Saturday, August 13, 2011

Le plus grand faible des hommes, c'est l'amour qu'ils ont de la vie.

-Molière

Friday, August 12, 2011

Interrogation Time

So two DMs (district managers) came to the store today to interview all the employees about a recent string of incidents with money going missing from the registers and stocks going missing too. It was actually kind of intimidating the way they did things; they took us to the back room one by one and did a whole series of interrogation-style rapid fire questions. They were asking about which of my coworkers I would trust and if I witnessed anything suspicious or sketchy which I didn't really. Honestly, if you didn't have anything to hide there was nothing to worry about but I know two of my coworkers got a hard grilling by one of the DMs that had eyes that were bulging out of her head and were the size of dinner plates.


"So I just sit here? Okay, Hi, my name is J...OH SWEET JESUS"
Since we had so many people come in the store at once things were kind of awkward. To put in perspective, we open and close the store by ourselves and there are never more than two people working at once, but we had four people working all at once this afternoon and at once point, had six people in the store working at the same time. The place I work is tiny.

The DMs finally left around 5 or so but not before telling us we all had to wear the ugly company aprons. My regular manager couldn't care less about aprons; she hates them about as much as I do, which is vehemently. I'm only working for this week, next week and one one last day the week after before I go back to school so I'll probably just wear the stupid things since I only work a handful more times. We ended up just standing around and chatting about music until I left.

Maybe if I tell myself aprons are sexy they will be.....hah, fat chance. They make people look like bloated cows.

Oh, finally, I definitely recommend Google Imaging "Sexy Apron", I got a good laugh from the results.

JP

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

My Gulty Pleasures

Guilty Pleasure, n. engl.

1. something you shouldn't like, but like anyway
2. something that you love to do, but you just cannot admit you do it.

Via Urban Dictionary

Everybody has a few guilty pleasures, those things you do and loves you have but really don't want others knowing since they're silly, disgusting or whatever other reason. So here are some of my guilty pleasures from habits of mine to some of my favorite things I hate to love and love to hate.

My Guilty Pleasure Food: Cheesy Anything. Cheesy Potatoes, Cheesy Scrambled Eggs, Cheese Biscuits etc.

Why: Cheese, like bacon, makes everything taste better I think, well, anything savoury at least. Yeah, as far as dairy goes it isn't terribly good for you but it's damn tasty so I don't care :)

My Guilty Pleasure Dessert: Bread Pudding

Why: Why am I separating food and dessert? Well, because desserts and sweets are too special to lump together with regular food. Well, bread pudding is my guilty pleasure because it's warm, comforting and because, well, I make some mean bread pudding. I'll admit, I've eaten half a pan of the stuff before (and felt the consequences soon after) but it's soo delicious and I have it so rarely I'll always overdo it when I get some.

My Guilty Pleasure TV Show: Teen Wolf



Why: Everything I know and love about good shows tells me I should hate this show. It's like my Jersey Shore, even though I am proud to say I have never watched an episode of that crap. The plot is questionable in its quality at best and the premise of the show is tired and abused enough at this point but I can't stop watching. Maybe it's the fact I want to lick Derek (Tyler Hoechlin), date the adorkable Stiles (Dylan O'Brian) or cheat on Stiles with the dimpled gay token character Danny (Keahu Kahuanui)....kidding, I would never cheat on someone, but choosing between the two would be one hell of a difficult decision. Dammit, now I'm getting obsessed with the characters of the show who don't even fucking exist. This just goes to show any hormonal gay boy can have his usual regimen of Law and Order and CSI be swayed with copious amounts of shirtlessness and cheesy plots.

Sometimes the music they choose isn't half bad though,


Kids of 88 - Just A Little Bit (Playing now if you haven't paused the sidebar music)


My Guilty Pleasure Bad Habit: Unnecessarily Passing on the Highway

Why: Because people suck at driving. The real reason is probably because I have a newer car with more power than I technically need but hey, it's there, why not use it. My favorite thing is at night after work, I-495 becomes really quiet and people are going 80+ so I go a little faster. Bad habit, but I love speed ;).

My Guilty Pleasure Hidden Secret: I'm a Super Geek

Why: So I've been a nerd or geek all my life. From elementary school though most of middle school it defined me but things got tempered a bit in HS. Deep at my core though I'm a massive geek. I love machines, figuring out how things work, the science and chemical reactions behind everyday things, science fiction, and memorizing useless information like horsepower ratings for probably 100+ cars and counting. So, behind the now more clean, sharply dressed and collected exterior lives the chubby, awkward nerd that I'll always love and embrace.

My Guilty Pleasure Splurge: Express Dress Shirts

Why: I've recently really taken to liking button downs and dress shirts, especially the 1MX shirt from Express. I'm a stickler for cut and fit so the fact that those shirts cut as close as they do works for me. They're expensive though, even if they are BOGO 50% off at $60 a piece but I love them and will probably get more soon.

My Guilty Pleasure Music: Music from Glee

Why: I usually hate covers but I won't lie, I've downloaded quite a few songs from the Glee albums. I didn't mention this earlier, but second to Teen Wolf, Glee is probably my second guilty pleasure TV show.


Glee Cast- Marry You

So there are a few of my guilty pleasures; I have plenty more but this post is long enough as is. Maybe I'll do a part 2 later on. I need to open at work tomorrow so I'm off to bed.

What are some of your guilty pleasures?

All the best,

JP

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Past Week

So I haven't fallen off the face of the earth but I have been busy for the past week and just got home, so, recap of the past week.

Saturday, July 30, Florida

-Up at 3:30 to catch a 6:00AM flight to Atlanta from Dulles
-Taxi arrives, the AC was on high the entire 40 minute ride, I was freezing and so was my mom
-The airport is surprisingly busy but check-in goes smoothly enough
-Security takes forever because idiots think bringing full sized bottled of shampoo as a carry-on is o-k
-Flight to Atlanta goes smoothly, I don't know why people hate Delta so much, they're nice people
-I hate Atlanta's airport, it's noisy, overcrowded and poorly laid out, it's only a 1.5 hour layover thankfully
-Arrive at Orlando and try to find transportation
-Immediately get approached by a guy who is trying to drive us to the ship terminal for $25 a person, he's sketchy and we don't like him but my mom is too timid to say no, it's ridiculous, uncomfortable and not worth it.
-Check-in at the port goes smoothly, the travel agency didn't recognize my mom's prior-cruiser record so she didn't get a gold card
-We get on board and wait in line for 45 minutes before getting the issue sorted at the info desk. the Ship is pretty new so it looks quite nice inside.

-The room is nice, we booked an interior room on the 11th deck, it's a handicap room so the bathroom is freaking massive, total win.
-I explore a bit, the gym is decent but only one floor unlike the last ship which was two, there is an erg though.
-Dinner was cool, me and my mom got a private two-seat table by the window, our waiter is not the chattiest but nice and prompt. The Maitre'd was also funny.
-Our dining room table neighbors are really sweet, next to us are a first time cruise family with two daughters. The younger one (probably 7 or 8) is super picky about food based on color, she hates "white gravy" and light coloured sauces lol. The table behind us had a really WASP-y family and a really attractive Thai family. The WASP family had three kids, the son, maybe a year or two younger than me was pretty good looking and the Thai family had three boys around my age who were really hot....seriously.
-That night I head straight to the Casino, play about $40 on blackjack, went as high as up by $30 and down to $5 but settle with a loss of $20
-Go to bed around 1-ish

Sunday - Nassau

-Up around 9:30, get breakfast and go back to the room
-Watch a movie until around 1 and then head out
-It's really hot and it's all just shops, I was here in Spring too so not much to really do
-Stop back at the same bar I was at last time, they're still playing really loud Nicki Minaj and Weezy
-Back on the ship at 4
-Dinner's not until late so I go to the gym, the erg is buttery smooth, if only the gym at home had one this nice
-Shower and then get ready for dinner
-It's the first formal night so I dress up
-Dinner was decent, the Caesar Salad is really tasty and the fish I had was good enough, it needs more seasoning though
-The wait staff performs for us in a dance routine to "Low" by Flo Rida, awkward but funny nevertheless.
-On the way out, the kids at the teen club are all out in the halls and kinda loud and annoying
-My mom goes to see the show and I go back to the blackjack table
-The people I play with are hilarious, one guy I saw at dinner and the night before is playing at the same table as I am, he's from Alabama and goes to Ole'Miss, his accent is kinda sexy and he's pretty hot too. The other table people are three friends all in their early 40s. The two ladies are drunk and the guy is just laughing. One lady is a total cougar and is hitting on Ole'Miss. They buy a bucket of beer and share with the table. win.
-I end up winning about $40 so I'm even again for the trip
-Bed around 12:30

Monday - Sea Day

-Wake up around 9:30
-After breakfast, they make an announcement saying that because of Trop Storm Emily, we would have ot re-route and change two of our stops, kind of a bummer
-I catch a chair on deck and work on reading 1984
-Lunch is a weird mix of Italian and Asian food, I end up eating a lot of fruit and pasta
-I explore the ship some more and find a piano bar and look at some of the shops, liquor is so damn cheap!
-Dinner is meh, I was sleepy for some reason even after my regular double espresso with dessert
-I go back to the room and watch Law and Order, I fall asleep and don't wake up until 2:00, I don't even bother and just go back to bed.

Tuesday - Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos


-Arrive at our first re-route spot, Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
-It's a really small port, just some jewelry shops, Margaritaville and a beautiful beach
-I shop with my mom for a bit and then go exploring
-Magaritaville is one massive frat pool party, drunk college students and 20-somethings everywhere dancing to extremely loud music, not really my kind of scene
-I settle on just finding a chair under a palm and just enjoying the weather and people watch

-Back on the ship around 4
-Shower and then find a deck chair to read some more
-Dinner was highlighted by one of the waiters singing an Elvis song for us, he's pretty good
-I go with mom to see a Canadian Female Impressionist singer who did Tina Turner, Cher, Macy Gray and a few others. He opening Cher act kinda sucked but the rest of her songs were actually pretty good
-Blackjack was a win, I went up $70
-Went to bed watching Jimmy Fallon

Wednesday - Sea Day

-Wake up late around 10:30
-Breakfast, gym and sunbathe for a little while
-Return Cruiser's party in the main theatre, free drinks ftw
-Couple sitting next to us down Screwdrivers like it's nobodys business
-I have a beer, a rum punch and a whiskey sour, the last might be one of my new favorite drinks
-I go read for a little while and I realize around then that I was tiiipsy; George Orwell was never more entertaining
-I try the Mongolian Barbecue/Wok station for lunch, the lady behind me kept asking for things that weren't out even though it was buffet style.
-Mom comments that I drink so quickly, lolz
-Dinner was quiet, the family with two kids next to us provide entertainment since the little one goes through three entrees before she finally eats something. We promise Jay, the bar guy, that we will order something tomorrow.
-Lose the previous day's winnings at blackjack, but the dealer and I become buddies. A Floridian couple with six kids (damn) talk about how I don't have any accent and that I'm a proud Amurican and then go on bashing the Indian political and health care systems
-Me and the dealer school them on how they are wrong on so many accounts and how India is the world's largest democracy and money exists in spades despite what people think. higher education + native background ftw
-Bed to "Letters to Juliet", click flick overload

Thursday - Freeport

-Up around 9:30
-Me and my mom go to Port Lucaya to shop around a little, pretty much the exact same as when we were here in Spring. It's really hot and boring
-We go back to the ship early and grab a pizza to share
-The gym is really crowded so I had ot wait to use many machines
-Second formal night and the bar guy Jay holds us to our word, mom gets white zin and he brings me a Mojito. I don't know why but it just sounds like a gay drink to me. It's not too bad though
-Dinner was good, I had prime rib which was really tasty and tender
-Jay never brings us our receipt but thinks we live on a farm since we're from Virginia. He's from South Africa which is pretty cool
-Deck party that night, live performers who did a variety of songs, around 11 they did a rock show and handed out glowsticks


-Grab some late night snacks
-Bed around 1

Friday - Sea Day

-Up around 10
-There's a farewell party around 5 so I grab a chair on deck and read/listen to music
-Gym around 2, I finally meet the other person who actually does erg workouts, she's one of the event coordinators on board and she has some really toned arms, she probably was a rower in the past
-The hot Thai guys are also on deck too as is the hot WASP family son. It was an ab fest, not much reading got done haha
-Farewell party at 5, Jay was serving there too and was trying to get me and my mom drunk towards the end of the party he just dumped the last four drinks on our table. The Thai family parents were sitting next to us and were giving us strange looks, we explained our way out of awkwardness/prove we weren't alcoholics
-Last dinner was calm, I had some surprisingly good Indian vegetarian. the head chef was Indian so that probably played a role. They staff sang a farewell song just like they did in my spring cruise. Jay kept asking for what he could bring us, I have a margarita on the rocks and mom has some fruity drink
-Dessert was soufflé which was good but kinda sucks it was on the last night. Princess Cruise Lines had it every night
-Jay tells us to go to the last comedy show at 11 and midnight, he'll hook me up
-I go to the 11pm show, Jay was there and gets me a Blue Chevy 57, some bright blue drink with lime vodka, also a glass of water "so mom doesn't get mad"
-The first guy was kinda blah, lots of penis jokes, lots of old recycled jokes I've heard before
-after the first show he comes back and asks what I want to get now, I tell him to surprise me, he brings me something like a long island but not if that makes sense. It tastes of rum, tequila and vodka and is strong as fuck. He also brings a shooter
-During the break, I find my mom, the blue drink is catching up on me but I find mom listening to s singer in the lobby
-The second performer was better and did more improv stuff, I found it to be funnier though I don't know if it was because he actually was funnier or if it was the long island like thing. Still lots of penis jokes
-About 30 minutes later everything was funny and I was becoming chatty. I hadn't had that much to drink since my Accounting final finished
-We leave the lounge and thanks Jay one last time, he's a great guy and gave us about $80 worth of drinks for free between the two of us during the trip so he's a winner in my book
-Bed around 12

Saturday - Florida

-Up around 6:30
-One last breakfast and then taxi to Orlando to catch our flight home
-Get a call from Maria, apparently shit has been going down at work and investigators from loss prevention are coming later this week to interrogate interview all the employees. Maria has $100 stolen from her purse and about $200 worth of product/money has gone missing from the store. The district manager is coming up from Florida as well. We have a hunch as to who is/are to blame
-Home to Reagan National around 4, my uncle picks us up
-It starts to torrential downpour on the way home but stops after about 15 minutes
-Finally home

So nothing too crazy went down but it was nice to just chill and relax. Today's mom's birthday so I need to plan out some surprises for later tonight.

Peace y'all

-JP

Saturday, July 30, 2011

What If?

If you could do one thing in your life over again differently, what would it be?