Archive for the ‘how i am awesome’ Category

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(Not) Getting a Cab in Austin: Part 3

2012/03/20

So when we left off, I’d just spoken with the owner of Yellow Cab Austin, and given him the sensible advice to not make promises he couldn’t keep. That night I had the opportunity, once again, to call upon Yellow Cab for transport – my flight back to Boston was at 9:40 the following morning. And lo! Behold! I was greeted with a recording giving a disclaimer about their dispatch service malfunction! I’d effected real change, it seemed!

Nevertheless, I made my reservation for 6am, and called Lone Star Cab as backup for a pickup at 7.

Me being me, I slept through my alarm. I woke at 7:30 to my phone ringing, with the taxi driver from Lone Star on the other end of the line. This is 7:30am, mind you, which is neither 6 nor 7. “Where are you?” he asked me, in a thickly accented voice. “I can’t find you on the GPS.”

“Um, maybe try a map,” I suggested, not unhelpfully. “I think it’s off Airport Boulevard, but I can’t be sure. I don’t live here.”

“OK, OK, OK,” he interrupted. “I be there soon.”

I got up, brushed my teeth, and set about packing. Half an hour later, as I was finishing off the last of the Diet Coke and smoking the day’s first cigarette, he called back.

“OK, so you are coming off I-35 from downtown, and which way do you turn off the exit?”

I mean, was I  UNCLEAR earlier about the ‘not living here’ thing? “I really don’t know,” I said, “I’ve never been to Austin before in my life. I think you turn right.”

“Right?” His tone was almost accusatory. “You sure it’s not left?”

“What? NO, I’m not sure! I DON’T LIVE HERE. But I think it’s right.” I stubbed out my Camel Light and huffed inside the house.

“OKOKOK, I call you back.”

I hadn’t yet had time to put the empty 2-liter in the trashcan when my phone rang again. But, instead of the cranky cabbie, it was a pleasant audio recording informing me that my cab was approaching. Yellow Cab Austin! My chariot had arrived – and only two and a half hours late!

Lone Star called back one more time, but I didn’t bother answering. It was my last cab ride in Austin. I wanted to enjoy every second.

Posted in best week ever, city livin', how i am awesome, life story, vacation, work | Leave a Comment »

(Not) Getting a Cab in Austin: Part 2

2012/03/18

7am was foggy in Austin. I noticed when I poked my head out the door to look for the cab that, of course, wasn’t there. I waited the requisite 20 minutes and then put in my phone call.

“We’re very busy,” said the dispatcher. “And we don’t guarantee our arrival time.”

“That’s bullshit,” I replied. “I want to speak to your manager.”

“We don’t guarantee our arrival time,” said the manager. “Plus, it’s foggy outside.”

“My cab yesterday NEVER came! I mean, I just really want to know, is a cab coming, or not?”

“Wait 20 more minutes,” she advised. “Call us back then.”

I think not. I woke up my friend, who woke up her husband, who, kindly, drove me downtown.

Two hours later, I still hadn’t received a call from the cab company, which led me to believe there were still no available cabs. But lo! Across the street! During my cigarette-and-coffee break, I certainly did spy four empties waiting for a fare. And I got SO mad. Once more, I dialed the number for Yellow Cab Austin. After listening to three rounds of their hold message, I was in no mood to dally around with the dispatcher – I got put right to the top. And by “right to the top” I mean “to the owner’s voicemail”.

Voicemail? VOICEMAIL??!! You could have popped me with a pin, I was so puffed up. So I did the only think I could do – I threatened legal action. He called me right back, sure he did, and he was VERY apologetic. “This is entirely our fault,” he admitted, and went on to tell me how they’d had some kind of electrical surge in their system that totally fried their dispatch center.

I put on my best business voice. “Well sir, I appreciate your position and I certainly thank you for calling me back. But I would suggest to you that you simply be transparent with your customers, instead of promising them cabs that won’t ever arrive.”

I mean, I almost felt bad for the guy. One more post, and you’ll see what happens.

Posted in city livin', how i am awesome, life story, vacation, work | Leave a Comment »

Carpe Diem?

2012/02/07

From this article, which trumpets the value of morning time.

Savor Something.Whether you like a big breakfast omelet or prefer toast and tea, eating food you enjoy can’t help but affect your mood for the better. Stock up on the ingredients you need to create your favorite breakfast, so they’re always in your cupboard first thing to lift your mood. But more important, take a few minutes to really experience and savor breakfast, even if it’s just a glass of juice. Allowing yourself to be absorbed in something you enjoy is a wonderful way to begin the day.

And I just had to think: would drinking wine count? I enjoy that QUITE a bit.

Posted in aberrant behavior, anecdotal, boozin', how i am awesome, progress? | Leave a Comment »

Things I learned while my boyfriend was away:

2012/01/14

B! has been gone since Monday. Here are eleven things I found out.

  1. I’m more social when I’m single
  2. Filling ice cube trays is for the birds.
  3. The cats? They really poop a LOT.
  4. Taking out the trash is not my strong suit.
  5. I eat like shit when left to my own devices.
  6. I also don’t sleep properly.
  7. BECAUSE I’M TOO BUSY BEING AWESOME
  8. Gossip Girl really starts to slack midway through season 2
  9. Kale is an incredible vegetable
  10. Doing dishes is actually not that bad.
  11. But I still hate it.

 

Posted in anecdotal, how i am awesome | Leave a Comment »

Tried to go to the gym. Swear to God.

2011/12/11

It was not a good morning. More or less overwhelmed with my mental list of menial tasks to accomplish, I lay in bed pondering my next move. I wanted to go to the gym. I didn’t want to shower. I hated my gym shoes. I had a wedding at 6. I needed a push, a spark, something to thrill me on my way, because seriously we just got these flannel sheets and they are like WOAH comfortable.

I bargained myself into rising for the sole purpose of buying new sneakers. My old ones are fine, I suppose, but they’re just a touch too big for me and I can’t run in them. So really, they suck. ”I deserve it,” I thought, “it will be what gets me back in the groove.” $39.99 later, I was on my way to Planet Fitness, ready to keep up the other half of the bargain.

Except at Planet Fitness, the 17-year-old girl behind the counter informed me that I had an eighty dollar balance. Apparently I’d gotten a new debit card and neglected to let them know. I was all ready to pay it until I stopped and thought about it for a second. Planet Fitness is ten bucks a month. I hadn’t been gone that long.

“Can I see that itemized?” I asked, in an uncharacteristic display of gumption.

The bastards had been charging me every time a charge didn’t go through, effectively doubling my monthly payment. Plus, they charged me a membership renewal fee – just before they closed my account. Sweet!

“I’m not paying that,” I told the girl. “That’s insane.”

I’m all about losing this extra jiggle, but $120 in one day is a little much. Wouldn’t you agree?

 

 

Posted in Depression, how i am awesome, money | Leave a Comment »

Is glad she didn’t spend any more time at the bar.

2011/11/19

I heard this thing on the radio the other day about how people drink and drive too frequently, and how a full stomach (and moderation) are the keys to successfully staying under the limit. This occurred to me tonight, sitting barside with my sister sipping a particularly strong vodka cocktail. I was not just hungry, suddenly, but STARVING, and it was nigh on 1am. Predictably, the kitchen had closed, and our route back to her apartment was completely devoid of pizza shops.  ”I’ll just make pasta at home,” I told her, and wished her pleasant dreams.

Now, after such a night of merriment, the last thing one wants to encounter is a sobriety checkpoint. Especially when one has an inspection sticker that expired in July. It was on Rte 16, near the gas fields, and I swung an overly enthusiastic right turn into the industrial complex just in time to see a police officer parked on the curb.

He flashed his lights. I rolled down my window.

“Live around here?” he asked, with a knowing grin.

“No,” I confessed, heart pounding in my throat. “It’s just – my inspection sticker is expired.” I smiled what I hoped was a charming smile and tried to act casual.

“Ah, a guilty one!” exclaimed the officer. “I don’t think they’re looking for that. Anyway, you can’t get out this way – it’s all dead end streets. If they give you any trouble, just tell em your brother in law is stationed down the alley here, eh?”

I thanked the kind sir and proceeded through the gauntlet – a flashlight in your face and an uncomfortable exchange of pleasantries wherein you know the other party is trying to smell your breath. A stranger’s face pushed up inside your personal space. I made it through (no surprise, really), and smoked a victory cigarette to celebrate. Then, when I got home, I cracked a High Life and wrote this post. Cheers, weekend – you’ve started out in splendid fashion.

 

Posted in best week ever, boozin', car-ma, city livin', how i am awesome, I enjoy being a girl | Leave a Comment »

OHAI

2011/10/19

What’s up? Oh, nothing. Just working and stuff, doing all that.

Yup, I’ve been good.

Yup, B!’s good too, we’re good. He’s cooking a lot lately, which is nice, and we went apple picking last weekend. I took some pictures.

Yeah, for sure, nice to catch up! Oh, hey, before I let you go, I do have this one story – the other weekend? I shot an S&M Wedding.

Yeah, seriously, like, the bride wore black.

YES it was a dress! I mean, it was kind of see-through, but – what? YES the groom was dressed too.

NO, not in a dress!

It was seriously amazing. Yeah. And, like, weirdly COMFORTABLE. Like, they were all really good people. I actually had an awesome time. Something about being free, being real and honest – like, there was no bullsh*t with them, you know? Even at the after-reception reception, where there were like, people being whipped and stuff. What?

Yes, WHIPPED. Like, with a WHIP.

What?

NO, no, I DID NOT get WHIPPED.

No, I’d totally recommend it to anyone. The party, not the whipping. Like, keep an open mind, you never know what might come your way. You know? Hahahaha, yeah. OK. Later.

Posted in aberrant behavior, best week ever, free advice, how i am awesome, I enjoy being a girl, matrimony | 1 Comment »

Feels like a grown-up

2011/09/04

My bed has been killing me lately. Not physically, I mean I don’t have backaches or anything, but it pops, it sags, and the frame has fallen apart no less than three times. I made B! drill it together with wood screws at 3am last April, and it seems lately that the wood screws are about to give way. It was the bed I shared with my husband and the bed that our friends (now married with child) shared before that. It just drives me totally insane. And this Saturday, I decided it was high time to do something about it.

B! and I marched our way down to the neighborhood Sleepy’s, blazed through the double doors, and were assaulted by a sea of headboards and mattresses. Greeted by a heavily-makeupped woman of indeterminate middle age, I made no compunction about our need for a cheap bed. “On the lower end of the price range,” was how I delicately phrased our requirement.

Mind you, we are in no shape to be purchasing anything on any end of the price range. My computer’s hard drive died on Thursday, and the repair is a cool three hundred dollars. Jake’s medical bills? Please, let’s not even think. My OWN medical bills? I have a payment plan with my providers. But the bed was wrecking my life, and at thirty-two years old, I mean, why should I have to live like that?

Zero percent financing. No money down. Delivery, assembly, AND disposal. A thousand-dollar mattress slashed to nearly half its original price, with a nice brand name and a five-year guarantee. I signed on the line three times and, just like that, became the owner of my very first self-purchased brand new bed.

Anyone remember the Mr. Rogers “Proud of You” song? It’s kind of been in my head all weekend. Like, I’m singing it to myself.

Posted in best week ever, gettin old, how i am awesome, jake, money | 2 Comments »

My wish list is tragic.

2011/07/01

You know, they’re really not kidding when you say your gifts get boring as you get older. My big “present to self / present from parents” will be a used Nikon DSLR, which is sh*t-your-pants awesome, but the rest of my imaginary wish list is so mundane I could cry.  Items include:

- a short USB > USB cable. Like, big USB to regular USB.

- sneakers

- rocks glasses

- new deodorant

- black maxidress from Old Navy

- aluminum 1-qt pot, suitable for preparing one can of soup.

- sea salt

I mean, it’s sad that any one of these things would be my 8-year old self’s equivalent of a Teddy Ruxpin. Remember that guy? What a scene.

Posted in gettin old, how i am awesome | 1 Comment »

My Deal.

2011/06/29

Some writings posted here. The story of me. Kind of long, but possibly worthwhile? I like to think so.

Posted in how i am awesome | 1 Comment »

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