Why Today Rocks. . .

After 5 months of waiting, I'm going to see Les Mis tonight. In case you didn't know, it's one of the best plays ever written! I sang the soundtrack in my car all week until today. Sad. . . I'll never make it to broadway - they just don't appreciate my talent for singing and driving at the same time. Their loss, I guess? So excited! 3 hours and counting. . .

Reality Overload

What a night it was. I'm still overwhelmed by what I saw. A bird? Nope. A plane? Nope. Superman? Not really. . . unless you consider Blake, Andrew and Apollo supermen. . .which really isn't that far fetched, by the way!

I wouldn't say that under normal circumstances I'm what you would call a "reality TV junkie' - that is of course unless it comes in the form of former MTV casts competing for great prizes in the middle of Africa. "What? Such a show exists?" you ask? It sure does. In the form of The Inferno 3. I'll be the first to admit that I can't get enough of it, not for a second. I love it, I live it, I breathe it. So what? So trashy. . .

Anyway, with the exception of my little MTV addiction, I'm not really into reality TV that regularly. Sure, I'll catch an occasional episode here or there but nothing that I can't walk away from. Last night, I discovered why it is that people get sucked in like a bug in a vacuum to these things. My two great friends Melissa and Rachael follow a good number of reality shows including, but certainly not limited to, The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman, Dancing With the Stars, and American Idol. Last night, they made me watch and honestly. . . I thank them for it. I don't know if I am more grateful that I watched because I had something to discuss at work today or because they didn't make me watch the whole season, just the final two episodes of each show. Now THAT'S how you watch reality TV people. . . take the final two episodes and multiply it by 20 and you have the whole season! SPOILER ALERT: if you haven't seen these final episodes, you may not want to read on. . .

I got to see, over the course of about 4 hours, Andrew pick Tessa (the good girl) on The Bachelor, Apollo hip hop his way to victory with the Utah girl (who says we don't have rhythm?) and frankly, Jordin kick Blake's booty in America's favorite talent show (I know earlier that I said that Blake was a superman and he was, Jordin was just better. "Shot to the Heart. . ." and I'm to blame, but she was!)

Anyway, 4 hours, 3 shows on tivo plus a Jazz game (I don't care what you say, I still love Fisher!). Now that is some effective TV watching. I may just have to take up watching reality TV. . . the last week of it that is!

The Power of a Sandwich

I went to grab lunch today at the closest place to work. . . The Sandwich Loft. Shameless Plug: 5" Turkey and American = 5 inches of heaven. And, they've gotten me to like soup again, even in 80 degree weather. Way to go delicious food makers. Anyway, I'd like to say that I went there because I'm in a big time crunch and I'm too busy to drive far, but it was more shear laziness than anything as here I am, writing, again, on my lunch hour.

Anyway, on my way back from lunch, I stated reflecting on things. This fine establishment is only about 3 minutes away so there wasn't actually a lot of time for reminiscing, but the fact that even a little took place is pretty amazing I would say. Ahh, the power of a simple sandwich. It can really get a girl thinking.

Sidenote: there is either a baby in the office right now or one of my coworkers has taken up an awful whining habit - worse than usual.

So, back to the story. What was I thinking about on my quick jaunt back from The Sandwich Loft? Oddly enough, my New Year's resolutions. Weird, huh? Here we are, just over 4 months since I first published my New Year's Resolutions for the world to see. So, I thought I would take inventory and see how they are coming. I think, off the top of my head, I've actually done pretty well. Let's look, shall we:

1. Live on Purpose. Remember this? it was the one about me being a chicken and how I needed to be brave and live like I mean it? Well, I'm proud to announce that I'm still a chicken. . . wa, wa, waaaah (for those of you who don't get sound effects, that was the disappointing "Kimmy Gibler did it again" music that you see on cheesy sitcoms). I will tell you that I have had my defining moments though where bravery has at least popped it's ugly head in, one last weekend in fact. But I can do better. Time to tell people how I feel. . . maybe? So far, I would say that 2007 is more the year for bravery than 2006 was so at least this resolution isn't a total flop. Still need to work on it though. Where are you people? You're supposed to keep me in check, remember? That's your job! (Sounded brave, huh?)
2. Stop Swearing. Self-explanatory. And I did. . . for a while I even went cold turkey! I am proud to say that I, again, have a clean mouth. The only time that I have really said inappropriate words in the last 5 months has either been for extreme comedic value or to mock my brother for his rants while he watches the Jazz games. Shameless plug: Go Jazz! Western Conference finals, baby! They didn't think you could do it, but you battled through. Just call me Mrs. Fisher. . . Derek Fisher that is! Anyway, I feel better about my language and the big three 'soft' swear words no longer come out unexpectedly.
3. Cook More. Hasn't happened. But, I did stop eating out so much so that's a step in the right direction. I have made more sandwiches for lunch. I just haven't found the time to actually "cook" per se. I did also buy some new cooking items at a Pampered Chef party a couple of months ago so that shows intent, right? Unfortunately, still in the box. I'll get on that one. Oh, I also bought a new b-b-q grill for my backyard so that should help. That counts, right?
4. Don't spend so much on useless crap. Done! Again, sort of. Since my resolutions were made public, I started getting my nails done and that's expensive. But, just last weekend, I took them off in resolution to save the money for something else. So, I'm kind of making progress. I haven't bought many clothes, so that's good. And I didn't go overboard on souvenirs in Hawaii, also good. I would give this one a 5 on a scale of 1-10. . . you decided which end is good and bad! Hahaha.
5. 20 bye 20. I did great on this. This was the no sugar bet that I had and I have to say that I did it with flying colors. I made it all the way until April 24! I did it in hopes of loosing 20 pounds and I lost 13 so that's pretty good, yeah? I also added on a Pizza and Fries fast so I was totally deprived of goodness. Post-Hawaii is a different story. I don't run away from sugar anymore, but I for sure don't eat as much as I did. So, I think it was a good thing. Back on the horse though, need to do it.

So, that's where I stand. Overall, I'd give myself a C+ or a B- on making the grade. I still have some work to do but I am not forgetting that I resolved to do these things in 2007. Keep on me people. . . I'll be a better person yet.

How are your resolutions coming? It's already summer so if you haven't, it's time to get started! If you don't remember what they were, go get a sandwich. It'll get you thinking.

And I'm back in the Game. . .

ALO-O-O-O-O-O-HA! So it's been a long while since I've ranted and I've been feeling the writing itch for about a week now. My best excuse for my absence has been my recent excursion to Polynesia. . . ok, the American part of Polynesia. Melissa, Rachael and I went to Hawaii for about a week and just returned last week tan and happy.

I thought about filling my first blog back with photos of my trip and talking about the glorious things that we did, but I'm not going to do that. . . at least not now. First, my photos are yet to make their way onto my computer to transfer over. Second, we have some more important things to discuss. . . and to do so, I'm returning to the list format that I love ever so much. There are so many things that I could title this list and so many directions that I could go! So, since it's going to be a fairly eclectic list, I should probably just call it: Things I Learned from My Hawaii Trip (boring, I know, but all encompassing so it serves it's purpose.)

1. Don't take that with you! I don't care who you are, everyone always over packs. I think that my bag was AT it's weight limit when we left, which doesn't say much for returning with souvenirs, right. I think a key chain would have put me over. What is it about going on vacation that makes people think they need everything that they might wear or use over a month's time? Maybe it makes us feel like we are more at home but that's the irony - we are leaving to get away from 'stuff' and home. Not to mention, even Hawaii has a Wal-Mart - just in case. So, unless you are truly traveling to a deserted island (again, irony rears it's ugly head because last I checked, you can only bring ONE thing to deserted islands, right? That's what the question book says anyway. . .), fight the urge and leave it home. You'll be ok.
2. Relaxation. . .squashed. Just because you go on vacation and relax and let your nerves die does not mean everyone will be receptive to that when you get back. In fact, nobody else changed while you were gone - remember that. Be prepared for a quick stifling of your mood. It's sad. So, if you are the 'stay at home' part of the equation, do your part and leave the vacationer alone for 2 days. Let them 'climatize' through someone else's emails. They will resent them and not you.
3. Aloha spirit directly translated means pot. I thought it was just a calming spirit of brotherhood and relaxation. . . and it is, but now I know that it's chemically induced! Hawaii, Jamaica. . . there is a lot to be said for those tropical climates and their 'agriculture'.
4. Truly and fully vacation - that's the only way. On my way to Hawaii, I was half sleeping and half thinking about all of the things I left at work. I know I'm not the only one who thinks like this. I was excited to see that my hotel had Internet access and I was only two floors away from checking my work email. Then I realized the battle that was about to ensue. I put myself on work timeout. I could have worried about work at home for free, and heaven knows this trip was not free. So, I stopped. I'm proud to say that I didn't even think about work one time after that minute. It's the only way to come back with that true vacation glow. Testified.
5. I have it so good. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to be said for living on an island and teaching the 'white man' how to surf (I literally thought about making that my career at multiple points on my little excursion). It's a great life and I have brought back a lot of the feeling that I had in such a laid back environment; some of those things include a new found need to simplify my life and get rid of the unnecessary clutter that cramps my surroundings. BUT, I also gained a new love for the life that I live and a gratitude for the things that I have. I have a new found appreciation for my values, my house, the dry weather and my air conditioning. Mostly, I love the fact that a trip to the grocery store doesn't break the bank. $8 for a gallon of milk? You have to be kidding. My diet of cereal in the morning has returned and I am SO grateful that that stuff is readily available and cheap. Thank heavens.

Those are pretty much the major lessons learned. I'll try and get some pics uploaded soon so you can see the sites of the islands. Loved the trip, glad to be back. And Aloha!

Anxiety

Do you ever get that feeling that something is about to happen. . . you have no idea what but you feel like a hitch is about to be thrown in your get-up? Woke up with it this morning. Can't get rid of it. Don't know what it is. Praying it's not something bad, but rather a really good twist to things? I know, don't hold my breath.
Anyway, I'm anxious. That's the weirdest feeling don't you think? Like I have a job interview or something (too bad I don't) and I don't know what questions they'll ask.
Do you get that feeling? Better yet, when it resolves itself, is it something definite or does it usually just fade? Mine's a fader usually, but I guess we'll see! Whatever it is, please happen soon. I can't take the tension!

It's a blog-tastic day!

I am having too much fun today and I think I need to share it. It's retro day on my MP3 player. Here are the best songs that I have listened to so far today:

1. Motownphilly by Boys II Men
2. All My Life by KC and JoJo
3. Cheeseburger in Paradise by Jimmy Buffet
4. Billie Jean by Michael J.
5. Lightening Crashes by Live
6. Fantasy by Mariah Carey
7. Down down Baby by Nelly

Man, what a Friday. Jealous?

Greatest News Story of All Time

When I was getting ready for work this morning, I saw the most heart-felt thing on the Today Show that I have ever seen - no, I'm not talking about Meredith's plow to wear white pants before Memorial Day. I can't get over this - I was literally in tears. It's moments like this that make you appreciate everything that you have, especially family. It's what it's all about.

Sorry about the format. . . and the commercial -it's all I could do.

A Soldier's Return

I forgot something. . .

If I ruled the world, I would make any and all nail clipping in public illegal. If you were caught trimming up your nails at work, you'd automatically go to jail.

I can't believe that I forgot that one! I had a good reminder this morning. . .

If I ruled the world. . .

Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if I was in charge. I don't want to be in charge of important things, just little things that would (in general) make the quality of life better for us little people. If I ruled the world, here are some things that I would change:

• Everyone would get Friday afternoons off. There is just something to be said about a Friday afternoon NOT at work.
• Grocery carts would be automatically weighted in the front so that everyone could stand on the back and roll their way to happiness.
• Anyone working at a retail establishment that ever said 'I hate today,' 'This job sucks' or 'Now we're going to be here forever' when a customer walks into a store or up to said worker would automatically be fired - no questions asked.
• Texas Roadhouse rolls for everyone, at least once per week.
• Flip flops would go with any outfit. . . and be totally acceptable at work.
• Everyone would greet the people that they know with kisses on the cheek. It's a totally acceptable greeting and if you wanted to "miss on accident", so what?
• There would be 50 calories in a Snickers Ice Cream Bar. . . ok, 120 - the same as a granola bar. I'm not completely unrealistic!
• Everyone could buy every style of clothes in their size and have it look good.
• Gas would be 75 cents per gallon.
• People would never fall out of real love.
• We would do road construction like they do in Japan. . . at night and when they are done for the day, you don't even know they were there.
• Texas Roadhouse rolls for everyone. . . I meant twice per week!
• Cereal would be it's own food group and you'd need 3 servings per day.

I think that's a pretty good starter list. Agree? What would you do if you ruled the world? Hit me with some more ideas and I'll see what I can do in my next meeting about all of this. . .

I Just Want to Go Home!!!

While many of you are probably thinking that this blog is going to be in reference to my overly-exciting job and the sentiments that I get everyday at about 11:00. . . you're wrong. Ok, you're right that the subject line does accurately portray those morning work sentiments, but that's not what this blog is about. . at least not today.

I come from a pretty great city that has become overly-populated in the last 10 or so years. I believe that this large increase in people is due solely to the addition of a Super Wal-Mart and the neighboring Home Depot, but what do I know. Anyway, the increasing number of people has lead to increased traffic which means. . . you guessed it, road construction. A lot of it. And I officially hate it.

It all started last year with the Gentile expansion project (Gentile is the main road closest to my house and the very road that my beloved parents reside on). The city thought it a brilliant plan to uproot an entire main road and expand it. Did they have the sense to tackle this project in pieces so as to minimize the effect it would have on traffic? Nope, they sure didn't. Process: tear up the entire street so it is undrivable for a long time and then redo the entire thing. Net effect: prolonged unuse of a main road west of my house and a dirty car every time I tried to visit the parents (there was dirt everywhere, over everything). Inconvenience time: about 6-8 months.

After this brilliant project started, it was all downhill from there. They apparently forgot to expand the top of West Gentile but remembered about 3 weeks ago that it needed to be done. So now, the entire road is open EXCEPT the part that lets you get to main street - aka, the most important part of the road. It's like redoing a house and leaving the front door off. . . or better yet, locked with no key. It does nobody any good. Process: tear up the road immediately in front of the road that leads to Carlee's house. Net effect: having to drive 15 blocks out of my way, either direction in order to get out of my neighborhood. Inconvenience time: about 30 minutes per DAY!

To this I add Layton's desire to accommodate the tracks project. Again, construction. Neighboring city overhauling part of their main road that is THE alternate route home. Again, construction.

'Shoulder work ahead', 'Road Closed', 'One Lane Ahead'. These short phrases are now the story of my life. Every (and I'm not exaggerating as I tend to do at times) route for me to get home is interrupted by construction. I can't remember the last time I was able to drive directly to my house. This does not a happy girl make when all I want to do is go home! Is that too much to ask?

Parenting at it's Finest!

With all of the hub-bug about whether or not it's ok to spank kids or even punish kids really, I think it's important to recognize the rare opportunity it is to see parents let their kids have it. I'm a firm believer that's it's not only ok to spank kids when they are out of line, but it's recommended. Rarely does punishment happen anymore, let alone get a picture of it.

I was recently in the Denver airport and encountered a young boy who was screaming bloody murder because he couldn't climb on the window. After about 2 minutes, his mom walked over to him and calmly pulled him off the window. He continued to scream like someone had ripped his heart out, so. . .she paddled his butt with a spanking like I haven't seen since I lied about brushing my teeth. The entire gate of people clapped. From what I could gather, they hadn't seen a kid get punished in some time either. It was a proud moment for us all and frankly, restored a little confidence in humanity.

So, I'm taking this public opportunity to thank all those parents that can still strike the fear of the night into their kids with the threat of a good punishment. In honor of those parents, I am posting a series of pictures that not only demonstrate punishment, but shear humiliation of a kid who has done wrong. Go, Mom, Go! Now this is punishment.

You're Beautiful

I can't even begin to get over this kid. This made my day. . . ok, my week because I've been trying to post this for like 3 days! (Thanks Steph).

It's all about cold turkey!

While I would love to write a blog about how delicious cold turkey sandwiches are. . . because they are. . . that's not the kind of cold turkey I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the kicking a bad habit, undying conviction, going for the gold kind of cold turkey. It's mildly painful, but over the last month I've decided that it's the only way to go.

Just for kicks, I thought I would look up the origin of this tasty little phrase to see what implications it had on me completing my goals. Yahoo! had an interesting article about the origin of the idiom (did that sound like a really intelligent sentence or was it me?) and actually a fairly sick description of how it came to be (blood draining away from the skin. . . sick!). BUT, I was not yet satisfied. SO, I turned to the ever helpful, always accurate (wink, wink) Wikipedia to see what they had to say on the subject. After reading their description of 'Cold Turkey' and how more times than not, it's not an effective form of de-addition and could, in fact, lead to death, I decided to give up and write my own harrowing, positive experience with the phrase! What do industry experts know anyway. This is the world according to Carlee!

A couple of months ago, my friend Melissa and I decided to go on a 'No Sugar' bet for the next few months in order to help shed some baby fat (at least that's what I like to call it) before our trip to Hawaii. We said that we could only expose ourselves to the sugary world of Treat Land twice a month until our trip. If we fell off the wagon, the bill for one of our many Hawaii activities was the loser's to own. So, I stopped eating sweets. Cold turkey quit. One day it was ice cream and M&Ms and the next it was nothing. Not even a little. Results of the little experiment: haven't screwed up yet. Here we are almost three months later and I am still 98% sugar free! (That 2% is saved for my sweet personality of course. . .psych! It's really for the two treats I am allotted each month.) I call that success.

Second cold turkey trial. About 3 weeks ago I realized that even though the sugar free game was fun and all, my diet still sucked. What was the source of my heartache? Oddly enough, it was the source of my joy - pizza and french fries. I came to the realization that even though the sugarless endeavor was probably good for me, replacing the cake with the pizza wasn't exactly helping the baby fat wave bye bye. So, I did it. I resolved to cut out my two absolute favorite bad-for-you foods for the next couple of months. Again, cold turkey. One day it was Red Robin and Papa John's. The next day, nothing. Not even a little.

While I am not going to lie and say that I don't miss my favorite things (I want pizza pretty much every day), I will say that it's been less painful than I thought it would be. Would eating one piece of pizza kill me? Probably not. It probably wouldn't even make me gain extra baby fat. BUT, staying completely away from the temptation has done wonders for the self control. I'm an advocate. if you want to ditch something in your life, cold turkey is the way to do it. Just get rid of it. . . completely. No farting around with weaning things out. Rip the band aid. I promise you'll feel much better once you do. Maybe more hungry, but better nonetheless!

Now that I think about it, it IS pretty ironic that it's literally cold turkey that's ended up replacing the pizza and fries addiction! I do love those sandwiches.

Isn't that personal?

I have been waiting for blogger NOT to be broken so that I could tell the funnist, yet weirdest story from yesterday.

Steph and I (in our new cube arrangement) sit around a corner from each other. It's sad that we no longer share a wall but luckily, we are still privy to some of the same experiences. . . like the one that happened yesterday. In an area between the two of us sits 'The Temp', as she is lovingly referred to. Steph has blogged about this special girl before and her hallway habits (she doesn't get a cube, she sits at a table in the hall) which include but are not limited to evesdropping, leaving her chair pushed out in the middle of the hall so it's a nucense to us all, talking to herself and finally, and most important to this story, talking about her personal life REALLY, REALLY loudly on the phone.

I guess nobody told her that it's Datamark culture to take your personal calls in the shop? It's really not a more 'secure' area per se as anyone could walk by and hear you talking to your potential new boss, but it is more private as nobody works out there full time. Well, because of this training oversight on our part, we've been able to hear the temp talk about her sick mother on a daily basis (we took a vote and we DO feel bad, so we aren't heartless. . . it's just hard to listen to!), her car issues and the conversation to end all conversations. . . her love life.
Yesterday, the usual ruckus was happening and I heard her on the phone. I wasn't really paying attention until the conversation started getting ugly. As soon as my curiousity was peaked, the Instant Messenger fired up:

Stephanie: Are you hearing this?
Carlee: Yeah. . . holy crap!
Stephanie: Is she breaking up with her boyfriend in the middle of the hallway?
Carlee: Yeah. . . holy crap!
Sidenote: Yes, I am aware that Stephanie is much more eloquent in expressing her interest than I am but I couldn't say anything else!

It was happening folks. The temp was having a lover's quarrel on her phone in the middle of the hall! This day was about to get good. . . Just as an FYI, this conversation took place at the early hour of 9:30 am and lasted for at least 25 minutes. Some of the best 'break-up fight' lines were used so there was no disappointment in this one. The gloves reall came off and I have to give props for the most cliche arguement that I maybe have ever heard.

In honor of The Oscars last Sunday, I'd like to present the nominees for 'Best Cliche Line in a Hallway Fight'. And the nominees are:

• 'You are so childish. . . '
• 'Why? Because I said so! That's why!'
• 'You WILL listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not and you know what, you won't like it!'
• 'You know why you think that? Because you are selfish and you always have been.'
• 'You're only doing this because it's your defense mechanism. . .'
  

and finally. . .

• 'I am not even going to discuss this with you!'

The vote are in and the winner of the 'Best Cliche Line in a Hallway Fight' goes to. . . . 'You know why you think that? Because you are selfish and you always have been.' And the crowd roars. . . .

Anytime you say the word 'selfish' in a fight, while you are talking loudly in the middle of the hall, while people are trying to work, you automatically are issued 15 ironic points which catapults you into the lead.

Any other favorites from this conversation? If your favorite cliche fight line isn't here, hit me with it. I'm so amused. . .

Best Conversation of the Week

Amanda: Hey Dan.
Dan: Can we talk for a second about SJVC?
Amanda: Sure.
Dan: What the hell?
Amanda: I don't know.
Dan: Ok.

At this point Dan walked away. So it goes. . .

I knew it!

Thanks to Todd, I now have imperical proof that my job is sucking the very life out of me. Ok, maybe it's not 'imperical' per se and it's more like sucking the brains out of me than the life. . . but they overlap, right?
Just when you thought it was safe to go to that meeting. . . check this out!

Only in the Movies??

So you know that scene in the Sex and the City opener when Sarah Jessica Parker is walking and gets completely soaked by a bus. Well, in no way was a wearing a tutu and in no way was I in downtown Manhattan. . .but in the most important aspects of the story, that, my friends, was me this morning. If you thought this crap only happened in the movies (like I did as recently as 8:30 this morning), I'm hear to burst your reality bubble. It happens. . . in real life. Here's how it all shook out:

I stopped and bought an orange juice this morning - hoping to bring a little sunshine to this overcast and snowy day. I put the bottle of oj on my passenger seat and proceeded to work. As often happens, the oj was not content with staying on the passenger seat and rolled between the seat and the door. Now that I look back, it was an omen - sent to tell me that something was weird about that passenger door and that I should stay away. Ignored it.

When I pulled into work, I noticed that the parking lot was particularly slushy (yes, that's the technical word for it) and new it would be a pain to traipse around my car to go a dig out my oj. In one last attempt to save my shoes from being soaked (an annoyance that I'm sure we have all dealt with), I reached across the passenger seat to see if I could fingertip my way to victory and retrieve my beverage. Failure. I pushed it further under the seat. It was time to admit defeat and go around and get my oj.

After making my way rather skillfully around the car and retrieving my drink, I turned to head inside. Just as I tuned, I heard a familiar but not automatically recognizable sound. The thought process and senseless four second elimination began: airplane, no. . . diesel, no. . .lawn mower, snowing. . .got it! And then as the panic set in, it was too late. Enter this bad boy:

Yup. Snowplow. That's it! Just as my excitement of winning my internal guessing game came to fruition, it was washed away. . . literally. In a matter of two seconds, I went from being a dry, orange juice drinker to a wet, plow bullied pedestrian. I was soaked.

In my fear, I had thrown my purse up in front of my face to make an attempt at protecting my makeup and my punk-rocker hair that I so meticulously did this morning. Hair, ok. Makeup, ok. Purse, not so ok. The outside is still wet (a few hours later) and the inside, well, let's just say that paper products and water do not a good combo make.

No, I didn't get mad. It was too late. I was already wet so what good would being mad do? Nothing. I laughed. . . really hard. I think it was because of my good attitude that I had some good fortune. The water, surprisingly, was not dirty (how that happens in the center of a SICK parking lot, I don't know). But, the white sweatshirt angels were watching out for me because my shirt still looks pretty clean, even after being covered in sick parking lot water! Nothing was ruined completely and my purse will recover.

Only in the movies? I think not. . . Happy Friday all!

Is it just me?

So it's been a while - and oooohhhhh, how I've missed my blog. After having a positively busy week (with the exception, of course, being the ever popular Valentine's Day on which I had no date), I have finally found time to blog again!

Sidenote - Valentine's Day was actually pretty good this year so I'm in no way, shape or form complaining about my lack of date. I started out the day with an interesting observation that Valentine's Day actually has the same initials as a sick STD, which was funny enough to send via text to everyone that I know, of course. . . or so I thought! Then I spent the night making waffles and having an intense run-in with a girl at an ice cream place (her name was Sarah and she was awful at her job, ranting and raving like she may die before the night was through) all while hanging out with my unbelievably rad friends. All I have to say is good times.
Back to the blog. . .

So I work in West Valley which is affectionately known as the arm pit of Salt Lake Valley because of it's often pungent aroma from the lake effect and/or the homeless people scattered throughout as well as it's high crime rate. There are more cheap cars with free-spinning wheels per capita in West Valley than anywhere in the US (OK, that's a made-up statistic but it's probably pretty close). Bottom line, it's kind of a trash hole.

Anyway, because I work in West Valley I often find myself needing to patron the business establishments in the city during my lunch hour. In addition to going on the ever-popular hunt for food, a girl has got to run errands occasionally. I try to use my lunch hour for the greater good and check-off some nagging items on my to-do list. You know, pick up film, fill up the gas tank, get a baby shower gift, etc.

Today was just one of those days where I had to set out to accomplish something on my lunch hour. The Mission: to get copies made. The Target: Staples. Estimated Completion Time: 25 minutes (and I really think that was generous?) Lesson Learned: I now know that I should have listened to Stephanie and gone to Kinkos. I was wrong. Synopsis: Did you know that copiers have a hard time with card stock? Well they do. At least this one. . . ok two. . . did. Why would they have problems at a place that offers you card stock to copy on? Because I'm me and they can't ever NOT have problems. My copies jammed the first machine and wouldn't work in the second machine so the copy girl (so she came to be known) went back to the first machine. Then, the battle became which side went which direction and face up or down in order to do two-sided copies. Do you think if you work at a copy place, you would generally pick up on something like that after a day or so? I would think so. . but then I don't make copies for a living. I quickly realized it was not the task itself that was difficult. It was the competent worker that made it so. Final Time for Completion: 1 hour. That's right, 1 hour and 20 copies later. . . I was on my way back to work having not accomplished the other lunchtime errands I had to get done.

So, this little escapade got me thinking about the last 6 months of errand running and the trouble that I've had getting things done. I stated wondering: Is it me? Am I an incompetent consumer? Do I not know how to shop correctly? Am I searching for the impossible when I shop? Then my senses kicked in. Pish, posh. I have a blackbelt in shopping and a second one in customer service. I can shop. I'm not looking for shoes at Staples. I'm looking for copies dang it! Not unreasonable. So maybe it's the high standards that I have set that make anything less than great an abysmal failure? Read on and you decide if my complaints are unwarranted. I've made a list of these fiascoes below:

Tried to get a new cell phone from Cingular only after they sent me a text with an offer for a free upgrade. The guy that worked there asked me 'what I wanted' when I walked in. . Bad start. Did they have the phone? Nope. Did the guy even know what I was talking about? Nope. Did he try to give me their regular free phones that they have in a crate in the box? Yes he did. Does that sound like an upgrade? I didn't think so either.

Went to Quiznos to get a delicious salad that is an important part of their menu. You know what they were out of? Lettuce. Salad minus lettuce equals disappointment.

Second trip to Quiznos a couple of months later, this time looking for a delicious toasted sub. That selling point IS Quiznos, is it not? Well, to my dismay, the oven was broken. No toasty for me or my com padres. Toasted is Quiznos, Quiznos is toasted. What the crap? Quiznos is to toasted like lettuce is to salad. . .

Meineke, oil change. Left my car at the Meineke in West Valley while we went to lunch down the street. I came back an hour later to pick up my car and here's the conversation that took place: Carlee: 'Is my car done?' Meineke Man: 'We're waiting on the oil.' Carlee: 'Huh?' Meineke Man: 'We are out of oil. We've got some being delivered.' How does a place like that run out of oil? They must have been expecting me. After waiting for another 15 minutes I finally asked 'Where is the oil being delivered from?' Meineke Man: 'Oh, right there from Pep Boys.' During this time, Meineke Man was point across the parking lot to their neighboring store Pep Boys. Did anyone walk over there an get the oil? Nope. They were content waiting for it to be delivered. . .and it was. 10 minutes later, we watched as the Pep Boys driver loaded the oil in the back of a truck and DROVE it across the parking lot. Yep. . . it was amazing.

Ok, so now the question. . .am I crazy in thinking that this is an odd chain of events? Does this stuff happen often? It seems like I am going all of the right places to accomplish the things I am trying to get done but nothing seems to be working. What can you do?

Bag of Bones

No, I'm not talking about the next sequel in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. . . although that really would be a good title, eh? I'm talking about her - the girl at my work that I have made reference to in my blog before. You remember, she's the one that sat at work and complained (loudly) that she just couldn't find clothes that were small enough to fit her (growl. . .). How lame.

Anyway, thanks to the worst transition ever held at work, we moved cubicles at work and now, rather than hear her morning rant about clothing or food storage or her allergies, she's at the other end of the building telling other people who don't care either! It's so great! I couldn't hear her even if I wanted to. . . which is less likely to happen than me ever complaining about not finding clothes that are small enough. What a blessing.

Sadly, also thanks to this transition, I am now working on the same team that she spends most of her time working on. Luckily, I don't do that much with her but I do now run into her in meetings every now and again. . . like this very fateful morning.

Long story short, I had to take my laptop into the meeting so that we could project something and my desktop picture is this lovely photo of your friend and mine from The Office - Dwight. He's nerdy and lovable all at the same time. Thanks for sending this Nat - I love it!

So anyway, of course this sparked some good conversation about tonight's episode (Shameless Plug - go Jim and Pam! "Give the people what they want!"). Another guy that we worked with asked B.O.B. if she watched The Office to which she quickly replied "No thanks. . . that is the dumbest show ever! Why would anyone watch that?"

Now, I'm not usually one to get offended but DO NOT say things like that when I clearly am obsessed. That's like telling a girl that just cut her hair off that all short hair is ugly. Would you do it? No. Why? Because you have tact - which appears to be a train that B.O.B. seriously missed out on. I don't even think she bought a ticket. I was so unnerved that I wanted to eat something in front of her and ask her how it felt to be allergic to everything. Rude, I know. But I couldn't help it. . . the fiery pit of anger was back - just like when I used to hear about her allergies.

Dwight is right - its all about determination. . .determination to make her pay. I feel like there is another stapler that should go in Jell-O. Anyone want in?

Theme it out

January 2007 Theme: 'I hope life isn't a BIG JOKE, because I don't get it.' (thanks for the inspiration Eric)

February 2007 Theme: 'Heck yes!'

Just as a status update. . . things are getting better. Clearly. . .