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Jennifer D. Wade Journal

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Blog posts March 2006

Bowling, Anyone?

Yesterday, I went bowling with a few people from work.  We met in the AM to warm up for our big outing on Saturday.  That's when we'll be Bowl for Kids' Sake to raise money for Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

Anyway, I haven't bowled since last year's Bowl for Kids' Sake, and it showed.  I managed a 124 and a 129, I think.  The really sad thing is that those were the high scores of the group!  Let's hope everyone got their sponsorships in lump sums! 

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Gassus Interruptus

So, I'm driving through the Blakeslee area this evening, and I see gas at the WaWa is $2.39/gallon.  I stop and pull up to a pump.  Well, no sooner do I swipe my credit card when some woman comes up and starts waving a WaWa gift card in my face.

"How do you use this?" she says.  "It says there's $15 left on it, but the pump won't take it."

I've only stopped at this station once or twice before, and I've certainly never used one of their gift cards.  So, how the hell do I know how the card works?!  But, it was clear the woman wasn't going to go away if I told her that, so I said, "Let me get my pump started and I'll come take a look."

I put in the nozzle, set it on automatic, and started to walk away with the woman.  But, I turned back to look at my pump and the display read "transaction cancelled".  When I tried to restart it, it told me to pre-pay inside.  So, I told the woman that now I was having problems, and we both went inside.

While I was waiting in line, she was asking the girl at the food counter about the gift card.  I didn't hear it all, but it sounded like the girl told her to wait 15 minutes and try again.  Meanwhile, I paid for my gas and went back to the pump.  This time, I noticed that the display told me to "select grade".  Hmmm.  I wonder if that's where I made my mistake the first time.  I blame the woman for breaking my concentration with her distracting waving of the gift card in my face.

How does this fascinating story end?  Well, as I was pumping my gas, I noticed the woman and her husband (?) over at another pump trying again, I suppose, to use the gift card.  I noticed that they ignored the advice to wait 15 minutes.  I noticed on my pump that there were instructions for how to use a gift card.  I'm guessing those same instructions are on ALL the pumps.  So, I never went over to see how they were doing. 

Should I have checked on them?  Maybe.  But, I don't feel too badly about not doing it.  Because I also noticed that their minivan had New Jersey plates.

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Free at Last!

I am no longer employed as a freelance technical writer.  I finished a section of the 2nd project, then told the guy that was it.  The work was going so slowly that MAYBE I would have finished it by August.  Anyway, he seemed cool about it.  Now I can spend the next few weeks judging Mensa newsletters.  Wooo Hooo!

I may be free, but the same cannot be said for Hugo Selenski.  Yesterday, a jury found our photogenic murder suspect "not guilty" of killing two suspected drug dealers.  Their burned bodies were found in his backyard.  Fortunately, there were other bodies also found in the backyard.  So, as soon as Selenski was found not guilty, he got charged with two more murders and had his ass sent right back to jail.  I've already put in my request to field produce the next trial - whenever that is!

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Glad I Saw the Matinee

Over the weekend, I took my new car to the neighborhood movie theater.  I and about five other people were there to see "Transamerica."  The film, and Felicity Huffman, especially have been getting good reviews, so I wanted to check it out.

After the movie, as I was walking out, one of those other five people, an older woman, asked me what I thought.  I said I liked it.  She said she was put off by the drug usage in the film.  Kind of surprising, I thought, because, really, there wasn't much.  A little heroin or cocaine, and one scene involving marijuana - not enough to be disturbing.

But, after I got home and thought about it some more, I decided that I was also disappointed in the film.  Not because of the drugs, but because I thought Felicity Huffman's character just didn't ring true.  For example, her character is a man transitioning into a woman.  When the movie opens, she's one-week away from having the final surgery.  I would expect that anyone who's reached this stage would have essentially been living as a woman for a fair amount of time - certainly long enough to learn how to walk in heels.  So then, why did this character seem so unsteady on her feet?  She seemed ready to fall over at any moment!  There were other things that bothered me, too.  Including the fact that I didn't really like any of the characters in this movie, didn't care about them.

As I said, I'm glad I saw the matinee.   

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That New Car Smell

I bought a new car yesterday.  It's pretty much like the old car, only newer.  It's another Subaru Forester, 5-speed manual transmission, not too many extra bells and whistles.  Seems OK so far.  Just have to get used to the feel of the clutch.

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Remember When I Said...

that I wasn't going to take on another freelance project?  Uh huh.  Right.  I'll be starting another one as soon as this weekend.  Something about a test for reading teachers, I think.  Sounds marginally more interesting than a Certified Health Education Specialist.  I guess that one's OK.  I sent it to him on Wednesday, and haven't heard anything bad, yet.  But, when I sent it in, he immediately sent me stuff for the new one.  Didn't even ask if I actually wanted to do it.  I guess I'll have to be a little more proactive with this one.  Just say no to number three!

In other news, my friend from Harrisburg sent me an email yesterday saying that Monday will be my former ND's last day at work.  He's been fighting brain tumors since last summer, but has still been going into work about three days a week.  I guess he just can't do it anymore.

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