Archive for November 27-December3, 2000Musings of My Mind
Sunday, December 3, 2000
(22 Shopping Days 'Til Christmas!) (Update at 10:00pm)Christmas Tree is DONE!
I have declared our Christmas Tree officially "DONE". I really like the ornaments and the lights and I'm confident that everything is set up as it should be. Brian is downloading pictures of the tree and the dining room table-- we've only got an apartment so we are limited on what we can decorate.
I can't find the fireplace stockings, hangers, mistletoe, and placemats. That's about a box full of stuff so that means we're missing a box of stuff. I'm not going to be able to find it until we move though cuz the only thing we know is that its in the garage "someplace". Oh, well, I've also got a tablecloth and napkin set that I've got set up in the dining room and while I've been able to replace the stocking hangers, I haven't found stockings I like yet. Oh, well, I've still got 22 days to work at it so I'm okay for now.
Madness
I've decided that I'm going to do my shopping during the week after work. While I was out today, one of the stores that I went to had lines 20 people deep!! I'm not crazy about standing in lines. Hey, I just had an idea: I could look for Christmas stockings online-- someone has to have them, right? Yeah, well, I'll find 'em-- just wait and see!!
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On that note, I believe that my husband has a fire in the fireplace ready to roll (not literally, thankfully).
Have a nice evening!
I almost forgot to tell you about our 'venture this morning. We went for a drive up to Half Moon Bay which is always a great treat!! We went to a nursery there and looked at the Poinsettias, plants and herbs and from there, we went to an antique store that, among other things, sells broken glass. This broken glass is the kind that you can use to "tile" a flower pot; this particular glass that we got was fiat glass and it is really neat. In a way, it looks like stained glass and there were many colors that we picked up. That'll be a project for spring. I'm actually going to start working on my cross stitch in my spare time again. In between reading the book for Grammy and getting ready for Christmas and working a lot of hours and Christmas shopping for the Impossible One to shop for Christmas gifts. Its not so much that he's hard to shop for as much as it's hard to figure out what to finally buy for him!!
Have a good night!
Saturday, December 2, 2000
(23 Shopping Days 'Til Christmas!)
Yes, indeed-- its Barbara Thompson's birthday today!! This is the second year that I've known about her birthday-- last year at this time, Barbara and I barely knew each other but, I'm glad to say, that we have since developed a nice friendship, albeit by email and internet. That's the nice thing about this Netwidows-thang-- the friendships that are developing out of the group.
I'm working on it!!
The Christmas tree is assembled (yes, we have an artificial tree), the lights (more on those in a minute) are on and the travel ornaments are on the tree. Now, where am I going to have room for the homemade ornaments??? ARGH!!! We've got a lot of ornaments, ya know??? Just from our travel ornaments and a couple of the homemade ornaments from last year, Brian has declared our tree finished but, unfortunately, he is wrong! I haven't even started yet!!
Two things to tell you about: First, the lights!! Last year I had only red lights with white and green lights wound up the spine of the tree-- a really natural look, yes, but I liked it, okay? Anyway, we decided that those lights might be a little outdated so we were going to buy new lights this year. A few weeks ago, I mentioned my outing to Wal-Mart to get lights-- when I unpacked some Christmas ornaments tonight, I found the ones that I bought last year on sale after Christmas but, oh, well, now we have even more lights! Anyway, I digress. The new lights that I just bought a few weeks ago turned out to be really cool-- Brian likes chasing lights but I think they are nauseating. The new lights we've got twinkle and brighten and flash and chase, kinda, but slowly!! They are really cool!!!
Second, I like to watch Christmas movies while I decorate the tree. So far, I've only watched "The Santa Clause" but I've got more work to do on the tree and "Miracle on 34th Street" is calling my name!!
Speaking of which, I'm going to go get back to it but, I have to give you a heads-up: Brian is taking me somewhere tomorrow as a 'venture-- I have no idea where he is taking me or what we're going to be doing but, you will get a full report. Man, after this kind of "intro", I hope it turns out to be somewhere exciting!!
Have a nice evening!
Friday, December 1, 2000Happy December!!
(24 Shopping Days 'Til Christmas!)Oh, boy, oh, boy!!! My favorite time of year!! It never used to be, of course-- yesterday was the 14th anniversary of my mother's passing. My father will be passed on 17 years ago on December 12. Christmas and the Holidays, in general, have not always been my favorite time of year. Yes, I miss my parents terribly every year (and day) and particularly when I see my husband give me that smile and wish my mother could see it, too. I know she does but I wish she could see it . . . you know what I mean.
Life, however and thankfully, goes on. I've been blessed to have wonderful people in my life in the form of friends and family that make every day a happy day and "Christmas" is always happening in my heart but, this is the time of year to see "Too Much Christmas" (which doesn't have a live link yet!) from KFOG and look at decorations in the malls and at people's houses. It is SOOOOO much fun!!!
A Li-i-ttle Over the Top
Well, what can I say? I'm a writer of sorts at home and at work and, occasionally, at work, things get a little out of hand. On Monday, a sales rep included me in some emails with his customer and his customer's purchasing people. In this email, he informed his customer's purchasing people that we (in the Contracts Department) would not accept their document in "either of our lifetimes" but he said he'd present it. Needless to say, the buyer came back fighting! Well, dah!!
I wrote to the purchasing guy and told him that (a) I was sorry for the way in which he had been treated by our sales rep and (b) I would review his document as long as he understood that our software is not an application but a toolkit and, as such, is licensed in a different manner from that of the usual software applications. He said he didn't understand what I meant but he appreciated my efforts (to smooth his feathers). (With sales reps like that, who needs opposing counsel?)
Anyway, I reviewed the document-- all 36 pages of it. I redlined the document-- note the use of the word "REDlined". I composed an email today to send back to the purchasing agent to tell him what we needed changed in his document in order to be able to make it work for our software. It was a 46-point email!! Obviously, I don't think any of them realized that there was this much of a difference between licensing software toolkits and software applications. The sales rep has an attitude (at the moment) that he thinks that the end user is going to make the purchasing agent take our paper or accept our changes. I'd be amazed if it happened that easily. To be honest, there are polar differences between our stances but, if the purchasing agent doesn't understand it, compromise is going to be a long time coming!
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The weekend is upon us however which means that there are fun things to do!! Unlike almost every one I know (aren't you happy, honey?), I'm just getting my Christmas tree up this weekend. I sorted through the last of the local gifts from my ornament makings last night. I've got to choose a couple for my sister- and brother-in-law but, then, it'll be finished and the rest will be for us!! There are a ton of ornaments-- okay, not a ton cuz they wouldn't be in our living room but the downstairs' neighbors apartment-- left for us to put on our tree! I'm really excited!! That'll be my project for Saturday and Sunday-- Brian's got some Author Review to do so I'll be left along to do it (I hope!). I think all of us Netwidows should post pictures of our Christmas trees!! Whatcha think, ladies?
BTW, I feel somewhat better with my new medication however I came home and slept for an hour or so tonight. That's good for me though-- its the only way I'm going to kick this thing!!
Have a good evening!
Thursday, November 30, 2000THANKS!!!!
WOW!! Its the end of the month, already!! It seems like it was just October . . . but then it was just October, wasn't it? ARGH!! As of the time of this writing (approximately 7:30pm PST), my page reads from this month almost match last month and this month is one day shorter!!
THANKS!!!! I appreciate ya'll coming by and reading and writing and making friends and just being you! I enjoy the input and output that we have through the communication and hope you keep on coming back!! THANKS!!!!
Next . . .
I'm feeling much better today-- my cold symptoms are subsiding. The bad news is that Brian is starting to feel kinda "icky" now!! Here we go again!
Accomplishments at Work!
I've been trying to contact someone at a governmental agency since April to get a contract renegotiated. The sales rep that works for my company has, believe it or not, been blocking my efforts to renegotiate the document. Two weeks ago, I sent the documents in question to the President to execute with a "cautionary note" that stated there was a problem with the agreements. Being a smart man, he rejected the request to execute the documents. The CFO and he both insisted that the document be renegotiated NOW. That gave the sales rep and his AVP (not my usual AVP, John) no option: the document had to be renegotiated. Suddenly, since there are additional $300,000.00 worth of orders pending for this customer, I'm getting the utmost cooperation from the sales rep. If he doesn't get the agreements signed, he won't get paid his commission now so he is (finally) worried!!
It has taken two weeks but I've finally gotten ahold of the correct person and that person and I spoke today. The amendment to the document is on its way to her and, while she'll get it several hours before I get into the office, we plan to have a conference call as soon as I do get in so that we can modify the agreement and get it cooking on all contracts, old and new.
The funny part is that the customer told the sales rep (who works for my company) to leave me alone and not harrass me. She's reviewed the agreement and agrees that it needs to be modified-- she wants to get it done and done right ASAP! FINALLY!! I'm getting some help on this!!! I've been trying since APRIL!!!
I expect the negotiation call tomorrow to go well-- she and I both have a good attitude about renegotiating the problem areas and getting them resolved to everyone's satisfaction. There won't be a sales rep involved and, as a result, we should get it done quicker and better without him!!
Oh, yes, I do enjoy my job-- most of the time!!
I've got a bunch of things to do tonight-- call friends and watch "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Dinner was the Zucchini Casserole but Brian's doing dishes so my work is done for the night.
Have a good evening, okay? And thanks again for coming by!!
Wednesday, November 29, 2000Doctor Stuff
I saw a doctor about my cold today. I believe I told you that my regular "family doctor" quit private practice so I can't see her because of the new group that she's working with not carrying my insurance. Well, I haven't decided where to go for my regular doctor but wanted to see someone today so I started calling around. Yes, my health insurance has a website where I can check to see if doctors are participating but, unfortunately, there isn't much for a choice of doctors.
There are two or three doctors that are "private" practitioners but most of them are over 60 and I don't want to have to change doctors again, that soon. Then, there is a HUGE medical group that is similar to a low-cost health insurance plan (that will remain nameless) except that they aren't an insurance plan just a group of doctors (200+) that have several locations. I spent 15 minutes on hold at the main office location before I gave up and called a second location. At the second location that I called, I was on hold for about 2 minutes before a body picked up the call-- I thought that was pretty good but, immediately I was asked for my chart number. To me this is a distinct, "We don't care who YOU are, we're only here for the dollars your insurance company can/will pay us." I hate that feeling.
I was offered several times and chose one that, with the rain that we had today, I figured I could make "on time" without killing myself trying to get there. When I walked in, I knew I was in trouble: there were two desks and a line of people waiting to check in and pay their copayments. This part feels very much like going to the insurance company doctors except that, once you get past the receptionists, its more like a real doctors' office. I can't stand the reception area-- its not them, its the atmosphere and the way that things are handled there.
Once you get past that, however, as I said, its fine-- its like being in a private practitioners office again. The nurses take their time and the doctors take their time-- they need to work on the phones and the reception area, for sure. The doctor talked with me, took a brief history of the current problem and my family history and then, told me his thoughts and waited to hear my reactions. We agreed on a course of treatment: I don't have a sinus infection yet-- that was my fear since I had woken up during the night with a headache-- but, he gave me a prescription decongestant to take until my nose cleared up. If it doesn't clear up on its own, he gave me a sinus infection prescription to take if the cold develops into a sinus infection. (Trusting, eh? I liked that part, too!) He told me what a sinus infection looked/felt like; I'm hoping I don't have to use that prescription cuz the condition doesn't sound like fun.
He gave me the prescription decongestant because I was using my fifth over-the-counter medication with this cold! I had used: DayQuil, NyQuil, TheraFlu, SinuTab, and Afrin (in that order). He had a particular dislike to Afrin and explained that it only temporarily shrinks the membranes and, actually ends up inflaming them more after the medication wears off which, even tho the directions say to use 10-12 hours between doses, can wear off anywhere from 5 to 6 hours later. I laughed because that's what happened to me last night: I started sneezing and my nose started running all over again 5 hours after my first dose last night!! Too funny!! He asked me what I did when it seemed to have worn off, causing me to sneeze and blow my nose a lot. Frankly, I went to bed-- I couldn't take another dose cuz the directions said "10-12 hours", not five so I couldn't do anything about it. Apparently, not everyone follows package directions and takes an additional dose anyway.
Anyway, the long (yes, I know this is really long) and the short (don't you wish?) of it is that I'm going to feel better soon and, knowing that I did the right thing by calling the doctors' office to go in to see someone made me feel better-- today.
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I think its "How To" night tonight-- I saw pledging last night but I'm not sure if it was a BBC News sponsorship drive or what so, I'm going to remain hopeful. I've also got a chat session with my sister, Karen, when she gets home from church choir practice and if she can get on the internet-- her ISP has been having problems lately.
I hope you have a great evening tonight, too!
Tuesday, November 28, 2000Put on Warning . . .
We received our "Unless-you're-dead, you're-coming-into-work-next-month" email from our director yesterday. She's offered the bribes of breakfast, lunch, dinner, showers, cots and anything else we think we may need so that we are always there next month. End of quarter and end of fiscal year-- it was killer last year but I was new. This year it'll be killer because we're supposed to be extremely busy-- I've got two "big" agreements to work and its not even December! The strangest bit is that neither of them are from my region-- interesting, eh?
Came Home-- Collapsed
I've not been sleeping well at night-- I'm sure its my cold (I can feel it in my nose). When I got home from work tonight, I slept for an hour and then my cousin called-- Barb's doing well in her recovery, thanks for asking-- and I've been cleaning my desk ever since that time. Its close but I don't feel like finishing so . . . Brian won't be surprised, right? I'm tired of having this cold and tired of being tired of it. There I go, looking like a train wreck again!!
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Sorry so short-- I'm going to watch television and take it easy tonight.
Have a nice evening!
Monday, November 27, 2000Work Stuff
My customer meeting went well today-- I had been a little concerned because it was a "Big Company" but the end user didn't have the attitude that we had to bow down which was good. It certainly made it easier to negotiate when the attitude is right. The biggest issue is determining what is and is not incorporated into their agreement and, if something was purchased before the effective date of the agreement, either eliminating it or making that sub-division pay for the support services. Not hard to do at all-- especially for me since it doesn't involve me. The only issue that's left is the fact that there may be ongoing maintenance issues that come up because of the lack of a "grandfathering" clause (a clause that incorporates older product into the newer agreement, including maintenance support) for renewal of licenses, maintenance, etc. Still, however, that looks like it will be a smooth transition.
Report!
My new endocrinologist, HIMSELF, called to tell me my numbers on the TSH level that was taken last week and to talk about a course of treatment. As far as I'm concerned, he's being very agressive about this and I like that!! My prescription is being increased and I've got a follow-up appointment scheduled so, as I said, I am a happy!
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Other than that, my cold is hanging in there as am I . . . I've got some sorting to do on the local Christmas ornament gifts but expect to be done with that by the end of the week so that I can put our tree up this weekend. (I am very excited about that!!) Our neighbors, the newleywed couple from India, are going to put up a tree this year so I gave her a couple of ornaments as well-- she is excited (and should be since this is her first year in the States)!!
Well, I'd better get to it!! Have a good evening!
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