Archive for November, 2006

vacation

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

so i just put in my vacation request for the end of the year.  as always, i’m taking off the week between christmas and new years.  my new company (my old one readily granted exceptions to the rollover limit) limits the number of hours you can roll over so i had to “burn” 6 vacation days at the end of the year.  sadly, i’ve used most of my leave for sickness :( darn, i miss the unlimited sick leave at my old company.

so… i’m going to have a week off. (plus, 2 more days some time in december… still trying to find out when to use them)  in the past, i’ve spent the week between christmas and new years doing nothing.  i don’t want to do that!!!  so….

anyone want to take a (skiing??) trip anywhere during that time?! or hang out? :D   yea… kind of last minute, sorry.  let me know!  otherwise, i’ll end up sleeping away my vacation days like i normally do

what a blog junkie

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

[10:18] spreesatwork: i think i might be posting a lot today
[13:13] spreesatwork: i’m goign to be a posting fiend today
[13:32] spreesatwork: wanna have a posting competition?
[13:32] spreesatwork: i’m kidna bored today
[13:32] spreesatwork: haha
[13:32] monkeyingatwork: hahah
[13:32] monkeyingatwork: i think u wil win
[13:32] monkeyingatwork: i am not creative enough to post that often
[14:17] spreesatwork: i’m working on some posts
[14:17] spreesatwork: i’m going to save them
[14:17] spreesatwork: haha
[14:18] monkeyingatwork: bahhh
[14:18] monkeyingatwork: whyy??
[14:18] monkeyingatwork: just post ‘em!
[14:19] spreesatwork: bahh
[14:19] spreesatwork: bc then i’ll have lik 10 posts from today
[14:19] spreesatwork: and then no posts for a month!
[14:19] monkeyingatwork: hahahah
[14:19] monkeyingatwork: 10 posts!?  my gosh!
[14:19] monkeyingatwork: what are u blogging about?!
[14:19] spreesatwork: okay not 10
[14:19] spreesatwork: but like 5
[14:20] monkeyingatwork: baaaah, that’s still a lot
[14:20] spreesatwork: i know
[14:20] spreesatwork: bahh
[14:20] spreesatwork: i need to spread them out
[14:20] monkeyingatwork: but now i’m curious
[14:21] spreesatwork: haha
[14:21] spreesatwork: write more for me
[14:21] monkeyingatwork: bahh
[14:21] monkeyingatwork: what are u writing about?
[14:22] spreesatwork: hahhaa
[14:22] spreesatwork: candy and tv!
[14:47] spreesatwork: k i have 3 blogs saved
[15:13] spreesatwork: man i have so many posts today
[15:13] spreesatwork: this is so good
[15:13] spreesatwork: now i have material for a while
[15:14] monkeyingatwork: bahhh
[15:14] monkeyingatwork: post ‘em!
[15:14] monkeyingatwork: don’t hoard your posts!
[15:14] monkeyingatwork: lemme read!
[15:16] spreesatwork: i posted
[15:21] spreesatwork: you post somethign now
[15:21] spreesatwork: i need something new to read
[15:50] spreesatwork: i just counted
[15:50] spreesatwork: i wrote 6 posts today
[15:50] spreesatwork: haha
[15:50] spreesatwork: bah!
[15:50] spreesatwork: i’m all out now though
[15:51] monkeyingatwork: bahhh
[15:52] monkeyingatwork: post! post!
[15:52] spreesatwork: no!
[15:52] monkeyingatwork: i haven’t read anything new on your blog in the past 10 minutes!
[15:52] monkeyingatwork: c’mon!
[15:52] spreesatwork: i already buried isaac’s spreadsheet post
[15:52] spreesatwork: bahhh
[15:52] monkeyingatwork: haha
[15:52] monkeyingatwork: tell isaac to increase his blog output to compete with you
[15:52] spreesatwork: he has work to do today
[15:57] monkeyingatwork: aw boo
[15:57] monkeyingatwork: if he doesn’t keep up, his post will be pushed to another page!
[15:57] spreesatwork: yea that’s why i have to save minde
[15:57] monkeyingatwork: bahhh
[16:02] spreesatwork: COME ON!
[16:02] spreesatwork: post something!

styles of blogging

Wednesday, November 29th, 2006

i was talking to julie online about blogging the other day. i never really thought about it, but i guess there’s different types of bloggers.

the teeny bopper ghetto blogger – they’re the bloggers who type and spell “lyKe Dis” i apologize for the bad imitation… i’m not that familiar with teeny bopper ghetto speak. and yes, it is like it’s own language! if you’re not familiar with it, it takes awhile to decipher what is being said. stereotypically, their posts are about school… lyke homeroom wuz whack! orrr some times it’s about loooove… middle/high school love

the picture blogger – with a high speed connection, these bloggers are usually pretty interesting. their posts consist of 91895817591891 pictures they took in the past day. unfortunately, for those without a high speed connection or a fast computer, these blogs can be quite painful to load. i’ve actually crashed the browse on my parents’ old computer trying to load xanga pages… RESIZE your pictures please! (tho i am often guilty of this too since i don’t have photoshop to resize images)

the once-every-2-years blogger – these bloggers are the hardest to follow because they update so infrequently. but when they do, oh boy! is it a treat! a sample post might look like “oh wow, it’s been awhile since i’ve updated! so, what have i been up to? well, i met a girl, we started dating, we dated for 3 years and then i proposed, we got married, it’s been a great 6 years, now we’re expecting our 3rd child. since my last post, i think i’m starting to get some male pattern baldness… well, that’s what i’ve been up to for the past 10 years! see you in another 10 years!” with a post like that, i’d be likely to sign up for multiple xanga accounts just to eprop him a ton!

the cryptic blogger – who knows what they’re talking about! perhaps i’m just too shallow to fully understand their deep posts. vague entry after vague entry, it’s like watching lost! you’re completely confused! over the course of MANY posts, only a few bits of pertinent information has been leaked. these bloggers can be quite frustrating. however, if you’re in the know… it’s not as bad. i would attempt to give a sample of this style of blogging, but i’m not sure if i could… “grumble. it’s a strange feeling. emptyness, like i’ll never be full again. that’s sad… i’m sad now.” < — that was my poor, sad attempt to post a cryptic “i’m hungry” post… granted, cryptic bloggers tend to chose more pensive topics besides their stomachs… but man! this is a tough style of blog in. i’m sorry i’m not able to give a good example of this style.

random blogger – this blogger is completely random. often times their posts consist of a bunch of random links, what they did 2 weekends ago, a video of something cool they saw on youtube, and their grocery shopping list. ok ok, maybe not that random. for a sample, see http://shumblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/just-bunch-of-links.html. the random blogger is probably the most “normal” blogger… a lot of their entries won’t be as random as that example. for a random blogger, it might be something like for every 10 normal posts, there’d be a random-ness post. i like these kinds of blogs… they keep it interesting.

the rambling-like-an-idiot blogger – this is the style i most often practice. this is the english teacher/grammar nazi’s nightmare! entire paragraph-long posts will consist of a mere 2 sentences. commas are used in place of periods at the end of nearly every phrase. there is a total disregard for capitalization. and what is the blogger even saying?? nothing! you’ll waste a good 5 minutes reading a post and at the end… you’ll wonder what was even said. you’ll have gained no useful knowledge… maybe just a useless trivia fact or something like the capital of Turkmenistan is Ashgabat. completely useless… and you just wasted a good few minutes reading this post just to learn that. (this post is a good example of the rambling-like-an-idiot blogging style)

any other styles out there you noticed?

(p.s. you’ll notice… i keep linking to shumblog.blogspot.com! go visit it! it’s shum blog!!)

susan kidd is leaving too…

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/20/AR2006112001376.html

Susan Kidd is leaving too!!!
NBC4 is upsetting me! you develop a bond with your news anchor… a relationship!! you see them every day, they report to you the news of the day cheerfully. they joke around with one another and you feel like you’ve gotten to know them a bit. you trust them because u’ve received the news from them for the past X many years and you know that what they report is true (and when they are wrong, they apologize) u can’t just replace them with other people just like that! they better not get rid of jim vance, doreen gentzler, or bob ryan… they’re an institution! if they get rid of them, i’m not watching nbc4 anymore!!

i heard about this about a week ago… i was standing on the metro when i saw a familiar face smiling from a picture in the newspaper… it was that picture of susan kidd! then i read the headline. i actually gasped outloud on the metro! haha, i was reading over someone’s shoulder so i just looked the other way, but then i came home and looked it up.

just too upsetting….

why i like george (and monkeys) so much

Monday, November 27th, 2006

my first friend :)

no comments on how clean george looks!!! this was freaking 24 years ago, of course he’s gotten dirtier. plus the fact that this is a picture of my old george (lost 4/7/95 :( ) and the george i have now was given to me used by olivia.

it was a good thanksgiving

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

the good:

went to my aunt’s house again… lots of yummies.  this year, she even had this mango dish!  quite delicious!  my uncle greg’s turkey was awesome again, and i love the gravy my aunt judie makes… mm mmm!

played blackjack with the aunts and uncles again… they really are amusing.  my dad is the worst of them though!  he stole my aunt’s wallet after my aunt had won big as dealer.  my aunt didn’t notice for quite some time!  then he tried to charge her $2 to help find the wallet.  haha, aunt maggie and uncle jack were also pretty amusing… they were both playing and my aunt kept losing, so she kept having to take from uncle jack.  one time, when she was dealer and my uncle won, my uncle complained that she hadn’t paid him yet.  she was like oh whatever!  if i pay you i’m just going to have to borrow the money back again anyways!

the bad:

my sister didn’t come home for turkey day! :(

i didn’t get turkey congee!  i was SOOOO hungry in the middle of the night.  it was most disappointng!!  my annual tradition… gone!  thrown to the way side!  one turkey day dinner?? blasphemy!

the best:

MULTIPLE people said i looked like my mom :)   MULTIPLE.  a couple of aunts (so you can’t say it’s because they didn’t see my sister because they’ve seen my sister!!) and a couple of famly friends!  yes!!!

HA! this proves it

Saturday, November 25th, 2006

quiz stolen from that’s shum blog! i think it’s pretty accurate! i have no accent!

What American accent do you have?

Your Result: The West

Your accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech. Unless you’re a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent. And really, you may not even be from the West at all, you could easily be from Florida or one of those big Southern cities like Dallas or Atlanta.

The Midland
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The South
The Northeast
What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes

edit: somehow, the colored bars aren’t showing up properly on this page… here’s an image of my quiz results then.  note how little The South is :)

george michael leaving jim, doreen, and bob!

Thursday, November 16th, 2006

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600669.html

“Michael’s departure from the anchor desk will mark the end of the market’s longest-serving and top-rated news team of himself, news anchors Jim Vance and Doreen Gentzler and weatherman Bob Ryan.”

NBC4 was by far my favorite news channel. I used to start watching the news at 4pm with Jim Handly. Then 5pm with Doug McKelway (who left for ABC7!) and Susan Kidd, and then 6pm with Jim, Doreen, Bob, and George. 7pm was the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. I miss Tom :( He was my favorite anchorman. (No offense Jim)

I’m not sure quite why I’m so fascinated with news people. I remember meeting Bob Ryan when he visited Stone Mill in 6th grade! I kept track of news people as they switched from station to station or from one newscast time to another. I was even surprised when I recognized Morris Jones from Fox 5 on the news in Pittsburgh! (who can really forget his helmet hair?)

i hope jim, doreen, and bob don’t leave….

HUGE news

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

for 99.999% of the work year, i am in front of a computer.  i read a lot of websites while at work.  so i end up reading a lot of news.  it’d say, of the 99.999% of the time i’m in front of a computer, there are less than 10 days where i’m so busy that i don’t have time to read the news.

this past week (‘cept for monday), i’ve been at an offsite conference.  without a computer. i didn’t think it’d be a big deal… i mean, there are some really slow news days… REALLY slow when CNN has nothing to post on their red headline banner other than “Stock Market closes!” or something mundane like that.  (okok, it wasn’t that mundane, it was a new record high)

BUT in the past 2 days i’ve been at this conference… HUGE news on both days!  britney and k-fed divorcing (FINALLY) and donald rumsfeld resigning!  what the heck?!?!  the two days of the year where i’m not in front of my computer…?!

worst yet, i missed CNN using it’s red headline banner on britney and k-fed’s divorce… hahaha, i would’ve liked to have seen it.  did they call him k-fed?  THAT would’ve been awesome… in my dreams, i imagine a headline like: britney dumps worthless “k-fed”

i wonder if anything big will happen today…

if i ruled the world…

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
  • daylight savings time would never end. therefore the sun would not set at 5pm, or some insanely early hour. mornings would be ok because…
  • the standard hours of business will be 10am to 6pm. there will be no need to wake up at 6am in the morning
  • as a means of reducing commuter traffic, businesses will split up employees into 2 shifts… the 10am to 4pm shift and the 12pm to 6pm shift.
  • four day work weeks! employees chose which day they want off. this also will help ease commuting.
  • non-essential workers/business would shut down if the temperature dips below freezing and winds are gusting above 20 mph or the windchill temperature (temperature + effects of wind) is less than 0. a liberal leave policy would be in effect.
  • businesses must give unlimited sick leave to all employees… tho it sucks because u can no longer use sick days as vacations towards the end of the year (as my dad used to do at his old company)
  • drivers who perform the following actions would have their licenses revoked
  • ride the left lane while going below the speed limit
  • change lanes without signaling
  • make a left turn from any lane besides the leftmost lane, or make a right turn from any lane besides the rightmost lane
  • rubbernecking
  • any other idiotic driving
  • the holiday of thanksgiving will be given the entire week. this should also ease thanksgiving holiday commuting.
  • added to the list of national holidays:
  • boxing day, the day after christmas (because it’s fun to say)
  • 3rd monday in september, in observance of h.a. rey’s birthday (september 16)
  • 3rd monday in may, in observance of margret rey’s birthday (may 16)
  • spring break, first week of april

sure… the world would be a whole lot less functional, but at least i’d enjoy myself more.