Twist and Shake
So, it has been a while since I posted a blog. Some people may have heard that thanks to Cliff’s “My Crazy Life” podcast, I developed a completely irrational fear of tornados. See, the thing is that I live in Southern California. We don’t even get thunderstorms much less tornados. My theory was that tornadoes are much scarier than earthquakes. When an earthquake hits, there is no siren. Usually by the time you really register what is happening, it is over. There is no little reaction time that you don’t have time to be afraid. I had been saying this a lot lately. Just ask the people who went to the GNI meetup. I was obsessed with tornadoes. It has also been a while since we had any substantial earthquakes. We don’t have any earthquake season here, you never know when they are going to hit and you tend to get a bit complacent about them. Today just before lunch, I had to go potty. I went into the bathroom, where there are two stalls, but I was alone. As soon as I sat down I felt shaking and figured it was a small quake and that it would be over soon. It just kept going. This is not a fun situation when you are not fully dressed at work! I got put together as quick as I could, flushed and rushed out. Everyone was rather shaken up (no pun intended), but everything here was okay. Cell phones were out of service for about an hour, there was some minor damage… things coming off shelves and breaking, but nothing too bad. This is why I maintain that earthquakes are preferable to me over tornados. There has been nearly no damage, and virtually no major damage. It is a little unsettling to wait for the inevitable aftershocks, but overall we are all okay. I am just happy there was no sirens… that is the scariest noise ever! We did have one aftershock about an hour and a half ago and I was again in the bathroom! This time I was just washing my hands and was with a co-worker. I am avoiding the bathroom until I go home! Overall, thanking God everything seems okay. You guys can keep your twisters.
Birthday disses and Stalkers see the booty
1. When all of the operations for the department have been entered, click the save icon on the file bar and close the window. Okay, here is the much ballyhoo-ed blog post about more things that really bug me. Remember back when… I wrote a post about birthday parties where I had to PAY to go to? One would assume (I know, I know what that makes U and ME), that to pay it forward, that person may deign to show up to my kid’s bday party. Yes, that is what I thought. I was wrong. Actually I was given a list of about 5 different excuses that may be relevant on the day in question, about 5 days prior to the event. Basically I got an email saying I will not be attending due to A) Possibly being sick B) Possibly being out of town C) Possibly being a terrible friend or D) Any or all of the above. A) was eventually chosen. I was a little peeved by all that to say the least. Seriously… I went to not one, but TWO of her kid’s birthday parties that were not only a half hour drive away but also cost me money to just get in, not counting the gifts and tokens for Aly to play games. I was over it. Then I got non-stop text messages saying that I was only upset because other people were not showing up. Oh really? I say, because she was the only person I invited that did not show up. I hate it when I am upset about something that someone did and they try to tell me that I am actually upset about something ELSE. I am perfectly aware of why I am mad and it just makes me MORE mad to be told otherwise. Grrr…. That is annoying to say the least.
On to other news and/or rants… is it just me or is the new loopt product for blackberry and the iphone just seem like a cool way to stalk your friends? You can see on a MAP, where they are based on their cell signal. Have you ever NOT maybe wanted people to know exactly where you are at any given minute? Don’t mind me, I am just hanging out at the proctologist today.
Tag back shout out to Rob over at rffradio.com. You rock.
corporate sucks
Okay everyone. Rachel (of GNI) said she still has no idea what I do for a job. Seriously, I think 90% of people I work with, no take that back 99% of people I work with have no idea what I do. Here it is in a nutshell… probably more of a walnut shell than a peanut shell.
I work for a lighting company (www.prulite.com) We make lighting fixtures for all kinds of places… some example are Sea World Florida, Disney World, hotels, hospitals, etc). The company has been here for 50 years. The trouble is that when we get an order, there is no way to communicate to the factory what was ordered and how to make it. Everything works through the experience of the employees that have been here for about 25 years. This is not particularly effective. This is where I come in. I am an “expert” at implementing MRP systems into companies that do not have a computerized system. Basically I am taking all the information that has been gathered about what parts go into what fixtures, how they are made, how long it takes, and how many we keep in inventory. I am putting this into a computerized program that, when installed, will take an order placed by a customer, look at our current inventory levels and make a work order that says exactly what we need to make. It will also tell us what machines are to be used to make the parts, how long it should take, and when we can ship the order out. The hard part is organizing the information so that it goes into the system right and setting the program up so that the information comes out correctly. Make any more sense? Didn’t think so.
Here is something that is REALLY bugging me today. Talk Shoe has decided not to pay their hosts anymore. To anyone who did not know, those of us who host podcasts though the talk shoe service get a payment for each download and for the live participants. Mind you, per download this is not a large amount. It does however allow for us to do things like give out prizes and offset some of the costs of production like bandwidth. There are some hosts who depend on this income to produce part of their show even to supplement their income.
Talkshoe has decided to discontinue this payment plan. Great, though I disagree, this is their prerogative. Where I have issues is with the fact that they did not bother to inform us mere hosts about this decision in any way. They also did so with NO notice nor grace period to allow for the adjustment . They will not be paying out the May benefit…. We were told this on the 29th! To me, this is just wrong. Apparently Talk Shoe has lost the feeling that they are a company for and of the people supporting the web 2.0 revolution and now are simply another faceless corporate presence not afraid to step on the same people that put it on the map. Sigh.
Is it Me??
Hey everyone,
It has been awhile since I have posted a blog here. I won’t bore you with all the details about how busy I have been, just trust me on that one… there was a puking toddler involved, ’nuff said?
Okay so I wanted to share a story about my day yesterday. I have told this to several people at work. No one seems to be as freaked out about it as I was. Perhaps I am being a nanny-panny, but I was freaked out.
So I was in a big ol’ hurry yesterday because I am an airhead and agreed to record Girls Night In on Monday instead of our usual Wednesday. I was thinking that I had nothing special for Monday… well I plum forgot that Aly has gymnastics on Mondays from 5:30 to 6:00. In my mind, that is nothing special it is just normal and therefore did not stick out. Problem is that we record at 6:00 my time. So I also had about 1.5 million things to do in the half hour before I walked my little leotard clad child into the gymnastics room, and was feeling a wee bit stressed out.
I got off work, got stuck in LA trafiic, complete with fire back-ups, ran into a cigar shop to get my soon-to-be-someday-brother-in-law-if-my-sister-ever-gets-her-head-outta-her-bum a birthday present. The owner offered me his firstborn son, who was also standing there. That was a bit awkward… but I grabbed my cigars and took my now cancer ridden lunged self outta there to pick up Aly. I brought her home to change and to set up my laptop to record to I could run in the door and start talking basically. Well, I at least try to distract her while we record because it really sucks to have to stress constantly about whether or not she is going to make a sound while I am talking, which inevitably happens anyway. So I decided to run by Kmart to get her some new markers and watercolors.
By the time I pulled into Kmart, I had consumed a Rock Star energy drink, an iced coffee, and a coke zero. I was hoppin’, which was working for me since I had approxiamately 3.2 seconds to get into the store and buy said marker-distraction. I threw (not literally) Aly into a cart and started running through the parking lot (literally). I see a man talking to a woman in front of me, near the entrance to the store. It seems as though Burbank is being taken over by solicitors much the way South Park was overrun by the homeless. So the guy comes up to me and starts talking… I cut him off (admittedly not polite, but is soliciting really all that inducive to politeness?) and said “I am sorry but I am really in a hurry”. Remember that I am streaking (not literally) across the parking lot hopped up on lots of chemically induced energy. He looked at me and went all postal. He started screaming “F*!$ you! F*!$Americans! F*!$ Women! F*!$ing Infidels!” (literally). I am running my booty across a parking lot with a wanna be terrorist solicitor chasing me, thinking “Seriously? This is happening?”. I got into Kmart, found my markers at a record pace (remember the chemicals and now add adreneline to the cocktail), went to the checkstand and told the clerk, no doubt at a rate of about 5000 words per minute about the crazy man in the parking lot, and she looks at me with a stare so blank that I wanted to give Aly her markers early so that she could draw this woman a clue, and said “You are gonna have to stand in line at customer service if you have a complaint about our parking lot”. There was a line at customer service… and I am already late for more things than I can count (but if you listened to the nature episode of GNI you know not late in THAT way). I just took my overly stimulated self out the door, figuring if I saw him again I would just karate chop his A$% at this point because I must be possessing some super-human strength and agility, but he was gone.
The rest of the evening was comparably non-eventful but I am still a little overwhelmed, and well everyone here is a little underwhelmed. I am hoping someone out there could just be whelmed for me. To quote Aly “Waaa Dude”.
Say…Anything
If anyone out there does not listen to GNI, or does and realizes that when I talked about Say…Anything, I was actually running around my house, carrying my laptop, being chased by a toddler while trying to legitimatelyreview another podcast, I wanted to write something a little more worthy of the show.
Okay, I cannot for the life of me figure out how I found SayAnythingJen on twitter. I know I did find her one day, I remember following her, and she tweeted often of her podcast. I kept meaning to check it out, even downloaded a few episodes, but I kept forgetting to listen. I finally did and oh my LORD these women are so funny I cannot stand it. Literally, I have been laughing out loud at work. Well, I try not to laugh out loud but then end up making a snort-y/ snuff-y sound that problem makes me sound like a horse mated with a pig… very attractive. I have caught up with all of their episodes now and I have lost track of the times I literally could not stop from making said snurffy sound. It is ridiculous. I feel like I know them now and would love to hang out, drink, and talk to these ladies in person. If they did not live in Florida and that did not make a stalker, of course.
Check them out at Sayanythingradio.com or through itunes at say…anything. Too funny, just get your own snurffy sound. I patented my sexy self.
What Alphabet Person are you?
Oh my ever loving goodness. I work in L.A. in a very old building. Well, actually it is four small buildings that have been converted into one large one. Next door to the main building we have a smaller sales office. The sales office was remodeled 8 years ago. At the time the plan had been to then renovate our building. However, after September 11, 2001 our business was hit financially pretty hard. We have been improving steadily and they decided to go ahead with the renovations in our building. That was welcome news as our offices last saw new furniture and décor circa 1940. No joke.
So we are now days away from the completion of “phase one”. This phase just so happens to include my new workspace. A gen-u-ine cubicle instead of the “nook” I have been occupying (thanks for the use of your word there Rachel). The people at this company are babies. Seriously… they are whining, crying, please-change-my-pants kind of babies. Here is the lowdown of the complaints so far:
Person A: Wanted the corner cubicle that had already been assigned to another person who actually has need for the space because that person is our graphic designer and has two printers. Person A is fuming loudly and slamming doors since the news that he will not be getting said office real estate. Threatened to quit should he get a smaller cubicle.
Person B: Very upset about the lack of light in their office and the fact that there are no windows in the office assigned to them. Person B has calmed down some and is not happy with thing as are and therefore gets a pass on this rant.
Person C, D, E: These subjects are the worst kind. They do not even work on our side of the building. They work in the warehouse, not even in the offices. They are bitterly angry that we get new carpet, paint, etc. A campaign is underway by C, D, and E to complain until they get new carpet in their area… in the warehouse, where it is dusty and dirty and no customers ever tour, unlike our area which is part of the company tour. This has gotten so vicious that Person C will not even speak to me because I have a spot in the new area. Person C and I, until this point have eaten lunch together every day. In fact, Person C, D, and E have made numerous excuses to come over to this side and look at every thing and then snub anyone who will actually be sitting there.
Person F: Has been sitting in a confined area, with wood paneling on the walls, holes and lumps in the carpet, with terrible lighting, one outlet, and has even gotten splinters trying to put up post its on the wall. Person F does not have the largest nor most private of the new areas. Person F has not been involved in any decision making about who gets what where. Person F is just happy to have a spot to work even though it is right next to Person A who has launched a campaign to speak so loudly that everyone around Person A will complain until Person A gets an office built just for Person A. Person F cannot figure out why grown people act like such babies and why Persons A through E don’t get that in our economy when people are being layed off all the time don’t see how lucky they are to have jobs and paychecks and work, even getting frequent bonuses and not having to pay for a single benefit… not even insurance or pension. Person F just does not get this, and Person F should get back to work and stop writing this blog.
100 things about me
- I am not a fan of milk chocolate, but do like dark chocolate.
- I have two tattoos, one of a four leaf clover and one of three stars
- I love four leaf clovers and shamrocks.
- My favorite colors are red and purple, but not together
- I have worked hard to get where I am at in my career, but it is still hard for me to think of myself having a career
- I wanted to be an interior designer or a journalist when I was growing up. Then I realized I hate arranging rooms and write for pleasure only
- My middle name is Elizabeth, as was my mothers and as is my daughters
- I am obsessed with office supplies, esp pens
- I listen to 35 different podcasts on a regular basis
- My favorite blog to read is Pediascribe
- I hate doing the laundry
- I am very messy
- I love to decorate cakes, but prefer sculpted cakes to flowery sheet cakes
- I love giving gifts
- I wear a size 7, but when I was in high school struggled to fit into a size 0
- I was not anorexic, just oddly thin
- I twirled flags in high school so that I did not have to take PE
- I love the smell of wet paint
- I used to, when I had time, paint in oils on canvas
- I love Jeopardy
- My favorite sports teams are NOT hometown teams. Boston Red Sox and Indianapolis Colts. I live in L.A.
- I hate sausage in any form
- I love to cook but hate to clean up (see #12)
- I get acrylic nails simply because I hate painting my nails and I hate broken nails
- I believed in Santa until I was 8
- I was mad at my mom for lying to me when I found out
- I love roller coasters, but ferris wheels scare me
- I have BAD eyesight but rarely wear my glasses outside of driving
- I almost never wear high heels
- My hair is naturally a dark brown with more than a fair share of red, esp in the sun
- I almost never wear makeup
- I love video games, all kinds
- I don’t get the charm of soduku
- I have a temper that is slow to come and slower to cool
- I used to be allergic to aloe vera but since my daughter was born can tolerate it in small quantities
- I hate milk
- I love coke zero
- Growing up, we had pepsi in the fridge, but rarely had any juice, water, or milk
- My daughter will not be allowed to have any soda until she is… well much older
- I like to eat raw brownie batter
- I am a HUGE fan of all things Disney
- I went to Hawaii when I was 17, 18, & 21.
- The first two trips my mom came along with me & my friends.
- The first two trips were the best
- I wish I could go back to Hawaii
- And maybe stay
- I just got paid
- I am very happy at my job
- I am running out of things to say
- That rarely happens
- I love “The Pina Colada Song”
- I love musical theatre
- I have seen “Mamma Mia” six times, same with Phantom
- I never wear nylons or stockings
- I got flipped off while driving yesterday, and laughed
- I drive a hybrid, but am not environmentally friendly
- My best friend’s birthday is earth day
- She is environmentally friendly
- My closest friends live upstate
- I love Jane Austen
- I have a purple phone
- I don’t have much in the way of cartilage in my right knee
- I had tarsal tunnel (like carpal tunnel in the ankle) when I was 12
- That was when the orthopedic surgeon told me I walk wrong, not heel to toe but more stomp stomp
- I am a klutz
- I believe you do learn something new every day, if not every hour
- My favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally
- The only jewelry I usually wear is a pair of diamond studs
- Christmas is my favorite holiday
- I often have very vivid dreams
- Last night I dreamed of TR Knight from Grey’s Anatomy
- I once filled out the application for Survivor, then found out I was pregnant so it never went anywhere
- I always wanted to hang Christmas lights outside, but never have
- I get cold when it is 70 outside, hot when it is 70 inside at night
- I have to sleep with a blanket
- that is so that the robbers wont see me
- I used to be scared to sleep with my bed against my wall
- I am afraid of aliens and fish
- I love to wakeboard
- I love boats
- I hate lettuce on food, but like salads from time to time
- I love gymnastics on tv but don’t want that life for my daughter
- I love reality tv
- I am thankful for the life I lead
- I think my daughter is the funniest, and most frustrating, person I have ever met
- I love to sleep
- I am NOT a morning person
- I once wrote a paper on Don Quixote that my professor used to teach his next class
- I am best at writing essays, not fiction
- I love going to classes
- I take obsessive notes
- If I won (or played) the lottery, I would go back to school
- I have no idea what I would major in
- My favorite class ever was Humanities
- I try not to get involved with work drama now
- My new job makes it much easier to do so
- I am happy that my sister has found so much good in her life, after so much bad
- I have an uncle who used to be in a rock band and when on a date with Joan Jett. He is now a born again Christian.
- I am scared of Scientologists.
- I wonder who reads this blog and wish they would comment!
Random
Okay, to start with I have to clear something up. My last thought was not meant to be depressing. I am actually laughing at my run of bad luck. I can finally say I have a shiner! Nothing has been terrible, just a funny string of bad luck. Don’t worry, there will be no bridge jumping in my future!
Work today has been interesting. My boss is out of town, which around here basically means play time. I have been searching the internet like a rabid bunny because I am bored. I am working on a project here that is at a slow point. I need new links to click so let me know what you have.
I wanted to mention one of my GNI co-hosts. I met Maggie in person last week, which was beyond cool. Her friend Travis was great as well. The reason I wanted to mention her though is that she does this incrediably cool thing… she sents out cards every holiday. REAL cards with actual handwriting. The kind that requires stamps. Remember those? I love to get mail. Who doesn’t love to get mail? I order out of catalogues just so that I can get things in the mail. We need to follow Maggie’s lead and resurrect the handwritten note. Maybe we should start pen pals and write out a note every once in a while… oh wait. I just remembered. I don’t even send out Christmas cards. I have no stationary. I have no stamps. Ahhh well, all the same. Maggie and her notes ROCK. 
Thanks for the reminder that some people still remember how to use the mail system, even if it is not me.
Happy Wednesday everyone. I will tell you about my theories on Wednesdays another day.
Lucky in Lumps
Okay everyone, here we are again. Anyone who has listened to girls night in, or who has checked out the blogs over there, knows that I had surgery a few weeks ago to remove a lump in my neck. According to my doctor it was a benign tumor. I know now, however, that he was wrong. The pathology was wrong. He removed my lump of luck. Oh yes, he removed all of my luck.
Let’s review. The surgery was supposed to take an hour and I would have an incision about an inch long. Fast forward, the surgery took three hours and I have an incision about two inches long. My sister’s boyfriend’s car has broken down so I am alone with a toddler trying to make it until her bedtime so I can have pain meds. I have a runny nose.
A few days go by and I have a full blown sinus infection. The doctor sticks a telescope UP MY NOSE. Not just up my nose, but I can feel it go into my nasal cavity and molest my brain. It is not pleasant. Infection gets worse despite the 2000 milligrams of antibiotics I am taking.
Then I get rear ended. I am pulling off the freeway and stop at the stop sign (go figure) and the person behind me decides that stopping is so last season and instead hits me. I pull over and bend down to look at the damage and apparently stopping is still last season. The person just drives away and leaves me kneeling there. Sigh.
Then my boss decided that I need to create a work at home assignment for a co-worker who is terminally ill. I get 15 minutes notice and then get harassed all day because I did not give her enough to do. I am uncomfortable around this woman anyway because I feel as though she dislikes me, my mom died of cancer as well and it just makes it hard for me to see someone else dying.
Then the birthday party debacle begins. I figure that out and then my sweet daughter who is usually quite nice turns into a candy fiend on easter and then a raving lunatic.
Yesterday, I got the first black eye I have ever had. Said sweet girl was swinging a computer cable around and when I went to grab it, one end smacked me right in the cheekbone. Now I am sporting a shiner, a mouse, a smudge, a black eye.
Could I have my lucky lump back now?
Gift Receipts at the Door
At what point did kid’s birthday parties go completely insane. I was invited to a birthday party for a three year old. Great, this will be fun, my two and a half year old will love it, all will be good. Then come the stipulations. I have since been told that A) the party will be held on easter at a time that makes it impossible to see my side of the family. B) I have been told what gift to give and finally C) it is a potluck and I have to bring “kid appetizers for 30 and OH, don’t forget to bring the kids something to drink”. What? When did this start? I went to two parties this summer where I had to pay our way into the facility. I am all for the idea that kids birthday parties may have gotten a wee bit commercial. MTV did parents NO favor when it came to putting “My Super Sweet Sixteen” on the air. I think that there is too much importance placed on these get events. I am a fan of the old school, Mom makes the cake and we all have hot dog parties. Gifts should be thoughtful and age appropriate, they should NOT be dictated nor mandated. Why is this so complicated? When did it become okay to require a gift receipt? Why should I spend time picking out the perfect gift only to attach something that says “Oh by the way, if you hate this it is perfectly okay to take it back”. I do not intend on letting my daughter return a gift unless it is duplicated or the wrong size. I was taught that you should appreciate the thought that someone put into a gift and thank them in turn. If I returned something, I never told the person who had given it to me. In fact, I guarded that secret furtively for fear of hurting someone’s feelings. It never would have occurred to me demand the receipt in advance! I never even made Christmas lists and still resist when asked for one. My own birthday is in a week. To date, I have not planned a party and asked others to supply the food and drink. I have not sent out a wish list to friends and family. If anyone should give me a gift, I will thank them from the heart and not ask for a receipt.
Now… who has a kid-friendly appetizer recipe that I can make for 30 while buying my girl her “big girl bed”, dying Easter eggs, putting together baskets, and hunting for the pre-mandated gift?
