WhatsUp31

Friday May 7, 2004 -- 8:00pm
Hark. The Tulip Festival cometh. I have secured a parking spot, and all is well.

Wednesday May 5, 2004 -- 6:20pm
It's my mamma's birthday! Yay for Mamma!

It's also now approaching the 2nd anniversary of this here web site. Cool. I am considering a major change, since I hardly ever update most aspects of it. I'm not sure what that change would be, but I think it's definitely time for me to shake things up.

I am at the office. There's a thing starting at 7:30 that I have to be here for. As a result I am missing Jen's final swap party. This is incredibly unfortunate, since I love Jen's swap parties. I get to unload all the stuff I don't want anymore, and I get to acquire new (to me) stuff that someone else didn't want anymore. Plus, I haven't seen Jen in a long time, and she's moving far, far away.

I seem to be in my Hate My Job phase this week. I don't hate it, really. I just don't think I'm altogether good at doing it. You could say I'm a bit discouraged. I really just want to be a farmer. At least with plants you water them, remove the weeds, make sure they don't have bugs on them, and then you get some nice vegetables to eat. You do the same for kids and they still flunk everything. And they get mad at you for getting their clothes all wet.

Furthermore, I had to spend a large chunk of money on my car this week. And that's just filling the gas tank! No, actually it needed some expensive maintenance. It was a bit of a shock to my system, since I brought it in thinking it only needed an alignment.

Steve is going to kill me if I don't put the Maine pictures up here soon. Unfortunately, I managed to delete all of them for a second time. Hopefully he still has them. If not, you'll just have to trust me when I say they were very cool.

Tuesday April 27, 2004
-- 9:20pm
So about 2 weeks ago my quarterly reports were due. I had turned them over to the executive director to be signed a few days earlier, so I went to her to try to locate them. She informed me that she had given them to the administrative assistant to copy and mail and was surprised that I hadn't received my copies.

So, I went to the administrative assistant to ask her if they'd been mailed. (Normally I do this myself, control freak that am.) She was a little cloudy on the whole issue, but my boss had copies, the originals were in the files, and I decided to have faith.

The due date came and went, then I received a call from County Agency A. "Where are our quarterlies?" asks County Agency A. Rats.

No worries. I run out front and tell the A.A. that the reports were not received by County Agency A, here are copies of them and the ones for County Agency B to be on the safe side. Please mail them.

Today I received a call from County Agency B. They thanked me for my quarterly reports, but informed me that they had received the ones for County Agency A, not theirs.

This time I mailed them myself.

We had An Event at the office tonight. I spent a ridiculous amount of time preparing my display, and everyone else's, only have no one look at any of them. Oh well. I got to cut and paste (using actual scissors and paste, not the computer) so it was worth it.

-- 10:20am
GAAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!
I just had to get that out of my system. Thank you very much.

Friday April 23, 2004 -- 9:30am
This place gets more like the museum every day! Now we have worms. They come out at night and die in little curls. We find their carcasses littered throughout the halls in the mornings. They seem to especially like to die in the women's bathroom.

I was almost involved in a spectacular car accident yesterday! Had the timing been different by about 3/4 of a second, it would have involved up to 5 cars and been really dramatic. Instead, 4 of us drivers hit the brakes just after we'd released them for the green light and watched in bewildered outrage as our would-be collision blew through the red light and across all 4 lanes of traffic. Exciting stuff!

I'm the only one in the office until probably 11:00 today. Usually the phones are pretty quiet on Fridays, so it should be ok. Glorious, even.

Wednesday April 21, 2004 -- 10:15am
Apparently I'm a little on the sensitive side today. I just got teary-eyed reading an information flier for a training I might go to! Consider yourself warned.

Also, I am sick. Wah. At least, I think I'm sick! I can't seem to prove that there's anything wrong with me, but I feel lousy. Post-vacation blues, perhaps. I'd like to say more about my vacation at some point. We had an excellent time.

Sunday April 18, 2004 -- 8:25pm
Lovely little vacation to Maine. I was crawled on by butterflies. New Hampshire Liquor Store = Danger. Pictures to follow. We saw a moose, Nicolas, and no rogue waves. I read to Steve from my Portland journal, and he still seems to like me.

Monday April 12, 2004
-- 4:25pm
Gah! The stupid nasty toilets all backed up again today (at work). I had to go to Dunkin Donuts to use the bathroom... which forced me to get an egg and cheese sandwich, which is of no help in my effort to not actually outgrow all of my clothing.

Anyhow, there are several people here now trying to fix the toilets. The whole place now smells like a toilet, and it's gross.

I forgot to wish my friend Bonnie a happy birthday on Friday. Well, here. I wished her a happy birthday in person, which was very fun.

-- 9:30am
Today that little Peep was pretty much welded to my antenna. I should have just left it on there to see how long it takes a Peep to decompose.

Yesterday I watched golf. It was actually fairly interesting and intense. Later this month I plan to take up watching the Fishing Channel. Then I might watch some paint dry.

Sunday April 11, 2004 -- 10:55am Happy Birthday Michelle!!!
So I looked out my window a minute ago and something caught my eye. A yellow thing on top of a car antenna. Then I noticed there was one of the car in front of it. A marker of some kind? Now I know there were not any "No Parking" signs up on the street when I put my car there on Friday. I started get mad. I look down the row of cars and, sure enough, there's a little yellow thing on my antenna too.

What the... Wait. Are those... They can't be. They are!!!

PEEPS!

Some crazy person has gone and stuck PEEPS on everyone's antenna!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, Happy Easter!

Thursday April 8, 2004 -- 9:45am
Today seems to be off to a better start. Hanging on the outside of my apartment door this morning was a plastic bag containing, I think, more videos from my slightly odd downstairs neighbor. I didn't have time to look through them to see what they were, but free videos can only be good.

Then, on the downstairs banister, was a box for me from one "E. Bunny" containing Easter entertainment of all sorts.

Today at work it's the "Who Wants To Be Deana's Supervisor" game! This morning's winner is Ms. M.H., who will be referred to hereon-in as "my boss." Until they change their minds again and give me a new one.

Wednesday April 7, 2004 -- 10:15am
Attacked by wild turkeys AGAIN this mornign! Jeesh. This one was very bold and, I swear, large enough to look at me through the driver's door window.

I am officially having A Bad Day. It's my own fault, since I just completely forgot to go to an 8:00 meeting with the executive director of the agency. She is pissed at me, although she is trying to be very sweet about it. I'm pissed at me too, because I actually wanted to go to this meeting.

I shall now proceed to be grouchy for the next 2 hours and 15 minutes, after which, I shall put on a completely competent and fabulous facade for our staff meeting to compensate for my sheer idiocy.

Sunday April 4, 2004 -- 10:20am
Several strange things have happened recently.

Strange Thing #1 happened as I was driving up the Northway one morning. I was minding my own business, when I noticed a shoe hurtling toward me on the pavement. We avoided collision, and I went on my way, wondering how a shoe comes to be hurtling down a highway. A few moments later, I passed a tractor trailer. On the step up to the cab, holding on for dear life, was the companion shoe. Now I understand everything.

Strange Thing #2 took place one morning when, two cars ahead of me, a large gray cat ran across the street. I quickly figured out that it wasn't a large gray cat when it was followed by about 10 more... some of which took flight. It was a flock of wild turkeys!

Then, for Strange Thing #3, I decided to listen to an old Frank Zappa album during my daily travels. I hadn't listened to "Joe's Garage" in about 5 years or more. While I knew that it was not "work-safe" material, I had forgotten just how raunchy it really is. Providing services to "at-risk" teens takes on a whole new meaning when you've got songs like "Crew Slut" and "Why Does It Hurt When I Pee?" stuck in your head.

Monday March 29, 2004
-- 6:50pm
Okay. I'm coming up on hour 10 here at the old work place. The only thing keeping me sane is my nervousness. I don't want this to be a waste of time. I want this to be the defining moment in which I discover my purpose in life!

I'll settle for just not a waste of time. I guess I should go be near the door, in case anyone arrives on time.

-- 12:10pm
Today is a very exciting day here in Workland. We are holding a focus group tonight, which will help me to determine what the hell it is I'm supposed to be doing with my days. I had a blast this morning, putting together little folders for everybody. Now I get to write on big paper and rearrange furniture! Woo-hoo!

Sunday March 28, 2004 -- 9:40am
Whew! I borrowed a workout video from Dee yesterday, and, I just played it for the first time. Man, I feel great! Exhausted, but great! Next time I think I'll try doing some of the stuff instead of just watching!

Saturday March 27, 2004 -- 2:30pm
Need a unique, personal, wedding gift this year? Now's the time to place your order at www.geocities.com/alltheraege!

Forgive the shameless self-promotion, but, well, I guess that's kind of what this whole web site is about!

Friday March 26, 2004 -- 9:20am
Happy Birthday Ari!!! Welcome to the Old Folks' Club. Actually, Ari's birthday was yesterday, but I didn't have any time to bond with my computer yesterday. So it's a happy belated birthday.

Clearly, I should not be allowed in stores. Clothing and grocery stores seem to be ok, because I hate shopping for those. Target and any sort of craft store are highly dangerous places. Pier 1, very unsafe.

I seem to have developed a penchant for extremes over the years. I have no self-control around certain items anymore. Junk food is a good example. I used to have some sense of moderation around junk food. Now, put me in a room with 8 pounds of chocolate and watch out. This is true of most food, actually, and most beverages. Apparently, it is also true of craft items and used cds.

Tuesday March 23, 2004 -- 9:30am
Don't anybody panic! I am feeling much more sane this morning. Of course, I usually do feel sane in the mornings... I mean, after the initial insanity of having to get out of bed. We'll see how the rest of today goes.

I felt very manipulated by the radio this morning. There's one radio station that gives out "passwords" that you can trade in for "points," which you can then, in turn, trade in for prizes - everything from free car washes to trips to Las Vegas. I collect them, and this morning I was waiting for one of them to be given. I realized I was sitting there listening to bad commercials and, worse, songs that I hate, waiting for the stupid password! I have also been known to arrange my whole morning schedule around a password. On extreme occasions, I have skipped showers because it would interfere with me getting the password.

I'm a sheep!!!

Also, I think I was not meant to be at work today. I listened to the traffic report, and there was an accident in a key area. Any time there is an accident there, I am a good 20 minutes late to work, even if I take the Plan B route in. So I decided to create Plan C. It's a bit out of the way, but it would keep me clear of the trouble area and ultimately get me to work earlier today. Smart, right?

First of all, I nearly killed myself and others by running a red light at about 60 mph. Thankfully, this must happen fairly often because there was a huge delay before the other side turned green. The reason I ran it was that I was following a truck, which must have run it too. The thing is, the truck was so tall that it completely blocked the light until it was past it. I didn't even know the light was there until I was half way through it!

Another half mile down the road was a road block. Cops checking registrations and inspections (a sign of Spring). Mine are both up to date (for a change) so I made it through there pretty quickly. La,la,la, I make it to Route 50, the road my office is on in East Glenville. The traffic report comes on and I'm curious to know if the accident I'd avoided was still a problem. They don't mention it. Why? Because now there's a fire. In East Glenville. Near Hetchletown Road. Guess what's between me and my office?

Almost as soon as I heard that, I nearly run over a guy diverting traffic off of Route 50. (I nearly run him over, because I'm still behind this damn truck blocking my view of everything.) I take the detour and make my way back around to Route 50 via Pashley. Guess who's at the end of Pashley!!! Yes! Another guy diverting traffic! He's busy having a conversation with the driver of a tractor trailer which is parked conveniently across the entire intersection, so I had to wait there for a while. When he finally finishes with the truck, he starts walking over to me, presumably to tell me I can't take a right onto 50. I was just about to break into an explanation of where I had to go and how I could get there without interfering with the fire activity when a fire truck rolled by and gave him the thumbs up. Hooray! I could turn right!

Miraculously, I still made it to work at exactly 9:00.