Saturday, June 15th, 2002 - 4:45pm
wheels of fire - mood: excited
I am now the proud owner of a 1999 Toyota Corolla LE (not the car featured above though - mine is dark-green). Just got home from the dealership. I'M SO HAPPY!!!! First my own PC, and now another car. What's awesome about this car is it's a certified used car, meaning I have a better warranty on this car than my parents did when they bought a *new* Corolla last year. Bitchin'. All I need to do is get my deck installed (I'll be visiting you for this, Janet), get this car added to our insurance policy, and I'm good to go. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to sit in it for a little while :)
Friday, June 14th, 2002 - 3:03pm
thanks, but no thanks - mood: annoyed/amused
Recently, John tells me stories of how he unwittingly attracts women at work (and how can they help themselves? the boy is fucking *hot*), but now the shoe is on the other foot.. I woke up this morning feeling like I wanted to go to work a little more dressed up than my usual pair of jeans and a polo shirt. This is the first day I've worn a skirt to work (it's the one I wore at my birthday get-together for those of you who went) since I figured it'd be warm again today (which it isn't..). So this guy Joel from work emails me, asking me what's different about me today. I can see what's coming from a mile away. He sends another email, saying that he knows what it is: I'm "sexier today". He asks me why I'm all dressed up, what's the occassion? Is my boyfriend taking me out to dinner tonight or something? I say no, that I'm just going to relax at home tonight and maybe invite a girlfriend or two over since I need my estrogen fix :) He tells me to forget about my friends and go out to dinner with him, so I "wouldn't be dressed up for nothing" and since my boyfriend "won't be taking time to see a good-looking woman like yourself tonight." Blech. He comes over to my desk, asking me if I got his emails and which restaurant I'd like to go to. I point to my framed picture of John on my desk (it's actually 2 pictures in one frame, from when we went to Portland for a weekend to visit his mom), and reply, "You *know* that I have a boyfriend. I'm absolutely ecstatic to be dating him. Thanks, but no thanks." Yes, those words exactly. Hope he got the hint.
So who's big pimpin' now, bee-atch? :D Actually, I think John and I share the same amount of pimp-ness, so there's no need to compete over who's hotter; nice match, huh? ;)
Friday, June 14th, 2002 - 12:37pm
another pat on the back - mood: accomplished
I just received an email from one of our customers in Peru, who only speaks Spanish... I had to conjure up my uber-rusty high-school Spanish in order to speak to and write to her. I explained this to her, and apologized if my choice or placement of words seemed strange to her. She replied with:
"Te felicito porque si aprend�ste el espa�ol hace 4 a�os, lo recuerdas muy bien." Which translates to: "Feel happy; if you learned Spanish 4 years ago, you remember it very well." Good to know that all the time and effort I spent learning the language hasn't gone to waste because I don't speak it as often as I used to :) So I've mastered the English language, and I can understand Spanish and Japanese (it's hella cool being a polyglot)... if only I could speak and understand one of my native tongues: Tagalog. I'll have to get Mom to teach me more.. it's a crime that I can't converse with my Filipino relatives in a language they can understand.
Friday, June 14th, 2002 - 11:57am
sooo nice... - mood: loved
One of the guys in the Information Technology dept. here at work has his 11-year-old daughter with him during his half-day. He introduced me to her and explained how I'm running the Int'l dept. while everyone else is away, and I've been doing this all week. We chat for a while and they went back to the part of the building where her dad works. I stepped away from my desk for a while, just to walk around. When I came back, there was a drawing of a $100 dollar bill, with a note attached saying "You work so hard - you deserve it!" The IT guy and his daugher walked by again, and claimed responsibility for this random act of kindness :) I've received comments all day on how well I'm managing the office for someone who's still so new to the company; it's good to know I'm doing alright.
Friday, June 14th, 2002 - 8:34am
happy Friday - I'm glad it's here - mood: drained
That's a phrase I've learned working in an office. It's only happy because you know you're not working tomorrow. When I used to work in retail, it was rare to have a "happy Friday" :) But it's been a loooooong, lonely week; it'll be good when everyone comes back so they can start taking care of their own shit again. I had a feeling something like this would happen: there are certain details about a customer that become inherent to that sales rep. Because those things are practically 2nd nature, the sales rep wouldn't think to mention these things to me before leaving last week. Grrrrr.... this has led to several misunderstandings with customers, which thankfully I've cleared up. I had half a mind to just call in sick to work today. I'd much rather in bed right now, with my arms and legs wrapped around my body pillow - or better yet - my boyfriend. I really miss him right now. Yeah, yeah, I know what I was getting into before it got started, so don't give me any of that. Just because I know ahead of time that we won't see each other much doesn't mean I'm not capable (and justified) in feeling the way I do. *sigh* His female customers are a couple of lucky ladies, that's for sure!
I allowed myself a girlie indulgence last night: I leisurely sipped a glass of white wine as I flipped through my new issue of Cosmo :) Yep, I spent a good hour sippin' and flippin'. Yet another good issue, chock full of inspiration...
Some good news! If everything goes as planned, I will be getting a car tomorrow afternoon. I took a look at one of Toyota's certified used cars: a '99 Corolla with only 25,000 miles on it (nice, huh?) and if that car is still there for me on Saturday, it's mine. If it's not there, I have 3 alternatives to choose from... that's if *they're* still on the lot too :) Bottom line is: I will not be without a set of wheels by the time the weekend is over. I'm so stoked! Being without a car for over a year really sucks, so it'll be nice to regain some freedom again.
Thursday, June 13th, 2002 - 8:52am
am I materialistic? - mood: ok
I was thinking about this last night as I was almost-lovingly looking at my new PC - am I really materialistic? Maybe I'm just a simple person who has deprived herself for a long time of something this nice. Or maybe my parents have ingrained a certain sense of guilt over seemingly self-serving purchases. I think one of the main reasons that I'm so happy is that my "stuff-to-have-before-I-move-out" list is shorter by one item now. Another thing on my list is *a car* to replace the one I crashed last year. I went looking at cars with my brother and made the mistake of being dragged into a conversation with one of the sales guys :P I absolutely hated talking to him! He wanted me to drive a car I was looking at, and to take it home right then and there. When I buy a car, it's going to be from my neighbor Mike; he works at the Toyota dealership in Bremerton. He's not pushy, and he'll do anything to get me a good deal. This other guy was a total bastard.
I was so good at work yesterday! About 75% of the work I was assigned for the week is finished, but that poses another problem... what the fuck do I do for the next 2 days when I finish the remaining 25%? Well, I know what I *could* do, but I'll just have to think of projects to keep me from making entry after entry :)
I'm finishing up my breakfast right now - peach yogurt and lemonade. Doesn't that scream "summer" or what?! :D
Oh, another weird story involving my co-worker who go was arrested in Vegas earlier this week: a few years ago, he was on a plane going to some trade show, when the woman sitting next to him *died of a heart attack*. There's not much to be done until the plane landed, so he had to sit next to a corpse for 3 hours. It's not like they could just throw her in a closet since she wasn't a living passenger anymore; she paid for her seat, so she should sit in it, right? And he wasn't able to move from where he was; he was on a full plane. Would *you* switch seats with him? I sure as hell would not! That guy just has the shittiest luck...
Wednesday, June 12th, 2002 - 7:03pm
IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!!! - mood: ecstatic
I'm so *happy*!! My 4400 Dell Dimension PC complete with 1.7 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 40GB of hard drive space, and a DVD-rom is finally here! I'm like a 3-year-old on Christmas morning :D I've got it all set up now, so the only thing I need is the cable router, which will be coming in the mail by Friday. Yay! Now I don't have to use the slow-ass family PC! Off I go to install programs :)
Wednesday, June 12th, 2002 - 11:26am
so what the hell is para para, anyway?! - mood: nerdy
I just finished enjoying my lunch outside; it feels good to have your skin warmed up by the sun (healthy for you too, although you always hear the contrary: it's a good source of vitamin D!) So now that I'm back inside and relieved of my duty to cover the receptionist for her lunch, I'll take a moment to define what para para is. I've had a few of you who are unfamiliar with it ask me what it's all about, so here goes:
John inspired a good elevator-pitch description of para para - it's Japanese line-dancing set to Eurobeat music, but the hands and arms are most active. Each song has a different routine to it, so there are hundreds of para para you can learn. I only know 12 so far :) The origins of the dance are believed to be from traditional Japanese dances, like bon-odori. Para para has attracted so much attention that Tokyo Disneyland features Mickey Mouse doing a para para, and the new robot that Sony created can dance a para para too. There are two clubs in Tokyo that serve as a mecca to paralists - Velfarre in Roppongi and TwinStar in Shinjuku. You'll find the ParaPara AllStars frequenting TwinStar; they're a group of 5-6 women who are a professional para para dance team :)
Wanna see para para in action? Either come over & watch the double VCD I have, or you can go here and download a few clips yourself:
Para Para Online
If you enjoy clubbing & dancing, you'd probably like para para. If you never had an affinity for getting your groove on, you'll think it's lame :)
Tuesday, June 11th, 2002 - 2:17pm
they're really uptight in Vegas - mood: amused
Oh, shit - I just got word that one of the sales reps on my department was *arrested* last night! He's out now, and apparently didn't miss any of his meetings or the major conference we're doing down there. Here's how the story goes as it was told to me:
He goes into the hotel bar, and is given a gift by one of our vendors, which is a common practice at a hotel hosting a trade show. After a few drinks, he forgets his gift and leaves the bar. A half hour later, he remembers his gift & he returns to the bar, asking where his package is. The bar treats his inquiry as thought it was a bomb threat, and have him arrested. He spent a few hours in jail last night. Crazy, no? I'm sure people will give him shit for a long time about that - "hey, don't leave that there, buddy!" I wonder if I'll hear any more crazy tales from L.V.
Tuesday, June 11th, 2002 - 1:15pm
oh, the conversations we have at work... - mood: working
I just finished my lunch (rice & honey-BBQ chicken - gotta love it!) and realized that I needed social interaction of some kind, so I wandered over to the Tech Support department. They have great conversations and are very open to people stopping by and joining in. The first comment I heard as I walked up was, "No, no, you have to freeze a body first before you try to put it through a mulcher. Otherwise all you'll have is a pulpy mess." They were discussing ways to dispose of a body... not that anybody was planning murder - hopefully :) I guess they got to talking about it after one of them watched a show where some dude killed his wife, threw her into a mulcher, and figured he was a clever guy... until someone found his wife's tooth and a bone fragment. Oops.
That whole discussion reminded me of the show I was watching on the History Channel last night before going to bed - it chronicled the ways that governments all over the world would punish and/or torture its criminals. Of course, the folks who did the best job at torture lived in Medieval Europe. Very interesting how the guillotine was created with civil rights in mind. Criminals of noble birth were executed by beheading, while common criminals were hanged, which was thought of as a lowly way to die. The introduction of the guillotine allowed for *all* people, regardless of status, to be beheaded. Isn't equality great?
On a much lighter note - my boyfriend has an interview today. I hope it goes well for him. He's had a rough two weeks, so this should help.
Tuesday, June 11th, 2002 - 1:15pm
bandwagon-jumper - mood: tired
So I'm jumping on the bandwagon and starting a journal, but unfortunately, I chose a day that wasn't very eventful. My quiet week at work begins today. The rest of my department is in livin' it up in Las Vegas right now at our industry's biggest trade show - can't wait to hear all the fun stories concerning the mingling of showgirls, alcohol, and lack of inhibition. While those stories are unfolding, I get to sit at my cubicle, typing away at spreadsheet after spreadsheet. Perhaps I'll post a few entries from work tomorrow just for a change of pace :) It's great working there, but staring at a screen for hours really loses its novelty after the 3rd week... No wonder I feel so tired! So off to bed I go. Expect more posts when I finally get my new Dell PC (oh, you know... "Dude! You're gettin' a Dell!" The guy has a catchy command you can't ignore..)
