Thursday, January 24, 2008

Miscellany

Not much to blab about lately. We are just doin’ our same-ol’ same-ol’. I do want to comment on some other blogs that I read frequently (or sometimes not so much). This guy writes about corporate communications and I found this recent one funny –
http://blog.ragan.com/archives/stevesblog/2008/01/when_the_ceo_lies_employees_su.html He writes about a physical that he had. And seems to prove, again, that men are SUCH sissies. But is amusing to read.

I read a blog about a phrase that I have not heard before. Don’t have any teens around to eavesdrop on lately, nor young adults, otherwise I might have heard it before this. That phrase is whore bath. New one to me. Kinda intriguing. And then, in mentioning this to our department secretary (who has late-teens) she gave me another one: emo – pronounced ee-moh. As in, so-and-so is a total emo. Just a shorthand version of describing an emotional person.

Other than that – just chompin’ at the bit, ready for the weekend. Got a 3-day weekend coming up (due to the fact that I work a 9-80 workweek: in 9 days I put in 80 hours. That’s 5 days in a row, 4 x 9-hr days plus 1 8-hr day; then a 2-day weekend, and 4 days of 9-hr days. Total of 80 hours. So the employees look forward to the 3-day weekends. Trust me, we do.

I am trying, trying, TRYING to get psyched-up for exercising again. I have been way too lax for way too long. So I am doing the Nordic Track again – it simulates cross-country skiing, so it is a cardio exercise, using both arms and legs. And I have been using exercise bands for resistance work plus hand-held weights. Gotta build UP some muscles and tear DOWN some of the fat. Hate myself when I feel so out of shape. We bought this Nordic Track used, years ago, and it periodically gets used, then it only gets dusted, then used again, etc. I just cannot seem to find the time to go to the gym, and I particularly HATE waiting for the machines. I do love me the elliptical machines and some of the resistance machines are so good – but I just hate having to wait. The only time that I can go there is right after work. Packed with people, including teens – hello? They can’t go earlier? And I just love, love LOVE those butts who sit on a machine and chat with a girlfriend – you know who you are, bee-atches. Why should I have to do the dirty work and kick their arses off? I know you see me standing there, waiting. And I also have great affinity for the guys who sit on the ab machines, which coincidentally face the room where the spinning classes are held and where they can ogle the female bottoms. Supposedly these guys are just resting between sets, but I know better. Whoever set that gym layout up, knew what they were doing. I am not sorry that we joined, but at least I learned that I do need to do something (exercise-wise) and I’m the only one who can force me to do that. When my time is limited after work, I do not want to be at the club until 7:15, waiting on some jerks to relinquish their grubby little holds on the in-demand machines. So it's home-gym for this gal.

And so it goes…

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Feeling the chill - no, REALLY!

Readers who are Northerners will find the following comments amusing - or maybe, it will just be like, "Stop your whining, already."

We are having a cold snap. Okay, it's much different in this near-Gulf-Coast area than the area where I was raised - northern Minnesota, home of the below-zero temps. Unlike good ol' Minnesota, this part of the country is NOT as concerned with insulation and other modern ideas such as heat, as it could/should be.

Case in point: the predicted low was around freezing, give or take a few degrees. All the local tv stations were telling us that yesterday, giving the usual tips on insulating/wrapping outside faucets and pipes, protecting plants and pets, etc. And we know the drill, having lived here 23 years plus. So Drummer dragged the hoses into the garage, covered the outside faucets with these dandy little insulated covers made just for this purpose, and moved my herbs from the front of the house onto a shelf in the garage. So the house is as ready as it ever can be.

But does my workplace do anything pro-active, to ensure the comfort of its employees? No-O-O-O! A few years back, in a fit of God-knows-what, the decision was made to replace the existing elderly HVAC system for a super-duper-state-of-the-art system. Which has failed. Miserably. When it was first cranked up, it was cooling season. Now it seems obvious that the salesperson for this HVAC system has sold my employers a bill of goods. At first, the noise behind the cooling, BLOWING air was deafening. We had to call in the installers (and later our own maintenance guys) and have them shut down, shut off, or in some cases re-locatate many of the vents where it was blowing the cold air - it was actually a wind tunnel effect, plus so noisy that you could not hold conversations. Truth. And the converse of this is that it also fails for heating. Because this damned thing can not seem to hover at a lower heating temp overnight, then swing back into a workable (meaning, a temp that we can comfortably work at) temp at a given time. WTF? Even my miserable HVAC system at home responds to a programmed cycle, folks. Not that difficult.

So this a.m. when I walk into my cube, it is 61 miserable degrees. Inside. As usual, the water in the chiller would feel right at home in Lake Superior, based on the COLD blowing air coming out of the system. And as with many days, I am sitting here, many-layered in clothing, knit top under a two-button suit jacket plus pants, knee-high socks, a jacket OVER the suit jacket (this outer jacket is zipped up, by the way) AND a heater at my feet, throwing out as much warmth as its poor little wattage can produce. Plus I have turned on BOTH of my under-shelf lights, in an effort to use anything which may provide/emit heat. My cube is now up to 67 degrees. Outside temp is 35. The fingers on both hands are white and here I am, bundled up and feeling like Nanook of the North. I also have two pairs of gloves within reach, should I need them.

Folks have asked me, "Well, what will you do once you are LIVING up north?" And my response to them is, "They know about insulation and heat up there!" When I'm living there, I can reach for the (programmable) thermostat and alter the settings for MY personal comfort.

Gotta go. I'm gonna drown my sorrows in dried cranberries. Now.