Freeways, Highways, Expressways, Interstates and Confusion...
So, my sister came to me last night with a question about Milwaukee highways. As anyone who knows me can attest, I tend to just know how to get places but not exactly know what roads to use (ie, I know where I'm going, but I can't tell you without using landmarks such as the Giant Menorah - or, the corner of Lincoln Memorial and Lake). Anyway, the following conversation ensued (more or less);

Katie: Do you know the highways around here.
Lauren: Um, sort-of, why?
Katie: Well. I just was wondering. So if you're on 894 going west, I mean, 794, behind you is 894 and the Hoan Bridge?
Lauren: Yup.
Katie: And then, if you continue going west, it turns into 94, right?
Lauren: Well, it merges into 94, it doesn't turn into 94.
Katie: Oh, okay. And then 94 goes to...
Lauren: Madison.
Katie: And 43 like, goes to Green Bay.
Lauren: 43 North goes to Green Bay.
Katie: What about 43 South?
Lauren: Well, that goes to Chicago, but you really take 94 to Chicago.
Katie: But I thought 94 went to Madison.
Lauren: 94 West goes to Madison.
Katie: But it can't be 94 South if there's 94 West?
Lauren: It's not. It's 94 East that goes to Chicago, along with 43 South, and 45 South.
*pause*
Katie: 94 East goes to Chicago, even though Chicago is south?
Lauren: Yeah.
Katie: And 94 West goes to Madison?
Lauren: And the Twin Cities.
Katie: Why isn't it 94 South?
Lauren: It's 94 East.
Katie: Wait, so it is East in the grand scheme of the country then, right?
Lauren: Yea.
Katie: So it probably goes out East, like to Ohio and stuff?
Lauren: Well, when Dad and I went to Sandusky, we took 294 and then 90, but that's something completely different altogether...
Katie: I'm so confused!!!!

And I didn't even try to confuse her!! :)
- posted by L. @ 1:14 PM

 
My new career path has already been crushed...damn...
Disclaimer: Before I get started, this is all a joke. These are not real plans, they are just the pointless ramblings of two college grads looking for jobs. No seriousness is involved!!!

So, Paul and I are looking for jobs. Neither one of us has had much luck so far, so we've decided that looking for a real job would be hard, and therefore, we want to turn to illegal activities instead. So, we pondered some ideas, and then discovered why, in fact, these are bad ideas:

Paul: then maybe we can go into money laundering together
Paul: looks like a win win for everybody
Lauren: but i really don't know much about money laundering...
Paul: hehe
Paul: Wisconsin could be our base and we could branch out
Lauren: hmm, good idea
Lauren: how does one get started in money laundering?
Paul: I was actually about to ask you that question
Lauren: well, we're off to a great start :-)
Paul: cuz frankly, I don't even really know what it is
Lauren: me either!
Paul: sweet! we would make the perfect money laundering team. you'll have to ask Andy first if he's willing to cut you in on the profits though.
Lauren: do you think it gets suspicious if you look up money laundering on the internet?
Paul: that could possibly raise some red flags
Paul: hmmm...
Lauren: hmm...
Lauren: well, i found this site, but i don't really understand it
Paul: hmmm, apparently you have to have money to launder it. this might be a problem
Lauren: i've got $29
Paul: I have $3 and a box full of pennies in my car
Lauren: i've got a bunch of pennies too
Lauren: hmmm...
Paul: I'm thinking the overhead might crush our company
Lauren: probably
Paul: rats
Paul: foiled
Paul: again
Lauren: darn
Lauren: hmm, how about drug dealing?
Paul: that could work
Paul: I have a cousin who knows a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy that occasionally smokes weed
Lauren: ummm
Paul: so we've got a good start there
Lauren: yes, definitely

So, never fear, my money laundering plans have already gone awry. So, back to the real job hunting.....unless the drug dealing thing goes through.

Paul: dank weed at discount prices.
Paul: that should be our motto.

Disclaimer: Still kidding. No drug dealing, either.
- posted by L. @ 1:28 AM

 
Nothing new, as usual
So, I've been up for a couple hours, which for me, is a real achievement (it's almost 11, and I've been up since 8:30. No, I didn't have to be somewhere at 9, either!). I've been writing and re-writing my resume and it still looks like crap, so I'm going to go back to the drawing board at home. Maybe without high-speed internet I'll get more accomplished. Then I'm going to send it to my uncle to proof-read, as he used to read that stuff all day working for usbank! I'm so bored it's ridiculous, and I have nothing to do. Blahhhhhhhh.
Either way, I should probably get my butt in gear. I hate the drive to Milwaukee from here, but maybe I'll call Joe and see if he wants to meet for lunch, unless he has that class thing?? That, and I decided I'm going to send Liz and Heather something in the mail (coloring pictures!) but I have to get home so I can find the Snoopy coloring books in hopes of finding a picture of Franklin for Heather...
This really would be a less pressing issue if I knew their home and/or apartment address in Massachusetts, but since I don't know either of the above and I want it to be a complete surprise (and so far there have been no indications of either Liz or Heather reading this while at CP....)...but they are only there for another week, so I best get moving. I think I'm going to spend Friday night with a coloring book and crayons, unless - hey, Adam, want to do something? Perhaps I will have to call him - at least for sometime this weekend. Huzzah! Oakland Trattoria and Cold Stone mayhaps! Wheee!
And now for a public service announcement:
Music You Should Listen To:
Coldplay - X&Y
Keane - Hopes and Fears
Books You Should Read:
Harlan Coben - The Innocent
Robin Cook - Marker
Okay, out to be productive (ish)!
p.s. still waiting for any help on the gap in the template. it didn't always used to be like that, which is what baffles me. if you help me, i'll color you a picture tonight and mail it to you, provided i have your address. i even have a few choices of coloring books: muppet babies, care bears and snoopy. take your pick! :)
- posted by L. @ 10:49 AM

 
An update of sorts, ish, but not really...
Okay, so I really am lacking in the posting department...but, I just don't have anything all that terribly exciting to say that can really be said via a blog, so I'll just give an update.
I'm job-hunting. It's really pretty sucky, because I can't find anything that I even want to remotely apply for. I've been applying for a few things here and there, mostly banks, and keeping my options open. I figure I'm not completely broke yet, so I'm not completely desperate, and as I'm not paying rent yet, I've been living at home, and just mooching food off my parents (I'm actually kidding there, because I went grocery shopping for lil'old me the other day, I love grocery shopping for myself - no, I'm not kidding). Well, I'm not completely self-sufficient when it comes to groceries, but who wants to actually buy, say, chicken breasts when Dad has more than enough and is grilling them (in multiple quantities!) anyway?? :)
Mmmm, and I totally am remembering why I must never leave Wisconsin in August again - sweet corn!! We've had fresh sweet corn twice since I got home last Tuesday night, uhhhhh, to die for. I know, I know, they have sweet corn in Ohio, but it's not like I had anywhere to cook it. Okay, I probably could have gone over to someone's apartment, but that would have meant work, and I was doing quite enough of that already. Hehe.
I went shopping with my sister on Sunday before heading up to Appleton, and we were in Finish Line (where I just bought shoes a few weeks ago when I was in Ohio) so I thought I was safe from buying more shoes (logic: just bought shoes.). So I'm sitting there with Katie, waiting for her to pick out shoes, and listening to her complain about how the shoes she wants look like "man-shoes because they're green and black, blah blah blah," (even though they don't look like man-shoes, because what do man-shoes look like anyway?). While she's looking, I start (foolishly?) looking for shoes on my own, because I'm bored, but I found some awesome Nike Shox in PURPLE (how frickin cool!!!). I didn't bother to even ask to try a pair on, because there was no way I was going to spend $100 on a friggin' pair of shoes. But those same purple shoes were also in KIDS for $30 less!! And they had my size!! (size 5.5 in KIDS!!!) So, sigh, needless to say, I could not resist. So much for that twisted logic about shoe stores. :)
I've decided that once I get a job, I am getting two things: 1- MVP at Hollywood Video (need. to. watch. movies!) and 2- Muppet Show Season 1 on dvd.
Sigh. Back to job-hunting!
p.s. I have no idea why there is a huge gap between the title and the post. if anyone can offer insight, i would greatly appreciate it! i have been looking at the template and can't find anything! sorry about the inconvenience ;)
- posted by L. @ 11:38 PM

 
Reason Number 1 (and only, so far) that I can tolerate/maybe even like my sister's boyfriend...
Only because I, erm, borrowed the Coldplay X&Y CD from him. I have all intentions of getting my own copy, eventually, but as I just dropped twenty bucks on the 2003 Live Coldplay CD last week, I'm having a hard time getting myself to buy another CD, especially considering how I have no job (and my last paycheck, of a whopping 12 hours or so, should cover the cost of the bridesmaid dress. wait, no, i lied, that 12 hours of work would cover the cost of the bridesmaid dress, should there be no taxes/rent taken out. well, never mind. oh well. the dress is worth it).
So, back to life of the unemployed...
Ah! Unemployment! Wait, just kidding. Blah! I can't wait to have a job again, just not one that demands 50+ hours of work in a week, at slave wages! Sorry, just not my idea of fun times, thanks. So, what's next? Well, I'm not sure. Job-hunting is continuing, and I'll keep you all updated.
In the meantime, fellow 2005 Ripon grads, today we would have moved back to school had we not graduated. A tiny bit nostalgic, for me, but for the most part, thank the lord. That's an era we're done with! Now, if I move to Appleton, that's just too close for comfort, huh? :)
Well, I'm going to the mall with my sister...shudders...and then to Appleton for a couple days to visit the boy and job-hunt.
(Oh, good luck Riponites who haven't yet graduated...I'll visit. Once, or twice...check the music department calendar to get a general idea of when I might grace campus with my presence) ;)
Later, kiddies!
- posted by L. @ 3:48 PM

 
Dear Wisconsin, I love you (sometimes).
So....
Here I am, sitting on my front porch of MY house! So long, Ohio! I bid a not-so-fond farewell to Ohio this afternoon after much deliberation after inventory hell at 6:30 am (the inventory was not so bad, it was the getting up early that was so bad....5:20am!! TWO DAYS IN A ROW! WTF!!!)....
Alas, the real world beckons, and resume writing starts, well, soon. Then job-hunting (and god help me if I have to live at home....BLAH!)....and in the meantime, DMV visiting (puke, barf, retch....) and applying for license plates, etc. Oh, the joys of the real world...
And I think I might be getting my ear checked out in the next few days (if not tomorrow, I might just possibly collapse in bed until about Friday, okay, not really...), so hopefully that nightmare will be over (i think having an ear ache for almost three weeks is getting to be a little extreme....).
Ooh, the bridesmaid dress is bought (and it's pretty! yay!), and I think I know what I'm going to get the bride & groom, and all I have to do is find a job so that I can line up my train tickets down as well as the hotel rooms, the driving there/back, etc....hmmm....
So, good luck to me on the job hunting - and hopefully there will be more updating as I actually have computer access (and I heard a rumor my parents might be getting DSL!!!) :)
- posted by L. @ 11:54 PM

 
Shoot me. Now. Part Two. Or ten. Or five million.
So, I'm going to go insane. Yes, it's debatable about whether or not I've ever quite been sane, but I am definitely on the road to insanity. Agh! Okay. So, anyway.
Life has been, well, interesting, to say the least. The month of August, while it has been short, has thusfar been, well, terrible. Minus a few exceptions, of course, ie, Big Bash. But that's about it, I guess.
Tomorrow I have to get up at the ass crack of dawn (and no, I don't mean at some point before noon, thanks)...but FIVE THIRTY AM! BLAHHHHHHHHHHH! And then I have to be at work by 6:30, and I'm not done until FIVE PM! FUCK!!! I hate my job. And not just because of inventory...
Anyway, it may come as a surprise to those who know me, but apparently I'm mean. Not just mean, but a total bitch....which is funny, because the person who called me a total bitch hates me even though I've never been anything but nice to her even though she actually is a total bitch. And not just a bitchy personality, but a total bitch who thrives on turning people against each other (no joke). Blah, I hate drama. The good news is that after freaking out at my boss, I got the bitch out of my store...and she is now selling bubble guns on the midway. For her last week. Ha! Revenge is sweet...
So yeah. There really hasn't been much to report on. It's probably a good thing I haven't written much lately, since all of my days entail nothing but stress....stress and more stress. Fuck, I hate my job.
The other sucky news is that I've been having problems with my ears (again) and ear infection-type pain (but no ear infection, yet, anyway), but it's been about 17 days so far and it appears to be clearing up (knock on wood)...at least, I hope so.
So, inventory hell tomorrow morning, then work hell tomorrow morning to afternoon (fuck), but we'll see how much longer I keep this up. I think the real world is beckoning, whether I actually want to be in the real world yet or not!
Sorry about the pity party, but hopefully things will look up soon. I had the weekend off, but I don't think that has quite motivated me to get back to work, so we shall see....
- posted by L. @ 9:56 PM