Wednesday, July 26, 2006

My World


Let me tell you a story. It happened last night at Target right at 10 pm when the store closed. I was helping at the front lanes to get the last of the guests, as we call them, out of the store.

A lady in my lane scoffed about how long I took with the last guest. I'm sorry but the previous guest wanted her Peanut M&M's. There was nothing I could do about it. After I scanned all her items, the total came to $31.43. I remember the exact amount because I was so angry.

She had a gift card with $8.21 on it. I scanned it and it deducted $8.21 from the total cost. On the screen it said "Payment: $8.21" She than gave me $8.21 thinking that is what she owed when in reality she owed about $23.22 I was not paying attention took it. I typed in an extra $8.21 in cash, but there was still $15.01 to be paid. I told her and she took the cash back from me. She thought she owed only $15.01.

Since she took the cash back from me, I asked another cashier how to cancel out the tender that was paid to me. He didn't know. I told her that $8.21 is going to be added to the amount due since she took the money back. She started blaming me for overcharging her and kept telling me it was my fault. I calmly tried to explain it to her, but she wouldn't listen.

Something snapped. She blamed me. I wasn't going to take any more crap. I take shit from people everyday at Target and I am tired of it. So I got mad, and she could clearly see it, as did the other cashier who promptly called the manager of the front lanes. Jen came over and I explained the situation to her. After I was done, the "guest" said, "No, this is how it really happened," and said how I told her she owed $8.21 and then added another $8.21 to the total cost.

Jen is not stupid and saw what happened and explained it to the lady. It took a few more tries but she finally understood. Even though Jen was saying the same thing I was, the lady understood her cause she didn't want to listen to me. It was very awkward after Jen left and the guest paid for the rest.

In retrospect, it wasn't a big deal, but like I said, something snapped inside of me and I got very mad. It had been a long day.

The picture, that is how I felt.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Memoirs of A Hat


I got my MacBook! Thank Vishnu! I’m writing this post on it right now. I have taken her virginity. She is my honey-buns and we will make sweet love together!

Anyway, back to my life...

I went to Big Woods today to play some ultimate Frisbee with Stan, Stan's brother, Cory, David and his brother, Darin, Andre and Steve. Miles and Ian joined us later. Despite the heat and the player’s lack of stamina including me, we played on. Lots of sweat, Gatorade and slurpees later I felt good. I had actually gone outside and was active. And I got to hang around with people I don't normally see. Some of them I don't see for a reason, but that is beside the point.

After that I went to go see Lady in Water with Ian, Devin, Amy and Lindsay at Charlestown. But before the movie started we went shopping where a fatal and tragic event happened. My hat, 77, was lost. I didn't notice until after the movie ended. I believe I left it in Bath and Bodyworks due to me trying on hand lotions. I must have set it down when I tried to wash the nasty crap off my hands. I am so absent minded that it scares me.

The movie. I loved it! I think Shamalan (sp?) is an amazing writer and director. His work is original and the way he shoots his movies is creative and simply amazing. I loved every minute of it. However, the rest did not. After the movie ended, Amy and Devin started laughing. It made me more confused than mad. Why didn't they love it? But all is relative and because I loved it doesn’t mean they have to. Unless I make them. Which I will.

Ian on the other hand, didn't say anything when the movie ended but claimed he thought the same thing that Devin and Amy where saying. Then after hearing my rant on how good it is, suddenly he thought it was "O.K." I'm onto you Ian!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Naperville: #2 Town in America


I woke up yesterday morning to three things:
1) One dog was scared of the storms and shoved his face into mine hoping I would console him
2) The other dog decided to lie on my bed and take up half of the room, leaving little for me
3) A horrible and never-ending thirst

I tried everything. Brushing my teeth, eating cereal, drinking juice even a little bit of water. But nothing quenched my thirst. I knew what I wanted. Lemonade. But it was 9 am! Isn't against some unwritten rule to drink sugary things that early? I didn't care. I hurried over to Target and bought the lemonade that was calling to me. As I drank it, I knew it was the best lemonade ever.

Being bored and having nothing to do, I watched the movie I got from the library. The Machinist. Christian Bale (Batman Begins) was the main character. He was 120 lbs. Worse than me. Worse than Paul. Every bone of his body was sticking out. His head was all skull and skin. I about puked. The plot line doesn’t matter. The skeleton walking around distracted me.

A bunch of us went to Naperville last night as well. The list included Ian, Kayla, Tim, Christina, Lindsay, Megan, Devin, Kyle and Jimmy. We ate at Mongolian Barbecue. It was do-your-own Stir Fry and a lot of fun. The place was busing with fun, heat/steam and the price was a wee bit high. Afterward we walked around the town stopping at Barnes and Noble. As the night and heat dragged on we found and funny looking fountain and what else would we do but jump in to the amazement of many bystanders. We had ourselves some drunken fun without any alcohol. The drive home was a bit drenched but it was worth it.

The last get together before the inevitable. :(

Monday, July 17, 2006

You take care of my kids, or I'll get you in Hell.


His last words spoken to anyone on this earth. To my Grandmother. He is my ancestor, my blood, my Grandfather. My family's skeleton in the closet. He wrote to his brother before leaving this earth.

"By the time you read this I will have done a very terrible thing. I want you to do me a favor. Sell everything I got and some how give it to the kids. If you can take them to live with you and be a good dad to them. I tried and was doing a pretty decent job. (I thought.)
If you could possibly do this for me I will be eternally grateful. Tell the kids what happened and why. Never let the truth be buried from them. We are all part of the human race that doesn’t like to be lied too.
...Well, Joe this is it. I feel like I am going to pull up to the front lines. Tell everybody I pulled some boners in my life but I'll bet this is the last one. Tell mom I sure am cold sober too. But I have to have something before I do it.
With Brotherly Love, Bob."

He then proceeded to go to my Grandma's parent's house (my great-grandparents). There he planned to take my grandma and kill her where he would follow with suicide. However her parents fought him, and he shot both of them. My mom and four uncles were very young. However one of my uncles (I don't know which one) did witness the events.

My grandfather hit my grandma with the butt of the gun, causing her to fall down. He then called his family and told them what he had done. They pleaded with him to stop but he refused. He asked them to come pick the kids up so he could finish killing my grandma. They were unable to. My uncle cried out to his father to stop. He wouldn't. My uncle wanted to go with his father. Bob wouldn't allow it.

He looked at my grandma and said "You take care of my kids, or I'll get you in Hell." He then walked outside and when the police showed up, he shot himself in the head.

I have known about this for a while, though my family doesn’t talk about it. My mom has been searching for everything about that night and recently, she found his journal. It isn't long and only documents his last few days before he committed the act. I read what I could. His handwriting in the beginning is horrible. Almost looks as if a kid wrote it. Words are misspelled and sentences don't make sense. But by the end, it changes into amazing cursive that is too good for me to even read.

I still don't know why he did it. His diary talks about the "Truth" of why he left, the "Truth" of his actions but it makes no sense to me. My grandma will not talk about it. And I am afraid her secrets will die with her.

They say I look a lot like him. The picture above is of my grandparents on their wedding day. I never knew my grandfather. I only know him by pictures, the police report on the table downstairs, and his short diary that was hidden from us until now.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Shuffle Up and Deal


Did Texas really create Texas hold-em? Or did they just want to attach their name to boost their pride even further? The latter sounds good to me. Another poker night! YAY!

It started out a little shaky. With a $5 fee to get in and my chips dwindling, I was not the happiest camper alive. But I soon forgot the game and relaxed. Had some good/strange times. Introduced the group to the meaning of losing one's blob. The chips had a mind of their own and started flowing to me. Slowly at first but by the end, much faster.

I am writing this half awake. It probably doesn’t make much sense.

Lindsay, Kyle went out. Ian was next but bought another set of chips to our dismay. Isaac also went out but followed suit with Ian. He didn't last long. The chips liked me better. Ian again was running out, and the chips were flowing between Amy and I when disaster struck. Lindsay, our card-dealer, became tired and left. But she is a sly one. A fox in disguise.

I told you, I'm tired.

As we saw her pull away, Amy realized the $40 pot was gone. And who had it? We blamed Lindsay. As we watched her cruelly drive away, we called her. "I wanted to get you ice-cream," she said. We were furious. And yet all of us knew she wouldn't do it. We all hoped she wouldn't do it. Ian and Isaac took off in haste after her in the Maroket, when Lindsay led us via phone to the true hiding place of the money. Amy's mom!

But we aren't ready to hand the money right back to Isaac and Ian. What shall become of this $40? Only time will tell.

I get some!! I was so winning!

Friday, July 07, 2006

Foamed Mouth


It's coming! It's coming! My baby is coming! In 5 buisness days it shall be here. I shall hold it to my bosom like a new born infant that wants to suckle from its mother's teat.

Now that you are done puking I will tell you what I mean. My MacBook is on its way. And I am giddy like a schoolgirl who has just lost her virginity.

What is with these metaphors I am making?

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Do I Really Need A Title?


I hated every person that walked through those doors. I glared at them, in my mind of course. If they knew for one second they were not wanted, they would complain and I would be jobless. I'm a slave to other people's wills. I only stay there because they entice me with money, more than other places pay.

I was scheduled to work yesterday, the Fourth of July, from 5-11pm. That meant no fireworks for Michael. I sped through my work and at 8 asked my boss if I could go early. She agreed only if I did more work. Another hour of boring repetitive tasks and I was out the door. The parking lot was full. People sitting outside theirs cars, having parties, waiting for the fireworks. But I needed to leave! As I (carefully) sped through the crowded parking lot, I noticed they had blocked off the entrance/exit. I was angry/confused/tired/hurried/needing to pee. Luckily they had one open and were directing traffic. I was the only person leaving. They all looked at me like I was the biggest inconvenience ever. The feeling was mutual.

After more crowd surfing in my car I got to my street, which happened to be packed with more people who did not live there. I admit. I was going fast. But A) It's my street B) I had to get to Paul's before the fireworks C) Did I mention I live there and not all of these people? I got yelled at to slow down. Yes, I needed to slow down, but how dare this woman say such a thing to me. I live here. I have seen people use my street for traffic. I have seen people with their loud engines show off down my street. I have seen accidents and people lying on the pavement, a bloody mess. I yelled back "I live here!" I may have flicked her off. Not too sure. I was focused on getting home.

My dogs were surprised. Why is he home? What's going on? I was in such a rush it scared them. But I got my crap and started running. I found my family and their friends and talked to them for a while. And then I ran again. I took another short break at the school were a drunk girl happened to see me and started to dance with me. I ran again, this time even faster. I saw small fireworks going off in the distance and I knew I was missing fun.

Other than that it was a normal Fourth of July with the explosions, drunks and people angry with you cause you are disrespectful and don't love America because somehow America is the best country alive. I don't know about you, but I think there are much better places in this world, such as Western Europe, Brazil, Istanbul, Tajikistan (cool name), Israel, Japan and Antarctica. It's the one place in this world where you don't owe allegiance to anyone! How cool is that?

How do I end this blog...

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Spelunking


You know when you’re bored? What do you do? Sit around the house. Watch some TV. Play some games. Read a book. All of those are fun at times, but after you have exhausted every option then what do you do? Maybe call some friends and debate about what to do. After an hour or thinking what to do, you go to a friends house and watch a movie. Movies are good, but you've watched one almost everyday, and you want to spice your life up. Do something new. However your stuck in good ole Batavia, Illinois and what can you do? Nothing other than what is mentioned above. Welcome to my life.

I tried adding some of those spices by getting together with people I have never hung with but somehow know. Their names, Mackenzie and Natalie Brooks. I know what your thinking. He takes two ladies out to Noodles and Co. for a pimping date. Get your mind out off the gutter. Mackenzie has a boyfriend and Natalie is 13. You sick freak.

I had a good time with my ladies and will soon break that social barrier of Natalie's. She will break through. I am determined. The Brooks are so funny/witty/cool. That's right Zachary, we had fun. :-D

They soon had to go home and I was again left alone. Thank god Miles suggested calling Mike Meaden, or we would never had found our heaven! Mike and Cory took Miles, Zachary and I to a place we never knew existed but we hoped was out there in the endless shops and stores that we care nothing about. It is called The Cave. Games, food and hanging for a relative cheap price. Other than the very hot and uncomfortable heat, it was everything I wanted. I rocked out to Franz Ferdinand in Guitar Hero. I'm not the best but soon will be. I will dream of that place until I can go back. It is my long lost love, or really the love I never had. "Oh Michael, when will you date?" Who knows? Not me. Not you.

Now I am faced with a dilemma. What do I do? Go to church/appease my family/become holy? Or go to the flea market/be social/see Zachary before he leaves/buy something cool? Do I dare stir the pot and not go to church? Do I dare face the wrath of my parents? Do I want to go to hell? Possibly.