Just FYI

Quick Takes Friday will appear tomorrow. On Monday. Which is so, so wrong. And I feel kinda dirty for it, but I figure it's better than nothing. Especially now that I realize I have a fan (singular) who misses them.

So...stay tuned.

Peace.

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 10)

--1--

I didn't mean to stop doing these 7 quick takes things, but I honestly have just been pressed for time since the holidays. I'm not gonna go into it, because none of it is interesting - it's all the usual like school, work, moving, etc. and I nearly bored myself to sleep just typing that - but I just want you to know I didn't forget about you, my loyal, imaginary fan(s?). (My delusion, it's endearing). And if I ever skip these again or go on a sudden, unannounced blogging hiatus, I promise you there is a very good reason as to why. Usually. And I'll always come back. Eventually.

--2--

I just got down to Florida a couple of days ago, though it feels like more like a week from all the cattle herding they put us through during the check-in process. I got my location assignment - Animal Kingdom Asia Attractions, which will be either Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Flights of Wonder, or Maharajah Jungle Trek. Kinda hoping for one of the first two, but eh, we'll see. I find out tomorrow which one I'll officially be placed at.

Honestly, I had my heart set on Test Track. I knew the odds were slim that I'd just randomly be placed there, but man, is that ever where I wanted to be. But who knows, I might fall in love with wherever I'm put tomorrow. I hope I do.

--3--

I'm living in the newest apartment complexes, which is quite the step up from last time. These weren't even built during my last program, and back then I was in the oldest complex. It wasn't too bad, though. And while these are far nicer (we have a balcony! I LOVE balconies!), the rooms are a good deal smaller, and the closets are about HALF the size. Lame. I had so much extra room in my closet last time that I brought EXTRA clothes this time, and guess what? Now they're all shoved and stored under my bed. Eye roll.

Also, each bedroom (it's a 3-bedroom apartment, and I have 5 roommates) has it's own bathroom in it, as opposed to the place I was in last time where the bathroom wasn't attached and we had to share it with one of the other rooms. But I actually wish the bathroom wasn't in our room, because while the shower and toilet are behind a door, the sink is basically right here in the open and so who ever gets up first can't help but wake the other person up just by turning on the bathroom light and especially when blowdrying her hair. And while I'm normally a very perky morning person, I am only so when I wake up on my terms. If someone disturbs me before I need to be awake, GOD HELP THEM because I will have a conniption in my delirious, half-awake, hulk-like state of mind and kill them with my uglydoll (Babo) who sleeps next to my in lieu of my dog. It's nearly like a split personality thing, because I can hear the sane part of my brain saying, "Calm the hell down, Natalie," but my sane side is no match for my crazy, sleepy-time side which completely takes over. Honestly - I will hurt you. And I really won't care.

--4--

I miss my dog. :'(

--5--

So far, my roommates and I get along pretty well, and while most of them are really nice and I don't have anything bad to say about them, they are falling SPECTACULARLY short of my roommates from my last DCP. I particularly loved 3 of them and miss two of them like crazy (one has since moved down here, and she's who I stayed with the night before I had to check in). They were hilarious, super friendly, and we just clicked in that very special, non-gay way where it's like you feel like you've known each other forever. Plus, they were all such Disney fans, and so I always had someone to go to the parks with.

As for this time, most of the girls are down here just because they needed a job. Not a single one of them has gone to any of the parks yet (save me, of course). One of the girls (who has got a huge attitude problem and is already planning on lying about having asthma so she won't have to work outside shifts in her Merchandise role)(who also skipped our mandatory housing meeting the first night)(and keep in mind that this is her second program too, and she is voluntarily doing it again) saw me putting up my Tomorrowland poster and came in and said:

"Why are you putting a picture up of the spawn of satan?"

"Aw, you don't like Tomorrowland?"

"No, I don't like Magic Kingdom."

"Well, I've got this EPCOT blanket here, is that better?"

"Ugh, I hate EPCOT too."

"Um, what do you like about Disney?"

"They got these mini doughnuts at Typhoon Lagoon - I like those."

"That's it? Why did you come back if you hate it so much?"

"I hated Philly."

So there you have it folks - the one redeeming quality of Walt Disney World Resort is the mini doughnuts.

Not only that, but she told a story about the last time she was here and someone took one of her bottles of water without asking, so she put a note on the fridge saying, "Whoever stole my f***ing water bottle better f***ing replace it by 9pm tonight." And apparently it was replaced on time, but she didn't even drink it until 3 weeks later. Listen, I get that it sucks when someone takes something of your without asking, but lose the outrage and attitude when it's something you obviously didn't need, mmmk? A simple, "Please ask next time," or "Please don't touch my food," is probably all that's needed in that situation.

OH! And ALSO, we're constantly told that if you don't show up for your last day of work, you're terminated and won't be allowed back in the future. Well this girl didn't go to her last TWO days of work - didn't even call to say she wasn't coming, she simply didn't show up (on New Year's Eve and Day of ALL days) - and she still was allowed to come back. And given her stories of how she acted on her job here, I have no idea how she even made it all the way through her first DCP let alone how she was invited back for a second.

--6--

I've really got to wrap this up, because I'm exhausted and have an early day of training tomorrow. Wish me luck.

--7--

No seriously. I really miss my dog. :''''''(

Quicky

We're discussing trends in my online customer service class, and one of my classmates chose bad grammar and vocabulary as his topic (I chose roller coasters because I'm obsessive and I sometimes wonder how close to Asperger's I really am because, also - my social skills (scary stuff), but I digress). He talked about how "text talk" ("lol" "brb" "wtf" "bbq" etc.) and how, according to an article, today's teenagers have a vocabulary of about 800 words compared to the 10,000 they had before the advent of the Internet (is that true? anyone know for sure?) (have I done enough asides yet? Have I lost you?). Anyway, some other student responded with "Only 800 words? That sounds like the vocabulary of a small child, or a highly trained German shepherd," which is, eh, a solid B+, suburban neighborhood stand-up joke. Bravo, good for him. But then the teacher - THE TEACHER - responded with...

(...are you ready for this...)
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"LMAO!"

Anyone know what the trend is in irony?

Eh, about halfway there.

It's official. I've started packing. And really - a set of sheets (which I borrowed from my grandmother, and they're probably older than I am judging by that gorgeous paisley pattern) and a potato masher (yep, I splurged. No more using the bottom of a glass) - I'm practically done. What else could I possibly need?

Hoping for the best

Sorry, posting is going to be light the next couple of weeks (in case you haven't noticed). I'm moving to Florida in about 9 days, and so I've been trying to get three weeks worth of schoolwork done in two. See, I'm taking online classes so that I can stay in school while I'm at Disney; but instead of semesters, this school has 5-week terms, and wouldn't you know, the 5th week - the one with all the projects and final exams and papers - of the current term is the week I'm moving. Ha HA! The timing! It's fantastic! And I know I'm going to be busy unpacking, going to different lectures, starting my training, etc. in during that week at Disney, and I don't want the burden of finals on top of me during all that.

Ohhhh, but I'm starting to get nervous. And I don't have time to be nervous (did I mention that on top of all my school work, I have family coming in, I've got some baking to do, I need a haircut, I have a dentist appointment, I'm babysitting, I've got to pack (pack for 7 months!), and at some point I'm gonna have to pee...). In fact, if I had the money to spare, I'd take out a want ad in the newspaper and hire someone to be nervous for me (probably just on a part-time basis. I can't afford health benefits). But alas, I do not have the resources, so here I am being, well, me and freaking out over all the changes to come, which kind of sounds like something vaguely menopausal when I word it like that, but whatever. I just don't do change. Keep in mind that this is something I want to do and am excited about (see?! YAY! EXCITED!), but since when have I ever missed out on an opportunity to absolutely lose my mind with worry? NEVER! My default setting in life is Worried, and I'm not about to deny my very essence its ability to shine! So, like a good little psycho, I'm focusing on all the things that could possibly go wrong. Like will I get along with my new roommates? Will I like my new job? I don't know what my specific job is yet - I hope that my previous work experience at Disney bodes well for me - and I am literally making myself sick worrying about it. Seriously, I can feel it in my gut like my fear has manifested itself into little neurotic fetus that keeps kicking me in the ribs. I call him Henner.

Part of this worry is because my last DCP (Disney College Program)...well, it got off to a rough start. It took some effort and a lot of tear-filled phone calls, but in the end it turned into the best experience of my life. Happy endings all around. Hurrah. But you know how it is - once bitten, twice shy kinda thing. So here I am, scared as a cat (and that simile isn't really doing it for me, but I can't think of anything else that's known for being scared. Except me. Scared as a Natalie. Can I be my own simile? Is that possible?), and if I could be so bold as to request your prayers that God grants me the ability to quell my anxiety over the next weekish because it honestly might kill me. I'd really appreciate it (your prayers, not the dying from my imaginary tim'rous fetus).

And if any DCP recruiters just happen to be reading this, you might find it interesting that I have some rather impressive skills with this attraction simulation.

I'm just saying.

The obligatory year-in-review post

2009. Not too bad, as far as years go, but I have a very high tolerance for bad years thanks to 2004, so my opinion should always be taken with a grain of salt on that front. But whatever. Still not a bad year. 2009 started off a bit shaky since I tend to panic when I don't know what I'm doing with my life, and that had been a struggle that had been building for quite some time. But luckily things started falling into place just so which seemed to push me in some sort of direction that made sense, so that helped a bit. Here's to hoping 2010 sees that through.

(Resolution for 2010: be an even bigger hot mess)

My camera broke, my laptop broke, Fry's Electronics broke my brain, and then my laptop remained broken. Plus, someone stepped on my mother's brand new GPS and cracked the LCD screen (we don't have good luck with those, it'd seem), I broke a string on my cousin's daughter's brand new guitar less than an hour after she unwrapped it for Christmas, my dog's vagina fell out, I lost my most favorite BPA-loaded Nalgene bottle and am still mourning its loss (I can hear Robbie shaking his head over that one), and I got my wisdom teeth pulled. So, uh, those were good times.

(In case you didn't notice: TOTALLY DRUGGED)

I had a boyfriend and then I didn't (which was rather nice on the whole considering 20 of my 23 years have consisted only of the "I didn't" part), and I learned how different it all seems once you're out of the relationship. It was fun while it lasted, but it was all for the best in the end. I went down two belt notches without really trying, but I find that I do have to try to remain those two notches down. I flew on an airplane and didn't have a panic attack, which is AMAZING for me, considering my track record on that. I visited two states I'd never before been to - California and Nevada - which actually led me to being west of the Mississippi for the first time in my entire life. The California landscape had me mesmerized - it really looked like another planet - Mars, maybe Jupiter. Somewhere red and barren. And with a lot of aliens.

(Dilemma: potentially offend your intelligence by pointing out the subtle joke in that last sentence, or risk letting my incredibly mediocre wit go unnoticed due to the fact that the joke is, in fact, kiiiinda abstruse. And dumb. By typing my dilemma, I hope I have resolved the issue. So there.)


And in complete obsessive nerd-style, I visited a bunch of theme parks, and in the process I completed my Back Lot Stunt Coaster trifecta, got my first 4-D coaster credit, and completed my North American Intamin launching coaster collection (okay, now I'm just making up milestones). I finally got to visit Disneyland as well, but I missed out on a lot of things due to me being too worried about what everyone else around me wanted to do. I can't help it, it's just my style. I also rode the Big Shot on top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas but skipped out on X-Scream and Insanity, and to this day I DO NO REGRET skipping them. There are some things I simply have no desire to do, and dying is one of them.


And finally, as the year came to a close, I was presented with the most generous offer by someone whom I've never even met. He knows who he is, he knows what he's done for me, and for that I thank him profusely and hope that in 2010 and beyond I can find a way to be so generous to others. You know...all Pay it Forward style. Without the stabbing.

Oh, um, spoilers.

Happy New Year everyone!