Tuesday, October 19, 2004

When will I not be tired anymore?

I swear I just can't get enough sleep anymore. I'm always tired. I did go to the gym this morning, but not until a bit later than normal (6:30 rather than 5:30). Poor Tony headed off at 5:30 to work to try and make up for the lost time when we go to Chicago. I feel bad for my poor hubby. I'm sure he's even more tired than I am. He just hides it better, except for the occassional crankiness.

I sent off a query to the Times and got a response back that they were interested in the article idea, just not sure there was time to do it (being holiday themed), but that I should send in some clips. Haven't heard anything else back yet. So, luck to me.

Pottery class tonight. I wish I'd glazed something last week now. But, maybe I can finish up a bunch of pieces this time instead.

Found a goblin cheese ball recipe for the Halloween potluck. Very cute.

Went on an ordering spree too. Well, maybe not a spree, considering most of it was for Thanksgiving. Ordered the heritage turkey from HeritageUSA, two racks of venison and 3 tubs of duck fat from D'Artagnan, The Big Night movie from Sam Goody, the Big Night Soundtrack from Tower Records and also The Man on Fire Soundtrack, and a cookbook from Amazon I found references to when I was searching for info on heritage turkeys. I think that's it. Geez, I hope so.

I'll have to look back at my to-do list and see what else I'm missing. I did stop and get more cat food on the way home. Lucky little buggers. They're liking this all wet food diet.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Holding...

I'm on hold with Countrywide. They managed to pay our flood insurance twice instead of just once. I should have plugged in the darn headset, instead I'm stuck with the phone cradled between my head and shoulder. I'll have a neck ache by the end of today.

They keep sounding like they want to blame the snafu on me.

Bleck.

220 calories for lunch today + water. I feel snacky, but I don't want to eat anything else. Been eating way too much lately. I was headed down weight-wise, but now I seem to be slowly headed back up. Need to do the gym thing more regularly and eat less. Too much weirdness been going on lately between the hurricanes, Pam, and just life. And the holidays are about to start.

Not to mention we're going to Chicago on Friday. Big dinner that night at Tru. That'll be a calorie-killer. Should be a really good meal, but it makes me feel even more like I need to slim down an extra pound or two before we go. I guess the good thing about Tony being back in school is that tonight and tomorrow night are small dinner nights. Lean Cuisine here I come. I do best if I eat 1,000 calories or less a day.

10 more pounds to go. 12 really, since I've gained a little back.

Friday, October 15, 2004

5 Years...and a letter

I guess I officially hit my 5 year mark with the company. They have a "service awards" recognition program. They used to give you a list of things to pick from, like a watch or a frame, etc.

Ha Ha Ha.

So I go to the website to see what I get to pick from. I only have one option. A form letter from Mr. Dave Dorman himself (the guy who takes the multi-million dollar bonuses the same year that no one else gets a raise).

But, they do allow you to purchase a pin or keychain, if you so desire.

You know, there are so many things I could say that I'm just dumbstruck and I'm not going to say anything at all. What can you say? It's just sad. It's beyond sad. It's cheesey. It's one of those, if I don't laugh, I'll cry.

Anyway.

Yesterday the mobile vet came and checked out the cats. I was hoping they'd find something wrong with Grace to explain the "inappropriate elimination" problem (i.e. pooping in the living room). So far nothing yet, but they're still running some blood tests. They actually had to give her an anasthetic to be able to take samples. They did discover that she's got this feline hyperesthesia problem, which explains why she freaks out when someone pets near her tail. I always knew she was psycho cat, now this proves it. The only thing I could find online was to try and change to a more natural diet (already have) and to try anti-stress medication. The vet gave me some kitty drugs, but I haven't gotten her to take one yet. She wouldn't eat one mixed in with her food, darn her. So I'll have to try the shove it down your throat until you swallow it and stress you out even more approach.

Happily, this morning there were no accidents awaiting us. I'm crossing my fingers for this evening.

I still can't get over that letter thing. That's just amazing. Why do I work here again? Oh yeah, the paycheck...

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Must stop eating soup

Since I manage to burn my tongue every single time I've eaten it lately. And, I didn't have a spoon in my desk, so I had to buy something (a brownie, which I don't need at all) so I could legally procure a spoon from the cafeteria downstairs.

At least I had a long workout this morning. 40 minutes on the treadmill. It was my first time using the treadmill in a long time. The Arc Trainer is much, much easier on you. I was so red that Alexander, the trainer guy, was asking when I was going to get off of it (as in, Good Lord, get off, you're going to have a heart attack). Tony called me his little beet.

I got some of my pottery back glazed last night in class. Yay! They came out better than I thought they would. I brought one piece into work to use as a candy dish. I really don't understand how people make things a uniform size and shape. At this point, I'm just trying to get them to not be a lump of clay. I really was pleasantly surprised though.

I think I'll take the class again next session. I think Pam is going to take it too, even though she's in a constant state of AGH. It will be good for her to get out of the house anyway.

Yesterday I did send off the query/article to Tampa Bay Metro. Haven't heard anything back yet. *sigh* But, on a bright note, Richard had another article assignment for me that's due in two weeks. Gotta get crackin' on that one. At least I'll have something good to report in my writing group on Saturday...

The bad thing is, all I want to do is sleep. I'm so tired all the time anymore. Getting up at 5:30 AM is for the birds. It wouldn't be so bad if I could get to sleep around 9, but that's just not happening. I didn't even get back from pottery class last night until 10 PM.

I got a few more things crossed off my list too...I found a bunch of job postings for Pedro and e-mailed them to him, cancelled the appraiser guy, and figured out when my appointment with Sharlene is (Oct 27). So I'm making progress.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Cube Dweller's Rules

I sent this out to my team today, after hearing some mutterings and grumblings. Likely my crowning accomplishment (at least work-related) for the day:

As we get used to working in a cube vs. office environment, I think there are some ground rules that we need to go over to make sure that everyone is comfortable and able to work efficiently.

* If you are on a lot of conference calls (or even just a few), please use a headset or pick up the phone. If you don't have a headset, please let me or Traci know, as she "inherited" some for us to use. The speaker option should not be used at all, even if you want the person in the next cube to participate in a call.

* As a follow up to point #1...try and develop a "telephone voice" so that your conversations don't automatically become topics for everyone. Even in our new offices way over here on the "dark side," you'd be surprised how much you can hear.

* Lengthy project discussions should be taken to the team room (2511--Traci has the key) and/or scheduled in one of the other conference rooms in Pavilion. It's great when an impromptu discussion turns into a productive brainstorming session. However, your brainstorming may be someone else's headache. Rooms can be scheduled via BookIt at http://xxx.

* Respect each other's personal space. In other words, pretend that a cube has four walls. When approaching someone, don't just barge in. Be polite and knock, clear your throat, etc. That way, if someone is in the middle of something, they have the option to ask you to "come back later."

* And, since we know that someone's cube is their castle, don't 'borrow' things just because you can see them. If you need supplies, please see Traci. If you're just being too lazy to walk down and get a pen from your own cube, then darn it, walking is good for you anyway.

* Please listen to radio and/or music with a headset. Just because you like Jimi Hendrix (and hey, so do I), doesn't mean everyone does.

* Also please be aware of "other" noises that might disturb people. Distraction can be found, according to an article on Cube-Ettiquette, from "gum-cracking, coffee-slurping, ice-chomping, pen-tapping and, most offensive of all, full-bellied belching. A cubicle is a public area, and those working inside should act as they would in any other public area. If you wouldn’t do it in a fine restaurant, don’t do it in your cubicle."

* And it ain't just the noise...smells can be bothersome too. If you've got a particularly smelly lunch, please take it to the breakroom. Oh, and try not to 'bathe' in your perfume or cologne.

For some humor, take a look at the Cube Dweller's Manifesto at http://www.clarkschpiell.com/home/cubedwellersmanifesto.shtml

And please, don't do this: http://www.executivegfx.com/cubicle.htm

If you've got any questions, issues, problems, death threats, etc., please don't hestiate to let me know.

Who knew pushing the send button would be so hard?

I hate sending out queries into the ether. You have no idea where they are really going, whether someone's really going to read it (and I equally hate read receipts, since people can often see that you've set one and then they wonder about how insecure you are that you have to know exactly when they've read your message.

The bad thing now is that I'll be continually checking my inbox every 2.5 seconds until I either a) get a response, b) don't get a response and give up, or c) keel over dead.

Anyway, I'm going to eat lunch.

My plant is still missing.

It's good to have goals...

So instead of having little sticky notes pasted up all over the place, I thought I'd get my goals for the week down in here. We'll see how that works. I'm going to try and be reasonable though...if I set too many goals for one week, it's doubtful that I'll get them all done and then, once you get that ball rolling...
  1. Send off wine shop article to Tampa Bay Metro magazine. Keep fingers crossed.
  2. Write up article on Bonaire restaurant.
  3. Re-write second chapter of "Sylvie."
  4. Work on query letter for Organic Style.
  5. Get organized with all the various writing projects I've currently got going, pick one novel and work on it, by god.

There's also miscellaneous things that I need to do...

  • E-mail David & Cindy and tell them how nice it was to meet them and that I hope I didn't talk their ears off, since I was a wee bit tipsy from all the good wine
  • Find a job for Pedro!! (does anyone need a really good networking guy?)
  • Support Tony in his quest for greater meaning in his job
  • Find a good date to do a Team Dinner to promote greater togetherness...or, lacking that, to at least have a really good meal
  • Cancel the appointment with the home appraiser guy and just pray that no more hurricanes come
  • Call Sharlene and figure out when my hair appointment is

I'm sure there's a bunch of other things I need to do, but small steps, man, small steps.

Tonight is pottery class. I hope that they actually fired some of my pieces. I want to see how they come out, the lumpy things. More later.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Still no sign of my poor missing plant. I did, however, make a run for some chocolate, so my new office at least smells like something good.

I think I should be working at something. I'm just so dispirited I can't hardly bring myself to do anything. And the dust is about killing me. I don't think they've dusted in this building since the Kennedy administration.

On a good note, I think my sister has mostly moved out of my house. I just need to get her cats ejected and hopfully mine will stop using the living room floor as their new litterbox. If that doesn't do it, I'm not sure what my husband will do. He's ready to give the cats away. I'm getting there myself, but I'm trying to head it off. I've made sure the litterbox is clean, taken the hood off of it, given them the food they like, treated the carpet for residual nastiness, and even bought those Feliway plug-ins to make them all happy. Nothing seems to be making a difference. Anyone want a cat? A fat, fat, cat? A very sweet, but annoying as hell cat?

I wish we'd never gotten the second one now, but it's too late. It's a committment now. We need to rip out every bit of carpet in the house, but that's an expense I don't really want to take on right now, especially since I never know what's going to happen with work. They are laying off people right and left. And Tony wants to apply for a new job, albeit within the same company, but still. And he's back in school again.

I need to sell some more articles. A little extra income wouldn't be a bad thing. Sigh. Ideas are never the problem. Time is the problem. Time, as they say in Rocky Horror, is fleeting.

Starting Today

Starting today, I'm going to try and keep a regular blog. I used to write every day in a journal, and then for a while online at OpenDiary (is that site even still around? I don't know.) I've been working on my "real" writing fairly regularly now, but I think I need something that's just there, where I can brain dump periodically and not worry about anything.

A place where I can just write about the general crap that annoys me.

Like today. They moved us (they, the ubiquitous they, the all-knowing, all-powerful, screw you as many ways as they can they) from one building to another this past weekend. I'm a manager, but a low level one, and I had my own office before. Now, I still have my "own" office, but they are making me keep an additional desk in here that I'm not supposed to touch or use. No one is going to sit at it, I just have to keep it there.

That's just so stupid. Just one more way for the company to put you down. And put us down they do...20% layoffs this year. I know, I know, I've heard the line so many times: "Just be glad you have a job." but you know what, I'm not just glad that I have a job. Work is a high % of your life and it should not make you miserable. Especially when there's no reason for them to try to make you miserable.

And someone also stole my plant. I'm very annoyed at that. It was in a Pat O'Brien's hurricane glass that I'd picked up in New Orleans years ago. Why would they steal my plant? It wasn't even a very nice or very large plant, but it was mine. Anyway, screw it. I'll vent more later. Have to keep unpacking. See if there's anything else they stole. They, they, they, damn them.