Make-up: High school I did, but nothing major. College I didn’t wear any (make up, that is!). And for a while in college, my typical outfit was jeans, flannel shirt, and my brown leather hiking boots with red shoe laces (b/c I saw a J Crew catalog that had hiking boots with red shoe laces that I loved, and so I tried to do a low-budget version of that – which resulted as me being known around campus as the “girl with the red shoe laces”). I was so crunchy that Will actually had to ask me to dress like a girl every once in a while.
So, since living in Texas, I now dress like a girl on a regular basis and wear makeup. MAC, Too Faced, or Urban Decay, to be specific. And I like girly things now too*. I didn’t realize how girly I am until coming out to MA for work this week. Especially at that women’s lunch thingy yesterday. I think I was the ONLY one in the room (of about 40) wearing both mascara and eyeshadow. And not beige boring eyeshadow – PURPLE SHIMMERY eyeshadow! And don’t even get me started on how many people are in dire need of an eyebrow waxing or plucking hairs out of facial moles (I was just in a meeting with a lady who had to have at least 5 black ½” hairs growing out of a mole in her cheek – eee! Don’t most people want to take care of things like that?)
And in this lunch meeting yesterday, I was the ONLY person to be wearing high heels (stylish black leather boots w/heels).
And now, I’m here, after observing how crunchy these people are, and I’m wondering if they’re referring to me as “that girl from the Houston office with the heels and a LOT of makeup?” eeks! That’s Texas exemplified! Not that I’m going to go to work tomorrow w/out makeup (scary!) but damn, Texas has really girlified me. Damn.
*yeah, so I really do have a serious addiction to Lush. To the point where I’m now having packages shipped to my office b/c I don’t want Will to realize just how much I’ve purchased. Since Feb – I’ve placed 6 (!!) orders. But to my credit – with every order, I got at least $10 of free stuff (sometimes upwards of $60 in freebies). In fact, I have one box containing 10 freebies and 1 L of shower gel in my office under my desk waiting for me to get back and take it home and I should have one more box delivered to the house Friday. And then I go and lurk on the Lush web forum and see a posting about a party at the Lush store in Boston and how if you RSVP, you’ll get a FREE goodie bag! Free! Goodies! How can I say no?!?! And if the store won’t take my 2-for-1 promo code (I don’t have paper coupons) for some lotion (that I’m getting for my friend for her b’day next month – but I’ll keep the free one, even though I just ordered 2 for myself and got them last week…..) then I’ll most likely place ANOTHER order for that lotion online. I. have. a. problem! But at least I smell good!
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Monday night in Boston
I was very lame last night after work. Went to the grocery store for snacks. Then I took the world's worst pilates class at the gym at the hotel (its actually a health club for people who aren't guests). It was this older (50's maybe?) lady who popped in a Prince CD, and instead of providing directions or telling what to focus on, she mouthed the lyrics of the Prince songs. And I don't particularly care for Prince, so this feature wasn't appreciated to me. And peppy musich during pilates? Anyways, it was horrible on many levels. At some point during the "workout" she went into cat pose (you're on your hands and knees with your back arched or flat). Now, most instructors face sideways to the class so you can see how they're positioned and doing the moves. This lady was "facing" us ass first. So, I got to look at her bony tight-fitting yoga pant covered ass - complete with wear marks where her ass-bones are. Lovely! And you couldn't see what the hell poses she was doing. Another fun series of poses was where you are lying on your back, then lift your feet/legs straight up in the air above your head and do random (to me) leg movements while in that position. Which really, what purpose does this serve except to put a lot of pressure on your neck as your entire body weight presses down on it. I left halfway into it b/c I was getting nothing out of it and her poses was really random and awful.
I then ate dinner at the hotel bar/lounge. Had a Concord Pale Ale (eh) and listened to some lady bitch about how she was a "high powered executive" in Orange County, CA and got a DUI and lost her license b/c the cops in OC are on the hunt for DUI offenders to raise the tax base. Or some crap like that. It was annoying but funny at the same time.
See - LAME! Tonight should be better. My friend from back home that now lives in Baltimore is in Boston for work so we're having dinner/drinks tonight! Woo!
Musings from Bawston
Work sent me to the Boston area for the week to help out with my OKC project (only with our Boston engineering staff). I’ve never been to MA before, so this is a nice little adventure for me. It got off to a bad start – Delta and the black hole of Atlanta (yes I know, I should have expected this) lost my luggage. Or rather severely delayed its arrival. I blamed this, of course, on the fact that I was one state over from my friend who always loses her luggage (unless she’s going on a trip with me). Hey, I passed on my freak magnet-ism to her. She lost my luggage. Ok?
Hotel is ok – its some local conference/inn kinda place. Found a pool to swim at. There haven’t been any sightings of freaky people swimming in street clothes or with full-on snorkel gear, so that’s cool. I’ve had frost on my windshield both mornings, which makes me happy.
So, today at lunch, there was an organized “Women’s Leadership [Something or other]” meeting. I suppose some people have realized that there’s not a whole lot of women in upper management company wide and some women at HQ have decided to have monthly meetings about women’s issues. And since this was going on during my visit, I got to sit in. They did talk about some interesting things. Such as how most women have a hard time saying “I want” when it comes to career objectives (like I want this project/role/promotion). And many women don’t get the recognition they deserve b/c they don’t have an advocate. So there was talk of a mentoring network, monthly meetings for this group, etc etc. It was actually not as cheesy as it sounds. And you know, they had really good points. I really would love to have a mentor and someone to be my role model. I think I would work a lot harder and have a much better attitude at work if I had a mentor. And if I worked in this office, that would definitely be possible. But I don’t – with the exception of one Sr Mgr (who is clueless and I really don’t consider her a role model in anything except panicking or ass-kissing) I am the most senior female technical person in our office. And besides me, we have 4 other technical women – all of which are younger than me. And I’ve asked for a mentor and was told by my supervisor that I wouldn’t get any one person as a mentor, that everyone on staff could be my mentor. Which I suppose is true to an extent, except for the fact that I work with a bunch of anti-social freaks who wouldn’t know how to mentor a hole in the wall. And the lady I’m working here in MA with made some comment on how Houston is a hot-bed of opportunity. And here I am getting ready to quit that hot-bed. I suppose that if I stick around another year, things would be better (maybe?). And I wish that maybe I’d met these people a year ago instead of a day ago – because then maybe my situation would be different. I really get along with these people and they make me feel like I’m smart and capable and valuable. Unlike my Houston coworkers. But that’s why I’m looking at moving on – to a place that’s going out of their way to hire me and make me feel like an asset.
Anyways, some interesting things came out of that lunch. A lot of companies out there are trying to grow. And lets face it, half of the work force out there is comprised of women. And most companies in my line of business are mostly men. And one of the things my generation specifically takes into account when shopping for a job is how many women work at the company and what positions are they in. Its something I definitely look for – and have yet to find. To the point where if I find a place that has a LOT of women, I think it’s a freakish place and want to run. But if companies want to grow, they have to at least put front a “women friendly” face. But I can’t help but think to myself that these women friendly places are weaker next to their tougher more manly counterparts. Like where I am now in MA, someone put their Avon catalog in the women’s bathroom. Avon! Blech! At my Houston office, we’re lucky if the bathroom works!
Hotel is ok – its some local conference/inn kinda place. Found a pool to swim at. There haven’t been any sightings of freaky people swimming in street clothes or with full-on snorkel gear, so that’s cool. I’ve had frost on my windshield both mornings, which makes me happy.
So, today at lunch, there was an organized “Women’s Leadership [Something or other]” meeting. I suppose some people have realized that there’s not a whole lot of women in upper management company wide and some women at HQ have decided to have monthly meetings about women’s issues. And since this was going on during my visit, I got to sit in. They did talk about some interesting things. Such as how most women have a hard time saying “I want” when it comes to career objectives (like I want this project/role/promotion). And many women don’t get the recognition they deserve b/c they don’t have an advocate. So there was talk of a mentoring network, monthly meetings for this group, etc etc. It was actually not as cheesy as it sounds. And you know, they had really good points. I really would love to have a mentor and someone to be my role model. I think I would work a lot harder and have a much better attitude at work if I had a mentor. And if I worked in this office, that would definitely be possible. But I don’t – with the exception of one Sr Mgr (who is clueless and I really don’t consider her a role model in anything except panicking or ass-kissing) I am the most senior female technical person in our office. And besides me, we have 4 other technical women – all of which are younger than me. And I’ve asked for a mentor and was told by my supervisor that I wouldn’t get any one person as a mentor, that everyone on staff could be my mentor. Which I suppose is true to an extent, except for the fact that I work with a bunch of anti-social freaks who wouldn’t know how to mentor a hole in the wall. And the lady I’m working here in MA with made some comment on how Houston is a hot-bed of opportunity. And here I am getting ready to quit that hot-bed. I suppose that if I stick around another year, things would be better (maybe?). And I wish that maybe I’d met these people a year ago instead of a day ago – because then maybe my situation would be different. I really get along with these people and they make me feel like I’m smart and capable and valuable. Unlike my Houston coworkers. But that’s why I’m looking at moving on – to a place that’s going out of their way to hire me and make me feel like an asset.
Anyways, some interesting things came out of that lunch. A lot of companies out there are trying to grow. And lets face it, half of the work force out there is comprised of women. And most companies in my line of business are mostly men. And one of the things my generation specifically takes into account when shopping for a job is how many women work at the company and what positions are they in. Its something I definitely look for – and have yet to find. To the point where if I find a place that has a LOT of women, I think it’s a freakish place and want to run. But if companies want to grow, they have to at least put front a “women friendly” face. But I can’t help but think to myself that these women friendly places are weaker next to their tougher more manly counterparts. Like where I am now in MA, someone put their Avon catalog in the women’s bathroom. Avon! Blech! At my Houston office, we’re lucky if the bathroom works!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
TAR, Season 9, Episodes 3 and 4
Because I didn't manage to blog about this last week. And also: I hate non-elimination episodes!
Episode 3
And I really don't remember much about last week's episode (or last week, for that matter, damn St Patricks day.....), so here's the high/low-lights.
They're in Brazil, and then they all hop on the same plane to go to Russia - home of vodka and people that smoke a lot (according to MoJo). Then they do some stuff that's not very exciting and then they meet up with Phil in Red Square, and Phil does not eliminate them. See? Three sentences for one whole hour!
If 3T Was on the Show
Roadblock - ok, this is a no brainer, as I am the swimmer of the team. And we really, really don't need Will in a speedo on Nat'l tv thankyouverymuch. And we would have selected the bus washing detour, b/c all those damn dolls would lead to an on-camera session of "Watch Erin be a huge bitch and watch Will just stand there." Not so much fun.
Commentary
My main gripe is having people who are NOT GOOD SWIMMERS do a SWIMMING roadblock. Idiots. And its not like they even had to swim all that much (although, I'll admit that the high dive would have freaked me out too).
Teams that annoyed me
Team Nipple Ring and all this hookup crap needs to shut up or die. Fran and Barry are officially on my "dead to me" list for all the bemoaning about how they're soooo veerrryyy unnnfoooootunate and theeeey'reee goinnnng to looooosssseeee". So shut up and come in last already. Just quit bitching on my tv, please
Episode 4
Still not a whole lot of action. And yet, more people annoyed me. Lovely! This episode was the "Product Placement" portion of our season - Travelocity gnome and Mercedes. I think the Mercedes wall o' doom would have been much cooler if they'd have to actually drive it themselves, though. So, they're in Russia and have to fly back to Germany. And that's about it. Oh, and the teams were instructed to bring their gnome with them to the mat - but only a few teams did this..... I think there should have been a time penalty involved... Not to mention making the teams learn and perform the dance correctly. But I digress.....
If 3T Was on the Show
Gnome hunt... really do we care? This was so lame that I don't care. So, rock-paper-scissors. Loser has to find the gnome. And Bottles vs Dancing for the Detour.... I'd say bottles. Will was convinced the glass was really sugar, but I don't know.... But I also know that Will has NO dance skill what-so-ever past the "circle slow dance", so it really would be less painful for me if he bashed a bottle over my head repeatedly than to watch him try to slap his legs and hop around with some semblance of coordination and grace.
Team Commentary
I liked the hippies until this episode. Then (as Miss Alli from TWOP pointed out), it seems like every time they're on camera, they feel the need to do or say something wacky. Every time! Can't they just stand there and be normal? And wear underwear? I really think they spent time pre-race coming up with their little wacky sayings and doings just to use on the show. Its annoying.
I should just put the TV on mute each time Team Nipple Ring is on, they are *that* idiotic. I can't even see their schtick working.
Loved the random drunk guy Lake and Michelle picked up. Go Germany! Beer! Woo!
Inability to find and use a map: see Desiree and Wanda. And doing so twice.
Stupidity for not getting and using a map, and then following someone who also doesn't have/use a map, who gets lost once, and then STILL follows the once-already-lost team again and gets lost a SECOND time at the exact spot: see the Pink Girls. Dumb.
And that's about it - not much else noteworthy happened....
Episode 3
And I really don't remember much about last week's episode (or last week, for that matter, damn St Patricks day.....), so here's the high/low-lights.
They're in Brazil, and then they all hop on the same plane to go to Russia - home of vodka and people that smoke a lot (according to MoJo). Then they do some stuff that's not very exciting and then they meet up with Phil in Red Square, and Phil does not eliminate them. See? Three sentences for one whole hour!
If 3T Was on the Show
Roadblock - ok, this is a no brainer, as I am the swimmer of the team. And we really, really don't need Will in a speedo on Nat'l tv thankyouverymuch. And we would have selected the bus washing detour, b/c all those damn dolls would lead to an on-camera session of "Watch Erin be a huge bitch and watch Will just stand there." Not so much fun.
Commentary
My main gripe is having people who are NOT GOOD SWIMMERS do a SWIMMING roadblock. Idiots. And its not like they even had to swim all that much (although, I'll admit that the high dive would have freaked me out too).
Teams that annoyed me
Team Nipple Ring and all this hookup crap needs to shut up or die. Fran and Barry are officially on my "dead to me" list for all the bemoaning about how they're soooo veerrryyy unnnfoooootunate and theeeey'reee goinnnng to looooosssseeee". So shut up and come in last already. Just quit bitching on my tv, please
Episode 4
Still not a whole lot of action. And yet, more people annoyed me. Lovely! This episode was the "Product Placement" portion of our season - Travelocity gnome and Mercedes. I think the Mercedes wall o' doom would have been much cooler if they'd have to actually drive it themselves, though. So, they're in Russia and have to fly back to Germany. And that's about it. Oh, and the teams were instructed to bring their gnome with them to the mat - but only a few teams did this..... I think there should have been a time penalty involved... Not to mention making the teams learn and perform the dance correctly. But I digress.....
If 3T Was on the Show
Gnome hunt... really do we care? This was so lame that I don't care. So, rock-paper-scissors. Loser has to find the gnome. And Bottles vs Dancing for the Detour.... I'd say bottles. Will was convinced the glass was really sugar, but I don't know.... But I also know that Will has NO dance skill what-so-ever past the "circle slow dance", so it really would be less painful for me if he bashed a bottle over my head repeatedly than to watch him try to slap his legs and hop around with some semblance of coordination and grace.
Team Commentary
I liked the hippies until this episode. Then (as Miss Alli from TWOP pointed out), it seems like every time they're on camera, they feel the need to do or say something wacky. Every time! Can't they just stand there and be normal? And wear underwear? I really think they spent time pre-race coming up with their little wacky sayings and doings just to use on the show. Its annoying.
I should just put the TV on mute each time Team Nipple Ring is on, they are *that* idiotic. I can't even see their schtick working.
Loved the random drunk guy Lake and Michelle picked up. Go Germany! Beer! Woo!
Inability to find and use a map: see Desiree and Wanda. And doing so twice.
Stupidity for not getting and using a map, and then following someone who also doesn't have/use a map, who gets lost once, and then STILL follows the once-already-lost team again and gets lost a SECOND time at the exact spot: see the Pink Girls. Dumb.
And that's about it - not much else noteworthy happened....
Sunday, March 12, 2006
March Madness Meet Results
Here's my latest results, along with my entry seed times*
Event Seed Time Actual Time
100 breaststroke 1:44 1:38.08
100 backstroke 1:27 1:27.63
100 IM 1:36 1:31.68
200 free 3:10** 2:51.86 (!!)
100 free 1:23*** 1:18.48
*Keep in mind that I was never that fast of a swimmer.
** First entry in this event since high school. This time was based on swimming 200's on a fast pace, then taking 5 add'l seconds off for it to be "challenging".
*** Fastest time for me in Masters using proper technique. My "improper" technique time was 1:19 in Dec 2004. Since fixing my technique, I've consistently been 5-8 seconds slower.
I am so amazingly happy with myself. First of all, this was a short meet. We're talking like 10 heats of the 50 free and the rest of the events were more like 4 heats tops. Then I entered fairly long events (ie no 50's) and had 2-3 events to rest up before I had to swim again (equates to 15-20 minutes). Not much time to rest. And honestly, for the 200 I really wasn't even going all that fast. I was so tired and my hypoglycemia was kicking in - my only goal was to get a time down. Imagine my suprise when I looked at my time. Craziness! I really thought I'd be hard pressed to make 3:10 - the day before I was working hard to swim this on a 3:30. And my splits were so good - 41.27; 42.98; 44.42; 43.91. Very consistent. Sure I need to work on negative splitting that, but I'll take consistency any day! And finally, after swimming 4 events, to cut 5 seconds off my 100 free using "proper" technique.... So awesome. Yay me!
Event Seed Time Actual Time
100 breaststroke 1:44 1:38.08
100 backstroke 1:27 1:27.63
100 IM 1:36 1:31.68
200 free 3:10** 2:51.86 (!!)
100 free 1:23*** 1:18.48
*Keep in mind that I was never that fast of a swimmer.
** First entry in this event since high school. This time was based on swimming 200's on a fast pace, then taking 5 add'l seconds off for it to be "challenging".
*** Fastest time for me in Masters using proper technique. My "improper" technique time was 1:19 in Dec 2004. Since fixing my technique, I've consistently been 5-8 seconds slower.
I am so amazingly happy with myself. First of all, this was a short meet. We're talking like 10 heats of the 50 free and the rest of the events were more like 4 heats tops. Then I entered fairly long events (ie no 50's) and had 2-3 events to rest up before I had to swim again (equates to 15-20 minutes). Not much time to rest. And honestly, for the 200 I really wasn't even going all that fast. I was so tired and my hypoglycemia was kicking in - my only goal was to get a time down. Imagine my suprise when I looked at my time. Craziness! I really thought I'd be hard pressed to make 3:10 - the day before I was working hard to swim this on a 3:30. And my splits were so good - 41.27; 42.98; 44.42; 43.91. Very consistent. Sure I need to work on negative splitting that, but I'll take consistency any day! And finally, after swimming 4 events, to cut 5 seconds off my 100 free using "proper" technique.... So awesome. Yay me!
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Case study: why suburban mothers in Texas should never become costume designers
I soooo wish my husband's camera phone worked better to capture this image properly.
Got free tickets to see the Houston Rockets last night. Ridiculously good seats - 9th row behind the visitors bench.
The half-time entertainment:
(again, apologizing for the craptastic picture quality...)
Got free tickets to see the Houston Rockets last night. Ridiculously good seats - 9th row behind the visitors bench.
The half-time entertainment:
(again, apologizing for the craptastic picture quality...)
What you see in this very blurry picture is some high school dance troupe doing some sort of african interpretive dance. As they walked out, all four of us had a "the hell?" moment then broke out in giggles. These poor girls. Their costumes were easily the most horrific thing I've seen for something like this. Even Santino wouldn't have come close. I felt really, really bad for them.
The costumes consisted of a black leotard, but with the mid-section as black mesh. Then it had a bias skirt in fake tiger print and a big floofy collar and headbands made of brown feathers and gold sequins. And one ankle band of feathers, and perhaps wrist bands of feathers too. Fake tiger print AND feathers? Pick and animal and stick with it please. Unless you're trying to depict what a tiger looks like while he's eating a bird covered in sequins.
The dance moves were pretty funny too. Plenty of unflattering poses, and a couple where the girls paired up, and one girl had to hold another girl in an unflattering way then crawl overhere (it was complicated and bizarre and very hard to describe.)
This ranks as really one of the most bizarre halftime performances I've witnessed. Just really, really strange.... and funny!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Random updates
Sooo....updates on me.
Turned 30 on Monday. Day really didn't go all that well. It wasn't that I was upset over turning 30. I just was hoping to have a good day, and well, it wasn't a good day. At all.
Swift kitty ate something in my b'day flowers and has been acting really mopey and quiet since Monday night. She's eating (but not her usual voracious inhaltion of food) and not puking, so I'm not worried enough to call the vet, but its enough to make me still worry.
Have a swim meet this Saturday. Entered myself in some pretty ambitious events.... 100 breast, 100 back 100 IM, 200 free, and 100 free. And there's only 2-3 events separating my events, and I don't expect this to be a big meet, so I probably won't get much rest. I figure I can deck-scratch if need be. This is kind-of a test-run for events for Nationals in May. eeps!
Swim practice is pretty good lately. I have this tempo trainer gizmo that I stick under my cap and it beeps at me on a time interval that I set. It basically serves as a cue for my stroke timing. I got it to help me coordinate my kick, core rotation, and stroke for the 6 beat rotation freestyle technique. Back in January, I talked to the coach about getting faster, and he suggested I use the tempo trainer on a regular basis to train myself into swimming faster. The idea is that with each practice, I bump the tempo a hair faster. So I'll be going faster, but only fractionally, so it won't really feel like I'm putting a ton of effort into actually going faster. Then over time, say weeks of bumping the time interval faster, I'll actually be going noticably faster. I started this in Mid-Jan, and 1.5 months later, I've cut ~3-5 seconds off of my medium paced 50 free.
A swim friend is trying to recruit me to do the swim leg of the Austin Danskin Trathalon. Open water (which I've never done before...) but its only a 1/2 mile. Couldn't be all that painful. So, we'll see. Apparently, someone is trying to put together "relays" for this, but they're really short on swimmers. And seeing as how I have no business running ever again, this would be a good way for me to experience triathalons.
Work is still eh. At least I'm busy. And the current opinon of me is postive around here, so I guess that will do for now.
Having my b'day party this weekend. Nothing too crazy (I hope). We made 2 batches of homebrew - a scotch ale and a vanilla stout and kegged it (5 gal each). Should be fun. Will post pictures and stories if there's anything fun to report.
Turned 30 on Monday. Day really didn't go all that well. It wasn't that I was upset over turning 30. I just was hoping to have a good day, and well, it wasn't a good day. At all.
Swift kitty ate something in my b'day flowers and has been acting really mopey and quiet since Monday night. She's eating (but not her usual voracious inhaltion of food) and not puking, so I'm not worried enough to call the vet, but its enough to make me still worry.
Have a swim meet this Saturday. Entered myself in some pretty ambitious events.... 100 breast, 100 back 100 IM, 200 free, and 100 free. And there's only 2-3 events separating my events, and I don't expect this to be a big meet, so I probably won't get much rest. I figure I can deck-scratch if need be. This is kind-of a test-run for events for Nationals in May. eeps!
Swim practice is pretty good lately. I have this tempo trainer gizmo that I stick under my cap and it beeps at me on a time interval that I set. It basically serves as a cue for my stroke timing. I got it to help me coordinate my kick, core rotation, and stroke for the 6 beat rotation freestyle technique. Back in January, I talked to the coach about getting faster, and he suggested I use the tempo trainer on a regular basis to train myself into swimming faster. The idea is that with each practice, I bump the tempo a hair faster. So I'll be going faster, but only fractionally, so it won't really feel like I'm putting a ton of effort into actually going faster. Then over time, say weeks of bumping the time interval faster, I'll actually be going noticably faster. I started this in Mid-Jan, and 1.5 months later, I've cut ~3-5 seconds off of my medium paced 50 free.
A swim friend is trying to recruit me to do the swim leg of the Austin Danskin Trathalon. Open water (which I've never done before...) but its only a 1/2 mile. Couldn't be all that painful. So, we'll see. Apparently, someone is trying to put together "relays" for this, but they're really short on swimmers. And seeing as how I have no business running ever again, this would be a good way for me to experience triathalons.
Work is still eh. At least I'm busy. And the current opinon of me is postive around here, so I guess that will do for now.
Having my b'day party this weekend. Nothing too crazy (I hope). We made 2 batches of homebrew - a scotch ale and a vanilla stout and kegged it (5 gal each). Should be fun. Will post pictures and stories if there's anything fun to report.
TAR, Season 9, Episode 2
Episode 1 recap
So, for this episode, we're still in Brazil. Not a whole lot of excitement this episode, but there is some character development, and the fatal driving of a non-automatic-transmission vehicle.
So, we've got some taxis to a bus terminal, to bunching (I'm pretty irritated b/c we had senate primary results blocking out the starting times for all the teams. I *need* to see how spread out the teams are. And I really don't want to know if Tom Delay was selected to run for senate.) Then a boring bus ride. Then VW beetles! But I have to wonder - are these the same as the old-styled beetles that are produced as "new" in Mexico, or are these really 30 yr old hunks of rusting metal. For everyone's sake (and the fact that the seats looked slightly newer) I'm hoping they were newer than 1971.
If 3T was on the show
We would so rock this leg with the VW beetles, as I have 6 years experience driving one. A 1971 beetle, bright yellow, that most of the time only ran on 3 cylinders. One road trip I made, from Gillette, WY (summer job at a coal mine) back to college (Butte, MT) was sheer hell. Mountain bike on top of the car, creating massive drag. Two very vocal and inadequately tranquilized kitties in the front seat. 3 of 4 cylinders functional. Top speed of 50 mph. And complete this experience with a kitty accident of the liquid variety which required me to stop at a gas station around Billings to wash Swift off. Fun! Oh, and 10 hrs of this for ~400 miles. Not cool. Anyways, the race! First of all, I had to laugh at the "hippies" physically walking their VW backwards. Doncha know that for all VWs, to shift it into reverse, you have to push the stickshift vertically down and then shift back to reverse? Silly guys. And those ladies abusing the hell out of their clutch. Its not like VWs are particularly hard to shift.
And as we saw team members climb into the backseat, Will mentioned that he hoped that none of their feet punctured the floor of the vehicle. The floor of mine was so badly rusted that when Will sat in the back of mine (he was being nice and letting my roommate sit up front) his foot went all they way thru the floor of my car. Think Flintstones style. And it was winter, and in Butte, they don't plow the side streets, so you end up basically driving your car in 2 parallel ice ruts the whole winter. And the hole (with scrap metal bent outwards from the car) was in the center of the car, so the entire winter, I had to listen to rusted metal scraping against ice ruts. Yeah, I hate that car and don't really miss it. Why my mom wanted to keep it and restore it is beyond me.
Road Block - ethane or climbing. 3T's choice was decided by me. My knee is still tweaky from training for our backpacking trip in 2004 (I had cartlidge tear or something horrible and while my knee didn't require surgery or hurt, it grinds horribly when I do stairs, but it is getting better, so there's hope). Seeing as how those stupid climber things involve much leg/knee action, and combine that with the fact that in elementary school I could never manage to climb that damn rope to the required height, I chose the sugar cane/ethane option.
Team commentary
Well, my opinions of the other teams pretty much held from Episode 1. Team Nipple Ring are bigger idiots that I thought they were. Glamazons need to go away. The pink girls seem to be ok. Older couple needs to suck it up and start playing. Team Nerd Love is still adoreable. Basically status quo.
I was very satisfied with the ending. I did not like the meltdown between the sisters and how they basically gave up. Considering how many thousands of people applied for the show and would kill to be on it, I think its tremendously rude to just go and give up b/c you can't manage to drive a standard transmission VW beetle in Brazil. Go home, you suck.
So, for this episode, we're still in Brazil. Not a whole lot of excitement this episode, but there is some character development, and the fatal driving of a non-automatic-transmission vehicle.
So, we've got some taxis to a bus terminal, to bunching (I'm pretty irritated b/c we had senate primary results blocking out the starting times for all the teams. I *need* to see how spread out the teams are. And I really don't want to know if Tom Delay was selected to run for senate.) Then a boring bus ride. Then VW beetles! But I have to wonder - are these the same as the old-styled beetles that are produced as "new" in Mexico, or are these really 30 yr old hunks of rusting metal. For everyone's sake (and the fact that the seats looked slightly newer) I'm hoping they were newer than 1971.
If 3T was on the show
We would so rock this leg with the VW beetles, as I have 6 years experience driving one. A 1971 beetle, bright yellow, that most of the time only ran on 3 cylinders. One road trip I made, from Gillette, WY (summer job at a coal mine) back to college (Butte, MT) was sheer hell. Mountain bike on top of the car, creating massive drag. Two very vocal and inadequately tranquilized kitties in the front seat. 3 of 4 cylinders functional. Top speed of 50 mph. And complete this experience with a kitty accident of the liquid variety which required me to stop at a gas station around Billings to wash Swift off. Fun! Oh, and 10 hrs of this for ~400 miles. Not cool. Anyways, the race! First of all, I had to laugh at the "hippies" physically walking their VW backwards. Doncha know that for all VWs, to shift it into reverse, you have to push the stickshift vertically down and then shift back to reverse? Silly guys. And those ladies abusing the hell out of their clutch. Its not like VWs are particularly hard to shift.
And as we saw team members climb into the backseat, Will mentioned that he hoped that none of their feet punctured the floor of the vehicle. The floor of mine was so badly rusted that when Will sat in the back of mine (he was being nice and letting my roommate sit up front) his foot went all they way thru the floor of my car. Think Flintstones style. And it was winter, and in Butte, they don't plow the side streets, so you end up basically driving your car in 2 parallel ice ruts the whole winter. And the hole (with scrap metal bent outwards from the car) was in the center of the car, so the entire winter, I had to listen to rusted metal scraping against ice ruts. Yeah, I hate that car and don't really miss it. Why my mom wanted to keep it and restore it is beyond me.
Road Block - ethane or climbing. 3T's choice was decided by me. My knee is still tweaky from training for our backpacking trip in 2004 (I had cartlidge tear or something horrible and while my knee didn't require surgery or hurt, it grinds horribly when I do stairs, but it is getting better, so there's hope). Seeing as how those stupid climber things involve much leg/knee action, and combine that with the fact that in elementary school I could never manage to climb that damn rope to the required height, I chose the sugar cane/ethane option.
Team commentary
Well, my opinions of the other teams pretty much held from Episode 1. Team Nipple Ring are bigger idiots that I thought they were. Glamazons need to go away. The pink girls seem to be ok. Older couple needs to suck it up and start playing. Team Nerd Love is still adoreable. Basically status quo.
I was very satisfied with the ending. I did not like the meltdown between the sisters and how they basically gave up. Considering how many thousands of people applied for the show and would kill to be on it, I think its tremendously rude to just go and give up b/c you can't manage to drive a standard transmission VW beetle in Brazil. Go home, you suck.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
TAR, Season 9, Episode 1
Looks promising, with the glaring exception that producers elected not to include myself and Will in the cast (from here on out we will be known as Team Trailer Trash* [3T for short]). I’m going to attempt to do my own version of a recap of the show each week. Don’t plan on me recapping the episode event by event, like TWOP does. But rather, I’ll just comment on how, if 3T was on the show, which choices we would have made on the detours/roadblocks, and commentary on my love/hate for any or all teams (and Phil) on the show.
If Team Trailer Trash were on the show
Yay, DENVER and what’s more RED ROCKS!!! Wooooo! Needless to say, 3T would have rocked this initial part of the show, as I’m very familiar with the area and the airport. We would have avoided at all costs taking the Continental flight, because I hate Continental.
Brazil! Now, if 3T would have made the show, we would have invested in some Spanish lessons. So, please play along and pretend that we speak Spanish, which should help a tiny bit, even though Brazil’s language is Portuguese. (In hindsight, 4 yrs of latin in high school wasn’t the most practical idea. But my main reasons for taking it were a)it looked good on transcripts b)the teacher was cool and the class was a cakewalk b/c of her and c)the retreat every spring to Estes Park where I would ditch most of the scheduled activities and go hiking with hot mountain boys from other schools. Now though, latin doesn’t do me a whole hell of a lot of good.)
Roadblock: re-build a motorcycle or ride a helicopter to some building (or as I call it – “chopper or chopper?” Will didn’t think this was all that clever….). Now, at this point in the show, we pause it, and discuss the merits of each task and figure out which one we would chose. Now, being that we are both engineers and Will is somewhat of an engine repair enthusiast, we decided to choose the motorcycle option. However, after seeing how cool the helicopter ride was, I know I would regret that decision…. But I would hope that we’d perform better than the other teams in rebuilding the motorcycle.
General commentary on each team
Lake & Michelle – well, lets just say that this is one dental practitioner I would never visit. Could you imagine, sitting in the chair as Michelle works on you, and Lake yelling all the time? And you just having to sit there with your mouth open, feeling very uncomfortable?
Dani & Danielle – really don’t have much of an opinion on these 2. They lost major points with their matching pink outfits, although they seemed to accept the fact that getting dirty was a component of the motorcycle detour. They did win points by thinking the Frat Boys were tools, though, so there is hope for them.
BY & Tyler – first thing out of Will’s mouth (Cartman Voice) “Goddamn Hippies” (from the South Park “Die Hippy, Die” episode [we have this permanently saved on our TiVo, its that funny]). Apart from the hippyness, they did make me laugh a few times and generally have their game on.
Ray & Yolanda – no real opinion here about these two. I suspect they will be headed for dating-disaster by the end of the show though, as they are the typecast “long distance dating” couple. I was impressed by the restraint Ray showed for not beating the hell out of the guys commenting on Yolanda’s mechanical prowess.
John & Scott – the typecast gay guys, although supposedly they are “life long friends” friends, rather than a couple. Sadly, they didn’t have the chops to stick around. I did find them mildly amusing and I would have rather preferred the Houston Frosties to be Philiminated instead.
Dave & Lori – ok, say it with me now! Neeerrrrddds! Until reading their bio on CBS, I loved them. Perhaps I should have ignored the bio just now. Musician and Pizza Hut asst mgr? Oh good lord. But I guess there aren’t too many opportunities for high falutin’ jobs in Manhattan….Kansas. Anyways, last night, they were my top team in terms of like-ability. Just love that nerd love.
Eric & Jeremy – annnnd here are the “pretty boys” typecast team. But really, they’re not all that pretty. Or really all that fun to listen to. And they have nipple rings. Enough said.
Fran & Barry – ok, on the show last night, they were listed as being from Littleton, CO (woo! Go Littleton!), but the CBS bio says they’re from Silverthorne…… Hmmm. Anyways, based on the Littleton connection, I loved them right away (and no, I did not know them). But then the roadblock on the bridge lost major points….. Please perform better so I can like you again. K?
Lisa & Joni – wow, reality tv producers sure know how to pick winners from Houston, don’t they? Ok, so Joyce and Uchenna were great. But lets see…. The girls from the Bachelor, Brandy (with her red weave fro’), that Cat woman chickie, and Cassandra from America’s Next Top Model were all equally horrible. And this made me think, if 3T did make it on the show, I guess we’d be “from Houston” which I am just not prepared to actually have “Erin” and “from Houston” in the same sentence. So, based on this alone, I suppose its good 3T was not selected for the cast. Anyways, Lisa and Joni…. Yeah, don’t like them. One bit. The yelling, the spazzing, the Jesus prayers, the makeup. All horrible. Wish they’d been Philimated instead of John & Scott.
Team MoJo – ok, they’re growing on me. I for one like the t-shirts. I thought they were cute. Mo did lose points by crying in the lobby of DIA over not catching the first flight, though. But overall, they’re not too annoying so far.
Wanda & Desiree – at first, I found them annoying. But they really played well, mainly due to Wanda’s knowledge of Portuguese. To date, I feel pretty neutral about them.
“Baby” count. Will and I refer to TAR as the “baby, how bout we watch that ‘baby show’ baby?” Because it seems that there is no other term of endearment allowed on the show. And sure enough, as they left the parking lot of Red Rocks, I heard my first “baby”. Although, later on, I did hear a “sweetie”, and it was nice to hear something else for a change. Will claims if 3T was on, he’d be dropping the nicknames of “muffin” or “pumpkin” on me. And I told him that if he were to do that, I would basically ignore him the entire team and hit on some of the hottie single guys in the race instead.
Overally, TAR 9 shows significant improvement over the suckfest that was the family edition. I look forward to seeing how this season progresses.
*Long story from college. Will's nickname was "Third Wheel (Will) Trailer", given to him by his advisor - how nice of him! He soon became known as "trailer", which then went screaming downhill into "Trailer Trash".
If Team Trailer Trash were on the show
Yay, DENVER and what’s more RED ROCKS!!! Wooooo! Needless to say, 3T would have rocked this initial part of the show, as I’m very familiar with the area and the airport. We would have avoided at all costs taking the Continental flight, because I hate Continental.
Brazil! Now, if 3T would have made the show, we would have invested in some Spanish lessons. So, please play along and pretend that we speak Spanish, which should help a tiny bit, even though Brazil’s language is Portuguese. (In hindsight, 4 yrs of latin in high school wasn’t the most practical idea. But my main reasons for taking it were a)it looked good on transcripts b)the teacher was cool and the class was a cakewalk b/c of her and c)the retreat every spring to Estes Park where I would ditch most of the scheduled activities and go hiking with hot mountain boys from other schools. Now though, latin doesn’t do me a whole hell of a lot of good.)
Roadblock: re-build a motorcycle or ride a helicopter to some building (or as I call it – “chopper or chopper?” Will didn’t think this was all that clever….). Now, at this point in the show, we pause it, and discuss the merits of each task and figure out which one we would chose. Now, being that we are both engineers and Will is somewhat of an engine repair enthusiast, we decided to choose the motorcycle option. However, after seeing how cool the helicopter ride was, I know I would regret that decision…. But I would hope that we’d perform better than the other teams in rebuilding the motorcycle.
General commentary on each team
Lake & Michelle – well, lets just say that this is one dental practitioner I would never visit. Could you imagine, sitting in the chair as Michelle works on you, and Lake yelling all the time? And you just having to sit there with your mouth open, feeling very uncomfortable?
Dani & Danielle – really don’t have much of an opinion on these 2. They lost major points with their matching pink outfits, although they seemed to accept the fact that getting dirty was a component of the motorcycle detour. They did win points by thinking the Frat Boys were tools, though, so there is hope for them.
BY & Tyler – first thing out of Will’s mouth (Cartman Voice) “Goddamn Hippies” (from the South Park “Die Hippy, Die” episode [we have this permanently saved on our TiVo, its that funny]). Apart from the hippyness, they did make me laugh a few times and generally have their game on.
Ray & Yolanda – no real opinion here about these two. I suspect they will be headed for dating-disaster by the end of the show though, as they are the typecast “long distance dating” couple. I was impressed by the restraint Ray showed for not beating the hell out of the guys commenting on Yolanda’s mechanical prowess.
John & Scott – the typecast gay guys, although supposedly they are “life long friends” friends, rather than a couple. Sadly, they didn’t have the chops to stick around. I did find them mildly amusing and I would have rather preferred the Houston Frosties to be Philiminated instead.
Dave & Lori – ok, say it with me now! Neeerrrrddds! Until reading their bio on CBS, I loved them. Perhaps I should have ignored the bio just now. Musician and Pizza Hut asst mgr? Oh good lord. But I guess there aren’t too many opportunities for high falutin’ jobs in Manhattan….Kansas. Anyways, last night, they were my top team in terms of like-ability. Just love that nerd love.
Eric & Jeremy – annnnd here are the “pretty boys” typecast team. But really, they’re not all that pretty. Or really all that fun to listen to. And they have nipple rings. Enough said.
Fran & Barry – ok, on the show last night, they were listed as being from Littleton, CO (woo! Go Littleton!), but the CBS bio says they’re from Silverthorne…… Hmmm. Anyways, based on the Littleton connection, I loved them right away (and no, I did not know them). But then the roadblock on the bridge lost major points….. Please perform better so I can like you again. K?
Lisa & Joni – wow, reality tv producers sure know how to pick winners from Houston, don’t they? Ok, so Joyce and Uchenna were great. But lets see…. The girls from the Bachelor, Brandy (with her red weave fro’), that Cat woman chickie, and Cassandra from America’s Next Top Model were all equally horrible. And this made me think, if 3T did make it on the show, I guess we’d be “from Houston” which I am just not prepared to actually have “Erin” and “from Houston” in the same sentence. So, based on this alone, I suppose its good 3T was not selected for the cast. Anyways, Lisa and Joni…. Yeah, don’t like them. One bit. The yelling, the spazzing, the Jesus prayers, the makeup. All horrible. Wish they’d been Philimated instead of John & Scott.
Team MoJo – ok, they’re growing on me. I for one like the t-shirts. I thought they were cute. Mo did lose points by crying in the lobby of DIA over not catching the first flight, though. But overall, they’re not too annoying so far.
Wanda & Desiree – at first, I found them annoying. But they really played well, mainly due to Wanda’s knowledge of Portuguese. To date, I feel pretty neutral about them.
“Baby” count. Will and I refer to TAR as the “baby, how bout we watch that ‘baby show’ baby?” Because it seems that there is no other term of endearment allowed on the show. And sure enough, as they left the parking lot of Red Rocks, I heard my first “baby”. Although, later on, I did hear a “sweetie”, and it was nice to hear something else for a change. Will claims if 3T was on, he’d be dropping the nicknames of “muffin” or “pumpkin” on me. And I told him that if he were to do that, I would basically ignore him the entire team and hit on some of the hottie single guys in the race instead.
Overally, TAR 9 shows significant improvement over the suckfest that was the family edition. I look forward to seeing how this season progresses.
*Long story from college. Will's nickname was "Third Wheel (Will) Trailer", given to him by his advisor - how nice of him! He soon became known as "trailer", which then went screaming downhill into "Trailer Trash".
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The last days of twentysomething
I came upon an alarming revelation yesterday as I was emailing a friend of mine. He and I have been trying to get together for a beer for a while. Attempted to get together last night, but he was too busy (me, I’m never busy unless I have social activities double-booked). So he suggested next Monday. Which made me look at the calendar. Epps! I will be 30 next Monday*! I should be out living it up this week, my last few days as a 20-something. But true to usual Erin fashion, I’m not. And Will is out racing all weekend, so I won’t even be living it up this weekend. Sucky!
What’s worse is that my birthday falls on a Monday. I’m pretty tempted to just take the day off (ensuring I have a good day). Or maybe just go to swim practice, work a half day, then leave at lunch…..
Then do I need to sit back and reflect on my 20’s, develop a plan for my 30’s? I’m not really the type to do resolutions at new years, so I doubt that doing this now is going to help me out. Besides, I have no idea what I’m doing next week normally, much less being able to plan out an entire decade. Maybe this should be a list of “things to look forward to in the next year”.
1 – must. get. new. job.
2 – camping in March at Big Bend Nat’l park, and not being too sick to do anything active (like last time we went)
3 – swimming at the USMS nationals event in Florida next May.
4 – hopefully taking the much-talked-about-and-little-acted-upon trip to New Zealand’s South Island over Thanksgiving.
See, lots of fun stuff! 30 is the new 20! or something like that.....
*sending me presents is completely optional
What’s worse is that my birthday falls on a Monday. I’m pretty tempted to just take the day off (ensuring I have a good day). Or maybe just go to swim practice, work a half day, then leave at lunch…..
Then do I need to sit back and reflect on my 20’s, develop a plan for my 30’s? I’m not really the type to do resolutions at new years, so I doubt that doing this now is going to help me out. Besides, I have no idea what I’m doing next week normally, much less being able to plan out an entire decade. Maybe this should be a list of “things to look forward to in the next year”.
1 – must. get. new. job.
2 – camping in March at Big Bend Nat’l park, and not being too sick to do anything active (like last time we went)
3 – swimming at the USMS nationals event in Florida next May.
4 – hopefully taking the much-talked-about-and-little-acted-upon trip to New Zealand’s South Island over Thanksgiving.
See, lots of fun stuff! 30 is the new 20! or something like that.....
*sending me presents is completely optional
Friday, February 24, 2006
Critters and Lush
Found out what the "critter" in the bottom of the pool was.... turns out it was a huge rolled up Ace bandage. Which we all decided was still pretty icky. But not as icky as a bloated dead rat, I guess.
Got my Lush package last night. And well, um, its on the stinky side. Love my Snow Fairy shower gel - with its glitter and candy smell. Mmmmm.... My dusting powder scent is growing on me - its jasmine and vertivert. I don't think it smells that strong, but my swim team ppl did. My soft couer massage bar has potential, but it does smell really, really sweet. My Love Bug, well, lets just say I have it in a ziplock baggie and I can still smell the thing. It does have lovely golden sparkles. I just don't know about the scent. I'm hoping that it mellows out when I wear it. My freebies have potential. Two bubble bath bars, one in my Candy Fluff scent, and one is supposedly lavender (but all I could make out by that point was the stinky Love Bug). So we'll see if I like what I got. I'm thinking I will, its just a bit different than what I was expecting...
Got my Lush package last night. And well, um, its on the stinky side. Love my Snow Fairy shower gel - with its glitter and candy smell. Mmmmm.... My dusting powder scent is growing on me - its jasmine and vertivert. I don't think it smells that strong, but my swim team ppl did. My soft couer massage bar has potential, but it does smell really, really sweet. My Love Bug, well, lets just say I have it in a ziplock baggie and I can still smell the thing. It does have lovely golden sparkles. I just don't know about the scent. I'm hoping that it mellows out when I wear it. My freebies have potential. Two bubble bath bars, one in my Candy Fluff scent, and one is supposedly lavender (but all I could make out by that point was the stinky Love Bug). So we'll see if I like what I got. I'm thinking I will, its just a bit different than what I was expecting...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
I am *dying* with anticipation
Hopefully when I get home from work today, I will finally have my package of goodies I ordered from lush waiting for me. I truly am a tad bit too excited. My friend got me the Rock Star soap, Candy Fluff dusting powder, and Melting Marshmallow Moments as a present last year. Love this stuff. But for some reason, never had the courage to order some on my own. Partially b/c its expensive - partially b/c there is so much to choose from and its overwhelming. And hard to pick things when you read what the ingredients are and you have no idea what they smell like. Such as neroli. What exactly is neroli?
For my first (of I'm sure many, many orders), I purchased 2 massage bars (one with glitter! the other with honey and chocolate!), another scented dusting powder, and a shower gel (pink! with glitter! that smells like my beloved Candy Fluff). And part of a promo deal, I get two mystery freebies. Combine the mystery freebies with the exceptionally long delivery time (15 days since I ordered.... which sadly is std since its handmade and comes from Vancouver), and I simply am dying for my order.
For my first (of I'm sure many, many orders), I purchased 2 massage bars (one with glitter! the other with honey and chocolate!), another scented dusting powder, and a shower gel (pink! with glitter! that smells like my beloved Candy Fluff). And part of a promo deal, I get two mystery freebies. Combine the mystery freebies with the exceptionally long delivery time (15 days since I ordered.... which sadly is std since its handmade and comes from Vancouver), and I simply am dying for my order.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
A statement you never want to hear during swim practice
From a swimmer in the fast lane (the opposite side of the pool from where I swim):
"Coach, there's a dead critter at the bottom of the pool. Can you hand me a flipper so I can remove it?"
Um, ewwwww. I'm so glad I own my own flippers so there's no chance of that dead-critter-retrieval-tool ever touching my feet. I don't even want to go there about the whole swimming in a pool with a dead critter thing. Or what kind of critter it was. Ew.
"Coach, there's a dead critter at the bottom of the pool. Can you hand me a flipper so I can remove it?"
Um, ewwwww. I'm so glad I own my own flippers so there's no chance of that dead-critter-retrieval-tool ever touching my feet. I don't even want to go there about the whole swimming in a pool with a dead critter thing. Or what kind of critter it was. Ew.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Beer chug swim relay results
First of all, I have three mystery bruises on the side of my left leg that really hurt. And my abs were sore for 2 days from doing those starts. Had to get my whining in first. Swam 8 events. Sounds bad, but it was really only 1x100, 2x50 and a bunch of 25s. Started with 100 back, which turns out, I haven’t swam since July 1994. Woo! I’d swam 50 back in meets in the past year, but not 100s. Turns out, I beat my estimated time (1:27 actual), so I was happy. Swam 50 breast, improved on that time. The rest were 25s or fun relays, so the times really don’t matter. Plus, they’re relay times, so they’re “off” by a few seconds anyways. FYI, I am one of those anal engineer types who has a spreadsheet tracking every event that I’ve swam since returning to swimming, complete with meters/yards conversions. I’ll try to post times next time I swim in a meet (mid-March maybe).
I did two “fun” relays. And by fun, I think it was more fun to watch from the sidelines than to participate.
First up, the sweatpants relay. As in you swim while wearing sweatpants. Then have to get out of the pool, strip, and have the next person put the wet sweatpants on. So dude jumps out of the water and strips the sweats off. I sit on the blocks and have two teammate guys in speedos wrestle with the ginormous wet sweatpants and my feet. My feet didn’t want to cooperate. Then I dive in. First thing that happens is the sweats fall down past my ass. So, I pull them up and swim the best I can while wearing XXL sweat pants. Get to the shallow end. The guys on that end YANK me outof the water by the shoulders and flop me sideways on the deck, then proceed to de-pants me. You know, that’s every girl’s dream, to be de-pantsed on deck by a bunch of balding men in speedos. I figured it was best just to lay there like a dead fish and let them have their way with me and the sweat pants.
Second fun relay – the much anticipated beer relay. Complete with Budweiser! Fortunately for me, I only had to consume half a can of the vile stuff. But man, just the smell reminds me of the time I was at a frat party in Missoula where there was 1” of beer on the basement floor. Ew. Anyways. Deal is, you have to chug your beer then sprint a 25. This old lady on my team kept telling me how to chug my beer. As if this would be a problem. If anything, when I am faced with having to consume crappy beer, the only option is to chug it, so you don’t really taste it. Besides, Bud is basically water, so its not like it was a big deal. So, I chugged, spilling a good portion of it down my face and on the deck (sooo glad I don’t swim at this pool normally or have to clean up – can you imagine the smell?). Then I sprint my 25 free. Let me just say that chugging icky beer then sprinting is really not the best thing for my stomach. I just felt ICKY after that.
I did two “fun” relays. And by fun, I think it was more fun to watch from the sidelines than to participate.
First up, the sweatpants relay. As in you swim while wearing sweatpants. Then have to get out of the pool, strip, and have the next person put the wet sweatpants on. So dude jumps out of the water and strips the sweats off. I sit on the blocks and have two teammate guys in speedos wrestle with the ginormous wet sweatpants and my feet. My feet didn’t want to cooperate. Then I dive in. First thing that happens is the sweats fall down past my ass. So, I pull them up and swim the best I can while wearing XXL sweat pants. Get to the shallow end. The guys on that end YANK me outof the water by the shoulders and flop me sideways on the deck, then proceed to de-pants me. You know, that’s every girl’s dream, to be de-pantsed on deck by a bunch of balding men in speedos. I figured it was best just to lay there like a dead fish and let them have their way with me and the sweat pants.
Second fun relay – the much anticipated beer relay. Complete with Budweiser! Fortunately for me, I only had to consume half a can of the vile stuff. But man, just the smell reminds me of the time I was at a frat party in Missoula where there was 1” of beer on the basement floor. Ew. Anyways. Deal is, you have to chug your beer then sprint a 25. This old lady on my team kept telling me how to chug my beer. As if this would be a problem. If anything, when I am faced with having to consume crappy beer, the only option is to chug it, so you don’t really taste it. Besides, Bud is basically water, so its not like it was a big deal. So, I chugged, spilling a good portion of it down my face and on the deck (sooo glad I don’t swim at this pool normally or have to clean up – can you imagine the smell?). Then I sprint my 25 free. Let me just say that chugging icky beer then sprinting is really not the best thing for my stomach. I just felt ICKY after that.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Wherin I do my impression of a flopping beached whale
Relay meet is tomorrow. So, we spent half of practice doing relay starts. Pretty entertaining really, as one of my friends hasn’t done a start off the blocks in oh, 25 yrs. I’m certain we were a graceful bunch. Confirmation is from all the red marks on my upper thighs (regular start) and back (backstroke start) from my body smacking the water. And all the bruises I’m sure I will have tomorrow from me scraping my shin as I climbed out of the pool (I hate using the ladder) and on my arm from when I smacked my arm against the block as I was not-so-gracefully climbing out of the pool.
Hey, at least my goggles stayed on!
Hey, at least my goggles stayed on!
The Shayla ate my baby
There is something you must know about my husband. He can take any real life event and turn it into a Seinfeld episode, complete with a quote from the show.
So last night we went to the friendly neighborhood pub for the regular Thursday Subaru happy hour. (And on a side note, I was going to post a pic of my newly painted fingernails, inspired by Aarwenn, but well, it was either take a pic of my nails or drink $3 Boddingtons. Sorry blog-world, the Boddington’s won. And now every finger is chipped from swim practice, which serves as a reminder of WHY I normally don’t paint my fingernails.). We sit down and notice that our waitress isn’t completely there. I nicknamed here GED, as I’m sure that’s about as far as she got. Nice girl, but not really there. It was her 4th day on the job. And we knew that she was new a)b/c we’re there every Thurs (and sometimes more often) and we know all the waitstaff and b)she introduced herself (Shayla) and shook each of our hands and asked for our names. Which really was odd. Who shakes hands after receiving a beer order? So after introductions and she walks off, Will comes up with (in his best Elaine-Australian voice) “The Shayla ate my baybey.” Which nearly caused me to shoot beer out my nose. The Shayla thing continued on as we ended up with ~12 ppl at our table and each time someone would order, she would be missing either her notepad or a pen. We’re still not sure how that happens, as she had one of those pocket-apron deals on. And if I was new, I’d be sure to have about 5 of each stashed in those pockets. It just became a running joke and became quite amusing. But I’m sure its one of those things where you had to be there to actually find it funny.
So last night we went to the friendly neighborhood pub for the regular Thursday Subaru happy hour. (And on a side note, I was going to post a pic of my newly painted fingernails, inspired by Aarwenn, but well, it was either take a pic of my nails or drink $3 Boddingtons. Sorry blog-world, the Boddington’s won. And now every finger is chipped from swim practice, which serves as a reminder of WHY I normally don’t paint my fingernails.). We sit down and notice that our waitress isn’t completely there. I nicknamed here GED, as I’m sure that’s about as far as she got. Nice girl, but not really there. It was her 4th day on the job. And we knew that she was new a)b/c we’re there every Thurs (and sometimes more often) and we know all the waitstaff and b)she introduced herself (Shayla) and shook each of our hands and asked for our names. Which really was odd. Who shakes hands after receiving a beer order? So after introductions and she walks off, Will comes up with (in his best Elaine-Australian voice) “The Shayla ate my baybey.” Which nearly caused me to shoot beer out my nose. The Shayla thing continued on as we ended up with ~12 ppl at our table and each time someone would order, she would be missing either her notepad or a pen. We’re still not sure how that happens, as she had one of those pocket-apron deals on. And if I was new, I’d be sure to have about 5 of each stashed in those pockets. It just became a running joke and became quite amusing. But I’m sure its one of those things where you had to be there to actually find it funny.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Random mumblings for a Wednesday
Spent most of last week in Oklahoma City for a job. Actually had a splendid time. The client and site people were really nice to me. Actually treated me with respect and didn’t question my every move. I got to relax, have fun, and feel confident in my skills. This week I’m back in the office and its back to the usual crap. Fun fun! Makes me wish I was in the field more often.
Swimming was crazy amounts of hard Monday and Tuesday. Mainly I think b/c Sunday was simply not enough rest for my poor arms. So, I’m taking today and Thurs off. Then hit practice on Friday, and my meet on Saturday. And being that I have OCD about swimming, its killing me that Coach refuses to tell me what I’m swimming. Absolutely killing me. It’s a relay meet and no individual leg is over 100 yds. So, for the entry sheet, he asked for our split times and for us to tell him which events were ok to swim and which events fit into the category “no way in hell”. Well, I told him that everything EXCEPT 100 fly was fair game. Fly is my nemesis. They made me swim it my Sr year in HS and it was agonizing and humiliating. But since a lot of the other schools couldn’t place 3 ppl in that event, it was an easy way for me to get points for my team, even if I did come in last out of 4 or 5 swimmers. Anyways, I fully believe that fly aided in the destruction of my shoulders. I guess destruction is not the right word, as they’re mostly functional now. But at the time, not being able to lift your arms over your head b/c the tendonitis had calcified seemed like “destruction”. So, from then on out – 100 fly is evil. Somehow, though, in my skewed head, 50 fly seems ok. Go figure! So last week, I “attempted” to swim 50 fly with flippers. It was horrible. Of course, part of the reason for it being horrible was that I did it at the end of a 75 minute workout. But still, all I can think of is humiliation and pain and horror. I also told coach that 3 to 5 events would be ok. And I listed times for 100’s of everything, including the IM. So, in my warped mind, I’m swimming 50 fly, 100 IM, and 100 breast, in addition to a few other things. All back-to-back of course. Which makes me hyperventilate! Coach claims that he refuses to tell ppl their events prior to the meet b/c he’s had a good history of people whining about what the got stuck with or simply drop out, which makes his job that much harder on the day of the meet. Good point, but it still doesn’t do much for my OCD.
A funny from Will. He is thinking ahead this year (points are deserved here) and has made reservations for dinner on Feb 12th. The 12th b/c I have to fly back to OKC on the 14th. So, per his email, I am telling my IIF’s. To quoth him, “I deserve positive points for thinking ahead!!! Write them down and tell ALL of your web buddies. I have to keep my status as most desirable but un-obtainable web buddy husband!” So, you have been informed. And I’m thinking of referring to him from now on as “MDBUOWBH”. Damn, that’s a mouthful.
And I seem to have no motivation to do things. Work… home stuff. Even jewelry. No idea why. Must get over this soon though, b/c its annoying.
And speaking of work stuff, I should actually work on well, work. Instead of blogging. Even though this is way more interesting and fun.
Swimming was crazy amounts of hard Monday and Tuesday. Mainly I think b/c Sunday was simply not enough rest for my poor arms. So, I’m taking today and Thurs off. Then hit practice on Friday, and my meet on Saturday. And being that I have OCD about swimming, its killing me that Coach refuses to tell me what I’m swimming. Absolutely killing me. It’s a relay meet and no individual leg is over 100 yds. So, for the entry sheet, he asked for our split times and for us to tell him which events were ok to swim and which events fit into the category “no way in hell”. Well, I told him that everything EXCEPT 100 fly was fair game. Fly is my nemesis. They made me swim it my Sr year in HS and it was agonizing and humiliating. But since a lot of the other schools couldn’t place 3 ppl in that event, it was an easy way for me to get points for my team, even if I did come in last out of 4 or 5 swimmers. Anyways, I fully believe that fly aided in the destruction of my shoulders. I guess destruction is not the right word, as they’re mostly functional now. But at the time, not being able to lift your arms over your head b/c the tendonitis had calcified seemed like “destruction”. So, from then on out – 100 fly is evil. Somehow, though, in my skewed head, 50 fly seems ok. Go figure! So last week, I “attempted” to swim 50 fly with flippers. It was horrible. Of course, part of the reason for it being horrible was that I did it at the end of a 75 minute workout. But still, all I can think of is humiliation and pain and horror. I also told coach that 3 to 5 events would be ok. And I listed times for 100’s of everything, including the IM. So, in my warped mind, I’m swimming 50 fly, 100 IM, and 100 breast, in addition to a few other things. All back-to-back of course. Which makes me hyperventilate! Coach claims that he refuses to tell ppl their events prior to the meet b/c he’s had a good history of people whining about what the got stuck with or simply drop out, which makes his job that much harder on the day of the meet. Good point, but it still doesn’t do much for my OCD.
A funny from Will. He is thinking ahead this year (points are deserved here) and has made reservations for dinner on Feb 12th. The 12th b/c I have to fly back to OKC on the 14th. So, per his email, I am telling my IIF’s. To quoth him, “I deserve positive points for thinking ahead!!! Write them down and tell ALL of your web buddies. I have to keep my status as most desirable but un-obtainable web buddy husband!” So, you have been informed. And I’m thinking of referring to him from now on as “MDBUOWBH”. Damn, that’s a mouthful.
And I seem to have no motivation to do things. Work… home stuff. Even jewelry. No idea why. Must get over this soon though, b/c its annoying.
And speaking of work stuff, I should actually work on well, work. Instead of blogging. Even though this is way more interesting and fun.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Postal swim results
The swim challenge wasn't in our usual pool at the High School (which has been repaired but it needs a few days to flush out all the algae that I'm certain has took up residence in the past 2 weeks). So, we met at this outdoor pool - in January. Which was trippy since I still associate January with cold, but hey, this is Texas. Its warm here. Actually, once I got warm, swimming outside was nice. It was nice to look at the clouds and the trees while I swam.
Anyways, I met my goal of 3,000 yds in 60 minutes. I actually swam 3385 yds, w/out pain or losing focus or being horribly bored. Yay! My arms are beginning to be sore now, though, so I'm very happy I planned ahead and scheduled a massage tomorrow :)
Thanks for all the good luck wishes :)
Next week I have a relay meet - should be fun. Events include a beer chug relay (while you swim). I'll report back in a week with results. :)
Anyways, I met my goal of 3,000 yds in 60 minutes. I actually swam 3385 yds, w/out pain or losing focus or being horribly bored. Yay! My arms are beginning to be sore now, though, so I'm very happy I planned ahead and scheduled a massage tomorrow :)
Thanks for all the good luck wishes :)
Next week I have a relay meet - should be fun. Events include a beer chug relay (while you swim). I'll report back in a week with results. :)
I need this swimsuit
Now, I won't look as good as the model, but I still think "Rock Star" is highly appropriate for me :)
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Small adventures in Oklahoma
So, I'm in Oklahoma City for work. The place I'm at had a h-u-g-e fire a few months ago, and as a result, the landscape looks quite martian, with the red dirt poking thru the charred remains of grass and trees. The after affects of the fire are pretty cool. I mean, the entire site smells like a campfire, which makes me happy. And the trees! This place is loaded with cedar trees. And as it turns out, when cedar trees burn, they EXPLODE from the inside out, resulting in this tree I took a few too many photos of.
Far away shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Closer shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Another angle:
Another crazy feature left over from the fire were these crazy little balls scattered all over the ground. I asked the plant guy what they were, and he said they were some sort of vine fruit, and during the fire, the vines burned but the fruit stayed. I thought they were really interesting as well...
So, this has been my week at work thus far. Sure beats being trapped in my office!
Far away shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Closer shot of Cedar Explosion Tree:
Another angle:
Another crazy feature left over from the fire were these crazy little balls scattered all over the ground. I asked the plant guy what they were, and he said they were some sort of vine fruit, and during the fire, the vines burned but the fruit stayed. I thought they were really interesting as well...
So, this has been my week at work thus far. Sure beats being trapped in my office!
Monday, January 23, 2006
3500
That's how many yards I swam today all on my own. In an hour! Woo!
The regular pool is still broken with parts on order. The team practiced today at this outdoor pool, which I elected not to join. Its really not my idea of fun to swim outside when its 45 degrees and misting out. I paid my dues in summer league in HS in Colorado, swimming at 6 AM when it was 55-60 degrees out. I figure that was enough torture for this girl and I've paid my outdoor swimming dues.
So, I swam at yet-another 24-hour fitness this morning. 3 different pools in 3 workouts. Water was cloudy and for some crazy reason, they decided to have the horizontal jets BLASTING cold water at one end of the pool. And my blasting, I mean forceful enough to push me over to the side as I swam by.
I decided to treat today as a test for my 1-hr swim. Swam 48 minutes straight for 2800 yards. Crazy part is that I was barely even winded.... But my arms weren't tweaky/sore like they have been for the past few week and I didn't get bored since I broke up my swim into 12 minute intervals, with each interval having a different set of stuff to do.
Crazy people in the pool report:
- 1 lady doing very slow water jogging - but at least she was wearing appropriate attire.
- 1 hispanic younger lady fully clothed (t-shirt and shorts - but at least they were black!) who would swim 1/3 a length then stop for a full 2-3 minutes then swim another 1/3 length.
- and thanks to Stacers for commenting on this, we had old dude with flippers and full on snorkel gear doing freestyle. Sad part is that I was lapping him even w/out flippers.
The regular pool is still broken with parts on order. The team practiced today at this outdoor pool, which I elected not to join. Its really not my idea of fun to swim outside when its 45 degrees and misting out. I paid my dues in summer league in HS in Colorado, swimming at 6 AM when it was 55-60 degrees out. I figure that was enough torture for this girl and I've paid my outdoor swimming dues.
So, I swam at yet-another 24-hour fitness this morning. 3 different pools in 3 workouts. Water was cloudy and for some crazy reason, they decided to have the horizontal jets BLASTING cold water at one end of the pool. And my blasting, I mean forceful enough to push me over to the side as I swam by.
I decided to treat today as a test for my 1-hr swim. Swam 48 minutes straight for 2800 yards. Crazy part is that I was barely even winded.... But my arms weren't tweaky/sore like they have been for the past few week and I didn't get bored since I broke up my swim into 12 minute intervals, with each interval having a different set of stuff to do.
Crazy people in the pool report:
- 1 lady doing very slow water jogging - but at least she was wearing appropriate attire.
- 1 hispanic younger lady fully clothed (t-shirt and shorts - but at least they were black!) who would swim 1/3 a length then stop for a full 2-3 minutes then swim another 1/3 length.
- and thanks to Stacers for commenting on this, we had old dude with flippers and full on snorkel gear doing freestyle. Sad part is that I was lapping him even w/out flippers.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
The pool is always greener....
Isn't that how the saying goes?
The chlorine pump at my pool is dead. It was a little cloudy yesterday (before we knew the pump was dead) and we showed up this morning and you couldn't even see the shallow end. Although the water was a pretty aqua color instead of mucky green. So, seeing as how my Postal is in 5 DAYS, myself and a friend headed over to a nearby gym where I have membership to swim. We get there and all 3 lanes are taken - by SLOW people. One lady had good form, so she is forgiven for her slowness. One guy had eh form, but he did offer to let me split the lane with him, so he is also forgiven for his slowness. Then there's this dude in the center lane. Older, going bald, wearing a speedo. Ok, you think, not so bad? So, he's swimming side stroke and wearing goggles on his forehead. Then he flips over to do backstroke - a very limp wristed version of backstroke, still with the goggles acting as fashion accessories rather than being on his eyes and functional. Then finally, mid-workout, I look over and see him doing elementary backstroke. Which, if you don't know, is face up and you do a frog kick. Older, not in shape gay man doing face up frog kick in a speedo.... I hope you weren't eating when you read that - if so, I'm sorry.
Then as a bonus, there was a chunky latino lady who was wearing shorts and a *nasty* saggy sports bra, with a clear shower cap over her head. She got in the lane with slow-but-nice guy and proceeded to spend a half hour jumping up and down. In the water in a saggy loose WHITE sports bra.
So, after all this, I guess the okd dude with both nipples pierced w/heavy gauge rings, parrot girl, and hermophrodite lady really aren't all that bad!
The chlorine pump at my pool is dead. It was a little cloudy yesterday (before we knew the pump was dead) and we showed up this morning and you couldn't even see the shallow end. Although the water was a pretty aqua color instead of mucky green. So, seeing as how my Postal is in 5 DAYS, myself and a friend headed over to a nearby gym where I have membership to swim. We get there and all 3 lanes are taken - by SLOW people. One lady had good form, so she is forgiven for her slowness. One guy had eh form, but he did offer to let me split the lane with him, so he is also forgiven for his slowness. Then there's this dude in the center lane. Older, going bald, wearing a speedo. Ok, you think, not so bad? So, he's swimming side stroke and wearing goggles on his forehead. Then he flips over to do backstroke - a very limp wristed version of backstroke, still with the goggles acting as fashion accessories rather than being on his eyes and functional. Then finally, mid-workout, I look over and see him doing elementary backstroke. Which, if you don't know, is face up and you do a frog kick. Older, not in shape gay man doing face up frog kick in a speedo.... I hope you weren't eating when you read that - if so, I'm sorry.
Then as a bonus, there was a chunky latino lady who was wearing shorts and a *nasty* saggy sports bra, with a clear shower cap over her head. She got in the lane with slow-but-nice guy and proceeded to spend a half hour jumping up and down. In the water in a saggy loose WHITE sports bra.
So, after all this, I guess the okd dude with both nipples pierced w/heavy gauge rings, parrot girl, and hermophrodite lady really aren't all that bad!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Hermaphrodite swimmer “lady”
There’s this “lady” on my swim team. “Lady” only b/c she uses the women’s locker room instead of the men’s one. She’s a twig of a woman and well, not very pretty, with a very whiny nasally voice, that ironically isn’t far off from SNL’s Pat character. Her haircut looks like someone took a bowl to her head and used that as a guide. Her clothes strongly resemble men’s clothes - flat black loafers, trousers, and a button-down shirt (buttoned all the way to her neck). Oddly enough though, she has some interesting jewelry, from her travels abroad for work.
She only shows up to practice on Wednesdays. She shows up, puts her gear bag on the deck – open for all to see the contents as we walk from the locker room to the pool. She generally has a baggie of maxi pads and tampons on the top of the pile in her bag (further proof that she’s not a man?), which ew. Is it really that difficult to put your bag in the locker room like everyone else? The building is generally secure with little threat of things being stolen. Unfortunately, she likes to swim in my lane, which sucks, b/c her lane etiquette is horrible, and she’s actually much faster than she thinks she is. She always skips warm up and stretches. Then puts her cap on, without cramming all of her hair inside the cap. She’s got her bangs and the back of her hair sticking out of the cap. Which begs the question, what’s the point of wearing a cap? And really, I just can’t get past this whole hair/cap issue, b/c its really just so weird. And then the most annoying swimming feature – she refuses to wear flippers for the “flipper designated” swim sets. Which just upsets the natural order of things, as you really don’t have much time in between sets to set up a new swim order. Oh and did I mention she’s an over-achiever during practice? Little to no rest, and she swims more distance than what is required which usually causes her to swim over into the next set, which again upsets the rest of the swimmers in the lane b/c we have to accommodate her and fit her actions into our new set and swim order.
And then finally, the “what’s grosser than gross” portion of her demeanor. After practice, most of us generally take a shower in hopes that our skin won’t glow green from all the chlorine. So, I’m happily enjoying the hot water after practice. And every Wednesday, my post-workout vegetative state in the shower is interrupted by the sound of her blowing snot rockets IN THE SHOWER. She seriously can’t wait to get out of the shower and use tissue. And this morning was particularly gross, as she did this about 6 times and the drain was semi-clogged. Every time she shot a rocket, I mumbled “gross”. She’s pretty clueless and definitely would not see this as a hint. But for some reason, I can’t manage to bitch-up and chew her ass out for this disgusting act. Which is very uncharacteristic of me, b/c generally, there’s nothing I love more than to get my bitch on. Maybe I have been inhaling a few too many chlorine fumes?
She only shows up to practice on Wednesdays. She shows up, puts her gear bag on the deck – open for all to see the contents as we walk from the locker room to the pool. She generally has a baggie of maxi pads and tampons on the top of the pile in her bag (further proof that she’s not a man?), which ew. Is it really that difficult to put your bag in the locker room like everyone else? The building is generally secure with little threat of things being stolen. Unfortunately, she likes to swim in my lane, which sucks, b/c her lane etiquette is horrible, and she’s actually much faster than she thinks she is. She always skips warm up and stretches. Then puts her cap on, without cramming all of her hair inside the cap. She’s got her bangs and the back of her hair sticking out of the cap. Which begs the question, what’s the point of wearing a cap? And really, I just can’t get past this whole hair/cap issue, b/c its really just so weird. And then the most annoying swimming feature – she refuses to wear flippers for the “flipper designated” swim sets. Which just upsets the natural order of things, as you really don’t have much time in between sets to set up a new swim order. Oh and did I mention she’s an over-achiever during practice? Little to no rest, and she swims more distance than what is required which usually causes her to swim over into the next set, which again upsets the rest of the swimmers in the lane b/c we have to accommodate her and fit her actions into our new set and swim order.
And then finally, the “what’s grosser than gross” portion of her demeanor. After practice, most of us generally take a shower in hopes that our skin won’t glow green from all the chlorine. So, I’m happily enjoying the hot water after practice. And every Wednesday, my post-workout vegetative state in the shower is interrupted by the sound of her blowing snot rockets IN THE SHOWER. She seriously can’t wait to get out of the shower and use tissue. And this morning was particularly gross, as she did this about 6 times and the drain was semi-clogged. Every time she shot a rocket, I mumbled “gross”. She’s pretty clueless and definitely would not see this as a hint. But for some reason, I can’t manage to bitch-up and chew her ass out for this disgusting act. Which is very uncharacteristic of me, b/c generally, there’s nothing I love more than to get my bitch on. Maybe I have been inhaling a few too many chlorine fumes?
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
A matter of degrees
So, the thermostat at the pool is a goner. As in we have no temperature control – the heat it either on or off. Not a huge problem in summer. But right now, its not so fun. The HS kept the heater on all weekend, and on Monday, the pool’s resultant temperature was 85 degrees. Think bath water. Think Gulf of Mexico in summer. Think of me trying to swim a hard workout without puking due to the heat. Sure, it was easy jumping into the pool, but even during warm-up, I was too hot. Coach killed the heat after practice. Today’s resultant temperature was 84 degrees. I dipped my toes in and it felt *much* colder. I even shivered a few times during practice. It amazes me how HUGE of a difference a degree or two makes for water temperatures. 5 degrees is a matter of being too hot, too cold, or just right. Can we say Goldilocks anyone? Should I be swimming in porridge instead of chlorinated water?
There’s air temperature degrees. We’re in this oingo-boingo phase where the temperature undulates from warm to cold, from cool and crisp to muggy and uncomfortable.
Then there are other degrees. The fancy diploma I have on my wall which tells me I’m an engineer. Even though lately, I don’t feel like much of one. Being an engineer was so much a part of my identity. And now that those brain cells have been on hiatus for so long, I’m not sure I remember how to be an engineer. How to have confidence in my skills that the framed document on my wall professes me to possess. And I’m not sure I want to be an engineer anymore. I’m sure that if I was happy with where I was work-wise, things would be different. But they’re not and at this point, I’m not sure that even switching jobs would help. Or if I switched jobs, I could be motivated to perform or behave like an engineer.
And finally, there’s the degree in which I feel like I should be making an effort with things. Like my job. Sure, I have work to do. And some of it is even interesting for once. But given all the crap that transpired in the past month, I just don’t really feel like putting forth the effort. To me, its much more fun and rewarding to work on promoting my jewelry, reading TWOP and gossip columns, and dreaming of what my life could or should be like.
There’s air temperature degrees. We’re in this oingo-boingo phase where the temperature undulates from warm to cold, from cool and crisp to muggy and uncomfortable.
Then there are other degrees. The fancy diploma I have on my wall which tells me I’m an engineer. Even though lately, I don’t feel like much of one. Being an engineer was so much a part of my identity. And now that those brain cells have been on hiatus for so long, I’m not sure I remember how to be an engineer. How to have confidence in my skills that the framed document on my wall professes me to possess. And I’m not sure I want to be an engineer anymore. I’m sure that if I was happy with where I was work-wise, things would be different. But they’re not and at this point, I’m not sure that even switching jobs would help. Or if I switched jobs, I could be motivated to perform or behave like an engineer.
And finally, there’s the degree in which I feel like I should be making an effort with things. Like my job. Sure, I have work to do. And some of it is even interesting for once. But given all the crap that transpired in the past month, I just don’t really feel like putting forth the effort. To me, its much more fun and rewarding to work on promoting my jewelry, reading TWOP and gossip columns, and dreaming of what my life could or should be like.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Place your Vote: Freak Magnet T-shirt
So, I was bored the last 30 min at work and came up with these designs (courtesey of http://www.t-shirts.com/... Place your vote in the comments and I may or may not pick the majority winner.
#1 - conventional, but gets to the point
#1 - conventional, but gets to the point
#2 Bold graphic tiles... refridgerator magents perhaps?
#3 Mr. Roboto. I don't know, clunky robots = freaks?
#4 Rocket Turtle! I mean, what's cooler than a rocket turtle. Really, come on. He's cool and needs to be on a t-shirt.
Ummm, yeah.... thanks
Went on a site with a new client today - with a new co-worker. At lunch, with new client, Co-worker actually said out loud and in front of new client that he would sit with his back to the TV so that way I could watch the soap opera that was on. I blinked in disbelief. Thought about saying hey that's ok, my TiVo has that issue covered just to be a smart ass. Except for the fact that I loathe soap operas and I didn't want this guy to have the impression that I was a "girl" who was the type that enjoyed vapid pointless shows that are only on during the day. So I just told him that I don't watch soap operas, but thanks for thinking of me. What else can you say?
Then later, I'm driving us back to the office. The highway exit is on the left side of the highway. I typically don't drive on that part of the highway and was a bit unsure of where the ramp was. So he kindly informed me of this bit of trivia. Yes he called it trivia. And he said it in a very friendly, "I'm just trying to help kind" of way. He told me that for highway signs posted overhead, its standard practice for exits on the left to have signs on the left. That way you can always tell which side of the highway the exit is on.
Yeahhhh, thanks for that. Why can't I get coworkers that are normal. Its because I'm a freak magnet. I really should make myself a shirt that says that. It would be very appropriate.
Then later, I'm driving us back to the office. The highway exit is on the left side of the highway. I typically don't drive on that part of the highway and was a bit unsure of where the ramp was. So he kindly informed me of this bit of trivia. Yes he called it trivia. And he said it in a very friendly, "I'm just trying to help kind" of way. He told me that for highway signs posted overhead, its standard practice for exits on the left to have signs on the left. That way you can always tell which side of the highway the exit is on.
Yeahhhh, thanks for that. Why can't I get coworkers that are normal. Its because I'm a freak magnet. I really should make myself a shirt that says that. It would be very appropriate.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Wednesday Updates Galore!
NYE Update: we were incredibly, pathetically lame this year. Seeing as how I was pretty tired of drinking fdue to my mid-day work week adventures, I actually turned down the St. Arnolds brewery tour (and free beer!). I just didn't think that free and relatively unlimited beer at 1 PM was the best thing for me. Instead, I stayed home while Will went and stained cabinets. Then we went to dinner and watched Fantastic Four and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We sure know how to party. But sadly (and pathetically) it was nicer than last year where after who knows how many tequilla shots, I ended up passed out under a tree downtown.
Burn Update: The burn on my finger from the ill-fated Christmas turkey flip STILL is in scab form. Since I was in gloves doing my cabinets right after the burn, the blister came off. Then it became infected. And while it’s not infected anymore – it still hasn’t healed! This sucker’s gonna leave a scar. Must figure out how I can apply Vitamin E without being licked to death by Swift kitty. She looooves vitamin E oil. Its just not right.
Cabinet Update: I’m about 90% done. Stained and varnished them last weekend. And they do look quite nice if I have to say so myself. All that’s left is to knock off the drips with a utility knife (and not injure myself in the process) and put the doors back up. Time spent so far on cabinets: 30 hrs.
Work Update: After being an ultimate slacker last week (as in leaving at lunch Wed and Thurs to go drink alcohol…. and not doing so on vacation time..), I now have to actually WORK this week. And I actually have some work to do. Hopefully my managers will let me actually work without impeding me with idiotic emails and questions.
Swimming Update: strangely, we haven’t been doing crazy long distance sets at practice. As in “choose a distance you can complete in 30 minutes. Now go.” We’ve been doing smaller intervals, which is ok, but I show up every morning being mentally psyched to swim long distances, and then the longest distance we swim w/out stopping is 300 yards. Its kind of a let down. Sure, I’m still getting in some decent overall yardage (2900 yds today – I’m kinda pissed I didn’t push to get in that extra 100 yds to make it an even 3k), but we’re 3 weeks away from our hour challenge and I’m one of those types who has to plan and practice then plan some more.
Chlorine has been fixed in the pool, which is soooo lovely. Its nice to not have to wake up in the middle of the night b/c my skin is itching so much. Those 2 weeks of over-chlorination really did wreak havoc with my gear, though. My Velcro watch band went from back to chartreuse and is very threadbare. And my swimsuit, while being chlorine resistant (these suits kick ass, btw – totally worth the extra money) the straps were not immune to the chlorine and are a lovely icky shade of gray and are stretched out. I really would love to send the HS coach an invoice asking him to replace my gear.
Diet Update: Since I got on different thyroid meds and was diagnosed as hypoglycemic, I’ve lost 10 lbs. Yay me! The hypoglycemic diet is going pretty good – its really not all that hard to follow, as long as I’ve planned ahead and make smart choices. Last week, choices were not so smart. Too much alcohol. It appears that any more than 2 drinks and my blood sugar gets all out of whack and it takes at least a day to get back to normal. Which sucks, b/c it makes me feel like ass, but I had none of the fun the night before.
Homebrew Update: Will purchased 2 more mini-kegs, so we are up to 3 mini-kegs for a total capacity of 15 gallons. We are currently researching a mini kegarator for our beer room. B/c right now we have a full keg o’ beer, but its warm, and therefore not so appealing to me. As if I have any business drinking beer, as evidenced above.
TV Update: TV this week still is sucking. I’m all caught up on Supernatural. Methinks I could watch Dean all day long…. Mmm, Dean. I Tivo’d the What Not To Wear marathon on Monday, just so I’d have something to watch during the week. Lost is new – they supposedly have 2 episodes, but I suspect the 1st one this week is a recap montage of what has happened to date this season…. I’ve also recently read that JJ isn’t even writing for Lost this season, due to his commitments for Mission Impossible 3. a) do we really NEED MI:3? No. And b) JJ seems to be having issues staying focused on his projects. Project jumping really isn’t a good quality b/c then your other shows seem to suffer. On a good note, Battlestar is back up this week, which ALL THE BETTER. I missed my weekly Apollo fix. I'm very curious to see where they go with the rest of the season.
Burn Update: The burn on my finger from the ill-fated Christmas turkey flip STILL is in scab form. Since I was in gloves doing my cabinets right after the burn, the blister came off. Then it became infected. And while it’s not infected anymore – it still hasn’t healed! This sucker’s gonna leave a scar. Must figure out how I can apply Vitamin E without being licked to death by Swift kitty. She looooves vitamin E oil. Its just not right.
Cabinet Update: I’m about 90% done. Stained and varnished them last weekend. And they do look quite nice if I have to say so myself. All that’s left is to knock off the drips with a utility knife (and not injure myself in the process) and put the doors back up. Time spent so far on cabinets: 30 hrs.
Work Update: After being an ultimate slacker last week (as in leaving at lunch Wed and Thurs to go drink alcohol…. and not doing so on vacation time..), I now have to actually WORK this week. And I actually have some work to do. Hopefully my managers will let me actually work without impeding me with idiotic emails and questions.
Swimming Update: strangely, we haven’t been doing crazy long distance sets at practice. As in “choose a distance you can complete in 30 minutes. Now go.” We’ve been doing smaller intervals, which is ok, but I show up every morning being mentally psyched to swim long distances, and then the longest distance we swim w/out stopping is 300 yards. Its kind of a let down. Sure, I’m still getting in some decent overall yardage (2900 yds today – I’m kinda pissed I didn’t push to get in that extra 100 yds to make it an even 3k), but we’re 3 weeks away from our hour challenge and I’m one of those types who has to plan and practice then plan some more.
Chlorine has been fixed in the pool, which is soooo lovely. Its nice to not have to wake up in the middle of the night b/c my skin is itching so much. Those 2 weeks of over-chlorination really did wreak havoc with my gear, though. My Velcro watch band went from back to chartreuse and is very threadbare. And my swimsuit, while being chlorine resistant (these suits kick ass, btw – totally worth the extra money) the straps were not immune to the chlorine and are a lovely icky shade of gray and are stretched out. I really would love to send the HS coach an invoice asking him to replace my gear.
Diet Update: Since I got on different thyroid meds and was diagnosed as hypoglycemic, I’ve lost 10 lbs. Yay me! The hypoglycemic diet is going pretty good – its really not all that hard to follow, as long as I’ve planned ahead and make smart choices. Last week, choices were not so smart. Too much alcohol. It appears that any more than 2 drinks and my blood sugar gets all out of whack and it takes at least a day to get back to normal. Which sucks, b/c it makes me feel like ass, but I had none of the fun the night before.
Homebrew Update: Will purchased 2 more mini-kegs, so we are up to 3 mini-kegs for a total capacity of 15 gallons. We are currently researching a mini kegarator for our beer room. B/c right now we have a full keg o’ beer, but its warm, and therefore not so appealing to me. As if I have any business drinking beer, as evidenced above.
TV Update: TV this week still is sucking. I’m all caught up on Supernatural. Methinks I could watch Dean all day long…. Mmm, Dean. I Tivo’d the What Not To Wear marathon on Monday, just so I’d have something to watch during the week. Lost is new – they supposedly have 2 episodes, but I suspect the 1st one this week is a recap montage of what has happened to date this season…. I’ve also recently read that JJ isn’t even writing for Lost this season, due to his commitments for Mission Impossible 3. a) do we really NEED MI:3? No. And b) JJ seems to be having issues staying focused on his projects. Project jumping really isn’t a good quality b/c then your other shows seem to suffer. On a good note, Battlestar is back up this week, which ALL THE BETTER. I missed my weekly Apollo fix. I'm very curious to see where they go with the rest of the season.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Christmas Checklist - 2005
Here’s a checklist of some pretty standard Erin-Christmas traditions. How many of these things happened to you?
- Eggnog lattes: 3 this weekend. Home made. Actually discovered that I have yet *another* half gallon of the stuff in the back of my ‘fridge. More nog for next weekend!
- Number of days 70 degrees or warmer: 3. Put this under my list of “why I hate Texas, reason # 537”. Sure, it snowed here last year when we were in Idaho, and ironically had zero white flakes up there. This year, 70’s and sunny. Blech. It doesn’t seem like Christmas when you’re wearing shorts and sweating….
- Kitchen accidents: 2 burned fingers, one on my hand, one on Will’s. Turkey recipe called for the turkey to be roasted at 500 degrees, back-side-up for 30 minutes. Then to take it out and flip it. Not an easy thing to do – especially when everything is 500 degrees! And flipping a 12 lb bird is awkward. Methinks I’ll be skipping that step next time I make this recipe. To top it off, the skin from my burn blister peeled off, so now its even more sore. Fun!
- Smoke alarm soundings: technically twice, but it was from the same incident described above. Boy was that a fun 10 minutes. Bring out this fiery pan from the oven with the herbs and onion and drippings already black and smoking. Have 2 people attempt to flip turkey over, burn fingers. Begin yelling at each other b/c you both have burned fingers and the turkey STILL isn’t flipped. Have smoke alarm go off. Yell at husband to leave the turkey flipping to me and TURN OFF THE DAMN ALARM. Alarm goes off a 2nd time. Yell again – TAKE THE BATTERIES OUT!!! Followed by husband cursing at wife and fire detector at the same time. The batteries are still removed from the smoke detector. Its probably safe to put them back in. Hey, at least Will didn’t light the marshmallows of his Sweet Potato Surprise dish afire as he’s done in past years. Of course, that could be because we didn’t make it this year, either.
- Home improvement project: 1. Got my cabinets sanded down. 1 trip to Home Depot to buy sander (I had gift cards), 1 trip to Lowes for more sandpaper (its closer to my house), another trip to Home Depot to return sander when it inexplicably died on Day 4 of project, another trip to Lowes to buy 2nd sander, b/c HD did not have another one readily available. Quality time spend with the sander: 15 hours over 4 days, plus 2 hours of down time b/c the sander broke and had to be replaced. Quantity of sawdust inhaled: who knows, I just know it was probably more than is safe. Injuries: none (go me!). Emasculated husbands: one. I wouldn’t let him touch the sander. I figure he had his opportunity several years back when he was laid off and I asked him to do this – and he refused. Besides, this is a detail oriented project. I could see him getting bored with the amount of time it took to a)remove varnish and b)remove stain, thus resulting in me basically having to go back and re-do the sanding. Besides, he seemed to prefer playing computer games all weekend.
- Bottles of wine consumed: 3.5 (2 during a party). Hey, considering it was only the 2 of us for most of the weekend, and I spent most of it covered in sawdust!
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Nothing says Christmas like refinishing your kitchen cabinets!
Preface: I blame this whole scenario on my mother. She does stupid insane crap like this all the time. And I see her do this stuff and think that she's crazy, yet here I am doing the same exact thing. Damn genetics.
We have wood kitchen cabinets circa 1983. They're decent, but the varnish is peeling and it looks like crap. When Will was laid off and doing nothing for 9 months, I tried to get him to refinish the cabinets. But instead he pretty much did nothing but watch a lot of movies and take a month-long road trip to Idaho.
So, I basically have two 4-day weekends in a row. And I think to myself, when will I have a window of opportunity like this again? I can sand one weekend and stain/poly the next. Then it will be done, how great?
So, I buy myself a sander and in my head this all seems splendid. Then I start working yesterday. We don't have a workbench that I can work on. Will built one, but its so tall, that I truly cannot reach past halfway on the table. Not exactly practical. So, I'm sitting on one cooler, and using another cooler as my work bench, b/c otherwise, I'd be sitting on the garage floor the whole time. Its really not *that* hard, but it is tedious. And the sander vibrates so much that my hands stay tingly for quite a bit. And the thing is shaped for man-hands, and well, mine are quite smaller, so I have to hold it with 2 hands. My thumb that I broke 3 yrs ago is still weak as well, so that's not helping. But I did the rough sanding on 8 (out of 13) cabinet doors yesterday. Figure I'll just take it in little chunks. Plan is to finish the rough sanding on all doors/drawers today. Tomorrow I'll either fine sand or start sanding the cabinet fronts. Next weekend will be staining.
No idea if I will actually finish this all by the end of next weekend - or that it will even look good. All I know is that my muscles are already sore after 4 hrs of this yesterday, and I have many, many more hours to go.
Do I know how to have a fun time or what?
Merry Christmas everyone!
We have wood kitchen cabinets circa 1983. They're decent, but the varnish is peeling and it looks like crap. When Will was laid off and doing nothing for 9 months, I tried to get him to refinish the cabinets. But instead he pretty much did nothing but watch a lot of movies and take a month-long road trip to Idaho.
So, I basically have two 4-day weekends in a row. And I think to myself, when will I have a window of opportunity like this again? I can sand one weekend and stain/poly the next. Then it will be done, how great?
So, I buy myself a sander and in my head this all seems splendid. Then I start working yesterday. We don't have a workbench that I can work on. Will built one, but its so tall, that I truly cannot reach past halfway on the table. Not exactly practical. So, I'm sitting on one cooler, and using another cooler as my work bench, b/c otherwise, I'd be sitting on the garage floor the whole time. Its really not *that* hard, but it is tedious. And the sander vibrates so much that my hands stay tingly for quite a bit. And the thing is shaped for man-hands, and well, mine are quite smaller, so I have to hold it with 2 hands. My thumb that I broke 3 yrs ago is still weak as well, so that's not helping. But I did the rough sanding on 8 (out of 13) cabinet doors yesterday. Figure I'll just take it in little chunks. Plan is to finish the rough sanding on all doors/drawers today. Tomorrow I'll either fine sand or start sanding the cabinet fronts. Next weekend will be staining.
No idea if I will actually finish this all by the end of next weekend - or that it will even look good. All I know is that my muscles are already sore after 4 hrs of this yesterday, and I have many, many more hours to go.
Do I know how to have a fun time or what?
Merry Christmas everyone!
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Dear JJ Abrams:
Do you have any idea the trauma you have caused me in the past month? Ok, its not like you’ve messed up my life, but you sure as hell are screwing with my television life. First, you put Lost on a month long hiatus. A MONTH. You’ll be lucky if I remember what those numbers are and who Walt was. And don’t get me started on the lack of moving forward on your storyline or those “extra bonus minutes” for the Tailaway’s story. Extra minutes? More like heavy recycling of minutes that already aired.
Then there’s the news that officially broke my tv viewing heart. Alias is no more at the end of this season. Not that at this point, it’s any tragedy. I mean, you guys keep recycling plotlines (SD-6, The Covenant, Prophet 5? Just how many bad guys with multi-level bad-guy networks ARE there?). Then I’m convinced that your writing team is either drunk or they are really a pack of monkeys randomly pounding away on the keyboard. Because that’s the kind of crap you guys are putting on the show. The tiny helicopter of doom? Clifford the big red ball? And exactly how many times did we need to see this red ball in its various incarnations? Its crap. But hey – you’ve been too busy paying attention to your new shiny show Lost and living the good life in Hawaii to even notice that your old show, which was once great, has gone to hell. I guess you’re swayed by the ratings. You fickle bastard.
You took a show that kicked ass and made it blase. I still remember the first time I saw little Syd on her first mission with the red hair, set out to destroy the mini-Clifford red ball ‘o doom. Ever since then, I want to be her. Who doesn’t? Well, I want to have her job and skills, I could skip the part where all the people she loves die in some sort of tragic and violent fashion, and both of her parents at one point or another have tried to have her killed. But being able to kick ass while in heels and a skin-tight leather outfit? Hell yeah, where do I sign up?
My thoughts on the show thus far. Season 1 and 2. Awesome. Cliffhanger at the end of Season 2, I still can’t forgive you for that shock, but this is a good kind of shock. The “omg I can’t believe they just did that, that totally blew my mind!” kind of shock. Season 3 with Lauren – ew. MAJOR let down after the cliffhanger. Such potential to do something cool, but yet…. nothing. Season 4… well, that was the drunken monkey season. Oh wait, this was the season where Lost was new. That explains why it sucked. The only good part was the ending with SpyMommy and then the NotVaughn incident (which I replayed about 100 times and STILL have it on my TiVo b/c it was THAT GOOD).
But now, not so much. The cast has abandoned you. You let Jennifer marry Ben Afleck of all people and reproduce. Shouldn’t there have been some clause with a heavy financial penalty against such things? Then you people wrote it into her storyline even though her eggs were taken from her and then they burned in a Covenant lab. REMEMBER THAT DETAIL, JJ? Well, your team of drunken monkey writers apparently forgot that too. Or maybe your team of writers has been hanging out too much with the cast of Lost and drinking a lot, only they are smart enough to avoid being pulled over. Or maybe they don’t get DUI’s b/c they’re monkeys and can’t reach the pedals…. Something to ponder, for sure.
This season is still better than Season 4, but not by much. I’ll just have to get my Alias fix by watching re-runs of S1 and 2. And hope that you don’t screw up the ending too badly.
Very bitterly yours,
Erin
P.S.
Would you really quit with the month long hiatus shit? First Lost and now Alias?!?!?! No Alias until February?!?!?! It’s bad enough that after May, we won’t have any more Alias at all – but you guys actually need a month break? What for, rehab? To actually FIGURE OUT a closure for the show that makes sense? For all our sakes, I hope it’s the latter and not the former.
Then there’s the news that officially broke my tv viewing heart. Alias is no more at the end of this season. Not that at this point, it’s any tragedy. I mean, you guys keep recycling plotlines (SD-6, The Covenant, Prophet 5? Just how many bad guys with multi-level bad-guy networks ARE there?). Then I’m convinced that your writing team is either drunk or they are really a pack of monkeys randomly pounding away on the keyboard. Because that’s the kind of crap you guys are putting on the show. The tiny helicopter of doom? Clifford the big red ball? And exactly how many times did we need to see this red ball in its various incarnations? Its crap. But hey – you’ve been too busy paying attention to your new shiny show Lost and living the good life in Hawaii to even notice that your old show, which was once great, has gone to hell. I guess you’re swayed by the ratings. You fickle bastard.
You took a show that kicked ass and made it blase. I still remember the first time I saw little Syd on her first mission with the red hair, set out to destroy the mini-Clifford red ball ‘o doom. Ever since then, I want to be her. Who doesn’t? Well, I want to have her job and skills, I could skip the part where all the people she loves die in some sort of tragic and violent fashion, and both of her parents at one point or another have tried to have her killed. But being able to kick ass while in heels and a skin-tight leather outfit? Hell yeah, where do I sign up?
My thoughts on the show thus far. Season 1 and 2. Awesome. Cliffhanger at the end of Season 2, I still can’t forgive you for that shock, but this is a good kind of shock. The “omg I can’t believe they just did that, that totally blew my mind!” kind of shock. Season 3 with Lauren – ew. MAJOR let down after the cliffhanger. Such potential to do something cool, but yet…. nothing. Season 4… well, that was the drunken monkey season. Oh wait, this was the season where Lost was new. That explains why it sucked. The only good part was the ending with SpyMommy and then the NotVaughn incident (which I replayed about 100 times and STILL have it on my TiVo b/c it was THAT GOOD).
But now, not so much. The cast has abandoned you. You let Jennifer marry Ben Afleck of all people and reproduce. Shouldn’t there have been some clause with a heavy financial penalty against such things? Then you people wrote it into her storyline even though her eggs were taken from her and then they burned in a Covenant lab. REMEMBER THAT DETAIL, JJ? Well, your team of drunken monkey writers apparently forgot that too. Or maybe your team of writers has been hanging out too much with the cast of Lost and drinking a lot, only they are smart enough to avoid being pulled over. Or maybe they don’t get DUI’s b/c they’re monkeys and can’t reach the pedals…. Something to ponder, for sure.
This season is still better than Season 4, but not by much. I’ll just have to get my Alias fix by watching re-runs of S1 and 2. And hope that you don’t screw up the ending too badly.
Very bitterly yours,
Erin
P.S.
Would you really quit with the month long hiatus shit? First Lost and now Alias?!?!?! No Alias until February?!?!?! It’s bad enough that after May, we won’t have any more Alias at all – but you guys actually need a month break? What for, rehab? To actually FIGURE OUT a closure for the show that makes sense? For all our sakes, I hope it’s the latter and not the former.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
A random collection of thoughts on a Tuesday morning
I need to quit forgetting items of clothing when I pack my bag the night before for swim practice. Today, while not critical, I forgot my belt. And since I've lost a bit of weight (yay me!) my jeans are a tad bit saggy. I'm meeting a client out on site today, so that should make a lovely impression.
***
They have the chlorine cranked so high at my pool that the hair on my arms is falling out. My skin is horribly itchy and I have really bad chemical-induced dry mouth. Our group is stuck at the mercy of the slack-tastic HS swim coach, who I guess just went thru a divorce and is determined to have the rest of the world suffer right along with him. I guess suffering is maximized my itchy skin and hair loss.
***
Swimming is going well, swimmingly. Cranked out another 3,000 yard workout this morning. I need to try and figure out how to swim faster, b/c I'm an in-between-er. Not slow, but not fast either. Which leaves me precisely one lane in our 8 lane pool that I can swim in w/out pissing people off or getting my ass kicked.
***
Hubby accompanied me to the grocery store last night. I need to remember that he is not the best grocery shopping buddy. Sure, its nice to have company, but its not so nice when that company makes you forget stuff and pisses you off. See, Will has to drive the cart. But he can't lead. Noooo. Instead, he has to RIDE MY ASS with the grocery cart. And I'm not the speediest of shoppers. I have a list and a mission, but I also like to peruse the aisles a bit. Look at labels. Will is more of a "grab the first item that matches X description and leave" kind of a shopper. Me, I'll stack all the varieties of tomato sauce on the shelf, nutritional labels facing me, and pick the one which has the least sodium and sugar added to them. Well, having Will huffing and puffing behind me with impatience rushes me and makes me forget stuff, which in turn about doubles the time it takes me to shop since I have to go back and forth across the store. Case in point - got a turkey to make Saturday. Got 2/3 of the way thru the store and realized that all I had to cook for Saturday was ONLY turkey. No sides. Sure its just the two of us, and the kitties would be thrilled with a turkey-only meal, but well, I need a *little* more variety. Ended up grabbing a bunch of sweet potatoes. I'll have to think of something else to make, b/c that's not quite the variety I was looking for.
***
My supervisor is being passive agressive over email. Gave him this report to review Friday afternoon. He's had oh, since then to look over my ONE text addition, which I did with very little guidance or direction. Last night he said it was ok. This morning he verbally tells me that I need to do a tiny bit more work, but its not too bad. Over email not 5 minutes later, he gets all doomsday on my ass. I'm sure its for documentation purposes, so he looks like a badass manager and its documented that I'm not living up to expectations. Its a fun game. As a result, I'm going to this british pub to sit by the fire and drink this afternoon, because I don't care.
***
Made a ton of bling this weekend - website is updated.
***
Not doing a whole hell of a lot for chistmas this year. We normally go to Idaho, but it was wayyy too much money to fly (we started researching tix in Sept). Then we thought about going to Big Bend again for camping. But it gets dark soooo early and campfires aren't allowed, which means we'd be shivering in the dark and REALLY bored. And I really hate cooking and cleaning in the dark. So it looks like its a 4 day weekend at the house being bored. I know Will was hoping to do stuff to his car during 2 of those days, so I'm not really sure what I'll be doing. I should make sure I have at least 2 Erin movies from Netflix in the house, though.
***
I miss my TV shows. My reality tv shows have wrapped up, which in the case of TAR is a good thing because it was really horrible this season. And Lost is on hiatus. Alias is close to the end *sniff* (I hate you JJ for jacking with my life like this.) My tivo viewing list is reduced to catching up on back episodes of Supernatural, b/c that's all that's on. But those Supernatural boys sure are pretty to look at....
***
They have the chlorine cranked so high at my pool that the hair on my arms is falling out. My skin is horribly itchy and I have really bad chemical-induced dry mouth. Our group is stuck at the mercy of the slack-tastic HS swim coach, who I guess just went thru a divorce and is determined to have the rest of the world suffer right along with him. I guess suffering is maximized my itchy skin and hair loss.
***
Swimming is going well, swimmingly. Cranked out another 3,000 yard workout this morning. I need to try and figure out how to swim faster, b/c I'm an in-between-er. Not slow, but not fast either. Which leaves me precisely one lane in our 8 lane pool that I can swim in w/out pissing people off or getting my ass kicked.
***
Hubby accompanied me to the grocery store last night. I need to remember that he is not the best grocery shopping buddy. Sure, its nice to have company, but its not so nice when that company makes you forget stuff and pisses you off. See, Will has to drive the cart. But he can't lead. Noooo. Instead, he has to RIDE MY ASS with the grocery cart. And I'm not the speediest of shoppers. I have a list and a mission, but I also like to peruse the aisles a bit. Look at labels. Will is more of a "grab the first item that matches X description and leave" kind of a shopper. Me, I'll stack all the varieties of tomato sauce on the shelf, nutritional labels facing me, and pick the one which has the least sodium and sugar added to them. Well, having Will huffing and puffing behind me with impatience rushes me and makes me forget stuff, which in turn about doubles the time it takes me to shop since I have to go back and forth across the store. Case in point - got a turkey to make Saturday. Got 2/3 of the way thru the store and realized that all I had to cook for Saturday was ONLY turkey. No sides. Sure its just the two of us, and the kitties would be thrilled with a turkey-only meal, but well, I need a *little* more variety. Ended up grabbing a bunch of sweet potatoes. I'll have to think of something else to make, b/c that's not quite the variety I was looking for.
***
My supervisor is being passive agressive over email. Gave him this report to review Friday afternoon. He's had oh, since then to look over my ONE text addition, which I did with very little guidance or direction. Last night he said it was ok. This morning he verbally tells me that I need to do a tiny bit more work, but its not too bad. Over email not 5 minutes later, he gets all doomsday on my ass. I'm sure its for documentation purposes, so he looks like a badass manager and its documented that I'm not living up to expectations. Its a fun game. As a result, I'm going to this british pub to sit by the fire and drink this afternoon, because I don't care.
***
Made a ton of bling this weekend - website is updated.
***
Not doing a whole hell of a lot for chistmas this year. We normally go to Idaho, but it was wayyy too much money to fly (we started researching tix in Sept). Then we thought about going to Big Bend again for camping. But it gets dark soooo early and campfires aren't allowed, which means we'd be shivering in the dark and REALLY bored. And I really hate cooking and cleaning in the dark. So it looks like its a 4 day weekend at the house being bored. I know Will was hoping to do stuff to his car during 2 of those days, so I'm not really sure what I'll be doing. I should make sure I have at least 2 Erin movies from Netflix in the house, though.
***
I miss my TV shows. My reality tv shows have wrapped up, which in the case of TAR is a good thing because it was really horrible this season. And Lost is on hiatus. Alias is close to the end *sniff* (I hate you JJ for jacking with my life like this.) My tivo viewing list is reduced to catching up on back episodes of Supernatural, b/c that's all that's on. But those Supernatural boys sure are pretty to look at....
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
I was going to post something happy, until work pissed me off
so, I'm going to post both happy and pissy. lucky you!
So first - happy post:
I swam 3,000 yards this morning, which is something I haven't done since high school. Sure, in HS I was swimming 4,000 yards, but hey, I'm clearly not in HS form any more. We've got a US Masters Swimming event next month. The Postal Swim. This post was going to be titled "Going Postal, but not in a Postal Service kinda way" until work decided to kill my good mood. But this is the HAPPY part of my post. Yeah, happy thoughts... Anyways, back to happy. So, the postal swim is an hour long challenge, where you swim for an hour (duh) WITHOUT stopping. The goal is endurance and to see how far you can swim in that time. This is daunting on a physical level, but also on a mental level. Sure, I'm pretty sure I can swim for 60 minutes straight, but can we say b-o-r-e-d-o-m? Not to mention getting past little muscle aches, frustration, etc? So, in practice we are going to work on doing longer sets and focusing on activities within those sets to keep us mentally engaged for the Postal. Yes, I'm a sadist, but well, I accept it and move on.
So now, pissy post:
Had a chat with both my supervisior (X) and office mgr (Y) about my future and about me working with the other division. X just started sputtering random stuff, like he's worried they'll stab me in the back, etc. Basically, he's worried about losing me. So, I told him that for me to want to stick around, I need to be doing ENGINEERING work. Which jogged his memory that he has to evaluate some remediation system in Corpus Christi next week, and that gee, it would actually be better for ME, the engineer to go, rather than himself, who is not an engineer. Well, no shit. I got my point across, but I doubt it will be retained. Then I talked to Y, told him I'd like to persue the work in the other division to broaden my horizons (and to give me guaranteed work), but if that doesn't happen then they need to provide me with some engineering work. And that includes involving me in "hands on" tasks for this stupid work plan I've been the work horse on and introducing me to our design engineer not as "data manager" like he did last week, but as "the engineer who will be supporting your efforts." He definitely acknowleged my point - but again, only time will tell. Apparently they do have some cool stuff lined up for me, but they don't tell me these plans. I told him that I need to know what's planned for me or else, I'll go make plans on my own.
Then, lets add their blantant ploy at pissing me off: I took this sales based training course (in house) last year. Well, Xwants me to take it again. I told him that I wouldn't get anything extra out of TAKING IT AGAIN IN LESS THAN A YEAR. So, he sends this email:
"I have recommended that you take this class again, as I feel it will improve on you interpersonal skills in dealing with clients. This is only being offered as a "tool" for your personal growth, as our company, is such a sales driven organization. I think this training will help you as you work to advance within the organization.If you are willing to accept the fact that the potential for advancement within the company may be somewhat limited for those who do not get involved in the traditional "seller-doer" role, I will ask admin to remove you from the list of participants. I'll leave the decision up to you. Either way, let me know ASAP, for scheduling purposes."
WHAT THE FUCK is up with that? For starters, they haven't really provided me an opportunity to actually meet with clients. And the one client I do have and like, actually called me first thing when she had an emergency project. I think I do ok given the lack of sales support I have around here. Then, lets talk numbers. I'm not at a Category where I get incentive bonuses for my sales. So, there's not much really to motivate me financially. They did set a sales goal for me last March for one year. Keep in mind we're just shy of 3/4 of the year, and I'm already at 150% of my goal. So do I really need remedial sales training? reeeallly?
Seems to me like they are going the "lets piss her off enough to make her quit" route. Based on their responses to my requests yesterday, it seems that while they may say that I need to take initiative, my initiative has to match what they want. And I can attempt to play things my way, but they will do whatever they can to be difficult and un-responsive. And then I get dinged on MY reviews for not being a team player and essentially being a horrible employee. But with all this shit, what here is supposed to make me want to be a good employee? I can beat my sales goal with little support, and in return, I get remedial sales training. Thanks. Way to inspire the workforce there, manager.
So, in summary: swimming good. work bad. buy more jewelry so maybe someday I won't have to work here anymore, mkay?
So first - happy post:
I swam 3,000 yards this morning, which is something I haven't done since high school. Sure, in HS I was swimming 4,000 yards, but hey, I'm clearly not in HS form any more. We've got a US Masters Swimming event next month. The Postal Swim. This post was going to be titled "Going Postal, but not in a Postal Service kinda way" until work decided to kill my good mood. But this is the HAPPY part of my post. Yeah, happy thoughts... Anyways, back to happy. So, the postal swim is an hour long challenge, where you swim for an hour (duh) WITHOUT stopping. The goal is endurance and to see how far you can swim in that time. This is daunting on a physical level, but also on a mental level. Sure, I'm pretty sure I can swim for 60 minutes straight, but can we say b-o-r-e-d-o-m? Not to mention getting past little muscle aches, frustration, etc? So, in practice we are going to work on doing longer sets and focusing on activities within those sets to keep us mentally engaged for the Postal. Yes, I'm a sadist, but well, I accept it and move on.
So now, pissy post:
Had a chat with both my supervisior (X) and office mgr (Y) about my future and about me working with the other division. X just started sputtering random stuff, like he's worried they'll stab me in the back, etc. Basically, he's worried about losing me. So, I told him that for me to want to stick around, I need to be doing ENGINEERING work. Which jogged his memory that he has to evaluate some remediation system in Corpus Christi next week, and that gee, it would actually be better for ME, the engineer to go, rather than himself, who is not an engineer. Well, no shit. I got my point across, but I doubt it will be retained. Then I talked to Y, told him I'd like to persue the work in the other division to broaden my horizons (and to give me guaranteed work), but if that doesn't happen then they need to provide me with some engineering work. And that includes involving me in "hands on" tasks for this stupid work plan I've been the work horse on and introducing me to our design engineer not as "data manager" like he did last week, but as "the engineer who will be supporting your efforts." He definitely acknowleged my point - but again, only time will tell. Apparently they do have some cool stuff lined up for me, but they don't tell me these plans. I told him that I need to know what's planned for me or else, I'll go make plans on my own.
Then, lets add their blantant ploy at pissing me off: I took this sales based training course (in house) last year. Well, Xwants me to take it again. I told him that I wouldn't get anything extra out of TAKING IT AGAIN IN LESS THAN A YEAR. So, he sends this email:
"I have recommended that you take this class again, as I feel it will improve on you interpersonal skills in dealing with clients. This is only being offered as a "tool" for your personal growth, as our company, is such a sales driven organization. I think this training will help you as you work to advance within the organization.If you are willing to accept the fact that the potential for advancement within the company may be somewhat limited for those who do not get involved in the traditional "seller-doer" role, I will ask admin to remove you from the list of participants. I'll leave the decision up to you. Either way, let me know ASAP, for scheduling purposes."
WHAT THE FUCK is up with that? For starters, they haven't really provided me an opportunity to actually meet with clients. And the one client I do have and like, actually called me first thing when she had an emergency project. I think I do ok given the lack of sales support I have around here. Then, lets talk numbers. I'm not at a Category where I get incentive bonuses for my sales. So, there's not much really to motivate me financially. They did set a sales goal for me last March for one year. Keep in mind we're just shy of 3/4 of the year, and I'm already at 150% of my goal. So do I really need remedial sales training? reeeallly?
Seems to me like they are going the "lets piss her off enough to make her quit" route. Based on their responses to my requests yesterday, it seems that while they may say that I need to take initiative, my initiative has to match what they want. And I can attempt to play things my way, but they will do whatever they can to be difficult and un-responsive. And then I get dinged on MY reviews for not being a team player and essentially being a horrible employee. But with all this shit, what here is supposed to make me want to be a good employee? I can beat my sales goal with little support, and in return, I get remedial sales training. Thanks. Way to inspire the workforce there, manager.
So, in summary: swimming good. work bad. buy more jewelry so maybe someday I won't have to work here anymore, mkay?
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Commando tootsies
I forgot to pack socks to wear in my swim bag last night..... so now my feet are going commando inside my knee-high leather boots. Not the best feeling in the world, but it beats the days where I forgot other critical items and went without.
One would think I would learn from this and stash extras in my swim bag. Well, I guess I just don't like to learn from my mistakes all that much.
One would think I would learn from this and stash extras in my swim bag. Well, I guess I just don't like to learn from my mistakes all that much.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Shameless plug for my hand-made jewelry website
I've hung my shingle out on the world wide web!
http://www.thebeadedtrail.com
Here's a few examples of what I make - these are all listed on the website.
http://www.thebeadedtrail.com
Here's a few examples of what I make - these are all listed on the website.
I make custom beaded jewelry from sterling silver, gold, semi-precious gemstones, and crystal. Stop by and ORDER something today ;)
Now THIS is how to have a Jello Shot party
Consider this a PSA for all those random hits I get for people searching for "jello" on the internet.1,000 jello shots. Keep in mind this is a full-size refridgerator. The top and bottom shelves were just cheap vodka. The 2nd shelf was the "top shelf" shots. Blue rasperry with coconut rum. Lime jello caprihanas. Lemon jello w/Crown. Everclear jello shots. (lets see how many search engine hits I get from this post!) Orange jello with vanilla vodka was my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e! I got there at 6:30 to help set up. The house was jam-packed, and we really didn't even know quite a few of the people that showed up. I did see several people from school I haven't seen since I was up there. One girl walked up to me and said "I remember you from aerobics on campus in Fall 1997." Which made me wonder what the hell I did to her to cause her to remember me. She claimed to remember me b/c she had the same kind of car - only I never drove to campus.... Turns out, when I was the Butte HS JV swim coach in 1994/95, she was one of my swimmers. Which made me feel much better about her remembering me. For some reason, I don't like being memorable. I always assume it was b/c I was a bitch or did something embarassing.
This was one of those parties where you lose all track of time - because you're having so much fun talking to people. Talked to Will maybe 4 times all night long (he left early). Oops. Spent more time talking to his friend (and I guess now MY friend) Ken (above). Got home at 4 AM, mainly b/c I was playing car-shuffle getting one of Will's friends home safely. Woke up at 1 PM, went to the beer store for home-brew supplies, spent all afternoon making beer - then off to a friend's b'day party at a club downtown.
Methinks I ought to go thru some sort of detox program for the next week or so....
Thursday, December 08, 2005
the dice are tossed
So, a post about work stuff.... I've been at this current job since Aug 2004 and well, have never ever really felt like I fit in here. I don't really have any friends, no lunch buddies, no partners in crime, and worst of all no real work, no career development, no focus. I went from being completely billable and running some good project at my last job (but having a TON of other issues which made things horrible for me) to this place where I just float and bob from project to project.
I'm one of those types who doesn't mind working hard if I know my labor is a)valued and b)part of a master plan for my career development. I basically am a horse that needs a carrot dangled in front of me to get me motivated to work. I have to know that there are grand plans for me, be privy to them, have input, and *gasp* see those plans come to fruition once in a while.
Currently, I have none of that. My "job" is a shape shifting beast that changes on the whims of my managers. I rarely can predict what I'll be doing 2 weeks out, and frequently it seems my "value" to the team is merely being a scribe or database manager, with little opportunity to develop new skills. Case in point, I worked on a work plan to do some groundwater remediation, which is being designed by some engineer in one of our East Coast offices. Turns out, she's been in the office for the past 2 days and NO ONE has even thought that gee, it may be a good thing to introduce us, as supposedly, my work will be supporting her design efforts. I had to go figure out who she was and introduce myself to her. Later in the day, I was in Sr Project Manager's office and she came in, and he introduced me to her as essentially the "data manager" for the project. Not the Jr Engineer who's helping with the work plan and will be involved with design implementation in the future. Nope, I'm data manager. And keep in mind I've had my PE for 2 years. Whoopie freaking do.
These little disses really don't make me want to perform.
So, about 6 months ago we hired this guy who does pipeline permitting. He likes to drink beer after work. So do I. Gee, seems like we could be *gasp* buddies. What a novel concept! We both like to diss our company and complain about how bass-akwards everything is here. On multiple occasions, he's attempted to persuade me to switch from my remediation division to his pipeline division. I've always been hesitant, because, well, I have no idea what they do. And "permitting" scares me. I did wastewater permitting a few jobs ago and HATED it. Too much reading, too many regulations to pilfer through, not much creative thought. I like remediation work - when I'M DOING IT (which I'm really not lately). But life in my division is pretty miserable for me and I'm at the point where either I should a)find a new job doing remediation work or b)switch to the pipeline division. I haven't had the best of luck in the job hunt so I think I'll try pipeline for a bit. They have a "role" for me - going to a major oil company for their every-other-week status meetings and basically take notes and produce meeting minutes. Sounds a bit too "administrative" for me, but the advantage is a)face time with some important people and b)there is potential to learn a LOT about how these projects are run and what the industry is like.
So, we go to my division manager to pitch this "role" to him. And he's all shades of unhappy. "what about Erin's field work schedule?" ("the hell? I've been in the field 5 TIMES in 1.5 years") "what about Erin's role in this project?" (yeah, the one I was introduced as 'data manager') It did not go over well, which is ironic since I asked him about the potential about doing some pipeline work 2 months ago, and he was amenable to that proposition. This makes me want to jump to the pipeline group EVEN MORE because this guy apparently cannot think past a few weeks OR consider that I may want to branch out more. So, there may be a hostile jumping ship from one division to another in the next few months, which should be entertaining. I just hope I like what they do, or else I could be in a world of more unhappiness, at which point, I think I may just want to hide under a rock and make jewelry for the rest of my life....
I'm one of those types who doesn't mind working hard if I know my labor is a)valued and b)part of a master plan for my career development. I basically am a horse that needs a carrot dangled in front of me to get me motivated to work. I have to know that there are grand plans for me, be privy to them, have input, and *gasp* see those plans come to fruition once in a while.
Currently, I have none of that. My "job" is a shape shifting beast that changes on the whims of my managers. I rarely can predict what I'll be doing 2 weeks out, and frequently it seems my "value" to the team is merely being a scribe or database manager, with little opportunity to develop new skills. Case in point, I worked on a work plan to do some groundwater remediation, which is being designed by some engineer in one of our East Coast offices. Turns out, she's been in the office for the past 2 days and NO ONE has even thought that gee, it may be a good thing to introduce us, as supposedly, my work will be supporting her design efforts. I had to go figure out who she was and introduce myself to her. Later in the day, I was in Sr Project Manager's office and she came in, and he introduced me to her as essentially the "data manager" for the project. Not the Jr Engineer who's helping with the work plan and will be involved with design implementation in the future. Nope, I'm data manager. And keep in mind I've had my PE for 2 years. Whoopie freaking do.
These little disses really don't make me want to perform.
So, about 6 months ago we hired this guy who does pipeline permitting. He likes to drink beer after work. So do I. Gee, seems like we could be *gasp* buddies. What a novel concept! We both like to diss our company and complain about how bass-akwards everything is here. On multiple occasions, he's attempted to persuade me to switch from my remediation division to his pipeline division. I've always been hesitant, because, well, I have no idea what they do. And "permitting" scares me. I did wastewater permitting a few jobs ago and HATED it. Too much reading, too many regulations to pilfer through, not much creative thought. I like remediation work - when I'M DOING IT (which I'm really not lately). But life in my division is pretty miserable for me and I'm at the point where either I should a)find a new job doing remediation work or b)switch to the pipeline division. I haven't had the best of luck in the job hunt so I think I'll try pipeline for a bit. They have a "role" for me - going to a major oil company for their every-other-week status meetings and basically take notes and produce meeting minutes. Sounds a bit too "administrative" for me, but the advantage is a)face time with some important people and b)there is potential to learn a LOT about how these projects are run and what the industry is like.
So, we go to my division manager to pitch this "role" to him. And he's all shades of unhappy. "what about Erin's field work schedule?" ("the hell? I've been in the field 5 TIMES in 1.5 years") "what about Erin's role in this project?" (yeah, the one I was introduced as 'data manager') It did not go over well, which is ironic since I asked him about the potential about doing some pipeline work 2 months ago, and he was amenable to that proposition. This makes me want to jump to the pipeline group EVEN MORE because this guy apparently cannot think past a few weeks OR consider that I may want to branch out more. So, there may be a hostile jumping ship from one division to another in the next few months, which should be entertaining. I just hope I like what they do, or else I could be in a world of more unhappiness, at which point, I think I may just want to hide under a rock and make jewelry for the rest of my life....
Monday, December 05, 2005
Which Lost Character are You?
Yeah, another non-post. Sorry. Will recap my Colo trip with photos soon. I spent all weekend on re-vamping my jewelry website (and will be publishing it soon on my very own domain name! woo!), so I'm a bit tired of photoshop right now.
And yes, I'm 90% over my cold. For those of you that care ;)
But for now...
And yes, I'm 90% over my cold. For those of you that care ;)
But for now...
| Michael You scored 27% kindness, 65% courage, 36% seedy past, and 41% secretiveness! |
"Stay away from my son. And me." You are Michael. You are strong, brave, and a little paranoid. You're not the most social person on the island, but you don't mind. As long as you can take care of Walt, you should be right as rain. You're open about your past and you don't see much of a need to keep many secrets from others. Just try branching out once in a while - who knows, maybe you'll actually make a friend or two. Your polar opposite IS: Hurley. You are similar to: Jin and Sayid. |
 |
| Link: The Which Lost Character Are You Test written by ack_attack on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
grupmh
I'd like to personally thank the evil person on my flight for giving me their cold*. Which is the reason why I haven't updated the blog since I got back from Thanksgiving week. And I have some very pretty pictures from my day of skiing to post too, but I fall asleep when I get home after work.
*And yes, I'm taking as much Airborne and Zycam as I can. And its not helping much.
*And yes, I'm taking as much Airborne and Zycam as I can. And its not helping much.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Being a grown up makes my head spin, and its not because I'm drunk
Which may be part of the problem.
When did I grow up? I know that I really don't want to be a grown up, that's for sure. Except for the having money and independence part, I'll keep that.
Will and I have decided to do some major home improvement. New siding and windows. Because our windows are single paned aluminum and were cheap ass shit back in 1983, which with inflation, makes them well, cheaper than cheap ass shit. And our siding is currently pressboard which has a nasty habit of rotting and flaking off paint. Nice qualities in a house, let me tell you. So, we've signed our lives away for the same value that my college loans were. Which is more valuable? Siding that you'll never have to paint or replace and *never* having to hear the neighbors kid crying from inside your house ...... or a 4 year engineering degree. Too close to call. And don't even get me started on the home owner association "approval" committee. The guy didn't like the products that we are getting for kind-of random reasons (and reasons that don't apply, as we have warantees for issues like what he was talking about) - although he did say he'd approve our request, b/c there's nothing in the covenant preventing it. All we want is siding and windows. Siding in blue (current color) and white windows. Its not like we're painting the house purple with pentagram accents or anything. But the disparaging comments from the home owner group made me hyperventilate and my head swirl around and completely prevented me from making a decision and being able to stick with it for more than 10 minutes. Then you add in Will, and it wasn't fun at all. Which is why I need a drink.
See what I mean about growing up? You never had to worry about this crap when you were care free and younger. My worries were more like "which flavor lip gloss should I wear on my date tonight? Grape or rasbperry?" or "which body part do I want to get pierced this month?" Now my decisions are so boring. Although I do get to choose which kind of mixed drink I can make myself from my nicely stocked bar - which is a nice perk for being older. I'll admit that much.
When did I grow up? I know that I really don't want to be a grown up, that's for sure. Except for the having money and independence part, I'll keep that.
Will and I have decided to do some major home improvement. New siding and windows. Because our windows are single paned aluminum and were cheap ass shit back in 1983, which with inflation, makes them well, cheaper than cheap ass shit. And our siding is currently pressboard which has a nasty habit of rotting and flaking off paint. Nice qualities in a house, let me tell you. So, we've signed our lives away for the same value that my college loans were. Which is more valuable? Siding that you'll never have to paint or replace and *never* having to hear the neighbors kid crying from inside your house ...... or a 4 year engineering degree. Too close to call. And don't even get me started on the home owner association "approval" committee. The guy didn't like the products that we are getting for kind-of random reasons (and reasons that don't apply, as we have warantees for issues like what he was talking about) - although he did say he'd approve our request, b/c there's nothing in the covenant preventing it. All we want is siding and windows. Siding in blue (current color) and white windows. Its not like we're painting the house purple with pentagram accents or anything. But the disparaging comments from the home owner group made me hyperventilate and my head swirl around and completely prevented me from making a decision and being able to stick with it for more than 10 minutes. Then you add in Will, and it wasn't fun at all. Which is why I need a drink.
See what I mean about growing up? You never had to worry about this crap when you were care free and younger. My worries were more like "which flavor lip gloss should I wear on my date tonight? Grape or rasbperry?" or "which body part do I want to get pierced this month?" Now my decisions are so boring. Although I do get to choose which kind of mixed drink I can make myself from my nicely stocked bar - which is a nice perk for being older. I'll admit that much.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Drinking with the Geo-Wizards
The Society of Exploration Geophysicists is in town this week. Hubby is one of 'em - but he calls himself and his like-minded peers Geo-Wizards (to be cute/funny). Every year, I hear stories about convention - the parties, the freebies, the drunk escapades. Only I never get to play, b/c I'm a) not a geo-wizard and b) the convention is usually out of town and I'm not invited. But this year is different, this time I get to play. Sounded like a good thing. I had fun, but as usual, I'm scarred for life by my husband's dirty-old-men coworkers.
We go to the ice breaker at the convention center. Get free food and booze. Cool. Stand around a lot and schmooze with people I don't know. And I wore 3" heels b/c the other shoes I was going to wear were open toed, and well, my feet are in extreme need of a pedicure, and I was worried what people would think about my poor toes. Seriously, going 3 months without a pedicure and having chipped purple polish on your toes is probably a crime punishable by hanging in Texas. Thus, the closed toe, 3" heels. After being at the place and seeing the type of people who attend these things, next time, I'll opt for the comfy shoes.
So, ice breaker is done at 8. We're being kicked out. Word on the street is that my friend's company is having a party a few blocks away. Free food and booze again! Yay! So, we all walk over there (yes, my feet were killing me. no, I didn't take them off for the walk), get inside and get a huge table in the back for our group.
Group consisted of Will's co-workers, who are mostly normal and very nice people who happen to drink a lot (except for the 2 dirty-old-men who are VERY drunk) and other friends and friends of friends.
Throughout the night, dirty-old-man co-worker #1 is repeatedly referring to me (in his drunken british accent) as a dahhhhling girrrl. I kept telling him that he just didn't know me well enough to know any better. So, I ended up sitting next to him for a bit. And I swear he was staring at my chest. So, I look down to make sure my shirt is in place and my bra isn't exposed, and he catches me and asks me very slurrily "were you looking at your boobs? you were looking at your boobs, I saw you!" Yeah, thanks for that buddy. Please go away now.
Then there's the drunken cowoker #2 who is nice when he's sober and turns into a dirty-old man when he's drunk. He's not so much dirty as he is cheeky. And likes to arm wrestle everyone. Its a running joke from one night a year ago that he's kissed me on the lips not once, but twice. Same trick, and I fell for it. So, I was relaying this story to someone else at the table last night. Then later on, Cheeky kissed me again. How I can fall for this repeatedly is beyond me. And why me? Really. At least the whole table got a good laugh out of the deal.
So, its then 11:30. My friend (hosting the party) is drunk, which, yay! The girl has 2 kids under the age of three. She deserves a good buzz once in a while. Its time to leave, which is a good thing for all involved. We're standing outside the restaurant trying to figure out our game plan (because simply walking back to our cars is just too complicated). Then a homeless dude shows up and Cheeky starts chatting with him. The rest of us stroll down the block, hoping Cheeky will see us and follow. Nope. None of the guys are willing to get Cheeky away from homeless dude so we can leave. So, its up to me. In my 3" heels, I have to grab Cheeky (who was having a very detailed conversation with the guy and exchanging email addresses or something, I really am not sure) and drag him away. Me. I laughed at the irony. But I wanted to leave and this was the most direct way about it. Then we all walked arm in arm to our cars. Hubby and I drove home. I got home and scrubbed all of Cheeky's cooties off of me and went to sleep.
Makes you want to play with geo-wizards doesn't it? Yeeahhh, me too.* Hey, at least the wine was free!
*Actually, they are fun people. I just need to remember to watch out for Cheeky and his drunken attacks.
We go to the ice breaker at the convention center. Get free food and booze. Cool. Stand around a lot and schmooze with people I don't know. And I wore 3" heels b/c the other shoes I was going to wear were open toed, and well, my feet are in extreme need of a pedicure, and I was worried what people would think about my poor toes. Seriously, going 3 months without a pedicure and having chipped purple polish on your toes is probably a crime punishable by hanging in Texas. Thus, the closed toe, 3" heels. After being at the place and seeing the type of people who attend these things, next time, I'll opt for the comfy shoes.
So, ice breaker is done at 8. We're being kicked out. Word on the street is that my friend's company is having a party a few blocks away. Free food and booze again! Yay! So, we all walk over there (yes, my feet were killing me. no, I didn't take them off for the walk), get inside and get a huge table in the back for our group.
Group consisted of Will's co-workers, who are mostly normal and very nice people who happen to drink a lot (except for the 2 dirty-old-men who are VERY drunk) and other friends and friends of friends.
Throughout the night, dirty-old-man co-worker #1 is repeatedly referring to me (in his drunken british accent) as a dahhhhling girrrl. I kept telling him that he just didn't know me well enough to know any better. So, I ended up sitting next to him for a bit. And I swear he was staring at my chest. So, I look down to make sure my shirt is in place and my bra isn't exposed, and he catches me and asks me very slurrily "were you looking at your boobs? you were looking at your boobs, I saw you!" Yeah, thanks for that buddy. Please go away now.
Then there's the drunken cowoker #2 who is nice when he's sober and turns into a dirty-old man when he's drunk. He's not so much dirty as he is cheeky. And likes to arm wrestle everyone. Its a running joke from one night a year ago that he's kissed me on the lips not once, but twice. Same trick, and I fell for it. So, I was relaying this story to someone else at the table last night. Then later on, Cheeky kissed me again. How I can fall for this repeatedly is beyond me. And why me? Really. At least the whole table got a good laugh out of the deal.
So, its then 11:30. My friend (hosting the party) is drunk, which, yay! The girl has 2 kids under the age of three. She deserves a good buzz once in a while. Its time to leave, which is a good thing for all involved. We're standing outside the restaurant trying to figure out our game plan (because simply walking back to our cars is just too complicated). Then a homeless dude shows up and Cheeky starts chatting with him. The rest of us stroll down the block, hoping Cheeky will see us and follow. Nope. None of the guys are willing to get Cheeky away from homeless dude so we can leave. So, its up to me. In my 3" heels, I have to grab Cheeky (who was having a very detailed conversation with the guy and exchanging email addresses or something, I really am not sure) and drag him away. Me. I laughed at the irony. But I wanted to leave and this was the most direct way about it. Then we all walked arm in arm to our cars. Hubby and I drove home. I got home and scrubbed all of Cheeky's cooties off of me and went to sleep.
Makes you want to play with geo-wizards doesn't it? Yeeahhh, me too.* Hey, at least the wine was free!
*Actually, they are fun people. I just need to remember to watch out for Cheeky and his drunken attacks.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Which Sci-Fi Character are You?
Kosh
A reclusive seer shrouded in riddles, you reveal very little and only what is deemed congruent with your plans.
Understanding is a three edged sword. Your side, their side, and the truth.
Kosh is a character in the Babylon 5 universe.
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