Dream State Escalate: 39

The recurring nightmare of working at my college job resurfaced with a vengeance last night.

I had started working there as a part time job to supplement my income and had informed management that since it was a second job that I would only be available to work weekends since I already had a 40 hour a week M-F job that I couldn't take time off from to work part-time somewhere else, and they agreed to my requirements.

One morning I opened my email (this is how they were now sending out schedules) to find that I had missed several shifts, because they sent out the current week's schedule mid-week, and had scheduled me during weekdays (which they knew I would not be available for). I had a major confrontation with management, and they told me that if I couldn't be committed to working when they scheduled me, that I couldn't work there anymore. So I said my goodbyes and stormed out of the store... but not before I cast a spell (of some sort, I'm still unclear as to what it's outcome was supposed to be) on the shop.

As I was walking (stomping) to my car I noticed a cute skater boy leaning up against the wall of the building and we ended up walking to the arcade and making out... When it was time for me to leave a security guard stopped me and pulled me into their office. He asked me for my name and if I was related to Alfred, I said that I was his granddaughter, but that he had passed away many years ago. The man said that he knew, and had always felt guilty about cheating him out of thousands of dollars and he wanted to make it right. So he handed me a thick roll of $100 bills and told me to keep it. I argued about it, asked him if I should give it to my grandmother, and in the end he told me that it had always been intended for me and that I needed to keep it.

...guess I didn't need the second job after all?

Chicken & Veggies

I'd like to think of a fancy name for this eventually, maybe you know one if you look at the ingredients, but for now I'm going with Chicken & Veggies.  I don't really measure with this, so go with your gut and taste buds


• Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast
• Olive Oil
• Fresh Garlic
• Zucchini
• Yellow Squash
• Yellow Onion
• Roma Tomatoes (seeded)
• Sun dried Tomato Pesto
• Pampered Chef Sweet Basil Rub
• Salt (optional)
• Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese (optional)

I started by heating up my frying pan with olive oil and a chopped clove of garlic.

I coated the top side of the chicken with the basil rub then chopped it into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces so that they would cook faster than if I left it intact and tossed it in the frying pan with 1/2 of the onion I chopped.

Chopped the rest of the garlic (I used like 5-6 cloves, but I love garlic, so use as much as you're comfortable with), the zucchini, squash, and put a heaping amount of the sun dried tomato pesto in a large bowl and mixed them all together with a little (very little) salt then tossed everything in the pan. I stirred fairly frequently, and when I noticed that stuff was starting to stick a little I added more olive oil. Just before it was finished cooking, I added in the tomatoes, then turned down the heat and let everything simmer for a few minutes.

Once it was all cooked I put in a large serving dish and sprinkled the top with cheddar and let it sit 2-3 minutes to let the cheese melt a bit and for it to set up.

I've made this before without the chicken and it was just as delicious, but it wasn't filling, so without the protein, it would be an excellent side dish, but didn't work (for me) as a meal.

The Departed at SLO Brew

The Departed is one of my favorite bands right now, they've been around a little over two years (maybe 3) but they've definitely made an impact. Two of the members were formerly part of the band Cross Canadian Ragweed and I love that band as well. This is an act that I make sure not to miss if they happen to be in the area (I don't really want to talk about the time I got kicked out of the bar before they came on stage about 4 years back when they were still Ragweed). Anyway they were at SLO Brew on the 11th and I thought I'd share some pics of the live show.