Archive for April 24-30, 2000Musings of My Mind
Sunday, April 30, 2000
Where has it gone?
Another month is under the bridge-- what happened to January? Did anyone see where my January went? Somehow I've already managed to lose one-third of this year-- I don't know where its gone but it has been fun so far, this new millennium, hasn't it?
My site's stats were up again this month-- thanks very much! I've had a lot of visits by the military which is curious, needless to say. I could've understood that a whole lot more if I were still working for that encryption company but, 8-second rule software isn't that big of a deal, y'know what I mean? Anyway, 1502 pages were read by you on 886 separate visits and 449 unique URLs. All of the usual countries have come by with the addition of a number of visits from Trinidad & Tobago and Japan. That along with the military does make for a very interesting combination.
I've said it before and I'll say it again because its real: Thanks for coming by and for writing-- I enjoy hearing from all of you!
Today's Travels
After a quick stop at Target and Safeway, I was back home again practicing my domestic abilities: I had ironing to do. I've decided that I've got way too many cotton clothes! After I finished the ironing, I rested my back for an hour-- no, I did not sleep! After yesterday's boat sitting for five hours, my back is feeling a little more tense than usual. I watched a movie or two while I was ironing and resting my back and then, went on a bike ride this afternoon-- that brings me up to 24 miles for the week. I'm hopeful that tomorrow some things will change at Weight Watchers! I'm not getting discouraged but it is getting a little disheartening!
More after I get home tomorrow night and, again, thanks for coming by!!
Saturday, April 29, 2000Where do I start?
My friend, Irma, and I went fishing today-- we had a wonderful day!! There were no clouds in the sky at all and the sky was a beautiful blue with a huge yellow ball hanging out in it. There was a mild breeze and while it was brisk on the water, the weather was very gorgeous overall!!!
Irma and I are the kind of friends that you can not see each other for several months at a time and just pick up where we left off. Conversation flowed easily on the drive to Lake Chabot and all during the day in the boat. I told her on the way home that she makes a great audience-- she laughs at most everything I say but then she is a very happy person, too!
We arrived at Lake Chabot about 8:15 and rented a boat with an electric motor-- the only directions to worry about were clockwise (forward speed) and counterclockwise (backward speed) but, if you had to turn right, the steering stick had to be pushed left and conversely for turning left.
Since I'd never been there and I always here the stories about the size of the fish that are caught at the dam, we started toward it. I've never seen the dam before because its so far away from the marina. I've never walked past "Coots Landing" at the lake so it was a surprise for me-- I didn't know that there really was a dam! We tried several coves but no luck was had until we were on our way back from the far end of the lake by the dam: it was 12:45 when Irma screeched "Oh, Marcia, I've got one!!" I stopped the engine so that she wouldn't have the current to fight as well as the fish and held the net to help her bring him in-- he was a little over a pound!! Irma was thrilled-- and hooked!!
We continued our ride back into the marina and returned the boat at 1:30pm. Irma really was hooked though-- she wanted to go try some bank fishing so we wandered down to the spots that Brian and I usually command. No joy! All of those spots were taken so we went out onto one of the docks. A guy to the right of us was catching a fish about every four minutes-- no, we and the other people around him were pretty ticked about it! He was the only one catching anything, too. He gave a couple of little kids each a fish so that he could keep fishing. There's a limit of five per adult and, by the time we left, he'd already caught at least six. The more he gave away, the longer he could look for "The Big One".
Me? The only thing I caught was a sunburn-- and a badly uneven one, I'm afraid. My sister-in-law had mentioned that Neutrogena makes a good sunless tanning lotion so I'll be trying that tonight in order to get rid of the racoon eyes I have from wearing my sunglasses all day. My forearms are also pretty "hot" to the touch so I'll be hitting Al, the aloe plant, up for a branch loan here fairly soon.
We left the lake about 2:30 or so this afternoon and were home by about 3:30-- Brian came out to see Irma' fish before she left. I went up to take a bath and a nap-- I needed it. Remember I said that Irma's hooked? Well, we've got another fishing expedition planned for three weeks from today-- she's going to bring her 11 year old nephew with her! It's loads of fun to fish with kids-- they really screech when they catch a fish!!
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That was the complete consumption of my day! When I got home, neither Brian nor I remembered to pull anything from the freezer so Mr. Chau's (Chinese take-out place) was the dinner fare tonight. And with that, day is done.Have a good night . . .
Friday, Aprl 28, 2000Early Start
Thanks to Brian, I was up and at it early this morning. He left to pick up his bosses and take them to the airport by about 5:45 which left me to get to work. I was there and on the phone by 6:30amPDT and, of course, everyone thinks I'm nuts. This is nothing new-- I'm getting quite used to it and even kinda enjoy the tag, thanks!
I called the customer with whom I've been exchanging voicemail all week and we decided to go ahead and draft the agreement between our companies even though its not desperately needed right now. That being the case, I turned it over to the Contracts Manager for the Ohio region.
Blurring?
The balance of the day seems to be a blur, however. I was busy-- in fact, I distinctly remember being swamped or feeling like I've got lots of way to keep myself out of trouble. I remember closing a couple of deals-- a quarter mil or so but that was just today. I do have one agreement off of my desk that I'll never ask for again: the Channel Alliance Partner Agreement for a consulting firm is gone!! This has been in negotiation for three months and they have been making me crazy!! (Okay, crazier!!) BUT, it is signed and gone now and that's all that matters. I sent an email to the sales rep letting him know and he asked me what I knew about the Consulting Agreement for the same firm-- I do NOT know nor do I want to know!!! If I never work with that company's lawyer again, it will be too soon!!
Fishing Preparations
I've been making plans and preparations to go fishing tomorrow-- I'm just too excited! I hope I can get some sleep!!! I'm trying to have us carry a minimal amount of gear and bait and food and water so that there isn't a lot to carry. Its not horrible if we carry stuff but it is a pain and awkward most of the time.
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I have to assume that since I've heard nothing negative, that the new formats are loading okay. If you're having problems with the page taking a long time to load, let me know. Brian and I are trying to find out why my thumbnail files are so big but so far, we've no answer for that one-- we haven't been trying that hard either but we do need to figure it out.
Anyway, we're off to finish the laundry here. Maybe another update later . . .
Thursday, April 27, 2000Yeeeeee-HAWWWW! ! ! !
My friend, Irma, today told me that she'd be able to go fishing on Saturday!! I'm really excited about that cuz she hasn't been fishing in a LONG time!! We're going to have so much fun!!! I'm really excited now!!
Invasion of Privacy??
Yahoo! email has taken the liberty of setting up an alias for me of all of the addresses in my address book. Isn't that nice? I've sent a scathing email about it to the abuse@yahoo.com people-- I don't think ANYONE should be entering my email account without my permission and that includes THEM!!!!
Essay is GONE!!
You remember the essay that I wrote about Barbara Thompson reviewing for me? Well, that's it! I've submitted the essay so in July, I'll either be a little wealthier or extremely depressed! I'll have to let you know how it comes out!
What else?
Well, let's see, I managed to stay awake until 9:30pm last night-- Maybe its all the fresh air and exercise, combined with a LOT of work!
My department went to lunch today; we were gone for exactly one and one-half hours. Prior to that, we had our staff meeting so I was away from my desk for a total of
two hours and 15 minutes. During that time, I got two pages and 7 messages! That's why I don't leave my desk at lunch!! ARGH!!!It was busy again today but it feels good to close deals out and get them off my desk! The one big company we've all pretty much agreed to hold off until their next order and, when they're in a panic, we'll negotiate the terms and conditions of the deal.
I got a "Bravo" star at Weight Watchers on Monday night because I'd ridden my bicycle for 21 miles last week. So far this week (from Monday night's ride home from WW to now), I've ridden 19 miles so I'm going in the right direction!
I think that's it for tonight-- I can't think of anything else that's going on but, if I do, I'll let you know.
Wednesday, April 26, 2000No Prep Time Today
It was a fairly busy day today at work. I didn't have time to start my post there which is a fairly good indicator.
The one customer that I mentioned last night has called and gotten my voicemail to leave me a message saying that they aren't interested in getting a more permanent agreement in place. The sales department doesn't seem terribly concerned with it either but, the critical issue comes from the fact that it was sales that complained about the terms and conditions that were in place to begin with on the last purchase.
It seems that the sales rep reviewed/processed the Request for Quotation without consulting us, in the contracts department. As a result, they ended up with a 60-day term for payment. Since commissions aren't paid until the bill is paid, the sales rep was ticked because he had to wait on his commission. Well, DAH!!!
I sent an email explaining the full circumstances of the situation to the sales rep regional manager but, I don't think they're getting it yet. It won't sink in until the next time that the sales rep doesn't get his commission in 30 days.
And Speaking of Prep Time
I decided it wasn't particularly safe for me to go in a pedal-boat or any other boat by myself. I'm not the most graceful person in the world (see all of the references to "Thousands of Times") and, if I were to fall over-board, who would save me? SO, unless I can talk my friend, Irma, into coming fishing with me, I'll be doing bank fishing again this weekend. That's fine-- I really don't mind except for the old guys who laugh at me! They think its funny that a woman is fishing-- I, needless to say, fail to see their humor!
Pool Visitor
Yesterday, when Brian was on the phone, a little boy in our building that we privately refer to as "Chunk" was running around the swimming pool. We could figure out if he was chasing something or what was happening; there's a pergola of sorts between our vision and him so that we couldn't see him completely. Well, I finally grabbed the camera (he's cute enough for a picture no matter what!) and went to see what he was chasing. It turns out that we have a little visitor
that is not exactly welcome! There have been several ducks. Believe it or not, the environmentalists come down on the apartment complex for trying to move the ducks out of the pools and complex area. If the complex doesn't move the ducks, the health department comes down on the apartment complex for allowing ducks to dirty the pool! Talk about your Catch-22!!!
And, once again . . .
. . . its "How-To" night and I feel like vegging for the night-- what's left of it. I deserve it: I'm up to 14 miles on my bicycle for the week!
Have a good one . . .
Tuesday, April 25, 2000Proactivity
I've got two customers on my current workload that aren't particularly interested in getting license or service agreements in place. The agreements need to be signed before the next order but, they figure they've got plenty of time for that to happen. Okay, they don't-- the question is how to get them to understand that they don't have the leisure time necessary to just let the agreement slide? Well, in one case, I re-opened an email that was sent over a month ago saying to the customer something like "Now that we don't need this, let's get it done before we do need this." Needless to say, I haven't heard anything from them yet. The other one? Well, I went to the website for their government activities and sent an email to the procurement contact. He promptly sent my email to the person who should've been responding to my phone calls but has been ignoring me (that's the government, don'tcha know?) and to his manager. They now have the agreement and, the next time they go to place an order, they will be told that the software license has to be processed before shipment will take place. They apparently order fairly frequently so it should be interesting to see the reaction and how long it really takes to negotiate the agreement.
The interesting part is that later in the afternoon (the above paragraph was composed around 9amPDT), I received an email from the contact I've been trying to reach there. He informs me that he has tried to call me four or five times today but, there's no answer and no voicemail picking up. Since he has reached my voicemail before, he finds this odd-- well, DAH!!!! D'ya suppose you're dialing the number WRONG, buddy? Oh, well, I sent a "nice" email back to him apologizing for him not being able to get hold of me (?) and, further explaining why the agreement needs to be in place. We'll have to see how that goes . . . should be interesting, eh?
Other than that . . .
Work is fairly calm-- which is a good thing. It did get busier in the late morning and afternoon-- I love it when its busy, don'tcha know!
We have about 5 or 6 weeks until Brian and I go camping so I think I'll start organizing the camping gear. ;>) I usually get all but our clothes packed at least a week ahead of time. Since our gear was just kinda thrown into the garage last fall when we came back from our October trip, it is in dire need of sorting and organizing. Frankly, I haven't done anything but step over or around it since October.
I'm also planning a fishing expedition by paddle boat for myself this weekend. Lake Chabot has pedalling boats that are available for rental. With one of those, I can combine bike riding and fishing in one trip without having to be concerned with all of the hassle that I listed out last week. (There are no "hills" to climb on the lake either!) And there is the advantage of being able to get a sunburn/tan at the same time, too!
I fogot to mention that the other day, when we were at Grammy's, she gave me a picture book of Brian's baby pictures-- really cute!! There is a picture of him, at about 9 months, getting ready to spring into action-- he went from doing nothing to crawling for about two feet to running, from what I'm told! I am going to scan in the pictures and then give her the book back. He is really cute!
I also forgot to mention that the new backgrounds are all thanks to www.boogiejack.com-- cool place to get free graphics!
Guess that's all for tonight . . .
. . . unless I can think of more later on but I've got dinner to cook now so I'd better get to it!
Monday, April 24, 2000
(Update at 5:15pm)What's so special about today that I'm putting a post up in the wee morning hours (well, this is the wee morning time for me on the Left Coast)? Nothing-- nothing at all! What's so special about Shirley MacLaine's birthday? Nothing-- nothing at all! Oh, and it is Barbra Streisand's birthday, too! But what's so special about that? Oh, nothing-- nothing at all! There are dozens, hundreds, and probably even thousands of people having this day for a birthday-- what's so special about that? Oh, nothing-- nothing at all!
Y'know, its silly the way that some people think that you plot and plan and carry on about their birthdays, isn't it? That's like last year when it was Brian's birthday, the radio station that he listens to (KFOG) has a "Ten@Ten" feature. They pick a year to play ten songs from and then, in addition, before they start the ten songs from "X-Year", they announce birthdays. Last year, I had them announce that it was "Brian Bilbrey's birthday and he is this many fingers old". So I had them announce it to the entire Bay Area that it was Brian's birthday. Big deal!! What am I going to do this year that can top that? Geez, I don't know . . . Oh, wait a minute-- yes, I do know!!
Happy Birthday, Brian!!!Give me a bigger canvas, and I paint a bigger picture!! I love you, sweetie-- have a great day!!!
And later that same night . . .
Obviously, there was a method to the madness of posting my update early today. Of course, I paid for it: when I went to set up the archives for the week of April 17-23, I wrote over the April 10-16 file! Not quite enough coffee in my veins at that hour-- I'm usually very much more awake when I go to do my post! (I would hope so since I generally post between 6 and 8PM!!)
Speaking of which, we'll be ordering a pizza for dinner after I get back from Weight Watchers tonight-- makes perfect sense, eh? Its Brian's choice, of course, since he is the "Non-Birthday Boy" today. After yesterday's brunch, I'm not sure that I can hope for any weight loss but I tried to be "good" and not eat too many "wrong" things. I'm going to ride my bicycle over and back and so, we'll order the pizza before I have a quick shower.
Somehow, I'm being blamed for him being harrassed by the Gang-- why? What did I do? I sent an email to Bob and Tom cuz they generally post the earliest. I did not, however, mention his age to anyone and from what I'm able to decipher, some liberties have been taken with regard to the guessing game involved on that topic!
Although we are still looking for a Wacom tablet for his birthday present, he did get his birthday card, a rose and a small cake (for him!!) tonight. Hopefully, he'll take some time off of writing tonight!
More later . . . perhaps.
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