Movie Clip Monday!

When one writes for a living, one often comes up against the dreaded writer's block. And while it's hard to see the positive side of the coin with this problem, I take comfort in the fact that my mental state is capable of handling it.

It could be worse, couldn't it? I could be Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining.

I will say this: I've caught up on my e-mails and my html knowledge is getting better by the hour.

How do you want your eggs?

I started waiting tables again, but it's nothing like my old serving job. It's night and day, literally. I used to work from 5pm to 2am and now I work from 8am to 4pm. The new arrangement works out much better for me. There are other things I like about this job in comparison to my other one as well.

• It's not corporate, so there aren't all these ridiculous rules about behavior we have to abide by. Don't get me wrong, I believe that basic hygiene should be honored, but I don't think I should have to answer the phone with a very specific greeting.
• I like that I can walk around with the phone on my ear while I'm ringing in tables orders and refilling coffee. I'm not on a personal call of course, but I don't have to stop doing whatever it is I'm doing just because the restaurant received a call.
• No bar service! We have wine and beer, but it's a breakfast joint so we don't see a lot of it. Naturally I doubt I will ever have to cut someone off there. At my old job I cut off eight people after the Basilica Block Party one year. Fucking Catholics...
• I am done at 4pm at the latest. I may have mentioned this before, but man it's nice to see daylight after a closing shift.
• It's only 50 feet from the farthest point in the restaurant to the expo line. I used to walk miles a night in the gargantuan restaurant before.
• People seem to be much happier about going out for breakfast than they do for dinner. Maybe it's the lowered expectations or maybe less has happened in their day to make them pissy.
• Nobody checks out your sidework. People actually trust you to do your work there. How sweet is that?

Of course I could probably come up with a list of things I don't like about the place too, but what fun would that be?

Einstein was an optimist

Yesterday was my last day at F&C. At every job I've ever had, I've harbored these fantasies about telling people off, whether it be the customers or coworkers. Lately I'd been thinking it would along the lines of Half Baked: "Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! You're cool. And fuck you, I'm out!" But something kept me from doing it.

The first law of thermodynamics is that energy can't be created or destroyed. It just changes forms. I learned that in physics in high school. While most of our study dealt with energy of moving objects and such, I believe that this rule applies to the way we send out our energy as well.

Last summer a woman driving in Uptown almost ran my friend and I over in the crosswalk. And then she had the nerve to roll down her window and yell at us. I was furious. So when these guys cat called the two of us, I gave them the finger instead of just taking it as a compliment and letting it go. Looking back, I can almost see the negative energy flowing like a sick river through these interactions.

This is exactly why I decided not to tell my boss how I really felt about her and why I let go of my fantasy of telling a certain coworker where she could shove her attitude. Because energy is never created or destroyed, I prefer to send as much optimistic light as I can out there. In my experience it is much more difficult to change negative energy to positive, so I figure the less of it that's out there, the better. I feel like it's my little part of eliminating the pollution--like photosynthesis!

Ho! Ho! Hope your mortgage payments are current!

Those who know me know I'm not the biggest fan of the holidays, mostly because I can't stand the commercialization and pressure to spend with no thought to where we're actually going to come up with the money.

So instead of gifts this year, I spent my time feeding homeless and displaced families a holiday meal. This is the sixth year Rock Bottom (my former employer) has put on this event. Families sit down to a nice meal with linen tablecloths, kids get to hang out with Santa, and everyone gets shoes, jackets and toiletries. They also have a professional photo taken together.

Here is a link to some footage from that day:

http://gannett.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/gannett-kare-3323-pub01-live/current/launch.html?maven_playerId=articleplayer&maven_referralPlaylistId=playlist&maven_referralObject=976387878

It's a nice time. I did it for Easter this year as well. I encourage everyone to do something like this around the holidays. It's the best kind of gift.

The next day I had to return to work. While our corporate office got the day after Christmas off, we had to come in. We had some of our busiest days on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas. What do I do for a living? I process mortgage foreclosures in Hennepin County. I suddenly understand the phrase There is no rest for the wicked.

I've always maintained that corporate responsibility is an oxymoron, but the juxtaposition between these two days was enough to show me that there is a lesser evil in the corporate world. And while I don't doubt that my employer has some charitable organization set up, I'm all about immediate gratification! I mean, c'mon! I'm an American, and it's Christmas after all!

I struggle with where to put the apostrophe in "two weeks’ notice"

July 4, 2008 - Friday

I supposed the requisite "Happy Independence Day" is in order. But also let's celebrate my independence from the Rock Bottom.

That's right. After more than six years, finally, it's time to leave. The reason, I have been telling people, is that I'm going back to school in January so I want to have a little time to have a life before that.

But do I need a reason? How about I don't wanna work so much? Maybe having a few days off a week kicks so much ass I can't do it justice with words...and I fancy myself a writer.

I was talking to a friend from Rock Bottom today and I told her the money wasn't really making or breaking me so I didn't want it anymore. And she said something like so many people are in the rat race to make more money just to make more money. And that's about it. Quality of life suffers and it's just bad news.

Now don't get me wrong. I love having money to spend the way I want and I enjoy being comfortable. But who has time to spend it when you're working all the time? And I know damn well that working two jobs isn't comfortable. You can get used to it but it's never what you want.
I used to think I loved to be busy and I do still thrive in a stressful environment, but I know now that in this case, absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder.

A duh moment.

In the last week I have kind of been wondering what it is I do all day. I mean, yes I deal with lawyers and paralegals and provide customer service and make affidavits of publication and do data work. But is this really what I'm doing all day?

And then I decided to quit one job, go back to school, realize life and control the only thing I can: myself and my choices. Within these few weeks I have been shown that doing what I really think is good for me will actually benefit me. Imagine that!

The opportunities that I've been presented with at work, at home and with friends may have always been there, but this abstract thought has finally made a point to me.

I take care of myself and suddenly I feel so much more at peace. God bless it!