Today's rambling: Good day, wahoo!
Written on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 at 5:58 p.m.
while feeling a bit

Yesterday, I tried three times to call Alltel, in an attempt to get my cable, internet, and long distance services set up at uni. The first time I called, during my '10-minute' break, I was on hold for over 10 minutes before someone finally answered. They said they'd transfer me over to the Clarion section, so I waited another three minutes or so. The girl came back on, said she couldn't get a hold of anyone over in that section, but she'd try again. Five minutes later, she asked me to call back in an hour because they were having system problems.

Fine. I called again during my lunch break, but got the same message that 'call volume exceeded expectations' or however it went. I decided to not even bother this time, because the woman I'd talked to earlier said that they would be available until 7 pm. And besides that, I was a little too upset at that point to really worry about having cable in my dorm room.

So I called them again when I got home. I don't even know HOW long I was on hold, but a man finally answered. He took my dorm phone number this time, so I thought I was actually going to get somewhere. HA HA HA!!! I'm not even lying when I tell you that I spent over an HOUR on hold last night. I had to listen to the same 5 elevator music-esque hold tunes over and over and over again (well, it could've been more than 5; they all ran together after awhile). The guy would pop back on every now and then to see if I was still there, then assure me that he was still trying to get me transferred. Finally, when he came back on the fifth time (I think it was the fifth), I asked if it would be better for me to try tomorrow morning. He said they opened at 7 am, so if I tried then, he was sure I'd get through (because what normal college student is going to be awake at 7 am, unless they're just going to bed?). I teasingly told him that that Hold music was driving me nuts, and he cracked up.

This morning, the moment I got to work I told Debbie that I needed to make a phone call. It was a little after 8 by that time, but I holed myself up in the locker room (which is connected to the break room) and turned on my cell phone. And I got through immediately! The woman took all the necessary information, gave me my account number and my long distance code, and told me that everything would be set up on Friday night, so that it would all be active when I moved in on Saturday. Booya! The paper I had said that to ensure everything would be activated when I moved in, I had to call by August 10th. Debbie said that they usually tell you that just so you'll call in early and won't bog them down right at the end. However, I am a born procrastinator...and besides that, I didn't even GET my telephone/address information until after the 10th!!

Good start to my day. When I walked out of the break room, I saw Geoff talking to Ben. He saw me and acquired a mock-warning expression, then said, "Don't talk!"

"I won't!" I replied. "But if I were allowed to talk to you, I'd tell you that calling early in the morning works very well!"

Took very little effort to get him to go on lunch with me today, thank goodness. I let him know in passing that it was one o'clock, and so he asked if I was ready to 'get food'. He had to finish up a little bit of work, but about five minutes later he came strolling into the bakery. Of course, Joanne just loved that, but she didn't say anything to me until later. At any rate, I grabbed a couple of butter packets, toasted a blueberry bagel, and grabbed a bottle of juice before joining up with Geoff at the cash register. He paid first, then walked off. I automatically assumed that he was going to walk back to the break room, since he's never really done stuff like wait for me. However, when I turned around, there he was! He'd moved away a little bit so that he didn't get in the way of the other customers (lunchtime around this store is PACKED, because we're surrounded by office buildings), but he was standing there waiting for me! I was quite pleased. ^_^

In the break room, I asked him what time he was going to call me tomorrow. "Six a.m.," he replied automatically. "We'll go to New York. Or Florida."

"I think it'd take a little longer than a day to get to Florida," I laughed.

We walked up front together, as usual, but after I got back to bakery, I ended up running back to the break room again (personal details, we don't need to go there, hehe). The ice cream freezer door was open when I exited the break room, and since that door partially blocks the doorway into the break room, I paused and peered around to see who was there. Of course, it happened to be Geoff. ;) As we walked up the little corridor, Ben was walking over, pulling an empty u-frame. Geoff was ahead of me on my left, Ben cut me off on the right, and so I cried, "Everybody's in my way!!"

I'd just made it past Geoff when he darted out in front of me and kept moving in my way. He's never actually been that playful before, so I wasn't sure how to react. In the end, I just laughed, smacked his arm, and sort of shoved my way past. I heard a chorus of "Yeah"s before I left. :P That word's sort of an inside joke, I guess. Well, it's not really a JOKE, but Ben and Geoff say it all the time, and Ben's even started to call Geoff "Yeah". If one says it, the other immediately echoes, and it just goes back and forth like that. :P

Today was my last day at work, so I spent some time saying good-bye (though I didn't get to see half the people I'd wanted to say bye to!). Jason actually gave me a hug, which surprised me! I told him I was leaving, and then I started to walk toward Joanne when he said, "You can't leave yet. If it's okay, I'm gonna give you a hug." I love hugging, hehe, so I wasn't about to pass one up! *giggles*

Yesterday afternoon, Bob came in (he was on lunch break from band camp, hehe). He said something like, "So you're going off to college this week?" When I said yes, he replied, "Well, we'll miss you!" We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then I bent down to continue pulling the paddle out of a mixing bowl. "Come here so I can give you a hug!" he said, which also took me aback. Bob and I have always been really friendly with each other, but it touched me that he really was going to miss me!

Mom says that there are going to be a LOT of people who'll be missing me. I never really realized how well-liked I was before! But when I think about it, everyone I pass (except the few folks I don't know) says hello to me, and they're always very friendly and jovial. This store is SOOOO much better than SuperFresh. I only hope it stays that way, and doesn't get completely converted by Slaveway.

Geoff asked me what time I'd be waking up tomorrow, so I'm wondering exactly how early he's going to call me. :P I know it won't be at 6 am, but will it be somewhat early? I'd love to spend an entire day with him!! My 'dream' would be to take him down to Virginia, where my Mom's side of the family lives. It's not that I necessarily want to introduce him to anyone, but that part of the state is so gorgeous. We could go up to Skyline Drive, which is my favorite place...*sighs* It would be very nice. But I think it's more than just a day trip, since it takes 4 hours just to get down there! :P Someday, maybe! That area's sort of my 'special place', so a person has to mean a lot to me for me to want to share it with them! (And I don't just mean guys...I'd love to take my friends down there, too, but of course it would be something a little different to take Geoff down there, hehe...)

In all honesty, I have no idea what we're going to do tomorrow. We never seem to make plans! So we'll probably end up hanging out at the apartment for ages, and every so often he'll say, "So what do you want to do?" And me, being the indecisive person that I am, will try to think of SOMETHING but be completely unable to, so I'll just laugh and say, "I don't know!" Just watch. I'll bet you that's exactly what happens.

I wish he had Thursday off, too...then I really WOULD be tempted to make him drive to Virginia, LoL! We wouldn't have to stay overnight, but we could come back really late at night and he wouldn't have to worry about being at work the next day. His inspection tags expired, though, so I guess it would be sort of dangerous for us to drive that far. *giggles* It's 'dangerous' for him to be driving, period, but he's such a rebel. ;)

Alright, dinner's ready (guess what it is? Go on, give it a try), so I'm going to post this and go eat. I hope Lola's first day on the job is going alright! She's probably got it all down by now. *grins*