It's probably the blackmail photos that poor Brian hasn't stolen back yet. ;)

I only just got the chance to read this now, as I was busy helping to pull a sled, and it took me this long to recover. I've never exercised so much in my entire life...

Silly story as always, and I look forward to what you have planned for Easter, as per your promise in the story. *The tiger grins.*

Heh, but once Brian steals them back, you can bet I'll suddenly be instantly banned from the list. ;)

LOL, It took me about half a month for my back to recover from moving to this new house. I'm just not the young stud I used to be... ;)

Ah geez, why do I keep making more work for myself? ;) Here I was hoping Easter was far enough down the road, that people'd forget! ;)

So, you still down in Texas? ;)

Do the photos necessarily all have to be in one place? ;)

Seriously, retail isn't quite like pulling a sled, but it's almost like that. At least it means extra money earned for stuff like trips to Texas.

My mind is like a steel trap. You're not going to get out of writing that story, Rindi!

Still there, yes. In fact, I just got back to Texas from a side trip to Colorado.

Who's saying they're... all... (Quickly runs off for a few minutes.) ...In one place? (Innocent smile.)

Right now, I'll take pretty much any job... save working for McDonalds... Because my dad suggested that one once. ;)

Gall Dern it! Dagnabbit! Tarnation!

Sounds nice. Is it warm down there still? It's January, and it's like... 60 degrees Fahrenheit over here in Missouri. I thought when I left Florida, things would be differrent!

I'm not. How silly of me to even make such a suggestion. You're obviously too smart for me, Rindi.

I second your anti-recommendation. You do not want to work for any kind of fast food dump, least of all a burger place. I tried that once, and became deathly ill after a few months. The manager was less than sympathetic. "By the way, you're only allowed one day sick, because people have abused the rule in the past. Can you come in tomorrow?", and "You have to work when you're sick, too. That's life" were some of the things he said to me over the phone the day that I was forced to quit. He practically refused to fire me, because then he would've owed me some severance money, and it's probably far too late for me to do something about that through legal channels. Ah well. And now you know why I no longer eat at fast food restaurants. Sorry for rambling. What was the original question? Ah yes: don't work in the fast food industry if you can help it.

*Grins.* What a way with words you have. I can't wait to see what you come up with in a few months.

It's pretty warm in Texas, which sucks: to keep my promise to visit my friend before the year is over, I had to give up the beautiful snow of my home country. My revenge: he wants snow so bad, and Texas isn't getting any. I don't know how my revenge benefits me, but I'm sure I'll come up with something eventually.

Yes, so true. ;)

Ugh, sounds like "fun." Being a waiter is at least a little better than that, though I've spent a couple times fighting a cold, and one time, a bad case of the flu... It kind of left me wondering about the customer's immune system.

Yeah, if you're fired, you can collect unemployment. Heaven forbid!

I'm going to imbue the easter bunny with my colorful dirty words, I'm sure. At least, that's how I would feel having to deal with kids every yeah always looking to get something free from me. That, and questioning my own beliefs of how I would factor in a christian holiday... Poor Easter bunny is probably hitting the sauce even as we speak... ;)

Well it seems your revenge is working... There's supposedly a big snowstorm hitting Kansas City, and we're only about... 20 miles away... yet it is still about 50 degrees.... though earlier tonight was a quick hail storm.

Aw, Hail! What the hail? All Hail was breaking loose, et al. ;)

And sometimes the customers are ill and still want to eat at a restaurant, so they come in and get everyone at the restaurant sick...

And it wasn't like I was a bad worker. Ah well. I have had much better luck with jobs last year, and it looks like the luck will continue this year. I hope you find something decent as well.

Poor Easter Bunny! At least Santa Claus had a way to deal with the bad kids in your story, and it's not far off from the story of Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) over in Europe, who brings sweets and gifts to good children and stuffs the bad children into his bag and takes them to Spain. Not Spain!

Oh, wow. There was supposed to be a major snowstorm hitting here yesterday, but nothing happened. My revenge is working perfectly. And yes, I also shower my poor friend with puns similar to those.

Heh, most of the customers I had to deal with were just senile, and totally lacking in logic. I spent many a hot summer wearing a long sleeved black shirt outside in the sun with 90% humidity serving old nearly-deads boiling hot coffee and soup while they kept wearing a sweater, and had the audacity to ask, "Boy, it sure is hot out today, isn't it?"

Ugh, I can complain for pages about what I had to deal with, but most importantly, it made me promise myself never to end up like THEM.

Really? I didn't know I was actually mimicing some old legend. Wow, I guess it must be a universal ideal. ;) Spain is cool, as far as I hear: Every night, people go out and dance! I can't dance, but that doesn't stop me! ;)

I'll figure out something... Maybe make the easter bunny like Usagi Yojimbo, or some sort of Monty Python reference. ;)

Heh, now it's freezing again-- we had to turn on the heater once more! It's kind of sad, because this "warm spell" ruined our "Freezer". (We were keeping our frozen food outside, because we've yet to get around to purchasing a refridgerator. ;)

I feel very sorry for you, Rindi. That sounds a lot worse than working in the kitchen of any fast food restaurant. I bet you're thankful you don't have to do that any more.

Yep, it's one of my favourite legends, for some strange reason. Spain is, but ever since I first learned about the legend, my sister and I make a joke about it every time Spain is mentioned. "Not Spain!"

You've got a few months to think about it. I'm sure you'll come up with something. :)

We keep some stuff on the steps leading to our basement in the winter, since our house has poor insulation (especially my room!) and our second fridge (an old fridge that we moved to the basement when a new one was purchased by our landlord) died. So I have nothing but sympathy for your absolutely fridge-id situation.

Well, you'd feel a little less for me, when I tell you I'd make about $200 a day working there. ;) I actually kinda miss the place. The customers were from the planet Moron (Nextdoor to krypton), but all the employees and managers were awesome! I used to go out drinking with them after we'd close, and have a good time.

Lol, I'll have to remember that. "Not Spain!"

I do my best thinking the night before something's due. ;)

Well at least one of your fridges is running... so you better go out and catch it! ;)

I bet you still wish you worked there, even though the customers seem to get their powers of stupid from the fact that our sun emits a different radiation than their own, with the occasional exception of those who had been exposed to Moronite, which you'd think from its name would make them even stupider, but I guess that's what its effect on normal people is, which would very easily explain where everyone who ran in the last few US elections (and quite a few Canadian and Australian elections as well) came from. I like awesome co-workers, and while my clients during the summer would sometimes leave something to be desired, most of my co-workers were decent people (with just one exception, plus most of her relatives). My current retail job is pretty decent, and the only downside is that now I know how Felix Ungar feels, having had to work alongside a bunch of Oscar Madisons. Although I know how Oscar feels as well, since it's my main co-worker who combines the neuroticness of Felix with the doesn't-care-about-keeping-things-neat of Oscar. It's not a bad thing, I guess, since it doesn't impact my enjoyability of the job, but it is a little frustrating at times when I get to work and there's ten empty coffee cups right next to the POS machine (and that's 'Point of Sale', although sometimes it acts a lot like the other kind of POS), and nowhere to put anything else except on the coffee cups. I take it in stride, for I only have to live with such for about 1/5 of a week and we sell video games there anyway, and employees get a discount. And the people there are decent anyway, especially most of the customers.

Not long after I joined, one person quit and moved to the other side of the province, another person suddenly collapsed at home due to sudden poor health brought on by stress and overworking, and the third (the one I consider my main co-worker now) is pretty close to collapsing himself. At that point, the boss was practically begging people who had long since left the job but were still in town to come in and cover for those who were gone, just to keep the store running before Christmas. In about a month, I may just have seniority there without even trying for it. I didn't even apply for the job this time: I got offered it when I walked in to buy a router and a video game. I could probably write a very silly story or three based on such events, if I wanted to.

I do my best thinking at night, which sucks because it disrupts my sleep and makes me tired when I'm trying to work. ;)

It's an election year in the US, so I'm going to let the politicians run after the fridge. ;)

Woo, had to google a littl bit there to see what you were talking about!

I actually do wish I was still there. It was good money, and above all, I had great people as my boss! A good boss alone makes it worth working there. If I ever am back in the area, I can actually just show up and work a few days if need be. (They never take your number out of the computer.) A large group of us used to go drinking together, and go to movies once our shifts ended. It was a lot of fun.

Wow, no fair! In Florida, if I applied for a job, people would almost nearly interview you on the spot, but up here in Missouri, it seems people aren't in such desperate need for workers. I had to have filled out 20 to 30 applications by now, and even called back, and STILL no reply. My only guess is I'm "Overqualified" by having a four year degree (and a two year one as well).

I worked a little over two years at Hemingway's (the restaurant I worked at) and I think I was... fourth or fifth on the seniority list out of 20... I moved up pretty fast. ;)

LOL, maybe I can get them to do my laundry while we're at it, too. ;)

No worries: I had to Google a little bit before I posted, to know what I was talking about also.

Having a good boss is the best thing in the world, isn't it? ^^

It was far better than having to apply everywhere and then settle for not only a job I didn't want in the first place, but a position that I didn't even apply for. Certain employers know that they can screw their workers over because you only apply for their jobs when you're desperate. I am enjoying my new job very well, and I think I'll be able to apply for more time off to visit my girlfriend when she graduates from college.

Nice! If I work at Stoke Music for another few months, I just may be first on the seniority list if you don't count the boss and her husband. I think about that and I'm like, o_O?

Well, you never know. They do enough of that themselves, although curiously enough, clothing isn't what they usually launder. ;)

Good bosses are good. ;)

Well here's hoping! I actually had an interview at a nice restaurant, and they're looking to schedule a second interview, too. Working at a posh restaurant in the past really paves off! ;)

Best thing is my one roommate also got good reviews, which is really good for him-- I'm his ride, and it would be so beneficial to work at the same place to save on gas. (Poor fellow never got a driver's liscence, but can draw better than anyone else I know... especially me!) ;)

Ah, girlfriends... I want one of those... Especially now that I might actually have a job! (that's always a plus when asking girls out!) "Hey, wanna go halfsies on some grub?" ;)

Ooh! Music store! I need to get a quote from a music store on refurbishing an old 1932 sax I came to aquire. The thing sounds so nice, but needs new pads, corks, and springs after 76 years. ;)

You're right, they'd probably just have one of their cronies bury the dirty clothes out in the woods, and come back talking about how they never met me in their whole lives. ;)

I really hope you get that job. Should I visit sometime, I'd be able to say to you, "Is there anywhere you recommend I eat at?" and you would say, "Why Ch'tah, of course there is. I know just the place!" ^^

Hey, that would be awesome. You two would see a lot more of each other and get on each others' nerves a lot more. Who could ask for more? ;)

Found no one in college? I expected to see you come back with a girl on each arm! ;)

Unfortunately, it's more of an electronics store than a straight music store. But since Radio Shack removed themselves from Canada, and they were a combined "Stoke Music/Radio Shack" store, they have to say that they're Stoke Music, but they sell more than just music. We don't have anyone skilled enough that I would trust to refurbish a sax, not even me. Besides, the cost to ship it to Canada to get it refurbished might be a bit high. ;)

And then I would have to investigate and burst their conspiracy wide open, or get killed in the process as well. Hmm. Sounds like a lot of trouble if you ask me. ;)

"Yeah, don't go to this one place-- It's terrible! I should know-- I work there. ;) "

Well, he could ask the state of Missouri to give him a driver's liscense, and also ask a local car salesman for a good deal on a moped or something. ;) LOL.

I expected the same! College was ridiculously confusing! All the girls in my computer animation major were a bunch of stuck-up bitches who wouldn't give me the time of day, and practically all the girls in my fine arts major (when I switched majors) were pretty much lesbians. Art school is a terrible place to meet someone, I've discoverred....

On the bright side, I actually got a lot of work done, given I had no one to douse with love, and I could afford lots of ramen noodles.

Heh, Radio Shack sucks anyway. Every one I've ever been in has the most incompetent, and uncaring employees. Every time I walk in, no one appears from the back room to even see who walked into the store. It isn't until you actually bang on the counter, and start yelling for someone, that an employee actually shows up. I've been so tempted to just steal as much as my arms could carry, and just walk out of the store MULTIPLE times, to prove my point.

I've yet to go to a radio shack in Missouri, though, so here's hoping they're a little better up here when I finally get around to building a theremin. ;)

That's all they seem to be good for... ;)

You're evil. ;) (Well, maybe chaotic neutral, my favourite alignment.)

He doesn't have a driver's license either? I mean, other than getting anywhere in a big city, what good are they? ;)

Weird. I guess you needed to get into a different major to find the good chicks. Either that or they secretly had a crush on you and couldn't handle it, so they all said they were lesbians. ...I had somewhere I was going with that, but it ended lamely.

Yay for ramen! ^^

They need someone to work there who cares enough about the public to actually do their job. Although when you get into retail, I guess you've already had that caring side of you taken away already? I guess that's why everyone at work likes me. I make an effort. ;)

Maybe Lawfully evil? Nah, chaotic neutral for the win!!!!

Yeah, my friend used to live in big cities with busses and all, so he never really had a need for it... until now!

Well, a moped works in rural areas too. It was my "poor man's dirtbike" back in the day when I had one. LOL, I somehow kept it running with lawn mower parts and other parts probably not recommended by the factory. You could see where I went by the blue smoke trail. ;)

Good chicks are hard to find indeed. Especially intelligent ones. Nah, one of my roommates was good friends with a few of them-- no crushes, only disdain. I could not be tamed. Well really, I refuse to play the stupid games, and watch all the same TV shows, and listen to all the crappy indy music. I was a totally differrent animal as opposed to the main group of art students. I was actually there to become a better artist, than to continue living in highschool land. Ringling was a pedigree art school, and that mostly attracts preps-- rich, bratty kids that go to college because it's just expected of them. They saw art as a way out without having to work hard for a degree. Now, they aren't ALL like that, but it sure felt like it.

If ramen were a woman... it'd be cheap date! LOL. Man, that stuff has saved my life, and budget more times than I want to admit. ;)

Ha ha! As a waiter, I practice what I call, "The art of not caring." I found out the more I don't care if I upset customers, or get a tip, the better tips I get! I used to get worked up over making everything perfect, when here I was supposed to be seen, and not heard. (Shrugs) I still acted very professional though.

It bothers me how people don't try and act professional, no matter what they do. All my bosses in the past were always amazed I gave a two weeks notice before I quit. My roommates ate at my old restaurant a few times, and were amazed how differrent I acted. Rindi knows the value of a dollar. Live to serve, serve to live! ;) Part of the ship, part of the cre-- oh wait, that's from a movie. ;)

You're both, Rindi. ;)

And I've always been within walking distance of everything, so far. ;)

You sound like you really liked that moped. Whatever happened to it?

I'm just lucky I found one who shares my interests and who doesn't expect me to change into something that I am not. ;)

You know... I've found some pretty decent indy music, but you're right: the majority is crap. It's just like with mainstream music, of course. (There needs to be more Alvin and the Chipmunks albums, really.)

Are you happier to have a degree in art now?

A delightfully cheap date, yet satisfying. ;) And it seems to be an on again, off again relationship as well: there are times when I could eat it practically every day, and other times when I don't eat it at all. That sounds so wrong if you think about it, doesn't it?

That's very interesting. That sounds like something I'd like to see on a graph chart. ^^

I guess in the US and in Canada, people have no respect for work any more? They just think they can quit a job and start a new one right away. *Shrugs.* I've had a weird history of work myself, and haven't really had the luxury of serving two week notices. It would be nice, though...

And that's a line from a movie trilogy I haven't seen yet. :p

Ack! I'm being squished into the right side of the screeeen!

Muwahahahaaa! Ever hear the song "when you're evil" by Voltaire? ;)

Well, we are kind of walking distance to all the important places... except its so darn cold right now. Unfortuneately, the potential jobs are a fifteen minute drive away... not a fifteen minute walk...

I liked how it was turning into a frankenstein vespa. The original owner was not-- yet was still impressed the fact I got it up and running again with what I used. It was an old friend's Vespa he was actually thinking of junking, and truthfully, neither of us really thought it was worth much. So he pretty much let me keep it, and goof around with it for about a year, then his car broke down, and he used it for a while. Then he finally moved away.. taking it with him. It turns out it was a 30 year old vespa, and he finally bought some real parts for it, and sold it to a collecter for a decent enough price. Of course, the real story is he probably made a fortune off of it, and is still living nicely off of his profits, I'm sure. ;)

I am quite proud to have this degree, but a bit bitter at how it was such a struggle to achieve it. For one, I'm the first in our family to even go to college. My sisters are following suit, but my parents never went. In a way, I could have eventually learned everything on my own, but school accellerated that process, taught me some things I never knew existed, and helped me meet some really good friends. It gave me some opportunities I'd never have had, and the school's name carries some clout in the art world, and the corporate world, too. If I ever make it as an artist, I can charge more money for my work because I'm of a "pedigree." ;) Then, I will go bankrut once the art dealers find my FA account, and see all the fuzzy cat boobs I've drawn. ;)

hey! I could draw that graph! I know I could, because I went to art school! ;)

Yeah, a lot of people treat work like community service. A tragedy, really. If everyone strove to do a good job, everything would run so much smoother, and people would just be happier.

Heh, I was laid off once... that was an experience.

I saw the first and last of said trilogy... which didn't help me understand anything at all. I need to see the second to understand the third... Oy, what a confusing mess they made of it. Zombie pirates are one thing... but it seems they went (Pardon the pun) Overboard on the story, and special effects. I can complain because I have an art degree, and 4+ years of it were devoted to computer animation. ;)

I wonder how far right it'll let us go. (But just as long as we don't suddenly start supporting Giuliani, I'm sure we'll be fine.)

No, I haven't. Would it still work if I looked up the lyrics instead? ^^

I feel fortunate that I live in a small city, one that I can spend all of ten minutes (on a slow day) walking to work. As for it being cold: warm clothes help, you silly nudist. ;)

I'm just glad it didn't die and that you didn't have to give it a tearful farewell at the junkyard. But if you could, would you buy a Vespa just so you could add lawnmower parts to it and make it belch blue smoke? Because that would be awesome.

Aww, there's nothing wrong with fuzzy cat boobs. ;)

Well, it really depends on the job, I guess. Too many people are working at jobs they don't like. If they could just find something they do like, and want it enough to pursue it, then they wouldn't be asking us if we want fries with our food.

And so far: I've had to quit, then I was let go from my next job, then I was literally forgotten about from my next job, and the job from last summer was seasonal.

You're not the only one who didn't like the third one. My neurotic co-worker also didn't like the third one, and said that they must've used every seen they filmed for it. The only exposure I've had with it so far was in Kingdom Hearts II.

Aww could have gotten a little deeper in oh oh oh