Archive of Marcia's Musings July 9-15, 2001
Saturday, July 14, 2001
New Developments
Can't say anything formal or for sure yet but things are in development here at the Bilbrey Belfry . . . things are definitely developing. Man, I hope this works out!! Will keep you posted as things develop and, yes, eventually, I will stop talking cryptically and spill the beans on the whole mess.
Nail Technician, Anyone?
There's a strong possibility that Linda, my nail technician and friend of four years will be moving. She is working with someone (Lisa) who could replace her for the work she does on my nails and feet but I don't want to replace her friendship!! Her husband's computer company is shutting down the Fremont, California location and looking to move him to the east coast-- Pennsylvania to be exact. Linda's looking forward to it already even though nothing is written down yet-- hopefully, she won't be disappointed. I'll miss her terribly but, if its best for their family . . .
Tomorrow's Another Day
And it appears it will be a busy one: we're going to Costco and the grocery store and need to do laundry (although Monday night would work, too). In the afternoon, we're going to my friend, Myrna's house to have a potluck dinner with her, her husband (Roger), Nina (our admin at work) and Nina's sister, Connie. All of us will have dinner and then head over to see the Michael Flatley "Feet of Flames" performance! It will be an exciting day and certainly action-packed!! I'll have to let you know how everything turns out on Monday though cuz I probably won't have time to write tomorrow.
Short but sweet-- its a weekend!! Have a nice evening!
Friday, July 13, 2001Happy Friday the 13th!!
I'm not a superstitious person and, its probably just as well-- I have enough phobias without adding one more to it!! Nothing special happened today bad or good so I can't attribute much of anything to the calendar. Oh, well-- I hope you've had a good day and nothing bad happened to you, either!
The Next Burning Question
So the questions continued: Lynne Walder needed to see a picture of the hot pink shoes and Ann Dominik couldn't imagine a hot pink suit. The suit's wrinkled from being in my suitcase so you don't get a picture of that but, above is a picture of the hot pink shoes. Lovely, really and made of leather so I'll be able to break them in slowly. I was a little concerned about Lynne: she sounded a bit like a junkie in her email this morning-- just HAD to see a picture! ;>)
Then, this afternoon in continuing conversations with Ann Dominik, I let it slip that I had a pair of orange shoes and well, yes, those are the orange "Chinese Laundry" shoes to the right. They're really cute but I do not wear them with the orange t-shirt that I bought in Atlanta. (BTW, I don't understand the sudden attraction to orange-- Barbara described it as a "When I get older, I'll wear purple" kind of thing but, since I'm not old, I don't think that applies. I bought the t-shirt because the embroidered "Atlanta" was in cool multi-colors and the orange drew me to it.)
Lonely but Productive
It was weird being the only one in the office today-- it was absolutely quiet!! I was only interrupted twice during the whole day and, yes, I was able to catch my entire desk up from when I was gone. I feel much more organized when I've got all of the loose papers cleared and files made and I was able to do all of that, finish some drafting that needed to be done and also had a negotiation. The guy that stood me up yesterday was available and at his desk as promised today so I was able to finish that contract. There wasn't any real money associated with it now but it will make it easier for the customer to buy future product.
Busy Weekend Ahead
Tomorrow is nail/pedicure day and then, we're going to go look at a house for rent in the neighborhood. On Sunday, it'll be the usual Costco/grocery store run and in the evening, the Michael Flatley performance. Finally!! Man, it seems like it took six months to get here!! Okay, so it took three months but it was a LONNNNNNGGGGGG time comin'!!!
For Great Lakes Readers . . .
For all of my Great Lakes-based readers, my niece (Faye) is the Assistant Event Director organizing a fundraiser on the Great Lakes. She asked me how to set up a "geocities" website but, since I've never known how to program that stuff and, there are problems with reading the program set-up sometime, I set it up for her off of my main site. Go take a look-see-- I'm sure she'd appreciate it.
Date Night
Well, since last week I was busy packing, I need to go enjoy my husband's company-- it is, after all, date night in Sunnyvale!!
Have a nice evening!
Thursday, July 12, 2001The Burning Question
The "Burning Question" first came from Ann Dominik last week but was today offered up by Lynne Walder: Was I going to try to get Barbara to buy any shoes while we were in Atlanta? When Ann and I discussed it, the question was answered by only if they were sequined sneakers but then Bob would probably be the one to wear them for the sake of being different. (Hey, it could work in a nice black sequin, ya know?) Lynne was curious if I'd bought any shoes and also asked if I got Barbara to buy some, too. Nope, as I explained, Barbara is not weak like Lynne and I when it comes to "The Sins of The Feet"-- she has an immense amount of willpower!!
Barbara's intent when shopping was to get things that she couldn't find in Winston-Salem. She was driven woman about it, too. I was really surprised how good she was at resisting things-- well, resistant to all things not teddy-bear related. :>) And, yes, for the record, I bought a pair of shoes-- one of the suits that I bought was a hot pink linen short-sleeved skirt suit and I didn't have the right kind of black shoes with me to wear with the suit. I bought a black background with pink flower blouse so black would've worked but, alas, I had to buy a pair of hot pink shoes to wear with it.
Busy Again
Today was another busy day in the neighborhood-- catching up with people and I had one negotiation but I got "stood up"!! I had a problem with time zones (remembering which I was in and which I would be in on Thursday) so when I scheduled this one for today, I confirmed the Pacific time zone so that I wouldn't miss the guy. He confirmed back to me the time and when I called at 9am, he wasn't at his desk. In fact, I didn't get an email from him for more than an hour. He did apologize but I was booked for the balance of the day so we had to reschedule for tomorrow.
Tomorrow will definitely work for me: Since I had attended the quarterly sales meeting in Atlanta, I do not have to attend the one that is scheduled for the west coast that everyone else in my department has to attend tomorrow. All of my inside sales people, since they sit in my office, have to attend the meeting tomorrow, too so I will be the only person from the contracts department in the office and I won't have any sales people to
bothersee me either! ;>) I hope to get a lot accomplished!! I still feel like I'm behind on stuff even though I'm really not behind on anything.My director, Joyce and I met the recruiter (Alice) who placed me at my company for lunch. Originally, Alice had called me and wanted to see if I was available because she wanted to get together to discuss a special need that the company she was working for had at the present time. I was aware that she had gone to the private sector but I wasn't aware that she was working for one of our direct competitors!! Yes, when I found that out, I was more than a little nervous but Joyce was also curious as to why Alice didn't approach her. Afterall, Joyce is director-level and it makes sense to "start at the top" if you need something. We decided that with both of us there, there would be safety in numbers so I wasn't even remotely worried about divulging any corporate secrets or being accused of it later.
We never really figured out what she was trying to find out but, at least we had a really nice lunch!
Leah Update
Leah asked me to relay a message to you since "Thomas Michael" keeps forgetting to tell you that (Yeah, I know-- he said the power went out but nobody believes that! He's got a thingy that's Landon-proof but not power-line proof?? I don't think so, Tim-- er, uh Tom!! ) she is fine-- she and the kids are all in one piece-- no one is sick and no one has fallen down or broken/sprained/skinned anything in the last few days. She's just really busy!
As you may recall, they're getting ready to go on vacation next week and, between getting the household ready, cleaned and packed, she's been a little absorbed. She probably won't be able to post until after they get back from their vacation so bear with her-- she will be back.
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On that note, I'm off to figure out what kinda trouble I can get into tonight. Most of the sunlight is gone and everything else is pretty much caught up, too. Oh, well-- I'm sure I'll find something. Have a nice evening!
Wednesday, July 11, 2001Yep,today . . .
I did not go back and update my page from my last post on Friday-- I'm saving you the trouble of looking for the info on my . . .
Weekend in Atlanta
After two seemingly long fights, I stepped off the plane and immediately recognized Barbara Thompson who was waiting for my plane to arrive. We drove to the hotel (The Embassy Suites), I checked us in and then we parked the truck for the weekend.
After getting up to the room, I let Brian know that I was safe-n-sound and then we unpacked and had a bit of a wind-down party for me. While the clock said 1am, my body was telling me it was only 10pm and I wasn't ready to go to sleep!! Barbara was patient and talkative and eventually, I unwound enough to go to sleep.
On Sunday morning, we awoke at 8am to get ready to go discover Atlanta! We had our breakfast in the restaurant areas and had our choice from hot egg/sausage/bacon/hashbrown breakfasts to bagels and fruit and cereal. It looked like good stuff but I had my usual: bagel and cream cheese with a banana.
Barbara and I left the hotel and, after our first "adventure", ended up at the MARTA (Metropoitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) station which we took to the stop for Centennial Olympic Park. We walked around the park for a little while and then, headed on over to the World of Coca-Cola. Cute building and theme but, neither of us was interested in "doing" the museum-- just the souvenir shop (of course!). After making our purchases, we went over to the Underground which is a neat not-entirely-little underground shopping mall with unique stores and kiosks.
After we walked from one end of the Underground to the other, we went back to the opposite end to catch the MARTA train again. This time, we were going to the Perimeter Mall to shop. Unbeknownst to us, there were two northbound trains: one going to Doraville and one going to North Springs. We needed the one that goes to North Springs but didn't realize that until we ended up at the stop called "Lenox" in what was obviously an unfamiliar area. We got off and caught the next southbound train and, at the Lindbergh station, we de-trained and asked someone what we should look for to know which way we were going. He explained the difference between the two trains (as described above) and we waited for the next North Springs train. It didn't take very long for the next train to arrive and we got back on and headed up to the Perimeter Mall.
We got off the train there and headed off on foot to the mall. We shopped and shopped (okay, so I shopped and Poor Barbara followed along!) and then we tried to get back to the hotel. It turns out we weren't anywhere near where we thought we were-- well, we were within 2-1/2 miles but we thought we were about 2-1/2 blocks away from the hotel!!
After a phone call to the hotel to send a shuttle, we got back to the hotel and I layed down for a half hour to rest my back and feet (which were duly pained) and then showered and dressed for dinner. We dined at Pittypat's Porch, enjoying a sumptuous meal of grilled beef/chicken/pork ("Rhett's Mixed Grill") over a bed of rice. One of the treats for me was the salad bar: they had all different kinds of salads including cucumber, seafood, artichoke, and the other standards. I could've eaten only that and been happy but our main dinner was great, too-- The Zinfandel (& dijon) sauce was fantastic!!
After dinner we strolled around downtown a bit but decided there wasn't anything to see and there surely were no open malls to hit for that last sale!! Without a mall to hit, we decided to go back to the hotel for some wine. Unfortunately, we picked the one escalatored entry that scared the you-know-what out of me when we came out of MARTA earlier in the day!! I have a fear of heights, usually, and this escalator was definitely a challenge!! I have ridden on the escalators in London's tube and the difference between the two is that the Atlanta escalators are shorter but, the London rides had MORE people on them so I wasn't afraid of falling forward or backward-- really weird!!
Anyway, we made it down and got back on MARTA for the ride back to the hotel again. My guess is (and I'm bad at judging distances) that we ended up with about 5-6 miles in hiking distance when all was said and done. Between downtown (really mid-town) Atlanta and the mall and to-n-from MARTA stations, etc., we walked at least that distance, I think.
The people of Atlanta are friendly and helpful-- if we looked even remotely lost, people would stop to ask where we needed to go or if we needed help with directions. It was great but then, as I remembered my experience in Dallas, that is a trait of the South, I believe.
The highlight of the weekend was meeting Barbara though-- thanks to her good taste, I picked up a nice pantsuit while shopping on Sunday and I'm really glad I had it yesterday!! I looked especially professional and particularlyTHIN for the quarterly sales meeting Monday!! ;>)
Monday, Monday
What's hard to trust about a Monday, Monday in Atlanta is what it is going to be like walking into a branch office of the company where you've been employed for 1-1/2 years. I really didn't know what to expect but I had a really productive day, all things considered. The sales rep (Judy) that gave me the Monet flower cards a few weeks back invited me to lunch with the Systems Engineer (Tiffany) that she works with on her most of her projects. Judy and Tiffany were great hostesses-- we had a lot of fun talking and chatting at lunch. It was great to get to know them better. (I am finding that in the type of job I have, people think I'm . . . let's say a person of questionable parentage and, I'm not so I'm glad to live that down and show my human side every now and then!)
Other than that, it was nose-to-the-grindstone all day and I ate at the hotel on Monday night. Having my usual sufferings of "NOBS", I went to bed at 8:30 and was asleep restlessly by 9:30pm-- man, the days of wild partying have definitely passed, haven't they?
On Tuesday, I checked out and stored my luggage and went to the sales training meeting. It was great to see everyone from all of the offices in the region again! We took turns introducing ourselves and when I said my name, title and what I did, there was a resounding "Ooohhh!" that went through the group. You could just hear the new people saying "So that's what you look like!" Man, I am grateful I've lost weight!!!
At one of the breaks, Judy gave me a book-- "Creating a Charmed Life". I'll tell ya: Judy is one neat lady-- its a really great feeling to know I get to work with her and, no, she's not bribing me!! She's just a really generous and giving person; she's really good at coming up with what I call "stumper questions" for work, too so we do enjoy working with each other, I believe! I have nicknamed her "The Hardest Working Woman in Software Sales" if that gives you any idea of how driven she is in her job!!
At the end of the sales meeting, we (there were about 20 of us that had to catch the 5:30 bus) had two hours to get to the airport and the Atlanta traffic was not pretty!! We ended up jumping-bus and running for the MARTA station. (Barbara will appreciate this: The bus went 3 lights from the hotel to the Sandy Springs MARTA station in a half-hour! That's how bad it was!) Of the 20 of us, the other 19 had the smaller carry-on types of luggage while I had an "I've-been-traveling-four-days-n-three-nights" bag-- they all took turns helping to carry and lift my suitcase for me!! (Even the Vice Presidents!!) We made the airport and then, it was confusing as to which terminal to go to but, once I found that and the America West check-in point, I got even luckier: The cashier attendant felt sorry for me being hot from running and upgraded my seat to FIRST CLASS!!!!! I about died from shock!!! WOW!!!! I have NEVER flown First Class before-- I probably never will again but hey, ya gotta have it happen once, right?
The last flight had a curfew imposed on it (because of no-fly time zones imposed in San Jose) so I was a little nervous about not taking off on time from Atlanta. When we arrived in Phoenix, however, my gate was only across the corridor, not the terminal, so I was there immediately upon arrival. The flight was a few minutes late getting off the ground and a few minutes arriving but, I MADE IT HOME!!!!
Brian met me at the gate-- talk about two beaming faces!!! Man, it was good to see him and, I have to assume, vice versa since he was grinning from ear-to-ear!!
I took a disposable camera instead of the digital camera and a panoramic camera that takes pretty good pictures (usually). I don't know how long it'll take me to use up the panoramic film so that I can get the pictures developed-- when I get them developed, however, I promise another separate page link to them!!
Today . . .
This has been a wild day of catch-up and getting things promised done. It has been very busy and, of course, everyone needs everything NOW as opposed to two days from now which would be much more helpful.
I'm getting to it is all I can say-- it'll get done RSN, I'm sure!! ;>)
Birthday Remembrance
It would've been my mother 82nd birthday today-- I never forget that, ya know? 15 years ago she passed on and I still think of her very nearly every day.
Real Estate Update
Well, last week we met with a mortgage broker and had a very frank discussion. Yes, we could do a "zero-down-first-time-homeowner" loan but, the reason that you do that is because you then pay points. Points are based on the mortgage amount. Guess what? Mortgages in California are higher because the purchase prices are higher-- no money saved in doing that type of loan so we're having to make some tough choices right now: move or not to move? rent or not to rent? Who knows and, frankly, we don't have time to think about it right now because we've got every weekend booked for the next three or four!! We'll worry about all of it later, if then.
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I hope you have had several nice evenings in a row-- thanks for coming by and, by the way, you need to do it again: Have a nice evening!
Tuesday, July 10, 2001Not Today . . .
Monday, July 9, 2001Not Today . . .
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