My new iPhone is on the way! It's not the instant gratification that I would have got had I stood in line for days on end, but I'm still pretty excited!
They sent an e-mail telling me how to prep my address book and stuff to be ready to sync, so I'm gettin' ready! It's prompted me to update the online address book and calendar. I've been operating via a paper calendar and the numbers in my phone.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The BIG idea
I've been struggling with something huge in my life and now that I've finally made a decision and am starting to execute the pressure is off and I find myself in a happier place.
I'm sure fear, uncertainty and doubt will creep in from time to time, but I know me, I am generally happier when taking action. When the time is right, I'll loop you in.
I'm not coming out of the closet or quitting my job or anything so keep your shorts on.
I'm sure fear, uncertainty and doubt will creep in from time to time, but I know me, I am generally happier when taking action. When the time is right, I'll loop you in.
I'm not coming out of the closet or quitting my job or anything so keep your shorts on.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Macy's New Customer Service Promise:
Macy's: We Excel at Fixing Our Mistakes!
I'll give Macy's one thing, they sure know how to make up for their customer service errors. I bought some shoes before vacation and the very nice sales person forgot to give me the discount for using the blasted Macy's card. I left a message on the Macy's store web-site and the store manager e-mailed me and fixed the issue without my having to make an extra trip to the store. (Nice!)
When I purchased the new couch and loveseat I wanted to buy some extra fabric to cover the cat scratch zones they sent the wrong stuff. I took it back to the store and re-ordered it... weeks later the wrong fabric arrived again. Grr... I've been moving it around my house trying to work up the desire to go back and deal with it. Lo and behold, they sent a customer satisfaction survey so I mentioned it.
I promise that I didn't flame the salesperson, but just noted my frustration. Tonight, there's an e-mail from the store manager who has credited my account for the cost of the fabric AND sent me a $100 gift certificate for my troubles. I never would have asked for that but won't turn it down - Macy's does good Christmas gifts.
Thanks Macy's for exceeding my poor service resolution expectations!
Maybe they make their money by fixing more complaints faster than the other guys?
Sunday, June 24, 2007
TP gal aka "The Slugger"
I'm on the church co-ed softball team again this year. You may recall that two years ago we took the championship for the Renton Inner City Lower Recreational League (Lower Rec indicates we are the least professional of all non-professional teams.)
Last year we had a great record but on play off day we lost our first game and were eliminated. It was hotter than a vat of oil (what!?) that day and our "ringers" were out but they did beat us fair and square.
So far our record is 3 and 1. I was hoping for a rain out today, but as the hour of the same approached I changed my clothes and headed to the park. The team cheered when I arrived as I rounded out the minimum number of people to play and we wouldn't be charged with a forfeit if the game was called. The other team was scrambling for people and in the end we allowed them to borrow one of our guys as a catcher until their team members could get there.
It was a sad sad sight... the field was a muddy mess and they immediately got four runs. We were able to get the next three players out one - two - three.
Our first up to bat was actually pretty horrifying. We scored 10 runs and was half way through the rotation a second time before they finally ended the inning.
I made it to base on a walk and the next batter moved me to third with an unfortunate bobble at the short stop. My first scoring run was the next hit. (cheers for tpgal!)
The pitcher got me out my next at bat and then in the 5th I was up and hit a grounder (with umph I might add) straight at the pitcher. I thought I was out for sure, but I felt I had done my job by advancing the runner. Her throw to first was a lob that my dead grammy could have caught - but it overshot the first baseman and I got to take second. The next batter made it to first but in the confusion as to where to throw the ball the damned third base coach waved me in.
People... TPgal DOES NOT RUN. It is not a pretty sight - but somehow I beat the throw to home to score my second run (ever!)
The other folks played well too (this is MY blog... if they want glory they should write their own) and the ump called the game at 24-4.
As soon as we stepped off the field and opened a beer (we're church people... we aren't judgey up-tight people) the sky dumped on us like crazy. So, while I prayed for rain (and got rain) in the end it was a fun day.
Last year we had a great record but on play off day we lost our first game and were eliminated. It was hotter than a vat of oil (what!?) that day and our "ringers" were out but they did beat us fair and square.
So far our record is 3 and 1. I was hoping for a rain out today, but as the hour of the same approached I changed my clothes and headed to the park. The team cheered when I arrived as I rounded out the minimum number of people to play and we wouldn't be charged with a forfeit if the game was called. The other team was scrambling for people and in the end we allowed them to borrow one of our guys as a catcher until their team members could get there.
It was a sad sad sight... the field was a muddy mess and they immediately got four runs. We were able to get the next three players out one - two - three.
Our first up to bat was actually pretty horrifying. We scored 10 runs and was half way through the rotation a second time before they finally ended the inning.
I made it to base on a walk and the next batter moved me to third with an unfortunate bobble at the short stop. My first scoring run was the next hit. (cheers for tpgal!)
The pitcher got me out my next at bat and then in the 5th I was up and hit a grounder (with umph I might add) straight at the pitcher. I thought I was out for sure, but I felt I had done my job by advancing the runner. Her throw to first was a lob that my dead grammy could have caught - but it overshot the first baseman and I got to take second. The next batter made it to first but in the confusion as to where to throw the ball the damned third base coach waved me in.
People... TPgal DOES NOT RUN. It is not a pretty sight - but somehow I beat the throw to home to score my second run (ever!)
The other folks played well too (this is MY blog... if they want glory they should write their own) and the ump called the game at 24-4.
As soon as we stepped off the field and opened a beer (we're church people... we aren't judgey up-tight people) the sky dumped on us like crazy. So, while I prayed for rain (and got rain) in the end it was a fun day.
Smart Source It
There was an article in the Sunday paper today about how the education curriculum is becoming so standardized that teachers don't have the latitude to deviate or take classroom discussions into needed areas.
Proponents say that having all students get the same education regardless of which physical school they attend is a good thing. In theory that makes a lot of sense to me, all students with a high school education should have had equal education in the basics.
Where they lose me in the argument is that some classes can go far beyond the basics, and some classes may need to spend more time in the basics this scripted teaching doesn't seem to allow for that.
It also occurs to me that if the entire curriculum is scripted, why do we need to pay professionals to teach? Couldn't we hire some off duty police officers to keep order and an actor to teach the lesson? Better yet - do away with brick and morter schools altogether and have each of the lessons online and kids can learn from home on their pc's.
They can call a 1-800 number for any questions. THe state would save a lot of money and while you might have accredited teachers on the help line at first, as soon as you figured out the top 100 questions you could script the answers and outsource (oops smart source) the call center. If a student made it through the IVR and the "teacher" couldn't answer the question they could escallate the call to tier two support. For a fee you could have access to tier two support without having to talk to a teacher first.
"Thank you for calling Roosevelt High School, please enter your student Id."
(beep, boop, beep beep, boop)
Hello, TP Gal, please enter your class number, for Language Arts, press one.... for assistance in espanole, marque ocho.
"beep"
"Thank you, you have selected Language Arts. Please state the keyword of your question."
"Shakespeare"
"I heard you say shape sphere if that is correct press one"
Oh my, it could go on and on and on. It would be great!
Proponents say that having all students get the same education regardless of which physical school they attend is a good thing. In theory that makes a lot of sense to me, all students with a high school education should have had equal education in the basics.
Where they lose me in the argument is that some classes can go far beyond the basics, and some classes may need to spend more time in the basics this scripted teaching doesn't seem to allow for that.
It also occurs to me that if the entire curriculum is scripted, why do we need to pay professionals to teach? Couldn't we hire some off duty police officers to keep order and an actor to teach the lesson? Better yet - do away with brick and morter schools altogether and have each of the lessons online and kids can learn from home on their pc's.
They can call a 1-800 number for any questions. THe state would save a lot of money and while you might have accredited teachers on the help line at first, as soon as you figured out the top 100 questions you could script the answers and outsource (oops smart source) the call center. If a student made it through the IVR and the "teacher" couldn't answer the question they could escallate the call to tier two support. For a fee you could have access to tier two support without having to talk to a teacher first.
"Thank you for calling Roosevelt High School, please enter your student Id."
(beep, boop, beep beep, boop)
Hello, TP Gal, please enter your class number, for Language Arts, press one.... for assistance in espanole, marque ocho.
"beep"
"Thank you, you have selected Language Arts. Please state the keyword of your question."
"Shakespeare"
"I heard you say shape sphere if that is correct press one"
Oh my, it could go on and on and on. It would be great!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Vatican Issues Ten Commandments for drivers and here are mine:
The "Drivers' Ten Commandments," as listed by the Vatican, are:
1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
TPgal’s Version
I. When merging the rule is ye go, thy go, ye go, thy go…. Take ye turn or ye shall burn in hell
II. When ye see that thy lane is ending, merge at the next possible safe moment, don’t zoom up to the front to by-pass all the safe drivers
III. HANG UP THE PHONE
IV. Pretend not to notice the people who art singing in thine cars.
V. If ye must pass gas, lower the window.
VI. Ye may sing along to songs with someone else in the car but ye may only sing the words to the song as you know them, and ye shall not make up melodies or harmonies.
VII. If ye has had too many cocktails or a nip at the briarweed – ye shall not drive.
VIII. Thine car shall not be a trash bin. (Toss Thy Shite!)
IX. Thine nose shall not be picked while in thee car
X. Speed if ye must, but stay a safe distance back or face the wrath of tpGal.
Friday, June 15, 2007
What a week
I don't want to whine about work, but FRACK I am busy! The new boss has kicked off a huge thing (can't really go into it and honestly it isn't all that interesting) and has doled out assignments to the management team.
Normally, I would just pass these off to the minions and take credit, but since we're down two already I have to buck up and contribute. (What a hassle.) Today was a big due date for some pre-milestones. The PM who is overseeing the work we're doing is REALLY EFFICIENT and while I want to pop him one in the kisser every time he checks in on me I'm going to have my crap done because of his diligence. So, I have to admit that he's extremely effective. You can't fault a dude for being good. I still spit in his coffee every chance I get - a gal can only be so mature.
So, (isn't the work stuff so exciting?) today I ran the first of three huge things (two huge, one not so huge) by the under-boss and the first words out of her mouth was "why are you working on that?" I shat myself a little and clarified (that's business for: screamed in her face) that it was a direct result of her comment that we needed an X strategy. I also mentioned it's been on the status report that PM has been producing to HER weekly. Step up and read the shit you ask for!!!
We finally got on the same page (business for: one of us caved) and I went back to my desk where I got a call from the "other company" that I interviewed with like three months ago. Surprise surprise, they hired someone else. I was completely shocked. I mean come on, we talked once in March and never again... how could they NOT have chosen me? (They'll be sorry and when this dude quits or they have to fire him. They'll really pay to bring me on board - especially now that I have experience writing strategies for things no one wants. That is a skill people pay for!)
I had my review, apparently, I'm a star! Of course, the mid-year rating doesn't mean much but what a great way to keep me working like a dog in the promise of financial compensation at year end! I love it.
Then... (it was a busy day and truth be told this timeline has been adjusted to play in the time allowed) I had a "hand off" meeting with one of my now former co-workers. Hand-off should imply that outgoing person hands a packet of stuff to someone else, not so in this case. About 2 minutes in to the discussion my head popped off my body rose up about 3 feet above the table and exploded like the Death Star. I scooped up the pieces and decided that with an hour left in his last day that no amount of bitchiness on my part would change anything other than a chance to have a cordial relationship with someone who is fun which I guess makes up for the lack of delivery.
Note to all you future consultants... don't offer your 'discounted' service rate to your former employer to finish up the shit you had YEARS to do. You already got paid to do that work...
Breathe deep.
Then, I went back to my desk and answered an email from a friend. She's in public relations and will sometimes ask me to comment on a product or products. It's pretty harmless and who doesn't like to tell others what they think. However, I did reply back with a question.. am I the ONLY person in your focal group? She responded with *giggle* . So I'm guessing yes.
After work, I popped up to the chic bar and had cocktails with the departing dude. I held my tongue because I'm a good person. (Well, I held my tongue until 9:45 tonight when I let the angry raging bitch loose.)
Anyway - I'm glad this week is over. I intend to sleep in tomorrow, catch up on laundry, update the book group blog and figure out the plan for the evening tomorrow. (Got me some ballet tickets and we're supposed to have dinner but the e-mail planning didn't really pan out.)
Normally, I would just pass these off to the minions and take credit, but since we're down two already I have to buck up and contribute. (What a hassle.) Today was a big due date for some pre-milestones. The PM who is overseeing the work we're doing is REALLY EFFICIENT and while I want to pop him one in the kisser every time he checks in on me I'm going to have my crap done because of his diligence. So, I have to admit that he's extremely effective. You can't fault a dude for being good. I still spit in his coffee every chance I get - a gal can only be so mature.
So, (isn't the work stuff so exciting?) today I ran the first of three huge things (two huge, one not so huge) by the under-boss and the first words out of her mouth was "why are you working on that?" I shat myself a little and clarified (that's business for: screamed in her face) that it was a direct result of her comment that we needed an X strategy. I also mentioned it's been on the status report that PM has been producing to HER weekly. Step up and read the shit you ask for!!!
We finally got on the same page (business for: one of us caved) and I went back to my desk where I got a call from the "other company" that I interviewed with like three months ago. Surprise surprise, they hired someone else. I was completely shocked. I mean come on, we talked once in March and never again... how could they NOT have chosen me? (They'll be sorry and when this dude quits or they have to fire him. They'll really pay to bring me on board - especially now that I have experience writing strategies for things no one wants. That is a skill people pay for!)
I had my review, apparently, I'm a star! Of course, the mid-year rating doesn't mean much but what a great way to keep me working like a dog in the promise of financial compensation at year end! I love it.
Then... (it was a busy day and truth be told this timeline has been adjusted to play in the time allowed) I had a "hand off" meeting with one of my now former co-workers. Hand-off should imply that outgoing person hands a packet of stuff to someone else, not so in this case. About 2 minutes in to the discussion my head popped off my body rose up about 3 feet above the table and exploded like the Death Star. I scooped up the pieces and decided that with an hour left in his last day that no amount of bitchiness on my part would change anything other than a chance to have a cordial relationship with someone who is fun which I guess makes up for the lack of delivery.
Note to all you future consultants... don't offer your 'discounted' service rate to your former employer to finish up the shit you had YEARS to do. You already got paid to do that work...
Breathe deep.
Then, I went back to my desk and answered an email from a friend. She's in public relations and will sometimes ask me to comment on a product or products. It's pretty harmless and who doesn't like to tell others what they think. However, I did reply back with a question.. am I the ONLY person in your focal group? She responded with *giggle* . So I'm guessing yes.
After work, I popped up to the chic bar and had cocktails with the departing dude. I held my tongue because I'm a good person. (Well, I held my tongue until 9:45 tonight when I let the angry raging bitch loose.)
Anyway - I'm glad this week is over. I intend to sleep in tomorrow, catch up on laundry, update the book group blog and figure out the plan for the evening tomorrow. (Got me some ballet tickets and we're supposed to have dinner but the e-mail planning didn't really pan out.)
Thursday, June 14, 2007
That's not a double entendre.... there's no other way to take it
A new co-hort at MegaBank said that during one of his interviews with a senior manager she was asking a thousand questions on one topic. (She wanted to hire someone that "could go ten questions deep" into the security domain.) While she was asking the next layer question he said he caught onto her game and said to himself... Strap it on!!! Uh, I can't be too sure, but I think the phrase is "bring it on."
He tried to cover with "Oh I meant, you know, strap it on like a backpack."
Yeah... and when I tell you to "kiss off" I'm nicely saying goodbye.
He tried to cover with "Oh I meant, you know, strap it on like a backpack."
Yeah... and when I tell you to "kiss off" I'm nicely saying goodbye.
Testing Photos Via Email
Guess not… unless the photo is a blank box with an error symbol. You never know you may someday need to post one of those and blogspot will come to the rescue.
Testing Photos Via Email
Blogspot lets you post remotely by sending e-mail to a special address. It’s pretty great and it will retain the formatting if you send in HTML (my mom read that and thought to herself, “hitmal?”) I’m wondering if it will post pictures that are sent via e-mail as well….
Let’s try it shall we? Below this sentence (in my e-mail) is a picture of an unlit light-bulb. Can you see it?
Monday, June 11, 2007
Fictionary
Clobberation: (noun) Working “together”. The act of working together with one or more people to achieve something However, one or more people have strong and unmovable opinions about the outcome and will take all measures to get their own way.
In a sentence:
“Mary invited me to a clobberation session where she had all the answers pre-defined before I walked in the room. Any attempt on my part to propose an alternate suggestion was met with complete resistance. Later, when I disagreed with her in a meeting with my boss she screamed at me “But we agreed in our working session!”
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Ramblings
I'm sad to see the picture of Duran Duran move to a lower profile in the blog. That photo represents a me that pops up every now and then. She's perky and silly.
The today TPgal is a little more responsible than TPgal circa 1984, but 1984 girl is still inside.
One little work story (maybe two) it has been established that the work e-mail system is on the fritz and personal e-mails have been lost. A quick chat with the offended friend today eliminated the need for paranoia. Whew! We won't be playing cards anytime soon, but at least we'll be hanging out!
Second story - one of my favorite co-workers is leaving for a new job. SportBoy is headed off to greener pastures and I wish him luck. The crazy thing is that the new BIG BOSS has decided that I'm the new "Marketing and PR" guru and the replacement SportBoy person will report to me. My minionhood grows and grows. However, as the smartest person on the team pointed out today my team just grew by negative 1. (The responsibility but no body.)
So in a year I went from one person to rule over to eight... dang I am management. I guess my next task is to figure out how to make their lives miserable so I can feel important.
In real life, I got a call from Elizabeth at Empire Windows about the entry I made into a drawing for all new windows in my house. "Sorry Elizabeth, it's a condo, I didn't enter a drawing. Don't call again." Click. Crazy telemarketers.
Talked to the parents, who are back from their whirlwind trip to Salt Lake City for a visit with my older Bother (that's how dad refers to him for me.) The visit was SHORT. Kev-o's wife and my parents don't mix well. Kev & M&D were chatting in the living room and Dee was in the kitchen and wigged out because she "KNEW" they were talking about her, so she stormed out. So, then... they talked about her. DUH.
It's easy for me to sit back and wonder at how she can be a b-atch sometimes and why does he stay? But what do I know... single gal, no mans, maybe you deal with your partner being a complete wacko sometimes because you love them? I don't think that's entirely true to the same level of slamming doors and storming out (that's a tad bit immature) but everyone has their nutz-o moments right? Even those of you with 2.3 kids and the little house in whitey-McWhite neighborhoods have your moments... right?
The today TPgal is a little more responsible than TPgal circa 1984, but 1984 girl is still inside.
One little work story (maybe two) it has been established that the work e-mail system is on the fritz and personal e-mails have been lost. A quick chat with the offended friend today eliminated the need for paranoia. Whew! We won't be playing cards anytime soon, but at least we'll be hanging out!
Second story - one of my favorite co-workers is leaving for a new job. SportBoy is headed off to greener pastures and I wish him luck. The crazy thing is that the new BIG BOSS has decided that I'm the new "Marketing and PR" guru and the replacement SportBoy person will report to me. My minionhood grows and grows. However, as the smartest person on the team pointed out today my team just grew by negative 1. (The responsibility but no body.)
So in a year I went from one person to rule over to eight... dang I am management. I guess my next task is to figure out how to make their lives miserable so I can feel important.
In real life, I got a call from Elizabeth at Empire Windows about the entry I made into a drawing for all new windows in my house. "Sorry Elizabeth, it's a condo, I didn't enter a drawing. Don't call again." Click. Crazy telemarketers.
Talked to the parents, who are back from their whirlwind trip to Salt Lake City for a visit with my older Bother (that's how dad refers to him for me.) The visit was SHORT. Kev-o's wife and my parents don't mix well. Kev & M&D were chatting in the living room and Dee was in the kitchen and wigged out because she "KNEW" they were talking about her, so she stormed out. So, then... they talked about her. DUH.
It's easy for me to sit back and wonder at how she can be a b-atch sometimes and why does he stay? But what do I know... single gal, no mans, maybe you deal with your partner being a complete wacko sometimes because you love them? I don't think that's entirely true to the same level of slamming doors and storming out (that's a tad bit immature) but everyone has their nutz-o moments right? Even those of you with 2.3 kids and the little house in whitey-McWhite neighborhoods have your moments... right?
Monday, June 04, 2007
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
As a kid I laughed at the older generation for spending big dollars to see aged bands from their childhoods. What was the attraction? I wanted them to say good-bye to the seventies and embrace all that was right with the cool and totally awesome 80's.
Now that I'm *choke* almost 39 I see the attraction. A few years ago Duran Duran came on a tour and not only did I pay big bucks to go, but I almost cried when the music filled the arena. At one point I had to take a breath and soak in that I actually was there. No, Duran Duran is not at the same level as say the Beatles or for you youngsters the Nirvana reunion tour, but for a gal who had Simon LeBon posters plastered all over her room it was pretty great.
I did manage to skip the Air Supply Native American Casino Tour and the Rick Springfield, Rockin' the County Fair Tour. But the Hall and Oats concert at the pier made the list.
Next up, The Police! My seats suck, but I'm actually in the arena so I'm happy. I'm looking forward to it, but I wish I had old concert T-shirts to wear so I could be really cool.
Thankfully I can't put my finger on who I'm holding out to see next. Michael Jackson had a pretty big hold over me as a teenager, but now it's just sad, creepy and morally repugnant. I enjoyed the likes of Wham!, but am pretty sure that world touring might be a parole violation.
Ooh, actually I would go see Tears For Fears, but that's because I really loved their last album and because I need to Shout! Shout! Let it all out. (Get THAT out of your head!)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Paranoia
Memorial Day Weekend with friends was great but it kind of ended on an odd note. I resorted to name calling during a card game (and it was totally not done in anger, hate, or frustration) and I went too far. The name calling 'thing' is a terrible habit that I picked up from the family.
It isn't intended to be anything but funny. Clearly, I need to tone it down as I offended my friend Patti. She made it clear that she didn't appreciate it but finished the game where (thankfully I lost) but was quiet the rest of the evening.
She and J. left at 6am the next day so we didn't really get a chance to make amends. She did however leave their dog bowls behind. Rather than having S&K mail the dishes back I took them and dropped them at her house on my way home.
I haven't heard from either Patti or J. since the weekend and I thought for sure I at least would have received a small 'thanks' message as their house is about an hour out of my way. But there's been no communication.
I did fire off an e-mail mid-week regarding a dispute we had over the weekend as to the age of Lindsay Lohan and whether or not it was creepy that the guys think she's hot. She's 20, but it's still creepy. Poor poor rich girl.
So, I'm giving her some space, but I will not allow this friendship to just poof away over something stupid like bad sportsmanship on my part. The other thing to note is that she's out of town on business and probably hasn't given it a second thought. Once the negative thoughts stop swirling in my head I'll approach her as is nothing happened (for the record I apologized the moment the unfortunate word popped out of my mouth. In fact I think the sound of my apology overlapped the sound of the word. It was instant awareness.)
You all know that the last thing I need is to be dropped by another friend.
It isn't intended to be anything but funny. Clearly, I need to tone it down as I offended my friend Patti. She made it clear that she didn't appreciate it but finished the game where (thankfully I lost) but was quiet the rest of the evening.
She and J. left at 6am the next day so we didn't really get a chance to make amends. She did however leave their dog bowls behind. Rather than having S&K mail the dishes back I took them and dropped them at her house on my way home.
I haven't heard from either Patti or J. since the weekend and I thought for sure I at least would have received a small 'thanks' message as their house is about an hour out of my way. But there's been no communication.
I did fire off an e-mail mid-week regarding a dispute we had over the weekend as to the age of Lindsay Lohan and whether or not it was creepy that the guys think she's hot. She's 20, but it's still creepy. Poor poor rich girl.
So, I'm giving her some space, but I will not allow this friendship to just poof away over something stupid like bad sportsmanship on my part. The other thing to note is that she's out of town on business and probably hasn't given it a second thought. Once the negative thoughts stop swirling in my head I'll approach her as is nothing happened (for the record I apologized the moment the unfortunate word popped out of my mouth. In fact I think the sound of my apology overlapped the sound of the word. It was instant awareness.)
You all know that the last thing I need is to be dropped by another friend.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Movie Review: The Break Up
These reviews are free so they can't all be timely. The Break Up staring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn is playing nightly on HBO and pay-per-view.
May I just say how delighted I am that I missed it at the theater. It wasn't funny and it's not really clear which character you're supposed to root for. Gary is a selfish snob, and Brooke is a wicked bi-Atch.
They pulled out all the stops and include a nice little part for Jon Favreau - who was so awesome in Swingers. He's the guy that brought us ELF - a wonderful pairing of Bob Newhart and Will Farrel. Even the witty and quick banter between Jon and Vince couldn't make this film enjoyable.
It's not as bad as Gigli or the Golden Bowl (the standard for all bad movies) but it was right up there with a Ben Aflec movie.
YUCK!
May I just say how delighted I am that I missed it at the theater. It wasn't funny and it's not really clear which character you're supposed to root for. Gary is a selfish snob, and Brooke is a wicked bi-Atch.
They pulled out all the stops and include a nice little part for Jon Favreau - who was so awesome in Swingers. He's the guy that brought us ELF - a wonderful pairing of Bob Newhart and Will Farrel. Even the witty and quick banter between Jon and Vince couldn't make this film enjoyable.
It's not as bad as Gigli or the Golden Bowl (the standard for all bad movies) but it was right up there with a Ben Aflec movie.
YUCK!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Stupid thing to do before a road trip
Last night I tried to figure out why some of my newest music isn’t on my iPod and now I’m regretting it.
The reason and solution are technically very simple. The iPod was originally formatted on a PC – meaning it was configured to synch with my crappy dell laptop. Now that my life is on a Mac the iPod needed to be reformatted to “talk’ to the Mac.
The reconfiguration took about 2 minutes but to complete the process the iPod needed to be plugged into the original charger for about 20 seconds. Unfortunately for me, the charger is at work. So I brought the iPod to the office, plugged it in a voila it is reconfigured. There’s no music on it, but when I get back to my Mac (on MONDAY) I can load my tunes.
In hind site, the old music would have been preferable on my 4+ hour car ride tonight than NO music. I could drive home after work, load music and THEN head over the mountains, but is it really worth the extra 90 minutes? I have radio and 4 cassette tapes (I have a seriously old school radio in my car). The tapes are awesome:
Footloose Soundtrack
America’s Greatest Hits
Air Supply’s Greatest Hits
Jim Croche’s Greatest Hit
Maybe I’ll hit a Fred Meyer or borders on the way out and see if anyone has any cassette tapes.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Duck and Brother
Kev-o my older brother (or older bother as he's known in the inner circles) is a good guy. He works hard, loves his wife, is a good dad to her daughters, and tries to do the right things in life.
He joined the Marine's out of high school, and seemed to enjoy the brotherhood and the life. It wasn't always easy, but he was in for eight years. Those eight years included a tour in Iraq in 1990. Desert Storm V1.0. After he got home he got out and home life took over.
Eight years is a long time, and there's retirement monies there that are not lost to you if you join the Reserves or the National Guard, which is what he did. As a National Guardsman he spends a few hours a month, earns some extra cash and continues working towards a retirement check from the military. It's good deal.
9/11 happens and we (the family) are thankful that he's not in the Reserves as those folks are heading back to the Middle East. Kevin's unit got called up for a year to guard some super secret place in driving distance from his family in the Salt Lake City area (no they aren't Mormon - but everybody asks.) This ends up being a pretty good deal for them, he serves, he's home for most weekends, his job works out. Once it was over he went back to normal life.
After Katrina Kevin's unit went to Louisiana to help. He said it was sad and rewarding all at the same time. He felt a special connection to the people because "our people" are from there.
Life goes on, he's back to work, and yet this War in Iraq wages on. I care about the news reports and I feel for the families, but day after day is too much. Soon I'm focusing on Katie Holmes and her odd marriage, and funny things I see everyday. It's just easier to ignore it.
The news reports that the last of the stateside Reserve units are being called up. It barely blips in my head until I get the panicky phone call from Mom. Kevin's going back to Iraq. She doesn't say it, but our fears are in sync... what if we used up all of our luck the first time around?
People I've told ask what he does and when I say he's a driver, their response is to look away and say "oh." I try not to let the fact that the only fatalities the news talks about are related to IED's or roadside bombs scare the crap out of me. Of course they aren't going to comment on gun battles. Heck, it wasn't four years after he got home the first time that he shared that he wasn't just driving the mail around but that he was actually shooting at people. The news is skewed - so you can't let it scare you.
Mom listens to the latest out of Washington and the pressure that the President is getting to come up with an exit strategy and is filled with hope that he won't have to go. Sorry mom, these aren't people who care; they want to be re-elected. Totally different thing. Kevin himself seems resigned to the situation, "been there done that, what's there to be nervous about?" That's a nice state of mind.
What they want with a 42 year old asthmatic smoker is beyond me, but they're taking him. So, he's going. Yesterday he found out he's leaving June 12th. Mom and Dad will make the trip to SLC to visit and I will try to go. (the new boss, just had two weeks of vacation makes that a little more complicated than normal.) Mom gets all Momish when Kev's in peril which makes me think that she'll be better off without me there. However, I am a nice buffer for the unfortunate tense relations between Mom and Kev's wife. (There isn't enough time to go into that.) So, we'll see if I'm going.
That's the news...
He joined the Marine's out of high school, and seemed to enjoy the brotherhood and the life. It wasn't always easy, but he was in for eight years. Those eight years included a tour in Iraq in 1990. Desert Storm V1.0. After he got home he got out and home life took over.
Eight years is a long time, and there's retirement monies there that are not lost to you if you join the Reserves or the National Guard, which is what he did. As a National Guardsman he spends a few hours a month, earns some extra cash and continues working towards a retirement check from the military. It's good deal.
9/11 happens and we (the family) are thankful that he's not in the Reserves as those folks are heading back to the Middle East. Kevin's unit got called up for a year to guard some super secret place in driving distance from his family in the Salt Lake City area (no they aren't Mormon - but everybody asks.) This ends up being a pretty good deal for them, he serves, he's home for most weekends, his job works out. Once it was over he went back to normal life.
After Katrina Kevin's unit went to Louisiana to help. He said it was sad and rewarding all at the same time. He felt a special connection to the people because "our people" are from there.
Life goes on, he's back to work, and yet this War in Iraq wages on. I care about the news reports and I feel for the families, but day after day is too much. Soon I'm focusing on Katie Holmes and her odd marriage, and funny things I see everyday. It's just easier to ignore it.
The news reports that the last of the stateside Reserve units are being called up. It barely blips in my head until I get the panicky phone call from Mom. Kevin's going back to Iraq. She doesn't say it, but our fears are in sync... what if we used up all of our luck the first time around?
People I've told ask what he does and when I say he's a driver, their response is to look away and say "oh." I try not to let the fact that the only fatalities the news talks about are related to IED's or roadside bombs scare the crap out of me. Of course they aren't going to comment on gun battles. Heck, it wasn't four years after he got home the first time that he shared that he wasn't just driving the mail around but that he was actually shooting at people. The news is skewed - so you can't let it scare you.
Mom listens to the latest out of Washington and the pressure that the President is getting to come up with an exit strategy and is filled with hope that he won't have to go. Sorry mom, these aren't people who care; they want to be re-elected. Totally different thing. Kevin himself seems resigned to the situation, "been there done that, what's there to be nervous about?" That's a nice state of mind.
What they want with a 42 year old asthmatic smoker is beyond me, but they're taking him. So, he's going. Yesterday he found out he's leaving June 12th. Mom and Dad will make the trip to SLC to visit and I will try to go. (the new boss, just had two weeks of vacation makes that a little more complicated than normal.) Mom gets all Momish when Kev's in peril which makes me think that she'll be better off without me there. However, I am a nice buffer for the unfortunate tense relations between Mom and Kev's wife. (There isn't enough time to go into that.) So, we'll see if I'm going.
That's the news...
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