04/25/2000

DEAD!" he said in a faux-hysterical tone (for reference, click here). I guess you had to be there – trust me, it was funny. I only had one Coke yesterday, and as a result, I’m going through caffeine withdrawal, which means my body’s not happy. Between the nausea and the on-and-off headache, I’m a thrill to be around right now. Poor, poor me. —–]]>

04/24/2000

The Bold and the Beautiful (god, I loathe that Macy!)(and Eric, that smug, self-righteous asshole) and the last two episodes of Once and Again. I lolled in bed this morning and watched what I hadn’t finished last night, then wandered around the house, did some laundry, took a shower, checked my email, and took a call from Rachel, who said she didn’t think I needed to come in unless I really wanted to. "No, no, that’s okay, if you don’t need me, I’ll just stay home," I sobbed hysterically (just kidding). Fred hadn’t taken his lunch to work with him, though, and I had a bunch of errands to run, so I ran them and dropped off his lunch. Rachel’s completely changed her office around – in fact, it looks the way I would have arranged it if I’d thought of it. Before, the desk was facing the window, and anyone who came to the door could immediately see what was on the monitor. Now, she moved the desk so it’s facing the door, and you can’t see what’s on her monitor unless you go around her desk. Smart girl! Upon reading Beth this morning, I learned that a very popular journaller wrote an "astoundingly cruel" entry over the weekend, and I’m dying to know who it is and what they said. Anyone know? Please tell me. I’m the nosiest person in the world, and I really want to know what’s going on. Because, of course, I have no life. On the other hand, I’m so completely clueless that I probably read the offending journal entry, and it went right over my head. So, after I left the office I went to Sam’s. As usual, Sam’s was pretty well packed, and I had to maneuver around people a lot, since THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE IS APPARENTLY WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO COME TO A DEAD STOP AND STARE, WITH GLAZED EYES, AT THE 145 POUND CANS OF KETCHUP, JUST STANDING THERE AND STARING WHILE ACTING DEAF WHEN THE POOR BITCHYPOO BEHIND YOU MEEKLY SAYS "EXCUSE ME! EXCUSE ME!" I was proud of myself at Sam’s, because not only did I pass up the three books they had that I REALLY want to read, but I didn’t buy any junk food or unnecessary items. Purchased at Sam’s: chlorine tablets for the pool, shock for the pool, 2 8-packs of Fred’s nondairy creamer, 2 6-packs of paper towels, and a pack of 14 dish sponges. $170, gone gone gone, just like that. Of course, the chlorine will last us for the majority of the summer, and the creamer will take a couple of months for Fred to use… Eh. I just can’t be trusted at Sam’s. I look at the huge boxes of cereal and think "I won’t have to buy more cereal for another month!", then I buy the cereal and the spud gets tired of it after three days. But I can’t help myself – I am powerless against the lure of multi-box packs of cheerios and 240-tab bottles of electrasol. Powerless, I say! I need to go order flowers for the new office manager for "Administrative Professional’s Day" (renamed, I assume, because some people think "Secretary" is insulting). Fred told the other bosses that they didn’t need to get anything for me, because I wasn’t expecting anything. Now I feel like I can’t throw a temper tantrum and scream "I was too! I was too expecting something! I want my flowers!" Have I mentioned that I’m just a big baby? —–]]>

04/23/2000

From Fred, first thing this morning: "Bessie, you should turn on the news. The Republicans are grandstanding on the Elian situation. Apparently I’ve become a Democrat without my knowledge." Now he’s talking to the spud, trying to explain the whole thing to her. It doesn’t sound like she’s quite getting it. The Miami relatives are described as being "beside themselves with grief." Good. They fucking well should be. It was fun and games for weeks while they were in control of Elian, and now that he’s with his father and HAPPY, they just can’t stand it, can they? Assholes. God, it makes me so freakin’ mad. I probably shouldn’t personalize it the way I do – all I can imagine is being in Juan Gonzalez’ place, with someone keeping the spud from me, and I honestly can’t imagine how the poor man hasn’t taken to a tower with a rifle. Okay, I’ll shut up about Elian for now. I’m sure I’m boring the bejezus out of y’all. It’s so rare that I take any kind of interest in anything going on in the world today! So Fred was in charge of renting movies this week, and as always when he’s off to the movie store I say "Look for something I want to watch!" Thus, each weekend he and the spud watch three crappy movies (one each day, including Friday) and I end up watching one or two movies only I wish to see. This week, Boys Don’t Cry came out, and I hoped fervently he’d be able to rent it for me, though I wasn’t holding my breath. After he got back from the movie store, we were laying on the bed talking (not a euphemism for sex) and I asked what he’d rented for me. After much verbal dancing around – my god, the boy does like to drag things out – he told me he’d rented Eyes Wide Shut for me. "Um. Why?" I said, confused. "I thought you wanted to see it!" he said. "Um. Noooooo, I told you I had no desire to see it!" I told him. "Oh," he said. "Well, I got Boys Don’t Cry, too!" So last night, he disappeared down to the computer room while I watched Eyes Wide Shut. I had no real desire to see it, since the vehement distaste of other journallers for the movie pretty much warned me off. However, since he’d rented the movie, I figured I could just fast forward through the movie and only watch the naked parts. Because, I mean, naked people are naked people, but how often do you get to see FAMOUS people naked? Sadly, the majority of the nakedness was women. This saddens me, as I had hoped to see Tom Cruise’s penis, so I could pause the movie and look closely at it. Really, how often do you see famous penii? But unless I missed something – by the time I got to the orgy scene I was only half paying attention, the other half of my attention being focused on an old People magazine – there was not a naked penis to be seen. I saw plenty of Nicole Kidman’s bare ass, though, and who could blame her? If I had a body like that, you’d have one hell of a time keeping clothes on me. Later today, I’ll be watching Boys Don’t Cry, and I can’t wait. I would have gone to see it in the theater, but it never played in any of the six theaters in the area, which I can only attribute to the fact that I’m smack in the middle of the Bible Belt. Friday night/ early Saturday morning, I had a dream that makes me think I’m sublimating my real feelings about leaving DI. In the dream, I was sitting at a desk in front of a computer, and a woman – in the dream, I knew she was working for a moving company – kept coming in and taking parts of the computer and walking out of the room with them. Standing across the room watching dispassionately was a man I knew to be my husband (not Fred). He and I made small talk, and all the while I fought back tears and tried to force myself to say "Ask me to stay. All you have to do is ask me to stay, and I will." I couldn’t force the words, though, and I woke up dry-sobbing with my heart pounding. I don’t think I need someone to analyze that one, do you? Ah, the house is alive with the smells of that hardboiled egg fart smell. Devilled eggs rock. Beneath that smell is the smell of turkey cooking – we’re having turkey instead of ham, since I’m not a ham fan – and I hear Fred rustling around in the kitchen cleaning up before he begins making squash casserole and stuffing to go with our meal. Dinnertime is around 1, central time. Y’all stop by if you’re in the area (and you know I’d shit a brick if anyone actually stopped by!)

Happy Easter if you celebrate it. Happy Sunday, otherwise.

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04/22/2000

smiling. I hope this whole thing just goes away; I’m sooooo sick of hearing about it, and of course the more I hear about it, the more pissed I become. I will say this, though: why’re they waving all the cuban flags? Aren’t they, um, AMERICANS? So, welcome to my new subscribers! Two new ones today and one yesterday brings the total up to 31! That means, aside from myself, there are 30 people in this world who are sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for the next nugget of wisdom to come from the brain o’ bitchypoo. 30 people waiting anxiously for me to update. 30 people, sitting there, thinking to themselves "I wonder what Robyn’s doing right now?" Man, too much pressure. Is it about time to stop my journal? 🙂 Just kidding, of course. Mostly. Anyway. So yesterday was my last "official" day at work, though as I’ve mentioned I’ll be going in every day next week for a few hours each day. And on Friday, there’ll be some sort of going-away party for me, which is as it should be. I don’t care to be the center of attention much, but I have been at that company for 3 years and much as I may have been a lazy-ass do-nothing kind of office manager, it’s only right that they pay homage to me and give me presents. Have I mentioned that the world revolves around me? So early this morning as I was ready to walk out the door to get groceries, Fred called down to me: "Bessie?" in his you-did-something-wrong tone. "Yes?" I responded. "Did you get me any creamer this week?" Shiiiiit. There’s only one kind of creamer he likes, and I’ve only been able to find it at Office Depot, and Sam’s. All week long, I’ve been swearing I’d stop at Office Depot and pick some up, since he was all but out, and naturally I forgot. I’d forget my head if it weren’t stapled on. Tense negotiations ensued. I offered to pick up a different kind of creamer at the grocery store to get him through the weekend. I offered to get groceries, drop them off, and go to Office Depot when it opened at 9. He didn’t want to wait. Finally, we decided I’d run to the office, since they use the same creamer there, and borrow a container of it, which we’d pay back Monday when I actually got off my ass and went to Office Depot or Sam’s. So I hopped in the Jeep and headed for the office. Rachel had mentioned earlier this week that she’d be in to work over the weekend to make up the time she missed by leaving early Friday, so I didn’t consider it a problem that I didn’t have a key to the office (I gave it to her). Naturally, she wasn’t there. I called Fred on the cellphone and told him of the situation, which he found humorous. Finally, he agreed to make do with Cremora through the weekend. So I went off to Publix to get groceries. I hadn’t picked up anything for the spud for Easter, and most of the Easter baskets, candy, and toys were half price, so I loaded up. Yes, I’m an awful last-minute-shopping Mommy. I got into a conversation with a lady who worked there, and later she found me to ask if I wanted a big stuffed bunny which had been marked down to $1.50. Naturally this was a bargain I could NOT pass up. And naturally I ended up paying MUCH more than I’d expected or wanted to pay for a week’s worth of groceries. As usual. So we’re having a turkey for Easter dinner, since I am not a big fan of ham, and it will only be the spud, Fred, and I for dinner. It should be an excellent meal, so long as Fred makes the devilled eggs. May the Easter Bunny bring y’all lots of treats! —–]]>

04/20/2000

half.com order, I received my last two books. I’m very very pleased at the condition of the books I’ve received in this order, as well as the prices I paid. Half.com definitely has my business from here on out – except for the Harry Potter, Janet Evanovich, and Sue Grafton books, which I can’t possibly wait for (for which I can’t possibly wait, that is). Being the incredibly NICE gal (ha!) that I am, I agreed to come in for a couple of hours each day next week, because Rachel’s not quite confident enough that Quickbooks is the way it should be to go it alone, she told me. So tomorrow is my official last day, but I’ll be there each day next week, and then on the 1st of May I’ll be there most of the day as she does all the first of the month reports and hands out paychecks. Just when I think I’m almost home-free, the sticky tentacles of the office reach out and suck me back into the fold… —–]]>

04/19/2000

End of Days last night. Due to the usual interruptions – we had to stop so the spud could get her chores done, and then again because someone called and yammered at Fred for forever and a day. I finally had to bitch at him to get OFF the freakin’ phone because I wanted to get the freakin’ movie over and done with so I wouldn’t have to deal with it any more and could simply forget I’d ever seen it, except for that personal note deep in my subconscious which will read End of Days. Sucks. Gouge your eyes out and run naked down the street if anyone tries to make you watch it. The whole freakin’ movie was one cliche after another. At the beginning of the movie, Arnold sits in his apartment with a gun to his head, unshaven and teary-eyed. One patented Mel Gibson scene, check. We find out later that his wife and daughter were killed because he was testifying against some bad guys. Pain and self-loathing, check. His partner shows up to accompany him to work, and Arnold walks around putting everything in sight into the blender – coffee, old chinese food, ice cream, you get the point – blends it, slurps down a big mouthful and says – WOOP! WOOP! WOOP! ANY PREDICTIONS HERE??? – "They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Well, hit the pause button, y’all, ’cause I HAVE TO HOLD MY GUT FROM BURSTING WIDE OPEN FROM THE DARK HUMOR OF THAT WHOLE SCENE – HAW HAW HAW! I-am-too-cool-for-words scene, check. The whole crap-ridden movie was like that from beginning to end, and if Fred had bought the movie instead of renting it, I would have taken it out back and shot it to put it out of it’s misery. As it was, he had to wrestle me to the ground so I wouldn’t set it afire before some poor other sap could wander innocently into the path of pure banality that is this movie. Hm. I thought I said I don’t do movie reviews… I can’t possibly be done with this job soon enough. Sitting and watching Rachel correct my fuckups in Quickbooks all day long is the most mind-numbing thing I’ve ever done. Well, working as an order taker at LL Bean’s is a very close second. At least today I was free to randomly get up and wander through the office. It’ll be a lot better next week when, if she has questions she’ll write them down and then ask them all at once. Oh, I can’t waaaaaaaaaaait. Two more days! —–]]>

04/18/2000

Melissa, whose entry made me smile and become misty-eyed. Squooshiness begets squooshiness, you know.
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04/16/2000

Yawning
Isn’t she just the cutest thing? I had to refrain from picking her up and squeezing her to bits. So I went online last night to check prices for plane tickets. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but the spud will be going to Maine to stay with my sister from the end of June until the beginning of August. Debbie and I are going to meet somewhere in Pennsylvania in June to pass off the spud, and the plan was for me to fly to Maine at the beginning of August, spend a week, and bring the spud back with me. A round-trip ticket from here to Portland is $330, which isn’t a bad price. But guess how much a one-way ticket from Portland to here is? $705. Is that some shit, or what? I came up with the idea of buying two round-trip tickets and just using one of them one-way, but when Fred called Delta and asked, they told him that that would be a "breach of contract", and they could come after us. Conversely, we checked to see how much a round-trip ticket would be for the spud if she flew out there in June and back in August, and guess how much? $900, because she’ll be out there for more than 30 days. Is that some total bullshit, or what? So I guess I’ll fucking well be driving to Maine in August. Which is a two-day drive each way. I just refuse to spend $700 on a one-way ticket for her. Grrrr. So, I started the virtual tour of our house, but only got as far as the front yard and the entire downstairs today. I may do more next week, but it’s Easter, so don’t hold your breath. I’ll get to it eventually! The tour starts here. It has lots of pictures, and they’re pretty big.
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04/14/2000

really good day at work today! The new office manager really knows what she’s doing, when it comes to Quickbooks. She came in around 8:30 and then went to the bank with me. Then we went back to the office, and I had to leave to go see Nice Dr. D and have my hearing tested, and she looked through Quickbooks and my files and stuff while I was gone. My appointment with Nice Dr. D went well; they did a hearing test, and my ear is about up to normal, hearing-wise. I have to go back in August for another hearing test, and I’m not sure what-all happens after that. She said the tube would only stay in for a few more months, but I’m not sure if it’s supposed to fall out by itself, or if she plucks it out next time I see her, or what.

I may or may not get around to part one of the virtual tour of my house I’ve been planning. If I do put it up, it’ll probably be Sunday afternoon sometime. You could always join the notify list, y’know.

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