Archive of Marcia's Musings July 23-29, 2001Sunday, July 29, 2001
And Again at 8:00pmFinally!!
After my last post here last night, I went out on the web and, of the front-loading washer that we liked the best, found a number of stores that carried it and called the three stores that were closest to our new house to buy it, if we so desired. On the second phone call, it was explained to me that they all had the same price for the same model for a reason-- something about Maytag (we're getting the "Neptune") not wanting their resellers to try to under-cut each other. Beside having proven to me to be the truth, it seemed fair so, we went ahead and ordered it from him-- Sears. Threw it and a two year maintenance contract on the credit card and voila-- the decision was made. Of all of the things that we have to buy over the course of the next two weeks, I hope it gets easier from here!!
What else do we have to buy? Well, what we are talking about buying and need to buy are, of course, two different things. We need to buy a couple of chairs (preferably at least one recliner) for the livingroom. We would like to buy bedroom furniture that matches-- the hodge-podge we've got now is really getting old. Eventually, not right away, we'll probably need to buy end tables for the living room. Much of this is going to have to wait until we get into the house, however, because in addition to the fact that we have nowhere to store it now, it also doesn't make a lot of sense to have Brian taking every-other-day off to await deliveries at the new place.
It'll all get there in good time-- I almost sound patient, don't I? Ya see? You can fool yourself sometime!!
Oh, well, off to refill the stocks that can't wait until after the move-- when back from Costco, we'll hit the grocery store and then, I'm going to pack up the dining room. I finished the living room yesterday in no time. There were three more boxes so that's finished. The dining room shouldn't take any time at all-- just my mother's china and the table linens. No biggie there! Maybe I'll start on some of my office then? We'll have to see how far I get before I run out of boxes!!
I'll check back in later-- why don't you, too and thanks for coming by!!
Twice in a row!! In fact, two days in a row, twice in a row!! Well, not that there's much to report-- the packing on the living room and dining room is finished. I want to work on our bedroom but I can't help but think its too soon for that. I'm kinda wondering if I should really pack anymore at all until next weekend. It seems a bit early, ya know--there may be something we need.
Well, after we got home from the Costco/grocery store run, I finished the dining room and made a low-fat low-calorie blueberry/peach cobbler. It came out really good and I'm gonna like gnoshing on that during the week. It'll be a nice addition to my lunches.
I've finished my Sunday night foot spa treatment and my toes are tingling and my heels not as achy which is a really nice thing. I did the get the balance of the photos (the panoramic shots) back but they are really big and won't download well so I'm not going to finish scanning them in for publishing. I think it'll be a bit much, ya know?
For the balance of the evening, I'm going to relax-- I may not get the chance to do that for awhile again so I'm going to take advantage while I can.
You have a nice evening, too.
Saturday, July 28, 2001
Update at 11:30am, 6:00pmAtlanta is In!!
Finally, the pictures from the Atlanta trip with Barbara Thompson are in!! I scanned them this morning and inserted them into my trip report from July 11 and put them on my Meanderings page as well as linked above. Enjoy!! There are some good pictures-- I didn't get as many as I thought I did because I'm used to having Brian be the photographer and I kept forgetting to take pictures as a result. There are some panoramic shots that haven't returned from the developer yet-- they take a bit longer. I don't know how they'll scan or if they'll be able to be saved to a downloadable size but I got some nice shots of the Atlanta skyline in those along with some additional shots of Centennial Olympic Park.
As mentioned/promised in Barbara's trip report, there is an identical photo of her lovely self as there is of me on her page-- it was fun playing "Dueling Cameras" over the weekend!! Maybe the guys'll get to join us next time? Who knows what the future may bring, eh?
Plans for the Day
I've got to make a run to Orchard Supply Hardware to get a few organizational things like a hanger bar to divide one of my closets in the new place and some spackle to fix the holes in the walls in this old place. At some point over the weekend, I'll continue the packing but we'll also make a run to Costco-- Brian at least got to see a store in Vancouver although we didn't go into it. Perhaps that gave him enough of a fix for his weekend habit considering that we were on holiday.
I'll probably put up more later but wanted to give you a chance to see the Atlanta trip report now rather than later-- Have a nice day!
I'm waiting on Brian to get his shower finished (which he hasn't even started!) so I thought I'd trim up a few more pictures. The pictures below are from my camera (the end of the Atlanta trip film) with the Syroids. I'll eventually move them to the Meanderings page of the Vancouver trip but I thought I'd give you a bit here to look at, too.
Enjoy!!
Definitely suitable for framing!!
Looks pretty guilty to me!!
The hat is quite a topper on that face, isn't it?
The bottom of the ravine in the Suspension Bridge Park.
Until Landon joined them, it wasn't cute enough for a photo but this couldn't be passed up!!
Like Barbara and I, there is a photo in Leah's camera of me in a like pose.I've done something today that I thought I would never do: I looked for a washing machine. Talk about boring!!! And the worst part is that Brian has a mind-set that he has failed to inform me of so we keep walking away from appliances and I keep wondering why, ya know? I've finally given up and just flat out ask him what his issues are so I can have an explanation as to why we're not buying the second one we see. (The first one, it should be noted) didn't have some of the features that the second one did so I can understand why we didn't buy that.) He tells me we're shopping-- I like shopping and why don't I want to be shopping for this?
Maybe its a guy thing but, I don't understand how this is shopping. Yes, I have specific things I want a washer to do but, once I find that, why do I have to continue to look? Nope-- don't get it!
Other than that, we've done nothing earth-shatteringly important or noteworthy all day. The Costco run has been put off until tomorrow which, even though he's down to half-case, is going pretty well-- Yeesh!! Just a little too weird for me here tonight, ya'll!! Just a little toooooo weird!! Oh, well, I'm sure more will develop tomorrow-- have a nice evening!
Friday, July 27, 2001Fun Time!!
Once again, our department went out for a fun off-site to a nice restaurant (although the service was questionable) in Half Moon Bay and then we wandered around the little shops on Main Street. Fun time was definitely had by all-- even the newest member of our gang: Mike. Mike has joined our staff as the negotiator for the Northeast. He and my manager, Judy, will cover for me when I'm on vacation or out of town and vice versa. He seems like a really nice guy in addition to putting up with our shananigans which is pretty amazing!
When we got home, I was pretty tired so I had a nap for an hour and then, Brian woke me up and we packed some more boxes together. Yes, I know-- I was surprised, too. I was surprised partly because he was helping and partly because he had said in his post that it was date night and we were supposed to take the night off from the move. Too cool!! I like having his help on this-- without it, this will be a really tough move but, he surprises me now and then with little things like this. Thanks, Honey!!
By the way, the living room (as it currently stands) is pretty much packed. I've probably got two more boxes of vases and art bowls to pack. My "office" will need to be packed up but I don't see that being a huge issue. We were just discussing (and agreeing) that the kitchen can't be packed for another week or so-- probably the week of the 6th. But there's still the dining room hutch with my mother's china and the garage to organize and put into boxes what isn't already in boxes. Oh, yeah-- its going to be a fun couple of weeks.
Soooooo, tonight is date night which causes a bit of a problem cuz all of the CDs, DVDs, and videos are packed except for four-- the Star Wars triology and pre-quel. I left them out by mistake but it looks like that'll be our entertainment for the next two weeks, outside of regular television. Oh, boy, I can hardly wait!!
Well, I'm off-- Brian's cooking Mexican food tonight-- Nummy!! Have a nice evening!
Thursday, July 26, 2001Ya Just Don't Think About It, Ya Know?
There are so many "Change of Address" notifications to send out when you move. Last week, I did the "big" (12 or so) round of bills and somehow managed to remember to put the new address labels on the credit card and utilities bills so that the records would change on the statements. The next order of business was the banks-- not a problem, that can be done online. Then, there's the donations and, the second round of bills (3 or 4 but there are no utilities in this bunch) that came in this past week. I was preparing those last night and actually had one completely sealed before I remembered. Thankfully, the glue on the envelope hadn't dried and I was able to peel the envelope open again to affix the new address sticker.
I had to order new checks (we use the Quicken-type that come on sheets) but I couldn't do that until the bank had acknowledged the online change of address and the credit card company was notified. That way they wouldn't reject the request when it came in-- I'm glad for that, actually because it means that no one can steal my check reorder form and have checks printed with my account number. I've only got one magazine: "This Old House" which gave a toll-free number for address changes however, it doesn't actually take effect until the October issue is released-- hmmm, I can see we'll be paying some forwarding fees! I think my subscription to "English Home" doesn't expire until December so there'll be a few charges anyway. Oh, well, not for lack of trying on my part, let me tell ya!!
And just in case there's anyone I could've possibly left out, I've got my pre-printed stickers to slap the new address onto something. We use the Avery labels cuz they're easier to deal with-- they're certainly not cheaper than having 500 labels printed and CheapPrint.com (not a real business) but, they are THERE when I need them, not three weeks out waiting for delivery.
Customers!!
That is said with a certain tone of disgust similar to what we've each heard said in the word "Men!" or "Women!". I had a customer get our sales rep panicked about the changes that I made to the NDA that I reviewed for him. I called and asked the customer what the problem was and he said that he'd have to get back to me when his boss was available. That was a half hour ago, twenty minutes since our conference call was supposed to start (yes, I'm writing this from work). He panicked because of . . . oh, yeah, HIS lack of responsiveness. Yeesh!!
I've got another customer who has exchanged about four emails and at least three voicemails with me about the date of the documents that we need to sign. Do the words "I DON'T CARE WHEN YOU DATE IT!!!" bring anything to your mind? Just sign it already!! I'm just tired of talking about the date of the documents at this point!!! Patience of a pea today, I'll tell ya-- I've got the patience of a pea!!! Yeesh!!!
Unusual Behavior
I've got to think "outside the box" tomorrow-- well, really, I have to think inside our apartment. I'm going to work from home tomorrow morning and then we have a department outing in the late morning and afternoon. My manager, Judy (Judy has become my manager but Joyce, our director is still there), has told me I should just work from home but, as I've said before, its hard for me to do that cuz I miss the comradery, etc. Of course, there is the fact that no one else will be there either so what difference will it make if I'm not there???? Oh, yeah, I guess there won't be any comradery to miss then, eh?
Continuing . . .
. . . the box count-- I'm only up to 6 but hey, I've only just begun and, of course, Brian's already complaining that I'm starting too early. Yeah, well, if I don't, who will? I did stop long enough to make dinner tonight: Parmesan Chicken (Weight Watcher recipe), herb & butter rice (low-fat/low calorie butter) and salad with fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes. Nummy!! I'll get back to the packing in a few minutes but I want to post this and rest my eyes. I'm still jet-lagged from this past weekend, I think! ;>)
Have a nice evening!
Wednesday, July 25, 2001Stood Up!!
I had a customer meeting at my office today-- a customer from the Southeast region had come in for the purpose of attending some classes via the web and, was going to break at 9:30 so we arranged to meet up at 10 to discuss the agreement. By 10:15, I have to admit, I was a little less than impressed. We didn't have much to talk about since the agreement was a "one-off" that was being created for their transaction and, frankly, I needed the VP of the program to bless what I had already drafted. Unfortunately, he hadn't had time to do that over the last week so there wasn't much point in the two of us (the customer and I) getting together. At 10:30, she called me to let me know she was free; I reminded her that she had an 11:00 meeting with the COO and it wasn't good to keep him waiting so we'd have to postpone our meeting until the afternoon.
Mind you, I only had an hour available in the afternoon but, I was willing to meet with her. Nope, she couldn't do it cuz she had another class. Now it seems to me that if you have a meeting scheduled with someone and you have a minimal amount of time that you can spend between classes with people that you would make the most of the time you had available. Apparently, I'm odd when it comes to that-- we decided that we weren't going to be able to get together but I left her with the assurance that we were going to put a document in place at some point in the future-- hopefully, it'll be the way that she wants the document to be but, we also have to look at it from the standpoint of the business we have to run and what we have to work with in relationship to other customers. That seemed like it was going to be hard for her to be able to deal with but, we'll see how it goes.
Bills Written . . .
. . . Desk cleaned off-- I'm ready to start packing!! I've got the bills paid half-way into next month because I don't know when I'll get to it again and, what the heck, the money was there so I might as well, right? Well, so Brian doesn't want me to pay the rent for the apartment for next month yet-- something about looking too eager to get out of here. Well, I am so what's the problem??
He's going to cook dinner tonight and I'm going to get started on the living room bookcases, knick-knacks, etc. I've got my labeling system all set up and know how I'm going to go about packing and making sure that things end up in the rooms where they belong at the other end. Of course, this somehow is an offense to him-- being organized-- so I'm going to have to keep it a secret!
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Thanks for coming by-- the trip report to Vancouver is up on my Meanderings page and that could be a good read depending on your perspective. Have a nice evening!
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
(Update at 10:57pm)So many titles . . .
There are so many titles I could use for this piece: "July is Netwidows Month-- Again" or "Two Plus Four Equals??" or the more obvious, "Adventuring We Go Again", etc. but more to the point, where to start?
Remember back in May when I said that Brian and I were going to go away for a weekend as part of our anniversary present? Well, what we decided to do was take the mountain to Muhammad!! Our original intent was to surprise the Syroids in Vancouver but, how to be sure when Tom, who was not expected to be there the whole time that Leah was there, would be there? We had to break down and 'fess up! Leah was quite shocked when I told her of our plan-- pleased but shocked. So, vacation time was requested and airline tickets were purchased and, off we were to the Canadian north.
I've now met four of nine (original) Netwidows-- Shelley and Keri in July of 2000 and Barbara and Leah in July of 2001. It appears that July is Netwidows Month, huh?
Not telling you, our reading public, was not meant as anything other than we weren't about to leave our apartment wide-open, unattended and exposed. Brian has a real problem with that-- understandably so considering our neighbors below us.
There will be a trip report forthcoming-- I just haven't had time to compile it yet. You'll be the first to know when I have, okay?
More of the Same
It isn't just that you have to come back to reality when you get finished with a holiday but it is that I have to go back to a place that doesn't have MIS support. Okay, yes, it claims to support us but let me relate to you my latest chronicle into that arena:
On Tuesday, I received a phone call from one of our "best" MIS people we have asking me about the impending upgrade that I was getting on my laptop, going from Windows 98 to Windows NT. He asked me a question: "Which files did you want moved?" Now, perhaps it is me but I would've thought that was fairly obvious so I gave him my answer: "All but the Windows 98 files." His response was less than stellar: "Yeah, but which ones exactly?" So I said, said I: "Oh, okay-- let's see: the last time I ran a McAfee scan, it counted something like 32,439 files. Of them, how many of thoseare Windows 98 files?"
Apparently, that stumped him because I received no response.
Finally, he responded: "Yeah, but which ones do you want to go over?" "What part of 'all but the Windows 98 files' are you missing?" His response? "Yeah, but that could be a lot of files." So I say: "Yeah, I know-- its amazing how many files you can accumulate in a year and a half, isn't it?"
I began to get so paranoid about his competence that at one point, I just asked for the CD so Brian could do the update for me-- I trust that better than any of the "system administrators" that I'm forced to call on for assistance at my office!!
So how did this get resolved? I sent an email with a list of the programs and files that had to be "moved" and/or "copied" from my hard-drive. I also gave him specific instructions to do it so that he (1) didn't lose anything and (2) made sure that it booted up before he said it was done. I told him my passwords and told him not to worry about resetting them since I would take care of that when he was finished.
This morning when I came in, I received a voicemail from him-- he had done nothing on my computer at all except re-set the passwords. So, I've got an old operating system still on my computer and the passwords that I normally use don't work and, once I get through that maze, I find out that he's re-set me to double-click to open icons.
To say I was not happy was an understatement.
Yes, he'll be doing this for sure in three weeks when I'm on vacation for the move. He has to because, if he doesn't work on it then, it won't ever get done and that will make me an even less happy person. ARGH!!!
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Okay, so I think Brian has copied all of the photos over to my system so I need to go start the trip report. You have a nice evening because I will be nailed to my desk until I finish that and clean this desk up. Tomorrow night starts the packing and getting ready for the move-- next Wednesday we get the house so I have to be ready!!
Thanks for coming by and being patient in our absence! Have a nice evening!
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The Trip Report for Vancouver is up! There are more pictures coming but you'll be happy to know that I've turned that film in along with the film from my Atlanta, Georgia, adventure with Barbara Thompson. Hopefully, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, that trip report will be up later this week!! (Yes, I know-- I'll be happy to be caught up, too!)
Thanks and have a great evening!
Monday, July 23, 2001No Update Today
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