Say What You Need To Say

But I can't. It takes a while before I let someone know how I feel about a situation. I usually keep things to myself and deal with them that way. Everybody has different ways of dealing with things. Oftentimes when I am upset with someone or something I just let it go. I don't feel like arguing with someone or acting shitty to them is great for any type of relationship. Some people may say that this way is letting someone run all over you. I have definitely let people run all over me in the past. I'm not a complete pushover, but a maybe a pushalittleover.



I have a lot of things in my head that I need to say but can't and probably won't. For now, my head and my blog get the best of my thoughts...

Victor-E

My friend Victor Ellis died one year ago today. He was 28. Died of a rare type of cancer, lots of suffering in the end. He had that type of personality where you were drawn to him. And I was. One year ago and so many things have happened since then...

Mystery Email (The update)

Email guy came in the shop and guess what? I definitely up sold him. He left the store super stoked about the bike and had no idea he was up sold. Katie 1, Email Dude 0. Love it!

Mystery Email

My work email is posted on our website and I'm guessing that's where this email came from. Two days ago I received an email from a potential customer who originally wanted to purchase a road bike. Once I replied, he wrote back saying he would get bored on a road bike. Whatever. This is the latest email I received...

"If the weather holds up I would love to stop by this weekend. Now once I
get there you guys better not try to up sell me. I have experienced this
at other shops. I have already made up my mind; the differences between
a $350 bike and a $600 bike are the components and I can always upgrade
those in the future if I get hooked.

Hope to see you Saturday"

Am I being threatened? What happens if I try to upsell? I love ignorance! I will report back this weekend...

Boxed Mashed Potatoes

It all started when I was 12 or 13. My parents had season tickets to the Charlotte Hornets. They would go to games just about every week. My brother and I were left at home to take care of ourself. Being 8 and 12 respectively, we didn't have a whole lot of culinary skills. My brother would usually pop a Chef Boyardee cuppie in the microwave, and I usually ate a bowl of cereal or boxed mashed potatoes. It was good and easy, period. After a while, my mom taught us a couple of dishes that we could make with no problem. I would still eat boxed mashed potatoes from time to time.

During graduate school, I had several jobs, plus school stuff. I frequently didn't have a lot of spare time. Oftentimes I would change clothes in the car from job to job. With that being said, I didn't have a lot of time to cook good meals. When I worked at the tanning bed, I would not get home until 11pm. As a routine, I would get home and make a big bowl of boxed mashed potatoes as my dinner. It tasted good and it was quick.

I made a bowl of boxed mashed potatoes tonight. I don't know why I still eat them. I guess because they are a comfort food for me. Everytime I make them, I load up the bowl with salt and pepper. Sometimes I add cheese. Ever since I got Bailey, I let him lick the bowl when I'm done. I guess that means that I'm sharing my comfort food with him. I know they aren't the best food for me, but my justification is that they are better for me than grabbing a greasy hamburger at the golden arches when I need food quick.

Brown Herbs

We have a customer at the store, a retired attorney, who began doing triathlons when he was in his mid-60s! Amazing! He is now in his mid-70s I believe, and completed his first Ironman competition in the fall. You can always spot him wheeling into the store; he has some teal car that looks like an old police car. He claims he has that car because he likes to put his bike IN the car, not on top, as opposed to other people who he has seen run their bikes into things. He has a few really nice bikes. Whenever he walks in, my boss always yells his name no matter where he is in the store. He usually comes in about once a week. He stopped coming in the past few months, so my boss gave him a ring to make sure he was alright. He claimed that everything was fine and he would stop by the store soon. He has come in about 3 times in the last 2 weeks. The first visit, he revealed to me that his mother was not doing well and he has been spending a lot of time with her. He told me that he hoped she would make it to her 100th birthday. He came in yesterday, with brownies in hand, like always, and did his normal rounds. When he came to the front counter to visit with me, I asked about his mother. He stated that she died that morning. I told him I was sorry that happened and inquired if she had made it to her 100th birthday. He told me she had and that her passing was for the best. He was in good spirits telling me about the funeral arrangements. He then went on to talk about this amazing turkey sandwich that he gets at this deli north of town. He claimed he would bring one for me and the owner next time he came to visit. I briefly saw him today when I was talking to a customer about a bike. He whispered to me that he had something in a bag in the back for me and the owner. I figured it was a brownie. I went to the back about 20 minutes later to find that he had brought me this sandwich he was raving about the previous day. He was right, it was amazing! My boss agreed. It really touched me that his mother died the previous day and for the past two days, he has brought goodies for me and my coworkers. What a kind man.

Sponge Cake

Yesterday at work, 2 of my coworkers and myself decided to order a bunch of food from a restaurant across the street. It was a feast, to say the least! Hey that rhymes! Anyways, we all ordered an entree and several dessert goodies. One was a carrot cake and the other a blueberry cheesecake. After finishing my entree, I opened the two dessert boxes to decide which one I would eat. The carrot cake didn't look oh so appetizing, so on to the cheesecake. Well this one made the other look like a million dollars! This particular cheescake was a round shape with a lady finger draped across the top. It also had some gelatnous substance around it. The blueberry cheesecake looked more like a sponge you would clean your shower with actually. During my close inspection of this sponge cake thing, I noticed a massive hair beside the lady finger! Super gross! My coworker promptly called the restaurant (who we are friends with), and told the manager about our finding. She asked, "what kind of hair is it?" My coworker responded, "not a head hair." Super funny! I am still laughing about that. She quickly brought over another piece of cheesecake.

Today, while ordering food from the same restaurant, we all asked for our food with the same ending line; "I'll have the cheeseburger, with no hair, I want the grilled cheese, hairless, I want a greek salad, sans hair, I'll have the caesar salad, without any hair!" This was really silly, but it made me laugh today!