Going back several days and pages here, but you've touched on one of my pet peeves. I'm a librarian, and I hate to be one of those stereotypical shushers, but I *do* have to tell people in the library who are shouting into their cellphones that we do not allow cellphones in the library at ALL. Oh my heck, they just cannot believe it when I say that. They look at me totally dumbfounded, as though they could never imagine that using loud electronic devices in a library would be forbidden. They always ask "why?" and I have to tell them, nicely, "this is a library. You can take your cellphone calls out there in the lobby (pointing). They act like I just told them that I was going to sever one of their appendages or something - just horror-stricken.

I did not say this because I never had any intention of voting for him in the first place, but I did make a pointed remark about how it might be too "socialist" for him to consider using a recyclable material.

I am in the Ottawa area too, and a premiere party sounds like fun!

Do you have your shushing librarian action figure yet? My Mom's a librarian and she's always complaining about cellphones. I was going to get the figure for her birthday, but she had already bought it for herself.

Our local post office, which always has a long line, has a hard-and-fast cell phone rule: If you're still talking on your cell phone when you get up to the counter, they'll refuse to help you and send you back to the end of the line.

It's amazing how quickly people hang up when they reach the front of the line. :-) I only wish more places would have that rule!!

I thought I'd stop by and say a quick hello to all my fellow TAR posters. I've been having a lot of fun over in the Spoilers thread. Let me tell you, we have some seriously talented detectives over there.

Just to catch up.. I see my British name is Chloe Wilkinson and I'm quite obviously The Swiss.

I'd also like to let you all in on a local dish known as the Horseshoe. Take two slices of toast, place the meat of your choice on top (hamburger is the most common, but turkey, ham, eggs, italian beef or fried chicken breast will do), cover with massive amounts of cheese sauce, and it end with a pile of french fries over the whole thing. Around here, they're fondly known as "heart attacks on a plate". The true key to making a delicious one is, of course, the cheese sauce. They're often made with beer and tabasco as the secret ingredients and everyone has their own "take it to their grave" recipie. For the faint of heart, a smaller version known as a Ponyshoe is also available.

Yum!

I know I'm wierd, but I LOVE Drakkar Noir! Isn't that odd? My boyfriend says that when his Eternity runs out, he'll by Drakkar. I don't know what it is about it, but its the right combo for my olfactory senses. And NO, I am not 12.


On another note...I am dog sitting for the next four days. 2 Border Collies and my two Brittanys. I have four pooped dogs here. Duncan loves to play in the pool. He digs and digs as though he's trying to 'fluff' a bed. He even sticks his head under the water to try to get the flowers painted on the bottom. Heee. Connor will have nothing to do with the pool. My two will go in to drink or cool their paws. They are so funny.

Schools out! Schools out!!!!!!!

My Terribly British Name is Quentin Chamberlain. Which really is. I'm also Arnold Schwarzenegger on the survivor front.

OK, so we're an intelligent bunch here. Can someone invent a mute button for human beings and get it to me ASAP? I'll gladly pay all shipping costs. Thanks!

auntlada this sounds like fun. I can't think of any "fun" ideas for your Detours or Roadblocks. But since you're going through different airports, maybe you can have a rule that each person has to bring something that proves which airport they traveled or something to document their route.

Hee hee Dougintx. I forgot that they had that Librarian action figure. I myself own the albino bowler one. I'm looking at him right now on the shelf here in my office.

ETA:
labral, you are still loved and respected even though you like the smell of that cologne. It TOTALLY reminds me of 14 yr old boys though. That and Old Spice.

I got the Edgar A Poe one for my Mom for Mother's Day. She loves EAP.

I'm Tom Jones. Not the crappy waste of Albert Finney, but Mr. Thunderball. I loved how he took on The Emperor's New Groove after Sting turned it down because he considered himself too old.

Labral I totally love that smell too. It's something I have kept secret, especially since I work with a lot of 14 year old boys! The smell brings me right back to YMCA dances I guess (Stairway to Heaven).

How about a library and cell phone combination? I work IN a library. Meaning, my office is located within the high school library although I do not work for or with the library for any reason. The neighboring office is for the part time drug counselor (SAC). She works part time and always comes stomping in on her cell phone. She is very loud to begin with, but when she is on that phone! The ringer is some sort of sports song, very annoying. But most annoying is that if she is having a meeting with a bunch of kids and gets a call on her cell, she leaves them in her office and talks on the cell outside my office. I have shut her door about 100 million times and she doesn't get it. Fortunately the real library will kill her soon and I won't have to deal with it.

I do! My sister gave it to me for Christmas. I brought it back to work after the Christmas break and all my fellow librarians at work were soooo jealous.
She is sitting on my bookshelf looking at me right now.

Greetings from Amelia Wilson, the Schwarzenegger-survivor, disgruntled janitor (what a combo, although I do kindof like the name Amelia).

moongirl, I believe the survey you were asking about was an in-joke, identifying respondents as one of the housemates of the survey's author.

ETA: The shushing librarian is rather cute - all she needs is one of Glarkware's cards in hand, and she'd be all set.

Hey, BubbaCat, no I can't do the Pennsylvania Dutch accent. Even my mom is a generation or two removed. Her father volunteered for WWI (yes, ONE) when he was a teenager, saw horrors, spent a year in the hospital in France, and became an atheist (for a while anyway, but it was enough for his family to pretty much disown him). I remember how aghast I was when I was a teenager and my mom told me that her cousins wouldn't send their children to public school because they taught evolution. My grandparents did have a bunch of plates with hex signs and Mennonite sayings on them.

My veddy British name is Susan Callaghan, which has to be about the worst. That's my real first name, and it's just as boring in American. I think I'll change it to Cecily Braithwaite. And I'm the Swiss and Mt. Waialeale.

labral, I love Drakkar too. I'll join you in the corner of shame.

The loud person in our office just gave notice. I am so happy -- this is someone who speaks in a normal voice until she gets on the phone, at which point she begins shouting. Plus, she's a self-absorbed whiney-ass prima donna child who thinks she's irreplaceable. But her boss is really excited because now she (the boss) can write a job description for a better position. I may stick around on her last day and hold the door open for her. The department head kept trying to suppress a smile all day, but when she got behind closed doors, she was beaming. The whiney-ass prima donna did good work, so there were no grounds for firing her. She was just supremely annoying. It's entirely possible that the senior staff will go out for drinks to celebrate this happy event.

Sorry to have offended those who love Drakkar! I couldn't think of an old-school scent which men (aka teenage boys) drench themselves in - Aqua Velva? And my dad used to use (and still might have some) Old Spice so I can't rag on that.

Lemme tell you, that smell LINGERED. LINGERED all the way.

DariaG just described my perfect day. You are so lucky.

No offense taken, but I have to add myself to the list of those that LOVE Drakkar--I guess it's a nostalgia thing, but the very thought of the scent makes me just a tad weak in the knees--I dated a guy who wore it and HE made me rather weak in the knees, so maybe that's it. Anyway...

Just another little strange food note. It's been a while since I've done any serious grocery shopping so the refrigerator, she's a little empty. But I was pretty hungry yesterday and I whipped up a strange little concoction--white bread w/ barbecue sauce and a slice of American cheese. I know, sounds disgusting. I, myself, am a little disgusted just reading that, but I was diggin' it yesterday!

Daria-- I didn't know you worked with Skagirl's StupidHead, too!! Do you enjoy the ever-present-and-WAAAY-too-visible thong as much as SkaChica does?

Speaking of annoying co-workers, I just had a junior associate come in to my office and bitch about the "insubordination of the paralegals." Shut up, ass. They work just as hard as you do, for half the money, AND they have to put up with your so-freaking-uptight-and-demanding-you'll-probably-spontaneously-combust-before-you're-30 crap. Shut up and get OUT. And take your throbbing head vein with you.

Gah.


[ETA: I haaaaaaaaate Drakkar. HATE. I used to go out with a guy who went with the layering effect: soap; aftershave; cologne. Made me gag like Paris Hilton. Hopefully, his current boyfriend likes it more than I did...]

Skagirl has my sympathy. Unfortunately, I cannot call this thing in my office -- and she's leaving! -- a stupidhead, because she's smart. Very smart. So smart, she thinks she's the only smart person on the planet. She may very well be, but she's so annoying that her being smart is worthless. And oh, she would never wear a thong. That's only for women who lack her high standards. I believe those high standards are synonymous with priggish behavior. Or she mistakes priggish behavior for high standards. Whatever. My 71-year-old mom is more hip than this deluded chicky-babe. She's cute, sort of, and would be cuter if I could stand her. There are times I want to grab her by the shoulders and scream "stop being such a g.d. prude -- you're twenty-fucking-six years old and you should be enjoying yourself!" Then again, maybe her definition of enjoying herself is disapproving of everything -- the office, her co-workers, anything resembling fun, those cute little fashions that only work on very young women and that she's missing the opportunity to enjoy. But I don't care anymore, because she's leaving! Yay!

Heh. When I first read this I had to double check the poster's name because I was so hoping that it was skagirl's PITA that was leaving. (Not Nadine, but the worklife PITA.)
That is certainly not to say that I'm not happy that your own personal work bane is soon to be out of your life, DariaG. I just have heard stories, every one dripping with horror and pathos, about the misery that is Skagirl's Stupidhead.

How about making them take a beer coaster from at least two airports bars? That's easily carried as proof. They could also have to take a picture with an airport employee under/near the departure boards. Oh, and they should have to take a picture of themselves sitting in groups of two on the plane, just like we see the TAR teams on their flights!

Remember back when we were talking about odd names? I ran across an elementary-age student named Kal-l today. How much pressure is that, to be named after Superman?

Seriously? I thought the whiney-ass prima donna was going to be there at least through 2011. So this should give hope to all, that the stupidheads and w-apds of the world do move on to other opportunities. Of course, we're defining "other opportunities" as employers stupid enough to hire them, or grad schools that are conned by good grades, scores, and well-written letters. Let the stupidheads and w-apds of the world torment others for a while! Meanwhile, my smile muscles are hurting -- and it feels so good!

One of my pet peeves is people who bathe in perfume or aftershave and then get on MY elevator. Especially when they are smokers, and think they're masking the stink of cigarettes with their stink of perfume. No, folks, then you just stink twice as bad!

That's really sad. They couldn't name him Calvin or something and just nickname him Kal? Cripes. Worse then the kid in Ohio named Joe Louis Arena after the place here in Detroit where the Red Wings play.

Thank you moongirl, I do like to wander, but I find having the bus route to wander away from gets me to more neighborhoods. And thanks corpie1948. The night tour sounds wonderful. And whoever recommended the concierge, I will, but the people paying for my trip are making the hotel reservation and i still don't know where I'm staying.

I saw the Taj Mahal with scaffolding (made of stripped thin tree trunks and rope), but there are multiple sides of these buildings, macaddict, and I won't have my camera with me. So it's ok.

My favorite cell phone caper was sitting next to a guy on a train to NYC a few years ago. The guy was clearly an agent or attorney and was talking to Nolan Ryan about business (yes, I know, do these people think they have a force field that prevents others from hearing the details?). So I touched his sleeve and said, "Excuse me, but I think it's only fair that I tell you...I'm a sportswriter." Heh heh heh. He was off that phone with a, "I'll have to call you later" in no time flat.

Favorite bad naming choices? A friend of mine student taught in P'burgh where he had a student named Queen Esther Raines and another student named Urethra (because her mom thought it was pretty). Ho boy!

I was in a long line last year behind a woman who was an actor's agent, talking to a young actress about possible upcoming roles. The actress had a non-speaking part in the Star Wars movie, but had a shot at a speaking role in something else. Anyway, by the end of the conversation I knew the actress's ENTIRE resume and work history. Talk about no privacy, I wonder if she knew her agent was sharing the details of her life with a bunch of strangers like that?

I had to sit in front of two guys on the same conference call (their PCs in front of them) when they didn't get to their destination on time, so were still on the train. Tell me, how do they know I'm not:

--A client, who doesn't want to know how not private my project might be in similar circumstances.

--A competitor, who would rejoice at knowing the weaknesses of their systems and processes.

--A prospect, who would know the weaknesses blah blah blah.

--A business journalist, who would find a great story.

--An investor, or potential investor who could find other better things to do with their money after hearing about the weaknesses.....blah blah

It's just really stupid bad business practice to discuss business on the phone in a public place. That's why Amtrak provides that little quiet room for you to use on every other car on their Acela and Metroliner service trains.

The next most awful is the person having a fight with their SigO. And then the parent trying to converse with the disinterested child of any age.

All of these are exacerbated by the repeatedly disappearing signal. Hey! Buddy! It's a sign! Don't talk on the phone on the train!

I'm the IT manager. I guess that explains the sign on my door..."We have the information. Getting it back will cost you." And Atacama Desert. You know, that last question...he who wore the Drakkar Noir (whom I adored) didn't check my pulse, but he did have to wake me up. (I had a good excuse! Really!)

You know, I think it's an epidemic and their cousin works in my office. As some of you might know from other MM threads, I spend the majority of my workday muttering "Shut the fuck up!!!" under my breath because of this one executive assistant near me who HAS NO CONCEPT OF AN INDOOR VOICE and thinks ("thinks" being the operative word) she's got a great sense of humor. It's a lethal combination. Plus she's one of those annoying people who use an artificial voice when talking to children; when her one boss's son calls in, she gets so incredibly shrill and high-pitched I'm surprised my monitor doesn't shatter. I'm awaiting a job offer from a real estate agency and honestly, leaving that creature behind is the thing I'm looking forward to the most. Well, that and no longer being around people who think "assistant" = "servant" or "five-year-old". But I digress.

So here's my relationship with Drakkar. In 1987, when I was 15, I had a MASSIVE crush on this hot 17-year-old goth boy named Ethan--long jet black bob, all black clothes, the works. Kind of like a paler, goth-ier Michael Hutchence. (It was 1987, mind you.) And he wore Drakkar. So I just always associated it with being romantic and mysterious, like I perceived him to be. So I started wearing it. And I probably wore it waaaaaaaaaay past its expiration date, even though right up until I stopped I still got genuine compliments on it. But basically, the way I look at is, when your cologne starts becoming available at Walgreens, it's probably time to rethink and move on. My favorite now is Kenzo, although based on samples I've gotten at SephoraCons, I also like Gucci.

All this Drakkar talk has me thinking. At least it's not Fierce by A & F! That stuff STINKS. My boyfriend bought me a bottle for my B-Day back in March, and I never wear the stuff. Well, only when he comes up on weekends. Shh, don't tell him.

Yay! I'm so glad that I'm not alone in my corner of shame!!!! I wasn't offended at all......I know its associated with teeny boppers....BUT, as a junior high social studies teacher, in the 6 years that I've been teaching this age, I have not ONCE smelt Drakkar on a student. And trust me, after gym, they think that showering in cologne masks the bo. Hello boys, try taking a shower with water FIRST!!!. actually, it isn't so bad now as the teacher across the room from me is deathly allergic to smells and so I warn the kids early in the school year to leave the cologne at home.

What day is it? Tuesday? phew...only two more days with these dogs! I'm going insane!!!!

I’m back from my ten-day vacation in Europe. And taking today off of work to recover. Because jet lag? Is so not my friend. I would make a horrible amazing racer. I’m good to go now, but I’m anticipating a big crash this afternoon.

Catching up:

British Airways trans-continental rocks. Within Europe it’s not as good.

Hi, fellow Michiganders!

I got to experience lots of weird food things and combinations on my trip. I don’t see how Belgians aren’t as fat as Americans, especially after eating at a frituur. At the one I went to, there was just a big counter top with various food items—all of which are deep fat fried before you eat them, including hamburgers. I do get the mayo on fries thing.

I loved the traditional Scottish breakfast: bacon, sausage, tomato, poached egg, mushrooms, and toast. The first day it included blood sausage, which is evil and not of the Lord. The second day it included a “hash brown scone”, which was much more edible. Also awesome? Coronation Chicken—a chicken salad with curry combination.

And could I please ask WRP to include Spa, Belgium and Strathlachlan, Scotland, as pit stops on TAR6? Spa was a great city, and I’m fairly certain that we were the only Americans there. Which in my book was a good thing. Brugge was a beautiful medieval town, but proved that people sell tacky ass tourist crap all around the world, and most folks there spoke English. I also loved the castle at Vianden, Luxembourg, and the Luxembourg National Military museum in Diekirch was very powerful. It included several artifacts from the war that a tank mechanic like my maternal grandfather would use, and several artifacts from the 28th Infantry “Bloody Bucket Brigade” that my paternal grandfather was a part of. Bastogne didn't have a lot to see, other than what it is. The church there uses "The Star Spangled Banner" as its chime.

So I can trace my family tree back to the MacLachlans of Scotland. They have existed in an unbroken line for over 900 years, and the 25th chief of the MacLachlans still lives in a castle built around 1800. We went to a gathering at Castle Lachlan this past weekend. Which rocks. Visiting the ruins of the old castle, built possibly around 1300 and left in ruins after the Jacobite rebellion in the 1700’s, and hiking around the tribal lands was such a powerful experience. The land is so beautiful, with an inlet to the sea nearby. It was such a great time.

On the trip I also learned :

Belgians have the best road signs, while Germans have the worst.

Home Video shows cross all language barriers.

The French think we’re stupid because they show “The Simple Life” on French TV and not “Joan of Arcadia”.

The Belgians in Brugge have found a way to make a pair of female breasts out of chocolate. I would comment more but I know some folks are reading this at work.

The more scotch a man drinks, the less likely he is to remember that he is wearing a kilt and that he needs to sit appropriately to prevent him from showing his underwear or twig and berries to the world.

So I got an offer to change departments within my company yesterday. I'm not sure if this is a promotion, although I think I would be working for one person instead of five. However, I think my physical position would give me less, uh, privacy than I currently have. If I start asking people, I'm afraid my current boss will catch wind of the offer too early. Hence my dilemma.

Using my real name, my terribly British name is Humphrey Salisbury, which I...just, no. I detest the name Humphrey. Using my screen name gives me Terrance Salisbury. Much better.

I blame my high school use of Drakkar on my friend Shanna who gave it to me one year as a Christmas present. I thought it smelled like any other cologne, but people would always tell me I "smelled good", so I wore it for about a year. It wasn't until my first year of college that I realized that I hate cologne scents. A friend of mine introduced me to a men's body spray from Bath and Body Works called Arctic Sun, which was just heaven. Body sprays I discovered are much lighter than cologne. They unfortunately discontinued that particular fragrance and never did come up with a comparable one, but ever since then I've only worn body sprays with a 'clean' scent rather than over-fragrant colognes. Adidas' "Team" spary is my current fav.



You too, huh? There's the one guy in my office who is just always going on and on and on about everything in the known universe and every time I hear his voice I say to myself, "Shut up, [name]!" He doesn't even have to open his mouth. Sometimes if he just walks in the room I say "Shut up, [name]!" Plus, he laughs like a hyena and you can hear it clear across the office. He is SO annoying! I mean, does anyone else ever get the urge to actually pick up your co-worker and throw him out the window?

I didn't know you worked in my office, swimmerboy! There's a guy just over the fake partition wall here that supposedly separates our department from the Computer Guys, and he always gets the "shut up" treatment from us. He just has to walk by and we're muttering "shut up shut up shut up." Or alternately, "no one cares no one cares no one cares." He's always going on about his ballroom dance competitions. Also? Used to be big on the Inappropriate Touching, until one day he put his hand on the shoulder of my awesome cubicle-neighbor (originally from the Bronx) and she whipped around and yelled "Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again." He's backed off a bit now. But still loves to insert himself into any conversation.

We have another, older lady, a librarian of many years, who is big with the non sequiters. Cubicle neighbor and I will be happily chatting about the crappy cataloging we have to fix or the historical inaccuracies in the movie "Troy" and suddenly she pops up to inform us of some random factoid about cows or a story of her youth in Appalachia. It's just bizarre. Also? She goes to sleep at her desk. Must be nice.

My fantasies are more along the excessive duct tape lines. I suppose one could overdo the duct tape to the point where the victim could no longer breathe, but I'd settle for her permanently shutting up and understanding how deeply she is loathed.

The smile muscles still hurt today.

Heh. We have a lady in my office that goes the full "George Costanza". She has a very large cubicle and she made a little sleeping area underneath part of the desk complete WITH A CURTAIN, and she takes naps under there on her breaks.

People totally complain but her boss doesn't care. Boss-lady feels that as long as she's only napping during breaks and getting her work done then it's fine.

I personally don't have a problem with the napper - in fact I'm a little jealous.

Haven't there been many a study that productivity increases with a rest period during our blackout period of like 2-3 pm? I'm with nap lady, and applaud her commitment to rest.

I think I would work better with a both duck tape & a shove out the window, although we are only one flight up. Rats.

I've been keeping up with the thread but wanted to contribute another odd name.

A friend's mother teaches elementary school and has a child in her class. The boy is the youngest in a large African American family (seriously, like the 7th or 8th child).

His name? De-las Juan.

Pronounced: Duh-lass Wahn. Say it all together now...

Daria and everybody else-- I think all your talk of annoying co-workers and quitting brought me luck... my Krazy Ko-Worker (aka The Bitch Whose Insane Behavior Put My Upcoming Secondment to London in HUGE Freaking Jeopardy) just QUIT!!!

*does the Dance of Joy with Numfar till she falls out of her damn chair, then rolls on the floor with glee*

It seems the planets are properly aligned for good TARFly work karma. I hope this means I get a new job soon!

Amen to the good work karma! Papa Tiger is still trying to find a job -- although by virtue of some helpful friends in HR and a helpful former boss he's still on "leave without pay" status with his company so they're paying his benefits -- but he's been so stressed out of his mind it hasn't been a pretty sight.

Till Sunday. He won a (free) video poker tournament at a local casino -- to the tune of $8,000! That buys us no worries through September about paying ALL the bills easily and comfortably, which means he can relax -- and boy, is he relaxing! In fact, I sent him off to a Mississippi casino today to play in another (free) slot tournament to see if he can do it again! Talk about perfect timing.

Definitely good karma is on the rise. Anybody astrologically inclined enough to explain it? My only friend who was that way passed away a few years ago; every time my computer broke, though, it appeared that Mercury was retrograde.

Yay, wtf!



Now, that's beautiful. See, ours? Has a desk out in the open, and she just rests her head on her chest and starts snoring, often with her hands still on the keyboard.

Not to change the topic, but who went to see Harry Potter over the weekend? And what did you think? IMHO, easily the best of the movies so far.

Also, some of that karma could waft my way any time now. We've decided to adopt and are trying desperately to figure out how to pay for a China adoption. They tend to frown on selling your soul and/or all your earthly possessions, and we'd like to be able to, you know, feed and clothe our daughter once we bring her home.

I love the curtained nap area idea. I find I'm one of those people who really shouldn't nap, as I tend to sleep too deeply and then wake up grumpy.

I saw it last night, loved it and would agree that it was the best of the three. Partly because I read the book so long ago, that I forgot the little details. It was a touch dark though.

Heh. Along similar lines, I personally favor Pavlov-type conditioning with a cattle prod. Zap 'em every time they open their mouths until they're cured of the urge to speak.


Oh, CONGRATS!!! I swear, that sort of thing can be more satisfying than a promotion!


Another alternative I've used before is essential oils, which an ex of mine who was really into spirituality turned me onto. Each one supposedly has a spiritual purpose; I think mine was to block negative energy or empower me to fight against it or something like that. Didn't seem to have any effect in that regard, but it smelled nice; kind of good incense-y.

Another alternative to traditional colognes is this company called Demeter, which a friend of mine loves. They have all these different scents that you wouldn't think of for cologne or perfume which smell like exactly what they say (complete list here). So if you've ever had the urge to smell like, say, ginger ale, angel food cake, an orange cremesicle, a paperback, a laundromat, or a funeral home (!), you've come to the right place! (I have no idea what would make someone go, "Gee, you know, I really feel like smelling like lettuce today!", but I suppose it takes all kinds, right?)

(Didn't see HP so can't comment. But is Mean Girls worth seeing? I'm kind of tempted.)

Even though I don't drink it, I wore Demeter's Gin & Tonic for a couple of years - and it was a pain at that time to find. Digging & buying multiples at a time, keeping the boys away from it. There was a short lived Bourbon & Whiskey I wanted though & couldn't find. Oh, I did wear Lily of the Valley too. But mostly G&T.


(OMG, I am totally illiterate today. Please just nod and let the moron type her crazy words ok? thanks)

Aww, adoption! I love watching Adoption Stories on TV. I always end up crying. The people involved always seem so loving and really really want the children, which I think is the most special thing ever. I really hope everything works out for you, JenEx.

Now, on to ugly things...

*waving arms frantically*
I have one...no, actually, a whole group, of those!!

The one lady in particular is exactly like that. So fake it makes my brain hurt. I have come to the conclusion that I work with the most passive-aggressive people on earth. Plus, I have a loud talker, a guy that reads every mass e-mail aloud (ok, we all got them...why are you reading them to us?), and the guy that works for me is a sleeper. I told my supervisor time and time again, but they did nothing. And he snores. That's ok though because the 15th is his last day. I just ignore him now.

And good job karma has hit my cube as well. I just scheduled an interview for tomorrow and this other job that I really want is a real possibility as well. The only semi-issue is that if I do well in this interview tomorrow and they want to hire me, what happens if in two months (yeah, it might take that long) if the other job comes through? My goal has been to get into the gubment, so it wouldn't be smart for me to let the sure thing pass by, but I don't want to be a flake either. I'm thinking it wouldn't be good to bring up the job #2 possibility in job #1 interview, but...Any suggestions?

I am due for some good Karma too.
Last week my pay was two days late due to some snafu at the Royal bank.
Yesterday, my cable was out ALL FREAKIN' DAY.
The big one? No commuter trains to my town 'until further notice' because some kids burnt down a bridge on the weekend. Sadly, my company does not feel that this is a good reason to stay home. I guess I will be the one you see hitchiking to Toronto all week.

I have the opposite problem, a quiet talker. She comes into my office, tells me (almost in a whisper) what she wants, and then continues to stand in front of my desk, muttering "Well, maybe I should do this. Or maybe this. Oh, and I'm having you do this because..... But also because..... And tomorrow I may do this." I'm never sure if she's talking to me or to herself. Drives me up a wall! Plus, she stands there mumbling for so long that I can't start doing what it is she asked me to do in the first place. So it takes twice as long for me to get it done.

Aww. And thanks for the good wishes, Suga. I used to tivo Adoption Stories and watch them all on the weekends, but my husband made me stop because he was afraid I was going to damage my tear ducts with all the crying. And after we had to put off applying for the second time due to finances, I couldn't watch anymore because it just made me depressed for myself. But it's definitely a good choice for a good happy cry in most cases.



Yeah ... when you invest, like two years of your life and thousands of dollars and open yourself to probing questions from a social worker about your parenting philosophy, family life, history, and WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU WANT TO ADOPT? You have to really really want it or else you'll go insane. And you might go insane anyway. People who've been there keep telling me it will all be worth it; that's what I'm counting on.