Jacob was the bass player that filled in for my old band (was Electric Doormat, now Mercury Tree) while James was away for awhile. Such a sweet person, and only 17.

Click on the flyer for details.

I would really like to go to this, so if anyone in my neighborhood is interested, I can pay for your tickets, should you provide me with a ride.

Much love,

Me.

What you lacked for in technique, you made up for in performance.

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 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 of MegaUploads 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.

Here is a list of qualifying countries:
American Samoa, Andorra, Anguilla, Antarctica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Panama, Pitcairn, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, St Pierre and Miquelon, Sweden, Switzerland, Tonga, Tuvalu, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands, United Arab Emirates United Kingdom, United States, Vanuatu Vatican City State, Virgin Islands (British), and Virgin Islands (U.S.)

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

Someone in InsaneJournal gave me a letter S for the following meme:

Comment and I'll give you a letter. In your journal, list 10 of your favourite songs that begin with that letter.

1. Nickel Creek - Sabra Girl Such a simple, yet complex song, the harmonies and the intricate twinings of the guitar and mandolin? Sigh.

2. Lisa Loeb - Sandalwood One of my favoritest love songs evur.

3. Jellyfish - Sabrina, Paste, and Plato One of my all time favorite bands that I can go on about for ages. VERY poppy, and I love that they can pull it off live.

4. The Excentrics - Seen No Sun This album was in my cd player a lot back in '95 when I lived in Northern Virginia. They're now known as Getaway Car, I believe.

5. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band I tried to put things on here that most of you have probably never heard, but decided to add this one BECAUSE.

6. Marcy Playground - The Shadow of Seattle This cd will always remind me of driving around Tempe, Arizona, singing loudly along with my friend Peyton. I miss Peyton.

7. Sloan - She Says What She Means A play list by me wouldn't be a playlist by me without some Sloan.

8. Better Than Ezra - Sincerely, Me Again, wouldn't be a list by me if it didn't contain some Ezra, yo.

9. Electric Doormat - Skeleton in Silhouette My old band! Now known as The Mercury Tree, of course. You can even hear me singing "skeleton" repeatedly in the background :D I love to point out to people that 95% of this album was recorded by Lead Singer Ben all by his lonesome - all the songwriting, all the instruments, harmonies, arrangements - all in his bedroom.

10. Flickerstick - Smile A friend (Nicole!) slipped me their demo ages ago, and alas, it was stolen when my Jeep was broken into. Quite a bit later, I caught them on the Vh1 show "Bands on the Run" or something like that. I became emotionally vested, they ended up winning, and I bought their real album after that.

Honorable mention, just because the song always makes me smile:

Today was my four year anniversary with OfficeMax yay!

Or something.

Worked on less than five hours sleep from midnight to almost 9 am. Poor Yancey had less than two hours and then will be going home to a newborn, coming back on Sunday (oh, tomorrow!) to close, forever to be closing from then on. Tedders gets back soon, so he and I will be overnighting it until further notice. I shall greatly miss working with Yancey, as I realized today that he's my gossip partner. We only gossip to each other, you see. I was also greatly enjoying having a coworker to swap random Zim quotes with. I DID learn LOTS of juicy tidbits today, though.

Yancey: Four years ago, could you ever have envisioned that you would be doing this right now, right here?
Me: Cutting a box of lint rollers on aisle ten at two in the morning? No.

I only got this job as a temporary, you see, until I found a "real job". Funny that I ended up happier here than I have been at any other job.

Oh, the other day, I was at my desk and Yancey comes back with a piece of cardboard.

Yancey: Aubrey, I have something for you!

It was a piece that he had sliced from a generic box that said "W.I.P. Work in Progress". I cheesily told him I would cherish it forever, as he put it on top of my monitor. I told him he had to autograph it, though, so he wrote "To: Aub, From Yan" Five minutes later, he comes trotting back.

"Aubrey, Aubrey! You need to sign one for me, too!" So I wrote something super nurdy like "Keep rockin! To Yans from Aubs" He immediately "laminated" it by covering it with box tape to keep it safe from possible liquids.

I'm not making a whole lotta sense atm, so methinks I shall finally go to bed.

I also have fantastic news to spew about my old band - I am quite proud of them, you see. I will go into further details later, but for now, Clicky, please.

AND CHECK OUT THEIR MYSPACE, DAGNABBIT!!

Send me a song(s), will ya? Go to yousendit.com, or any of those other places, and gimmay.

If'n you've heard me talk about certain bands and want to check out some of their music, let me know, unkay?

OOOH, and for the email address if you want to send the music that way:

aubrey.mcsaurus at gmail.com, or even just at aubkabob at livejournal.com. Both will end in the same place.

I... really don't have a title for this.

It's nice to come home sometimes and have Bacci make sweet sweet love to my hands. Not like.... ew, love, but as in "OMG, YOU'RE HOME THANK GAWD, PET ME LIKE THE WHORE YOU ARE!!!" love.

Sweat has finally stopped dripping down me from my walk home.

Went to Target to buy delicious foods to suppliment my dinners at work, bought Method's fantastic earth-loving refill for hand soap - 12 ounces for $2.99 in a dispensor, flavor of your choice, or 34 ounces for $3.99, either green tea or sweet water flavors.

Since I have been trying to be better for the environment and to not buy things tested on animals... things I have bought my whole life come into question. Like, for example, I realize that just not purchasing stuff tested on animals isn't good, that one should not buy any products from said companies. I was an Oil of Olay hog, for one example. Another random example is buying toothpaste from, say, Tom of Maine's, but then buying a toothbrush made by Crest.

And now everyone is thinking that I'm a tree-hugging hippy. It's been... awhile since I hugged a tree, and I will never try to force my beliefs on others - I'm just changing the way that I personally do things.

Call it my Greenpeacy Stage in life.

Worked my hiney off at work, setting planograms for paper. I'm stiff and feeling old, looking forward to bed, bath, and... beyond, not necessarily in that order.

Yancey and I decided to coin the phrase "brown collaring" - when someone is brown-nosing so much, you don't know where the brown-nosee lets off and the brown-noser begins. Head so far up their ass blowing smoke, that even their collars are brown.

Stranded in the wrong time...

So I hear today that Newport Bay AND the movie theater will also be moving out of my work's plaza.

Oy.

That makes a total of... them, Bed Bath & Beyond, WinCo, and... possibly Barnes & Noble to move from our plaza, within the next year and a half. Combine this with the loss of Michael's a year ago (which so hurt our sales) and (to a lesser extent) JoAnne's... That leaves us pretty much with Target and Hollywood Video. Ooh, and a dollar store. Combine all of THAT with the fact that I peeked at our recent sales and we're only making about half of what all the other stores in the district are (awful, as we're the largest!!), the fact that we're having a major visit at the end of the month for an "evaluation" that has the store manager fuhREAKING out, and the fact that instead of having a concrete date for our remodel (September 28), they said "uh... sometime in the future... or something."... doesn't look promising for OfficeMax Store 0255.

Or my job.

Granted, it would take at least a year (hope) for all of this to happen, which hopefully means job security until then. But I would not only then have to find another job, but I would no longer work with the people I do now. This makes me sad.

I still don't know what I want to do with my life.

In other news, excited to get to see Ben and Larrissa for a bit in a few hours, though it will probably be only a teensy bit. I miss them, I do.

It's almost as if working overnights is some sort of a... lab experiment, to see how human beings will react. Thank DOODNESS I get along well with Ted - I can't imagine how I would cope if I was stuck only ever seeing someone I loathed. Ted for eight or so hours a day, sometimes Yancey for four, morning crew for ten minutes, roommates for maybe ten minutes a day...

I generally can't make noise on my "days" off, as any noise I makes carries into the bedroom of my sleeping roommates. While Jess can sleep through a dancing bull on the bed, Daniel is a light sleeper. Sigh. This keeps me from accomplishing much on my days off, other than WoW or FFXII or movies and knitting. (You would think I would have my purse done by now, but noooOOOOoo, I'm still only about sixteen or so rows into it.) That also takes out playing my guitar, though I realized that if I get Murray (my electric) out of it's bag, I can play that with no amp and make no noise, wee!

I have slept totally horribly for the last two days, due to the heat and other things. (We do not have air conditioning, and all I own is a 8" clip on fan next to my bed, which resides in a second story bedroom. I'm thankful that there's a tree outside giving me shade, but STILL. Even sleeping nude doesn't help. Bleh. I'm going to try melatonin (not melanoma) today and see if that helps.

Anyone have any suggestions for some easy, fantastic vegetarian dishes?

Bad dreams last night, where my ex band was breaking up, and many of my most precious, delicate belongings ended up thrown in the pool, along with the drummer's kit. I remember screaming in frustration at Mike, to not give up, that this will soon pass.

Not sleeping well has hindered my ability to stay on topic, you see.

You're it, fang face.

.... THE HELL?!? On Tues/Wed, it's supposed to be OVER A HUNDRED DEGREES? Oy. Shoot me now. I really need to invest in a fan or something. Granted, I'll be sleeping during the hottest time of the day, but STILL.

Things you may not know about me:

- I am a WOMAN. For some reason, in comments to people, I really think that people think I'm some guy named Bob because of my screen name. No, I assure you, I'm 100% female. My first name is Aubrey, it's a play off of that. I have never gone by the name Bob evur.

- I'm 5'6 or 5'7 ish, 224 lbs, short dark hair, which is starting to go grey. Erm, white. Shiny silver? Oy. I'm going to look like I belong in Sloan soon. I stopped dying my hair for some reason, and cut off all the colored parts. I had red hair most of my adult life.

- I wear glasses, and desperately need new ones - I've been looking through these goggles for 4 1/2 years now, so I can't see shit. I always feel silly telling people "Hold on! I can't see, I have my glasses on!" (I see better with contacts, but EFFORT!!! is involved.)

- I'm allergic to metal. Yes, I have tried sterling silver, hypoallergenic crap, surgical steel, etc. I'm just allergic to metal. The only metal I've found that doesn't make me break out within five minutes of touching it is the metal in my fillings. Everything else, it BUUUURNS ME!

- I have three fillings - both shallow enough to get done without any shots or pain killers of any kind. I was more afraid of the giant needles than I was of the pain. I was.. sixteenish when I got them.

- I have scoliosis - but these days, who doesn't? All but three vertebrae of my spine is TWISTED, literally, and curved into a slight backwards 's' shape - the curve of the 's' pinches nerves between my spine and right shoulder blade at times.

- I wear a size 7 wide shoe, or a 7 1/2 regular.

- I never match my socks. My only request is that they are around the same thickness and length.

- I'm a vegetarian. Ovo/lacto, fer certain, though I've been trying to eat less of those, too. Oddly, the only things I've missed is pork products - namely ham and bacon. BACON!

- I've had two surgeries: one on my right wrist for carpal tunnel syndrome at age 17, the other for a deviated septum.

- I have almost pristine credit, except for a stupid Jeep I haven't owned in four years. I really need to see someone about that - I just got another letter in the mail saying that starting with my very next check, 25% of my pay will belong to them. The amount I owed them went from $23,000 something the last time they garnished me, to $24,000 something, only four months later. The hell?!? What I originally owed them was only $15,000, the jerks, and I only MAKE $12,000 a year. (Well, as of last year - this year will be more because of working more, schooling less, and such.)

I'm sure there's lots of other things that you don't know about me, but I really want to go to bed. (I work graveyards!! Noon is my bedtime!)

Any questions?

She recently sent me some more of this research!

LOLZ - in clicking to put Underworld: Evolution into my Netflix queue, (I just have a thing for Kate Beckensale. Mrowr!) it says:

Other movies you might like:

Van Helsing
Blade
X:Men
Bloodrayne
Click
Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Okeee... one of these things is not like the other....

===========

Wore my old man dress pants to work last night, and was surprised with a truck of freight. Seeing as the pants let my legs breathe about as much as a garbage bag would, methinks I need to take a shower before going to bed for the day. Well, that - and the fact that my forearms look like I rolled in mud today, from carrying boxes upon boxes of EXTREMELY heavy file folders - five of the packs of one hundred manilla folders to a box, boy howdee.

At least since the box came a day earlier, I suddenly have the next two nights off, wee!

===========

My body is changing, though I've been eating like a PIG. (or, should I say "like a bird" as they eat their body weight or more every day?) It's for the better, yes, and I've dropped four pounds or so total. (Making it a total of about 16 lbs since... um... April something.) I can.... for the first time in FOREVER, when I flex in the mirror, I can see a giant bicep pop up!!! I have muscles! I can also fit into a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear in some time. Just imagine how much of The Sex I would be if I were eating correctly, too!!!

===========

Speaking of not being The Sex, two nights ago, I woke up with AWESOME freaking hair. I had these emo bangs that swooshed down to my eyes, and fwippy ends everywhere else. Too bad I cannot HANDLE working with my hair in my eyes. A bit of lipstick, and I would have been MEROWR! (Run with me here...) Unfortunately, last night I woke up with...

Harry Potter hair. I looked like a 32 year old Harry Potter. (Well, maybe not 32 year old, as I frequently have people guess I'm about 24 years old, so...) That's what I get for going to bed with wet hair.

===========

Playing FFXII again, I'm hanging out in the Tchita Uplands, about to go kill the mandragora... quints. Balthier is thee hott. It's finally been almost long enough since I saw the crocodile movie that was in theatres recently that had the guy that does his voice acting (badly) in it, so I am finally getting past seeing HIS face whenever Balthier talks. Yay. That was just too upsetting for words.

I still think it's funny that Basch and Bloo are done by the same guy, though no one else seems to find humor in this.

===========

Because the hole in the fence near my work takes me to the bike trail along the freeway, thusly cutting my walk home nearly in half takes me through less travelled areas:

- BUNNAYS!!! I see many on my walk home daily. WEE!
- TRANSIENTS!!! About every other day, I find a guy wrapped in a blanket under a tree, surrounded by plastic bags with empty alcohol containers.

That body in the crypt, the first dead body...

Store Manager Captain Kirk said that he asked the district manager for a dollar more an hour for me, but Mr. Farmer balked, as when people get promoted to key carrying supervisors, they only get 75 cents an hour raise. He said that he was going to turn in the paperwork today for a dollar more an hour for me, anyway, and see if he can squeak it through.

Here's to hoping.

I never thought I would ever get the back room caught up, but i'm 1000%ly caught up now, other than some stuff that I'm waiting for silly authorization numbers from the manufacturers.

Ted said he talked to Kirk today, too, to remind him about my raise and to kick his butt into gear to get me more monays. I told him I appreciate him having my back like that, and he said that he will do anything it takes to keep me on his team.

Awww.

Kirk also said that Ted was levying for a LOOOOONG time, begging them to allow me on his shift. Sweet.

Dinked on Netflix (you can add me to your friends list: aubkabob@livejournal.com, or if that doesn't work, try aubreykaye@hotmail.com!) and added a million and one things. I pretend! Though I did get my queue up to 450 or so.

Ha.

Three discs of Delicious ZIM should be here in a day or two.

And now I need to bathe and go to sleep.

Night.

Mercury Tree show tonight, July 1st!!

Copied totally from the ever-lovely Larrissa, regarding my ex band (but still beloved) Electric Doormat (now known as The Mercury Tree):

it would be wonderful to see you
OH FRIENDS, i meant to tell you tomorrow (now tonight)
THE MERCURY TREE is playing a show at
rock 'n roll pizza at around 4:30 or five (July 1st)

its a battle of the bands, and um,
they really need people to show up

the company they are working with is
promising future paid gigs* if they just
bring in 30 people to this show tomorrow ... (now tonight)

so should you be available, and reside in the area,
come down to the rock n roll pizza and rock out.**

its $8.00 a ticket, payble directly to myself or one of the bandmates.***

thank you.

*this has yet to happen so far. its exciting.

**rock 'n roll pizza is ALL AGES with an onsite bar for those over 21.

***im being told the drummer is in charge of being outside
and collecting you fancy folks who come out without tickets.

(pee ess, it's in Portland.)

You can get your first month of storage free!

Home from my first night of working midnight to eight. I'm stiff and sore, but it's a GOOD stiff and sore - the kind you feel after putting in a good, hard day of work. I didn't feel sleepy, per se, though it seemed like the last three hours, my IQ began to drop considerably. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've used the backspace while typing this in order to change words from "ov" to "of", for example.

Went to Target afterwards and bought... stuff. Benedryl, food, a night sleepy mask thing - for $4.99! There was one that was a buck and a half less, but it was made of terry cloth vs. satin, and had obnoxious teenagery pictures on it, in annoying teenage hot dark pink and teal. I also got what must've been THEE LAST TEA BALL IN THE WOOOOORLD, or so my wocked off mind decided, after searching high and low.

I dirtied myself almost immediately upon working - for the rest of the evening, it looked as if I lactated motor oil. Sexeh. I told Yancey that I was really a pregnant robot in disguise. He was not amused.

I thought I had more to say, but I can't think of it at the moment.

You can pay with points and go.

It's almost eeeeeerie how many people on my friendslist had issues sleeping last night. Almost every other post (if not more) that I read of yours, involved bad dreams, panic, restlessness, unease. I'm sorry, my pretties. I send good jujubeeees in your direction.

I had planned on going to bed at noon yesterday, but didn't make it until one. (I had just ONE MORE QUEST OMG to finish in WoW-land before going... and then one more... and then since I was already in the area, I might as well do THOSE three...) I flopped around for FIVE HOURS before I finally gave up and came downstairs. No amount of camomile tea and Benedryl helped. I stayed up for two hours, then crashed... for four hours. I almost got up at midnight, but fell back into a fitful sleep until 3 a.m., when I finally came downstairs.

I'm going to take my nightly Benedryl (thank you, Daniel!) and drink the teensy bit of wine I have in the fridge in order to make another attempt at sleeping before Ted comes to pick me up around midnight tonight.

Television really, truly sucks between zero o'clock and minus-thirty in the morning. I've spent time flipping between videos on VH1 and old syndicated episodes of Coach, I Love Lucy, and Sanford and Son. I'm watching JAG for the first time ever right now, it isn't half bad.

In other news, I so wish I could do something to keep Bacci from going completely feral on people, especially my roommates. Jess and Dan would be totally scarred by now, if they didn't make it a habit to walk around downstairs with shoes on.

This isn't like the first time that our friends have called us names.

Okay, so my first leg of trying to get my sleeping schedule turned around didn't work so well. I slept from 5 to 1030, woke up for about an hour with an awful allergy attack. Took more Benedryl and slept until 5 a.m.

Well, poo.

Dumb dreams, too, which were very... odd. I remember a little girl reaching for a roast in the fire and burning half her hair off. I remember wanting that roast really bad, too, but didn't want to step on anyone's feet, so I went hungry. I hadn't been invited, afterall. I remember sitting with my friend Brett from Phoenix and recalling a time that we went white river rapidsing, only for him to say "Uh, if you did that, I wasn't there." Oh. We were on a school bus as I was recounting the story to everyone. I remember us having to hike through the zoo carrying our rafts and water toys, and that someone fell out of the raft and hilarity ensued, but everyone told me it really didn't happen. I ended up at a party house where everyone was kicking back the next day. There was roast on the table, too, and pie, but again I hadn't been invited, and I was sure the roast was spoken for. I could eat pie, but was convinced if I did, that everyone would look at me and call me a pig because I would just eat what wasn't good for me. So I went hungry. I knew I wasn't invited and that no one really wanted me there, and felt awkward at my self invitingness, but realized I truly had nowhere else to go. I also stepped in brie and scraped it off my foot, and was convinced that everyone around me was thinking I was such a pig that I would eat it, anyway. No one truly knew me or cared to know me.

I only have one more night's worth of Benedryl, which means I need to make a hike to Target to get some more. (I'm poor right now but have a Target card.) Maybe I'll be lucky and my brother will be working today and willing to pick me up some. I tried to take only one last night instead of the two I've been taking before bed, which is why I woke up with a massive attack.

Stupid allergies.

I'mma cop, okay?!?

Home from work and POOPED, which I suppose is a good thing, as starting Monday night/Tuesday morning at midnight, I will be working strictly midnight to eight a.m. shifts.

I'm quite fine with this. NO CUSTOMERS WOO. I won't even have to wear my uniform.

I busted ass and shipped OMGSOMUCHSTUFF back to vendors, as it's the end of the quarter and everything must be done by then. $2000 in dvdr's? Wowsa. HEAVY. In case you're wondering on the weight, it was two eighty pound boxes, two 14 lb boxes, and an 8 lb box. I could go further into details of all I did, but I don't want to bore you even more.

So, two days off to switch my sleeping schedule around. I'm already switched around enough that "sleeping in" is five a.m., so it's just going to take a bit more tweeking.

I also SO wish I could stop waking up at 7:30/8:30 pm and freaking the hell out because my mind automatically processes it as "it's daylight, therefore it's a.m., not p.m." Last night, I was awake with my heart pounding for over five minutes (all filled with cursing) because I thought I was five hours late for work, when I had only slept for an hour.

Doy.

You WILL tell me all that you know.

Dreams of roaming through swampland last night, being totally lost in forests and country sides, though there was a cruise involved somewhere. I remember standing on a hilltop overlooking the land, and how beautiful and lush and green it was; though dark clouds were overhead, it almost made the shadows that much more beautiful below. I watched someone in my team that controlled a fire beast, and realized that I controlled ice. I pulled my arms to my side and watched two rings of ice form around each of my wrists; I would then shove my arms out, where two more rings would form on each wrist, then sending a beautiful ice unicorn out to attack my enemy, fighting alongside the giant fire cat of my friend's. I then realized that I had other powers, too, and we were lost, so I picked up a handful of sand and let it fly off my palm. I did it twice to confirm that we needed to head east. We headed east, then I went to a hotel room and had sex with Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra, center).

I hate it when I wake up before I'm finished.

Apparently with my new schedule, "sleeping in" means "waking up at 5 a.m." Was a bit discombobulated when I woke up first at 10 pm last night. I thought I heard arguments somewhere, and fell back asleep.

Got disc one of Invader Zim in the mail from Netflix today. Oh, yes, fun was had.

Also watched a slew of Stargate, as the last episode EVUR will be on tomorrow night (I will be asleep for approximately three hours before it airs.) It's messing up my mind the order that they're doing it, though: season three, season four, season one, season eight.

I'm such a nerd.

My allergies hate me this evening.

Lose all the weight you can and only pay $249!

So very pooped today, worked from 4 a.m. until 3 p.m., with lots of physical running around and a ton of mental work to try to retain. Ugh. My time with Muriel is limited, I wish I was absorbing everything a bit faster. I'm a fast learner, true, but sheesh.

Managed to injure not one, not two, but THREE of my fingertips in separate instances: a nice chunk of skin off of my middle left finger when i dropped a box and tried to catch it - it twisted in my hand and now I have a nice, deep, bloody flap. Curse you, wireless keyboard mouse combo box!!! The second is on the index finger of my right hand, where i tried a little too hard to claw my way into some shrink wrapped ink cartridges and pulled my nail away from my finger. Later, as I was packing up some toner boxes to ship in for recycling, I shoved cardboard under the nail on my right thumb.

Animals are weird.

Bad dreams last night. I was stuck back in my music classes with Dr. Appert and had to take my final after all. As I hadn't been to school in a month, I couldn't remember anything I needed to answer, and I wracked my brain for hours (in my dream) over the last question, which was carving my chocolate chip cookie recipe into dough with a paper funnel rim. I was quite pleased with myself when I remembered the two "secret ingredients": vanilla extract and brown sugar.

Woke up stressed and felt as if I hadn't slept all day, though I went to bed at eightish last night. Granted, my alarm goes off at one thirty, but still.

I need a haircut.

But essentially, we'd be shooting at.... nothing.

Enjoying my "evening" as I knit my purse, eat lukewarm clam chowder (I didn't heat it up hot enough but was too lazy to go finish the doo) and wheat thins, sip decaf tea, and watch my season two discs of SG1. It feels like every evening is just a grand waiting game for my bedtime of four o'clock pee em to occur (though I generally fall asleep hours later - reading and all), though today seems extra pleasant for some reason.

I got to feel like a ninny yesterday as I got my official first lesson in hand jack operation. I'm not talking the regular floor jack wheeled things, I'm talking hard core motorized fork lift doo-hickey. Manager Ted gave me instructions as I wheeled, bonked, squealed, and mechanically sashayed around receiving. It was terrifying and embarassing - I felt as if I were suddenly twelve years old again and my arms and legs had outgrown me. I ended up lifting and placing a bale of cardboard ontop of another without any casualties.

One of our giant, creepy lights went out - which causes receiving to smell like scorched rubber. We have no ladders taller than ten feet, so Ted put a pallet onto the tongs of the jack and had me lift him to the ceiling so that he could unplug the light. About five feet from the floor, Ted accidentally leaned back on the pallet, causing it to shimmy on the tongs and his arms to flap in the air in panic. "If that would have happened at the top, I would have crapped my pants," he said.

I also managed to get the entire first season of Buffy for ten bucks. Score. I've been reading oh so many of you making Buffy references on my friends list, so I have been craving me some.

I still haven't seen that musical episode, dagnabbit.

Do you NEED a sidekick?

All I want to do at home since I started the new position is sleeeeep. Lost two pounds from all the exercise I've been getting (as I haven't changed my eating habits, really.)

It feels almost as if I'm in retail boot camp, quite a work out and time FLIES.... until we open.

Still having fun with it, though I'm frustrated for days like tomorrow where I will be spending half my day stuck behind a register. Manager Ted is hoping and pleading for some overnight shifts for him and me, because there is no way whatsoever that we'll be able to get everything that needs to be done for the back to school season with just three of us having only four hours a day (the store being open for the other four we're there, and we can't exactly tear the store up like we need to in order to put it back together the way it needs to go.)

I just feel bad having to have one of them pick me up before work every day. I offered to walk, but everyone put the fear of GOD into me for walking a half hour to work at 330 in the morning, half of that along desolate swamp like land.

Fine.

While waiting for Ted to pick me up Saturday morning, I witnessed three things:

- A party in the apartment complex was still going on into the wee hours of the morning. There was a very pretty, blonde woman walking back and forth to her car, completely 100%-ly nude from the waist up, talking loudly on her cell phone.

- Three guys in hoodies walked together from the apartment complex next to mine to the apartment complex across the street and down a ways. Five minutes later, they came back at a DEAD RUN. Couldn't have been up to much good, methinks.

- My roommates came home from Jack in the Box and stopped to talk to me a bit as I was waiting in the parking lot. Well, sheesh. If I would have known they were going, I could have tagged along - my work is almost next door.

Now bring it on over to the left...

A purse I am currently knitting. I get very lazy when it comes to crafts, while I am equally whining about how I wish I crafted more. We'll see just how long this project takes, as it's something I can totally use asap.

Taken with the phone camera, which is why it looks like dookie. The colors, as you can't really tell, are dark blue, dark red, and dark purple. I do want to add a dark green as well, but I can't seem to locate my yarn.

Phooey.

Daniel made us all a fantastic dinner consisting of homemade waffles, fresh cantaloupe and strawberries, scrambled eggs with cheese, sour cream, and salsa.

Yum.

Did I mention that whipped cream is involved? Delish.

I also now have the Invader Zim theme song as my ring tone. It's a cheap verison of it, true, but it's MIIINE.

I hope I can someday locate all my Zim eps. I miss them greatly.

Today I will be the assistant to the marine biologist.

I'm loving the 4 a.m. shift, I must say. Granted, it IS four a.m.; however, the fact that there are no customers until 8, 9, or 10 (depending upon the day) helps this factor immensely.

I ran my ass off today, and sweated buckets. I'm not a sweater, usually, at least not THIS much. Wowza. I'm thankful that I remembered to slather on the deodorant this morning (and so are my coworkers.) I lifted many things, threw lots of freight, climbed lots of ladders with the freight. If I were eating healthy, I'm quite confident I would lose weight in no time.

I was also hazed today.

Yancey calls me over the radio, "Aubrey, can you meet me in receiving? I need help moving a box." I head back and see Yancey standing behind a giant box. "Ted was helping me, but he had to go to the bathroom real quick." I opened my mouth to make a snarky remark about Ted and his bladder as I walked up to the box... and Ted jumped out of the box screeching "RAWR!!!" I squeeled, we all laughed, I remarked that now IIII needed to use the bathroom real fast. As I went back to what I was doing on the floor, I said over the radio, "It's okay, I know you wouldn't do it if you didn't CARE."

Apparently, we're getting in trucks that are about three times the size that they are normally, as our back to school season is starting. The last two years, they had seven - SEVEN!!! - associates working their tails off to keep up with the freight and merchandising resetting, and this year, we have THREE. Granted, I think that if anyone in the store can do it, it's us three (toot toot my horn, yesh.), but still. In the middle of all of this, I still need to find time to do all the price changes coming through, the defects, the known thefts, the corporate recalls, the vendor returns, the ... GAH. Apparently, they're going to give me one - maybe TWO! - days a week so that I can work on that stuff exclusively.

They had BEST give me one helluva raise. I find out next week (hope!) what and if I get one.

Oh how I love it when cats are suddenly clumsy, fighting tooth and nail to keep their footing. Unfortunately, Bacci jumped on my chair arm and slipped.. her nail just went so deep into my arm that it pulled my arm down to the floor when she fell.

Yes, I'm bleeding now.

It's spread out throughout the gut.

Home and TIE-URD. I'm going to try my damnedest to pull up some superhero waking strength to keep me awake until at least 7 or so, so that I can work harder at changing my sleeping schedule around.

Came up with the eyeda (in my sleep deprived mind, this is how I automatically spelled "idea" - makes sense: eye. d. a.) to come in for just two hours tomorrow and two hours the next day - both starting at 6 am - to train with Muriel &hearts.

I think my cat is obsessed with me sometimes.

And in case you haven't figured it out already, for lack of a title, I have just been pulling what i hear off of the telly when it's time to post.

When Girls Gone Wild teams up with TV's Reality Stars...

Two thirty in the morning and I'm up for work, yaaaay!

Yancey will be here to pick me up in about an hour. In the meantime, I shall try to thwart my allergies' evil attempt at my ability to see and breathe, drink any caffeine I can get my mits on, and shove food down my maw.

The last three days at work? Hell. Well, I mean, I suppose I've had MUCH worse days, but we've been SO FLIPPING BUSY OMG that ... well, on our skeleton crew, it makes things quite harsh, it does. I'm hoping that it helps me seem an important worker, as I think my capabilities shine when all shit is hitting the fan.

I can multitask like nobody's bid'ness.

Planned on going to bed at six pm last night, but stayed up until a bit past seven, finally turning my light off at a little past eight. It was remarkably easy to get up... let's hope that all my other butt-thirty mornings are this easy.

I thought I had more to add, but I can't think through the wrath of the sinus godz.

I drink a little, I stay up late, but I sleep a lot.

Any particular reason why Bacci has BOOBIES now? They seem to be getting... bigger as each day goes by. Yes, she was fixed, which is why I'm perplexed and concerned.

Home from work, and eGADS did I make my moneys worth today. I worked HARD for the monay. It's day two of a hell weekend. I'm freaking BEAT. I was excited about moving to my new position, and tomorrow was supposed to be the first day of training... but they didn't schedule anyone, so I'm the cashier from 8 - 2, giving me only two hours before we open in order to have access to anything. No word on a raise, though Capt. Kirk seems hell bent on getting me SOMEthing, but the person who can approve it will be on vacation all next week.

Sigh.

My odd moment of clarity today: During a time where things were going INSANE with customers at work, every associate calling me to all corners of the building for assistance (more than the manager at times), it dawned on me:

I was the only person working the entire day and with everything going wrong today that has been employed with OfficeMax more than a month, manager included.

Closed with Manager Jason for the first time tonight - in fact, it was the first time that I had worked with him for more than an hour in the entire month that he's worked there.

It was an EXCELLENT night for my ego, as he kept saying how much the managers keep talking about me and how much he's heard and WHAT he's heard, as well as OMG HOW BEYOND excited they are to have me in my new position, ESPECIALLY the logistics team of Ted and Yancey that I'm going to. :D :D :D :D

So tomorrow is my first day in my new postion, working 9 - 530, then 6 am to 2, then 4 am to 1. It's nice that I'm being eased into my new 4 a.m. starting time, though I think I've stated this a million times already.

Blahblahblah. Nothing overly interesting to report. I wore my new work pants today. Rawk.

Craving me some Buffy.

When that happened, I made that story up

Woke up with a confusion as to what day it was: is it Thursday or Friday?

Thankfully, this mystery has been solved.

Picked up my schedule for next week at work yesterday. I'm full time, woo!! 38 hours, most of the days starting at 6 or 4 a.m. This doesn't bother me a bit, EXCEPT that one of the 4 a.m. shifts is immediately after a closing until 10 p.m. shift. I shall point this out to them when I go back on Saturday, and see if the really hate me, or just didn't notice. But I'll be working with Ted and Yancey, two of my favoritest coworkers, and a lot of the hours will be when we're closed, so no customers! I'll also be quite busy with freight and other stuff, so I'll definitely get more exercise this way, too. I'm just confused, as the lady who's spot I'm taking is only working the days that I'm off, so.... who's gunna train me, yo?

My tummy hurts.

I thanked the store manager for the promotion, and he thanked me for my hard work in response. He also said that as much as he loves the person who's spot I'm taking, that he knows that most people can do her job in less than half the time it takes her, so to keep that in mind when she's training me.

And I have a desk now! And the back room will be known as Aubrey's Dungeon! And now I get to be the one that bitches royally when people ditch things on the back desk! And I get keys to the back lock up!

Capt. Kirk said that he is interested in getting me more money, but has no idea how much yet, as he hasn't had a chance to look at my file to see what I make now and what they'll be willing to give me. I am HOPING for maybe $1 more an hour, but.... yeah. I think that's a bit high of a request for retail.

Drool. Ugh.

Bored bored bored. I logged out of WoW real quick to do a restart as I was lagging enough to pull hairs. Unfortunately, I can't get back in, grrr.

Granted, there's so many other things I could be doing with my precious time than leveling my rogue by doing the same blasted Horde quests over and over and over, but... yeah. I WAS in the mood to do the quests, not to... knit my blasted purse I've been meaning to make, or learn sign language, or CLEAN.

Blergy.

My wound hath soaked through four layers of bandage and is still massively tender. Delish.

Cramping all day. Bloated like a three-day-dead pig.

I need to get me some friends in here, I do.

Tell me about it.

Something I left out of my post yesterday...

My work pants are old, and I HATE shopping, so I've been putting off buying pants until the last possible second.

Welp, the inside left seam of my pants tore a bit during work, but not enough to embarass. It WAS enough, however, for my thighs to rub against each other and chafe. (Sexy mental impression, I know.)

Fast forward a few hours of this happening around work, and then a half hour walk home in VERY hot and QUITE humid weather.. the pants stuck to my sweaty legs, resulting in quite a .. rub wound when I got home. I didn't think it was that bad, but didn't like the pain of the wound against fabric, so I put a non adhesive pad on it and went about my way.

When I was getting ready for bed last night, I realized that the nonstick pad had most certainly stuck to the wound. In fact, something quite undelicious had soaked quite through the pad, adhering it completely. (Not blood.) I pulled it off.... oh my GAW, the PAIN. I was in the upstairs bathroom panting, with the wound weeping down my leg. How on earth would I get my pants back on? Oy.

To make a short story long, I had to put another pad on to sleep in, and removed it again this morning so that the still weeping wound can get some air. I'm wearing shorts (something I never do) and walking around the house like a sumo wrestler to prevent my thighs from touching.

It's really meaty. And really disgusting. But kinda cool.

Anyhoo.

After making this post yesterday about where else on the interwebs you can find me, I also started a...

FACEBOOK.
GREATESTJOURNAL.
DIARYLAND.
BLOGSPOT.

Again, to find out where else on the webs you can find me, check out yesterday's post and add me to your netflixes and your neopets and your miscellaneouseses.

Randomness and where else you can find me

Ohmygaw. How hilarious is this?

My old website is still up! I apologize for the absolutely HORRID site. I obviously know zilch about html.

Apparently, my brother's is still up, too.

I totally forgot about those things, I did! I also forgot about drunkenly kissing a random gay guy, in a picture found SOMEwhere on those sites. Tee hee.

Reminds me: Pride is coming up. So far, I have made it a habit to go every other year, which makes it this year the year to go. Anyone wanna?

Home from work and thankfully I have finally stopped dripping sweat from my walk home. It feels like armpit outside, causing me to daydream about winter. Or maybe autumn with its fantastic smells? Aw, yesh.

Le sigh.

This also marks the beginning of my (unasked for) five day weekend. Huzzah. Maybe I'll get some organizing done? Mayhaps. I really need to pick up that guitar, too. And drop off the rent check. Beyond that? ANYONE'S GUESS! I'm such a maverick. Off the handle I go! Carazay.

I have realized I've slowly been turning into a hippiesque person - I recycle much more, I try my bestest to use products not used on animals, I don't eat meat, I eat little dairy.

I have an angry hangnail.

Bacci has started playing fetch again, which is amusing... for the first five hundred minutes. She's quite patient at times: I've had her drop her ball on my keyboard when I don't pay attention. I also felt her staring at me last night and looked over... and there she sat on the floor staring at me, ball in her mouth.

Oh how I love watching Dirty Jobs.

I also find it amusing that I still have my deadjournal.
I also have a Vox account.
I also have my LiveJournal.
I also have My MySpace.
I also have My musician page on MySpace.
I also have a Twitter account!
I also have a Flickr account!
I also have a Deviant Art account!
I also have an InsaneJournal!
If you want to go on the wayback wagon, I also have a Friendster account!

Anything else I should get that I'm currently missing?

Oh, yesh:

Neopets user: aubkabob
Netflix friends list: aubkabob@livejournal.com

Methinks I shall crosspost this in most of those places so that you all may find me.