It's been 10 days since I posted. Things happen, deal with it.
The facebook addiction has continued, but it's also waning a wee bit at the moment. I mentioned previously that I'd been "found" by My Kids and eventually found by others, including high school friends, friends from a youth group --and even my prom date!
In some ways, it's been kinda cool for my current friends to put names to faces and suddenly see I wasn't BS'ing them about events in my past. But the big thing I always had misgivings about has also reared it's ugly... face (for lack of a better term).
I've never been too good with friends. Oh, I care for them and their well-being and I cheers them on and support them through tough times. But I also hold grudges when I feel that my "friends" are shutting me out. It's not that I'm hurt that I'm "out", it hurts that they can't just come up and say "Well, you're out because..."
OK, that most likely kills the friendship, but if I'm out anyway... who really cares?
So, case in point. People from my youth group are literally crawling out of the woodwork. There's people popping up that I haven't spoken to in 13+ years and suddenly they've found me and are adding me to their friends lists. Well, great, it's good to hear from you too and here's what I've been doing while people currently in the youth group were conceived, born, and grew up. So, some people start talking reunion. Have a reunion because it's been a long time for so many of us...
Did I say "us"? Well, maybe I should say "them" because I haven't been invited.
It's not that I live too far away. They've invited people from Alberta, Virginia... Hell, they invited a guy from Abu Dhabi!
Me? Well I live 20 minutes away, so no invite for me.
I hate friends.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
The One With the Picture Perfect Frame
The Facebook frenzy really took off when some of 'My Kids' from "the job From Hell!" found me. Needless to say, I went from a few friends to close to 60 fairly quickly.
I'm loved.
And missed, apparently. One of the first 'kids' to add me as a friend also jumped up and sent a message letting me know that my old boss (from Hell!) is leaving. He's moving back to his home province... and not a tear was shed.
A definite emotional high from that, just knowing that he isn't going to be around here any longer. He'll be far away and the chances of running into him are that much slimmer. I couldn't ask for more, really.
But then I got more too. See, my kids set up a "Hall of Fame" because of the sheer number of people involved with my old job. I'll let you fill in the blanks as to what types of people would be involved. Regardless, there's A LOT and the Hall of Fame was set up out of respect for the consensus favorites to come out of there. As a (former) staff member, I've received an honorary induction into the Hall which was clinched when tales of my drunken admission to my old boss that he was the worst boss I'd had in my 7 years working there. No, my boss is not in the Hall of Fame, and as long as these kids are alive, he won't be.
Being a somewhat public position that my boss was in, the newspaper articles began to print this week letting everyone know he was on his way out. While most had positive things to say in the headlines, there was one headline that just said he's resigned and is leaving.
That one's now framed and is hanging on the wall as another reminder that I can sit down to work with a smile on my face everyday because I no longer work for him.
'course, I'm also smiling because I have the picture of the Fat Cat right above it....
I'm loved.
And missed, apparently. One of the first 'kids' to add me as a friend also jumped up and sent a message letting me know that my old boss (from Hell!) is leaving. He's moving back to his home province... and not a tear was shed.
A definite emotional high from that, just knowing that he isn't going to be around here any longer. He'll be far away and the chances of running into him are that much slimmer. I couldn't ask for more, really.
But then I got more too. See, my kids set up a "Hall of Fame" because of the sheer number of people involved with my old job. I'll let you fill in the blanks as to what types of people would be involved. Regardless, there's A LOT and the Hall of Fame was set up out of respect for the consensus favorites to come out of there. As a (former) staff member, I've received an honorary induction into the Hall which was clinched when tales of my drunken admission to my old boss that he was the worst boss I'd had in my 7 years working there. No, my boss is not in the Hall of Fame, and as long as these kids are alive, he won't be.
Being a somewhat public position that my boss was in, the newspaper articles began to print this week letting everyone know he was on his way out. While most had positive things to say in the headlines, there was one headline that just said he's resigned and is leaving.
That one's now framed and is hanging on the wall as another reminder that I can sit down to work with a smile on my face everyday because I no longer work for him.
'course, I'm also smiling because I have the picture of the Fat Cat right above it....
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The One With the Seinfeld Moment
This is weird too. I swear I've written this entire post before, but it's not showing up in any of my searches.
So, if this is familiar, then it' already old news. To you, anyway.
We've had quite a number of hot, sunny days recently (except Mother's Day --go figure) and hot, sunny days mean lots of things:
And then she joined us one day.
Not sure if you recall the Seinfeld episode with the woman who only looked good in certain light? I never thought I'd meet one.
See, when someone doesn't get much light at all and then shows up outside.... well, the pale skin really shines through! She's got a few pock marks on her face as well and they are really accentuated in sunlight. And then her hair gets scraggly too.
Inside, this girl's a 9. Outside? 4? Maybe?
At least she's interesting to talk to, but definitely doesn't grab my attention the same way anymore!!
So, if this is familiar, then it' already old news. To you, anyway.
We've had quite a number of hot, sunny days recently (except Mother's Day --go figure) and hot, sunny days mean lots of things:
- Lunch on the patio.
- Shorts & Sandals.
- (An occasional) Mocha shake.
- Skimpier clothing...
And then she joined us one day.
Not sure if you recall the Seinfeld episode with the woman who only looked good in certain light? I never thought I'd meet one.
See, when someone doesn't get much light at all and then shows up outside.... well, the pale skin really shines through! She's got a few pock marks on her face as well and they are really accentuated in sunlight. And then her hair gets scraggly too.
Inside, this girl's a 9. Outside? 4? Maybe?
At least she's interesting to talk to, but definitely doesn't grab my attention the same way anymore!!
The One With A Lot of FACE Time
Within minutes of one another I got invites to Facebook.com from about half a dozen people. A certain someone reading this post sent me one (I'm sure) and she's done it with other internet fad-du-jour sites in the past.
Not mad at her, but I noticed with a couple of the sites, they just keep spammin' ya until you sign up. So, sign up I did.
I have 18 friends on Facebook, some dating back to the late 80s who suddenly appeared on there and got in touch with me. I've got a friend in my old college roomie, a girl who I knew in a youth group in the early 90s (she remembers me better than I remember her), and one of my current supervisors.
Weird.
But it's also somewhat addicting and I check in every couple of hours to see how I'm doing.
And I kinda wish the girl would let me see her pictures... she looks much better now than she did back then!!
What else is weird? I've totally lost my typing skills whenever I type on my home computer. I forget words in sentences. I've lost me mind!!
Not mad at her, but I noticed with a couple of the sites, they just keep spammin' ya until you sign up. So, sign up I did.
I have 18 friends on Facebook, some dating back to the late 80s who suddenly appeared on there and got in touch with me. I've got a friend in my old college roomie, a girl who I knew in a youth group in the early 90s (she remembers me better than I remember her), and one of my current supervisors.
Weird.
But it's also somewhat addicting and I check in every couple of hours to see how I'm doing.
And I kinda wish the girl would let me see her pictures... she looks much better now than she did back then!!
What else is weird? I've totally lost my typing skills whenever I type on my home computer. I forget words in sentences. I've lost me mind!!
Friday, May 11, 2007
The One With the Decision
So, not soon after I last posted I decided it was time to call and leave a message, saying "thanks but no thanks."
It wasn't a job in the industry I'm trying to be in (and went to bloody school for!!) and paid much more but sometimes when it feels like you're being psycho-analyzed it can be a bad thing.
I seriously had flashbacks to my first job (a pizza slinger at a restaurant that.. was... 'Little') in high school. The way they handled "performance reviews" was to throw a little test at each person at some point during a 4-week span. In my case, they scheduled me to work until 10pm one night, which was strange because people usually worked until 9pm or they were there until closing (11pm). Oh well, I thought, they warned us of changes to the schedule and to not question it. Come 10pm, I'm clocking out and the manager flips out. Why am I clocking out? Aren't I there to close? When I argued that I was just following the posted schedule, I lost out on a promotion. Awesome!
Giving me a flashback like that didn't put Mr. Potential Boss in a better light.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Fortunately, I also received word quite soon after making the decision that there may be an opportunity coming up for me --thanks to a high school friend who had a strange parallel life with me for a few years...
It wasn't a job in the industry I'm trying to be in (and went to bloody school for!!) and paid much more but sometimes when it feels like you're being psycho-analyzed it can be a bad thing.
I seriously had flashbacks to my first job (a pizza slinger at a restaurant that.. was... 'Little') in high school. The way they handled "performance reviews" was to throw a little test at each person at some point during a 4-week span. In my case, they scheduled me to work until 10pm one night, which was strange because people usually worked until 9pm or they were there until closing (11pm). Oh well, I thought, they warned us of changes to the schedule and to not question it. Come 10pm, I'm clocking out and the manager flips out. Why am I clocking out? Aren't I there to close? When I argued that I was just following the posted schedule, I lost out on a promotion. Awesome!
Giving me a flashback like that didn't put Mr. Potential Boss in a better light.
Thanks, but no thanks.
Fortunately, I also received word quite soon after making the decision that there may be an opportunity coming up for me --thanks to a high school friend who had a strange parallel life with me for a few years...
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The One With the Chocolate Muffin
The high point of my week has been a chocolate muffin I got today. Now, that's an off-week.
I talked to "Mr. Interview" on Monday to set up the second one and had one of "my adventures" just in calling.
See, I didn't charge my cellphone over the weekend and my battery was beyond the final bar for power. I called anyway.
15 rings.... Voicemail finally picks up and I prepare to leave him a message. It's the guy's voice "You have reached blah-blah-blah..." he says. "Our hours are..." Uh-oh! I think. This isn't his voicemail, but the company voicemail!! "On Monday, we are open from 8am until 12 Midnight. On Tuesday, we are open from 8am until 12 Midnight..." Seriously, they're open the same hours 5 of 7 days and this guy's describing each individual day!! "Our Summer hours begin June 1st. On Mondays we will be open..." And again, through all 7 days! Finally, he gets to the voicemail part... "For so-and-so, press 1-1-5." Uh-oh. "For such-and-such, press 1-1-2. For that-girl, press 1-0-9..." Crap! they're not even in order!!! FINALLY, after naming 8 other people, he lists his --naturally, the lowest number. So, I enter in his voicemail number.
15 rings....
I'm about hang up when the voicemail kicks in. "Hello. You have reached blah-blah-blah. I'm sorry... blah-blah-blah... Please leave a detailed message after the tone with your name and phone number and I will get back to you as soon as I am able." BBEEEEE---*
My phone died.
I eventually (after a few minutes of cursing and swearing) borrowed a friend's cell and called back. This time, someone picked up and I asked to be put through to his voicemail. They said he was around, but at the moment I didn't care... I eventually got through to him anyway.
I introduce myself and he says "Oh, so you've thought about it over the weekend and have decided to pursue this further?" While my mouth said 'Yes', my mind said 'I was supposed to think about it?"
After my mouth said yes, my mind wished I'd just learn when to shut up. See, he suddenly turned from a somewhat odd fellow but friendly enough into a Hyde of a boss who demanded all sorts of things from me. We could only meet at one time and one time only. "No ifs, ands or buts!" He then rips into the type of work I'm currently doing, warns me that there'll be a few people doing a shotgun interview and I'd "better be prepared this time!" The entire time, I'm either speechless or just saying "o-kay" and letting him continue to throw things at me. Finally it comes to a conclusion, but with one final shot:
"And this time, WEAR A TIE!"
Then he hung up.
Not sure how to take it, but it's 2 days later and I'm still a little shocked that this was the same guy I met before.
Yesterday was just another day at work. I had to drive because I missed the damn train (the road to the station has a railway crossing on the way and a train goes through 5 minutes before the commuter train leaves the station. Get behind some slackass driver and you're doomed to wait an extra 30 minutes for the next train. Screw that. It's faster to drive at that point!
And today was a forced day off. With no one available to watch the kids and my wife working a 5-hour shift, it's actually cheaper for me (paid a little more) to stay home from my 7-hour shift for her to work the 5-hour one. Go figure. Not that I got much done today (I made a list of 10 things and I checked off #1 and almost finished #2....). While trying to work on the second part of my list, my wife called me from an event she was attending asking me to help clean up. And there went the next 3 hours of my day.
But I got a chocolate muffin out of it.
I talked to "Mr. Interview" on Monday to set up the second one and had one of "my adventures" just in calling.
See, I didn't charge my cellphone over the weekend and my battery was beyond the final bar for power. I called anyway.
15 rings.... Voicemail finally picks up and I prepare to leave him a message. It's the guy's voice "You have reached blah-blah-blah..." he says. "Our hours are..." Uh-oh! I think. This isn't his voicemail, but the company voicemail!! "On Monday, we are open from 8am until 12 Midnight. On Tuesday, we are open from 8am until 12 Midnight..." Seriously, they're open the same hours 5 of 7 days and this guy's describing each individual day!! "Our Summer hours begin June 1st. On Mondays we will be open..." And again, through all 7 days! Finally, he gets to the voicemail part... "For so-and-so, press 1-1-5." Uh-oh. "For such-and-such, press 1-1-2. For that-girl, press 1-0-9..." Crap! they're not even in order!!! FINALLY, after naming 8 other people, he lists his --naturally, the lowest number. So, I enter in his voicemail number.
15 rings....
I'm about hang up when the voicemail kicks in. "Hello. You have reached blah-blah-blah. I'm sorry... blah-blah-blah... Please leave a detailed message after the tone with your name and phone number and I will get back to you as soon as I am able." BBEEEEE---*
My phone died.
I eventually (after a few minutes of cursing and swearing) borrowed a friend's cell and called back. This time, someone picked up and I asked to be put through to his voicemail. They said he was around, but at the moment I didn't care... I eventually got through to him anyway.
I introduce myself and he says "Oh, so you've thought about it over the weekend and have decided to pursue this further?" While my mouth said 'Yes', my mind said 'I was supposed to think about it?"
After my mouth said yes, my mind wished I'd just learn when to shut up. See, he suddenly turned from a somewhat odd fellow but friendly enough into a Hyde of a boss who demanded all sorts of things from me. We could only meet at one time and one time only. "No ifs, ands or buts!" He then rips into the type of work I'm currently doing, warns me that there'll be a few people doing a shotgun interview and I'd "better be prepared this time!" The entire time, I'm either speechless or just saying "o-kay" and letting him continue to throw things at me. Finally it comes to a conclusion, but with one final shot:
"And this time, WEAR A TIE!"
Then he hung up.
Not sure how to take it, but it's 2 days later and I'm still a little shocked that this was the same guy I met before.
Yesterday was just another day at work. I had to drive because I missed the damn train (the road to the station has a railway crossing on the way and a train goes through 5 minutes before the commuter train leaves the station. Get behind some slackass driver and you're doomed to wait an extra 30 minutes for the next train. Screw that. It's faster to drive at that point!
And today was a forced day off. With no one available to watch the kids and my wife working a 5-hour shift, it's actually cheaper for me (paid a little more) to stay home from my 7-hour shift for her to work the 5-hour one. Go figure. Not that I got much done today (I made a list of 10 things and I checked off #1 and almost finished #2....). While trying to work on the second part of my list, my wife called me from an event she was attending asking me to help clean up. And there went the next 3 hours of my day.
But I got a chocolate muffin out of it.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The One About My Morning Train
I've had a lot of friends ask me if I ever thought about taking a train into the Vancouver area instead of the daily commute of 90 minutes. I know my drive isn't always great as I always seem to come across accidents, heavy congestion, and pretty much anything aside from planes falling from the sky in an effort to block my way to work. To go 65km (just over 40 miles) in 90 minutes, well, SUCKS!
I have a carpool buddy who has helped get the drive down to just over an hour (thanks to the HOV lane), but now with gas hitting a new "all-time" (soon to be a theme-of-the-week) high, it's looking like driving to work would cost me $250 a month. Um, yikes!!
So, after debating the issue late last week and watching the gas continue to climb (for my American readers, gas right now is close to $6 a gallon in my region) we decided this week would be the beginning of the train commute. Taking the train costs nearly $100 a month less.
I like less. Friday's commute was another horrible one, taking nearly 2 hours to get home thanks to all that crappy traffic. Enough is enough. It's time to take the train!
Tuesday morning turned into "day one" of the train commute. No more accidents for me, right?
Right.
Any of my regular readers (hi, you two!) notice I worked in my last 3 blog themes into the title? Didn't think so....
I have a carpool buddy who has helped get the drive down to just over an hour (thanks to the HOV lane), but now with gas hitting a new "all-time" (soon to be a theme-of-the-week) high, it's looking like driving to work would cost me $250 a month. Um, yikes!!
So, after debating the issue late last week and watching the gas continue to climb (for my American readers, gas right now is close to $6 a gallon in my region) we decided this week would be the beginning of the train commute. Taking the train costs nearly $100 a month less.
I like less. Friday's commute was another horrible one, taking nearly 2 hours to get home thanks to all that crappy traffic. Enough is enough. It's time to take the train!
Tuesday morning turned into "day one" of the train commute. No more accidents for me, right?
Right.
Any of my regular readers (hi, you two!) notice I worked in my last 3 blog themes into the title? Didn't think so....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)