Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The A's Go to Las Vegas

Yep, my family talked about going to Las Vegas, just to see what all the fuss is about. I mean, none of us gambles (I've been to one casino in my entire life). So it stands to reason that none of us has been to the home of Caesars Palace, The Bellagio, Siegfried & Roy, etc. But really, we're fascinated by it because nothing else on earth like it exists. Well, there's Atlantic City, but it's not out in the middle of a desert. I think every American should go to Las Vegas at least once, just to see what it's like. If you hate it, you don't have to go back. If you love it, then by all means return. I honestly have no idea if I'll hate it or love it. My guess is, I'll lean toward hating it because I can easily be overwhelmed by too many sights and sounds. But who knows? I might end up wanting to go back.

Wiki? TWiki? Nope.

With the sale of our company, a lot of internal systems are changing. My group uses a version of a "wiki" for posting all of its information, but it's a terrible system. No one can find anything on it unless you send a link directly to the stuff you're looking for. We could really use some collaboration software. There's one out there called Epazz, which actually looks like some powerful software. It has a 30-day trial for you to try out, which you have to contact them to get setup. You can integrate it into back-end systems, manage your website's content, have group scheduling, group e-mails, etc, all with one-point secure access. When a group has improved communication, it just works better, you know? Might want to check this out. I mean, it is free for 30 days.

What's In a Name

As I have mentioned before, I think, my company was bought by a private equity firm. As such, we're having to change our name. I won't mention it for privacy reasons, but let's just say...it's ridiculous. You have to explain it to people for them to get it. My theory that if you have to explain it, it's probably not a good name, really holds true here. The folks who sold us said they did a ton of market research to come up with it. I call bullsh*t, because if they had, everyone would have rejected it like everyone in the company has. Seriously, it's that bad. But that makes me wonder, if it's that bad...what were the other choices? I shudder to think.

And then there were four...

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, some of my cousins lived in Arizona. This is around the time I was 5-6 years old, so that would have been 30+ years ago. I have vague memories of the house they lived in. Now, it wasn't Arizona luxury real estate, but it was a nice place.

Anyway, why am I thinking about them? Because one of those cousins is getting married in October. He lives in Helena, Montana with his fiancee, who I really like. He's been married before, but that was a disaster. So out of 8 grandkids, that leaves me, my brother, my youngest cousin, and the only other female cousin I have. Kinda depressing, really. Sometimes feel like I'm going to die alone as the crazy cat lady, which is the only reason I won't own more than two cats at a time. Guess that might make me just the crazy old lady? That's no fun.

Burn Notice

My latest new, favorite TV show is called Burn Notice. It's about a spy who got kicked out of the spying business (in other words, received a "burn notice"), and he ends up being dumped/stuck in Miami, Florida until he can a) figure out who burned him and b) get reinstated, if possible. Have to say, Miami real estate looks mighty nice. At least the parts of it they're showing are nice. I'm sure like every town, it has its bad areas. But I think living near a beach and in warm, mostly sunny weather all year might make up for some of that. Of course, there are hurricanes to deal with, but again, every place has its drawbacks like that. I mean, I live where tornadoes can touch down, and there's little to no warning about those! Yet, there's no beach around where I live either. Hmmm...
save our homes

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Small Cities

Living in a small town has its pluses and minuses. Sometimes, I love the quiet. Other times, I miss the hustle and bustle of being closer to a city, with steel buildings, people going to and from work (although, one could argue jobs are moving to the 'burbs...mine sure did), vendors selling stuff...just the general energy of a city, you know? But, I'd never live downtown again after 2 years in downtown Chicago (right on Division Street for one of those years). It's too easy for me to miss the green of the trees and the rolling hills. Although, I did live on the lake in Chicago, which helped. But I almost always felt a little claustrophobic there. Guess I like wide-open spaces. So it's the smaller city life for me.

Laptop Love

I am absolutely loving having what I would call a kick-ass laptop at home. Why? Because now I'm not chained to my desk. It's great being able to kick back on my sofa and surf the Web, or indulge in my latest obsession, playing World of Warcraft (a.k.a. WoW). It's a Dell laptop with Dell memory (2 GB), and an Intel Duel Core processor (I think). Of course, it became old the minute I bought it, but I think for what I need to do it'll last me a long, long time. The only thing I wish I'd done was gotten a larger hard drive than 80 GB. But I guess that's what external storage is for, right?

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Movin' On Up...Or Down, As the Case May Be

When I first moved into my apartment just over two years ago, I was planning on putting in ceiling fans where there used to be light fixtures. But, since I am the queen of procrastination, there are still metal plates covering up the wiring where the light fixtures went. Heck, I still have pictures I haven't hung yet. Considering I'll be moving out in October, that's of little concern to me right now.

That reminds me...better figure out what date I need to give notice, since it's 45 days and not 30. Also need to figure out where I want to live down in Cincinnati. My heart longs to live near the central part of the city in some two family like I did two years ago, but I have a washer and dryer that I would sooner part with than my car. And most two families come with a washer and dryer (ancient ones at that). So, I'll probably have to live north of town, because the apartment communities around where I want to live would charge me about $200 more per month for a smaller one bedroom apartment than what I have now. That's insane...$900 for 650 square feet??? But, people will pay that because it's the cool and hip part of town. Guess I'll have to settle for less cool and hip, and more affordable and with washer/dryer hookups. :)

Something I'd Rather Not Talk About...But Here Goes

Okay, so...a few months ago, I was getting UTIs so often, I had to go visit a urologist to see what the problem was, because there was no real reason behind me getting them. I was convinced that this was the start of something that would eventually lead to having to wear tranquility diapers (that's for incontinence, just in case you were wondering). Having a lot of UTIs can lead to that because the walls of your urethra and bladder can get scarred and not function as well. Luckily, my bout with UTIs seems to be over, for now.

My CT scan showed nothing that would cause me to have recurrent UTIs, like scar tissue or blockage...but it did find two kidney stones...very, very small kidney stones. Guess it's hereditary after all, because women don't really get them, but my brother, father, and uncles on both sides of my family have had them. My brother's had the most by far, having had three lithotripsies (or more, I can't remember now). That's where they blast apart the stone with ultrasound, and you get to pass the stone as sand...pleasant, huh? I hope I pass these stones without incident (my brother has before, apparently). But knowing me and my family's medical problems, I'll have to pass them painfully or go through the ultrasound process. Ugh.

Target, How I Love Thee

My cousin just had her 60th birthday party, and the person that hosted it had the cutest party invitations I'd seen in a long time. I asked her where she got them, and she said, "Target!" I should have known, because Target always seems to have the cutest stuff. They may not be as cheap as Wal-Mart, but you can bet that it's probably better-made than anything you can get there (I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart anyway). For house decoration, clothes...and apparently stationery, you really can't find a better place if you're looking for something with style that won't make you cry when you hand over your credit card to the cashier.

Cross Country Move

Someone else I know is moving to North Carolina...from Portland, Oregon. Talk about a move! She had looked at some Wilmington NC real estate, but decided it wasn't for her. She's actually going to live in Charlotte instead (I think...this is one of our vendor sales reps, so I don't know her that well). I think if I had to move south, North Carolina would be my state of choice, just because I have family there and have visited many times in many different places. I think she'll like Charlotte, at least I hope she will. If not, I'm sure I'll hear about it.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Who Knew?

I had no idea that something like plasma cutting could produce works of art...metal sculptures, metal cutouts, and the like. I always saw them as something used in computer aided manufacturing, but everyday people actually own these things! One of my cousins is a blacksmith...wonder if he owns one? My guess is that he owns something like it, since he creates rather beautiful pieces of wrought iron furniture. Now, I've never seen one...I mean, I've never been around welding or anything like that. But, I imagine it's pretty cool to see...if you like that sort of thing. :)

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Multitasking

You know what I'm doing right now (besides writing a blog entry, obviously)? I'm watching a repeat of the The Colbert Report, using closed captioning. No, I'm not deaf...I just can't write and listen to the TV at the same time, at least sometimes anyway. I get distracted too easily, and I end up forgetting what I was going to say...especially with a show as good as The Colbert Report or The Daily Show. It's way too easy to get sucked into one of their stories...and you can't just listen, you have to watch. So as I read the captioning, if I become intrigued...I pause it so I can rewind it and watch it, after I've finished my writing. If you don't have a DVR through your cable service or Tivo (I heart my Tivo, I really do), get it. It makes watching TV an entirely different experience. Combined with closed captioning...you won't miss a thing. :)

SmartWater, Fiji Water, Aquafina, Dasani...

Have you heard about some of the larger cities banning bottled water? They're trying to do it in L.A., where bottled water became a status symbol lord knows how many years ago? I want to see them prying bottles of SmartWater out of Jennifer Aniston's hands! Now, they are doing it for a good reason. You see...people aren't recycling the plastic bottles like they should be, so they're all ending up in landfills. Bad! Some places are trying to push their tap water. And I'm going to say right now that if Dayton and/or Cincinnati ever do this, their mayors will get stuff thrown at them...the tap water tastes like freakin' pool water! So what's an environmentally conscious person who hates their tap water supposed to do? I have seen a reuseable water bottle filter, but I don't remember where...online, of course. Guess I could always do another search, but I'll also need to search for a reusable water bottle, one that can be used with this filter. Of course, I have filtered water at work...and at home...but, it might be nice to take with me on bike rides and the like, you know? Then I'll be one less person pitching their plastic bottles. That'd be nice. :)

Where Did Summer Go?

It's August. You know what that means? Not too much longer until Labor Day. Oh noes! The end o summer! Time to put the white shoes away! No more boating! *sigh* Well, okay...I don't boat a lot, but I will miss being able to wear white shoes. It's too bad that that silly rule of fashion exists, because it's still hotter than hell outside. Why can't I wear white stuff? But who am I to question fashion...except when they decide to bring back "skinny" pants (a.k.a., pegged pants for those of us who were children of the 80s) and high-waisted pants. Noooooo! I love my just-below-the-waist jeans with a little flare at the end of each leg. Put me in a pair of skinny jeans, and I feel like a freakin' stuffed sausage. Anyway...can't believe summer's coming to an end yet again. Soon the days will be shorter, and we'll all be going to work before the sun is up, and leaving work after it's dark. *sigh* Better try to enjoy what's left before it's too late, right? Ah, but I do have one thing to look forward to...moving back to Cincinnati. Yeah! Just wish I'd planned that a little better. Guess I could always do another 9 month lease and move back in the spring...

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Is November Here Yet?

I've never wanted fall to come so quickly, but fall is when I move back to Cincinnati. One of my friends has a mother who's a real estate agent, and is trying to convince me I need to buy a house. Ummmm...if I had more time, yeah. But I know that can take upwards of 6 months, and I don't have that luxury. I'd rather move into another apartment, then maybe 6 months into it start looking at loans, and then at condos (no houses for me...I know I wouldn't be able to deal with the upkeep it requires). Besides, it'll take me awhile just to find an apartment. So, I think I'll wait a bit longer to take the home ownership plunge.

28 Days

Last night, I watched a movie I hadn't seen in a long time, 28 Days (no, not the horror movie...that scarred me for life, I tell you). It stars Sandra Bullock as a carefree writer with a drug and alcohol problem that lands her in drug rehab. What did she do to end up in rehab? She came to her sister's wedding, got extremely drunk, destroyed the wedding cake, and took off in the limo to go get her sister a new cake. She plowed into a house. So, it was either jail or rehab...so rehab it was. Made me wonder if it was anything like what the stars of today put themselves into (although I doubt they made Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears clean the toilets). If you ask me, rehab needs to be longer than 30 days. Not sure if the statistic in the movie of only a 30% chance of success (i.e., no relapse) is correct. If it is, that's depressing. Of course, rehab is only the first step in a long process of changing one's life. But really, does a hot rock massage really belong in rehab?