CSI: Chalet

*Disclaimer: Two people were killed tonight. This is a somber post with inappropriate humor scattered in.

I'm starting to think that the neighborhood where the Chalet is located is not as safe as I once thought. We all sat stunned the night Char had her tires stolen from her vehicle. The night the flower seller used the bathroom to smoke crack was humorous. Tonight was not funny, even with the wise-cracks flying back and forth.

DM and I arrived at the time we usually do, probably missing the action outside by only a few minutes. Bobby was not working this evening; his girlfriend gave birth this past week and he won't be back until Wednesday night. Theresa, another bartender, was working and served us food and drink and we noted how slow the Chalet was. Soon, Theresa was announcing to the bar that Bryan would be a bit late. He needed to find an alternate route to the bar due to a police roadblock. Bryan was the last to arrive before we were told to stay at the Chalet.

The televisions were set to a local news channel and breaking news was being played. There had been shootings and two people were dead, one north and one south of the bar. Theories have flown already about it being gang related and we kept walking outside to see police barricading Rice Street (where the Chalet is located) between the two closest intersections. No one could arrive and no one could leave. A fire truck was brought in and a light was hoisted from the top of a ladder. Police formed a line and paced the street with flashlights, searching for clues. As far as we know, there were no arrests tonight and we were allowed to leave the Chalet after midnight, three hours after the chaos started. The bar closed early tonight due to the lack of customers. DM and I were only accompanied by 11 others, including Bryan and Theresa.

With the lack of people, it was decided that it should be New Song Sunday. We didn't sing much anyway, but the songs we did sing were not part of our normal rotation. Angie was there and sat with us, singing new songs and we did have a bit of fun. When other singers sang, non-regulars and maybe people who drank a bit too much this evening, we would run outside to watch the police scan the street and nearby park and lake.

Now, for the funny parts. This is just how we coped with the events going on around us. This is not meant to offend anyone.

While discussing who the police were looking for, I made an observation that Bryan was the only person to arrive since the police started looking. A guy whom we've never seen before found this the appropriate time to run and tackle Bryan while yelling, "I got him!"

Angie's turn to sing came up in rotation and we were looking for her. Bryan commented, "She's out wiping her prints off playground equipment."

Benny was allowed to arrive through the barricade close to midnight because he was in possession of keys the bar staff would need to close down. He was not allowed to drive down the street so we asked where he parked. It turns out he and his cousins parked at the Lamplighter, a local strip club. Jokes were made, of course, about what he was doing there. We did find out then that his cousins were female and not interested in a female strip show.

With it being so slow, we had decided on New Song Sunday. The thought process behind this was, "Hey, if you suck, the audience can't leave!"

DM was prone to say, "Stupid dead people" over and over tonight. I do not blame her. Both of us were dressed up quite a bit (she has awesome new pink hair!) and looking forward to seeing other people (in DM's case it would be Gil and I was hoping just for some fun flirting tonight).

After we were allowed to leave, DM and I headed to Perkin's for a quick bite to eat. We drove a bit and listened to my iPod and I had a fun night, even with the sadness from the murders and the disappointment. I think I may be a bit in shock and this was much funnier until I started typing it out and realizing what truly happened.

But hey, now DM and I can both say we were in the middle of a double murder investigation.

Why am I reading this?

MSN.com is the home page on my computer. Yes, I'm lame. One of the things I do enjoy about MSN.com is the fact that there is news and articles on the home page (and the games help too). Sometimes I find odd articles and decide to read, even if I have no major interest.

That is how I ended up reading about dating today. There were two different articles. One was about how guys should treat a woman's friends and the other was about 20 ways to break the ice.

The first article, found here, has six pieces of advice for men.

1. Know the names

Learn (and if you're short on working brain cells, rehearse) her friends' names beforehand and sprinkle them liberally throughout the night. If you can't remember two or three important names, then the logic goes, how mindful will you be on birthdays and anniversaries? Similarly, reference any inside info you know about her chums to break the ice ("Janice, I heard you ran away from home to join the circus. What was your act? With that great smile, obviously not the bearded lady.").

Believe me, if a man is interested in me or I happen to be dating the guy (like that will ever happen!), I would certainly appreciate it if he actually remembers DM's name. Or my other friends. I don't think I would associate it with him remembering important dates, but I would find it respectful and find it an interest in me. Acknowledging things that are important to the other person is a big step.

2. Open the wallet

Ask a lobbyist: Spending a little scratch is the timeless way to curry favor, even if the rapport is flat and the chitchat forced. No one suggests you must pick up the group's entire tab or arrange helicopter transport for all concerned, but can't a gent take care of the nightclub cover charge or treat her gang to a round of ice-cream sundaes? One crisp Jackson buys instant gratitude and amity, so even if your personality bombs worse than the House of Wax remake, rest assured, you'll still receive some points ("He's rude, crude, and lewd, but I will say this... he's not cheap.").

A nice gesture does go a long way, but I do not think that paying for things would override personality in any way. If the guy has a good personality, then this is a nice thing to do. I know I would want to return the gesture and buy something else throughout the night.

3. A smattering of flattering

The second easiest method to impress: Compliments, compliments, compliments. Offer some fashion kudos to her roommates and acknowledge the great work her best bud is doing at the non-profit. Even better, score points by offering kind words about your date to her friends while she's in the ladies' room: "She's terrific, but you all already know that." When such praise is repeated back to her later, the positive effect is doubled.

Good advice. It goes back to acknowledging the friend and helps create a sense of respect. It is a bit of a fine line however. Too much flattering to friends and lack of attention to the woman who the man is interested in can be construed badly.

4. Don't go for the grope

Incidentally, park that libido in Toledo. Despite her fetching curves, tone down the PDA and ixnay the open-mouthed kissing during outings with her friends. Mild affections are great, but syrupy "pookie-wookies" and all-too-obvious tableside groping make her cohorts feel like a bunch of third wheels... which won't win you any points.

In the past, I've watched couples (friends of mine) in public to see how they react to each other. I give huge props for mild touching, but tend to get very uncomfortable when there is more intense groping going on. A guy placing his hand on the small of his date's back is a huge plus. A woman can rest her hand on his arm. These are nice gestures of affection without making others think the couple will go for the gusto in a public place. And please, no baby-talk.

5. Wallflower or Man of the Hour?

Don't wait to be grilled with questions; fight any shyness and jump right into the mix. Get everyone involved in the conversation and turn an awkward meet-and-greet into a charming group experience. Foster confidence with a couple of her intimates by offering some candid insight out of earshot from your date ("When I first called Deanna's to ask her out, I nearly wore out the pound sign re-recording that message until my excitement wasn't so obvious.") Want to really go for it? Stir the ladies to a tizzy with a hush-hush announcement you know will get leaked like a Hollywood scoop ("Don't say anything, but I'm asking her to go away with me for the holiday weekend.").

Just sitting back and not joining the conversation is a quick way to get a group (and the woman) to think that the guy has no personality or intellect. Much of this advice goes back to showing interest in her friends.

6. Follow up with flourish

Whether by email or telephone, always comment afterward on what a delight it was to meet her friends. A few gushy words about her inner circle demonstrate that you are interested in her life as much as her tan lines. Had a little run-in with her dyspeptic pal Barbara? Don't blatantly lie, yet restrain from using your most colorful profanity. Instead, soften it with a little self-deprecation ("Barbara and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but I probably opened my fat mouth at the wrong time..."). At this early stage of dating, it's not worthwhile to squander precious wooing capital on a clash of personality. If you're still at it a few months later, then, by all means, unleash your torrent of honesty about bossy Barb—don't worry, your darling will likely have some choice words about one of your boorish buds as well.

It all comes back to acknowledgement. I know personally, I love it when events or conversations are acknowledged. Feeling unimportant because another person does not say anything about a situation is not a fun thing.

I think these pieces of advice can apply to both sexes. The article focused on how men should react around the friends of a woman he is interested in/dating, but really, a woman can benefit by knowing his friends' names, being a bit generous, and acknowledging the others around are good things to do. Do I think this article is profound? No. The concepts here work in many other situations besides dating. Simple friendships form from things like this.

The second article is about how to break the ice. It can be found here.

1. "I love your name; what’s the origin? Were you named after anyone in particular?"

Just about everyone’s name has a back-story attached to it, says Mia Kirshenbaum, dating coach and author of The Weekend Marriage. You’ll probably get a fun, learn-about-your-date’s-family exchange out of this remark.

At first, this seemed odd to me. Then I realized what my first rule of management is. To get people to open up to you, ask them questions. Humans, in general, like to talk about themselves. Most of these questions are going to relate to that fact.

2. "Where did you go on your last trip?"

Whether it was an exotic safari or just a weekend in Jersey, people love to talk about the places they’ve traveled, suggests Elizabeth Bates of Boston. Plus you’ll find out whether they’re more drawn to cities, beaches, or exotic locations—giving you still more conversational fodder.

Just how many times have DM and I told everyone at the Chalet that we went to Portugal to see Johnny? I lost count long ago.

3. "If you could do college over, what would you study?"

Perhaps they would forget economics and take theater, for example. Definitely gets them talking and reveals their innermost wishes.

4. "What’s your favorite new restaurant?"

You’ll have an instant window into your date’s likes and dislikes when it comes to cuisine. And if that topic doesn’t pan out, ask about their favorite dishes to cook at home, advises Stephanie Whitehead of New York.

5. "What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done in the last month?"

If someone can’t remember ever doing anything spontaneous, that tells you something, too.

I would recommend being patient in the answer to this. On the spot, some may not think of spontaneous things, but after a bit of thought could probably find something.

6. "What trait do friends tease you about?"

You’ll learn how your date’s friends see him or her, as well as find out how seriously your date takes himself or herself.

7. "What’s your take on ____ (current event)?"

Skimming the Op-Ed section of the newspaper before your date keeps you up-to-date, suggest Steven Kim of Philadelphia. Not that you need to engage in serious CNN-style discussions; instead, keep it light and avoid controversial topics (sex, politics, religion), unless you really want to feel like you’re on Crossfire.

8. "How do you know ____(mutual friend)?"

Obviously, this one will only work if you have a friend in common—but if you have that in your corner, work it, suggests Tim Sanders, relationship expert and author of The Likeability Factor. You’ll be able to blab about how you each met the pal, what you think of your buddy’s new job, and so on.

9. "What are you reading right now?"

Even if it’s a magazine, everyone does a little browsing. Find out about what’s on their bedside table, says Alyssa Citarella, of Norwalk, CT, and you’ll learn something about their literary tastes and hobbies, which is a springboard to other conversations.

10. "Can you believe this ____(heat/cold spell?) It makes me want to move to ____. How about you?"

The weather may be a predictable topic, but the way you pose the question doesn’t have to be so. Chances are your date will reveal whether or not he or she has considered relocating to another clime, offers Mia Kirshenbaum.

11."Who in your family do you take after the most?"

Whether it’s their mother, father, or great-aunt Louisa, you’ll learn something about their personality, as well as how close they are to their clan.

12. "What’s on your iPod these days?"

Discover their musical tastes. And if your date doesn’t have an iPod by now? "Well, that’s a whole other topic for discussion," suggests Theresa O’Rourke of New York City.

13. "You’ve got just 20 bucks to your name. How would you choose to spend it?"

While this question may not be as fun to answer as "You’ve won the lottery—what would you buy?" it can provoke an interesting discussion about priorities.

14."Are you a morning person or a night person?"

A random, fun question like this shows you’re not all serious, all the time.

How is this a random question? The fact that I'm a night person is a huge influence on my life.

15. "What’s the last good movie you saw?"

This can lead into new films you’re interested in seeing together—maybe on your next date, suggests Stephanie Whitehead.

16. "Leno or Letterman—or Jon Stewart?"

Most people swear allegiance to one of these nighttime chatters—find out whom your date invites into their bedroom.

Don't forget Conan!

17. "Do you collect anything?"

This one has a strange way of starting a conversation. Chances are, your date either has a collection to talk about with gusto—or will share a bad collecting experience from childhood that’ll get you both gabbing.

18. "Do you have any secrets? Are you willing to reveal one to me?"

Even if the answer is that she (or he) is wearing red underwear, revealing a personal detail creates an immediate level of intimacy between two people—although it’s best to wait until you’ve both had a glass or two of wine, or at least until the dessert arrives, before you deliver this one, advises Tim Sanders.

19. "What’s your dream job?"

Then follow up with a short description of your own once and future aspirations, advises Mira Kirshenbaum.

20. "Who do you admire these days?"

Lance Armstrong? Neil Armstrong? Either way, the explanation will be very revealing, explains Patricia Madson, author of Improv Wisdom and a professor of drama at Stanford University.

I found the questions interesting. They could even make a good MEME.

Quickly, before the madness starts

Lately, all I've been able to truly think about is work. Which is amazing, since there are other things in the back of my mind, but I do think I've managed to avoid being obsessed or upset by events from this summer by throwing myself into my job. This is yet another post about how my day at work went.

Yesterday was filled with chaos. When I arrived at work (complete with a gallon of ice cream and 2-litters of soda for rootbeer floats), our team had a two-hour meeting. We have one meeting during the month and I'm glad we finally got to pull the bankers from the phones. The group got to bond a bit and we were able to cover some business.

I was able to have one-on-one sessions with a couple of bankers yesterday. I met with Steve for a bit of time (always cool) and I was happy for him when he was able to drink soda, a feat he hasn't dared since his surgery. On my lunch break, I called Char and talked with her. I miss her every day.

One of the proud moments of my day yesterday was going over a quality assurance score with an emotional banker. This banker has a history of getting upset and frustrated and I was weary about showing her the scores she had received on her first few calls. The scores were in no way good. Even though the scores were hard to bear, there were good things in the scores to discuss, such as the fact she gave out correct information, just had issues in identifying the callers. And from a bank stand point, the information given out was never something that put the bank or customer at risk. What I am proud about is the fact the session did not end up in tears. This banker is quite emotional, as I mentioned above, and was able to take the coaching in a positive light. It was a huge relief off of my shoulders that she did not leave work crying.

Tonight, the full moon, may prove to be crazy for me. I have four bankers that I want to discuss quality with tonight and this is a long, tedious process. There is also another banker who was offered a job (unemployment is very low right now and our biggest challenge is being the best company to work for and keep the employees we hired within NABABNA). I want to talk to her and help her understand that she is at a great place, full of opportunity. It is hard when it is an employee market, not an employer market. These are challenges I am finding.

Well, off to work!

The Joys of Management

The first all-manager meeting was held today since I've become a supervisor. It started at 10:30 in the morning and we talked business until 4:15. Then it was time to go to a local bar for a bit of happy hour.

As much as meetings take up too much time, this was actually a good meeting. Maybe I'm just green around the gills or maybe I really do find some management topics interesting, but I found myself engaged during the meeting and wanting to talk about the different topics.

Happy hour at the local bar was enjoyable. It is interesting to see some of the people I work with outside of the bricks and mortar we are so confined. There was laughter and silliness and just plain fun.

Although I found the meeting productive and fun, I still feel like I lost a day of work. After happy hour, I went back to work to send one email. I was there for an hour and a half. I should have skipped sending the email!

My team has a meeting tomorrow. It is two hours long. The bankers will be happy, they get off the phones and get to enjoy a team atmosphere. I'm planning on stopping at the grocery store on the way to work to pick up some vanilla ice cream and rootbeer (and Coke) for floats during the meeting.

DM and I are planning on karaoke tomorrow night. Maybe I can talk Steve into joining us this time.

Cleaning out the notebook...

DM and I both carry small notebooks around in our purses. The purpose of these notebooks is to keep our karaoke lists and to write up notes and posts for our blogs. Neither one of us are great at remembering and the notes help.

And then, sometimes, I find notes written that I do not have a clue what they meant. Usually these things are in quotes. They may be random thoughts from DM and I, or they may be completely overheard snippets of conversation.

The notebook I purchased right before we headed to Portugal to visit Johnny is now filled with random notes. It is time to clean out the notebook and move on to a new one. This post is going to be filled with scenes from various nights and not complete descriptions of the evenings. Consider this good, since the full night descriptions may get a bit dull.

Scenes from Shopping with DM (pre-flight to Portugal)

Leaving Coldstone Creamery
B (hey, that's me!): I have ice cream!
D (that's DM!): That's always something to celebrate.
Imagine me bouncing around in glee (hey, it was ice cream!)
D: People all around here are wondering why I'm letting my special child drive.

While driving to find the mall that is not a mall and should be easy to find. Heaven forbid that I could actually know where I was even though I've lived in this area for 21 years.
D: Stars! They have stars! (These were just stars. If you can't tell yet, we were both extremely happy and excited about our upcoming journey and everything was funny.)

While sitting in I-Hop having pancakes.
B: Isn't this a Johnny Cash song?
D: No, I think it is Elvis.
B: You're sure.
D: Yeah, it was a name with an H in it.
Server: Yep. It was Laura.
B or D (I can't remember which now): So that's Laura with an "H".

Scenes from Perkin's with DM, Char, & Tom before we departed

After consuming shots of mayo and getting slightly dizzy off the paint-thinner that was on the rubber balls DM purchased for all of us at Old Navy:

Tom: Now, get your Sweets & your Meats at the same time! Introducing BBQ Chicken Chip oatmeal cookies!

D: Tom is fun to strike. Can I paint your head? (And she looked lovely in the giant hat!)

T: I'm playing with my balls! (He's a guy and young, give him a break. He was bouncing them on the table.
Char: Give! Give! Give! Give! Give! Give! Give! (Get the point yet? Char was trying to control him.)

Scene from karaoke, July 10th

A young man is singing and is quite intoxicated.

YM: We got yippies. (The line is actually, "We got yuppies." I found it funny.)

B: There's only 8 people standing on chairs. Who do you think will fall first?

A man who is not in bad shape but not what we would call a specimen of perfect human form shows off his "six-pack" to the bar.

M: 15 minutes a day! 2 days a week!
Heckler: Do you have Spider-man underwear on?

Scenes from playing pool with Char

In an odd discussion about a vampire cult:

B: They've got Holsteins in their backyard.

When a woman, an obvious Harry Potter fan, walks into a gruff pool hall wearing a neon pink cape:

B: She's got a cape! She's got a cape! That's the best thing I've seen this entire week.

Scene from karaoke & watching random TV shows without sound

B, D, or C: Why are we watching a priest milk a cow?

DM: If you're not having sex, watching baseball is good.

Scenes from karaoke that do not involve TV

DM: Did he just say, "You don't have herpes"?
B: "Her babe."

Random person: You're not a whore because you've got salty boobs!

Scenes from Perkin's (while Char & I may have had a few cocktails and DM was completely sober).

C: Who did I blow today?
D: Was it Andy?
C: You should sleep with Andy.
DM & I look extremely confused at this point.
C: Oh! I blew James. Yeah. That's right.

After a discussion about how Andy's children would not be bald unless the mother's father was bald.
B: Why am I suddenly having kids with Andy?

After putting ice cream on DM.
C: Dana is not a plaything.

Do you see why alcohol and I should not be mixed?

Scene (written on a t-shirt for Johnny by Bryan) from karaoke

A Haiku (that is not actually a haiku)
Two worlds share
Words that sing the same
Sizzling Bacon

Farewell & Goodbye

This morning, sometime right before noon, Char packed up the car and started her drive down to Texas to be with her husband for the next year. The past week has been filled with nights of going out and trying to spend time with my friend before she left.

On Wednesday night, Char & I shot pool so she could say goodbye to Tony. On Thursday, we went to The Chalet for karaoke, visiting DM and the crew. Then we went to Perkin's to eat and allow Char to say goodbye to Jen, our favorite server. Friday night was back at the pool hall with Andy and DM, where I may or may not have gotten a bit drunk. Char may or may not have as well. After pool on Friday, a visit to Perkin's to see the weekend staff was made. Saturday was another night at the pool hall and more liquor was involved. We then made it to Perkin's and Char, DM, and I went to Wal-Mart afterwards (evil, evil Wal-Mart).

These last few nights have been a blast and the reality of Char leaving always seemed far away. Until we dropped her off at her car (she was sober by then) and had to say goodbye.

I miss her already. DM and I have high hopes that she will start blogging in Texas and we can keep in contact through this medium. Here is to hoping this year flies by and Char will return with Tom soon.

"I am filled with Christ love!"

Oh my! Char and I just watched this movie, Saved! Talk about hilarious. The movie is all about teenagers at a Christian school and the trials they face in growing up. The cast of characters is fantastic. You have:

The girl who wants to save her gay boyfriend so she sleeps with him and gets pregnant.
The handicapped brother of the school's biggest fan of Jesus.
The only Jewish girl at the school who keeps messing with the Christian fundamentalists.
The pastor/principal who seems to have a thing for the pregnant girl's mother.
The extreme Jesus-lover who is the least Christian person possible.
The gay boyfriend.
The straight boyfriend.

It is fantastic. I bought the movie because it was on the discount rack at Target and I'm glad I did. I have not laughed that loud watching a movie in quite a while.

Accomplishing Nothing

My Monday was a day to do almost nothing. It's a good thing the day was set aside for nothingness, I'm not sure I could have accomplished anything.

I successfully played about 15 games of this stupid computer game on MSN called Hexic. I did managed to watch about 10 episodes of The X-Files (I'm on season 5). I also putzed around with my scrapbooking stuff, organizing, not actually completing pages.

What else did I do? As a true Scorpio can, I obsessed. I tried not obsessing, it didn't work. I thought about karaoke and karaoke and karaoke. There is one thing to say for what happened Sunday (which is so minor and idiotic it is ridiculous) is that it did finally get my mind off of work!

It is thundering outside here. There is a big storm coming and the air is full of electricity. I'm going to work now and will go out with Char (and probably Steve) after work. Oh Internet, I don't want to think of him because he is a bit of a wanker, but he's so cute and my stomach does those stupid flips when he's there. At least I didn't bring up the ball gag conversation in front of him!

Kicking and Screaming

Football season is starting again. It is wrong.

You know it is a bad sign when you're sitting at karaoke, not expecting anything because it's been so long that of course you wouldn't think a certain person would show up and you can just enjoy yourself with all the great friends you have, and a guy walks in the door and you're first thought is, "Oh, he's cute."

Then you freeze, realizing who HE is. And you recognize the guy who walks in behind HIM and you flashback to last year and all the horrors of stupid infatuation. And it drives you crazy because you don't want to find HIM attractive because hey, you know nothing about HIM and HE has not been to karaoke in months and HE doesn't make a move or anything but HE's just so darn cute.

I.do.not.need.this.right.now.

Can Ice Cream Solve the World's Problems?

My freezer currently has three pints of ice cream in it. Along with the pints, I have a ColdStone Creamery bucket and a box of Pudding Pops. At work yesterday, I ate a orange dream bar and had a piece of ice cream cake.

Ice cream makes me happy. I don't know why. Maybe I am remembering the joy of running out of the house when I heard the chimes of the ice cream truck (oh, the Pink Panther bars! I loved those! Bubble gum flavored ice cream and gum ball eyes! Yummy.)

What I do know is that when I got to work yesterday, there was a voicemail with bad news on it and I was furious and frustrated beyond belief. So I started eating ice cream. My hips won't enjoy this later, but it did help me function through the day.

Our call center, like many other call centers, has an attendance policy. It is rather lenient in the fact it allows people to be out sick 6 times before they lose their job. And people can earn back time. Maybe the problem is that the policy is too lax and people end up abusing the policy because of the extra time. Then an actual emergency or illness happens and they lose their jobs.

On Friday, I had to place a banker on a final warning. Unless the banker had perfect attendance through the end of September, their employment would be terminated.

That banker got sick and called in on Saturday. When I listened to the message, I let out a bit of an exasperated scream. Every time I walked by the empty desk, still full of pictures, I groaned internally. I do not want to fire this person, yet I must.

It makes me so angry! This is a person that I've worked hard at getting to be a performing banker. She started off slow and is now to the a-ha! part of her work where she gets it and is doing well. But all the absences were her decision. She is the one who decided not to stick it out the first 5 times. Then when she actually got sick, she is losing her job.

Now, if she had actually been sick the previous times, I would try to see if we could fight the policy. But unfortunately, the other times were just days she didn't feel like working. It just makes me angry. ARGH!

On a different note, still about work, I do have success stories. The six new bankers are performing fantastically. Our team actually has the highest sales rate of all the teams on my boss's side (there are two sides and each has 5 - 6 teams of bankers). As the bankers build up their sales base, their closed sales rate and profit go up. Our team's closed rate and profit increases each week. Our handle time is not something I like looking at right now, but I do expect it to be a bit high, especially with the fact we have NO senior bankers on our team. Our quality scores are getting better all the time as well.

We got three brand new bankers again. There are two more in training and another to start training this upcoming week. I'm excited still and love the fact the team has grown so much. Steve, the team lead, is doing great. You should see him at work. Every day he feels better and he is getting more and more comfortable around the bankers. He is even starting to open up a bit around me and he is so much fun to work with. We've only had one disagreement (which worked out in my favor) and it had very little to do with our team.

Tangent: The disagreement was over Steve's schedule. Our helpdesk manager approached him (without consulting me first, this is where my major issue was) to ask if he could switch to a daytime shift. Our team is primarily night time bankers. I want him there to help the team. Steve would like to work days (because he is a young man and would like a life) and I would like him there at night. I asked him, "Do you really think there is a benefit to having you here during the day time when our team works at night?" He agreed that it wouldn't help the team, it would just be nice for him. As it turns out, the day time hours are not an option, but Steve was quite aware of the fact I wanted him to stay on nights, since that is what I hired him to work.

We are doing well at work. It takes time for a new team to be established and we're getting there. It takes a ton of effort but the reward is fantastic. And then the connections I start making with the bankers make me smile.

For example, there is a banker on the team who works nights right now. She wants a schedule change to work the opening shift. If this happens, I would ask that she be switched teams. She performs great and I love her numbers, but it is not fair to her to work and never see her supervisor or team lead. And I wouldn't switch Steve to benefit one person when there are 16 others who need him. When she started, she had some major issues. She is an emotional person and would cry because the job requires she talks to customers instead of talking to her co-workers all night long. I finally found something she and I could talk about and now she loves coming to work and talking with me. We talk about scrapbooking.

Her schedule change was approved. I told her that because of the change of hours, she may be put on another team. She said to me, "But I like you! I don't want to be on another team." When I asked her how she would feel if she never saw me, Steve, or any of the other bankers on our team, she did respond, "Yeah, it makes more sense. I like all of you, but I don't want to sit here by myself." She knows that I don't want to move her away, I just want her to be happy. I consider this a success.

Enough about work. It's my weekend and I'm going to my dad's and karaoke and I should just bask in the fact I'm not being pulled in twenty different directions.

Oh, wait. Another funny work story. It is official and Andy (my previous supervisor and great friend) is being moved to our sales-only teams. He is from a program that the company put a ton of money into and so he doesn't actually stay in one job for an extended period of time. It's not his decision to move, but it is a good thing for him. I'm sad that he is moving to the other side of the building, but I know it is good for him. The team I used to lead is getting a new manager from this same program. They have a new lead and a new supervisor and many of the bankers are in a high turnover state. (I do have to smile about the fact that when I was the lead and we had three different managers, we never had a huge turnover. The bankers liked having me around to be a stable force on the team.)

The funny part of this story is the fact we had an all-supervisor meeting to hear the announcement (which Andy had told me long before the meeting). At the meeting, we were talking about having a new supervisor around. The call center hired two new supervisors recently, myself and a guy named Charlie. Charlie was actually hired about a month before I was. So I should be the new kid on the block, right? This does not seem to be the case.

At the meeting, someone said, "Hey, Charlie! You won't be the newest supervisor anymore." Everyone laughed and I sat there confused with Andy. Andy even said, "Um, Beth is the newest supervisor." Everyone seemed to think that this was not the truth and just accepts me. Charlie has had his battles. I guess that makes me feel good.

Stress I Do Not Need

My academic counselor left me a message on Monday about classes starting again. The message was that I was scheduled to start yesterday, August 2. With only one day notice, I found this to be an issue. The company I work for does reimburse tuition costs, but only a certain amount each year. With the cost of tuition increasing after every single class, I'm to a point where I can afford to take three classes a year. Two of those are done for 2005 (has to do with when the reimbursement happened) and I should be taking economics right now.

I left two messages for my counselor and an email. She finally responded today. My phone rang, waking me up earlier than I planned, and I just spoke to her with my head still half dreaming. My schedule has been changed and I am going back starting in September. With only 10 classes remaining to my degree, I feel like I should continue with my education and finish, it is just financials (and stress) that is holding me back from finishing.

Admitting how much stress and how hard these last few months have been is hard for me to do. I don't want to just complain and I feel like I should be able to get through all this without problems. There are more changes coming too soon for comfort.

Okay, here's the major changes and events in my life since April.

My grandma passed away and I found out on Monday that I scheduled the wrong day off work and now cannot attend the funeral service in Wisconsin next week.
My mom had to put Taco, our family dog, to sleep.
I was promoted, which is a great thing, to a more difficult job that requires a lot more of my time and energy.
On the work scene, the new team I am supervising has all new bankers and we are getting new bankers more often than other teams so I feel like I'm behind at work all the time. This is getting better, but it does add to my stress level. I also have a new team lead who is absolutely fantastic and I'm seriously grateful for the job he is doing.
Char is moving to Texas, very soon. She has given her two weeks notice at work and will be gone as soon as a couple of other matters here have been resolved.
My other good friend from work, my former supervisor Andy, may be leaving quite soon. Losing both Char and Andy in a short time bothers me more than I want to admit. They make work fun. It's nice to have people to talk and laugh with at work.
My financials are not where I want them to be. With the new job, I did receive a raise, however I did loose a shift differential for a bit of time and the hit on my checking account is hurting.

Adding another high stress situation to this mess is not something I want to do, yet I feel like I need to. I guess I just needed to vent a bit. Now it is time to go to work, have a meeting with Steve (the awesome team lead) and our three new bankers who start on our team this weekend, and then spend the night coaching the other bankers on the team. One good thing is the fact my team is doing well at work. There are still struggles and each time we get new bankers the struggles start again, but it is getting easier. Some night, maybe once Char is gone, I'll be able to write so much more and catch up on more blogs. I am sorry that I haven't had the time to read blogs like I have in the past. I do miss it quite a bit.

The Darth Vader Pumpkin

Call center environments are one of the most unique working environments I can imagine. Sure, there are more unique places to work, more exciting scenery or job functions, but I do believe call centers have a way of breeding so many different types of people.

The call center I work at is the only I've ever known and in no way could I consider myself an expert. Sure, there was the dungeon that we worked in before our relocation, but the company was still the same. I do enjoy the culture of where I work.

Looking around at night, I can see people decorating their desks with their own personal belongings. Things mean something different to different people. For example, a banker has a collage picture frame at her desk with pictures of her trip to Italy. Another banker has pictures of a puppy and her boyfriend. Children and movie stars are pinned up at other desks.

My desk, like the others, is filled with pictures. I have postcards I bought during a trip to the Grand Canyon. Portugal pictures are framed and hanging in my cubicle. I also have a picture that brings a smile to my face each time I look at it. While going through my mom's old photo albums, I found this picture. I imagine it must have been a friend of mine, one I don't remember all that well, from when our family lived in Iowa. His name may be Aaron.

It is a testament to children's ideas, wishes, and parents who will allow dreams. Halloween is a time for children in our culture to dress up in any way they choose and have fun while trick-or-treating. That is exactly what this little boy did.

He is the Darth Vader Pumpkin. The image will always make me smile, knowing the combination is illogical but so childlike. Enjoy.

Scene from a Restaurant

Imagine a new server at our Fridleykins. Find two women sitting in the booth, full from the dinner they just ate. One has a bit of an odd sense of humor. The server approaches the table with the bill and this conspires:

Server: Is there anything else I can get you ladies?
B: Chicken.
S: Chicken?
B: No thanks.

Then imagine the utter look of bewilderment.

Helllllooooo Officer!

Work has started to have a regular schedule and I am finding I have more energy lately. I love this! The other nice part of it is that I have time to go out with Char after work.

On Tuesday night, five of us left the bank and headed to Fridleykins for some food. It was Char, Maria, Corrie, Steve, and I. (Maria and Corrie are both other bankers at the call center. Corrie is still on the team I was a lead for and Maria has been promoted to a sales position.) Of course we had a good time talking and eating and afterwards, Char and I headed to the pool hall for a bit of free pool (ladies night).

On Wednesday, Char and I went to Subway for food and then out to the pool hall to visit with Tony and play a bit of stick.

Last night, Char and I met up with DM at The Chalet, played some darts, sang a little, and talked with Liz, Bryan, and Andrew. DM has a post soon about this night. Once we dropped DM off, Char and I ran to Fridleykins to grab some food and there was this terrible group of men yelling about military experience and how they needed to avoid the cops. There were two Fridley police officers in the building at the time. Let's just say these men were morons.

Well, one of the groups of men decided to take off without paying for food. The Fridley police went out after him, not catching him at all. When they came back, one of the officers spoke to our favorite server, Jen. Char and I got a good look at him.

And then we were giggly. He was adorable! Just cute!

I'm having a good time at work. The new bankers have started and there are challenges, but the challenges are fun and positive. This group did a wonderful job in training and I love it. They are ahead of where I expected them to be and I'm so proud of the job Steve is doing when he coaches them. I'm having fun at work. It is a lot of work and I'm busy all the time (especially with meetings. I have meetings all the time!) But our team is doing great and I think we're only going to get better.

Plans for the weekend include:
Tonight - playing pool after work with Andy and Char and then probably getting food at Fridleykins.
Saturday - picking up DM for a scrapping session (I'm getting farther on Portugal pictures!)
Sunday - DM and I will visit my dad (I need to do laundry really bad!) and then going to karaoke
Monday - DM and I will scrap during the day a bit and go out to dinner with my mom, her boyfriend, and my dad to Manny's Steakhouse. This is in regards to my grandma that passed away in May. We're having a time to remember my grandma.

I have to give an interview for a banker position today and I have a meeting with my boss (1 on 1) for an hour. The rest of my work tonight will be spending time with new bankers and trying to get through some of the quality assurance our team received. Should be fun!

Steak & Penguins

It was a feast all around tonight. My stomach was happy, happy, happy when DM and I went out to dinner and I had a good steak (and bread and an onion and good soup and a baked potato) and afterwards I was able to eat up penguins with my eyes!

DM and I went to go see March of the Penguins at the theater James works at tonight. He was extremely nice and let us in to see the show free-of-charge, although I have no problem supporting the movie and his theater. But he told me last night at karaoke that if we paid he'd kill me. I guess I didn't want to die because someone wouldn't take my $8.

March of the Penguins was amazing. It's a National Geographic film narrated by Morgan Freeman and it is all about how emperor penguins mate and raise their young. We both laughed and cried. DM may have cried a few more times than I (considering I did not cry at one of the previews that she let out a loud sob).

I had a fantastic evening and enjoyed DM's company. She'll have to write about her bus adventure and the rain, but my evening was perfect. It's good to know that my week is starting off right. The new bankers hit the floor on Sunday and I'll be hopping this week. But I do get to go back to nights (which I am looking forward to). Now, if I could convince the center manager to not hold the all manager meeting at 8:30 AM* on Wednesday and shoot for a time like, oh, I don't know, 2?, all would be great. I may be a bit tired a couple more days here.

*Read that as about the time I finally hit REM sleep. I like going to bed around 5 AM and 8:30 is an evil, evil time of day. The sun is up and everything.

Power, Electricity

I am in no way talking about excitement or the ability to command people here. No, I'm talking about actual electricity and the power company.

Yesterday, there was a storm here in Minnesota. While I slept, the winds and rain came (I think I actually slept through the tornado warning - oops). I did wake up, oblivious to the recent storm and got ready for work. Once I stepped outside, I thought, "Hey, the heat broke a little. It must have rained." The water droplets on my car helped in my theory.

When I arrived at work, I noticed a tree was down near the parking lot. That must have been a heck of a storm. The people inside told me that our call center had been evacuated to an inner hallway on the bottom floor and wild stories of lightning and sheets of rain were told. It did not rain after I got to work.

Leaving my apartment, the power was still on. Since there was no more rain or heavy winds, one would think that when I arrived home, the power would still be on. This is a fairly logical assumption. Not true, but a logical assumption.

Once I finally was able to go home from work (Andy's new team lead takes a long time to get off of supervisor calls. After a 50-hour work week, I was not looking forward to being there putting in more time waiting for her to finish a call that should have been 5 minutes long, not an hour, but I stayed) I went home, thinking I'd heat up some lasagna my mom sent home with me.

My apartment building was black and there were people hanging outside the front door, walking tenants to their apartments with a flashlight. My plans of dinner (electric stove), blogging (need power for the computer - the cable modem still worked though!), and watching a couple of movies (you guessed it, needs power) were thrown to the wayside.

Luckily, my iPod still had quite a bit of power left and I was able to have music and then I scrapbooked by candlelight. Then I read a book by candlelight. When I awoke today, the power was still out and I scrapped some more. The power has finally been regained now at 3:30 in the afternoon.

I had forgotten how quiet it is when there is no power. The air conditioner was not humming when I got home. The refrigerator was not making its rattling noises and the little sounds did not come from my computer.

At least the lights are back on and I don't have to take a shower in the dark!

I do also have to say how wonderful it is that plumbing and electricity do not work together. That's a happy, happy thing.

Effing Cool!

This is really just a test to see how this works and of course this is the clip I found. It's from New Year's Eve and it is DM. Enjoy!


Powered by Castpost

A Strange Jumble of Odd Topics

My life right now consists of work, work, little sleep, fast food, and work. Then there is the occasional karaoke night. So, in preview of what is to come in this posts, most of these things relate to work.

At karaoke on Sunday night, DM pointed out that Andrew's hair (a new mohawk with the sides growing back in) resembles Steve's (team lead) hair. How did I manage to hire the guy and never notice that he has a semi-mohawk? Am I that oblivious to men's hair? Steve walked up today and I looked at him and said, "Oh my. You do seem to have a mohawk." What got me was his response. It was so factual. "Yeah. I tame it down for work a little." I learn more and more about my team lead daily and I'm finding that he's a pretty fun person. He's a rock star. Okay, he's a drummer in a band that hasn't hit it famous yet, but he's a rock and roller. Funky.

Another Steve story. His previous manager (who just so happens to be Keem and DM's roommate and an AWESOME person) has his annual review ready. Part of the review is a development plan. Since Steve is no longer a banker, Jeff thought it would be good for me to write up the development plan. Sounds like a good plan (that Jeff - he's brilliant!) and I believe in employee participation and empowerment so I asked Steve to think about areas where he'd like to improve to help his career. His response, "My biceps." For some odd reason, this led to a conversation trying to justify a business need for Steve to work on his biceps.

I only had to go to two meetings today. One was a teleconference (where the goofball manager managed to distract me long enough that I didn't even realize the meeting was over) and the other was the meeting I get to have with new bankers when they graduate from training. Starting Sunday, our team is doubling in size. There are six new bankers joining us from the training queue and I'm excited about all of them. This group is extremely talkative (not great for call handle times but fantastic for a learning and sales environment) and their questions are amazing. The meeting with them, which is scheduled for a normal 30 minutes to an hour (including time for them to set up their new desks), managed to last over an hour and a half (without the time for them to set up their desks). I gave each of them probably 30 pieces of paper and worried that it was too much. They loved it! I was just thrilled by the positive energy.

I'm getting to the point at work where it's not a struggle every day to get the team to perform. The bankers are learning more and retaining more each day and the hand holding is decreasing. That, plus the fact I'm almost back to nights, has me filled with more energy all the time.

On Monday, I went over to my mom's for dinner. I played with Chip, Pepper, Smoke, and Mac (which my mom loves because sometimes she doesn't know how to play with each of them. She knows how to feed them and give them attention, but flat out playing games escapes her a bit). She made lasagna for dinner and it was delicious. She is rather excited right now. Acceptance of Grandma's passing has sunk in and Mom misses her terribly, but understands it was time. Grandma's estate has been settled and Mom got a bit of change sent her way. She's paying off her mortgage, about 15 years early. This is good for Mom.

Char is on vacation from work. She and Tom left today to get Tom to Texas. She'll be back, but it may be only for a couple of weeks. She is moving to Texas with Tom for the year and I'm going to miss them both terribly. It's already hard to know that Tom is gone for a year. They have both been begged to start blogging so that DM and I can keep up with their lives.

The girl who replaced me at work as Andy's lead is having reality sink in. The old team is trying to adjust to a different personality type than me. I feel a bit good about the fact they are all still so loyal to me but I really don't want to see her struggling. The bankers on that team still approach me with their successes, looking for praise. They also still come to me if they are concerned about certain things. They want me to be the go-between for her and Andy.

I went shopping on iTunes again tonight. The highlights of what I purchased were:

• You Had Me - Joss Stone
• Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
• Mama Told Me Not to Come - Tom Jones & Stereophonics
• Redneck Woman - Gretchen Wilson

Not bad for $4.

About a week ago I bought a new album off of iTunes. It's called, "The Vanity Project" by "The Vanity Project." It's actually a project by Stephen Page, one of the lead singers for BareNaked Ladies. The feel is different than a BNL album, but I do enjoy it. My mom has also become recently addicted to iTunes and I brought over 50 albums to her house to see if any of them held music she'd like. She wanted about 25 of them.

Friday night holds a bit of fun for me. One of the bankers who left our call center called me up to see if we could get together. Jay is going to join Andy and I for our Friday night pool night. A few of the other bankers may join us too. I miss Jay and I was bouncing when he called.

And, if there are any lurkers out there that have not said hello in a bit, I would welcome news of what's going on in your life. Dude, I miss you. You know who you are.

Things I Have Learned...

...Since I was promoted.

• Tele-conferences are boring. The only way to add spice to a dry meeting talking about banking products is a goofball supervisor who likes to play with the toys in your own manager's office.
• Letting go of old job responsibilities is difficult. Now that Steve (my team lead) is back from leave and feeling better, maybe I should stop doing his job for him. He'd probably look less bored.
• My email Inbox will never be empty again.
• The To Do list never gets smaller.
• New people will get there and it takes infinite patience. Our team will struggle every time we get new people.
• Employees will tell graphic details of their illnesses to their supervisor. No, I don't need to know the details about the intestinal blockage. Telling me that you are sick will do.
• My desk will never be clean again.
• Budgets do not stretch as far as one would think.
• Since cloning is not a possibility, I will feel like I'm being pulled in 20 directions at once at all times.
• High expectations do not stop at the banker level.
• Respect is mutual. Give it and you will get it back, eventually.
• It feels good to be missed by an old team.
• People do appreciate it when you believe in them.
• It is not worth worrying about a team lead being 5 minutes late every day. He will learn that I do notice when he walks in the door.
• Everything I ever say is remembered. Being true to my word is more important and admitting error goes much farther than changing tune.
• People, as much as they say they do not like micro-management, love attention. Positive attention goes a long way.
• No matter what my opinion of a person is, it is always better to have the person believe that I believe in them.
• Employees inherently want to please.
• Getting up early is hard and can drain a person quite quickly.
• Prevention and preparation goes much farther than dealing with a problem only after it happens.

The past month and a half has flown by very quickly. My new team, the bankers that started from scratch, are starting to perform marvelously and it is starting to feel more like fun than like work. My team lead has returned to work (and worked more than a week now!) and having that extra person really helps. I can delegate a bit better (I'm working on this) and doing his job for him did put a strain on me. Sleeping odd hours each night and eating irregularly did not help me kick this cold as quickly as I should have, but I see a more consistent sleeping, eating, and socializing schedule arriving soon.

Starting next week, I have more new bankers and our team will probably take a dip in performance again, but that is okay. I have proven to myself that it can be done, we can be a great team. My confidence is high and I've learned little lessons along the way.

My blogging has decreased quite a bit over the last month. I have not been commenting or reading as much as I'd like and my daily posting has fallen away. This is something that bothers me, if no one else. I write here because I want to get things out and I've been holding feelings in because I don't have the time or when I do have the time, I don't have the energy. Once my schedule returns to normal, my blogging habits should resume.

There's a million posts in my head. Half written posts line my notebook and stories are waiting to be told. They will come. If for no one else but me.

In Which I Put Too Much Meaning Into Nothing

Long days, long week, stupid cold. There's a ton going on in my life right now and the time to blog has been sparse. Same old story.

Trying to hold onto the little bit of a social life I still claim I have, I went out after work tonight with Char to the pool hall. When we walked in, I recognized a guy that I have not seen in almost two years. He is the son of the current owner of the old pool hall I used to frequent and was someone I saw almost every day for two years in a time that seems like a lifetime ago.

It was bound to happen. By going to this other pool hall, I knew one of these days I would see someone from the old hang out that still goes there and the question would come up, "Why don't you go to Bugs anymore?" I found out tonight that the question does linger and it is sometimes answered by a few old friends there. There is a guy that used to hang out at that pool hall that I dislike to the depths of my soul and my choice is to avoid him.

This guy I ran into tonight (not the one I dislike) is a guy that I don't care one way or another for. He was a regular, but not in the "regular" sense. He was family of the owners, not a friend that liked the atmosphere. He told me that just last week people were talking at Bugs about how I don't visit anymore and that if anyone saw me, they should invite me in. It's been over four years since I was a fixture in the place and the people still remember me and still want me to come back.

And I feel like crap because I dropped a place I felt at home, I abandoned friends and my routine, all because I didn't like one person. There are times I remember why I am happy I don't go there anymore, but there are also times I miss being able to just go out and not feel like I had to drag a friend along. I do miss being a regular, I miss feeling like it was "my" place to be.

One of these days, probably when Char gets back from her trip to Texas next week (another long story), I will probably make an appearance. This has a much deeper meaning to me than anyone else and it may cause some feelings to resurface. I'm afraid to walk in those doors. I'm afraid I'll like it. I'm afraid I'll feel at home. And I'm also afraid I'll feel guilty for what I left behind.

Facts of Life

Last night, as Char and I played a couple games of pool (which is probably a reason why I am so tired but I really, really want my night schedule back! One more week. I keep telling myself that and it's getting harder and harder to get to work early. In fact, I'm thinking today is a good day to be there at 1:30. Training. That's why. Uh-huh. Yep. I believe that. Sure) we witnessed a man that has not embraced his age with dignity.

I'm talking about male pattern baldness here. At a nearby table, we saw a man who appeared to be in his early 40's whose hair (or lack of hair) was black and greasy. He had the crown (you know, where the top of his head is shiny but he still has hair on the sides and back). This man also seemed to have a small patch of hair, about the circumference of a quarter, just above the middle of his forehead. This patch of hair was long and stringy and he had maybe the worst combover I've seen on a real person. (There have been cartoons that show this.)

If he had put the patch of hair into a ponytail, it would have been as long as mine. It was slicked and starting to fall away from the glossy palette of his head and utterly gross.

In this day and age, there are solutions for going bald. Medications or hair transplants work wonders. If you're not so inclined to try those options, keeping your existing hair clean cut can be a solution. Shaving one's head, if the head is a good shape, is an option. Some men choose to wear hats. Combovers are just as bad as mullets!

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. It was gross. Mainly because of all the grease in his hair, but still, ew!

Housekeeping

After almost an entire month of procrastination, I have finally updated my links. What you will notice is that Mark (Meandering musings muster madness) has been moved up to the "IRL Friends" section. I should have done this much sooner.

I also added a few links to the "Discovered and Admired" section. There are a few more I'd like to add but I can't remember them as I've been awake for about a 1/2 hour. Let me know if I've missed you.

One of the reasons I update my links is because I just don't remember to visit any sites unless they are there. It's terrible. I want to increase my reading of other blogs and I really need to dedicate more time to it if this is something I want.

The last post I wrote was about the bombings in London. I mentioned that I do have a friend who is in London and that Andy and I were concerned about his safety. Andy emailed him and he is fine, his quote was, "I'm good, but it was a little too close for comfort." I still feel for all the friends and families of the people who were hurt or killed.

And now, it is time for completely useless drivel! That's right folks, it's time for random searches that managed to produce this site. Some frighten me, some make sense, and others are perplexing. Enjoy! [Any additional notes are in brackets like these.]

girls urin*ting standing up
how long companies keep may be recorded for quality purposes
daddy's l*ttle girl (photos) (stories) (fantasy)
how to throw a punch
now here comes the night (meaning) (piano) [Rob Thomas song]
how to deal with stupid (friend) (people) [Multiple searches]
hypothesis and validate a research study
lyrics Jenny says turn
elderly shouldn't be allowed to drive stories
cowboy boots stories - gay s*x
sheepshead anonymous
recurring themes in the godfather and apocalypse now
sheepshead movies
harleys boots
free very y*ung girls sp*nking stories
brian wilson lying in bed
when the hour is upon us [Rob Thomas song again]
daddys l*ttle girls
stories of l*ttle girls with old*r guys
taco and chip image
time to throw boys a lifeline to learning
meaning nyah
sheepshead addiction
The Dean The Shape I'm in lyrics
bottle rockets & firecrackers photo photos pic
froggy love image
Night Lights shops that want to buy from other stories
Jeronimos monster
Mosterio dos jeronimos
sp*nking young b*ys stories
high school reunion jokes
past time princess sheepshead bay
reputation proceeds me
v*brating plows
pig
sheepshead nursing home
senior picture poses
boys getting en*mas stories
fozzy bear image
oceanario
stories happy
funny clips wedding
and when the fog has finally lifted from my cold and
five year high school reunion and wha
en*ma story forced
stories I s*cked the m*lky n*pples of my cousin sister
en*ma site: blogspot.com
coftea ingredient
seeing people that are not there
Stories+hiccups+giggles
Pool table stories
S*xy bedtime stories
Fr*nkie mun*z is hot
Hypothesis that was used to validate a research study
Cowboy mouth shower beer
Semetary stories ONLINE
Scrapbooking with lisa bearson volume 2
Stories of dad holding his en*ma
Matchbox 20 I don’t want to be lonely no more
Leech lobby touts
The only thing that remains the same is change lyrics
Portie stuffed animals
Salary for walgreen’s pharmacist intern
Big tease
I don’t want to cry no more, I don’t want to have to pay for this
What does the strange grief talks about
Cle*vage oops stories
Dye red to blonde
Art of the silent treatment kiersey
Roll of quarters "troy ny"
"b*th bro*ks" banking [* to deter future searches]
Scott plate iowa
Carrot pants
Conan obrien on location ferrari taurus
Mother lady friend en*ma boy
Stories of g*rls smelling socks
Stories about not following instructions
Tutenstein frankenstein
Copy of training test from razzoo’s
Jason was crying
Receipe for cheese won tons
Baby have some mercy please don’t make me beg on bended knees oh please – jazz lyrics
Gemini dream moody blues
Life stories of the mentally insane
Pictures of l*ttle b*ys taking en*mas
For all my teeth crowns
Mercy mercy mercy shaw lyric
x-files waterloo iowa
mix up languages
original dukes of hazards
lyrics latifah your love is like a chunk of gold you used to be so soft and sweet
mom en*ma boy
deann donovan
the drunken uncle sheepshead
karaoke stories wanted
lying in bed brian wilson
dark tower gunslinger and other ch*ld p*rn authors
j*ggly bell*es
wopatui recipe
deann donovan
answers.com bureaucracy
the drunken uncle sheepshead

Makes me wonder what type of site this is.

The Words are Hard to Find

We remember moments, not days. This is a proverb that I've seen credited to various people, cultures, and such. I don't know. I think we do remember events of days and the day will etch itself in our minds.

Today the world sat stunned, angry and sad and afraid, of what happened in London. After such joyful news, the Olympics of 2012, the city was paralyzed when four explosions of hatred signified that no one was safe, that terror would always be there, hiding in the background, ready to show its ugly head at any time.

Detachment. That's how I've always dealt with tragic news. On 9/11 the news came to me through a friend, this was no different. It was through reading Johnny's site that I heard of the news. My reaction was shock and anger and sadness. Mostly sadness. For those who were deprived of their lives. For those family and friends who were worried about those they love. For the rest of the world, the world that has innocent eyes and still believes in the good of others.

I make no claims to understand the reasoning behind the attacks. Understanding is something I don't want. I do not want to know why a group of people could truly believe hurting others was the right thing to do. All I know is that hatred and prejudice were the motives and they are ugly, ugly things.

Belief in a greater power is something I do have, yet I have doubts about the teachings of man. Any time a group claims to know the will of God, I question it. A group that claims God wants to kill those who do not have the identical beliefs of that group makes me feel angry.

Hatred is not something I want to carry in my heart. Hatred for a group of people is not something I accept openly. Religious types have quoted, "Hate the sin, love the sinner." It's hard to do. In no way can I love these sinners, the ones who have hurt so many and done it so blindly. But hate an entire religion because of these actions? I still cannot do it. I do hate the individuals who did this. And yet, hatred is what spawned this tragedy. I refuse to hate the people of an entire religion because of the acts of a few. But those who choose to act in this way no longer gain any respect. They lost that respect when they decided to hurt other human beings in the name of their "God."

It is strange, the reactions of the people. In going to work today, I heard a few people speaking of the news and I knew others did not know what happened. There was a group of people standing outside the front doors as I was walking in and they were discussing the events. One seemed to have all the facts, the facts I had just read on msn.com before I left for work. 33 were confirmed dead at that time. Hundreds were injured. The faces of the people around were stunned, sad. Eyes did not sparkle. I would be willing to bet that most of the Americans reacting to the news had flashes of 9/11 going through their heads.

Terrorism is a word that unfortunately has become part of our regular vocabulary. It makes me sad to know the loss of innocence in the world. It makes me want to become a cynic, a person who doubts the decency and good in humanity. There is something inside me that still holds onto my beliefs though. I guess I have to believe that humans are good, it is ideas and life events that change us. People make a choice, a choice to look for good instead of bad. A choice to react in a good way, instead of looking for revenge.

Maybe I don't know what I'm trying to say. I'm confused over the events of today. I know I am angry and sad. I know that the world suffered a blow today, a blow when change and promise were so close. People were supposed to come together to make it better. Better for the world. And then hatred reared its ugly head.

I talked with Andy today about the events. It was all the facts, no emotion vocalized. That's what I feel in a lot of the Americans I've talked to today. "What happened?" "How many dead?" "Who did this?" These are the phrases I kept hearing. I guess it was a relief not to hear phrases of hatred and I suppose those will rise, in time as the shock wears off and reality sets in. When I spoke with Andy, we discussed the fact we have a mutual friend living in London. Is he okay? The fear sets in. Our young American friend who has overcome so much in his life, is he doing okay?

I am not a religious person, as I mentioned time and time again. Rarely will I pray. Tonight I pray for the safety of a friend, for the quick recovery of those who were hurt, and I pray for swift justice and hope to return to the world.

Five Things I Miss From My Childhood

DM tagged me back in the middle of June. Times have been a busy for me, but I think procrastinating is the main reason that I have not completed this yet. Here I go.

First, the rules:

Remove blog #1 from the following list and bump everyone up one place; add your blog's name in the number five spot. You need to link to each of the blogs for much cross pollination of the other blogs.

1. Lyvvie's Limelight
2. The Cerebral Outpost
3. Meandering Musings Muster Madness
4. Green Duckies and Other Tales of Dana
5. Sheepshead and Other Stories

Next, select four new friends to add to the pollen count. (Not obligated to partake):

1. Matt (if he ever blogs again - it's been awhile)
2. Larry
3. Johnny (no obligation remember. But if you feel like it, you can do it. Don't worry if you don't.)
4. June

In no particular order, here are the top 5 things I miss from my childhood.

1. Summer vacation. Yes, it sounds childish, but then, this is a MEME about childhood. What I miss the most about summer vacation is the games that were played. It was a ritual of mine. Each day I would get up and spend the day with my cousin, Ellen, and play with Taco Bell. Each summer we would have a different favorite movie, one that was watched so many times the tape started to wear thin.

One of the summers, our pick was Summer School, a terrible 80's movie about high school students just trying to pass their big test. As we watched the movie each day, cool inside with the air conditioning to block out the humidity, we would play a card game. It was a rummy game with chips on a plastic board and I remember the game would last for hours, always continuing after we had pushed the rewind button on the VCR. Once the movie was over, it was time to put on a record or two. My parents had a substantial collection of vinyl, most of it from the early 70's. There were a few records that grabbed my attention and my cousin and I would listen to them over and over.

What band/artist grabbed so much of our attention on those lazy summer afternoons? Why, it was the Monkees. For some odd reason, I just adored songs like "Daydream Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville".

Once our game had finished, we would break out the box full of old Barbies, some were even hand-me-downs from Ellen herself. Ellen, a large fan of soap operas, would help create stories about Barbie, her evil empire and her mischievous intentions. I've written a bit about this before, back when this blog was just starting out. You can find that post here.

Summer afternoons were also time to play with Taco Bell, the family dog that I love so much. Many afternoons were lost, just walking him in the woods, or running back and forth together in the yard. Sometimes he and I would just sit in my room, I reading a book or playing with stuffed animals. There was a set of shelves in my room, shelves my dad put up to hold all of my stuffed animals. Taco loved small spaces; we used to call him a Cave Dog. He would find a spot at the bottom of the shelves and just curl up. It didn't matter what we did, we just spent time together. I laughed and smiled more often when he was around. He was beautiful each and every day. I miss him the most.

2. Another part of my childhood that I miss is the time I spent with my dad in the program through the Y.M.C.A. I have written about this in the past as well, you can find the posts I did about these times here and here. It was a time for me to bond with my father and I always was able to have a great time in the program. The disasters, like the ice house, were even good stories to tell after the fact.

Each year, we would have a lock-in at one of the local Y.M.C.A.s. I remember getting excited about being able to play games all night long, swim in the pool for hours, and exercise in the gym. My dad always would swim under the water, pretending to be a shark, making the duh-dum noise so classic to the Jaws films. I, like the other girls in the pool, would scream with laughter, trying to out swim him. He always let the girls win.

I treasure the time I was able to spend with my dad in this program. Someday, if I ever have children and one or more happen to be female, I will want my husband to devote time to the daughter. My hopes would be to find a program like this one, one where a girl can learn those things that are not typically taught to girls (like archery or animal tracking). The memories I have of this time are cherished in my mind.

3. One constant in my childhood was the time I spent in the bowling alley. Maple Lanes was a second home to me for many years. I joined a Saturday morning youth league when I was only 10 and stayed in that league until I graduated high school. As much as school was a social event, bowling was my a place to see my circle of friends.

While other kids were getting up to watch cartoons, I was getting up and getting my parents to drop me off at the bowling alley. I remember the thrill of my first 200+ game. I remember the different teams and friends I made from different schools.

Once I had a talk with my parents about them watching me while I bowled. Some other kids would have their parents there for every game and mine would usually just drop me off and pick me up later. At one point I had wanted them there, watching each game, each shot. Then I realized that my parents were supportive. They took me to the place where I could have fun and trusted me enough to behave without their watching over me. They did appear at the events when it was appropriate for parents to be there. It made me more independent and gave me freedom to form friendships on my own.

I do miss those Saturday mornings, even if I could never get up early enough now to join a morning league.

4. Snow. Yes, it still snows every year, but for some reason it seemed like snow was much more fun as a child. The first snowfall of every year would be a time to run out and make a snow angel or snowman. When the snow would get deep in the backyard, Taco would try to run around and once we got Chip we laughed as he out ran Taco. Chip's legs were just a bit longer than Taco's and it was the only time he could out run his big brother.

Some of the snow memories I have are from the times with my dad and the program at the Y. We went sledding and skiing (oh, that was a bad experience, Beth + Skis = Bad Combo). I also remember the first snowfall when I was in middle school. It was the last year I went trick-or-treating and I've written about it before. You can find that post here.

When it would snow and our family lived in the town home neighborhood, the busstop would get plowed and the snow would be piled up. The kids at the stop always tried to play King of the Mountain. There were a few games of this where I was declared the winner. The boys would also try to "whitewash" all the girls but always backed down a bit when it came to pushing my face into the snow. I guess beating up a boy in kindergarten helped. I would then protect the girls from the boys when it snowed.

Another thing I remember and miss about the first snowfall of every year was something my mom would share with me. Grandma used to believe that if you washed your feet in the first snowfall of each year you would not get any winter colds. It's just an old wive's tale, but still something I think of when it snows.

5. Maybe the last thing I remember about childhood and miss is my mom's cooking. Sure, everyone says that their mom is the greatest cook and I'm sure we all have great cooks in our families. My mom learned from the best though. Grandma was an excellent cook and my mom has taken it too an entirely different realm.

Mom works for a food production company and part of her job is to make food. I'm not talking about making food for dinner, but more like developing new products to test on the market. She's a senior processing technologist and has been known to make butter, cheese, and caramel popcorn just because she has some extra ingredients lying around at work.

But at home. At home Mom would make the foods I now identify as comfort foods. Garlic injected turkey, sweet dill pickles, spaghetti sauce from scratch. No matter what Mom made, it was always good. I only remember one food experiment failing and that was probably more my fault than hers. We tried to make bagels once. Bagels that turned out to be runny. One of my favorite meals of my mom's would be hot beef sandwiches. She would make a roast and then we'd just put it on bread, pour gravy all over it, and eat up some mashed potatoes with it.

Now I'm hungry.

Happy Belated 4th of July

For those American readers, I hope your holiday was safe and fun! My day was rather uneventful, even if it did include loud, colorful displays in the sky.

When I got up today, I checked email, etc., and then went to my dad's house. We tried to view a trailer on his dial-up for the penguin movie that I want to see so badly but am totally bummed out because it is not playing anywhere near me. Can you see my pouty bottom lip? It's here, behind the computer screen.

Dad and I went to lunch at Jake's, a sports bar near where we both live. Not bad. I'm not overly impressed, but it was not horrible. Then it was back to his house and we brought the old dart board in from the garage to play a few games.

I headed home, looking for a time killer before heading out to witness the sky displays. Scrapbooking was the activity that helped me through those couple of hours. (Scrapbooking update! I have the pages done about the 25th of April bridge, the Monument to the Discoveries, and the Sé cathedral from our Portugal trip. I'll take pictures of the pages and post them on my scrapbooking site soon.)

For years I have been working on the 4th of July and missed out on the fun. When I hung out at the pool hall, I usually worked on Independence Day and would meet up with the crew after the fireworks had all been lit. Three years ago, I helped DM, Keem, and Jeff move over the 4th. Last year I worked again, so fireworks have been something I've missed out on. I wanted to see the displays this year, but everyone seemed to have plans. (Or lack of plans - like DM who is sicker than sick and just miserable.) Char was working and my dad was going to bed early. I should have called Matt. I haven't heard from Matt in awhile now. I hope he and Christine and the kids had a great 4th of July. Matt - you should call me. Dang you.

I ended up driving up to Blaine to see their display. I found a road just north of the area where the fireworks were being set off and was able to park just along the road, having a perfect view between two large trees. Images have been loaded onto Flickr and I'll include a couple at the bottom of this post.

After the fireworks, I headed to work to find Char. We ended up going to the pool hall and shot a few games. Now I'm tired and ready for bed. Nothing too exciting, just a carefree, worry-free holiday.


Grand Finale


Smile!


Happy 4th!

Maybe I do want kids...

Back and forth my opinion goes. Today I went to a 3rd of July party at Kelly's home. Kelly is a woman I work with and have enjoyed since she started at N.A.B.A.B.N.A. She had invited a bunch of people from our call center, I was the only to show up. So instead of creating a corner of N.A.B.A.B.N.ians (I just make up words, it's okay), I helped watch the kids.

Other than a baby sitter of the kids that showed up much later, I think I was the only adult who wasn't married or who had kids at that party. Most of the couples had at least two little ones running around and no child was over the age of 5. Kelly had a pool, sprinkler, and a slip 'n slide set up for the kids and they all ran around in their suits.

Even when a kid fell down and cried, it was fun. There was so much joy on the faces of the little ones and they all had unique ideas. Some would take water from the pool to water Kelly's plants. Some liked to wash the drive way. Some even just liked to splash around in the water.

I had an excellent time and also had a bit of fun taking pictures of the kids. Scrapbooking is one of my passions, as I've mentioned before, and I rarely get the opportunity to take those adorable pictures of kids to make the best pages.

Here are a few of the pictures I took from the day.


Stick 'em Up! This is Kendra. She was so friendly and so animated all day.


She was trying to throw the water balloon at her grandma. It wouldn't pop. She had that same balloon for over an hour!






Kelly's husband, Aaron, was lighting legal fireworks for the kids to watch. One of the little ones said, "I hear real fireworks!" when a house down the street lit off a couple larger displays. Aaron's response? "Thanks."


The kids watch the fireworks, all saying, "Oooh," and "Aaah," and "Do it again Uncle Aaron!"


This little guy is Evan. He was having a great time with little water balloons, balls, and a push mower that made popping sounds.


Kierra is Kelly's daughter. I liked this picture because Kierra had wanted Kelly to take her ponytail out. To do this, Kierra had to hold Kelly's beer. Just amusing.


The water balloons were massively popular with the kids and they all hid behind the wall, waiting for Kelly at one point. The "Only people in swimsuits" rule went right out the window!

Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute!

I HAVE to see this!

http://wip.warnerbros.com/marchofthepenguins/

It's a movie about penguins! How perfect!!!

Taking Pictures...

Those who read this site regularly or know me in person will already know that a passion in my life is taking pictures. Even as a child, I was fascinated by cameras and pictures and this carried into my adult life. I feel absolutely lost without my camera.

I wrote a couple days ago about the fact my digital camera was stolen from my purse in a hidden location at work. This put me into a world of pissed-off that I had never believed existed.

This is the camera that was stolen:



It was a 5.0 Mega Pixel, 4x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss lens, Sony camera. I bought it in June of 2003 and it rarely left my side. That camera made it through a trip to Vegas with DM and a trip to Portugal with DM to see Johnny. I recently used it on our way to and from Tomah to meet Mark. I've taken pictures of Taco, Chip, et al on that camera. As odd as it sounds, I felt like that camera was a part of me. Maybe it's just because it was what I used to create images to help my memories. That camera gave me some of the best pictures I could have imagined taking.

Still fuming over the fact someone stole it (this is another issue in itself), I decided that I needed something to cheer me up and I wanted something to take pictures this weekend, the weekend of our countries independence. For once, I am not working on the 4th of July and can go to a party and see fireworks. I want a camera.

So I bought this yesterday:



It is a Sony, Cyber-Shot 7.2 Mega Pixel camera with 3x optical zoom and the Carl Zeiss lens. I do not have as much zoom on this one, but the mega pixels are higher and the pictures are even clearer if blown up. The two spare batteries from my old camera are still useless (this one takes AAs), but the memory cards are compatible. It still infuriates me that not only did the person get the camera, but they also took a 512 MB memory card that was inside it.

This new camera is a little bit slimmer and has more options on the actual dial, less hassle to switch to twilight photography mode. It is a little faster than the former camera, so this is a plus. I guess I just needed something to make me feel a little better about the loss.

I took a few pictures yesterday, just to try out my camera. Here's a sample of them:


Char and I figure this is what she would look like if she was pregnant with an alien baby and wearing Tom's work shirt.


Yesterday was a beautiful day in Minnesota and here's a cloud.


The alien baby.

A Not So Subtle Ending to the Beginning of My Day*

The scariest thing I've ever witnessed had nothing to do with paranormal activity and was something one can see almost anytime commercials are shown on TV. It was almost eight years ago and I was just eighteen, barely graduated from high school. My summer job as a bank teller was turning into a career with N.A.B.A.B.N.A. and it was the first time I would help open the branch location.

Without divulging too many of the opening procedures, let me just say my co-worker was inside and I was heading from my safe car to the safe, locked doors of the bank. The riskiest part of the procedure is actually walking across the parking lot, although being inside the branch alone is rather spooky. I had seen all the training videos and had training in watching for robbery signals. All the policies were fresh in my mind and my senses were heightened.

My co-workers ensured me that our branch was low-risk for robbery and that opening was no big deal. The shops surrounding our location were all dark while I walked from my car to the door. The signs of other people were still a half hour away, for that would be the time the freshly painted blue auto parts store would open and workers would start to arrive. The pool hall I frequented so often was just a skip and a stone's throw away, empty due to repair work needing to be completed after a mishap with a violent thunderstorm and the roof crashing in on the tables. The hall was about to reopen.

Thinking about robberies, safety, getting through my day, and wanting to go play pool again, I just about jumped out of my skin when I hear the noise.

BANG!

My obvious first thought was that the sound was a gunshot. My logical mind had just enough time to recognize the noise as a truck going over a big bump on the nearby highway when I saw a brand-new, bright green Chevrolet truck driving about 60 miles per hour on a frontage road/grassy lawn and then seeing that same truck crash into the freshly painted brick auto parts building next door. It was a perfect head-on impact, not dislike those safety feature commercials the car companies run so often. The difference was it was real, I witnessed it, and there was a person inside the vehicle.

I ran the rest of the way into the branch and called 9-1-1 immediately. My manager was called at home and due to security procedures, I was told to remain inside the locked bank.

Within five minutes, two squad cars, a firetruck, and an ambulance were on the scene. The employees of the auto parts store started to arrive, baffled by the site of a truck half inside the building (luckily, the truck got a boost while hitting the brick and went through a large window, only hitting the brick and then deflecting up through the glass).

The truck's front-end crumpled during the impact, the safety feature working and the driver was unscathed. The truck managed to miss the paint buckets by less than a foot during the crash.

One of the officers on the scene was a man I knew from his frequent deposits for the city at our branch. He needed a statement of what I'd seen but our branch's lobby was still closed. Unable to leave and unable to let him in, I gave my statement by talking loudly through bullet-proof glass. In retrospect, the intercom in the drive-thru may have been a much more effective means of communication.

As it turned out, the driver had been heading north on the highway when he had an epileptic seizure. His foot pressed down on the accelerator and he drifted off the road, through the ditch, between the pool hall and the bank, and directly into the auto parts store. The loud bang I heard was his running over a stop sign.

To this day, I am thankful no one was hurt and that the damage was minimal. It could have been much worse and even though it was scary, the ending is not sad (unless you really love new, green Chevy trucks or bright blue brick buildings).

*Title By Char, The Empress of Cool. It was either this or, "As Seen on TV". Or, "No Crash Test Dummies Were Injured in the Writing of This Post."

I'd Take A Picture, But...

It's nice to see some people back in the blogosphere. I know everyone has been busy, I've been there too, but that's not really the reason I haven't posted. No, I've been distant since Wednesday because I've been dealing with a violation of my privacy.

At work on Wednesday, my purse was in a hidden spot and while I was at a meeting, someone decided to steal my digital camera from it. We work in a secure location and the employees all have had background checks. Theft has never been a problem at this location.

AFTER I put up signs asking for the camera to be returned (no questions asked), I am left holding onto high hopes that someone gets a case of conscious and returns the camera. I found out that there was another recent theft, which would have been nice to know about since it may have caused more people to hide their stuff. Even our center manager just leaves his wallet out near his desk every day.

Of course, no one saw anything. That would have been too easy. There's two people on my team who didn't work on Thursday that I want to ask if they witnessed anything when I get in today. My chair had been adjusted, so the person who decided to remove the camera had probably been sitting at my desk for some reason or another.

I am absolutely furious about the whole thing. There are suspicisions now in our call center and it feels horrible to think someone you work with has stolen something of yours. It sucks to think that.

So, I'd take a picture of something, but I don't have a camera. The words I've been saying outloud are not pleasant.