Loci’s Neighbors

nehi, where art thou?

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:38:11 -0700

hello friends. i am on an epic quest of indiana jones/he-man/tenacious d proportions.

as a kid who grew up in florida, i often enjoyed when my dad stopped at gas stations because that meant i got Nehi soda. what is this weird beverage, you ask? oh, it's fucking heaven. that's what it is. it came in sooo many flavors - peach, strawberry, orange, grape, blueberry, chocolate, wild red, cream, etc. etc.

but the two best flavors were strawberry and blue cream. yes, i said BLUE CREAM.

strawberry in cans.

by the power of grayskull!

so...i've been trying to find it from various distributors and bottlers that were mentioned on a beverage board. yes, there is a message board out there for soda nerds.

i found one site that sells a 24 pack of the above 20 oz. bottles in any combination of flavors you want, but you can only choose from peach, grape, and blue cream.

so, i'm on a mission: i need blue cream and strawberry nehi. any tips or info on where i might procure such an amazing thing?

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you know..i wasn't going to drink tonight..

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:52:31 -0700

been super busy again today. lots to do. the printer on the GPS computer is being stubborn, and although it makes like it's printing, nothing comes out on the paper. really fucked up a project i needed to finish.

but why am i pissed? oh yeah, because corina is a stupid fucking bitch. that's why. i'm so sick of her attitude. she cusses at the sales guys, and everyone's just like, "oh, well that's the relationship she has with them, and they don't complain"...oh, and that just makes it okay? to cuss your superior out? the person that puts money in your shitty little pocket? whatever. she has a shitty attitude, and i'm sick of it. i'm sick of her getting away with it. i'm not here to make friends, but i believe that there is a certain level of civility required in an office environment.

we often get telemarketing or sales calls, and you can usually tell when it's one of either because they'll say the person's name really wrong, or they'll ask for "the person that handles blah blah blah". well, yesterday, i posted about how this guy was trying to sell me printer cartridges and i couldn't get him to shut up. the reason i got that call? it's corina's week to answer the phone. it's her job to screen calls. when someone calls and they say they're with whatever company, and it doesn't sound like someone that usually calls (and these bitches have been here for years, so there's no excuse, especially if i've only been here a few months, and i already know the usual people that call), i always ask "what is this in reference to?" or something to that effect, because then they're sort of forced to tell you that they're selling you shit that you don't want.

well, corina doesn't do this. if someone calls for me or anyone who is not one of our bosses, she'll just call us up and say that "so and so" from "such and such" is on the phone. and then we get shitty sales calls.

so yesterday? i got that sales call from that guy that wouldn't shut up. today? the SAME company calls me again. she calls my phone, tells me the company that's on the phone, and i tell her, "i have no idea who that is" -- meaning, if i don't know who it is, you need to find out what they're calling for, and if it's a sales call, you need to pretend to take a message or hang up on them or whatever you do to get rid of these jerks.

her response to me saying i had no idea who the person and company was? "well i guess you'll just have to find out then. answer line 3." and she just hung up before i could say anything. she was really fucking rude about it. i'm sick of her being able to talk to people that way. i'm sick of her not doing her job.

i GUARANTEE you that if she were to do that to barbara, jim, jeff, or bob, she'd have her fucking ass HANDED to her.

fuck that fucking cunt. i swear to god. she's on my shit list. period. end of story.

i need a drink. like, right now.

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today is lame.

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:57:49 -0700

i'm totally pretending to listen to this guy trying to sell me printer cartridges that he says will print double what the lexmark cartridges do, and will cost half the price. he's sending me a black toner cartridge and a 10 dollar target gift card, and i'm trying to tell him not to send me shit. but he keeps talking over me. it's ridiculous. and now he wants me to mention his name to the verification person tomorrow so he can win some stupid sales contest.

so i get here this morning, and our tech guy had installed windows xp professional. yes, we were still operating on '98. lol. something happened with the quickbooks program, though, and i didn't get it running until about 30 minutes ago.

i ran a couple of errands for work - had to get a new toll tag for paul, and then had to run by the post office for my boss. it was pretty nice to get out.

favre filed for his first unemployment payment today, which he would get on saturday or monday (because of the holiday, i imagine, or else he'd normally get it on a friday when he files on a wednesday every 3 weeks), but he fucked it up. i TOLD him to ask me if he had any questions concerning the filing process. i filed for his unemployment myself, but you have to file for each payment when they tell you to (mine was once every two weeks). he went online to file for the payment today. when it asked about the last week he worked (which is the time period they're paying him for now), they ask how many jobs he inquired about. you have a minimum you have to put on the form. my minimum was 4. i often lied and said more, just to look like i wasn't full of crap. he put down "ONE". wtf?

i told him if he had ANY questions or ANY doubts, to ask me. but he didn't. so when he submitted the payment request, it said that his payment is on hold. he called and spoke to someone at the workforce commission. she told him that because he put down "one" in regards to how many jobs he inquired about, his payment is on hold. he explained that the week it asked about was the week in which he was still working, so he did only look for one job (which is true, but haven't we learned that when it comes to the government, you have to sweeten things up a bit to get anything from them?)...

so the lady says she has to call his previous employer to verify that he was working on those days he says he was, and once they respond, he can file again on the 13th. i'm a little confused by all of this. he's supposed to file once every three weeks. and she said that he should receive the money from this payment request between the 11th and the 13th. and then she says he needs to re-file on the 13th??? favre doesn't explain things right sometimes. he acts like i was there when he talked to her or something.

on top of that, he's stressing because his phone bill is due on the 11th, and he doesn't think he'll get his payment by then. i had already told him if that was the case, i would personally pay for his bill, even if it puts me a little in the hole. i told him to stop worrying about a fucking phone bill because a lot more money is hanging in unemployment limbo right now because he didn't consult me about his fucking payment request.

add to all of this that i'm really concerned because he's supposed to start work with dad's company in the next week, and the apartment complex he'll be temporarily working at is almost an hour away. it costs him just about 20 bucks a day with current gas prices to get down there and back. i can't afford to pay for his gas until he starts getting these payments.

so now i'm fucking stressed out as hell.

congratulations, universe. you win.

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Failed Pizza and Glass Sharks

nobody@vox.com(Indieboy) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:33:03 -0700

Made pizza with the gf last night. I decided it would be cheating to buy ready made bases. I stubbornly stuck to my guns after it being explained to me that it might be easier. 3 hours and three failed pizzas later I was in a kebab shop in Camden contemplating the benefits of pizza bases and nostaligically looking back at the recent gigs I had attended (see how I linked that, good eh?)

I went to see Glass Shark the other day. I was completely off my face on legal over-the-counter cold remedies convining myself that I didn't have a cold and it was hayfever. Glass Shark is a punk disco three piece who make much of very little in the way of sound. The drummer is the main vocalist/front man which makes for an interesting stage show. Historically, I've never liked the whole drummer/front man thing as it tends to look crap and be the product of a drummer not being happy at the back of a stage. If you want to be a front man, do it, if you want to be the drummer do that.

Anyhow, for me this group is the exception to the rule. I liked the stage set up too as it seemed they had though about how they were going to be perceived. Their mic stands were decorated with strip lights which gave the them a stark monochrome/80's discoteque feel.

Vocally and sound-wise they remind me a little bit of Lightningtype in places (one of my favourite bands from last year). Also the drummer/singer had a really sparse kit. One snare, Bass, Hat/crash and a couple of small roto toms which played a heavy part in the songs. The guitarist was armed with a couple of cowbells and another tom in addition to his guitar. This let them go a bit crazy with percussion sections in their tunes and there were moments of LCD Soundsystem in there for me (though that may have been the beechams) as well as a more distinct sound they could call their own.

As a unit they were really tight, great backing vocals and really use what they've got to the maximum potential. This doesn't mean firing on all cylinders throughout the set. They use clever arrangements, breakdowns and write disco tunes rather than being a tired indie band playing at it for a new angle.

Falsetto vocals, thumping 4 to the floor drums and tongue in cheek belters are the order of the day for Glass Shark. 'Toni Collette' was one of my personal highlights. Be sure to see them live as the myspace doesn't necessarily do them justice. If you want the full experience be sure to take masses of sudafed, beechams, zinc suppliments and dyorlyte when attending.

The showcase at the studio went really well. It's a great place. There's several studios dotted around the residential streets of the area. The one I put the band in is known as the Cottage. As it has a lounge reminiscent of my nan's attached and a little patio area outside. It was a lovely day so met the band outside with manage and crew (engineer and roadie). Was great to sit in the sun and talk about the various festivals they're involved in an such. Chewed the fat, discussed the set they were going to play then headed back to the office to prepare to take the label head over there.

Whilst at the office I think I was probably more nervous than the band were as I really want them to do well. I was seriously full of cold and everything that came out of my mouth that wasn't a sneeze, was some nonsensical faux muso comment that just made me look like a tit infront of the boss. Damn. Have had several cringeworth recollections of that day since.

They hammered through the set and really blew all in attendance away. Plus they really showed the depth of their material which is important. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of them. Leaving the studio a colleague and I agreed that we've probably got one of the more fun jobs out there.

Think I might head back home as I feel like something has hatched in my head.

Hope all is well with you.

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Critics Fear Collider Could Doom Earth - AOL News

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:07:05 -0700

Critics Fear Collider Could Doom Earth - AOL News

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/critics-...

i can haz apocalypse?

so apparently, the peaceful swedish people have created this giant contraption called the "collider" (hey, don't they have colliders at smoothie king?), made up of 17 miles worth of magnets. the machine is an atom-smasher that will hopefully reveal dark matter and alternate universes. critics fear that it will create mini-black holes, which are still powerful enough to royally fuck up our planet, if not swallow it whole.

stephen hawking says that the black holes will travel faster than the speed of light, and will pass right through earth, if they occur at all. hey, if the robot says we're okay, i think we'll be okay! no really, stephen hawking is super smart and talks like a robot.

and it's switzerland. they're peaceful. why would they destroy earth?

critics say there is a one in 50 million chance that the collider will cause a global catastrophe - the odds of which are similar to that of some lotteries. global catastrophe = one trailer park family. so essentially, the odds are one trailer park family winning the lottery that the earth will get swallowed by a black hole.

science. science has sooo many directions. so many answers to one question. just because one group of scientists believe one thing, it doesn't mean that it's true. i mean, basically it all boils down to what you believe, right? what evidence convinces you? you have 3 groups of scientists in front of you. each one has their own theory on why dinosaurs went extinct. each group has evidence to back their claim and a very compelling argument. but what it all comes down to, is you.

so here we have this giant atom-smashing machine with 17 miles of hyper-cooled magnets that sub-atomic particles and protons and what have you are going to pass through and create a collision - one that, according to some scientists, has been occurring since the dawn of time and the earth has been just fine. according to other scientists, the resulting energy will be akin to cosmic rays bombarding the earth, which, as they say, is very bad. one group says that the miniature black holes that could be created could either get stuck in our earth's insides, causing magnetic issues (previously..on LOST!) and eventually leading to our demise in various ways, or the black hole could swallow the earth up (where would we go? could we live through that? anyone? bueller? bueller?)...other guys say that the black hole would travel too quickly - the speed of light or faster - and would pass right through us, that is, if it even occurred at all.

testing begins in august, but it will take several more months before the collider is fully functional. after that, they would run it each year to gather more information.

sooo...what do you think? do you think we're in trouble? or do you think we're okay? do you even care?

discuss.

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shark week.

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:03:20 -0700

apparently the period gods were quite angry with my questioning of their intentions because it's officially shark week. i vow to never question them again.

favre got what i am assuming is his last check from the job he was laid off of last week - 577 bucks. his normal bi-weekly pay was a little over 900 bucks. this check is MIGHTY short. even if this check is actually for the last week and a half that he worked, he had overtime from being on call (and lots of it), and he still has a week of vacation pay to be compensated for. this is fucking bullshit. he has 688 bucks in his account - just enough to pay rent, and leave him broke. i have 450 bucks. 200 of that is supposed to go to my parents for my car payment (actually, it's usually 300, which also covers my insurance), but now i don't think i can give it to them this month.

fav found out last night that his unemployment is going to pay out a total of 5990.00. he puts in for his payments every three weeks, and gets 318 bucks a week - making the tri-weekly payments 900 dollars. 1200 a month! i told him to lie when he starts working in the next week, and tell them that he's working part time. they don't ask where you work - just the hours per week. he can put 20 per week down, and they will pay him slightly less than the 318 per week, but it's still extra money we can put to good use. he files for his first payment on the 2nd (next wednesday). it then takes about a week for him to get his unemployment visa debit card with his first payment on it. he should get about 550-600 bucks on that first payment. sadly, we won't see that until the second week of july.

we really need money, like, yesterday. say hello to all those packages of ramen noodles i've been stock piling in the pantry. every time i go to the store, i buy 6 packages of ramen. this equals out to about a dollar. i buy it and put it in the pantry, and we never eat it. situations like this are exactly why i buy all that ramen. because we're going to hit a speed bump at some point, and i don't need an extra expenditure, like food, to worry about. we'll only be in the hole for a week or so, which is great, because i hate eating ramen for more than a week. i get sick of it pretty quick. after that, it might take a couple of weeks to get back to where we need to be.

if you guys want to donate to the cause - send me your love and ramen and any change you find in your couch cushions! it's greatly appreciated!

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Glasto n that.

nobody@vox.com(Indieboy) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:51:54 -0700

So everyone is Glastonbury-ing.

There's is a lot of really really good stuff this year, but none of it on the main stages which I think is better in a way.

It's interesting to see the difference in ticket buying behaviour this year. After last years' crap sound, crap weather and crap provisions for punters the Dunkirk spirit was replaced by miserable soggy crowds and many leaving early. I stuck it out and left on the last day to face the 11 hour drive home. All a bit crazy really. My highlight that year was seeing Fionn Regan. But overall didn't really like it.

Other than those who have work commitments, I don't know anyone who went last year who's going this year. Many are heading for other UK or European festivals. Which is sad as Glastonbury had become an institution.

Anyway, enough whinging. There's plenty going on which is worth comment.

The Chapman Family are playing for one thing and they are truly great. To date, I've found what they've had recorded a bit lacklustre, but only because I don't think they've been with the right production team to translate what they achieve live into record. I was talking to Kingsley a couple of weeks back and he mentioned the difficulty they'd had getting the sound they wanted. It seems he really likes the chaotic noise elements you'll get from the likes of Sonic Youth and such but wants enough control over it for the music to be accessable rather than too art rock/avent garde. I wouldn't know which tracks to recommend as I keep hearing different versions of everything so just get yourselves to the BBC introducing stage.

Mumford and Sons seem to be playing all over the damn place, good thing too. Their day job is as Laura Marlin's backing band but they have struck out and gone it alone with their M&S project. I saw them a month or two ago and really liked the stripped back, rootsy folk sound they play around with. The strength of their songs rely almost entirely on melody and strong lyrics rather than overly elaborate arrangements, which they could do as they're all fantastic musicians. On record their sound is a little more rounded and deep with lush vocal overdubs and a lot of subtle but

The Fox Cubs, remember them?!? One of our first submission on the Vox platform and how far they've come since then. It seems like only yesterday the were sleeping on my lounge floor surrounded by beer bottles n such after playing an End of Camden night. Really matured as a band and everything about them is very slick as regards presentation. Their newly recorded stuff out of Dave Eringa's studio has really nailed their sound and I'm envious of everyone who will see them today. I think they will come accross really well. I certainly hope some of my colleagues from Columbia or RCA will be there.

There's plenty more but I'm in danger of waffling too much.

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things.

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 06:59:03 -0700

LOATHE

that psycho girl i replaced at work, that i hung out with a few times and hitched a ride to austin with? yeah, so on her LJ (which she has no idea i read) she posts about me, saying that my boyfriend is an "anti-social loser that dictates" my life. wtf? my boyfriend is FAR from controlling. anti-social? for the most part. loser? no way. just because i don't like going out and wasting money on gas and overpriced activities in favor of staying home with cheaper alternatives and avoiding driving home completely plastered, putting myself and more importantly, others, in danger, does not mean that i will only hang out if my boyfriend is involved. obviously, she did not get to know me very well because any of my other friends will tell you that everything this psychotic bitch is saying is fucking false. she FAILS at life. why am i getting so defensive? i think part of it is because i have been in controlling relationships (teenagers are dumb, what can i say?), and i couldn't go anywhere without my boyfriends, and they were anti-social losers. there's a reason i've been with favre for 4 years. he's awesome and he rocks my fucking socks. fuck off, psycho-twat. might i also add that this girl thinks ouija boards are real and that she can communicate with the dead. she takes zoloft, xanax, sleeping meds, anti-seizure/bi-polar meds, wellbutrin, and pain pills. yeah. and she supposedly has prescriptions for all of them. her therapist wants to lock her up in a mental hospital. i say go for it.
dear period: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? i ended my pill cycle on saturday. it is now thursday. please explain why you haven't so much as given a hint of your existence? DO TELL.
my tattoo is peeling. dead gray skin clumps. yuck. and not attractive.
spaghettios. my sister was eating some last night. it's like watered down ketchup with noodles in it. ketchup should not be warm. unless you put it on a burger and the burger makes it warm. but that's okay, because it belongs there.
being sort of broke. we've been spoiled lately, and now to go back to being tight with our money SUCKS.

LOVE

smelliott might be coming this weekend! this coworker of his is coming down here to visit friends just north of us, and mentioned that it's very likely smelliott could hitch a ride with him. i've offered 40 bucks for gas. *keeping my fingers crossed*
shear genius on bravo. the hosts are great - jaclyn smith, kim vo (made britney spears have normal hair again, gay ken doll), and rene fris (what fucking country is this guy from? his accent is so hard to read. i think he took the christopher walken conversational english class. lolz.) i looooove daniel (he's from dallas, uses lots of hairspray, and is super gay), gail (awesome hair cut, cute as a button), charlie (the bitchy one), and nicole (reminds me of that older lady that almost won last year - tabatha). last night they made the stylists cut hair BLIND FOLDED. and who's the new bitchy judge from allure magazine? what happened to sally "I GAVE MEG RYAN HER SIGNATURE HAIR!" hershberger????
my tattoo.
my boyfriend who is not an anti-social loser dictator.
my sister staying with me for a couple of days - she can EAT when she's stoned. example: last night she ate spaghettios, little chicken nugget things, two sausage biscuits, and a pot pie. she might have eaten more when i went to bed. i can't be sure. ah, the days of smoking pot.

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Take Your Dog to Work Day

nobody@vox.com(Team Vox) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:25:07 -0700

Although almost every day at Six Apart is Take Your Dog to Work Day, Friday was extra special because it was the official Take Your Dog to Work Day! Plus, as lovers of blogs and animals, we think it's great that active blogger and Human Society's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, thinks having dogs around the office is a good reminder of "who we're working for."

We realize some people have it ruff and aren't lucky enough to be able to bring their dog to work, but hopefully these pictures taken at Six Apart last Friday will get your tails wagging... And let me tell you, it's harder than it looks to get all the doggies and their fetching owners in one picture.

(L to R) Ben and Maddy, Staci and Jax, Sergeja and Sushi, Steve and Rudy:

6adogs

And Penelope Trott took Rudy for a quick spin in her wagon while Mom and Dad were hard at work

Penelope and Rudy

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office ignorance/bigotry.

nobody@vox.com(ruiner.) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:46:09 -0700

so today i'm watching access hollywood during lunch. there's nothing decent on at that time, and i like gossip, sue me.

at one point, they're discussing portia de rossi and ellen degeneres' upcoming wedding. barbara (evil boss lady that singled me out and told me i couldn't smoke, etc.) walks by and says, and i quote, "oh yeah, that's such a great example for our children". and yes, she was being sarcastic.

this woman is a VIOLENT republican, as are the rest of the people i work with. it's sort of ridiculous. i'm just about terrified of commenting on anything they say. i'm mortified that one day they'll ask my opinion on something, which is why i've made it a point to keep my mouth shut. i don't think that personal opinions on religion, race, sex, sexual preference, and/or politics should be discussed in a work environment....at least not in one like this. now, if your job demands that you discuss these things for the sake of your paycheck, then sure. or if you have that sort of relaxed environment filled with liberals that want to fight the man, then go for it.

and i especially don't want to bring further discrimination upon myself at work just because i believe different things.

what barbara said today really upset me. i'm not gay, and she's damn lucky i'm not because i'd bring a lawsuit down on her ass so fucking quick (speaking of which, i've been posting on a law forum to get legal advice about all the bullshit they've done thus far, including refusal to pay for the overtime i work)...but even though i'm not gay, it still pissed me off when she said what she did. i think gay marriage is a fantastic example to show our children. showing them that freedom and justice are still alive and well. showing kids that are terrified of coming out that it's okay. i think these are great things. i think we should teach children to be free, always, and accepting, above all.

i'm just feeling really alone in this office. all the anti-gay remarks, the "bomb all the brown people" talk, etc. yes, because what they're saying is so much better to teach our children: prejudice, racism, violence, elitism, sexism. these are better?

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