I Thought I Had a Winner

But I didn't.

Last night, on the way home from work, I had a sudden
compulsion to buy a lottery ticket. So we stopped on
the way and I bought one. I just checked it and it
was a dud. Darn. I'll just have to try again.

I was telling Maime at lunch that I would love to go
to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year. I'd like to
show my support for the City, the people and the
traditions by throwing my money their way - and I'd
like to bring back some beads and throws, heh heh.
Although that raises the question of "why the heck do
I feel I need more BEADS?!?" I have tons of them now
and have no place to put them. Scads of beads are
hanging downstairs everywhere in the dining room and I
have a box of krewe beads upstairs that's just in my
way. But I WANT MORE! MORE! MORE!

OK, I know I'm a dork, but I can't help it. I love
shiny, cheap, sparkly things. They make me haaappy.

It's a Miracle

I went to lunch and when I returned the lights were
back on in the building. I was getting a headache
from trying to do paperwork in the dark.

Thank you, the powers that be. "Powers" heh.

Never mind me, I'm feeling goofy.

Lights Out! my head hurts

We apparently had some power outages and problems last night in the downtown area and today the power company is still working out the kinks. Our building, and other downtown buildings, is running on generators so only essential lighting and non-power-slurpers are up. That means the overhead lights are off. So, I've been sitting here since 8:00 am - it's 11:30 now - in the dark and still trying to do my job. My only light is from the computer screen and a small task light which is inconveniently located not over my desk but over my printer. So, my desk itself is dark and I am limited in what I can easily do this morning. AND, I've developed a monster headache from the eyestrain. I just heard someone else complain that she's gotten a headache so I guess I'm not alone.

Oh, and the chillers are off, so the building is gradually getting warmer. Not that we need AC right now, but the chillers keep the floors from getting hot from people-and-computer-generated heat.

Aach.

Blog or No Blog?

I'm still trying to decide if keeping this blog going is useful or not. It seems a good place to write up stories and stuff, but who really cares besides me? It would be really easy to turn it into a bitch-fest. I feel like I've kind of done that with a couple of the entries about people at work and Jeff.....but, on the other hand, it gives me an outlet to say those things in a way that doesn't hurt them.

Also, if anyone I've ever mentioned or mention in the future is hurt by an entry here please be assured that I used this method to spare your feelings and feel free to ask me about it.

Hindsight is always 20/20

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Zombie Jesus

Man, it's so weird when things pop up out of nowhere and bring back strong memories. I remember telling Maime a couple of years ago about my strange relationship with Jesus. I hadn't thought about it again and, in fact, kind of forgot I told her because it's something I've not shared very often. Believe me, most people are not ready. And, then, after lunch today, Maime mentioned "Zombie Jesus" and the memories flooded back.

Back (in the olden days) when I was a kid, I did all of the things that are supposed to prepare you for a relationship with religion - I was sent to Sunday school, I went to church, and learned all the lessons. My parents are not outwardly religious - they are not church-goers, but they believed their kids should at least learn about Christianity and then make up their own minds. In Sunday school we learned all about Jesus and sang all the cute little Jesus songs ("Jesus loves me, yes I know, cause the Bible tells me so..." and "What a friend I have in Jeeesus...")

Then, when I was nine or ten I heard about zombies. Not much, but just enough to question how Jesus could rise from the dead like we were taught in Sunday school and not be a zombie. Truly, you ever think about that? I did. That confusion then morphed immediately into Zombie Jesus who lived under my bed. Zombie Jesus was just waiting to grab my foot and pull me under if I made the mistake of dangling my feet off the bed in the dark so I always had to turn on the bedside light first if I got out of bed (and, of course, turn the bedside light off last when I got into bed). For some reason, Zombie Jesus operated only in the dark. My entire (now pretty much non-) relationship with Jesus has been skewed by Zombie Jesus.

For years I was afraid of Zombie Jesus, then I watched a TV special on alligators. They showed a scene where an alligator leaped out of the calm dark water and grabbed a baby deer and pulled it under. Then all was quiet again like he wasn't even there and the baby deer had never existed. God, that freaked me out! Zombie Jesus then took on another, alternating form: Some nights he was still Zombie Jesus waiting to grab my feet if I was careless, and some nights he was Deadly Alligator waiting with jaws of death to latch onto my feet from under my bed. Either way, if I was caught, I was afraid I would be dragged under and disappear forever. The worst nights were when they were both under there at the same time.

The fear of Zombie Jesus and Deadly Alligator continued to be strong throughout my teens and twenties and began to fade a bit in my thirties. However, I still sometimes have that flash of fear if I get into bed in a dark bedroom. I almost always turn on the bedside light first. Just in case.

And, now that I've re-lived it through this blog, I'll probably have Zombie Jesus fear for the next few nights.....there's no way to stop it.

But, On a Lighter Note...

OK, banish the sad thoughts because the drive we took coming home and the whole area of the coast we were at also held lots and lots of happy memories. My brother Ken, and my friend, Camille, used to race hydroplanes, and I was the head scorekeeper/timekeeper for the racing club. We had races all over Western Oregon, and several of them were at the coast.

We drove past Lake Lytle, just north of Rockaway, several times this weekend and I was astonished anew that we were able to have races on that lake for several years - it now seems so small! We used to race at Cullaby Lake near Astoria - we didn't go to the lake this weekend, but we drove by the entrance. We used to race at Waldport - in fact, one of my friends was living there and was renting a beach house right on the beach. It was fantastic to stay there because it was so beautiful. Other racer friends had moved from Rockaway (I never saw the Rockaway house) to Pacific City and Camille and I were able to stay with them a couple of times. They had a large, beautiful house, a bit away from the beach, and we enjoyed them immensely. Camille had a Goldilocks moment there one time when she was staying in the teenage son's room and he unexpectedly came home in the middle of the night - he was at the age when he was pretty unshockable but I think finding Camille in his bed was pretty surprising. Good thing they were friends. He slept in the family room that night and surprised his mother by being there the next morning. I always had lingering suspicions about it though because Camille always liked them young and teachable.............

We also drove past Manzanita, an area where I've stayed many times - there used to be an old but comfortable motel right on the beach, I don't know if it's still there or not but I don't think so. There's been a lot of build-up in that area so it's not as isolated-feeling as it used to be, but it's still pretty nice. I kind of miss the way it used to feel though, like a very small town with few people and just one or two restaurants - it's become a real beach community now.

And then my friend, Barbara, is half-owner of a house at Neahkahnie Beach, just a quarter-mile or so from Manzanita - the house is on the mountain and it's a bit of a hike down to the beach itself, but it has a pretty nice view. I stayed there a few times but, even with the view, it's too much of a hassle to get to the beach and back.

My dream? My dream is to have a beach house of my own. I always liked the Manzanita and Rockaway areas but anywhere with beach front and easy beach access would be fine. I am rejuvinated by the ocean - but unlike this past weekend, I have to be able to SEE it, hear it, touch it, smell it, taste it. I saw a house in Lincoln City this past fall that would be perfect. It was beachfront, about 30 feet up (which would be good for tsunami reasons...), with a sturdy staircase down, a large yard with about 60-70 feet between the house and the cliff, a huge patio/deck, two stories, with walls of windows. Or the Neidermeier house in Seaside, where I stayed once (once, because even in the 80's it rented for about $500 per night - we had a group of about 10 people who split the cost for the weekend) - it was huge and had a large beautiful sunroom facing the beach - which was basically the backyard. Truly, it had decks in the back with about 20 feet of grass/sand which blended to the beach. I wonder if it's still there....so much of the Seaside beachfront has been rebuilt with timeshares and hotels. The county library was bequeathed a beach house in Seaside long ago and library employees were able to reserve it on a limited basis. My friend, Sue, used to reserve it and a bunch of us would go there for long weekends - that house was pretty old, but wonderful, and also fronted the beach - I bet they've sold it by now because the library always needs money and that was an incredibly valuable asset. It's too bad if they sold that wonderful old house and a stupid McHotel went up in its place.

Speaking of Seaside, there's a beautiful old boardwalk and turnaround on the beach at the downtown area. It's pretty much a landmark of Seaside, along with the rides and arcades on Broadway leading to the turnaround. Anyway, years ago Camille's grandfather owned that broadwalk/turnaround property, along with other area businessmen. Unfortunately, they sold it years and years ago - long before it became so bustling and famous and valuable. That's a definite "If only..." moment, because that area is worth a fortune now. Here's another beach anecdote from Camille's family: Her mother's family used to own the property where Beverly Beach is now - again, they sold it long ago. But, when her mother was a little girl she was asked to name that beach area and she chose "Beverly" because that was the name of her favorite doll. And Beverly it is to this day. I always thought that was pretty cool.

A Sad Memory

While I was at the beach this past weekend, we drove past the Neahkahnie Mountain area on the highway. This always brings back sad memories because my very closest childhood friend, Terry, died there when we were 14. The mountain rises from the beach to the highway (and on up) and is very steep and treacherous. She was at the beach on a family trip, and she and a friend with them decided to climb the mountain from the beach up to the highway. I have no idea why. Anyway, she made a misstep and fell and died on the scene. I was so crushed. I still have a queasy feeling driving past that area and am always glad to get past. I wish I knew what she was thinking when she decided to climb, but the thing about being 14 is that you never think anything bad is going to happen. But, unfortunately, sometimes it does.

I Almost Forgot - Happy Birthday to ME!

Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy Birthday to ME!
Happy Birthday dear MEEEEE,
Happy Birthday to ME!

and many more.....

Baby Blanket #2

Here's the more non-traditional baby blanket - I love it. The colors are much more vibrant than they show here, but you can get the idea.

In case you care: This was done in Bright & Lofty, Bikini (coral), Beach (turquoise) and Light & Lofty Plum. Single crochet body and basically double crochet ruffle.

Baby Blanket #1

This is my baby blanket number 1, freshly made this weekend. This and the following one, #2, are for a co-worker, Rick, and his wife. They just had twin girls in a month or so ago (they were early - they were originally due in January). Anyway, I hope they like the blankets. I got a bit carried away with this one and made it bigger than #2. It's more crib blanket sized......yes, I'm a dork, I was probably watching TV or something and not paying a bit of attention.

Names and Monikers

Poppy cracked me up today when I saw her blog titled "Nothing to see here." It reminded me of this blog, which has had numerous names..........it started out as "Sunshine Stuff", moved to "Nothing to see here. Move Along.", which then seemed too long so I changed it to "Tossed Salad", but when I saw there were other blogs referencing "tossed my salad" (barf) I decided to change it again, and it became "Cracker Crumbs." Which it stayed for a month or two and then I changed it again to the Purse thing. I'm going to have to eventually settle on a name. Maybe this is it.

Where are the women?

One more little local political tidbit - this is the first time in decades there have been no women on the City Council. Five Men. All politicos. And it shows - it feels dirtier, sneakier and more smarmy than it ever did when there were women in the mix.

Just saying.

Rumors, Politics and Insanity

God, this place has gone insane! There is such a pervasive air of fear and uncertainty in the air around this office that I'm surprised we're not all in the asylum. The whole swirl of rumors regarding the smoking area outside, and who's responsible, and why, and who said what, is effin' crazy!

Then, no one wants to say anything to anybody about anything about the office - they come to me and say "this isn't right - someone should say something" and when I say "do it" they say "not me!" Expecting me to take care of it, I guess. So nobody says anything about anything, but they're all afraid. And in City Hall, everything is so political, and there appear to be so many hidden agendas, and no one's taking responsibility to do what they say and follow through, and the back door deals and apple polishing is enough to drive a sane person over the edge - what a bunch of conservative, small time politicos - doesn't honesty, integrity and ethics mean anything anymore???????????????????????????????? And all that politic-ing and managing-by-fear filters down from City Hall to management to employees, who are hammered with the brunt of it and, believe me, each paycheck is well-earned. Sometimes in blood.

On the other hand, I'm also willing to believe that it is not all caused by City Hall - our managers, from the top down, may have created most of this craziness themselves. In fact, the worst one ever just retired in July, but his legacy of 25 years is so entrenched that it'll take a generation to filter it out - particularly his dislike of minorities (never outright, you understand but funny how they all lost their jobs or quit...hmmmm). (Oh, and the last one he was working on booting out died first.) This man's legacy is one of hidden prejudice and bigotry, unethical budgeting, hidden agendas, outright lying and dishonesty. Women and minorities hated him, men loved him. Guess which side won?

And employees have cause to be alarmed. Because the last person in this office who tried to say something about the inequities around here, in a forum where we were all asked outright to feel free to ask questions and make comments, and did so, was soundly slapped after the meeting and basically told to shut up or be fired. What the hell? And many of those who slapped her down were her fellow employees! There are people who still hold a grudge against her for speaking up and saying what many of us were thinking. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

No - make that fear, fear, fear.

Holiday Monday and Baby Blankets

Horray for 3-day holiday weekends! Even though I didn't do a damn thing, it was great having the day off yesterday.

We were late getting in to work today because my carpooler accidently slept in - I called her at 8:10 am to see if she was on the way and her husband had just woken her. So we didn't get in until 9:15 or so - I'm taking a short break now (it's about 10:45) in lieu of going outside for a smoke.....

Rose and I went to the yarn store on Saturday, and I bought enough yarn to crochet a baby blanket for a guy here at work whose wife just had twins. Maime and I thought we'd each make something for them so I picked a blanket. Not an ordinary baby blanket - I dislike the "baby pastels" that are so common for baby colors - why pick a color for a baby that the baby can't even see and, when they're old enough to see it, they are not attracted to it?? S0, this blanket is bright - it's purple, coral and turquoise, each with bits of other colors blended in, and you can see it a mile away. I'll post a pic when it's done. Although, I think I'll need to scoot back to the store to get another skein of the turquoise because I'll need it to finish the edges. I'm about half done - and it's very cool, I'd like to make an adult-size throw in these yarns.

Years ago, I started to make a crocheted blanket using pink, purple, lavendar and white in granny squares. I remember I had completed a paper bag full of squares, but I don't remember if I still have them or the yarn. I sort of vaguely remember that I thought I'd give them to my cousin in Roseberg to finish into a blanket or throw because she loves those colors, but I can't remember if I actually did that or not. I'll have to enter the nightmare room sometime and try to clean it. Maybe I'll run across this bag of completed squares and yarn - if so, they would at least make a small throw, child's blanket or baby blanket that I can donate to the hospital or something. They're always happy to get stuff like that.

Gosh, I'm boring.

Concerts #6 (oops, I lost count)

I think it's #6.

Anyway, here very briefly are some country concerts I went to. Yeee-Haw!

Johnny Cash - very good. LOVED Johnny

Waylon Jennings - Excellent; he had a real tight band with him and, his wife, Jesse Colter, came out and sang a couple of songs with him.

Juice Newton - good show. Upbeat.

Dave & Sugar - ummmmmm, harmonious? Had some decent hits.

Already mentioned Roy Orbison, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton...................

Vince Gill - love the effortless tenor. Good show.

What I've noticed: Vince Gill and Dolly Parton both sing lots of duets with other singers - and their voices are so good they can make anybody sound like a star. If I was a singer and I needed to duet with somebody, I'd see if Vince or Dolly were available.....

I think my next Concerts entry will be "Who I WISH I'd Seen in Concert"

I'll think on this country one later - gotta go for now.

What Did You Say?

This sounded right when I said it - until my friend laughed at me.

Me, last night on the phone: " I think I need to have to want to go to the bathroom."

My Eyes! My EYES!

Ok, here's one.

I just got back from break a few minutes ago. Maime had to leave early so I was sitting by myself, working on the Times crossword puzzle and minding my own business. It's about 45 degrees out there and (of course) raining. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone rushing up the steps toward me, so I glanced up and saw a 30-year old woman with her water bill in her hand, obviously dropping it off to make her deadline. But, what I mostly saw was a muffin top - while I was assimilating that one, in January, she rushed past me and, even worse, from behind I saw whale tail.

If I'd looked closer I'd probably have seen camel toe, too.

Jaysus!
Where are the Fashion Police when you really need them?

P.S. Who comes up with these names, anyway? They're descriptive but icky.

Edited a couple of says later to say that, 1) I feel bad for making fun of this woman but she was kind of asking for it by dressing so WRONG and, 2) to give you a better idea of her dress - she was wearing a tight, black, midriff-baring t-shirt, and very tight, low-rise jeans. She was overweight just enough to make her clothes fit too small and, except for the black marks noted above, she looked nice. Oh, and her thong was blue.

Rain, Rain Go Away/Falling Trees

Another rain report from the soggy northwest: It's wet. It's staying wet. And it'll get wetter. We've been promised at least six more days of solid rain, and that limit is probably just because the forecasters can't see any further ahead. But I'm betting it'll be more rain.

More trees fell on houses yesterday, creeks are still flooding, although some started to recede yesterday during a brief afternoon dry spell, and the Willamette River has overshot its banks in some areas south of here creating even more flooding. I just heard there's a large mud and debris landslide across the Historic Columbia River Highway. Although that's not really uncommon when it gets ridiculously wet. And parts of US 101 along the coast have washed away or have landslides - I don't think it sounded too serious, though, so I hope none of this is going to stop me from being able to get to the beach next weekend.

Hey, I should tell you about the Big Windstorm of 1996, which caused three of their neighbor's trees to fall at my parents house. It was windy, wet and blowy. Mom and Dad and my brother, Steve, were home, and Dad decided to move the car further up the street where there were fewer trees - just in case. He parked, walked back to the house, and while he was still standing across the street in front of their house watching the weather, several things happened all at once. One huge fir tree fell straight across the length of the roof of the house, one huge fir tree fell completely across the front yard and, while he was watching those two trees fall across the house and yard, a third tree was falling directly toward him. He didn't see it until it fell on him. Luckily, he was not badly hurt, but they didn't know that until after the neighbors called the police and an ambulance, and they came and got him out from under the tree and rushed him to the hospital to check him out (after all, he was 76 years old and had just been hit by a giant falling tree) and he was released that evening with just bumps and bruises. Very lucky guy. The next day The Oregonian (major newspaper in the area) carried a lovely photo of the house surrounded by fallen trees.

Here's a phone call I don't want to get again: "Honey, this is mom. I'm calling to tell you that a tree fell on your dad and he's at the hospital." Me: "WHAT???"

Rant, Rain and Chinese Food

Sorry about that little rant yesterday. It's just that it's bad enough that we all sit in cubicles with so little privacy, and then to have certain people sneak around behind you when they come over so they can see what you're doing on the computer just frosts me. Grrr. What do they think? They'll "catch" me doing something? I don't know. So, instead of standing at the corner of my desk and letting me know they're there ("a-hem") they sneak to my back where I can't see them and stand there breathing over my shoulder. It's one of my pet peeves. And it seems to be very deliberate, which makes it worse. I never to that to anyone.

Anyway, it's been raining so hard and for so long here that the rivers and creeks are starting to flood, some roads have washed away, there've been landslides and houses losing their footing. It's crazy. You know it's been raining a lot when you can no longer trust the ground you're walking on to be solid and stay in place. And then, last night was funny because it was windy too. I ordered Chinese food at about 7:00 and sat down to wait ("South Park" was on in case you're interested; that really awful one with Cartman and Scott Peterman, the swindling of $16 from Cartman, pubes, the horse and the weenie, Radiohead, and the chili-cookoff - not my favorite because of the whole eating the parents thing at the end - ick. That episode is Cartman at his worst.). But it was windy and I kept hearing noises on the porch, and banging on the door, and I got up and checked to see if the food was there at least six times before it actually came. Sit down, is that the door?, walk over and check, no, go back and sit down, is that the door?, walk over and check, no, go back and sit down........you get the idea. And when the food finally came the delivery guy was so thrilled that my porch light was on and my address was visible - he must have been having a very hard night. By the way, the food was excellent. Barbecue pork and lemon chicken last night and, for tonight, chicken lo mein and wraps. yum yummmm.

How Ruuude!

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK OVER SHOULDER WHEN YOU'RE ON THE COMPUTER AT WORK? BACK THE FUCK OFF!!! ASSHOLE.

The Crisis is Over

I'm back. It's been crazy at work. Budget time is always nuts but the first round is done! We'll see what happens next. It won't be pretty.

Dr. Bob - outsider art

Dr Bob is a folk artist - website at http://drbobart.net/

He's in New Orleans - I hope he made it through Katrina OK. Anyway, I saw him a few times in Jackson Square and thought his art looked pretty cool, but who wants to carry art home on a plane (Art who?), so I didn't get any. Then a year ago or so I found out that my friend Louie - http://www.thejukejoint.com/ was selling Dr Bob's artwork through his website, so I bought one.

This pic is terrible - it was taken at night with not enough light so the color is all washed out - I'll try to get a better one.

Hey, I used two links in this message - I hope they work. This might become a real blog!

Edited to say that on Louie's website he says that Dr. Bob stayed in New Orleans in his 9th Ward home, and guarded his neighborhood against looters. I've seen pics of the devastation in the 9th Ward and am amazed that he was able to stay as some of it was pretty hard hit. Anyway, he was armed and ready and on guard, and I'm so glad to hear that he made it through OK.

The Better Part of Valor

We have a coffee club here at work. Members pay $15 per month for coffee and someone collects the monthly dues and makes sure coffee is always available. Not freshly made, just available to be made. I've been a member for a year or so.

So, around the first of November I took notice that I was buying most of my coffee at Starbuck's across the street and not from the coffee club. I decided not to renew that month, ran into the coffee guru guy in the lunchroom, gave him cash for the coffee I was getting that morning and told him I quit the club.

Then? I got an invoice at the end of December saying that I owe $30 for Nov and Dec. I emailed him and reminded him that I quit the club in November. He didn't remember and told me he'd remove me from the late list. Then this morning I get another, much more terse, reminder that I owe $30 to the coffee club. I did not want to be the bad guy....

So I paid it.

And that's the end because the coffee club is now disbanded. They ran it into debt. Interesting, huh?

There's really no point to this note expect to say that I'm patting myself on the back for rising above the pointless argument I could have started.

I Think, Therefore I'm Different

Constantly adjusting your thinking is key when working with a diverse group of people.

It took me years to figure out that everybody at work really IS different. Everybody has different expectations and desires. They each have different cultures, backgrounds and values. We learn all this stuff in classes and seminars. But, guess what? The biggest mind-blower of all? Not everyone THINKS like me.

This seems like a big "duh!" when I write it, but it's something that I'm still learning and exploring and it's taken awhile to adjust my expectations of other people to understand that what I perceive about them, or think they need or mean or understand, and the thought processes which have led them to where they are, are different than mine.

On the surface, this seems like a gimme, and people have made a lot of money expounding similar shit in "group sessions", "conflict resolution", "assertiveness training", or other modern euphanisms for common sense. But actually making it work is difficult, and it's a gigantic leap from using different problem-solving processes I learn in a class or from a book to the realization that my actual thoughts are different. Not just the thought processes, but my thinking and thoughts themselves are unique. And I see over and over again where people don't understand why they don't agree with someone else or even realize where their differences lie. And, in the end, it doesn't matter because 9 times out of 10 I'm just going to have to come to the realization that I am the one who needs to adjust or we'll just keep butting heads. And adjusting is so much easier when I've had the epiphany and the realization that the other person is never seeing exactly the same problem, let alone the same process or solution, that I see. They haven't thought the same thoughts to reach the conclusion I have reached.

It's impossible to explain........and it's a miracle when I see and feel it for myself. It's like a subtle "click" in my brain and I suddenly understand someone so much better than I did one minute ago. It's cool to realize this - the learned gift of being able to empathize or understand someone else's THINKING just a little bit, and just the realization that they THINK DIFFERENTLY FROM ME.

Here's what I know:

My thoughts are 100% unique to me. And 100% of the time I am not thinking exactly what you are thinking, even if we're both working on the same problem.

And if this makes no sense to you at all then that just illustrates my point - because it makes sense to me!

Either way, it tastes the same.

All right, yes, I know. "Margarita" is spelled wrong below.........it didn't look right when I wrote it but I was too lazy at the time to check out the old American Heritage.

Normally, I would not feel guilty about spelling it wrong in a blog which no one but me reads, but Poppy has made me hyper-sensitive to these things.

And, YES, I also know that I dangle participles, split infinitives, and do all the other things that copy editors abhor - but, you know what? Sometimes it just sounds better to leave that participle dangling around, and that infinitive split in an ear-pleasing manner.

Just what the hell is a "participle" anyway? Here's what the dictionary says:

"participle: a nominal form of a verb that is used with an auxiliary verb to indicate certain tenses and that can also function independently as an adjective."

I don't know about anyone else, but I still don't know. What it is. A participle.

The Holidays Recapped

Well, here's the dish on the real excitement around my house during the holidays...heh heh.

We had a bunch of friends and family over on Christmas Eve and had a present exchange, ate lots of food, and goofed around. Mom, Dad, Steve then came over on Christmas Morning and we opened family presents. I cooked a HUGE breakfast, which we didn't have until about noon, so we skipped Christmas dinner this year. That was kind of weird but very good for all of us who eat way too much during the holidays. Then I had the following week off on vacation, which was nice but I had nothing planned so I kind of just lazed around the house watching TV. It was actually pretty fun, but I didn't do all the things I had sort of wanted to do - like clean out closets and stuff.

New Years Eve was very quiet - my cousin Rose came over. She and I went to the liquor store, bought tequila and margaurita mix and had ooh-la-la margauritas (mine were strawberry, mmmmm). Then she, Ken and I went to the video poker place we like to go to and we played poker with the "regulars" and toasted midnight with champagne they provided. I felt like a dork because I forgot to take some candy we'd set out to take with us, and everyone else had brought food, but...oh, well... I was not going to play because we kind of sprung this on Rosie and she didn't have any money, but greed got the better of me and I decided to just play a $20. Then, imagine my surprise when, about three hands into Joker Poker, it DEALT me FIVE QUEENS! That's $600.00, guys. Dealt it to me! I was surprised but collected my money and kept playing. Lightning didn't strike twice, darn, but it was fun. I gave Rosie some $$ to play with and we played the machines for awhile. I brought home only half of my winnings, but I didn't mind because it gave us a good cushion for playing the rest of the night, so I'm sure glad I won it. Then we came home, she spent the night, we had breakfast the next morning, and hung around the house. Overall, in respect to many other New Year's Eves, it was pretty darn quiet.

Free Chili!

Several weeks ago, I said I'd tell you the story about Camille and me and the "free chili from Wendy's." This is one of those things that are hysterically funny in real life, but I’m not sure how it translates when written. So, use your imagination when you envision this:

Camille and I had been to a show at the Airport Sheraton Hotel. We had seen Vince Vance and the Valiant; in fact we saw VVV at least once during every weekend they were in town. Yes, we were groupies. They were a typical lounge band, with lots of pop music and comedy skits, and after the first couple of times it was really fun to just sit back and watch the crowd. Vince Vance had a moderate hit with "Bomb Iran" set to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann". But I digress.

So, we went to the show, left at midnight or so, and on the way home discovered we were hungry. Wendy's drive-thru was the only place open that late so we decided to stop in and get something to take home. Our problem started when we realized that we were REALLY HUNGRY (too much alcohol and a bit of pot can do that to you) and we were giggling and scheming about how we could get enough food for the two of us without seeming like pigs to the window cashier. So, while waiting in line to get to the window, we made up a story about "George and the kids", who were waiting at home for their Wendy's and we, of course, were just out on an errand to get food for a whole houseful of people. At midnight. OK, maybe we didn't think it through all the way.

We got to the window, we faked our story about what George wanted, and how many hamburgers to get the kids, and what did WE wanted....we decided WE wanted a taco salad, since neither of us had eaten Wendy's taco salad before - remember though that we were also eating all the fries and hamburgers and drinks that we were getting for the rest of the (non-existent) family. The bill came to almost $20..........and we congratulated ourselves for getting away with buying scads of food via the fake family story and no one being the wiser that we were going to eat it all ourselves. As if the kid at the window even cared, but for some reason it seemed very important at the time.

We got home, dived into the food and, there, right on top of the first bag we opened, we discovered two lovely bowls of chili. We knew we had ordered a lot of food, but we had NOT ordered chili.

Camille was excited. "Look! They gave us chili!"

"We didn’t order chili," I stated the obvious.

Simultaneously it hit us: "THEY MADE A MISTAKE!!! They gave us FREE CHILI!!!"

"EAT IT NOW before they discover they made a mistake."

Convinced that the cashier at Wendy's would somehow track us down and demand back the chili that had mistakenly been placed in our bags of food, we found the sporks and scarfed down the chili without wasting another minute.

When the chili was gone and the bowls were licked clean, we resumed unpacking. Amid the hamburgers and French fries, we found two salads.

"Salad?!? We didn't order salad! Camille, did you order plain SALAD?"

"No, we ordered TACO salad. Not SALAD. Where’s the TACO salad?"

We looked in the bags again and sorted through the food. No taco salad was found - just plain green, lettuce salad.

"Where's the damned TACO SALAD??? We ordered taco salad! All we have is plain green salad!"

Indignant that Wendy's would cheat us and give us plain salad, when we'd ordered TACO salad, we were both working up a good head of steam, and swearing we'd never go to Wendy's again because they give you PLAIN SALAD when you ordered TACO SALAD and it was such a rip-off........when I remembered the "free chili."

"Hey, Camille, do you think that chili was supposed to go ON the salad to make taco salad?" I wondered.

She started to give me her "you're crazy" look, and then comprehension dawned. We'd already scarfed down the "taco" part of the taco salad when we ate our free chili, and the plain salad was the "salad" part of the taco salad and we didn't even want that part now.

We started laughing again about our free chili and our plain salad and to this day that's one of the silliest, funniest, and best memories I have.

Ugh. I'm Back.

This is so pathetic. I do not want to be here at work. I took 10 days off for the holidays and today come back to complete disinterest in doing my job. I can’t even sit here and pretend interest while looking at CNN or Yahoo because the internet is down. How is that possible? Access to the internet, which is vital to so many of our jobs in so many ways, is completely down. I think my group got screwed when our IT functions were taken over by the “main office”, when we had our own IT staff we had a much better system and it worked. It WORKED. When we complain about the lousy new service, we always hear that we “had it so good in the past that we’re spoiled” – yeah, we’re spoiled. We’re spoiled by a system that worked and wasn’t down all the time. Jeez – why in the world would we expect our programs and equipment to actually work? We must really be spoiled – such high expectations…

Anyway, Welcome Back to me……snerk.

Going back to work tomorrow.

Going back to work tomorrow. ick. I could sure get used to freedom. Had a great vacation.