Me and the Mark-of-ass.

Ivy

Dear sweet lovely Gwen

as a button

I am so damn hot!

You want how much to do what?

So my car has been giving me attitude. It has a rough idle, almost like it wants to die, but doesn't. It seems fine when I get going...but if I get stuck behind grandma Gert or caught up at a red light my car goes into convulsions.
I took it to Midas today before work to get her checked out. They called me back with an estimate...more like a second morgage on the house...in the amount of $1,122.28.
Yeah fucking right!
I called my mom to relay the news and she advised to call dad...so i did.
I figured he'd tell me what to get fixed first and to just take it one thing at a time until it was all taken care of. He said he'd call me back once he had a plan of attack established. Called me back about an hour later asking me if I'd rather drive a 2002 Sebring or a 2001 Impala. Taken back a bit, I asked him to give me a brief recap of the question. He chuckled a little and went more into detail. He wants to help me establish a better credit rating and get a reliable source of transportation in the process.
So I'm getting a new car.
yay!
$145/mo for the next 5 years...(yikes...I know) but to raise my credit score, this is the way to do it. So there it is...my new 2001 Chevy Impala.
The parential units say it is in steller condition, inside and out. 88,000 miles with a 3.4 lt engine...that would be an 8cylinder...get the hell out of my way!
The car is pictured below...aptly named "car" "vroom" and "zoom"
Check it out, she's a pretty one.

zoom

The back of my new car

vroom

The front of my new car

Car

My new car.

I have made my 20-day emersion at work.

yAy!

So now after 3 1/2 months of training, I now have to pass a written test and will then be good to go as a full time employee in the world of telecommunications.
"Whats so different about passing this training as opposed to all the other jobs you have had?" you may be asking...well, this is a real job with real health insurance and it's even downtown.
743,000 wireless customers, 1.1 million DSL customers and 4.6 million long-distance customers depend on myself and about 40,000 other employees to handle 240 million calls transmitted across our network daily. And you think you have stress? lol
It is my job...porviding I pass this devil test...to explain complex bills, take payments, place orders for goods and services and to just keep people happy.

Thank you God for my ability to handle dumb people in large groups!

I must now hone in on my skills to fight off the people who try to use their jedi mind tricks to persuade credits and adjustments from manicured fingers.

Infidels!

If you deserve it, you shall get it...and I will be the one who will judge! Not you!
I will care for you, I will offer you superiour products to best fit your needs, I will make you laugh, I will even sit and shoot the shit with you for 35 to 45 minutes until my next break/lunch/end of shift arrives.

this thing with numbers.

For a few years now I have had this thing where I would always see certain numbers.

Every time, for the longest time and still, when I would look at the clock it would read 4:20

...not what your thinking...

I would see it in both the am and pm hours. I never read much into it, I thought it was kind of funny because of what it does commonly represent... until it became a regular occurrence.

It will come and go at will. I'll see it for awhile as I'll glance at clocks, then not at all.

((and don't think it may be because I have a good conception of time...because if any of you reading this know me at all, you'll know my internal clock is permanently set to snooze))

Now however, it is following me in other means.

When I moved to Kansas my house number was 204. When I moved to Des Moines and stayed with my old friend Wyatt, he and Derek's house number was 4220. I was seeing a doctor for a little while about 2 months into my move. His house number was actually 420. The house number of my current residence is 4205.

Nothing significant has ever happened to me a 20min past the 4th hour, nor 4min past the 20th hour or at any combination of those numbers. Nothing on April 20th or Feb 4th.

I went to a store looking for a few miscellaneous items and struck up a conversation with the lady running the store. I went into detail with her about my freaky thing with those numbers. She said the zero meant nothing because it has no value and to focus on the 2 and 4 and to keep in mind they add to 6. *I have not had anything with 6 yet* As I was cashing out I glanced down at the counter to see some hematite rings in a dish. I had always liked how they looked so I started looking for a 9. I was working at it for a good 5 minutes to no avail. I just happened to look over to a different case and see these claddagh rings in a small black case. I had always thought they were neat-o and have wanted one since I saw one my grandmother owned quite a few years ago. So I went for a look only to find the first ring I picked up was in fact a 9...the one size I had been searching for among the hematite rings to find not a one. I was pleased to say the least. I looked down at the small tag attached to read 240 followed by a couple of letters. I looked up the nice woman behind the counter and speechless, I showed her the tag...her jaw dropped. We stood there for a minute until she said "You were meant to have that ring." I didn't quite know what to think or to say.

I have asked around in the family to see if anyone had ever died or been born on 2-04 or 4-20 or if anything major ever happened in June, the 6th month. Well, I just thought of someone who was born in June as I typed it out...yikes! Now I really don't know where to go with this one.

In the Blog published just before this...I decided to post the lyrics of No Doubt's "Simple Kind of Life." It is a wonderful song and the lyrics actually have meaning for me.

I went to http://www.nodoubt.com/ clicked on Music, scrolled down to the album, Rings of Saturn and clicked the little "V" to the right of "Simple kind of Life" Upon doing so a little RealPlayer popped up to show the video...the total time of play for the song...

yep, you guessed it...4 minutes,20 seconds

I had always liked the song ever since it came out in 2000...but here just a few years ago, it started to have meaning. It's not that though...really. Seeing 4:20 started a few years before.

Keeping my eyes open...

From Gwen

For a long time I was in love
Not only in love, I was obsessed

With a friendship that no one else could touch
It didn’t work out, I’m covered in shame

And all I wanted was the simple things

A simple kind of life

And all I needed was a simple man

So I could be a wife

I’m so ashamed, I’ve been so mean

I don’t know how it got to this point

I always was the one with all the love

You came along, I’m hunting you down

Like a sick domestic abuser looking for a fight

And all I wanted was the simple things

A simple kind of life

If we met tomorrow for the very first time

Would it start all over again?

Would I try to make you mine?

I always thought I’d be a mom

Sometimes I wish for a mistake

The longer that I wait the more selfish that I get

You seem like you’d be a good dad

Now all those simple things are simply too complicated for my life

How’d I get so faithful to my freedom?

A selfish kind of life

When all I ever wanted was the simple things

A simple kind of life

What does it take to have your cake and eat it too?

Contained in an earlier post, I denounced my love for Des Moines. I think I am going to take that back.
I went on and on and whined about how things have changed so much over the course of my life.
Focusing mainly on the 2 years I was in Kansas. I went into how I had a great job I really liked but lost mainly to outsourcing, my cute little apartment where the kitchen caught on fire, my biological father dieing, how Stephanie and I had gotten so close, then she leaves me for Oregon, Daryl, the long 7 hour drive back and forth from Ma and company to Ogden, and how I had to leave all the great friends I made when I was there.

Things were great there.

But it changed.

All of it.

Or did it?

I have a job I really like and am getting paid much more then what I was getting doing tech support. And the benefits...Oh my the benefits. Full medical, dental and vision. Discounts at a lot of major retailers...Must have deals with the phone company, 1/2 off any service they provide...Home phone, wireless, long distance, DSL and Direct TV. They will even pay for their employees to go to school...For anything! Doesn't matter if it is job related or not. And to top that all off, job security is sounding stronger and stronger by the day.
I still have a cute apartment. Roommates and all *sigh* But that will change in not to long. And in my new place, you better believe the smoke detectors will work properly.
I still have a dad and have had one for the past 17 years. And this one loves me.
My dear darling Stephanie may be 2 time zones away...With a baby and one on the way...ya ho bag.xoxo...But she really never left me. I may not get to see her everyday, but we sure talk enough to make up for that. Thank you Sprint for free nights and weekends. And Daryl...that has been off and on since day one and will probably always be like that for awhile. The feelings will always be there at some level. We will always be in the back, but probably closer to the front, of eachothers minds. Forever.

The long drive has been shaved down to 2 hours...1 1/2 if I go 80mph.

Although I do miss the friends who are still in Kansas, I have made some fantastic new ones who have turned me onto a lot of new things. That sounds so dirty...The bad kinda dirty. Laura introduced me to many people and escorted me to a few neat-o bars I still love to go to. Ben is one of the most insightful people I have met in a long time. Ryan introduced me to some of the best music that has ever filled my little ears. Jordan seems to have this uncanny ability to get me in a good mood no matter what the day has held. He taught me to play a better game of pool, the best spots in Des Moines to play disc golf and hike, the wonderful taste of Morel mushrooms and how to play Texas Hold'em Poker. Ah poker...
So it looks like everything that made me so happy in Kansas has followed me here. Some took a bit longer to arrive then others, but they are all here now...In one form or another.

After a few modifications...My life will be complete. But those will happen in time. All things happen in time, just depends on how badly you want them.

So here...

Have some cake.

And grab a fork.

Omaha

Robin invited me to the 2005 Peels Hair Show in Omaha this past weekend. They had many vendors selling many products and performing many services for free...I had the inside of my nose waxed. It hurt a bit, but I can breathe easier.
They had microdermabrasion, light therapy, waxing..., jewelry booths, faux hair, nail business...normal salon objects and services. Top product retailers all over...Matrix, Revlon, OPI (nail polish) Aquage, TIGI (Bed Head) and Kenra. I bought some great Biolage shampoo and conditioner for $10. In a salon I probably would of paid like $15 for each one.
She and I attended "classes" put on by the major retailers that turned out to be pretty interesting. One of them was on personality types and how people, for the most part, fall mainly into 3 groups but also have strong characteristics of the other 2 groups, and it is the combination and amount of the other groups in us, who make us us. It is a bit complicated for me to explain...but trust me, it was neat-o.
After all the hoopla of the show, we decided to venture out into Omaha and Council Bluffs to get lost. And get lost we did. We found ourselves in an area of Omaha where every sign was in Spanish. Being confused a bit...we left.
Not knowing the night life, we decided to stick close to the hotel and found ourselves in a casino. Harrah's caught my eye because I knew it was larger chain and I wanted a taste of a big casino. I only spent about $10...didn't win shit. They had Texas Hold'em tables, but it was a wait to get on a table with a minimum $30 buy in. We then were going to try our luck at Black Jack. $10 buy in at a table so it wasn't too bad. Now Robin nor I have ever been to a casino to play table games so we were pretty much sitting ducks for any dealer. I went up to a naked table and started talking to the dealer about the game and told him we were new to the sport. I know...you should never do that, but it was only $10. The dealer, Ed, quickly talked us out of it. He said he had been on the floor that night for 10 minutes. When he arrived, his table was full. He then asked what that told us. Shortly after, a more experienced player arrived. We sat and watched them play. I have never seen someone handle cards the way Ed did. I was still counting the players hand when Ed was swiping away his chips from winning the hand.
It was fun.

new employment...yay!

I have been hired on at the telephone company.
I start this Monday the 28th. I work from 8a to 5p M-F for the next 12 weeks of training. Yes...thats right...I typed 12 weeks of training. Guess they aren't screwing around about their employees knowing their product. I'm ok with it though. I'll be able to sell product better if I know it inside and out. So...go me.
I just want to give a shout out to all of you who stuck by me and gave a little prayer for me in my time of need...peace and ass grease!