I don't really remember much after that. I must have sweat it out or something but I vaguely remember fire trucks and Tina thinking I was physically "stuck" in the phone booth, not stuck as in they couldn't open the door. I think it was a credit card or something slid up under the door jamb mechanism that got the door open. I have to say that that memory has stayed with me for about eons now. My bathroom door wouldn't open the other day and panic ensued. I looked and saw the hinges were on my side of the door so I was ok.
You may not know the exact lake that I speak of, but you know the lake. It doesn't even have to be a lake, it could be a pool, a park, a tree house. It doesn't even have to be a place at all, it is just a favorite memory.
Set in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts lies a lake. Not just any lake - because there are quite a few, but a particular lake, a SPECIAL lake. The lake is nestled in the trees and is an astounding sight in the autumn. It has lake houses on one side, a public beach on another, a campground and a YMCA camp on the other. An overwhelming majority of the locals call it "Fish Pond" but I do not. I was taught as a very young child to call it by it's proper given name. "Windsor Lake". Now, any of you that DO know of this special little man-made lake is likely to say "Robin, seriously...Windsor Lake Fish Pond is just a hole in the ground - and the water isn't even that great, there is no beach, they took our docks away and there aren't life guards much anymore, plus the "lake police" are nazi's!" But this lake is much more than that to me. It is that one place I can go - either in person or in spirit - look around and get tears in my eyes.
I remember as a child, my gram, two cousins and I would get into our swim suits and head out on our daily adventure. We would pack our lunches in the lunch basket, get the blankets, towels, beach toys, chairs and hats and gather into my gram's grey oldsmobile - the one with dark green velvet seats that were worn from wet - lake soaked bathing suit bottoms. Of course one of us would forget something so we only made it as far as East School (yes it was still called EAST back then) before we turned around. We would be off again, driving up Kemp Ave and crest the plateau to head back down Kemp Ave and there it was. A break in the trees would reveal to us our salvation - our summer joy...the lake. We would drive down the road - each inch agonizing in the summer blaze. My gram, the always careful driver, put on her directional well before the turn - always leaving the people behind us irritated that we didn't turn left when they thought we were going to turn left. Finally we turned into the entrance of the lake - later to be named "George Fairs Way" in honor of my grandfather - and pull up towards the check in hut. There sat this old man, I can still see him today, his family used to run the Mohawk Theater on Main Street which is now in disarray with a local valiant effort to have it restored (ask me about my trip to the Mohawk when I was in 5th grade to see the Goonies and won a game of Monopoly - ok that was about the entire story). My gram would always pull up to the booth and wave with one finger to let him know we were coming through. We had a season pass on the back passenger window - gram always made me roll up my window so that the gentleman in the booth could see we were paid up. I always complained. It was hot! The man knew who we were - not only did we go to the lake every day - as I had said, the road was named after my grandfather, everyone there knew who George was, who his wife was, his kids and grand kids (us). We would always remind them who WE were too. Self inflated sense of pride. If it was a particularly hot day we would have to wait in line and I always remember looking off to my right to a clearing in the trees and there was a path that led to the Sunshine Camp area - it was were the mentally handicap kids had camp.
We would pull around to the parking lot, never up the hill, always around the loop and NEVER down towards the campground. I don't know how my gram used to corral us long enough to unload the car before we jetted off across the lawn, past the playground, past the wood shed, down the hill, jumping over hundreds of people to find the best spot. We dropped all of our stuff on the ground, our over clothes half off before we heard "Kids, wait for me". What words could a hot, excited child like to hear less? Probably "it's time to go", but waiting for my gram to approve our spot was wrenching. I think she just wanted to view where we were so she could keep an eye on us. I don't think she ever fully trusted the life guards.
At first we were only allowed to swim in the kiddie section, this little roped off designated area that really was no bigger than 8 ft by 10 ft, if we were lucky. My cousins Kerry, Jimmy, and I were all one year apart so our abilities to leave the confines of the kiddie area were spaced out just that far. The days that we longed to play Marco Polo with the rest of the group, do hand stands under water, and play "Find the rock" were agonizing. My grandfather had to give us his OWN swimming test to see if we were able to leave the kiddie puddle. Kerry got to leave it first. Then Jim, and then me. Always last. Since I had swimming lessons at such a young age I got to move out of the kiddie section just 3 weeks after Jim and he left it one YEAR after Kerry. (That is the middle grandchild coming out in me....the constant need for validation and kudos! I'm over that now.) Of course, now that we were out of the hell pool we were still bound by strict guidelines - now we could only go out as far as our shoulders. Oh the horror - the diving board was even further out! Sometimes we would try to cheat and go a little further out but we would hear "JIM! I see you!" or "KERRY, Back in now" All I got was "ROBIN" and that was enough. We had to wait for another "George-approved" test before we could make our way to the docks. And once THERE - then we weren't allowed to swim underneath the dock or behind it like all the cool kids, there were rumors of snapping turtles under there. Rules. Not Lake rules - Helen & George rules. But no matter, it was the lake, it was summer, it was the days of being able to run out of a lake, stand over your grandmother while she is reading her book while you are dripping wet and probably ruining her book to beg her for your allowance to run to the concession for some fried dough or those large pixie styx, sometimes an ice cream treat if you budget wisely. She would always say no, of course, and that we had to wait for our lunches. I think we ate at 10:30 every day so we could make the afternoon come quicker - quicker we could have our ice cream treats. Gram prepared our plates of sandwiches and chips, carrots and whatever else she packed away...usually a pickle I would always refuse. I remember we would have bologna (wunderbar bologna) & cheese, or ham and cheese or a fluffernutter. We gobbled it up and then were obligated to wait that - what seemed to be an eternity - half hour wait. Of course that is an old wives tale giving parents enough time to clear up after the kids eat. We would run up to the play ground - the same one we ignored on the way in and if we were lucky - find a swing. If no swing then we would hop on the thing that went around (sometimes we were even luckier - someone's older brother or sister or dad was there to make it go around really fast!) or down the slide. No one liked the slide because it was metal and it was hot (who thought it would be a good idea to have a slide at a lake - metal, sun, wet bare asses...good combo!). We'd watch people on the teeter tatter going up and down. I was always scared of it so I sat out. If Kerry and I felt like talking we would sit on the special rock - this really large rock that had a half moon chunked out so it looked and felt like a chair.
Finally the half hour was over. We knew this because we had our eyes glued to the arch of the hill where we could see our gram stand up and wave to us. Again, we dashed madly across the green grass and ran right back into the water without even a hello to my gram. Once a week the drama major's from the local college treated us to a kiddie show - Something Different. There was a LARGE blue board with two box openings at the top. They all had on different colored shirts with the "something different" logo on it with their names on the back. They would come out singing "Hello we're something different, hello we're something new, we're here to entertain you and have some fun with you" - they would go on and sing their names and something else and holy hell - it has been over 20 years and I still remember the words as if it were yesterday. There was one woman I remembered fondly - her name was Susan and occasionally I will see her around North Adams and I have to fight the overwhelming urge to run up to her and hug her like she is a long lost relative. Anyway, these something different actors would have costumes and put on skits, sometimes with puppets and ALWAYS with whipped cream pies to the face! Nothing was funnier than the pies to the face. They had different sized colored boxes - red, green, yellow, and blue boxes that they would use to create scenes with - scenes that only our imaginations could see. We would sing along and laugh and have the best time. At the end they sang a slowed down version of the same song ending with "we'll be back this time next week to have more fun with you...".
Even now as I recall these memories I am filled with a sense of youthful enthusiasm, a feeling of joy, warmth, happy tears, sadness for days gone by. As we started to grow up the trips to the lake took a back seat to bike riding, baseball, having friends over for the day. I did spend time at the campground as a young teen, I gained many memories of friends I still have - of New Kids on the Block birthday parties (NOT my own) and baby-sitting for a young girl that has since died in a tragic car accident. I remember taking a canoe ride with Jim and our friend Shane and the dang thing flipped over all on it's own - at least that is what Jim and Shane expected me to believe! Our 8th grade class trip was a cook out at the lake and as a teen my best friend and I would go daily to socialize and swim a little - but it just wasn't the same without Helen, our lunches, allowances, and rules.
On the day before I moved away from Massachusetts I went up to the lake. I followed the same familiar path I had taken many times in my youth. I crested Kemp Ave, descended towards the lake peeking through the trees. I pulled up George Fairs Way, taking a photo as I drove past. It was a warm but windy July day and there were surprisingly few cars in the parking lot. I got out of the car, walked passed the play ground - the round wooden thing gone, so were the teeter tatters. They were said to be dangerous. The slide was still there. I walked past the wood shed that was now locked up so people could pay for their wood. I glanced to my right where the Something Different crew would set up - "Hello we're something different..." - I topped the hill and stood under the tree where my gram would always sit. They added a nice bench, got rid of the docks in the middle of the lake. I watched as my nephew - just 9 months old - go into the lake for the first time. I hoped for him the same summer fun I had as a kid, no, I prayed for it. They were carefree times, energy filled, and life lasting memories. No, even though I am a local I will never call this place "Fish Pond" it deserves it's proper name. I will always come back to Windsor Lake to reminisce about life, my grandparents (who are still very much alive), or childhood - whether it's in person or in my heart. I don't have a childhood house to go home to - we moved around a lot as a kid, but I have something better - I have a lake. I turned around and made my way back to the car glanced back to my left and smiled - "we'll be back this time next week to have more fun with you...".
Thirteen things I'm into right now
1 - Totally into Moxi. I have just about everything scheduled to record, I can record two shows at the same time AND watch something I've previously taped while the other two are recording. I have already gone through the fall line up and prepared what I will be watching. I am NO LONGER a slave to my TV. I watch what I want when I want and I do it in less time (since I can fast-forward commercials) so. If I am on vacation I can say - be on vacation and not worry that Ghost Whisperer is on and it looked really good this week. No more do I have to choose between The L Word and Grey's Anatomy (like there is any question which one I would watch - plus Grey's is moving to Thursday) I can schedule my Numbers and Monk at the same time and it's ok! Amy gets irritated that I play with it while something is on TV, and that's understandable, but it is never anything important. hah
2 - Wickedly love my Pandora - www.pandora.com and create your own radio station. You say what artists/songs you like and it will spit back at you songs/artist it thinks you will like in return. You, from there, have the option to veto songs (watch it, you can only veto just so many per hour) and you have the ability to buy it right there from iTunes, approve the song, add it to your favorites for call back later on, see some background about the performer AND put any song on the shelf. Say you like Cecelia by Simon and Garfunkel but you have just had enough hearing it - it's played at least once a day - you can put it on the shelf for a month and not worry about it, AND you don't waste a skip (I don't think)
3 - Chris Pureka (haah I typed Christ) - SO anyway Chris Pureka. If you are reading my blog you are likely to know who Chris is anyway but for those of you that do not - take this time right here and go educate yourself www.myspace.com/chrispureka she is super talented and super cute. (Plus if you look in my pictures you will see a picture of she, me, and amy) Her new album is in the works and I'm just thrilled that she will be coming back to Minnesota in October and can hardly wait to go to another show, a show of HER this time, not her opening for someone else. All Chris Pureka - all the time is how it should be. She is just phenom! Which leads me to ..4 and the next phenom -
4 - Brianna Lane - First I have to thank G for getting me super addicted to Brianna and for Chris (even though I heard of Chris before G but not to the magnitude I did until after..) First I have to say that I have seen Brianna 4 times and going to see her again tomorrow night. I am not stalking her, no but I am absolutely impressed and amazed by her talent. Amy and I were chatting about Brianna after her show and the g/f had the brilliant insight to say that the thing about Brianna is that she keeps your attention. And she is right - While others are writing about feelings and blah blah Brianna brings it to life with visuals, with Brianna I can see the porch light being out and someone forgetting and trying to flip it on, I can see the zipper pulls in the jars, and I can see the man in the raincoat. PLUS she is a fantastic performer and very very down to earth...go check her out too! www.myspace.com/briannalane (she looks like the g/f's sister in law P)
5 - Bill Bryson - Right now I'm reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and I'm just about to the part that Einstein is born (It's on the same page that I am currently reading just haven't quite gotten there yet) and the book is captivating. Bryson has this way of taking something mundane and turning it into comedic genius. While this book is still a bit dry because it's so factual, he throws in sentences for the common person and facts about scientist that keep me captivated. I have been hooked on Bill since Erika's friend Colin from Ireland mentioned him years ago - the book Made in the USA (a.k.a. Made in America) was great - talking about the origins of words we use, how we butchered the words from other countries and made them our own etc. He even mentions a professor that I had in college while discussing cussing (and mentions the college I attended and the book that Jay wrote that I read. Even though he exaggerated in the book - my professor not Bryson). I think, by far, my favorite Bryson book so far is A Walk in the Woods. Seriously I was reading it on the bus from IBM to Mayo and I read one part about why Bryson wanted to walk the Appalachian trail (so he could tell others he $hit in the woods) and the way he phrases things made me laugh out loud...people on the bus thought I was crazy....mind you the rest of the people on the bus WERE crazy... If you have the time to read, check out one of Bill's books. He does a lot of travel books and nostalgia books so, you will probably find him in the TRAVEL section of your library or Barnes & Noble/Bookstore.
6 - I'm into my camera man, not my "Camera Man", My CAMERA, man. It is so sweet. It is so sweet that I'm not sure why I even had to think about it. I am loving that Amy and I saved $125 on it by seeing it online cheaper (BestBuy honored the online price) AND we had a "Save 12 percent" coupon which took off another $58 bucks. (and we had a gift card from when we bought the computer as a reward) so we saved a chunk of change on it. We planed to buy it w/o the $125 savings but it made it all the more enticing when we realized how much we could save, and still get the 1Gb chip and get some LCD covers. Now onto the camera - Night photos. It takes fantastic night photos. 12x Optical zoom. Not only am I going to Mt Rushmore in 3 weeks, I will be able to see the boogers up Jeffersons nose while I'm there. The zoom is insane. I was sitting on my bed and about 15 feet away is the bathroom so I zoomed in just to see what I could see (and it wasn't the other side of the mountain) but I could see a single hair on the bathroom floor. It was brown. I'm going to have good times with that puppy.
7 - Reality TV - SOOO hooked on reality TV right now... Project Runway is back on, Big Brother 7: All-Stars, Hell's Kitchen, Treasure Hunters...seriously, it's insane fun! I was bummed that Malan got booted on PR Wednesday Night - he touched my heart when he said his mom threw his book down and said he'd amount to nothing...and I love his laugh hahah - Angela sooo should have gone home. She looks like she should have been on square pegs. BB7 - so sick of the BB6 alliance, I had enough of BB6 during BB6. Pullin for Jase to take it and run! I just like him this season so much better than BB5. Hell's Kitchen! Sarah just needs to go. She should have gone last week. Rootin for Heather man, rootin for Heather! (And K-grease). TH= Wild Hanlon's...I kinda miss them. haha. Pullin for the southie boys or ex-cia. Kayte is making me sick. SOON comes on - Americas Next Top Model, Survivor, Amazing Race, and American Idol. And while it's not your typical Reality TV - I am loving America's Funniest Home Videos. I watch it every night and I laugh like a crazy person. I am sick of the pinata's and I'm sick of guys getting hit in the junk, but otherwise I love it. I love when people get scared, but I have a hard time watching because I'm laughing so hard that I can't keep my eyes open to watch the succession of clips!
8 - Camping. Never thought I'd see that one. Camping has been so much fun now that I am doing it as an adult. A few years ago the g/f and I went to Duluth for Labor Day and it was the best camping time every, the next year we didn't camp because we had just moved into our house and were occupied with that on the weekends. This year though - for my birthday we went camping, a group (TFM) came with as a group event and it was GREAT! There was fire, frothy beer, food, friends, fun games, frisbee, and G played us the guitar - other sites clapped too! We are planning another camping trip for the first weekend in August (for half the TFM) and ANOTHER in South Dakota for 4 days in later August (for another sect of the TFM). I don't drink much but I like to relax and have drinks and enjoy the stars and fire and chatting and music. (and the one is SD will be filled with prime opportunities to use my new camera!!!)
9 - I'm really digging my new floor in the family room (finished basement). I will have to post pictures of what we moved into, what we changed it to, and what we changed it to - ripping up carpet, ripping out entertainment centers, recovering the bar, laying new floor, putting up a new ceiling, updating light fixtures. It's a whole new room! So the flooring - We go to Menards see (Save big money at menards yo) and there was some flooring on sale but decided that we liked the next step up (it was still on sale, but not as good a price) we initially decided or thought about this color that is light oak - you find it in any of the cookie cutter houses that are out there now. I decided that I liked the Walnut (I think it's Maple really) better. It was a warmer wood with a busier design AND it wasn't something you'd find in every pre-fab home. So the g/f and her dad laid the smack down on it last weekend. It's sweet.
10 - The word "Word". Such a kickback...and here I thought I was the only one using it and getting others to say it when I start to watch tv and OTHERS are using it, I was so excited. Word yo! Word, right Dana?
11 - The g/f, My sisters (and family) - so yea now that I'm older I do appreciate my sisters more. Erika is 6 years (almost 7) younger than I am, and Meg is 12 years younger. Now that we are all out of high school, Erika with kids & a home, and Meg away from home too, we actually have things to talk about. I worry sometimes that when my mom dies in the future that we are going to lose the glue that kept us together but now I don't think we will. We have such a generation gap sometimes that I worry but I think we will be ok, I love my sisters they rock. :) And of course my family. and my g/f. My gram is. Honestly, there is no word for her, she just is. She makes me laugh like i've never laughed, she makes me happy, and sad, and she keeps me informed (and then some) she helped me be who I am today and at 87 years old, she still watches my niece and nephew. My gramp is just like my gram only a guy hahah, he is hilarious and the two of them together is enough to make anyone get dizzy haha. My mom - my step dad (fill in mushy stuff here) I could go on for hours about Logan and Hailey so I won't. but without my family I'd be lost. Which brings me to the g/f - ya know when you are in the store looking for those sappy valentines day cards and blah blah they are sticky sweet and all that? she's all that PLUS those stupid campy cards that make you groan and laugh :) I am so thrilled that her class is done for summer and I get to see her again! She figured out in this past year (not including weekends) that she and I have seen each other for 45 hours. And folks, those aren't 45 hours in a row. They are 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there, and a whoping 25 minutes when I decide to stay up late to catch a TV show with her. It's horrible, but we shall overcome.
12 - TFM. I say TFM a lot on here and I'm not sure anyone knows what it's all about. It's basically a group of women that are friends. There is this national thing about the gay m@fia/lesbian m@fia (that would be the "M" in TFM) and we would joke that we have our own sect of it. There are about 13 or 14 of us with a few other honorary members here and there that we don't hang out with as much but do on occasion. Now the "TF" is the funny part. G, the g/f, and I went to the Catie Curtis show in March and the opening act was the 3 alto's or tenors or something (I can't remember at all) so the 3 singers and while being presented onstage they were introduced as "The Folk singer, the Rabbi, and the Sexologist" (ya know like the beginning of the joke) and it was OUR job to figure out which is which. Well a guitar fell down and one of the chicks went to fix it and she said "well, I'm the folk singer" and we all giggled and while she was re-tuning her guitar to fill the time they told us who was who and the rabbi chatted for a minute then the sexologist said - well I can give you a demonstration on where to find the g-spot. and we all roared - it had to do with taking two finger (TF) and position them in such a way to reach it, and she used the roof of her mouth as an example. So there you go - TFM. SO ANYWAY - These girls are so much fun that I'm going to be sad in a few years when we pack up and move. Now that we are all adults with homes and jobs and lives our friendships have matured as well, there is no more campiness, not cattiness, (well not totally) and we generally have a group that gets along. It's almost impossible to have a group of friends that large that all get along and some of us don't but we are all big enough to at least "deal" with who we can't. My top 16 has 6 of us, and a few others are floating around in my friends list. I don't know when we are going to move (3 or 4 years maybe) so I don't think about it now, but one of us is leaving at the end of August. Luckily for the g/f and I she is going to Massachusetts so we will see her on our trips back home. (Like this new years eve we might get to spend with her then drive home the next day - depends on everything else going on at that time and it's still like 6 months away). We have a lot of fun together - camping, game nights, fire pits, bar nights, dinners, bbq's, pride, etc. I am not looking forward to moving and trying to find friends like these again...it just simply can't be done.
oh and
13 - (I almost stopped at 12!!) hmmm how about COFFEE ICECREAM!!! While this isn't new to me, it's a favorite of mine. I hate Coffee, that is - I hate drinking it. I love everything else about it, the smell, the flavor, the color, just everything but I can't stand brewed coffee. I love coffee ice cream so much it is insane. It was hard to find it when I first moved to Minnesota...the local companies didn't make it, then I started to see Edie's in the store and THEY sometimes carried coffee, then I saw STARBUCKS came out with ice cream - and of course it was coffee! Then Breyers made it's way in and then, then, then the bestest thing to Coffee Ice Cream happened. I discovered Coldstone Creamery. They have this coffee lovers thing that I just adore - it's coffee ice cream, caramel sauce, almonds, and toffee chips. OH MY GOD. To die for. My obsession with coffee ice cream started with Friendly's...and anyone that's had Friendly's ice cream and then someone else's - the other ice cream tastes weak and isn't NEARLY as creamy. Friendly's has delicious coffee ice cream and they have this peanut butter sauce they put on their peanut butter cup ice cream sundae (and other sundaes) and one day I decided that I liked the coffee ice cream, and I like the peanut butter sauce so I should put them together. oh snap. wow. So now that I'm out here in MN and there aren't any Friendly's out here I have my mom go buy some sauce from Friendly's and mail it out to me. I am dying for some, I haven't had it since Christmas.
Erika - go buy me some and ship it out, mom isn't feeling good. I need it. Oh and the g/f wants some Dunkin Donuts coffee please. I could also use a tub of Fluff please, and some Molly's smilie face cookies AND some of the maple walnut cupcakes from Molly's and I need a couple Everything bagels from Dunkin Donuts....I think that's it, go buy it and send it :) Everything else I'll get when I'm home next *hugs*
Ok done...so Thanks Moxi, Pandora, Chris Pureka, Brianna Lane, Bill Bryson, Sony, Reality TV, Minnesota State Parks (and South Dakota too), laminate flooring, the letters w-o-r-, and d, My family/sisters and my gal, my friends in the TFM, AND coffee Ice cream...I love you all so much :)
WORD!
I stole this from someone that posts a regular meme on every Thursday. I'm going to do it on Friday and go with the number 13 (as in Friday the 13th)
SO here is the theme this week:
13 Jobs I've had.
1. Paper Girl. Ya know, it doesn't really sound like much but it is/was. My paper route took me from just above city hall, through city hall, up main street, down holden st, into and up the concourse, up the dowlin block, up eagle street, around the library, and finishing off across from the post office. I was 11ish. I had 115 papers in total to deliver. I hated Fridays and Saturdays! On Fridays when we got paid I would stop off at Dream Machine and play there for a little bit - I was a regular at Centipede and Skee-Ball. I rocked. I finally gave up that route to Kim Santelli (I didn't know her at the time but she ended up being a really good friend of mine later in life). I used to skip people on purpose because I was lazy and didn't want to walk three flights. Later on I ended up with another paper route but that is another number later on!
2. Burger King Bi-atch. It was the only place that hired when you turned 15. I took it. I was taught chicken/fish/fryer first, then burger board, then whopper. I moved up to cashier really quickly and then took the drive through spot. Everyone wanted those jobs because you got to see and talk to people...but I got them because I was good with a register - always have been, always will be. I don't remember much about BK but one time they needed help in BK down south county and I ended up being the first person they asked to go down there. That was the first place someone asked me for a vegetarian burger...blew my mind and I think I asked them "do you mean cheese on bread? like a cheese sandwich? why even say burger then?". That was about it for that job, that was 16 years ago, I don't remember too much about it. I know I hated sterilizing.
3. Paper Girl. (Again) This time I had a route closer to home. Not that anyone is going to know this route, I do. I would pick up in front of my house and run up the street with three papers - (on East Main Street) then I would get settled with my papers - go down towards Berkshire Landing, up back towards east main, down towards main st, down gallup st, up park ave, over kemp ave, up towards windsor lake, down bradley street and then back home. It was QUITE a long route for me. Eventually I found out that my best friend's dad & brother had a route similar to mine (on the opposite side of the street of all weird things) so we got together and traded customers so I could stay closer to home. This was the route that had me deliver papers to my grams house - I stopped in one day to get a sprite and when I was done I thought I'd be badass and twist the can in half, as I did so I sliced open my left thumb. My gramp told me I needed stiches but I flat out refused.
4. Baby-sitting. This really was my job in my junior year. I would go over after school and stay with Dan (8 or 9) and Angela (baby). I earned my money damnit. The kid (dan) used to spit on me, he was super mean and very uncontrollable. I remember I found a tape in their house of Kansas and made a copy of it, because I am such a pirate. The parents were super nice and I still see them every once in a while when I'm home. Nice folks.
5. Stop n Shop. I had to bust my ass to get that job. I went in for my initial interview with tons of other people (it was a store that was just opening) and the girl in back of me got the job of cashier and they had told me there none left. My step dad called and ripped them a new ass and I got another shot at the job. We trained for quite some time and travelled to different stores to train. They used to have competitions for the cashiers to see who was the fastest with the best accuracy for onspot cash and price and I was always top 2. (see, still good with that register). I used to dream of the beeps - my alarm clock would often work it's way into a dream about work. hah. I remember working with Michelle Dorman and Jill Campedelli - one day on break Jill had a soda and was going to throw it away but she was going to throw it in the mail box on accident -she's a riot. I remember this is where I learned what "flavor savor" was (moustache). Yea, totally inappropriate from my boss talking about that huh? Also this was the place where I got to "check out" Judge Reinhold. and saw Christopher Reeves be a jack ass to a young fan and wouldn't give his autograph. Anyway - I quit that job. About a month or two before prom/graduation/college visiting days I put in for the days off...a few days before I put in a follow up note to ensure I got the days off and Bill (the boss) told me that he can't guarantee me those days off. I told him to go ahead and schedule me and I'll call in sick. So I went to my dads house and got job 6 and told Stop n Shop to go be badass elsewhere.
6. Mobil/Convenience Plus. So after I told Stop n Shop to go stick it I started to work at the Mobil station on Curran Highway and the one in Williamstown (before it was made over into a DnD/Mobil/Shell). The store in Williamstown was seriously a hole in the wall and it was right by a mental institution and we'd get all the whacko's in. It was torture. You never knew who was coming in and/or why - like the guy that bought 10 packs of cigarettes per day. The guy that owned a restaurant in North Adams that would come in and buy $400-$500 worth of scratch tickets per day. It was insane. I met Sinbad there. I quit working at Mobil when I went off to college, where I had a couple work-study jobs that I won't get into.
7. Cumberland Farms. This was the next job I had - it was the same as Mobil station only this was on Rt 2. People from NY going to Boston would drive it and vice versa. I'd often get tourists in and ask directions - I'd hand them a map. I'd get people come in and ask me where Rt. 2 was. Seriously buddy. I think I even saw a Ryder truck full of hippies (travelling in the back of the Ryder - so Illegal!
8. Walmart. I ran register for a while - Like I said - I rock the register. Then one day they said "we need help in the Radio Grill" and put me in there. GOD I should have protested. Once I was in I couldn't get out. Everyone that was there quit leaving me and one other chick to work the entire schedule. Management wouldn't help. I'm not so good with food industry. Then I got to run the damn place - I begged management to get someone in there so I could leave. No go. I did like doing the ordering though, that was fun. I hated closing up - people were asses. Specially the workers - they all went on lunch at the same time and wanted their food at the same time. Like that was going to happen. I finally got out of that job when one day I got a call from my mom "get your resume together and get down to city hall" word! Oh and the only reason I stayed on at Walmart so long is cos it paid the sorority dues and housing fees to live there.
9. NAMEFCU - That would be a credit union. It was me and Gail. Oh Gail, how I miss her...she made me laugh and laugh. My mom worked down the hall in the Mayor's office and could hear us giggling like school girls. She told the best stories, and they were animated stories. She is the one that got me hooked on the Harry Potter series. I just love her. Anyway - the job was super neat but it was only part time. I got to do credit reports, write checks, fill out loans, process loans for approval, balance the statements, deposits, payroll...just about everything. I loved it. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Then...I moved :/
10. CVS - Had this job while I worked at NAMEFCU - needed to make rent, right? It was stupid, lots of people buying cold medicines, buying pictures, and stealing condoms.
11. Subway - So like I said - I moved. Not only did I move, I moved to Alabama. To a town that has a population of 1,053. I could go to Phil Campbell and work at the Piggly Wiggly or drive into Haleyville (birthplace of 911) and work for Michelle's friend Shari (who has since died) working at Subway. I chose subway. Only because the piggly wiggly reminded me of price chopper and i hate price chopper. The subway was ok to work at, itself, I learned all i needed and I sliced veggies and onions, and prepped the bins and the meats, made the bread and stocked whatever...ya know the usual. The job itself was a job, it got me back home eventually but here was the kicker - it was in the deep south. On any given week I would encounter 4 types of people - The Religious, The Southern Woman, The Civil War Fighter, and The Footballer/Cheerleader. All typical of the south. Religious folks would all ask "have you been saved?" each and every time they came in. (I just started saying yes to get them to leave me alone), The Southern Woman with her big hair and drawl would say stuff like "Is it true ya'll yankees shoot each other dead up there?" - yea lady, that's why I'm still alive. The Civil War Fighter would come in with his t-shirt on that said "and the south shall rise again" and I'd think - only to have the yankees put you down again. and of course the footballer/cheerleader coming in being all teen-ager like and creating headaches. I learned that any stereotype I knew of the south did exist (like when three old guys were waiting in line and they were talking about the 2000 election that was currently being recounted for the umpteenth time one guy said "well if anything happens to Gore we'd have a damn Jew in the whitehouse" !!! he said that, no lie) but I also learned that not everyone down there can be stereotyped...I ate at tons of mexican restaurants (the ones up north suck, by the way) and a few road kill cafes (they will cook your kill if you want them to). Oi BUT nothing is better than driving down the road flipping through one MILLION stations of christian music than coming upon a peanut stand and getting nice hot peanuts in a shell and eat them all the way home!
12. Capital Motorsports. So I got home from Alabama to Massachusetts and got lucky. I applied to an ad in the paper for a invoicing clerk and I got the job, BUT it was part time. My bosses were impressed by my computer knowledge/abilities that they hired me full time - half to do invoicing and half to do their computer work. I did so much there I don't know where to start - I stated off running credit cards and labeling boxes for delivery then I started to occasionally take catalog orders to taking little orders to taking FULL time orders. (Mark down SALES on my resume) Then I also managed the photograph library with all the parts we sold (race car parts btw) and took pictures of items we didn't have in the library. THEN I was the co-ordinator for the catalog and was in charge of keeping prices up to date as well as the layouts. I also managed the magazine publications (ON TOP of my sales job) and then we started up the website (which is just like the catalog) complete with shopping cart and online ordering. The website I created in 2001 is still in use with very very very minor updates (mostly just new items and pricing updates). I created the beast and it still lives - It was an enormous undertaking. I taught myself how to use Front Page to do the job and used Photoshop ad nauseam. GO ME! My co-workers were funny but my bosses... They were a husband/wife team, really small company (10 or 11 people). She doted on her dogs and was a work-a-holic and perfectionist. Drove me insane most of the time. He was a big ol bear, and if you listened really close (or just happened to be in the next room like I was) you could hear their fights. Nice. Knock 'em down, drag 'em out. She was a bear. But...now that I don't work there I miss it. I dream about the place often and always think about the wife asking me to take my job back. hah. I could tell you stories and stories about the people we talked to on the phone. Lets just say that amateur race car drivers are a few nuts short of a tight tire.
13. IBM. Current job that I have here in Minnesota. I do a lot of everything from creating projects in a database to creating resource records in it. I manage the data going in and coming out and oversee the world wide team to make sure they are also doing the same (I have counter parts in Japan, India, Israel, China, Egypt, Korea, and Germany). I don't do just that, but I really prefer not to talk too much about my current job.
I can say that a lot of people come to me for technical support and I am QUITE OFTEN simply amazed that these people work at IBM too. - "How do I close the program" (use the big red "X" at the top of the screen). I love the people I work with and my team mates out in Vermont
SO there it is folks - my 13 jobs. (I had more but cut a few out because they were stupid like the time I worked at Cascade and slit open my finger - that's all I remember, or when I worked for the Sierra club and worked for like 2 weeks and quit because I can't sell cookies to a fat girl with PMS...soo...not my complete history but some of it)
So last week J, Dirty D, the g/f, and I went to the Badlands/Black Hills in South Dakota. Here is
Anyway - today is my snow-day. Happy Snow Day to you! Beautiful 45 degree day in January!
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