When you can't have what you want...

last modified: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 (5:13:29 PM CST)

...it's time to start wanting what you have.

I've always loved that saying. I've spent these past few weeks in careful thought and reflection. My priorities have been jumbled up for quite some time, and only now have I had the time to really hunker down and decide what takes precedence over what.
I see my friends who are continuing their education; their focus and ambition really astound me sometimes. I wish I was more like that, but I lack the motivation. I've been married three years to a great person, but I'd like to get on with our life, like starting a family. In order to do that, I need to finish up my schooling. So summer school it is and then hopefully I can finish up for good in the fall. I've been going to USU for over 7 years now, but I did take a year and a half break. Still, I need to focus and push myself more. I need to study more, I need to contribute to my classes more, I need to speak up and be heard by my professors and classmates. I've always struggled with that. I need to be more assertive, basically.
And then there is my spiritual conditioning that I've sorely neglected. I get so depressed and I know that a big part of why that is is because I've shut the Lord out of my life. Not completely, but enough that there's a need for reparation somewhere. I used to be focused; I had a set routine that has disappeared somewhere. I used to pray, read my scriptures, and looked forward to going to church. My grandma is always telling me: "It's not that you 'have' to go to church, but that you 'get' to go." Ugh. If only she could see how I've turned out! X)
But really, I've lost the focus somewhere and I'm spending too much time in other venues of my life that really don't need all that attention. Like my cel collecting. Jeff and I are trying to save up money for various house projects, yet I see a cel and I just have to get it. I spend his well-earned money for what??? When was the last time he bought something for himself? Again, priorities not like they should be.
So I'm taking a break for now. From anime, from cel collecting, from grazing through all the cel dealer sites 3-4 times a day. I'm done. And once I can get my head back on straight again, I'll come back.
But I won't be gone for good. Anime-Beta and RS will be constantly visited by me. And all you guys, who have been good to me and supportive. This whole experience has been one of the best I've had in my life.
But before I close up for a while, I am expecting two more cels: One of Vash from Trigun and S.P. Icegal from K.O. Beast. Then no more for a while.

When you feel like you've been spread out a little too thin, it's time to take a smaller bite of life. It's time for me to start appreciating all the things I already have.

How To Get Blacklisted!

last modified: Sunday, November 09, 2008 (5:40:30 PM CST)

Another rant brought to you by my place of employment! ;)

I've worked at Taco Time for over two years now and I've heard horror stories about this particular customer who rears her ugly head about once a month. Whether it's to con free food out of us or what, the means behind her actions are unknown. Well, yesterday, I was finally inaugurated into her Hall of Hazing and I will not remain silent!

*sorry let me collect my thoughts*

Last night she comes thru the drive-thru and orders some nachos. "And make sure that there are no tomatoes on it whatsoever," she announces. So I tell the rail worker, who is making the food, to hold the tomatoes. So about a half hour later, the phone rings. I answer it and am immediately accosted by said woman. I won't relate to you the entire conversation, but she basically said that we had put tomatoes on it when I watched the rail worker make it and he certainly did not. She said that there were tomatoes in the sauce that was on the chips. I said that that's the enchilada sauce, which does contain tomato paste. So she yelled at me with a bunch of 'excuse mes' and 'how dare yous' and whatnot. Her daughter, apparently, is allergic to tomatoes. She said that our customer service was horrible and that she was calling the manager. Click. Hangs up on me.
Now, if someone told you 'no tomatoes' on an item, would you also exclude the enchilada sauce and the guacamole? I took her order to mean just the chopped up tomatoes; nothing else. Am I at fault here? Had she mentioned her daughter's condition, I would have said something about the sauce, but...*sigh*

So I have written a letter to my manager and have requested that she be blacklisted from eating there again. This isn't her first offence. She made one of my co-workers cry! And if T.T. keeps screwing up on her orders, like she claims, then why does she keep coming back? It was an honest mistake, even though she didn't order right in the first place. And that's what I tried to explain to her. I dunno, maybe I need a crash course on effective customer service. But from the few words I got in, it wasn't enough to appease her.

Anyone that has worked or is working in customer service, have you requested that someone be blacklisted? Did it work? What was your experience?

Someone's Out To Get Me...

last modified: Saturday, May 24, 2008 (1:26:00 AM CST)

...I swear, this month has not been kind to me. First off (and duotrouble can testify of my misery) my new car, a 2001 Mazda 626 was leaking gas profusly. I thought someone was peeing when I filled up my tank! But no, my precious $3.89 gas was coming out, so I call my dad up and tell him what was going on.
Alright, he says, bring it over and I'll look at it.
Sweet.
So I go and he decides to drop the gas tank to see if there's something wrong with the fuel pump. It took us over 2 hours just to get the stupid thing out from under my car's belly. Lo and behold, someone had tampered with it and did not use the correct screws. Hence, the gasket did not seal properly and that's where the gas was sloshing out. So we fix it. Then my dad tips the gas tank on its side just to check if it sealed properly. It did, but there was gas coming out of a hole! So my dad climbs back under my car and says "I can't f**king believe this (pardon my dad's French). They had CUT an opening under the back seat of my car to get better access to my gas pump!!! OMFG!!!
We just had to laugh and take pics. So maybe Carfax will buy my car because these things didn't show up on their report. But nah, I'll keep Millie, Jr.
Then my cat, Scuzmuffin, decides to go out one night and break her leg! So there's $200 there to fix it...
Then I decide to clean my fridge out and give it a good wipe down. No, I had to tear it apart because the previous homeowners decided not to deep clean. I found gunk like no other! I had to CHISEL crap outta it. X(
But on a bright note I got a raise at work!!!

So that's what's up with me. How are you?

Jessica

A Slight Tremor

last modified: Saturday, September 01, 2007 (11:15:22 PM CST)

Around 2:00 p.m., I was reading a book, when I felt my chair vibrating. I thought maybe Jeff had come home from dove hunting and the vibration was from him opening the front door. I looked over and he wasn't there. I noticed the ceiling fan and the curtains in the front room swaying slightly. It lasted for about 30 seconds, but I didn't move from my chair until 10 minutes later. I was so shaken up from what must have been an earthquake. Sure enough, the local news tonite reported that a 3.7 magnitude earthquake happened about 10 miles from where I live. This was a first for me. Holy heart failure Batman!

I Simply Must Tell You...

last modified: Saturday, June 02, 2007 (12:30:52 AM CST)

...How relieved my husband and I am!!! So in my previous blog, our experiences with renting have been horrendous. And now that someone's bought the house, we've been treated to mass inconveniences once again. But that's not what I am going to rant about. This kind of rant is a more positive, whoop-for-joy one!

We are finally buying a house!

It's really great. It sits on almost an acre of land, so there is loads of room for my goat, Fred. There's fruit trees, flowers, grapevines, and lots of lawn. There's hardwood and tile floors, a garage, a huge family room...but my favorite place has to be the sunroom that sits off the master bedroom. It faces West and it will be so great to see the sun setting while reading a book. It will be my own private corner of the world. There's a woodburning stove (which my husband really likes). It's closer to town and closer to family. It's just perfect!

After a year of billyjack bullcrap from our previous landlords, this is such a breath of fresh air. We are really psyched. Hopefully we'll be in by the end of July. I really love my dad; he's helping us with financing. I owe him so much! Wish us luck!!!

Oh the joys of renting!!! :(

last modified: Sunday, February 25, 2007 (12:05:56 AM CST)

So my husband and I have lived in this duplex for over 8 months. We rent the top, and another couple rents the bottom. It's in a secluded cul-de-sac on the riverside, so it's peaceful and quiet (for the most part). Our landlords have horses and chickens and the neighbors to the south of us have a black lab that barks at all hours of the night.
So we were content - then came the day when our landlord announced that he's selling the house...wait, it gets better.
So, okay, cool. He told the realtor that the next owners can't kick us out until our contract is up - sweet, right?
We've only 3 months left on our contact and we're looking for a new place to live. Our dunderhead of a landlord breached the contract by putting stairs in the duplex, now making it a single house. Now, we knew that he was going to do this, but how he went about it was so asinine it has us seething.
First off, he left the contractors to do it by themselves, after he told us he'd be there to oversee the whole thing. He took off for his grandson's basketball game. He gave THEM the KEY and told them to lock up when they were done. Here is all our personal belongings just ripe for the taking.
Then, we come home to a house filled with sawdust and wood chips. You'd think they'd have sense enough to drape a ratty sheet or plastic over our furniture. The dust can't be good for my piano and printer.
Thirdly, the stairwell isn't secure. All they did was drape a lousy piece of plywood over the opening. Our neighbors wouldn't have a problem coming up into our place, but we know they wouldn't anyway.
But this was the final straw. He's been a knothead before about a myriad of things, but this done it.
There's more to tell, but that's enough for now... *le sigh*

Fast Food Woes

last modified: Thursday, December 07, 2006 (11:22:26 AM CST)

This will be one of the more lengthier of my blogs, so once you start reading, you are in for the long haul...

So, I work in the fast food business. Not the most admirable of jobs, but it's a job nonetheless. It helps to put bread on the table and pay the rent. I was very fortunate to get it, as the manager is a real good friend of mine. I walked in to get a bag of ice and walked out with a job!
So I have been working at Taco Time since mid-July. It's been truly great, but as with all things, there are the perks and pitfalls.

Perks include:
Free lunch, 20% discount on food for my family, making new friends, serving others, building confidence, knowing many depend on me to get my job done, and a better sense of responsibilites.

But today's blog is about the not-so-great things that I've been exposed to since working. I have seen people shirtless which should not be running around shirtless, I have cleaned up after people who staunchy refuse to dump their own trash, I have been stuck making extra food because people change their mind on an order after it's already been made, and then of course...

Stupid people in general.

When working the drive-thru window, I get used to the regulars who have special requests, which is okay. But then there are those that make my co-worker, Terri, scream at the top of her lungs and yell MORON!!! for all the world to hear. They are the ones who go 'uhhh...' for five minutes, while I wait there, falling asleep. We've all agreed at work that we should charge everytime someone says that.
And trust me, I KNOW what foods we have and which ones we don't. I HATE when people insist that we have a 7-layer burrito, when we don't. Then they start a mini-argument about how they just ordered one here the other day. Sorry lady, you must have went to another tex-mex joint because we don't got that here.
Then you gotta love the senior citizens. Either they don't speak up loud enough to hear, or they are speaking somewhere else other than in the intercom, where I can hear them best. So I tell them to pull up to the window. Then they tell me, S L O W L Y... what they want.
Good 'ol diesel trucks - we should just ban them from coming thru the drive up. I have to ask them to turn off the engine, but they tell me 'Well we can hear you just fine.' But I can't hear YOU, dumb!#%!!!
But the best, nay the WORST are the cell phone gabbers! Yesterday I was treated to a lovely conversation, after I already told him to order when he was ready. I peeped out the window and sure enough, he was talking on his plastic master. He told me his order and I read it back to him. He had the audacity to tell ME 'Just a minute okay? I'm talking to someone.' Then he tells me to repeat his order AGAIN.

I'm not paid enough to endure this stupidity.

Then you have the just plain rude people that pull up to the window (on their phone), who just hold their money out the window for me to collect. No hi, no eye contact to recognize the fact that I'm there, and no thank you as they pull away, just a stalwart frown and a grunt. So I will post a sign that reads 'If you are irritable, mean or just plain rude, there will be a $10 fee for putting up with you.' Some come back into the store, saying that I got their order wrong, even when I read it back to them. GET OFF YOUR PHONE AND PAY ATTENTION. IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT IF YOU DON'T CORRECT ME WHEN I GOOF UP.
Okay I'm done. I just wish people would have more courtesy, sense, and decency when it came to matters like this. We fast food workers are people too, and we should be shown some respect. If you don't, we'll spit in your nachos.

(I'm not preaching to anyone who reads this, it's just a rant).

Vini, Vidi...uh yeah...Hi!

last modified: Wednesday, August 30, 2006 (6:54:20 PM CST)

So it's been a looooong while since I've written in my weblog, so I decided to give it another try.
So Jeff and I have been happily married for over two months now. Since then, we've had a wonderful addition to our family - a cute black lab/springer spaniel mix. We named him Crusher and he's to be feared!!! At six weeks old, he's a holy terror...
Celwise, alas, MORE Gokudo (that's all I can afford). I'd really like to get another FY cel of Tasuki, so I've been looking. I started college again and with three English classes at once, there's a lot of reading to be had.
Well, that's all for now. Cheers!

YYH sketches - An Update

last modified: Sunday, March 26, 2006 (11:30:49 AM CST)

I recently added some more sketches of Yusuke. And ljupco, please send me an email, link to your gallery (if you have one), or picture so that I can confirm the match:

juniormintkiss@yahoo.com

Thanks to everyone!

Are your YYH cels missing something?

last modified: Friday, March 24, 2006 (12:25:34 AM CST)

I finally got around to scanning some random YYH sketches that came with my last parcel - if you have a cel that's missing a sketch and see it listed in my gallery, please contact me. I will mail it to you for free.

Thanks!

Yes it's been a while...

last modified: Sunday, March 19, 2006 (12:59:07 AM CST)

...since I've entered anything into my Weblog, but really! nothing has been happening. I went to the Shane Co. with my fiance today to pick out our wedding rings. I decided to solder on a diamond band to my engagement ring and have that be my wedding ring. Jeff picked out this uber cool titanium band. What sucks is that I can't have my ring back until next month, when we can pay off the rest of the amount. Also, my ring needed to have a new head put on and cleaned. So I am missing my ring and feel oh so naked without it... ^;^;
Celwise - I am expecting MORE Gokudo and a fan cel of Shigure from FB - oh baby can't wait! I know I know...I really need to start saving for my wedding, but I can't help myself!

So what's going on in your world???

Picture of Ring Now Posted!

last modified: Saturday, January 07, 2006 (12:21:25 PM CST)

For those that wanted to see it, there's a pic in my Photo Album. Sorry it's blurry, but it was the best that I could do!

Fun on the Ice!

last modified: Saturday, December 24, 2005 (5:22:28 PM CST)

My sisters and I went to SLC to visit my aunt. Her surprise gift to us was ice skating downtown! I had never been, but my sister said that since I know how to rollerblade, ice skating should be a breeze for me. So I put my hockey skates on and wobbled out onto the ice...and I didn't fall down once! My first time ice skating and it was great! I think I will go more often now...
Anyone else stuck cleaning house for New Years? I had the basement and bathroom (gross!) Well, at least it's clean now! Have a great X-mas!

Great News! Click Here.

last modified: Sunday, December 04, 2005 (2:15:57 AM CST)

Great news...!

I just saved a butt load of $$$ by switching to Geico!

Actually...no.

But still great news nonetheless! My boyfriend just proposed to me tonight and I said yes! I am still shaking my head in disbelief and am still hoping that this is just a dream...

Anyway, he said he had the ring since August and finally couldn't stand it anymore, so he coerced me into going on a late nite walk with him and then he simply asked me. Of course, I blubbered and cried thru the whole thing.

Well, I'm glad to get that off my chest. Just thought I'd let you guys know!

JMK in Las Vegas!

last modified: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 (6:39:08 PM CST)

I just returned from Sin City Monday night. My dad bought tickets for the NHRA races, so we all packed up in our trailer and took off. We were there from Thursday to Monday. I was going to gamble, but like a doofus I forgot my ID. Oh well, there's always next year. Anyway, NHRA is awesome. Your ticket is also a pit pass, so you can visit the drivers and crew members as you buy souvenirs. I had to wear earplugs the whole time I was there. You get a massage in your seat as the drag cars race by, Nitro just a burnin. It's a great experience. Outlaw races were wild as well. Anyone ever been???

Supply and Demand...

last modified: Thursday, October 06, 2005 (12:02:49 AM CST)

So guess what I've been doing pretty much all day today (besides cleaning and sealing tile)?

Crocheting.

First off, a lady ordered 24 dish cloths at the same time - which is quite a bit when she already paid and expects her package in the same week. Luckily, I already had made 12, but today I caught up and did the other 12. Then, two separate orders came in today for 10 more. UGH!!! I didn't think people would order so much in one sitting, but the Holidays are approaching and thank goodness a few out there like to get their shopping done early.
Then, I've been getting caught up on my specialty: crochet top dish towels. My grandma, who can make them herself, has decided to buy them from me from now on.

Which is fine...

Except for the fact that I'm trying to sell them elsewhere at the same time!

So I have way too many projects to finish. I can hardly feel my fingers now as I type. The reason for this splurge of thoughts is that I'm too lazy to reach over and write in my journal.

If you need dish cloths - go somewhere else. I'm swamped!!!

;) :) ;) :)

Thank you and have a nice evening.

Tragedy @ Home

last modified: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 (12:20:33 PM CST)

There was a horrible accident on the freeway near where I live. I van full of USU students lost control when a tire blew out and rolled, ejecting everyone from the van. No one was wearing seat belts. 9 out of the 11 are dead. Two of those dead were good friends of mine, Dusty Fuhriman and Justin Huggins. Another one is in critical condition, Robert Petersen.
I can't believe that no one wore their seat belts - are people really that ignorant? I feel naked whenever I forget to put mine on, but I don't go anywhere until everyone in my car is strapped down. It was because of neglect that my mother passed away. Another friend just only two weeks ago, Lonnie Rasmussen, was killed in an auto accident.
Please you guys, WEAR your seat belts! I can't stress it enough. You may get banged up, but who knows...you may still be alive after it's all done.

*R.I.P. Justin, Dusty, Lonnie, and Mom*

Silent Movies

last modified: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 (1:34:49 AM CST)

I just returned from my friend's house, where we watched 'College' with Buster Keaton. Trust me, though they may be silent, they are the most hilarious movies you'll ever see. Pretty much any BK or CC movie is great, but I highly recommend 'The General' with Buster. I think I'll watch that one right shortly...

Another day in the life of...

last modified: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 (12:39:35 AM CST)

A delivery from UPS made my day - a wishlist cel of InuYasha that I've wanted for a long time. JWR is to thank for this. Which brings up a question - any wishlist cels/sketches/etc. come true for you? @:o) <--Elvis! Details would be oh so good!
Non-related RS fluff: I wish my mom were here...*sigh* She passed away eight years ago and was our resident interior decorator. My dad had a gut full of our crappy linoleum and ripped up the kitchen floor. Guess who had to pick out tile??? *raises a hand* Ugh, what a pain. We must have visited every home improvement store along the Wasatch Front trying to find something we liked. He's going fishing in Alaska this weekend, and I'm glad too, because then I get to do some house renovations without him breathing down my neck.

Funnel cakes and Gyros...

last modified: Friday, August 26, 2005 (2:17:37 AM CST)

...was what I found at the county fair today. I went with my boyfriend, who hadn't been to it for over two years. I kept running into people that I didn't want to run into, but I made myself sound as pleasant as possible. As is tradition in my family, I went and had my finger pecked by a temperamental chicken and touched a pig snout. Tomorrow - fair burgers (the best in the world!) Saturday is the rodeo, Sunday is Sunday, and school on Monday (icky poo!) What's on your agenda for this weekend???

Uh...is this thing on???

last modified: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 (12:42:32 AM CST)

Hi everyone who was unfortunate enough to stumble across my gallery...err...how is life? I could sure use some RS buddies to converse with!!!
Well, today I got quite a heavy package in the mail - my rilezu cels! I've been eyeballing SP cels for a while now. I finally procured enough pesos to get them. Totally psyched!
Anyway, tell me who you are and what brings you here...!