Work sucks....

If you have never worked in an office, you are lucky. I have worked in the cubical farms for over 5 years now and hate it now as I hated it when I first started. Besides the common burnt popcorn episode, which happens at least once a week, you get the lovely experience of overhearing co-workers talking badly "behind your back". This actually happened a couple of minutes ago to me. Two people discussing a project that turned out to be a lot more difficult than it needed to be. I just happened to be the person creating the beginning documentation for it. A co-worker that has called me a friend asked the specific business user, 'You don't mind that it was done by a.....contractor?' It hurt my feelings a little bit.

I know it seems pretty innocent, but I just heard that same co-worker bitching for over 2 weeks on how this specific business user is all over her ass to get things done and how she is just an arrogant, power-thirsty bitch.

Being a contractor is not easy. You have to come in, learn the processes and systems in record time, along with constantly being reminded that you don't belong and they will not keep you......
I am a hard worker. I get my tasks completed quickly and correctly. My work is good, and I don't mind saying so.

The only reason I stay is for the paycheck.

One woman found true love after dating 150 people first

The Year of Yes: A Memoir, is a new book out that is quickly gaining some popularity. I have not read the book, yet, but I have read a couple of articles that give an overview Growing up as a somewhat obstinant girl, Maria Dahvana never had much of a problem saying 'No' to anyone, anytime.

Fed up with not finding what she wanted in the men that she dated, she finally decided to see if she would be able to meet some interesting people by taking a year and accepting all offers she received for a date. From taxi drivers to Microsoft Millionaires (who still lives with his mother) she had some really crazy times. And when love came knocking on her door, it was from the person she least expected it from. A man that with her previous thoughts on dating would have been out the door before he said his full name - a divorced playwright, 25 years older with two children.

I can't wait to read this book! It looks like something that will be a quick, fun read. I also hope it will inspire and challenge me to find areas in my life that can be opened and refreshed by changing my 'No' to a 'Yes'.

I think this is the best pick-up line that she received:
“I'm listening to NPR. Do you want to come over and make out?”

Interview

Hello....Calling all you fatties!!!!

In case you haven't found it, here is one of the newest reported headline in MSNBC Health section: You can't be fat - and healthy

What kind of silly person came up with that title?! Of course you can be fat and healthy. Don't you remember all those fat movie stars and stuff?

After reading this article, I came to find out that being fat is actually a bad thing. I know what your are thinking. You think that I am writing this to scam away your Krispy Kreme's. And although that may be true on most days, if what the article says is true, you can keep them!

The article says that they conducted a study and the study helped to prove what "a growing body of science suggesting that excess weight alone is an independent risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and diabetes."

Whoa!!! Slow down. So, this means that if I'm a fattie....and I don't change my lifestyle....then I am at major risk for health problems? Well, in that case, cancel my double order of biscuits and gravy and send me out a cobb salad.

If It Makes You Happy...

So I've been an avid Cost to Coast AM listener for many years. Coast is a late-night talk show started by the enigmatic Art Bell over 30 years ago. It primarily concerns itself with the doing of things that go bump in the night, and the "experts" who study these things. Topics range from JFK Assassination theories, UFO abductions, round-table discussions of Atlantis, and listeners calling in to open lines with ghost stories. The experts and callers range from the plausible and slightly off-kilter to the raving lunatic without skipping a beat. The only requirement the hosts (usually the amazing George Noory) insist their callers abide by is that they have to be entertaining and at least be deft enough to string together coherent sentences. Beyond that, anything and everything goes.

I have been attracted to the show due to the shear volume of ideas that are presented. 99% of the guests have no evidence to back up anything they say, and what evidence they do have goes against their argument or is simply factually incorrect. I consider myself a skeptic at heart, prefering to believe things that have some evidence to support them, rahter than things I'd just wish were true. I don't decry people for their beliefs as long they allow me to hold mine, because, after all, no one really takes this stuff seriously... do they?

Enter: Predictions, With George Noory Click on the "Click Here to Watch Promo" in the first text box to see the trailer.

This is a pay-per-view television show featuring the host George Noory interviewing a panel of, "Psychics and tarot card readers to astrologers, remote viewers and numerologists." These experts will give their predictions about what will happen in the upcoming year. They will answer the hot-button question, "When will the next disaster strike?" Coz, like, everyone knows there'll be some huge distaster! Duh!

See, this is where I gets me a funny feeling in my belly. I listen to the show out of a love for the crazy stories and the animated guests that are interviewed, but I take it all in good fun. When the show begins to profit off of the fear rampant in the United States, I start to wonder. With all of the pseudoscientific nonsense being sought by the masses (the argument about Creationism being taught in school, for example), it makes me wonder if Coast is benefiting or hindering the greater good of world. This isn't an idle statement. The show has over 40 million listeners nightly, and is the most listened to late-night talk show in the world. With this kind of exposure, the show is certain to have some kind of impact on its listeners. I realize that while it may be fun to believe that the earth is hollow or that Atlantis is a thriving city contained within a crystal bubble at the bottom of the Atlantic, no one is really taking any of it seriously... but people do!

Profiting off fear isn't a new concept, and I don't really blame Coast for making an extra buck off of their admittedly gullible audience by playing into their fears, but it doesn't mean that my unease is neccessarily unfounded either. I don't know what it means, if anything, but I when I think of my beloved UFO conspiracy-nuts contributing to the rise of fear and acceptance of pseudoscientific bullshit in the world, it takes some of the fun out of it.

Changes in 2006

Matt and I have just started following the Body for Life (BFL) meal and exercise plans. If you are unaware what that means, let me break it down for you. The meal plan start with a mind change. Getting away from the 3 enormous meals a day and breaking them up into 3 smaller meals with 3 snacks. The key is to put protein and carbs in each meal and snack, along with fruits and vegetables at least 2 times a day. Also, you eat 6 days like this and then the 7th is a FREE day. This means that you can pig out.....if you want to. The exercise plan is to get off your butt and to move...um, your butt. The key here is to exponentially increase the workouts along with utilizing aerobic and weight training. The BFL plan suggests that a person who follows their plan will see a big change physically within 3 months. This is a great thing for us to do together.

Last night Matt brought up that the physical change will almost inevitably bring about a change mentally. With that said, my hope is that the physical and mental changes will bring us closer strengthening our emotional bond. I also think that this will help keep the energy in our marriage - I know we haven't been married a year, but it's good to start early to keep it charged throughout :)

We have a lot of goals planned for this year. The thing that makes me the most excited is that now we have another avenue to work towards our goals together. For example, we both will be running in the River Bank Run in May. I know that this will be an enormous accomplishment for Matt because he is not a "runner" per se, in fact he does not like it very much at all. As Matt works toward his goals, I will be his encouragement as well as his biggest fan - and I know he will be mine.

I know that there will be challenges as we implement these changes, but I look forward to each climb and plateau.

Smack My Gates Up!

Mr. Bill Gates formally announced Windows Vista, the new installation of Microsoft's operating system, at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Videos of the new "slick" GUI interface, not to mention illegally leaked alphas, have been floating around the web for ages, so I don't know if this necessarily counts as anything particularly original.

However, there are few things I've noticed about this release that I find more than a little disturbing. The major item is Microsoft and MTV have joined forces to create "MTV Urge." Imagine the absolute horror of Microsoft Media Player being optimized to deliver MTV content. Crappy MTV content being streamed to your resource hogging, half-broken application. It's not fear-mongering! It's actually going to happen! This is the digital revolution your kids told you about, you rotten bastard!

From a Sysopt article:
"Gates and company also seized the moment to crow about a recent series of partnerships. A deal with MTV resulted in MTV Urge, an Internet service tied into Windows Media Player and Vista's media library that offers music downloads and related content."

The second item that I find more than a little creepy is the appearance of Justin Timberlake at the trade show. Apparently, in the middle of his announcement, Gates unfurled a red carpet, donned a glittering turban, and lifted a beaker high over his head. He then proceeded to drink the glowing orange elixir and lay down on the mat, twitching and convulsing. Moments later a break beat of the crappiest sort began to boom from the body of Gates. Timberlake was then lowered down to the stage via a cable and harness while playing an air guitar version of "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC.

Again, I have no idea what this was meant to symbolize, but I have a sneaky suspicion that Gates is planning to unlock the "Gates" hell itself. Vista can literally mean "A distant view or prospect, especially one seen through an opening." Don't you see? Vista is a view of hell! It may not be the real thing, but it is as close an approximation as Bill GATES can summon.

(damn, I missed the internet)