Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money) [Working for the Census]

Do you like my title? It’s inspired by the Pet Shop Boys song.

I really like the part of the music video when they are pouring the different things in the different cups and hats and things.

He only really wanted the job because it paid $28 an hour. That’s all he would talk about when he was sent emails about it and stuff. I knew he was not the type to go out and take census information in person. Not like this one lady I knew who worked for the census back in 2010 from my writing class. She was really bubbly. Like the opposite personalty of my dad.

All he did was complain to my mom and I that they gave him a defective phone. I guess the government got refurbished iPhones or something. He thought they were new because they were sealed in plastic. They had the official US seal inside them and they were packaged in a plain cardboard box. If you got something “new” wouldn’t it be in a branded box with the model name or number on it?

My dad got mad at my mom and I for saying it was a dumb idea for him to even think of. Then got all defensive. He gets away with all these harebrained ideas which never work. But when I even mention one I get reprimanded.

The supervisor was annoying he came to our house and would not stop talking. He too got a broken phone. Then he brought the wrong forms; had to leave then go eat dinner then come back. Maybe a lot of people are getting defective phones and quitting.

I would have given up on the first day after I found out the phone they gave me was broken. But you know me I’m the type to give up quickly. Which my dad hates.

Do A Little Research

I’m tired I stayed up late working on blogs. If the computer gets hogged for over 12 hours.

My dad got nothing done. He was having so many tech problems. I told him I don’t know how to use those kind of electronics. He was getting mad that the phone accessories don’t work with our Windows PC. Does he realize how silly that sounds? And I did a little research of my own. They are using iphone8. I think they are refurbished. He just shows me a bunch of wires and cables. I have no idea what they are or what they are for. He is really behind in his training. https://9to5mac.com/2020/04/01/us-census-2020-iphone/

No 5 Surprise Mini Brands 😭 at the store, but I did find some Real Littles Shopkins.

A nice little case just there at the store. In a random aisle in the toy section. I wanted to buy the whole thing. But I don’t have the money and need self control. They are still Shopkins they scan at the store as Shopkins. My payment card worked at the store as a debit card there. No backpacks though. I destroyed the evidence so I won’t get in trouble for buying them. I got 6 different things and no doubles!

I thought I got 2 pies (as a double), but the pies are different. All the boxes I got were the plastic ones and not the paperboard ones that means they will last longer. I really wanted a cheez-it cracker or some cereal boxes or the Kid Cuisine. More accessories for my toys.

I realized that I took the picture of the Mega Bowls backwards. Here it is facing up.

Here are all the Shopkins that came in them.

 

My dad spent most of the day arguing with their tech support. It was funny when the tech guy told my dad he is an Android guy. I thought was so funny! So am I. I’m not familiar with Apple products.

Then he had to listen to a podcast and he didn’t realize it was chopped up into different parts. It’s hard to explain things to him because he doesn’t understand how browser tabs work. He could not sit and listen to it he kept fidgeting and getting up and walking around. I think he is not going through with the job.

The Wrong Form of Payment

I was trying to straighten out my payment again since I got paid last week and forgot. On the phone they told me my card had a balance on it. My dad was mad about how it was sent and that they didn’t knock.

At the bank some old man cut in line. I can’t wait to be old and “confused” and I can give my relatives old broken junk as presents. Old people get all the luck. The teller was putting sanitizer on her gloves. I was so pissed the card was declined. All they could tell me was take it up with my employer. Then it will be what happens every time my dad will lecture me about how horrible this way of payment is and the bank they use. I told my dad I don’t wanna hear a lecture about this. I guess he was pretty mad about that. 

Later at home when I tried to sign up for a bank account at another bank the website did nothing. Still broken many hours later.

My dad is trying to get a census job. Him trying to get this job months ago is why I had so many problems at the pizza restaurant in the beginning. He was getting antsy about his potential census job and didn’t want me interfering with him getting the job.  That’s why he wanted me to do all this crazy shit. Signing up for the earliest orientation appointment after my wisdom teeth removal. And kept telling me to bother the manager to say that I finished orientation. He was trying to help by trying to accelerate the process in my job. Then it got called off because of the virus.

He was stressed about this all day and got mad a me for some printer paper jams. Went to an unpaid orientation. (If I did that I’d never hear the end of it from him) He has to do 12 hours of training in 2 days. They told him to do a bunch of tech and internet related stuff. I know he is going to make me do all the tech support. I’m kissing all my time goodbye. I know this is gonna stress him out and he is going to take it out on me. I’m stressed out too for a job I never applied for. So I might not be blogging for the next few days.

Mundane Saturday

Today is the Lion’s Gate portal where good luck and stuff is supposed to happen. Nothing really did that I noticed.

My dad was really distracted by trading card day.

At work I spent most of the shift washing dishes. I think a lot of them don’t know how a 3 compartment sink works. I got a strange request from coworker he wanted me to put 2 stuck pizza pans in hot water to get them unstuck. I think putting them in the oven would have done a better job. I was busy washing trays. There was no room for them anyway.

Then a big order came for a lot of pizzas. It really confused the new girl. I think they don’t like me working with her alone because I’m not that good at my job. 

I hate when I do that.

I managed to make 3 batches of sauce and not mess it up. So I was happy about that. 🍕🍅😉 Too bad it went everywhere. It really makes a mess on my clothes and in the place.

10 More Things from the Year 2000

Puca shells

An age of innocence (a pre 9-11 world)

Thong (underpants)

Stretchy clothes and boots

Hair mascara

Anime

Gel pens

Knitted Hair kerchiefs

Letter “B” and “C” in this photo. You know like all the girls wore them and they never did stay on your head very well you had to hold them down with hair clips or something.

Woven sandals

Shoes that look like this. I don’t know the official name for them but lots of other companies made them.

Millennium themed foods

You’re in the Doghouse

My dad is still mad that I don’t ask for more hours. Still he does not work there! They really don’t like me there. It’s why I get so little hours. My mom says that it was not my fault if nobody called me way back then. How was I supposed to know?

I had this weird and funny dream about Mister Ed.

That blog about school counselors was not supposed to be posted I try to save drafts and sometimes they accidentally post.

At work they had me on pizza toppings with the new girl then got mad at us because we were slow. Hello?! Why put both of us on there? My two supervisors were just talking and giggling. They were just goofing off when we needed more pizza! There were a bunch of orders. Then I had to wash dishes for a long time until I went home. I accidentally called home and my mom got distraught. My finger slipped on my phone menu.

I need my voice back not my dad asserting himself in everything I do. He found out about the Mini Brands and got mad about it. Even though I bought those with my own money!

 

 

Still 10 More video games from 1990

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (for NES)

Ninja Gaiden II: Dark Sword of Chaos

The Astyanax

Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos

Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse

Abadox

Snoopy’s Silly Sports Spectacular!

WCW Wrestling

Target: Renegade (for NES)

Spot: The Video Game

Surprise! Surprise!

I saw 5 Surprise Mini Brands balls at the store. I was really looking for Real Littles backpacks. They are kinda cute even for about $8. They didn’t have any backpacks though. I’ve never seen those balls in the wild. I only bought 2 of them. I had to exhibit self control. I didn’t care that I only had $40 on me. To buy really tiny plastic replica groceries. My dad keeps trying to get me to buy albums. I knew if he found out I bought these instead of albums. He would say something. These things are rare there is always going to be another copy of some album. I mean they are really hard to find online. I can buy albums almost anywhere including online.

I was a little upset I got a double. I did get a basket but it took a long time to assemble. Like at least 20 minutes even more. It’s great I got some Wet Ones people are hoarding those as quarantine doll props. Now I have 13 different items including the 5 I got on ebay. (Not counting the double and the basket)

Sorry there are not that many comparison pictures. I had to clean up. Plus I was told not to buy more stuff to add to more clutter. I really need to get my Starbrite Sparkles doll out of storage. And those vintage mini groceries I have in there too.

I get paid next week. I think? I’m still trying to clear that up even though it upsets my dad who still doesn’t work there. Not like he won’t criticize how I handle it. He’s been more overly critical over the past few days. He was criticizing how I sneeze. 

Later my dad found out the animal in the wall was rat(s). I thought it might have been some kind of rodent due to the research I did online. Since the animal was mostly active at dusk and dawn. I didn’t want to be asleep one day and then “Hello!” an animal pops out through a hole it made in the wall. And if there is a bunch of clutter that means there is a bunch of places for a pest to hide.

No Doubt Concert Irvine Meadows

I wanted this blog entry to have a cool title, but I couldn’t think of one. It was 20 years ago today that I saw No Doubt in concert for the 2nd time. I did seem them again in 2002, but I won’t be writing about that for a while.

I guess this whole story starts after the Costa Mesa show I saw.

My dad picked up a copy of The Orange County Register the day after this was an article about that show.

I was still upset I could not see them at Universal Amphitheater the next day.

I did get tickets for their August show on April 15th. I was so happy I bought my friend’s sister some nice birthday gifts. Expensive gifts. Sanrio stuff. Since I got those tickets on a Saturday I was ready to share the good news at school on Monday.

I thought I could get a cool outfit on my vacation to Laughlin, Nevada.

I was trying to replicate this outfit.

My dad was more interested in helping promote a race for a running club he joined and didn’t really care about me finding a new outfit for the concert. All the clothes I found at the mall were ugly or cheaply made. It didn’t help that I didn’t have a lot of money to buy something nice. He got in a car accident and my parents blamed me for it for wanting to look for a new outfit. He still probably would have gotten in an accident even if I was not looking for a new outfit.

I didn’t even have the money to dye my hair pink. According to second hand information I got from my mom from my cousin (supposedly) “it cost a lot”. I did eventually manage to scrounge up some money for some pink hair mascara. Not as pink as my hair was for Halloween.

Around the time this was happening my English class was reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. The project was to copy her style in a book about your life. Her style is not my style. It’s a very distinctive style. If you’ve read her books you know. She describes her mom’s hair of smelling like bread. How does English sound like tin? Anyway I wrote a bunch of stories about No Doubt. Including going to that show in Costa Mesa. I was wrong about the title it was called “Telepathic Gwen Connection”. Still a cheesy title thought up by 16 year old me. My friend told me I put too many No Doubt pictures in the book. I ended up annoying my English teacher who had to read the stories and grade the thing. What can I say? I thought my stories about No Doubt were my best ones. What was I going to write about? What my mom’s hair smelled like? Wearing discarded high heels? These were 2 of the comments she left.

Eventually I meet up with that guy who would not stop talking about going that No Doubt concert in 1997. It was in the beginning of May. So that would have been 3 weeks after tickets went on sale. I remember I was leaving P.E. and walking by the handball walls. I think he purposely ran into me to gloat. He was always gloating about something or another. Before I could even say it he did! That he got tickets to the show. I think we were both pissed that each other got tickets to the show. Maybe he got the tickets as an Easter present like he did for the ones in 1997.

During that summer I used to “practice” going to the concert. I would put on my Live in the Tragic Kingdom video and watch it while I stood for the whole video in the shoes I was going to wear to the concert.

I watched them perform on Leno that morning. I was so excited! They had like a 1920s look with Gwen in a hat and boa. I stayed up to watch it and tape it. Then woke up that morning and watched it again.

I was too excited to eat the Happy Meal for dinner. I was going to tape Big Brother, but I missed it because the preseason football game ran over.

The ticket for the show.

We got lost on the way over there trying to find it and my dad would not ask for directions. He always brags about how much he knows his way around the area. Yet he could not find that place. We made it in time to see all 3 acts; The Black Eyed Peas, Lit and No Doubt. There was just lots of walking there. Supposedly Gwen was out and about, but it was just some look a like. It was spacious and used to be a safari park that closed the year I was born. For more history on the place see the wikipedia article. I had really bad seats, but not lawn seats they were still pretty bad. I needed binoculars. Which I didn’t take. Gwen was really tiny from my perspective. 

The opening acts were The Black eyed peas and Lit in that order. I think Lit closed with either “Over my Head” or “My own Worst Enemy”. I came into this knowing one Black Eyed Peas song “Weekend” and four Lit songs; “My Own Worst Enemy”, “Over My Head”, “Miserable” and “Zip-Lock”.

I got a shirt with them in anime style like from the “New” video. I loved that shirt and wore it all the time.

When they came out to play I stood for the whole set like everybody else there did who was capable of standing. I didn’t know this was a thing since the last show I saw them at was in a courtyard of a shopping center with no seating. Gwen wore baggy pink pants with rhinestone accents and an off the shoulder red top with rhinestones on it. There were 2 girls dressed in the “Simple Kind of Life” bride dress. During “Simple Kind of Life” somebody gave Gwen a wedding veil to wear during the song. The audience sang “Don’t Speak”. The song that won the most votes on their website was “Trapped in a Box”. There was a singing contest (girls vs boys) during “Excuse Me Mr.” Gwen said the girls sang cute. When it was the encore Adrian came out in polka dotted underwear.

This is the set list from this show.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/no-doubt/2000/irvine-meadows-amphitheatre-irvine-ca-33d67841.html

Compared to the one I wrote from memory.

“Ex-girlfriend
“Sunday Morning”
“Bathwater”
“Simple Kind of Life”
“Don’t Speak”
“Trapped in a Box”
“Just a Girl”
“Happy Now?”
“Different People”
“Magic’s in the Makeup”
“Home Now”
“Excuse Me Mr.”
“Artificial Sweeter”

Encore:
“Too Late”
“Spiderwebs”

After the show when everybody was leaving some people said they saw the band walking by, but I didn’t see anything. I never saw that guy from school at the show either.

When I went home and washed all the hair mascara out of my hair I stained a towel.

I was thinking about calling up that guy a few days later to see if he really went to the show and quiz him on it. But I never did. 

When I told my friend about the concert a few days later. He kept getting mad that I was talking about Tony from the band which reminded him of his crush Toni. Don’t know why I was not even talking about the same person they just had similar sounding names. 

I had concert hangover for days which upset my mother.

Strength and Perseverance

We are bigger than this! No I have not lost my mind. I was thinking about how when the virus started that’s like all people were saying. In my heart I somehow felt this was going to last for a long time after all the precautions were put into place. I was reading somebody’s blog. At first they were all like “Let’s be strong” and quarantine bragging. Then they started having meltdowns in stores and crying for the children of the world. If you just tell yourself it’s a never ending shitstorm it helps you deal with it better.

Since the critter in the wall has been making a lot of noise. I could hear it in the shared wall between my bedroom and the bathroom. So I have been sleeping on the couch. Much to my father’s annoyance. That critter in the wall And my back too.

I don’t know if it is a racoon, but I remember seeing on a nature show as a kid that if they have invaded your attic you put a radio in there and put it on a talk radio station. Apparently the constant talking annoys the racoon and makes it want to leave. Maybe raccoons don’t like conservative talk about politics or people yelling about how much they love the Celtics.

They emailed us back and said they were going to set up some traps.