I've uploaded some pictures from Sara and Jerry's wedding reception. They're on the pictures page (the link is on the right of this page.)

(For the record, I didn't walk around all night like this. Skip did this to my arm after I stole his beer so I could drink with my cousin Brad. I was pretty much too lazy to get my own. Nothing says classy and tough like a Sharpie dragon tattoo.)

Tomorrow: Routine four month post-op visit at the Transplant Center, wherein they tell me which meds I say on, which meds I'm dropping down on and to generally see how I'm doing. I get the joy of having a two minute blood test, a one minute urine test and then waiting for three and a half hours to see my doctor. Not because it's scheduled that way, but because you take the time your appointment sheet gives you and add two hours. That's Cleveland Clinic math, for ya. Also, I get to pay $10 to park for this wonderous experience! Huzzah! I'm going try to get a parking voucher. Try = make sarcastic, bitter comments and act cute until they give me free parking coupons because they think I'm "spunky."

Friday: Skip and I leave for my cousin Sara's wedding up in Wisconsin. We're going to spend eight hours in a tiny car together, and then spend 48 hours in a hotel room that's only slightly bigger. It's a good thing we practiced sharing enclosed spaces with this kidney business.

May 8: I start working again. I hate that training period in a new job, where you have no idea what you're doing. Well...honestly with most jobs I never quite fully figure out what I'm doing. I guess to be totally fair I should expand that statement to include most of life in general. Yeah.

I was inspired by Chud's: http://chudworld.blogspot.com post about gas prices.

It's $2.76 here in Ohio (which is NEWS, and why I'm not posting this in my blog.) Sure, that seems like a lot to you people who were paying .15 in the seventies. Chud posted a great rant about supply and demand, so I'm not going to steal his thunder there. He also did some math showing that no, gas is not outrageous if you look at the price per barrel, and then at the actual profit the oil companies are making.

Consider this: we've placed a whole lot of environmental demands on these people who are getting oil. We don't want it to come from any protected areas, we don't want it to disturb the natural environment too much, it has to be transported in a way that's safe...a lot of safety measures have been put in place since the days of .15/gallon. Which is great! I love the environment, really! But these things also cost money...so YES, yes gas is more expensive.

Chud also did some nifty math, regarding oil company profits and how to get the price per gallon, showing that no, prices are not being astronomically padded right now just because it's cool to pad prices. The same people I know who whine about this are the same people who buy jeans for $70 when you KNOW they cost $2 to make.

I went online and did a little research myself, cause I'm cool like Chud.

Gas is $2.76 a gallon here in my part of Ohio.
Snapple would be $10.32 a gallon
Evian water...$21.19
My favorite fact is NyQuil...$178.13 per gallon. Chew on that before you develop a cough syrup habit, oh teenagers of the world.

I will also note that a month's pass for the Cleveland RTA (our transit system) would be $90, PLUS the joy you get from sitting next to someone who's drinking out of a paper bag, or behind a group of teenage girls who won't shut their pieholes despite not having teeth. Now, if you work in a city and in addition to gas you'd have to pay parking, the RTA is a good option. However, where I live, I need a car to get to the RTA.
To drive my car for a month, I would spend around $60, give or take a few depending on if I do more driving than usual.

This is the United States, and sure, we're free to drive whatever we want. If you live in a place that never sees snow, or in the suburbs where you never drive on anything tougher than your gravel driveway and you want to drive an H2, that's your own decision. But don't come crying to me when you're spending hundreds on gas a month. They have small V6 SUVs, you know. Or, you could *gasp* NOT drive an SUV. How about driving an ECONOMY car, if it's going to mean that much to you?! What a NOVEL idea!

It may be harder to pimp the honeys in a Chevy Aveo, but you'd have more money for blunts and 40s and Kanye CDs.

I haven't received my offer letter yet. I'm a little nervous about it. I'm going to call the HR office and ask where it is.

Who can sum up the feeling of a ladies' night better than Kool and the Gang? In their immortal words:

"Oh yes it's ladies night
And the feeling's right
Oh yes it's ladies night
Oh what a night (oh what a night)"

When I read these lyrics, I think of John Lovitz performing them in "The Wedding Singer." Ahhh, good times.

Anyway, for those ladies in Ohio whom I happen to know, we're doing a night of margaritas, games and gossip in Bryan's apartment. He claims he'll be out at band practice but I think he's probably just going to be cowering somewhere, desperate to escape the estrogen like any wise man would. I would strongly suggest showing up, because otherwise we're going to talk about you. We're going to talk about you anyway, because that's what we do, but it's better to hear it all at once than secondhand from ten different people, isn't it? With that in mind, if you need directions or want to know what to bring give me call on my cell, send a text or drop me an email at my gmail address.

My friend Mike Callahan is in this awe-tastic-mazing band called Fuzion, and they're trying to get on Warped Tour. If you copy and paste this URL you'll hear my one of my favorite songs. Not just my my favorite song they play, but one of my favorite songs PERIOD. And yes, Lovell, that includes Banana Phone. So let's help them out: go to the site, because I think the site count is going to be one of the deciding factors on whether they'll be in the running or not.

Also, for those of you who are familiar with Hiram, Ohio (home of the smallest college ever) they're going to be playing there on the 28th.

http://www.battleofthebands.com/bb10/bands/fuzion/

HAPPY EASTER!!!

It's 11:30 and suddenly I'm filled with anxiety over all the things I need to do. Here's what I have coming up. This list in no way includes all the little stuff that's been bugging me.

1. Tomorrow I need to finish a freelance job. I've been dragging my feet on it because I find that this one is particularly annoying. The job itself is interesting, but I have to type a lot of really weird Italian names and OpenOffice's spell check is really stupid.
2. I also need to refill a plethora of prescriptions.
3. Easter Sunday I think I have two meals to do: Grandma's, and Jay and Haley's. I like the idea of snitching chocolate from the kids' baskets, but I hate the idea of the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny has always kind of creeped me out. Is this weird?
4. Monday I need to remember to make a doctor appointment. Nothing serious, for those who worry. Just your standard yearly checkup kind of deal.
5. I need to clean out my old car and have it towed. I'm donating it to Our Lady of the Wayside for the tax deduction, because this year I'm gonna end up owing big time, I think. Thanks to Chud for the advice on the MSN Money program. I'm disorganized by nature, and I think this'll help.
(Side note: I guess I can't say I'm not disorganized at all. I tend to use the entroypy system of organization, because even within entropy there's still systematic order. For example, while my important papers may not be in a filing cabinet, or even in my desk, they're still "in my room." They may be all over my room---hell, they may be all over my house---but they're still IN the house, and thusly part of a system of organization. Not a very GOOD system of organization, but...)
6. I really need to help Bryan find a job. He's applying at the post office (grrr...assholes! Look for a rant in my blog on this.) but I think it's good to have a lot of opportunities to pick and choose from.
7. The weekend of the 29th I'm going up to Maustin, Wisconsin for my cousin Sarah's wedding. Skipper and I'll probably be driving up together, so I expect to arrive bruised and disgruntled. Just like any good road trip!

So there it is, in a rough kind of order. I might get these things done faster if I had a personal assistant. Maybe somebody willing to wear a leopard patterned thong who'll dance around for me while I pretend to work? It won't pay much, but I'll cook for you. Let me know!

I spoke to the HR lady at the company I've been rambling about, and she said she's putting an offer letter in the mail, and I can start the (paid) training on May 8. Yay!

I guess I can't call myself a bum anymore.

I called the HR department at the company I applied for the other day and left a message saying I'd like to begin training, so now I'm waiting with crossed fingers for an offer letter. I imagine it'll go something like this:
Dear Stephanie:
Words cannot describe the glorious shining beacon of hope you have brought into this humble company. Please, come work for us at a 65% commission rate, and we will throw wonderous benefits at your feet as though they were roses. We may arrange for roses as well.
We are not worthy,
The Company

I think that'll be the gist of it. Give or take a few adjectives.

My interview yesterday went well. I'm going to contact the woman and let her know I'd like to begin training. I'd have to do four weeks of training, but I would be eligible to start getting commission after two weeks, and this company offers a weekly base pay in addition to commission. It also has some pretty good benefits. The thought of this job makes me happy and excited, as opposed to the thought of the first job, which made me depressed. I suppose that's not really a good scale for judging potential employment, since lots of things make me depressed. Overconsumption of dairy, for one. Also, days when the sky is really bright and blue but the air is freezing. What's with that, yo?

In related news, Bryan has an interview with a local TV station. I'm not sure if this interview is for a video editor or a web editor. It's for some type of editor. That interview is on Monday, and I hope he gets the job because than he and Herpacin...er...Harrison, I mean...can work at the same place. It'll be two times the sexiness. Double your fun, as it were.

The interviews for the first job went very well, but I'm getting a not-so-good feeling about the job itself. The people are nice enough, but it seems like the sort of thing that I'm going to hate. I figure this is just another sign that I need to get into adult entertainment. I can be the "fluffer."

I have another interview with a different company on Friday. This interview is in Independence, in an actual office building, which makes it seem a touch more legit.

Also, my years of being clumsy and busting up my toes have finally caught up to me, and today I have to see a podiatrist. This isn't exactly thrilling news, but I think it's kind of funny that after years of breaking my toes and just taping them back myself while muttering "bloody hell" under my breath, I'm actually going to see a professional. Dad actually told me "don't be mean to this doctor because he's a sweet guy." Now,this offends me. I'm not mean to EVERY doctor. Just the ones who make inappropriate jokes about my natural hair color. Or who call me "missy."

If you find a job opening for a saucy temptress in your area, give me a call. I'll be more than qualified.