering whether I should attempt to tackle organizing the garage or one of the rooms inside the house, but I have a feeling that most of my night will be spent cross-stitching and watching mindless reruns of "Law & Order." I just don't feel like doing much of anything on my last night off of work. So I don't think I will!

Bagels & Mom

I spent the first part of the evening tonight bonding with Vickie's mom. This is actually quite a feat considering I haven't even given my mother our phone number yet. Mom-in-law received her DSL modem in the mail yesterday and needed someone (me) to hook it up for her. After I installed everything and established a Yahoo! account for her, she bought me dinner at a bagel place. It was reminiscent of Bagelheads back in P'Cola. I had a nice couple of hours with her, got a free dinner and have fulfilled my daughterly obligation to do something monthly for her which is simple but still disrupts my night.
After Mom's, I had to stop by the WalMarts for a few items. Tonight was my night off, so I couldn't possibly stop by my store ~ I went to an equally crowded store a few miles from the house. All I wanted to do was get a few pictures printed and get some bleach. An hour & a half later, I was totally disgusted by the whole shopping experience. The pictures were such poor quality that I gave them back to the disinterested girl and told her I would just print them myself at home. Then I was in line behind a guy who kept insisting he had the right change and was being helped by the s l o w e s t cashier in the world who ended the transaction with "Have a blessed day." By this time, I wanted to jump on the conveyer belt and scream something satanic at her. Instead, I said nothing and walked quickly from the store. The WalMarts here aren't open 24 hours so the absolute best time to shop is at 1am ~ two hours after the store has closed and right after I punch out for the evening. It's never crowded and I'm always "next in line with no waiting on register 21."

The Many Emotions of Casey

I talked with Jeannine, my friend from P'Cola, today. Happy. I had to tell her that Vic and I won't be able to make it to her wedding in P'Cola on Aug. 20th. Sad. I just don't think we'll be able to afford the trip. Our house is turning into a money pit. Mad. We discovered today that the drain line that leads to the sewer is some how stopped up. We found this out while I was cutting the grass and noticed water and a shitload (literally) of toilet paper burbling out of a hole in the ground. Disgusted & mad. Just when you think that maybe this month you'll have a little extra money to buy that bauble that you certainly don't need but just gotta have, the toilet explodes. Disappointed. I guess things could be worse, but I don't want to even think about what else could happen. Frightened. Although I'm fairly certain we can expect a Summer free of hurricanes. Giddy.

Ch- ch- ch- changes

I decided to turn down the Securitas job. It just doesn't seem like the job for me. The way Ken the interviewer guy described it, it's eight hours of standing around doing nothing. Now I'm not opposed to doing nothing and getting paid for it, but you can't even read the newspaper and you have to let someone know when you need to be relieved to use the bathroom and there's practically no chance of ever getting a weekend off. So I'm going to stick it out at the WalMarts a little longer. I'm always busy there, which makes the night go by fast and I'm continuing to lose weight, which is really nice!
I've noticed that since I've left the Sheriff's Office my attitude has changed a bit. When I worked there I didn't trust anyone and I thought there was crime lurking everywhere. Now I'm a little more relaxed, but I've noticed my speech has been changing. For instance, I've caught myself saying "There he go now", "You all right", "Where that be" and the ever popular "Girl, you be trippin'." I'm not really sure how I feel about these changes just yet. I'll have to gnaw on this a bit and get back whichyou. You cool?

Lured

I was lured into believing my interview today was for a supervisor position. Lurers! It was instead for a regular security guard position (which still pays better than the WalMarts). I wore my new bra and everything! How disappointing. I was ready for all the supervisor-type interview questions, too ~ "Describe a time when you had to ...", "Where do you want to be with the company in five years?", and "Why should we hire you for supervisor?" I was ready I tell you! I was, however, offered the guard position, but I have to wait for the results of my background check before they'll give me it. ** Heavy sigh ** I love my job at WalMart, I love my job at WalMart...

Here We Go Again

I've got an interview tomorrow afternoon for a supervisor position at Vickie's security company. It seems like all I've been doing for the last month is filling out job applications and going on interviews! The position I'm interviewing for is a much better job than WalMart in the pay and hours categories (imagine that!), so I hope all goes well. It would be great if Vic and I got the same hours at work ~ maybe then we could see each other more than just two days a week. I guess I better go iron my "interview clothes" now.

Work & Tigers

It was another long night at work tonight. Actually the time goes by quickly when we're busy, but when we're busy that means I'm on my feet and constantly on the move for eight hours and that's a long night! I don't really get to see much of Vic either. Right now she's still working a day shift and coming home about five minutes before I'm walking out the door to go to the WalMarts. Speaking of Vic, she picked up our Tigers tickets today! We got two free tickets to a game when we subscribed to the Detroit Free Press. Of course our seats are in the nosebleed section, but I'm still looking forward to my first Tigers game and what will probably be my first trip into the city. The game is August 7th against the Indians. If you're interested you can see what our view will be like by clicking here and selecting section 328.

Wahoo

Wahoo
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

Today was just a perfect day to be outside, so Vic & I drove up to Port Huron. That was the starting point for a big sailboat race that ends sometime Sunday at Mackinac Island in the Upper Peninsula. We saw a lot of neat boats (like the Wahoo) and waterfowl. We actually waded into Lake Huron which, unlike Florida beaches, was quite rocky. We both got some sun on our arms and faces, so now we don't look near as pasty as we did before. On the way home we stopped at the Michigan welcome center and picked up tons of pamphlets on stuff to do in our new state. I really enjoy exploring with Vic and today was just a perfect day to do it!

Slaving Away

I finally got around to cutting the grass today (note the green type). I figured I'd better do it before it rains again. It's been really hot here lately and it seems like it rains every three days or so just to make it a little bit steamier. Our temps are right around the same as P'Cola's! I have to work tomorrow, but Saturday morning Vic and I are going to some big yacht race in Port Huron. All these really nice boats race from Port Huron to Mackinac and Vic said it's really quite a sight. I'm hoping to get some good pictures. That way I'll be even further behind in my scrapbooking! Actually, I made a little progress on the craft room today. I unpacked all but just a few boxes, so the room is ready for the table to be moved in and I should be able to start putting stuff where I want shortly. Has anyone read the PostSecret blog? People are encouraged to write their innermost secret on a postcard and send it to this guy in Maryland who in turn puts them on his blog page. I guess it's supposed to be some kind of catharsis for people carrying around baggage, but for most people (myself included) I think it's just a really unique insight in to how totally screwed up most people truly are. My personal favorites are the postcards involving boogers; especially putting boogers in someone else's food. Who would think to do that?!

A Walk In the Park

Vic & Shannon
Originally uploaded by wahoo1265.

It was a lovely evening tonight, so Vic & I took Shannon for a walk in nearby Dodge Park. I don't take Shannon for near enough walks, so I know she enjoyed tonight's excursion. She saw squirrels, ducks, bicyclists and a very small girl who "petted the nice doggie's head." She also took a swim in the less-than-clean Clinton River, so when we got home she got a bath in the backyard. All in all it was a pretty full day out for the Sweet Baboo.