I could talk about the heat...

...but why? Everyone else is - I would say that a majority of the posts I read on Facebook have been about melting, or home-made air conditioning, or the yearning for an air conditioner. Apparently yesterday was the hottest day recorded in Seattle since weather records have been kept for our fine city -- since 1891. It officially reached 103 at SeaTac. It was 106 at our house!

What has happened in my world. We are gearing up to go on a vacation the second week of August - celebrating our first year anniversary up in Canada. We are going to stay in Richmond, then take a BC Ferry over to Nanaimo and spend a couple days there, then drive a little south on Vancouver Island and stay in a small bed and breakfast type of place. Come home on a Saturday and then hopefully get to see Heather while she is in town for a while.

We decided to get a cat! Almost 8 years since I have moved out on my own I am finally getting a kitty! The non-profit shelter that we are adopting the cat from (http://www.oasisforanimals.org/) has agreed to hold the cat for us until after our vacation. The cat's current name is Percy, but I think I want to call him Humboldt, after a type of penguin. Below is a photo of the cat, I am WAY excited!

I was talking to Andrew the other night about the cat and I said that we had thought about naming it Andrew in Andrew's honor - I am not sure how he took that... :) Andrew assured me though that he would still come and visit me even though I have a cat - he would just make a lot of crock-pot-cat jokes.

Work has been a little busy, a lot of changes are going on. If you know of anyone who has the qualifications to be a CIO for an IT department at possibly one of the world's most influencial non-profits, then let me know! (haha)

We saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. NOT IMPRESSED. As I told Joe, it was like when we saw Spiderman at Oak Tree Cinemas - longest movie ever. Admittedly it was by far the most hilarious of all of the HP flicks, although not by much. I will probably end up owning it as part of the HP collection only to say "I have them all".

And something else I wish I could blog about, but have you ever worked with someone who just doesn't get what is happening around them? Someone who thinks they are -- excuse my language - the shit - they think they are all that and a bucket of chips with sauce on the side and they treat everyone else around them as though everyone else is in a caste BELOW him or herself? I currently work with some individuals like that - who appear to not understand that they are not respected, but they THINK they are respected - and therefore, treat everyone else in an unkind fashion. So without mentioning further details or names, that is my work rant of the month.

Whew, I feel better now.

An Inconvenient Truth

Last week was a stretch - it was one of those weeks where you wake up every day and deep down you know it is a different day, but you immediately feel as though the day should be Tuesday. My week was filled with more transition tasks to various people meaning a lot of meetings. And a lot of phone calls. And those calls lead to more meetings...with people in India at inconvenient times. Combine all that with co-workers wanting to take me out for coffee and lunch and dinner and drinks - and when Friday finally rolls around I am exhausted and -- I get sick of which leads me to recap the week - with the inconvenient truth being my weekend illness.

Recap of the week.

Monday - had a pleasant lunch with Toni - she and I started with Avanade roughly the same time and believe it or not we haven't worked directly with each other often, but I still feel that we connect on some level. She was gracious enough to take me out to The Fish Club where I had the prosciutto and fig flatbread and Toni had the cheeseburger. Overall it was a little pricey but what else can you expect from a Todd English joint that is part of one of the swankiest hotels in the downtown/Belltown area of Seattle. The flatbread was delicious - freshly handmade with jus tthe right amount of fig and green onions on top to spice up the prosciutto. The cheeseburger admittedly looked more delicious than my flatbread. Toni had them substitute fresh fruit for the fries and they served oh approximately 3 cups of fresh fruit. I joked with the waitress that I would hate to see how much fries they put on the plate, I don't think she got where I was going with it. Just the same it was a pleasant meal. I was in a constant state of meetings until around 730 that night leaving work just in time to go curling.

Tuesday - had a great lunch with Bhargavi. Again, someone who has been with the company almost as long as me, she and I have always been on the same team. We went to Noodle Ranch where I had my usual Japanese Eggplant with Tofu. She had them make Pad Thai without fishsauce or eggs - it still looked great.

Wednesday - Mahnaz took me out to lunch - we went across the street to Anthony's. We had a rather personal chat and I walked away from it feeling calm. Later that night I went home to get Chris and we returned to a nice small dinner that Kate was kind enough to put together at Cutter's.

Thursday - had a nice lunch with Shawn and Ray at LaVita E Bella - where we took Rusty for his good-bye lunch as well; it was a delicious lunch. Later that day some of us went out for drinks at Twilight Martini Lounge and after that I met up with Heather at UVillage. I can't figure out when exactly it was that I got sick, but I definitely know that after I got home from hanging out with Heather that I was not right.

Friday - Kate again was nice enough to organize a good-bye lunch for me, a catered event with Ezell's Chicken being delivered. Krista put together a photo montage of me and there was even a gift and card. I was touched to say the least. I wrapped up some work and went for some SBUX with Shawn and Krista. I get home and I am definitely sick. The inconvenience of illness prevented us from traveling this weekend.

We were planning on going to Yakima this weekend, but it did not happen. I have been taking a lot of medicine and coughing. And sleeping. And now, it is time for more NyQuil so that I may rise and shine for my last day of work tomorrow.

More Ups and Downs...

Since my last blog there have been some good and not so good things happen. Good things include - ordering some shoes and other items for the wedding, having some job interviews at Gates Foundation and another place called PlayNetworks, planning out some fun "almost done with your job" get togethers. Curling - I've been more consistent than not and my teams have won quite a few matches now so that is obviously good. Some of my other colleagues have also made the decision to leave the company and all of our last "days of employment" are shockingly close to one another's...not sure what that says overall but I can tell you that for all of us - leaving is the right decision. We had lunch with Rusty again and that was the highlight of my week. I met Jess finally - HI JESS I DON'T KNOW IF YOU READ THIS BLOG YET BUT HI JUST THE SAME. She is really cool so I'm glad that I finally got to meet her.

Not so good things - this stupid waste pump in our beloved rental abode. My last entry as you know was a rant about the pump. Chris was successful in cleaning up the ew and we thought that after replacing the breaker this would be resolved. But no - this morning I am down in the laundry room and I thought it was the LeakFrog making noise...instead it was the power trip sensor freaking out. Sure enough, the pump is not functioning. We reset the breaker and the pump is RIP. Thus far today I have called our landlord - home, work, written him email and he seems to be MIA...so now we are waiting for confirmation of an emergency visit from a plumber.

I'm sure there have been other not so good things but right now - the pump takes the cake. Yay! At least the Scotties Tournamet of Hearts is on CBC right now. So that is a good end to this right now - on an up!

This house annoys me (WARNING: this will be a rant entry) or adventures in renting THIS house...

Ok so how ghetto fabulous is this...this morning as I go into the garage and get into my car, I stop and think to myself "wow it really smells out here"; I spend 5 minutes with a flashlight looking around the garage, in the front of the crawl area where the sewer pump is located (our house is conveniently located under the water table, so we have pumps to push stuff up and out into the mainlines), and all around the edges inside and outside of the garage wondering if something died. I figured maybe my nose is playing tricks on me.

Backtrack to a little over a week ago when we got back from Port Angeles, Chris decided to fix the downstairs toilet because we had hijacked parts from it to fix another toilet upstairs. Chris replaces the parts in the downstairs toilet, flushes it and the toilet overflows. Fast forward to present day-post-me-inspecting-the-garage...I got home a LOT later than I wanted to get home mainly because everyone is now stopping me in the hallways asking "why I'm leaving work" and "where am I going next". I get home, Chris is cooking dinner and I tell him about my day and in my recap I tell him "the garage really stinks". During dinner he comments that he is going to run to Safeway to buy some more Drano because he noticed the shower was not draining as well as it could be...

He runs to Safeway and back and proceeds to treat all of the sinks and toilets with Drano. I'm guessing the Drano didn't solve the problem. I noticed a strong smell of Drano after he rinsed and flushed everything down... he then vacuums the house, the smell is still around. Oh wait, I think he vacuumed THEN went to Safeway, well all the time the goal I believe was to narrow down why things smelled and why the drains weren't draining as fast as usual.

He then quietly crawls into the space underneath the house where the sewage pump lives and discovers as he says a "considerable puddle of ew". The pump of course is electric and the circuit to the pump blew some time ago. After a reset the pump now works, but the puddle still exists. As I type this up he is back out getting a shop vac from Fred Meyer. GOOD TIMES. I have a feeling that when this is all done either he or I will be writing to our landlord telling him "this is how much it cost, we will reduce the cost from our next month's rent check, and in the future what can be done to let us know when the circuit breaks/trips again..."

My ultimate point is that this house although nice and has served some considerable purpose as acting as a framed semi-comfortable shelter for us for the past 4+ years -- this house is quickly becoming high on my list (as Marjorie, Johanna's friend would say) aka - I am growing seriously annoyed by this house. It seems like everything has died -- knock on wood. The fridge, the hot water heater, the washing machine, the sewage pump getting clogged (WTF is that about, jeez), an anemic garbage disposal/kitchen sink pipes, the inconsistent lawn care, neighbors who are rude and disrespectful, and now a puddle of ew. Sure renting in general isn't supposed to be all cherry blossoms and roses, but at the same time - doesn't this all sound like a PAIN IN THE ASS for one single rental house?!!

And now, Chris is home from le Fred Meyer and the puddle of ew will go away. He has quickly changed into nasty-job clothes with a scrub top tied around his nose and mouth to avoid the smells and a hat to deflect the spiders crawling onto his scalp. To end this rant of an entry on a positive note -- haha you weren't expecting this -- tomorrow I will UPS overnight the signed Venetian contract. Then it's just flowers and photography...oh and invitations and plane tickets and hotel rooms and rings and a tuxedo - we'll focus on the puddle of ew now.

Why is Marie Osmond still on Dancing With The Stars?!

I needed a day to make sure I wasn't going blind or forgot how to use my eyes. Why is Marie Osmond still on DWTS????? I get that a lot has happened to her...first she faints, then her Dad passes away, and to go with the rest of young famous people -- her oldest son goes to rehab. So WHY is she still on DWTS? Yes, Jennie Garth needed to go and so did the soap star, but Marie should have been voted out weeks ago right after Wayne Newton. If Marie ends up winning DWTS then you at least know the producers aren't rigging the show.

Lids are important.

There is this latte machine on the 2nd floor of my building. I think upon it's last service the drink count was up in the 250,000+ range. Over the years I have nicknamed the in-house coffee service as avaCoffee or avaLatte. The grinds have changed over the years and although now we are using Starbucks branded coffee beans and grinds, the avaCoffee still isn't the same as going to Starbucks or even Tullys.

I'm all for free coffee -- and in a pinch, avaCoffee does great, it smells like coffee, it looks like coffee and if I'm needing it -- with enough syrup, sweetener, and coffee mate -- also can taste like a doctored up coffee. The only complaint is the coffee never seems to be as hot as I want it to be. Often times I find myself microwaving a cup of just poured coffee because I want it hotter. I don't think the problem with the temperature has anything to do with the thermal containers, but it is the lack of lids we have (or rather, do not have). Pouring a cup of coffee, walking back to your desk and by the 4th or 5th sip -- the coffee is lukewarm. Booo!

Disclaimer -- I love our Facilities team and they are awesome and responsive, it isn't your fault that the coffee does not stay warm 5 minutes after pouring. :)

Starbucks...I may pay $2.08 for my Tall Americano with room, but it is worth it for the retaining HOTNESS.

Now you may be saying "go out and buy yourself a mug with a lid then your coffee won't get cold as fast"... that may be the next thing on my to do list. :)

I should know better

Ever have one of those "I should know better" moments? From the title of this entry you know I did! Shawn and I went out to lunch earlier this week to meet up with Krista. We all enjoyed some lovely Chinese food and I couldn't finish mine so I had it boxed up in a typical styrofoam container. Those of you who are aware a lot of Chinese dishes have a great deal of sauce. Also, styrofoam containers (think Teriyaki to go boxes if you are unfamilar) are not famous for keeping liquids including sauces within the containers themselves...

We eat lunch, pack up and leave. I of course was wearing an outfit that had no pockets and I was quickly running out of ways to carry loose items such as my wallet, my phone and my bag of leftovers. I hastily placed everything into the bag--and immediately had a "I should know better" moment but I did it anyway. Only a few short minutes later everything was covered in sauce -- including my Dash (the cell phone I use for work). Yippy!!

In other noteworthy news -- Joe took Chris and I to see RENT -- very entertaining. Mother's Day was fascinating with flowers and food. My dad is doing great -- you would have NO idea he had surgery. I even saw Jody and Sakeneh. Chris got sick and he's still getting over his illness, but at least I haven't gotten sick yet! In only a couple more weeks I am heading down to Burbank/LA to visit Heather. She was up here this past weekend to celebrate Mother's Day and we hung out for a few hours.

I recently purchased a new bicycle and I had toe clips placed on the pedals...and I had another "I should know better" moment; I hopped onto the bicycle, clipped my shoes into the pedals and for some reason, didn't pedal -- so I fell over! You'd think that I'd be smart enough to unclip myself from the bike, but no...and over I went.

Back to work...for now...

My Work, Your Work -- It's all WORK

Have you ever had someone take credit for work that you've completed? That happened to me yesterday. Someone was recognized, given credit for, nominated for an award and then in turn happily received the award for work that I had done. The most unfortunate part is that I don't think the nominator, the award presenter nor the award recepient (aka the person who took credit for my work) had any idea what they were doing. Picture this... someone is standing in front of a group and describing what was done that was so outstanding.... a majority of people in the room turn and look at me thinking "wow, good job Jonell!"....and then the an unexpected name is called. ......

It only bothered me for a few seconds and then I thought -- the most important part to me is that my friends and a majority of my other co-workers know what really happened. So that in itself makes up for any oddities of knowledge. What made yesterday even more ironic was that later on during a separate meeting of the entire Seattle staff -- I was surprisingly recognized for some work I had done for someone else, and I thought "wow, I'm getting credit for something that I did, neat-o! What a funny way to end this day".

In the end--it's all work. My work, your work -- I don't care how work gets completed or even who does it as long it is completed right the first time -- and that credit is given where it is appropriate and true.

Snow...and my garbage can (lousy neighbors)

Happy New Year to everyone. My apologies as it is slightly belated. Already in 2007 Seattle has had a lot of rain and in fact...there is a Winter Storm Advisory for SNOW. I woke up this morning totally expecting to see like 4 inches of snow, but no...only about an inch and even then it was only on the rooftops and trees -- the roads are just fine. I ask -- where is the snow? Come weather people -- where is it? I have some co-workers who are working from home today in total expectation of this SNOW...which hasn't arrived nor do I believe it will arrive at least not to the Seattle Metro/Downtown area as the forecasters had originally predicted. I saw a Metro Bus driving around with chains on already on bare and dry roads. Ghetto.

Totally not related is our garbage can and recycling bin. I was originally only going to post about this, but with the Winter Storm Advisory in effect I just HAD to make a comment about the snow (or lack thereof). Back to the bins...

I like many other people who have weekly garbage collection service diligently roll out our garbage and recycling bins every week. They aren't always full and yes when they are rolled out to the street they are in a public area. However the rates for disposal are high and also have weight restrictions. The recycling bin cannot exceed 60 lbs. and the garbage can cannot exceed 50 lbs. (something ridiculous like that). Why am I blogging about this? Because our neighbors always always always stuff their excess waste into our bins. And this gets me irked. We have yet to be charged in excess of weight, but why do they feel it is OK for them to utilize our bins (and other people's bins too, it isn't just happening to us)???? How much waste can a family of 3 produce every week? Not only do they overstuff bins every week, they also "by mistake" (the count is up to 6) throw their daily trash into our garbage can as well. This would require them to walk out and cross the driveway to get to our bins to do this. How do you make this mistake 6 times? We have had to remove cat litter, fast food packages, shoe boxes, broken glass, etc. and every time we ask them nicely "Do not use our garbage can, please use your own". The response is always "Oh, sorry, it won't happen again". And yet...it keeps happening.

I feel better. Rant is out. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! Bring on the snow!

When it rains, it pours!

I came home from Maui to this rainy Pineapple Express-filled Seattle. I woke up this morning and went out to my car and the garage floor had small streams. Uh oh. Actually what I said to myself was more like FT^#$%$. The hot water heater apparently started to leak sometime last night. By the time I came home my landlord was already here and determined it wasn't "that bad". Well then Chris came home and we discovered it was really "that bad" and apparently the plumbers will be here tomorrow (I HOPE!!!). We just drained all of the water from the heater and now we are without hot water. I am going to wake up early tomorrow and take a shower at work. Joyous.

Like I said, when it rains it pours! Here's to being a renter!

Woot the hell, Huskies?

I must be late to the woot-party. My friend Shawn told me about this site www.woot.com and I think it is my new favorite site. The concept of bargain shopping appeals I think to anyone (I'm asian, I like bargains, but I'm not a penny pincher by any means) especially those who are into gadgets and gizmos. I apparently started looking at woot.com during a woot-off. Let me explain the premise of woot.com--they post ONE and only ONE item for a 24 hour period starting at 1159pm CST every day. Once the item or rather woot of the day sells out, that is it for the 24 hour period. A new woot is then promptly placed on woot.com at 1159pm CST and your wootful day continues. A woot-off is a K-Mart special gone bad (seriously...); there are two flashing orange lights which indicate a woot-off and for a period of 24-72 hours straight, new products...er sorry, new woots are replaced on woot.com IMMEDIATELY after the previous woot is sold out. Woot-offs apparently happen once every 2 or 3 months so I consider myself fairly lucky to get into woot.com at the right time. Just the same, I was also privilged enough during the woot-off to get my hands on a Bag Of Crap (aka Random Crap). For a whole $1 USD I bought some random crap that will be sent to me and supposidly this crap can be good (can someone wish for a 30GB Zen for only a $1???)....Joe of course was lucky enough to not get a Bag Of Crap, but he was able to purchase the actual 30GB Zen for a deal of deal--$179.99 + $5 shipping. All I have to say about that is...niiiiiiiiiiiice.

The past two days at work were woot-wasted thanks to the woot-off. Today was GAME DAY and the Huskies after their tremendous play last week again U$C somehow managed to find a way to suck and suck and suck and got squished by the mighty fearsome Beavers of Oregon State. 27-17. The best part of my day was the Outback Rib Steak I had AFTER the game. Well seeing a lot of old band friends today was also very fun (hi Ricky, Jenni, Siri, Amy, Elizabeth J. the cooking gourmet, Dennis, Berto, and any one else I seem to be forgetting right now), but the steak was mighty fine.

Next weekend I am going to fly down to California to visit Heather. I am VERY excited to see her apartment and what she has done for herself in Burbank. It will be a rather quick trip which will require me to probably go to a drug store sometime tomorrow to gather the required size bottles of shampoo and whatnot or else I will be forced to check a bag of tolietries for my flight. Lame. The weekend after next we're going to Hawaii!! And then the next thing I know Andrew will be in town. Busy times.

Laundry Soap

Growing up my family always bought the "generic large powdered container of laundry soap from Costco"--you know what I'm talking about. You could possibly be using this type of laundry soap in your own dwelling. It's cheap, it's plentiful, it comes in a handy 25 lb bucket (with the lid that you almost have to tear off with a pair of pliars) and as my Dad recently found out when the septic tank backed up -- it also doesn't dissolve completely.

Since I've been with Chris (so 3 1/2 years now) I've been introduced to a new type of laundry soap--LIQUID. Specifically Chris has always purchased the jumbo-tank of liquid soap that utilized gravity and a spout. We usually buy the All brand detergent, but this was the only picture I could find of the type of the jumbo-tank (as you see it sits on a shelf, you push the spout and the soap is caught in a little cup):

Anyway, I have until this morning thought that this idea of the jumbo-tank was tremendous. Today is Sunday and therefore, a laundry day at my house. I go downstairs to start the laundry, get some laundry going--and I noticed something on the floor. Is that paint? Is that mold? What is it? I get on my hands and knees and I see globs of semi-dried liquid laundry soap. Now imagine my eyes following an imaginary dotted line that leads my eyes straight up to--yes, the jumbo-tank of All Liquid laundry soap. And it isn't the spout that is leaking--it is the joint between the entire spout head and the tank itself.

EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily also growing up I was taught to never throw old rags or towels away. I used about half a dozen rags to clean up the crusty soap (which btw, even though it's only soap--is nasty). I don't think I will go back to powdered laundry soap, but I will be looking into buying upright laundry soap containers from now on.

Freakin' Blackberries...

Yes, freakin' Blackberries. And I'm not referring to the lovely seedy berry that I cherish eating (but not picking in the wild, I'll be getting my berries from the store you know what I'm saying) every Spring and Summer. Apparently the parties in the Blackberry dispute have settled... for $612.5 million USD!!!!

I read a report that stated Blackberry new user consumption was only at 620,000 for their Q4 reports instead of the estimated 750,000. Oh goodness! Someone quick, call my broker up so that I may be one of the joiners of the Blackberry Revolution!

Ok ok, you got me. I have been told that Blackberries (er....Crackberries, right? Am I right?) were very helpful for major events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. That's great, I'm not here to say ALL Blackberries are evil, it isn't even the device itself that I am frustrated by, it is the people who use the Blackberries... I was discussing this with Joe, Andrew and of course Chris, probably over some double-deck pinochle and one too many Diet Pepsis (brown and bubbly, what kind of a tag line is that?). The Blackberry Phenomena is the next cell phone nuisance but coming at us with greater speed than anything else. Where I work, we don't endorse Blackberry usage officially since it doesn't run on Microsoft software. So it annoys me to no end when there are people in the office who whip out their Blackberries during meetings and conference calls when you know that the probability of the message being work-related is nil. Now in public, sure go ahead, do the Blackberry Prayer--but again, such as in the movie theater seeing the screens light up or the little beeping that someone just "forgot to turn off" whether it be from a Blackberry or not...........

AAAAAAAAAaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!

I digress. Maybe I should just shut up and go and conform and try one out--just to see if they are as great as everyone says they are.

This weekend should be an exciting one--we are going to participate in another Curling Bonspiel! Here's to not falling and having a great time.

Comcast - the necessary evil

Well first....here is a funny picture of me (hahaha).

- Friday, Chris went down to Comcast and got a brand new DVR enabled cable box. It still even has the plastic over the time-display. DVR works Friday night.
- Saturday morning, getting ready to watch the Opening Ceremonies from the Olympics and there is no DVR subscription according to my fine Comcast menu. I call Comcast twice since the signal they sent out the first time didn't work. 1.5 hours later, DVR is now working once again.
- Sunday morning, turn on tv to watch DVR programming and yet again no DVR subscription according to the fine Comcast menu. Chris calls Comcast to resend the signal, and now the cable box looks dead.

Mind you, we only got DVR for the Olympics.... and the killer part is, the people on the phone have been really nice, so it's hard for me to complain about Comcast, but now we have no tv at all thanks to this new and improved cable box.

I think Chris is going to drive back to the Comcast office now and get swap out the boxes. Woot. For the periods of time that I did get to experience DVR recordings, it is great. I love the super-fast FF features, I like how I can tune out Bob Costas and commericals at my will. But I can't stand that Comcast doesn't seem to get the issue at hand or realize what is going on since it seems apparent that when they reset the signal every 24 hours we have no DVR subscription.

And life gets even crazier...

So where was I...oh, so you probably want to know what is going on with my friend Joe and his TV. Sunday morning-- he got the TV, but only after driving out to Fremont to Woodinville and back, moving furniture around and testing it out. :) Thanks for the tank of gas, Joe! It is a nice TV so I hope he enjoys his purchase.

After helping him with his TV, I receive a call from my mother telling me that my relatives are in town and I "get" to have dinner with them. So I drive my ass down to Renton and we go out to eat. My cousin out of all people is engaged to be married. His fiancee seems nice, but I think she was slightly intimidated by all of the Chinese being shouted across the table. So I ended up spending a good 8 hours in Renton, didn't get back home until almost 1030pm Sunday night. What a Sunday, huh? So not only was my Saturday very busy, but so was my Sunday.

Which leads me to today (Monday, 17-October)--I was dragging my feet at work due to my lack of rest. I skip lunch so I can leave early to yet drive my ass back down to Renton to visit and spend more time with my relatives. We decide to go out to dinner and out of all things that could happen--my father starts to choke. So luckily my brother and I recognize this and my brother proceeds to give my Dad the Heimlich Maneuver in the middle of the restaurant. It was a surreal moment because literally everyone around us just stopped in mid-sentence and when it was over, they all returned back to their meals and normal conversations. My dad is alright, but it shook my brother and I up a bit.

Anyway...tomorrow the new refrigerator is suppost to show up. I am going to deal with it tomorrow but it suppost to be delivered at the most inconvenient time for me, so I have to miss some meetings and probably will end up working late tomorrow. Ugh.

At least I have Mah Jong and pie to look forward to on Thursday. Can I be stretched in any more directions??

Abby and Bryan...Seattle Opera Part II and sickness. Oh my!

My very good friends Abby and Bryan are getting married....in Hawaii! I am still not 100% sure if we'll be going since Hawaii isn't exactly a cheap vacation, but nonetheless you should check out their website -- http://www.abbyandbryan.com -- very cute and nicely done. They even have a blog.

What else has been going on...the other night the Seattle Opera called twice--in one night. So the second time the operator called, he sounded frustrated because Chris wasn't home yet, so it went something like this...
Me: Hello?
Seattle Opera Operator: Oh, I guess he (Chris) isn't home yet?
Me: No, I'm sorry he's not....
Seattle Opera Operator: Well this is the Seattle Opera again, I just...
Me: I know what you want, could you please stop calling us? It is rather annoying having you guys call more than once per night every night.
Seattle Opera Operator: Ok, but this is the only way we can reach out to people sometimes.
Me: I understand that, but your persistent calling makes me want to NOT buy tickets and I have internet access--so if we want to buy tickets, we'll buy them online.
Seattle Opera Operator: Ok, good bye!!!

First of all, I am completely frustrated with telemarketers in general, but the Seattle Opera must have some embedded thought that the more often they call, the more it will make me want to buy tickets. NOT, I don't think so!!! I even had one of the operators tell me that he doesn't make any money unless I buy the tickets directly from him via the telephone. Gee golly whiz Mr. Operator--I'm so sorry for not making your 3% commission. Get over it and get a new job if it matters that much. Ok, sorry for that slight rant, but geez. Like I said I have an internet connection and I can see what operas will be playing... And not only that, but every operator that has called has become sarcastically rude towards us when we tell them we are not interested--like gee, sorry for not being a die-hard opera fanatic. So if we get another call from Seattle Opera I am going to write them a nasty letter telling them exactly what is wrong with their sales tactics. Granted, a majority of the opera-going population may not have internet access or perhaps they enjoy listening for 20 minutes on the phone about upcoming operas, but gimme a break!! Woah, how John Stossel was that?

Today is the first day in a while that I don't feel too bad. I left an evening work event early on Thursday because I felt feverish and like I was hit by a MAC truck. Took yesterday as a sick day and now I feel so-so. And tell me..what is up with Keith Jackson broadcasting the Texas vs. Oklahoma game??? I thought he only did Pac-10 games. Oh well. :)

The Seattle Opera ....

... is getting on my last nerve. So it started this past February, Chris bought some opera tickets for his uncle. Why his uncle didn't buy the tickets himself since he (the uncle) is freaking rich, I am not sure. Nonetheless, Chris buys these tickets online and per his uncle's instructions, he purchased very nice tickets.

The Seattle Opera now thinks that Chris is an Opera supporter--so they have been calling and sending stuff and calling more and sending more flyers, etc. You get the idea. You would think that by now they get the idea that if we aren't responding to any of their sales pitches that we are just not interested....but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo, they just called again. Ugh. Perhaps it is time to call them and give them a piece of my mind, but I'm sure it would just inspire them to try and lay another sales pitch on me.

I am so sick of working late.

So you know what is sad---I realized that I have spent far more time at my desk at work than any other place over the past month. Seriously, it is driving me batty. I know there is a resource problem (namely we can't hire people fast enough, want to work with me, lmk), but the end of the fiscal year and reports and new people, blah blah blah blah blah!

This past weekend--I literally sat and did NOTHING (yes, that is right, nothing) all day on Sunday. Pajamas are very nice to sit in. I wonder why you can't wear pajamas to work. I'd be so much more productive if I was in my jammies and didn't care what I looked like or if my hair was brushed. In fact, if I also had a flat-panel tv and an unlimited supply of beverages (chilled teas and juices) I'd be ultra productive. Yes, I believe I would be. I'm not sure how the stuff would get paid for, but if it was hanging in my office, man you'd better believe I'd want to work overtime.

And now for the laugh a minute--http://www.heatherandpatrick.com/library-lies.html -- apparently some guy (who is now dead) wrote these things about library school. Now, I shouldn't be laughing too loudly at it, but it is amusing and unfortunately very true. Very few people I went to school with are actually doing what they wanted to be doing with their MLIS. Go figure.

Oh yeah, the Huskies totally blew it against the Bruins on Saturday. Can we say missed tackles and a poor secondary? Let's not go there.

The time has come...?

Wow, it's been a whole week since I've blogged. Not a record, but that is pretty long for me. The time has come for me to decide what I am going to do in terms of a job. No, I'm not getting fired or laid off, but my manager has decided to leave the company. He's going to Starbucks at the end of the month. And even though he told me this yesterday, I think I was more in shock yesterday than anything else. Right now I feel happy for him, but sad and frustrated since I don't know what lays ahead for me in my career where I am now. Do I want to stay? Do I want to leave?

Mind you I am a big and I mean big believer in the idea that you have to enjoy the people you work with as much as enjoying what it is you do in your job. I am torn, but in the next few days things will be planned out as to "what happens to Jonell" as well as "what happens to other members of the team". I know that I am not the only one who feels frustrated by all of this--I could tell from this morning's meeting where Jeff (my soon to be ex-manager) announced his departure to the team--I looked around the room for expressions and they were all for the most part surprise-turned-worried. When Ray and I went for coffee this morning, we both expressed that we have this huge feeling of "unsuredness" (if that is a word).

I just want to go home, but I know that going home isn't going to help me solve what I want to do any faster than if I just stayed at work.

I told my pals Heather and Joe that by Friday--I am so going to need to hang out with them. Not that Chris isn't a good cheer-me-up person, but he will be on-call, so I'd much rather hang out with my best pals than be by myself where I may wallow back into this horrible roller-coaster of decisions.

3-day weekend! Why do I have a headache?

This morning I got to go to Redmond to visit the dentist. And get this, I have a cavity. My dentist seems to think that in my case, it is hereditery that I have cavities because my plaque levels are low if nil, and my gums are healthy, I floss, etc etc. So I got to decide if I want to get composites or gold. It isn't that I want sparkly golden teeth, but gold lasts longer, so I am going for the gold. I think all of that thought about what kind of material to get in my teeth has caused the headache that I have--and still have.

Of course, coming into the office and being the only one there to answer 4 inboxes, that didn't exactly ease my headache either. I thought that it (the headache) would go away if I had lunch, but not really. Oy. Other than the headache, I am excited that it is a 3-day weekend (for me at least). I got to Redmond so early this morning that I stopped at Safeway and took advantage of the super excellent sale on pop. Joe told me about it last night, 5 12 packs for $10. That is a good deal, no? Since my Dad doesn't believe in diet pop, I thought I would bring some to the festivities for Monday.

Being like any good Chinese family, we are really and I mean really like fireworks. The 4th of July is my Dad's favorite holiday, I really believe this even though he has never come out and said it (he isn't a vocal man). He gets to cook a lot of steak and chicken, minimal veggies, have a cold one and light a bunch of fireworks when it gets dark. Some of the relatives, myself and some friends and maybe a few more--will be gathering at my parents place on Monday.

And now just thinking about food--I am hungry. Time to find some nibbles.

Is something in the air?

So I have to ask, is there something up with people today? No one seems to be in a good mood, no one seems to want to have a complete conversation. Perhaps it has to do with the weather? Or maybe people are reeling from the longest day of the year? Who knows.

I'm not exactly feeling spunky myself. There is nothing on tv, nothing. Not even online games sound or look appealing. It probably doesn't help that there is a lot of stuff that will eventually happen at work (which I am afraid that if I do actually blog about it, then it could be a bad thing), so I am trying really hard to focus on other things at work besides this eventual action.

Anyway, this weekend I am going to www.sunshineandwine.com, should be exciting. I have been told that it is going to be 85 degrees in Yakima this weekend. Good times!

Yo, there are some nasty blogs out there!

I just had to post another message for today. I was on my way to turning off the laptop for the day and I thought "I wonder what happens when you click next blog, I wonder what other kinds of blogs people have from all over the world". It was pretty harmless at first. Some people have very popular family oriented blogs, that's cool. I ran across a blog from a cat's point-of-view (how the cat types is beyond my imagination at this point of the evening). A whole bunch of techies out there writing up their opinions on equipment/hardware/software and/or what MSFT is going to do next or how it is so evil.

And then..I ran across a blog which I swear to you could have been a porno site. Why this is? I don't know. To each his/her own, but man, I did not need to see some of the things that I just saw. I'm not sure what kind of editing or monitoring (if any?) www.blogger.com has in place. I'm sure there is none since it is all about freedom on speech, right?

Anyway....I digress. I mean, really, the issue that that particular blog was psuedo-offensive to me is that in truth it may not be offensive to someone else. I mean heck, some 12-year old boy is out there going "hey, totally FREE porn and it is on a blog, sweet!". And who knows, there could be someone reading my blog now going "shut your trap, who freaking cares what you think about porn". Such is the beauty of opinions.

I must say though, that today when we got home from our day of fun, there was a very pleasant neighborhood cat waiting for us. He was very friendly and someday I know I would like to have a well socialized pet. To end this entry on a different note...you have go to check out the cat with two heads:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/16/national/a195752D37.DTL

Let's hope that ARK is up and running by tomorrow! woot.