SOMEONE STOLE MY CAR!! ... Okay, not really. I just had a dream that someone stole him. I dreamed that I went outside and my car was gone! I was extremely upset, obviously. Then Jess and I went out walking and I SAW him! Some guy was driving him, and he was all beat-up looking. His paint was all scuffed up and dull, and his rear-view mirror was broken off, and it looked like someone had pried his spoiler off with a crowbar! T_T The driver stopped and he had the window down, so I ran at him screaming "THAT'S MY CAR, YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" and he tried to drive away, but I jumped on the back, holding on to the remaining vestiges of the spoiler, and cursed and screamed until I woke up. Thaaat was weird.

The next night I had a dream that Grandma came over and told me that she'd bought me another car. O_o It was still at the car lot, so I had to drive Jack to the car lot to see the new car. It was a brand new mustang, the same color as Jack. It was supposedly a 2011 model, and it had a different body style that looked more like a 2000 mustang (which I'm not terribly fond of. I think they look too much like a 2-door version of a taurus.) So I didn't know what to make of it. I wasn't all hot to trade Jack in, even for a newer and fancier car, but particularly not for one that doesn't even look as cool as him. Grandma insisted that I take the new car for a drive, though. So, feeling like a traitor, I got in the fancy new mustang and took it for a drive. It had all the fun options (remote starter, keyless entry, fancy stereo, etc.) and it was a hard-top convertible, which is exciting because I generally don't like convertibles because the rag-tops aren't secure even when they're up. Anyway, I drove the new car around for a while, and I was incredibly conflicted. The new car was very swanky but I didn't like the body style, where as I love the way Jackie looks and I'm incredibly attached to him. So I still couldn't decide what to do by the time I woke up.

I just thought it was odd that I had two dreams about my car in a row. o_O I do love my car. I'm just relieved that neither of those dreams actually happened. I'd hate to lose Jack, whether it be due to him being stolen, or because I was lured into trading him for some stupid new model. XP

Okay. I think that's enough rambling about my car. o_o;

Sooo, it's been a while since I've posted. Guess I should update. I've put in a bunch more applications since my last post. I've also had some rejections. I didn't get that bank job I was freaking out about a few posts ago, which is a relief, but it's still annoying that I've been without a job for nearly a month. I had a interview at the airport today! That seemed to go pretty well! The people were really nice, and the job sounds great. The lady interviewing showed me showed me around the office and chatted with me a bit. She said she could tell I was bashful but that I had a great smile, and she was all excited that I drove in in a mustang. She said her first car was a mustang and she'd always liked them, and she asked if she could have a look at mine, so we went outside and I introduced her to Jack. She fawned over him a bit, which I'm sure he enjoyed. Anyway they said I was clearly qualified and they seemed to like me, but they had 35 applicants for the position, so I guess I'll just see what happens. I hope I get it. I'd be making more than I was making at the bank. I most likely won't hear anything for a couple of weeks, though.

Rachel's wedding is this weekend, and I have most of the stuff I need to make the groom's cake. I'm more concerned about the wedding cake, though, which is Jess's responsibility. It's going to be a hell of a lot of work frosting and decorating that thing. I'll do my best to help. I need to go out tomorrow and get some red food coloring paste so I can make frosting roses for the wedding cake. I also have to finish buying and preparing things for the groom's cake. We'll have to get up stupid-early on Saturday to go get the cakes to the locations and get them all assembled. It's gonna' be nuts.

Today was just one huge crap of a wasted day. I slept a bit later than I meant to, but that wasn't that bad. I was up and about by 10:30, anyway. Then I returned a phone call for yet another bank, and they told me that they received my resume and wanted me to come in and fill out an application. So I wasn't in a huge hurry. I ate breakfast and checked my e-mail and all that fun stuff, and mom called (she calls practically once an hour if she knows someone is home). Anyway, since there was nothing really to do around the house and I've been going nuts not having anything to do, she told me I should work on some of my little projects (painting my action figures, making fail-tastic attempts at various writing and art projects, etc.) since I once again will find myself with no time to do those things once I manage to get a new job. I thought that was nice, since I've been avoiding doing those things and trying to do practical things around the house instead (cleaning, cooking, etc.), since I'm home all day while everyone else is at work, earning a living and all that. I worry that my many house-mates will come home from long arduous work days, tired and frustrated from dealing with their respective crappy and abusive jobs, and find me sitting around the house having spent the entire day screwing around, relaxing, and generally doing nothing of any value. I can't handle it. Just the thought of relaxing and enjoying my forced leisure time while everyone else has to work at jobs that make them miserable makes me feel guilty and useless. But mom knows that it's driving me crazy and making me miserable, and that I'm doing everything I can to try to get another job, so she sort of tried to convince me that it's okay to relax and enjoy my time off instead of stressing about being useless, so long as I'm still making my best effort to find a new job.

So after that, I got kind-of excited about the prospect of working on my various creative projects. In particular, I was all jazzed to work on my stupid fanfic. I just had to fill out and turn in a couple of applications, then I could relax a bit. I was about to head out to pick up applications when I got a text from Jess saying she was going to come home for lunch, so I decided to hang around a bit longer so I could see her. So I sat on the couch to wait at about 11:30 and ended up falling asleep. I woke up a bit after 1:00 and she still hadn't come home. So then I got all pissed at myself for wasting an entire hour and a half of my day. I decided I didn't have time to waste sitting around waiting for her any longer, so I just texted her to tell her I had errands to run and left.

I went to the bank and picked up that application and went a few blocks down the street to mom's office to fill it out. She bought me a Starbucks and helped me fill out my application, since it was a particularly long and detailed one, and a little over an hour later I finally got it done and took it back to turn it in. Then I went to another place that was advertising a position open in the paper and picked up an application and took it home to fill out. It was also ridiculously tedious, and it even had a freaking test on the back of it to make sure I could do math and alphabetize stuff. Anyway, the up shot is that by the time I finished turning in applications (for jobs that in all likelihood won't even be calling me for an interview) and got home, it was after 4:30 and people were starting to come home from work, so I ended up wasting my entire day doing tedious and annoying crap I didn't want to do. Except, unlike everyone else in my house, I didn't get paid for it.

So I was all pissy and foul-tempered for most of the day. Autumn invited us to hang out and play video games, which would have been fun, but I was too cranky to really want to inflict my presence on any more people than necessary. And I didn't feel motivated to really do anything or go anywhere, so I just let Jess decide how we were going to spend our evening. She opted to go see G.I. Joe at 7:40 with a friend of hers from work, because it's his birthday today, and he didn't have anyone to go see the movie with him and she felt bad for him. So whatever. I always like a movie with ninjas in it. Though, ultimately, I just wish I knew someone who owned a punching bag, because I feel like the most satisfying way to end my day would have been to beat the ever-lovin' hell out of an inanimate object until I was too tired to stand.

Also, I forgot to eat for most of the day. I ate breakfast, and then I just completely forgot about eating until we were heading to the movie and I caught a whiff of grilled seafood as we passed Red Lobster and I suddenly became aware that my stomach had been churning and aching for most of the day. So when we got to the theater I ravenously stuffed my face with popcorn and diet soda and only succeeded in making myself ill from the "butter" topping on the popcorn. Yaaay, nutrition.

Now that I've ranted myself out, I'm going to bed in the hopes that tomorrow won't be as stupid and pointless as today has been. Jack is due for another wash. I don't know how he manages to get dirty so fast with how little I actually drive him. He's over due for a wax, too, so maybe I'll do that if I'm feeling particularly industrious and energetic. At least I'll feel like I accomplished something.

...not much going on... Work. Bleh. We should get last month's mystery shop results some time this week. We'll see if my job is still in jeopardy, which I suspect it is. Whatever.

Looked at airline tickets for a flight to LA. Looks like I should save up about $600 for the ticket and the hotel, but I'll try to do $700 to be safe, and I'll prolly need at least $500 or so for a week's worth food and shopping. Mom heard Jess and I discussing our vacation plan, and she couldn't pass up the opportunity to remind us that she generally thinks it's a bad idea for us to go. She's paranoid. She thinks it's too dangerous, and she thinks it's stupid to go across the country to meet up with people who we "don't even know" blah blah blah. Honestly. We're big girls, damnit! We're 25 years old, and we've both had over 4 years of martial arts and self defense training! I'm not some naive little girl who thinks all the world is a freaking playground and nothing bad can ever possibly happen. I realize LA is a big scary city, and it can be dangerous. Whatever. We'll have Holly and Ellen there to show us around. And, worst case scenario, if we somehow never manage to meet up with Holly or Ellen, I'm pretty sure Jess and I can manage to keep from being murdered for a week until we come home. Mom takes for granted the fact that I've inherited a great deal of her paranoia. I won't even talk to strangers in our own stupid little town in broad daylight on a crowded street. I won't answer the door to our house without a golf club in my hand if I don't recognize the person outside (or usually I just lay on the couch out of sight until they go away). Any time someone I don't know approaches me, I instinctively assess the situation to try to think of the best way to temporarily incapacitate them so that I'll have time to run and scream for help. To put it bluntly: STRANGE PEOPLE SCARE ME! With that much paranoia, what the hell are the odds that I'm going to put myself in a situation where I'd be in serious danger? When I already half-expect every other person I meet to try to attack me or rob me, what the hell are the odds I'd be caught off guard? I'm already nervous enough about going to California, but you know what? I'm going! And it's going to be fun, damnit! I'm not going to let my anxiety keep me from going to new places and trying new things! SO THERE! DX

Let's see... also, it was warm today. Like in the high 50s. Melted most of the snow, and I even broke out the hose and the car-washing sponge and gave Jack a BATH! He was SO FREAKING DIRTY!!! Then we drove to Jess's parents' house to pick up Evey, 'cause Jess's step-dad had taken her to changed her oil and washed her. They live pretty far out in the sticks, and the roads were all muddy, so by the time we got there Jack was all muddy and gross again. Sooo, we drove back home and I washed him again. Now he's all clean and pretty. I really need to get his oil changed, but mom shoots me down every time I even bring up the idea of doing it myself or letting Eric do it (she thinks it's too dirty and bothersome and essentially tells me it's stupid to even think about trying to do it at home). However, any shop that would do it is always closed by the time I get off work, and they aren't open on Sundays, so WHEN THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO GET JACK'S OIL CHANGED!? I'm getting really sick of mom's negativity. I'm off work next weekend, so I'm going to go to the auto-parts store with Eric and have him help me get the right oil and filter and stuff, and then Eric can teach me how to change Jack's oil. There's no reason I shouldn't know how to change the oil in my own car. Soon as Jess gets her car paid off, we're totally going to get our own freaking house. I love mom, and I know she'd be more than happy to let Jess and I live with her forever 'cause we clean up after ourselves and we don't cause her any problems, but you know what? I'm getting tired of her being so negative all the time and treating me like a 5-year-old who doesn't know jack-shit about the world around me. No, I don't know everything, but I'm not naive, either.

Anyway, I'm done grousing. Tomorrow's a new day, and I'm gonna' drag my ass outta' bed, slap a smile on my face, and say "SHIT YEAH! LET'S DO THIS THING!"

WEEE! So I was off work today. I was supposed to be off tomorrow, but they switched my schedule. So I was off today, and I close tomorrow. Which means I won't be able to go to the comic book store and pick up AHM #7 unless I get a late lunch. Anyway, I HOPE I can get that comic. I wanna' see what happens next, damnit!

I didn't get to do anything fun today. I wanted to clean my room and work on my various art projects, but instead I re-wrote my resume, bought a new ink cartridge for the printer so I could print my resume, and then applied for a job online at the Crane Federal Credit Union. I tried to go there so I could drop off a copy of my resume and s letter of reference before they closed, but I didn't manage to get there until they were just closing. So I hung out and waited for Kate, so I could say "hi" at least. Kate used to work at the bank with me, but she got a better job at the credit union. They get to SIT DOWN at work! OMGWTF! THE LUXURY! 8O!! So, I caught Kate on her way out and chatted a bit. And she said she would give my resume and letter of reference to her boss for me, and tell him that I'm awesome and that he should hire me. Kate rules. X3 I hope I get the job. They don't have mystery shops at the credit union. So NYAH!

It snowed again last night, so mom grounded Jack again. But when I went out to get printer ink, the roads weren't bad at all, so I un-grounded him. His stereo wasn't working over the weekend. The radio was fine, but it wouldn't play CDs, so I was just gonna' get him a new stereo with CD player and AUX port. But then when I started him up on Monday, he was playing CDs just fine. So, maybe he was just mad at me for grounding him.... I guess I'll put off getting a new car stereo for a while longer.

IIII'm a li'l drunk! ...Okay, kind-of a lot drunk. Like... not like I can't walk or anything, but typing correctly is hard. lolz. Hot cocktail ftw. On a cold night, I suggest the following cocktail:

Hot Russian! (like a White Russian, but served hot!)
In a coffee mug, combine:
Double-shot of vodka
Double-shot of Kahlua
Hot milk to taste. (I just fill the mug up the rest of the way...)

It tastes like win. It'll also make you want to go to sleeeeeep.

Napz nao.

The Jack is GROUNDED! DX I was driving him home in the snow last night, going about 15 miles an hour, and he was like "OMG DRIFT TYME Y/Y!! XD" and starts trying to go sideways, and I almost spun out and hit a guardrail! Luckily there were no other cars close by, 'cause when he was stopped he was sideways blocking most of the road. His nose was like 5 inches from the guardrail, so I had to back up so I could straighten him out and get going again. So then I inch him the rest of the way home at like 15 miles an hour, and he occasionally tried to drift sideways and I'm like "Damnit, Jack! No! Bad! I know it's fun, but on the road you go STRAIGHT! Drifting is for empty parking lots! DX" But I finally got him home. Then this morning there's like... a foot of snow on the ground. And they haven't plowed my street. Autumn called around 8-ish to ask for the weather hotline to see if work was canceled, 'cause she was totally snowed in. Work wasn't canceled, but the hotline said to notify our supervisors if we were having trouble coming it. So I called work, 'cause I'm not about to try to drive Jack through a foot of un-plowed snow. That's just not gonna' work. My boss picks up, and pretty much just tells me to stay home before I can even say anything. So I didn't go to work today. None of us went to work today (except Eric, cause he has a big red-neck 4-wheel-drive truck). We spent the morning shoveling snow and digging out cars, then we moved cars around so people who needed to get out would be able to. It was ridiculous trying to pull Jack out of the driveway. If I so much as touched the gas pedal, he's like "OMG HERE WE GO! XD" and his tires stared spinning and he started sliding sideways again. I had to have Crystal push him, 'cause he kept digging himself into the snow. But finally we got everything all moved, and Jack is parked in under the carport. Because he's grounded. He's too excitable and rambunctious on the road, so he gets to sit under the carport and think about his misbehavior 'til either the snow melts, or we get him some really good snow tires and some sandbags to put in his trunk and weigh down his back end.

After all that we went for a walk in the snow, which was fun, but exhausting. The snow was up to my knees in some places! X_x; We went to Sears to scope out prices on snow tires, and it looks like they run about $100 each. I'll talk to JR, though, and see if he can find me a sweet deal. All and all it was a pretty good day, but HOLY CRAP I'm exhausted and sore all over from shoveling and trudging through the snow.

And now, for something more interesting:
( PIKSHURZ! )

So, after work yesterday I stopped by the house to change clothes, then we went to Autumn's to have dinner and play video games. X3 She made us SUPER TASTY lemon pepper chicken and steamed veggies. Then we played Rock Band II 'til almost midnight, then played Little Big Planet for a few minutes before we had to go. Then we got home, and I found that MY ALTERNATOR WHEELJACK HAD ARRIVED!! I have no idea what time yesterday it was delivered, but apparently it sat on the back step for who knows how long. Anyway, I was so excited! It took me a while to get the hang of transforming him. The first time I did it I was on the verge of chucking him out the window at a couple points. But I got the hang of him now! I was so engrossed with him, though, that before I knew it it was like 2:30 in the morning, and I was frickin' exhausted. X_x;; I meant to get online and chat with Holly a bit, but I didn't manage to do that. o_o; Hopefully I'll be able to catch her tonight.

Anyway, I took some pics of Wheeljack today. He's frickin' spiffy as hell.
( LOTS OF PICS! (Some of them are pretty big. <_<; ) )


Also, found this TF personality quiz on batchix's journal:
I AM
84%
OPTIMUS PRIMETake the Transformers Quiz
Yay Optimus~

Diet update: Week 1
Weight: -6 lbs.
Total weight lost: 6 lbs.
Remaining above goal: 64 lbs.

YAAAYYY!!! J.R. called me at work today to tell me that Jack is all fixed! I picked him up today, and now he's HOOOOMMMMEEE!!! XD!!! I missed him so much! And he doesn't squeak anymore. o_o 'Guess I can't call him "Squealjack" anymore. Oh well. I'm so happy to have him back. No more driving mom's slug-car for me!

Also, it's Wednesday! I went to the comic book store, but they were all out of Maximun Dinobots #2 by the time I got there. u_u Oh well, I'll either get it online, or see if they get more of them in. Anyway, since they didn't have anything I wanted in the new comics, I went browsing through the back-issues and I found a copy of Transformers Timelines: Shattered Glass! That was fun. It was too short, though. It was just basically like "OMG Autobots BAD, Decepticons GOOD, Cliffjumper help Decepticons foil Prime's plan!" I would have liked to see more character development and stuff. But it was interesting, anyway. Mirror-Prime scares the crap outta' me. He seems more evil than Megatron from any other continuity. And it was mentioned that he is also insane, but there wasn't really any good example of that. Well, except maybe this one part when he's at the smelting pool were he tortures and executes people, and Cliffjumper is like "What!? This is WRONG! You can't do this!" and all that, so Mirror-Prime blasts him, and then he's talking to the corpses hanging up on the walls being like "What should I do with him? Shall he join you? What's that you say? Oh alright, I'll dispose of him and hope he gets his wits back..." But I don't think that was so much Mirror-Prime being crazy as it was Mirror-Prime trying to freak-out and intimidate poor Cliffjumper. Anywayyyy... the main thing that comic did for me was to make me want G1 Prime and Mirror-Prime to meet one day, so G1 Prime could kick Mirror-Prime's aft like nobody's business. ...And then my brain starts thinking about how the characters might interact if the two universes converged for some reason, and all kinds of crazy robot pr0nz start trying to happen in my head...

Okay! My feet are cold!

Sooooo, Jack is with Car-Doctor J.R., Jess's step-dad. He managed to score a new harmonic balancer for like $170. Still it's not a cheap part, but $170 is a hell of a lot better than $300. He said the part would probably arrive tomorrow. Sooo... hopefully my Jacky will be all better and back with me by the end of the week. Until then, I'm driving mom's car. I swear, driving that thing feels like driving a slug compared to Jack. It's even slug-colored. It seems like I have to press the pedal SO HARD to get it go GO! And all the controls and stuff are in different places, so I get in and I'm like "nooooo, this is all wrong!" I want my Jack back. I don' wanna' drive the slug-car anymore. XP

Also, I saw an optometrist and had my vision tested. Ordered some new glasses, since I haven't gotten new glasses in like 4 years, and some CONTACTS! 8D So now I can wear my sunglasses again! If I can find them. >_O; I haven't had contacts in so long that I put all of my sunglasses away somewhere, and now I don't know where they are. *genius* I doubt I'll be using my contacts until they find them, because I think I look better with glasses. They hide the dark circles and bags under my eyes. I guess I could probably do the same thing with make-up, but I'm too lazy for that crap, and make-up is expensive! XP

I finally got a rotary tool! So now I can sand and grind and cut tiny things with relative ease! This will srlsly come in handy when I start doing some SERIOUS action figure customization! XD Aaaaaand, I'm off work tomorrow. So, I'll probably stay up late screwin' around on my computer, or maybe if I run out of computer-crap to do I'll clean my room and play with my Revoltechs. Weee~

It's frickin' freezing here. I'mma' have to put on some warm slippers and gloves. XP

Soooo, found out what's wrong with Jack. His harmonic balancer shifted so the belt won't fit over it anymore, and he needs a new one. From my research, it looks like it'll probably cost me around $300 to get him a new one, unless Jess's step-dad can work his magic and get me a discount on one. Anyway, I can't drive Jack until he's fixed, 'cause if that balancer comes lose when the engine is running, it'll seriously mess him right the hell up. Poor Jack. u_u I hope we can get him fixed soon. I almost feel dumb 'cause I feel like my baby's sick and I'm all worried about him and want him to get better. ...'Cept... he's not a baby. He's not even alive. He's just a car. But I can't help it! I love him! T_T My poor Jacky...

Jack is feeling a little better, but he still has problems. Apparently there is something wrong with the pulley system on his engine that makes the belt not fit right. Jess's step-dad is gonna' come tomorrow and see what he can do for him. Poor Jack. I hope he'll be okay.

Ivan and his baby brother Jackson came to visit today! I let Ivan pick out some of my toys to play with. However, when I turned my back on the li'l buggar he got out one of my little un-sharpened knives and tried to use it to open something, and he ended up getting a little cut on the side of his hand. I took him in the bathroom to patch him up, and did my best to keep him calm. He was flipping out and claiming that he was running out of blood and stuff. Goof-ball. He felt better once I got him all disinfected and bandaged, though. Then he told me that I shouldn't be a ninja anymore because the swords and stuff are dangerous. I just told him that yes those things are dangerous, and that's why you have to be careful, because you will get hurt! He bounced back pretty quickly, though, and was back to playing. We brought some of my Transformers downstairs and let li'l Jack play with them. He likes cars and trucks, so he had fun with my reissue Optimus in his alt mode and Roller. I love having kids over to the house. There aren't many other people around here who enjoy playing with action figures as much as I do. ^_^;;; That reminds me I have to put my Revoltech figures back together. Ivan was taking their heads and limbs off and switching them around. ^_^;

JACK IS BROKEN!!! T_T I have to be at work at 7:30 tomorrow, so I was going to move him to a different space, so I wouldn't be parked in tomorrow. When I got in, he wouldn't start! It's not like any of the problems that Scuffers had, so it's not something I can diagnose and fix myself. Also, Jack is a lot different than Scuffers under the hood, so I don't wanna' go pokin' around under there too much without someone who knows what they're doing there to help me. I checked all his fluids and they all look fine, and all the lights and electrical stuff works, so it's not the battery and most likely not the alternator. I don't think it's the starter, but I wouldn't rule that out for sure. I just don't know what's wrong with him, and it worries me.

Anyway, I put him in neutral and mom and Jess helped me push him into another space so mom could get her car out of the driveway and take me to work tomorrow. Jess's step-dad said he'd come tomorrow morning to look at him. I hope he can fix him. My poor baby. ;_;

Okay, so here's some crap that happened.

I'm like two steps away from getting fired from the bank. An important (apparently the most important) part of my job is "mystery shop scores." That's where a certain few bank customers who come in grade us on our performance and their overall banking experience. Any score below a 90% is considered an unacceptable score. Since I started working at the bank, I've only had 1 score over 90%, and most of my scores have been in the 70s or lower.

The shoppers' complaints about me have been: didn't make enough eye-contact, seems nervous, lacks confidence, looks down a lot, didn't make a positive statement, is quiet, lacks enthusiasm, etc...

After several months of bad scores, my boss finally couldn't make excuses for me anymore and had to give me a written warning. He had to pull me into his office and have a meeting about it and everything. After that, I had to go sit in the back room and cry for a half-hour or so because I felt like a useless piece of crap. I don't know what the hell they expect of me. As far as I can tell I'm being perfectly pleasant when I'm dealing with the customers, but apparently I just don't know how to interact with other human beings. I apparently exceed expectations in all other aspects of my job, but all that doesn't count for crap if I can't get 90% on mystery shops. Our branch has the lowest mystery show percentage in the entire bank, and it's all because of me.

A few days later my boss pulled me into the back room to have me do service-manager stuff, cause the service manager had the day off. So he shows me what to do, and we have a short conversation that went something like this:

Boss: ...Okay? Great. You know, there's a reason I have you back here doing this stuff.
Me: Is it 'cause I'm obsessive compulsive?
Boss: ...yes.
Me: *lol*
Boss: Well, you pay attention to details, and that's important. ...Oh, and I just wanted to say... Bravo. I've seen you with the customers lately, and you've been doing great. I can tell you're making an effort, and you wanna' do a good job, and you've been doing great. And... just so you know, about the other day... that was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do as a manager. I know how much it bugs you, and you wanna' do a good job. You're really trying, and I can tell. And we really like having you hear, I mean, when you're not here...we really notice...

I thought that was really nice. I like my boss. I think he's a really nice guy. He even makes a point to give me the early shift on Wednesdays so that I can get off work in time make it to the comic book store. And I know he hates having to give me any sort of negative feedback. He knows I'm trying, and he appreciates the effort. He even notices things that my previous employers have taken to granted, like the fact that I do everyone else's little bits of paperwork for them and take up the slack when they cut corners. Or the fact that I DO NOT LEAVE MY STATION AT ALL during the day except for my lunch, while everyone else wanders off periodically through the day to get drinks and food and crap (often leaving me to run the entire teller line myself). I don't really mind doing these things, but it would probably piss me off if it weren't for the fact that my boss notices that I do it, and doesn't take it for granted. I really need to find a job that I don't hate, though. That would be nice... but I'm beginning to think that no such job exists.

My car is doing great, all except for the fact that the belt on the engine has started SQUEAKIIING! So like... I start up my car, and it goes SQUEEDL-EEDL-EEDL-EEDL-EEDL-EEE~. I've had it looked at, and no one can seem to make it stop squealing. There's nothing wrong with the belt, it just... inexplicably squeaks most of the time. It annoyed me at first, and I felt kinda' embarrassed to be toolin' down the street in this sexy-lookin' car that was making piece-of-crap car noises. People even say they hear me coming from nearly a block away because of it. But, after a couple months, it's kinda' started to grow on me. It's just one of those things that gives my car character. Eric has even dubbed him "Squealjack."

Also, I got a new phone. It's much more awesome than my old phone. Unlike my old phone, it plays mp3s, I can make custom ringtones and wallpapers for it, it has a camera, it has a full key-pad, and it has UNLIMITED TEXTING! XD I've been playing with it for the past couple days. Making ringtones is fun, and I can set the phone to play them as alarm-sounds! Much more effective for waking me up, because once my brain starts to tune one out as white-noise that I can sleep through, I can change it to a different one. Right now it's set to wake me up with "Master Exploder." The part that goes "Sorry... I DID NOT MEAN...TO BLOW YOUR MIND...BUT THAT SHIT HAPPENS TO ME... ALL THE TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMEEEEEE!!!" So it's loud and violent enough to wake me up, but at least it apologizes first, so I feel less inclined to throw it across the room....

I sleep nao.

Woke up early this morning. Mom made pancakes for us. Rachel came over to go to Kentucky for the funeral with us.

Went outside to find that the stupid drunken neighbors had smashed all but one of our jack-o-lanterns. Two of them in the street, and one on the hood of my car. I can't wait for summer, when all of the retarded college students can get the hell out of my town (and more importantly, out of my bloody neighborhood). I cleaned off the pumpkin guts before we left so they wouldn't damage Jack's paint (I don't think I mentioned this here yet, but I've officially decided that the mustang's name is Jack). Luckily there was no damage. That reminds me, though, I need to call my car insurance company and see if my insurance covers vandalism. Vandalism is extremely likely in my neighborhood. Aside from the smashed pumpkins, there was also a stray cinder block laying in the yard. I guess I'm lucky they didn't throw that on the hood of my car. I'm sure it crossed their minds. >_O

The trip to Kentucky was alright. Uneventful. When we got there we went into dad's room and picked through some of his stuff. I just grabbed a few things that struck a chord with me. A couple little things I'd gotten him for Christmas or Father's Day. We didn't have time to go through his CD's. We'll have to do that another time. I did get daddy's drafting table, though. Of all of my father's possessions, if I could only pick one it would be the drafting table. He was an architect at one time, long before I was born. I used to sit at the drafting table when I was little and play with his drafting tools. It's been in storage for years, though. I hope it hasn't been damaged. I also took all of dad's zippo lighters. I don't know why, I just like zippos. However, none of those lighters will ever light another cigarette as long as they're in my possession.

The funeral... was a disaster. It was the absolute most impersonal funeral I've ever been to in my entire life, and I've been to a hell of a lot of funerals. I mean, I appreciate that Aunt Janie made all of the arrangements for us and everything but... there wasn't even a picture of dad in the church. The most personal thing in the funeral was that the priest read dad's obituary. The whole rest of it was just the preacher being like "It's okay to mourn for *insert name here*, in fact it's good to mourn because it shows that we loved *insert name here*, but do not mourn without hope. Everyone mourns differently. When my mother died blah blah blah, stuff that happened to me, blah blah, mourn, but do not mourn without hope! blah blah it's okay to mourn blah blah eternal life amen." He just basically said the same thing over and over again phrased slightly differently each time, and referenced some things about himself. No personal anecdotes about dad what so ever. It could have been anyone's funeral. When it was over I wanted to storm out the door and never look back. I didn't, though. My aunt worked hard to make all the arrangements, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. And what do I know, maybe that's just how they do funerals in Kentucky. Mom, Eric, Crystal, Jess, and Rachel all seemed to share my sentiments on the matter, though. But then...we're all from Indiana. Maybe we just do things differently. But I feel like we should have a wake or something for dad, so we can honor him properly.

I got through the day, though. It's over. Now I can have a really strong cocktail, go to bed, then wake up tomorrow and have a much better day than today.

So my last two entries have been cranky and/or depressing. I thought I'd make up for it by posting about something interesting that happened at work.

This guy came into the branch 'cause he'd been trying to use the ATM and it ate his card, but the manager had already shredded it (because we are required to destroy any card that gets stuck in our ATM if it isn't one or our bank's cards). The manager cut him a deal, though, because of that and said we'd cash his checks even though he didn't have an account with us. He was from out of town, so of course he wouldn't have an account with us. He was in town delivering a shipment and picking up a student because he was a semi truck driving instructor. Like seriously. His job is teaching people how to be truckers. I was like "buuuh? o_o" because, for some reason, it had never occurred to me that such an occupation existed. Aaaanyway, what was funny was that the guy had a tattoo of Papa Smurf on his forearm... a drunk-looking Papa Smurf vegged-out in a recliner with a beer and a cigarette. I had a hard time not gawking at it and giggling. It was probably funnier to me than it would be to most other people, but I still thought I'd share it. ...Wonder if he regrets that tattoo.

On another note, I was looking at the binaltech Wheeljack figure, and I HAVE TO GET HIM! X_X Not only is he a mustang, but he is the exact same year and model as my car!! ZOMGHOLYCRAP!! XD

Now a li'l dose of OMGWTF!? For anyone who hasn't already seen it:

The Original

The Parody

Someone put a loooot of work into that parody! It's amazing!

I woke up yesterday morning to Jessica knocking on my door and asking for my keys so that she could go move my car. There hadn't been a place for me to park when I came home the previous night, so I parked in the side yard. I meant to move it before I went to bed, but I forgot. Result: I got a parking ticket. I imagine at this point you're all thinking "Well, you parked illegally, so yeah. You get a ticket. That's what happens." I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that, though I was parked on the side of the street, I had all four tires on our property. It is apparently illegal to park in your own yard here, and you can and will get a ticket for it. This is the second time it's happened to me. That's right. The city apparently has the authority to tell us in what areas of our own property we are allowed to park our vehicles, and fine us if we fail to adhere to whatever restrictions they see fit to set. OR we have the option of paying $15 to get a parking permit so that we may park in the street in designated areas, provided that we are completely in the street and not touching the grass. If you are parked in the grass at all, you get a $50 ticket. Regardless of whether or not it's your grass. However, if you park in the street without a permit, you only get a $15 ticket. Can someone please explain to me how this makes any logical sense!? I have to say it seems like one of the most stupid things I've ever heard. It's enough to make me lean back toward my old anarchic ways. Why should the government have the right to make me pay them so that I can park on my family's privately owned property? We already pay taxes on the freaking property, is that not enough!? What next? Are we going to be fined for mis-arranging our lawn furniture? Will we have to pay a special tax to have a picnic table in our yard? Do they get to tell us what color we're allowed to paint our house!?

Obviously, I'm pretty pissed about this. I hope to contest the ticket if I can. I would just not pay it and send them a letter telling them where they could shove it if it weren't for the fact that they can suspend my license if I don't pay it. I have never in my life gotten a ticket, or even a warning, for anything until this started. I'm a good driver. I don't speed, I've never been pulled over, I don't park illegally, I follow all traffic and parking laws. Except this one. This is by far the most moronic parking restriction I've ever heard of. So now, I'll be parking in the back again. My old parking space from back when I drove Scuffers. That was my space then because it's under a bunch of trees so any car parked there would be filthy all the time, and Scuffers was the crappiest car at our house so it didn't make much difference if he was filthy or not. But now I actually have a nice car, so it was agreed that I could park in the front again. Eric refuses to park his big, stupid, ugly truck with a huge dent in it in the back, though, so I either get to park in the back or on the side and get a ticket. So my mustang, which I spent an entire weekend washing and waxing not long ago, is now covered in dirt, sticks, leaves, and bird crap from being parked under the trees for just one night. Fan-freaking-tastic. There's no sense washing it, either, because it'll just be filthy again by the next morning.

Holy geez. X_x I meant to get online to chat with Holly last night, but I was so freaking exhausted. I just took a shower, and next thing I knew I'd been passed out on the couch for hours and it was like 3:00 am! I worked my ass off yesterday. x_x

I got up at like 7:00 am so I could meet Grandma at the license branch early. I woke up feeling sick, and I was stumbling around trying not to puke for the first half of the day. I managed not to, though. Anyway, we got the mustang all licensed and registered! So he's officially and legally mine, and he's all insured and legal to drive. *win!*

After that we came home and I helped mom take some stuff to the recycling center and passed out in the car on the way there and back. Then we came home and mom had me moving and carrying stuff around the back yard, 'cause she didn't like where it was and it was to heavy for her to move it. Then we cleaned the house for an hour, and I passed out on the couch again for a few minutes.

The really exhausting part of the day came after Jess got home from work and we decided to wash our cars, so we went to Target and got car-washing stuff and some wax and buffing cloths. Washing the mustang wasn't a problem. It went quickly and everything, but then I decided to wax him... I was only half-way done by the time it got dark, so I decided to stop and finish it the next day. My arms and neck and shoulders are sooooo sore. X_x The rest of my is only a little sore. I am soooooo glad I'll only have to wax him about twice a year because HOLY FREAKING CRAP! It took up like an entire day, and then I still had to finish it after church today! Jess managed to wash and wax Evey all in one day, though, 'cause she's a lot smaller than the mustang. He looks great, though. And it was some great bonding time. X3 I now have an intimate knowledge of his every scuff, scratch, curve, and couture. I talked to him, and told him how pretty he was and how I was gonna' take care of him and how I couldn't BELIEVE some idiot was stupid enough to get rid of him in the first place. And for some reason porn music kept running through my head while I was washing and waxing him... But he's soooo shiny and pretty now! I just wanna' LICK HIM! o_o; That's prolly a weird thing to say.... >_>;

Anyway, I've still been contemplating names for him. There are some suggestions other people have given me, along with a few I've been contemplating myself. Some of them are dumb, but I'll just list all the suggestions I've gotten so far...:

Wheeljack
Papa Smurf
Blurr
Skids
Stinger
Sparky (this one is already the name of one of our old computers, though)

I think there are more, but I can't remember them right now. Feel free to suggest potential names for him if you come up with any!

Yeah. It's over. I'm headin' out to work here in about half an hour. Hopefully I didn't forget how to do everything. X_x; But anyway, here's how the rest of my vacation went:

Saturday we went to visit with Grandma and her sisters and pick peppers and tomatoes and pawpaws from one of their neighbor's gardens (with permission, of course. ^_^ ). That was fun. While we were there Grandma told me that, if the title for the mustang didn't come soon, she was just going to give it to me and sign it over whenever the title arrived. Turns out we need not have worried, though, because she called me after she got home to tell me that SHE GOT THE TITLE IN THE MAIL THAT DAY!! XD I was so excited that I drove down there that night to get him.

I had a hard time driving down there, though. I drove Scuffers so I could drop him off at Grandma's and pick up the mustang. I was worried at first that Scuffers wouldn't make the trip, since it's about a 45 minute drive, but Scuffers ran better on the trip down there than he has in months. I was fighting back tears for most of the way down there because, despite all of the trouble he may have caused me over the years, I still love Scuffers, and I'll miss him. I grew very attached to him over the 8 years he was mine. My uncle was talking about entering him in a demolition derby, but his wife talked him out of it. I think that may have been in part to the look of horror and despair which crossed my face at the mere mention of the idea. Instead Grandma is going to have him fixed up again and give him to her brother's wife. I hope he'll serve her well. I'll probably always think of him as being mine, though. Already I've accidentally called my new car "Scuffers" at least 5 times... I really need to come up with a name for him... anyway.... let me introduce you to my new baby!

( ~Beautiful Blue~ )

And now I get to drive him to work! X3 Bai~!

Sooooooo, we spent the past few days browsing car lots, and then todaaayyy Jess got herself a new car! She's a ruby red '07 Nissan Sentra, and she's BEAUTIFUL! By default, I usually think of all cars as being hes, but when I was test driving this one with Jess I was like "...I gotta' say...I think this car's a girl..." Jess concurred. It gave her a moment of pause, because she really wanted to name the car V, but she didn't feel that naming a girl car "V" would really be appropriate, so she named her Evey. X3

( Evey! )

She's super swanky! I don't think I've ever been in a nicer car!

Now I'm even more anxious to get my mustang, though. It's still gonna' be a while. U_U I just hope Scuffers will hold up long enough. He's hangin' in there so far, but he's not in great shape. I let Eric drive him yesterday while I went out with mom, Jess and Crystal. He called not long after we left because he said driving Scuffers made him nervous, and he was just gonna' have one of his friends pick him up instead. LOLwus. Not brave enough to drive Scuffers. LAWLZ!

Now, Jess and I are gonna' take Evey down to Borders to check out this release party for Brisingr...and then go to Kroger to buy a copy, so we won't have to wait in line. Assuming there is a line. Doesn't seem like this book series is as popular as the Twilight series, and now where NEAR as popular as Harry Potter, so there may not be any line. I dunno. We'll see. It'll be nice to have this series resolved, though. I was afraid the author wasn't going to finish it. Anywayyy....We're off.

Went to bed early last night (early being...12-ish....) because I was freaking...exhausted. X_x All the travelling took a toll on me, and then yesterday we went walking all the way down town to have luch. So, we did a lot of walking, and then mom made some seriously strong cocktails, so I was already half asleep by around 10:30. X_x

Today I checked Scuffers's fluids, 'cause he's been acting up. His oil was fine, but his coolant was low and he was !HOLYSHIT!-OUT of transmission fluid! So I replenished his fluids, and hopefully he'll run a bit more happily now. I have to keep him going a while longer, because it could be a month or so before I can get my mustang. They're really slow about sending out titles. >_O

Today we took an hour drive to go to a comic book store a couple towns over. It was lame. Not at all worth the drive. XP We also went to a little toy shop there, but it wasn't all that exciting. Mostly educational toys and what-not. But I did get some stupid-cute little Japanese erasers there. I'm gonna' send some of them to Holly and Ellen. X3 After that we drove home just in time to go to our town's own, decidedly not lame, comic book store (the other one didn't even have any new comics! XP ) and I picked up the new All Hail Megatron, as well as a couple back-issues I'd missed, a Voltron comic for Eric, and several volumes of the DW More than Meets the Eye profile-dealies.

After all that, we came home and I had a sudden epiphany as to how I could easily create a tool that would make my action figure repainting endeavors immensely easier out of some dusty trash laying around in the basement.

TA-DAAA!

I just cut some little sticks and tapered the ends with my pocket knife so they would fit snugly in revoltech joint-holes and cut some straws and slit them down the sides so I could roll them tighter to fit the li'l connector-nubbies on the hands and stuff, then I took an old crappy board and drilled some holes half-way through it so the sticks and straws could fit in them easily and be held upright. So now, I can put the various parts on the sticks so I can turn them every which way to paint them without touching them, and then I can set them in the board to dry without resting against anything. X3 It'll also make sealing them at the end a cinch! I love making useful things out of junk. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something. X3 I'm all excited now! I'll probably do some painting tonight. Hopefully the reprolable insignias I ordered will arrive soon so I can finish and seal my first repaint figure!