Misty: Oh, sweetie... sounds like your boss and my Bossman are related. Not that Bossman would EVER suggest we work on the weekends (he sails every chance he gets) and not that Bossman freaks out about the same sorts of things your boss does, but that sudden-freak-out thing? That's so completely familiar to me.

Example: the phone bill. We've been having probs with Verizon (our regular phone service carrier - long distance is through AT&T) since... last May. Keep in mind I only started there in July. In May, somehow a phone bill was missed and we ended up $855 overdue, month after month. Through one thing and another, 'missing' checks, stop payments, re-issues, hunting down check numbers and what have you, as of January, we were still missing that $855. The money had been credited to our 'new' account, not the old one we were trying to close since after May (don't ask, I don't know - even though Bossman stares hard at me all incredulous that I don't know why the bill never got paid in May... umm... because I didn't start until JULY?) So I suggest we call the very nice woman in Chicago who handles our department's bills. I had called her once and she said she'd take care of it. Coruse, at that point - in September - it still wasn't taken care of. Bossman says: Nice Woman doesn't care about our office, so don't go through her. No offense to Nice Woman, who is very nice, but she has other things to think of and we're extremely low priority for her.

Umm... okay. Whatever. So I don't go through Nice Woman anymore. I try to deal with the Cool Guy in Chicago's main office, but he only pushes the paperwork through to Phoenix anyway. Phoenix is the place that actually cuts the checks. One thing and another happens. We end up calling Donna who calmly explains... "I've been working on it since you told me about the problem in September." Turned out, we had Stop Payment-ed a check she had requested be re-issued, she had the inside track at the phone company's accounting department where we (rather, I) were still hunting for the 'right' person to talk to, and if we had just paid what we were supposed to pay (or request the money for, technically), it would all have been solved long before this.

So Bossman -instead of realizing that my involvement at his direction was slowing things down in a BAD way, just says 'okay' and leaves it at that. Then January's bill comes in last week and he freaks out again. Why? Because it shows we still owe January's payment (December's bill). I'm like... but we requested the money for it, American Express is a bureaucracy, it takes time to go through channels... He's like... why isn't this taken care of YET? You know, Nice Woman doesn't really care about our little office... and so on.

So Nice Woman returns my phone message and tells me this. "I called Phoenix a long time ago about this same situation regarding some other bills not being paid before their due date. They told me 'what does it matter if we're a little late on some bills? We're American Express. We don't have to worry about late charges & interest payments. 'They' wouldn't dare charge them to us.' Of course, if you're late paying on your Amex charge, they come and take your house."

Okay - slight exaggeration. But you see my point. So we're really up to date on the bills and we'll never get a zero in the 'past due' column, but it doesn't matter because we're American Express and no one's going to risk losing our business.

My point was because of my Bossman, though, who disses Nice Woman every chance he gets even though she's doing a great job and I am extremely appreciative of all the hard work she does. Whatever. Some people live to make other people unhappy. It's all quite pathetic, when you realize that people like your boss and Bossman are themselves unhappy and that's why they make other people unhappy. Because they're jealous of you and me. I say, let them eat their hearts out.
posted by SPowers at 5:56 PM | Remember It!

Sara! *waving* right back at you! :-)
posted by SPowers at 9:54 PM | Remember It!

Hey, Girl: I hate to say this, but I'm glad you dropped those graphics 'and then I said...' You did ask for our opinion, but I didn't want to give it because... well... I didn't like it. There. I said it. But I can say that now because you dropped them. Of course... it's always possible you're just having trouble with it and it'll be back in which case what I've just said might hurt your feelings and that would be bad of me. Maybe I should delete this...
posted by SPowers at 9:03 PM | Remember It!

TINA!! Congratulations to your daughter on becoming a woman!! This is wonderful news - truly! I wish we all lived close - we could have a party to celebrate.

And yes - I am serious. Too many girls get their first periods and whimper and moan and cry and think it's shameful or dirty or horrible or smelly or whatever and fail to understand that it means their body is healthy, strong and doing everything it should. Periods are not a 'bad' thing or a shameful thing - they're natural, normal and nothing to be afraid of.

I remember my first period. It was the Saturday that T-man & J-man (at the time, -boys) had to deliver Krispy Kreme doughnuts as part of their fundraising efforts for the high school JV football team. I woke up, heard them up and busy in the house, got up and noticed in the mirror that my pajama bottoms were stained red & soaking wet. Yup - to this day, I am more likely to get my period at night. So I hurried into the bathroom, cleaned myself off and put on a pad & underwear (my mom had been prepping me for months 'just in case'). I called for her, but she didn't realize it was 'important' so she ignored me - T-man and J-man were preoccupying her with their doughnuts & stuff. So, once I was cleaned up, I went out and whispered to her. She suggested I take a shower so I'd feel better and apologized for not coming to see me straight-away. I was all excited - for about two hours. I kept trying to figure out if I could feel anything different. *g* I got bored with that pretty fast. My mom told me to remember that I could still do all the things I had always done, but I still wanted to take it easy that day. Since it lasted about 3 days, I had plenty of time to get really tired of the entire thing. Course, I didn't get the next one for a couple of months. I thought I had dreamed the entire ordeal up in my head! I was soon cured of that delusion. *gg*
posted by SPowers at 10:48 PM | Remember It!

"You go to Hell." Ah, Sue. Just to test your theory, I asked Sweet (born & raised Catholic) your question.

Me: Why aren't you supposed to eat meat on Fridays in Lent? You know - Catholics aren't?

He: Umm.. I don't know. Because you'll go to Hell?

Yup. Unprompted. Unscripted. Unrehearsed. True Story.

Of course, it's all because of the Italian fishing industry and a fish-friendly Pope, but Sweet still tries to 'eat right' during Lent. On Wednesday, he wanted fish for dinner just for that Ash Wednesday/ 1st Day of Lent reason. I grinned at him. "What about the ashes? You want me to burn a candle on your forehead and recite some Latin?" (I could do it, too. I took 3 years in high school.)

He shook his head. "No," he said. "But a lot of the people at work had ashes. Huge smudges. Some of them looked like they dipped their heads in an ashtray!" He shuddered, probably imagining that sadistic priest.

Ah... religion.
posted by SPowers at 10:37 PM | Remember It!

And Sandra. I do understand how the death of someone you've never met can affect you unexpectedly. When Dale Earnhardt - The Intimidator - died last week in the last turn at Daytona, I felt sucker-punched. I don't follow NASCAR that religiously, but T-man does (he's a Jeff Gordon fan, which means I am, too) and Earnhardt is one of those drivers you have to respect no matter what. He raced hard and gave no quarter... and then died letting his teammate win and his son take 2nd place. There's a lot of talk now about making NASCAR 'safer.' I say don't do it. Guys are walking away from accidents that would have maimed or killed them years ago. Earnhardt's death could have happened to anyone in a car (there's something about a broken seat belt) at any time; it wasn't a 'racing' accident. Besides. I don't think Earnhardt would want his death to result in any change to the sport he loved and lived so much.
posted by SPowers at 9:19 AM | Remember It!

OOOOOOOOOOH!! The Tick! Amanda, I love that guy SO much. I have some of the original run in reprint form (just try finding the 1st edition books - HA!) and some of the 2nd edition ones, too, but I prefer the original. I love the show, too. T-man (my oldest brother) and I will sometimes quote lines to each other to crack each other up. Sample:

It's a yule tide!

Hey! Hey hey hey. Hey hey.
What. What what. What-what.

Let the probing begin!.... ow.

...faster than the speed of lint!
Lint? Lint is fast?
Sure. Take your clean clothes out of the dryer sometime and check the pockets. What's already in there? Lint. It's that fast!

*happy sigh*
posted by SPowers at 9:11 AM | Remember It!

Personal to My Almost-Twin: Happy Birthday, J-man!
posted by SPowers at 7:02 AM | Remember It!

...pssst! Chris! Happy Birthday!
posted by SPowers at 9:10 AM | Remember It!

Amanda... I must know. What the heck is a 'cove girl' or a 'mole queen'?
posted by SPowers at 6:12 PM | Remember It!

Shit! Forgot to blog about that - yes - I did get my shower gel. Two beautiful blue bottles of Cotton Blossom bliss. They're sitting in a place of honor on my dresser (okay I just haven't put them away anywhere yet, but I still admire them). I heard that Deb got bitched at by the BBW salesclerk for even asking for the fragrance. Sorry, Deb! And woo-hoo Heather! My BBW Go-To Girl!

BTW... any chance you could pick up an autographed copy of Trixie Belden #1, first edition, in mint condition?
posted by SPowers at 6:11 PM | Remember It!

The Simpsons!! I forgot to blog about that - I thought that was hysterical - and yeah, I got the 'yvan eht nioj' fairly quickly... heh heh heh heh. The Simpsons. One of the best shows on TV.
posted by SPowers at 6:05 PM | Remember It!

Fun things to do while riding in an elevator with strangers...

I work on the 9th floor of a 10 story building, so I'm on the elevator at least 4 times a day and I usually have to ride along for 'all the little stops.' What do I do to stave off boredom? I look around at the other people in the car with me and I think to myself... Okay. There has been a nuclear explosion and the only people left on the planet are those of us in this elevator. It is up to us to repopulate the Earth. Would it happen?

The answer is usually "no."

... shhhh! Be vewy vewy quiet... BossMan is working...
posted by SPowers at 4:21 PM | Remember It!