Routines in the Lions Cage

Hangin' Tough with the New Kids

I saw the New Kids on the Block. And it was good.[Read More]

Posted at 05:37PM Nov 16, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

Oh so frustrating...

I can only imagine that having debt collectors call you is terrible. I have never had such problems. Thank goodness. I had a problem with telemarketers for a while, but that has mostly subsided thanks to the No Call List.
The worst thing though is what I have to deal with now. I get calls at least three times a week and have been getting these calls since I moved to Omaha in June. They are ALWAYS people calling for one of three people that is not me OR my roommate. These people are: Carla Prince, Reginald Prince, and Crystal Brown. I do not know these people.
And I'm not talking just like bill collectors, because we get a lot of those, but also friends and the electricity company and Wal-greens and doctors and everything. I do my best when I answer to tell them that they don't live here. But sometimes these people don't seem to understand that. I tell people, "We have been getting calls for this person since we moved here this June." Then they ask if I know whoever or if I know how to get ahold of them. I looked them up on whitepages.com and found a new number for them. I confirmed against an address that I got when OPPD called.
I actually got so frustrated I called the phone company to find out if there was anything they could do for me. They could block like 30 numbers for a fee. I told them that wasn't plausible. My other option was to change my number, which I'm also not going to do.
I then actually called the number I have for them. A guy answered and he got really defensive when I told him to change his numbers for things. He also said that they have had that number for 20 years. I believe he was definately lying to me.
So in short, I have to answer and call back and tell people, "no they don't live here." Maybe someday I will have gotten through everybody and I won't have to deal with it anymore. If anybody has any other suggestions, please help.

Posted at 06:39PM Oct 25, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

Don't miss an opportunity to get a warranty on your car...

Does this telemarketing company call anybody but me?
I swear I get a phone call for this about once a week. I have tried everything I can think of to get off their list. I hit the number 2 that should take me off. I've talked to representatives and told them to take me off. Yet they still persist.
So today I hit the button to speak to a representative. He asked me the make & model of my car. I said, "93 Chevy Lumina" at which point I can hear in his voice he thinks it's funny. He then asked me how many miles I have on it. I said, "Oh I'm not quite sure, close to 200,000." And he was almost laughing when he told me, "I'm sorry. We don't have any warranties on that car." I said, "Yeah, I know. QUIT CALLING ME!"
Hopefully that does it.

Posted at 06:28PM Jul 28, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

In the year 2000...

I don't know if anybody has watched Video Yearbook on Fuse. But I am today. And they have been having some great videos on. It makes me miss music of that era. It also reminded me of how much I loved Eve 6 back in the day.

Posted at 02:45PM Jun 27, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

Wow, I've never felt better

I just looked at some of my high school classmates on facebook. I'm really glad I don't have a husband or kids.
That could ruin my life right now. Bunch of crazies.
Why at 23 would you want THREE children?

Posted at 07:49AM Jun 19, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

I don't know that I moved to Omaha...

I think I moved into TORNADO ALLEY.
I mean, I'm used to some tornadoes in Vermillion and near the area of my home. But like, in the middle of Omaha? That's intense. One ripped off part of the roof of a Wal-Mart. I went there, there's a huge black tarp where the major damage is. And there are more tornadoes tonight. One pretty much sucked up a boy scout camp and hospitals in the area were told to be ready for casualties. This is FUCKED UP.
There is at least a thunderstorm almost EVERY NIGHT.
This just in, there might be a tornado in my area.

Posted at 07:45PM Jun 11, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

Job Search part 2

So now I've had two interviews. I keep applying for jobs. I got a call yesterday and the lady left me a message. I'm calling her back on Monday. I need a job, but at least this gives me hope. I'm not applying at Wendy's just yet...

Posted at 11:09AM Jun 07, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

Job Search...

I've been in Omaha for a week, applying for jobs like a mad woman.
No jobs yet.
I'm getting nervous, if I don't have an interview or anything by the end of the week, I'm going to apply at Wendy's.
I do not want to apply at Wendy's. I just need a job. And a shitty job is better than no job.
The search continues...

Posted at 10:27AM Jun 02, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[0]

Just bad timing on my part

So now that I'm four days away from moving I actually have friends in Vermillion. I'm going to miss them.
Also, when they find out I'm not enrolled in any classes they'll probably not let me blog here anymore. My new blog is: valpancakes.blogspot.com if you're interested.

Posted at 12:53PM May 20, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[1]

I am not that cool

So I saw Socratic, You Me and Everyone We Know and Say No More at the Eagle's the other night. It was awesome.
However, I was chatting with Socratic and they said that they talked to somebody in Omaha that said I told them they were a chill band. I thought it was my friend Brittney. Upon talking to her I found that she didn't go to the show. I'm not sure who told them that. It's weird, somebody name dropped me.
I am not that important.

Posted at 02:08PM May 01, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[0]

Songs 4/9 to 4/16

Just songs I've been into this week.
1) A Day to Remember - The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle
2) The Forecast - (May You One Day) Carry Me Home
3) Socratic - Tear a Gash (Additionally, check them out tomorrow night at the Eagle's Club)
4) Punchline - A Beautiful Green
5) Moros Eros - I Saw the Devil Last Night
6) Spitalfield - Curtain Call
7) Nevertheless - The Real
8) Mayday Parade - When I Get Home, You're So Dead
9) Lucky Boys Confusion - Ordinary
10) Flight of the Conchords - If You're Into It
ENJOY!

Posted at 09:25PM Apr 09, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in Music  |  Comments[0]

Hilarious RIAA training video

http://gizmodo.com/358648/leaked-riaa-training-video-find-pirates--find-crack+dealing-terrorist-murderers-too?autoplay=true

I swear, I could not make this up. It's the most hilarious two minutes I've seen in a long time. I've been doing research for a speech and ran across this gem. Copy & paste the link into the address bar and giggle.

Posted at 03:12PM Apr 01, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[2]

Top 10 from 3/30 to 4/5

I'm going to try to do this weekly. Just post 10 songs I've been listening to a lot in the hopes that you check them out and find some good tunes. This will be in Artist - Song Title format.

1) Blackpool Lights - Empty Tank
2) Metro Station - Control
3) Sherwood - Middle of the Night
4) Ludo - Love Me Dead
5) The Audition - Edinboro
6) Socratic - I am the Doctor
7) Rooney - I Should Have Been After You
8) Houston Calls - Exit, Emergency
9) Jefferson Airplaine - White Rabbit
10) Nightmare of You - The Days Go By So Slow

Posted at 01:42PM Mar 30, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in Music  |  Comments[0]

Sad Panda

I just found out yesterday that my second best friend died. I'm not sure how to handle this. I've had grandparents die before, but grandparents are supposed to die because they're old. I've never dealt with somebody my own age dying. I know that Tim wouldn't want me to cry so much. He'd probably call me fucking stupid. But I miss him. Anyway, I just wanted to let some feelings out. :(

Posted at 10:52AM Mar 25, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[0]

The Pan...I like you, quit being a bitch

Let me start off by saying I love the Fryn Pan in Yankton. The weeknight wait staff is rad.
I've made late night Pan runs for about the last seven years on a fairly regular basis. I went a few times in high school because it was the cool thing to do. As a college freshman & sophomore we went to the Pan a lot. Simply because nothing in Vermillion was open past 11. And in the dorms it's not as though you could make something yourself. So my roommate and I are familiar with the weeknight wait staff and as I previously stated, they're rad.
Last night we got off work at 10:15ish and were feeling hungry. So we went to Yankton for some Pan. We got there and some girl seated us. Keep that in mind, it'll be important later. We knew because of our familiarity with late night Pan culture that she seated us in a weird place. We usually get seated in one of four booths of which three were open. I remember looking at the salad bar and wondering what time it closed. We had debated this for a while and I looked at my phone-clock and it was 11:11. We had our menus and had gotten done figuring out what we wanted. It was at this point that I realized nobody had waited on us yet. It was 11:18. I could understand if it was busy, but it wasn't. I saw plenty of waitresses and waiters putzing around. I told my roommate that I was going to wait until 11:25 and if nobody had waited on us yet that I was just going to go ask somebody to. So sure enough it hit 11:24, by that point I was kind of jacked up, so I got up and went to the counter. A manager walked by carrying something and said he'd be right there. So he came up the counter and asked if he could help me. I said, "My friend and I have been here for fifteen minutes and nobody's waited on us yet." He appologized and said he'd be right there. I said, "We come here quite often and we've never had any problems." I wasn't really there to cause a fuss. I didn't say it in a mean way. I just wanted him to take our order because we were hungry. As he was taking our order he kind of made a joke out of it by saying, "So I assume you've had enough time to look at the menu." We giggled and we were once again feeling good about our Pan run.
We were about done eating when my sister and cousin came in. They sat in the booth adjacent to ours and I was telling them about what had happened as they were being seated. The girl that was seating them was the same one that had seated us. I told them it had taken 15 minutes for them to wait on us and had I not said anything we'd probably still be waiting. The girl snapped at me and said, "That's because this section is closed." And she said it in pretty much the bitchiest way possible. It was almost as though she was scolding me. I remained calm and did not say, "Then how come you sat us here?" I wish I would have said something to her manager about her attitude. If I ever see her working there again I cannot promise I'll be nice to her if I even stay there.
We did get 20% off our bill though, which was nice. I have worked in the food service industry for quite some time. I know that no matter what you never talk to a customer like that. EVER. Especially because WE DID NOTHING WRONG. It was her dumb ass that sat us in that section. I don't really get too worked up about things. I wasn't even pissed off that it took that long to be waited on, just annoyed. That girl's comment DID piss me off. I still love my Pan, but I'll probably try to avoid that cunt from now on.

Posted at 07:58AM Mar 22, 2008 by Valerie Bartlett in General  |  Comments[4]