How to politely tell your job to pound sand...

Dear Cup Above Management and Staff,

As of Monday, August 9th, this letter serves as my two weeks’ notice to conclude my employment with The Cup Above, my final date of available scheduled work time being Monday, August 23rd. Should management decide to terminate my employment prior to that date, I will respect that decision with no ill will. I have performed all duties assigned to me to the best of my abilities and have come to the decision that this is not the area of work I’m willing to dedicate myself to long term. The diminishing scheduled work hours are not conducive to my financial needs, the basic operation of the business is run too inefficiently in my opinion, and I feel my qualifications would be better used elsewhere. I am confident management will find a suitable replacement or divide my shifts to my fellow employees who need the hours. I appreciate the opportunity to try and help build a new business from the ground up and will take these experiences into the next phase of my career search.
Sincerely,

Amanda Hill

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It's a shame, it looked so promising in the beginning. And what's a total bummer is I really like the people I work with, and most of the customers. It's just run too inefficiently, and they just promoted a girl to manager so now it's going to sound like that's what made me pissy, and it's so not! But I can't take it anymore. My schedule for this week is a total of 9 hours, with the probability of being less because the owner sends someone home if business is dead. And business has been quite dead as of late. So $8.00 an hour (let's ignore the fact I got the petty raise along with another worker) and so the math: $8 p/hr x 9 hrs = $72. And that's before taxes and all that fun stuff. And without getting sent home early. Now it takes about $80 a week to fill up the truck's gas tank, and it's doing double duty because sometimes Mike's schedule isn't cohesive with mine. When you look at it in a general manner, we're SPENDING money for me to work at that place. Let's not even mention the mental waste. So even if another job doesn't come along as quickly as I'd like, at least I can have peace of mind and not being wasting precious gas. I can be a damn good employee, but I will not be taken advantage of.

MP3 Killed the Radio Star

Does anyone listen to the radio anymore? I remember calling in to my favorite station to request my favorite song, praying I'd get through. Jamming to JoJo's Top 5 at 9 and Backstreet Boys had gotten the number 1 slot. Being one of the first million to listen to the world premier of a song. Getting impatient with commercials and pressing all the buttons on the car stereo until something better came on.

And now? We live in an iWorld. Shoot me! I own a Zune, which I find to be a little less mainstream and Jobsian, but I too, have contributed to the death of radio. We no longer listen to mindless DJ chatter on our rides to work, we're zoning out to what iTunes tells us is the latest and greatest! We aren't active in our search for new music, we download what we're "suggested" to and just roll with it until a new suggestion pops up. Am I really the only one who enjoyed trolling the radio dial listening to the cacophony of talk, music, and what some claimed to be music, continually building on my musical tastes? And who remembers the sound of static and stations crossing over into each other?! Ah, memories.

Sometimes I go to the cursed Wikipedia search box and type in things like "German pop music" or "French rock music" just to get names of artists and bands I've never had a chance to even hear of in my life. And granted, 90% of the time I've got no clue as to what they're singing about, but I can at least sit back and appreciate the musicianship of the song. I love Ke$ha, Black Eyed Peas, and Zac Brown Band as much as the next drone, but I want to maintain my freedom of choice!

Hey Zune owners, did you know there's a radio function on there? And it's absolute crap! You can get maybe five stations in your area, total. Why would anyone want to listen to the radio when you've got a traffic report, Amber alert, contest winner-free music library at your finger tips. I'd like to complain about this feature that they didn't consider putting much usefulness into, but what would be the point? Why buy an MP3 player for public music, right?

So what's the recommendations for today? "Not Afraid" by Eminem, "OMG" by Usher and will.i.am, "Nothin on You" by B.o.B and Bruno Mars. I'm thinking of downloading a test of the emergency broadcast system, just for nostalgia's sake.

4.28.10 Sleep Talking

"Don't forget Bug's Land."

I can only attribute this to being a Disney's California Adventure reference. However, there was nothing before nor after to give me any freaking clue as to what the heck my husband's actually talking about.


PS- I'd also like to make a minor mention that I was in a deep sleep last night in preparation for my first day of job training, he decides to tickle my back. I literally growled at him. I don't know what good it did since he was apparently in a sleep just as deep, only he didn't have to wake up.

Buying a house: I'd rather pull my wisdom teeth without anesthesia.

Buying a house has been the most frustrating thing I've been a participant to in a while. I hope it's because we're family, and that's why my dad is being so lax with this. I mean, I really hope he doesn't have his clients call him to remind him of things he needs to to do to carry this on. It's so annoying and I should have seen it coming, since he doesn't do anything for free. But it is ridiculous. If we hadn't need him gifting his commission to us, I definitely would NOT have used him a realtor. I'd rather shoot myself in the foot. It feels like we're getting closer, and then something happens on his end to take us ten steps back. If this doesn't go through, I'm giving up all hope and pushing for the apartment.

Sigh, a still less sleep for me.

Mike: "Uh oh uh oh uh oh."
Me: "What?"
Mike: "It's sliding."
Me: "What, the sheet?"
Mike: "No, whatever's in my lap."
Me: "That's Trixie" (as I move her for fear he might try to crush her again)
Mike: "No the rabbit or the hamster..."
Me: "No, she's a DOG."
(Mike grabs his flashlight and starts looking in his lap and around his legs.)
Me: "NOW what?!"
Mike: "I don't know!"


Later, when I'm just about finally in a deep sleep......
Mike: *pokes Mandi in the side of the head* "It's yellow."




Can I just say....? AAARRRRGGGHHHHH! Between him and the kitten I'm getting majorly irritable from sleep deprivation!

Quick sleep talking update

I had to verify this episode was actually sleep talking before I posted it. Sometimes you just never know.

I felt Mikey get up, heard him get his flashlight, then watched him go to the foot of his side of the bed on his hands and knees to look at the floor by that corner. Then all I hear is "Oh no, oh no, oh no" repeatedly. After about thirty "oh no's" he moves around a bit, shuts off the flashlight and climbs back under the covers. He doesn't remember this, so I'm assuming it was just his mind going crazy again. All I know is I'm glad he was wearing boxers because I would have gotten a face full of ass.

The Mayor's Response

One thing I will say in certain favor of Lake Elsinore City officials, they are very expedient in their responses to my correspondence. Here is Mayor Melendez's reply to my email regarding the Lake Elsinore Casino's mural.

Re: Lake Elsinore Casino Mural
Thursday, April 8, 2010 10:07 PM
From:
"Melissa Melendez"
To:
"Mandi DesChene"

Dear Amanda,

Thank you for taking the time to write. Judging by your email, I'd say you feel pretty passionately about this issue! Well, let me just say that the owners and city staff are working out the details. It is considered an advertisement, much like a sign, and they just need to make sure they're in compliance (ie: permits, variances). The actual look of the artwork is not what the city is really concerned with. Some resident are that's for sure, but that's not our business. Robin Golden, who did the artwork, is amazingly talented and did do a great job. Of course that pales in comparison to the artwork she did at a local high school, wow! You should see that work, unbelievable.

So, again, thank you for writing to me. I've only had complaints so far about this issue. It's nice to get a different perspective too!

Warm Regards,

Mayor Melissa Melendez

My Letter to Mayor Melendez (Lake Elsinore)

It's been brought to my attention the Lake Elsinore residents are complaining about the mural on the back of the storage building of the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino and I feel the need for someone to actually COMMEND the casino's use of the building. It was in shambles. They've painted it, and put some colorful artwork that someone put there BY HAND. These people aren't able to appreciate the art and talent behind it. Yes, it promotes all of the company's offerings, what were they supposed to put there?! An image of the MX track, something to do with baseball, maybe a generic lake/desert scene? That, in my opinion, is tacky and has nothing to do with the historic building. There are very few things to do in this town, having grown up here, I know this all too well. The casino has something adults-only to do in this town besides hitting the dive bars. (If someone wants to complain about the image given off about the city, what about all the bikini bar events?) It saddens me that people think a casino's (now-deemed) signage is going to trash the city's reputation. Does Pechanga have a negative affect on the public view of Temecula? If anything, the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino is this city's ONE SHOT at competing for tourist dollars with the big boys like San Diego and Temecula. I'd rather see that mural and know that it's generating jobs and bringing in money to the city than some indecipherable graffiti from one of the local gangs that taints the city's image. What image, then, should Lake Elsinore strive for?

Amanda Hill
Life-long Lake Elsinore student and resident


If you'd like to read the North County Times story about the mural, here's the link: http://www.tinyurl.com/LERmural If you agree, or even if you disagree, let the mayor know what you think. melissamelendezforcitycouncil@gmail.com You do have a right to voice your opinions. The people complaining are doing it, why not you? The two big issues here are: 1. Is the mural a sign under code definition? 2. Is it an eyesore?
What do you think?

One Day Without Shoes

Can you go an entire day barefoot? Including going to work, school, even just walking to your mailbox? Even if dress codes forbid you, try going a part of the day without shoes and help spread awareness of the impact one pair of shoes can have on the life of a child.

April 8th is a Day Without Shoes, promoted by TOMS.

We often take the simplest things for granted. Take this opportunity to walk in a child's footsteps and be grateful for everything you've been given.

Go to www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

and see if there is an event in your area today where you can get involved. Remember, for every purchase of TOMS shoes, TOMS will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need.

What's the big deal? It’s hard without shoes.

[Excerpt from the website:]
Through everyday encounters with domestic poverty, we are reminded to appreciate having food and shelter, but most of us all but forget about our feet. Food, shelter, AND shoes facilitate life’s fundamentals. Imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold.

The problem is large, but the solution is simple. Wearing shoes and practicing basic hygiene can prevent both infection and disease due to unsafe roads and contaminated soil. By imagining a life barefoot, we can all contribute to the awareness of these conditions. On April 8th, communities, campuses, organizations, and individuals are banding together to walk barefoot for One Day Without Shoes.

More Sleep Talking

I don't have exact dates, but you'll laugh anyways.

On our honeymoon:
Mike (sits right up and points to the corner where my jacket is hanging): "What's that moving?!"
Me: "Nothing's moving."
Mike: "That is moving."
Me: "NO IT'S NOT. GO TO SLEEP!"

Mike (sits bolt upright a few days later, staring at the cabin door: "Someone's at the door."
Me: "I don't think anyone is at the door."
Mike: "Who's at the door?!"
Me: "I don't know! The gun is on your side of the bed, why don't you go look?!"
Mike: "No." (grabs covers, rolls over, and covers his head.)

Sometime after our honeymoon:
Mike (sitting up again): "That's moving!"
Me: "What is?"
Mike: "That! On the window!"
Me: "The bouquet from our wedding is NOT moving."

A few nights after that:
Mike (who seems to jar himself into this talking unconscious state by sitting up, staring at something readjusting under the covers): "StopStevenStopStevenStopStevenStopStevenStopStevenStopSteven."

Me: "That's not Steven. It's either Jose or Batty."(Jose and Batty are two of the dogs that sleep with us.)

And lately:
Well, I can't even attempt to type what he's been blabbering lately, because the majority of it isn't English! And when it is, it's like a lesson in conjunctions and adverbs. I think he's picking up Korean or Tagolog or something from work and it's coming out in his sleep. As for what is English, I can't make heads or tales of "Always much very like sometimes never." When he starts blurting like that or in syllables I've not chance at understanding, I don't even bother to respond. The night usually goes by smoother if I don't.

My Own Sleep Talkin' Man

I've recently discovered this hilarious and awesome blog called "Sleep Talkin' Man." A British wife posts all the crazy things her husband says in his sleep. Well, I have my own sleep talker husband! So I've decided to start chronicling his nonsense.

January 25, 2010
...Starts pulling on my blanket."
Mandi: "Stop that."
Mike: "Hey you." [with a finger pointed in the air.]
Mandi: "Lay down, go to sleep, and don't say 'hey you', it's rude."
Mike: "Do you want it or not?"
Mandi: "Want what?"
Mike: "Sound."
Mandi: "I do not want sound."
Mike: "Well if anyone else wants it, it's right...over...there." [reaches over me to point in the corner by the bed, there's a panda that actually does make noise there.]

January 27, 2010
...I pull myself up to roll over on my other side.
Mike: "Mmm, you look like you want sex. Do you want it?"
Mandi: "No."
Mike: "Oh." [lays down and goes back to sleep.]

As you can see, this is what my nights consist of. That, and snoring.