Actually...

Today I found out something about myself. Well to be fair I already knew this but I chose to ignore it. Why? Because the consequences weren't beneficial nor did they hurt me in any way. What I missed is that essentially it did hurt me. It wasn't physical bruising, it was a mental thing. So now, today, I'm planning to take a stand and stop it. I will no longer let people walk all over me. I guess it's my fault anyway because when you have the inability to make a decision it sends the message out that this is someone that needs their hand held throughout life. Well I don't. No I can't make the decision if I want chicken or beef. No I don't know what I want for dinner, and no I don't know where I want to go when we go out. (Um...by the way...if you ask me out you should KNOW what we're going to be doing.) I know what you're wondering, "Amanda, why did you decide that now? Why not earlier/later?" Well I may not know my job exactly perfect yet but I do know the customer part. A lot of customers were jerks today but overall this one just sent me over the edge. When he refused to do his part of the initial paperwork and proceeded to tell me why in a very unmistakably rude way I just grabbed the paper and said thank you, and walked away while he continued talking to me. I was later told by my coworker the proper answer (because he was being a jerk) which was a great response...and I kinda wished he was there whispering that in my ear lol. Some of you may think that I handled it pretty well but just walking away but in doing so I believe it showed submission and allowed him to "bully" me in a sense to allow him to do what he wanted rather than what was right.

I've been in customer service for a while. One of my favorite things that a friend told me is to use the word "Actually" it is the polite way to say. You're Wrong!

Actually, the reason why you couldn't find that book is because it was written by soandso.

Actually, if you don't sign this paper we can't work on your car.

Hope that helps anyone else who deal with difficult customers :)

Shout Outs

Um...after reading a lot of my cousin's blogs I feel slightly retarted (yes I know that technically I spelled that wrong but hear me out; the way I spell it simply implies that I have the same mental capacity (on this subject) but I still remain fully respectful to those who are actually retarded and have this disability).
What I'm saying is that thier stuff has more umph...stuff...you know. Like stuff that is relevant. However that wont stop me from my random ramblings:

Jake!!!! Why aren't you reading my other blog/story? HMMMMM????? Gosh ;) (um..haven't really written much lol <3 )

Joel...How come I never hear from you bud? Pal? Chief? ;)

yeah...sorry ya'll are the only two I'm picking on right now...cuz (shhhh no telling...you're my favorite)

Random stuff :)

I have nothing special to vent...or talk...or whatever about...So...new job...kinda amazing. LOVE it in other words. Different kind of stress but the kind I can handle and that I use to produce excellent work :) P.S. I'm the only girl that works there ;) haha you know what that means? My mom says I like it cuz I get a lot of attention. HAHA I do! So since most of them are married I kinda get treated like the little sister...which works cuz pretty sure I get lunch purchased for me...haha. Awwww.

Oh...and one of my friends moved away. She moved to N. Carolina. To start over and get back on her feet. I'm happy for her...but I'm sad at the same time.

Um...and since I'm watching American Idol right now I'd like to say that I don't hate...but I do strongly dislike. However, to convey how much I strongly dislike something I'm going to say hate...because lets face it...writing strongly dislike takes more energy than the actual dislike I have, therefore; I hate Ryan Seacrest. I hate him like I hate Paula Abdul and her inability to speak clearly and have a point...and I hate her as much as I hate the Samantha chick from Dancing with the Stars. And I hate her just as much as I hate bad drivers.

What I really love though...is books...and music...like Bryan Adams...and Jason Mraz...actually little does he know we're getting married haha....Jack Johnson....I love snowmen...and sunflowers....and Rome...it is my favorite place. I love the sound of the cello, piano, and violin. Oh and soccer....

p.s. I'm now aware that on random days I shouldn't get on this when I have nothing to say...cuz it gets messy like this :)

I...love...like...desire...enjoy...you?

So...pretty sure I kinda sorta hate talking about feelings, emotions, and all the in between. Why? I dunno. In some cases I consider it to be too girly. Now I know there's nothing wrong with being girly. I love shopping for shoes...I have to have at least thirty different heels...which I have no idea where to keep em. Makeup and sometimes on VERY rare occasions the romantic drama. Maybe when God gave me that part as he was forming me he gave me an extra big piece. I say extra big because I do so well at hiding those things that when they do come out...it's kinda explosive.

Today in the morning:
Emotionally: Content
Feeling: Confident

This afternoon:
Emotionally: uneasy
Feeling: Not so confident

This evening:
Emotionally: Curious
Feeling: Tired

I dunno if writing this down helps...I'll let you know tomorrow :)

New Job New Scenery

For days and days and days I had been miserable at my job at Borders. I absolutely LOVE books and reading and talking to others about books. The management got to be so bad that on a daily basis I was harassed and belittled and threatened by my boss and the sad part, corporate; who is supposed to be there for its employees, didn't care. Then one day my best friend Manda called and told me I needed to put in an application at Les Schwab in Placerville. I did, called and scheduled and interview and got the job all in the same two days! The only downside is that it's 40 minutes away (although I've been getting there in 30). However, I absolutely love it!

Placerville is so beautiful. The mountains are so green and it smells so fresh. I'm naturally a cold weather person. I love the coolness and I think that I would choose a mountain area over the beach any day. I think it's perfect weather if I can wear a t-shirt and jeans and this is what I experience everyday. Most days, I take walks on my lunch and visit the little shops that line the streets. I have a hunch that the whole community knows each other. That the sheriff is an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair, large brimmed hat, and a dog named Hank that rides in the back of his patrol car. The under sheriff is this goofy young guy that tries to hard and takes himself too seriously but gets the job done nonetheless. I guess what I'm saying is it's my kind of place.

I love the job itself. It's very hard right now because I'm new at it and there's so much more to learn, plus I can talk books like no body's business...but tires...yeah that's like asking me to explain why the world is round haha.

New Blog

This is kinda one of my lazy day posts. I'm afraid to stop writing for a while because I'm pretty sure I'll get another comment from my cousin asking where all my posts are...in my head :)

Nothing exciting happened today. I had to work, then I joined my parents for my step mother's mother's birthday. So my stepgrandmother's birthday. I'm now sitting in front of my computer watching CSI, writing my blog and plan on writing another chapter to my blog story. Still untitled but it's about a struggle that a young woman goes through after the loss of her mother and brother. Her determination to remain focused and not blame God. I spent a lot of time on the names. It's very important to me that the meaning of their names help depict what kind of person they're supposed to be. I hope that the reader doesn't go looking them up because I hope that I'll be able to show them who they are.

The blog is called Bookworm but the story remains untitled. I hope you enjoy :)

Dead or Alive

Hey all! It's been a while. I haven't been writing because...I dunno...figured I had nothing to write about. I've been all over the place emotionally and I think it's unwise to go on a rant when upset so I like to calm down. I'm trying to make changes in my life. I'm striving to get a new job because the one I am at I'm being verbally harassed by my manager and corporate doesn't want to do anything to help thier associates. A few of us are preparing to file with the state. It's sad when it has to come to that. People unable to be civilized, and I know I'm not the first or last to be harassed by this individual.



I've started a new train of thought in what I want to do with the rest of my life. In the beginning and for as long as I could remember (and my Mother has not let me forget this) I've wanted to be a doctor. Originally I had planned in double majoring so that I could go work/live in South America helping people medically and spiritually. Last sememster I took a foresnic anthropology class and felt completely comfortable with it. Maybe it was a premed kind of thing but what made it better was that we each had to do a project. To get off topic for a moment...I read this author Iris Johansen and she had a specific character she wrote about who was a forensic sculptor and I had always imagined being able to identify a person with just thier skull....to get back on track I decided that I would do my project in forensic sculpting. I got a skull from my professor and set to work. Actually I didn't actually begin my work until the Thanksgiving vacation week. I was sitting there using identifying markers to determine age, sex, and ethnicity. As it turned out the person I was giving a face to was a 40+ woman with heavy asian ancestery. I measured tissue depth and gave this woman a face. It was so fulfilling and I had so much pride. I was able to give closure to a family. Other factors that one considers when doing a this was COD (cause of death) and I believe mine had died of natural causes or causes that can't be determined by just the skull. There was so many indicators that when I was explaining it to my grandmother (because I was doing this on her kitchen table :) )she asked, look at all this inticiate work, how could there not be a God with this beautiful design?



So now the question remains: Why am I going to school? To eventually work with the living or work with the dead?