The longest hour.......

It is 4:00 pm, friday afternoon, and I have one hour left at work. Most people in the office have left for the holidays, and apparently so has everyone on gchat. How am I to get through this long hour?? The answer, it appears, is by writing a boring blog...

Confusion

If one is told by a member of the opposite sex that said opposite sex member had a make-out dream about one, and opposite sex then proceeds to talk about speedos, what conclusions can one reasonably draw about the intentions of the opposite sex?

It's SNOWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I mean real snowing, not wimpy Seattle snowing. Big fat flakes swirling down, sticking on the ground. And it makes me soooooo happy!! As happy as if it were sunny!!!! I LOVE snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A very enjoyable website

from the dude who brought you Dino Comics.

http://www.everytopicintheuniverseexceptchickens.com/

Feeling Single in Seattle

I have been sufficiently chastised for not posting, so here is a new post. No guarantees on its entertainment value though. :) As the holiday season approaches, and the days become shorter, I begin to notice more and more how much I would appreciate having someone of the opposite sex around to cuddle with. Lacking any real options at the moment, I've had to settle for merely staring at this picture http://www.wentworthmiller.ch/img/wentcap.jpg
Not quite the same thing, but still enjoyable.

Friday night blues

Excited to leave work and start the WEEKEND, I arrived home to an empty apartment tonight. My excitement diminished somewhat as I reconciled myself to the fact that I was on my own for a bit, as the roomates were out and not answering their phones. This is hard for me on fridays, because I want to be social! I decided I should be productive whilst waiting for the roomates to return. So far I have balanced my check book, written some bills, checked my empty e-mail inbox numerous times, hair-dryered my soaking wet mattress (I spilled a whole water bottle on it this morning), and eaten an entire bag of skittles. I'm ready for people time! Come home, roomates, and play with me!

You know you're bored at work when

You start typing with only your left hand, just to make the one task you have to do (that normally would take about 2 minutes) last as long as possible, because you have nothing else to do at work for three more hours........
What do you do when you're bored?

Looking for Interpretations

I was just washing my hands in the bathroom, when another woman came in and went into a stall. A couple of seconds later she said, "Save, save, and save again." I was the only other person in the bathroom. What was she talking about........and who was she talking to......?

A Day in the Life

(of Christina, Attorney-sitter extraodinaire) - do not confuse these real life events with something you may have seen in a sit com......
Part 1
Attorney: I looked for Mr. X's deposition folder where it was supposed to be with the rest of the file, and I just can't find it. Do you have it? Can you find it for me?
Me: No, I don't have it. If it's not with the rest of the file, I don't know where it is, but I'll look for it.
Two minutes later: I have located the folder in question - on the shelf with the rest of the file, and in alphabetical order exactly where it is supposed to be.
Part 2
Attorney: (frantically) I have a deposition in an hour and I can't find the witness folder! Where is it????
Me: I haven't seen it in months. I assumed you had it.
After four of us have been searching everywhere we can think of: The attorney finds the folder sitting right in front of her on her desk.

P.S. It was the same attorney both times.

Poem

A couple of friends and I have started a writing group, and have been meeting to share our work and give each other suggestions. I've been experimenting a little with some poetry, and thought I would post a little poem here that I recently finished. If you like, I will keep posting more as I finish them. :)

Puzzle

Broken
Jagged
Pointing to the

core that knows.
Does it show
me, or am I
waiting.

Mending
Growing
Not yet closing.

Will I hold
together,
clasping pieces

lost,
how they cost
dearly found
repaired.

Set-up Part 2

Apparently, yesterday was "Set Christina up day," because in addition to the work episode, a guy at the bus stop tried to set me up with his 41 year old co-worker!!! He even had a picture to show me! What's going on?

Set-up

I feel a bit like chattel right now. Apparently I have been "viewed" and approved of, and I think I might be back in junior high. Here's what happened:
I went to lunch as usual with my friend from work, and didn't think twice about riding the elevator with another co-worker and her son. I returned from lunch to hear the news that the whole thing was a set-up to try to hook me and my co-worker's son up! Everyone knew about it except me! I've been told (by Cathy the receptionist, who heard it from his mom, who I guess heard it from him - see the junior high aspect coming in here? :) ) that he might be interested and wants to know what I thought. What?! That's like the note: "Do you like me? Yes, no, maybe." Been there, done that, don't really want to go back.......Seriously, I might consider it, except that he's 38!! If you need math help, that is FOURTEEN years older than me! I can't believe this just happened! Oh the farce! Please tell you you all are getting as much of a laugh out of this as I am! :)

Note to Future Lawyers

(and current lawyers)
Don't use pictures of barnyard animals in your closing arguments. You look like an idiot.

Scenes from the Bus Stop 2

There's a middle age woman who occasionally rides the same bus as me. I think she is autistic. Whenever I see her on the bus, she always asks the same questions and makes the same comments. However, she doesn't like to be in conversation with anyone for very long, and gets defensive if you ask her too many questions.
This morning was definitely the most interesting, cute, and blog-worthy conversation we've had so far. She began by asking if she could play me something that she had in her backpack. I nodded, curious about what it might be. She pulled out one of those singing Hallmark cards with a song from Sister Act! And proceeded to play it through in its entirety - twice. I made the appropriate, "Oh that's fun!" type comments and smiled, thinking she would soon tire of the conversation. Then she asked if she could show me something else, so I said, sure. She pulled a piece of choir music out of her backpack and told me it was her favorite song. Then she said, "I'm going to sing it for you." And she did. The whole thing. Standing outside at the bus stop, with about twenty other people around. I said, "Thanks for singing for me." She said, "I don't feel like singing anymore, ok?" put the music back in her backpack, and then ignored me.
Ah, the bus stop. Can't beat it.

New Job

According to today's work duties thus far, I have received a promotion and raise so that I can now print things, instead of copying and scanning them. Sweet.

Scenes from the Bus Stop 1

Often at the bus stop in the morning, I am still in the throes of an abnormally long phase of sleep inertia, and so am not very observant. People come and go, and I stare into space, oblivious to their presence. However, every once in a while, something seems out of place enough that I actually notice it.

Today, for example, a woman on the opposite side of the street caught my attention, even across the numerous dump trucks parked in the turn lane and the usual flow of morning traffic. She had her back to the street, and appeared to be doing some sort of exercises. Her arms were straight in front of her, zombie-like, and she kept squatting and then slowly standing up. Let's be honest, it looked weird. I would definitely be too self conscious to do that at the bus stop. After a few squats, she starting alternately lifting each leg straight out in front of her - arms still zombie-like. At this point, I noticed a few other people curiously watching to see what she would do next. Soon, the squatting and leg lifting wasn't enough for her, and she began full out tai chi (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it was). Instead of being stationary in her exercises, she was now moving back and forth down the sidewalk, completely oblivious to everyone else.

The bus stop is a great place to people watch.

Word of the Day

Metrolove (term courtesy of Leonard, definition extensively added to by me)
Occurs when you see someone on the metro (or at the bus stop) from a distance, and become smitten with him/her, proceeding to imagine all possible opportunities for introducing yourself and all possible interactions you could have, but are too chicken to actually do anything about it. Therefore, you live for each morning and evening when you might possibly catch a glimpse of this person, and spend all day in agony over what you will say if you do. When you do see this person, but wimp out on the interaction front, you dwell on your failure for the rest of the day, then proceed to go through the same process the next day. Of course, the day that you prep yourself for some serious interaction is the day that you don't see him/her. And the day that you are exhausted and grumpy is that day that you do.

Suggestions for overcoming these obstacles are welcome.

Ways to Keep Employees Happy:

Dear employers:
Here are some suggestions for keeping employees happy. They may seem common-sensical, but believe me, they do not always occur!
1) Smile at your employees. No one wants to come to work for a grouch.
2) Say thank you. It helps to feel appreciated!
3) Utilize your employees' skills. The employee will get more done, and lo and behold, so will your company!
4) Pay your employees if you want to keep them!! A 30 cent raise, not gonna cut it!
5) Provide free daily massages.
6) Give lots of vacation time.
I promise these things will help!!
7) Also, if we could "work" from home, that would be great.........

Public Restroom Etiquette

I don't know about anyone else, but I appreciate a certain amount of privacy when using the restroom - especially a public restroom. I mean, it's a rather personal part of daily life. If I can, I try to avoid using a stall right next to an already occupied stall, for my own sake as well as out of respect for the unknown bathroom patroness. I believe this should be common restroom etiquette, but I think I may be alone in this opinion..... I entered the restroom at work today slightly ahead of another woman, and she promptly entered the stall adjoining mine, even though there were numerous other empty stalls! Why did she do this?? Obviously, male restrooms pose completely different issues, and I am uninformed to comment on those. But for female restrooms, I think a rule of thumb should be: Allow as much privacy as possible to fellow restroom users, and if possible, do not use adjoining stalls if other options are available.

Stomach Training

As I mentioned to a friend earlier today, I think I've inadvertantly trained my stomach into feeling hungry when I'm bored. I got into the bad habit at work of eating when I'm bored (which is most of the time), and now I feel constantly hungry! It's like Pavlov's dog.....as soon as that bored bell is triggered in my brain, my stomach starts salivating and grumbling. Even as I sit here, though I ate lunch a mere two hours ago and will proceed to eat dinner in another 2-3, my stomach tells me I must have food - preferably junk food loaded with sugar. :) Well, how can one ignore that need? I must give in.......