Hey Pretty!

I was walking down to get the mail which is at least a mile or so from the mailbox and I saw this girl in a striped t-shirt and daisy dukes with sneakers, walking her big black dog. We almost ran into each other if it hadn't been for the dog dragging her along! This is the conversation when I met Annie.

Me: "Hi, you live around here? I didn't know there were other people on this road."
Her: "No, I'm visiting my Dad. He lives in that old brick house when you come around the second corner."
Me: "Wow. I didn't know there was someone living in it. It looks so run down and always dark."
Her: "I know, right? My Dad, he's away a lot so I live with my Mom in town."
Me: "Mind if I ask what your Dad does?"
Her: "He's in the military Special Ops something. He doesn't say much about what he does and I stopped asking."
Me: "Wow. Aren't you cold? I'm freezing even though the sun is out."
Her: "No, not a bit. Its perfect weather for me. Feels great!"
Me: "By the way, I'm Shannon."
Her: "Annie. Pleased to meet you."
Me: "I live up a mile. I'm house-sitting for friends."
Her: "Cool! Aren't you scared living by yourself out here?"
Me: "Why should I? God watches over me and so do my steel angels."
Her: "Steel angels?"
Me: "You'll have to meet them sometime. Wanna come over tonight for dinner? I don't see too many people out here. I promise I won't bite."
Her: "Can I bring my Mom? I don't want her to worry."
Me: "Sure! I make a mean meat loaf and potatoes."
Her: "Awesome! Its a date then!"

We must have talked for over an hour. She got a text from her Mom that she was going into work early so she's just going to come with Macky, her German Sheppard I saw earlier in the day. There wasn't a speck of any other color besides black on his coat. I've never seen such a big black dog! Annie said that her father asked her to take care of him till he gets back, which could be any day. Annie's a year younger than me, with shoulder-length natural brown hair, athletic build; she said she was on the softball team at NAU. She was curious what I meant about steel angels and asked me if I was a welder or architect and if they were sculptures. I laughed a little bit and said she'll just have to see for herself. She's a cutie!

I met a new friend! I thought of this song which describes me thinking about Annie. "Hey Pretty" by Poe.

Insane in the Membrane

Listening to old school, Cypress Hill.

I think I took on more than I can handle; going to school and working two jobs. After this semester is over, I'm just going to concentrate on school. Not so much working two jobs because its just absolutely crazy! I don't know what I was thinking!

So here I am, at home in my little room--I don't stay in the big comfy one across the hall since its not mine so I sleep in the guest room. Its a cozy place, not too big and just enough for me to hear everything. I hate big houses. With a big house, somebody could be sneaking up on me and I won't know it. This place that I'm still house-sitting, my friends are taking an extended working vacation overseas in Thailand. They said they needed to make connections for their import business so they won't be back till summer, for sure.

No complaints from me. They stopped paying me since I've found work and said if I need money to pay the bills to just call them and they'll put money in my account. When school or work isn't keeping me busy, I've been doing a lot of yard work. Its great because it keeps me busy. I didn't need to, but I sold my .45 to a friend who needed to have a firearm in case her stalker ex-boyfriend came around threatening her.

Its a little on the heavy side, but I wasn't about to give up my 9mm or .22. We went down the road to the owners' patch of land and I showed her how to use the pistol. I even gave her all the ammo I had for the gun so she wouldn't have to spend a dime. Something to get her started and keep my friend safe.

Anyway, tonight I sat home alone watching ghost stories on the BIO channel. I was thinking of getting a puppy to keep me company around the house. I don't know. This requires some thought although I like living alone out here in the sticks by myself. I might ask Eva if she wants to stay the weekend next time I see her.

Time to start a fire in the fire place. Gets cool quick around here. :)

"Military Grade"

I always wondered what that meant. Is it different from other types of grades like civilian grade or construction grade? Must be.

My brother recently inherited 500 rounds of shotgun ammo and he called me over to see if I wanted to go to the gun range with him. I wasn't doing anything productive on my day off so why not? After a few rounds, my shoulder was hurting. Then I inserted a Magnum round. NEVER AGAIN. The reason why its called a "Magnum" round is cuz the shell casing has more gunpowder in it, thereby, making the pellets go up to 1600 feet per second! And in the process, high recoil. We arrived home two hours later and he calls me over to his office which he's turned into his home armory.

He shows me a box of  "Military Grade 12 gauge .00 Buckshot".

What's that mean?

Military grade?

Yeah.

Means 9 pellets coming at you at 1200 fps. Its from the military and its sold at Walmart. Just think, the military uses shotguns. Do you think they're shooting deer? No. Military grade means the intruder is bleeding from nine holes. I use these for home defense. I mean, bird shot is great too, but these are better.

Mmhmm.

My brother shows me his stash and gives a box to me. I have about 900 rounds of shotgun ammo. I don't think I need any more.

Job Hunting and stuff

So apparently, I'm not the only one job hunting these days. My counterpart in the Midwest is also.

One thing I've learned while beating feet on hot pavement; employers look for a steady work history. And when I tell them that I work several jobs at the same time, they either frown upon me or they reel with delight. I tend to think the former.

One company that I applied for was an unarmed security place and when I was finished with the War and Peace application, it was close to 20 pages! Towards the 15th page, I was ready to return the application, but I persevered. "Applicants must be willing to go through an extensive background check" was one of the company's policies. At the 18th page, I didn't really care anymore. There were four pages dedicated to the applicant's work history...and I've have over two dozen in the last six months! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gott do! :)

Another section of the security application was "List five people not related to you, who can verify your whereabouts for the last seven years". ???? Seriously?! What am I, some sort of criminal?! I listed Samantha, Cynthia, Darleen (my dog back on the farm), Henry (what Dad calls his favorite tractor), and Karla, all with the exception of Henry that I've known for the last 20 years of my ten years of my life. Yep, by the 19th page of the application, I threw in the pen. I stopped caring by the end of the previous page.

What really made me irate was the part that said, "List your residences for the last ten years, beginning with where you currently live".  By then I was livid. It was a good two hours wasted there. I done need a second job because my school load is a job in itself, but I need a second job because I get bored easily. A little known fact about me: I have boundless amounts of energy and I get bored rather quickly. If I'm finished with school work, I go outside and think of ways to entertain myself. Sometimes, I just walk outside the perimeter of the house, naked.

Naked you say? Yes! I'm house-sitting til December and where the house is situated, almost 15 miles from the main road and the nearest neighbor is 4 miles south of me. Something about having no clothes on outside with the exception on flip flops and the sun and a cool breeze touching my body...so liberating!

I was tempted to call Mindy because I bought a brand new Leopold scope for a rifle I saw at Walmart. I just bought the scope. I've never had a use for one, but I was thinking on getting this .22 Remington just to go target shooting and Mindy owns like, three rifles with scopes on them. I've never used one before. But coming up here would be out of her way since she moved to Prescott.

All my friends are moving away. :(

The plan for the day is to call this staffing agency to see what I can do in my spare time. My current job is a server at this mom-and-pop Chinese restaurant and I only work weekends, which gives me the entire week to mess around. Idle hands...I don't need them and craigslist is coming up empty with day jobs. Ugh.

So I need something to do during the week. :D

Labor Day

Its 21:58 here so its STILL Labor Day!



I had a wonderful weekend including today. Nothing special, just hung out with some friends who are visiting me from Pensacola along with my parents. They flew out here to give me a sort of  "house-warming" present: THEMSELVES!

Anyway, I mostly spent the weekend with one on Mom's friends in Glendale, which is almost two hours from Flag. I'm sort of tired and glad to be alone all over again. It was great seeing my parents and friends, but I like being alone.

I don't really have much to post about except school tomorrow from 08:00 to noon then a two hour break and classes till 16:00 and my new job--housekeeping for a big office company. Yep. I went from being a server to helping one of Rafi's friends out at housekeeping. I like it because I get to work by myself and I don't have to wear a uniform. I wear a badge though. And the great part, I get to set my own hours!