Strange things happen when…

You buy a new computer .   First off you get to say things like this: \”The best thing about my new PC? I can download porn in a nanosecond!  That\’s brilliant!\” The looks on their faces? Priceless 😉  Really though, I never did realize just how freaking slow mine was until I bought my new toy (thanks mom <3) So now my usual everyday tasks don\’t take an eternity to happen which means suddenly I have more free time.  You would think that I would use that to do something constructive but no, I play with websites such as the oatmeal and take stupid quizzes just for fun.  I also discover hidden gems such as this: Why its better to pretend that you don\’t know anything about computers (this reminds me of a few people who think I\’m their own personal geek squad)  Here\’s the result(s) of some of them pointless quizzes just for fun because well I know you want to know this and that\’s OK, I\’m not here to judge you.

Don\’t know if this would ever happen but good to know that I would die pretty quickly regardless lol.

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This one was pretty funny and totally random
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More pointless although random fun comic style!:

10 words you need to stop misspelling

4 reasons to carry a shovel at all times…

17 things worth knowing about your cat

How everything goes to hell during a zombie apocalypse

The 6 types of crappy hugs

10 things you NEED to stop tweeting about (priceless!)

8 ways to prepare your pets for war

15(ish) things worth knowing about coffee

How to ride a pony

How a web design goes straight to hell.

7 reasons to keep your Tyrannosaur off of crack

6 reasons bacon is better then true love

The 5 phases of caffeine intake

5 good reasons to punch a dolphin in the mouth

Why i\’d rather be punched in the testicles then call customer service.

The 3 phases of owning a computer

The miserable truth about Santa

20 things worth knowing about beer

How different age groups celebrate Halloween

The motherfucking Pterodactyl

9 types of crappy handshakes

The 8 types of Awkward workouts

and more…

I blame James for this 😉

updates & upheavals…

Good bye social life, enter into workaholic mode instead.  After I left Gryphon I had some serious time to kill since I left there on a Friday and didn\’t start my new job until the following Wed.  Major shift upheaval at its best.  I went from working my nice M-F 9-5 job to working Thursday-Saturday 6pm-4pm and Sunday\’s 5pm-1am. Which is somewhat OK for the most part since I prefer to have a consistent schedule but not having any time off of on the weekend DOES suck just a little.  Oddly enough getting myself to stay up until at least 4am and not rolling out of bed til around 1pm, wasn\’t that difficult.  Granted its going to suck when I have to be awake and alert for a dental appointment at 8am on Thursday.  I\’m going to try & go to sleep a little earlier then the norm, get my dental work done and then go home and take a nap before work so I don\’t screw myself up too badly sleep wise.

I also seem to have developed a new compulsion: working out.  I\’ve never really been \”anti-exercise\” per say but it was never that high on my priority list either.  Now I work out every day, even if its only a quick 20 minute routine I still do it.  It has very little to do with my overall appearance with the exception of my biceps.  Mostly because I have bitching tattoo work and loss of definition has made me slightly anal about it.  I figure if I ain\’t getting none, might as well blow off my frustration somehow right?  I save the heavier routines for my days off simply because once the adrenaline rush wears off, I tend to crash pretty hard right in the middle of my shift.  Not cool if its busy, which fluctuates quite a bit depending on the day.  Which is exactly what happened on Sunday.  I woke up @ 1:15 and had to be at work for 5pm which was the COC ass-rape-a-thon  starring none other then yours truly.  Having a full board usually isn\’t a big deal for me alone but when the orders are all over the damn place that\’s a whole other story.  The menu is limited, but so is space, equipment and tools required to make things happen like pans…  Which makes what would seem the simplest of tasks that much more tiresome.  Who would have thought that making mac & cheese & grilled cheese would piss me off so much.  Well it does, sounds simple which for the most part it is but there\’s just SO much running around to make it happen.  That and our fridge has no shelves which just makes things that much more complicated.

Overall I like my job, less responsibility and bullshit then the last one.  FAR more respect since the boys who are running the place aren\’t exactly qualified quite like I am so when I talk, they listen (woo hoo!) even the exec Chef is fresh out of culinary school (class of \’08).  But the demographic is a lot different.  I thought hoped that I would get away from whiny FOH staff but oh no, such was not the case!  So I got into it on Sunday with the girl answering the phones she\’s like I need blah blah blah, to which I fired back I need 5mil and a pool boy but doesn\’t mean I\’m going to get it right away now am I.  Put her in her place pretty fucking quick.  Yeah I get it, I\’m the new girl I expect *some* flack and/or criticism/corrections however BOH reins supreme over FOH and I ain\’t going to take shit from a kid who isn\’t anywhere near as qualified as I am.  Overall aside from almost cutting a piece of my index finger off, burning my right butt cheek on a sandwich press and my stomach on the fryer, I kinda like my job.  Wonder what D is going to say when I tell him I essentially need all my working days off for Christmas this year.  Ticket is bought, tattoo appointment booked.  There ain\’t NO WAY, I\’m NOT going home…  Especially if I get screwed with all the crappy shifts that no one wants…  He\’s going to OWE me come the end of December.

So that\’s about it, I\’ve done nothing but work and exercise and I know that a thrill a minute for you all.  Oh and well Heddy has become an anorexic/bulimic since the arrival of Xavier, whom she hates quite a bit still.  So she\’s super stressed out and refuses to eat & only occasionally drinks.  I\’m screwed if she ends up with renal failure so I\’ve had to force feed my poor baby with water and baby food.  I have to be careful because if I give her too much at one time, she just throws it back up again.  Yeah like you needed to know that…

In other news, Monday was a stunningly beautiful day here and there\’s an abandoned building at the end of my street that I\’ve been dying to investigate.  This odd fascination I have, I know.  I was prepared to walk down and around to the highway underpass (which I\’ve done countless times to get up on the roof & watch the sunrise) since I didn\’t feel like hopping the fence but to my surprise, the gate was wide open so I just walked right in SCORE!  It was late in the afternoon though and fairly muddy so I didn\’t really venture too far into it since it was getting dark and I didn\’t have on proper shoes.  I do however plan on going back tomorrow since I have Wed off before it gets too late in the day and doing some better \”investigating\” if you will 🙂

Sucks that the flash on my camera is being pissy, I\’m thinking its time to buy a new one.  Otherwise I would have gotten far better images then I did.  I\’m buying a new computer first, that\’s my up-most priority since I need a better model for school and well I just want to replace my laptop that I miss so dearly.  Then I\’m buying a new camera, I already know which one I want, its just a matter of obtaining it.  Since I\’ll be working my ass off, this shouldn\’t be mission impossible  come the new year.  Got to pay off my visa bill first and I have school to think about as well.  But CC bill takes priority overall of course.  So Wed, I\’m going to take care of things around here and enjoy the day off that I have and then Thursday morning at 8am, I have to have a filling replaced.  Which I\’m oddly happy about because every time I floss my teeth it gets stuck because its starting to come up and its not hardcore painful yet, but letting it go is NOT an option.  Besides, silver fillings are gross in spite of the fact that amalgam fillings (the tooth colored ones) aren\’t as strong.

Had a lovely leisurely day with my friend Jen this afternoon.  She texted me on Monday saying \”hey girly, I miss you, how are you?\”  meanwhile I had un-read text\’s from two other people and I replied back to who I thought was Jen \” miss you too!  We need to get together soon, I should get my schedule today\”  So then Mat (my \”neighbor\”) texts me and he\’s like huh?  Turns out my phone likes to text random people a little too often!  Which only happens when I have un-read text messages waiting from others.    A mutual friend of ours was supposed to join us, but I have to admit I wasn\’t the least bit dissapointed when she bailed out.  She\’s nice enough of course, but I wanted Jen all to myself so we could talk, catch up and gossip 😉  So we had lunch, did some shopping which I shouldn\’t have done but you know…  We had a ton of fun just the two of us!  I\’m getting too girly, its kind of crazy!  I\’m slowly changing some aspects of my appearance or at the very least stepping out of my comfort zone.  Having more liquid assets comes in handy too, can\’t wait to my pay is more regulated!   In the meantime, I take comfort in knowing that I\’m helping to keep visa in business.

Bittersweet endings, F.A.I.L, epiphany\’s & other things…

Wow, that\’s really all I have to say for the moment…  What a strange week its been around here!  Where in God\’s name do I start?  There\’s lots that\’s totally worth mentioning so be prepared for one long ass post.  I suggest you grab some popcorn and get comfortable lol.

So lets backtrack just a little bit here…  A couple of weeks ago I sent a text message to someone at random and got a reply back saying \”I thought you weren\’t talking to me anymore\” all because of something I had posted via my twitter newsfeed .  Which was (I\’m assuming) something to do with my \”date\” with Ian.  OK first of all, I answer to NO ONE; that should be established from the get go.   So to sum that up, if I\’m NOT your girlfriend then really I have no claims to you and you have zero claims to me.  Regardless of how much I may/may not like you, that\’s irrelevant if you drop in and out of my life like a damn yo-yo.  I don\’t care how busy you are, *if* I matter that much to someone, find the time.  It only takes a minute to at least make the effort even if its only a simple text message.

I get busy too, but I still put forth the effort, especially now.  You see I felt still feel guilty (a little less so now) when Jason died for not being there.  Mostly because I was a little too wrapped up in my own life to be there for my friend and now he\’s gone and I miss him dearly.  Maybe that e-mail wouldn\’t have made a difference and I\’m pretty sure it wouldn\’t have but at least I would have known that I had put forth the effort to let him know that I was there and that I still cared.  Now I can\’t do that anymore and its still very heartbreaking.  In any case, I\’m still \”free\” to do what with whomever I choose seeing as how I highly doubt at this point that anything will ever come out of the situation that I\’m referring to.

Even if I would prefer that it did (which I am not discussing)…  You never know.  Bottom line is this: I don\’t think its fair for someone to expect me to put my life on hold for them because they\’re too busy for me right now.  Yeah I get that work can be a time whore, but if you treat me this way now; how much of a difference would it make *IF* I was in fact that persons actual girlfriend?  That\’s crossed my mind on several occasions in spite of that strange hold they have over me…  You snooze you loose!  Should have made the time if you end up missing out, at this rate I DON\’T see that happening.   But still, if it does, they have no one to blame but themselves.   How is this relevant to what I\’m about to post?  You\’ll see in a minute, I\’m getting to that…

So in my quest for a new job, which was an epic pain in my ass I finally nailed one!  I was starting to get a little concerned about that whole situation since I\’d sent out countless (read 45) CV\’s and didn\’t get a call back and for the life of me couldn\’t figure out why not…  Then it dawned on me, all of my job titles were \”higher\” up positions as in executive Chef, sous Chef and so forth.  Whereas most people are hiring cooks.  Yes there is a distinct difference between the two.  Mostly skills, qualifications, education and experience.

So I \”dumbed down\” my job titles and then all of a sudden, I become miss popular and people started calling THANK GOD!  Anyway had a job interview on Tuesday, job trial for said place on Thursday and got hired YAY!  I don\’t think I start until Monday, waiting for that ever so elusive e-mail from the new boss to let me know!  No more getting up in the morning for me!  Although some of those shifts fall into the \”relationship killer\” category I\’ll deal.  That\’s the life of this industry and few understand it unless you\’ve been a part of it before.

So Friday was my last day at Gryphon and its ending was bittersweet to say the least.  I met lots of great people & made some fabulous friends along the way while I was there.  But alas my employment there was not meant to be for a number of reasons, none of which I am going to disclose, since most people that I physically talk to already know.  In any case I had a long talk with my former boss and left on a positive note. Which was nice, its not that either she or myself are bad people.  I learned a lot and there were times when she really helped me out and I never forgot those times.  So in spite of how I left, I still went out and bought her flowers just to say thank you.

In the end, Jason\’s death affected me in a number of ways that I didn\’t even take into consideration.  So needless to say, things are going to change.  Hopefully for the better, perhaps not but I\’ll never know if I don\’t try.  Its been almost 2 months now since he\’s been gone and it still hurts but not nearly as bad as it once did which is something I\’m eternally grateful for.  I\’m pretty sure I\’ll always be emotionally retarded over the whole thing seeing as how his death was just so damn senseless!  But in any case, his death really made me re-evaluate a lot of things and put them into perspective for me.

So the other day I was getting waxed & I jokingly mentioned that I had a hot date on Friday ( I actually had a party to go to).  She says oh your single? Then we got to talking about random things associated with dating and what not.  I didn\’t think much of it until someone passed a message onto me that so & so wanted to speak with me and could I please come in when I had a free minute.  I looked a little perplexed because its not as if my cosmetician and I have any type of \”relationship\” outside of pedicures and getting waxing done.  So I went in there, and joking said what are my eyebrows going to fall off?  She pulls me into the back room, says she has a favor to ask.  Long story short, a member of their family needs residency and wants ME to marry him so that he can stay here.  On paper only of course but its not that simple.  Granted I knew little about the immigration process until Carly moved to VW to be with her beloved.   In any case I know enough now to know that unless I actually want to be with someone that bad, its really far from worth the risk/responsibility/headaches that are associated with such matters.  Needless to say, that was really random & totally odd!

So let\’s talk about this whole dating thing now shall we…  I went out last night and later on someone came over.  Doesn\’t totally qualify as a \”date\” per say, we just hung out and watched a movie.  No in case any of you are wondering, I didn\’t get any…  As much as I would LOVE to divulge the details of one rather amusing (to me at least, hugely embarrassing for him) incident I won\’t because well, its just mean to do so.  However if you really want to know, feel free to ask and I will spill (no pun intended)! So I thought I should compile a list of things that have happened/been said throughout the years that would likely fall into the \”dating don\’t category\” so read on kids, because this might save your ass and/or your date with someone.  Even more so if your going on a date with me 😉

  1. Its very sweet of you to compliment my tattoos.  However telling me if I was your girlfriend that you would love to spunk all over them isn\’t exactly cool.  I really, hate being jizzed on!  I don\’t like anything sticky for that matter.
  2. Have some sense of self control.  Apparently I\’m pretty exciting to be around, but please try to contain yourself.
  3. If you think there\’s a possibility that you might get laid & might not be able to withstand yourself for more then 5 seconds…  Jerk off at home, not in my bathroom!  Yes WE do notice these things, especially when you miss.  Thanks…
  4. Asking your date if you have condoms and when the reply is yes (most of us are responsible and prepared for just about anything, after all were woman) throwing your fist up in the air and screaming YES!!!!!!!!!!! Is NOT acceptable… EVER
  5. Yelling oh no stop, oh shit that was bad isn\’t cool either.  Especially when we\’re right in the middle of something.  Makes us wonder what on earth your problem is/what were doing wrong!
  6. Have a clue about how things work please!
  7. Virginity, chances are were not going to care if your a virgin (well I at least don\’t but seeing as how I\’m 31 chances are you\’ll be in my age range and I will start to wonder) because its good to know!  Not only would we be the ones taking your \”V\” card, we wouldn\’t make fun of you for lack of experience either.  Because we will, that\’s just how it works.
  8. Don\’t ask us to call/text you and then proceed to blow us off when we do, ignoring us won\’t work!
  9. Relationships are like shopping for say a house or a car, we\’re going to shop around for the best option in this case and that may not be you.  However its always best to establish exactly what your after BEFORE we allow you into our/your bed, let alone anywhere else for that matter.   That goes both ways of course.
  10. Pointing out that you have a raging hard-on and have every intention of jerking off when you get home.  That\’s on a need to know basis and guess, what?  I DON\’T need to know thanks!

I could go one, but suffice to say I\’m sure I\’ll find something to add to this list later on.

Debunking myths, rumours & other asst\’ stuff…

So last night I stayed up a little later then usual because I was having the most random, although interesting conversation with Mike on the phone.  Which may I add (should he happen to read this) his roommate & I won a \”bet\” about the weather.  Would it snow before or after Halloween, we both said before (has to stick & stay white on the ground according to him) and well sure enough its fucking snowing!  Welcome to your first winter in Mtl Mike, your in a for a treat (Toronto ain\’t go nufin on this place!) 😉

Anyway then as I\’m about to go to bed, I get a text message at 12:07am out of nowhere that said:  \”I need you to tell me more about the HSV  thing its freaking me out\”.  HSV (Herpes simplex virus) should only raise cause for ANY type of alarm IF its

HSV-2 which is genital herpes (that sounds like a ton of fun! relationship killer) whereas

HSV-1 isn\’t so bad because its nothing more then a cold sore *ahem*

So yeah said person (they know who they are and yes they do on occasion read my blog so no need to name names) apparently isn\’t talking to me anymore because of a fucking cold sore I had two months ago.   Except said person needs to grow a pair and actually say so, I don\’t go away that easily…  But yeah OK saying you have herpes is a hell of a lot more damming/cryptic/nasty whatever then saying you have a cold sore but guess what ladies & gentleman chances are that you have the virus too and don\’t even know it! Its as common as a cold and easily spread and more often then not people come in contact with it in their infancy.  However its So flipping minor, well at least hsv-1 is, that there\’s no legitimate reason to get your panties in a knot over it.

So yes while you can in theory get genital herpes from HSV-1 its STILL only the HSV-1 strain, NOT HSV-2 which is FAR more damming then HSV-1.  Its pretty simple, you have a cold sore/fever blister outbreak, keep your lips to yourself!  My Doctor & both my dentists told me that the only way HSV-1 can spread is *IF* you actually have an open cold sore, HSV-2 well again that\’s a whole other story.  I honestly couldn\’t imagine what on earth I would do if I ended up with this (its a tad graphic) all over my genitals *shudder*!  Christ I have a fit if I have razor burn, never mind anything else!

Thankfully, on the rare occasions I actually have a cold sore( I almost never get them, I\’ve only actually ever had 3); I get uber paranoid about bacteria (well I already am, hate germs) but I kick the precautions up an extra 100 notches to make damn sure that the cold sore stays in the microscopic section of my lip and NO WHERE ELSE.    Not only that, I see my obgyn every 6 months and even though my sex life is non exsistant and has been for a while I still get my blood work done every 3 months just because I\’m paranoid cautious, aside from the fact that I have to get regular stuff checked anyway (sugar levels & blah blah blah) because of that incident in the summer of my blood pressure being sky high & what not.   So I figure if your siphoning blood out of me anyway, might as well cover all the bases and thank God I am STD free and I WILL stay that way too!

So I think that\’s just really a total cop out…  This \”incident\” occured 2 months ago and its only creeping you out now?  WTF?  Makes no sense to me, other then the one comment that they made in conjunction with me possibly being dissapointed (with what I STILL have NO idea).  Well I have some semblance of a clue I suppose based solely on an assumption due to a comment they made once a while ago.  I got news for them however, I have ways of finding things out (sneaky stalker ninja Steph) and they\’re NO where near as hideous as they may think they are.  My opinion actually such as it is, not that it matters now anyway couldn\’t be MORE opposite but whatever…  Ah sometimes I DO love the internet 😉

I am also not the only one who thinks this whole situation is ridiculous either( not only that but I expected a little more from them and thought they were smarter then that)…  Whilst gabbing gossiping/venting with a few friends on MSN, this was the \’jist of it:
C i lack words in danish, Spanish, Swedish AND English to describe how low that is lol
D: He wont talk to you because of THAT? wtf?
Steph says:
I know! OHHHH I\”M SO pissed!
C says:you should be..
Steph says: Thanks! Glad someone agrees with me!
C says:that\’s just incredible lame lol i cant believe he ignores you because of some cold sores..
Steph: I\’ve only had one in the past 5 years, likely due to the extreme stress of Jason dying, the time before that was about a month before I moved here and the time before that I was like 11
C says: damn >.<

So that being said, went on another job interview after work today.  Jason the actual manager was off somewhere so I was talking to the sous Chef and that was well \”interesting\” to say the least.  Bottom line for me on that Bistro job? Its an insult to my qualifications/bank account and my all around personal integrity as a whole.  So came home and applied for a few more that I know I\’m not over qualified for (for a change!) and I need to call Dominic as well sometime soon to see about doing a trial run in his kitchen.  It was such a  sketchy interview though!  Not only that, a lot of time has passed between Saturday and today so I have my doubts but ain\’t going to know squat unless you try.  So try I shall…  I\’m running out of time here though.  My rent ain\’t going to wait or anything else for that matter!

On a final note, my lovely friend and I have a long running inside joke about heels & fancy drinks 😉  So while doing a shoot, she was the first person I thought of (with someone else a close second) when I seen this image (well one of them anyway).