Addiction, Three-Day Weekends, and Equilibrium

I should quit coffee cold turkey. I have traded the kiddie cartons of milk for mocha lattes. My sixth grade math teacher with the horrible coffee breath would be so proud. I have had two coffee drinks today to keep me going, a bowl of pasta for lunch (yes, the white flour kind). So...refined white flour, caffeine, and sugar.
My addiction has materialized so tomorrow, November 13th, I will go on without a cup o' joe.
Vamos a ver.

Three-Day Weekends.
Glorious. Truly and incredibly, glorious. I've forgotten what holidays feel like - what a day off feels like. It's nice to be reminded.
America, we need more holidays - sure, we're a younger country than others, but we have plenty to celebrate - let's throw in a few Festival Days, Bank Holidays, Let's Not Think About The Economy Day or National Day of Chillaxation?
But until then, will have to return to the task at hand...finding quick little great escapes from L.A. ...

Equilibrium
I feel like the Heroes story composition - I've traded one set of problems for a new one. Breaking even, 'a la Jerry in that one Seinfeld episode where he lost twenty bucks that Elaine threw out the window of his apartment building and then he found a twenty spot in his coat pocket.
i.e. the apartment and roommate living situation, the family bugging me to being surprisingly harmonious, the overcharged initiative sparking friend to the apathetic exhausted one.

BTW, Heroes is getting a critical beat-ing if you haven't noticed. We all know the numbers are down, but what are the writers thinking? Not from a media standpoint, but as a fan - the show's focus feels shattered, storylines convoluted, and characters, well, just plain acting out of character. Heroes, you're our breakout friend we met that was a hit at that party, a couple of parties, and all of a sudden, we have no idea who you are trying to be anymore, since, you have no idea who you are anymore. Take the tried-and-true advice to the core: just be yourself.

14 days until Thanksgiving weekend...

Oh, the places you'll go

Western Bagel. My cup o' joe and chocolate chip bagel, and breakfast is done for less than three bucks. I glance over at the five elderly coffee buddies sitting and chatting, with a leisurely air about them. That's good, these gentlemen have friends and hobbies - and can get out of the house. Although it is a bit early for a friends' coffee gathering.

The alley behind my garage. This is when a little birdie told me that my ancient apartment building has had problems - rat problems, which prompted the trimming of the trees on our street, since apparently rats were jumping off of trees and onto our building. I'm sorry, what were we talking about? Just reeling from that disturbing mental image. Oh, right. There has been no mention to them of replacing the piping system in our building, or the hot water pressure problem. Apparently they have had problems with getting various repairs completed by the owners and management also.

Building number one, let's call it the Marshall building. I report for my temp gig twenty minutes early at the parking garage. They tell me I should go to the next garage down, let's call this one, Ray of Sunshine.

Ray of Sunshine's garage. I pull up to the gate and the attendant tells me I need to enter through the other side of the garage. She makes a call to the other gate's attendant and he informs her that I should be on Level P2. She lets me in and I finally find a parking spot on P2. I walk over to the elevators and the garage attendant sees me and steps out to find out where I'm going. He indicates that I shouldn't be here but over at the Apex building. I make a call to the agency and fill them in. I take a seat on the planters facing the elevators and wait.

Still sitting on the planters. They've checked all their records and everything has listed the initial Marshall building location. I then get back in my car and leave the parking garage (after a flustered search for the exit).

Back at the Marshall parking garage - there the attendant tells me that all the spaces are reserved, so I'm probably supposed to park somewhere else. I then get another call indicating that I should be in the Apex building.

Olive parking garage. I get off the elevators and make my way through the courtyard to the building.

Third floor. After walking down the hallway and circulating the whole floor, I find that none of the suites on the third floor indicate where the company is located. The nice enough employee in one of the suites there finds out that I should be in the other building across the courtyard, the Apex Dos building. I check with the security guard outside that I am, in fact, going in the right direction.

Apex Dos. I finally make it to the building for today's destination. In the lobby, I check in with the security guard and she issues me a pass.

The third floor suite, which the company has full reign over, has finally found its way to me and I check in with the receptionist and she shows me to my desk for the day. Oh, temping.

Three parking garages. Three parking attendants. Two security guards. And it's not even 10:00am. At least I had breakfast.


Some names may have been changed to protect the identity of...well, I guess my whereabouts. But who cares? I mean, nobody in Hollywood wants me dead yet.

Oh, consumerism

I heart chocolate chip bagels. Also, as I enjoy this can of Diet Pepsi Lime, I wonder what the future holds. How about chocolate flavored water? Somebody do some beverage manufacturing, find a B-list celeb whose career needs reviving, and sell that shit. Any questions about merchandising? Ask George Foreman.

Coffee. Oh, Priscilla's Ole. So hot, so reliable, so hits the spot. If only your ticket time had some sort of consistency to it.

As an out-of-work entertainment assistant struggling to pay the bills, I explain that these are the mere reflections of a dark and tortured existence. Thus, some of the more trivial things in life that I enjoy (hey, my favorite academic experience was writing an undergraduate paper on the product placement industry) I may express, but with the absence of a steady 9-to-6, its quite possible that they take up more of my interest.

It's a cruel, harsh world, baby. I don't drink away my problems; I just coat them in dark chocolate.