Groove

The stars must be aligned with sun and moon, and the universe’s negative energy is shining upon my head.  Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but the frustrating circumstances that are beyond my control  have been taking it’s toll the past 2 days.

Let me share a little story…

So, yesterday at 11:45 I got an email from a big manager that they are going to be in town at 12:30 and they want to go on sales calls with me, etc.  So, of course, I plan on being nowhere to be found at 12:30…and decide to take my lunch break parked with a good book in some shady spot.

So, I drive my car to a local park, and pull up to the parking lot.  There are no marked stalls in this gravel area, so use your imagination…I drive by a bulldozer at one end, 3 or so empty spaces, car, empty space, car.  I decide that I would park on the opposite side of the last car, and as I drive that way, I see it’s a handicapped stall so I swing around and park in between the two cars, roll down my windows and turn off the car.

I didn’t realize the car to my left had a mom and her teenage daughter in it…and as I’m reading, I notice that they turned UP their stereo.  I wasn’t listening to music, so it was no big deal.  Then the lady starts griping how SOME people have a lot of nerve parking up her F-ING @ss and they should move their car.  Especially since there are 3 F-ing empty spaces at the other end of the lot.  She continues to say how I parked up her f-ing @ss, until her daughter shouted “MOM stop!  Just move your car!”

Since it was obvious how I was inconveniencing her day, she starts up her car and tears out of her spot, spraying gravel the whole way and goes and parks on the other side of the other car.  She then continues to b!tch and moan about how f-ing rude I was for at least another 10 minutes.

Now, I realize that what I did was akin to standing too close to someone in the elevator.  You just don’t do it.  But honestly, I parked close, but not so close that they couldn’t easily get out of their car.  And I’m a pretty non-confrontational person to a complete stranger, that if they asked me to move, I probably would have done it without a thought.

After some time, and several dirty stares they finally left.

So this begs the question: Did I handle it right by just ignoring her?  Because I’m still thinking about it a day later, did she win?

Let’s face it: if I said anything to her, no matter how calm, it would have escalated the situation.  Do I appear weak and scared by not saying anything?  Remember, she has the power of crazy on her side.  For all I know, she could have a weapon in her car.  She looked normal, was dressed in nice work clothes.  She was just nuts.

I was at the park needing a retreat from the crap I’m getting at work, and this is the joy I find.  She’s certainly teaching her child that it’s okay to be crazy to complete strangers.  There’s a lack of politeness in society these days, and many people find it easy to treat someone on the street with contempt.  People just don’t care about those outside of their world anymore, and that has really worn me down.

On an up-note, I’m going to Oregon tomorrow with the love of my life to spend a fun-filled weekend with my good friends Luke & Erica.  We’ll have good food, good drink, and great fun!  AND I realized that I have next Thurs/Fri off, as well…no plans, but maybe a few days is what I need!

So, yet again, I’ve been a bad, bad blogger.  Life has been truckin’ right along, and I’ve been less than inspired to write about it.  Not sure why.

So, they’ve had a bunch of layoffs at work, and today we got notice of a wage freeze for one year.  Apparently they don’t feel it necessary to give the employees that are left (and taking on extra duties) the courtesy of a bare bones cost-of-living wage increase.  I’ll still be getting a wonderful performance review, but no raise that usually accompanies a job well-done.

I was having serious doubts as to how well my performance review was going to turn out.  I suspect I might not have gotten a raise, anyways.  Not for lack of trying, but for lack of results (thank you, lovely real estate market crash).  Because I’ve not had great results, and I have new bosses that aren’t familiar with the great work I have done, they could potentially put me on “performance review,” and worse case scenario fire me.  I’ve been getting my ducks in a row in case any worse case scenario comes about…but I’m trying to not think along those lines.

Carv auditioned (and got a part in a play) most recently, and I have taken on the duties of props designer.  The whole reason I got involved was because I love everyone in the show and thought I would be around them often.  Oh, nay nay!  As it turns out, I get to do all of the work on my own time, which is a little disappointing.  It’s a new challenge, though, and I will know if it’s something I’ll want to do in the future.

I’m also thinking about trading my fancy car in for something a little more manageable.  I have about 2 yrs. left on the loan, but the payments are much more than I can afford these days.

Okay, that was a quick update, and it’s feeling a little negative, so I’m gonna hush up now.  Everything is not all sour grapes – hey – I’m going to a Star Trek fanmovie audition in Seattle on Sunday!  I might be a Klingon. :o)

Hey there!  Again, life has been a whirlwind, and I haven’t had the time, or really the inspiration to write.  I will give you a quite bullet point list, in no particular order, of the happs of Amanda:

• I’m head over heels for Carv.  He’s the bomb diggity.
• We are going to see Rocky Horror Show on Friday, and YES, we are dressing up!  (I’ll try to get photos.  I’ve not dressed up all dominatrix-ey before!)
• My work has laid off almost 20 people, and we have combined forces with a company 45 minutes to my north.  I have all new managers who split their time between both companies…which has essentially meant that they spend all their time up there, and forget about us mostly down here.
• It’s been awfully stressful.
• I had a great 4^th of July.  Summer couldn’t be going better.
• Next Thursday, I’m going with a group of people to the IMAX theater’s midnight showing of the Dark Knight.  Stoked? Why yes, I am.
• I had a job interview today.  I think it looks promising, although the pay is not ideal. 
• In the long run, it might be more beneficial for me, though.  It’s a gamble.
• My Jesus birthday is in a few weeks.
• Been thinking about selling my car.  It’s paid off in 2 years…but I could refinance, or get a newer, less expensive car…that I don’t have to put premium gasoline in.
• I’m doing sucky at eating healthy.  I think it’s the stress.
• Even though I don’t have any extra $$, life is pretty good these days.
• That’s it, I’m out!

Subject: A fairy tale

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl 'Will you marry me?' The girl said 'NO!'

And the girl lived happily ever-after and went shopping, dancing,
camping, drank martinis, always had a clean house, never had to cook, did
whatever the hell she wanted, never argued, didn't get fat, traveled more,
had many lovers, didn't save money, and had all the hot water to herself.
She went to the theatre, never watched sports, never wore friggin' lacy
lingerie that went up her ass, had high self esteem, never cried or yelled,
felt and looked fabulous in sweat pants and was pleasant all the time.
The End

So, I really wanted to do something extra-ordinary for Carv – he’s always been so sweet to me…it was my turn to knock his socks off.

I’ve been planning this for at least a month and it just kept getting bigger and bigger.  With my dad’s help, I was abl to get a limo to pick us up and take us to Seattle where we saw “Teatro Zinzanni,” which is like a cirque, vaudeville-type show, along with a four star, 5 course dinner by Chef Tom Douglas.

We didn’t slack when it came to our outfits, either.  When I told his mom what I was going to do, she got very excited, and promptly ushered him out to buy a tux.  A little extreme, I thought at the time, but I knew he would look good…and he did.  He came completely fitted with top hat, cane, and white gloves.  (I wore a black dress with a red belly dancing scarf tied around my waist, and snappy red shoes!)

He had a special corsage & boutennire made by his sister.  They were absolutely ginormous.  You can see the Christmas tree on Carv’s lapel in the photo.  (We took them off before the actual event. No offense, sis!)

Carv saw the limo outside and goes “Who’s riding in a LIMO?!!!”  Hehe…yes, he was surprised.  And how perfect is that? He hates to drive.  I really don’t like to drive….so we ride in style!

It was a good thing that the wait staff were all in fancy garb, and the men in top hats as well, because most of the crowd was NOT dressed up for the occasion.  (Hey, it’s Seattle.  These people don’t dress up for ANYTHING!)  We were, of course, the best dressed couple there!

My favorite part of the evening was at a certain point in the show they had all the couples share a dance to the song “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.”  The lights were spinning, and it was probably the most magical, movie moment of my life.

The show was good.  There was juggling, a contortionist, a trapeze artist, and a magician.  And in between they served a decent dinner, but the dessert was the highlight! 

This was definitely an unforgettable experience, and if you are in Seattle or San Francisco, you should check out Teatro Zinzanni.  It’s a COOL THING!