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October 28, 2005
WAH v2.0
Got to work from home again today. It was great getting a bit of extra sleep. That's always the best part of working at home! I luuuuuv to sleep!
Except when I tried to start working this morning, I couldn't connect remotely to my computer at work. YIKES!! The IT team had set up my laptop and I got the impression that I could connect to my computer and I could do everything I do on my work computer, exactly as if I was there, except that I'm at home.
Well, something wasn't working and I had Don AND the IT person helping me to figure out what was wrong. And I started panicking because it got to be almost 10:30 only to find out that I didn't get the right permissions. Ugh...all that time, we thought it was a connection problem and it turned out to be a permissions thing.
So finally, the IT guy put in a request for me to be able to access my desktop and in the meantime, I had to connect to the terminal server. Basically, that means I could access the Quicken network like a guest. But I wouldn't have access to everything I do on my work computer.Once I get the right permissions, it SHOULD be much easier.
Fortunately, today, I got what I needed to done. *SIGH* So frustrating!
Posted by Amy at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2005
Horseback Riding
This weekend was a lot of fun. Saturday, I skipped karate because I wanted to go horseback riding with Jessica and the Four Gillmans. I had to skip class because I would have been too tired going to advanced class, then regular class, then horseback riding. It was a ride to celebrate Jessica's and Mary's birthday. We would have celebrated Danielle's birthday too, but she couldn't make it. Her brothers were in town. Too bad.
We met at Jessica's house and took off from there. I almost couldn't find the street she lives on because the directions I had from Google told me to turn on Washington, but there's NO Washington! WTF? That's ok, I called the house and Brian directed me there. Brian drove us to the stables (and he was FLYING!). I thought I was a fast driver (no longer).
I got a horse named Cinnamon who, I was told, didn't need a "heavy hand" to control her since she was so responsive. But as I rode her, I realized she definitely had a mind of her own! She didn't want to do anything I wanted to because she just wanted to take off. I kept trying to keep some spacing between her and Brian's horse "Tank"--I was afraid Tank might get uncomfortable with her being so close to his rear, but he didn't seem to care about much at all.
In fact, Brian had a hard time getting him to keep up with the others. And I got a lovely musical treat being right behind them. I think they fed Tank a huge pot of beans or something because all I got were farts in my face. Especially because Cinnamon kept walking RIGHT up against his rear. Yummy! NOT! And BOY, if you could have seen what I saw when we left the gate...they don't call him Tank for nothing! Let's just say that he was hung! HA!!
The whole ride, Cinnamon kept dropping her head to try and take the reins out of my hands so she could take off. I would have let her just go, but we were told not to pass, that we had to stay single file. And the trail was only narrow enough for one horse about 85% of the time anyway. She really seemed to want to be the lead horse and I had a hard time slowing her down to get some distance between me and Brian.
But at least, there were no cows to stampede and spook our horses this time. It was a tame ride. I think next time, Jess and I will go and take the more advanced ride where they probably do some trotting and/or running. FUN!!
Anyway, afterwards, we went to another stable where Jessica is keeping her new horse, Kai (above). (Click here to read more about him on Jessica's blog.) He's a gorgeous 14-year-old Arabian. We got to meet him and a couple other horses kept by the stable-owners. Then we went to Red Robin for dinner. Too bad Don didn't want to join us. As he put it, "A body at rest tends to stay at rest." Guess he was too tired after working out at the dojo all day. Don't blame him. But it was fun--I learned a couple new signs from Mary and split a yummy chocolate malt with Amanda.
After that, I went back to Jessica's house to spend some time with her and Brian, Derek and a couple of their friends. Mostly I was helping Jessica watch Derek while she prepared some snacks for her friends. It was so cute--Derek and I were having such a good time that when I had to leave, he got all upset and didn't want me to go. :-( What a sweetheart he is!! I can't wait for Thanksgiving to see all of them again!!
Posted by Amy at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
October 21, 2005
I'm In
*sigh* My belly is full of yummy Thai food. Four of us went to a restaurant in Novi called Ny's Thai Cafe. It's small--only 8 tables, but it met well with my high standards. I always judge a Thai restaurant by how it compares to Mom's cooking and this was definitely close! I think Ny is from the southern provinces of Thailand like Mom.
I went with 3 of the engineers, Dan, Gavin and Gillian. I always see the engineering team having lunch or going out to lunch together. I think they call it "lunch club". I've been envious of that and wishing I could join them, but I would never be presumptuous enough to invite myself along, especially since I'm not an engineer. But Gill knew I like Thai food and she had told me the next time they ordered or went to Ny's, I could come along.
Yesterday, we ordered out from Ny's and today, we went there. It was YUMMY!! And Gavin, provided much entertainment! He's a very funny Chinese guy--I always say to Gill that someone should make a reality show about him: GTV. All Gavin, all the time!
We ordered laarb nua (spicy ground beef with onions and lemon), chicken curry, beef curry and papaya salad. MMMMMM! We HAVE to go again next week!!
Posted by Amy at 04:29 PM | Comments (2)
October 18, 2005
Yaaaawn...
Ah, nothing like a late-night neighborhood disturbance to liven things up! I was sound asleep when I woke up to a strange tapping noise. I thought maybe Don was inadvertently tapping on something in his sleep. Then I thought it was the cat pawing at something. Then I realize it's none of the cats, but that it's coming from outside. I look around, can't find anything. Look out the back window...nothing. Look out the front window and I can hear it clearly now. Someone was banging on the neighbor's front door. LOUDLY. And mind you, I heard this over the fan that was running in our room!
I'm not sure if this person was drunk and trying to get into the wrong house (I've seen that a couple times before) or if they were just locked out or what. But they would NOT STOP BANGING! It probably went on for almost a half-hour. I finally decided to call the police and report it. But it took me 10 minutes to get through to someone. (I avoided calling 911 since no one was getting shot or having a heart attack--though if they really were trying to break into the house, maybe I should have.) They said they'd send a car to check it out. I didn't wait to see, just tried to go back to sleep. But Don was snoring again, so I had to go upstairs. It was cold in that room and I don't think I slept all that well. I've got a muscle spasm in my back and now I'm... YAWWWNN... ssssoooo ssssleeeeeepy!
Posted by Amy at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)
October 17, 2005
Cold!
Today was the first day in a long while that I looked outside and saw frost on the ground. As I drove to work, there was a thick fog over M-14 just outside downtown. And as I got out of my car, I could see my breath. Good thing I thought to wear a nice sweater and my leather jacket. At least it was nice and sunny.
Speaking of sunny, it's been pretty out ever since I worked at home on Friday. Yesterday, there was a cool breeze, but it was still warm enough that Don and I went outside and played catch with a little squishy toy football we bought at Meijer's. That was fun! It was a really relaxing weekend and the fact that I got to be at home Friday seemed to be just what I needed. Even though I was still working, I feel recharged. But now I must face up to the change in the weather. Brrrr!
Posted by Amy at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
WAH!!
Yayyy! Today I get to work at home (WAH is our office acronym for this). It's been a really hectic week with people throwing big and little assignments at me...seems like every 5 minutes. ACK! I've been running around this whole week like a chicken with my head cut off. Don't get me wrong...it's GOOD to be busy. Makes me know my job is secure! But it's also been hard to get things done for this one big project I'm working on--the new Quicken Loans career website. I've been so busy that I haven't been able to touch it at all this week. Melissa, the person who's basically running this project, got married last week and is away on her honeymoon. I hope she's having a lot of fun, but I also can't wait till she gets back!
Anyway, I asked to work at home today so that I could focus solely on this project. It felt good to get a bit more sleep this morning since I didn't have to take a shower, put on makeup and get dressed (usually takes me 45 minutes), then spend another half-hour driving to work. Got up today about 8:45, 15 minutes before I'd normally arrive at work. Took about 15 minutes to wash my face, brush my teeth and throw on some clothes and BAM! I got right to work. It's noon now, but I had a snack earlier since I got hungry too early for lunchtime. So I'll hold off on eating lunch for a bit.
I'm actually getting quite a bit done. It's nice to be this productive for one day on one particular project without getting sidetracked with other assignments! I'd like to do this more often, I just have to get my laptop set up with VPN--that will allow me to be able to access all the programs on my computer at work which I can't do right now. Once that happens, I think it'll be even easier to WAH. Ok, time to get back to work...I mean, home...I mean, well, you know what I mean! ;-P
Ooo! It's a warm and beautiful day...perhaps I'll sit out on the deck with my laptop for a while!
Posted by Amy at 12:10 PM | Comments (3)
October 12, 2005
More Kung Fu Dorks!!
As I type this, I'm watching this local cable show featuring some "martial arts" students at some dojo here in town. It's just SO bad that it's rolling-on-the-floor hysterical!!
The lady teaching is running the class like a piano teacher teaching aerobics! "And step (clap) and punch (clap) and kick (clap)! And step (clap) and punch (clap) and kick (clap)!" Not to mention these students are doing EVERYTHING we tell our students NOT to do--don't punch while you step; step first, then punch. Don't lean forward. Keep your hips and shoulders square. Don't flare your elbow while punching. OH IT'S SO AWFUL!! I mean, we don't make this stuff up...we tell our students these things because it WORKS! These kids look like they're learning square dancing or something! Our white belts could kick these guys' asses!
I just can't believe what I'm watching! "And one (clap) and two (clap) and three (clap). And one (clap) and two (clap) and three (clap)." Oh my GAWWWD! The "teacher" tried to show them how to wrestle a knife away from an attacker. Hel-LO!! They don't even know how to PUNCH properly! How the hell are they supposed to take a knife away?
Ohmygod! I'm looking at their website and watching a video of their so-called "forms". There's a bunch of kids doing their forms, led by a "teacher". Now, you'd think to film something your students were doing, you'd want them to memorize it so everyone looks good, right? These guys can't even remember it unless they look at the teacher. And even still, they look like total assholes!
Back to the TV, they're listening to rock music while trying to kick heavy bags. BWAAA HA HA HA HA HAAA! It's RICK SPRINGFIELD singing "Jesse's Girl"!! Too funny! This is supposed to be Tae Kwon Do.
Now they're interviewing the master and the dumb-ass interviewer says, "Now, it wouldn't be good to hurt your sparring partner, would it? Cause if you hurt your sparring partner, you'd run out of partners, wouldn't you?" Well, DUUUUUUUHHHH!!! Ugh! He hasn't even done any homework so he's asking stupid questions half-distracted because he's trying to control the camera at the same time! And he has to read the questions! He can't even talk to the guy, he's so bad in front of the camera. Seems like he cares more about zooming in and out than listening to the master. And after the master finishes an answer, the interviewer waits about 5 seconds without saying anything and says, "Ok, very good." then reads the next stupid question. What a dipshit--he can't even turn off the camera right! hahahaha! He asked the audience to call the station if they want the show to be replayed. At first, I said, "Oh please don't!" But I was getting such a good laugh out of it, who knows? I might actually call! Community access...HA!!
Posted by Amy at 12:00 AM | Comments (7)
October 10, 2005
Movie Night
Don and I had our first movie night with our newly upgraded entertainment system. We invited just 2 couples over which was nice because it was comfortably intimate--we plan on inviting others for more movie nights in the future. Don actually skipped his usual Saturday routine at the dojo, teaching only the noon class. Then came home with me to help clean up the house. That took a few hours since the house is so much bigger than our old one and there were a couple of tasks that I hadn't been able to tend to in a while, like mopping the floors.
We prepared a lovely taco night for everyone...what would be more appropriate for us than tacos?! Don did all the prep work while I continued to clean and we used our new crockpot to keep the meat warm. Mmmmm! They were yummy tacos! We thought we had made WAY too much food, but turns out, with the boys eating, it wasn't as much as we thought. But we still had enough to have our usual Sunday taco lunch as well as for dinner. Always better to have too much than not enough!
Then after a very pleasant dinner conversation, we went downstairs and watched Sahara. It looked and sounded great on the new system! Very sharp! Our guests were suitably impressed! :) We might have watched another movie, however, I could tell people were starting to get very sleepy when the movie ended around 11pm, including me. I was happy to crash, seeing as we'd worked hard all day. Sleeeeeeeep! Aaaaahhh!
Posted by Amy at 03:00 PM | Comments (2)
October 05, 2005
Dinner with Danielle
Last night was fun...I had to go to the dentist in Rochester for a regular check up (I drive all the way out there cause this dentist has literally known me since before I even had teeth and I really like them). Anyway, their office happens to be just across the street from where Danielle works at Crittenton Hospital (where my dad used to work). My appointment wasn't until 6pm and I got out at nearly 7pm, not realizing she'd still be there at work. When I got there, I took a quick photo of the hospital and sent her a picture message saying, "Guess where I am??" She messaged me back telling me she was still at work, so when I got out of my appointment, I phoned her up and said, "LET'S HAVE DINNER!"
We went to a nice Chinese restaurant in a cute little walking mall in Rochester, forgot the name...something Garden. I've always found that when a Chinese restaurant uses the word "garden" in the name, it's usually pretty good. Right again! So we ate yummy Chinese food, talked and told funny stories and caught up with each other, even though it was only a couple weeks ago since we saw each other. And we were good wives and bought our hubbies yummy Chinese food which we knew they love. Afterwards, even though I'm familiar with Rochester, I don't know my way around there confidently, so Danielle helped me get back to the highway (I took a different way getting there). Thanks for your help, D!!!
Posted by Amy at 02:45 PM | Comments (3)
October 03, 2005
In Denial
Much as I want to deny it, summer is coming to an end. It's creeping up on me starting with the temperatures getting much cooler. In the daytime, it's still warm, though not as warm as summer had been. At night is when I notice it most. Saturday, we were at a party at a friend's in his backyard and we were all freezing our butts off, even though most of us had jackets on. It must have only been about 45 degrees. I was forced to leave the conversation to warm myself by the fire. We left soon after because most of our friends were going home anyway, but also because we didn't feel like sticking around in the cold any longer. And today, I realized it's already October! Maybe I'll have my lunch outside somewhere to enjoy the last remnants of the summer sun before Fall gets here in all its glorious colors.
Posted by Amy at 09:45 AM | Comments (0)