Well, well, well...

So, my laptop is either dead or in a very secretive state of suspended animation...kinda like Walt Disney, I guess...except I know where my laptop is and there still seems to be very minor signs of possible life... ... . Anyway, I suppose it's hopeful that it might pull through if I can fund its resuscitation even though it totally sucks that it's on the IR indefinitely. Lamest part is all the programs I no longer have access to since I'm using my mom's PC now and I don't wanna risk messing it up by downloading stuff (a fear I did not have while using my Mac.) This means no more Photoshop, FinalCut, Limewire, or anything else fun for a while. I'm pretty clever though, I'm sure I'll figure something out. I'm already working on disassembling my MacBook Pro to see if there's any glaringly obvious mishaps I can remedy. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes. The one nice thing is I no longer have to use apple-V to type the letter "e" any more, though it has been strange remembering how to type with all 26 working letters.

I visited my favorite place in the world this past Saturday and it was wonderful. Semi-bittersweet, but much, much more sweet than bitter. I must give a huge THANK YOU!!!!! to Paul Rico, Erica Matulich, and Natalie Duarte for the love they showed me during Celebrate. It warmed my heart in a very special way and made me feel, more than anything else that day did (and that is saying a lot), like I was truly home. I love and miss all of you still there and hope that someday very soon, my path will lead me back.

On that note, I am currently ::euphemism alert:: perusing my employment options. I want to find something that will allow me to get my saving back on track so I will be able to manage a deposit for a place of my own again. A bit long sighted I know, but isn't it better than just watching the tip of my nose? Although, I suppose I don't want to fall into not seeing the trees for the forest. Ahhh...the fine balance of life...I just searched for a good 5-10 minutes looking for a suitable quote about balance, I was really hoping to find one with the word "razor" in it, and nothing. Lame. I even started to think of a quote I thought I knew, but when I tried to search more specifically, I couldn't find it at all. It's something along the lines of, "Our path is balanced on the razor's edge now; stray just a little in either direction and[...something, something, something]." I did find some cool quotes about balance though and so I don't feel I completely wasted that time, here they are:

“O to be self-balanced for contingencies, To confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, accidents, rebuffs as the trees and the animals do.” - Walt Whitman

"So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Smart guys, they were. Anyway, where was I? ::scroll up; read what I wrote just before tangential quote search began:: Ahh yes, job-hunting. What an epic fail of an endeavor that has been so far. I wish it was more like it sounded...job-hunting...like I could slap on some camo, grab a bow and arrow, and track and take down a job...bigger would be better. I would even use every part of the job...just to be respectful, you know, thankful for its sacrifice for my bounty and all that. I do know one thing for sure though, I DO NOT want a job where the customer can be picky (not just finicky, but, like, someone with Asperger's and OCD whose main focus is on the product I am providing) about what I provide for them. Nothing where they try to tell me I'm doing it wrong and I sometimes just want to throw it in their face and/or come to a screeching, grinding, G-inducing halt and tell them, "Clearly you know how to do my job far better than I do, even though I am the one who trained and you are coming to me and paying me to do it for you. Clearly, you must know better than me, so you get back here and make it, you blustering, vexatious, nagging, anal-retentive, know-it-all."

"But surely, you jest, Brylan. They paid for it, so they should get what they ordered. Besides, it can't be that bad."

Au contraire, my friend, there is a difference. The people you are describing are completely tolerable, usually even kind and enjoyable despite their specificity. They almost always tip, too, because they know they're kind of being a pain. no worries, though, I am glad to oblige and even perhaps provide some witty banter along with a smile. The loathsome, sub-human class of beings I speak of are far, far, farfarfar..........far, far worse. A) They probably ordered one thing but wanted something else completely, and through either illiteracy or some lacking grasp on the concept of the common courtesy of face-to-face verbal communication, boffed up their order. B) They refuse to believe, nay even allow for the possibility, that you might have some semblance of an idea of how to do your job. And they usually let you know, whether it be through a look or outright disparaging remarks. C) They didn't tip. Not even probably didn't. They didn't. Oh, and they were probably on their cell phone when they ordered, too.

Those people are the reason I could never work in food service again. Retail would be fine, no one can walk into a clothing or electronics store and proceed to tell you that you have clearly made their DVD player or jeans or what-have-you incorrectly. At least no one in their right mind. And anyone out of their right mind who tried to come in and pull that crap could be asked to leave and the company would back up the employee, rather than kowtowing to the customer's insane rants and ludicrous complaints for fear of ::gasp:: possibly losing that one person's patronage. News flash, every employee of whatever store that customer frequented would most likely be overjoyed to learn they were never coming back and when you charge insane amounts for commonplace products, I'll bet you could lose that person and not hurt the bottom line.

Phew! Sorry for that rant, folks. It kinda came out of nowhere and tried to suicide bomb my post. Luckily, instead of explosives, it seems to have taped a bunch of those trick cans of nuts filled with springy snakes to itself and everyone is fine, though startled. We can all see it now for what it was and have a good laugh over it. Ha ha ha! Ok...to continue.

I seem to have completely lost track of my point for this post, and no amount of scrolling and reading can help me find it. I guess the best way to conclude then, is to come full circle. I would really love to work at Disney again. It is fulfilling and enjoyable. Each day is fun and different. No matter the slight frustrations some guests might cause, they would never induce a rant like you've just endured. It's the only job I can truly say I always looked forward to going to. No idea on how soon I'll make it back up, but first I have to find something to help me start saving. (Just nothing in food service.)

Until next time...