Gas Prices

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but kept forgetting until today, when I noticed that gas prices here were an astronomical $2.79/gal $2.99/gal, Unleaded, the least expensive gas you can buy.

Leave a comment and let me know what your lowest priced gas is in your area. I can't believe how rediculous this is getting.

In other news, I think I lost my driver's license. Great. There's another $30 $15 down the drain to get a new one.

Also, I'm going to switch from Cellular One to Verizon for my cell phone because I hate Cell One and they're rude. And Verizon has better coverage and better phones, anyway.

New stuff up on my Photo Journal! All the pictures from the Minneapolis trip are up now, instead of the first half that I posted earlier, since Flickr wouldn't let me upload them all.

school books

I managed to spend under $200 on school books this semester. Go me.

This computer class is going to be a piece of cake. I still have my other classes to evaluate, and I'll let you know how they go.

Oh, and I made a ton of tips last night at work, and we were slow as hell. Weird how that works.

Baby Names

Well, it's been almost a year since I posted this last time, but it still makes me giggle, so for you newer readers who probably haven't gone through my archives, here it is:

Top 10 Worst Celebrity Baby Names

10. Rumer Glenn, Tallulah Belle and Scout LaRue, daughters of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore
9. Jett, son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston
8. Diezel and Denim, sons of Toni Braxton and Keri Lewis
7. Prince Michael, Prince Michael II (AKA Blanket), and Paris Michael, children of Michael Jackson
6. Speck Wildhorse and Hud, sons of John Mellencamp and Elaine Irwin
5. Pilot Inspektor, son of Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf
4. Tu Morrow, daughter of Rob Morrow and Debbon Ayre (seriously)
3. Audio Science, son of Shannyn Sossamon and Dallas Clayton
2. Moon Unit, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan, Dweezil, and Diva, children of Frank Zappa
1. Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom, and Pixie, daughters of the late Paula Yates (Tiger Lily's dad is the late Michael Hutchence; Bob Geldof is father to the other three)

Dishonorable Mention: Zowie (son of David Bowie -- he later changed his name to Joe before settling on Duncan); Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q (son of Bono), Banjo (son of Rachel Griffiths), Jaz (daughter of Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf), Romeo and Brooklyn (sons of Victoria and David Beckham), Aurelius (son of Elle Macpherson), Lyric and Zephyr (daughter and son of Robby Benson), Hopper (son of Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn), Kyd (son of David Duchovny and Tea Leoni), Reignbeau and Freedom (son and daughter of Ving Rhames), and (gulp) Jermajesty (son of Jermaine Jackson).

random stuff

Sin City was pretty good last night. It was one of the best movies I've seen visually, but not necessarily plot/story-wise, although I did like the story. It seemed very retro, but also very modern, in some weird way. I liked it, although I probably wouldn't buy it.

On Saturday I got a parking ticket for $25.00 at the lower parking lot in Deadwood, which is for residents and employees only. I have Wyoming license plates, so I am not a resident, but I do work in Deadwood. The thing is, I've never gotten a parking ticket there before, and I've parked there many times. They were just out to get everybody that night because it was Kool Deadwood Nights, a weekend where classic cars from all over come in to show off and buy and sell and have a parade. I'm waiting for a phone call from the woman who issued my ticket, as I called the police station and the lady who answered the phone said she'd have the police officer call me. It's a bunch of crap, really. There's no way I'm paying it, that's for sure. The casinos just need to come up with little parking permits or something to hang on the rearview mirrors of cars so police know you work in Deadwood. It would make life a lot easier, that's for sure.

In other news, I broke one of my blue plates while I was drying it off after washing it yesterday. I pouted and stomped around the kitchen for a while before I decided to clean it up, and I even missed a piece that Aaron found with his foot this morning. Whoops. Good thing it was stoneware or whatever instead of glass! Then I broke one of the straps on my watch today, the part that holds the flappy thing down after you sinch it on your wrist (technical terms, I know). I also discovered that my bowling class doesn't start 'til October, so I'll have all of Tuesdays off (except for work), and nothing on Thursdays until 4pm until October. Hopefully "Lost" is moved back an hour so I can still watch it after classes, and things will be great. (Yes, I know planning your classes around a TV show is kinda silly, but what can I say...I'm obsessed.)

uhhh...okay...

I was going to post something, but I forgot what it was...something to do with work? Aaron? Stuff? I really don't know. Jill got online and distracted me with a virtual tour of her apartment.

Oh, I got my hair cut, but it's not as good as I thought it was going to be. Boo. Maybe I don't have the face shape for a bob. I look too boyish, in my opinion. Wonder if they still have the "pixie" haircut? My sister got so mad once when we were kids.

Stylist: Aww, we'll call [Andrea] "Pixie" because she got a pixie haircut!
Mom: How cute!
Ashley: What's my haircut?!
Stylist: A bob.
Ashley: Waaaaaah! I don't want to be called Bob!
Me: *evil maniacal laughter*

I rented "Sin City" tonight for Aaron and me to watch, so I'll let you know how that is next time I blog. I haven't heard anything great or terrible about it, but it looks interesting.

Anywho, I'm going to go veg out some more in front of the huge TV because I'm tired from work and tired of thinking for the day. Tchsau!

HammerFall

These last few days have marked the epic journey to Minneapolis, Minnesota. We started our day on Sunday, with a long, hard, 10-hour ride before us. Our heros prepare for the time ahead:

^Brandon^

^Aaron^ (I know, I finally put up a picture of him!) ^Lars^

^Henry^

Ten gruelling hours later, we arrived at our destination, tired, deprived of proper food and drink, and with our butts asleep, we crawled into our shabby hotel room beds and slept a few hours before the next day's work was to begin.

These are the sights that greeted us our first day in Minneapolis:





During the hours before our real reason for this trip, the HammerFall concert at the Fine Line in downtown, we trekked out for treasure. Before we could go anywhere however, there was a present left on our vehicle. Wrapped in Christmas wrapping, we weren't sure if we should open it or not. "Christmas all year long" was what the card said.

Inside were presents we didn't expect to see.

A $1,000 bill with the 10 Commandments in detail on the back, which was "legal tender for the saving of your soul."
A nickel, a match, and 4 toothpicks placed inside neon straw bits and then placed inside a small plastic tube.

Our first stop, The Source comic book store. We scanned the rows for the rarest of treasures, questioned the staff, and came home with a few prizes. Henry got himself some comic books, and I got myself the Zombie Survival Guide Book.

Then we made our way to Surdyk's, a liquor store as big as a grocery store, complete with a deli and cheeses for your wine.
We found the finest wines, tequillas, rums, vodkas, beers, and many other varaties of drink.

Our next quest; food. We found a small Thai restaurant and ate spicy Thai food that made our mouths and lips numb. It was tasty.

Then we went to the Ikea store in search of fine furniture for our living quarters. A wooden dining table and chair set was found and bought the next day.

We made our way downtown to look at everything. Aaron knew his way around the town, as he had lived there for 2 years when he was going to the U of M, and fortunately, we were able to go around the city with little to no problems at all.

Then the time came for the concert. We allowed ourselves plenty of time to arrive, and waited in line amongst the other epic Swedish metal fans. Boy did we look out of place. The first band to play kinda sucked, they were from Canada, so I don't know if that explains anything or not, but fortunately they only played for half an hour or so, during which time we enjoyed our beef medallions, buffalo wings, ribs, alfredo, and drinks. Part of the money spent for the tickets, twenty dollars, went towards a meal at the music cafe'. It was a really cool experience to sit on the balcony of such a small venue, eat dinner, have some drinks, and watch the Canadian, German, and Swedish metal bands do their magic. Henry was like a kid in a candy store, the happiest I've ever seen him.

"Hearts on fire, hearts on fire
Burning, burning with desire"

We drove back to the hotel, slept 'til 10:30am, checked out, and parted ways. Aaron and I went back to Ikea and bought the table and chair set, then he showed me around a few more places before we left for good. Then began our next 10 hour trip in a car, filled with sunflower seeds and energy drinks to keep me awake. We almost hit a deer when we were less than an hour from home, which scared the crap out of me.

I also explained to Aaron my extreme fear of driving in general, but especially of driving at night. I see things out of the corners of my eyes that aren't actually there, but my mind makes me think there are deer lurking in the ditches, waiting to leap out in front of my car. I'm scared of passing semi trucks or larger vehicles in general, for fear they're just going to tip over onto me, or veer into my lane and run me off the road. We even had a semi honk at us after I tapped my brakes to get him off my butt in construction, since he didn't back off, I slowed down to about 20mph below the posted speed limit...Aaron was scared something was going to happen, like in that movie. Until we got off the Interstate for food and the truck didn't follow us. Then we felt a little better. I also have this terrible fear of just dying in general, especially on car or plane trips. Not sure why.

Anyhow, I got out of my epic Viking mode, and for that I apologize. A trip to Applebee's, Kmart, and then Wal*Mart in the middle of writing kinda happened.

*falls over dead*

Ack! My first day alone in the cage! Julie was there this morning and I got started up, mostly with no problem, but she left only a couple hours into it, and the day went very well, but at the end...oh, the end. It was terrible.

Firstly, I'm supposed to try to keep track of all the chips, monies, and tickets that go out of the cage during the last hour or so, and put it on paper and in the computer, making changes as things change (well, except for the immediate cash in my drawer, which changes every minute, obviously). Well, Julie wasn't there to help me out like she has been the last three days, so it was hard to keep abreast of the situation, so during the last half hour before the person to relieve me showed up, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to get everything and help customers and omg. I have such a headache.

Our totals didn't match the first 6 times we counted, I couldn't get some tickets to add up to the right sum, and I was just having a hard time. We finally got it all figured out, and I was only $1.00 over today, which is pretty damn good, considering the hundreds of thousands of dollars I touch in that 8 hour period.

Also, tips sucked ass today 'cause I had the morning shift. Usually when Julie and I split tips, I get $15 or so. Today, all to myself, no splitting, I got a whopping $9. WTF people. Guess there's not enough drinkin' in the day to make people generous, they only do that at night, and later in the night, at that. So I can see weekends aren't going to be good days for tipping, and the weekdays are.

Also, I think I'm going to get my hair cut in a bob when we get back from Minneapolis on Tuesday, as no one was open today when I got home from work. Bah.

one more thing...

Went to Kmart today with Aaron to pick up some different bathroom rugs since he didn't like my bright magenta and purple colored ones. We forgot a shower curtain, though, so we still have the super bright pink/purple/lime green striped one. Haha, how it clashes.

Anyway, back to my Kmart story...

As I was checking out through the new cashier's line, both Evan and Will, on either side of her, started talking to me. Will said I inspired him, and on my last day of work, he'd put in his two weeks notice, and Evan said that he was quitting also, but with no real plans of where he was going next. I also heard Andrew was quitting, too. Glad I've helped so many people! Or something like that.

I forgot to mention that this morning I woke up with a terrible headache, which was aided by the fact that I'd gone to bed with a slight headache, and also that I was dreaming of counting poker chips in the cage at work. I really needed to get up and get some ibuprofen, but I just needed to finish counting that stack of chips! Chips, chips, chips!

regular rotation

Well, the last three nights at the new job have been interesting, but good. Julie really thinks highly of me, and has talked me up quite a bit to everyone in the casino, and Marvin, who hired me, seemed quite impressed with me, as well.

Which comes as a suprise to me because sometimes I feel like I'm just bumbling around there with no clue as to what's going on. But I must be doing okay because now I'm going on the regular rotation of the schedule, and after I finish my shift tomorrow afternoon, I will no longer be training. Only four days! Yikes. Hope I can handle it on my own. At least when I'm on my own, I'll make more tips, 'cause now I'm splitting them with Julie. So that's kinda cool. Still a little nervous to be on my own so soon, but I gotta get the hang of it somehow, right?

I think I'm going to have to start winking at the intoxicated older gentlemen so as to get more tips. They're nice fellers who give me compliments.

Onto another subject, Aaron is all moved in. The only thing left at his old apartment is his bed, and he's not sure what he's going to do with that, since there's not a lot of room for it here. We're getting more and more settled in, and as soon as we can get some decent kitchen furniture and a coffee table, I think the place will look a lot better.

We're heading off to Minneapolis - Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - for the Hammerfall concert. We still have no idea who's going with who, who's driving, where we're staying, or anything like that. This should be interesting. I'm sure we'll get something figured out soon.

But, it's my day off, and I need to get some laundry done, along with cleaning. Ick. Have a great weekend!

casino fun

Well, I survived my first night in the cash cage. I was nervous going in, but once I got there and kinda got thrown into everything, I got the hang of it really quick, despite the confusingness of it all. I really didn't think casinos were that busy. Plus all the extra stuff you have to do at the beginning and end of your shift. Whew. Julie did say I was the easiest person she's trained out of all the new people, and she can tell that I really want the job, so that made me feel better.

I go back in tonight, so hopefully things will go more smoothly, and it's the middle of the week, so it shouldn't be too busy. I hope.

Visitors

I've found out that I have visitors from many different places who come to my blog. Some are only there once, some come to read it on a daily basis. Some people I know, others, I have no idea who they are. Especially Little Bunny Foo Foo...

But here's a list of where my visitors live:

• Pullman, Washington
• Brandon, South Dakota
• Rapid City, South Dakota
• Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Sunnyvale, California
• Portland, Maine
• Voorheesville, New York
• Missoula, Montana
• Gillette, Wyoming
• Columbus, Ohio
• Miami, Florida
• Danville, Arkansas
• Fargo, North Dakota
• San Antonio, Texas
• Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• San Francisco, California
• Fresno, California
• Tucson, Arizona
• Perth, Western Australia
• Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Arlington, Virginia
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Pomona, California
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Cairo, Egypt
• Reston, Virginia
• Seattle, Washington
• Lexington, Kentucky
• Plano, Texas
• Sikeston, Missouri
• Bentonville, Arkansas
• Des Moines, Iowa
• Bothell, Washington
• Modesto, California

Looks like I have a few viewers from California, Washington, and Arkansas.

People I know visit in Orange
People I think I know in Blue
People who I have no idea in Black

home again, home again

Well, I finally made it home, safe and sound, in one piece. The trips to and from New York were very uneventful, which is just how you want a plane ride to be. The viewing and funeral were both very nice, and very well done. My dad and my uncle spoke about my grandma at the funeral, and the whole thing was just a great celebration of a great life. My grandma was very involved in the community through church, school, and just life in general. It seemed that everyone knew her somehow.

I met a lot of people who said, "I haven't seen you since you were *appropriate hand height* this tall!" Yeah, that was fun. I got to see cousins again who I hadn't seen for over a decade, and others who I'd just seen the last time we'd vacationed in New York. It was great to have all the family together again.

I'm really glad I was able to go, but I'm also very glad to be home. I missed sleeping in my own bed, and I missed Aaron.

I'll post a few pictures on my Photo Blog.

albany, new york

I'm here in the Albany airport, with about an hour to go before our departing flight and our first step back home. Dad managed to find a wireless internet connection in the airport, so I thought I'd check my email real quick, since all the other internet connections we found at the hotel or my uncle's were dial-up. I'd rather not have internet than have to go back to dial-up.

Just a quick hello and goodbye until I arrive back home. Bye!

Sturgis Rally week

Did I mention how much I hate the rally? This is just a bit of what we have to deal with every day for almost three weeks, as the bikers are showing up earlier each year and staying later.

I don't know how much of this I feel comfortable putting on the internet, but we will be leaving for New York on Thursday for my grandma's funeral. She was 89 years old and lived a long, happy life. I probably won't post anything for a while.

today has sucked

Jill is all moved out. The apartment looks very bare and lonely, with only my posessions to occupy it. It was really hard to see her go, and even as we were packing up everything last night, and packing everything into her car this afternoon, it didn't really hit me until we were shrugging at eachother, "Well, I guess this is it," and giving our goodbye hugs. Doing my best not to cry, I worked up some teary eyes instead, knowing that Jill would eventually come back and see us all. How couldn't she? It's where all her friends live from her first two years of college.

Also, my $50 Fossil watch stopped working today. I thought it was just the battery, but it wasn't. The second hand keeps sticking and has probably moved 20 seconds' worth of clicks in the last 12 hours. I have to send it to Texas to the Fossil company to have them fix it. Damnit.

I just recieved bad news today about my grandma's health, and may be gone in a few days for a while.

Needless to say, I've had my share of tearful moments today.

Goodnight.

i caved

I did it...I admit it...after almost 4 months of not buying Pepsi 12-packs and drinking Pepsi at home, I bought two 12-packs today! Oh, the humanity! I don't know what made me do it. Before, I'd only got Pepsi as part of a meal at a restaurant or something. I also bought some microwave popcorn. Damnit. My food habits are going down the hill. Poop.

Jill's leaving in a few days. I'm going to be very sad to see her go. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but a couple days ago, Jill and I were both getting up for work around the same time, and both left the building at the same time, but didn't say a word to eachother the entire morning. So naturally, I thought something was wrong and that Jill was mad at me. Aaron and I went to breakfast, and I talked to him about the ordeal, and he thought I was just being dumb and told me I had to talk to Jill when I got home from work.

Now, there is a good chance I was being dumb, but we didn't even say, "See ya later!" when we got into our cars that were parked side by side. So I grumble over it at work, wondering what I'm going to say to Jill when I get home, and unable to think of anything. I walk in the door when I get home, and Jill's at her computer. I sit down at my computer to see who's online and check my email, and she says, "Roomie, were you a little crabby this morning?" I say, "No, I thought you were crabby this morning." And then we had a big laugh.

It was funnier in person. You had to be there. Then we told Aaron about it, and he asked me, "Now, what'd you learn today?" "Don't be silly," I replied. "No, talk to your roommate if you think something's wrong," he says. "Oh yeah."

On the plus side, Jill and I have been spending more time together since her boyfriend moved away. Even though I know she misses him, obviously, it's really nice to see her more than just five minutes a day and to talk and hang out. Like back when we were in the dorms.

hiccups are biologically useless phenomena.

For the last week or so, I have been plagued with chronic hiccups, or what I feel to be chronic hiccups, as I usually get them at least once a day normally. Recently, I have been getting them violently, 2 or 3 times every day. It's very annoying. I don't know what is causing them, as I haven't changed anything drastically in my life, including diet or laundry detergent. After hiccuping for a long period of time, the acids in my stomach start to creep back up into my throat, causing it to burn.

One girl at work suggested that it was some form of acid reflux disease, but I didn't have anything acidy all day long. I don't think I ate much all day long, truthfully. It's strange, and I may have to talk to a doctor about it, because it's getting quite irritating, and I don't know what to do about them, but they've been really bad over the last few days and I want them to at least calm down, but not go away all together, because I do like having the hiccups once in a while.