This may be the ugliest shoe I have ever seen. Mom and I are planning an elaborate day on the town today. Shopping for an outfit for her Christmas work dinner, taking care of some things for my grandmother, a little bit of Christmas shopping, and a lot of caffeine at the various coffee establishments of Westerly. I just can't seem to spend a single day without filling my veins with the stuff. Pictures to be posted soon.

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I just don't even have the energy to recount what happened on my trip home last Tuesday/Wednesday. Suffice to say, it was the longest 24-hour period of travel that I have EVER spent.
There will be a more in-depth version of this story on my other blog, onlytomorrow.blogspot.com
It's all written, but I need to be able to get my own computer online for it, instead of borrowing the one at Dave's Coffee in Westerly. But I need my good friend Timmo to fix whatever I did that is making my poor little laptop have a seizure everytime I turn it on.
I'm just sitting in this cool little place, listening to Dave and wasting time. I've given in and bought a winter coat, and the day I finally did this, it was about 60 out. I could have put my coat on and put the top down on the jeep. I'm trying not to feel so much guilt for having spent the necessary $36 for my bargain-clearance-close out-priced winter jacket. But it's tough at the moment, considering the turn in the weather. Not that I'm asking for snow, (Oh god! Have I tempted fate just by talking about it??? I didn't mean it!) but I'd love a REASON to feel justified in spending money.
This is a new-found financial conscience. Sprung from this fantastic revelation that I'm PAYING my employer to work for them.
You heard right.
I don't want to talk about it. I just get mad again.
I ship out again in 4 more days. Heading for a little place I like to call Armpit, Ohio. Which is interesting, because I just got back from Armpit, Maine. Seems there are a lot of them out there. And they send me to all of them.
Are there Armpits in Canada? I know about the literal ones. I mean figuratively. Does anyone get sent to those tiny towns with 3 roads and 1 stoplight? Or is this phenomenon saved for just me?
I can't complain TOO much. I live in one of those towns, but the difference is, it's MY town. And when I'm in it, so are all the people that make it a desirable place for me to live. Thus the non-Armpit-iness.
Whatever. I ramble. Moving on.
I'm trekking up to Smithfield tonight to visit Tim. I reserved him for the evening a week or so ago, and now we have to find some interesting entertainment for the evening. We don't usually have much trouble though.
As soon as my computer is back in working order, there will be more to read, I promise.
:)

Heading to the airport to go to Toronto now. This is going to be the longest day ever.

Stole this from Kate (Katie? She'll always be Katie to me...:)

Full Name: Kally Hanifin
Single or Taken: Perma-single.
Sex: Female
Birthday: 3.13.80
Siblings: Aaron
Eye color: Brown
Shoe size: 8.5
Height: 5'7.5"
Innie or Outie: Innie.
What are you wearing right now: Yoga pants, a DMB t-shirt from the Charlottesville show, flowered undies. That's it. (I just got home from my third shift.)
Job: Operations Representative for Tim Hortons Corporate
Where do you live: In hotels.
Righty or lefty: Righty.
Can you make a dollar in change right now: Only in Canadian money.
Relationships
Who are your closest friends: Joe, Chery, Joanne, my mom, Face, my laptop
Do you have a BF or GF?: I think we've already covered this.
Best place to go for a date: The Zoo.
Favorites...
Favorite place to shop: Kenneth Cole outlet in CT.
Favorite kind of pants: Perfect jeans.
Color: All of them!
Number(s): 33
Boys Name: I like non-traditional names. It's the hippy in me. I haven't seen them yet. And I don't want kids, so it doesn't matter much. I always say that I will one day have 2 weimaraners: a girl named Marse, and a boy named Fennicks. But we'll see. That's the best you're gonna get.
Girls Name: See above. Blame my parents.
Animal: Horses. Duh. And my weimaraner, Ivan.
Sober Drink: Iced Coffee!
Alcoholic Drink: Disoronno sours.
Sport(s): I don't know. Wrestling? Probably.
Fast-Food Place: Subway? Maybe? I live on take out. I don't really have favorites. I hate them all.
Month: June.
Movie: Tough one... At the moment, Crash.
Juice: Tomato
Finger: Thumb. Unique among humans and primates.
Breakfast: Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon.
Favorite cartoon character: Sponge Bob Squarepants. But just because he's on tv right now. I don't really know many.
---------Have you ever----------------------------------------------------------
Given anyone a bath: One of the kids I babysat.
Smoked: No.
Bungee: I want to!!
Made yourself throw-up: I avoid it at all cost, actually.
Gone skinny dipping: SO MANY TIMES.
Eaten a dog: HOT dog, yes. Spikes Junkyard Dog rocks my world.
Put your tongue on a frozen pole: Ew. No.
Loved someone so much it made you cry?: Yes.
Broken a bone: KNOCK ON WOOD. No.
Played truth or dare: WHILE SKINNY DIPPING. Beat that.
Been in a physical fight: Yes. I have an older brother. It's inevitable.
Been in a police car: HA! Yes. Long story. Ask me sometime. It's funny.
Been on a plane: Too many.
Come close to dying: I don't know... Probably?
Been in a sauna: We used to have one at my house! I loved it.
Been in a hot tub: LOVE them.
Swam in the ocean: Not since July of 1998.
Fallen asleep in school: Yes. Bio Lecture, EVERY time.
Ran away?: When I was little and pissed at my parents, I took off running towards the lake. My brother caught me, and ended up with bite marks all over his arms. I was a vicious kid with a temper. :)
Broken someone's heart: I doubt it.
Cried when someone died: Yes.
Cried in school: I'm sure.
Fell off your chair: I remember one time specifically. There was rum involved, and it was a rolling desk chair.
Sat by the phone all night waiting for someone to call? My mom. When she was travelling and I wanted to know if she arrived safely.
Saved AIM conversations: Yes. Chery and I lived across the suite from each other, but would literally sit back to back with our doors open, write stories on IM and laugh hysterically at each other. We were dumb. But we kept the stories.
Saved e-mails: Sure.
Fallen for one of your best friends? Um. Once.
Made out with JUST a friend?: Maybe.
Used someone: Not that I remember.
Been cheated on?: Not that I know of.
---------What is...----------------------------------------------------------------
Your good luck charm: Don't have one.
Best song you ever heard: That changes a lot, but it's almost always a DMB song. Dancing Nancies, #41, DreamGirl, What You Are, etc.
Stupidest thing you have ever done: Worked so hard to get this job.
What's your room like: Right now? Boring. White. Cheesey hotel art. Hate it.
Last thing you said: "Good morning. Thank you." Handing in the car keys at the front desk of the hotel.
What is beside you: Bunky. My teddybear.
What kind of shampoo do you use?: Pantene. Right now.
Best thing that has happened to you this year: Got a raise? I don't know...
Worst thing that has happened to you this year: Took this job.
-------------------------have i had..----------------------------------------
Chicken pox: I think so.
Sore Throat: Has anyone NOT had a sore throat?
Stitches: In my eye lid, when I was 1, and a dog bit it off. Nice, huh?
Broken nose: No.
-----------------------Do you...-------------------------------------------------Believe in love at first sight: I don't NOT believe in it. I just haven't witnessed it first hand.
Like picnics: I have my own picnic basket. LOVE it.
Like school: MISS SCHOOL.
What schools have you gone to: Hope Valley Elem, Chariho Middle, Chariho High, and RIC
Eat a live hamster for $1,000,000. dollars: Not for a billion. I have my limits.
Ok, maybe for a billion. NO! Not even for a billion! Joe would probably do it for a hundred, though.
If you were stuck on an island, what people would you want with you: Dave Matthews. My mom. My papa. Joe. Melanie. Chery and Joanne. Everyone else that I love. I hope it's a big island.
Who was the last person that called you: Joe. 2 days ago. I live by the internet mostly. Grown accustomed to this, living mostly in another country and all.
Who was the last person you slow danced with: Sadly (kind of) I think it was Joe at Erica's wedding last February.
What makes you laugh the most?: hiccoughs.
What makes you smile?: Getting funny messages.
--------------------Who is the last person-----------------------------------
You Kissed?: Oh boy. I'm not sure I even remember. It's been a while.
You yelled at: probably a trainee.
Who broke your heart: Do we have to discuss this?
Who told you they loved you: My mom.
Is your loudest friend?: Probably Melanie.
--------------Do you/Are You:------------------------------------------------
Do you wear contacts or glasses: Both. Not at the same time.
Do you like yourself: In theory.
Do you get along with your family: Some of them.
Stolen anything: A necklace in Martha's Vineyard. Joe made me do it. And tons of stuff in college (christmas lights, fire hydrant, chairs, golf flags). Freshmen made me do it then. Or maybe I made them?
Obsessive? Often.
Compulsive? Sometimes.
Anorexic? I had some trouble in high school and college, but I wouldn't put that label on it.
Suicidal? Not exactly.
--------------Final questions--------------------------------------------------------What are you listening to right now?: TV.
What did you do yesterday: Worked. Slept. Took photos of the waterfall behind the hotel. Had a frappuccino. Worked.
Hated someone in your family: Loved/hated, yes.
Gotten any awards: Some.
What car do you wish to have: Honda S2000. Cabrio (only if they still made them), fast little things. Pimped out things that sound good.
Where do you want to get married: Do I want to get married?
If you could change anything about yourself, what would it be? my entire body. Leave my hair.
Good driver: Relatively.
Good Singer: I have my moments.
Have a lava lamp: No use for it at home. And I'm not packing it up in a suitcase every 3 weeks now. I guess I could have had one in college, but... ehh. Didn't bother.
How many remote controls are in your house: 0
Are you double jointed: It's a myth. No one is double jointed.
What do you dream about: oh boy. Aliens who are allergic to tomatoes, invading my town; ducklings that disappear when the lights turn on; purring squirrels; someone in a spangly blue dress giving my dog a bath; a basement room full of telescopes; big mechanical hands trying to pull my toes off for a toe museum; Giant wooden face sculptures that get mad at me for jumping on the hood of a car; Should I go on? It gets weirder.
Last time you showered: Last night before work.
Last time you took a bath: Last week. With bubbles.
Last movie you saw in the theaters: Um. maybe Bewitched? Who has time for movies?
Scary or happy movies: Happy. Or sad. Or funny. Whatever. NOT scary.
Chocolate or white: CHOCOLATE.
Root or Dr.Pepper: Rootbeer.
Mud or Jell-O wrestling: Having never tried either, I'd have to go with my instincts and say Jell-o. Jell-o makes everything better.
Vanilla or chocolate: Chocolate.
Skiing or Boarding: I always wanted to try Boarding.
fall or winter: Fall. Sweaters. Yay.
Silver or Gold: Silver.
Diamond or pearl: Pearl.
Sunset or Sunrise: SUNRISE. In the keys. On a bridge, watching pelicans fish.
Sprite or 7up: Neither.
Orange juice or apple juice: Orange.
Cats or dogs: Dogs.
Coffee or tea: Coffee in the morning. Tea at night.
Phone or in person: In person. Just because I'm alone all the time.
Are you Oldest, middle, youngest or only child: Youngest of 2.
Indoor or outdoor: Indoor for coziness, outside for adventures.

I love these cakes too. Maybe a little too much...

The most beautiful sandwich I've ever seen. I haven't eaten since 3 o'clock this morning and now It's 11:30 at night.

HELLO LOYAL FOLLOWERS!

Who knew I was so popular!
I've actually got complaints that I haven't been writing enough.
I LOVE IT!
:)
I wasn't actually sure anyone even read them. Fantastic!
I'll be using some choice words on what I think of Tim Horton's compared to Bess Eaton on my other blog, if anyone is interested. :) onlytomorrow.blogspot.com
I would also like to draw everyone's attention of Bonnie's homage to randomness (to which I have started contributing) oglemy.blogspot.com

All I've been doing is working and sleeping. I don't do anything else. Ever.
And the more I sleep in a day, the more I NEED to sleep in a day. I even bought a puzzle and a book and a crossword puzzle book, JUST in case I feel like doing something else. But no, all I want to do is sleep or watch TV.
And occasionally eat, but not all that often really, unless the food is RIGHT there in front of me, in which case, I can't get enough. Especially breakfast sandwich eggs. They are the best EVER. Unfortunately. I am seriously going to have to cut back and start actually working out if I'm EVER going to fit into that Maid Of Honor dress for my cousin's wedding.
Oy.
Oh great. Do you hear this? George W. has now decided that he wants to start a war with North Korea. That's exactly what we need. Marvelous. Good going, George! Obviously you know what you're doing... Moron.
Sorry. Bit of a tangent there. This is what I get for watching TV and writing at the same time.
Anyway, I think it's about time I start my 12 hours of sleep. I PROMISE TO WRITE MORE OFTEN.
OK? :)

.

I collapsed into a blubbering heap of over-tired mush this morning.
What it comes down to is: Cara and I will never be friends. Our personalities just don't mesh. I have a much sillier sense of humor, and she looks at me like...
It's an effort in self control to deal with my ineptitude and it's no use to try to humor her with any attempt at light-heartedness.
Granted, when she approached me this morning, I was over-sensitive, having worked the majority of my shift already on little sleep. But I honestly thought I was doing well last night. The store was spotless. Everything was stocked, everything was refreshed. For the majority of the night, there was little to be done and too many of us to do it. So I spent a lot of time sitting down, because the point is to get them self-sufficient, and the sooner we make it there, the more fine-tuning we can do.
Garreth showed up at 3:45 am, which I thought was late, but his trainee was trained at the last opening here, so he's on the fine\-tuning stage, so he was allowed to be in for 4. He didn't see any problems with my work. Cara showed up, bee-lined in my direction and demanded why things weren't done. Within 5 minutes, she found 3 things I had done wrong.
I started ranting and spouting all over the place. I'm sorry, but it isn't possible that I do everything wrong. How can I possibly have made it through 7 weeks of training if I do? And her answer to this was that I was fresh out of the book and everyone else had already figured out the tricks.
I said I had been serving coffee since I was 14 years old, and managed a Tim Hortons for a year and a half. I've probably got 10 times the experience that she has with coffee, but I don't get any respect for that.
She said yes I did, I got the job.
I started this opening with the idea that everything was different. I am so tired of being the rookie and not knowing anything, and needing everyone to pick up my pieces. Especially since I do everything the way I've been taught, but apparently that is "from the book" and this is from real life. And apparently, I'm too defensive about these things, and I just need to take everything as constructive criticism, because we are all on the same team.
I feel like the member of the team she tries to ignore.
There is no convincing her that this job is harder because I have been away from home for 3 months now, and I miss my friends and family. She just kind of agreed with me to shut me up.
"Yeah, I'm sure it's hard. But you need to stop taking everything so personally."
I don't think she believes the 2 are connected.
So all of this happened in front of my trainees, and one of them is the most annoying person in Maine (which is a state with a lot of really annoying people in it.). He's the baker and took it upon himself to try to raise my spirits by giving me advice.
Trainees are not allowed to do that. Officially. I'm making that rule. He pisses me off on a good day, but today, I wanted to stuff his head in the convection oven.
What sucks the most is knowing that I have made friends in Ops, but I will never work with them. It is a very US/THEM situation. I have no idea who they are talking about when they tell their stories about past openings. They have no idea who I'm talking about when I tell them stories about the Ramada or my training. I hate that I'm going to be restricted to just these people.
I'm more and more ready to go home.

Who ya gonna call? KALLY BUSTER!

Getting ready...

This thing hooks on like a really big garter belt. I needed some help with it. I was cracking up through the whole thing. They were getting a little nervous around me, because I was laughing kind of demonically...

This suit requires a team effort. Pretty soon, you'll see why...

This took so long...

I'm inside that thing! That backpack was a fan, with a big vent hose, and I had a battery pack. I'm inflatable!

My helpers.

This photo looks kind of ... Interesting. But that's Jill, the store owner, and she is pulling my pant legs down and telling me I need to shave my legs.

Hugging Jillian. I just wanted to hug everyone. It was so funny, because only half of my arms could make it out through the sleeves and I could barely even touch my fingers in front of me.
I hugged so many people today. :)

This photo is Chery's proof photo. I told her I was doing this today, and asked her what she wanted me to do, to prove that it's actually me inside it. She said "Under a tree" (I did the best I could) "2nd position, in ballet" (also the best I could do) left arm straight, right arm bent." This is what you get.

I'm pointint to "HOT!" Does that clear that up?

This might be my favorite. I don't know why. I just think it's so Disney-on-crack...

Not too sure what this was all about. But it's funny!

Me, Jill, and Karl, the 2 store owners. By this time, the battery was starting to die in the fan and I was deflating, so the big yellow label on the front, which is a screen that I look through, was starting to sink and I couldn't see anything. Every time they made me pose with people for normal photos, I was making HORRIBLE faces inside the cup.
There are lots of videos of me too, dancing and waddling and looking generally stupid. I had to be lead around, and every time I had to go through a door, either they had to open both doors, or I had to suck it in, meaning squeeze both sides together.
I had so much fun.

I hate most when I finish a day of work, and check my phone and email to find NO calls and NO messages.
That's so depressing.
I was so excited at the thought of being back in the states, I totally forgot about the part where I'm not actually home.
This opening is already a lot better than the last one. I'm not an outcast. I haven't severely screwed up yet. (Big emphasis on the "yet.") No one has been admitted to the hospital, or collapsed on the floor and needed to be removed by an ambulance.
I have a king-sized bed.
I spoke to the DM here again. (This was actually his suggestion for me.) He has a 6 days worth of work for an ops rep in Maine and he wanted to know what I was doing after this opening. Of course, I don't know. I never know. But he would like to keep me here after the opening is finished and have me work in his stores.
He also said I could take a company car and drive home for Thanksgiving. Home Wednesday, back Friday.
How perfect. How stunningly perfect.
To be quite honest, what I would look forward to more than even Thanksgiving (believe it or not) is going to see RENT.
The commercial for it literally gives me shivers. It's that bittersweet excitement of revisiting something that I haven't really thought of in years. It was 8 years ago this month that I saw the play. 8 years ago that I cried because Adam Pascal ran away after the show, and Anthony Rapp had to reach over and wind up the camera because it didn't click when we tried to take the photo.
And Jesse L. Martin hugged me. And I cried all the way through the last act, and sang really loudly, and mooed my head off during Maureen's performance.
It's such a sad play really, but it's also so much fun.
So I would look forward to that.
And some of my Grandma's cooking, after 3 months of constant takeout...

This is officially my new favorite Bob Dylan song, a spot recently vacated by All Along the Watchtower, as soon as I realized how blatantly religious that one was. Not that that's a bad thing I guess, and even the song is still amazing, but...
I don't know. I've heard it so much, and I love the Dave Matthews Band version and the Howie Day version, but I just can't embrace the Dylan or Hendrix versions. I guess I'm not that much of a purist.
But this song... Even when he hears old recordings of himself singing this song, Dylan doesn't remember writing it, can't believe it came from him. I haven't figured it all out yet.
But it's amazing. I love it. And it's even more amazing to hear it all flowing out of him, like when the song is done, there is less of him. It goes so fast, and is so complex. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it. I've been looking for this song for weeks, since Melanie and Joe and my parents and I all sat in my living room and watched the documentary about him. I heard it then and loved the line "Those not busy being born are busy dying."

It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only