Mustache

Feeling a little low on a Monday?

This should lift your spirits.



I want you to know this picture was taken before I was fully awake...
I usually look more awake.

The Shannon Bar

Work has been exceedingly quiet this week. With Horrible Helen gone, silence reigns, or at least less ridiculousness. We found out on Friday that our office is being moved to a different building. All of us temps/interns are going to be stuffed into a large cubicle all together like sardines. This is going to make it much harder to avoid Horrible Helen and her and Tyler's conversations.

I also found out that it is more than likely this temp job will continue for months after March (when they told us it would end). I guess this is a good thing, I would never quit without another job lined up first. But I don't love it here, and that ending point was a deadline for me to find something else (better). As things stand I'm still looking and applying. And it's very discouraging. I just want to go back to school.

On a brighter note. My weekend was great. We went down to visit Anna at Seton Hall. Thuan was also in the city so we got to spend time with her too. Good times all around. I'm looking forward to more visits. I don't have friends in Albany yet, so time with my friends from home is all the more appreciated.

Are these people f***ing stupid?

Well Horrible Helen is gone for a week-and-a-half. Her family is going on a cruise together. I guess its their "thing". Helen has been bidding on clothes from E-bay for months now. The one thing all these horrible clothes have in common is sparkle. Horrible Helen and her family all get dressed up in sparkle for every dinner on the cruise. This means lots and lots of sequins. I can only imagine being on a cruise, walking into the buffet and being blinded by all the sparkle. Not something I would want to experience. On a side note: I"m pretty stoked for her vacation too, I get a break from driving her home.

Horrible Helen being so ridiculous I haven't had a chance to describe any of my other co-workers.

-I share a cubicle with Alex (we are not important), he is a grad student at U Albany. He is 31, and wears horned-rimmed glasses. He's nice.

-Peter is the statistician with the foul mouth. He seriously swears a lot (more then my old roommate Nicole, and she had a mouth of a sailor). Every other work is f*** this and f*** that. Today he was like, "Is that how you spell count? Isn't there an O?"
Umm...wait what? ....Ohhhhh.

-Jamie is the other math guy, he is quite but talks to Alex and Peter. They go to lunch together often.

-Tyler is the another temp. He is nice enough, but really strange. He told one lady in a count Dracula voice, "Veh havve vays of vah-ching you!" Professional? Not really.
He also needs bigger shirts...

-Jenn is also a temp, but she has been her several months longer. She is a few months younger than me. We had similar majors and graduated at the same time. I hope I get a real job before her.

-Chris has worked for the state since she graduated for highs school. She is a nice lady, likes country music and has a little grand-daughter. She knows a lot of answers to a lot of questions.

-Jerry is the boss lady. We have a term called "getting Braffed", Jerry's last name is Braff, you get "Braffed" when you go talk to her and don't come back for three and a half hours. True story, this happened today. She used to chain smoke back in her office back in the day. A short woman, her pants are usually flooded and she makes her own jewelry. Jerry is ok on the computer, but she needs to be a lot better. Every email we send her is forgotten about.

Michigan Primary Tomorrow

So I had a conversation recently with my dad about politics. (Dad, I know you read this...I'm writing about you) If you have ever talked to me about politics and my family, you might know that both my parents are Republican and my grandma Stevens informed me that Stevens are never Democrats (the horror!).

I asked my dad who he was thinking of voting for in Michigan's upcoming primary. He said he was unsure. He liked Huckabee...this didn't catch me off guard. But then he said he was actually considering Obama. Could my father and I actually vote for the same person? Neither of us can actually vote for him in the primary, Obama and Edwards aren't on the ticket. Anyways this was solid proof that Obama can draw voters from a wide field of people.

He said he wouldn't tell me who he voted for...own it Dad. Own it.


I will be voting absentee, a first for me. I always went home to vote in college, it wasn't far. I will miss driving over to the school and saying hello to the old ladies that volunteer there. Most of all, I will miss the "I Voted" sticker.

Work has been pretty intense lately. I've actully had a good deal of work to do. Friday I didn't put down the phone until 4:55 pm. Today I put it down sooner (hense writing the post).

LIVE!

Everyone should know we will be in the studio audience for LIVE! with Regis and Kelly, Wednesday January 9th. I will wear a bright green sweater and there will be old ladies around us. I love me some Regis and Kelly.

Check your local listing...

Check Your Sanity at the Gate

My journey to the mitten was really nice. But it didn't start out that way...

I got myself (and Brian too) out the door at 4:30 in the morning. Anyone who has seen my at that god-for-saken-hour knows I'm either really tired or really cranky (or both). Everything seemed to be going as ok as things can be that early. Then I sat down on the plane. I was seated next to the guy I saw at the gate and felt bad for whoever would have to sit by him (karma). He was a 20-something male with longish greasy hair, looking like he hadn't taken a shower in a week (he smelled). After taking our seats we were told we would have to wait while they de-iced the plane. Then we were told we would have to wait because there was fog in Detroit. Then we were told we would have to wait while a radar got fixed so the plane could land in fog in Detroit. I was glad when we finally took off two hours behind schedule. I was trying to sleep off the annoyance but the guy was bumping me with his elbow as he read a sci-fic novel and chewed on his ragged sweatshirt's cuff.

Calling parents and boyfriend before we took off I found out my connection was delayed, so I wasn't worried about the connection. I should have known Detroit would bring me problems when the gross dude next to me stood up and stuck about three inches of butt crack in my face, while he waited for the line to move. I get to my new gate, through the lighted portal between gate A to gates B and C (the portal is like being in Tran) and the flight is in fact delayed. Then delayed again...then canceled. They re-book me on a flight a full 11 hours later. Pissed as hell, I call my dad to just come and pick me up. I slept on a chair in Detroit International.

We get to Grand Rapids, I call the airlines about my luggage (I had been told in Detroit that it would go to GR sometime that day). NorthWest informs me I should have been given a luggage tag, and I need to get to the GR airport to make a claim. So I go to the GR airpost anyway and make a claim. The luggage showed up at my house in the middle of the night, too late to give the comforts of pajamas or glasses.

Anyway that was the worst of it, I could have driven faster (we got home at 4:30, a full 12 hours of travel). I did get to see almost everyone I wanted too and had lots of quality family time. The trip to Traverse City was a pleasant one. And I got some very nice Christmas gifts.

Most memorable: Grandma presents all her granddaughters (aged 29, 25 and 23, thank god I'm the youngest) with queen sized quilts. They are really beautiful and they come with a note. The note states that she has always wanted to give her granddaughters quilts as wedding gifts, but now that she is 84 she might not make it to any weddings, so she is giving them now. Message: I love you, but I wish you gave me more great-grandchildren, get on that.