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[Oct. 30th, 2009|07:03 pm] |
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Hey guys, my phone is broken. If you want me to have your number, please post it here. Comments are screened. Or you can email it to me. Swirly amphibian (one word) at gmail dot com. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 27th, 2009|12:28 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
Well, family issues continue to exist, but primarily in the background. Tomorrow I am calling Germany to talk with the building manager of the apartment that my friend Nina and I want, to reassure her that I am actually coming to Germany, and yes, I do absolutely plan on moving in and no, I won't flake out at the last minute. So that's exciting.
I have mostly completed my German resume, which I keep wanting to call a CV now because that's what ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) sashatwen, who has been helping me with it, is calling it, because that's what they call it over thar in England, where she lived for a while. If anyone else would like to take a look at it (remember, it's all in German) and give me their opinion on it, comment with your email address--I will screen all comments and not post the ones with sensitive info on them. I would like to send out the resume by Nov. 1 to different places, so please keep that in mind when offering to look it over.
I am spending most of my days at home during the day, though on the weekends it's like I'm never home. Part of me feels like I'm going a bit stir crazy, but the rest of me feels so lazy and lethargic. I think it's the result of having too much to do; I get overwhelmed and don't do anything but play games on my computer. I do get stuff done, but much more slowly than someone with more focus and motivation than I have right now. I guess as long as I get everything done that I need to for Germany, it's basically okay. Apart from packing, really all that requires is to do any preliminary job search stuff, which is A Good Idea because otherwise I'll be waiting even longer once I arrive in the country to get a job. Hopefully, writing potential employers and telling them that I'm looking for a job and will be in the country as of X date and would they be interested in having me in for an interview will hurry my finding a job. Employment is good, eh. And apart from Germany stuff, the only America stuff that's really important that I do before I leave is schedule and go to tastings for the caterers we're looking at for Acen. Everything else I can do from anywhere that's got internet. Sooo the next few weeks will be busybusy. I'd better find that motivation somewhere. :) |
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| Family Stuff |
[Oct. 26th, 2009|11:39 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sad | ] |
So, I just talked to my dad on the phone. We were planning on going on a weekend hiking trip to Turkey Run the 1st (full) weekend of November. However, the Acen meeting got moved to that weekend because it had originally been scheduled over Windycon. (Plus, we were planning on gaming Saturday night) Also, my time is becoming At A Premium. As a result, I asked my dad if he'd be okay with switching our hiking location to Starved Rock (a 1+ hour drive instead of a 3+ hour drive) and just going on Sunday. He agreed. No problem.
Then we started chatting, like you do, and he asked me when I was leaving. I said I was leaving Nov. 24, that Mom was getting in on the 23rd and we'd leave on the 24th. I said I was driving with Mom. He said, "Driving to Germany?" and I said, "No, driving to Philadelphia." I guess I hadn't told him that I was going to spend Thanksgiving with Noah and Mom, that the original plans were to spend my "last Thanksgiving in the States for a long while" with them (this was when I was planning on moving permanently to Germany). See, Mom and Dad are divorced and Mom doesn't like spending time with Dad. Understandably--they had some personality issues. But it just killed me today to tell Dad that at that time I had decided to spend "the last Thanksgiving in the US for a long time" with Mom and Noah, hearing clearly in my head the words that I wasn't saying: "without you." And it's not like I could invite him too because I just know that it would make the whole dinner uncomfortable because Mom gets really tense around him. He will have people to spend Thanksgiving with, his family, but not his kids.
My dad is a very lonely man. Much of that is his own fault, and I do try to spend time with him, but it still hurts me to see him and talk to him, and watch him be his often-awkward and social-misfit self. I really wish that he could find another woman who can love him, but he never gets out. And he never reveals any emotions, really. Not enough to develop a romantic relationship with someone. Unless she's a magician. Or a miracle. It also doesn't help that he is very stubborn and refuses to accept certain facts or even certain help when it's offered. He's 66 years old and still hoping to get a job as a cantor in a synagogue. He doesn't want to live in Rockford with his brother and sister-in-law (who, as lovely a woman as she is, can be quite meddlesome and I understand why he doesn't want to live with them). But his sister, who lives on Salt Spring Island, BC, has offered to let him stay with them, and he says he doesn't want to go there because it's too out of the way. Well, I suppose that's true, but what other options does he have? He refuses to get any other kind of a job (except maybe a teaching job but what college/uni is going to hire someone past retirement age?) and he's one of those eccentric creative geniuses who's TERRIBLE with money, and I have spent so much energy trying not to worry or meddle in his affairs. After all, he's a grown man, right? He's NOT, though! He is like a child who just doesn't see the reality of his life. And my mom, who doesn't hate him, still cares about him, just can't be around him for long in close quarters, has pointed out (I agree with her) that his personal issues very likely come from a personality disorder (narcissism) and we might be able to get him help. I just don't know how that would even begin to happen.
Sigh. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 18th, 2009|11:05 am] |
So, I think I originally got this link from zendequervain but I don't remember completely. Regardless, I was going through my bookmarks looking for something entertaining, when I decided to look at these women's blog again. Seriously, you guys, you should go read it. It's astute, intelligently written, and hilarious. I think everyone should read what they have to say.
In other news, my next two months are FULL. My weekends are completely shot and though my weeks are technically free, I have a German resume to finalize (thanks to sashatwen and her cousin for helping with that), hotels in Cologne to email, packing to do, yarn to mail, books to mail, a Halloween costume to figure out, a sci fi convention in November to plan and work, and an anime convention to also plan. Also Thanksgiving in Philadelphia to attend. Wheeeeeeee! Oh, and today there's a wedding to go to! I'm excited but I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to wear. Oh noes! ^_^;;;;; And hey, I might even put on some makeup to this event. Liek whoa! Cause, y'know, I never wear makeup.
In other news, my personal life is going quite well. I am really happy. My mom came into town this weekend and had 2 Passion Parties, one of which I attended. She also stayed overnight at Brent's and my house on Friday, so Saturday morning we had a nice breakfast with her and Brent's mom. Soon we have to leave for the wedding, so I'd better go get ready! Cheers! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 9th, 2009|11:35 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  awake | ] |
An LJ acquaintance posted a review of the movie "Up," which apparently has just opened in Britain, where he resides. It has renewed my interest in seeing the movie, which had waned not because I lost interest but more because there is always too much going on and I forget things. Still, I wants to see it. I think it goes on my "must-see" list of movies.
Tonight I will be going up to Elgin to see our friends Drew and Renee and eat tasty Mexican food. At least I think it'll be Mexican, because I finally told Drew that's what I wanted. He made me make a decision, guys! It was terrible! (You know how I feel about making decisions..)
Then tomorrow kyofujimiya and shadowsaviour are coming over for anime and dinner. Yay! I am super excited. It'll be like high school! Maybe we'll even read fanfic to each other. (just kidding) But we will watch anime. Most definitely!
This past week I've been partly lazy and partly working on the blurb for the Windycon program book's Consuite section. We're doing a steampunk theme this year so it's all wordy and Victorian-like. :)
Speaking of Windycon, I should go shower and then do some work on the tablecloths I'm supposed to be decorating. Cheers, dahlings. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 4th, 2009|08:40 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | cold | ] |
*Frownyface* I am not happy with Gmail right now. This is twice in the same week that it has been unavailable, and if Google's supposed to be this great awesome company, why is their email client constantly going down? Meh.
In other news, Mozilla has been randomly popping tabs out of a window and making them their own window. Buh-what? It's strange, though I don't lose any work or anything.
In other other news, my dad was picking up his car from the Penske truck rental last night late, stopped at a 24 hour place in Chinatown to eat, and got his car broken into. He didn't have much, but they did take his luggage, which also didn't have much... but it did have his insulin. And they broke his window. I am ANGRY. Not like I can do anything, because Dad of course called the police and they took their report but really, it's Chicago police. What are they gonna do? Not much, that's what. But Brent knows a cheap place that will replace windows, and we are in the process of taking the car in right now to get the window replaced because we can afford it more than Dad can.
Had a meeting about Acen stuff with my co-department head yesterday. It went well, and we got a tasty dinner out of it too. :) I think Staff Suite this year will be Great Success! |
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| ADVENTURRRRRRR! |
[Sep. 19th, 2009|10:11 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cheerful | ] |
Hi! So. Things are happening. Things, in fact, HAVE happened. (Imagine that.) Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
....Actually, no. Scratch that. Not only does it depend on which beginning I choose to begin at, but I'm sure you lovelies probably don't want to hear about once upon a time Saeri's daddy had a twinkle in his eye. So, we will start on Last Wednesday!
Last Wednesday, I worked the US Foods show out in Schaumburg. I had to get up ass-early to get there by 7am and overslept, but still made it there only 10 minutes late. Which turned out not to be such a bad thing because chaos was afoot anyway. Abound, even. So I just sort of slipped into the crowd and tried to blend in. Hooray for chef uniforms!
I found my chef and got my assignment: "Here-- make these crabcakes! Here is a list of ingredients. No, I don't have any amounts, just make it up." That was the jist of it. So I made it up, and they were DEE-RICIOUS. Apparently I am good at making up crab cakes. I worked with a few students from another culinary school in the area, the Cooking & Hospitality Institute of Chicago (CHIC), made some contacts, had a good time. The show itself was basically an industry show--booths of businesses and some restaurants showing off their product. I worked for one of the restaurant booths, and made my crabcakes with my new friends all day. Because of the industry, there were quite a few lulls during which I was able to go around and taste foods (there were cookies! and ice cream! and cheesecake! ...and some other stuff) and talk to people and whatnot. But the fun part...the fun part was at the end.
So at the end of the day as we were cleaning up, I overheard some people say that anything in an open container we could take home. I said, REALLY? Seeing as how my booth was just around the corner from the produce display, I made out like a fucking BANDIT. I got 4 big portabellos, 5 ears of corn, a bag of white button mushrooms, a bag of carrots, a big bag of spinach, some broccoli, 3 plastic bowls that we can use for putting candy/chips in at cons, a bag of plastic spoons, 8 plastic tongs, a box of black beluga lentils, a box of bulghur wheat, and a bag of dried figs. Oh, and the best part is that the guy 2 tables down was displaying fish, and at the end of the day he had a still-frozen, sushi grade hunk of tuna that has to weigh at least 3 or 4 pounds. Srsly. Bandit, guys. Bandit. And it's awesome because I plan on making the tuna up in sushi tomorrow for Brent's birthday! :)
In other news, Michelle and Jenni are coming over soon, and I have to go clean. Will update more later, for there is NEWS on the Germany front! Yay! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 10th, 2009|06:59 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  nervous | ] |
I just made myself dinner, whilst packing and doing my final project for wines. And procrastinating on taking the final exam. But my dinner, which was chicken with peas and corn and japanese dressing with some oyster sauce mixed in, was way too salty. I'd lightly salted the chicken when searing it, and then I put some soy sauce into the sauce, which was I think the last straw. So now I am making some rice to go with the chicken and vegetables. I am not sure I am still hungry for the rice and rest of the chicken and vegetables now, but even if I am not, I can eat it tomorrow for breakfast, or perhaps lunch.
Gah. I don't want to take the wines final. The whole class was a waste of my time. Perhaps it was in part due to my state of mind (so many things are) but really, I wanted this to be a fun class. It was not. Sadface. At least it's over, or will be when I take the final.
.....Incidentally, if you hadn't inferred it from the previous paragraph, I passed my written final. :-D Yay! It was a lot easier than I had thought it would be, though there was a bit of an adventure in finding a computer on which I COULD take it. The school laptops in the classroom we were using were SOO-O-O-O-O-O slow, and when I finally (20 minutes later) got the computer booted and running, and then started taking the test, about 15 minutes into it, the computer popped up with a "hey guess what? we're doing some updates here and need to reboot so we've grayed out the 'restart later' button, kay?" window. Did that on 2 computers. TWO! I was laughing when it popped up on the 2nd computer. Luckily, I was able to save my answers so far and the 3rd computer proved to be the winner. And I passed with an 83%. :-D Woot!
Okey dokey... Back to work. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 5th, 2009|08:22 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | bored | ] |
I am finding myself exceedingly short on motivation to do my Menus project. I have 2 projects, one due Tuesday (menus) and the other due by Saturday (wines), though I really hope to have the latter done and emailed before the weekend because then I will be DONE! Once I finish taking all the quizzes and the final and all that for my wines class, and the 2 projects, I only have the practical final on Tuesday and the written final on Wednesday. I am only keeping from being nervous about both of those because I am not thinking about them, which may or may not be a good idea. No worries, though, I DO plan on studying and writing out a time schedule for both of the menus for my practical final. (Though I will only be cooking one) For those who are interested, the two menus are as follows:
( Menu Beef )
( Menu Duck )
Tomorrow (Sunday) is going to my project and study day. I will try to stay focused, and if I get bored with one project, I will go to the other one or do some studying for the written final, which is going to be 300 questions and 3 hours long. Yeah, you see why I'm trying not to be nervous about it... |
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| Shout out to my koelner friends |
[Sep. 1st, 2009|07:51 pm] |
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Hey guys, so Brent is coming to visit me in Koeln for Silvester and for a week beyond that. We are looking for some cheap places to stay. Anyone know any good pensions or even hostels? (though we would prefer a private room so hostels might not be the best option) Thanks for the help! |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 23rd, 2009|09:09 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  in bed | ] |
Today I don't have anything planned, which will be nice since the last week I've been feeling pretty much consistently tired and headachey. That may or may not be due to the time of month, which is over now so I'm feeling better on that level, but I was also doing a lot after school. Yesterday I had a gig with a catering company in Brookfield, a wedding/engagement party, which was pretty cool. Also easy. It was basically setting up for the party (tablecloths, table decorations, setting up buffet table) and then switching out apps and main course items, and then we poured sparkling wine for a toast (damn, those people toasted and speeched for like half an hour!) and then there were s'mores for dessert. It was fun, and I nibbled on s'mores. :) And I'm getting $25/hr out of the deal. (That's better than the s'mores)
Yesterday morning, though, before the gig, I had wines class and was NOT feeling very well. Before I drank the wines, even. And we had food with the wine. But I didn't take any pain killers, and ended up feeling better anyway, which is the way I prefer it. I try not to take pain killers unless I absolutely have to. Part of it's because I don't want my body to become too acclimated to them, and part of it's because I don't particularly like taking pills if I don't have to.
Next week for wine class I am supposed to cook also, and we are supposed to have prosciutto with almonds and olives, shrimp & mussels in a vinaigrette sauce, smoked portobello crostini, rack of lamb with roasted tomato and israeli couscous risotto, chicken madeira and poached pear roquefort. It will be me and another girl cooking, so I'll stay late Friday after class to cook stuff and the other girl, who works in Maywood til 3:30, will join me later. But it's ok, that all isn't going to be hard. The prosciutto and stuff we can do Saturday morning, also the cooking of the shrimp and mussels as long as we get it all cleaned the day before. A lot of the other stuff involves mostly trimming, seasoning, and sticking in the oven to cook. So I think I won't be overwhelmed or anything. I'm not sure where I will be cooking Friday, though, since the dinner people will be in the cafe kitchen Friday afternoon. Maybe the garmo kitchen? I shall see!
P.S. Saw the 1st 2 eps of College Saga today. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Stunny fuff. Srsly. :-D |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 22nd, 2009|10:05 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | tired | ] |
Was at Brent's HS reunion last night. Food was good, but I had a really busy day at school and didn't drink enough water so after half a glass of Manhattan (which I ordered because my instructor recommended it) I was sort of headachy so I stopped. (probably shouldn't have gotten something so blatantly alcoholic) I drank water there, of course, but often once the headache's there, it doesn't go away. Aaaand it's still here, as I sit posting to Livejournal during my ultra-boring wines class, drinking water. Sigh. And I've been trying not to take pills for headaches, especially ones this mild. Persistent though.
Update: Had a break, ate some grapes and brownie, got some tea. Headache has abated somewhat, but is not gone completely. Maybe the caffeine in the tea will help.
Hm.... grapes. I like grapes.
Apparently birds on a spit are politically incorrect. Who knew? (No one really understands my teacher's sense of humor)
I'm gonna go play solitaire now... |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 10th, 2009|09:52 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | awake | ] |
Those ads that pop up on the LJ main site with the picture of the "fat" person and the picture of the "thin" person who are so obviously not the same person really annoy me. I try not to be annoyed becasue I doubt there's much I can do about them and I'd rather be happy than annoyed in general. Still. Meh.
I need to start studying for our fine dining written exam. It's 300 questions from way back to 1st block, so I'm SURE I don't remember everything. It's one of those things where I think of my bookshelf at home with all the piles of disorganized notes from my years in school and then try NOT to think about them. I mean, yes, I have the notes. Great! They're a huge mess and I don't even know if any of it will be useful. Okay, I know some will be useful, but I'm not really looking forward to finding that useful stuff amongst the crap. Sigh. It'll have to be done, and soon. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 25th, 2009|09:30 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | bored | ] |
My wine teacher is the kind of guy who reads off of the powerpoint. -_- I am not amused. What I am doing is writing a livejournal entry in class while he reads off the powerpoint. Now, this is not to say he doesn't know what he's talking about. The guy knows wines inside and out. But when it comes to being interesting, well, you've got the wrong guy. Sigh. And I was looking forward to this class. At least it starts at 9am instead of 8am, like it had said on our schedules. :)
Now I think I will start on my homework for Monday. Cheers! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 24th, 2009|06:12 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | enthralled | ] |
So, you all have to see this. See, in a Chinese modern dance competition on TV one very unique couple won one of the top prizes. The lady, in her 30's, was a dancer who had trained since she was a little girl. Later in life, she lost her entire right arm in an accident and fell into depression for a few years. Someone asked her to coach a children's dance group. She realized that she could not forget dancing. She still loved to dance and wanted to dance again. So she started to do some of her old routines, but, having lost her arm, she had also lost her balance. It took a while before she could even make simple turns and spins without falling. Then she heard of a man in his 20s who had lost a leg in an accident. He had also fallen into the usual denial, depression and anger type of emotional roller coaster. But she was determined to find and persuade him to dance with her. He had never danced, and to dance with one leg....are you joking?? "No way!" he said.
But she didn't give up. He reluctantly agreed, thinking, "I have nothing else to do anyway." She started to teach him dancing. They stopped a few times because he had no concept of using muscle, how to control his body, and knew none of the basic things about dancing. When she became frustrated and lost patience with him, he would walk out. Eventually, they came back together and started training seriously.
They hired a choreographer to design routines for them. She would fly high (held by him) with both arms (a gauze sleeve for an arm) flying in the air. He could bend horizontally supported by one leg with her leaning on him, etc.
In the competition, as you will see, they dance beautifully and they legitimately won the competition. |
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| Restless yet lazy... gah. |
[Jul. 21st, 2009|08:38 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | restless | ] |
Life is funny. I've been thinking about my friends, and the ones I've made over the years who have stuck with me, the ones with whom I've reconnected, the people whom I've known since grade school but only now reconnected with... And then there's finding out that someone you know from a volunteer job is actually friends with someone you met in college in the next state, or that the kid you sat next to in Biology actually lived several houses down from you but didn't know it when you were both 4, because you moved away 6 months after they moved in, or that your friend's friend went to school with your old voice teacher. I mean, yeah, they say it's a small world, but it's just crazy sometimes. Oh, and then there's my boyfriend coming to a family celebration of the 4th of July and finding out that he actually knows my dad's cousin because she taught at his brother's high school for 25 years and he met her through the swim team. How weird is that?
This Friday I'm hopefully going to have some friends over; this is the gang that used to go to karaoke together until they stopped having karaoke at Molly's. (Boo.) Tomorrow I'm going to see Jen-whom-I-know-from-Cornell. Oh, and I'm considering shortening my time in Germany to come back for weddings. I don't know!! Love to all involved, but to be honest, the only person I think I'd actually fly back to be at her wedding (of the people who are getting married in the next year) is Laura. Everyone else is a part of the C&G family and I love them, but given funds and closeness of friendships, I think it's pretty clear who is closer. Decisions, decisions... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 19th, 2009|09:18 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blank | ] |
It's been a decent weekend. Nothing particularly exciting, perhaps a little blah even. Yesterday I went to the event I'd agreed to work and while I was feeling a little listless at the time, I perked up by the time we got there (I've sort of trained myself to do that; good for business, see). Plus I imagine when I get my wages (in cash, no less) I will be glad that I took the job instead of going out for dinner. Granted, dinner was supposed to Ethiopian, but Ethiopian food will still be there next week and I will have an extra $100 or so. So I can pay some bills! Like doing that, for sure.
Today I went to the Super H Mart, which is actually a giant Korean grocery store/mall thing (similar to Mitsuwa but it's in Evanston), though the "H" in its name makes me think more of tentacles than groceries.
Then again, we did get some frozen squid while there..... :-P
I want to go back when we have more time. (We left later than planned and spent more time there than planned, so Brent was later getting home to cut grass and spend time at home than he'd planned) He dropped me off at home before leaving for home, and I did laundry and avoided homework until now. So now I will quickly do the stuff I need to do for tomorrow before Brent gets back from the MAPS meeting. They are supposed to discuss the candidates for the open position on the Board today. I know Brent had a couple of people he is a fan of. Anyway. Homework time. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 17th, 2009|04:57 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
Tonight is going to be a nice, relaxing evening of movie-watching and seeing friends. Not sure what we'll be watching, but I have soup and salad that I made in class, and Brent took squid out of the freezer that we'll probably saute or something. Mmm squid...
Today was a good day in class. Busy, but not crazy-hard. I got a bunch of stuff done, I think, and helped out other classmates. Monday we switch stations-- Amy and I go to the Saute station. That's got a lot of hot apps so we'll be busy, but they are tasty so I don't blame anyone for ordering a lot of them. :)
Tomorrow I've got a job from 5-11 at someone's house for $20/hr. Supposed to be easy. I like easy. I also like $120! Especially since I haven't been working. Still looking for something part time. Maybe something will come out of this... who knows? |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 12th, 2009|02:43 pm] |
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Aw, poopie. Heard back from the Hyatt HR rep this afternoon, and the Line Cook 3 position has been filled. Oh well. I think I might go to the Hyatt website though-- there are several Hyatts in the area, so... :-) |
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