http://punkified.net/ en-us Blog of a Minnesotan young adult. Powered By Amanda Bengtson http://backend.userland.com/rss Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=460
My parents are hosting our wedding, so I've been running back and forth between the two houses to share information and exchange ideas. My working nights is becoming a burden during wedding planning. I need to go look at tuxedos, meet with the chapel planner, and meet with a caterer. I'm always sleeping until early evening, outside normal business hours. I don't want to sacrifice sleep for getting things done. It always seems like the one day I decide to get up in the afternoon, for whatever reason, I end up having a work day from hell.

I've found my dress. I got it off an Internet website since it's extremely hard to find wedding dresses in extended sizes that are in-stock. Rob and I first thought about having a small wedding in Vegas, but Rob's mom thought it was too hard for everyone to gather far from home. That's why we planned for a Thanksgiving weekend wedding, when prices are [interestingly] low. Now we have a wedding booked at the chapel the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This way we can nab some deals on hotels in our dream vacation spot that isn't Japan.

Our reception is being held in an executive center of Mall of America that overlooks the park. We were told that the catering menu is fabulous. However, after staring at the menus for over two weeks, everyone is in agreement that the menus appeal to business-like venues instead of weddings. We're allowed to bring our own wedding cake from outside sources, and when my mom voice concerns about the menu choices and went unanswered, it dawned on us that they probably haven't catered a wedding before. Somehow I think it is going to be disastrous.

About two weeks ago, I gave the car back to my parents and had my dad co-sign my loan so I could get a better rate. I bought a 2007 Saturn Vue...green...pretty much fully loaded. Excellent price and low miles. I ran out of my first tank of gas because my gas gauge wasn't reading properly and didn't signal off the low level light. Hopefully I'll be able to get that repaired shortly.]]> Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:54:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=459
A caller calls the radio station. "Hey, I love that song by, I think it's Nirvana, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Do you know why they're not on concert?"
The Radio DJ says, "Are you kidding me, man?"
"No, I love Nirvana. They're one of my favorite bands."
"They're not on tour because the lead singer died."
"No shit. Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, that's so freakin' sad! I love Nirvana!"
"Yeah, have you heard of Kurt Cobain?"
"Yeah."
"That's the lead singer of Nirvana."
"Oh, when did that happen?"
"In the 1990's."
"Oh, shit, really?"
"Yeah..."
The caller fades out and the radio DJ goes on, "I don't know how anyone can not know that the lead singer of Nirvana is dead..."]]> Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:28:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=458 Fri, 30 May 2008 00:48:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=457 We're sending you this mail to ask you to become a polar explorer and participate in the beta test of Polar Rose.

Using the Polar Rose browser plugin you can name people you see in online photos and find more photos of your friends and family or anyone else that you are looking for - it's an expedition to "discover" the people online that other search engines can't find.

We have made many upgrades and improvements over the past month including a new browser plugin for Firefox/Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and a new website search functionality with results organized into groups by facial similarity (we like to call them "stacks") - this helps you quickly and easily find the person or specific photo you are looking for.

If you would like to be a Polar Rose beta tester you can download the browser plugin and start naming people right away, just click the following link:

http://www.polarrose.com/

(If clicking on the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it into your browser.)

We hope you enjoy using Polar Rose and will give us feedback, just click the
link "Feedback" which is at the bottom of every page on the Polar Rose website
or use the following link:

http://www.polarrose.com/feedback/

We look forward to you joining the expedition.

Warmest regards from the cold north!

Nansen

--------------

Who's Nansen?

Fridtjof Nansen laid the foundation for future polar explorers by his development and refinement of the technology of his day, and we hope you'll do the same. By using Polar Rose and giving us your feedback you will help us to develop and refine the technology to give a better experience to the explorers of tomorrow.Yes, Nansen, who are you and how did you get my email address? And how do I make it so I can quit receiving your emails? I would join, but I find the concept pretty creepy:

name people you see in online photos and find ... anyone else that you are looking for ... "discover" the people online that other search engines can't find.

Anyone ditto me??]]> Wed, 28 May 2008 03:12:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=456
I was going to go to the bank today and pay my credit card. Unfortunately, this morning wasn't my day. I went to three different ATMs and two were out of service and the third might as well have been. I inserted my card and it got a message saying the entering of my PIN has been canceled. I was going to go to the Sprint store, but it wasn't open when I wanted to go. It used to be open at 8AM, but when it moved/merged with the other location, I guess they decided to not open until 9AM.

A car was zig zagging through traffic from Anoka to the Sprint store. Turns out the idiot in the car was someone who worked at Sprint! I wonder if his personality would change if I was a customer and no longer the "woman who likes to go with the flow of traffic?"

I get home around 8:30 or 9AM and I watch some TV. Seeing the sun after work kind of screws up my sleep schedule, so I usually watch some TV to make myself calm down. When the show I was watching was over, I can't fall asleep. I try and when I look at the clock, twenty minutes pass and I decide I need to do something about my sleeplessness. I take some Benadryl. It makes me sleepy in a non-habit forming way, and takes care of the itchiness caused by an allergy-induced rash.

I guess I overdosed on it because I wake up to hearing Rob come home. He then tells me an hour has passed. Then he gets my attention by asking, "aren't you going to do that pizza shop today?"

Oh crap.

I picked up a last minute pizza assignment the other night. It paid a lot of money (a tank of gas) and free pizza! I've done two of these before and they're fun because you get to play in your food! It requires a lot of picture taking, so by the time the pizza is ready to be eaten, its cold. Rob likes cold pizza.

People who are my contacts on Flickr get to see the photos of what I've been talking about.

I'm at work now, and I have a major headache. Bending down to reach the tapes on the bottom shelf only makes the situation worse. I'm hurting...]]> Thu, 22 May 2008 02:22:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=455 How My Wife Ruined GTA IV, last night at work. Somehow I see myself as the "wife" and Rob as the author. I've watched Rob play that game a few times, and many, many times I've thought to myself, "why not take your sweet time and play the game like you would if it were real life?"

Then I realize, it's a video game. Of course they're made to take people away from real life.]]> Thu, 08 May 2008 22:42:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=454
If my gut is right, I need to find a house. I found a nice house in Minneapolis. Sure, the area sucks. I'll just install a security system and leave Tickie free to roam. I won't "live" in my house at night...for now, at least. Is that a plus side to being able to buy a house in a poor neighborhood.

I need a raise.

Oh, and my car's transmission went pooey on me.]]> Mon, 05 May 2008 21:40:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=453
That means a lot to me.]]> Wed, 30 Apr 2008 02:26:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=452
So I've started looking for a new one. I have my BSc in computer science. As far as education is concerned I am way over qualified for my current job. I have a unique job. Unfortunately, I'd rather take something that is career-oriented and brings in more money instead of taking the bragging rights. Sure, my job title is cool, but 95% of the people I've mentioned it to have no idea what it is. That's not always a good thing.

Please forgive me. I'll think about this tomorrow and not want a new job, other times I do. It's the times right now -- where my eyes feel heavy and I want to sleep on the floor -- that make me not want this job.

I had an interview a few days ago. I was offered the position but didn't take it. The company that interviewed me asked me if I could start "tomorrow" and I told them I'd need to put in a two week notice at my current job. The company's response was take this job "tomorrow" or not get it at all. In an odd way, they were happy that I did the "honorable" thing and wanted to put in notice. They tell me they'll get back to me if another position opens up, but please, I can see right through that bull.]]> Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:52:00 +0000 Amanda Bengtson <amanda@punkified.net> http://punkified.net/blog/index.php?id=451
I did a movie trailer audit yesterday afternoon. This was perhaps one of the most fun things I've done in my "underground world of mystery shopping, merchandising, sticker placement and auditing." Have you ever wondered who puts IRC stickers on products at stores? No, it's not the store! It's people like me! And it's amazingly fun, at least until you run into the customers who think you're a store employee...and managers who refuse to let you into their store.]]> Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:53:00 +0000