i'm such an evil person (a tale told with parenthetical emphasis)

so today was going so well at work. i only worked first shift, and i (after much effort) got the weekend off and i'm going to see liz and derek later tonight. but i had forgotten that three hours is long enough for something really ridiculous, and hilarious, to happen.

i was at the indoor catch pool, doing my thing, when this group of teenagers came in. i always watch them like hawks, because they are the ones who usually cause trouble. (the kids i put in time out, and the ones i got kicked out made me aware of this especially.) so i'm watching them, and one guy in particular is not behaving so well. i had to whistle at him numerous times, and he was still just not listening to me. quite the opposite, he'd question why he couldn't do something (stupid thing to do!), and then sometimes he'd do it again--in an exaggerated fashion. i was so glad when it was time to rotate, but i told the s.w.a. behind me to watch out for them, and i told tasia (head guard) about it as well. lo and behold, they were in the comp pool, where we were! so tasia told the guard to keep an eye on him. i was squeegeeing the pool deck (which is, as it may obviously be, a futile job while people are still in the pool) when courtney (the guard) told me to get tasia. oh, hilarious! he got kicked out! (actually i didn't see it, i had to rotate by that time.)

so anyway, the point of this story is what happens next. so i'm at the bottom of the body slide, when the group of girls comes to me to ask me what he did wrong. they were there, so they should know, but i get to tell them anyway. i got to the splashing, and how he was exaggerating his swimming to splash all over, when this girl chimes in that another one of their group was doing that too. "right cassie?" i look over, and the girl in question clearly was not expecting this. she looked almost terrified. i did not believe that it was the case. but they wouldn't care whatever i said, so i didn't bother. they left, i'm sure calling me a bitch behind my back but, like i care, they're gone. later, as i'm done with my shift, tasia was telling me what i'm guessing happened next. the girl (who, by the way is his girlfriend. 16 and pregnant. i'm glad to see you made such a wise decision there.) i believe yelled at tasia, but definitely yelled at faithann (the manager) and called her stupid (wait, who's stupid?) and broke a door at some point.

i kind of had to laugh, even though it was one of those "dear god, please spare me" experiences. all in all though, i'm really looking forward to this weekend.

i'm tiiiiiiired. i wanna vacation.

one of stephanie's pieces, photographed by sarah

i find it disturbing that someone found me by searching "dominic monaghan socks". not because of anything i've said, but what on earth did they want?

how odd.

yesterday was so cold neither stephanie or i had to work. so after wandering around ottumwa in our work clothes, we went to see the bourne supremacy. i couldn't believe when it was over, it seemed like it went by too fast. but it was really good, and i'm considering taking one of these courses at indian hills that's for a few weeks and no credit, it's an intro russian thing. maybe brush up on my russian 101 skills, or something. we'll see.

pros, cons & other

we'll start with the bad things.

cons:

• it wasn't very warm today.


• there were obnoxious kids, as usual.


• i worked all day.


• i work all day tomorrow.


• i didn't wear sunscreen today.


• the courier already filled the position. might i take this moment to say, WTF?

pros:

• at least i got to wear a jacket.


• i got four of those kids kicked out. since they wouldn't listen to me, jake did it. and we've already been over the whole "gestapo" thing, so i bet that was fun for them.


• by working all day i got free staff passes on top of getting paid.


• i didn't get a sunburn!

other:

• jake was in a fairly good mood today. and he was nice to me. rachel asked me if i took that to be flirting, and i said no. because i don't. him asking me if i need anything is him being a good head guard. she wasn't suggesting he was, but apparantly other people think he is. anyway.


• the other thing about jake is, he was in a good mood, but at our meeting he sure wasn't very good at taking criticism, even though we are expected to take it without complaining. and the criticism was valid. when being told to clean the guard room, i would NOT in any was connect that with "kill all the spiders." and i'm pretty sure most other people wouldn't either, such as the person he told that to.


• while we were cleaning, we had a blast. rachel was like, drunk or something because she kept laughing and making everyone else laugh. and when she stated very loudly in the lobby "your mom needs doing!" i lost it.


• nobody stole anything of mine today.

someone must be desperate

someone stole my shoes today.

and now i work every day except sundays and tuesdays. first shift only except on saturday, i will continue to work all day then. i guess i need the money, but if people keep stealing my shoes i'm gonna get pissed.

i left a message at the courier on friday, and nobody has called me back yet. i don't know whether to be worried and call again, or if i should wait a little longer. i'm not very good at this finding a job business.

i have a headache. probably from yelling "walk" at all of those kids multiple times.

there was a guy <br>an under water guy who controlled the sea <br>got killed by ten million pounds of sludge <br>from new york and new jersey

alias alters course. let's hope so. i only wish i didn't have to wait until january to find out for myself.

i feel like i worked all of last week. not entirely true, but even a four hour shift can take a lot out of you. all those obnoxious kids. then on friday i went to iowa city with my parents so i could buy some clothes, in the small chance that i actually get an interview somewhere. spent the entirety of the paycheck i received on thursday. ah well, easy come, easy go.

i worked all day yesterday, and it was not that bad, actually. it was kind of cold so it wasn't so busy, but since i had almost three full rotations that meant i got to stand in catch pool of the body slide three times and i got to go down the speed slide three times. the first time it assaulted me, then i made sure to go down it properly after that. i also got to assist in cleaning the drains around the competition pool. that was disgusting, but not nearly as disgusting when last year we pulled up all of the mat in the girls locker room and cleaned underneath of it. morgan pointed out we do all of these disgusting things when jake is head guard, so i guess the idea is to hope that jake doesn't guard when you work. speaking of jake, i was in the slide tower with sydney (who is leaving for another job, lucky duck), and we were talking about the head guards and the assignment of points. we got to jake, and at the same time, compared him to the gestapo. it was kind of funny we would both think of that at the same time, but it's so true. then we had to look around to make sure he hadn't snuck up on us while we were talking.

sydney isn't the only person leaving, there are about five people who are, plus they are going to fire some people at some point. which means that the rest of us get to work lots of hours. oh, the joy! i'm looking forward to august so much! *gag*

so now i have a few days off, and i've been reading. mostly i'm trying to finish bushwhacked. i recently read dude! where's my country? i think i'm getting politicked out. i'm not denying that it's important to know what's going on and such, but reading about how people are living on toxic dump sites and how the republicans pay back the meatpacking industry for donations is by being lax on things like testing for bacteria and the like. now i remember why i stopped eating meat for awhile after reading fast food nation. i'm not even finished with the book yet, but i'm determined to.

the book i've liked best that i've read recently was the mother tongue by bill bryson. i love his books, because he's humorous, but you also learn a lot by reading them. (like, don't go to australia. it's a poisonous country!) but anyway, this book was about the english language and it's history and stuff. it was really good, and i have an appreciation for our language now that i didn't have. it's very complex, which i knew, but i didn't know the extent. i'm not really making myself very clear, i feel, which is funny since you would think a book about the english language would perhaps improve my ability to converse in said language.

anyway, i think that after i finish this book i'm going to read something that's not so taxing. stephanie has some garth nix books, and i want to re-read sabriel and then the following books after them. i'm also going to track down the third sally lockhart book. even though i don't particularly care for the series, i can't not read the last one.

i've been trying to post for the last few days, but couldn't think of what i was going to write. clearly, that was not a problem today. perhaps it's the pink nail polish.

take this job and shove it

all i can say is, not only am i super frustrated with having to work at the beach, especially this weekend when the city decided to keep it open until ten, but i'm seriously unhappy that applebee's didn't offer me a job. i'm not saying i wanted one there, but who can't get a job at a restaurant with a high turnover rate?

i only hope things go better with the courier.

are you calling me fat?

Which Extremity of the World Are You?
From the towering colossi at Rum and Monkey.

okay, i know it says highest and not biggest. but, you know, i couldn't make any tall jokes because i'm actually so far from being tall. maybe a more ironic sort of comment...anyway.

i love the 90s is on vh1 in half an hour. i'm such a geek, that i'm super excited about this show and have been waiting for it since i first saw a commercial for it a couple of weeks ago. wow.

unordered list

• this morning i had to go to the beach for training in the wave pool. i also had to swim another 200m, and it gets easier, although the backstroke makes my neck hurt.


• cream cheese goes really well in an omlette. it's much lighter than most cheeses and not nearly as greasy.


• the ottumwa courier, the ugliest and least organized newspaper on the planet has an opening for a sports photographer. i suppose this means that i no longer have an excuse to put off working on a portfolio.


• i also desperately need some new clothes. i wish laura were here to help me. she's my stacey and clinton.


• mostly, i'm just pretty tired. i haven't been sleeping very well.

and stephanie wants to go to the beach. why would i want to do that on my day off?

rejected

i got two "we've already filled the position" letters today. not for the job i want, so i wasn't too sad about it.

new shoes!

i bought a new pair of shoes today. they're by børn, and they were on sale from $90 to $35. i figured that must be some kind of sign. plus, they are red and a girl can never have too many red shoes.

in other news, i applied at applebees and am waiting to hear back from them. as much as i want to work, i'm not sure i want to work there. still doing the beach, clearly, since i just started. i'm glad i don't have to work tomorrow because i'd like it to warm up a bit first. yesterday i was supposed to work first shift but outdoor wasn't open because it was so cold, and today we didn'd open it until 1:30. however, i stayed and cleaned scum before that, so i got wet and cold anyway. if i have to be out there, i'd rather not have my toenails turn blue.

they're really cracking down out there too and writing a lot of people up, especially because one of the head guards had a close family friend drown over the weekend. he was participating in a triathalon and needed aid, but the lifeguard was talking to someone and didn't see him. i don't mind about the writing up and being more strict about thing, that's why it's called lifeguarding in the first place.

we're going to go see the terminal tonight. we wanted to see king arthur, but ottumwa isn't getting it. what a lame town.

it's going to be another one of those summers

i'm so tired, and i only worked 4 hours today. i would have the luck to start on the day they make all shallow waters and guards swim 200m during clean. how embarassing that was.

on a brighter note, i made $58 at our garage sale. and my dresser is so much cleaner.

i forsee a major sunburn in my future

i don't mind that the beach is giving me hours, but 11 in one day is a bit much.