Back again

So I failed at NaBloPoMo. *sigh* Unfortunately, being away for Thanksgiving just didn't give me time to write. Oh well, it got me engaged in the blog anyway.

Interesting development at work last week. One of the ladies I work with now has a security detail. Apparently, she took out a restraining order against a guy some time ago and now he's out of jail. So the company's providing her security. Makes me feel safer.

The guy's got a few screw loose or something. He hasn't hurt anybody yet, but he's definitely stalking her. He thinks they're involved. It reminds me of an episode of Angel where this crazy guy (he can detach his own arms and legs and everything, which makes him hard for the police to trace) who thinks he's married to the lady he only dated once or twice.

I expect this guy could get more dangerous. I haven't seen him yet, which is probably a good sign. Now all we have to do is hope he doesn't come around or the security detail is good enough. My plan if I meet him: "Oh Linda, she moved to Iowa." (Not the best, but there you have it.)

The last one at work

As the newest and youngest person at our office, I have the honor of being the last one at work this Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The phone hadn't rung in hours, but it just did as I started this. However it was only a technician saying he'd finished his work and was leaving because everything was fixed.

Whee.

On the plus side, I've gotten a lot of things done online--since my only assignment today is to babysit the phone and work order systems. I mean, I did all the normal office stuff but I've probably had 4 hours of free time in the 6 hours I've been here.

I think I'll leave @ 4. The boss said that unless something's going badly, it shouldn't be a problem if I leave then. I just have to check the voicemail @ 5. I can handle that. It'd give me a headstart on leaving. On the minus side, I'm sure the metro's already packed. On the plus side, it'd be packed anyway.

Actually, maybe it won't be packed because everybody already left. I could handle that.

Discrimination against Mozilla

For whatever reason, my computer really doesn't like Firefox or IE. I suppose I could go with Opera, but I went with Mozilla. This means I can't use some fun stuff like Google Toolbar or Google Notebook. I don't know why, but I can't get it to be Mozilla-compatible.

Are they really that different? Maybe they are, but it doesn't seem like it to me. Firefox/Mozilla--same people lots of the same ideas.

I miss Firefox. But it kept launching IE for some reason. And IE crashes my computer for some reason.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Family Guy

If you asked me whether I'd like a show which has all of Family Guy's attributes, I'd probably say no.

But the show itself? Yes.

I think it's that you can tell they're not taking themselves seriously either. Sometimes they just plain don't like a person--like Liza Minelli. But more often, they find some situation or person potentially humorous and just run with it.

It'd be offensive except--there's something in the way they do it. For now I'm going to go with their lack of respect even for themselves. Maybe someone else can come up with a better reason?

Megan Meier --- What horrible horrible horrible people!!!

So these people screwed with a young, teenage girl's head, harassed her, and led her (she was already had some mental health issues) to commit suicide? What horrible horrible horrible horrible horrible people!

There's not even a word for how evil that is. I mean, who creates a MySpace profile to hurt someone else? A monster? Well, definitely a monster if not worse.

While the people involved haven't technically committed a crime, I think they should be e-mailed photos of Megan every day. And told frequently "You're a murderer." Especially any adults involved.

Heartless, cruel people. I doubt you've got enough of a conscience to read this (or that you'd even run across it), but if you do--you're monsters.

Ugh. Sometimes people sicken me.

To watch Numb3rs or not to watch Numb3rs--that is the question!

I really enjoy the show Numb3rs. Well, I'm a sucker for most CBS crime dramas. All 3 CSIs and NCIS. I suppose Numb3rs is the only different one because they're not actually crime scene investigators (I know NCIS isn't technically, but they show is essentially Naval CSI).

It's fun to see the mystery get solved. To see if you can figure out who did it. I actually have a theory that the CSIs are like the epistolary novels of our time. Epistolary novels were some of the earliest novels and were made up letters, either all from one person to another or from several people to several people.

Anyway, they were pretty episodic--like one of the earliest, Pamela, which pretty much consisted of "He tried to seduce me again." "Now I think he tried to rape me." "Why isn't anyone coming to get me out of this F***** place." No seriously. It's a depressing book. The weird part is that it ends with "I think I like him." "Hmm, how about that, I'm going to marry him, he's not so bad."

Excuse the digression.

The point of the post is whether or not I should stay up for Numb3rs because I'm exhausted but it's also already 9:42 (I had a bunch of stuff to take care of) so I might as well stay up 'till it finishes at 11? Maybe I should ask DH.

Life of Brian

I love Monty Python when I need a good laugh. This weekend DH and I watched Life of Brian. If you're a Python fan or just have a wacky sense of humor, this is a must-see. It's particularly good for Christians with a sense of humor, or anyone who enjoys religious satire and understands Christian references.

Poor Brian lives at the same time as Jesus and, through a series of misunderstandings and such, becomes a quasi-Messianic figure himself. Only he doesn't want to be one and he's really nothing special. Things don't turn out so well for poor Brian.

What's most impressive is the way the guys turned a depressing ending into something rather amusing. But if you're in the 1% of the population who hasn't seen it, I won't give away the ending.

Btw, it's the 15th today. Officially 1/2 of NaBloPoMo is over. Very relieved. I don't have to succeed, but I'd like to. It's just that I feel kinda pressured sometimes when I think about it.

Good luck everybody! :)

Sometimes I just don't understand

Why I go to work. I get up in the morning, have maybe 1/2 hour of computer time and the 1/2 hour of personal care time like showers and stuff. Next I go to work and stay there until 5. I normally don't make it home until almost 6. Then if I don't go to bed by 10:30, I feel so tired the next morning.

Maybe I spend 4 and a half hours a day awake and actually home and doing stuff. That doesn't seem right.

On the plus side, we had our Thanksgiving potluck at the office today. It was extremely yummy. One of the guys from South/Central America made enchiladas. I didn't have any ham, just the enchiladas. Best Thanksgiving food ever! :)

I really shouldn't post here so late...

My brain wants to go to sleep--it's almost like there's no point in even doing NaBloPoMo if I'm always posting sleepy.

Work should be fun tomorrow, we're having our Thanksgiving party! :) That'll be a nice break from everyday work. Today was quite busy, lots of going through files and checking up on old records. A lot of files had some important information (insurance-related) out of date, so it was good we checked. Otherwise, if something bad had happened, people wouldn't have been properly insured.

For your daily smile, go to Lol Cats - I Can Has Cheesburger? I keep remembering it and then forgetting it. But it makes me smile every time.

Do you see the NaBloPoMo kitteh in the sidebar? She's in your blog, reading your thoughts!

Attack of the Killer Headache

I'm going to bed now. This headache is pretty much awful.

I took 4 Advil but they're not helping. I don't even know why I stayed up so late. Oh, right, I was having computer problems and wanted to get them resolved. I still don't know if it's working but I'm too tired to care. :-(

What's wrong with this family?

So I was looking at random news online and this couple was arrested for drunk driving--each--in the same night. And their children were with them! The dad was arrested and the son (who was with him) had to call his mom for a lift. But she arrived (with the little sister) drunk too!

Very dangerous situation for those kids, obviously the parents don't care enough about them not to put their lives at extreme risk.

It also baffles me when I see people talking on cell phones while doing things like parallel parking or cutting around traffic. Maybe if you talk on it using bluetooth on a highway without construction and stuff--then you're not risking lives as badly, but sometimes it seems like it's almost as bad.

Squeaking in

While there's still an hour to go before midnight, I feel like I'm squeaking under the line with this post. It's been a really busy day. The bad news is that I didn't get to clean the house like I wanted to. The good news is that I got a lot of other things done.

I was going to try out Kasamba today. *sigh* Maybe I'll have time tomorrow or on Labor Day. Maybe I'll never have time. In that case, no biggie, it didn't take long to register for the account.

LOL, I just looked over at DH and he's always so nervous when I glance over onto his computer. He feels a lot of performance anxiety as a writer, and while he doesn't mind my seeing the finished product or even editing it he gets uptight if I look before that. Like he's just writing a blog post too, but I know he'll revise and revise it and only then let me look at it. Silly boy.

Um, I want to share a tip of the day. So, tips from today. Hmm.

If you want to get something done, go do it. Right now. No excuses. Comment later.

That sounds inconsistent after I just said that I hadn't gotten in Kasamba, but Kasamba wasn't my priority. I had some projects of my own to finish and I just did them. Even when I wanted to procrastinate.

Bipolar bouncy week

I've been bipolar all week. Ugh. But in retrospect it was a good week anyway. I got a chance to volunteer, I helped out a friend, I even earned a little money on the side. Plus I got a couple compliments from my boss.

Sure, I felt like crap for part of it, but if I came out ahead that's what matters.

This is so much better than before, we a bad day could throw me for a while week. Between the therapy and the Lexapro, even my bad days aren't too bad.

Tip of the day: If your day's been going really badly, try to find something you enjoy. Don't look for a thrill that'll bounce you up past a balanced point, but something you like to do. So make time for the cup of coffee or watch the Simpsons. One of the best things for me is watching a (truly) funny show or listening to a comedian. I have a CD of Ellen and one of Mitch Hedberg. So even if I'm doing dishes, I can be laughing and enjoying myself after a hard day. These are priceless.

A never-ending rotation of kittens

Speaking of good causes and volunteering, some friends of mine have found a way to have a never-ending supply of kittens. There's a pet adoption agency near them which fosters out their kittens for socialization. So they can give them back if they need to or if they're going on vacation, but if not they provide a good home and company until the kittens are adopted or go back to the shelter.

There's one near me which asks people to come into the shelter and just play with the kittens.

If you're thinking of doing some good this week, play with some kittens--it'll be great for you and for them! :)

Corporate Volunteering

I'm pretty sure that most companies only encourage volunteer time because it improves their corporate image. But you know something? I'm ok with that. I see it as a win-win-win.

The company wins. I don't really care about them, but it gives them a motivation to act.

The charitable group/good cause wins. I think this is probably the most important. The amount of good in the world goes up.

The staff (probably) win. I won. I got to volunteer today with some other people from my company. I think volunteering is great, and I got paid to do so. I think most of the time it comes out of personal time (which isn't as good) but this time it was paid for.

P.S.

They do have an editing section. Totally sweet! :-) I'm going to have to fill out something for this later.

Kasamba

Well, I finally figured out how to use Kasamba. If you sign up for an account as an expert, then you get a few options. You pick what you're an expert in, describe your experience and any credentials, and set your rates.

Once you're approved, you can go in through the "My Kasamba" feature to "Answer Posted Requests" in your area. You answer with a bid and perhaps a little bit about yourself. So if someone posts "I want a reading about getting a parakeet," you'd respond by either bidding your fee (if it's an e-mail reading) and saying "Let's explore your pet possibilities." Or if they wanted a live chat, you'd just post a response (and it'd show your per-minute settings). They have an interface you download which lets you talk to clients.

I haven't used it yet, I haven't had time. I was thinking I'd try it out on weekends, when I'm free.

One disadvantage is that since I'm a new reader I have no stars. So people will be less likely to choose me as their reader and then star or review me. *sigh*

That's going to be a real impediment.

But I'm not depending on this for my income or anything, it's just something I'll try out.

Ooh, I wonder if they let you offer copyediting services....hmm.

In other news, I've feeling rather depressed--and it sucks. *sighs* I deal with depression but today's is worse than normal. Probably because I had something good happen around 10am. My day started off ishish, went phenomenal, and then I'm crashing off the emotional high. D*mn bipolarness.

My first Wii experience!

Tonight after work, DH and I went to some friends' house for dinner. Then we ended up playing with their Wii, the first time I've actually used one. Now I see the attraction. I've never been any good at video games, but the Wii was different.

The other wife and I did a couple boxing rounds--it was completely exhausting. It was also a total rush after spending all day on my bum in the office. Getting up, moving around, dancing, throwing punches, it was great! I got a real endorphin rush. Whew!

Now I understand the appeal of Wiis. I've never really gotten the video game thing. They're fun enough, but I can't see the appeal of playing baseball with a normal controller. But with the Wii I was up and moving and expending energy. Great for people who work in offices or just don't get much exercise.

I don't think we'll get one, but it'd be nice to have one around. And a DDR set.

Sleepy Sunday :)

DH and I took advantage of Fall Back to sleep in this morning. So nice!

I got a bunch of cooking done, as well as some cleaning. I didn't check out Kasamba yet (sigh), I was still working with my friend on her site thing. It was really frustrating and we didn't get anything really done today. Oh well. But that was my afternoon. The only good thing is that I'm learning more about website stuff and CSS. I know some HTML already, but CSS is a real bear. I'm supposed to straighten out a couple links for her tonight. I'm getting paid a little, but mostly this is a favor. I cost a lot less than a professional! ;)

Speaking of money, I'm adding a Google search thing on my sidebar. It works along with Adsense and looks really cool. I don't know about you, but I use Google about 30 times a day. I should really use GoodSearch, but I just don't. I don't know why. Anyway, so if you happen to be on my site and need to search something, please use this, it'll work for both of us!

I also got some planning done for some tarot bags I'm going to be selling. I hope. We'll see how that goes.

So busy but not a bad day. I don't want to go back to work tomorrow. But gotta pay for the weekends, right?

Saturdayness :)

Today wasn't too exciting, I helped a friend with a small webdesign project, so I'm kinda tired of looking at the screen. I was a little worried I wouldn't have time to post here (and I just started participating in NaBloPoMo where you have to post once a day)!

I didn't get a chance to look at Kasamba today and see about signing up. I want to create a new e-mail address for it and Paypal and everything. But maybe I'll get around to that tomorrow. Has anybody heard about it, can tell me whether or not it's a good idea?

If not, that's cool, I'll sign up and give it a go. It just looks like a tough market to break into. And it looks like you'd have to put up a picture. I'm all about being open, but I don't particularly want my face plastered online. It feels creepy.

Plus, I came from a conservative community. But then, why would they be looking for readers?

I'll post about how it goes!

Tip of the day and new site discovery

Tip of the day: If your boss asks you to call a vendor at 3pm to ask why X wasn't done, use Outlook's popups to remind you. If you don't have Outlook, Google's calendar offers e-mail and popup reminders.

I had a hard time remembering to call so and so on Tuesday before I got into the calendar. Now I use it for everything--reminders when to meditate, water the office plants, etc. I use Google's calendar for stuff I need to remember at home like taking my meds and paying monthly bills.

I also discovered a cool site today, Kasamba.com. Among other things, they offer tarot readings. I've got a couple decks and have done some readings for free. I might sign up there this weekend and see if I can make a little cash doing it. It'd be handy to have a little more money. My temp job's coming to an end soon and I want to make ends meet until I get something new.

Emptying the Inbox

I'm afraid that there's nothing extraordinary about my life. I'm currently working in an office, empyting the inbox, making work when there's none, staring at my computer screen and trying to hide windows where I read blogs or write posts.

But still, everyone has a story to tell. Each person you see on the street has their own life and network. Every secretary is a bit different, with her own thoughts, hopes, dreams, and fears. Here are mine.