Sunday, August 30, 2009

Seriously?! Yes, seriously.

I work a ton. I take my job very seriously. If someone were suing me I would want to be sure it was being taken care of and nothing was missed and all defenses raised. Remember the Golden Rule? I guide myself by that idea.
Lately to maintain Golden Rule Standard (GRS) I have been putting in 60 - 70 hours a week. I do not get overtime pay. I do get a bonus, it is not tied to my hours. I love my job and it truly does interest me. I salivate before a good negotiation and feel victorious in settlement. I am Type A...whatever.
You know what I like even more than hard work being it's own reward?

VACATION!!

So we have a cruise booked for later this year and I am just about counting down the minutes. I have been to all of the islands before but I do not recall much of Puerto Rico, remember last time I was there I fell asleep on a park bench. Turks & Caicos all I remember was eating at Jimmy Buffet's place and falling asleep. It was a monsoon in St. Thomas last time I was there. The private island is still my favorite. So for hitting these four places in one fantastic week I am thrilled. The reason for my sleep goes back to my vertigo issues and taking the meclazine offered by the friendly front desk folks. Yeah, they fail to tell you that you will fall asleep on a park bench in Puerto Rico. Again, use the ginger root folks. Works better and as an added bonus you can stay awake!
The Fab Hub and I had been talking about seeing his parents for vacation for sometime. They live in Austin, TX so it is a to-do to see each other involving flights and such. So this year we are vacationing together. It is their first cruise and first big vacation in a long time. My in-laws are as cool as they come. It should be fun.
The Fab Hub goes to put the cruise on his work calendar and sees that his boss has the same week off with, "Caribbean Cruise" as the subject. The Fab Hub finds out if we are going to be on any of the same islands on the same day so we can meet up for a drink. No worries, the boss is on our cruise! Seriously.

Ear Cleaning PSA

I like to have really clean ears. I can hear everything. Perhaps because I am still blind as a bat after two Lasik eye surgeries I have a heightened sense of sound. Or I was just an eves dropping bartender for many years.
Recently I have developed a rice crispy noise in my when I yawn. I also have horrific vertigo. If I am in a bathroom stall the room is moving in my world. Elevator: like a bouncy castle. I have been on a quest to figure it out. Why go to the doctor when I have dogpile and bing?
I have tried dandelion root to be all homeopathic or whatever. The ginger root really does work for my vertigo. Then I learned about a nice little ear cleaning kit in a little box. I had a coupon...score! I got my little box and had a nice first run at cleaning but I did not have enough time to let the stuff sit in my ear 5-7 minutes. Tonight I had all the time in the world. I let the stuff sit in there and then got it out. Then I thought to myself, hum, I could use the little cleaning bulb to blast some water in there and really get them spic and span. I had just brushed my teeth and I always use hot water for that. I filled up my cup and got all my ear cleaning stuff ready to use. Holy God in Heaven!!! Did you hear me scream? Eff eff eff. Yeah, that would be scalding hot water I just blasted in my ear. Eff. My right ear is so tender. Do not call me tomorrow. I will not be on the phone.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Happy Birthday?!

Today was my Gramie's birthday. Because I work entirely too much the gift I had thoughtfully purchased never made it in the mail. I have no time to drive up to where she lives. Eh, I punted and sent a same day gift. Instead of flowers I went all out and got her one of the edible arrangements from Fruit Flowers.

Pretty nice, huh? I would be delighted to get this. The delivery fee was an additional $30. I cannot blame them, like I said, you have to pack a lunch to get there and it was last minute so I was at the Fruit Flowers' mercy. I did have a wonderful gift card I had purchased for this occasion at half price.
So I call Gramie after working 13 hours and not really feeling like it.
"Happy Birthday, Gramie!!"
"Oh, thank you Mandy. I got the interesting fruit thing you sent. It is really different."
"Does it look good? The picture I saw online looked great!"
"Yes, it was so big" *thinking: WAS* "It took over an hour to take apart and put in the fridge. I need to go, Kent just got here with Taco Bell dinner."
Are you friggin' kidding me?! Internet, the point at hand was not to send a $100 fruit bowl. Next year: Publix gift card.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Rush Hour?

Traffic has been so great this summer in Atlanta during the morning I was bummed that school was starting back. I can leave my house at 7:15 and be to work at 7:30. I love that. When school starts back there are all of the SUVs and school buses on the road. It has been a week and a half now and the traffic is still great. I am sad it is great. It is not the lack of SUVs toting kids to school, it is that 10% of my city is out of work. Seriously. We have one of the largest unemployement rates in the US currently and we seem to lose jobs quicker. It worries me for my friends and nieghbors. Although it is not good to hedge bets, I can say both the Fab Hub and myself are safe and secure with our jobs. When I am on time or just do not care about warming my seat at 7:30 I stop by Dunkin Donuts and get a Large Turbo. Okay, so I have been by there everyday lately. Whatever. It really is the most fun $2.56 can buy.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Communication is Key

So I was thrilled with my Blackjack II for a year and eight months. It called people, emailed, told me about the traffic, gave me directions, and searched the Internet. And then it stopped. And then I developed a relationship with AT&T customer service. It worked again! Then the email stopped harvesting. Then it stopped sending....you get the picture. After at least ten hours of relationship building with AT&T customer service, both over the phone and in person, I learned this was a compatibility issue. While tech one was calling customer service from the AT&T store tech two took me to an iPhone to see if it would work....yep, it sure did. He had time to install and uninstall my email both POP & IMAP and report back that it worked. Tech one was still on hold. It took a week to get the phone due to demand. I have had it less than a week. I love the iPhone. LOVE. So much fun and productivity is possible....or I can just be on Facebook all day.

**DISCLAIMER**

I am back.
I know, whatever.
So, just because a few of you darlings may not be ready for this you get a disclaimer.
I vent and observe. I like to remember things. I post, therefore I am. In postings you may find some fowl language. I support marriage to whoever you like with no bias to religion, race or sex. If you love them, marry them. Not my business what you do behind closed doors. I think hard work is good and easy money, pandering, living off the government or just being a freedloader is wack. I like to discuss cars, Prada, nail polish, shoes, law, TV, my disdain for American Idol and my naked cat. I support Obama. I know I just lost some readers. I love food. Somehow I do not weigh four hundred pounds, I probably should because I eat like a sumo wrestler. I love music and wish I had more time and money to hit live shows. I love animals so much I cannot imagine eating them, so I do not. I am a strayed Catholic that does not have the spine to hike into mass. If you want to take me I will go, just scared. I think religion is what you make of it and I am not one to think any one form is any greater than the other. I am not going to call anything really fun out by name that has to do with my work life. Try and figure it, you will not unless you are directly involved. I think that about covers it...you have been warned. Enjoy at your own discretion.