Things I overheard while talking to myself

Allergies have been kicking my ass, and no wonder since they're leaving a visible yellow layer on everything around here. And I can tell because I've been fucking up more than usual at work, and when you do you have to sign a form acknowledging the fuckup and all that. Between Memorial Day and today I had three of them. Oy. But I only have one more weekday of work this week at least.

I think I also impressed the people there because my lunch today was some leftover soba noodles with peanut sauce, but before I put them in the microwave it occurred to me that I should probably check that no one had a peanut allergy since it's a communal microwavev. I just suddenly imagined some of the sauce getting in there and some poor person who's allergic having a reaction if they put their own stuff in there, so I checked and no one did that we knew of. I still wiped the inside down just to be safe. Maybe that was overly paranoid, but I figured it was worth asking.

I've noticed that my roommate can be a bit flaky when it comes to leaving food out, but the other day he horrified me when he left raw chicken in a containing to thaw on the counter and left for the night. I promptly stuck it in the refrigerator when I realized that and explained to him when he got home that doing that is a very good way to get food poisoning, especially since it's getting hotter outside and things spoil that much quicker. And to impress it on him I explained that restaurants can get shut down it they do that. You do not even want to chance contamination if you're cooking for someone else, and you shouldn't chance it with yourself since it can kill you. I personally use the "when in doubt, throw it out" rule on all the food I make.

And while I know it's not just guys who do this, the majority of cases I've experienced where someone does something like this have in fact been guys, including the one idiot friend who food poisoned himself with ice cream (and we're still not entirely sure how he did that). My conclusion is that we just plain do not teach guys this stuff, and that is a problem. If I ever have any male children you bet your ass they will have this drilled into their heads.

I love how easily amused cats are.

I actually have those because after I finally got my missing paycheck replaced in addition to this week's regular one I went to get some new shoes since the elastic on my old sandals had worn out and they kept falling off my feet, and it turns out the Sketchers store was having a buy one get one 1/2 off so I went and got two pairs. And now Mari has two boxes.

And just the thought that I actually have at least a little money is kind of making my brain short circuit after so long with next to nothing coming in. Most of it either went to savings or got used to pay some things I've been behind on, and to my shock I still have some left! That's a pleasant change.

Today I'm being reminded of how nice having direct deposit on my last job was. Usually my paycheck shows up on Friday, so when it wasn't in the mail today I was naturally worried and called the staffing people. They confirmed that they did mail it on Thursday, so it'll probably show up Saturday. What was kind of funny is that when I called their line was busy for a good few minutes, suggesting that a bunch of other people were calling to ask what was up too.

I don't think it's anyone's fault per se, but it effectively derailed my plans for today and pushed them back until tomorrow. The good news is that when it does show up this check will be for more than enough to cover everything I need to do (and I'll probably put most of it into savings to begin trying to build that up again) it's just waiting for the damn thing to show up that's aggravating. If I hadn't been so frazzled when I  called I would've asked if they do direct deposit to prevent this in the future, which I actually had been meaning to ask before this happened. Luckily I can subsist until then, it's just annoying.

What happens to a check deferred?

The Avengers was great. My theaters was pretty much literally howling with laughter at several points. I know that at one point I was laughing so hard that I was having trouble breathing. Well played Joss Whedon, well played. I also really liked how the women in the film were treated, makes sense since this is the same guy who did Buffy. It was also hilarious hearing people in the hall talking after it was over and wondering about who the guy in the credits stinger was. My friend Sam and I pretty much figured it out instantly and were explaining it to others. Oh, and then the second after-credits scene I think was just Whedon trolling us.

We actually wound up going to a different showing than originally planned, since only some of us got tickets online and the showing we wanted was sold out, so the people who had tickets changed them to a different time while the rest of us got them at the theater. And then three separate friends of Sam actually wound up in different showings through a series of miscommunications, but we all met up after the end since it was only a 20 minute difference in start time.

Since we had some time to kill before it started we went to the McDonald's down the street, and later we were saying how having so many teenagers in there made us feel incredibly old. I'm the only one who's technically graduated so far, but they all agreed with me. Oh, and some random group was on the Common protesting something, we heard them shouting but didn't get close enough to really find out, nor did we really want to. All I know is they had a sign that I think included Jesus with Devil horns. There was also a couple guys drumming and we agreed that we preferred the drumming guys to the possibly crazy protesters.

I should fine out my work schedule tomorrow, which'll help me get a sense of the new few months scheduling wise. I also scared the hell out of myself yesterday since I thought I'd circled the wrong shift for my availability when I first gave it to them, but I wasn't that dumb. I was glad, since I had a horrible moment where I thought I'd signed up for the night shift. Thankfully, I did not. I'll likely be starting in the mornings and likely getting out mid/late afternoon, which I can do. I also found out that I do have to do one weekend shift, since everyone has to, but those are shorter shifts and hey, more money. As long as I have Sunday off it's fine with me, and I basically told myself to stop whining about it since I used to do a weekend shift at my job in school. If teenage me could handle it 20-something me can handle it too. Plus the weekend shifts are always pretty slow according to the folks there.

I also feel bad for the other young woman I was training with, since she had the bad luck to get called for jury duty and has been out all week as a result. Apparently this happens to people at this call center a lot, since they've had two different people get called for grand jury duty. She has a lot of catching up to do when she gets back.

I was also training with a guy who had a really, really thick Revere accent, which lead to a humorous moment where he answered the phone and the caller did not understand him at all because he sounded like he said "Senta" rather than "Center." He was a really nice guy, but sitting next to him was interesting since he's also, well, loud. As in, sitting-next-to-him-makes-it-hard-to-hear-my-caller loud. I think the fact that we were in a small room rather than out on the main floor, which is a big open space, made it worse. It probably won't be so bad when he's out there and not directly next to someone.

I also had a humorous moment where a woman called me and asked... for the phone number of "the shoe store" next to one of the hospital buildings. I'm rather impressed that I managed to not say out loud what I was thinking, which was "What?" We figured out later that she probably mean the specialized orthopedic clinic, which isn't exactly a shoe store but does sell them, but even the person who was training me had never heard that one before.

I really hope whoever came up with the tent layout for the Japanese festival gets fired. Or at least gets a stern reprimand. Because it did not work. AT ALL.

I understand it's the first year they've done it, but really, it was impossible to get anywhere or see any of the booths, to the point that my group gave up and decided we'd just go get something to eat instead. And apparently they ran out of meal tickets, not that it would have done me any good because I couldn't even get to the food booths through the crowds. So the lesson I hope they learn seems to be threefold:

1. Don't hold it in Copley Square, and I really don't see why they couldn't have used the Common since as far as I know nothing was happening, and it works fine for the Greeks whenever they have their festival
2. Put the tents in rows or otherwise space them so people can actually get to them through the crowds rather than leave a big space in the middle
3. Have more meal tickets than you think you need

And it doesn't fit into the above, but their port-a-potties were absolutely disgusting. And not just in the usual way, I mean to the point that I ran out of it rather than use it. Ugh. Why do people use them as trashcans?

But I got to talk to some friends when we went to get food at Fire + Ice. And I wound up literally eating my words in some ways when one guy put what I think was curry and barbecue sauce on his and I commented "Holy heartburn Batman!" considering that I overdid it on the garlic and now have actual heartburn.

So I’ve been sitting here wondering why the hell I’m in such a funk today since I have no goddamn reason and should be celebrating finally getting a job.

Then I had a look at my new medication and “depression” is listed as a possible side effect.

Fuck. At least I know why now.

Glad I installed that pedometer app on my phone, since it can help shed light on why I'm both so damn exhausted and why I've lost about 10 pounds since moving to Boston. For instance, I walked close to 3 miles today. Damn. I know I'm a bad judge of relative distance, but that surprised me. Also explains why when I got home I lay down for a minute and then proceeded to fall asleep for a few hours.

I think that interview went pretty well today. I very much overestimated how much time it would take on purpose since I'd never been to that area, so I just kind of fucked around and got some coffee before I went in. It's a call center that has several of the medical places in the area as its customers, and despite my apprehension about phones I know it's much easier for me to switch to "on" mode when I'm getting a call rather than making it. They also explained that while they're not a 911 line they do get cases that are pretty serious, so being able to work under pressure is a must. At one of my last interviews I actually said that I think I work better under a bit of pressure than not, since I know my own mind and that I can get distracted if there's not something keeping me focused. I was also cracked up by the informational movie they showed which was very, very 90s. The computers in particular were hilariously out of date, and when I asked about that they explained that the new computers actually make things slower in some ways since when it was just a DOS system you didn't have to deal with different windows or tabs and all that. I also asked if doctors still use pagers like in the video since it's been years since I've seen someone with a pager, and they explained that almost all of them do since other types of frequencies aren't as reliable, and hospitals use a special frequency. Learn something new every day! Hopefully we'll know by the end of the week if they're interested in me, and if they are I'll start a 2-3 week training course. This is temp-to-hire, so at the very least it'll hold me over if it works out.

Also one of the smoke detectors on another floor has been doing the "I have a low battery so I'm going to chirp every 30 seconds" thing all afternoon, and the people in that apartment are either not home or too dumb to know how to change it (hint: it involves a ladder or a chair and a fresh battery). Since this is the same apartment building where someone set off the building wide fire alarm last week and then booked it, both are distinct possibilities. And yes, I'm the type of person who will be kept awake by sounds like that. At my parents' house I sometimes get woken out of a dead sleep by things like the furnace turning on. It might be lessened if I close my window, since for now it's opened a crack, but I hope they fix that.