Holy non-productive, Batman!

Just thought I would share...
I spent the entire 8-hour workday reading Amalah's fantabulous blog (and eating gummy bears and chocolate pretzels and drinking water... hormonal much? Damn pills). She started writing in 2003, and so of course I'm starting at the beginning. I've made it to June of 2004. Prolific! And inspiring! Shall I aspire to write more often, and see where it takes me?
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And who the hell would want to read about MY life anyway?
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Guess we'll find out.

My self esteem is not so impervious

I overheard someone refer to me as "Jen with the boobs" today, and for some reason it kind of struck a nerve. Normally I'm of the "flaunt it if you've got it" mentality, and I know I'm out of shape and the majority of my 130 lbs is in my bra. And I don't mind so much when friends like to tease me & request that I wear low-cut shirts, and when B compliments me is definitely fine! But I guess it just gets to me when other people make comments (especially other people that don't know me and have never made much of an effort to be friendly either).

So tonight, I start my new membership at the gym by my house by taking a spinning class (no not spinning wool, spinning like stationary bikes ), and I'll make an effort to work out on the days I don't have class too. And when I get home, I'm cleaning out my closet and dresser of the clothing that doesn't quite fit correctly but I've been hanging on to & wearing anyway, just so I don't have to hear crap anymore.

I totally should clarify this... it was a WOMAN who made the comment, not a guy! Now if she had been a friend of mine, (a) she probably wouldn't have defined me that way (instead of Jen the brunette, it's Jen with the boobs? come on!) and (b) I wouldn't have minded. But this woman is very abrasive and downright rude a lot of the time, and has only spoken to me once or twice since I started here a year ago, and has never even returned a smile or said hello or anything remotely friendly, so I don't speak to her either. So I don't think she had any right whatsoever to call me that.If it had been a guy, I would have laughed!

It's a day off...

Yes, today is a national holiday celebrating freedom and liberty and all that. And yes, freedom isn't free, land of the free because of the brave, I totally agree with all of that (I think I have a pretty good perspective of it, considering). But I can't say that I am a fan of the method of celebrating. In other words, I hate fireworks. I have a fear of uncontrollable, unpredictable things like electricity (fuseboxes, bare wires, stuff like that), out-of-control fires, and things that explode. I don't think it's irrational at all, and I don't have panic attacks or anything, I just get rather uncomfortable when exposed to these types of things at close range. I'll ooooh and aaaah with the best of 'em at a fancy fireworks show from several blocks away, but when it's right outside my door I get a bit edgy. So I'm glad that the hoodlums down the street have apparently gone somewhere else for the holiday... but unfortunately our drunk old-fart neighbors behind us are havin' a good ol' time with their Natty Lights & mortars! Greg's already missing a couple of fingers for pete's sake, you'd think he'd be more concerned about the ones he has left! Jake, the cats and I are taking cover in the house.

Otherwise it's been a good day off. I puttered in the gardens a bit, killed the hotter part of the day by re-vamping my myspace page, bought a sewing machine (go ahead, you can call me Susie Homemaker now, I don't mind! But for your information I'm making cornhole bags with it out of old Army pants!), finished a book, and helped B burn all our firewood so we can clean out & paint the fire bowl.

Tomorrow we're going to a movie, and sometime this weekend we'll finish stripping the nasty green wallpaper out of my craft room and maybe even get a coat of primer up.

I still have cat fur in my nose

I had to take both cats to the vet tonight, and it was not an enjoyable experience! I can always tell when Lily is having gland problems, because Gyro just beats the shit out of her & won't leave her alone because she smells like "girly cat". But Gyro has been smelling funky lately too, so I figured he had the same issue. I never have a problem getting them into their carriers, and Lily is always quiet in the car (she slept almost the whole way from Cleveland to Toledo when we moved) but Gyro is another story. The 2 hour trip when we moved was a living hell... he yowled, he cried, he drooled, and he peed. He was miserable, and I was freaking out too! And ever since he's been like that in the car no matter how short the ride. However when you compare their behavior at the vet, it's just the opposite... Gyro is usually well-behaved, but Lily is a holy terror.

But tonight, neither one of them was happy about it.

Last time Lily had to go to the vet, she had to stay all day so they could get a urine sample to test for an infection. When I went to pick her up that evening, the vet tech was like, maybe you'd better come back and see if she'll let you put her in her crate, because she won't let any of us near her! I was dubious, but I went back to her cage and sure enough, she was all frizzed out, yowling and hissing at anybody that walked past her door. I went over and she hissed and yowled for a second until I said her name, then she was like "Oh, thank GOD it's you!!" and practically jumped into my arms. It was kind of funny, but the techs and doctors were obviously a bit freaked out by her and glad to be sending her home!

So she must have a pretty good memory, because I swear she remembered the vet tech and started hissing as soon as she walked in the door. The girl was like, "Oh... Hi Lily...." and you could see she was thinking "Shit, not HER again!" Lily threw a holy fit the whole time, but the fur literally flew when she had her glands evacuated. If you have pets, you may have gone through this before... but imagine a frigging Tazmanian Devil having its butt squeezed and you'll have an idea of Lily's attitude towards it.

It didn't help Gyro out either. He was quiet when they took his temperature and looked at his inflamed eye, but when they went to do his glands he also turned into an absolute hellcat. He's strong too, and I could see the tech straining to keep him from shredding the countertop!
They both bolted back into their carriers, and Gyro was still a whiny little wuss in the car on the way home but noticeably quieter than on the way there. They both got special canned food dinners when they got home and I think I'm back in their good graces, but I might sleep with one eye open tonight!

Apparently fabric swatches must be stored at freezing temperatures

This week our manufacturing facility is shut down. This is a regular occurrence... the week of July 4th and the week of Christmas every year... so no, we have not had some sort of industrial radioactive spill forcing us to stop production until we can sweep it under the rug. All of the plant employees and about 80% of the office employees take their vacation during this week, so it's pretty quiet around here. The Customer Service Manager thinks there's going to be a lot of samples to be shipped this week (something I highly doubt at this point, but it's still early), so she wanted someone back here to do the UPS and mailing... and since no one knew how to use the UPS website except me I volunteered. So I've shifted from one Black Hole to another... manning the Literature Department and the shipping during shut-down. It's about 30 degrees in here, and it's in an even more hidden corner of the building. In my cube, I get people walking behind me somewhat regularly, on their way to the copier or the break room... but back here, there's no one. Kinda eerie... if I don't pay attention to the clock I might be forgotten at closing time!
So I'm killing some time. I know, I know, why am I complaining when I volunteered for this special corner of hell? Well I guess it's really not bad... I can read (A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, my favorite author) or write a blog, or surf the web for a used-yet-functional muffler for B's Civic (it sounds like a pissed-off bumblebee trapped in a Snapple bottle, and at high speeds it vibrates so much I feel like I'm going to be spitting out my fillings when we stop), or write a grocery list for the supplies I need for tomorrow's company picnic. (I'm trying a new recipe for "Spicy Black Bean Potato Salad" that sounds yummy!) So it's kind of nice back here... if it wasn't so cold.