So it was getting pretty late in my shift a couple nights ago, and I was pretty focused on just getting out of there. While I was checking someone out, I heard a couple arguing farther down the line if he was going to buy her some gum. He said no and she finally relented. When their basket got to me, she goes, "baby, give me a kiss." Turns out, this was the perfect distraction for her to slip the gum into the basket. I'm trying my hardest not to laugh (no easy thing for me, as you probably know) since the man is totally oblivious to all of this. I quickly ring up the gum and slide it, right in front of him, to the woman. The man is still completely oblivious! The woman and I are cracking up and the guy has no idea why! When I announce the total, the guy goes, "wait - did you get gum?!" By this point I'm trying my hardest not to laugh really really hard, thus can't really talk. I somehow managed to gain enough control to move onto the next person, but even now, just thinking of the guys reaction to this, is making my laugh.
Reading back over this, it's not as funny so maybe you had to be there, but I was very entertained.
Irish trait:
The Irish ignore everything they can't drink or punch.
24 July 2010
25 June 2010
Sleep Wanted
I don't know what the deal is, but the past couple of nights, I have not been able to fall asleep for the life of me. I'm tired, but I can't keep my eyes closed. I realized the first night of this that I only had tea with caffeine so yesterday I went and bought an herbal tea so hopefully that will help a little bit.
I can't believe June is almost over! I thought the summer was going to drag by, but it's really going pretty fast. My apartment is working out well, and living above an Irish store hasn't proved too bad for my checking account :) It helps that I haven't quite figured out her open hours, too. Having my bed in the living room is a little strange, but we have the couch halfway across the room and I hung curtains behind it to give me some semblence of a "room." It's definitely not as awkward as I thought it could be.
I received my official placement into the Early Irish History program at UCD! I e-mailed the director and asked if she had any books she would recommend for me since I've obviously grown up in America and don't have that much background in Irish History. She said that she doesn't expect anyone to have any background but she did recommend two books for me to read. One was by a professor that two of my friends had in Galway! Daibhi O'Croinin (sp?) is evidently "the man" in this field so I'm going to get at least his book. The other one she said was a little more advanced and since I really probably only have time for one, I'm going to just go with Daibhi's.
Irish insult:
Go n-ithe an cat thu is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat.
Literally: May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat.
I love Irish insults.
I can't believe June is almost over! I thought the summer was going to drag by, but it's really going pretty fast. My apartment is working out well, and living above an Irish store hasn't proved too bad for my checking account :) It helps that I haven't quite figured out her open hours, too. Having my bed in the living room is a little strange, but we have the couch halfway across the room and I hung curtains behind it to give me some semblence of a "room." It's definitely not as awkward as I thought it could be.
I received my official placement into the Early Irish History program at UCD! I e-mailed the director and asked if she had any books she would recommend for me since I've obviously grown up in America and don't have that much background in Irish History. She said that she doesn't expect anyone to have any background but she did recommend two books for me to read. One was by a professor that two of my friends had in Galway! Daibhi O'Croinin (sp?) is evidently "the man" in this field so I'm going to get at least his book. The other one she said was a little more advanced and since I really probably only have time for one, I'm going to just go with Daibhi's.
Irish insult:
Go n-ithe an cat thu is go n-ithe an diabhal an cat.
Literally: May the cat eat you and the devil eat the cat.
I love Irish insults.
14 June 2010
Things I've Learned Working at Walmart
I've worked at Walmart a short time, but I've picked up on a few things that I feel you, who most likely are a Walmart consumer, should know:
-If you have time standing in line, please remove your clothes from the hangers. It will make your checkout go so much faster.
-Put all of your groceries together so the cashier doesn't have to spin the bag wheel 50 times to ensure no grocery items are put in with chemical cleaners.
-ALWAYS put the bar between your stuff and the next person's stuff. Don't assume the cashier will automatically know where the break is (the belt keeps moving until something stops it. Chances are the cashier didn't see the break there.) This one really irritates me.
-If you call the cashier by their first name, even though you don't know them, stop. It's creepy.
-Try to empty your cart and move forward to grab the bags of the wheel thing as fast as possible. There are only so many bags, and, especially when you don't separate your items, they fill up fast.
-Make sure there's a bar code or a price tag on every item. If there's not, find one that has one or remember the price.
-Don't get angry at the cashier when the card reader doesn't work. They've had to deal with it all day and are probably more angry at it than you are.
-Keep your card out until you're positive the transaction has gone through. If you're paying with a credit card, keep it out until you're sure the cashier won't ask to check your signature.
-Cashiers judge you by what you buy. And we question what you could possibly be doing with these items (especially in the express lane with minimal items). Like condoms and butter...maybe I don't want to know...
Irish quote of the day:
"I can resist everything but temptation." ~ Oscar Wilde
-If you have time standing in line, please remove your clothes from the hangers. It will make your checkout go so much faster.
-Put all of your groceries together so the cashier doesn't have to spin the bag wheel 50 times to ensure no grocery items are put in with chemical cleaners.
-ALWAYS put the bar between your stuff and the next person's stuff. Don't assume the cashier will automatically know where the break is (the belt keeps moving until something stops it. Chances are the cashier didn't see the break there.) This one really irritates me.
-If you call the cashier by their first name, even though you don't know them, stop. It's creepy.
-Try to empty your cart and move forward to grab the bags of the wheel thing as fast as possible. There are only so many bags, and, especially when you don't separate your items, they fill up fast.
-Make sure there's a bar code or a price tag on every item. If there's not, find one that has one or remember the price.
-Don't get angry at the cashier when the card reader doesn't work. They've had to deal with it all day and are probably more angry at it than you are.
-Keep your card out until you're positive the transaction has gone through. If you're paying with a credit card, keep it out until you're sure the cashier won't ask to check your signature.
-Cashiers judge you by what you buy. And we question what you could possibly be doing with these items (especially in the express lane with minimal items). Like condoms and butter...maybe I don't want to know...
Irish quote of the day:
"I can resist everything but temptation." ~ Oscar Wilde
02 June 2010
What do you do with a BA in History?
These are the lyrics to a song from Avenue Q. Instead of the original What Do You Do With a BA in English, I have changed them to What Do You Do With a BA in History.
What do you do with a B.A. in History?
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge
Have earned me this useless degree.
I can't pay the bills yet
'Cause I have no skills yet
The world is a big scary place.
But somehow I can't shake
The feeling I might make
A difference
To the human race.
The answer? Apparently, work at Walmart.
Irish gem of wisdom:
In heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink ours here.
What do you do with a B.A. in History?
What is my life going to be?
Four years of college and plenty of knowledge
Have earned me this useless degree.
I can't pay the bills yet
'Cause I have no skills yet
The world is a big scary place.
But somehow I can't shake
The feeling I might make
A difference
To the human race.
The answer? Apparently, work at Walmart.
Irish gem of wisdom:
In heaven there is no beer
That's why we drink ours here.
01 June 2010
Here we go again
I never really stopped doing my blog, but I'm going to start writing a little more regularly now (hopefully!) Although I won't be the Galway Girl anymore, the Dublin Girl does not have quite the same ring to it so I will be sticking with this title. :)
I am about 3 months out from flying to Dublin to start grad school! It seems so close and so far away at the same time. Currently, my preparations for Ireland consists of working at the Baker Archives and the Walmart in Lawrence. I've started a savings account at home entitled "Ireland fund" (much safer than my envelope all the money was in! Now I can't access it anytime I want Taco Bell!) Other than saving, I can't really do much in preparation until I receive all the official stuff from UCD. For some reason they think graduating is a prereq to grad school (lol) so my official transcript is en route to Dublin, then they'll send me a packet via snail mail in return. This is when I really hate how slow overseas mail is.
Once I receive my packet, my 'to do' list is sure to grow. Right now it merely consists of scholarship search, graduation thank yous, and Ashley's Christmas gift (yes, from last Christmas - she'll get it eventually!) I still need to find a job in Dublin, find a place to live, and buy a plane ticket. I was hoping my unused Italy ticket would be able to be changed, but the tour company said that they can't do that. :( Sad day.
At least while I play the waiting game I have plenty of reading to keep me busy! I just brought home two books my parents borrowed from one of the Sisters in Concordia called Absolution by Murder and Suffer Little Children by Peter Tremayne (both mysteries of Ancient Ireland), I have two from the Baker Archives entitled How the Irish Saved Civilization (love this title) by Thomas Cahill and A History of Ireland by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, and I have two from my advisor, one of which I've had since January (senior sems pretty much took care of any free reading time this past semester) called The Twilight Lords by Richard Berleth which is, surprise, about Ireland during Elizabeth I's reign. Hmmm....all of these books are about Ireland. I'm sensing a theme. The other one from my advisor is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke which is about fairies, but takes place in England so a little different. I also have another book given to me by another professor called South of Broad by Pat Conroy which is actually not about Ireland! So needless to say, I have plenty of reading material for the summer! Oh - I almost forgot the book I'm currently reading! It's called Delaying the Real World by Colleen Kinder. It basically tells you how to put off an office job and do something fun that gives you a unique life experience - pretty much the best book ever!
Well, this became a longer post than I thought it was going to be! I think I'm going to start ending these posts with unique pieces of Irish wisdom. Here's the first:
The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scots as a joke. The Scots still haven't figured it out.
I am about 3 months out from flying to Dublin to start grad school! It seems so close and so far away at the same time. Currently, my preparations for Ireland consists of working at the Baker Archives and the Walmart in Lawrence. I've started a savings account at home entitled "Ireland fund" (much safer than my envelope all the money was in! Now I can't access it anytime I want Taco Bell!) Other than saving, I can't really do much in preparation until I receive all the official stuff from UCD. For some reason they think graduating is a prereq to grad school (lol) so my official transcript is en route to Dublin, then they'll send me a packet via snail mail in return. This is when I really hate how slow overseas mail is.
Once I receive my packet, my 'to do' list is sure to grow. Right now it merely consists of scholarship search, graduation thank yous, and Ashley's Christmas gift (yes, from last Christmas - she'll get it eventually!) I still need to find a job in Dublin, find a place to live, and buy a plane ticket. I was hoping my unused Italy ticket would be able to be changed, but the tour company said that they can't do that. :( Sad day.
At least while I play the waiting game I have plenty of reading to keep me busy! I just brought home two books my parents borrowed from one of the Sisters in Concordia called Absolution by Murder and Suffer Little Children by Peter Tremayne (both mysteries of Ancient Ireland), I have two from the Baker Archives entitled How the Irish Saved Civilization (love this title) by Thomas Cahill and A History of Ireland by Peter and Fiona Somerset Fry, and I have two from my advisor, one of which I've had since January (senior sems pretty much took care of any free reading time this past semester) called The Twilight Lords by Richard Berleth which is, surprise, about Ireland during Elizabeth I's reign. Hmmm....all of these books are about Ireland. I'm sensing a theme. The other one from my advisor is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke which is about fairies, but takes place in England so a little different. I also have another book given to me by another professor called South of Broad by Pat Conroy which is actually not about Ireland! So needless to say, I have plenty of reading material for the summer! Oh - I almost forgot the book I'm currently reading! It's called Delaying the Real World by Colleen Kinder. It basically tells you how to put off an office job and do something fun that gives you a unique life experience - pretty much the best book ever!
Well, this became a longer post than I thought it was going to be! I think I'm going to start ending these posts with unique pieces of Irish wisdom. Here's the first:
The Irish gave the bagpipes to the Scots as a joke. The Scots still haven't figured it out.
20 March 2010
OMG! DUBLIN!
So, I'm sure those of you who read this already know via my Facebook, but I've accepted an offer to study early Irish histor at University College Dublin starting his fall! Just a little excited :D It's a year long program in which I will obtain a master's degree. I'm thinking right now that I'll probably go on for my PhD, but haven't decided for sure yet. I've said absolutely not to teaching for a long time, but the idea of being a professor is beginning to appeal more and more to me.
Ok, now if anyone knows of any really high-paying summer jobs or international graduate scholarships give me a ring!
Ok, now if anyone knows of any really high-paying summer jobs or international graduate scholarships give me a ring!
13 January 2010
No Italy :(
I had planned to go to Italy this week and next week for my interterm class at Baker. Those plans got cancelled after a recent hospital visit. About 9:00pm Saturday night, I began feeling like I couldn't get a good breath. About 4:30am I woke up my roommate and asked her to take me to the hospital. Once I got there, they suspected a blood clot in my lungs, but they couldn't find any substantial evidence. I was admited to the hospital for more tests, and I remained certain that I'd be released Monday and on a plane to Rome Tuesday. That was not to be. Monday, I had an ultrasound done on my legs and they found blood clots behind both knees. So, now I have to give myself shots in the stomach twice a day for at least this week, and I'll take Cumadin (sp?) for 6 months to a year. I can't do transatlantic travel for 3 months (good thing I didn't get on that plane to Rome, huh?) Second semester at Baker doesn't start until the 27th so I'm at home for the time being, relaxing, blogging, applying to grad schools, and catching up on everything I didn't get done over Christmas break. I know I'll get to Italy someday, although this is the second time I've missed the opportunity (the first was when I was studying abroad - I ran out of money for Italy). I still hate that I've missed out on this trip though. There were quite a few people going on this trip that I was looking forward to spending time with and sharing the experience with and I won't be able to have that when I go in the future.
I wonder how fast a speed boat gets you to Italy?
I wonder how fast a speed boat gets you to Italy?
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