Baby Finances

Man, there is too much to do at work. I'm so annoyed by today. I'm tired of people trying to take their ire out on me. I didn't create the problem - I'm just trying to solve it. I'm sick of dealing with people who just want to bitch and don't want to solve the whole problem. Flipping ridiculous. I had a good run today - short sweet - tasty. Yeah for good runs! I have a lot of stuff to do at work - and I really am not interested in trying to get it done. I'd much rather be doing fun things. It's been a rough week so far... I just am glad that a long weekend is coming up (why didn't anyone tell me about this long weekend????)

All this flipping news about the market going up and down is really annoying. Who cares? Eventually the market will continue to grow - a little drop today does not mean that in 10 years it's going to still be down. The growth of all these social networking sites is amazing. Though who uses what site is an interesting look at the social fractures in America today. More collegiate and college bound kids are part of facebook than myspace. Makes sense though - face book was exclusively open to college kids- so the college bound seniors want to join with their older siblings or friends join "exclusive" access. I'm kinda of annoyed by all social networking sites. It's not like you are making real "friends" with someone - and it seems to be more of a popularity contest to see how many friends you can get. However, it doesn't have any effect on your real life - you know that thing that exists outside of the digital realm. The problem is that just bec...

It's amazing how things get really crazy at work - just as your boss goes on vacation. Then you clean up everything - make sure everything gets done - and it's all cleaned up and pretty when they get back. But they have no idea the work that went into it. Ehhh as long as I win in the end. Is it weird that I am used as a sounding board/trying to figure people out/bitch session for people on the management team at work? It's a little frustrating - I thought bitching was supposed to go up - not down. But to some extent it's a little productive b/c it's trying to come up with strategies to how to effectively manage and motivate other employees. I have my own issues with management/motivation - and I don't think that any of them really know how to deal with it. But it's interesting to see the problems that other people have - and try to figure out ways to get them to feel over it. Because of the talking though - I didn't get home early enough to get in...

So in my normal manner I was daydreaming on the way to work (you should all be so suprised that I haven't gotten into an accident yet with the distraction going on) and I all of a sudden had this thought "I think I have ADD." I had never really thought about it before - but I seriously think so. My mind never focuses on anything for a long time - I've got the attention span of an ant (unless I'm really interested in the subject - then it's a lot easier to concentrate.) I can't even concentrate on writing a blog entry. Sometimes it takes hours to write and post a blog entry - because I get distracted and start making dinner, or study for the GMATs, or watch TV, go visit some websites, taking a shower, you know - normal stuff. This kind of scared me a bit - I don't want to be medicated. Any votes on getting checked out by a doctor? Yeah or nay? Any compelling reasons to think that I do or don't have ADD? Does any of this really constitute ADD ...

I'm really starting to get serious about this whole business school thing. I've started researching schools... I'd love to move back to the Boston area - and oddly enough BU and BC Business schools are on my list. I'm hoping that if I apply this fall - then timing at work will work out really really well. But timing could work out horribly too. I'm not planning on timing to get me through. At least I feel like I know how the process works and it's just a matter of filling out the paperwork. I know what I want out of a school and I know what will and won't work for me as a student. I've started studying for the GMAT - and I've got a ways to go before I feel more confident in this type of test. It's been like 6-7 years since I took a standardized test like this (university was all problem solving exams - I think I had like two classes that had multiple choice questions in four years.) So I've got to practice a bit to get back into the ...

I'm stilling having a bit of a mental crisis. I found another grey hair yesterday. Another one! The problem is that my hair is so dark the white ones really pop out. I shouldn't be getting any grey hairs yet; I'm only 24!!!! I'm not a very vain person - but this is freaking me out. I don't think it's the vanity as much as the fact that I feel really old. Aren't people normally like 40 when they start going grey? My mom starting going grey in college, my aunt in high school, so I guess this isn't that bad - at least I'm out of college. But it still sucks. Today has been an amazingly lazy day. I got up late - I did nothing all day. AMAZING! I've even been good and haven't even looked at my work emails all day! Vegging out has been nice. The only thing missing from today was a spa.... *sigh* I love spas. I should really try to accomplish at least a couple of things before I go to bed. I hate letting a day go by that I could have acc...

So - being the news junky that I am I've been a little annoyed lately with digg and have logged onto fark more and more. I know that digg is more of a "democracy" but fark actually has more articles that I'm interested in reading. Too much shit - not enough content. I still struggle for a really good international news source that gets updated often enough for me (like 8 times a second would be good...) Any suggestions? English feeds would be good (my french is okay - might be good to stay in practice, my german is pretty pathetic - and Spanish - I only know how to ask for beer... I'm a superstar!) I'm totally a national geographic reader - AMAZING photos! - and the articles are always interesting and informative. (I also like getting InStyle - don't judge me.) The latest has an interesting history article on Pakistan (like they ever taught you anything about the history of the middle east.) I have to say that I have a very different histor...

How the hell does the IT person "forget" to deal with the email server storage issue? At about 4pm this afternoon - the bitchy secretary ( see this article about her) announces that email will be down for the rest of the day. WTF?!?!?! How is the email down for the day? Who the hell runs a company that operates under such circumstances? Why haven't they set limits on people's email sizes? What the hell!!!! All work is done via email - I can't send information to customers - I can't get any work information b/c I can't even access my inbox. There are only a few things that don't ultimately hook up to email. Freaking ridiculous. So pissed. Apparently at least one of my uncles house got flooded in Ohio. My only fear is for their frightlyfully overweight corgi. It waddles around and it's stomach practically drags on the floor because it is so fat. I don't think it could swim if it needed to. Hopefully they got the dog out... I'm s...

I refuse to use the last title left on the HotHotHeat Elevator Album.... We're so fucking close I can smell it. All signs point to my company getting close to an exit play. Exciting and scary at the same time. It's time to put on the gloves, zip up your jacket, and make that final climb to the summit. I think this weekend is going to be the calm before the storm. The month of September is shaping up to be relatively busy - busier than work has been lately (don't confused bored with work and being not busy... there's a ton to do - I've just done it all before.) I was doing 8-5's for a while there this summer - looks like I'm back to the standard 8-630 or 7 everyday. Between the work and this weather it's putting a cramp in the running. I really just need to kick my own ass the last couple of days to get out there. I've needed a couple days rest though just to let my body recover from some of the harder runs lately. It's always weird to st...

This weather bullshit is pissing me off. Just fucking figure it out - this is driving my sinuses nuts! I have a confession to make I love this. I wish that my work was as funny as that video. How can I get a job that is that amusing? Or better yet - how do I make my job that amusing? The problem is the crazy people I work with - such sticks in the mud. Anyone have any good book recommendations? I'm kind of bored lately and need something new to read. My life is boring. I have no interesting insights on life other than to say - most people have a very hard time seeing past their own experiences. They claim to be able to see things from other points of view - but can only do that with people who view things the same way.

It is so cold. You have to realize that cold is a very different sensation and starts at a very different temperature for me than most people. (I blame this on the time the hospital soaked towels in ice water to bring down my high fever when I was little - I think that forever has screwed up my internal thermometer. I kinda understand what they did - I did have a fever of like 106F - I'm still pissed I didn't get that Popsicle they promised me.) Now, when it gets down to 70 - my uncovered skin is literally cold to the touch. What can I say? I'm a freak. I usually just wear sweaters to work or fleeces in the middle of the summer and switch from flip-flops to euro-trash shoes (which I claim are much classier than American sneakers and therefore I can wear them to work.... that and our dress policy says something to the effect of "and whatever is appropriate work wear for women.") People think I'm weird - I'm warm - so I don't really care how foolis...

I should write an ode to Starbucks boy. Something to the effect of "I love you because you are awake before me, and awake enough when I visit to sell me legally addictive stimulants, and to be able to make it taste goooood!" (Insert sexy noises here.) Man do I love caffeine. I read an article the other day about how you are either part of the Starbucks culture or someone who shuns it. I personally love starbucks, jitters, maxwells, spot, basically any coffee place alive. Trying to pick which one I loved more would be like trying to pick between my non-existent children. They are all lovely in their own ways. As long as the caffeine content is high I can put up with just about anything (thought I might be a little cranky if you make it wrong b/c it's early in the morning and I'm not a happy morning person.) I come by the grumpy morning person honestly though. I once got yelled at by my father for reading the paper in the morning. That's right - reading the...

This guy is a really bad salesman if he didn't make a sale here: http://www.news.com.au/sundaytelegraph/story/0,,22254135-5001028,00.html

It's really hard to determine what is really "right" and what is "wrong." It's so subjective based on how you were raised and the culture that you live in. I've been watching this show "Big Love" lately - mainly b/c I've been bored - and all of Europe is on vacation and so work is pretty dead right now. It's a show about polygamists in Utah - some of their family lives on a compound and they live in the suburbs. It's an interesting insight to a completely different life and why they live as they do. What makes something palatable to some and completely disgusting to others? It's amazing to see what people do in the name of "god." To give you some background: I was raised Catholic. From the time I was in diapers until I moved out of my parents house I went to church every Sunday. There were a few expections to this rule. a) Going to Saturday afternoon mass b) major sickness (i.e. puking) c) random times when my ...

It amazes me how people survive in desperate times. (read: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/15/iraq.prostitution/index.html) People can really survive under desperate conditions. It makes me ashamed to see people who complain about how they don't drive the expensive car that they want - or how they don't make enough money for the huge house. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with having money or spending it. Just don't complain about how you don't have more of it - b/c the majority of the world has significantly less. I can understand complaints of "I'm not getting paid what I'm worth." That's different than "you don't pay me enough." You should get paid what you are worth. The sad part comes in when people aren't getting paid what they are worth - or have no skills that are marketable in the current conditions. I think it says something though about those people who are willing to do just about anyt...

Work has really sucked it up the last few days. I'm so behind that I'm to the point of just giving up on anything that hasn't gotten done - wipe the slate clean and just start over. There's no way that I can go back and actually accomplish everything and keep up with the current influx. I thought August was supposed to be slow! How foolish of me! I guess I'm really frustrated not only by the company but by myself as well. I'm not interested or engaged anymore - which is really not at all satisfying. I'm still struggling with what I want to do with my life. On a whim - I applied for a job in Boston tonight. I haven't really seriously done any job searching for a while. This all on the eve of our yearly reviews...hahaha irony at its best. I'd love to move back to Boston - but I also want my current company to get bought out.... it's such an internal struggle. I'm bored out of my mind in Rochester - and I would love to move back to Bo...

After Josh's comment - I thought about it some more - and I think it's actually more common than I thought. There's another girl that I work with the moved here - and her husband still hasn't found a job here. She/he drives almost every weekend. Still doesn't make the idea any more acceptable to my sensibilities. It's really interesting to see what kind of crap people will put up with for what reward. So many people have left my company for other places b/c they don't want to put up with the crap. Yet I'll put up with it - even though I hate it. I still haven't moved on. Sometimes it feels all like it's going to be a little anti-climatic... well see if anything happens. Sometimes I think - what the fuck am I waiting for? Why am I waiting for the actions of other people why don't I just make it happen? It's really hard working for a company that you don't get to make the decisions as to what to do. I don't think it's ...

Isn't it amazing how when you are reconnected with things/people from your past - you feel really conflicted about things you never thought you could be - and totally emotionally over things you thought you would be conflicted on. Pretty amazing. It's also been a bit of a learning experience about myself. Every time I hear about a crazy situation - I always think about how I would react and what I would do. It's not always what you thought of yourself. I've been talking to one of my old friends from high school - (way long ago - I know) - and heard that his parents still don't really live in the same city. His dad lives away mon-fri for work - and they only really see each other over the weekend. (They did the same thing when we were in high school too.) Can you even imagine? When I started to think about how hard that must be - not only on their marriage and their relationship - but also on their kids and family in general. They must live two separate lives...

Holy shit I'm not sure anything more could go on in my life at one point. My mind is reeling.... *sigh* WTF?

This weekend has been pretty boring. I've just been doing house stuff that needs to be done and I've neglected for way longer that I should have. I've been trying to catch up on sleep - but I've been doing a terrible job. I've just had way too much shit going on in my head to sleep. My older brother was giving me a hard time about the Toaster that I 'stole' when I moved to Rochester/college/whenever I ended up taking it. The irony being that I rarely make toast. He calls me a Toaster Thief - I make a Picasa Album of the Toaster Hostage. I think Toaster wants to stay with me. Or rather - Pat doesn't want to drive the 6 hours between Toledo to Rochester to come pick up his toaster. I got like a million bug bites this weekend - and can't figure out where/how. It must have been on my run Saturday morning - but they're all freaking over the place. I must have run into a swarm of mosquitoes or something. These things are freaking HUGE though...

I'm absolutely amazed by how stupid and dumb the general population is. Not just about book learning/schooling - but rather common sense kinds of things. Today I took my bi-weekly(monthly) jaunt to the laundry mat so that I could have some clean fresh smelling clothes for work on Monday. (Someone please remind me to go to the dry cleaner too - I've got a shit ton of stuff that needs dry cleaning... Does anyone know a dry cleaner who will pick it up at home and drop it off at my work? Does that exist? If not it should.) There was this lady there with her two small children - both girls under the age of six. Not a big deal right? A lot of people have kids. This lady proceeded to yell at her kids to stop running around and just stand still near her - who was talking on her cell phone the entire time. Then she starts threatening her kids b/c they aren't behaving. This lady brought NOTHING for two kids under six to do - in a hot laundry mat for 2+ hours. I wanted to ap...

Ever think that it might be better to walk away than stay? Maybe I should just scrap it all and screw everything - go look for something else walk away from my own life? I think it's just work that I struggle with - work and living in this stupid city. I'm not sure what I'm expecting from someplace else - some other company. Then good ol' Ken Lutchen pops into my head at this moments. "If it wasn't hard everyone would do it." So the decision is really much harder. Is this b/c I can't hack it? Or is it really just not a good personality fit for me? Why is life so hard? In better news I had another good run tonight. Yeah for running! I actually slept more than a couple hours yesterday - so I'm feeling a lot better and much more "here." It's amazing on how little sleep you can function on - but how that extra hour or two is the difference between living in your body - and just plain old simple living. In exciting archaeology n...

You know - it really fucking sucks when you plan on doing something and technology poops out on you. I'm so annoyed that you can't re-start a computer on a remote connect. Yes I know why you can't - but it doesn't help me do my work when the program is fucked up and the only way to fix it is to restart the whole damn machine. Fucking A! So now I'm stuck doing work that I really don't want to be doing - nor did I bring home the right paperwork to do it - so it's much harder than it should be. I wouldn't be working if I could sleep; but I can't. So instead of whining about the fact that I can't sleep I'm going to whine about the fact that my remote desktop has stupid limitations that annoy me. So there! My poor little nose is a little sun burnt still. I guess it was too much to take for it to be outside unprotected for a few hours. I'm so dumb sometimes to forget stupid stuff like sunscreen. Whatevers - hopefully I won't get sk...

I had the best run tonight - in the crappiest weather. After such a shitty run yesterday I wasn't really expecting much. But I had a lot to mull over - and generally just veg out and not think for half an hour. It just felt amazing during and after. Talk about a runners high. I guess that's why you keep wanting to do it once you start - the whole runners high is definitely true for me. It was really rainy and I got soaked - but it was an awesome run. Here's proof that you shouldn't stay indoors even if the weather sucks. I would definitely recommend running outside instead of inside. It always felt a little pointless and that I was always trying to distract myself running inside on a treadmill - but outside I don't feel the constant pressure to try to distract myself from what I'm doing. I'm actually into it and easily slip into the runners comma - where I'm thinking about something or just zoning out. Work has just flown by the last two days - ...

Well... I didn't really end up seeing much of Seattle (unless you count Costco and Target as definitive " Seattle " things.) Though Orcas Island was really really pretty. The wedding planning and organizing was... well.... a little disorganized. That's okay though - they went through with the ceremony with no major hitches (even if they haven't signed the licence yet b/c they haven't found it. I'm betting its at Jess's mom's somewhere.) The wedding was a lot of fun. I got to see just about everyone from Vegas again and hang out. It was really cool. I didn't really get to relax and just hang out until we went on the Whale Watch on Sunday.... I actually got to see whales this time. Every other time I've tried to go out whale watching - I never actually end up seeing any whale. We also saw some otters and sea lions and stuff. Check out Jess's Picasa - her popo's pictures are up already. I'll try to put mine up tonight...