Life in the Little World.

I Hate Myself Somedays...

2008-08-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've actually updated this, and there's a lot I could say, but the past couple of days have taught me that for some reason, I'm unable to actually be in a healthy relationship.

Basically, in the past couple of weeks, I'd been hanging out with a girl I worked with. As far as I was concerned, it was all a friendship thing, and I honestly wasn't going to push it further than that simply because she was one of the few people in this town that I didn't despise.

This weekend, she invited me over to her place to watch the football game with her roommates. I jumped at the chance, mainly because I'm a huge football fan, but the opportunity to hang out outside of work and actually get away from my place was an added bonus. So, we watched the game, and then she convinced me to join her roommates and go over to some place in the country to go drinking. I could mildly tell that she was starting to...get a little closer to me, but again I left it along and didn't really assume anything.

When we got back to her place, we watched TV for a bit, and for the first time in the night she sat right next to me. And I do mean *right* next to me. After a couple of episodes, her roommates went to bed, and she asked me if I wanted to go to her room and watch a movie. I said sure, finally starting to figure out that there was something going on.

As we watched the first movie, we started getting close, snuggling up together and just talking about stupid things. Once the second movie came around, we eventually started making out. I suppose to a little degree I was trying to go a little fast, but she told me to slow it down at one point and I fully did. While I may have had a few beers, I was still smart enough to not do anything she didn't want to do. After a little while she started to look sleepy, so I asked her if I should leave. She may have been a little hesitant, but I told her I'd talk to her later, and we both kissed each other goodnight.

Leaving her house, in the rain no less, I felt like I was on top of the world. I couldn't see anything bad coming from it. Or so I thought.

When I woke up, I realized that I forgot my cell phone at her house. I texted her over the computer that I was an idiot and would be over later to pick it up. I didn't see nay harm in it. When I got there, she answered the door, looked at me, went into the next room, handed me my phone, and basically walked away. I was beyond confused, but I simply said hey to her roommate and walked away.

On Monday, when I saw her next, she wasn't talking to me or even looking at me. I tried texting her once I got off work to see if she wanted to talk because something was wrong, and all she texted me back was that she couldn't talk but nothing was going on. And yet, I'm still getting the silent treatment.

Honestly, the biggest thing that's making me upset was that I've lost a friend. I'd give up everything that happened on Saturday night and any future chance of a serious romantic relationship just to have her talk to me again. She was one of the only people in this town that I could get along with, and without her this town just doesn't seem as fun anymore.

I'm probably gonna give her a couple of days to try and talk to her, but it's just painful in the meantime. Grrrrrr.....

I Know What I Know

2007-07-08T22:39:00.001-07:00

Well, there was good news and bad news from my date last weekend.

Good news: The date, in my mind, went amazing. We ended up going to Tim Horton's and spending about an hour talking to each other about pretty much everything. Hell, I even told her the whole story behind my ex girlfriend, and she came right back with one of her own and made me feel like it didn't even affect me. Plus, like I've been telling all my friends, it was nice to talk to a girl who wasn't an angry, annoying, emo slut. Aren't I nice?

The bad news: She was going to the Maritimes for two weeks the day after Sunday. It was one of those things that when you first hear it, you're like "Aw crap - I really scared that one away", but we did want to get together when she came back. It was a pretty bad situation for me, because it felt like I was getting a free sample of something, but wasn't allowed to buy it and give it a longer shot. I'm looking forward to this weekend when she comes back and I can hopefully get together with her again. I've had such bad luck in the past, and I'm hoping that I can break that streak.

Time will tell, I suppose.

-Patrick

Only the Young

2007-06-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Man, this week has been AWESOME!

First of all, I had a forty hour week last week, thanks to a couple of extra shifts. I also have my first CSM shift tomorrow, which I'm pumped for. All in all, work is going great, even considering that my ex-girlfriend got rehired (How she got it is a complete mystery to most of the staff). I tell you, some things boggle the mind. Nevertheless, I've basically avoided all unnecessary contact with her, and things have been going well.

After a long month of waiting, SaskTel finally got the Motorola KRZR in, and I picked up the first one yesterday! I absolutely love that phone, and I'm still trying to figure out all of the funky features in it.

Possibly the best thing that's happened was a phone call from a old friend on Thursday. I had been good friends with her a couple of years ago, and I had seen her at my work a few weeks ago, and I had started thinking about her the past little while. When I came home from work, my dad told me that "some girl" phoned asking for me, but she didn't leave any information. Later on, my mom told me that that person had phoned early and had left all her information. I phoned her on Friday, and we agreed to head to the movies tomorrow night. I'm so crazily pumped for tomorrow night it isn't even funny!

-Patrick

Put On Your Bravest Face

2007-05-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Only nine days left until grad. Only twenty-six days left until my last final. I tell you, it's starting to scare the living crap out of me. As much as you hate going to school, it scares you to think about leaving that place forever.

To get my last depressing news out of the way, I've determined that I am the epitome of someone who is completely nervous around women. Frankly, I'm quite sick of it. If I don't get the courage to talk to them more, I end up talking to them too much and decide that I wouldn't want to risk our friendship by dating. It's a pretty sad line, and I really hope I can change that soon.

But enough of the bad stuff, because it just weighs me down. Cash Office is going well, and I get my first solo shift in there on Monday. It's a lot of paperwork, and I'm mildly concerned that I won't remember it all, but so long as I don't end up missing money, I'll be happy at the end of the day. It's a very demanding job, and while I like it as a change of pace, I couldn't see myself doing it forty hours a week.

And while we're talking about jobs, I've had an interesting side job offer this week as well. I'm going to keep hush-hush about it until I get more details, though, but it's damn near a dream come true.

-Patrick Fisher

All These Things I Wish Weren't Done

2007-04-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Some days, I really hate my life. Not in the "I'm ready to end it kind of hate", but more along the lines of "Why does nothing ever seem to want to go my way" hate. Guess who's the only kind of person who could make me think of that? Yep, the same old.

About a week ago, and for some unknown reason too, I started thinking about her again. And then, to make matters worse, I saw her today. At work. At a place where it was physically impossible to avoid her. See where I'm going at? Yeah, it was just great fun. Never in my life did I think that one person could completely change my life, but it happened. Always remember that!

Trying to break into positives, I ordered my tux for grad on Friday, and next weekend I start working in the back office at work. Remind me to make another happy post later this week.

Keep on Truckin'

2007-03-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

I'm very thankful that my life's levelled off again. Personally, I'm sick of having to deal with all the various bullshit I've had within the last few months or so. For the time being, I'm gonna try sticking with the "Screw this!"philosophy when it comes to dating, and I'm gonna try focusing on being with my friends, who've rarely seen me.

Work's going great. Come April 14th, I'm going back up front, and I'm finally, officially, becoming a supervisor, thanks in part to a new front end manager. Electronics has simply pissed me off too much to even start ranting about, although now that I'm going, Stephanie is actually being nicer to me now and treating me more along the lines of how I expected to be treated. Oh well, might as well end on good terms.

I ended up taking on a job redesigning the website for my old elementary school, which would have probably been more fun if I had actual time to dedicate to it. I should be finished in a week or so though, which makes me happy.

Grad's sneaking up ever so closer now, which is both good and bad. It's still hard to believe that in two months I'll be graduating. Lucky me.

-Patrick

Know When to Hold Them, Know When to Fold Them.

2007-02-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

Man, I almost forgot about this blog! Part of me feels frustrated, but another part of me wants to make a super-long post recalling every single event that's happened to me in the past two months. In the end though, I think I'd rather just share one moment that I really want to get off my chest.

About two weeks ago, I got a text message from my ex-girlfriend. She said that she found a new place in town to eat that was simply amazing, and that she'd be willing to buy for me as a late Christmas gift. I, being the ever-anxious eater, accepted the offer without any hesitation. The way I saw it, I would simply get my meal and move on with the night. Harmless, right?

When we got there, one of the first things she brings up is the fact that she dumped her current boyfriend (Who was the one that she cheated on me with). Right about then, I was tempted to just make up some excuse about having to leave and walk away. But I didn't. I instead chose to hear her go on and on about how screwed up her life is now. I, on the other hand, chowed down, trying to change the topics as often as possible with no success.

Once we hit the car after supper, she notices that the time is early and asks if I want to rent a movie. Of course, I'm slightly naive, I suppose, and figure that it could lead to no harm. We end up watching BenchWarmers, which is possibly one of the stupidest movies I have ever seen. However, the movie goes fine, as I'm smart enough to stay on the other end of the couch, knowing that physical distance is best.

Then, out of practically nowhere, she moves closer to my face and starts to kiss me. What's worse: I couldn't stop it. Half of my body was screaming at me not to do it, but my other half was doing nothing. Absolutely nothing. I wanted so badly to just stop and leave, but I didn't. I couldn't. Some part of me wasn't letting me.

This continued on for almost twenty minutes, going much farther than I had ever anticipated or wanted. Finally, we both managed to pull away, and I bolted. I barely said goodbye. I needed to get the hell out of there. The entire car ride home was filled with me shaking and basically swearing at myself. How could I have let it happen? I ran through the whole night and tried to make sure that nothing like that would happen!

I'm thankful that there was at least someone there to keep me sane. A friend of mine, who I've known since about grade nine, was experiencing a similar problem. Well, not exactly the same as almost sleeping with you're twice ex, but she had a dick of a first boyfriend. I tell you, if I didn't have her then, I can't even fathom what would have happened later.

With any luck, I'll remember to make a post about the ultimately less-serious things within a week.

-Patrick

A New Year, A New Set of Expectations.

2007-01-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

The holiday season seemed to sneak up and attack me rather suddenly. It might have been the fact that I actually had homework near the end of the year, the fact that work becomes 50% of my life again, or simply the fact that I really didn't want the holidays to come. Not that I hate them, but they go by too quickly, and it really never seems that you get proper time to enjoy them.

Work, along with life in general, have been going well. Not many changes to speak of, which is both good and bad in their own respects. I have about five months left until I graduate, and one final semester before I really decide what I want to do in life. Surprisingly, I'm not really scared, as I think that what I'm interested in will make a rewarding career.

Seeing as this is the last time that I'll still have a bit of guidance and understanding of what's coming up ahead in life, I really want to focus on improving myself as much as I can. Call them New Year's resolutions, but I just want to cure a few weaknesses I have.

1. Exercise More: A couple of years ago, I used to work out every school day at lunch. I loved that feeling. It really didn't make me cooler in any fashion, I never got half the muscle mass that I desired, but it made me feel good. I'm probably stronger for doing it, and I really want to get into that again.

2. Overcome my lack of confidence: When it comes to asserting beliefs, there are certain points that I can talk the talk, but I completely back down when I actually have to perform what I intended. I want to be able to say exactly what I'm thinking without worrying about pleasing the other person. Life isn't always pretty; people should know that by now.

3. Courage with the opposite gender: This, by far, is the weakness I hate admitting to myself. When it comes to females, I can have a perfectly good conversation, talk about topics fairly in-depth and create an interesting discussion, but when it comes to actually getting the courage to ask them out, I fall apart like warm Jell-O. No matter how I think to myself that even if I get rejected life will go on, I always delay it until I feel that the "Time is right". I want the all or nothing approach to life. I've made a fool of myself many a times before, and I've simply laughed it off. All I need to do is treat those situations the exact same.

To 2006, I say good riddance. With a bright future free of school coming up in the next year, I look forward to the glow that 2007's giving off. Happy New Year!

-Patrick

Tough Times Demand Tough Talk.

2006-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

You know you haven't made an entry in a while when you actually have to look at your last post to figure out all the things that have changed in your life. At least I haven't abandoned this project completely.

As nice as it was to have a week off, I really wished that I had worked it now. During that time, my car ended up needing over $700 worth of repairs. Not cool. Thanks to that, I now owe my parents $300 which I still have yet to repay, as my last paycheck was less than $180.

On the Friday of my week off, a couple of my coworkers had a Halloween party, which was a blast. I went as a Hudorite (A word I'm sure I spelled wrong), which probably wasn't the best of taste, but it was private. Possibly the best moment of that whole party was when we went pumpkin-bashing and lit off a few cherry bombs. We learned the hard way that they're a lot louder than you'd expect.

Going to work related things, I've finally managed to escape being a Cashier/Courtesy Desk worker, and I'm headin' to Electonics! Thanks to the manager of Electronics pulling rank on my current manager, I'm ending up there in about ten days instead of going after Christmas. Part of me feels sorry for the "Front-End", but the other realizes that my current manager is new, pays no attention to the actual number of staff on a night and just does as the computer says, and rips me off in the hour department. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance until you can get your act together.

Thankfully, out town has evaded winter...for now. Up in Saskatoon, they've received a insane amount of snow, which simply boggles the mind. Here, we're enjoying temperatures in the low pluses, which isn't a complaint at all. Let's hope that the nest time I post, I won't be seeing white. :)

-Patrick Fisher

The End.

2006-10-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

I broke up with my girlfriend on Monday. I realised that she was cheating on me, and that the only reason I was still around was because he lived a good four hours away. I deserve better than her, and I know that now. And I can tell you, when she tries to come back to me in a month like I'm fairly sure she will do, I know that I'm smart enough the not do it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

So thanks to that, I'm feeling great. Got a week of vacation from work coming up, and that will be great fun.

-Patrick Fisher

All These Things I've Done

2006-09-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

When I went to post this entry, I was thinking to myself "Geez...I probably haven't posted in a good month. However, this is actually my second post in a week. I tell you, I'm off to a good start right now.

My girlfriend didn't get the job. Not because she decided against it, but her mom decided for her. It isn't fair, but I'm secretly happy for myself. I feel partially guilty for it, but now that she has a job here, I feel a bit better.

Before I get on to job related news on my end (Which is actually the main reason why I'm posting this), I want to say that Central did pay for my car's damages and my car is now fixed. It's always nice to have a happy car, and I'm glad they fixed it with relatively little hassle.

As for work, it's going to take a sharp turn soon. Yesterday, I went into my store manager's office to talk to him about a new feature on the company's website. It was all about planning your future in the company. For me, that was to simply look into getting trained in a higher level position. Not get shifts in it even, just to have the knowledge of how to do it in case they needed me.

I explained that situation to him, and he sympathized. He then asked me if I had ever thought of moving even higher in the company. I had, and do, as while many people tend to slam Wal-Mart, it truely is an interesting store to work in. That's when he told me this:

"Well, the other managers, as well as myself, have noticed your strong leadership and knowledge, so we'd like to get you started on a light management training course."

Now that truely shocked me. I had always assumed that those positions were left to people who had degrees and went to business school and such, but I've apparently been wrong. He told me that the huge Supercenters are just sucking up managers, and that they're looking for potential managers inside the company before they go outside. What an idea!

So now, I'm going to get the training I was originally looking for, and then from what I understand, they're basically going to rotate me around the floor and get me to gain as much knowledge and experience as I can, and after that, I have no idea, but I look forward to it. I've already started a personal development plan that my manager wanted me to do, so the wheels are starting to get in motion. I tell you, this should get very interesting soon.

-Patrick

A Roller Coaster of a Month.

2006-09-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm really starting to hate weeks in which I wonder if anything else worse could happen in my life. It's sad, because all of the bad things still have some kind of incoherant good in them, but I have yet to see the affects of any of it.

To start of the glorious chain of bad, I'm on my third six-day week in a row. I've been called in two weeks in a row to pick up shifts, and I have just been swamped. I haven't had time to relax or see my girlfriend at all (More on her later). Yesterday, I had finally snapped and decided to request a week off near the end of October. I figured that if I gave myself a week to cool off, I'd be ready to face the Christmas rush and doing what I'm doing now for a good solid month in a row.

I had great fun with my car last week as well. Long story short, not only did my car refuse to start for me, but the tow truck driver who had to haul it to the garage managed to damage it on the way there. Luckily for me, my dad and I went up to the company's office and showed them, and they've agreed to fix it free of charge (It's going in tomorrow, so I'll have it back by the weekend). What annoys me about that whole situation is that even now, the tow truck driver is still claiming his innocence and believes that they shouldn't pay for it. Can you not admit that you screwed up and that you need to make things right? Goodness gracious...

The final bombshell was dropped today. I was talking to my girlfriend briefly, and I found out that she was offered a job.....in Prince Albert. Four hours away from me. If anything, I think that was possibly the worst news I've had all month. Just as I finally get her back, she's potentially going to leave.

It's been hitting me all week. I knew that she had potentially wanted to get a job in Regina, which is a much more reasonable hour away, but this? It's got me completely stumped. I'd love to just tell her I don't know if I could handle her moving that far away, but that isn't fair to her. She wants to get out of her house bad, and this is the perfect chance for her, and I would hate to make her stay and then have her regret it.

It's confusing in the fact that she doesn't even know anyone up there. Well, she's known one guy up there for about a week. Maybe that's the reason? I don't know. I honestly don't know anymore. I'd love to say that I've figured it all out, but I can't, and I doubt I ever will.

-Patrick Fisher

Back in the Old Groove.

2006-08-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I've almost survived through my first full week back at school. It feels so weird to finally be in grade 12 and to think about what will happen ten months from now. I'm happy I stayed sensible and took a last period spare though - that was probably one of the best ideas I could have ever had. Morale is really boosted when you go home an hour earlier than everyone else.

Probably even bigger news is that I got back together with my old girlfriend. I swear, it must have been one of the most difficult things I've ever had to think about doing. When we had broken up, I was crushed, but I had managed to get over it by making myself think that I could do better than her. I told all my friends that it was the best thing that had happened, and that I loved being single.

But I didn't.

As much as I tried to keep the strong facade to others, I still thought about her almost daily. I kept trying to convince myself that it was normal, and that I'd get over her soon. Over five weeks after we had broken up, I still continuously thought of her, and it was driving me mad. I wanted her back, but I had no idea where she was in life. As far as I knew, she had probably started going out with someone else and left me in the dust.

It was Sunday when I had learned that she was feeling the same way, and although my heart kept pushing me to get back together, my mind was worried about what my friends would think of me. One of my better friends had been put in a similar situation a long time ago where his ex-girlfriend had wanted him back, and that went even farther than crashing and burning.

So, after staying up fairly late in the night thinking about it, I decided to at least talk to her. It was strange - I had expected it to be more awkward than it actually turned out. When we talked, it reminded me of why I would think of her, and I decided that talking to her face to face was the best option.

Best option was certainly right. As soon as I saw her, I knew that it was the right choice. We had a lot of problems shortly before we broke up, but I think that separating for a bit was probably the best thing that we ever could have done. I believe that we both matured from it, and that we both realize how much we mean to each other. I really think that it's going to work out.

Well, at least I'll try to believe it out loud.

-Patrick

2006-08-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

People never cease to amaze me. At one point in time, stupiud people amuzed me, but now it's got to the point where I despise them and wish that they'd learn a little thing called constructive thought. A man can dream, can't he?

I start school again next week, and my feelings are mixed. On one hand, it sucks, because I really don't want to go back to school at all, but the other hand reminds me that I do only have one year left before it no longer concerns me. It's a tough call, as this summer I've really got to experience what it's like to dedicate yourself to work, and I almost liked that better than being in school. Money wasn't even a factor - I just really enjoyed solving unexpected problems, being able to think on my feet, and having to make decisions that had relatively great impacts on the business. I'm hoping that they don't cut my hours throughout the next few weeks.

Still, I'm sure school won't seem too bad once I get started again. Only ten months left of it!

-Patrick Fisher

DON'T you tell ME to STOP.

2006-07-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

So many ramblings....so little time.

I finally have a new car. My sister's coworker had a 1980 Pontiac Parisienne for sale, and I bought it for $1700. Not too bad of a deal, considering that the only thing that's really 26 years old in the car is the chassis. The engine's been rebuilt, there's a new paint job on the sides of the car, there's a brand new tranny in it. It's a thing of beauty, really. I had to get the passenger door fixed today, but that's routine maintanence when the door weighs a thousand pounds.

I survived my first courtesy desk shift, although only barely. It was a fairly steady night, and I barely had anytime to rest or do any of the other half a dozen things I'm supposed to do up there (Including pages, but that was probably for the better). After that, I worked my second one on Sunday night, and it was a ghost town. I was literally *finding* work for myself to do. I had all my pages planned out about two hours before closing, and I had the whole area shining. I was impressed. What impresses me more is that come the next two weeks, desk shifts are the only things I'm going to be getting. Score!

Also on a work-related note, now that we're about to have a new manager to control our area, there's talk again of trying to get a group of about 3 or 4 people trained to be supervisors, including me. It's still talk, but it's good to know I'm not just garbage up there.

In future news, I'm headin' over to my good buddy Ryan's house tomorrow for a bit of B'ball and booze. Good times abound, I'm sure.

-Patrick

What doesn't kill me only makes me angrier.

2006-07-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

My girlfriend and I broke up yesterday, and it wasn't a very pretty sight. It ended up being filled with anger rather than the ol' "Let's just be friends". I'd almost rather have that, as the way she broke up with me was possibly the worst way imaginable.

I'll never admit it to her, but at least I learned how to deal with big problems when we broke up. I feared when it first happened that I would immediately break down (Monday wasn't the best of days for me either, and that certainly didn't help), but my friends managed to help me through it and realise she wasn't worth losing sleep over. Amen to that.

But that's over now. No more of it.

Onto good news: I have started writing a novel, although I might change the topic altogether now. It was still good to just write and not have to worry about keeping it a certain length or following certain criteria.

I may have finally found a great car, and I'm going to look at it in about an hour, so I pray that goes well.

With any luck, my week is slowly starting to get better, and next week I have a full Courtesy Desk shift, so I look forward to that. That, and having more free time on my hands.

-Patrick

Life in the Fast Lane.

2006-06-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Work got me hectic again. With seven people calling in sick again yesterday and a few today, I managed to increase my hours there while sacrificing two days off that I could have had....without my parents around. I'm a bit annoyed, but that's life, I suppose. First priority is the dollar, second priority is the time.

There's a lot of other work-esque things that I could go on for hours bitching about, but I really don't feel like it. I have one day off tomorrow, and I plan on using it to my advantage. I'm not gonna even think about stepping inside that building until I absolutely have to.

I haven't done much searching for a new car....still. I'm still in the part of dreading it. I didn't want to do this, and in my mind, postponing it makes it seem like I'll never have to do it. I'd better work on it soon, though. If I know what's good for me.

-Patrick Fisher

Judgement Calls.

2006-06-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

Work all of the sudden became interesting starting a week ago, and it managed to progress itself from simple "new learning" to "potential for promotion" within the span of about a week. I'm not sure if that's a new record or not, but it's suddenly given me a spark of pride and respect for the front end, and may be enough to reject any proposition for a transfer by a manager, something I have bugged them about for a while.

It all started a week from Sunday. I was working until 7 with my favourite CSM, Jon, and it had become ridiculously dead. He had sent me zoning for a while, until he called me back up.

"Have you ever done a layaway before?"

"Nope"

"Want to learn how?"

Sure! Why not? It's a change, and it may mean that I can occasionally go off till every once in a while.

So we went back, and while I wasn't ctually able to do it, he showed me the whole steps behind it, and how to do it all. A few days later, I managed to con another CSM to actually walk me through it, and I was then layaway trained. Nothing major, but definitely a happy step for me.

In order for me to ensure that I would be able to do them, I wanted to make sure that all the CSMs knew that I was trained in there. They were all very happy about it, meaning that they wouldn't need to go there as often, as I'm pretty sure they have some kind of aversion to it. Whatever. It means "off front till" time for me.

The last CSM I saw was Sheila, who is an amazingly funny and wonderful person to deal with. I had just walked in for lunch, and decided to tell her that I was now trained, in case there would be any layaways that night that I could do.

"Wow...that's great! I'm sure that'll really help push your case"

What the...? Had they planned on firing me or something? That can't be right - I'm one of their best part time cashiers out there. Surely they wouldn't fire me.

"Oh no, it's about the oppertunity to get you a promotion"

At this point in time, up until about ten seconds from now, a "promotion" to me would be to move onto the floor and work there. In other words, get as far away from the front checkouts as possible.

This was about to drastically change.

"Well, it's isn't official yet, but I'm getting support to have you trained as a part-time CSM"

Hello! Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be able to get *that* position! Wow....that made the floor seem rather insignificant now.

So, during my lunch, she went on to tell me the whole situation. I apparently have the support of our personnel manager, and of another CSM along with her. The big thing is to have the manager approve and to get me trained. Fair enough. Now, this is still, in my mind, a relatively long shot, but my hopes are high.

Come yesterday, I was closing with Jon. I mentioned that my weekend was interesting, and he immediately realised how. We got into another discussion as well, and he then decided to give them all the reason in the world to see me as a good candidate for the job. He trained me behind the desk, and while I've only done one, I've essentially trained myself. This means I can now do everything up front, and would only need to be trained int he actual tasks of a CSM in order to do it. I'll be sure to keep updating everyone on this as I can, but I am certainly pumped to see what the future holds.

-Patrick

Long Time No See.

2006-06-13T22:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I know. Not only have I completely given up on my New Year's resolution, but I've also remotely given up on my hobby. And, since I've looked into going to University and becoming a writer, I figure I'd better get everyone back up to speed on the past three months of my life.

Probably the most notable was that I got a new car. A 1985 Lincoln Town Car. Yes, a boat, but I loved it all the same. Yes, loved, as in past tense, but I'll explain later. This car is fully loaded, and although it has some minor cosmetic issues, it still runs fine, and was a helluva steal at $800. That thing drove me around in style.

Up until a few days ago, work continued to be the same old, same old. My girlfriend quit about a month ago, not because we had broke up or anything, but she had simply become sick of it. Understandable. About three days after she quit, my manager was transferred to Regina which, ironically, was one of the reasons she quit. Ouch. Well, that happens to be life for you, and there isn't a lot that can be done about it.

My family and I went up to Saskatoon over Easter, and it was nice to get away from work for a few days. We went to my Grandma's for Easter supper, maxxed out on food (Like usual), and then stayed an extra night this year. That was greatly appreciated, as it made the travel back much less daunting.

About two weeks ago now, I ended up in an accident with my car. While I was driving out of our school's parking lot, someone backed into me, creating $4500 worth of damage on my car, and a bunch of white paint on her car. My car's been written off, and about the only thing good that's come from that is that I'll be getting $500 more than I paid for the car. Not too bad, but it still makes me sad. I loved that car, and to have to give it up like that is the worst possible thing to do.

My oldest sister has finally moved out of the house, thank God. I swear, I don't know how, but she manages to push my buttons more than some of my most annoying customers. We still aren't fully rid of her, as she tends to constantly poke her nose in whenever she feels like it. It stresses everyone in my family out, but there's nothing anyone can say to her that would stop her.

That's about it for background. I really wanted to make this post just so I felt caught up and could write my next one, which I plan on doing, ooh, right about now.

-Patrick

Things Never to Do.

2006-03-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not proud of it, but I ended up being slighty intoxicated at school today thanks to a friend who decided that it would be cool to bring a coke and rum to school. It didn't last long, thankfully, but it's one of those things that I swear I will never do again. Alcohol at 8:30 in the morning is never a good thing, even at a fairly small amount.

Trust me, while school sucks, it sucks even worse with the stuff running through your veins. Lucky for me, it only lasted about halfways through my first class, and then I was left with a very small but annoying headache. Probably God punishing me, and I don't blame him.

"Life Happens. And When it Does, It Sucks. Bad."

2006-02-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

I hate my life. Well, I don't, but I hate the situation that I'm currently in. After working more than 7 months, I don't have enough money for a car yet. This means that I have had to issue myself ultimatums. No going out for food, no extravent spending, or what I've classified as "nothing fun that costs money".

Phooey.

The only ultimatum that I don't mind is that once I get my March 24th paycheck, I'm getting a car. I don't care if it's a bit of a junker - I'll have money for repairs and fuel, and life will be good. Even if I have to make payments, life will go on. Whether I like it or not.

Spring break starts next week, and my hope is that I can pick up as many shifts as possible in that time. Man, this is going to be a very long 42 days.

Captain Hypocrite Strikes Again!

2006-01-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

Last post, I spoke of how badly working in pets and seasonal was.

Today, I'm thinking about transfering there.

Actually, I'm thinking about transfering anywhere other than up front. And if anyone asks, I'm blaming them too. For the past two weeks, I've been juggled around from pets and seasonal to electronics and then cash again. I'm sure they must have thought that I'd get wise to how nice the floor is. Then again, I wouldn't be suprised if they didn't either. Point is - I need to get away. Far away.

Onto non-work matters, our family got a new barbeque. A nice Char-Broil. Better yet, since I gave them a discount on it (Yes, that was work related), they're going to chip in to my choir trip to Winnipeg. Score!

My mom magically forced me to pay 50% on a cell phone that she was so insistent to get. One night, after work, at about 11:30 while I was in bed, she comes in and starts telling me how good of an idea a cell phone is. At 11:30 at night, I don't care if I won the lottery. I just want to go to sleep. So, I apparently agreed with her and she told my dad to get it ASAP.

Better yet, my dad was telling me that I should be able to get my car at the beginning of April thanks to this good weather we've been having here. I don't care if it's a $100 junker - I just need to have a car. Desperatly.

The Infinite Circle of Confusion.

2006-01-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

Remeber how, a couple of posts back, that I was so excited to be having a weekend off? And that I didn't care what, but I wouldn't come into work?

Well, I came into work yesterday.

But it wasn't as bad as it sounded....yet. Ithe was told that I was just supposed to help the person in seasonal and pets. That doesn't sound too bad, does it? Of course not. I water some plants and sort some pet food. Much better than putting up with the crap up front. And, when you're on the floor, you can wander around the store willingly. Who wouldn't want to get paid for that? Well, in actuality, it ended up being a bit more work than I expected.

First of all, I was actually covering four departments. Those four departments took up a whole corner of the store. One of them was toys, and that area is always a mess. Lots of work for me there. Secondly, I didn't have access to a Telxon, which is a fancy tool to check inventory. When you need to look up big items such as barbeques, I need to borrow someone elses. It's not a major problem, but it's more of an annoyance.

Thirdly, I was also in charge of sporting goods. While you'd think "Hey! That sounds like it'd be fun. Having to deal with ammo and such", it wasn't. Mainly because I'm under the legal age of selling them, and the manager had no idea that I was covering. If someone had come from the government to check something out, I probably would have been in deep crap. If my manager came as I was selling something, I would be in guaranteed crap. Luckily, I only had to make one sale of ammo, and it was to a couple of older guys who I'm sure didn't care. Heck, I even said at one point that I was only sixteen, and they didn't care. Good deal for me, I guess.

I did get to catch fish, and I found that enjoyable. So, all in all, I didn't really mind it. I'll just never be able to enjoy cashing ever again.

Routines Suck, but that's Routine...

2006-01-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

I'm back in school. It sucks.

Second semester is a whole pileload of crap right now. Which is stupid, because my first semester actually turned out to be unsuspectingly cool. Math was easy and didn't require that I do my homework. My sciences were relatively easy and simple. I even had a class where I got to do a whole lot of nothing and not get yelled at. Now, I'm taking the same sciences at a higher level, meaning that my teachers are twenty times more strict about everything, I have to take English with a teacher who everyone hates, there aren't anyone interesting in any of my classes, and my biology teacher still hates me. Yippee-yo-ky-ah. If we didn't get out earlier, there would be nothing good happening this semester. Won't this be fun?

The Circle of Life. Err, um, lights.

2006-01-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

Christmas tree lights suck. Me and my dad have spent about two hours trying to get one strand of lights to go back on, but it isn't working, and it's bugging the hell out of me. We've checked every light individually, checked every socket, and done about everything possible. Man, someone needs to invent a Christmas Light Diagnostic Set that can determine *exactly* where faults occur. Man, that guy could get rich pretty quick.

Although in happier news, I'm finally getting a weekend off of work. Of course, that's good enough as it is, but as luck turns out, my parents are going out of town for the weekend too! Can you say "Score"! Bonus! Jackpot! Man, I'm looking forward to it now. More so than Christmas, my birthday, and Easter combined!

The Basis of Rock Music Videos

2006-01-06T10:16:00.000-08:00

So I bought Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" music DVD yesterday. It was only twelve bucks, so I figured "Hey! That's a pretty good deal for ninteen music videos!". Turns out, more than half of them are just the band playing at some concert, another quarter is of a side plot that you never really figure out while a band plays at some form of concert, and the other quarter are actually interesting videos, although the band still plays at some form of venue. Yeah, that was *really* worth my money now, wasn't it?

And speaking of things that were messed up, I ended up watching the movie "Rumor has it" last night. It wasn't too bad of a flick, but there was one part that absolutly disturbed me. Disturbed me to the point of almost throwing up, I swear. ONe guy, for reasons I don't even want to know or get into, managed to sleep with three generations of one family. Three! Can you even imagine trying to explain that to someone?

Creepy, I tell you. Extra-creepy.

A Lack of Taste.

2006-01-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

Never! And I repeat, never, take fashion advice from people. Of course, I'm sure you're now expecting something along the lines of me saying "Someone conned me into buying a lime green dress shirt with a magenta tie", but I'm much too smart for that. Honestly!

No, this one invloves wasting time listening to girls trying to tell you that clothing would look "cute" or "adorable" on you. I was shopping tpday, and one of my girlfriend's friends saw me, and decided to drag me around the store looking for weird and tacky clothes to try on. I, however, am smarter than that, and while I tried most of the crap on to amuse her, I refused to buy it. Then, she pulled out the big guns.

"But girls absolutly love guys who wear that!"

Suuuuure. I'm sure all the girls would flock to me if I wore a pink dress shirt. Either that, or I'd get beat up everytime I wore the thing in public. Sheesh!

"So his head spun around, but it didn't explode?"

2006-01-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm freshly convinced that there are two kinds of people in life - those who decide "To hell with it!" and refuse to make any kinds of commitments whatsoever, and those who can't say no and end up taking on a million more things than they can handle. I'm guilty of the latter.

Between work, my girlfriend, school, and all of the other crap I'm agreed to (Most of which isn't crap, I might add), I have absolutly no time to myself.

And here I am. Spending a good ten minutes writing a blog entry about it. How sad is that?

Hell, maybe that should have been my New Year's resolution -to cut back on the things I promise to do. That would be a lot better.

Work is getting more and more annoying as time goes on, I'm finding. Not only is my boss the epitome of unintelligence, but she's starting to be rather evil when it comes to schedualing. I found out last night that she schedualed it so that me and my girlfriend worked alternating nights. What an evil bunch of crap! This is just increasing my reason to look for another position in the store.

Portrait of the Sleep Deprived

2006-01-02T20:56:00.000-08:00

My New Year's resolution for the year - write more. Yes, I do a lot of writing already, but a lot of it is just generic comedy that I manage to force out pretty quick. So, I ask, what better way to write more then to start a blog.....again? Still, I resolve to actually make regular posts in this one. Honest!

Well, maybe I should start big things like this when I have more sleep. I swear, in the past 48 hours, I have had a grand total of about 8 hours of sleep. Sure, some people can live off of that much, but I can't! So sue me.

New Year's was pretty good, mainly because I spent time with my girlfriend, but even my time with my family wasn't too bad. Having to get up 3 hours after I fell asleep on New Year's Day was about the worst of it. Hell, I even felt the effects of it today. When I was working today, there was one point where I literally couldn't even keep my hand steady for two seconds. My girlfriend probably thought that I was cracking up, and I probably was. I had a cold sweat, the chills, and I felt like absolute crap. Thank goodness for caffeine though. You'd think it would make it worse, but I felt a lot better after a couple of glasses of Coke.

And I'm still drinking it now, 11 o'clock at night, at a time when I should be trying to increase my sleep. I have tomorrow off, so I'm not overly worried.