Money Shots...

I was searching for a photo to put up here.  It seems I don't post many anymore.  While I was looking, I realized why.  I don't take as many pictures as I used to.  And when I do?  Mostly friends or random stuff at work.  And all those random money shots from work--let me start over.  All of those random pictures of money from work are going to be in a book someday, a book about things people write on their money.  Ha...money shots.  That's gotta be the title of this blog!  *changes title*  Ahem...anywho...money.  Writing...blah...

You want a sample?

I get things that surely have a back story, such as this:



The writer in me hates finding these because I never get to learn what the story is.

Then there's political statements:



It says, "Free your Mind Don't be a Slave"

And then there's political psychopathy:



Apparently Alexander Hamilton was the King for all Emigrants?  And had something to do with the Nazi regime?  The history books never taught me that one...maybe because they weren't written by raving psychopaths. 

So...yeah.  I've been collecting these for as long as I've been working with money.  I want to publish them in a book.  All the phone numbers and well wishes, the rantings and the odd stamps...compile them all and put it out there for the world to see.  And who knows, maybe people will start sending me bills they find, sort of like Post Secret, but with money.  I'd much rather get money than postcards! 

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Tagged!

A great blogger, Jasmine at An Experiment in Poverty, tagged me for this one. I was thrilled.

Rules to follow... if you're the kind who follows rules: Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own. Tag five other un-tagged people.

What is your current obsession?
I guess it might be our new cat, Marbles. He’s freaking adorable. We just learned that he loves to play the blanket game, where we put him under a sheet and poke at him, and he fights back. So cute.

What are you wearing now?
I’m wearing my forest green sweater with the thin, horizontal grey stripes, my grey pinstripe pants, and my black argyle socks. It’s business casual, baby. But only because I’m at work. At this time of day at home, I’d be in my birthday suit.

Do you nap a lot?
No. Almost never, actually. Napping leaves me feeling groggy and disoriented for days. I must never have inherited that one from my mother. It’s about the only thing we don’t have in common.

What would you like to learn to do?
Cook. I’d love to learn to cook. I’m a terrible multitasker, so timing and doting on more than one thing on the stove is really hard for me. I always end up with cold noodles and sauce and hot bread. Or…you know…But I make a mean grilled cheese sandwich.

What’s for dinner?
I don’t know. I don’t usually cook. It’ll probably be something fast, since we have to eat between when I get off work at 6:15 and church at 8:15. I know it’s two hours, but I won’t get home until 6:30 and then it’s changing and playing with the cat and playing with the boyfriend…you know, time consuming stuff. We might just eat out.

What was the last thing you bought?
Yesterday I went to a thrift store in town and bought One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, a book of random facts for Robb, and Elite Beat Agents for the Nintendo DS. Grand total? $10.83. I love No Strings Attached.

What is your favorite weather?
I love sunny, 70-80 degrees. Anything that makes for great picture taking. Cloud cover washes everything out…no fun at all. Although, I love a good rain, provided that I have nowhere to be.

What is on your bedside table?
I don’t sleep in my own bed. Mine is basically a guest bed in our apartment. But on the table is a drunken Homer Simpson lamp, three books (To Life: A Celebration of Jewish Thinking and Being, Best American Short Stories 200#, -- 8? Is it 8? – and Bearing an Hourglass), my checkbook and car payment booklet, my alarm clock, my change can, a box with all my random foreign coins in it (I should blog about that), a box of Kleenex (currently empty), and several small things I should probably throw away.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
Making enough money to pay my bills. I need a full time job. Working part time at a bank for under ten dollars an hour just isn’t cutting it for me.

Do you have a blog you read daily even when there are no updates?
I used to look at See Kyle Draw (kyle-cummings.blogspot.com) all the time, but now that he’s stopped posting artwork as often, I don’t go there as much. Other than that, Bent Objects (bentobjects.blogspot.com) is a great one.

What would you like to have in your hands right now?
Adam Levine, the lead singer of Maroon 5. Or twenty thousand dollars to pay off my loans.

What would you like to get rid of?
The extra body fat around my midsection. I need to start running or something…the abs I do crunches twice a day for are somewhere under that extra poundage. And, admittedly, it’s not much. But it’s enough.

What language(s) do you want to be able to speak?
I would love to speak German. Or Russian. I adore the German language.

What's one thing you're looking forward to?
See previous blog. VACATION!!!!! Although, admittedly, I'm a little bit freaking out about the cat being there without us for almost two weeks. I couldn't sleep last night because I was thinking about it. I need a cat sitter.

If you were to pick up a pen right now, what would be the first thing you'd write?
Probably the date. I always date something if I write it. Who knows when I’ll look back at it again. I had a great idea for a poem last night, and I let it get away without writing it down. Grr.

Who was your childhood crush?
Well, in my childhood it was the older brother of a boy I played with (with a last name like a gun). When I figured out what I actually wanted, though (read: high school), it was Jordan Swanson…oh man. I spent way too much energy thinking about that man.

What do you want to be... when you grow up?
A writer, a teacher, a librarian, a clerk at a bookstore…something. Maybe a cartoon voice actor. I’ve been told I’d be good at that. What I don’t want is to be defined by my career. I just want to be able to pay the bills and have a little something leftover to do what I love during my free time.

What (and when) was the last book you read?
I just finished reading On a Pale Horse a little over a week ago. It’s the first book of the seven-book Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. I read five or six of them waaaay back in the day, when I was into fantasy and sci-fi, and I have always wanted to go back and read them again, if only to finish the series. They’re not as good as I recall them being, but nothing ever is.

I liked all of these questions, so I didn’t delete any of them. But I did add one of my own at the end. Now, to tag…

How about:
A Human Kind of Human
All Is Fair
Melissa

All right, then...

Viewtiful_Justin...Out

Adventures In Oil Changing....

You know what the best way to get an oil change is? Taking your car three blocks to the shop and reading a book while you talk to the receptionist. Highly recommended.

While I was in there she said, "That's weird. You're the second Difazzio we've had in here today." And instantly all the bells and whistles in my head started going off. Red flags and sirens...mostly because I never want to have to run into my dad again. Ever.

"That's odd," I said. "There aren't very many of us."

"Do you have family in St. Charles?" she asked. (I breathed an instant sigh of relief.)

"Not that I'm aware of..." I said, curious. "What are their names?"

"Well, her name is Judy, and his name is...Joe? John?"

At this point I figured it wasn't anybody I knew. And then she says, "Oh, it's Jerry!"

Jerry and Judy are my uncle and aunt that I've never really met. He never came to any family functions, and she's his wife. I think I've seen Jerry a total of twice in my life. He walked through the hospital waiting room on his way to the bathroom when my grandma was dying. And...he must have been at the funeral, although I don't remember seeing him there. My dad always said he was an asshole. And...given what an asshole my dad is, I've always wanted to meet Jerry. He's probably actually a really cool guy. Or maybe he's an asshole. I guess I'll never know.

So that was exciting. And do you know what isn't exciting?

Tuesday I was leaving the Borders parking lot and my steering wheel was having issues turning right. And yesterday on my way back from Wheaton it was hissing when I turned right. So I asked them to check on it for me.

$534 and change. That's what it will cost to replace the rack. As in, rack and pinion. Or rack and peanut if you're Homer J. Simpson.

So...that's money I don't have. My mom said to use my tax return. She was apparently the one person I hadn't told my tax-related tale of woe to. I owed the fed $30.25. I get $60 from the state. Whoopty-fucking-doo.

And we just bought plane tickets two weeks ago for our vacation. Everything's just coming up roses for me.

But Robb reminded me that I purchased a warranty on the car when I bought it. And I have to call them back today and see if it would cover them replacing the rack. And if so, that'd be fucking amazing. And if not...that would be...well, not so fucking amazing.

So...hooray for adventures. My $23 oil change is about to cost me over $500.

Woot.

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