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May 28, 2008
Work Rant
Ok, I know the workplace (and society) has gotten more impersonal with email, text messaging and IM chatting. But come on, how lazy can you get? Today, I was hard at work on a project, well, several projects really and I hear one guy in my row get on the speaker phone to talk to the guy in the cube kitty corner to him and that guy got on the speaker phone to respond. Not only could you hear their voices normally, but they were doubled by the speaker phones. They went back and forth a few times before I finally said, "Just TALK to each other please, instead of using the stupid speaker phones!" Now, I know they were doing this just to goof off, but come one, all they had to do was literally turn around and face each other. I added, "Some of us actually have work to do! Thanks!" Now, we all chuckled at it, but really!
That brings me to another complaint. Why do people need to use speaker phone in the office at all? You can't hear the other person unless your speaker is turned up full blast? Must you check ALL your messages that way and subject us all to hearing which co-workers called you to ask about all your myriad projects? Or worse yet, having a meeting on speaker phone with your office door wide open and letting the whole office hear what your entire meeting is about. If you need to be hands-free, get an earpiece or just hold it between your shoulder and your ear like we did in the old days.
One last one that's not related and is probably going to sound a little mean, but I don't intend it that way. It's just that when you work in an office that has as many employees as mine does, why is it that people feel the need to announce EVERY SINGLE baby to EVERY SINGLE employee, whether we know the person or not? Don't get me wrong, a baby being born is a wonderful thing. But why not leave it to the happy parents to announce it to their department and friends, rather than inundating the inboxes of people who have no clue who you are? I think I must get several birth announcements a week for people I have never met. Not that I'm not happy for them, but I don't even know them. I don't mind getting announcements for people I know, but I think I'd feel a little odd (and even a bit intrusive) if I had a baby and announced it to people who hadn't the slightest clue who I was. But that's just me.
And with that, I leave you with my quote of the day: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!" --Adam Savage of Mythbusters.
Posted by Amy at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2008
The Universe Sucks
I don't really believe in God as the Christians do, but I do believe there is some higher power in the universe. I can't give it any more description than that because I just don't have one. All I know is that because of that "power," everything happens for a reason. That's my motto in life: "Everything happens for a reason." And usually, I can figure out why, if not at the moment something happens, then sometime later, even much later.
But I'm having a really hard time figuring this one out. I just found out that two of my friends have cancer that they will soon die of. I won't say any more detail about them than that since I know for a fact one of them doesn't want anyone else to know about it. The other, some people know, but I'll let that party be the one to divulge any more info. The only thing else I can say is that one of these people is very close to my heart and it's breaking knowing that they don't have very much time left at all. The other person might have more time, but not much more.
Seems like whenever things happen, they happen in threes. That seems to be the universal number. Don't ask me why, it just is. So it's like I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, trying to figure out if there's going to be a third person to announce that they have a terrible cancer. I'm afraid to say more than that for fear that speculating might make it true.
The thing I really wonder about is why this kind of thing doesn't happen to criminals and really bad people. It happens to really sweet and good people like my friends. Maybe there isn't a reason or maybe we're not meant to see the reason why. Maybe it's all just part of nature. Whatever it is, it sucks.
I'm pretty speechless right now, having found out yesterday that cancer is going to take my very close friend and then today that it will take yet another friend. It's making me really dread tomorrow's arrival.
Addendum: On second thought, maybe this is the other shoe dropping since my friend from Quicken Loans, Jarrett, died in January of colon cancer. I kind of hope that's true so I don't have any more friends dying of cancer.
Posted by Amy at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2008
I Hate George W. Bush
It's official. I fracking hate George W. Bush now more than I ever did. I have NEVER had to pay more for gas than I did tonight. I admit I was pissed off when I had to pay more than $50 to fill up my tank, but $63 dollars is just utterly and absolutely ridiculous!! Gas prices have hit a record number of highs in a record amount of time.
I don't have any idea at this point who I would vote for in the presidential election. I usually vote democratic, but honestly, it could go either way this time. And you know why? Because ANYone, I mean ANYONE is better than Bush!
I saw a story on the news about a guy in some southern state who vowed that when gas prices hit $4, he'd only ride his horse around wherever he needed to go. I honestly wish I had a horse, like Jessica, because that's what I would do. I don't know if the horse could make it the 45 miles I have to commute both ways or how long that would take, but I'd have no problem riding a horse to work.
As I write this, the Bush Countdown Clock says there is 8 months 15 days 10 hours 46 minutes to go until Bush is officially out of office. All I can say is that it can't come too soon.
Posted by Amy at 10:13 PM | Comments (7)
May 02, 2008
Best Female Action Heroes
I was watching my news videos this morning and came across a story about a female army medic who won the Silver Star for her actions and bravery in combat. She shielded two of her fellow soldiers with her own body from mortar fire and saved their lives, even though she wasn't even supposed to be in combat, per the law that still says women aren't allowed. But her commander took her because she was the only medic available at the time. I thought it was a great story because she's only the second woman since WWII to receive the Silver Star and couldn't help but think she's someone young girls today can admire.
So...of course it got me to thinking what women I've looked up to in my life.
Obviously, my mother is a great hero of mine for her own bravery and determination through all her medical ordeals and ill-health. (Wow, I've gotta tell her that in her Mother's Day Card.) She's also been a great mom for always being there and teaching me to do right and work hard. Not to mention she's a bad-ass cook!! :)
But other than my super-wonderful, beautiful and awesome mom, who else have I looked up to? Well, mostly characters in film & TV, since I've always been a sort of TV junkie. Here's my list:
Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, played by Lynda Carter - My first and most memorable hero of all time. Beautiful, intelligent, kind, and her transformation from Diana Prince to Wonder Woman was SO COOL! Pkkeeewwww!!! (That was supposed to be a sound effect, in case you didn't get that.) Too bad I never saved that WW bathing suit I had as a little girl.
Xena: Warrior Princess played by Lucy Lawless - The Wonder Woman of the late 1990s. No cool transformation, but she had a sword, a chakrum (circular steel blade-edged throwing weapon), a cool leather outfit and kicked all ass.
Detective Olivia Benson from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, played by Mariska Hargitay. Smart & passionate cop with a strong sense of justice and compassion for the victims for whom she fights. Of all the characters in this list, she's one you can really relate to because she's the only one not based out of fiction or science fiction. Detective Benson has a strong humanity about her and she's more of a real-life hero (who sometimes kicks some ass). I look up to her because she's the possibility. She's vulnerable, yet brave in spite of her vulnerabilities.
Michelle Yeoh & Zhang Ziyi - They're both Asian, both incredibly graceful and most especially talented. They both kick ass in their movies and could probably kick some serious ass in real life too. Need I say more?
Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series (books & films) - I admire her for her intelligence and talent--not necessarily for being a witch even though it'd be cool to be one like her, but I admire her character for being very talented at something she loves and loves to learn about.
Piper Halliwell played by Holly Marie Combs - She's a very grounded individual and she has really cool magical powers! (The power to freeze and blow stuff up.)
Ellen Ripley from Aliens, played by Sigourney Weaver and Sarah Connor from Terminator, played by Linda Hamilton - Those two are just bad ass!
Starbuck played by Katee Sackhoff - purely for her ass-kicking ability. She doesn't always make the right decisions, but at least she's treated equally by her fellow officers. That she's a woman has very little to do with the way she's treated.
Lucy Liu for her role in Charlie's Angels and even her character in Shanghai Noon - Again...Asian, beautiful, and kicks ass. In fact, it was kinda cool that my boss from JWT actually nicknamed me LuLu, because he said I look a lot like her. Yay!
Posted by Amy at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)
May 01, 2008
That Cafe is Really Lightly Brit!
"WHAT?" you say? What does that mean? Well, I'll tell you. When I was in college, I was walking down the street when I noticed a new coffee house that had just opened. They had installed some very bright halogen lights (very similar, in fact, to the ones we have at JMAC). I tried to remark about that fact, but got a little tongue tied and ended up saying, "Wow, that cafe is really lightly brit." My friend looked at me quizzically when I finally realized what I'd said. It took at least 10 minutes for us to stop laughing our asses off while speaking with very bad British accents. Which brings me to my story.
When I was a teenager, I was introduced to the world of British television and humor. Let me say it was love at first sight. I watched everything I could from Doctor Who to Monty Python, from All Creatures Great and Small to Benny Hill. (And now, of course Harry Potter.) I wanted to BE British. Goofy as that sounds, it's true, but I was a kid at the time and I'm sure every one of you had a goofy dream too, like wanting to be a rock star or some such thing. It was just because it seemed so cool and they had such great humor.
In a way, I kind of got my wish when my mom took me to London when I was about 14 or so. I begged her to take me to Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum so I could get my picture with Tom Baker's figure dressed as Doctor Who (I know I have that picture somewhere). Unfortunately, we were only there for a few days before moving on to France to visit a friend of hers and all we did was ride the double decker buses taking the same siteseeing tour of London about 3 times. And unfortunately, I was only 14, so I wasn't allowed to venture off on my own, especially in such a big city.
I remember that everything costed about twice as much as in the States, the cuisine wasn't that great although the croissants for breakfast were outstanding, and that the people of London were VERY friendly. I still remember having to ask directions to some place we wanted to go and, being so excited I got brave and asked a man passing by how to get there. Turned out he had an amazingly thick accent, Corkney, I think and Mom had absolutely NO clue what he said. I remember being so proud that I could understand every word without having to ask him to repeat anything and we got to where we were going just fine. When Mom asked me how I understood him, I just replied, "It's all the British shows I've been watching."
I think it'd be fun to go back and visit as an adult, rather than a goofy teenager in braces...see the sites, go pub hopping, and stuff. Though I doubt Don would have any interest unless I told him they were filming another zombie movie called "28 Months Later" (see 28 Days Later & 28 Weeks Later) and that we could be in it if we just went to London. Hm, I wonder if I could maybe sneak onto the movie set as an extra for "Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince" (sneak peek here)?
Posted by Amy at 01:00 PM | Comments (1)