OK, they gave us the go ahead to spill the beans at work. Our Executive Director has resigned. It seems to have been a mutual decision, but we will all miss him. He has brought our association a long way. When other places were laying off during the recession, we were told that we were going to tighten our belts and ride it out. We did not have to lay anyone off and the positions that did become vacant were filled instead of just overloading everyone else. There were even a few new positions created. My hat is off to D (not the same D I walk with) for a job well done.
To those of you who knew me at my last job, no I did not drive him out. At this job I have only had two managers, the second one was promoted to director, and two executive directors and I will be there eight years in April. So take that, former job!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Update
Well, this has been an interesting month so far. I did learn from my doctor that most of my "illnesses" over the winter were probably the result of high blood sugar. My A1C was 7.9. I don't remember what is was the last time, but she said it was up. My weight was down, but I have been eating candy again and going out for lunch, so it has gone up about 1.5 pounds in the last two weeks. Just have to get back in the habit of testing again. D and I are back to walking again. Not as far as we were during the summer, but getting there. Weather next week should not be too bad, so we should be able to walk this entire week. I just have to start doing it on weekends. The weekend after my doctor's appointment was devoted to chilling out after blood tests and visiting the doctor. The 1st was also the 2nd anniversary of my mother's death.
This past week has been another tough week. On Wednesday morning I woke up and thought I was really cold, so I went back to bed for a half hour figuring that the heat would kick in and I would be warmer. When I did get up I made my bed, which did make me warmer, so I hoped into the shower. It was still cold when I got out, so I went to kick up the furnace. It was then I found out it was 57 degrees in the house. It was set as 68, so I knew something was wrong. I put in a call to the heating people at 7:00 AM and an e-mail to work to let them know I would be late. I also had an e-mail from a member of the society with information for a conference call at 2:00 PM. I had to e-mail to see if we could postpone the call. I also had to cancel my massage. This is not a luxury, but a necessity due to neck problems which were not made any better by the tension of the morning. The heating guy finally came about 11:30 and had to go to the shop to get the part since, of course, he used the last one he had on the last job. It was not that far and he got back, installed the part, and was gone before 12:30. I went into work, stopping at Wendy's on the way, and got in at 1:00. I had an e-mail from the guy about the conference call telling me he got my e-mail and could we make the call at 1:00 that day! I told him that 1:00 was my lunch hour since I covered phones from 11:30 to 1:00 and then again at 2:00. After all of that I come to find out that the whole problem is the fact that they have not sent in the materials we need to finalize their courses. I went and got a manicure before my TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly) meeting which we went out afterwards and had desert!
The week was not all bad. On St. Patrick's day I went with my brother and sister-in-law to the Irish Heritage Center. Saw a couple of good bands and had my corn beef and cabbage dinner. It has been awhile since I had that.
I do wish I could write about what happened at work on Friday, but we have been asked not to talk about it outside the office until at least Monday. It was not good. I did check my e-mail from home and did not find anything about it or on the web site, so I guess I shouldn't say anything yet. If I do blog again, I will.
That's about it for now. Hopefully the rest of the month will go smooth.
This past week has been another tough week. On Wednesday morning I woke up and thought I was really cold, so I went back to bed for a half hour figuring that the heat would kick in and I would be warmer. When I did get up I made my bed, which did make me warmer, so I hoped into the shower. It was still cold when I got out, so I went to kick up the furnace. It was then I found out it was 57 degrees in the house. It was set as 68, so I knew something was wrong. I put in a call to the heating people at 7:00 AM and an e-mail to work to let them know I would be late. I also had an e-mail from a member of the society with information for a conference call at 2:00 PM. I had to e-mail to see if we could postpone the call. I also had to cancel my massage. This is not a luxury, but a necessity due to neck problems which were not made any better by the tension of the morning. The heating guy finally came about 11:30 and had to go to the shop to get the part since, of course, he used the last one he had on the last job. It was not that far and he got back, installed the part, and was gone before 12:30. I went into work, stopping at Wendy's on the way, and got in at 1:00. I had an e-mail from the guy about the conference call telling me he got my e-mail and could we make the call at 1:00 that day! I told him that 1:00 was my lunch hour since I covered phones from 11:30 to 1:00 and then again at 2:00. After all of that I come to find out that the whole problem is the fact that they have not sent in the materials we need to finalize their courses. I went and got a manicure before my TOPS (taking off pounds sensibly) meeting which we went out afterwards and had desert!
The week was not all bad. On St. Patrick's day I went with my brother and sister-in-law to the Irish Heritage Center. Saw a couple of good bands and had my corn beef and cabbage dinner. It has been awhile since I had that.
I do wish I could write about what happened at work on Friday, but we have been asked not to talk about it outside the office until at least Monday. It was not good. I did check my e-mail from home and did not find anything about it or on the web site, so I guess I shouldn't say anything yet. If I do blog again, I will.
That's about it for now. Hopefully the rest of the month will go smooth.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
San Antonio
I just got back from San Antonio. The association I work for had their annual conference there last week. As usual, there were some glitches, but nothing major. We got everyone registered and they seemed happy to be at the conference. I got to see some old friends and meet some new ones. The members are from the medical community and are really great to work for. The worse part for me was I got a blister on my little toe. Being diabetic, I do have to keep an eye on it, but it is already getting better.
On the bright side, before I left I tried on a pair of pants that barely fit. When I put them on Wednesday, they fit. Oh, I still looked fat in them, but they zipped and buttoned up without my laying on the bed. That was a real good thing because the bed was supper comfy and I was up early and working late every day.
San Antonio is famous for its very large crickets. Of course there was one in my room. I was getting ready for bed when I saw something crawling along the floor. After eliminating centipede and cockroach, I figured out it was a cricket. So there I was in my pj's trying to figure out how to get it out of my room. I finally decided to put my robe on and grab a piece of cardboard and shove it out. I got it headed for the door, but pushed it back against the wall since it was too big to go under the door. I got it around the door and then shoved it out shouting "get out, get out." I shut the door as soon as it was out and prayed that no one on the floor was calling security on me. Thank God, they didn't and I was able to sleep without hearing a cricket all night.
People in San Antonio are use to them. I even heard of one man eating and having a cricket fall on his sandwich. He picked it up, threw it on the ground and proceeded to eat his sandwich. Supper yucky!
My room was on the 14th floor of the Hilton on the Riverwalk. It was very muggy, but I was able to sit on the balcony and there was a beautiful breeze. No mosquitoes or moths. I don't know how they keep them away, but I was grateful.
Had a lot of Mexican food, but not a lot of barbecue. The next time. I do plan on going back. Just have to stop spending money and get my new windows and do some more things around the house. It looks like it may be awhile before I get back.
On the bright side, before I left I tried on a pair of pants that barely fit. When I put them on Wednesday, they fit. Oh, I still looked fat in them, but they zipped and buttoned up without my laying on the bed. That was a real good thing because the bed was supper comfy and I was up early and working late every day.
San Antonio is famous for its very large crickets. Of course there was one in my room. I was getting ready for bed when I saw something crawling along the floor. After eliminating centipede and cockroach, I figured out it was a cricket. So there I was in my pj's trying to figure out how to get it out of my room. I finally decided to put my robe on and grab a piece of cardboard and shove it out. I got it headed for the door, but pushed it back against the wall since it was too big to go under the door. I got it around the door and then shoved it out shouting "get out, get out." I shut the door as soon as it was out and prayed that no one on the floor was calling security on me. Thank God, they didn't and I was able to sleep without hearing a cricket all night.
People in San Antonio are use to them. I even heard of one man eating and having a cricket fall on his sandwich. He picked it up, threw it on the ground and proceeded to eat his sandwich. Supper yucky!
My room was on the 14th floor of the Hilton on the Riverwalk. It was very muggy, but I was able to sit on the balcony and there was a beautiful breeze. No mosquitoes or moths. I don't know how they keep them away, but I was grateful.
Had a lot of Mexican food, but not a lot of barbecue. The next time. I do plan on going back. Just have to stop spending money and get my new windows and do some more things around the house. It looks like it may be awhile before I get back.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Update on Me
This week I went to my first wake since my mother and aunt died. My friend from high school lost her mother to rectal cancer on Wednesday. My friend lives in Florida and came in with her family for the wake and funeral. I spent a few hours with her on Friday at the wake and then went to the mass on Saturday. This morning we had breakfast so we had some time to talk without interruptions. She was the friend I would call in the evening after we spent most of the day at school, talk into the night, and then take up the conversation the next day. I hadn't talked to her since she came to Chicago in 2008. That was a year before my mother died. Her mother had gone through the same thing that my mother went through with hospice, but she was at home. My mother was in the hospital. We did have a lot to catch up on and I am sure that we could have spent a week and not have told each other everything that was going on in our lives.
I also had dinner with my cousin and a friend on Saturday. We have been getting together as often as possible, but we keep going to the same restaurant. This is one of those restaurants that we made fun of when we were younger. The "old" people go in the afternoon and leave with doggy bags. We went in the afternoon and left with doggy bags. We finally had to admit that we were getting nearer to "that age". Of course we are not old yet!
My friend and her son left this evening for Florida. I have been tracking her flight. She has 10 minutes left and my laundry is done, so I guess that is my cue to go to bed.
I also had dinner with my cousin and a friend on Saturday. We have been getting together as often as possible, but we keep going to the same restaurant. This is one of those restaurants that we made fun of when we were younger. The "old" people go in the afternoon and leave with doggy bags. We went in the afternoon and left with doggy bags. We finally had to admit that we were getting nearer to "that age". Of course we are not old yet!
My friend and her son left this evening for Florida. I have been tracking her flight. She has 10 minutes left and my laundry is done, so I guess that is my cue to go to bed.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Murder
I was reading about John McCluskey and his cousin-fiancee (I am not sure where they are from or if they are 1st, 2nd, etc. cousins, but I do find this weird) and their rampage. They are "suspected" of killing an older couple and McCluskey said he was sorry he did not kill the ranger who spoke to him before they were caught. I then read about Leroy Owens and Jonathan Robinson who killed a 71 year old man in his home. These are just recent killings. I really don't understand the lack of regard for human life. This has been going on for ever, but it seems that in the last few years, it has gotten worse. It used to be that a gangland shooting only involved the shooter and the person they were after. Now it is anyone who happens to be around. They shoot just to shoot up a rival gangs neighborhood and don't care about who is caught in the crossfire. Isn't it about time we give them the death penalty and don't worry about the killer's background, upbringing, the amount of education they have had, if they are mentally challenged? It seems that the idea of spending life in prison doesn't stop them, they just join the gangs in prison and kill again in prison. We really need to look at the punishment they receive and start treating them like they deserve.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My To Do List
OK, I have made a decision, I have to lose weight, clean the house, and save money/pay off my credit cards. Too many things to do at once? No, not really. They all tie in together if you look at them from my point of view. Of course, not everyone thinks the same way I do, unfortunately for them. It is called multi tasking. You see, I can do all three at once. Once I start cleaning the house, I am getting exercise. (I have the exercise part on good authority, Kim Woodburn and Aggie McKenzie of "How Clean is Your House?") I am also not eating as I am cleaning. By not eating (I am talking about in between meals type eating, i.e., junk food), I am saving money by not buying said junk food. Since one of my biggest purchases on my credit cards is at the grocery store and the said junk food takes up a major portion, that saves me money and I have more money to pay off my credit cards.
OK, I just found out though that my car insurance is going up $20.00 every six months and my house insurance is going up $100.00 a year. Car insurance I can handle. I have money taken out of my check and put straight into my savings account that I set up when I bought my first car just for this purpose. It's this house insurance. My mother always paid that. Now I have to come up with the money. I have already paid the first half of the real estate taxes. That is also something my mother took care of. So I guess that I will be able to clean the house and lose weight, but I am going to be losing weight because I can't afford food. I am not going to be able to pay down my credit cards as fast as I wanted to, nor put money into my savings account.
Owning your own home is nice. You don't have to worry about playing your music or TV too loud, unless it is causing your neighbors to become deaf, then it really is too loud, but no one told me about all the expenses. Being a grown up sometimes really sucks.
OK, I just found out though that my car insurance is going up $20.00 every six months and my house insurance is going up $100.00 a year. Car insurance I can handle. I have money taken out of my check and put straight into my savings account that I set up when I bought my first car just for this purpose. It's this house insurance. My mother always paid that. Now I have to come up with the money. I have already paid the first half of the real estate taxes. That is also something my mother took care of. So I guess that I will be able to clean the house and lose weight, but I am going to be losing weight because I can't afford food. I am not going to be able to pay down my credit cards as fast as I wanted to, nor put money into my savings account.
Owning your own home is nice. You don't have to worry about playing your music or TV too loud, unless it is causing your neighbors to become deaf, then it really is too loud, but no one told me about all the expenses. Being a grown up sometimes really sucks.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Illness and Thanksgiving
OK, I really did intend to post before now, but I have been sick. Oh, not just your ordinary cold or flu. Noooo, I had to come down with walking pneumonia. It came on suddenly as I was shopping in Dominick's on a beautiful Sunday morning, November 8. I went from planning to do a little cleaning, but mostly chill out and try to clean during the week (always my plan, but somehow it seems to end up that I do it all on the weekends). I was standing next to a man who reeked of cigarette smoke. OK, my sinuses. Then driving home with car windows open and pollen blowing all around making my sinus attack worse (oh, I forgot to mention that I had not taken my medicines for two days). By Sunday night I knew it wasn't going away anytime soon. Monday morning I call in (or rather croak in) to work. I hope that my director either got the message or would just figure that when I did not show up, it was me on the phone. I am sure she could not understand the full message. Tuesday was just as bad, but I decided to take my temperature, 100.9. That of course always makes you feel worse. Wednesday was the call to the doctor. I go in expecting to be told that I have bronchitis (which I have had before), but instead get the good old pneumonia diagnosis. I was home all that week, went to work on Tuesday and Wednesday for a half a day, took off Thursday, and went back to work on Friday.
Friday was more fun. As I was driving to work my car suddenly had no pick-up. I was doing 30 in a 35 mile hour zone and losing ground fast. I wasn't too far from my regular gas station which some friends work at, so I tried to get into the right hand lane, but realized that I was going to stall sitting in the middle of both lanes. I did manage to get into the median of the solid yellow lines. Called AAA and waited for 45 minutes for them. In the meantime, I am still trying to cough up another lung (I had already coughed up the right and left last week). The only good thing was that some dick head in a van drove right up behind me trying to get ahead of the rest of the traffic. He had to sit behind me while the cars that were behind him went right passed. He missed the green light, too. At least that brightened my day. OK, it is bad to be happy about someone else's misery, but it entertained me for a couple of minutes. This time I did not burn a wire in my car or anything minor, my motor needed to be replaced. I now have a "new" used motor in my car. No money, but a "new" motor. Merry Christmas, car!
This brings us up to Thanksgiving. Up until 10:30 that morning, I thought I would be spending it home alone. My cousin called to let me know she has had the wrong phone number for me for years. She asked if I was coming. Of course, I never heard about it even though my brother knew for a few weeks, but couldn't be bothered to let me know. Anyway, I did have some place to go for Thanksgiving.
Every family party ends up with a game of Left, Right, Center. This is a dice game in which you have three dollar bills in front of you (you can play with more money or less, but the less you play with, the less you win). You roll three dice at the beginning and if you have a dot on each of the dice you get to keep you $3. If you roll a L or R you pass a dollar to the person to either the right or left of you. A C, the dollar goes into the pot (the center of the table). You can roll all dots, L, R, or C, or a combination. The person with the last dollar rolls the dice and if they roll a dot, they get the money in the pot. If they roll a C, the game starts over with the pot growing until someone wins. I have never won.
I then had a new experience of playing WII. I know everyone in the world has now played at least one game on WII, but not me. I usually do not do good with any of these games. On PlayStation, I always managed to run my car into the wall or caused the skateboarding guy, Tony, to have permanent brain damage. I have tried to avoid these games since then. It was decided after the guys played golf, that the women would play bowling. I enjoy bowling even though my average would be between 60 and 70. I ended up coming in second. I don't remember my exact score, but I know it was over 120. I think I like this WII bowling.
Today is back to reality. I really need to clean this house and my brother told me that he would come over and put the storm window in the front door. I don't think either is going to be done since it is after 3:00 PM. That is what I want for Christmas, the storm window in the front door, my dishwasher set up, and an asparagus cooker (my cousin has one and it is really easy to use).
That is about it for now. If you do not hear from me again, it means that I never got the storm window and I froze to death.
Oh, Lisa asked me about the cemeteries that I had been visiting. My mother and her family are at Queen of Heaven and my father's family is at Mount Carmel. They are across the street from each other which makes it very convenient.
Friday was more fun. As I was driving to work my car suddenly had no pick-up. I was doing 30 in a 35 mile hour zone and losing ground fast. I wasn't too far from my regular gas station which some friends work at, so I tried to get into the right hand lane, but realized that I was going to stall sitting in the middle of both lanes. I did manage to get into the median of the solid yellow lines. Called AAA and waited for 45 minutes for them. In the meantime, I am still trying to cough up another lung (I had already coughed up the right and left last week). The only good thing was that some dick head in a van drove right up behind me trying to get ahead of the rest of the traffic. He had to sit behind me while the cars that were behind him went right passed. He missed the green light, too. At least that brightened my day. OK, it is bad to be happy about someone else's misery, but it entertained me for a couple of minutes. This time I did not burn a wire in my car or anything minor, my motor needed to be replaced. I now have a "new" used motor in my car. No money, but a "new" motor. Merry Christmas, car!
This brings us up to Thanksgiving. Up until 10:30 that morning, I thought I would be spending it home alone. My cousin called to let me know she has had the wrong phone number for me for years. She asked if I was coming. Of course, I never heard about it even though my brother knew for a few weeks, but couldn't be bothered to let me know. Anyway, I did have some place to go for Thanksgiving.
Every family party ends up with a game of Left, Right, Center. This is a dice game in which you have three dollar bills in front of you (you can play with more money or less, but the less you play with, the less you win). You roll three dice at the beginning and if you have a dot on each of the dice you get to keep you $3. If you roll a L or R you pass a dollar to the person to either the right or left of you. A C, the dollar goes into the pot (the center of the table). You can roll all dots, L, R, or C, or a combination. The person with the last dollar rolls the dice and if they roll a dot, they get the money in the pot. If they roll a C, the game starts over with the pot growing until someone wins. I have never won.
I then had a new experience of playing WII. I know everyone in the world has now played at least one game on WII, but not me. I usually do not do good with any of these games. On PlayStation, I always managed to run my car into the wall or caused the skateboarding guy, Tony, to have permanent brain damage. I have tried to avoid these games since then. It was decided after the guys played golf, that the women would play bowling. I enjoy bowling even though my average would be between 60 and 70. I ended up coming in second. I don't remember my exact score, but I know it was over 120. I think I like this WII bowling.
Today is back to reality. I really need to clean this house and my brother told me that he would come over and put the storm window in the front door. I don't think either is going to be done since it is after 3:00 PM. That is what I want for Christmas, the storm window in the front door, my dishwasher set up, and an asparagus cooker (my cousin has one and it is really easy to use).
That is about it for now. If you do not hear from me again, it means that I never got the storm window and I froze to death.
Oh, Lisa asked me about the cemeteries that I had been visiting. My mother and her family are at Queen of Heaven and my father's family is at Mount Carmel. They are across the street from each other which makes it very convenient.
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