Going for a little variety

I've been trying to bring some color other than black into my wardrobe. In the past fews weeks or so, I've purchased five new tops and three pair of shoes. Two of the tops and two pairs of the shoes are some shade of green.

Now, I guess I will need to work on some color other than black and green.

She got it right.

In my part of the country, just because the calendar says it's the first day of spring, doesn't always mean that the weather will be spring like. It could be snowing and frigid.

But today, Mother Nature, got in sync with the calendar and has delivered up the perfect first day of spring. You couldn't ask for a better day!

Thank you, Mother Nature!

Props to the husband

It is a little out of the norm when the husband does much to help around the house or is willing to run minor errands for me.

Recently, I've seen a change.

Last Sunday, after a big Sunday dinner, instead of going into his man den and watching television, he washed the pots and pans, rinsed plates and help load the dishwasher.

On Monday, he dropped off a pair of my slacks for alteration.

On Tuesday, he picked up the vacuum from the repair shop.

Every day that I go to work, he makes the bed.

He's emptied the dishwasher from time to time and even run a load of laundry.

Thanks for your help, husband. I appreciate it!

And yes, I have told him this in person.

Just one person's idea

Current economic conditions have had an affect on how my state's recent Legislature guys decided to spend, or not spend, money. One idea that was floated was raising the state gas tax to help pay for road projects. In the local paper, someone wrote a letter suggesting that bicyclists be taxed by requiring bikes to be registered making it easier to identify bike owners and issue traffic citations for possible violations while on the road. The logic was that registration fee and probable resulting traffic fines would generate needed funds for road projects. Thus making raising the gas tax unneccessary.

I just suggest that the local police set up a traffic camera on the NE corner of South Temple and State Street between 7:30 am and 8:00 am. The funds that could be generated from tickets issued to drivers not stopping before turning right on a red would be a gold mine. In the three minutes or less that I wait to cross that intersection every morning, six to nine drivers cruise through the red light.

What to do...

What a monumental waste of time and my employer's money!

There is absolutely nothing going on here today on this job that I'm working. Most of the employees are out today. The ones that are here are self sufficient and don't need my help.

I have no direct supervisor here. So do I just call it day a few hours early? Or warm this chair and try to keep from dying of boredom?

Update - I ended up leaving an hour early.

Hooray and Yippee!

I don't go shopping a lot and I generally don't shop at Banana Republic. Last night, however, I found myself at the BR outlet store. I picked out a couple of tops that were on sale for 50% off - a good deal anytime.

At check out, I was given a discount card for an additional 30% my total purchase. Whoo Hoo!

That 30% pretty much paid for the dinner that I had shared earlier with my husband. Yippee!

Huh?!?

In common, every day, English, I understand the meaning of the words

admin, flow, migrate, bugs, fire, tasks, testing, process, events, permission list, developers, enhancements, change, analysis, self service, expedite, bundles, scripts, rolls, secure, chunked

But then combine them with ANCRONYMS like UAT, CIs, QAs, IMOS, DMUG, AP, One OP, PTS, PMOS, CERPA, JIRA, ASE, UP 89

and have them all spew out of mouths of a room full of IT guys for an hour and a half, it may as well be Greek.

All was not lost. As least I came away with some material for a post.

I'm still not sure why I was asked to attend this meeting.

Surprises are good!

I had a nice surprise in the mail yesterday...my first social security check. I wasn't expecting the first one until the end of March. I'm not sure how all this works. But, I'm guessing that since I filed my application in February that I qualified for benefits in February. And apparently, the wheels of social security turned so fast that my notice that my claim for benefits had been approved was in yesterday's mail too. It was just last Monday that I was talking to the ever so helpful government employee to clear up a few questions on my application.

So now, I'm looking at my want/need list to decide where this little windfall is going to be spent. I'm probably going to help out the economy just a little by spending some of this and not hoarding it.

Commuting Observations

I was crossing the street on my way to work this morning. A driver waiting to turn left was patiently waiting for me to clear the crosswalk. But the guy in a cab behind him wasn't happy about waiting. He sat there honking his horn while I crossed the street.

To get to the back entrance of the building where I'm working, I have to go down a small side street and up an alley. For some reason, it reminds me of the walk from the flat to the market when I was in London a couple of years ago.

That was slick....

Like I said in the previous post, I applied for social security. I was expecting it to be a long, complicated, unpleasant experience. Working with the US Government, could it be anything else?

Surprise, surprise! After a couple of phone calls this morning to answer a few questions and talking to a very pleasant, helpful government employee, I'm qualified. The checks start at the end of the month.

Amazing!

"very pleasant, helpful government employee" now that's an oxymoron.

Completely unrelated thoughts

I applied for Social Security benefits online the other day. Part of the process required answering questions about disabilities. One of the questions was "Are you blind?". Well since I was reading the question on the computer screen, I'm pretty sure I'm not blind. I'm just thinking that a blind person would probably only answer the question on a computer if a sighted person was reading it to him/her.

A few weeks ago, my home computer developed some serious health problems. It has taken awhile to get it fixed. In the meantime, I realized that I probably spend way too much time at the computer. I've had to find other, more productive ways to fill my time.

I just started a long term on-call assignment. I'm classified as a receptionist. But on this job the phone doesn't ring - AT ALL. My basic duties are making sure the weekly 15 minute department devotional comes off without a hitch, letting people in the security door, collecting money for devotional treats, ordering office supplies and scheduling conference rooms.

In return for these somewhat mundane activities, I get paid $100 a day, plus have unlimited internet access. Since I am also the only female employee in a department full of tech guys, I have an entire restroom with three basins and five stalls for my personal use. And, I'm working in a building a couple of blocks away from Church headquarters. I don't have to wear panty hose and a skirt every day.

I am warming up to the idea of condo living. With spring arriving in a few weeks, it is nice to not have to worry about lawn and garden care or getting the sprinkler system turned on. A condo with good living space, and some amenities sounds pretty good.

I've gone over six months without a microwave. Now I have to decide if purchasing one is a need or a want. I think that my older grandkids would say it's a need. They don't understand how I can function with out one. Well, kiddos, back in the "olden" days, I got along pretty well without one.

An icon in our city and state passed away a week ago. He was the owner of the Utah Jazz, many car dealerships, and numerous other businesses. He also had an extensive collection of Ford Cobras, vintage Mustangs and a vintage red, Ford Falcon convertible. His funeral cortage went past my apartment building last Saturday. It was pretty impresssive. In the lead were several dozen highway patrolmen on motorcycles. Another four patrolmen on motorcycles rode with the hearse. Then his four sons and one daughter followed behind. Each was driving one of this guy's Ford Cobras. The red Ford Falcon followed driven by one of his grandchildren. He was laid to rest in style. His coffin was painted cobalt blue with white racing stripes.