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whappy happy nea land! |
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My own spot to rant about my day.
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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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