MegaBus=Mega 3 Day "weekend" "adventure"

Following the catastrophe with last's post's car problems, my chances of getting to Champaign for a Sunday-Tuesday trip were slightly hindered. Instead, we wound up taking the MegaBus (I'm slighly distracted right now, it sounds like there's a fucking lawn mower outside. It's 11 pm and 20 degrees out) down on Saturday night with a return trip EARLY (i.e. 6 am) Tuesday morning.

Highlights!
*Paul, Luz, and I managed to drink almost an entire bottle of whiskey on the way down. We probably annoyed everyone else on the bus, who all seemed to be sleeping. I didn't witness it, but this was a sticker in the restroom (which, as I'm told, also had no soap! or sink! FILTH):

*Checked into dingy motel, where mattresses were equivalent of sleeping on 5 cardboard boxes stacked up. Sean arrived. Mattresses prevented anyone from getting good night's sleep.
*Next morning wanted to have Baker's Square for breakfast because it was near motel. Wandered across parking lot to discover 'For Lease' sign on property. Settled for Chevy's next door. Will soon probably also have 'For Lease' sign on it.

*Took bus to campus. Got haircuts by Ryan. Met up w/Stymie and Ryan for the Watching of "The Watchmen". I'm glad that I was able to use my student ID and see this movie for $5.75. I was skeptical about it after seeing the tragedy that was Zack Snyder's remake of "Dawn of the Dead", and because of the fact that there was so much going on in the book, there was no way to fit that into one movie. It was a decent film, but I can't say that I was impressed. The movie did have two very important and redeeming qualities:

1)Soundtrack-BAD ASS. The songs were perfect for the movie, almost in a humorous, ironic sort of way. *downloads* such fine, fine pieces by Simon & Garfunkle, KC & the Sunshine Band, and Janis Joplin, it was a really fantastic soundtrack.
2)GORE! (not Al) When I am going to see a film rated R, I like it to be worth it. Not rated R for a profuse use of the f-bomb. Thumbs up on that part.

*Headed over to Jupiters. Drank 3 of my favorite beer ever (Anchor Steam) in rapid succession, while the guys knocked their balls around (whilst playing pool). The six of us managed to devour two large pizzas, one of the pesto persuasion, the other was a BBQ chicken. Secret: They use frozen crust, which in this case I'm deeming acceptable, because they are tasty pizzas and their BBQ chicken pizza is the first of the kind that I've ever enjoyed, let alone gobbled down relentlessly.
*Left the bar and realized that it was a tad too late to purchase more alcohol (12:05 am). Luckily, Stymie is awesome and presented us with a spare bottle of Gentleman Jack, which he refused to take any money for. Paul did manage to hide twenty bucks under a bottle of shampoo in Stymie's shower though. Returned to hotel room and drank some of said whiskey. Everyone slept (as best we could on the craptastic matresses) until about 2:00 the next afternoon.

*With everyone showered and ready to go, we took a bus back to campus and wandered around whilst Sean gathered his trappings from the tattoo shop and had Stump give him a ride back to the motel. There was confusion on where we were supposed to meet back up, which led to some EXTRA walking and then we walked some more, over to Dos Reales to meet up with Sean's brother and his girlfriend, and Stephanie. Dos Reales is ever so tasty, and I do miss it quite a bit. Not wanting to spend the rest of the evening back at the motel, we all decided to go bowling. I did poorly, which is not a surprise, but I'm sure I could have done better if I had my ball with me. Ryan classed it up:

*Being as it was our last night in town, and we had to get on the MegaBus MegaEarly, it was decided that we were going to pull an all nighter. To do this, we needed food. And not just any food. We needed Fat Sandwiches. This place, so many things I could say here, but I think I should let the menu and the following pictures speak for themselves.

My Sandwich: The Fat Sorostitute-buffalo chicken fingers, jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, fries, and ranch in a roll.

Luz's Sandwich: Chicken Donut-Fried chicken patty with cheese on a glazed donut.

Paul's Sandwich: The Fat Walk of Shame-cheesesteak, bacon, egg, mayo, ketchup, and fries on a roll.

Sean's Sandwich: The Fat Mess-jalapeno poppers, mozzarella sticks, fried mushrooms, mac & cheese bites, pizza bites, BBQ, ranch, and fries in a roll.

Luckily no one had to undergo a triple bypass after eating.

With the sandwiches and some horrible TV, time flew by until it was time to head back to the train station to catch the bus. Trying to sleep on a bus when you're almost 6 feet tall really, really sucks. Should I say MegaSucks?

I'm stranded at home

My car won't start and I can't get to the burbs to get to work. I'm pretty upset about this actually. So, in lieu of going to work, I'm going to catch up on some blogging.
On my way to and from work, I am forced to listen to the radio. I don't have a CD player in my car, and it's really hard to get reception for an mp3 transmitter in the city. So I listen to the radio. Most of the time, if something crappy comes on, I can just change it to one of my other presets, but sometimes all my presets are crappy and I'm forced to listen to crap.
I would like to attest to the fact that one of the crappiest "bands" out there is "Hollywood Undead". I've pondered over the last couple days, having heard their "music" on several occasions, what is was that annoyed me so much about them; and then it hit me! This group has the lyrical stylings of a bunch of fifth graders in an English class learning about rhyme scheme and verse meter. Their lyrics rarely, if ever, break from an abab rhyme scheme, and the majority of the lines have the feeling of being composed of iambic feet (I'm a bit rusty so I'm not going to say for sure). Making it worse is the fact that whoever composed these lyric is so barely literate, that words with more than 1 syllable are scarcely heard. It's mind-numbing. If you don't believe me, the proof is in the pudding:

I see the children in the rain
Like the parade before the pain
I see the love I see the hate
I see this world that we can make
I see the life I see the sky
Give it all to see you fly
Yes we wave this flag of hatred
But you`re the ones who made it
Watch the beauty of all our lives
Passing right before my eyes
I hear the hate in all your words
All the words to make us hurt.
We get . so sick we`re so sick
We never wanted all this
Medication for the kids with no reason to live.

Sorry I forced you to bear witness to that.
And yes, I just did go all English major on their asses. Gotta use that degree for something.

I'm not done griping though, yet! You're next Starbucks.
The other day before work, I was quite hungry, and unfortunately out of appropriate breakfast items which i could eat at my desk. I stopped by Starbucks after I got off the expressway because it's right there on my way to work, and much less likely to make me feel bad about myself than the Burger King down the street. I got an iced green tea (unsweetened, I don't know why people have to taint everything with sugar) and a turkey bacon breakfast sandwich. It was tasty, and I enjoyed it regardless of the fact that I had just read the article comparing the sandwiches to airline food.
This is not what I had a problem with. Apparently, the folks at Starbucks are still trying different (and as of late, not extremely successful) new products to bring in a larger clientele (aka massive amounts of dollas) and are offering an instant coffee granule mess (dubbed via). While handing my my sandwich, the girl at the drive-thru window thrust a couple sample packets at me, which I rather unwillingly was forced to take.

I would like it to be known, that whilst I supply Starbucks with my business on occasion, I am in no way, shape, or form, fan of their coffee, hot or iced. I do like a plain black coffee, but not when it puts me into some sort of seemingly crack-induced frenzy, or when it wreaks havoc on my innards. Neither of those are desirable or appropriate for the workplace.
I should have known better, but for the sake of trying it. And it was horrible. The granules leave a muddy layer at the bottom of the cup. The liquid (I refuse to call this 'coffee') itself has an unnatural murkiness to is as well, and frankly if someone told me they actually liked it, I would have to be inclined to think they don't know their ass from their elbow.

And one more thing while I'm on a roll here, phone etiquette for the love of all that is holy. I really wish people would have some manners and quit behaving like they were born in a barn, amongst other things. It's work related, rather than cell phone related, but how can you not laugh at this picture?!

I bring to you the three things that make my skin crawl the most at work:
1)Heavy breathers.
Dude, I do not know what you're doing on the other end of the line, and from what it sounds like, I most likely do NOT want to know. Yes, you are giving me money for a service, but I am not an adult line operator, and I do not enjoy being spoken to as if I was one. Additionally, I don't know what kind of business you own, but if you are in the phone sex industry, don't talk to me like you're on the job either.
2)Chewing
I really don't care if you're calling me on your lunch break; maybe you shouldn't be because the sound of you masticating is rude and makes me want to throw up in my mouth. When you're chewing in my ear, all I can picture is slack jawed open mouth chewing and the inside looking like a cement mixer; perhaps you look like a cow chewing cud. I don't know, but it's wrong of you to make me picture these things. Also, if you say, "Sorry, I'm chewing," that doesn't make it okay for you to swallow, take another bite, and keep doing it. I really hope you get a cheesy cracker crumb lodged just right in your throat so you have to drop the phone and run and get a glass of water to dislodge it. Because, praise the lord, that means I don't have to keep talking to you. Didn't your mama teach you any manners?
3)Wet talkers
In their defense, I do know that it's not their fault, and there's really not anything they can do about it, but it's still icky. These are the people that you can just hear the saliva in their mouth clinging to their top and bottom jaws making those phlegmy spit strings that you can see when they talk. That just made me shudder, writing that.

I feel much better after that rant.
Food related post to follow later.

I got the job (I think)

The job is mine. Unless I was thoroughly confused.
In other news, it's nice to have surprises for me waiting on my desk at work. That aren't work related. Tuesday was my one year with the company, proving that I, in fact, can hold down a job for a reasonable period of time.
Tonight, I made dinner for myself. Black bean soup with cheddar jalapeño corn muffins. It was delicious, filling, and on the remote end of healthy. I consumed mass quantities of the aforementioned whilst watching Rocknrolla. Guy Ritchie=awesome, even more so now that he has escaped the steely (not to mention scarily masculine) death grip that Madonna so tightly had on his bollocks. It was an enjoyable film, and I actually laughed out loud during a scene in which there are Russian assassins. I do believe I will be watching it again before I return it to ye olde Netflix.
I will now enlighten you with the easiest soup recipe ever:
Black Bean Soup
1/2 medium sized white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large jalepeno, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 medium sized carrot, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 c. vegetable stock
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
salt, oregano, chili powder to taste

In a medium saucepan, cook the onion, garlic, jalepeno, and carrot with the olive oil until carrots are slightly softened. Add the vegetable stock, beans, and seasoning and cook over medium heat until excess liquid dissolves. I like to put queso fresco, sour cream, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime on mine.