Friday, March 30, 2007
Rena kicks ass...
Props to the birthday girl...check out her pics of cakes she's made...she needs her own tv show! These cakes look gorgeous!
Movie Review: THE DEPARTED
Movie Review: The Departed
Yeah yeah I know, everyone's seen this movie except me. Suck it. I'm anti-movie theater so I gotta wait till stuff comes out on DVD.
For reference sake, "the departed" is a fancy shmancy term for "the dead guy".
The movie takes place in Boston, noted by the crazy accents. Key players:
Jack Nicholson: local meanie "ohh i'll have you shaking in your booties" mob boss. Don't mess with this mofo. Likes his cocaine big time.
Matt Damon: as a kid, Jack Nicholson took him under his wing. He goes to police academy and ends up working for the state as some big wig, all the while secretly maintaining his ties to Jack.
Martin Sheen and Marky Mark: heads of the undercover cop department. Only they know who's undercover...the rest of the police force (including Matt Damon) have no idea who in the bad guy world is actually a real cop.
Leonardo Decaprio: dude who also graduates from police academy, but when he applies to the police force Martin Sheen and Marky Mark flip out on him that his entire family is full of criminals and theythink he's fake. SO...they offer to let him be an undercover cop.
And so begins over a year of hell for Leo, 'cause he's a legit cop working for Jack Nicholson acting like a bad guy, while Matt Damon gets praise and promotions when really he's a bad guy acting like a cop.
Alot fo suspense...alotta gun shooting...alotta swearing...oh somewhere in there Matt Damon's girlfriend, who's a cop psychiatrist, befriends Leo on the side...which is a killer for her since Matt's got one of those male issues where he can't get it up and she's jonesin' for some good nookie.
It's a fabulous movie...worth all the accolades given to it. There was ONE movie mistake: a scene where Jack Nicholson is freaking out about the rat on his team, one moment Leo has nothing next minute he's got a cigarette in his mouth. I have to admit, some endings are predictable but in this case, I was like...WTF! I kind of get the impression that they ran out of ideas on how to wrap everything up so they just winged the most violent outcome.
Hey, worked for me. I give this movie 9 out of 10 stars.
Yeah yeah I know, everyone's seen this movie except me. Suck it. I'm anti-movie theater so I gotta wait till stuff comes out on DVD.
For reference sake, "the departed" is a fancy shmancy term for "the dead guy".
The movie takes place in Boston, noted by the crazy accents. Key players:
Jack Nicholson: local meanie "ohh i'll have you shaking in your booties" mob boss. Don't mess with this mofo. Likes his cocaine big time.
Matt Damon: as a kid, Jack Nicholson took him under his wing. He goes to police academy and ends up working for the state as some big wig, all the while secretly maintaining his ties to Jack.
Martin Sheen and Marky Mark: heads of the undercover cop department. Only they know who's undercover...the rest of the police force (including Matt Damon) have no idea who in the bad guy world is actually a real cop.
Leonardo Decaprio: dude who also graduates from police academy, but when he applies to the police force Martin Sheen and Marky Mark flip out on him that his entire family is full of criminals and theythink he's fake. SO...they offer to let him be an undercover cop.
And so begins over a year of hell for Leo, 'cause he's a legit cop working for Jack Nicholson acting like a bad guy, while Matt Damon gets praise and promotions when really he's a bad guy acting like a cop.
Alot fo suspense...alotta gun shooting...alotta swearing...oh somewhere in there Matt Damon's girlfriend, who's a cop psychiatrist, befriends Leo on the side...which is a killer for her since Matt's got one of those male issues where he can't get it up and she's jonesin' for some good nookie.
It's a fabulous movie...worth all the accolades given to it. There was ONE movie mistake: a scene where Jack Nicholson is freaking out about the rat on his team, one moment Leo has nothing next minute he's got a cigarette in his mouth. I have to admit, some endings are predictable but in this case, I was like...WTF! I kind of get the impression that they ran out of ideas on how to wrap everything up so they just winged the most violent outcome.
Hey, worked for me. I give this movie 9 out of 10 stars.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Movie Review: The Devil's Rejects
Movie Review: THE DEVIL'S REJECTS
Disclaimer: Ihaven't seen the prequel, House of a Thousand Corpses.
Devil's Rejects =
Natural Born Killers +
Dazed and Confused +
Pulp Fiction -
any good looking people in the above movies.
Will this movie win an Oscar? Nope.
Was it highly entertaining, effed up ((bleep))? Absolutely. I give it 8.5 out of 10 in terms of entertainment value.
And...that's pretty much the only way I can sum up this movie.
Disclaimer: Ihaven't seen the prequel, House of a Thousand Corpses.
Devil's Rejects =
Natural Born Killers +
Dazed and Confused +
Pulp Fiction -
any good looking people in the above movies.
Will this movie win an Oscar? Nope.
Was it highly entertaining, effed up ((bleep))? Absolutely. I give it 8.5 out of 10 in terms of entertainment value.
And...that's pretty much the only way I can sum up this movie.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Movie Review: Without a Paddle
Movie Review: Without a Paddle
Without a Paddle features 3 actors that I kinda dig in random comedies...Dax Sheppard (of PUnk'd fame), Matthew Lilliard (sp) (from Hackers) and Seth Green (hello...can you say Austin Powers??)...so I actuallyhad pretty high hopes for this comedy.
WELL...let me tell you...formulaic doesn't even begin to explain the half of it.
The 3 guys were childhood buddies and are forced to reunite upon the death of their 4th childhood buddy. They find their old treehouse and decide as a group they're going to find some Random Old Dude's Lost Treasure...jobs and girlfriends and real life be damned.
Let's see...Seth Green plays the piddly nerdy guy...BAD choice of roles. He's better off being the snot-faced brat we've seen him as. Matthew Lilliard plays this responsible wall-street type...wtf is that about?! Did the casting director not SEE Hackers or Scoopy Do? This guy is best at playing oddball freaks. And Dax playing the screwup of the bunch is just depressing.
So of COURSE Seth Green thinks it's a bad idea and complains the entire time. And of COURSE their journey into nature goes downhill...apparently when this movie was made (2004?), cell phones were very rare because only one of the three guys had one. Which...NATURALLY...gets consumed by a bear.
Hijinx ensue, including being chased by some pot growers with guns, meeting gorgeous tree hugging hippies, and getting saved by some wilderness dude played by Burt Reynolds.
I can't tell you exactly how it ends because at this point my netflix rental totally got jacked up in the DVD so I had to return it. Needless to say, the moral of the movie was that the "treasure" isn't money...it's about appreciate life, this moment, and making it last.
Whatever. Try telling a homeless person to choose between a meaningful life or money and i'm sure they'll pick the latter. Heck, I would.
Without a Paddle features 3 actors that I kinda dig in random comedies...Dax Sheppard (of PUnk'd fame), Matthew Lilliard (sp) (from Hackers) and Seth Green (hello...can you say Austin Powers??)...so I actuallyhad pretty high hopes for this comedy.
WELL...let me tell you...formulaic doesn't even begin to explain the half of it.
The 3 guys were childhood buddies and are forced to reunite upon the death of their 4th childhood buddy. They find their old treehouse and decide as a group they're going to find some Random Old Dude's Lost Treasure...jobs and girlfriends and real life be damned.
Let's see...Seth Green plays the piddly nerdy guy...BAD choice of roles. He's better off being the snot-faced brat we've seen him as. Matthew Lilliard plays this responsible wall-street type...wtf is that about?! Did the casting director not SEE Hackers or Scoopy Do? This guy is best at playing oddball freaks. And Dax playing the screwup of the bunch is just depressing.
So of COURSE Seth Green thinks it's a bad idea and complains the entire time. And of COURSE their journey into nature goes downhill...apparently when this movie was made (2004?), cell phones were very rare because only one of the three guys had one. Which...NATURALLY...gets consumed by a bear.
Hijinx ensue, including being chased by some pot growers with guns, meeting gorgeous tree hugging hippies, and getting saved by some wilderness dude played by Burt Reynolds.
I can't tell you exactly how it ends because at this point my netflix rental totally got jacked up in the DVD so I had to return it. Needless to say, the moral of the movie was that the "treasure" isn't money...it's about appreciate life, this moment, and making it last.
Whatever. Try telling a homeless person to choose between a meaningful life or money and i'm sure they'll pick the latter. Heck, I would.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Elementary school...
Oh thank the LORD that I've learned the art of dressing as well as plucking my eyebrows. And Bryan...you look SO MUCH better now! 8th grade memories should be burned.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Nastiness to the nth degree
Supersizing it: McDonald's tests bigger burger
Angus Third Pounder exceeding sales goals in California roll-out
Okay seriously people...SERIOUSLY! A third of a pound! Most of the time people want to LOSE a pound...not add a 3rd of it! Seriously..if you ate one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you'd be a pound heavier! Granted some of it gets converted to energy, but take it from someone who's worked at McD's...you might as well consume a third of a pound of lard.
I mean, if you're THAT hungry...just order two burgers...
Angus Third Pounder exceeding sales goals in California roll-out
Okay seriously people...SERIOUSLY! A third of a pound! Most of the time people want to LOSE a pound...not add a 3rd of it! Seriously..if you ate one for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you'd be a pound heavier! Granted some of it gets converted to energy, but take it from someone who's worked at McD's...you might as well consume a third of a pound of lard.
I mean, if you're THAT hungry...just order two burgers...
Friday, March 23, 2007
Movie Review: The Descent
Movie Review: The Descent
I heard this movie was super scary so I was pretty psyched to see it. I haven't seen a terrifying movie since The Ring (although 28 Days kinda creepy me out...but just 'cause I would go to bed thinking "what if there WERE some sort of disease that made people like that?)...
But...I digress.
The Descent is a semi-low budget movie with no famous people in it. Which oftentimes is good, because then it feels a bit more "real" (as in, if Angelina Jolie were in it, I'd be fully aware that her fate isn't at risk).
The title of the movie has two different meanings...the obvious one is that 6 girls go off to explore underground caverns. The other relatively obvious meaning is the descent into madness.
So the general gist is that there's 6 girls who are adventurous "yeah girl power woo hoo" types and they get together for a weekend of girly adventure crap. One chick's husband and child died recently, and it's hinted early on that one of the other chicks (aka Asian Tough Girl) was having an affair (even if just emotional) with the Dead Husband.
The 6 girls are:
Asian Tough Girl
The Widow (our heroine for the movie with a brit accent)
Party Girl Friend (brit accent)
Plain Girl (american)
The Medical Intern (american, younger sis of Plain Girl)
The Irish Lesbian (I don't know if she's a lesbian, but she kinda looks it)
The girls all go underground, they're all oohing and ahhing, with Asian Tough GIrl leading the way. They go through this nook in the cavern, until the nook collapses. So they're trapped in the cavern, they've lost a bag of ropes, and then Asian Tough Girl admits they're not in a mapped out cave...it's one no one's ever gone through and she thought it would be great if they could explore it and then name it. They start FREAKING out.
Ohhh snap...does this hardhat make me look fat?
Along they go, deeper and deeper in this underground cavern with just flashlights and flares. The Widow keeps hearing little noises and thinks she sees a dude...but everyone thinks she's nuts.
The Lesbian at one points sees light and runs towards it (turns out, some rocks glow phosphorus), trips, falls in a hole, jacks up her leg to the point the bone has popped. Insert the convenience of having a Medical Intern to rig something up so they can keep moving.
At this point their flashlights are dying out, they're filthy, they're bitchy...and that's when the Movie Monsters appear.
Now I have to give this movie credit. Since it's supposed to take place where ther'es little/no light, they got pretty creative in showing the scenes. The flares make stuff look red, and when they introduce the Movie Monsters it's because one chick uses the night vision on the camcorder to see stuff, which has a greenish creepy glow to it.
As you can imagine, chaos and screaming ensues. Maybe I would have been more scared if I hadn't watched it at 1pm in the afternoon, with daylight pouring in through all my windows.
God, why is it always so chilly in here?!
Overall, the movie was decent. It was VERY entertaining, once you get past the boring crap of the girls drinking and catching up the night before their descent. I guess I just say "decent" because it didn't scare me per se, but other than that I'd give the movie an 8 out of 10. The ending wasn't what I expected, and I like that these girls' reactions to things are much more realistic than in other movies (as in, there's ALOT of freaking out. Which is how it should be.)
I'm having a not-so-fresh feeling right now...
The big downfall: the "behind the scenes" stuff. The way they show how they build the sets and all that was cool...but wtf do I really give a crap to hear from the Director and what everyone thought of him? And his vision? And his life at that moment? NO! When will moviemakers get that? Unles you're a celebrity director or producer (a la Lucas and Spielburg), shut yer piehole and show the stuff the actors went through and how you made the movie.
I heard this movie was super scary so I was pretty psyched to see it. I haven't seen a terrifying movie since The Ring (although 28 Days kinda creepy me out...but just 'cause I would go to bed thinking "what if there WERE some sort of disease that made people like that?)...
But...I digress.
The Descent is a semi-low budget movie with no famous people in it. Which oftentimes is good, because then it feels a bit more "real" (as in, if Angelina Jolie were in it, I'd be fully aware that her fate isn't at risk).
The title of the movie has two different meanings...the obvious one is that 6 girls go off to explore underground caverns. The other relatively obvious meaning is the descent into madness.
So the general gist is that there's 6 girls who are adventurous "yeah girl power woo hoo" types and they get together for a weekend of girly adventure crap. One chick's husband and child died recently, and it's hinted early on that one of the other chicks (aka Asian Tough Girl) was having an affair (even if just emotional) with the Dead Husband.
The 6 girls are:
Asian Tough Girl
The Widow (our heroine for the movie with a brit accent)
Party Girl Friend (brit accent)
Plain Girl (american)
The Medical Intern (american, younger sis of Plain Girl)
The Irish Lesbian (I don't know if she's a lesbian, but she kinda looks it)
The girls all go underground, they're all oohing and ahhing, with Asian Tough GIrl leading the way. They go through this nook in the cavern, until the nook collapses. So they're trapped in the cavern, they've lost a bag of ropes, and then Asian Tough Girl admits they're not in a mapped out cave...it's one no one's ever gone through and she thought it would be great if they could explore it and then name it. They start FREAKING out.
Ohhh snap...does this hardhat make me look fat?
Along they go, deeper and deeper in this underground cavern with just flashlights and flares. The Widow keeps hearing little noises and thinks she sees a dude...but everyone thinks she's nuts.
The Lesbian at one points sees light and runs towards it (turns out, some rocks glow phosphorus), trips, falls in a hole, jacks up her leg to the point the bone has popped. Insert the convenience of having a Medical Intern to rig something up so they can keep moving.
At this point their flashlights are dying out, they're filthy, they're bitchy...and that's when the Movie Monsters appear.
Now I have to give this movie credit. Since it's supposed to take place where ther'es little/no light, they got pretty creative in showing the scenes. The flares make stuff look red, and when they introduce the Movie Monsters it's because one chick uses the night vision on the camcorder to see stuff, which has a greenish creepy glow to it.
As you can imagine, chaos and screaming ensues. Maybe I would have been more scared if I hadn't watched it at 1pm in the afternoon, with daylight pouring in through all my windows.
God, why is it always so chilly in here?!
Overall, the movie was decent. It was VERY entertaining, once you get past the boring crap of the girls drinking and catching up the night before their descent. I guess I just say "decent" because it didn't scare me per se, but other than that I'd give the movie an 8 out of 10. The ending wasn't what I expected, and I like that these girls' reactions to things are much more realistic than in other movies (as in, there's ALOT of freaking out. Which is how it should be.)
I'm having a not-so-fresh feeling right now...
The big downfall: the "behind the scenes" stuff. The way they show how they build the sets and all that was cool...but wtf do I really give a crap to hear from the Director and what everyone thought of him? And his vision? And his life at that moment? NO! When will moviemakers get that? Unles you're a celebrity director or producer (a la Lucas and Spielburg), shut yer piehole and show the stuff the actors went through and how you made the movie.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Book review
Book Review: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Since I was bed-bound all weekend, I cranked through all 423 pages in one day.
This book is phenomenal.
The general gyst of the story is about a chick (Anna) who is born specifically to be a cord-blood donor for her sister (Kate) who's got leukemia. Her parents specially "picked" the same genes as the dying sister to make sure they're an exact match.
13 years later, Anna's had to donate bone marrow and platelets and other medical mumbo jumbo...and now Kate needs a kidney, and Anna doesn't want to give it. So she seeks out an attorney to have the right to NOT give her kidney, knowing that without it her sister will die. Opposing counsel? Her own mother, who used to be a lawyer in her previous life before the world of cancer came through...
What really makes this interesting is that the story progesses on a day-by-day basis until the trial, and everyone involved has a chapter. The lawyer, the chick responsible for making sure Anna's taken care of, the parents, the brother....So you can truly sympathise with all sides.
The ending is a wee little bit predictable, but still shocking to say the least.
This one paragraph actually had me bawling (okay, to my defense, I was on my deathbed...a Hallmark commercial would have made me cry). This is Sarah (the mom)'s chapter, she's in the hospital talking to Kate about her time at some camp for kids with cancer:
I pull my chair closer to the hospital bed. "Do you remember the summer we signed you up for camp? And the night before you left, you said you'd changed your mind and wanted to stay home? I told you to get a seat on the left side of the bus, so that when it pulled away, you'd be able to look back and see me there, waiting for you." I press her hand against my cheek, hard enough to leave a mark. "You get that same seat in Heaven. One where you can watch me, watching you."
Man, if the thought of ever having to tell your child that doesn't rip you apart,nothing will!
Since I was bed-bound all weekend, I cranked through all 423 pages in one day.
This book is phenomenal.
The general gyst of the story is about a chick (Anna) who is born specifically to be a cord-blood donor for her sister (Kate) who's got leukemia. Her parents specially "picked" the same genes as the dying sister to make sure they're an exact match.
13 years later, Anna's had to donate bone marrow and platelets and other medical mumbo jumbo...and now Kate needs a kidney, and Anna doesn't want to give it. So she seeks out an attorney to have the right to NOT give her kidney, knowing that without it her sister will die. Opposing counsel? Her own mother, who used to be a lawyer in her previous life before the world of cancer came through...
What really makes this interesting is that the story progesses on a day-by-day basis until the trial, and everyone involved has a chapter. The lawyer, the chick responsible for making sure Anna's taken care of, the parents, the brother....So you can truly sympathise with all sides.
The ending is a wee little bit predictable, but still shocking to say the least.
This one paragraph actually had me bawling (okay, to my defense, I was on my deathbed...a Hallmark commercial would have made me cry). This is Sarah (the mom)'s chapter, she's in the hospital talking to Kate about her time at some camp for kids with cancer:
I pull my chair closer to the hospital bed. "Do you remember the summer we signed you up for camp? And the night before you left, you said you'd changed your mind and wanted to stay home? I told you to get a seat on the left side of the bus, so that when it pulled away, you'd be able to look back and see me there, waiting for you." I press her hand against my cheek, hard enough to leave a mark. "You get that same seat in Heaven. One where you can watch me, watching you."
Man, if the thought of ever having to tell your child that doesn't rip you apart,nothing will!
Knot in one's stomach indeed!
Thanks to everyone for being concerned about my potential trip towards the white light lol.
On another note...one of the many things that puts a knot in your stomach...when your spouse's company lays off 30% of the company...
On another note...one of the many things that puts a knot in your stomach...when your spouse's company lays off 30% of the company...
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Death is coming for me....
Karma's a bitch. This is what I get for snorting pepper. (Don't ask, 'cause I'm not gonna post what i mean on this blog!)
I can't remember the last time I was this sick. I'm thinking high school. It's a tough call, because when I lived in Canada I used to get sick on a weekly basis...the usual cold and runny nose thing, so that's the norm of life...and I moved to California and practically never got even a mild cold, I'm guessing either because I've battled so many cold viruses my immunity is made of steel OR because withthe weather and all that, it's not very conducive to getting sick.
Last Tuesday I ended up with a crazy bad fever but I toughed it out for the week....by Friday night, I was DEATH. Seriously. Death.
I did manage to get to a clinic to make sure I didn't have strep, and they said I don't but there's definitely something that's jacking up my throat (ha ha insert whatever joke you want here) and i've got a fever. I spent Friday night being delirious between crazy fever and super chills....Kraig kept asking if he could take me to the hospital but I thought between then $20 I spent on the clinic copay, plus my $50 copay to go to the hospital...pfft eff that! For $70, I can suffer.
And suffer I have...not to sound like a whiney bitch, but seriously...I'm hoping someone can club me like a baby seal and put me out of my misery. To top it off, I have laryngitis...
I'm all for sucking stuff up,hell even the nurse after the colposcopy was shocked that I would actually go back to work after that procedure and my girlfriends ripped me a new one for not having them or Kraig there with me (I don't "do" people coming in with me to the doctor)...but I've been wallowing in self misery 'cause the weather this weekend was gorgeous, I have a ton of stuff to do for Kraig's company due Monday, my house is so filthy I might as well have a sign saying "white trash lives here", and I can't begin to explain the laundry baskets full of laundry begging to be burned at this point.
Anyway, so if I'm incognito for awhile it's either because i'm in bed hacking up a lung or becuase I've figured out how to do that thing where you sit in your car with the engine running.....thank the LORD for my husband, who actually thinks that my raspy lack of a voice is cute (as he said, he likes it because i can't yell at him) and because I'm so independent, he actually LIKES it when I need him. Stab me now PLEASE.
I can't remember the last time I was this sick. I'm thinking high school. It's a tough call, because when I lived in Canada I used to get sick on a weekly basis...the usual cold and runny nose thing, so that's the norm of life...and I moved to California and practically never got even a mild cold, I'm guessing either because I've battled so many cold viruses my immunity is made of steel OR because withthe weather and all that, it's not very conducive to getting sick.
Last Tuesday I ended up with a crazy bad fever but I toughed it out for the week....by Friday night, I was DEATH. Seriously. Death.
I did manage to get to a clinic to make sure I didn't have strep, and they said I don't but there's definitely something that's jacking up my throat (ha ha insert whatever joke you want here) and i've got a fever. I spent Friday night being delirious between crazy fever and super chills....Kraig kept asking if he could take me to the hospital but I thought between then $20 I spent on the clinic copay, plus my $50 copay to go to the hospital...pfft eff that! For $70, I can suffer.
And suffer I have...not to sound like a whiney bitch, but seriously...I'm hoping someone can club me like a baby seal and put me out of my misery. To top it off, I have laryngitis...
I'm all for sucking stuff up,hell even the nurse after the colposcopy was shocked that I would actually go back to work after that procedure and my girlfriends ripped me a new one for not having them or Kraig there with me (I don't "do" people coming in with me to the doctor)...but I've been wallowing in self misery 'cause the weather this weekend was gorgeous, I have a ton of stuff to do for Kraig's company due Monday, my house is so filthy I might as well have a sign saying "white trash lives here", and I can't begin to explain the laundry baskets full of laundry begging to be burned at this point.
Anyway, so if I'm incognito for awhile it's either because i'm in bed hacking up a lung or becuase I've figured out how to do that thing where you sit in your car with the engine running.....thank the LORD for my husband, who actually thinks that my raspy lack of a voice is cute (as he said, he likes it because i can't yell at him) and because I'm so independent, he actually LIKES it when I need him. Stab me now PLEASE.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Facebook...myspace...StalkMe.Com....
Yeahhhh...I got a Facebook profile finally. Not because I really give a crap, but it seems like everyone in Canada uses Facebook and no one I know uses myspace...it's absolutely insane how many people from my high school and university have profiles and it's super creepy to see everyone..well...OLD.
Time to go work on stuff for Kraig's company...I'm whoring my time for money.
Why I've been bitchy for a few weeks....the Colpsocopy
So...the colposcopy.
Be warned: this is gonna be graphic. You're going to squirm. Maybe. I don't know. I haven't written it yet. All i can say is that it's DEFINITELY going to fall under the category of Too Much Information. If you don't want to read about women's gonads, skip this post.
Every year I'm very diligent about getting my girly checkups from the doctor...if there's any area I want to keep intact, it's "down there". This year
was no exception.
Fast forward 2 months later...I get a call from my doctor saying that there's some abnormal cell crap going on. This was at like 7pm at night and I was driving around Lake Forest trying to find a house 'cause I was buying something off a chick from Craigslist, so I was a bit out of it when she was trying to explain this to me.
Finally I had to pull into a parking lot and stop the car. I was like "but...but...I always get checked...but..." and she told me I would need a colposcopy because they want to make sure it's not cervical cancer.
So I look this whole "colposcopy" thing online, and it seems pretty simple and (allegedly) the same pain level as a regular pap. Since regular pap smears don't hurt at all, i didn't think much of it (I mean, you feel like an a-hole laying down with your knees spread out and your feet in stirrups, but it's not PAINFUL.)...
Uhhh...riigghtt....
My first mistake was working through lunch so I could do the colposcopy late in the afternoon and then come back to work. BIG BIG mistake.
I get there and the nurse tells me waht's gonna happen. And...here's what DID happen:
1. I had to be in a big special room, not a normal room like they use for pap smears.
2. Doc puts in the usual contraption they use for pap smears. That thing that looks like a stork's beak. I can't remember wtf those things are called but you get the point.
3. This bizarre solution on a gauze pad had to be rammed up inside, up against the cervix, to get skin samples and to clean up the area. This was part 1 of the bleeding...it hurt like a mofo and it's a bit alarming to see a doctor put a cloth with your blood in a jar full of solution.
4. Doc gets a colposcope, which is like a combo microscope plus lamp, and looks deeeep inside to scope out which areas have abnormal cells.
5. Doc then CUTS out the areas on the cervis with the abnormal cells and puts them in a different container with solution.
I've felt alot of pain in my life...i've had brutal ear infections, i've had a brazillian wax, i've burned myself on lord knows what, i've slashed my hand with a huge ass knife...when i was getting that fixed the doctor even commented to kraig that i've got a crazy huge tolerance for pain...ummm yeah. Getting 2 chunks of skin cut off your cervix
is the craziest pain i've ever felt. It's not that it was so horrible as much as just...BIZARRE...it's like someone's set your internal organs on fire. To be honest, I imagine it would feel alot like if someone squeezed a dude's nuts super duper hard.
6. Think it's over yet? ohhh...no...
Then this brown goo that looks like slimy peanut butter has to be applied across the cervix to make sure everything heals (sort of like a liquid bandaid if you will). It was like pouring battery acid all over the exposed flesh.
7. FInally all the instruments are taken out of me...
My take-home instructions said I couldn't have anything inside me for 2 weeks (which includes penises and tampons) and that peanut butter stuff would come out of me in black chunks so I had to wear a pantyliner immediately after the procedure ...
Now this is the part where I remind you, the disgusted reader, that this was all during my delayed lunch break...and I actually went back to work. First off, i just felt lousy...I've been molested with a camera probe before (that was for when I did the egg donation thing, which didn't pan out since they couldn't easily find my right ovary, only AFTER the rape-age of the camera occurred), but this was like...ick factor. And my stomach had super bad cramps, like when you drink a ton of water while playing sports.
The worst pain came days later, when my period started. First off, PADS. WTF. How 70s is that? Who the eff wears pads in this day and age?! If that's not straight up Judy Blume, I don't know what is. Secondly, the cramping was out of control (I never cramp during my period). I wanted to keel over and die. Well okay that's a bit much, but it was extremely uncomfortable.
A week later I had to go back for the result of the biopsy on my precious cervical skin tissue...got regular pap smear so they could scope it all out taht it was healing properly (it was), and the results are: YAY i'm A-OK!!! I gotta get regular pap smears every 4 months for a year to make sure the abnormal stuff doesn't eventually turn into cancer, but no more colposcopies!! Yaaayyyy!
Be warned: this is gonna be graphic. You're going to squirm. Maybe. I don't know. I haven't written it yet. All i can say is that it's DEFINITELY going to fall under the category of Too Much Information. If you don't want to read about women's gonads, skip this post.
Every year I'm very diligent about getting my girly checkups from the doctor...if there's any area I want to keep intact, it's "down there". This year
was no exception.
Fast forward 2 months later...I get a call from my doctor saying that there's some abnormal cell crap going on. This was at like 7pm at night and I was driving around Lake Forest trying to find a house 'cause I was buying something off a chick from Craigslist, so I was a bit out of it when she was trying to explain this to me.
Finally I had to pull into a parking lot and stop the car. I was like "but...but...I always get checked...but..." and she told me I would need a colposcopy because they want to make sure it's not cervical cancer.
So I look this whole "colposcopy" thing online, and it seems pretty simple and (allegedly) the same pain level as a regular pap. Since regular pap smears don't hurt at all, i didn't think much of it (I mean, you feel like an a-hole laying down with your knees spread out and your feet in stirrups, but it's not PAINFUL.)...
Uhhh...riigghtt....
My first mistake was working through lunch so I could do the colposcopy late in the afternoon and then come back to work. BIG BIG mistake.
I get there and the nurse tells me waht's gonna happen. And...here's what DID happen:
1. I had to be in a big special room, not a normal room like they use for pap smears.
2. Doc puts in the usual contraption they use for pap smears. That thing that looks like a stork's beak. I can't remember wtf those things are called but you get the point.
3. This bizarre solution on a gauze pad had to be rammed up inside, up against the cervix, to get skin samples and to clean up the area. This was part 1 of the bleeding...it hurt like a mofo and it's a bit alarming to see a doctor put a cloth with your blood in a jar full of solution.
4. Doc gets a colposcope, which is like a combo microscope plus lamp, and looks deeeep inside to scope out which areas have abnormal cells.
5. Doc then CUTS out the areas on the cervis with the abnormal cells and puts them in a different container with solution.
I've felt alot of pain in my life...i've had brutal ear infections, i've had a brazillian wax, i've burned myself on lord knows what, i've slashed my hand with a huge ass knife...when i was getting that fixed the doctor even commented to kraig that i've got a crazy huge tolerance for pain...ummm yeah. Getting 2 chunks of skin cut off your cervix
is the craziest pain i've ever felt. It's not that it was so horrible as much as just...BIZARRE...it's like someone's set your internal organs on fire. To be honest, I imagine it would feel alot like if someone squeezed a dude's nuts super duper hard.
6. Think it's over yet? ohhh...no...
Then this brown goo that looks like slimy peanut butter has to be applied across the cervix to make sure everything heals (sort of like a liquid bandaid if you will). It was like pouring battery acid all over the exposed flesh.
7. FInally all the instruments are taken out of me...
My take-home instructions said I couldn't have anything inside me for 2 weeks (which includes penises and tampons) and that peanut butter stuff would come out of me in black chunks so I had to wear a pantyliner immediately after the procedure ...
Now this is the part where I remind you, the disgusted reader, that this was all during my delayed lunch break...and I actually went back to work. First off, i just felt lousy...I've been molested with a camera probe before (that was for when I did the egg donation thing, which didn't pan out since they couldn't easily find my right ovary, only AFTER the rape-age of the camera occurred), but this was like...ick factor. And my stomach had super bad cramps, like when you drink a ton of water while playing sports.
The worst pain came days later, when my period started. First off, PADS. WTF. How 70s is that? Who the eff wears pads in this day and age?! If that's not straight up Judy Blume, I don't know what is. Secondly, the cramping was out of control (I never cramp during my period). I wanted to keel over and die. Well okay that's a bit much, but it was extremely uncomfortable.
A week later I had to go back for the result of the biopsy on my precious cervical skin tissue...got regular pap smear so they could scope it all out taht it was healing properly (it was), and the results are: YAY i'm A-OK!!! I gotta get regular pap smears every 4 months for a year to make sure the abnormal stuff doesn't eventually turn into cancer, but no more colposcopies!! Yaaayyyy!
Letter to the editor
Is it any better at Ballys or LA Fitness?
I get the feeling that this is the hierarchy:
LA Fitness > Ballys > 24 Hour Fitness
And to branch on that...
LA Fitness > Ballys > riding yer bike > stabbing yourself in the eye > 24HF
The only other gyms I've belonged to were private gyms OR Gold's....Gold's kicked ASS because the people who work out there truly want to improve their physique, they're not there to socialize or be retarded like at 24HF. They have spray bottles everywhere and you HAVE to wipe down your equipment after each use with disinfectant spray or else you'll get serious flack from the other members.
That being said...as I've said before...24 Hour Fitness is the McDonald's of gyms. It's not healthy, it's not ideal, but it'll do in a pinch.
(Which is sad that the trainer I had at 24HF actually used my quote when he interviewed for a job at a more elite gym)
I get the feeling that this is the hierarchy:
LA Fitness > Ballys > 24 Hour Fitness
And to branch on that...
LA Fitness > Ballys > riding yer bike > stabbing yourself in the eye > 24HF
The only other gyms I've belonged to were private gyms OR Gold's....Gold's kicked ASS because the people who work out there truly want to improve their physique, they're not there to socialize or be retarded like at 24HF. They have spray bottles everywhere and you HAVE to wipe down your equipment after each use with disinfectant spray or else you'll get serious flack from the other members.
That being said...as I've said before...24 Hour Fitness is the McDonald's of gyms. It's not healthy, it's not ideal, but it'll do in a pinch.
(Which is sad that the trainer I had at 24HF actually used my quote when he interviewed for a job at a more elite gym)
These so-called vacations will soon be my death
Wow, for a brief moment...i feel smart.
I'm trying to find info online on the courses that I took in University...some of these
actually sound like I required brain cells to pass them:
CSI2114 Data Structures (Last offering 2006/05) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Introduction to abstract data types. Trees, binary search trees, balanced trees. Searching. Sorting. Simple examples of complexity analysis. Graphs, simple graph algorithms: depth-first and breadth-first search, minimum spanning tree, shortest path. (Lab work will be done in the Java programming language).
Prerequisite: CSI1101 or CSI1102.
CSI2121 Principles of Assembly Language Programming (Last offering 2006/01) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Assembly language fundamentals, addressing modes, number representations, arithmetic and logic instructions, program control instructions, arrayprocessing. Procedures, parameters passing, stack operations and interfacing with high-level language. System functions interrupts, and input/output operations.
Prerequisite: CSI2111. Corequisite: CSI2167.
CSI3125 Concepts of Programming Languages (Last offering 2006/09) (3,0,2) 4 cr.
Classification of programming languages. Syntactic description of programming languages. Imperative programming languages: data objects, data types, control structures, sub-programs, principles of implementation. Logic programming languages. Functional programming languages. Object-oriented programming languages. Modules.
Prerequisites: CSI2114, two programming language labs selected among CSI2165, (CSI2171 or CSI2172 or CSI2173) and CSI2174. Cannot be combined for credits with CSI2115.
CSI3310 Operating System Principles (Last offering 2007/05) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Review of computer architecture. Processes and threads. Processor scheduling. Concurrency, mutual exclusion, and synchronization. Deadlock and starvation. Memory management and virtual memory. File management and I/O management.
Prerequisite: CSI2121 or CEG3131.
Ha ha funny that alot of the classes I took are now obsolete. Much like my degree I guess.
MAT2343 Elements of Discrete Mathematics (3,0,0) 3 cr.
Basic counting techniques. Generating functions. Recurrence relations. Inclusion-exclusion principle. Graph theory: eulerian and hamiltonian graphs, planarity, coloring, digraphs, graphs and matrices. Matching.
Prerequisite: MAT1341 or MAT1361.
MAT1322 Calculus II (3,0,0) 3 cr.
Further techniques of integration. Improper integrals. Applications of the integral. Separable differential equations. Euler's method for differential equations. Sequences, series. Taylor's formula and series. Functions of two and three variables. Partial derivatives, the chain rule, directional derivatives, tangent planes and normal lines.
Prerequisite: MAT1320.
Ahhh good times feeling remotely smart. Now...not so much. In case anyone really cares,
here's the link
to the exact program that i did.
On another note, I was emailing Nicole D about St. Patty's day and I got this freakin'
Canadian drinking song in my head so I started singing it at work...well then I absolutely had to
find the mp3 online so I could play it for the poor souls who sit near me...I can't believe i actually found it
easily online for free..listen to it here...Home for a Rest...i dont' care
what kind of swanky high class bar you're in, that will ALWAYS be played at some point in the night 'cause it's upbeat (it gets faster after the first few lines),
it's about drinking, and allows drunk Canadians to hug each other while drinking and jumping up and down.
These so called vacations will soon be my death! I've been drunk for a week, I've been drunk since I left!
I got some medical results back from the doctor, i still ahve to discuss the colposcope (ohh joy), but on another note I have "dangerously low" levels of B12. When babies
are born, they have on average 2000 (whatever units) of B12 in 'em. I had....141. So that explains:
1. My general retardness...I find myself not being half as sharp as I used to be...I guess a lack of B12 can cause dementia. At least I have an excuse!
2. The fatique...thank the LORD 'cause I really was feeling like I was going insane. I can't begin to tell you how much I fantasize about sleep during the course of the day. Okay, granted,
part of that comes from the diet pepsi addiction, but even when i'm pounding that stuff back i'm exhausted. It doesn't even give me a jolt...i only drink it because I get headaches when I don't.
For now, i'm popping multi-vitamins and I've gotta get checked again in a month 'cause if vitamins don't help, it could be a lack of "intrinsic factor", blah blah.
I absolutely cannot WAIT for memorial day weekend. Four days of nonstop sleeping. That's the weekend where I wean myself off the diet pepsi...not even so much 'cause I care about the addiction
but more because I'm very vain about my teeth (and there's only so often I can bleach 'em) and I'm thinking that I'll kick myself when I'm old and my bones break.
Mmm....sleeeeeep....I'm gonna curl up in a ball on the bed with the cats around me and i'm gonna be in HEAVENNNNNN....
I'm trying to find info online on the courses that I took in University...some of these
actually sound like I required brain cells to pass them:
CSI2114 Data Structures (Last offering 2006/05) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Introduction to abstract data types. Trees, binary search trees, balanced trees. Searching. Sorting. Simple examples of complexity analysis. Graphs, simple graph algorithms: depth-first and breadth-first search, minimum spanning tree, shortest path. (Lab work will be done in the Java programming language).
Prerequisite: CSI1101 or CSI1102.
CSI2121 Principles of Assembly Language Programming (Last offering 2006/01) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Assembly language fundamentals, addressing modes, number representations, arithmetic and logic instructions, program control instructions, arrayprocessing. Procedures, parameters passing, stack operations and interfacing with high-level language. System functions interrupts, and input/output operations.
Prerequisite: CSI2111. Corequisite: CSI2167.
CSI3125 Concepts of Programming Languages (Last offering 2006/09) (3,0,2) 4 cr.
Classification of programming languages. Syntactic description of programming languages. Imperative programming languages: data objects, data types, control structures, sub-programs, principles of implementation. Logic programming languages. Functional programming languages. Object-oriented programming languages. Modules.
Prerequisites: CSI2114, two programming language labs selected among CSI2165, (CSI2171 or CSI2172 or CSI2173) and CSI2174. Cannot be combined for credits with CSI2115.
CSI3310 Operating System Principles (Last offering 2007/05) (3,0,1.5) 3 cr.
Review of computer architecture. Processes and threads. Processor scheduling. Concurrency, mutual exclusion, and synchronization. Deadlock and starvation. Memory management and virtual memory. File management and I/O management.
Prerequisite: CSI2121 or CEG3131.
Ha ha funny that alot of the classes I took are now obsolete. Much like my degree I guess.
MAT2343 Elements of Discrete Mathematics (3,0,0) 3 cr.
Basic counting techniques. Generating functions. Recurrence relations. Inclusion-exclusion principle. Graph theory: eulerian and hamiltonian graphs, planarity, coloring, digraphs, graphs and matrices. Matching.
Prerequisite: MAT1341 or MAT1361.
MAT1322 Calculus II (3,0,0) 3 cr.
Further techniques of integration. Improper integrals. Applications of the integral. Separable differential equations. Euler's method for differential equations. Sequences, series. Taylor's formula and series. Functions of two and three variables. Partial derivatives, the chain rule, directional derivatives, tangent planes and normal lines.
Prerequisite: MAT1320.
Ahhh good times feeling remotely smart. Now...not so much. In case anyone really cares,
here's the link
to the exact program that i did.
On another note, I was emailing Nicole D about St. Patty's day and I got this freakin'
Canadian drinking song in my head so I started singing it at work...well then I absolutely had to
find the mp3 online so I could play it for the poor souls who sit near me...I can't believe i actually found it
easily online for free..listen to it here...Home for a Rest...i dont' care
what kind of swanky high class bar you're in, that will ALWAYS be played at some point in the night 'cause it's upbeat (it gets faster after the first few lines),
it's about drinking, and allows drunk Canadians to hug each other while drinking and jumping up and down.
These so called vacations will soon be my death! I've been drunk for a week, I've been drunk since I left!
I got some medical results back from the doctor, i still ahve to discuss the colposcope (ohh joy), but on another note I have "dangerously low" levels of B12. When babies
are born, they have on average 2000 (whatever units) of B12 in 'em. I had....141. So that explains:
1. My general retardness...I find myself not being half as sharp as I used to be...I guess a lack of B12 can cause dementia. At least I have an excuse!
2. The fatique...thank the LORD 'cause I really was feeling like I was going insane. I can't begin to tell you how much I fantasize about sleep during the course of the day. Okay, granted,
part of that comes from the diet pepsi addiction, but even when i'm pounding that stuff back i'm exhausted. It doesn't even give me a jolt...i only drink it because I get headaches when I don't.
For now, i'm popping multi-vitamins and I've gotta get checked again in a month 'cause if vitamins don't help, it could be a lack of "intrinsic factor", blah blah.
I absolutely cannot WAIT for memorial day weekend. Four days of nonstop sleeping. That's the weekend where I wean myself off the diet pepsi...not even so much 'cause I care about the addiction
but more because I'm very vain about my teeth (and there's only so often I can bleach 'em) and I'm thinking that I'll kick myself when I'm old and my bones break.
Mmm....sleeeeeep....I'm gonna curl up in a ball on the bed with the cats around me and i'm gonna be in HEAVENNNNNN....
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Movie Review: OPEN WATER
Movie Review: Open Water aka: a movie about 2 people surrounded by sharks and not even scared of them becuase they're too busy complaining about how they want a refund on their diving trip.
When the movie Open Water hit the theaters, it got crazy good reviews. I'm guessing because it's based on a true story. And when people say "Based on a true story" or "Based on actual events", you know that the only part that is "actual" is the part where the main character brushes their teeth.
But I figure...it's a shark movie, so I don't really care for accuracy as much as the "crap my pants" factor.
Well...let's just say...I'm betting this really is exactly how it happened.
It's 2 hours of a couple swimming in the ocean combined with 3 minutes of a shark taking a chomp out of the dude's leg. That's it.
Well let me even elaborate...It's 2 hours of...
1. Cheap filming (you can hear every background noise).
2. Them packing their bags and heading in the dude's car. Her being frantic about leaving work behind.
3. Them vegging out on vacation.
4. Them in their hotel room (alert! boob shot! and they don't even have sex! Miss Thang has a sunburnt nose!)
5. Buddy brushes his teeth.
6. Middle of the night, the guy has to kill a fly.
7. They go out on a tour boat thingy to go diving
8. Some new york guy forgot his mask. He freaks out for like 20 minutes.
9. Everyone goes diving.
10. The couple accidentally gets left behind.
11. They're in the water.
12. They stay in the water.
13. They pee in the water.
14. Girly finds candy in her wetsuit.
15. They argue in the water.
16. The timeline is displayed on screen. It's been like 8 hours.
17. Girly gets stung by a jellyfish and complains.
"Ohhhh jellyfish! It hurts! It hurts! This is the most screaming I'm going to do for the next 24 hours because I'm more scared of a frickin' jellyfish than Jaws! Ohhh my pedicure is ruined!"
18. It gets dark.
19. They complain they want their money back.
20. A shark comes by and chomps a chunk out of the guy's leg.
21. They complain some more.
22. Nighttime comes. It's cold.
23. Morning comes. it's cold.
24. Chicky realizes the boy is dead.
25. She takes her stuff off and then slips underwater.
And that's it.
Uhhh call me crazy, but when you say "based on a true story" that actually allows you to toss in moments that might be interesting to the viewer, regardless if it happened or not. Otherwise, that's THE TRUE STORY and its boring as hell.
If there was a movie about paint drying, this was it. I actually got mad after I saw it. I mean, wtf. Do they really know if they woke up to catch flies? Do they really know if she was obsessed with her laptop? No. They made it up and put it in the movie. Do we really know if she went to bed naked with sunblock on her nose (uhhh word to the wise: chicks don't SLEEP naked unless they want to stay up all night doing naked activity). Of course we don't. THey made it up. Couldn't they have made up the SHARK ATTACK A LITTLE BIT BETTER?!!!?!??!
Like the guy screaming bloody murder, the girl pulled under water, them fighting off the shark...OH yeah they had a weapon...a knife...but Dude drops it before ever using it. Hey just a thought moviemakers: show us a scene where he stabs a shark inthe eye!??!?!?!!!
Seriously. Paint drying. In movie format.
Then I thought maybe the DVD extras would maybe show a bit more about the true couple and all that. Umm...no. It was about the married couple who directed this movie. And you know what they talked about? How much the birth of their child impacted their view on moviemaking. WTF.
If I gained anything from this movie, it's that sharks aren't scary at all and that you should make sure your tour boat person remembers to pick you up.
When the movie Open Water hit the theaters, it got crazy good reviews. I'm guessing because it's based on a true story. And when people say "Based on a true story" or "Based on actual events", you know that the only part that is "actual" is the part where the main character brushes their teeth.
But I figure...it's a shark movie, so I don't really care for accuracy as much as the "crap my pants" factor.
Well...let's just say...I'm betting this really is exactly how it happened.
It's 2 hours of a couple swimming in the ocean combined with 3 minutes of a shark taking a chomp out of the dude's leg. That's it.
Well let me even elaborate...It's 2 hours of...
1. Cheap filming (you can hear every background noise).
2. Them packing their bags and heading in the dude's car. Her being frantic about leaving work behind.
3. Them vegging out on vacation.
4. Them in their hotel room (alert! boob shot! and they don't even have sex! Miss Thang has a sunburnt nose!)
5. Buddy brushes his teeth.
6. Middle of the night, the guy has to kill a fly.
7. They go out on a tour boat thingy to go diving
8. Some new york guy forgot his mask. He freaks out for like 20 minutes.
9. Everyone goes diving.
10. The couple accidentally gets left behind.
11. They're in the water.
12. They stay in the water.
13. They pee in the water.
14. Girly finds candy in her wetsuit.
15. They argue in the water.
16. The timeline is displayed on screen. It's been like 8 hours.
17. Girly gets stung by a jellyfish and complains.
"Ohhhh jellyfish! It hurts! It hurts! This is the most screaming I'm going to do for the next 24 hours because I'm more scared of a frickin' jellyfish than Jaws! Ohhh my pedicure is ruined!"
18. It gets dark.
19. They complain they want their money back.
20. A shark comes by and chomps a chunk out of the guy's leg.
21. They complain some more.
22. Nighttime comes. It's cold.
23. Morning comes. it's cold.
24. Chicky realizes the boy is dead.
25. She takes her stuff off and then slips underwater.
And that's it.
Uhhh call me crazy, but when you say "based on a true story" that actually allows you to toss in moments that might be interesting to the viewer, regardless if it happened or not. Otherwise, that's THE TRUE STORY and its boring as hell.
If there was a movie about paint drying, this was it. I actually got mad after I saw it. I mean, wtf. Do they really know if they woke up to catch flies? Do they really know if she was obsessed with her laptop? No. They made it up and put it in the movie. Do we really know if she went to bed naked with sunblock on her nose (uhhh word to the wise: chicks don't SLEEP naked unless they want to stay up all night doing naked activity). Of course we don't. THey made it up. Couldn't they have made up the SHARK ATTACK A LITTLE BIT BETTER?!!!?!??!
Like the guy screaming bloody murder, the girl pulled under water, them fighting off the shark...OH yeah they had a weapon...a knife...but Dude drops it before ever using it. Hey just a thought moviemakers: show us a scene where he stabs a shark inthe eye!??!?!?!!!
Seriously. Paint drying. In movie format.
Then I thought maybe the DVD extras would maybe show a bit more about the true couple and all that. Umm...no. It was about the married couple who directed this movie. And you know what they talked about? How much the birth of their child impacted their view on moviemaking. WTF.
If I gained anything from this movie, it's that sharks aren't scary at all and that you should make sure your tour boat person remembers to pick you up.
Bathe yourself in someone else's sweat
So i have absolutely HAD IT with the excessive heat at 24 Hour Fitness. It's crazy hot in that frickin' ghetto-ass gym. Last night I was there till 11pm...which means taht it should have been relatively cool with less bodies and all...it was 78 effing degrees!
And worst of all, I know employees aren't allowed to change the temperature. WTF is up with that?! Like some dude in some random corporate office knows what it should be in southern california at night?!?!
So i did some research, and clearly i'm not the only one who feels this way:
The Squeaky Wheel
Upon a fourth call, I was told that gym employees are forbidden to adjust the AC controls and would be fired if they did so. An operations mgr. stated that only a corporate employee is allowed to set and adjust the AC. The mgr. also stated, amiably, calling 24 Hour Fitness corporate would be a waste of time since a myriad of such complaints had preceded mine; I tend to agree.
Epinions for TX location
Now recently 24 Hour Fitness has made another stupid decision by choosing to raise the temperature of their clubs to 78 degrees from 69 degrees. This was done without doubt to cut costs and boost profits at the expense of their members. The clubs blame this on the corporate office and tell you to go online and complain to them, which I did and NEVER have gotten a response yet even after 20 complaints. I then decided to call the corporate phone number presented on their website, when I called them they blame it on the club saying they have no authority over individual clubs.
So my plan is to call corporate myself and get to the bottom of this. 'Cause seriously, SERIOUSLY, it's retarded how hot they keep their gyms. Heck, eff air conditioning, just install some/more fans!
And worst of all, I know employees aren't allowed to change the temperature. WTF is up with that?! Like some dude in some random corporate office knows what it should be in southern california at night?!?!
So i did some research, and clearly i'm not the only one who feels this way:
The Squeaky Wheel
Upon a fourth call, I was told that gym employees are forbidden to adjust the AC controls and would be fired if they did so. An operations mgr. stated that only a corporate employee is allowed to set and adjust the AC. The mgr. also stated, amiably, calling 24 Hour Fitness corporate would be a waste of time since a myriad of such complaints had preceded mine; I tend to agree.
Epinions for TX location
Now recently 24 Hour Fitness has made another stupid decision by choosing to raise the temperature of their clubs to 78 degrees from 69 degrees. This was done without doubt to cut costs and boost profits at the expense of their members. The clubs blame this on the corporate office and tell you to go online and complain to them, which I did and NEVER have gotten a response yet even after 20 complaints. I then decided to call the corporate phone number presented on their website, when I called them they blame it on the club saying they have no authority over individual clubs.
So my plan is to call corporate myself and get to the bottom of this. 'Cause seriously, SERIOUSLY, it's retarded how hot they keep their gyms. Heck, eff air conditioning, just install some/more fans!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Case of the Ex
Maybe he was drunk. ..he had the phonezs
Nope. He called me originally 8am his time, and then again at 8am our time...and he was working...that's why i kept asking if he was high, but he definitely wasn't drunk....
Nope. He called me originally 8am his time, and then again at 8am our time...and he was working...that's why i kept asking if he was high, but he definitely wasn't drunk....
Gettin' old....
How I know I'm getting frickin' old...
- I get hangovers when I drink (like the one I'm experiencing right now). I never used to get hangovers.
- there's wrinkle formations on my forehead
- the #1 spot where age shows: hands. And my hands are NOT looking too good anymore. (I was very vain about my hands back in the day, and even did a cheesy hand modeling thing for Suzanne's company, but now my hands look like those of the crypt keeper)
- I found myself at the magazine rack yesterday and Cosmo, Marie Claire, and Glamour didn't interest me. The "Better Homes and Gardens" special issue of Budget Decorating did. WTF. Maybe it was because when I flipped through the Cosmo article on "99 Things You Didn't Know About Sex", I discovered that I did indeed know 99 things about sex and didn't need an article to remind me.
- I'm worrying about the effects my soda drinking is having on my bones.
- I'm worried about the effects of my bad posture to my overall frame (for when i'm REAL old)
- I actually find myself appalled with the stuff that teen girls wear today. Don't get me wrong...I used to sneak out of the house with itty bitty short skirts and little crop tops (ahhh the cellulite-free days), but I was also legal drinking age when I did that....The stuff I see 14 year olds wear, i'm like, wtf! Don't go out of your way to make your daughter attractive to perverts.
- I'm valuing comfort over looking good. That applies to shoes, clothes, makeup, you name it. What I used to wear when grunging it up at home now seems very appropriate to go to social events wearing.
I had to draw the line last week when some people were trying to convince me that I could wear a purse with a big floral pattern...ummm no. The day I have a leather purse with big floral patterns all over it is the day I get my pass to Leisure World.
And I really don't want to hear the schpiel about how I'm not that old or how i look young blah blah...unless you're 18, you have no credibility as to what looks young or not.
Mannnnn...the day I get a grey hair is going to be BAD. Like, REAL bad. It's not that I'm that vain about my appearance...but deep down, I associate age with all sorts of responsibilities that I'm either ill-equipped to face or just don't want to even deal with. I was trying to think of the ideal age, 'cause I remember perfectly well at 10 wanting to be a grownup and my mom saying "yeah well trust me, you're going to wish you a kid when you grow up" ...so as a kid, i hated being a kid and as an adult, i hate being one...So the ideal age is Conception to 4 years old. Now THAT'S when life is grand.
- I get hangovers when I drink (like the one I'm experiencing right now). I never used to get hangovers.
- there's wrinkle formations on my forehead
- the #1 spot where age shows: hands. And my hands are NOT looking too good anymore. (I was very vain about my hands back in the day, and even did a cheesy hand modeling thing for Suzanne's company, but now my hands look like those of the crypt keeper)
- I found myself at the magazine rack yesterday and Cosmo, Marie Claire, and Glamour didn't interest me. The "Better Homes and Gardens" special issue of Budget Decorating did. WTF. Maybe it was because when I flipped through the Cosmo article on "99 Things You Didn't Know About Sex", I discovered that I did indeed know 99 things about sex and didn't need an article to remind me.
- I'm worrying about the effects my soda drinking is having on my bones.
- I'm worried about the effects of my bad posture to my overall frame (for when i'm REAL old)
- I actually find myself appalled with the stuff that teen girls wear today. Don't get me wrong...I used to sneak out of the house with itty bitty short skirts and little crop tops (ahhh the cellulite-free days), but I was also legal drinking age when I did that....The stuff I see 14 year olds wear, i'm like, wtf! Don't go out of your way to make your daughter attractive to perverts.
- I'm valuing comfort over looking good. That applies to shoes, clothes, makeup, you name it. What I used to wear when grunging it up at home now seems very appropriate to go to social events wearing.
I had to draw the line last week when some people were trying to convince me that I could wear a purse with a big floral pattern...ummm no. The day I have a leather purse with big floral patterns all over it is the day I get my pass to Leisure World.
And I really don't want to hear the schpiel about how I'm not that old or how i look young blah blah...unless you're 18, you have no credibility as to what looks young or not.
Mannnnn...the day I get a grey hair is going to be BAD. Like, REAL bad. It's not that I'm that vain about my appearance...but deep down, I associate age with all sorts of responsibilities that I'm either ill-equipped to face or just don't want to even deal with. I was trying to think of the ideal age, 'cause I remember perfectly well at 10 wanting to be a grownup and my mom saying "yeah well trust me, you're going to wish you a kid when you grow up" ...so as a kid, i hated being a kid and as an adult, i hate being one...So the ideal age is Conception to 4 years old. Now THAT'S when life is grand.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Canadian $$$
Hey what is Canadian Money called?
Because I called the bank and I was like yea do you have any Canadian Money in stock I need like whatever the equivalent is to $40. The lady on the phone is yeah Euros we have them in stock. And I was like NO Canada...Canadian Money. She gave the phone to someone else. So yea whats the money called there?
It's a Canadian dollar :)
Because I called the bank and I was like yea do you have any Canadian Money in stock I need like whatever the equivalent is to $40. The lady on the phone is yeah Euros we have them in stock. And I was like NO Canada...Canadian Money. She gave the phone to someone else. So yea whats the money called there?
It's a Canadian dollar :)
I've got top of the line baby fetuses!
Mannnn total chaos the past few days. I feel like I've had my head up my ass.
First off: US Citizenship paperwork. I was all happy because I FINALLY filled out the paperwork (no easy feat...do you know the EXACT date you started a job 5 years ago? Or the date you flew somewhere 5 years ago?!?!)...then I was searching for the addy to send the paperwork to as well as the costs...
It's $330 for the filing, plus $70 for the biometric fingerprinting. Thing is, i already DID that for my green card. They scanned it in electronically. Every frickin' finger. MY FINGERPRINTS HAVE NOT CHANGED. Why the EFF do i have to pay $70 for that again?
And then I came across a part where it said "refer to The Guide. I'm like "what guide?!"...there's no part number or form number referenced and on the website it doesn't link to this alleged Guide...so after serious hunting on the USCIS website I found THE GUIDE...
Uh yeah the Guide tells me I need proof of marriage, tax returns, new photos with enough border to sign my name on it, blah blah...wtf! I DID ALL THAT ALREADY...other than the photos, there's no point for that!
Argh.
Then my phone co mpletely crapped out today, I called Verizon, they figured it was the phone itself and that i need to get a replacement (its under warranty)...but then it suddenly started working sorta...really bizarre. A manager at work had the same problem, verizon made him get a new phone too and that didn't make a diff...apparently it's 'cause of the time change situation, it's effing up some people's phones...
AND...finally...the boyfriend I had in university called me today...that was super bizarre...so we chatted for a bit 'cause I thought he had a point (like he was going to tell me he's dying or that he ran into a friend of mine or something), and i kept asking "are you high? seriously, did you high-dial me?"...
Weird weird day.
First off: US Citizenship paperwork. I was all happy because I FINALLY filled out the paperwork (no easy feat...do you know the EXACT date you started a job 5 years ago? Or the date you flew somewhere 5 years ago?!?!)...then I was searching for the addy to send the paperwork to as well as the costs...
It's $330 for the filing, plus $70 for the biometric fingerprinting. Thing is, i already DID that for my green card. They scanned it in electronically. Every frickin' finger. MY FINGERPRINTS HAVE NOT CHANGED. Why the EFF do i have to pay $70 for that again?
And then I came across a part where it said "refer to The Guide. I'm like "what guide?!"...there's no part number or form number referenced and on the website it doesn't link to this alleged Guide...so after serious hunting on the USCIS website I found THE GUIDE...
Uh yeah the Guide tells me I need proof of marriage, tax returns, new photos with enough border to sign my name on it, blah blah...wtf! I DID ALL THAT ALREADY...other than the photos, there's no point for that!
Argh.
Then my phone co mpletely crapped out today, I called Verizon, they figured it was the phone itself and that i need to get a replacement (its under warranty)...but then it suddenly started working sorta...really bizarre. A manager at work had the same problem, verizon made him get a new phone too and that didn't make a diff...apparently it's 'cause of the time change situation, it's effing up some people's phones...
AND...finally...the boyfriend I had in university called me today...that was super bizarre...so we chatted for a bit 'cause I thought he had a point (like he was going to tell me he's dying or that he ran into a friend of mine or something), and i kept asking "are you high? seriously, did you high-dial me?"...
Weird weird day.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Weekend wrap up
So I've been crazy lazy on posting anything, mostly because I'm tired of my own random griping and bitching and actually THINKING.
So...some upcoming topics that i WILL get around to griping about, once my brain actually wakes up...
1. Why Tom Lykas' "Lykas 101" is correct.
2. Usual tv and movie reviews
3. The joys of a colposcope (not to be confused with colonoscopy)
4. Why the Anna Nicole Smith news made bigger headlines than the war in Iraq
5. Why "smug married" couples annoy us non-smug as well
In other news, I learned last night that guys will not drink a beverage called Blue Balls, unless it's a shot...if it's a drink they won't go near it. If it's renamed to Blue Thunder then its manly enough for them to drink.
I also tried Mead for the first time ever last night...I hadn't even heard of it but the bartender tried to push beer on me (I was at a brewmaking place), I tried to explain that i don't like beer, i'm not a beer drinker, blah blah...and he said i had to try their homemade Mead...but then everyone told me it wasn't beer, it's more like a type of wine...so I don't know what hte point was. Well other than that I got a free sample so I guess I can't complain.
And...finally...MUST FILL OUT THE US CITIZENSHIP paperwork...it has to get done 'cause I can't plan any trips back to Canada until I get my head out of my ass and get all that stuff scheduled.
So...some upcoming topics that i WILL get around to griping about, once my brain actually wakes up...
1. Why Tom Lykas' "Lykas 101" is correct.
2. Usual tv and movie reviews
3. The joys of a colposcope (not to be confused with colonoscopy)
4. Why the Anna Nicole Smith news made bigger headlines than the war in Iraq
5. Why "smug married" couples annoy us non-smug as well
In other news, I learned last night that guys will not drink a beverage called Blue Balls, unless it's a shot...if it's a drink they won't go near it. If it's renamed to Blue Thunder then its manly enough for them to drink.
I also tried Mead for the first time ever last night...I hadn't even heard of it but the bartender tried to push beer on me (I was at a brewmaking place), I tried to explain that i don't like beer, i'm not a beer drinker, blah blah...and he said i had to try their homemade Mead...but then everyone told me it wasn't beer, it's more like a type of wine...so I don't know what hte point was. Well other than that I got a free sample so I guess I can't complain.
And...finally...MUST FILL OUT THE US CITIZENSHIP paperwork...it has to get done 'cause I can't plan any trips back to Canada until I get my head out of my ass and get all that stuff scheduled.
Letter to the editor
I guess that Canadian humor... like there choices in many things differs greatly from us American.
I watched it with someone who is a huge Office fans, and neither of us even laughed in the slightest.
Sorry, but this skit sucked... Lazy Sunday and D.I.T.B will live on forever.
First off, i said it was the best INTRO ever...and it's DIAB, not DITB....
Secondly, it's not Canadian humor...a bunch of people I know who watch the show thought it was a kickass intro...
Note the use of the word INTRO. Not the best SKIT ever...just the best INTRO ever.
And your "someone" who is a huge office fan better not be your roommate, because he isn't a "huge" fan...he waits days to download the episode and watch it...a huge fan won't go more than 24 hours without watching it after it's aired!
I watched it with someone who is a huge Office fans, and neither of us even laughed in the slightest.
Sorry, but this skit sucked... Lazy Sunday and D.I.T.B will live on forever.
First off, i said it was the best INTRO ever...and it's DIAB, not DITB....
Secondly, it's not Canadian humor...a bunch of people I know who watch the show thought it was a kickass intro...
Note the use of the word INTRO. Not the best SKIT ever...just the best INTRO ever.
And your "someone" who is a huge office fan better not be your roommate, because he isn't a "huge" fan...he waits days to download the episode and watch it...a huge fan won't go more than 24 hours without watching it after it's aired!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)