All dogs go to.. the Neptune?

Ok so anyone who knows me knows that i am not a fan of animals. There i said it. It's more specific than animals as a whole however there are specific reasons that animals freak me out. I don't like anything that can lick it's ass and then lick my face. I have a problem with cats and their poop feet, yes, poop feet. Would you be happy if i came to your home and used the bathroom only to put my feet in the toilet and then walk around? No it's disgusting and yet it's fine for cats to do it 3, 4 even more times a day? GROSS! And then the famous line that most all pet owners have used at one time or another " you know, their tongues are cleaner than yours" Oh really? Whens the last time I sat in the middle of your living room floor licking my own genitals? I don't care if my tongue is made out of purell it's gross. So imagine my surprise well disgust really when last night two women walk into the restaurant where I am holding very furry very yippy dog. When the waitress went to seat them in my section i was going to say something however the owner realized her precious pooch shouldn't be seated so close to the infant at the next table. Now i am against dogs in public place at all. Ok i'm a horrible person whatever I HAVE ALLERGIES!!! When i come home to my parents house i have to pry my eyes open each morning because my body has been rejecting the rouge hairs and dander bits all night. When my brothers dog touches me within minutes my skin is red, puffy and feels like i've been romping around in a fiberglass sleeping bag. So when i go to have a meal or a beer I want an animal free zone. I'm not heartless no one has ever had success with a seeing eye turtle it's ok for medical necessity but seriously. An effing high chair for your dog?

This dog has its own plate full of finely chopped food and its own glass of water. I really hope that the dish washing crew at the Neptune does a top notch job on these dirty dishes. I'm sorry if i've upset any of my animal loving friends but a dog in a high chair is just too much for me to deal with. I'm not saying i will never own a dog but i'll certainly never take it into a restaurant.

Down and out

Almost everyone i know has a change jug that sits in some out of the way yet visible spot in thier home. This is the catchall for our jingle jangles at the end of the day. It's nice to look at this jug or jugs if you like to separate silver from pennies as i do. It's nice to watch the fill line slowly move to the top. Well mine has never made it to the top. Since my recent split i have found myself more broke than I've ever been. I've been taking back bottles and emptying magic hat growlers that have collected spare change for months and months. Down and out, waiting for payday one of my friends asked for my assistance to gather change, bottles and cans. Of course i said yes because such an event needs the company of somoen who would never judge you. And so we began our sweet Saturday adventure. Now we all know that even though the money from the change jug and the deposit on cans is rightfully ours there is a certain feeling that comes over you as you transfer the soon to be recycled goods from your vehicle to the cart and then into the store. Standing at the coinstar machine while everyone check out of the lines behind you can make you feel like you are on display. Pouring your change into the coinstar it is in hopes that you will too soon be checking out with various food items. Returning bottles and cans is also an adventure. No matter how much one may try to pre clean them the cans end up being sticky, smelly and germ filled. The bins get full, they don't take food club mountain dew and reaching to the bottom of the back is an at your own risk adventure. This being said what could make the event of returning bottles or filling the coin star even better? This... this is what can make it better:


This jug basically blew up the second it made contact with the cart. There were pennies rolling everywhere. The copper combined with the glass shards made the mess we had to pick up delightfully shiny in the sun. Not to mention the possible hep C we contracted as we got a number of glass splinters while we picked up what ended up being over $35.00 yes mostly pennies. Just another top notch day in the life of a 29 year old struggling to get by i guess.

amazing

I recently had a going away party at my parents house in Norwich. it was a day filled with laughs, hugs, and a few falls all of course had in good fun. It was so comforting to know that as I embark on this adventure there are so many people so willing to wish me luck.


I received a number of cards wishing me good luck.
One was so touching that i have to share it. Everyone knows that i have been having a rough past few weeks. The following words will aid me on each and every adventure i take for the rest of my life. Thank you so much.

there are those that live safe, comfortable in their secluded corners. Others burn too brightly, ache too deeply, imagine too richly to stand still. We are blessed and cursed to be among the latter. We are compelled to explore. To search life out wherever it may hide. The blue sky is too large, the stars to haunting not to.
Life is hard. it is also soul crushingly beautiful. It is better to be vulnerable, to allow ourselves love - whether another person or a moment - than to live unharmed. Heartache is a testament of a life live passionately.
Is there any other way to live?
Stay beautiful and continue to love.
... Burn
.......Explore
..........Live

Thank you I will!

No more bread

So i'm going through a break up right now. Well, the break up itself is over now i'm just going through the mourning period. I went to bed one night believing my life was set with this woman and i woke up the next day to find her plan was different. This was a woman who promised me love, babies and of course homemade bread. While she blamed the separation on me i know that something else happened in her life to make her change her mind. I may not ever really know who or what. I've never had this feeling of constant nausea before and i've been to festivals with thousands of smelly "hippies". At least I have Price Chopper to provide me with babies and bread or breadbabies rather.


Thanks Price Chopper for pasting this creeptastic picture on the back of a delivery truck. I would have loved to be a part of this crackpot team of marketers. Dbag #1" ok so i'm thinking we have to make people want to love our bread" Dbag #2 " Yeah yeah well people love babies" Dbag#3 " What about a woman walking through the store with a loaf of our delicious bread in a baby carrier" dbag #1 " no no that doesn't get to the hear of our customers" silence.................................................................................................................................................................
Dbag #2 " I got it lets have a woman snuggling a loaf of bread like it is a baby"
YES!!! I'm just glad they didn't show this woman and her family enjoying this bread baby warmed up with some melting butter. This makes me want to never shop and the chop again.

It's like Cheers with Caramel Drizzle

When i first began working at Starbucks a little under a year ago i never thought that it would be so difficult to punch out for the last time. I just finished my last shift and i am genuinely sad. Not sad like last campfire sad. Not sad like the last summer drive through the back woods of Chenango county sad. Just sad. The goal of the Starbucks corporation is to create a third home environment. Our customers have home (1st home) work (2nd home) and of course our cafe (third home). Starbucks has been 2 of home homes for the majority of the last year. Working with different people and interacting with customers helped me to learn about myself and the kind of woman i am evolving to be. My knowledge of Starbucks when i first started working was very little. It was the place where I spent many hours avoiding my crazy housemate (not Sarah I enjoyed living with Sarah) when i lived in Seattle. I would scrounge together enough change to order an iced tea in the morning and sit there to read for hours and hours. Over the past year i have learned:
1) Don't take money from a customer if it is brown, greasy or smells. It's probably covered in poop.
2) There is always more that can be recycled. Thus making me a great homeless person.
3) Opening shifts are a great time to sip coffee and have heart to heart talks
4) Knock Knock jokes are funny at any age
5) Some people are just assholes plain and simple the benefit of the doubt will only be more frustrating.
6) The sanitizer is not a dishwasher. It does not use soap!!!
The most important thing that i learned however is that I matter. It is hard to be 28, well 29 now and be in college still. It is a challenge to be stuck in between midnight pizza runs and finding a career. Many of my friends are getting married and having children and i'm filling out FASFA forms. We get wrapped up in whats going on in our immediate lives and it's hard to connect or reconnect with the people in our periphery.I know that i sometimes go months without talking to the people that really matter to me, just because. Once it has been a while it can be challenging to find the courage to just call someone up, or email or for fucks sake facebook. Sometimes the people that needed me the most the last year never once asked me for anything, not even a splash stick. While I am making sure her triple grande non fat extra dry cappuccino is just right one of my closest friends was diagnosed with MS and i didn't even know it. While i made countless samples of gingerbread lattes my aunt died of cancer. Because of my job at Starbucks i have missed weddings, funerals, births and just some relaxing time with friends and family. When i think about all that i have missed over the last year I feel bitter. The sweetness comes in when i think about the people who rely on me to start their day each and every day. I am about to embark on a life changing journey across the world with the woman i like and love most. This summer I felt completely neglected because I wasn't able to steal as much of her attention as I had grown used to. What i failed to recognize until this moment however is that the girls at her camp and the other staff needed her. They relied on her each and every day. I get to spend the rest of my life relying on her. I can't tell you the amount of time I have spent feeling so lonely i could puke yet even the most obnoxious customers needed me or made me feel that way anyway. I mean what would cracky green tea latte do without her extra 5 scoops of Matcha, well she might have a regular heartbeat for one, but you know what i mean. Starbucks taught me that there is a delicate balance between knowing what you need from the people around ( and sometimes thousands of miles from you) you and what they need from you. The people who need you the most aren't always the ones jumping around in front of you singing "i need more chai, less foam, more soy, less ice..........." it might be the friend you've lost touch with. The relative who just lost a loved one. It could be me spending my first Christmas away from mom, dad and nick. The moral of my Starbucks experience is don't take things at face value. Look deeper, explore and find what it is that you really like and love about people, the world and of course your coffee.