Monday, February 28, 2005

Damn the Man

Okay, this post is going to be nothing more than a rant...pay attention all you poor, unemployed, college graduates - because I think you'll feel this.

TEMPING SUCKS. Why is it that people look at temps like little idiots who must be mistrusted and watched all the time? Why is it that temps must clock in and out at breaks and lunch, or that managers feel the need to sneak up behind them and double check that they're working? Hmmm? Do these "permanent employees" not realize that most temps are more highly educated, experienced, and qualified than themselves, but that we are just living in a time of a TERRIBLE JOB MARKET? This is not 1999, when the economy was great and only the bottom feeders of the corporate world resorted to being temps...this is 2005, and after 5 years of governmental mismanagement, temps are now young college graduates with master's degrees or former highly-skilled, downsized managers who can't get hired on at even a bottom-rung level. Give us a break, you silly, little, insignificant, middle-management supervisor! We are smarter than you, and we have more potential than you, and you have no right to treat us like high school dropouts! Then again, I suppose that in 20 years when we are your superior and you are taking orders from us, you will be glad that you had your shot at us. So revel in it, National American University Technical Certificate Graduate; revel in it while you still can! And in the meantime, as you sit there smuggly making sure I came back from lunch after 60 minutes, not 61 minutes, I will try my damnedest to do as little work as possible without landing on your radar, and I will abuse those Friday afternoons after you leave at 3pm, and I will resort to drinking ever night after work to wash away the insane terribleness of my workplace, and I will feel good about it like I never would if I, too, was a "permanent employee" or if I was just treated with some freaking respect.

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

The Random Ramblings of a Genius

First off, the GREAT news: as of 6pm tonight, my brother (Marine Cpl. Bryan Meyer of New River, NC) is safely home in North Carolina...WHHHHOOOOOPPPPPEEEEEE!!!!!! I went over to Mom's last night for dinner, and we proceeded to watch the homecoming from his first tour of Iraq and cry our eyes out. It got us totally pumped up for this time around! She left this morning for NC to help welcome the unit home and because she can't wait the three weeks until his leave to see him. Mothers.

Second off, the GOOD news: as of last night, my check for the first half of the rent on our vacation house in Oak Island has cleared. We officially have Sea Mist from September 3-10th, 2005. A brief history on Eric and Jen and OKI (our affectionate little nickname): Year one, Eric and I had just begun our run together when he invited me to be his date on a couples vacation to Oak Island, NC. We went with four others, and stayed at Lucia Marino. It was a blast! We had a great time, and at soon as we got home to KC we started planning the next year's trip. For OKI 2, we stayed at Lucia Marino again, and again went down with 2 other couples: one the same, one different. That year it was a good time, too, albeit without the rookie excitement of OKI 1. This time, OKI 3, we're going with completely different people, 10 in all (singles and couples), and we're staying at a different, WAY COOLER house. We're are going to have SO MUCH FUN.

Third and finally, the BAD news: My Jayhawks have lost three in a row. For those of you who have lived in a box since the 1980s and don't understand, this is practically unheard of. They went from 20-1, playing most awesomely after their unnecessary loss to Villanova, to 20-4, playing like puke against teams that aren't nearly as good. WTF guys, come on?! I really, really hope they STOP before we play Oklahoma. We lost our league undefeated status, we lost our first seed, we dropped in ranking all the way down to #7... The losing streak is a fluke, of course, but let's all hope it's OVER!

Friday, February 18, 2005

Goodbye Iraq!

The best thing in the world is happening right now...as we speak, my little brother is LEAVING IRAQ to come home from his second tour in the 1st Marine Expeditiary! Woo hoo! Mom got a call from his C.O.'s wife last night, saying that they had left their former base in Iraq and were headed for Kuwait. They will spend 48 hours in Kuwait, and then by the 23rd will be safely home in North Carolina.

Let me just tell you, a phone call like that REALLY relieves stress. I don't think you realize how much worry, anxiety and tension you carry around all day, every day in the back of your head. It's easy to force yourself not to think about it, or to pretend to yourself that he's not there and not fighting a war, but it's always sitting in the back of your brain weighing on you. I mean, you see signs of it: the uncontrollable fits of tears when you see another soldier has died, the inability to watch war movies or CNN, the occasional nightmares...but you don't really know HOW MUCH it was hurting you until it's over. And then all of the sudden you realize that there has been a fifty pound weight on your shoulders, but it's gone now, and you only know it because you feel so much lighter.

And it's over! So everyone say a prayer thanking God for sending him home safely, and asking him to watch over all the other soldiers in danger.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this day. What an excuse to eat a ton of chocolate!

Last night we rented "Ringu," the Japanese movie upon which "The Ring" was based. In fact, the two movies are almost identical. There were a couple of plot differences, and the American version was much more frightening, but all in all it was the same movie. We watched later in the evening, and after it ended began to get ready for bed. I went into the bedroom and started taking my hair down, which involves the removal of about 25 bobby pins (anyone who knows me will tell you that I have THE wildest, curliest hair in the world, and therefore it takes a LOT to control it, including about 25 bobby pins...I am not exaggerating). After the pins were all out, I flipped my head upside down to make sure I hadn't missed any; when I finished and put my head up, I thought, "That's funny, my hairs covering my face like the chick in the movie." This thought led to, "I'm going to go try to scare Eric..." (who was quite innocently brushing his teeth in the bathroom). I walked up to the door with my hair still over my face and slapped my hand loudly on the doorframe to get his attention...

...holy CRAP I have never seen a grown man jump so far! He TOTALLY freaked out, jumping backwards, throwing his toothbrush into the sink, and yelling, "Aaaaah!" I, of course, started laughing, and all he could say to me was, "Go away right now," through clenched teeth. I walked back into the bedroom and painfully tried to repress the MONSTROUS laughter that was VIOLENTLY trying to escape me. After a few minutes I heard nothing except, "You do realize I am SO going to get you back for this?" from the bathroom. At that point I burst out laughing, as he warned me that I was lucky because he almost punched me (of course that's when he thought I was a ghost, not his girlfriend...now that I think about it, what good would punching a ghost do?).

So now I'm on the lookout...anyone who knows Eric knows that he's an eye-for-an-eye type of guy. He's going to get me, and it's going to be good, and I'm totally scared.

Thursday, February 10, 2005

So I'm a Wanted Criminal Now...

It's true: I am wanted in the state of California. How, you might ask, is this possible when I haven't set foot in California in three years? It's a funny story; you're going to love it. I do. I did NOTHING. Not a thing. Some stupid lawyer in L.A. arbitrarily had a judge put out a warrant for my arrest. And why, you might ask? Well, in order to answer that I have to first say that I work at Sprint, in Corporate Security. Somehow, this dumb lawyer got a hold of my name through, I imagine, some letter or something I had previously sent to his office. Well, when Sprint failed to comply with a subpoena of his in what I'm sure his little, teeny brain considered an appropriate amount of time, he stuck my name for no reason onto a warrant. Let me tell you how mad I am! I have been calling this guy for two days now and his wonderful secretary will not let me through to speak to him. Brilliant.

But on a lighter note: things are melting here in Kansas City and there's almost no snow left on the ground. Eric and I have just begun to make St. Paddy's Day plans, and it got me rememberin' that St. Paddy's is usually a warm day...and that it's in a month. So, with the combination of the thaw outside and the realization that spring weather is a month away, I officially have a case of early Spring Fever. I want to put all of my sweaters, coats, hats and scarves in a storage bin and banish them until November. I keep hoping that I'll step outside after work today and find that weatherunderground is lying and it is not, in fact, 34 degrees, but rather 54. I have noticed more birds lately...and they're the first ones to know! Oh, by the way, stinks to be anyone in New England; I see you're dealing with a hefty snowstorm today. :)


Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Welcome to my blog! As you can tell by the title, I originally started this just so I could post on my boyfriend's blog...but now I think I'm going to start keeping this up. It's fun, after all. Well, my name is Jen, I'm 25 and I'm single (although I do live with my very wonderful boyfriend Eric). I'm a HUMONGOUSLY LARGE Jayhawk Basketball fan; actually, I'm really a generally HUMONGLOUSLY LARGE Jayhawk everything fan! So, wanna guess my alma mater? I'm a Libra (balanced...ha!) and a psych major, so watch out! I'll overanalyze you and everything around you until you want to stab yourself in the eye (ask Eric). I am recently returned from a long foray out into the world: I lived in England and backpacked the Continent (oh yes, when you use that word for that location you MUST capitalize it) for about six months post-graduation. It was, of course, the most awesomest experience ever (yes that was on purpose, I can totally use English good), and I would give my right arm to be able to do it again. Unfortunately, though, as many of you know, the economy is isn't so hot right now, so finding a job hasn't really been possible...and that leads right to not having the savings to go back. So that's me in a nutshell. Admit it, from what you've heard you love me!

Monday, February 07, 2005

First Posting

Sorry if you came across this blog, but my boyfriend's blog doesn't take anonymous postings, so I had to have one too!