June 29, 2007
Off My Chest
I feel the need to complain, not about big things, but the little things that are just getting under my skin lately. I like to think I have a fairly positive outlook on life (rosy some say), but there are time when even my optimism can't hold up. I hate whining, but I just have to get a few things off my chest before I decide to bite anyone's head off.
- The new Stampin' Up catalog season starts on Sunday and I haven't received the complimentary copy that gets sent to all demonstrators. I had been waiting to place my last order to see if I wanted to allocate some of my budget to the goodies in the new catalog, but my order has to go in today. Sadly, we're completely sold out of our limited edition Cool Caribbean cardstock, which I really, really wanted. I'm sure I'll be able to find a suitable alternative if I can't find someone to trade or selling it on ebay, but it just takes the wind out of my sails.
- Working one early day this week has reminded me how much my current hours mangle my life.
- I had a load of white laundry, which included my new sweater set from Eddie Bauer, in the washer when the water lines were disrupted. I didn't discover it until I started pulling my clothes out of the dryer and noticed they weren't as white as they should've been. I have some IronOut to try, but I'm afraid my new, not exactly cheap sweater set is ruined.
I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it right now. Just getting that much out of my system helps.
Posted by criminal at 2:46 PM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2007
Ready To Go Home Now
*sigh*
I've been at work for less than an hour and I'm already feeling like I want to bail. I'm getting soft and squidgy doing this kind of work. I feel like my trouble-shooting skills are fading because there's so little call to use them. When there's a problem here, we shove it off to our tech team without looking at it twice. And I get the feeling that a lot of things don't even get to that stage because it's just easier to ignore it or tell everyone that it isn't a problem. Part of me would like to do more, because I know I can.
I don't code anymore, other than the occasional < p > tag in a pushpin or spammy e-mail announcement. No design either, although I am asked to make recommendations to publishers on occasion. As if I actually got to talk to advertisers and knew what they valued in a site. From a less technical perspective I had been tasked to do web analytics, but that fell apart in a big way when we burnt up our expensive liscence with a few weeks worth of logs. Now we'd like to try a free service, but that requires someone with the ability to put simple tags on every page in our site. I can do it. But that would step on some toes in Tech because they have a project schedule that rules all their movements and this would circumvent that.
I guess I just miss doing new things. Odd that my reaction to that is to want to run home and hide in bed.
Posted by criminal at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2007
Down for the Count
By the time I got to work yesterday, I had a headache. A big, fat, unrelenting headache. I drank water. I took Aspirin. I had a freaking huge glass of fully-caffeinated Diet Coke. I chased the Diet Coke with a cup of strong coffee. I drank more water.
But it never went away. In fact, it got progressively worse as I drove home. At one point I contemplated bashing my forehead on the steering wheel because, surely, that would feel better than the throbbing behind my eyebrows and at the base of my skull. By the time I got home at 8, I was able to drop my things, kiss Jon and fall into bed. Jon brought me more aspirin, but I tossed and turned until it kicked in, far too nauseous to muster dinner. I slept pretty soundly, until just before my alarm went off at 6.
It could just be the large iced coffee talking, but I'm feeling much more rested and alert today. Not even the hair-curling humidity is bothering me.
Posted by criminal at 9:32 AM | Comments (0)
June 22, 2007
Keep On Keepin' On
I've been trying to make some positive progress on all of the things that have been hanging out there, unfinished. The laundry is getting done. There are fewer traces of our move: an unpacked box in the bedroom, a few lost boxes in the living room, and a bookshelf full of boxes in the guest room. There are only two pair of shoes (GASP!) in the living room, both of which I wore in the last 48 hours. My crafting space looks more organized than unorganized. My car has finally passed inspection (thanks to Jon for taking to the shop in Merrimack). There's finally a Friday Five after a few weeks of unproductive absence. More of Barb and Rob's wedding photos made it online. A few of my wedding photos are on their way to Marlene. I'm finally on top of my tasks at work instead of feeling perpetually behind.
In short, I'm feeling accomplished. I'm constantly worrying that things will get out of hand quickly despite that. One look at the bottom of my closet or the inside of my purse will tell you that I'm far from having things completely under control. And I have trouble forgetting that. As carefree as I am, I'm uncomfortable when I feel like I can't keep up.
Posted by criminal at 7:32 PM | Comments (0)
June 21, 2007
Solstice Hail
There's nothing like a rolling thunderstorms and a barrage of hail to welcome the new summer.
Posted by criminal at 5:16 PM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2007
You've Got Mail
I haven't seen a single piece of junk mail in over a week. No bills either. All because I lost the one and only key to our mailbox. While I'm sure Jon and I could've opened the mailbox and replaced the lock ourselves -- he's an engineer and I'm the crafty spawn of two of the handiest people on the planet -- the prospect of breaking our neighbors' mailboxes and what I'm sure are dozens of federal laws punishable by prison time was not an appealing one. So we hired a professional. Sure we had to wait a few more days, but a locksmith has finally freed our mail and replaced our lock with a shiny new one. And we have mail! Eight days worth.
Posted by criminal at 6:49 PM | Comments (1)
June 18, 2007
Inevitabilities
If you're going to be early to work for the first time in months, the world will do everything in it's power to right itself. Like make the Dunkin' Donuts drive thru move a snail's pace. Or dump a large, icy cold cup of coffee in your lap. It might also strategically place elderly drivers along your route. And police escorted mowers.
Posted by criminal at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2007
Someone Just a Little More Funky
- I love it when I get in my car and have to turn up the volume a little more with each successive song because they just keep getting better.
- I bought my first Counting Crows album back in January of 1994 right after seeing them on Saturday Night Live. More than 13 years later I crank the radio when I hear something from that first album. Radio stations still play it, even as Adam and the boys release new hits. So tell me, is Mr. Jones still that relevant? Or am I just getting old?
- Work has been very busy. Not exactly omgwtf-emergency-busy around here, just the increasingly usual more-work-than-time-busy. It does not leave a lot of free time to write or check in on friends and hobbies. Or take care of personal things like banking and locksmith procuring. I like busy, but why is it that so many people think going balls out every working minute is normal?
- I should mention that I finished Gone With the Wind Monday night. By the time I finished (at 1:30 a.m.) I was more physically and emotionally shaken than I have ever been from a mere book. There weren't a lot of tears, just a tension that made my chest ache and a sadness that made sleep nearly impossible. No romance novel end to this one, that's for sure. It's a damned Shakespearean tradgedy. Although now that the immediate shock has worn off, I feel a glimmer of hope growing inside me. It makes me want to read it again and again and again. I bought the sequel, but I'm pretty sure it won't live up to my imagination.
- Never one to be outdone by a fictional character, Jon brought me home my very own DVD of Gone With the Wind. My only consolation for being left alone while he works tonight is that I'll finally get to see the movie.
- My car failed the NH inspection. According to the Brake 'n' Go across the street my front brakes are shot and my suspension is on it's way. They gave me a $750 estimate for the rotars, callipers, and tie rod necessary to pass. Luckily, I have 20 days (and two paychecks) to get everything fixed and reinspected.
- I mentioned a locksmith because I need one. We had just one key to our mailbox and it fell off my keyring sometime last weekend. I've given up hope on finding it and have determined that we'll just have to have the lock drilled and replaced. Now I just have to get one to do it or get the balls to do it myself.
Posted by criminal at 12:56 PM | Comments (1)
June 11, 2007
Phone Day
The phone has been ringing non-stop today. It's my day to man the phones and I swear the entire world knows it. As I was stepping out to get lunch I heard it ring and had to supress the urge to answer. I enjoy talking with publishers on the phone and the instant service I can give them. But the more calls I get, the longer it takes to get to the those who email their questions and requests. It's not unlike those days in the Web Devopment Office when I struggled to keep up with e-mailed requests and long projects because of all the "emergency" projects that got phoned in. I've a weekend's worth of applications and dozens of e-mails to respond to and the phone won't stop long enough for me to get more than half-way through any of them. This kind of multi-tasking is woefully inefficient.
Posted by criminal at 4:19 PM | Comments (0)
Fiddle Dee Dee
Thanks to Margaret Mitchell, I've been lost in the Antebellum and Reconstruction era South all weekend. Cliched though it is, I just can't put down Gone With the Wind. I did manage a few loads of laundry, got my car inspected, went to Ink About It, brought lunch to my husband at work, groomed the cats, went to Ocean's 13, and slept a lot. But the entire time I was doing these things I couldn't stop thinking about that damned Scarlett O'Hara and what predicament she was going to be in next. And now that I'm 800 pages into the 1000-page novel, pressing forward at every chance, I can't help but feel that I don't want it to end.
See, I have a big soft spot for historical fiction. Especially sweeping, epic novels like Edward Rutherford's Sarum and London, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, and Tolkein's Lord of the Rings (it's historical, even if it is an alternate universe). While I like my fiction set in an earlier time period, it kills me when I only get a couple hundred pages. I want more historical detail, more character development, and more history. I want to immerse myself in a different era and fully understand the social and historical challenges people faced then. Epic novels give me that.
Now I find myself looking for opportunities to read so I can finish it. I stayed up 'til quarter of 4 Saturday night because I couldn't put it down. And instead of surfing the web during my lunch break, I'll be tucked into a chair somewhere squeezing in an extra chapter.
Posted by criminal at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)
June 8, 2007
Two Weeks Off
- Barbra and Rob's wedding was beautiful. We had a (mostly) sunny day with family and friends. And beer. Lots of beer.
- I didn't forget anything important.
- I had to take a sick day on Monday because I was so wiped out from lack of sleep and a delayed flight. I was able to sleep in, spend the afternoon with Jon, and register my car in NH.
- When I got to the Hudson town office to register my car I found out that I would have to make a separate trip to another office in another town to get a conservation or vanity plate. Being the lazy, time-pressed person I am, I opted to get the next standard plate in their stack. It just happens to be the next number in sequence after Jon's. Turns out a custom "hophead" plate just wasn't enough motivation for him to drive around the county either.
- The older I get, the more I miss "home." Or at least the people there.
- The woman who sat directly behind be and provided most of my daily entertainment left the company last week. Officially, two of my coworkers will be picking up her responsibilites, but since I'm the one answering the phone most of the time, I think I'm going to end up with the most time-consuming and stressful parts of her job. I really don't know how she did it. It still feels like she's on vacation, except when she calls asking for help with her new job.
- I spent *all day* Thursday in our annual company meeting, which we call SummerFest. Despite Gillian's warnings about it's predecessor, WinterFest, it was actually a good time. Not exactly productive in terms of my building work-load, but valuable in it's own way.
- After talking about it for months, Jon is finally getting an oppotuntity to get some management and brewing experience. This Saturday. And Sunday. For 12 hours both days. It's the only way to get in the career path he wants without moving into the actual job and taking a pay cut. And it does at least qualifty for overtime. I just won't see him much between 6am and 6pm this weekend.
- With the help of a new electric trimmer, Tia's mats are becoming a thing of the past. We shaved her upper belly this week and hope to remove more of
our fleshher pesky fur in a few days. Just have to wait until she trusts us again... - I signed up for an ATC swap a few weeks ago. The first since well before the move. I didn't forget about it, but everytime I sat down to do them, I felt creatively blocked or something else got in the way, like weddings and showers and unpacking. I got them done Wednesday, but I never made it to the post office. Now I'm going to miss the deadline and I feel miserable about it. It's getting harder and harder to keep my life "on time" these days and I don't know why.
- There are only three weeks left to order from the current Stampin' Up catalog. A few hundred sets are retiring this year and I'm not sure which, if any, I want to order. Since all of the prices (but not shipping) will be going up, I think I'll stock up a little on those. And pick up the new In Colors, which are even more fabulous than this year's.
Posted by criminal at 7:35 PM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2007
Connectivity
It's amazing how much I take the Internet for granted. I didn't check my e-mail, read my friends' journals, or surf the web the entire time I was in Michigan. And I didn't miss it one bit. But let it be inaccessible for just a few minutes when I want it and I'm inconsolable.
When I got into work today and couldn't connect to anything other than our e-mail server, I felt like I had nothing to do but twiddle my thumbs. I couldn't review a single site or respond to any support requests. It was maddening. To think, my job is pretty much non-existant without connectivity.
Posted by criminal at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)