The Best Laid Plans..

My plans for the day were derailed at 7:30 am when my manager came by and asked for the keys I was going to copy. The assistant manager, who has the other set of keys, didn't show up due to being sick. Not having any reason to get moving early I turned off my alarm and laid back down. I alone slept a few more hours before waking up enough to watch the episode of Sliders from the third season where Quinn meets his double who is a woman. While watching I got a phone call from my new friend Kino(nickname) and had a lovely chat about nothing in paticular.

After the lovely chat I took a shower and headed out to cash my check. Nothing remarkable happened on the way to or at the bank. Earlier I had mentioned to Kino that I was thinking about getting sushi or lunch however when I got out of the bank I was craving something meater. Looking around I saw a Texas Roadhouse which I had never been to before. Walking up to the front door I thought it was odd that the parking lot was empty just after lunchtime. This minor mystery was cleared up when I saw that they open their doors at 4pm.

Once more I looked around and saw that I was now much closer to the Tokyo Grill. Accepting this as a sign I settled(not that I was really unhappy) on sushi for lunch. I ordered a root beer to drink while browsing the menu. Printed on the chopstick wrapper was the following:

1. Tuck one chopstick under your thumb.
2. Hold the other between your forefinger and thumb like a pen.
3. Use your forefinger to move the upper chopstick. Now you can pick up anything.

Yes now I can pick up anything!

Since I have only been to Tokyo Grill once before I decided to pick out something different. After a little thought I ordered a spring roll, ell roll and a scorpion roll. There was a slight mix up and instead of a scorpion roll I got a monster roll. That's what Heather, my waitress, called it.

(This isn't the roll I ate but it's pretty close in appearance) 

I don't remember exactly what she said was in it but I think she said eel, shrimp and salmon. I enjoyed it. I had no other complaints and tipped well(I alway tip and usually in the high side).  Next time I'll get the scorpion roll.

I have a fierce headache so I will write about my trip to Hastings tomorrow.

Plans for tomorrow, ect.

It's my day off. I'd like to spend it at home relaxing, sleeping, reading or catching up with the shows that I have downloaded but not found the time to watch. Instead I will try to be productive with my time.

I will cash my check.
I will get copies of the keys I need to close the store made.
I will return my boss's keys.
I will do these things before noon.
I will get these things done by riding the bus.

At least that's the plan. If all goes according to plan I will be at the mall shortly before the movie theater opens. Of course there isn't anything I want to see except Coraline and I'm not sure I want to spend the slightly inflated price to see it in 3D again. Which leaves me in a bit of a lurch about what to do with the rest of the afternoon. I could just come home but that feels like a disappointing end to a productive morning. I want to do something after all that productivity. Maybe I'll just browse the mall.

Why do I feel the need to 'do' something? Well to be honest I'm starting to feel a depressive episode coming on. I get them about once a month. For a few days I just feel absolutly like nothing matters and everything is wrong with my life. I can see and know that those things are not true but it doesn't help me from feeling that way. I've found if I keep busy with work or doing things outside of the house that I don't feel quite so bad.

Today I felt like walking out of my job because I started feeling this way. The job where:

1. I just got promoted
2. Got a raise
3. Work for two of the nicest people
4. Who also care about doing a good job
5. While also caring about their employees.

I almost walked out because.. I can't even remember what almost set me off. But I didn't. I very carefully thought about all those reasons I just listed for liking my job and kept working.

My crew cleaned up the store and I finished the paperwork fast enough that we walked out two minutes till 10pm. Which is just about as early as humanly possible to get out without cutting any corners. This made me extremely happy and it's been my happy thought for the past four hours.

I've been thinking about moving from living with my sister and her kids to living alone. Not because I don't want to live with them and not because they don't want to live with me. It feels like something that I need to do. Which is probobly one of the worst reasons to do something and yet it's the best reason I can come up with as for why I want to move out on my own. I've started looking but there isn't much in the way of affordable apartments that are also close to bus stops or close to my place of work. In fact the closer I get to my place of work the higher the rent is.

This post has gotten a little long so I'm going to end it here.

I'm back

I've been busy at work what with being promoted to team leader which means this past week I had to put in a lot of extra hours to prepare for Valentine's day and the days leading up to it.

Being placed in a leadership role has been a new experiance.  I've never felt comfortable telling others what to do.  I prefer to work along side people rather than over them.  

Today I was in charge of closing, that is making sure the store is cleaned and everything is put away.  Normally I would help out but today I worked a fifteen hour day and by the end my back was hurting so bad I could bearly bend over and even just standing still hurt.  My manager saw how much I was hurting so he took me aside and told me that I was not to do any cleaning, I was to supervise everyone else in cleaning.  Even though I was in pain it didn't really feel right to just watch and I sneaked in a little cleaning.  I've been off my feet for a few hours and my back already feels better.  I hope all I need is a good night's rest.

Something happened after work that has me a little worried.  First a little background.  A few months ago I bought a necklace with a pewter pendent that looks like this:

That in case you didn't know is the symbol for transgender. I bought it shortly after coming out at my previous job. I kept wearing it after I quit and got hired at my current job because no one knows what it stands for and no one has ever asked me what it means. Today after work while waiting for my manager to finish the day's paperwork a coworker asked about it. I thought for a second about saying what it really means but instead I just said it was personal.  She excepted my answer and didn't press the matter.  She did say she was going to look it up online and find out what it means.  

I want to come out at work eventually but I'm not really ready yet. If there hadn't been other people around I think I would have told her the truth. I think I could trust her to not spread it around until I was ready.  I'm a little worried about her figuring it out on her own but not too worried.  

Going to the Movies

This weekend three movies are being released that I am excited enough about to want to see in the theater. In order of excitement: Coraline, 

Fanboys and Push.

Coraline because I love Neil Gaiman's stories and the look of the film is stunning. 

You know I have been interested in seeing how far 3D movies have come. I had consider seeing My Bloody Valentine but was very reluctant to due so because it is a horror movie and I'm not much of a horror movie fan. I understand Coraline is supposed to have some scary bits but I feel Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman and everyone who worked on Coraline will deliver a good story that just happens to be in 3D rather than a movie that depends on being in 3D to be good.

Fanboys because it looks like a fun geeky road trip romp.

Looking at this poster you can see it was origanaly slated for a 2007 release.  Yep I have been patiantly waiting two years for this movie.

Push I only heard about and saw the trailer a few days ago but it likes like a superhero movie but doesn't have the baggage of having fanbase it has to please.  My only concern with Push is that the characters will fail to use their abilities with a measure of common sense.

 

Only Coraline and Push wil be opening at my local theater. After very little thought I have purchased a ticket for the earliest showing of Coraline, to hopefully avoid a theater full of kids.

I'll be back with a review of the movie Friday night or Saturday.

Real

Melissa McEwan wrote this on Shakesville:

Dear America:

Some women have noticeable curves. Some women have less noticeable curves. All of them are real women.

Some men hew quite closely to traditional male stereotypes. Some men's gender expression is wildly different from traditional male stereotypes. All of them are real men.

Some men and women are attracted to the opposite sex. Some men and women are attracted to the same sex. Some men and women are attracted to both sexes, or neither. All of them are real men and women.

Some women and men were born the same gender they will die. Some women and men will transition to another gender during their lifetimes. Some will opt to present themselves as gender-neutral. All of them are real women and men.

Some women wear pink. Some women don't. All of them are real women.

Some men eat meat. Some men don't. All of them are real men.

Some Americans are brown. Some are white. Some are black. Some are some combination thereof. Some are Pacific Islanders. Some are indigenous people to this land. Some are from families that owned slaves. Some are from families that were enslaved. Some can trace their lineage back to the Mayflower. Some are recent immigrants. Some are religious. Some are not. Some believe in one god and some believe in many. Some Americans think George Bush is a great guy. Some Americans think Barack Obama is a great guy. Some Americans don't like either one of them. All of them are real Americans.

I am a real person. And so are you.

Authentically Yours,
Liss

I have nothing to add except to say I whole heartly agree with this.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming up in a little more than a week. In past years I've barely been aware that the day was coming. I've had little reason to keep track of it due to being single. It's a bit depressing for me to think about Valentine's day. I mean it's a day dedicated to expressing your love for your significant other, which leaves single people somewhat out in the cold.

This year is a bit different. No, I have not fond my true love or even just a love. What makes this year different is where I am working. The store I'm working for now sells cookie cakes and for Valentine's Day we sell heart shaped cookie cakes that come in gold and red foiled heart shaped boxes (they're very nice looking). This is the busiest time of the year for the store I've been told. We're expecting to sell around 250 heart cookie cakes and around 300 regular cakes over a period of four days. With that much business and due to my new position as team leader I'm going to be working open to close, fifteen hours, for most of next week. This is going to result in a very nice check. It will also mean I will have little to no free time during the days leading up to Valentine's Day.

The next part of my ongoing story is swimming in my brain. I am hoping to write and post it before V-week begins. In any event expect me to drop off the net around the 10th or 11th and to be back after the 15th.

Thinking

The above picture is of a space shuttle launch.

I'm watching Apollo 13 and thinking about space travel. I'm thinking how awesomely cool it is that people have left the planet. To go where no one has ever gone before.

And at the same time it is terrifying. This planet we live on is the only place were human life exists. Think about that. You can not survive out there unless you take everything you need to live. Air, water, food, and heat. There is literally no place to get more of any of those things out there.

I think about the big empty out there and feel so small.