Free Again.

Today was my last day of work. I didn't completely lose my shit like I did last time. (Although I will admit that I did completely lose my shit when I first found out.) Maybe it's because I didn't go out for long lunches with this team like I did the last, maybe it's because I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. (I think they all knew, but were told by the manager not to acknowledge it, like I requested.)

I'm super bummed, because if I had been hired full time at this place, the benefits would've rocked my world, and I would've learned tons of awesome stuff. (Annnd I would've been safely employed for a good long while.) But at the same time, I feel this guilty freedom, like sleeping through church on Sunday, y'know back when things like that mattered. I guess deep down I'm relieved I'm done. I know that my reading and writing skills went to utter crap because of the work I did. Every sentence I write now feels clunky and overcalculated.

I made my super awesome molasses cookies as a farewell. The woman who waters our plants once a week came back for another one and claimed that they were the best she'd ever had, and she's 60 years old! (She actually said this.) Some guy I barely knew but often forwarded mail to came back for thirds. I allowed myself to enjoy one, even though I'm usually sick of the smell after baking them. They came out perfectly. Soft with a well-defined chewiness, with a sneaky, spicy glow from the pepper and the fresh ginger. I analyzed the flavor the way some people concentrate on wine, and was completely satisfied with it.

Now that I'm not writing all the time for work, hopefully I can craft you guys some quality posts before I descend into the job search (again).

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A Long Article by Steve Martin in the Smithsonian Magazine

I'm not usually a link blogger, but there's something good in here. I can't tell you specifically, as my brain has rotten from too much reading at work, but it's good. Good people anecdotes, good explanations of his process. Catch it before it disappears.

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I am a pack rat.

And I save all those Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons. They come in the mail, and they're hard to miss--giant 20% off written on blue. Because I'm crazy, I had about 20 of them, and finally went to BBB today with my old receipts to get some discounts. I used a coupon for everything I bought, even the 1.99 crap. Guess how much I got back?

$51.00. Hell yes. I'm never going to stop being a pack rat.

Man, two posts in a row about saving money. Sorry about that.

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Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I know I know i know. But I'm not in the mood to blog. Work is good, soon I get to bug my manager about hiring me. He said I can start bugging him beginning in February. I don't hate work yet, either. I know I've worked myself a little too hard on some days, but I bounce back the next day, unlike in Japan where you just don't seem to recover until the weekend starts.

I broke my camera; I need to take it in somewhere to see if it's worth repairing. I broke it on December 31, when it slipped off a chair and bounced *just right* so it won't even turn on.

I've been obsessing over setting up a retirement fund (Roth IRA, for the record) and starting a high-interest savings account with Wamu. Wamu is being a little bitch and won't let me sign up, probably because my mailing address doesn't match my ID. Analyzing my budget is a lot more exciting now that I actually have money and can easily drop by the bank to figure out my options.

We've been cooking and hanging out at home. Drinking lots of tea. I'll send (any of) you some orange spice tea from the Pike Place Market if you're interested.

We had Italian food (Buca di Beppo, for the record) for dinner, because we received $10 gift cards in the mail--advertising--and no one else in the house claimed theirs. So we ordered separately, did a pick up, and got $20 off a $50 meal (we ordered the big portions...). We invited G's brother over, and made a night of it. We watched Paprika, which was a jolly little mind trip. Pretty, and probably my first anime movie that wasn't a Miyazaki film.

My door is molding from the inside out. I'm sure my landlady loves hearing from me.

It's cold, but it doesn't feel as cold as Japan. Neener Neener. Although it's going to hit -4C tomorrow. Laaaame.

I have Monday off! Hooray for Martin Luther King Jr.!

And that is all. I'm trying to spend less time on my computer, but it's not really working.

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How Unfortunate.

I'm still writing my damn cover letter. I'm almost done, but I'm not very satisfied with it. I think the most frustrating part is looking at my polite little paragraphs and recognizing how soulless they are. No personality at all. Even though I know it's safer to be more conservative, especially since I'm already too confident about my chances, I despise it. Sigh. I need to get back to something more creative. Or at least colorful. Maybe I just need to get drunk.

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Snowing in Seattle

Everything stops! Time to stare out the windows for hours. Yay!

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Geoducks!

Can you eat them? I guess you can, there's recipes. But check out this picture. Hmm.

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Liveblogging a Roasting Chicken

This time, I am determined not to undercook it like last time. So far, it looks good. Don't know how much longer it should sit in there, but if it gets too dry, oh well. Smokes the kitchen up pretty bad, but whatever. Pictures someday, I swear.

As I was looking for suggested cooking times on the internet, I happened across this delightful gem:

"There's a BIG BLOODY SPOT ON MY CHICKEN!! IT'S NOT DONE! WHY ISN'T IT DONE??? THE THERMOMETER SAID IT WAS DONE BUT IT'S GOT A BIG BLOODY SPOT. A BIG. BLOODY. SPOT. RIGHT THERE. EEEEEEEWWWWWW!!!"

Here's hoping mine turns out pristine. (30 minutes of resting left)

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Beginning of Week Three

At home, my current food obsessions include chickpeas flavored with parmesan cheese, lemon, olive oil and salt. I just started my third can. It's my after work snack. G doesn't understand how sour cheese with beans could be appealing.

My other obsession is peas or corn with mint. G got me into it. So when he has a bowl of ice cream after dinner, I decide I need more vegetables. With mint.

There's a chicken in the fridge, covered in salt, waiting to be roasted tomorrow. I'm getting better about actually trying recipes, especially once I realized I needed a simple recipe with easy ingredients.

It's getting darker, but I only notice when I get home and feel the urge to get ready for bed. Like right now, it's 8pm, but it feels more like 10 or 11. Makes me go to bed earlier at least. I've been googling, and I think on the shortest day of the year, the sun will rise at 7:55 and set at 4:20. Damn. I think I'll be in SJ for that though, so it won't really matter for me.

Work's going well. Still not doing much of substance, but at least I did something different today. Data entry and some email-based training. I have my own cube now. It's weird having so much private space after working in a Japanese school staffroom.

I'm looking forward to my second Thanksgiving in America, and actually being awake for it. Last year, I think I came back from Japan the day before.

(I miss you nutcases in Japan though, for sure.)

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Internet, you disappoint me.

Did you know that googling "make a sandwich with my ass" returns no results at all? At all! I'm amazed.

[This phrase emerged from a conversation we just had, and I assure you (oh ho!) that you don't want details.]

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Minor thought.

My cubemate is from the East Coast and has never experienced an earthquake. Aww. It's like being on JET all over again! I can't wait until one hits. Well, kind of.

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Day 6

Free breakfast! And that's all that's worth mentioning.

Man, I'm just so tired all the time. I know my body is desperately trying to stay healthy, but going back to an eight hour work day is killing me. It's getting easier, sure, but I pretty much go home and just veg after work. Poor G. He's been putting up with me, and washing dishes and cleaning the bathroom, and I can barely talk.

I'm so going to bed now. At 10pm.

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I am...

1. More disturbed that my sister will turn 25 next year than I am by the fact that I will turn 27. Well, okay, seeing it in print, 27 is a little unsettling.

2. Hoping I can compost my pumpkin, if only because I feel a little sad taking a knife to it and unceremoniously dumping it in the trash.

3. Looking for a big, brassy, obnoxious version of Aquarela do Brasil, because it got stuck in my head after watching Wall-E trailers.

4. In love with Wall-E. I haven't even seen Ratatouille yet, but Wall-E is adorable. I suggest you go watch the trailer.

5. Secretly fiddling with the control panel options on my work computer instead of reading mission statements and blah blah blah, pardon me, my brain is seeping out of my ear.

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Day Five

Whoops, missed a day. Yesterday I felt like ass, so I lounged about. G's brother had tickets to see the Pipettes, so we were out late, and I passed out as soon as we got home. Good times though.

More work impressions: I've noticed I'm not as nervous as I was the last time I was sent on assignment. I think it's because I'm being thoroughly trained, and not just told to answer the phone. Also, I don't have to answer the phone! It's great. We all have our own phones, and we don't get general information calls. Training is going well, i just have to keep track of terminology and where to save things.

One small downer, it's harder to slip away and veg out. My last supervisor didn't seem to mind if I took a lonnng lunch, but paid attention to what time I showed up. This supervisor doesn't care at all about when I come in, but there's always someone around to notice if we're in or not. Eh, mostly I miss having interesting things to see on strolls. Like shops.

Ooh, and I had a small moment of pride this morning. It was stupid cold, with frost on my windshield that I had to scrape off, but I didn't find it unbearably cold. Kind of normal, actually. And how cold was it? 1 degree Celcius! (34F? 33F?) Thank you, Japan, for making me less of a weather weenie.

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Day Three: TMI

The catered lunches from the restaurant that I love so much gives me horrible gas. Oh well, at least that'll deter me from buying lunch. I also figured out that they save the fancy food (like perhaps their fancy health standards) for the real restaurant. Sigh.

More training today, nothing exciting. I realized that I'm glad I'm no longer someone's assistant. Don't have to route phone calls, order lunches, arrange meetings...I was looking at a job posting to see if I was missing out on anything, and I really wasn't.

I did a mail merge today and it made me think of my first office job where I did mail merges all the fricking time. (If you don't know what they are, trust me, it's trivial.) Aw, feeling affection for Microsoft Word functions. I really need to get out more.

It's stupid cold in the mornings, and I know it'll just get worse. My car barely warms up by the time I park, poor thing. I watch the bikers strain uphill on the way home, and I'm glad I don't have to put up with that crap anymore. Hooray for the health nuts, at least I'm warm and will be more protected when some crazy broadsides me.

Oh, whoops. Earthquake near my grandparents' home yesterday. I should email them. I always feel guilty when I find out about these things late.

Ah, and Happy Halloween. We celebrated tonight by making a baked mac n' cheese and lounging around. Three trick-or-treaters stopped by, and luckily I saw them as they were puzzling over the three doorbells. Kind of a letdown, but hey. My first American Halloween in four years!

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Day Two

Today I learned more stuff. Feels pretty good to be working, but it's a lot to process. I wish it weren't so cold outside, otherwise I'd take a walk around the block to break up the monotony. I miss being in the retail core, where I could go shoe browsing at Nordstrom's next door.

I read a list of spelling, punctuation, and capitalization notes written specifically for this business. It made me feel more at home. Sometimes I see a spelling error, and I want to correct it.

I do miss my last office though. Example: team meeting today, I sat in the cube and read the company website for an hour and a half. (It was suggested I do it, but it really is useful.) In the last office, on my second day, I was in the team meeting, even though I was only supposed to be there for two weeks. On the fourth day, I went to a luncheon as part of that office team. Oh well. I can't have it all. At least I'm not endlessly scanning crap or taking notes about leaks and blackouts.

G is currently burning through Harry Potter 6. Cuts into hanging out time, but it's better than Dice Wars. Or one of the six or seven other games he's playing.

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Serendipitous

My cubemate is going to get her wisdom teeth removed in the building I used to work in. I'm going to give her a note to drop off at my old office, to freak them out.

Impressions Day One: Everyone is great, lunch is catered by a restaurant I know and like, commute is surface streets, 20 minutes in the morning, 10 in the evening. I wish I could take the bus, but it's too much of a hassle--a transfer, or a long walk past the freeway on-ramps where the bums hang out. The manager doesn't care about me keeping super strict hours, and temps are usually hired after an interim period. My computer monitor is bigger than my TV at home. My photo ID doesn't look nearly as haggard as the last one I took (in Tokyo, hungover and shell-shocked). I'm excited about what I get to learn tomorrow, even though my brain has barely processed what I learned today. I signed an 11-page non-disclosure agreement, so I've probably said too much already Do Not Do Bad Things On Our Computers agreement, and I wanted to share the news.

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Tonight for dinner...

We had GwynWong's meatloaf. Didn't take pictures, sorry. It was great, and someday we'll have a more complete spice collection that will make the meatloaf even better. Mmm.

Two bits of trivia: G can't remember the last time he had ketchup, and the last time he had meatloaf was with GwynWong. While I can't remember the last time I had meatloaf (probably at home, maybe even high school), I almost felt ashamed that I had been craving something comforting--and dare I say it, trashy--like that. I like ketchup on my eggs, but I never thought that was weird.

Now I'm full and meat coma-ed (2 pounds of meat is a lot!) with not much to say. Oh, except that my family is okay and the friends that evacuated are pretty sure their house is okay.

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24 little hours

Sorry I haven't written. It got to the point where small life observations weren't interesting anymore, and I wanted to wait until something bigger happened. So here I am.

Yesterday I went in for an interview for a temp job. Well, more like a "temp with full intentions to hire but first we're going to cover our asses and make sure you fit here" job. (Actually, the guy who was interviewing me asked what the temp agency told me, because he didn't know. He just told them to put whatever they put last time. Hah.) I'm actually okay with temp-to-hire positions. In fact, I wish more jobs were like that, where you can try it out, see if you like it, and if you don't, you can leave after three months without it really blemishing your work history. Or maybe it does, I don't know.

Anyway.

So I went to the interview, and it was okay. I'm not that interested in the job, other than the fact that it paid more than the last one. (Hey, I'm a temp, I'll take what I can get.) It's got a crappy commute over a floating bridge, which *shuts down* if it gets too windy (which is a legitimate concern), and the traffic just sucks in general. Sucks almost to Angelino standards. For example, yesterday I left at 9:40am, in the rain, and it took me 45 minutes to drive 10 miles. On the way home at 10:30am, it took 17. Almost all of it was freeway driving.

The interview went okay. I know I slipped in a few places, but like I said, not that concerned. They seemed eager to hire someone, so I'd probably get the job. I went home feeling sorry for myself because I felt like I was settling, even though I don't have a clear idea of what I want. Eventually I gave in and decided to stop being lame about it. Maybe it'll be interesting. At least I'll learn something new. Paying rent and saving up until I know what I want is good, right?

Well, as I was getting ready for bed last night, I noticed I had a voice mail. Missed call at 4pm. Whoops. Turns out the voice mail is from a woman who works for the temp agency at a company that I applied for (through the temp agency) *six months ago*. (Companies have in-house temp agency workers? Crazy.)

I called her this morning, an hour ago. She's looking to fill a position, no interview necessary, am I interested? (Hell yes.) Well great. Call the temp agency's main office and work out the details.

Details worked out, I start Monday. It happened so quickly I kept stalling when I was talking to the temp agency, convinced that I had overlooked something, that maybe the job is terrible (doubtful) or there's a high turnover rate (nope, most people are hired after their contract is up).

So in a 24-hour period, I interviewed with one company, and got hired by another. Crazy, huh? I'm still overwhelmed, but mostly I'm just deeply relieved that I'm going back to work. And that I can pay my rent. ::good sigh::

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Volunteering is cool.

Hey D, get this: G and I met this guy while hanging a giant kimono at City Hall. Lived a few years in Japan, did some eikaiwa, did some other teaching job, and has done most of the 88 (temple pilgrimage in Shikoku). And he invited us over for a movie tonight. We watched After Life, which was pretty awesome. Makes me want to watch more movies. Too bad this guy is going to Japan for a month to buy tea or something. (That's his business, selling tea wholesale.)

Oh right, and why should D be interested? He did the Tokushima leg of the 88 in *ONE DAY*. ONE DAY! He never saw the porno shack, and probably didn't stop to take pictures, but he did it in a day, on foot. Wearing geta. (wooden sandals, or until they wore out and he went barefoot.) That's hardcore man.

He'll finish up someday, so if anyone over there is interested in meeting this guy, let me know. He's pretty decent.

ONE DAY! Man.

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