Raina Nathair & the Electronic Quill

Goodness, I found my secret lair again.

2012-01-04T12:15:00.002-05:00

Who knew that I'd fumble my way back to my lost lair? Not me.

Update since I've been out of touch for so long... around mid-November 2008 my company let five of us go. Yep, one of the luck yones was me. ::sigh:: I went back to temping, only no assignments were available. Joy. February 1st I got a call from an old friend at the company, she was still there and needed "3 or so days help" would I be interested. Um, heck yes.

3 days or so turned into my being told to leave in mid-June 2009 after the President threw a hissy-fit and basically told her that if she had all this time to argue with him about how he's running the financial side of things, she had time to do more work and didn't need my help. His last mistake, she left the company shortly after me. Idiot man.

He hired a company to take over accounting for his company in Texas and we were in Virginia & New York. They were to take over on January 1st. When I left in mid-June, they STILL hadn't taken over. The only bills paid on time were theirs. But far be it for him to admit he was wrong. No, he stuck with them. They cost him a LOT of money. I don't even know how bad it got, but I drive by the old office and all the blinds are down with a 'for lease' sign on the floor. Hope he didn't bankrupt the company.

Anyway, I'll be posting again as regularly as possible. If nothing else to provide an outlet for my latest favorites and my efforts to stay sane as I continue to try to find a new 'permenent' job and stop temping. Can't handle the uncertainity of a paycheck when I'm half responsible for the rent, utilities and endless expenses.

Anyone know of a Sugar Daddy who likes fat chicks? LOL

Gah...

2008-08-11T10:25:00.005-05:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Blood tests came back normal save for one that was high. Orders? Exercise more, watch what you eat. Well, duh.

Then the dermatologist appointment. Went better than I hoped. But I'm on a spray treatment that is so 'aggressive' that I can only use it for four weeks. Really it's for two weeks and your doctor can opt to throw you back on it for two more... he just threw me on it now. It's tiny small bottle of spray. It's one spray per 5" area, rub in. When I'm done, I have to wash it off my hands. Umm... and I'm putting this on my skin? It makes me really sensitive to touch for about an hour or two...

I kept meeping everytime someone touched me yesterday at my friend's house. Eight people around a table... I got bumped a lot. ::whimpers::

But the spray seems to be working. It's only been 6 doses so far and I'm seeing hints of my freckles through the psoriasis. Neat.

Bad news on the work front... I lost an ally. The great "B"mer (sounds like Beamer) took a Friday & Monday off to do this wonderful community service/big brother sort of thing and when he came back they told him he could leave. I mean "WTF?" No warning just 'here's the door'. I didn't even know what happened until later. I was waiting for him to get done with whatever he was doing so he could help me with a project and his former-co-worker (hippie-witch) happily told me he'd been let go. Then dumped more work on me and lectured me and walked off.

I'm totally swamped, she has unreasonable demands, and she's a bitch. Yes, she is. Funny how a girlfriend of hers from a previous job comes to visit earlier in the week. "B"mer goes on his two day thing. "B"mer is let go. Her girlfriend comes in the VERY NEXT DAY to start her NEW JOB. I'm seriously pulling a WTF here! I smell set-up.

Since "B"mer has left, I've had three run-ins with the hippie-witch. She's seriously out to get me fired too I think. Trying hard NOT to think negative thoughts about her... but she just doesn't give a rat's ass about anyone but herself. ::sigh::

Wah! I want "B"mer back!

Today's Turn of Events

2008-07-24T10:25:00.002-05:00

So now that I've posted that massive 'how crappy my Tuesday was' post. I figured I'd let you chuckle about the fact that today's birthday boy (yes, three in one week) took today off! It was on the 'public calendar' here at the office, but I didn't notice. He's due in tomorrow, so I need to see if the bakery will let me grab the cake tomorrow. ::sigh::

Got a doctor's appointment tomorrow. It's the whole "hi, nice to meeting you. Yes, draw blood, you vampire." kind of appointment. I'm hunting for a new primary care doctor, female. She came highly recommended. I'll see if I like her tomorrow. In two weeks, I have another appointment with a specialist. That's the meeting that I am REALLY interested in. That one needs to go well.

So how about Friday's Doctor Who? Donna is mega-important? Really? K. Color me perplexed.

Donna?

Another Update

2008-07-24T09:33:00.007-05:00

I was taking hand-written notes the other day (Tuesday) during a "bad day"...

7-22:

Two birthdays today. Huge storm rolling through. It's as black as night outside. Rain & thunder, it fits my mood. I'm still on my probation time. I have two senior women jerking my leash in different dimensions. One is even jerking it in multiple directions all by herself. The big boss is "retiring" at the end of the year. The aforementioned woman jerking my leash is one of his personal assistant. She's using me to update his MAMMOTH contacts & now his "clip book" of his best articles. Joy.

Even if I bust my a$$, I'm not getting the pat on the head... she will. I will do my best. I can't in good conscious do less, but she's given me two full-time tasks. I have other tasks that are full-time or nearly that. Plus I am the receptionist, Officer serving girl, gopher and chief whipping girl.

At the moment I'm waiting for my laptop to finish loading a few new programs. It froze yesterday @ 81% after tying up my laptop for three (3) hours. Now I've just lost about an hour so far and it's 56.87% done. ::sigh::

Had interesting dreams last night. Only remember little bits of it. It was Anita Blake-verse. I was a "were-kitty" and I was given to a new vamp in Jean-Claude's brood. The new vamp was sent in to spy on St. Louis but instead defected and joined up. New vamp was being 'played' by David Tennant. MEOW! 64.1% done.

Took calls. 66.66%

It's going a little faster now. Yes! Hope it finishes before we get any power flickers because of the storm. The occasional flash of lightning is NOT improving my mood. I need to go out in this and fetch the two birthday cakes for my birthday boys. 81.51%

82.94% Slowed down again...

I'm hoping the big order of paper I placed arrives today. But it probably won't get here until tomorrow. That means raiding the emergency stash for a day and a half.

My bonsai is dying. None of the other plants I take care of are dying, just my bonsai. Joy.

83.48%

Went light on breakfast this morning, am feeling it now. Nibbling on pistachios while I wait.

85.12%

My group of friend that I hang with on Sundays is thinking about changing games soon to a less 'moody/dark/thought provoking/mystery solving' type to a more traditional hack and slash sort of game. I'm am SO ALL FOR IT! I'm kinda tired of what we have been playing as it's very dark, very stacked against us, and is a no-win situation as best I see it. Something lighter would be good.

Still 85.12%

Crapped out and froze at 85.12% ::sigh:: I didn't want to install one of the programs in the suite (an option supposedly available to me) and when it should have skipped installing that program, it hung and froze. Joy. Two more hours lost!

Noon - Restarting...

Served the birthday cakes! Quattro Leches Cake & Tri-Color Beauty Cake. Tri-Color Beauty Cake was a dark chocolate cake with mocha icing around the side and pastel puffs of icing covering the top in not three but four colors: white, yellow, blue and pink. I guess they didn't count the white as a color. ::blinks in confusion:: The Quattro Leches Cake was a caramelly delicious cake. Yum.

12:36 pm - 37.67%

12:43 pm - 60.64%

1:21 pm - 89.72% Crashed? When?

That's it. No more. I need to try and do some work today. The IT guy will have to try and fix this when he's in on Thursday. Crap!

An Update

2008-07-14T14:00:00.005-05:00

Well, a few very chaotic weeks are coming to an end. The Big Boss' annual party is nearly upon us. The calls have been made. The plans laid. The food and drinks ordered. The interns hired/arranged to play wait staff.

I've spent all day: fixing a few titles and company listings for the invited big wigs; denoting who his 'biggest' of the big wigs are on the tracking sheets we are using so he can see how many of his 'special people' elected to come to his party or even bothered to reply; ordered two birthday cakes for the office (one for tomorrow - chocolate ganache cake & one for next week - Quatro Leches cake); getting aproval for the company lunch tomorrow; and... answering the bloody phone. Plus, I need to finish placing the lunch order and then get back to what I was supposed to be doing today. Oye! Who has time for lunch? Not me? (Phone rang. Lost three minutes running around trying to solve issue.)

(Phone rang.) AYE!

Anyway, my Saturday vanished in a sleep-coma kinda day. I think I was awake for all of eight (8) hours... total... I would like to think that I was fighting off a cold or something. But it was likely stress. ::sigh::

Found out that my CFO has pneumonia. I'm wondering if I wasn't fighting off a case?

Today's lunch is... (stops to stir the bowl)... cold chicken flavored Ramon noodles, pistachios and Coca-Cola Vanilla Zero. Tomorrow's lunch is catered by the company in a strange switching of our company meeting days. It's not often that the 'Big Boss' is in town, let alone interested in participating in our company-wide weekly phone meetings. (Phone rang. Turned into four calls, I got three of them and the interns managed to answer one between the 3 of them.) Heaven forbid they stoop to answer the phone. ::sigh::

Anyway... Sunday was a lot of fun. The whole gang managed to show up (some stumbling in much later than the rest of us) for a day of chaos and merriment. Only thing missing was me being ridiculed for my pathetic skills on Oblivion or being a crushing victor against half the house in various games and a total victim to the other half. Geeks, gotta love us.

I need to catch up on my Dr. Who and Torchwood. I've been brain-dead in the evenings that I keep forgetting when it's on. Wah! I needs me some 'doctorin'. ::snickers::

Nearly a month has passed...

2008-07-08T14:27:00.011-05:00

Nearly a month has passed since my last blog update. I could go into a huge list of reasons why but basically it all boils down to life biting my ass... as usual.

The new thing was 'the talk' at my office. Yes, I was given a 'improve in 30 days' talk. I'd like to say that I think that it was not totally uncalled for. But I do think they were excessive on some points. Never the matter, I have done several things in the last few weeks since the meeting to 'improve' my performance.

My desk was moved away from the young, college-age, impressionable interns, who it seems I have been chatting with too much and interfering with their training.
I call bullshit on this one. They don't talk to me that much. They chat and gossip and goof off all around me without including me. Including massive conversations on IMs. If anyone is distracted, it's me.

My desk is now up at the front desk. Joy, joy. I am the first person you see when you enter my office. I get to greet guys, redirect the lost persons who stumble into our office, sign for every package that comes in, sort the mail, deliver the mail, keep my desk spotless (while working) and make sure the lobby is tidy... Shoot me.
It's my fault. It's the only free seat that isn't in a private office and I don't get one of those... don't ask... don't think about it.

I have to get back to cleaning the kitchen, breakroom, supply room, printer stations, etc.

I have to better track supplies and the purchases of them.

I have to monitor other departments and offices to make sure they stay in budget.

I need to learn not to 'share' in conversations happening around me. I'm not college educated so no one expects me to know everything... so say nothing. Bad information/input is worse than no input.

I have to answer the phones the 'company' way. "Good morning/afternoon/evening. <>. This is Kiri. How can I help you?" Every time, all the time. Which is fine here at the front desk where I can hear myself think. I screwed it up all the time in intern alley from the raw noise. Typically, I'd forget to say my name. ::sigh::

Basically, shut up and be the slave we hired. Nice, eh?

An Overdue Update

2008-06-16T11:05:00.002-05:00

Hi all,

Another belated post... You'd think I'd keep better records on my pathetic life. ::snickers:: I've been busy with work, friends, webcomics I am addicted to, and trying to stay cool in the horrid heat wave we had.

Yep, big MASSIVE early summer storm rolls through. Reported tornadoes, huge number of people without power, blah, blah, blah. Er... I get home to a dark house... my laptop dead... my cat freaking out... and the food in my refrigerator slowly going bad. Joy. One hot stuffy night of poor sleep finds... a dark morning without power... Luckily my water is gas heated so I did have a hot shower in the dim morning light that was creeping into the bathroom. Managed to get to work on time too. Thankfully, the power came back on before I got home. My laptop wasn't damaged but I lost everything in the refrigerator. Oh, the freezer stuff made it!

Basically, since then I've been twitching at every storm that passes through.

Oh, short post. Gotta set up lunch.

Time for an update

2008-05-28T12:39:00.004-05:00

Well, the long pause in posting is partially due to the silence echoing from the other end of cyberspace that Witchy occupies, but to be fair to her it's also due to work and sickness. Sickness is a new thing, knocked me on my tushie Sunday night and I've been fighting it since then... it's Wednesday folks. Ugh.

Last night was a particularly bad night as I lay tossing and turning on sweat-moistened sheets, the music playing doing little to ease my sickness or my heavy heart. My beloved Duran Duran was playing a brief hour drive away from my home and I was here... listening to them serenading me via CD. It's not the same.

Not by a long shot... Simon bouncing around stage engaging and still gorgeous. Nick swaying behind his beloved synth, pout in place. Roger rocking behind his drum set, keeping the beat and jacking up heartbeats all over the stadium. John 'playing that fucking bass' still a moody and charming rogue after all these years. I'll give Dom a polite nod here not having a lot of experience with him yet. The concert, although I hate Merriweather Post, must have been great.

I remember hanging out with friends by where the buses park, acting like a total idiot right along side my friends over this band or that. Honestly, Duran Duran is THE band that I've been waiting to see. Again... I miss them. This sucks.

Anyway, I am trying to fight through the total lack of strength this cold has rendered me down to and try to get some work done. Bleh.

"Five Guys" for lunch today

2008-05-15T12:01:00.003-05:00

For those of you not lucky enough to have one of these near you, Five Guys is a burger joint. Handmade patties, never frozen, all beef. Lovely fresh buttery buns lightly toasted on the grill. All the toppings you can shake a stick it or none or some if you so chose. And the FRIES! The yummy peanut-oil cooked fries... or chips for the Brits reading.

Okay, until today I had turned my nose up at the idea of eating fries/chips with malt vinegar. I don't know why. It just seemed wrong. Silly me was grabbing a container for ketchup and caught a whiff of the malt vinegar sitting beside the ketchup and I had to try a little. I don't know why, I just did.

Not bad. Really nice in fact. Less overpowering than ketchup and not too sweet. Nice. Mind you, I still like ketchup with my fries/chips, but this is good stuff. I apologize for my previous silly thoughts about malt vinegar on fries/chips.

Heard from the Doctor's Office

2008-05-06T11:52:00.002-05:00

Well, Mom had a doctor's appointment yesterday. They told her that she wasn't diabetics yet but if she didn't start making some changes she would be soon. So she's got to go to a few classes to learn what changes she needs to make. I've pledged my total support to this. We'll both eat healthier. We'll both get out and walk more. I am trying to figure out how we can get an exercise machine into the house. Something low-impact that will be able to grow with us. We'll see.

But the good news is that I still have my mommy and that we BOTH are going to be taking better care of ourselves.

Iron Man, Roses and Mondays at the office

2008-05-05T09:35:00.004-05:00

Saw Iron Man on Satruday, paid my part of the $100 million it raked in on it's opening weekend. Wahoo! Robert Downey Jr. did a great job! Sell it baby! Sell it! I'm buyin'.

Went up to visit the sister-type person, we went together to see it, she loved the rose from my garden.

Sunday was fun, slept late, clipped a half a dozen red roses off the bush, clipped a single lovely yellow rose off that bush, and went to hang out with Maria and Keith at their place. Maria loves roses and really wants to grow her own. I'm hoping that Keith will see how lovely and productive healthy bushes can be and will relent on his 'no roses' policy.

One day later (this morning) another 4 red roses were ready to clip and another yellow one. Actually more are ready but I wanted to leave some on the bushes. Mind you, I casually counted another 10 buds preparing to open on the red and 7 on the yellow. I love my roses!!!!

I'm glad that I had a nice weekend because today is promising to be a hectic day. I walk in after stopping at the store to buy sodas to go with the company-sponsored lunch today. Oye! Five cases. I got in, made coffee, made tea, emptied the dishwasher, and settled down to get to work. Co-worker "Big Jim" walks up and reminds me that we have another 'in-house' group tonight. Lovely, there goes my day. Morning... prepare for company lunch. Before noon... run to the local place catering lunch and pick up the order and then set it all up in the conference room. Early afternoon... clean up after lunch and start the room preparations. Late afternoon... print any necessary forms for the group. Write up names tags for participants. Prepare clipboards for participants. Evening... set up food and drinks for group. Set up the other food and drink for the 'clients' sponsoring the group.

Tomorrow? I get to clean up after all of this. ::faints:: Oh, and Mom has a doctor's appointment today. She went last week to do the pee in the cup stuff and they called her back shortly thereafter and told her to come in today. Naturally, we are worried. I'm hoping for news that's not too frightening. Just a medication dose change or something. I'm hoping.

More Roses

2008-05-02T10:25:00.002-05:00

Yep, one night and three more lovely red roses were begging to come to the office with me. They are now happily brightening the offices of a few co-workers I missed yesterday.

Come Monday I expect to be able to almost finish off "rosing" the office. I've still got 10 people to go... maybe 9, someone is leaving us so it's a gamble to see if I have a rose for him before his last night. I'll miss him, he's a big, loud teddy bear sort of guy with an amazing way with words.

On a work note: I had to record an interview today. Got the recording device from Media, knew how to use it. Tested it. Erased my test. Set it up and let the guy doing part of the interview handle it.

I've had to create and print a Fedex label (right now!), print and hole punch and place a large print job in a binder (right now!), pay for and hand out the lunch order that just arrived (right now!), the run back and forth to the server room to fiddle with some cables for the tech who isn't in the office today (right now!) and the guy doing the interview comes dashing out of his office because the recorder is making a funny noise. Great. So I dash in, it's counting down... cr@p, it's memory is full. The guy goes dashing to Media for another recorder or help at least. Meantime, the other interviewer doesn't know anything is wrong and is still going on with the interview. Finally, Media guy appears and erases several old recordings. We have room! We restart. (We wind up missing about 4 minutes total.)

I'll check sh#t for the time we missed, but there was supposed to be a recording going on there side as well. I'll hopefully catch the missed time when we get their copy of the interview. Hopefully. ::sigh::

Is it time to go home yet?

Roses

2008-05-01T11:46:00.005-05:00

Well, Sunday was the first day that I noticed that my rose bushes are starting to bloom. The pink bush bloomed first and yielded the first clip worthy bloom. I took it to Maria's after my mother and I admired it. Maria loved it but spent a good bit of time laminating that her husband won't let her grow roses in 'their' yard. So I tried to convince him that they are low maintenance bushes, which they can be. He's still not budging. ::grrrrr::

Today, I noticed several of my red roses were clippable. The boys and girls at the office have been given the results. Two pink ones and five red ones. The yellow bush is blooming slower, but it has the absolute best blossoms. The first one has been slowly opening facing my mother's bedroom window. I've promised her that I won't clip that one. :-)

Boys and Their Toys

2008-05-01T10:03:00.002-05:00

One of the boys in my office left his keys on his desk today. As I was walking past, I noticed them and laughed. His key chain... it's part of a seatbelt buckle, the part you plug in... not the part you plug it into.

I have to imagine that it's from his first car. He wouldn't answer when I asked about it. LOL

Pizza Monday!

2008-04-28T12:14:00.003-05:00

Pizza Monday is here! Woohoo! All but one or two people in the office were very happy with having hot pizza for lunch and dessert from the bakery section of a local grocery store. Go me!

I had two veggie style pizzas for my small click of veggi-only people. I had a pepperoni only and two cheese only pizzas for my boring peeps. And two of two different types of 'everything' pizzas for the rest of the gang. Mini-brownies with cream cheese icing, chocolate chip cookies and mini strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Everyone seems happily fed, settling back into their seats after the meeting and I've gotten lots of good feedback.

"That was nice." "That was different." "Hot food! Yeah!" Etc. The only one to give me grief was the Office Manager and he was mostly teasing, I think. He ate too, so...

So tonight I'll be late leaving so I an set up for tomorrow. What's special about tomorrow? I won't be here! ::happy dance::

That's right, I'm taking a day off to hang out with two of my girlfriends who also have tomorrow off. Girls' Day Out. Shopping, lunch, chatting, maybe a movie. Woohoo!

So... tonight I have to label the coffee pot with a reminder of how to use it, label the dishwasher with a 'please empty me, I'm clean' note, make tea before I leave so they don't run out tomorrow, load all of the printers to the top with paper, and... ask someone to lock the doors at the proper time tomorrow. Oye. I should get started. Teehee!

Gotta thank The Chairman

2008-04-25T14:39:00.002-05:00

Gotta thank the Chairman for posting this...

http://www.tv-links.eu

The Friday Briefing

2008-04-25T14:22:00.003-05:00

Well, with Witchy laid up with a nasty.. er... flu(?) I've had huge amounts of time to work. And I did. A lot. Oye!

I was juggling three VPs' expense reports. One is leaving the company so he's SO not interested in the dotting of "i's" and the crossing of "t's". So that's fun. Another is my 'big baby' who I have to beat up to get the receipts because he was never properly trained and as his 'work' is different from the other VPs, his handling of the expense reports is different. (I'm staring at a folder stuffed to exploding point full of stuff for him... Joy.) The last VP is the one that I first inherited this duty for and then he stopped having me do it. Joy. Well, he's back. LOL First thing he did was drop four weeks of receipts on my desk and say "sort and report". Joy. Then a week later, he grabs me and drags me to the conference room with even more receipts and says I messed up and here's how to fix it. Er... you TOLD me what to charge to each client, so... I messed up? ::sighs::

I've been fighting to get new cards and stationary ready for our NY office, which is moving to a new location. They took forever to get things approved and then I needed to talk to them about quantity. When I got a hold of my equivalent in the NY office (except with more authority as she is EA to the other owner, the nice one), she acted like I was crazy not to have just randomly ordered. Er... How do I know the quantities they'll need? ::sigh::

The big color printer had issues. I had to call for a repair tech to fix it. Stupid people keep slamming the paper drawers. ::snarl:: Then they grouch at me when it doesn't work. Er... HELLO?

So anyway, Witchy's back, sort of. I've posted. All's reasonably well.

Oh, and did I mention that I had a little Spring cold too? No? Silly me. ACHoo!

Lilac Cutting

2008-04-22T10:06:00.002-05:00

One of my co-workers brought in a few beautiful blossoms from the massive lilac bush/tree that she has growing on her property. She's my hippy friend. She's totally organic (ignore the cigarettes - she keeps trying to quit them), a vegetarian, and a radical. I adore her expect on rare occasion.

Well, I cooed over the many bright and colorful blooms. She brought me a cutting from the tree to see if I could get it to grow. Isn't that sweet?

Now I've got it in a glass of water and plant food trying to encourage it, but I may just go find a nice place in my yard and plant it. I'm going to have to do a little research into this. Hmmmm...

Anyway, here's hoping the lovely lilacs get to join my yellow roses and my wild red roses. The small wild white tea rose bush died. It didn't survive the winter. I've got a nice place for a small something where it was... not going to plant the lilac there. I want a huge lilac plant, not something being cut back very few weeks because it's too close to the parking spots. That little white rose bush (mostly a wandering ground growth) was perfect for that strip of grassy space between my spacing.

Update

2008-04-22T09:38:00.003-05:00

Well, I haven't posted work/life related stuff sense the middle of last week. SO to catch up...

Thursday evening we had a research group in the office for an interesting discussion that I wish I had stayed to listen to, but alas... after setting up for the group:

- clipboards
- pens
- food
- drink
- breaking down the room into group mode
- preparing the clients' viewing area
- their food
- their drink
- their supplies
- greeting guests as they arrived on site

I was too pooped to stay. So home I went.

This was the first time a co-worker of mine had a group in the office. (He's a noob, but an angel of one.) So I was going out of my way to help and reassure him that we'd do fine. All in all, it was a good set-up and a normal group. He'll get used to the little moments of chaos that never fail to happen. Copier jams, food arrives seconds before the guests do, etc. ::shrug:: Been there, done that. Jaded. Let's move on.

Friday morning was clean up. This was finished within 45 minutes which is a new record. The noob did a huge chunk of it the night before (unusual) and thus I was able to knock it out in no time. Yeah, noob! I was supposed to be transcribing whenever I had a chance since then and have had a glorious two hours to devote to it. Should be more like 5, but I hate transcribing.

::sigh::

More later, the transcription awaits and ain't going anywhere.

Two more weeks!

2008-04-21T09:58:00.001-05:00

She's Alive!

2008-04-18T15:49:00.002-05:00

Quote:

"::Pokes nose out of covers::

Just so sick that I really don't feel like being too far from my bed. I've received the spring cold from Hell(!) courtesy of one of the boys at work. He's very, very sorry, so there's no need for drastic measures. I've been to work all week, and that has left me with absolutely no energy for anything but sleeping and staying under warm covers... Yep, I got the added bonus of massive fever attacks, they come and go... and is now coming again... Sheesh! Oh, yeah... The Empress is not happy about this, she's acting very miffed these days...

::Shuffles back to bed, kleenex in one hand, cup of tea in the other::"

Aigh! Sick but alive. Empress needs to take advantage of those fever attacks, snuggle. And cats make lovely feet warmers. Teehee.

Feel better!

Closer and Closer to a Robotic Horse

2008-04-18T10:30:00.003-05:00

My gaming buddies will totally understand my posting this.

I really want a robotic horse complete with a programmed personality and a few simple special command coded to handle bad situations. Teehee.

ICat

2008-04-18T10:10:00.002-05:00

This is cute, but it won't replace my cat. But it does look promising.

Fare Thee Well My Biting Buddy

2008-04-16T16:39:00.002-05:00

::chuckles:: There's a gent working as an intern in the office, today's his last day. Unlike many people here, he's made it a humorous experience. Having marathon "civil discourse" sessions with my co-workers (one in particular), joyfully poking people to watch their reactions and entertaining me with his unique 'meat & potatoes' kind of diet. That's right, no veggies... not if he can help it. LOL Oh, and much munching of Ramon noodles... not Oodles of Noodles... Ramon. Get it right.

He's heading home to Nevada, tomorrow. Geez, I guess the lovely East Coast didn't suit him. ::chuckles:: He's got a job lined up and everything. So adult. LOL He's also got a fabulous blog called Cognitive Dissonance. It's an interesting read, very politically charged but not always. Check it out, but take some advice from me. Don't flame him, he enjoys eating people who flame for breakfast.

So fare thee well my biting buddy as you leave here to sink your teeth into a new job and a new challenge.

Chaos. <-Yes, chaos... not ciao.

Newer Iron Man Trailer

2008-04-15T09:39:00.003-05:00

My favorite scene is when he's suspended by the machine dressing him in the Iron Man armor. "Let's face it, this is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

BUWA-HA-HA-HA!

Friday Happy Dances

2008-04-11T09:36:00.003-05:00

It's Friday! ::happy dancing around office:: Did I mention that 50% of my office isn't here? Happy day... Happy Friday... The annoying little Bronx boy isn't in until noon-ish. One sweet-usually-hides-in-his-office dude is off getting married and then on his honeymoon. One big-loud-rarely-here dude (who is leaving the company soon - again) is working from home. The Boss never works in the office on Fridays. The VP I do expenses for is out of the office at meetings. The CFO is still on vacation until Monday. Our Media department is here, but they tend to hide out in Media doing media things. We only have two interns now and one is running late today. Two of the Staff Assistants are traveling; one for business, one for pleasure.

Basically, the office is half empty... fewer complainers! Yeah!

Iron Man

2008-04-10T10:13:00.003-05:00

I am really looking forward to the release of Iron Man. It's one of the first movies in a long time that I am eagerly going to get out to the theaters to see.

I remember one of the guys in the office (I've mentioned him before - the slacker who just lost his assistant and gained half an assistant) screamed from his office for all of us to get in there. He's all bouncing in his seat and going nuts. We all crowd in wondering who slipped crack into his water when he hits play and we see the Iron Man trailer (see above). Everyone was honestly impressed. So for months I have been waiting for this movie and it's nearly time! Woohoo! ::happy kitty dance::

Worried About Witchy

2008-04-08T09:40:00.002-05:00

Yes, her silence since Friday has me worried that her hands and arms are hurting her again. I'm hoping it's not the case, but it very likely is the culprit. Here's a little "get better soon" message.

Small Victories

2008-04-08T09:00:00.002-05:00

Well, yesterday a friendly conversation with one of our nicer VPs was overheard by the Office Manger/VP of New Sales (read: my real direct supervisor). We were chatting about the office coffee, which I have noticed has been declining in popularity. I haven't changed brands since I got here except for the occasional flavored coffee day when I was feeling 'crazy'. Well, the nice VP was saying she had shifted to decaf since she's expecting. (YEAH!!!) So I was chatting her up about her preferred coffees so I could get some in the office for her in decaf. Well, Mr. Boss heard and approved my 'upgrading' the coffee and... (drum roll please)... our Monday company lunches.

I nearly fainted. I've been twisting the arm of the CFO to try and improve the quality of our Monday company-bought lunch without success. Mr. Boss has enough authority to 'bully' the CFO to opening the purse-strings. Woo-hoo!

Small victories. Now I just have to FIND something better without being insane.

Ouran High School Host Club #9

2008-04-07T10:30:00.001-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

I know, I skipped #8. I'm trying to find them all.

Ouran High School Host Club #7

2008-04-07T10:12:00.001-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Ouran High School Host Club #6

2008-04-07T10:11:00.001-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Ouran High School Host Club #5

2008-04-07T10:10:00.001-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Ouran High School Host Club #4

2008-04-07T10:09:00.000-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Ouran High School Host Club #3

2008-04-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Ouran High School Host Club #2

2008-04-07T09:28:00.001-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Dinner

2008-04-03T08:49:00.003-05:00

Well, dinner was a mixed success. It was spaghetti cooked al dente with butter, garlic, oysters, and the oyster liquor from the two cans I put in. Oh, and Parmesan cheese. It was good, but it got boring part way into the serving. I figure that I'll throw a little tomato sauce on it tonight to change it up.

Oh, and I added a link to the first episode of Ouran High School Host Club with English subtitles in case anyone's interested. I prefer the original vocal artists. They do a great job.

Ouran High School Host Club #1

2008-04-02T20:36:00.003-05:00

Link: sevenload.com

Woohoo!

April Fools Day led to Hump Day

2008-04-02T09:45:00.004-05:00

Well, last night ended very quietly at the office. It was slow enough that most of the staff felt safe leaving at a human hour rather than staying well past "closing" time. Officially, we open at 9 am and am open until 6 pm. That means someone's here at 8:30 and someone's here until 6:30 pm. I'm the 9:30 to 6:30 group. Mind you, not many people watch the clock that strictly. We're salary, not hourly and that leads to fluctuating hours on a daily basis. I've seen people here before dawn and staying until very late at night. (Have heard of employees having stayed overnight once or twice. Gotta love the few offices with nice couches (2 offices/2 couches). I live close enough that should hopefully never be a problem.

Anyway, at 6:35 pm I rang my Mother wondering where she was as I was ready to go and she was usually early. Traffic and a late start had slowed her down. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't complaining. I was going to offer to go a block over and wait there because the traffic pattern is less hectic, thus less stressful for her. 'No, no problem. Wait in your office for me.'

So I powder my nose and glance out the front window as I'm walking back up front... MOMMIE!!!

So we're heading home and I'm talking about my day (she slept all day - Night worker, remember?) and she goes 'so... what's for dinner?' I'm tired so I'm like... 'er... pasta is easy.' She didn't wash dishes. Ok. I'm not going to wash dishes then cook so... EAT OUT! Yeah! Where? Er... um... er...

We debate, we compromise, we blacklist, and we finally agree on Chili's. They only opened it a few months ago and we hadn't been yet. Nice friendly attentive waiter, Corey. Reasonable, if boring appetizer, my fault... I ordered it without checking into the details of it. :-( Great meal. We both ordered a steak, each a little different.

The food arrives and I fish the roasted peppers OUT of my veggies and fling them onto Mom's plate (she likes them). I nibble at the veggies... poof... gone. I nibble at the mashed potatoes... poof... mostly gone. Er... should try the steak... I ordered rare and got medium. :-P Oh, well. At least, it wasn't dry or show-leather. Four bites and I had to ask for a to-go box. LOL I guess I wasn't in a meat mood.

Wish I could have slept last night. I was awake more than I was asleep. Plus I had this funky re-occurring dream about trying to make drinks in one of those mini Starbuck's that they tuck into stores. I ground some chocolate chip cookies in the coffee bean grinder by mistake. I was having no luck finding anything and kept wondering why no one had showed me how to do this. LOL So annoying.

Anyway... I'm here at work. Got my massive supply order in. Got it all tucked away now. All my morning stuff is done. I'm waiting on three separate tasks to be approved. I have two projects to work on... All in all, a good day. Now, if I can only stay awake. ^.^'

Anime

2008-04-01T11:52:00.005-05:00

Yes, it's a not so secret pleasure of mine that I enjoy anime. I love the clean lines and artistry. A few of my favorite titles are below:

- +anima
- Absolute Boyfriend
- Fullmetal Alchemist
- Ouran High School Host Club
- Yugioh
- Yugioh GX
- Yu Yu Hakusho

I've read lots of titles but I only tend to buy these.

I would love suggested titles from people. I do read Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat when I can find them. Yes, I'm a child. I admit it. I refuse to grow up. I have to age, but no one said I had to stop enjoying life. ::raspberries::

And yes, Ouran High School Host Club is a current favorite. What's not to love? A bunch of super rich, super cute guys who are totally clueless about the rest of the world. Every stereo-type, plus a lot of humor.

Huni-sempei is my favorite with the twins running a close second.

Tuesday - April Fool's Day

2008-04-01T11:42:00.002-05:00

Well, thankfully no one has made a fool out of me today... not I anyone else.

Today has been running smoothly. Except for my efforts to fall asleep at my desk this morning. ::blushes:: I can't help it, I hit a monotonous streak of activities and I start nodding off despite my best efforts. I stood up, walked around, took a few of the incoming calls... Snac- huh? ::blinks in confusion:: 'Was I just snoring?'

Anyway... still have an expense report to do because he gave me nothing to work with for information. I sent a pdf of his receipts... each receipt numbered... asking which of these was billable to a client... his reply... he thinks that the $29.00 MAY BE billable to X Client Corp. Joy. Lovely. Why'd I bother asking?

Anyway, now I'm ordering food for two different groups of people from two different delivery places and they are both making me be the money holder, which means the waitress when the food gets here. Joy. Where's my f*cking uniform and you'd best not be a cheap tipper!

The Four Day Wrap-Up

2008-03-31T12:58:00.003-05:00

Hiya!

Well, as you noticed, I didn't post Friday. Too busy. Can't recall all of it but there was much 'workage' happening. Friday I finally finished entering the receipts for the VP, it came to just under a grand in cash back to him.... No wonder he was after me about this. Got another tiny batch to do that he gave me after the monster batch so I'll be doing that today (hopefully). Heard back from the girls in Accounting today, I entered his stuff right... the first time! Go me!

My Saturday was mostly internal battery charging. I slept late. I played a little online, Puzzle Pirates. Then checked on the Mother-figure... still sleeping. Hey, she works nights. Then I went back to my computer and played Sid Meyer's Pirates... Fun but a bit monotonous after a while. Batteries weren't totally charged so I catnapped with my cat eagerly hopping up to join me. I could almost hear the "yes, that's good. Nap time. See? It's only taken me forever to teach you this trick."

After a bit, the Mom-person awakes and demands food. FOOD. So I stall her a bit. And take her out for an early dinner, rather than a late lunch. What's the difference? About $12 bucks and better main course and appetizers. I was being a 'good' daughter and surprised her with a plate of raw oysters on the half shell that I picked out myself from the hill of them. That's about 7 raw oysters and 3 or 4 lemon wedges. Don't 'ew' me. I don't eat them. She does, I just like hunting for the best ones for her. :-D We get home after a small shopping trip for the necessities and she goes back to bed. Me? I get to put stuff away and entertain myself. Oh, no! Whatever will I do? Er... read a book, watch a series of the boob-tube, watch a movie, play a game... pet the cat... feed the cat... throw cat-treats for the cat... try to trim her claws... find and use the bandages. See Mom off to work. Stay up late watching... er... Animal Rescue Heroes. I think... I was sleepy, I might have been watching my eyelids more.

Sunday rolls around, I sleep in late. (See a pattern here?) Shower, dress and race out the door to pick up junk for the gaming table (veggie tray, chips, chocolate, etc.) I see that the doughnuts are on sale. So I add a dozen doughnuts to the order. Expensive trip. Fruit for Mom's snacking at the office, all the gaming junk, my treat (olives off the olive bar & a marinaded artichoke), and few drinks for the home and the office totaled around $46 and change. I give $5 to whichever charity the store is sponsoring. I give another $5 to a woman begging as I'm loading the car. Felt like a total bitch, here I am cramming crap in the car and she's literally a walking post. I'm seen her around, there's a homeless shelter a few miles down the road and she stays there sometimes. So I gave her $5. I mean, it's not like I do that frequently.

Got to gaming before anyone else. Killed a little time trying to play Oblivion again. Woohoo. I remembered how to slash. Oblivion ended quickly when the others showed up. Gaming is a bit boring at times. Then another player & I had words. Ended with me taking my freezing self upstairs and curling up on the sofa under a blanket for a half an hour. I got summoned back down to gaming after everyone was done screaming. I wasn't going to have any of that. Gaming ended fine. No one's feelings apparently hurt. Yeah! Then I stayed up too late playing on the computer.

Work has been fun, lots to do and no energy to do it. But that'll teach me. (No, it won't but I figured that I should say it before someone else did.)

Got lunch ordered. Last minute again. These people don't understand how hard it is to feed a group this size on short notice. ::sigh:: Anyway, one meal got forgotten but three people weren't here who I had orders from so the 'owner' of the lost meal got to pick from the three options. He seemed happy enough with his choices.

Just finished cleaning up after the animals and sorted the mail... now to scan it some receipts and do the next batch of the VP's expense reports. Joy. ::stifles yawn as she shambles off to the scanning room::

Another Lovely Day at the Office...

2008-03-27T12:34:00.003-05:00

Last night passed, there. Updated about that. Mind you, you missed really good macaroni and cheese that Mom made last night. Oven-baked, real cheddar cheese... ::drools::

Anyway, I brought two dozen doughnuts (Dunkin, thank you) for everyone. Why? Because I do this like... every Friday, but I had an urge for a doughnut and since I was stopping anyway... it's lunch... only 1/2 the office is in the office today with many of them out on the road at events... Most of a dozen remain.

This morning's been hectic. Tally scores & Typing up some handwritten notes for the Director of Staff. Ordering lunch for the CFO & a few others. Delivering it once it got here. Breaking down about 20+ old cardboard boxes for recycling. Emptying the shredder and putting a new bag in. Shredding some stuff for the executive assistants' of the Pres. Making client folders for Accounting. Sorting the mail. Delivering the mail. Starting the processing of the payments we got today. And this was all before lunch.

I'm at lunch. I've still got a huge job ahead of me... Entering the one of the many VPs we have at the company's expense reports. A lot of them. That are still not done. And he called me about them... days ago. Er... oops...

::blushes::

But ShadowRider posted a reply! Yeah! She realizes that I'm alive! And she offers cool things. Whoa. Nice.

Tuesday PM/Wednesday

2008-03-26T12:58:00.006-05:00

Yes, I know. A brillant and titillatingly title for a post... Come on, what do you expect? Creativity? Hah!

To set the stage for last night, I was working (shockers) when the CFO of the company (one of my superiors, but not a direct boss) came back from a trip to the bank to get money out. She was trying to close on a home to retire too in a few years. The bank was having problems so she had a lot of trouble getting the cashier's check she needed. She came back in a fowl mood after fighting with them for over an hour.

A little later she was mucking about in the storage room that also houses our color workhorse of a printing station. I hear this yell of anger about how she told me to unpack these four boxes of paper (40 reams) the other day and it's still not unpacked and how I need to do what she says faster. The she starts on about how the printing stations were out of paper and 'blah, blah, blah'. I protested that the printing stations were not out of paper, they were at least half full and the storage areas beneath them were at least half full as well. She stalks out and slams open the closest print station... looks at me and snarls that she said 'full' not half full. Then storms off back to her meeting.

She rounds the corner and is out of sight, every eye in the place is on me, and I literally pantomime blowing her head off. Snickers follow. Feeling stupid and embarrassed for being dressed down in front of the whole office just because she's having a bad day, I limp into the storage room to do as the mistress commands. I'm bent in half over the boxes, cutting the plastic thingies, slapping the reams from two of the boxes into the storage room's paper supply area. Only two fit and barely considering that I pride myself on it being well stocked. I have to shuffle a ream into the various print drawers of the workhorse printer to not have a single spare lying around. Then I start loading the two remaining boxes onto a spare rolling chair to move about the office and re-fill the print stations.

Queue CFO screaming my name again demanding to know if I pulled her office door closed. Ticked to high heaven by this point, I snap that I was just leaving the storage room and was stocking the print stations like she asked and hadn't been near her office. Silence as she snarls about her door being locked and having to go fetch the spare keys. Another co-worker, one of the President of the company's personal assistant duo, comes out and corners me going 'why is she yelling at you now?' I explain what's going on and she gets angry red talking loudly about how if I won't complain, she will. "She can't treat you like that. If I feel that you are being harassed, even if you don't, then it IS harassment" and she was complaining to the Office Manager. Joy. This'll brand me a bigger trouble maker than I already am. Nice.

I fill the two other print stations, barely took one box. So I push the last box around giving everyone with a private printer a ream... Accounting gets four and so does the CFO. (Who's office is open again.) I carefully place the four reams on the closest surface in her office, test the lock, close the door, test open the door, close the door and go to the conference room where she, her husband and the agent are talking over forms and paperwork.

She's ignoring me, but her husband smiles at me. I tell him to please tell her that there are four reams of paper waiting for her and that I didn't lock her out of her office. That said I leave and get back to work.

Meeting over. She's fuming. She didn't close one the house because she couldn't get to the money in time. Now I'm just stewing in anger and she wisely walks off bitching to herself.

It's 20 minutes to closing. I hear her giving BAD directions on what to do with the items in the spare office to her son (who's interning for us). I shrug and say NOTHING. Let her screw it up. Her son, however, is smarter than that and came over to ASK politely for my help. I walk in, sort stuff into "storage", "trash", "media property", & "uncertain - requires senior staff decision". He thanks me, I grab a few of the little things and go stow them away in the proper places. I don't do a single other thing to help with the office move. She didn't tell me too. ::raspberries:: I leave only a few minutes late... like 20 minutes late.

Now I have to wait for her to finalize who is moving into the other empty office now. I have my suspicions about who is going to get the office, we'll see. We've lost two people this month and gained two. But we have one or two too many interns and not enough seats, thus the rush to get senior staff into offices and the interns into their old desks. Me? Oh, in all likelihood I'll be moved to the front desk. ::groans:: That sucks... it really sucks... You have to deal with the morons who wander in asking for directions. (Does my desk have a 'please ask me shit' sign on it?) People asking for charity. I'm a poor working girl, I live paycheck to paycheck and slide deeper into debt every day, f*ck off. People handing out fliers, cards and trying to bully their way into the office to talk to 'someone in charge'. In charge? I'm in charge of keeping people liek you from wasting the time of the senior staff, there's the door. Use it. Once. Don't come back unless we invite you.

Gah! Plus, everyone hangs out at the front desk talking. The closest office has a tiny little angry Bronx boy in it and his taste in music is questionable at best. I had to sit at the front desk for a week right before Easter. I kept having to get up and close his office door. Think he took the hint? No. Not once. Now I know why "Pepper" wears headphones a lot.

Aye!

This morning, I'm juggling an iced coffee, an orange juice, the paper (from the front door), my purse, and my lunch as I manage to finger open the door, hold it with my foot and elbow it open and get in. This done, I'm half way to my desk when an intern accosts me telling me that I'd 'better take a call from D in the NY office'. I look at the intern with death in my eyes and say "I just got in the front door. I need to put all this crap down and away. I need to see what is happening in the office today BEFORE I can handle the NY office's issues. Tell D that I will call her back."

The intern hovers, 'you sure?' I sigh, "yes, I'm sure." She wonders off shaking her head like I am making a huge mistake. I get everything taken care off, plus I spitefully do my morning routine before I bother to talk to D in the NY office. So I empty the dishwasher, start the iced tea, load the printers with paper, and make sure of who's in the office today and who's not and why they aren't.

D in NY? She wanted to know if I could let her hear the voicemail message people hear when they call in after hours. This is the urgent business that I was supposed to drop everything for? I handle it. Find the intern and tell her in no certain terms that I am NOT so low on the company's totem pole that I HAVE to take a call from anyone short of the Presidents. Honestly, I could beg off talking to them too if I was HONESTLY elbow-deep in something unless it was life-threatening. She paled, apologized and scampered back to her desk. I felt bad so I apologized later. We're good now.

She realized why I got so mad when I mentioned the load I was carrying and the nature of "D in NY's" emergency. D does that... every time she calls it's an emergency.

So... after a crappy morning... it's become a fairly nice one. Ordered good and cheap chinese for lunch, had my cooking complimented by two employees (I let them sample my cheesy-herb whipped redskin potatoes), had the Office Manage need my help on something trivially easy that he couldn't figure out, then he needed my help with some help wanted ads, etc. All in all... a good afternoon.

::knocks on her wooden desk:: Here's hoping my luck holds.

Monday Night/Tuesday Morning-Afternoon

2008-03-25T11:17:00.007-05:00

Oh joy! Work was so slow for some of the crew last night that they felt comfortable with sneaking out a little early. So I was sitting in a mostly abandoned office for 2 hours. Actually, this was a good thing. Fewer distractions.

Dinner consisted of part of a cheap sausage & double-cheese pizza, the last of my mixed greens salad from Easter (with Buttermilk Ranch dressing) and a large birch beer on the rocks. Georgia was angry. No pizza for her. No salad, yuck. And she hasn't yet developed an appreciation of birch beer. So she spent dinner bathing against my left hip, rocking me slightly with each new pass. I was nearly seasick. ::laughs::

Skipped my Starbuck's run this morning in favor of hitting snooze twice. Wound up with a McDonald's' Hazelnut iced coffee and a sausage, egg & cheese McMuffin. My day of filing was given to an intern to do, yes! And the final clearing out of an empty office we were temporarily using for storage was given to the CFO's two sons later today. So... yeah!

So I've finished my weekly task of tracking where the big boss was this week morning, noon & night (trust me it's necessary for accounting purposes). I sent off the file to the CFO. Now I'm doing more on the never-ending task of updating the big boss' contacts. I've got to bind a few more of the booklets we provide to clients and interested people. (Intern-fare coming up.)

::Kiri puts on her favorite 'fishing for interns' music and starts casting::

Nope, too stuffy. ::release and re-cast::

Nope, wrong target career. ::release and re-cast::

Oh, this one might be a keeper. ::into the bucket and re-cast::

And so forth...

Honestly, I don't have to do anything in the intern hunt. That's all "Pepper's" job.

I brought in a huge batch of my cheesy-herb whipped redskin potatoes to share with the sweet pregnant girl in Accounting, Vanessa. But she called out sick today. Rats. So I shared with her office mate, Carlita. Made her a huge bowl and she's still eating it. ::I can hear the spoon against the sides of bowl.::

Made myself a big bowl too, but I've got avocado sushi and hot pork dumpling soup coming. Lunch tomorrow! ::soup going in the refrigerator::

Ok, back to work. Love you!

Oh, joy. Just shoot me already.

2008-03-24T13:50:00.005-05:00

Well, update.

Duran Duran concert? Deader than a doornail. Why? Because I had a fight with my best friend over the costs of the tickets. She's smoking something illegal if she thinks the CHEAP LAWN seats at Merriweather Post Pavilion would run (after 'taxes and stuff') over the $140 that I was expecting to pay for a really good seat. So... after going around and around with her "are you saying that I can't look up tickets online?" etc. I felt so sick of the whole thing that I'm not going unless I happen to win tickets from a radio station (highly unlikely as I can't really listen at work) or one of my boss' friends/contacts gives them to him and he miraculously decided to give them to us in the office and miraculously his two executive assistants think to give them to me rather than putting them up for anyone to take. (I never get those kind of things as RANK in the company matters.) So my Duran Duran concert is dead. ::cue Taps:: Someone going... post and let me know if they play 'Nice.' I love that song.

I have a mental video of that song, Simon on stage looking great... really belting it out and meaning every word and note. ::sigh::

On Easter... yes, even my Easter got messed up. It started well. I slept in. Woohoo. I drug my tush outta bed and into the shower about an hour later than I'd planned. Nice... long... HOT... shower over. My mother jokes about me not leaving her any hot water. I quip back "depends on how fast you are in there." Mom and I go out for Easter breakfast. Spinach quiche, bacon, sausage, mini Belgium waffles, and a vast array of beverages. Yeah! Good start.

Then we stop at the grocery so I can pick up my part of the Easter meal we're having with friends. Mom's too full, so she stays in the car napping in the warmth of the sun. I find the cutest cream colored bunny toy with a Happy Easter balloon in it's arms along with a bag of chocolate eggs. Perfect. Whoops! It has a little dirt on it. So I put it back and grab it's twin.

Well, anyone who knows me knows NOT to let me TOUCH a stuffed toy if I can't buy it. My eyes dart back to the first one I picked up. My over-active imagination telling me that the bunny is hurt that I didn't want it. There are no other bunny toys like it anymore and it was Easter. Into the discount bin tomorrow if no one buys her today. I grabbed it, dusted the dirty spot. It came right off. So I gave one of them to the girl who's house we were cooking and celebrating in. Mom got the balloon. She refused the chocolate, so Maria's husband got it instead. The bunny is cream-colored with pink pads on her feet, a pink nose, pink ribbon bow and pink lined ears. Her big floppy ears! She's got a daisy embroidered on each foot and a felt one tucked between her ears. It causes one to flop forward and the other back. Really cute.

So I grab the stuff the make my famous cheese-herb whipped potatoes and a lovely mixed greens garden salad. And soda. And drinks for the office. And I pay and leave. A lovely uneventful drive gets me to Maria's cozy home. Mom has to work tonight so she heads home in spite of a generous offer to sleep there and have dinner there.

So we play PS3 games for a bit then I drift off to start the ham heating, the potatoes boiling and I throw together the salad. Red onion slices, portobello mushrooms sliced chunky, tiny chips of carrot, some celery, a tiny bit of broccoli and plum tomatoes. Tossed in a ginger sesame dressing. Yum.

I go back and we play more games waiting for our four other people to arrive. Check on the ham. Play. Glaze the ham. Complain that the others are a bit late. Ham's done. whipped potatoes are done. 30 minutes late.... where are they? Maria calls one of them on the phone, Jarhead. Jarhead says he's got a migraine. He's no coming. Er... so he's hung-over and didn't think to call us. NICE.

One of them is at work and will come after work, okay. We knew that. Where's his brother? We don't have his direct line. Joy. The other guest opted not to come when Jarhead told him he wasn't picking him up. Er... we'd have come and got you and taken you home. No, he's going over to his sister's instead. Joy. The guy we were waiting on from work shows up on time for his ETA. Where's your brother? Oh, he called me at work but it was crazy busy. He went to 'insert someone I don't know's name here' to celebrate.

So here's twice as much food as we need, cold as a rock. We pack it all up and he's not hungry yet. And off we go down to the game room to pull out a game and forget the losers who didn't come over. I lose, by one point. :-P

So I get home and think about the Duran Duran concert... I check the seats through the online ordering system. One adult seat in the Right Stage section, Row M, Seat 34 would set me back $120 plus fees. Two adult seats were in the Left Stage section, Row CC, I forget the seats, would set me back $75 a piece plus fees. No way. These are as close to nose bleed as I go. Agh.

So here I am, Monday... ticket-less... Duran Duran-less... ticked off... and finally going back to work.

More insanity later... I'm sure.

Duran Duran Tickets on sale now

2008-03-21T12:00:00.003-05:00

Yes, today at 10 am Tickermaster began selling tickets to Duran Duran's late May appearance at Merriweather Post Pavilion. My sister finally gets back in touch with me after days of silence to tell me that we can go if I want, she'll buy our tickets tomorrow when I give her my money. $140... shortly before PAYDAY. Um... what is she smoking? It's not legal.

It's like 'are you afraid I'll stiff you on my ticket?' I mean, by tomorrow... hell, by NOW, all of the really good seats are gone. By tomorrow, the decent seats will be gone. By the time I have the cash to buy a seat, I'll be behind the freakin' metal support beam like I was LAST TIME I went there to see (right, try hear) a show. (Thankfully, David Lee Roth likes to travel the stage a goodly bit.)

Argh!!!

Anyway, today has been a good day minus a meeting this morning where one of our VPs asked me about the expense report I was working on for him... er... three weeks ago... Um... oops?

So, I need to finish that report. Finish the new reports he's given me. Order the company lunch for Monday. And... ::sighs:: anything else that pops up.

Is it time to go home yet?

Current Interests

2008-03-20T10:22:00.005-05:00

Figured that I'm make a list of my current interests (read as "I don't wanna print and bind 40 clipbooks":

Duran Duran - Yes, the 80's band that you secretly (or not so secretly) liked has a new album out called "Red Carpet Massacre". It is insanely good. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland helped on a few of the tracks and this album seriously makes you want to dance. The first single & video "Falling Down" is a ballad. The lyrics are Simon at his best. Emotional, visual and beautifully performed by the whole band.

Other seriously great tracks are: Skin Divers (go to YouTube to watch their performance of this song on Good Morning America), Nite-Runner (a swear I see people dancing a vicious, sexy modern tango to this one), the title track of Red Carpet Massacre (wicked satire), & Tricked Out (a fun and funky instrumental).

My big boo-hoo here is that the closest that their tour is bringing them to my area is when they play Merriweather Post Pav in Maryland in late May. With all of the car problems, I can't afford to go. :-P

Doctor Who/Torchwood - I love these series. Wish I had more time to devote to them. The 'new' doctor is a hottie and a half, David Tennant. Torchwood has that delicious John Barrowman aka Captain Jack Harkness. The fact that they have great storylines and interesting characters only helps.

Transformers - Okay, so this hit the theatres a long time ago and is now out of DVD. I finally saw it, okay? It kicked butt. I want a BUMBLEBEE! And an Optimus Prime if anyone has a spare laying around. LOL

Ack... the first batch of printing is done. Time to start binding. Chao!

The Long Absence

2008-03-20T09:59:00.005-05:00

Wow, I have a blog. I'd nearly forgotten. Witchy hunted me down, drug me out from under the rock that I have been under and propped me up long enough for me to wake up and smell the dying blog. Phew! Open a window somebody.

Let's give as coherent an update as I'm able.

Left the old job after the tower I used died, I was sent home on an unpaid vacation with no expected return date. Joy. I waited a little bit and went back to the temp agency that had gotten me my previous jobs. Problem was, it was a slow period. So after many weeks, I got in and took the computer tests they require and did fabulous. I had a few one day assignments offered but turned them down as they were in the middle of no where.

Then a four-day assignment using my office management talents came up, organize a supply room. Er... okay. Done in the first day, now what? Er... did I mind cleaning the refrigerator? ::sigh:: I guess not.

Four days turned into 'come back next week' every week for a long time, until finally I must have whined to the right person or something because I was offered a job here doing what I do best... being an Office Mommie and handling the annoying tasks no one else has the time or interest in doing. Joy!

So I have steady work. Yeah! The car dies. Crap. The car is fixed. The car dies. The car is fixed. Yes, she's alive! And the next day after a week of taxi rides, the car is repoed because we are too far behind in payments due to the repair bills. Joy. So we cash in an insurance policy, (OUCH) and get the car out of hock. So now we're even farther in the hole, minus a policy, and a great deal of cash was poured into the 'get to work' fund.

So... life sucks.

But I enjoy my new job... usually... I get to talk to interesting people. I got an email reply from George Carlin once. NICE! And Morgan Fairchild. Nice.

So you are fairly up to date. I'm several months into the new job. Occasionally doing five miute tasks for the old one... only hoping to gleen some part-time pay outta him eventually.

Anyway, work calls. Must go. Will try to update more often.

Luv ya,

Me

A Brief Sigh of Relief

2007-06-01T09:31:00.001-05:00

Spoke with the 'boss' after completing the three forms, seems that my renaming of folders (by his orders to 'break' them so the client couldn't get on as they hadn't - and haven't paid us yet) caused a previously unknown error to pop up. Yes, this was AFTER I changed the folder names back to what they were. So all of the screaming that I "broke the forms" yesterday was bullsh*t. The back-end coder told him so. Thank you! Oh, thank you!

So I finished my testing. First form was fine. Second form kicked a funny message on submission, emailed the message to the boss, he's not worried, it's a 'testing' function that the coder forgot to turn off, no big deal. Ooookay, moving on then. Third form... Three pages to it... first page, done. Second page, done. Third page, found an error (not of my making thankfully), reported it, and still managed to save the final page without error. Yes!

Now I'm running off to verify that ALL of the information was successfully saved to the database. Joy!

Then I'll cruise a few of my favorite spots and see if I can leave afterward. Heck, until I got my money, I leave when I want to... ::snarl::

Another Day in My Very Disturbed Life

2007-06-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

'Ello,

Well, today I'm taking a little time to update everyone on what's been happening. My last entry told you of my work tower's unexpected demise. Still hoping that the tech can perform CPR but that will have to wait until there's enough cash to have him do it. The maddening trips from my house to the office to handle simple tasks has finally won the ongoing war with my mother about the need for a connection at the house. As soon as I have some cash, it's a done deal. Finally.

I've mostly been frantically trying to recover my passwords and programs. Lost my Adobe 7 Pro, can't find the CD and can't find the receipt as I tend to stash receipts in the box and use it to store the CD too. Joygasm. Managed to get my copy of WebDrive back, thank you WebDrive Staff. I praise your patience and skills. The worst thing is that I lost the login and passwords for two sites that I do a little freelance work on. GAH! I've been so out of it with the 'will there be work for me to do' stress that I've kept putting off telling them about it. (Gonna have to do that today. ::sigh:: )

ShadowRider kindly offered her support in any job-hunting efforts that I undertake. Such a sweetheart. I hadn't even told her that I'd updated my blog, she caught it on her own. :-) Witchy is... well.. Witchy and has been trying to cheer me up with new pictures of The Empress. I keep drooling over this big, beautiful cat and then I remember the chewing and teething that Witchy goes through with her and decide that my little Georgia is the perfect size... Domestic Short Hair Tabby... My little tigeress.

Well, a testing of some forms we built out requires my attention so I'll leave you now. But remember...

Hoist the Colours, mateys! Arrrr!

Go see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End or I"ll make ye walk the dancing plank.

Arrrr!

Gack

2007-05-31T11:51:00.000-05:00

Well, since I can't find anyone's e-mail addresses to send them notices, I'll do it here.

Until further notice, I will be offline 99% of the time. The owner of my company in a fit of wisdom (please note sarcasm here) has given me unpaid leave until further notice as it's a slow season. Er... pardon me? I'm one of the few people who WORK around here. Joy.

And Witchy texted me yesterday to check on me and I promised to email her. Problem is that my tower at the office died and I'm having to wait for a tech to come and see if he can perform mouth-to-mouth on it. Everything is tied up on that tower... everything. I'm working on 'my' (read my as long as the boss says it is) laptop until the tower is rescued. Joy.

Witchy? E-mail my 'office' email account. I'll respond as soon as I can.

See you all sooner, rather than later... I hope.

Egads!

2007-04-03T15:37:00.000-05:00

It's been forever! So sorry, I've been hidiously swamped at work. Big project that was under control spirled horridly out of control when my contractor basically vanished on me and then popped back up and didn't have any of the work done. Got him to do the work... only he's going slow... I'm fighting with him to make corrections... and he's hit or miss on his due dates. So naturally, we find another person to do that work and send him packing.

Only this person is trying to fix the original guy's mistakes, plus do the next section of work, plus try to explain to us why things are broken so we can help, talk to the client, and redirect resources to help. Basically, a big nasty ball of crap that kept getting worse.

Plus other jobs that I'm working on in the meantime. Oye!

Mommy! I wanna go home!

Of Beta Reading

2007-01-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

Have you ever been asked to beta-read someone's work? It's not all fun and games. Yes, if the story is interesting, at least you enjoy having read it. But when you are tasked with finding errors or denoting plotholes of every size, the task becomes less enjoyable. You start second-guessing your edits. (Am I being too bitchy? Am I not being bitchy enough? Is that even a word? How can (s)he communicate this more clearly? How do I explain that you need to avoid starting sentences with 'He did this' or 'He did that'? Plus a million other thoughts.)

Well, I just finished beta-reading what was a great introductory piece by a friend of mine and an all-around great GM (that's Game Master for you non-geek types). It was a good little story. I enjoyed reading it. Had questions here and there... had issues here and there and there....

Sent it as a file to him along with an extremely friendly, warm and fuzzy e-mail reminding him that these were only my opinion and to disregard them if he so chose. I'm always awkward at this point. Will they be offended or grateful or a mixture of both? Or am I going to get asked to co-author something in the future? (It's happened.)

::sigh:: I guess that I'll have to wait. Did I mention that he's my GM? I did? Did I mention that I go to gaming this Sunday? Did I mention that my character is totally at his mercy? I did? Oh, good.

::faints::

Idiots I Formerly Worked With

2007-01-16T12:47:00.000-05:00

Oh, joy... Oh, ecstasy...

Chalk this one up to immaturity and severally not understanding someone's personality type.

My boss, El Jefe, is paranoid. Seriously, the world is out to get him. Everyone, all the time. So when former employees and he had a 'falling out', he assumed that they would try something. Me? I tend to trust in others to behave like intelligent adults. HA! I need therapy.

Anyway, one of the guys goes and puts some of the work he was a part of on his personal site in his gallery. Problem, he doesn't cite us as the company who did it, he doesn't mention that he was a part of a team. Nope, just 'look what I did'. MAJOR SLAP ON HANDS. Result, he can't use the materials now. Doh! If he'd given proper credit, he could have. Not now.

Did he learn anything?

No... of course not.

This weekend El Jefe calls me. Tells me that someone made a website from his old personal company name and has horrible lies about him up on the web, did I know anything about this? Um... no. I'd have ratted out the stupid boys if I did. (Thus why they didn't tell me.) He can't prove who they are yet but as we talk and I make a few suggestions, he finds out that the site is quoted to a "private party" in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania? Hey, didn't the first of the two guys keep going to PA to visit his family? Bells go off. We do more digging. Yep, the space was bought by guy #1 at guy #2's prompting and they built a site slandering El Jefe.

Today, I walk in not having EVER seen the site and let the boss know that I'd like to take a moment to look at it and I hear "my laywer made them take it down already." ::blinks:: That was fast. Oh, and several law-suits are pending. Woohoo!

Note to anyone eager to slander El Jefe: He carries grudges beyond rational levels and he happily searches for his name online... often... You've been warned.

Sad News

2007-01-16T10:52:00.000-05:00

I got into work this morning to find an email from my aunt in Washington state. She was trying to call my mother and I yesterday. (She had our number saved incorrectly.) I was at work so I had mom call. Mom called me at the office to let me know that one of my aunts (her baby sisters) had passed away up in Alaska.

Oh...

I've never been close to my family with the exception of my mother and step-mother. (Dad knows he and I have communication-issues.) But it still threw me pretty hard. I'm kinda numb and sad. Plus, it makes me worry all the more. My mother is the eldest of her sisters. Two of them are gone already.

I think I'm going to make dinner again tonight. Something she really likes.

The Weekend Report

2007-01-16T10:14:00.000-05:00

Ah... a three-day weekend. Glorious. How did a girl recovering from a nasty cold spend her three-day weekend? Sleeping, reading, sleeping, eating, playing on the computer, sleeping, and... oh yes, laundry and cooking. Joy.

Oh, Sunday was spent trying to keep my character alive in the Demon the Fallen game I play every Sunday. Let's see... There were two snipers shooting at her. Five bombs in a church. And loads of mind-controlled cops. A crazy mage, who is on my side but I still had to lay divine healing on his shot-up tush... okay, torso... twice and then his nearly blown-up entire self once. Me? I was puddled at his feet, a bloody angelic mess, passed out, turned back into my human form and nearly died several times on the operating table. Joy.

Did you know that fallen angels can have guardian angels? Nope? Ha! Yes, they can. While my character was floating on the verge of dying, her dead love came back and sat by her bedside petting her hair and telling her she'd be alright.

Yes, I cried. I'm a sap. I'll admit it.

Monday was spent being lazy at first. Slept late, woke up rudely to the sound of my mother dropping grocery bags on the table and yelling for me to get my a$$ out of bed and help her. She'd tried calling my cellphone to wake me before she got home so I'd be up and ready to help... problem is... my cellphone was still in my purse and my purse was in the other room. Anyway, by the time I threw on clothes and dashed out to help, she had everything inside. So I put everything away while she sat talking about the check-out lines, etc. (She works the night shift on base, so she'd just gotten off work an hour earlier.)

After I put things away, I made her breakfast as an apology for not helping with the groceries. Fried eggs over easy, sausage, toast, milk and water. She was cooing at me the whole time. Then off she goes to bed and off I go to read for a bit. Once she was good and asleep, I wondered out and washed the dishes and started lunch in the crockpot. Chicken peanut soup, yummy.

Then laundry, then a nap, then lunch with Mom, then more dishes, then more reading and more laundry, then making dinner... Pork chops baked in the oven with a little apple juice in the pan to keep them moist. Green beans, bread and butter to go with it. (I was getting tired.) The dishes did not get done again, my bad. My last set of clothes stayed in the dryer. And I spent the rest of the evening lost in a book.

Mom left for work and I went to sleep. Joy. Another weekend over. ::sigh::

Photo Enforcement

2007-01-12T15:02:00.000-05:00

Okay, I read in the paper a recent poll was taken of local drivers asking if they thought that the police forces' decision to move to electronic photo enforcement of the speed limit was fair. Over 70% of the idiots polled said 'no'.

No? Um... you're speeding... breaking the law... endangering countless lives... weaving in and out of slower traffic like you were a professional racecar driver risking even MORE accidents... and you think it's "not fair" for the police to use EVERY TOOL they can to fine you. Er... hello moron. You shouldn't be driving. You shouldn't have a license. You are a hazard to yourself and other drivers.

Oh, and these are the same idiots who take off their front license plate so the photo-enforcement red light cameras don't catch them. Or they hide their plates behind those "shields" which are only good for hiding your illegal driving and making it nearly impossible for eye-witnesses to get your license number if you flee the scene of an accident. Jerks.

I'm all for the police using every tools in the toybox to capture us when we drive badly. Not get chippy with them when you KNOW you were speeding or driving agressively or worse. Morons. If you are gonna drive that way, be ready to pay for it. Hopefully, it'll only be cash outta your wallet and not blood outta someone's veins.

Bathroom Freshener Complaint

2007-01-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know this'll sound childish, but WHY did the building where I work have to go and change the bathroom air freshner? The old stuff was okay, if annoyingly flowery. But the new stuff... God help us.... the new stuff smells like FRUIT LOOPS¹! FRUIT LOOPS!

Okay, when I'm 'powdering my nose', I DO NOT WANT TO BE THINKING ABOUT BREAKFAST CEREAL. Ok? I mean, when was the last time you were eating breakfast and thought "gee, I wish my bathroom smelled like my Fruit Loops?"

::gags::

Sorry, I've been snarling about this for days and finally HAD to blog it. I mean... ewwww....

¹ Fruit Loops is a popular fruit-flavored, high-sugar breakfast cereal commonly eaten be hyperactive children and silly adults like me who eat what we like even if it's a 'kid's cereal'. ::raspberried everyone::

Metro Don'ts List

2006-12-29T09:23:00.000-05:00

This rant is inspired by the 'company' I had last evening on the Metro heading home... Yes, I mean YOU people.

- Keep your shoes on your feet. You aren't at home. You are in public and no one wants to see your dirty, stinky socks resting on the seat in front of you... or anywhere for that matter.

- Do NOT have your music so loud that I can hear your music (if you call it that) over mine... with my headphones... and half a train car between us... No, I shouldn't hear it even if I'm standing within three (3) feet of you. No one wants to listen to some stupid punk singing about how he killed a man for breathing, okay... no one who isn't going to be doing time shortly for stupidity... How'd you like it if Granny was listening to Barry Manilow on her headphones and you were stuck beside her for over an hour? Copa Cabana anyone?

- Do NOT talk so loud to your fellow idiot(s) that I can follow every detail of your boring (or soap opera-esque) life over my music... with my headphones on... and my eardrums crying at the volumn level I have it set to in an effort to overcome the graphic details of how he failed to 'do it' for you last night on the coffee table in your parents' home. We don't care. Shut up. And move out of your parents' house, you loser.

- Do NOT swear. We all had bad days too. We don't need you ranting to your fellow idiot(s) about your crappy day. This isn't "share time", shut it.

- The rules (see "laws") state that eating and/or drinking on the Metro is bad... illegal even. They meant you, jacka$$. Yes, you. No eating covers cookies, leftovers, peanuts, popcorn, chips, etc. And drinking covers all fluids, alcoholic or not. Yes, that means sodas too. So shut your mouth and wait until you get home or at least off the Metro. We don't care to smell your Cat Curry or Nasty Nachos in the crowded car or stand in the puddle of soda you spilled on the floor. Oh, you didn't spill it and that's not your trash you left on the seat or crammed into the gap between the seat and the window? How convenient.

- Cologne & perfume = good. Bathing in it = BAD. No, make that VERY BAD. Spare us. We don't want to be TASTING your d@mned cheap a$$ (or expen$ive a$$) stinky water for hours after walking within three (3) feet of you or someplace that you've been recently. I don't care if you smell like newly minted large denomination money... there is such a thing as restraint, learn some. Think of the $money$ you'll be saving.

- Bathing is NOT optional. Use hot water & soap... often... daily even... You would be surprised at how much easier it is to chat up that hottie on the train after you've dealt with your stench.

- Don't read over my shoulder. It's rude. It's an invasion of my privacy. It could be a security risk. And it could lead to you getting poked in the eye. Yes, I would rustle my (note MY) reading materials right when you are hanging over me like a vulture and hopefully smack you in the face and get really lucky and poke you in the eye. I'm like that. Deal with it and bring something to read, dumba$$.

- Do NOT have a loud phone call while on the train or in the Metro at all.

You can't hear a damn thing
Neither can they
The rest of us, however, hear fine and resent you for deafening us.
Shut up.
Turn off the phone.
No one likes you anyway.

- Do NOT perform PDAs (Public Displays of Affection) while using the Metro. I may throw up and ruin the mood. I mean... do you REALLY think that you two sucking face is CUTE? ::snickers:: Get a room. Buy a clue. You aren't and this isn't the Playboy Channel. Take it somewhere PRIVATE.

- Give an old person a seat when the train is crowded, you stupid shit! They are older than you, far more tired that you and are likely hell and gone politer than you. Plus, you don't wanna be the person that they fall on if the train stops suddenly. You'll smell like 'old person' for hours afterward. Eww... And heaven forbid that they hurt themselves. Metro WILL keep us all there to take statements. That'll ruin your night a lot worse than standing for a few stops. Plus, you'll be reguarded as a "good soul" for being so considerate. So move your a$$ and give 'em that seat! (Especially if it's labeled "for the elderly or physically impaired). And no, being a dumba$$ isn't a physical impairment... it's a cultural/social one and they don't make special seats for your type of problem. If they did, it'd be on TOP of the train. Enjoy the fresh tunnel air but remember to duck those pipes and lights.

- Do NOT run for the train. This ain't an elevator. The doors do not retract (it means pull back) when they strike an object (like your thick head or fat a$$). No, they continue to try and close so the train can get out of the way of the next train. Besides, we don't want your dumba$$ in our car anyway. You loser. Catch the next damn train.

Thus ends my rant for the day. Thank you for reading and probably nodding at a few of these and snarling at others. Hey, no one's perfect but damn... it won't kill us to try to be.

Gotta love the small victories

2006-12-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

Ah, I spent the better part of a few days trying to figure out why a page that I was working on kept having layering issues, you know... when something overlaps and it shouldn't? Well, I found my answer today, hurray for me!

Now to wrap up the other annoying issues with this client, slap a co-worker to get him to finish a Flash movie CORRECTLY and then bill the client for the job. Woohoo! Money for the New Year. And... another project close to done, client asked for changes.... totally not a part of the original deal, woohoo... more hours... more money... Another project about 50% done, yeah. Another hideous project that went WAY over-budget is slowly trudging toward completion, please be merciful and wrap it up! Plus another long-term project that's in "X to the millionth" edit. Plus more projects waiting for the client to sign the dotted line.... ::faints::

Um... I am going to be getting help, right? Please? ::faints again::

Anyhoos... I'm currently having my poor wee brain trapped in either the Anita-verse (Anita Blake series of books by Laurell K. Hamilton, a good read but after a bit you get sick of Anita becoming more sex-fiendy/more powerful with every book) or in any 'verse' where Craig Parker (Haldir in Lord of the Rings, various persons in Herc & Xena) has been. Help me, he'd make one sex a$$ vampire. ::faints::

Gee, considering the amount of fainting I've been doing, maybe I SHOULD check for bite marks.

Hoorah!

2006-12-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

My boss gave my a glass Christmas ornament that was Le Bien, or painted inside. An angel, my weakness. Too cute.

Today, the owner (boss' mom) gave me (for my personal use - not a business tool) a 4G Flash Drive. Woohoo!

Then the boss' girlfriend comes in to visit, I give her a super soft and fuzzy pair of beige gloves and a matching scarf for Christmas... She gives me an iPod Shuffle. ::falls on the floor:: This lady is a CLASS ACT!

::Raina runs off to play with her new toys... nevermind the mountain of work looming above her:: Teehee, wee!

More on the News Front

2006-12-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Last night after I left my office at 6:45pm, I go grab dinner and try to unwind after a Hades day. I get home, get out of the car, grab my bag and... see the message received light flashing prettily in the darkness. Joy.

I decide to get in the home before bothering with it. Put the bag down. Put my leftovers away. Start a load of laundry. Feed the cat and socialize with her a bit. Out of things to do besides listen to it, I punch the code in to hear my message(s). No surprise, it's my boss.

Seems that after I ripped into the coder he was confused and decided to go to church. Yes, I drove someone to seek safety at church. A first!

So after an hour conversation with my boss going over what needs to be done, future plans, etc. I got to sleep. Woohoo.

Walked into a mess when I came in... but that's for another post.

The Joys of Work

2006-12-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

What kept me from my lovely little corner of blogginess? Work, that vile demon that sucks up a huge chunk of my wake hours, draining me of my joy and energy while making me feel helpless and useless at times. Joygasm.

I have had new projects dumped on me when I had a full-plate of work plus a family-sized side order of work. I was taking work home over the weekend to get it done, spending the weekend in front of a laptop, frantically trying to get it all done.

Then the flu hits because I was stressed and tired... and two guys in the office had it.

So now I'm doing the 'take work home' thing AND I'm sick and having to come into the office instead of resting. Again joygasm.

Today, still hopelessly overwhelmed (but back to 95% of my health) I am struggling to my own work done, plus play cowboy to the unruly other people on two projects we're all working on. (Oh, and they are now late... btw.) So they are wasting my time hunting them down, wasting my time making me repeat the same things over and over again and they still get it wrong. Now I'm another day behind in my work and I found out that we lost a project. A big one with many more lined up behind it.

For the record: I have NEVER lost a project. Ever. Until now.

To top it off, we're on the verge of losing another one. Tonight. Same people involved, they've totally misrepresented how much work they had done, and now I'm trapped in the middle. They (the coder, etc.) keep asking the same damn questions over and over. (They have all the paperwork I do... what am I the ONLY one to read it?) The owner is snarling at me about this and it reflects poorly on me because I can't 'control' the team.

Gads... shoot me now.

I'm not dead, I swear.

2006-12-12T12:17:00.000-05:00

Cue the band.
Start the music.
Kiri is alive... recovering from the flu from Hades and seriously reconsidering her employment situation... but alive. Praised be.

I'm swamped at work, so this post will be brief.

I'm alive.

I'm terribly overbooked.

I'm recovering from a nasty flu.

And... did I mention that I'm overbooked?

:-)

Will post later! (Hopefully tonight or tomorrow AM.)

~Kiri

RennFest-ivities

2006-09-05T09:56:00.000-05:00

I spent my Sunday at the Maryland RennFest. Woo-hoo!

I came to the festivities with the 'Mominators', my mother & a friend's mom. Neither woman expected/wanted to remain at the RennFest all day so they opted to go together and let the 'kiddies' go by themselves since they wanted to stay all day and get drunk-ified. Not me. Not an all-day kinda person (yet) and not the sort to get drunk. (I'm too fond of living and alcohol could throw me into a serious allergic reaction.) Joygasm, eh?

So the Moms and I arrive shortly after the kiddies... by kiddies I mean a married woman, her charming husband and a dear friend of ours. We are in line buying our tickets when they call to find out where we were. Seems that rather than wait for me, they went off to buy "Mary" a corset without me. ::pouts:: Ah, screw 'em. So we get inside and the Moms sit down on the first thing they see. We call the kiddies. They (long-time visitors of this glorious event) have the whole place fairly well committed to memory so they go "oh we're by 'blah'" and we're left going "WTF?"

We find them. Mary looks lovely. Mary's husband "Kenneth" looks smashing in his doublet and hat and breeches.... Nice rump of that boy. And our friend "Jeremy" looks... sort of peasanty/gothy. Don't get me wrong, he looked good... and comfy. Moms sit again. ::Raina starts to see a pattern forming here:: I hate to shop alone, I love another person's opinion of things. To talk over a potential purchase with someone who doesn't stand to get a commission off of it, y'know? Well, that's not happening with Mary. She's not the sort. She's here to enjoy herself and that doesn't include first-time sitting a friend. Joy.

So we're hit and miss for about 30 minutes to an hour, I'm being very generous, and they split to go find a bar. In this time, I've bought a hair pin, brass, gold and silver...

Pretty, eh? I'm wearing it right now. :-D

Oh, and I had bought a black leather belt embossed with acorns over celtic knotwork, a huge silver celtic cross belt buckle and a brown (couldn't find it in black) leather pouch for the belt. I was in a clothing store when they took off after a new person joined the group "Chuck", a past acquiantance, not upset that I missed him personally....

After they left, I bought a black linen shirt... it's so comfy. Picked up a silver heart necklace with a celtic pattern too.

Then I went off to find a cloak... found a walking stick first... taller than I am by a few inches and it's black. Then I found my cloak. Dark green, lined, double hood... the second larger hood lays flat against my back, it's lovely ivy pattern drawing attention.

Lastly, I bought new shoes. My shoes are black but you can see the pattern nicely in this picture of a maroon pair.

Yes, I saw a first of the acts too. The sword swallower... poor guy. A few of the musicians playing. The mimes. Various actors in costume. It was nice. Too hot with the cloak on, but nice.

Villain Rules

2006-08-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

World domination is everyone's dream. It's not a bad job really. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks, and you can set your own hours. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. Therefore, I will strictly follow these guidelines while conquering the world...

Raina: Note Witchy: conquering not destroying, see I listen.

1. My foot-soldiers will have helmets with clear plexiglas visors, not face-concealing ones.

Raina: So the heroes can't masquerade as my soldiers as easily.

Witchy: Yep, good plan. I always wondered about villains that had their minions hide their faces...

2. My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

Raina: Too small for their cute child/normal girlfriend to crawl through also.

Witchy: Better get some rabid ferrets trained in a hurry. Hero types tend to be imventive, they’ll probably train gerbils or some such... We're gonna need those ferrets primed and on the loose in the ventelation ducts, like pronto!

3. My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon.

Raina: Not an issue - no half siblings, no whole siblings, and the one best friend I call sister doesn't wanna rules the world, just her household.

Witchy: Luckily, no one in my family is into ruling the world, they’d make great minions, though.

4. Shooting is not too good for any of my enemies.

Raina: Too true.

Witchy: Just remember to keep your gab shut before you pull the trigger, though!

5. The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

Raina: Er... not an issue, but good to know. Hide it behind governmental red tape. Lovely wicked ideas these.

Witchy: I like red... and tape... Red tape, however, not my favorite. Let’s make it work for us, for a change...

6. I will not gloat over my enemies' predicament before killing them.

Raina: Nah, gloat over their corpses for a few minutes. Then call the cleaning crew to clean up the blood after decapitating each and every one of them. So they can't have one of those nearly impossible to believe survivals.

Witchy: Them pesky herotypes are tricky that way. Nah, best not giving them any chance to react or to warn others through telepathy or hidden body-mikes!

7. When I've captured my adversary, and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No" and shoot him. No, on second thought I'll shoot him then say "No."

Raina: ~Scribbling notes in her memo pad~

Witchy: That’s the ticket. No chance in hell to foil our plans... er... your plans, yeah! Your plans! I’m not a part of this, nope, not me. Never heard of any of this!

8. After I kidnap the hot girlfriend of the hero, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

Raina: Ew... can't I just kill her instead? Yuck, would rather marry then shag the hot boyfriend of the heroine. Note to heroes: your girlfriends will be killed so they can't have a child that may or may not be yours and comes after me later to avenge you both. Note to heroines: your boyfriends will be married to me or one of the foot-soldiers, shagged and killed. Why? Because I'm the villain, that's why.

Witchy: Mmmm... Shagging... ~Beat~ Huh? Where was I?

9. I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labeled "Danger: Do Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will not clearly be labeled as such.

Raina: Oops, er... Witchy? You wanna call the engineers for me so they help me move the on/off switch and replacing it with another booby-trap?

Witchy: ~Runs off in pursuit of the engineers~ You know we don’t do stuff like this on the phone or over radio! Communications can always be intercepted!

10. I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum -- a small hotel well outside my borders will work just as well.

Raina: Right, the bloodstains won't be on my carpet, bedding, walls, etc. And they won't possibly escape and find the lab or prison.

Witchy: Plus... MINI BARS!!! WooHoo!!!

11. I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

Raina: Duh! Weaker enemies can grow in strength or attack in numbers. Enough bee stings will kill anyone.

Witchy: See, that’s what I’ve always said was most villains biggest mistace. Allowing them pesky herotypes to plant and then cultivate doubts in one’s own abilities. Insecure villains never make it. Know who you are, know your limitations, then eliminate them!

12. One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that (s)he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

Raina: Zoe? *Sister's newborn daughter* Hurry up! I need you old enough to look at these plans for world conquest.

Witchy: Hmmm... My nephew is too old for this one. He’s huge, though, he’ll make a great foot-soldier or upper level minion!

13. All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least have several rounds of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

Raina: Can't we feed them to the guard-dragons? Please?

Witchy: Well, duh! Since when did the dragons pass up a free meal?

14. The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

Raina: Duh, I have no sympathy for the enemy. They get no comforts before the die. None! ~evil laughter~

Witchy: Before they die? Whaddaya mean, before they die? Herotypes are to be shot on sight, no warning! They’re not going to have time to ask for a last anything, as they’ll never see it coming in the first place!

15. I will never employ any device with a digital countdown. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable, I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

Raina: Yep, done. Not that number, but done.

Witchy: Hourglasses are nice, let’s find a way to incorporate one into a counter. I know, it won’t actually be a counter, but it’d great for mindgames!

/Hey, it’s an hourglass? How the hell do we diffuse an hourglass???/

16. I will never utter the sentence, "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

Raina: Nah, I'll just pay a private investigator to find out for me.

Witchy: You’re not honestly planning on having conversations with the herotypes before you kill them, are ya?

Raina: No.

17. When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

Raina: ~waves at Witchy~

Witchy: Advisors? I’m not yer farkin’ advisor. I’m your muse, is what I am!

18. I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would provide a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

Raina: Right, no daughters either. Same reason.

Witchy: Check! Nix on the kids. If we feel like coddling someone, we’ll have plenty to choose from... ~Drools while eyeballing the galleries~

19. I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance, and she'd betray me.

Raina: Another good reason, but no son for possibly the same reason or if it's a heroine.

Witchy: Doublecheck!!!

20. Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

Raina: Rats, but it's so much fun! Oh, ok.

Witchy: Giggling madly, however is not only recommended, but highly advisable! Besides, them pesky herotypes look upon giggling as cute and harmless. Right! We’ll show them harmless!!!

21. I will hire a talented fashion designer to create original uniforms for my foot-soldiers, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi storm troopers, Roman foot soldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated, and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

Raina: Comfort is a big issue too. You fight better when you aren't trying to dig a wedgy out or avoid being impaled on your buddies' pointy armor.

Witchy: Jeans! Nice, thight fitting jeans, with a little lycra in the blend to allow for free movement, possibly leather in absence of jeans. And tight fitting tee’s, or tanktops? ~Drools at the galleries~

22. No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

Raina: Er... energy fields are NOT on my diet. Doctor's orders.

Witchy: Plus, they make the hair all frizzy...

23. I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

Raina: Already done, plus they are routinely sent to martial arts training classes.

Witchy: I call dibs on the crossbow! Oh, and someone promised me he’d teach me how to use the longbow. Do we have the funds for a shipment of compound bows?

Raina: Yep, sure do. They are on order along with the DNA sequencers. ETA: 3-4 business days

24. I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. Even though this takes some of the fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" After that, death is usually instantaneous.

Raina: Too true.

Witchy: Best way to avoid that, is to make sure we’ll never get into a situation where that would be a given reaction. Hence my “shoot them pesky herotypes on sight” policy!

25. No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible.

Raina: The heroes always steal/take over such devices and used them to destroy everything.

Witchy: Yep, we need to be able to destroy it in a split second, flat! Two remotes, one for each of us, in case of utmost emergency only, will the button be pushed... seeing as it’ll take most of the northern hemisphere with it... *Ouch*

Raina: Note to self: remember to make them so that it has to be one of us as verified by fingerprint analysis. It will also check for a PULSE and require a single one word audio prompt… Mine’s going to be “nards”. Trust me, me saying “nards” after pushing the button is not likely happen anytime short of me opting to blow up most of the northern hemisphere.

Entry One

2006-08-22T09:47:00.000-05:00

Greetings and salutations!

I venture forth in madness and merriment to enlighten and entertain... or annoy to no end, whatever.

Henceforth, I shall be online! Woohoo!