Super Bowl
Can you believe they actually show the Super Bowl here? But get this... can you believe they show it without the commercials?!?!?
We had a bunch of people over to the house (about half were Americans, the other half required constant explanations) to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. Kick-off wasn't until 11:30 PM though. So the only people around were the ones really dedicated to a good party. And the game ended at 3:30. Transportation is pretty much closed around 12:30. So several of the people who came live in a house nearby and were able to walk home. Everyone else stayed the night.
As for the game, I was surprised how entertaining the game could be without the commercials. It was a GREAT game to watch. I don't remember a Super Bowl game ever being that close. I seemed to be the only one in the group supporting the Steelers (no particular reason). So it caused a good bit of banter once the Cardinals took the lead, and again when they lost it.
We watched it typical Super Bowl style. We had snacks and drinks out the wazoo. I was so overdosed on sugar afterwards. I almost threw up the next morning.
It also started snowing pretty hard late in the evening. I got caught in it in my last couple of minutes of walking back home. And it didn't stop. And this leads into my next section...
Snow Day!
We woke up the next morning to mass amounts of snow outside! I actually got up for work like normal. I was just about to leave for work when one of my flatmates said he wasn't going into work bc all the transportation's shut down. We turned on the news and sure enough, everything seemed to have shut down. I called up my work since it should've been open 15 min by then, and no one answered. So I just figured it'd be an expected snow day!
So what do you do when you're in a house full of 11 ysa-aged kids and there's loads of snow outside? We all went outside and had a massive snowball fight! Nevermind that we were all dead tired from staying up late watching the game. The excitement overtook the sleepiness, and we got each other drenched in snow. And some of the lesser competitive ones even built a snowman. How have I lived in Alabama for so long without snow?! A couple hours later... yes, a couple hours later, we went back inside and mellowed out as our coats and shoes were hanging up to dry.
About that time I glanced at my phone and noticed a miscall. It was my manager from Snappy Snaps asking where I was. Crap! So I called him up and explained my assumption. He was fine with it, but he wanted me to come in around 4:00, so I could help close up at 7:00. Kind of ruined my snow day a little bit. I took a bit of a nap and went into work at 4:00. I only worked an hour before the mgr decided to close up bc the weather was getting worse. He drove me home in his jeep, which was nice. But I still would've prefered a full day off. :) Papa John's was closed all day. They're just not as motivated to make money as my SS's mgr.
I was so excited to come back home early to everyone, but half the people had left. And the rest were too tired to do anything, and no one felt like watching yet another movie. So we just kind of moped around all evening being bored. We made a few attempts at playing some games, though nothing seemed to really pick up too well. Oh well. At least the morning was awesome!
Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Friday, 9 January 2009
Jack of All Trades
I forget to update my blog unless someone reminds me. Thanks, Mom. :)
Between my 2 jobs I usually tend to work 13-hour days. After a week though my body has gotten used to the routine. And I get Thursdays and Sundays off of both.
Papa John's has stayed pretty much the same. I'm still answering phones and cutting the pizzas. I meet some interesting folks of all nationalities and accents. And I get orders from a lot more Americans than I would have expected. Some nights about half of the people who call in are American.
Business at Snappy Snaps has really calmed down since the holiday season. Things were CRAZY then, and it was an awful time to be trained. In fact, I never really was trained. I was just thrown into the deep end and told to swim. But I've got most of the basics down and it's a lot easier since the business has slowed down as well, though it can still get pretty hectic at times.
This past week, since it's been a bit slower, Simon (the owner) has had me doing all kinds of weird projects around the place to keep it in shape. The sink in the kitchen downstairs had a leak. He told me to go fix it. I went down, found the leak coming from a part of the pipe under the sink. I took it apart, went to a Home Depot-type store and found a replacement part, and put it back together again. Of course it wasn't that simple. It took most of the day, and I was in all kinds of awkward positions trying to keep my black clothes as clean as possible (basically impossible), and problems kept arising here and there. But in the end it was perfectly fixed. Hooray! *pats self on back*
A few days ago, he had a couple of us going into the back of a closet-type area to find any documents older than 5 years old to be burned. They were all bundled up in garbage bags by year. First of all I never even knew this closet was there. Second, it's set up to look like a small closet, but as I kept digging through the bags it's actually a giant room underneath the pavement without any real floor, wall, or ceiling. I felt like I was spelunking. I found old bags from 20 years ago covered in bits of mud. When Simon came down to check on us, he saw how far back we had gotten and said not to worry about going that far back. I thought the job was annoying but when I saw how far back the room goes, I got really excited about going through all that stuff. Disappointment. And of course by this time my hands were completely dirty as were my once clean black clothes.
The past couple days he's had me cleaning the ceiling in the shop, focusing on the areas where the fluorescent light bulbs are fixed in. With a ladder, a bleach spray bottle, and paper towels I've been going at it. I didn't realize how dirty it all was until I started cleaning it. It's come to a whole new level of brightness. Half the room is a lot brighter than the other half now. It's a long work in progress.
Yesterday, he had me go up into the ceiling to find some cords we don't need anymore and pull them down. It took a while and involved me popping my head into a few different places within the ceiling, but I eventually got the job done. And of course I'm having to wash my black clothes once again. At one point, Simon got up on another ladder to help me. He was on the other side of a big ventilation tube thing so we couldn't see each other. He found one end of the cord and wanted me to pull it down my side. To make it easier he threw the plug over in my direction hitting me square in the eye (not small enough to actually hit my eyeball though - don't worry). It left a small mark on my nose. Didn't really hurt, I was laughing about how accurate his blind aim was. But he bought me lunch, probably bc he doesn't want me to sue. :)
So I'm learning quite a bit working at Snappy Snaps, and not just about developing pictures. And I finally got my first paycheck yesterday, so that makes it a lot more rewarding. :)
And now I'm off to Primark to spend Christmas money!
Between my 2 jobs I usually tend to work 13-hour days. After a week though my body has gotten used to the routine. And I get Thursdays and Sundays off of both.
Papa John's has stayed pretty much the same. I'm still answering phones and cutting the pizzas. I meet some interesting folks of all nationalities and accents. And I get orders from a lot more Americans than I would have expected. Some nights about half of the people who call in are American.
Business at Snappy Snaps has really calmed down since the holiday season. Things were CRAZY then, and it was an awful time to be trained. In fact, I never really was trained. I was just thrown into the deep end and told to swim. But I've got most of the basics down and it's a lot easier since the business has slowed down as well, though it can still get pretty hectic at times.
This past week, since it's been a bit slower, Simon (the owner) has had me doing all kinds of weird projects around the place to keep it in shape. The sink in the kitchen downstairs had a leak. He told me to go fix it. I went down, found the leak coming from a part of the pipe under the sink. I took it apart, went to a Home Depot-type store and found a replacement part, and put it back together again. Of course it wasn't that simple. It took most of the day, and I was in all kinds of awkward positions trying to keep my black clothes as clean as possible (basically impossible), and problems kept arising here and there. But in the end it was perfectly fixed. Hooray! *pats self on back*
A few days ago, he had a couple of us going into the back of a closet-type area to find any documents older than 5 years old to be burned. They were all bundled up in garbage bags by year. First of all I never even knew this closet was there. Second, it's set up to look like a small closet, but as I kept digging through the bags it's actually a giant room underneath the pavement without any real floor, wall, or ceiling. I felt like I was spelunking. I found old bags from 20 years ago covered in bits of mud. When Simon came down to check on us, he saw how far back we had gotten and said not to worry about going that far back. I thought the job was annoying but when I saw how far back the room goes, I got really excited about going through all that stuff. Disappointment. And of course by this time my hands were completely dirty as were my once clean black clothes.
The past couple days he's had me cleaning the ceiling in the shop, focusing on the areas where the fluorescent light bulbs are fixed in. With a ladder, a bleach spray bottle, and paper towels I've been going at it. I didn't realize how dirty it all was until I started cleaning it. It's come to a whole new level of brightness. Half the room is a lot brighter than the other half now. It's a long work in progress.
Yesterday, he had me go up into the ceiling to find some cords we don't need anymore and pull them down. It took a while and involved me popping my head into a few different places within the ceiling, but I eventually got the job done. And of course I'm having to wash my black clothes once again. At one point, Simon got up on another ladder to help me. He was on the other side of a big ventilation tube thing so we couldn't see each other. He found one end of the cord and wanted me to pull it down my side. To make it easier he threw the plug over in my direction hitting me square in the eye (not small enough to actually hit my eyeball though - don't worry). It left a small mark on my nose. Didn't really hurt, I was laughing about how accurate his blind aim was. But he bought me lunch, probably bc he doesn't want me to sue. :)
So I'm learning quite a bit working at Snappy Snaps, and not just about developing pictures. And I finally got my first paycheck yesterday, so that makes it a lot more rewarding. :)
And now I'm off to Primark to spend Christmas money!
Thursday, 1 January 2009
New Years Eve!
This will be a hard NYEve to top. It was wonderful.
I had to work all day and didn't get off work at PJ's until 10:00. We were well busy too, so I didn't actually leave until 10:15. We closed at 10:00, but it took that long to clean up everything. I'm usually right out at the time I'm scheduled to leave. I had to run back home and change before heading toward the church where there was a YSA dance going on. I finally got there about 11:30, and the place was PACKED! I could barely get through the door. As I was barely past the front door I saw one of my friends who was leaving with some others to go to Big Ben, and she dragged me along too.
The tube was packed was it was full of very happy people (most were probably drunk). One guy was actually passed out on the escalator of all places. They had to stop the escalator and his friends could barely lift him - he was a big guy.
We finally made it to Westminster Abbey and Parliament where there were LOADS of people. But we squeezed our way into a spot with a great view of Big Ben. And when the clock struck midnight we were all there to witness it. Everyone was cheering and I got champagne sprayed on me. We hung around the area for about 15 minutes cheering and dancing around with all the drunk people our own age. As with a lot of things this trip, it felt quite surreal realizing I was enjoying New Years Eve in London, in front of Big Ben. Never would've expected that a year ago!
Heading back to the dance was a difficult issue. Most of the tube stations close to the area were closed. So we had to walk a long way amongst massive crowds of people to get to a working tube station. At times it became quite difficult. One area was like a giant whirlpool of people going different directions. You couldn't move on your own. You could basically left your legs and everyone around you would be holding you up dragging you with the current. The hard part was finding the current that was going your direction. That was only about 10 min though. Most of the time there was enough free space.
We got back to the dance right after it had ended. And the crowds leaving the church were about the same as the masses of people in the streets. It was hard going the opposite direction of everyone else. Stayed and helped clean up a little bit before heading back home. Hung out at home eating and chatting for a while. I think we ended up finally going to bed around 6:30-ish.
Fun New Years! :)
I had to work all day and didn't get off work at PJ's until 10:00. We were well busy too, so I didn't actually leave until 10:15. We closed at 10:00, but it took that long to clean up everything. I'm usually right out at the time I'm scheduled to leave. I had to run back home and change before heading toward the church where there was a YSA dance going on. I finally got there about 11:30, and the place was PACKED! I could barely get through the door. As I was barely past the front door I saw one of my friends who was leaving with some others to go to Big Ben, and she dragged me along too.
The tube was packed was it was full of very happy people (most were probably drunk). One guy was actually passed out on the escalator of all places. They had to stop the escalator and his friends could barely lift him - he was a big guy.
We finally made it to Westminster Abbey and Parliament where there were LOADS of people. But we squeezed our way into a spot with a great view of Big Ben. And when the clock struck midnight we were all there to witness it. Everyone was cheering and I got champagne sprayed on me. We hung around the area for about 15 minutes cheering and dancing around with all the drunk people our own age. As with a lot of things this trip, it felt quite surreal realizing I was enjoying New Years Eve in London, in front of Big Ben. Never would've expected that a year ago!
Heading back to the dance was a difficult issue. Most of the tube stations close to the area were closed. So we had to walk a long way amongst massive crowds of people to get to a working tube station. At times it became quite difficult. One area was like a giant whirlpool of people going different directions. You couldn't move on your own. You could basically left your legs and everyone around you would be holding you up dragging you with the current. The hard part was finding the current that was going your direction. That was only about 10 min though. Most of the time there was enough free space.
We got back to the dance right after it had ended. And the crowds leaving the church were about the same as the masses of people in the streets. It was hard going the opposite direction of everyone else. Stayed and helped clean up a little bit before heading back home. Hung out at home eating and chatting for a while. I think we ended up finally going to bed around 6:30-ish.
Fun New Years! :)
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Christmas Time in London Town
So I suppose y'all would like to know about my Christmas here, eh? Well, it was basically like a week's worth of Christmas.
Most of the singles had left to go back home for Christmas. And since we were fewer in numbers last Sunday we even just had a combined EQ/RS class. After that we were all invited to one guy's flat for dinner. We filled the room but it wasn't overfilled. Played games, ate food, etc.
Tuesday night was another dinner put on by a couple singles living together. It was a good ol' traditional English Christmas dinner, complete with Yorkshire pudding and for dessert was a delicious trifle. Afterwards we played Dirty Santa and other games. As we were leaving the hostess of the party handed out wrapped presents to everyone. She even gave me a couple extra bc she knew I would be having people over for Christmas day.
I had invited anyone who was sticking around to come and stay at my place for Christmas. In my house for 7, I was the only one staying. And the entire transportation system was completely shut down on Christmas Day. So I invited people to come over Christmas Eve and leave the day after Christmas Day (Boxing Day). After I got off work at PJ's on Christmas Eve, I headed home to meet a couple of the girls who would be staying at the house with me. I was expecting a much bigger number, but those were the only ones that came. Everyone else seemed to be sick. We really wanted to go see a Midnight Mass, but since the transportation was to be shut down after midnight the only way to get home would be by taxi - which would be charging a premium. So we decided to just be lazy and watch one on tv. :) We all seemed to get really sleepy really early (shows how interesting the service was), so we were all in bed by 1:00 (separate beds). ;)
We woke up Christmas morning and opened the presents that the girl had given me the other night. If it wasn't for her we all wouldn't have had anything to open on Christmas morning! Except me - I got my soap-on-a-rope. :) But it was really nice of her to do that. It was a stocking filled with random treats in it. And it had a nice little Christmas message from Pres. Monson on a card. There are some generous/creative people in this world! The other day, one of the girls and I had gone to a grocery store to gather up loads of food for Christmas. We planned for a lot more, so we had plenty of leftovers. She was really into the whole feast idea. I was fine with microwavable pizzas, personally. Some people are just more ambitious. But between her and the other girl we had a wonderful meal! And that morning we were joined by another guy in the ward who has a car. So the 4 of us sat down to a great Christmas meal of turkey, lasagna, vegetables, gravy, and sparkling cider (more or less). We had some good plans for the rest of the day - going to a park, going to a church service (since we had access to a car now), going for a walk, etc. None of that happened. We all got way lazy - especially since it gets dark around 3:30 - and we sat and watched tv the entire afternoon/evening. It was wonderful! :) I think we ended up watching 3 movies in all. And among all 4 of us were an American, a South African, an Australian, and an Italian. Not even one Brit in there. How ironic. But it was a wonderful Christmas, and I got to spend it with some really great people.
The next day was Boxing Day. To me it seemed to be identical to our day after Thanksgiving. It was the huge shopping day of the year when everything goes on sale. Most businesses are still closed. And from what one girl told me, it's usually tradition to go on walks that day. I spent the whole day working on a talk. Snappy Snaps was closed but I did go to work at Papa John's in the evening. We were so slow though that they let me go home after just a couple hours. So I at least got my walk in to work and back. :)
Today, since there's still basically no one left in my singles ward, our ward was combined with the family ward in the morning. I think there were about 10, maybe 15, singles there. And I got to be the first speaker followed by the mission pres's wife, then the mission president. It was an interesting situation - I had prepared a rather long talk bc I didn't know what the order of speakers was. While I was speaking I kept my eye on the clock to see how I should narrow it down. I had planned to skip a story and go to an instructional part taken from a general authority talk if time was slim. Well, time was slim but after a moment of hesitation I decided to reverse that idea and share the story instead and just highlight the instructional part. The mission pres's wife got up after me and basically shared the talk that I had gotten that instructional part from. If I had skipped the story like I originally planned, I would've stolen her talk completely. Guess she must've been praying for me not to take her material. :)
Got back after church today with some others - including the ones from Christmas - and cooked up the leftover food we never got around to eating. Communal eating seems to be a very popular thing here!
Most of the singles had left to go back home for Christmas. And since we were fewer in numbers last Sunday we even just had a combined EQ/RS class. After that we were all invited to one guy's flat for dinner. We filled the room but it wasn't overfilled. Played games, ate food, etc.
Tuesday night was another dinner put on by a couple singles living together. It was a good ol' traditional English Christmas dinner, complete with Yorkshire pudding and for dessert was a delicious trifle. Afterwards we played Dirty Santa and other games. As we were leaving the hostess of the party handed out wrapped presents to everyone. She even gave me a couple extra bc she knew I would be having people over for Christmas day.
I had invited anyone who was sticking around to come and stay at my place for Christmas. In my house for 7, I was the only one staying. And the entire transportation system was completely shut down on Christmas Day. So I invited people to come over Christmas Eve and leave the day after Christmas Day (Boxing Day). After I got off work at PJ's on Christmas Eve, I headed home to meet a couple of the girls who would be staying at the house with me. I was expecting a much bigger number, but those were the only ones that came. Everyone else seemed to be sick. We really wanted to go see a Midnight Mass, but since the transportation was to be shut down after midnight the only way to get home would be by taxi - which would be charging a premium. So we decided to just be lazy and watch one on tv. :) We all seemed to get really sleepy really early (shows how interesting the service was), so we were all in bed by 1:00 (separate beds). ;)
We woke up Christmas morning and opened the presents that the girl had given me the other night. If it wasn't for her we all wouldn't have had anything to open on Christmas morning! Except me - I got my soap-on-a-rope. :) But it was really nice of her to do that. It was a stocking filled with random treats in it. And it had a nice little Christmas message from Pres. Monson on a card. There are some generous/creative people in this world! The other day, one of the girls and I had gone to a grocery store to gather up loads of food for Christmas. We planned for a lot more, so we had plenty of leftovers. She was really into the whole feast idea. I was fine with microwavable pizzas, personally. Some people are just more ambitious. But between her and the other girl we had a wonderful meal! And that morning we were joined by another guy in the ward who has a car. So the 4 of us sat down to a great Christmas meal of turkey, lasagna, vegetables, gravy, and sparkling cider (more or less). We had some good plans for the rest of the day - going to a park, going to a church service (since we had access to a car now), going for a walk, etc. None of that happened. We all got way lazy - especially since it gets dark around 3:30 - and we sat and watched tv the entire afternoon/evening. It was wonderful! :) I think we ended up watching 3 movies in all. And among all 4 of us were an American, a South African, an Australian, and an Italian. Not even one Brit in there. How ironic. But it was a wonderful Christmas, and I got to spend it with some really great people.
The next day was Boxing Day. To me it seemed to be identical to our day after Thanksgiving. It was the huge shopping day of the year when everything goes on sale. Most businesses are still closed. And from what one girl told me, it's usually tradition to go on walks that day. I spent the whole day working on a talk. Snappy Snaps was closed but I did go to work at Papa John's in the evening. We were so slow though that they let me go home after just a couple hours. So I at least got my walk in to work and back. :)
Today, since there's still basically no one left in my singles ward, our ward was combined with the family ward in the morning. I think there were about 10, maybe 15, singles there. And I got to be the first speaker followed by the mission pres's wife, then the mission president. It was an interesting situation - I had prepared a rather long talk bc I didn't know what the order of speakers was. While I was speaking I kept my eye on the clock to see how I should narrow it down. I had planned to skip a story and go to an instructional part taken from a general authority talk if time was slim. Well, time was slim but after a moment of hesitation I decided to reverse that idea and share the story instead and just highlight the instructional part. The mission pres's wife got up after me and basically shared the talk that I had gotten that instructional part from. If I had skipped the story like I originally planned, I would've stolen her talk completely. Guess she must've been praying for me not to take her material. :)
Got back after church today with some others - including the ones from Christmas - and cooked up the leftover food we never got around to eating. Communal eating seems to be a very popular thing here!
Thursday, 18 December 2008
Job #2
So I got a second job. It's at a place called Snappy Snaps. They develop film and such. One of my housemates saw a sign posted for "Staff Required".
So I went by and gave them my CV. Hadn't heard anything back for a few days so I gave up on it. But I got an e-mail later from the owner asking if I could come in for an interview. I did and we chatted for a bit, mostly about my availability. He wasn't a fan of my limited time here, but since I was the only one who applied who spoke English he took his chances with me.
So both my jobs I got bc I speak English. Who would've thought that would be such a valuable asset?!
I went in yesterday for a "trial day". It was rough! I had no idea there was so much to know and do at a film developing place!!! I basically knew nothing that was going on - like I had no background knowledge in that field. And people were coming in and calling up asking questions about stuff I have no idea. "Can you copy an A4 onto an A3?" Um... what? So it was like a full day of confusion and anxiety. Not a whole lot of fun. I was relieved when the owner sent me downstairs to cut up a giant pile of Christmas cards that someone had ordered. Just me and a cutter. Loved it.
He talked with me afterwards and asked if I'd be interested in coming on. Um... okay. So I've got a day off today, but I go in Friday to really start. This is going to be stress until I figure out what's going on. But what job isn't?
So now I'll be working that job 9-5, then I'll go straight over to Papa John's and work all evening. PJ's isn't even really work to me anymore. It's really easy to me now. So I might as well keep doing it and get paid... and get pizza.
But now I run the dillemma of working TOO much! Who ever would've thought that would've been my problem?! I'm kind of at a crossroads for what I really want to do now. The one I'm leaning towards right now is that I might just keep going with both through the end of January, then quit both and enjoy my last few weeks in February with free time and money to spend. I hope I can last that long though. This Friday, for example, I'll be working Snappy Snaps 9-5 and PJ's 5:30-12. And I think I do the same thing on Saturday too. Sunday will be WONDERFUL!!!
So I went by and gave them my CV. Hadn't heard anything back for a few days so I gave up on it. But I got an e-mail later from the owner asking if I could come in for an interview. I did and we chatted for a bit, mostly about my availability. He wasn't a fan of my limited time here, but since I was the only one who applied who spoke English he took his chances with me.
So both my jobs I got bc I speak English. Who would've thought that would be such a valuable asset?!
I went in yesterday for a "trial day". It was rough! I had no idea there was so much to know and do at a film developing place!!! I basically knew nothing that was going on - like I had no background knowledge in that field. And people were coming in and calling up asking questions about stuff I have no idea. "Can you copy an A4 onto an A3?" Um... what? So it was like a full day of confusion and anxiety. Not a whole lot of fun. I was relieved when the owner sent me downstairs to cut up a giant pile of Christmas cards that someone had ordered. Just me and a cutter. Loved it.
He talked with me afterwards and asked if I'd be interested in coming on. Um... okay. So I've got a day off today, but I go in Friday to really start. This is going to be stress until I figure out what's going on. But what job isn't?
So now I'll be working that job 9-5, then I'll go straight over to Papa John's and work all evening. PJ's isn't even really work to me anymore. It's really easy to me now. So I might as well keep doing it and get paid... and get pizza.
But now I run the dillemma of working TOO much! Who ever would've thought that would've been my problem?! I'm kind of at a crossroads for what I really want to do now. The one I'm leaning towards right now is that I might just keep going with both through the end of January, then quit both and enjoy my last few weeks in February with free time and money to spend. I hope I can last that long though. This Friday, for example, I'll be working Snappy Snaps 9-5 and PJ's 5:30-12. And I think I do the same thing on Saturday too. Sunday will be WONDERFUL!!!
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