What I'm wearing today.

Please don't tell me you don't know the show "Rob and Big."

Uh, gross.

Before I go into my cubicle every morning, I drop my frozen (healthy!) meal off in the break room.

As I'm walking up to the room this morning I hear "clip... clip clip... clip."

I'm thinking, "I wonder what that noise is. Nail clipping? No. No one would do that in the break room."

I turn the corner. WRONG! Dude is standing there clipping his nails on the break room table... where people eat.

Uh, ew.

He probably bites his toenails at home. The thought makes me cringe.

The conversations that take place at work...

via e-mail (this started because as of today, until further notice, we get to wear jeans to work every day!!!):

• Jeans for all you Jelly Beans starting immediately ~ enjoy

• As you know Ned has decided to leave this up to the discretion of each department’s Director and as much as I would love to have everyone wear jeans…jk
  

  We do ask that you leave the t-shirts, flip flops, hot pants, leather ponchos, etc…at home though. Still dress like you care. Fair enough?
  

  Do we want beer this afternoon?

• I won’t even be here, but is that really even a question?
• That’s a dumb question…of course we want beer! And margaritas J

• I just got the nicest leather poncho too. Can we maybe have leather poncho day once?
  

  Will take beer in the afternoon also.

• Urban sombrero’s?!?

• A.A. has offered to run and get beer at noon so let me know if you have a special order. If not it’ll be half COORS LIGHT and half bud-light crap. Cool? I don’t think we have the proper equipment here to make Margs though
• Proper equipment? What about those that like them on the rocks? I can stir with my finger
• High Life?
• Coors Cutter for G

• Never in a million years will that beer get in my fridge.

• I know what someone’s getting for their birthday.

• But it’s the champagne of beers
• That’s only because those that drink this crap don’t have any idea what champagne is.
• G isn’t even 21 yet. I don’t know why he’s responding to beer emails.
• Just because I look 15 and get ID’ed at rated R movies doesn’t mean you have to hate.

• I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means McLovin’

• G got ID’d at Griff’s to make sure he didn’t need the kids meal.

• There are tons of things to joke about, but Griff’s is not one of them.
• I agree the Griff’s challenge is not a joke.
• Back to the margaritas….N will be bringing us a blender….so A-we may need some ice too J (I don’t think we have enough in the freezer, but I’ll go check).
• And I think we have a request for Corona too J
• I got 3 dollars I’ll put towards anything that isn’t bud or coors

• Hmmm…$3 can get you some salt and ice.
  

  Any objections to just buying Coronas w/ limes today? This way we don’t have to worry about K (<---me) putting her fingers in everyone’s drink, G and A getting angry drunk off of O.E., and A passing out at her desk drunk on Tequila

• You state these possibilities as a bad thing…part of me thinks…could be fun.
• I’m down for Corona’s! I’ll save the margaritas for when I get home J
• Corona’s sound good
• Mike’s Lime is almost as good as a marg

• And why don’t you think we are nice drunks?

• What’s with all this talk about Mike DiC and his lime?
• Very good. Ok, everyone empty out your change drawers and give your “donation” to Allison. Whatever the difference is I’ll cover.
• O.E. can turn a choir boy into a Hell’s Angel.
• A-we will need Coronas AND Mike’s Lime though J

I like where I work... it's entertaining!

Frustrated.

When I drive to the bus stop in the morning (it takes me 10-12 minutes), I leave the radio off and enjoy the silence.

When I'm on the bus, I'll put my earphones in and listen to some music on my iPod and while I try to still block out the world at 6:18am, I still have a million thoughts running though my mind.

Unfortunately, when I get to work, I must automatically go into work mode. I can't remember what I wanted to Google when I got here or what I wanted to blog about.

It's really quite frustrating, because after spending all day on the computer and phone at work, the last thing I will do when I get home in the afternoon is jump back on the computer to blog.

As of right now, I can only think of one thing I was thinking about this morning. After parking my car and while I was walking to the bus, I noticed that it smelled like there was some moisture in the air. I noticed it when I got downtown too and was walking to work. Today it smelled like it had just rained... which is weird because Spring officially starts tomorrow (what?!?) and I'm waiting for my April showers... of snow that is. It has been incredibly dry here, even in the mountains. No where in the area has anyone had enough snow/precipitation for the Winter. My skin is complaining with every shower I take that washes away that little bit of oil it's able to produce.

While I still want snow, snow, and more snow so that I can get some more riding in before the ski season is officially over, my skin is begging for my humidity!

I guess that's one thing that I got used to living in the south. The humidity could get so bad during the Spring and Summer months, but my skin loved it! Everyone had a nice glow and I miss it!

Oh yeah, I've lost a little bit of weight. I tried on my old snowboarding pants (last time they fit was 4.20.2004) and my ass no longer looks like two sausages shoved into one sausage casing! Yay! For the sake of my sanity, I'm not measuring myself or weighing myself, I'm simply going by the way my clothes fit and seeing how long it will take me to get into my size 8's and hopefully 6's. I'm really hoping by May (G's 30th birthday to be exact) that I'll be a 6, but I think that's pushing my luck!

[I also added some more "skinny" or motivational pictures to my last entry. The last picture is where I'd like to get back to.]

Slacker.

I did. I slacked off yesterday and didn't post.

As most would realize, I write while I'm at work. Busy day at work = little or no posting. The only upside is that normally, my day goes by quicker.

Today is still busy.

/end post

Post whore.

Why I enjoy working for the company I work for:

All,

For those of you who were able to make it in today I just want to say thanks. Unfortunately we are in a business where taking sick days when the weather turns ugly isn’t really an option so your efforts to make it in are greatly appreciated!

We will be ordering pizza today for everyone (if anyone is still delivering today).

Thanks again!

I mean really, how many companies actually thank those who come in on a very snowy, traff-icky day? Could they make us feel better about doing what we're suppose to be doing anyway?

Awesome.

I don't know why I'm in the "customer service" field.

I do NOT have patience for stupidity! Zero. Zilch. Nada.

If I could, I would reach throught he phone and put you out of your own misery.

For example (relating to calls about web account access):

1.) "I don't know if I registered for account access or not."
-Really? Why don't you try logging before wasting my time! Or write it down next time.
2.) "Does the Caps Lock key count as a capital letter in my password?"
- Really? Seriously, you've GOT to be kidding me. Was that a real question? Am I being "Punked"?
3.) "Does a number count as a letter in my password?"
- This came from the same person. Clearly a super-idiot!
4.) "Do I put the temporary password in the 'reset password question' box?"
- Of course not moron, it's a temporary password. You put it in the "password" box, under your user ID so that you can log in.
5.) "It says my account number is wrong."
- See how your account statement says "FUND/ACCOUNT NUMBER" 123/123456789? That would mean the fund number is to the left of the slash and the account number is to the right. Does the entry box ask for your fund and account number? Nope. Don't think it does. Which would mean you only put your account number there. What an novel idea!
6.) Me: "Your temporary password that I will be reading off to you will have one uppercase letter, one number, and the rest of the letters will be lower case. Capital 'L' as in Lima, 'a' as in Apple.

Stupid caller: "Is that a big 'A'?"

Me: "No, the only capital letter is the first letter."

Stupid caller: "Oh, okay."

Me: "Capital 'L' as in Lima, 'a' as in alpha, 't' as in tango, 'o' as in oscar, the number five, 's' as in sam."

Stupid caller: "So it's capital L, a, t, zero, five, s."

Me: "No, it's not a zero, it's the letter O."

Stupid caller: "So it's capital L, a, t, zero, five, s."

Me: "No, no. It's the letter 'O' as in Oscar, not zero."

Stupid caller: "Oh okay, thanks."

CLICK!

Holy schmoly!

Average number of calls in on any given weekday: ~50-55

Number of calls I've taken in 3 hours 50 minutes: 50

WTF mate?

To top it off, half of our team members are off today!!!

One supervisor, two people on the other call team, and me. Four of us handling this craziness!

I've got 4.5 hours left of this hellatious work day. I don't even want to know how many calls I will end up taking today.

ASL

I'm am fascinated by sign language.

My dream job would be a Labor and Delivery Nurse that was "fluent" in sign language. I don't think it's so weird, but most do. What's wrong with wanting to be albe to coach the deaf or hard of hearing. They have babies too.

My interest in sign language started when I worked at the Gap, with a guy named Victor, who happened to be deaf. He was part of the stock team, but he throughly enjoyed teaching me and others sign language. I actually learned a lot in the time I worked with him.

I've become even more fascinated with it, due to the fact that an infant can learn sign language well before they can even mumble a word! I really can't wait to have the opportunity to teach my child sign language. Can you even imagine what it's like for an infant to be able to communicate what they want without talking?!

So, I found this intersting site today (it was actually mentioned on Lifehacker). It's called lifeprint and it teaches basic sign language.

Check it out!

Work.

Sent e-mail read:

So and so,

Do you know anything about this?

So and so's response:

"That ish aint my areia of expertisition."

Merry Christmas Eve Beer Wednesday

And yes, I'm representing Mac on my work PC. It's more than a want to, it's a have to!

My pet peeves as a SSR.

1.) Interrupting me while I'm answering the phone. What you have to say is NOT so damn important that you need to be rude.
2.) Talking over me or interrupting me. If you don't take the time to shut-the-hell-up, I can't help you, or won't try very hard.
3.) "Oh," is a letter. Zero is a number. Get it right, there is a difference.
4.) AR-TI-CU-LATE. I'll take a chance and bet a million dollars that your mouth is neither filled with marbles or marshmallows, stop mumbling you babbling idiot.
5.) Leaving off plurals. I know you may have grown up in the south, but $5.42 is said "five dollars and forty two cents," and not, "five dollar forty two cent." I bet you also thought 40 was spelled f-o-u-r-t-y.
6.) Thinking that I remember you. Just because I took your call last week and you had some all-life-ending problem, doesn't mean I remember you or want to remember you. I take 50 calls a day. Multiply that by the five days that have passed since I talked to you. Do you think I remember you and your problem 250 calls later? I. DON'T. THINK. SO!
7.) Blaming me for: the U.S. Postal Service losing your mail en route to us, you sending your paperwork to the wrong address, your redemption being delayed because you forgot to sign the signature authorization page and send it in, because anything is delayed because you did something wrong and didn't return my phone call to you to correct it, your automatic investment plan being closed down because you didn't have enough money in your checking account, the fact that you need a Medallion Signature Guarantee on your paperwork (I don't make the rules!), pretty much blaming me for anything stupid you may have done and don't want to accept responsibility for.
8.) Calling and placing me on hold. It is not my job to sit around and wait for you to 1.) talk to your dog, 2.) answer your cell phone, 3.) take another call at work, 4.) yell at your children etc.
9.) Investing your money in something you can lose principle on and you don't even know what you're invested in. Seriously, just give me your money. You're clearly better off giving it to me or throwing it away. You'd make more money playing the lottery at the rate you're going. "What do you mean my account is not F.D.I.C. insured?" **rolls eyes**
10.) Talking... talking... talking... and continuing to tell me your loooong, drawn out story about how you can't figure out how to sign up for online account access etc. First off, I already know what you're doing wrong. And two, if you read and followed the instructions and looked at the picture (yes, a picture) you wouldn't have to call me.

Lazy blogger...

I've been lazy about blogging lately.

Reason being, I'm damn tired.

Getting up everyday at 5am, to leave the house by 5:45am, to catch the bus at 6:02am, that drops off at 6:42am, that gives me 18 minutes to get by 15 blocks, two and a half of them walking, and get to the cube farm by 7am is exhausting.

Then reverse that in the afternoon, although it requires me running two blocks in heels on icy sidewalks to get to the bus by 3:45, which doesn't get me home until 4:30-40.

To top it all off, not only have we taken on yet another new mutual fund, but we're still short a person on our call team, which makes things very hectic and very tiring. I know, you wouldn't think that sitting in a cube farm all day taking phone calls would be tiring, but it is. It is not in the sense of physically tiring, but rather, emotionally tiring. Being on the customer service end, you get yelled at whether or not anything is your fault. Even if you're not the person they spoke to earlier, you are now at the shit end of the stick and it is your fault. It's quite lovely if you ask me.

At least this Friday (12/19) through Friday 1/2/09! we get to wear jeans! That makes me incredibly happy AND comfortable. Not to mention, if it snows some more, it will make it that much more bearable to walk around in the snow/slush/ice! I opt for my Uggs, don't judge, they're comfortable and warm!

I've also been very addicted to watching the Shiba Inu "Puppy Cam." If you haven't watched it, you might be a little late. Basically a couple in San Francisco who have to Shiba Inu dogs and their female had puppies. To keep an eye on them throughout the day, they set up a streaming, live feed of the puppies. It's been many weeks now and this past weekend, three of the six actually went to their new homes. It's always fun to watch puppies play, so it can be a great break throughout a monotonous day!

Okay - it's taken me forever to get this far. It's ridiculous, but I promise I will try to be more active in my blogging and not post videos and news articles as a replacement!

Happy Holidays!

Today's random post.

Last month I was the employee (out of five of us total) took the most phone calls last month. I took 1025 calls in the month of November. C.O., who is on the other call team (and they think they're super busy because of a certain fund they have) had a little over 500. It's no wonder I feel like I'm going crazy! C.O. made the point that he was gone four days, to which I replied, so you would have had to answer 125 more calls per day you were gone to catch up to me. He didn't have anything to say. HA, in your face B Team! Well, not really, because I don't want so many calls.

Tomorrow MFG and I are going furniture shopping in the morning! So far, I've found a new kitchen table that I want. Unfortunately, while we have a formal living room, we do not have a formal dining room. Also, our table, which I love, only seats four. So here's my non-formal solution:

The best part is it's solid wood and it's $719! What a steal. We'll see if MFG goes for it.

We are having our LCD (a whole 52") mounted and having the wiring run for our new surrond sound system that MFG dropped a pretty penny on. So, we're looking for a console to go under the TV to "ground" it. Here's what I've found so far:

$399


(Just the console) $399 as well!

In our family room we have a "cubby" next to the fireplace where the TV is "supposed" to go. We don't like that set up, and it won't work with our TV. See said cubby below in green:

So this is what I was thinkign we could put there, since our TV will be on the wall to the right of that.

The one on the left is $77 on the right is $59. Not bad huh? I can't choose. Suggestions?

This is what I'd like to put above the fire place:

We are also getting a new couch, preferably a sectional and leather, but we'll see. I'm a little weary of what the dogs claws can do to that! I am opting for a red couch, to give our family room a burst of color since the rest of the room will be very neutral.

What do you think of the items I have picked out?