Not much has been going on lately. I've had a chance to substitute for my old 4th grade class, which was a lot of fun, and it was really nice to see the kids again, and they were happy to see me, and sad that I wasn't coming back the next day.
I ended up working a couple days in the cage due to everyone in the casino coming down with the flu (except me, and I haven't had a flu shot in 7 years!), so that was interesting. We've started training for an updated system in the casino which will give our players more options with their points, and a whole new program for us to use that is Windows-based and not DOS-based like our current system. That will start going in Sunday night, and hopefully be up and running by the time February gets here.
Aaron and I took a quick trip to Rapid City on Thursday and bought a bunch of random things. It was nice to get out of the apartment and out of Spearfish for a little bit, and not just go to the mall or Best Buy while we were in Rapid.
I started knitting socks again, and finished up a pair that I started in October, but that had been neglected during student teaching in the fall. I started up another pair with this really pretty red-pink-mauve-white blend of Opal brand yarn, from Germany (everything on the label is German and I can't read it anymore!), so that's going to be fun. I'm working on a cable detail that will go down the front of the sock and along the top of the foot. Pictures to come when I get it done and all that jazz.
We got high definition cable set up in the living room on the big TV, and it looks amazing. I didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal, mostly because I'd never seen it before, but it's honestly like you're RIGHT THERE. We watched something on the Nature Channel about fig trees and fig wasps, and it was like you were there in the forest. Amazing quality. We don't get a ton of hi-def channels to go along with it, but they'll be coming in time. At least now I can watch people torture themselves on American Idol and pretend like I'm there at the judge's table!
Tax stuff has started coming in the mail, so I have to get that all organized. Aaron enjoys doing taxes, so I'm going to have him do mine, so I don't have to send everything home and have it done there. It'll just be faster this way.
I can't believe January is almost over! I've just gotten used to writing "1" as the month on everything, and even "07" is a bit of a stretch for me! Now I have to get used to "2." Ugh, this'll take forever, AND it's a short month.
My glasses broke tonight at work. The little thing on the end that goes behind your ears came off, and when I was trying to get it back on, the end snapped off. Grrr. I am contemplating getting new frames. I know they're ridiculously expensive, but I can afford it, and I've had these frames for two years or so now, and they're starting to wear out a little, it seems. We'll see when I go in on Monday or Tuesday to get them looked at. I have it taped together right now so I can wear the darn things, and fortunately it's behind my ear so I don't look all silly with tape on my glasses. I think it's going to start rubbing on my ear and annoying me before I even get into the optometrist to get it fixed.
Well...that's about it for me tonight. I just realized I hadn't updated since the middle of the month, and here it is almost the end of the month, so there you have it. Until next time!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Monday, January 15, 2007
feeling blue
Ever since I was little, my parents had told me that I was blue when I was born. Literally, the color blue. Not enough oxygen. And when they put the little white hat on me to keep my head warm, I looked like a tiny, prune-like Smurf. Well, it has happened again.
I was showering, and as I was washing my stomach, I noticed it looked a little weird. You know how your skin kind of turns purple when you're outside in the cold? That's what my stomach looked like. It didn't feel cold, but I ran some hot water on it, and that still didn't seem to help. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. If you stare at a color long enough, and then look at something different, you see that color's opposite shade on everything you look at. Try it. Stare at something yellow and look at a blank wall; it looks purple. Except there's nothing yellow in my shower that I was staring at. And it was only on my stomach, not my arms or legs. Hmmm. Then I look around to my back. Blue, as well. Even my armpits are blue. What the heck has happened here?
Last week I'd bought some new shirts from Old Navy, and one of them was a pretty jewel-toned blue color, which I happened to wear to sleep last night. I even washed it, so it's not like it was my fault. And I have tons of other tank tops from them, none of which have bled all over me, either. Then I looked on the sheets where I'd slept...slightly blue. Crap.
Guess I won't be sleeping in that thing again until I wash it a few more times.
I was showering, and as I was washing my stomach, I noticed it looked a little weird. You know how your skin kind of turns purple when you're outside in the cold? That's what my stomach looked like. It didn't feel cold, but I ran some hot water on it, and that still didn't seem to help. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. If you stare at a color long enough, and then look at something different, you see that color's opposite shade on everything you look at. Try it. Stare at something yellow and look at a blank wall; it looks purple. Except there's nothing yellow in my shower that I was staring at. And it was only on my stomach, not my arms or legs. Hmmm. Then I look around to my back. Blue, as well. Even my armpits are blue. What the heck has happened here?
Last week I'd bought some new shirts from Old Navy, and one of them was a pretty jewel-toned blue color, which I happened to wear to sleep last night. I even washed it, so it's not like it was my fault. And I have tons of other tank tops from them, none of which have bled all over me, either. Then I looked on the sheets where I'd slept...slightly blue. Crap.
Guess I won't be sleeping in that thing again until I wash it a few more times.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Work
Tonight at work I noticed that there was a blackjack dealer in the cashier's cage, which is a rather odd sight. After she'd been in there quite a while, I went over to see what was up. Turns out Tammy, the cashier for the night, went home sick, and the floor supervisor asked Jerri, the blackjack dealer to substitute for her. She hadn't been in the cage for two years by that point, and was a little nervous to do shift change.
I told her that if the floor supervisor said it was okay, I would do shift change in the cage, since it's only been since October that I've been out of there. The supervisor agreed, and I switched out with Jerri, letting the girls at the player's club know that I'd be gone for the rest of the night. We only had a couple of drawings left, and they could easily handle it.
So I went over and rescued Jerri, and wandered around the cage for the first five minutes thinking, "Wow! It's bright in here! And big! Now...what do I do?" I'd forgotten where a lot of the paper work was, and where to begin counting, along with how to count the racks of poker chips in the back cabinet.
I regained the hang of things after a few minutes, and was back in the cage like the pro I used to be. My old supervisor came in for shift change, which wasn't awkward or anything, like I was thinking it might be. Ed, the cashier coming on for graveyard asked me, "So you're Tammy tonight, eh?" No one seemed too phased by the whole deal, just me, who'd been out of the loop for so long, I kinda forgot what it was like in there.
All in all it was a good experience. I just hope they don't start using it as an excuse to call me in to work for people. I'd get a crapload of hours, but I wouldn't want to spend an entire day in there again. Two hours was plenty for me!
I told her that if the floor supervisor said it was okay, I would do shift change in the cage, since it's only been since October that I've been out of there. The supervisor agreed, and I switched out with Jerri, letting the girls at the player's club know that I'd be gone for the rest of the night. We only had a couple of drawings left, and they could easily handle it.
So I went over and rescued Jerri, and wandered around the cage for the first five minutes thinking, "Wow! It's bright in here! And big! Now...what do I do?" I'd forgotten where a lot of the paper work was, and where to begin counting, along with how to count the racks of poker chips in the back cabinet.
I regained the hang of things after a few minutes, and was back in the cage like the pro I used to be. My old supervisor came in for shift change, which wasn't awkward or anything, like I was thinking it might be. Ed, the cashier coming on for graveyard asked me, "So you're Tammy tonight, eh?" No one seemed too phased by the whole deal, just me, who'd been out of the loop for so long, I kinda forgot what it was like in there.
All in all it was a good experience. I just hope they don't start using it as an excuse to call me in to work for people. I'd get a crapload of hours, but I wouldn't want to spend an entire day in there again. Two hours was plenty for me!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Whoops!
Yesterday while finishing up laundry and taking it downstairs from the third floor, I slipped on the last flight of stairs and landed flat on my butt. Not my tail bone, thank goodness, but just my butt. Along with two loads of laundry in the basket to go with my own weight. I could feel my spine compress, and then relax back to its normal state. Ouch. The whole rest of the day was painful.
About four or five years ago, I wrecked my old car, and pinched a nerve in my back. It hasn't really acted up in the last couple of years, but I know it could very easily. Well, slipping on the stairs was just the thing that my nerves needed to get all tweaked and in pain again. Aaron borrowed a heating pad from his parents for me, rubbed my back, and got some ibuprofen for me. None of which really seemed to help. I tossed and turned all night, trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep, but it just wasn't happening.
When I woke up this morning, the pain was gone. And now, a few hours later, it hasn't reappeared. I can only imagine what seven and a half hours of work on my feet are going to do for my back...but here's hoping that it only lasted for the day...
About four or five years ago, I wrecked my old car, and pinched a nerve in my back. It hasn't really acted up in the last couple of years, but I know it could very easily. Well, slipping on the stairs was just the thing that my nerves needed to get all tweaked and in pain again. Aaron borrowed a heating pad from his parents for me, rubbed my back, and got some ibuprofen for me. None of which really seemed to help. I tossed and turned all night, trying to find a comfortable spot to sleep, but it just wasn't happening.
When I woke up this morning, the pain was gone. And now, a few hours later, it hasn't reappeared. I can only imagine what seven and a half hours of work on my feet are going to do for my back...but here's hoping that it only lasted for the day...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Employee Appreciation Party!
Last night was our annual employee appreciation-slash-Christmas party at work. We held it atwork since we work in a casino, that way it doesn't cost the place anything. Heck, they probably make a crap load of money off of us.
I signed up for both the poker tournament and the slot tournament, which each had a $250/300 cash prize for first place. In the poker tournament, I only won TWO hands, but I almost made it to the final table. I was one hand away from it, with $400 (not much) left in tournament chips. But I had to go all in, and someone beat my pair of 5s with a pair of 10s. Go figure. I'd seen people go all in on weird card combos and win, so I figured I might try the same. Didn't happen for me.
Then the slot tournament was a bust. I only got 546 points, and I think first place had somewhere around 5,000 points. No biggie. After playing a few machines, I went and sat by Betty who was playing the new Elvis machine and watched her for a while. She loves Elvis, and apparently yesterday was his birthday, so she was celebrating! After I gave her some good luck by just hanging out, she gave me $5 to play on the other Elvis machine next to her, and I won $194 off of that five dollar bill. Pretty cool, I'd say.
Then we got bored, and karoke was starting to get bad (ie; people had been drinking for about 4 hours at this point), so Aaron and I headed up the street to the next casino, I won $40, and we went home.
All in all, not a bad night money-wise. Food wasn't bad, but the music was. The machines treated me nice, but the tournaments didn't. I think we were home by 10pm, that's how bored we got. At least this year I could play the slot machines, and now the cashiers this year can play the slots, too, so that was a vast improvement...I was bored outta my skull a LOT earlier last year.
Anyway, that's it for now. We're off to Rapid City to do some shopping and get out of this town for a while. Until next time!
I signed up for both the poker tournament and the slot tournament, which each had a $250/300 cash prize for first place. In the poker tournament, I only won TWO hands, but I almost made it to the final table. I was one hand away from it, with $400 (not much) left in tournament chips. But I had to go all in, and someone beat my pair of 5s with a pair of 10s. Go figure. I'd seen people go all in on weird card combos and win, so I figured I might try the same. Didn't happen for me.
Then the slot tournament was a bust. I only got 546 points, and I think first place had somewhere around 5,000 points. No biggie. After playing a few machines, I went and sat by Betty who was playing the new Elvis machine and watched her for a while. She loves Elvis, and apparently yesterday was his birthday, so she was celebrating! After I gave her some good luck by just hanging out, she gave me $5 to play on the other Elvis machine next to her, and I won $194 off of that five dollar bill. Pretty cool, I'd say.
Then we got bored, and karoke was starting to get bad (ie; people had been drinking for about 4 hours at this point), so Aaron and I headed up the street to the next casino, I won $40, and we went home.
All in all, not a bad night money-wise. Food wasn't bad, but the music was. The machines treated me nice, but the tournaments didn't. I think we were home by 10pm, that's how bored we got. At least this year I could play the slot machines, and now the cashiers this year can play the slots, too, so that was a vast improvement...I was bored outta my skull a LOT earlier last year.
Anyway, that's it for now. We're off to Rapid City to do some shopping and get out of this town for a while. Until next time!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Back to work
Aaron and I wandered around downtown today, which was nice, because we haven't been out and about in a while. Even though it's only downtown, we hadn't been there together in forever. Yesterday while doing laundry, I ran into my upstairs neighbor. We know each other by site, but had never officially met. She said, "I bet you hate living underneath us," because they have a 2-year old son who is constantly running and stomping all over the place, but I've grown used to it. After two years of living in this place, I'm finally used to it.
Now it's back to work for the weekend, which will be a nice change from last weekend, which was CRAZY busy. Since the holidays are over and the big cash giveaways are over, things will calm down a bit. I hear January and February and lame at work, which will give me some time to relax and catch my breath a bit.
The new queen size mattress is wonderful!! I love it, and even though I've yet to get a full night's sleep on it (I keep waking up in the middle of the night for some reason), I think it's great to have all that space to spread out and sleep with.
Isn't it beautiful? I've already ripped the new sheets for it! Not the fitted sheet, but the flat one, when I was taking it off for laundry. It got caught on the bed frame. Stupid metal bed frames. I'm not used to those things.
Anywho...Oh, I have a quick survey, 'cause I noticed this during my student teaching; when the students are learning to type on computer programs, it only has them put one space after the period. After you end a sentence, do you put one space, or two spaces? I space twice after a period. Is that weird? A thing of the past? Who knows. It feels weird to only put one space after a period. Anyway...stupid question, but I hope I get some answers out of you folks, my five die-hard readers! (You know who you are, Mom, Vegas, Shirley, Randy, and Jill!)
*EDIT*
my six die-hard readers! (You know who you are, Mom, Ashley, Vegas, Shirley, Randy, and Jill!)
Now it's back to work for the weekend, which will be a nice change from last weekend, which was CRAZY busy. Since the holidays are over and the big cash giveaways are over, things will calm down a bit. I hear January and February and lame at work, which will give me some time to relax and catch my breath a bit.
The new queen size mattress is wonderful!! I love it, and even though I've yet to get a full night's sleep on it (I keep waking up in the middle of the night for some reason), I think it's great to have all that space to spread out and sleep with.
Isn't it beautiful? I've already ripped the new sheets for it! Not the fitted sheet, but the flat one, when I was taking it off for laundry. It got caught on the bed frame. Stupid metal bed frames. I'm not used to those things.
Anywho...Oh, I have a quick survey, 'cause I noticed this during my student teaching; when the students are learning to type on computer programs, it only has them put one space after the period. After you end a sentence, do you put one space, or two spaces? I space twice after a period. Is that weird? A thing of the past? Who knows. It feels weird to only put one space after a period. Anyway...stupid question, but I hope I get some answers out of you folks, my five die-hard readers! (You know who you are, Mom, Vegas, Shirley, Randy, and Jill!)
*EDIT*
my six die-hard readers! (You know who you are, Mom, Ashley, Vegas, Shirley, Randy, and Jill!)
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Owwie
It's 3am. I'm up in the middle of the night with a headache because I went to bed with one. If I go to sleep with a headache, I wake up with one 10x worse. I couldn't take any ibuprofen or Advil before bed because I'd had a screwdriver earlier. Urg. Kill me now. It won't go away.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)