My new aquarium!

My best friend knew that I wanted a bigger aquarium, and she wanted rid of hers.  I couldn't justify the expense of buying one, but boy was I dreaming.  I have 2 10 gallon tanks, on a double stand, but they're so small, and the smaller the tank, the harder they are to maintain.  When I found out that she wanted to give hers to me, I was so happy!  We finally picked it up today, and got it all set up.  She let us have her giant catfish (that they've had for years) as well as a real big plecostomus (scum sucker fish).  I added all my fish, and they look so tiny now!  I can now pass on my 10 gallon tanks to another friend. 

I need a life

Yeah, I know.  Before you read this, you must know that you've been warned!  It is 10:20 on a Saturday morning, and the most ambitious thing I've done is to shower.  The computer has logged several hours, and my kids fed themselves (they like that, though.)  I sit here, listening to the local classic rock station, playing neopets, and catching up on journals.  I love lazy Saturday's, but I'm starting to feel guilty.  Nah, not guilty enough.  Anyway, here's my loopy, slap-happy nonsense for the day:

Look!  Sasquatch caught a mouse!

Then he passed out, exhausted from the kill.

Hey, I tried to warn ya!

Customers, coloring, and cockroaches

Well, my customer came to visit today.  It was a whirlwind day in which I got NOTHING accomplished at my desk.  I mean NOTHING.  That puts me a full day behind when I get there on Monday.  To top that off, one of the other reps on my team (there are three of us) will be gone Monday-Wednesday.  Oh goody.  I'll be doing two days worth of my work, and a day worth of hers, all in 8 hours.  I'm happy to be employed, I'm happy to be employed, I'm happy to be employed.

While I was walking the customer through the lab, we passed one doorway as an employee yelled (real loudly), "HOLY CRAP!"  Now, considering which employee it was, I'm surprised she didn't drop the "F" bomb, but she didn't.  I found out later that she saw a huge cockroach crawl out from under a box.  She didn't think anyone would believe her about it's size, so she killed it and took it to the guy who contracts our pest control.  I love it!  The customer did nothing more than laugh at her outburst, and I changed the subject.

Monica asked me to print off some coloring pages tonight, and she's coloring them for people I work with.  Mostly the ones that she hears me talk about, and one for my boss that has a note saying, "thanks for giving my mom a great job."  Then it happened.  She asked me to google up a picture of a cockroach, so she could write a note to Rebecca.  The note says, "Rebecca, it's OK that you said Holy Crap in front of mom's customer.  Love, Monica."  Only one of my kids.

The socks

Although I sometimes find it hard to post to my journal (or find the keyboard, for that matter, "excuse me, Sasquatch."

I was asked about the socks, so here they are!

Tacky?  Yes, very...I love them!

 

My favorite holiday?

St Patricks day is one of those holidays that I love.  No need to buy gifts, no huge meals to cook, no uncomfortable gatherings, just slap on some green and spend some green celebrating the green!

I have no proven Irish blood flowing through me, but I take advantage anyway.  I bought several little packs of stickers (leprechauns, shamrocks, pots-o-gold, etc) and travelled around the lab handing them out.  With close to 200 employees this time of year, it took a while.  I was able to make some folks smile, though.  Some of the over-50 employees who usually have a grouchy look on their faces really lit up!  Some of the 18-22 year old dark and dreary kids laughed out loud at this 36 year old weirdo handing out stickers.  It was fun.

I even went to McDonalds to get a shamrock shake for myself and my two employees (the receptionists.)  It's been a good day.  It's been a darn good day.  I wore my St Patricks Day socks.  Theme socks are SO dorky, but I own them for this particular day.  The weirder the outfit, the more I enjoy it.

Busy days, sneaky child, and Kevin

I was so busy today.  It's like this all the time now.  Heck, we aren't even in our "season" right now, and I can't catch up. Here comes a boring work story, so you might want to skip this paragraph.  When the receptionists have a caller that asks for customer service, they push a button and hang up.  That button sends the call to the first available rep.  Sometimes, we will hit the "unavailable" button.  No calls can come in, and we can finish what we're doing.  If we *do* take a call, we have 1 minute "wrap time", to wrap up whatever is needed for that call.  If we don't need wrap time, we hit "end wrap" to let the calls roll again.  I decided that, since so many folks were unavailable, I would voluntarily "end wrap" through as many calls as necessary to clear out the que.  SIX calls, ladies and gentlemen, SIX!  4 of those calls demanded immediate attention, or things could get ugly.  Damn, it was a busy day.  But it's over, and I have to kill some OT, so I'm not going in until 12:30 tomorrow.  Late sleepin', here I come!

OK, boring work story is over.  Brett has always pushed us.  Last fall, he downloaded enough ring tones and games to his cell phone, that the total was over $100.  I guess he didn't think we'd have a problem with the bill.  WRONG!  He eventually paid it back, but not without a LOT of trouble.  He's done it again.  Last night, he announced, "I need lunch money."  I said, "OK."

At this school, we pay on account.  When the account is empty, we send more money.  Kevin overheard Brett asking me for lunch money and started scrambling for the checkbook.  He paid for a month (20 lunches) only 11 school days ago.  Kevin cried "foul" and asked where the money went.  Apparently he's been buying soda at $1 a pop (pun intended) for a while.  He just "doesn't like milk any more."  Too friggin' bad, my friend.  He is to pack a lunch for the next 8 days, after which we'll replentish the lunch account again.  He said, "but I don't *like* milk any more!" To which Kevin replied, "then get a freakin' *job*!"  Sheesh, the lazy, unmotivated one has done it again.

Kevin has been pulling 12+ hour days lately.  Today, he actually got off work on time.  I came home to see him cooking spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner.  It's his specialty.  It was wonderful, and with Survivor being on tonight (instead of Thursday,) life was good.  I brought home the customary Pringles (pizzalicious and trivia prints) and beer.  I even bought a bag of raisinettes as a bonus.  And WHAT an episode of Survivor it was!  *BOTH* teams had to vote someone off?  Wow, that was interesting.

Kevin has had a few "moments" with Snowbell tonight.  I gotta say, he's wearing down.  He actually loved on her for a few minutes, albeit unwilling.  When he made it clear that he was done, she *almost* gave up.  Anyway, she wasn't QUITE as persistant as yesterday.  Now, she's passed out in the floor, looking quite satisfied.  Heh, heh.  She wins again?!

Poor stupid cat

Well, we have these 3 cats.  Useless animals, cats.  Abso-friggin-lutely useless.  Sasquatch, the only male (if you could still call him that) is Brett's cat, and is cool.  He wants attention, 3-4 strokes a day, then leave him the heck alone.  Fudge (Monica's cat) is pretty and sweet, and fairly easy to live with.  She likes a bit more attention, but she gets the hint if you toss her off the bed.

Then, there's Snowbell.  This pure white bundle of ignorance is a waste of oxygen.  Seriously.  There is no use on earth for this cat.  She is stupid (walking-into-walls and falling-over stupid) and useless.  Have I mentioned that she's useless?  She has almost killed herself a couple of times with her stupidity.  Once, she hung herself in the hammock and had to be cut free, another time she was dragging around a WalMart bag full of shampoo/conditioner/soap with her neck.  Sometimes she swats in the air....at NOTHING!

Tonight, she decided she needed attention from Kevin.  Fudge was up there beside him for a bit, lying quietly and sleeping...just enjoying human companionship.  Sasquatch jumped up for his 3 pats, then gave the look that says, "OK, I'm going to sleep now, so leave me alone, ok?"  Then Snowbell jumped up on the bed.  Kevin was nice enough to pet her a time or two, and she wouldn't get out of his face.   He put her gently on the floor.  She jumped back up.  He patted her gingerly, then said, "Go Away!" and put her on the floor.  She immediately jumped RIGHT back up.

At this point, I thought he might kill her, but he didn't.  He said, calmly, "Why don't you realize that I hate you?  I mean, go away before I get mean!" and he put her on the floor again.  By now, I was watching from the corner of my eye.  Yup.  She jumped right back up there.  He said, "all right, let's see how you like this!" and started rubbing her fur the wrong way.  She didn't mind at all.  In fact, she settled in for a long stay!

He got up and went back to his computer.  The way I see it, it's Snowbell-4, Kevin-0.  She won.  Poor Kevin, can't catch a break.

This is Snowbell. (yeah, she likes playing on, and lying on, paper...for no good reason.)