The Week in Recap

Well, where to start. It's Sunday afternoon, Tool Academy is on, wispy snowflakes are floating outside and I feel... well, cranky. My laptop was acting up this morning and once I finally was able to boot it up I realized I had lost the recipe for the Tex-Mex beans and rice I made earlier in the week. I suppose it's a good excuse to make another batch, but it's just another hiccup in a week that has been filled with stress. I'd say that a good 90% of it stems from work. We had two computers die and normally that wouldn't be more than a major inconvenience, however, one of the two deceased PCs was our main server. That meant that we lost the ability to print drug labels, bill out clients and input medical history. Essentially, we were completely crippled. On top of that, our last back-up was two days before the server bit it, so I spent all of Friday manually re-entering EVERY transaction we had done based off of our invoices.

It's been a technological nightmare at UrbanVet this past month. Between phones that pick and choose when they want to work, faulty internet connections and suicidal computers it feels like if I breathe too hard on anything that uses electricity it'll fall apart. And the kicker to all this is that in the midst of Rachael and I working like crazy to get everything up and functioning again, we find out that our hours are being reduced! Awesome! It's frustrating, mostly because I work so hard for that place. I love my job and I truly feel like I've tuned into something that I can make a fulfilling career out of. I can't recall ever having a job where I've enjoyed the work and the people as much as I do here. And consequently, I can't recall ever putting forth so much effort to be successful in a job and I feel that I've proved myself to be a true asset to the clinic. It just felt like a big kick in the proverbial junk.

Although, I should be thankful, really. Thankful that I'm just having my hours scaled back a bit instead of getting canned because we have too many receptionists. Pardon the coarse analogy, but America's economy is a giant, foul floater in the world's toilet bowl and has been for quite a while now. There doesn't appear to be an immediate solution to the crisis (come on, Obama!) and it really is a testament to Dr. Morris and how much she appreciates us that we all have kept our jobs through all of this financial insecurity. But I can't help but feel the squeeze. Gerad's parents want us to start paying rent at the house, Green River CC just accepted my application so I'll need to start putting money together for classes and I haven't worked an 80 hour pay period since last summer. It's becoming more and more obvious to me that I need a second job if I'm going to keep my head above water and achieve my goals for next year.

But it hasn't been all bad this week. I took a bath so marvelous on Tuesday I'm still thinking about it. Red wine, warm water and ambient tunes to soothe the mind. My bath actually brings me to this week's "Fresh Tunes" section of the blog. Malari brought her Godspeed You Black Emperor! CD to work Tuesday morning and it put me in a pensive mood. Not in a negative way, just very contemplative and stuck on the idea that beauty is intrinsic to all things, even the most hideous or strange. Go listen to GYBE!'s "Dead Flag Blues" off of their F#a#oo album and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a song about love in the face of apocalyptic despair. Pretty heavy shit.

I popped that song into my Pandora radio station and it came back with a handful of bands I had never heard of, two of which I'm going to share with you. They play the same type of intense, panoramic instrumentals. Layered and complicated and arching, their brand of rock sounds more orchestral than indie. Think of it as meditation rock. "Om"die rock. The first band goes by the name of Explosions In The Sky and their album Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever is a mouth full but definitely worth a listen. These guys are out of Texas and you can practically hear the lonesome cry of the dusty, open plains in their music. The second band (and my personal favorite), Red Sparowes, hails from LA and makes deliciously trippy use of steel pedal guitar. I YouTubed some of their live performances, here's one for your viewing/listening pleasure:





Are they not nifty? I'm just hoping I haven't caught on to these bands too late, it would be amazing to see either of them play live.

And of course, there was Angel and Dan's joint birthday party this weekend. It was crunktastic! Stiff drinks, full bowls and lots of Costco appetizers to go around. And if at any point the fun level dropped below a certain point, the fabulous Anthony was there to kick it back up. The only downer of the night was that I broke my 23 day-long smoke-free streak. Just when I thought I was free and clear, a couple of drinks managed to dissolve my resolve. The good news is I am right back on the wagon without a second thought. Pictures speak louder than words, so here's a photo that accurately describes the type of night we had on Friday:

Just take a look at that slightly stoopid expression on my mug. Priceless. That's all for now.

!!!

TOP THREE BATH TUB JAMS

• "Millions Starved" by Red Sparowes
• "Remember Me As A Time Of Day" by Explosions In The Sky
• "Honey" by Mogwai