Extended Vacation

I guess now that I've been unemployed for a couple weeks I should write something interesting about what I've been doing. I've kind of done some interesting things but the best part is getting up at 10, watching TV for a few hours and snacking on my leftover halloween junk. I swear tomorrow I'm gonna go rollerblading again! Anyway, here's some of the fun stuff I get to do now:

I went to lunch at a fancy place downtown that serves the most delicious homemade ice cream.

I had breakfast at a place downtown that has a line around the block on weekends. I ordered the "bacon waffle." good but bad. Glad I didn't have to wait two hours for it.

I went to New York City, walked around a lot, saw friends and family, saw a movie that won't be out here for a little while, ate some bad NYC food, played the allusive "Beatles Rock Band," rode the JZ line where JayZ got his name kinda, slept in the same building as Chase Crawford, finally stayed out until 4am like young New Yorkers do, got directions from my iPhone for a cab driver who kept falling asleep at the traffic lights, saw the New York stock exchange from the outside, got (accidentally) smacked waiting for a subway train, got sassed waiting in line for a movie, ordered breakfast delivery (does that even exist here?), finally saw Let the Right One In (not scary like I thought it'd be), got pushed into a hidden back room of a purse "store" on Canal St., ordered and ate a "shawafel" (shawarma + falafel) (not as good as a "quesanacharrito") (omg a quesanachurrito would have churro in it somehow and would be so amazing!), and forgot to take pictures.

I went to Costco in the middle of the day - got free samples with no lines!

I went to Ikea in the middle of the day and got meatballs with lingonberry sauce for lunch.

I saw An Education on a Wednesday night. It was pretty good. A little weird. Turns out I like movies with Spiderman villain actors in them, except for that sand guy.

I considered signing up for Jdate. It's way more money than I thought it would be. I thought I could drop $15 and get a bunch of free dinners, but for what it costs and with my picky taste I probably wouldn't break even. I made a profile for fun. I don't like the format.

I worked on powerpoint notes for my students so that one guy will stop complaining. He hasn't.

I finished one book and started two more. It's hard to read when my eyes are so tired from watching too much TV.

I washed the toilet. And my handkerchiefs.

I applied to some craigslist jobs (got an offer to be a personal assistant - no thanks!), and researched some publishing jobs and some linguistics jobs (PhD required).

I went to extraordinary dessert with C, then ate the leftovers for breakfast with B.

Have I mentioned that this has all cost me maybe $100? People have been really generous. Wonder how long that'll last. I shouldn't push it! My future agenda: house/dogsit next week, Thanksgiving at the beach, lunch with former coworkers I can stand, J visit (I hope), trip to Florida, dinner with A at a place I've been wanting to try to a few years, see New Moon for free opening weekend, maybe surfing? maybe.

Fired

I guess this is the kind of thing I'm supposed to blog about. Wednesday morning I got fired. They were mad that I told someone (no secretly) about something they did so they told me they'd been building a file against me and that this was the last straw. I asked for specific examples of previous misconduct and they wouldn't say. I told them I didn't respect them and when they wouldn't shutup explaining in nonsense terms I told them to just stop talking. I regret not saying more about how horrible they are but now that I'm gone I realize it doesn't make a difference. I get to never see them again and they will probably wind up in jail for fraud and such.

At first I was scared of having no money but then I got home and remembered that this is what I've been dreaming of since I started at that place 2 years ago. I applied for unemployment, then I got my rollerblades and went to the beach. When I got home I bought a ticket to NYC for a long weekend, and then I had some drinks with friends that night. The next day I walked to the zoo. Today I had lunch with a friend and then we went shopping (for her, not me). Tomorrow I'm volunteering with the ACLU (with part time job prospect), and then might see a play. I could last until at least January like this. I've been so jealous of people who've lost their jobs this year and now I know it was the correct emotion. I just hope they were all as good savers as I am.

The best thing is that when this semester is over, I have no attachments to San Diego and could go anywhere in the world. The worst part is, I finally have to make a decision about my life.

This job has really ruined me for other jobs. I feel like I'm seriously scarred from it. This is the same feeling I had when I finally got rid of my last roommate: now that that's over, don't make the same mistake again! How can I get another job when I know how awful it can be? It's not even the work that's bad - it's the people and the horribleness and the greed. My mom says I can spend some time at her house. When I told her I just might she asked, "what will you do?" I responded, "you still have cable don't you?" How can I pass up the opportunity to take an extended vacation with no rent? Maybe I'll be reminded why that's a bad idea when I see her in December.

Lazy again

After that cough inducing workout last week I had to take two sick days from work. Therefore, I didn't go back to bootcamp last week and now it's over. Saturday I went for a walk around the park and then trick-or-treating with C and her kids. Doesn't sound like much of a workout but I did end up passing out from exhaustion at 10pm. I had forgotten about daylight savings giving me an extra hour of sleep so I ended up awake far too early the next morning. Sunday I walked downtown to a going away party for some friends I haven't seen in two years. It was at a bar that I'm glad I know about now. Cool place with good specials. The best part about the bar is that the actual bar is a circle that wraps around outside so half the patrons can sit outside at the bar. Anyway, I got there at noon and left at 6 way too drunk for a Sunday afternoon. The walk back home was uphill so I distracted myself by imaging what people's houses looked like from the inside. It got me home. I tried to pass out but was too sick and had to ralph. Then I couldn't lie down because I felt sick so I had to sip gingerale while attempting to read my book club book. Finally feel asleep in a half sitting position. Think it was a good workout weekend? Me too.

Hypochondriac

So I went to bootcamp today even though I would've rather been home watching Buffy because I know I should (and I have no Netflix at home). Today I kept pace with the other girls for hte most part and didn't lie down at all. We focused more on arms tonight than before, which is what I really want and by the last arm thing I couldn't do 2 when they asked for 20. It was those pushups where you're in standard pushup position at the top but instead of pushing down you go onto your elbows one arm at a time and then backup to your hands. They were so easy before. I've sworn to myself that I'll do them tomorrow night when I can't go to bootcamp because of class.

Now I've always been a bit of a hypochondriac due to laziness and a low threshold for pain but this time I'm pretty sure I have asthma. After/during a workout it hurts to breath deep to the point of being impossible. When I try I end up in a it of coughing that makes my head throb. Also, I start to taste blood during the warmup jog. When I got home, I immediately brought my neighbors some baked good that I'd made previously and then hopped in the hot shower to release my lungs. I had to close my shower window because I was coughing so horribly and didn't want to gross them out. When I got out of the shower the doorbell rang. To my surprise it was my neighbor with some freshly made zucchini soup! Omg is it delicious. I'm eating it now. Whether they gave it to me because I give them baked goods or because they heard my awful fits in the shower no longer worries me at the bottom of the bowl.

Boot Camp

So I finally went to the boot camp I signed up for months ago. It's a two week unlimited deal. I went Wednesday and almost died. We started off with a run and then did some weird things up and down a hill and then did some weird pushups and situps and then some more weird things up and down a hill. I lied down for probably half of it in the middle so I wouldn't faint. I thought I'd been preparing with situps and pushups but it was the cardio that really killed me. After I showered, my face was still red for about another half hour. That night and all the next day I was pretty sore. But then on Friday it got worse. I was walking with a limp. My right knee forgot how to work and so every once in a while it wouldn't lock and I'd tip over and have to grab a wall or something. Pretty embarrassing at work. I had to use the handicap stall in the bathroom because I needed the railings to ease my way onto the seat. And they wanted me to go back Saturday morning. They said it would make me feel better! I was scared but hopeful. On Saturday morning they set up an obstacle course up two hills and in between. I stayed at the back with another girl who couldn't do much. We went slow together and got through it. WHen they said to do 30 of something, I did ten. I paused for breath a few times but I didn't have to lie down at all. I was so not dead that I even went rollerblading after. This time I'm stretching more and trying not to sit still too long.

My legs work fine now but my shoulders are a bit sore - maybe from the bear crawls up and down the hills? I'll have to go back Monday and see how it goes. The best part is I've learned new weird situps and pushups that I can do on my own.

Walk to Work Adventure

So tonight I finally did what I've been wanting to do for about a year now: walk to my night job. It's only about one mile from my house but there are a few reasons I've never done it before:

a. it's at night, hence dark and sometimes cold (rarely)

b. it's down a steep hill; therefore, up a steep hill on the way back

c. it requires walking under a highway, past/through a tent city

d. I work in heels 8 hours before going and have tired feet

Tonight was different though; I was almost out of gas. Also, I have office hours before class on Thursdays and needed to create a powerpoint for the lesson, which my new Mac doesn't support and had time to get there early.

The walk there took just under 15 minutes, because of the steep decline. The walk back took about 15 minutes, because of the steep fear. It turns out it's a shorter walk than I thought. I got there in plenty of time to create my powerpoint, which was a hefty one, with lots of fly-in bullet points. I saved it to the desktop with every intention of attaching it to my email before leaving. You know where this story is going. Turns out the walk is pretty short, but just long enough to be too far to go back when I realize I'd forgotten to save the powerpoint that took me 45 minutes to create and that I need for class again next week. The rest of the walk was stressful - should I drive back and get it when I get home? What if the maintenance has turned of the compute already? Should I just make the PP again? Am I too tired to deal with this? No, it was good work and I want to use it again and It's still early.

So when I got back, I took the car, filled it with gas, and drove back to the school. Then I ran up the stairs and saved the powerpoint to my email. aaaaah (that was a sigh of relief, not a scream). Totes worth it.

I didn't really save any gas (it wasn't about gas, though, was it? for 2 miles?) but I did get an extra workout - the walk plus the hurry and running. AND, I woke up early this morning for a 20 minute walk around the park before work. I only did 40 girly pushups and 20 crunches because it was foggy out and a bit humid so I needed to save time for a very fast shower. The clammy look isn't hott these days.

AM Workout

Last night I set my alarm to a half hour earlier than normal with the hopes that I would get up and exersize. My chances were slim - usually when I set my alarm earlier to shower, I end up sleeping in and going to work dirty anyway. But this morning I actually did it! I got up, went for a 20 minute walk around the park, and then did 3 reps of 20 crunches, and then 10 crunches on each side, and 6 reps of 10 girly pushups. I washed my face after but I can't say I'm exactly clean for work.