[San Francisco, CA]

Three's Company

Just had lunch with Gary, (Da) Phuong, Rob, and Curtis, then came back to Rob's house to chill. Da Phuong left to go back to work, and Curtis went to get his hair cut. So now I'm left with Rob and Gary.

Picture this: Gary, Rob, and I are at Rob's house. And we're all typing away on separate laptops. Techno-geeks or what? Rob's working on some work stuff (which he says is "pissing him off"), not sure what Gary is working on, and as you can see I'm bloggin as usual (yes, again =P).

(Just switched laptops with Gary). I'm not really sure what's planned for the rest of the day, but I don't mind just hanging out and surfing (the net, that is).

[San Francisco, CA]

Do You Read Your Horoscope?

I just read my horoscope and what they forecasted for me for the month of September was pretty much dead on. The job thing, the travel thing, etc. Weird how I've been writing about my frustrations with my job, and they go on to explain how I'm already feeling or what I'm about to experience? I don't ususally read my horoscope and when I do it's only for the entertainment value. I guess I'm a bit skeptical when they say "everything's written for you in the stars." But after what I read it makes you wonder. So is this coincidence or what?

[San Francisco, CA]

Whoa!

Yeah OK, I wrote a lot. But I had to get it all out (glad i did). Now I feel all "cleansed." =P. Case and point - I should consider getting a laptop.

[San Francisco, CA]

Tina's Last Day

I just remembered, Tina is getting canned today (she's a great person, but just didn't have the initiative and motivation to further her career). Glad I'm not there to see it. I'm sure I'll here it from Sue though. Knowing her, she'll probably call me to tell me (I hope not). So, now I have to pretend that I didn't know anything.

OK, that's it no more talk about work. I'm on vacation dammit! (hehe)

[San Francisco, CA]

At the SFO Airport

As we were making our decent, I started to get excited that I'd be seeing my friends again. Kinda like that feeling you got when you were a little kid going to someplace new for the first time.

Anyway, as we were landing I couldn't help but notice the "traffic jam" on the runway. All these planes were lined up ready to take off. Each one patiently waiting their turn to go down the runway. I don't remember noticing that the last time I came down.

I walked toward the international terminal to meet Bernadette. The international terminal was almost like mini mall. Reminded me of when I was at the Hong Kong airport last year en route to the Philippines, only this a bit smaller. Anyway, I walked around a bit and headed toward Aisle 11 where the PAL counter was. There weren't many people there, or in that terminal for that matter (reminded me of that scene in Jerry Maguire when Tom Cruise is running through an empty airport?), so I gave her a call. She was running a bit late, but was on her way.

In the meantime, I went to Emporio Rulli to get something to eat. I had "gustoso" - this roast beef sandwich with herbs, tomatoes, etc. on focaccia bread. Mmmmm! After I ate, I walked around a bit. Went into Sephora, SFMOMA store, and was planning to go to Esprit but they were closed. About an hour later, Bernadette called me and she was at the airport. I went to meet her and she was in line with her mom, cousin-in-law, neice, and nephew. It was weird because it was like we already knew each other but hadn't seen each other in a long time. I hung out with her until about an hour before she had to board the plane. And all I can say is she is "hella cool!" Too bad she was going to the Philippines, but next time, right Bern?

[San Francisco, CA]

Random Thought

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a bit obsessed with bloggin. I've found it to be very helpful for me to channel what's on my mind onto the screen and then just forget about it. I can release everything that's on my mind - bitches, complaints, frustrations, etc. and not worry about it. It is true what Gary said about it being therapeutic.

Side note: I think I need to get myself a laptop so I can blog whenever I feel like it. I was feeling edgy on the plane with all these frustrations bottled up inside me and I couldn't let it out.

[San Francisco, CA]

On the Plane

I finally made it onto the plane. It was only 15 minutes late, but that was OK. I was quite disappointed when they didn't have a meal for us? We were supposed to get one, but at the last minute they cancelled it. Instead of having a meal I was looking forward to, it was replaced with 2 bags of pretzels. Very nice

[San Francisco, CA]

Working...to be continued

First of all, my original plan of leaving the office at noon did not pan out. I didn't leave until 1:00 pm! Uh hello, did I not mention that I wanted to leave at noon?! At 11:30 am, my boss tells me he has a quick letter for me to type before I go. Great! Then, a co-worker of mine wanted me to sign some checks. I'm not the only signing authority, so why did she come to me? Because she liked me better. Yeah, OK. I kinda snapped at her, but she knew I was leaving (or at least wanted to) at noon. UGH!

And you think it stopped there? Uh, nope. After work, I raced down the freeway, went home, inhaled my lunch and my parents drove me to the airport. Once I got my boarding pass, I went to my gate and continued to work? WTF?! I'm supposed to be on vacation for pete's sake. So, I'm on my cell phone, making travel plans for my boss' next business trip, and coordinating all of this with another co-worker. Why didn't I do this at work? Because of all the damn interruptions! Well, at least it's done. Hopefully they don't run into problems and call me on my cell.

[San Francisco, CA]

Good News, Bad News

My boss called me into his office yesterday morning and informed me he was giving me a 10% raise. Normally I would be all excited, but this time I wasn't (huh?!). My frustrations at work out weigh the increase in remuneration. So now I feel nothing but mixed emotions. Sure it's great that I got a raise, but at the same time I really didn't want it? Like what's the point if I'm not happy with where I'm at. The money is just temporary. After a while, then what? I may have mentioned before that they could pay me twice as much as what I'm getting now, but that still would not make a difference.

This is just one more thing I just didn't want to deal with.

Countdown to take off

I have one more hour before I have to leave. So why does it feel like I'm chasing something I can't catch? I mean, I figured I'd have a pretty easy day, since there were only a couple things I had to do. Uh, yeah right! Never seems to fail when you're about to leave, your to-do list gets longer and longer. Hello? Did we forget that I'm leaving at noon?! AAARRRGGHHH!! OK, deep breath.....in with the good.....out with the bad.....(hehe)

Damn Mosquitoes

Don't you hate it when mosquitoes buzz by your ear when you least expect it? Quite irritating. Especially when you're sleeping. Ugh. Make sure you have your kulambo up.

Shopping at the international terminal sounds like an idea..

I wasn't really planning on shopping, but oh well. It doesn't hurt to look. Plus, I don't have to buy anything right? [yeah, whatever! hehe.] My flight gets in at 5:30 pm, so I guess we might get a chance to meet after all. And maybe do what I suggested before (chit chat till you have to leave, watch you get on the plane, wave through the window, etc.) =P lol. Should I look for you near the the PAL counter?

My boss must think I'm a machine or something?

As I'm sitting here blogging away (yup, being real productive), waiting for my boss to go for lunch, he gives me yet another letter on dictaphone to type. Ugh! If I remember correctly, he did have a lunch meeting penciled in his calendar. Obviously, he cancelled that. Does he not realize that I would like to eat at some point? Preferably now, since it is lunch hour for most people? Am I asking too much?

Oh look, just as I'm finishing up the letter, he gives me another memo to type. *sigh*

Why does this year seem problematic?

There seem to more problems at the office this year as compared to last year. Computer problems, photocopier problems, missing files, issues with head office processing invoices, etc. I don't remember having this much trouble last year. Or maybe I just didn't notice? I remember things running smoothly (for the most part). So what the hell is going on?

Quote of the day: "Compared to last year..."

Ready to go...almost

I'm almost done packing (about 95%). I still have to pick up a couple things, but I'm pretty much ready to go. I don't know why I didn't do this on the weekend?

So why is packing such a task?

I spent a couple hours last night trying to figure out what to pack. Contemplating on what clothes (and shoes) to bring taking into consideration the weather factor. So I do it backwards, working from the shoes up. Because I have too many shoes, I limit myself to bringing only 2 pairs, at most 3. My mission is to pack as light as possible (I try fit everything in this one backpack I have). I try to avoid the "just-in-case" factor because like you said, you end up bringing more than you need and end up not using them. If only there was a way to transport my closet with me so I wouldn't have to spend so much time packing. Maybe have a digital image of your closet and then just pick out what you want to wear and somehow "beam them up?" OK, perhaps too Trekkie =P hehe

We seem to be in the same boat

Funny how you mention that you're in a cranky mood (I was like that this morning AND I'm just getting over mine), and you haven't packed yet (me neither). All I have to say is tomorrow is another day, but we need to get our asses in gear and start packing! hehehe. I don't about you, but I hate leaving it to the last minute because you always feel like you're forgetting something. By the way, are we still on for meeting at the airport? =P hehehe.

Random Thought

I had an interesting conversation with Lynne during lunch today. It started out with traveling and how I was spreading out my vacation days throughout the year. With the exception of January and March, I've averaged a mini-vacation each month, taking 2 or 3 days off each time. I try to schedule my trips around weekends, so I'm not using too many of my vacation days, but at the same time I'm taking a good break. Reason being to keep my sanity. It's just a nice [mental] break from the office.

Anyway, while Lynne and I were talking about traveling, she asked me if I would ever move elsewhere, be it the U.S. or another country. And I told her I would. If there is an opportunity for me out there (wherever it may be) why wouldn't I go for it? Although Lynne didn't ask me, the big question (for me anyway) always seems to be "What about your family?" Well, what about my family? I don't know why people are surprised when I tell them that I would leave my family to pursue an opportunity (maybe it's because most Asian families try to stay in the same place? Not so much in the same household, but at least in the same city). Sure my family is very close, but they are very supportive as well, so if I did have to move they wouldn't stop me (knowing my mom, she'd probably want to come with me - hehe). Of course they'd be sad to see me go (as I would be too), but it's not like I would never see them again. The way I see it, they're just a phone call away. Distance is not a barrier.

While on the subject of traveling, I've also been asked if I ever get homesick, especially if I go on 2- or 3-week vacations. My answer is "no." Some people think I'm weird when I tell them that, but I just don't get homesick. For example, my friend Jenn and I went on a 3-week vacation to Chicago/New York 4 years ago. We spent 2.5 weeks in Chicago (stayed with Jenn's aunt), and spent 4 days in New York. During that time, I probably called my parents only 2 or 3 times to touch base. Not that I didn't want to talk to my parents or anything, but that's just the way we are. I guess we're kinda weird that way. We're a close family, but at the same time we're not close. Does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, I love my family and we're close in the sense that the "bond" is there, but it's not like we spend a whole day out of the week together, doing absolutely everything together.

I'm not really sure where I was going with this, but I thought I had to write it down. I guess I was just making an observation that despite the physical distance between our family, the actual closeness will always be there.

Don't you hate it when...

...the guy 2 cubes away from you is having a conversation with someone else in the office on speaker phone (I'm sure everyone wants to listen in on the conversation)? How inconsiderate is that?! Is it that hard to pick up the receiver? Or better yet, could you not walk over to his cube and discuss whatever the issue is at hand? Makes it difficult to concentrate on what you're doing when you've got this conversation going on.

Big Confusion

Part of my job entails scheduling meetings and conference calls. Not a big deal. Seeing as I was given the available times of the three parties involved, it wasn't rocket science to figure it out. OK, so I'm working with two times and coordinating with 3 people. A simple choice between Option A or Option B. I called Bill and told him when the other 2 were available. Option A was not good for him, so I told him we'd do Option B. Did I miss anything in that last statement?

My boss called me into his office this morning to tell me that Bill didn't know anything about the conference call? Huh?! How the hell is that possible when I talked to him about it yesterday? As it turns out, my boss wrote it down wrong in his calendar, which is where all the confusion started. A conference call which was schedule for Wednesday morning, was written in his calendar on Tuesday morning. Like that's my fault? Then he said I should confirm the time with Bill. I'm thinking "what's to confirm, when I spoke to him yesterday, and told him I'd schedule the call for Wednesday morning, instead of Tuesday afternoon (since he wasn't available then)?" I mean, there aren't any other times to choose from, so if Tuesday doesn't work, isn't it just logical that Wednesday would?

The point is, I don't like how I have to spoonfeed these guys. I know they rely on me for certain things, but I can't always be there to hold their hands. I feel like I'm their mother or something. Maybe I'm in the wrong industry.

Maybe another weekend?

Sorry about that Bernadette. My original intention was to come down during the weekend of your show, but someone didn't want me to come down that weekend (just kidding). Hmmm...I know, let's meet at the airport. You know, we can chit chat until you have to leave, I'll watch you get on the plane, and wave through the window as you take off. :-) lol. [I know, I'm such a dork!] Anyway, have a great time in the Philippines!

First to the Office

What's wrong with this picture? My boss called me on my cell yesterday afternoon to tell me that he wanted me to be in the office right at 8:00 am (or a bit earlier), because he had this "urgent" memo he had to get out. Yeah sure, no problem. I was the first one here at 7:35 am. Now, you'd think he'd get here at 7:45 or so, but he didn't get in until 8:10. What the hell?!?! What's the point in calling me, telling me to be here at the agreed upon time, and then come in late? Obviously this memo wasn't that urgent. This is probably one of his tests or something.

Yeah, I Definitely Have Too Many Clothes

I finished the second part of my closet and took out more clothes I don't wear or doesn't fit me. I also noticed I have quite a bit of drycleaning to do. I'm not a big fan of drycleaning simply because I don't think it's practical. I mean, why spend so much on clothes, and then spend more money for drycleaning that doesn't seem to really "clean" the clothes? Is it worth it? I don't think so. I'd rather use the gentle cycle in the washing machine. I make it a point now to buy things that are machine washable.

I never realized how small I used to be. Some pants that fit me last year, are now difficult to pull past my butt. Ugh. It's not like I've gained weight (as in fat - at least I hope not), but I guess from working out and kickboxing my muscles have developed? (work with me here =P) Anyway, again I re-organized things and even color coordinated them. Yeah, I know I'm nitpicky, but it looks better that way. Hmmm...maybe I should go through my shoes next?

I Have Too Many Clothes

I know I said I'd tackle my closet today, but for some reason I got a burst of energy at about midnight last night and decided to clean out my dresser. So I took everything out and re-organized it all into summer stuff, workout stuff, sleepwear, and t-shirts/etc. I don't know why I bother to organize it when in a month or so, everything will be all mixed up again? I took out the other clothes that I either didn't wear anymore or were too small for me, and put them in a pile for Goodwill [yes, we have that here too ;-) hehehe]. Anyway, I didn't realize how much clothes I had until I dumped everything on my bed. And that's only from my dresser! It was a bit overwhelming, and I thought to myself "Why am I doing this at this hour?" I was up until 3 am, but I did it. Now I have to do the rest of my closet. It shouldn't be so bad since everything else is hung up. OK, let's see how this goes...

Pre-Birthday Party for Shelley

It's Shelley's (my brother's girlfriend) 23rd birthday at the end of the month. But she decided to have a get together tonight. Her and about 17 other friends were at our house celebrating before they went to Rum Jungle. Half of the people here were guys Mike (my brother) has known since kindergarten or grade 1. It's amazing how they still keep in touch after all this time. I've watched them grow up over the years and I must say it's been....interesting. ;-) What I like about this group is that they're a cool bunch. Despite the fact that I'm older than they are, they still invite me to hang out with them. Which is somewhat flattering. I mean, they actually want someone "my age" to hang out with them. I guess part of it is because I'm pretty close with my brother. One of my brother's friend's girlfriend (did you get that?) actually thought I was younger! I'm thinking "This is so good for my ego." hehehe. She couldn't believe that I was older than Mike. I thought that was really nice of her to say. It's not very often you get complimented by someone, let alone by someone who's younger than you are. As much as I wanted to hang with them, I decided to stay home. Plus I wouldn't feel right being the only "older" one there. Besides, gotta save my energy for next weekend ;-)

Summer Clean Up...sort of

I cleaned part of my room. You're thinking Why not clean your whole room right? Well, there's really only one section of my room that seems to accumulate stuff. And you don't realize how much has accumulated until you actually go through it. So I threw out a whole bunch of things and now it's neater. The next task is to go through my closet. Ugh. But I think I need a whole day for that because I have to go through everything and take out what I don't wear, what doesn't fit, etc. Hmmm...maybe I'll tackle that tomorrow.

Irma's Bloggin'...Finally!

It's about freakin' time! ;-) I originally introduced Irma to blogging about a month ago. Only thing was she didn't "publish" what she blogged, so I couldn't read anything she wrote. Plus, she hasn't had much access to the computer so she hasn't been able to write anything since then. I gave her a brief overview of how stuff worked, so she should be blogging regularly now (hopefully). Anyway, welcome to blogging Irma...again. hehehe.

Thanks for the advice Bernadette

Although it may seem like it wasn't much advice, to me it was (not that I expect someone else to tell me what to do, because I know I'm the one who ultimately has to make that decision). Sometimes you just need to hear it, or in this case read it, from someone else, you know? All the points you made were valid and is exactly what I'm feeling right now (and then some). Especially the comment about me "being afraid to make the leap into the unknown." Really, that's probably what it all boils down to. Ryan also made a comment that I don't owe anything to anyone. And he's right. I guess I kinda got caught up in the moment or something. Here I go making excuses again. *sigh*

But I think it is time for me to move on. I've moved up in the company in such a short period of time that there's nowhere left to go. Despite the fact that the people I work with are great, that's not enough for me to stay. It's the work itself that's getting to me. But I appreciate your input. Oh, and the fortune cookie fortune - cute ;-) hehehehehe. Too bad I wasn't going there this weekend, otherwise I'd go to the comedy jam with you. Perhaps we'll do something next week. Oh wait, you're going to the Philippines. Damn. Next time then...

Power nap turned into power sleep

My intention was to take a power nap for about half an hour, so I'd be all refreshed for kickboxing. I was tired from work, especially since I was supposed to be off at 1:00 pm but didn't get out of there until 4:00 pm. :( Only thing was my 30 minutes turned into 4 hours. Oops. So much for kickboxing. If my friend Ryan hadn't called me when he did, I probably would've slept till tomorrow (was your girlfriend not around or something?). Or at least wake up in the middle of the night and then be up for the rest of the day. But now, I'm probably going to be up until 2 or 3 am anyway, since I just had coffee (Vietnamese coffee to be precise) with Ryan. Great. Actually come to think of it, coffee doesn't really do anything to me as far as keeping me awake. I'm not much of a coffee drinker to begin with (more of a tea drinker), but if Ryan keeps this up, that might change. Sure hope not. Hmmmm...now to figure out what to do for the next few hours...

Dilemma

Edna (the replacement for the leasing assistant) called me this morning after her meeting with Spence (a co-worker of mine who's doing the hiring). The meeting went well, and she called me to let me know that she's going to take the job. Funny how she calls me first? Anyway, good news is she'll be a great addition to the team. Bad news is that Tina is going to be let go today. Definitely don't want to be around when that happens.

So here's my dilemma. It's a known fact that for the past little while I've been frustrated with my job. As I was talking to Edna, she mentioned that she was looking forward to working with me because we just "click." Plus, taking this job was a way for her to get out of her current one. You see, she's in the same boat as I am. Only I seem to be putzing around and not doing anything about my situation. I mean, my resume is pretty much done. All I have to do is submit it to the employment agency, set up a meeting with my contact there, and she looks for work for me.

So what's holding me back? Why am I making this decision difficult? I keep telling myself that it's all about timing. I want to make sure everything is "under control" before I leave. But will it ever be "under control?" Probably not. We work in a world where you will never be caught up. I don't know what my problem is. Part of me thinks, that Edna will help make things a bit better for me workwise. But is that realistic? Can one person make things better for me? Perhaps temporarily. Another part of me thinks, that I should stay for a little while longer until Edna gets settled in and then leave. And yet another part of me thinks I should stay until my 3rd year anniversary. I think I'm back to square one. AAARRRGGGHHHH!!! Help! Thoughts anyone?

Stuck in the Middle

I hate being caught in this situation at work. You end up knowing too much info, and you sometimes wonder how you got involved in the first place? Not to mention, you have to be aware of what you say to which person to make sure all parties have no clue on what's going on.

First, there's the leasing assistant. She's a good person, fun to be with, etc., but when it comes to work she's not quite "all there." You'd think that after a year of working at this company she'd pick up on things. Uh, nope. Her employment will be terminated tomorrow pending the outcome of the interview of her replacement.

Then, there's the replacement. I had an opportunity to meet with her about a month ago and she seems like she'd "fit in" well here. I knew she had the skills, but a co-worker (who had worked with her before) wanted me to meet her and see how she'd get along with the many personalities in this office. She's funny, outgoing, and has the drive to work, so I think she'd get along fine. I spoke to her this afternoon and she was wondering if "management" had made a decision yet. I told her I wasn't sure, but really, I know what's going on. She pretty much wanted me to give her the inside scoop on their decision, but it's really not my place to say. I wish they'd just hurry up and hire her so I don't have to "act like I don't know anything."

"My Cell Phone Doesn't Work"

That's all I've been hearing from my boss since yesterday. He wanted me to cancel the text messaging feature on his phone, since he doesn't use it. So I did, but what I didn't realize was that it was part of the voice mail package as well (hmmm...you'd think they'd make it a bit clearer on the invoice?). Anyway, when I called to reactivate the feature, it somehow changed the way he retrieved his voice mail messages. He kept telling me that it didn't work properly, and he kept getting this recording. I had to take the phone to the dealer, get him to program the phone accordingly, and when I brought it back, the damn thing still "didn't work" (according to my boss). I called the phone guy back and told him to explain the situation to my boss, because I wasn't getting through to him. At the end of it all, the cell phone was working as it was supposed to. *SIGH*

Message from the Philippines

I got an email from my cousin Grace today. It was nice to hear from her again. But it wasn't so nice to hear that she split up with her husband. Huh?!?!? It's very rare to hear of filipino couples splitting up. And the fact that it happened to my cousin is such a shock, especially since they just got married last year, and have a son. I thought to myself "Stuff like this only happens to other people. This shouldn't be happening to my family." Amazing how we think our families are immune to situations like this. Of course, who doesn't want to have the perfect family?

She explained how things weren't working out and realized she had to get out of the relationship. Now, I don't know the full details of what happened (not really any of my business), but I support her in whatever she decides. I guess it's better that she found out sooner than later, especially with a child involved. I mean, if there was tension between them, I think it would've affected their son in the long run. Even though he's too young to understand anything, kids somehow have a way of picking up on things. But I think they'll be OK. All I can do is pray for the best for my cousin and my nephew.

Who Wants to be a Fobionaire?

A friend of mine gave me a link to this site created by a Hong Kong fob, which mimics the "oh-so-popular" Who Wants to be a Millionaire, except with Chinese-American trivia questions. Kinda funny. Hmmm...I wonder if they have one for pinoys?

Why do people gossip?

Do they not have enough problems of their own that they have to be concerned about others? Sue got back from holidays today and we were talking a bit. She told me about what she did during her time off, blah blah blah. Then she whispers " I have something to tell you..." And I'm thinking "great, here we go." Now, I'm not into gossiping. And you're probably wondering why I let her continue on. Well, it wasn't because I wanted to know, but more of just being a sounding board to her. She's the type of person who talks a lot and seems to like the sound of her voice? I tune out some of the stuff she tells me, partly because she's either told me already or I'm simply annoyed with the sound of her voice. So she went on and told me about a co-worker who's wife is planning on moving out of the country, go to school, and leave him with the kids for a year. What bugged me was when she made a presumption that the wife didn't want her kids in the first place. I just looked at her and said that she shouldn't say stuff like that, especially since she doesn't know the whole story. Really, why talk about people or situations and make presumptions when you don't have all the facts? Or for that matter, why talk about it at all?

American Pie 2

I just saw American Pie 2 with Irma and it was so funny. Since it was her birthday yesterday (and I didn't get her a birthday present - not because I forgot, but because I ran out of ideas of what to get her), I figured I'd take her out to a movie. If you haven't seen it, go see it. I didn't think it would be as good as the first one, but it is.

Speaking of gift giving...

...don't you think it's over-rated? I mean, have you ever come to a point where you say to yourself "what am I going to get this person this year?" Sure it's nice to give [and receive] presents, but what do you when that person seems to "have everything?" There's only so much clothes, CD's, gift certificates, knick knacks, etc. you can buy for a person. I'm not saying that I'm a Scrooge and I don't like giving things to people, but I'm running out of ideas for presents to give to them. So, you try to give them "useful" things (like the things you give them anyway aren't going to be used?). Then you try to get creative (I'm no Martha Stewart). But that only takes you so far. I'd rather spend time with that person doing something rather than just giving them a gift. At least the time spent with them will create memories that will last longer than any material thing.

I wonder if he senses something?

Fact 1: I am not happy with my job.
Fact 2: I am working on my resume to hopefully get a better one.
Question: Does my boss sense that I'm unhappy with my job? And if so, is he trying to make it better for me?
Reason behind question: My boss called me while he was on the road, on the way back to the office. He told me to meet him outside in the parking lot and I'm thinking "OK??? What's up with this?". So I met him outside and he told me to get in the car because he wanted to go for ice cream. My reaction: "Don't have to ask me twice!" ;-) Cool. While we're in the car, we chit chat a bit and he casually asks how I'm doing with work. I told him, "not good" and pretty much left it at that. OK, I get free ice cream, but I have to wonder if there was a motive behind it. I mean, it's not like ice cream is going to solve the problem and prevent me from leaving. I just can't help but think if he senses that my time with the company is coming to an end? [I've noticed before that he can pick up on things.]
Conclusion: Free ice cream is not going to keep me with the company. Neither is an increase in my salary. Bottom line is, I've had it with my job. And I need to get out before I breakdown. (Am I over-analyzing things?)

Draft, edit, re-edit, proofing...

I think my resume is about 90% done (yes, I'm still working on it). I got my brother to look it over to get his opinion and he gave me a couple suggestions. Finishing it by the end of this week should be no problem. I know I shouldn't beat it to death, but this is my future we're talking about. Now, if only I can be happy with it (I probably never will).

Weird Cravings

I must be PMS'ing or something because one minute I'm eating chocolate, and the next I'm eating corn nuts? Now I feel like eating some fruit. Yup, gotta love these hormonal stages...;-)

Visit from Cheryl

I just had a surprise visit from Cheryl this morning. It was nice seeing her again. She came by to get me to translate this email she got from a filipino guy, whom she met on a cruise (background: Cheryl worked on a cruise ship in Tahiti as a water ski instructor) ;-) I guess she wanted to know if there was any juicy gossip or something. hehe. Well, she is learning so hopefully by the time she comes back, she'll be able to speak it a bit. Hard to believe she's off to Tahiti again on Friday and she'll be gone for 4 months. Hmmm...maybe I should work on a cruise ship?

Random Thought

Don't you hate it when you're on the phone (or busy doing something else) and people shove paper in your face as if they want you to drop what you're doing and attend to what they're giving you? Uh hello, do you not see this phone in my ear? Or perhaps I'm just listening to the dial tone to pretend that I'm on a call? Ugh! OK, I'm a bit cranky because I'm tired and I haven't eaten breakfast yet. Hmmm...maybe I'm PMS'ing too

Happy Birthday Irma!

I'm not sure if you're going to read this today (I'll be talking to you later anyway), but Happy Birthday Irms! Hope you enjoy your day pampering yourself!

Work In Progress

I never realized how tough it can be to put a resume together. Trying to put all of your skills and qualifications on paper without actually writing them all down is hard. It's a matter of finding the correct words to effectively describe what I do. And that's what I'm having trouble with. Maybe I'm trying too hard, but I want my resume to stand out from the rest. I think part of the difficulty is also because I haven't looked at my resume in 3 years. I have been fortunate with past jobs, in that friends who were already working at these places gave recommendations for me, so in a sense I was "already in." The resume and interview were just formalities. Now that I'm actually looking for a job on my own, it's a new thing for me. Even though I'll be going through an employment agency, all they do is find employment for me based on the criteria I set for them. But it's up to me to follow through with the interview and hopefully get the job. I guess that's part of the learning experience. Who'd ever thought that I'd be in this position? I mean, before when people found a stable job they stayed with it until they retired. I can't even imagine staying at my current job for a year, let alone 20. And so I continue to work on my resume. Hopefully I can finish this by the end of the week.

Record Time

Irma and I, along with her cousin Irene, somehow made it to Calgary in 2 hours! A drive which is supposed to take 2.5 to 3 hours. We weren't speeding that much. Maybe it's because we didn't stop in Red Deer?

Go, go, go...

As soon as we arrived in Calgary, Irma went to Les Miserables with 5 other friends, while Irene and I went shopping. Our first stop was Chinook Mall to get some lunch, where we had bourbon chicken. Mmmmm...yummy! Since Irene has never been to Calgary, I showed her around a bit. Our next stop was Banker's Hall (downtown), and then to Eaton Centre. When we got to Eaton's there was a DJ promoting the new fall line up for Tommy Hilfiger. He was playing old songs from the 60's and 70's which was cool. Made shopping a bit more enjoyable. Irene and I split up for a while so we could do our own things. My goal was to get a pair of jeans. [I know, I could get jeans anywhere, but the jeans at Eaton's seem to fit me better.] I tried on 4 pairs of jeans before finding ones that I liked and fit properly. So, mission accomplished. :-) Irene and I walked around a bit more and we were craving ice cream. We went all over Banker's Hall and they had no ice cream?! (What kind of mall doesn't have ice cream?) So we decided to go back to Rhoda's house and wait for them to come home from the play. Once they got back, we had a bit to eat (and had some ice cream too!) and then headed back to Edmonton.

Drive Back Home

Irma was too tired to drive back, so I drove. Besides the fact that my back was getting a bit sore, the one thing that bugged me during the drive was the other cars who had their high beams on? It's too distracting. I could understand if it was really dark out, but the sun was just setting. When we got to Edmonton, Irma took over and drove me home. While we were driving the song Freeway of Love by Aretha Franklin came on (which was fitting since we were on the freeway). I don't know what came over us, but Irma and I started dancing in the car. hehe. :-) (yeah, we're a bit weird that way). Overall, the trip to Calgary was good.

Random Thought

Do you ever notice how some drivers on the highway seem like they don't want you to be driving ahead of them? That happened during the drive back to Edmonton. I was driving behind a minivan and passed him because I had the car on cruise and I didn't want to change the setting. Once I passed him, a couple minutes later he sped up, passed me, and ended up ahead of me. It's like we were playing cat and mouse on the highway. And we did this a couple times, until I finally sped up and left him behind. Not because I wanted to be ahead of him, but because I didn't want to change the setting on the cruise control.

Off to Calgary

I woke up at 8 am this morning (wow that's early, especially for a weekend), and called Irma to wake her up. But she was already awake? Now I'm just waiting for her to pick me up, and we're off to Calgary for the day.

Irma and Rhoda are going to watch Les Miserables and I'm going shopping. Woo hoo! I haven't been shopping in a while, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm especially looking forward to going to Eaton's (department store), since they closed the one here a couple years ago. I was quite disappointed when that happened. Anyway, I'll try not to scratch up my Eaton's card too much. hehe ;-)

Oh, gotta go...

Gotta Get Out

Ever get that feeling you just have to be outside? That was me earlier this afternoon. I came home after work, had lunch, and attempted (there's that term again) to work on my resume. Yes, I'm still working on it. Seem to get sidetracked all the time. Hmmmm, I wonder why? ;-) Anyway, as I was sitting in front of my computer, I started to fall asleep in my chair. Not a good thing. Then my mom asked me a question and that's when I said to myself "I need to get out of the house." I guess I was getting a bit antzy. Plus, it was another hot day (31 C = 88 F) and I just wanted to be outside. So, I dropped off some film that needed to be developed and went to the gym for a couple hours. I know, what can I possibly do at the gym for 2 hours? Well, I just took my time with the weights and it was good because there wasn't a lot of people there. Then I went to kickboxing after. Good class, but was it ever hot in that room! Even though they had the fans going, it didn't help. We were stretching at the beginning of class and I was already sweating. I think I'm digressing. Point is, I got out of the house.

Fringe Festival

Yes, another festival in Edmonton. It started on Thursday and runs for 10 days. Fringe Festival is an "artsy" type of festival, with theatrical shows, street performers, etc. Of course, there's food, the beer gardens, and tons of people walking around. Irma and I went (as we always do every year), and checked it out. Not much different than last year. We were thinking of watching a theatrical performance, but the line up was too long. So we ended up just watching the street performers. There was one guy who balanced a unicycle on his chin? Another guy who was a juggler/tight rope walker, and I can't forget the guy who just sits there like a statue and doesn't blink. When there was nothing else to watch, Irma and I went to Club Malibu (mental note: don't go there again. crowd is way too young) and had a drink for a buck. Can't go wrong there. Then we went to Billiard Club to chill. And sit! We had been walking the whole time, and normally I don't mind all the walking but after kickboxing class, my legs were getting a bit sore. (yawn) I better get some rest.

Why do I bother?

My boss didn't come in today. Yay for me right? Uh, nope. I figured I'd attempt (key word is attempt) to try and accomplish a few things. Seeing as it's early Friday and my boss is out of the office, technically I shouldn't really get any interruptions (yeah right, I should know better than that!). Just when I'm about to get on a roll with MY stuff, I get a phone call from the Phoenix office. They need a spreadsheet ASAP (damn these spreadsheets). So I put it together and email it back to them. OK, maybe NOW I can concentrate on my work. Think again chickie! A co-worker of mine wants me to do a projection, again on a spreadsheet. [hmmm...can you see why I may have an issue with these things?! ;-) ] Anyway, I did 4 scenarios for him and it's the end of the day. So why do I bother to attempt to do anything on Fridays when I know it's just a write off for me? *sigh*

Thanks Bernadette

...for being the first to sign my guestbook! I feel so important now. hehehe :-) You know, kinda like that feeling you get when you receive mail? It could be anything really (preferably not bills), but the fact that it's addressed to you makes you feel...important. Anyway, have an awesome day!

Sign My Guestbook

I'm making yet another update to my blog. I've been playing around with this HTML thing again trying to get the links to align properly (yeah ok, I'm a bit picky), so I got a bit of help from my brother. You'll notice at the bottom of the page there's a link to sign my guestbook. I thought I'd try Gary's suggestion and see how this new doodad works. I don't know why I'm adding this in, seeing as Bernadette and Gary are the only ones who read this. Oh well, something to do I guess.

Bug Barrier

I was definitely prepared for my power walk with Lynne today. The mosquitoes didn't touch me this time because I was protected with Deep Woods Off. They seemed to go after Lynne though. The weird thing was, you could see them swarm around me (kinda like the same effect that Pig Pen character had off of Charlie Brown), but they couldn't get close. Every once in a while I'd feel a couple of bugs hit me and then bounce off. I must've missed a spot because I still managed to get one mosquito bite. Oh well, I'd rather get one than twenty-one.

Scented or Unscented?

So I bought Deep Woods Off and on the label it said "unscented." But when I sprayed it on me, there was still a scent. Which brings me to this question: Is anything really "unscented?"

I mean, haven't you noticed stuff that's supposed to be unscented still has a scent to it? First of all, according to dictionary.com, the word "unscented" doesn't even exist. The proper term to describe something "lacking the sense of smell" is scentless. Anyway, my point is can anything really have no smell? What is "nothing" supposed to smell like? As long as we have noses and our olfactory sensors are in tact, we can smell things. Hence, everything must have some type of scent to them. OK, some of you may think air has no smell to it. But have you really smelled air by itself? By the time you wake up in the morning and take a breath of fresh air, aren't you really smelling a mixture of everything else in the environment, like trees, flowers, pollution, etc.? You can't really say you can go outside and differentiate between the smell of air from the smell of the trees and everything else.

So then, if everything has some sort of smell to them, how would you classify a scent that cannot be described? For example, the "unscented" Deep Woods Off? It doesn't have a flowery or fruity smell to it. I just can't describe it. Hmmm...What do you think?

Random Thought

Why is it that the annoying songs (or ones you don't really like) are the ones that stay in your head? For some reason, I have the Smarties jingle in my head? Huh? I don't even like Smarties (I prefer M&M's actually). When you eat your smarties do you eat the red ones last, la la la..." I need help. hehehe :-)

Funny how some people can be thinking the same things...

I was reading Bernadette's blog about how Penelope Cruz would still have the same last name if she married Tom Cruise (just different spelling). And I swear I had the same thought last night when I saw their picture in the newspaper. Makes you wonder who else in the world is the thinking the same thoughts as you???

AAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!

It turned out to be one hell of a day. My morning wasn't too bad. Steady but good. But just before my boss left for lunch, he decided to give me a project. Job: duplicating files. Deadline: 4:00 pm this afternoon. Shouldn't be a big deal right? Wrong! Normally it would be a no brainer type of job, you know just feed it into the photocopier. Well, it would help if the photocopier would work with me. The machine kept giving me attitude, which was frustrating. I got a cut on my hand from removing the paper jam in the machine. Of course, a memo had to go with the package, but then when it came time to print anything, my printer was acting up. And I had to all of this before the courier came by at 4:00 pm. Oh, and some of the pages required some coloring too (I had help with that). Never seems to fail that whenever you're in a rush to send an important package via courier, something has to go wrong. I definitely have to go to kickboxing class tonight and let all my frustrations out!

Good Start to the Day...or is it?

I actually got to work early! So it was only 5 minutes early, but still. I had an 8:00 am meeting, so I had to make sure I was here. Anyway, I figured I'd get a head start on things especially since I got here before my boss.

OK, so now I'm here at work, my boss walked in at around 8:30 am (seemed like he was in a good mood). Then he calls me into his office and says he doesn't want any interruptions for the next 2 hours. Only, we have a conference call at 9:00 am. His reponse "@#$%!" Uh, ok? Apparently he has this emergency he has to deal with first thing this morning. It's days like this when I don't want to be here. I just don't want to deal with that, you know.

And just now, another co-worker who's in the cube next to me just had a bit of a snit with the boss. Great. Yeah, like this is going to be a good day?

I'm being eaten alive!

I went for a power walk after work with Lynne at Whitemud Park. Being another nice day, I thought we'd take advantage of the weather. Big mistake. I don't know what it is about me, but all these mosquitoes were attacking me, but not Lynne? Now, I don't have much blood to begin with (OK, so I'm exaggerating but you get the point), so why go after me? I wish I had repellent or something. So while we're walking, I was slapping myself silly until we reached the residential area. Ugh! In a span of 20 minutes, I probably got a dozen mosquito bites. Damn bugs! I'll have to make sure I have bug spray next time.

What's My Name?

I just had lunch with Lynne and Debra and while we were chit-chatting, Lynne made reference to me but corrected herself when she called me Michelle? As if it wasn't my real name or something. She called me Meesh instead. Ever since the whole "mini-me" thing came out, I swear I've pretty much lost my name. It all started with Mini-me then became Mini-Meesh. From there, co-workers have called me Mini, Meesh, Min, and Michi. Some of my friends call me Mich, Mitch, or Chelle, and my kickboxing classmates refer to me as Mighty Mouse. Really, I don't mind that people have these nicknames for me. Whatever works for them, I guess. Kinda cute if you ask me. :-)

I'm Dark

I never really noticed it, but I guess I am dark. Finally I got some sort of a tan (yay for me!). All from sitting in the stadium during the World's yesterday. A couple co-workers mentioned it as well as some of my kickboxing buddies. Funny how you don't really notice things until someone actually says something.

Heat Wave

It is SOOOOO hot! And humid too. Definitely not typical Edmonton weather. Not that I'm complaining, but geez it's hot. The forecast is calling for sunny skies all week in the high 20's (that's low to mid 80's in farenheit). Woo hoo! Better enjoy it while I can, because once fall hits....nevermind, I don't even want to say it. Did I mention that it's hot? hehe.

In the News

I decided to read the paper while I was eating dinner. I don't usually read the paper or watch the news on TV because most of it is too depressing. Anyway, I was reading through the paper and picked out a couple articles that caught my eye (note: my definition of reading the newspaper is reading the headlines only. If it seems interesting, I'll read the article, otherwise I'll move along):

Food for Thought
Did you know bugs have more protein than beef? I mean, I've heard about it before, but I was a bit skeptical. According to this article certain bugs have more calories and percentage of protein than some meat. It also gave tips on bugs, like grasshoppers are better cooked (yeah, nothing like grilled grasshoppers to get my palate going); you can eat ants (just not the red ones); and stay away from bright colored bugs or ones with stingers because chances are they're poisonous (duh! like I'm really gonna go for a bee?!). So for anyone who gets stuck in the boonies and you find yourself hungry, go grab yourself a bucket full of bugs and enjoy! Bon Appetit! ;-)

Surrogate Mother Stuck with Twins
There's a couple in San Francisco who asked this British woman to be a surrogate mother for their baby and paid her $30,000 to do it. OK, for one reason or another some people are unable to have children, so this is an option for them. Fine. But when the couple realized they were expecting twins, they backed out of their contract? The couple only wanted to have one child, so they asked the British woman to abort one of them. When she disagreed with the idea for fear of complications to her health, the couple pretty much ditched her and their babies.

OK, since when do people get to choose how many kids they can have at a time (i.e. twins, triplets, etc)? I'm not talking about fertility drugs either. Obviously, there was a reason that the egg split the way it did, hence twins. How can anyone go through this process of planning to have children, selecting a surrogate mother, and just walk away like it was nothing? This British woman is stuck with carrying twins. It's not like she can just stop the process. I just don't understand how these people can be so insensitive. Apparently, there's an organization that's receiving a lot of phone calls from people who want to get in touch with this woman and adopt the twins. There's the issue of finding the right parents for these children. Most likely a long process. Then there's the issue of giving them up for the right price. Almost as if these twins are on auction or something. Going once, twice, sold to the loving couple who can't have kids, but will do anything to get them. Sad if you ask me.

Sidenote - Editing
Ever wonder if editors really edit the articles before it gets printed? I read this brief article that made reference to "Weatherly, Pencilvania." I'm not a geography expert, but I don't think "Pencilvania" is one of the 50 states. Unless it's the HB#3 lead pencil capital of America? Maybe they work in the wee hours of the morning, so their brains aren't functioning properly. Or maybe they have lead poisoning or something. But isn't that what spellcheck is for?

Message to Bernadette

Thanks for checking out my blog! I must say I definitely enjoy reading yours! On your comment about how girls have all the details down, but the only thing missing is the guy - my response: "Exactly." ;-) I hate it too when people ask "Why aren't you married yet?" or "Why don't you have a boyfriend?" Do these people not realize that if we knew the answers to those questions, that maybe we'd have a boyfriend or be married by now? Anyway, keep bloggin. Hopefully the next time I'm in San Francisco, I'll get a chance to meet you. Hey Gary, can you arrange that? Until then...

Kickass Workout

I went to the gym after work to get my muscles all warmed for kickboxing. Did the elliptical cross-training machine for cardio and some free weights (chest and back today). When I got to kickboxing class it was nice to see my classmates again, since the school was on vacation for 2 weeks (I guess the instructors need a break too huh?). Anyway, what a class!! Amazing how your body changes when you don't work out for a week. It was a tough class, but I got through it. When we had to partner up, I was the odd one out :-( . Actually, I ended up with the instructor. Really wasn't fair because I had to work twice as hard. When everyone else got to switch between partners, I got to do double the workout. It was good though. I like challenging myself to see how far I can go and I think I did pretty good. Yup, I guess I'm back on track now.

Getting Back on Track

With all the hoopla that's been going on here, I've been missing out on the gym and kickboxing. I can't really say that I didn't have time to workout - more like I haven't been making the time to go. But who has time to go when there's so many other things to see and do? Well, it's a new week and I feel like I have to get back on schedule. Better hit the gym and kickboxing before I change my mind.

Is this one of life's tests?

It's a fact that I'm frustrated with my job. I've given myself until the end of this month to decide what I want to do. Stay for a little while longer or quit and possibly go back to school? Today I found out the admin assistant in our Phoenix office is quitting. Hmmm. Now is this a sign of an opportunity or a test to see if I'll actually quit? I mean, now that she's quitting, a part of me feels like I have a responsibility to pick up her workload. I don't know why I should feel this way, but I do. I guess it's my loyalty to the company. Then I think, if I quit now, they will be so screwed. But is that my problem? And why does this have to happen now? Is it because I'm procrastinating? Or is there a reason behind all of this? Ugh!

I've thought of so many different possibilities:

1) Stay until my anniversary which is in November;
2) Ask to be moved to the Phoenix office - I don't think my boss would go for that, because he'd be screwed (again is that my problem?). Even if I did move to the Phoenix office, is that really a solution? I mean, I'd probably be subjected to the same things here. Maybe not as much, but it's still part of the same environment;
3) Take a leave of absence and then don't come back (make some excuse that I'm going to the Philippines for an indefinite period of time or something);
4) Just quit.

Time is running out. Bottom line is I just want to make sure that I'm making the right decision. If only it were that easy to just pick and go. Unfortunately it's not. Hopefully I make the right choice.

CariWest Festival

Jenn and I went for breakfast/brunch at CariWest. The food was OK (not a big spicy fan, especially first thing in the morning), a bit greasy, but oh well. The fruit balanced it out, I suppose? With it being Sunday, nothing opened up until noon. I was a bit disappointed because Jenn didn't get a chance to see anything. I'll have to take her next year. Anyway, we ended up walking around Churchill Square to check out the World's Plaza, then decided to go to the Ledge to hang out in the sun. It was such a beautiful day. Very hot, a bit humid, and a light breeze. I wanted to take a nap. While we were sitting in the sun, Jenn and I had a "sisterly" talk. We're quite open with each other, so we talk about anything and everything (which I will not get into). After a while, we went home since I still had to go to the closing ceremonies in the afternoon.

Batteries

Before heading to the stadium, I had to get a battery for my camera because the low battery indicator was flashing and I didn't want my camera to die on me in the middle of the events. I didn't realize getting a battery for this camera would be so difficult. I went to 3 places and none of them had the one I needed in stock (CR2 lithium). My last resort was the gas station. Thank goodness they had them and cheap too!

Sticky Bus Ride

I was originally supposed to go to the closing ceremonies with my brother, but his friend got better seats so he went with him, and Shelley came with me. The shuttle to the stadium was not that great. Because it was so hot, sitting on vinyl seats was not a good thing. My butt started to get sweaty (ick). So I had to somehow sit in a way that would prevent that from happening. Interesting position. Good thing there weren't that many people on the bus because Shelley and I were sprawled out trying to get proper ventilation.

Final Day of Events/Closing Ceremonies

It's the last day of the World's. After today, Edmonton will be back to normal. Don't have to worry about road closures, shuttles, etc.

Shelley and I got to the stadium and 2 events were going on simultaneously: high jump and javelin. I watched a bit of both events, and sat there soaking up more rays. Seeing how we were sitting in the east side, trying to get some sun was not a big problem. We were under the sun the whole time!

The following 3 events were the ones I wanted to see: Men's 4 x 400 relay, Women's 4 x 400 relay, and Men's 4 x 100 relay. U.S. won gold medals for both men's relays, and Jamaica won gold for the women's relay. Had the women's team not dropped the baton, they probably would've won gold too.

Once the relays were over and they had presented the medals, the closing ceremonies came on. It wasn't as elaborate as the opening ceremonies, but it was OK. I figured they would have a French theme and do something which would represent the transition from Edmonton to France, since the next Track & Field Championship will be held in Paris in 2003. The closing began with 2 French artists (Luck Mervil and Julie Zenatty?) singing some song in French. Then there was this multi-cultural dance with each country wearing costumes representing their country. They had some cool formations and with all the people on the field, it's hard to believe that they don't get confused. Next was a country hoe-down with a few fireworks, and finally the parade of nations and athletes, which was being led Junkanoo (the Bahamian group who performed at the Festival of the World's on Friday night. It was only an hour and a half long, and because the sun was still up, they didn't have any fireworks to finish it off. Oh well, overall Edmonton did a good job hosting these events.

...to be continued...

Where did I leave off? Oh yeah. Weddings, marriage, finding that someone, etc. OK, so I was sitting in church listening to the priest talk to the bride and groom about courage and how it was courageous for them to get married. Courageous of Glenn to ask Bonnie to marry him, and courageous of her to accept. And now, as they prepare to go through life's journey together, that in itself is courageous too.

No question, marriage is definitely a big step. And this is when I couldn't help but put myself in their position. I sat there thinking about the inital meeting, the development of the relationship, and then taking the big step. Then my imagination took off and I started thinking about how I would want my wedding to be, like who would be there, where I would have it, dress, color motifs, flowers, etc. [if you know me, my imagination can go wild ;-) ].

The point of this? I would like to meet that someone whom I can spend the rest of my life with (but don't we all). Have a family, go through life's ups and down's, grow old together, etc. I guess I'm envious of Glenn and Bonnie because I would like to eventually have that [or could it also be that I hear this sound in my head. what's that noise? oh, it's just my biological ticking, ticking, ticking. getting louder as I get older...just kidding. hehe :-) ]. All I can do is be patient, and enjoy life as it's presented to me.

Wedding Reception

The reception was held at the Coast Terrace Inn. Talk about going all out. 270 guests were there, the dinner was buffet (very good!), open bar (even better!), and they gave away cd's to everyone (a compilation of slow songs, which they played throughout the evening). When it came time to introduce the bride and groom, they played the theme song for Stone Cold Steve Austin from WWF (yeah, I used to watch it). The emcee was funny and he did a great job. He even pointed out celebrity look alikes at the party (other WWF wrestlers, one of the guys from N'Sync, Quentin Taratino, etc.).

After dinner, they had the speeches. Normally I don't mind this part, but when it starts to drag on, people don't pay attention (and it bugs me when people at the next table start talking, so you can't hear what's being said). A few of them were emotional of course (got me teary-eyed), but what impressed me was the speech given by the father of the bride. He started off by saying "Good evening everyone." Yeah I know, what's so great about that? Well, then he said "Magandang gabe sa inyong lahat." I was impressed and so were the rest of the filipinos (if I haven't mentioned it, Glenn and Bonnie are "agwawg"). You'd think that he'd stop there? No, he said his entire speech in tagalog. He had someone translate it for him, so he'd read a sentence or two in english and then say it in tagalog. The pronunciation was a bit off, but not bad for a white guy!

Then after the speeches came the dance. For the most part, I enjoyed myself. Kinda wished I had a date so I had someone to dance with, but it was OK. Had a dance with my dad, my brother, and my brother's godbrother. I guess I could've danced with some of the guys there, but why is it the girls always have to ask the guys to dance (maybe it's just an Edmonton thing)? Anyway, it was pretty much a good evening.

Quote of the Evening: I can't hear.

My Life as a Soap Opera...the saga continues

I mentioned before that there might be a couple of people at this wedding who would have issues with me. I think I psyched myself out for no reason. OK, a bit of background (note: names have been altered to protect their identity). I'm friends with Diane and Jane. Through them, I met Ana on one of my trips to Vancouver/Seattle and thought she was cool. Ana felt I betrayed her in some way (uh, I don't think so). I later found out why Ana felt that way, and thought if anyone should feel betrayed it should be me because Diane most likely told her something we both agreed we wouldn't tell Ana, so as not to upset her. I have not spoken to Diane since May and was thinking it might be a bit awkward at the wedding.

Anyway, Diane was part of the wedding. When she initally got there she didn't seem to see me. Weird since she could totally notice me from where I was sitting. So I didn't pay attention to her either. Before the ceremony started, she turned around, waved and smiled at me as if to see me for the first time. So I smiled back thinking "yeah, whatever." When the ceremony was over and everyone was outside the church, Diane came up to me and asked how I was doing. My initial reaction was OK, here we go, but we ended up just making small talk. Jane was part of the bridal entourage, so I didn't talk to her much either. Then we all went our separate ways since we had 5 hours to kill before the reception.

When I got to the Coast Terrace Inn, Jane saw me and we talked briefly. She asked about my dress (I changed into a different outfit) and I told her I got it in San Francisco. We couldn't really talk much because she was busy helping out with the wedding. I went to my table and waited for the evening to begin, watching the guests arrive. Although Ana wasn't at the church, I thought she might be at the reception. But she wasn't. Diane came up to me before dinner started (we were sitting at different tables) and we chit-chatted a bit more. She asked about my dress as well, and told her the same thing I told Jane (I wanted to see what her reaction would be, but she didn't do anything). She mentioned she chatted with Ana online that afternoon, talking about the ceremony. I thought for sure, Diane and I would get into it then, but we didn't. I guess I could've brought it up, but I didn't want to think about it anymore. I just wanted to enjoy the evening. And I pretty much did.

If Diane and/or Ana happen to stumble across this (they know who they are), all I have to say is I'm sorry Ana feels betrayed, but I don't think I did anything wrong. If she had an issue with me, she should've confronted my directly, instead of having others do the work for her. As for Diane, I have lost my trust in her and I doubt that I can trust her again. Our friendship has been compromised and will probably never be as it was before.

Early Start to Another Busy Day

I woke up at 7:30 am to drop by my co-workers house and feed his dog. Sue had been house-sitting for him for the past week, but she went on holidays a day early, and all I had to do was feed the dog this morning before my co-worker came back from his vacation this afternoon. Anyway I went back home, took a shower, and went to my hair appointment (for Glenn & Bonnie's wedding).

At the Church

The ceremony was simple and short. I think it only took 40 minutes? And they managed to incorporate some filipino traditions in there as well (i.e. veil, cord, etc.). The couple looked great, as well as the entourage. People were crying, of course (parents, bridesmaids, etc.) and made me a bit teary-eyed (gotta love wedding right?).

As I sat there, I couldn't help but start to think. Think about when I'll meet The One (friend, lover, soulmate), when I'll get married and have kids, etc. But isn't that what weddings are supposed to do? Besides the fact that your celebrating a friend's marriage, you can't help but reflect on your life as well. You begin to think about what the rest of your life will be like with that someone.

(yawn) I'm too tired to continue. I'll have to finish it tomorrow...

[Sitting here waiting for my toenails to dry...]

Festival of the Worlds...Take 2

Went to Festival of the World's again with Irma and Maria. This time, Irma and I were prepared. We dressed for the occasion, wearing jeans and a t-shirt as opposed to our tank top and shorts last time. We also brought chairs, flashlight, and water. With all the gear we had, you'd think we were camping or something. Since it was warm out, we decided to walk through bike trails from Irma's apartment (which only took 20 minutes) instead of taking the shuttle. It was kinda cool walking down the trails because I've never been down there before.

The show started off with a local rock band called Welcome. Kinda fitting I guess for the World's? They were OK. Not quite my type of music, but I didn't mind it.

Next was a group from the Bahamas called Junkanoo, which according to the program we got is the national festival of the Bahamas. They played some cool music and had great dancers. And they got the crowd involved by making them get up and dance. Not that there weren't people dancing to begin with, but they wanted the entire crowd of probably 30,000+ to participate. There's just something about Bahamian music that makes you want to get up and shake your booty ;-) Yup, definitely gotta make a trip to the Bahamas sometime (hmmm...maybe my birthday??? yeah, right!)

The final performance was Colin James, a Canadian pop/rock singer. I've heard of him and sort of knew one song, but again, not my type of music. I wasn't too interested with his performance and was getting bored. Now I can understand how some people (OK, maybe one person) can fall asleep at concerts. ;-)

We watched the laser/light show and fireworks again, but they seemed to be a little different this time. Seeing as we went on the first night of the festival, they probably had a few quirks to iron out. Once it was over, we trekked back to Irma's apartment, walking through the trails with flashlight in hand.

Quote of the day: Are we there yet?

Busy Weekend Ahead

This weekend is going to be absolutely nuts. And it all starts as soon as I leave work, which is in about an hour. Let's see, first I have to go home and do some errands. Oh yeah, gotta do my nails for tomorrow's wedding. Tonight, I'm going to Festival of the World's at Kinsmen Park with Irma (again). Tomorrow morning, I have my hair appointment, then the wedding ceremony at noon, and the reception in the evening. Sunday morning, I might go for breakfast with Jenn at CariWest Festival this weekend, then the final day of events and closing ceremonies of the World's in the afternoon/evening. Will I have time to breathe? Hopefully it'll be a fun weekend.


Speaking of Wedding...

This should be an interesting evening. There will be a couple people there who have issues with me (I'll get into that later). I'm not saying there's going to be a big confrontation (I'm more mature than that), but there might be some tension. Tune in next time on My Life as a Soap Opera ;-) hehe.

Updated Look

I'm sitting here supposedly working on my resume, but I get sidetracked and start playing around with this HTML template thing again. As you can see, I've added some links to blogs I read frequently. My version of the daily newspaper I guess. I don't know about you, but I'd rather read these blogs than read the paper (some of the entries I read are really funny, like Bernadette's random pick up at the gas station). The majority of the stuff that's happening around the world is just too depressing.

Need to Clone Myself

I'm being pulled in so many different directions it's not even funny. (1) The property management department needs help with a monthly report which involves pictures and stuff (pulling it off the digital camera and manipulating it to make a report, etc.). The fact that we just got a new digital camera, I think, intimidates people in this office. Omigosh, new technology!. Since the extent of their computer knowledge is word processing, spreadsheets, and email, guess who gets to help them? And of course there's a deadline of yesterday. (2) Head office needs a summary of all construction contracts and progress reports, etc. which requires me to go through about 30 files and compile all this info. Deadline is ASAP. (3) The leasing assistant is on holidays this week. Guess who gets to type correspondence and legal documents for them? Oooh, oooh, pick me, pick me (OK, so I'm being facetious). And to top it all off, I haven't even touched any of my own stuff. Hmmm...maybe I should clone myself. But do I really want triple the headache? Uh, I don't think so.

Don't you hate it when...

someone asks YOU a question but another person (who happens to be listening in on the conversation when they shouldn't be) answers them? That just irritates me. It's almost as if the other person has to be involved in absolutely everything that goes on in the office.

Healthy Breakfast on the Go

I don't like to skip breakfast and I especially don't like eating on the run. But what do you do when you're running late again (sigh)? So I had a granola bar in the car, then had some strawberries, a banana, and a glass of milk at work while I'm plowing through paper. It's almost too healthy that it makes me sick. At least I didn't skip breakfast.

Random Thought

What do you do when you feel trapped?
Trapped in a situation you don't want to be in.
You try to make a change, but there's one tiny thing that seems to prevent you from doing so. Why?

I got the weirdest feeling today. As I pulled up to work, something told me that I had to get out of my job. And now I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach (no, it's not gas - hehe). I'm so frustrated with my job right now. I don't feel like coming to work, hence the late arrivals, and when I get here I have no motivation to work. I'm always tempted to walk out, but I don't. What's wrong with me? I can't be PMS-ing (went through that already), so I'm not hormonal or anything. Am I on the verge of a nervous breakdown? I try to find something that will lift my spirits, but what? I don't know why I'm writing this. And it probably doesn't make any sense. I guess I just need to let this out before it drives me crazy.

Rush Hour 2

I saw Rush Hour 2 with Irma and Joi at Eaton Centre and it's hilarious! Before they started the movie, a couple of employees walked in with a TV and speakers. I'm thinking "is this our surround system or something? Or are we watching the movie on TV?" It was actually a karaoke machine and they were trying to get someone from the audience to get up and sing for free popcorn and a drink. They should've at least offered free movie passes or something. Well no one got up, so one of the employees sang I've Been Working on the Railroad. The movie was good. There were a couple of scenes where Irma and I laughed harder than anyone else, because of the lines they said:

"Does he have a good-looking friend?"
"Eat the filter fish"

(Inside joke. hehe) You should watch it. I enjoyed it. :-)

That's the Media For You

I was listening to the radio this morning, and they were talking about some British reporter who's here covering the World's and pretty much dissed Edmonton. I didn't really catch everything they were saying, but apparently it was in the newspaper. So when I got home, I read it for myself to see what they were talking about. Well Robert Phillip, a sports writer, told the Daily Telegraph (an English newspaper) that there's not much to do in "Deadmonton." And he's basing all of this on information he got from a cab driver? First of all, a cab driver?? The cab driver is probably an immigrant who doesn't know too much about the city and failed to mention that our hockey team won 5 Stanley cups. Second, Edmonton is a nice city. Sure it's not a big city and we may not have the calibur as New York or L.A., but we're not so bad. As for nothing to do in Edmonton, he couldn't have come at a better time! The past month or so has been jam packed with events and festivals. In the first 2 weeks of August alone, there's so much to see and do besides the World's. There's Historic Edmonton Week, Heritage Festival, Folk Fest, Cariwest, Fringe Festival, and Big Valley Jamboree, just to name a few. If you ask me, it doesn't seem like he wanted to come here in the first place. But isn't his first priority his job? I mean, sure you have to have some fun while you work (to keep some of your sanity), but it seems like he'd rather be here for pleasure, not business. Hey Bob, concentrate on your job first. That's why they sent you out here.


Everyone's A Critic

While I'm on this topic, I've heard that some people didn't enjoy the opening ceremonies last Friday. Why? Because it wasn't as "grand" as they expected it to be. I don't think these people realize that Edmonton is not a big city therefore limited funds. They cannot expect Edmonton to put on a show similar to Sydney during the Olympics, when we have a budget of about $3M and Sydney had a budget of probably $80M. Yeah, like that's comparable? What they also don't realize is the amount of time, energy, and people it takes to plan something like this. From what I understand, they started planning for this 2 years ago, where Sydney probably had 4 years or more. I don't understand why some people just can't appreciate things for what they are. For the show that Edmonton put on, I was impressed. At least be glad that Edmonton is hosting this event. We're the first city in North America to host an IAAF Track & Field Championship. The World's could've been in held in any other major city, like Toronto or Vancouver, but they chose Edmonton.

Oh well, to each his own...

Long Lunch

I took a 2 hour lunch again. But considering I had to drive about 40 minutes both ways, really I only took an hour and 20 minutes. Anyway, I went to Christine's house for lunch. We had originally planned to go to this Italian restaurant, but seeing as she just had a baby about 6 weeks ago, it was hard to schedule around the baby's feeding times. But it was good just to relax and catch up on things. Plus, I wanted to see the baby again (amazing how fast kids grow). Didn't really want to come back to work, but I guess I had to at some point.


Have A Nice Day

Has anyone said that to you lately? And really meant it? Or do people say it so often that you miss it? I mean, sometimes I find that some people just say "have a nice day" for the sake of saying it, so it doesn't sound sincere. The point of this, not many people say that to me (why, I don't know?), so when someone does say it, it's just nice to hear. And it kinda motivates you to have a better day. Before I left to go back to work, Christine told me to "have a nice day," and she was sincere about it. I thought to myself, "hmmm...I will have a nice day," since my morning wasn't so great. So who ever reads this, I hope you have a nice day too :-)

Being Active

I woke up with the intention of going to work. Huh? Now why would I want to go to work on a day like this? It's sunny out, a few fluffy white clouds and a nice breeze. Hey, I have the day off I should enjoy it! So I did. I went for a power walk with Sue and Irma. We probably walked about 20 - 25 km (12 - 15 miles) under the hot sun. After the walk, Sue went home and Irma and I went to Booster Juice to re-fuel. Once we got some energy back, we went roller blading. It's been 3 years since I last went roller blading so I'm still a beginner (and even back then, I only went a couple of times). Irma's a beginner too, so we were pretty much learning together. I think I did OK. Didn't fall or anything, but I had to get used to it again. Irma fell a couple times, but she did OK. I don't think I've been this active in one day before. And if I have, it's been a long time. Too bad I have to go to work tomorrow.

Kickoff Party at Dante's

Irma and I went to Dante's last night for the World's Kickoff Party. Only there was nothing to "kickoff." We had dinner there and thought we'd hang around for a while to see what this party was all about. I figured they'd be giving away prizes and stuff. But it was nothing like that at all. It was pretty much just a scam to get people to come out on a Sunday night (since Monday is a holiday). We stayed there until midnight because we were waiting for Joi to show up. Then we decided to go somewhere else, so we met him at Metro Billiards and chilled. You'd think these places would be full of people, since there's supposedly all these tourists here and Monday's a holiday. Uh, nope. I wonder where everyone was?


Scary Walk...well, not really

Since it was a nice evening, Irma, Joi and I decided to walk around the Legislative grounds. As we walked past the building, Joi mentioned that the place was haunted. And that's where we started freaking each other out. During our walk, we came to this long flight of stairs which was built out of wood, so it would creak from time to time. Now it was quite dark where we were walking, so as we made our ascent, I asked Irma "what would you do if there was someone underneath the stairs and they grabbed your foot?". I guess Irma was thinking the same thing and was hoping no one would say anything. So as soon as I asked her, she totally freaked out and grabbed my arm. I was afraid that she'd pull me down and we'd fall down the stairs, from the way she latched on to me. I was laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. hehe. When we got to the top of the stairs, we couldn't stop laughing and I REALLY needed to go to the bathroom, so I begged them to stop. As we headed back to the car, Joi grabbed Irma from behind and she screamed again. hehe. She was OK after that.

Side note: My friends are weird. Irma's a manic depressive arsonist (she wants to burn down this building because she's bitter of the fact that she had to walk a long way to pick up her paycheck; and she's obsessed with washing her hands?). Then there's Joi who's a suicidal alcoholic loner (his friends dissed him and no one will return his calls; he talks of how everything in his life is over; drowns his sorrow in booze and orders "suicidal" hot wings?). hehehe. [you had to be there to understand ;-) ]

Heritage Festival...Again

Today was a better day to go to Heritage Festival. It was quite hot (24 C - that's 75 F for those not on the metric system), so I was able to work on my tan. You'd think I'd be able to tan easily since I have pigmentation in my skin (you know, being filipina and all). But I have the toughest time tanning. I think my skin repels the sun or something. Anyway, Irma and I took the shuttle to the park. Our first stop was Germany. Irma had bratwurst on a bun with sauerkraut. I went to Borneo to get the chicken satay, but the line was too long. So plan B was to go to Greece to get souvlaki. Again, long line up. I ended up going to Japan and got the yakitori. I have no patience for long line ups. And I don't understand why people would be willing to stand in line for 30 - 45 minutes? I mean, do you really want a certain dish THAT bad? After we ate, we walked around for a bit and had some ice cream. Perfect for the hot weather. We watched part of a soccer game; a bit of this Sepak Tarkaw (?) Championship (a game similar to volleyball, but you can't use your hands); a tae kwon do demonstration; then headed to the Carribean pavillion to get sorrel beer (I really like that drink). After being in the sun for 3 hours or so, we decided to head home. Now we're taking a break to rejuvenate for tonight. Going to Dante's for the World's kickoff party. Oooh, look at the time. Gotta wake up Irma from her nap and get ready.

Hmmm...having trouble with Blogger. Let's try this again...

Festival of the World's at Kinsmen Park (yes, I'm going to talk about something relating to the World's again)

What is it? Free entertainment during the course of the World games. Irma and I headed to Kinsmen Park (again via shuttle). Four performers were scheduled to play, but only 3 showed up. This one group from Nigeria couldn't make it because they couldn't leave Nigeria. Some political thing. Anway, the first performer was PJ Perry and his quartet (jazz music). Pretty chill kinda music. I think it was too chill for some people because they were falling asleep. Everything was going OK until it started to rain (again?). At first Irma and I stayed out in the rain because we thought it would pass quickly. Uh no. Since Irma and I were wearing shorts and tank tops, we got soaked (mental note: next time, wear layers and bring chairs). Good thing I brought a light jacket and an umbrella, but it didn't help that much because it poured. We ran for cover to the Kinsmen Sports Centre until the rain stopped. Once the rain passed, we went back outside. I ran into a couple of people I went to high school with (Edson and Olga, who are now married) and we sat with them for the rest of the show.

The next performer was Chantal Kreviazuk (Canadian singer). I like her music, a bit alternative. The funny thing was there was this cable car running above the park with people in it waving to the crowd watching the concert. So picture 20,000 people waving to this cable car and Chantal Kreviazuk thinks we were all waving at her? She had no clue what was going on. The last performer was Andre-Philippe Gagnon, a french comedian/musical impersonator from Quebec. This guy was hilarious! He would imitate anyone from Barry White and Lou Rawls to Willie Nelson and Tom Jones. Other voices he imitated were Mick Jagger, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, and the list goes on.

The finale was this laser/light show with fireworks which they called the Northern Lights. My neck got sore from looking up because we were standing in the middle of it. I took pictures of it so hopefully they turn out. Overall, it was a great show.

Heritage Festival at Hawrelak Park

Another one of many festivals happening this month. Basically it's a multicultural event involving 50 countries with food, entertainment, food, arts & crafts, etc. Oh, and did I mention food? hehe. Anyway, Sue and I hopped on the shuttle and headed to Heritage Festival. When we got there, we quickly went over the ethnic menu and came up with a game plan on which countries to hit. First stop was Polynesia where I had hawaiian beef teriyaki. Mmmmm. Next stop was Spain for a glass of sangria (too bad it wasn't alcoholic). From there we headed to Serbia for palacinke (crepes with jam filling). [Gary, I was thinking of you when I was eating. hehe ;-) ] Then it was off to Japan. By this time, I was pretty stuffed so I opted to watch the Japanese demonstration while Sue had yakitori (bbq'd chicken and veggies on a stick). Along the way we did a bit of "shopping" at the Guatemalan, Mexican, Salvadorean, and of course the Philippine pavillions. I don't usually get anything to eat at the Philippine pavillion because I don't find it that good (well, nothing compares to mom's cooking right?). Then Sue and I went to the Carribean for sorrel beer (this fruity drink - really good and non-alcoholic too). We met up with Irma, and kept walking around for a bit. The bad thing was it started to rain, so we decided to leave. I was a bit disappointed since rain wasn't in the forecast, and I wanted to work on my tan. Oh well.

What a Day!

I just got home from the Opening Ceremonies for the World's and what an experience! I will definitely remember this. Gosh, where should I begin? I guess from the beginning (duh!). OK, here goes:

Park & Ride

Because of the thousands and thousands of people going to the World's, the City has a shuttle service to take people from certain "pick-up" stations and are then dropped off at the Stadium. Plus certain roads are closed off during the games, and it would be impossible to accommodate everyone if they were given the option to drive. There would be nowhere to park. Anyway, my mom and I got on the first shuttle to the Stadium. As we were waiting in line, there was an old couple from Tennesee who happened to catch the World's in Edmonton. They were on their way back from Alaska, and heard about the World's being held here, so they stayed to check it out. The bus ride took about half an hour, but there was some traffic along the way.

At the Stadium

When we arrived at the Stadium, there were already tons of people there. And the place wasn't even at half capacity yet. We went in, had a quick bite to eat and went to our seats. Even though our seats were on the second level, we had an awesome view of everything. It was amazing to watch all those people (I think they expected about 50,000 to be in attendance) make their way into the Stadium.

While we were waiting, we met 2 ladies (Sue & Linda) from Birmingham, England. They bought the 10-day ticket package (so they're going to be there everyday), and after the World's they're planning to go to Banff, Jasper, etc. I asked them how they liked Edmonton so far (since they only arrived a couple of days ago) and they said everyone was so friendly. Hopefully they enjoy the rest of their stay.

Let's Get the Show on the Road

At about 5:30 pm, they started the pre-show with the arrival of honoured guests (royalty, politicians, former athletes, etc.). At 6:00 pm, the men's marathon began, which officially started the opening ceremony. This is where the fun stuff began. The theme of the ceremony was the marathon and the "five stages" each runner goes through on his journey.

The first number was called Quest which had tribal music and dancing. There were 4 colors, each representing a different tribe: red, yellow, green, and blue. Each color had a "leader" (mental note: leader of the red tribe was HOT!), and tribesmen doing different stunts (i.e. throwing people into the air, some martial arts moves with sticks, etc). And the cool thing about it was that it was interactive. Each "leader" was positioned in front of a section of the audience and whenever they raised their hands, the crowd had to respond with the chant for that tribe. So imagine this, everyone sitting in the blue section had to chant "AH-HEY". Those in the red section (where we were) had to say "WA"; yellow said "OH-HO"; and green said "UNH". Now each section of the crowd had their turn, but then it got faster and faster and it started to sound funny. Come to think of it, it kinda sounded sexual. ;-)

After Quest was the Parade of Athletes. This took a while, since they had to go through 200 countries. But you couldn't really notice the time because this was interactive too. Everyone sitting on the east side of the Stadium (we sat in the west) had cards they had to hold up during the Parade of Athletes. These cards would spell out the region of the world they were introducing. So they had Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceanas (sp?), and South America. Very cool. Then it was followed by the Canadian National anthem sung by the Edmonton 2001 Choir, which comprised of about 1,500 people.

Next was the second number called Land which had aboriginal music and dancing. Some of the dancers had these colored mats that they incorporated into the routine. The third number was Aurora and this was more on the mellow side. It had a lot of blues and purples since it represents the Northern Lights.

I have to mention that during all of this, they would have updates on the marathon to see who was in the lead and where the runners were in the city. Before the fourth number started, the runners were making their way back to the Stadium. Gold, Silver and Bronze went to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Italy respectively. After they were awarded with their medals, they continued on with the Opening Ceremony.

The fourth number was Celestial which was back to the upbeat side again. Everyone was wearing white and this number led to the Running Man Finale. Now this is where a lot of stuff was happening. There were people flipping across the field, some on trampolines, some doing double-dutch, breakdancing, singing, etc. It's a good thing we were sitting on the second level because I was able to get it all on film.

At the end of it all, everyone from all of the numbers got together on the field for one massive routine. And it finished off with fireworks. It's unbelievable how many volunteers there were for this event. I'm kicking myself now because I wish I was in it. Talk about an experience of a lifetime.

Homeward Bound

Imagine 50,000+ people leaving the Stadium. Now picture all of them trying to get on a bus to take them back to the stations they were picked up at earlier. One word: INSANE! I have never seen a sea of people (literally) in my life. The worst part was there weren't enough buses to pick up these people. I would have to say the City didn't organize this very well. What they should've done was have the buses waiting outside before the ceremony ended, so then by the time people left the stadium, they wouldn't have to wait so long for a bus. We probably waited for an hour and a half for a bus. There was just too many people.

Whoa. I guess that was a pretty long entry. Oh well, you just had to be at this event. I hope the Closing Ceremonies are just as good.

Helping Out or Getting in the Way?

Don't you hate it when people try to help out, but they're really getting in the way and they don't realize it? I mean, it's great that they want to help out, but sometimes it's better if they don't get involved. While I was installing the software for this digital camera, another co-worker was at my desk trying to help out. First of all, my cubicle is not that big, so when you get 3 people in here you can get a bit claustrophobic. I had one guy talking to me in one ear about the pictures he took, and I had the other reading the manual and telling me what to do next. I'm thinking "I think I can read and figure this out on my own." When I finally installed the software and got it going, they were all "ooo-ing and aaah-ing." Funny how people can get so excited about new gadgets and toys.

Fun Stuff at Work

We just got a digital camera at work and one of my co-workers tested it out. Seems to work great. And guess who gets to play around with these pictures? Yup, little ol' me. I actually enjoy doing stuff like this (i.e. putting together marketing brochures, etc.), but it takes a bit of time. Hmmm...maybe I should change my job description. Think my boss will go for it??