I have to thank my family for being so hard on me when I was a kid, yelling at me when I didn't understand something and pushing me until I got it right... otherwise, I might be as dumb as the people here. Last week, the assistant's printer was printing all this gunk on the back of the papers she printed out so we told her to have the administrative assistant help her fix/clean her printer. 15 minutes later, the printer is clean but the power won't turn on. They were playing around with it for a little while and they gave up. I just assumed there was a REAL problem so we just started using my computer for printing checks, etc. We just assumed that printer didn't work and that was it. I don't know what they were waiting for though - I thought the big boss was gonna try and fix it later on when he had time but no one did anything with it the whole week. Eileen was complaining about how nothing works around this office today so I got up and decided I'd try to fix that computer - maybe change the settings, etc. I went over to the assistant's desk, the settings were for the wrong printer so I changed that and then I looked at the printer. The cord that connects the printer to the power outlet was loose so I pushed the plug in, turned it on and viola! printer works. Why is the youngest and almost lowest paid person in this office fixing everything?? Stan was asking me computer questions all last week and I fixed something on Eileen's computer. I was gone for an hour last week and the assistant had to print a check so she used my computer. I don't know what the hell she did but I was on the phone giving her directions and then she said the screen went blank but she insisted she didn't touch anything. (She turned the freakin computer off accidentally) Then I told her to turn ON the computer and then I told her to do exactly what she does on her computer to print out a check but do it on mine. It just wouldn't work so I came back to the office early to print out the damn check. That girl changed the settings on my computer!! What the hell... I changed back the settings and printed the check and just sat here for like 15 minutes shaking my head. I do need a damn raise if I do stay here.

Eileen was looking up job opportunities on the internet and she printed this out and highlighted some stuff for me. I've italicized the stuff we were laughing at...

APPLY FOR THIS JOB IF YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

1) EXTREMELY HARD WORKING & SUCCESSFUL MULTI-TASKER - rigorous approach to the work day given limitation of time/resources;

2) SCORE HIGHLY ON INTELLIGENCE TESTS - solves mathematical and logic-related problems with speed/ease;

3) THOROUGH & ATTENTIVE TO DETAIL - triple-checking work and constantly seeking industry best-practices;

4) PERSISENT GOAL ACHIEVER - tenacity to see each project to expeditious completion;

5) SELF-MOTIVATED - needs almost no supervision/prodding by management once the job/project has been assigned.

6) STRONG SOFTWARE SKILLS - Microsoft Office, W2K, IE, Advent Axys, Quickbooks.

The workday usually starts at 7:30-8:30 a.m. EST (we are on Wall Street/New York hours). If you are not a "morning person," this probably is not the best fit.

Wow... we're not gonna get a job anywhere else...

This friendster.com thing is totally going overboard� Steph emailed me the link to it last week and this weekend when I was up in Santa Barbara, Amy�s friends were talking about it too. How does word spread so fast among the �cool Asian� (or wanna-be cool Asian) community? One person decides something new is cool and everyone gets on that thing for like the next week, then it dies down?? (i.e. hot or not.com, xanga � how many people actually keep up with it daily like they did in the beginning? There were some other stuff but I can�t remember right now)

Friendster brings up a whole new dilemma too � I think Steph and I make too much of it but sometimes people want to add us as friends but we don�t know them well enough to think of them as a friend and we don�t want to offend them by declining them so we approve their request to be added to our friends list and then bitch about it for the next couple days about how we don�t want them to be on our list for other people to see. This is a total Seinfeld moment� Amy�s friends and I were trying to figure out a way to decline people or delete people without them knowing but its impossible. They�re gonna know. Heehee, Steph and I went through this huge thing yesterday about how to delete someone and say it was an �accident��. didn�t work cause the guy noticed this morning and was all offended. Friends of friends should stay friends of friends� that�s how friendster works! People just want to add more people so it looks like they�re popular.

Anyway, enough. I borrowed my dad�s digital camera this weekend for my trip up to Santa Barbara and I noticed that everyone and I mean everyone has a digital camera now� well, except for Amy�s boyfriend Rob but he has a professional 35mm camera cause he�s a photographer. We were making fun of the one girl with a 35mm disposable camera. I know, I know, spoiled brats� I want to get a digital camera of my own but I�m waiting to see if the novelty will die down before I go out and spend $300 +/- for one. I learned my lesson from the Sony Clie that�s sitting on my desk at home gathering dust.

On the way back from Santa Barbara yesterday, Amy and I were talking about what it would be like if we got an apartment together with Mike� I think Mike and I would still be IMing each other all day � �What�s up?� �Nothing, what�s up with you?� �Just sitting in my room chillin�� � �Wanna get boba tea?� �Ok, meet you 3 feet away in 30 seconds� This would be like when I was living at home and my brother and I would IM each other from our rooms � we�re across the hall from each other and we can see each other when we�re sitting at our desks/computers. My mom was walking by this one time and I think we were talking to each other loud across the hall� my mom started yelling at us for yelling at each other so we got onto IM and IMed each other something like, �What�s her problem??�

McDonald's chicken nuggets are cheap again (according to a radio commercial on STAR)!! Well, only on Tuesdays and they're $1 not 89 cents like they were when we were in college. People used to get excited on Tuesdays... we'd make plans to head down to that crappy drive-thru McDonalds with all the homeless people on Wilshire and whatever that street was (halfway from UCLA to that Fresh Fare Ralphs on Wilshire/Bundy). I haven't had chicken nuggets in a while either cause I think $1.99 is too much to pay for 6 pieces. I'm still mad that the 99 cent fish filet Fridays ended a couple months ago and I didn't take advantage of that offer more.

Eileen told me something this week that kinda pissed me off a little... one of our client's maids is buying a house. A MAID dammit... she's only a couple years older than me and she can barely speak English and she's on her way to home ownership. I think I'm mad at myself for not being in a position to be able to do that. I'm a college graduate working an office job, bossing around a person who is 10 years older than me, taking on full responsibility for a couple client's accounts... but i'm making way less than that maid makes!! And this is a girl who can't afford to repay her boss $25 off her $1000 weekly paycheck every week... Our client gives her employees a credit card to charge household expenses on and this girl will charge some personal stuff on the card so we set up this system where we deduct a loan repayment on her paycheck every week. Every other week she would call us up and ask if we can not take that $25 off, she'll send us a check for that $25 later on in the month. How does she think she's going to afford mortgage every month??

Its just like with Dante... you can barely keep a job, you're always an hour or two late to the security guard job you have right now, how do you think you can afford to pay $900 rent for your own place and a $350 car note... this doesn't include money to live on, utilities, car insurance, etc. Also, at the end of the year, what do you have to show for all the working you did?? A car and the knowledge that you had a place of your own for those 12 months (even though someone was willing to let you move in and give you all the freedom you want and you wouldn't be paying rent, utilities, food, etc.) No savings, nothing... and you still owe California courts a lot of money for all the damn tickets you've gotten in the past 3-4 years. I've been getting mad at him a lot lately because he seems content to just do security guard work (no offense to any security guards out there)... he has no motivation to make his life better. Maybe I'm mad at myself too, for having fallen in love with such a loser.

I'm going up to Santa Barbara again this weekend... hmmm, maybe I'll meet someone :) In the meantime, I'll just play MASH - I've done it 3 times, with different numbers and different positioning of names and in all 3, they told me that I'd marry Justin Guarini (stop rolling your eyes!!) and be a business manager in New York and have a white car... everything else fluctuates (#kids, locations, cars, and housing structure).

Ok, and since everyone and their mommas are doing this - sign up as my friend on Friendster.com. You can see who your friends are friends with and what degrees of separation you have from some people - like a network of friends thing.

Amidst Eileen's morning ramblings - "My eyebrow pencil is gone!! ... I can't work." We have such a boring work environment, no guys to impress here so Eileen and I just get our bodies in the office in the morning... all our getting ready stuff is done here at our desks. I have my tweezers here, I have my toothbrush, toothpaste here and I carry my makeup in my purse :) Eileen even has her blow dryer and flat iron here!

I swear, I'm going to pick up a Sharpie and write "CHECK WHAT WE DID LAST TIME" on my forehead! I'd write it in normal pen, but it would wear out before the dumb assistant figures it out!! This is her third month of doing bank reconciliations and she's still asking me simple stuff every single time the situation comes up. She's been in here 3 times already this morning and every single time I've told her, make the entry the same way we did it last month. It was like this all day yesterday too. Last week Stan told her to do a journal entry and she comes in here telling me Stan told her to do that. I didn't know if she was just telling me or asking me how to do it, so I explained to her, look on the books from May 2002 and see what we did for it last year because I distinctly remember doing it last year. She buzzes me from her desk, "ok, I use this account but what is the other account?" (for accounting journal entries you have to debit one account and credit another account to even it out). I told her again to look at May 2002 because I don't remember what accounts we've set up off the top of my head. She buzzed me a minute later and said it wasn't there. So I get up, I pull out the hard copy of the financial statements (she had the file open on her computer and 2 people can't access the same file at the same time) and I go over to her desk and tell her, ok, debit this account and credit this account. How hard is it to find past history??? That's how I learned how to do this job and I don't think I'm any smarter than the normal person. This girl can't figure anything out, even after we give her directions on how to do it or where to look. There was this one incident last month where I was pissed off because the file was in the drawer and she came into my office three separate times to look in that drawer and she couldn't find it. All three times she doesn't tell me what she was looking for... Stan finally buzzes me and asks me where the file is and I tell him, everything we have for that client is in that drawer (I assumed it wasn't in the drawer cause she looked in there) and he lectures me cause I'm supposed to know where that file is, that's one of our biggest clients and that's an important folder, yada yada yada... As he was lecturing me, she comes in here again and *finds* the folder... in the same freakin drawer she looked in all those times!!

I was playing around with the settings for this journal and I found this thing where you can put in email addresses to email the journal entry to after you've posted so people don't have to check this page a couple times a day to see if I've posted anything (cause I know you guys all do that :) - *complete and total sarcasm*). This also helps if my page loads slow or doesn't load at all... Just let me know if you want me to put your email address on that list. Can you believe it *only* took me 7 months to figure this out??

Wow - I'm exhausted right now but I just wanted to get this in...

I love my new roommie!!! And you know why?? Cause she loves Justin Guarini too!!! heehee. I have someone to go see From Justin to Kelly with now :). She moved all her stuff in here today and we were just talking for the last couple hours. Its amazing how much we have in common. This will be fun - I'm so glad my old roommie moved out and she moved in.

What a difference a week makes... last week I was so happy with Dante, he was moving back in (temporarily) again, we had a great time at dinner with my friends... then this week, he's already pissed me off to the point where I'm 90% sure I want to ask him for my apartment key back and tell him I never want to talk to him again. I've never reached a point where I even considered not letting him come and go at my apartment whenever he felt like it, even if I wasn't there. Eileen thinks I'll finally clear the hurdle when I start at a new job because I'm stuck in a rut right now. UGH, I'm just so pissed off right now I need to just get my mind off it... think of happier times.

Last week we had dinner with Steve and his girlfriend Linda, Jennifer and her boyfriend Brian and it was so much fun. Of course, everyone has to tease me about my obsession with Justin Guarini - Dante was telling them how I told him: I always thought that whoever I dated in the future would have to deal with Dante being a huge part of my life but if I met/dated Justin, I couldn't talk to Dante anymore because I wouldn't want to hurt Justin. :) (He's so goofy and carefree and innocent and fun - I can't hurt him like that!!) and then he told them about how I have that mix CD in my car and whenever Justin's song came on, I'd tell him each time, "I think this is Justin..." (you guys - he was totally exaggerating!! I'm not that bad!) The funny part was, after dinner when we got into the car, he turned the CD to one of the Justin songs!! There was another song playing and he switched it to 'Be a Heartbreaker'.

Wow - I just realized, last week was just like a vacation or something... I saw/went out with almost all my friends, my boss was gone, Dante and I were having a good time, etc. etc. Now things are back to normal - boss back, drama with Dante, and I'm back to spending most of my evenings at home with nothing to do.

I was watching "It's Good to Be... Brad and Jennifer" last night and their life / spending habits are amazing. Brad Pitt ordered a $75k Mercedes G500 in silver and when it was delivered, he decided he didn't like that color... but Jennifer saw it and she liked it so he gave it to her and ordered another G500, this time in black, for himself. Can you believe that life?? Damn. Oh, and their $20 million paychecks dwindle down to $14 million after paying their agents, managers, business managers, etc... and after taxes its about $6 million net. $6 million!!! One damn movie!

Just got a call from Eileen this morning - she is so pissed off they docked her 2 days pay on our last paycheck that she's as determined as I am to look for another job. Sure she did take her vacation 3 months before her anniversary date (its that thing where after a year of working here, you get one week vacation, after 2 years, 2 weeks, etc) and she took 2 extra days, but when she had her medical problems at the beginning of the year, the managing partner told her to take any time off she needed. Eileen works on straight salary, no OT, and we just finished tax season recently where we had to work 6 days a week... she also stays here until 7:30-8:00 just about every night so she's pissed they didn't just give her those 2 days as goodwill. I know this company will also screw me when I leave - I just know they're not gonna give me my vacation pay even though I've accrued it. I need to leave this company - I've been here a year and a half and they started me on like a high school grad's salary even though I have a BA in Economics from UCLA (not one of those bullshit colleges either) - it was understandable back then because I was just an assistant. After 5-6 months of working here, they gave me a promotion to my current position as business manager because the guy left, but they didn't give me a raise! (Kristi - the roomie who just moved out - was telling me to check the labor laws to see if it is even legal to give a promotion without any raise). I have way more responsibility in this position (I have full responsibility for a couple clients' accounts) as opposed to just doing what the business managers told me to do (file, write checks, make deposits). I think the last assistant Eileen and I had was making the same salary as I was - how screwed up is that?? I guess you can't pay any less than what I'm getting but still - do I have to go in and demand a raise? I've been at this business manager position for a freakin year now. Don't companies give you reviews after like 6 months?

Ok - I just got a call from Stan - he's at the airport in Oregon and he was promising me that when he gets back, his highest priority is to interview, etc... cool, so I shouldn't feel bad about leaving. I told him that I could stay until he found someone new to take over this position and that I was gonna move back home and study for the LSATs or CPAs or something for a couple months. Mona (my old boss, the criminal defense attorney) already looked over my resume and helped me with the wording, style, etc. She is awesome. The problem right now is finding the cover letter Mona helped me on last time. I need to tweek it a little to update it but it was an awesome cover letter. It isn't on my computer at home anymore - I don't know why but I'm assuming it was Dante because he messes everything up so I'll just blame him and I'm probably right - and I found one copy of it when I was cleaning out my room at the old house. I had it in my hand last week when I was moving stuff up from the car to the apartment but now I can't find it!! That was probably the only thing I really needed in all that junk too. Oh well... I'll find a solution...

Shit, what if Stan finds someone before I get another job?? Nothing like the panic factor to get me off my butt and start applying. I could probably work for Jay for a little while until I find something permanent that offers the salary I want. I got hired at this job 5 days after I put together my resume, cover sheet and started faxing them out... I can do it.

A Time to Kill is on right now and I just loved the acting in this movie. Yeah, its a John Grisham novel, its not Oscar material but who cares? This was the first time I saw Matthew McConaughy in action and I was so impressed... his closing statement had me in tears and I heard somewhere that he did this long speech in one take. Ashley Judd is so beautiful in this movie - I'd be jealous of her if I was Naomi or Wynonna cause they're all famous and decent/good looking but she's the prettiest in the family.

I just got home from an afternoon/evening at my parents' house... I'm working on a long journal entry but I just don't feel like doing it right now... maybe after the movie.

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...

Asha sent me this forward...

Just in case you ever got the two mixed up. This should make things a bit more clear . . .

IN PRISON...you spend the majority of your time in an 8X10 cell.
AT WORK ... you spend the majority of your time in a 6X8 cubicle.

IN PRISON...you get three meals a day.
AT WORK...you only get a break for one meal and you pay for it.

IN PRISON...you get time off for good behavior
AT WORK...you get more work for good behavior

IN PRISON...the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you.
AT WORK...you must carry around a security card and open all the doors for yourself.

IN PRISON...you can watch TV and play games.
AT WORK...you get fired for watching TV and playing games.

IN PRISON...you get your own toilet.
AT WORK...you have to share with some idiot who pees on the seat.

IN PRISON...they allow your family and friends to visit.
AT WORK...you can't even speak to your family.

IN PRISON...the taxpayers pay all expenses with no work required.
AT WORK...you get to pay all the expenses to go to work and then they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for prisoners.

IN PRISON...you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out.
AT WORK...you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars.

IN PRISON...you must deal with sadistic wardens.
AT WORK...they are called managers.

***** So again, why is it that we work? *****

I was just checking out the results of the NFL Draft this weekend and I noticed there were only two UCLA players drafted this year (which is an accomplishment considering the terrible terrible season we had) and they were both drafted in the third round by Carolina. The Raiders will always be my favorite team but I root for teams with Bruins - I used to root for Dallas because of Troy Aikman (and because I met Michael Irvin at the Forum Club but thats another story), I rooted for the teams Cade McNown (Chicago and Miami?) was on even though he never played or he sucked it up, I root for Philadelphia because of Freddie Mitchell and I remember liking Carolina for some reason or other. I just looked up their roster and I realized that there are four Bruins on the roster and I followed all 4 during my time at UCLA. I will definitely be rooting for Carolina this year.

I'm watching the American Idols DVD Steve gave me now and I just can't get enough of Justin :). That boy has a great personality (I love goofy guys) and I love how he knows what he wants to do and follows through with making his dreams come true. He's going to be singing a song from his new album on American Idol this Wednesday so you guys know where I'll be... Hmmm... Wednesday 8-9pm... Thats going to cut into my Baskin-Robbins hopping night (free ice cream scoop day 6-10pm) - someone (I think Eileen or Mike) suggested we go from store to store getting free ice cream "by the time you get to the next place, you'll have finished the cone you got from the previous store."

I was going to complain to Steve how there wasn't enough Justin on the DVD but I popped in the Bonus DVD and I'm happy now. "The Day in the Life of Justin" - such a great bit. Amazing personality.

I'm watching an X-Files repeat right now - its the episode where Mulder and Scully are on a ship trapped in the Bermuda Triangle in the year 1939. I remember this episode being amazing because they shot the scenes with one camera, no cuts (i think its called panning?). This episode came on when I was taking History of American Motion Picture at UCLA and I remember my TA pointing out the specific methods they used. Oh yeah, and this was the first episode Mulder and Scully kissed I think. Ah, college memories... you don't know how long we were waiting for that :).

I've had dreams about Justin Guarini two times this past week and I couldn't figure out why. Then yesterday Steve tells me, "Guess who came into Best Buy a couple days ago..." Justin and Kelly. First of all, I couldn't believe Steve didn't call me the second he saw him so I could rush over there... but thats ok because I didn't tell him 'something' a little while ago so we're even. Now that I think of it, it's probably better he didn't tell me because the headline in the newspapers the next day would've been "Justin Guarini tackled by a crazy lunatic in Best Buy store." Why is it I love all these people (Justin, Kobe, Shaq, etc.) but everyone else sees them in person except for me? Back in college, I got to my Plants class before my friends did and one by one, they came in - Monica, Steph and Steve - each telling me they saw Kobe... Then, one night I was working at the student store but I was over at the computer counter instead of the main one and Sebastian came over, "hey, Shaq was walking by a couple minutes ago." and now this! I never have any luck. The only person I do remember seeing around campus is Jaleel White (Urkel from Family Matters) - big whoop.

My boss and I were trying to figure out who we wrote a $2500.00 check to (a client's account was overdrawn) and he was relieved that I couldn't remember. Stan is hitting 60 years old so he has an excuse. He started talking about how his memory is fading and then we started talking about selective memory... I said, "Yeah, I have that too - I don't remember what happened to the Lakers last night." He was telling me how he's usually asleep by 10:30 pm but he stayed up to watch the rest of the game and he's sure his neighbors heard his well-timed "F*CKKKKKK!"

Baskin Robbins - Free Ice Cream
Mark your calendars 30 April 2003 from 6-10PM you can get a free scoop of ice cream.

Ben&Jerry`s - Free Cone Day
Yes another place to satisfy your cheap sweet tooth. 29 April 2003 from noon to 8, get a free cone at your local Ben & Jerry's.

Oh my god. I can't deal with this assistant any longer! First of all, I can't believe I'm giving orders to someone who is 10 years older than me. Secondly, I can't believe someone who is 10 years older than me is as dumb as she is. She's been here three full weeks now, she's still spelling clients' names wrong, she can't connect the client to the clients' corporations (almost everyone in the entertainment industry incorporates themselves (the so-called "production companies") so they can get income from the studios without tax withholding - the studio pays the corporation (could range from $200,000 payments to 20 cent residuals), we take business expenses out of the corporate books and every so often, we pay them a huge salary - thats when the tax withholding comes in) and today, she came in here at 9:20 am and asked me if we had any deposits for today yet... it's freakin 9 am - we've barely been here a couple minutes (although I've been here since 7:00 am but thats a different story), messengers don't come this early and the mail doesn't get here until noon - how would I get any checks for deposit? It doesn't sound like a big deal now but I'm just getting frustrated at all the questions!! My old boss Mona used to love it that I'd ask questions to make sure I was doing things right so I tried to take that philosophy with this girl but she keeps asking the same things over and over and she'd ask me about every little thing. You need to think for yourself sometimes. Earlier this week, Eileen and I were trying to have one of our X-rated conversations (gossip) and the girl buzzed me 5 times in a span of 2 minutes to ask how to do this one deposit. Eileen was getting frustrated but I couldn't just take my phone off the hook because then she'd come into our office and thats more annoying.

So glad I'm leaving this job soon. They don't pay me enough to deal with any of this shit.

I love the 80s is on VH1 right now - its the 1989 edition and they're talking about New Kids on the Block... I have to admit I was a fan. Hey - I was 11, what the hell did I know?? Didn't they change their name to NKOTB later on to sound cooler? For those of you who haven't seen I love the 80s, they interview various celebrities about their memories of the 80s. There was this 30 second montage with a couple different celebrities saying who was the cutest one - Donnie, Joe, Jordan, John, or Danny (personally, Jordan was my favorite back then).

They're talking about Tetris right now - this guy said you were mesmerized playing the game and then afterwards you were still playing it in your head... so I'm not the only one that happened to!

Oh my gosh - the memories!! Arsenio Hall (whoo hoo hoo), Bobby Brown (My Pregorative, Every Little Step... and they were making fun of his hair - he started the writing thing in the hair)...

I gotta go to sleep, I'll catch this again on rerun.

I had a great weekend... nice long weekend too - 3 days instead of my usual ONE! I hung out with practically everyone I knew this past week/weekend too! Friday was my day off and Dante came by in the morning after his night shift and we just slept for a couple hours (while we were sleeping, I had a n-i-c-e dream about that cute client - the Rick Fox lookalike... is that bad?), then I went to lunch with some friends, then I went downtown to talk to an attorney and I stopped by to visit Mona, Don and Denise from my old job. I ran some errands on Saturday morning, hung out with Dante for a little while, visited Steve at work, and called Amy to tell her I was headed back to OC but I had to change into frumpier clothes cause my mom thinks anything remotely fitting is too hoochie. Amy suggested we go up to Santa Barbara and I was game. We went to her place in SB, ate an all-you-can-eat sushi dinner, hung out with her friend at the studio while he was working on a photography assignment, went back to her place and watched American Gladiators! I didn't know that show was still on. I didn't see Nitro though - I remember him being the cutest one but what did I know? We came back early Sunday morning, I slept all day and hung out with friends for dinner.

Going to Santa Barbara this weekend was just the getaway that I needed. It was a change from my normal life and I got to see how my friend lived. I love her living arrangement though - its sorta like that Friends living arrangement I was talking about earlier this week, except they all live in this one house and everyone hangs out in the living room til all hours of the morning. I need to get out of this college mindset - maybe when I start earning more money, I can finally grow up.

bananame69: i can't wait to use my new phone
bananame69: so eager
Lucyla8: :-) if no one calls you by tonight, i'll call you ok?
Lucyla8: heehee
bananame69: i have to charge it overnight before i can use it
bananame69: so tomorrow
Lucyla8: oh ok
Lucyla8: heehee
bananame69: but totally, you should be my first
Lucyla8: so nerdy
bananame69: whatever that means
bananame69: =)
Lucyla8: ok - IM me when you're ready
bananame69: i'll do so tomorrow
bananame69: totally

we're such nerds... I think this might be better than the online typing test contest we had a couple weeks ago (I lost bad - 52 wpm and I think Mike got like 103 wpm or something).

Where were you...

1. When John F. Kennedy was shot (11/22/1963)
non-existent

2. When Mt. St. Helens blew (5/18/1980)
I think we were either still in Taiwan or we had just moved to Brazil... too young to have any memories

3. When the Challenger exploded (January 28, 1986)
I was in second grade in Anaheim and we watched it live on TV - the whole class was silent and I don't think we fully understood what happened.

4. When the 7.1 earthquake hit San Francisco (10/7/1989)
6th grade... I remember hearing it on the news I think but because it was far away it didn't affect me that much. I remember everytime there was a earthquake in LA, I was freaked out about earthquakes for the next month and a half.

5. When the Berlin Wall fell (11/7/1989)
I saw it on the news but I thought these people were just having fun knocking down that wall... again, I didn't fully realize what was happening, unlike now, with the Iraqis...

6. When the Gulf War began (1/16/1991)
7th grade... all I remember is yellow ribbons and we might have done something for that at our school but I don't remember.

7. When OJ Simpson was chased in his White Bronco (6/17/1994)
I watched it on TV until my English tutor came and I missed the ending. Ugh, and that was the damn English tutor I hated too - I felt like he was sexually harrassing me but my parents didn't understand... maybe thats why I'm as messed up as I am today.

8. When the building in Oklahoma City was bombed (4/19/1995)
11th grade... I think I found out about it when I was in class. I remember being amazed that they were able to find out who did it and arrest the guy real quick.

9. When Princess Di was killed (8/31/1997)
I was in Taiwan... trying to watch and understand the Chinese news. I couldn't turn to CNN or something I'd understand cause there were only 3 freakin channels!

10. When Bush was first announced President (11/7/2000)
5th year senior at UCLA, I was in front of the TV like I had been all election cause I was taking Intro to American Politics that quarter and we knew everything that went on, every recount, every court case, etc.

11. When the 6.8 earthquake hit Nisqually, WA (2/28/2001)
There was a earthquake? Where the hell was I? I think I was working for Mona then.

12. When terrorists knocked over the World Trade Center (9/11/2001)
I was over at Dante's apartment and when I went into the bathroom to get ready for work, I saw his cousin Johnny watching TV in the living room and knowing Johnny as well as I do, I was so surprised to see him up that "early" (he usually gets up around noon or so)... I went into the living room and he told me what happened and we just sat there watching TV - I knew I wasn't going to work that day... downtown LA is a total target if anything were to happen in LA.

Why am I watching Mr. Personality?? I swore I wouldn't get hooked on any of these dating shows, even though I love reality programming - mostly MTV ones though. I didn't watch The Bachelor or any of the sequels, didn't watch Joe Millionaire, didn't watch Married By America, etc... Damn American Idol for drawing me in on this show - I was too lazy to get up and find the remote. I'm missing Everybody Loves Raymond for this!

I wonder how hard it was for her to keep that "interested" look on her face and how hard it was to not show relief when some guys she rejected unmasked. Those masks sure do hide a lot. I don't know if I'll keep watching this show - no one really stands out as cute to me (for me to root for) but I guess thats the point of the show - personality! I can't help being superficial - I've only dated one guy in my life and I sure didn't go after him for his personality or his brains.

I'm so happy. The Ally McBeal reruns on FX right now are the ones with Robert Downey Jr. He is so talented... I love him! I stopped watching the show after he left. I still remember when Jenny and I walked past him at the UCLA Medical Center (his driver was putting quarters in the meter) a couple years ago (I think it was during his first bout in jail). I smiled at him before I realized who it was and he smiled back and said hi. I was so happy! Then I asked Jenny if she realized who that was and she didn't even notice!!! I knew it was him for sure because I was watching the news that day and he had a court date that morning - he was wearing the exact same clothes I saw him in that afternoon. (Thats what I miss about UCLA - celebrity and athlete sightings!)

I think the problem with me is that I spent my college/post-college years watching too much TV and I know its not real but I want certain aspects of my life to be/not be like those shows...

Ally McBeal depressed me because these women are in their 30s and still single and I don't want to be like that. I want to be married by 30 but it seems a little hopeless now even though its still 6 years away. I've had one boyfriend in my 24 years and I'm still completely stuck on him, I can't move on. When Robert Downey Jr.'s character came on the show, it just seemed like she finally found the one. He was amazing, so loving and so cute! The show used to depress me a lot because 80% of the episodes ended with Ally walking ALONE in the streets of Boston. She's a successful lawyer, she has the other aspects of her life together, yet she can't find love. The one thing I love about the show is the work environment. Richard Fish opened a practice with his best friend and they hired people they knew back in college to work there. And because it was his own practice, he could run things the way he wanted to.

I always wanted my home environment to be like Friends... Living next door to your best friends, hanging out in each others' apartments 24/7... It reminds me a bit of dorm life. Freshman year in the dorms, I was always in the lounge or in my friend's rooms but I had a room to go back to when I felt like it. And it was all within short walking distance! Now, when I want to hang out with anyone, I'd have to drive and I go home at a decent hour. I remember the countless nights when I was hanging out with friends in the lounge until 3-4am... The show gives me hope about my professional life though - when the show first started, it was about people in their 20s struggling to make ends meet and gradually everyone finally found their way (except Phoebe - I don't know how she ever managed but now the show doesn't focus on money problems anymore). Joey has a steady acting job, Monica is head chef at a restaurant, Ross is a professor now, Rachel works for Ralph Lauren and Chandler was good enough to be head of an office in a different city, then switched jobs and struggled but now he's set. Everyone says the 20s are a time of confusion and by the time you reach your 30s, you just enjoy life. I hope so.

I have GOT to shut my blinds at night... I think the neighbor in the next building figured out that Dante moved out and he put this note on his window - I don't know for sure what it says but I saw that there was a phone number on there. I am the only one who can see the note so I know its directed at me... We live on the second floor!! Stupid freak.

What is it about guys that they have to notice everyone coming and going in every apartment building within a 2 block vicinity? Don't they have anything better to do? Dante lived with me for 5 months and he knew/recognized more people in my apartment building and the surrounding buildings than I did and I've lived here since January 2002. I told Dante about that note the guy put on his window and I said that the note disappeared during the day but now its back. I was trying to figure out why and Dante said, "maybe his girl was over"... why are guys so scandalous?? I'm sure there are nice guys out there but I'm surrounded by players and 99% of them are not even cute! Of course, my standards are too high.

NO WORK TODAY!! WHOO HOO!! I thought the boss was being nice cause he saw how hard we worked during tax season but now I find out that a lot of other people have the day off or have half day because it's Good Friday. Oh well... have fun at work Steph :).

Oh my gosh - I just glanced over at the window and the stupid freak is there and he saw me look over - what the hell do I do?? Thank god Dante is coming by in the morning... hopefully this idiot will see that Dante is still part of my life and hopefully he'll leave me alone.

Damn, tax season is finally over and I've been way too busy these couple days to post like I used to... too busy getting myself in trouble.

I've been stuck in a rut for the past couple months and its been really really bad this month because I've been working my ass off this tax season (long long hours) and because of all the problems I've had to deal with recently (not all of those problems are personal life problems either). Yesterday I came up with a solution to my most pressing problem and I know a lot of people I know aren't going to like what I'm going to do, but I feel like its the best solution for me. With most of my friends, when I tell them what I want to do, they're against it... then they hear my reasoning and they understand why I want to do what I want to do and they agree that the good outweighs the bad. It will take so much pressure off my life and it will open doors that were never open to me before. You need to take chances to change your life for better or for worse and if you don't make the decision to take those chances, you will be stuck in the same rut you've been at for a while (unless you're happy with the way life is, which a lot of people are). I already threw the idea out to my mom and she said she will never talk to me again if I decide to go that route. I don't want to live my life making other people happy - I need to make myself happy. Life is short and if I die tomorrow, I will have lived a miserable life trying to be what everyone else wants me to be. I already went against my parents' wishes once in my life already but that wasn't that big of a deal... choosing UCLA over Berkeley. Berkeley just wasn't my style but because Berkeley carries more bragging power in Taiwan (supposedly), my mom wanted me to go there and had my whole family pressuring me about it. I've always loved UCLA (anyone who knew me in junior high/high school can vouch for me) and this was a way of making my dreams come true. 7 years later, I'm still happy with my decision - no regrets. I've always known I was going to UCLA, I've always known I would work in downtown LA and I did that, I always knew I'd marry someone non-Asian and I'm about to do that and I always knew my parents would disown me... hmmm... I've always known I will work for the Lakers someday, maybe that'll happen too.

Eileen and I decided to have that $1 fish fillet from McDonalds for lunch... when I got back from lunch, I was IMing Mike and he told me he was supposed to have dinner with a friend but on the way home from work, he stopped by McDonalds. "99 cent fish filet?" I ask, and he replies, "They're $1.11 over here, but yeah thats what I got." (he's in Rhode Island). We joked around about how we were on the same page and how great minds think alike. I was chatting with him tonight and I told him I was hungry but I left the extra fish fillet I got at work so I could have a snack tomorrow. He says, "that's what I'm eating right now"...

Damn Clippers game. No Friends today cause of the dumb game. Tune in to see them lose - whoopie. Back to Fox News Channel I guess... Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. looks exactly like his dad. Breaking news - US intercepting chatter among lower level Iraqis claiming Saddam is dead... cool, but they could be doing that to throw us off.

The only good thing that has happened to me today is the $1 fish filet from McDonalds... Eileen and I were in the kitchen eating our fish filets and I was flipping through a Garnet Hill catalog - they had some really cute stuff in there - I loved these sheets with the little drawings of the Eiffel Tower and other French stuff, but being the good Republican that I am, I gotta boycott that stuff. I'd do that German boycott too but they haven't been as vocal as Jacques Chirac has been against us... besides, I love German cars way too much. I'm pissed France, Germany and Russia want a piece of the action now, after what they did before the war and after we (the US and Britian mostly) put in all the effort... damn "Axis of Weasel" trying to jump on the bandwagon now.

Eileen was flipping through the People Magazine with Jessica Lynch on the cover (I admire her so much, I couldn't have done half the shit she did) and there were pictures of Russell Crowe's wedding to Danielle Spencer. I don't like his long hair but he has it for a movie role... I think if I was getting married to someone, I'd wait til they can look their best - like Brad Pitt at his wedding. The newly crowned Mrs. Crowe looked great and I wish them all the best.

Oh my god... I seriously want to rip my head off and kick it into the ocean or something. On top of all the shit going on in my personal life and me trying to get over not living with Dante anymore, I have to deal with a stupid stupid and believe me when I say stupid assistant, tax season is down to the wire, the time change is still throwing me off, I'm broke until payday (when I get a huge ass check because of all the overtime I worked), and now I have immigration issues to deal with... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I cannot deal with this new girl anymore. My work piled up from the last assistant because I was sick of correcting things he did and he's not half as bad as this girl. I have tried to be mega-patient because my old boss Mona used to tell me she liked that I ask questions instead of do things wrong but I don't think Mona can stand this many questions. She has been here 2 weeks now and she's still asking the same questions. I've mostly been giving her filing to do to get her out of our way but she comes in every 2 minutes asking where the client's files are even though she filed something in there 2 days ago. Every deposit she does, she comes in asking what the "account" section and the "memo" section should say (when we enter it in Quickbooks) for that particular check, even if she's already done a similar check the last deposit day. I wish Stan hired someone who knew a little about entertainment and what shows are on TV. I guess I take it for granted I know the clients well and I know what each client specializes in - acting, directing or writing. The checks that come in would either be income or residuals for the particular specialization and 99% of the time it'll say on the check what its for and if it doesn't say, SAG will send us a list a month or so later and for now we'd just write SAG in the memo section. In the memo section, we'd put the name of the project (also written on the check) just for our knowledge. We get weekly checks for a lot of our clients - same production company, same amount, same project... and she's still asking what to write under account/memo - it says "Royalties" and "Dawson's Creek" (capitalized and bolded) on the check stub!! She doesn't even have to enter everything every time - I saved the weekly checks as "memorized transactions" and all she has to do is pull up the memorized transaction and change the date! And thats just deposits... On the checks, she spells things wrong and it looks totally unprofessional, she doesn't put the account number on the memo section of the check... aaargh!! It's like she's never written a check or paid a bill before in her life. She came in here with the credit card statement that she's coding (categorizing expenses) and she asks what's that?... geez, it says "PAYMENT" on the thing, what do you think that means?? dammit.

I set up Eileen on instant messaging now and its great because instead of our bosses hearing us chat all day, they'll hear us typing and think we're working extra hard. And, we can talk about them without them knowing. I think it was easy to figure out who we were talking about before - we nicknamed the new girl Kiwi (long story, its the whole Steph and 'grapefruit' thing), our boss Stan is Bonehead and the managing partner is Fatso. The best thing about IMing someone right next to you is that you dont have to use the smilies and the heehees when you laugh...

I had a great dream last night but it was so hard to wake up this morning - I went to bed at 3:30am for no reason at all except that I thought I wasn't tired. This whole week has been like this. I curse myself when I wake up and I tell myself to go to bed earlier that night and I do it all over again! That dream was amazing - It was my birthday and we had a little party... Oh - I was dating Justin Guarini and he sang "The Look of Love" to me, kinda like in the movie Family Man when Nicholas Cage sang to Tea Leoni. Those amazing eyes, that charming smile and that great voice... I loved Justin and he kept telling me he loved me in the song... Woke up with a smile on my face for the first time in a long time. I've had dreams like this but not in a while - back in high school, I had a dream about Grant Pearsall (football player from my high school, All OC Player of the Year, signed with USC and started at free safety, signed with Dallas but didn't make the team). I also had dreams about the guy I sat next to in Spanish class - Sam, and this random cute guy I saw on my way to the cafeteria at lunch - Charb.

KIWI is driving us nuts! I don't know how I get along so well with my friends, the way Eileen and I act. I understand she's new, she's the nicest person and I've been MEGA-patient with her, but it is seriously like trying to teach my mom how to do something. My mom barely speaks English and she's never used a computer before. This girl, oops, I mean "woman," (thats what Stan told us last week - a "woman" is starting on Monday) is a Cal State LA grad but she's about 10 years older than me... she smells like mothballs, I have to explain everything to her a couple times, even when she takes notes, and she can't write hard enough on the deposit slips to make the carbon copy. Glad to get that off my chest. Back to trying to be patient. I know Stan was desperate for someone to start during tax season and the qualified girl he hired quit before she started. I was complaining to my family that she's worse than teaching mom and dad something and Paulo (my younger bro) said, "Hey, lay off on mom and dad. You mean, the first time you sat in front of a computer, you didn't pick up the mouse, swirl it in the air and ask how it works?"

TOP TEN REASONS WHY I SHOULD BE HAPPY DANTE MOVED OUT:

10. Save money on toilet paper - he uses half a roll everytime he goes to the bathroom. Save money on groceries too. Also save time and money on laundry.
9. No more listening to neighbors complain about anything and everything he does. He is a pain in the ass to a lot of people though.
8. No more trying to watch TV while someone is chatting on the phone. I can watch my sitcoms or reality shows or war coverage in peace. No more fighting for phone time either. No more fighting for computer time - its all me baby!
7. No girls calling every 10 minutes asking for him - actually it was this one pathetic girl he met online who calls him every night, every 10 minutes and if I pick up the phone and say he's not here, she'll wait a whole 30 minutes before calling again. He doesn't want to talk to her either, even when he was home. The magic of Caller ID - I think she thinks when we don't pick up the phone, we don't know who called and how many times.
6. More room in bed - I can sleep in any direction I feel like. More room in the closets and the drawers and the room is cleaner. And, my carpet doesn't serve as a napkin anymore.
5. I don't ever have to see that gross neighbor downstairs anymore. I don't have to smell his stinky body odor in the apartment anymore. Idiot also smokes marijuana too and you know that stinks.
4. No more listening to a bunch of bullshit promises I know are lies anyway - Oh wait, I still have to... and I get more of that than when he lived with me.
3. I can start surrounding myself with intelligent people again. No more dealing with Dante and the low-class people he chooses to associate with. I want to hang out with more people with the same background as me (college educated), who can also understand Conan O'Brien and Dennis Miller jokes, who have seen every episode of Seinfeld and who knows a little about politics, etc. Bring it on!
2. I needed to get over it sometime anyway. It wasn't ever going to work out and this way he's out of my life completely. I'm 100% single instead of 50% single. First move - Thomas, the apartment manager! :)
1. I can stop having to act like a mother to an unappreciative and irresponsible kid. Dude, there's a reason you're still unemployed!

I don't know if I mean everything on the list. I'm just trying to get it in my head that I'm better off not living with Dante.

Jim Carrey's ex-wife says his daughter can't live on $10,000 a month... geez. I wonder how much he pays in addition for alimony per month (if its not included in the $10k). The ex is saying she can't give the daughter the life she has when she is with her dad (10% of the time) and in order to do that, she needs to move to a new residence or build a $200,000 addition to their house, etc. I know Jim Carrey can totally afford it, but still. Don't ask for more money under the pretense that its for the kid, not for you. My client pays his ex-wife $6,000 a month for alimony and child support and the kid just turned 18 - we're not sure if she can live on $2,000 less a month so they're going to have to come to an agreement about something.

Is it wrong to make fun of people who aren't as bright as you (not to their face of course)? I turned Dante into a Republican a while back and yesterday he was having an argument with this Democrat but he was IMing me asking what to say. I'm assuming this girl is uneducated too cause thats the type of people he likes to hang around. At one point, she was blaming Bush for the economy and I just threw in Reagan, "trickle-down economics", the first Bush, business cycles, Alan Greenspan and his interest rate changes, how the economy was going up when Bush left office, how the economy was bad already when Bush II came into office and how it takes time to make a change. Then I talked about how Bush really doesn't have that much power in that sense because he can't pass anything without the approval of the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Democrats had control of the Senate until this last election in 2002, yada yada yada. I was IMing Mike at the same time and telling him what I was doing and saying how they're just gonna take it cause it sounds like I know what I'm talking about. Then Mike IMs me back, "yeah, they're going to ask about the House of Representatives and the Senate - they're in Washington DC right?" I reply, "Is it a real House?" and he says, "Apartment of Representatives". Then she gets into the war and how Bush is only doing it to finish what his dad started and I go off about how we had different objectives back then (to get Iraq out of Kuwait) and then I told him to read her that thing I posted a couple days ago about how Bush would be blamed for not taking action when Saddam finally does use his weapons of mass destruction, etc... Dante IMs me, "baby, I love you. I love me a woman who knows her stuff. you should go into politics" so I'm assuming she conceded.