Archive of Marcia's Musings - February 5-11, 2001Sunday, February 11, 2001
Lazy Day
Well, let's see: first, we went to Costco this morning; I couldn't find any movies that I wanted to buy so I've been having a very lazy afternoon, watching (or should I say, sleeping through) PBS' "How To" shows. After Costco, we went to Kay Jewelers, Brian's Valentine's Day Supply Store; we were able to find exactly what he was looking for--;>) A gift for me!! Now both my birthday and Valentine's Day are covered and no more need to mention either, right? RIGHT!!!!
I went to the grocery store after we got home and made our weekly run for the usual stuff. When I got home, after putting everything away, I laid down for my first "power" nap of the afternoon but was awakened when I "heard" the KTEH announcer mention "Labrador Retrievers" which were going to be on PetPouri!!! Since that is going to be our breed of choice when we get a dog, my brain automatically woke me up to watch the breeder that was on the show. The breeder provided a lot of information, of course, and also mentioned the local rescue group which is what Brian and I want to use, if possible. As usual, LOTS of good information!!
Watching that show was followed by yet another power nap and, that leads me up to NOW which is 5:19pm-- we're having leftovers from Friday night's dinner (Pasta) tonight so there's no cooking to be done. Just need to wait a little longer before I can put it on the stove.
In the meantime, maybe I've got time for a third power nap? Could be!!
Thanks for coming by this joint!! Have a nice evening!!
Saturday, February 10, 2001There's Good News and Bad News and Good News and Bad News
The Good News is that Brian is very much alive. At one point this afternoon, Tom and Leah were quite concerned about that but, they should have realized, as I did, that It isn't his fault.
"It"? What is "It", you ask???? Well, "It" is the Bad News: the truck was taken in this morning cuz its been making funny noises all week. I thought it was the muffler at first but, the one with two ears confirmed that it was, in fact, the engine. So today we brought it into the repair shop-- again. (Remember we just had it in the shop for a fuel pump two weeks ago?? Yeah, well . . . )
Yes, yes-- I'm getting to It!!! The bad news is that "It" is the oil pump. And, yes, all of you who know this kind of thing-- that means "It" is THE ENGINE!!!!!! Can you say FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS????? The engine has to be either replaced or rebuilt because the oil pump "went out".
Guess what? We're back to more Good News again!!! The second bit of Good News is that there is an extended warranty that we paid for on the truck that is still in effect. The repairs SHOULD be covered under the warranty that we paid for because it says: "What is Covered: Engine". Yep, that about covers it!!
Again, guess what? There's more Bad News!! The second bit of Bad News is that if we had read this warranty two weeks ago, we wouldn't have paid for the fuel pump to be repaired!!!! It would've been covered under the extended warranty, too!! We're going to see if we can get them to reimburse us for any of those charges but, Monday will be the day that we get answers to everything.
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Okay, well, I've shared about all of the Good News that I can stand to share for one day-- I'm tired, again. Yes, before we looked at the extended warranty, I was in tears at one point. Have you ever seen a house sprout wings and fly away? I was envisioning any hope of a house going flying away out the window (I'm pretty sure there's a Looney Tune with that in it somewhere!) because of having to put that much money into the truck AGAIN!! I've recovered now and, we even had a nice time out with our neighbors, Jan and Scott. Brian helped Scott build a computer a few weeks ago and as "payment" for it, they took us out to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant-- good stuff!! We'll be going back there, that's for sure!
Brian's working on an article that he's writing, and me? I'm back to watching movies by myself. Too bad we're not making the Costco run until tomorrow-- I'll probably pick up some more DVDs but I won't have them to watch tonight. (Yeah, I know-- I'm a rocket scientist when it comes to timing.)
Have a nice evening!
Friday, February 9, 2001A Better Day
Technically, I had a better day today than yesterday-- I was a little more awake anyway. I had a negotiation that went well leaving only about three things open. At about 10:30amPST, I sent the next revision back to the customer because the two things that I had to deal with were resolved. She had one open issue to resolve and then, the agreement will be ready for signature. John, my AVP, called and left a message while I was on the phone with her so when I called him back, we dealt with two of his open issues and the one that was created with the new negotiation. Much to his surprise, an agreement that I issued an amendment on months ago actually passed the customer's review and approval process with only a couple of changes. Not bad!! He was duly impressed.
The birthday lunch went well: No, its not my birthday!!! There are five of us that have a birthday after January 28 and before the end of February. (Yes, that's all I'm going to say in case SOMEONE is reading this from my office.) The admin in our department and one of the contract managers have decided to make it their life's work to find out my birthday. Oh, well, there are things in this world that you just can't have, right? Yep, that's one of 'em!!
I'm Dead, BTW
Did you know that? Not a bad typing job for a dead person!
Last night, I posted about trying to find an author in order to get rights to a play. Well . . . this was the first reaction from that post:
From: "Barbara Fritchman Thompson"Can you say "embarrassed"??? I know, I know-- I should've asked her from the start. That's HER business!!!
To: "Marcia Bilbrey"
Subject: For shame!Hey,
Anytime you need help searching something out like authors or related stuff don't hesitate to e-mail me. I will be glad to help anytime.
Who are looking for and what information do you need?
Barbara
--
Barbara Fritchman Thompson
Research for Authors
barbara@ttgnet.com
http://www.ttgnet.com/bft/bft.html
From: "Marcia Bilbrey"*"Research for Authors" doesn't necessarily mean "Research about Authors"!! Barbara is, of course, a wonderfully forgiving and giving friend and, within a couple of hours time, she had the contact information that will get me to the author's agent. That's more than I had yesterday so I'm really hyped now!! I'll be giving his agent a call on Monday, bright-n-early, you can bet on that!!
To: "Barbara Fritchman Thompson"
Subject: Re: For shame!Well, I thought about it but I wasn't sure if that was something you did or not* AND, I didn't want to impose on our friendship. I know-- I'll be shot in about an hour when the sun comes up, right?!?!?!?
She is good at what she does, that's for sure!!! Thanks again, Barbara!!!!
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Tomorrow is a fun-filled day of torture: my nails are long overdue for a fill but there is the fun of the pedicure massage-- I'm ready for it, too. I'll probably fall asleep in the chair!!Sunday, among other things, we're going to go for our regular run to Costco to get the Coke supply for Brian and check to see if there isn't a stash of diapers for a 20-month-old we all know "North of the Border"!! Ya never know-- we could get lucky!!!
Have a nice evening!!
Thursday, February 8, 2001Tired . . .
Yep, I'm still tired-- I think it'll be this weekend before I catch up on all of the sleep that I've missed over the course of the last two weekends. (Yes, I admit it-- we stayed up "late" when Natali was here visiting us!! Until 11:45pm one night!!) Saturday is nail/pedicure day and we have a dinner engagement at night. Sunday? Sunday is SLEEP IN DAY!!!!! Please DO NOT call, ring our bell, scream outside our window or start anything on fire (if you live in Sunnyvale-- the fire station's down the street, remember?)!!!
Memory Failure
Its because of this tiredness that I'm having a difficult time remembering what I did at work today. I'm pretty sure that I did everything right I just can't remember what it was that I did right. I hate that feeling!! There were a couple of contracts that I reviewed and a couple more for which I modified and re-drafted language.
I'm trying to find contact information for the author of a children's book to acquire the rights to adapt his book into a 3-act play. My sister is requesting that I write a play for her or, at least, check to see if one has been written. If you've got any ideas on how to find this guy, let me know.
I have to admit that I'm flattered that my sister has asked me to write a second play. I realize that she's my sister but she's been doing this for more than thirty years and wouldn't ask me to write the play if she didn't think I did it well the first time.
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One more day and I'll be able to sleep, right? I'll keep that in mind tomorrow. That may be the only way that I make it through the birthday lunch!! Five of us are celebrating our birthdays at the office tomorrow-- thank goodness that they put it in ONE lunch instead of five separate lunches-- I'd gain a ton of weight!!Brian's off again tonight-- Something about perl or was that pearl??? Oooh, Valentines' Day is coming . . . maybe?????
Thanks, again, for coming by and have a nice evening!!
Wednesday, February 7, 2001Yosemite Time
As most of you know who have been reading this journal for any length of time, I support the southeast region of the United States. Because I am typically a "morning person" and because I support the southeast region of the United States, I go into the office early by most of my co-workers standards. My co-workers usually roll into the office between 9 and 10 and, then, look at me oddly when I leave at 3:30 or so.
To make this even more strange, the last three mornings, Brian has been getting out of bed almost immediately when the alarm goes off-- instead of the usual 4 snooze alarms later. This means that he is in and out of the shower and bathroom a good ten to fifteen minutes earlier than usual. That means that, since I'm on auto pilot at that part of the day, I get up from my morning computer game and go and get ready for work. Because Brian is ten to fifteen minutes earlier, I'm ten to fifteen minutes earlier.
This was emphasized by one of my sales reps calling me First Thing This Morning: 6:59am and I answered the phone! He was surprised but commented that I didn't sound as perky as I normally do. I explained that I believe it is because I am on "Yosemite Time". Yikes!! I have been like this all week-- a little out of it, a little out of sync with the rest of the world. (I'm also quite sure that getting to work ten to fifteen minutes earlier isn't helping me either.)
On Monday and Tuesday, I'd get up from my desk thinking it was time to heat my lunch but, NOOOOO, it was 9:30 in the morning!! Granted, I could heat my lunch but then what would I eat at Noon when it really was my lunch time???? Today, I started running a little closer to normal. I'd look at my watch and think it was 11 and it was actually 10:30 so I am going to make it to the point where the time is going to coincide with the rest of the world. It is just taking me way tooooo long to get there!!
Tonight, Tonight!!
Brian's out for the night tonight and I've already had my chat with my sister so the only thing left to do is do the dishes and get ready for "How To" night on PBS. I'm pumped!! (Where'd I put my pillow??)
Have a nice evening!
Tuesday, February 6, 2001Thanks!
I've had a bunch of emails today about the trip report that I offered up as a critique of our weekend jaunt to Yosemite National Park. We had a wonderful time and, I believe it shows in the pictures that we took along with the comments, etc. If you haven't been over to see Brian's report, feel free to do so as he has a few more pictures than I have on my site-- I didn't feel the need to publish blurry ones, whether as an example of scale or not. One reader comments that there are a massive quantity of photos that were taken-- I just hope we can keep it up for the next trip!!
Well, Didja???
Didja see who is back??? Yeah, I know-- she is trying to sneak in there but, we are all SOOOOOO glad to have her back that we can't just let her sneak in-- we've gotta shout it from the rooftops!!!!
And in Other News . . .
Brian had to work late tonight-- highly unusual. Since we've been together, not counting a business trip, he has had to work late maybe twice? Three times? It was a computer thing, of course.
The keyboard at my office, a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite is 3/8" wider between the splits than the Microsoft Natural Keyboard Pro I have at home. The keys on the Pro are also less slick so I don't slide as much and, frankly, in a very short period of time, I've gotten used to the Pro much more easily than the Elite. They are replacing the Elite for a Pro at the office-- I really work for a good company.
I heard from Keri Beland today-- she's been working on some websites for other people since they can't get to their websites yet. If you want to reach her, send an email to this address and it'll get through to her.
I'm trying a new recipe tonight . . . when Brian gets home, we'll see how he likes it. He could always get back in the car and go to Taco Bell, right? (Not!!)
Have a nice evening!
Monday, February 5, 2001
Updated 8:30pmWork Week Begins . . .
. . . slowly but my body is there so the mind must follow, right? Yeah, well, tell that to my body and my mind!! HAH!! My mind is still out in Yosemite someplace even though my body, in its weakened state of being "b'oken" is supposedly in Sunnyvale.
The mind has been having a problem getting into the swing of working all day but I am definitely getting closer to it. There isn't a lot of work which is helping a lot-- There are a couple of big deals coming down the pike out of my region but nothing major yet. There were two Non-Disclosure Agreements in process when I left and even though someone else finished them, they didn't finish them exactly right so I've gotta put up with it. (Can you say "Control Freak"???)
It'll get better as the weeks progress and then there's a three-day weekend with a holiday! Oh, well, so much for that swing!!
Other than that . . .
. . . not much has been happening. I've got a trip report to get finish for ya'll and, I'm working on that so I'll escape from here and catch everyone up later on this evening, 'kay? 'Kay!! (The first day's report is here-- come back for the balance of it later tonight.)
Have a nice evening!
Momentarily back . . . I've finished my trip report-- I haven't read Brian's but, hopefully we sound like we're on the same trip. If you find any links that don't work, let me know!! Enjoy!!!
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