Archive for May, 2007
4 days left
I had my obligatory near panic attack today. I was realizing that my vacations are going to coincide with a couple of tests (Mom, try not to freak out. I don’t think I can take it twice.) Well, that, and I printed the 500 PowerPoint slides for ONE of my classes. Just one. The rationalizing has been at a maximum today.
I’m going to say it again, because I am seriously in need of some loving affirmations. I have been planning these two vacations since before I even applied to school. That’s what they get for taking so damn long in their admissions process! I am a diligent student and if my grade suffers because of my vacations, it’s my own damn fault, but I’ll live, and, gasp, probably even still be able to go to gradaute school someday.
You can tell when I’m nervous because I use commas excessively. Sorry about that.
2 comments May 31, 2007
My favorite time
For those of you who read this and know the name of the company where I work, please don’t post it in the comments. It will be deleted.
The best part of any job is quitting. I’m an expert at quitting jobs, so I speak with some authority on this subject. In 2005, I had five jobs. I challenged myself to six in 2006 but alas, to no avail. I did manage to have four separate employers for one position (temp, temp-to-hire, acquisition and outsourcing companies #1 and #2) but it was definitely not as thrilling that way…although it did make for some fun at tax time.
I have generally hated my job for quite some time, and it’s become especially trying since I got into nursing school in November and could actually start picturing myself elsewhere. Before that, things had been going downhill for me since we got acquired by a large company in March of 2006. That’s not to say that I don’t have it pretty good, to be honest. In terms of cushiness, few things can top a desk job with the company who pays my contractor. For example, free lunch every day? Yes, I try not to complain too much…but I still do ‘cuz I still hate it, even with the freebies. Anyway. That can all end now.
Because tomorrow is my last day! It’s the longest job I’ve held since college, and I can finally kiss it all goodbye. Or give it the middle finger.
But anyways, what I’m saying is, quitting a job is the absolute best part. Everyone, including those you hate or who hate you, manages to scrape together a few nice things to say. Sometimes it’s even genuine like”this place won’t be the same without you” type of comments. It’s a happy time, because if you’re not getting laid off, doesn’t it generally mean you’re moving on to something that suits you better? It’s a nostalgic time. In my case, my boss reminded me about the first I met him…I walked behind him to, ahem, pass air, and then warned him of the smell. He swears he’s forever grateful.
I’m finally having lots of fun at my job, but I’m having no second thoughts about leaving the place. In the end, Corporate America has just not worked out for me. It’s not my thing, but I don’t mean to diminish it’s importance to others, or it’s place in capitalism. Health care probably won’t be a whole lot better in many ways, but my position will be night and day different from what I’m doing now. I’ll be up and walking around. I’ll be immersed in a fascinating science. I’m even hoping for a little less job ambiguity. We’ll see. But I have high hopes.
Whee!!!
4 comments May 31, 2007
Worth a try
I’m usually not all hippie-dippie but I do love me a freebie. A random gal on an airplane last week, whom I found out I actually have a lot of things in common with, recommended I go to centerpointe.com and try their free demo CD for meditation. I’m never one to turn my nose up to something that is 100%, unequivocally free, so I ordered it, and finally listened this evening.
I’ve been feeling a lot of tension lately, and tonight, especially, since there’s a lot of major changes that are about to take place in my life. Therefore, I’ve been on the prowl for something to relax me, now, and in the future. This is a challenge even when I’m not overly stressed. I generally need nothing short of a drug-induced coma to slow me down. (Another reason why nursing is going to be a better choice for me than a desk job.) I’ve talked to friends about meditation and their experiences, and always, my reaction is “there is no way on god’s green earth that I could sit still like that.”
So I tried this random demo CD. Not sure what my expectations were. The website boasts all these amazing reviews, but then again, so does every other product website. And like I said, I’m not a freaked-out hippie, and generally prefer science to dislocating my hips to achieve inner peace.
But this CD was suprisingly cool. The first few minutes are some soothing rain sounds and this guy talking about how great the program is. Was it subliminal messaging? Maybe. Then they leave you with just the soothing sounds for the last couple of minutes. It’s 27 minutes long. I am pretty sure I didn’t move for about 20 of those minutes, which is fairly impressive. Even now, I feel a little bit slowed down, and a little bit like the post-massage feeling I get. Kind of floaty and tingly.
I am almost embarrassed to admit these feelings because I don’t fully believe a program like this could actually work on someone like me. Plus, it’s really expensive (about $180,) so I don’t want to get too attached. But I have to say, it was really nice to have a quiet moment. I swear I could feel these little “zings” going through my muscles, causing me to relax.
But mostly, I think I’m imagining it all. I’ll listen to the demo CD a few more times, maybe, and then I might try to find a cheaper, or ideally free, alternative. Who knows where this will take me. But if you have a sec, definitely try the freebie.
2 comments May 29, 2007
I must be nervous.
I’ve cleaned the cat litter box.
Organized all my sewing supplies, including catergorizing the scraps into three seperate categories of usability.
Cleaned out my desk at work and organized all the stuff at home.
Shredded a huge pile of mail.
And I’m still going.
Orientation for nursing school is tomorrow morning. I start classes next Monday. I’m definitely feelin’ the tension.
BUT DAMN, IT FEELS GOOD!
1 comment May 29, 2007
I’m bringing sexy back.
Go ahead, ask me where I bought that dress.
I made it myself, bitches! (With the help of friend, of course…) Unfortunately, this is the only evidence I had, and you can’t see the beautiful skirt. I will have to have Josh take a full shot of me. But for now, you can feast your eyes on this:
3 comments May 29, 2007
On a jet plane
This morning I left my house at 4:30 in the morning, off to the east coast for a wedding and hopefully a brief reunion with some good friends from college. (Remember: I was originally a theatre major, so a lot of my close friends are now living the happy life of an urban sardine.) One thing I noticed at that time of day (which, until today, didn’t really exist in my opinon) was the woman on the bus wearing the TSA uniform. It was odd and maybe even amusing how people avoided her. Almost like she was wearing a swastika… And I have to admit, those aren’t the kind of work clothes I’d be showing off, because honestly, who loves their local TSA agent?
Speaking of, have you ever noticed how there’s always that one security guard who has clearly made it their personal mission to search every child and blue haired granny that passes through the gates? I was in that line. This woman was clearly very interested in every single possession contained by every person’s luggage. So much so that the other guards were actually saying things like “Nancy, why isn’t your belt moving?” (referring to the conveyor belt) or “Move it along!” Now, how often do you see other TSA Agents rushing each other? Only when you have the Slow Boat to China on bag control, that’s when. Not to mention it’s a holiday weekend, so by 5:30am there were already 23,000 cranky people in line, along with the girl behind me who was about to miss her flight. The reason I know this? She was standing close enough to me that I could feel her breathing. I wanted to tell her there was nothing I could do to make the line go faster, except maybe slip some kind of upper to Captain Slow Boat, but instead I stared blithly ahead and pretended not to notice that she was close enough that I could have easily examined the hairs in her nostril. Doncha just love airports?
4 comments May 25, 2007
I’m abolishing a word.
I’m voting to get rid of the world “Always.” Who’s with me?
I had this thought after reading a comment on my recent post about prong collars. The comment belongs to Richard Brown and reads as follows:
” I’ll be honest – if you need to resort to this method you’ll never have control of your dog – controling any size dog has nothing to do with physical stature and everything to do with training.
You would have been better off spending the money on a few classes – this option will only cause you issues in the long run.”
First of all, thanks to Richard for posting a really thought-provoking comment. I’ve been chewing in this statement since I read it in the Las Vegas airport last night around 7pm.
I guess my biggest beef with this statement is that I really feel like it’s an over generalization. Which leads me to the point of this post…
I’m abolishing the word “always.” And maybe the word “never,” too.
I have been trying to think of a situation that qualifies as an all or an always, and I can’t so I’m reaching out for some help here. One of my qualifiers might have been that All people have a beating heart. But when you think about it, this is not necessarily true. There are surgical procedures that actually stop the heart for a period of time. They’re still techincally alive. They’re still people. So number one can’t be true. Then I thought, well, all people have a mother and a father. Also not true in a lot of instances. Maybe the only thing that’s an always is that all people are created by a sperm and an egg. Can anyone think of a way out of this one? I can’t. So I guess there is one good use of the term “always.”
Regardless, I still think I’m abolishing this word. And by the way, I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to over-generalizing, especially for dramatic effect.
3 comments May 21, 2007
Home and Recovering…
From Las Vegas, that is. Suffice it to say, it was a successful weekend and bachelorette party. My lips are mostly sealed but we did stop at Olympic Gardens, Moon, The Playboy Club, Spearmint Rhino, and Bill’s, before returning home at 4 in the morning. The last time I was in Vegas (and also the first time) I spent the weekend sampling a bit of everything. This time, I found my niche. After losing a full $.25 on the penny poker slots, I spent the rest of the weekend standing on the sidelines, people watching and talking to strangers. Loved it! We had a great time. A few very select pictures are below. 
1. Faith and me having fun in Faith’s porn star glasses
2. Inside the Hummer Limo (I MUST have been drinking to get in one of those! Ha.)
3. Jack, our extremely awesome, wonderful body guard who held our hands to walk us to the bathroom when the male strippers were coming at us like spiders.
4. The ladies (minus Mara…wah!)
4 comments May 21, 2007
Estudiando espanol.
I’m learning Spanish.
I have been thinking for a long time that it would be nice if I was at least basically conversational, since, as a nurse, I will probably be dealing with a lot of folks who speak only Spanish. I took 2 years of Spanish during high school, and another year in college. That certainly doesn’t make me conversational, and I was never that into it when I took the classes, but there are a surprising amount of verbs that I actually do remember. I shock myself, really. The problem is, I have forgotten a lot of the rules of conjugation.
Enter Carmello, the super nice, Spanish-speaking guy who works for our landlord at work. I see him every morning, and he gives me a new phrase or word to work on. It actually started as a joke; I asked him how to say “work sucks” and it went from there. (By the way, it’s trabajo sucio.) It’s actually gotten to the point where I am pre-thinking the sentence I am going to say before I see him. As I was driving home from Hays last weekend, I figured out an entire paragraph about my trip, beginning with something about “una viaje de Hays durante la semana con mis parientes para dia de la madre.” A few minutes ago, we talked about the weather in Las Vegas (where I’m going this weekend) and he helped me work through “Fue cien grados en Las Vegas durante de la semana.” (It is going to be 100 degrees in Las Vegas this weekend.) I am obviously not so good at writing these phrases because I’ve been focusing on speaking (and reading, a little tiny bit.) Oh, I should also point out that another friend of mine is married to a guy doing medical translation and they were kind enough to send me a book on cultural differences as they apply in health care, as well as a bunch of worksheets on anatomical terms in Spanish.
I’m having a lot of fun playing around with these phrases. It’s great because I’m not getting graded on it so there’s absolutely no pressure, I’m learning from the best (the people who speak it as their first language!,) it benefits me professionally, and I meet some really nice people along the way.
Me gusto estudiando espanol!
5 comments May 17, 2007
I know it’s bad karma but…
The world is better off without this guy.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3176379
Sianara, Jerry. I hope heaven is everything you expected and more.
2 comments May 15, 2007
