More Headlines

Okay, one day soon I'll have more of a fun post (well, hopefully I will anyway) - and even the last thing on this one should be fun (at least I was amused) but anyway....here we go.

A couple of weeks ago I was waiting at the hairdresser to get my hair cut. I'd taken a magazine because I'd anticipated having to wait. It was a People Magazine. One of the stories was about two people who had fallen overboard off of a cruise ship. When the whole story was told you found out that they were in a room with a balcony and the man was out on the balcony. The woman ran out to jump on the man's back but came a little hard and had more of the "leap frog" (magazine's wording) effect and went right over his head. The man tried to grab her, to stop her from going overboard and got pulled out and down with her. Which is how they both ended up overboard. Completely unintentional. Fortunately there were others in their room who made the ship's personnel aware of the situation. Markers were immediately thrown out and the boat stopped and turned around to find the people. The whole process took a couple of hours, if I remember right. Announcements were made and people were asked to be quiet so they could hear any screams for help. Both people were rescued with minimal injuries. A miracle really. But here's the deal...there were people who actually complained that the rescue was an "inconvenience" and "annoyance" to their cruise! Yes, I realize it wasn't on the ship's original itinerary but give me a break! If the shoe were on the other foot, would they want the ship to forget them and carry on according to schedule? NO! This was brought to my mind again, as I read this week's people and someone had commented (in the letters to the editor section) that those people who went overboard owed apologies. Yes, their actions may have been less that "mature-based" but for crying outloud, no one intended to go overboard! People amaze me.

But on to something else that makes my blood boil even more. The now imfamous Alec Baldwin voicemail message. I know I don't have kids (but I've always wanted them), so my reaction may not be the same as someone who has kids. I think it's AWFUL! You just don't talk to your kids like that! Yes, I understand people get mad and say things they don't mean - I get that...I've DONE that. But all that because his daughter didn't answer the phone? And his response? He's really pissed at his ex but took it out on his daughter, who, by the way, is in violation of a gag order in releasing the tape. Apparently, his responses - including going on The View to discuss the tape - doesn't fall under the same gag order. Personally, I think Alec has issues and needs serious help. The message I heard didn't indicate that he was pissed at Kim Basinger - if he had've been, I think it would have been more of a "you tell your mother...." sort of talk, rather than telling his daughter that she "didn't have the brains or consideration to be a human being" and that she was "a thoughtless pig" or that he was going to come to LA to "straighten out her ass". No, those were directly straight at his daughter. And he wonders why she doesn't want to take his calls.

Okay, now for the one I think is fun. :~) This woman was on Ellen this week. She works at a convenience store and someone (a woman) had come in to buy lottery tickets. The customer told her what she wanted but there was a misunderstanding and the convenience store clerk was stuck with a ticket that was not paid for. So, at the end of her shift she felt she had to purchase the ticket herself (even though she didn't really want to, and suggested that it was more than she could afford - even at only $2). She WON! It wasn't the big winning but she did win $200,000. How cool is that?

Anyway, those are my "ripped from the headlines" for the day. We'll soon return to our light, fluff pieces (or at least that's the plan!).

~L

Job Security

Recently there have been a couple of stories in the local news (one, at least, made national news) where someone thought their job was in jeopardy so they took, what they thought, was appropriate measures to "keep" their job?

One is the NASA, hostage/murder/suicide situation from last week. Some man thought he was about to be fired because he'd gotten negative performance feedback. His solution was to take someone hostage - kill them, then kill himself. He took a second hostage, as backup, but just "tied" her up with duct tape. As far as career planning, not his best move. And committing suicide gives new meaning to "dead-end job", don't you think?

Then, a few weeks ago, there was a major story about an office building fire. Someone from the freeway saw flames INSIDE the building, through the windows. They pulled over to check it out and sounded the alarms (which hadn't gone off - it was an old building) and called 9-1-1. Three people (possibly more...they were having difficulty going back into the building because the structure was so badly damaged in the fire...and I never heard if there was a change in the death count) died. A firefighter was injured and hospitalized. They covered the story for days because the investigators were having problems (the structure damage thing) determining the cause of the fire. Finally someone came forward saying that she was expected to turn in a report that she hadn't prepared yet so she thought if she caused a fire in her office (guess she didn't know it would spread?), it would buy her some time. She's since been arrested on murder charges. Murder charges! But hey, at least she'll have plenty of free time to work on that report now. And who knows, maybe they'll hold her job until she's released. (yeah right!)

So I'm wondering, how far would you go to to keep your job? Inquiring minds want to know.

Television Reception

Remember when you had to get your television antenna just right so that you'd have decent reception? You know, before cable.

Or how about skits about how families had to stand in a particular formation, each holding something related to the antenna to get a sharper image?

Yeah, well, that was me tonight. Seems the cable line that the cable company failed to bury when they replaced it a few years ago (lightening strike) was ripped out of place by the newest addition to my family...Harley.

And it was Dancing with the Stars night so I was not a happy camper. Tonight is the first night in the history of the show that I did not vote - because I couldn't see enough to give a fair judgment. I tried really hard to get a decent picture but it wasn't working - or when it did, it was fleeting.

The cable company won't come out until Wednesday (some time between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm - so glad they could narrow the time down) so until then, I'm basically without television. Oh, I know I could be doing something productive, like working on my wip, but whining feels so much better.

Pass the cheese and crackers please~

Lunch

I had lunch again today with the girl I made cry yesterday (I really think we're okay now LOL).

Anyway there were some things that happened that seemed kind of strange but were oddly amusing to me. So I thought I'd share...

The restaurant we went to is relatively new. It's not convenient (from my perspective) so I've only been twice since it opened (including today, that is) but I'm pretty sure it's been in the last year that it opened. But it's what we decided on, so there we went.

When we pull up into the parking lot there is a traffic jam of a gazillion cars (give or take) and we have to drive to the very back to find a spot. I did mention that it was for LUNCH, right? Not date night at prime time, but anyway... We get into the lobby and it's packed - again like date night at dinner time. I hear the hostess tell the guy in front of us (who said he needed a table for two - same as we would) that it would be 10 to 15 minutes for a table. Again - at LUNCH!

I stepped up to the hostess's table and said, "are those tables available?" pointing to the cocktail tables. She said they were and we didn't have to have our name written down - we were immediately seated (if only we were served as quickly but I digress). I felt the glares and stares from all the people who were (im)patiently waiting to be seated. But what did I care? I was getting seated immediately!

Now, the person who seated us (in chairs so high I had to ask for a leg-up but then again, I didn't have to wait so I shouldn't complain) kept going by our table (and staring at us when they weren't passing us). Let me tell you about this person. Buzz cut. Gorgeous eyes, which looked like they might have make up on them. And a little boy chest. A lot of conflicts so I wasn't sure what gender this person was. And I mention this to my friend, who is wondering the same thing. We talk about it a little and then drop the subject.

Finally our food is brought to us (I ordered the nachos supreme) and we're diving in. Well, let me tell you about my nachos. They were made like individual little tacos but caked with cheese. Lots of cheese. So I'm eating and I realize that there is no way I can get this huge glom of cheese in my mouth - it's not gonna fit, which is hard to believe because I have a big mouth - ask anyone! So I try to "carve" off a bit of the cheese to make it bite size and I'm having to get out my knife because it's glommed together like industrial glommed cheese or something. Anyway, I'm making one last little "cut" to it when it goes FLYING across the room before it lands on the floor. My friend only saw the look on my face but when it hit the floor I burst out laughing. Loudly. And I tell her what happened. But we decide we need to have someone clean it up so that no one slips and falls on it so we wave over a waitress (not ours - ours was the elusive waitress but again, I digress). She asked us if everything was okay and I have her lean in, conspiratorily, and tell her the gentlemen (who were dressed in suits and ties, mind you) behind us were throwing food about. She knew I was kidding (my friend's - on the other hand - jaw dropped...she doesn't know me well enough to know I'm rarely serious), said they were bad boys and cleaned it up with a smile on her face.

Then, we saw a working dog come into the restaurant. It looked like my Max but I thought of Maisy and was thinking about them both as it and its owner were taken to a table in another part of the restaurant. As they were walking out of sight, my friend is looking over her shoulder where they are and says, "It's a girl."

I was impressed. I was thinking about Maisy and my friend has picked up on enough / seen enough to know the dog was female. Wow! Then she says, "And she's confused."

Huh? The dog is confused? How can she tell? And I'm saying this when it dawns on me... she's talking about the waitstaff person whose gender we couldn't determine. Didn't we drop that subject? In the end, I still was unsure but what I am sure is that person had some of the most gorgeous eyes I've ever seen and male or female, the buzz cut worked for them. That's all I'm saying.

So not your typical lunch but entertaining, to say the least. LOL

Because I made someone cry today...

Someone at work did something today that ticked me off and I let them know it ticked me off. Now, I thought I was being diplomatic in my wording but considering she burst out crying, I'm thinking I might have been able to handle it better so...

I thought I'd share something that might put a smile on some faces. I'm totally stealing it from the Jaunty Quills so if you frequent over there, you may have already seen it.

Okay, here goes...

Go to Google
click on "Maps"
type in "New York to London"
and then scroll down to direction 23 (or may be 24)

Enjoy! :~)

Little Treat

I mentioned in my last post that I do my grocery shopping for the week at Walmart. Every week I stop by the book aisle and see what they have out - not that I need any more books but I like to check it out. Plus, I have a $5 gift card for use at Walmart and a book would be perfect. Well, this week I found a nice little surprise.

I found a new release of an author I love but whose name I can never remember. Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. For some reason when I go to look for her books I always (and I do mean always) think her name is Rosemary some middle name (I remember she has three names, just not what they are) and a last name like McMillan or something. Could I be any further off? Seriously.

Anyway, Nancy used to work in law enforcement and brings that experience to her stories. It sometimes gets graphic but it's always realistic. And it's always good. She's an author where I don't have to read the back blurb to be convinced to buy her book. If I read the back blurb, it's only to make sure I haven't read it before.

So, of course I bought a copy and can't wait to read it. I forgot to cash in my gift card but all that means is, I'll have to stop by the book section on my next visit. LOL

In the meantime, here's a book that's high in TBR pile.

Customer Service

Is it just me or is customer service just falling by the wayside? I do early morning, weekend shopping at WalMart to get my weekly groceries. When I'm there, there are usually few shoppers but lots of stockers. Boxes, crates and baskets full of stock clutter the aisles. And I'm okay with this because I don't like to shop when the store is crowded with shoppers. What I have a problem with though, is when you're trying to get down an aisle that has a product you want or need and the stocker has you completely blocked. Their boxes, crates, basket or whatever are blocking at least half of the aisle and they are standing in the lone pathway through. And they don't move. Now I realize they're doing their job but do they realize they're keeping me from buying stuff and that my buying stuff helps pay their salaries? Seriously people, when a customer wants to get through - LET THEM PASS.

But that's not my only example. Contractors are the worst. They don't bother to show up and offer no explanation. A few years ago I had tile laid throughout my house. It was almost like moving because you had to move EVERYTHING from the room they were going laying tile in and put it somewhere else. And it would cause at least one room to be functionless so when they would disappear for a few days, it was really annoying.

Then there was the guy who redid my fence gate last year. I took off of work to meet him - and he knew I was doing so - and he didn't bother to show up. When I finally reached him (hours later) he said, "oh, I wasn't feeling well today". Gee, thanks for letting me know. I had (and still have) a lot of work I need done around the house. If he'd been a little more responsible, he could have had all of it. But I need someone who will do what they promise so he did the fence (he was the only one that showed up when I called around looking for someone to do my fence) and I tossed out his number.

But what I really want to talk about is my latest customer service nightmare....lawn care services. My homeowner's association is giving me grief because I have grass in the cracks in my driveway. I have weed eater issues (I can do it but it's not easy for me) so I do it as infrequently as I can get by with. However, since my HOA is hounding me, I thought I'd call in a "professional". So last Thursday I placed a call to someone who had left their business card on my door. I reached his wife who told me he'd stop by that evening. He finally showed up after dark. Now here's the deal: I only wanted him to weed eat and edge my front yard. I didn't need it mowed and I didn't need my backyard done at all. His business card says "average yard $20". That covers all mowing, weed eating and edging - $20. All I want is weed eating and edging - and only in my front yard...and I have a small front yard (backyard is huge but front yard is small) - and he tells me it will be $20. I point out what it says on his business card and that I'm not asking for even half that work but he insists it will cost $20 to do what I need. Mind you, if he were doing everything to my whole yard, $40 would be reasonable - even cheap. But that's not what I'm asking him to do. So I told him we were done and headed back into my house. He stopped me and after some discussion we agreed on $10 and that he'd do it the next night. He never showed. Even after I spoke with his wife, who assured me he would be there or that she'd call and let me know why. Not only did he never show, she never called. And they weren't answering their phone. Okay, I figure it's a right-off.

I decided to do the work myself. I did a lot of the weed eating, until I ran out of the string/rope stuff. Then I did most of the edging. Then I decided to call someone to finish the job and ask that they do my front yard the whole season. I reached someone last night who said he'd do it today. Well, we were supposed to have really nasty weather starting this afternoon so when I came home at lunch and he hadn't been here, I called him (it was already drizzly - not raining hard and certainly no storms (which still haven't materialized) but I wanted to confirm if and when he was coming). He said he still planned on coming, storms didn't bother him or his work. He went so far as insisting he'd be here at 3:00 to 3:30. I got home at 5:00 and he hadn't been here. So I called. "I'll come out tomorrow," he said. Okay, so I should believe him why? He'd said he'd be here TODAY. I basically said that to him, but nicer because I did want him to come out and he got all ugly on me. Finally I said something like I was needing someone for the season and I needed to know I could rely on them to show up when they said they would and would he or did I need to call someone else? He told me to call someone else!

So I called back the guy from last week. The one that never showed and never called. The work is 90% done, I'm still willing to pay $10 and his wife insists he'll be here tomorrow morning (and she did actually call me back later this evening to confirm) but I'm doubtful.

When did people decide it was okay to screw over their customers and get pissy and demanding with them? That's so not my idea of customer service - not when I'm getting it and not when I'm providing it. But that's just me. Maybe it falls under the umbrella of "progress" but I'm just not buying it.

Book Review

This past weekend the weather was predicted to be really nasty so I planned on staying inside, curled up with a good book and/or watching movies. Well, it was drizzly Saturday afternoon, rained hard in the middle of the night and then was nice on Sunday. Seriously, I could have given a better prediction, but that's not the point. The point is, I decided to stick with my weekend plan and read a book.



Linda Barrett is a member of my local chapter. She doesn't come to the meetings often but she came out last year and spoke about how she sold her Pilgrim Cove series (complete with the diagrams she used to pitch it). Anyway, they had her latest book as a give away at the meeting - The Daughter He Never Knew - and I really liked the cover. I didn't win a copy but when it (along with the rest of the series) was up for auction (I believe Brenda Novak's auction for Juvenile Diabetes - which is coming up again soon), I bid on it. That time I DID win. I read the series in order and just LOVED the way Linda wrote the stories (that's the series that has the Retired Old Men Eating Out, aka ROMEOs), so when her next book came out (A Man of Honor), I snatched it up. Loved it too.

So, it should be no surprise that I tell you, when her latest book (Houseful of Strangers) came out, I went right out and bought it. And that's what I read this weekend.

I absolutely loved it. It's a story about people who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Allison Truesdale is a veterinarian whose son died about two years earlier. A month later her husband, unable to cope with it all drank himself silly and got behind the wheel of the car and killed himself (no one else was involved). Allison really hasn't recovered from all of that and accepts a temporary job with a large animal veterinarian who needs help with his practice because he's broken his arm and can't do the job. Allison will be living with Eric Mitchell (the vet with the broken arm) while she works for/with him. Allison knows his mother, Ruth (who I loved in this story), lives with Eric. But she didnt know Eric had a son - not to mention that he's about the age her son was when he died.

Eric, on the other hand, went through a very bitter divorce. His wife was from the city and couldn't handle life in the country as a country vet's wife and ripped his heart out when she left, so he's not issueless himself and has a preconceived idea about Allison because she happens to live in the city herself.

Meanwhile, there's Danielle (Dani). Dani ran away from home when she was 13 and has been living on the street for two years now. She keeps a journal (that was given to her by a runaway counselor)...well actually she keeps several and one is labeled RIP where she keeps a log of all the runaways she's known who have died (she does this because she believes they matter and she doesn't want to forget them - but the list is getting pretty long and she hates that). She's at the train station one day when she sees her father (who abused her, both physically and sexually), flashing her picture around so she buys a ticket on the first train out of there. Of course it takes her to the same country town our other characters are in and of course they find her and invite her to stay with them and of course they become "family". In that respect it was predictable but, it was so wonderfully told. I was crying as I read the story. It wasn't the sobbing kind of crying but the kind of crying you can't stop, where the tears are just flowing, but it's a good cry...you feel good about what is happening.

And then I started to ask myself why it affected me that way and this is what I came up with. All these people were broken in some way (well, except for Ruth and Eric's son) and they couldn't seem to fix themselves but coming together, they each gave each other what they needed. They completed each other (all of them, not just the hero and heroine) and made each other whole. They were a family. And I guess that just touched me in some way. I don't know what that says about me (okay, I guess I do but if I haven't already revealed that in what I've said...) but it did touch me.

So, on a scale of one to five, I'd give it an eight and a half.

What have you read recently (or at any point) that touched you deeply on an emotional level? Or, if you don't want to answer that, what are you reading now? :~)

~L

For the easily amused

I've blogged before about my two favorite DJs, Roula and Ryan. They're on the air every morning from 6:00 - 10:00 and they do some amusing things - which is one of the reasons I listen to them.

Well, this morning they sent someone (I assume their intern) out to conduct an "experiment" at a local fast food restaurant. The premise was, drive-thru restaurants waste a lot of your time so they wanted to give some payback, right?

So they send out Kevin (aka Special K) to a local drive-thru restaurant for breakfast.

We first join Special K as he's one car back from placing his order. He acknowledges that there are cars behind him in line (which was the first time they considered that this would inconvenience customers probably more than the restaurant's staff but they decided to plow on anyway).

He pulls up to the thing (what do you call it?) you place your order at and orders a breakfast taco - that's it. We hear the lady tell him it will be $1.18. He pulls up.

When he gets to the window the lady says something we can't hear but Special K says, "You said it'd be $1.18."

(unintelligible talk from the lady)

Special K: "Can I borrow a quarter?"

Anyway, there was some more talk and he offered to buy her something (the DJs commented that it sounded bad that he couldn't afford his own breakfast but he's offering to buy her something...he said "she looks hungry!"). He paid for his food and they brought it out to him.

At which time he cut his engine and proceeded to eat his breakfast while still at the window. The DJs were expecting the staff to get ugly about it but they said nothing.

Meanwhile, the car behind him honks his horn at him. The DJs tell Special K that if they come to the window to investigate the honk to ask for more salsa. They did. He did. They brought him more salsa.

The car behind him honks again. The DJs tell Special K to prop his feet on the dashboard and get all comfortable while he's eating. He does.

The lady comes over to the window and politely asks him if he would go park "over there" to finish eating his meal. Special K says, "You want me to park over there to finish eating?"

"Yes."

"It's okay, I'm almost done. Can I buy you anything while I'm here?" He continues to eat, at the window.

The person in the car behind him lays on the horn.

Special K finishes up and drives off - the staff of the restaurant never getting ugly or rude. The guy in the car behind him though....

I was LMAO when this was going on. What can I say? I'm easily amused. LOL

Writing

Last October, during the KIA, I wrote like a bandit but I haven't written a word since. It makes me nuts. I think part of my problem is, I tend to get caught up in "the rules".

What "rules" you ask? Well, that can vary, depending on who you're asking.

Anyway, I've been wanting to get back to writing. A number of years ago I met someone who told me a bit about herself. Considering what she told me, I thought it was a bit "odd". I also thought "it" would make a GREAT character in a romance novel.

I wrote a little on it and then abandoned it - as I do much of what I start. Well, the last couple of days it's been pushing to the forefront again. I want to tell that story again. Screw the rules! LOL

So...I started thinking. Jessica Trapp is hosting a yahoo e-loop 100 words or something like that. You have to write 100 words a day for 100 days and report (for accountability purposes) on the loop. If you miss a day, you have to start back over at day one. I haven't joined it yet but it sounds like a good idea.

My other option is to follow Jes' advice on How to Stay Unpublished Forever - Ten Easy Steps.

Tough call. ;~)

Suzy Homemaker, I'm not

Larry, the Lawnboy, I'm not either.

I have this friend from work. I've been to her house a couple of times. The first time she had what she calls a "dog-hair tumbleweed" rolling across her floor. I didn't say anything but it made me feel that she'd probably cleaned her house for my visit and had just missed that. Which was a good thing - well, from my perspective.

Anyway, after I'd been to her house those couple of times, she was talking about her weekend and how she was housecleaning. She'd vacuumed the carpet and the vacuum bag was full so she vacuumed again. And again, until the bag came out empty when she ran it over the carpet.

Same for mopping the floor. She mopped over and over and over until the water in the bucket was clear when she finished. Maybe I'm way less of a Suzy Homemaker than I think but that just seems like overkill to me.

It also made me think she hadn't just cleaned for my visit and would have been mortified if I'd pointed out the "dog-hair tumbleweed" I'd seen in her entryway, which I still haven't mentioned to her.

As a result, I've been intimidated to invite her into my house - and haven't to date. However, we did once attend a training together and she came to my house to pick me up. It so happened that my yard was as bad as it gets the day she came by. All the way to (and back from) the training class, all she could talk about was my lawn and what needed to be done. (I told her it bothered me but she kept on.) After that I noticed comments she would make about things and realized that she's pretty judgmental about things. And putting everything together, I don't even want her outside my house. Doesn't mean we're not friends, just means I don't want her at or in my house.

Well, I'm home sick today (actually I'm doing a LOT better...was really sick over the weekend). I called her to ask her to take care of a couple of things for me at the office. I told her that I'd called another friend of mine on Saturday to bring me Sprite and said I would have called her but I knew her husband was in town (which was true. I was sick enough I would have happily had her come over and bring me something and not cared what she thought or said about my house - inside or out. I was that sick!).

So, she decides that she wants to bring me 7-Up and crackers during her lunch break. I told her it wasn't necessary because I still had Sprite and toast. She did it anyway. She did, however, only ring the bell, leave the goodies and leave (and I'm thankful - for the crackers that is...at least crackers have a salty taste to them...bread is so bland!). But when I called her to thank her she said, "I couldn't remember exactly where you lived so I just drove around until I found the worst lawn in the neighborhood and figured that was your house."

And she wonders why I don't invite her in! (or want her at my house)

Dancing With the Stars

Dancing With the Stars starts back up tomorrow night (conflicts Ellen? ;~) ) and I'm really excited about it.

I have to confess that until this minute, I still had episodes of last seasons DWTS on my DVR. I had watched and erased the elimination rounds (up to when Joey got eliminated) around Christmas time but I still had all the dance rounds on DVR until last weekend. I figured since it started a new season tomorrow, I needed to watch and erase everything. *sigh*

Watching all of the old shows, knowing how it turned out, was interesting. I was able to be a bit more objective about the dancing - at least I think I was.

I would have to say that Mario truly was the best dancer of the bunch. He really looked like a professional, not an amateur, when he was on the dance floor. I think what did him in was that he didn't really seem to enjoy what he was doing. He was good but it seemed like it was just a job. Whereas, on the other hand, Emmitt (as well as Joey - who placed third) seemed to really enjoy it. They both went out and gave it their all - and were good - but they weren't as technically good as Mario was. But because they went out and had a good time, they drew in the audience more, and therefore drew in the audience support more than maybe Mario did. And I'll be honest, that's why at times Emmitt got my vote when Mario didn't. Emmitt involved the audience more than Mario did.

Anyway, a new crew starts tomorrow. It looks like they're changing the rules again on scoring. The way it worked the first season it was easier to tell who might be going home. What they did was give "points" based on score and votes. For example, if there were six dancers (which is what they started with the first season) the top score with the judges received 6 points. The second place dancers would get 5 points and so on to the lowest judges score receiving 1 point. The viewer votes worked the same way - top vote getter got 6 points, second place 5 and so on. Potentially you could have the top judges scorer tied with the judges lowest scorer at the end of the night (and you actually had until the end of the night to vote...and then until noon on elimination day).

I'm not sure when they changed the scoring rules but I knew something had to have changed when Willa Ford was tied for first place with the judges and still was sent home. Now it has something to do with percentages.

But anyway, no one goes home until the second week this season...there's no elimination round in week one so that changes the dynamic again. So we'll have to see how that works out.

Oh, and a funny thing I saw...Ian Ziering was on Ellen DeGeneres' show with Cheryl Burke (two time champion of DWTS) last week. He was saying that he was excited to see that Cheryl was his partner...that he'd thought they'd pair her up with a Tucker Carlson type (he went home in week one this past season and spent half his dance in a chair)...then he thought that maybe they thought he was that guy! Too funny.

But, here are the contestants for this season's competition:

Laila Ali - undefeated world boxing champion
Billy Ray Cyrus - singer and actor
Clyde Drexler - NBA Hall of Famer
Joey Fatone - NSync star
Shandi Finnessey - Miss USA 2004
Leeza Gibbons - Talk show host
Heather Mills - Charity Activist & Campaigner
Apolo Anton Ohno - Olympic speed skating Gold Medalist
Paulina Porizkova - Supermodel
John Ratzenberger - Actor and author (came into the competition late, when someone else backed out)
Ian Ziering - TV and Broadway star

Care to make any predictions on the overall outcome? :~)

The "Experts"

Well, I'm still having connectivity issues with my internet - even though I've switched providers. It started Tuesday night, I believe.

Anyway, I would be working along and suddenly I would be dead in the water, so to speak. So I called the DSL technical support.

Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Phoebe takes a job as a telemarketer and they sit her down with a manual "for every eventuality" so that she can answer any questions the customer has? Well, I got that guy Tuesday night because every time I asked a question it would take forever for him to get back to me (and I usually had to ask the question multiple times), presumably because he was looking up the answer.

At one point our conversation went like this: (he's taken me to the command prompt)

Him: Type in "ip" (pauses)
Me: Okay.
Him: Type in "config"
Me: Is that all one word or is there a space between them?
Him: (long silence while he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: Yes, I'm here. Type in "ip" (pauses again)
Me: I know what I'm supposed to type, I need to know if it's all one word or not.
Him: Just type in "ip" (pause)
Me: I know. (in an annoyed voice) One word or two?
Him: It's (then he starts spelling it out) i-p (pause) c-o-n-f
Me: (cutting him off) I know what you're saying and how to spell it. What I need to know is if there is a space between them or if it's one word!!!!!
Him: One word.
Me: Thank you!

It is at this point that I type in what he spelled.....ipconf....not what he said. So of course, I get an error message, which I read to him.

Him: Let's try this again. ip (pause) config
Me: (realizing my mistake and typing it right) Okay.
Him: What does it say?
Me: (I read it to him.)
Him: Now type (he gave me some command that I don't recall)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type a backslash.
Me: Ooohh. I'm not good with the backslashes. Which one is that?
Him: (long silence as he looks it up)
Me: Hello?
Him: I'm still here. Type a backslash.
Me: Which one is the backslash?
Him: (silence)
Me: Is it the one over the question mark?
Him: (unconvincingly) Yes.
Me: Okay
Him: Nevermind, you don't have to type the backslash.
Me: What?
Him: Type (gives me the command again)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com
Me: Okay
Him: What's it doing?
Me: Nothing. (pause) Oh wait (then I read the error message it gave me)
Him: You must have typed it wrong.
Me: (uh, wrong answer! but I kept that to myself)
Him: (gives me the command - again - spelling it)
Me: Okay
Him: Now type www.google.com (and then spells it - as if I didn't type every single day)
Me: Uh huh. Exactly as I typed it before.
Him: Just do it.
Me: I did. Got the exact same error too.

We go through this exercise a few more times with yahoo before he realizes, there really is a problem, and puts in a ticket.

Him: We're going to send someone outside your house.
Me: You're sending someone to my house?
Him: No. I put in a ticket and someone will come outside your house.
Me: So someone is coming to my house?
Him: No. Someone will come outside your house.
Me: If someone is outside my house, they are AT my house.
Him: No, someone is not coming to your house. They are coming outside your house.

I have no idea if anyone stopped by or not but my connection seems to be working...at least for now.

Timing

We've been having a bit of a dry spell here...we've needed some rain. All last week they were saying that it would come this past weekend and have a little carryover into this week.

This weekend was GORGEOUS and they changed the rain chances for today to 40%.

Then this morning I get up and the news is having one of their special reports...all about the severe weather headed our way today. Not only have rain chances been upped to 100%, severe weather is expected.

People are calling into the TV station saying that the storms have ripped their roofs off. Doors have been ripped off their hinges. Hail, the size of baseballs, is crashing through windows. And it's headed my way.

Oh, did I forget to mention that today is the day that the appraiser was coming out to look at my house?

Yeah. I imagined our conversation going something like this:

Me: The decision to put a skylight in the bedroom was a rather sudden one. But I've always enjoyed looking at the stars at night.
Him: (just looks at me like I'm crazy)
Me: The waterfall in the living room is all natural. I'm an environmentalist, don't you know. I wouldn't dream of pumping water in for a manmade waterfall.
Him: (making notes but keeping an eye one me because he's not quite sure...)
Me: I felt so boxed in with walls and doors. I thought 'why not let the nature come to me'.
Him: (looks up from his notes...kinda has a scared look on his face)
Me: How do you like the self cleaning floor? Every time it rains, it cleans itself, whether it needs it or not! (gently grabbing his elbow) You'll want to be careful now, what with the floor being wet and all.

Who says I haven't upgraded anything? LOL

(By the way, we did get some thunderstorms (which Max didn't care for) but - to my knowledge - there wasn't anywhere near the damage they had to the west of us and the appraisal thing went fine...as far as I know. :~) )

Surfing the Net

I may or may not have mentioned that I'm the Newsletter Editor of my local chapter. Every month I collect articles from our members and put them into a newsletter that I just have to (or am supposed to) send out before our monthly meeting - which is the third Tuesday of the month. The software is easy enough to work with but I have found that it really is a lot more work than one (or at least I) thought. As such, I start plugging in the articles as soon as I get them (and I start asking for them as soon as the last one went out).

Anyway, I finished putting it all together late last night, sending it out just after midnight. I knew I had left one person off the mailing list (I didn't have her email address - but more on that later) and two bounced back. I also went to our e-loop to post it there (emails from the e-loop don't allow attachments but we can upload the file). What I saw was that it appeared that I had uploaded 72 articles, in addition to the one I meant to. Banging my head on the nearest hard surface, I sent an email acknowledging that I was an idiot. I also mentioned that the two email addresses bounced back and that I didn't send it to one person, a new member, Patricia Kay. I'm telling you her name because she's the reason I was surfing the net.

You see, she responded to my email and gave me her email address. And her signature line had her webpage - so I clicked on it (several people had mentioned how great it was to have her as a new member but I didn't know who she was - kind of reminding me of the Reno incident of '05 with Julia Quinn, but I digress).

She has a new book out called "Wish Come True" which sounded really cool (and which I bought this morning at Walmart while buying groceries for the week - and which I also suggested for the RWAOL book discussion for April, but again, I digress). She also had all these links at the top of her webpage, like "great reads" where fans can email her about books they enjoyed, "meet Pat" where she tells about herself, and "fun stuff" where she has links to some of her favorite pages - which is where I found "Romance Buy the Book", where a local woman reviews novels (she used to do it for a local news station but since the first of the year, she's been doing it but not associated with the news station). It looked fun so I was scrolling through her archives and reading reviews of some of the books I had read, and some I hadn't.

One I hadn't that caught my eye was "I Gave You My Heart but You Sold it Online" by Dixie Cash. The title was too cute not to check out the author's webpage, so next thing I know, I'm on Dixie Cash's webpage. She also has books called "My Heart May Be Broken but My Hair Still Looks Great" and "Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash". Suddenly I'm wanting to buy them.

Anyway, I came online to update my blog with the Romance Buy the Book link and decided to update a few other things as well. I've added a couple of blogs I visit but hadn't added yet and removed a couple that I never go to anymore. I updated my "Just For Fun" with new links as well. When I got to my "Favorite Authors" though, I found that I was dying to add Patricia Kay and Dixie Cash...and I may have mentioned that I've never read either of them before. Yeah, I'm that easy when it comes to books. In any event, I refrained from adding them - for now but I do see a couple of reads (at least) in the making.

And that, my friends, is how I spent my Saturday morning. What are you all doing? :~)

Wild Hogs

I went last night to see Wild Hogs with a friend of mine. I wanted to go see it because it looked funny and I like Tim Allen and John Travolta.

I was not disappointed. The sometimes annoying Martin Lawrence even had a good role and did a good job.

Tim Allen was Tim Allen but fortunately I like him (remember, he was one of the reasons I wanted to see this movie).

John Travolta was GREAT in this movie. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone else so I won't go into detail but he did more with expressions than anything. He just did a great job and was very funny in this role.

Then there was William H Macy. I really think (and maybe it's just me) that he's underestimated as an actor. His character (Dudley) was, by far, the most endearing character. I absolutely loved him and thought Macy played him perfectly. He was so funny...SO funny. It was a fun movie but it wouldn't have been as good without this character - and Macy playing it.

Anyway, bottom line, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. There were some corny and predictable moments but it was good. I recommend it.

Too good to be true

I had a board rot on the front of my house. It's been rotted for more than a year but my homeowner's association just noticed it last month and have threatened to sue me if I don't replace the rotted board immediately.

As such I went to Home Depot yesterday morning. I was proud of myself for getting up so early and taking charge. I took the offending board to the store and told the "info desk" clerk what I needed. She directed me to the lumber cashier for help. I waited in line to be told someone else would have to help me and she paged someone. This young guy comes up and says he's not sure what I need and grabs an older man and asks him. I say I wanted treated wood, if possible, because it's for outside. The older man says - and I quote - "I don't sell that here."

We start talking about what he does sell there and he offers to follow me home to see exactly what it is I need (apparently the board I brought in wasn't enough). He suggests he can install it too - which excites me because I want to be sure it's right.

I ask if he also installs baseboards (I still don't have any) and he says he does. I'm really excited at this point because I'm thinking I can charge his labor upfront and then pay when the bill comes in. So I ask if I can charge his labor. Turns out he doesn't even work for Home Depot! He's just a contractor who spends a lot of time up there - which, I decided was okay too. I still need these things done.

Anyway, we exchange numbers and I give him my address because he's going to do "one thing" and then come see what I need done. So I come home and promptly start throwing things in pantries and closets, etc. because I want to have the baseboards done and that means he'll probably come inside.

An hour passes. Then two hours. Three hours passed and I haven't heard from him.

Five hours later I called him. He'd forgotten about me, but he says he'll come right then - and then he does.

Come to find out, not only does he NOT do the work himself, minimum labor costs are $250, no matter how small the job.

I need one small board tacked up and he wants to charge me $250 in labor! That doesn't even include materials!

Needless to say, I didn't hire him to do the job. I went back to the store (Lowe's this time, so I didn't run into him again) and bought an untreated board (they won't cut treated wood and an uncut board would do me no good) and tacked it up myself - for less than $8!

So the fact that it seemed good (that I'd found someone and they seemed available to do the work) was an illusion.

I don't know though, I think I did a pretty good job with the board out front...maybe I could give installing the baseboards a try. LOL

What to say?

I've been away so long I had to brush away cobwebs to make it into my own blog.

What can I say? Things have been busy. My group is being audited (internally) at work and I found myself as the go to girl for the prep work. I'm still involved (the actual audit started this past Monday) but the workload has lessened considerably (which is good because I was putting in 11 - 12 hour days and I can only maintain that so long!). Plus, there's the new dog. He keeps life interesting with all his "antics" (although, if he hadn't chewed through my phone line, I might still be a dial up girl instead of a high-speed internet girl, but that's a whole other story).

Anyway, so I'll try to stop by more often and try to come up with fun and interesting things to blog about. If nothing else, Dancing with the Stars is starting soon and already interesting things are happening with that.....LOL

The Name Game

Well, I was tagged by the loverly Mel, so here goes...

1. YOUR REAL NAME: Lucy Sartain

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle) Lucizzle. Oddly enough, this is my true legal name. I don’t know all the details of its origin but I’m pretty sure alcohol was involved. (and also explains why I go by Lucy ;~) )

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three of your last) Lsar

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal) Blue Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, Street you live on): Elaine Shawnee

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom’s maiden name) Sarlusar

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (favorite color, favorite drink) Blue Margarita (too bad my favorite color isn’t strawberry with no salt - could save a lot of time when walking into a bar....”it’s strawberry with no salt margarita...coming right up!”

8. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of your dad’s middle name, 1st letter of a sibling’s first name, last letter of your moms middle name) Uraancn

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/body spray) White Linen (yeah, that fits)

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother & father’s middle name) Donald (my mother didn’t have a middle name so I’ll be like Cher and Madonna, only needing one name. But then again, that’d kind of make me stand out and would defeat the whole purpose of the witness protection thing, wouldn’t it?)

Pretty much everyone I know has been tagged so if someone else wants to be tagged, have at it, otherwise, the tag stops here. Sorry. :~)

List of books

Sometimes you surf your friend's blogs and you see something you like - enough to copy. Such is the case with the list of books I've put at the bottom of my side bar. Credit should be given where credit is due and I totally stole the idea from my friend, Honey.

Good idea girl. :~)

Thursday Thirteen

I doubt I will do this every week but for this week, I thought I'd do it. :~)




Thirteen Favorite Books of 2006 The Red Hats Club Rides Again by Haywood Smith Do Me Do My Roots by Eileen Rendahl Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte To Love a Thief by Julie Anne Long Nerds Like it Hot by Vicki Lewis Thompson Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowen Vamps in the City by Kerrylen Sparks The House on the Beach by Linda Barrett (as well as the other Pilgrim Cove series) The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich (3 - 9 is what I read in 2006) Shopaholic takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella Sex, Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson The Bridgerton Series by Julia Quinn Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)




Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Creative Advertising

I have a new favorite commercial. I can’t tell you the exact product that it was pushing but I do know it was a hair product item.

I apologize if I leave out (in my mind) unimportant details of the commercial but I think you’ll get the gist of it.

It starts out with a woman opening the door to a man and she invites him in. They go over to the sofa and start making out. He runs his fingers through her hair and comes back a tissue in his hand. He looks at the tissue and then back at the girl and says, “You stuff your hair?”

The camera flashes back to the woman and she has tissues sticking out everywhere in her hair. They’re pulled out and her hair goes from big and poofy to flat. Then they tell you what you have to buy to get the body you want in your hair. It had a website (which I have not checked out) named something like gethairapy.com...something along those lines.

Anyway, I was laughing my rear off watching this commercial. Certainly got my attention. LOL

Play Dates

I guess the best way to tell this story is to tell how things occurred. It’s one of those situations where you realize - after the fact - that you missed the signs.

Okay, so I came home last night and as I walked into the house I was hit with the smell of wet dog. Since I have a doggy door and a wading pool for my dogs, I checked them out to see which one of them was the smelly dog. They were both dry.

I figured that maybe the smell had been from earlier in the day and it didn’t last long so I didn’t think much about it.

Then, in the living room, Max’s dog bowl was on the floor (it’s usually on the elevated area in front of the fireplace) by the sofa. I thought that was kind of strange and even had the fleeting thought that in the almost six years that I’ve had Max, that’s never happened. But again, I brushed the thought aside and didn’t think much more about it.

However, I did notice that Max didn’t seem himself last night. He was breathing heavy when I got home and lacked energy. When I would call him, he wasn’t coming - which normally he does at breakneck speed. I hounded that dog, trying to figure out what was wrong. I massaged every part of him and kept expecting to have him whimper or cry when I hit the spot that was hurting him - he never let out a peep. Although, he did seem more whiny about me petting him when he crawled up in my lap (for those that don’t know, Max is a 120 lb. lap dog) - more so than I can recall him ever being. I was really getting concerned about him.

He seemed okay this morning so I went to work without having much concern about him.

And then I came home.

I parked the car in the garage and heard the dogs excitement at me being home, although it wasn’t overly enthusiastic, like it normally is. Then, when Brewsky wasn’t really jumping on the door, like he normally does, I had another flash of worry. I was concerned about what I was going to find inside the house.

So, I opened the door and there was Max and Brewsky, like they always are, excited to see me. Then all of a sudden, bounding around the corner is this yellow dog I’ve never seen before - and this dog is caught up in the excitement of me being home as well.

I let out this scream as my garage door is closing behind me. (It kinda scared me!) Then, as my door is still closing, I recovered enough to say, “Who the hell are you?” I can only imagine what my neighbors thought about that. LOL

Anyway, I came in to find that Brewsky’s bowl was upended today and one of the expensive dog beds I’d bought the dogs had been ripped up and one of the dogs (I assume the guest) had thrown up a couple of times in the house.

Come to find out, two of my fence posts had been knocked down and that’s how this dog got in. I put him (or her - I didn’t check closely) out and went to get a hammer to nail the posts back up and s/he was gone, or so I thought. S/He was on the side of the fence, trying to get back in my backyard.

I got the fence nailed back up and that dog hung around for two hours (at least) whining at my windows and pawing the screens because s/he wasn’t ready to leave.

But the bottom line is this, when you have a doggy door, you have to remember that anything that can fit through the door could be inside waiting for you when you get home. I guess I’m lucky it was a friendly dog. :~)

The Secret Blog

Last night I went to my local RWA chapter's holiday party. I was sitting next to Alyssa Goodnight, whose blog I frequent and occasionally comment on. We were talking and she asked me why I didn't have a blog (you see, I don't have this - or any blog - listed on my blogger profile so when I would post, she didn't have anywhere to come see me).

Well, being as I'm not a skilled liar or anything, I sheepishly told her I did have one.

She seemed kind of excited but I could tell it was because she thought I'd recently gotten one, because otherwise, people would know about it, right? And she asked me when I got it.

I couldn't look her in the eye when I softly mumbled, "Um, over a year ago."

She seemed really surprised at this. We talked some more and I finally had to confess, "Alyssa, no one in our chapter knows I have a blog, well besides you now, it's kind of a secret."

"So, the only people that comment on it are people who randomly, accidentally happen upon it?" she asked.

Still not looking her in the eye, "Uh, pretty much, yeah."

I went on to tell her about The Alphabet Girls, telling her that I used to be a part of that group blog so that they all knew about the blog and that I think, in part, that's why a few others have found my blog but that really, not that many people knew it existed. One friend from work and then a few from the RWA Online Chapter but that's pretty much it.

I further confessed that no one in my family knew anything about it, or the fact that I wrote or anything.

And in saying all that, I came to the conclusion that I guess it's because I just get intimidated by what other people do. For example, I read my friend's blogs and they always are so insightful or fun...and then there's my blog. Alyssa asked me what kinds of posts I make and I drew a blank. About my own blog. She made a comment that made me realize that she thought I didn't want to answer but the truth was, I honestly drew a blank. It was like "I know I have a blog, and I know I make posts but what do I post anyway???" I mean, if I can't even remember what it's about, why would anyone else even care?

But, the bottom line is this... It's not that I have a secret blog per se...I just don't want anyone to know it exists. ;~)

Hot off the presses - literally

Out today! Ellen's book is finally out. Just in time for Christmas.

Ava Carrolton has decided to make her own fate this holiday season. Tired of being alone and hoping to find love, she finally agrees to date the dashing and persistent owner of the department store where she works. Who wouldn’t enjoy spending time with a man who looks like a GQ model? But, she has one misgiving. She doesn’t feel The Spark with Mr. Debonair, so how is she to know if he’s The One?

When Ava literally bumps into Noah Shepard, every girl’s definition of The Boy Next Door, they form an unlikely friendship. As they bond, Noah seems to transform through Ava’s eyes. His thick frame glasses and shy stutters fade away, while a knight in shining armor emerges. Will Ava choose excitement and security with the handsome store owner, or a lifetime of making snow angels with a man who’s anything but ordinary?

Tagged - Again ;o)

All I can say is me and my big mouth. Ellen had been tagged and when she was tagging people she said “Lucy’s already been tagged”. I read that and thought, “I was? When? By Who?” And stupid me, asked the question. I was told where they thought I’d been tagged and I came back, “Oh, that wasn’t me that was tagged.” Next thing I know Honey’s saying “I’ll fix that.” And here we are. I’ve officially been tagged.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog. Although I love, love LOVE chocolate, hot chocolate just doesn’t do it for me but I love egg nog. And now that I know Mr. Honey has a special recipe for it, I think I’m going to have to ask Honey to bring some to Dallas this summer. (What? Haven’t you heard of Christmas in July? ;o) ) Although I’m with Honey on the alcohol thing...I’ll take the virgin, thankyouverymuch.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Actually neither. Santa sets out the presents in strategic areas - unwrapped - in the room with the tree. Each area is labeled with the name of the individual the gifts are for. But the fact that they’re not wrapped identifies them as being from Santa, as opposed to from family or friends.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, I never have.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I haven’t put up decorations in probably 15 years but when I did, it was usually a week or two before Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Deviled eggs. I think I’m the only one in my family that doesn’t know how to make these - but I saw that Honey makes them for Mr. Honey so Hon, can you bring some of these to go with the eggnog in July? ;o)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I just remember waking up on Christmas morning, all excited because Santa had been there the night before. We weren’t allowed to go into the living room until the adults were awake and could go in - first - so me and my sisters were as noisy as could be on Christmas morning. :o)

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don’t know exactly when I learned the truth but I got my first clue when one year some of my presents from Santa were sporting price tags. I mean, with all the elves working for him, why did Santa have to buy presents?

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We didn’t until my nieces and nephew were born. Once they were old enough to understand the concept of Santa, they would spend Christmas day at home and we’d do the family thing on Christmas Eve, opening all of our presents.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I’ve seen an assortment of answers to this question so I’m not sure what is expected here but I will say, there are an assortment of ornaments. Some store bought, some handmade, lots of lights, ornaments, tinsel and stuff.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Since 2004 when I was stranded in Little Rock for two days at Christmastime, HATE IT. Before that, since I rarely got to see it, I had loved it. Now, hate it.

12. Can you ice skate? I used to be able to a little.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? When I first got married, or even when we were dating, my ex-husband would buy me presents that were very unexpected. During the year when we’d be out shopping and I’d mention I liked something, he would store that information and then months later, surprise me for some occasion. I loved that!

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? I don’t have an answer for this. Sorry.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Fudge. (I’ve mentioned I love chocolate, right?)

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? When my family started having Christmas on Christmas Eve, I started going to the movies on Christmas day. I see at least two movies - one that’s been out a while and one that opened Christmas day. Never less than two movies on Christmas day.

17. What tops your tree? An angel.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? I liked Honey’s answer. Giving, so long as there's a personal touch to it. That’s what I loved about what my ex did. Plus, I have a sister who would ask how much you were spending and then tell you what to buy. Kind of killed it for me and I couldn’t tell you what I ever got her - and twenty plus years later, I can still tell you the first few presents my ex gave me.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I like the silly songs like Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer and I Want a Hippopotamus and Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas song.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Not a big fan but they’ll work in a pinch when I’m having a candy craving.


Now I’ll tag Kim, Monica and Mr. Honey (say thank you Honey!).

And next time I keep my big mouth shut. ;o)

To Be or Not To Be

I’ve worked with this man for almost a year now and I have a pretty good idea of who I think he is. Well, before yesterday, that is.

You see, he’s a sweet man. He’s Greek - not that that has anything to do with anything but I thought I’d throw it in there. He’s also very conservative - at least he comes across that way. He’s very prim and proper and very meticulous about his appearance. He doesn’t come across as vain or arrogant but it’s obvious that he cares how he presents himself. And he’s in my top five list of nicest people I’ve ever known.

So given everything I just told you (and I hope I gave the impression I meant to), I was surprised when he was walking down the hall yesterday, whistling away. Loudly. Not at all self-consciously or as if he was even aware that people could hear him.

Not that I’m saying there’s anything wrong with whistling to your heart’s content. Not at all. It’s just it didn’t fit the image I have of this man.

But to top it off, I recognized the tune he was whistling. That was the real surprise.

Now, it’s possible this is a real song from a real musical (I’m not familiar enough with Shakespeare’s works to know if there are any musicals of them out there) but where I remember it from is Gilligan’s Island.

Yes, you read that right, Gilligan’s Island. There was an episode where they put on a play - I can’t remember why - and they did it as a musical. I think it was MacBeth or Hamlet (to be or not to be anyone?) and part of the lyrics were “not to be...that is the question that I ask of thee” and it’s done in a staccato beat.

Anyway, that’s what he was whistling. As I said, it could be that it’s truly from a musical and he was showing how culturally advanced he is but I can’t get the image of this sweet, genteel man, running out and buying up all the seasons of Gilligan’s Island, and this is what stuck with him. It’s kind of like taking the mask off the lone ranger...that image stays with you and you’re never quite the same again. LOL

The Six Month Rule

At least I think it’s a six month rule...if you haven’t touched or needed something in six months, you don’t need it so you can throw it out without looking at it. That’s it isn’t it?

Anyway, this long weekend I finally decided to go through the old boxes in my “guest” bedroom. See, about two and a half years ago I had all the carpet in my house ripped up and laid wall-to-wall tile throughout my house. The thing about that is, you have to “move out” (as if you’d never lived there) of the room in order for them to lay it. So lots of stuff got boxed up.

My bedroom was the last room to get tile in it so initially, everything was moved into my room. But when they did my room, I moved it all into the room that had been the guest room. And it was wall-to-wall boxes. So when I had company coming, I just set up the bed in the other spare bedroom. And that’s how things have been set up since.

But I wanted the right guest bedroom again so I started cleaning it up/out, after two and a half years.

I found shoes I don’t remember having. I found clothes that I can actually fit in. I found one of the two thermometers I own. But since one was for me and one was for the dogs and I didn’t know which one I’d found, I threw it out.

I found a box of magazines from when I was married, including a stack of Popular Photography, a couple of editions of Playboy (including the Vanessa Williams/Miss America one, Suzanne Somers and Jessica Hahn). I found a Brides magazine circa 1982 (the year before I got married)...I threw it out.

I’m not quite done with going through all the boxes but I did clear enough out that I was able to move the bed back in there last night, so I’m happy about that.

So that’s pretty much my weekend, what did you do on this nice long weekend?

Weird Dreams and Designated Hysterical People

In any crisis, there needs to be a hysterical person, right? Something I've discovered about myself is that, when there is a crisis and no one becomes hysterical, I take on that role, making me the designated hysterical person. However, if there is already someone who is hysterical in the situation, I can be calm. I tell you all this because it relates to the dream I had last night.

I dreamed that my entire family was on a private plane. My mother, sisters, nieces, nephew, dogs and either my father or my step-father - that part isn't clear to me, although my father was a licensed pilot at one time and it was the male figure in this dream who was flying the plane. The dogs were the dogs I had growing, two chihuahuas, Poco and Jose. My nieces and nephew were young and my mother was alive (I dream about her quite frequently and I kind of wonder if there is a significance to that, but I digress).

So, we're all on this plane with the male figure flying. My mother came out of the cockpit and headed back to the bedroom with my oldest sister (my other sister was in another room with all the kids) and I sitting in the front part of the plane that had seating just like your normal, everyday commercial plane - coach no less. (Keep in mind that as I describe it, it sounds like it would be a luxury plane but I didn't view that way in my dream - not that it makes that much of a difference, I don't think...maybe it does in the interpretation, who knows?)

Anyway, Poco hobbled back to the restroom and crawled in the tub (don't ask me why, I didn't understand the dog when I was growing up, much less in a dream some thirty years later). Shortly thereafter my father/step-father left the cockpit in a huff (did I mention he was flying the plane?) and headed towards the shower.

My thoughts briefly landed on the fact that Poco was in the tub/shower already but those thoughts were overridden by the fact that no one was flying the plane!

I ran back to the bedroom my mother and oldest sister were in and frantically tried to tell them my concerns over the situation. They seemed totally unconcerned.

I went back to my coach seat and started thinking of the possibilities. Maybe it was on auto-pilot and we were okay. But, how long could/should you leave the flight controls unattended, I mean, he was in the shower!

As I took deep non-relaxing breaths, the plane suddenly took a sharp right turn...right before it did a nose-dive. It was like one of those annoying scenes in movies where you can see out of the front of the airplane and the plane is almost about to "kiss" the ground but back in the plane you're a long way off, know what I mean? Anyway, this is what I was looking at.

Next thing I know, I'm in a hotel lobby...in Galveston! I'm alone and I'm asking if they can go ahead and check me in to the hotel. Now, it didn't occur to me in the dream but I live near Houston and it wouldn't make sense to fly from Houston to Galveston because you could drive there almost as fast - and you would have a car for getting around - but again, I digress.

I'm at the registration desk asking if I can check in early. The clerk tells me only if I have a signed authorization stating that I could check in early. I start yelling at the guy, telling him I've just been in a plane crash and why can't he just give me a friggin' room already. He says he can't without this authorization so I demand (in a high pitch hysterical kind of way) to see the manager immediately.

As I'm making this demand, my sister and oldest sister walk in to the hotel as if nothing has happened, still just chit-chatting. I run over to them and ask them where everyone else was. They said they didn't know - and they didn't seem concerned about it. So I start back in with my high pitch hysterical voice asking them how they can be so calm and start on a rant how the hotel won't let me check in and where is the bleeping manager anyway?

Next my other sister walks in, alone. I run over to her and ask her about the kids, the dogs and the male type person that had been flying the plane. She's a bit more upset but it's not about the kids, dogs or anyone else - she also seems unconcerned about anyone else - no, she's upset because we hadn't waited for her when we left the crash site.

I leave her and go back to the registration desk and again demand to see the hotel manager.

As I'm ranting at the registration clerk, my mother starts reading a statement she's been given (she wasn't making one, although at this point I notice that a lot of people are in the lobby - press included). She reads that it was known that there was a problem with the fuselage yet they let us take the plane anyway, knowing it would crash. She's reading this in a very calm, matter of fact type voice.

I, on the other hand, jump up and start yelling (high pitch hysterical voice again) "They knew it had a problem??? And they let us take it up anyway???" As I looked around the room, I realized that I was the only one who seemed to see the problem with that. "Does no one else think that was a problem?" I went on.

My mother went on to read the statement and from something she said, the plane was in one piece, despite the fact that it did a nose-dive (by the way, none of us looked disheveled in any way). I tried but couldn't picture the actual crash or the remains but I thought that was odd that it would have landed in one place (although, in the actual dream there was no impact - it's just odd that in the dream I couldn't picture it).

Anyway, I went back to try to get a room, telling anyone who would listen that I couldn't understand why they wouldn't check me in when they knew the horror I'd just been through and they wouldn't even let me talk to the manager. A friend showed up and was going to try to help me get a room from a back way and we were on our way to do that when I woke up.

I don't know, it could just be me but I thought that was a weird dream.

Excuse me...Officer?

Lately it seems that everyone I talk to has a story about being pulled over or getting a ticket or some driving incident. It's not like I've been soliciting the stories and it's not like it's coming from people who all know each other. These topics are all coming up independent of each other - which is interesting to me.

Anyway, one such story was told to me on Friday, when I had lunch with a friend. She was telling me that Tuesday evening when she was driving home after classes she was working her way onto the freeway. It was dark and there were several cars behind her "pushing" her on the freeway. The traffic on the freeway was moving at a fast pace so she considered her options.

She could:

a. stop on the feeder street and be rear-ended or cause others further back to be in an accident;
b. try to inch her way on to the freeway and risk being in or causing an accident that way; or
c. punch it and work her way into the traffic.

She chose option c. and punched it.

Well, turns out, a nice policeman was waiting for someone to do that and promptly pulled her over for speeding.

She pulled over and he asked to see her driver's license. Since she works with the kids at the local elementary school in Junior Achievement, she keeps her license in that bag. But being under pressure, she didn't immediately remember that so she first pulled out her wallet, and her purse before she remembered where her license was. But when she did remember, she made a point of displaying the JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT on the bag where the officer could see it.

Then, when she reached in the bag, instead of pulling out the license directly (she saw it immediately), she pulled out all the books and pictures she used for the kids...to be sure he knew she was a good person - what working with kids and all. Also in the bag (the kids had asked to see pictures) were framed pictures of her two dogs, George and Nitro. She pulled those out for the officer to see too, since someone who cared about their dogs enough to have framed pictures of them had to be a good person, right?

It wasn't until after she did all that that she "found" her license.

She didn't get a ticket.


As for me, when I was about sixteen, I was driving down a busy street with my bright lights blaring (I didn't know) when a car flashed their lights at me. I figured they would be passing soon anyway so I didn't see the point in turning mine off.

When the person passed me, I saw it was a police officer. (Oops!) He did a U-turn and got behind me, pulling me over. I was young and stupid so I didn't really know why he was pulling me over but when I pulled over I also turned off my brights - you know, just in case.

He came up to the driver's window and said "Did you know you're brights are on?"

Well, no they weren't...not then anyway, so I said - innocently, "I don't think so."

He told me they were and so I flashed them - from dim to bright to dim again.

"Oh," he said. "Well, just try to be sure you don't drive with your brights on and if someone flashes theirs at you, flash yours back so they know you don't have yours on."

"I will. Thanks."

I didn't get a ticket either. :o)

So, do you have any stories about traffic "incidents" or tips on how to get out of tickets? Please share! :o)

Ack! I've been Tagged!

Okay, so I missed that my Special Friend K (aka Special K) tagged me. I totally blame it on the fact that I’m having computer issues but am sorry nonetheless.

So I have to list five interesting things about me? Let’s see.

1. I used to serve on a grievance committee for the State Bar of Texas. The committee was made up of four attorneys and myself (there was another opening for a non-attorney but we never had that position filled). Hearings where the committee voted to disbar the attorney were automatically appealed and put before another committee where a court reporter was present and the decision of the second committee was final. On one such hearing, I was the lone holdout in saving an attorney’s license...all four of the attorneys on the committee thought he should be disbarred.

2. When I was younger, if I didn’t like any aspect of my job, I had no qualms about quitting. Piss me off before lunch? I didn’t come back from lunch. Piss me off after lunch? I just didn’t come back the next day. Once, I accepted a job and showed up about 15 to 20 minutes early. Ten minutes after I arrived I went into the manager’s office and said, “this isn’t going to work out” and I walked out of the office, never looking back.

3. Shortly after I separated from my ex-husband, I met a woman who I decided I wanted to be like, when I grew up. She was so confident, warm and giving. She was my mentor. One of the things she told me about though was that she sunbathed in the nude! I thought that was scandalous (particularly when I went to her house and saw that all the houses surrounding hers were two-story houses and people could see into her backyard!) but secretly wanted to do it myself. So, one weekend my ex-husband came over and was mowing my lawn for me and I laid out nude in the backyard. He went inside and was gone for a while so I went to check on him...he was videoing me in the nude! Less than a week later my house was broken into and my video recorder (with nude video of me in it) was stolen. (I choose to believe my ex-husband was the culprit but it’s possible there’s a nude video of me out there somewhere. Scary, isn’t it?!)

4. The first dog I ever got as an adult was the result of my ex-husband sending me to the mall to get our Christmas pictures developed. I came home with the pictures - and a doberman. A few weeks later, he sent me to a flea market to get our new doberman a collar and I came home with an Irish Setter. In between, I agreed to watch my sister’s dog for the weekend and as soon as we got it home, I informed my ex that we weren’t giving her back. So within a very short time, I went from having no dogs to having three.

5. I once received an email from a man I knew and he detailed his five-year plan for us, which included marriage and kids. We’d never been on a date. He’d never hugged me. He’d never even held my hand. And my only problem with his plan was, I thought five years was too long...I was impatient. (P.S. We stopped “seeing” each other a few weeks later and he still hadn’t ever hugged me, kissed me or held my hand...and I wasn’t upset at all that things broke off.)

I’m going to tag Maria, Kim, Laura and Jan. :o)

Voting Day

I went and voted today. Since it’s Election Day that may not seem like such a big deal but you have to understand, I’ve never voted unless it was a presidential election. So why did I break with tradition and vote today?

Fred Head, that’s why!

In case you haven’t heard, Fred Head is running for the State Comptroller’s office in Texas. He’s running against Susan Combs, a former romance novelist. Ms. Combs supports abstinence for school-aged children. Twenty years ago she had a romance novel published which depicted a couple expressing their love physically. Mr. Head calls it porn and says Ms. Combs is a hypocrite because you can’t write porn and then promote abstinence.

Now this topic has made the rounds of every loop and board I visit but I’ve remained quiet until now because I didn’t want to give the guy any more free publicity (he had zero campaign funds) but since the polls close shortly, I’m finally breaking my silence.

Is this guy an idiot? First off, Texas is a Republican state and he’s a Democrat so he’s handicapped going in. Not to mention that the Romance Writers of America was founded in Houston, Texas. He’s pissed off a lot of people.

And again, the reason I voted today. See, it’s not like he lost my vote because 1) I wouldn’t have voted for him if I was one to vote in non-presidential elections because I typically vote Republican (not always but most of the time); and 2) I don’t normally vote in non-presidential elections so he wasn’t losing anything by keeping his mouth shut. Instead, what he did was get me to go vote, which I know they want everyone to do but, and I could be wrong here but I don’t think so, the intent is to get me to vote for him, when instead it got me to vote for his opponent. So I guess the joke is on him. It will be interesting to see the outcome but I have to say, I’d be really surprised if Mr. Head won.

But in happier voting news, tonight is Dancing with the Stars. I haven’t seen the dances but I can tell you right now that I’m voting for Joey. That’s right, the person who has consistently said “You can’t decide who to vote for until you’ve seen all the dances” has decided who she’s voting for more than an hour before the first dance. (Heck, I knew at last week’s elimination round who I would vote for this week!) Not only that, I’ve given the number to all my friends and told them to start calling at 7:00 p.m. (CST).

So, if you want to make me happy, call 1-800-868-3401 starting at 8:00 (7:00 Central) from every phone line you have, until they tell you to stop. ;o)

Memory Lane

When I was young - sixth grade at the latest - I wrote a letter to a Bonnie A. from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. I think I got her name and address from the back of a comic book where it said “pen pals wanted”, or something like that.

Anyway, I sent the letter off and she wrote me back. We wrote each other for years and even exchanged pictures (which I still have, believe it or not!) and cassette tapes, so we heard each other talking.

At the time, Bonnie had several pen pals but she was the only one I had. But something she introduced me to was “slam books”. Slam books were cut up sheets of paper that are stapled together to make a book. The person who made it decorated it up any old way they wanted to and each page had a theme. They might look something like this:

Page 1
Your Name
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Page 2
Your Address
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Page 3
Favorite Singer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

You would go to each page and fill out your answer. If you were #1 on page one, you were #1 on page two, and so on.

The last page always said something like “when this book is complete, please return to:” and it would have the name and address of the person who made the booklet. There was almost always a page that asked if you were interested in new pen pals. If one said “yes”, anyone could start writing them.

Over time I started writing people from the books and at one point I had a pen pal from almost every single state in the United States. I got a lot of mail, every day. It eventually got to be too much and I cut back the number of pen pals I had.

First to go where the superficial “how are you? Write me back. letters. (That would literally be the extent of their correspondence.)

I ended up with five that were special to me (unfortunately I’m drawing a blank on two of their names and I hate that!). There was Bonnie, Kathy R from California, Aviva C from New York, someone from Minnesota (Sharon, I think but I’m not sure) and someone from Oklahoma.

Bonnie and I stopped writing each other when we were in high school. She wrote me a letter saying she had to stop writing. I never really understood why but I respected that and I still remember her fondly today.

The girl from Oklahoma, that ending was weird. She was a huge Elvis fan and after he died I only received one letter from her. She was telling me how much she had loved him and how upset she was that he’d died and the letter ended mid-sentence. I never heard from her again, despite sending her several letters asking if she was okay.

I’m not sure when Aviva and I stopped writing. I think we had graduated high school though. Same goes for the girl from Minnesota (although I wrote Aviva even longer than her).

Kathy though, we corresponded up until I got married at 21. I was willing to continue writing but I think she felt she was more of an intrusion - like it changed things. The first couple of years after I married I got a birthday and Christmas card but that was it. I think we lost touch because my ex and I moved around a lot those first few years. I always hated that - losing touch that is.

You’re probably wondering what the point of this long post is. Well, yesterday I had lunch with two co-workers and one of them asked me if I went to high school with someone and I didn’t know. So I pulled out my junior year yearbook last night to see if I could find this girl. (I didn’t.) While going through it, a letter I’d started to Kathy fell out and it brought back some great memories of the friendship we had - despite never having met face to face.

So, I guess the point (if there really is one) is that people you haven’t communicated with in decades, people you haven’t ever met face to face, can impact your life and still bring a smile to your face some 20+ years later, at just the memory of them.

By special request :o)

If I’ve seemed scarce lately it’s because I’m having computer issues. Internet issues to be more specific because it hasn’t impacted any other aspect of my computer life but the issues are only on my home computer so I don’t really know what that says. I have some ideas about how I might fix things but the concern is that I’ll lose internet access altogether, so I’ve kinda been putting that off for now. :o)

Anyway, Ellen asked for a new blog post, so here it is...

I’ve really been enjoying Dancing with the Stars. All of the celebrities have really been coming along wonderfully. But to answer Ellen’s question - Jerry went home last night. I really hated to see him go (huge difference from my initial, they haven’t danced yet, opinion isn’t it? ;o) ) but in fairness, he did have the least natural talent of the remaining celebrities. Worst part for me (and maybe him, I don’t know) was that he gave the best performance he has to date this week. All the couples are having to learn two new dances every week now and this was the first week of that. I really thought we’d see some “off” dancing but everyone really stepped it up in a big way. It’s just been really great to watch the progress of the celebrities.

The final four dancers are Monique, Joey, Emmitt and Mario. Mario keeps being compared to the professional dancers and is consistently coming in first place with the judges so I think he has a good chance of winning the whole thing, although Emmitt and Joey have been strong competitors. I think it will be the fan base that determines the winner and if I had to guess, I would say that Emmitt has the biggest fan base.

But what do I know? ;o)

Don't forget the list!

You can make a list. You can check it twice. But if you forget to take it with you to the store.....you might forget something you need.

Which is kind of what happened to me this morning. We're celebrating Boss's Day tomorrow at work and all the staff support are making something for it.

I'm bringing Shrimp Pasta Salad. I pulled out the recipe and made a list of all the ingredients. Then I went into my kitchen to see what I was out of and what I had and checked off the items I needed (basically I had the salt and the chili sauce - which I only ever use for this recipe but not much is needed so I still have some - and needed everything else).

You add to that that we have a cake in the freezer from the retirement reception (see previous post) and needed it to thaw by 10:30 tomorrow morning. We considered taking it out Friday afternoon but our cleaning crew is supposed to clean out our refrigerators every Friday and they will if it's filled with items they can take home to their families, otherwise they leave it alone. And we didn't want them to take our cake. So I decided to go in before I went to the grocery store this morning and take the cake out of the freezer.

It wasn't until after I left work and was headed for the grocery store that I realized I'd forgotten my list! It was pouring down rain and I decided to wing it and hope I remembered everything I needed, instead of going by my house and getting the list.

So there I was, going down every aisle, looking at everything they had, hoping all the ingredients would come back to me. I spent more time in the grocery store than I think I ever have in my life!

I checked out, confident that I (hopefully) remembered everything and as I was loading the bags into my trunk I remembered the last time I made this recipe. I'd made it for my Bunco group and one person wouldn't touch it because it had white ingredients in it. Seriously, she won't eat anything white - even if it's just an ingredient in a dish.

Anyway, I'm glad I remembered that story because I'd forgotten the mayonnaise! I closed my trunk and went right back into the store and bought a jar of mayonnaise, hoping THAT was the only ingredient I had forgotten on the first round and came home.

I REMEMBERED EVERYTHING! Yay!

Now I just have to wait for the shrimp to thaw (in the refrigerator) and I'm good to go. :o)

What a relief!

Who has more fun?

I thought I’d post a few pictures from the reception we had for a man who retired last week (he comes back next week as a consultant - not a long retirement). The theme of reception was “mobster”. Tom (the retiree) is Italian and he makes reference to that daily. Everyone (or most everyone) received hats when they walked in the door - “mobster” hats - and most wore them for the duration of the reception. And those of us "in the know" wore black for the occasion. :o)

Anyway, we had a visit from "Guido". Guido gave a history of Tom’s career with the company. He spoke like the godfather. He was great, never once breaking character, despite the fact that everyone in the audience was rolling over laughing.


Guido introduced "Cousin Vinny". Like Guido, Vinny stayed in character the entire time, despite everyone laughing their rears off. He gave a presentation using materials Tom used in his day to day job. You see, Tom was our team’s safety specialist. We have a million acronyms and Vinny used the numbers but just “tweaked” the meanings of the acronyms. For example, we have to do these safety observations every month, called BBSOs (Behavior Based Safety Observations). Vinny used BBSO as Big Bosses Secretly Offed. GIMT (I can’t remember what stands for in our world...it’s not one I use) stood for Guys In My Trunk. Things like that. It was hilarious! Oh yeah, and Vinny, in real life, is a skinny guy but he was “beefed” up with bubble wrap for effect. It was so much fun.

We had a nice spread of food. I sampled everything except what is dead center on the table. Can you see what it is? It’s fruit! That’s right, I sampled all the sweets and unhealthy stuff but passed on fruit, ‘cause that’s the kind of girl I am (see Pam’s Naughty Chair if you want specifics).

This last picture is of my friend who wanted her picture taken with me (I’m on the right for those that don’t know). Normally I don’t like pictures taken of me but you know, I kinda like this one. :o)