Dear Ford Motor Company...

I'm sorry to bring this to your attention but there is a serious defect with the locking mechanism on your 2003 Ford Focus. Today during a snow storm I got in the car, started it up and then left the vehicle to scrap the windows. I did NOT push the button to lock the doors or press the lock feature on the keyless entry, however after scraping the windows around the entire car, freezing my ass of in the process I discovered much to my displeasure the doors had locked. I'm not making this up! They locked on their own!

This has happened once before; again when it was crappy outside and I had to resort to calling my husband to come get me, driving home to get the spare set of keys and then returning to the running car. Yes, it was quite toasty warm inside but that does not excuse you from the embarrassment I had to face when my co-workers said, "Oh, you locked your keys in the car!"

I can say until I'm blue in the face, "IT WAS THE CAR!" But everyone shakes their head as if to say, "NO, YOU NUMBSKULL, IT WAS YOU!" Like a car does not have mechanical troubles from time to time.

You owe my Mr. Ford Motor Company! You owe me big! I'm talking free OnStar Service for life! Mr. "Quality means doing your best when no one is looking"...you anti-Semitic....tweeb!

Sincerely yours,

Eva

This is really cool

Who said juggling three balls was hard? Doesn't look so hard here.
http://johnbrooks.com/juggle/ (turn your speakers on)

Quote of the day

I can endure anything when I have no choice in the matter.

Time off

Recently many companies are going to the Bank of Days or Paid Time Off for their employees. This is where they get x number of hours for each month worked and the time off includes vacation, sickness, bereavment, personal time. It's a great idea in theory but what ends up happening is you get more sick people at work. Why use a sick day when you can come to work, get through the day and save the time off for when you feel better and are on vacation? So more people come to work sick and spread the germs so more sick people can come to work.

Sick time should be separated. That's what I think.
But life goes on.

Some good grammar learning sites

I need to improve my grammar. Maybe you do too? Here are some good sites:
http://www.dailygrammar.com/ Here you can sign up for a lesson a day and a test on Saturday.

The elements of Style http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html

Grammar Bites http://www.chompchomp.com/ You can actually test yourself.

There's a name for it

Remember when I posted a pic of "Jughead," the man hiding in the mosiac features of the tile in my company restroom? Well, there's a name for it: "pareidolia." I learned this from the news lately of scientists wondering about an image of a woman on Mars. Of course it turned out to be a rock but it does look like a woman sitting. I'm just thrilled to know there is a name for it and I'm not a little loony.

The Friendship Application

Sometimes you have to wonder when meeting someone new if it's worth the time and effort to try to become friends. You don't know if it's going to work out, you just can't be sure. I've created the "Friendship Application." Just print this out and give it to a potential friend for completion. It will save you a lot of time.

Diversity

Diversity in the workplace is commonly found in ethnicity, race, religion, life experiences, disabilities or backgrounds. I think they need to include grumpy people, happy people, moody people, emotional people, smart people and dumb people. All of these qualities can contribute to the workplace. You just have to be a little more creative.

On Boston Legal, there is a character who suffers from some rare syndrome where he walks with his palms firmly against his legs, he often purrs, and sometimes jumps. When he's doing any of these things, why isn't he called to the carpet for unprofessional behavior? Why? Because he can't help it. Same with people who cry, who suffer from depression that is aggravated by being talked down to.

But life goes on.

My quote for today...

It's amazing how much you can accomplish when there's no fear of persecution.

This is so cool

The Kitten and the Crow - (click on View) This is such an amazing story.

I wasn't wrong

Forgot yesterdays post, I wasn't wrong. I didn't do what I thought I did. I'm not a baffoon!

Oh man I goofed

I woke up at 6 this morning with the realization that I had made an error at work on Friday. It all came clear to me in the quiet morning hours, where the room was just starting to see the first light of day and my eyes flashed open. Crap.

One person was leaving and another had moved. I had gotten info that the subordinate of the moving one was going with the departing one. I emailed the moving one's contact and made reference to moving one leaving...but I knew he wasn't...he had just moved. Crap.

I wish there was a good excuse for my mixing them up....I'm so closely being watched. My mom had told a story about how her sister was carrying an egg (I think..something) on plate and her father kept saying, "You're going to drop it, you're going to drop it" and sure enough, she dropped it. I'm being so closely watched that maybe I was just destine to error. Crap. The good news is, the email is as far as the error went. It's not like I removed the moving guy from our records.

Guess, I'll hear about it on Monday. Oh, joy, can't wait.
But life goes on.

How's this for Broadway

Check out Hillary here....

My brother's turning 50

Wow, how can it be? My big bro is going to be 50 years old. He's a father of teenagers! Amazing.

Not the Sharpest tool in the Shed

I know I'm not super intelligent, but I think I'm slightly above average. Lately, my abilities have been tested and I feel this blanket of self doubt coming over me and it scares me. I so afraid my spirit will be squished. It's just sad.

But life goes on.

This is what I do...

Often, I have discovered that people who have some control over me must think I just willy nilly do something without thought. Sometimes they just jump to these conclusion without consulting me. I really dislike this. I understand it's bothersome to come and ask me, "why did you do this this way? Why didn't you go in this direction?" If they did, they would understand better where I'm coming from. I won't say I never just throw caution to the wind, but for the most part I think about and do what I feel is best. I do this based on I want I have learned in the past.

But life goes on.

Passion

There is more than one kind of passion. Of course, the obvious is that sensual one. There's also that passion when you are so excited about something that your voice gets louder, and you talk faster. This, I have determined, is sometimes thought of as arguing. But it's not. I get very passionate about things I know a lot about. This doesn't happen very often but sometimes it does.

I have a student, an 82 year old man named John who I see every three weeks or so to teach him about the Internet and his computer. Sometimes he misses what I'm trying to say and then I get passionate about it and I see his reaction and I know, he thinks I'm yelling at him. I can honestly say, I am not. I am just excited about what ever it is I'm trying to teach him. I usually apologize. He knows now, it's not him. I'm not getting angry with him...it's just me being passionate.

At work, I have little passion because I know so little. I know this. I try to do what is best; what I think is proactive and sometimes it appears that I'm overstepping my duties. But if I know something that I think will be helpful, I will try to do it...my passion finally finding a place.. only to be deflated by those who say "it's not your place" in so many words.

Oh well, life goes on.

Where I'd like to live

I think I'd like to live in an apartment with Uncle Bill, Mr. French and Mrs. Beezly. This would be the most ideal place for me.

The Writer's Strike

I'm happy for the strike. This gives me more time to blog and learn. Okay, let's see if that happens. Plus, we have a lot on DVD/video to watch anyway. So, it's a good thing.

What to do?

So much to learn. I have a ton of online classes. Each day at work, I think, "Tonight I'm going to learn more about Indesign or Access." I have great plans to do so. Even on the way home, I think I will..after dinner, after I stretch...then after I watch my soap, then after I get my clothes ready for work the next day and after my shower. And then...it's 10pm and I'm ready to hit the sack. I read for 30 minutes, the Tylenol PM kick in...and it's la de la de land for me.

Weekends are different....well sort of. (Yawn)

I couldn't believe it

I was at the mall today for lunch. I ate in the food court. Next to me was a woman with a child..a boy of about 3 years old. He was pushed up to the table in a booster seat. I saw the woman come up behind him and say into his ear,"Now, I'll be right back. Just stay here."

I watched as she left the food court. She took the esculator up. I was done eating and I needed to get back to work, but I couldn't leave this little boy there until I knew the woman had returned. I lingered a bit and it seemed like a long time had past. The boy just sat at the table eating his lunch, undisturbed by the fact that his mother (I assume) had left him. Maybe he was used to it. Maybe he just trusted her. I watched as the woman returned to him.

I was standing at this time and I'm sure she saw me waiting. I said when she was in ear shot, "I was watching him."

She thanked me but she seemed annoyed.

She was probably gone for a minute and a half....not long, but that boy could have been taken in a heartbeat. I was just amazed that someone could do that.

Crying at work

Here's an interesting article Crying at Work, What NOT to Do.

Kristie Theobald writes:

Work should be a healthy, well-balanced and positive place ... after all, we're there for a great deal of our lives. So if your workplace is anything but those three things, my advice to you would be to get the hell out of there and find something that is as close to your joy as possible"

I say AMEN. Just wish it was that simple.

I can sure relate to trying to turn the other cheek:

But there is a colleague of mine who can turn really narky when it suits her and I am somehow the first in line for her to throw her crap at. Might be because I'm easygoing and I don't fight back very often. But unfortunately I can also be quite sensitive at times and being bawled out by someone doesn't sit
with me very well. I am only just starting to develop a toughness!

Personally, to tell me to NOT cry; it's like telling me to not bleed after you cut me. It's not going to happen. My advice, if you're a manager, don't make your workers feel like idiots. Problem solved!

Internet is down

Okay MY internet is down. I 'm tired to blog. Tomorrow I will. Good night

Yay..I'm a student again

It just might actually happen! I just might be graduating with my BA in May! Yes, I can't believe it. I've been working with the assistant department head on getting me the heck out of Dodge..in this case UCO. They have to be sick of me by now. I'm this "untraditional" student which means I could have given birth to the all the kids in my class. Okay, not all of them; that would be a blog in itself. I've been working on my BA on and off for some time now...it's the 30 year plan. It will indeed be just months shy of 30 years too. I'm so psyched. I have one more class that starts on Monday night. I will be so happy to get this done. Stay tuned.

I don't feel like blogging

I just don't feel like blogging tonight. This is all you get.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I didn't write this but I liked it:

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will. I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set . They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.

So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free.

I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be.

And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!MAY YOU ALWAYS HAVE A RAINBOW OF SMILES ON YOUR FACE AND IN YOUR HEART FOREVER AND EV ER!

FRIENDS FOREVER!

Professionalism

If you want a truly professional workplace, you have to outlaw cartoon calenders, the passing around of funny birthday cards...pretty much anything funny. And you have to be consistant. Everyone will have to stop being funny friendly....no more laughing. Sorry, laughing is not professional; straight laced nose-to-the-grindstone is the only acceptable behavior.

What people think

You're not suppose to care what people think. That's what you are told. Your opinion is all that matters. Well, how can you not care. If someone misconstrues something you say, and they think you are a mean person; how can you not care? I don't have a mean bone in my body. I wish I did sometimes because I know I'm walked over. I know some people take advantage of my sensibilities.

When a difficult situation becomes apparent, I will avoid it like the plague. I will run the other way because I hate confrontation...with a passion. But if there is no where to hide, (ie: at work) I will make the best of it; I will throw a little levity into the mix to make things appear right, happy. Unfortunately, I'm so naive because when I do this - with no malice in my heart - my humor will be misinterpreted as a way to get back at whomever I may be at odds with. And it matters to me what they think.

How can you not care what people think? No man is an island. Eleanor Roosevelt said that no one can make you very inferior without your permission. I think this is a crock. Your boss can! When your livelihood hangs in the balance...yeah...their opinion matters. But that's just me.

Becca's Blog

My dog has her own blog. Of course. She's a chip off the old block(head).

Happy New Year

Well, I have done and gone it. I signed up to blog everyday. Yes, everyday. Well, we get one day off, Leap Year Day. Otherwise, you're stuck with me.

I'm watching the Sabres/Penguins hockey game. It's being played outdoors at Ralph Wilson Statium. Jim and Katie are there. It's snowing like a son of a gun. This is a big deal..it's the first NHL outdoor game in the US.

Phil got me a webcam. Here's our first picture with it. A bit grainy, huh?

We tried to get Becca in the picture but she's not getting the concept of looking at the camera. Silly girl.