Appropriately enough, I found an article about people sleeping in manga cafés in Japan. You can get a five or six hour block of time for maybe 700 yen, which is way cheaper than the cheapest of hotels. Of course, it’s loud and annoying, but better than sleeping on the street. Plus you can play games, watch movies, surf the net, or read manga while you’re there. Some places even have a drink bar.
I actually did this once, after I was at a club all night and had to stay in Tokyo to pick up my visiting cousin. It was better than staying up all night, but I still felt pretty bad afterwards (I maybe got 2-3 hours of sleep).
So I applied for a part-time job at the Apple Store in Columbus, basically just for the heck of it. I need some regular hours, and it might not be a bad place to work. I can get a discount on Apple crap, and if I can work enough hours for health insurance, that’d be the best.
Anyway, the “hiring event.” I go in, and there are about 13 other people… first they have us pair off and then tell everybody about the person you talked to. Next, find three items in the store that are “must-haves” for a new Macintosh owner (my group’s answers: AppleCare warranty extension, Airport Express, and a printer). Finally, two questions: “What are you famous for?” and “Why do you want to work for Apple?” Doesn’t sound like much, but with 14 people, it took over an hour. I don’t know if I can handle the “culture,” i.e. “My life is defined by the brand of computer I own,” but I’m doing nothing else at the moment, so I’ll ride the situation out. At the least, it was an amusing experience, plus a look at how the beast (Apple) operates.
Aight, I’ma get all religious on yo’ faces. I had an experience the other night that exemplified a biblical proverb.
As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
Proverbs 11:22
I went with some friends to a bar/restaurant on Monday, mainly for the $1 grilled cheese sandwiches. As we were being seated, I noticed that the waitress was really attractive… I mean really attractive. I felt kinda unsettled, however, because she looked vaguely familiar. It wasn’t until I heard someone say her name that it hit me: this same waitress used to work at an Italian restaurant downtown when I was at my old company. She would sometimes come into my office, I guess because she had a thing for one of the guys I worked with. Of course, since it was a big sleazefest in said office, I heard various things about her that were uncomplimentary to her character; plus it was a huge mark against her just to be voluntarily associating with these guys in the first place.
Anyway, once all this flashed through my mind, she didn’t look so hot anymore.
Just another thing to keep in mind: beauty (and lack thereof) is more than skin deep.
