Coffeebration

It doesn’t really work, at least not for me because I tested it, but I would love to show you what I discovered in Oakland … conveniently located on Louisa Street, approximately half way between Atwood and Meyran Ave.



And yes, I really did try it out.



It didn’t work though. Oh well, its on my way to work, so I’ll stop by everyday and see if its working. If I disappear off of the face of the earth one of these days, you know what happened! So I was on my way home, and still had my camera in tote, wondering if there was anything else stupid I could take pictures of. Then it dawned on me that I really should take a picture of all of the garbage outside of the apartment beside mine. Then I could print out the pictures and send them to the landlord, and I’m sure I could find his address on the Allegheny Country Property Assessment page. Free knowledge people, you can’t be an anonymous owner these days. Actually I did look him up once and he lives in Sewickley and had a pretty nice friggin’ house. I guess he’s too busy enjoying his riches to care about the dump he is creating here. Anyways, anger was again building up inside just thinking about it, and I was all ready to take some pictures. But when I got back, something amazing was happening. The new tenants were cleaning it up. They had vacuums and were vacuuming out the basement where trolls are probably living due to the broken window. The dirty old mattress was gone. The litter all over the ground was gone and all of the rotting garbage bags were gone! I was stunned. I just stood there and stared because I had never seen it clean before. So maybe the teleporter is working in a mysterious way … transporting me into a cleaner environment! Or perhaps it brings good luck!

Yesterday I went to Barnes & Noble to purchase some books on web design because the trial and error isn’t working out so well with what I want to do, and now I am really confused about WordPress, so I thought maybe I’d find some good books there to help me out. I looked up some books on Amazon.com and read some good reviews on a few and thought I’d check them out. I could have ordered them from Amazon, but I figured it wouldn’t kill me to spend a few extra bucks and just buy them at the store. And I still needed to use the $20 gift card I got for Christmas. You can tell how often I go to bookstores!

Anyways, the point is that, every single book there about CSS or anything website related sucked and nothing was under $39.99. These same books are selling for “new” on Amazon.com for like $22 – $25 and even Barnes & Noble.com had them for like $30. So I bought one book for like $40 and leafed through some in case I wanted to buy them online, but there was nothing pertaining to what I was looking for. That is all.

What else, oh yeah … my throat hurts. Todd has a cold and I’m going to cry if I catch it. I am not licking him or anything, but we were together on Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday …. so, I’m sure my chances of getting his illness are pretty high.

I FINALLY went grocery shopping at WalMart on Sunday. Todd let me off the WalMart leash and I was free to roam the grocery section for almost15 mintues without him! It was pure bliss! I got to ponder over things without being chastised. I made some pasta salad and it is very good. I also bought a lot of frozen dinners and found the Thai Chili Sauce that I haven’t been able to find in months. It goes in my Napa Cabbage recipe, but I swore it did not exist.

I was going to wrap it up, but I just recalled the most disturbing story that Todd told me. We were in the car on Sunday, driving along the road and I saw a medium sized animal plodding along in the grass.

Me: “Look! What is that cute animal?”
Todd: “Uhh, its a groundhog.”
Me: “Aww, I hope it doesn’t walk onto the road.”
Todd: “I hope it does, and I hope it gets runover.”
Me: “You are evil!”
Todd: “Groundhogs are bad! They ruin your gardens.”
Me: “That is why you put up a fence.”
Todd: “I used to shoot them when I was a kid.”
Todd: “Then I would bury them.”
Me: “No you didn’t.”
Todd: “Yes I did. And sometimes my dad would shoot them during the day and when I came home from school he would say “Todd … I have a few dead groundhogs over the hillside that need buried.”
Todd: “Then I had to go bury them.”
Me: “You had a horrible childhood!”
Todd: “No, I think it was good for me. I learned important things.”
Me: “Ummm”

I still think it would have been better to put up a fence, but of course I never win any arguments. Even if I’m right, I just can’t win. Somehow, no matter what alternative I come up with, killing groundhogs is THE ONLY solution.

I lead a very exciting life, yep.
Later! 🙂 🙂

I think ketchup may be one of the leading causes of my anxiety I experience sometimes. I’ve not had any episodes in quite some time, however I do recall mini-attacks being brought on after a small case of heartburn, which I’m sure was caused by ketchup. I LOVE ketchup with a passion. I will eat ketchup out of a ketchup packet if dared. It does not disgust me. I can go through a bottle of ketchup a week, depending on what I’m eating. I cut a lot of ketchupy foods out of my diet, like french-fries, tater tots, chicken fingers, ya know … all the tasty stuff. The other day I had some fries. They were good. I used way too much ketchup though and immediately suffered from heartburn. Just a bit ago I had like 8 popcorn chickies, with way too much ketchup. Now I have heartburn. I’m not going to have a panic-attack over it, but I really believe that ketchup is turning against me. I love ketchup. I’m sad. I guess no more licking the ketchup off the plate for me. 🙁

This is basically a sequel to the last rant. I’m just not happy this time of year.

This morning I awoke to the ringing of my doorbell. Expecting it to be my stupid landlord coming over to yell about something I sighed and opened the door. Since cave-dwellers are not used to sunlight, I was immediately blinded by a burst of sunshine … oh and this cute guy. So he was asking me if he could bring over a big orange extension cord so they could vacuum their apartment. They are moving in today and have no electricity. Being the nice person I am, I offered him one of my outlets to do his stuff. I think he is the same guy who was there last year, but who knows … they all look the same to me. Standard tall, muscular guy with nice brown hair, sporting a shirt. They’re everywhere. Blah, I may have called him cute, but that is about it. Yes, he is appealing to look at, but so is Cheers. And after a while everything just looks the same. If I ever saw him walking down the street, I wouldn’t recognize him most likely. Anyways, my point is that last year the people who lived next door had parties all the time. When the weather was nice, they would party out on the balcony which is above my apartment and slightly to the left. The balcony can’t be more than 5′ by 5′ but they managed to squeeze at least 30 people out on that balcony. I often wished it would just come crashing down once and for all and it all be over. So I’d wake up the next morning to find at least 2 or 3 smashed beer bottles waiting for me outside my front door. Lovely. One morning one of the guys was out there actually sweeping up the bottles and he apologized to me. That was only one time though. The other times, the bottles just sat there because I don’t have a broom. I have a vacuum and a swiffer, and neither are going to be sacrificed for some broken shards of glass that some stupid drunk people dropped off the balcony. Anyways, I’m sure my landlord is going to come over any minute and yell at me for letting someone else use “HIS” electricity. I live in a big house, but my landlord only owns my half of it. The other half is owned by some rich wannabe hotshot who drives an Orange hummer and doesn’t care that his tenants throw garbage everywhere and make this place even more miserable to live in. Under the balcony next door there is like a little backyard. I can’t get to the backyard because there is a fence up. Anyways, they throw all their stuff off the balcony and it looks like a mini-landfill over there. The basement door over there has been broken for almost a year and there are probably stray animals living in it. There is also a mattress that has been sitting out there since I moved in, a few tires, and some other random junk. And on top of that, my old refrigerator is now just laying out in the parking lot/ alley. I should really file a complaint. Oakland needs to be condemned.

I used to look forward to Friday’s because that meant that I probably only had one class and then I had the whole weekend to study for tests, which of course never took place until late on Sunday night. Now that I am a college graduate with no intentions of ever going back to school I look forward to Friday’s as the last day of the week. No more work until Monday morning. No studying or homework to be done over the weekend … now I can just relax and do whatever I want! Plus I have more money so if I want to go shopping or take a trip to Madagascar, I can! It is so nice not to be in school anymore. I don’t envy any of the college kiddies moving in this week. Not a bit.

I watch them with their parents, moving carts of stuff down the street. The parents are freaking out and its just way too much. I guess it is an exciting experience for a college freshman, but I’ve been there and done that and don’t ever want to again. Perhaps the reason would be that, if I count all of the times I have moved my crap, from home to school, back home, back to school, from one apartment to the next … well then I have moved 9 times so far which seems like a lot of moving for someone, who afterall is not even a quarter of a century old! It wasn’t like I was getting evicted and carrying my stuff around in a sack on a stick, seeking shelter. I had loads of crap that required a Uhaul and moving so many times was a result of leases ending, roommates abandoning me, me abandoning roommates, going home for summer jobs, moving away for summer jobs, coming home after the summer jobs, and moving back to school for a new school year. And I would like to move right now, away from the garbage and annoying children, but my apartment is cheap and I have zero motivation to move.

Anyways, I’m rambling about this, of course, because I live in a college neighborhood. In fact, I live about a block away from some of the college dorms. In the summer, it is peaceful here, but as soon as the school year begins, it gets nasty. So everyone is moving in … or moving out. I think the garbage men have gone on strike. I would go on strike too if I knew I had to pick up all this crap around here during the beginning of the school year. On my walk this morning, I was attacked by flies. The streets are lined with old cardboard boxes, chairs, couches, tables, broken beer bottles, and rotting food. The August heat only makes the smell worse. And I frequently complain about trash …. but this trash is trash on top of that trash. Oakland is turning into a landfill. The other morning I opened my door and a flying candy bar wrapper flew right by and stuck to my door. Pretty soon I’ll be buried in trash. So if you are walking on top of the mounds of dirt, trash, and stink around here and see a leg or arm sticking out of the trash …. be kind and pull me out. I’d be ever so grateful.

According to Julie I’m a garbage lady. That is nice of her to say about her friend. She could have called me scrappy or resourceful, but instead I’m referred in words that just don’t describe me. Garbage? No, I might be messy but I’m not all about garbage. Garbage attracts flies and I do not. Lady? Ladies are proper, prim, and I think of ladies as old. Like old lady. I’m a girl. Nobody says old girl. And I’ll never be old so I’ll never be a lady. Obviously I’m bored. Todd threw me to the side of the road to talk to his mom and watch a movie so I have nobody to talk to. I’m Sad.
🙁

Earlier tonight, Nate, Julie and myself went to the Pgh bloggers fest. I don’t really think I fit in too well. I’m anti-social and didn’t have a business card. Haha, just kidding but I think someone did give me a business card! So I just joined the Pgh bloggers and am sad to say that I never read any of the blogs there and since I don’t just go up to people and talk to them I was kind of left out of the mingling and bonding scene. I had Julie & Nate though, who are the only friends I really need. They kick ass .
🙂

Anyways, I’m bored because its only 9:45 and I drank three beers. If I don’t do something to stimulate my brain I’ll fall asleep. I guess I’ll just sit here and try out this Yuengling light. I never had it before, but ya know its ONLY 99 calories! Ha. So I’ll be drunk in a bit. I must be turning into an alcoholic. I have drank more beer in the past few weeks than I have drank in like the last two years. Hey, alcoholism runs in the family … and I do believe that I am correct that studies have proven that you are at a much higher risk to become an alcoholic if people in your family are. Well, there is my mom, my uncle, my great uncle, my grandfather. … and the list goes on. Its all around me … on both sides of the family. I can’t ever picture myself being an alcoholic though. I don’t really like getting drunk. And I get hungover very easily. Oh well, I could probably be a pot addict if I didn’t fear that usage would turn me into a schizophrenic. I am way too paranoid. Man, I need to stop writing!

Bye 🙂

Complaining:
I’m not feeling very good tonight. I think I’ve been poisoned. I was in a bad mood today. I kept thinking about evil things I wanted to say out loud but of course I kept my mouth shut. Is it that hard to learn: File > Print. Or File > Print > selection > ok. Memorize it for God’s sake and don’t effing ask me again.

Scared:
So on my way back from my lunch break I heard a loud buzzing noise, looked over and saw what has to be the world’s biggest bee ever. It was like a monster, and I’m not even sure if it was 100% bee. It had huge buzzy wings and I could see the yellow/black stripes, but it seemed to be encased in this clear shell. It was so weird! It was about the size of like a large spoon … excluding the handle of course. I was so mad that I didn’t have my camera with me. I just stopped and stared at it. I never saw anything like it. I think it was a mutant bee or something. Well with all the ample garbage around here, I’m not surprised that the insects are getting bigger and changing form. I wouldn’t be surprised if grew some new body parts too.

Daydreaming:
WalMart has a swimming pool on sale for $98. Its nice. I am thinking about buying it for my apartment. I was thinking I might just turn my living room into a beach. Ya know, buy a few tons of sand, put in a pool …. knock out a wall and let the sunshine in. However, I’d have to also buy 99 gallons of bug repellant because of all the trash and mutant bugs. And a gun to kill my landlord since he would most likely have to be dead before I would be able to successfully execute the plan. Hehe.

Bye bye.

Dreams of death will not escape me. Honestly, I think it is my apartment. I never had this many bad dreams before I moved here. And when I’m not here I do not have nightmares. For instance, I do not have nightmares at Todd’s house, at my parents house, and I definitely did not have any at the beach. However, on Friday night I had one. It is rather amusing actually.

I was in a beautiful swimming pool. Maybe I was still at the beach. I was with some random made up people who aren’t real. Then I got shot in the stomach. I looked down and saw that the bullet had gone through my stomach, come out my back, and was sinking to the bottom of the pool.

So I got out of the pool and was like “hey random people I’ve been shot.” They were like “what?” I said “yeah look in the pool.” There was a big puddle of my red blood neatly floating in a circle. So someone called 911 and I was just waiting. I didn’t feel any pain, and I was holding my back so the blood wouldn’t come out. I layed down on the cement by the pool and asked if someone would put pressure on my back to stop the blood. One old lady did for about a minute then she said she was grossed out and stopped. Nobody else wanted to help me. Then I heard the sirens, so I got up and started running while still holding my back. I was kind of hobbling but I thought the ambulance was coming. It turned out to be some men on a firetruck, but they stopped and asked if I needed help. Just then, I heard more sirens and saw the ambulance coming in the distance so I said they could go ahead and I’d get in the ambulance. So the firetruck left and the ambulance just turned out to be a hay truck or fancy motorized wheel barrow with a siren on it. And I think the drivers were like Amish or something.

I layed back down on the ground and waited for the real ambulance. Suddenly my entire body just got really warm and I felt hot pins and needles all through my body. I knew I was dying then so I closed my eyes and decided I would just die. Well, then I woke up. It was 4:45 am and I was sleeping on my stomach with both arms stretched above my head under the pillow. Both arms were completely numb from shoulder to fingertip. So … perhaps that is why I was dreaming about having hot pins and needles. I think I’m a nut. Anyways, it was kind of funny actually. Better than the natural disaster nightmares.

In other news, I have nothing really. The beach pictures are up. My weekend was uneventul for the most part. I went to Todd’s house on Friday night and hung out with him and the kitty. Saturday I bummed around and pretended to clean my house but really didn’t get much accomplished. I went out and bought a six pack of Yuengling and thought I’d make a night of it and put up the beach pictures. That didn’t really happen either. I drank all six beers which of course makes me drunk because I’m not a hardcore alcoholic. I talked to someone on IM from myspace for like two hours and don’t recall much of what I said but I do seem to remember being coherent enough to ramble about God knows what. I do recall him saying that he is good at dealing with people with “problems”. I need more friends like that! Not that I have any major problems, but I’m definitely abnormal. At least according to society. I get really annoyed when people act like they want to know me but once I say something that isn’t super happy and cheery they get all weird around me or don’t want to talk to me anymore.

Anywho, today I sat around and watched TV, cleaned more … I’m a really slow cleaner because I get very distracted. I spent two hours putting up the beach pictures and writing little recaps for each picture. I went out and bought a chicken salad because there is still no food in my refrigerator unless I want to snack on mustard or butter. I watched some of the E! True Hollywood story on the Simpson sisters. If you didn’t know, I’m a big Jessica Simpson fan. And no, I’m not being sarcastic. She is one of the few celebrities I actually like. I loved watching Newleyweds. I think she is pretty cool but I don’t think we’d get along as friends. She shops way too much and is more whiny than me.

All in all, it was a good lazy weekend. I needed a weekend to just kind of chill and not really do too much. I’ve enjoyed it but now its back to work tomorrow, so I’ll be grouchy soon.

Bye!

Sometimes I think that I live in a bubble within myself. I know I promised beach pictures and stuff, but I’m not in the uploading mood right now. Anyways, today was a huge celebration because one of the last unmarried girls at work got engaged today. She is my age I guess, bubbly, and always laughing. She is someone I thought I’d find annoying, but I avoid her just enough not to hate her or like her. So I heard all the hype this morning about it and she was showing everyone her ring. I was busy and didn’t want to join the circus ogling her ring, so of course she had to come over to me personally to show it to me. “Oh wow, congratulations … fake happiness for you.” Ok, go away now. If I had gotten engaged I would be doing the exact same thing, BUT I’m not getting engaged, having a baby, bungee jumping, buying a house, NOPE …. I’m doing nothing. Not that I am sad about it, but I just feel like everyone around me is like growing up or something.

My one co-worker who is a few years older than me eloped last month, got married, and now is putting bids on houses with her new husband. Everyone from my hometown had babies in the last few weeks … thats ok. No babies for me just yet. I just turned 24 last week, but I feel like I just left home for the first time like a month ago. I still cry when I have to leave my parents house and come back to my ugly apartment. I want a porch and flowers, a garden, oh and some windows would be nice. Instead, I have what I have and I’m still lucky.

I don’t know what my problem is. I know I get jealous of people who are getting married and starting new lives, but yet I still just want to be a kid sometimes. I feel stuck right now. I feel that I have no direction or real future sometimes and I truly wonder if it is just going to happen suddenly or if I’m going to be right here in the same exact place 20 years from now. I also really believe that I control my life and destiny and it drives me nuts when I have nothing to plan. I say I hate change but I need it for the sake of staying sane. I know I make no sense. Lately I’ve really been thinking about just finding a job in some other big city, packing it all up and disappearing. I’m independent and I’m sure I could do it. I’d miss my family, but I’d visit a lot.

Is 24 old? I mean, I could still be living at home with my parents, working at WalMart or something. I’m going to finish paying off my debt this year and then maybe I’ll buy a car and learn to drive for real. Then I could move out of the city or to Madagascar …. and meet my prince and live happily ever after. I’ve got a lot of stuff to do.

I know I’ve written a similar variation of this post last month and the month before, and the month before that. I just can’t get it out of my head. I feel like such a loser sometimes.