3.27.2013
3.26.2013
let's not meet.
Hi all! I have been a devoted Redditor for a few years now, and every once in awhile, I go out in search of new subreddits to read. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the subreddit r/letsnotmeet.
This subreddit is all non-fictional stories written by users about situations they've been in with stalkers/murderers/peeping toms/burglars/general creepers, etc...
(Be advised that there are some stories that can be triggers for those that have been through traumatic experiences, so read at your own risk. I also find, however, that these stories and the comments on them can provide a lot of helpful advice for those who may be in a situation fitting for r/letsnotmeet in the future.)
r/letsnotmeet has become somewhat of an obsession of mine, and in the last few weeks since I discovered it, I have been reading story after story for hours at a time, and have even gotten a few friends hooked on it. Eventually, I decided to submit one my own. It's not scary, just really weird. I am posting it here, for you to read. It's a bit lengthy, so grab a snack and settle in.
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This subreddit is all non-fictional stories written by users about situations they've been in with stalkers/murderers/peeping toms/burglars/general creepers, etc...
(Be advised that there are some stories that can be triggers for those that have been through traumatic experiences, so read at your own risk. I also find, however, that these stories and the comments on them can provide a lot of helpful advice for those who may be in a situation fitting for r/letsnotmeet in the future.)
r/letsnotmeet has become somewhat of an obsession of mine, and in the last few weeks since I discovered it, I have been reading story after story for hours at a time, and have even gotten a few friends hooked on it. Eventually, I decided to submit one my own. It's not scary, just really weird. I am posting it here, for you to read. It's a bit lengthy, so grab a snack and settle in.
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The Day I Met Jesus
I have been obsessively reading this subreddit for the last couple weeks, and I was reminded of a creepy incident from last year. Keep in mind this isn't really scary, just really weird. Also, I am by no means an aspiring author, and I tend to ramble, so bear with me.
I am a 24 year old female, and last summer my boyfriend and I held temp jobs in a factory just north of Chicago. I had been there a month or so, and had gotten to know and like many of the people I worked around. There were always new temps coming in, since it was a busy time of year (end of the quarter) and new temps were being hired and fired all the time. (Really, I have never seen so much turnover in my life, it was a little crazy.) My boyfriend worked in the warehouse, and I worked on the main floor. Here’s a crudely drawn ms paint picture to show the general layout for the building:
When you walk into the main floor (the large area separated into 4 factories) through the doorway, you can either visit the restroom directly to your right, or go straight down the walkway that goes alongside factory 2 & 3. Workers in Factory 2 & 3 of course regularly use this walkway to go back and forth for bathroom/lunch breaks.
We worked second shift, from 10AM to 10PM, and as you can see by the green dot, I worked right next to the walkway, so I would always see coworkers as they passed by and, being a friendly, outgoing relatively new girl, it wasn’t uncommon at all to smile and have a brief chat with other workers as they passed. I genuinely enjoyed my job and for the first time ever, I really enjoyed the people I worked with. It was really a melting pot of people from different backgrounds/ethnicities/ages, etc… (which I believe was the result of our very lazy reps at the temp agency who just threw a seemingly endless supply of temps at the job without actually checking their histories…but that’s another story…) The downside to this melting pot was that there were a few creepers thrown into the mix. One of them is the subject of this story. He has many names throughout this story, but to my knowledge, his name is Steve, so we’ll call him that.
I was starting my shift, talking and joking with my co-worker, Sandy, when I noticed Steve walk by on the walkway. I had seen him a couple times in the days prior, but not at all before that, so I knew he was a new hire. He looked to be around my age, very AVERAGE looking. I mean there was nothing that really stood out about the guy, he was caucasian, tan, about my height (5’8’’), average build, and had short light brown hair and light eyes. He wasn’t a bad looking guy by any means, just AVERAGE.
I honestly don’t know what caught my attention the first time he walked by. I glanced up, made eye contact, and gave a friendly smile, he smiled back, and kept walking, and I kept working. A few minutes later, he was walking back in the opposite direction, towards the bathrooms/doors. Again, we made eye contact, I smiled, and he smiled back again. This was when I noticed there was something a little off. I can’t describe it, it was just something in his eye and the way he smiled… it just felt very focused, if that makes sense… sort of like that feeling when you make eye contact with someone across the room, and you get the feeling they have been looking at you for awhile before you noticed… that’s how his smile felt… like he had it prepared when he walked by me. That’s the only way I can describe it. I didn’t get the creepiness of his smile yet, so I thought nothing of it.
This happens a couple more times, with him walking back and forth and smiling at me, and it struck me as odd, because managers are fairly strict on making sure you are where you need to be and they generally don’t put up with people taking frequent breaks and just having the walk of the floor without a reason. I wondered why he kept going back and forth, he never carried anything with him, so I knew he wasn’t ordering parts from the warehouse or getting tools from the tool crib, and I doubted that anyone has to use the bathroom that many times within an hour. I jokingly made a remark to my co-worker Sandy about him and told her to watch when he walked by and see if she noticed anything . Sure enough, a few minutes after I say that, he walks by again, same as usual. She immediately turns around and says “okay, that was weird,” but she couldn’t pinpoint why either.
Corey, another girl who worked behind me must have overheard us, and said, “hey, have you guys been noticing that guy that keeps walking by?” and I fill her in on his creepy smiling and she says “yeah, he’s been doing the same thing to me!” We wrote it off as him possibly trying to be flirty but too shy to say hello. We nick-named him Sir Grins-A-Lot, laughed, and got back to work.
This happens a few more times after lunch, to the point where it felt like he was doing it deliberately, and each time it just felt more and more odd. After he walked past me one of those times toward Factory 3, I stuck my head out into the walkway to see where he walked to. I watched as he casually walked nearly all the way down the walkway, and saw him glancing at to his right at various other workers, and then once he almost gets to the back wall, he turns around and starts walking right back! I snapped my head back in so he wouldn’t see me watching him. Why was he just walking back and forth giving weird smiles to people? It was starting to creep us all out.
I got asked to help out in another area for a few hours, so I hadn’t seen him in a while, since I was further inside the Factory. Around 9:00, I go back to my normal area and start getting things ready for 3rd shift. Some of the guys from 3rd shift start to show up and wander around chatting with the 2nd shift people before they clock in for the night.
I was talking to a guy on 3rd shift (I don’t remember his name, so we’ll call him Mario) and I mentioned Steve/Sir-Grins-A-Lot and his creepy smiles. Mario laughed and walked away for a few minutes, and when he came back he had a weird look on his face. He immediately says “You wanna hear about creepy guys, there is apparently one going around telling everyone he’s Jesus…” I thought I misheard him, so I had him clarify. “Yeah, random coworker was sitting at her workstation and this guy leaned in and whispered in her ear ‘My name is Jesus.’” Mario didn’t seem to know much else, and I could tell he was just as confused as I was. It didn’t make any sense. At first I thought it was someone named Jesus (Hey Zeus) but I didn’t think anyone worked there by that name.
I went to investigate, and several of my coworkers, including my team lead said he walked past each person in their area and whispered something to the effect of “My name is Jesus” into their ear and continued walking on down the row. Everyone was just really confused. No one had any idea who the guy was and no one had ever really seen him around before. It was nearing time to line up at the timeclock, and I started talking to my friend Will, who worked in factory 1. I asked them if they had heard anything about it, and they said he came through their factory too.
Then Dan, my supervisor (who usually hunkers down in his cubicle all day to avoid interacting with anyone) came over and said “Soooo, have you guys met Jesus?” I asked him who the guy was and what was going on, and he said that he had come through the cubicle area where the supervisors sit and said the same thing to him. Dan said he laughed and said “Who is your boss?” and the guy said “God” and walked off. He said he thought his name was Steve, but wasn’t sure. (As I said, there were a LOT of temps in and out of there, so it wasn’t uncommon for him not to know someone’s name) I asked what he looked like, and Dan described him, and I put two & two together. IT WAS SIR GRINS-A-LOT! On the way home from work, I talked about it with my boyfriend, and we came to the conclusion that Steve was hired, hated the job, and since it was a Friday, he decided to say ‘fuck it’ and prank everyone by confusing us all, leaving, and never coming back.
Monday came around, and I saw him walk by as I started my shift! Obviously this wasn’t a prank, he walked in like he hadn’t just creeped everyone out a few days ago. A couple hours later, I found out that he was immediately fired when he came in to work and we never saw him again. No one had ever had a conversation with him or knew anything about him aside from his name and what area he worked in, and we never saw him again. To this day I wonder what his deal was and why he felt the need to tell everyone his name was Jesus.
TL;DR - New hire at work walked around all day giving people creepy smiles and then went around at the end of the night telling everyone his name was Jesus.
3.22.2013
DIY Polymer Clay Bangles
Hi crafters! Today I thought I'd share with you a fun, cheap, and easy way to jump-start your creativity and make your own accessories, namely bangle bracelets!
Here's what I used....
Continue rolling it out until you have a snake about 1/4" in diameter, like the picture below:
Now you are ready to begin forming the bangle into its' shape. For a size reference, I used a resin bangle mold and laid my clay snake right on top. I know not everyone has one of these, so use something with a round shape like a jar or canister that's about the size you're looking for.
Cut the excess clay off with your X-Acto knife where the ends overlap.
Now, smush the ends of your snake together gently, and rub your (still gloved) finger up and down the crease until you can't see it anymore. This may take a little practice, but the great thing about polymer clay is, if you screw it up, you can always mush it back into a ball and start again.
This is what your bangle should look like now that the crease has been rubbed out. Seamless!
Now, use your creativity to create a pattern or design of your choice! For this bangle, I decided to use my X-Acto knife to gently carve small chunks off the surface of the clay.
I continued carving all the way around the bangle until it looked like this:
Make sure you flip it over and carve the other side, too!
Now that both sides are carved, your bangle should look like this!
Once your finished carving or putting a pattern on your bangle, bake the clay on your cookie sheet, and don't forget to follow the baking directions on YOUR clay.
I baked mine at 275 degrees for 25 minutes.
Here's what the set I made looks like after baking:
After they bake, let them cool. If your bangles have rough or scratchy edges, a little light sanding with a small piece of sandpaper or a nail file should do the trick!
And here is the set after sanding. There isn't much of a difference in the pink and granite bangles, but the black bangle has lighter edges around where I carved, and I love the effect!
Now you're finished and can wear the new accessories that YOU created!
This is another bangle that I made, turned out pretty damn cute!
Have fun!!!
P.S.: If you don't want to do the work creating the bangles, check back here! I will be listing a few sets of clay bangles on my shop, BaubleHeadz soon!!
xoxo,
Meagan
Here's what I used....
- Premo Accents Gray Granite Polymer clay (I used half of this 2 oz. block)
- Various clay tools (Bead reamers, etc... anything you can use to add detail or a pattern to your bangle)
- Wax paper (to cover my work surface)
- Tape (to hold the wax paper down flat on the table and prevent it from moving around)
- X-Acto Knife (PLEASE be careful when using any blades!)
- Latex gloves (to prevent leaving fingerprints and skin oils on the clay)
- You will also need an oven to bake the clay in and a cookie sheet or aluminum foil (designated specifically for clay baking and NOTHING else. DO NOT re-use tray for food items.)
Once you've got your materials together, tape a square of wax paper onto your clean work surface. I usually do roughly a 12" X 12" square to leave myself enough room to roll the clay out.
Before you tear the wrapper off your clay, take note of the baking time and temp listed on it. Some brands have different temps and times, so DO NOT go by what mine says. Follow the time and temp listed on your clay to avoid under/over baking it.
Take the wrapper off, and put your gloves on. Then, start kneading your clay until it is soft and pliable. Depending on your clay, this will take anywhere from 2-10 minutes. The drier your clay is, the longer it will take to be conditioned.
Once your clay is soft and pliable, begin rolling it between your palms to form a snake.
Once I've rolled it between my palms and it starts looking like the picture below, I start rolling it with one palm against the wax paper on the table so that I can even it out and make sure there are no lumps or that one end isn't thicker than the other.
Continue rolling it out until you have a snake about 1/4" in diameter, like the picture below:
Now you are ready to begin forming the bangle into its' shape. For a size reference, I used a resin bangle mold and laid my clay snake right on top. I know not everyone has one of these, so use something with a round shape like a jar or canister that's about the size you're looking for.
Cut the excess clay off with your X-Acto knife where the ends overlap.
Now, smush the ends of your snake together gently, and rub your (still gloved) finger up and down the crease until you can't see it anymore. This may take a little practice, but the great thing about polymer clay is, if you screw it up, you can always mush it back into a ball and start again.
This is what your bangle should look like now that the crease has been rubbed out. Seamless!
Now, use your creativity to create a pattern or design of your choice! For this bangle, I decided to use my X-Acto knife to gently carve small chunks off the surface of the clay.
I continued carving all the way around the bangle until it looked like this:
Make sure you flip it over and carve the other side, too!
Now that both sides are carved, your bangle should look like this!
Once your finished carving or putting a pattern on your bangle, bake the clay on your cookie sheet, and don't forget to follow the baking directions on YOUR clay.
I baked mine at 275 degrees for 25 minutes.
Here's what the set I made looks like after baking:
After they bake, let them cool. If your bangles have rough or scratchy edges, a little light sanding with a small piece of sandpaper or a nail file should do the trick!
And here is the set after sanding. There isn't much of a difference in the pink and granite bangles, but the black bangle has lighter edges around where I carved, and I love the effect!
Now you're finished and can wear the new accessories that YOU created!
This is another bangle that I made, turned out pretty damn cute!
Have fun!!!
P.S.: If you don't want to do the work creating the bangles, check back here! I will be listing a few sets of clay bangles on my shop, BaubleHeadz soon!!
xoxo,
Meagan
3.21.2013
PURRSday [hybrid puppies]
YAY! It's time for the first PURRsday feature! Every Thursday I will be showing off the most adorable pictures I can find, and each post will feature a different animal. Enjoy!
This week: HYBRID PUPPIES!
This little guy is a POMSKY.
50% Pomeranian
50% Husky
100% The CUTEST thing I have seen in my entire freaking life.
More info about the Pomsky:
The pomsky is a designer breed and well sought after. The pomsky standard is between 5 to 25 pounds leaving occasionaly the 25 pound dog (not often though). This breed has a sweet temperament and is a great family dog.
Pomskies are spirited but docile. Don’t let their size fool you. They are more agile and active than they look. They mainly sport a foxlike head and small erect ears. The most attractive feature is its long coat which is especially full on the neck and chest. They look much closer to the Pomeranians than the Siberian Huskies. Still, the name Pomsky is a perfect blend of the two names suggesting their mixed breed – the “Pom” from Pomeranians and the “sky” from Husky.
This cutie is a WOLF HYBRID.
I have wanted a wolf of my own ever since I started watching Game of Thones. (Winterfell, here I come!)
More info about Wolf Hybrids:
A Wolf-hybrid can be quite skittish and does not respond well to inanimate objects, fast motion, loud noises, or new people. They require much patience. Training is not for the weak and serious consideration should be given prior to obtaining a wolf-hybrid dog as they require firm, consistent training and ample space to roam. If there's something you find foul and offensive you can bet a wolf dog will roll happily in it and coat themselves in the funk! It is not until a Wolf Hybrid is about 18 months of age, that it will start showing signs of the wolf. Wolfs younger than 18 months of age are adolescents, they are playful and adaptable. They take directions readily and can bond with other species. Young wolves act more like the common dog as they have not developed into maturity. As a wolf grows out of its adolescents, its hormonal system reaches maturity and it will begin to exhibit all of the typical behaviors of the wolf.
Next up is the LABRADOODLE.
The Labradoodle is the first "designer dog" that I had ever heard of, back in the day. So cute.
More info about the Labradoodle:
The Labradoodle's head is broad and their eyes are large, slightly round and set apart. Their nose is square and large. The tail is like a saber and should be low set.
The Labradoodle is good with children and is easy to train. They get along well with other dogs, are extremely clever, sociable and joyful and quick to learn unusual or special tasks. They are active, a little comical at times and can attempt to outsmart their owners if undisciplined. They are non-aggressive and friendly, although obviously loyal to their own family.
And last, but not least, the PUGGLE!
Shane's brother brought their puggle, Henry over for Christmas 2011 and I could not get enough of the little guy!
More info about the Puggle:
Puggles are very sweet-tempered and playful. They are energetic, intelligent, and affectionate. A Puggle is a great companion and will bond with you quickly. Puggles like to be in close contact and will follow you around the house. They are also very curious dogs that love to smell new things and find new places to go. They have a great sense of smell and will track scents like the beagle. Puggles are always happy to see you when you return from being away. A proud Puggle will at times prance. To say a Puggle is a social dog is an understatement. They love meeting new dogs at the dog parks or while out on a walk in the neighborhood. Puggles are very friendly and get along with most people. They are good around children, young adults, adults, as well as seniors. Puggles also do good around other pets and around a second or third Puggle.
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