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Site Diary----August 22, 2003 Artist page created: Reviews added: Genesis: From Genesis to Revelation (1969)
Laaaaaaaaah de daaaaaaaaaaaah! Well, I'm into my second day of school (Hell) and ... well ... ... ... ... My calculus professor looks kind of like Dustin Hoffman. ... ... ... It'll take me awhile to figure out something else beneficial. Oh yes! I didn't die in a freak snow avalanche in the middle of campus or anything like that! I've written a few reviews. I did actually review that Blondie album. And, I also reviewed a Foreigner album. I would say that I would review the Kinks's following album Face to Face, but it seems like whenever I announce I'm going to do something in this diary, I fail entirely. So ... I won't review the next Kinks album tomorrow. I really won't. Meanwhile ... at the poop factory ... Guess what I did today? I bought two gerbils! Well ... sure, I'm probably a little bit old to have such little pets ... ever since the tragic death of my beloved guinea pig of seven years, I've been hearing odd noises in my room at night that I wished I could blame on her. Isn't that weird? Well, seven months later, I decided to make my room noisy again! They both seem to be doing okay at the moment. I've had gerbils years ago, and these ones seem to be acting normally. --M.L. ----August 15, 2003 The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground (1969)
Hah! I did so much this past few days! But, I hardly posted any of it on here! I have the first two Madonna albums reviewed. I reviewed another Genesis album. And, I just got finished polishing up that Revolver review. But, I had to catch Conan (Yes ... it's that late at night) cause, you know, I won't be able to stay awake that late once school starts because I have an 8:30 a.m. calculus class. Although, it is a lot better than that 7:30 a.m. statistics class I had last semester. Although worse than having to wake up at that ungodly hour, I had to listen to a flesh-eating robot mumble on forever about CRAP. (That's "crap," not "carp.") Well... It's not that I'm expecting my calculus teacher not to be a robot ... it's just that the stuff he teaches is phenomenally more evil than statistics, so it ought to be more interesting. The fall semester is going to start in five days and I feel like I'm about to walk into the gates of hell for approximately four months. Like I'm serving a supernatural punishment. And ... what did the tuition bill come to this year? ... $1,802.50? You've got to be kidding me! Man... I remember when I used to feel excited when school was about to start. This year, I'm frustrated like it was already October. AAAARGH! Well, this journal entry was over before it started. Meanwhile, I'm busy at work reviewing stuff like it was nobody's business! I'm preparing myself to write a Blondie review tomorrow. But I think that's all I'm going to do. I've been pretty immoble for the past four or so days. --M.L. ----August 13, 2003 David Bowie: Station to Station (1976)
Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Yeah ... going through that Tumbleweed Connection album and the Another Side of Bob Dylan album today and yesterday is REALLY trying! I'm not really excited about either of these albums, but both deserved something more than simply "dismissing" them. They are both artistic masterpieces ... but they're both BORING! Oh well. I compromised my patience for the spirit of the art. They both received high 8-point-somethings. But, there was no way I was giving either of them 9's! Before I start another artist's page, I want to get further on some of these discographies first! That, and I don't really feel like scouring the net to find decent photographs of these musicians. I figure the Kinks are due for another addition ... and, incidentally, I'm listening to The Kinks Controversy as we speak! (This is another album that I am not-at-all enthusiastic about.) I was listening to the first Buffalo Springfield on Rhapsody today, and I noticed that their system had mislabeled some songs! (The old flag in my head went promptly up.) I'm sure it's just a mistake in their system! I called their attention to this via e-mail. (And I'm really hoping that answering technical "support" questions isn't Baron Jackson's second job. He'll/She'll/It'll probably be happy to kick me out of that website, as well!) There's something else that I forgot to mention in that last entry. You know that job I was working at for Roly Poly's? Well, I don't have it anymore. See ... it went like this. I worked full weeks there for three weeks. My official duty was doing the food prep stuff. For some reason, totally unknown to me, the boss lady decided to hire somebody else to do that job. So, the fourth week, I only worked nine hours. I was originally promised 30-35 hours per week when I took that job! The 9-hour thing made me feel very much taken advantage of! (And ... it's not that I'm not a fast worker, or anything! I'm much quicker than this other guy. Plus, I was the only person to show up to work wearing slacks!) So, I decided to nix the job and sign up for calculus II. At the end of that fourth week, I was going to tell the boss lady that I was going to take calculus II next fall and couldn't work the job. BUT! Before I could do that, she told me that I was being laid off! (Not fired, fortunately ... I was not taken off payroll. This, in turn, would look better on any future job applications I would feel out! I would then appear to have been working there longer than I really was. The reason I can do that? I am the on-call substitute!) So far, I haven't been called on-duty. At any rate, I'll have to study for my calculus exams NOT at the last minute, because (ya know) the nights before major tests are the only time she could possibly call. (It's Murphy's Law, you see.) Oddly enough, when I dropped by at Roly Poly's the other day, she asked me (again) to write something about the restaurant in the newspaper! (Yeah right! I actually already wrote something about it before I was hired! I'm not going to do it again! And, that's not only because it would be a highly unethical journalistic practiced. I was laid off! So what if I was going to quit anyway? It's the principle!) Oh! Why must I endure calculus II? Why? Calculus One had me going ABSOLUTELY MAD. I consider that final exam one of the most tramatic experiences in my life. Just think of what great depths into my madness Calculus II will take me! I'll be the Syd Barret of wannabe music critics! (Although ... that would possibly be a good thing. My reviews have been getting too serious as of late.) I still don't want to take calculus. I poop on Isaac Newton's grave. --M.L. ----August 12, 2003 Artist Page Created: Reviews Added: Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan (1962)
Hey! I went to sleep last night, and when I woke up, it was August 12! Oh shucky darn! Nah! Just kidding. I was just too busy with my crappy stuff to attend to the important stuff (like updating this site). Well, now that my schoolyear (read: death) is about to begin, I'll probably update this site quite a bit, seeing that I'm supposed to be doing other stuff. You see: it's the goof-off principle. When one is supposed to be doing something, the more likely he/she will spend it doing something else that is easier. This summer, the only real work I had to do was updating this site. That is why I didn't do it. However, during the school year, when I'm supposed to be wasting my time with studying and homework and such, I'll probably spend it working on this site! (That is, until I get tired of it ... but my interest is always revitalized sometime after.) You see, I won't spend too much of it watching television and movies (like I spent a lot of the summer) because I'll feel guilty for not doing something constructive (or look like I'm doing something constructive). Oh well. A few days ago, I decided to entertain myself with writing a review of Cerrone's debut album Love in C Minor. It's crappy, and I only gave it a 3/10. I love to trash things whenever it's legitimate, but I didn't trash that album as much as I should have! The day after that, I wrote a review of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King. Neither of these albums are on the site yet. (I might review a slew of disco albums and then slap them all on one page.) The King Crimson one ought to be on the site within the next week or so. Today, I finally reviewed that Bob Dylan album that I said I would two months ago, and I reviewed Genesis's second album Trespass. I uploaded the Dylan album to the site today, and the Genesis album (along with their debut, which I reviewed for nazi.epinions.com) should also be on the site shortly. Yesterday, I took a major step in the review music-ology. While only 20 percent of the reviews on this site came from pirated discs (and ... I'm not telling you which ones!) I decided to do away with my evil Long John Silver-esque behavior and sign up for that music Rhapsody thing where you can listen to music LEGITIMATELY! Actually, I would have signed up for it sooner if I knew what it was. See ... all you have to do is pay about $10 a month and you get access to the site's entire catelogue of stuff. If you want to burn a disc, then you have to pay 79 cents per track. (Not that this actually makes too much sense. A progressive rock album would, then, be much cheaper than a punk rock album, because the individual progressive rock songs tend to be much, much longer!) Also, there are some incomplete albums on there (which tends to piss me off), and there are some MAJOR gaps in some artists' discographies as well as a few major artists who aren't on there at all. There is absolutely no Beatles. There's no Beatles solo albums either, apart from a few by Ringo. There's no Rolling Stones. (In fact, any cover of the Rolling Stones is missing, which totally tworks me off!) And, there is no Led Zeppelin. I was hoping that they would have more albums by Jethro Tull and King Crimson, but they only have their latest. Oh well! So, I stopped pirating altogether, and started using this service. It's not that I really did it voluntarily ... I just got wind that the RIAA (The Reasonless Idiots Association of Americadia) was actually collecting ip numbers off of peer-to-peer networks. Well ... considering the luck I've been having with authority figures lately, I thought I'd better call it quits. Besides, there's enough stuff on Music Rhapsody to keep me busy for QUITE awhile. For example, they have everything ever done by the Beach Boys (who I've been finding it very difficult to download), Yes, The Roxy Music (and many solo albums by band members), Bob Dylan ... they even have that Left Banke album that you can't find anywhere! (I suppose it's fortunate that I downloaded everything by The Rolling Stones previously!) Though, I would hope that this site would be able to work out some sort of agreement to get those. (The prices they go for at the stores are utter MURDER! ... Would somebody please tell me who the pirate is?????? Aren't pirates usually the ones who are collecting the money? We are the poorest band of pirates I've ever heard of!) Jethro and King aren't going cheap, either. I'll be occasionally on the lookout at the used CD stores for those, but it's been my experience that they aren't too common. Oh ... this thought has been running across my mind. You know, Michael Jackson has been one of the few musicians who have stepped up to plate and said that arresting people for downloading music isn't the way to go. This especially because the people who generally do it are teenagers, who can't afford to buy music! And, as Jacko says, they are punishing people for being music fans! Well ... I'm 20, but I know one thing: I'm a music fan and I can't bloody afford all this stuff. Anyway, the big joke out of this was: You know we're living in an embarrasing time when Michael Jackson emerges as the voice of reason! Me, I simply cannot believe what they are proposing to do to people! It's sick! You'd think the music industry had a bad enough rap for (illegally) selling CD's for $20 ... but this'll do them in for sure. I'm definitely more hesitiant to buy albums anymore, and I'm sure there are a lot of people like me who feel the same way about it. Unless I REALLY NEED SOMETHING, I am now strictly a Used CD shopper. (Exception: I will very occasionally order something off the Internet. For example, I'm still working on the Procol Harum and T. Rex discographies, which, unfortunately, are also missing from Music Rhapsody. But that'll be, as it has been, an occasional treat.) Speaking of mindless idiots, I actually got something back from epinions.com! Yeah! Well, apparently they did actually get me for having a second account open over a year ago. And, they decided to enforce that rule 10 months after I had that second account closed. Yes ... it confirms my theory that they have a strange form of mental retardation ... not the genetic version of it but the "incurable moron from growing up in an unstable household and doing too much crack in college" version. Me and the head thug of epinions (who goes by the name of Baron Jackson) have had a few interchanges. The last letter I got from them was received on July 23rd. It read: ----- Hi Michael, Thank you for your email. The account was removed at the level of understanding the account would be deleted that you did not wish to participate on the site in any other capacity or at all. Were you specific in details as to why you wanted it deleted, and that you intended to maintain another account. With that in mind that still does not give credence to the fact that you indeed created more than those two accounts. The pattern of behavior is at issue not the individual details. Whether you read the User agreement or not it is your responsibility to do so when you create an account. You accepted our terms. In those terms we also state that we reserve the right to cancel any account for any reason, especially in the case of User Agreement violations. If you have further questions, please check out our Help Center at http://www.epinions.com/help or feel free to email us at communitycare@epinions-inc.com. Thanks, Baron Jackson
----- (This was probably the fourth letter I had gotten from them.) And, probably what is my last derriding e-mail to him/her/it was sent that very day. ----- Dear Exterminator, I am not convinced that your new argument holds water, either. If I understand you correctly, you would have left my "donignacio" account alone had I originally told you why I wanted "captainwalleye" deleted. This doesn't make sense. What's the difference whether I told you about it or not? I wanted the account deleted, didn't I? Why else would have I done it? Unless you deleted "donignacio" based on incomplete information (which might have been the case), you could easily have inferred why I wanted "captainwalleye" to be deleted. It should have been stark obvious. How could you have expected me to tell you? Would an eight-year-old tell his father that he smoked a cigarette? More so: Would he tell his father if he had no intention of doing it again? Prob'ly not. Past sins are past sins. And, sir, I told you before and I will tell you again. Those two extra accounts were created AFTER "donignacio" was deleted. They are ENTIRELY immaterial to this discussion. If I hadn't created those accounts, would you have re-instated "donignacio?" If you were planning to (which I have no reason to suspect that you were), then you failed to let me know about it. It goes without mentioning that those two accounts were created as a result of "donignacio" being deleted. In a way, you brought that upon yourself. And, besides, there was no actual harm done by it. And, there was no actual harm in the creation of "donignacio." You're making it seem like I murdered somebody's dog. You cannot convince me that having a second account (especially a second account that has been DEAD and forgotten for 10 months) is grounds for extermination. Suspension, perhaps. A slap on the ole wrist, more likely. Close examination to make sure I won't do it again, more practically. But not extermination. No matter how you look at it, it was perfectly harmless. Nevertheless, if you bothered to look at the facts before deleting "donignacio," you would have known that my "pattern of behavior" was fine, and I was complying PERFECTLY with your rules. The fact that I deleted "captainwalleye" should, in effect, reverse the "creating more than one account" rule. I'm not saying that it does. I'm simply stating that it should. I'm betting that you can't give me one good reason why it shouldn't. As far as you're concerned, I was a perfect little angel the day when "donignacio" got the axe. Another point: there is no employer on this planet (who isn't mentally disturbed) who would fire an employee for breaking a harmless rule. ESPECIALLY when he or she was entirely oblivious of it. It's not an obvious rule, either. Unlike what you might think, "Thou shall not create more than one account" is not what we would call a human instinct. Morally, there is nothing wrong with it, and I see absolutely no reason that such a transgression could not be forgiven. Normally, grounds for termination within companies happen when an employee does actual harm. I have not harmed epinions.com one bit! If I did, it was erased when "captainwalleye" went away. Convince me that it wasn't. The rule I broke is like I was taking 1-hour lunch breaks when I am only allowed 30-minute ones. To make matters worse, I stopped committing this "sin" 10 months ago. It is as if you were randomly browsing through old security tapes, realized this, and consequently fired me. Do you honestly mean to say that like harmless offenses are grounds for termination, Mr. Exterminator? And, for the sake of arguing, I realize perfectly well that I intentionally transgressed this law with "kernalklink" and "donignacio2." But they were done with harmless intents for the site! "donignacio2" didn't do anything, if I recall correctly. I created it and it did nothing. "kernalklink" wasn't much of an active account either, if I do recall. Creating these accounts do not make me a bad person. Do you think it makes me a bad person? I don't. Under the circumstances, I don't see how you couldn't expect such a retaliation. People have done it before. It's a perfectly reasonable response. Perhaps your execution of Sacred Law #2 needs re-examining. To restate my stance: I am not convinced, in the slightest bit, that what I've done was grounds for expulsion. I'm having a field day with your weak arguments. If you've got any left, bring 'em on! Let me tackle 'em! I dare you to stump me! And, I will continue to believe that there was another reason why my account was deleted. Now, I don't mean any disrespect to you as a person, but could it be that you deleted my account because it excited you? That's as possible an explanation as any. If one thing is very evident out of all this, it is that you have a lot of power within the realm of epinions.com. The "we reserve the right to cancel any account for any reason..." clause gives you this power, whether such an action is truly justified or not. And, what does power do to people, my friend? It corrupts! Not that I can really blame you for it. If I had the power to delete people's property and personal Internet hubs, I imagine that I would want to exercise it a few times before I leave. These almost remarkably illogical explanations you've been giving me for deleting "donignacio" suggest this stongly. If I managed to hit this one on the bullseye, I must therefore plead with you to consider simmering down. I am living proof that such careless actions can be hurtful, and I know that I am not the first person that this has happened to. We, the people, may not be personally important to you, but I must restate that we are real. People like me make misguided mistakes. People like me deserve to be forgiven. If I care about epinions (which, surprisingly under the circumstances, I still do), then why doesn't epinions care about me? Believe me: if people only joined epinions for the money, you would have been out of business a long time ago. If you have reason, you would reinstate "donignacio." If you have heart, you would never have deleted "donignacio" in the first place. If I have a brain, I would realize that these letters are probably futile. But, I do have a soul, and I know that what you've done was humanly unjust no matter how you look at it. I am not asking you to be Mother Theresa. I am simply asking for you to be civil. In exhile, --Michael L. ----- Anyway, I think I struck a nerve when I accused him/her/it of being a 'power mongrel' because I haven't gotten a response yet. (I'm sure that's the case, however.) If I was actually interracting with a regular human being, he/she/it would have said something like "it's my job" or something. He/she/it is just being an asshole. Plain and simple. (And ... dangit ... I swear that I'm not an asshole, inspite of what it might look like! I might act like one if I'm wronged, however! And I was wronged big time! And ... AAAAAAAARGH! ... school's about to start in 8 days (SCREAMS IN HORROR), and I signed up for STUPID USELESS CALCULUS II THAT I SOOOOOOO MUCH DON'T WANT TO TAKE! O! WHY CAN'T I BOOK A MONTH AT THE NEAREST TURKISH TORTURE CHAMBER AND GO THOUGH THE PAIN THAT WAY??? WHYYYYYYYYY??? THEY'LL DO ME AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF GOOD! Grrrrrrrrrr............ HELPPPPPPPP MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! --M.L. ----June 23, 2003 Oops! Sorry for not religiously updating this over the weekend. I don't know why I didn't --- it's not like I was doing anything IMPORTANT! I didn't even have to go to work! I'm actually waiting for one of these vice presidents to call me back. I'm thinking --- he might call me back. I'm still trying to write that article about the whole SARS screening thing. (I read over a few documents and I came to the conclusion that they haven't actually quarantined ANYBODY for SARS yet, rather they're prepared to if necessary.) Okay... I decided to write a few music reviews now and then for this site. I won't do it too soon, but I will. Today, I bought a bargain 3 Bob Dylan albums for $25 in one of those special packages. Yay! Cheeeeeeeeeap is the way I like 'em! For some reason, the Dylan albums are like $10 a piece at Best Buy whereas the Beatles albums are $16. Don't ask me why!! They just are! Well, those three Dylan albums New Morning, Nashville Skyline, and John Wesley Harding are used CD store prices. I actually got money out of my savings to swoop this one up before somebody else gets to it. And now I'm happy. All three of these albums are excellent, albiet they are a bit too much country-western for my taste. But that's -- as Stuart Smalley would put it -- OK. Well I had my first anti-work, I-want-to-quit-as-soon-as-possible sentiments at work today. It actually just dawned on me that I am working at a fast food joint, but it's one that doesn't serve french fries. And, they use real ingredients ... so no matter how you look at it, it's a significant step up from McDonalds and the like. Well, forunately, all I did today was slice and portion meat, which is something you can REALLY space out at! I remember when I worked at the movie theater, I used to really like making the nacho trays for the same reason. (Also, you don't have to deal with rabid customers, and the boss(es) normally leave you alone.) Anyway, most of this anti-work sentiment revolved around me wondering why I don't get my degree(s) ASAP, so I can get a REAL job. I also considered begging for my old job back at Jason's Deli (I was a delivery driver for the store whose customers have no concept whatsoever of "a tip.") But my aging post 200,000 mile car simply cannot be abused any further. Oh well! That was actually a perfect job for me, if I only had a younger car! I mean... I get paid to drive around the East side of Wichita and I have absolute control over the car stereo! Yes! Roly Poly's also does delivery, and I'll probably end up running a few, but that's not my principle job. (I also don't get milage compensation, which means I'll probably resist doing them ... because I KNOW how sucky Wichita Kansas tippers are. YER ALL TIGHTWADS! ...Little do they know the milage compensation is hardly "compensation." If it wasn't for the times when I did actually get tips, I would have to dig in my paycheck just to afford gas. Not to mention automobile upkeep, and the simple fact that the car was nearing 200,000 miles at the time.) Okay! Somebody please stop me from digressing! I also wanted to mention that I saw a really great movie two or three nights ago. It's called The Dark Crystal. I'm sure many of you have seen it, but if you haven't, you really ought to pick it up! It's a Jim Henson fantasy flicker aimed at preteens, but anybody, I'd imagine, can enjoy it. Except for my dad, who hates it. I don't know why. It's really a brilliant film that kicks the arse out of its quasi-follow-up Labyrinth and most fantasy films from that decade, except for maybe The NeverEnding Story and The Princess Bride if you even want to count them as fantasy films. (Though, the 80's was really the ultimate decade for preteen fantasy films.) I suppose the only reason I like Labyrinth is because it has David Bowie in it and it has original David Bowie songs in it ...... but The Dark Crystal is superior on many levels. Speakin' of David Bowie, there's no news on those tickets, though I noticed that davidbowie.com removed the option for quarterly membership. So, if you want to join just to get the tickets, you'll have to pay $65 as opposed to the $18 or whatever it was. Oh well! I've now had doubts whether I really want to go to a David Bowie concert. If I simply cannot make it, or I'm too slow on the tickets, or they become available before I'm able to get money in my checking account, then I'll just have to forget it. I mean ... he's not THAT great of a live performer anyway. I'm sure he doesn't have the energy that made himself that impressive back when he did those Ziggy Stardust and Serious Moonlight tours. If it doesn't work out then, well, I guess it won't bring me to tears. ----June 20, 2003 June 20th, eh? Whattayaknow! I've been out of school for a full month now! My, my, how does the time fly! Yesterday, I payed the used CD store a little visit, and I was almost exhillarated to find out they had a cheap copy of David Bowie's Let's Dance, which is a significant empty spot in my discography. And that was right after I made that CD with all of Bowie's most significant 80's songs on it. Oh well! I needed to have it, anyway. And, it does have some great artwork in the liner notes to tape it somewhere on my wall. The American dates for the Bowie concert still haven't been posted. I am still checking bowiewonderworld.com for any new announcements daily. I had my first real day at work yesterday. Business was pretty slow. I was basically bored, but I did learn how to roll them sandwiches. It isn't too difficult. Many of the sandwiches we make, ya gots to roast. Those are a little bit more painful, as proper piping-hot sandwich gloves apparently hasn't been invented yet, and we basically have to grab it off the burner and run it to the paper to wrap it in. In a year or so, I bet my hands will be deformed. Also, with these hot sandwiches, in order to make sure the sandwich is fully cooked or not, you have to stick your thumb inside of it. (Fortunately, this doesn't hurt my thumb as 80 percent of the time, it's pretty cold in there.) One particular time I did this, I quite unintentionally left one of my other digits on top of the sandwich wrap. Expecting to feel coldness, the top of that sandwich felt VERY cold. A second or so later, I realized that it was not VERY cold, rather it was HOT! I swears it, my brain is retarded! Well... then again... maybe not. One of my teachers explained something similar to this and then I tested it out on my brother. I left a butter knife in the freezer for about a day, and I somehow managed to convince my brother to let me tie him down. (He must have been bored, or something.) I also blindfolded him. I then went on to describe how painful a hot knife must be to the skin and how I had to use a pot-holder to handle this hot knife I was carrying in my hand. Then I quickly touched this cold knife to his neck, and he thought I burned him! Heheheheheeee! The trick was on me this time, though. And I still feel the burn. Worse, though, I had to clean dishes, and as I was cleaning this brand spankin'-new and sharp-as-hell knife, my hand slipped, and I almost cut off a good portion of my index finger. Thank goodness it's all still on there. It bled for quite a while, but I managed to get the bleeding to stop. After I was banned from the sink, I had to sweep the floor and then mop it. I daresay, after I was done there was still a bunch of goop and miscellaneous particles on the floor. Either that stuff was added after I had finished sweeping/mopping it, or I did a terrible job. Perhaps a combination of both! One thing I do know, however, that mop water was DDDDDDIRTY! And, the floor didn't even look particularly dirty! Today, my boss wanted me to distribute some advertisement flyers for the restaurant, and I said that I would try to distribute them today on campus. However, I picked some random number on campus and called them. They said that I cannot hand out flyers unless it is a campus function. So, I didn't do it. I will see if she wants me to try someplace else later. While I was on campus, I was going to work on that SARS article, but the vice president dude I'm supposed to talk to wasn't in his office. Oh well. I'll try again on Monday, I guess! I was going to complain about somebody yesterday, but I ran out of time. It was about this co-worker of mine who I find particularly annoying. She's probably in her fifties and doesn't possess too many special job skills. She got all the easy jobs. But that's not why I don't like her. She's one of those people who, if someone is having an ounce of trouble doing something (i.e. putting away a mop), she'll start suggesting a method in doing so. In the mop's case, it was put away faster than the person doing-so would even try to interpret her suggestion. Well, my boss told me that a female employee was fired today, but I'm not sure if it was her or the other female employee whose name I do not know! I hope it was. (Though the countless hours of me having fun ignoring her would be lost!) I was working with the other female employee on Tuesday, and she seemed alright and quite competent (even though she was passing bits of meat that weighed 4.4 ounces and 4.6 ounces as 4.5 ounces, after they specifically told us not to do that). Nevertheless, I would be surprised if it was her. I suppose I'll find out Monday, 'cause I'm working lunch! I'm really living a bored existence right now. I do have a network of friends. The seeming center of this network (Naveed) was a friend in my senior year of high school, and we kept close contact up to my second semester in college. I'm at my fifth semester now. We usually do something during these breaks, but he doesn't seem to be responding. I left three messages on his cell phone, but I haven't yet gotten a return on them. I'm not sure what's up with that guy! The other day, I did talk to another friend (Lei) who actually answered his phone. I told him I would see if there was a job available at the restaurant, but it doesn't look like it. Perhaps when I go on that huge trip this December and January and possibly allot more time to go to that alleged Bowie concert, he would like to fill in for me. Now's not a good time to bring the proposition to the boss! I'm sure Lei would appreciate it. I think I might try to call Naveed now. Will he pick up? Nobody knows. ----M.L. |