Back in Town

I have been so terrible at writing lately! Eek! Well, I've been home and back, fun times, and now I am all work and some play. Somehow I am not scheduled for New Year's Day, which is just meh because I didn't have anything planned anyway. The work Christmas (well, holiday) party is tonight and the best part of all is that I don't have to bring any food and embarrass myself.

The ride home with Rob was both boring and fun, equally. We went through Luzerne and Buttzville, but I didn't manage to get a picture of the sign. I had to stop and go to the bathroom three times, and Rob didn't go once. Amazing! We stopped by his apartment for a while before going to the train station, and I was like, "a basement! Three floors! Walk-in closet! Swoon!".

All right, now I have to get dressed. I can almost kinda promise some pictures soon.

Food at Work

I was really tired after Daniel and I got home from Blockheads today, so I fell asleep at like 8:45. So now instead of waking up at five, I was up at two. Awesome. I'm using this time wisely to watch Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown because I have never actually seen a Peanuts movie before. Hopefully this is one of the better ones.

And although I hear that this is just an anomaly, every time I go to work it's like, "more food?". There was a reception for some local high school last night with wine, crackers, grapes, lots of cheese, dried cranberries, olives, yogurt and chocolate-covered almonds, and chocolate-covered raisins. And a whole plate of cookies! I stayed late after I punched out and generously helped several of my superiors finish the wine. I am a model employee. Then I had leftover cookies for lunch.

In addition, today there was a memo asking if anyone was available to work New Year's Day, which I totally am as long as the shift isn't too early. To entice the workers, the boss is even going to have this whole brunch thing set up for employees and customers. Even better, there's going to be a Christmas party in a week and a half with many courses and one girl's candy-dipped chocolate bacon sprinkled in vanilla bean ice cream. It's something to try, at least.

Travis left me a message about picking him up from the Greyhound station at some unholy hour Monday morning. Unfortunately for his legion of Pittsburgh-based fans, he'll only be in town until Tuesday because the great unnamed public radio organization needs someone there manning the radio waves on Christmas.

And ooh, ooh, mystery shop coming up! It's at, uh, Tony's Naples and I'll be going tomorrow with Election-Night Mitch. Luckily there are a lot of meat-free options, but not so luckily it's at Times Square so I can't see whether or not Frank is still gainfully employed. Oh, Frank.

Semester is Over

If you can believe it (and I cannot), my last project was just submitted nigh one minute ago. I wasn't stressed or anything about it, unlike my classmates, because the professor pretty much told us on the first day of class that it was impossible to fail, and if we did terribly on our final project she would just let us do it again. That kind of relieved some tension.

In addition, I presented my author study (go E.L. Konigsburg!) last night, so that's finished as well. No class until January 20! Yay!

Since I had no idea how long this would take today, I don't work until 6:00 tonight. I may go up to 125th street and get some groceries - oh, get this: I have no food in the apartment. Well, there's lame stuff like tomato sauce and condensed milk, but it's hard to construct meals from that. I'm down to eating condiments. This morning, I ate a bowl of microwaved green beans from a bag in the freezer with tuna (thanks Aunt Bonnie) and alfredo sauce. Creative! It seems like I only have half-meals, like I have oatmeal but ran out of jam to mix in with it. I have frozen veggies, but no rice. Frozen fries, but no cookie sheet to bake them on. Graham cracker crust with no pie filling. You get the idea.

Yesterday was full of research studies; I had my preliminary interview for this brainwave study which includes me wearing the dorkiest-looking bathing cap thing. Oh, and there's all of these rules that I have to obey in the 12 hours before I go in, like no alcohol or caffeine or nicotine; hair must be clean and dry, without any styling product, no braids; no makeup or earrings, etc. Apparently they put all of this gel goop in your hair, so I have to bring shampoo and conditioner with me because there's no way I would leave the building with that nasty stuff on my head.

Then came the olfactory one at Rockefeller University, and I really wish that the coordinator would have told me that they had to attach electrodes to my right foot because I was wearing tights and socks. I just sat in a chair and watched this nature film about fish (I was supposed to be calm) and there were prompts on the screen that told me when I needed to sniff a particular vial. Good lord, I had to sniff like a hundred times. I don't have any brain cells left.

Work is going to be pretty regular this week; tonight's shift is 6-10, then tomorrow 10-6, Thursday and Friday 9-5, and Saturday 10-6. After that I don't work for awhile because, hooray, I'm flying home on Sunday.

Oh! Things went down at the 67th street library yesterday! Oh man! First, this woman's toddler was being really irritating and getting into everything and crying and stuff, then finally he pulls down all of these books from the counter and I think one hit him in the face. Yeah, that shouldn't be funny, except that it is. Anyways, he starts freaking out and crying louder, and the girl working the check-out desk makes some snarky comment about how the mom should have watched him better (ooh!) and the mom FREAKS OUT and is all like, "who are you to say that? What's your name?! I'm gonna report you!" and the clerk is not having any of it and starts yelling back (yelling! in the library) until FINALLY, this nine-month-pregnant lady starts getting into it on the mom's side and threatens the clerk and then EVERYBODY freaks out and it was so, so fun. Public disturbances are my natural high.

Busy At Work

Today was my third day of work, and the first day of the semi-annual 20% off (practically) everything in the store sale. We had signs up that were like, "20% off everything!" which made me uncomfortable because no, we don't give 20% off textbooks, magazines, or short-discount items. And it's impossible to tell what books are short-discounted because the only indication is the presence of a 0 on the price sticker. Hence, several customers were Severely Displeased when their purchases did not qualify for the reduction. "But the sign says everything!" they would plead, and I would silently agree with them while having to hem and haw and say well, it doesn't really mean everything. And then they'd get kind of cranky with me.

The goodly manager bought everyone pizza for lunch because we were busy, and one step above that in awesomeness was that we didn't have to punch out for lunch. Pizza! With toppings! On the clock!

And yesterday, one of the other employees came downstairs and was like, "Alaina, do you want any beer?" I was immediately wary and thought, "Oh no, this is some kind of test where they try and figure out how likely it is that I'm going to drink on the job" so I was like, "why....?". Apparently one of the managers just bought several six-packs for everyone to share. Hooray for fun bookstores where employees actually enjoy their jobs!

I spent a considerable amount of time as the bag checker/gift wrapper extraordinaire. The first book that I wrapped was terribly done. I was actually embarrassed for this person who had to give it to someone else as a present. However, after awhile I was getting pretty good and I am confident that my wraps will be acceptable in the future.

One age group that is conspicuously absent is the 5-18 year old crowd. We get some babies in strollers, and a lot of young college types, but really nothing in between. This is actually good news, because a) I don't want to have to set up a display again if a kid knocks it down, and b) I don't have to worry about a parent coming up to me and being like, blah blah something is inappropriate, and won't you think of the children?!?

And this is why my concentration is in Youth Services.

So, the Blarney Stone! It was excellent! It wasn't quite as dark and shady as the naysayers on Yelp had made it out to be. I ordered the 1/2 pound cheeseburger with homemade onion rings and a gigantic collector's cup soda for $8.00. Mitch got a cheesesteak without the steak, so it was really just cheese and onions. Afterwards we went to the Wendy's on 45th and Lexington to redeem two of my terrific free junior Frosty coupons, and the greatest thing happened. We were served the Frosties, but the cashier didn't want the coupons! Huzzah! I still have nine left!

Now Daniel is out having a grand old time (I was out with him earlier but left after an hour or so because I was tired and lame) and I have to buzz him in when he gets home. Where are you, Daniel? I want to go to bed! Stop having fun!

Not So Sick, Not So Unemployed

Life is ... looking good lately (and I say this tentatively, because you know my next post will be like "OH GOD, how has all of this misery befallen me in such a short time?!?"). My puffy, irritated tonsils have been placated with much gargling and soothing tones. I didn't follow Brooke's nasty advice about garlic tea, but I did break down and try salt in hot water, which is still gross but rather effective. The sleeping problem is still ... a problem. Despite a) waking up at 5:00 AM yesterday, b) putting in a full day's work at the bookstore, and c) drinking my troubles away with the finest shiraz, I still was wide awake at 4:15 AM. Why? WHY?

And because we had no hot water last night, I figured that I could at least be productive and wash my hair. So I did, and then I had some leftover cupcakes, and finished Desperately Seeking Susan. Good lord, no wonder people are all like, "You live in New York? Aren't you afraid all the time? Have you ever been robbed? Are you friends with the crack addicts?"

You know, I came to the mid-Manhattan library ostensibly to do some work on my collection development project but now I'm just listening to the Safety Dance song and writing about, uh, non-library things.

But the bookstore! And I'm working again! People deserve to hear my stories! I trained yesterday, and am generally liking it so far. The computer system is ancient, and it kind of makes me nervous since it's very unforgiving if you make a mistake. And they have lovely tote bags that are only $2.95 and then I think I get a 40% discount on top of that. Who wants one? I bought two yesterday, and will probably post a picture later.

One of my favorite parts about my new job is that it will allow me to continue taking part in new and exciting research studies. Hooray for science!

I have plans today to lunch with Election Night Mitch (remember him?). I made him pick the restaurant last time we ate together, so now it was my turn and I chose the Blarney Stone Pub, which is supposed to be the diveyest place ever but with good, cheap food and beer. Here are the reviews, and my favorite parts:

So who cares that it's a total dive? Who cares that the women's room is down a staircase which looks like it's leading into some hidden labyrinth? Who cares if it sometimes smells like an odd mixture of seafood and sweat? THERE ARE $3 BEERS!

I was at this place last weekend on a business trip. The food and service were great. However, the whole time I was there this little bald dude kept running around screaming BlackFox and making ears on his head with his fingers. Later he flashed what appeared to be an M W with his fingers. I didn't know if it was a gang sign or some sort of homosexual signal so I high talied it out of there with the quickness.

Well, I contacted them about a week later and asked about this tiny man. They said he is a regular and they feel sorry for him since he is mentally handicapped and thinks he is a Fox.

OK, so you would need to jump up to dive into this dive, its that dreary and depressing on the inside. If you look up dive bar in the dictionary, its picture will be there, HOWEVER, the food is incredible and cheap.

Wish us luck!

Snizzlefleezies

OoooOOOOooh, first snow in New York City!







It was a pretty good one, too! The cars got a light dusting. Now I've had enough snow for one season. We can go straight to spring now.





In more unfortunate news, I have a raging, painful infection in both tonsils that will not go away. Ow. My friend Brooke recommended some weird tea made with four cloves of garlic, some honey, juice, and a heaping spoonful of cayenne pepper. Blech. Oh, and she's currently mute and has the same thing I do, so clearly it didn't help her too much.

Daniel, our poor little lamb, is sick as well but not with the same thing.

But on the upside, I went to my interview at Book Culture on Friday kind of nervous because the last interview I had at a bookstore did not go well (thanks, Borders). However, I didn't even need the eloquent connections I had made between my library and customer service experience because the guy who I had the interview with was basically like, "Sooo! When can you start?". I don't know why they even had me come in.

Oh, and in addition to the diseased throat I have also been having a lot of trouble sleeping past 6:00 AM. And am losing my appetite. This is my rapid descent into senior citizenry.

Fear Conditioning Study

This anesthesia study that I'm doing had the first opening on the 17th, so I said that was okay but then I came home and NOPE, there's the MRI study on the 17th. So, sadface, I had to email her back and say that I couldn't make it and that we'd have to schedule it for after Christmas, which I did not want to do.

However, the stars aligned and she called me yesterday saying that the girl who was supposed to come in today got the flu and woo, they have an opening. And yep, I just happen to have a four hour chunk of time completely free.

So there were all these restrictions, like I had to get there at 8:30 AM and I had to have a good night's sleep (didn't happen) and I couldn't eat or drink anything from midnight on. I managed to get there on time using a creative combination of subways and buses, and they did the standard height-weight-blood pressure-pregnancy test combo. Some Australian man named Kane (as in Toad? I quipped, and he said No, as in the fictional unhappy mogul who died alone, thanks Mom) came in and told me all about the study, which I had already heard about but suppose must be done for legal purposes. They gave me a shot of lidocaine (sp?) which barely hurt and then came the saline solution IV, which didn't hurt at all.

We just chilled and waited for some dude named James to show up, and everyone was super friendly and talked to me for a long time. This is in stark contract to most studies where they treat you like you're a child and if there isn't anything happening, they leave the room.

Anyways, we went into the Experiment Room (it looked like a small tech room) and they attached the mystery solution (could have been a placebo, don't forget!) to my IV bag. We just hung out for a little longer, and James who finally arrived started with the EKG and the GRS and other abbreviated scientific data collectors.

The first experiment was me sitting in front of a computer while different words flashed on the screen for about a half second. My job was to remember as many as I could. Let me tell you, I was rock city. Citizen Kane said I scored four standard deviations above normal. Hee hee hee, this is in direct opposition to the normal function of my short-term memory. Here were the words, in roughly the same order:

cotton
glory
thorn
ambulance
material
artist
amplifier
deceit
hall
speaker
gender
Socialist
henchmen
slush
kindness
safety

Because I recognize that I have a terrible, terrible memory I started making up a story the first time. It went kinda like, "there's this guy picking cotton for the glory of the South, and oops, all of a sudden he gets stuck with a thorn and needs an ambulance. While in the hospital, he notices that his gown is made of a cottonlike material. He is inspired and becomes an artist, using an amplifier to spread his message. But there's deceitful henchmen in the hall! He's the speaker, deriding the concept of gender and the Socialists, and he has to run out in the slush so he can find kindness and safety."

On the first trial, I was able to remember fourteen words. For the subsequent trials (there were four, administered at various points during the morning) I remembered the entire fun-filled story and didn't miss any. I asked Kane at the end what other people's stories were like, because although they could not have been as exciting as mine they were probably still interesting. He said that everyone else just tried to remember them in order. Lame!

The second one had me hooked up to an electrical apparatus that would give me a small shock (it didn't hurt) at various times as I looked at pictures of yellow and blue squares. It only came after the blue squares at first, and then it never came back. I had to use a joystick to note whether or not I predicted I would be shocked after each shape came up. One neat point: I have no conditioning reflexes. This is not a good thing, I think. Kane said that most everyone else, after being shocked two or three times after the blue squares, would show a huge spike from their galvanized skin receptors even if there was no shock afterwards. He said that mine just stayed steady the entire time.

Next was a really boring one where I had to look at modified Chinese characters and say whether or not I thought they were aesthetically pleasing or not. Easy enough. I learned later that there was a subliminal flash of a face before the character was shown, so it's possible that I was influenced that way. After this, I did the same thing except the subliminal flash was slowed down so that I could just barely see the face and I was instructed to note whether or not I thought it was happy or fearful.

And that was it! They let me pick anything I wanted to eat for lunch from the Amish Market (turkey bacon panini and Pom juice) but I had to just hang around for another hour and a half so they could make sure that I didn't swoon on the bus ride home or anything. Kane informed me that I did indeed get an anesthetic, propylene or something. I was kinda nervous beforehand because the last time I was under anesthetic I was miserable and couldn't stop throwing up on things. Luckily this didn't happen.

They also told me about this other experiment that's going on and I'll probably sign up for it even though it's $20 less. These are lean times, my friends.

Mystery Shops

Sunday night was the second mystery shop I did for a new company, and they have a much larger bankroll because the reimbursement was up to $120, plus a bonus. Hooray! Daniel and I went to a hotel rooftop lounge, and it overlooked Lincoln Center and was beautiful. Verdict: don't get the rum and coke, since there was way too much ice. If you ask the bartender for a recommendation, he may just make you the "Adam is the best bartender in the world.com", which is some mixture of coconut and something with sugar on the rim. Tasty! Don't get the food, though - super expensive and not much substance.

Now I have another Texas BBQ on Thursday.

Today I went to the scary sounding Fear Conditioning Study pre-visit. It won't be as bad as it sounds, unless I have been seriously misled by the researcher. I was all nervous about these 'electric shocks' that they are going to administer until she let me feel one and it was barely anything. Slightly annoying, if anything.

It's been cold lately, but no snow! I was a fool yesterday and thought that a light jacket would suffice. Wrong. So wrong. I had to walk from 125th and Malcolm X Blvd to 107th and Broadway, freezing the entire time.