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[20 Apr 2008|08:35am] |
Yesterday was a very lazy day. lots of reading and television. A couple of things happened that reminded me of living in the loop again:
1)Moggahami called me to relate that she had finally met the scotsman I worked with at Muzak and he's opening a new restaurant and so on.
2) I pulled up to my house and the police were walking around the side of the house. They asked me if I knew my neighbor. I tried to explain that I don't know any of my neighbors, but they proceeded to interrogate me about where he worked, what kind of car he drove, what he looked like, etc. Then a couple of busy-bodies from across the street barged over to see what the deal was and the police shooed them away and left. I feel like i should tell this guy the cops are looking for him, but i feel like he might be embarrassed and feel the need to explain, which is unnecessary.
3) Laura brought 5 guys home and found them doing coke in her room. (She freaked out and kicked them out which reminded me I wasn't living in the loop)
I finally got someone at Dell to send me a box so I can get my laptop fixed. I think it's gonna be $350 but i went ahead and paid it instead of getting a new one b/c i wanted my pics and stuff from the old one. But, now i realize I could have just kept hard drive (i think it's the motherboard that's broken), but that's what i didn last time and i still haven't done anything with it.
I'm not happy about paying so much to still have an inspiron 1000 with a non-functioning battery, at that. But i guess its probably the practical decison and i'm trying to make more financially sound decisions.
I don't know if i've posted about it or not, but the merger was approved so now we've moved into the justify our existence phase, which has put some people on edge. Everyone keeps saying that sales will be the last thing to be downsized. Whoever buys us will probably do so b/c 1) they see a huge opportunity to cut costs by reducing redundant positions and 2) they see an opportnity to capitalize on the sales opportunities that will come with an expanded client base. Both companies have a pretty slim salesforce already due to the previous downsizing, so there's less of a need to cut back.
So, in general, I feel pretty good about the whole thing and feel pretty proud of the metrics i've been able to produce to justify my existence. I found out that over a quarter of sales revenue can be attributed directly or indirectly to people on my teams. As far as we've heard, DMX doesn't have similar teams to mine, so that makes us a big asset. Now is not the time for humility, so I've engaged in an internal PR campaign to make sure everyone knows this.
At the same time, I know there are a lot of discussions going on that i'm not privy to and a lot of wrong-headed dialogue that can lead to bad decisions. Bad decision or not, it's possible that with all the personnel changes someone could decide someone else deserves my job more than I do. Or, we could just go into major cost-cutting mode across the board and get rid of my teams entirely. It would be insane, but it could happen. This all goes back to the point of me not buying a third laptop because i'm trying to be more responsible. It would be foolish to not have a safety net. I'd like to save up enough money that i can live for a few months without cashing in my 401k.
Even though i'm getting my bonuses this quarter, they'll be gone as soon as i get them (too many vacations, plus i have to pay off a student loan, laptop, etc). but, maybe next quarter i'll have some extra.
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| Laptop and Quotes |
[23 Mar 2008|06:46pm] |
My laptop is broken and the Geek Squad won't even look at it. So I have to use my work laptop, which works perfectly fine for all but one (arguably the most important) purpose. So i have to call Dell and ship it back and hope they can fix it for a reasonably price. Honestly, I'm hoping they can't fix it because then I can buy a new one.
I guess I need a MacBookAir because I recently came to the shocking realization that NONE of my laptops can even fit into an envelope. Laptops that don't fit into envelopes are decidedly last season. It's been suggested I just get a larger envelope, but it wouldn't be the same.
Also, I just found these quotes from the wedding:
"We'll just ask the bible what color this popcorn tastes!--Libbyanne (Wicker Zuni)
"That's the best idea, I've heard of all night!"--Holla (Sunshine Turner)
"'Listen to the pop to hear when to stop!' means that you should ask your father when you need to pull out!--Libbyanne
"So you wanna divide up all the states into separate countries?!"--Brian (Brino the Dino)
"Well, I just want my own country and to get rid of the suckfaces in to other countries"--Holla
"No, what you want is Jim Crow Laws; separate, but equal.--Libbyanne
"Well, Not even equal!"--Holla
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| NM Wedding |
[23 Mar 2008|06:14pm] |
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I've finally unpacked and returned to some semblance or normalcy after having wandered for what felt like 40 days in the desert. I'm tempted to elaborate on the horrors of small town desert life, but basically, i echo ennaybbil's sentiments. The wedding was a success, largely, I believe, due to Holla's amazing toast written by myself and ennaybbil one day while we were stuck in our hotel room. (we stayed at the most fabulous resort in the area. I think the name was something like Day's Inn)
Chelsea's Wedding Eulogy Toast
"Te uerberas domina," is an accurate description of the relationship we're here to celebrate. As Chesea can tell you, this means, "Why do you beat me, dominatrix?"
And Chelsea has been (or believed that she has been) many things to many people. To quote the blushing bride, "Are you saying I was turned into mortar? Are you saying I'm a martyr? Are you saying I was murdered for my religious beleifs? Are you calling me religious? Are you caling me Catholic? Are you saying I'm a saint?"
In reality, Chelsea is caring, spontaneous, thoughtful, & religious (see above).
Bullet Point 1: Chelsea is Caring. She spent countless, thankless hours at the Ryle Hall Night Monitoring desk opening the door, and her heart, to infinite wayward college students who were often only slightly more intoxicated than she herself was at the time [These statements do not intentd to make any qualifications about the current level of intoxication of the bride. Nor does this speech or its co-authors guarantee any factual information about the bride's past or future sobriety. I'm Holly Graff, and I approve this disclaimer"]
Also, during her undergraduate years, Chelsea dedicated herself to campus life & activities by helping to organize group sex on the Ryle Hall porch at 8:30 one evening. The event was a huge success. [Neither the bride nor the co-authors of this speech necessarily advocate unsafe sex, anonymous sex, sex on porches, sex at 8:30 or sex with anyone in Kirksville. However, these persons do not necessarily advise avoiding these practices, either.]
Bullet Point 2: Chelsea is Spontaneous. While she has yet to spontaneously combust, Chelsea demonstrated great skeletal and muscular spontaneity in the events leading up to her eventual and temporary withdrawal from college during her seceond semester of her sophomore year.
Bullet Point 3: Chelsea is Thoughtful. Chelsea thinks:
a. that Libbyanne's grandmother was right. Pagans can come to your house to buy your unbaptized baby and you cannot refuse to sell it. Therefore, Chelsea also thought it was Normal for us to sell Jonathan Lukens to her for the exact price of one Zagnut that we got free from a vending machine. This all means that we would rather have a candy bar that we didn't even like that Jonathan Lukens [turn page over]
b. And most of all, she thinks that Pink is the New Black
Adverbially speaking, we're celebrating Chelsea's special day, here at the McDonald's at the gas station at the edge of town. More friends would have liked to have attended, but the wedding is in Alamogordo, and, I mean, good luck. To all of the following people who could not be here, your presence is missed insincerely, incompletely, and barely.
Sarah Dawg and Nicole Dawg: who are at the St. Charles Planned Parenthood and the Mid-Rivers Mall Pretzel Time, respectively, albeit irrevocably and irresponsibly.
JVJ: who is attending either a NAMBLA meeting or an AA meeting, dutifully & beautifully, albeit ruefully.
Ann, Brian, and all of the Society for Creative Anachronism, who are just out-of-touch, societally, creatively, and anachronistically.
Melody McCallister: who regrets her inattendance, harmoniously, rhymically, and lyrically.
Sun Yung Ahn: who was Grimly caught in a tsunami both internationally and biblically.
And most especally Chelsea's ex, Jim Byrd: who is celebrating his own nuptials currently, albeit homosexually and illegally.
Fortunately, I believe (looks into the crowd expectantly) Chelsea's dear and beloved Grandfather--the stage--has been led here, tragically, comically, and allegorically.
This being said, I think we should split up and meet at our destination to toast Chelsea. {clink clink} *pause graciously and demurely for what is sure to be the most overwhelming round of applause you will likely ever experience
*pause again to account for out-of-town guests who may not yet be accustomed to sonic booms, specifically those created by the enthusiaism of a crowd so floored by the above, impeccable speech/toast combination.
P.S. Oh yeah, Something about Pat.
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[01 Mar 2008|10:15am] |
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I've got a busy day, but I just can't seem to get started. Yoga in a few minutes with Jessica and maybe Sarah . Sarah and Laura and I made tentative plans to go to Petra's and Thomas Street tonight so I'd like to go to the Mall to get a shirt or sweater or maybe I'll borrow that top. Getting a pedicure at 2:30 with Chelsea, so I probably won't be able to go shopping until after that. What I'm telling you is this leaves no time for a nap before dinner. And you know how that makes me feel. Eh, I stayed in last night and slept until 9:30, so I'll be fine. And Laura needs rent money and I'm out of checks.
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[19 Feb 2008|06:42pm] |
Yay! i got a new book in the mail today from amazon.com. I think it will be the perfect complement to my current reading list.
WATCH OUT is the story of Jonathan Barrows, a man who falls in love with himself, literally. He is secretly attracted to his own body, carries out an erotic relationship with a blow-up doll that resembles him, and takes pleasure in rejecting the advances of his many admirers, both male and female. He descends into a world of carnivorous priests and Prozac-popping Polish prostitutes and eventually assassinates the world's most popular pop-diva, Britney Spears. "You strange creatures," Barrows declares, "you are nothing more to Me than a meal at the fast-food restaurant of life." But who will end up being devoured? Written in an eye-popping style that will shock the most jaded of readers, WATCH OUT is destined to become a cult classic, and Joseph Suglia, a cult icon.
P.S.
I really want an Amazon Kindle. They're sold out. Toni Morrison loves hers. And so do Neil Gaiman and Charlie Rose.
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[25 Nov 2007|11:14am] |
Thomas bought a Land Rover and he and Sarah went out today on an excursion worthy of a Land Rover commercial. I originally planned on going with them to pick out a christmas tree, but then I realized I was in over my head. They loaded Kaya in the back of the discovery and are trekking across the state to some river where they are going canoeing. Then they're cutting down a tree, strapping it to the top of the car and driving back.
Instead, my sunday-buddy laura and I will do starbucks, target, shopping and dinner. Now that's consistency. *sips coffee, watches CNN
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[24 Nov 2007|03:18pm] |
_____
Total price: USD 367.30
Thu, Dec 20, 2007 - Charlotte, NC (CLT) to Kansas City, MO (MCI)
United 1863
Operated by: Us Airways Depart: CLT 04:10 PM
Arrive: MCI 05:45 PM Non-stop
2h 35m
Airbus A319
Sun, Dec 30, 2007 - St Louis, MO (STL) to Charlotte, NC (CLT)
United 3467
Operated by: Us Airways Depart: STL 09:40 AM
Arrive: CLT 12:23 PM Non-stop
1h 43m
_____
Okay, so I wasted $70 by not buying my ticket last week when I looked it up. I don't know why I always do that. But I can more than make up for it though by soliciting free rides to/fro the airport instead of taxicabbing it.
I'll spend a few days in KC, a few on the farm, and a few in STL.
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| Truman |
[13 Nov 2007|09:31pm] |
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Truman has been soliciting me for donations and I'm thinking about helping them out. I wonder how Larry Isles and Sally Cook are doing.
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[06 Nov 2007|08:27pm] |
I have a baby wisdom tooth. I admire the rarity of recurring wisdom teeth, but despise this new imposter regardless of how benign it is. i've had 24 teeth for all of my adult life and that's how i want to keep it. I don't care if it isn't painful or harmful, I want it out. I didn't order it and I want to return it. I tried to explain to Dentist that it throws off my dental symmetry and flossing routine but he was puzzled and acted like i was proposing something similar to an abortion. gawd, it's just a tooth it doesn't have a soul, get it out of me! We came to a compromise and as soon as it descends far enough for him to grip it, he will twist it right out. it won't even require surgery (or painkillers?).
Other than that, things are good. I have healthy clean teeth, I had a great yoga practice, yummy indian food for dinner, some antioxidants (shiraz), and the NewsHour is queued up on tivo. life is good.
But, I am still looking for a book that has a plot. all the books i'm reading now only have charts and graphs.
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| Wrecks and Taxes |
[03 Nov 2007|02:31pm] |
I finally opened my mail today and York County SC claims I owe them about $1000. I'll have to call Monday and contest it as I paid property taxes when I bought my car a year ago and a week later I moved to NC and licensed my car there. Then I had to pay NC property taxes a few months ago, so I can't see any way how I would still owe them money unless this is for next year's taxes.
I'm not laboring under any delusion that they'll simply erase it and it will go away. but i do know they're not getting one more dime from me.
I'm driving a Corolla because someone smashed into my car and didn't bother to leave a note. Progressive gets an A, though. But body shop has to send it to Audi so they can take the convertible top off, then send it back to the body shop for repairs, then back to audi for the top, then body shop, then me. (I could had had Audi fix it but there weren't on progressive's list so it would require estimates and a whole runaround. this way was EASY and the price is the same.)
Oh yeah, I'm also cutting a 2nd set of wisdom teeth (?). I have an appt with Dentist Tuesday. I guess this is the impetus I needed to finally get to the dentist but it's hard when my teeth are so (cosmetically) perfect. A cleaning is one thing, but if they need to cutout more wisdom teeth and/or replace old fillings this could get expensive. and inconvenient.
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[09 Oct 2007|08:13am] |
This is the electric beverage fountain in all it's autumnal glory:
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[08 Sep 2007|09:07am] |
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music |
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Marshall Mathers LP |
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I've been ostensibly absent from lj for awhile. i've been absent from many things and people and places and obligations.
We'll call chicago the GSSIII just to keep the tradition alive, if you don't mind. maximumintensit flipped out when dave showed up at the door. followed by ennaybbil and john. surprises are fun. Seven people sharing one bathroom is not fun. our hotel was hawt, old-world style on michigan ave. the workers were on strike so we had to cross a picket line, but it wasn't as bad as we expected.
Some things never change: i can't vacation in a non-smoking room without ennaybbil there to tear up the no smoking sign. Non-smoking sometimes means 7 people chainsmoking in one suite for 3 days and giving the room a febreze enema on the last day. Success.
It was a pretty affordable, adult vacation. Shopping, theatre, finedining, excessive waste and everything else a vacations should be. except a beach.
Some other things that never change: even at arguably one of the best prime rib restaurants in the country (Lawry's--of seasoned salt and Food Network fame) ennaybbil has her steak overcooked. i almost lost it. on smoke break i adamantly defended our server's over-the-top demeanor and regretted it shortly after. When she brought our cards back for us to add in the gratuity, she made a big production about the fact that we were $1.63 short of the actual total. She wanted to be perfectly clear that we needed to come up with 1.63 for the bill PLUS our tip. She even said, "Do you understand that?" It was offensive, really.
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| Omaha Steaks |
[03 Aug 2007|04:20pm] |
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Special thanks to <lj user="dhmcginnis"> for introducing me to OmahaSteaks.com! I've always wanted to give them a shot, and free shipping put me over the edge. I ordered a variety pack on Monday and they were at my door by Thursday. Bad news is they didn't ship my filets, good news is they DID ship free scallop and crab stuffed sole fillets. They. Were. Amazing. Also, I saved $200!
I don't know why they didn't send me a full catalog, but I've already requested one online. They're basically like the SupperSensations meals that Toni and I lived on for a good year. They have side items and everything and you just throw it in the oven. But it's even easier than supper sensations, because you don't have to go pick it up, they bring it to your door.
And let's be honest, who has the time to pick up their pre-prepared gourmet meals every month?
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| cunning linguistics |
[29 Jul 2007|09:19am] |
For those of you who appreciate antiquated feminine nouns:
dictatress (dik-TAY-tres) noun
A female dictator.
[From Latin dictator, from dictare (to dictate), frequentative of dicere
(to say). Ultimately from the Indo-European root deik- (to show, to pronounce
solemnly) that is also the source of other words such as judge, verdict,
vendetta, revenge, indicate, dictate, and paradigm.]
"America ... might become dictatress of the world. She would be no
longer the ruler of her own spirit."
John Quincy Adams; Address; Jul 4, 1821; quoted in The Yale Book of
Quotations.
Also, would it be safe to assume the plural of administratrix is administratrices?
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| Fraud Protection |
[25 Jul 2007|06:12pm] |
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Why is it that every single time someone steals my identity all they do is spend thousands of dollars buying books online? BORING!! It's so annoying. The only good thing is that every time thousands of dollars worth of books is charged to my account, Bank of America calls me to check in. But, still it's all so very unoriginal.
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[23 Mar 2007|07:47pm] |
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LJ I've missed you so. Almost forgotten you. I had another pretty great week. But exhausting so I"m staying in tonight with a bottle of merlot and the house to myself. Tomorrow is Courtney's bday celeb. S&T are out so Kaya is staying with Uncle Brian this wknd. I took her for a walk, even. ooooo....i don't think i even posted about my vacation this month in new orleans. i'm behind. but that's what sunday mornings, coffee, and cnn are for. i promise a full update then.
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| code red |
[07 Mar 2007|08:40pm] |
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I think i might have been on the news today but i didn't bother to watch. I got held up due to an accident on the interstate. It was right before they directed me around the accident that they decided to close the interstate. so i was directed to pull over to the side next to the semi and crushed police car to let the 3 firetrucks, sherrif, firedept car, etc through. I guess b/c it was a police car in the accident they had to have every vehicle of every branch. There were motorcycles and even a BICYCLE (wtf?). I don't know what happened but this semi drove up ONTO this police car. It looked really bad so I snapped some pictures because i was really close and bored and I was scared that if i lit a cigarette i might ignite a gas trail and cause an explosion.
I thought it would be really funny if I summoned an officer over to my window and asked him in a really hurried and self-involved-to-the-point-of-complete-obliviousness voice "Why is traffic stopped? Was there an accident or something? I mean, really" I would ask this as I looked at the carnage 10 feet in front of me. Maybe I was just in an odd mood, but I thought this would be really funny and I would have done it but I still haven't put my NC plates on so i'm a little scurred of the po-po still.
anyway they finally got us all turned around and we drove down the interstate the wrong way and exitted via the on ramp and confused a lot of commuters. i think i heard someone say something about a drunk driver, but the driver and the cop in the car were somehow long gone by the time i got there so i only saw the cars. but now that i think about it it's weird that the ambulance would have gotten there and left before most of the police did as i really was the first one there. i don't know.
and saturday i was at the grocery and the cashier in the next lane starts yelling "code red" on the microphone. i have to admit we all thought she was a little overzealous and dramatic until we realized that the other cashier had fainted. I have no idea how she could have fainted without me or my cashier hearing her fall to the ground because she was so close. i think she must have just sat down. my cashier was as confused as i was. so they called 911 but then this person who fainted woke up enough to talk and i'm not a doctor anyway so i just left. i mean, what could i do? But still, it felt bizarre to just gather my dietcoke and wine and jump in my car as a group of people were hovering around this woman. but i guess what i learned is that you shouldn't ever just scream "Call 911" without directing your order to a specific person. because what happens is either no one calls or everyone does.
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| Green Hoodie |
[21 Jan 2007|08:11pm] |
Today we went to the southpark and I got some shoes, (betch). These shoes rule. They're canvas and they're plaid and v. comfortable but not the ones I wanted. they don't have wheels in the heels. I also got my new watch adjusted. bought some socks since one of each pair of socks I own vanished.
I traded in some underwear I bought in KC and got a green hoodie at A&F. I love it. It's cold and rainy and I want to wear this hoodie every day until it is warm and I think I will. and I'll drink a lot of red wine.zinfandel has served me well so far.
I fell down the stairs this morning and promptly threw out my slippery old moccasins. I took a couple of aleve and I'm thinking it's nothing that Chiropracter can't fix in a session or two. maybe even a good night's sleep will do it.
My mom's 50th birthday is next week so I'm considering a surpise flight to KC, but I'm thinking instead of using my free ticket I may just gamble and see if an e-saver pops up.
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| CoinStar |
[07 Jan 2007|08:12pm] |
It's been months since my ipod has been fully functional (it has been busted the fuck up since ACL) and even longer since iTunes has been installed on my computer. It's a long story involving quicktime being uninstalled improperly which results in Itunes not working AT ALL.
I finally broke down tonight and bought a new ipod and found someone on craigslist who will come pickup my laptop tomorrow and fix it.
I finally cashed in my coins today. I had over fifty dollars! Coinstar requires you to "donate" 8.9c/dollar if you want cash, so I opted to take my money in the form of a "free" $50 amazon gift card, which paid for about half of the ipod nano I purchased. Very thrifty, huh?
I can't WAIT to get back in business. I don't know how I lived this long sans ipod, i just couldn't bring myself to shell out hundreds of dollars just for digital music when I already had doneso before.
But the final straw was yesterday when my Audi's 3month SIRIUS free trial expired, relegating me to....*gasp* FM.
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