The Perils of Pizza Delivery

Ladies and gentlemen, due to the fact that my hours have been cut back to 35 a week at the bank, I am forced to seek supplemental employment outside the finance industry. And I don't know why I act surprised every time, but God has provided once again.

Now, three nights a week, I will be your friendly neighborhood pizza delivery dude.

Tonight was my first night. All that meant for me was a ride along with someone who has been with the company for a while. Starting out, he told me that it's the easiest job there is. As the night progressed, it turned out he was right. There really isn't much to it. Pick up the delivery, drive to the house, drop off the delivery. Cha-ching.

Each delivery dude gets a book of maps that are sectioned off. He showed me which sections I'll learn to love and which ones I'll learn to hate. And in between, during trips to and from the store, we got into some good conversations. He's a Christian, so we both got a chance to bounce some theology off each other. After only knowing him for a few hours, he seems like a great guy.

I won't be saying on here what pizza company I'll be working for. I'll only say that it's a chain. And it's one that I'm happy to work for, seeing as how they've given me so much over the years. Please, no guessing in the comments. I want to keep that part anonymous, just in case I someday feel the need to complain about something. Wouldn't want the powers that be to see that something negative was written about their company and suddenly I don't have that second job anymore.

Legends of the Bank Teller - Episode LX

I'm not much of a talker. So when someone talks too much, it kind of grates on my nerves.

Today a girl came in who has apparently been away for some time. This customer felt the need to tell a fellow teller all of the minute details of her life over the past year. She had to have talked non-stop for fifteen minutes.

And it seemed that each time she was about to wrap it up, she would go into another facet of what she's done this year. It was like the end of the last Lord of the Rings movie. You just never knew when it was really going to end.

After a full half hour of talking, she finally left, claiming she'd be back in a few months. I'm sure she'll have loads to talk about by then.

At that point I really wanted to turn around and fuss at my coworker for encouraging that sort of behavior. Whatever happened to the good ol' days when people would just come to the bank, make their deposit, then get the heck out?

Strange Visitors

While working today, I received a text informing me that Nicole was getting the kids ready and then taking them to the Krispy Kreme.

You are probably unaware that this wonderful doughnut factory is only a few blocks from where I work. So I responded to said text with my order: a lemon-filled doughnut.

I was only half serious. I mean, sure, I wanted a doughnut, but I didn't really expect her to hit the drive-thru to drop off a doughnut.

I was surprised to find that she not only came by the bank, she stopped and had the whole crew of kids come inside to deliver not one, but two lemon-filled doughnuts. I figured, at best, I'd get a quick drive-thru visit.

In return for the gift of pastries, I gave each of the kids their choice of lollipops. After distributing three blues, a yellow, and a golden (another yellow), Nicole and the kids went on their merry way.

After they left, my co-workers gave me something of a hard time. They found it a little hard to believe that I was that well-liked by so many children. Especially when it came to Gabby, waving and saying bye over and over as she was carried out of the bank.

That's right. Contrary to popular belief, I am extremely lovable!

'Cause I Had a Bad Day

700

Who has two thumbs and just posted his 700th blog?



This guy.

The Force

When I come home after a long day at work I like to play a little game. I get on the elevator, I push the button for my floor, and then I wait for the door to close.

And then, just as the machinery starts to cause the elevator to rise, I pretend that I'm really lifting the elevator using only my mind. And then, when it stops on my floor, I like to pretend that I'm using the Force to open the door.

Now, between the elevator and the main hall, there's a short hallway that's closed off by what I assume is some sort of fire safety door. More often than not, this door is closed. Occasionally I'll find it propped open with a rock or a cinder block, but that may actually be a fire hazard.

Every time I get off the elevator, I raise my hand and attempt to force the door open telekinetically, but it never happens. Some days I close my eyes while riding up the elevator and actually try to will the door open. Alas, it's never happened.

But one day, it's really gonna freak all of you out when I am able to report that I got off the elevator and found that door held open by nothing but the sheer force of my will.

The more likely event is that, one day, I'll be using "the Force" to open the door and it will open, but only because someone happened to be coming out as I was going in. But in that split second before I see the tenant on the other side step through, I'll think that I finally did it.

That will be a wonderful split second.

Question of the Week: Great Experience

Do you feel that advice from older people carries a special weight because of their greater experience?

I'm gonna say no. I think there are a lot of situations that can come up in our lives that someone somewhere has to have been through before. But just because they've been through something similar doesn't necessarily mean they have the best advice for your situation. There's a good chance that I would just give their advice the same weight that I would give to that of a trusted friend. Honestly, I get some old folks in the bank that come in spouting off all kinds of stories and advisory statements, and more often than not, they just come off as crazy. And I think I've made it clear before that I'm not the most patient person in the world. Listening to an older person definitely requires a patience that I don't always have readily available. I feel bad about that, but it's just the way that I am.

*Question of the Week comes from The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.

Another Look Alike

Okay, I'm still watching Big Brother. I'm not sure why, but I keep getting reeled back in. Last week, a sleazebag named Ronnie was evicted. And last week I realized that he resembled another famous character from the pop culture hall of fame.



The resemblance was more apparent when he was in the diary room looking unhappy. Looking straight on at the camera, his neck is kind of long and blends right into his head.

Problems

Yeah, I'm still having problems with my laptop. It seems that some of the most computer friendly minds have been stumped. I've spent all of my afternoon trying different things and I'm just about at the end of my rope.

I'm tired and really don't feel like coming up with something to write about. So today I'm taking a break. I hope to be in better spirits tomorrow.

I'll write from my desktop if I need to.

Sick Computer

Ladies and gentlemen of the interweb, my computer has called in sick today.

Last night, while I was running a virus scan and nothing else, the speakers in my laptop began playing a mysterious audio clip. From the sound of it, it seemed to be a morning talk show. And it was recent. They were talking about the possibility of Paula Abdul leaving American Idol. I know that's old news now, but it's only a couple weeks old.

Needless to say, this freaked me out a bit. So I shut down the scan and shut down the computer. When I turned it back on, it began to load Windows but then gave me a black screen and the arrow. I could move the cursor around, but there was nothing to click on.

Needless to say, this freaked me out a lot. So I shut it down and panicked. I searched through all my old receipts, praying that I could find my service plan that Best Buy sold me with the computer. Thankfully I found it and I was just under the wire. That three year plan expires in a mere four months. But since it was 10pm, there was nothing more I could do but to let her sleep for the night.

This morning I opened the laptop and tried to turn it on again. This time I got to the password screen, but could go no further. Of course, this evening when I was finally able to visit the local Geek Squad, the computer started right up, no problems. Also, no strange audio from bizarre morning programs.

The Geek in question told me that he had seen several computers with that same audio problem. So it must be that bug that's going around. You always think it'll happen to someone else but not to you.

So as I type this, I'm rerunning my virus scanner. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. I'm just glad the entire computer didn't get fried. My life is on this thing. I know that's sad, but it's true.