Girl Pockets

I find them to be the most useless things ever. The pockets of girls’ pants are practically nonexistent, and in most cases are just that. For example, I have a pair of jeans that I’d bought and didn’t check the pockets. Lo and behold, when I came home, I found that the front pockets were fake. They had gone through the trouble of making these pants look like they had real pockets but were just sewn on as decoration. At least the back pockets were real.

My other problem about girls’ pant pockets is that if they happen to have pockets, they are not functional. Either they are too small to fit anything or so tight that you 1) cannot fit anything or 2) if you happen to miraculously fit something in there, you look all bulky. Even the slimmest of phones can make your butt or thigh chunky and unappealing.

Yeah. We have purses and bags. But what about those days when you just don’t want to worry about carrying absolutely everything with you? Or like me, just want to have the convenience of storing something to be easily accessed in my front pocket?

What happened to the functioning pants of the 90′s?

Cracked

My poor iPod Touch!

I’ve ruined it just now. Well, about a half hour ago when I got out of biology lab. I was fumbling with my lab equipment and it slipped out of my pocket and fell to the ground… glass side down.

Now it looks as though I’ve got a spider web on the upper left corner of my screen. Why couldn’t it have fallen the other way?

Oh well… I’ll live. at least the digitizer still works wonderfully.

I am definitely looking for a replacement screen though. I use this thing on a daily basis and would rather fix it now before something harms the digitizer.

Oh sigh…

Community/Family Kitchen

Y’know.  I’m getting sick and tired of sharing the kitchen with my own family.  Yep.  Sharing food is all good and fun.  BUT not when they don’t reciprocate.

Example.  On Monday of this week, I bought a brand new loaf of bread and a brand new jar of Goober (that’s striped jelly and peanut butter for y’all who aren’t aware), as seen in my previous post here.  Four days later, my loaf of bread is all gone.  And my brand new jar of Goober?  Less than a third left.  Who the hell even puts that much filling into their sandwiches that it would be that low after only a loaf of bread?  That’s a diabetes sandwich right there.

Anyway.  I wake up this morning to make myself lunch, thinking that I would indeed like a PB/J sandwich, only to find that the loaf is gone.  No more bread.  At all.  And it’s starting to get on my nerves simply because I’m always the only one who buys bread in this household (or fixins such as tuna, bologna, cheese, PB/J, and other sandwich goodies) but hardly ever gets to enjoy the sandwiches because for the most part, they’re gone before I can have at it.  MAYBE one sandwich out of the loaf will be mine (that means two slices, y’all).  PLENTY of times, I don’t even get a single slice before it’s all gone.

Now, I’m all for sharing and such.  But not when I’m always the one buying the sandwich stuffs.  If other family members start to pitch in, fine.  No complaints there.  But apparently, sandwiches aren’t too high on their grocery shopping list and only seem to want it when I buy the stuff.  And it’s not even the entire family; my immediate family is pretty good at letting everyone have their share.  It’s the ONE UNCLE that mooches off of all of our shit and it’s getting annoying as hell.

Yeah.  I will start the day off like this.  I really wanted a sandwich for lunch.  Ah well.  The day will go on.  But it wasn’t the best beginning.  I guess I’ll have to have rice for lunch again today.  <_<

Locating Business Cards is Hard Work

So with my newfound hobby of collecting business cards from places I’ve been (good or bad), I’ve come to the conclusion that they’re actually pretty hard to find.

Are business cards out of style now? Has everyone forgotten about the tangible-ness of a business card and switched on over to the Internet marketing world? I’ve seen more posters around stores telling me to “like” them on Facebook but have had a hard time locating business cards.

It’s become a little disappointing.

Today I went to Tuna Town of HB with my buddies Mochi Doughnut and Devil. Needless to say, it took some scouting around before I’d realized that their business cards were kept behind the desk. I had to ask the concierge if I could have one. Why aren’t they just set out for my pleasure? It’s not as though it’s a networking conference in which etiquette in exchanging business cards is taking place…

By the way, Tuna Town sucks. Don’t even bother with that place. More on that in another post though.

I think so far, the only shops I’ve had 100% luck in finding cards is at small Vietnamese establishments around town. I’ve yet to come I to one that has let me down. They’re always right there by the registers if I need them.

I was surprised to find that most of the mom and pop shops around Costa Mesa and such only resulted in disappointment. I thought for sure these fine establishments would have them. But alas, I was incorrect. Particularly the small restaurants such as Lil Pickle. I would definitely have started collecting the menus as well, only they would take up way more storage space than the happiness that is the 2×3.5″ business card.

Shameful much?

What a way to start the new year.  Was so … troubled by what I’d experienced yesterday.

• We’re moving to a new location (over a stupid discrepancy that I choose not to discuss at this time).  I have a tiny hatchback.  The other has a larger luxury car.  I packed an entire small room into my hatchback BY MYSELF for over an hour.  The other was just telling me what to pack.  Once packed and to the new location, I unloaded everything BY MYSELF up and down a flight of stairs. No help.  The other was nowhere to be found for over an hour.  Then I’d realised the other was carrying things.  Paint buckets.  But there was only a total of 5.  It doesn’t take over an hour to carry small paint buckets (< 1gallon) up a flight of stairs.
• Speaking of paint, we needed a painter.  In the other’s eyes, they are above all.  They believed that they NEEDED [specifically] A MEXICAN.  No, they don’t.  They needed a painter.  Everywhere they went, it was just… “I need a Mexican to paint my new office.”  When they’d met a friend who was supposed to hire a painter, they’d asked, “Where’s my Mexican?”  Have they no shame?  Apparently not.  It frustrated me into tears as I explained to a friend.
• I don’t appreciate the other shoving a phone in my face to speak to customers WHILE I’M DRIVING.  They should have hung up on their friend and picked up themselves.
• I don’t even want to start on payment.  I can’t live like this.  Will be gone by the time school starts unless things shape up.  But I doubt I’d even want to stay.

The year has officially started off annoying, frustrating, irritating… and the other is just damn obnoxious to their surroundings.  No more.

Realizations

This Christmas has been full of ups and downs.

Ups:

• Went to breakfast with my dad.
• Had a big dinner with the family (it’s been a while since I’ve been able to just relax at home with the family)
• Saw how happy my family was
• Just relaxing and spending time with my family (I’ve been pulling over time at the office)

Downs:

• I don’t know what my future holds.  Dad asked me to submit my grades to the car insurance company, but I’m not sure if I qualify for the student discount.  School’s been pretty hectic.  Work takes up my study time.  But enough of putting the blame on others.  I never made much time for studying.  It was my own fault.
• I hate the unknown.
• I’m not sure what work wants of me.  I got a call telling me how disappointing my performance has been.  Apparently, after asking for information to finish projects but not getting the needed answers is my fault.  They hate my school schedule for the next semester because it takes away one more day from work.  It’s college.  I had to register for whatever classes I could, regardless of the times (shoot, I’m going to be at school for 12 hours a day every other day next semester).  If I had waited even 2 minutes, those classes would have been closed.  I thought I was doing a good job at work.  10am to 5 or 6pm each day, 6 days a week at the office.  Not to mention the stuff I do outside of the office.
• I feel like just buying a plane ticket to another state and started over.  I’d turned 21 on the 20th of December this year.  But I feel like nothing’s going the way it should be.  I’m at a point where I’m willing to just cut off all connections and leave everything behind and start anew.  That means leaving my family, friends I’d known since middle school, everyone.  I just don’t care anymore.  Well, I do care.  I just don’t care about how my actions may affect those around me.  For once, I feel like putting myself first.  No more putting my feelings aside and only thinking about the happiness of others.  That’s just how I feel right now.

I don’t know what to do.  I just wish things had a more direct path.  I’m scared of transferring colleges.  I’m scared of making work disappointed.  I’m scared of disappointing my family.  I’m scared of disappointing myself.  I’m scared of not amounting to anything.  Talking to friends only help so much.  Talking to teachers only makes me feel as though I don’t amount to much.  I’m just so scared of life.

I hate that money is the source of all of this.  Without schooling, there will be no money in my family’s future.  Tuition takes up the majority of my monthly salary.  I hate the comment that a family member said when I had mentioned that there would be no Christmas presents since I’d paid more than half a grand for their medical stuff.  Jokingly or not, it’s just… unnecessary.

I just don’t know anymore.

Birthday, Amazon MP3 Code, Ramblings

Today’s my 21st birthday.  Whoo hoo.  I treated it as any other day.  Woke up, checked my e-mail, checked my RSS feeds, went to work, came home, had dinner.  Though I’ve had my FaceBook account disabled for quite some time, I decided to check on it today and see what went on.  Kind of wanted to see if anybody remembered my birthday, really.  And they did.    Which made me happy; I got birthday wishes from my friends and out-of-state family before my own family said a word to me.  Actually, my family didn’t say anything until I came home from work tonight.

Work was pretty good.  I did my usual managerial duties; made calls, checked orders, took phone calls, stocked inventory, etc.  Nothing new there.  I did get a chance to have a good chat with my sister though.  That was pretty cool.  It’s been a while since we’ve been able to just sit down and chat.  Apparently, there will be a birthday dinner going on tomorrow for yours truly.

Looking forward to Wednesday like no other.  My besties from middle school plan on kidnapping me and taking me to who knows where.  All I was told is to bring my ID card and nothing else.    Can’t wait!

Another Amazon MP3 code has emerged from the Interwebz.  Use code MP3GIFTS to receive $2.00 credited to your account toward MP3 purchases.  This time though, it’s not instantaneous; though it can be credited now, it’s only valid between December 23 and 26.  For those who have never redeemed these MP3 codes, go to Amazon.com, choose Digital Downloads > MP3 Downloads from menu on the left.  Scroll down until you see the “Do you have a gift card? Redeem it now” image and click it!    Click on the “Enter Your Code” button and of course, enter your code.    Simple as that.  And of course, after you’ve gone through the trouble of trying to follow along with my written directions, I’m going to be a douche and simply link directly to that page via this link.

Lastly, I think certain comments should be kept to ourselves.  As entitled as you are to your opinions, some should not be voiced.  Then again, that is of course, my opinion.  Should it be voiced?  Maybe, maybe not.  At least my opinion is not being directed to any one person or particular group.  Just sayin’.

Frugal Me

This is cross-posted from a post I’d done on one of my more frequented forums.  The thread was in regards to what items you find extremely expensive yet other people buy without a care in the world.  Or something like that.  xD  I didn’t get the whole gist of the thread.    I’d edited it a bit to make more sense.

Let’s see… for me personally, I like to make my own coffee. I don’t like the fancy-schmancy non-pronounceable “coffees” at Starbucks, so I’d invested $10.00 in a Bodum press and just make good ol’ Vietnamese coffee using Cafe Du Monde grounds and sweetened condensed milk.

Even then, I didn’t pay full price for the Bodum press, which usually runs upwards of $30.00 (for the metal one, not plastic; you can find the plastic for about $18.00), since I’d found it at Marshalls. It was weird because they had both the 12oz and the 32oz ones going for the same price. Even though it was a loss buying the 12oz one, I only ever drink at most, 1 cup a day, so the 12 oz will suffice and in my opinion, more convenient than having to figure out the measurements for the 32oz one.

There’s nothing wrong with Starbucks, but at $1.50 for a tall regular coffee (that’s sometimes even overbrewed!), I’d just prefer to make my own. Compared to my cost of $4.00 for a big ol’ can of coffee grounds and probably $0.50 cents or less for a can of sweetened condensed milk, I’ll go my route and have Vietnamese style coffee over Starbucks any day. I do admit that maybe once a year, I get the Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks. But it’s a rare exception. Then again, I always use a gift card that I’d gotten from Swagbucks or MyPoints. Same thing goes for the iTunes gift card.

Speaking of which, I happen to own the latest iPod Touch. While I didn’t actually want it at that time since I knew one with a better camera would come out sometime in the near future, my dad wanted to surprise me with it for my 21st birthday (which hadn’t even arrived yet, but he couldn’t wait). Before that, I was living quite contently with my 1st Generation, second-hand iPod Touch that I’d gotten on Craigslist for $40.00. After which, I sold for $30.00. So it wasn’t a complete loss, but I’d felt bad that my dad had gone to such an extent to surprise me with the new fancy technology. But I put it to good use; it goes with me everywhere; school, home, work, outings, everything. It’s particularly great for on-the-go blogging. 

If you hadn’t seen my post regarding “portable drink mixes,” I don’t buy those pre-mixed, pre-portioned drink mixes (like Crystal Lite and whatnot). I find them extremely overpriced in comparison to something like making your own Kool-Aid. A packet of Kool-Aid mixed with the appropriate amount of sugar is portioned into what is needed for 8 or 16 ounce servings and placed into Nalgene vials. Those vials are then nested into my little water bottle. When I feel like it, I just pop the powder in there, put in whatever amount of water is needed, and shake to mix. It’s a nice mid-day pick me up when I’m tired of plain water. The initial cost for the Nalgene vials were also a bit pricey, but it becomes just as great of an investment as my CamelBak water bottle.

Which leads me to bottled water. I always have my CamelBak with me. Granted, the initial cost was a good $16.00 for the bottle, I’ve had it for well over 2 years and it’s still going strong. Everything is still in perfect working order.  Though I clean it out quite often, I’m thinking of changing out the bite valve just to be on the more sanitary side.  I think it’s like $6.00 for replacement valves and straws?  Anyway, I take it with me everywhere and just fill at fountains when needed. It comes out great during school (I’m still in college) since I’m not paying a whopping $1.50 per bottle at lunch time.

Speaking of school lunches, I don’t do that either. I’ll just pack leftovers from last night’s dinner and have that at school. Every now and then when I’m in a rush, I’ll buy something in the cafeteria, but they’re not all that appetising. But it’ll tide me over until I can get home for dinner.

Oh, and don’t even get me started on textbooks! Those things are extremely overpriced. The cheapest one on my list was $60.00. I ended up checking out the the in the library and made photo-copies. It cost me $7.00 in copies (would have been less except that I couldn’t take the textbook outside of the library and do it somewhere else) and another $1.50 or so for a binder to put it all in. And yes, photo copying it is allowed since I’m using it for personal, private study and not for distribution or personal monetary gain. At least, it’s allowed here in California.

In summary, I guess the items that peeve me would be: oddly expensive coffee, gift cards, drink mixes, bottled water, school lunches, and textbooks. But to each their own. Everyone has the right to buy whatever they want with their money. There are just some things that I won’t buy/do that I’d rather find an alternative for.