argentinian snowcones

Posted on by

I had a date last night. I was still annoyed about not having anything to do this weekend, so when one of the online personals guys asked me out at the last minute, I said yes, even though I worried that it made me look desparate (or at the very least, like I have no life). Anyway, we arranged to meet up at the Buenos Aires Grill in downtown Seattle. It was his suggestion, and I think he was trying to impress me with his knowledge of obscure hole-in-the-wall restaurants, but I’ve actually been there before. (I think he was bummed when I mentioned that.) So I get there and we have some drink called a caparinia or a capahrini or something like that, which the bartender describes to me as an Argentinian snowcone. It was basically a margarita without the tequila aftertaste. I didn’t know the alcohol that they used instead, but it was good. Sweet lime drinks. I’m a fan.

The restaurant was packed and we weren’t going to be able to get a table for an hour & a half, and the wait staff kept bumping us when they’d tango by (literally, they have designated tango dancers that go around the perimeter of the restaurant to entertain the diners — a waiter will just grab a waitress & then they’re off), so we left. We went to Kell’s, which is my favorite Irish pub in Seattle. We sat & had appetizers and talked for a while. He seems like a nice guy, but I don’t think I got that much out of him. It felt pretty one-sided, with me being all bubbly & funny and telling stories, and with him just kind of taking it in but not really contributing anything. Also, he’s 10 years older than me & divorced (no kids), which shouldn’t be a big deal, but for some reason it kind of bothers me. It’s like there’s not as much that we can relate to because we’re practically different generations. Is that age-ist of me? Maybe, I don’t know. He asked if he could see me again & I said yes, although I’m not sure why. I guess I’ll give it one more shot & see if I feel differently about him next time. Or at least I’ll feel a little more sure of my decision when I conclude that he’s not for me.

New season of “The Sopranos” starts tonight. Whee!

news

Posted on by

I guess Nate already gave this away with his comment on my last post, but it’s true: I got a new job. I’m the new network administrator for a company that’s one of the leading manufacturers of water skis & wakeboards. They have a pretty big network — 8 servers and about 120 or so users, so I shouldn’t get bored. The ironic part is that I’ll be working for a company that’s based on water sports when I have a phobia of open bodies of water. (Which, btw, I blame on gclark; there was an incident when we were kids that involved a canoe and an alligator-and-water-moccasin-filled lake in the Ozarks. It still gives me nightmares.) But luckily, being able to water ski and/or wakeboard is not in my job description, so it should be fine. The thing is, if I could do either of those activities in a swimming pool, I’d be totally down with it. But if there’s a chance that there’s some kind of live critter swimming anywhere near me, heeeeeell no.

So I gave my 2 weeks’ notice at my current job, and I’ll start at the new place on Monday, March 22nd. I’m really excited about it, but I have to add, I’ve really enjoyed working at TekAgency for the past year & a half, and my reason for leaving is strictly financial. The new place just offered me a heck of a lot more than I’m currently making, and I am in no position to turn that down. I know money isn’t everything, but it sure feels like it when you’re almost 30 (ok, 28, close enough) and still borrowing from your parents on a regular basis. I’m tired of crying every time I balance my checkbook. This should definitely help.

The part that sucks is that I really wanted to go out this weekend to celebrate, and every single one of my friends has plans. So I’m feeling a little hurt & lonely, but I’ll get over it. I wish Kris lived here, she’d go out for cocktails with me. But with that one exception, it’s been an otherwise really good week.

inadvertent guilt trip

Posted on by

Ever unintentionally make one of your parents feel bad? I think that’s what I just did. I was talking to my dad a few minutes ago — he & my mom have been cleaning out the attic because they want to move to a smaller house, so they’ve been going through all of the remnants of our childhood for the past few days. Which means I’ve been fielding repeated phone calls from my mother asking me if I want such-and-such, or if she should sell it at the next garage sale or give it away to some other relative. Most of it I don’t care about, things like my grandmother’s china. I don’t remember ever seeing the china, so I have no sentimental attachment to it, therefore I feel no need to keep it.

And then there are a few things I do want — my Barbie dolls, for instance. I remember when I was little, there was a girl down the street, and her mom had kept all of her Barbie’s from when she was little, and she let us play with them. We thought it was so cool to play with these dolls from the 50’s with their little poodle skirts & whatnot. So if I ever have a daughter, I’d like to give her my Barbie’s, along with the assorted bucketfuls of what will then be either cool vintage thrift store clothes or hideous 80’s garb, depending on where the fashion pendulum happens to be at the time. Call me weird, I just want to hang on to them.

Anyway, I was talking to my dad, and I explained the reason why I want to keep the Barbie dolls. This was the ensuing conversation:

Dad: I guess I was out of town a lot when you were growing up, I never knew what y’all played with.
Me: No, you were around, you just weren’t interested.
Dad: That’s not true.
Me: Yes, it is. Whenever we tried to talk to you after you got home from work, you told us to “go play somewhere”.
[Note: “Go play somewhere” is actually one of my dad’s most famous lines, my sister quotes it all the time.]
Dad: Well… I’m sorry.
Me: (suddenly realizing that this is one of the few occasions in my life I’ve ever heard my father apologize for anything, and that I must have made him feel really lousy with my previous statement) Well, you know… No big deal.

I didn’t mean to be harsh, I was just being honest. He did go out of town occasionally, that’s true, but mostly he just didn’t pay attention to what we were doing when he was home. I’m not angry about it, I got over my anger issues with my dad years ago. There are bigger things in life than whether he knew which Barbie was my favorite 20 years ago, I really don’t care. But now I feel bad that I made him feel bad.

Damn. I hate it when that happens.

mega millions, indeed

Posted on by

Lotto update: I invested $3 in lottery tickets, and I won $4. After the 37-cent stamp to mail in the ticket, that brings my winnings to a grand total of 63 cents. Yeah baby!! Now I can retire!

I spent all yesterday afternoon cleaning my apartment from top to bottom, and then afterward, I really wanted to go out and do something because it felt pathetic to stay home on both Friday & Saturday nights. Unfortunately, Scott had plans, Nate is out of town, and Krissy wasn’t answering her phone. Hmm. Then I remembered Chris G., who I almost never see these days because he’s so swamped with work. So I called him at 6:30-ish on Saturday evening, and he was at the office (see what I mean?). I talked him into leaving work to go out with me, which didn’t really take a whole lot of coercion on my part. So we had dinner and then went to see “Mystic River”. I thought it was awesome. Sean Penn reminds me more & more of DeNiro as he ages, and he was incredible. Tim Robbins was great, too. That movie haunted me, I’ve been unable to get it out of my head all last night and all day today. I think that’s one way to measure a great film. Now I’m definitely rooting for Sean Penn to win Best Actor tonight.

Good Thursday

Posted on by

I got the glasses on Wednesday. They’re pretty cute, although I seem to be fidgeting with them a lot. I’m just not used to having something on my face all the time, it feels weird. I guess it just takes a while to get used to it.

The date on Thursday, with the New Scott, was a lot of fun. We just had dinner, nothing spectacular, but he’s a very funny guy and I really enjoyed talking with him. The Indian restaurant we went to was kind of odd — it’s usually one of my favorite places, but I guess I typically go during the day when there’s a buffet. I didn’t realize just how many waiters work there, and they always seem to be hovering nearby. You’d take a sip of your water, and instantly the guy with the water pitcher would be there refilling your glass. It was almost like they were trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, but they were doing it to everyone. It became comical after a while because it seemed like we were constantly being interrupted by a Looming Waiter. Anyway, he said he’ll call me, so I guess I’ll have to wait & see. But I hope he does, I’d like to go out with him again.

Overall, Thursday was a really good day for me. I actually stopped on my way home & bought a lotto ticket, which I’ve never done before. I guess I was just feeling strangely optimistic for whatever reason. Now I have to wait for the lottery web site to update to find out if I won the Mega Millions. Ha.

Tomorrow, I’m getting up at the buttcrack of dawn to drive Nate to the airport. And I’m taking care of his kitties for the next 5 days. That’s how good a friend I am. Well, that and he said he’d buy me dinner.