I’m leaving like next month and I just now discover a much easier way to get to Costco, one that completely bypasses Umeda!!
Stupid timing!!
Less
More
Archive for January, 2008
“…her, um, feminine wiles…”?!
It’s really the “um” that blew it for me.
I hate to be a pretentious jack ass, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder about writing. I was on the train coming home from a night a Mike and Anna’s when I read that line. I promptly closed the book and started shaking with laughter. And not because the line was meant to be humorous.
Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t have bought the last two books if I didn’t like Kristen Britain’s heroine and story. But there are times when the writing really takes me out of it. I hate to say it, but I’ve read some fanfiction that was better written!
And now I’ll go straight to hell. I mean, who am I to criticize…I’m not even published, nor do I have an original story!!
But yeah. Sometimes….the writing…
It’s at least better than the damn kitchen table.
I’d like to report that things are looking up with the work situation…but then I’d be lying. I’m not even sure where to start.
A lot of you know that I’m coming home in March, and if you don’t…well, I’m coming home in March. What was originally a possible visit is starting to look a little more permanent like. I would also like to point out that my lack of a desk has still affected my updating on my blog. Just for the record.
The latest thing to happen was that people with a January or February contract (and now March contract as of yesterday) would not have their contracts renewed, which basically means we’ve been let go. I used “we” in that statement because the January/February people include, Steve, Anna, and myself. This after Steve and Anna got the e-mail run-around regarding the Option B people — there’s no job for you, ignore the e-mail saying there’s no job for you, there’s a job for you. Strangely enough, Mike was not one of the Option B people to receive the “there’s a job for you” e-mail meaning he really did have no job as of January 10th.
But wait! There’s more!
It was only last week that the January/February people were let go, and since then, as of last Saturday, they’ve started contacting other Option B people to ask them if they’d be interested in returning. Mike was included in this group.
Initially, like many of my co-workers, I was a bit confused by this chain of events. This week, I’d learned that the Option B people who were contacted were people who had gone to the Union to lodge a complaint against G.comm.
Still, it’s not exactly motivating people to work hard.
On the bright side, and yes, there is a bright side, those of us who worked in December were paid last Tuesday. The part that amuses me is that it was also the same day that I was told my contract was finished on February 16th. I also managed to dodge the Kids bullet again! I talked to Kat and she said I wouldn’t have to have my Kids debut. Hah!
I’m not as bitter as I was before when this news was given to me. I think it downright sucks, but the more I think about it the less I want to have anything to do with the company. This is how loyalty is repaid? Feh. That’s what I gotta say to that. I think Steve got hit the worst of us. He came back to work for two days and was then told he didn’t have a job again. We think it’s funny that they gave Mike back his job right after telling Anna she wouldn’t have a renewed contract. There are also people worse off than our little gang — at least our visas are still good for a while!
I have a little less than a month left at the company and then I’m gonna get ready to go home. It’s not exactly ideal, but it’s what I got. I’m just gonna try and make the best of what I’ve been handed, which includes a possible trip to Tokyo. I really don’t have a strong desire to go to Tokyo, but it’s something to do.
So yeah. That’s the story with that. And yeah, they added March contracts to the list as of yesterday. Doesn’t really speak well for their business strategy in my opinion. Some folk were saying that the whole letting everyone have their jobs back was just a front to the government and now that we’ve entered the new year they are no longer obligated to honor that agreement or some such, and something about “downsizing” being better than “bankrupt”.
Whatever. All I know is I’m coming home.
The Master himself posted this on whedonesque:
Firefly and Serenity: Defying Gravity
It was so moving. Y’all know me pretty well so you know how much I love both of these things that were brought together.
So shiny.
I think I have a fat ass.
I could be wrong, but I think I have a fat ass.
I’ve noticed recently that my futon is not as happy fun comfortable as say, last month. I thought maybe it was ‘cuz the foamy cushiony layer of the futon was not as foamy cushiony as it should be. Remembering that I still had an extra foamy cushiony thing left over from when Jacob and Darya still lived here, I decided to locate it and put it to use. I felt quite smart. It seemed like it just might work out; I mean, come on, two foamy cushiony things? How could it go wrong?
Little did I know that this simple, seemingly innocuous act would lead to his imminent death. (What? What? Hey! HELLOOO! What? Why? Why MY death? HELLO? Excuse me? WHEN?)
I mean, little did I know that in fact I just have a fat ass.
When I went to bed last night, I couldn’t help but notice I had little choice in where I settled on the futon. In fact, when I attempted to investigate the matter further it seemed there was a slight indentation, a depression if you will, in the actual futon. It’s not like it’s the Grand Canyon of anything, one could call it a lovely little nest. I just think it means I have a fat ass. I’d be upset about it if I didn’t find it so damn funny! Seriously! I still need a belt to hold up most of my pants but there’s a depression in my futon?! How could you NOT laugh?
So yeah.
I think I have a fat ass.
Tonight was the last time Fight Club met for Firefly Sunday. This isn’t to say that we’ll never see each other again, but the new schedules came out and those of us who were re-hired (me and Anna) don’t have the same schedule anymore.
We had had several options to choose from ranging from super cheap to a bit north of pricey. Among these options was to meet by the crab, pick a direction, and hope for the best. We were shooting for a place we’d never been before. For old time’s sake, we met at 5:30 PM. This was also a kind of cushion on my part ‘cuz I figured it might take a while to decide on a place. Mike picked the direction of Shinsaibashi and we were off.
We came up with a couple of different options, but nothing that seemed to really appeal to all of us. After about half an hour or wandering (who’s smart now?), Anna suggested a place that Taylor (one of our former co-workers) had taken them to that had some interesting ramen dishes. It only slightly defeated the purpose of our meandering, but Mike and Anna had only been there once or twice, so it was still going to be something of an adventure.
This fact became oh so true ‘cuz neither one of them could remember exactly where this place was. We wandered a bit more before coming up with a back up plan of Mexican food. Lucky for use, as we made our way to the Mexican place, we found our original destination.
It turned out to be a Chinese restaurant, well, Chinese for Japan. (It wasn’t true Chinese ‘cuz it was relatively clean and had decent service.) We were seated up on the second floor, where there was only one other table of patrons. It was kinda cool that way ‘cuz it meant we could have a table instead of sitting at the counter space on the first floor. They also brought us English menus right away, which amused us some but whatever.
The place ended up having more than just ramen, much to my delight. They had stir fry dishes, and more Chinese-style dishes than I expected. They had the family-style meals as well as individual plates.
Since our timing was good and there weren’t many people there, our food came out relatively fast. I ordered BBQ pork fried rice; I realize that was a lame choice on some levels, but it’s been a really long time since I’d had it. To my surprise it actually tasted like the fried rice my dad makes from our left overs. That might sound a bit weird, but in other words, it tasted like it should. Funny thing about Japan is that even though the food is “authentic”, it’s still very Japanese. (The exceptions being things like Slices and the Hawaiian burger place.)
We proclaimed the decision an excellent choice and I honestly hope we get the chance to eat there again on our Firefly Thursdays (or Saturdays…we’re still working out schedules).
Got a text from Anna today inviting us over for dinner. It’s been just about a week since I’d seen ‘em last and I was happy to oblige.
After dinner and everything was prepared, Anna took the plate of cupcakes she’s made and when she brought ‘em back to the table, she’d put candles in ‘em and she and Mike started singing “Happy Birthday”. Katrina, Steve, and I played along but I for one certainly didn’t know what was going on. It wasn’t until we got the “dear so-and-so” part that Mike filled in the blank with “Anna” that we realized it was Anna’s birthday.
Anna just laughed and said it was a reverse surprise party.
Yeah, that’s one way to describe it.
Well, she seemed to have enjoyed herself, so it was all in good fun. Quite an interesting surprise.
First of all — HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all!! I hope you have a good one!!
I’d been feeling kind of bummed about the New Year; there were some minor scheduling issues with everyone and I was afraid I’d end up spending the holiday with the cast of the West Wing. My landlady Masumi invited me to the shrines with her and her friends…but my mood wasn’t really up for crowded shrines. Rob invited me out with some of his friends, and I was a bit reluctant to go, but I ended up talking myself into it.
I’m really glad that I did. The plan was to have dinner and then go to Round 1, a place a bit like GameWorks, for bowling. I wasn’t too keen on the bowling thing since I never bowl, but I never mind just hanging out with everyone. Rob and I met up with the Slices crew — Sone and Seng, the owners, Dante, Sone’s friend Akane, and their other friend Ross — and went to Yakiniku Goen; I don’t usually hang out with the Slices crew as much as Rob, but I’d always thought they were nice people. It was really fun seeing them outside of their work.
It was still a bit early, so we ended up walking down Shinsaibashi to the Starbucks near Loft (for those of you who know the area). I’m still bummed about the lack of mint in my mocha, but it was nice to have a hot drink. Tonight was just about the coldest its been this winter, mostly ‘cuz of the wind. It’s Spring compared to Chicago right now, but it was still pretty chilly to me.
I’d never been to Round 1 before, but I’d heard of it. I played one shooter game — I wasn’t very good — and the watched Rob and Dante play another one. I find it amusing that 100 yen doesn’t seem like a lot to me to play a game in Japan, but if it was the American dollar I’d balk at the price. It’s probably ‘cuz the smaller yen amounts are in coin form and I usually associate that with spare change.
We went up to the 3rd floor to reserve a lane. It didn’t take too long at all, so that was nice. When we were filling out the card thing, Dante asked me what name I wanted for the scoreboard. I explained that I wasn’t really any good; he insisted that it was all in good fun and I ended up on Sone’s team.
Holy crap it’s been a LONG time since I’ve bowled. I really don’t remember how to play. I know that sounds really stupid, but it’s true. I vaguely remember having a method a long ass time ago, but clearly I’d forgotten it ‘cuz I had straight gutter balls for about five freaking frames before I finally hit one pin — I was pretty excited about that one pin! I eventually got the hang of it by the second round, I even had a strike and one or two spares. I was pretty excited when I hit more than one pin and would generally exclaim “More than one!” when it happened.
While we were a bit into our second round, we came upon midnight. The staff had passed out poppers while we were playing so everyone pretty much paused to ring in the new year. It wasn’t a big affair, but it was pretty five-by-five.
After we finished bowling, we ended up at the Starbucks on Dotombori, the one across from the big crab. I had no idea it was open 24 hours. I think one of the best parts about tonight was the fact that all the trains ran all night. Made getting home super easy. I was sure to call my parents while we were at Starbucks — I’d tried while we were at Round 1 but couldn’t get through. My mom told me it wasn’t New Year’s yet, but for me it’s 2008.
I’m really glad I ended up going out. It was a lot of fun and it was kind of nice to see different people. I ain’t saying I wouldn’t have enjoyed being with Fight Club, it was just kind of fitting in some way to me to have spent this holiday with different people.
Happy 2008!!!