land of the free?

I'm going to get a little political on everyone's ass and discuss constitutional rights...people tiptoe around certain ones, courts misinterpret others, and then there are those valid, legitimate reasonable rights that end up completely disregarded. Ha, this is all subjective analysis according to me, but I think I exercise fair and sound judgement most of the time. For example, it is total bullshit that certain women can't be sterilized. I'm sorry, but if a lady doesn't have the money to support one baby, and keeps getting pregnant and having more babies, and the government keeps having to foot the bill for these "accidental" births, then the government and NOT the female should be able to decide when to close down the factory. At the same time, I believe gay marriage AND adoption should be legalized across the nation. Who would it harm? Look at all these hetero couples who can't get their shit together, whose children end up being the devil's spawn, and basically contribute nothing worthwhile to society. Or you have those losers who act as foster or adoptive parents to collect a check while gay couples who would actually NURTURE a child are denied the privilege. Nobody will nip these ugly cycles that have REAL WORLD CONSEQUENCES in the bud, but there seems to be rapt attention devoted to silliness such as monitoring people's thoughts. It would impede on a person's "fundamental" right to thwart their (stupid) ACTIONS, but let's throw the book at a person for FEELING and THINKING a certain way!

NASTY TIMES AT NEW TIMES-- Daily Business Review, http://ww.dailybusinessreview.com, July 22, 2005.
Blogging, the publication by individuals of comments on personal Internet sites called Web logs, is becoming a growing legal and personnel headache for employers across the country. Now the problem has surfaced in South Florida. Until now, most litigation across the country has involved cases where employees have been discharged for blogs perceived to have hurt the company or their boss’s feelings. But potentially far more dangerous are lawsuits for defamation or libel filed by the targets of disparaging blogs, lawsuits that could name the blogger’s employer as a defendant. Attorneys say there have not yet been enough cases to establish how First Amendment and defamation law apply to blogs. But they predict that bloggers almost certainly will be held to the same standards as anyone publishing defamatory material in other forms.

UGH. dis-gust-ing! Hopefully I won't get jailed for saying so!

fearsome things come in small packages

So...remember the showdown I couldn't wait for? It still hasn't happened! She is still avoiding me. She left early yesterday and today before I could speak to her, and I know her secretary told her I was ready and eager to chat whenever she had a minute. ha ha. This is an almost better ego boost than actually saying my piece, she is clearly ashamed and knows I'm waiting to pounce. And you can be assured that I will, I just won't tolerate such egregious treatment. I can't stand it when people refuse to own up to the error of their ways. I'm tickled she is going to such lengths to prolong the inevitable.

I also discovered a pleasant surprise...according to an email I received today, our office gives tuition reimbursement so I am thinking about pursuing a master's or PhD. Cause, y'know, knowledge is power blah blah and quite frankly I miss being a student and I'm not satisfied with just one post-graduate degree. I'd continue working full time because we can only apply for 6 credit hours a semester, but it will be a nice distraction and the end result will be valuable. My sweetie's work does this as well, so we might be geeks together and try to coordinate our schedules. The university area of town has some damn good food, so I'm looking forward to a night class and then a yummy dinner. :) Seriously, I never get tired of asking questions, my thirst for learning is endless.

Don't worry, I'm not turning into a total fuddy-duddy. Time to dust off my hoochie clothes, because I'm going out this weekend. woo hoo! I've been a little lax with fitness lately (gym 2x a week instead of 3, skipped yoga the past 2 weeks) so I hope my jeans still fit. At least I have some bombastic cleavage going courtesy of the nature's miracle that is my cycle. That should distract from my equally bombastic ass. heh. Peace out, homies!

ahhhhh

This weekend has been amazing.

Saturday morning we went and picked up some new nightstands for our bedroom (the two we have now aren't a matched pair). Then we went to this absolutely delicious organic cafe that I haven't been to for quite awhile. I ordered a cappucino for the hell of it, I really wanted iced tea but they were out and I needed some sort of caffiene (and I don't drink soda). It turned out to be SO good! Have you ever tried a new thing and regretted not trying it sooner? That is how I felt as I was drinking this beverage!

We came home and I did some regular chores, nothing too strenuous and it should be clear by now that cleaning is my crack so I actually enjoyed it. Then, I experienced the highlight of my week - a one hour relaxation massage. The hour passed like 5 minutes but it was so great. I booked an appointment for a spa pedicure in a couple weeks, I think I need these little 'pick me ups' to unwind and stay sane!

Later that night, we went to sushi with my parents, who came to visit. They met up at our house first and complimented our decorative additions. Then we enjoyed a superb dinner. And creme brulee for dessert!

This morning I slept in, we went out to breakfast, and I've been idle most of the day. Watching tv, reading magazines and a novel, cooking, etc. I passed on an opportunity to see Willy Wonka because I hate going to movies with little kids in the audience and to be honest I wanted a some (more) alone time. I'm going to bed early. I only wish every day could be like this weekend!

nailed

The other day I actually leave work at a decent hour with everything under control, and walk to the parking lot in the spitting rain. I see this raggedy looking minivan parked thisclose to my car. As I stomp over with a big frown to inspect whether they've dinged my (beloved) car, I see something even worse. A fucking flat tire! Of course I was wearing a cute dress and heels and parked in a monster puddle. So I did what any normal girl would do, I turned on the charm and sweetly requested a male colleague to assist me. "Luckily" a nail was the culprit of the puncture, requiring me to shell out a mere twenty something dollars rather than one-hundred plus for a replacement Turanza.

The day after I discover this fun surprise, I jet off during my lunch break to drop the tire off for repair. I return to the store to retrieve it and have it affixed. I go up to the register to pay while I'm waiting for them to re-attach it and both my main credit cards are missing from my wallet. I swear my heart just stopped for one second. Then my mind began to race with paranoid thoughts of identity theft and where were my cards, etc. Thankfully I got home and began ransacking my accessories (yes, I like my bag to complement my ensemble each day) and it turns out I must have slipped them into another purse and forgotten about them. Phew.

The day after this, for whatever random reason, my shrew of a supervisor decided it would be the perfect time to absolutely SCREAM at me for failing to do something that I actually HAD done last week in front of lots of people. This definitely is not an isolate incident of that type of drama from her but it was a first to be the target of it. I took a BIG breath and shot my very best "what the fuck is your problem? you are going DOWN" look at her, and evenly responded that she was incorrect and that I completed the task last week. She looked taken aback and then huffed off. Later that morning, as soon as I was available, she was still nowhere to be found but a parade of people approached me and gave me props for how I handled it and little pep talks about what a bitch she always is and offered to stick up for me. In my opinion, it was far from over. I was ready to REALLY unload and I approached her secretary as soon as I could to let her know I wanted to speak to her. Unfortunately, the coward fled the office before I could speak to her and won't be returning until Monday. Here are the points I am going to address:
-A) she did not even have her facts straight when she began accusing me of neglecting to do something I had clearly already accomplished
-B) screaming at ANYBODY, regardless of what they've done (or "not done"), is plain unprofessional
-C) much less in such a public arena
-D) much less from someone who is supposed to be setting an example
-E) I've never encountered such uncivil treatment from any employer (in fact, I don't mean to toot my own horn but at every other job I've had and even this one until recently when she went off her meds or whatever is going on, I have always received very favorable feedback about my performance, work ethic, energy level, etc.)
-F) I expect and deserve a sincere apology and a guarantee I will be spoken to in a regular, conversational tone of voice in the future
One of my work-friends who was transferred from another division within the office into ours a couple months ago urged me to go above this lady's head and report her. I would have felt under-handed doing that when I knew she isn't even around for 2 days to defend herself (ha good luck trying, everyone saw!) I think it is more mature to try to speak with her privately and reach some sort of understanding first. And given her continued pattern of behavior, I am hoping she will sink herself soon enough. And given my continued pattern of behavior, I am going to soon be promoted and rise above this. I figure eventually her ass is going down and it isn't my responsibility to whistle-blow for the whole division. But I'm not above getting in the last word for myself. I eagerly anticipate the day in my career that I no longer feel like I'm putting in way more than I'm getting back.

get out of my head!

I've been preoccupied with destrutive thoughts lately so in an attempt to quiet the mind I'll mention some things I've fully intended to muse about and never got around to until now:

-I *adore* the Dr.Pepper commercial with the Meatloaf song. I've always paid attention to commercials for their marketing value and I think that one is hilarious. Some of my other favorites include the flawless editing presentations of Hewlett Packard and I-Pod.

-For the past week or so my appetite for various things has really waned. I've felt queasy after eating nearly every meal (even ones I hungrily devoured) and skipped others due to feeling nauseated, no motivation to do my strength training routine (my primary physically exerting activity was one power yoga class), absolutely zero espresso cravings. It is bizarre. Like I've turned into a pod person.

-Would you rather know you're getting a gift you really want and can help select, or would you rather be surprised with a present you'd never pick for yourself and aren't excited to have? Is it lazier to half-heartedly shop or enlist the help of the recipient?

-Deciding between two color families for a new bedroom paint color. I might also use the 'runner-up' shade in the bathroom so either way I'll end up with new shades I like in both places. Option A is more neutral/conservative/taupe. Option B is a more funky/possibly trendy/pale aqua-turquoise. I'm leaning toward A for the bedroom and B for the bathroom but wondering if that is too quick to choose the 'safe' (i.e., boring?) route.

-Please not another hurricane season where everyone moans like the apocalypse is upon us. The atmosphere is already getting a tad frenzied. I might end up wishing we could go into a state of vigilante justice where I'd be free to shoot errant citizens again.

With that note, I'll sign off before I slide too far down the slippery slope of negativity! :)

happy 4th of July!

Let freedom ring, God Bless America, blah blah blah.

Don't blow off your fingers playing with fireworks, people. :)