Life – It's Been Real!

I’m Back, B*tches!

I’m a zombie, come back to life! Just kidding! Hello, my readers! I know it’s been a very long time. Pretty much an entire year since I’ve written. I think the last time I posted something, I was studying for my radiology exam, and was about to segway into the workforce full time. Well, that happened. So, I might as well catch you up on the goings on in my ‘real’ life.

I passed my radiology exam a year ago, today, and was the happiest clam in the ocean. The very next day, I went in and told my doctor I passed. He said, “Great. Take this xray on our patient.” It was business as usual, except I got to push the button. I got a pay raise (of course) and started making money! I worked (still do) seven days a week, and I doubled on Wednesdays and Fridays. I cut the Wednesdays in January this year, but I still double Fridays. I got a bonus from the one office I work at because we tripled our production in January and have been going pretty strong ever since. Yay!

My sister started working at the same restaurant as me a month or so ago, so now she bugs me there as well as at home. She just finished up her first year of college and was dying to make some money. I still get a kick out of working there and she just adds an extra layer of amusement to the job.

I got a tattoo last week. Been wanting to get one for a while. It’s on my ankle and is Japanese cherry blossom with the symbols for ‘Unique’ on the inside of my ankle. My mom saw it and just shook her head. My younger sister was like, “I want one!” The old man still has to see it.

Otherwise, I’m still surviving, still working, still writing, still keeping it real.

And on that note, it’s been real!

One Truly Is the Loneliest Number

Everyone has done this before; they walk into a restaurant by themselves and sit alone. There’s nothing wrong with that, but as a hostess, my problem is when you ask for a table all to yourself. Awkward! I’m of the opinion that when you walk in by yourself, you go get a seat at the bar. If there are no seats at the bar, maybe stand for a bit until somebody gets up. Somebody always does, then the loner can take his seat.

Now, that in mind, don’t walk into a restaurant and ask for a table. Standing for a bit won’t kill you. On Wednesday night, I had a lone man walk in and there were plenty of seats at the bar, but he wanted a table. I tried to put him at a little two top in the corner where I like to put those odd parties of one who insist on having a table. However, he decided to be difficult and wanted another table that could seat four. Needless to say, I was irked. What a waste of a table on a busy night!

I’ve gone to plenty of places and sat by myself. The breakfast bar at Eaten’ Park, a regular bar at a restaurant after work; I never request to take a table away from couples or larger groups. But then, if you’ve never worked in the restaurant business, you don’t think of these things. However, that is why I’m writing this blog, to enlighten the unenlightened and tell them how to behave outside their natural habitats.

Take heed! Take heed! This is a public service announcement! Whenever you go to a restaurant by yourself, do not steal a table from larger groups. Go to the bar. The food will still taste the same there.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Customer Service – Catering to Stupid People

We all know that stupid people exist everywhere. Unfortunately, when God created humanity, he had a sense of humor, and created stupid people. The definition in the dictionary is as follows: the quality or state of being stupid. Last week at the restaurant, I was (once again) able to see how stupid and quite frankly, arrogant people are.

I worked at the dentist office from 8:30-5, so it was already a long day. From there, I spruced up a little and went to the restaurant. When I arrived, it was surprisingly busy. In the summer, our evenings are always hit or miss. I clocked in and began to check on everyone to make sure they were alright. That was when I found out that a woman at one of the tables had been making a fuss because of how her burger was made. One of our burgers comes with the person’s choice of Canadian or regular bacon. The lady told the server ‘no Canadian bacon’. De facto, it was now regular bacon. She needed to specify no bacon period, but she did not. Hence, it came out of the kitchen with regular bacon and she threw a fit. The waitress offered to have it sent back and remade several times, but she always refused. Finally, she was leaving with her party and she asked me if there was a place she could place a survey of her experience that evening. I told her that there was a little survey on the receipt. She said she filled it out and wondered if there was another place she could post a review. I said that there might be something on the website.

She then turned around and said that she and her husband were regulars there and the server was usually only okay, but tonight, she was bad. She also said she was even more upset because I didn’t apologize for what happened before I even arrived on the scene. I just bobbled my head and gave her a half smile, not even bothering to grace her with an answer. After she finally left, I went to clear the table and the server asked me what she had been talking about. I told her everything, including the part where she wanted me to apologize and I didn’t. Everyone else found out in no time and they asked me what I had to apologize for. “Not a damn thing,” I said.

Listen, I’ve been a customer to and I know I will keep being a customer long after I’m done working in the restaurant business. But even then, I know I’m not going to get in somebody’s face and make their life difficult simply because I’m the customer. That’s not how the world works. Look at it this way: the server has the power to help make your experience great, or to f*ck it to kingdom come. Don’t piss off the person or people responsible for that. Because you just might avoid something nasty in your dinner.

And on that note, it’s been real!

DA – Don’t Ask!

Guess who is back after a sabbatical that lasted a couple of months? That would be me! Hello world!

World – Who are you?

Me – I’m a person who just accomplished something.

World – Congratulations. Hey, knock, knock.

Me – Who’s there?

World – Life.

Me – I walked into that one.

Yep, I completed my externship and passed my radiology exam. I am a full fledged dental assistant and working for my extern site. I work out of three dental offices with three different doctors. I really like two of them, but the third still needs to grow on me. I’m getting paid what I want to get paid, and working forty hours a week (maybe a little more [over time!]). I still work at the restaurant, so that’s extra money for me.

I asked one of my fellow dental assistants at the one office today if she could consider being my roommate and moving out with me next year. She said she would. So, things are rolling in the right direction (I hope) for me right now. Wish me luck! Life always manages to find a way to kick people in the balls.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Tekko, 2018

I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, and I am dreadfully sorry. At least this time I have a doozy for you. Tekko, 2018 in Pittsburgh! My doctor was on vacation so it was perfectly timed, but the weather could have been nicer. I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who is sick of the cold.

Anyway, drove to my friend’s house and we carpooled to the convention center. I got checked in (they had already been there the night before) and we went walking. There was actually a signing first thing in the morning from Vic Mignogna (voice of Edward Elric [FMAB], Zero Kiryu [Vampire Knight], and Tamaki Suoh [Ouran High School Host Club]). We sat down at a table to wait and had scintillating conversations about feminism and political correctness in Hollywood (topic for another post), before the signing started.

Now, I’ll set the scene a bit for this one: there’s this girl, whose been going to these conventions for ‘years’ according to her. She dresses as the same character every year and says hi to everyone. Well, she doesn’t say hi to me and if she did, I would tell her as nicely as possible to f*ck off. My reason for disliking her? She’s inconsiderate and uses a ‘brain abnormality’ as an excuse. So, the self-proclaimed ‘brain abnormality’ was near the front of the line when one of the organizers told us the rules had changed. Previously, we could have two items signed and could get one picture; now, they were telling us to get one item signed and hold pictures till the end so he could get through the line faster. Anyway, she broke that rule immediately, and Vic was (probably) too nice to tell her to wait till the end for her picture and to not bring more than one item to get signed. Oh! Me and my girlfriend were fuming!

After that signing, we went down to the exhibition hall and walked around. I saw the sword booth and found myself a fancy rapier sword. Slick silver hilt and I felt like a swashbuckler holding it. Thankfully, they said they could hold it for me at the booth so I didn’t have to either cart it around or immediately take it to my car. I went with my friends after that and we got in line for another signing. My guy friend stepped out of line to go get something and was gone for a couple of minutes. When he came back, he ducked under the bar and straightened up very quickly. I watched as he stripped his jacket off and tied it around his waist. “Don’t look now, but I just split my pants,” he said. Myself and his sister just stared at him for a second before we broke down laughing. “We need to find a onesie when we’re done here,” he said and that only made us laugh harder.

Once the signing was done, we did go looking for his onesie. He got a black cat onesie from ‘Monster Hunter’ (if anybody is familiar with that). Later when we were walking around, we caught sight of Vic Mignogna in the exhibition hall with his handler. My girlfriend told me to go grab him since I wanted a picture. I walked over and greeted his handler first (since we’re friends on Facebook and have hung out before), then I asked Vic how he was doing. At that particular moment, he was ecstatic because he had found chocolate covered bacon. No joke! I politely asked him if I could get a picture. He said, “Of course you can, sweetie!” The handler took the picture, but Vic stayed hugging me for a few seconds afterward. “She gives good hugs.”

“Yes, she does,” the handler said. I thanked him for being so nice and went back in search of my group.

And that was Day One! I’ll post Day Two another time, otherwise you’ll be here a while.

And on that note, it’s been real!

I’m Surrounded by Idiots – A Villain’s Philosophy

Everyone has seen the movie The Lion King, and everyone knows the villain, a devious lion called Scar. He is one of Disney’s most prominent villains (and that is partly because he is voiced by the marvelous [and British] Jeremy Irons) because he is evil with a hint of charm. Come on! If anybody ever said that Scar isn’t charming in a scary sort of way, I would have sharp words with them.

We all remember the scene where he sings the gratuitous villain song, “Be Prepared”. Before he starts singing, Scar is explaining his plan to the hyenas and they just aren’t getting it. He puts his paw to his temple and mutters, “I’m surrounded by idiots.” How many times have we done that since we matured? A lot, we all know that at least. There are moments in life where we are surprised by the sheer stupidity of a situation or a person.

Since I have grown up (and become more dry witted with age, kind of like a good wine), I have become less tolerant of stupidity in all its forms. Of course, that is partly due to example set by my father. He punished stupidity decisively and without mercy (dramatic emphasis). Anyway, every time I see or hear something that challenges intelligence as we know it, I always say, “I’m surrounded by idiots.” Certain things at work make me blink once, twice, and my one eye usually twitches sporadically. Example being over Easter weekend, I had a family of four walk in and I didn’t have a table for them and I told them they would have to wait a bit. Instead, like every other ‘smart’ person out there, they asked to sit four people at a table that could seat twelve. I told them no, “It’s meant for larger parties.”

“Can’t you pull that other table away so we can sit there?” Said ‘other’ table, could seat four people, but there was no space to put it in to, or extra chairs to put around it to seat four. Needless to say, I did my two blinks and eye twitch. I couldn’t (and I never will) understand why people don’t seem to get that I am a hostess, not a magician.

“Damn it, Jim! I’m a doctor, not a magician!” – Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy, Star Trek

And on that note, it’s been real!

One Pushup, Two Pushups, Ah! I Give Up!

I think I made mention of the fact that I was going to start going to a gym for exercise in my last post. Well, I had my first day on Saturday and I know I’ve got a ways to go. First of all, I haven’t trained in years. I was a teenager when I began training with a Vietnam veteran, ex-paratrooper. The sessions were three times a week for ninety minutes and we worked hard.

The training lasted for two and a half years and then the attention shifted to my younger sister since she was playing basketball. I petered off the training after that and then I graduated and just started working. I had no drive to exercise so I really didn’t.

Now, years later, I am tired of my sister’s taunts and I do want to get some muscle definition, so I went in. I was stupid and hadn’t eaten anything before I went in (I also had a little too much to drink last night [story for another time]) and I felt nauseous and light headed, but we took it easy and slow. He had me on the bike for a time, we did kettle bells, pushups on raised boxes, squats, and so on. I definitely regretted not eating, but guzzled my water as fast as I could to make up for it. He liked that my form had not suffered from years of disuse. He gave me some tips and offered to be my trainer should I choose to be trained.

As of right now, I am ‘determined’ to go twice a week, once after class on Wednesdays (between that and my other job), and once on Saturday after tutoring (radiology is no joke). However, I guess I could also go in on Mondays after class and between my doctors. Just so the effect might be faster. Also, I am contemplating protein powder in shakes and such. Otherwise, I’m not changing my diet. After all, I only weigh a little over 110 soaking wet. I just want to build a little muscle and maybe put on a few extra pounds and we shall see. Ah! I pulled one of the many muscles in my body!

And on that note, it’s been real!

It’s Spring Break- I’m Outta Here!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve written, but I’m back and here’s the reason why… it’s Spring Break! Yippee! Took a final last week and only got one wrong, so that was nice, and then my doctor left to go to Mexico (like he does every year around Easter). This week, I am assisting our female doctor, but I’m only going in today, and I went in on Monday. I had my birthday earlier this week and took the day off to get my hair colored and join a gym. I had gone to the gym to tour it last week and I liked it, but I wanted to wait before I signed up for anything.

I am not a very physically active person; and my younger sister is always the person to remind me of that because she plays basketball and boxes and works out every day. Once, she was doing pushups in our room and I just walked up and placed my foot on her back and said, “This is my leg workout for the day.” She fell to the floor laughing and we still joke about it to this day. Anyway, the manager of the gym was very polite and enthusiastic and I liked the way the place looked, so I came back earlier this week and took a membership. I am having my first training session this Saturday.

I also have to sort through paperwork for my externship. Yay! Paperwork. Not fun. And definitely not how I want to spend what little time off I have left. I just want to sleep in till 8:20, then lounge till after 9:00; watch an A-Team episode with breakfast and coffee, then write until my fingernails split; and maybe go to my other jobs when I have to. See! I’m not even off off. I’m just taking a break from school. But, I’m trying not to take a break from life.

And on that note, it’s been real!

The Fillmore, Philadelphia – Sabaton

Last week, I got the best birthday present to date. My brother and I drove to Philadelphia so that we could see Sabaton perform live. We left Tuesday morning a little after 10:00 and started our drive to Philadelphia. My brother drove for most of it, but we switched when we were almost to the city. It was almost ironic fate as I hate driving in cities. The roads are too narrow, the turns too weird, and the idiots too numerous. But, we made it to our hotel on the banks of the Delaware river and crashed.

We brought our bags in, cleaned up and went looking for the venue. The GPS was a little confused, as were we, but we did find it and checked out the parking. Once we gauged everything, we returned to our hotel because we still had two and half hours before the start of the concert. In all honesty, we probably could have stayed in our room till about 10:00. There were two cover bands before Sabaton: Cyhra and Kreator, and they took about that long. But… we went around 6:30, and stood in the cold for an hour, and were let through the doors around 7:30. We went out onto the floor, had a hard time deciding if we wanted our coats off, finally made the decision, and then stood in line to get some Sabaton shirts. Well, he got a hoodie, and I got a tank top.

We listened to a bit of Cyhra and Kreator after getting our paraphernalia, but Kreator almost blew my eardrums out and we stepped into a quieter area to recoup. There, we waited for Sabaton to start. When we saw the sound guys taking out and testing their guitars and mikes and drums, we started getting twitchy excited. Then, they announced the band and they came out on stage. The screaming was thunderous and people started crying, “Sabaton! Sabaton! Sabaton!” We joined in. These are the songs they played:

Cliffs of Gallipoli
The Final Solution
Primo Victoria
Sparta
The Last Stand
Winged Hussars
Resist & Bite
Uprising
Carolus Rex
Gustavus Adolphus
Night Witches
Swedish Pagans
Screaming Eagles

They played till almost midnight and my brother and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. He crowd surfed three times, filming for the last one. There was a ‘mosh pit’ (friendly rough housing at a rock concert) that was going on beside us at one point, and I was smacked by somebody who got pushed. I went flying in a complete 360 degrees, but many helpful hands saved me from landing on the floor. My brother tried to put himself between me and the ‘violence’ but sometimes, he partook of it.

When we finally made it back to our hotel room, it was after midnight, and my brother just crawled into bed. I took the time to remove my makeup, get changed and brushed my teeth before I went to sleep. Of course, the alarm went off all too soon, but the breakfast and coffee was worth it, and then it was the long trek home.

I was sad to leave, almost hoping for an encore performance, but I will remember that concert and the fact that I did get to see Sabaton live. It will probably be years before they come back and when they do, I hope to be waiting for them.

And on that note, it’s been real!

Let It Snow! Not…

I actually did not know about the weather, or at least how bad it was going to be until night time, so when everyone was talking about not dying, I was all for that. I went to sleep last night, but set my alarm for 6:00 like I always do. When it went off, I checked my phone and saw that my teacher was not coming in to class today because of the snow and the ice underneath the snow. I was more than happy to go back to sleep until after 9:00. Then, I got summoned outside to shovel the very heavy snow on our driveway.

But, the good news was that school was basically cancelled for everyone today, and my two siblings are just chilling. They’re playing a computer game together and I am doing this blog post. It’s been so long. My school is still driving me crazy, my dentist has been needing me to cover for other assistants, and life in general just continues to throw curve balls at me. Yay!

I can’t do much more of this snow and cold though. It’s such a pain in the *ss to start my car fifteen minutes before I actually leave and scraping the snow off my windshields. Bundling up and still managing to get cold. It’s a beautiful thing to live in the northern states of America (not). I want to go south!

And on that note, it’s been real!