(May) Long talk about nicknames

{Preemptive warning: Timestamps may seem out of line...'cause they are. I added some things I remembered inbetween some other things to keep the discussion about the past chronologically sound.}

[11:30am] Long weekend in May in the Okanagan and, much to no one's surprise, it's kinda dreary. Also very slow in a paint store. Almost halfway through my day and all of two people have been in the store. Ergo: time for bloggin'. I specifically brought my tablet just 'cause I knew it'd be slow, so Clever Cam strikes again!

Now for the spinning wheel of topic picking (in my head) to choose something

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Apparently "Nicknames and/or I've had/used" is what it landed on. Alrighty then.

[12:00]The first one I really remember was, embarrassingly enough, "Quick-dry Cement Butt" which came about when I was the king of that game on the schoolgrounds where you go down slides and try to stay on the bottom for as long as possible until you get knocked off. I was both great at knocking people off and staying at the bottom for the longest. The other children cried out in fear when they saw that I was up next. I ruled that playground game with a...cement butt....

I had a lot of other nicknames during my schoolhood life, but most of them didn't stick. Apparently "Cam" is an easy name to make nicknames out of because there are so many words/phrases that have "cam" in them. I definitely remember being called "camcorder" a bunch, along with "camshaft" and "Cameroon" (which was often followed by asking how my civil war was going) and "camaro" and "camel" etc. You get the picture, basically any word that starts with "cam" I got called at least once.

Following the "Everything 'cam' related" phase, we start to get into more creative nicknames. Nothing really stuck though, "Cam" is easy enough to say without needing a nickname, though I still occasionally bring up that I'm known in some circles as the "Garbage Cam" 'cause I'll finish whatever food other people can't/won't and I've got a strong constitution with regards to food. Heck, that came up on Friday when I was out having dinner with some friends and they had excess fries. I didn't even say anything, just a sly plate slide and a "Garbage Cam?" said fairly quietly. I then proceeded to help him finish the fries. A slight variation of this nickname was "Hoover" like the vacuum, also because I'd eat other people's unfinished food. What can I say? I like food.

[1:40] The highschool nickname that I've gotten the most use out of is "Camero the Artist" which came about from a couple of different sources. The "Camero" came about when it was my birthday and on my highschool's TV announcements, which they show birthdays on, my name was either cut off or just plain spelt wrong. Cutting off happens a lot, what with the 15 character last name, but that normally only happened when last names were placed first, which the birthday list wasn't. The "artist" part appeared when a gym teacher stated something along the lines of "You look like an artist with that long hair" (my hair was kind of unreasonably long, but I liked it at the time), and with that "Camero the Artist" was born. I still use that as my hotmail account, and a shortened version of it is what a lot of my random "sign up for something on the internet" accounts end up being, but I'm not really an artist, I don't spend enough time on it to really claim to be one. I can draw to an extent, I just don't do it that frequently (speaking of, I should really try to work on that...as I say almost every blog post...). So yeah, that one, the good old Camtist...which could be another derivative and I might look into that.

[1:00]There was a good chunk of time when I was actually almost literally "Captain Obvious" too because I'd make what is now considered silly and then considered overtly obvious statements about goings on and things that should be common sense. I wasn't exactly the most socially adept kid/teenager. Actually pretty close to the opposite of socially adept. Sure, I had friends and could potentially fit in anywhere, but dang was I awkward and cold and a know it all. I mustn't've been all that nice to hang around with...though I think I'm just remembering the bad awkward stuff right now and now all the positive good things, as is the brain's forte. Remember the mistakes to learn from them and never repeat them again, positive interactions leave little impact because you didn't need to take much away from it. Crap, I'm getting philosophical again, I should stop (and also I didn't know where I was headed)

[12:30] Further down the road, once out of highschool and well on my way to establishing my lack of care for what people think about me, I found myself acquiring not nicknames but unofficial titles. The two I'm most proud of are "Heart of the Dance Floor" and "Knower of Things." Becoming that which convinces the crowd to join in and wedding dance was great fun. Just going nuts and not caring a lick about what anyone might think got a ton of people more relaxed and carefree. It's a wedding! Have fun! Who cares what you look like, celebrate! (side note: this feels awfully familiar, I think I've talked about this in the past...) [1:10]"Knower of Things" came about because I have just way too much miscellaneous information tucked away in my head, about all sorts of random things. There's no reason for this vast expanse of trivial information, but it's there and it just kinda happens sometimes, so when random things pop out of my mouth and people are like "how do you know that?" I just kinda shrug and go "I just do" (which isn't exactly a helpful response, to be frank). 

[1:15] This brings me to the point where self-appointed nicknames became a thing for me. They're mostly due to online gaming where you probably don't want to share your real name so you make one up. My current longest running "in-game-name" (IGN) or "handle" or whatever the kids these days call them is "Vantox" which is the name of most of my first characters in any new game I try. I'm also the kind of guy who sticks with his first character for long periods of time, so I've been known as Vantox online since 2007ish. It's pretty regularly shortened to "Tox" and not "Van" (because who'd want to be know as Van, like the automobile, and also there were like 3 other Van-somethings in my first WoW guild and as I gained rank I wanted to distinguish myself from them, leading to my first truely self imposed nickname), and I do tend to use that as a basis for alternate rarely used characters (for example: Toxhoof the cowman, Toxblin the goblin and several other uncreative names) so my current online "nickname" would be Tox.

[1:35] On the great wide interwebs, when I'm not going by either of Cam or Tox (or camerodart, a derivative of camero the artist) I tend to combine the two into a shocking new name: Camtox. Yes. Super shocking, I know. You can pick your jaw up from the floor now. Who would've thought that I could take two words and put them together to make another word? No one, that's who. Sarcasm aside, I like how it sounds and it's the amalgam of both worlds I reside in, so as my worlds have been merging together my names have followed suit. People can still call me either of my most prevalent names (Cam and Tox) and still be totally accurate. I may end up changing my whole online presence to represent it, too. I dunno yet, I haven't gotten around to actually doing things online that people might want to see, though plans/projects are slowly in the works. I just work so much better when I'm by myself and not expecting anyone to show up, so I may have to find a place to record where I can just do my thing and not worry about anyone barging in. Also practice some voices and learn how to not destroy my throat, 'cause that sounds useful.

[2:05] So yeah, that's what people have called me over the years that I remember clearly (and not including parent given nicknames because dangit El Tigre's weird with his nicknames.{El Tigre is my dad, I get it from him}). I think that's about all I've got to say on the topic, maybe next time I'll get into weird nicknames I've given people, that could be fun. Unrelated: I'm getting pretty hungry, good thing there's only less than an hour 'til close. Speaking of, my work computers/systems have been super crazy today. Sure I've only seen like 4 people but it's been doing really really weird things, which is gonna be all corporate shenanigans and I'm pretty sure someone's gonna get fired over what it's been doing, but it won't be me, 'cause it's NOT my fault in the slightest. It'll probably be fixed by tomorrow though, so w/e. On my end, not a big issue, what with the being slow and nobody being here and me being able to type all this out with little regard for what's going on in the outside world. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. 

[2:20] Alright, I should probably take my leave and actually check to see if things need doing around here (prediction: probably no), so I shall bid thee a fond farewell.

Cheers!

~Cam(Tox)

Saturday? More like "Slow-today!"

[12:16] In reference to the title, it's been pretty not-busy in paint-store front today so far. That could change, possibly at the drop of a hat, but until it does I've got all the time in the 'verse (short for "universe," entirely stolen from Firefly). [1:06] Then little curveballs are thrown at you and you've gotta cope with them, shift some paradigms, revolutionize outside the box. Ugh, sleepycam quotes Futurama, ahoy. Also yawning. It's not like I didn't sleep or nothin', (so many negatives in that sentence...) I guess I was just up too late again, like most days. Definiitely turned into a night owl as I got older. Also also, sentence structure just goes to crap when I just type straight from the brain. I guess that means it's coffee time. Es la hora de café. Woo bad spanish!

Okay, so, uh, things, I guess. Oh man, this song, "My Type" by Saint Motel, rather amusing. First verse ends with the line I'm a man who has very specific taste* which is immediately followed by the lines You know you're just my type / You are alive and you are breathing*.  I chuckle about that one almost every time I hear it, which is a lot on this stingray station I listen to on the TV at work (Rock Alternative, for those wondering). That's one of the more popular ones that shows up. I'm sure there's others, but I can never seem to recall their names. Heck, the only reason I knew the previously mentioned one was due to it being played at the time I brought it up. 

{*note: music lyrics may not be exact, I haven't actually looked them up.}

[1:46] Speaking of music, I've been listening to a lot of Mother Mother lately. I listened to them like 6 years ago for the first time and loved their music, and then life and forgetfulness happened which led to me forgetting them. I rediscovered them and 3 additional albums they had put out, all of them good in their own way but each more different from the last. Quality stuff, man. Hard to describe, too, and the "genre" changes from one song to the next, thereby transcending genres. I guess they'd be labeled as "Alternative" but by golly does that labeling annoy me. It's just way to flippin' broad for its own good and vagueness, though a huge part of what and who I am, annoys me if used improperly and/or for classification purposes. Vagueness can be utilized to great effect leading to interest and intrigue, but not when you're trying to define something very specifically as it leads to confusion and deterrence. It seems to check the "Things that Irk me" box moreso in music than anything else, for no good reason and I have no idea why...

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Sorry about that, Rhinestone Eyes by Gorillaz came on, it was super distracting and now I want to listen to that album again. Gosh dang I love them. I'm sure I've professed my love of their music before, but it's (apparently) just as strong as ever. 

Unrelated, I haven't managed to get my hair cut yet, worked more than scheduled, which is not a bad thing for me, not so great for the sick coworker I was covering. [2:34] She'll be fine though, she's a tough cookie. That's a peculiar phrase, "tough cookie," does it come from the way-to-high-energy foodstuff or the ship cook's nickname? I'm thinking the latter, as the former seems like it'd be a seriously negative thing. Granted, that's only if you don't like your cookies tough (like me, I prefer 'em soft.) A tough ship cook is undeniably good though, being able to put up with all sorts of sailor's shenanigans and rough seas whilst still cooking, gotta be a tough cookie for that sort of gig. 

Seriously need to get his mop chop-shopped, added benefits include:

-not having to deal with it

-no long hairs places

-less shampoo needed for cleanliness purposes

-if short enough, toque velcro

-beard longer than hair (won't actually happen, I trimmed it pretty recently so it's on the short side)

-feels awesome

-impossible to make look messy (also if short enough)

These are... actually probably most of the benefits. Still, that's a sizable list of things that cutting [3:10] off my hair will improve. I loves me some toque velcro sized hair. So fuzzy and fun to run my hands over, though I do enjoy running my hands through my long hair like mid-afternoon on a day that I shower in the morning, feels nice.

Okay, sub two hours left of work, you can do this Camson (like Samson with a "C", also the last name of viking children that I father, but that's not a modern concern) Now focus, what are you gonna do in this last stretch of the day? That's right, closing stuff. Check colourant levels, garbages, make sure everything's ready for the week ahead. First though, bathroom. BRB. 

[3:39] Back, had a customer, apparently I'm overly hungry, not that I'm Hangry (hungry-angry), my hands/mouth/face aren't working well together right now. Thankfully I keep snacks hidden in the break room, so I grabbed some before I came back to the pseudo-laptop. 

Hold on, stop. What the? How in the world did I change my align-left to centered? I'm pretty sure I don't know the command for that, so I either mashed a button combination that does it (which I don't think I did, but maybe?) or it just magically did it on its own. Neither of them seem likely, and frankly it doesn't really matter in the long run, I'm just not a fan of multi-format anything, you shouldn't change format unless there's a break or something intentionally very different, and even then you should probably keep your alignment consistent. The biggest issue with this is that I have no idea how to change it back (without looking it up, and who has time for that when I'm typing up a blog? Not me, that's for certain. Too busy complaining about it in the blog to figure out how to fix it, plus it's decent filler content... not really, it's not actually a good topic. I'm just bored and rambling, with an indescernible flair to it (blog name drop, ooooooooh! {man, I'm so lame}). 

Whelp, looks like I've run out of things to talk about. I guess that means that I'm signing off.

Cheers,

~Cam

P.S. Not aligned left sign off is dumb.

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings

(timestamp - 2:00pm)

Welcome back to another edition of Saturday Afternoon Ramblings (from work). I'm your host, C-Train, and today we'll be discussing numerous topics that I will decide upon as I go. 3 Hours left at work and tons of time to talk, slow day in the paint business, as usual on a saturday in winter. Fun Fact: I managed to watch the entirety of Lawrence of Arabia on a Saturday last January. I can only remember snippets of it now, but it was pretty good. 

Random topic change, go! My sense of taste seems unusually heightened right now. I'm not entirely sure why...my nose is just as plugged as always (it's almost never not plugged to some degree) and the only real difference from what I've been doing recently is that I am currently drinking a Green Tea w/ Ginseng and Honey AriZona (As per the font on the can) Iced Tea. Maybe it's clearing up my cluttered mouth flavour receptors or something, but holy cow have I noticed tastes. Like, a banana, which I commonly enjoy, is suddenly so much more flavourful than I thought it was. It's tough to describe, really, though I guess it's mostly just an intensifying of flavours. All the flavours I expect are still there, they're just making themselves known, or rather, they've improved their stage presence. 

Speaking of presence, that's something I've thought about a decent amount but haven't made any posts on. It's something that everyone notices whether they are aware of it or not, and as its root implies, it's all about how one presents themselves. Some time ago I was casually discussing this topic (in the middle of a rush) with a coworker who was having some, mostly mental, issues with giving orders to those who worked under her. She kept saying how she was trying to be intimidating as motivation but, because of both her stature and general disposition, it wasn't exactly working as intended. Sure, being intimidating can be a motivator for others but some people, if only myself, consider intimidation to be a negative attribute. Yes, you can get others to do what you want but at what cost? More often than not they'll end up anywhere from disliking to pure-straight-hating you. So instead of an intimidating presence as a source of motivation, I suggest trying to have an inspiring presence. Keep things positive, be a source of encouragement and advice, make them want to be like you, inspire them to greatness, demand respect through your actions and work ethic.

...I lost the wind in that sail, I have no idea where I was going from there. So new topic because I'm apparently incapable of staying on one for more than a paragraph.

So I really need a haircut. It's getting kinda out of control...and by that I mean it's long enough that I can actively see it without using a mirror. So sometime this week I'm gonna march my way over to some barber shoppe and say something along the lines of "Do you take walk ins? 'Cause all my hair needs to be chopped off." Definitely, most definitely, gonna do that, yeah, motivation. Daily alarm reminder for that? I think yes! 

2-3 minutes later: Okay done. I've got a daily reminder at 11:00am every day forever until I get a haircut. Cool. Also beard trim, because I've been putting that off too, need to get meself a new-old look. I should actually just do that tonight...BRB, setting alarm. Okay, alarm set. Horay for technology! So many alarms, so few that I use daily but none I want to get rid of.  

Otay, new topic. So...stairs are crazy, huh? Little changes in elevation to aid in the ascention of what would otherwise be a steep slope. Probably invented/discovered by people who were trying to get places and realizing it was easier to clamber over rocks for leverage than just go straight at the slope. Related if I lived closer to them, I'd probably be more motivated to walk the "stairway to heaven" on Mission Hill, it'd be some solid excercise, I know 'cause they've nearly killed me before in highschool, and they (timestamp - 3:40) are an excellent example of how solid, horizontal surfaces with consistent height increments can help one ascend what would otherwise be a very steep slope. Gosh dang that stairway was discouraging to look up.

Alright, back to task now that the naturally occuring "ohcrapeveryoneshowedupatonce" panic rush is done. Sittin' back in the office, chillin' on my tablet, sippin' coffee 'cause that's how I roll on a saturday afternoon (and mildly tweaking out because CAFFEINE). Realizing that I still double-space after a period even though it was basically proven that it's pointless by xkcd, but will probably continue to do it forever because that's a habit I'll probably never break. Also realizing that when I blank for a second or two I tend to type "Face!"...which is odd, but possibly explainable though I'm not sure how/when it started. I'm not really gonna delve deep with this one, I just know that it happens. Also, why don't I do these blogs when I'm *not* at work. It probably has something to do with how I've got a bunch of stuff to occupy my time at home but much less so at work when it's slow. We'll go with that, seems most logical. Ah, logic, my old friend, how I love thee. 

(timestamp - 4:42) 

And with that, I guess I should be taking off to finish up my actual job. Crazy how time flies when you've got customers who you're familiar with that are friendly and chatty.

Cheers!

~Cam

Bored and More Bored, aka: Work Is Slow Again

Ahh, November, the time of the year when painting ceases to be something people want to think about doing and instead begin their hibernation rituals to prepare for the coming winter. The start of November is the harbinger of the slow season here at "Cam works at a paint store" town, so there may very well be more BloPos (Blog Posts [taken from NaBloPoMo, which I'm pretty sure is a thing]) especially if the pace of sales today is any indicator...

I am currently reclined in the office typing on my phone which decided to turn on magically after many hours of being plugged in but showing no signs of life. That was a weird phenomenon, it was working fine for years (literally) then it just up and bricked itself for hours. First thing I did was plug it in and see if anything happens, which normally does even if it's just a screen indicating that it's charging, but there was just blackness this time. It only came back after I had already placed an order for a new phone (which was immediately canceled after I got ole phoney back) an put a Facebook post up about how I was phoneless for a while. The real kicker is that my friend Lish said commented "get your phone fixed!" And then within minutes it turned back on. Freaking magic, I now think she's a technomage, and have told her as much. Regardless, I don't need a new phone quite yet, and good old Cphone Sr. Is still truckin' along nicely. 

Now down to brass tacks... Not really. I just wanted to say that, it's a fun turn of phrase. Speaking of turning, daylight savings did something over the weekend and now my internal clock has been mildly screwed up, and closing time will be even darker than it was already. Pretty sure that's the same for most people nowadays, but this is my blog so I'll talk about what I want to talk about. I've also got to change a few clocks yet, mostly the ones I don't use, so it's not a big deal, but they should still be accurate...I've also got to figure out how to change the time displayed on the phones in the store, they're all off because the guy who knew how to change them left. As the store techy, it falls to me to figure it out... later, after blog post, 'cause I've still got 2+ hours to kill. Yaaaaaaaay.....

Okay, next topic. Let's see here... dum de dum... thumbing through the topic wheel in my mind... Ah! This'll do nicely. Ahem, the topic of this next ramble is... Hair!

So it's that time of the year when my hair is long enough to be both fluffy and frustrating. I already trimmed off most of my beard (and need to clean it up again), and next comes the mane. It's a little unruly and curly and floof, which can be nice, but I like the "buzzed short enough to be toque Velcro" hair for exactly that purpose. Seeing as I only wear toques in the fall and winter months, this is the ideal time to take it all off. The only issue is: where and/or how? I could go to that old timey barber shop place that opened on 31st ave and see what the deal is... and I may do that this week. Actually, yeah, I should do that. I promise nothing, but it might happen. Regardless, I've gotta figure out how to get rid of all this hair I've got on top of my head. Hopefully I feel motivated enough to do that this week. 

Secondary issue: Motivation. I still need to find a source of motivation for myself. Being easily content has its drawbacks I guess. I like who I am, I do my job well, I've got friends and stuff, I'm still alive, I haven't fallen in with any bad crowds. Seems like I'm doing pretty alright, and I tend to agree with that. I don't see any personal need to do things too differently. Whatever, I don't want to get too deep into repeated introspection when all I'm doing is trying to kill time. So I won't. What do we say to introspection? Not today! 

I should really do some laundry, it's a little in the piled high side right now. I'll make an alarm for it for tomorrow at a time when I'll probably be awake. Then because I've started cleaning it's just gonna spiral into other things and my room'll end up rearranged and all the recycling will be processed (it's kinda out of control right now). Alright, tomorrow goals set, now to execute them and be a productive member of my living quarters!

Okay, that's enough out of me today. Gotta keep something in the stores for when I'm bored on other days of work, which is very likely to happen...possibly a lot.

Cheers!

~Cam

Revenge of the Workpost III: Another One

Well, here we are again. As predicted, very little activity on this thanksgiving Sunday that the store is dumbly open for. Granted, there's been a couple customers, but that's just 'cause it's the last day of the big sale. They didn't even want any of the paint coloured.  At least I've got some Earl Grey to keep me company in the desolate wastes known as "a paint store." Now, without further delay, let the rambling commence!

Firstly, I'm in a better mental state than last week, far more relaxed and easy going, less antsy and bored. That's good, 'cause I'm pretty sure I lost some of my mind last week, it's probably around here somewhere... Regardless, I'm gonna attribute the sanity to the rather enjoyable tea that I'm casually sipping on. I should really go pick up some Earl Grey for home, I forgot how much more I like it than English Breakfast. It's got a lot more personality than your classic EBs, and paired with some vanilla and cream it's just a very pleasant experience. Mmmmm.

Hmm, I seem to be drawing a blank as to what to talk about. This is why I don't blog regularly, it takes a while for me to accumulate anything interesting to talk about...shoot, I just remembered that next month is NaBloPoMo or whatever the blogging equivalent of the novel writing month is. Post daily? I'll try but I have yet to succeed at that, though never having really committed to it is probably reason enough for me. I'm pretty good at talking myself out of stuff. 

Speaking of, I really should record some stuff on my computer, maybe with facecam? That would require getting a webcam though, and I hate looking at myself...though I could also potentially stream stuff on twitch...so many possibilities. Too many possibilities, I need to settle on an idea and stick with it. I'm currently leaning towards recording on consoles with either live voice or post-recording dubbing/voiceover. Plus that'd help with video editing practice, and layering and learning and what have you. Now to set a rock solid time to do this. Setting my alarm for Wednesday morning ~8:00am with reminders every fifteen minutes for basically the whole day. That should be annoying enough to get me doing something about it. I think I'll start with Ico or Shadow of the Collossus, I haven't played either of those, and apparently they're masterpieces. Should be fun.

If you understood little of that, don't worry about it, I was just thinking to myself about a hobby that I want to start. Feel free to ignore it, it's probably not gonna be that interesting, 'cause I'm not entirely sure if I'm funny or entertaining by myself in the flesh. I tend to play off other people, which is great fun in groups and helps with the "everyone likes Cam for no good reason" thing, and when typing things out I can think an rethink ideas and phrases to give the illusion of being hilarious. Ergo, there is a gap between being in groups and typing things up where I'm by myself In which I have yet to receive feedback as to whether or not I'm capable of being entertaining. Personally, I think I'm rather dull on my own, but that could largely be due to me having lived with myself for my entire life and being so used to my shenanigans that I can't tell. Oh, plus I mostly talk to myself in my head, so I'm not sure how well it translates to the verbal aspect of human interaction. I mean, sure, I understand myself rather well, but I've got pretty solid evidence supporting the "Cam's at least a little bit crazy" theory, though that eventually devolves into the "do crazy people know that they're crazy" logic loop (which is a rabbit hole I'm not going to go down right now).

Anywho, tldr; I may not be funny solo IRL, regardless of how funny I am in groups and online.

So every now and again I like to re-read some of my older stuff. It's a nice trip down memory lane, and I get to remember how funny I think I am. I think I'm hilarious, FYI. I guess it really doesn't matter what other people think, but I would prefer it if they have positive opinions of me.  Oh, right, I just remembered what I wa actually gonna talk about after that last ramble.

So I have a group of people I game with, we call ourselves a guild. I've bee with this most of the same group of people since probably 2007-8. Well, it was larger then, but a lot of them left for life reasons, regardless, the core group has known each other for quite a while. In that time, we have come up with ridiculous stories about each other, a good chunk of which revolve around the exploits I never actually endeavoured on. They are actually ridiculous too, not even close to being able to happen. For instance, one summer the crickets were almost always super loud and my mic would pick them up on the voice chat. The first time it happened everyone was curious as to what in the world it was. I casually explained the situation and everyone understood and we went on with our lives, only occasionally bringing it back up. Then school started up that fall and I had to let the gaming take a back seat. During this time, rumours of my absence began circulating. Theses rumours consisted of how I had been kidnapped by these (now racist, for whatever reason) crickets. It eventually built into a story of how I had escaped them but they were now after me with suicide bomber crickets that explode when stepped on (there was some sort of loud bang on my end when we were chatting which, according to them, was caused by racist suicide bomber crickets). Why? No freaking idea, it's just where their minds went, and try kept adding to it to make it more crazy. I'm sure there was more to it, but it was at least 5 years back at this point so the exact memory is a little hazy. All in all, good fun and fond memories, but that does little to detract from how ridiculous these people are, as I wouldn't have it any other way.

Well, I've been thumb typing for probably too long, so I'm thinking I should probably end here. Only 1.5h left to work, I should be able to occupy that time with non-blog things.

Cheers, (and Happy Thanksgiving)

~Cam

Random Thoughts: The Reckoning.

Hello. It's Sunday, I'm at work, and I have yet to see a customer. Why? Because we, like many other paint stores, aren't usually open on Sunday. As such, I'm bored out of my flippin' gourd. So here's random crap that comes out of my head when I'm this bored.

I really don't understand the appeal of savoury beverages. Apparently I'm of the opinion that savoury flavours are meant to be food (or soup, so meals in general, I guess). Sure, there are probably exceptions to this, but I have yet to experience a savoury beverage that I really enjoyed. Vegetable juices are tolerable, but I rarely go out of my way to drink them. 

Even without having practiced my drawing for a while, I seem to have retained my relatively newfound knowledge of eye composition. That's good, 'cause I kinda want to get back into it, but I'll be darned if motivation isn't hard to come by. Whatever, it's be a personal goal for the most part, I'm not exactly seeking an audience or the spotlight. 

I realized like 5 minutes before starting this post that I had forgotten what a handwritten letter "capital I" looked like, I kept making lowercase "B" and "L" instead, I had to actually look up what it was to make sure I was even on the right track. I guess hand writing is becoming a lost art...not that anyone could read my chicken scratch to begin with, but still, I spent a lot of time in school learning how to do all that, I should still try to keep it... I guess.

It has recent come to my attention once again that simple to me is NOT simple to everyone else. I like having proper, concise terminology for what I'm talking about, but that doesn't mean anyone will understand what he crap I'm talking about. As such, I have to explain myself more often than not. Prime example: working at a paint store, I say things like "sheen" and "colourant saturation point."

To me, sheen is plain as day, but people tend to not understand it, so the quick explanation of "how shiny something is" is usually followed after saying "sheen."

Admittedly, "colourant saturation point" seems more convoluted, but it's simple the point at which we can't add any more colourant to paint because it won't mix properly. Heck, some people don't realize that I mean "stuff that makes colours" when I say "colourant." It can be rather frustrating, but it's something I've more or less come to terms with due to dealing  with it pretty much daily. The "simple to me but not everyone" concept applies to other aspects of life too, but I'm almost a shut-in when I'm not at work, mostly by choice.

The time is now 12:20, only 2h40m left to work today. This is going so freaking slow, it's ridiculous. I've had two teas and a coffee, because there is literally nothing else to do. At least last weekend I had stock to put away. Oh, and I'll be here, same shift, next week, thanksgiving Sunday. There's no freakin' chance that it'll be busier next week, what the crap, company? Why are you forcing us to do this? It's monetarily unjustified, you're losing money by having is be open just because you have to pay me, not to mention additional electricity costs and all the water I use (not actually that much, but still some that would otherwise go unused). Screw it, I'm gonna draw some more and listen to whatever's on the Stingray Alternative channel.

So, there you have it. Rambling achieved.

Cheers folks,

~Cam.