I don't know...

I don't know why it is that every time you see people you hadn't seen in a while the first thing they notice about you is your weight. I don't know how people can be so crass and nervy enough to comment on someone's weight. I don't know how anyone can be so brazen as to even recommend diet supplements! The nerve! I wonder if, after their comments of 'my, you've gained weight!' you answer back with 'my, you're still ugly as ever!' I kick myself later for not having a ready retort at the time. I just get dumbfounded by the rudeness of it all.

I'm just talkin' that's all.

Taz Mode

This week, and today in particular, I am in taz mode. My office knows when taz mode is on because it usually happens before my vacations, and in this week's case, because the interns are coming next week!

Signs that I am in taz mode:

I barely answer in complete sentences.
I don't really hear anything anybody is saying especially if unrelated my present mission.
My desk is a mess, but don't you dare touch anything!
The coffee pot must remain full all day. Don't dare turn it off at noon or you're dead!
No lunch, thank you. Just coffee, lots of coffee.
Me squinting at my screen
Me slouched in front of my computer screen

There's probably more anti-social manifestations of taz mode, but I'm not aware of them :-P

It doesn't help either that my SS reservations come through today and I have until noon to finish them. grrr!

Get Paid To Blog

Many of us got into blogging for personal reasons. Not many of us originally set out just to make money from writing bits and pieces about ourselves online. It just so happened that lately, non-professional bloggers like myself have been given a chance to make a little money while we do our usual blogging and bloghopping on the web. That's not a sin, is it? I for one have been enjoying the benefits of making a little extra cash from doing my usual ramblings on the blog. What could be sweeter?

Well, apparently, some people on the world wide web don't think we have the right to do what we want on our blogs and would dictate what we can and cannot make money on. At first, like many other bloggers, I was angry. But now, I just don't give a rats behind anymore. I am not removing any tags or links on my blogs just because someone said so. AND YES, I GET PAID FOR REVIEWS AND YES I DO SELL LINKS ON THIS BLOG! If you want to buy some, just let me know ;)

Blech!! I never cared about ranks and stats before anyway, so there!

A Fairy Tale

I remember a time when Sears was THE Store. My step-dad worked there and retired from there. We grew up using Sears products, wearing Sears clothing, hell, we practically lived at the store! But they weren’t THE Store because my step-dad worked there and enjoyed the employee discount on all our purchases; there was actually a time when Sears was THE store where you can get great quality merchandise and excellent customer service.

Read the rest on Found Not Lost

You can also read about:
Ginger In Our Backyard

Learned Something New

Happy Monday!! Yesterday, i was helping hubby with his paperwork. I was designing a new brochure for his art work using Microsoft Publisher. It looked great if I do say so myself. I printed out one copy and except for a few minor changes, it looked really good. So I go back to the application only to make some minor edits and wouldn't you know it, it got caught in some weird glitch and my whole afternoon's work (about five hours worth) was gone!! Looked as I might, I just couldn't find it. I even 'searched' the whole hard drive. Gone. Just the whole file just vanished into think air.

I wanted to scream!! I wanted to close the blinds and sit in the dark and wail. But, that wouldn't have been so mommy like, so instead, I picked up my book and took it outside in the garden and settled down under the tree. I stayed there until it was time to get ready for dinner. We ate, then I finally went and faced the monster of a PC again. Guess what, I found the file!!

Just in case you are ever working with Publisher and it suddenly tells you it can't save your file because you don't have enough memory and then proceeds to obliviate your file, look in your C: drive and look for a file similarly named pub4S.tmp. If you open that with Publisher, you may just recover your lost file! Amazing what comes to mind when you just pull away from a frustrating situation, huh?

Rant. Don't read.

Allow me to rant for two minutes, and I'll bury this rant under a paid advertisement.

Now I have a co-worker who is of equal if not higher rank than I am. She is not my direct supervisor, however. She is a computer programmer, I am not. She works in the next office to mine. I try very hard to be nice to everyone, and help out whenever I can...

But why does this woman stick her head in my office everyday to tell me about a computer related problem she is dealing with when she knows full well I know nothing about it?!! Now, I understand if she was just venting because her job is frustrating her...but she would always ask me, can you look at this? Or, look at me like I can solve it for her. What can I do?

Sometimes, she would send me an email to help explain to a customer a technical problem (She has a bit of a problem expressing herself in English). So I do this for her even though it really isn't a part of my job description. But the irritating part is, about a week later she will come back to me and say, remember that guy I told you to email? Yeah? What was his name again? I don't know, why don't you look in your 'sent' folder? I can't remember his name!

These exchanges really make my eyelids twitch, and I have to try really hard not to sound mean or sarcastic, but GEEESHHH!!!!! (replace word in capitals with expletive of your choice)

Right, now, I just feel like screaming.

The world is too small for me and Paris

Normally, I can't stand looking at, hearing about, reading about, or talking about Paris Hilton. She is just not worth a second of my time. So what am I here doing blogging about it you say? Because I can't freaking get away from IT that's why!!!!

Everyone is talking about this little nit wit who has not done anything worthwhile with her slick ass butt and how the even sorrier system can't even keep her in jail for the token sentence she has to serve.

I had already heard that she got out of jail yesterday while I was at work. I didn't get any details though, just as I didn't get any details either when whe was on trial and was sentenced to jail. I'm just not interested and couldn't care less.

Then I go home from working all day and what do I come home to? Paris all over the TV!! My daughter, who knows how I just have no patience for this garbage, siddles up to me and says, "Paris got out of jail. Guess why?". Rolling my eyes, I say "Why?" She goes, "She got a rash and had a mental breakdown" pause........longer pause because I'm just sitting in bed looking at her with my 'what do I care' look. Then "Bwahahahaha!!!!!" Well duh, people who go to jail get and just get a rash and mental anguish are called princesses! Regular people go through much worse for lesser offenses. Give me a break! Besides, she probably brought that freaking rash with her and infected the jail with it.

So all night long, they kept poking their head in my room to give me snippets of why Paris was let out of jail. Comedy central had a blast last night. If she doesn't do anything else with her sorry life, at least Paris Hilton can say she gave plenty of materials to standups and talk show hosts. For me, I went to sleep.

My Cup Runneth Over

I really love connecting and re-connecting with my family and friends but sometimes it can be so tiring! I think as I got older, I became more adept at avoiding negativity especially coming from friends and acquaintances. I’m having difficulty with family. That’s how it usually is with family though. I understand that. They are not as easy to just let go.

As much as I love having friends, superficial friends are usually very easy for me to let go without even missing a breath. I had a friend that I liked very much when I was still single. We did a lot of partying together and just had fun times. I wouldn’t put her in the category of close and intimate though, just party and fun friend. When the time came for me to get married, my true friends and most of my family were supportive of my decision and my choice. When I announced my plans to this friend she made one simple and glib comment: “oh, but your house will become dark now”. No, she wasn’t lamenting the end of my bachelorhood; it was a sly reference to the fact that I was marrying someone who is black. No, I didn’t get mad at her then, I didn’t bother trying to change her mind either. I just made that be the last of our conversation.

While visiting the Philippines the other month, a matter of fact comment was made that has stuck with me since like an itch I couldn’t scratch. While going through the ritual of catching up; asking how is so and so, and how are they doing, where they live now, how many kids, etc. Out of nowhere, someone commented rather casually to me, “I heard Sister O is the luckiest of all you three”. Huh? Now I have never very been very quick on the uptake and it usually takes underhanded comments to sink in with me, so this time was no different. I suppose I should have asked for clarification what they meant by that comment. But, knowing the source, I can only deduce that by ‘lucky’ she meant ‘wealthy’. So I said, “if you mean that she has the bigger house and the bigger bank account, then I suppose yes, she is the luckiest” and left if at that. Now I wish I hadn’t.


I wish I had said that all three of us were lucky. We’re lucky because we are still alive and relatively healthy. We’re lucky because we have been blessed with square shoulders for our normal sized heads to sit on. We’re lucky because even when we’ve been unlucky in life, we never used it as an excuse to hurt someone else. We’re lucky because even though we don’t have riches, what little blessings we have in our life we earned by honest means. We are lucky we were blessed with bright and independent minds that do not need validation from others. We are lucky that we genuinely love each other as sisters. We are lucky that we are surrounded by people who love us and accept us for the people that we have become.

I wish I had said all that and more, but I didn’t. I sat there and agreed because I didn’t want to be rude. But I should have, because the more I think about it, it was rather crass. Maybe I am a bit defensive too, that I didn’t get picked to be the ‘lucky’ one in their eyes. I hope not.

I hope I am not that shallow, because I do consider myself quite lucky. Nevermind that my house isn’t as big, my cup still runneth over. The third stanza to this poem sounds like it was written with me in mind.

DRINKING FROM MY SAUCER

I've never made a fortune
And it's probably too late now,
But I don't worry about that much,
I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's journey
I'm reaping better than I sowed
and I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Don't have a lot of riches,
And sometimes the going's tough.
But I got three kids that love me
And that makes me rich enough.

I just thank God for his blessings,
And the mercies He's bestowed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Oh, I Remember times when things went wrong
And my faith got a little bit thin,
But then all at once the dark clouds broke,
And that old sun peeked through again.

So Lord, help me not to gripe
About the tough roads that I've hoed.
I'm drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

And if God gives me strength and courage,
When the way grows steep and rough.
I'll not ask for other blessings,
I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy,
To help another bear his load
Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer,
'Cause my cup has overflowed.

Written and copyrighted
by
John Paul Moore in 1970