misc

This was supposed to be posted yesterday, but I never got around to it.



I left New Edge 3 almost 3 weeks ago. I am happy about that, since New Edge was no longer a place I wanted to be a part of. There was never going to be any room for personal or financial growth, so I left. I let New Edge know why I was leaving. They were holding me back, and I took the first opportunity that came to me.

So now I work in downtown Portland. I won't say who I work for. It isn't a secret or anything. I work for the government. I just won't say what exactly I do because I do not really feel like it.

Working downtown has its upsides and downsides. The upsides are it can be a nice place to be. The people are generally really friendly and some often say hello as you walk passed them. I find this interesting because I rarely talk, and people seem to know this so they do not bother talking to me. It is a win-win situation for me, since I don't want to talk if I don't have to. There are also a lot of good places to eat here, but honestly, when I do eat out for lunch, I usually end up going to Subway.

The main downside is that you pay to work in Portland. Now, my schedule here allows me to avoid rush hour traffic, which is very nice. I do have to pay to park though. It is working out to $28 a week. That sucks ass, but it is the cheapest I can find. Monthly parking averages out to about $140 a month, so I am not doing too bad. I only work 4 days a week now. That rules. I think I have one of the better schedules here. I am working Sun - Wed, noon - 10pm.

Another downside to working in downtown is the freaks. Now. normally freaks don't bother me too much, but Portland freaks are a special kind of freak. This place has been called Little Beirut because of all the protests, especially when Bush visits. People will often try and sell you things on the street, and surprisingly, it isn't always drugs. Today a guy that looked like an old hippy tried to sell me a bag that he said retailed for $90, but he was selling it for $20. No thanks.

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Ever notice how lazy some people are? I mean, do people truly have no moral backbone?

I live near a grocery store called Winco. It is one of those huge wherehouse style grocery stores. You know, the kind that only take cash or check(or foodstamps) and make you bag your own groceries. They have large shopping carts because people tend to buy a lot of stuff when they go there. I hate the place, and consider it a step below Wal-Mart in customer service, cleanliness, and the people than tend to shop there.

People that live in my area will sometimes walk there, pile their groceries in the cart, and then take the cart home with them. Now, I would not have a problem with this if they returned the carts, but they don't. I think one evening, I counted about 20 carts in the neighborhood. They were left out on the sidewalk, in ditches, and several were left in a field. These carts can't be cheap. They are made out of metal.

So, last night while I was taking out the trash, I saw some people leave one of the carts out on the sidewalk and carry their groceries into their house. I was outside a little while later, and the cart was still out there. It was also out there this morning.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

One of the reasons I hate shopping there is the lines. They are huge. They get a lot of customers because of their prices. I prefer shopping at Safeway. Anyway, they used to have express isles. They got rid of those, but I can see why. People would often put more than 20 items in their cart, and then seperate them at the checkout and have their kids pay for some of it. Assholes.

Another reason is the people that pay with food stamps. Now, I know some people have to use them because of certain situations that were for the most part out of their control, and I sympathize and have no problem with it. I also know some people use them because they are lazy, and, well, yeah. Anyway, I find that if I am in line behind someone that is using food stamps, I will end up waiting longer. They will arrange their groceries in a certain way, pay for what they can with their stamps, and then keep re-arranging so that they can seperate out what they need to use cash on, and then have their kids pay for something else. It not only irritates me and the people behind me, but it also seems to really piss off the cashiers. Now, when I see someone is going to be paying with stamps, I find another line. My time is precious.

Ever notice someone who is well dressed paying for food stamps? Follow them outside if you can. Check out their cars. They often drive some very well riced out Honda's.