4~20~03 Sunday
April 23rd, 11:44 am
Feeling: reminiscint
Thinking About: wet grass on a spring morning
Guess who's back? Who's back again? Guess who's back, guess who's back ....Hello all. It's been too long indeed. I've been testing out using Xanga but i'm not too sure I want to sway that way. I'm actually looking into making 'www.johnpieri.com'. I'll talk about that more later. Where to begin? My last update was right before New Years. Much to report. I have a new job. I was fired from my previous job a few days before my birthday. Not really fired i guess, but laid off. It was pretty crappy losing my first job. I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later (god did i hate that job). That same week (i was canned on monday) my old boss where i used to work during college contacted me and said she had just gotten an opening! I interviewed for that job and started a week later. I actually made out pretty well b/c I got a two week severance package plus my two weeks of vacation paid. I pretty much didn't miss a paycheck otherwise. Now i'm back working in the manhattan working for a great company where i actually have a meaningful job!! Honestly, i was always the one who was all, 'as long as i make lots of money i don't care what i do'. It's not true, take it from me. I had a decent pay, great benefits and a really nice commute at my first job. But it felt like the job itself was eating away at my soul. I had nothing to do all day, whatever i did do was meaningless and i felt like i wasn't even working. I've been at my new job almost 9 weeks and i love it! The commute is 'eh', but i can live with that. Nice co-workers, good atmosphere, good benefits and a big jump in salary!
I guess that's the big news from the past few months. Oh, also, i'm working at the petstore that eri is working at on the weekends. It's pretty fun. I've been there for about 5 weeks now and it's fun. I would have thought that i would burn out but i haven't really felt that way. It's got many things that i was looking for (some extra $, spending more time with eri and making new friends). I guess the other big news is that eri and i are moving out soon. We're going to move out in July (if everything goes according to schedule). It's pretty exciting. Although i have moved out and lived with my brother before, i wasn't involved at all in the apartment hunting process. So that's pretty cool. So now i'm just trying to save up $ and trying to pay off my bills before we move out. There's one other story in the news department. My older brother and his wife have moved to California. I was kind of expecting it the entire time, so it wasn't
that much of a shock to me.
Now for the more current events. Sunday was Easter. Easter really isn't as big as the other holidays for my family (like 4th of july, thanksgiving or xmas). My grandparents came up for the day and we had a quiet dinner at my parent's house. I brought over yuki & wampa to make the house seem more full. This is the first holiday w/o my older brother & his wife. I was hoping my parent's wouldn't get depressed.
Realization: i'm getting old!
4~21~03 Monday & 4~22~03 Tuesday
April 23rd, 1:52 pm
Feeling: antsy
Thinking About:
Mr. Wampa
Monday night I went out to dinner with eri & eri's mom. We went to Kiku on 9W. I've passed this place a few times and always wondered what it was like. I've been to hibachi places before and i've always liked them. This place is realllllllly nice! It reminds me of (for some weird reason) a really nice hotel. Maybe because it's really big and really clean. Anyways, the food was really good (and expensive) and I found another type of sake that i enjoy (make that three and counting).
This inspires me to list my favorite restaurants:
1) Olive Garden-can't beat the breadsticks
2) Noshiro-there nothing like some home (sort of) cooked food and good sake.
3) Kiku-the food is great and the ambience is amazing
4) Big Red Tomato-great food for a great price (plus it's 5 seconds from my house).
5) Ruth Chris Steakhouse-but only if i save up some $ (great creme brulee)
6) Sushi Yasuda-i've had a craving for Blowfish ever since
7) Cheesecake Factory-enourmous portions, enourmous menu
There you go! Anyways, tuesday night James, eri and i were going to go bowling at Bowler City in Hackensack. This weekend the pet store folk are going bowling and i haven't bowled since god knows when. So i wanted to brush up on my skills a little (not only am i really competitive with bowling, but we're playing for $ too!!). We went there and, as always, there was leagues and we couldn't bowl until like 11pm. Hopefully i will get a chance to bowl before saturday. If not i'm afraid i will stink up the place.... GRRRRrrrrr. In other news that I forgot to list before, there has been some health concerns with Mr. Wampa. He was gimping around on three legs a few weeks back and everytime i touched that leg he would let out a cry. So we brought him to the vet at the flushing pet store (the same chain as the store eri works at) and they took xrays. It seems he has a case of arthritis/bone decaying. Wonderful. Of course eri was freaking out, then i started to freak out a little later.... we're giving him some medicine. They said if the medicine doesn't heal his bone (they gave it a 50-50 chance) then in a few months he would have to have surgery to fix the problem. I just hope everything turns out ok....
Realization: i feel like a father even though i have no kids
this is my boy Wampa (8 month old maltese)
This is just something stupid that i found while roaming xanga....
30 REASONS YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BERGEN COUNTY
1. You think people from South Jersey are a different breed (this is definetely true!)
2. If you see another Starbucks you’re gonna kill yourself (tis true, 2 in my town alone)
3. You go to 7-11 not WaWa’s (wawa is ghetto, 3 for 3)
4. You’re a five minute drive from the skyline (approx 15 seconds, literally)
5. You hang out with people from other towns more than your own town (true true, 5 for 5)
6. Every girl you know owns a Tiffany’s charm bracelet and an expensive bag (i never really thought about it, but yeah)
7. Most guys you see have dark, spiky hair and shop at Armani Exchange, Diesel or Abercrombie (hmm, idk about this one, 6 for 7)
8. You went to camp (yup)
9. You love Bon Jovi and have found yourself singing “Livin’ on a Prayer” while wasted at a bar or a party. (ummm, no. 7 for 9)
10. You don’t understand why there aren’t 24 hour diners everywhere else in the country (nj is the diner capital of the US)
11. You still go to your high school Thanksgiving game (no, thank god. 8 for 11)
12. You see everyone you know at the diner (no matter what diner)
13. You don’t pump your own gas and you like it that way! (hells yeah!)
14. You’ve run out of money on the Parkway .... (nah, ezpass. 10 for 14)
15. You’ve spent prom weekend at Seaside or Wildwood (yup)
16. On your 21st birthday you vow to go to Hoboken or Atlantic City (hell yeah! AC baby!)
17. You know where the Bada Bing is (yup)
18. You’ve jumped on the Nets Bandwagon (i root for them, but I'm still a Knick at heart)
19. You go to college and you still wear your high school sweatshirts (nope, 14 for 19)
20. You’ve gone the wrong way on Route 17 at least once (unfortunately yes)
21. You’re within 10 minutes of at least four malls (hmm, bergen, riverside, garden state plaza, parmus park,)
22. You have a house down the shore and make sure to be there Fourth of July weekend (no, that would be cool though. 16 for 22)
23. You’ve gone to Edgewater to get wasted by the Hudson and have hung out at the strip in Ridgewood ... (no and no. 16 for 23)
24. You’ve gone on missions to find Devil’s Tower and Midgetville (sadly, yes.)
25. You “tawk” the “tawk” and “wawk” the “wawk” and by the way I’m getting a pie not a pizza (no. I'm not WT. 17 for 25)
26. You know what exit you are off the parkway ...
(n/a. i don't have an exit off the parkway)
27. You love Garden State Plaza but you take trips to Willowbrook or Palisades Mall on Sundays (of course)
28. You go clubbing in the City and have been to Exit and Sound Factory more times than you’d like to admit (clubbing in NYC yes, but not to those two.)
29. You know where BIG was filmed and you know that John Travolta is from Englewood (yes and no)
30. Hirams or Callihans? (but of course).
Finally tally...... 22 out of 30.
