Monday, December 10, 2007

Snow Day Please...

As much as I sort of hate to say it, I really, really, really want a snow/ice day tomorrow. I just want to stay curled up under a blanket catching up on episodes of Stargate Atlantis. That, or watch my Shakespeare Retold dvd that I recently picked up. It's been a long few weeks and I don't relish the idea of possibly driving to my demise just to make sure someone can get their copy of Eat, Pray, Love that they ordered last week.


One downside to not working tomorrow will be I will have to wait an extra day to pick up the following:

The Bourne Ultimatum
Harry Potter 5
Lost Season 3

If you want to check out a new blogger, go visit Laura's land o' fun at www.6000whistles.blogspot.com. Be sure and comment to keep her at it.

We had a "We Listen" session last week at work. I sort of knew it was coming. How did you know you may very well ask? Go ahead, ask. I'll wait.

I knew about the repeated attempts to get an email/letter to the We Listen people. Our regional Human Resources person came down for a day of chatting. Sadly, due to having just way too much stuff to go through in back, I couldn't spare the 30 min. to go talk to her. I figured chatting while I ate my lunch probably wouldn't work. It's going to be awhile before anything, if anything, happens. I hope it isn't one of those "be careful what you wish for" situations. But, if it's like any of our other We Listen moments, it will be just that.

I need to pick a new ISP. I'd like to go faster than my current dial up speed, but I like not having to pay crap loads of cash for the service. I already pay an insane amount for my digital cable and I can't justify paying insane amounts just so I can quickly download music. Any suggestions? I'm looking at AT&T 'cuz they have a cheap package and Earthlink. If you'd had experience with either let me know as I can use some advice and I need to make up my mind soon since my service ends at the end of the month. I'd really like to move on from these people. I haven't been able to access my ISP email account in about 3 years even with repeated service emails being sent by myself. Help.

Be careful out there.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

I WANT MY MASTERPIECE THEATER!

Quick note tonight, my local PBS station is on the verge of being no more. Check out this link for the story. http://pjstar.com/stories/120607/REG_BF4IOQQ9.009.php

PBS is the one non-cable source people have for good children's programming, in depth news programming (Frontline, BBC World News), and really good dramas and comedies (Masterpiece Theater, Mystery, etc.). Now I know sometimes the programming can be sleep inducing and very retro, but I think this is a forum that needs to survive. If you live in my area and you think you can donate something, please help out. I'm a member and have been for several years. Thanks.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Drowning, Not Waving



I've signed up for a trip to Scotland this coming June. Yeah! That's a definite plus. The potential down side you may ask? As I discovered at the info meeting, most of the other folks taking this trip are old enough to be my parents...or older. The only folks near my age were the local weather chick and her hubby. I should mention the trip is sponsored by a local tv station.

Let me put it this way, one of the ladies asked the following question in all seriousness.

"Do they speak English?"

Holy crap. Granted, there are local tongues about, but really, most of the freakin' world speaks English at this point. We're the only industrialized dicks on this planet who can't be bothered to put an emphasis on learning other languages. Other important issues covered included the availability of bathrooms, the availability of food (we get to roam around town and fend for ourselves for lunches which to me sounds heavenly), and how late will we be out. I can't wait to see how these people react when it's still light out at 10pm in the northern part of the country.

Still, I am desperate to take a trip since my original plan had to be pushed back a few years. Plus, this trip only covers Scotland and we will get to see many places that I didn't get near the last time I was there. I consider myself very lucky to even have the chance to go so I'm going. I'm afraid I won't be able to bring back whiskey for all of you as we are only allowed to bring one bottle per person on the plane (in checked luggage I believe)...this was also a major talking point at the meeting.

In other news, I'm still behind at work...hence the title of today's entry. I went in early to try and make some headway. I had gotten to where I'd accessed the two piles of boxes from last Mon. (I am not kidding people) when UPS arrived and promptly dumped 50 more boxes on my sorry butt. GRRRRRR!!! We are "only" getting 125 from the big boys tomorrow and maybe I'll get lucky and not get my ass kicked by UPS. I'd really like to see the back wall of my receiving area before Easter. The uber came back Mon. just after the truck had been delivered and seemed surprised to see all the boxes. I wanted to shake him really hard. It's not like the boxes went away for the weekend to go skiing and came back in the wee hours of Monday morning. They'd been there this whole time so I don't know how you'd miss piles and piles of cardboard looming over you. I asked if we could have another person come back for a few days. Not surprisingly trying to "replace" someone who works 40 hours and is freakishly efficient with a newbie who works anywhere from 8-12 or so just doesn't quite get the job done.

Alright, don't bitching...for now. If you have the time I recommend the following:

Superbad--out on DVD today.

Imperial Life In The Emerald City--I am about halfway through this great book that talks about how and why Iraq got so messed up after we invaded. It's amazing just how boneheaded the Bush administration can be. Why bother, for example, to hire someone who has expertise in rebuilding after a military action just because they are a Democrat when you can hire a 24 yr. old who you found out about from their attempt to get a job at a Conservative think tank? Logic was sorely missing throughout most of this process.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

things to do when the power goes out

This evening my electricity was out for about 2 1/4 hours due to an ice storm. I'm guessing that was the issue as my cable is still out so I can't check the news to see what was up. Here's what I did tonight.


Finished wrapping most of my Christmas gifts.


Made soup by candlelight because it was the one thing I could cook for dinner that didn't require opening up the fridge.


Wondered if the pain and soreness just below my left shoulder blade is a muscle strain or the result of sleeping funny last night.


Listened to music to start organizing the track list for my annual Faves mix cd.


Thought about my place and function in the universe.


Okay, didn't actually do that last one, but I did wonder about whether or not the power would be back on in time for me to see the season finale of Torchwood. Sadly, this did not happen.