better illustration... bam... squid in your face...

when i wrote the entry "there's nothing like it..." i used a pretty good illustration... and then afterwards, i thought of a way better one... bam... squid in your face...

explanation: i lived in east asia for a semester... there was a 3-story walmart about 2 hours away from where i lived... so we decided one weekend to go visit the big city and go to walmart (among other stores with western stuff)... i was really looking forward to this... being from arkansas (where walmart started), i thought it would be like a reminder of home...

we walked in, and while some stuff looked different, it was still cool... my teammates and i were walking around, trying to soak it all up... looking at everything (comparing it to home in our minds), and seeing a lot of stuff that was the same... all of a sudden, we turned a corner, and then we saw something unlike our experiences in walmart in the states... tons of food... seafood, meat... crazy stuff... just kind of out in the open for sale... then, the kicker of them all... fresh squid... so we had to laugh about it... everything was going fine... bam... squid in your face... which is an expression we started saying when things would hit us out of nowhere...

bam... squid in your face...

work has been difficult to me lately... not so much the actual "work" part... but mostly the management... i find it hard to be myself around my manager and then i feel like she's always catching me at my worst... when i've done the wrong thing... (like put the wrong hanger on a picture or not cut the dust cover backing exactly straight - yes... i get "reprimanded" for stuff like that...) it seems like a lot of people have issues with my manager... when she's not there, it is a completely different world... not in a sense of "when the cat's away, the mice will play..." but more like we all get our work done, but we have a much funner (i'm making it a word...) time doing it...

tonight we were watching remember the titans... and this line resonated with me, especially concerning work... "attitude reflects leadership, captain." what a line... that's a great quote... and i can see how it completely goes along with how i feel at work... and... my one-year review is coming up this week... i want to be upfront with my manager and tell her some of my thoughts and feelings... as it relates to our work relationship... i just don't know how to go about it... she's very critical, so the framing manager (my direct supervisor) said i should say... "it'd be nice if every now and then, you scratch me behind the ears before you kick me in the teeth..." i don't think i'm that bold... but it's kind of how i feel... among the frame shop, she's also known as "the bear" (we say "don't poke the bear" a lot...) and the person she reminds us of the most is "mama fratelli" from the goonies...

i don't know... just something to throw out there... i'm really not looking forward to our meeting... everyone who has had their reviews lately hasn't been happy with the way they've gone... and i already feel like she hates me the most... i don't know what i do that rubs her the wrong way, but i feel like i am constantly!

on a good note... i got a second job at the library at my school... it's about 10 hours a week (mostly on the days that i'm already at school)... plus i get access to the library anytime i want (which is where i am now), so i can come late at night and study (or blog)... which is a definite plus since there is not a lot of quiet study time at home with 8 other people!!! plus, i will get a fun work email address and i have my own little office (the library workroom has a desk)... and a phone and a computer that i can use for work and for school... it's very good times... it will be something that will help out... with good perks...