Different Perspective

Years ago, when I was still in middle school, I would always be woken up by whatever music Donald was playing as he got ready for school. Most of the time he wasn't even in the room! But that's not what this post is about.

One of the albums that I remember being played the most was The Bends by Radiohead. I didn't really know this for the first month or so because I was too busy trying to sleep as it was playing. So while I did enjoy what singles Radiohead had released until then, I didn't exactly get off on the right foot with this album.

A couple months ago I bought the MP3 album from Amazon.com and only recently have I started listening to it and now I can't get enough. The weird/cool part is that when I first began to listen to it on purpose, I remembered nearly all of the songs on it. Not the lyrics though; Thom Yorke doesn't really like to enunciate all that much, and as I can't stress enough apparently, I wasn't fully awake the first time around.

I really really like this album though. I'm positive that the more I listen to it I'll end up loving it as much as some of my other favorite albums. As an added bonus, some of the songs on there are pretty easy to play and I've already learned a couple of them. What's funny, is I've been listening to it in my car as I drive to school in the morning and yes, while I'm tired.

Play with water and you'll get burned... wait a second

The dish washing machine I use at work is one of those automated kinds that pulls the racks of dishes through to the other side, and out of the dishwasher. Since it's longer, dishes can fall out of the racks and cause all sorts of problems. This is why there is a door/hatch/whatever that slides open in the middle so you can easily get to whatever obstruction there may be.

There is a downside to this hatch however: the dishwasher will still start whether it's closed or not. Well that's not so bad. You have to flip a switch to turn it on so why on earth would you turn it on if the hatch is open?

Because its always closed when you turn it on. Except for tonight.

Forgetting that I opened the hatch to remove a plastic cup a couple minutes prior, I turned the machine on while walking past the open hatch. There's a split second between the machine starting up and near-boiling water shooting out of the high powered jets, so luckily I was mostly out of the way when said near-boiling water erupted from the open hatch. I say mostly because I spun around realizing the hatch was still open and tried to hit the switch to turn it off.

It was already too late and I instinctively threw up my arms to shield my face from the scorching torrent, blasting forth from the machine with little regard for how big of mess it was making. It got my right arm pretty good and, thankfully, not much else. I tried to find something long enough to reach the switch but there was nothing I could think of. Carlos, the cook I was closing with, came to the rescue and climbed over the glass rack to the side with the power switch and turned off the machine.

It sucked because for all intents and purposes, it was going to be a really easy night. Hardly any dishes, and no freaking banquets to worry about. Unfortunately there was now a big mess to clean up (it was only water, but there was a lot of it), and my right arm was killing me. Again, Carlos helped me out and gave me some cooking oil to slather on my arm which helped to lessen the pain.

For the rest of the night I kept double checking to make sure the hatch really was closed this time before I turned the machine on. The more I thought about what happened the more scared I became of what could have happened. What if I wasn't already walking as I turned it on? What if I was crouched over, my head right next to the hatch like I always am when I turn it on? I could have really gotten hurt.

What's weird is right now I can't even see where the burns are because of the lighting at my house. At work they were clear as day but it's probably because of the fluorescent lighting there. I don't need to see them to know they're there but it's weird to have a buzzing/tingling sensation
when there's no sign of why. I just hope it feels better before I go to work tomorrow.

Last thing I need is all the steam and errant water sprays pissing off an already irritated dermis. I had enough of that tonight.

Thiiiis close...

This is about the season premiere of The Office, so if you haven't seen it yet it's probably best if you don't read as there will be spoilers.

Or, y'know, you could go and watch the premiere right now and then there won't be any spoilers for you to worry about.

Alright, so now that that's out of the way:

As I'm sure we all know, the season four finale threw a (few) wrench(es) into the plan of Jim proposing to Pam. She might be moving to New York for three months and Jim didn't get to propose to her when he wanted to. Knowing how NBC likes to keep their shows running as long as possible, I knew that they would take any opportunity to wreck what Jim and Pam finally had.

So the fifth season premiere begins and Pam is indeed going to New York for art school, and Jim, while very supportive, isn't exactly happy that she's going to be 'gone' for three months (I put the " ' "s there because at least he can drive a few hours to go and see her. believe me, it could be worse). But that's not so bad. They love each other and nothing could come between that.

Except for some wise cracking jackass in Pam's art class that's making her laugh and obviously there to screw up what Jim and Pam went through so much for and I swear if this bastard comes between them I will never watch The Office again. I did it with Friends when Joey proposed to Rachel so I'd have no trouble this time.

Late in the episode Jim was talking to Pam on the phone at the office and Dwight kept interrupting. So Jim asked Pam to bring the conversation to IM where he asked her to meet him halfway at a gas station to have lunch with him.

'Well at least he's wanting to spend as much time as possible with her. Wow, it's really raining hard where that gas station is. Why didn't they park and just go ins- holy crap is he really-wow.'

He proposed, and she said yes.

I admit that I got a little misty eyed while I was pumping my fist in the air, happy that I wouldn't need to leave The Office.

Seriously, I was thiiiiiiis close.

Zune Update 3.0!

Okay, so I was pretty excited about the last Zune update mainly because it introduced gap-less play. It's still my favorite feature introduced in that update but 3.0 adds a large variety of awesome new features that make me wonder why they weren't there earlier.

Numero Uno! There's a CLOCK! Yes, yes I know. There are clocks everywhere, all I need do is look around to find one. I've got one on my cell phone, the computer has a clock and there's a nifty little analog one on the wall behind me (y'know, so I won't forget how to tell time that way, which I never will). Anyway, there's a clock on it now. Awesome... provided your on the main screen, but let's not be pickers of nits for the moment :)

第 二! Not only can you connect directly to the Marketplace now(as long as there's an unsecured wireless connection), which honestly doesn't interest me, but if radio stations are set up to display whatever song is currently playing, you can set it so Marketplace puts it in your cart for you to buy later. Like I said, the Marketplace doesn't matter to me. If I'm buying any MP3's they'll be coming from Amazon. What I'd be using this feature for (if more than a couple stations did the cool 'this is what's playing' trick for my Zune) is bookmarking songs I'd download through projectplaylist.com later.

Number THREE! And the most important to me... GAMES!!! There are games on the Zune now! Well, two at the moment. Unfortunately one of them is Texas Hold 'Em and I'm about as likely to play that as I am to... well, play anything I'd rather not. That doesn't matter though, because you also get HEXIC!!! Now I'm not talking a demo, I mean the whole game! You've got your different play modes and you can still listen to music while you play and control what songs are playing and everything! The ONLY downside is how much this can drain the battery. Today, between classes and after over an hour of doing homework, I played Hexic in the common room or whatever it's called at CBC. I'm most happy about this because I was supposed to get a free copy of the game with my 360, but as I bought it used from Hastings, and Hastings completely wipes whatever hard drive comes with a system (for obvious reasons), it was gone.

I've been happy with my Zune since a week or so after I bought it (the songs wouldn't stay on there!) and these updates keep giving me more reasons to love it. Now if only they'd give us a customizable equalizer then I'd be utterly and completely satisfied that I paid over $120 for a little hunk of plastic.

This conversation may or may not have taken place...at any time...ever

"What does this styrofoam cup look like?"
"What?"
"What restaurant you from?"
"What?"
"What ain't no restaurant I ever heard of! They have glasses at What?"
"What?"
"Glasses, table-jockey! Do they have them?!"
"Yes."
"Then you know what I'm talking about."
"Yes."
"Describe what this styrofoam cup looks like!"
"What?"
"Say 'What' again. Say 'What' again! I dare you, I double dare you table-jockey! Say 'What' one more damn time!"
"It's white."
"Go on."
"It's small."
"Does it look like a dish?"
"What?"
"Does. It. Look. Like. A DISH!"
"No!"
"Then why'd you try to wash it like a dish Scott?"
"I didn't!"
"Yes you did. Yes you did Scott! You tried to wash it. But styrofoam cups ain't supposed to be washed, they're supposed to be thrown away."
"Did you read the manual Scott?"
"Yes."
"Well there's this... 'warning' I've got memorized that sort of fits this occasion. E-Z-Kleen Dishwasher Maintenance, page 4, paragraph 2: 'The filters of the dishwasher must be set, against the back side-"
"Dude, Kelly, are you going to let me get back to work or not?"
"...yeah okay, fine."

First Day of School

They taught us to share and be nice to each other. Then we all took a nap and had apple snacks.

Wow. That was over 20 years ago.

Today was much different. It was exciting! You wouldn't normally expect Politics, History and Psychology to get somebody ramped up, let alone myself, but I really can't wait to get into this stuff.

Also, as usual, my expectations were kind of off. I was expecting to get a huge assignment right off the bat, and bigger assignments every day until the end of the quarter. Going by the syllabi I was given, it's just going to be a matter of starting early and staying on top of everything. I can do that! Primarily because it's exciting to me and unlike myself in high school, I'm motivated to get everything done and do it well.

I'm going to bed now to get enough sleep for the long day I've got tomorrow. I'm going to work right after my last class and I'm closing. And with a 190 person banquet to clean up after, I really have no idea how long I'll be there for. Thankfully I have Wednesday off! Not to mention that my classes are only Monday - Thursday. And I've got Friday off!

I've been extremely busy since last Friday but I don't feel worn down (well, I kinda do, I've had a migraine all day and I feel like I'm going to throw up and die), I feel alive.

Again, weird huh?

Injuries of the bored and stupid

Donald recently posted a blog about the time he shot a BB into his hand. Well I have a story of my own that I believe rivals his.

Back in '03 I was working at Quizno's in Kennewick. It was the second job I had (Round Table Pizza being the first) and for the most part I really did like my job. The place only seemed to operate at two speeds though: absolutely slammed or dead as a doornail. I'm sure you could imagine how this would start to wear on a person.

Now, when it was dead there was still some work to do, but the work was normally a one person job. So while one person was busy, the rest of us had to wait around for a customer to come in. Normally that wouldn't be so bad but there was so little space to be bored in. I'm serious, it was really cramped at the Kennewick store (the Pasco one however, was quite roomy).

Okay, we've got a little bit of expository so now we can get on with the real story:

It was during one of those really dead periods when I heard weird noises coming from the back. Kind of a 'schtunk-schiff-schtunk-shiff' with intermittent laughter. All the prep was finished and having tired of the waiting game, I went to the back to see what the noise was. It was one of my friends stabbing an empty cardboard box with a knife.

I told you the constant stop-and-go could wear on a person!

Naturally I asked what the hell he was doing, because when you see something so obvious you absolutely have to ask! He told me he was stabbing empty boxes. At that moment, I think my logic went on vacation knowing it was outmatched by my boredom and stupidity:

"That looks like fun. Be right back."

I went back to the make area (y'know, where we make the subs) and grabbed a long serrated knife. I came back and found my own empty box, not just to stab, but to slash! My friend wisely (HAHAHA) stood aside and watched as I hacked this poor box to pieces. I slashed, I hacked, I sliced, I went to grab the rest of the one-handed handle with my left hand to really cut through the box, when suddenly the knife bounced off of something it hit.

Time slowed to a crawl, and I felt my left hand become both cold and hot as my friend ran back into the make area. I saw something red spurt out of the side of my hand and splatter on the floor. I looked at what had just happened, and with logic back from it's break it all made perfect sense. Now, I didn't scream or cry out in pain. I just looked at the gaping wound in my hand and calmly said:

"Aw shit."

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my hand tightly to slow the bleeding. I took the wheelie chair from the office to sit down on, a piece of bread to munch on and eventually the phone to call home for a ride.

Aside: I know my mom loves me. I know that she would do anything for me. So long as there isn't a TV show on that she likes to watch. Thanks Mom, I love you too :)

I had to wait about 20-25 minutes for my mom to show up to take me to the ER so I could get stitched up. I spent the time telling my co-workers exactly what happened, agreeing with how stupid I was and how pale I'd become. I'd never lost blood like that or had my pressure drop so much so it was an interesting feeling whenever I tried to stand up. I just kept munching away on bread scraps trying not to throw up.

After being dropped off at the ER by dear old mumsy (she did offer to stay, but I declined), I realized that I couldn't just tell them how it happened. Since it happened at work while I was on the clock, Quizno's might get involved. So I told them it happened at home while I was doing dishes. I think I told them that I tried to catch a falling knife or something. Either way they bought it and stitched me up. My first stitches too by the way.

(I find this next part funny, even though it's not relevant to the story) When I was discharged, I was still woozy and a little sick to my stomach. I called home to ask my Mom for a ride. She told me that since the house was only a few blocks away, and the exercise might do me some good, I should walk home. After pressing her further, she told me another of her shows was on and she refused to miss any of it. So I walked home, and, thankfully, without incident.

Stream of consciousness

I have to leave for work in about 8 minutes and while I really want to get a blog posted, I don't really have anything to write about. By the time I actually came up with something I'd be half way to work. However I've found that just writing usually gets the gears into motion and something eventually pops into my head. Well, either that or I ramble on for a few paragraphs and wonder how I was able to write so much when I had nothing to say in the first place...

Well, last night I watched No Country For Old Men on On Demand. I can definitely see why the film won Best Picture at the Oscars. It's a very well done, bleak and unforgiving movie. We all know how the Academy loves movies that are depressing and 'true to life'.

It probably didn't help that I watched the movie in the middle of the night and I didn't have anything to contrast the subject matter with. I couldn't look out at a beautiful day and realize that the world isn't that bad of a place, or talk to somebody and feel good about everything. It also really didn't help that once I went to bed, I'd be waking up and be worried about going to work.

See, every Sunday there's a breakfast buffet that draws quite a lot of people to it. Mostly families and old couples coming in after church or just there because it's something to do on a Sunday. As I've said before though I'm a dishwasher. Since I'm the only full-time dishwasher, I have to work every Sunday to clean up the dishes from this buffet. I've had to work every Sunday since late May/early June. I'm beginning to grow weary of every Sunday having to go in and work my butt off so I can get out of there before the sun starts to set. I go in at 12 by the way, and I leave when everything is finished.

I should really get going, but one more thing. Yesterday while driving to Casa Mia to meet up with Donald, Lisa and the girls, my mom and dad got into a little bit of an argument. I don't know why, but I couldn't help but smile and think of a certain someone that I get into arguments with sometimes too. Usually over some pretty minor things like dome lights or pronunciation. What made me smile is thinking about doing that same arguing some 32 years from now...

Weird huh?

This'll be quick.

I went out and bought this...
This is one
of the many
manga volumes
that I buy.

Believe it or not,
this post is
not about
manga.

I guess you
could consider
yourself lucky
that I'm not
going to go
into detail
about this
particular
series.

I guess...





What this post is really about, is this...


















See that? Well duh, of course the Canadian price is higher and the UK price is lower. But...























Well that's not the same now is it?

Oh but it gets better. Well, not really...















Yeah...

Dear Canada,

We never liked you, and this isn't helping.

Sincerely,
The Economy

The Journal Of An Angry Dishwasher

It's been a while since I've been my old cynical self on here, and what better way to be cynical than to talk about some of the really annoying aspects of my job as a dishwasher?

So, without any further ado, here's some of the annoying crap I have to deal with at work!

Oh, and I'm sorry I ripped off your blog title KaTrina :P

Creative Dish Stacking!

4PM is when I'm just about always scheduled to come in. Since I'm the only dishwasher, whatever has piled up since the restaurant opened (or from any banquets) is always waiting there for me. Normally it's nothing that bad and just doing a bit of organizing helps a lot. But lately I've noticed a disturbing trend. There will be a tall stack of mismatched plates just begging to topple over.

I practically have to dismantle it as if it were a nuclear warhead. Not fun. I don't even understand how this happens. Well, I do understand, but I don't like to think about how lazy and stupid people can be. Just as I don't like giving myself an aneurysm. Creative dish stacking isn't limited to plates though. But to go through all the different configurations I've come across could take all day.

They just keep comin'...

Whenever there's a banquet of moderate size, 50 people or more, there's always a very noticeable increase in dishes. If the banquet takes place while I'm working however, it takes a few hours for the increase to happen! It's usually not until after I've already knocked out most all of the dishes that they bring back some of the dishes. It's a little depressing to have somebody carelessly dumping more dirty dishes when you were so close to being done. But you always need to keep in mind, that it was only SOME of the dishes from the banquet.

No, you're not done yet. Once you finish those they come back with even more! Usually smaller plates and the crusty silverware. After that you've got whatever was left that they didn't bring the first couple times, and eventually the glasses. Now it might just be my old paranoid self rearing it's suspicious head, but ever since I started working at Red Lion I've felt that the banquet staff doesn't like me. I feel like they take forever to bring the dishes back just to spite me. And when they do bring them back, they're obnoxious about it. But like I said, I might just be paranoid.

It's called a glass rack for a reason!

What the hell is so damn hard about putting a glass in it's corresponding rack? The glass racks are at eye level! This problem is mostly with housekeeping, but the front desk has also been known to do this as well. It's even lazier than not putting a plate on it's correct pile and it can be more dangerous as well. If I don't know the glass is there, and I need to do some rearranging there's a good chance it could be knocked off and smash to the floor. Then obviously I have to clean up after somebody else's laziness and stupidity.

I say stupidity because while not as often as a glass being perched precariously on the edge, a glass will be in the wrong rack. Now, the racks are never empty so you can not make the mistake of putting the wrong glass in the wrong rack. So I can choose between lazy and intentionally stupid when it comes to this I guess. Can't we just run a green card check?

I know that was in bad taste but let's face it: either consciously or subconsciously, you laughed and/or agreed with that in some way.

Being a dishwasher...

...and NOT a Hydro Ceramic Technician. Laaame.

Long Live Life

I guess you could say I'm late to the party, but I bought Viva la Vida by Coldplay the other day and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's one of the few albums I have where even after a few listens, I still haven't heard everything it has to offer.

Before this album I was aware of Coldplay and found what singles had been released to be enjoyable. Never enough to buy an album, but enough to keep my radio dial still if one of their songs came on. What changed that for me was their iTunes commercial featuring Viva la Vida.



The first time I saw this commercial I was completely mesmerized by the vibrant colors, lively music and especially the lyrics. Most especially the lyrics:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

The image that is painted here, at least for me, is so realized that I consider this verse as an entirely separate song. Listening to and merely reading the lyrics, I see a man literally sweeping a deserted street just minutes before the lampposts dim as the sun slowly rises behind him. He is there, and at that time, because not only has he lost the rule he had, he lost it so completely that society refuses him a proper place.

This is his place now. His only concern is to keep the streets clean for the benefit of a people that at one time may have revered him, but have ultimately disowned him. Cleaning the streets makes them happy, but not knowing that the streets could be dirty, they pay it no mind and in turn are even further unaware of their former ruler's existence.

Also, I see a woman that was once at his side but for reasons unknown is no longer there. The one and the only bastion he might have had when he arrives home after a night of cleaning what he once owned, is no longer there. He sleeps alone. I also believe the reason this former ruler's seclusion is so total, is because of how total his rule was. "Seas would rise when I gave the word."

How the former ruler begins his story is the most sad. "I used to rule the world," uttered meekly as if hoping that anyone might possibly overhear him and express curiosity in what he has to say. Years of isolation having eroded his sanity, he believes somebody is listening and he launches into bittersweet reminiscence (the rest of the song in this case). Happy that somebody is finally as interested in himself as he is.

The title of the song (and the album obviously :) translates to Long Live Life. With the content of the song as I see it, I find this to be a perfect title for it. The former ruler as he is now, does not have what he used to. He's likely to never have it again. But he did have it. No one can take that from him. Ever. He knows this, and knowing this makes him happy. Which is why he will be there, every night until morning, sweeping the streets he used to own and making his people happy.