aubkabob

Just got back from an impromptu visit to Body Worlds 3. FUN. The only thing that freaked me out at all was the camel.

Today was really GOOD. Excellent day at work, where so much laughter was had. My brother visited during my shift, and fun was had. Then I got to finally go see the exhibit that I didn't think I was going to make it to, thank you, Daniel!

And now that it's almost 630pm, I should have been in bed HOURS ago. Ah, well. After tomorrow, I get a three day weekend - surprise!

Back from the dentist.

I was too much of a weenie and I kept FLAILING in the chair, so they decided to just do the two fillings I needed in the upper left and then schedule for a full "operation" - come in, put me under, do the other filling, pull wisdom teeth, do the deep gum cleaning (called "dental planing", apparently), and send me home drugged up for the day. I ended up having to get four shots to numb the two teeth enough - after the first two shots in my outer gum, I still felt it when he started drilling, so he gave me another in the outside, and one in the bridge.

Needless to say, I feel like I've been punched in the face but it hasn't started to hurt yet. I can't blink my left eye, and I feel like my left nostril is running terribly, not to mention that I feel like my upper lip is fifty times its normal size.

And I'm freezing.

My favorite part was where I felt like I had something on my lower lip, like a PIECE of something, and it was just my numb upper lip.

Wendel Dental is the chipperest place I think I've ever been.

I shall leave you now with a work quote.

Me: I'm going to lunch now. I ate Raisin Bran so I'm naturally starving already.
Ted: Aw, MAN! Raisin Bran is a TEASE.

+ Holy crap, it's OCTOBER.

+ My favoritest month, it is. I just enjoyed a walk home in 55 degree weather with high winds, and I'm not even being sarcastic about the "enjoyed". I wish we could have this weather year round, I do.

+ My first Big Dental Appointment is tomorrow, where they will (ha ha, almost typed "euthanize") numb the entire right side of my face and do one filling and one half of my deep gum cleaning. I'm a bit freaked out, I am. The other fillings I received when I was sixteen, I opted to not have a shot in my mouth, as the idea of a needle in the gums freaked me out much more than tooth pain while getting them filled.

+ I received my yearly review at work, it was wonderful. The only "bad" things Ted had to say about me was that I get frustrated at times when we can't get everything done. This is a polite way of telling me to stop stressing the hell out and stomping around like I had been doing the last couple of weeks. I also don't delegate enough. I received a 31 cent raise. While not much, it was the most they could give me (3% of my current hourly) AND I'm still making a buck thirty-one more than I was at this time last year.

+ I am awaiting news of how my pap turned out. I informed the doctor that I had been raped, and - while it was five and a half years ago - I had never been completely checked out for any possible thing that could be wrong with me. I haven't had signs of anything, but yanno.

+ I have been playing my two Lothar hunters - Rosamund on Alli (lvl 22), and Nakura on Horde (lvl 37). I deleted Catrune (dwarf hunter) to make Rosamund (NE) and deleted Felinthia (BE rogue) to make Nordi (Undead priest). All names are game generated, if'n you're wondering, except Nakura, which is something I made up. She's my gothy girl.

...Bjork is one crazy lady, but in a fun way. Like, you would love to hang out with her in the right conditions, but wouldn't want to invite her to a formal dinner with family and friends. She's really enjoying herself on Conan and quite happy, so good for her. I would have loved to see any exchange between her and Conan backstage. He so should have interviewed her.

Couldn't sleep at all today. Started with a dog right outside my window (neighbor's) that was barking deep, low rarfs at dogs in the park behind our apartments. The owner was right there and urging him to be quiet. After the dog shut up, The Great Flea Invasion of 2007 began in earnest on my bed. The HELL?!?!? I think I was really only bit once or twice, but after that, every slight movement I THOUGHT I felt... I'm certain a lot of it was psychosematic. Or howeveryouspellit. Too sleepy to look it up. I FINALLY fell to sleep well after the sun went down, which would be fantastic for a normal person, but as my alarm goes off for me to get up to go to work at 11:30 pm...

Thank GOD it's Friday.

Dreamed dreams of The Apocolypse. Death would come in three waves: First, only one in every five, or one in every ten, fifteen, or twenty would survive the first onslaught, which was a nuclear war and the fallout afterwards. Wave Two would be a plague, from which only one in every five people would survive. Wave Three would be the riots that would raise up afterwards with evil trying to take the ruling position in the new world. They would eventually be defeated by Good, but in the process, only one in every three people would survive. I remember being different people during different parts of the dream - a hispanic girl of sixteen when the bombs dropped, a young twenties blonde woman with a man she had fallen in love with dealing with the fallout, a later twenties woman who was a witch, trying to use her powers to hide from a gang raid. (it didn't work, and she was killed.)

I'm... pretty tipsy.

... and up way past my bedtime. Don't want to work tonight, but methinks that may be because we haven't had two consecutive days off in awhile, and Shit hit The Fan today... long story short - hours are getting cut, and my crew seems to be getting the short end of the stick. Or shift. Shaft?

I need sleep.

In watching The HIstory channel, I learned a lot about the Hatfields and Macoys today, I did. Or howeveryouspellit.

Let me link you back to this post for your daily download, or if you haven't seen it yet.

I don't want to work tonight. It's not that I hate my job - everything BUT! - I don't feel like throwing freight tonight. I would rather work on back room stuff to get it all caught up since back to school.

I hadn't realized that I do so much until Captain Kirk introduced the four trainees to me yesterday:

This is Aubrey.
She takes care of the RTV's - when the vendor buys back their product, she pulls it from the floor, packages it up and ships it out to them.
She prints out a report that states when something of our numbers has dropped below zero. This is called the 'Negative On Hand' report. She then researches it and corrects the number in the computer.
She takes care of the price changes that come through every single day.
She takes care of making sure that everything is properly labelled out on the floor.
She processes all of the defects that come through here - researching where they need to go and whether they get shipped back to the vendor or destroyed.
She processes the Destroy reports - pulling and destroying any merchandise the vendor no longer wants us to sell.
She shoots Outs - takes an RF gun and goes through the entire store, shooting anything with an empty spot. She then pulls up a report of this and researches each item, seeing if we are really out, or if it just needs to be downstocked. Without this process, many things won't get sent to us, if our numbers are off. Very important.
She takes two of her five shifts a week to throw freight and put everything on the shelf.
She ships anything that any of us in the store needs shipped.
She processes store transfers.
She receives any frieght that comes in the store - whether it's the twice weekly store shipment, or shipments from food, book, or dated goods vendors.

The list went on, but as I have to go wait for my ride soon, and my hair is still in a towel....

In case you wondered what I do in my new position ;)

And, again - this would be so much easier to stay on top of, if I didn't have to do freight! Most times, it doesn't bother me, but I'm SO not in the mood today. At least Liz is coming in at 4 am to help us.

A fabulous, amazing, strong woman on my friends list... I don't even know how to 'splain it (it's past my bedtime! My brain is all "der".), so I'll let redscorner - Erin - speak for me:

Hi, my name is Erin and I'm a 29 year old single female living in the United States of America.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank you for downloading this document. I'm trying to get enough downloads to qualify for a monetary payout ofMegaUploads Rewards program. Let me explain why.

I suffer from two neurological disorders (Chiari malformation and cranial lesions)that will require a combined total of 2-4 brain surgeries. I'm unemployed and uninsured and the state I live in is so broke, they have strictly limited who qualifies for Medicaid. Because I have no children and am not pregnant, I don't qualify.

I have been working with several hospitals and organizations in my area to get the care and treatment that I need, but have only made so much progress. Bottom line: In the USA, if you don't have insurance, the healthcare system doesn't exist for you. I have had a surgical consultation and it has been recommended I have the first brain surgery as soon as I possibly can. The only catch is that there will be a deposit required ranging anywhere from $1500-$5000 dollars. I have not worked for almost a year and therefore do not have this kind of money.

Living with a Chiari malformation is painful and exhausting. Living with cranial lesions in addition to the Chiari? Is beyond any kind of description.

I've thought about the different ways I can try to raise this money. I don't like asking for hand outs or charity of any kind, so I have hesitated in giving my PayPal information as a solicitation for donations.

Then,I came across the MegaUpload reward program and used part of what little money I do have to set up a paid account for two months for $11.99. This program states if I get 5 million downloads, they will pay me $10,000. There a few stipulations: only one download per IP address per day, only downloads made from qualifying countries, no attempted manipulation or fraud to earn more points.

I don't know if this is too good to be true, but I figure it's worth a shot. If I can somehow reach enough people who would be willing to take time out of their day, hopefully more than just one day, to download this virus free text document, I may be able to get the surgery I need to continue living.

Again, I thank you for downloading this file and if you choose to do so, for sending the link to people you know asking them to download.
( List of qualifying countries )

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5QBOA940

Being beyond sick of radio stations and their repetition and awful commercials, we have been listening to my mp3 player whilst working overnights. Ted and I like the same general types of music, so I put stuff on there that I know we both like, plus Electric Doormat, Sloan, Jale, and other stuff that I know he won't know but that I can force feed him. If we have anyone join us, it's generally Liz, who likes hip hop but is able to put up with the majority of it. One morning, the store manager and other assistant (Kirk and Jason) came in to reset the printer aisles. I could tell that they didn't like all my choices, as... well, I didn't hear WHAT was said from where I was working, but from the inflection of the words and the laughter that followed afterwards, I could tell that they were most likely making fun of it. Granted, it was LOUD, so we could hear it all over the store, and I was a bit... embarassed when Better Than Ezra's "Pull" came on..

You subjugate me
Feel your pull
Effortlessly
Fuck me up
I'm begging you please
We both want the same thing (sugar)(keep him busy)

Okay, yeah. Come witness me play a blantant sex song across all of OfficeMax in front of all THREE of my superior "officers".

Then on Saturday, Liz was with us again. During a Muse song, she said, "I'm sorry, I just can't handle this anymore, I have to change it." As she got to the mp3 player section and realized it was mine instead of the radio (how she would think otherwise, with no commercials or repetition), she said, "Um, you'll have to do it." I went to the displays and plugged in the radio, thinking that it was all my music that she hated. After the current song finished and they went to commercials...

Ted: (across the store) WHY ARE THERE COMMERCIALS?!?!?!!?!?!?
Me: Liz hates my music!
Ted: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK. PUT IT BACK ON!

Well, that makes me feel better, thinking I was torturing him.

And no, Liz wasn't offended by that - we live for giving each other hell, we do.

I've been half-jokingly nudging management over the last couple of weeks, playfully reminding them that I'm overdue for my yearly evaluation. As time goes by, the playfulness has started to turn into slight miffed-ness, as my four year anniversary was well over a month ago.

Finally, though, Ted came up to me and said in a low voice, "I just wanted to know that you WILL be getting your review next week. It WILL be good. It will involve a merit raise. Just so you know."

I feel better now. I was afraid that since they gave me a dollar more an hour in July due to my new position, that they wouldn't ("they" in this case, meaning district, who are bitches about any monetary increase, no matter how good the individual) be willing to fork over any more. I don't expect it to be MUCH more, but it's still good to be appreciated.

Back from the dentist.

This was my first cleaning or anything in four and a half years. Other than a VERY aggressive cleaning back when I lived in Phoenix (Feb '03, I think my last dental visit was), I haven't been to the dentist for anything since I was 18 or 19 - thirteenish years. (The visit in Feb of 03 consisted of going in and having an EXREMELY painful, fast cleaning by a male dentist that spoke almost no English. He couldn't answer any questions and didn't want to do anything beyond that - but said my dental didn't cover the routine cleaning, so I had to shell out $350 or so.) THAT being considered, I didn't do too badly today.

I DO have periodontitis, which is sort of the next step of gingivitis, where you start losing bone mass. It hasn't reached a critical point yet, so it can be fixed over time. I have another appointment on Oct 3rd (10/3 at 10:30!) to get numbed on the right side and do a deep gum cleaning, as well as one of the three fillings I need. (The other two will be done when I go to get the left side deep cleaned.) This, if I had no insurance, would cost me about $1400. With my dental insurance, I'll only pay about 20%. In the long run, they want to extract my wisdom teeth (yes, i'm 32 and still have the suckers) and apply braces. We'll see how it goes or how I'm doing financially when that gets done. I know plenty of adults that got braces in their 30's.

So, although I feel I floss more than the average American (2 - 5 times weekly), I'm still a naughty, naughty girl and will PAY.

I want to eat and go to sleep now, but I'm going girlie shopping with Lori and Liz. Not many other girls get to say they go, uh... plastic date shopping with supervisors at work.

Wages FINALLY getting not garnished (for now), plus a vacation day, plus holiday pay has resulted my paycheck in being over $300 more than it has been for months. Rawk.

While I wait for them to get off work, I shall cook me some Morning Star artichoke veggie bites and watch some blasted teevee.

Dreamed that I was walking along the bank of a river at night, singing the first two verses of Muse's "Starlight" with all my heart:

Far away
This ship is taking me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die

Starlight
I will be chasing the starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore

(Kind of got chills when I looked them up to post this, and have been thinking about it all day, I have.)

Also dreamed that there was a swarm of ants in my room, as well as a grey spider the size of my fist living under my bookshelf. I sat in the middle of my bedroom floor and looked around, all forlorn that everything was covered in a very thick layer of dust. How could I not pay attention to such things? I fed the ants and they swarmed around a white spider the size of my first finger joint, taking him out of my room as they left.

There was something, also, about playing a video game where I had to blow with all my might into a pipe to get to the next level. I was worried I was going to pop a blood vessel in my eyes, I was blowing oh so hard. Suddenly, I was IN the game, and two cute puppies prevented us from leaving. I was a sorceress!

I woke up less than an hour before I leave for work, arr.

I'm home now and have a headache. Picked up wine at Target. Yay for tomorrow off!

Note to self:

Make sure to not rely on autospell when texting someone, and always reread what you wrote.

"Yay for no more hooking!" has a SLIGHTLY different meaning than "Yay for no more honking!"

Yes, our pipes were fixed, and all he had to do was replace the pump in the upstairs toilet. My goodness, that was a lot of stomping around we had to do to get something that turned out so very simple fixed.

Set up appointments to get my gums ripped at (dentist) and my girlie bits prodded (doctor) as I finally have coverage for the first time in almost five years. I haven't received any information about vision yet, and methinks that I need that the most. I feel silly saying, "Sorry, I can't see what you're trying to show me, I have my glasses on." Finding a doctor was a bitch, too, as whenever I tried to call a number in the locator, it was a number for a VASTLY different location (the offices having moved and the information not being updated) or completely wrong numbers for different parts of their company (one resulted in billing for a hospital that had nothing to do with the doctor listed.) The dentist will be friday at 11 am (SKEERED!) and doctor Tuesday at 10 am (sorta skeered, but dreading the usual "well, you need to lose weight - DOY!" comments I get when seeing doctors.)

So beyond excited that it's all autumny now.

Oh this pipe honking has GOT to stop!!! It honks loud enough to wake me from a dead sleep. It's so loud, when it honks I can't hear the television on the other side of the house. It rattles my teeth when I'm actually IN the kitchen.

My brother has been talking to the neighbors. I know that once when Andrea lived here, we called to get it looked at - and that was back when it would only happen occasionally (and lightly) after flushing the upstairs bathroom. My brother called again after he moved in and it began to be worse, and was told "it's an old building, the pipes will do that." It only happened a couple few times a day and would last only about two seconds tops, so we could live with it. Now? For about half the day, it honks for about ten seconds (or longer), loud enough to hear outside in the PARKING LOT, and happens approximately every two freaking MINUTES. The neighbor that shares the kitchen wall with us has called and was told "okay, thanks for bringing it to our attention!" My brother has turned in a work order, which we never heard anything about. We also turned in a work order about two weeks ago for the kitchen light - it usually takes up to about twenty tries to get it to turn on. In talking to all our immediate neighbors, they have turned in multiple work orders over the last year, and have never heard word one about them.

As much as I hate to say it, we may need to move soon.

We're currently on a month to month lease, and that's only because the apartment management is being as lax in renewing leases as they are in fixing things. Thus, our lease expired about a year and a half ago. If it's ever brought to their attention, we'll have to sign on for another year. If we don't sign on for another year, our rent will go up about $100 or more - whatever the current rent for a place like this is plus $50 a month for no concrete lease.

With the stupid Jeep on my record, I wouldn't be able to get into a decent place, methinks, and I really don't want to live in the ghetto. Granted, as they're renting to just about anyone anymore, this place is TURNING ghetto, so maybe it's just a matter of time.

1. Previous information through number three removed because it was NOT a name and password that was supposed to be passed out. Someone is having to PAY for us doing this meme, unkay?

4. Post the top ten results.

1. Makeup Artist
2. Drywaller
3. Plasterer
4. Massage Therapist
5. Physical Therapist
6. Dental Hygienist
7. Cable Installer and Repairer
8. Tilesetter
9. Kinesiologist
10. Audiologist
11. Special Effects Technician

.... The list cracks me up so very much, it does. I think makeup artist is one of the last things I ever thought of doing. My chosen future profession, nursing, wasn't until about number 18, and actor was before it. I could also NEVER be a Dental ANYthing, as I cannot handle spit. Seriously, it makes me gag. I can handle ANY bodily function or liquid except saliva. Freaking ew.

The breakfast was great fun, hilarity ensued with things like pecan syrup and the shopping cart driving incident. I also got paid for the whole thing, since it was a mandatory meeting. I also suddenly get tomorrow off, so I get to take a vacation day (!!!) so that I get my full 40 hours, AND I got to stay late to work on things that I haven't been able to touch in ages. Ah, the joys of being full time.

I return to work Sunday at two ay em.

Woke up with The Killers' "Reasons Unknown" song going through my head. Not THAT awful of a song, and I've certainly woken up with worse, but oh, how it makes me cringe with all its double negatives.

And my eyes, they don't see you no more.

*shrudder*

This morning is the Big Breakfast with management. I totally know now that I'm only going because they didn't know what else to do with me, but hey! free iHop. Yay for pancakes and hashbrowns!

Watching Blood+ which I've found interesting. I've also been actually watching Inuyasha, something it was so hard to get into before, as I would never catch the episodes in order. Working at 4 am has its benefits for that, though it will stop next week when I work at 2 - before the two eps are over each night.

Ah, well.

I have Disc 1 & 2 from Season Three of SG1, as well as Mr. B's Lost Shorts from Netflix. Good times.

Something MUST be done about the honking in the walls. SRSLY. If I could time a vocal post to when one happened, I would post it for you to hear. I may even try, as it seems to be quite frequent, I should be able to catch one without trying, really.

I’m having a really fucking bad evening and start to my weekend.

I won’t go into it, other than to say that an attempt to grab something to eat before bed after a long day of work resulted in my sitting here, pissed off beyond belief, covered in disgusting water two and a half hours after my attempt began.

Ted *over the radio at work*: Aubrey, did you see the schedule next week?
Me: Yup.
Ted: So you know that we’re back on 4 am to noons next week. One of those days, we will be going to a breakfast with management.
Me: .... Us We, or You We?
Ted: Yes, we will be going to breakfast, and I am not using the Royal We, I mean you and I and the rest of management.

.... unkay. I got a bit nervous as I chewed this over a bit. I guess that Store Manager Kirk learned something “fancy” about the future of OfficeMax and is OMGSOEXCITED and wants to take us all to breakfast next week to discuss it. No, I’m not management, but he wants me along anyway, as I “would benefit from a lot of what is said.” Shrug. Free breakfast and hang with the bigwigs? Sure, I’ll take it.

Got to build the Breast Cancer Awareness endcap at work this morning. It's a running inside joke between Ted and I, as the first time he talked about building it, he accidentally left out the word "cancer".

I can't remember if I've shared this yet or not...

There's this thing, you see, called The Chronicles of Rock.

Basically, as taken from the site:

Each week (10 episodes) will highlight 3 bands with behind-the-scenes live performances,practice sessions, home life, family and friend relationships, "real" jobsand a glimpse into the world that surrounds the band and it's journey towardthe prize of recording, touring and ultimately the possibility of cashing thatfirst gold or platinum record paycheck. At the close of each band montage (aka:rockumentary) each band will perform one song each in front of a panel of judges.Those judges will include 1 member of the press, various music celebrities (ex:Nikki Sixxx, Jeffrey Nothing of Mushroomhead, Vanilla Ice, Willie Adler of LambOf God, CC Deville of Poison, Janine "The Porn Star") and 1 averagejoe (or jane) from the general public. They will select 1 winner each episodeand that winner will move on to the next episode to meet 2 new bands. Each episodewinner is chosen based on originality, overall sound and performance/stage presence.What we see from each band on any given show can also make or break their chancesat winning and moving on to the next round of The Chronicles Of Rock.

So my old band, Electric Doormat, is now known as The Mercury Tree. You shall remember I was with them until this last April, yes? Welp, they have released a new album under their new name. I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but am wonderfully amazed by the snippets I've received via MySpace. But that's besides the point.



I'm beyond excited and proud of them. You must check out the websites above. In fact, if you click on TCOR website and go to the "Bands" section and scroll down to The Mercury Tree, my name is mentioned.

Tee hee.

I walked up to Jason and Liz to hear this:

Jason: So that's why we're going to fire EVERYONE and hire all new people.
Me: I heard something to that effect. I hope IIIII'm not included in that.
Jason: Aubrey, the day I say the words "You're fired." to you will be the same day that I slit my wrists and kill myself because of it.
Me: Well, I hope then for both of our sakes that day never comes.

Ted and I were faced with the impossible task of only two of us being able to work two truck shipments out onto the floor (thirteen pallets of freight) in one shift. Neveryoumind that for the first three hours of this shift, the store is open, and we are unallowed to work freight.

I dunno how it happened, but we did it. Granted, we left an hour later, but STILL. I feel accomplished. All my joints and my spine are angry at me.

I HAVE BUSINESS CARDS! They're cheesy, but they were free. I thought about putting them in with my holiday cards this year, if I decide to actually send them out. I mean, really - the whole thing of stuffing a folded piece of paper into an envelope to send it across country (with just your name schlupped down inside) for someone to open it, wonder who "Aubrey" is (for those that don't automatically associate my real name with my user name), and slap it onto a stack of other cards they got from Jims and Bobs and Cassandras that they don't know, either. But the business card has a man hand playing an acoustic guitar that fades into a black background AND has a 2008 calendar on the back, so why not? I wish they had a more feminine hand for the background when I made it, or that I had written my job description as "Music and Photography" instead of "Musician". I wonder how many people will get them and think that it's MY hand? "Here. Have a card with my name, address, phone number, and meaty hand on it so that you may properly stalk me."

Dreamed about job corps last night, about all the magical things that made me almost cry in my dream because I missed it so. I remember looking out of the back of a lodge of some sort. In one direction, there were fabulous mountains under a purple sky, blue grass, beautiful scenery as far as the eye can see. To the left a bit, it was a mystical forest with a red sky and purpley red trees and a ground that was red with brown blotches. I saw fabulous beasts in there - three. They had all been made up by man and had adapted beyond that to the forest, you see.

Job corps was an EXTREMELY important period in my life, but it certainly wasn't MAGICAL.

Finally got Bacci to play with the laser pointer - THE FUNNIEST THING I HAD SEEN IN MY LIFE OMG. The batteries promptly died. It was a cheap thing that I got at the arcade we visited. I may try to replace the batteries, or just buy a better one. All the previous times that I tried to play with Botch with the thing, she wouldn't look at where the red dot was on the floor, just look at my hand as if saying, "The jig is up. I know you're making that. Don't stultify me, mmmkay?"