My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts: 06/01/2004

Oh yeah, Ev? I like the logo, not sure about the "Freaky" part - it just makes me want to say "Freaky-deaky" like a stupid 70s loser. :)

And here's an article on our Six Flags getting flooded today.

Update, huh? Geez - I just updated 3 days ago! Ok:

Yesterday: Busy as hell at work.

Today: Tom took a test with SBC and has a phone interview with them tomorrow. It's for sales though, which he isn't good at, so hopefully his interview on Thursday will go really well & they'll offer him a job on the spot! (a girl can dream) I talked to my friend, Dra, who used to work with me at EarthLink. He's moved back to San Diego and was SUPPOSED to email me a picture so I could put it in my friends section, but I didn't get it yet. Maybe he spelled my email address wrong. it's liveedk at yahoo (2 e's).

Tomorrow: I work 12-9 and then I'm off until TUESDAY!! Woo-hoo.

Mega Millions is 220 million tonight. Oh please, sweet mother of mercy, let me win.

I updated my Blogger profile last night and noticed that I was born in the year of the Rat! How demoralizing! Why couldn't I have been born in the year of the cute little monkey?

I watched part of a movie the other night called The Apartment. It's about this guy (Jack Lemmon) who loans his apartment out to guys at his work so he can get a promotion. It's from 1960. He works at this insurance company in a room full of desks & typewriters. That got me to thinking. Was there an uproar in America when elevator operators were laid off due to technology? When the people who make typewriters were laid off due to technology? When switchboard operators were laid off due to technology? When grocery clerks were laid off due to technology? (That last one's just starting to happen now). There is still a huge uproar about outsourcing and I can't figure out if that's because of the people affected (I know that's why I care about it) or because of the fact that jobs are going to foreign countries. In all my examples, they were due to technology, not to cheaper labor overseas, but it was still something to think about while I watched that movie. It was a pretty good movie too, what I saw of it anyway. It's been running on Turner Classic Movies. It's weird to see actors who I've only known as older (Like Jack Lemmon & Shirley Maclaine) as very young.

Someone from American Payment Systems in Ft. Worth called Tom yesterday to schedule an interview. This, after he had a 1 hour phone interview about 2 1/2 weeks ago. This is the same company that he played Phone Tag with the HR person for 3-4 weeks. In fact, he applied to them the beginning of May, so hopefully this will turn into a job.

I just watched Timeline based on the Michael Crichton book. I don't normally like movies about the 14th Century, but this was *good* and I'd recommend it.

What I'd recommend more is a book I got at the Library today: American Jihad The Terrorists Living Among Us by Steven Emerson. I'm only on Chapter 3, but already it's shown me a whole different America - one where terrorists walk among us. I know we've already known that, but it's so easy during day to day life to forget that. The book is very powerful and you should all read it.

No one won Mega Millions last night. The jackpot for Tuesday is $210 million. Geez - what I would do with that kind of money. :)

(June 22, 2004) — NEW YORK — Two hasty dives off a Coney Island pier on May 23, 1992, made quadriplegics out of two young men from Staten Island — and cost the city of New York $25 million.
It could have been much more. The brothers who made their fateful Memorial Day leaps sued the city, and the verdict rendered initially by a Brooklyn jury called for the city to pay more than $104 million. That initial award was reduced in later court action.

The two brothers, Virgil Brown, then 26, and John Brown, then 27, dived off a 700-foot-long, city-owned fishing pier that juts out from the boardwalk of the famous seaside attraction. They had to scale a 3-foot, wooden-slat fence to do it and look down at the shallow water about 10 feet below the pier.

”I was cooling off. It was very hot that day,” Virgil Brown, a construction worker before the accident, recalled recently.

Now 38, he said he couldn’t tell from his perch that the water was only a few feet deep. He broke his neck when his head slammed into the sand.

His brother, John, dived in to try to help and suffered a similar injury.

New York City taxpayers had to pay because the jury decided that the city, which installed the fence, was responsible for the accident, despite what the city claimed was the bad judgment of the two men.

The key fault of the city, the court ruled, was not posting “no diving” signs. That warning is now stenciled every few feet along the fence.

”If there had been a sign telling me not to dive, I wouldn’t have done it,” Virgil Brown said.
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Are you freaking kidding me? These morons don't deserve a dime. If there had been a sign telling you not to dive? The fact that you had to CLIMB A FENCE wasn't odd to you? Ridiculous.

WOW! The Dallas Mavericks got JERRY STACKHOUSE in today's NBA draft. Stack played with the Sixers before being traded to the Pistons then he went to Washington, where I haven't really kept up with him. I do know that he didn't play alot last year cuz he was hurt, but he is a GREAT Player. The Mavs are also one of the front-runners is Shaq gets traded. I don't really like him, but must admit it would be awesome to have him.

I'm going to try to quit smoking again on Monday. That's in 5 minutes. I know I can do it, since I've done it before. I've included a link on the left side of the page, mostly so I have an easy place to go to for inspiration when I'm having a craving. There are *nasty* pictures of lungs with emphysema on that page & just looking at them makes me want to puke.

Everyone else is putting historical pictures in their blogs lately, so I am too. :)

500,000 schoolchildren in California signed a petition asking Philadelphians to send the Liberty Bell to the Panama-Pacifc International Expo of San Francisco in 1915. The Bell made it's trip via train. Here is a picture of the crowd waiting for the train to pass by in Harrisburg, PA:

I was listening to Recovering the Satellites by Counting Crows on the way home & for some reason track 12: Mercury hit me. It just seemed to be about me, the inner me. I hope that doesn't sound hokey because it didn't at the time:

She is trapped inside a month of grey
And they take a little every day
She is a victim of her own responses
Shackled to a heart that wants to settle
And then runs away
It's a sin to be fading endlessly
Yeah, but she's alright with me

She is leaving on a walkaway
She is leaving me in disarray
In the absence of a place to be
She stands there looking back at me
Hesitates, and then turns away
She'll change so suddenly
She's just like mercury
Yeah, but she's alright with me

Keep some sorrow in your hearts and minds
For the things that die before their time
For the restlessly abandoned homes
The tired and weary rambler's bones
And stay beside me where I lie
She's entwined in me
Crazy as can be
Yeah, but she's alright with me

Adventures in HTML.....geez. I told Tony that I could fix his archive's HTML, but did I ever speak before I knew what the heck I was talking about! I jacked his page royally! I felt so bad - we were on the phone forever trying to figure it out. Finally I promised him I'd have it fixed before he woke up. How was I going to do that? I had *no* idea. So he gave me his login & I started digging around. Finally after 20 minutes it was fixed. Sometimes I just have to do things myself to figure it out. THANKFULLY I was able to fix it. :)

Now, this week's Cheddar X

1. Describe how you saw yourself in high school.
*Wow, an easy one to start off with, huh? I was such a dork in high school. (Not like I'm not now). I don't make friends very easily & McDevitt was a Catholic School with tons of rich kids in it. I always wanted to dress like them, but we couldn't afford it, therefore I was never very confident in myself & tried to stick to the walls & not be seen as much as possible.
2. If you could select the sex of your baby, would you? Which would you choose and why?
*I wouldn't choose, I'd be happy with either, but I'd like to know ahead of time so I could properly decorate. I think the generic yellow/green baby rooms are yucky.
3. What would you name you child if it were a girl? A boy?
*Girl: Keiran Boy: Jack (although Tom's said absolutely not to Jack).
4. What are the best and worst pick up lines you've heard/used?
*Sadly, I've never heard nor used any.
5. What's the worst break up line you've heard or used?
*The standard "it's not you, it's me" or the traditional "Let's just be friends"
6. Heard any good jokes lately?
*I heard a fabulous one on Last Comic Standing last night, but it had a visual attached, so I can't do it justice here. I did read a hilarious one in Maxim tonight:
A businessman from New York is driving through Mississippi on his way home for Christmas. He stops at a local store and notices the three wise men out front are dressed like firefighters. While inside, the man asks the clerk about it. "You city folk think you know everything," says the clerk as he reaches for his Bible. "But it says right here that the three wise men came from afar." I laughed my butt off when I read that!
7. Is the glass half full or half empty or did the dog knock it over?
*It really depends what day it is. Today it was half full, then changed to the dog knocked it over.
8. When was the last time you were tricked?
*I don't remember the last time because there's been quite a few. :)

Ok - you guys wanted an update, so here's one, but I promise you it will be boring. :)

I took over another function at work. Since the layoff a few weeks ago (which I read in the paper was 400 people, although not all at my location), I have my mentor team back and I've taken over as the supervisor of some Research/Recovery functions. This is a small group of people (I got 3, 2 went to someone else) who processes a *lot*. They get unapplied/misapplied payment faxes, death certificates, bankruptcy notices. They also process Excel Canada payments, some wireless stuff & print invoice reprints. It's a lot of work for 3 people. When I got them a week ago this past Monday, the backlog was heavy. There were 298 local faxes to process and about 2400 bankruptcy notices to deal with, so I've spent the past week learning & trying to clear the backlog (with the help of my Mentor team). We've cleared the backlog of faxes & in the last 2 days I've processed 170 bankruptcies. The training consisted of sitting with some people up there, so I have a lot of questions that we're trying to get answers on. In addition to that, I can only do the local stuff since we don't have the LD or Wireless systems, but there are requests in for that so my team will probably be getting access to 3 or 4 more systems that we'll need to be trained on.

Needless to say I've been busy as HECK from the time I get in until the time I leave, which is usually late. :) My schedule has changed since we lost 4 supervisors. I'm now 10am-7pm Monday,Tuesday & Thursday and 12-9 Wednesday & Friday. I don't even have time to glance at the internet during the day anymore (imagine, working for my paycheck). :)

Tom is still looking for a job. I hope he gets one soon. Tony - I really think you *should* take a vacation. I have a week's vacation available, so I think you should come here. It would be SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fun! You can get a flight from ATL to DFW 7/1-7/6 for $195. That sounds like a lot, but it would be worth it & I know you could convince Clay. :) Hell, I'll even drive you to Enid to say hello!

Today at church we had a guest speaker. He was a Franciscan (Sp?) priest from Honduras. He explained how he grew up in Malta and then when he became a priest he was sent to Honduras. He's been there 31 years. He told us about how poor Honduras is. In his parish there are no paved streets. He said AIDS is a big problem there, but the government never, ever, talks about it for some reason. He described how just last year they built their first elderly home in the area and they currently have 67 residents. It was very humbling to hear.

Everything that I have is taken for granted. I should be happier for what I have. *WE* should be more grateful for what we have - a roof over our heads, access to some of the best medical care in the world, assistance when we need it, friends, family, plumbing, etc.

During the 2nd collection I gave my last dollar to help that parish in Honduras. If I ever win the lottery I'm going to send them a million dollars.

This week's Cheddar X:

1. What skills do you need to develop most?
*Tact & diplomacy. I'm a "tell it like it is" kind of girl and it not only gets me in trouble, but hurts the feelings of the people I love.
2. What did you like most about your last job?
*The freedom I had to get my job done. The people I worked with and the focus on the important things like building a great company rather than what you were wearing.
3. What has been your favorite job?
*MindSpring/EarthLink without a doubt.
4. What was your worst or most degrading job?
*Victoria's Secret. I only lasted a week. It was a holiday job and I wasn't allowed to learn register. I was stuck in the bra room for 8 hours a day - talk about boring.
5. How do you deal with inter-office personality conflicts?
*After I pretend they don't exist I try to get the people to talk to each other.
6. In what kinds of situations do you find it most difficult to deal with people?
*When I'm irritated by something. Then people's petty whining really irritates me more & all I can do is wish them ill.
7. How do you handle crisis situations?
*Well, I think I bury my head in the sand if it's my own crisis, but if it's a family or friend crisis, I think I'm good to have around. I try to be strong for the other person and do whatever needs to be done to make things better.

I can't imagine driving on the highway & seeing this happen! What a sad day for these people's families:

RICHARDSON, Texas -- Two people died in North Texas in a highway argument that ended when a man pulled a woman from their car, pushing her off an overpass into oncoming rush-hour traffic.

The man later jumped about 80 feet to his death.

Witnesses told police the 30-year-old man and 21-year-old woman were arguing in their 2000 Mercedes on the shoulder of the President George Bush Turnpike just north of Dallas.

Sergeant Kevin Perlich -- a spokesman for the Richardson Police Department -- said the man pushed the woman off the overpass while she struggled with him.

Perlich said the woman landed on the hood of a car traveling on U.S. Highway 75, which carried her a short distance before she fell off and was hit by another car.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Perlich said the man did not die immediately after his jump. He was taken to a hospital where he later died.

The relationship between the two was not immediately known.

Jimmy Kimmel had his show pulled off the air nation-wide Wednesday night because of offensive statements he made Tuesday night. What could he have said that was so offensive?
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Here it comes
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“They're going to burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win.”

That's it. For that he got blacked out nationwide by ABC on Wednesday. Apparently the people of Detroit were pissed. One of them went so far as to say, "Caller after caller, and people who were e-mailing me, were mad because what Kimmel said is simply untrue. It's not true. Detroit does not burn when teams win. It's a lie, and people are mad that somebody would say something so terrible about Detroit on national TV." It's not true?
Detroit rioted in 1984 when the Detroit Tigers won the world series. In 1990, after the Piston's back-to-back NBA Titles, eight people died in riot-related incidents. More than 100 were hurt & 65 arrested. That to me sounds like a riot problem! It also sounds like they are fair game to jokes about riots. Jimmy Kimmel was ripped off. I don't even watch his stupid show, but he shouldn't have been taken off the air. Chances are, if the Pistons win this year, there will be another riot. If that happened, and I were Jimmy Kimmel, I'd sue!

Seems I'm not too good at keeping up with the weekly Cheddar X Questions, so here are this week's & last week's:

1. What do you have planned for the future?
*What I have planned is just to keep living my life the best I can and to eventually overcome my fear of death before death overcomes me.
2. Who is the single most important person in your life and why?
*My mom. She keeps me sane and can make me feel like a five-year-old just by telling me she loves me.
3. Describe yourself in five words.
*Bitchy,Gossipy,Marvelous,Stupendous,Fantastic
4. You can spend one night alone with any one person you wish--who is it?
*Ed Kowalczyk of course. Nope, I'm not too deep :)
5. Name your five favorite movies.
*Can't Buy Me Love, Finding Nemo, Xanadu, Matrix Series (does that count as one? If not, then # 2 - Reloaded), Defending Your Life (Meryl Streep & Albert Brooks - GREAT movie)
6. Name your five favorite musical artists.
*Live, Madonna, Counting Crows...oh lord, I can't think of 2 more!
7. Name your five favorite movies when you were in high school.
*I'm sure I didn't have 5. I don't even remember what came out when I was in high school!
8. Five favorite musicians when you were in high school.
*Madonna, Duran Duran

1. If you had a choice of dinner with George W. Bush or John Kerry, which would it be, why and what would you serve? *George W. Bush, although I never would have picked him before the last election. I would choose him because I think Kerry is a waffling liar. I'd like to know what's made the President make a lot of decisions that he's made & if he truly believes in his heart that we can beat terrorism. I'd serve meat & potatoes for the Texan!
2. What are your three major criteria for choosing who to vote for? *Do I think he can continue to successfully fight Al Queda, Does he understand the economic issues we're facing & does he tell the truth (or at least not flip flop on the issues).
3. Do you plan to vote "for" someone or "against" someone? *For Bush
4. What bothers you most about this presidential election? *Once again it's the lesser of two evils, but I believe the President is on the right track against terrorism & I really don't think Kerry would be as forceful against it.
5. How much does a candidate's religious affiliation have to do with your decision to vote for him? *Doesn't affect it at all. I could care less.
6. When do you think the first female president will be elected? *Not in my lifetime.
7. Who, among prominent politicians, would you most like to see in the White House? *I don't really know much about the prominent politicians, so I can't answer that.
8. Who, among all people, would you like to see in the White House? *It would be nice to see Clinton back, but I don't think the country would do as well under a 3rd Clinton term as it did during the first 2. How bout Vin Diesel so he can kick some terrorist booty.

Here is a picture of the Shell Gas Station about 3 blocks from our house. It was damaged in Tuesday Night's storm. Here is also a cool shot of downtown Dallas with lightning. And Here is a picture of our dog, Molly, scared during last night's storm which wasn't nearly as severe as the ones we got on Tuesday or last Thursday.

It's a sad day - I put my Madonna tickets up for sale on Ebay. Tom doesn't have a job yet, but he has had 2 interviews this week. The reason I put them up is because my mom told me that if I came home I shouldn't see my Nana since she lent us money to get the house fixed & it wouldn't look right that when I got money I used it to fly home & go to a concert instead of paying Nana back. Granted, Nana probably wouldn't take my money, but it was the principle.

Now I fought my mom over this telling her it wasn't about the concert, it was about coming home to recharge myself, which is true. The concert was more like a bonus. But thinking about it, I see that my mom is right and I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm not going home this summer, which bums me out. I think this is the first summer since I moved to TX in 99 that I'm not coming home.

Please keep saying prayers that Tom gets a job.

More house damage last night. Pics are here, here & here.

Adjuster will be out on Saturday between 9 & 10. There's another storm heading our way tonight - winds up to 60 MPH, not as bad as last night. I did hear that last night's storm caused 86 MPH winds at Meachem Airport in Ft. Worth. It moved a 727 100 yards! You can read more about it on NBC5's webpage:

My Rantings and Other Non-Sensical Thoughts

Tuesday, June 29, 2004

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Saturday, June 26, 2004

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Sunday, June 20, 2004

Friday, June 18, 2004

Thursday, June 17, 2004

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Sunday, June 13, 2004

Friday, June 11, 2004

Thursday, June 03, 2004

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

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