"Playing catch-up, and an awesome day!"


Thursday and Friday, August 29 - 30, 2002

Thursday was another relatively relaxing day. I worked on personal projects mostly. Nothing too fancy overall. Dinner-time was probably the most interesting of note, and I'll tell you why.... It was a free meal. [smile]

It's interesting what a television commercial can do. Most of the time we just see them and get annoyed that they are disrupting our favorite show. Maybe that's the time you go get a snack, I don't know. Either way, though they are intended to stimulate us into wanting whatever is advertisted, be it a new car (yeah right, like I'm going to go buy a car on a whim... lol...), or some product from the local grocery store, we generally ignor them. I usually do too, however for some odd reason a thought struck me as I watched that familiar McDonalds commercial advertising their new spicy chicken strips (you know, the one with the song, "...tell me what you want, what you want...I'll tell you what you want..." or however it goes.... It's on all the time it seems...).

Anyway, I recalled, totally out of the blue, that I still had $10 dollars in free MacDonalds food gift certificates, from I don't know where. Who knows where that thought came from, but it was true. I looked for them in my files, and sure enough, there they were.... $10 in McDonald's gift certificates....

... So, for dinner Thursday, I walked down to the nearby Mickey-D's and ended up having a free $7 dollar meal. Oh, and yes, those spicy chicken strips are rather tasty, although I don't know how keen I was on the buffalo sauce to go with them.... [chuckles] ... I also had one of those tasty butterfinger McFlurries.... Mmmm, not bad for a free meal at McDonalds. Thank you to whomever gave me those gift certificates.... [shrugs]... :)

Well, that, oddly enough, was the highpoint of Thursday. Hey, what can I say, I'm amused by the simple things in life.... lol

Today, Friday, was a little more of a go-someplace-do-something sort of day. I decided that I'd grab the bus (since I don't own a car yet) and head out to my former place of employment, Office Max, and return a few job-related documents I was lent. Hey, I don't need them anymore... I don't work there. (Honestly, I haven't finished reading them yet, but who cares, I've already forgotten what I did read... and it makes no difference now anyway...)...

I got out there, and made my way from the bus stop through the 'stripmall' parkinglot towards my old employment (of only nearly two weeks). I was a little concerned what I would be greeted with. By no doing of my own, other than accepting another job, my employment ended abruptly at the end of last week, despite my giving my 'resignation' notice. I was scheduled to work this week, and was fully willing to finish out my schedule, but alas I guess my Office Max boss was a little ticked that I chose to leave for another job, and he told me, ".... I'll take this as your resignation, effective emmediately." He told me not to come in. ... As I walked towards the store this afternoon, I was a little uncertain what kind of reception I'd get. Afterall, it was the boss's decision to leave the store in a sudden scheduling lurch, rather than ease me out of the schedule.

Well, as luck would have it, Tim (the boss) was not there. He's a nice guy, but I was glad I did not have to deal with him. Steve, a fellow co-worker about my age, was there. He was a little upset at Tim's 're-scheduling' due to my 'absence'.... not because of me, but becausee of how Tim had rearranged things.... Tim was favoring time off for himself, and that's not a good way for a manager to function (but, I digress...).... I got to talk with Steve for a little, as things were slow back in Copy Max. He's thinking of leaving Office Max too, for greener pastures, and this time BECAUSE OF Tim. Honestly I don't blame him. His reasons were sound.

Ironically, when I told Steve that I was now working a this certain Barnes and Noble, he mentioned that he planned to apply there himself... to that very same store. Hey, I wouldn't mind working with him again, he's a very nice guy. We seem to have a few things in common.... We'll see what happens.

By now, things were picking up again, so I bid Steve a farewell, and honestly, I don't know if I'll ever run into him again. I hope so, but we'll see. Today was also payday, and I actually did have a paycheck waiting for me. I picked it up and opened it.... I was pleasantly stunned.... It was for a much larger amount than I had been expecting. I guess I had miscalculated the kind of pay my short tenure at Office Max gave me. Hey, cool... It made my day. :)

I walked across the street to a branch of my local bank, took care of my banking, and returned across the street, deciding it was time for dinner. (Well, it was shortly after 5pm...). I actually had a strong craving for a thick, juicy hamburger -- not the wimpy-looking stuff Mickey-D's usually has. There was a Burger King nearby, so I stopped in and found something suitable to quench my craving .... You know, I must have REALLY been craving that type of meal, because that burger tasted very, very good, and the large Dr. Pepper was like sweet sweet wine. (Well, ok, I exaggerate, but it was very tasty to my tastbuds!) .... I realized something too while I was sitting there eating, I just had two very nice-sized fast food meals in the past two days for a grand total of five bucks! Wow, do I have a thrifty eye or what?!... [chuckles]

Well, I then grabbed a few groceries (including some of those new half mint, half creme oreos, which are very good by the way), and grabbed the long bus-ride back to my part of town. I returned to my apartment, and a few hours later, here I sit typing this....

.... I'd say today was a pretty cool day! Who says you need to meet a celebrity or win the lottery to have an awesome day. I've got the simple things in life, and that's more than enough for me!

Take care everyone, and until tomarrow, right here on my new weblog,

Your simple friend,
-Jon

posted by Jon at 1:57 AM  I   I  0 comments