so my car is acting up. or should i say HAD been acting up. anyway, took my car to the mechanic (finally). i told him that my car would turn off all the time. that my car wouldn't stay on at stop lights, etc. so, he had me turn it on and for the next 30 seconds, listened to the engine. he actually put his ear as near as humanly possible to the engine and held the throttle switch and listened to the engine. he pulls away from the engine with a look of certainty and walks away. several seconds later, he returns with a can of ac delco, something-or-other, and proceeds to undo the air intake hose. he looks inside and says, "that's dirty!" and sprays the contents of the can into the engine manifold (I think that's what it's called) and he points to the black gunk falling out of it and informs me that this car part is like a human throat. if a throat is full of miucus, a body can't breathe correctly. all the gunk that was coming out of the car part was affecting my engine the same way. so, after a few minutes of idling, he said, "that's about it."

so, my mechanic is not only good with his hands but he's a philosopher and physician as well. i'm glad to hear what he said because my trip last year and this year taught me that americans aren't as intelligent as we are made to beleive. my mechanic taught me different.

Time it took me to learn what needed to be done on Access: 45 minutes.

maybe i can go back and retake that freaking test.

all that remains is Excel to learn.

that will never happen.

So, I had to take a skills assessment test today. Didn't go so well because I went in cocky as hell and was put in my place by programs. As pathetic as I feel, it's worse putting down on key strokes. Anyway, there were two other people there taking their own versions. I assume they were there for the same job. Or, the school just gives the same test to all it's perspective employees. Oh well, nothing I can really do about it now.

Came in late to work becuase...well...no good excuse. Just let time wind down until there was no other recourse than to drive extremely fast to see if I could turn back time to get to work on time. Alas no! No such occurance took place. I was forced to trudge into the library.

In case you're wondering, for some of these words, I'm using a thesaurus. FYI!!!

Getting back to my library experience. I'm lazy as hell, as you all know. At least the library looks nicer. The new feel makes it feel less like my own personal hell and more like the prison where I will dwell for the remainder of my life.

Okay, enough self pity and more denial. People love me, dogs wag their tails at me and children don't vomit on me. Well, that's enough of that.

BACK TO YOU, JIM.

so how is everyone doing out there in the real world? i've heard from matt, amanda. i keep missing mary; how are you mary? hope you're fine and stuff? still trying to find a job. no one seems to be biting, as of yet. totally miss italy. the cold, ancientness of rome and the artistry of florence. wow! i wish i was roman. not italian, mind you, but roman. anyway, i'll be taking one class and then talking with dr. civil war/irish studies professor this following semester. can you beleive that i should come out of this semester with a masters degree? although, it is just a liberal arts, but masters, none-the-less. i'm planning on a ring this time around. it'll run me a pretty penny. that's one of the reasons i want a job. i just don't want to go where i think i'll have to go for a "day" job. it's been years since i've been there and it will feel as if i'm taking a step back instead of forward. time'll tell what happens in the next week. amazed that library boss person hasn't called me in already. have you'll been keeping track of the changes in the libary? man! it's all different. anyway, i'll try to take pics for those of you who wish they could see it now. talk later. hope all your endeavors go well. good luck for those of you returning to classes and even better luck for those of you starting at new places. keep in touch, don't forget about us lowly little reference assistants.

so i had my first phone interview today. i guess it can't be called a phone interview because all i wanted was info on a position, so i emailed the place asking for information. instead, i get a phone call. the person tells me to tell them a little about myself, which i'm basically shocked because i've never had to answer interview questions over the phone and in such short notice, so i have diahrrea of the mouth. naw, it went pretty cool, but they were looking for someone with art background. they misread the email i sent; instead of liberal arts, they read arts in general. anyway, it would have been a cool position. better luck next time.

Pretty mountains. 

A Tuscan villa in the distance. Pretty!! 

The camera magically took with picture 

Sight-seeing. Boboli Gardens 

I don't know who this is but it's in the Boboli Gardens 

Neptunes Fountain 

Palazzo Piti from Boboli Gardens 

Boboli Gardens. Duomo Dome and Campanile in background. 

"Segreto Del Cielo" or Secret of the Sky, but it was dubbed "V's Egg"! 

Perseus on Pegasus 

On the steps of the Duomo after 467 (I think) steps up and more steps down. 

Smiles from the Duomo Dome with the Camanile in background. Lovely Smiles!!! 

Santa Croce from the Duomo Dome 

On the Duomo Dome 

On a park bench in Piazza San Marcos. 

A better shot of Santa Croce. 

In front of Santa Croce where Machiavelli and Galileo live. 

Ice Cream?! In Winter?! Some women are tough cookies. 

Awww, the love. There's a story behind this. Remind me to share. 

don't try getting water from this fountain. it's in the middle of the street. have several near misses. 

one of my favorite pictures of Ponte Trinita, taken from Ponte Vecchio. 

What you will find below (or in which ever direction it goes) are pictures of take in Rome. FLorcence to follow. It was cold but fun. Not as cold as florence was about the same time "V" and I were in Rome. Supposedly, it was snowing in Florence during the time that these pictures were taken in Rome. So, whoever was caught north on their Italy trip, I hope you staying warm and what not.

So what happened in Italy, Jesus?, you may ask. Well, ROme sucked as* because "V" had her baggage lost by the airport. They didn't get it back to her until three or so days later. It was the day we were heading to Florence when she finally got her baggage.

In Rome we saw the Coloseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Palatines Palace, Roman Forum, Piazza Navonna, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!

It was too rushed in Rome. Not enough time to see everything. I didn't even get a chance to make it to Anzio. Sorry, that's the historian in me.

"V" and I spent New Years asleep because we were too tired after our long day excursion into the Roman ruins. Tiring but exciting.

Inside the Basilica 

The Pope's Apartment lights are on. 

On the side of the Spanish Steps 

St. Peters Basilica. I saw the Pope, too.