I've been busy...

What can I say? The life-draining work I was doing at the attorney agency didn't leave me with much zeal for using the computer when I got home. I quit that job a couple of weeks ago, though. The lousy temp agency didn't call me for other jobs until yesterday so in the meantime I found a new agency. My first assignment with them was really short, but at a really nice place.

I was placed (shredding papers mainly) at a Japanese bank. Everyone was extremely nice and made a point to find out my name and come tell me many times to take lots of breaks, not to work too hard. One woman came in an whispered to me that she was giving me a key (all the doors--bathroom, main door, breakroom--had a key entry) and that I should "manage myself" and go outside for fresh air a lot. Isn't that sweet. To start the first day off, one young asian girl massaged the asian girl next to her for like twenty minutes. Weird, right?

We still don't have heat in the bedroom end of the apartment and we still need waders to try to talk our lawyer landlord about au problem such as lack of heat when the high temperature during the day is 45 degrees!!!

I promise more later.

updates soon?

So far I've not been very good about keeping up with this. I will blame my life-sucking temp job. This Wednesday is my last day at it (I told them to shove it, or something like that) so then I will have no excuses. When I catch up on this I need to do pictures and tell the story of me almost beating-up a beggar on the subway (note the word "almost"--don't get your hopes too high).

New York has claimed two more in my life: my very youthful car battery and my trusty umbrella. What's next, NY? What's next...

What was that?

Our landlord is a lawyer, which many landlords in NY seem to be. This means he talks in circles and is pretty good at avoiding answering your questions. There was some frustration and an expression of that frustration from the boy to the landlord. We think, it's all over and okay. WRONG. The next night he shows up drunk.

Our landlord came over and went through all of the drunk emotions with me! He was laughing, he was serious, he was a little sad, and he was really angry (I was a little scared). I think he might have been so drunk that he didn't remember it. I know I'm not going to be the one to mention it.

Still temping

I've shocked even myself and continued to show up at this horribly boring temp job. I can't even use a computer at work. I just sit at a tiny desk and look through poorly organized files.

Besides the fact that putting your smug mug on your resume is a bad idea, I've learned that lawyers are a cockly lot. Sure they do work for good causes, but there are some huge egos in this field. Under the "interesting/hobbies" section of his resume one guy put the following:

Wrote five screen plays. Sold none. Was told, "Dumb it down". Answered, "How?"

Can you believe someone put that on his resume?? And then there's the money. I know lawyers expect to get paid well, but if you're not really working and going through a staffing agency what do you expect? Who are you to say you won't work for less than $120/hour for a month? In my book, that will certainly pay the bills better than sitting at home watching "My Fair Brady".

In other news, the cats are all long gone to the ASPCA. They took the mom with the remaining four kittens. As much as I don't like litter boxes and itchy, burning eyes, I miss the kittens. We may end up with a dog sooner rather than later :)

The irony

I got my first temp assignment this week. For one month (if I can endure it that long) I am temping at another temp agency. Let me say one thing, don't put a picture of yourself on your resume. That's what I've learned so far.

Is it too late to cancel that order?

After a long day of roaming around the city, we were heading for a train. I was starving so I thought I'd grab some kabob chicken from one of those stands on every corner. I stop and ask the guy for 1 chicken. He looks at me and says "Chicken or beef?". Again I say 1 chicken, please. Him sounding a little agitated, "Chicken or beef?". 1 chicken. I was not being quiet and Craig he didn't understand the man's confusion.

From this point it got weirder. He was really slow putting the chunk of bread on the stick and getting it for me and kept asking me questions in this really accusatory way. "Are you Pakistani?" No, I say and try to conintue my conversation with Craig. Again he asks, "You are not Pakistani?" No I say. What's with this guy? Then he asks me "You KGB?". At this point we are kind of freaked out and he looks like he's ready to beat me with that chicken. "Nope, I'm not." I say. "You are not with the KGB?". What is with this guy. Finally he's handed me the chicken and is taking my money. "You are Jewish?" "No". At this point we practically run down the subway stairs halfway expecting this nutjob to chase us. Seriously this guy was crazy. And to top it all off, my chicken was not even done and I didn't realize this until we got down in the station. Maybe that's just how he gets his kicks or maybe he's a really bad spy. No more street vendors for me for a while.

Kurt Vonnegut

One of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut, was on the Daily Show this week. He's just as sharp as ever. A good quote from him last night, "I think our planet's immune system is trying to get rid of us and should." I think he is completely right. A hurricane is just like a good fever.

If you have not read any Vonnegut, I suggest Galapagos or Slaughterhouse 5 as good starters. I also suggest going to the Daily Show website and watching the interview. I was never one to reread a book, but I have read several of his books multiple times.

NY strikes again.

After the trip to the shelter, all the kittens seemed a bit quiet and slow. Probably from the vaccinations and blood taken, etc. By that night, though, most were back in full swing with the previously sick kitten gaining weight and spunky as ever. The runt never got her full pep back and yesterday she kept throwing up. Wouldn't eat. I couldn't sleep worrying about her and as soon as I opened the bedroom door I could smell death. Poor tiny twin died. No idea what did it--illness, shots, genetic defect just waiting to strike? It is weird that a kitten from a seemingly very healthy (esp. for strays) litter would just die. Now fat twin is looking a little ill, so I'm on kitty watch (and waiting to hear from the shelter). She at least is nursing, which is a good sign.

I just went outside for a walk to get a break and about 3 minutes out, it started to poor. I think NY was trying to drown me. You'll have to try harder than that New York!


Apparently my home town also kills. 5 murders just in the last 9 days. They are on a roll. 2005 is already past the total for 2004 and there are still several months to go.

Maybe it's me...

I get 20 miles to the cat!

Two things.

1. I was at the ASPCA over three hours to get the kittens evaluated. Luckily they did fine on the behavior portion and appear in good health. As long as their bloodwork does not revel any horrible diseases the kittens go back next week to go up for adoption. While waiting, I had to sit in a tiny room with a crazy cat lady talking about how other people are crazy cat people, but not her. When I'm president, I'm pushing for my spay/neuter program for humans. Who's with me?

2. I read on cnn.com that some guy in Germany (Koch) has been using a fuel mix that included dead cats. He calls it an organic diesel fuel -- a homemade blend of garbage, run-over cats and other ingredient."I drive my normal diesel-powered car with this mixture," Koch said. "I have gone 170,000 km (106,000 miles) without a problem." This does not seem like a good solution to the fuel problems. There certainly aren't enough readily available dead cats to mass produce this stuff and I don't think many people will back cat ranches for the purpose of killing the kitties.

UPDATE: While the guy now claims there are no cats in his fuel, I still find this idea amusing.

Alive and evil

Warning: unless you are really bored or really love cats (something I still do not do) this is not an entertaining entry.

The sick kitten still doesn't seem to be eating much kitty food (but perhaps is nursing enough). Be it mother's milk or the plaster under the sink they all seem to be so fond of, she's back to her perky self. However, several of them are vomiting regularly and their digestive tracts are producing strange outputs. Off to the shelter for health evaluations tomorrow, though. Fingers crossed that the ASPCA will take them.

Despite all these symptoms that should make them lethargic and pitiful from dehydration, they can still find the energy to dig those claws into me at every chance. At least one kitten in particular--we call her trouble kitty or fat twin. As I inspected one kitty she ran and leapt onto my back last night, really digging in, and then proceeded to crawl up to my shoulders. She's always doing that sort of thing to me.

What's that noise?

It's our doorbell. It's fixed. Now we don't have to wait on our stoop when we are expecting someone. Funny part about getting it fixed. The electrician came a couple of hours early but he couldn't ring to let us know he was here, so he fixed it and then buzzed us. Brilliant.

In other news, NY may be killing again. One of the kittens seems to be pretty sick! She's usually the spunkiest/quickest one but now she's got the runs and no appetite for over a day! I was going to buy her some pediasure (or whatever it is for babies) to rehydrate her but I was too cheap to pay $12 for it. If she's still sick tomorrow I'll have to find something for her. More to come on white-face kitty's condition. All other kitties seem too healthy. That means troublesome and destructive.

New York kills

First, New York killed one of my beloved plants. I have never seen this plant anywhere else (botanical gardens, etc). It has thrived for years, and as a slow grower was finally filling out to be a lovely plant. Two weeks in NY and it just died.

Now our dear Miss Tang has suddenly passed away. She has never been as robust as Stanley-Bob, but yesterday she seemed her normal self. She was shedding. I was going to feed her today, but when I uncovered the tank.. Well, it was horrifying. She was lying there on her back, pale and lifeless. It looked as though portly S-B had taken a chunk from her poor dead tail. Her body looked as if she had hemorraged. Poor Miss Tang. Her life was short, but hopefully good. S-B is certainly heartbroken. He adored his woman. They made it through stalking, then seemingly good times, and some spells of domestic abuse. Was Stanley-Bob really to blame, though. Miss Tang bore him no children.

Both funerals were short, and the burial containers were white plastic. What or who will be next, New York? Am I next?

What I am qualified to do for society.

Finally, I heard back from one of the many "job" postings I have responded to. I am qualified to do a drug study!! They get to see how a drug (or placebo) affects my short term memory. The drugs are FDA approved sedatives, in case you were wondering so nothing wacky. Me, I get $200 and a free health exam. What more could you ask for. At this point I think it's between that and applying to be an escort. I'm open to suggestions or opinions.

Tom Cruise, I've escaped your clutches of evil!

Short version, we ended up in a Scientology center last Sunday. Slightly longer version, some Russian kid was handing out sheets of paper (just like everyone in NY) and he looked so sad that I took one off him. Free ticket to see a Dianetics video, so we let him lead us there. Just the fact that he seemed so incredibly excited about our acceptance of his offer added to him having to lead us all the way there, was pretty creepy. He probably got to have dinner that night because of us. Well made video, but nothing too out there. They have to ease you into it. I was strong and practically ran out of there as they tried to question me about the video and sell me books. The whole time I felt like they were going to suddenly surround me and tie me up until I joined their religion. Much eerier than watching the Mormon video on Salt Lake.

Broken Doorbell

Our buzzer is broken. This creates problems such as visitors being on our front stoop and us having no clue they are there. It also means we don't get our deliveries. We recently missed a much anticipated delivery from out west and that meant I had to go to the post office to pick it up. The package was not addressed to me but I thought I had the appropriate signatures, etc. on my little form to pick it up. I walked all the way there, mostly ignoring all the racial harassment I oft endure around here, only to be told I did not have all the identification, etc. that I needed to get the package! Before I got irate I noticed one of the postal guys smiling so I smiled back and the shameless flirting ensued. He asked where the recipient of the package was and I told him "at work". He said he's never leave the house if he lived with me! I hope he didn't memorize the address. Needless to say I got the package.

One surprise in the package was Jalepeno Salt seasoning. It's fiery and delicious--I suggest it to fans of spicy foods.

Good websites to keep you "busy" at work.

http://www.angusoblong.net

Angus Oblong writes and illustrates excellent short stories and the website is quite entertaining as well. I've purchased several of the unpublished shorts, and all arrived signed--they make excellent gifts for anyone who enjoys dark humor. The website is a great way to waste some time at work!

http://movielens.umn.edu/

If you watch too many movies like I do, this site is a must. You rate movies you've seen and after you rate 15 or so it will start predicting how you will rate other movies. The more you rate the more accurate it tends to be. Be warned or two things, though. 1. It is very hard to stop once you start--you just want to keep going through the lists rating movies. 2. It may be upsetting to realize how many movies you've seen in your life (and that's just those you remember and that movielens has). So far I've rated 1002.

http://www.venganza.org/

There's not much to explain. Just read the whole letter and decide for yourself. The "store" items are a close second as good gifts, to Angus Oblong items. I think the focus of this letter is now mentioned in Wikipedia and www.boingboing.net has some interesting info on it in the August files.

How to Honor Veterans...In color!

So I think I have to explain these pictures and how they are related. Yes, you can already tell I'm going to ramble a bit but you should be used to that by now. The gigantic arch is a Civil War Memorial at the end of the big Brooklyn park. This enormous hunk of cement with its eerily lifelike figures atop sits right smack in the middle of a horribly confusing intersection. I have driven though it many times (with much trepidation) and walked in/around it many many times and still I do not know exactly how many streets are at this intersection. It's a free-for-all, every man for himself (in cars that is). Anyway this big war monument happens to be hollow, with many rickety, spiraling staircases leading to little pieces of floor on the way up to the top. What would you expect to see stored in such a place (if you didn't have the strange pictures to help you out)? Old Civil War documents, memorabilia? Nope. Maybe equipment for the farmers market that sets up in the park? Uh-uh, guess again. It's puppets. There are tons of large and colorful puppets hanging from the stairs and arranged in little scenes as you make you way to the top floor "stage". Here an assortment of chairs (old rockers, lawn chairs, etc.) face a make-shift stage where marionettes actually come to put on shows. Oh, and it's not just a puppet museum, but a puppet library. You can check them out, no fee, and use them in your puppet show! Isn't that strange? Personally, I want the arch to by my apartment--there's parking below and great skylights in the top, and who can beat the proximity to the park.

Kittens

Here are a few pictures of the kittens we are stuck with right now. The neighborhood stray had them in our backyard then slipped them into the apartment one day and I caved and let them stay. The gray pile is when they were under a porch and a couple of days old. I'm sure I'll post some more later since the kittens are my main entertainment at times.

I'll take the White Stag label, please

Shopping is different here. First of all, every single store sells the exact same thing. That thing being the current trend.

One day I got into a fight with an eastern European woman in the check-out line of a Levi's store. That was weird.

Another day I had to resort to just trying clothes on in the corner (fitting room line was far too long) and taking digital pictures to see how they looked on me.

Chinatown caters to American desires--brand names mainly. I searched all over for the right city purse. Finally I found exactly what I wanted, we settled on a price, since no price is set in stone there. It was a nice plain, green purse. Then the lady asked me which label I wanted. What? She had labels like "prada" and she would sew on whichever you chose. No label for me thanks. I noticed the lady who runs the laundry around the corner with the same purse as me, only hers has one of the labels on it.

Pictures

I really like to take pictures so there will be a lot on this blog. I'm not a master on the digital camera and mine is pretty basic so don't go expecting great things. It's a point and shoot.

The Sublet

We spent our first month in New York in a sublet. It was in Brooklyn, which is just a quick trip over some water from "the city". It was in the Park Slope neighborhood which is pricey and we soon found out why this one was under $1000 for the month. It was an "attic loft", meaning some cheap landlord (this one was a hasidic) decided to add an iffy staircase up to the attic and call that an apartment. The ceilings sloped down and we could barely stand in most of it, but at least the guy had low to the ground furniture. He had a stool in the bathtub for a sit-down shower. It really wasn't bad--we were close to a train, the park, good eating, our storage unit.

Here are some pictures taken from our window/skylight. Good views, but glad to be walking upright again. The other picture is of the scary stairs.

New to New York

Born and raised a southerner, "sir"s "ma'am"s and all, I've recently lost my senses and moved to the ultimate Yankee land, New York City.

There are a few things I dearly miss about my past life. I miss being able to wash/dry my clothes at home--I've already had many items fall victim to the unforgiving world of highly communal machines. I miss my dishwasher, but not as much as I thought. Since it's so hard to get groceries I don't cook as much, hence fewer dishes to wash. No big deal. The one necessity of life I am still in withdrawal over is the cheap Mexican food found in the South. The kind where only 2 or 3 people who work there speak enough English to seat you and the salsa is never-ending. I miss my chicken tacos, white cheesedip, and my endless salsa. I will never stop searching for that here, but many others have told me my search is in vain. If I were more of a risk-taker, I would open up that sort of restaurant here and make my fortune by 28.

Now, I expected a lot of things to be different. Everything would cost more. People would not be as friendly. I would NOT have to drive a car! It would be crowded. So after living in Arkansas and North Carolina, what really caught me off-guard about NY? Parking lots! Or the lack thereof. How do you grocery shop without a car? Not easily, I'll tell you that after years of packing the trunk full and driving my delicious loot right up to my door at home. I still have trouble not buying more than I can handle on the journey (by foot or by foot+train) home. Will my love of cooking persist in this new world? Only time will tell.

With this entry is a picture of El Rodeo, in loving memory of my dear southern mexican cuisine.

Why blog?

Too much time right now and so many fabulous stories! No, really. My stories are fabulous. I'm famous for my story telling being...

Anyway, after the recent move to the big city I have much share so hold on to your socks! The times and dates of the first few postings will all be lies.