This is why...

Kitty hates me. This pretty much explains it all.

Dear Time Life, You are awesome!

I could be the only person in the world that does this, but I sincerely doubt it. Since I know I've gotten Jamie into doing it there are at least two of us and I'm willing to bet there are millions more. Though most of you that do do it are probably not willing to admit it. But this is a safe haven. A place where we can be proud. I'll go first and openly discuss it.

I am addicted to watching the Time Life Music collection infomercials. I am. It all started a year ago with Peter Fonda. Time Life is sneaky (AND smart). They get big time celebs (like Peter Fonda, Ashford & Simpson, Air Supply, Tony Orlando, and more) to host these half hour TV parties with the greatest songs of all time. And then they offer you unbelievable deals on owning these music collections!! AND if you call now they'll throw in something extra, like two bonus discs. Unbelievable. I don't know how they do it.

So, back to Peter Fonda. I was flipping through the channels one night, probably after a night out and stumbled upon Peter Fonda and some lady sitting next to Captain America's bike from Easy Rider (probably a replica, but nonetheless), with a tie dye VW Bus in the background. Obviously being the hippie I am I stopped. I was then exposed to some of the greatest songs of all time! It's so fun to watch these and sing along with the clips of the songs they play. This collection had everything I could've ever wanted. You have everything on there from the Mommas & the Poppas to the Byrds to Peter, Paul & Mary to one hit wonders I've never heard of (but for some reason knew their songs by heart). It's 175 songs!!! I probably made Jamie watch this infomercial (and join me in singing along) at least ten times.

Then one night we happened to catch one selling 70's R&B or something like that. Ashford & Simpson hosted that one. There's also a soft rock one with Air Supply (Air Supply even does an impromptu acoustic jam during the infomercial on the weirdo set that looks like someone's beach house from the 80's). And this past Sunday we caught an awesome Love Songs of the 70's with none other than Tony Orlando (Dawn was no where to be found. I wonder what happened to those two ladies with the singular name...). The best part about watching these, besides the singing and constant mental battle you undergo trying to convince yourself to not get out bed to get the credit card and cell phone, is seeing how people have aged, how trends have changed, and how music has changed.

In the clips of the songs they show you, you see old school performances (and occasionally part of an actual music video, depending on the era of the collection). Nothing is cooler than making fun of the scene (like Rod Stewart surrounded by about a billion fat chicks), the clothes (here's looking at you Anne Murray), the hair (talking to you Starland Vocal Band and almost every singer/songwriter from the 70's cause you all had white people afros), and the overall vibe (it's all so mellow). And what is with the random scenes of modern day people frolicking on beaches?

Next time you are up late night surf around for a Time Life infomercial. You will not be disappointed. And if you happen to order one, besides being my hero, will you burn me copies if I get you blank CD's?

Click here to check out all the amazing things you can get from Time Life Music. Unbelievable. This December when my birthday rolls around this website will double as my wish list.

Bee-Tee-Dubs, I am in no way being compensated for this endorsement. I have not been contacted by Time Life Music (but it would be awesome if I was and they wanted to give me a free collection). I simply am sharing a fave thing of mine with you.

Sunday

I'm not going to do a whole Weekend Update today because Friday and Saturday were fun but I'd rather focus on Sunday.  I will say that on Saturday we went to the Star Bar for Psychobilly Night hosted by my friend Rev. Andy and it was awesome.

I woke up Sunday and Jamie and I went to brunch at Cafe di Sol.  It was good.  I had a broccoli and cheddar omelet.  I guess I'm used to mild cheddar because the cheddar they used in my omelet was so strong I had a hard time eating it.  Luckily there wasn't a ton of cheese in it and the broccoli was really good.  Then I went with Jamie to get a hair cut.  He's such a copy cat because I got my hair cut last Thursday.  

After that we ended up tagging along with Josh and Krista to IKEA.  And I'm not allergic to IKEA anymore!  I didn't sneeze once.  Last time I was there I had such an allergy attack I could barely see, let alone breathe.  IKEA is great for a lot of things, but there store is so freakin' big and you can only go one way through the whole store you really feel trapped in there.  We found a love seat we like, and a wardrobe, and a table for our back deck.  So we'll be going back next week, when Jamie is on spring break, on a week day so we can get there when they open in the morning and beat the crowd.  That store gets so crowded it's disgusting.  I hate crowds.  We did a buy a rug for the front door (like a mat) for $3.  You can't beat their prices.  And the quality (at least on the stuff we have from IKEA) is pretty awesome.  Except for their "teflon" pots and pans.  Don't buy those.  Our "teflon" frying pan began to lose it's "teflon" and ruined a whole batch of scrambled eggs I made one day.  We were going to buy a "teflon" wok but Josh said not to because the same thing that happened to me with my frying pan happened to him with an IKEA wok.

After IKEA we went to eat (no swedish meatballs for us!) and then came home.

Last night Jamie and I headed to Terminus for a screening of the first six episodes of High Rise.  First off, let me say that if I didn't like what I saw and I wasn't impressed with it I wouldn't slam it, I would just not talk about it.  BUT, I freakin' LOVED it.  Jamie did too.  I didn't know what to expect because when you work on a project like this it's hard to know what the final product will look like.  We didn't shoot any scenes in chronological order, we did so many takes for each scene that it all ran together.  The whole thing looks so good.  The actors look awesome, the quality is amazing, it's just really professional.  Oh, and there was a Melissa spotting (besides my name in the credits, which is just too cool)!  I don't want to go into too much because I really want you to watch High Rise and let me know your opinion, but in the first bar scene (it's not the first episode, I think it's like episode 4 or 5) I'm in the background at a table.  Totally hilars.  You wouldn't notice me unless I pointed me out to you.  

Anyway, I'm so not plugging this because I was a part of this series, I'm plugging it because it is good and absolutely worth watching.  Please check out High Rise!!  New episodes debut on Tuesday's and Friday's beginning on March 31 (tomorrow) on Comcast Channel 1 On Demand and online at HighRiseTheSeries.com.  I promise, you won't be disappointed.  

The pic above is me and Tom Glavine on the set of High Rise.  Yes, he's in it too!

One Eyed Monsters

First off, get your mind out of the gutter.  For reals.  I know "One Eyed Monster" is a euphemism for a body part of the male persuasion but I am not talking anatomy here.  In fact, I'm talking the exact opposite.  I'm being literal and discussing monsters with one eye (but not a Cyclops) in movies.

I've seen a crap ton of previews for the new Dreamworks movie Monsters Vs. Aliens.  And it looks good.  I'm inclined to see it because I love the Shrek movies (also by Dreamworks) and because Seth Rogen and Keifer Sutherland both are in it (well, since it's animated they voice characters in it).  

Before I go any further, I would like to say that I am also a big fan of Pixar movies.  One of my faves is Monsters, Inc.  My favorite character in Monsters, Inc. is "Mike Wazowski" voiced by Billy Crystal.  Yes, I love Billy Crystal (Hello!  Number 1 Soap fan here!), but he did such a fantastic job of creating a character for "Mike Wazowski" it was impossible to not walk away from the movie demanding more "Mike."  I even loved him so much that for a short time at my parents we had this cat coming around that hung out with/terrorized Kitty that we named him Mike Wazowski (because in Monsters, Inc. the little girl calls the other monster "Kitty").  If you haven't seen Monsters, Inc. (you need to) then what you don't know is that "Mike Wazowski" is a funny little, green, one eyed monster!  

And that leads me back to Monsters Vs. Aliens, the cutest character (and what seems like the most fun character that I will end up loving, at least based on the 7,000,000,000 previews I've seen) is voiced by Seth Rogen.  His name is "B.O.B.", he is a blue blob looking thing, and he is a one eyed monster!

I don't know if Monsters Vs. Aliens is Dreamworks answer (eight years later) to Monsters, Inc. or what, but I have a feeling the similarities go way beyond lovable one eyed monsters.  I'll have to go into a deeper comparison after I see Monsters Vs. Aliens.  And trust me, I will be seeing it.  But probably not in 3-D.

Jamie and I went to see "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3-D back in 2007 and for the first half of the movie I was on the verge of throwing up.  Once the nausea subsided I still had to take my glasses off every few minutes to let my eyes and stomach and head relax.  

So anyway, here's to One Eyed Monsters - the real kind, not the boy part kind.

So what is it about one eyed monsters?

Why is this happening?

Have you ever dismissed a song for whatever reason and then like years and years later you rediscover it and you just can't get enough of it?  That's happening to me now.  

First off, I would like to start this off by saying I am not, in any way, shape, or form a Phish fan.  Jamie is.  He might say he isn't, but he has to be because he went on Phish tour for a while (like more than once to God knows how many shows in how many different venues).  I am a hippie though.  I love, love, love the Grateful Dead and I love the whole 60's counter-culture movement and all that it brought us like clothes (tie dye!), and TV (have you ever seen Dragnet, even though they hate hippies I love Sgt. Joe Friday), and Woodstock (I'm talking the Oscar winning documentary here because I was not alive in 1969 to actually be there).  Ok, that has nothing to do with anything.  My point is, is that I don't like Phish (but they weren't around the 60's but "modern day" hippies like them, except me).  

But recently I rediscovered a song by them called "Bouncing Around the Room" and I can't stop listening to it.  I can't believe I'm even blogging about this (not that anyone reads my blog) because this is something that I would never admit in public.  But I'm obsessed with this song right now for some reason.  I'm sure it's just a phase and I'll go grow out of it in like a day or two, but why does this happen?

Jamie and I are going to Bonnaroo in June and Phish is playing (yea for Jamie, boo for Melissa) and I told him I would see them with him since they were such a part of his life (see above).  Plus there won't be much else to do while they are playing since I don't imagine any other bands will be on different stages while this is going on.  The first year of Roo Widespread Panic headlined two nights and I really dislike them too (except for "Don't Tell The Band" because it's a nice little rock n' roll album, not very Panic-y and probably not good live because they'll jam it all up with jam).  So while they were playing (I did try to enjoy them for like 10 minutes and then gave up because I wasn't into their sound and their fans, the ones I was standing around anyway, were gross and kept touching me and talking to me) I wandered my way over to the movie theater and watched a fascinating Bob Marley documentary.  It might've been so good because it wasn't Widespread Panic and because it was the only other thing to do while Panic was playing.  So I was hoping for something cool to be happening while Phish would play but then I promised Jamie.  And if they play "Bouncing Around the Room" then I'll be happy.  But of course by then I'll probably be over it.

Bee-Tee-Dubs, the pic above is the first thing that came up in a Google Image Search when I typed in Bouncing Around the Room.  I think it's very appropo given the picture of the fish.  Some Phish-Head (is that what they're called?) probably made it.  

UPDATE: I checked Wikipedia and Phish fans are called Phishheads, Phamily, or Phans.

Weekend Update (but not the SNL kind)

Here's my Monday morning check in when I tell you about the weekend.  It started on Thursday when we came in third place at trivia.  We should've come in second but we didn't bet enough points at the end (it's like Jeopardy! where you get the final category and have to wager points before you hear the question).  

Friday was fun times as always at the Food Bank. We were going to have people over for the inaugural Board Game Night Club, but then Jamie got a really horrible headache so we had to cancel.  We lounged around and I watched The Soup (Joel McHale is hysterical).  

We got up on Saturday (Jamie first) and had pancakes (Nanerpuss!) and eggs and bacon.  Then Jamie went to work on the back yard.  Let me clarify something here, I told Jamie before we moved into this house that I understood how badly he wanted a yard but that I more than likely (definitely) would not be helping him fix it up because that's just not my thing.  It is kinda selfish of me because once the yard is finished I will be taking advantage of it but still.  So Jamie literally spent hours in the back yard and took down all of the bamboo.  I liked the bamboo, but I get that it's a weed and it had taken over so much of the yard that you couldn't tell how much land we had back there.  I'm sitting here now looking at the yard and besides about 1,000,000 pieces of bamboo on the ground (if you need bamboo please come over and get some, I'll even make you a turkey sandwich if you take 10 stalks or more) there is also a bucket, a red pipe looking thing, a cat (I think he belongs next door), and all sorts of debris looking garbage type stuff that we never noticed before because of the bamboo.  So, while Jamie was busting his ass my friend Matt came over and we sat on the front porch and gossiped.  

Saturday night was by far the highlight of the weekend.  We went to Josh and Ashley's for dinner (an amazing dinner with chicken and pork and broccoli and sweet potatoes, and so much garlic that if we had a copy of Twilight on DVD somewhere nearby it would've grown legs and run away).  And then we went to my new favorite place in the world, Southern Comfort.  

Southern Comfort is this honky-tonk trucker bar just outside of 285 on Moreland Avenue.  It's technically in Conley, Georgia.  Which I've never even heard of.  This place is incredible. The guys had to pay $3 but us lovely ladies got in free.  The drinks were good, the service was great and the band (the owner, George F. Jones leads the band) was awesome.  It's a great place to go to observe (and you know how much I love people watching).  There were people with no teeth, men in Wrangler patriotic shirts with eagles and stuff on them, a woman with a large, white scrunchie on her wrist, and so much awesomeness I can't even explain.  The hair dos that many of the women were sporting I swear came straight out of Mama's Family.  Vicki Lawrence would've been plenty proud.  Everyone was nice and what was even cooler is that most people there were really good dancers.  I normally feel like the Baryshnikov in the room but at this place I was more like an Elaine.  The moves these people had were incredible.  There was a group of women line dancing and I swear I could've watched them for hours.  The most bizarre thing about this place is at the end of each song the dance floor clears.  And once the next song starts people immediately dash back.  I just don't get it.  Every time Jamie and I danced and the song ended we literally had to haul ass off the dance floor only to turn around as soon as the band started again.  Very strange.  The band does mostly covers and they cover everything from that P.O.S. Kid Rock song where he samples Werewolves of London and Sweet Home Alabama to Ophelia (by The Band and if you didn't know that then call me and I'll learn you a thing or two about The Band).  It was an experience.  We were def the youngest people in there.  Most people (except the servers) are 60+ (or they might be younger but look old, you know, hung up wet to dry or whatever).  Right around midnight though I noticed a table of hipsters come in.  But I'm not going to go into how I feel about that.  When it was time to go home (which was not my choice because I would've shut the place down if it had been up to me) we had the bartender call us a cab.  So about 40 minutes later "Scott" shows up.  "Scott" has a ponytail and ushers us into a Lincoln Town Car.  We get in and I ask where his meter is.  "Scott" doesn't use meters.  Which was cool because we took a cab there so we knew how much the ride home should cost, and Scott was willing to work with us on the price.  So we're cruising along in this Town Car with this guy driving and I felt like I was in the scene of a movie or something (specifically the scene in Super Troopers at the beginning where one of the cops goes undercover and steals the police car with the stoners in the back and goes for a joy ride).  

Anyway, I highly recommend you go to Southern Comfort.  I'll be going back as soon as I can.  And according to George F. Jones (who we talked to for a while) the food is pretty extraordinary.

Sunday we had brunch at Osteria and went to Kroger.  We played trivia at The Highlander, but didn't win for like the 700th time in a row.  We got home a little later than expected and I think both Jamie and I felt it this morning when it was time to get up.

So it was a great weekend.  I'm looking forward to a very productive week.  Maybe I'll even find a job!

I'm posting for the sake of posting...

It is a beautiful day today in Atlanta.  The sun was out, the temp was perfect.  Nice and breezy.

And if you've been paying attention then you know that I have absolutely nothing to blog about today.  :)

And now a question to all readers of Melissa Boulevard...

I need a vanity.  Since we've moved to the Ashland House I have nowhere to put on my makeup and sit and stare at myself in a magnified mirror critiquing every imperfection on my face that no one would ever notice unless they got all up in my grill with a magnifying glass.  I haven't checked IKEA yet, but if you know of somewhere cool I can get a fairly small vanity for cheap, please let me know.  I don't need a drawer for makeup (but one would be nice) and I don't need a mirror since as I've explained above I have one.  Also, I don't need a chair because I have something I can sit on.  But a matching chair might be cute.  I guess I really just need a small table of some sort I can sit at.  Any thoughts?  I'm in no hurry as I don't think I've worn makeup (except once) since we moved.  But with job interviews coming up (I hope anyway) I'll probably want to primp and stuff. 

Board Games + Bars

Sometimes you and your friends go to a bar. You always have fun because you're with your friends but sometimes (no matter how much you or may not consume) you end up sitting around the table staring at each other, searching for conversation.

I once heard that the weather is what people talk about when they have nothing else to talk about. I believe that. Sometimes it's a good way to start a conversation, like a simple pleasantry (beautiful day out today, Bob, don'tcha think?) but more often than not I've noticed people using when they truly have nothing else to talk about. "How bout that rain storm last night?"

It makes me uncomfortable when you're hanging out with your friends, people you like and choose to be around, and the conversation turns to weather. I take it as a personal failure. Maybe you will too now that I've shared my wisdom with you.

So my point is this...

Last night, in honor of St. Patrick's Day we went out with Jennifer. Normally we don't go out on Tuesday's because it's Tuesday, but it was a holiday and Jennifer had the night off and Johanna was with Mike. So, where to go... We went to Mellow Mushroom first to see Katie at work. There we were, the three of us (Katie was actually busy working) sitting around a table. I was grasping for conversation topics, anything that wasn't weather related (so, Jennifer, I'm glad the weekend of rain is over). Much to my chagrin, I looked up and both Jamie and Jennifer were on their phones. Jennifer texting and Jamie playing some game on his phone. Not only do I consider this rude behavior, but we are three FRIENDS sitting around a table ignoring each other. We might as well have been three strangers sitting at a bus stop. Of course I would've been the wacko that upon the bus arriving the other two would've gone out of their way to sit as far away from me as possible.

We finally blew that Popsicle (pizza parlor) stand and headed to The Independent. For some reason the conversation there didn't seemed as strained, although it was pretty much me and Jennifer gossiping and talking about girly things (but Jamie pretended to be interested). Then good ol' Matthew showed up. Let me back up, upon entering The Independent I noticed a large bookshelf full of nothing but board games next to the door. This peaked my interest. I love board games. I'm the president of the Board Game Night Club (I'm the only member, and we've never actually had a "Night" but one day I'll find some believers and my dream will come true). I wanted to suggest we play, but I wasn't sure how.

Ok, so then Matthew shows up. I made sure to point out to him the shelves of games only a few feet away from us. I knew Matthew would be on board (pun totally intended). Matthew is a charter member of the Board Game Night Club because one time he came over and we got so engaged in playing The 90's Game that both Jennifer and Jamie (how ironic that the four of us were back together around board games, fate probably) threatened to leave and go out without us. The game that night was declared a draw because we weren't allowed to finish.

I promptly went over to the board game shelves and selected The 80's Game (just like The 90's Game but about a different decade). We split into teams (me and Jamie verse Jennifer and Matthew) and had the best time playing. It's so fun to play trivia games like that (maybe that's why bars started doing trivia nights) because you get to test your friends on their knowledge of important and not important things. You can coach them on answers when you know they know them but are struggling and you get to make fun of them when they screw up an easy one. Jamie and I ended up winning (we are the smartest people in the world) but for the hour or so that it took to complete the game there was never a dull moment, never a thought of even having to result to bringing up the weather.

So, if I ever owned a bar I would make sure that I had an ample supply of board games on hand for my patrons to play. It probably keeps people in their seats longer too (thus spending more money).

I feel obligated to mention two things on this topic...

1. Manuel's has games too. About eight of us got into a crazy game of Cranium one night and had a blast.

2. If you do the right thing and stock your bar with board games make sure all the pieces are there. I know people do rotten things like steal and sometimes things get lost, but we can't play Balderdash without a die and and we can't play Pictionary without the clue cards. Nothing sucks more than selecting a game, getting stoked, explaining the rules and then discovering that pivotal pieces of the game are MIA.

Board games forever! Except Monopoly, because Monopoly takes too damn long. And too further my case, I present you with a quote from The Simpson's, but let me set it up for you first. The Simpson's are playing Monopoly and Lisa discovers Bart is cheating because he made most of the houses on Marvin Gardens out of Lego's and he's charging Homer a lot of money. So Homer chokes Bart and Marge and Lisa intervene but get caught up in a family "rumble." So Maggie calls the police. Lou is a police officer and if you don't know who Lisa is then you should leave.

Lisa: It seems every week the Simpson's go through a situation like this.

Lou: Looks like another case of Monopoly related violence, chief.

I'm "tweeting" on Twitter now...

I don't know why, but I just set up a Twitter account.  When you post something on Twitter it's called "tweeting" so I'm now tweeting and I believe you can see my tweets to the left.  Cool, huh?  That's about all I have to report on today.

Did some laundry.  Arranged the cleaning supplies under the sink.  Chopped onions, peppers, and garlic for my very St. Patrick's Day appropriate spaghetti (spaghetti is not Irish but I didn't feel like making potatoes).  And now here I am.

I'd really like a job.  A real job.  Maybe you can find one for me and let me know because it doesn't seem like I'm having a lot of luck (o' the Irish) finding one on my own.

Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  And why do we go out and get drunk in order to celebrate?  Seems like we're implying the Irish are drunks.  If that's the case, then why not on Cinco de Mayo (which we as Americans celebrate as well) do we go out and do Mexican things like smack pinatas instead of drink?  I think we, as Americans, are drunks and we'll take any excuse to drink.  But, me doing my part as an American, I guess I'll go out and drink tonight.  

Looks like somebody's got a case of the Monday's

I might have a case of the Monday's.  Today wasn't a bad day or anything, it was actually a quite fine day, but something was off.  Maybe it's the cold, rainy weather and the fact that the sun has not come out once today.  I don't know what it is but I'm excited for House and 24 to come on so then I can watch The City finale and go bed and wake up when it's Tuesday.  I went to the Food Bank today and got a cool new project to start on.  It's a project that had I been charged with while still at my last job I probably would've dreaded doing (but done a kick ass job regardless) but since I haven't really gotten to use my skill-set in a while I'm totally stoked to be doing what I'm doing now.  

I came home and made phone calls, sent emails, looked for jobs and relaxed.  But something has been off.  And I don't know what it is.  Maybe it's because I found out that my old employer (good ol' "lay offer") laid off more people today (and some of those people are my friends) or maybe it's because WATL (and I'm calling you out because you deserve to be) showed the same ep of The Simpson's at 6p today as they did at 6p on Friday.  

I love The Simpson's, but no one wants to watch the same ep two days in a row (I know Friday and Monday are not in a row, but they don't show The Simpson's on Saturday and Sunday so technically it's two days in a row).  Especially when it's not the best ep ever.  It's the one where Bart and Lisa think they killed Martin...  

But while I'm calling out WATL let's talk about their sound issues.  Sometimes when watching WATL the sound will completely go out for no reason and not come back on for like five whole minutes.  This is especially annoying while watching Jeopardy! (I'm not getting emotional by using the exclamation point, it's just that Jeopardy! uses an exclamation point, check it out).  Like you'll be all in to the game and then the sound will go out so you can see the clues and you continue to yell out the answers but you have no idea if you're right or wrong because there is no sound.  Sometimes if you're really good at reading lips you can tell, but most of the time you have no idea if the answer is What are pancakes? or What is the book of Jake?  

AND speaking of pancakes, I have been craving pancakes for like a million years so yesterday Jamie and I bought pancakes at Publix and guess what!!  Jamie is in the kitchen now making pancakes for dinner.  OMG!  I am so excited!    Perhaps pancakes are the remedy to a case of the Monday's.

BTW, if you didn't know that I was making an Office Space reference when talking about a case of the Monday's, then you need rent Office Space and eat some pancakes.

The picture above is of my hero Nanerpuss.  He got his start in a Denny's ad.  He's probably the reason for my pancake desire.  He sings an awesome song.  YouTube Nanerpuss if you don't know what I'm talking about.  I (heart) Nanerpuss!

I got a great work out yesterday...

Unfortunately it was at the job fair and it wasn't from riding cool rides or getting an intense mental work out from all the new things I learned and the people I met. Nope, it was a physical work out. I started my day out with Cardioke* (as I do most days) so I was definitely good to go on my cardio for the day. Which is why I was so annoyed when I got to the job fair.

It was either my fault for not paying attention to which hall the job fair was in at the Georgia World Congress Center or it wasn't included in the info I read. I don't know if you've ever been to the GWCC, but it's a huge complex with at least three exhibit halls. We took a crap shoot and parked in the gold lot which is next to Building C. The job fair was in Building A. We had to walk up numerous escalators (we walk up escalators, I don't believe in taking a free ride), down long ass hallways, through half of Building C and all of Building B before arriving in Building A. We were told that registration was to the left. So we went to the left and ended up in this long room (that we decided was easily 50 yards) that was partitioned off like a ride at Disney World or in the ticket line at the movie theatre (if you're at the theatre at Phipps Plaza). There were a lot of people there, but not enough to make us all have to walk the length of the room FIVE times just to get through the partitions. It was bizarre. They weren't checking bags, there weren't metal detectors, there was no actual registration like filling out a form or anything, I truly believe that we had to walk through those things to amuse the GWCC staff. And I bitched the entire time we walked the length of the room FIVE times. Poor Jamie, he is so sweet to put up with me in such an irritated state.

Once we got through the cattle stalls (I like to refer to it as that since it was utterly (get it?) pointless and I felt like we were aimlessly following the crowd to get slaughtered, how conformist of us) we had to walk all the way down the hall, down an escalator (which we had to stop on because the people in front of us were not walking), down another hall and just kept going and going until finally we got to a room where we sat for a few minutes before being led into another room for a welcome speech and orientation ("Here's how to read the map we gave you..." I'm sorry, if you need an orientation to read a map that clear and obvious (the room is a rectangle) then maybe there's a good reason your unemployed). Then we were released into the fair. The only way in which this fair resembled a real fair was the lines for the food vendors were ridiculously long.

Kudos to the Georgia Department of Labor and WSB-TV for throwing such a successful job fair because this place was packed. My Dad made a good point, there are currently 410,000 unemployed people in the state of Georgia. So if 10% of them show up, that's over 40,000 people. This fair was not equipped or laid out for that many people to show up (while we were there the news said there were 20,000 people there). We couldn't really get to any of the tables (employers, community services, education) to even learn anything. I thought at the very least I would be able to do a little networking, but you couldn't get near tables to even speak to anyone. It was insane. We walked the room a few times and decided to leave. Some of the employers that were there, that I would consider working for, I couldn't find out what jobs they were there hiring for. Call me a brat, but I'm not going to wait an hour and fight through a crowd to speak to someone at Comcast only to find out they're there only looking to hire cable installation people. I'm certainly not above doing that, but it's not in my career plan and to be honest, I have no idea how to do something like that. If they were hiring for the marketing department, that would be different, but there was no way of knowing. And I'm impatient.

So, after about an hour we hiked all the way back up and down escalators and down looooong hallways to the car. I swear we walked three miles while we were there.

Umm, the good news. I had a job interview today. And not for a job I found at the job fair (obviously). You know me, not counting my chickens before the eggs hatch (or whatever), but I felt really good about it and it's a place that would be amazing to work at and I really feel confident the interview process will continue. So yea for me!

*Ok, most of you probably have no idea what Cardioke is so I'm going to tell you. It's a work out video and it's this amazing mix of cardio, dancing, and singing (yes, singing! Like karaoke). It is so fun and it totally kicks your butt. I do it in my living room since there are no work out tools (like a mat or weights) involved. Your heart will race and you will sweat your ass off, but it is so much fun! I totally recommend it. It was created by and is hosted by Billy Blanks, Jr. (son of tae-bo dude Billy Blanks). Blanks, Jr. is really fun to work out with and he's been a back up dancer for Madonna, so that pretty much solidifies him as a bad ass.

I'm going to a fair!

So this is like day 1,365,735 of my being unemployed.  I stopped counting a while ago.  There just so happens to be a job fair today.  And Jamie is taking me.  I was checking out the info online and I see that all sorts of organizations are going to be there and I also checked out the list of potential employers.  I'm going to this thing, but I'm not promising I'm coming home with a job.  There is NOTHING wrong with the employers they have listed and I hope a lot of people get hired because of this thing, but to be honest, it doesn't appear that any of these jobs are for me.  I will not work for the Army (work or enlist?  It doesn't say, but either way not for me).  I'm not going to apply for a job at Mrs. Winners (I will, however, eat her fried chicken).  And I think it's quite ironic that the Department of Labor is listed as a potential employer.  Thousands of unemployed people come through their doors every day (I know, I've now been down there four times) you would think they would have no problem filling positions immediately.  But anyway, I'm going to go and keep my mind open because you never know.  

Tomorrow I'm going to a Volunteer Fair on behalf of the Food Bank.  That should be interesting.  I get to sit at a table and represent the Food Bank and convince people to volunteer with them.  Piece of cake.  

I wonder if either fair will have a Ferris wheel?  Maybe Jamie can play one of those ring toss games and win me a goldfish.  That would make the Job Fair and the Volunteer Fair totally worth it.

Bee-Tee-Dubs

BTW, I don't think I told you...  We went with the Ashland House.  So yea!

The Money Pit

A great movie I always enjoy watching is the Money Pit, you know with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long.  It's from 1986 and according to IMDB the plot synopsis is "a young couple struggles to repair a hopelessly dilapidated house."  You can check out the IMDB page here if you are still totally lost.

So anyway I haven't blogged in a while because I'm pretty sure we ended up in the Money Pit.  Don't get me wrong.  We LOVE our house.  But it's like one thing after another with this place.  Did we move in too early?  Probably.  But a lot of the issues we are having we would have no matter if we moved in when we did or in 2011.  

Back in March of 2008 when the tornado blew through downtown Atlanta (BTW, Westin Downtown, it's been a year, why haven't you replaced your windows yet?) a large tree fell on our house and made it unlivable.  Most of the damage was done to the upstairs (the house is an up and down duplex, Jamie and I live in the bottom) but there were still issues with the downstairs too (Inman Park is a very old neighborhood and most of the trees around here are even older so that means they're super big).  So the good news we have a brand new kitchen.  But as you will know if you've ever lived through any kind of construction, deadlines and finish dates mean nothing.  The house was supposed to be finished mid-February.  We moved in at the end of February and they are still not completely done. 

Just to run down the quick list of things that have had to be done or are still in the process of being fixed: a loose plank in the living room floor, the dishwasher doesn't dry, one of my closet doors is MIA, we had no ice maker for a week and now that we do there is a large hole in the floor (big enough for a rat and 700 of his friends to climb through), and other small and not so small things galore.  

I would like to add here, that the landlord is a very good friend of the family and he has been nothing but helpful and supportive through this whole ordeal and these things are in no way a reflection of him or his landlord skills.  They are simply the types of things that happen when dealing with contractors.

But, the biggest thing that literally almost made me kill myself and take Jamie with me was the washer and dryer debacle.  It's what I call the "piece de resistance."  So, our washer and dryer, that we researched and shopped around for we ended up buying at ApplianceSmart.  We got a great deal on great machines.  All was good.  We bought them last Monday and had to wait until this past Saturday to have them delivered.  We were given a delivery window of 9am to noon.  Which was fine because I'd rather have them in and hooked up in the morning so we could go on with our day and not be stuck at home waiting for the delivery.  At 8:50am they called and by 9am they were here.  Which was great.  I was sleepy as the call at 8:50am woke me up, but it was for a great reason.  So the guys came and left.  While here they asked if we had the dryer vent, which I told them we didn't but we had bought one with the machines and were told that they would have it.  He told me not to worry because they had one on their truck.  Before they left I asked them if everything was good to go.  I was told yes.  I probably would've been more involved or at least checked things out before they left if I had been more awake.  So they left and a while later Jamie and I went in to the laundry room.  Not only had they left trash on the floor but the machines were pushed so far out from the wall that we could barely walk in the laundry room.  So whatever, we cleaned up and went to move the machines back so that someone Jamie's size could fit in the room.  That's when I realized the dryer vent they installed was ripped in the middle, a pretty big rip.  

So I called ApplianceSmart and told me to bring the ripped one back and they'd give us a new one.  Jamie goes by that place everyday on his way and to and from work so he agreed to handle it on his way home from work on Monday.  In the meantime, awaiting a night full of laundry on Monday we went to Kroger and bought detergent and dryer sheets (I've never lived in a place with a washer and dryer!).  

Monday comes along and Jamie comes home with a brand new vent.  We spent an hour and a half trying to assemble the damn thing, connect it to the dryer and the wall and then position the dryer back in the laundry room so it was accessible and you wouldn't have to be anorexic or a very small child to get to it.  At almost the two hour mark (and after purposely cutting the damn thing in half) I got so mad we went to Lowe's to get a dryer vent that wasn't the biggest piece of shit you've ever seen.  

OK, so while this is all going on, I realize that because we have fancy new machines we have to have high efficiency detergent to use in the washing machine.  Well, I didn't buy the high efficiency kind, I bought the normal kind.  But it's cool, because there is a Kroger in the same shopping area as Lowe's and I can just exchange it.

We get to Lowe's, the man there is so super helpful.  I wish I knew his name because I would totally call Lowe's and tell them how awesome this guy is.  We got a dryer vent that looks like it was made to actually be used.  AND it was cheaper than the one we had to buy from ApplianceSmart.  So, next stop was a quick run in to Kroger to switch the detergent.  The Kroger that we went to, the one next to the Lowe's was like the most insane place I've ever been in.  Imagine the mall the day after Christmas, except this time, instead of sales, stores are literally giving shit away.  It was like that.  So damn crowded it made me want to give up on the whole thing and push the washing machine and the dryer down a steep hill.  I took some very deep (yoga?) breaths and dealt with it.  I got my high efficiency detergent and came home.

We hooked the new dryer vent up with ease and I was able to actually do a load of laundry.  I turned the dryer on (with nothing in it) and it sounded like there was a basketball bouncing around in there.  I have no idea what the noise is, but I can call to have someone come out and fix it for free.  But I was so frustrated I just kept doing laundry and it seems that the noise has resigned, at least for now.  

The only kicker to our eventual happy ending?  the machines are backwards.  Instead of washing machine on the left and dryer on the right (which is how it is supposed to go because that is how the doors open) we have it backwards.  But you know what, I'm going to deal with that.  

If nothing else, this Money Pit that is ours and that we love has taught me to mellow the hell out and go with the flow.

It also helps that I can now bitch about our problems in clean clothes.

The picture above I have titled "The blogger on her front porch, the only non stress inducing part, non problem causing part of the house."