The definition of temptation

A delicious bit of irony for an anemia-free week:

I'm finally getting my appetite back, after being sick for a week.

The girl scout cookies arrived at work today.


Karma, you are indeed a bitch. Saturday, I had just ordered my attendant's dress for SharonA's wedding. So no changing my shape and size. Then last night, Donna called with the good news she's getting married in the fall!

I'm thrilled for both the girls. I'm just hoping there will be an excuse to wear these dresses again! : P

I apparently am an endangered species

If you were to follow the EDS or Associated Press writing style guidelines. Use of hyphens is discouraged as much as possible. Which is a bit intimidating for an anal-retentive analyst, kooky know-it-all, and over-analyzing ocular oracle. But I console myself with these little acts of compound word rebellion.







hyphen
You scored 38% Sociability and 41% Sophistication!



You are comfortable around others. While you don't have to go out every night, yet you take pride in being easy to get along with. This should not, however, be misconstrued as believing (as many do) that you are without subtlety. In fact, you have the power to inform the anal retentive that, indeed, they are discussing an anal-retentive issue. Who else can do that? Quotation marks intimidate you a little bit.







Link: The Which Punctuation Mark Are You Test written by Gazda on Ok Cupid


PS: Html is not my friend today. I try to eliminate some of the wasteful space between paragrahs. All it appears to do is change margins and move paragraphs out of order. Yeah, I suppose if I actually knew how the .html universe works, then I would have better success. But then I couldn't complain about it. So what is the fun in that?!?

My social centipede

One day he will be a beautiful social butterfly, like his momma. But not the girly kind. What do they call the macho men butterflies? Bufferflies?

Just shoot me now

I'm sick. Even though I took my vitamins, drank (some) water, and tried to ignore the germ-infested petri dish of airports and flights... oh yeah, and all the hacking and coughing in the cubicle land of pestilence, aka work.

Monster's already been sniffling and supressing a raspy cough. I have just decided to give in and give it its due. Hopefully then it will tire of me and move on to someone else. Preferrably at work. Poor boyfriend didn't get any sleep last night, trying to tolerate my slumbering bear routine.

But you think I'm going to miss a homemade birthday dinner at my momma's tonight? Now the only debate is whether I warn them or not, so they can innoculate. I hate making moral decisions. Takes all the fun out of watching plot development.

: P

PS: Enough of the of the cold weather, already! My throat is killing me.

PPS: And GD Blogger won't put my text below the pic. No matter how many times I lower it. Grr.

Buzzkill

*Warning: blantant Everclear reference following. I'm still under the influence of Santa Monica*

So much for the afterglow.

Nothing like a buzzkill than crash landing to reality.

Monday, first day back to work:
I don't have my coat off yet, and the coworker who's name we cannot say (also referred to as the OCD coworker that is beyond annoying, aka simply crazy) is asking me for details of my trip. I just got back, ya'll! Do you think I really want to talk about it, especially when I'm going to be showing ya'll the photos (once they're printed). It took everything I had not to reach out and choke her right there. She is pleasant enough... but oy vey! The woman has no impulse control. And that's saying something right there, folks, if I think she's too spastic.

So in my mail is a legal notice. Dated Feb. 15. Brief was due Feb. 18. Wah? I'm thinking this has to be a typo. Especially since the due date was a Saturday. Normally, we get 14 days to prepare. And they aren't even open on a weekend.

I bust off a voicemail to my State lead: "Not sure if you saw this, but do you think the day's right? Are you going to call, or want me to call?" I find out the State staff might be out 'til Wednesday. Guess I'll be calling.

Call to the hearings office: "uh, is this date maybe a typo?" Hearings office: "no, since we received it Feb. 3."

Hmm. Now I'm all for fairness to the appellant and all.... But WTF? Just because ya'll didn't do anything with the paperwork (for two weeks!), I'm supposed to kill myself to meet a deadline? Guess so, since we'd default with no response. And I'm not the kind to let that happen. Good thing they like that for the person in this job.

Fortunately, when the hearings office gives a weekend deadline, your deadline is really the close of business the next business day. That would be the same day I returned to the office. Oh well. Saves me a trip to the gym that night. My blood pressure is already pounding by 9 a.m.

Then I get the cheery news the federal attorney on a big 'ole case is demanding claim prints. Something that I knew they'd be wanting, but have been hoping they'd realize the volume of their demand, and shelve the idea. Oh no!

My boss realizes that I'm about one foot over the edge. She runs a report to get me the claim numbers in demand. She also runs copies of the agency brief after it's slammed together. She's a good woman. Or she's afraid of being the closest cube should I snap. I think "this should be a piece of cake. I can run a report to retrieve the data, then dump it in to the database engine and generate the form."

Ha!

The highly-paid systems engineer that designed the procedure didn't much plan on that database creating multiple forms. I'm sure it's a simple mistake, as multiples are a rarely seen, but highly coveted option. I'm also sure the irony is not lost on my devoted (female) readers that when I really needed that multiple option, we find the man forgot to program that possibility. So a "help!" e-mail gets sent off.

This is only freaking noon!

After watching and listening to my animated pantomime during lunch, my friend and our team Scotty takes up my cause. She fiddles with the database, and convinces it to start printing multiples. Of course, me being the opportunistic kind of gal I am, I'm like "could you maybe change this and this?" She yet again saves the day. She is able to polish out the flaws of the SE-designed form, and rewrite its more annoying attributes. She is worth so much more than what those systems guys get paid. And is a lot cuter, too.

No, Igor, you can't meet her. She's getting married in May. But you will be able to make fun of me that I will purposefully wear purple. Actually "victorian lilac", and very pretty. But it still reminds me of Willie the Wildcat.

The things I do for friends!

Last night

We're packing up and getting ready for an early night. Up at 4 am tomorrow, fly out at 6 am. What is up with picking these flights?!?

Long drive to Joshua Tree national park yesterday. Via Palm Springs. It was worth the effort. Really scenic, but very windy. The chill made it a short stop.

Saw a couple of houses of Frank Sinatra's, and his grave. Very simple, very elegant. The whole architecture of the houses is something I could go on about for days.

Ate at a good place for lunch. Baja or Tortilla Express. Will have to look on the menu we snitched. Lots of food, made fresh, and good. Points deducted for it being a Pespi place, though. Sorry, sis. That stuff's nasty!

Today it was a trek up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. That is a gorgeous place. Easy to see why all the beautiful people want beach property there. We could have hung out with Sting at his Malibu Colony place... but Darren thought it would be more fun to drive along the canyon road. Good thing we did that before eating lunch!

On to old town Pasedena for shopping and history. Forget about the history... think more along the lines of shopping at the plaza. Lots of trendy and well-known stores, complete with your tattoo and piercings boutique. Oh yeah, and the sex video and toy store. That's class, there.

Picked up dinner from Macaroni Grill, and now we're just watching Olympics. The hotel is hosting the LA pen convention and a wedding tonight. Made for interesting group of folks in the lobby this afternoon.

I'm looking forward to coming home. Oh yeah.... sorry about that weather there, folks! Here I was complaining about it being cooler than 70' today. Guess it doesn't suck as much as the low teens where ya'll are. Bwah!

See ya soon.

Day 2 in LA

Just now figured out we had access to the internets. Not too much of a ripoff, but $.69 a minute. So it will be a short post!

Got here with no problem. Other than we felt it was 6 pm, and local time was only 2 pm. Rested for a bit, went to a local mall. Monster's up to three Hot Topics in two days. I think we've bought out the entire inventory.

Visited the Beach Boys memorial in Hawthorne. Then up to Santa Monica, the promenade, and pier. It was very pretty. But because it is offseason, all the merchants are lazy. Got some cool pictures.

Back to the hotel to rest, then back to Venice to visit a fossil shop. Some interesting stuff, but all out of budget, and a bit overpriced.

Just got back from Universal City. It was very cool. Pretty chilly, so we did the abbreviated tour. Got some cool pictures there, too.

And the traffic? It freaking sucks. More details when I don't have to pay to bitch.

Today was all about Darren. Tomorrow it's my turn. Bring on the presents and adoration!

I am loved!

Jesus has to love me... I contribute to the guilt 401k.

We didn't have an official exchange of valentine gifts, since our trip to LA is a family treat. But my sweet boyfriend still brought home cute balloons.

But let me tell you about my boy... He is a keeper, fersure. I'm so lucky to have such a child.

He doesn't even realize how profound the card he gave me was. I'm sure he liked the picture on the front, and it's in pinks and reds. So he knew his mother would like it.

And the sentiment inside? Oh, lordy. It was a good one. Whether he realized it or not, he picked a card that you can actually imagine him saying. It is so awesome. Granted, PMS is probably influencing my level of sentiment. Too bad! : P

This is going to be a great weekend.

Happy Heart Day!

Other than that, I really got nothin'. Have been thinking about what to write about next. Lots of fodder in politics and entertainment. But not enough cohesive thought to keep it from being depressing. Guess I still don't want to admit that Nick and Jessica are moving on, apart. : P

Packing up for the L.A. flight tomorrow morning. 6 a.m. Are we crazy? Found some handsome shirts for the boys, and cute pants and a girlie KU shirt for me. And shoes, of course! And sleepwear. Oh, and don't forget track pants! Good thing sister Shortey adopted a bunch of my clothes and helped me make room for the new stuff. Thanks, sis!

Enjoy your week. D's birthday is Thursday, and mine is on Friday. But we don't turn any of the fun birthdays. He'll be 43, and I'll be 36. Thankfully, neither one of us look our age. I'd hate to have to start acting mine!

Early to bed, early to rise

... to take Uncle Denny to his 6:30 (in the a.m.) cataract surgery appointment.

It's amazing how smooth they make that process, anymore. He had one eye done two weeks ago, finishes up today. In fact, brother J should already have him home and be going to bed for the night by now.

I'll just consider my early morning training for our LA flight. Less than a week away! We'll be up and on the road to the airport by 4 a.m. Which folks in LA probably wouldn't think was odd. They'd just be headed home from the bars in their time zone.

"Oh! The Grammys are on tonight?"

Tells you what I think of the popularity contest that the music industry has become.

I get all the chics!

As most of you know, there are few things in life I love more than comics and superheroes.

One of those things however, is Star Trek. It really should be no surprise to find that my inner officer is a man. Maybe that explains the facial hair appearing in my advancing age... ?


You are Will Riker

Will Riker 90% Deanna Troi 75% James T. Kirk (Captain) 70% Uhura 65% Chekov 60% Beverly Crusher 60% Jean-Luc Picard 55% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 45% Geordi LaForge 45% Worf 45% Spock 35% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 35% Mr. Scott 30% Mr. Sulu 30% Data 22%

At times you are self-centered, but you have many friends. You love many women, but the right woman could get you to settle down.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Damn straight!

Camille was on to something with her suggestion for a Wonder Babe Halloween costume...

Thanks to Ted, I must acknowledge my inner superhero:


You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 90% Spider-Man 65% The Flash 65% Supergirl 60% Green Lantern 60% Catwoman 55% Robin 50% Superman 40% Batman 40% Hulk 40% Iron Man 40%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

I don't feel a billion seconds old!

Being the queen of worthless knowledge that I am, I was happy to follow the link Ted provided:

Birthday calculator

You entered: 2/17/1970

Your date of conception was on or about 27 May 1969 (give or take a week) which was a Tuesday.
You were born on a Tuesday, under the astrological sign Aquarius.
Your Life path number is 9.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2440634.5.
The golden number for 1970 is 14.
The epact number for 1970 is 22.
The year 1970 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/6/1970 and ending 1/26/1971.
You were born in the Chinese year of the Dog.
The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 29 March 1970.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 11 February 1970.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 17 May 1970.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 24 May 1970.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Thursday, 1 October 1970.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Tuesday, 21 April 1970.

As of 2/3/2006 8:12:44 PM EST
You are 35 years old.
You are 432 months old.
You are 1,876 weeks old.
You are 13,135 days old.
You are 315,260 hours old.
You are 18,915,612 minutes old.
You are 1,134,936,764 seconds old.
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.14090019569472 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)

***Do you notice they keep calling me OLD?***

There are 14 days till your next birthday, on which your cake will have 36 candles.
Those 36 candles produce 36 BTUs, or 9,072 calories of heat (that's only 9.0720 food calories!) .
You can boil 4.11 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1970 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1970 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.
In 1970 in the US there were approximately 2,158,802 marriages (10.6%) and 708,000 divorces (3.5%)
In 1970 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Amethyst
Amethyst is used to increase spiritually
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Bloodstone, Onyx, Moonstone

Your birth tree is Cedar, the Confidence
Of rare beauty, knows how to adapt, likes luxury, of good health not in the least shy, tends to look down on others, self-confident, determined, impatient, wants to impress others, many talents, industrious, healthy, optimism, waiting for the one true love, able to make quick decisions.

There are 325 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 338 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you were born was waxing gibbous.

Change up

Same website, just updated the name. Your "so you want to get away" link will still bring ya here.

Not funny!

But worth a bit of ironic revenge.... the K-State fan that started circulation misspelled the file name. It reads "wildacthumor2".

So what if no one likes a Jayhawk. At least we can spell!