Final Half of October
Sunday, October 19th, 2003
This morning, I changed into my costume, laid back down for about 10 more minutes and went to get the bus. I didn't see Jeremy at all that day. He had a weird shift of 8:30 pm to 2:30 am. I am so glad I don't work at Magic Kingdom! I found out that not this week, but next week we start closing at 7:00, which means I get off at 8:00, for now. Yay! Like I said, I don't envy his schedule. I would rather work long hours and still get 2 days off.

I talked with a guy from work named Ted on the bus. The "Special E bus" (because they're short) leaves on every 20th minute from either Vista or MGM. Which means it takes about 20 minutes to get there. Usually, it only takes about 10 or 15. In theory, I can take the 11:40 bus, and still get there more or less on time at 12:00 (especially if I’m lucky and can get a bike, which 4 days out of 5 I’m not). The, as Ted called him, Douche Bag left late and drove like an old lady He and I got to our location at 12:04. There is a rule that says we can be 6 minutes late and still be on time; not have it count as a half point towards the necessary 3 for an attendance reprimand; 4 reprimands adds up to termination. I'm not 100% sure how many points I have against me; I was late twice, but the points disappear after 30 days, so maybe it's only 1. Anyway, Jeremy-the-manager was sitting in the assigner's chair, "Didn't you guys get the memo? We don't do the 6-minute rule anymore. Yesterday was the last day." "Nope, didn't hear that one. Sorry."

They put me on register at Rosie's. As long as I don't have to fill there, I'm good. When you're on register, you get to back up the orders, not deal with them being backed up, and the frenzy of it all. As fast as you can turnover the transaction, is as fast as you can back it up for the fillers. I got my break on time/early again.

I had an hour break today. After my break they made me fill at Rosie's (aw, crap!). Then about an hour and a half before closing, they took me to my closing position as Turkey Legs register.

At the end of the night, there were 3 sub sandwiches (Turkey baguettes, with lettuce tomato, turkey, provolone, salt, pepper, and....some sauce that starts with A...people always ask me, I’m still not 100% sure; usually when people find out it's a sub sandwich, they go for the turkey leg instead of the sub). We're supposed to throw all the food we don't use away. We usually throw at least 5 pans of 10 turkey legs away, (usually more) and I don't know how many hot dogs exactly, at least probably over 2 dozen of those. We sometimes just give them away at the end of the night. I hate to do it. But they won't let us eat free food either, which is stupid (unless no one knows, which could get us fired. I started picking at a turkey leg before throwing it away the other night once; they taste like corned beef). When we close down at the end of the night, a designated person, when we are all done comes to the stand and checks us to be sure we did everything and locks up the refrigerators and the stand. There were 3 sandwiches left that we either failed or forgot to throw away. Shirley, the checker, said we could take them home with us. We all took one. I ate mine for dinner; it was cool. I also got to clock out early. That was cool too.

I came home, ate my sandwich. At work, I had had great plans of getting together with someone and going to a movie at Downtown Disney. When I actually came home, I was too tired. We're supposed to have our raid on either Monday or Tuesday. Jacque came in and was complaining about how "When she left on Saturday, the place looked clean. Now it's a mess again." That was all she said, or did, on the matter. No one did anything, which bothered me. Stacey, Erik, Jacque and Julie went to sleep before 11. I took it upon myself to 409 and scrub everything. I was done sometime later. I didn't mind it. What I minded was that people complain about it. Or they say, "This needs to be done" and do nothing about it. I didn't want to think about not getting to see Jeremy. Stacey, Cara, Jacque and Erik said they saw him by the pool. Cara said, "He was actually nice" (and you wonder why he isn't nice to you).

I went to bed. I heard Jenny come in and Rachel come in. Jenny was being really loud and obnoxious. She always laughs really loud at stuff on sitcoms that's not that funny. She was talking to Rachel. I heard water running. All I kept thinking was, "They'd better not mess stuff up in there, after I worked my butt off scrubbing the doors and things that looked like they hadn't been touched in sometime.

Monday, October 20th, 2003
Um, I went to my class today. We were only writing a paper. I left at 3:00ish. I came home. I tried to call Jeremy. He wasn't home. He's still not home. Drat him! Where is that boy? I resolved that if I didn't hear from him by 5:00 I'm going to Epcot by myself. (I don't feel like going to work or Magic Kingdom; I go to both those places all the time as it is).

Well, I never got a hold of the boy.


So I went to Epcot by myself. I got there before Future World closed. I went straight to Wonders of Life, just to go into Cranium Command, my favorite thing in Epcot. I killed time before the show came on though. I went into one of those rooms that uses forced perspective so that when you walk from one end of the room to the other, you seem to grow and shrink. (I love those). Plus I did some other stuff with optical illusions. Then, I went into Cranium Command.


I left after that. There was no line for Mission Space, so I went on it, just to see if I still thought it was weird. It is; not as weird, but I don't think it's all people make it out to be. Of course, the ride exits into a store. They have beanies that go with the ride, dressed in space uniforms, the ones that are bright orange and look like prison wear, they have Mickey, and they have Minnie and they have Goofy, and they even have Pluto. Is it really going to cost them that much more to have Malaysian 6-year-olds to make an extra set of Donalds? Probably.


I wanted to have pizza, I don't know why, exactly. Sometimes, ignoring the cost, it's good to be the servee vs. the server. I couldn't find anywhere that served it; in all of Epcot, there is nowhere that they serve those personal pizzas like they have at Eddie's, or many other places on property. I find that unbelievable. I went into the Land hoping to find some of that pizza. I didn't. I instead had Butterfinger cheesecake. The saddest thing that happened in the Land was that I was sitting there, alone, when I heard one of the songs that they play as part of the area music at the Sunset Ranch. It wasn't the same version. It was an instrumental song, (all the songs are instrumental at the land, I heard Jessica by the Allman Brothers in there once). I half expected Slow Boat to China, or whatever the next song is that's after it to come on after. It was very depressing. It was like, "Crap! I can't get away from it!"


I started into World Showcase, Mexico first. They are doing the food and wine festival there now, which I forgot about until I got over there. Jeremy is lording the fact that I can't enjoy the wine over me; "Why do you care about the food and wine festival, you're too young to drink." "It's called a food and wine festival." They had a Three Caballeros topiary, (among others); I wish I'd had my camera. (It will be there awhile).

The food and wine festival is like this: There are all these little stands all over the place, about the size of the food stands at some crafts fairs, maybe smaller. Each stand represents a different country or area. They have about 3 different foods, and 4 wines or beers. The foods come on tiny plates and run about $1.75-$3.50 a plate. All the countries that are there have a stand, in addition to many others such as Greece, South Pacific, Poland, Ireland, Australia, Australia has a big ol beer station. I got a plain-flavored snowcone (I was so thirsty) and a plate of lemon chicken from Morocco that was pretty good.

Unfortunately, just as I was making my way from the Land to World Showcase, my shoe fell apart. I was wearing my platform sandals, that I love(d). The sole came right off the platform. The worst part was, the platform was completely hollow, so it sounded like horse's hoof with every step. People were looking around thinking, "What is that noise?" I say, "Yeah, it's me, sorry." I eventually got a rubber band that I attached somewhat to my shoe. It came off before too long.

In Mexico, I bought a Donald Duck beanie. (They always put Donald in Mexico. It's because he was in all those post-war "Good Neighbor Policy" movies like Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros, Disney's head-trip). Yes, I knew I already had a Mexican Donald, but this one was completely different, this one was holding the Mexican flag. The one I have, his face is different and he's holding maracas. (See, huge difference). I didn't want to wait for the 40% because the last and only time I saw this one previously was when I came to Epcot with my mom. I didn't get it then because I was "waiting for the 20%." So now I have a collection in my bedroom of 2 Donalds (in addition to the 20 other Donalds I have in my milk crate at home).

One scary thing that happened was, I went to the popcorn stand in Canada, (I don't know why, but they have the best popcorn here in the parks, without that yummy, faux liquid butter stuff they use at the movies). So I got a box of that, and paid for it. Of course I got a fist full of change and dollars. I sat down on a bench by the stage where Off Kilter plays. I organized my wallet. I ate my popcorn. I got up and went to another stand at the food fair (this one from the great nation of Colorful Food). I talked to the guy about getting a frozen orange juice. Just as I was about to put the money down for one, I looked for my money holding device, my wallet. It wasn't there! (Crap!) I ran back into Canada, with my shoe clopping behind me. I went back to those darkened benches by the stage, and found the wallet, exactly as I had left it, with all the money from the check I cashed before I went to the park, and credit cards and necessary Disney and Personal Identification cards. People were looking at me in my state of panic strangely. I held up my wallet victoriously as if to explain my strange behavior. I went back and got the frozen orange juice. I asked if it was sweet. They said it was naturally sweetened with other fruits that sounded sweet. Unfortunately, it tasted a little too straight orangey to me. (I don't like oranges or orange juice). I threw it away.

I'd had just about my fill of Epcot that night, so I went home. I didn't bother going to my apartment. I went straight to Jeremy's, unaware he had called my apartment trying to get a hold of me. I did that thing that people who have cell phones do, you know, Californians, where you call from practically outside the person's door, say, "I'm almost there, I'll see you in a few minutes." The next thing the person on the other end of the line knows, you're at their front door, (surprise...).

Jeremy and I decided we would go to Jungle Jim's. I forget how we came to this conclusion. They have 50 cent drafts there on Monday night and karaoke. (Beautiful combination, cheap booze and a microphone). We went back to my apartment first in an attempt to fix my sandal with hot glue. I tried to fix my shoe because I didn't have any other shoes that would remotely match what I was wearing. We didn't even make it to the bus to Jungle Jims before it came apart again. I wanted to go back and completely change my outfit. He made me go anyway. He didn't make any comments about my noisy shoe like I thought he would.

Jungle Jims...I’d heard about it in legends that circulated Sunset Ranch. They made it sound like half the CPs from that place spent their Monday nights there (as opposed to PI). I only saw one person from work there (which I guess is more than Jeremy saw), Shaun. I don't know how vashnikud he was, if at all. (I tried to teach Jeremy that word. He couldn't say it, "All I hear is naked,"). Shaun did sing up on the stage, Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams. He wasn't bad. He wasn't great either. He was better than most of the twitty little girls that went up there, many of them more sober than not. I don't think even if I was drunk I would do that. I might do other things.

We went back to his apartment where he made fries and didn't burn them.

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2003
We both had Tuesday off, so we decided to go to Blizzard Beach before it closed. I had never been there before, in all the times I’ve come with my family. My dad could never get himself together soon enough before they closed due to being full to capacity, thereby sending us to Typhoon Lagoon. Cara was invited to go with us. He promised he would be nice, and I made her promise she would be, on the grounds that he would be. That morning, when I came back to my apartment, I was told Cara wasn't going after all. I couldn't understand why. Jeremy assumed it was because of him.


We drove to Blizzard Beach. The first thing we did was a very lame small slide. Then, we walked up the hill and did the very tall slide. It had a big ol line. It was made to look like one of those ski jumps, I forget what they're called. The slide was called Summit Plummet, and you could get up to the top of the hill where the line for it, and a few others was by a ski lift. The best part about waiting in line was you could see all 4 parks, and the All-Stars, Grand Floridian, Contemporary and Coronado Resorts. The one you could see the easiest was MGM; when you go on the Tower of Terror, that's primarily the view you get is of Blizzard Beach. I wish I could have had a camera up there, take pictures of the parks, and Jeremy either going down or coming down. (I went first). The slide itself was ok. It is supposedly 120 tall and straight down. People take about 8 seconds to go from top to bottom. I got a little freaked out when I went on it because you are in the dark for a second. I had a megawedgie when I got off.

After that, we went up on the chairlift to the top of the hill again and went on a slide that was bumpy. I thought it was scarier than the other one. It too gave me a big ol wedgie. We played in the wave pool, rode around on the Cross Country ski run, an endless river. Then we went on another slide that was more like a regular waterslide in a tubular tunnel, and one where you ride down on your stomach on little mats.

At that point, we were getting sick of lines. They seem worse than the ones at the park because not only are they long, they move slowly. We got lunch there. We were about ready to leave.

My mom wanted me to buy a shirt for Mike if I went, so I did. I didn't get anything for myself. I had also known if I went and didn't take any pictures my mom would be mad at me. So I made Jeremy go back to a few places and take pictures of me.


After we were done at Blizzard Beach, we went next door to the Winter Summerland mini-golf. There are 2 courses there, one that's Christmas in summer, and one that is just Christmas. It was a cute place, the holes were easy for the most part. Little bells and whistles went off when you hit the ball thru tunnels and into holes. I took a lot of pictures there, a lot of Jeremy that he doesn't know about yet. He won, which he lorded over me.

Why do bugs like to eat my legs? It's annoying!

We then went to Property Controlland, where I bought 3 shirts I had wanted, one of a sparkly Mickey Mouse yin-yang, a union jack shirt sold in the UK in Epcot, and a Haunted Mansion shirt, all for about $20 total. We then went into the tunnels to check his schedule for the next day. We didn't go to the park at all.

We went, bought gas, he pumped, (what a gentleman). We went back to my apartment where Erik and Stacey were. The 4 of us talked and for some reason ended up watching, of all things Lizzie McGuire. We all watched, no one changed the channel for a long time, everyone was making fun of it, but it was on. I finally found something on TV I haven't seen since I left home, The Simpsons. (I love intelligent TV). It was great. It was the one where Bart joins boy scouts and goes on a rafting trip with Homer and Ned Flanders.

I called my mom that night. I forget what all we talked about. The first thing she asked when I told her I went to Blizzard Beach was "Did you take pictures?" (Jeremy was sitting right there, and it was he to whom I had insisted that pictures be taken) "Yes, I took pictures," I said.

I came out later and made grilled cheese sandwiches for the 2 of us. We later went back to Jeremy's apartment where he took a shower. He takes long showers. I started copying one of his posters when he was in the shower.

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2003
After the "footlong" incident, I sent a semi-sarcastic TM to Andrea asking "How long is a footlong?" I got 2 mysterious text messages from a guy on AOL Instant Messenger. The first said, "Andrea owns you" (uuuh, what?!). The second said, "How long is a footlong? Isn't it 12 inches" I responded to him, it turns out to be a friend of Andrea's, about the stupid questions I get here. (Footlongs! They're more than a name, they're self-explanatory!). I've told everyone about that incident. Dumb guestomers, as Jeremy calls them; they're customers, but we are not allowed to call them that; they are guests. Well, how about guestomers, then?

I worked at Eddie's that day, both before and after my break. No one was there. It was very boring. I banked out of Scoops that night, and bought fudge on the way out of the park.

I went over to Magic Kingdom to wait for, and pick up Jeremy. I called Bonnie from backstage there. I always get a little worried he will flake on me. He hasn't yet, except that one time. We went to the Waffle House for dinner, I paid.

I used to be AMANDA L on all my receipts. Now I am Amanda H.

Thursday, October 23rd, 2003
The next day, I had to be in at 11:45. I was produce stocker. I didn't work too hard that day. Except at about 5:30, when I still hadn't gotten my break exhaustion, lethargy and irritation set in. The stupid tourist question of the day, "Do you sell bottled water here [at the produce stand]?" Behind the woman was a huge bin full of bottled waters. (It's a good thing they don't bite, lady). They had gotten 3 hours behind on breaks.

Ron was the assigner, for some reason he often gets behind on breaks. It's not like the park was crowded and they couldn't break people. That never happens when Sabrina is assigner, I reiterate, she's good people. It got to be 6:15 when I finally went and outright asked for my break. I try not to complain, and they get very irritated if you ask, "When is my break supposed to be?" But that was ridiculous. I was on the top of a list, 6 people long, of people that in about 2 hours from park closing had not received their break. They gave away so much free food to Cast Members that night. Bunches of Sunset Ranch people were sitting around in Take 5 with cups of ice cream, personal pizzas, and hamburgers and fries. We were all complaining about Ron, the system, and how exhausted we were from working so long. I had Barbeque Chicken Pizza, a Sprite and a cup of cookies and cream ice cream. I closed Turkey Legs. I was so tired at the end of that night. They gave everyone free popsicles and ice cream like they sell from the carts. I think they did it because they hosed so many people on their breaks.

I came home and showered. Jeremy came over after awhile. We had decided the night before we would go to PI that day. At 11:00 the previous night, it didn't sound like a bad idea. After that crappy day, it wasn't a possibility. Lucille (have I ever talked about her? She's cool) said it was like we were caught up in chemical warfare and we were losing.

I am very disgruntled with the system. I just want to say this, and I think he would say the same of me, I am so glad I have Jeremy here. My roommates, Cara, and a few of my coworkers are great, like Toccarra, but none of them compare to the--I can't figure out the words. Jeremy is the best thing I've got going here. When I have crappy days like today, I'm glad I can depend on him to be near me...even if he is a dork, which is not a fact I have hidden from him, "So, you're dating a dork?" he says.

Friday, October 24th, 2003
I went back to the Ranch at 11:45 the next day. I bussed. They gave me a break on time; I think after the day before they made a point of being under that. I went to the computer lab on my break.

I always put my hair back in a ponytail, because it's the only way I can halfway stand to wear that awful visor. Lately, I've been putting up in a ponytail (I didn't think I had enough hair to do that). Lots of people have been asking me, "Did you cut your hair?"

I can't help but wonder, what is the point of the Backlot Tour? This is a bus ride, more like a tram ride, I guess, around behind the scenes at MGM. Part of the tour is right by the buildings where the computer lab, trainers, and schedulers are. The tour goes around these things, and I see it all the time, and they see me on a bike not wearing my visor. I can't help but wonder though, why do people care about the office buildings and the animator's parking garage?

After my break, I bussed some more (no complaints here). I closed Eddie's, and we got done so fast I got to leave early on the 8:20 bus. I wish I hadn't.

That morning, Jeremy and I had discussed the possibility of him picking me up, since he got off at 8:00, and I got off at 8:30. I had thought he said that he would not because he might get extended, and therefore wouldn't be there. What he said was, He would be there unless he was extended. Around 10:00, I got a call from him saying he waited there for an hour before finally leaving. He made himself do it because I did that one time. (Oh, crap!) I apologized to him over and over. I think he thought that was amusing. He wasn't mad at me; he couldn't be. "Now we're even," he said. I hated that. I didn't want it to be this karma thing. I wanted it to be like, "Let's just not let this happen again."

We went to Beginnigan's. He paid this time. We split an appetizer sampler.

We watched Big in his apartment (again).

I am having a major problem right now. I am pretty much convinced that I love Jeremy. The problem is, I've never loved anyone like that before. Unfortunately, there is no way to prove what I'm feeling, just to be sure. Especially since I don't want to say something I'm going to regret. And I can't really reason it out. It's hard to describe. It's just almost like an impulse. It seems sometimes in certain situations I just want to say it. I've never wanted to do that before, even around him. So I guess that means the emotion is genuine. No, I'm sure of it. I wish I wasn't so afraid of my feelings. This is problematic, because I am pretty sure he doesn't feel that way about me. That is, he hasn't said it. And I'm afraid if I hold it in, one of these times I'm going to accidentally blurt it out, and scare him off. I'm so afraid of that. If I say it, he may leave me or not want to talk to me. I've been there; on the receiving end of an unprepared and unexpected "I love you." It was scary. It's better not to say anything. I hate dealing with this emotional crap. I've never been good with feelings or whatever.

Saturday, October 25th, 2003
I went to Jeremy's apartment on Saturday. A cleaning crew was in there the next morning to clean it for a new, incoming roommate, a friend of his gay roommate. He was supposed to move into Jeremy's room. Jeremy switched rooms so that the two of them could be together. We went back and hung out in my apartment.

After awhile, I got up and made one, and burned one grilled cheese sandwich (the burned one was supposed to be mine). Jeremy got on the internet. There were jokes in his e-mail you know you're from _______ when... That was amusing, because one of them was, "You know you're from the deep south" and "You know you're from California" Stacey was standing there as he read them out loud. One of the California ones was, "You know how to eat an artichoke." (That was one of those "What's so funny about that?" for me). I said to Jeremy, "Have you ever had an artichoke?" (One of my favorite foods). "No." "Well...Stacey, you've had one before, right?" "Only on stuff" (meaning it's canned hearts). I am appalled that artichokes are not just one of those commonalities like strawberries or something.

Speaking of California only food, I told my mom to bring me sourdough bread, mostly because this white bread isn't cutting it for my grilled cheese sandwiches. She laughed. She's going to bring me sourdough garlic, and a hard loaf.

Here's something amusing: I took a break and I went into Take 5. I sat there, eating my bagel and cream cheese, staring blankly at whatever was on the TVs in there. What was on was a golf tournament that was being held on property. The next thing I know, they are showing scenes of and from the Tower of Terror. This Take 5 place is right by Sunset Ranch. So, I could turn around, look out the window and see nothing but the Tower of Terror. They showed scenes from right out on the street, looking down towards the Ranch, and scenes from the top looking down at the plaza in front of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. It was just very strange to me, I was watching on TV what I could step outside and see.

Stacey thinks I look funny when I wear my sparkly sunglasses with my uniform; her exact words were "groovy."

Here's something else amusing: I brought home my biggest paycheck ever on Friday, $177 (that's what happens when you work a 6 day week, I guess). It was nice. Jeremy's never gotten a check that big, so I was lording it over him. "You're paying for dinner, Miss $170."

I got on the internet that night. I was supposed to send a piece of a thing I had to write for my class to someone to be integrated into a larger paper. The internet pissed me off. I went to my e-mail to attach the thing and send it off. The website said, "The site is down for a little while. It will be back up at 11:30 PDT" At that time it was in about another 20 minutes. I was already pretty tired. I waited around, played around. Went back at 11:35 CA time. The site said it would be up at 11:59. (Grrr...) So I waited around some more. At about 11:55 CA time, the computer froze. It was Stacey's computer, and she has AOL, and I didn't know her password, so I couldn't send it that night because I couldn't log back in to the internet. I was angry.

Sunday, October 26th, 2003
I got up early and sent the thing the next morning. Cara came over and was very depressed. A friend of hers from home had died. I told Jeremy when I saw him later to be nice to her. He said it was torture to have to be. I went in to work at 2:00 that day. The put me on produce stocking again. I'm actually glad they did.

Two amusing things happened at work that day. The first was I heard something I don't hear very often. Someone, almost randomly, told me they appreciated what we do. That's nice to hear. Considering all the stupid questions, and people who are looking for something to moan about, I get appreciation, and a lot of mechanical, obligatory "thank you"s but I don't hear things like that very often. It was nice.

The other thing that happened was, I took a quick break to drink something in the fry cart while produce stocking (everything was stocked, I wasn't slacking). And the people in the fry cart asked me to drain it for them. It's not my job to restock/do for them, but I said I would anyway. I went and got the drain cart, hooked it up to the fry stand, and plugged it in and awaited the drainage of water. The first thing I noticed about the cart was one of the prongs, of the three, on the plug was missing. The machine didn't sound right as it was plugged in. I took the hose off the cart, it wasn't sucking. I took it over to the produce stand to make sure it wasn't just the fry cart plug. It didn't work over at the produce stand either. (Grrr...). I took the cart backstage. I told the new manager, Jack, and Jeremy-the-manager that the drain cart was broken. I first mentioned that one of the prongs was missing. "Well, that shouldn't affect the cart." "Ok, but the hose is still not sucking." (It seems a longer conversation transpired, the conclusion being me insisting "It's not working"). "OK, thank you." The next thing I see, Jack is wheeling the drain cart over to the fry cart. I watched him as I restocked the fruit, rolling my eyes. "Isn't that broken?" said Nick, who was on register. "Well unless the good fairies that fly out of our-- rear ends came along and sprinkled pixie dust on it, I guess not." (I love being doubted, and being right). A little while later, I saw Jack, and two maintenance guys working on it. I had to laugh.

They gave me my break at 4:30. I went over to the computer lab. It was closed.

I produce stocked again, and closed Turkey Legs.

Last Saturday and Sunday were not busy at all. They were about as busy as a Wednesday. I wonder why. Granted, I am not complaining, I hate madness. However, it's just curious, that's all.

Jeremy had volunteered to pick me up. He made it very clear when he would be there. And I made it clear I would be there too. He was there right as I was walking out. I was happy to see him. We picked up a frozen pizza on the way back from the gas station.

We sat around in his room for a bit, trying to think of something to do. He randomly suggested we go into downtown Orlando and drive around. (Uh, ok?). I drove us, and we did. It was just about like any downtown in a little-big city (big city feel, but still has less than 500,000 people; wannabe big city). We found one street that was remotely happening. It had a club and several piercing/tattoo parlors around.

We ended up on a long scary dark road (scary roads are ones that are 2 lanes, in the middle of nowhere, and very badly, if at all lit). It eventually turned into a toll road (At least you don't get any of that in California). Jeremy paid $1 of the $1.25 toll. We saw fireworks from Magic Kingdom on the way back to Vista.

Stacey and Erik were sitting around in the living room. Jeremy went back to his apartment for a bit and showered and came back. The 4 of us sat around for a while and talked. Erik talked about what it was like to do the autographs of the different characters. It's not enough for the person in the costume to just write the name of the character that they are, they have to learn how that character writes their name. Many of the characters have little drawings they have to do along with their names, like the J in Jafar looks like a cobra. He also relayed stories about how the people who play the characters sometimes will accidentally sign their checks "Tigger" or "Buzz Lightyear" or how they will forget which character they are signing for, and be playing Genie, but write Goofy.

Monday, October 27th, 2003
I went to my class, it was boring, and I got out. Jeremy and I had decided that we would go to with some of the people he knew from work to play minigolf at Fantasia Gardens. So I dressed up like I was going on a real date.

Jeremy's mom and step dad had treated me to an expensive dinner, I am hoping my parents do the same for him. Jeremy really wants to go to the Rainforest Cafe (but he's lacks the funds to eat there on his own). I hinted around that he wanted to go there, but didn't get the opportunity. Plus we talked about getting him. We actually talked a lot about Jeremy. I mentioned how he thought he wasn't cute, and too skinny. "And you think you're ugly and fat. Great..." The thing is, our pasts are similar. He thinks he's ugly because he's been called so. Neither of us has a lot of takers, and was not at all popular in high school. Neither of us have incredibly high self-esteems or levels of confidence. He so often can read my mind, ever since that first night when I so badly wanted him to kiss me and he did. Then there are the other times where I start to think, "I'm so glad to have him" he does something like fart, and say, "Dern, Amanda!" "Dork!"

I find myself more and more happy to be with him all the time. I've never learned to care for anyone so much and so quickly.

I drove over to Magic Kingdom. I was supposed to meet him at 6:00. I did. He asked why I was all dressed up. "Am I?" I said, like I hadn't taken an extra half hour to dress and put on eyeliner. Apparently, we weren't going minigolfing after all. The park was going to close in about an hour. He specifically wanted to see the fireworks. We walked into Fantasyland. We went to Small World (of all things, he told me he hated it, but it had a 0 minute wait). We also went on the Haunted Mansion. Then we walked down to Splash Mountain, made a U-turn into Adventureland, and to Main Street to watch the big ol' new fireworks show.


On Small World, they have a jungle scene with all kinds of animals. His story is, the hippo was very cute, like me. So of course, he compared me to a hippo, "That hippo kinda looks like you." (Excuse me?!?!). He thought the look I gave him was funny, an evil grin he called it. I then got really serious. As one can imagine, someone as insecure as I am about their weight, does not appreciate being compared to a hippo, no matter how cute. Even if you are not insecure, you wonder why your boyfriend would compare you to a hippo. (One wants to believe that the people that make up a couple are somehow attracted to one another). I was very not amused. I have never yelled at him, or seemed angry. This was one of those times I came close. I wanted to deck him. Instead I clenched my fists, and later grabbed his hand and squeezed it as tight as I could. I don't think I hurt him much; but I wanted to believe I was causing him some pain, and besides it was relieving the tension for me. The thought crossed my mind to dump him. But one asinine remark didn't seem worth dumping him over. I have known better than to ask guys "Do you think I'm/this makes me look fat?" I did ask him if he thought I was fat. If he didn't think I was, he wouldn't have compared me to a hippo. I was very sullen towards him. He felt really bad about it. (Good!). It was strange, he was the reason I was feeling crappy about myself, yet I wanted him to hold me and make me feel-- liked...a lot...

We came back. I dropped him off back at Vista, and I went to Walmart, got groceries, and got gas on the way back.

I came back to the apartment, still didn't eat, wrote in my journal and waited around for him. He finally came over around 10:45. We went to TGI Fridays. I got a baked potato, breadsticks, and a frozen drink that tasted a little like the piña coladas Kelly and I make. He didn't order anything to eat, but promptly started eating my potato, so he ordered another one that I ate some of.

We came back to my apartment. We drank fruit juice in my bedroom. I managed to knock over both his and my juice on to the carpet. (Crap!)

I had called Kelly earlier that day to talk to her about-- stuff. She returned my call that night. We somehow started talking about Jeremy. The conversation came down to, "Well he's sitting right here, do you want to talk to him?" (I didn't think she would) "Let me hear him say something in his accent!" (What?! How else is he supposed to say anything?). I think he tried to do a different accent at first. So the two of them talked for a while. I was pissed with Jeremy. I talk about Kelly a fair amount, he said, "Oh yeah, she's only mentioned you once or twice." "Liar!!" He also said, "What has she said about me?" "What is she saying?!" "She said you said I was hot and had a cute accent." (Ack!) They started talking about Mike, who he's never met, being autistic. And he passed the phone back to me, and we talked. And at some point, he talked to her again. She was jealous of me (supposedly) having so much fun in Florida. She told me he sounded like a sweetheart.

Tuesday, October 28th, 2003
I had the next day off. I decided to go to Target (which requires a freeway trip and an additional 4 mile drive). And since it's right there, maybe the Florida Mall, too. I put in some laundry, and Cara and I went.

We went into Hot Topic, which was a mistake. I say this because they had a whole bunch of Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, and I could only afford some of it. I ended up with a poster of Jack and Sally on the spiral, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel in the pumpkin patch below. I got a girly shirt of Jack against a sparkly red spider web and "Nightmare 13" written on the back like a sports jersey. I also debated between a High Voltage shirt, and one with Homer Simpson, Mick and Keith (from the show) against a rainbow tongue logo. I ended up with the Stones one. I had actually hoped I would find a shirt like the one I asked my mom to get; something praising dorks. The only dorkular (that's a good word, I’ll have to use it in the context of Jeremy in the future) thing I found was a big ol' red button with the word "dork" written on it in big white letters. It somehow seemed terribly appropriate. (Cara said he definitely needed it). After him comparing me to a hippo the other night, he bloody well deserved it. So I got it for him.

We then went over to Target. I was hoping to find some solid colored, but not as dark as blue, navy or black bras (maybe orange, or green). I found nothing, nothing and padding (I’m already pretty well padded, thank you). I did buy a cheap Kiss's Greatest CD (I can't download, and if I’m going to see them I want to at least know a few of their songs, I hate seeing a group in concert and not knowing any of their songs; feigning interest).

When Cara and I went back, we went to the Advanced Internship Fair. It really sucked. They didn't tell you how to apply exactly. I only saw one that interested me, merchandise design. You need to give them a portfolio to be submitted. I guess that means I'm hosed; I'm better than most, but not as good as many. The best part was that they were giving away posters from the Philharmagic attraction; nice, thick posters that are the attraction posters like they have in the (guest entrance) tunnel to Magic Kingdom under the train station. The reprints of the attraction posters are going for about $30, I want to get on eBay and see what these are going for right now; I found out that there are a few 32nd Birthday buttons for between $2-$5, not bad considering they were free. I got 2 posters, one for me, and I knew Jeremy had wanted one too.

Then she and I drove to Blockbuster Video. It is far away, over by Sea World. It is shocking that over in Crossroads, a local shopping center, they have a Bath and Bodyworks, but they don't have a video rental place; with all the kids from 3 apartment complexes around, someone could make a lot of money just by opening up one of those places. (That will be my entrepreneurial goal, a video store for Vista Way/Chatham/Commons). I got Mighty Wind, funniest movie I've seen so far this year (with the possible exception of Finding Nemo).

I came back to the apartment, and baked brownies. They are meant to be shared with everyone, which is why, around here, with 6-9 people in the apartment constantly, they never last very long. I showed everyone the "dork" button. They all thought it was terribly funny.

I debated on going out and surprising Jeremy at Magic Kingdom. But it kept getting later and later, so it didn't happen. At around 9:30, he called and said he was helping to decorate the tunnels, and to come and get him by the elevator. (You're decorating the tunnels? For Halloween? Wouldn't you have done that already? Or are you getting a head start on Christmas?). I went by the elevator, he wasn't there. (Swell...). I wondered why I seemed to care so much. Why do I always voluntarily do such nice things for him? He doesn't flake on me. (Oh, right, it's because I'm afraid to admit that I love him).

I gave Jeremy about a half hour. I obsessed the whole time about how I was going to deal with loving him, and him probably not loving me. He, and his compadres, came right about the time I was getting up to walk back out to the bus at the tunnels. He brought me a Taco. I gave him the button (he really deserved it for not being there; I wasn't mad though). He laughed and put it on. Everyone else thought it was sweet, funny, and also somehow terribly appropriate.

What they were doing was turning their storage and freezers into a haunted house thing. He didn't really want to be a part of it, but apparently they begged him so he went along with it; he thought they were going to be decorating a bulletin board. Apparently, there was a contest between all the other areas of the park for the scariest deely. Jeremy was not terribly committed to the project. I was just there because he was. I don't know if they win anything if he will be included in prize divvying. We eventually just left.

We went back to my apartment and did nothing, ate the last 2 brownies, talked about how stupid guests are, and how very Californian Erik and I are, and very southern Jeremy is. Cara (who wasn't there at the time) is from South Carolina. She doesn't have an accent at all I don't think. Every once in awhile, maybe, especially when she says y'all. I've known Erik a few days longer than I've known Jeremy. Erik used to make fun of Cara's accent, constantly. Then he met Jeremy... I always tell him, "At least every other word you say isn't 'like' " Something I've noticed a lot more about myself being around him. He thought Kelly had an accent.

Wednesday, October 29th, 2003
I've got a lot of stuff I want to do today. If I don't go to Epcot to watch Three Dog Night today, I won't ever (did I mention they were playing at Epcot all this week for the food and wine deelie? 5th Dimension I think will be here in another week or 2). I want to find the local friendly neighborhood headshop. I want to go to MGM for a while; I want to do an art project on my time here. I think I'll play 3 songs on a loop with the series, Boogie-Woggie Bugle Boy, that one Glenn Miller one that's not In the Mood, and Pennsylvania 65000. That will require pictures. Plus I told Jeremy I'd get him at 8:30. I've got to get busy.

It turns out I had a very productive day after I updated...

I wore my new Nightmare shirt. I got a lot of comments on it.

I ran first over to MGM to get new costumes (so that I don't have to take a bus that leaves 20 minutes earlier to do it the next morning), and returned my books to the Center of Excellence.

While I was getting costumes, there was a girl ahead of me who plays a cowgirl that hijacks the Great Movie Ride tour. She had her costume, but said that she couldn't walk onstage with all her gear where guests could see her. At costuming, you can check out a big canvas bag for your uniforms. But you only get one. She already had one somewhere, and they wouldn't let her even borrow one for the few minutes it took for her to drop her cowboy stuff in her locker at the ride. I was getting a new bag. I volunteered to let her carry her things in my bag, I would walk with her to the ride, and she would take them out when we got there. So that's what we did. Her name was Eileen. We talked on our way over there. When we got to the back of the great movie ride, she showed me doors that led to the different scenes from the ride, "This is Alien, right here." When we got to the Western part, she took her stuff out of my bag and struggled with the door and I left.

I went over to Sunset Ranch, just to bug the people I knew there. It's amazing how people almost don't recognize you in human clothes; after seeing you day after day in the same lollypop outfit like a cartoon character, when you show up wearing your clothes, your coworkers are thrown off a little bit. I think I looked pretty hot that day too; the shirt is about a size smaller than what I usually get, my red shorts, and my peace sign converses. Then everyone says, "Whoa! You look different!" I planned on taking pictures somehow; I know I am not going to clearly remember half these people, unfortunately. It's like your high school yearbook; you get people who you claim were your friends to sign it, and then when you look at the, "You're so cool, we had fun in history, see you round!" several years later, you think, "Who is this person?" I hope that by writing about some of them, it helps me to remember. I talked to Diana, she is a cute Mexican CP. She was filling at Rosie's at the time. She gave me a free Sprite. I then went over Scoops, simply because that is where I recognized people. There was a huge line, so I went in the side door, "Excuse me? I want ice cream, but I don't want it too cold." Kris, was on register, and Carlos was his scooper. We talked for a little bit. Kris offered me a free ice cream. Carlos got me a cookies and cream cone. I left.

I hung out by the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and debated whether or not it was worth the 25 minute wait, especially since they weren't doing Fast Passes. I decided no. I left soon after, figuring I best get over to Epcot, if I was going. Fortunately, it's practically next door to MGM.

I went in the Cast entrance, which was an adventure that involved going outside the park completely. I wanted to park as close to World Showcase as possible, which meant Cast parking, whose entrance is right by Mexico. I had my camera. Test Track goes outside the building and makes a loop around part of the employee parking lot, right by Cast services. I took a picture of a car on a banked turn.


I got there before Future World closed. I went over to the Land to see Cara and Stacey at the Garden Grill. I found, and took a picture of Cara in costume. She said that Stacey had been ERed due to chest pains. This is typical of Stacey; she has so many heart problems.

There was a big ol' stage set up near one of the Innoventions. Some Hispanic group was performing there. They were broadcasting it on a Spanish TV station. I forget which one. I might've stayed around, but I had a different purpose for being there.

Nothing has been proven to move slower than a tourist (terr'ist) in Disney World.

I made my way over to America, where Three Dog Night was supposed to be playing. They were doing 3 sets that night, one at 5:45 that I missed, one at 7:00 that was in about a half hour, and one at 8:15 which was too late. There was still a little bit of time before the show, so I ran over to Japan and got 2 side orders of yakitori, which was cheap (even in the real world) and filling; less than 4 bucks, not bad for Disney. I went back with my chicken to the America stage and waited.


Three Dog Night put on a good little show. I didn't recognize the song they opened with, but I recognized most of the other ones; Old Fashioned Love Song, Mama Told Me Not to Come, Black and White, Celebrate, they did Joy to the World for their encore. I took several pictures of them. The show itself was only a half hour. That was perfect, not only did they play all the songs I hoped to hear, without a bunch of unnecessary What-is-this? filler. Plus it allowed me to leave with just enough time to run over to the Magic Kingdom.

I usually allow an hour to get to Magic Kingdom from leaving to the time I am supposed to get Jeremy. I had the whole bus to myself; not too many people going to the park after closing. The bus driver was chatty. He talked to me about Jeremy, and my major, and my outfit. He was a cool guy. He asked, "And are you two madly in love?" "Uuuuh, I don't know." (I'm holding back those feelings).

I went to my usual spot and played cell phone games. He was right on time. I heard his voice from down the hall (not his accent, his voice). I turned my back to him and continued playing. He tried to scare me, I told him saw him coming.

After he changed, we went and saw the Haunted House thing that his coworkers concocted. It was dumb, like most haunted houses.

We went to Perkins after that. He paid; it was his turn.

I called my mom after I got back to my apartment. He acted like a dork. He whispered in my ear the stupid way of saying my name, to annoy me, but just so that the person on the other end of the line couldn't hear. He also kept running away from me for some reason. I didn't understand why. He said, "Hi" to my mom, and she said hi back, and wondered if he was nervous about meeting them. He said no. (I'll probably be a nervous wreck by that time).

Thursday, October 30th, 2003
I went to work at 12:00 the next day, or so I thought. The night before, when waiting for Jeremy, I double-checked my schedule for the next day, which said 12:00-8:00, Jeremy saw it and said something out loud about it. I got to the computer to clock in right at 12:00. The computer said, "You have no shift scheduled" (What?!) I tried to clock in again, I got the same message. I double-checked the printed schedule in the back of the prep kitchen, it said 12:00. I wondered if it had been changed on me. I hoped not; I couldn't afford to not work any more, after having 3 days off. I recalled the night before how it said 12:00; maybe I was mistaken. No, I couldn't be, because Jeremy commented on it.

At this time, the computer was handing out menial cleaning tasks to everyone who was clocking in at 12:00, and they were all saying, "Do I really have to do this?" or "What does this mean?" I was getting frustrated because it was very quickly getting past 6 minutes and the 6 minute rule and I really didn't want to be late; I didn't want an attendance reprimand, mostly because if you leave the company, having that little black mark makes it harder to get back in the little inner circle; you can't get an extension on your program or apply for an advanced internship if you've got one (not that I want to extend even if I can, which I can't). By the time the assigner finally got around to me, and the aforementioned Diana, she said, "You're not working here today; you're working at Backlot." (What? The ride?).

Fran, a GT, took Diana and I over to a place called Backlot Express. We passed one (Sunset Ranch) person on the way there. He said he was jealous of us. (Ummm...ok?) They told us we would not be late because of this change.

I vaguely recalled this place from one time, maybe time-before-last when I did a behind the scenes thing of MGM, come to think of it, it was a lot like the walk through before we started working. They gave us free lunch there.

Diana and I went into this place, and Fran handed us off to the manager of the establishment named Don. He was nice to us. It was very awkward. He handed us off to a nice lady named Margie. She showed us where everything was and gave us a crash-course training thing. This place was a lot like Rosie's, but it was more spread out and not a little claustrophobic shoebox. The theme of it was that it was a garage where they build/store set pieces. It had a menu a lot like Rosie's but there were a few more things to it. One of the most awkward things about the experience was the fact that everyone there wears the same uniforms as the Outdoor Foods people, which are white shirts, with bands on the sleeves that look like the clappers on clapboards, black pants/shorts, a black burray hat, and a bright primary-colored apron; in other words, pastel Diana and I stood out. Everyone referred to us as, "Hey! Sunset Girls!" Adjusting to finding the order was difficult too. At many quick-service places, they have 2 lines per register, one on the left and one on the right. This is unlike Sunset Ranch where they only have one line per register. Figuring out where 2-left and 3-right (etc.) was a bit difficult at first. However, everyone there was really nice and really patient with us. One guy, Wesley, from my class gave me Cheez-its to eat on my 15 minute break that we were allotted since we were only working there 5 1/2 hours. They closed at 5:30. That meant that we got to leave there at 5:30.

I liked it better than Rosie's, but not better than anywhere else (except Scoops, Scoops is evil) at Sunset Ranch, I missed the familiarity, where I knew the prices of everything with sales tax; turkey leg, $5, beer $5.32, plain hot dog, $3.93, mixed fruit, $2.55...

The worst thing that happened was there was a bitchy lady in line. She complained because there was "Nothing there her kids would eat" (go to a different restaurant) and something about the change/money, then we brought her food and "the fries were cold" before she even tried them, and over at this place they sell slushy-like drinks like frozen lemonades in Coke, blueberry and cherry flavors. She ordered a Fanta orange soda, and when she got it, she complained because she wanted a blueberry frozen deely. So the guy threw the orange soda whole into the trash and got her the blueberry thing. She proceeded to pull the orange soda out of the trash and take it with her. (Who the lit the fuse on your tampon, lady?). Plus she scammed into a free soda.

I was supposed to close at Sunset Ranch that night, as usual. We got back over to Sunset Ranch, to finish out our shifts. They had already made out the closing list and neither Diana nor I were on it. They told us we were free to go home. I saw Diane (not to be confused with Diana), the checker who was full time. She is really nice, kinda sarcastic, I really like her. She liked to pull on the bow on the back of my apron and undo it. That was her last day at Sunset Ranch. She was being transferred to the new hotel opening in December, Pop Century. She's training there all this month.

This all would have been great for me except I had worked things out a certain way with Jeremy. He had the day off. He told me he would come get me at 8:00 when I got off. I had also suspected he would play in the park some and want to come see me at work. I figured he would get over there and not know where I was. When I got back to Sunset, Thomas came up to me and said, "Some guy was here looking for you." "When? What did you tell him?" "I said I hadn't seen her today, so I didn't think you were here." (Aw, crap!). Jeremy saw me get on the bus that morning, so he knew I was there. I had to wait around for him to pick me up. I of course didn't have my cell phone. I borrowed a dollar from Diana, who went home after she ate, and called his apartment to see if he was there by any chance. This was around 6:00, 6:15. Jeremy wasn't there, I left a message with his roommate briefly explaining what happened and to come get me because I was waiting for him.

Well, Jeremy's story is this: He came looking for me at Sunset Ranch, he spoke to someone (Thomas) who said I wasn't working that day. He debated him. He walked around a bit looking for me and found a girl he met on the first day he checked in June named Nicole, a very tall nice girl who was friends with one of his old roommates. She took him around and tried to find me. The went back into the prep kitchen to figure out where I was after not finding me. The guy there (either I assume either Ron, Vinnie, or Jeremy-the-manager, most likely Ron) said I was working "somewhere else" that day. (Ummm...kay...?). He played around MGM some more. He came home. His roommate told him I’d been ERed and was waiting for him. He came right back to MGM, he drove right up to the front of Cast Services in his Skittle (it's a pink car that he calls a Skittle, it's not highlighter pink, or Mary Kay Caddy pink; everyone is always a bit perturbed when I say he has a pink car), opened up the door, I got in and we drove off. His plan was to come back at 8:00 and hope I was still there. We were back by 7:30.

We decided we would go to Chevy's for dinner. I got kinda dressed up. He seemed to a bit too. The food was good, we both had strawberry daiquiris (mine without alcohol of course). On an impulse we went to PI, because it was free, we looked good, we were out, and had almost nothing better to do. It was my turn to pay.

It was around 10:00 when we got there. That means there was virtually no one there. We went into Motions, no one was there. We went out the back. Something about that night; we couldn't keep our lips off each other. It was fun. We went into the Beach Club. I requested Rock and Roll which they didn't get in before the live band came on. The classic rock cover band was playing on the West End stage. We didn't dance much. He only had one beer. We left soon after.

I suspect something happened, at PI when we went; either that or they were extra paranoid because it was the closest day to Halloween that Cast Members would be coming. Jeremy, despite wearing a wristband, proclaiming his over-21ness, was still accused of being underage and having a beer. He was only too happy to show the guy his ID. In addition, I don't know if it was the people that night, or just the way I was dressed, all the other times I have gone to PI, I've made a point of looking like a slut (because where else can I get away with looking like one?), with a skirt hiked up, cleavage up to my collarbone, more eyeliner than Alice Cooper, platform thigh-high boots, and a little naked girl on my neck that doesn't say "My face is up here." At no other time when I have worn this ensemble have I been asked to prove my over-18ness. This night, I wear ankle boots, bellbottom jeans, and a long sleeved low-cut peasant blouse, and I get asked to prove myself before going into the 2 clubs we went into. How else would I have gotten into the park without my parents if I wasn't over 18? So dumb...

We came back to my apartment and watched TV.

Friday, October 31st, 2003
I went into work at 10:45 the next day. A lot of guestomers were dressed up for Halloween. I was on produce register all morning. Then they moved me to fry cart around 2:00. Then at around 3:00 they gave me my break. I produce stocked after that until I went to close the register at my Turkey Legs. When I was degreasing Turkey Legs floor, we didn't have any degreaser. So I poured bleach on the ground. My black socks are now bespeckled a brownish-orange. They gave us the uneaten pretzels from the produce stand. This was great because they never give us free food.

I came home from work. Jacque and Julie and a friend of theirs ran out the door almost as soon as I got there. Rachel was getting dressed up as a slutty nurse and going to a party. She and I talked as she dressed. Other than that, there was no one there. Jeremy was working at Magic Kingdom Not-so-Scary Halloween Party until 1:30 (just one of many reasons I am so glad I do not work at Magic Kingdom).

I decided I did not want to be doing nothing on Halloween. I went to find Toccarra. She had already made plans. So I decided I was going to go to the movies. I didn't know what I was going to see. I had an inkling, but I just went by myself. I turned on the Nightmare soundtrack and drove over there.

I got there at 10:30 and got a ticket for the 10:10 showing of the Alien Special Edition. I missed the first few minutes (they always show about 20 minutes of previews and commercials at that theater; it's very annoying, but somewhat convinient if you are late), but saw the majority of it. I liked it alright. It wasn't as scary as I had anticipated, but movies/shows never scare me like that. It was suspenseful, and it was good, I really liked Ripley, I like that they changed the character to be a woman, and not a girly-girl either, someone who was clearly capable and in charge and rarely lost her head.

It was about 12:30 by the time I got back from the movie. Jenny was home by this time. She was all hoped up and wanted to do something. I kinda wanted to get Jeremy at Magic Kingdom, but didn't want to be there so late by myself. I told her I was going there and she could go with me. She wanted to get food. I've already spent too much this week on meals out. I just let her get me a soda from Taco Bell. We drove to Magic Kingdom and only waited in the tunnel by the locker room for about 5 minutes before he came out. He changed, and we went home. He commented on my shirt that said "Costume" written on it. "And that's a nice mask you're wearing...oh wait," "And what are you supposed to be? A dork?"

We drove home, Jeremy and Jenny talked back and forth the whole time about working at Magic Kingdom. I said very little.

We went back to our apartment. Jeremy and I ate popcorn. He went back home.

Saturday, November 1st, 2003
On Saturday I bussed all afternoon, and I was produce stocker for about 5 minutes then I got my break.
Stupid tourist question of the day: What flavor is the frozen lemonade?
My grandma sent me one of her homemade cards (she makes nice cards). It apparently arrived in time for Halloween, but whoever got the mail yesterday failed to inform me I had something (I never get anything). It wasn't until Julie was going thru the remnants of the mail that she found something for both myself and her. There was also a $5 bill in the card. "Buy yourself a Halloween treat!" she wrote. It was sweet of her. She's with her boyfriend right now. But I did call to thank her.

While bussing Saturday, I wiped down a table almost immediately after a group of older adults (they had no children) was leaving. You have to get in there fast; when it gets really busy, people look for any empty table and will sit at it before I can get to it to wipe it down. Anyway, one of the guys said, "Wow, you're really Johnny-on-the-spot there." One of the ladies came up to me and said, "I'll bet this is really a thankless job, isn't it?" "Yeah, kinda." "Well, you're doing a very good job." "Thank you very much." I bring this point up because to get non-obligatory praise is so rare. (That is, not just saying "Thank you" for bringing their food or whatever). And as often as I write about rude people and stupid people asking "How long are footlongs?" and "What flavor are the frozen lemonades?" I need to acknowledge the good things too.

I have an obnoxious cowlick on the left side and back of my head. It's annoying! I comb it down and it pops right back up again. I think it needs gel. (And if that is the biggest problem I have to complain about I am in good shape, I guess).


After my break, I walked back to Sunset. There is a parking garage backstage just for the animators and the managers. Brother Bear opened yesterday. There were 2 big ol' inflatable moose hanging off the roof of the garage.

They put me back on bussing. Bussing is a challenge. The job itself isn't, but there needs to be a balance to do it. During lunch, it gets so busy that before I see and get to a table that someone has just left, guests have already sat down there. So I stand around doing nothing. Conversely, when there is absolutely no one there, I only bus a table when someone leaves it. So if 5 out of 30 tables are occupied at any time, I have to stand around waiting for one of the 5 to leave, thus I still end up doing nothing. There needs to be a balance of people coming and going.

I don't understand that whole animation thing. They claim movies like Brother Bear and Lilo and Stitch were animated there, yet, when all the times I went on the animation tour there was no one in there working, and every time I go by the building on my way to the computer lab, there still never seems to be anyone in there. The only person I have seen working was a security guard at the front desk. So who is making all these movies?

I was supposed to have Tuesday off. But with having 4 days off in the following week with my family coming (I get Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday off, I hope they come see me on Sunday), I didn't think I could afford to not work too much. So I got Sabrina's shift. I'm glad she got it because I really like her, and she was working 6 days.

I closed Turkey Legs (of course). I didn't have to bank out. We were done in 20 minutes and they let us go.

I went up to the front where Jeremy was already waiting. He had brought his Dork button with him, but forgot to put it on. He had called in to work that day because he had insomnia the night before and didn't get to sleep until 9:00 the next morning.

We went back to my apartment. Jenny ordered pizzas which he and I ate one of. He laid down on me (as I was sitting upright!) on the couch as we watched Cosby Show. That was very enjoyable (us chilling, not the show).

Somewhere in that timeframe, I called my dad, my mom called me to say Happy Halloween, and Jeremy called his friend. He told him a little about me. He offered to allow me to speak to him, (yes, let him hear me say something in my accent) but he said that California girls scare him (this from a guy who lived near Mt. Shasta for awhile; I guess if anyone should know how scary my kind is it's him). But he is dying to meet me, and wants Jeremy to very badly send a picture of me to him, "I'm not used to seeing you with girlfriend." (He just wants to see me, not listen to me). "I don't care, just don't send a picture of me in my costume, Jeremy." "Hey! That's what I'll do! I'll send you a picture of her in her costume from work." "Dork!" "She says I'm a dork...he says he could've told you that." He said a lot of things about me. He told him about the thing, "Yeah, she's got balls. alright...they're in the form of ovaries." Apparently, his best friend is the one who teased him about almost all the things he teases me about now, one of them being rubbing in the fact that I am underaged and he can drink legally. Jeremy will get his digs into his friend too, occasionally.

I can't help but wonder why his friend is so nosy. Not that I am one to complain about nosy friends. I recall Kelly right after I met Ahmed and went on 1, maybe 2 dates with him, "So, when do I get to meet him?!" (like she's my mom). "Hey! I know! Let's double date!" (Uh...nooo!). No photographic evidence exists of Ahmed and I (I'm glad of it now). The only pictures of Jeremy and I are the one on his mom's video camera, the one where I'm very awkward and feel forced, and there is never less than 3 feet of space between he and I. I hope we can be more relaxed around my parents. I somehow doubt it. If he was afraid to touch me in front of his mom, I kinda doubt he'll be wanting to hold his hands or anything in front of mine. My mom will be taking pictures though, I guarantee it.

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