Have you ever noticed how much you can get done when you’re trying to avoid something else? For instance, there is this big mailing I need to get out at work, and I just can’t bring myself to do it. I don’t know why. I’ll get done tomorrow because that’s the deadline I’ve set, but I could have done it today or yesterday, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I even tried a couple of times, but nope couldn’t do it. I did however get my desk pick up, organized some files, got some filing done, submitted work request forms for two projects, and compiled cost estimates for two other projects. A lot of work, but the one big thing I could have been doing.
It’s kind of like cleaning the house. I clean best when I’m totally pissed off. I get mad and pretty soon there is no dirt or mess safe from my wrath. All that energy focused on dirt and grim, as well as letting off steam. Don’t get in my way unless you want a high gloss finish. I take no prisoners. I of course, clean at times other then when I’m not angry, but it tends to lack a certain residual energy.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
White trash tomatoes and the smack down
You know my sister and I have been working on putting in a vegetable garden at my house this year. It’s awesome! 100 square feet of raised beds. We spent a weekend hauling dirt from up the road to our beds. No we didn’t actually do it ourselves. My son Matt and his friend Jason did the work, but we cooked for them, and they will get picking rights.
Last weekend we finally got plants into the ground. Yes, Danna and I did that work ourselves. We planted starts for corn, peas, beans, cucumbers, radishes, shallots, Walla-Walla onions, Anaheim peppers, red bell peppers, garlic and tomatoes. We didn’t plant the tomatoes in the garden. We planted one in a Topsey-Tervey. You know that thing they advertise on TV that hangs from the patio and you plant the tomato upside down in the bottom? The others we planted in buckets. As our friend Debbi says, we’re having a smack down to see which method works best.
After we were done, we were sitting on the patio admiring our work and enjoying a drink. I pointed out to my sister that we needed to move the tomatoes to the far end of the garden. She asked why and I explained that they were unattractive where we had them. That particular placement kind of screamed WHITE TRASH. We had planted them in empty cat litter bucket with all the labeling still on them.
Danna informed me that if people didn’t know that about us yet, they probably wouldn’t catch on. So the tomato buckets remain in their original positions. I’ll let you know how the Great Tomato Smack Down goes.
Last weekend we finally got plants into the ground. Yes, Danna and I did that work ourselves. We planted starts for corn, peas, beans, cucumbers, radishes, shallots, Walla-Walla onions, Anaheim peppers, red bell peppers, garlic and tomatoes. We didn’t plant the tomatoes in the garden. We planted one in a Topsey-Tervey. You know that thing they advertise on TV that hangs from the patio and you plant the tomato upside down in the bottom? The others we planted in buckets. As our friend Debbi says, we’re having a smack down to see which method works best.
After we were done, we were sitting on the patio admiring our work and enjoying a drink. I pointed out to my sister that we needed to move the tomatoes to the far end of the garden. She asked why and I explained that they were unattractive where we had them. That particular placement kind of screamed WHITE TRASH. We had planted them in empty cat litter bucket with all the labeling still on them.
Danna informed me that if people didn’t know that about us yet, they probably wouldn’t catch on. So the tomato buckets remain in their original positions. I’ll let you know how the Great Tomato Smack Down goes.
IQ and the Navy Chief
I took an IQ test the other day. It was one of those your Facebook buddies post. It was only ten questions, all really easy. I’m apparently quite brilliant. Who knew? My IQ, according to this test, is 147.
So there are a few things I wonder about, like how do you get 147 out of 10 questions? Exactly what is the math involved in that calculation? Not to mention how can you measure IQ from only 10 questions? I seem to remember an IQ test I took years ago that included a lot of questions.
Heck, the military entrance test I took was hundreds of questions and took most of the day. That was in the days before desktop computers. You where picked up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning by your recruiter, those ever helpful individuals, and driven downtown to the federal building. You spent the next 6 hours at a desk in a big room with about 50 other people taking a series of tests. At the end of the tests you got to sit around in another room and wait for them to be scored and evaluated. Then you were called into an office with a representative of the military branch you were interested in, to talk about the results and your future.
This was 1977 and I was interested in the Navy. I wanted to work in military PR, or be an air traffic controller. I’m called into an office with a Chief that has so many service bars down his sleeve it looks like a piano keyboard. He’s an old guy (probably about my age now) who came up through the Navy when it was a man’s world. Women were for dating on shore, or nursing you when you were wounded. He was clearly “apprehensive” about letting women into any areas that were non-traditional. Can we say understatement? He was not a happy camper.
This guy makes me nervous! We sit down and he tells me I’ve scored a 96. That makes me even more nervous because I’m thinking this could be really good or really, really bad. I answered about 300 questions and if this score means I only got 96 right; I’m done. So, I ask him, “Is that good?” It about kills him to tell me its 96 out of a possible 100. I feel a lot better, but still nervous, because there are no positive vibes coming off this guy at all. I ask him what that score qualifies me to do, and he almost chokes when he tells me anything not combat related. He quickly suggests I look into becoming a boiler tech. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Someone had told me the week before that if you completely wrecked your test you could still be a boiler tech.
He mentioned that I had scored a 99 on vocabulary and that was the highest score he’d ever seen. He wanted to know how I did it. This question was more and accusation then real interest. What do you say to a question like that? I just looked him in the eye and said, “I read.” He seemed to think there was something fishy with that answer, but didn’t say anything about it.
I told him what I was interested in and he was very happy to inform me that there were only 500 positions in all of the military for the PR field and that they didn’t guarantee those positions. Once he established I was 5’ 4¼” tall he got a gleam in his eyes and told me I was too short to be an air traffic controller. To farther discourage me, he quickly pointed out that I would have to have a pelvic exam. I couldn’t help it, I laughed again. It was so clear he thought this information would completely discourage me. It was funny just hearing him say it, since it was so clear he wasn’t at all comfortable with the term. But, he was willing to bear anything to uphold the traditions of his Navy.
What the Chief couldn’t do to discourage me, a new boyfriend did. I ended up not going into the Navy or any other branch of the military. The boyfriend didn’t last for long, and I went on with my life. I still crack a smile when I think of the Chief.
So there are a few things I wonder about, like how do you get 147 out of 10 questions? Exactly what is the math involved in that calculation? Not to mention how can you measure IQ from only 10 questions? I seem to remember an IQ test I took years ago that included a lot of questions.
Heck, the military entrance test I took was hundreds of questions and took most of the day. That was in the days before desktop computers. You where picked up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning by your recruiter, those ever helpful individuals, and driven downtown to the federal building. You spent the next 6 hours at a desk in a big room with about 50 other people taking a series of tests. At the end of the tests you got to sit around in another room and wait for them to be scored and evaluated. Then you were called into an office with a representative of the military branch you were interested in, to talk about the results and your future.
This was 1977 and I was interested in the Navy. I wanted to work in military PR, or be an air traffic controller. I’m called into an office with a Chief that has so many service bars down his sleeve it looks like a piano keyboard. He’s an old guy (probably about my age now) who came up through the Navy when it was a man’s world. Women were for dating on shore, or nursing you when you were wounded. He was clearly “apprehensive” about letting women into any areas that were non-traditional. Can we say understatement? He was not a happy camper.
This guy makes me nervous! We sit down and he tells me I’ve scored a 96. That makes me even more nervous because I’m thinking this could be really good or really, really bad. I answered about 300 questions and if this score means I only got 96 right; I’m done. So, I ask him, “Is that good?” It about kills him to tell me its 96 out of a possible 100. I feel a lot better, but still nervous, because there are no positive vibes coming off this guy at all. I ask him what that score qualifies me to do, and he almost chokes when he tells me anything not combat related. He quickly suggests I look into becoming a boiler tech. I couldn’t help it, I laughed. Someone had told me the week before that if you completely wrecked your test you could still be a boiler tech.
He mentioned that I had scored a 99 on vocabulary and that was the highest score he’d ever seen. He wanted to know how I did it. This question was more and accusation then real interest. What do you say to a question like that? I just looked him in the eye and said, “I read.” He seemed to think there was something fishy with that answer, but didn’t say anything about it.
I told him what I was interested in and he was very happy to inform me that there were only 500 positions in all of the military for the PR field and that they didn’t guarantee those positions. Once he established I was 5’ 4¼” tall he got a gleam in his eyes and told me I was too short to be an air traffic controller. To farther discourage me, he quickly pointed out that I would have to have a pelvic exam. I couldn’t help it, I laughed again. It was so clear he thought this information would completely discourage me. It was funny just hearing him say it, since it was so clear he wasn’t at all comfortable with the term. But, he was willing to bear anything to uphold the traditions of his Navy.
What the Chief couldn’t do to discourage me, a new boyfriend did. I ended up not going into the Navy or any other branch of the military. The boyfriend didn’t last for long, and I went on with my life. I still crack a smile when I think of the Chief.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Great reading
I’m so excited!! I got one of my favorite things this weekend, a Harriet Carter sales catalogue. I love these things!! This is one of the great publications of our civilization. It has everything, items you might need, and items you didn’t know existed, but are so happy someone thought of.
My favorite activity related to the catalogue, is going through and finding the funny stuff. The stuff that makes you laugh out loud. Here are some of my favorites from the most recent issue:
Page 6 – PERFECT VISION TRAINING GLASSES, perforated glasses to “exercise your eyes.” Black lenses with rows of tiny perforations that “…help you to enhance vision by naturally forcing your eyes to focus more with less strain…” Really? I’m thinking that trying to do anything while wearing these things is only going to aggravate the hell out of me and raise my stress levels, putting a strain on everyone around me.
Page 10 – PERSONALIZED PET MONUMENT, “a lasting tribute to one who gave you so much love and devotion.” The instruction are to “…mark pet’s favorite spot in the yard or garden.” Didn’t they already do that when they were alive, and isn’t that why the grass won’t grow there anymore? I love that this in one of three different markers available in the catalogue. You could have a regular little cemetery. Just what a person wants to look out on while they’re relaxing on the patio.
Page 14 – REEL ROASTER, roast the perfect marshmallow at your next BBQ. “,,fishing-inspired tool to land a yummy treat.” You turn a crank which rotates the marshmallow. You know, because it’s so much easier to use two hands to do what it use to take only one to do.
Page 17 – URINE GONE, removes new or old stains and odors. “.. from carpets, mattresses, furniture.” It comes with a black light stain detector. Yuck!!!
Page 19 – GARDEN ANGEL LIGHT, cute angel sleeping with a solar panel on her shoulder and an LED light on her ass. Yeah, this really reeks of class!
Page 28 – WOMEN’S EXERCISE SLIPPERS, “strengthen and tone with every step.” I love that a pair of slippers you wear on your feet can strengthen and tone your legs, buttocks, back and stomach, but it apparently only works on women. Sorry guys.
Page 35 – SOLAR-POWERED ROCKS, “…rocks look like real stones. When night comes, they glow…” Yeah all my real stones glow at night. They wouldn’t seem real without that feature.
Page 41 – DOUBLE-HANDLED MUG, “Never spill another beverage again!” I have no idea how two handles will keep you from ever spilling. I love that they specifically call out those suffering with Parkinson’s, like somehow holding a cup with two trembling hands will help counter act one another. How about a cup with a lid??
Page 42 – SLEEPING PET, “,,,lifelike plush pet actually breathes and gently snores…” Because you can’t get enough of snoring, you want to buy some more.
Page 43 – FANNY BANK, “…makes saving money a real gas.” This is a coin bank molded like a butt. You insert coins into the crack and you get “…the loudest rip you’ve ever heard.” Can we say white trash?
So run, don’t walk, to your mailbox to get your copy of this riveting reading material. Have fun!!
My favorite activity related to the catalogue, is going through and finding the funny stuff. The stuff that makes you laugh out loud. Here are some of my favorites from the most recent issue:
Page 6 – PERFECT VISION TRAINING GLASSES, perforated glasses to “exercise your eyes.” Black lenses with rows of tiny perforations that “…help you to enhance vision by naturally forcing your eyes to focus more with less strain…” Really? I’m thinking that trying to do anything while wearing these things is only going to aggravate the hell out of me and raise my stress levels, putting a strain on everyone around me.
Page 10 – PERSONALIZED PET MONUMENT, “a lasting tribute to one who gave you so much love and devotion.” The instruction are to “…mark pet’s favorite spot in the yard or garden.” Didn’t they already do that when they were alive, and isn’t that why the grass won’t grow there anymore? I love that this in one of three different markers available in the catalogue. You could have a regular little cemetery. Just what a person wants to look out on while they’re relaxing on the patio.
Page 14 – REEL ROASTER, roast the perfect marshmallow at your next BBQ. “,,fishing-inspired tool to land a yummy treat.” You turn a crank which rotates the marshmallow. You know, because it’s so much easier to use two hands to do what it use to take only one to do.
Page 17 – URINE GONE, removes new or old stains and odors. “.. from carpets, mattresses, furniture.” It comes with a black light stain detector. Yuck!!!
Page 19 – GARDEN ANGEL LIGHT, cute angel sleeping with a solar panel on her shoulder and an LED light on her ass. Yeah, this really reeks of class!
Page 28 – WOMEN’S EXERCISE SLIPPERS, “strengthen and tone with every step.” I love that a pair of slippers you wear on your feet can strengthen and tone your legs, buttocks, back and stomach, but it apparently only works on women. Sorry guys.
Page 35 – SOLAR-POWERED ROCKS, “…rocks look like real stones. When night comes, they glow…” Yeah all my real stones glow at night. They wouldn’t seem real without that feature.
Page 41 – DOUBLE-HANDLED MUG, “Never spill another beverage again!” I have no idea how two handles will keep you from ever spilling. I love that they specifically call out those suffering with Parkinson’s, like somehow holding a cup with two trembling hands will help counter act one another. How about a cup with a lid??
Page 42 – SLEEPING PET, “,,,lifelike plush pet actually breathes and gently snores…” Because you can’t get enough of snoring, you want to buy some more.
Page 43 – FANNY BANK, “…makes saving money a real gas.” This is a coin bank molded like a butt. You insert coins into the crack and you get “…the loudest rip you’ve ever heard.” Can we say white trash?
So run, don’t walk, to your mailbox to get your copy of this riveting reading material. Have fun!!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
New work environment needed
I need a new office chair, in fact I need a whole new office environment. Every day I sit in my rolling swivel chair and periodically readjust myself from the edge of the seat to a position where I am sitting back completely in the chair. Before too long, I’ve slide, without notice, back to the edge. This is most annoying!
As I sit working away on the computer, on the phone, pouring over maps and plans, I’m unaware of the time until I look up and see that more than an hour has passed. I stand up to go to the restroom, pick something up from the printer, or go to a meeting, and WHAM it hits me! My whole body unfolds into an explosion of minor but much felt pains and aches. My knees pop, and I have to stand a moment before getting a move on. Oy, getting old sucks, big time!!!
Then there’s always that creeping insidious time, after lunch when my eyes get heavy and I find myself yawning and retyping the same thing over and over again. Or, I fall into a kind of coma and catch myself just before my chin smashes into the desktop.
At odd time I find myself possessed of an unnatural amount of energy and no way to expend it without leaving my work station. This is also the same time my mind is going with a thousand ideas and creative thoughts. So I’m torn, leave and loss the idea, or stay and keep the pounds. Life is so unfair. Ideas should burn as many calories as walking. In that case I’d a super model!!
So, I need a new work environment. I need a work station that will allow me work standing or sitting, or will at least give me a good zap every half hour to make me get up and move so my body doesn’t go into shock after sitting for hours. I could also use a chair with some bicycle peddles to work off that energy, and accumulating pounds. And for those moments when my body decides to blast up the heater for a few seconds, I need a super cooling unit or maybe a bucket of water suspended over my head. With a little music I could be flash dance having a hot flash. I’m sure my co-workers would be speechless.
As I sit working away on the computer, on the phone, pouring over maps and plans, I’m unaware of the time until I look up and see that more than an hour has passed. I stand up to go to the restroom, pick something up from the printer, or go to a meeting, and WHAM it hits me! My whole body unfolds into an explosion of minor but much felt pains and aches. My knees pop, and I have to stand a moment before getting a move on. Oy, getting old sucks, big time!!!
Then there’s always that creeping insidious time, after lunch when my eyes get heavy and I find myself yawning and retyping the same thing over and over again. Or, I fall into a kind of coma and catch myself just before my chin smashes into the desktop.
At odd time I find myself possessed of an unnatural amount of energy and no way to expend it without leaving my work station. This is also the same time my mind is going with a thousand ideas and creative thoughts. So I’m torn, leave and loss the idea, or stay and keep the pounds. Life is so unfair. Ideas should burn as many calories as walking. In that case I’d a super model!!
So, I need a new work environment. I need a work station that will allow me work standing or sitting, or will at least give me a good zap every half hour to make me get up and move so my body doesn’t go into shock after sitting for hours. I could also use a chair with some bicycle peddles to work off that energy, and accumulating pounds. And for those moments when my body decides to blast up the heater for a few seconds, I need a super cooling unit or maybe a bucket of water suspended over my head. With a little music I could be flash dance having a hot flash. I’m sure my co-workers would be speechless.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Watch out!!
I’ve been having a challenging week with cars. It started Monday when I checked out a car at work to do some site visits. I pull out of the downtown garage, get a couple of blocks down the road, put on my blinker to change lanes, check to make sure the lane is clear and begin to move over in a nice steady maneuver, when the car in the other lane whips over without warning and nearly take off my bumper. (She did take a few years off my life.) She was of course was on the phone and had no idea that she had nearly caused an accident.
Several more blocks down the road, a man steps off the corner in front of me; I had a green light. When I slam on my breaks, he looks at me like, What! I just wanted to smack him!!!
Yesterday, I had a dental appointment and went home after. Later I had to leave for a meeting and was backing the car out of the driveway when I hit my son’s scooter. I couldn’t see it in the rearview mirror. I knocked it over and got a purple scraping mark on the rear of my car, and broke his kickstand. Aghhhhh!
Today I had an important meeting off site with some community members to discuss an upcoming project in their area. I go to the receptionist to pick up the keys to the car I reserved a month ago. No keys. We call the last person to use the car and he said he had turned them in. I go down to check the garage, and no car. The clock is ticking away and we’re scrambling for keys. I was just about to take the keys to the big hawking 10 passenger van when we finally found a car not being used. One person in a 10 passenger van on Earth Day being driven by a Bureau of Environmental Services employee would just so wrong on so many levels! Not to mention the hazard I am in that thing on tight streets.
The person who took the car sent me an email apologizing for his mistake. I told him it was OK, it all worked out. Besides his ears should have been burning, and if only half the curses I had been directing at him come true he is in for an interesting few days.
So, lets all keep our finger crossed (except for me when I’m driving) that I get through the week without a serious incident. Or any more minor ones.
Several more blocks down the road, a man steps off the corner in front of me; I had a green light. When I slam on my breaks, he looks at me like, What! I just wanted to smack him!!!
Yesterday, I had a dental appointment and went home after. Later I had to leave for a meeting and was backing the car out of the driveway when I hit my son’s scooter. I couldn’t see it in the rearview mirror. I knocked it over and got a purple scraping mark on the rear of my car, and broke his kickstand. Aghhhhh!
Today I had an important meeting off site with some community members to discuss an upcoming project in their area. I go to the receptionist to pick up the keys to the car I reserved a month ago. No keys. We call the last person to use the car and he said he had turned them in. I go down to check the garage, and no car. The clock is ticking away and we’re scrambling for keys. I was just about to take the keys to the big hawking 10 passenger van when we finally found a car not being used. One person in a 10 passenger van on Earth Day being driven by a Bureau of Environmental Services employee would just so wrong on so many levels! Not to mention the hazard I am in that thing on tight streets.
The person who took the car sent me an email apologizing for his mistake. I told him it was OK, it all worked out. Besides his ears should have been burning, and if only half the curses I had been directing at him come true he is in for an interesting few days.
So, lets all keep our finger crossed (except for me when I’m driving) that I get through the week without a serious incident. Or any more minor ones.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mac is where its at
Mac and cheese is such a basic dish. Who doesn’t have that blue Kraft box on a shelf in their kitchen? – I don’t want to hear from the Crazy Food People contingent. I don’t want to hear how cheese is made from milk which is cruel to the animals, or how bleached flower is bad for you, or how Kraft is an evil corporation bent on controlling our minds. Lighten up!! – Anyway back to macaroni and cheese, it’s basic, it comfort, and there are a million versions of it out there.
Today I went to a birthday lunch for a co-worker to a local Italian eatery. I ordered, you guessed it, the mac and cheese. It was really, really good. I got to talking to the birthday girl (Happy Birthday Debbie!!) about how it was the third best I’d had at local restaurants. At the Montague it’s the start of the menu with about 5 or 6 different mac and cheese dishes, all good! The atmosphere is a kind of demented Cajun (is that redundant?) thing where the chef is know to hide insults and snarky comments in the dish. It really gets hopping late at night and is known as an after hours kind of place, just about the time you’d be looking of some good mac and cheese.
The best place for this common dish is a place where their version is anything but common. For on thing it’s a side dish you order separately and it comes in a very small portion that you will have a hard time finishing. Castagna’s dish is made with fontina cheese and is so rich you can hardly stand it. I had it years ago and still taste it!!
I myself make a pretty mean dish of the stuff using Velvetta, but it’s pretty far from what these folks are making. My version is meant to be baked in a very large dish and carried to a family get together where it will be scarfed down at record speeds along with all the other offerings. Mine is the backbone of middle-class America. It’s great with laughs, for listening to Aunt Violet and Mom bicker good naturedly, for watching the big game, or for watching a two year old try to keep it on a fork. My version is completely and totally G-rated, and still a step above Kraft, but perhaps a little below trendy.
Today I went to a birthday lunch for a co-worker to a local Italian eatery. I ordered, you guessed it, the mac and cheese. It was really, really good. I got to talking to the birthday girl (Happy Birthday Debbie!!) about how it was the third best I’d had at local restaurants. At the Montague it’s the start of the menu with about 5 or 6 different mac and cheese dishes, all good! The atmosphere is a kind of demented Cajun (is that redundant?) thing where the chef is know to hide insults and snarky comments in the dish. It really gets hopping late at night and is known as an after hours kind of place, just about the time you’d be looking of some good mac and cheese.
The best place for this common dish is a place where their version is anything but common. For on thing it’s a side dish you order separately and it comes in a very small portion that you will have a hard time finishing. Castagna’s dish is made with fontina cheese and is so rich you can hardly stand it. I had it years ago and still taste it!!
I myself make a pretty mean dish of the stuff using Velvetta, but it’s pretty far from what these folks are making. My version is meant to be baked in a very large dish and carried to a family get together where it will be scarfed down at record speeds along with all the other offerings. Mine is the backbone of middle-class America. It’s great with laughs, for listening to Aunt Violet and Mom bicker good naturedly, for watching the big game, or for watching a two year old try to keep it on a fork. My version is completely and totally G-rated, and still a step above Kraft, but perhaps a little below trendy.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
You go girl!!
I’m sure we’ve all seen the lady from England’s Next Big Star, or whatever the exact name of the show is, by now. You know the 47 year old woman, who looked and acted 47, and had the voice that blew everyone away? OMG!!!!
I loved it when she went out and they asked how old she was, which was a very cheeky question to begin with, and she said, “Forty-seven, and that’s only on one side!” You’ve just got to love that!! I loved that she know that everyone was expecting something less then, as the Brits would say, brilliant. She was laughing up her sleeve at them all, knowing she was fixing to show them something they wouldn’t believe.
When she begin to sing and they cameras cut to the audience, all those smug smiles instantaneously transformed into looks of awe and then to expressions of appreciation for a true talent. When they cut to the two M.C.s back stage, they looked into the camera and said, “You didn’t expect that did you? Did you, did you? No!” They were pretty excited that they had pulled one over on everyone. The judges called it, “Stunning”, “Incredible”, and “A wake-up call.” Simon of course, said he knew all along she would do something amazing. I don’t think he expected that kind of amazing though.
Now here’s my observation for the day….why did we all assume she would be talentless? Is it because so many of them on those shows are? Was it because she doesn’t look like what we’ve come to expect our entertainers to look like? Or, do we just expect the worst? Whatever the reason, I’m very glad Susan Boyle has hit the world stage, and in her own true style. It reminds us all not to judge books by their covers, or people by the standard of the entertainment industry.
Go Susan!!!
Search YouTube to see her performance.
I loved it when she went out and they asked how old she was, which was a very cheeky question to begin with, and she said, “Forty-seven, and that’s only on one side!” You’ve just got to love that!! I loved that she know that everyone was expecting something less then, as the Brits would say, brilliant. She was laughing up her sleeve at them all, knowing she was fixing to show them something they wouldn’t believe.
When she begin to sing and they cameras cut to the audience, all those smug smiles instantaneously transformed into looks of awe and then to expressions of appreciation for a true talent. When they cut to the two M.C.s back stage, they looked into the camera and said, “You didn’t expect that did you? Did you, did you? No!” They were pretty excited that they had pulled one over on everyone. The judges called it, “Stunning”, “Incredible”, and “A wake-up call.” Simon of course, said he knew all along she would do something amazing. I don’t think he expected that kind of amazing though.
Now here’s my observation for the day….why did we all assume she would be talentless? Is it because so many of them on those shows are? Was it because she doesn’t look like what we’ve come to expect our entertainers to look like? Or, do we just expect the worst? Whatever the reason, I’m very glad Susan Boyle has hit the world stage, and in her own true style. It reminds us all not to judge books by their covers, or people by the standard of the entertainment industry.
Go Susan!!!
Search YouTube to see her performance.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Interesting day
This has been a kind of interesting day. I was conducting site visits to project areas I’m work on. This means I’m basically driving over a very large portion of the city. As I’m driving along I notice things abandoned and laying around, like shoes, shirts, pants, a hat. And it gets to wondering…. are there people out there walking around naked? Why would people simply abandon a perfectly good pair of shoes or pants?
Also while I was out, I had to make a restroom stop. I typically choose fast food restaurants for these stops since they usually keep their facilities clean and well stocked. I had the miss fortune of being in the stall minding my own business, when the restroom was invaded by a horde of teen aged girls in the middle of a drama meltdown. Ohmygawd! They were so loud and high pitched I thought my filling would fall out and the paint would peal off the walls. I just sat there, through the ex-boyfriend in the dining room/ oh no she didn’t fest, thinking if I could just figure out how to use all that energy for good!
When I got back to my desk I look up and see a huge black cloud boiling up from between the building about 6 blocks over. It’s clear something is burning. No sooner then it start, it was gone. Just one gigantic billowing black cloud. I jumped onto the local news station’s websites, but nothing. I guess I’ll have to wait to find out what it was. Not too long before the cloud appeared there had been a news helicopter circling the area. Maybe they missed it. Who knows? Obviously not the news station or they would have kept their helicopter in the air for filming.
Like a said a kind of interesting day and it’s not over yet.
Also while I was out, I had to make a restroom stop. I typically choose fast food restaurants for these stops since they usually keep their facilities clean and well stocked. I had the miss fortune of being in the stall minding my own business, when the restroom was invaded by a horde of teen aged girls in the middle of a drama meltdown. Ohmygawd! They were so loud and high pitched I thought my filling would fall out and the paint would peal off the walls. I just sat there, through the ex-boyfriend in the dining room/ oh no she didn’t fest, thinking if I could just figure out how to use all that energy for good!
When I got back to my desk I look up and see a huge black cloud boiling up from between the building about 6 blocks over. It’s clear something is burning. No sooner then it start, it was gone. Just one gigantic billowing black cloud. I jumped onto the local news station’s websites, but nothing. I guess I’ll have to wait to find out what it was. Not too long before the cloud appeared there had been a news helicopter circling the area. Maybe they missed it. Who knows? Obviously not the news station or they would have kept their helicopter in the air for filming.
Like a said a kind of interesting day and it’s not over yet.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Mail attack!!
Help, I’m being attached by unwanted mail!!
When I opened my work email this morning I had over a 100 new messages. I have over 70 in my personal email account and 7 in the neighborhood account. About a quarter to a third of it was junk. I mean really, who opens an email titled, “make more pleasure for your loving one”? I really have no interest in making my body parts larger; they’re all large enough thank you very much.
At home it is just a bad with the regular mail. I don’t need anymore insurance, storm windows or satellite TV. I don’t need or want another credit card, and I really, really, really don’t want another piece of mail offering me one. I don’t care what the rate is, or what bank it comes from. Unless it’s completely free money, get out of my mailbox!
I’m sick of being a target for mass mailing!! I’m also sick of being the target of targeted mailing I haven’t specifically asked for. I read the other day where the post office is running out of money. We should change the mailing policies so that there is no bulk rate; it all has to go first class. In addition, any piece of mail unwanted by the recipient can be returned at the expense of the sender. The post office make money both ways and I get the satisfaction of returning all that mail to the sender and have them recycle it. Now if I could just figure out something as sensible for email.
When I opened my work email this morning I had over a 100 new messages. I have over 70 in my personal email account and 7 in the neighborhood account. About a quarter to a third of it was junk. I mean really, who opens an email titled, “make more pleasure for your loving one”? I really have no interest in making my body parts larger; they’re all large enough thank you very much.
At home it is just a bad with the regular mail. I don’t need anymore insurance, storm windows or satellite TV. I don’t need or want another credit card, and I really, really, really don’t want another piece of mail offering me one. I don’t care what the rate is, or what bank it comes from. Unless it’s completely free money, get out of my mailbox!
I’m sick of being a target for mass mailing!! I’m also sick of being the target of targeted mailing I haven’t specifically asked for. I read the other day where the post office is running out of money. We should change the mailing policies so that there is no bulk rate; it all has to go first class. In addition, any piece of mail unwanted by the recipient can be returned at the expense of the sender. The post office make money both ways and I get the satisfaction of returning all that mail to the sender and have them recycle it. Now if I could just figure out something as sensible for email.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Retirement $$$
Holy Moli Canoli am I glad my weekend is starting in about a half hour!! This week has felt like a month. Work is crazy busy and I’ve had three night meetings this week. Yep, I’m ready to sleep late and do something I want to do.
I met with my financial advisor today. I always feel totally at sea in these meetings. I make decisions and it appears that my deferred comp accounts are doing OK, at least relatively speaking since no one made any money this last quarter. I did two little changes that I hope will be alright. The good news was that we talked about numbers at retirement, and I got my first look at what it might be like. I felt really good about that. I never really understood how my retirement worked, and at least now I have a very small understanding. The really great news is insurance, I always assumed I’d have to work until I died because I wouldn’t be able to afford the insurance. No so! I’ll get a great deal on that through my plan. Who knew!!
Now the question is do I go out at 60 or 65? I can’t believe I’m even getting to think about this. If the economy picks back up and can stay strong for the next 9 years I can hit the door at 60 and do pretty well. I know, pie-in-the-sky, but to even think it could happen is a comfort. Of course there are several things that have to happen to get me to retirement:
-- I have to restrain myself from going postal
-- Ride out any lay-offs in the future
-- Stay healthy
-- And, put away enough money to get through the time I retire and the money starts coming in.
That was the crazy thing. You can't file your papers until your 90 days out, then it will take 90-110 days to do the paperwork, then once the paperwork is done it will take 45 days till the first check. Social Security will take 6 months. Why can’t it all just start when you retire if you’ve submitted all the papers? Of course with social security we all know not to expect anything reasonable or rational. These are the people that denied an amputee benefits because they said his condition might improve.
I met with my financial advisor today. I always feel totally at sea in these meetings. I make decisions and it appears that my deferred comp accounts are doing OK, at least relatively speaking since no one made any money this last quarter. I did two little changes that I hope will be alright. The good news was that we talked about numbers at retirement, and I got my first look at what it might be like. I felt really good about that. I never really understood how my retirement worked, and at least now I have a very small understanding. The really great news is insurance, I always assumed I’d have to work until I died because I wouldn’t be able to afford the insurance. No so! I’ll get a great deal on that through my plan. Who knew!!
Now the question is do I go out at 60 or 65? I can’t believe I’m even getting to think about this. If the economy picks back up and can stay strong for the next 9 years I can hit the door at 60 and do pretty well. I know, pie-in-the-sky, but to even think it could happen is a comfort. Of course there are several things that have to happen to get me to retirement:
-- I have to restrain myself from going postal
-- Ride out any lay-offs in the future
-- Stay healthy
-- And, put away enough money to get through the time I retire and the money starts coming in.
That was the crazy thing. You can't file your papers until your 90 days out, then it will take 90-110 days to do the paperwork, then once the paperwork is done it will take 45 days till the first check. Social Security will take 6 months. Why can’t it all just start when you retire if you’ve submitted all the papers? Of course with social security we all know not to expect anything reasonable or rational. These are the people that denied an amputee benefits because they said his condition might improve.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
I'm tired
“I’m tired. So tired. I’m pooped.” to quote Madeline Kane from Blazing Saddles. At least it was something like that. Of course her reasons for being tired were completely different from my reasons.
We finally got some great weather, and I didn’t even have to sacrifice a virgin. All that sun got me going on projects, and entertaining, so the weekend was busy and lots of fun! Think homemade guacamole with chips, and margaritas on the patio with friends and family. Building a box for a raised vegetable garden, and starting seeds. Not to mention the cleaning and sprucing up.
As fun as the weekend was, the week has been unfun. (I know that’s not really a word. Hello, spell check is having fits.) Whiny citizens who have had a year to let their feelings be known have suddenly decided to complain to commissioners instead of coming to our team. Nothing can mess up a public works project, and waste money like an elected official getting involved. It’s enough to make you envy working for the postal service where they know how to make their frustrations understood by everyone.
So, I’m tired! I need a vacation, but there’s just too much work! I need an assistant, but there’s no money. I need more sun, but the clouds are moving back in. I need a good physical release, something on the order of boxing, or involving the use of assault rifles, but neither are really my style. A little sex, or a lot, wouldn’t be bad either, but alas no partner at the moment. Instead, I’m heading home and tonight is bible study. Not looking like I’m going to grt much relief there.
We finally got some great weather, and I didn’t even have to sacrifice a virgin. All that sun got me going on projects, and entertaining, so the weekend was busy and lots of fun! Think homemade guacamole with chips, and margaritas on the patio with friends and family. Building a box for a raised vegetable garden, and starting seeds. Not to mention the cleaning and sprucing up.
As fun as the weekend was, the week has been unfun. (I know that’s not really a word. Hello, spell check is having fits.) Whiny citizens who have had a year to let their feelings be known have suddenly decided to complain to commissioners instead of coming to our team. Nothing can mess up a public works project, and waste money like an elected official getting involved. It’s enough to make you envy working for the postal service where they know how to make their frustrations understood by everyone.
So, I’m tired! I need a vacation, but there’s just too much work! I need an assistant, but there’s no money. I need more sun, but the clouds are moving back in. I need a good physical release, something on the order of boxing, or involving the use of assault rifles, but neither are really my style. A little sex, or a lot, wouldn’t be bad either, but alas no partner at the moment. Instead, I’m heading home and tonight is bible study. Not looking like I’m going to grt much relief there.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Clouds
This morning I noticed a couple of clouds out my work window that looked like a pair of quotation marks. I kept waiting for the message but if it came I was already busy doing something and missed it. I notice clouds often, and have for pretty much all my life. When I was a kid it was always great fun to lie in the grass and see what kinds of things I could make of clouds.
Have you ever notice how some times there is a clear blue sky and only one cloud? It always makes me wonder if aliens are using it to hide from us. Because, it really seems that if there is one cloud there really should be others to go with it. Clouds are, generally speaking, pack creatures. What do you call a group of clouds? How about a wiffy?
Back to my quotation marks, who would be talking to us from the sky? God? Possibly. Aliens? Maybe. An English proper skywriter? Highly unlikely.
Have you ever notice how some times there is a clear blue sky and only one cloud? It always makes me wonder if aliens are using it to hide from us. Because, it really seems that if there is one cloud there really should be others to go with it. Clouds are, generally speaking, pack creatures. What do you call a group of clouds? How about a wiffy?
Back to my quotation marks, who would be talking to us from the sky? God? Possibly. Aliens? Maybe. An English proper skywriter? Highly unlikely.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Bus trauma
This morning on the bus, I was reading a book like I usually do. I was pretty much lost in the story where a witch is in a battle with a banshee and a demon, getting a little help from a ghost and pixy, when I hear a disturbance in the force. I look up and bus swerves as the car in lane on my side try to plow into our side. What can I say? I screamed like a girl. The poor woman in the seat ahead of me jumped a foot, I scared her so bad. I of course, felt like a complete idiot.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had this reaction on the bus. The first time was when I looked up from my book to see our driver going a good clip along the HOV lane and running up onto the much slower car in front and then slamming on the brake. I not only screamed like a girl, I found myself slammed into the seat in front of me. At least I wasn’t the only to scream that time.
Another time we had a semi truck cut in front of us just as I looked up from my book. I’ve decided I need to quite looking up from my book until the bus comes to a complete stop. That probably won’t stop these kinds of incidents from occurring, but it should make the ride less traumatic if I’m not screaming.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had this reaction on the bus. The first time was when I looked up from my book to see our driver going a good clip along the HOV lane and running up onto the much slower car in front and then slamming on the brake. I not only screamed like a girl, I found myself slammed into the seat in front of me. At least I wasn’t the only to scream that time.
Another time we had a semi truck cut in front of us just as I looked up from my book. I’ve decided I need to quite looking up from my book until the bus comes to a complete stop. That probably won’t stop these kinds of incidents from occurring, but it should make the ride less traumatic if I’m not screaming.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Commuting and virgin sacrifices
Getting to work this week has been a bit of an odyssey.
Yesterday the bus had an extended nervous break down. It started just after we left the transit center and the warning beeper started going off. It continued off and on all the way to downtown. As if that wasn’t annoying enough the bus periodically stalled out for no apparent reason and then started again for no apparent reason. So in a stop and go, beeping progression we eventually made it downtown and literally coasted into my stop, where all the lights on the bus went out. I was happy to get off the possessed bus. It was too much like all the transportation issues we faced in my home growing up. We always traveled on a wing and a prayer. Mostly praying the car would start, that the car would get to our destination, and that it would start again and get us home. We were the family that prayed together everyday, several times depending on the schedule.
Today there were a thousand little delays all along the way, from making the bed twice, forgetting to rinse the conditioner out of my hair, having to put out the garbage, and taking a detour around highway construction. It just seemed that every step I took I had to stop and make a lap around the spot! It was a relief to finally make it to my desk. How many times do you get to say that and mean it?
Oh yeah and it was raining, both days!! Enough already, where’s the sun? Who pissed Spring off? I’m ready to sacrifice a virgin or something; that is if we could find one.
What’s so great about a virgin? I was one once, and there was certainly nothing magical or special about it. For Pete sakes, virgins have to watch out that they aren’t handed over to all sorts of monsters and wacked-out terrorists. Now if we’re really serious about sacrificing something young and pretty, I say lets throw all those teens and twenty-somethings into the sacrificial pool that talk too loud on their cell phones in public, drive too fast, and are generally doing annoying things to get noticed. I say lets really notice them and put them out there. I could really support that policy. They would drive the terrorists to surrender just to get a break.
I could snatch up a few on my way home. Maybe we could institute a bounty program?
Yesterday the bus had an extended nervous break down. It started just after we left the transit center and the warning beeper started going off. It continued off and on all the way to downtown. As if that wasn’t annoying enough the bus periodically stalled out for no apparent reason and then started again for no apparent reason. So in a stop and go, beeping progression we eventually made it downtown and literally coasted into my stop, where all the lights on the bus went out. I was happy to get off the possessed bus. It was too much like all the transportation issues we faced in my home growing up. We always traveled on a wing and a prayer. Mostly praying the car would start, that the car would get to our destination, and that it would start again and get us home. We were the family that prayed together everyday, several times depending on the schedule.
Today there were a thousand little delays all along the way, from making the bed twice, forgetting to rinse the conditioner out of my hair, having to put out the garbage, and taking a detour around highway construction. It just seemed that every step I took I had to stop and make a lap around the spot! It was a relief to finally make it to my desk. How many times do you get to say that and mean it?
Oh yeah and it was raining, both days!! Enough already, where’s the sun? Who pissed Spring off? I’m ready to sacrifice a virgin or something; that is if we could find one.
What’s so great about a virgin? I was one once, and there was certainly nothing magical or special about it. For Pete sakes, virgins have to watch out that they aren’t handed over to all sorts of monsters and wacked-out terrorists. Now if we’re really serious about sacrificing something young and pretty, I say lets throw all those teens and twenty-somethings into the sacrificial pool that talk too loud on their cell phones in public, drive too fast, and are generally doing annoying things to get noticed. I say lets really notice them and put them out there. I could really support that policy. They would drive the terrorists to surrender just to get a break.
I could snatch up a few on my way home. Maybe we could institute a bounty program?
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