Over the past nine months of riding on the bus, I’ve noticed that many people who fall asleep on the bus end up with rather unpleasant expressions on their faces. Usually they’re frowning (angry eyebrows and pursed lips), but I’ve seen one woman whose expression was one of disgust while sleeping. Pretty strange.
I wonder what people would say if they knew they were being stared at by a stranger who took pictures of them. I’d be pretty freaked out. Me, I limit my pictures to their clothing, accessories, or hair– I don’t include their faces. Today’s notable sight:
woman on bus
Today was a gray day. The weather couldn’t make up its mind as to snow or rain, so it did both. If weather were a person, it’d be that one indecisive friend that everyone has. You know, the friend who takes forever and a day to make even the most inconsequential decisions so that you want to punch them in the face sometimes? Yay me for living in such a place!
Due to the weirdly not-so-bad snow, the buses were running a little off schedule. I ended up waiting outside for about 10-15 minutes because the first two buses that came were too full. Meanwhile, a tool cut in line in front of me while we were waiting to board a bus (you have to let the people off the bus first). I was like, really? You think we’re all just standing here because we’re excited to? And then after he tried to get on the bus in front of everyone but realized there were people getting off, he then just cut in line to the front instead of going back to where he was at originally.
I spent the next 20 minutes annoyed that he cut in front of me and debated whether to tell him to get out of line. My natural inclination was to say something, but a desire not to be petty had me remaining silent. That didn’t stop me from glaring, though. After too much thought upon this trivial matter, I’ve decided that the next time someone annoys me by cutting in line, I’m going to say something. Who gives a crap what a stranger thinks of you anyway? As long as that stranger isn’t a cop, or your soon-t0-be boss or something, that is.
Three minutes. That’s all it took to miss my bus and watch it leave in a puffy cloud of steam and exhaust while I was still hoofing it in the stairwell.
Damn the weather for forcing me to defrost my car.
Hopefully this isn’t an omen of how this next year at my job will be. Thankfully, I have a boss who is out sick or at doctor appointments a lot, so she’s pretty lax about the occasional attendance slip up.
It’s January 1 and I’m off to a roaring start with a big, fat honking pimple on my chin. Just great, since I’d thought that I’d finally escaped looking like a high-schooler trapped in the throes of adolescent hormones and acne.
All in all, my day hasn’t been too spectacular by any means. Woke up from a nightmare as usual (one of my favorites: in the dream I forgot to feed my pets and by the time I remember they’re all dead or dying); felt a moment of relief that it was Saturday and that I wasn’t at work, but then remembered that it was New Year’s.
It’s not that I necessarily have anything against a new year, but I rarely feel like I have enough accomplishments to meet the next year with my head up. December 31 always brings a sense of pressure, disappointment, and who-knows-what-else as I think back over the past year to see what I’ve done. The 2010 year wasn’t as bad as some of the previous years: I got a new job, so I went from being a always-pissed-on contractor at Microsoft to a full-time permanent employee at a downtown Seattle firm; I’ve been challenging myself more with jewelry; moved out of the basement of my Chinese overlords to my own house. I guess it hasn’t been too bad at all. On the other hand, I then reflect on the things I did NOT do: finish painting the new house; sell my old car; arrange better living conditions (have almost no furniture); save more money; start my own business.
Rather than continue this very cheerful train of thought, I decided to get up. I was rather disturbed from the nightmare, so I took this as my chance to call my parents and douse myself in some parental love. This was the next best thing compared to what I used to do: sneak into my parents’ room after a nightmare, blanket and teddy bear in hand (I may have been around 17).
Had lunch (fish and chips) with the bf and his mom, and then wandered around at Target for a bit because I felt a little cabin feverish. Even for a hermit such as myself, staying at home 24/7 starts to wear a little thin.
At some point in my day after perusing FB and the multitude of New Year’s resolutions people are so fond of posting, I began to wonder whether I should strike up any resolutions for myself. It seemed a rather daunting prospect because everyone knows that resolutions are rarely kept. Should I even bother? I’m not exactly a person who always keeps my word 100% of the time, but I do try to maintain at least a pretense of being equal to my promises. Was there any resolution that I could even come close to keeping? Going to the gym is a laughable idea–I know myself too well. Eat healthier? Bleh, no fun.
Maybe I could write a blog post every day? I might be able to keep up barring any illnesses, as long as my posts can be of any length. I may occasionally resort to Twitter style posts when pressed for time, or am just feeling too lazy. Or maybe I should play it safe and just say I’ll blog more often than before. That’s really a kind of a cop-out since it would only take about 10 posts to reach that goal. If the point of a resolution is to make a significant change, then I guess that would be pretty weak sauce. Ok, ok, here it is.
I’ll commit to 5 posts a week.
It’s funny comparing how you live now compared to how you lived in college. I remember back then when the idea of earning a $40k/yr salary seemed astronomical to me right after I’d graduated. Now, not so much. Life was all about disposable furniture, stealing cable tv, and take-out that never cost more than $5. I really miss those days.
Why is it that the more you make the more you seem to spend? Granted, I now have a mortgage and car payments, and I’ve caught up on almost all of my financial obligations (mostly keeping my multitude of student loans current). Three years ago I had $15k in credit card debt, no job, and had defaulted on all of my bills. You can only imagine how this affected my credit score. Now, I have zero credit card debt and I’ve brought almost all of my debts current.
These days, I don’t really spend too much on stuff other than the necessities, and yet I feel like I’m on a pretty tight budget. It’s really the student loans that are killing me. Damn you law school! It makes me sick to think of how much I’d have saved by now even with moderate spending habits if I hadn’t had loans.
I need some more money set aside every month so that I won’t be sol if I lose my job or something else happens.
What are some good ways to make some extra cash on the side?
