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Patrick, Melissa, her girlfriend, who's also named Emily, and I all went to see The Simpsons movie on Friday night. It was pretty good--not great--but enjoyable and funny. Saturday night Patrick, Melissa and I went to the Sonic Youth show at McCarren Park Pool. I thought it was a good show, but I think I enjoyed them more last summer when they played with the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs. During the show, this gross guy, whom Patrick dubbed "Freedom Rock", was standing in front of us with his shirt unbuttoned and kept turning around to survey the crowd and also flash his bulbous gorilla chest and stomach at everyone. It was pretty horrifying. Luckily Patrick got a picture on his camera phone. Today we had planned to see a free TV On The Radio show at the same venue, and attempted to do so in the rain. However, we got soaked and felt pretty uncomfortable after only a little bit, so we decided it wasn't worth it. We'll be seeing them at the Virgin Festival next weekend anyway, so it's not a huge deal. I'm both looking forward to and am a bit nervous about this festival. There's a crapload of bands I'm excited to see which is why I'm going, but I've never really been to a music festival this big or for this long and I'm a little worried about it being one huge mob scene...not to mention the temperature is supposed to be in the 90s both days of the festival. I guess mostly I just don't want to be extremely uncomfortable the whole time to the point where I can't even enjoy myself. I guess only time will tell. Freedom Rock (check out those moobs!):
07*28*07 My iPod has been acting up since the beginning of the month; it would just freeze during songs all the time and I'd have to keep resetting it to make it work again. On Wednesday when I was walking home, the same thing happened and I reset it yet again. But this time, instead of restarting, a cartoon iPod frowning (the "Sad iPod") appeared on my screen and gave a tech support web address for Apple below it. I stopped dead in my tracks and stared at it horrified. When I got home, I did everything the website said to do to no avail.
Yesterday I went to the Genius Bar at the Apple store on 5th Avenue and waited for about 40 minutes until an Apple worker walked up to me and asked what the problem was. I told him what had happened and then added the fact that my warranty expired in December. He said I had two options: 1-take it to a tech store that is certified by Apple and maybe they can fix it, 2-buy a new one and get 10% off if I hand over my old iPod. Because I didn't have a warranty, the guys at the genius bar wouldn't even look at it. Prior to that, I had been talking to the guy next to me about the problems he was having with his iPod and they were identical to mine. He had the same generation as mine with more gigs. Apparently it happens to him every few months, he comes to the store, and they hand him a new iPod as long as he makes sure to keep paying the $50 every year to renew his warranty. He said at this point he's probably spent enough on renewing the warranty to buy another iPod. That's such total bullshit. Obviously there is a glitch with the product and Apple has to be aware of it by this point. It's such a total scam. But what choice did I have? I want an MP3 player, and I've really liked the iPod up until now. I'd rather shell out the cash for a new iPod than pay almost just as much to fix the old one. I was just searching for a good deal online for the newest generation of iPods, and was almost set to commit when I thought I'd put the problem I'm having with my iPod in google's virtual hands. I found a forum where a large number of people had complained about the same problem I'm having. Someone posted that they tried everything and in frustration banged it against their carpet when lo and behold it worked again. I thought "what the hell?" and banged it against my kitchen rug. Whaddya know? It works now. Sometimes violence is the answer. I just need it to last until after my trip to Italy and then perhaps I can save for a new one if the problem continues. (this is great)
07*24*07 I just tried to take my whole laptop apart because the touchpad stopped working when I got some droplets of water on it. But after an hour of tinkering with things and in the end doing absolutely nothing, it started working again on its own. Patrick and I both called out of work sick today and spent most of the day inside sleeping and watching a movie. It turned out to be a perfect day to do just that given the stormy weather. Plus working sucks. We also walked around Park Slope for a bit this evening, and I got myself a new dress to wear to the Virgin Festival. I've been in search of something lightweight and comfortable to wear that I also liked and was the right price. This dress embodied everything but that last quality. But that's what credit cards are for, right!? I really need to stop buying new clothes. I blame it on my weight loss. Granted it's not that much, but I've lost a little over 8 pounds now and I just feel like things fit me better...which leads me to buy too many things. White Stripes tomorrow night. No on-call shifts until the last half of next month. Italy in two months and I have all my hotels booked. Yow! 07*22*07 Unfortunately I have to go into work at noon today to take care of tissue distribution for tomorrow. I tried to prevent this by attempting to get it finished Friday and yesterday morning when I got called in on my other shift, but these friggen doctors just keep adding cases on last minute. I hate them sometimes. I was too exhausted from my on-call shift yesterday morning to get up early enough to go to the Siren Festival. The bands I wanted to see went on pretty early, so there was no point in going later on either. I had dinner with Melissa last night at an Indian restaurant in Park Slope. It was pretty good. I thought it was a nice night to walk, so we walked through Prospect Park at to where she lives, then I walked back to my place on the other side of the park by myself. The whole way I kept thinking how stupid I was to be walking in the park at night completely alone. It was pretty scary for a few minutes, but the further I walked towards Park Slope, the more groups of people appeared. When I reached my street exit, I caught the end of a concert in the park. It turned out to be a nice night. 07*18*07 I have two on-call shifts this weekend. I'm pretty sure I've never done that before. Saturday morning from midnight to noon is the first one, and Sunday afternoon from noon to midnight is the other. I don't mind the Sunday one so much, but I'd prefer not to get called in for the first one because I would like to go to the Siren Festival at some point on Saturday without being too exhausted. I plan to put the extra money I'll make this weekend towards my Italy fund. Currently I don't have too much money in there. It doesn't help that I went clothes shopping yesterday. It also doesn't help that 6 out of the 7 nights I'll be in Italy my hotels all want to be paid in cash. Also, I hope I don't get robbed while I'm in Rome. That's my goal for this trip. Well, that and to have fun...and see stuff. The Virgin Festival is only two weeks away. Patrick and I are staying at a nice B&B in downtown Baltimore. We got free tickets to see Daft Punk a few months ago, but we're selling them tomorrow for $250 total, which will mostly cover the cost of our B&B. Considering we didn't pay for the tickets and the face value is $47, I'd say we're making out pretty nice. Before the Virgin Festival and after the Siren Fesitval, I'm also seeing the White Stripes, Sonic Youth and TV On The Radio. Busy next couple of weeks ahead! Today I had a donor at a funeral home; when I got there, I introduced myself to the older man who opened the door, who then went into another room and announced to his associate, "the little girl from the eye bank is here." Little girl? I know I don't look 26, but I also don't think I look like I'm 10. I guess my little school girl outfit, pigtails and giant lollipop didn't help matters. 07*16*07 I had the most fortunate pleasure of meeting Alex's baby daughter, Ava, this weekend. She's adorable and very, very sweet. She watched her mom and me drink lots of alcohol Saturday afternoon in Park Slope. Not so coincidentally, it was the same bar Alex and I drank at last summer where Alex realized something wasn't quite right with her, bought a pregnancy test, and the rest is history. We thought bringing the baby there would complete a mini-circle of life. Alex bought me a slew of drinks as a belated birthday present, and I proceeded to get a lot drunker than I have in a while. When I accidentally knocked over my last drink with my chest, we decided it was time to leave. I fell asleep for about two hours when I got home and awoke when Patrick called. I was so disoriented, I thought the weekend was over. A few minutes later I remembered what had happened and called him back to work out the details of our plans to see Transformers. In hindsight though, I wish I had just slept the rest of the night because that movie was awful. Sunday we went to McCarren Park Pool for one of their free concerts, then ate at a very yummy Mexican place in Williamsburg called Bonita. And that was my weekend. Today was the Monday from hell. Maybe I should start looking for a new job after my trip. I like what I do, I just hate my superiors. Also, some lady accidentally slapped me in the face while gesturing wildly when I was passing her to leave my building for lunch. But as my chiropractor said, the day is over, hopefully tomorrow will be better. Here's a camera phone picture of Ava and me:
07*13*07 Someone called the eye bank the other day and wanted to know whether an eye donor's eyes were taken when they're alive or when they're dead. Here are Patrick and me as Simpsons:
07*09*07 I was just reading that 1/3 of Pennsylvania state workers were temporarily laid off today while the senate and the governor argued over the state's budget. The deal breaker? A new tax on peoples' energy bill which would increase their spending...get ready for it...a total of $5.40 over the course of a year! Aghhh! Not to mention the absurdity of where this money will go: to create a fund to invest in conservation and renewable and alternative energy. The horrors! What an awful idea, and at such an expense! The republican-lead state senate said they didn't want to impose more taxes on the people, and it was too complicated a proposal to consider at this time. If that's not ridiculous, I don't know what is. 07*09*07 Yet another month zipping by. I know it's supposedly the hottest day of the summer so far, but I still don't think it's that bad, and I walked home from work today. When I went to Montreal last summer, I remember we were in the middle of a heat wave that made me want die just walking down the block. That memory is still pretty fresh for me, so this doesn't really compare. Anyway, the 4th of July was pretty good. I did get called in on my shift right at the beginning, and I didn't get home and back to bed until around 7 AM. Of course that meant I slept into the early afternoon. Patrick and I wandered around Carroll Gardens in the evening and watched the fireworks on the Brooklyn Promenade. This weekend wasn't too eventful. I walked around Carroll Gardens and Park Slope a lot Saturday and yesterday. Patrick and I only saw each other briefly Saturday night since he was studying for his final all weekend. On my way home from his place Sunday morning, a man walked by me on the subway platform and told me I have beautiful feet. Patrick thought that was a creepy thing to say when I told him. I dunno, I was really flattered. I had just had a pedicure the day before, plus I think my feet are a sorely overlooked attribute. I like my feet! I don't think there's a lot of people who can say that. I know I can't say that about a lot of other people's feet. It's not like the guy got down and stroked them or anything. I'm getting very excited about my trip. I know I still have a little while to go, but I think I've nailed down my itinerary: Rome (1 day)>Venice (2 days)>Siena (1 day)>Rome (3 days). Once again, had I not bought the plane tickets so hastily, I'd have flown into Venice and out of Rome. Whaddya gonna do? Nothing at work has really changed. I still haven't talked to my boss about things because she was away the rest of last week. Now I just feel like too much time has passed. My supervisor and I aren't talking to each other. If I have a question for him, I send my co-worker to ask. It's actually a nice setup because I don't have to deal with his constant PMS this way. By the way, I can count up to twenty in Italian as of Saturday! 07*03*07 I know the work week practically just started, but already I'm at war with my supervisor. Monday morning I arrived at work a little early to find that none of the corneas for our early surgeries had been sent out yet. So for the next hour I scrambled to get it all out; this included having to get an interview with a medical examiner to clear a set of corneas. However, the medical examiner said it would be better if we didn't use it, so I then had to make three more phone calls to let the appropriate people know they weren't getting their cornea. As I was on hold at some point during a phone call, I meandered onto Slate's homepage with intentions of reading the news as I waited. I never did get a chance to read a word though since I was on hold so briefly. When my supervisor walked in not too soon after the corneas had all been sent out, he asked if we had checked our work e-mail. None of us had, so we then did. He had e-mailed us about a somewhat time-sensitive issue, but no damage had been done in not reading it the second I walked through the door. About ten minutes later he wrote me an e-mail telling me I'm supposed to check my e-mail as soon as I come in, and then copied and pasted my internet log which showed me having been on Slate's website. This really pissed me off because I feel that I am a very hard worker and for the most part it goes largely unnoticed. I've come to accept that my superiors will never compliment me on a job well-done, but it's a whole new ball game when it goes from not being complimented to going out of your way to prove I wasn't working. I guess had he been right and I was just goofing off on the internet, then I could let it go--but that wasn't the case. So I wrote him back and told him basically what I've already explained in the first paragraph, I then added I didn't appreciate having him make it seem like I wasn't doing my job when, in fact, I was. I didn't check my e-mail again until this morning. He had written back that he didn't like my tone and I better watch it or he'd write me up, and if I had a problem I should take it up with my boss. I wrote him back that I would take it up with her. Granted she's usually not much better, but I don't deserve this crap. Basically he was having a bad day because he had fallen off his bicycle on his way to work and wanted to make everyone pay for it. I just don't see why I should have to be a victim of his shifty moods. Not to mention I don't see why a simple note asking me to please check my e-mail as soon as possible wouldn't have sufficed. I think it was highly unprofessional. Anyway, that's what's been on my mind the past few days. The weekend was ok. I saw 1408 with Patrick Saturday night. It had it's moments, but overall it wasn't that great. I'm on-call from midnight until noon tonight, but I don't anticipate that I'll get called in. However, I thought the same thing two Christmases ago. I'm heading to Patrick's shortly because I'm worried my jerky neighbor will throw a party and keep me up all night. By the way, as I was typing this a cockroach crawled onto my keyboard. I placed my laptop onto the floor and stepped away for 2 seconds to get a tissue. When I looked back, the cockroach was gone. Logically I then doused my whole laptop with Raid. Still nothing. Fortunately I saw it run across the floor 5 minutes ago and crushed it. Happy Independence Day!
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