CafeChatNoir

I’m all automotive-aly legal for another year. Nothing like being one of those in line on the last day to get inspections… But I got lucky, was only the third car in line AND they started taking cars in early to boot. New registration and drivers license with new address are en route. Go me.

Found out that the critters do NOT need a special appointment to get flea preventative for the summer. First year it’s ever been a concern - apparently you can just buy the good stuff over the counter. Learn something new every day.

15 minutes to work… I’d so prefer just puttering around today instead. :)

I am near tears. Not because of some fragile emotional state, but because for the SECOND time today I have managed to bash my knee into a solid object. God I wish I wasn’t so clumsy.

It’s really neat to finally put a face to two years of IM’s and phone calls.

The 11 shift is good today cause I needed to sleep in big time. My only pain was discovering that I only had enough coffee for one cup and being near out of cold sodas. That has been rectified.

Tasha is an absolute gem. She’s smart, funny, sweet, a ton of fun and just a terrific person. I am SO glad they had her come up here to do training.

In other news, it’s very cool to finally meet a coworker in person after two years of IM’s, emails and phone calls.

Tomorrow the rumor mill will run rampant that I’ve changed teams and we’ve slept together, LOL!

Will post more on a slightly more serious note of finally meeting Tasha in person tomorrow. :)

I just saw the trailer for the remake of King Kong. Looks pretty dang spiffy.

What an absolutely CRAP day. It’s good to know that I am busting my ass at work so that others can pretty much sit around and not do a god damn thing all day.

Yes, I’ll admit, I didn’t have the shiniest outlook going into the day, but DAMN, I log on, 10+ calls untouched, we’re short because of training, and some folks are simply NOT stepping up to the plate. YES, it’s busy, YES we’re short, so TAKE A CALL ALREADY!

It’s days like this that the thought of handing the housekeys to my brother, saying “Congrats, you’ve got two cats to go with the dog” saying “Sucks to be you” to the office, getting in my car and just GOING is damn tempting.

OK, so I don’t really have anywhere to go, and I’d feel too guilty about the people that DO actually work in my group to do it, but still, what a damn piece of shit day.

And the dog decided it would be a GREAT idea to chew the top off a brand new bottle of baby powder today.

Edit: It also didn’t help that my clients today should not be touching anything more advanced than an Etch A Sketch.

I don’t even have words to describe how incredibly pissed off I am at the world today.

I am tired of being everyone’s fucking doormat, being lied to or just completely ignored, professionally AND personally.

I am tired of setting what I think are reasonable expectations and only finding out that they’re obviously set too high, and then being incredibly disappointed and pissed off because I am so gullible as to think that people actually give a damn.

Fuck.

…or a butler, or to just quit my job, one of the three. Tried to get the car inspected this morning, already too long a line when I got there, which means I have to be there at 0-dark-thirty Wednesday morning to give it another go.

But all was not lost, as I stopped on the way back to pick up mail at my place (they’re still not forwarding everything), and there was a turtle in the road at the entrance to the neighborhood, so I had to stop and get him all the way across before he got smushed.

But still, it sucks to not have someone to share the load with at times.

Work in a few. Not particularly entranced with the idea, no doubt the queue will be a disaster by 11 if it isn’t already, and I’m sure my clients are screaming that I’m not around yet, but hell, they can bugger off - not my fault my schedule got switched around at the last minute.

So, yeah, a little grumpy this morning. Bugger.

grumble, grumble, bitch, whine, moan, etc, etc, etc, blah, blah, yada, yada, mildly pissed at the whoever is in charge this evening. Seriously, WTF did I do in a past life that justifies all this now? Hmm???

Eh, maybe sleep will help.

– Love Actually. Odd little movie, but I liked it - would have tweaked the ending a bit, but that seems to be the case with most movies I see anymore. :)

– Adaptation. Just couldn’t even get into it at all - gave up after about 15 minutes.

– Bridget Jones’ Diary. Very cute and fun, couldn’t help but cringe in recognition at her misfortunes…

Amidst a day of firsts yesterday, I finally got a pair of Tevas for the summer. (Yes, I am behind the curve on everything.) Wow,they are sooooooooo comfy. So, I’m now ready for the beach. :)

Realized that my schedule being all over the place next week at least means that I can go get the car inspected tomorrow morning before work, which is good, given that I am almost out of time for that…

Also had to reluctantly admit that a gal can’t live on Chinese, Pizza & Glory Days alone, and headed up to the market and now I’ve got sammich fixins and should be good to go for a couple days. Also cat food. Sheesh, you have to give them treats for breakfast once and they look at you like you’re some kind of monster the rest of the day. (I did give them a real breakfast when I got back.)

20 days til the beach. 20 DAYS!! I can’t wait. I will seriously miss the critters, but… Maybe we can scope out a pet-friendly place for next year while we’re down there. So much to tend to before leaving, seriously need to get a couple lists together, cause this year it’s not just “bring clothes & money”, I’m kinda in charge of everything Mom used to do. (Dammit, she should have left a manual somewhere!) I did call the rental place, I do not have to bring any paperwork, so that’s one less thing to worry about.

In the “good news for a change department” I give you: Dark chocolate seen healthy for arteries So, you no longer have to feel guilty for picking out the Special Dark bars from the Hershey’s mini assortments before putting it in the candy dish on your desk. :)

If you’re in the NoVa area, go outside now and look at the fireflies - they’re extra sparkly tonight.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with ordering out Chinese food when you’re the only one eating, do NOT order crab rangoon all by yourself. It’s very VERY good, but if you eat the entire order of it all by yourself, you’ll be on the verge of exploding, and the other things you ordered go straight to the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.

Guess what I had for dinner? :)

Said guy coworker & myself are very much on the same wavelength, so we have all sorts of bizarre conversations, today’s just made me laugh…

: besides, I’m sure the gals were just all throwing themselves at you anyway
: or maybe just throwing things at you, but still
coworker: HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA
coworker: Stop it hurts
coworker: Never had that trouble
coworker: Always had to work at it
: women throwing things at you?
: I am sure there has been a rock or two winged at your head over the years
coworker: Was chased out of a house with a fireplace poker once
…
coworker: Lets just say the relationship was not going to take the direction she thought
: you mean down the psycho road where you do everything she says?
coworker: THAT’S THE VERY PLACE!!!
…
coworker: I often DO wonder what became of her
coworker: Ran into her at a bar a few years later with some GQ looking fella hanging off her arm…I had just finished tarring a foundation and was in with a few guys for a pitcher of beer or two…she made it a point to walk him by our table twice…a point a gladly ceded her as I knew his life was probably a living hell
…
: should asked her if that infection ever cleared up
coworker: ROFL…no…know thy enemy is the first rule of warfare…for a petite person she could take it to a WHOLE ‘nother level in a second so I decided to smile and leave it at that
: yeah, sounds like me
: wait, did we ever date?

We made it to Friday. Thank god.

The good news is that the dog does NOT have an ear infection or anything obviously wrong. The bad news for him is that he still gets a week of eardrops. Caught him shaking his head yesterday, and I told him if I caught him shaking his head again today, we were gonna hit the vet to take a look at ears, and I was true to my word. Vet said it could just be grass allergies.

I love my vet - they’re not even a mile away, and I was able to call at lunch and get an appointment for right after work. Dr Alt (the cute young one) even said I did a good job on his haircut. (He gave him a good once over, not just the ears, and as he’s checking the legs, I had to tell him about the amateur that did the haircut, cause there’s a few spots that look a little odd - he said he wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t said anything. He’s very nice that way.)

is now equipped with keys to take care of the cats while we’re at the beach! Of course, there is a metric assload of housework to be done, which I was gonna do tonight before he came to get the keys this weekend so as not to scare him….so, go figure, he calls at lunch and is in the area. Seriously, it was gonna be all cleaned! But not by lunch today, LOL. He made the mistake of offering to take the dog, too………..and we’re gonna take him up on it. :) Not that I think Mox would hate the kennel, but this would probably be better for his little psyche. And he loves Eve, even if it is completely and utterly unrequited.

My schedule next week is totally screwed up, I’m on 11 to 8, then 8 to 5, then 11 to 8 for two days, then 8 to 5 again. I’ll be lucky if I show up on time once.

I love my job, but damn, some of my coworkers are gonna drive me to drink…

Boss IM’s today “hey, you’ve got a boatload of calls there, you OK?” Yeah, it’s no biggie, a lot of hurry up and wait. But lets take a look at WHY I have so many freaking calls… Yesterday I closed 30+, my partner in crime, 20+, two of our coworkers? 11 combined. Hell, the two NEW folks managed more than that. Yeah, that may be why I’m a bit heavy on calls, if there is only two of us picking things up…

One of the newbies actually went and bitched to the boss today cause T & I were working past quitting time and another coworker was nowhere to be found. Boss went and hunted down disappearing coworker, and a point goes to the new one for speaking up.

I made our senior who is going to design promise me a copy of his script library before he leaves. We’re gonna need it. God, the clients that call up and say “I **must** speak with the god on high of software support” are gonna be in such a world of hurt when we say, “Yeah, sorry, sucks to be you, you’re stuck with us now. And we’re not as nice as he is.”

I am so looking forward to vacation time. Yes, cause I’ve earned it, dammit, but there is a teeny tiny part of me that says “OK, losers, time for you to SUFFER!! Mwaaaahahahahahahaha!” There are a couple I feel bad for leaving behind, but some others who are gonna have to suck it up and step up to the plate. (Mean? Yes. Cruel? Yes. Do I care? Eh, not so much on this one.)

So yes, they’ve driven me to it. I’ve booked some time at Red Door, and my butt is gonna be gettin’ prettified up on Sunday, July 3. Yeah, it’s completely and utterly frivolous, but damn, you gotta do stuff like that every now and again, right? Closest I’ve had is haircut AND nails done on the same day for my 18th birthday.

Whatever they’re smoking over at the Supreme Court, it’s obviously the good shit, and I bet they won’t share with the folks that get completely fucked over by this decision:

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses — even against their will — for private economic development.

Congrats, your childhood home is gonna become a strip mall, and your folks can go to the retirement home now.

I am so pissed beyond belief at this. Sandra Day O’Connor was one of the dissenters:

“Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random,” O’Connor wrote. “The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.”

It’s gonna come down to who has the most money to put together the shiniest PowerPoint presentation. And somehow I am thinking it’s not going to be your average homeowner that would be caught up in something like this.

Edit: This is gonna come down to a state by state thing - do figure out where your state is and what you have to do…

http://www.livejournal.com/community/driveforlife/441523.html

From Lexington VA to Barrington Hills, IL

There are 11 legs in the trip - nothing more than 2 hours - take a look and see if you’re near one of them.

Not nearly as chipper this morning w/the overcast & rain, but then the sun came out, and it’s like all the caffeine just kicked right in. :)

AFI has released the top 100 movie quotes. However, “Fat, drunk & stupid is no way to go through life, son.” is nowhere on the list. A travesty. But they did make up for it with “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!” - which I actually added to Netflix today just before going through the list.

Target hissed at the dog this morning, and Moxley attempted to hiss back. Yes, he’s having a bit of an identity crisis it seems.

Working from home tomorrow & Friday, wheee! Which means I’ll actually start on time, since I haven’t managed to get my butt out of the house on time yet this week. School ends on Friday, so at least there should be a little less traffic starting next week.

24 days til the beach. I’d say it’s about time for the listmaking to start in earnest. :)

Elizabeth Arden has opened one of their Red Door Salons not too far from here. It may be time for a spa day.

Pilling the dog is SO much easier than pilling either of the cats… (Gotta remember to call the kennel and find out if they can give him his heartworm pill next month or if I’m gonna have to find a sucker to go visit him and give it to him on the sly…)

My day continued on quite well, even if slightly dampened by my last call which included the phrase, “I guess I should have mentioned…” Um, yes.

My tech side buddy was asking me today, “So, do you take calls where “X” has happened and handle them on your own?” Yes, I do, unless it’s “X” + Q, Z and an invisible number thrown in, at which point I send it to tech. His words? “If you’re clever enough to do that, you’re clever enough to come work for tech support” :) Nice to be wanted.

However, we’ve just lost another very senior person to design, so I can’t bail, and I like what I do anyway. The senior we lost has been doing this 7 or 8 years, which is a long time, and at least we’re not losing him from the company altogether, thank god. However, this leaves a gaping hole in one of our modules as far as expertise, and we pretty much have no US backline anymore. Of who is there, guess who has the most expertise in said gaping hole? Yup, me, which is cool, cause it’s my fav module, so it all works out.

We also lost a brand spankin’ new one today, she decided she couldn’t handle the commute - better now than in 6 months after sinking a lot of time & training in I suppose.

So, one step forward, two steps back… We’ll muck through.

Why? Cause it’s the first day of SUMMER!!!

This weekend is the Old Dominion Beer Festival! You should go - it’s fun. It’s also very dog friendly. (If I had someone available to go with besides just the dog, I’d be there myself, but you really need to do it with someone else. So, if you go, have a black radish for me!)

In very happy news - TASHA IS COMING TO TOWN NEXT WEEK!! She’s gonna be up here doing some training and I am SO excited to see her!

Note to self: Do not wear anything that was worn to the Clarendon Ballroom without washing or dry cleaning first. I wore the same jacket I wore Friday night today and I kept smelling this weird plastic-y smell on and off throughout the day - finally figured it out - it’s the stuff from the fog machines they use there on my jacket. (It was actually freaking me out a little before I left the house, thought it was some odd smell coming off the new AC motor or something.)

Because is incredibly smart and suggested putting a cat door in the existing basement door, I was looking at those online just now. Hmmm, I think we’re gonna just have to wing it, the smalls are too small and the larger ones, the dog could probably smush himself through. May be easiest to just cut the bottom corner of the door as small as seems possible, and then enlarge if needed. Not like we really need anything fancy given it’s all interior anyway.

Abigail got two kittens this weekend - I can’t wait to see how long before they completely own her. :)

In amusing news, a monkey figures out that the San Diego Zoo really is a decent place to live: Takala, a golden-bellied mangabey, got out of the new monkey exhibit at the San Diego Zoo Friday. But he was found less than an hour later, waiting to get back inside.

An EXCELLENT Fark photoshop contest: Theme: Stupid error messages.

US Senator Joseph Biden became the first Democrat to openly acknowledge plans to run for the White House in 2008 Hmm, good to see the Dems are thinking electability again…

I was so damn tired today - no staying up until midnight again for me, that’s for sure. And to continue with the theme of LAZY, pizza has been ordered.

Early to bed tonight for sure. I am sooooooo tired today, cause I was up too late because of the 3 hour nap yesterday. Yes, I am a dumbass and should really know better by now.

Not a damn thing interesting going on today, which is fine by me, cause I don’t want to have to wake up to have to pay attention to it.

Have somewhat shaken the rather bizarre impending sense of doom that was hovering over me this morning - it’s like that feeling of forgetting something, but about 100 times worse. Will be happy to get back home and see that everything is still intact.

OK, time to try and shake off the post lunch food coma. Maybe pasta salad was a bad choice…

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Some people are like Slinkies. They’re really good for nothing. But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.