Coming to an end

All things, good and bad come to an end. My run at the local truck stop has ran out of time. Do I regret working there? Not one second. I learned so much there, somethings good, others... not so good. But the point is that I stayed true to myself. I knew what my values were and for the most part I didn't cross any boundaries that I was uncomfortable with.

Working there was an emotional roller coaster. From being threatened, to being hit on, to be sweetheart of the station, to being the slut of the station. There were so many amazing funny times. I went through things that I will never forget and I will have this blog to remind me of all the great times and great people that I met. Getting this job opened me up to Spokane, it branched me out and it got me into a close knit family. I am sad to have said goodbye to those that are so close to me. But at the same time I am seeing for the first time who my real friends were there.

Recently I haven't kept up in blogging very much. But one thing that stands out that I kept meaning to write about was Zorro: One night this guy, about 20 yrs old comes in to the store wearing a complete Zorro outfit. He points to me and says "I am here to save you!" He then continues pointing around the store to customers and to employees saying and you and you and you to every person in his sight. He left after that, we all broke into fits of laughter!

Another incident happened. There was a middle aged lady that was drunk out of her mind, and her car ended up on the side of the truck stop, running over one of our trees and stuck on a boulder. She had a bit of an infatuation with Brawk. LOL

So goodbye to my truck stop days. And hello to the new adventure that awaits me. Knowing my life its going to be a crazy one.

A bit like greys anatomy

Or how about not at all. This blog will be done with no names, not even my made up names.

There was a dillemma between two very close friends of mine. One refused to talk to anyone about what was going on. The other felt miserable and helpless. A crie from help tonight led us to his apartment where we found him next to 2 empty bottles of liquor, an ashtray full of cigs, and a knife. Taking a look at him we found him completely wasted and severely cut on both arms and kneck. My friend and I were faced with a difficult decision. What to do? We decided he needed help. We would take him to the hospital.

However a 3rd party got involved. And called 911. My friend fought the cops and we all got to witness an intense scene. He was brought to the emergency room. This is where I sit now. We waited to go bacl and see him, till we found out he didn't want to see us. We left 5 mins from home the nurse calls, he wants us to get him. But if we take him home we can't leave him alone. Right now my friend is asleep next to me, waiting to meet with someone from psych. Another hard night. Not sure if I will be forgiven for this one.

But what is done is done. And now all that is important is that everyone is ok. So everyone cross your fingers. I'm going to need the extra luck.

Flying

Time flys by so fast. I'm shocked at how things can be changed so drastically in such a short amount of time. But that's another story.

Last few days have been interesting. Hanging out with random people, doing things I never thought I would and making random friends. I'm in a sort of mood that just wants to make me say "why not?" So I am going for anything and everything. I made friends with Taylor Swifts crew. Maybe getting in backstage for the concert, but I'm not holding my breath. Wouldn't that be amazing though? These guys were some of the most laid back guys I have just sat around with in a long time. We talked about everything you could think of. And they made fun of blonde's, mainly cause I didn't get it. But hey whatever.

I'm just going to live everyday as random and spontaneous as I can. Try to fill every second with distractions. Whats the point of just sitting around? Tomorrow, I am will go for a hike.

Stay sweet Spokane

Looking for a mate

Yesterday an impromptu decision came along. I was to go Buffalo Hunting. One text message to Squinty Eyes later it was set. Meet at the truck stop at 1 oclock and have your guns ready AKA eyes! One trip in to get some sausage thingies and a Red Bull and Nos energy drinks we were prepared for our adventure which would lead us back to home base no later then 6 as promised to Squinty Eyes (she had a paper to write) Off we go to the destination of State Line. We had an idea of where to find some buffalo, but like many times in life the road came to a Y and we had to choose a direction. We chose right. It led us past some really cute sheep! and baby sheep! We stopped to take pictures. We drove and drove and finally we got to this dirt path that led us up a huge mountain! With a cliff on one side, and the mountain side on the other we had no opportunity to turn around. As we got deeper an deeper into the well warned "private property" it got more and more scary. We made it to the top where we found a house and we were certain we would be shot (yes Beaner I actually said aloud "I think we might get shot"). One off the mountain we take another road that puts us back into Washington state. Once again we head for Idaho, go to the state line get back to the Y and this time choose to go left. Right over the crest of the hill we find buffalo! Amazed, shocked, and ridiculously happy we take pictures and move on.

Next destination, Cabellas. Now why Cabellas you might ask. Long story short, Squinty, B, Fa^1 and I were all in a situation a couple weeks ago where having pepper spray would have eased some worries of ours. I guess a bat sufficed but we still feel like we should carry pepper spray (plus it fits in my purse) Once we get to Cabellas we decide we need to know what kind of noise a buffalo makes, so we can go back out and attract them towards the car for a closer look. Talking to an employee we made friends over mating calls of Buffalo and moose. We move on the gun men, and the gun man shows us how to shoot a gun. We made many friends at cabellas. Including the fudge lady! and some cashiers. And you know I think we talked to just about every employee working at that time. We spent two hours in cabellas doing fashion shows, tasting fine eatery (AKA fudge! Don't get the habanero one...) and hosting fashion shoots for the stuffed animals. But we had business to take care of.

One of the employees sent us to Hauser Lake to look out for Moose. So to Hauser we went, after the zebra coffee stand of course! Oh and a potty trip at McDonald's. We were on our way. Long story short, we got very lost. Again on another dirt road, this time just a tad muddy, but it was definitely prime moose location. Although we never did see any we didn't failing making our calls. With no reception, we had no idea where we were. No satellite signal to get us out of the middle of nowhere. Finally we found a way out, got Vicky up and running and discovered we were a good 2 hours away from home! Just going onto 6:30 we booked it back to Spokane. We made it home safely. But have no doubt, we will be hitting the roads again shortly, on a look out for moose!

Stay Sweet Spokane

Rosie

I have a new nickname. Rosy. Thanks to a wonderful truck driver! Sunday night we don't have a janitor for the last few hours of our shift. SO any showers that we sell, or are being used when he leaves need to be cleaned. The last couple of weeks I have been cleaning showers. This Sunday, I was in the back doing the showers and working my butt off. It is very hot back there, so yes my face happen to be on the pink side. I walk out of one of the shower rooms and a driver takes one look at me and says "oh my don't you have Rosie cheeks?" Which of course when someone points out the obvious about me I tend to blush, making it that much more red. He comments on how cute it is and how cute I am. He says "your going to be my girlfriend, I am going to call you Rosie" I'm like oh OK sure lol whatever you say. Later that night, back behind the counter I am helping a customer, and the same old gentleman comes up and says oh look there's my girlfriend Rosie! And he goes on and on to the customer how I am his new gf and he just loves me to death. Of course I am blushing again, this poor customer doesn't care about my relationship with this man, he just wants to leave! Finally he gets to go. My guy continues hitting on me telling me I am his whole world. Whatever

Yesterday I go to work and I am telling everyone this story in the backroom. We all laugh about it, banana decides she will call me Rosie also. HAHA OK jokes over. But no. That night B came into visit. we were standing there talking, Brawk doing who knows what. All of a sudden my old man comes walking in, spots me from across the store and shouts Hey Rosie! GREAT so I start helping a customer and of course my old man has to come over and tell my customer all about his and my relationship. He tells me over and over that he will wait for me forever! That I am his one true love, he asks me how my night is going i say "fine" he goes I am know your FINE now tell me something else" everything I said to him he would change into something dirty! B walked away she was laughing too hard. I am giving Brawk the "foot signal" (which apparently only works when he is right next to me) So this guy (his name is frank by the way, we will keep calling him frank) Frank tells me how he is going to get a tattoo with my name blah blah and he is tellin me all about the things he wants to do with me. I am very uncomfortable, I am helping customers and Frank wont shutup! Brawk whispers to B to go get his cigs from the back (code for go to the back and don't come out till i tell you) He then comes to me and tells me to go make ice (another code) finally I escape from Frank! Oh but not yet

That would have been too easy. As I am trying to walk back there frank keeps calling my name, he tells me to have a goodnight, I say you too walk away, 2 steps maybe. He calls my name again, he did this like 4 times. Finally I made it to the door run back and giggle hysterically with B about 10 mins go by, I peak out he is still there. 5 more, another look and the coast is clear. Brawk explained the whole foot signal and now we have a new signal lol We are set!

Its a mad mad world

We all know that song, by Gary Jules "mad world" Most people hear that song and immediately think of Donnie Darko. But now when I hear that song I have a new affiliation for it. Last week at work (I know I haven't blogged for a while srry) we kept getting complaints from truckers that there was a woman walking around the parking lot pounding on truck doors. She wasn't alone, she had a baby with her. She was offering her "services".

Now I am not condoning that prostitution is a good thing. What I am saying is that I guess I can understand why people do it. Although there are better options out there if you need help I get why women, and men sell themselves. Like I said, I do not think it is a positive thing, or that I would ever do it, but I am saying I kinda understand. HOWEVER this lady the other night, taking her baby with her truck to truck. That crosses that invisible line. That is very wrong. It is one thing to have to use prostitution as a living, but to bring you own baby into that kinda of dangerous situation is repulsive. Short handed Oreo and I were sent to the lot to track down this woman. We were told the last truck she got into, we went to that truck but she was no longer there. The whole time Oreo is driving me around the lot he is cussing up a storm on how disturbing this is. I couldn't agree more. That night I wanted to puke. The thought of that poor child being in the truck with that, and who knows if it was just laying there, who knows what was going on inside, that though makes my whole stomach do flip flops, that are not good. We never did track her down. We kept getting complaints but we were so short handed there wasn't much we could do. We kept our eyes out for her, we knew who she was. We never did see her again.

My night didn't end there. Later, right before shift change this kid who looked to be about 9 to 11 years old walks in. He was looking for some gum. Banana shows him where it is and walks away. The kid walks up to my counter buys the gum and leaves. I noticed the kid had something on his lip, but honestly I didn't care enough to think about what it was. After he left Cuffs says to me, was that kid chewing? Banana walks over and she goes yea I noticed that too, i think he was. I was standing there in shock, what he had in his mouth and what was on his lip was chewing tobacco! The kid was at least 9 years old! What is happening in this world? Is this what our parents and especially our grandparents think when they see all the kids my age doing drugs and smoking? Has the next generation already started on these bad habits and I am actually noticing it? I cant help but wonder about this young guy, if he is chewing tobacco what are the chances he is smoking cigs or maybe worse? What else does this 9 year old and all his friends do?

That night was a window that I have never really looked through before. I was shocked by what I saw. It was clear as day, not frost diluting my sight, no steam blocking my view. This is what is really happening in the world. I can imagine what it will look like in 10 year.

An ADVENTURE to remember

Last week I had the time of my life. I spent 4ish days with Fa^1 And when I say I spent four days with her I mean four days and nights. We hardly slept there was too much to be done! For weeks we had been planning a time line of what we would do while she was visiting. And for the most part we kinda stuck to it! But then did a million more things! One of my favorite parts was when we were headed to the Garland to see a movie but got so lost and found this cute little place called polka dot pottery. When we pulled into a parking spot a guy was just getting into his car, he had a huge smile on his face and he was so excited to be getting his pottery back. I think it was that moment that we knew we were going to do it for real! There we sat for like what 3 or 4 hours painting pottery! It was tons of fun, and so random. We made some friends there with other people painting, and tomorrow I am picking up our beautiful peices of art!

We went on many mini adventures. Picking a random road and going wherever it takes us. One road led us to an indian reservation, we later found out that where we were was not safe? I guess the tribes start doing odd things this time of the month, and us driving around that early in the morning was not safe lol. But out in the middle of theb boonies all they had was bars and pubs, or and a post office lol.

We ate asparagus at 3 in the morning, we had a psych marathon (I will never be the same), we got super lost ALL the time! We went to Houston lol we had a blast. we had chinese food, we went to jack in the box, we hardly slept, yet we slept a lot. Things were great, it was so comfortable. OMG we went to Idaho! We went shopping, I bought sunglasses, we got grills! We played monopoly at 2. We bought skulls, we ran with statues, we gazed at the stars, we saw a SHOOTING STAR! we wished, we dreamed. We talked, we planned. We, I will never forget those four days.

BB

Beverage Barn! AMAZING. One night it was very late, we were lost in Idaho and saw a sign for the Beverage Barn. Milk was on sale! Now what type of place is this, a beverage barn, where milk is on sale? Sounds interesting we decided another day we would have to take an adventure day and visit. SO what did I spend my afternoon doing yesterday? Thats right, we went to the beverage barn! Are your interests peaked? Are you dieing to know what this "Beverage Barn" is? Well I will tell you now. It is a barn, that you drive through! You drive through and on the inside it is like a convenience store. You can buy beer and wine, soda, milk, juice, donuts, chips, anything you can get at a 711 basically. Only you drive into it! And some guy stands theree and asks what you want, then he runs and grabs it, brings it to you, you pay him and drive away! It was intense. I took a couple pics to illustrate its amazingness!

Stanwood Sorority

I discovered that I belong to the Stanwood sorority lol and who knew there was one!

Today this lady comes in and made the comment "time to hit the road again" I asked, oh where are you going? She replied, "Montana" I was all like well your almost there! And then she was like yea well we are coming from Stanwood.

Uhm so yea. I think my jaw dropped to the ground and the high squeal pitch that escaped my lips might have cracked a few windows. But it wasn't just me squealing, when I finally was able to get the words "I'm a Stanwood girl" out of my mouth the both of us were happy go lucky. After exchanging hugs and names to see who we knew from each others families we had it all settled. We had common friends and we are pretty sure we know each others families. She left with a smile on her face, and I walked away knowing that she was going to stop by on her way back through to Stanwood. Possibly might be grabbing a ride with them LOL. It had to have been the most exciting five minutes all day!

A woman who takes control

That's me! Apparently. I went down the the regular gas side, and told a line of about a million that if they did not need fuel outside I could help them down at the other register. One guy moves down, but stops at the cash register that is closed I say to him "oh go down farther" Which leads to me turning extremely red after realizing what it came out as, I said again "No sorry I just need you down here" I am just not helping my case here. The guy is standing there laughing at me and I finally just say, "please could you move over to this cash register!" And he did. But not without poking some fun at me first. I found out this guy likes to be "dominated" and he likes a bossy woman like me. Hmm. Thanks?

A goat and a pig... AT LEAST

Momalo, if a man comes to Camano and tries to buy me for his son, please don't settle for anything less then a goat and a pig.I feel I am worth more then that!

Banana calls me Sunday night. "Hey want to go to balkars restaurant? He is singing?" I said oh sure sounds like fun. When we get there though I find out that Banana lied to me! It was his sons wedding reception! Because they are Hindu it was (What I am guessing) a very traditional Indian wedding. The females were all in their fancy outfits (with amazing shoes!) and the guys all had their little outfits on and they were separated by sex. There was traditional homemade food there. I tried one of everything, I like some of it. But I did not like this round ball thing, ( I am led to believe it was a testicle from a pig) Banana and I split that one, she took it back out of her mouth but I had no where to put my half, I was forced to put it down my throat! YUCKY. We tried to leave after all of this, But balkar insisted we stay till the bride and groom had been fed and danced. Banana and I fed the bride and groom, it was awkward. Then everyone got up to do some dancing, We enjoyed watching them, and loved the music so we were having lots of fun! This guy next to me keeps telling me we should go dance I kept saying no no I don't know how. Eventually he grabs on to me and pulls me into all the people, I reach back and grab Banana, there is no way I am going in without her! So there were are, the only white people, and two girls in the middle of a bunch of men. They formed a circle around us and cheered us on, they even started throwing dollar bills at us!! We kept trying to get out of the circle but they kept pushing us back in. We escaped but not for long, we were pulled back onto the dance floor, back with the men. That is until balkar told us that we needed to dance with the ladies and not them men. So Banana and I are farely certain that we were claimed as sluts (especially cause of the money throwing thing) or if not we have marriages arranged for us, or we are married to like six guys each. We don't really know.

We left with smiles on our face. It was the most random evening ever! But definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. It was odd being in a situation where I was the minority for once, and where the majority of the people around us didn't speak English. It was just a different experience and as humiliating as it was at times it definitely goes down in my books as AMAZING!

I 90

Keith Wann, WOW. A four hour trip, five girls. It took us eight hours to get to Seattle. Traveling along we made a friend, in a white mini van. I believe my words as he passed me were "oh HELL no a mini van is NOT going to pass me" and sure enough we won that little game. Till Emily had to stop... for the first time. Getting back on the road we continued our adventure with lots of junk food, including chocolate, chips, Dr. Pepper and loads of energy drinks. All hyped up and headin west. Every semi-truck we passed we made it our goal to get them to honk for us, I think we only came across one truck that didn't participate. I mean really how could the not honk for 5 sexy mamacitas!!?? We found our selves some hot guys in a car next to us and made it our goal to not let them pass. and oh BOY we won!! We kept passing signs saying "I90 closed" but I refused to believe it was true. Sure enough though the signs told the truth and we were parked on I90 for 5 hours. But it might sound horrible, it was anything but that. The guys we would not let pass were right behind us and they happen to have a football with them. There we were in the field between east and west bound traffic tossing a football around. Remember now... lots of energy drinks meant some passengers needed to find a restroom. All of a sudden we see Becca and Lauren booking it across the east bound freeway! Becca ran out right in front of a semi-truck! Laughing the rest of us took off to try and find them, on the way making lots of friends with people just sitting on the road. One of our best friends was the gentleman parked right in front of us, he offered us some chips and was kinda creepy staring at us while we played Frisbee... but Yea. Traffic started moving, but this guy needed help jumping his car, so like good Samaritans we helped!

On the road again, we go maybe five miles and get stuck. Emily is on the run for a bathroom, and after not being able to find one she pops a squat on the bridge and does her business!! LMAO We decide to go for a little walk and see how far we make it while traffic is stopped. We make more friends along the way and we run into the friendly guy that had been in front of us before "hey ladies!!" he shouts at us! It was like a family reunion. We really bonded. Finally make it over the pass, make it to Seattle with just over an hour to spare.

Keith Wann was amazing!! Jordan went on stage with him and shook her booty! LOL she danced with him it was super funny and cool to see her up there. After the show we all got back in the car and got ready to make the journey home, But first we needed to do a couple Chinese fire drills! Which was humorous cause Becca was certain we were being robbed and for some reason were all jumping out of the car... the second time went much more smooth, even Lauren was able to get out without tripping on my purse!

On the way home we stopped to get a flashlight, attempted to see the horses but apparently there was something in the bushes? I don't know where I was for this part.... But I ran with them lol. We finally made it home, I think it was 4 by the time I was in my apartment. It was an exhausting trip but tons of fun! Number 2 is coming soon!!!

Pure

I am a in a pure state of exhaustion right now. Its been a long and stressful four days. I have the next couple of days to rejuvinate, get ready for my trip this weekend! AND for some visitors in 13 days?? and 17 days!!! AHHHGGGG yeah!

OPCG

Settling

Last night at work I made a slightly HUGE mistake. The worst part is it happened on Banana's register and not my own. So even though it was I who did it, she will feel the burn. I stayed late at work trying to fix it. Then I wasn't able to sleep last night from the guilt.

Today. People are still trying to fix my mistake. It has now been in 5 peoples hands trying to figure all of this out. UHG I feel terrible. But anyways. This guy comes in, his name is Ray. He wants to buy some cigs, I sell them to him, check his ID and we are joking around. He looks me dead in the eye and says "Amanda, whatever you do, don't settle" It threw me for a loop. I was all like oh ok? He then goes into an explanation. "you are beautiful, you are sweet and nice. I can tell you are an angle and you deserve the best. You deserve the best man, the best life, the best everything. You are a special person. I don't know why I am saying this, I don't know what has come upon me, something tells me I need to tell you this. Just don't settle for anything" I was all like alright I wont.

It was odd. But it meant a lot.

Lone Ranger

Prime Cut

Thank you Fa^1 for that comparison. Earlier tonight I sent a text to Fa^1 saying I have never felt more like a raw piece of meat then I have the last few hours of work. Her reply back was, prime cut or ground beef? I loved that. My response was prime cut.

To go into more detail... Momalo, you know when everyone (Uncle Fonzie, Canadian Bacon, Ruby, and Jewel) comes over, and we have prime rib. And everyone fights over the end cute. Not only do I compare myself to a prime cut, but more like the end cut of a prime rib! Damn right that's how good I am!! This gentleman comes in tonight. He is being very flirty, we end up spending a good amount of time together cause he cause a problem. Long story short we got to know each other lol. Banana came up and we were all joking around and he was all like well I am gunna come back and see you later. I was like OK yea whatever. So later. He does come back. I was helping another costumer at the time (who was good lookin lol) and we were talking and having a good time and this other guy, we will call him cross (the first one) and he starts talking to me. THEN the subway ppl come over and Krusty and Cross are talking about what time subway closes and how he wanted a sandwich. Krusty says, well if you ask Amanda she would make a sandwich. I was like WHAT? Cross says, "Yea I bet she would, she would probably give me her own lunch if she had one" I was all like oh ok... Then Cross starts talking about how my BF would be mad and blah blah. And Krusty takes it one farther, he says, you know I bet she would do more then just give you her sandwich. I just looked at Krusty, I was like oh no you didn't! So now Cross, and my customer are both laughing and making grunting noises (?) and both said at the same time. "Once you go black, you dont go back"

So it ended there. Brawk stepped in at this point and started saying hey leave my GF alone! and all that and now I am blushing SO bad Lol the guy I was helping kept commenting on how cute it was and I am thinking yea right... LOL why do guys like that? Please someone explain it, cause they all do. Cross asked me to dinner. Later Brawk says if I want to go I can. I couldn't believe he said that! So I decided if he was telling me the truth or not LOL I was like ok I will. And cross is sitting over there watching me, he waves when ever I look at him. haha. SO I am all like ok I'm coming over in a sec. And Brawk steps right back in and doesn't let me go lol. He's like no, you cant go its a bad idea. HAHA right.

So I didn't have dinner with Cross, but he did come back over to visit me. I helped him pick out a good orange juice lol. Then he went out to his truck. My other guy came back in and took a shower, when he was done he refused to let Brawk help him, he waited for me lol. He was headed for Seattle, I was tempted to ask if I could ride along. Sad...

Anyways, it was a fun night. Started bad but ended good. Like I said, with Krusty (subway man) dangling me out there for those two guys I seriously felt like a piece of meat. I have guys hit on my everyday I am there. It happens, but I have never felt so exposed. I don't know why it was different but it was. It was odd and bothered me a lot that these guys talked this way. I don't know how it was any different then normal it just was.

SprInG BrEAk!!

OMG it is my first ever college spring break. Maybe I am not going to Hawaii or Mexico, and getting drunk into an oblivion. But I am going on a crazy road trip to SEATTLE lol woop woop! Wha cha cha If ya know what I mean. But no really, my first college spring break is going to be amazing! I think I have something planned for everyday, hopefully I will be crazy busy. However... Today I woke up, last final, last day of winter classes and guess what happens? Its frickin snowing! Yes that's right, its FRICKIN snowing! Whatever! Lol tomorrow I am sure it will be so warm and sunny I just might go sit by the pool. Who knows. Maybe I should make a girls gone wild video LOL that's a typical spring break thing right? LMAO! OH boy. It could be an Amanda Gone Wild video! It would be amazing! No nudity.

Man: (walks over to my counter) are you open?
Me: Yep I'm wide open!
Man: Oh is that so? Then I might be needing something else...
Me: Oh my bad, not that kind of open! I'm closed!

LOL

Oh then there was this crazy lady, she walks up and very VERY loudly yells something along the lines of "hello gorgeous" and starts talking about how she thinks I should pack my bags and go to Las Vegas with her... I was like well that sounds amazing but I need to stay here! they need me. When she was just about to leave she was all like "listen sweetie, get those bags packed, I will be back later tonight!" I was all like OK... haha I got off at 1o.

2DAY

Today. Mom and dad left me! Sad... mom wouldn't even stay up late with me last night LOL.

I went to school today, to take a final. After school I decided to run to the park and clear my heads of some things going on. I went on a little hike, not long. (I'm tired of waiting mom lol, and look it ended up fine!) I took bunches of pics, I will try to get them on here soon. But it was so nice out there, I have been looking for "my spot" and I finally found it. This perfect spot along the trail that's not too far that I couldn't just run out there very fast. I will definitely be going out there. Then I went and hung out with squinty eyes and beaner, we went to winco and target. We decided to make a homemade dinner! We made pepperoni and pineapple pizza, with Alfredo shell pasta thing on the side. It was yummo!

While I was on my hike one of the bookkeepers form work called and asked if I would be available for a telephone interview. I said yes of course. But never heard anything... Maybe tomorrow.

My roots

Many of you know that I want.... NO that I am gangsta! For some time now, I have been, uhm rapping. (yes we can call it that lol, maybe not good, but dang those tassles!) Not really sure why, I dont have a black bone in this body, in fact I am about as white as white can get. But thats not the point.

Today I went shopping with momalo. We were standing in line at Torrid when a nice little rap number came on. Momalo looks at me... "this music makes me want to dance"

I have discovered, right there is my shred of evidence. I am meant to be gangsta, I Amanda from my mothers loin (is it loins?) should and will be a gangsta!

Shipe

There were Shipers (think about it... what does it mean in indiana jones language... aka IJL) walking around today! LOL

No it was a good night. Brawk felt sick, so he asked me to switch shifts whith him so he could go home early, I said yes... My parents came into town! YAY!! I noticed my fridge looks awfully full... I love them! As a sacrafice I took a big step for them tonight. I went to walmart, and made an expensive purchase. $7.36 expensive! I bought Toilet Paper for the first time!! I was so excited about it I felt the need to document the occasion (of course, yes christopher I really did). But I needed help taking the pic, this is how it went....

Me "can I ask you an odd favor?" to walmart Employee (whom shall remain nameless)

Employee "Sure"

Me "Great! Can you take my pic?"

Employee "With Charmin?"

Me "Cha cha charmin! Yes please"

He laughed. But he took the picture, I thanked him and went on my way. I think I made his night. I like to think so. I can picture him getting off early this morning, going home and writing in his blog (names walmart diaries... Im sure, cause that is an awsome name!) and writing about this crazyily cute adorable miss asked him a very off favor. And he followed through with it! I will be documented forever in his brain I am sure. And maybe in some blog somewhere out in space. I wonder if he was married? Ta ta!

AMANDA!

The other day an African American gentleman came in, his name was Mr. Q. He walks up to me and he is rapping something. I listen closer and I can tell it is the song Amanda by Boston! Now I have had truckers sing this song to me plenty of times. But this was amazing! He turned a love ballad into a rap! I LOVED IT. Uncle Fonzie toe... you definitely have some catching up to do!

Today, around 11 pm, almost time to go home! A woman, around 45 to 50 yrs old is my guess comes into start a pump on the truck side. I get all her info in, she still hasn't handed me a form of payment. I say "ma'am how are we paying tonight?" She says, cash. NOW the policy with cash is we can take their cash, but not matter what we need their ID lately we have had a lot of drive offs, so we have enforced this rule strictly. She looks at me says, I do not appreciate you calling me a thief. I was astonished, I stood there thinking did I say that? I knew I was tired but really I would never say that!! So reassured her that it was corporate policy that we hold onto everyone ID, and that I was not claiming that she was a thief. Now she is yelling at me! Over and over again saying she wasn't a thief. I just said OK. I had already told her that I wouldn't start it without ID. So now Brawk is down with me, making sure she doesn't try killing me. And we stand there, and wait for her to hand over her ID. She looks at me and says well aren't you going to start it? I said no Ma'am not till i have your ID. She flipped me off and said "I'm not a fucking thief, have a great night!" I waved back and said you too!

ZIPP...

AAGGHH!! Haha.

The last couple of days I have worked there has been an older gentleman there. I would say around 50 years old. Well the other night he had a pen in his hand and asked to see my hand. I was like what for? Are you trying to give me your digits? He replied, what would you do with those? HAHA laugh laugh Anyways...

So today he comes in and I don't remember what we were talking about but it ended with something like well have a look at this! And he started to unzip his pants! OMG right? So I covered my eyes and I was like PLEASE DON'T! lol and he didn't. I said goodbye. Wonder if he will be there tomorrow.

KIAN and I got together today to film a video for out hearing impaired class. It turned out very funny! And it was loads of fun to work on. I'm pretty sure both of us were ready to die from laughter when we were done. I will put the link in at the bottom for my youtube page. You should check it out! HOLLA. A little background on it though, otherwise it will make NO sense, and you will be all like WAIT WHAT? The video is showing ways to prevent RMS (repetitive movement syndrome) which is very common for interpreters.

To find it, go to youtube.com in the search box type mission RMS. It is a video that is 8 mins 24 secs long. The description says "Lauren and I working very hard..." And the pic you will see is of KIAN up against a wall, with her back on the floor. Check it out FOO!

Friday the 13th

We have had two Friday the 13Th's in a very short amount of time. I am starting to believe that these bad luck days truly hold bad luck. It seemed like everything that could go wrong went wrong. I was on the truck side tonight, and had about 20 fails out at the pumps. Because the amount a purchase can average anywhere from $100 to $600 it is very important that we get their information so the don't "drive off" technically leaving without paying. Some truckers do this on purpose, they know its not going to work but they leave hoping to get away. Some are just accidental and are easy to fix. But with every failed that occurs it requires someone going outside and writing down a bunch of information, AND telling the driver that they will have to come inside when they are finished to try running it through again. They hate this because potentially we may not be able to fix the problem, their company might be down which means they could be stuck there for a few minutes to a few hours waiting for it to work. Sometimes a whole day. All we can offer them is a cup of coffee and reassurance that we will continue trying every few minutes.

Some drivers take it all right. They understand that it is not our fault. But I would say the majority of them feel like it is our fault. We are holding them back, the more they sit there the less they get paid! I understand that. But there is nothing I can do to speed up the process for them. I think every driver that failed today was taking it out on me. Every single one of them yelled at me. One was so bad I had to have Susie step in for me so I could walk away. He just would not stop yelling.

So yep. Here is to a crazy night! Thank goodness the 13Th is over now! hello 14Th!!

PS. We have these new peach cigars at work. They smell sooo good! I have never smoked a thing in my life. If I were to try something, it would be one of those cigars. But I wont. I am too scared to become addicted. But they are nice to smell!

Easy

"That's twenty bucks right there" hands me a $10 bill
"Really? That looks like a Ten..." Me
"Nope its twenty"
"I'm Confused" Me
"You're easy"
"Oh she is?" Customer behind him

"I am easy!!" "No I I'm not easy! I'm not easy, I'm just easily confused. CONFUSED"

HAHAHAHA everyone laughs at me. Thanks

Dedication

ded⋅i⋅ca⋅tion  –noun
1.
the act of dedicating.
2.
the state of being dedicated: Her dedication to medicine was so great that she had time for little else.

Last night I attended a Cheifs VS Silvertips hockey game. It was a rough decision for me to choose between cheering for my home team (whom is always true in my heart) or my new home team. I finally decided I needed to stick with my Tips, my belongs to them and it always will... or so I thought.

The game was horrible! We were murdered. Final score was 7 - 2!! But the two goals we did make you better believe their number fan was there screaming at the top of her lungs and supporting her sexy players. And yes I looked like an idiot doing it all by myself... they are worth it. I am dedicated to them.

After the game we all went to red robin, there the seven of us sat waiting to order when I see a few guys walk in with Silvertips shirts on. WHOO GO TIPS! what are the chances that there are more fans here? Well Ginger pointed out to me, those are players! So I was like OMG we need to get out there and get on that bus!! Ginger, Hawaii and I went out and walked to the door of the bus. There I stood for a good two minutes begging the driver to let me take a pic, or let him have the cam and take a pic of them for me! But he wouldn't I begged this man... I would have gotten down on the ground if it hadn't been totally wet. I wish we had just hopped on and snapped a picture, it would have been so worth going to jail for! All in all I am a little upset in the tips for not over hearing what was going on and helping me out. Thanks a lot guys. Next time you might not have your one fan in the audience....

Ok you will but still! Its ok to be mad for a little bit.

Warrant for my arrest

Really? How long has it been since I got my ticket? 5 months!! FIVE MONTHS!!! And I am just now hearing back form the courts HAHA. This whole time I have been thinking that there might possibly be a warrant for my arrest out there. But no. Its all good. I got my confirmation back now, and I am on the deferral program. Which will remove the whole ticket from my record in a year. I have to pay a $100 processing fee. I guess its a good thing I am getting money back on my taxes! Today hasn't been that bad! Now I can go to Canada with no worries of getting held at the border.

I forgot to add: the person who wrote the email, sstoner!! haha I know I dont put real names in there, but thats not really a real name, its kinda a real one but not. It was just too darn funny to leave out!

Wardrobe Dilemma

Today I had a huge wardrobe dilemma. You know in movies when you see the character thrashing through their closest desperately looking for the perfect outfit for their hot date that night? Well now picture me doing that, only instead of searching through my closet I was tearing through my pantie drawer. LOL my biggest concern was what type of undies I should put on for my Doctor. I was going back and forth to something very typical, white, or something a little more on the edge. I finally (after thinking about it all morning while doing other things) settled on my lucky flamingos.

Had my appointment today. It was... ok. I don't want to do it again. Unfortunately I have to go back in six weeks. They will look at my moles again, and talk about my skin. This Spokane weather is not treating me very well, so they are having me t do this new treatment thing everyday to help my skin be less dry? I dunno, we will see what happens with that. My one doctor was really great! I joked around with him, made it an easy going atmosphere. But then then another doctor came in the room to take a look at my mole "situation". He was not so nice. Not so comforting at all. I didn't like him. But I guess its over now, and I am past that, and I have six weeks of clothedness to look forward to! They don't think that they need to remove anything immediately, they want to wait for a little bit to see what happens. The moles that they are slightly concerned about are in awkward places that would leave bad scars, so if they don't have to they don't want to remove it them. He mentioned that my case is difficult because I have so many moles that range all over the scale. I have some very normal looking moles, but then I have a good number of odd shaped moles. He said it makes it hard for them to tell if they are what is normal for my body, or something they need to take action on. So here we wait. I will see them in 6 weeks.

Not the best day ever.

Bend and Snap

We all remember the infamous Legally Blond scene, standing in the beauty shop and Reese Witherspoon (Elle Woods) is showing Jennifer Coolidge (Paullete) how to "bend and snap" to get the attention of the UPS delivery boy.

With that in your heads: Today I had this gentleman admit to me that he was only hanging around so that he could flirt with me lol. "hey sweetie, grab me some of that red man gold blend (chewing tobacco)" This certain brand is on the bottom shelf, you are required to bend over to grab it. I walk to the other end, where we keep it. I squat down, grab the chew and come back. "Baby! You did it wrong!!" I said, how did I do it wrong? "you were suppose to bend all the way over and show me your @$$!" I'm like great, I work at a truck stop! Do you really think I am going to just bend over and stick my butt out to the whole world?? He laughed, so did the guy behind him and commented "no but we hope you do!" BOY OH BOY

Later talking to Patricia, we decided we should practice our bend and snap more often! LOL

Smart Cookie

I was told I am smart as a cookie today. That's nice to know. I went in to work to talk to Banana and BB, they had something to ask me. BB asks if I would like to be a part time SAR. I don't know what that stands for, I will find out. But basically I would be a book keeper. Payroll, bills, all that yucky stuff. I wouldn't do it just for the truck stop, its for the two restaurants, the store, and the fuel. I would be handling money for all of it! Although I don't know exactly what it is that these SAR people do, I do know that they are always stressed out. Whenever I see them, they look worn out. They fix our mistakes, when we cant fix them. They find the missing money, that we aren't sure where it went. This is what I would be doing. I would be handling more money then I could even dream of having right now in my life. More then I have ever had saved up, more then I have ever held. Along with the new stress and responsibilities I would get a hefty pay raise. Which would be nice. The best part is that the raise I get to be a SAR would transfer over to my cashier schedule, so I would be getting a HUGE raise in that sense. Having this book keeper background on a resume would look great! Any job anywhere else where I deal with a lot of money would appreciate seeing me

So why am I having such a hard time deciding? This is why. I got a job at the truck stop out of pure desperation. I was running out of money and they were hiring. I HATED my job there. I think everyday my poor mom had to deal with me crying, I couldn't stand it. The truckers were so mean, this wasn't a job for me. But shortly I learned to love it, I realized the people there were really there for me. However it is still a transitional job. Its only purpose is to help pay my bills as I struggle my way through college. In no way was I looking to be promoted through the company, or anything like that. Yet here I am being faced with this "promotion". Will this stress have effect on my school? Will this stress be worth it? The money and the experience that I can document on resumes will be great. But at what cost is it worth?

In my stress class one day we were talking about something. And he said but is it worth it to me? I said well its not worth it to me, I am worth a million dollars! He looked at me and said oh yeah? Well I'm priceless. I know its strange to look back on that, but my saying I am worth a million dollars, not seeing it and saying it off the bat that I am priceless, could this mean something?

Conspiracy

**Top secret Top secret Top secret Top secret Top secret **

Turn on your speakers to low, and hit play on the playlist for the first song

This is on hush hush, this certain blog cant get into the wrong hands, the government cant know we have caught on!

As many of you know now, daylight savings time is on Sunday. Well I, for the first time, am actually thinking about this daylight saving thing. For 19 years I have been a sheep. I was taught on certain days of the year we change the times on the clock. It was just the normal thing to do. But now I am thinking about it... why do we have daylights saving time? We do it twice a year, this year they will be held on March 8Th, and November 1st. We all know in March we are springing forward an hour, and for a few months we have an "extra" hour. Then in November we roll back an hour "losing" an hour. This sets us back to what it originally was. We got nowhere in that time. We didn't REALLY add time to the planet. We hardly really notice the difference, except it gets dark later. So what is the point? What does daylight savings really do for us? Please, if you know inform me. Because here is the theory I am going with for now.

The government likes to control things, as we all know. Well who is to say there aren't five government officials sitting in a room all laughing the next day because again they have manipulated us into thinking that if we don't change our clocks the world will... I don't even know. EXPLODE?! We are their puppets, and it is a test, do we still have faith in our government? What will happen when one day people start to refuse, the don't want another hour, or the don't want to give that hour back. Will the five guys still be laughing?

After doing some research, not all countries have daylight savings time. China, which spans five different time zones does not participate in daylight savings. PARTS ( I don't know how it can just be parts, that's trippy) of Australia do not change their time either. It wasn't till 1996 that Mexico jumped into the conspiracy wagon! Now how is it some countries can live without daylight savings time? Why DO we change our clocks? Honestly, think about it. We do it without even thinking, no questions asked. Maybe its time we start asking some questions.

Just a thought.

Updates

I made some updates if you cant tell... I also added some more pictures to my slide show at the bottom so check it out.

Suicide

I don't have time to watch the news. But whenever I log onto the Internet my homepage has local news posted on it right at the top. I cant help but look at it every time I get on. So today I look to see what stories are going on and the one on the top of the list is about the new suicide assistance law.

Voters approved the Initiative 1000 in November. This law allows patients with six months or less left to live get prescription suicide. In order to have a prescription written the patient must ask for it twice, in a 15 day period. They must also have two witnesses present when they sign a statement that says they wish to take their life away. Doctors and druggists are not required to write or fulfill prescriptions for such a lethal medicine if they are opposed to assisted suicide.

After reading this I took some time to reflect on this issue. I can understand why people would want to take their life away if they were told there isn't much time. I get it in some scenarios. My personal opinion if I were in those shoes would be to keep fighting for as long as I can. Maybe not to hope to stay alive longer, but to be able to help science. Let my body be used for chemistry, so someone else maybe can live longer. But at the same time I understand that some people cant afford the bills that come along with six months of being in a hospital, or paying to have someone care for you while you wait. I guess I can respect that, if they didn't want to put a financial burden on the family they were leaving behind. I get that.

But I cant help but wonder what else will come out of this. Will suicide rates incline immensely? How easily obtainable will this drug be? Once it starts getting made it will be easy to get I am guessing, how many people will be find that drug in the wrong hands? I still don't know how I feel about this issue. I guess overall people have the right to make their own decisions. But I think that by saying that then shouldn't I be OK with just regular suicide? If people get the choice to take their life near the end, then shouldn't they have the right to take their life at any point in their life?

Tell me what you think.

YUMMO!

One of my best meals yet!

pResEnts!

YAY! like Christmas allover again!

If I heard one more blond hoke I swear I was going to slap someone, and it would probably be Banana LOL! Anyways, this guy comes in, he has some scratch lotto tickets he wants to redeem I say "oooh are you a big winner" and he says "If I am will you marry me?" I say "well if its big enough..." It was $10.... but big enough.

For the next few hours he kept bringing them to me, telling me blond jokes and giving me a hard time. Now Banana is getting dragged into all of this too. Next thing we know he brings us these two stuffed bears... Oh joy right? lol they stunk, and we were worried. So we took pics to document our wonderful night!

I also took half of a 5 hr energy. I think half is the way to go if I do it again, maybe even less though. But half is definitely feeling better then a whole one.

The other night I had my biggest offer yet! $750 for a 3 some!! That's a lot of money.... Hmm.

Goodnight! Luvs to everyone. EVERYONE. And I am going to try and work off some energy so I can sleep!

Crossed for good Luck

SO this weekend I went home! Most everyone who reads this (um lets see... all of 2 ppl. thanks!) know that I was home this weekend but whatever.

Ride down was good. Sat next to a man that I named Gary. We had a good convo, different then the one I had with Leroy, with Gary it was more intellectual... with Leroy it was all about drinking and his big toe less foot...

Went home, spent Friday with the most amazing chica ever!!! Fa^1 spent lots of time laughing singing and at walmart... Then Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, hit the beach to rekindle a friendship, went well. Then partied for my birthday, went to a tips game. We lost. But the most amazing thing happened! Lincoln brought me roses! lol (he is so a male!) he loves me! I think one day the person under that costume will marry me. I mean remember that one time when he made out with me? that was wild! Then went to a country bar to pick up my dad where he was visiting some friends.... that was interesting.

Sunday was my family dinner, we had meatloaf! Then went to Panda's (no Fa^1 and city, that happens to be my bro's nickname too... i know its weird) and his GF's cabin. hung out and played games for a bit and went back home.

Monday I went with mom to Seattle, had lunch with my grandparents and I departed. Over all it was a good trip. It was nice to see everyone again and all the jazz. been a few months.

The plane ride was pretty mellow, sat next to a woman who refused to talk. But made friends with the guy across the aisle, his name is Kevin. We switched Ipods, I listened to his, he listened to mine. And at the end of the flight he pointed out that I never uncrossed me fingers. Odd but after thinking about it true. I also caught a taxi afterwards, and made friends with the driver. we were all posed to take a pic of us, but my cam wasn't working. SO next time I will have a pic with me and the taxi lol promise!

HuH?

Pulled into the parking lot at work, sat there for a few extra sex singing along to the radio, turned my car off. Took my deep pre-work breath and started to get my stuff together. This black SUV pulls into the spot next to me. I look into their window....

Its my Uncle! LOL Very random... But funny. SO we stood in the parking lot for a bit talking then I went to work, and he went on his way! lol it was very exciting. And confusing...

tIrEd!

I am sooo Tired! Banana and I worked just the two of us tonight. We normally have four cashiers! And she still had manager stuff to do, so she left me alone a lot! I was ready to kill her lol.

Peanuts.

Anyone know whats going on with them?? Apparently I have not been watching the news enough. I had a gentleman kindly (ha yea right) inform me that I was trying to kill him because almost all the products in our store had peanuts in them. He continued yelling at me because I am "naive" to not watch the news and keep up with what is happening around me. My comment back was "that's why I work here, look you just filled me in!" He didn't like that. Stormed off grumbling some more about how I am trying to kill him.

Boy I hope corporate doesn't get a note about that one... could be hard to explain.

2 in 1 Kinda of a Night

OK flashback... two posts ago, maybe three, title "we were played" take that psychotic woman (recap: claimed she slipped, actually just stealing from the store as I walked around doing things for her) And then take the psychotic woman from the last post "buckcherry" (recap: the one with multiple personalities, and claimed she was with the band) and have them come in on the same night...

That's how our shift started. Started with buckcherry not paying a taxi driver, having him get all pissed off and drive away, and then her coming inside, eating at the restaurant, and have the manager from there walk over to Patricia to "vouch" for buckcherry! Patricia (who now realizes this woman is indeed psycho) says absolutely not, I could lose my job for that. We all knew she wouldn't come back to pay. So Banana and CJ (restaurant manager) walked her outside and told her not to step foot on our property again since she was unwilling to pay her bills. If we caught her on out property the cops would be called.

Meanwhile they are outside and in walks the lady who "slipped" in our bathroom, we will call her Slip lol. Anyways, slip and her boyfriend want a shower. And I knew right away they were going to get kicked out, I knew next time they came in they were goners. But I don't have that authority. I gave them their shower, and told Banana immediately of our new guests. Slip and her boyfriend were done, the sat down at the restaurant and we all made it very apparent that we were watching them... Eventually Slip got up and came over to talk to Banana. And that is when Banana told her that she needed to leave the property immediately. They could finish their dinner, and pay, and they needed to get off the property and never come back. She claimed she didn't steal anything! "take my word for it" is what she said. What does she think? We didn't see her on the camera? Who else is practically a midget, looks like trailer trash and was right there on the camera's talking to me and making me look like an idiot! It was her! We all know it.

So yep. That was my beginning. It took a long time to get to the end. But all and all I had a good night, lots of dancing going on (it was banana, Patricia and I, all girls we had to party!) Lots of flirting... not from me, from the guys... and Patricia lol. She is a new single lady and I think she is loving the attention!

Then the end of my night ended just perfect, the way I wish it could end every night. And I will fall asleep with a smile on my face. Right about.... Now... Luvs!

BuckCherry

Another day... another psycho

Yesterday a woman came in during swing shirt wearing a buckcherry t-shirt (for those of you who don't know, buckcherry is a band) Patricia and this lady started talking, the lady ended up telling her that she was with the band. And they were here at the truck stop in the movie theater watching a movie... Patricia believed her. Mainly because the lady told her that she would give her free tickets to a concert and some souvenir stuff for her daughter. Patricia was so happy she was the "cool mom" lol. She gave the psycho lady her phone number.

Swing Shift comes along, Patricia tells me that buckcherry was there... I was like OK that sounds weird but OK. The night goes on and the lady comes back, and back and she keeps coming in. Talking to strangers and bugging them. She has multiple personalities, I mean this lady is WEIRD! She keeps carrying around our baskets, going outside and asking people for money. We are starting to think this lady is a lot lizard. So we all keep our eyes out for her, make sure she isn't stealing anything.

Meanwhile, Patricia is getting phone calls from this lady, and another man, named Troy... They are continually calling and asking where they can buy pot from, and if Patricia will have sex with this man... Very odd I know.

I think momalo was right, it was a full moon last night.

OPEN

Tonight I think I set a record for how many stupid things I can say, and have them twisted around to be dirty by a truck driver.

The worst one... I was opening up my register right as one of the drivers walked up, without thinking I said, "I opened just for you" he looked at me, raised his eyebrows and it took me another 10 or 15 secs to realize what exactly that came out like. So then I'm sure you can imagine... I blushed. And the guy says "whoa I have never seen anyone get so red!! I think she might explode!" Yea. thanks, thanks a lot.

At another point there were these 2 Canadian guys, he wanted a cash advance, he asked he how much I would like of it. I told him I would love to take it all. But I would feel guilty. And then the guy goes oh so you don't want money? And I said "No of course not!" and the guy looks to Mennis and asks, are you her pimp? LOL the guy kept coming back in and trying to make deals with Mennis for my "services" Dennis kept saying that he was offering too much! What a nice guy lol.

Oh and then the other embarrassing part was when a gentleman, early 3o's was buying a beer. I asked for his ID and he was shocked I needed to see it. He says I don't know if I have one... I have my library card. I said well that doesn't help. I have a library card and I cant buy beer! So he goes, "no you don't get it, its a library card for a sex library, maybe you could borrow it sometime...!" LOL wow

Other then that. Apparently I am a prude. I kinda take offence to that. I guess by not acting outlandish and sexual at work this makes me a prude. I'm sorry.

Flashing LIGHTS

(writing that sooo made me think of the song where is goes...."flashing lights..." you know in that creepy voice? But I cant think of what else happens in the song... LOL)

So the other day I went downtown to get Beaner from the train station. His train was coming in at 1:30 am. I get off the freeway and all the traffic lights are going crazy, blinking red and yellow. SO I was like ok. There was no one else out and about so it made it pretty easy not having to fight with traffic. I figured it was because there was an outage or something.

This morning Beaners train was leaving at 2 am. Again we went downtown and the lights were doing the same thing! We decided that at a certain time they turn the timers off and just do it so people have to treat them like stop signs. It was very confusing. But I made it home safely.

And might I mention, Downtown Spokane in the wee morning hours is NOT fun. Seriously it is like a ghost town, all you see are bums. Kinda scary.

We were played...

We will call this particular customer in the following story... PSYCHO

Psycho: There is water on the bathroom floor, I almost slipped, you should clean it up before someone gets hurt.
Me: Ok I will go mop it up right now.

....Well here's the thing, we got busy it was just banana and I on the floor and neither one of us could run to mop the floor.

One hour laterish.
Psycho: I am going to need a pack of ice for my swelling sprained ankle.
Me: Ok when your ready just let me know. (at this point I have no idea what she is talking about her sprained ankle, but I wasn't going to argue, whatever I will get her some ice.)

She then goes to another cashier and tells them that she slipped in the bathroom, twisted her ankle, and hit her head on the counter! Not what she told me before. At this point it was time to pull a manager into this, now we have an incident report to fill out. Banana talks to her, we had to take pictures of the bathroom (where there was no water, and she told Banana that I must have already cleaned it up...which I never did) her face, and her "swollen" ankle. We filed the proper paper work and everything was good.

Psycho then came back AGAIN claiming her head was killing her and she needed some aspirin. I said wait one min I will run to the back and see what we have. I then told Banana that she was back... We gave her a couple samples of aspirin that we had in out First Aid kit. BUT. While I went to the back to get all of this Psycho played us. She took one of out big thermos cups that are about $10. She took the sticker off and pretended it was hers! I didn't realize it. She was so odd... and she claimed that she had a PhD. whatever!!

I know this sounds terrible but I feel like I need to paint a pic for you in your head. Imagine a woman about 5ft 3, terrible hair (split ends and just a bad dye job) crooked teeth... I mean missing teeth. I guess she has a photo shoot in two days.... and her face is swelling from hitting it on the counter. So as you can imagine we are making sure that she can have water, pop, coffee, anything that she might need. But we did not give her that thermos. She then proceeded to tell me about how she owns her own business... she is an athlete recruiter, she recruits people like Matt Hasselbeck. Apparently she is expanding and I would be a perfect Administrative Assistant, so she wanted my number... Odd I know! So i gave it to her... well kinda, I might have flipped a few numbers around.

All in all, this Psycho lady who has a PhD, owns her own athlete business, and models on the side is getting kicked out of our store next time she comes in. We have proof of her on the cameras stealing the mug and she is out of there! YAY!!!

PS: Cowboy is back... no one knows what to do... so we are just not talking to him lol.
THIS IS MY 100TH POST!!!!!! I knew something exciting would happen!

99

This is my 99th post!! I wish it were 100, I think it would be a good number for this post, but I think 99 can work with what I have to say.

"If you want to turn your life around you're going to have to start making things happen and stop allowing things to happen to you."
-Sex, Drugs, and Murder

I moved to Spokane to go to college. I DID THAT. I got a job, I payed my bills. I started a new life. Recently I was laid off, and then hired back on. I think in the period where my life started to crumble around me I lost sight of my goals and my sanity really. I let things happen to me, and I let them stress me out. But now, again, I have new chance. This time I want to do it right. I want to take advantage of the time I have here and use it to the fullest. I slipped for a couple of months, I will not let that happen again. So here I go. To a new beginning in my life...another new beginning. I will be 19 in a short while, and I think the end of my 18th yr will end positive and it will be a great start for my 19th!

Thank you for those who have kept up on my blogging. I know it lost its umph... I guess working at a truck stop has turned normal and mundane. Who would have thought?

Love!

Running in circles

I cant stop thinking about everything that has happened today. My mind is running in circles, my heart is beating like crazy.

I just told Limb about my amazing day. And we talked about his incredibly depressing day. It was a good balance I guess.

I cant believe my day!!! It is by far the best day I have had in a very very long time.

I love you mom and dad! I love you guys so much. Ay yi yi, I know I will sleep so good tonight, if I could just wind myself down enough to sleep. Maybe I will go give it a try. LOL here we go!!

There was a rainbow

I was driving to work, lots on my mind. I'm stuck behind a huge line of cars and in the front of the line is one car, going about 30 mph. No stress. I will make it to work on time. Don't worry Amanda.

Look up, there is a rainbow.

Pull into work, talk to Jess outside for a bit and go in. Wave hi to the day shifters walk into the back room. Standing there is Banana, BB (Big Boss), Helen, and the two book keepers. As soon as I walk through the door they all look and go silent. BB says. I need to talk to you. Every time she says that, its bad news. I want to cry. I cant handle anymore bad news, I cant take it anymore. I need to relieve my stress not add to it.

"Amanda, do you want to sit down?"
No stop playing games with me, you are going to give me a heart attack one of these days, just tell me!
"You know how I added you last week to make up for Mike being gone?"
(in my head - that's it, I'm fired, right here, right now) uumm yeah...
"Well I am keeping you, I am hiring you back full time, I am not letting you go"

I almost fell over, my legs gave out, my heart was out of my chest and I ran and hugged BB with all my might, and I fell into her, just crying. All of a sudden, all this weight, everything I had on my shoulders was now gone. I was done. I can live and breath again. I can sleep. I am FREE. Everyone was happy, and congratulating me, then Brawk and Mennis came in, and they all knew (everyone knew before me) and they all hugged me and it was just amazing! I couldn't stop smiling and crying. I was so relieved. SO RELIEVED.

I asked BB and Banana later if there were things that would make me a better employee, cause now is a chance to start fresh, I want to be the best I can be. before I put in 120% this time around, I want to put in even more. BB said that she never hears a bad thing about me. She gets praise about me all the time from all the shift managers, about how good I am with customers, and other employees, how nice I am, and such a hard worker. She appreciates me, they all do. For the first time I have worked anywhere, I feel like I am valued, and they don't take advantage of me. It feels so good. I am going to sleep so amazing tonight.

Look up, there is a rainbow.

Shocker!

I got an unexpected letter from someone today. At first I was afraid to open it. I wasn't sure what to think, where to go with it. I worried about what it would say. And what I would do about it. So I sat there for about 30 mins, staring at it. Biting my lip, and just staring. How can I be so afraid of a letter? Its not going to bite me, no matter what it says inside. Even if the things written are horrible nasty things I can just throw that letter away, get it out of my life. Why should I be scared?

I opened it.

It wasn't so scary.

Lockdown

So we know about the incident with the over-friendly customer. And how he was not to come back to the truck stop. Well I guess it didn't just end with me, he also was trying to steal things. So last I had heard he was told never to come back into our store again...

Last night I worked with Banana, Brawk, and Walter. My friendly customer came back while I was vacuuming the carpets. I hear my name being hissed from Walter "Amanda, Amanda come here" I looked at him like he was crazy, I just started vacuuming, I needed to finish it! "Amanda come here NOW" So I walked behind the counter and he points towards the man, "is that him?" I think I just ate my own heart right there, yep that's the one.

We call Banana, and Brawk behind the counter and have a pow-wow. It was determined that I was to go to the back office, and lock my self in... I was officially on lock down.

Banana came back to sit with me for a while, and we watched this creeper on the camera's, waiting to catch him doing something so we could call the police and really get him off the property. but It was made very clearly by Brawk that he was being watched, and he never made a move. I was released from the dungeon, and I am praying he will not be there tomorrow. I don't like being on lock down. Unless its "love lock down" LOL I love Kanye West. Anyways. something to remember, needed to document it.

Quotes

A few little quotes sent to me that I felt like sharing:

"I'm glad you have friends in your life near and far that make you smile!" Momalo, that means a lot, thank you.

Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect.
There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.
Mark Victor Hansen
Inspirational Speaker and Author

They might be...

Insane.

So couple of weeks ago new people moved into the 2nd floor apts, right across the way from me. (across the courtyard) And either they have a Wii, or they are crazy cause I can see them at night swinging at nothing, I am guessing they are playing tennis. But it makes it very funny for me to watch!

Haha ok I should stop staring. I will call Limb.

Thank you

Lately I have a few things to be thankful for.

First off, thank you Fa and The city for the Limb.

Second, Thanks you parents for my trip home that I am counting down the days for!

....Thank you KIAN. For being in the parking lot the pother day when I desperately had no choice but to climb through the wrong side...LOL

....Thank you Ricky for having medical issues, thus being submitted to the hospital creating more hours for me. I know that makes me sounds like a terrible person. I do hope him the best, and wish he gets well. I even donated $5.00 to the fund to buy him a present and flowers, but thank you for giving this extra time to me to find a new job.

.... Finally, thank you Limb. For putting up with my insanity....oh and fa and city also. Where would I be without you guys?

I love you all, and thank you for being there.

FOOD for thought

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia

If only... I am only waiting a few more hours Fa 1, then I am done for the night!

The Beginning of Goodbye

Today was my 2nd to last day. Overall it was pretty good. Sad but I am going to live. I had to say goodbye to a few people I wont see again on Saturday, which is the next and last day I will work at the truck stop. I said goodbye to Brawk, he is very sad to see me go. He even wanted to "exchange phone numbers" I said his wife wouldn't be happy about that. Brawk has a terrible memory, I always tease him that the day after my last day he wont even remember who Amanda is. And his comeback is there is one easy way you can make me remember you...(sleep with him... Well with out the sleep part is what he wants) It has always been a big joke. So tonight I had Susie set up with her phone to take a pic, and I tackled Brawk and gave him a peck on the cheek. I think that's good enough! I told him not to get any ideas!

I said goodbye to Fitch. That was sad. But I told him I am sure I will be back sometime and I will pull another all nighter with him! I said goodbye to my favorite security guard! I will miss that guy! I said goodbye to my favorite virginal casino buddy LOL. And then I had to say goodbye to Susie. I might see her on Saturday but probably not. I think saying adios to her, was the hardest person to say it too. We stood there for five minutes just crying and hugging each other. It was very emotional.

I know on Saturday I will have to say austa la vista (?) to more people I care about a bunch. I am glad that I have a break between now and then... this is just too much.

Odd

Its odd how you can talk to someone for so long, when you don't even know them. And yet at the same time you feel 100% comfortable.

CHA CHING!

Last night/this morning I the best time I have had in a really long time! About 7 of us met at work at 1 in the morning to head to Idaho to go to a casino, it is legal to game in Idaho at 18... so for us underage kids that's where we have to go! The cause of celebration was a farewell party for me and it was oh just so amazing!

We got to the casino at about 2, went in and found a few slot machines to start with. We all stated as a group to watch me blossom into a "youthful gambler". I clicked the button for the first time (pull handle) and I won!! I played my $1 I put in and made a few dollars off of that. Then the power went out! So we sat there in the dark for a few mins waiting for the generators to kick in. So for the first hour I just walked around with people looking at everything and stopping now and then to play some slot machines. I ended up losing all my money but $3. So I decided to cut my self off, I went with $20, I might as well leave with $3 in my pocket. But then... oh boy... then I saw the tables. And I thought what experience would it be for my first time at a casino and not play at a table. We went over and talked to one of the dealers, she showed me the rules of Black Jack and all the symbols. I watched a few guys playing and it looked like fun. I put my last $3 down to play one hand, if I lose I was done, if I won...well who know what could happen. My fate was in the hands of the dealer now. Guess what I got the first time? BLACK JACK!! I think I scared the person next to me. I jumped so high, and yes there was probably an OH MY GOD said slightly too loud, and then there was of course my sudden jerk to my left to grab Brawk and give him a huge victory hug! I played and played, I won and I won, it was brilliant! I finally pulled out, I made my $20 back, and then made $60 more on top of that! I walked away with a smile!

I was drawn back to the table 2 more times, with other people who wanted to give it a go. I made sure to keep my original money separate so that I didn't lose that again. However, my third visit back to the table I did lose all of the money I had gained, all but about $9. So all in all it was an unforgettable night. I am going to miss that whole crew so much! I have so many memories at the truck stop, so many stories and events. Working there has seriously changed my life. For the better, that's for sure.

HOLLA

"I know it seems hard sometimes, but remember one thing, through every dark night, there's a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it gets, keep your chest out, keep your head up and handle it.".... by Tupac

AMEN!

A Lesson In Life

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, if they be events, illnesses or relationships, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere.

If someone hurts you, betrays you , or breaks you heart, forgive them. For they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to who you open your heart to.

If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and opening your heart and eyes to things you would have never seen or felt without them.

Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, for you may never be able to experience it again.

Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you either.

You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life and then go out and live it.

All good things must come to an end

When I first started working at my local truck stop I hated it. Absolutely hated it, it couldn't get any worse then this. The computers were horrible to learn, the people were...weird. And the customers, oh boy the customers were rude filthy and they needed a mommy. However time has gone by, I cant say that there is any employee there that I cant stand to work with. I get along with everyone, I learned how to handle the customers, and I know how to use all the equipment. I am just now getting settled in.

Unfortunately the truck stop is being forced by corporate to have a budget, and this budget includes kicking a few people off payroll, and I would be one of those people. The 28Th of January will be the last day I work for this certain truck stop. When I was pulled into the office, the big manager lady, and my most common shift manager (he is in love with me...) and the book keeper were all there. BB (Big Boss) Told me the bad news but that I would be the first one called as soon as they had an opening. She hates to do this but there is nothing she can do. All she could say was sorry. And for her to only have "I'm sorry" to say I take as a compliment. She is the type of lady who doesn't want to hear sorry, or I don't know, or anything that wont benefit her.

I appreciate everything I have learned from there. I appreciate all the people, and the family I have built. They have been there for me, when no one else could help me. They were there for me when I was at some of the hardest parts of my life here in Spokane. For goodness sakes Susie was with me when I saw my first inmate...in stripes even!!! I have tons of memories from there that I will never forget. I hope to stay in contact with these friends I have made. I will miss them all so much. But this is just another road in my life. And I will see where it takes me. Like Momalo said, everything happens for a reason.

And to all my Geese out there...Keep on honkin!!

Muy bien Muy Muy Muy MUY Bien!

Very good Very Very Very VERY Good!

Is what my title says in English.

Tonight I had an orgasmic experience at work! Yep that's right at work...

I have gone six months without a certain something in my life. I have been CRAVING this, every night I think about it. It sounds so good! So Susie, who knew I wanted this certain thing so bad, called her ex husband to fix me up.

Tonight, I had the best Mexican food EVER!!!! Susie's ex husband works at a restaurant down town Spokane. It is all fresh authentic Mexican food. And oh boy did it stop my craving. He made fresh enchilada's, beans and rice, and (unfortunately his guac over ruled mine...) It was all SOO good! Susie and I stuffed ourselves with Mexican food, I thought I was going to explode.

I will go to bed tonight with a smile on my face... and thinking about Mexican food!

I CANT DO IT!!

Last night, laying in bed and talking on my phone. I look up and guess what is on my ceiling... A spider. OMG. (Oh My God)

But I am on the phone, and there is no way I can reach it anyways... So I will just ignore it.

Today I am in my kitchen cooking dinner, again on my phone. I look up, what do I see? My spider. Of course it led to a huge gasp and an ohhh no noise. The person on the other end of the phone had no idea what was going on. I got off the phone and called Fa'1, knowing I could get some spider advice. I was on the phone with her for about 5 Min's coming up with a plan to get this spider. Normally the vacuum would be the first option, but the thing is I am afraid that the vacuum will not kill the sucker, and when I go to empty the little container it will have mass produced and they will eat me alive. So that is not an option. I decided to take my shoe and try to swipe it off the ceiling so I can get it, but I am freaking out that it will fall onto me which oh wow would just not be good. So I decided to just go for it, screaming (I'm sure my neighbors enjoyed it) I knocked the spider off and squished it.

This is my first encounter with a spider in Spokane. When I called the first person I was talking to back we decided to name it Steve. Poor Steve.... I hope he didn't have any kids..... oooh yuck.

Horoscope

January 09, 2009
Aquarius (1/20-2/18)
Stop thinking so much about tomorrow and start living in the moment today! There are a lot of amazing opportunities all around you, but if you are too busy thinking all about what you want to do next, you are going to completely miss out on them! Timing is everything, so make sure you are living in the present along with everyone else. The past is done with, and the future will be coming soon enough. It's time to just worry about what you're doing today.

Is that not spot on with what I am TRYING to do now or what? I mean I know the future is still there, and I still need to work towards getting there (aka...school) but I can do that and live in the moment as well. For instance....

Today in my SEE sign class, we were talking about hearing loss, and hearing tests ect. When my professor talked about how we can go to the Lab and they have a hearing test center down the hall, we can go do it any time, its free. Plus we get extra credit!! So after class there were a few people going to go and check the place out, but we were all too scared to go alone... fearful that we were all going to be on the long terrible road towards deafness. So I was invited to go with I was like Hey why not?! So her a group of five of us go hike to the other building and walk on in. This lady walked out of her office and she stopped in her doorway, she had to do a double take, and her jaw just about hit the floor! It was such a funny reaction. She then asked if we were lost, we were like no I don't think so...

Apparently hardly anyone ever comes to get their hearing test, so to have a group of five people show up at once!! They were so not prepared for us. Turns out we need to make appointments, so there we a few other women who came out to help us all organize a good time to come in and do this. It takes about an hour and half!!! Its very thorough, they do one test where they test your hearing through your bones. Is that cool or what? They also have a camera that they put in your ear to look at your cochlea, which is what is unfixable when someone goes 100% deaf. (unless you qualify for a cochlear implant...) And with the camera there is a TV in the room that you sit in so you can watch everything going on and see what it looks like! Its amazing, I am so excited to experience this but at the same time terrified to know how deaf I really am.

Apparently my/our generation will be the youngest generation with the highest population for loss of hearing adults. Because we listen to our music too loud... and we put it directly in our ears (ear buds) which damages our cochlea even more! I am learning tons, and I am thinking I might be getting more and more interested in the medical aspect of the deaf world. Yay!!!

YEE HAW!!

Remember the guys who were trying to marry me? They were there for a really long time. Well on of them, we call him Cowboy, he was there the longest. I guess that is what he does, he comes in, stays for a couple weeks and then leaves. I however did not know any of this, I just thought he was another normal trucker.

I was wrong

Turns out cowboy is a drug dealer!!! This guy is I am guessing 60 or older. He was the nicest trucker I have ever met, he was the one telling me about other jobs that I might look into. Just a nice guy all around. I guess the big boss lady made him leave because there have been rumours going around about the other drivers. Apparently he hangs out, gets to know all the guys that are around, feels the situation out and when he finds out what they need, he makes a phone call and someone brings him the "goods". Which someone does come visit him. This girl named Amanda came to see him while he was there, she pulled up outside in her car, he went out and met her, and came back into the store in about five minutes. Then Amanda left. He said it was his daughter.... I cant believe he is in the middle of this, true or not the fact that he COULD be?!?! I talked to that guy! Oh well lol I'm safe, nothing happened and he wont be back anytime soon. But weird huh.

I was being bombed

So last night I was exhausted! I needed some sleep very badly. I went to bed at about 9 but it was super windy outside I couldn't fall asleep. It seriously sounded like the roof was going to be ripped off. I slowly started to drift off....

WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN BAM!!

There was this loud noise like something hit the wall. SO I sit up in bed, frantically looking around, did something fall off my wall? Nothing happened for a few seconds. So I settle back into bed to start dreaming some more.

Five Min's later BAM BAM BAM!

Great, so I get out of bed to look out my peephole. As I walk to my front door I am mentally calculating how fast I can get back to my kitchen to grab my 5lb Cast Iron Skillet, that could surely knock someone out if need be...preferably not myself.

One look out the peephole...no one is there. I go back to my bedroom, and look out between my blinds, I can hardly see anything. So I pull my blinds up in order to get a better view of whats going on. I open my blinds and all of a sudden WHAM! A huge snowball chunk thing hits my window, right where my face was! I screamed of course, and jumped about a mile. LOL then laughed for about 5 Min's, and then 5 more.

What was happening was the wind was picking up chunks of snow and they were hitting the building! That was what all the bam's were. So I went to bed, turned on some music and was able to sleep peacefully. When I woke up this morning and looked out into the "courtyard" it looked like what I imagine the moon looks like, with craters and everything! It was definitely amazingly beautiful!