Right now, I could really go for a ritter sport. It's dark chocolate with whole hazelnuts...German chocolate...yum-my! It's my favorite of the moment. It's 210 calories per serving and it contains 4 servings. I'm usu able to control my self and stick to 1 but no more than 1 1/2 servings at a time. Well after I read what the serving size was/amt of calories :)
For you chocolate lovers out there looking for something new - check out the Ritter Sport site.
No chocolate for me for a while. Or nuts for that matter. Both tend to aggravate my asthma especially when it's out of control. Saw my doc yesterday and she incr my dosage of flovent(my controller medication that I take twice/day to keep my asthma in check). So I'm going to see if that helps knock out whatever it is that's caused me to wheeze/need my emergency inhaler(albuterol) almost every day for the past 12 days. Sadly, no antibiotics as I'd hoped. I can understand why...I've not been bringing up anything and when my nose runs, it's clear...no antibiotics for me :(. I always feel like they would be great to get but my docs are never free with prescribing them to me. Maybe I feel that way b/c the few times I've taken them, I went from feeling like crap to feeling great within a couple days. She thinks it's fine for me to go workout as long as I take my albuterol before. I haven't felt like going to the gym at all. That's not a new feeling, I feel like that all the time but have still managed to go anyway. No more excuses though. Definitely hitting the gym tomorrow. Don't know if I'm up for boxing class though but I might as well get back into the swing of things. My muscles have lost most of the definition they had before my holiday in Dec. I want that back.
Have my 6mth dental cleaning tomorrow. Lately my teeth have been really sensitive. At first it was just the 2 adjoining teeth that my dentist filled about 6mths ago. They never really lost their sensitivity. this is why I can't enjoy many things I used to like to munch on - no hard pretzels, tostitos are almost bearable if I eat only on one side, potato chips. Tonight was really bad, they were really achy all through my dinner - I call it the anti-gym dinner i.e. Popeye's spicy chicken with Cajun fries. Don't even want to think about the calories there. I barely enjoyed it, my teeth were weirded out the whole time, no matter what side I tried to chew on. I've tried sensitive toothpaste and it seemed to help for a while but tonight's the worst it's been-almost too sensitive for me to brush...the horror! I hope the dentist has something useful to give me to fix this.
Wednesday, January 31
Saturday, January 27
These are the funniest things I've heard - these talking-ring-tones. if you are only going to listen to one then you must check out Snoop's.
Don't know if I'd actually want one of these on my phone but still funny all the same.
Went to see Catch & Release today. I loved it, sad but really cool movie. It was less cutesy/cliched than I expected it to be. Worth seeing.
Don't know if I'd actually want one of these on my phone but still funny all the same.
Went to see Catch & Release today. I loved it, sad but really cool movie. It was less cutesy/cliched than I expected it to be. Worth seeing.
Thursday, January 25
is it friday yet?
It's been a rough week. Sun night I felt like I was coming down with something dire - took some cold medicine. Woke up in the middle of wee hours coughing/wheezing - not good at all. So I took my inhaler and tried to get back to sleep. Oh did I sleep...until 9:30am...Monday! Woke up groggily, my mind in a fog, wheezing again and coughing. Took more medicine, called in sick and spent most of the day in bed.
Went in to work the rest of the week. Still have residual cold crap going on in my lungs. Been on my inhaler all week 3-4x/day. Only needed it once today but probably need to take it before I go to bed (so I don't wake up at 2am wheezing). My hands are not quite shaking yet but they feel weird - pre-shaky...side effects from my albuterol inhaler.
Plus in addition to feeling under the weather all week, my new supervisor has been a pain in my side all week. Today was the worst though and several times times I came close to telling him to "leave me the eff alone" or "for feck's sake, give me a break" or "must you be up under my arse all the time". Normally I would not even be close to saying such things to my supervisor. I wanted to ask him to back off, let me do my job and when I had results I would let him know. I did this reaction and it was quite slow - I was actually repeating one I did before that still wasn't complete after 4days. yet he expected to see it done after 1 day. So he kept asking me - literally every 5min - to check it using different systems. It was not freaking finished, no matter how many times I checked it, I had done it before. He kept questioning me about the spot on my TLC that was my product - I knew which one it is b/c he's made me repeat similar reactions to make the same product 6 times. I know where the damn thing is by now. He was not convinced. Then I ran a purification on some other material I had and was trying to find a system that would let me differentiate between the product I wanted and the by-product I didn't want. This sometimes takes time. SO I was trying different methods and did find one that worked well enough for me to identify my stuff. This man was acting like I'd never purified/identified/isolated a product before.
I have only been working there 4 1/2 years. I have only shipped 30-50 compounds a year - all pure. Purified by me. Isolated by me. Analyzed by me. Somehow I managed to do that without having him up under my arse. NOW it seems that I must be too incompetent to accomplish it now. I just got really quiet. I spoke to F and she said I should probably talk to his supervisor about him. I didn't want to do that b/c I know I need to address it with him first before I think of doing that. I was at my wits end today and had to tell someone - normally I would keep all this to myself.
He must have picked up on my anger...either that or he heard me complaining to F or someone else heard me and told him or it may have been my fervent prayers that I could keep my mouth shut and not say all the things going through my head to him directly. Whatever it was, after pestering me all day....from 3pm till I left he was suddenly not around - even when I was looking for him to give him an update when I finally had results. He seemed to almost be avoiding me. Doesn't matter what it was, I'm just glad I got through today without losing it completely.
Skipped the gym all week - that must be part of the reason why he got to me all this week and today especially...not being able to vent in boxing class...no endorphin- high from the exercise. I've been wheezing/coughing too much this week. I didn't want to chance it getting worse than it is. Hopefully, this crap will be out of my system soon and life can get back to normal.
Bed for me now, really tired.
Went in to work the rest of the week. Still have residual cold crap going on in my lungs. Been on my inhaler all week 3-4x/day. Only needed it once today but probably need to take it before I go to bed (so I don't wake up at 2am wheezing). My hands are not quite shaking yet but they feel weird - pre-shaky...side effects from my albuterol inhaler.
Plus in addition to feeling under the weather all week, my new supervisor has been a pain in my side all week. Today was the worst though and several times times I came close to telling him to "leave me the eff alone" or "for feck's sake, give me a break" or "must you be up under my arse all the time". Normally I would not even be close to saying such things to my supervisor. I wanted to ask him to back off, let me do my job and when I had results I would let him know. I did this reaction and it was quite slow - I was actually repeating one I did before that still wasn't complete after 4days. yet he expected to see it done after 1 day. So he kept asking me - literally every 5min - to check it using different systems. It was not freaking finished, no matter how many times I checked it, I had done it before. He kept questioning me about the spot on my TLC that was my product - I knew which one it is b/c he's made me repeat similar reactions to make the same product 6 times. I know where the damn thing is by now. He was not convinced. Then I ran a purification on some other material I had and was trying to find a system that would let me differentiate between the product I wanted and the by-product I didn't want. This sometimes takes time. SO I was trying different methods and did find one that worked well enough for me to identify my stuff. This man was acting like I'd never purified/identified/isolated a product before.
I have only been working there 4 1/2 years. I have only shipped 30-50 compounds a year - all pure. Purified by me. Isolated by me. Analyzed by me. Somehow I managed to do that without having him up under my arse. NOW it seems that I must be too incompetent to accomplish it now. I just got really quiet. I spoke to F and she said I should probably talk to his supervisor about him. I didn't want to do that b/c I know I need to address it with him first before I think of doing that. I was at my wits end today and had to tell someone - normally I would keep all this to myself.
He must have picked up on my anger...either that or he heard me complaining to F or someone else heard me and told him or it may have been my fervent prayers that I could keep my mouth shut and not say all the things going through my head to him directly. Whatever it was, after pestering me all day....from 3pm till I left he was suddenly not around - even when I was looking for him to give him an update when I finally had results. He seemed to almost be avoiding me. Doesn't matter what it was, I'm just glad I got through today without losing it completely.
Skipped the gym all week - that must be part of the reason why he got to me all this week and today especially...not being able to vent in boxing class...no endorphin- high from the exercise. I've been wheezing/coughing too much this week. I didn't want to chance it getting worse than it is. Hopefully, this crap will be out of my system soon and life can get back to normal.
Bed for me now, really tired.
Sunday, January 21
turtle turtle turtle
I got a book on turtles from the library. I think I still want one. I was talking to C&T about how I want one but was waiting until
a)I'm sure I can actually touch them
b)learn how to set up tank/what food to feed/etc and
c)I can afford to get all the stuff - tank/heater/filter/UV lamp
Well, they have a whole set up they don't use anymore - aquarium/heater/filter that they are looking to give away and they said I could have them if I wanted it.
Maybe it's not such a great idea - I can use gloves to change their poopy water so that'll help. Plus you're not supposed to handle turtles more than necessary so I think it'll be ok.
My mission this week: to go to an actual pet store and see if I can touch the things.
Plus I need to decide where I'm going to get them from. The guy at work who offered me one of his turtles-which I would rename Houdini b/c he routinely escapes from his tank and goes walkabout. They usu find him days later in a corner of the house. I think I want my first real pet to be less troublesome than that.
a)I'm sure I can actually touch them
b)learn how to set up tank/what food to feed/etc and
c)I can afford to get all the stuff - tank/heater/filter/UV lamp
Well, they have a whole set up they don't use anymore - aquarium/heater/filter that they are looking to give away and they said I could have them if I wanted it.
Maybe it's not such a great idea - I can use gloves to change their poopy water so that'll help. Plus you're not supposed to handle turtles more than necessary so I think it'll be ok.
My mission this week: to go to an actual pet store and see if I can touch the things.
Plus I need to decide where I'm going to get them from. The guy at work who offered me one of his turtles-which I would rename Houdini b/c he routinely escapes from his tank and goes walkabout. They usu find him days later in a corner of the house. I think I want my first real pet to be less troublesome than that.
prom aka company party
Went to my work holiday party last night. I carpooled with C&T, it was easy b/c they only live a couple minutes from me so I drove over to their house and we left from their. This was great b/c I was certain I was going to get lost on my way there - I always do whenever I have to go to that town. My own personal Bermuda triangle.
It was so freaking cold last night - not the best night to be in a skirt. The shoes I meant to wear work great without tights but were not easy to walk in without, especially with snow/ice on the ground. So I had to use the second pair I bought which worked just as well and looked great with tights. I was still cold though. By the end of the night my feet were killing me but they stilled looked cute though :)
If you want pics, email me and I'll send them. Don't want to post them.
It was a fun night. The DJ played quite a mix. Not that I danced though. I never dance at these things - I like to keep social life separate from work life so no dancing in front of managers and other section heads.
We got pictures taken by magnet-man. They hire a professional photographer who takes as many pics as you want, groups/singles/couples/etc and he puts them on magnets. They make copies for every person in each picture. Kinda cool and totally free. The food was good. I have 5 such magnets. The food - pasta, roast beef(skipped those), international table with mostly fried foods like samosas, fish cakes, veggie rolls; also stuffed grape leaves. I ate all the fried thingies twice and also had several grape leaves things. Maybe too much b/c my stomach made much noise last night and this morning. At least it wasn't bad enough that it made me ill though so that was a relief. There was also desserts upstairs which I'd have saved more room for if I'd thought of it before I got my 3rd plate of fried things.
I still managed to scarf down 3 mini cheesecakes, 1 mini tiramisu (which I don't even like much) and 1 mini pumpkin pie. Also had a glass of wine and 1 cosmopolitan. After that I figured I'd had enough and called it quits.
They also had a mini casino set up with roulette wheel, blackjack and poker tables. Everyone got a chit worth 50 chips. We didn't feel like playing (were really too busy eating :) so we just entered our chits into the raffle. The prizes - wind breaker with company logo or food basket - can take or leave them.
All in all a good night. A friend a work decided to through a party at the same time as the company party. Why? I suspect she didn't really want some of us to come to her party. Whatever. She and a couple other people who were bailing on the company party suggested that we could stop by before or after the company party. I don't think so. Plus at her party would be 3 couples and no new single guys for me to meet. Same old people that I could hang out with any other night. Plus they live in the opposite direction and not at all close to me. And I had new dress and shoes. No real contest.
It was so freaking cold last night - not the best night to be in a skirt. The shoes I meant to wear work great without tights but were not easy to walk in without, especially with snow/ice on the ground. So I had to use the second pair I bought which worked just as well and looked great with tights. I was still cold though. By the end of the night my feet were killing me but they stilled looked cute though :)
If you want pics, email me and I'll send them. Don't want to post them.
It was a fun night. The DJ played quite a mix. Not that I danced though. I never dance at these things - I like to keep social life separate from work life so no dancing in front of managers and other section heads.
We got pictures taken by magnet-man. They hire a professional photographer who takes as many pics as you want, groups/singles/couples/etc and he puts them on magnets. They make copies for every person in each picture. Kinda cool and totally free. The food was good. I have 5 such magnets. The food - pasta, roast beef(skipped those), international table with mostly fried foods like samosas, fish cakes, veggie rolls; also stuffed grape leaves. I ate all the fried thingies twice and also had several grape leaves things. Maybe too much b/c my stomach made much noise last night and this morning. At least it wasn't bad enough that it made me ill though so that was a relief. There was also desserts upstairs which I'd have saved more room for if I'd thought of it before I got my 3rd plate of fried things.
I still managed to scarf down 3 mini cheesecakes, 1 mini tiramisu (which I don't even like much) and 1 mini pumpkin pie. Also had a glass of wine and 1 cosmopolitan. After that I figured I'd had enough and called it quits.
They also had a mini casino set up with roulette wheel, blackjack and poker tables. Everyone got a chit worth 50 chips. We didn't feel like playing (were really too busy eating :) so we just entered our chits into the raffle. The prizes - wind breaker with company logo or food basket - can take or leave them.
All in all a good night. A friend a work decided to through a party at the same time as the company party. Why? I suspect she didn't really want some of us to come to her party. Whatever. She and a couple other people who were bailing on the company party suggested that we could stop by before or after the company party. I don't think so. Plus at her party would be 3 couples and no new single guys for me to meet. Same old people that I could hang out with any other night. Plus they live in the opposite direction and not at all close to me. And I had new dress and shoes. No real contest.
dating...not really
Recently, decided to create profile on one of the online dating sites. I've done the internet dating thing before without much success but creating a profile was the only way the stupid site would let me continue scanning other profiles for free.
I've gotten more hits(profile views/ice breakers/emails) in the last week since I created the profile than I did when I was on the site before for 6mths - go figure.
Maybe it's partly because I wrote the profile in 5min and it's kinda snarky. When I was on the site before, I took a long time to write my profile and it didn't make a damn worth of difference b/c they never read them.
No really good prospects though. Many pics/profiles I've seen before a year ago when I last did this. The ones with interesting profiles who have contacted me have no photo attached. No good - my pic is there, I think I deserve to see theirs before I decide to contact them or not. The other ones are horrible. Their profile is written in all caps - most annoying, if you don't know that means shouting online then why should I be wasting my time. Or their profile has obviously been written by someone who may/may not have finished high school. I'm an elitist when it comes to this, not that it's right to be so snobbish but I can't help it. Especially when they have a spell-checker program linked to the profile now. They have no excuse for having a profile like the one below - sent to me by a guy who says he'd like to know more about me...that's nice but I don't think so.
"Iam respondsable,but laid back,romantic,fun loving,honest&kind of shy sometimes.I love the outdoors,pets,movies,dinner,sports&music.Ifeel good helping people less fortunate than me.Iam an all around nice guy. Iam looking for someone who would enjoy what i do&may offer more to enrich our lives for the better.Someone thats honest,fun to be with&down to earth.Someone thats looking for a relationship.NO GAMES R PLAYERS"
I copied and pasted it as is. Bad spelling, no spaces in logical places. No surprise that he has "finished high school" as highest education. Do these guys not even look at the part of my profile that says I'm looking for someone who's at least a college grad. Obviously, they don't read anything. Then there are all the guys who live with their parents (at 39). Yeah and I mustn't forget to mention all the 39-45 yr old when it clearly says that I don't want anyone over 36. They must think that's a rough number. I don't want a smoker nor someone that doesn't mind dating a smoker. A true non-smoker will only want another non-smoker imho.
I've gotten more hits(profile views/ice breakers/emails) in the last week since I created the profile than I did when I was on the site before for 6mths - go figure.
Maybe it's partly because I wrote the profile in 5min and it's kinda snarky. When I was on the site before, I took a long time to write my profile and it didn't make a damn worth of difference b/c they never read them.
No really good prospects though. Many pics/profiles I've seen before a year ago when I last did this. The ones with interesting profiles who have contacted me have no photo attached. No good - my pic is there, I think I deserve to see theirs before I decide to contact them or not. The other ones are horrible. Their profile is written in all caps - most annoying, if you don't know that means shouting online then why should I be wasting my time. Or their profile has obviously been written by someone who may/may not have finished high school. I'm an elitist when it comes to this, not that it's right to be so snobbish but I can't help it. Especially when they have a spell-checker program linked to the profile now. They have no excuse for having a profile like the one below - sent to me by a guy who says he'd like to know more about me...that's nice but I don't think so.
"Iam respondsable,but laid back,romantic,fun loving,honest&kind of shy sometimes.I love the outdoors,pets,movies,dinner,sports&music.Ifeel good helping people less fortunate than me.Iam an all around nice guy. Iam looking for someone who would enjoy what i do&may offer more to enrich our lives for the better.Someone thats honest,fun to be with&down to earth.Someone thats looking for a relationship.NO GAMES R PLAYERS"
I copied and pasted it as is. Bad spelling, no spaces in logical places. No surprise that he has "finished high school" as highest education. Do these guys not even look at the part of my profile that says I'm looking for someone who's at least a college grad. Obviously, they don't read anything. Then there are all the guys who live with their parents (at 39). Yeah and I mustn't forget to mention all the 39-45 yr old when it clearly says that I don't want anyone over 36. They must think that's a rough number. I don't want a smoker nor someone that doesn't mind dating a smoker. A true non-smoker will only want another non-smoker imho.
Wednesday, January 17
more AI
Ok so Meesha(sp?)...where do I start
-her Mom clone (in the uneven skirt above her knee)
-those pants(no one should wear pants like that)
-why pair those pants with those sneakers
-why no bra
And then there was the singing - don't ya wish she hadn't sung that song.
Simon was really nice though, all things considered.
-her Mom clone (in the uneven skirt above her knee)
-those pants(no one should wear pants like that)
-why pair those pants with those sneakers
-why no bra
And then there was the singing - don't ya wish she hadn't sung that song.
Simon was really nice though, all things considered.
what I'm watching
Most of the guys in my lab rave about the show "24". I just can't get into it. Why? Plausibility. I require this in a show. I can't suspend my judgment long enough to enjoy it. Same deal with CSI.
What I watched on Monday night instead - "Eleventh Hour" (cool review here). It's on BBC america. And stars Patrick Stewart(captain Jean-Luc Picard himself :) as government scientist Ian Hood. Very entertaining. I taped it b/c they started the marathon at 3pm. I watched the last one Mon. And have been catching up on the rest of the eps as the week goes by.
My other guilty pleasure show (besides AI :) is "Doctor Who" (cool guide here). I like the 9th doctor better than the 10th. It's chessy at times - even though there's much more available in the way of technology nowadays, the aliens are still kinda cheesy. I love it.
Also watched some American Idol last night. Went to the gym so I missed the 1st hour. What I did see though was pretty funny. Personally I think the best parts of American Idol is the auditions - the bad auditions. You wonder how it's possible that they don't know they can't sing/are tone deaf. How? How? You'd think that after 16-20yrs someone would have been kind enough to tell them. More tonight, Yay!
Contestant Jennifer - I don't know which was more disturbing...her singing, her fake tan or the way she grabbed her belly with every note?
What I watched on Monday night instead - "Eleventh Hour" (cool review here). It's on BBC america. And stars Patrick Stewart(captain Jean-Luc Picard himself :) as government scientist Ian Hood. Very entertaining. I taped it b/c they started the marathon at 3pm. I watched the last one Mon. And have been catching up on the rest of the eps as the week goes by.
My other guilty pleasure show (besides AI :) is "Doctor Who" (cool guide here). I like the 9th doctor better than the 10th. It's chessy at times - even though there's much more available in the way of technology nowadays, the aliens are still kinda cheesy. I love it.
Also watched some American Idol last night. Went to the gym so I missed the 1st hour. What I did see though was pretty funny. Personally I think the best parts of American Idol is the auditions - the bad auditions. You wonder how it's possible that they don't know they can't sing/are tone deaf. How? How? You'd think that after 16-20yrs someone would have been kind enough to tell them. More tonight, Yay!
Contestant Jennifer - I don't know which was more disturbing...her singing, her fake tan or the way she grabbed her belly with every note?
Monday, January 15
no more ice please
I hate ice storms. I hate ice on my walkway to my car, I hate ice sheets covering all the surfaces of my car. I finally bought some de-icer tonight. Trying to scrape ice sheets off the windows and windshield sucks. I don't mind the rain so much as long as the temp stays above freezing. I wouldn't even mind 4-5in of snow instead of this crap ice.
My joints hurt tonight. Don't know what is up with that.
When I went boxing last Thur, it was first real workout in a month. I felt fine on Fri and thought I'd gotten away from the usu pain after not exercising for so long. Nope. Could barely take my shirt off Sat morning without pain - my ribs, my shoulders, my back muscles all ached. Better today. Went to yoga today and we did several new positions that I didn't care for much. I was having a bit of wrist trouble and one position in particular, I think it was triangle or some sun salutation (hard to keep them all straight :) really hurt while I trying to get in position but I wasn't sure how to get out of position without falling over so I just waited for instructions from S. She told me I should have said something, that I was in pain. She always tries to find ways to help us change/alter position so that we're doing the positions correctly/in such a way as not to cause pain. It was still good though. We also did a bit of abdominal work. S was impressed with how long I could hold certain positions - all training from my boxing class :)
I finally got a chance to listen to the T.e.a.d.a CD I bought after I saw them live late last year. I love, love, love it. Track 4(3rd link on their site ) is my favorite.
I did major cleaning of my apt Sat, even put up pictures, finally unpacked and put away the suitcases from my trip. My apt is so neat and tidy - trying to keep it that way.
I want a turtle but with all the stuff I'd need to get, it just doesn't seem so practical to me anymore. Sadly, no turtle :( At least not in the near future. Instead I will have to transplant my 2 plants whose leaves are turning yellow. I know it's b/c they need more room. Maybe I also get a couple more plants as well. Not the same as turtles I know but still something.
I also went shopping with Z Sat evening. Very productive. Found perfect shoes to go with my dress for prom aka company Holiday party. And they were on sale(50% off). Also bought a 2nd pair which made my feet look so cute and dare i say sexy that I had to get them. Z agreed. They were 65% off. Total was $71. Not bad at all.
Still on my all-cash diet = credit money even with my debit card doesn't seem like real money to me. So no more of that this year. Only using cash, except at the pump b/c it's a pain to go in and out of the serviec station when I can just swipe, get my gas and go. But I have budgeted the money for it. Also keeping track of my expenses - so I can figure out what the hell I spend my money on and why I never seem to have enough. Actually I kinda know why I don't - mostly b/c I buy tons of crap I don't really need. That's all well and good but this year is all about control and curbing my excesses i.e. impulsive spending.
My joints hurt tonight. Don't know what is up with that.
When I went boxing last Thur, it was first real workout in a month. I felt fine on Fri and thought I'd gotten away from the usu pain after not exercising for so long. Nope. Could barely take my shirt off Sat morning without pain - my ribs, my shoulders, my back muscles all ached. Better today. Went to yoga today and we did several new positions that I didn't care for much. I was having a bit of wrist trouble and one position in particular, I think it was triangle or some sun salutation (hard to keep them all straight :) really hurt while I trying to get in position but I wasn't sure how to get out of position without falling over so I just waited for instructions from S. She told me I should have said something, that I was in pain. She always tries to find ways to help us change/alter position so that we're doing the positions correctly/in such a way as not to cause pain. It was still good though. We also did a bit of abdominal work. S was impressed with how long I could hold certain positions - all training from my boxing class :)
I finally got a chance to listen to the T.e.a.d.a CD I bought after I saw them live late last year. I love, love, love it. Track 4(3rd link on their site ) is my favorite.
I did major cleaning of my apt Sat, even put up pictures, finally unpacked and put away the suitcases from my trip. My apt is so neat and tidy - trying to keep it that way.
I want a turtle but with all the stuff I'd need to get, it just doesn't seem so practical to me anymore. Sadly, no turtle :( At least not in the near future. Instead I will have to transplant my 2 plants whose leaves are turning yellow. I know it's b/c they need more room. Maybe I also get a couple more plants as well. Not the same as turtles I know but still something.
I also went shopping with Z Sat evening. Very productive. Found perfect shoes to go with my dress for prom aka company Holiday party. And they were on sale(50% off). Also bought a 2nd pair which made my feet look so cute and dare i say sexy that I had to get them. Z agreed. They were 65% off. Total was $71. Not bad at all.
Still on my all-cash diet = credit money even with my debit card doesn't seem like real money to me. So no more of that this year. Only using cash, except at the pump b/c it's a pain to go in and out of the serviec station when I can just swipe, get my gas and go. But I have budgeted the money for it. Also keeping track of my expenses - so I can figure out what the hell I spend my money on and why I never seem to have enough. Actually I kinda know why I don't - mostly b/c I buy tons of crap I don't really need. That's all well and good but this year is all about control and curbing my excesses i.e. impulsive spending.
Saturday, January 13
no more blog roll
Tonight I read a post on Ann's blog about blogger faux pas - she mentioned taking away her blog roll while she was on vacation and not putting it back until recently. Well I noticed this trend on several other blogs as well. At the time - I thought "I can do that?" So I removed mine as well. I found it more freeing than anything else. Less pressure somehow. I don't mean to slight anyone but I just figured that I'd comment on people's blogs when I felt I had something to say. Otherwise, I'd just enjoy their blogs - no pressure from them or from me. I'd gotten into this habit of checking my stats and wondering why people who used to read my blog weren't here anymore. I also was glad that some of you were still reading. All this though - just too much stress for me. So I've stopped checking the stats. Haven't checked it since before my vacay last year. The feeling I have now is really good. This not having a blog roll/having to constantly update my sidebar every time I found a new blog/worrying whether I'd offend someone if I took their name off my blog roll if I didn't go to their blogs anymore - all that gone. So if I offended anyone by doing so then I'm sorry. But I started this blog for me and so I choose to keep it the way that works for me.
maybe
I'm thinking of getting a pet - I know, even I am amazed that I'm seriously considering it. I even have an offer of one I could adopt from a colleague at work. He has one who's a loner (does not play well with others) so I wouldn't have to get him a companion. What kind of pet? A turtle. Why? My younger sibs have turtles and they are are the cutest things. They stick their heads out of the water and look at you when you talk to them - I did much talking to them. I think they liked the attention. 2 of them are very neglected by my youngest sis. She thought they were cute until she had to change their water(won't do it without gloves). She also says she feels funny talking to them b/c they can't talk back. To which I said "you don't really want them to talk back to you, that would be freaky". She laughed of course. I was delighted by them and maybe if I got one i'd feel a little less lonely. Of course, being in Trinidad, the turtles only need a tank and regular feeding. Here, I'd need to get a tank, filter, heater, lamps, etc. Big step. Also need to run this idea by my lanlord and make sure he would be ok with it. No pets in my lease but I think fish/turtles don't really count b/c it's not like they make noise or can ruin the hardwood floors. I also need to go to a petstore of some kind and see if I can really do this.I took many pics of the turtles. Each sis has a pair and they like to climb on each other. So cute. I never realized how cute turtles can be especially when they are asleep. See for yourself! So cute!
Sunday, January 7
Finally the details
My vacation in T&T
19 Dec: The Plane
Seated next to a guy who talked the entire 5hrs of the flight. Told me his whole life story including his age(mid 40s)...currently single(divorced)....dates Black, Indian, White, anyone(he's Indian)....his fav foods...his job and current salary...# siblings...that he owns a house....etc, etc, etc. I could hardly get a word in edgewise which is really saying something b/c I can be quite chatty.
I tried to read my book, even made a half-hearted attempt at using my headphones but he just kept on talking and I guess I'm just too polite to be openly rude. He also gave me a gift-a silver chain. you might be wondering why I would accept such a gift from a stranger...well it's beautiful and he got all offended when I tried to refuse it. So I accepted it. Didn't know what else to do.
I told my Mum about it and she said that maybe the universe wanted to give me a gift and they used him as a medium.
He seemed like a perfectly nice guy if a bit chatty, just not for me. He had rings on every finger of each hand, a couple fingers even had 2 rings and he also had a couple bracelets on each hand as well. My kind of guy will not feel the need to wear that much jewelry at once. And he also wore his shades...on the plane for the entire flight. Odd, no?
They served the most disgusting meal I've ever had on a plane - turkey/cheese/unidentifiable chewy thing in an overheated bun which was too hard in some places and very soggy in others. Too gross for me to eat it all.
20 Dec/21 Dec: Food Poisoning
Ate Chinese food which was one of the things on my list of foods that I wanted to eat while I was home. Well, I got a horrible case of food poisoning within 20min of eating it. I threw up for a long time. Was in and out of the loo all night and most of the next day. The horror, the horror! 4 other family members also ate the same food I ate but no one else was sick. mu Mum said that maybe they were used to the bacteria.
I spent the next few days doing some shopping and seeing various uncles/aunts. Christmas was a really good day but we did miss my older sis who couldn't make it home this year. Got great presents, really nice pieces of jewelry as well as cool accessories for my iPod. Also got the Love Actually soundtrack. I love that movie and the soundtrack is great.
I spent most of my my time sitting in front of the fan. I was so hot. When I wasn't in front of the fan I was covered in a sheen of sweat, literally. It was not pretty. My body is just not used to the heat anymore.
My Mum sewed a couple outfits for me and I also bought a few long skirts. I can never find anything dressy that fits right normally so I was really glad to find the skirts. One of the outfits my Mum made is a really cool 2-piece top/skirt in a silvery purple Chinese silk (so beautiful)- I'm planning to wear that to our Holiday party at work which is in 2 weeks. All I need now are shoes.
Went to church with the family New Year's Day. Spent the rest of the day at the beach. My sisters ate bake and shark while I had kingfish and fries. No shark for me. Bake and shark is standard beach food in Trinidad.
3 Jan: time to fly back
Woke up at 5am to get ready to go to the airport. While checking in my bags, my Mum asked where my jacket was and I told her it was in one of the bags I was checking in. She suggested that I take it out and keep it in my hand luggage. Being the good daughter that I am, I did as she suggested. Boy am I glad that I did. Here's why.
Normally it takes 2-3 hrs from the time I get off the plane in Newark to get through immigration and customs b/c there are usu 100s of people in line ahead of me and we all have to be fingerprinted/photographed/etc. So instead of booking my connecting flight at 330pm, I booked the next available one at 9pm. I figured it'd only be about 3-4hrs wait and that way I wouldn't miss my connecting flight. The best laid plans of mice and men, isn't that what they say? Well my flight from Trinidad got in at 1:30pm and i was actually done with immigration and customs by 2:30pm. I think our flight was one of the first international ones to arrive so for once the line only had 3 people ahead of me. My luggage came out in no time as well. So I rechecked my bags (you have to pick up your luggage from international flights, go through customs with them, and then re-check them to your final destination) and decided to go to my gate and hang out there until my flight. I was so sick of Newark airport by 7pm. So tired of the waiting. At 8:30, I still can't see my flight on any of the screens, so I go up to one of the gate security guys and he looks at my ticket and tells me that it has wrong gate on it. He then tells me that I need 114B. So I ask if that's in Terminal B and he says yes. So he puts me on this shuttle bus (along with a few other people) which is supposed to take me from where I am (terminal A) to the right place. When the bus drops us off is, it's at Terminal C and that time is 8:45pm. So I stop one of the workers there and ask if I am in the right place for gate 114B-terminal B. They tell me no and that I have to take the air shuttle back to terminal B. I ask them if they are sure, tell them my destination and that the shuttle bus just brought me there. They insist that I need to take the air shuttle. I take the stupid air shuttle to terminal B and look around only to find out that there is no gate 114 in terminal B, it stops at gate 68. So I ask someone again, where I should be and they laugh and tell me that I need terminal C. I race back to terminal C and have to trek to the back of the damn terminal to find stupid gate 114B. It's now 9pm and my flight has just left...without me...after I waited 7 bloody hrs. I was so pissed off - partly at the incompetent workers who could have told me that 114B doesn't exist in terminal B and not sent me on a wild goose chase. I was also pissed at myself for not checking with someone earlier about my gate/flight since it was not on the departure boards at all in terminal A - should have been my first clue really that something was wrong. At first I thought it wasn't there b/c it was so early. Then I couldn't find an agent to ask. The service desk there for continental had a really long line and I figured I was in the right place so didn't bother to recheck to make sure I was in the right place. So I blame myself as well.
It took some more running around freaking terminal C before I could get to a service desk that was open. After waiting 45min I finally speak to a service rep who gives me a voucher to stay in hotel for the night. The next flight was leaving 8:30am Thurs. She was really nice and also gave me directions to the service office where I was able to toiletries. Totally needed b/c I'd forgotten to pack my toothbrush (even after my Mum reminded me about it) and when I got to the hotel at midnight, the gift shop was already closed. Another good thing was that she also gave me vouchers for dinner and breakfast. i had 1 clean shirt and basic underwear in my hand luggage. I couldn't sleep - probably due to all the stress/feeling like I'd miss flight in the morning. I woke up at 5am, showered, dressed, took the airport shuttle. It took an hr to get through security. Why don't people know the basic protocol for passing through security? Take off your shoes...put phones in bag, not in pocket...yes, your jacket/vest/belt need to be taken off...yes, you have to take your laptop out of the case...yes you need to have your ID out with your boarding pass. These are not difficult rules to remember, especially since there are video screens up saying all this in addition to the TSA security guards who also keep repeating this info for the idiots that don't seem to grasp these rules.
So I called my boss at work to let them know I was still in Newark but would be in to work around 11pm. My flight was supposed to get in at 10am. E came to pick me up at the airport; luckily my luggage was waiting for me (it had arrived on the flight I missed). I decided to just go into work instead of going home. I had quite a bit of corrections to do on the reports I did before I left for my vacay last year. My old project ended and I’ve been transferred to another project. I know most of the people on this project and my new supervisor is ok so far. I had to move my lab stuff to their lab. I also have to move my writing area stuff downstairs as it’d be closer to my new lab. It’s kind of a pain b/c I’ve been in the same writing area for 4 ½ yrs and have accumulated a fair amt of crap. So I’ll have to do some shredding of old project paperwork. I’m ready for a change.
19 Dec: The Plane
Seated next to a guy who talked the entire 5hrs of the flight. Told me his whole life story including his age(mid 40s)...currently single(divorced)....dates Black, Indian, White, anyone(he's Indian)....his fav foods...his job and current salary...# siblings...that he owns a house....etc, etc, etc. I could hardly get a word in edgewise which is really saying something b/c I can be quite chatty.
I tried to read my book, even made a half-hearted attempt at using my headphones but he just kept on talking and I guess I'm just too polite to be openly rude. He also gave me a gift-a silver chain. you might be wondering why I would accept such a gift from a stranger...well it's beautiful and he got all offended when I tried to refuse it. So I accepted it. Didn't know what else to do.
I told my Mum about it and she said that maybe the universe wanted to give me a gift and they used him as a medium.
He seemed like a perfectly nice guy if a bit chatty, just not for me. He had rings on every finger of each hand, a couple fingers even had 2 rings and he also had a couple bracelets on each hand as well. My kind of guy will not feel the need to wear that much jewelry at once. And he also wore his shades...on the plane for the entire flight. Odd, no?
They served the most disgusting meal I've ever had on a plane - turkey/cheese/unidentifiable chewy thing in an overheated bun which was too hard in some places and very soggy in others. Too gross for me to eat it all.
20 Dec/21 Dec: Food Poisoning
Ate Chinese food which was one of the things on my list of foods that I wanted to eat while I was home. Well, I got a horrible case of food poisoning within 20min of eating it. I threw up for a long time. Was in and out of the loo all night and most of the next day. The horror, the horror! 4 other family members also ate the same food I ate but no one else was sick. mu Mum said that maybe they were used to the bacteria.
I spent the next few days doing some shopping and seeing various uncles/aunts. Christmas was a really good day but we did miss my older sis who couldn't make it home this year. Got great presents, really nice pieces of jewelry as well as cool accessories for my iPod. Also got the Love Actually soundtrack. I love that movie and the soundtrack is great.
I spent most of my my time sitting in front of the fan. I was so hot. When I wasn't in front of the fan I was covered in a sheen of sweat, literally. It was not pretty. My body is just not used to the heat anymore.
My Mum sewed a couple outfits for me and I also bought a few long skirts. I can never find anything dressy that fits right normally so I was really glad to find the skirts. One of the outfits my Mum made is a really cool 2-piece top/skirt in a silvery purple Chinese silk (so beautiful)- I'm planning to wear that to our Holiday party at work which is in 2 weeks. All I need now are shoes.
Went to church with the family New Year's Day. Spent the rest of the day at the beach. My sisters ate bake and shark while I had kingfish and fries. No shark for me. Bake and shark is standard beach food in Trinidad.
3 Jan: time to fly back
Woke up at 5am to get ready to go to the airport. While checking in my bags, my Mum asked where my jacket was and I told her it was in one of the bags I was checking in. She suggested that I take it out and keep it in my hand luggage. Being the good daughter that I am, I did as she suggested. Boy am I glad that I did. Here's why.
Normally it takes 2-3 hrs from the time I get off the plane in Newark to get through immigration and customs b/c there are usu 100s of people in line ahead of me and we all have to be fingerprinted/photographed/etc. So instead of booking my connecting flight at 330pm, I booked the next available one at 9pm. I figured it'd only be about 3-4hrs wait and that way I wouldn't miss my connecting flight. The best laid plans of mice and men, isn't that what they say? Well my flight from Trinidad got in at 1:30pm and i was actually done with immigration and customs by 2:30pm. I think our flight was one of the first international ones to arrive so for once the line only had 3 people ahead of me. My luggage came out in no time as well. So I rechecked my bags (you have to pick up your luggage from international flights, go through customs with them, and then re-check them to your final destination) and decided to go to my gate and hang out there until my flight. I was so sick of Newark airport by 7pm. So tired of the waiting. At 8:30, I still can't see my flight on any of the screens, so I go up to one of the gate security guys and he looks at my ticket and tells me that it has wrong gate on it. He then tells me that I need 114B. So I ask if that's in Terminal B and he says yes. So he puts me on this shuttle bus (along with a few other people) which is supposed to take me from where I am (terminal A) to the right place. When the bus drops us off is, it's at Terminal C and that time is 8:45pm. So I stop one of the workers there and ask if I am in the right place for gate 114B-terminal B. They tell me no and that I have to take the air shuttle back to terminal B. I ask them if they are sure, tell them my destination and that the shuttle bus just brought me there. They insist that I need to take the air shuttle. I take the stupid air shuttle to terminal B and look around only to find out that there is no gate 114 in terminal B, it stops at gate 68. So I ask someone again, where I should be and they laugh and tell me that I need terminal C. I race back to terminal C and have to trek to the back of the damn terminal to find stupid gate 114B. It's now 9pm and my flight has just left...without me...after I waited 7 bloody hrs. I was so pissed off - partly at the incompetent workers who could have told me that 114B doesn't exist in terminal B and not sent me on a wild goose chase. I was also pissed at myself for not checking with someone earlier about my gate/flight since it was not on the departure boards at all in terminal A - should have been my first clue really that something was wrong. At first I thought it wasn't there b/c it was so early. Then I couldn't find an agent to ask. The service desk there for continental had a really long line and I figured I was in the right place so didn't bother to recheck to make sure I was in the right place. So I blame myself as well.
It took some more running around freaking terminal C before I could get to a service desk that was open. After waiting 45min I finally speak to a service rep who gives me a voucher to stay in hotel for the night. The next flight was leaving 8:30am Thurs. She was really nice and also gave me directions to the service office where I was able to toiletries. Totally needed b/c I'd forgotten to pack my toothbrush (even after my Mum reminded me about it) and when I got to the hotel at midnight, the gift shop was already closed. Another good thing was that she also gave me vouchers for dinner and breakfast. i had 1 clean shirt and basic underwear in my hand luggage. I couldn't sleep - probably due to all the stress/feeling like I'd miss flight in the morning. I woke up at 5am, showered, dressed, took the airport shuttle. It took an hr to get through security. Why don't people know the basic protocol for passing through security? Take off your shoes...put phones in bag, not in pocket...yes, your jacket/vest/belt need to be taken off...yes, you have to take your laptop out of the case...yes you need to have your ID out with your boarding pass. These are not difficult rules to remember, especially since there are video screens up saying all this in addition to the TSA security guards who also keep repeating this info for the idiots that don't seem to grasp these rules.
So I called my boss at work to let them know I was still in Newark but would be in to work around 11pm. My flight was supposed to get in at 10am. E came to pick me up at the airport; luckily my luggage was waiting for me (it had arrived on the flight I missed). I decided to just go into work instead of going home. I had quite a bit of corrections to do on the reports I did before I left for my vacay last year. My old project ended and I’ve been transferred to another project. I know most of the people on this project and my new supervisor is ok so far. I had to move my lab stuff to their lab. I also have to move my writing area stuff downstairs as it’d be closer to my new lab. It’s kind of a pain b/c I’ve been in the same writing area for 4 ½ yrs and have accumulated a fair amt of crap. So I’ll have to do some shredding of old project paperwork. I’m ready for a change.
new year
Resolutions:
Make a budget and stick to it
Manage my money better - no more random spending/no more using credit cards
Don't go shopping without a list - only buy stuff on it
Get to work before 8am every day
Cook more often - prepare meals that are simple(no stress) but healthy and by doing this eat less preserved food/takeout
Make a budget and stick to it
Manage my money better - no more random spending/no more using credit cards
Don't go shopping without a list - only buy stuff on it
Get to work before 8am every day
Cook more often - prepare meals that are simple(no stress) but healthy and by doing this eat less preserved food/takeout
Friday, January 5
Thursday, January 4
home sweet home
I'm home at last. Had a great vacay! I'm actually missing the heat now.
Nightmare of a return journey. More details tomorrow. Must sleep now.
Nightmare of a return journey. More details tomorrow. Must sleep now.
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