I have so much cleaning to do its unbelieveable... yet I'm still sitting on my butt doing nothing. Actually, I'm eating a slice of apple pie so I have an excuse right now. (I bought these frozen apple pies when they were 2 for $2.99 or some incredible deal like that at Ralphs 5-6 months ago and I finally baked it last week). I want to try to get some organization into this room but I don't know where to start! Plus, my current roommate is moving out today and my new roommate will be moving in tomorrow so I want to clean the entire apartment (at least mop and vacuum) so it'll be nice when she moves in. Also, Dante is moving the rest of his stuff back in sometime this weekend so I need to move things around to make space for his stuff again.

I went to IKEA today and I didn't find anything major worth buying. There was a huge sale this week starting Weds and I knew by the time I could go to IKEA, they'd run out of the stuff I wanted to get and sure enough, they were sold out of almost everything in the ad. I ended up buying a cheap clip frame so I can make a collage of pictures to hang up on the wall. I also bought some cleaning brushes but you know I'm cheap when I stand in front of the 45 CENT toilet brushes trying to decide if I want to buy it or not.

I think I've been watching Trading Spaces way too much because now I'm obsessed with 'concealing' everything - it just doesn't look nice when you have everything out in the open. I wanted to get this wide TV bench from IKEA (beechwood, on sale for $49 and it used to be $149) but they were sold out of them so I'm stuck with my TV on the cherry wood colored dresser and the VCR, DVD player and cable box on this dark blue cart thing about half the height of the dresser. While I was at IKEA, I realized Paulo had that nice double chest beech veneer dresser in his old room so I just called him and he's gonna bring it over next week... yay! free furniture and more drawers! Nothing better than that.

On the way home from IKEA, I decided to stop by Home Depot and see if they have anything for my really slow drain (bathroom sink). Dante shaves his head every other day and the little little bits of hair go down the sink and I thought that was what was clogging the drain. The guy showed me this plastic thing called Zip-It for like $1.99 but I didn't think it would work cause it looked so flimsy and thin. I decided to try it because the guy said it would at least break some of the gunk up but I also bought this professional strength liquid thing. I got home and stuck that plastic thing in there (heehee, sounds dirty) - and all this hair (oops, it was my hair) and yellow gunk came out... so gross, but the drain is perfect now. I don't think its ever been this good, even when I poured a whole bottle of Drano in there. What do guys like better anyway - girls who can do everything on their own or girls who are hopeless so the man can feel like a man? I put all the furniture in this apartment together myself. I even put Eileen's furniture together when she was still living here.

Did 'Idol' Misdials Doom Clay? - are people really that stupid? I know its not that serious, like voting for the president or something... (ahem, Palm Beach, FL?) but still, if you can't read the letters/numbers right, maybe you shouldn't vote. That's why the founding fathers came up with the Electoral College for the presidential election... to make sure it's done right. Damn those guys were smart! :)

Besides, people mistaking an O for a Q wouldn't affect just Clay... unless Ruben's fans are smarter.

me and my bro -

PoLox95: haha the funniest shit happened to me on the freeway today
Lucyla8: what?
PoLox95: this echo cut me off so i cut him off
PoLox95: and he was next to me all staring so i told him to follow me off the exit..i was goin to school off temple
PoLox95: so he's behind me at the stoplight and i hop out of the car to see what the fuck is wrong with him
PoLox95: this fool comes out with a bat
Lucyla8: what??
Lucyla8: man
PoLox95: yea
PoLox95: but then the funny part is that he didnt put his car in park so it started rolling down the hill
PoLox95: LOL
PoLox95: and he hit the guy behind him
Lucyla8: heehee
PoLox95: hahahaha
Lucyla8: holy shit
Lucyla8: heehee
PoLox95: the light turned green and i just hopped back in my car and took off
Lucyla8: heehee
Lucyla8: man
PoLox95: after i laughed in his face of course
PoLox95: hahaha
Lucyla8: heehee
Lucyla8: when did he notice?
PoLox95: when the door hit him on the way down
PoLox95: lol
Lucyla8: heehee
PoLox95: he couldnt get his bat out of the car
PoLox95: i wanted to pound his face in too
Lucyla8: heehee, dumbass
PoLox95: the guy was an asshole on the freeway
Lucyla8: piece of shit echo
PoLox95: i saw him when the 57 merged with the 60 ..tailing some altima like 3 inches from his bumper
Lucyla8: what race was the guy?
PoLox95: some asian
PoLox95: guy
PoLox95: i woulda kicked his ass
Lucyla8: oh
Lucyla8: totally
Lucyla8: if he needed a bat
PoLox95: shoulda taken his bat and beat him with it
Lucyla8: he must've sucked
Lucyla8: yeah
PoLox95: lol he must have felt like the biggest idiot
Lucyla8: i would if i were him
Lucyla8: heehee

Guess what exciting thing I did for Memorial Day? I went back to Orange County and� cleaned my room. It took all day, I threw out a ton of stuff and the room still looks as cluttered as it was before I did anything. My parents bought a huge new house in Brea with 4 bedrooms, a bonus room and a study (after all the kids moved out!! except Paulo, the youngest one, he�ll be living at home forever) so they wanted us to clean out our rooms so they can renovate the old place. I�ve lived in that room since I was eight years old so I found stuff from elementary, junior high, high school, college, and the short time I lived at home after college.

Some highlights of what I found�

- Crossword puzzles from The Daily Bruin � we used to tear these out and do it in class. They didn�t seem that tough back then but if I try it now, I don�t know if I�ll be able to get as much because I haven�t had to �use my brain� in a long time.

- A blue book!! Does anyone need this? I can�t give it to Paulo because the blue books say UCLA on them and I don�t want to toss it out.

- A 2002 Britney Spears calendar I got for Steve cause it was only $3� I never gave it to him though cause I hardly ever see him � do you still want it Steve?? It has nice pictures.

- A Jem doll � she�s truly outrageous, truly truly outrageous� Her earrings light up!!

- The high school newspaper with a list of where everyone was going to college� I wonder how many people actually finished.

- The program from a high school football game� Awwww Sam #7 (I�m not gonna put his last name because if he googles himself and sees this, I�ll be embarrassed), starting QB, I had a huge huge crush on him back in high school because I sat next to him in Spanish junior year (he had just transferred to our school from Mater Dei that year � I think he transferred because his younger bro Nick was gonna start at QB over him) and we had so much fun� didn�t learn squat.

- Our Canyon Point A-2 Memory Lane scrapbook (sophomore year of college) � it has pictures of everyone who lived in that dorm that year. So many things I forgot about � our neighbors Dennis and Johnny, Alicia and Shannon, Juli and Debbie, Katrina, the noisy people upstairs, the 2 cute black guys downstairs� I forgot Oliver, James and Chris (Steph�s friends) lived in our �house�. Oh � and Juli had a cute friend Brian who lived in A-1� he�s half white, half black and Jennifer just told me recently she thinks he works for The Tonight Show. Juli took a picture with him, I scanned it for her and she says I didn�t give her the picture back but I couldn�t find it. I guess I had it all along. Oops :).

- Pictures from the dorms freshman year� I thought Gary was really cute and I have this picture of him and his roommate Andy. I think we used to call them Ace and Gary instead (The Ambiguously Gay Duo on Saturday Night Live) even though they�re not gay. I love them though � we�re all from OC � they went to Mater Dei and I think I remember Gary saying something about how he didn�t like Sam.

- A Valentines Day card from �Jimbo� � don�t remember who that is but I�m guessing it was someone from band in high school� The card said, �Lucy � have a kickass V-Day. Tell Ricky I said Babaloo.�

- A picture of Monica in her "purple prom dress"... it was actually her 8th grade promotion dance picture but we like teasing her about that dress.

- A little monkey keychain wallet with $2 inside!! Whoohoo!

That�s all I can remember for now� So now I have 3 boxes of crap sitting in the back seat of my car (the trunk has too much junk) but I'm too lazy to move that up to my apartment. I'll wait until dumbass wants to use my car and I know he'll move my stuff up without me asking him to. Last time he wanted to use my car (last week), I had him go get a smog check, get the renewal stickers and wash the car.

Oh - just wanted to share a convo between me and my sis... I was complaining about the assistant again...

Lucyla8: man, this dumb girl keeps asking if i have anything for her to do
Lucyla8: but when i give her something to do, she messes up on it after she asks me 20 million questions
ns9888: well.. ask her to sit down and shut up
Lucyla8: heehee
Lucyla8: she'll mess that up too

Whoohoo!! #546 The Top High Schools... Is that good? I mean, at least we made the list right?

Why do I do this to myself?? When I go to bed, I should just turn off the ringer on the phone or at least ignore it when it starts ringing. Dante called me about 45 mins ago and now I'm fully awake. At least I've used this time productively :) I was checking out the Justin Guarini message board thing on msn (J-man's World) and they had a link to 4 of the songs on his album... they're pretty good but I'm kinda biased. Can't wait til the album comes out on June 10th. Oh - note to my friends - Dante called it already... he wants to get that album for me for my birthday. I'm already telling some people to not get anything for me for my birthday, just come with me to see From Justin to Kelly! I have to bribe people because I don't want to go alone!

Funniest thing today - Dante is one of those lame people who like driving around with the windows down and the music loud (it bugs me but I don't say anything) - he was 'bumpin' that Justin Guarini's song I Saw Your Face (he sang it on American Idol 2 weeks ago). I do realize that in order to put Dante out on blast for this, I'm admitting I downloaded that song on a CD that I play in my car :) I know I'm lame, you don't have to tell me...

Heehee, Clay is singing that "hello, is it you I'm looking for" song... I remember that from one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes - "The Voice" where Jerry was trying to decide between using this "Helllllllllll-oooo" voice or this girl and he's sitting on the pier thinking while the song is playing in the background... then he decides, he runs and the birds are flying, he knocks on her door and she opens it waiting for his decision... "Helllllllllll-oooo!"

I NEED to do a huge ass memo for this job...

1. Yes, for the 20th time... Vivendi Universal is Universal Studios and it really doesn't matter who you put down as the 'name', just be consistent.

2. You need to understand the concept of PERSONAL SPACE. Especially when you smell like mothballs. I was telling my sister about it this weekend and she said that a guy from her office stinks too and he'd get really close to her when he is asking questions, so everytime she would see him walking towards her desk, she'd open her desk drawers so he couldn't get close to her.

3. When I write a post-it that says "deposit to ____'s personal account, #_______", you deposit it to ____'s personal account, #_______. You don't need to buzz me and ask if you deposit it to ____'s personal account, #_______.

Thats all I can think of right now... I know I'll have more later.

bananame69: overslept today
bananame69: well, i did wake up on time
bananame69: but i went back to sleep
bananame69: i'm glad i did tho
bananame69: cuz i had the most wonderful dream during my second sleep
bananame69: i don't remember it, but i woke up feeling good even though i had to go to work
Lucyla8: it wasnt justin guarini was it??
Lucyla8: hehee
bananame69: i said it was a good dream
bananame69: i'm not a fan of his to your degree
bananame69: all i remember was it involved me hanging out w/ friends
bananame69: tho i don't remember which friends i was with
bananame69: man, Passions is on right now.
bananame69: they are talking about the same things they were last week
bananame69: nothing has changed
bananame69: when i get my own country, i'm gonna outlaw inner monologues and rhetorical questions in tv shows
Lucyla8: totally
Lucyla8: its just passions though
Lucyla8: passions and days are the worst worst soaps - the funniest ones
bananame69: i haven't laughed yet
Lucyla8: laugh cause its SAD
Lucyla8: you're laughing now arent you
bananame69: and by sad you mean shitty, right?
bananame69: now i'm laughing
bananame69: they should get rid of the dialogue
bananame69: and the old and the fat hags
bananame69: and the guys
bananame69: just leave on the hotties
bananame69: that's a real show
Lucyla8: heehee
bananame69: you know what else they should get rid of?
bananame69: shirts
Lucyla8: heehee... some of those girls are way annoying though
bananame69: that's why you get rid of dialogue
bananame69: and some of them should probably wear paper bags on their head
bananame69: ONLY paper bags on their head

Watching the Daytime Emmys last week made me realize how ridiculous Days and Passions are... those other soaps take it too serious though - there are real emotions and real ACTING involved!! I used to watch All My Children (for Kelly Ripa's husband - Mark Consuelos) and I don't ever remember them having inner dialogues, etc... a sign of real writers! The storylines have moved on a little bit on Days but Passions is horrible - the guy Antonio has had this terminal illness (he can die any moment now) for over a YEAR!!! Die already so Sheridan and Luis can get together dammit. And Sheridan and Luis have been planning on telling Antonio about their relationship for over a year now! Stupid annoying Theresa has been in love with Ethan since the soap started - she stalked him, befriended him, got him, then slept with his dad Julian, married Julian, had Julian's baby... Ethan went back to his ex-girlfriend Gwen because she's pregnant with his baby and Theresa is still trying to get Ethan back. Give it up girlie! You're his stepmom!! Oh wait, Julian isn't really Ethan's dad but he thought he was and thats a whole other can of worms. Don't get me started on Whitney and Chad... they're in love and they've made love... too bad the show is hinting that Chad is Whitney's half brother (he doesn't know who his parents are so he came into town to find out and Whitney's mom Eve thought that the secret illegitimate kid she had with Julian died at birth). Wow - why do I know all this crap??

Poor Sean Phaler - Phaler encouraged to move on - the only reason I care is because he's from Villa Park High School and I was excited to have someone from my high school play on the UCLA basketball team. I hope Coach Howland knows what he is doing in general because you know the alumni will start calling for him to get fired in a year or two (unless you win 10 championships in 12 years like Coach Wooden did back in the 70s, nothing is good enough). I was a diehard supporter of Coach Lavin because he was young, cute and his first year as the UCLA coach was also my first year in college. I knew he couldn't 'coach' or 'develop players' but he did a darn good job of winning games.

Why do I get hooked on shows a couple episodes before it ends? I finally started watching American Idol last year 4 episodes from the end after hearing Steph talk about it for months before then. And even though I only watched 4 episodes of American Idol last year, I liked it way more than the boring group they have this year (which I've followed from the beginning). Anyway, back to the point - I started watching The Bachelor 2 weeks ago and I caught the finale tonight... now I'm wondering what happened all season. Luckily, ABC has the ABC Family Channel that does repeats of their reality shows - there is a marathon next Sunday. (That's how I caught up on Celebrity Mole - Hawaii last time). 'Good' won out over 'Evil'... Dante stopped by for a couple minutes to pick up some stuff while I was watching the show and he asked who the guy chose. I said it was the nice girl... "cause some people choose not to be with bitches." I don't think he appreciated the comment but who cares :).

Western Medical Center in Santa Ana is in the news again... some surgeon is being investigated. I was a candy-striper there back during high school and I was always under the impression it was a small hospital. All the 'cool' candy stripers worked at St. Joseph's Hospital (also in Santa Ana).

Why am I watching the Daytime Emmys??

And more importantly, why am I not turning the channel?? Oooh - Tyson Beckford!!

Takin' care of business... workin' overtime... sorry, thats the only part of the song I know.

Working undertime is more like it, but don't get me wrong, I've been working. When the top 2 people are gone from a 4 person mini-company, and I'm 3rd on the totem pole, I take on a lot of responsibility.... especially cause my assistant still can't do shit on her own. She had ONE thing to do today - instead of sending a bulky Fed-Ex yesterday, I told her to send a messenger to the client's house this morning and did she do it?? All morning she was asking me every 10 minutes if I had something for her to do while I was trying to handle all the phone calls and client requests. (By the way, don't you HATE it when someone is just sitting there listening in on your conversation or trying to talk to you when they clearly know you're on the phone on a business matter? Bugs the shit out of me.) Finally, at 11:15 am, I buzz her to make sure the messenger came to pickup the package and she said she hadn't done anything yet for that. This is getting beyond ridiculous... I told Stan back in mid-April I had to leave but because Eileen was going on vacation and because he had to find someone who can handle what I do, I'd stay until he finds someone... he's interviewed 2 people since then and I guess both haven't worked out (hint - maybe its the shitty pay... oops did I say that out loud?)

Read this when you have time - its hilarious - Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About... I don't know how often he updates this though.

I came into the office today expecting a totally chill day - Stan is gone and there really isn't too much to do here. Then I check my voice mail and all hell broke loose. One of our biggest clients called because she took 11 people to dinner last night (the show was picked up for another season and it was a celebratory dinner - she actually knew it would be picked up 3 weeks ago but she couldn't tell everyone because some actors weren't going to be returning) and her American Express card was denied. She also said she tried to use her Bank of America card up in San Francisco last week but that was denied for some reason. I've spent the past hour on the phone with these credit card companies trying to figure out why the cards were declined and trying to get them to raise her credit card limits - she only makes $1.5 million a year! And besides, I thought American Express didn't have limits but apparently her unofficial limit was $8000. Her BofA limit is lower than that. She has another credit card with a $50,000 limit (they usually spend about $20,000 on that card per month but we pay it off in full every month) so she's fine with her monthly spending, but still. She should have the ability to charge whatever she wants on whatever card she wants so I'm sending these credit card companies copies of her bank statements. At least that gives me something to do...

Raise your hand if you want to get into the entertainment industry too... Geez, the amount of money these people make is amazing, even with the economy the way it is. I love watching these reality shows (American Idol, The Mole, Real World, Trading Spaces, While You Were Out, etc) but I never thought of how these shows take business away from my clients. Sucks. I hope the balance remains the same because there are just enough scripted shows out there to balance out some of the crappy ideas they're passing off as reality shows these days. Some reality shows are based off good ideas though but seriously, "Are you Hot?" and they made that into a show??

I miss Eileen... I've been updating her via e-mail on what is going on at the office - I told her Stan was going to be gone for the rest of the week to go to a Vegas convention... this is her reply - happy to see she hasn't changed. (fyi - u know who - is her husband)

hey,
knew that bonehead was gonna be gone for couple of days while i was gone but didn't know exactly when..cool, so u get a reprieve...anyway, went to argentina all over and am in chile and saw spectacular places but trying to get to tierra del fuego argentine side, not chilean and it's hard and of course, i'm now fed up with u know who and ready to kill him and ready to go back...anyway, hang in there girlie, i'm almost back, maybe can get back earlier by a day or two, but don't know..will call u as soon as i get into la.

bye,
e

Whoo Hoo!! Justin Guarini on American Idol tomorrow night!! singing Unchained Melody I guess. Now I got something to look forward to.

Watching American Idol right now but I'm a little bored because none of them are *Justin* or Kelly to me. I know this year's crop are better singers but they don't have the same showmanship they had last year. Oh well.

Lakers are down. :( Too stressful for me - I can't watch this alone.

SURVEY! Haven't done these in a while...

What's on your bedside table? alarm clock and a bunch of junk papers... I need to clean my room.
What is the geekiest part of your music collection? Ally McBeal soundtrack
What do you eat when you raid the fridge late at night? anything that is easy to make and doesn't involve cleaning.
What is your secret guaranteed weeping movie? An Affair to Remember - the end when he figures out she's in the wheelchair... makes me cry everytime. Also Armaggeddon - when Bruce Willis takes Ben Affleck's place :'(
Do you have a completely irrational fear? being alone
What is the little physical habit that gives away your insecure moment? biting my nails I guess
Do you ever have to beg? sometimes
Are you a pyromaniac? scuse me while I look that up... oh. no - I'm afraid of fire
Do you have too many love interests? um, yes? ask me how many of them are realistic though.
Do you know anyone famous? Just our clients... but they're not that famous - I didn't know who they were when I first started but now I love them to death. They do get a lot of work for people who aren't super superstars.
Describe your bed: so comfy! worth every dollar I spent on it ($650)
Spontaneous or plan? I plan mostly. Its hard to be spontaneous when you're trying to get together with people. The only time I remember being spontaneous was a couple weeks ago when Amy and I decided to go up to Santa Barbara for the hell of it.
Who should play you in a movie about your life? Not too many asian actresses out there so my selection is limited.
Do you know how to play poker? not really
What do you carry with you at all times? nothing but my keys I guess - I've minimalized a lot. I used to never go anywhere without my wallet, ID and cell phone.
How do you drive? I think I drive fine but butthead Dante says I can't drive.
What do you miss most about being little? NO STRESS!
Are you happy with your given name? Sure, given that my kindergarden teacher gave me the name because we had Asian names to begin with.
How much money would it take to get you to give up the Internet for one year? a lot (like "winning the lotto" a lot) - what would I do all day??
What color is your bedroom? boring ass white
What was the last song you were listening to? Hella Good - No Doubt... downloading songs for Steph :)
Have you ever been in a play? nope, the only time I was on stage was drama class in 8th grade and I can't remember what I did.
Who are your best friends? You know who you are :)
Have you ever been in love? Yes and I got hurt but everyone has to go through that at least once in their life
Do you talk a lot? I think I do...
Do you like yourself and believe in yourself? usually
Have you ever done any illegal drugs? nope
Do you think you're cute? I guess
Do poor, homeless, or starving people sometimes annoy you? yeah, although I know they can't really do anything about it
Do you consider yourself to be a nice person? totally
Do you spend more time with your girlfriend, boyfriend, or your friends? uh... I think boyfriend cause we usually just do nothing here at the apartment. I see my friends a lot but its harder to plan get-togethers.

OK - American Idol is picking up - they're singing songs they've chosen themselves and its more interesting now. Wait a sec - what the hell is Clay trying to do with "Unchained Melody"?? Wow - that part of the song was good though.

Conor (the client's assistant) came by a little while ago - what happened to the notion that guys are supposed to be bigger than girls?? I'm only 5'5, 120lbs but it seems like I'm bigger than a lot of guys out there. Granted, my 3 inch heels don't help my cause (makes me 5'8) but I love these shoes way too much. Dante is only 5'7 1/2, 150lbs; Steve is taller but he probably weighs the same as I do; Mike is a little taller too but he also weighs about as much as I do. Where are all the manly men?? My roommate's boyfriend is 6'2, 250lbs but she's about the same size as him too. I just want a guy (preferably cute of course! heehee) who is taller than me and a little built so I can feel protected, like any girly girl wants.

Conor is just so full of enthusiasm. It takes a special kind of person to work as a personal assistant to a celebrity or semi-celebrity. I think I can do it. I've heard how hard it is to deal with certain people, how hard these jobs are but I think I'll be able to take it - working for Mona was tough but I did it because I had patience. So many people don't get along with Eileen because of personality differences but we get along great. The pay for any personal assistant is decent (more than I'm getting here) and you don't sit at a desk 24/7 - I think that's the biggest appeal for me. I was basically Mona's personal assistant (except for the decent pay part :) and the celebrity part) and I liked it because even though I sat at a desk, I still had to leave the office a lot for her errands - courthouse, bank, other attorney's offices, food, etc. I had to take the bus but the DASH downtown is great - 25 cents a ride and it takes you close to where you need to be.

I made sure I came to work on time / a little early this morning because a client's assistant was going to stop by and pick up some packages for the client. He made it sound like he wanted to stop by as early as possible but now its 9:30am and he's not here yet. I'm so sleepy - I only got 4 full hours of sleep last night because I took a nap around 9pm and then Dante called me and woke me up. I fell asleep again around midnight and guess who calls me again and wakes me up. I took a shower around 2am and I was still fully awake at 3:30am. I need to go get the smog check done on my car and I need to go to AAA to get my renewal stickers ASAP but I think I'm just gonna go home at lunch and SLEEP!

New $20 Bill - It took 67 years to redesign the bill to the one we're using today and now, 7 years later, they redesign it again?? I still can't believe it's already been 7 years since the last new $20 bill came out. It will always be the NEW bill to me. I guess I'm old school like that - I'm still calling Costco - Price Club... I think it went from Price Club to Price Costco and now its just Costco. I still remember how Sav-on Drugs changed their name to Osco Drugs and then changed it back. Rite-Aid will always be Thrifty to me (how wrong does Rite-Aid ice cream sound?? It should always be known as Thrifty's ice cream). Albertsons bought out Lucky's... The Great Western Forum loses its advertising value when there are no more Great Western Banks. What went first? The buyout or the Lakers and Kings moving out of there? Maria and I had this conversation a couple years ago and she brought up something I vaguely vaguely remember - Ralphs used to be Alpha Beta!

Yippee! Stan is leaving tomorrow to go to a convention in Vegas. I swear, this is the first time he's left for a couple days since I've started working here (November of 2001). I think he had some kind of surgery last year and he was back in the office 2 days later. I wish Eileen were here to help me enjoy the 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 days (not sure yet) but she's still on vacation...

Oh yeah - and my roommate told me yesterday she was moving out. Oh well :). I'll do the usual ads in westsiderentals and probably the Daily Bruin and hopefully I'll find a roommate who isn't a prick like this one was. Eileen was talking about how we can scheme to kick her out so Eileen could move back in but its probably all talk. Dante didn't move in (kinda, sorta) until after Eileen moved out but it would've been fun for the three of us to live together. Anyway, if you guys know anyone who needs an apartment in Palms - $600/month for a private bedroom/bathroom in a 2BR/2BA apartment, just call or email me. I would say that Dante won't be around much but he just told me he's stuck paying $1000/month (by himself) for that apartment in Pasadena so I know he's not going to be able to keep that apartment for long (oooh, he's paid rent for 1 freakin month and he's already complaining) - I give it another month. He just lost another job after working there 2 weeks and he's going back to security guard work. Even if he finds 2 security guard jobs, how is he supposed to pay $1000/month for rent, $300 for his car (which is still in the shop), $200 for his car insurance, at least $100 for utilities, $$ for food, etc... ha, good luck sucka! Oops, am I sounding too mean or bitter? :)

I have a new show I'm addicted to...That 70's Show. I've been watching the syndicated episodes every so often but it wasn't Friends or Seinfeld for me. I caught the end of Wednesday's show (only cause I turned FOX for American Idol a couple minutes early) and the scene I saw had me cracking up. Fez was getting deported so he was writing a letter to Prez. Carter... In the letter, Fez gave three reasons why he should be able to stay - I forget the first one, but the second one was (and you have to imagine Fez saying this) "Fez is the name of a hat... Uncle Sam wears a hat... coincidence??" The third reason was the best though: "Where am I supposed to go? France? F**k France." heehee. I loved how the writers tossed that in, in light of what happened last month (which is probably when they wrote the episode). Oh, by the way, have we stopped boycotting France? I also found it funny that there was no Cinco De Mayo celebration at the White House this year... Vicente Fox was against the war... COINCIDENCE??? :)

The stupidness bar has been lowered some more... nothing Dante does can reach the new lows my assistant is at. Amy and I were laughing about how when Dante talks about the show Punk'd (MTV), he pronounces it Punk - Dee but I guess I can see why people do that. Anyway, the assistant comes in my office and asks if we should schedule the semi-weekly cash delivery ($1000.00) from the bank to one of our major clients for Thursday. Keep in mind, this client is in San Francisco until Friday and I've mentioned that a couple times already this week (2 days so far). Everytime we have sent cash over to her house, we have called her to make sure she was going to be at the house to receive the cash personally - that's a lot of cash! If this assistant had any common sense, she wouldn't have even asked me. Why are we going to send the cash over to her house so her maids/gardeners/nanny/etc. can get a hold of it?? They're already getting paid too much for what they do and they already charge too much personal stuff on the credit card she gave them for expenses. I guess I should be happy that she asked me instead of just doing it...

I am really worried about the work she's done. She writes checks from the clients' accounts (I like to handle my clients' bills personally cause I don't want anything screwed up), she doesn't show me or Eileen the checks before she gives them to Stan and Stan is supposed to look them over before he signs them but half the time, he'll sign anything. I had her reissue a check last week because I guess we mailed it to the client and he hadn't sent it back to us yet (for accounting fees). I thought she'd print the check and mail it to the client again but no... she gives it to Stan to sign, then Stan told her to give it to the office administrator and I don't know why she came to me to show me the check and tell me what Stan told her to do, but thank god she did. I made a comment - "aren't the clients supposed to sign those, not Stan?" and she was like, "oops!! I forgot!" I'm mad Stan doesn't check before he signs stuff. It's a good thing I'm so anal about stuff because thats the way my former boss taught me how to do things.

Try this when you have time - Tea Leaves - Destiny in a Cup (You need to have the Macromedia Flash Plug-in for this)...

Here's my tea leaf reading:

As the steam from the tea evaporates, I see many interesting events in your future! The presence of so many circles suggests that much happiness may be headed your way!

Along the top rim of the cup is a bull, symbolic of good fortunes to come. You may soon have reason to celebrate. I also see a shell, symbolic of a journey. Pack well and plan ahead. Treasures may be revealed.

Closer to the bottom of the cup I see a lion, a symbol of strength. Surround yourself with friends. They will spur you on to success and happiness. Rejoice! I also see a tower. A detour from your current route may prove the fastest way to success.

All the shapes reveal themselves in a clear counterclockwise spiral within the cup. Your fortune may change here and there as you make your way through life. The letter J is apparent along the outer edge of the cup. Someone with this initial may be in need of your assistance. Offer it willingly and be repaid tenfold.

1. I will be taking a detour from my current route soon and it will definitely bring me more success than if I didn't make a change.

2. Initial 'J'!!! Whoohoo! Geez, who is the first person who comes to mind? Only the guy I've been talking/dreaming about these past couple weeks :) I even mentioned him in my last post. Fate, I tell ya. Bring it on!

I'm just gonna ignore that (Note: Tea Leaves is for entertainment purposes only.)

It's starting already... it's only 9:23am on the first day of a regular work week and already that assistant is in here with dumb questions I've answered so many times this past month (I don't know what her problem is - maybe she has to ask the question a couple times for every different company we handle (15), even though we handle all companies the same way! "Geez, maybe we changed the way we do things all of the sudden in the past 2 hours, maybe I should ask her again.") What is wrong with me? Am I just being too critical or too easily annoyed? (I coulda picked up the 'easily annoyed' part from being around Eileen too much) Every morning I tell myself to be more patient but the stupidness bar keeps getting lowered with every passing hour. She's been here a damn month!!

Eileen and I would be the first to admit that if the assistant was a hot guy, we'd be over at his desk helping him 24/7. But this assistant is an Asian woman in her 30s with a strong strong accent who smells like mothballs. Maybe we have a predisposed bias against Asians who didn't grow up in the US and who don't "get things" the way we do. I just don't know what it is but so many people I know who have assistants are always complaining about their assistants. I was visiting Mona (my old boss) the other day, and she was complaining about her current assistant. She hated the people that worked for her before I started with her, and after I left. She even complained about the people who took over my job when I left for a quarter or so because of school, etc... but she was always gushing about me to everyone... hmmm... oh. I wonder if I was bad when I first started working here. Stan said something about this new girl being on a "trial basis" but he never said that about me or even the person who took over my job after I got promoted. I'm embarrassed I complained about him too but he was nowhere near as bad as this girl is. He could at least remember the stuff we told him and he'd find ways to think on his own (wasn't always the right thing but at least he tried).

I KNOW Dante can do a much better job at that position than this lady can. Yeah, he may be irresponsible and move from job to job but Eileen and I would be covering his ass all the time anyway. We've always said, give us raises and we can handle the company, just the two of us. Stan wants a college grad for the job though, so that would rule Dante out - my UCLA degree was my 'foot in the door'. And, the fact that I was into sports in general and that I knew UCLA sports... I knew I had the job before my interview.

... She's in here again! Stan gave her a project to do and she has some questions. First of all, why is Stan giving a "project" to someone who can barely do deposits?? I don't know why she's asking me either because I don't know what Stan wants her to do and I don't even know what she's trying to ask me!! I was so pissed off last week I had to go to Felita (another employee here, doesn't work directly with us) to bitch about her. She was asking where to file this one client's accounting expenses invoices and I told her to make a new folder and put it in the drawer where I have everything else because I wasn't sure where Asher had everything and we'd add those to the old ones when we do find them... she goes to Stan and asks him what to do with it, Stan buzzes me and gives me a hard time about it ("where are all the other ones", etc). Then she comes back in here and says she's sorry she forgot and asked Stan about that, and I tell her AGAIN to make a new folder and put it in the drawer - I actually OPEN the drawer show her where... she's there for like 2 minutes and then she says, "I can't find the folder." AAAARGH!!! Did this girl have any previous experience working anywhere??

I'm glad I brought some CDs from home... just what I need to destress - Justin Guarini's voice :) telling me he can "hardly wait hold [me], feel [his] arms around [me]..." Don't worry Justin, I won't ever let you go... heehee.

You know there is nothing on TV when I'm watching the Democratic Party debate right now... I guess I'm just checking out the competition. No one really stands out as the favorite and to beat an incumbent like Bush, you need a guy with a lot of charisma who has something extra to offer (even with our current crappy economy). This election is gonna be like the 1996 one where we really didn't have a chance with Dole as our candidate but he was the best candidate out there at that time. Just watching this debate, you can already guess who has a chance and who doesn't, because as "open-minded" as America is/should be right now, you know things aren't going to change - it's going to be a white male... who are we kidding. I really wish Colin Powell had decided to join Bush in 2000 as the Vice Presidential candidate.

This is turning into a Bush bashing session... I got better things to do than watch this crap. I remember writing a paper for sociology back in college (this was fall quarter 2000, around the time of the 2000 election) about how people who are either Democrats or Republicans usually go along with the party lines and are trained to hate/criticize everything the other party does no matter what, but if the situations are reversed, they don't have anything to say about it. I know I'm guilty of it. This was totally evident these last couple weeks... geez, how did I know Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Barbra Streisand and almost everyone in Hollywood would be criticizing the war??... but they had nothing to say about Bosnia a couple years ago when Clinton was in office.

John Kerry is definitely gonna win the nomination. Either him, or Joe Lieberman. No one even comes close.

I am so pathetic... I rearranged my schedule on Thursday so I could watch the Bush speech. "Sorry Monica, I can't go to Target until 6:30p cause I want to be home watching the speech." I had planned on leaving work at 5:55pm on the dot because I know if Bush said the press conference was at 6, it's going to start at 6 on the dot, but Stan started talking about who knows what and I got stuck in his office. That speech was pure gold though... everything from the location, the arrival on the aircraft carrier, the speech, and Bush shaking everyone's hands after the speech. The military sure does love him.

I can't watch this debate anymore... I guess there is a reason only one network aired it and it wasn't even live. I know its sweeps month and its way to early to think about the presidential election late next year but to air the first debate at 1am? Shows how much people should care about it.

Whoo hoo! South Park is on...