Where my inspiration comes from..

It comes from a few different places. The way I think about life comes from my experiences, and my ability to survive it come mostly from the few people I have let get close to me in my life. Mainly from my closest group of friends; Dan Glasser, Laura Clemmer, Kevin Freeman (my brother), John Palmer, Jimmy and Kathy Stuart-Stevenson, Connor Bloom, The Mackenzie family, and the Gehring's (Betty, Fred, and David). These are all the people who have seen me through the worst times in my life, and I am forever grateful to all of them. They are the example of what true friends are all about.

I am sure most of you have figured out I don't have too much love for my actual family. Believe me, it is not without reason. But there are a few that meant and mean everything to me, even though I don't see or contact them as much as I should...some I wish I still could. My grandparents Garcia, who I loved more than anything, and who had more faith in me than anyone in my life. My grandmother Consuelo Martinez, gone a year ago this month, who had that same faith in me. Most importantly, my brothers and sisters; Carolina Elizabeth, Alfred Jr., Chad Allen, Heather Rae, Noah, Kevin, Ofelia Jessie, Martin, and Robert.

One day I will have to lay out the family tree; a project in itself...

I was going somewhere with this....

I don't go out much. I don't like being around that many people. For the most part, they just annoy the shit out of me. I can tolerate it in small doses for things like concerts, movies, and other little things like that. And, well, you get to hear about my exploits at work, so I won't even get into that. Other than that, being around too many people for too long brings about:

Frustration
Irritation
Claustrophobia
Panic

....so I stay inside....

Which brings me to my point...

The three people who inspired me to start this blog:

1) Matthew Good - His music is a true inspiration to me, as is everything he stands for. He does not try to be perfect, just human. His blog is really the first I ever read, and it is great. For those of you who don't know, Matt Good is a Canadian musician, an author, activist, and someone who is not afraid to share his opinions. I have gained a monumental amount of knowledge from his blog, as have the 1,000's who visit on a daily basis.

2)Raymi the Minx - A young lady who has been blogging since her teens, and as far as I am concerned, has one of the best blogs around. Based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, her blog is basically her life, with pictures attached. Also very honest in her approach, and genuinely hilarious on a regular basis. Definitely the most fun.

3)Keira-Anne Mellis - The one whose blog actually made me start mine. Her open honesty (following the theme here, kids...) and willingness to share a lot of the personal aspects of her life, even the painful ones, is what made me realize what a good outlet blogging could be. Sometimes personal, sometimes informative, and yet others just plain fun.

These are the people that inspire my life, even if they don't all know it......

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea..

So late Tuesday night (or early Wednesday, depending on how you look at it), I was catching up on some email, and as any of you who use Yahoo! know that they have stupid little advertisements everywhere on the page...

...ha ha, stupid me for looking at it...

It's not like I hadn't been meaning to do it anyway. It was just one of those things I subconciously kept myself from doing. I am already enough of a homebody as it is. I don't know, maybe it was because I was tired. Or maybe it is because I don't really like being around people in a large consumer setting. Like a video store.

So I did it. I signed up for Netflix.

How could I not? They are giving me the first 2 weeks for free. FREE!! That's how they suck you in, you know.

"We'll give you the first two weeks for free. Then, because you are so lazy, and the utter convenience of our service so lends to that, we own you."

Genius, if you ask me. Wish I'd thought of it first.

So, for 17 dollars a month, I can have 3 movies out indefinitely (thank goodness, no time limit).
It is a good deal for me, as I usually end up paying more in late fees than in rentals. Hollywood Video loves me. If there was such a thing as a platinum customer, it would be me. I wasn't a pain, I always paid my late fees, instead of being an ass and trying to save $2.00 because I was too lazy to get it back to the store on time.

Just another good reason for it: have you ever been stuck in line behind that one idiot who actually has the balls to walk up and ask the employee, "Do you have that one movie with that guy? You know which one I'm talking about, right?"

Of course he does, moron.

Within about 5 minutes, I already had 40 movies on my list. After talking to Susie today, I have to go add a few more when I am done with this. Well, a few is probably going to turn into too many. I hope there is some kind of cutoff number.

If I disappear, well, you know what happened.

What a funny story this is

So I heard a story a couple of days ago that I meant to share with everyone, but haven't had the time until now.

You are going to love this one, I promise. :)

As you know, I live in Orange County. Near Anaheim.

Near Disneyland.

I was born and raised in California, and have been to Disneyland an innumerable amount of times. It really is mostly the same as it was when I was a kid, but a few things have changed...

The "submarine ride", which used to be all dark and creepy, is now the "Finding Nemo" ride...

....lame.....

The "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride, which used to be my favorite ride, has undergone a "facelift", if you will. There used to be an area of the ride that was supposed to be a scene in a tavern, and there were about 4 pirates chasing 4 pretty girls around, and then toward the end of said scene, you saw a fat woman chasing a scrawny little pirate around. Way funny.

Not so much though to some stupid women's lib, I have nothing better to do, group, who said that the scene degraded women, especially big women, that they were trying to say big women had to chase a man to get one...

For fuck's sake....

It's an amusement park ride!!!!

So they changed it.

Bullshit.....

So now to the funny part....

I've been hearing for the last few years, other countries refer to most of us as "fat Americans", because the US has such a large obesity issue.

Man, did they get proven right.

So a couple of days ago, Disneyland announced they were going to be temporarily shutting down one of the most popular rides in the park, "It's a Small World". They have been having issues with the ride stopping in the middle a lot of times. For those of you who have never been there, it is basically a boat ride, seats about 16 people per. It just takes you through representations of different countries, all the while hearing that damn song about 500 times throughout your journey, even sung in the other countries' languages. There is even a Netherlands room.

This is where the ride keeps stopping.

This is the most shallow water area in the ride.

But they figured out what the problem was.....the weight on the boats can no longer be accommodated....

So they are building new boats.

Wider boats.

To accommodate all the fat Americans who visit the park.lol So the boats will stop getting stuck.

Walt Disney is rolling over in his grave.....

Another Dedication...

As I said, these are gonna pop up from time to time, and this is another important one. Well, they all are...

These are the people that have my heart and soul, and I would give my own life, so they could keep theirs.

So...


This is Noah, one of my baby brothers.

Ain't he wicked hot??


(sorry, Noah..lol)

And sorry girls.....he is SPOKEN FOR!!!

I haven't actually seen him for quite awhile, but as fate would have it, it seems that all those I have been wanting to be close to are again coming into my life.

And I couldn't be happier about it...

I just got off the phone with him about an hour ago, and it was like we had never had this time apart, just fell back into talking like we had only talked last yesterday, shared stories, comparisons of our lives, and what we have missed being away from each other.

He is definitely one smart cookie. He has always wanted to be writer for as long as I can remember, and after reading his blog before I started writing this, believe he could definitely make people stand up and take notice of his talent.

Almost eerie how much we have in common.....more so now than before.....

Remember, Noah...

'Til it's time for us not to be here anymore.....

You always have me.

Holy shit, that was AWESOME!!!

Yes, it is Monday, which of course means what? "Heroes"!!! Another great episode, many answered questions, but still one unanswered. What the hell is going on with Sylar?? Seriously!!
Damn commercial last week lied to me.....

Okay, "Heroes" is over, but now "The Hills" is on so there could be interjections on this at any moment.... like now...

Heidi is such a bitch. The fact that most girls are just like her are the reasons my closest friends are guys.lol

So anyway....

So there is finally a character on the show that I really don't like, and so I'm hoping Sylar decides he wants her power. The character I speak of is Elle, played by Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars). To be fair, the reason I probably don't like the character is because I can't stand the person playing her.

What can I say? "Veronica Mars" is a stupid show.

No Lauren, don't go talk to Heidi, you KNOW you can't trust her.

I can't believe that D.L. is really dead. Ugh, Hiro needs to go back and fix that.

My other favorite character Niki/Jessica (Ali Larter); and apparently now Gina?!? It's like this; Niki - the good one; Jessica - the one with superhuman strength; and now Gina - the druggie party girl. Personalities that manifest whenever one of them feels the need arise. Now I wanna know if their are more!! Exciting.......


HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Burn on Heidi!!!! Lauren says eat shit Heidi, you traitor!! Well, what she really said was "I want to forgive you......and I want to forget you."

See, even a nice girl will only put up with so much shit.

Peter Petrelli - just too awesome for words. Saw that he had a couple more powers I didn't realize he had picked up. Will have to investigate and see when that happened. Did I mention that Milo Ventimiglia (Peter) is a hometown boy too? That's right, Orange County born and bred.

People who were born here do NOT call it the "O.C.".....ever. Only people who have moved here over the last few years because they watch too much TV call it the O.C.

Peter just remembered everything. I hope that means he is going to go rescue Kaitlyn from the future Montreal.

And I'm still mad that Isaac Mendez is gone. No one to do the artwork now that they barely show Sylar, and Peter just got his powers back (they both have Isaac's power). Painting the future is that power by the way.

I have to say, I am pretty upset about one thing though.......

Only 3 more episodes???????

Fucking writer's strike!!!

Not mad at the writers'. Mad at the corporate fucks who don't want to pay them what they deserve.....bastards.

I am losing a half a season worth of shows because of this!!!!

There is no way they can fit everything in within 3 weeks. They barely squeezed everything they did into the first season, and that was 23 episodes....

*sigh*

Well, I suppose I am just gonna have to get over it. I guess it will be alright.

"Project Runway" season 4 starts on Wednesday.

....just not the same.

I told you!!

I fucking knew it!! (Remember, I put an "I swear ALOT so beware" warning on my profile.)

Today was a whole bunch of suck.

But I worked it out.

I walked into work with my 'I only had 3 hours of sleep/super stupid weekend at work/I already know how busy it will be and I'm understaffed SO DON'T FUCK WITH ME' attitude.

Now don't get me wrong. The only people that ever get that from me all damn well deserve it. I believe in making the customers happy. When it comes down to it, I am the strictest manager there. But I am also very fair about it, which is why everyone prefers to work with me. They also appreciate the fact that I will not make them tolerate bullshit from any customer who disrespects them. For minimum wage? And in California, notorious for the disgustingly low minimum wage and the ridiculously high cost of living? I think not.

I had fun with it today. I had probably the most inexperienced phone person on the staff with me today. Very sweet kid, but way to slow for what overtook us 30 minutes after opening. At one point he looked at me in a panic, it was really funny (to me at least). So I started calling people and had 2 on their way shortly.

Remember, I told you yesterday about the buffet, right? Basically, pizza, pasta, breadsticks, and salad bar. There is enough room on the buffet bar for 6 pizzas at a time. For the first hour, we could not keep anything on there for more than a minute, no bullshit. Poor Juana, the day cook could barely keep up, and she is NOT slow. Now the dining room was full, but I couldn't figure out why we kept running through everything so quick, and yet half of the people there still didn't have any food. WTF???

Then on about my 10th trip out in that first hour, I found out.

SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!!!

So it comes down to this: The same family I had seen hovering by the buffet were still damn there. So I put down 2 pizzas, Robert right behind me with 2 more. Then I waited; and watched. Each one of those family members grabbed A plate, then proceeded to pile 1 WHOLE PIZZA on each fucking plate!!!

You have got to be kidding me.

Unacceptable.........so...........

From me, to them, in front of the 2 dozen other customers who have been waiting EXTREMELY patiently to get some food: "You know what really pisses me off? People who think are the only people who paid for food. I mean really, is it necessary to take that much at a time when obviously we are going to be bringing more out more. No, seriously look at all these people here still waiting for their first turn through, and the same 3 or 4 people are the only ones I see getting food. It's bullshit."

In those words.

Needless to say, after the next trip out, everybody else had food too, the cook had a minute to breathe, and we had a minute to try and get some of the tornado of a mess cleaned up.

All because of my big mouth.

That is why the regular customers and my boss loves me. I'm all about fair, man and if I have to be an asshole to accomplish that from time to time, well, so be it.

Yes, I know I write about work alot, but that is because I am always there, and there is usually at least one story a day to be had from it. Besides, it's all I do. lol Work, game, blog (which actually seems to be taking up more and more of my time....uh oh), watch movies, and listen to music.......

Oh, and I get to talk to the sweetest boy I ever met every day too.....

Shit...

Sorry....

...."the sweetest MAN I ever met".......

Oh, well, can't be helped ;p

I already know tomorrow is going to suck

How do I know this? Tomorrow is Veteran's Day. That means: no school. The banks are all closed. No postal service. What does this mean for me?

I will be seeing most of Garden Grove for lunch tomorrow. Shit.

We have a lunch buffet at our restaurant. It is pretty steady on a regular basis, usually the same few dozen people every day. On Monday holidays, however.......

Tomorrow is going to suck.

Why not? It has sucked since Friday. Because of the holiday weekend. The thing I find odd about it is the fact that the vast majority of people celebrating the holiday are not veterans, probably don't know any, and in all honesty could give a rat's ass about the holiday in general. As long as they get the day off, or as in some cases, getting paid time and a half to work.

I wonder; do our soldiers, fighting for our freedom and giving their lives so we can keep ours, are they getting paid time and a half tomorrow?

I doubt it.

And they are really the only ones who should be.

Tomorrow I will have to put up with a monumental amount of bullshit. People not watching their children, letting them run into people, jump around on the seats (90% of the time, this results in a crying child), plug up the toilets, etc.

I asked for $3 more dollars an hour for babysitting, but no go.......

Then of course, there is always that jackass who doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'buffet'....

If you want a special type of pizza, ORDER IT!!! Just because YOU like that, doesn't mean the 35 other people in the restaurant do. Get over yourself.

P.S. They don't pay us nearly enough for what we do as it is, so if you come at me or any of the staff working with me in the wrong manner......

....expect repercussions......

Like that bitch Jessica. Not MY Jessica. Jessica is a shift manager at another restaurant in our chain. Her restaurant sucks. We end up taking customers from them by default, as they are lazy as fuck, and don't like to take care of said customers. These people are trying to give you money, money that guarantees your job, idiot.

We were so busy today, we ran out of most of our dough. Which is what we had to start telling people at about 7:30 tonight. Our regulars are used to this, so they will readjust their orders. Others only like certain kinds, so they will call another store to go pick up.

Apparently, Jessica did not like the fact that she had to do some real work because of it.

A little perspective: Orange County is a pretty big place. The majority of our restaurants are delivery/carryout only, hence fewer customers. Out of all said restaurants, their are only 2 that have dine-in service. I work at one of them. Jessica does not. My store does triple the business hers does.

Which is why she is a lazy bitch.

She had the fucking nerve to call my restaurant, and proceed to berate Kat (see, I told you it is always her), and talking all shitty to her. Then she hung up and called our district manager, and told him a bunch of shit. So he called to talk to me.

Jessica. Your an idiot.

Don't you know I'm his favorite? I am the ONLY shift manager in the entire REGION who does 100% of the job, everyday. Which makes him look good. Making my word mean more than yours.

Because I rule.

Which is why you are going to wake up tomorrow to a shit storm. I told him the shit you pulled on Kat. Told him about the deliveries you blatantly disregarded in your area. Kat is going to file a complaint with corporate tomorrow morning. She puts up with enough shit from the customers, she doesn't have to put up with yours. I even printed up records on received phone calls and the deliveries of yours I had to take, and the ones I took that you told Paymon we turned down. So you have been completely called out stupid ass. Good luck with Paymon tomorrow.

See, I rule.

Happy Veteran's day to all our American soldiers past and present. Also, Remembrance Day
for all the Canadian soldiers, as they our fighting the war with us, (well, more accurate would be because of us), and to their families.

A little side note: That bitch from last night.

She called the customer hotline. Now we know who she is.

KICK ASS!!!

Her name is Tamika W.

She is not allowed at my restaurant.

She did not tell them of our little verbal spat.

She must have figured out who the fuck she was talking to.

Some people just don't know who the fuck they're talking to

You know, when I left for work today I was in a pretty good mood. I didn't have to get up early today, which is always a bonus.

I should have known it was too good to be true.

When I got there, it was already pretty busy. Took us a few hours to get things under control, but I think we handled it pretty well. Had a couple of complaints, but they weren't assholes about it, and we took care of them. All things considered, things were going good.

Then it happened.

The asshole woke up from her nap and decided to give us a call.

Kat is the one who ended up getting the call (it seems to happen that way alot), and was on the phone with her for a few minutes before coming to me with it. So her story goes like this:

She ordered a pizza LAST Saturday, and says it was undercooked and gooey. She still has it. She wants to bring it in and get her money back.

"Do you have a receipt?'

"No."

"Did you call anyone last week when it happened?"

"No. I didn't have time for that."

So Kat comes to ask me what to do.

Inform the customer of the 24 refund police clearly printed on the back of the box, right next to the customer satisfaction phone number. Her window is closed. If she insists upon a cash refund, she will have to come talk to the general manager, as she is the only one authorized to give cash refunds after the 24 hours has passed.

'Cause you aren't getting shit from me.

You don't even have a receipt.

And we track all orders placed through our computer system by your name and phone number.

Your not in our system.

Asshole.

Leave out the asshole part, Kat.

So Kat gets back on the phone to inform the customer of the situation. I'm watching from the office (ha, no door), and realize from the look on her face that it is all starting to go to hell. So I get up to go over there and see what the problem is, when Kat's face goes from bored to shocked.

"Ma'am, you need to not take that tone with me, and you need to not call me that...."

My turn.

First thing I hear is, "....you stupid bitch....."

I think not.

Bitch, yes. Stupid, no.

She is so busy being an asshole, she doesn't even know who she is talking to.

"Ma'am this is the manager. First of all, you can not talk to my phone people that way. Do you realize that you are verbally assaulting a minor right now?"

"Well, why didn't you fucking pick up the phone in the first place, you fucking bitch?!"

....1.....2.....3.....breathe.......4.....

"Ma'am, you need to not speak to me like that...."

"Fuck you, you bitch!"

......and now I'm done.....

So......

"No, FUCK YOU BITCH!!"

Proceeded to go back and forth with her for about a minute. Felt myself getting more and more angry, and getting louder, so it was time to hang up.

*click*

Then I waited. Not very long either, probably 30 seconds.

Some people are stupid. Don't you know that if you are going to call and hassle someone, wait like half an hour, so they think you already gave up.

Assholes are stupid, so......

I knew it was her, so I took the call myself. Caller ID is awesome. Answered in my sweet-as-pie voice. Pretended I didn't know it was her. Gave my name when I answered, which is policy.

"Oh, so that's your name!"

"Yup"

"Why didn't you just....."

*click*

Again, waiting....I am so angry by now that my hands are shaking. I show the kids, and they start laughing. For some reason, they are amused by my anger.lol

I wish she would call. I want to invite her down to the restaurant. So she can say it to my face. So I can knock her teeth out of her mouth. So she can eat her gooey pizza.

Denied. She never called back.

I just don't know what is wrong with some people. You know, a lot of people are under the impression that just because we work in a pizza restaurant, that we're stupid. That is far from the case.

You are the one spending 30 bucks to order food from us because you are either too lazy or too dumb to cook.

Who's the stupid one??

I hope that the customer satisfaction number magically reappears on the pizza box, so she can call in a complaint about me. That's why I gave her my name.

Then we will know who she is. She won't get anything from us ever again.

If you don't like our policies or our sevice, feel free to call Domino's......

.....we don't care.....

Think about it.....why not do something different?

So, once again, the holiday season is here. You know, the time of year that rapes your bank account, and inspires you to be around people you usually spend every other day of the year avoiding.

That's right!! Thanksgiving and Christmas...

I do cook on both holidays (no work on those days), but that is as far as my celebrating goes. Last year. Cooked on Thanksgiving, then hung out watching a "Twilight Zone" marathon; alone.
Christmas. Cooked again. I was sicker than hell, so......then I went to work for a couple hours to get things ready for the next day. I won that shift from other people who also wanted to not be home. I am management, which basically means "I rule!", and stay home sucker, 'cause seniority rocks.

Hail to the king, baby...

So after reading a post by some guy (Matt Good) about how he and his family were going to volunteer their time for the Christmas holidays instead of falling into the same old commercial bullshit, I decided to run with that idea as well.

So now I am currently speaking with the administration of the Orange County Children's Hospital about volunteering my time for said holidays, and also trying to get some of the kids I work with to come along. I already have one (that's right, Kat, no backing out now ;p) for Thanksgiving, will have to talk to the other kids today when I go in. I will give more details when I know exactly what we are doing, and who is going.

I do realize that most people are close to their families, and ultimately love spending that time with them. That truly is a wonderful thing, as that is the way it should be.

Not all are that lucky.

There are so many, that for whatever the circumstance, will not have a Thanksgiving dinner with their family; those who won't be there to help put up the Christmas tree, or even presents to open. Most of them don't even want that. All they want is for someone to be there. To listen. To make them smile, if only for a moment. You'd be surprised how easy it is.

So sure, go celebrate with your family, and enjoy the happiness of being with them.....

But....

Why not share some of that love with someone else. Everybody has time to spare, don't they? Especially if it is important. I think it is. We are all human beings, after all...

Happy holidays, everyone!! :)