Not Lost, Just an Adventure

Over spring break, I went to a high school production of "Jekyll and Hyde" the musical. Although it was a great time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was the trip there that got on this blog. :)

I live in Berlin, which is in Winslow township. The school I was going to was Pitman High school, which is pretty far from my house. I checked it out on Google Maps, punched it into my GPS, and set off with my sister to go see a play.

45 minutes later, I'm frantically looking at my printout maps, yelling at my GPS because it keeps "Recalculating," and staring hopelessly around for a sign for the high school. I mean, it's the high school, there's gotta be a sign... right?

Wrong.

Apparently, the town is so small (no offense to anyone from Pitman, this is what my Pitman-resident friends say), that no one can find anything. I must have driven up and down the same road five or six times. The people were probably getting dizzy watching us drive back and forth. I finally pulled into a Produce Junction and went in to ask for directions to the school.

The cashier had no idea where the school was. Figures that the one person I ask isn't even from the town. However, an elderly gentleman standing over by the potatoes overheard my question. He responded with his own question, "Wait, Pitman has a high school?" He cracked a grin and came over. After chuckling at his own joke, he ambled over and told me exactly where to turn to get to the school. I thanked him profusely and hurried out to the car. I followed the directions, and found the school! Thank goodness. I was so grateful for that old gentleman, otherwise I never would have made it for the play. I got to see my friend in it, and had a great time.

I actually made it to the play 10 minutes early. Phew, talk about cutting it close! :)

Applebee's is Awesome at Midnight

Last weekend my mom, sister, and I went to Applebee's at midnight after hanging out at my friend's house all night. We met up with some more friends there for a midnight snack. It was so weird being the only people in the restaurant. I mean, does no one like to go out to restaurants at midnight? ;)

Anyway, while we were there, we started chatting about different types of music. One of the Black Eyed Peas songs came on and we started trying to list off the names of the members. For the life of us, we could not remember all four names. This went on for a good ten minutes, long after the song ended. Finally, we asked our waitress if she happened to know the name of all the Black Eyed Peas. She said she didn't, but she could find out for us. She went and got her cellphone (WITH Internet--I'm so jealous), and looked it up for us. Then, since there was no reason for her to keep going around serving people, we ended up chatting with her about her favorite types of music, too.

We got there at 11:30 PM and didn't leave until 12:50 AM. We had meant to just be there for half an hour at the most, but we had so much fun talking with our waitress that time just kind of slipped away. It was a great deal of fun, and I definitely need to go back to Applebee's this late at night. :)

Yo Quiero Taco Bell

Today I went to Taco Bell for lunch today. Very rarely that I do this, but I was really feeling tacos. So, I swung by on my way out to run some errands. The lady behind the register recognizes me, because I used to go there a lot last semester. Anyway. So, I was there, and she recognized me. We chatted a bit and then I ordered.

The really nice thing was, though, that she gave me my drink for free. Just because I'm friendly and I like chatting with people I see often? It was really nice, though, and totally made my day. :)

Adventures at the Honda Dealer

I went to the car dealership to get my AC fixed, as I already said. I decided I was going to be all hip and cool and bring my netbook along and get some work done in my online class. So, I dropped the car off, turned my netbook on... and nothing. I couldn't get the Internet. AT. ALL. The little card I got to sign up for their network thing... yeah, not working at all. So I flagged down an employee and asked him what was wrong with the Internet. He, in turn, flagged down the resident "technical" guy, who had absolutely no idea what was wrong.

We must have spent, like, half an hour on this. The main reason we had issues was because this netbook has Windows 7 on it, which I am completely unfamiliar with. Unfortunately, so was the "technical" guy. Finally, after 40 minutes, we exhausted every other option, so he reset the router. Twice. After that, the Internet finally began working. He apologized profusely, saying that the router being way in the back under a counter was the main reason. Apparently, they have to reset the router three times a day. Wow.

I was just so appreciative of the guy taking time out of his day to help me out. It really made my day. :)

More Grumps at AC Moore

I think that AC Moore might just go out of their way to hire the grumpiest people they can find. This is the second time in a relatively short period of time that I've met seriously grumpy employees at AC Moore. I was in there a week or so ago to pick up some supplies for an art project, and I got to the register. The cashier didn't look at me, didn't respond me when I said hello, and refused to acknowledge me any more than the barest minimum. I was rather annoyed. It's not like I was mean to her or anything. What is it with depressed people at AC Moore? I don't know. Guess there isn't much to say about this anymore.

I Just Get Lucky at Coffee Shops

So, I was on my way to the car dealer to get the AC on my truck fixed. Let me tell you, it was NOT fun having no air conditioning when it got really hot a couple weeks ago. So, I stopped by Starbucks to get a coffee, because I'm a caffeine addict... maybe I shouldn't admit that. :) Anyway. I ordered just a regular tall coffee. When I got my coffee, I realized it was a venti instead of a tall. So I mentioned it to the barrista, and he said, "Oh, I did that on purpose." And then he smiled at me.

I was a little surprised, but grateful. It's like, every time I go to a coffee shop, I get free stuff. I swear, I'm not begging for it! What's up with that?? I almost feel like I should be refusing. =/

Still, it was pretty nice. :)

Grumpy Arts & Crafts

It never ceases to amaze me how straight-out grumpy people in retail get. I mean, I can understand and relate, since I've held a job in retail before over a summer. However, even when I was having the worst of days, I always tried my best to appear bright, cheerful and happy to be there. Let me tell you, it was a struggle, and most the time I didn't feel like bothering. But, it all paid off. When I left that job, I was second-highest in the department in customer service, and I had only been there a month and a half.

On Saturday, I ran out to AC Moore to pick up some pieces for an art project. We just got a new teacher in our art class--our old teacher had an emergency C-Section and was required to leave the class. I'm still not sure how I feel about our new teacher, but I'm going to reserve judgment for now. Our new teacher is having us make a mobile, which to be quite honest, I have no idea how to make. Undeterred, I ran over to the store to pick up some pieces. While I was there, I found a great sale on a candle-wick snipper. We are notorious for burning candles in our house--one of these days we'll probably start a fire--and all our candles always have too-long wicks, so I picked it up and went to the register with my crafty pieces.

The cashier didn't smile, mumbled the entire time, and when I cautiously asked her what she had said, she looked at me like I was wasting her time. Hmph. I decided I wasn't going to seem irritated and put on a cheerful exterior, though inside I was indignant. I've noticed I get offended very easily, which may be most of the reason that these sorts of situations happen to me. If I didn't let them bother me, maybe I wouldn't notice them as much.

Anyway, she rang up the items I wanted, and when she came to the candle-wick clipper, it rang up at full price. I was surprised, so I asked her exactly how much that thing cost. $7? Was she serious? It was on sale for $3.99! I politely explained that there was a sale sign on the display, and she insisted it was not on sale. I even went over, picked the sign off the display and brought it back and showed her. Her response was to call a manager and begin insisting that the item wasn't on sale, regardless of the sign.

One thing I had determined was not to get nasty about anything and to remain very polite and cheerful. I chatted nonchalantly with the manager, every so often throwing in an, "That's so strange--I really thought it was on sale." I was actually trying a piece of advice my mother always said. Whenever she was in a situation like this, she says the best thing to do is, "Either blab their ears off so they finally just give it to you to get rid of you, or you stay very quiet and let them handle it." Since I had been chatting before the manager came over, I didn't think I should stop now.

Finally the manager burst out, "Just give it to her for $4!" And hurried away. I have to admit, that wasn't exactly polite either, but I wasn't going to complain. I'd gotten what I wanted. I paid for the items and left.

I hate having to say this. My 19-yr-old brain doesn't want to comprehend this, but...

Mom was right.

A Friend In Need

DISCLAIMER: This is a rather girly post dealing with makeup and a salon. If this stuff scares you, read on at your own risk! ;)

Today I got a chance to go out and enjoy the beginning of what is going to be a spectacular weekend. We went to the local ice cream joint that just opened for the season. Definitely excited for warmer weather!

We also went to Ulta today so my sister could get her eyebrows waxed (ouch!). While I was there, I saw my friend who works there. She's such a sweetheart. Instead of scheduling a proper appointment and charging us $50 a person to get our makeup done, she does it for free for prom and the Halloween masquerade ball we attend. She's a dear. And today she proved it again.

I bought this StudioGear foundation the other day, and it's almost perfect. It's got nice, even coverage that helps even my skin out without giving me that flat look of a made-up face. I love it. The only problem is that I have very oily skin. This foundation does NOT help at all. In fact, it makes my skin more oily.

So, I was talking to her about it, and I mentioned the issue I was having. Immediately, she said, "Oh, just exchange it." I told her I couldn't, because I'd already opened it. She grinned at me and said, "Listen, I'll be in tomorrow. If you text me before you come by, I'll work it out so you can exchange it." She even put one of the proper ones aside for me, because it's their most popular kind.

She's so awesome. :) It's great to have a friend like that. So, yay! I'm getting my proper foundation tomorrow.