You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January, 2008.
I escaped work for my break and dialled my Dad at work (as is my routine every Wednesday). His assistant patched me through and I found my Dad in a remarkably good mood. We chit chatted about upcoming vacations, my sister’s toddler, my little bro’s new job, and all the normal topics. And then, he asked a question about my love life. It is a horribly dreaded question that, unfortunately, I have heard many, many times in the last few months. Usually, I answer it blandly with a ‘fine’ or an ‘okay’ or anything-that’s-not-the-truth-but-also-not-a-lie. Not so… Instead, I admitted to my father that I’ve found myself in the relationship that no girl ever wants to be in - the we’re-going-nowhere-but-at-least-we’re-not-in-a-hurry-to-get-there relationship. It’s the basic plotline: I want to get married + he does not want to get married = eventual break-up. When? I don’t know and I guess it doesn’t particularly matter. Whenever I feel like it, I suppose. Why did I tell my Dad? Read the rest of this entry »
This entire week has been nothing but numbers, budgets, Excel sheets, charts, dollar signs, and a seemingly endless number of reports. It was all in order to prepare for this morning’s meeting. Honestly, it was hard work and it took all my energy. It seems like every night I came home and just sat in front of the television until I fell asleep. Even in my dreams, there were excel charts and budget changes. It was frightening. I almost started crying last night when Boy asked me a simple (really, really simple) Excel question and I could not answer him. It was awful.
This morning, I woke up happily - surprising? yes. I thought I would wake up dreading my day. But, as it so happened, I woke up better than good. I was fantastic. I got dressed up in meeting fashion and headed out (extremely early) for work. My boss was already here - something that usually throws me off kilter because of its rarity. However, it was great to see her and be able to speak with her about the meeting before it began. She made (counting…) three large changes and thirteen (yes, thirteen) small changes to the meeting materials. I scrambled to get it all fixed in the midst of setting up the conference room. I even managed to run and grab the coffee well in time for the meeting to begin (9:30 a.m. meeting, thank goodness I was early) Read the rest of this entry »
The other night the power went out. As a result, not only did all our clocks reset to a fascinating blinking 12:00 (in reality, you don’t see much of that anymore), but we also lost our internet.
To be more specific, the internet itself wasn’t “out” so to speak. What really happened is the wireless router decided to stop working. The lights are on, but nobody’s home. The wireless network itself seems MIA and a direct connection to the router didn’t seem to produce any results either.
What I need to check next is the actual modem to see if a connection is at least getting to the house. Even if not, the wireless router should at least allow me to get on the network - though it’s not. It looks like I’ll be off to RadioShack to pick up a new one. Hopefully the modem is ok.
Burnout Paradise is a recently released video game (for XBox 360 and Playstation 3) that I picked up the other night at BestBuy. Girl, as wonderful as she is, came with.
Unfortunately, Girl was far unaware of the implications of this purchase. It will lead to countless nights of hours of game playing - and this instead of attention to Girl. It’s sad, I know. But as a fan of the series, I’m already hooked.
Last night I spent the better half of the night playing Burnout (and yes, their theme song is, in fact, the Guns ‘n’ Roses song, Paradise City) before promptly falling asleep after dinner.
How ‘guy’ of me.
Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! It’s the day of the year (one of many) that I get to go to work while other people, like Girl, don’t. How fun for me! High-five to everyone else who sucked it up and went to work today! You other people… I don’t want to talk to you right now.
So I’ve been watching this cheesy, nay, bad, sci-fi show called Earth 2. You may have heard of it. Well, if you’re not familiar with this show, consider yourself lucky. It’s crap. I’m a fan of sci-fi, especially Star Trek, Stargate, and Battlestar (notably the first season or two of the newer series), and Earth 2 pales in comparison.
One thing that really stands out with Earth 2 is their use of the hawk - a sound clip of a hawk usually heard outside in a wilderness setting. Most shows with settings in the wilderness will have similar clips of a hawk to help viewers identify with the environment, Stargate (one of my favorites) included. However, Earth 2 uses it excessively. And the sad thing is, the whole show is outside. In the past 5 minutes, I’ve heard the hawk 3 times - the same audio clip. It’s sad.
The next time you’re watching a movie or TV show that takes place outside, especially in some kind of wilderness area, keep your ears peeled for the hawk audio. You may be surprised how often you hear it once you start looking for it. Earth 2 will make you recognize it without looking.
P.S. I only have one more show to watch to get through this stupid series… oh! What do you know, I just heard another hawk! Make that two (as I was typing that).
Do you ever feel invisible? Like the things you do or say just don’t matter or are not given the proper attention? I feel that sometimes at work, but it’s been especially rough this week. For example, I’ve recently given feedback for something along with a number of other people, and those people are given responses, but I am not. Meh.
Avoiding purchasing a pack of cigarettes.
Avoided falling down the stairs at Bloomingdale’s.
Avoided drinking a shot of Vodka with lunch.
Avoided chewing gum.
Avoided (narrowly) complaining to my Dad.
Avoided eating candy or other calorie-crazy foods.
Avoided checking my cell phone for text messages.
Avoided calling my sister.
Avoided drinking coffee.
Avoided being hit by direct sunlight.
Avoided listening to the crap that’s loaded onto my iPod.
Avoided letting my misery inflict itself on my co-workers.
Avoided the urge to cry.
Avoided the urge to cry (I know I said it once, but trust me).
That’s right, I got a clapper - got it for Christmas. And not just any Clapper, its a brand spanking new super duper state of the art Clapper that not only responds to claps, but also has a remote control. I was finally able to install it last night (I’ve tried before but was thwarted by Girl), hooking it up to a light in my bedroom.
Aside from the normal, expected hilarity, I would say it works pretty well. The light only went off twice during the night as a result of the TV or Girl laughing. Not bad, right? I was able to turn it back on right afterwards with a couple of claps… after a couple of attempts…
OK, it’s not the best, but I like it and it’s fun. I mean, come on! It’s the Clapper!
I’m going to start drinking more water. I’ve decided that. After talking with a colleague at work this morning, I realized that I’m not drinking as much as I used to. In fact, I’m not drinking nearly enough as a normal human being should - and, really, that’s a lot. What is it, like 2-3 liters a day? What ever it is, I’m going to try it, or at least drink more than I was before. Ideally this should also improve my health, right?
Here’s the plan: stock up on bottles of water and have them sitting on my desk throughout the day with the intention of drinking them all. Today I used 3 (1.5 liters). I think that’s a good number, though I have just under an hour left in the (work) day and I only just finished the second bottle. Yikes! No worries, I can down a bottle in 50 minutes. And hopefully, I’ll be able to go to the bathroom before heading out for my train ride home.
Speaking of the bathroom, that is something I have noticed (though, not unexpectedly) as a result of the increased intake of fluids: I’ve been peeing like a fish! (Do fish really pee all that much? Who’s to say they drink all that much either? I’m sticking with it!) Seriously, I’ve been getting up almost evey half hour to use the bathroom. Well, maybe not that much, but a good number of times more than I’m used to. The thing is, the bathroom is not the place I like spending a lot of time. Hopefully my newly hydrated, and healthier self will be worth this sacrafice.
After lunch today (at my favorite cafe that has amazing soup), I walked back to work quickly - as there is much work being done and both my boss and I snuck out for food with only fifteen minutes to do so - and there was a woman, unhappily leaning against the brick wall. I was just so happy about my soup being so wonderful, that I gave her a really big smile. Normally, I smile at people, but this smile was full wattage.
She looks at me strangely, then half-smiles back, and complemented my purse. I thanked her and she went into a fun rant about purses; how she always carries one that outweighs her times three and how women like me seem to get by with tiny little bags. It was very funny and sounded a bit like a comedy sketch. She was laughing by the end and I headed off back to work, smile still in place.
Dallas Cowboys vs. NY Giants. Winner? Giants.
It was a great game that Girl and I watched over at a friends house, though not without its consequences. You see, Girl is very much a Dallas fan. So much, in fact, that when the game gets exciting, as it did with the Giants, Girl gets crazy and likes to flail her arms about. Given that I was sitting next to her during this game, it meant I got hit - a lot. Luckily, no real harm was done (thanks to a couple of very soft pillows that I used for my protection).
I feel bad for Girl, though, her team having lost. And, really, I’ve been finding myself rooting for Dallas when watching them play, no doubt as a result of my closeness to Girl. What can I say, they’re (for the most part) a great team. But I think, in the end this is good. Not only for my safety… well, I guess it is mostly for my safety. Because if Dallas beat the Giants and went up against the Packers, I think I would find myself cheering against Girl’s beloved team and I can’t imagine that would end well :-o.
I megaloathe it when people ask this question, “Do you and Boy have plans on -insert random date here-?”
How do I know if he has plans on Friday night? I am not his assistant and I don’t keep track of his calendar for him. Maybe his plan was to sit around and play PS3, I don’t know, I’m not Boy. I am Girl.
Do I have plans? Yes. I always have plans. They usually involve hanging out with Boy, Annie, or my sister. Not very complicated, really.
So, the answer to the question, “Do we have plans?” is always whatever I feel like saying at the time. Yeah, that’s basically it.
So, on this date (January 10, 200 
in 1538, Martin Luther was quoted as saying, “God has placed two ways before us in His Word: salvation by faith, damnation by unbelief (Mark 16:16). He does not mention purgatory at all. Nor is purgatory to be admitted, for it obscures the benefits and grace of Christ.”
I was going to comment on this quote, but I think I’d rather just look at it onscreen for a while. Cool.
My commute to work consists of, among other things, a ride on the region’s metro rail (train). For fares, people purchase tickets that they feed into turnstiles which then return to you the ticket so it can be used again upon exit. Assuming there is more money on the ticket than the cost of your trip, the ticket will again be returned to you for the next time you use the system.
Standard turnstiles take the ticket in the front and return the ticket at the top. However, for wider turnstiles designed to facilitate the extra space required for people with luggage (or, I suppose, very large people), the turnstile returns the ticket from the same slot in which the ticket was given.
At the station near where I live, they’ve recently added a new large turnstile. This is something they should have had from the start given our proximity to the airport, but better late than never, I suppose. Of course due to the odd behavior of these turnstiles in terms of ticket return, there’s bound to be some confusion for the normal commuter who might not have seen or used them before in terms of ticket retrieval; they won’t know to take their ticket from the same slot in which they’ve inserted it. Understanding this, the station has pasted VERY bright, florescent signs that are placed on top of, but not obstructing, the ticket slot. I mean, these are visible from the street and have clear, bold text indicating that the ticket is returned from the same slot it is inserted millimeters from the slot itself.
Nevertheless, I saw a very non-blind woman today use the large turnstile and become very confused as she couldn’t find her ticket at the top. I saw her look directly at the slot when inserting her ticket so I can’t imagine she missed the sign. I can only conclude that she’s either illiterate, or we as a society (or maybe just this woman?) have been trained to ignore even the most obvious presentations of relevant information.
Maybe we don’t think it’s relevant? We are constantly inundated with advertisements and other unwanted annoyances. Are they interfering with our abilities to isolate the necessary information that we should be paying attention to? Or are some of us just disposed to ignore authority or presume we already know and don’t need to be told? I say RTFM all the time, yet I know most of the people I say that to, don’t. How much are some of us missing by not simply paying attention? And what would it take to make those people start?
Maybe one of these…
Last night I went to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things - milk, bread, moisturizer lotion, Sobe Green Tea - the usual. When I was there, I ran into this lady. By “ran into” I mean we had a collision. And by “collision” I mean almost coming in contact with each other. Maybe the best way to put it is, we got in each others’ ways. This lady, being the polite lady that she was, said, “Oh, I’m sorry.” I then sharply replied with, “Oh, it’s OK.”
Immediately after this encounter I felt a little bad for having said that. Here’s why: by saying “it’s OK” I’m confirming that she was in error and that she should be sorry despite the fact that neither one of us are rightly to blame. Why couldn’t I be the sorry one? Why did I have to be such a jack?
Girl and I frequently spend a lot of our free time (especially post-work, weekday free time) watching TV. But not just regular old TV - DVD TV. This can include blockbuster movie hits like The 40 Year Old Virgin, or cult classics like This Is Spinal Tap, but more often than not, especially recently, TV shows.
We have been going through a number of TV shows but it seems we’re reaching a point of critical mass. There are too many shows to watch and not enough time. Let me see if I can recall what shows are currently in the mix: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks, Lost, Alias, and Heroes. Toss in there a possible Weeds, the ever-present Stargate (which I have seen but Girl needs to catch up on) and a Boy-only X-Files, and things start to add up!
Out of them all, I’ll have to say Lost is probably the most engaging for me right now. If I had to guess for Girl, I’d say hers would be Buffy (which is sad since I tend to fall asleep when watching Buffy). I never intended to start watching Lost, but during my trip to visit family this holiday season, I found myself stuck in the airport with a laptop and nothing to do. So I decided to get a movie. That movie ended up being the first season of Lost and now, despite my resistance, am “into it.”
It’s funny, too, since my brother’s girlfriend couldn’t stop talking about it over the break. In fact her entire family was watching it then, including a brother who confessed the show was stupid, at least until he started watching it. I figured why not at the airport and now I’m in.
Now the problem is watching all these episodes… of all these shows. Who has the time?
It’s a sad, sad time - Christmas vacation is over. Now, I’m back home and back to work.
It’s a depressing time of the year, I think. First you have the anticipation and excitement of the holiday season. But that often becomes a hassle and hectic as a result of rushing around looking for presents or stressing over what to get for people you might barely know - or even the people you really know. Since you know them so well, it should be awesome! But is your idea good enough?
Then you get into the actual holidays which usually means spending time with family. This can be enjoyable at first, but more often than not, will become a pain as you start to become more involved with your family’s issues and inability to behave normally around each other. Then you find out you never got the present you really wanted (and have been putting off from buying yourself all this time) and the perfect present you thought you had purchased for that certain someone wasn’t so perfect after all. How could that be?
The next thing you know it’s over. Suddenly all that could have been is gone and you’re left cleaning up the messes that remain after your holiday getaway. You’re back to work and overwhelmed with everything that had happened in your absence and no longer is there this anticipation for the upcoming holiday season.
Personally, I did have a lot of fun on my break. And my family is not so dysfunctional that, when visiting, I had a lot to put up with. It was a generally mild experience. But it does suck to have to come back to work. Ho, hum.
