The Past Week

In a nutshell:

Friday, May 23: Went to the movies and saw Bruce Almighty. It was funny, I really liked it a lot. Thank goodness for movie season. It had been a while since we saw so many consistently good movies.

Saturday, May 24: We went bowling with La Chusma. Scores were as follows:
first game/second game
Juan: 178/92 *second game he bowled left handed
Me: 126/98 *that was an awesome game, and I bowled a Turkey!!
Memo: 75/80 *bwahaha
Alex: 58
Anthony: 96/97
Letty: 59
Chris: 43
Gwen: 97
Heyzen : 117

Yes sir, I rocked. I may not be that good, but it was damned good for me.

Sunday, May 25: Finally, a day off from work. So what do I do? Go back to the aquarium with my dad, his cousin, Moreno, Baby, my grandpa, and me. I got us all in without a problem and was very glad for it. The line was like a mile long to buy tickets. Ah – memorial day weekend. They also discovered Shoreline Village, just a ten minute walk from the Aquarium. It’s a very nice place to shop and eat and just hang out for an afternoon. Later that evening, Juan and I played miniature golf at a place over by his house. They also had a decent arcade, and guess what? Bowlingo! It’s like a miniature bowling lane right in the middle of the place! It was cool! The pins are all on rope and when you knock them out the ropes pull them back up. It’s kinda funny and now Juan insists on owning one of those someday.

Monday, May 26, Memorial Day: Juan and I saw Identity. Interesting movie, killed it in the end, but overall alright.

Tuesday, May 27: Just another day at work.

Wednesday, May 28: Volunteer day. This was my first day volunteering for Husbandry, so naturally I was a bit excited. I got there at around 7:45 and hunted down Steve. There was a note on his desk for me that said he was out in Shark Lagoon doing a short film shoot. Note: They are always doing film shoots out in Shark Lagoon. Today it was for Monster Garage – you know, Jessie James? Unfortunately, they were behind schedule already and Joanne and I needed to get the food prepared for the day. Later we found out that Jessie James wasn’t there, only the six guys that are going to be doing the project. Why where they in Shark Lagoon for Monster Garage? Well, because their next project is to build a shark cage that Jessie James will climb into out in Catalina somewhere – and rumour is that Jessie James is terrified of the creatures. Sounds cool, I’ll try and catch it whenever it airs. So anyway, after a short runthrough of some of the morning activities out in Shark Lagoon, Joanne picked me up and to the kitchen we went

We went into the walk in fridge and picked out the clam, squid, and sardines that were taken out of the freezer for us by someone on the previous day. We finished thawing it out and started chopping. I won’t go into exact details, but basically, each shark has a determined weight of food they get each day, according to their body weight (roughly 1%), and favorites, and dislikes. Also, since they have different eating mechanisms, we have to chop the food up to match. For the weights and favorites, we have a printed list on the wall. Thank goodness. While we were there, the other husbandry people were preparing food for the other animals, like capelin for the sea lions, and krill for the jellies, to name a couple. That, and a few heads of fresh lettuce for the sea turtles. After we finished preparing and separating the food into labeled trays, we had to pull the food for the next day.

So Joanne then asks me, “Where are you from?”.
“From here.”
*insert maniacle laughter* “So then you don’t know what cold is, do you? At least I’m from New York, so I know what to expect, but you?” ….
We then proceeded to put on some heavy jackets and thick rubber gloves. We walk into the freezer, and for like two seconds I think that she’s exagerating. Then – my buggers froze.

It was freaking COLD.

After all that, Steve checked on us and thought we were doing great. I helped him with the 11 0’clock shark feed (yay!). After that, he showed me behind the pinnacle exhibits. He proceeded to explain to me every single pipe back there and what it was for and where it was connected from and to and why they were each important. It was scary and overwhelming and I hope that he didn’t think I actually got all that. That was my morning. Then I took an hour break before starting my Education shift, which went as usual – except the whole day eas freakin hot. Almost made me want to take a trip to the freezer.

Thursday, May 29: Another day at work, but then it got better. I waited after work for Juan and Moreno, and his friend because we were going to watch Quetzal play at the aquarium. They were part of our Spring Concert series. I got the hook-up and we all got free seats. We also wandered around the aquarium for a while. It was cool.

Friday, May 30: We saw Finding Nemo!! That was so much better than I expected!! It really was! I am so happy I saw that then because I wouldn’t have another chance for another week. It was such a loffly movie! When I wasn’t laughing, I was all teary-eyed. Wonderful.

Saturday, May 31: Aside from work, which was at freakin’ 7:30 in the morning, it was another work day. Later that evening, we went to watch a really cool friend play some music. He was freakin’ awesome, so we had some fun. Then, by some weird twist of fate, we ended up eating at Denny’s. Right. Twist of fate. But whatever. Most of us got French Slams (and we chose it on our own too). It was fun hanging out with everyone talking about a ton of stuff like relationships and religion.

Today I go in at 4, get out at 10:45pm. I think we’re having another prom there.