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whappy happy nea land! |
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My own spot to rant about my day.
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wThursday, December 25, 2003 |
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You know it's going to be an entertaining night when the theme song is from Super Mario 3. Dave's directions to his mom's house, for some people who came up from Philly to visit us for dinner, included "take the secret exit on the left." Next thing you know, it's a video game.
So, I'm in New Jersey for Christmas. We head back home tomorrow, but it's been a good trip. The usual stuff- food, family, presents. We also lit Hannukah candles last night before eating Christmas dinner. It was a tad strange to have the two is such close proximity, but whatever.
Dave roasted chestnuts last night, then decided to cream them this morning and make blintzes with chestnut cream. I like Dave.
I've given Dave the neasty cold I picked up last week, so now he is napping. Actually, Dave's mom and sister are napping, too, after total food coma. I think the fact that I had fish for dinner, while they had turkey and ham (we ate at the dining room in Dave's grandmother's "assisted living facility") is the only reason I'm up. The food was really tasty. Her place really seems to do nice things for the holidays. It's good to know that some old folks homes actually care about making the people happy, rather than just helping them survive.
posted by
nea at 2:37 PM
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wWednesday, December 03, 2003 |
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This cold has decided to leave my body through my nose.
Yeah, you needed the mental image.
posted by
nea at 9:58 PM
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wSunday, November 30, 2003 |
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Last night Dave and I went to my sister's ninth birthday party. She was having a slumber party, so there were eight girls running around being silly. It was actually pretty fun, though. We set up DDR and showed them how to play (I think the high grade of the night was a "D" from a girl whose cousin has the game), had dinner, went to the movies to see Haunted Mansion, then came back for cake and more DDR. Haunted Mansion was slightly cheesy, but I was happy that they incorporated all the best parts of the ride into the movie. Haunted Mansion without, "Of course, there's always my way out" would not have been the same.
We had almost as many adults as kids at the party, with various relatives hanging about, but luckily the girls didn't seem to care. In fact, they were pretty happy to have Dave as the DDR instructor.
I've been feeling a little under the weather all week, but today I woke up full-on sick. I had to cancel tutoring and a skip a family dinner. All I've done today is lay about the house and be online. I'm hoping that having a restful day today will mean that I'll be okay tomorrow. We'll see. If I'm like today, there is no way that I'm going into work.
posted by
nea at 4:19 PM
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wSaturday, November 22, 2003 |
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posted by
nea at 10:52 PM
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We bought a house today! AHHHHHH!!!!
For anyone that would like to see pics, we have posted some up here. Escrow closes in sixty days, so by January 24th we should be in our new place.
Yay house! Dave and I are very excited about all this. We are also excited to have found a house we like, at a price we can live with, and that has everything we need. I'm happy.
posted by
nea at 10:38 PM
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wSunday, November 16, 2003 |
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Today marked the first official day of house shopping. Dave, Vahe (our agent), and I saw five homes this afternoon. Three of them were dismissed outright -- too small, too ugly, and too much work to be done. Of the other two, one we dismissed after discussion, as there was not enough in the way of closet space or storage space. We don't have all that much stuff, but if we're going to spend close to $400,000 on something, we want a linen closet. On the fifth one, there were a few odds and ends that we weren't fond of (rooms painted in ugly color combinations, kitchen a little small but easy to expand, family room floored in linoleum) but the real problem was the price. It's about $20K above what we want to spend. However, the house has been on the market almost a month. We're playing "wait and see," in hopes that no one else will want the house for that price either, and they'll either reduce it to something reasonable or we'll make a lowball offer on the current price.
For the first day of house shopping, I'm pretty impressed. I was halfway expecting the houses to either be way too small, in much worse shape than what we saw, or just otherwise totally unsuitable. To have two pretty good houses made me happy. This bodes well for Dave and I finding a good house in a neighborhood we like and at a price we can afford.
posted by
nea at 8:58 PM
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wFriday, October 31, 2003 |
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This is the first year where I haven't gone anywhere or done anything for Halloween. I dressed up for work, where there was a rather dismal turnout. The office isn't decorated. The apartments around here aren't decorated . . . it's like everyone had too much going on to celebrate the holiday. This makes me a little sad.
I'm dressed up as a kid in pajamas. I was going for a costume that I could make with things in the apartment, was warm, and was comfortable. This fit the bill best. Besides, when else can I go to work in my pajamas?
On a separate note, the house hunting is officially on. We have an agent. We are waiting on our preapproval. We have pages of home listings. I feel so grown up for a person who wore pink pajamas and pigtails to work.
posted by
nea at 9:01 PM
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wSaturday, October 25, 2003 |
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I spent the whole week kinda tired and spacy. I lost a day, either Monday or Tuesday. I literally could not remember on Wednesday if the stuff I had done earlier in the week was on Monday or Tuesday. I slept for about twelve hours last night, which I think helped quite a bit.
Dave and I are going to go see a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird tonight. We decided that there is way too much neat stuff going on in LA for us not to take part in at least some of it. Festivals, plays, opera, etc. This also explains our opera trip about a month ago.
I hope that the performance tonight is good. One of the things I learned in high school is how to spot bad acting. My high school was the performing arts center for the district, and one of the two schools in the county that aspring performers and techies wanted to go to. As such, the quality of performances were pretty damn good, especially considering it was a bunch of teenagers in a high school auditorium. Ever since I graduated, I haven't seen low budget theatre of the same quality. My mom feels the same way. A while back, she went out to a play, came home, and said, "I miss Matt and your friends. They were so much better." I guess we shall see.
posted by
nea at 5:50 PM
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wTuesday, October 21, 2003 |
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Aaaahhhhh, Vegas. I hadn't been in almost two years, and looked forward to a weekend of clubbing, eating crappy food, and gambling. Good stuff.
Facts Learned in Vegas:
-You puke in a club, you get thrown out.
-Outlet shopping is cool, even if you haven't won money.
-Our Pho place in Van Nuys has a branch in Vegas! Yay hot pho after a day of being in cold casinos.
In regards to clubbing, I wasn't so impressed. We hit Rum Jungle Friday night and RA Saturday night. Cover was about average, although we always hope for nights where girls get in for free. Drinks were hella expensive. Five bucks for a bottle of water. Whatever, though. The music was good, the crowd was diverse and interesting, and girls doing acrobatics in tiny outfits at Rum Jungle was entertaining.
Maybe by Friday I'll have caught up on sleep. I got about eight hours total, including an hour nap on Saturday. I feel old.
posted by
nea at 8:55 PM
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wWednesday, October 08, 2003 |
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Mexico was awesome! It was a long drive there and back (mostly due to the number of stops), but once we made it Rosarito, it was a blast. We needed a good weekend of laying out, swimming, horseback ridings, eating tasty mexican food, and crazy drinking. I think I've had my share of avocados for awhile though. I think we made almost a gallon of guac Saturday night.
I don't like Mexican bugs. I look like I have freaking chicken pox on the back of my left foot. Anti-itch cream is a good thing.
Thanks to Greg for organizing the trip, and to Dave, Diana, HT, Vickie, Neil, Jenny, and Palm for making it so fun!
posted by
nea at 9:40 PM
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wSaturday, September 13, 2003 |
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Sorry about not blogging much. I've realized that a lot of my life does not make for exciting reading.
It might entertain people to know that my office was declared a safety hazard. Too much paper and boxes sitting around. So we're in the process of a major cleanup. In my department, I'm the one with the biggest project--clean out all the old audit files. I've already filled two trash cans with crap. Probably be doing this for the rest of the month. It's nice to have a relatively mindless task, though, that I can just space out while doing for hours at a time.
posted by
nea at 5:00 PM
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wFriday, August 29, 2003 |
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I'm so proud.
congratulations. you are the "you smell like
butt" bunny. your brutally honest and
always say whats on your mind.
which happy bunny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
posted by
nea at 8:34 PM
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wMonday, August 25, 2003 |
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I took a mental health day today. Yesterday was stressful and all night I couldn't sleep due to one thing or another. Leg cramps, loud people downstairs, too hot, too cold, etc. So when my alarm went off at 7:10 I was still really tired and decided that I could use a lazy day to myself. I ended up sleeping until noon, getting my act together, and going shopping. It was nice to just roam stores and not have to be anywhere or have anything specific that I had to buy.
After I got home, I cleaned the house a bit so it could be all pretty when Dave came home, then continued reading. I'm currently reading Emily of New Moon, by L.M. Montgomery (yep, the Anne of Green Gables author). It's a pretty good book, but the descriptions of nature can get overly long. I like reading Montgomery's books to get a true glimpse of victorian life. By writing about what she saw every day, she managed to pass on a pretty strong sense of the time period. How things change in one hundred years . . .
posted by
nea at 8:27 PM
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wFriday, August 22, 2003 |
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Ah, the end of my quiet week at work. It's been nice, but also really boring.
What's planned for this weekend? Other than three hours of tutoring Saturday afternoon, absolutely nothing! So call me.
posted by
nea at 7:01 PM
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wTuesday, August 19, 2003 |
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Why do I feel tired at 7:10 in the morning, when I've just gotten a full night's sleep, but am wide awake at 11 pm, when I should be in bed?
posted by
nea at 10:32 PM
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wFriday, August 15, 2003 |
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So here it is, the list of very random candidates for the CA recall election. I think the best part is one of these people, technically, could win with less than one percent of the vote since there are over 100 candidates. I'm voting against ousting Davis, but whom to pick just in case? A politician, porn star, actor, or random nobody? So hard to choose . . .
Iris Adam, Natural Law, Irvine
Brooke Adams, nonpartisan, Dana Point
Douglas Anderson, Republican, Moorpark
Angelyne, nonpartisan, Beverly Hills
Mohammad Arif, nonpartisan, Culver City
Badi Badiozamani, nonpartisan, San Diego
Vik S. Bajwa, Democrat, Santa Rosa
John W. Beard, Republican, North Hollywood
Ed Beyer, Republican, San Clemente
Vip Bhola, Republican, North Hollywood
Cheryl Bly-Chester, Republican, Roseville
Audie Bock, Democrat, Oakland
Joel Britton, nonpartisan, Los Angeles
Art Brown, Democrat, Canoga Park
John Christopher Burton, nonpartisan, Pasadena
Cruz M. Bustamante, Democrat, Sacramento
Peter Miguel Camejo, Green, Oakland
Todd Carson, Republican, Costa Mesa
William "Bill" S. Chambers, Republican, Auburn
Michael Cheli, nonpartisan, Santa Rosa
D. (Logan Darrow) Clements, Republican, Pacific Palisades
Gary Coleman, nonpartisan, Beverly Hills
Mary "Mary Carey" Cook, nonpartisan, Los Angeles
Robert Cullenbine, Democrat, Palo Alto
Scott Davis, nonpartisan, Palo Alto
Robert "Butch" Dole, Republican, Milpitas
Bob Lynn Edwards, Democrat, Fremont
Warren Farrell, Democrat, Carlsbad
Dan Feinstein, Democrat, San Francisco
Larry Flynt, Democrat, Beverly Hills
Lorraine (Abner Zurd) Fontanes, Democrat, Los Angeles
Gene Forte, Republican, Carmel
Diana Foss, Democrat, San Jose
Ronald J. Friedman, nonpartisan, Woodland Hills
Leo Gallagher, nonpartisan, Agoura Hills
Gerold Lee Gorman, Democrat, Martinez
Rich Gosse, Republican, San Rafael
James H. Green, Democrat, San Francisco
Jack Loyd Grisham, nonpartisan, Los Angeles
Garrett Gruener, Democrat, San Francisco
Joe Guzzardi, Democrat, Lodi
Ivan A. Hall, Green, Redding
Ken Hamidi, Libertarian, Citrus Heights
Sara Ann Hanlon, nonpartisan, La Mirada
C. Stephen Henderson, nonpartisan, Carmel Valley
Ralph A. Hernandez, Democrat, Antioch
John J. "Jack" Hickey, Libertarian, Emerald Hills
Jim Hoffmann, Republican, Manteca
Arianna Huffington, nonpartisan, Santa Monica
S. Issa, Republican, Arcadia
Michael Jackson, Republican, Long Beach
Trek Thunder Kelly, nonpartisan, Venice
Edward "Ed" Kennedy, Democrat, Weaverville
D.E. Kessinger, Democrat, Riverside
Kelly P. Kimball, Democrat, Calabasas
Stephen L. Knapp, Republican, Los Gatos
Eric Korevaar, Democrat, La Jolla
Jerry Kunzman, nonpartisan, Richmond
Dick Lane, Democrat, Sunnyvale
Gary Leonard, Democrat, Los Angeles
Todd Richard Lewis, nonpartisan, West Hollywood
Calvin Y. Louie, Democrat, San Francisco
Frank A. Macaluso Jr., Democrat, Visalia
Paul "Chip" Mailander, Democrat, Rancho Santa Fe
Robert C. Mannheim, Democrat, Agoura Hills
Bruce Margolin, Democrat, West Hollywood
Paul Mariano, Democrat, Martinez
Gino Martorana, Republican, Kingsburg
Mike P. McCarthy, nonpartisan, San Luis Obispo
Bob McClain, nonpartisan, Oakland
Tom McClintock, Republican, Sacramento
Dennis Duggan McMahon, Republican, San Francisco
Mike McNeilly, Republican, Beverly Hills
Scott A. Mednick, Democrat, Calabasas
Carl A. Mehr, Republican, San Diego
Jonathan Miller, Democrat, Newark
Darryl L. Mobley, nonpartisan, Danville
Jeffrey L. Mock, Republican, Compton
John "Jack" Mortensen, Democrat, Folsom
Dorene Musilli, Republican, Boyes Hot Springs
Paul Nave, Democrat, San Anselmo
Robert C. Newman II, Republican, Redlands
Leonard Padilla, nonpartisan, Sacramento
Ronald Jason Palmieri, Democrat, Los Angeles
Gregory J. Pawlik, Republican, Pacific Palisades
Heather Peters, Republican, Santa Monica
Charles "Chuck" Pineda Jr., Democrat, Sacramento
Bill Prady, Democrat, Studio City
Darin Price, Natural Law, McKinleyville
Bryan Quinn, Republican, San Jose
Jeff Rainforth, nonpartisan, Sacramento
Daniel C. "Danny" Ramirez, Democrat, Calexico
Christopher Ranken, Democrat, Pacifica
Reva Renee Renz, Republican, Tustin
Daniel W. Richards, Republican, Rancho Cucamonga
Kevin Richter, Republican, Manteca
Kurt E. "Tachikaze" Rightmyer, nonpartisan, West Covina
David Laughing Horse Robinson, Democrat, Bakersfield
Ned Roscoe, Libertarian, Benicia
Sharon Rushford, nonpartisan, Santa Clara
Georgy Russell, Democrat, Mountain View
Jamie Rosemary Safford, Republican, Granite Bay
David Ronald Sams, Republican, Agoura Hills
Darrin H. Scheidle, Democrat, El Cajon
Mike Schmier, Democrat, Emeryville
George B. Schwartzman, nonpartisan, Carlsbad
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, Santa Monica
Richard J. Simmons, nonpartisan, Los Angeles
Bill Simon Jr., Republican, Sacramento
B.E. Smith, nonpartisan, Denny
Randall D. Sprague, Republican, Elk Grove
Christopher Sproul, Democrat, San Francisco
Alex St. James, Republican, Sacramento
Lawrence Steven Strauss, Democrat, Studio City
Tim Sylvester, Democrat, Sonora
A. Lavar Taylor, Democrat, Santa Ana
Diane Beall Templin, American Independent, Escondido
Patricia G. Tilley, nonpartisan, Sacramento
Brian Tracy, nonpartisan, Solana Beach
William Tsangares, Republican, Los Angeles
Peter V. Ueberroth, Republican, Newport Beach
Marc Valdez, Democrat, Sacramento
James M. Vandeventer Jr., Republican, Los Angeles
Paul W. Vann, Republican, Irvine
Bill Vaughn, Democrat, Lafayette
Van Vo, Republican, Garden Grove
Chuck Walker, Republican, Scotts Valley
Maurice Walker, Green, San Leandro
Nathan Whitecloud Walton, nonpartisan, San Diego
Daniel Watts, Green, San Jose
C.T. Weber, Peace and Freedom, Sacramento
Jim Weir, Democrat, Grass Valley
Lingel H. Winters, Democrat, San Francisco
Michael J. Wozniak, Democrat, Oakland
John W. Zellhoefer, Republican, Tecopa
posted by
nea at 10:08 PM
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wTuesday, August 12, 2003 |
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I love birthday celebrations! This past weekend, we celebrated for Diane, Dave, and HT. Saturday night we hit Club Sugar, which is noted for having one of the ten top bathrooms in the world, according to the Travel Channel. I was not so impressed. The window between bathrooms is kinda entertaining, but I would have preferred working door locks and toilet seats that were still attached to the toilet. Still, the club was really cool. Good size, interesting crowd, good music, and tasty drinks! Too bad it was Dave's night to get wasted (which he did quite well) as I really liked the soju creations that they had. Ahh, well, next time. I had a lot of fun just running around, visiting people and dancing. Got to spend some hanging with Greg, which is always good. And HT looked very fetching in his new red beret. :)
posted by
nea at 8:38 PM
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wWednesday, August 06, 2003 |
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I got this from my friend Faithy. Haven't researched if it's true, but sounds pretty legit:
Please spread the word. Everyone needs to know.
-----------------------------
Everyone is talking about the recall election and
the madness, but there's a measure on the October
7 election that's not really getting any news
time and it's super important. It's Proposition
54, and the supporters keep calling it
the "Racial Privacy Initiative." It has nothing
to do with that. It was written by the same man
who proposed Prop. 209 that banned affirmative
action and he's at it again. What Prop. 54 does
is make it illegal for every single state
department, from education to employment to
health services, to collect information about
race, ethnicity, color, or national origin--
except the police department. So there will no
longer be any legal evidence to prove
discrimination, but the police can still continue
to racially profile people of color.
And there's more. It's going to jeopardize the
healthcare system. There are certain diseases
that are more prone to ethnic communities and if
Prop. 54 is passed, there will be no way to track
it. Do Latinas have higher rates of breast cancer
than the general population? Are Chinese and
white women more prone to osteoporosis? Does the
black community have greater risk of suffering
HIV/AIDS? What about minority women with lupus?
All proven through statistics that would be made
illegal by Prop. 54.
There's much, much more, but I've talked for too
long so visit this web site for more:
http://www.informedcalifornia.org/
Please pass this message along to your friends
and register to vote if you haven't done so
already (or re- register if you've moved).
October 7 is coming up real soon. Even if you're
going to be away for college like me or
something, you can vote by absentee ballot.
No matter how you vote on the recall election,
vote NO against Prop. 54!
Thanks for reading this message.
Lance Leong me@dyslexik.net
posted by
nea at 10:06 PM
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wSunday, July 27, 2003 |
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Tonight, after Dave dropped Jamie off at the airport (he was in to visit us this weekend), Dave immediately took us away to the car dealership. After some mild negotiating (not great, but good), which included leaving the dealership once and having the salesman come after us. It's great to know the quick techniques for getting a car price down. It was pretty quick and painless.
The silly people at the dealership were in too much of a hurry to take Dave's car on a test drive, so they gave us literally twice what it was worth. Haha, stupid people thinking just because you can turn a car on that it runs well. They'll see what happens when someone tries to drive it off the lot and can't get it out of second. Hahaha. In trade though, because we were leasing I didn't bargain on the car price as hard as I would have if we were buying it. But oh well.
Dave is now happily ensconced in his new fancy car. Go over to his site where we should have pictures up in a few days. Yay new car!
posted by
nea at 9:55 PM
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wFriday, July 25, 2003 |
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Dave's car is dead. Long live Dave's car!
posted by
nea at 10:58 PM
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wTuesday, July 22, 2003 |
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Damn heat. Every week a new thing rots in the house. First it was fruit in the trash that leaked onto the floor. This week it was meat. Rotting fruit is a kinda nice smell; it actually reminded me of the mango grove near my uncle's old house in Hawai'i. But rotting meat is simply horrible. I had to hold my breath walking past the trash this morning while getting ready for work. However, with some good cleaning, the smell is now gone. We're setting up rules so that it doesn't happen again. Ew.
Work had been busy and vaguely stressful. There's this feeling of the further along we get, the more work there is to catch up. But we'll get there.
posted by
nea at 10:06 PM
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wTuesday, July 08, 2003 |
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My mom created a top ten list of our fourth of July. I thought it was pretty good, so I'm posting the e-mail from my mom:
Here's the Top Ten Highlights of the 4th
10. Camille breezing in for the parade with a Vodka smoothie and a 10 minute visit before she's off to the next function.
9. Brian waving & riding a lap in the parade with the Schwinn cruisers.
8. Kathy Banks' funny horror stories about the boys, "While you were saving for college, I was saving for bail" etc.
7. Emma saw Bugs Bunny.
6. The heat lovers, Dave & Aaron, crispy lobster red sunburnt by days end.
5. The afternoon pass out. 4 men and 2 women.
4. Patrick & John always showed up just when food was being served up. Otherwise we didn't see them all day.
3. The Total Pig Out, including a beer run before dinner.
2. Stephen not knowing he was coming or going. He literally got dressed in the car and left putting down his Bocce balls.
1. Everyone knew the melody for the fireworks finale, unfortunately no one was in unison.
It was a great day!
Viv
posted by
nea at 8:11 PM
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wTuesday, July 01, 2003 |
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I realize that I'm like a month late, but I'm becoming a friendster junkie. There's something that's both soothing and entertaining in going from friend to friend to friend, watching how everyone is hooked together in one big circle. I also like looking at the pictures people put up, from high school prom to michael jackson in drag.
posted by
nea at 9:22 PM
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wSunday, June 29, 2003 |
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So I should really post about Canada. What can I say? We had a really nice time. Basically, we picked the direction we were going to circle the provinces in, then drove as we pleased. If we liked a place, we stayed longer. If not, we drove on to the next one. In each province we'd pick up tourist stuff and do whatever looked interesting. Some of the stuff (Like seeing L.M. Montgomery's home and getting a tour from her cousin, eating cheap lobster) was really neat. Some of the stuff (like paying $5 to go up Magnetic Hill, where the magnetic forces pull your car) was kinda cheesy. But it was nice to just be away from everything, set our schedule as we pleased, and just hang out. The canadian dollar is still in our favor, though not as much as before the war, so we could afford to do some pretty nice stuff.
Being back has been crazy. I learned that the meeting my boss went to on the afternoon before I left on vacation ended up lasting three days. Plus he had to take over all the mundane stuff, like faxing over audit reports and depositing checks, that I take care of. I could tell he was relieved to have me back. It's nice to be appreciated. However, there really is more than enough work for two people. So I spent the week working my butt off on stuff, trying to get things caught up. I think I'm looking at increasing overtime in the weeks to follow, in order to try and make some of the new goals we talked about this week.
Dave made a really tasty lunch and dinner today with stuff we picked up this morning:
Lunch
Ahi tuna sashimi with dipping sauce
Spicy tuna on top of leftover fried rice
Strawberry cream pops
Dinner
Salad with roasted walnuts, figs, and goat cheese
Seared albacore with magno salsa
Dessert is going to be a berry thing. I like when Dave goes shopping and gets into cooking. Yay tasty food at home!
posted by
nea at 9:01 PM
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wWednesday, June 25, 2003 |
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I'm back. I've finished checking e-mail and wanted to check in. I will do a longer post on each of these things from our trip some time soon:
Flying and watching kids, kittens, and air sickness.
Providence
Being in Jersey
NYC and changes from last year
Thanksgiving at the Lobster Shanty
A full service retirement community
While we were gone, I got the job offer I was hoping for. Yay new job! I got offered $36,000 a year, which is a good raise over my current salary. But when you add in free insurance for Dave and I, plus a walking commute that will keep my new car in great shape, it's really a much larger raise. Woo-hoo! Yay turning in two weeks notice on Monday and causing pandemonium in my department. Okay, no, it won't be that crazy but it is going to be a change for the department. I've been setting mental goals on what I need to do in the next two weeks to make leaving as smooth as possible. There's a lot, but I can do it. I'm excited.
posted by
nea at 12:31 PM
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wMonday, June 23, 2003 |
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We're back! Being in Jersey and the Maritimes was good. Woodbridge is slowly starting to feel like another home to me. I have some of the streets/locations of things down now. In New Jersey, Dave and I learned that men don't get manicures and that most girls have fake nails, so getting a manicure on your actual, real nails, sucks. We both got crappy manicures, but we needed to do it for the wedding.
Greg and Jen definitely had a very impressive wedding, as expected. Black tie, full of society types and family. Lots of old NY families in fancy black dress. It was pouring right before the wedding, and turned to a wet, muggy, almost unbearable heat by the cocktail hour. Everything had to be moved around at the last minute, but it came out beautifully. Jen's hair and dress were perfect for her. She was trying hard not to be upset about all the changes going on, but pulled through. I think the most excited person at the wedding, though, was Greg's brother Hank. He was running around with a huge smile on his face, laughing and hugging everyone. It's nice to see someone so excited on what can be a harrowing and chaotic day.
The ceremony and dinner were right next to the monkeys, and the cocktails were served by the seal pool. Yep, right in the midst of the animals in the Central Park Zoo. I have now finally been in Central Park, after at least five trips to the city. The reception was at one long table, beautifully decorated with silver candleabras, silver candlesticks, and bowls and vases full of fruits and flowers. It was absolutely beautiful.
The service was not so good, for all the expense Greg and Jen put into everything. They did the placards backwards, so instead of being at the start of the table, Dave's 90 year-old grandmother had to walk to the end of a 200+ person table. She was so unhappy and tired out from the walking, so we didn't get to stay for dancing or dessert. Boo. But it was already past 11, and we had a real nice time. I put this huge dallia from one of the vases in my hair, so I smelled all pretty the rest of the night, with this big fluffy thing sticking out of my head (see the first pic from our Canada pics to see what I mean.)
The rest of our Jersey/NY stay was pretty uneventful. Mostly hanging out, running errands, and visiting with a few of Dave's friends.
Post on Canada forthcoming.
posted by
nea at 7:32 PM
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wWednesday, June 11, 2003 |
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So we are officially on vacation now! Yay! Dave and I are getting picked up by a limo tomorrow morning (cheaper than parking) and heading down to LAX, where our flight leaves at 9 am for Newark, New Jersey. We're going to be staying with Dave's mom for a few days, and attending his cousin Greg's wedding in the Central Park Zoo. Both Greg and his fiancee are hella rich, so it should be a pretty impressive affair. I'm looking forward to it.
From Jersey, we're going to head up to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and wander around the eastern provinces for a week. I've never been to Canada before, so it should be pretty neat. I reread the Anne of Avonlea books that we own to get in the mood, and have been checking out tourism websites/books to learn all the stuff to do. It should be a great trip. Unfortunately, with the economy sucking ass, the exchange rate won't be as good as it was, but it's still cheap for Americans to go to Canada.
Why do people think SARS is deadly? Healthy people just get a cold. Not a big deal at all. It's infants and elderly and the like that really have problems. I've had a few people surprised that we were going to leave the country. Whereas, I figure Dave and I are two healthy people, we might as well milk the SARS thing for any travel benefits it has.
posted by
nea at 7:49 PM
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This week on the vending machine (taped to a bag of peanuts):
"These nuts are stale and expired. Give me back my money.
-Juan x.222"
posted by
nea at 7:43 PM
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wTuesday, June 03, 2003 |
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OK, in two days the weather has gone from 90 degrees, hot enough to give me a sunburn walking back and forth to work, to gray and drizzly. I drove the half-mile to work today because the weather just sucked and I didn't want to get caught in the rain. I always feel so lame driving to work but oh, well. Wet work clothes are no good.
Spent the day working through all sorts of stuff. By the end of this month, I may have us close to caught up on all the outstanding audits. I didn't think that I'd be able to say that until near the end of the year. It also means that there may be a point where we won't have five year-old audits sitting on our books. Yay. It's nice to have a job where I feel like I'm being productive and moving towards some good goals.
posted by
nea at 9:49 PM
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wSunday, June 01, 2003 |
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So nice to be out and about in the sun! I think the worst part of having a job is in the summer, when all I want to do is go the beach on nice days. Yesterday we went swimming, and today we are going to 3rd Street Promenade, so at least on the weekends I'm getting some sun. Today, I also spent a couple hours watching "Surf Girls" on MTV, so I got a little ocean that way too.
Last night we went down to OC for sushi and random Laguna Beach clubbing. We went to Monsoon on PCH for sushi- not bad, but kinda pricy. The spicy stuff was actually really spicy, which I appreciated. The clubbing down there is different from what we do in LA-- older people, more casual, and very different demographics. Long night but I had fun roaming around and hanging out with people. We started at the club upstairs from the sushi restaurant, but one of our group couldn't get in because he was wearing sneakers, so we then headed down the street to the White House. By midnight, the place was crazily packed (way over their 182 fire code max), and going outside wasn't so great because the patio filled up with smokers. Bleh. Dave got tired and sick of the loud thumping, but I had a pretty good time.
posted by
nea at 1:31 PM
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wMonday, May 26, 2003 |
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It's been a fun weekend. Dave and I decided to stay in town and just try and play all weekend. Saturday we gathered all the gift certificates, coupons, and gift recepts that we could find in the house (there were quite a bit) and went out shopping. I bought three new tops and a dress, and Dave bought a new short-sleeved top, a pair of shorts, a tie, and a pair of shoes. We also picked up Mancala from the Game Keeper. The mall got a little crazy by the end, but we had a good time walking around and buying stuff. It was cool-between the sales and all our stuff, we bought over $200 worth of stuff for less than $100.
Saturday night we went out clubbing at Century Club. The group was running a little slow, so we got there too late for the girls to get in for free. Not a big deal, though. We came with a few good friends, and their friends from up north. What we didn't realize is that everyone except Dave, Greg, and I were there to be on the prowl. So the three of us would be dancing with or near everyone, and suddenly look around to realize that we'd been ditched. Kinda lame. But we found a new room upstairs (I think most of the time there are private parties going on in there) that was playing trance, so the three of us had fun dancing up there. A little after midnight, Dave was tired and Greg was not in especially good shape, so we told one of the group we were leaving and headed out. I ended up being up until two taking care of Greg. Poor Greg, he was not doing so well. But at least we didn't have to carry him or hold his head while we puked, so it was easy.
Sunday we went to lunch with my dad, stepmom, and Leah as a late anniversary celebration. Dave and I were both a little out of it, but it was nice to be with my family and get free food. Yay Islands!
Today we got some people together and headed out for dim sum. I haven't had dim sum since October, so I was really happy to have a big group and get all sorts of stuff. The past couple times I've gone, I've been the one ordering, but today Frances did it. It was nice for a change, as each person has their own favorites and things that they like to pick out. Today I tried jellyfish for the first time. It was pickled and kinda tasted like chewy kim chee or diakon. I liked it, but I'm not sure if it really matched with the other things that we ate. I'd eat it again though. Afterwards, we did a bit of shopping with people, came back here, took a long nap, and went swimming. The weather finally cleared so it was nice swimming weather. For dinner, Dave made breakfast. We had really good blueberry pancakes (yay farmer's market!), thick bacon, and hash browns. So now I'm happy and full. Too bad we have to go to work tomorrow. I could deal with a few more days of this.
posted by
nea at 7:00 PM
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wMonday, May 19, 2003 |
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Happy anniversary to us! It has been a whole year since Dave and I went through all the wedding craziness. A lot of people said that we wouldn't remember a thing. I don't think that's true. I remember not being able to look at Dave for most of the ceremony because we were both about to cry. . . how perfect the weather was . . . how great all the guys looked in tuxes . . . the tasty food . . I have so many memories of the day that I think will stay with me forever.
Today was a wonderful day too. We received cards in the mail from my stepgrandmother Anne and Dave's best friend Jamie. There was this HUGE bouquet on the dining room table when I got home. The weather was warm enough for a pool and jacuzzi run after work. We had a romantic dinner in Glendale at Divina Cucina. And now we get to hang out with each other for a few hours and be happy.
posted by
nea at 9:44 PM
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Back from Wyoming. Land of rolling green hills where the deer and the antelope play. It was a nice trip. It felt really good to be out of LA and in the country for a bit. I needed the change of scene. We stayed in Centenial, Wyoming, population 100. Big town. It's kinda crazy to realize that Laramie, where AJ lives and where the University of Wyoming is, is considered a big town for having 15,000 people in it. Versus here, you need 100,000 to really be thought of as good sized. Strange what happens when you get off the coasts and into the middle of the country.
posted by
nea at 9:38 PM
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wThursday, May 15, 2003 |
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I'm off to Wyoming tomorrow. Land of cattle ranches and high altitudes. Dave's sister, AJ, is getting her masters from the University of Wyoming and we're going out to watch her graduate. I've never been to Wyoming (or Utah, where we're flying in) so it should be fun. Talk to y'all monday!
posted by
nea at 10:40 PM
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wSaturday, May 10, 2003 |
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Who knew I was so violent and lustful? At least it looks like I'm a nice and happy violent person. :)
posted by
nea at 9:11 PM
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The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Take the Dante's Inferno Test
posted by
nea at 9:11 PM
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wFriday, May 09, 2003 |
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I spent yesterday home cleaning because my eyes hurt too much to go to work. Last week privacy screens were put on everyone's computer (HIPPA stuff) and mine was drving me nuts. I had headaches everyday, and Wednesday night I got dizzy enough to end up puking. So I took Thursday off, with the determination to come to work today and get the screen off of my computer. It turned out to not be a big deal at all. I told my boss, told the department head, told HR, and had IT come pick up the screen. Everyone totally understood and had no problems with it. I'm glad I don't deal with a lot of private health information, or I probably would have been screwed trying to get it off. Today I feel much much better. And the apartment is looking pretty clean to boot!
posted by
nea at 8:28 PM
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wTuesday, May 06, 2003 |
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The UCLA Young Alumni Reunion was lots of fun. I was impressed-- for $20 you get dinner, three drinks (though the bartenders didn't really care), parking, admission, a 5x5 souvenier photo, dancing, gambling, and all sorts of free stuff. It was much less crowded than Dave and I expected, figuring that probably close to 50,000 people were invited. A saw a few people that I hadn't seen in awhile, but I was really hoping for more of a reunion.
I guess when I get older it will be more interesting. . . actually, I probably won't care about UCLA alumni reunions as I get older. Many of my friends graduated in 1999 and 2000, and there are so many people at UCLA that I really know a very small percentage of my graduating class. I'd much rather go to high school reunions, where I will know most everyone and be excited to catch up with people that I like but never see. What's funny is that Dave is the opposite--he wasn't all that close with people at his high school, but has lots of college friends that he never sees.
posted by
nea at 9:06 PM
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I'm having problems being motivated at work. I'm kinda bored, not because there is nothing to do but because so much of what needs to be done involves calling people who act nasty and don't want to pay.
I have a guy that is writing nastier and nastier letters about a claim that is less than $50.00. I can understand if it was $5,000.00, it was a small business, and he really thought that there were serious, provable errors in the audit. We get nasty letters like that about once a month, and I feel that sometimes they have every right to be mad. But this is stupid. $50? How many busy producers would be so petty as to spend over ten hours of their time on a small claim, just because they think that the hours MIGHT be fraudulent. Just pay the damn thing and get over it. With 400 audits on the line I do not have time to deal with this person.
Other things that make me want to go home and take care of other business:
Calling me daily for updates when I've told you that I am waiting for reports that will take at least a week to process.
Having a boss that can't keep regular hours because he is obsessing over a car. He's a nice guy, but sheesh, it does not take three weeks after getting in a car accident to decide a) to buy a new car over getting the old one fixed; and b) buying the new car. Maybe next week we can get some normalacy.
Adding one page to the front of a report, causing me to have to reprint almost 30 spreadsheets, then saying "Oh, but I told ________." ________ not being me, the person who has done all of the work creating, updating, and printing the report.
Privacy screens. I thought I would like having a privacy screen on my computer, but I don't like it at all. It's made it twice as hard for me to see anything on my screen. It is dark, and I have lost the last quarter-inch all around my monitor. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to read in the dark. I can't be on the phone and look over at the screen. I like most HIPPA stuff, but DAMN this is annoying. There's not a whole lot I can do about it either.
OK, enough. I work now.
posted by
nea at 9:30 PM
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latest note on the vending machine:
Vendor Dude,
I gave the machine a dollar and it gave me nothing in return.
Thanks,
Junipero
posted by
nea at 9:29 PM
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wSunday, April 27, 2003 |
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Yesterday Dave and I went to my favorite event that UCLA puts on-- The Festival of Books. Hundreds of book sellers and publishing houses, authors, cooking demonstrations . . .and the thing just gets bigger every year. It really impresses me that there can be an event dedicated to books that brings in thousands of people over a weekend. Dave and I managed to be pretty good about our book buying. We bought two children's french books for me. They're probably still way above my head but Dave's trying. We also picked up a California Cuisine cookbook (slightly pretenious but some good ideas) and a book of the best food writing of 2002. In trade, we donated three bags of books to Reading by 9, whom were really appreciative and gave us stickers. I think having all kids reading by nine versus a younger age is kinda sd, especially since I was reading at four, but the idea is pretty noble. Better to be reading at nine than not at all.
Today, house cleaning!
posted by
nea at 3:53 PM
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wSunday, April 20, 2003 |
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Yay, lent is over and we can eat deep fried food again! What's funny is that I thought I'd miss french fries, since I eat them probably once or twice a week, but I totally don't. What I actually miss is orange chicken and fried calamari. But not badly enough to have to run out and get it as soon as possible. Nor did we get anything at midnight last night. Dave picked up donuts this morning after hitting the farmer's market, which I thought was an appropriate easter breakfast.
posted by
nea at 12:25 PM
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wTuesday, April 15, 2003 |
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Had an interesting last couple of days. Sunday Dave and I went down to OC to help Greg move out into his own place. It was such an easy move compared to our last couple of moved. Greg had almost no furniture to move, and had both a dolly and a wheeled cart for us to pile boxes on. Made things very easy.
Of course, every move has its issues. Greg got a parking ticket for parking in two handicapped spots. There was nowhere else in the lot to park, and we had hoped to unload before anyone came. We figured out later that he would have been better off parking in the red, double-parking, or blocking other cars. Oh well. Also, a lot of Greg's stuff had been sitting in storage for four years. A storage place shared with a nice family of mice, who made friends with Greg's boxspring (we left that in storage) and died on a chair (we left that in storage too after Dave scraped off the mouse). Yuck. It was funny, though, a bunch of the boxes had my handwriting on them from when Greg moved home in '99. I think I am the only person who would label a box "GSB random crap." I'm looking forward to seeing the place once he's all moved in. The complex is just awesome - 24 hour fitness center, two pools, tennis court, full size washer and dryer in all the apartments, big balconies. . . I'm impressed.
Also, we learned on Sunday that the mother of a family friend had died. We were sad to learn about it, but also realized that she had been sick for a long time and it was just her time to go. Dave and I went and sat shivah last night for her. I had never been part of a minion or sat shivah before, and had only Dave's words (you sit and don't talk much) to go off of. It turned out to be really nice. They had a bunch of food laid out, and afterwards we went into the living room for a service. There were pictures and photo albums of Fay, our host's mother, everywhere for people to look through. The occasion turned out to be more of a nice get together with friends and family sharing stories than a melancholy, somber event.
posted by
nea at 6:25 PM
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wSaturday, April 12, 2003 |
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dirty dirty nea.
posted by
nea at 11:21 PM
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wThursday, April 10, 2003 |
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How cool is this? Alpha Phi Omega won the points of light award. I wondered how President Bush's "1,000 Points of Light" was being spread. For one day, it was spread to us.
http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/AwardWinnerShow.cfm?AwardNum=2397
posted by
nea at 8:25 PM
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wMonday, March 31, 2003 |
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Sometimes I like Monday because it means that a crazy and hetic weekend is over. I had way too much family for one weekend.
posted by
nea at 10:13 PM
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wWednesday, March 26, 2003 |
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It was a nice quiet day at work. Just a few phone calls and e-mails, and every person around me was out for one reason or another. I had this whole area of the office to myself. I got a chance to start digging into a few projects that I have going, and just spend time working without distraction.
Part of the system that I've been working on testing and designing is going live tomorrow! When all of it goes live, Phil and I will have way way less work to take care of. Computers are good like that.
posted by
nea at 8:15 PM
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wMonday, March 24, 2003 |
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I kinda like Mondays at work. I'm able to finish up anything left from the previous week and get a good idea of what the current one is going to look like. This week: phone calls and issues that will take weeks to solve. I've already had two of those so far, and I'm expecting a few more. At least it makes life interesting.
posted by
nea at 8:09 PM
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wSaturday, March 22, 2003 |
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I had my two-month review on Friday. Yes, for those of you who have been paying attention, I have been at my job for three months. Things have just been too busy. The review went really well. I was performing at or above expectations for everything, which made me happy. I also finally got to see the elusive goals that I have been hearing about for the past month and a half. I think a couple of them are very ambitious, but overall achievable. Especially since most of them are also tied directly to my boss. Since we work on the exact same inventory, "reducing inventory by 25%" is a goal for both of us. I guess I'll see in a few months how achievable these things really are.
posted by
nea at 9:42 PM
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Another Saturday, another protest. Today we marched on the CNN building to protest the coverage of the war. I didn't know that this was the plan when my dad called yesterday to ask if we wanted to come. Dave and I were there protesting the war, purely. I think both of us were a bit disallusioned by the whole thing. And we're not going to the Academy Awards protest, that is for sure. I like the Oscars, and have no need to ruin what is a great night for so many people by being out there protesting the war. I'm happy to be a body in a protest, but only when I feel that the reason behind it matches my own philosophy. The saving point of today was this group that built an absolutely awesome pirate ship. I wish I had a camera. It was a ship with Bush as a hook-handed captain, and Cheney as his first mate. Instead of a cabin, there was a model of the white house and an oil well spilling blood. Four people had to carry around the thing. It was so damn cool.
We were supposed to go out for drinks this evening, but our friends got too tired and went home instead. It's hard to have a rule about one of your best friends that you can't expect him to show up until you actually see him. That's life, I guess.
posted by
nea at 9:39 PM
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wTuesday, March 18, 2003 |
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Saturday, in the pouring rain, Dave and I joined my dad in the protest downtown. We learned that dry cleaning bags and some tape work great at keeping signs dry. Unfortunately, they were the only things that were dry by the end of the march. Although I was wearing a waterproof jacket, the rain seeped down my collar and into the sleeves until I was soaked. I was completely drenched from the neck down. I was able to keep my head and hair dry, yay waterproof hood! My dad, who looked like an albino in the desert (rainproof brightly colored clothes hiding many layers of gear, motorcycling gloves, and hiking boots), stayed dry the longest but eventually the rain worked its way into his clothes too. Dave, who wasn't wearing waterproof clothes to begin with, got the worst of it. We left before the rally because he was freezing. The cool part is that we were on the channel four news at 5 pm! And not just a random crowd scene where you get half a glimpse. We walked directly in front of the cameras, just the three of us, where we are the only things in the camera and our signs came out perfectly clear. I guess, with so many people leaving their signs at home in the rain, "How did our oil get under your sand?" "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." and "Thou shalt not kill." were the winners of the footage of the rally. I feel kinda proud.
My dad has been really active in the anti-war effort. Rallys and protests every weekend, as well as many nights during the week. I can always get the latest news, both of protests around the world and what is going on with the government, from him. Looks like we may be screwed though. I am not at all happy that we are going to war tomorrow, but I am hoping that this can end quickly. I want my uncle home. I want the economy fixed. And I don't want to be scared of Saddam sending men over here to implement biological and chemical warfare on america.
posted by
nea at 9:56 PM
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wTuesday, March 11, 2003 |
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What has probably been the most entertaining of the vending machine notes:
x. 123
Please please do not try and
sell us items that are expired.
Especially those expired December 2001!
P.S. You owe me 60 cents.
This had the bag (empty) taped beneath it on the front of the machine.
posted by
nea at 7:23 PM
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wMonday, March 10, 2003 |
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Even our goverment doesn't like the war:
U.S. Diplomat John Brady Kiesling
Letter of Resignation, to:
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
ATHENS | Thursday 27 February 2003
Dear Mr. Secretary:
I am writing you to submit my resignation from the Foreign Service of the United States and from my position as Political Counselor in U.S. Embassy Athens, effective March 7. I do so with a heavy heart. The baggage of my upbringing included a felt obligation to give something back to my country. Service as a U.S. diplomat was a dream job. I was paid to understand foreign languages and cultures, to seek out diplomats, politicians, scholars and journalists, and to persuade them that U.S. interests and theirs fundamentally coincided. My faith in my country and its values was the most powerful weapon in my diplomatic arsenal.
It is inevitable that during twenty years with the State Department I would become more sophisticated and cynical about the narrow and selfish bureaucratic motives that sometimes shaped our policies. Human nature is what it is, and I was rewarded and promoted for understanding human nature. But until this Administration it had been possible to believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was also upholding the interests of the American people and the world. I believe it no longer.
The policies we are now asked to advance are incompatible not only with American values but also with American interests. Our fervent pursuit of war with Iraq is driving us to squander the international legitimacy that has been America’s most potent weapon of both offense and defense since the days of Woodrow Wilson. We have begun to dismantle the largest and most effective web of international relationships the world has ever known. Our current course will bring instability and danger, not security.
The sacrifice of global interests to domestic politics and to bureaucratic self-interest is nothing new, and it is certainly not a uniquely American problem. Still, we have not seen such systematic distortion of intelligence, such systematic manipulation of American opinion, since the war in Vietnam. The September 11 tragedy left us stronger than before, rallying around us a vast international coalition to cooperate for the first time in a systematic way against the threat of terrorism. But rather than take credit for those successes and build on them, this Administration has chosen to make terrorism a domestic political tool, enlisting a scattered and largely defeated Al Qaeda as its bureaucratic ally. We spread disproportionate terror and confusion in the public mind, arbitrarily linking the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq. The result, and perhaps the motive, is to justify a vast misallocation of shrinking public wealth to the military and to weaken the safeguards that protect American citizens from the heavy hand of government. September 11 did not do as much damage to the fabric of American society as we seem determined to so to ourselves. Is the Russia of the late Romanovs really our model, a selfish, superstitious empire thrashing toward self-destruction in the name of a doomed status quo?
We should ask ourselves why we have failed to persuade more of the world that a war with Iraq is necessary. We have over the past two years done too much to assert to our world partners that narrow and mercenary U.S. interests override the cherished values of our partners. Even where our aims were not in question, our consistency is at issue. The model of Afghanistan is little comfort to allies wondering on what basis we plan to rebuild the Middle East, and in whose image and interests. Have we indeed become blind, as Russia is blind in Chechnya, as Israel is blind in the Occupied Territories, to our own advice, that overwhelming military power is not the answer to terrorism? After the shambles of post-war Iraq joins the shambles in Grozny and Ramallah, it will be a brave foreigner who forms ranks with Micronesia to follow where we lead.
We have a coalition still, a good one. The loyalty of many of our friends is impressive, a tribute to American moral capital built up over a century. But our closest allies are persuaded less that war is justified than that it would be perilous to allow the U.S. to drift into complete solipsism. Loyalty should be reciprocal. Why does our President condone the swaggering and contemptuous approach to our friends and allies this Administration is fostering, including among its most senior officials. Has “oderint dum metuant” really become our motto?
I urge you to listen to America’s friends around the world. Even here in Greece, purported hotbed of European anti-Americanism, we have more and closer friends than the American newspaper reader can possibly imagine. Even when they complain about American arrogance, Greeks know that the world is a difficult and dangerous place, and they want a strong international system, with the U.S. and EU in close partnership. When our friends are afraid of us rather than for us, it is time to worry. And now they are afraid. Who will tell them convincingly that the United States is as it was, a beacon of liberty, security, and justice for the planet?
Mr. Secretary, I have enormous respect for your character and ability. You have preserved more international credibility for us than our policy deserves, and salvaged something positive from the excesses of an ideological and self-serving Administration. But your loyalty to the President goes too far. We are straining beyond its limits an international system we built with such toil and treasure, a web of laws, treaties, organizations, and shared values that sets limits on our foes far more effectively than it ever constrained America’s ability to defend its interests.
I am resigning because I have tried and failed to reconcile my conscience with my ability to represent the current U.S. Administration. I have confidence that our democratic process is ultimately self-correcting, and hope that in a small way I can contribute from outside to shaping policies that better serve the security and prosperity of the American people and the world we share.
John Brady Kiesling
posted by
nea at 10:36 PM
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Only my husband would here a catchy song on the radio, research it online, and download the russian version to sing along to.
No "All the Things She Said" by tatu is now something like "vles ooh shma vu na" (ok, so I have no grasp of Russian.)
posted by
nea at 10:22 PM
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wSaturday, March 08, 2003 |
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Last night Dave, Diana, Fred, and I had dinner at our place and then went to go check out one of the local comedy clubs, the HaHa Club. It had a $12 cover, plus a $10 minimum inside. They serve food, too, which was kinda random. The cocktails were expensive but okay. The scene was a pretty mixed. Dave and I were the white people in the front, Diana and Fred were the asians, the people next to us were the interracial couple, and so on. It was mostly latinos by the time we left, but a good mix of people during the night.
The comedians started out pretty good. I learned quite a bit about the comedic circuit in LA. For instance, the later into the night it gets, the worse the comedians get. At midnight we had a guy that blanked (I felt bad for him, but that's show biz) and we decided we'd had enough. I don't even want to think what the 1:30 comedian was like. Probably his third time on the stage or something. We probably saw fifteen comedians by the time we were through. It was a little crazy, to have this feeling of never ending comics. I also learned that a lot of these guys do a few clubs during a night. We knew we weren't at a top level club, as the host of the start of the show had a 1:30 am gig elsewhere. But he was good. In fact, most of the guys, and the one girl, were pretty good. My favorite line was "Don't drink and drive, because your car will drive you straight to Denny's."
posted by
nea at 6:14 PM
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wMonday, March 03, 2003 |
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I have realized that I go clubbing for very different reasons than most people. I am not out to find a man. Did that already. I am not out to get wasted drunk. Nor am I out to show myself off by wearing a beige bra and hiphugger jeans, or a white top, jeans, and a bright turquiose thong. Though, I guess, that could be fun and all. Who needs clothes.
I actually like the dancing and checking out styles part of clubbing. I like being up and about and moving to music, even if I suck. I figure that by midnight most people are drunk enough to not care how I dance anyway. But I probably spend as much time looking at people as I do dancing. I totally look around and go "Oooooh, I like those shoes" or something equally random. Or seeing people in really disgusting outfits, or items that totally don't fit, or that kinda thing, and cracking up. I don't know what possessed some of the people we saw at Century Club Saturday night. Why, oh why, would you wear an off the shoulder top that is two sizes too big with no bra? No, your boobie falling out of the top of your shirt is not attractive, scary looking woman. Why, oh why, did you think your butt fit in that pair of pants? But most people look pretty good, and it's nice to see what the fashion trends are out there because I am totally clueless.
posted by
nea at 8:00 PM
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wSunday, March 02, 2003 |
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Who knew there was almost one hundred dollars in change in our piggy bank? We were able to cover our bills that were due this week without taking money out of the house account. Dave and I have enough cash to live for the week, and that's it until my paycheck comes in on Thursday. Yay credit cards! We've also decided to try and save all of my income up and leave a little more sparingly, as we don't need to be spending so much. We'll see how that goes.
My uncle, who is fifty-one years old, got called up for active service today. He's a member of the army reserved, and was last called into service during the LA riots. He goes for a week of training in March, and will then be deployed for up to a year. Sucks. What the hell is a man in his fifties doing being called into active service? Next thing you know, we're going to be conscripting men for this stupid war where we are in NO immediate danger. Bush sucks.
posted by
nea at 7:04 PM
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wWednesday, February 26, 2003 |
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OK, our money issues caught up with us. We had to roll the change in order to not take money out of the house account to live on for the next week.
posted by
nea at 8:51 PM
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wSaturday, February 22, 2003 |
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This weekend Dave had a major rollout at Disney. I was warned that he might be working very very late Friday, and most of the day Saturday. I also knew that Disney was buying dinner for him last night and possibly lunch today. These are fine and normal working conditions.
Working conditions do not involve calling me at 7 pm Friday, saying "I'm done. We're going out for dinner and drinks. I don't know how late I'll be home" and then not inviting me. Instead, last night I had a half and sandwich and some coleslaw from the local deli, then went to the gym for an hour and a quarter.
Working conditions may involve going to Hooters after you have finished on Saturday for lunch. I could care less that Dave is at Hooter's, and I thought it was nice of him to tell me that he couldn't invite me because it was a team thing only. Working conditions, however, do not involve calling me an hour later and saying that you are too drunk to drive home. Being drunk and doing business are polar opposites. At least, they are to me.
Dave loses many husband points this weekend.
posted by
nea at 1:51 PM
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wWednesday, February 19, 2003 |
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I have health insurance! Yay!
Dave made a very tasty dinner this evening. Sea bass in miso sauce, cold soba noodles with a ponzu-kinda dipping sauce, and sweet corn. I know, the corn is a little wierd. But hey, we're white, not asain. Soba noodles grow like mad when you cook them! Dave made half the package, and we ate maybe half of what he cooked. This means I have soba with dipping sauce for lunch tomorrow Yum.
posted by
nea at 9:04 PM
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wTuesday, February 18, 2003 |
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I might have insurance starting tomorrow. I faxed all the stuff into the person who is handling my claim today, and she said she would try to get it done tonight. Yay yay yay. No more $35.99 drugs.
posted by
nea at 8:52 PM
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From the protest comes today's song of the day:
Let's Bomb Iraq
(sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"
If you cannot find Osama bomb Iraq
If the markets are a drama bomb Iraq
If your argument is lousy and you evidence is shoddy
If the highjackers were Saudi bomb Iraq
If you never were elected bomb Iraq
If your mood is quite dejected bomb Iraq
If you think an S.U.V. is the best thing since sliced cheese
And your father you must please then bomb Iraq
If we have no allies with us bomb Iraq
If we think that someone's dissed us bomb Iraq
So to hell with the inspections let's look tough for the elections
Close your mind take directions bomb Iraq
posted by
nea at 8:51 PM
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wSunday, February 16, 2003 |
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Well, we attempted to go to the snow today. Turns out there hasn't been much snow in the mountains.
We started by going up to Lake Arrowhead, more so I could visit all my favorite spots and show Dave around. It only took about an hour and half to get up there, which means Arrowhead is actually closer to out apartment than many point in Orange County. It's been almost two years since I was last up there, and there have been a few changes. Lake Arrowhead Village expanded a bit, and there is now a supermarket, a Green Burrito, and a few new restraunts. That was cool. What sucked is that the lake is REALLY low. At least ten feet lower than I have ever seen it before. Quite a few people no longer have docks. We went down to UCLA's docks, and where there used to be a ramp to the boats, there is now a stairway to the sand. Then you walk out about ten feet along the sand before stepping onto the end of the ramp. They lost the space for their jet ski docks completely. It was kinda sad to drive around the lake and see how low it was. In LA, you don't really notice the drought other than the wild plants (yes, there is still nature in LA) don't do as well. In Arrowhead, it was easy to see the effects. Low lake, a lot of dead trees.
After wandering around the UCLA Conference Center for a bit and then the village, we decided to drive to Big Bear. At this point, we figured our chances of playing in the snow were pretty low. It was about 50 degrees in Arrowhead and no snow in site. Big Bear isn't so far away that there would be a big difference. We were right. The only snow was little three feet patches under shady trees, and manmade snow. Sad, ugly, dirty snow. We looked at the intertube runs, with their huge crowds and dirty snow, and decided that snow wasn't in the future for today. Neither of us really cared, though. It was so nice to be up in the mountains and out of the city. We ate a nice little restraunt in the Big Bear Lake Village. The whole village was really crowded with families who had come up for the three day weekend. After lunch, we wandered around a bit. Then we came back home. It took about two hours to get back from Big Bear.
I have a feeling this means so real snow for me this year. At least I got to be up away in the mountains. After going to Arrowhead once or twice a summer for the last sixteen years, the place feels like a second home to me. I'd never been up in the winter, but it still felt right. The smell of the mountains, the friendly atmosphere at the conference center, the random locals and tourists wandering around the village shops. Happy nea.
posted by
nea at 5:43 PM
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wSaturday, February 15, 2003 |
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Woo-hoo, according to realage.com I am 16.1 years old. yay nea.
posted by
nea at 9:58 PM
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We are going to the snow tomorrow. Yay!
posted by
nea at 9:25 PM
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Yesterday, Dave made signs so that we could walk in the peace march in Hollywood today. He says he was working from home, but it looked like most of the afternoon was spent making two signs: "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent" from Asmov and a headshot of Bush saying, "How did our oil get under your sand?"
I went and did my part today in the anti-war effort. Dave and I joined my dad, stepmom, and a couple of their friends to go to the peace march in Hollywood today. My dad made signs saying "Thou shalt not kill" and "War kills women and children." We originally were going to go on the subway, but the lame ass cops wouldn't let us take the stakes attached to the signs that my dad and Dave had made. Instead we drove and parked at Hollywood and Highland. From there, we walked down to the front of the Pantages theatre and joined in the march.
It was a huge amount of people. My dad ran into his friend Hamdee, who was a huppa bearer at my father's wedding, and who works in Egypt. The fact that he happened to be both in town and that we saw him at the march was pretty crazy. My stepmom ran into a few teachers. We also ran into one of my parents' nieghbors. We walked with the Topanga Peace Alliance, who spent two days trying to figure out a slogan to put on their banner and never got around to it (this is very typical of Topanga). There were groups from all over walking-- United Teacher of Los Angeles, Scientologists, various religious groups, Coalition for Peace, Not in Our Name, etc. It was pretty entertaining to walk along and see all the different signs. My favorite slogan of the day was "Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity." That one cracked me up for awhile. There were also quite a few with Bush and/or Cheney that were great- Bush as Hitler and Cheney as Napoleon, Bush as Osama Bush Laden, Bush as a clown. You could tell that people really spent time and effort creating their signs. A lot of people commented on the sign Dave made with Bush on it, with a few people asking us to stop so they could get pictures. Somewhere, a woman has a picture of my family all proudly holding signs. What I thought was interesting is that I thought "Thou shalt not kill" would be a popular slogan, but I didn't see it anywhere but on my dad's sign.
We saw a man dressed as Jesus telling people he wouldn't bomb. I thought the best display was two guys, one on a bike and one on two skateboards put together, who had constructed a cardboard tank. The tank had "STOP BUSH" on the back, and the guy lying on the skateboards would randomly pop the top of the tank and look out through cardboard binoculars. Dave really liked a little kid that had a sign saying, "No hitting."
Around 3:30 (realize we had started walking at about 12:30) Dave, my stepmom, and I were ready to go. The cops were starting to swarm, we couldn't get to the stage to see the speeches, and there were just way to many people. That and we were tired. We convinced my dad to go and we walked the few blocks back to Hollywood and Highland. There, we entered a chocolate store just to smell, and the sales clerk in there was nice enough to give us free chocolates and validate our parking. You could tell that he wanted to do his part in the war effort. So here is a plug in return: go the chocolate store at Hollywood and Highland in the bottom floor of the Kodak building. Yay.
We got home a little after four. I took drugs because my head was killing me and quickly crashed out. I feel fine now, after sleep and food, but walking and protesting for three and a half hours is tiring.
posted by
nea at 9:24 PM
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wWednesday, February 12, 2003 |
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It looks like I may just get health insurance this week. I called my doctor today (again) to find out what was going on. She called back, saying she was surprised that I called. It turned out that the claim I needed revised was revised, but they never sent me a copy. She put a copy in the mail today, so finally I will be able to submit it and get things moving again. Not having health insurance for a month and a half is a little scary. That back of your mind, what if something horrible happens type of scary. Glad it's almost over.
I'm tired. I have been doing long and not very exciting tasks at work the past couple of days. Major amounts of testing Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Today I started printing pages for a book that we're publishing for a meeting on the 20th. There are times my boss drives me a little nuts, though. I spent three or four hours printing everything we had in the right order and making sure it looked good and everything for the book. So later that afternoon he says, "I noticed that you printed everything on my printer. I wonder if it would look better on the main printer." I totally didn't understand. He had in his hand nice, clean copies of everything. There will be about twenty copies of this thing printed, and then it will sit in file drawers for eternity. Why would he want me to spend another three hours printing it all again on another printer just to see if it might look better? Argh. I think I convinced him that it wasn't necessary. I hope. We shall see tomorrow.
posted by
nea at 9:14 PM
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wSunday, February 09, 2003 |
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The lastest of the notes on the vending machines:
(typed, on a sticky)
If you lose money trying to buy a Sprite, please call Fred at extension 469. Thank you.
posted by
nea at 1:03 PM
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wTuesday, February 04, 2003 |
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On a happy note, Dave's doesn't have to work Valentine's weekend! Yay!
posted by
nea at 9:22 PM
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Last night I got to lay in bed with food poisoning. Fun. For lunch I had gumbo from our freezer (probably bad), radish kimchee (possibly bad), and strawberry rubarb pie (probably bad). I figure any one of the items could have made me sick, but the combination of the three pushed me over the top. Not fun. I feel much better this morning, though. My stomach is still a little off. I have a feeling if it could talk it would say, "What the hell did you put in me yesterday?!? Was that food? Was I supposed to digest that?" I have a mild headache, too, but I think that's mostly dehydration. Yuck. Dave and I are going to do a serious cleaning out of the fridge tonight, throwing away anything we even think might be past it's prime.
posted by
nea at 9:22 PM
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wFriday, January 31, 2003 |
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Man, where did this week go? I must have been busy working. Wow, that still sounds odd.
Dave has been working like a madman. Full full days where we runs up to the cafeteria for a fifteen minute lunch. He has to work this Saturday, too, which makes me sad. And Valentine's weekend. Boo. But at least this means more money for things like a house and our vacation in June and stuff like that.
Wednesday night I drove over the hill to have dinner on the third street promenade. It was really wierd to be on those freeways at rush hour, but going the other way. It is so much faster. I'm not used to driving anymore, now that I walk to work, so being in traffic just felt totally odd. I'm becoming the antithesis of LA -- a person who walks places. AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! haha
posted by
nea at 9:43 PM
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wFriday, January 24, 2003 |
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I still don't have health insurance. What an annoying process this all is. I had one breakthrough last week, after two weeks of not knowing what was going on, when I learned I was "Diagnosed with a condition" during a regular exam I had in March. I couldn't get the woman at Blue Cross to tell me either on the phone or in writing what the condtion was. So, in the back of my head I've had these vague fears. "What if I have something deadly?" "Hmmmm, maybe I have __________." I have been randomly checking myself for anything wierd all week. The end result of this first conversation was that I needed to call my doctor's office and have them revise the claim to have this mysterious condition taken off.
I spent a week calling the office and leaving messages for "the bookkeeper at extension 130." Yesterday, I gave up leaving messages on this voicemail and started demanding physical notes be placed on her desk and I called every forty-five minutes or so. Turns out there is no one at extension 130. Nope. The woman in billing never got any of my messages. I explain my situation, and she quickly pulls up my file. "Oh, you were diagnosed with PMS."
"PMS! You have got to be kidding. I'm being denied insurance because I have PMS?!?"
This struck me as so stupid and bureaucratic bullshit that I had to laugh. How completely stupid could an insurance company be to deny insurance based on THAT condition.
So, I left a message with my doctor asking if she could revise the claim. She called back today. Looks like it's going to be no problem and that I should have the magical revised claim in my hand Monday. Finally. I was starting to wonder if I would have insurance at all.
posted by
nea at 7:35 PM
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The past few days I have been too sick to come online after making it through a day at work. But here I am!
Various vending machine notes (all from 1/23). Remember, all names and extensions are fake.
I lost 65 cents on A2 when the chips got stuck.
Thanks, Bob x.069
I lost $1.30 (circled and underlined too)
for chips when the money got stuck. Give me
back my money.
Thanks, Deb x.169
Vendor Man,
Refund my 65 cents. The chips in A2 are stuck!
-Greg x.269
I guess the chips in A2 are really popular. You'd think the third person would have noticed that they were stuck, though.
posted by
nea at 7:27 PM
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wTuesday, January 21, 2003 |
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So, I'm at home sick today. I'm kinda achey and have mucus coming from every orifice. Yuck. I decided laying at home like a lump would be the best way to feel better, so here I am. Lump lump lump.
posted by
nea at 12:34 PM
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wFriday, January 17, 2003 |
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OK, this is from the 15th but I couldn't get blogger to work that day. Damn blogger. Anyhow, here is what I wrote on the 15th after a long day at work . . .
Worked my first overtime today. It was interesting. When I start work at 8:15 most of the company is there already. At 6 pm, there are not so many people left in the office. All the people I work closely with were still there, though. It makes me realize just how behind things were getting with Phil being the only one doing collections. You can't have four hundred acitve disputes and one man to work on them all, plus create reports and test billing systems, and all that good stuff. I think even with a third person we'd still all be working pretty hard. We'll see. Yay not being exempt and making extra money. Between Dave's tooth, car insurance, planning a trip to Canada, and saving three-fourths of my income for the house, there isn't a lot to spare. But I think we live pretty damn good, so whatever.
Speaking of car insurance, it looks like we're going to bring mine down about $200 because I walk to work. The rule is basically under 7500 miles gets one rate, over 7500 another. As long as we don't take my car on any more road trips up north or to Vegas, this will be easy. Another reason why my new job is a good thing.
posted by
nea at 9:50 PM
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I had a crappy day. Nothing especially bad happened. I felt kinda sick and had stomach issues all morning, and went to the bathroom about every hour and a half. I was tired of testing the system, though I finished the long, boring part this afternoon. I couldn't get ahold of Dave all day, either on e-mail or phone. I still don't have insurance, and won't until Tuesday at the earliest. We cancelled our party because no one could come. Just kinda a lousy day.
At least my evening was much improved. Dave came home and decided to take me out to dinner. Of all things, it turned out I wanted German Food (amazing what happens when Dave throws cuisines into the air and something suddenly sounds really good) so we did some research and found a place online in Van Nuys that looked pretty good. It was very very tasty. Yay! It was called Chef Matterhorn or something equally olde worlde. I had sauerbraten (long cooked meat) and spetzle (kinda like gnocchi but smaller) and sauteed cabbage. Yummmmm. German Food isn't one of those things I usually think about, or have any cravings form, but tonight was just right. Vastly improved how I was feeling.
Where did winter go? I'm planning on going to the beach with friends this weekend. That just seems like a wrong thing to do in the middle of January. What happened to wet wet ugly days mixed with freezing and clear ones? I miss a normal Southern California winter, dammit!
posted by
nea at 9:47 PM
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wTuesday, January 14, 2003 |
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When someone leaves in the middle of doing some training, saying "Let me go get that book," don't you expect them to come back in a minute or two? It's been at least fifteen. So I'm sitting and waiting so that I can finished an assigned task. Sigh.
So finally I went to go look for Phil. Turns out that getting the book turned into an indepth conversation with said book's owner. Plus a couple people in the vicinity. But I came over and learned some stuff during the conversation, and things finally got done. Looks like I get to work some overtime to start doing hardcore system testing.
posted by
nea at 9:18 PM
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wMonday, January 13, 2003 |
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We set up my new flat screen monitor today. I love that I can have the monitor on my desk directly behind my keyboard, rather than forced into a corner. No more having to turn my chair and strain my neck and move my keyboard to an odd angle on the desk. Thanks dad! The only bad part is it has a bit of a ghost effect. Kinda like when you watch regular TV and the signal isn't quite right. I'm sure I'll find a way to situate the monitor to minimize the problem, and probably just get used to it over time.
posted by
nea at 8:25 PM
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Nice, happy weekend. Saw people and went clubbing for the first time in three months. It was fun, I like clubbing. I just usually am either too tired or don't want to spend the money. But with Quyen becoming the guest list guru and getting girls in for free, I think I can afford to go more often.
Work is going well. I feel like I'm being useful, which is nice. I also feel like I'm making faster progress towards understanding the whole process, which I'm sure makes my boss happy. I was complimented by his boss today. This is always a good sign. I may start working overtime this week to get us moving forward on things, both on collecting money and testing our new system so that it can go live. There is A LOT of data that I need to go through, audit by audit, so that when information is transferred over there are as few fuckups as possible. This probably means adding in a lot of information to the old computer system so that the programmers can pick it up and integrate it into our new system. But hey, overtime means I become eligible for insurance sooner, and get that much closer to buying a home. Yay home.
On buying a home, it's going to be at least a year. We're thinking that when our lease is up in February, we'll renew it for a year, then start home shopping after that. I might have a house next year! Scary thought . . .
Dave and I are kinda-sorta BackOnTheDiet. Which means saying things like "I think that's three starches, not two" and "We need to add a fruit to this meal." It's a little hard to adjust to, but pretty easy to follow. We just need to behave and go the gym consistently, and I think things will go well. Since we have no money this month to be going out to dinner (damn Dave's stupid root canal with no insurance), the eating at home will help us keep on track.
posted by
nea at 8:21 PM
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wThursday, January 09, 2003 |
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My foot is all better, albeit a bit sore. I can deal with that. No more limping.
posted by
nea at 11:03 PM
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So, I'm entertained that people in my company place sticky notes on the vending machines on which they lodge complaints, write suggestions, etc. Here is today's (name and extension changed):
Dear Vendor,
The Mounds are stale. Please
refund my 60 cents.
Thanks,
Fred x. 630
Last week there was one about Fanta being replaced by Diet Pepsi that was typed and a much better piece of literature. I'm thinking about watching for these, as I find them entertaining, and posting the messages up here.
posted by
nea at 11:02 PM
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wTuesday, January 07, 2003 |
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How long did it take for me to receive all my basic office supplies:
a. None. They were all set up for me when I arrived.
b. A couple of days.
c. Three and a half weeks.
Yep, the correct answer would be (c). Today I received a pair of scissors (though I forgot to ask for left-handed ones. Damn!), therefore completing my basic office supply inventory. Could have been worse, I guess. At my last job, scissors were not considered a basic office supply. They were not on the official biller's checklist, and I didn't have a pair for over a year.
posted by
nea at 8:21 PM
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wSaturday, January 04, 2003 |
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Why are we having a heat wave? We should not be able to go lay out by the pool and go swimming at the start of January. But it's in the 70s, and Dave and I decided to take advantage of it. I like being able to use the pool, but, at this time of year, I would really rather have rain.
Oh, in my last rant, I forgot one other thing that happened at my old company that I thought was funny: they eliminated casual fridays. Yep, no more jeans and t-shirts for them. Another good reason to be happy at my new place.
posted by
nea at 6:38 PM
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wFriday, January 03, 2003 |
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Dave and I had a fun, albeit a bit odd, New Year's Eve party. We had one guest show up at about 8:30-9, when we'd asked people to come. The rest showed up after 11. Whatever. It was good to hang out with people and get buzzed and happy.
New Year's Day did not start off so well. Dave woke up in pain, as one of his cavities broke through to the nerve. Turns out our non-insured selves are going to spend a bit over $900 on a root canal for Dave. As it was a holiday, Dave had to spend the day on drugs just hanging in there. So, here's Dave, in major pain from his jaw.
That evening, I step into the kitchen and find the rest of the glass that chipped off a bowl New Year's Eve. No, I didn't see it and pick it up. I stepped on it and Dave picked it out of my foot. Ow! I can't deal with the sight of my own blood and so almost passed out. Luckily I had Dave to get me something to press against it and an arm to guide me to the couch. It turned out to be 1/4 to 1/2 an inch long, and about 1/4 inch deep. Neosporin, bandaids, and limping are seeming to do quite well for it, though. My foot is still a little sore, but much improved.
So there we were, nine pm on the first day of the new year, staring at the television while holding various body parts in pain. Not the best omen. On the other hand, if the worst thing that happens is that I get a small cut on my foot and Dave needs some dental work, I think we can deal.
posted by
nea at 8:41 PM
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There are times when I realize how bad a job situation I was in before, and how good of one I am in now. New Year's Eve, I invited over one of my old coworkers. Probably the only one that I actually want to see, but whatever. I asked for an update on how things were going at Carat. In the three weeks I have been gone . . .
Everyone assumed that department party they had right after I left would be paid for either by the company or the head of the department. Instead, she sprang it on the supervisors that they were in charge of paying for the party. So, they retaliated by not buying enough food.
Flex time and any special time arrangements were nullified, being replaced with a strict 9 to 5 schedule.
Two more people have left.
There will be no bonuses this year (not a surprise) and no raises in the coming year. This is being heard by people who for the most part did not receive raises in 2001, and 3-5% raises in 2002.
A person in my department was hauled in by the department head for regularly clocking out five minutes early.
Same department head wants a task that took myself and another girl at least three workdays a month each to complete to be assigned solely to the busiest person in the department.
Lastly, I learned that I am not being replaced, and my group is a week and a half behind. I'm so grateful to be here and not there.
posted by
nea at 8:34 PM
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