My cat, Maya, has been missing since January 26th. We thought we had fully closed our front door when we went out that night, but we accidentally left it slightly ajar. She pawed it open, as she's been known to do with interior doors, and escaped. We've put up *LOST CAT* posters in the neighborhood. I've also put an ad in the Lost section of the classifieds and on Craig's List. I've also been to the Animal Shelter once and it was like visiting Kitty Death Row. She wasn't there, but I plan to go there every few days (as sad as it is) for a while, just to make sure she isn't there, because they only hold animals 5 days before euthanizing them. Every time I drive in the area around our house, I'm paranoid that I'm going to find her dead on the road, having been hit by a car. I don't hold out a lot of hope that she'll turn up. It's pretty much like she's died to me. She was an indoor cat with practically no experience of being outside, except in our backyard. We live in a complex of townhouses that all look the same, so I don't think she'd know how to find her way back to her specific house even if she wanted to. I've put some food on the front porch, just in case, but I think that the other outdoor cats in the area have been eating it. I plan to put up some *LOST CAT* flyers, with pictures, in the windows of some local businesses, if they'll let me. If she hasn't turned up in a week or two, I'll consider her lost for good. I'm actually a little mad at her, as irrational as that sounds, for giving up her comfortable life with us, and stupidly wandering off. I know cats don't think in those terms, but it's still aggravating.

I'll put a picture with this entry for posterity's sake, just in case she really never comes back. I know I may sound apathetic about this, but in truth I'm very sad to have lost my cat. She was a good pet and I've had her for 8 years. I'll miss her a lot if I never see her again.

My Opa, Gene Bowman, passed away at home, surrounded by his family. He was greatly loved and will be missed by everyone that knew him. His memorial service is going to be held tomorrow evening. I don't really want to go into details here, but suffice it to say that I'm very saddened by his passing, but I am also happy that he's no longer trapped in a body that wouldn't do what he wanted it to anymore. I'm glad he can finally be at peace.

I'm excited about this next season of the US "Office". I've been looking forward to it for a while now. I wish I could still download it from iTunes and watch it at my leisure though. Curse you NBC!

Matt and I drove to Tallahassee last night for the first of many shows we're attending in the next 2 months. We went to see Midlake at their only scheduled Florida appearance ever. They sounded great live. I'm glad we went. They only downside was that there was this screaming idiot at the back of the small venue that hollered all manner of idiocy throughout the performance. Supposedly the band had talked to this guy before the show, because the lead guitarist, at one point, said "Is that Ben?" referring to screaming guy. He then related a story about how this particular guy had talked to the band before the show saying he needed to have a heart-to-heart talk. He then proceeded to yell about his support of a certain sports team that lost some game. All this was related to us on stage from the lead guitarist of Midlake. Whatever the case, the guy was obnoxious and I wish people like him wouldn't attend live shows, but invariably, there's always one. I hate it when people are so attention deprived in their day to day lives that they have to come to shows and act out to get noticed. I assume that's why they do what they do.

Anyway, despite screaming guy and this other strange drunk and/or crazy guy that kept beckoning to the audience to come closer to the stage, the show was great and well worth the 3 hour drive. Next up will be The Sea and Cake on September 24th at Club Down Under (also in Tallahassee). This will be my second time seeing them live and I'm looking forward to it. I like their new album quite a bit, and the older stuff is great too. They're playing at a larger venue than Midlake, so if there happens to be the inevitable annoying guy or two, they won't be as disruptive to the experience.

So, for the past 3 weeks or so, business at the restaurant has been extremely slow. To the point of being painful and worrisome. To make matters worse, the owner is freaking out about labor cost (which is understandable). However, the way he goes about solving this problem is becoming a thorn in the sides of pretty much all employees, servers included.

I suppose that the people that are getting hurt most by the time cuts are register people and line cooks. They are paid an hourly wage, and being sent home 3+ hours earlier than they are scheduled to every day is definitely putting a strain on their incomes. Granted, most of the register and line people that are sent home early are still in high school and don't really have many "real world" expenses yet. It's still extremely unfair for them to be expected to show up to work and then a mere two hours later be sent home because there isn't enough business to require their presence.

The part that is angering me and my fellow servers is that management is trying to send us home early as well. We are all, with a few exceptions, making only $3.13 per hour plus whatever we can eke out in tips. Therefore, why on earth is management (namely the owner and the kitchen manager) trying to send us home early to cut labor costs? We barely cost them anything in the first place, so if we choose to stay on for our entire scheduled shift in the hopes of making a few extra dollars, it shouldn't be an issue. To make matters more irritating, if we do choose to not be literally bullied out the door, we have to deal with the constant looming of said owner or manager. It's infuriating. It's unnecessary. It's causing us all to be on edge and therefore bitchy.

I keep hoping that business will pick up and help calm things down. It's getting to the point where I and I'm sure a lot of others are dreading going into work everyday. Not only because I'm not making enough money, but also because or the management shadow constantly looming over us and trying to make us leave. It's almost like we aren't welcome there anymore. Today they kept sending everyone home until there was only the owner, kitchen manager, me and Lauren H. left. They sent the cooks home and then took over the kitchen themselves, and screwed up every single order that was sent back thereafter. It was rediculous! I can't wait for the weekend!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20381678/

1 in 4 adults hasn't read a single book in the last year!?!? I believe it, but it still makes me cringe. Being as books are one of my favorite forms of escapism and that I'm usually reading multiple books at any given time, it's hard for me to imagine going an entire year without cracking a single book. 25% of the adult population (the article didn't say if this survey was just for the U.S. or the world) don't read for pleasure or otherwise. What is the world coming to?!

...has a song called "Desiree". I know it's silly, but that's exciting to me. We're going to see his show in a little over a month, and it'll be a little thrill if he plays "my" song. It's fun when my name comes up in pop culture, especially since it's not a very common name. I was, in fact, named after a Neil Diamond song. The new Caribou song is much nicer. I'll have to let my Dad listen to it, since he was the one that wanted to name me Desiree in the first place.

On a side note, I got an FM transmitter for my iPod so I can finally use it in my car again. I was only $50-ish, which is much cheaper than getting my car outfitted with the VW iPod setup. The only problem with the transmitter is that there is occasional static if it's not positioned just right. I'm fairly confident that once I've had it a little while, I can find a sweet spot so that's not a problem anymore. It'll be nice to have a large, compact, music selection for my commute again.

-Amended September 4th, 2007

I ended up returning the FM transmitter I originally bought and got a Monster CarTrip instead. The first transmitter's performance was much too inconsistent for me to keep it. The new one, so far, works much better and it also has the ability to charge the iPod via the cigarette lighter jack. We just took it on a 3 hour road-trip to Tallahassee and it worked almost flawlessly. I'm much happier with this product and think it will permanently solve my iPod/car situation. It's also still cheaper ($89) than getting my car outfitted with a "ghetto rigged" auxillary jack to plug my iPod into.

I finished reading The Deathly Hallows last night. I was not disappointed in the last book. I laughed, I cried, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I thought she tied things up nicely. I'm sad that it's over, but I think she did a very nice job wrapping up the series in a way that will satisfy most readers. Now I have to give the book to my grandma so she can enjoy it too. All those who say that J.K. Rowling isn't a good writer and that these books are kids' books can go jump in a lake. :) If a book can generate enough emotional attachment to it's characters to make one cry, it's a good book in my opinion. Anyway. I tried to be as vague as possible so as not to spoil anything for anyone. I'm sure as time goes on, it'll be safer to discuss it more freely. I managed to read the book through without having it spoiled for me, so I wouldn't want to spoil it accidentally for anyone else.

I finally uploaded pictures of my new car to my Flickr account. Here they are.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48986749@N00/sets/72157600703321744/

I bought a new car Monday. It's a 2006 Volkswagen Rabbit with a little over 5000 miles on it. I got a great deal on it. One too good to pass up. It's a manual, so I've had to get used to driving it. So far, I'm doing pretty good, with a few mistakes here and there. It's nice having a new, reliable car for a change. Now I need to have my Probe diagnosed and possibly fixed so I can sell it. That's going to be a drag. If it's going to be too expensive for me to fix myself, I plan to sell it for whatever it's book worth is minus the repair costs. We'll just have to see how it goes.

Okay, so today at work, I had a table that everyone, except Carey, hates waiting on. It's a family of about 6 or so, run by a matriarchal bitch of a lady. Unfortunately, Carey wasn't here today, so lucky little me got stuck with them.

I need to go back in time a couple of years to explain why this table is a pain in my and everyone else's ass. Two years ago, Ben (the owner) had a July 4th special where one could get a free gallon of sweet tea when they bought a family pack. It was a limited time special for the fourth of July weekend. Unfortunately, this also happened to be the first time this family came to the restaurant. So, ever since then, this woman has gotten it into her head that they should be entitled to free sweet tea EVERY time they sit down to eat a family pack in our restaurant.

The reason they like Carey is because Carey is a pushover and has continued to allow this woman to bully her way into getting free drinks. Well, today, Laurin and I weren't having it. I was going to charge them for their fucking tea. Everyone else has to pay for drinks, why the fuck did she think she was so special. Who the fuck does she think she is. It's the principle of the matter!!

So, I ring up the teas along with everything else, and when the time comes, hand her the bill. Now earlier in the meal, when I first brought her her drink and she saw that I was her server, she asked, "Is Carey here?" I told her he wasn't. Then she said, "Well, Carey always gives us free tea with our meal." I kind of look at her for a minute and then give her a look that basically was supposed to convey, "Well, bitch, I'm not Carey now am I." So, after I lay the check down, I kind of run away and wait to see what happens back by the server station. Well what happens is she marches (literally) up to the front counter. I see that there is a credit card sticking out of the check-book, so I go up to take her payment. She, however wants to speak with the manager. The manager today was Michael. I had told him earlier that this woman always makes a fuss about paying for her drinks because Carey keeps giving them to her for free. He said he was going to talk to her about it if she made a scene. HOWEVER, when he came over to talk with her, he pussed out. I think 3 people had gotten tea at the table. The woman says "We have NEVER had to pay for tea when we eat here." And, instead of Michael telling her that everyone else has to pay for drinks when they eat here, and why did she think she should be exempt, he compromised! /sigh. So he took off 2 of the teas (for the woman and her husband) but left one on for a guy that none of us has seen before. She still had the gall to complain to her husband when she got back to the table and still had to pay for one fucking tea! GAH!

So, Laurin and I were pissed off that Michael had chickened out and let the bitch bulldoze her way to getting free shit again. This also, made me look like the ass in the situation, even though I was the one in the right. So, while I was stocking tables after the family had left, I had a funny little thought about how to get revenge. Now, I'll never really do this, but it would be awesome if I really had the balls to. I told Laurin that if she ever comes in again and pulls the same shit, we should give her free drinks, but then put a Miscellaneous Food charge on the check for whatever the drinks would be worth, and call it "Bitch Tax." It would be great to see the look on her face when she saw it there. I really hate it when people have a false sense of entitlement like this woman does and use intimidation to get their way. Seriously, who the fuck does she think she is!

Rant over. :)

But, seriously, what are some people thinking when they named their children. Do they realize their child will be stuck with this name for the rest of their life? I ask this because today I waited on a woman that has the second worst name I've seen so far doing this job. Her name was Latrangerla (rhymes with Tarantula) and this I learned upon running her credit card. I was both amused and appalled. What the fuck were this woman's parents thinking! This isn't the worst I've seen. As I said before, this is the SECOND worst I can recall. The absolute worst is unbelievably bad. Wait for it....wait for it....(drum roll).

It was Aquanetta. AQUANETTA!!!

Her parents named her after a fucking brand of HAIRSPRAY! And I'm not making this up! It really does make you wonder about people. I really do hope that these two women have been able to come to terms with their tragic given names. They obviously didn't see enough wrong with them to have their names changed somewhere along the line. I'm sure I'm not the only one that's been left scratching their heads after running their credit cards or calling their names out from a school roll call sheet. Ah, the society we live in...../sigh

Later:

I sent Wes this journal entry and he in turn sent me a link to MySpace showing that there are 13 pages of girls on there with the unfortunate name of Aquanetta. Here's the link. I don't know if you have to actually log in to MySpace to see it.

I am now a blonde redhead :)

This song is great!

Matt and I finished watching The Office Season 3 tonight. I love that show so much. I'm sad that I have to wait for a new season to come out before I can watch more. I'm trying to figure out what show, if any, we should get on DVD or iTunes next to watch. I'm thinking a drama, since we've been doing mostly comedies lately. I wonder when The Tudors will be released on DVD. The show is still in progress, so it'll probably be a little while yet. I just checked, and it's not available through iTunes.

I also need to get some more good stand-up on DVD. We, surprisingly, have very little in our otherwise extensive DVD collection. I'll go to Best Buy tomorrow and pick up a couple to watch over the weekend. I hope they have some Eddie Izzard. I have a hankering to watch some of his stuff.

Today I had one of the stranger experiences I've ever had waiting tables. First of all, this particular table wasn't meant to be mine in the first place, it was supposed to be Carey's. He, however, decided while taking their drink orders that he didn't feel "qualified" to deal with them, so turned them over to me. The table was a group of six tourists from Ireland.

So, I take the drinks he's already prepared and handed them out to the four people that have already ordered at this point. There were still two that had not yet ordered drinks, so I asked them what they'd like. The lady asked for things that were not on the menu, and I explained that we unfortunately didn't have milk or orange juice and she stared at me as if she were at a loss about what to do next. So I suggested a bottled water and she accepted. Her obviously befuddled husband ordered a Diet Coke and I walked off to make the drinks a bit disconcerted.

I returned with the drinks and proceeded to take their food orders. This was simple enough. Most got hamburgers and one lady got chicken tenders. The only strange thing about the food ordering part was when the befuddled man from before asked for a baked potato as a side. I asked him if he'd like butter, sour cream, cheese and chives on his potato. His strange wife got really excited and said "Oh, you don't want chives, those are very hot." I then had to explain that chives aren't hot, they're just green onions. So, he decided to get his potato with everything and a lady on the other side of the table commented that "Chives are lovely."

So, I bring the food out and everyone seems happy with their choices, so I leave them to their meal. I went to get two of the people drink refills because by the time the food arrived they were pretty much empty. They got protective of the drinks and said they didn't want refills. I assume because they thought they would be charged for them. I came back a little later to check on them again, and a lady at the end of the table asked if we had any empty "sauce bottles" and gestured to the Hunt's Ketchup bottle on the table. I explained that we didn't. She told me they wanted to have an empty "sauce bottle" to take with them as a souvenir. I told them that they could take the ketchup bottle off the table if they wanted to and they did. I told Carey about this and he wondered if they thought Hunt's was the name of the restaurant. I had no idea and at this point was pretty confused by these people.

I ask the "sauce bottle" lady how/if they want to separate their checks and this is a little hard to understand because she said she wanted them split individually, but there were obviously two sets of couples at the table, so I just separated them my own way and they didn't argue about it. Then, they left, without tipping me.

Now, the no tip thing didn't really throw me off too much because I've waited tables for nearly three years and it's pretty much common knowledge that tourists from Europe don't tip. I realize that they have a different system for such things in Europe, but I still have little patience with it. I would think that if you were going on a trip to a foreign country, you would be informed about things like this. Obviously, these people either weren't informed about tipping American servers, or they didn't care. Thankfully, they paid with cash, so Carey was able to delete one of the burgers from the ticket, leaving me with roughly an $8 tip on a $52 check, which I was happy with.

I don't know if I did a good enough job describing everything that transpired, but these people were weird. Not because they were Irish (although the subtle cultural differences made things worse) but mainly because they were weird people in general. I think that's probably the most disconcerted I've ever felt while waiting tables. That's why I've chosen to write about it in such detail.

For a few days anyway. Matt and Wes left this morning to go to the Ruby on Rails conference in Portland, so I'm all by my lonesome until very early Tuesday morning. So far, I haven't really done much with myself besides veg out and cuddle with Oliver. This weekend I plan to spend some time at my family's house, possibly even spending a night or two over there. I know my grandmother, especially, would really enjoy that. I don't think I've slept over there since Hurricane Dennis a couple years ago. Also, my Dad is on vacation this week, so we'll have the whole family together, minus my brother, who moved out again last Friday.

I'm staying up as late as I can tonight waiting for a Skype call from Matt, telling me that he's arrived at his hotel safely. He sent an email earlier this evening saying that their plane was delayed for an hour in Chicago. This means that they will arrive in Portland after the last train stops running for the night at 11:30. I don't know what they've decided to do about this. Most likely they'll get a cab or rent a car, which sucks, because it'll be expensive. I suppose I'll find out in a few hours, or in the morning. I hope everything works out alright. I'm glad Matt's not alone in the big city because he's not used to cities OR being on his own.

The little family went out to the beach again today. This time we took the camera and got a lot of good pictures. I also got a nice sunburn again on my shoulders, but this time I wore a tank top, so it won't look so silly.

After we got back, we went to pick wild flowers from a field up the road from our house. I made a nice little bouquet that we've put on our coffee table to enjoy.

We went to see Hot Fuzz tonight, and it turned out to be even better than I was expecting it to be. It was hilarious and cleverly written. I hope that team keeps up the good work. I wonder what their next project will be like. Anyway, I'm getting sleepy now, so I'll leave off here. Just wanted to do a quick recap before the day ends completely.

I'm absolutely in love with Blonde Redhead's new album 23. It's beautiful. I've been listening to a lot of new music lately, but this one has had the most impact on me. Even more than "Neon Bible", which is also very good, but I suppose it hasn't hit the emotional chord that 23 has. I can't describe exactly how the music makes me feel. I think it's more that it compliments the way I feel in general lately. I think that's why I'm having such a strong reaction to it. Regardless, it's great, and I will enjoy it no matter what mood I'm in. I love Blonde Redhead! I'm disappointed that their current tour isn't bringing them anywhere near here. Maybe they'll play a gig closer after their European tour. One can hope anyway.

I came home from work today feeling pretty low. It was busy at the restaurant and I've been sad for a multitude of reasons lately. When I walked through the door, the first thing I saw on the coffee table was a huge, beautiful bouquet of red roses. They're gorgeous. Matt surprised me with them, setting them up while he was on his lunch break. I was completely caught unawares. Matt rarely makes romantic gestures like this, which makes it all the more special. We've been having some troubles lately, which is one of the big reasons I've been feeling low. This is a very sweet way for him to let me know that he's trying and making an effort to make things better for us. That may sound corny, but it's true. It definitely brightened what could have otherwise been another bleak day.