My other blog, about the beach, is gone.
I was having trouble logging into it to post it and decided that I'm not in the mood to fight with "please log in" error messages just to blog about dreams and plans about the beach. I think it has something to do with my security settings.
So, during a time while I was able to log in, I deleted the blog.
Guess I'll stick to this place.
I had planned on turning off the television and going to bed early-- as soon as the Amazing Race was over... but then I saw a commercial for a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie coming on next, with my favorite tv Superman, Dean Cain..... and well, I couldn't resist.
Of course, I bawled through most of the movie and the commericials. I don't know why. The subject matter wasn't "personal" to me and even the commercials weren't even all that poignant, but... here I sit with puffy eyes and blotchy skin and a stuffy nose from crying.
Darn you Hallmark! Darn you!
Do you think the writers of the commercials sit around in a big room and say, "Wait! THIS one will have EVERYONE crying!" and there are wadded up tissues everywhere and tear stains on the storyboards?
Good thing I had my small pint (Yeah, Miss Box-- small. I don't think they sell in it larger sizes. Lucky for me and thighs.) peaches and cream ice cream to help soothe my tears.
Now, it's off to bed. Hope everyone had a great weekend! We had 2 glorious days of summer-like weather. I kept singing that Sheryl Crow line "I wanna soak up the sun...." in my head.
Speaking of the sun, I started a "real blog" on a "real blog website" about my goal of moving to the beach. I wanted one place where I can chronicle everything I do and experience as I go through the next 6 months or so.
Check it out: The Shore Thing It's a work in progress.
Aaaah, the first sign that summer is quickly approaching... (ok, yeah, it's actually about 2 months away....) PEACH ICE CREAM.
I saw that Hagen Das "Peaches and Cream" ice cream is back in the local grocery store freezer. They only sell it during summer.
Ah, can flip flops and shorts be far off??
(and yes, I bought a small pint of the ice cream...)
I am not a fan of guns.
I know that the Constitution gives us the right to bear arms.
In light of the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech, I won't feel like my Constitutional rights are infringed if we were to have stricter gun control.
Let's face it, if guns were harder to get, there would be fewer gun-related crimes.
I know some will say, "But Bev, they'll just use another kind of weapon."
Some will say, "But Bev, what about hunters?"
I already have an answer for hunters. I don't have an answer for "other types of weapons" yet.
Guns will be available to hunters at designated hunting locations. They will sign them out and then sign them back in the day they are hunting. They are given limited ammunition and if they take the guns outside of the hunting location, an "alarm" will alert the authorities. When hunting season is over, the guns are locked up in a safe until the next season. If a hunter fails to return the gun, an APB is issued for his/her immediate arrest.
I'd like to see punishment for gun-related crimes be stricter.
I also think that if someone seems to have a penchant for guns, they should be gathered up, suited in camoflage and shipped off to Iraq. If they like to shoot so much, why not do something useful with their addiction?
I'm sorry. I don't usually get on soapboxes but how many times do we have to re-live Columbine or that Amish School or Virginia Tech before someone says, "You know, it's too easy for these people to get guns"?
I sent the following message to some of my closest friends yesterday and decided to post it here, too, since I consider many of you friends, too, and you've been supportive of me the past few years/months. I apologize if you are reading this twice because you also got it in e-mail.
Today is a good day and I wanted to share the happiness I'm feeling right now with you.
No- I didn't wake up skinny or rich or with an adoring handsome straight man in my bed. I just checked the status of my debt-consolidating thingy and as of 4-13-07, my plan is complete and I have a CREDIT balance of $500.00 - which means I'll actually be getting money back from them.
You can't imagine how it feels to see that I'm practically debt-free. (I'll never be totally debt-free as long as I need a place to live, internet service and utilities.) BUT, I am no longer in credit card debt up to my eyeballs and my student loan and car loan are paid off. (huge sigh) 5 years of paying cash for everything has been tight and sometimes frustrating because I was so jealous of friends who could pull out a credit card and buy things without even looking at the price. I've learned a valuable lesson and I don't see myself rushing out to get another credit card anytime soon.
My "move to the beach" fund is about 85% complete thanks to cashing out some company stock and an income tax refund that I received earlier in the year. I have a budget planned for the next 6 months and if I stick to it and there are no emergencies (knock wood), I should be in the position to move to the beach (or as close to it as my budget allows) at the beginning of October.
Part of me is considering waiting until the new year 2008 to move because I'm not so sure that I want to be looking for a full-time job during the "Holiday Season" (October-December) when most companies put freezes on hiring new people due to budget constraints and when all of the college kids are home working the seasonal jobs to get extra money. I also don't want to join a company at the end of the year and be the low person on the totem pole and be stuck working while everyone else is off on vacation and such for the holidays.
So-- it's something I'm considering.
I just wrapped up 2 weeks in my new position at my company. For those who don't know, about 1 1/2 years ago, I landed a job at my company as a procedure writer and I thought it was a dream come true because I've always wanted to be paid to write, but the honeymoon ended early and fast and I spent the past 9 months absolutely miserable in the job. I was grumpier than normal, sick all the time and did more crying than a person should over that job. Then, a little over a month ago, I interviewed for another position because the manager herself told me that she wanted me on her team and I already liked her from my experiences with her in the past. She offered me the job. I accepted. I can't tell you how much "better" I feel.
The job is busy and time flies. There's a lot to do. But, it is NOTHING like my last job and I'm very happy about that. My new boss has told me at least once a day how glad she is to have me on her team. She even bragged me up to her boss, who stopped me on Tuesday and told me that she has heard nothing but good things about me. The only time I talked to my former boss's boss was when I was leaving the team and she invited me to share my thoughts and comments about improving the team with her.
I was on my own after just 4 days of training and I've successfully completed more research routes in the week and a half I've been on my own than the "top performer" on the team. My audit score is 98% (I made a couple of mistakes my first few days but that was to be expected.) Of course, this pisses off the "top performer" because she liked being the top banana but I ignore her and her nasty negative comments. She called me a butt-kisser to my face and I just said, "If liking my boss and wanting to do well for her makes me a butt kisser, then I'm guilty." She told the manager and the manager told her to go sit down and leave things alone. (The manger actually apologized to me that this other person was trying to bring me down. My former manager would have found a way to make me feel badly about the interaction.)
I'm also liking that the job offers paid overtime. One of the things I hated most about my last job was that it was salaried and they expected you to be available to work around the clock and if you wanted to leave "on time", you weren't a team player. When I did the math, I realized that I was actually making less than most entry-level hourly employees because of the # of hours I put in without any kind of additional perks, recognition or reward. They acted like I should kiss their feet for the opportunity to work all the time for them.
Money talks. I have that "beach fund" and I have no problem working a couple of extra hours here and there if it means more money in my pocket. I know what my personal limit is and the department won't let you work past 6 p.m. anyhow because you're not allowed on the floor if there is no supervisor around and the supervisors all leave by 6ish.
In my last department, there was a night I remember being there ntil 9 p.m. and NO ONE was around. The call center was even empty by then.
Anyway - you all have been very supportive of me during the past few years and I know I didn't say "thank you" nearly enough. I've been in this incredibly depressing fog for the past 5 years or so and I've been downright mean to some of you because of "crap" that was going on inside of me and my normal tendency is to push people away when I'm having a crisis instead of pulling them close. I've been working to try to re-establish friendships I've let slip and I hope you'll accept my apologies for pushing you away if I did that to you and accept my gratitude for being there for me-- even if I acted like I didn't want you to be there.
Happy Birthday to the original tv.com riddler. :)
Several months ago, my friend Janelle told me about an online music site that requires no downloading-- http://www.pandora.com/
At the time, I didn't have DSL and my dial up connection just couldn't handle it, but I did take the link to work so that I could listen to music while I work.
One day, a co-worker was lamenting about not having any CDs to listen to so I told her about pandora. I told her to keep on the down low though because we're not really supposed to go to non-work Web sites.
Well, she told another co-worker who told another.... and pretty soon, everyone on the team had pandora.
On Friday, I had a question and went to a co-worker on my new team and she had pandora up. I asked her, "How did you hear about pandora?" She told me that a friend of a friend of a friend heard about it from some girl who heard about it when she worked on the team that writes procedures. (Obviously, my new team mate didn't know where I came from.)
I had a little chuckle over it because I'm pretty sure that I know who the person is who told the friend of a friend of a friend... and if it's who I think it is, I'm the one who told her about it. It's kind of funny to see how far something spread. We're talking about a person on a team three floors up and several departments away from my former department, in a company with thousands of employees in one location.
It's no wonder "urban legends" spread so quickly.
My dad sent me a link to another free online,non-downloadable music web site: http://www.tropicalglen.com/
I'm listening to music from 1972 right now. Don McLean. Starry Night.
I'm going to share the link with my new pandora-fan co-worker tomorrow and see how long it takes to get back to my old team. :)
I ran into the night manager this afternoon when I was checking my mail. She said, "So, did you hear about my son?" I said, "Yeah, I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck." She said, "I raised him better than that. If only he hadn't been hanging out with those guys. They only invited him along to be the fall guy." I just shook my head and made some empathizing sounds and then politely ended the conversation and walked away.
The thing is-- her son is not the angel she thinks he is and it always cracks me up that parents almost always defend their criminal children by saying, "He's not like that" or "He's running with a bad group." Hmmm.... let's look at the facts. You put your 19 year old son -- who doesn't have a job, dropped out of high school and who isn't going to school -- into an apartment with his 20something half-sister who doesn't work or go to school and his 15 year old sister who doesn't work or go to school.... and then let him hang out with all of the thugs in the apartment complex .... gosh, how could she NOT see this happen? He's been right there- in the thick of things- when I've called to complain. I've watched him mouth off to her and then laugh at her after she's walked away. She thinks he's "above" them but I'm thinking she's just blind to the fact that her son is a criminal. Just like she tells me that her daughters don't have a radio every time I complain about their loud music. I always say, "Well, they have something over there that they can turn up loud enough that I hear it in the parking lot." I got treated to a nice loud "woo hoo yee hoo" over and over from Gwen Stefani early this morning as the 15 yr old stood in her open apartment door wearing shorty pyjamas dancing to the song "Favorite Girl" at 8:00 a.m.
Just once I'd like to hear a parent say, "Yeah, he's pretty worthless. I knew he was a bad kid. I'm gonna let him rot in jail." LOL! Wouldn't that make for great news?
On an unrelated note, I watched THE BACHELOR on the 'net tonight. (I gave up on the show after that whole Trista-Ryan thing but saw a commercial for next week's episode and decided to browse the ABC web site a little to see what the show was about this season.) The guy said "oh my gosh" about 50 times as the girls got out of the limo. There's just something about that show that totally turns me off, yet like a person looking at a car crash on the road, I sat here and watched the whole episode. I feel embarassed for the girls making fools out of themselves and trying so danged hard to impress him. (shaking head) There was a movie on ABCFAMILY a few years back called "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks" or something like that and it was about a reality show just like The Bachelor and how one of the contestants fell in love with a producer and wanted off the show but the executives threatened to sue her because she was "America's Favorite" and had already been picked to be the winner and had to finish off the show. After seeing how "they" manipulated footage and votes on that fictional show, I had a feeling that the real one probably isn't that far off. Plus, who are these people who can time off from work to be on the show???!!!
My pick is Bevin. I probably won't watch any more of the show until the last episode but based on what I saw, there was something about her that said to me that she was his best match.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend~
I was watching the 11 pm News tonight, after LOST, trying to decide if I liked the episode or not (I'm leaning towards "not".) when a picture flashes on the screen of two of the "thugs" in my apartment complex.
I quickly turned up the sound and it turns out that they were arrested this morning for breaking into a house in one of our nearby more affluent neighborhoods. The newscaster said that a neighbor saw the men and called the cops because they looked suspicious. The newscaster also said that the police suspect that these two men are part of a larger burgulary ring that covers several nearby areas.
As soon as the story ended, I immediately picked up the phone and called that "crimestopper" tip line and told them that they may want to swing by my apartment complex for more suspects because the two guys they showed on the news-- well, they hang out with about 10 other people here and none of them have jobs and I've seen them roaming the apartment complex at all hours of the day and night. I also suggested they look into some of the robberies in this apartment complex because the increase didn't start until these guys started hanging out here. I gave apartment numbers and license plate numbers.
I'm realllllllllly hoping to turn on the news in the next few days and find out that I broke some big thing and they all were hauled away and kicked off the property. I definitely remember seeing in my lease that if I was arrested for any criminal activity, it was grounds for immediate eviction. Let's hope it applies to them, too.
I feel like calling management tomorrow and saying, "I told you that those guys were shady" but one of the "thugs" picked up is the son of the after-hours manager and I'm sure she probably has other things on her mind right now-- like bail, an attorney and her delinquent son.
Click for story.
I want my springtime back!
I can't believe I went to bed with the air conditioning on and woke up frozen, shivering under my blankets. Sheesh. I thought I'd never have to wear my winter coat again.
So, I've completed 3 days in my new position. Training is fairly boring. I'm sitting with a girl who has been on the team for about 6 months but whom the manager considers a top performer. Most of the stuff that we do in this department is pretty straightforward- it's payment research. A customer sends a payment. It doesn't post to their account. They call or write in and ask us to research it. We do and if we're able to find their payment, post it and make things better. If we can't find it, we ask them to replace it and offer to waive a few fees or whatever to make them happy (if it was our fault). Most of the time the error is the customer's fault-- wrong account number, wrong address, wrong amount, etc. I'm not new to this kind of research. It won't be too difficult, but it will be time consuming. I don't really think I'll have any problems because of my organizational skills.
I'd ask to be on my own tomorrow but my former manager has to complete some sort of system thing to "officially" transfer me to my new manager and until that happens, I don't have access to the systems needed to do the new job. I sent my former manager an e-mail asking her to expedite it so I could get started with my new job. I doubt she'll jump on it. She's kind of pokey. My new manager said that if I haven't been "transferred" by Friday, she'll call my former manager. I can't even complete the timesheet until the transfer is complete.
My new team mates seem ok. The girl who is training me is nice and seems to be on top of everything. I haven't really gotten a feel for the rest of the team. Everyone seems nice, for the most part. They all are pretty quiet. There is one girl who has a bit of negative attitude. I'm trying to steer clear of her. I asked her "How are you?" as a polite greeting this morning and got to hear an hour of venting about how much she hates the job, how hard she works, and how much no one seems to care about promoting her. I made a lot of noncommital sounds and then asked, "Have you thought of maybe posting into a position that will appreciate you?" Very politely. Very subtle. She said she was looking. I plan on staying out of her way. I just get the vibe she's bitter that someone else was hired to be a team lead on the team she already considered herself as the team lead for. I know what it feels like so I am trying to not be too judgemental, but I also know that once you start to feel there's nothing management can do to make things better, it's best to just go do something else.
I've run into a couple of my former co-workers (including THE PET) in the cafeteria and they look so sad, depressed, whipped. They have schlumpy posture, frowny faces and walk like they are on their way to the guillotine. It's so sad to be so unhappy in a job and I'm very glad it's not me anymore. I find myself smiling more and saying hello to people and walking taller and feeling better.
Nothing else is new here--- saw the movie PREMONITION last week. It wasn't as good as I expected it to be. I want to see that "MIMZY" move and the "ROBINSONS" animated film. I may have to beg someone to go since they are "family" flicks.
Hope all is well with you and a belated shout out to We3Mosses who celebrated her 21st birthday (again!!!) on Monday.
Now, I'm off to chill (literally) for a few hours before LOST comes on. I hope this week's episode is a good one.
Log in to comment