It's Taken Too Long to Get to Here...

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my brother's trial. Please send every ounce of good thoughts that you can muster my brother's way.

In other news, I hate having to listen to other people's music because they're too incosiderate to play it at a normal level. Ack.

Of no real importance...

I felt I should make an entry even though there isn't much going on. The weather is beautiful here, again, we've skipped spring and it's pretty summer-like.

This past weekend at work was a long one--I closed on Thursday night which is unusual and I worked a double on Sunday. 10 hours and 45 minutes, nearly all of it on my feet. Ugh. The upside is that I made a pretty chunk of money. This weekend should be a lot less strenuous for me.

The only other thing to talk about is apples. A few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I went to the grocery to stock up on fruit--apples being one of the primary ones. We bought a bag of "Rome" apples, and were both sadly disappointed in the quality. They were too softy, and almost mealy. There was no satisfying crisp biting into the apple. On this past grocery trip, I picked up 2 each of 3 kinds of apples: Granny Smith, Gala, and Pink Lady. I'll be honest, I picked the Pink Lady because of the name. Surprisingly though, they're very good. Perfect crisp and a good balance of sweet and tart. Yum! So good that I went back yesterday and bought 6 more. I'm not an apple fan, but these may have made me one.

Things That Are Not Tips

So in the current economic woes we're experiencing, people are finding new ways to tip less but still feel good about themselves.

A couple of examples, shall we?
--Profuse "thank you"s and "you were so great"s. I mean, sure it makes me feel good inside, but 20% (instead of...11%) makes me feel extra good, and will ensure than when/if I serve you again, I'll make some extra effort. Boasting about how great I am to my manager? Nice, but again, not a tip.

--A napkin with "Jesus Loves You!" and various bible snippets written on it. Again, I can tell that you care (about me?), but only leaving 12% on the check when you've had great service can't be something God smiles upon favorably. (This is actually the first time I've had a Jesus napkin left for me. I have had pre-printed Jesus-y cards left for me...in lieu of a tip. Extra frustrating.)

So if you're inclined to leave a "tip", think of this--if your server takes that "tip" to his/her landlord, will it pay the rent? Can s/he buy a bunch of bananas with a "thank you so much for everything!!" If the answer is "no", don't be a sourpuss, leave a real tip! (I'm sure my readers aren't this type of tipper, so no offense guys!)

Bummer!

So I was supposed to have an awesome tea/brunch date with my friend, but alas the gods of plans intervened...

Yesterday when I was driving to work (at 4:30, mind you), my brakes started making a weird clicking/clunking noise. Since I learned from last time DON'T MESS AROUND WITH WEIRD NOISES, I panicked! I went to work, and one of my managers let me take my car to the Tuffy across the street. I wanted to make sure that it was drivable and I wouldn't die. The problem turned out to be the brake shoes not being fit properly and thus not wearing correctly. Luckily, not something DRASTIC, so I decided to wait until today to take my car to the Tuffy that did my brake work originally. And thusly, I needed to cancel tea (figuring I'd be sitting at Tuffy or the nearby Starbucks all day long).

Tuffy was busy today (even though I went over at the crack of dawn), so instead of sitting there all day impatiently, I scheduled service for Monday afternoon. That freed up my day today, but unfortunately I went to bed very late last night (I worked till close--midnight), and getting up early this morning was killer. I came home and went back to bed, only to still feel like poopie when I finally got up. Ugh. So basically I'm going to waste this day reading a book until I have to head to work.

The good news in all of this is that the repair work will be covered by the limited warranty, so it shouldn't cost a single red cent!

A Post Dedicated to my Mom (and some talk about me...)

My mom got a new vehicle this weekend, and I'm terribly jealous. She even drove it down here today to drop my brother back at school, but since I was working, I didn't get to see it! At any rate, she got a 2008 Jeep Patriot (in Inferno Red, the color shown above, I think).

I'm very happy for her though: it's the first car she's ever purchased new. So congrats to my mom for that! I hope that she did enough shopping around this time--she wasn't too fond of the last car (Devil Car) that she purchased.

One of the things I can't wait to do is to be able to purchase my own car. That's a ways off though, so for now I'm happy in my white soccer mom van. <3

Week

It's been a week since I last updated, and though nothing exciting has happened, I figured I'd post so you know I'm alive.

This quarter I'm only taking one class and working, so it's very strange to have as much free time as I now have. I need to find some way to fill it!

Last night at work was one of those nights that just stunk. I made good money and didn't have any upset customers, but it was still not a great night. Probably my mood was set off by my first table not tipping me. Always a good start to the night :-(

Why isn't it spring yet?

A Very Exciting Spring Break

My spring break is careening toward an end, and it has been a RUSH. Let me recount it for you...

On Monday, I went to the eye doctor and learned that my prescription has not changed for the umpteenth year in a row! Yay! I also bought glasses for a steal and got a really awesome pan.

On Tuesday, I went to the dentist and found out that I don't know how to brush my teeth! So the hygienist taught me all over again, after poking and prodding away all the plaque. FUN! I also got the bonding fixed on my front tooth. Eventually I'll get a porcelain veneer, but since that's expensive, I'm holding off.

On Wednesday, we had crab legs for dinner. Delish!

On Thursday, I drove back to Columbus and worked!

Okay, so really, not exciting at all. But that's okay, I'll take my lame spring breaks over booze filled spring breaks any day! The rest of the weekend I'm working, including what promises to be a VERY VERY busy Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet. I'm just hoping to make a lot of money!

Spring Break

I'm officially on Spring Break now. My first order of business yesterday was to scrub down the kitchen in our apartment. The stove and drip pans are quite dazzling now, I must say. Second order of business was to clean my room.

I graduate on Sunday, which seems unreal. I don't feel like I'm DONE since I'm taking a class in spring quarter. Ah well, it'll certainly be different only taking ONE class, instead of...three or more. Test time will definitely be less stressful!

It feels really good to have nothing on my plate right this moment. Today is my first full day off in a very long time. I just don't know what to do with myself!! Now if only spring would really arrive today...

ETA: I got an A- in organic chemistry! Amazing since I didn't do so well on the multiple choice part of the final! And I'm gunning for an A in biology and an A- in physiology. One more quarter done well!

Boys and Snow

I worked with all boys last night, meaning that on the floor I was serving on, the other servers were all male. It was interesting, and definitely different than working with females. I think that I liked it better. It also helped that the 3 guys I worked with are the "better" of the male servers at our store.

In other news, we're being whomped by snow today. The weather (and slow busses) made me late to my first final. (Don't worry, I still was able to take it!) I'm scared to drive to work in it...

Here goes everything...

On Smoking...

I know we all have our vices, it's only human. I mean, right now I have three open boxes of Girl Scout cookies within arm's reach. But smoking is the one vice I just don't get. I understand the "peer pressure" aspect of starting, I suppose. Trying to be a cool kid, trying to fit in, gotcha. It just seems to me that there's so much more negative about the habit than possible positive gains, aside from the obvious.

First there's smelling like an ashtray. Um, yuck? My grandparents smoked throughout my junior high and high school years spent living with them, and the secondhand smoke smell on every last one of my things was repulsive. Granted, I noticed it only when I wasn't home (and especially when I came home on breaks from college), but I still knew that I smelled like smoke. Doesn't that affect the potential pool of suitors to those who can stand to kiss an ashtray? And is that a very big group of fantastic catches? (My instincts tell me no.) Sure, you can cover it up with mass amounts of body spray (as one of my coworkers does after she's taken her smoke break), chew gum, and the like, but that just makes you smell like a minty or vanilla-y ashtray!

Then there's the addiction. I would absolutely hate it if my body so strongly craved something that was so detrimental to my health. It's one thing to crave cookies, but at least they won't diminish my lung capacity and cause cancer. All the smokers at work are constantly trying to find a spare moment to take a smoke break. That's a lot of time spent thinking about smoking and not a lot of time thinking of the tables they're supposed to be waiting on! (And again, walking up to your customers smelling like a vanilla ashtray is just not appealing.)

Another point I can't wrap my head around: the cost. Smoking is one expensive habit (unless you're the guys I work with who get by borrowing smokes from everyone else). Once again, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

Of course, there's the obvious health implications. With all the media coverage of the effects, I don't know how people can rationalize smoking. From the risk of clots if used in conjunction with birth control to dying of lung cancer, how does one continue that habit?! What good can come of it in the long run?

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I just don't get it. Which is probably good because I won't end up smoking (though, starting in my 20s would just be ridiculous).

Any thoughts?