Spring Erupteth

Today was as beautiful a day as there ever was. The recent rains (floodings) have encouraged the grass and trees to make soft green baby leaves. The bluebonnets and Indian paint brushes are covering the grass along the highways. The temperature is fair and the sun is kind. Even a big city can look pretty in Springtime.

It is a tradition in Texas for families to go on drives in the Spring in search of wildflowers. Big spreads of bluebonnets can be found along numerous highways in Texas, and every Mom and Dad wants a pic of their child, be it human or canine, sitting amongst the vivid blossoms. Brides-to-be and their wedding photographers drive south along I-35, maybe 100 miles, maybe 200, to find the best spot to take a picture of the lady in her wedding dress in a field of blue-ish/purple-ish flowers. The drive need not be so far today, as I saw numerous families in amongst the bluebonnets on my drive to and from Ft. Worth today. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas, and the maintenance crews who normally mow the grassy medians and side grasses must wait for the flowers to die before mowing the area lest they break the law forbidding the picking or cutting down of the bluebonnet. I didn't have my camera in my car with me, or I would have pulled over and taken a few pics, even with the traffic whizzing past me at 80mph.

I have to be at work at 5am tomorrow. We're having the high ceiling lights' bulbs changed out, and it is a 33 ft. ceiling which requires a very large lift to maneuver up into, made even more complex because the staircase makes a direct up/down lift impossible. I'm already overdue for getting to bed, if I want to get 8 hours sleep. Oh well.

Ok, that's all I'm motivated to write.

Various Colorado Pictures

Estes Park, Colorado -- Day 1

After getting 2 hours of sleep, I left my house shortly after 12am on that Thursday morning to begin my trip. I made my way north to pick up N, and we were on our way to Colorado. There are two major routes between Dallas and Denver. I chose to take us on the route that Mapquest said was about 100 miles longer, but would take an hour less travel time, due to speed limits on the highways. This route took us up through Oklahoma and into Kansas.

Shortly after dawn, we entered super-thick fog on the prairies of Kansas. I could see well enough to continue at the speed limit, but both N and I were on high alert to spot any possible red brakelights in front of us. We passed through icy patches, then clear patches, then icy patches again, and the wind was strong. After a couple of hours, we made it through the fog and turned west toward Colorado.

As we grew ever closer to the Denver airport, the 3 people who were flying in to be picked up by us began to call. J and A had arrived, but C was still on the ground in Dallas. Everyone was supposed to arrive around 11:30am and hang out for a couple hours until N and I arrived. But C's plane had to make an emergency landing 20 minutes after takeoff from DFW because there was a medical emergency on board. C told us he was still on the plane.

After more driving and looking at the snow drifts on the sides of the highways, C called us again to let us know that he had deplaned and learned that the 'medical emergency' was some 24-year old idiot who mixed booze with her migraine medication, passed out, and became unresponsive soon after takeoff.

We called J & A, let them know the situation, and they agreed to hang out at the airport terminal until C's plane arrived. We later learned they were living it up first at the bar, then at a Seattle's Best Cafe. It was mid-afternoon by this time. We'd already reached the Denver Airport, driven through it to see if there were any place to stop and eat a real meal, and found an Applebee's a few miles away. Dead dog tired, we each ordered a hamburger, I took out my contacts, C called to say his flight was finally leaving Dallas, and we decided it would be best to take a power nap. Fortunately, my front seats recline and were wonderfully comfortable. I caught about 20 minutees of true sleep and woke up feeling GREAT! I had no business feeling great, but I did. I was still tired, but I felt great.

C finally called us to say his flight had landed, but we had a heckuva time finding them at the terminal. On our first effort we drove through the Arrivals area; they weren't there. N called them and asked if they were in the right place. They insisted they were. So, I drove to the upper deck and checked the Departures area, just in case. No dice. I had N call them again, and they insisted they were at Arrivals, so I tried once more....nope. At this point N and I figured out they must be in the Commercial Arrival/Departure area, to which we didn't have access, so we told them to go up one level, and we picked up our Arrivals at the Departures area. We were all so tired we were laughing about the whole thing. C had had a hideous travel day, I was exhauted and still needed to drive the group up to Estes Park, and everything just seemed funny.

We made our way up into the mountains to the tiny town of Estes Park, had difficulty finding the Lodge, but finally arrived, threw our luggage in our rooms, and 4 of the 5 of us set off to find something for dinner. It was after 9pm by this time, and the entire town was shut down. There was one car park on the street, and the saloon was open, so we walked in to see this guy with one nasty glassy eye sitting at the bar, drinking a beer and watching some sports game on tv. The bar owner saw our pitiful faces and recommended the only place that would still be open as a possible dinner place.

So, we were on our way to Mary's Lake Lodge. We were the only people in the extremely nice dining room, though we were each of us thorougly disheveled and travel-weary. I ordered a pear and stilton salad which was refreshing and tasty. J had the seafood bisque, which he let me try, and it was delectable. I had some kind of fish for dinner, but the thing that each of us remembers is the table water. It was delicious. Cold, clear, refreshing. It was perfect in the kind of way that only something as simple as water can be. N soon became sorry she didn't attend the dinner, as that table water was constantly referenced over the next 7 days.

And so I'll close the retelling of Day 1 with the mention of that table water and all the mystic properties it held.

Will Post For Money

I apologize to all 3 of you who read this on a regular basis. I've been going non-stop since my return from Colorado and my meeting. I managed to take an hour and create photography books for my 4 friends and I using my smack-tastic mac computer. If you don't have a mac, you're wac. That made no sense. The books should be shipped to my store some time this week.

Demolition began on my cafe this morning--we're rebuilding it as a Seattle's Best Cafe, run by Borders. I spent all of yesterday getting my cafe crew to remove all food, supplies, smallwares, etc from the cafe. I am taking pictures as the process moves along. It was 1am before I was able to get home and get to bed, and I had to be back at the store at 7am to meet the General Contractor and his demo team. They made short order (and a lot of noise) tearing out the counters, shelves, and basically gutting the front of the cafe down to the tile floor. Another company came in and removed all the big equipment. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how much bake cases and espresso machines cost. No, it's more than that...just trust me, you wouldn't believe me.

I am excruciatingly tired, and I have to be back at the store at 6am tomorrow morning. The process is actually going very smoothly, and in 3 weeks, we'll have an even more beautiful cafe to replace the beautiful cafe I already had. I am sleepy.

However!---last Thursday I took home my 40 inch Sony Bravia LCD HD TV that I won in the Sony Reader contest. I need to give a shout out to the 'Sony Guy' that I spoke to at Vendor Expo in Colorado. I told him my store had won 3rd place in the contest, and that we'd all won MP3 players, and I had won a TV as well. He asked me if I had a blog, saying he'd read in someone's blog that they had placed in the contest. So.....BIG HOWDY to the Sony Guy!

The box this thing came in was huge, but I was able to put up one of the rear seats in my glorious car, and it slid in quite nicely. It did take me 10 minutes to drag/lift/pull it up to my 3rd floor apartment, however. I made a conscious choice not to look at the weight written on the box as I did so. It ended up being 33 kg, which is about 70 pounds, not very heavy really, but very awkward in the sense that I couldn't wrap my arms around any part of it to just dead lift it upstairs.

I went online and found an HD DVD player at amazon and bought it. Then I went to Best Buy and bought a nice receiver and set of home theater speakers. I was drunk with sleepiness by this time and had a heckuva time getting all the cords into all the right spots on the receiver. I still was missing one cord for the subwoofer, but I was able to pick that up today. Then I watched The Phantom Menace, in glorious surround sound with oops-my-neighbors-are-gonna-be-mad-at-me bass from the subwoofer.

I should be in bed right now. I'll try to post pictures and funny insights into my Colorado trip within the next couple of days.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Not really. I'm leaving in a Tangerine Honda Element. But I am going to Colorado, which was John Denver's favorite place, hence the blog title.

I leave at midnight tonight, pick up a friend on the way, and head to the Denver Airport where we'll pick up 3 other people who are flying tomorrow morning. Then we'll head to Estes Park.

I haven't started packing yet, which is very unlike me. This was a strategic decision, however--an effort to not forewarn my kitty that she would soon be shoved in the kitty carrier and taken to board at the vet's office. The plan worked well. She was taken completely by surprise; she had no sign of visible suitcase or packing of items to tip her off as in the past. Poor kitty. I do think it saved her some trauma, though...and it definitely saved me from having to lift the mattress and box springs off my bed to get to her.

I'll see you all possibly on March 16.

Until then...

A Windows-based Attempt at Links

I pulled my old Windows-based Sony VAIO off the floor of the 2nd bedroom and hooked it back up on my dining room table so that I might compose an entry with hyperlinks. We'll give it a try, at least.

Today I went to the Carlyn Galerie to find a nice gift for my sister for her birthday. I settled on a graphite pencil in the shape of a small piece of bamboo. The entire pencil is made of graphite, so one can write with the ends, the sides, etc. Of course, it's more for aesthetics than for functionality, but it will make for a nice conversation piece at her desk at work. I also purchased a book she wanted and a CD. Her birthday is March 4th.

While I was at the Carlyn Galerie I found several glass works that I desperately wanted for myself. They were aquatic in theme; several large glass funky fish, some jellyfish glass wind chimes, and other beautiful quirky works of glass art. I have a vacation coming up next week that I need to pay for, so I refrained from purchasing anything for myself.

Also at the shop were hand crafted wooden spoons that were nowhere near the craftmanship of the spoons I saw in East Glacier Park last summer at a little shop called The Spiral Spoon. I would have bought some of those spiral spoons for gifts had I not been a person who refuses to give 'kitchen appliances and stuff' to people as gifts unless said stuff is specifically asked for.

I also went to the pet store to buy 2 plecostamouses for my tank at home. Yesterday I bought 2 blue mystery snails and one pleco for my tank at work. My leadership team is kind enough to feed my goldfish at work when I'm not there, but they always overfeed them, so algae can become a problem if I don't keep it in check.

I've been reading and posting comments on the blog of Stargate Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi here. He's a huge foodie, and he suffers people's repetitive Stargate questions well. I try to be a bit more entertaining, but mostly end up sounding like a lunatic...which is pretty much what I'm going for. He usually answers my crazy questions, though, so he must find my silliness somewhat entertaining.

I challenged him to see who could finish reading Dan Simmons' The Terror first. I think he finished it last night, and I'm not even 1/3 of the way through the 800 page book, so he wins. I'm not sure what he wins, but we'll figure out something. Speaking of reading...I need to get back to it.

Camp Fire Candy & Girl Scout Cookies

I was a Camp Firl girl, myself, but I have to say that the Girl Scout Cookies are far superior to the candy that we had to peddle to our neighbors.

Many years ago, the GS finally got it right...forget the old way of taking pre-orders for the cookies...just distribute a large amount of cookie boxes to the various troops and have the girls sell them around town. I let the GS set up a table outside my store a couple Sundays ago, and I bought cookies outside a Kroger store Friday night and outside a Blockbuster Saturday night.

I remember getting the shiny Camp Fire Candy order sheet each fall, my head dizzy with dreams of how I'd pay for two full weeks of summer camp by selling some obscene number of boxes. My dreams were short lived, as I was a rather unattractive child, tall for her age, and awkward looking in her cute little uniform, with not much success tapping on the doors of the neighborhood. I think I usually reached about 35-50 boxes of candy sold each year...just enough to get a stuffed animal or pen or some such trinket. I knew it was junk even then.

But still every year, I tried. That's back when it was still safe for a young kid to ride her bike around the neighborhood and knock on strangers' doors. Any sane parent wouldn't think of allowing their kid to do that alone in a big city these days.

So I applaud the GS for trying to raise money with a mighty tasty cookie or two or two billion. My favorites are the caramel ones, the peanut butter patty ones, and the thin mints. I encourage you to pay the exhorbitant $3.50/box if you happen to come across these young ladies peddling their brightly colored boxes some time in the near future. Who the hell knows what the money goes toward; the cookies taste good, and sometimes that's just enough.

Bach Is NOT Pronounced B-A-T-C-H

Are there no music classes at all being taught in schools these days? When I was in elementary school, we had music class and art class on alternating days in 4th and 5th grades, then I was in band from 6th grade all the way through college. Even so, even if a person has never experienced the beauty and excitement that is music class, is it not a fair expectation that they know at least some of the most famous classical music composers in the history of the world? Is it also not fair to expect that they know how to pronounch Bach's name? I'm not talking here about the debate between Bach pronouned as 'bock' versus 'bochh' with the clearing-of-the-throat sound at the end. And in context to what happened the other day, I'm not even talking about the composer Bach. I am talking about an author of personal finance books named David Bach, whose name, believe it or not (gasp!), is pronounced just the same as the composer's. Imagine my dismay and extreme inability to withhold hilarious laughter when, 2 days ago at work, one of my peeps radioed upstairs for another person to pull a copy of "Smart Women Finish Rich" by David Batch. Good golly.

Today the topic was 'Cloning' in my daily reading of The Intellectual Devotional. I almost wish the entries were longer in this book, but I guess the point is to be brief in length and consistent in the reading of them.

I leave for Colorado in a little less than 2 weeks. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I'm tired. That is all.

Wait. My post looks very unbalanced. It looks heavy at the top and light at the bottom. My post does not meet visual presentation expectations. I should do something about that....later.

'For Your Consideration'

Christopher Guest's latest foray into the world of sublime parody left me feeling less than emphatic about recommending 'For Your Consideration', which was released on DVD today.

I felt 'A Mighty Wind' was a step down from 'Best in Show', and this film was a small leap down further.

Certainly, there were laugh-out-loud moments, such as when the character of a studio executive, while trying to convince the writers of a film called 'Home for Purim' to 'tone down the Jewishness' of the picture, proclaimed loudly, "I don't run around telling people I'm a Gentile, look at my foreskin! I don't cram it down peoples' throats!" Equally funny was another character's claim that she enjoyed Latinous food. When questioned if she meant Mexican food, she said, "No, Latin food, for people who speak Latin."

I won't bother relating the plot of the film, because the plot really doesn't matter. It is the ad lib character interaction that makes or breaks these films, and this was just missing something. It was still a funny film, I'm just disappointed it wasn't more so.
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The entry from the Intellectual Devotional for today was about James Joyce's Ulysses. Maybe someday I'll browbeat myself into attempting to read this work. Or maybe not.
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Sixteen days until I leave for Colorado. I still need to find something nice to wear to the awards banquet. Maybe I'll have time on Thursday to go looking.

No Title

I was working on a performance evaluation for one of my Managers this afternoon when the lights blinked. I went to quickly save the document, but then the power went completely off for a couple of seconds. Drat! I lost a very well-thought out portion of his review. I was able to reconstruct it, but it didn't have the same poetic beauty as the original version.

No tainted peanut butter for me. I only have Jiffy and the Kroger store brand in my cupboard.

I need advice: Dish Network or Direct TV? Definitely not cable.

Has anyone else's energy (electricity) bill gone insanely high in the past couple of months? I'm all about conserving electricity right now. In fact, I need to go turn off some lights in a minute.

I cooked a lovely peppercorn pork loin tonight with wild grain rice and a garden salad. It sure was tasty, and I have plenty of leftovers to take to work with me.

I purchased 'The Secret' and 'The Intellectual Devotional' today. I read today's passage in the latter, and am about 1/3 of the way through the former. I dig both of them. I'm very much getting into universal law of attraction, the power of intention, etc.

Aggravated with Blogger

This is the 3rd time I've tried to get Blogger to work with me.

You get no great posting as a result. Here are only bullet points, which is all I have the patience for right now.

* Kicked out a vagrant from the store on Friday. This is not unusual, but they have been quite vulgar recently. This one called me a cunt, stupid bitch, sow, and tried to spit on me. Nice.

* Beatiful weather today.

* 'The Secret' by Byrne has been the most popular book since Million Little Pieces. If you liked 'What the Bleep Do We Know?' or the idea of the power of intention, or just metaphysical/spiritual stuff in general, you may want to check out this book and/or DVD.

* I'm gearing up for my trip to Colorado. I think I have all the cold weather stuff I need.

* Received my tax return on Friday.

* All my fish are well. Gracie kitty is well.

* Sometimes my staff members tell me way too much personal stuff.

I'm sure I have more, but losing two well-thought out posts in an effort to get the goddam link to work is not worth it.

Free TV for Me

I still don't know how to post links. The only two things I have in my toolbar above are a spellcheck icon and an 'add image' icon.

Anyway...

I found out today that my store won 3rd place in a sales contest involving the Sony Reader. This means that everyone on my staff, plus my boss and my boss' boss each receive a Sony MP3 player. I also get a big arse Sony Bravia flat panel LCD HDTV. Now I MUST get cable or satellite service so that I can join the rest of America in becoming a TV glutton. I am very pleased.

In other news...there was an article in the paper Saturday about the Corteo performance. It mentioned that the injured performer was not seriously injured. Thank goodness. Some of the cast members were in the grocery store across the street during lunchtime today, and I was going to thank them for such a great performance and inquire after their castmate, but I didn't want to hunt them down across the store. Then when I went back to my store, one of my supervisors told me that a cast member had just been in the store. The weather is coldish today, and these folks were wearing black jackets with "Cirque du Soleil" and a large sun embroidered on the backs, which explains how we knew who they were.

I'm still working crazy hours, trying to get this project at work completed. Tomorrow may be the longest day yet. My poor kitty is wailing at me because she misses me.

One last thing. Avoid GE soft white 100 "Energy Saver" lightbulbs. They are the ones shaped like a spiral that are supposed to last for several years, take less energy than a standard 100 watt lightbulb (because they are in fact only 26 watts), and therefore save around $50 per year in energy. These things definitely do NOT illuminate as brightly as a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb. I'd say they perform about 1/2 to 2/3 as well, despite the information on the package that says they'll illuminate the same. They're expensive, too. I've already thrown out that receipt, or I'd take them back.

It's 10:45 and I'm eating a dinner of sunflower seeds and Welch's grape soda. What does that say about me?

Free TV for Me

I still don't know how to post links. The only two things I have in my toolbar above are a spellcheck icon and an 'add image' icon.

Anyway...

I found out today that my store won 3rd place in a sales contest involving the Sony Reader. This means that everyone on my staff, plus my boss and my boss' boss each receive a Sony MP3 player. I also get a big arse Sony Bravia flat panel LCD HDTV. Now I MUST get cable or satellite service so that I can join the rest of America in becoming a TV glutton. I am very pleased.

In other news...there was an article in the paper Saturday about the Corteo performance. It mentioned that the injured performer was not seriously injured. Thank goodness. Some of the cast members were in the grocery store across the street during lunchtime today, and I was going to thank them for such a great performance and inquire after their castmate, but I didn't want to hunt them down across the store. Then when I went back to my store, one of my supervisors told me that a cast member had just been in the store. The weather is coldish today, and these folks were wearing black jackets with "Cirque du Soleil" and a large sun embroidered on the backs, which explains how we knew who they were.

I'm still working crazy hours, trying to get this project at work completed. Tomorrow may be the longest day yet. My poor kitty is wailing at me because she misses me.

One last thing. Avoid GE soft white 100 "Energy Saver" lightbulbs. They are the ones shaped like a spiral that are supposed to last for several years, take less energy than a standard 100 watt lightbulb (because they are in fact only 26 watts), and therefore save around $50 per year in energy. These things definitely do NOT illuminate as brightly as a regular 100 watt incandescent bulb. I'd say they perform about 1/2 to 2/3 as well, despite the information on the package that says they'll illuminate the same. They're expensive, too. I've already thrown out that receipt, or I'd take them back.

It's 10:45 and I'm eating a dinner of sunflower seeds and Welch's grape soda. What does that say about me?

Corteo

I am winding down from a very long day. Actually, I'm not winding down. I'm still very much wired. I was finally able to get to sleep about 2:30am last night. I woke up at 7am, worked from 8-6, ate dinner with my friends, then drove us to the site at Fair Park where Corteo was being performed. After the show, I came back to my store and worked until midnight. I'm still very untired...perhaps because of that vanilla breve I had at 11.

Corteo was magnificent, as expected. It is not my favorite Cirque show, but it was extremely well executed...until a performer seriously injured himself in the finale.

In the finale there were 6 men's gymnastic-type high bars set up on stage, four of them creating a square, and one each on either side. The men were gymnasticizing all over the place, and then one guy had a solo. He did the usual maneuvers you'd see on tv, but when he was doing his dismount, he did a double back flip and caught the front part of his legs above the ankles and below the mid-shin on the bars, then smacked to the mat. He didn't move, and a few of his fellow performers rushed to his aid. One of the performers made a big "X" sign with his arms a couple of times, and various members of the stage crew rushed on stage. The audience was deathly silent; only the noise of the heating system could be heard. A person brought out a backboard, and the guy still wasn't moving. An announcement was made that one of the performers had been injured, and the performance was stopped momentarily, as though we couldn't see that for ourselves. One of the crew members talked to a couple of performers nearest the wings, and then those performers started a 'telephone chain', communicating some sort of information to the other 30-odd people on stage. It took less than a minute for them to do this.

After the injured guy was strapped into the backboard and taken off stage, we all applauded for him, just like you do when a person gets injured at a sporting event, and then the music started up again. The cast stood near the edges of the stage, and they proceeded to take their bows, signifying the end of the performance. We all gave a standing ovation, because they really needed that support right then.

As I was leaving, my friends and other people around me were saying things like 'I hope he's ok'. He was so obviously NOT ok. I'm sure it hurt like hell to crash his shins against that bar, then drop 10 feet to the ground and land on his face.

As we were heading out to my car, the ambulance was trying to get to the tents. I wish the guy a speedy and full recovery.

DIsregard Previous Blog Posting

Now, either you will have already scrolled down to read said previous blog, thereby disregarding my instruction, or you have followed instruction and be reading this and only this. Either way, I take pity on you, O Child of the Blog World.

My internal clock is off tonight. I should be in bed asleep right now, but I'm just not quite ready. Today was my day off, but I went in at 7am this morning after leaving at midnight last night. I had called in a team of people to work on a project that is due next Friday. We're now about 25% complete; it's a big project, though not a difficult one.

I haven't been getting much sleep in the past week or so, and I was gravely tired when I came home about noonish, so I took a nap...a long one. After 5 hours of sleeping, I got up, fed the fishies and the kitty, and played the ridiculous game I wrote about below. And of course, now I'm not tired enough to get some sleep.

I do have a fun day planned tomorrow, however. Oh, and before I forget, my orange vest arrived from Land's End today. I had it shipped to work, since I'm never home. It's quite cute, and when I fall down the mountain and over a cliff while skiing in Colorado next month, they'll be able to find me in my new garments. But really, we all know the real reason I bought the stuff is because it matches my beautiful vehicle.

On to tomorrow...after a glorious day at work I will be going to see Cirque du Soleil's Corteo at Fair Park. I believe this is the 4th, maybe the 5th, Cirque show that I will have seen. All hail the procurer of free tickets who then gives them to me! I'm going with several work colleagues, and it is opening night, so it will hopefully be a vibrant performance.

Schell, I thought of you on Tuesday. Wentworth Miller was in my store again. I immediately thought of you and your family because of what you posted in your blog about watching his show together. I was going to say something to him, to pass along how much you enjoy the show, but really, how would it have sounded coming out of my mouth? Probably something like this:

"So, hi there. You shop in my store practically every week. You usually buy magazines with your picture on the cover...not that there's anything wrong with that. I need to tell you that this baseball hat you're wearing today is far more flattering than your sea foam green fishing hat that you usually wear; because let's face it, no one should be wearing a sea foam green hat of any kind. Oh, and I never watch your show because I don't have tv. I mean, I have a tv. I have two TVs, I just don't have 'tv'. I know that's confusing. You see, I have televisions, I just don't have cable, and broadcast reception around here is inadequte which makes no sense but is true. So, I watch everything on DVD, which is really not cost-effective, because at the end of the year it would be much less expensive to simply get satellite or cable or both rather than spend what I do on DVDs. But that's not what I wanted to tell you..."

Well, you can see where that is going.

I'm trying to ration my Dublin Dr. Pepper, but it is just so dang tasty that it's difficult to do so. I should have purchased 2 or 3 cases when I was down there.

I can't remember if I've mentioned before that my nephew is playing chess. He seems to be really enjoying it. It's apparently pretty common now that elementary school kids play chess in after school activities and such. He sometimes plays with a 2nd grader in 'after care' at school as well as challenging his Dad and his Kuppaw (grandpa/my dad) on Sundays. I'm sure the 2nd grader wins most of the games, but it's good for Nephew to learn that he can't win all the time.

I found out on Wednesday that I'll be a trainer again this year. The conference is in April this year, so it should be springtime in Michigan by then...much better than than the bald brown winters of past conferences.

I'm still not sleepy, but I think I should try to get some sleep before going to work.

Billionaire at Fish Tycoon

Because of Emma's blog post (to which I posted a comment, but now it's not there!), I decided to revisit a game I played briefly this spring called Fish Tycoon. You can find the web version at Yahoo games.

If you read some of the short reviews, there are many people who say the game is too slow and you can't make any money, and there are many people who say they have infinite money and have bred all the magical fish.

The game is quite simple, and I find it amusing in a strange sort of way. You have two fish tanks; one is 'tank one' and one is the 'sell tank'. You start off with some fish eggs and growth hormone and $300 in an account to buy supplies from the fish store. Over time, the fish grow, and when they are 20 days old, you can drag them into a box on the screen, check their family tree, and set a sale price for them. By cross-breeding them, you can create exotic fish and hopefully/eventually find the 7 magic fish.

If you have a couple hours to spare, it's a fun thing to try. Here are some helpful hints:

-Find a method of keeping track of your hybrids (this is not easy because there are at least 26 base fish; that's a log of cross breeding!)
-Fish will sell in the store for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I started out selling them at $1,000 each
-With a couple thousand dollars you can buy all the decorations that are available on the web version. This wil draw bigger crowds to the fish store
-The bigger crowds will then pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the fish, so money no longer is an issue
-You can use the growth hormones to speed up the pregnancy and of course the growth process of the fish
-With 26 minimum base fish, finding the 7 magic fish may be easier achieved by random pairings than by systematic trial and error
-Not all options are available on the web game, so it is greatly limited...still, it's free entertainment

Yes, Emma, They're Orange

My hat, scarf, and shoes are orange. The vest didn't come in orange, so I got black. I am placing an order tonight, though, for another vest (this one will be regular ol' goose down) which IS orange. I'm such a freak. I used to hate the color orange; now I think it is vibrant, vital, and vivid.

Verbie, what brand of water filter do you have on your fish tank? The one on my 29-gallon tank at home is having some problems, and I want to replace it. It came with the set-up kit, so I think it is PetSmart's brand called Top Fin.

I did my taxes yesterday. I had saved all my receipts for 2006, but even when I added up the sales tax on all 600+ transactions, including my car and computer, it still didn't add up to more than the personal exemption/deduction/whatever, so I saved all the receipts for nothing. I did verify, however, that all my money goes to about 5 or 6 main places. Lucky them. I wonder if that is the case with everyone?

iTunes still hasn't gotten a quality copy of SG-1 season 10 or Atlantis season 3, so I cannot download them. I am most peeved regarding this.

I love spring rolls...tasty. Oh, and Welch's grape soda...mmm.

Gracie kitty was thundering around last night as I was trying to get to sleep. She runs through the vertical blinds in the living room, tears around to the other side of the apartment, runs back, jumps into the tub, and mreows. Silly kitty.

I think that's all I have...nothing very exciting today.

Colorado

I have a meeting in Denver in mid-March. A few of my friends and I are going up early, staying in Estes Park for a few nights, and having a mini-break holiday (as Bridget Jones would say). I'm very excited, as I've never gone snow skiing before. And since I've never gone skiing before, and Texas never gets that much snow, I found myself in need of some cold weather clothes. Awwww, too bad, I know.

So, I ordered the cutest hat and scarf and snow shoes from Land's End. Guess what color they are? I also ordered some long underwear bottoms and sock liners, cold weather water-resistant gloves and a vest that is supposed to keep me warm in 20 degree weather. The vest fits snugly, but I figure once I layer some clothing underneath, it'll be too tight, so I'm going to return that one and get the next size up.

I know a couple of people who might visit this blog live in Colorado. What activities do you recommend that are near/around Estes Park?
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I sold back the DVDs last week and bought Stargate Seasons 2-5. I got a decent amount for each box set I sold back, and I have tons more to sell back.

Tonight I purchased the new Norah Jones CD. I'll listen to it tomorrow on the drive to my parents' house. I'm sure I'll enjoy it greatly.
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Fiscal 2006 ended tonight. I'm looking forward to a great year in 2007.
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My nephew's Kindergarten teacher passed away a few weeks ago. The headmaster at his school called the parents of all the kids in his class (I think he may only have 12-15 kids in his class). At least one parent came to the school to be with their child when the headmaster told the kids. My nephew enjoyed his teacher very much. My sister says my nephew is taking the death pretty well, but when someone is late or doesn't show up at a particular time, he thinks that person is dead.
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Friday, Friday

This morning/early afternoon was productive in a non-traditional sense. I renewed my AAA membership online and reset passwords/enabled logins on multiple financial websites where all my various accounts are. I create wacky passwords that have nothing to do with my life or interests, so of course I can't ever remember them. The upside is that no one will ever be able to guess them.

In a bit I'm going to get gas/wash the car (so exciting, I know), see how much I can get for selling several boxed set DVDs to a place called Movie Trading Company, and later on I need to cancel a store credit card that I used to get 0% interest when buying my computer. These cards are great as long as you pay off your purchase before the 0% financing period ends. That's the only way to do it. There's no reason ever to pay money to use a credit card. Pay off your regular credit cards in full each month, and pay off those special deal credit cards before the free term period is up.

Back to the selling of the DVDs...I am a TV DVD boxed set glutton. In the long run I'm sure I'd save money just getting satellite TV with tivo or a DVR. But anyway...if this place has boxed sets of Stargate, I'll trade them, or I'll just take cash. We'll see how it all turns out. I've never tried to sell back anything before.

I must be off...I have many errands to run before the traffic gets horrid in about an hour.

S M T W R

S
Had Sunday lunch at parents' house. Listened to ridiculous mother state that she thinks Barack Obama is the anti-Christ and also that she thinks the entire Bible should be interpreted literally. Since that means my father will be selling me off into slavery, I'm afraid I won't be able to post for much longer.

M
Helped to pack up a store that has closed. Got a good workout. Bought lunch for 17 people. Hooray for company credit cards.

T
Took final vacation day for PTO year 2006. I went shopping at a mall in the north country with a friend. I was also able to finally find some black work shoes. I blow through shoes every 3 months if they're not super sturdy. I went grocery shopping and spent $117 on food that will last me several weeks. Yummy.

W
Took a personal day. Went shopping with same friend at NorthPark Mall. I didn't buy anything but dinner at P.F. Chang's.

R
Today. Took another personal day. I drove to Dublin, TX to get some Dr. Pepper made with Imperial Pure Cane sugar. I've posted about this stuff before. You can buy it here in town, but it's $2/bottle, and it's $16/case of 24 bottles at the bottling plant. It makes a nice day trip to go down there, look around the supercute store, buy some cases, and drive home.

Tonight I made tostadas for dinner. All you need is a can of good quality refried beans, some tostada shells, cheese, and lettuce. It's easy and cheap.

I've been playing chess against my computer. I have to place the settings at a very low level, or it beats me in about 20 moves. I hope to build up to an acceptable level of play over time. I'm just not very patient about it, though. I make my moves very quickly. If I were to take more time I'm sure I'd fare better. But I just don't want to take the time. Know what I mean?

Karma & Cumin

Someone was verrrrrrry nasty to me on the phone tonight at work. This is payback because I was nasty on the phone last Saturday night with the apartment maintenance voicemail. Lesson learned.

Someone please tell me how to imbed links in my blog. I've mentioned this spice company before, but I'll mention it again. www.Penzeys.com has THE BEST spices ever. They have a store several miles from here, and I can drop serious money each time I go in there, so I've been putting it off. I need the cumin, which I can get in a larger bag there, and I need garlic salt. Their vanilla sugar is to die for, especially when liberally sprinkled on fresh ripe strawberries, though it's quite expensive. The spices in general are priced much less than the crap you'd find in the grocery stores, so check it out some time if you get the chance.

Spices make food worth eating.

It's still raining here. I hope the lakes fill up to the brim so that we won't have water shortages in the summer.

That's about all, I think. I'm going to watch the first half of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica.

The Yearling

Happy Birthday to my car...
Happy Birthday to my car...
Happy Birthday Tangerine Metallic Honda Element EX-P 4WD
Happy Birthday to you.....

Yes, it's true, my car is one year old today. It's hard to believe, really. I have almost 16,000 miles on it, and it is every bit as beautiful and exciting as the day I got it.

In fact, I'll be driving it to Denver in mid-March for a work conference. Some other GMs and I are driving in early to ski and have other assorted fun. I've never snow skiid before. I have no coat and no gloves and no anything suitable for that activity. So I'm afraid I must hop onto LandsEnd.com shortly after everything is completely finalized and do some shoppin'. Any recommendations on what color coat I should buy?

It's rainy here today, and cold. It's winterish, and I like it. My kitty cuddles with me as much as she can now. I like that as well.

I'm currently mad at iTunes. I still cannot download the current Stargate seasons. I'm perfectly able to download other shows and CDs, just not the 2 that I really want. Ironic or craptastic? You choose.

I'm out of cumin. Damn.

My downstairs neighbor introduced himself to me at work on Wednesday. My old downstairs neighbor moved to a different unit. The new guy is named "Doc". I am always curious to know if people named Doc are actually doctors, or if they just have an affinity for Bugs Bunny. It's too bad I can't have a straight downstairs neighbor named Doc who is a doctor. But my luck in such things is not strong. Oh, and I don't really like to know my neighbors, especially if they're going to show up at my place of work as well. That's just creepy. The old downstairs neighbor guy comes in almost every day. We both do a fine job of pretending we don't know each other. There's something about a person knowing when you're flushing the toilet or taking a shower or washing the dishes that is too personal to be reminded of at work. Yeah, I'm a freak. I admit it.

My red clawed crab is super-adorable. He's still afraid of me. I would be too, if I were he.

Maybe I'll make cookies tonight.

I read a book yesterday called "Hattie Big Sky". It was about a young woman who was left a 320 acre claim of land in Montana in 1918 by her Uncle. Hattie moves out west to prove up the land. I normally love reading about homesteading and the westward expansion, but this was set during WWI and includes bits about that. I didn't care for those parts...just get on with the homesteading! It was maybe a 3 out of 5 stars.

I brought home a book called "Winkie" which is about a teddy bear who is accused of some crime. I don't know more than that, but I will very soon.

Someone on my staff today didn't know the book Bridge to Terabithia. Geezum petes.

It Has Snown

It snowed overnight here...not too much, just an inch or so...enough to lay a blanket over the cars and grass. I finally turned my heat on last night. I don't like having to run the heat, as it dries out everything, especially my skin. I think my cat appreciates it, though.

I bought some resistance cords at a sporting goods store and began working my arm muscles in preparation for the arm wrestling rematch in Denver in mid-March. I have almost 2 full months to train, so I am hopeful that I might win!

Not much else is going on...I go to work this afternoon and have some household chores to accomplish before then.

I'm in Love

I just spent over an hour watching Steve Jobs introduce the new iPhone. It is heavenly; it is wonderful; it is $499 plus whatever the Cingular service will be. I totally don't need it, but I totally want it. Yes, the pull of the iPhone is powerful indeed. Please save me from its enchantments. You can check out the entire introduction at mac.com, if you like.

And now, on to other things...

I couldn't get into my apartment Saturday night. It was 12:20am. I had just come from work by way of the grocery store; it was 25 degrees outside and windy; I had no jacket or coat. My key wouldn't turn in the lock. I was pissed. I had called in a repair about 10 days prior, and somebody came to look at it one day while I wasn't there. Apparently they didn't fix it. I left a searing voice mail at my apartment complex's phone number, and someone came out 20 minutes later, shot some carbon-like gunk in the lock, and now the key turns exceptionally well. I have no idea why they didn't just do that in the first place. It would have saved all of us a great amount of aggravation.

We've had sleet, rain, and icy roads here for the past few days. The icy roads part really was just yesterday and today, and even then not too badly.

I have 2 months left to train for the next re-match of Me versus My Boss, arm wrestling! Yes, we're both nuts. My boss has beat me, both arms, twice in a row now, and I cannot let that trend continue. One of my staff, who used to be a competitive swimmer, has written me a nutrition plan, and her partner is going to write me a work-out plan. I'm sooooo gonna kick ass in 2 months.

I'm currently reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. It's so-so. It won the Newbery a few years ago, and I thougt it would be more amazing than it is. Oh well.
I stopped reading a book called Deep Ancestry about the Human Genographic Project. The first 1/2 is fascinating; the second half (at least the part of the half that I read) is getting bog-downy, so I stopped. Still, take a look at the first part if you can. It's by Spencer Wells.

My car will be one-year-old on Friday. I'm going to throw a party for it...cake and all. I still haven't named it. What should I name it? What should I put on the cake?

Financially speaking...I started a 529(b) college savings account for my nephew when he was about 1. They're commonly called UFunds. I've been putting $50 a month into that account since then. I have it automatically transferred, so I never even see the money. I'm hoping that in 2018, when he reaches college, it'll have at least $25,000 in there. Maybe that'll buy a book or two, if he's lucky. If you have any youngsters in your family, I encourage you to open one of these accounts. You put the account in your name, with the child as beneficiary, so you get to control/manage it, without any effort on the part of the kid or parents. Fidelity.com and Vanguard.com are two good places to start.

That's all I can think of for now.

Lotsa Stuff, I Think

It's super-nice to have 2 days off in a week again. Ahhhh.

Christmas went well. My younger sister brought her boyfriend to meet the family. She's never done that, so I guess it's serious. I'm happy for her as well as a bit jealous. I have nothing bad to say about him, though I didn't get to interact with or observe him enough to say yet whether or not I like him. Time will tell.

My nephew was adorable on Christmas. It was his 3rd Christmas that day, so he was fairly bouncing off the furniture by the time I saw him.

I received an air mattress to use in my car when I go camping. I also received some iTunes gift cards, some cash, and some kitchen stuff. Everything was great except the kitchen stuff. I keep telling my family not to get me kitchen stuff for Christmas or birthdays, but they won't listen.

I'm very concerned about the health and general well-being of a couple people on my staff. Of course I can't go into the details here, and their issues are personal in nature, but some people feel compelled to tell me some of the serious things that are happening in their lives.

I witnessed an auto accident this past Saturday. There are several verrrrry wonky one-way streets around here, and a lady in a mini-van was driving the wrong way down one of them at exactly the wrong time and was T-boned by a sedan whose light had just turned green. The driver of the sedan was injured, so I had to call 911 and try to keep the lady from moving around too much until the FD, PD, and ambulance came. Had it been a few seconds later, I would have been at that intersection, turning right. I'm not sure if the minivan was on the path to have hit me, but it does make one take pause.

I bought the first Season of Stargate: Atlantis on DVD. I absolutely love it. Currently I have a particular crush on the character named Dr. McKay. He's sort of like the character of House, actually, just without the cane, and he's a scientist instead of an MD. On TV the show is already in its 3rd season, but the DVD set of the 2nd season isn't due out until the very end of February. I wonder why there is such a delay. The music on the show is amazing. Check it out if you can.

My fishies are all doing well, as is Gracie. The crab is getting bigger, the snails are snailing away, and the fish are simply cute. Sometimes I'll put my finger in the water in my tank at home just so the smallest of the balloon bellied mollies will kiss it. Gracie was mad at me during December because I was only ever home to sleep and shower. I've been trying to spend quality time with her in the past week so that she'll quit missing the litter box 'accidentally'. She likes to watch DVDs with me.

Of course, I can't remember 80% of what I wanted to say. Many times each day something will happen and I'll say to myself, "That was blog-worthy. I should write about that tonight.", and then I forget about it by the time I sit here to type.

If you're all very good people and post me lots of comments, I just may post a picture or two of that book I created about my trip to Glacier.

Now, go confidently in the direction of your dreams........sorry, I can't remember who said that.....

Two Skyrtle Doves

What's a skyrtle dove? Hellifiknow.

Just over 45 hours to go.

A sister and brother came into the store today. She was beautiful, he was extreeeemely handsome, and they both had great senses of humor. Of course, I fell in lust with the guy immediately and found a new best friend in the girl. I'm lying, of course, but they were neat-o-rific people, and I really enjoyed talking with them for the brief minute or two that we all shared. It was most excellent. It's been a long long time since I've met what Anne of Green Gables calls 'kindred spirits' in person. I've met several online (you know who you are). I need to get out more.

But alas...

After 10 hours of walking around on hard tile floor, orchestrating all the people and activity in the store, I'm just too darn tarred to go do any social thing lately.

Not much else going on right now.

I may not post tomorrow (Saturday) night. I get off work at 12:30am and go back at 10am Sunday.

My dogs are barking, but my calf muscles rock right now.

Three French Zens

I need some zen right about now.

Three more days of work 'til Christmas. I didn't post yesterday because I worked a closing shift (til 12:30am) then went right back to work at 7am this morning. Four hours of sleep doesn't kill me, but it does make me hurt.

The CEO visited today. It went fine. I was able to give him the demographics, sales percentages, comp numbers, and strategy informatioin he was asking for. I always study my numbers before a visit like that.

As he was leaving, along with my boss and her boss, a window sign fell down right next to the front doors. I laughed my ass off.

I received some yummy nummy cookies today at work...thanks CatBoy! I also received the photography books I had created on my computer. They look pretty amazing. If I had any energy I'd post a picture of them.

Also, Squeaky the Bookshelf Elf delivered his presents to my store staff this afternoon. Squeaky had to work especially hard on his lunch break to get all the goodies in the stockings, but it all worked out in the end.

My feet hurt. I need to do a load of laundry. But what I really want to do is put on some chili and watch Stargate.

Oh, I found the creamy coconut flavor of Dreyer's Fruit Bars, so I bought those the other day.

Life is pretty darn good, ya know?

In 73 hours and 3 minutes I get to lock up my store and start my Christmas.

Cheers.

Five Bolden Wings

Um, Yeah....whatever that means...

Five more days and five more days of work until Christmas.

My sister and nephew visited me again today at work. One of my employees asked my nephew if he still had his Rhino Nose Virus. The answer was yes.

I helped a man today who, I can only suppose, had an extreeeeeeemely severe case of jaundice. I don't know that I've ever seen anyone with jaundice, really, but I think this guy had it bad. The 'whites' of his eyes were, indeed, yellow. But not just yellow...bright yellow, especially around the irises and also near the fleshy inside of the eyelid. It was freaky. I tried not to notice, but I'm sure he knew that I was noticing. Now I'll have to go look up pictures of jaundice on the internet to see if that's really what it was. It seemed too vivid a color to be real. I helped him find a Mayo Clinic Guide to Alternative Medicine, so he certainly had some medical ailment. Poor guy.

I bought Stargate Atlantis Season 1 today with my 40% off coupon.

I made chili tonight...mmmmm. That should last me through until Christmas. I can get a good 5 days of eating off of one big pot o' chili.

My photography book that I created with my computer has now been shipped (hooray!). The tracking program said it was picked up by FedEx at 6:30something tonight. I should receive it on Thursday. Double Yay!

Wentworth Miller was in my store again today. Dominic Purcell was in last week. I don't know what the shooting schedule for a tv show is, but you'd think they'd get a couple weeks off at Christmas to go be with their families.

Catboy, did you really mail me some of your baked goods? I haven't received a Christmas card yet. Geezus, man, get with it!

It's been muggy and verrrry humid here for the past several days. And then at about 11am today, a deep fog rolled in. We don't get deep fogs around here much, and never in the daytime. Supercreepy. But it caused all the people to freak out, put on their winter coats, and come buy stuff at my store, so I'm not complaining.

Things are still going well. I'm trying to load up my staff with food and candy in the breakroom, and I'll be assembling their individual stockings tomorrow with even more food, so I hope that'll be enough to get them through the next 5 days.

My red clawed crab is so cute, even if he keeps hiding from me. He's a chicken crab. heh.

Six More Days

I typed 'Sex More' at first while I was typing the title. Obviously, I corrected myself.

I just finished a dinner of Cheerios and a Dreyer's Fruit Bar--strawberry. Those fruit bars are most excellent. I've had the lime and the strawberry, and I notice from their website that they have myriad flavors. Unfortunately, the grocery stores nearby only carry those two flavors. I must expand my search to a larger concentric circle.

Btw, Catboy, the correct use of myriad is attributed to you. You done did learn me somethin'.

Yes, there are six more days until Christmas. But more importantly, there are six more days until I can have a day off. I had a day off yesterday, but it didn't feel like a day off. I'm working a 7-day stretch right now, which isn't too bad, really. I'm thankful I have a good job.

Some hot items this Christmas:

Books:
Annie Leibovitz's Photo Book
Echo Maker (publisher is out)
Yale Book of Quotations (publisher is out)
Bird Songs
U2 by U2
Schott's Almanac 2007
I Like You by Amy Sedaris
The Secret
and of course all the ones you'd expect by Grisham, Hiaasen, Crichton, et al ad nauseum

CD:
Holiday Music by James Taylor, Il Divo, Bette Midler, TransSiberian Orchestra, Sara McLaughlin

DVD:
Saturday Night Live, Season 1 (distributors are out)
Band of Brothers
House (both seasons)
Dozens of other TV show seasons

Calendars:
Dubya Doublespeak
Far Side box
any Dog calendar

Kids:
Robert Sabuda pop up books
Eragon
Puzzles and kits

So, if you're trying to be original in your gift giving, avoid all the things mentioned above, as everyone in the country thinks they are the perfect gift and have already bought them. That doesn't mean these things aren't most excellent, as most of them are, but the likelihood of a duplicate gift increases if you select from that list.

Be bold, buy something no one else is buying. Be brave, read something no one else is reading.

One book that I've had to reorder several times is a new photography book by David LaChappelle (not the guy with the TV show). It's called Heaven to Hell, and it's visually amazing. His style of photography is not for those easily offended by some nudity or those who don't like to challenge the social norm. His work IS a visual feast of color and composition. It's a perfect, non mainstream book that is doing really well here.

I am eagerly awaiting the book I created on my computer. The status still says it is 'printing', so I kind of doubt I'll get it before Christmas. I just wasn't willing to pony up those extra $$$ to pay for express shipping.

I just received word today that the CEO is going to be in town visiting stores on Thursday. I hate it when they do this at Christmas time. I really like to meet all these people each time, but I'm not going to pull myself away from helping customers to meet and greet.

Also, we're the only bookstore in town that is selling the Sony Reader. Let me just say how wicked cool this little machine is. People don't seem to care that it's $350.

That's all I got for now.

Rhino Nose Virus

Warning to Emma: This post contains more talk of boogers.

In the normal ways of little boys, my nephew today was battling one nostril full of snot, and one bleeding nostril. He has a cold he can't seem to shake. I taunt him and call him 'little booger boy'. He told me to stop saying that, and that he has boogers because he has a Rhino Nose Virus. I told him it's a good thing he doesn't have a Hippo Ear Virus, as those are quite nasty.

I finished wrapping the family gifts at 2:21 am this morning, and thusly took them all to my parents' house today. Gracie woke me up around 8am, so I'm quite tired. My nephew can read now (he's in kindergarten), so I made up a code to put on the packages that were for him that I didn't want him to shake. He went through all the rest and made sure he knew for whom they were intended. I had to explain that when the package read "To: Mom; From: Jenny", that it didn't mean the package was for his mom, it was meant for Grand (what he calls my mother). There were also things for him from some of Santa's reindeer. He really enjoyed digging through all of them and seeing which ones were his.

There was almost a big scene before lunch when my older sister told my mom that they would not be able to attend Christmas until the evening of Christmas Day, as my nephew's other set of grandparents and other aunt could only attend a Christmas meal during the day. They don't get to see my nephew very often, and my mother gets to see him every week, so it seemed like a perfectly reasonable thing to tell mom that they would be quite late for our Christmas Day lunch.

In the end, we're just going to push back our meal to dinnertime instead of lunch, which is ok with everyone else. I feel badly that my sister had to have such an uncomfortable conversation with my mother, and of course my mother overreacted and placed blame and played the martyr. However, I've had an absolute ton of experience with awkward/uncomfortable situations like these, and I did notice some opportunity for my sister in the way the conversation was phrased, where it was held, etc.

Anyway, I'm sure my sister was very stressed leading up to and going into that conversation and is most likely feeling much better now that it is done.

I'm looking forward to a fast-paced 7 days leading up to Christmas. This is the fun time of year.

Da Holidayze

This is my list of 'stuff' yet to be done before Christmas Day:

1. Buy a bottle of wine for my boss
2. Buy a gift for a friend (even though we said we wouldn't exchange gifts, I know she'll get me something so I'll have to get her something.)
3. Wrap remaining gifts for family
4. Take these gifts to parents' house tomorrow
5. Work every day Dec. 18-23
6. Put staff names on stockings
7. Take stockings to store and fill with stuff I bought a couple weeks ago that's been sitting in my car
8. Convince Gracie not to eat any more red ribbon (she pooped out a short one yesterday...bad kitty)
9. Load a few hundred more CDs onto my new external hard drive.
10 . Try to spot my red clawed crab a few more times
11. Play with my kitty
12. Do normal household/chore/life stuff

I'd better get cracking. I must finish wrapping stuff tonight, and it's already 1am.

I Created My Own Book

You may or may not remember that I purchased a new computer, a Mac desktop, in June. You also may or may not remember that at the end of June/beginning of July I took a trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks with a good friend of mine.

I've been trying to think of a nice yet inexpensive gift for my friend for Christmas, so I decided to see if I could compile all the best photos into a book to give to her. With iPhoto I was able to choose a style, layout, easily drag and position the photos, write an introduction, and place descriptions of each photo.

I selected a hardcover (black linen) book that measures 8 1/2 x 11 inches. I ordered 2 copies, one for me and one for her. They were only $29.95 each. I did this all last night in about 2 hours, and the result is glorious. I can't wait to get the final product, to hold it and see how it lives in my hands.

I'm so excited that I was able to create this through the wonders of digital cameras, computers, and a DSL modem. My friend is absolutely going to love this. I hope the books arrive before Christmas.

In the future I'll have to check out the calendars, cards, and other formats of books I can make with iPhoto.

Above is the photo I used for the cover of the book. It is my most favorite of any photo I've ever taken.

I Am the Peacemaker

Today I had to physically place myself between two grown men (customers) at work who were bickering/arguing with each other. This is what I was told happened after everything was said and done:

Guy A was reading a magazine while Guy B kept bothering him. Apparently Guy B wanted to look at the magazine as well, to see if he wanted to buy it. Guy A told Guy B that he would give the magazine to Guy B as soon as he was finished looking through it. Guy B had problems with this and kept badgering and pseudo-threatening Guy A.

Anyway...all I knew stepping into this situation was that one of my cashiers asked me for help (we have walkies with headsets which are very handy for things like this). I came to the register queue where these two guys were exchanging words, and Guy B was trying to buy a different magazine. Guy A told me that Guy B was bothering him, and then they started to argue again.

Here's what I told them: "Guy B, you're going to stay over there to my left and buy your magazine; Guy A, you're going to stand to my right and buy yours. I'm going to stand in the middle, and you two are not going to talk to each other."

Guy B asked me if I wanted to hear his side of the story. I told him no. They were both to buy their magazines and leave.

I mean REALLY...am I their momma? Am I their kindergarten teacher? Are they both not adult enough to handle a small problem of sharing or not sharing?

Hey, if either Guy A or B had a problem because one of my staff was rude or threatening or whatever to them, fine. That is something that is my responsibility. But I shouldn't have to stand between to adult men and tell them both to be quiet just because they can't handle that situation themselves.

The next customer in line was a nice lady who said she caught the end of the whole thing and thought I handled it very well. Superthanks, nice lady.

I am the Peacemaker.

Drive-Bys, Click-Bys, and Stand-Bys

Busy busy busy has my life been lately. It's all due to work right now. 'Tis the season to make or break a retail establishment, and I aim to 'make' it. Today is my one day off this week, as has been the case for the past couple of weeks. This closing at midnight nonsense, though I've been doing it for years at the holidays, is still for the birds.
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Yesterday I learned that the father and brother of one of my employees were shot in a drive-by while attending a Christmas party at a friend's house. Five others were injured, and no one was killed. A person goes to a celebration, is enjoying the time with their family and friends, and is shot. What the fuck is happening to this country? For further insight on this, I recommend watching the film Grand Canyon.
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I'm almost finished with my holiday shopping. I was having a heckuva time finding enough inexpensive plain red and white felt stockings for work. I finally found some at an online wholesaler. In years past I've just bought them at Target, but the ones they had this year were really skimpy and thin in the white part at the top. Plus, they didn't have the several dozen that I need for my staff. You see, every year I make stockings for each member of my staff. I write their name in gold fabric paint on the white part, and stuff them full of gum, snacks, candy, bubbles, and whatever else I can get in bulk for cheap. Crap, I haven't gotten my boss anything yet. I think I'll just get her a nice bottle of wine and not worry with trying to be creative. Double crap...I have 2 friends I have to get things for. Everyone else is done...I think.
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When I bought this computer in June, I got some sort of card that CompUSA had. They discontinued their card, and sent me a certificate for $107 in credit. Today I bought a 250GB external hard drive and a piano/keyboard bench for a total of $14.53 after I get my rebate on the hard drive. Not bad. Now I can put my hundreds of CDs and photos and downloaded TV shows onto the external drive and not worry about filling up my computer.
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I need to get back to doing laundry....toodles.

House=Hugh=Hot

I've recently been watching season 1 of House on DVD. I now have a ginormous crush on Hugh Laurie, or maybe it's a crush on the character of House, or maybe it's a crush on Hugh Laurie as House.

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It snowed here last Thursday. Actually, it alternated between sleeting and snowing, then it finally decided on snow. Because of the sleet, some of the roads were icy, and we didn't really get much accumulation of snow. It's very refreshing to have colder weather. I haven't yet turned on my heat. I have plenty of clothes, blankets, and a cat to keep me warm.

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Yesterday my nephew asked me how Gracie's cold was. I thought this was very thoughtful of a 5 1/2 year old kid to ask. I told him Gracie was almost all better, and I asked him how his own cold was. He told me he wasn't quite over it yet and he still had some boogers in his nose. I then asked him if he had blown his nose really hard using lots of tissue. He responded that he had blown his nose hard when he was 4, and a lot of stuff came out. I suppose he thought he was done for life.

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I need some advice on something. I am a snacker while I watch DVDs. I need to find something to occupy my hands and/or mouth so that I can still enjoy my entertainment without all those pesky calories. Any suggestions? Lewd suggestions will also be considered.

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Starting Thursday, we stay open until midnight. I hate that.

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My car now has 15,000 miles on it. I have owned it 10 months and 15 days, but it was in the shop for 30 of those days. Next year I plan on taking it to Michigan again (for a work conference in April), and to Denver (for a work meeting in late March), plus some sort of road trip vacation during the summer.

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I want to visit the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, IA. I want to go alone. How freakish is that?

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I enjoy movies a lot more now than when I was a film major in college. I miss playing the French horn, though now I have been not playing for as many years as I did play before I stopped.

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Something's missing and I need to find it. I'm not sure if I lost something or if I never had it. Hmm...

Quick Turn Around

I closed tonight, and I have to be back at 8am, so this'll be short.

It's raining right now, and the temperature is supposed to drop below freezing with sleet and snow predicted. This'll be the first freeze of the year (that I know of). The temps have been in the 70s here for the past week, so colder weather will be refreshing.

I'm supposed to just work a half day, but we'll see what happens with that.

I watched Field of Dreams on DVD last night. I'll post more about it later if I feel compelled. It's a great film.

Off to bed with me now...

Trim the Sick Cat with Rent

Such a feeble attempt to create a title out of the main points I'll be posting about. Um, I'll just begin then.

Trimming the Tree

I just finished decorating my cute little 2 ft white tree. It still needs some color, so I'm waiting til I acquire more stuff for it to post a pic.
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Sick Kitty

My poor Gracie picked up a nasty virus when I boarded her at the vet's during my vacation. It took her two weeks to get over it, and her poor widdle nosie is still a bit scabby. I didn't sleep much for about 10 days, worried to death that she wouldn't be able to breathe. She was completely congested and sneezed constantly, with little projectile droplets of kitty nose blood and kitty snot being sprayed all over my walls and sheets and various bed comforters. She was 17 pounds at her last checkup a month ago, and I bet she has dropped about 15-20% of her body weight during her illness. Poor kitty. Now she is pretty much back to normal and is lounging on the carpet by my right foot. Sweet kitty.

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RENT

I bought the movie of RENT a few days ago, as it was mega-on-sale at my store, and I love it. I bought the original cast recording many years ago, but wasn't all that impressed, and therefore have never seen any touring production of it.

I'm happy to say my opinion has changed. Six of the original 8 main cast members were in the film. I can completely see why teens and young adults love this musical. It speaks to a lot of the ideals a young person has (love, downfall, redemption, friendship, rage against the machine, death, etc.), but has enough timely social commentary to appeal to pretty much anyone who doesn't live in ignorance of reality.

I had to dig a bit to find the original cast recording, but I'm listening to it now. I like the newer arrangements of the film music, and the cast sounds better to me, as they now have 10 years more life and singing experience, but the fresh sound of the OCR is also enjoyable.

Anyway, try to Netflix this one. Even if you don't think you'll like it, just give it a chance.
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That's all for now. I'm going to try to post more regularly. I just haven't been motivated for a while. I also think a lot of what I write is really mundane, but I suppose mundane is better than nothing.

I'll leave you with a quote from the Mark character in RENT: "The opposite of war isn't peace...it's creation."

-jrh

Falling Trees of the Camping-Minded Sneezy Kitties

It's been very windy here for the past 24 hours. Very. Windy. So windy that while I was watching an episode of Stargate-SG1 on DVD this morning, a tree fell over into the parking lot. I heard it fall. It sounded like the roof was being torn off the building, and indeed there were some asphalt shingles on the ground as well.

The tree luckily didn't hit any cars (well, it might have grazed one car, I'm not exactly sure). I called the apartment complex office and left a message for them to send someone out immediately because the tree was block the entire drive way through the parking lot. Poor tree.

I live on the 3rd floor, which I hate btw, so I had a pretty decent line of sight to the poor guy who had to use a handsaw to break down the tree into removable pieces.
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I was on vacation last week. I went camping for a couple of nights, and it was the first time for me to take my new Honda Element with me. The tent affixed to the car most excellently. Only a handful of people were at the campground, but all of them stopped by to ask me questions about the 'car with the tent on it'.

I didn't leave my campsite except to go to the restroom/shower house. If I wasn't sleeping in my car, I was lounging in my hammock or relaxing by my fire. The only thing I don't like about camping is the unavoidable 4am trip to the potty in 40 degree weather.

I think perhaps being a guy would be beneficial at times like those.
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When I was camping, I boarded my kitty at the vet like I always do. On Sunday she began to sneeze, which at the time sounded like coughing to me. She was feeling very puny, poor kitty.

I scrambled and got her to the vet on Tuesday. Everyone knows me at this place. I'm in there several times a year to board Gracie, and I'm in there at least once a month to pick up her insulin and syringes.

Gracie has either a cold or a virus, and she got a shot to help with the fever, and I have to give her Amoxil in liquid dropper form twice a day. It's bright pink and very pretty. The vet thinks that an asymptomatic sick kitty was at the clinic at the same time that Gracie was there, and that's how she got sick.

So...he didn't charge me for the vet visit ($48), or the shot ($20-ish), so it just cost me $19 (the cost of the Amoxil). Gracie feels much better, though she's still sneezing a lot.

I was very worried about my precious kitty, so I'm glad she's on the mend.
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Later on I'll write about all the cool stuff I bought for less than $3.00 on Tuesday.

Miller Genuine Draft

What are the odds? Two famous Miller men visiting my place of work in the same 7-day span.

Larry Miller, of Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Necessary Roughness, and I think Pretty Woman, notariety, dropped by the store late last week to do a stock signing of his book. I can't remember the title of it right now. He was gracious, humorous, polite, and thrilled my staff. I let him use the intercom system to talk about the book, and he was a hoot! He personalized the books, took pictures with my staff, and was an all-around pleasure to encounter.

and...this one's for Schell...

Wentworth Miller. Yes, I finally know what he looks like in person. Now that I've seen him in his pale green fishing hat, I realize that I've seen him before, I just didn't actually look closely enough to notice who he was. I don't look closely at anyone, really. I don't know why, I just don't. He was gracious and polite and very soft spoken. So Schell, you know him now through 2 degrees of separation. Go you.
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In other news:

I've been working...a lot. And I mean a lot. Since field training was put on hold for Q2, it all got dumped into Q3 (which just ended), and the beginning of this quarter. This week is our biggest merchandising changeout of the entire year, and that is also a ton of work. But oh my god, the signage and images are phenomenal. We got Robert Sabuda to create our visual theme again this year. We have pop-up Nutcracker soldiers all over the store. It really pops. Go check out a store near you to see all the cool stuff.

And I'm very excited about a couple of books recently. DK publishing has a book called Rainforest and another called Ocean. DK is my favorite publisher, as they use tons of photographs and a great layout design in all their books. I certainly don't need any more books, but I'd like to get those two anyway.

This is the best publishing holiday season in the past decade, so I'm looking forward to excited people and a lot of happy gift buyers.

My job is freaking awesome.
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In other news, I'm taking a vacation next week. I made reservations for a couple nights at my favorite campground again. I hope there's no burn ban this time. I'll need to call ahead to be sure. I do so love a wood fire at night, and a burn ban nixes that option. This'll be the first time I will use the tent on my new car, so I'm eager to try that out. The nights are getting chilly here now, so it'll be nice to have a bit more insulation from the great outdoors. I plan on eating a lot, reading a lot, and sleeping in my hammock a lot.

Now I have to go to sleep.

Van Gogh in My Soup

I am stalling. I have a 3-day regional conference that begins tomorrow, and I need to be ironing, cleaning, and packing, but I'm not. The fact that I'm updating this blog when I'm not really compelled to do so is telling enough of my procrastination station.

The conference is 'in town', but we're still expected to stay at the hotel a mere 20 miles away. In a way this is convenient for me, as I like to heavily imbibe in the evenings of such occassions, and don't want to worry about having to drive home afterward or get up extra early the next day. In another way this is yucky for me because I have to go through the trouble of boarding my cat.

I spent money I didn't need to spend on some new work clothes. I got another pair of black slacks, a pair of really cute dark gray with white pin stripes slacks, and 4 blouses. One of the blouses is white and has those super poofy pirate cuffs at the wrists, which is TOTALLY out of character for me, so I figured I'd wear that one day and let everyone make fun of me. I would. Actually, I also picked up a couple of cute lace-bordered tanks in black and pale blue to try out that cute tank over blouse look that is adorable and yet still quite professional. If you've not seen it, it's difficult to explain, but it sure does look fashionable to me. And trust me, I need alllll the help I can get to look fashionable.

I need to wash and/or iron all those items tonight.

For those of you who are jealous when I get free stuff....neener neener neener, because I'm going to get a lot more free stuff tomorrow night.

There is also a new GM in position, and I already told him he's going to be the 'gopher/fetcher' for the district, so I'll get to sit back and enjoy my multiple drinks while he gets them for me. He's a good guy with a strong sense of humor, so I think he'll be ok.
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A couple of weeks ago I made some egg drop soup from a package. Not great tasting, but inexpensive. As I was stirring the beaten egg into the boiling soup I noticed the concoction looked like the swirling sky of a Van Gogh painting. Van Gogh in my soup. I wonder no one else has ever noticed this.
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"Excuse me, sir, but you dropped your crack pipe." A guy dropped his crack pipe on the tile at the front of my store last week. It is now a running joke. He apparently tried to come in the store again a couple days ago. He must be smoking crack to think that we're going to let him back in.
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The gas station closest to here has a huge problem with beggars. I was vacuuming my car today, keeping an eye out for one, and sure enough, some old guy came up behind me and started to ask for money. I hate that. I don't ever let them get past 'excuse me'. I have a two handed, very firm crossing of the arms 'no' gesture accompanied with a verbal 'go away'. If I see them walking towards me at the pumps, I strike pre-emptively and tell them 'don't even ask me.' At intersections I don't avert my eyes, that is weak and wimpish. I look them straight in the eyes and shake my head and mouth 'no' to them. So there.
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Several more Wentworth Miller sightings, and also the guy now on Prison Break who used to be on Invasion last year. The FedEx Express guy saw WM, but I have yet to see him, which I really think is remarkable considering I'm in my store over 50 hours a week. Could everyone be pulling my leg?
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I think that's all I got. Oh wait, I'm in the middle of season 6 of Stargate: SG-1. I loves me some Stargate. And that now reminds me that Vaughan Williams, one of my fishies at work, died a couple weeks ago. It was very sad. I emailed an obituary to all my peers and boss. Several folks emailed back condolences. I had a small funeral for him in the handicapped stall of the women's restroom, then I went to Petsmart to get a plecostomous and a new fish--a black oramond goldfish. I am letting my staff name the new fish.

When I came home last night, my favorite fish at home had died. She was a balloon bellied molly, and was extremely cute. All the other fish in the tank were crying. Poor poor dead fishies.
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Gracie kitty is faring well.

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Ok, now I got nothing.

Saying Good Morning to the Paper Guy

Yes, I've been busy. Many people say "I've been busy" in their blogs as a reason for not writing a new posting. Many people aren't me. I actually have been busy...working.

You see, it is 3rd quarter, and if you've ever worked retail, you know what that means. If you haven't ever worked retail, you cannot possibly have any frame of reference, so don't worry about it in that case.

This week I trained 4 new Managers for the district, which is always fun, though totally draining.

On Thursday I started work at 8am and worked straight through until 3am Friday morning. As my managers and I were leaving, the Paper Guy was delivering our newspapers. Good morning, Paper Guy.

So I came home, went to bed and finally got up about 2pm today. Then I was sleepy again and took a nap from about 5:30-8pm. It is now almost 10pm, and I have a lovely cornish game hen with rice, cream of mushroom soup, topped with dried soup mix baking in the oven. It should be done in another hour or so. MMmmmmm.

That's about all I can muster for now. I need to spend some time with my kitty, and I desperately need to clean my kitchen and spot vacuum my apartment along with doing some laundry. I close tomorrow, so I can get some of that done before work.

FYI--there are an absolute TON of new books, CDs, and DVDs that are released in the autumn, so be sure to stop by your local bookstore every week to check them out. Most of the laydowns occur on Tuesdays, by the way. Exciting stuff.

Lotsa Lotsa

Yes, it has been a while. Get over yourself. You know you came here everyday hoping for an update. Finally, here is your reward.

Two Fridays Ago:

Two Fridays ago I attended a local publisher expo that some company folks put together. I got lots of nice promos and discovered a large assortment of Texana books to order.

Luke Wilson and Terrell Owens:

I am told that T.O. was in my store Friday night shopping in the bargain books area. Doesn't this guy make millions? Why was he buying bargain books? Oh wait, he broke one of his fingers and will be on the bench for the next few weeks. Maybe he's learning how to read to pass the time. Luke Wilson was in my cafe today. He looked very thin and had an odd haircut. Perhaps he's going to play a crack junkie in an upcoming film.

Maddox:

We had a book signing on Thursday with Maddox. It was a huge hit. This guy apparently has a website with an enormous following. It appeals to teenage and 20-something males, as evidenced by the turnout for the event. Maddox was friendly and a bit cute in person, which is not how he presents himself online or in reference to his book, so I'm told.

Birthday Party:

A friend had a birthday party yesterday. His house is 40 miles from here, near the Texas Motor Speedway. I asked his wife how the traffic situation is in their area on race day. Remind me never to move to a place near a major sports stadium.

I was asked several times to join in a game of poker, but I am a nitwit at poker. I've played once, and I had to have the guys tell me what to bet every time it was my turn. I think they like doing that, but I don't like not knowing what the heck I'm doing. I think I should learn Texas Hold 'Em soon.

New Plasma:

Yes, I'm very much enjoying my new plasma screen. I watched LOST-SSN02, Grey's Anatomy-SSN02, and am currently watching more Stargate DVDs on it.

The Weather:

The weather has been mostly lovely here lately. The temps have drastically dropped to the 80s or 90s during the day, and the 60s overnight. Tonight is supposed to drop to 58, which hasn't happened since March or April. I will try to get my windows open to let in some fresh cool breezes a bit later.

Cleaning:

I need to clean my apartment. I always need to clean my apartment. Go figure.

I Give You Leave to Envy Me

Why, you ask?

Because I now have in my apartment a 41 inch big screen plasma monitor that I got for free. Yes, free. And I currently have the first Lord of the Rings movie playing on it.

How did I get it for free, you ask?

My company recently decided to remove the plasma screens that were in my store, and we were told we could give the screens to employees. I'm going to hold a series of contests to see who wins each of the other 8 screens. And, of course, I took one home.

It doesn't have a receiver or any kind of feet or stand, so I had to lean it up against the wall on my regular tv stand/furniture. I was able to hook it up to my DVD player and my old old old stereo speakers, and it looks/sounds great. I don't watch broadcast tv anyway, so the fact that it doesn't have a receiver does not matter to me right now. I don't have any control over the volume, and I need to figure out how to get that, but the volume right now seems to be ok. I haven't tried using my DVD remote for that yet...

It was a bitch getting it up to my third floor apartment, but it worked out ok in the end.

So, I'm going to spend a long time tonight watching Season 2 of LOST, which was released today, on my new plasma screen.

Free stuff rocks.

Grayson, Carpets, Ice Cream

Grayson

Yesterday afternoon I read a semi-short book called "Grayson" by Lynne Cox. Cox also has written "Swimming to Antarctica" which I have not read. I don't know how to get a picture of the cover here, so you'll just have to imagine a compact tome with great cover art -- a drawing of a smiling gray whale with his tail flipped and water spouting from the top of his body.

The story is true, and describes the author's experience with a baby gray whale that had become separated from its mother for a few hours one morning off the California coast.

It is interesting that one of the scenes described involves a huge colony of stingrays; the author tells how stingrays are normally docile unless stepped on or placed in danger. So I was surprised when, upon going to work this morning, I was told that Steve Irwin had died due to a stingray 'attack'. I suppose, however, that anything piercing your heart would most likely kill you, regardless of how safe/unsafe it is under normal circumstances.

I really enjoyed the book. Check it out if you get the chance. It'll only take 1-2 hours to read, depending on your speed.
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Carpets

I went in to work last night, on my day off, to be there while the carpet was being cleaned. They started at 10pm when the store closed, and they didn't finish until 3 in the fucking morning. Holy shit. They did a nice job, but it was just 2 guys, and one of them left at about 1 am. I spent the time doing merchandising change-outs and filling up tables and displays. Normally I wouldn't care about the 3am thing, but I had to be back at the store at 8am this morning. So I got about 3.5 hours of sleep, which is not enough. I'm exhausted and will go to bed very early tonight. But hey, the carpets are sans coffee stains, chai stains, chewing gum, food spills, and everything else that gets dropped on them.
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Ice Cream

I am currently enjoying a new ice cream concoction I created. Buy a bag of frozen mixed berries, add 1/3 cup sugar and a few tablespoons of lemon juice. Toss and let seep for 30 minutes or so. Add the juice of the berries to a basic vanilla ice cream recipe and put in the ice cream maker. When it's done, scoop some in a bowl and top off with the now-chilled/not-frozen berries. Deeeeee-licious!

Laborious Day Weekend

...which reminds me...when is Boss's Day? And shouldn't I be receiving some cards for that from my peeps?

but back to nothing...

On Thursday I decided to scratch all prior made plans and do nothing all day long. Nothing consisted of: not taking a shower (my cat doesn't seem to mind), not doing chores, watching Stargate DVDs all day, snacking, taking a nap, playing with my kitty, and watching my fish play. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On Friday I had visitors scheduled to come to my store for what we call a store visit. Technical term, isn't it? I know rather well the people who came, so that always makes it nice. It was my boss, my boss's boss, my boss's boss's boss, and another person. They gave feedback on my store and staff, challenged me on a few things, and complimented my store on others. It was a good visit.

Switching topics...as I was busy not doing anything on Thursday, I was thinking how I found the drive to the new homes site aggravating on Wednesday. I probably find it so because my current residence is about a mile from work. You just can't top a 5 minute commute. So I probably won't purse it any further. I'm probably just afraid of commitment, but don't throw that old pop-psych at me, please.

Random thought...I like how the leftover milk tastes in a bowl of Golden Grahams.

When I watch a tv series through Netflix, I get obsessed with it for a short period of time. I'm currently obsessed with Stargate, as you might be able to tell. I had an idea last night of something I want to do with my fishtank at work. I would love to find a model of the stargate itself and place it in my tank along with several action figures of the characters. That way my fish could 'travel to distant planets' every time they swam through the gate. If you'll remember, the middle of the stargate looks like a puddle of rippling water when it's activated, so the fish/water theme would go well. I haven't had any luck finding a gate thus far. If anyone wants to look for me, the tank at work is a 20 gallon standard size. I don't know the dimensions, though.

Another random thought...tonight I thought how I sometimes miss playing in a band or orchestra. I haven't made music in 12 years now. It used to be such an enormous part of my life. Funny how I drop one thing, only to pick up another and continue on.

Last question is....who is Kit?