Archive of Marcia's Musings May 7-13, 2001
Sunday, May 13, 2001
Happy Mother's Day!!
As I've mentioned here before, my mother passed away some 14 years ago so I don't have a mother to celebrate the day with-- I have memories and those are good, too. Usually, we celebrate Mother's Day with Brian's mother but, she wasn't available today (yeah, I know-- who'd'a thunk she'd get a better offer! ;>) ), we went to Grammy's house instead. We had sandwiches and lunched outside-- listened and talked with her for a couple of hours. I just love her to pieces-- she's really a wonderful lady with lots of neat things to tell us about so we really enjoy going to her house.
Before that, we went to the grocery store and to Costco together. At Costco, we picked up a couple of movies: "What Women Want" and a 2-pack DVD of "Deep Impact" and "Event Horizon". Neither of us have heard of that last movie but we both liked "Deep Impact" (Morgan Freeman is soooo good at whatever he sets his mind to!), that we thought the unknown that it was coupled with might be worth a look-see. Hopefully, it'll be a good one.
Grilled steak, zucchini and peppers tonight-- I'll make up some mushrooms and worstershire sauce for me, too. Then we'll watch movies, or so I'm told. I've decided not to ride my bike tomorrow or Tuesday but on Wednesday and Thursday instead. On Friday, Brian and I are taking the day off so I won't be riding into work that day, either-- Dah!!
Anyway, short one for me tonight-- you have a nice evening!
Saturday, May 12, 2001Nuttin' much!
Terrible to say but we've had a pretty quiet day around the Bilbrey Belfry. Brian and I went shopping for kitchen cows and window fans. Found three kitchen towels with cute cows on them and one box window fan which means that we now have four out of five windows equipped with fans for us. The fifth window has a ceiling fan in front of it so a window fan isn't necessary.
When we went to put the stuff into the truck, we found out that the lock had been broken on the back window-- quite some time ago and unbeknownst to us. This isn't a good thing but reaffirms that we are going to pay the truck off, drive it into the ground and then worry about trade-in value long after we have a house! I just don't care anymore-- I'm so sick of all of the problems with this truck, I swear!! It is just getting to be ridiculous!!
Anyway, when we came home, I started doing some mending-- really I was taking a couple of peddle-pushers in! I took about 3 inches out of the hips and two inches out of the legs. Now maybe those won't look like munchkin pants anymore!
I also did some ironing-- I've been overdue for awhile but finally got around to clearing the stack off the sofa. Brian doesn't complain but I know he's thinking it-- that's the only problem with cotton shorts!!
A Leisurely Walk
Well, a little bit better pace than leisurely but Brian and I had a nice walk around the two-mile block where we live. It was nice to get out and work up a "mild glow" from exercise instead of my usual form of glowing! We picked up a couple of house flyers along the way-- the market is definitely softening around here!! :>) This is a GOOD THING!!!
Dinner Last Night
As predicted and recommended by a friend of mine from work last night, the food at the Mandarin Gourmet was delicious!! I had Changsha Chicken which consists of shreaded chicken, water chestnuts, green onion and cilantro cooked in a sweet sauce and wrapped up together in a "paper" chicken shape which actually has a foil wrapped burrito look to it when it gets to the table. Brian had what he called is "usual" which is a trio of beef, shrimp and scallops along with vegetables, not including mushrooms (or he'd never go anywhere near it!). That is his gauge as to whether or not the food is good and, according to him, he has pronounced it "Excellent!". My gauge of good Chinese is the dry sauteed green beans and their recipe was wonderful-- a little more onion and a little less garlic but pretty darn good!!
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On that note, I've got a little more ironing to do and a little more sewing (that second pair of munchkin pants await!) and a little more of this and that to do tonight so, you have a nice evening!
Friday, May 11, 2001What a Day!!
It started out peaceful enough but I had a conference call at 8:30am-- about five minutes into the call, the customer's attorney jumped down my throat because I didn't have a copy of the Mississippi State Code in my office! Yes, I know, you would think only an attorney in Mississippi would have that but apparently, she expects everyone to keep those 20 or 30 volumes on hand!! I said that I thought it was unusual for anyone outside of Mississippi to have it at their facility and was reminded that they had the website where I could've done the research. My statement was followed by "If you don't have access to the web, why are we doing business?"
I explained, that while they may have Mississippi laws and codes sitting online with regard to the laws of the State of Mississippi, how would I begin to know where to look for all of the references in the code? She said "The section numbers are right there!!" (No, not many of her comments here were in a "nice" tone so you're reading them exactly as she said them to me!) "So," I said, "None of the section numbers repeat so that there isn't a possibility of getting the wrong section in my research?" "Well, only a few do." My next two statements were simple and calmly stated, "I appreciate the fact that you have your laws online; I think that's terribly efficient of you to do that. However, I have a job supporting 15 states and two other category agreement types and I do not have the time to do legal research online or otherwise. Could you just fax a copy to me of the hard-copy page so I have it as a hand reference when my management says they want Code and Law back-up?"
I heard her take a deep breath. "I apologize, Marcia-- I've been in negotiations all week with [Company Name Deleted]." "Oh," said I, "Please say no more, I understand exactly what you're talking about with regard to the stress that can cause! I've been in the same situation with them-- apology accepted. Let's move on." We finished the negotiation with only a couple more disagreements but we've basically agreed to disagree at this point. We have to give them some more language but that isn't going to come until next Monday when I have time to go back through the document and transcribe the changes to email.
The next few hours were spent being pulled in one direction or the other to where I finally just went to my director and said: "I'm going to plug my ear and 'check out' so that I can finish some stuff at my desk. I have lost total control and need to take a couple of hours to find out what is happening and what is due."
There is an advantage to being deaf in one ear: you only have to have one earplug!! I plugged my good ear and got everything done with only one interruption: Suzie-- one of my co-workers-- scared me half to death cuz I didn't hear her coming!! (Yes, that would be the drawback to putting one or more earplugs in your ears, whether or not you're deaf!)
Relaxation!!
I came home tonight and rode my bike (5 miles in under 25 minutes!) . Brian and I are going out for dinner for Chinese again but this time, its Mandarin. A restaurant has been highly recommended by a friend so, if it really is good, I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm wearing my new black dress-- Leah is repping Please Mum clothes and I have to tell you, this dress has the coolest fabric-- slinky and (really) cool!!! Contact Leah if you want to buy anything after you skim through that site-- its really great stuff and very reasonably priced!!
Have a nice evening!
Thursday, May 10, 2001How Bad Was My Day??
Well, let's put it this way: I started out riding my bike tonight and after the first quarter mile, I realized I was going very, very fast. I don't normally do this particular stretch of road "fast" but I realized that I was seething as I rode. I realized that I was seeing "that woman's" unknown face on the road in front of me and I was running over it with each stroke of the pedal. What "that woman"? An hour after I got to work today, a customer with whom I had negotiated a Non-Disclosure Agreement with, shang-hai'd/bushwacked us at the border! Even though we had discussed and agreed that our people did not need to sign an individual NDA to get in the building, she decided to change her mind about what we had discussed and wouldn't let them in without it. Needless to say, I was ticked!!! Unfortunately, our sales are so good that sales reps won't walk away from a potential customer so they stupidly signed the documents, not knowing that they weren't supposed to sign them.
Frankly, the story goes on but, I just got it out of my system when I was riding my bike and don't want to get wound up about it again!!
(Deep Breath!) My bike ride was uneventful except for that car that almost hit me-- apparently, he (yes, it was a YOUNG-ish-- 20s-- male driver) decided that bicyclists do not count as oncoming traffic! Man, was I ticked-- yes, everyone else at the intersection heard it, too!!
[I need a day off!!]
I got Squished!!
Every woman just loves going in for the bi-annual or annual "squish"-- Yikes!! I hate that but, they gave me the results before I left the office which is nice and a whole lot less worrisome for me. Yes, it was negative, all clear, go off and have a nice life-- Yippee!!!
Website Stuff
The saga continues with Joker.com but, in the meantime, my wonderfully creative husband came up with a new logo for us and we just love it!! Yes, it is a true reflection of what a Netwidow is and, through the voting process, it was determined that it was a great design!! Thanks again, honey-- the others said to say the same but not with the "honey" part, 'kay?
We've also added a bit of text to the Book Review page and, on a personal note, I changed my bio-- I wasn't really happy with the first one but I like this one a little better.
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That about does me in for the night. Brian made salsa earlier and is, as I write, making burritos for dinner so I'm off to enjoy. Later, its more work on the play after "Whose Line Is It Anyway?-- if I'm awake enough!!
Have a nice evening!
Wednesday, May 9, 2001Drop Zone!
The temperatures have dropped dramatically from yesterday-- it was at least a ten degree difference from Monday and Tuesday. Welcome relief, needless to say!! The difference in temperature made it easier to bicycle tonight but, I was still sore and having a hard time of it for the first couple of miles. After the first two miles were done, it seemed like it got a lot easier. I don't understand that exactly because its only been since Monday that I last rode-- that shouldn't have made the difference but, then again, it must've cuz something sure made it harder!!
The Gauntlet (A different kind this time!!)
For the last slightly more than a year, I've taken the lead in planning our life-- that would be any life that we have had away from Brian's computer. I did this because, he didn't have time to plan stuff with writing the book. That's fine-- not a problem. I didn't mind it actually because it was the one way that I was assured that we'd have time together.
This year, however, there isn't a book in the works and, I figure I'm due-- our third anniversary is coming up so last night I told Brian it was going to be his turn to plan something. Whatever he plans doesn't have to take place on our anniversary (its on a Wednesday this year) it could be on the weekend before or the weekend after the actual date of our anniversary. We don't have to necessarily go away and we don't have to stay home. It is completely up to him.
This should definitely be interesting. We'll have to see how this one plays out, so I'll keep you posted.
Annoying
That's all you can call it-- purely annoying! I'm talking about having to turn the lights out in the middle of the day. It wouldn't be so bad but they've started turning the lights out on the inside of the building (where I sit, of course) and for some reason, don't turn out the lights in the cubicle areas that have the window light!! That's another issue in the annoying bit of the alerts and black-outs. I also resent having to be blinded at work when I could just as easily go and work from home and see what I'm doing fine-- the advantage, once again, of living this close to a fire station. Oh, well, I firmly believe that this is a temporary situation-- afterall, they're building 13 new power plants and four of them are supposed to be up and operational this summer. Yeah, right, I like fairy tales, too, remember?
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As it turns out, I'm quite tired tonight. Probably because no matter what you do, you just can't sleep when it is as hot out as it has been here these last couple of nights. If it has cooled down this much, maybe I can hope for a good night's sleep and some true rest!Okay, so its PBS night and I've gotta do some work on the play. It never ends, does it?
Have a nice evening!
Tuesday, May 8, 2001It Must Be . . .
. . . that Monday is the dumb question day. I say that based on the fact that not one sales rep called me with a dumb question today. There was a hint in the air with one of them but she backed off fairly quickly during the course of our conversation. Maybe its because I don't have all of the arrogance (Yes, I admit that I have some of it) that a sales rep has but, if I have a limitation in my abilities, I'd rather 'fess up to it than try to fake it in a conversation-- usually the fake is found out, or at least that's been my experience when people have tried to pull it on me. Even if my limitation isn't that big of a variance between me and the next guy I'd rather, if the next guy is capable of negotiating the document with a higher level of expertise, not only can they do a better job for the company but, I can learn something by shutting up and listening. Maybe that's the part that sales reps don't get: shutting up and listening. Yep, I'd have to guess that that is the secret right there, as they say, in a Nutshell!!
Hot Again
Yupper, it is indeed another scorcher today: on our patio, in the shade, it is 97F!! Yeesh!! I had to go to Weight Watchers (nothing significant to report) and Brian is doing the laundry. Rather than leaving him to do it by himself in the heat, I decided to come back home. Yes, I am a martyr, too. :>) As a result of all of that, however, I won't be cycling tonight. Tomorrow night, after work, I have to go to the dentist (nothing major-- just a teeth cleaning!) and then to the grocery store so I have no idea about what my schedule could be for riding.
Bad News Today :<(
This afternoon, I received a sad, sad email: Leah Syroid was letting me know that they won't be able to take their holidays in the States this summer afterall! Bummer!! Man, that's too bad-- We were really looking forward to meeting all of them!! Oh, well-- that's why we've created this community in a virtual reality, right? Another time, another place perhaps-- Tom has to work. Bummer!! All work, no play . . . but . . . we won't go there will we?? Jack = Tom . . . hey, I didn't say that!! ;>) Seriously, guys, you'll be missed-- indeed!!
Before the sun starts to set in the west . . .
I need to see if I can get some work done on the play. Once the sun hits the roof on the other side of the building, I can't see for about 90 minutes here, not to mention the roasting temperatures sitting in the sun!! So, I'm going to sign off for tonight . . . have a nice evening!
Monday, May 7, 2001Dah!!
Today was one of those days:
Sales Rep #1: So you sent them the document on Friday? Have you heard anything from them?
Me: No, I haven't heard anything from the customer but I didn't expect to hear from them.
Sales Rep#1: Shall I call them??
Excuse me???? How much of your commission do I get for telling you WHAT TO DO??????????
Sales Rep #2: Have you had a chance to revise the Schedule C that the customer wanted?
Me: No, but I just received Bill's email five minutes ago-- I haven't had time to do that yet.
Sales Rep #2: So will it go out today?
Me: Not likely-- I've got four other documents ahead of it so I wouldn't look for it to be back to you and Bill until tomorrow.
Sales Rep#2: Four other documents? Wow! Really?
NO, I lied!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That pretty much sums up my work day, uh-huh. Don't you wish you had my job?? Don't you wish everybody did? ;>)
Soaring Temperatures
When I got home from work tonight, I looked at the thermometer outside. Hmmm, maybe this is a little intense for cycling: in the shade!! I went for a three mile ride even though I should've done at least the five mile ride but, as I told Brian, if I ride to work and the day gets as hot as this day has turned out to be, he's getting a call to pick me up anyway. I'm not going to cycle six miles in the mid- to upper-90s on a really regular basis, if ya know what I mean!
Hoops!!
Matt Beland and Brian are really having to jump through some hoops to get the Netwidows.net domain registration transferred. I don't understand all of it (my eyes glaze over after the phrase: "Now we've gotta . . . ") so in the meantime, Matt has pointed the Netwidows.net domain to our IP server and we're serving it up now. We also went ahead and bought the Netwidows.org registration which, at this point of the game, merely reflects the contents of the Netwidows.net site. So, for the time being, we're working on continuing the transfer process-- maybe we could throw in a basketball to make the game easier for the guys? Nah!! Its more fun watching them scratch their heads!!
Leg Update
(Man, that sounds weird to say!) I'm informed by a like-sufferer of hypothyroidism that Synthroid and its generics cause reactions with depillatory cremes. Makes sense then, eh? You bet!! Thanks, Keri!!
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On that note, this is an early post so maybe there'll be more later . . . never know around here.
Have a nice evening!
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