making marla's mom into soap

there was a fire in my building after work yesterday.
lucky it was on the first floor and no real damage was done.
but i will be getting renter's insurance soon just in case something more sever happens in the future.
the elevator in my building has been broken for about 4 or 5 days now.
it sucks walking up 5 flights of stairs several times a day...
but at least i'm getting more exercise in i guess.
hopefully they are able to get it fixed soon though!

macy's has some strange policies, but on other things they seem to have total lack of concern.
like, in order to get your employee discount, you have to sign-up for a macy's credit card or a pre-paid credit card.
i think that's a really stupid way to give their employees discounts.
but at the same time, they don't drug test.
which i think they should with it being a high-end department store.
but a good things is, i will be eligible to sign-up for health insurance through them after my first 30 days.
yay!

today was my first official day of work and it seemed to go fine.
all of my co-workers on the fifth floor and within my signing crew have been very nice and helpful.
all i did today was go around and switch out old price signs for sale signs.
and if it didn't have a sale sign, i would make one.
pretty easy stuff.
tomorrow hopefully i will do something different though.

what i find to be incredibly amusing is that a customer service manager emailed me from envirosax today about an order i placed (and never received) back in november 2007.
apparently she was unaware that i did finally receive my refund for the sacks (after being called a liar by the "founder" of the company).
this customer service manager requested i give her my credit card number to do a refund.
lol like that was gonna happen.
and she was sorry that my previous experience soured me on the company.
i made sure she knew that it more than sourer me.
and that if i changed my mind, i could contact her directly about ordering.
to me, this sounds like a scam. i would never ever trust or buy from www.envirosax.com ever!
sure, they have some cute bags, but i always place customer service first when i decide to purchase something.

i have to go to the ups branch on broadway to pick up the bicycle basket that i had shipped to me.
apparently the dumbshit that i bought it from failed to put my apartment number on the form. nice.
so i have to waste my time and money to go pick it up sometime soon.
i also had to go to the downtown post office and pick up a package of spices i ordered online because the mail man didn't want to walk up 5 flights of stairs. whaaaaaaa... lazy bastards.

anyways, the spices were bulk spices from the monterey bay spice company.
i've smelled a few of the spices, and they smell great.
my new ground cinnamon actually smells better and bolder than my crappy mccormick brand.
i have used a couple in making my black bean burgers and the spices not only smell good, but taste good.
but they are very well packaged and they even threw in some freebie teas since i also ordered a 1/4 pound of peppermint tea from them.
their prices are SUPER CHEAP.
but the minimum order is $20.00 ... which i spent a little more than.
i couldn't see paying over $6.00 for a small bottle of cumin at my local grocery store when i could get a little more than the same amount for $1.40. seriously.
i plan on getting some of these next to store all of my spices more organized in.

anyways, so yeah.. i finally got around to making black bean burgers.
if i do ever make them again, i will opt to leave out the green bell pepper.
the recipe actually yielded 8 or 9 (i lost count) patties.
so i froze them between pieces of wax paper.
they were actually decent tasting.
i have had mass-produced black bean burgers before, so i knew what to expect.
sure, its not as tasty as beef... but it's cheaper and healthier for you.
if you load your burger up with lettuce, tomato, cheese and all the condiments you normally eat on a burger, you can hardly tell the difference.
i recommend giving it a try.

i wish i could get more done on my list of goals.
http://www.43things.com/person/na0
sometimes just seeing them listed helps me want to get them done so i that i have one less goal to see on my list.

i finished reading fight club.
i've read a few of chuck palahniuk's novels and i have seen fight club the movie countless times.
i think i prefer the movie over the book.
there are maybe a handful of ideas in the book i would have liked to seen played out in the movie, but overall, i preferred the movie.
my favorite parts of the book is when tyler mentions that marla said she wanted to have tyler's abortion.
and when they making marla's mom into soap.
i guess i mostly preferred the way the sequence of events played out in the movie better.

i will start george orwell's animal farm this evening.

i should be getting chuck palahniuk's novel snuff in the mail soon through www.paperbackswap.com
but i've heard that it is not very good.

thanks to steve, i am addicted to that stupid myspace app game mobsters.
and i went ahead and joined vampires as well (just like mobsters).
i hope to not play those games much anymore because they are sucking the life out of me.

so i have found so many cool-looking shops downtown since i've started walking and taking the bus.
when i become rich and famous, i'm going to buy stuff in all of these little shops, i swear!

i dunno if anyone uses hard candy cosmetics, but they are all on sale for 75% off.
i think they are discontinuing a bunch of stuff.
might be worth checking out!
i may buy some eyeliner from them since my "good" eyeliner is almost gone.

i finally found arm & hammer washing soda in a store!
i searched high and low at every store in tulsa to find it, and then just out of curiosity i looked at the grocery store by my apartment, and it was there!
this will help me with the laundry detergent recipe i've been wanting to try for over a year now.
so i bought the washing soda, now all i really need is borax (which was on the shelf right next to it) and a 5 gallon bucket to mix it all in.
i'll save a massive amount of money on laundry soap if i can manage to make this stuff.

stubbly hobo "beard"

yes, it's true... i got the job at macy's that i was hoping for. :)
i will be working on the signing crew for the 5th floor.
i walked home from my interview grinning ear to ear and so a lot of people stopped and talked to me that day. lol
so it's a little less than a mile and a half from my apartment, so i will walk to work in the mornings (because i have to be there before the buses run) and i will take a bus home everyday.
it will save me about $20 a week in gas opposed to the rgis job. :)
the bus picks up practically in front of my building and drops off at the bus plaza which is right around the block from macy's!
so there is no big hurry/worry to get my car fixed. :)
finally everything is coming back together again for the time being.
i start work on tuesday.
it's only 25 hours a week (mon-fri 6am-11am), but the pay is a dollar more an hour than rgis with quarterly evaulations/raises.
so i will be making a lot more money in no time.
the supervisor i interviewed with was very very nice and sweet and i think i will like working there a lot.
plus i don't have to go out and buy a bunch of new fashionable clothes because they don't really have a dress code (within reason).

so with the $20 saved in gas each week,
i am placing in one of my ING bank account to save for a weekend trip to seattle sometime before winter.
hopefully i will have my car fixed by then as well! :P

ming wah chinese restaurant by my neighborhood was the best chinese food i have eaten since i moved here!
i was pleasantly surprised because the place seriously looks like a run-down shack from the outside.
steve ordered us take-out of beef & broccoli and sweet & sour chicken.
we got such large portions, we had enough for two meals.
i think i found my new favorite spokane restaurant! :)

steve drank 1 entire glass of a mixed alcoholic beverage last night and he was annoying as hell.
i should have been the highly annoying one, but nope.
note to self: don't allow steve to drink unless you want to listen to him sing a bunch of random made-up songs to you all night and tickle you with his stubbly hobo "beard".

we went to riverfront park for a couple of hours today and walked around.
mostly just sat around watching the ducks and geese.
but i took some photos of more sculptures and whatnot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darksidesunny/

we also went into boo radley's for the first time ever.
i LOVE that place so much.
i would like to buy all of my xmas presents to people from there, seriously.

i am almost pretty sure that i love spokane way more than i did indianapolis now.
if indianapolis had a park like riverfront park downtown and had lots of mountains and trees, it would be a tougher call.
thank you to anyone and everyone that has helped me see some of the nicest things in spokane.
i hope that i continue to find new cool things (to me) frequently.

cooky cookies

i finished "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" soon after i wrote about it in my last blog.
i had a lot of spare time on a car pool trip for work, so i took advantage of it.
the book was decent.
it was full of useless information and i was not all that impressed with the plot.
it was a quirky book... but i would not say it was worth reading.

i started up reading a new earth by eckhart tolle again and finished it.
i was afraid that it had been so long since i started reading it,
that i would have to go back and start from the beginning again.
but it was fairly easy to pick back up on.
and it's honestly just what i needed right now.
how to stay present in my life and with all of the situations that are thrown my way.
which i think i am starting to do more and more.

i had yet another good interview on tuesday afternoon at the downtown macys.
the manager seemed happy about my job history and skill level and even went out of his way to try to find out if their were any job openings in the departments i would be best suited for.
unfortunately, the managers for those departments were not answering his calls/pages, and he did not want to waste anymore of my time.
so he said he would pass along my resume to the lady in the department i was looking to be placed in.
well, the lady called me back today and requested to interview me tomorrow afternoon.
so here i go for a second interview.
i hope that i can win her over like i did the manager who first interviewed me. :)
the only bad things is... if i get this macys job, i need to buy new work clothes.
macys is kinda higher fashion than what i typically wear.

i only did 1 hour of physical work today for rgis.
my numbskull bosses forgot the printer cable they needed at the office in the valley, so they volunteered me to drive the new company car back to the valley from sprague.
so i got about 2 hours of paid time just driving around.
they didn't even ask me... "hey... you have a license, right?"

i'm sorry to anyone and everyone that i have not spoken to in a long time.
if you are reading this, you know i have been in a terrible funk the last 5 or 6 weeks and it was continually getting worse.
i HOPE that i am coming out of it now and will want to see more people and meet more people.
i'd like to actually take the time to see more people than just the people in my apartment building, at work and steve. :)
if you have some spare time and want to meet up, let me know. :)

i made a shitload of cookies today since i was in such a good mood.
i made oatmeal & raisin, cooky cookies (oatmeal, rice krispies, coconut, raisins, dried cranberries and walnuts), and lemonade cookies.
i liked them all except the oatmeal & raisin.
i must have messed something up on that recipe.
but i have a lot of them, so i'm gonna have to eat them regardless.



also, sims is slowly taking over my life.
thanks to steve and his need to be entertained at all times and wanted to play sims when he is over here,
i am now addicted to it again.
i am seriously considering upgrading my sims soon (income permitting).
i think i have like the first version or something... it's prehistoric.

dragassy

people who write about their "problems" with the sole purpose of trying to gain sympathy make me want to vomit.
you can usually judge the character of a person based upon what they write about.
if you are a long-time blog reader of mine (or a friend in general), you know i will not write about anything remotely conceited or sexual about my life.
i find it to be pretty gross and i just wish more of my "friends" on myspace felt the same.

with that being said, please forgive me for the following paragraph, but it has to be said just in case something worse happens to me and i never blog again.

i have been getting light-headed a lot over the past 2 or 3 months.
sometimes it happens at work, but most of the time it happens right after having sex.
steve and i were taking a shower together on friday after having sex with me on top doing a lot of the work (so i was exhausted).
all of a sudden in the shower i got light-headed and then i stopped breathing and blacked out.
luckily steve was there to help me stand-up until i collapsed and fell in the tub.
but if he had not been there, i would have cracked my head open on something probably.
i don't know if just being exhausted (and lack of food and water) that day caused it, or if it was something more serious.
i worry that it could be anything from pregnancy to brain cancer (light-headedness and the many big knots on my head)....
all i know is that it was the worst feeling i have ever had in my life.
if it happens again, i can only hope that someone will be around to help me or at least i fall on something soft.
i could go to the doctor and take another financial blow.... but what if it turns out to be just exhaustion?
so i am hoping that with whatever new job i get soon, i will be able to sign-up for health insurance again and get this looked into.
hopefully it won't be too late.

i started reading a new book called "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time".
it's kind of a quirky book.
i had no idea what it was about at all when i started reading it.
from what i have been able to gather so far, the main character is autistic.
it seems only fitting that i would pick a book with a main character with a mental illness.
i'm almost half-way through the book, so hopefully i will be able to write about this book so more before i finish it.

it's been over 100 degrees here today.
and the only place i find this to be a miserable weather condition is in my own apartment building.
the a/c has been working 24/7 to try to keep my apartment remotely cool.
but as soon as you step out into the hallway, you wish you hadn't.
outside at ground-level, it's tolerable.
i would take 100 degree washington weather any day over 80 degree midwest weather.
luckily, it will be cooling down soon though. :)

so it looks like i am back on the work schedule for rgis.
luckily, all of the jobs i have in the next 2 weeks are ones that i can be picked-up for in the car pool.
but in september, that's a different story.
i am scheduled to work at 2am tomorrow morning.
but i have yet to be able to get ahold of anyone to make sure that i will be picked up.
so maybe i will, maybe i won't.

i have yet another job interview at macy's on tuesday.
i don't plan on fucking this one up like i did the last one by showing disinterest.
i will take just about any job possible just to get away from my current job.
plus macy's downtown is close to home for me.
that's pretty much one of the deciding factors right now sadly enough.

i made the best pancakes ever this weekend.
i was very impressed with how delicious they were.
usually, half way through eating pancakes you lose interest.
but these were the best i have ever made from scratch.
i want to make them all of the time now.
here is the link to the recipe i used:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Truck-Stop-Buttermilk-Pancakes/Detail.aspx
mine were topped with a little bit of maple syrup, powdered sugar, strawberries and cool whip topping.
friggan fattening, but worth it!

i also made a blueberry and nectarine cobbler over the weekend.
we ended up eating it all in the same night.
it was pretty damn yummy also.
this was my third time making this cobbler recipe... it's pretty much fool-proof.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Batter-Fruit-Cobbler/Detail.aspx
i will probably continue to make this cobbler for a long time to come.
i really like trying out different mixed fruit variations.
i wanna make one with blackberries next.

i also made a pizza following this pizza crust recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quick-and-Easy-Pizza-Crust/Detail.aspx
i have been having a lot of trouble making a good pizza crust from scratch.
this one came out better than usual, but still not right.
although the corn meal sprinkled on the pizza pan was a good idea.
i think it's either because i did not use bread flour or because i didn't let the dough sit and rise for long enough.
next time i will use bread flour and let it rise, and hope for the best.

so i got my eboost shipment in yesterday in the mail.
i feel a lot less 'dragassy' now.
this will help keep me more motivated at work and home now.
and i won't have to pay over $2 for energy drinks anymore.

i bought a cheap bicycle basket on ebay a few days ago.
i can't really afford it... but i feel like it's a need rather than a want right now.
it'll make it a lot easier to tote grocery-type items from the store to home.
and picnic-type items as well. :)
and maybe i could make a little seat in it for brandy to have a ride with me....
if she doesn't totally freak out that is.

vitamin-induced energy

i think the fact that my car broke down, is pretty much a good omen.
sure, at first i thought my life was tearing a part when it happened...
but now i realize that having my car to drive was keeping me from better things.
like i always wanted to ride the city bus. because it's cheaper, safer, and eco friendly.
but you know as well as i do, i would have never rode the bus alone if my car had not taken a shit.
now, i can officially say, i have rode a city bus before... and it was actually not too bad at all.
also, i have missed a lot of work because my car broke down.
missing work at a job that i know i am better than and a job that is just mentally fucking me over.
so this has also opened up the oppurtunity to find better employment.
i would not be searching quite as hard for a new job if my car had not broken down.
sometimes, it takes a swift kick in the ass before you can get yourself in gear and actually do the things that you need to do.

two cellphone pictures taken at the plaza:





maybe next time i can somehow take video of my visit to the plaza.
when we were waiting there on monday, there were many crazy people to be seen.

steve's mom took us out for ice cream at the cold stone creamery on monday night.
that place is pretty awesome.
i had wanted to go there for a little while... but never really got the chance.
it was cool watching them mix up our ice cream.
their cotton candy ice cream does not taste like cotton candy to me.
that was a tad bit disappointing.
but the cheesecake fantasy was pretty yummy. :)

i want to think of something fun to do with the photos in my 'monsters' myspace photo album.
i want to print them all up and do something...
but i don't know what yet.
any ideas??
they might make for an interesting coffee table book.
i wish i could get monster-esque photos of everyone that i know.

here is a url for the easiest fruit cobbler recipe ever: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Batter-Fruit-Cobbler/Detail.aspx !!!!
so far, i have made it once with peaches and nectarines and once with red plums and strawberries.
the next time i make it, i will use up some more strawberries and nectarines.
the crust is more cake-like than cobbler-like.... but it's easy, cheap and yummy.
i would suggest using far less butter and sugar though if you plan on making this. :)

eboost.com finally added the coupon function back to their website, so i found a 50% off coupon at retailmenot.com and ordered a 24-pack shipment for half price.
i have been fiending for eboost for a loooooong time now.
it will be nice to get some vitamin-induced energy again. :)

i read this forum entry at an auto website, and think i have a better idea of what might be wrong with my car now:
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/t21634-horrible-grinding-rubbing-at-rear-of-car.htm
no, i do not drive a hyundai, but this guy experienced the exact same problems i am having with my car.
so i am fairly certain now it's not the transmission that is wrong with my car, but instead the drum brake pads or something parking brake related.
this makes me a little more relieved that it's not going to be a 1,000-2,000 dollar fix.
but i still can not afford to fix it any time soon.
this is what happens when you don't have an emergency fund in your budget.

special little surprise

so last week was the worst week i've had in awhile!
but as a rule of thumb for me, things ALWAYS get worse before they get better.
i am hoping that it's as bad as it's gonna get though!

as i have written before, work for the month of july was very, very little.
i just barely have enough money to pay my rent for august.
i've been super stressed about this pretty much the entire month of july.
things were looking okay until wednesday. i had another promising job interview, turned in an application for a job that i really wanted, and i also called the human resources lady back for fred meyer.
i had a full week of work to look forward to as well for rgis.
wednesday came along, i called in 'sick' so that i could go to a job interview and apply for another promising job.
on my way to the job interview, my car started making sounds.
i'm pretty sure it needs a new transmission.
like i have a couple grand to pour out for that?
so i missed 3 days of work total so far and i've worked 2 days after the car problem has occurred.
1 day i walked 4 miles to a job site so that i could work.
1 day i had to be picked up by one of the grumpiest co-workers ever.
i told the district manager my car problem will probably be a long-term thing and that she should probably not put me on the work schedule anymore.
i am hoping she will do what i ask.
i hate asking for rides to places as it is... it's even worse when your co-workers try to make you feel even more guilty about it.
it wouldn't be so bad if the buses ran at the hours i work.

so what am i going to do?
i am still holding out hope that i will be employed at fred meyer soon.
that way i will work hours that the buses run and can take the bus until i have enough money saved to fix my car.
if not fred meyer, somewhere close to home.
i am continuing to apply for work in a daily basis... hoping someone nearby with a good job opening wants me.
i do have a plan... but sitting and waiting for it to happen is nerve-wrecking.

i have tried countless times to get ahold of my sister in the past week.
mostly because i wanted to see if i could borrow a bit of money from her.
has she returned my calls or text messages? no.
as soon as she heard i needed a favor, she decided not to contact me back.
she was the one person in my family that i thought would actually help me.
wow... guess i was wrong.
it kind of hurts, but i'm not too terribly upset about it.
i am kind of worried though if maybe she hasn't called me back because there is something wrong.

the only thing that has made last week tolerable was seeing steve a few times early in the week.
being with him helps me take my mind off of my current problems.
i am hoping he will come over tomorrow and stay a couple days with me.
our 3 month anniversary is coming up.... and i want to try to make it somewhat special.
although, it seems like anytime i try to make an event special, it ends horribly (ex: mom's bday, thanksgiving, christmas, my bday).
so far, i only have one special little surprise planned.
i hope to think of some more stuff before tomorrow evening. :)
if anyone has an nice anniversary ideas/plans that require very little money, send me an email. :)

so to continue on with the never-ending saga of the neighbor's unleashed dog...
i came home either tuesday or wednesday from seeing steve... and needed to take my dog outside promptly.
so as we were getting out of the elevator in my building, the neighbor's unleashed dog comes running up to me and my dog and scares my dog.
what did i do?
keep in mind, i warned this neighbor that my dog bites and that she will bite her dog if she lets her dog run around without a leash.
so.... i let my dog bite her dog a couple of times before we walked out the back door of my building.
all the neighbor did was call after her dog (as always) and talk to her dog about how mean my dog is. lol
when my dog was done doing her business outside, i emailed the apartment manager about my neighbor.
she totally sides with me and told me she would give these residents notice.
i don't know if she actually did or not, but she told me to let her know if i see the dog again without a leash.
i'm just glad i'm not going to be held responsible for my dog biting the stupid dog.

being so damn broke lately (the last 3 or 4 months lol) has encouraged me to cook and bake more often than buying pre-made meals.
and i find myself actually enjoying it.
it sometimes amazes me what can be made with flour and eggs.
the only disappointing thing about cooking is that steve does not seem to enjoy most of the things i cook/bake. :(
i'm hoping that someday i'll find something that he will like... besides pizza from pizza pipeline.

the people that have lived here in spokane all of or most of their lives crack me up when they talk about the high crime rate in certain spokane areas.
MAYBE i have not noticed or seen it because i have only lived here since the end of march...
but i really, really, really don't think that's it.
moving from tulsa to spokane was like moving from new york city to a damn country town (as far as crime is considered).
sure, i am exaggerating a bit.
i just wish people that talk about the high crime rate would first go live in my old neighborhood.
my friends were too scared sometimes to even come visit me at home because of my neighborhood!
the people here think i am crazy for living in browne's addition (addiction).
but i feel about 90% safe walking in my neighborhood at anytime of day or night.
and i feel almost as safe walking downtown with the bums and crackheads lurking around.
why? because i have dealt with them first hand for a couple of years.
i guess i have built a tolerance for them.
besides, i have met more crackheads at my own current workplace than i have on the streets of spokane.
i have only seen maybe 20-25 homeless people (that i am aware of) since i moved here.
in tulsa, i would see about 15 in any given day.
it's not because of the areas i have lived in.
i lived close to downtown in tulsa and i live close to downtown here in spokane.
homeless people are drawn to downtown areas.
there are CLEARLY less homeless, bums, drunks, and crackheads here.
but try telling the population of spokane that.
maybe they should visit www.city-data.com which even proves my point.
i think the people here are just looking for stuff to complain about because there really isn't much to ACTUALLY complain about.