It would seem that the typical frequency with which I write my ramblings has gradually degenerated to once every week. With that in mind, I now find that it has been an entire week since the last one. So I figure I'll write one tonight, in which I shall document various odds and ends, and, well, ramble. Of course.

Yesterday was turkey day. Since I am now employed in a retail outlet, my work schedule often ends up being pretty much opposite of that of the rest of the world. So having had all week off up until Thursday (which I found very enjoyable; more on that in a bit), my work week began when most everyone else started their vacations.

The store did close Thursday evening, which meant that shifts were a little different. On most days, shifts are staggered. Usually, some people start in the early morning, then others come in late morning, and more in the afternoon as the morning people leave, and everyone ends up working 8 hours.

But on thanksgiving, since the store closed in the evening, everyone who was working came in at 8am or earlier so their shift would end at close time. This made things rather chaotic, not only because those of us who are accustomed to coming in later found ourselves with a minor case of jetlag, but also because duties, which are usually determined by shift, were dispersed in a sort of random pattern. And of course, there were about a zillion people picking up pre-ordered dinners. Yipee.

On the plus side, everyone who works holiday gets a pay multiplier of 2.5, which is quite nice. That brings it almost up to what I used to make on an ordinary day at my former job as a programmer. Oh, for those days...

Last night, myself and parents ate thanksgiving dinner at my dad's Laser Fortress Apartment. It was most delicious, though we did not actually eat any turkey. (Ironically, I guess that is something of a holdover from the days when everyone in the family was a vegetarian. Though none of us are strict vegetarians anymore, we still have a family tradition, which counters societal tradition, or something like that.)

Getting back to the work thread (while also remaining on the food thread)... In the job benefits department, today brought a super cool windfall for me and the other guy who happened to be working the deli this evening.

The man from the meat department came over and said he had a whole bunch of steaks that were about to expire. Nothing wrong with them, but he wouldn't be able to sell them after today. (Foods typically keep at least a week after their expiration date.) So he said he would give us each several of them for $3 for the entire lot. Both being steak lovers, we both jumped at the offer.

Bring steaks he did. I counted nine in the package he wrapped for me. All for $3. Not bad. Not bad at all. I can freeze them, and try out steak preparation experiments in my mom's kitchen for the next month (at least).

Mmmmmm.... dead cows.... Yum.

Ok, so I said I had all week off up until Wednesday this week. What did I do with all this time? Well....

Last Sunday, I succumbed to temptation. I journied to the officially dubbed Temptation Zone and acquired a copy of Metroid Prime. Since then, I have become woefully addicted to it almost non-stop.

Even though the game is 3d first person (heresy of heresies), it really does capture the spirit of the original Metroid amazingly well. Exploring, figuring out how to open passegeways, finding items, secret areas, all sorts of wacky enemies and boss monsters to fight... It adds up to fun by the truckload.

Apparently, tomorrow night some sort of phest-like activity will be taking place at the Boulder Compound, which sounds like great fun. I shall journey there after my shift ends at midnight.

Right now, I find myself getting caught up in reading mindless slashdot comments. I think I'll do that for a few more minutes before heading to bed.