Wacky

I must have slept wrong on my pillow Sunday night because for two days now my neck has been achy as hell. I especially noticed this when driving or at work where I have to monitor peoples walking in and out of my work area. Man, this getting old business is for the birds.

For people who live in Ohio

My dear friend in Ohio and my one avid blog reader was complaining to me that I'm babbling on about the Tudors and he doesn't understand why. It's a series on Showtime cable. But it means more than just entertainment to me because, you see, I went to high school with Candy Stuart who is a direct decendant of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. Mary Stuart had dealings with Elizabeth I, the daughter of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and the show that I've been watching is primarily about them. And I'm into genealogy and I love watching this kind of stuff, so I think it's cool.

Click on the image above to make it bigger.
Pedigree courtesy of Wikipedia

From the book of prose 04/27/2008

You made your bed
Now lie in it
You made your choice
Now live with it

...
Where there's a will
There's a way
and I will find it
any day now
any day.

(C) MMM Art, Inc., 2008

Sunday With The Tudors: April 27, 2008

This Weeks Episode:'Life or Death' undertones to this weeks show. Thomas and Fisher will be beheaded because they refuse to take the oath, which would save their lives. Ann has a miscaraige as well as her sister gets married and now is pregnant to a commoner and her father thinks it threatens their position in court. Ann's sister is banished from court. Henry picks up a stranger on the road to take to his bed.
What I think:Things are getting tense and when the King doesn't get his way, heads will soon roll.

An Answer

I finally got an answer to what the hell I've been mixing up for myself to drink at home. The drink is a type of highball and its vodka and grapefruit juice. With a salted rim, it would be called a Salty Dog. I make it without the salt and use pink grapefruit instead. What's my variant called? Add cranberry juice and it's called Seabreeze.

My Favorite Sunday Breakfast So Far

My favorite Sunday breakfast so far is one piece of sourdough toast buttered and then lightly sprinkled with a layer of garlic powder. Fry one or two eggs, your favorite style. While the egg is cooking, slice one tomato thin. Top the toast with a slice of black forest or Danola ham, then tomatoes, then your fried egg. Serve open-faced.

There it is. I don't know what it's called, but I crave it on a Sunday morning frequently.

Hello Sunday

It's a beautiful, sweltering, Sunday morning in Southern Califoria thanks to the Santa Ana winds blowing, and I'm here multitasking once more. I'm washing my laundry, listening to "Breakfast with The Beatles" on 95.5 KLOS, and writing this blog. I've got my 'to-do' list out and I'm hell bent on crossing off atleast one item today.

4 Weeks Along

You wouldn't think that you would able to get any kind of workout while at work unless you were in the fitness industry or maybe construction, but document custodians are no slouches either.

It been four weeks since I started my new job and since I've been lugging around piles of files sans the carts that I could be using, I've gained more tone to my arms.

In this job, you push and pull carts full of files, file loans from above your head and at foot level, and are able to carry a pile of files from one location to another.

I'm sure my legs have toned up, too, but I haven't really noticed it like in my arms.

A Secret Society

I belong to a secret society of people who have created MySpace profiles for their pets. My two cats have an internet presence here: My Cats.

The Freeway Prize

I have a long drive home and I absolutely HATE IT when traffic comes to a dead stop especially for no reason, so I bought a GPS for my car to help me to avoid the issues along the way. This was my route home tonight and I still made it in an hour and a half:

118 east
5 south
710 south
105 east
605 south
91 east
5 south

Do I get prize or something?

Scenes from work

... my frost bitten finger tips at 7:30AM and 48 degrees
... sugar cubes and popcicle sticks
... blue water in the coffee pot
... three computers on my desk

Sunday with the Tudors: April 20, 2008

This weeks synopsis:Elizabeth was christened, but the people are still questioning the validity of the Henry's marriage to Ann and the legitimacy of their daughter. Mark Smitten and son bolin have sex while Henry and lady Eleanor Luke do the same. Lady Mary was put up in residence as a servant for the kings new daughter. The old counselor Thomas Moore has had his income from the king cut off because he will not swear on an oath that the king is the head of the church of england and neither will Fisher who both now has been jailed for being catholic. He is made a cardinal by the pope. Another Christmas passes in court and still plots to kill Ann are pr evasive. Charles comes back to court and Ann banishes Eleanor; her brother blackmails Eleanor to leave court. Ann is pregnant again. Ann's father advises her to pick a mistress for the king if she doesn't not want the king to pick one for himself. Ann picks Lady Margaret Sheldon (her fatter and not so attractive cousin) for the task and they go forth and frolic on a horse ride to Henry's summer residence.

What I think:Lady Mary was placed in residence to keep her whereabouts monitored and purposefully separate from her mother. Ann doesn't like the idea of Henry screwing around behind her back and doesn't totally like the idea of her choosing her cousin doing the same either, at the suggestion of her father, but she does it not to loose him. The catholic clergy who doesn't approve of Henry taking the head of the church of england is going down.

Progress...

To Do List:

pick up new glasses - done

laundry

grocery store

build recycle bin

buy new vacuum - done

plant herbs (bought soil anyway)

clean / de-clutter my place before my son calls the "Clean my house" team from cable TV on me

...and to support that task, I've got to list some stuff for sale on criagslist.org today

landscape my patio

My relationship with food

I think sometimes I'm lucky but then also equally cursed having been diagnosed with Crohn's Disease by age 19. I probably had it much earlier because I remember the hundred times or so I told me mom I wanted to stay home from school because I had a stomach ache. Who knew it was actually my intestines acting up because of all the milk and milk products I was consuming as a child thinking these foodstuffs are healthy and good for you. Pssh. By the way, in case you didn't know this fun fact- your intestines are that area of your body between your belly button and your pelvis. If you are fat, it's not only fat deposits in there contributing to your extra weight but probably pounds of feces hanging out in your guts just waiting for its turn to get crapped out. Eww.

So now even more than before, I watch what I eat. And I don't mean whatever I happen to place upon my fork that goes into my mouth either, you jokesters. I know for a fact that when I eat things made with flour and sugar, I'm going to gain weight. It's just my reality. And I wish more people would come to that understanding and keep the hell out of the isles at the grocery store with all the processed crap in them. You need meat/fish/poultry, you need vegetables, you need fruit. Maybe add a few nuts and rice and you're good to go. All most all of these items can be found on the outside parameter of your local grocery store. They are all set-up the same way. You don't need pop tarts, Captain Crunch, cheesecake, and cream puffs.

Needless to say, I avoid milk and milk products also lactose as if it were the black plague. I feel bad if I eat it, I get the snots, and a quick trip to the restroom is not far off either.

I purposefully eat at least one good steak a month to keep up my iron level naturally and especially around that week I'm on my period. If I don't get it, I can feel run down and more cranky than I normally do. Not nice. A nice grilled steak and steamed veggies and I'm a happy girl. You'd think more places would serve the dish.

I also found the joys of Japanese food. No milk! I can eat sushi and I'm happy to do so, just not anything chewy like eel or squid though. All other dead fish not looking me in the eye are fair game for my wasabi and soy sauce.

My inspiration for this particular entry came from when I went to lunch yesterday at work. I previously ordered a sandwich from the cafeteria at work, but it didn't sit well and I really couldn't place my finger on the item that made me feel not so good, so I thought maybe trying something else they offered would be a good idea. I saw that they had a salad bar, so I thought maybe I'd have a chance at building a salad that I could take back to the office.

The salad bar was specifically set-up for vegetarians in mind. They had grilled tofu, roasted garlic, tabouli, humus, three different kinds of mixed lettuce, 6 different kinds of dressing, crushed hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, seasoned cooked corn, edame, sunflower seeds, bean sprouts and more. I really did not have to struggle much at all in order to build myself a decently healthy salad which I topped with low-cal italian dressing. I also grabbed an iced tea and some dried mango and the total for lunch was $4.44. Yeah, cafiteria food!

Now what?

Since last weekend, I did not understand why I felt so achy painy all over. I know for a fact that I did not sleep well or long enough while staying in Simi Valley after having to perform network testing in the middle of the night and also because it was windy. I thought maybe I was getting ready to get sick with the flu, but no... After further consideration, I decided my condition was road fatigue from driving so much.

I took a hot bath full of epson salt and that seemed to do the trick. I feel a lot better now and not so beat-up and sore.

Day 3: Handbook

This is the third day that my temp agency has sent me stuffs in the mail and now it's their version of the employee and associates handbook. You know the drill; the same stuff you've been exposed to a before at all the prior companies you've worked at, but just their amended and restated version for your benefit and theirs.

I actually had to call them yesterday because my first payroll check was short. I'm not unfamliar with first payroll check issues, as it happened with my last job, too, back in 2003. That was an hourly rate issue, but this was a problem with not getting paid the full time and a half for overtime I worked during my first week of work. In both instances, the payroll accountant acknowledged the mistake and correct the situation.

Day 2: Coffee!

It's like I got a new long distance friend but instead it's my temp agency. Day two of them sending me gifts in the mail. Cool! This time, it was from my relationship manager Laura Carlino at Thompson Tech. A fancy pen, a coffee mug and a Starbucks chargeable gift card with $5 on it. I'm happy for the mug because I was feeling bad having to use styrofoam cups for my tea in the morning. And the pen has a nicer feel to it with its weight and shape than your common ordinary promotional fodder. Thanks, Laura!

I wonder if they will remember me on my birthday, too? ;*D

Day 1: Cookies!

Unbenounced to me, my new temp agency Thompson Tech sent me these custom fortune cookies with their logo emblazoned across the top. Sent them UPS. My son got all excited thinking I ordered gourmet treats over the internet, but I think that's silly when you can bake perfectly delicious and fresh cookies all by yourself.

The fortune is a declarative sentence, "Thompson Tech is proud to be your partner!" Cool, they are proud. My dad used to tell me that a lot. It's a good sign...

Sunday with the Tudors: April 13, 2008

Last week's synopsis: The church was broken and Christmas came and went without much cheer at court. The catholic Chancellor of the king quits and he prepares for his own demise at the hands of the Lutherans. The Queen's jewels are finally collected from The Moor while in the process one of the Queen's virgin ladies in waiting was deflowered by Ann's supposed ex-lover/poet Thomas Wyatt. Ann was given the official title of the Markess of Penbrook and a lifetime allowance in preparation for her wedding. Everyone took a trip to English occupied France to celebrate and Ann finally went all the way with Henry. It is undetermined who may be trying to scare and kill off Ann.

What I think: The french are portrayed as self-serving and greedy, but so is Henry.

This week: Catherine of Aragon stripped of her title as well as any money and servants previously paid for by Henry and their daughter Mary was also reduced from princess to lady; both were forbidden from contacting each other or previous spanish alliances. Cramden is installed as Archbishop and provides the divorce Henry has saught for so long. He also moved his possessions including smuggling his wife in a box into England while his presence stirs the the catholics. A papal dictate by Pope Paul II to condemn the secret marriage of a pregnant Ann and Henry or fear excommunication by the catholic church was rejected by Henry. The Duke of Suffolk gets some wise words from his wife instructing him not to act by himself against Ann while an assination attempt by the Soldiers of Christ which was sanctioned by the Pope at the coronation parade is executed without the desired result. Ann gives her younger sister a role as one of her house servants. Henry is on the prowl since Ann refuses sex with him during the later stage of pregnancy. Ann later gives birth to a daughter while Henry takes another Lady of his court as a mistress. Catherine goes into a deep depression.

What I think: Everything Henry did was for Ann until she displeased him and gave him a daughter. He said they have time to have other children, but it's not a convincing speech. Now it's a whole new ball game just had Catherine predicted (She earlier said, "The King will tire of you...").

From the book of prose 04/13/2008

**Inspiration: My inspiration for this came at 4AM after reading my friends blog which said the Love Me Not's had to postpone their european tour dates in May (esp. France and Spain) in order to focus on their new album to be released shortly.**

[(in the style of the blues song "I'm a Man", but faster and with more drums instead of harmonica and 5 beats ending each line); transformed into The Love Me Nots garage style ultimately!]

Paris can wait
'Cause I've got you now
You're in my sights
In the hot white light

I see your face
The sweetest smile
Those devil eyes
That drive me wild

Cause I've got you now
(repeat as many times as is necessary)

[Coda]

Madrid can hold on
Alittle longer
...
[to be finished at a later time]

(C) MMM Art, Inc., 2008

Credit

I want to thank Walter Ensign for giving me a tiny credit on his movie about the spirit balls that dwell in is basement. You can ask him about it on his MySpace.

Part 1

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Part 2

The Badge

I live in a primarily hispanic neighborhood and I find it an odd thing that ever since I started on my new job and I was issued a security badge, while I wear it walking to and from my car on the city sidewalk, no one will look me in the eye. I wonder why this is.

Am I a threat? Don't they read english? Do they think I'm some kind of official? It's weird.

Insomnia

I am a person who sleeps from 6-7 hours a day and then I'm wide awake and fully functional about two hours after that. It's just me. So when I passed out on the couch last night sometime shortly after 9PM while watching astronaut tragedies of NASA on my local PBS station, I wasn't planning on waking up at 3:30AM this morning, but I did.

My cat decided that I needed extra special attention so I was basically mauled once my eyes were open. Then, I heard my son stirring in order to let the other cat out onto the patio. I hate this. Not the fact that the cats goes out onto the patio, but the fact that it's at some ungodly hour and then it wakes me up too damn early because the cat will launch itself to claw upon the screen door that's attached to my bedroom's sliding glass door and rattle it to wake me up so I can let it in. And since I only sleep 6-7 hour anyway, I need undisturbed sleep. Who's easier to train to stop this action? The cat or my son? I don't know at this point, but I do know it's got to stop.

More, more more

So each day I've been on this new job, I have had to attend a conference call meeting to discuss operation issues we are having. The most pressing operational issue seems to be the lack of computer equipment by my colleagues. I don't know if it was the fear of God or what that allowed myself to obtain my own personal computer as well as one from my consulting firm, but come to find out that now the client would like to provide one as well. I had to laugh.

My desk will now have four computers on top of it. Mine, the owners, the consulting firms, and the client. And I have one DSL line, which is kind of a dilemma in and of itself. I was thinking of getting a router or an access point - something that would prevent me from having to switch the connection from computer to computer each time I need to do something, but I don't know. I bought an access point for my home network so that I could use my laptop wirelessly, but I don't think I want to do that kind of set-up at work. I feel though it's kind of a vote of confidence if the client wants to install their own laptops because I get the feeling I'm going to be at this location for awhile.

I'm just trying to picture in my head how to set this up and what to do about the lack of real estate on top of my desk. It's not like I'm sitting and word processing all day long. I need space to examine loans, too. What to do.

The Drive

Californians are known for their car culture. They like nice cars and they drive them all over creation.

This morning I left my house at 6:05AM knowing full well that I would have atleast a ninety minute to two hour commute to my new job, located at Countrywide Bank/ReconTrust (their name-du jour they decide to use) located all the way in the beautiful Ventura County city of Simi Valley. While trying to occupy my mind in the car with assorted radio shows, one can only listen to NPR for so long and then it begins to become repetative... I often think that it's kind of pointless to be driving all these different kinds of assorted cars/trucks/vans/buses along the freeway. I myself drive a moderately priced small SUV which gets about 20 or so mpg. I found myself today following a Mercedes Benz C320 Kompressor this morning for a long stretch of my trip and noticed that his or her left rear brake light was out. It's a part that at most costs $5.00 but on this vehicle traveling immediately before me, there it was... a fix-it ticket waiting to happen with no patrol officers in sight - thankfully. Because any time they show up the traffic slows down to the legal speed limit and then I have no hope of getting to work any sooner than 8:00AM. I get my oil changed every other month like clockwork and they are nice enough to always check my brake lights, so I've personally never had to deal with this issue. A lot of times, it's just a bad connection that needs to be tightened up, but still - how long is this person in thier +$50k car going to be driving around town before this is fixed?

I remember seeing on a science show how they are developing computer controled linked up cars so that people don't have to be wholy responsible for the speed at which they travel nor the distance from the car infront of them and behind them. I think this is an excellent idea for the AM traveler to prevent all those horrid accidents.

Four days later...

It's Thursday and it's been about four days since I wrote my last significant blog because I started my new job as a contractor on Monday, March 31st.

The job, thankfully, is nothing I have not done before and is in line with my prior work experience within the mortgage industry, so it makes me happy to be able to continue in the industry and not have to throw away a 14 year career. The hours are sometimes long but I already know that comes with the territory of being a manager and the supervisor and co-workers are a great group of people which makes those long days much more bearable.

My Senior Managers were super nice and took me and the supervisor out to lunch on the first day and dinner on the last day they were both in town before they had to travel back to their home offices.

My new bedtime Monday through Thursday is at 10:00PM so I better to bed... zzz