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just spent 9 hours pulling another last minute job for john. next time i'm going to say no. i don't mind doing the work (it's actually pretty easy, but takes time) but i can't be expected to be on-call at night and expect to take a 9 hour shift doing design and coding work. i mean, where does that leave time for television? i'm sure all will be forgotten and forgiven by tomorrow morning.

after i did some painting at my parents' place earlier today (primed the kitchen ceiling and walls), i cleaned up and went to the galleria mall. i wasn't there to hang out, but rather i was there to see if i could get my macbook pro repaired. having never been to the repair ward of the apple store (i'm a firm believer that macs don't break, despite what's currently happening to my own machine), i didn't quite know the procedure. at the counter of the genius bar i started to take out my computer from my backpack, before the ponytailed technician asked if i had an appointment. an appointment? so that's how it is. he booked me for an appointment and said it'd be 30 minutes of waiting. i took the beeper so i could still browse the mall until they paged me. i went as far as borders bookstore before the beeper started making noises. noises mean i've gone beyond the signal radius; vibrations mean my appointment is ready. i quickly returned and made sure i didn't stray too far from the apple store. i went to the game stop, where i chatted with a nerdy sales clerk who was quizzing me on what kind of games i play. i said katamari and shadow of the colossus, and that i've found god of war to be too violent for my taste. "then you should try star wars lego," he suggested. sometimes i wonder about these chatty employees. maybe they're trying to make a sale. maybe they're bored. or maybe they just want to make sure i don't shoplift anything. i ended up spending an hour in the mall, sitting on a bench, doing some serious people watching. to understand what america is all about, just visit the mall. you get to see a wide swath of everyday americans, running the whole gamut from beautiful to ugly, young to old, skinny to fat. i think if it wasn't considered such a creepy thing to do, i'd totally hang out at the mall for kicks. anyway, after more than an hour i had enough of waiting and went back into the apple store to make sure at the very least my beeper was still working. ponytail guy was still there, helping some girl with a broken ibook. i stood nearby, trying to maybe catch his attention, but he paid no notice to me. finally another employee came by and asked if he could help me. "yeah, i've been waiting for over an hour, and i need to leave now, so here's your beeper." i made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, hopefully ponytail guy will not be working.

returning home, i was on a conference call with client N for over an hour. it was pretty productive and i felt good afterwards, that i'm replugging back into normal (normal for me at least) work life. little did i realize john would be getting in touch with me around 6pm, a time when most people have already gone home, to do a last-minute project for his boss. i of course said yes and initially estimated that it'd take about 3 hours, only to realize it'd be triple the time. i am however getting paid, so i can't complain too much, although most of this money will go into my never-ending tax relief fund.

finally, my parents broke the news to me today, but looks like i'll be getting a new roommate soon. how soon? like less than 48 hours soon. originally this chinese astronomy researcher was going to live at my place for a few months at the start of october, but there was some complications with his visa paperwork and only now has he cleared the hurdles to arrive at the US. his tour of duty is 2 years, but he's only staying at my place temporarily, until his more permanent apartment becomes available at the end of december. however, since that time when i originally heard he was coming almost 2 months ago, i've grown particularly fond of living alone, and to be suddenly told that i need to make room for a roommate who's arriving in less than 48 hours was a bit jarring, to say the least. the guest bedroom is a total mess, not to mention the rest of the house. living solo, i'm so used to just leaving food around and throwing my clothes where ever. if nothing else, it'll prevent me from being such a slob, and i always enjoy introducing foreigners to american culture. maybe we can go hang out at the mall!