The Two Rs

Today is all about the Two R's - Ranting and Raving.

What is it with people? Aggghhhh. I could just pull my hair out. My one remaining coworker was out for a week, in last week, and out from noon yesterday to 1:30 today. All on business, but still out of the office. Since our other coworker left over a week ago, I am the one that has been helping train our new admin on the mail & on all sorts of stuff pertaining to her position as assistant to my coworker, and taking all phone calls. All this while helping my boss with this week's governance board meeting, a 2-day in house seminar I put together for a major carrier and partner of ours, helping with accounting functions, and my regular job. Which just so happens to include one of our week long seminars next week, where I have 90+ people attending.

My coworker is pissed because I asked her to take her phone off of mute/do-not-disturb. She has "too much to do" and has "renewals". Tough. S%*@. I told her I'm busy too, and am not going to field her calls for her. I've been taking them for the last 2 weeks. I told her if she didn't want to take her phone off do not disturb, I'd just forward the front desk extension directly to her instead of me, because I'm not going to deal with her cranky clients. (Justifiably cranky because she is never here and never takes phone calls when she is!)  Then she could sort through the resulting voice mails. She got all pissy, but took her phone off DND. Hah.

I am just too cranky and tired and over-worked to deal with her you-know-what. It has been an insane 4 months for me at work and I am just out of all patience!!

Math in the Real World

My worst classes in school were math. I hated it, struggled with it, never saw the point. Really, I'm only half-joking when I say I did okay in math until we hit fractions. And percentages. I still shiver internally a little when I see that percentage symbol or have to figure out a percentage. (At least now I can use my cell phone when at the store and people think I'm just texting, not trying to figure out if that discount is really worth it.)

I'm sure in my day I complained bitterly about math having no use in my daily life. Well, I learned an object lesson today that it does. And I'm glad I muddled through somehow.

I finally got Lo.we.s to give me a final quote on the windows I want replaced on the house. I've decided to do all five. Well, the whole thing has been going on since the beginning of September. They keep losing my paperwork, and then never got back to me with the final price of the labor. I went to the department manager and told him since it was apparent they didn't want my business, I was just going to go somewhere else. That got them moving. Hah.

So today at lunch I went in to get the final estimate and place the order on the windows. Well, because they took so long to get back to me, the 15% sale on the Pe.l.la windows was long over. Luckily I had a printed estimate with the sale price. They honored it because they never called me back with the final cost so I could place the order.

All we were waiting on was the contractors charge for finishing out the window install. He hadn't submitted it because I wasn't sure how many windows I was going to replace. They charge $139 to install the actual window, then it's so much per linear foot to finish it out.  (FYI, this does not mean the square footage). Their installation price is $139 per window. So really, it should have just been a few hundred dollars more, right?  Wrong. More like $800!

Thinking Too Hard

A few weeks ago while on the road for work, I stumbled across a new show on TLC. I'd seen previews for it, but hadn't particularly decided to watch or not to watch. I had some time to kill before taking our national faculty out for dinner, and seeing as how the hotel cable channel lineup was limited, I decided to watch. And have been watching ever since.

It's called Sis.ter W.i.ves, and follows a polygamist family in Utah. Up until now, I had assumed that all FLDS believers lived on compounds and kept out of the mainstream. You know, those weirdos that marry 12 year olds, and subjugate the women. Well, you know what they say about "assume". It makes an "a$$" of "u" and "me". I know better.

But anyway. This family is really interesting. It's one husband and three "wives", and among them they have 13 children. From teenagers to a newborn. (OMG! Can you imagine the chaos?) They all live in the same "house" but have separate apartments. So it's more like a three-plex. The husband is about to marry a fourth wife (at the instigation of the first).

Bits N Pieces

Exercise Status: 30 minutes Zum.ba, 20 minutes Treadmill

Okay, it's official. I make lousy coffee. If you're ever at my house & want coffee, I advise you to make it yourself or go out and buy it. Ughh. I bought a mocha on the way in to work today. McD's, which isn't the best, but it's cheaper. And right now they're playing mono.pol.y, so...I was going to buy anyway from one of the coffee shacks, so why not get McD's and play the game? Anyway. It isn't the best, but I finished it fast, and wanted more. So I poured a cup of the stuff I made this morning, and it's awful. I think I need to take some lessons.

Had a good evening yesterday. On the way to the gym I managed to talk to my sister's oldest, G. On the way home from the gym I got to talk to all 3 of my brother's kids. Only niece I didn't get to talk to was the one year old because, well, she's one. But I heard her babbling in the background. I had a lot of fun. And am thrilled my nephew N even talked to me a bit. He usually doesn't.

And inbetween all that I managed to survive Zu.mba. Well, 30 minutes of it. Then I escaped and did another 20 minutes on the treadmill.

Now I just need to get my sister, brother and sister-in-law on the phone! :) Not adding my parents to that list, because I talk to them weekly. It's the others that are hit and miss!

Pumpkins Growing in Trees? It must be Global Warming. ;)

Due to lots of rain, this pumpkin vine in Iowa spread up into a tree and is sprouting pumpkins.

Check out the bottom right corner.

At least they don't have to worry about the bottoms flattening out and getting mushy!

Wonder how big they can grow before they'll drop?

I found another story about one that grew up into an apple tree and was sprouting next to apples. What a hoot. You could even see them in the pictures.

I want one of these. Of course, I'd actually have to have a tree in my yard. Which I don't. Bummer.

Side note: This reminds me of the PS2 game I have for "The Nigh.tm.are Bef.ore Xmas". In particular, the spot in the game where you have to get to the giant tree and use the branches to get to the top and collect all the items in it. I swear they're pumpkins or something. I should get that out this weekend. Seems like a good time of year for this game. ;)

Ahh, Autumn. What a glorious time of year!

Halloween Howlings

This has to be one of my most favorite months of the year. Halloween is, hands down, the funnest, least stressful holiday for me. What's not to like? It's all about fun and food and dressing up.

And October feels like such a powerful month. Especially here, where the air is rich with the changing season. There's a feeling of power in the air, of change, of expectation...It lends itself to a magical spooky holiday so well.

It's funny that I do love Halloween so much, considering I really do not like to be scared. As little sis' older sibling found out when she scared me a few years back and I nearly clocked her. Actually, I think they have all figured that out. The hard way. [g]

Several years back (okay, over a decade ago!) I went to Ha.llow.een Hor.ro.r Nig.hts with a friend of mine. Talk about stressful. For those of you not from the central Flor.ida area, it's a special event Uni.ver.sal Studios theme park does at night during the month of October. When I went, they had mist/fog machines, haunted houses galore and I don't know what else. I pretty much went through the haunted houses clutching my friend in front of me for guidance as I buried my face in her back. You want scary, go there. OMG do they know how to do scary. (And this year is special - it's the 20th year they've been doing this!)

All the employees wore costumes too. And some of them just wandered around the park. You'd be standing there and some monster or ghoul or axe murderer would walk up behind you. When not burying my face in my friend's back, I walked in circles. Seriously. With each step I would spin as I moved. So no-one could creep up on me. Ackkk.

But when all is said and done, I did have fun that night. Especially once we realized some of the regular rides were open and there were no lines. Although I'm not sure my friend N did! She probably had no clue what a chicken I am until that night. LOL.

This year should be less fear-filled. No big plans. Shanni is old enough I doubt we'll trick or treat. She's probably going to a party with friends now that she's in high school. So I have no costume picked out. And I won't be buying candy since there aren't a lot of kids in my area. Maybe I'll have a party for us "adults" at my house. Without scary movies. Or I'll never get to sleep. ;)

Reaping the Whirlwind

What a month. What a summer. Where in the heck did it go? Because it is officially fall now. Sheesh. I had a wonderful time in SF with my sister the last week. Of the 10 days gone, I had to give 2.5 to a work conference (which paid for my ticket out there!!!). That was additionally beneficial because I WON AN IP.AD.

Yes, you read that right! One of the conference vendors donated a 32GB WiFi iPa.d. Not 3G capable, but who cares? No 3G phone service where I live anyway! So it's basically a larger iP.od touch, but oh, so much cooler! Also at the conference I got to meet up with Janet W for dinner. That was a lot of fun! She even brought me some books! Whoo-hoo!

I can't believe how much my nieces have grown! Especially G, the oldest. What a young lady she is. It's wonderful! We had so much fun playing, even if I had a few headaches while I was there. She was extremely understanding. She is a really good kid. Especially with her 1 year old sister. Very patient, and more gentle/tolerant than you might expect a 7 year old to be!

S, my 1 yo niece, is hilarious. Shy at first, but once she warmed up to me it was great. She walks holding on to just one of your fingers. Actually, it's not really a walk, more like a full-speed-ahead charge! When you give her that finger to hold onto you'd better be ready to move! She's chattering up a storm, and is a great eater. Particularly loves bananas. Her favorite person is her big sister G. Wants to have and do everything her big sister does. It's so cute. Gonna be interesting when she gets a little older. [g]

I even got to spend some one-on-one time with my sister, which was fabulous. Those moments are too few and far between. She is such a good mom, both kids are wonderful. She is also amazingly patient, although she doesn't think so!!!!

My bil was on work travel the last half of the week, and we couldn't have timed our flights any better. His flight had landed at the same terminal I was leaving from right before my sis was dropping me off. He walked up just as I was starting the goodbyes. Which was fortuitous because I hate saying goodbye in the first place, and saying goodbye to niece G is much worse! She was just starting the "I don't want Tia to go" and the "Why does Tia have to go" bit when she spotted her daddy walking up. :) A great distraction!!!

(Please pardon the exclamation points. I blame it on excessive tiredness and coffee)

Other People's Words

Found an interesting link on BBC today, about the difference between religious tolerance and freedom that I think is worth sharing:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11200987

From there I found another link about the meaning of the word "liberal" that I thought fun. And confusing in a light-hearted sort of way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10658070

Just some things I'm thinking about lately. Especially the first one. It amazes me how people can believe in religious freedom so fervently, yet show very little tolerance. For me, they should be one and the same. I've been reading up on Is.la.m, and am finding (duh!) that the basic beliefs are extremely similar to Chri.sti.ani.ty (gasp!), J.ud.ais.m, and other religions. If people would just take the time to shut their mouths and use their brains to learn about what they don't know, instead of blindly following the loudest pack leader...

When Your Feet Hurt, It's Hard to Sleep

Apparently two days of painting makes my feet hurt really, really badly. And just as apparently, I have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep when my feet do hurt this bad. I'm sitting down right now and they hurt without any pressure on them. Yikes.

Shani, her mom (M), and her sister-in-law (A) came over Sunday and yesterday to help me paint the laundry room and kitchen. Oh, what a chore. But it really needed doing. I had taken Friday off, and really wanted to start that day and go through Sunday. I knew it was a big job. But I couldn't convince the others. Mostly M.

Traveling Tales

Finally, finally made the drive over to Pburg that I've been wanting to do for a long time.

Last weekend was the weekend I was supposed to go to K with my little sister and her family. I even had Friday off. Except we just couldn't see paying the high prices to stay two nights up there. It's prime tourist season, so...

We decided instead to head over to DL to see the old territory prison and museum. It's about an hour or so to get there, and is a nice drive. They were having a free-admission day, so it seemed a good day to go. Shani was doing some volunteer work earlier on Saturday, so we didn't leave until about 2pm. Which was plenty of time to get there and see the prison and the attached car museum, as well as the toy/doll museum across the street.

The prison was suitably creepy, having been built in the 1800's and subsequently added on to. The car museum was suitably cool. They literally started with the horse and buggy and moved up to the present day. Well, up to the 80's, I think. I had no idea it was so big. Every time I turned a corner, there was another room! They had some pretty nifty cars.

I must admit, I have never been all that into cars. But I was wandering through the room with the cars from the 50s-70s, and came upon the original Mustang. Now that is a very nice car. But it was the one just down from it that made my hear skip a beat when I saw it. Seriously. I have never reacted to a car like that. It wasn't even an original, but a replica Shelby Cobra. Blue and white just like the one in the picture I linked to.

Runaway, Tattletale

So I was sitting here last night, half-heartedly reading a book after catching the end of a truly disturbing documentary on the Green channel. (More about that later.) We're going through a cold front, so I'd had the back door closed all evening. I'd just openened it maybe 10 minutes prior, and the dogs were outside. Leia has this habit of running back inside like she's being chased, making a circuit of the living room, and then going back out. It's as if she's checking on me or letting me know she's still around.

Anyway. She ran back inside after being out only a few minutes, stopped just in front of the sofa, stared at me, then ran off. Except she came back within seconds and stared at me again. It really was as if she wanted me to follow her. So I did. She was soooo excited I was following her she twirled in place a few times. Then alternately led/followed me outside.

I called for Max because he is usually the one that sticks close, and Leia's behavior made me a little nervous. She was definitely acting like something was wrong out there. No Max. I called again. And then heard a little jingle from a dog collar, and saw a tiny shape running up to the fence...on the neighbor's side.

The front gate had gotten unlatched somehow (it's been a bit breezy shall we say?) and he went exploring. Leia apparently didn't like this. I've been practicing training them to stay in the yard when the gate is opened. I guess it's taking with her. (Too bad she doesn't understand this includes going under the fence!) She came to get me because Max had gotten out of the yard. Who knew?

When I brought Max back in the house and put him down, she jumped all over him, sniffing him, etc, making sure he was okay. LOL. Too funny. I still can't believe she tattled on him. :)

It's A Conspiracy

Sitrep: Perfect Cardio 1 - warmup, abs, stretches (~20min)

Stopped at Wallyworld last night to pick up some freezer bags, and lo and behold, they've moved the pasta and tomato sauce aisle front and center. [Sob]

The main aisle on the grocery side entrance runs straight to the back of the store, with the groceries on the right, clothes and rest of the store on the left. The recent reorganization puts all the pasta and pasta sauces right along this aisle. The whole length of the grocery section.

OMG. What am I going to do? It was so much easier to avoid when it was an aisle I could skip. Out of sight, out of mind, you know? I have no impulse control. No will power. Not when it comes to tomato sauce. Now I have to pass it to get to anything in the grocery section.

I should sue. ;)

Almost a month already?

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. Things have obviously been crazy busy here. We held our annual convention for work last week. It was a great success, but the weeks leading up to it were insane. I hate having the convention so close to a major holiday. Getting off early on a Friday and having a Monday off should be fun, not stress-inducing!

The 4th of July weekend was fun. On Saturday I cleaned like a madwoman, including renting one of those steam cleaners for my sofa. Little Sis' family came over to watch the fireworks, and we barbecued. Actually, I think it was the first barbecue of the season. That's how late summer has come to us! We had a lot of fun, especially Shanni's SIL. We introduced her to Sin.gs.tar for the PS2. I had no idea she loves karaoke so much.

Anyway. Fireworks were spectacular. No fires set by any neighbors, no runaway dogs...I was in bed by midnight and sleeping. A first for the 4th since moving into my house. It made me miss Scully, though. She hated fireworks and would bark all night long. Max and Leia aren't fazed in the least by the noise. A blessing!

That week a virus got let loose on our network (thankfully only affecting my laptop meaning I downloaded it! oops!) but it was a nightmare to clean up. Took three different antivirus/spam programs. The following weekend Shanni and I went rafting on the Missouri with a neighbor of mine. But that's a story best left to its own post.

Then the convention, which meant a week out of town working 15 hour days. Ughh. Last weekend I was pretty much a slug. Went on a puppy hunt (for someone else!) that Saturday, and mowed and grocery shopped on Sunday. This week has been all about playing catch-up both at home and at work!

Awesome Weekend

Sitrep: Gaining weight and not happy about it! But do you think I can make myself exercise? Nope.

Do you ever have one of those weekends where everything just seems to fall together? I just did. And it was wonderful.

Saturday I had a "free" day. Slept in, then headed down to the bookstore. Then I hit the used bookstore, then the independent bookstore downtown, and the library. After that I went home and read the whole afternoon. It was a beautiful day, sunshiny and breezy, temps in the 80's.

Have You Ever...

tried to take a pee sample from a skittish miniature poodle? I don't recommend it. Unless you like pee all over your hand and nothing in the jar. Except dirt. Did manage to get dirt. [sigh]

Leia has a bladder infection; doc gave her an antibiotic shot last week Monday, but she started licking herself again this weekend, and not in the usual dog-licking-themself kind of way. The vet had given me a sterile sample jar in case she got worse, not better. He wants to do a urinalysis. (Thank goodness I got that pet health insurance!)

She won't pee if I'm bending or squatting next to her, and it's hard to walk her in that position anyway. [g] And even as short as I am, by the time I bend down to stick the jar's cap under her (vet tech suggestion), she jumps away. I think I'll bring her in and let them get the sample. They offered to do that if I had problems. For some reason I don't like starting my day by getting peed on.

Nothing Doing

Didn't do much over the weekend. Was rather lazy. Didn't help that the lilacs are blooming. Ugh. It's pretty miserable the few weeks they are in bloom. Darn allergies. This year it's affecting my eyes/head. Minor tension type headache and sore/blurry eyes. Keep wanting to rub them which a) makes it worse and b) messes up my contacts.

Took Leia Saturday morning to the local "Strutt Your Mutt" fundraiser for the Humane Society. Didn't sign up for the walk because I'd forgotten about it until the week before, and with all the rain, wasn't sure I'd want to go. And let's face it. It keeps getting pricier each year. No wonder the turn out is smaller and smaller. Minimum $35 pledge to enter, and they want you to get additional pledges. And that's per person/dog. Not per family. Ughh. Knocks me and Shannon out of the running. I know it's a fundraiser, but I think it knocks a lot of people out of the running.

Anyway. The pet fair was free and I figured it would be good for Leia. Then we went to the farmer's market. She did beautifully with all the people and other dogs. Especially the farmer's market. It was packed. Turned out to be a beautiful morning. Even if the lady with the fantabulous banana nut bread wasn't there.

Sunday afternoon we had quite the storm. Dime sized hail. It even spawned a tornado in the eastern side of the state. Right in downtown Billings. Yikes. No one hurt, thankfully, but definitely some damage!

Last night my two oldest nieces called. Only got to talk for a few minutes, but I really liked that. :)

When Life Becomes Fiction, or Vice Versa

So I'm listening to one of my favs in the car, "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee and read by Sissy Spacek. Really a fabulous rendering of the book on CD.

Anyway. Apparently it has seeped into my consciousness because last night I dreamt I was in the middle of a race riot. Ackkk. No wonder I'm tired this morning.

But the most startling thing is the revelation I had the other day while listening to the book. OMG, I think I'm "Miss Maudie". Except for the flowers! (Give me another decade, though.) LOL. Not that that's anything terrible. It's just really funny.

If you haven't read the book, you should. It's timeless.

I wanted to name Leia "Scout" after the little girl, but it sounds like "out" and that would be too confusing to the dog. Jean Louise was too formal, and "jean" or "louise" wouldn't work because I know a) a person or b) another pet with those names. Ah well. Leia works. Although I end up calling her Lei Lei a lot. ;)

I'm still chuckling over the Miss Maudie thing, though.

New Look

So they've got some new template and customization options available. Which is why I haven't blogged. Keep spending my free time "designing".

I'm not sure I really like this one. The light green background makes me squint. Maybe. It's very gray/cloudy out right now so I'm depending on just the flourescent lights overhead, and have been staring at different color options and layouts for way too long. My eyes may just be worn out.

Did a major project with Shanni over the weekend. Added a 4' deep x 8' wide patio in front of the house, to the right of the door as you enter. It's basically where the flower bed used to be. Bought these stones from Hom.e Dep.ot (they're more a whitish gray in person)

It was quite a challenge. Took us about 4 hours, and 3 trips to the store. That includes the original trip, a second trip for the remainder of the stones (couldn't take them all in one trip - too heavy) and a third trip because we needed another bag of sand.

Shanni and I did squabble, both of us being so hard-headed, sure of ourselves and stubborn. ;) But surprisingly it wasn't as bad as some projects we've done.

She thought I was being too "anal" about leveling the stones. Especially when it meant the last three stones of the last two rows had to be re done. It was slanted backwards toward the house. Which would have caused water to pool in the middle. Just not something I wanted to deal with. Better to fix it now than later!

Another Book, Another Day

Read an interesting book yesterday. Interesting enough that I stayed up an hour past bedtime to finish it.

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas

It was a good book. Although there were some things that bothered me. The setting is in Venezuela, and the characters are constantly dropping Spanish words throughout the book. In the middle of sentences. Not a huge deal for me, I speak/read Spanish. But jarring enough. I mean, if the book was set in the US, it wouldn't bother me so much. But these people are in Venezuela and, I assume, speaking Spanish. So dropping Spanish words into conversation...doesn't fit for me. I dunno. Maybe I'm too particular. But at times it felt forced, as if the author wanted to remind you this is set outside the US. But I totally got that just from the style of writing and setting. Duh.

Definite flavor of South America. For me, anyway. Felt familiar, a little like being home, in Paraguay. The Spanish/South American culture is different. There's a different flow, way of being, speaking seeing. The premise of the story, the way it was written, all interesting.

Laugh Out Loud Moments

So last night I flip onto one of the news shows just as they are showing St.ev.e Jo.bs and his presentation of the latest iP.h.one. If you haven't heard already, they had some technical difficulties getting online. The suggestions from the audience were fun, and mostly in jest. The best, though, was when Jo.bs asked someone (his IT people, I presume) for a suggestion on how to fix the WiFi issue, and someone hollered out "V.er.izon!".

Total laugh out loud moment for me. Followed by a cringe. Laugh out loud because I've been griping for forever about these exclusive deals w/AT.T that A.pple sparked (no A.TT out here). Even the eReaders are doing this and it's extremely frustrating!

Cringe, because WiFi does not equal Cell Phone Provider/3G Wireless. Sigh. It's your local area network using a wireless router and a wired ethernet connection. Limited in distance. Internet access through your cell phone uses their cell towers. Which is why it's slower, but accesible wherever you have coverage.

But still a LOL moment for me. ;)