Misc Me?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Here are some updates on what has been going on.

Corporate retail doesn't like me. At my second interview that I was led to believe that I would be getting an offer. All I got was a notecard, a folded over posted card preprinted to say that they didn't have any suitable positions available and would let me know if anything opened up. Thanks. Thanks for nothing. I cried, off and on, for two hours. Over a retail job. This is not good. I began to think it was God's way of saying there was something better out there for me.

The following day I got a call from my b/f to meet him at his job and to bring a resume. An hour later I was interviewing for a receptionist position that would work out great for me. This was the shortest, least formal interview of my life. You have to love when the interviewer starts quoting old James Gardener movies. Yesterday, after they checked my references, I was called in to fill out a formal application. Today was the drug test. It was the first time I peed in a cup for something other than a physical. I'm already on friendly terms with the office staff and am referred to as, "the One" since I'm the only person who applied for the job. I don't mind winning by default. My paycheck won't know the difference.

The weekend got off to a great start. By great, I mean not really. The b/f and I needed to give Jack his followup treatment for earmites. For those not familiar with the treatment, it means sticking the tip of a tube into each ear and squeezing out the goop. I now know something cats hate more than baths.

I asked the boyfriend to hold the cat while I put the stuff in Jack's ears. We quickly realized we would have to outsmart the cat. Our methodology was to wrap him in a towel so as to better control him and prevent his escape. Using one hand as a muzzle, I put the tube in and squeezed. And squeezed. Jack cried and cried. I was surprised how much gunk there was. Pitching the earwax gunked up tube, I grabbed the other tube and repeated. Only when I paused to squeeze again, the b/f let Jack go. One would have thought would have first run away, but he first paused to shake his head, spraying up with the ear goo. Yuck. Realizing that the remaining tube still had a lot of stuff on it, we realized we needed to get Jack back to put it in. Yeah, Jack wasn't too keen on us. I proceeded to hunt Jack with the towel in a kind of matador style, hoping to toss the towel on him and have him lay there meowing "Uncle! UUUUUUUNNNNNCLE!!!!" The b/f finally calmed Jack down and conned him onto his lap. I came in with the towel, and the process was completed, even with more ear goo spray. Just thinking about it makes me go "Ugh!"

The weekend much improved. We went to Hollywood. We cursed the Hollywood traffic. We went to Venice Beach and got sand in our socks. We cursed the windy beach. We met our friend Dana, who had also moved recently to California and had a great dinner. It was great comparing notes on the California experience.

The past few days having been spent helping my mom replace the crappiest computer surfing the internet. My mom, God love her, is fairly computer illiterate, plus she doesn't have a lot of money to spend. I spend my freetime (a.k.a. life of an unemployed person) searching for a system that would be good enough to last her at least a few years before going out of date without tapping out her finances too much. So I printed off a quote and sent her a copy so she could call the company and place the order.

This afternoon, I'm surfing the net, when my mom calls and is shortly accompanied by the guy in the order department to whom she's been talking. This is good. The guy was talking to her about a more expensive system and she told him she'd have to get my advice first (which I advised her not to get talked into anything) so they conference called me.

The guy had some valid points but was downright pushy. My favorite question, "Well, do you know what a motherboard is?" No, the estrogen in my body prevents me from understanding all electronics. I advised my mom to take 24 hours to think about it, to let me do some independent research on what he was recommending, and so we could discuss it privately. I asked Mr. Pushy if they was anyway he could put a hold on the quote and give us a code so she could call back in and just give the code.

"No ma'am, we can't do that because we don't know when the specials end. Corporate decides that."

"Okay, so you can't guarantee the free shipping tomorrow. But if I remember correct, the rebates on these systems are being offered until April 25th, right?"

"I'm sorry ma'am. I don't know when the rebates will end. Corporate decides."

Gee, I'm disappointed that corporate retail turned me down? I advised my mom to wait the 24 hours anyway. Excuse my language, but I wasn't going to allow that assmonkey to pressure my mom into a decision she wasn't absolutely comfortable with. I'm glad I did to, if for no other reason than I realized that their company website would have held the quote for up to 3 days. Assmonkey.

My mom and I discussed it more and she decided to go ahead with the more expense system. I told her that if she got Mr. Pushy on the phone again to ask for someone else. She didn't. She called me afterwards to tell me how it went fine, but she was so nervous about the purchase that she went for a walk to keep from getting sick. I can only imagine how upset she would have been if she had caved under Mr. Pushy's pressure. Mess with my mom and you mess with me, assmonkey.

Before I sign off, keep John Ashcroft and his gang over at the USDOJ in your thoughts. Apparently he was too busy testifying before the 9/11 commission to swing by the site to check for my latest post. Happily, the gang managed to check back in this morning. I suppose I can overlook them not being the most devoted this time.