x20 (whaaaat?!)

Ok. So I was reading an article about the gay couples marrying in Iowa since gay marriage was legalized there. In the comments section for the article, someone asked, “So does this mean that a man can marry his brother for health benefits?” and someone replied with a “yes”.

Whoa, whoa, WHOA.

Nowhere have I read ANY article suggesting that marriage for a close relative newly exists in Iowa. In some states you can get married to your first cousin (25 states have an outright ban, six states have an allowance with restrictions, and the other 19 states allow it). In NO STATE ANYWHERE IN THE US can someone marry their child, grandchild, parent, niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, sibling, half-sibling, great-grandparent, or great-grandchild. Am I completely wrong or is that person on acid?

On a related note, singer Jerry Lee Lewis (popular in the late 50′s) married his thirteen year old cousin when he was 23. I’ve read somewhere that they were first cousins, and I read somewhere else that they were first cousins once removed (meaning she was his first cousin’s daughter). So put that in your pipe and smoke it. But don’t smoke acid in your pipe… you might end up like that other guy I mentioned earlier.

1 comment 30 April 2009

x19 (i like stuff…)

…cos stuff is stuff and if stuff wasn’t stuff then I wouldn’t like stuff. Some kid I used to babysit came up with that.

So, I’m nearing the end of the third week of my new job. It’s pretty decent so far. Today was my first legitimate downer of a day at work. None of the people I had become friendly with were working today, so I was a little lonely. My feet hurt more than usual at the end of the day. I worked a six hour shift (I usually work five) and in other places I’ve worked, six hours means you can get a half an hour lunch break. So I asked if that was the policy here. The manager asked if I wanted one, I said yes, and he said he’d work on it. Nobody had scheduled either a half hour or a ten minute break for me on the schedule, so I didn’t know when I was supposed to take mine. When the first manager told me it was ok for me to take the lunch break, a second manager told me that I had to work for at least six hours and ONE MINUTE in order to get a lunch break. So I thought, whatever, I’ll go take a ten and cram as much food into my mouth as I can. Right after I clocked out (because I was told that 10 minute breaks are not paid and require clocking out), the first manager came back and told me I could take a half an hour and that he had worked it out for me. So when I got back from my break, the other manager told me to be careful around other personnel because I could get in trouble for taking a half hour break during my six hour shift. She explained to me that I wasn’t paid for this break (I knew that, and I didn’t care, because I was really hungry), and that ten minute breaks are paid (this is not what I was told when I was hired). Silly work drama.

Also at work, most of the higher ups really seem to like me. They praise me at meeting and compare me to other employees who have worked for the company longer, and say I even do better than some of the more seasoned employees. So yay! It’s nice to have the compliments, but it also makes me worry that if I screw up it’s really going to stand out… which is a lovely thought. And apparently they’re not good at keeping secrets, because some of the other employees were at the meeting or knew about what was said, so now I’m afraid that they’ll be animosity between me and my coworkers.

But at least I get to have my pink hair and piercings. And when I get tattoos, I can show those as well.

***

I also went bra shopping today. Guys, you are SO LUCKY. Bra shopping is a bitch. Theoretically, if you know your measurements, you should be able to pick a bra of the rack and just bring it home and know it’ll fit. WRONG. Different bra companies give their bra a different fit, so not only are you trying to figure out what your size is according to this manufacturer, you’re also trying to figure out which one of their STYLES fit you best. Because style A that’s made by Bra Company Smith and Sons is going to fit differently than style B made by the same company. Lame. All you guys have to do is go, “Oh, I’m a 30 x 32 jean size and I know that’s my size no matter what brand.” Lucky bastards.

The hard work did pay off, however. I got two bras that fit really, really great and I’m very happy with them. And because the universe hates me, by next month my boobs will have grown or shrank and I’ll have to get new ones. Damn you, universe.

1 comment 17 April 2009

x18 (making progress)

So, usually when I post blogs it is me complaining or ranting about something. Several entries ago, I did personal update blogs, and this is one of those.

I changed the “About Me” and the “About the Blog”, which you can find on the right side of the entry. So, if you so desire, you can read the updated MO.

I got a job, finally. Aside from the job market, I think it took so long because I was looking for hours later in the day. Now, one would think that it would be easy to find an evening job – most people want to be leaving work at five so that they can go home and be with their families. Plus, I was willing to work weekend nights, which nobody wants to do. So, one would think that it would be easy for me to find a job, yes? Not the case. Whatever. The point is, I have a job now. It’s a small retail store, and they let me have pink hair and piercings. The dress code is casual, and thus far I like my coworkers. The only other retail place I’ve worked is Wal Mart, and those things make this place way better than Wal Mart. However, this new place that I work at has higher standards than Wal Mart (hell, EVERYONE has higher standards than Wal Mart). For instance, they’re really strict on register variances. The store policy is that for the fourth instance of a register variance over $5.00, you get fired. I mean, the policy itself isn’t a big deal – if you’re a cashier, you don’t want to be fucking up and having a shit ton of money under what the till should be. The big deal is that most other retail places don’t have a policy anywhere near as strict as this one. I’m a little bit concerned about this. I’m a good worker, so I’m sure I’ll be up to par. The way the policy is phrased in the handbook, though, it makes it seem like this is a really hard thing to get right and a lot of people get fired for it. They make it sound a lot harder than it actually is.

I am still vegan. Now that I have a job, being vegan should be easier because the non-whole-food items that I crave (ice cream, cheese, butter, etc) can be purchased in vegan form. But it’s not like all vegan foods are expensive. Healthy vegans stick to a whole foods diet (veggies, legumes, carbs) and get their nutrients from regular non-processed food. Plus, those little non-pareil things (the dark chocolate discs with white sprinkles on top) come in those little red two-for-a-dollar things you can buy at convenience stores.  And that makes me happy.

I’ve been doing Wii Fit every other day for about a week now, and I have to say that it’s pretty cool. Some of the excercises are even designed to let you work out while you watch TV, which is a nice alternative to listening to the iPod while working out. I also like that it keeps track of your progress for you (and I have been making progress, which is exciting).

One of the things that I really want to work on is the time I wake up. I tend to not spend a lot of time awake (eight to ten hours), a fair amount of time in bed pretending to be asleep but not actually sleeping, and a LOT of time actually sleeping. If I’m working, I’ll get up around three in the afternoon; if I’m not working, I’ll get up for dinner – usually around five or six at night. I’ll stay awake until anywhere from midnight to two or three in the morning, then go to bed and not fall asleep around four or five in the morning. I’ve had some people suggest to me that this isn’t a problem and that I’m just a night person, and the other extreme is my mother freaking out about the fact that I’m not awake at six in the morning and going to bed at eight o’clock at night like she does. My personal goal is to be awake at noon every day, and go to bed between midnight and two in the morning. What can I say? I like my sleep. I figure it’s a good medium between pulling the graveyard shift and waking up at four in the morning like my dad does.

Oh. And my hair is now (partially) pink again. Pics will be up soon.

<3 you all!

1 comment 2 April 2009