I once had indigestion....

I once had indigestion, and it lasted for probably about 18 hours which was pretty awful, but it's not nearly as painful as the constant indecision I suffer from. Seriously. I don't know what to do about things and I ask people for advice but I never know how to act on it. And if someone doesn't tell me what to do about my current dilemma, I'm going to explode. And if they do I won't listen.

But Is it Really Free?

I'm a college student, so I love basically anything free. But there are some things that are arguably not free, such as anything in a "Buy one, get one free" deal (you do have to buy the first one) and there are some things I suspect are not free of some catch, like any kind of "free trial."

Some free trials are dangerous because you are asked for your payment information in advance, and after your trial period you are billed unless you have cancelled your subscription. Examples are Netflix and that one insurance company that still owes me $15 because they received my cancellation request before they processed that withdrawal.

Other free trials are just annoying because you get used to the perks of being a paid member, then those perks are taken away and if you're a poor college student like me, you will never pay to get them back. I got a free trial of Norton Antivirus when I bought my computer, but I never upgraded after my trial period was over because I didn't want to spend money. I downloaded the free antivirus software I had on my old computer and so far the world hasn't ended.

So today I found out there's a free Spotify app available for Android devices. Did I mention there's a free Spotify app for Android? I'm super excited about this. I've wanted this thing basically for as long as I've had a smart phone, but probably longer? And it's pretty cool. I'm not familiar with all the fancy features yet, but I have been able to use it just like I use Spotify on my computer, and I can adjust my volume using the buttons on the side of my phone even if the screen is locked. Maybe that's a standard feature for playing music on your phone? Either way, I love it.

There's just one problem. As soon as I opened the app, it brought up a message saying "your free trial has begun." And I don't know exactly what that means. The app is still free, right? After my trial period ends, I'll still be able to use the app but I'll have ads and I'll lose some features? I'm pretty sure that's correct. I just don't know which features I'm going to lose. I hope it's not anything I learn to like, because I'm not paying for an app. No thank you.

Overall, I really am excited about using this app. I probably won't use it as much as I think I will, but I like the idea of having music on the go without taking up a bunch of storage space. I'm just not sure how free this free app will turn out to be...

The Perks of Being a Barista

As you might know, I work as a barista. It's probably the coolest job ever. I love making coffee and making my customers happy. This summer I'm actually working at a place that allows me to earn tips, which is new for me. Tips are great. Ever since Zach gave me the idea to use my tips to buy lunch, I haven't once had to use my debit card to pay for lunch while I'm at work. I love using cash on other little things too.

But one of the best perks of being a barista is the ability to make yourself free coffee, and that right has been taken away from me recently.We have to pay for everything we make ourselves from now on. I guess the owner is trying to actually make money or something? All I know is I'm pretty sure taking away my free coffee rights is unethical and against the International Law of Coffee set down by that giant coffee bean guy from that one episode of Regular Show. I mean, I don't have it in writing, but I'm almost positive.

It's not just that I enjoyed the perk of free coffee; it's also that sometimes I make weird stuff and I'm not sure how much to charge for it. Much like the pretzel pizza the guy next door makes himself. That's not on the menu.

With all the ever-changing policies and Zach being let go and Big Brother (the owners have video cameras, with audio. They watch us from home. It might be all they ever do?) and everything else, I'm starting to love my job a lot less. Which is good, because I needed to want to go back to school next month.

Too Creative?

I have two things working against me this summer. The first is that I've started watching cooking competition shows, mainly MasterChef. The second is that when I'm at work, my favorite place to get dinner is a sandwich place. The result is that when I'm at home I never feel like making myself just a sandwich. Why would I want a sandwich for lunch if I'm going to have a sandwich for dinner. I'd rather try to be creative and make something exciting!

Friday I decided to just see what was in the refrigerator and whip up something amazing. I started by putting some fresh pineapple in the skillet, then added sliced red onion. When I decided the juices of the pineapple had cooked off and I needed more moisture, I added some pear wine. It seemed like a good idea. I also threw in a little broccoli and a bunch of cauliflower among other things, having no idea where any of this was going to go. Eventually I decided the pineapple and wine would be too sweet, so I added soy sauce to make it savory and then half and half, I'm not sure why. After it cooked for a while, I gave up on any other ideas and decided to fold it into a tortilla. I slid the mess onto a plate and plopped a buttered tortilla in the pan. Then I waited for that to crisp up a little, slid my messy concoction onto it, and folded it as well as I could.

It tasted kind of surprisingly delicious, for the most part. There was too much of something. Maybe sweet, maybe sour; I couldn't tell. Afterwards the whole idea seemed stupid. Clearly I had tried to be too creative because of too much tv.

Today I was sure it would be better. I decided to make myself a quesadilla with bacon and artichoke hearts. I changed the recipe a little when I decided ham would be easier than bacon. After throwing my main ingredients on top of my tortilla, I decided to add spices. I started with chili powder my favorite spice that I probably use on too many dishes (Ramen noodles, popcorn, scrambled eggs, easy mac...). And then I thought, Cumin. Cumin adds a nice flavor to Mexican foods, right? I sprinkled a little more than I had intended, then put the bottle back in the cabinet next to the cumin...

Wait, if that's the cumin in the cabinet, what did I just put in my quesadilla? Well, it also starts with "c" but cinnamon doesn't taste so great with melted cheese and garlic-marinated artichoke hearts.

I have to admit, the cinnamon smelled amazing as it heated in the skillet. For the most part, it was tolerable to  eat too. But the first time I bit into a cinnamon-sprinkled artichoke, I wanted to puke. They just don't complement one another.

Learn from my mistakes. Don't let cooking shows make you overcreative about your lunch.

What Goes Up...

Why is it that what goes up must come down, but not everything that goes down, must come up?

I know: Gravity. Except it rained in town tonight so I rolled my windows down in my car and one of them never rolled back up so I really wish the dumb rule would go ahead and work both ways. Whatever.

I wonder how long it will take before my mom realizes I took her car out of the garage and replaced it with mine so no one could steal my radio through the gaping hole in the side of my car that used to be a window. I wonder what I will do once I have to go back to school? I have to get this fixed, don't I? Cool. I needed an excuse to spend some good money.

I had a bad night.

The Heart of London

I was going to blog about something else, but then I was distracted, and eventually I ended up watching the opening ceremony for this year's Olympics, and how could I not blog about that?

First off, I just want to say I'm pissed I was an extra hour behind because I live in the Mountain Time Zone. Central Time isn't delayed compared to Eastern. Why do Mountain and Pacific have to suffer?

Anyway, this was the first opening ceremony I ever watched, and I was very impressed. From what I hear, there was no matching the display of Beijing's ceremony from 2008, but I'd like to think London had something Beijing didn't. What I saw tonight was a strong and inspiring national pride. In the opening ceremonies, I felt like I was seeing into the heart of London and of the United Kingdom.

Probably the first thing I was really excited about was seeing Kenneth Branagh read the quote from The Tempest. I'm a big fan of Branagh so I thought it was neat to see him be such an important part of something as huge as the Olympics, but also the guy just looked delighted. The grin on his face seemed to reveal his own personal joy at having the games return to his home country.

I also really enjoyed the illustration of the Industrial Revolution. Aside from being a pleasure to watch, this demonstration really highlighted Britain's history and really spoke to me as London's way of saying, "This is who we are." This was followed by the beautiful "Second to the Right and Straight on 'Til Morning" which highlighted numerous themes and characters of British literature. I mean, literature. You know I had to love that.

Later, Paul McCartney performs "Hey, Jude" and there is a slight hiccup somewhere in the first lines. I thought maybe he was laughing at something, but I couldn't imagine what. Then later someone mentioned he had choked up. What? Paul McCartney? But then it wasn't really all that hard to believe, because I was almost in tears myself.

Overall, I thought London did a great job. So they're not Beijing. So what? Their ceremony had incredible heart, and the lighting of the flame was incredible to watch. I'll be watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics for many years, and I think I'll always have to compare future performances to what I saw London do tonight.

I'm Not Feeling It

Surprise, surprise. It's five minutes to midnight and I haven't even attempted to post a blog entry for today. True, part of that is because my computer died and I was too lazy to carry it up to room and plug it in. It's also because I just don't feel like blogging today.

To be honest, I don't feel like doing much of anything. I didn't have a bad day. I went to work; I made delicious coffee and smoothies; I made a second attempt to introduce myself to my new co-worker, the manager's daughter, and I think I did a much better job of that today; I had another delicious sandwich from the sandwich shop upstairs, this time with amazing grilled onions; but then I got home and just became lazy. Took a double nap. Ate the rest of the leftover guacamole. Played with the apps on my phone. Watched old episodes of Top Chef Masters, whatever that is.

I think I'm just lonely? My sister is gone, I'm sad about Zach being fired, I didn't spend a lot of time with my parents after they got home tonight.

Being lazy makes me feel awful. Tomorrow I think I'll do something. Don't ask me what.