This makes me rage so much. So so much.

But I did download Windows 7 last night and after hammering out a few kinks it's running beautifully. It's pretty damn fast compared to XP (never got Vista). It also takes up a whole lot less space somehow (about 30 gigs). I assume that's because of old programs and such and not the OS itself but it says a lot about how bogged down computers can get over time. Tonight after class I'm going to tinker around with it and see if I can't customize it a little more.

I also have Google Wave invites to hand out so if you didn't see my tweet then just e-mail me your preferred address at alexm1309@gmail.com. I still have 11 left and don't know who else to give them to.

I'm pulling another all-nighter but not because of anything school-related. The last two nights I've gone to bed at 2 and 4am and since I need to wake up at 4:30 for work it just isn't worth nap. I might as well catch up on my TED Talks.

After running the register at Target for three months, deli for a year, and now at BR for a few months I finally came across my first counterfeit money. Those of you that know me well know I used to collect coins so I'm fairly familiar with all things currency. A guy came up and was buying about two hundred bucks worth of clothes. He hands me two hundred dollar bills, which isn't rare given the number of international tourists we get. A lot of them just walk around with a couple thousand dollars. Anyway as soon as he hands me the bills I can tell they're fake. The ink didn't feel quite right and the paper seemed more rigid. It's store policy for us not to examine the money up at the register and I didn't want to accuse the guy of trying to give me fake money without knowing for sure so I just took it. As soon as he left I got my manager and told him about it. Without holding it up to the light I could tell there was a watermark so I got curious as to how the guy managed to put that in there. Turns out it was a watermark of Abraham Lincoln. The guy had bleached a $5 bill and then just printed the $100 design over it. Oh well. I just hope the guy understands that the Secret Service is in charge of investigating counterfeit currency.

Working five or six days a week and abiding by a dress code for it has me really evaluating my "nice" clothes. I've always had enough and I've never really needed a whole lot so I never actually took a close look at my business casual attire. I've come to the conclusion that I need more clothes which isn't really a problem with the employee discount. The issue is that at some point in my life I had decided that I was a size Medium. I don't know where this came from or if it was just some kind of subconscious desire to be like everyone else but half of my dress shirts are way too damn big on me. I just bought a nice sweater vest with a specific shirt in mind and it wasn't until just before I had to walk out the door to work that I tried everything on only to see the vest was form-fitting but the exposed sleeves were puffed out like I was some kind of circus employee. And I hate that I have already typed this much about clothing.

Google Waaaaaave

GOT MY INVITE!!! Sup.

I only have a few wave friends right now so I can't use it as often as I'd like, but it's really freaking cool so far. It's going to be great for group projects/presentations, and small business meetings. It's sort of hard to explain but before I got my invite I learned a whole lot from thevideo below:

It's really simple to make something like that.

There's also the public wave feature in which you can sit on and participate in other peoples' waves. It's kinda neat to watch other people wave but a lot of them are as clueless as me about the capabilities of it all so everyone just sits around and replies to each other without ever doing anything cool. But as more extensions are developed and functionality is improved then you're going to see some really cool shit.

Kwirkee

I feel like I'm known for being weird about certain things. My knowledge of skyscraper heights, NHL trophies, and stacking pieces of tin foil among the few. But one thing I've never really been known for is allergies. I've been around cats and dogs a ton, eaten plenty of peanut butter and other typical allergy-related foods and whatnot. On every medical form when they ask about any allergies I always write "none". But for some reason tonight at BR I decided to start sneezing like crazy. My eyes got puffy and I had to keep running for tissues every five minutes while trying to close down the store. I didn't stop sneezing until I got on the bus. My eyes still feel a little swollen and I'm on the verge of sneezing again but it's likely finished for now. I have no clue what caused it. I didn't handle anything that I hadn't handled since I started there and no one came in with any kind of exotic pet that I hadn't been in contact for. It was a total mystery and I hope it was caused by some customer or something because I don't want to have to go through the job search just as I'm settling in.

Whatevs. Dan and Brian are coming in town for the marathon this weekend. It might snow a little on Sunday morning but I got some sweet gloves from BR and will likely grab a nice winter coat tomorrow so I'm prepared for the freezing temperatures. And my time off was approved for Christmas so I'll see you all then. Gotta spend Thanksgiving and New Years' up here.

I'll be honest and say that I didn't entire know what I was getting in to when I accepted this job. If I had to do it over again I would probably become a seller because of their hours. They usually come in just before we open and leave just before we close, avoiding all the non-sale stuff while still being able to have a normal night's sleep. This week is my Fall Break so I was hoping to spend today and tomorrow getting some valuable work done since I wouldn't have to go to class in the evening. But it just so happened that my break coincided with us getting in a couple giant shipments this week so I was up for work at 3:30am this morning and will have to go in at 6:00 tomorrow and then 5:15 on Thursday. Like I said before I enjoy the work I do but having that little sleep really does kill the rest of the day. I just napped from when I got home until 4 and now I don't feel like doing shit. And with two more of these shifts coming up in the next three days this week is pretty much shot for getting any solid work done.

Working at BR does has a few disadvantages. As a cashier I try to get people to sign up for our credit card. Morally I don't like to do this because I think something like a clothing store card with a 12.5% interest rate isn't good for anyone unless they are extremely responsible and wealthy. I only offer it to those that talk about purchasing the majority of their clothing with us (because the card DOES make sense at that point) but I still do it often enough to get a variety of responses from customers. Most that turn me down just say a simple "not today, sorry" or "I already have too many cards". But whenever I get that asshole that interrupts me with "no." like I just offered to rob them at gunpoint my first thought is always "Yeah, I bet you're a Republican."

Assholes

Like any normal apartment our front door is always locked and you need to get buzzed in if you're a guest. Normally you'd use the thing on the wall to call me and then I'd buzz you inc but since I don't have a landline here and my cell phone isn't a 773 number I can't do anything. People have to call me on my cellphone and then I have to go let them in. But then I remembered Google Voice and decided I'd just get a 773 number from them and use that! I was really proud of myself for thinking of it but was saddened when I learned that Google was still trickling out invites for it. I signed up to receive an invite anyway and had pretty much forgotten about it.

So then when the Google Wave invites came around I kept looking at my phone for an e-mail from Google. Then yesterday I get one while I'm riding an extremely packed bus on the way to my sister's place. I about freak. "You have been sent an invitation to..." I open the e-mail. "...Google Voice!". Fuckbags. I'm happy and all that I can finally let people into my place like a normal person but really Google? Your timing is shit.