How Would One Describe HIM?

I have been excessively frustruated in attempting to describe the ineptitude of the manager of my former Cup...and I think I have finally found some adequate descriptives:
*sets low standards and constantly fails to meet them
*works well under constant supervision and when cornered like a rat in a trap...wait, no, not even then...
*he has reached rock bottom..and is beginning to dig...
*has delusions of adequacy
*he would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle
*his employees would follow him anywhere...but only out of morbid curiousity
*not so much of a "hasbeen" as a "neverwillbe"
*i would enjoy going hunting with him...heheh...
*he would argue with a street sign
*he brings great joy whenever he leaves a room..
*donated his brain to science before he was finished using it..
*the gates are down, the lights are flashing...but there's no train coming...
*if he were any dumber he would have to be watered twice a week
Harsh, I know, but honestly, at this point it is warranted. The store has been run into the ground, and now there is a combination of digging and grinding taking place. I feel bad for everyone still working there...and it makes me really sad, because I used to love that store...crazy how time and people change things...

TRIUMPH IS MINE!!

I'M DONE!!!

Welcome Smeagol!

Russ and I finally got a car!! It is a cruddy but sturdy old Pontiac 6000, whom we have *lovingly* named Smeagol. Yup. We are giant Dork! So, tomorrow, I start at the new Cup...I'm still hoping for a different job, and I dropped off a few resumes, but for now I'll survive. I hope it doesn't suck. Now, I have to get down to studying for crappy crappy finals...I'm trying to figure out a way to get a semester's worth of reading for 3 classes done in 2 days...sparknotes anyone?? But anyways..I should really get down to business...ugh.

Haweli, Bubble Tea, Reunion, and Last Days...

Last night I went to Haweli for Indian food with Viv, Gretchen, Heidi, Steph, and Erika...SO FUN!!! I love you girls!!! Lots has changed since we last got together, and I would just like to say, Heidi, that I am SO proud of you !! And Viv, I'm SO excited for you!! And Gretchen, DON'T be a stranger!!! And Erika, I love you even though you are crossing over to the Dark Side...Steph, please don't burn out!! We then went to bubble tea, where Arden and Russ joined us...which was so much fun as always...Today was my last shift at Second Cup. *sniff* Scary, exciting and sad...my last official day is April 20th, but I have the next two weeks booked off for finals...my last finals of my last real semester of my BA!! Man...times, they are achangin'...Russ and I are going apartment hunting on Tuesday, which I'm really excited about because this apartment is not an apartment, but rather, a hovel. A hovel that gets crappier by the day. But on the bright side, we are going to go car shopping in Calgary when we go to Olds for Easter! We hope to soon have a beater that will give us freedom from the hell that is ETS...and it shall be called Walmo...because any car that you can get within our price range is doomed to be a Walmo...we can't all have a Francis, after all. Graduation also brings us one step closer to...well, the good life. Here, here, to the good life on the horizon...

Oh. If anyone knows of a job that doesn't involve dealing with coffee, let me know!!

Sayanora Suckers!!

I'M LEAVING THE CUP!!!!! (Of course, I'm starting at another Cup, but it isn't owned by Keith and Jane, and it isn't run by their doofus son, and I'm getting paid better, and I'm bringing people with me!!) Yup. I am so outta there. I can't wait!! It's definitely time for me to go...though I get to miss out on actually working in the store after renos, but there is no freaking way I'm staying there for another month and a half. Chad would turn up dead long before then...But I'll miss working with everyone, so you all have to promise we will still get together a lot!!!!!!!!

Gluten-Free's the New Way to Be...

Since I was little I have always had stomach problems. In fact, after high school, it was so bad that I had a Costco-sized bottle of Pepto in my car's glove box...as well as one in my purse, and one at home. I've been to specialists, and they've done all kinds of fun tests, but to no end. They slapped me with "chronic dispepsia", which essentially means "there's something wrong with your stomach, but we have no clue what it is". I was reading this article in Fitness magazine, about this woman who discovered that she has Celiac disease...and there was a list of symptoms, of which I had EVERY ONE. So I did some research, and came to the conclusion that this what's wrong with me. Now, I'm a hypochondriac, but this time I was pretty sure I was right. I went to the doctor, and asked to get the blood test that looks for the antibody for gluten intolerance, but she told me that the blood test is not especially good at picking up on it, especially since I started avoiding gluten. However, regardless of the blood test, she told me to cut out gluten and see if that makes a difference. If it's Celiac, then I'd notice a difference within a week or so. So that is what I'm doing. There is gluten in EVERYTHING!!! Today is only my second day of zero gluten...so we'll see how things go...if it makes a difference, at least I'll feel better...if it doesn't, it's one more thing to cross off the list.

Why I Want Rubies...

Diamonds: Nothing says 'I love you' like a superficial and overvalued rock clawed from the guts of the earth by African slave labour...

School Sucks, Dude.

I had a discouraging day...I got two papers back, and got two relatively mediochre marks. I didn't come close to failing, but I got a B+ and B- for what I thought to be an A and a B, respectively. I hate getting generic marks with nothing but arbitrary or vague comments on them. The problem is that the marks bother me, but I know I put no effort into preparing and writing them, and for one, I hadn't even read the book. Plus, these will be the last two English classes that I will theoretically have to take, EVER. That, and considering my lack of effort, I got off easy! I just really want to be done, and I really don't want to put in effort of any kind. On top of that, I've been feeling stressed and anxious lately, and I'm not sure why. Part of it is my deep-seated hatred for all things pretaining to second cup. Another part is that I really hate school right now. Blargh. Things suck right now, especially now that the whole boning and favoritism crap is going on at the Cup too. I just want to be done--school, work, this apartment, the drama. Mentally, I'm already done, and that is a dangerous state of mind to be in. So, as a warning to you all, especially the cuppies, if you have to work with me, you may need to be a mediater between me, and Chad, and customers, unless you would love to witness a figurative or literal bloodbath. Scary, huh?

Epiphany!

Yesterday I had an epiphany. I know what my dream job would be: a beauty editor for a magazine! I'd get to write about new products, and get craploads of free products, and get to test out products before they even come out on the market!! I would be killer at it! But I could still go and get my esthetician and hair, because that would be fun to have too....yup. So I'm totally diggin' Interpol right now...just thought y'all should know.

And I said, "What about Breakfast At Tiffany's?"

I bought the anniversary edition of Breakfast at Tiffany's on DVD. It is one of my most favorite movies ever...I love Audrey Hepburn!! She was such a fantastic person...I highly recommend the movie to anyone who hasn't seen it. It's one of the classics.
Speaking of dumber than a bowl of cookies, Russ and I went to the Lulu Lemon warehouse sale...I prepared myself for the stupidity that was about to befall us...but I'm still amazed at how self-centered the majority of their clientele is! Most of the good stuff was already gone, but I got some great capri pants for $40, regularly $84...so it was not in vain. The change room sucked though, because that's all it was. A room with some mirrors slapped on the wall. Not so bad, except that there were way too many people in the room, and since no one cared about anyone but themselves, they would walk all over your clothing and stuff...ugh. But at least I got my pants. Yay. Now I can wear them in the sauna apartment...yup. We now have heat. Actually, we can't shut the heat off, and it is now a zillion degrees, and the windows have all swelled shut, and so we are stuck in the stupid sauna apartment...now all I need are some rocks...

Jane Austen Rocks.

Jane Austen blows my mind. How one person can write an infinite number of novels, yet have such similar characters, plots, themes...just mind-blowing...I do enjoy a good Jane Austen novel though...I read Pride and Prejudice when I was 10. It made more sense when I re-read it when I was 14 though. The new movie disappoints me and I haven't even seen it yet. They totally hacked the plot, and Kiera Knightley is not right to play Elizabeth Bennett. Besides. Colin Firth is the only man alive meant to play Darcy!

You know what I love? People whom you tell one thing to, so they do something completely different! For example, say I tell you that my work availability is only Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, but I booked one date off, that happens to fall on a Tuesday. Would you ask me if I could work on that particular Tuesday, even though I wrote it down in the book-off book, a note to you, and a note on my permanent availability, even after I told you I had a midterm the next day? No? Would you ask me if I could work the following Wednesday, even though my availability specifically said that I was not available on Wednesdays, EVER!!!?? Would you try to make me feel guilty for not working on a Wednesday when I have school and have told you numerous times that I am not available to work on Wednesdays???? NO????!!!!!!!! Well then what the CRAP is wrong with people!!!!??????!!!!!! Is anyone else as fed up as I am? It's pretty bad when the general manager of three stores quits for a better job...what does that say about a lowly lead agent who hasn't had a raise in 2 years?? Man. I'm pathetic!!!

Oh well...I'll just pretend I'm the heroine of my own modern Austen novel...now if only I can convince Russ to be Colin Firth...

Everyone has the Plague.

So everyone is dying. Including me. It's ridiculous how sick everyone is! I began to develop a sore throat on the weekend. I thought I was just dehydrated. Then, on Monday, I woke up with my throat on fire. By Monday night, I was SICK. I went on msn. And of the 5 or 6 people online, everyone's profile included the words "sick" or "dying" or "kill me now"...yup...sick. Sick, sick, sick. I'm trying Cold FX for the first time. I just started it today. Let's see whether or not it lives up to the hype. I slept for 6 hours this afternoon...ugh. I feel like crap. I hope no one else gets sick...Eat Vitamins!!

Fed Up.

I almost quit and walked out today. Almost the last straw. I have got to get out of this job before I snap. I really am fed up with this crap...They need to learn that they can't get away with treating employees like this...anyone know anyone hiring part-time people in the Oliver Square area??

Guess What.

So...guess who came into the Cup this morning. Lorne Cardinal! He plays Davis on Corner Gas!! It was so cool. Yup. I'm a dork, and I didn't think to get his autograph. But he got a single shot red eye...

This Place is a Hole.

So here goes another story about our crappy apartment, and stupid landlord. The bathroom and kitchen floor have been slated to be replaced since...October. The landlord called before Christmas to tell us that they would be doing the floors on Dec. 19. When I got back into the city on the 28th, the floors were still not done. We went to Cold Lake. We got back on the 2nd, and the floors still weren't done. We then got a phone call on the 3rd, saying that the floors would be done on the 4th. They didn't show up. We got a call on the 5th, saying that they would be coming at 10am on the 6th. Russ and I got home from West Ed around 7...and the floors were STILL NOT DONE!!! So then we got a call on Sunday, that they would do the floors on Monday. Yeah. Right. So FINALLY, on Monday night the landlord called and said that they were going to be here at 11am on Tuesday. Well...they came...at 10am...and when Russ said that he thought that they had said 11, the landlord got all defensive and accused him of not listening to the message and putting everything back. By "everything", I mean, everything that was in the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Russ said that nothing had been put back, and by that I mean that the dining room table, chairs, boxes of books, and everything was still all piled up in the living room. So Russ went to school. When we got back, the hall was filled with the stench of varnish, and our apartment door was unlocked. The landlord was still there, finishing with sealing the edges of the lino in the bathroom. He told us that instead of putting lino in the kitchen, they just took out the tiles and then he buffed down the (badly beaten-up) hardwood underneath and dumped a bucket of varnish on it. He told us that it said to put on a thin coat, let it dry, then put on another coat. However....he didn't have time to wait, so he just put on one really thick coat on. We put on a box fan to help it dry quicker. He was cleaning up as we left. When we got back, the entire floor of the building reeked of varnish. The varnish smell was so thick in the apartment that I had an instant migraine. We had to open the frickin' window! In JANUARY! On the day when the atmosphere decides that Edmonton needs snow!! It took the floor a while to dry, and the thick coat bubbled as it dried, so now the floor is so rough it feels like there is a thick layer of sand on it! Plus, there's a reason why the floor was covered up with tile. It is very battered. There's deep, nasty gashes on it where it looks like someone moved the stove back and forth 10 or 100 times, some of the wood looks almost in the process of rotting...however, we are past the point of caring. We'll be moving in April.
Classes have started, and this is my last full semester. So far, my classes are going to be a lot of work, but I really like all of my profs so far. I just hope that my new preoccupation with Gilmore Girls box sets doesn't get in the way of keeping up with my craploads of reading...

Back to Blah.

I'm back from Cold Lake, and back to boring life...it's been a busy few weeks, and it's kind of depressing returning to work, and, soon, to school for my final semester. Russ's friend's wedding was small, and sweet, and the couple seems very happy...man...I know this scares Russ, but I can't wait to get married...and to get a car. Having a car will be fantastic. As will moving out of this crappy apartment with no heat. Yup...I can't wait to join the Real World....but not the one that was a big hit in the nineties.

Born to Be a City Girl...in a Small Town...Bigger than Olds...

So today is my first full day in the bustling metropolis of Cold Lake. It is my first-ever visit to anywhere more north than Edmonton...and I haven't even been to Northern Edmonton...I'm chillin' with Russ's family, and having a pretty good time. Today Russ is going to be taking me out on the town, which should be interesting...
Tiny bit of trivia-there is no Bank of Montreal in Cold Lake. Actually, the closest one is in Wainwright...so now we have to find a bank so we can deposit our money so that we can pay rent...or else the crazy landlord will kick us out. Oh well...Russ is putting on pants now, because if he goes to the bank without pants, i think that they will ask us to leave, even if we tell them that he needs money so that he can buy pants...or something...but yes. I'm off to have fantastic adventures here by the lake that is cold...

Merry Boxing Day!

So, another Christmas is in the bag...and I came out with a pretty good haul!! Now, if only I can make it through New Year's and finding a new job, then life will truly be sweet.

REVENGE OF INSOMNIA!!!

Sooooooo...it's...2:51am...and i'm still up. Why, you may ask, is Cass still up? Well, you guessed it! Her good friend Insomnia is back, with a vengence! I'm frickin' tired!! I stayed up until 1am yesterday to study for my classics 302 final...then i got up at 9am this morning to do more studying...i went to school at 12pm to do more studying...then i wrote my exam. Then i came home, exhausted, wanting desperately to sleep...and proceeded to lay in bed for an hour and a half, trying to sleep. No dice. So i watched a couple of movies, taking a break from studying (which i shall be doing all day tuesday and wednesday) and now, it's 3am, and i desperately want to sleep...but i CAN'T!!! I have been dealing with this since i was 12, but i had it under control for a while...now, since i'm stressed, and my body needs sleep, it refuses to sleep. Yup. Good times had by all. I'm gonna go lay in bed for a while, and try to beat my tired brain into submission...hopefully i'll have enough left to finish writing my finals...if not, i will be the girl on the news whose head exploded. Maybe my family could sue the school...weep...oh man! I have GOT to sleep!!! Wish me luck....

....Procrastination....

So here I am...procrastinating...i really should be writing the last three pages of my paper...because it has to be done today....and it isn't...but i opened this morning (i forgot how much i love morning shifts!) and i took a nap, and got some groceries, and did some dishes, and cleaned the bathroom, and had some lunch, and watched an episode or three of CSI:miami...and now its 6 and i STILL have three pages to write...all i want to do is watch CSI and play with my new laptop!! I named it tomato for now...it's ever so pretty! i really should get that paper done, because i have three finals next week, and i have to do all the reading for each class that i didn't do throughout the second half of the semester....because i procrastinated....i think tomorrow i'm going to do what Rebecca did and just go to the Cup and set up camp. But first i have to put some music on my computer, because it has none, which is sad. maybe i'll do that now...and then i'll have some supper...and then i'll finish my paper...or go see russ at work...which ever will be less productive...argh!! Okay. I'm going to finish my paper now...and i'll just put CSI on in the background. Yeah. I'm gonna do that....