Fear of Vending Machines

Okay, before you jump to conclusions it's not that when I see one I turn the other way & run away screaming. It's more that I get a bit anxious when using one. Hrmm.. that sounded a bit weird too. I think I can best explain where this comes about with one of my experiences. *flashback music & squiggly blurry lines*
About 3 years ago sometime in the spring (or was it summer? Well the weather as warm) of a glorious Friday afternoon I was at work looking out my window anxious about going out to dinner with some friends I haven't seen in a while. Suddenly, I start getting error messages all over my screen. "Cannot connect to database" "Server exited with error" I was bombarded with them. I started making phone calls to find out what the problem was. Turns out we had a major hardware malfunction where of the nodes just blew out. I was beyond pissed. The project that I was working on had to be finished by tomorrow morning and the systems are down. It would take a few HOURS before they would be able to restore it. The clock was ticking away and I KNEW I'd have to cancel my plans. It was about 7pm before they were able to bring everything back and I was aggravated, and hungry. I rummaged through my purse & I had ONE dollar. I walked down to the little lunch room area to the vending machines. I popped in my only dollar and pushed the code for a bag of chips. The little coil that holds the bags of junkfood twirled and just as my bag of chips was about to fall down to the chute, it stopped. Suspended in midair (okay it wasn't midair, but I think it was caught on the coil) the damn thing taunted me. I banged on the plexiglass a bit hoping it would free my poor bag of chips, but it didn't. I was going to walk away and give up on it, but I decided to turn back to try to free it again. I looked around the room and down the hallway. No one was there, only frickin' losers who were stuck at work and had deadlines in the morning like me would be here at this hour. Arrgghhh... come on! My last frickin' dollar!!~ I lunged at the machine, threw my arms around it & tried to shake it. Nothing I did was going to free my precious bag of chips. Defeated, I let out a growl and kicked the machine & I heard a "pop" and the lights in the machine went out, OMG I think I broke it. Then I heard people coming from down the hallway. I was sooo embarrassed I ran away, I think they heard my..ermmm wrestling match. When I came back to work on Monday morning there was a piece of paper stuck on the machine that read "Out of Service". It remained that way for almost a week, and the whole the my bag of chips was still there, suspended, mocking me.
I think back on this now & chuckle a bit. I probably looked like such a lunatic wrestling machine, yeah, all 5'2" of me. So that's where my fear of using the vending machine comes from. Every time I've had to use a vending machine since then, (which was probably like 4x max) it brings bad memories, and I'm afraid that the chips, candybar whatever it was I'd pressed the code for would get stuck.

Johnny Cash where are you?

Pennsylvania Station, New York serves approximately 600,000 people each day, me being of of them. Every morning & evening through the hustle & bustle of rush hour I'm one of the those crazy people running by, weaving through the crowds rushing to my train. Despite all the craziness of Penn Station, it is one of my favorite stations in NY because of all the awesome performers there that perform daily. I wonder, do you need to go talk to someone to secure a time slot to perform there? Or do you just kinda set up shop? Out of all the performers there my favorite by far is the guy that plays the guitar & sings Johnny Cash songs. He does a really great job singing/playing the songs. When he's there performing I actually stop & listen. But I don't think I've seen him around for months. Johnny Cash where have you gone? I need my dose of "Ring of Fire" when hustling through Penn Station. Does anyone know this person's name? I wasn't even able to find a you tube video of him singing. But I did find the creepy old man & his muppets.



Am I the only one that thinks this guy is creepy?

Quote of the Day:

*instant message window pops up*

Momo: Hello, Defiler of Young Boys
Azryelle: Who me? :)

Azry's Quote of the Day

"Yeah, it's kinda like a straight line, but curved..."

El Baasemento por favor!

The superintendent of my building is this really nice Hispanic guy named Miguel. He has an assistant named Val, which looks like someone of Western European decent. The other day I walked into the elevator with them from my floor and here's the conversation that took place:

Val: *presses the "B" button on the elevator panel & says in a faked heavy Spanish accent* El Baasemento! *smiles proudly*
Miguel: Whaaa??
Val: El Baasemeto! We're going to the basement. That's how you say it right? *smiles proudly*
Miguel: *looking slightly offended* Uh. No.
Val: Oh.

When I walked out of the elevator I laughed so hard.

Lesson of the day: Add a heavy fake Spanish accent to any English word, and add an "O" at the end & you get instant Spanish! Who needs Pimsleur, Berlitz, or the Rosetta Stone!! LOL!!~

April already?

Good Lord, it it really April already? I swore that Easter was just last week. My sense of time has been so bent out of shape. I've been drowing in work & living out of boxes. Yes, that's right boxes. Boxes, stacked & piled waaay high above my 5'2" self.

Closed

I've been MIA, I know. But I have good reason I swear. If work hasn't been a hectic enough with having my now former boss being terminated & all the work falling upon my lap; I've been trying close on my co-op. And getting a date settled for that was such a pita. Ugh... It's like how hard is it to get 5 people in a room together for 1 hour??!!?! Obviously, harder than you think. The date got moved at least 3 times. It was borderline ridiculous. But at any rate, I have finally closed on my new place yesterday. And I'm just ecstatic! Finally a place of my own! And I love that I have a park view from my window!! Love it. I'll post some pictures when I get a moment to breathe and take some pictures. But as for this week it's my moving in week. So I'll be even busier. But alas, I'll be in home sweet home. :)

Shock in the Name of Love...

This moring while Husband was driving me to the train station to go to work we were talking about our upcoming 8 year anniversary together. Not 8 years of marriage as we only got married barely 2 years ago, but 8 years of being together. *le sigh* So here's how the conversation goes:

Hubs: Our 8 year anniversary is coming up I can't believe it's been so long!
Me: Yep. Almost a decade huh?
Hubs: *gasps* I KNOW what I wanna get you for an anniversary gift!
Me: Oh yeah? *giggles*
Hubs: Since you have to walk from the train after dark some nights on your way home & I worry about you; I going to get you a taser!
Me: ...
Hubs: *big happy smile*
Me: ...... Are you serious?
Hubs: Yah!
Me: Don't do that. I swear if you get me that for our anniversary, I'll frickin' tase YOU!!~
Hubs: Why?!?! You would?? Well, Okay... I'd let you do it.
Me: *mutters* psychopath...
Hubs: I love you Pookie! *big smile*
Me: I love you too dumbass *laughs*
---------------------------------------------------

Yes, I really think he was serious.

Train Talk: WTH Are you going???!

I was on the train yesterday and and young mother with her child boarded the train at the same time I did. The kid was about 8 years old? When they got on the train the mother (while holding the kid's hand) proceeded to walk down the aisle. I'm only guessing she was trying to find a seat for them towards the middle of the car. All of the sudden the kid exclaims, "Mom, Where the hell are you going?!" And I swear I heard everyone in the train just gasp at what the kid was saying to his mother. And she just replied with, "We should sit towards the middle sweetheart." My jaw almost dropped. OMG if that were my kid I would have gave it a swift smack over the head. Pfft... Where the hell am I going?! I know where you're going, you about to get a swift ass whoopin that's what. I couldn't believe this woman was letting her kid talk to her this way. I think people that don't discipline their children are rasing the future delinquents of the world. Just as you would curb your dogs when taking them for a walk. You should keep your kids in check. Just my 2 cents.

Monkee Business

What is a Monkee? I have two exhibits to present to you...

Exhibit A: Sango

(and sorry to dissapoint you that is not my sexy hairy leg there in that photo)

-female (aka Papa's girl)
-age 2.8 years old
-color: silver & gold
-weight: 12lbs (aka Chunky Monkee)
-likes: little brother,sniffing butts, chewing on everything, snuggling when she's not being bitchy, total kleptomanic when it comes to socks, she'll horde them all.
-dislikes: little brother,baths, wasabi, grooming, snuggling when she's feeling bitchy.

Exhibit B: Vash-male (aka Mama's boy) -age 2.8 years old
-color: black & gold
-weight: 3.5lbs (aka 3lbs of Fury) -likes: playing ball, big sister, sniffing butts, stealing chew toys from big sister, snuggling, playing ball, barking -dislikes: not being able to play ball, big sister, baths, people that yell at Mama.(he bites them)

Here is an additonal picture of Exhibit B that I couldn't help but post. He got his head stuck in a plush, toy behive. This is why I call them Monkees.

I'm not a Morning person

Husband wakes up at 5:30am every morning, to get ready to go to work at 7:00am; although we live right on the campus. He's such a morning person. He wakes up, eats breakfast, reads a bit, checks email, plays with our 2 monkees, and gets ready for work. Me on the other hand, I roll around in bed until 7:15am, brush my teeth & get ready, I fly out of the door at 7:45am drive to the LIRR and take the train down into NYC to get to work by 8:40am.

During that time when Husband is up and about and I'm still knocked out in dreamland he'll come into the bedroom and bother me. Well, I know he doesn't mean though. He'll come in sit on the bed, drink his coffee next to me, poke me on my nose, hug me, kiss me on my nose, start talking to me, toss the monkees up on the bed so they will roll all over me and sniff my face. And of course ask me about 10x if he's bothering me. All the while I'm half asleep answering his questions & talking to him.

And at times when I am asleep and very tired I'm thinking ArRrRgh... leave me alone! I think about it later and I feel so lucky that he cares about me and wants to spend as much time as possible with me before be leaves for work. I think I'll start waking up early just so I can spend time with him also. :)

That's What Friends Are For....

... in good times and bad times, I'll be on your side forever morreeeeeee ... okay, well not forever, but sometimes, kinda sorta.

Ever since earlier this holiday season (yeah, yeah, I know it's Feb 2008 already, but I mean since like, November 2007) I've been thinking about the friendships that I currently have, friendships that I have been in that are now for one reason or another have drifted away. I remember growing up I had two really close girlfriends of whom I thought we'd never stop being friends; but now it seems we've drifted. The direction they have taken in their lives are very different than mine. Not to say that they've taken a bad direction or anything because they haven't. But I guess we're at different stages in life than we once were. And although we do talk once in a long while. You know things will never be the same.

Another friend and I had a misunderstanding which lead to our falling out sometime in highschool. (As a matter of fact I've forgotten why we stopped being friends) I've always thought about her and wondered how she was doing. But always felt like it'd be too awkward to call her. About 2 years ago I mustered up the confidence to call her on her Birthday to wish her a happy birthday. I figured, "Hey what can I lose?" The worst that could happen is having her pick up the phone & say, "Eff you Skank! I don't need no Birfday wish from you!!" (Okay, I knew she wasn't going to say that, but really what's the worse that could happen?) When I called she picked up the phone and I think she was surprised to hear from me. but I think it was a pleasant surprise. And athough we didn't talk much in that 1st call I felt as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I opened up the door. Much to my surprise two months later she called me on MY Birthday to wish me a happy birthday. I couldn't believe she remembered. Well, the rest is history from then on, I went to her wedding and was so happy to be a part of something so wonderful in her life, and sure enough she was there for mine. And athough I don't see her as often we do talk every week. I'm sure we'll have plenty of more memories to make together to make up for lost time and thensome more.

My other friend has always been like a big sister to me. We grew up together since she lived upstairs from me when I was in 4th grade till about hrmm.. maybe 7th grade? She would always pull on my pigtails, tease me, berate me & make me cry; but of course I was the tattle that always got her in trouble. (If you're reading this I call it even okay?! LOL) I moved away afterwards went onto highschool & college and it seems our paths have never crossed since then. We reconnected about a year ago and we get along so well it's almost ridiculous. In one of our conversations we even said, "Why the hell didn't we find each other earlier?" And we even surprise our husbands too, whose reactions are like "Who's _____? You've never even spoken about her before. Since when were you friends with ______?" And of course our response was, "Since when didn't I know _____? I've known her forever."

These are just 3 examples of the friendships I have/had. And if you are my friend and are reading this and my post wasn't about our friendship doesn't mean that I don't treasue our friendship. I don't think I have enough webspace to write about all of my friends. So whether you are currently my friend, have once been my friend; I sincerely do treasure having you in my life. Having good friends does make life worthwhile. I dedicate this song to all of you.

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หนึ่งในไม่กี่คน - Beau Sunita

ไม่กี่คนที่จะเคียงข้างกัน ไม่กี่คนที่จะคอยร่วมทุกข์ใจ
และไม่ทิ้งฉันไว้ลำพัง ไม่ว่าเจอเรื่องร้ายใด ๆ ก็พร้อมเดินไปกับฉัน
ไม่กี่คนที่จะรักฉันจริง ทำให้ยิ้มในชั่วโมงที่เหงาใจ...
ในชีวิตที่ล่วงเลยมา ไม่กี่คนที่ฉันไว้ใจ
ให้กุมมือ อยากฝากชีวิต

* และหนึ่งในนั้น...ก็คือเธอคนดี
ที่ฉันนั้นโชคดี ที่เราได้พบกัน
จากหนึ่งในร้อย... หนึ่งจากในล้าน
ได้มาร่วมทางเดิน ให้หนึ่งใจฉันได้เจอกับรักดีๆ

ไม่กี่คนที่จะคอยหวังดี มีแค่เพียงไม่กี่คนให้เชื่อใจ
ในชีวิตที่ล่วงเลยมา ไม่กี่คนที่ฉันให้ใจ
แค่บางคนที่อยากบอกรัก
(ซ้ำ *)
(ซ้ำ *)
อยากบอกว่าฉัน...รักเธออีกครั้ง...คนดี...

Listen to the song here

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Basil Chicken - Gai Gra Paow

This is one of my favorite dishes. Really quick and easy to make too! Thought I should share it with you. Enjoy! :)


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Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 1/2 lb Chicken (Ground or Boneless)
• 1-3 Large Cloves of Garlic
• 3-7 Thai Chili Pepper
• 3 tbs Fish Sauce
• 2 tbs Canola Oil
• 1-2 bunches of Holy Basil
• 1 tsp sugar
  

If you didn't get the ground chicken, then you will have to chop it up and mince it first.



Mince the cloves of Garlic



Mince the Chili Pepper



Add the oil into the pan and set it on a high heat. When the oil is heated up add in the garlic and the pepper.



When the garlic starts to brown add in the chicken. Stir it constantly.



As the chicken cooks it releases some juices. Keep stir frying until the juices evaporate. Add in the fish sauce and the sugar. Stir in well. Add in the basil and stir it into the meat and remove from the heat.



Serve with rice & enjoy!



This dish is often served with 'Nam Pla Plig' which is a Chili Fish Sauce.

Nam Pla Plig
Ingredients:

• 1-4 Thai Chili Pepper
• 3 tbs fish sauce
• 1 small shallot
• 1/4 lime

Chop up the chili peppers and the shallot and add to a small bowl. Add in the fish sauce and squeeze in the lime juice.

This sauce is a must have at my dinner table!

Train Talk: Death & Inflation

While riding the train this morning on my way to work I overheard two women talking about inflation and how the prices of everything is so high these days. And with that I totally agree. I wouldn't be surprised if gas prices in New York City will be hitting that $4 a gallon mark this summer! Woman #1 continued on saying how high food prices are getting these days, and how her hairstylists, manicure, pedicure, and spa prices are increasing also. Woman #2 chimed in with total agreement saying her Starbucks coffee is getting expensive as well. Oh, and here's the kicker Woman #1 says in response, "Oh God, tell me about it who cares about terrorists blowing up the country if I can't even afford food these days. I'd die of starvation anyways!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing! WTF?!!~ I'm mean really... WTF?!!~ I'm thinking first off, you're riding on the damn' LIRR which isn't all that cheap of a ride so I know you aren't that poor. Secondly, you have the nerve complaining about your increased costs in spa treatments, which is a luxury anyhow! And lastly, I can't believe you're bitching about how much your damn latte-crapo-chino is costing and talking about starving to death. Heifer, I don't see you eating dried mud cookies like the poor people in Haiti so you have no place at all talking about your fat ass starving 'cos of rising crapo-chino prices!~

Numero Uno

I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away from the blogging world for too long. I closed down a bunch of my accounts from my other blogs a few months ago; but obviously I've been bitten by the blogging-bug yet again. It's like that sappy tear-jerker movie that you always watch. You know damn' well you're gonna cry buckets of tears each time you watch it. But for some reason you always have the urge to go watch it again. Okay, bad analogy. But yeah, "Hey there blog world Azry's back again."