http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:Strap-Me-In&section=today deviantART RSS for by:Strap-Me-In en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:56:03 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12579321/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12579321/ Fri, 13 Apr 2007 11:01:37 PDT E-Less. I feel it is a more appropriate name for my account. Since DA won't let me change my account name, I just started a new one.

So all you guys that have been watching me on this page, please go to my new one and comment on some of my old stuff as I add it. Maybe some of it you've never seen... or maybe you'd like to give me another comment on something you didn't notice before.

I'm currently adding a lot of deviations so prepare to have a high count there when you me again.

Thanks you guys! I hope you'll follow me over to the new account. I will delete this one shortly after my transition has finished.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12356788/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12356788/ Tue, 27 Mar 2007 22:37:18 PDT
I haven't been submitting much photography as of lately and I'm rather bummed about that. I feel like I haven't been working at it as much as lately. In fact, I'm quite disappointed that my skills have taken a slump. Or at least I feel so. I suppose it started with Stephen's wedding. I was late getting there and was unable to find a good spot to take photos from. The very few shots I did take came out horrible. The lighting was bad and I didn't compensate correctly so all the shots have quite a bit of graininess to them. Shame on me.

And since then, things haven't improved much. I get so angry about lighting. The motivation to actually go out and take pictures of stuff has literally died. I hate going anywhere because I'm just too tired to. Or, funnily enough, I feel awkward taking pictures. In particular, I still don't have the nerve to just drive around here by myself to random places. I'm quite worried something will happen. And, as I said, I feel exhausted all the time. I don't quite know why.

I don't believe its lack of sleep. I seem to get about 7 hours every night. I know my eating habits haven't been quite great lately. I am unable to get into my fridge since my landlord was trying to install a dishwasher only to realize they didn't have the necessary parts. Hence, the dishwasher is sitting right in front of my fridge, leaving me maybe a wide enough opening to get out my Brita Pitcher with some effort or a gallon of milk after punching in half the container. Needless to say, whenever I get into the fridge there'll be some cleaning out to do.

I also am disappointed in the fact that whenever I'm off work I don't have time to photograph anything or go anywhere because I'm trying to catch up on everything else like laundry, trash, cleaning, etc etc. So, by the time I feel like I've done something its already dark out and really not ideal time to photograph much of anything let alone go looking for stuff to shoot. This really depresses me.

I've also been considering changing my DA account to a new name. I wish DA would have an option to change your account name. Artists grow and change, why can't their screen names? Honestly, my little sister came up with my screen name and it particularly means nothing to me. In addition, sometimes I get weird looks when I tell people in real life what my screen name is on DA...

But, there's too many things to change over. Too many photos and journals. Albeit, there aren't many watchers on my account and very few people consistently visit my page. I suppose I'm not really that interesting... wow now that's depressing...

Ahh and I should go to sleep now.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12225901/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12225901/ Sat, 17 Mar 2007 22:41:12 PDT
Its actually quite great working there. My first few days went pretty great. In fact, the first day I officially worked there (Monday) I sold more that day than I typically did in a week at my last location. How sad is that?! And then, how great is that?

PM, the manager, and I get along pretty darn well. Both of us are pretty sarcastic and, as he said it, I "can dish it out and take it". I guess I'll consider that a compliment. Maybe I'm not so thin-skinned afterall? In other things though, he's doing pretty good so far in getting me used to the store and training me in what I need to know for all the Asst. Manager meetings. This is honestly the first time in the entire (almost) year I've worked for this company that I worked for someone who wasn't a brand new manager (as in assigned their first store when I started working with/for them). So, I'm sure he'll have a lot of input for anything I may have questions about... plenty... in fact he's the senior manager for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. So, yep, a wealth of information in that head of his.

SB, the other asst. manager (besides me), kind of worries me. I didn't really work with him before but we've been carpooling to the classes in Pensacola together every week since the beginning of February. He seems like he's in some sort of funk or state of depression of sorts. What's weird about that is he should be one of the happiest guys around. He got married about 3 weeks ago and yet he seems really gloomy or 'emo' as he said one day. I'm hoping he'll pull out of whatever this slump is he's having and get himself feeling better. I don't know what'll happen if he doesn't. Needless to say, I was hoping my move to the store wasn't depressing him since I've been having such a stellar week and I've pretty much been very animated at the store and as productive as I could be. Someone said, "Maybe he's feeling intimidated" by me. But I guess we'll find out...

DD, a regular associate, is kind of different than a lot of people I've gotten used to working with. He'll ask me for something to do, I'll assign him a task, he'll do it, and then ask for something else. Granted his selling skills could use some improvement, he's not that terrible of a guy. With a little bit of motivation and training, I think he'd be okay but I've been told otherwise by everyone else... so maybe he's just doing stuff for me because I'm the new person and my badge says asst. manager... who knows...

LT and I have similar mentalities. Both of us must consistently do something in the store. We both are pretty animated and keep ourselves working on something in the store. And I am extremely grateful. She's not a prissy stuck up girl like the ones I used to work with at my old job. She and I will get along perfectly fine and maybe I'll actually make a friend down here now. Her husband and kids came in the store the other day so I got to meet them. One of her kids was sort of quiet around me but if IRC LT said she's like that around new people so I guess I didn't scare her or anything. LT said that later on her husband asked how old I was and was glad that there's someone at the store who's old enough to drink if invited over. Apparently, her husband has BBQs every now and then and I guess he was wondering if he should invite us. Yay for being over 21!

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12115133/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/12115133/ Fri, 09 Mar 2007 07:14:58 PST
JS, at my 'old' store, has been trying to send me on guilt trips for leaving then. JH (the manager) said he'd love to keep me there but can't afford me in such a low volume store. He also commented that he'll borrow me back once a month to help him with paperwork, organization, and restocking the store. JM (I really think) is glad to see me go for the fact that it means he gets back second in command again.

I'm quite excited but rather worried to go to this other store and 'start over' again. Granted, I was borrowed at this store for a day about a week and a half ago, I'm still a bit worried. I already know there are a few things that are going to irritate me (i.e. the stock room) and I'm not too concerned about the employees since I never had a chance to work with them. The only person I worked with there was the manager, PM. He's an old school manager and very sarcastic. I think things will work out well.

SB (who I've been carpooling to Pensacola with every Monday) seems to get along well with me and I suppose I can help him out a bit when I get to the store since he's said he's had particular issues with certain people there because they don't listen to him. Which, it is hard going from being a regular associate in a store and being buddies with everyone to being in charge of them. Its especially since certain people in that store have worked there longer than he has and well... it just doesn't occur to them for some reason that, yes, he is in charge and is responsible for the store.

I suppose I can just observe for the first few days and see how things go. Then I may have to start being more assertive with everyone once I figure out how they all act around me and with eachother. Oh, but I know I will probably have to do A LOT of training. A LOT...

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11728436/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11728436/ Wed, 07 Feb 2007 21:19:17 PST
According to the DM however, as of lately that list hasn't been that long because 1. not as many people are completing the classes and 2. there has been a huge turnover of managers in our district. In fact, the manager I worked for when I moved down here was shifted to another store and a new manager took over the store I'm in now.

They want to move me also because I'm in an extremely low volume store but still manage to rank within the top 20 sales associates in the district. Now, imagine if I was actually in a high grossing, highly productive store. I think I could do a lot better... a lot better than having 10 customers in the total of a 6 hour shift.

So work has been rather unusual lately with all the changes I'm having to go through and train for. Then, as I said, they're in the process of hiring someone to take my place in my current store so they can move me to the 1Million$ store not much farther away than I am from home now.

That makes the manager of that store very excited because he was trying to steal me from my previous manager before I was even promoted. Now that I've been promoted, they can't afford me in my store anymore and need to move me so that I can perform better. So, we're just waiting for this new guy to start and train a little before I swap stores.

And my current manager will have to find someone else to do all his paperwork (since I primarily do it now). But it is lots of fun and a few of my coworkers are a little upset that I'll be leaving but they'll be okay.

----------------------------------------------
At home, we finally installed the projector. We also got a Nintendo Wii about 2 weeks ago. We also hooked up our surround sound system that we can now actually turn up because we no longer live in that stifling apartment where neighbors complained because my dog barked when someone came to the door. Yes, it is so much better here.

Oh, and I got electricuted!

But I'm okay... nothing major... just got zapped for a minute second or so... in my attic...

I've been trying to install an all-in-one printer my parents brought down here for me last month. I've been working on it for what seems like forever. As far as I can tell and as far as I can remember, they didn't bring the installation CD with them and its been a major pain in my ass trying to find the drivers and software to set it up. Every time I use the drivers from the manufacturer's website, the installation seems to go haywire and then conk out on me. Thus, it still doesn't recognize the printer or scanner.

Its the bane of my existence for the time being... I have things I need to scan for Bert grandmother and well that's not happening until I get this retarded HP all-in-one crap to work... But I guess it could be worse!

I still haven't put up my wall paper in the bathroom or the kitchen... My car is making weird noises when I drive. I believe it either has something to do with my front caliper on the passenger side or the wheel bearings in the same location... and yet, I haven't the money to repair it.

What will I ever do? I know what you should do though! You should give me money!

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11355666/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11355666/ Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:09:28 PST
On a lighter and better note, my parents are coming to visit again. I'm very glad to see them. I haven't seen them since before the holidays and I'm excited I get to spend all weekend with them.

I'm working a lot of crappy long hours this week (partly because of my parents coming and partly because of the manager being in Ft. Worth for training) but its all definitely worth it. I get to see my mom and dad! They're even staying the whole weekend this time. So, they should be here Friday afternoon/night, stay for Saturday, stay for Sunday, and leave Monday morning. Granted, a weekend isn't that extensive of a time particularly for a trip that crosses two whole states.

That is better than the amount of time I got to spend with them last November though. Just one full day and then they were gone. Almost as quickly as they left. I'm just really excited that they'll be here this weekend.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11303114/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11303114/ Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:41:52 PST
On December 19th, the store I've been working at since moving to the Gulf Coast in October had a store visit from one of the higher-ups (Bob) in the company. So higher-up that this guy is in charge of a whole time zone for the company and ranked about 2 or 3 from the top of the company. Anywho, he specifically decided to stop by our store as we've done a major turn around in the last few months and he personally wanted to see us in action.

*tangent* Prior to my arrival, they replaced the manager in the store. We've both made major strives to remodel the store and build up our customer base. Its been working extremely well. We went to being in the last ranking in the district to being about mid-way in a matter of only 3 months. Granted, we're still not at the top but believe me that is a MAJOR improvement considering what he had to do to fix the issues and problems the previous manager garnered *end tangent*

However, the day this top guy was coming to the store, the manager wasn't able to be in due to a more pressing matter. So, being PIC (person in charge) and secondary to him, I was to stay the majority of the day in preparation for his visit (along with him also came our DM). Quite honestly, we didn't do much in preparation. My coworker, John, and I just made sure everything was tidied up.

Bob walked in and was immediately impressed with the layout and sales readiness of the store. He proceeded to talk to me but I abruptly left him as a customer came in. I mean, that is my job, afterall. So, he watched me talk with this woman about Ipods for a few minutes. Unfortunately, we were already sold out of Ipods. So, I showed her a few less expensive MP3 players. After about 15 minutes or so, we walked to the counter and rang her up. She was excited because not only did I help her get an MP3 player for her daughter, I also found some other smaller items to use as stocking stuffers and 'default' inexpensive gifts to use in case she forgot someone. She laughed after I rang her up and said "Thanks for all the help!" and turned to Bob on her way out saying something to him that must have been positive.

Well, that was just one fun little interaction I had in the store while they were there. They stayed, I suppose, for about 2 hours. I didn't really talk much with either but they did check a lot of things in the store. They went through some of our paperwork and asked us a couple questions. It went as well as it could have possibly gone... which lead to a great thing for me.

A few days later, my manager pulls me aside and tells me, "You really impressed Bob and the DM. In fact, Bob was so impressed with you that he asked if you were in the MIT (manager-in-training) program yet. I told him no and he was adamant about putting you into it. So, congratulations, you're our new assistant manager and a trainee for management. Which, if you finish it out, you'll likely get a store." Normally, you can only be put into the MIT program by request of the store manager via approval of the DM or by recommendation by someone higher than the DM. In my case, I actually got both. Its just the request by a higher than the DM person means it doesn't need approval, its already approved.

Haha! Finally, a job that actually recognizes its hard workers and doesn't BS about their jobs. I was actually quite surprised. I worked at Wolf Camera for 3 years and got only parallel promotions and very little pay raise. Here I am, working for my current employer for 9 months (6 of which in Augusta, GA and 3 here in MS after they transferred me). I was honestly surprised.

So, I start the New Year off with a promotion. I have to finish out some paperwork first and do a few training things but its great to know I have the position and especially the backing of that higher-up guy. I bet that's going to help me out later if I keep up with what I'm doing now. Here I go into the world of retail management.

Success! Now maybe things will turn around for the better and I'll actually have a positive cash flow thanks to the hefty raise they're giving me.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11217096/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/11217096/ Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:02:00 PST
My birthday was a few days ago on the 24th . I didn't really do much for either. I went to work at 630am, worked a couple hours, and came home. My boss was quite nice. He gave me a birthday card, a Diet Coke, and 40$. I was quite surprised actually because I wasn't expecting anything. It was rainy outside all afternoon after I got off of work. Bert intended to take me out to some parks that I've been wanting to go to, but that was obviously ruined by the rain and wind. He cooked me a yummy dinner and got me a small cake that has a penguin on it. He also got me a vanilla scent bath set that has some lotions, bath stuff, and what have you. I cried because I felt depressed my family wasn't around. They all called but I miss them (this being the first holiday I've spent away from EVERYONE in my family. It didn't go bad its just that I missed them all.

Christmas morning, I was still depressed about missing celebrating my birthday with my family. I slept in. We went to Bert's grandmother's for lunch. I tried to be as cheery as I could and chatted with his mother and grandmother. Things went well I suppose. His aunt, that everyone says is evil, also ate lunch with us and well nothing horrible happened. I tried pumpkin pie for the first time in my life, and I can say I never want to eat it again. Overall, it was a pretty nice day.

I got a flashlight and 2 gift cards (25$ total) to Wally World. Bert gave me (a few days early) subwoofers and an amplifier (combined birthday and Christmas present) for my car to replace the ones stolen a few months ago. They sound fantastic. Now if I could get everything else wired in like its supposed to be.

I cried again on Christmas because I missed mom, dad, and the rest of my family. I imagined all the fun they must have been having but I wasn't there to see it.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10873853/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10873853/ Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:26:35 PST
I officially live 2 states away from my parents and the rest of my family. Bert is enjoying being back home and I, as well, rather enjoy it here. I haven't been robbed, shot at, or accosted otherwise since we left Augusta and that is certainly a plus in my book.

The house is coming along. We've got a majority of the things done but there is still some work. The kitchen and bathroom still need the wallpaper finished. We have another room that has yet to be touched (no flooring or painted walls) but will be transformed eventually into a music room. That will be pretty much my husband's personal room albeit I'll probably spend a good bit of time in there as well since he's convinced on buying me a drum set albeit I've never played drums. For some reason, he said I looked like I could be a drummer when I was sitting at his friend's drum set laughing at how I've never played with drums before. It was a sight...

Anywho, I'll probably be posting quite a few pictures in the next few days. I'm pretty busy with work since I've been promoted to 2nd in command at the store I was transferred to last month. I work 6 days a week and rarely get much free time. But, when I do, I'll try to see about getting out and finding some good places to shoot.

Its a whole different world to me down here...

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10220694/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10220694/ Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:24:37 PDT
]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10156889/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/10156889/ Fri, 22 Sep 2006 22:09:48 PDT
I've been extremely busy as would be expected for someone who's preparing to move each and everything out of his/her home into a completely new location, especially since I'm completely doing it myself (unless you count Riley, the dog). At least the drive anyway. Its about an 8 or 9 hour drive if IRC. Geez, I really don't look forward to that but it'll be worth it once I pull up to the house and see Bert again!

I've already cancelled the cable/internet, set up the disconnect for the electric, and I have to call the gas company back about disconnecting the gas. Their computers were down when I called them last time and they were unable to schedule it into the system. So, I've got to call them back. The apartment inspection is on the 28th and practically as soon as that's done, I'm planning to hit the road.

I won't be taking much with me. Whatever fits in my car is what goes. I've got someone interesting in buying the couch and love seat. I've also found a few people who want to buy some of the random items I found in my closet the other day (a cordless telephone, games, PDAs, random electronics, etc etc...). I'm pretty much just taking the TV, dishes, clothes, bathroom stuff, cds, dvds, the stereo reciever, and the computer. All the other stuff is going into storage until mom and dad come down to visit us in November. Hopefully, they'll be able to. Until then, my bed, washer, and dryer are all staying here in Augusta.

I've actually been feeling a bit nostalgic around here. I came to mom and dads house the other day and sat in the front yard. I used to do that before on nights I had nothing better to do, just lay in the grass and stare at the sky (of course mom has dogs that poop all over the yard now so I was laying on dad's trailer). Then, I walked into the backyard and up the small hill to the tree swing I made when I was around 10y/o with a rope and 2x4 piece of wood. Good times... and I cried.

I'm going to really miss the house. Mom and dad are planning to move out next year which means we won't have it to come back to and visit. They're planning to move down to Macon and stay with Janet for a while. So, that's a little bit closer but still quite a bit of a drive. I'll make trips though... whenever possible.

Andddd I'm tired... more will come later... before I leave. Promise!

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9752658/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9752658/ Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:43:39 PDT
Firstly, I wanted to send some pictures to my husband. We're waiting for our lease in the apartment I'm in now to terminate at the end of September. Until then, I'm living here and he is down in Biloxi, MS. We decided we'd move down there since its practically his hometown, he misses the coast, and well he has some family and A LOT of friends down there that miss him. So, for now I'm here alone (aside from my mom, dad, and David (brother) living down the street and my sister (Kat) with her boyfriend (Mike) living about 10 minutes away. Since we're currently separated, I wanted to send him new pictures and updates on how I'm doing albeit, its not like I don't call him or he call me at least every other day.

Secondly, I needed to post some examples of human subject shots that I have taken. I've had a few people who have gotten interested in my photography and wanted to see some examples. I've practically handed out my DA page to those who have wondered or were curious as to my experience and my photos. It provides a decent enough exposure to prospective subjects. I'm always willing to work on my photography. Currently, I've got a prospective client who needs some photos done for his business. He's basically going to have some people to model for his business and he'd like me to take the photos of them. I've already gone over my experience with the guy but he likes how my photos look and, albeit with my limited experience and equipment, feels I'll do more than enough for him to get attention for his business.

Anywho, now that that little tangent is out of the way... on to the turmoil of yesterday. I was trying to get a few of the self-portraits printed out to send to my husband in wallet size (so he could carry it around with him). Having been in a rush because I had his package ready to send aside from the photos being included, I stopped at the closest and fastest place possible to print my pictures- Wal-Mart. Bad choice.

After waiting the hour for my wallets to print, I returned to the photo counter to pick up my photos. The woman who was at the counter brought the photos to the counter and said I couldn't have them. I asked why and she claimed, "We can't reprint professional photos."
"I took them." "Oh, well I can't give them too you because they look professionally done." "Well, I'm the photographer and I own them so its perfectly fine for me to make prints of it. If you don't believe me, here... I have my camera, my memory cards, the original RAW file..." "No, we can't accept that." "Well, do you have a form that I can fill out stating that I am the copyright holder and the photographer?" She says without even taking her eyes off me, "No, we're all out of those forms." "Well, what else can I fill out or what else do I need?" "You're gonna have to give us a copy of your business license. We're also going to need a business letterhead and a paper stating you are the photographer." "I don't have a business, these are pictures I took of myself with my camera with my own time." "Well, you should go home and type one up." "I don't have a printer at home to print one out on." "Oh well."

I was pissed. Not only would they not let me fill out a form claiming I am the photographer but they didn't even bother to look for it. After 30 minutes, of wasting my time talking to 3 different workers in the photo center (all 3 pitched in comments at various times of the conversation). The whole while they're shaking the picture in front of me and conveying to me in a tone that suggests, "You're a liar! You can't possibly take a picture this good!" I was very upset to say the least that they wouldn't even be a bit helpful or offer any assistance in obtaining one of these said forms. I don't own a business and I don't have a business letterhead, nor do I have any form of business status proclaiming that I am in fact a photographer. I don't have a degree in photojournalism or photographic anything. So, according to them, if you take good pictures, you're only allowed to print them if you own your own studio, have a letterhead, and a business license.

Well, I then decided that I had to drive another 15 minutes away and go to another one-hour lab (Wolf Camera and Imaging off of the Robert C. Daniel Parkway) to get the photos. Kat also, at this point decided she wanted to print a few pictures of her camera as well. We place our order and I talk to Linda and Chris (I know them since I used to work for this company at another location) about the sizing and color. Another hour later, Kat and I return to pick up our pictures. The girl (newhire since I quit 4 months ago) who came to the counter when I came back was incredibly rude. She... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9712819/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9712819/ Sun, 13 Aug 2006 12:07:24 PDT
I came home from work last night at about 7pm to find a car parked in my 2 spaces in front of my apartment. Read that again. A car (one, single, solitary, unus, uno, lone, 1 'won') parked in my 2 (two, 'too', 'to' duo, dos, double, couple, pair) of spaces. Evidently, someone doesn't know how to drive and is double parked, in both my spaces. The front passenger side end was in my left space, the back driver's side and trunk were in my first (marked D space) All other spaces in front of my building are occupied.

I park along my parking spaces and ring apartments to find out who's it is so they can at least move the car and straighten it out so I can park in ONE of my spaces. I ask a few apartments and no one know's who's car it is. I go across the street and ask Cody if he knew who's car it was. He didn't but he knew this other apartment was having a party. I go ask them. A girl asks around the party and no one volunteers to move. Having wasted 15-20 minutes of my time, I decide that I'm not going to look for the owner anymore. I grab a notepad and write a little note.

Please learn to park your vehicle properly.
Firstly, you're parked in my space.
Secondly, you're also parked in my other space.
Please move your vehicle.
Thanks -Apt D

I stick the note to the driver's window of the car and go into my apartment as I can't find said bad driver. A short time later, my mom drops Kathy off at my apartment since she didn't want to drive Kathy all the way home and I only live down the street from mom and dad's house. We come back in and Kat starts using my computer and I get ready to take her home. I hear the party across the street get out as several cars leave. A few minutes later, there is stomping up and down the steps of my building. The door bell rings, as expected would happen, I of course open it.

"What the fuck is this shit? Why you be leaving notes on fucking cars? Bitch we be at a birthday party for some kids. I got reltives from outta town visiting! Whyd don't you park yo shit in some other space. People be taking my space all da time fucking park in one of deez empty spaces you don't need to be blocking people in!"

"Those cars just left and..." this jerk cuts me off...

"You don't need be blocking people's fucking cars in move yo fucking car. What's this bullshit about notes on people's fucking cars? Go move yo car bitch."

"You don't need to have an attitude..." his skankily dressed girlfriend cuts me off

"We ain't gots no fucking attitude"

"Well, I'll move my car when I'm ready to."

I close the door and Kat looks at me and comments,"Yeah, I forgot this place is so ghetto." But, as we were already doing, Kat continues using the computer and I start packing some stuff I was going to take to her house in the first place. We were of course taking our sweet ass time. The door bell rings again.

Its my brother, David. Mom and dad had apparently tried calling Kat's phone and my phone because mom was worried about my car being parked behind the other car and since we didnt' answer, drove back up to my apartment. So, having gotten ready, Kat and I walk down to the parking spaces, talk with mom and dad a few minutes. During this time, the skank from next door comes stomping behind us, jumps in her double parked car, and turns on her engine. Kat talks to mom and dad a bit, we get in the car, wait for mom, dad, and David to leave, and then we leave.

Of course, for the whole night, Kathy and I were mocking how stupid the people that live in Apt. C are. "Oh my Goodness! I didn't know you were having a birthday party! That's the best excuse for poor driving and parking in the world! Please please! Next time let me know and I'll park at the gas station down the road so your car can have allllll the parking spaces!" I did find it funny that they stressed the fact that they were having a 'child's birthday party' as if that had anything to do with their parking. Last time I checked, double parking wasn't allowed in any state. Their relatives that were 'parked' in my space had Gwinnett county tags which also makes them a Georgia driver. Last time I checked too, your car should only be parked in one space at a time. The fact that you're going to a birthday party and that your relatives are 'in' from out of town has nothing to do with the fact that you parked not in your own space but in mine and in doing so you also double parked, occupying both my spaces. How is that legitimized by the fact that you are going to a kid's birthday party (which btw I have never seen them with any form or semblence of kids at their apartment) and having relatives over. Well, I should use that excuse for everything.

"I'm sorry I... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9652787/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9652787/ Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:50:04 PDT
IE will not let me view but a single picture at a time (for instance, the main page will only show one picture per a category unlike the 5 it shows in Opera). It jumbles all words together unless I zoom the page (being quite a bit of hassle going from page to page). The buttons overlap and/or don't work. I keep getting an error page. I can't reply to notes. Buttons will not work IF I can click on them. I cannot see if I have any messages on the bar because the logout button floats over everything (actually its two logout buttons floating there neither, of which work btw).

I tried it with Opera and it seems to work slightly better aside from some green blocks along the left side of the screen that completely overlaps whatever is in that area (for example: user data, photo information, quick links, etc etc. I can't even see whatever I typed for the title of this journal because that is covered by the blocks as well. It stays in the same place when I scroll down the screen. In addition, the scroll bar on my mouse onl scrolls down and will not go back up (whether I scroll up on the mouse or down, it just continues to go to the bottom of the page).

I suppose these are just kinks or perhaps my browsers (all of them) aren't set up correctly. All the other websites I go to work exactly the same so I'm leading toward kinks in the new version as the problem. Hopefully, it'll be fixed soon. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9571641/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9571641/ Tue, 01 Aug 2006 23:04:45 PDT
I pulled onto my street to go home following behind a white van. Over the first set of double speed bumps (yes we have retarded double speed bumps), the van's front tires pass over both bumps but stops short of the rear tires passing over them. I too, stop because well he wasn't moving. I had about 5 feet or so between the stopped van and the front of my car. Reversing lights come on, I honk my horn to alert the driver to my presence. He taps the brakes for a split second (it flashed red just momentarily) and then continued to reverse. I honk my horn again and grab my shifter. Before I could put it into reverse, the car shakes and my hood starts bending as the back of the van pushes my hood back.

I get out the car and the man driving the van asks me if I'm alright. I asked him why he was backing up and why didn't he stop. He comments, 'My van stalled... had to back up in order to get the rear tires over." The man then starts telling me "That'll be an easy fix! Don't worry about that we can get that fixed." Anywho, since this is only 3 building's over from where I live, I call my husband. The guy starts acting really strangely and starts saying that I don't need to call anyone. He starts telling me that I need to back my car up from under his and go home.

I, of course, decide not to and call the POS county cops because last thing I want to happen is the idiot go home, call the police that someone had hit him, drove off with my paint under his bumper, and there I am with a dented up front/hood: who will they blame and then charge with a hit and run?! Its happened to people I know, and that's something I'm not willing to deal with (as good as my luck's been lately) and allow some arse clown to get away with.

So, we wait about 15 minutes for a cop to show up. He takes our statements, I write how it happened and explained it to the cop. According to the cop, the guy admitted to reversing but said he had no idea I was behind him and that he couldn't see me or hear me. However, the cop lectures me about how usually when a car is "rear-ended" its the second vehicle's fault and by default I'm charged with following too closely. The cop obviously had no idea what happened and decided that both of us were at fault but that he would give neither of us a ticket and asked one of us to take the blame.

So, from my perspective, 5 feet should have given him distance to see me and stop. In addition, he shouldn't have been backing up in the street anyways without checking for traffic. ALSO, he admitted that he was backing up and my statement that his reverse lights were on confirms that. However, since the officer was 'unsure' of how far the van reversed, he was unable to determine who exactly was at fault. Hence, he gave neither of us a ticket and pretty much did a "I really just don't give a sh!t" attitude.

So, now I have a hood that won't close and lots of scratches and bends in the front. (I can't believe I'm even considering using this word...) Luckily, he didn't push my car soooo much that it set off my airbag. What happened to the guy's van? Nothing... my paint is under his back bumper. I need to go find a new hood latch, a new hood, fiberglass filling and retouching, and buy some paint to repaint my front end.

Story of my life as it continues to unfold... blah blah blah ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9436045/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9436045/ Thu, 20 Jul 2006 10:18:02 PDT
Bert is down there as I write this. He's visiting his family and friends while also doing orientation for a new job. He officially starts work for one of the shipping companies down there next month. He'll be doing technical service for their communications department. They'll also fly him out to ships to repair communications equipment. Pretty much the same thing he did in the ARMY but with better pay and no deployment to Iraq again. That last part in particular really makes me a happy camper.

For the time being however, I will be staying in Augusta to finish out the lease on our apartment, organize the moving of our furniture, and cancellation of all our services (gas, electric, cable...). We have to give at least 60 days notice to cancel out our lease so I will be here for, at the minimum, 2 more months.

My job has stores down there so I'm going to try to get a transfer. I hope they'll consider me for it albeit I've only worked for my current company for only 4 months. If not, we'll I guess I'll just have to find a new job. I'd prefer to keep the one I have now (although I do hate it), but I'd prefer to have at least a job that's familiar to me when I move than move into an unfamiliar area AND have an unfamiliar job.

Either way, I think the expenses will work out a lot better down there. Apartments AND homes costs a lot less there (although the home owners insurance is outstanding thanks to the hurricanes and flooding that happened last year). We'll probably get an apartment to straighten out everything first and then probably in half a year to a year probably start looking into buying a house again. I'm so glad we didn't buy a house here in Augusta, I'd really regret that decision now if we had.

Just to recount how horrible it is where I live since the beginning of June: the Wrangler was broken into, a man was mugged just down the street walking to his house from the gas station, the gas station (which is only about a 5 minute walk away, if that much) was robbed, some kid shot and killed some guy, the SubWay down the road was robbed yesterday morning, and my car was almost stolen but when they couldn't hotwire it they stole my stereo and speakers. Yes, I want to leave this area... and this is just what's happened in the past month and a half... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9265150/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9265150/ Mon, 10 Jul 2006 22:05:28 PDT
For instance, we got robbed -again. Someone broke into Bert's Wrangler while it was parked at work. They stole the Rockford Fosgate P2 12" subs, the box, the Kenwood amplifier, the Garmin StreetPilot GPS system, his work briefcase, some food (Bert had just stopped by the store prior to stopping by the office to grab some more paperwork), an unopened carton of cigarettes, and several other items that weren't as much as the prior things mentioned. Whoever this fucker was, they brought a took kit or at least a ratchet set to unbolt the amplifier and speakers. Bert and I personally bolted those onto the floor boards. They were actually hidden from view even since the amplifier was under the backseat and the subwoofer was pinned between the seat and the back door. So, whoever it was, they'd been watching his car long enough to figure out the best time to rob it.

The local police department is useless. Our 'investigator' neglects to call us back and has yet even recieved/listened to our report of the serial numbers for the items stolen. In addition, we were told by people who live nearby my husband's job about who stole our stuff but the police won't investigate because its "hearsay". So, we know which apartment building the guy lives in, we have a physical description of him, but because we don't know his name or if he "definitely" stole the stuff, nothing will happen nor will he be questioned or investigated. Lot of good the police are... now that's 1200$ worth of stuff I have to finish paying off and don't even have anymore. Bah!!! It infuriates me still!

In other aspects of life, I've been rather busy with work. For some reason I feel like I'm working all the time. My job just really irritates me and I really don't feel like elaborating anymore on that... bleh!

*addendum as of July 8th*
My life just keeps getting better and better. Sometime between the hours of 1am and 7am Saturday morning, July 8th, someone tried to steal my car I bought last month. They cut several wires on the underside of the engine trying to disengage an alarm (that I don't have but I guess they thought I did). Then they 'slim-jimmed' the door and unlocked it. Got inside, dropped the steering column, and tried to jump start it. I suppose they noticed that I have an exhaust on my car that is actually quite noticablely loud when started. So, they ended up not stealing the car itself. Either that or they couldn't get the concept of jumping a car with a stick shift.

Instead, they pulled my stereo system and various other items: a Sony Xplod CDX-F5550 reciever, the Rockford Fosgate amplifier, my subwoofer speaker, money in the center console, a couple of CDs, and I have yet to find my watch/medical bracelet (though that wasn't necessarily in the car but I can't seem to find it anywhere since wearing it the day before).

They completely fucked the wiring up in my dash. I have wires hanging out of the stereo unit, wires hanging out under the dash, wires sticking out under the steering column... I hope they aren't to anything immensely important. My clutch is committing suicide as well. I'm not sure if its because of them trying to jump it and not holding the clutch in, or if they cut something under the car that has something to do with it. Either way, my car is a mess and I probably will have to fix it REALLY soon...

I want to kill people... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9004492/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/9004492/ Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:50:15 PDT
I had told the store manager before I left that I was expecting a shipment from Tamrac to arrive. He said it was fine and that he'd just give me a call when it came in. However, being the disgruntled ex-employer he was, he neglected to do so. Weeks after leaving, I checked back with the store to see if it had arrived. No body knew. I checked back again the next week. I was informed by the MIT that the old manager (who recently left) remarked upon its arrival that, "Well she doesn't work here anymore. So, I'm not going to give it to her," and 'sent it back'.

I wrote a short but descriptive e-mail to customer support at Tamrac shortly afterwards:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: A. Smith *e-mail*
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 11:09 AM
To: WebMail
Subject: Employee Awards Program


Hello, I'm sending this e-mail in reguards to employee awards points I had redeemed last March. I recently left the job I had where I was redeeming the points albeit, I had submitted my order for my Tamrac items prior to leaving. I had even spoke with a Tamrac representative about my order and confirmed its shipping. Unfortunately, it arrived shortly after I left the store. Unfairly, the manager of the store shipped it back without notifying me of its arrival. I had worked there a few weeks after I had made the order and I think it is unfair that I can't redeem my points I rightfully earned while working at that job. Considering they are points for items I have sold and not contingent upon selling more, I feel it is appropriate to allow me to recieve my items.

I hope Tamrac is an honest and appreciative enough company to allow its hard workers redeem their awards points they have rightfully earned. I am attaching the original request form of my order so as Tamrac can check the paperwork. As I stated earlier, the items were recieved by the store but the manager neglected to inform or contact me. Subsequently,he disreguarded the items that were rightfully and legitimately sent to me.

As a seller of Tamrac items for nearly 2.5 years, I only ask that Tamrac honor its rewards program and return the items that were designated for me. I feel the return of the items were bad judgement on the manager's behalf and not on the part of Tamrac. I am hoping Tamrac can remedy this situation caused by uncaring ex-employers. I hope Tamrac does not reflect the same uncaring, disreguarding, cheatful sentiments as my former employer does.

With much gratitude,

*contact information*
*attached copy of order and information*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recieved a voice mail yesterday from the Tamrac support service. I have to call them tomorrow to set up a new shipping address (the order form only allowed shipment to the store). I feel that maybe there is at least one good honest company out there who will stand by their word and honor their promises. In addition, she did mention that she had no notice of recieving my order back to their warehouse and would definitely look into where it has gone or if it was ever even sent back. So, I hope the old manager didn't steal my stuff... cuz I sure as hell would press charges over it as much BS they put me through.

He had no right to send it back anyways seeing as I wasn't redeeming though Wolf Camera but through Tamrac itself. It would be their decision as to whether or not I should get it. Apparently, they are still sending it to me once they figure out what happened to my original order. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8946032/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8946032/ Fri, 02 Jun 2006 00:17:19 PDT
They're actually closing three of the stores in this area for the company I work at. I was told by the Manager that the store was having its hours cut and the Asst. Manager (who does nothing but sit on his ass for hours on end in the back room while I work the counter and floor by myself) explained that "Normally, we fire the newest person we hired but we really like you." The Asst. Manager also has a knack for recruiting for the US Army. I swear, he's an unofficial recruiter. On a regular basis, he tells me I should join because I have the ' go-get-em attitude', physique, and apparent mental cabilities to do it (aside from the whole medical reason, which is why I didn't continue ROTC in the first place).... *shakes head*

Anywho, I'm job hunting again. Hopefully, something better paying with better hours and better co-workers will come along. I remarked on one cover letter I wrote the other day that it would be a 'disservice to your company, and your customers, not to consider me for this position." I hope my 'go-get-em attitude' will help me find a better job this time around...

Speaking of jobs, my old one still calls me on occassion for who knows whatever reason. I just ignore them. I'm not their lab manager/key lab technician anymore and, seeing as they don't pay me, nor will I provide any technical, chemical, maintenance, or functional advise in any way, shape, or form. They can go f*ck themselves for all I care. In addition, I keep getting called by the alarm company informing me that the alarm has gone off at the store and that I need to go reset it. Good! I hope they're getting robbed. Its not up to me to stop it. Hell, I should have been removed from the call list over 2 months ago. I did quit in the beginning of April after all. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8696057/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8696057/ Sat, 06 May 2006 23:28:01 PDT
I've been mostly sticking to music moreso than my camera. In addition, I'm trying to find stuff to sell so I can buy food for the next week... since I've already lost 5lbs being unable to buy food this week... We're selling our old computer probably tomorrow and we have someone interested in buying my husband's old car. So, that should help out during this temporary lack of funds.

I couldn't even pull money out of an ATM if I wanted to... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8504951/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8504951/ Mon, 17 Apr 2006 21:36:14 PDT
We've already looked at the house twice, the first of which the door was unlocked so we took a look inside. We went by it today and took my parents to see if they had any suggestions for us to talk to the realtor(s) about. But, my parents agree that its a beautiful house and in a wonderful neighborhood. My mom actually lamented that the yard was better than hers .

The first time we went by the house, Bert and I talked to one of the neighbors. He's lived in the house next door since the 1950s. Needless to say, he knows the area. Really nice guy to talk with. He was there again today when we brought mom and dad by so we talked to him for a few short minutes again. Pleasant old fella.

Bert and I have already gotten pre-approved for the mortgage. We've just got to negotiate with the seller/realtor on a contract and find out if there is any particular things we needed to know about he house. We also have to figure out the closing cost to make sure we'll have enough money to pay that off. We have until the end of May to finish the paperwork and move it (our lease ends in the beginning of June for the apartment).

It'll be perfect. We won't have to share parking spaces or listen to our neighbor's conversations when they're fighting with their spouses. We can work on our cars without being accused of stealing (such as when I was changing a tire on my car, a guy came up to me thinking I was trying to steal the rims ). Riley will have a yard to frolic in. Granted, we don't need three bedrooms but we could use those for other things: computer room, office, exercise room. Its 2.5 more space than we have now.

Anywho, the details of the house:
-Built: 1947
-1456 sq ft
-3 bdrm: Master- 12x12, 2nd- 9x12, 3rd- 8x12
-Kitchen: 9x9
-Dining room: 11x10
-Breakfast area: 11x13
-Living room: 15x11
-Great room: 10x27
-Above ground swimming pool
-.33 acres of land
-fenced backyard
-back patio/deck
-dishwasher/refridgerator included
-storage shed

I'm so excited just thinking about it! ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8069286/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/8069286/ Sat, 04 Mar 2006 21:38:06 PST guy waving a gun and demanding us to give him money.

When it got dark out, the kids (8 boys all under the age of 10) played beside/behind the house in our sight while we started a fire pit. So, there's a group of us (Kyle, Bert, Kristy, me, a girl, this guy, Terry, and Terry's wife respectively) sitting around just keeping warm and chatting about different things. Jenny and the other guy's wife had left to go to some sort of meeting and pick up some things at the store. Kyle gets up and goes into the house to go to the bathroom. Terry's wife walked to the side of the house to check on all the kids.

We were talking about something when this guy walks up behind me. Everyone turned and looked at him as he said, "Give me all your fucking money!" We're all quite confused because we didn't know if it was a joke by one of the other guys invited to the get together. I turned, not sure who the hell it was. Bert remarked, "We don't have any money." The guy, who's wearing a Jason mask and a green trench coat, has it pointed at Terry and the other guy over my shoulder. And we realized it was no joke.He pulls the trigger, it clicks, and misfires (THANKFULLY). The guy cocks the gun again and fires it into the air but it jams. "Shit!" He runs away.

We're all confused as hell. We grab the kids and rush them into the house. Call the cops. Kyle comes out the bathroom and we tell him there was a guy outside with a handgun that just demanded we give him money. He grabs his shot gun and checks the yard but they were already gone.

The kids had started crying at this point because we pretty much grabbed them and shoved them all into the house. I grabbed one of the kids and held him for about 10 minutes because he was crying because all of us (the adults) were running around checking the house and checking the yard.

The 10 year old came up to me and said he saw three other guys in front of the house before we got them all into it. The smaller kids were scared of being by the windows because they overheard one of us talking about the guy aiming a gun at Terry and the other guy (who happened to be dad of 4 of the boys). The kids continued to freak out when the cops arrived.

They took our statements and our very useless description of the guy. Hmm he was probably about 6ft tall and maybe 240 pounds. He had a Jason face mask on so we have no clue what his face looked like. He was dark skinned by the way his hands looked. He had on a green trench coat. The gun was this silver (nickel-plated maybe) handgun, probably a 9mm.

The cop went into the back yard and pulled a casing off the ground right behind where I was sitting. That sent shudders down everyone's spine once we realized the gun was loaded and he inteneded to use it on someone...

Thankfully, everyone is fine and that little shit didn't get anything from us. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7840946/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7840946/ Wed, 08 Feb 2006 19:26:49 PST
The manager of my store announced yesterday that he is transferring because he is moving. So, that means a new manager. Surprise surprise, life becomes more difficult.

You would think they would pick the person who is already trained to run the lab and store. Who knows how to do payroll, knows how to contact and negotiate with the home office, how to calculate sales goals and achieve them, is punctual and friendly, loves working at the job and does a damn good job while she's at it, who's already a certified Key Lab Tech necessary level needed to be a store manager, can manage time constraints and lab inspections, perform machine maintenance solely by herself, close/open and make store deposits, and train new employees both in lab and sales.

However, it was decided that the person who is late on a daily occurence by 10-30 minutes, can't work weekday mornings and afternoons, doesn't follow dress code, comes in late on Sunday because she goes to church, doesn't know anything about lab maintenance or inspection, doesn't fulfill the store needs, doesn't make sales goals (in fact selling half as much as the current store manager or the Key Lab Tech), ignores customers, eats in the lab, uses the delivery door to enter/leave the store, watches movies all days, invites friends into the store, talks on the phone instead of helping customers, and takes hour long breaks (going next door to visit her sister or just to go shopping in the mall) is the better candidate.

Something here just doesn't make sense... Either way, I'm still job hunting. I'm tired of the applications, resumes, and interviews I've had over the past several weeks but nothing has definitely panned out to be very promising. However, if this wasn't a slap in the face... the fact that the current manager and the new "manager in training" leave whenever I come to work to go on an extended period of time walk together...

The only reason I was looking for a "SECOND" job was because I wasn't getting full time nor a pay raise. Hmm... promotion would of covered that... but apparently the store manager said I had already turned in my two weeks notice and that I was quiting... when as far as I know of, I never did or said...

What also pisses me off is how the current manager turned to me in the meeting and told me that I need to really help him train the "manager in training" and get her on the ball so she can be ready to be manager. Answer this: Why the hell am I going to be training my superior? Its not going to happen. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7615203/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7615203/ Sun, 15 Jan 2006 21:46:01 PST
In fact, on our 3rd day down there, the Army Corp of Engineers finally showed up at our grandmother's house to clear away debris. They pulled the trees out of the yard that were fine and left the bent over dead trees. Somehow in the process of that morning, they also dropped something on our Jeep and cracked our windshield. Working in rather close proximity to the house and vehicle removing trees and debris, I'm sure that is what happened. However, we have no way to prove it and now we are stuck with a cracked windshield that we didn't even see until we jumped in the car that afternoon after they finally moved out of the road that is our only exit from her house.

On to a more cheerier topic however, we also went to Bellingrath Gardens. It was poor timing seeing as many of the flowers were dead because of winter and the rest were just buds waiting for spring. I did however find many pretty flowers and items to take pictures of. There were flowers, fountains, buildings, paths, and birds to be seen. I will have many of those pictures to post shortly.

In addition, on that same day we travelled to Dauphin Island. It seems the majority of homes on the sandy beach strip were either catastrophically damaged or completely washed away. It was foggy when we got there so I'm not quite sure if I'll have any to post of what that area looks like. We did however find some strange carcass on the beach and have yet to figure out what the h3ll it is. We're pretty sure that whatever it is, it was alive at some point in time.

At any rate, there's much work to be done. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7424944/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7424944/ Mon, 26 Dec 2005 18:06:55 PST
December 24th was my 21/22nd birthday. There was little fanfare to it. I had to be at work by 6am and worked til afternoon. I waited for my sister to get off work and then we took a two hour drive down to Macon, Georgia to spend Christmas at my sisters. That night was a disaster which I will not even begin to recount....

December 25th, as most people know, was Christmas day. Of course, there were many pictures taken, both good and bad. I recieved many interesting presents (both Christmas and less for birthday) but I feel too lazy to recount them here. I will say, my parents gave me a P-series Cokin filter holder, adaptor mounts for my lenses, and three Cokin filters (Star, Grey Gradual Density, and a Center spot filter) for my birthday. Interesting stuff to play with thus far...

Eventually, I hope to sort through everything I've taken in the last week and post pictures. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7323172/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7323172/ Thu, 15 Dec 2005 21:40:18 PST
I asked about transferring to another store last week and the manager told me that he wouldn't allow it because I'm "too valuable". Yes, I'm valuable yet I'm getting screwed over time and time again. I'm just tired of it. I rarely get days off. The days I request off, I don't get. I even have to work on my birthday from 6am to 12:30 (Christmas Eve) just so I can have time to drive to my sisters to spend Christmas there and not have to worry about opening on the 26th (making me drive back on Christmas night in addition I'm written in as closing on the 26 anyways).

We have a *new* employee who, for some reason unbeknownst to me, has been given top priority in the store. She transferred from another store (which according to that store she was hired to do sales but apparently wasn't good at it, so they put her in the lab and then promptly transferred her to our store when we needed to replace someone). The policy our manager has for our store is that new employees (despite she's a transfer) are given credit for sales if they hang around and partake in helping with the customer. This is to help them learn. I'm fine with that. But, they must involve themselves within the sale. Needless to say, I saved a sale that the new employee had only started by saying "Hi" to the customer and pulling a camera (which I recommended because the customer stopped in earlier and said she'd be back) off the shelf. She asked me something that I had explained to her prior to the customer coming back but the customer was still confused. So, I explained to the customer about said specific concerns. New employee walks off never to return. After 30 minutes+ with the customer I went ahead and took the sale. I mean, I convinced her to buy the camera, extra rechargable batteries, a sizeable memory card, a bag, our No Fault plan, etc etc and even a pair of binoculars!

Sunday I work the morning. Monday, I am off. I came back in on Tuesday only to be lectured by the manager that "I should know better" and that he "returned her sale" Sunday night. I appreciated the fact that he even considered calling me to even ask what had happened but instead decided that our "new" employee just needed to complain about it and that was that. I explain to him on Tuesday what happened and he just lectures me about how its too late, its already been changed, and how I didn't need that sale anyways. What?! That was money I'd be paid on my paycheck! How in the world would I not need that? I met sales goals with that sale! If that wasn't a slap in the face. Now, I just say f*ck it. I'm job searching now. There are much better things out there.

Ironically, since I can't "transfer" because I'm "too valuable" (being the only lab tech for our store), I'm going to find out how much I'm worth to them. Insisting on a transfer, full-time position (since I work 40 hours a week anyways), and/or a significant pay raise. I feel tempted to ask my DM for a transfer since my manager won't allow it but he'd probably back the manager. I've already had one customer (who's turning out to be more of a friend nowadays hehe) who said he'd pretty much like me to stay there. But as for now, I will not bother to even do anything if our wonderful new employee is in the store. She made two sales the yesterday and I let her handle everything she wanted. If she wants help with a customer, I will not walk up, she will have to come to the back and ask me. I will not help customers, I will not impede her in any way from getting to the counter and "learning" to sell. Besides, the manager told me I "need to ring things up for *said employee* until the end of the month". So, if I'm not going to even get credit for anything, why bother? Great timing as well seeing as this is the Christmas shopping season. So I'm have an extremely sh*tty paycheck. About 200$ less than what I made last year at the least...

I have no motivation to do anything whatsoever because it just means he'll return it and ring it up for her and then I don't get paid for my hard work. Because, I love busting my ass on a sale only to have it given to some new person who should already know this stuff since she's a "transfer". But whatever, f*ck the job! ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7198701/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7198701/ Thu, 01 Dec 2005 20:48:08 PST - Diet Coke
- Candy when my sugar's low
- Working cameras
- Destructing and reconstructing things to figure out how they work
- Quaker Oatmeal Squares (makes for great trail mix)
- my job (most of the time)
- fulfilling conversations
- the dollar menu
- film that comes out of the canister on the first try
- giving presents when I can afford them

3 things that make you happy:
- spending time with Bert
- spending a nice afternoon out taking pictures
- riding in the jeep in the middle of the woods with Bert taking pictures

3 things that anger you:
- people who change lanes without even bothering to use a turn signal especially when they cut you off
- wet socks
- people who offer me candy after just being told I am diabetic

10 things that you hate:
- things being unorganized
- having nothing to do
- neighbors taking my parking space
- customers who talk to me based on the fact that I'm the only foreign looking person at my job...
- people who insist I speak their language (i.e. Spanish, Japanese, French, Dutch, German, etc etc... ) when I live in the US and have been taught English
- two-faced people (those who'll be nice to your face but secretly they're plotting your demise)
- cold feet
- people who make bad decisions when I've already explained to them how and why its a bad decision
- self-righteous religious fanatics who believe they are the voice of G-d and must proselytize until your head explodes
- expired food (to specifically include milk, break, eggs, and lettuce)

3 facts about your name:
- was named for my grandmother
- I have yet to meet another "Ann" to my knowledge
- one of my friends calls me "e-less" because, I think, I am the only Ann he knows who doesn't have an 'e' on the end

5 facts about yourself:
- I'm diabetic
- I'm married
- I can sometimes become very violent when having a hypoglycemic reaction
- I work in a photo-lab-store
- I live in an apartment

2 things you expect (at least for now):
- tomorrow brings pain (I am haviing my wisdom teeth pulled in the morning)
- sleep within the next hour or so

4 random thoughts:
- Its cold.
- Where are my socks?
- Why is the fan on?
- Where's my hoodie?

Song(s) you're listening to (give artist)
- Imogen Heap's "Headlock"
- Hinder's "Better Than Me"
- Dropping Daylight's "Brace Yourself"
*all three of those played while I looked for my socks and then my hoodie...*

Time:
- 2340 ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7136607/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/7136607/ Thu, 24 Nov 2005 21:34:42 PST
Today, I took my parents out to Lake Olmstead to take pictures of them. My mother wants to send out greeting cards to her friends for the holidays but hasn't had any recent pictures of her and my father taken. I offerred to take them. I don't do well with posing and such things so I took them to the lake and just shot out ideas to them. My largest problem was the backgrounds. There are a couple houses and powerlines surrounding the lake. In addition, it was excessively windy. However, I pretty much convinced my parents to take a walk and chat with eachother as I took shots. I feel I have a good variety for them to choose from. Not too bad for my first set of "people" pictures.

Although, my husband commandeered my camera for a little while getting mad at the zoom and focus because of various reasons. I was taking pictures of my parents with my 28-80 while he was grabbing the camera trying to take pictures of ducks and cranes on the lake. Quite frustrated, he cursed my camera and I had to explain to him numeous times he had to at least switch the lenses if he wanted to get closer to them.

He ran off with the camera for a while. So, I did miss a few pictures I had in my head as we were walking along. But, I feel we have excellent choices for their Christmas cards. I may post them a little later after they pick out which they want me to print out for them.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving! ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6886049/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6886049/ Thu, 27 Oct 2005 20:24:15 PDT
I have yet to fully come to understand the components and features offered by my D70 and I practially wing it as I go. Its funny that I played with that camera since its release around April of last year in my store but only until I could actually take it outside in a real world environment did I fully grasp the expanse of technology and flexibility it provides. Suffice to say, it is extremely better than the Fuji S5000 I previously used.

I find myself on each trip going out to take pictures, just picking a specific mode and shooting all pictures accordingly. That is, as long as the first shots look adequate. I've found myself quite fond of the shutter priority as of recently and have used that to control a lot of the blurring and lighting in my pictures. I love it!

I find myself extremely bored of being indoors. Unfortunately, I find it very tasking to go outside as the season is changing and know I have to wear long sleeved shirts, turtle necks, and/or warm jackets. I hate restricting my movement almost as much as I hate being cold. Sadly, the two aren't mutually exclusive.

So, on the warmer days I find myself convincing my husband to drive us into the woods in our new Jeep (that so conveniently has a hole in one of the power steering lines rendering it too difficult to drive for me) and taking a hike to find interesting plants, animals, and various items. It has worked rather efficiently lately but the Army has been wreaking havoc on our schedules the past few days and I feel this wonderful time to go out and spend time with eachother while simultaneously being able to use my camera is coming to an end. Phooey!

I suppose I'll have to find closer, less remote things to photograph now along with a new MP3 player. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6725113/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6725113/ Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:31:52 PDT
I won't have a day off until next Friday and hopefully it won't rain. Perhaps I'll go down to the canal or to the park to see how well this camera works and how good of a photographer I really am.

It really irks me that my brother lost my tripod mount when he borrowed my tripod. I really could be putting that to a lot of use now. Unfortunately, I've missed some of the few opportunities I've had to take certain pictures because I couldn't hold the camera still enough... in between all the sneezing and coughing at least. Looks like I need to go find a new mount. I never understood how people lose those things but here we go, my brother loses mine. That's what I get for letting people borrow my equipment.

Well, here's to better opportunities, good health, and hopes of less rain. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6681884/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6681884/ Tue, 04 Oct 2005 20:30:50 PDT
I have taken no pictures because I am excited about a recent purchase of a DSLR camera with a couple of lenses. It should be here sometime Thursday. I can't wait- but I'll have to.

We also, as of yesterday, bought ourselves a new Jeep Wrangler. Well, its used but its new to us. A black soft top 1993 4.0L Jeep Wrangler. We took it on base into some of the training areas this afternoon to test out the four wheel drive and all-terrain capabilities. I can say, it performs well and we tested it in about everything aside from actual mud and water, but only because there was none to be found. However, driving around aimlessly back there allowed us to find several interesting things. We found couple interesting lakes, swamps, marshes, tree lines, fields, plants, spider webs, spiders, insects, birds, mountain lions, deer, and random other immediately unidentifiable creatures in the 2-3 hours we spent getting dirt all over ourselves and the jeep.

Needless to say, I will possibly head down there this weekend with my NEW camera and take pictures if time and wildlife will allow it. All I need to buy now is a huge high speed memory card. There were a couple shots I could picture in my mind working out really well and hopefully I'll be able to get later but I forsee trouble with some of the pictures I imagined with the animals and bugs being in the same places. I doubt they'll still be there this weekend let alone I remember exactly where it was I saw them. Time will tell... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6638103/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6638103/ Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:58:15 PDT
I'm particularly fond of a specific camera. I like the way it feels in my hands, how the setup is, the features it possesses, etc etc. I also like the Nikkor lenses but I am quite put off by the fact they don't have a macro setting built into them unless you buy some special type of macro lens. Displeases me seeing as thats what my main problem is now. I can't get those up close pictures of tiny creatures and items -at least- not with much clarity and definition.

Unfortunately, my dreams were crushed as the company we were going to buy it from had a computer glitch and lost our order. Hence, by the time we found out, they no longer had what we wanted. I am sorely displeased.

Now, I think I will post some older pictures from before I had my deviantart account. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6533120/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6533120/ Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:30:50 PDT
I am also in the process of figuring out how masks work in Photoshop. I'm going to post my first attempt because I think it doesn't look half bad and I feel rather perturbed that I haven't posted any new pictures for quite some time.

Lucky you! ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6506444/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6506444/ Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:37:16 PDT

I've really been busy with work and trying to figure out how to get financial aide for school next semester. Hell, I'm considering quiting ASU because I feel they have nothing to offer me. AugTech has this radiology asscociates degree that seems quite interesting. I have to figure out what credits will transfer and what classes I would have to take before applying to the program. Its close to what I wanted to do in the first place. I will not let those two years of volunteering in a Radiology clinic go to waste! That is what I want to do. If I have to get to it via an associate's degree and work upon that, then so be it. At least then, I can legally be paid to work there. Volunteering doesn't pay bills. And- unfortunately- I have plenty.

My husband was activated to help with the telecommunications breakdown they had in the Gulf Coast area after Hurricane Katrina. He's been gone since August 30th and is not expected to come back sometime in November. Ironically, the Army is a POS and making him buy his own food and supplies while he is down there. So, we are somewhat tight on money since we don't know the next time he'll have to find something to get and how much the price will be. Things are scarce there. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6270267/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6270267/ Fri, 19 Aug 2005 11:27:08 PDT
For those of you who didn't know. I'm diabetic, Type I (IDDM). No, not the type you get from not exercising or from being overweight. I inherited it. Lucky me! Well, my insulin has stopped working correctly leaving me devoid of energy. I feel physically sick, my body aches. I feel hungry all the time since my body will not break down the sugars going into my blood stream due to the lack of functioning insulin. My body, having no sugar it can break down, is burning any fat on my body. I've lost a little over 20lbs and still have a week until my doctor can see me. Here's to holding out...

As for my photography, I haven't done much because I don't have the energy to go anywhere to take pictures of anything. Aside from the fact that I'm almost always working, I also lack the time. In addition, my camera has been making me mad. The battery door keeps popping open while I'm shooting. No power- no pictures. I think I'm going to have to send it off since I have a warranty on it until next February. Of course, that just may be a fluke. I looked at the camera and saw no physical defects or anything apparent to cause it to pop open. Perhaps I'm just not closing it right... Ah... if it continues, I'll get it fixed then.

I also was going to start classes again on Monday but thanks to my school's financial aide dept, that is not possible. They are still verifying my financial aide paperwork, for the 3rd month. I had already preregistered for classes but they dropped me from them because I hadn't paid. I have a financial hold on my account but they still dropped me anyways. I called the school and asked about it. The woman I talked to on the phone said I could still do regular registration but because they haven't verified my paperwork yet (given they've had it for 2 months already) that they can't sustain a financial hold. She told me to reregister for my classes (which are fill btw that's why I preregistered) and pay for them out of pocket. They would just reimburse me when the financial aide finalizes. Now, if I had the money... would I be applying for financial aid.. or wouldn't I have at least went ahead and paid the money before they dropped me from my classes? ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6172899/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/6172899/ Mon, 08 Aug 2005 21:04:46 PDT
Now, I'm also working on fixing the colors as well. A vast majority of the slides were taken prior to 1980 and have noticable discolorations. Some even have lost their coloring and remain one flat color with variable contrast and shades of darkness. Some have been heat damaged and I am barely able to make out who or what is in them.

I have been quite amused by several of the pictures though. There are a few of my father in his much younger days - before the wife - before adopting a kid - before the 2 kids - before the next wife - before 5 more kids. There are trips to countries and cities I don't even know where they are. Many pictures of signs and posts I can't even read. As far as I can tell, the majority I've been through so far are pictures taken in Potsdam, Germany and Berlin, Germany.

I've recently started on a second carousel and have already found pictures of my half-brothers, my parents, and/or miscellaneous relatives I've never met or seen. Some of these have been from Okinawa, Japan.

I'm thinking of posting some of the slides but will have to ask my dad's permission first of course. He's the one who took them. I wasn't even born for about another decade after most of these. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5916693/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5916693/ Tue, 12 Jul 2005 18:36:22 PDT
Anywho, I also dislike taking pictures of people for the simple fact that everyday I go to work, I see dozens of them both nicely composed and horrible composed with bad lighting, angles, and depth. Working in a photo lab, that's the majority of the orders we do. Not that they're spectacular or well refined or not. Its just that I'm used to seeing lots of people pictures and prefer to keep those off my computer and not to look at them through my viewfinder. So, of course, I don't do studio work or portraits, as some of my customers have requested. That's not even my job. I develop pictures and sell cameras. I do not take your pictures for you. I am not a studio photographer, just to reiterate and to beat the dead horse I've already kicked to death.

I have, however, done some special tasks for some customers if I feel like it is something I have the time to accomplish and it is something I think I can do a good job at. Most of that work has just required Photoshopping pictures though (i.e. recolorations, building backgrounds, enlarging images, etc etc...). I will not do studio work... I have not been trained for it, nor have I the equipment (unless I "borrow" from work haha) to do any such things.

In addition, I don't have the best camera in the world. Not that my camera is crap but I was settling for something I could afford when I bought it. I honestly would love a D-SLR for the sake of being able to change lenses, manual focus, and just go plain nuts with accessories but college comes first -and- that takes a lot of my, should I say our, money. But its nice to dream about it... maybe someday. College -drat- I don't even know what I'm studying anymore.

Albeit, I doubt I'll work in the camera store for the rest of my life and I also highly doubt that I'll be a laboratory technician there as well.... haha at some point I'll hopefully graduate college and use whatever the heck degree I'm going to persue... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5837585/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5837585/ Mon, 04 Jul 2005 12:10:50 PDT
Also, I was looking at my front page and my description said I was subscribed until July 7th. I don't know how this happened nor do I see any major differences that I'd use.

]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5795488/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5795488/ Wed, 29 Jun 2005 21:20:14 PDT
After I scan the CDs for any problems, I've got a few pictures I'm hoping to post, especially now that we can use our computer. Hopefully, I'll also be able to get back the assortment of programs I had on here that allowed me to edit my pictures and videos. Not to mention, I loved making the DVDs from my movie clips and picture slideshows.

Now where did I put that CD? ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5641466/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5641466/ Mon, 13 Jun 2005 22:21:05 PDT
Ah.. and what do I do?

I work in a camera store as a lab technician. Pretty much, my job entails maintaining our machines (a Fujifilm FP 922 AL and a Fujifilm SFA 298), troubleshooting chemical problems, ensuring quality of prints, using HazMat gear to clean things, and selling cameras.

There... that's what I do all day, everyday... excluding Fridays... ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5461684/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5461684/ Wed, 25 May 2005 21:21:48 PDT
I feel as if I've been slacking lately in the picture area though. I think its not necesarily that I don't care about the pictures, I think its more to do with my job. I work in a camera store and am the lab technician for my store. Developing pictures and assuring the functionality of our photo-equipment is my job. So, its not as if I don't care about photography, its just that I don't have as much time to work on my own.

On another note, I did recently post some pictures but they have yet to show up under my Recent Deviations nor have they shown up in my gallery. I suppose it will eventually though. :shrugs: ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5199675/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/5199675/ Tue, 26 Apr 2005 23:09:03 PDT
There's even one picture with me in it! ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4877001/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4877001/ Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:49:06 PST ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4806124/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4806124/ Sun, 13 Mar 2005 21:35:39 PST
We finished paying off our car and shortly afterwards someone t-boned us while my husband was driving me to my Calculus class. Boo! Rental car for us now...

However, we did take a trip to MS (where my husband is from) so he could visit some family and friends having been in Iraq for the past year and not seeing or hearing from them.

We took a day trip to New Orleans amongst those few days and visited the Aquarium of the Americas. Some of the pictures I've posted here. We also planned to visit the French Quarter but rain changed our plans for that. ]]> ~Strap-Me-In http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4658278/ http://Strap-Me-In.deviantart.com/journal/4658278/ Wed, 23 Feb 2005 22:32:04 PST ~Strap-Me-In