So sad.

Ronald Reagan has passed away. I was fond of the ol' guy.
- posted by Laura @ 3:57 PM

 
This was fun

Check out the Portrait Illustrator.

It's me!


It's Calvin!


It's Marie!

- posted by Laura @ 5:34 PM

 
Oh, for fuck's sake.

We all have e-mail signatures here at AcronymCo. They describe what department we work in, what our extension is, and what our pager number is.

I just got an e-mail from this guy. His name is "Blahty Blah the Third, PhD".

How obnoxious. He might as well be "Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius". Sorry, if this were a medical company I might understand. But we work in the semiconductor industry. And I've never seen this guy do ANYTHING USEFUL the entire time I've worked here.

He's giving PhD's a bad name.

- posted by Laura @ 1:10 PM

 
Crazy

I think sanity is overrated.

Truly, I don't think any one of us can get through our lives without being a little crazy. Of course, since I don't have insight into anyone else's life but my own, I can only describe my particular brand of craziness. But I'm fairly sure that most people can relate.

For instance, I avoid thinking about things that have to be done. Like, setting the alarm on Sunday night but shying away from the awareness that I'll have to get up in a matter of mere hours in order to re-join the rat-race. Or, refusing to acknowledge the fact that in exactly one month and five days I'll be getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Also, knowing what the checking account balance is but putting off the actual act of balancing the checkbook.

Things like that.

In order to keep control over my life, I choose the areas in which I let it get a little out of control. I leave the laundry unfolded and piled in the basket all week long, because folding it and putting it away is too damned tedious. I've never gotten the filing under control because, well, EW. And so we can never find a document we need in a timely manner. There are closets in the house that I just avoid opening altogether, that are just crying out to be organized. And don't even get me started on the garage. Tedium brings me down. Chaos - of my own choosing - I can live with.

Sometimes, I sit still and quietly panic. We are as close to the edge as any other paycheck-to-paycheck family. Some days I'm optimistic about it, other days I feel like I'm a breath away from seeing it all burst into flames around me. Sometimes it feels like the fact that we've made it this long, successfully, is less because I'm a skilled money manager, and more because I pulled off some magic trick completely by accident.

I obsess about needing to know where the cat is at all times.

Calvin falls asleep with the TV on in the bedroom all the time. Most nights I fall asleep right along with him. But every once in a while I flip the fuck out that I can't fall asleep the way I want to - in a darkened, silent room with the fan humming soothingly in the background. Then I bitch him out resoundingly, and he looks at me like, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I'll plan the hell out of our dinner menus for the week, and do all of the grocery shopping, so that we won't spend money going out to eat. Then I'll declare, "I'm not cooking!" and we'll go get wings and beer. I'll get all motivated about my health and fitness, and plan out what I'm going to eat and when I'm going to work out. I'll do okay for three days, and then say "Fuck it" and watch eight hours of TV and stuff my face with every snack food the cupboards and fridge has to offer.

Sometimes I don't want anybody to talk to me. And then I get way impatient with people who try to interact with me when I'm not in the mood. This is especially mis-timed when it happens at work. I sit there with a smile pasted onto my face, internally fantasizing about being home for an ENTIRE WEEK, never getting out of my jammies, reading the whole time, and not speaking to ANYONE. Which is an odd thing to fantasize about.

I worry that there's something very frightningly wrong with me.


- posted by Laura @ 8:51 AM

 
Goodies from Maine

I am totally squee-ing about the Maine Goodies website. They sell Moxie! And Whoopie Pies! And Humpty Dumpty potato chips! Dill pickle, even!!! With free shipping!!

Obviously, these are only things that a fellow Maine-iac would care about.

Oh, man. The sell fiddleheads. And B&M baked beans. And salt water taffy. Oh man, this is making me so happy right now.
- posted by Laura @ 9:39 AM

 
Babble

- Madonna just came on LaunchCast (Material Girl) and made me grin foolishly. And now Van Halen's "Panama" is on and I'm a-groovin'.

- It makes me feel so validated when people "accept" the meetings that I invite them to via Outlook. Of course, that doesn't mean a damn thing since nine times out of ten they don't show up anyway. But I can at least pretend to feel the love.

- I've been e-mailing back and forth with Lilly today, who was just ordered to drop what she's doing at her desk job, and go clean her rifle! What an odd thing. Some of us write reports on a monthly basis, she cleans her rifle.

- We're also talking about the celebratory vacation to Maui that we want to take in 2006 when she and Michael are out of the Marines, and Marie graduates. We have to make that happen, because if I don't get to Maui again soon I SHALL DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS. Seriously.

- I wish I was one of those classy chicks who always looks neatly pressed and coiffed, with manicured hands and pedicured feet, and tasteful makeup. Me? I'm the sloppy chick with wrinkled clothes, haphazard hair, and toenails with chipped polish. I need a makeover.

- Calvin is making taquitos for dinner tonight, using the roast left over from last night. He's mine! You can't have him! I don't share my toys! Erm, husband!

- I sent that geek test (see entry below) to the folks in my group, and they're all scoring in the 1% area. I don't know whether to feel proud or ashamed. I thought I was the least geeky of our group! I don't know what this says about me, and I worry.

- Everybody send Heather good mental mojo that the house she's trying to sell doesn't have termites!!!

- We watched "Paycheck" over the weekend. I continue to hate Ben Affleck (I pronounce it "AFLACK!" like the duck), but it was mildly entertaining as long as we were drunk. Which, handily, we were. We also watched "Miracle", which was awesome and patriotic and moving and all that stuff. And "Return of the King", which we bought. I think it increased my geek score that I own all three movies and plan to watch them all right in a row some day. And we watched "Peter Pan" (the new one, not the Disney version) which I was not much impressed by. AND I watched "Down With Love" (you couldn't PAY Calvin to watch something like that), and was surprised to find myself enjoying it. Of course, I always liked those 50's/60's movies with that guy and that lady and that other lady and that other guy. You know the ones I'm talking about. The old school stuff. Clearly, I suck at movie trivia. I shall have to consult Jette.

- Okay, so I looked it up. "Down With Love" was a parody of the trilogy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, "Pillow Talk," "Lover Come Back" and "Send Me No Flowers" from the 50's/60's. All of which I've seen, but couldn't name or remember who was in 'em. Which explains the feeling of familiarity that I was getting. Duh.

- I really, really like "The Reason" by Hoobastank. I'm also curious to know how they came up with their name. But I'm too lazy to look it up. All the world's knowledge at my fingertips (well, mostly), and I am thwarted by laziness.

- The REAL (Berlin) version of "Take My Breath Away" just started playing on LaunchCast. I am starkly reminded of how much better it is than Jessica's hateful version. I'm feelin' the Jessica hate.

- For my birthday, I'm going to buy myself ten things from my Amanzon wish list. Well, maybe five. I've run out of room on the book shelves that Calvin built me. Woe.


- posted by Laura @ 3:51 PM

 
Scoring my Inner Geek

Per Sherry's suggestion, I took The Geek Test and scored: 27.41617% - Total Geek.

I know people that would score over 90% on this thing, I swear.
- posted by Laura @ 1:26 PM

 
Dammit

Somebody please tell me why I bother putting up my "Do Not Disturb" sign when nobody pays any fucking attention to it anyway?
- posted by Laura @ 10:42 AM

 
Laura's List of Things That Are Annoying Today

1. When an "Ozone Alert" is issued here at AcronymCo (there's one for tomorrow), those groups who have a "plan" in place get to work from home that day. Guess whose group doesn't have a "plan"?

2. Working with the dealership to trade Marie's new truck for something that has an automatic transmission.

3. Filling out the paperwork to get a duplicate Birth Certificate for Marie, who lost her copy approximately twenty minutes after her mother gave it to her.

4. Filling out the paperwork to get a duplicate copy of Marie's Social Security card, because her mom doesn't know where the original one is.

5. Unreturned phone messages to Michael and Lilly. Because Michael may have Marie's birth certificate (he got his at the same time from his mom). But it might be easier just to pay the $42 for a replacement, at this rate.

6. My manager scheduled 4:30 meetings for every day this week.

7. Dealing with Calvin's ex several times today about Marie's car insurance (and isn't THAT a long, sordid story). I get to be the messenger because Calvin and she can't have a conversation that stays civil for more than thirty seconds.

8. The Spreadsheet of Doom, which I hate with every fiber of my being. Mostly. Most fibers. I have a few left over for hating other things. Well, you catch my drift. This Spreadsheet has seen several incarnations over the past week, and with each incarnation (thrust upon me by my boss) I have to start my analysis over again. So I've wasted approximately eleventy bazillion hours on this crap and have gotten nowhere.


- posted by Laura @ 4:29 PM

 
Memorial Day


- posted by Laura @ 6:48 PM

 
Milestones

Marie experienced two milestones yesterday. One, she got her first job. She's working at an ice cream shop, alongside her best friend and her boyfriend.

I'm sure they'll get a lot of work done.

Second, Marie got her first vehicle. Next milestone is teaching her how to drive a stick shift.



- posted by Laura @ 5:27 PM