Kids have been back in school for less than a week. In some cases, it has been only one or two days. What the hell are you doing pushing candy on them to sell already? They don't even have homework assignments yet, and you're sending them home with boxes of candy?

And kids...what the hell? Giving it to your parents to take to work with them and making them do the work for you? Do what I did for all those years I was in marching band and honor society and international club and sell it to your buddies at school. If I can do it with a graduating class of 130, you can do it with your graduating classes of 400+! Try it. It works!

And parents! These drives aren't just in place to raise money for boosters/band/class trips. No! They help teach your kids responsibility. You're not doing your kids a favor by bringing the full boxes of candy to your workplace. Bring half a box, if you bring any at all. But really..the two full boxes of candy bars sitting next to the coffee pots just BREEDS laziness in your kid(s).

Now... y'all just chew on that while I enjoy my Reece's Peanut Butter cups.

Mmm...peanut butter cups....

Tags: bwah?, children, rant
Current Mood: annoyed

So, some of you know that I had some serious back pain that sidelined me a couple years ago. Physical therapy did little, and the only thing that afforded me any comfort was a series of cortisone injections in my lumbar spine. The pain never completely went away, but ebbed and flowed along with the weather and my activity level.

Well, the pain came back with a vengeance a few weeks ago. This time, it was taking other parts of my body and making them feel, oh...not so pleasant. I decided since traditional medicine failed me (apologies to my medical-field related friends!), I'd try something non-traditional. Enter Dr. Charlie, the chiropractor.

( The details )

( The diagnosis...LONG! )

( The next steps )

It's going to be a long journey, but I feel more positive about this than any other traditional medicine method I've been subjected to. I'm not allowed to crack my back on my own anymore (self-adjusting!), and this has been driving me nuts, but I'm finding ways I can stretch or move around to reduce the cramping. Never before had I realized what a habit it had become...

So...um...that's it.

Tags: bwah?, health, injury
Current Mood: contemplative

So...the Olympics are in Beijing. And I, being a sports addict, enjoy watching all the coverage I can. I don't care if it's one of the "popular" sports like swimming or gymnastics or one of the obscure ones like Judo or archery, I like to watch.

I'm doing my typical Olympic watching on Sunday and have this strong desire to have lo mein. I don't know why...I just want lo mein. With duck sauce. And then I realize, oh...the Olympics are in China...I want Chinese food. Reasonable subconscious thought.

Then I start to wonder...have local Chinese restos been getting an increase in business since Friday night due to the exposure of China through the Olympics?

Yes. I do have issues. In fact, I have a lifetime subscription.

Tags: bwah?, entertainment, funny, sports, tv
Current Mood: thoughtful

It stands to reason that for each number on a license plate, there is one directly above and directly above it, right? Meaning that if AAA123 exists, then AAA122 and AAA124 must also exist. However, we never see those plates.

I just did.

In the parking garage where my car is stored when I'm at work, I noticed these two minivans parked next to each other. When I looked at the plates, I thought my eyes were playing tricks as one plate number was XXX5961 and the next was XXX5962. (Not the real plate letters, but the real plate numbers. The letters were also identical.)

So, odd observation #1 is the numerically sequential plates. Odd observation #2...the vans were parked next to each other. Odd observation #3, neither van was the same make and model as the other.

Fun little breakup to the day, eh?

Tags: bwah?, commute, cool, work
Current Mood: nerdy

As I was leaving the house for work this morning, I give my customary "I'm outta here!" message. From the dining room, where O is using her laptop, I hear a very loud, joyous, "YAY!"

:/

Hon...tell me how you really feel!

Tags: bwah?, family, funny
Current Mood: amused

It is very disheartening to know that I have been working in my field for 10 years and have very little in the way of a skill set to show for it. For goodness sake...one would think I've had *some* experience with the "hot" languages that are used every-fucking-where... You know...Like...Java? .NET? But no...I'm stuck at some worthless, "old school" company where they refuse to encourage employees to learn new skills and keep them so overwhelmed with work and projects that there is neither the time nor energy to learn the stuff on your own.

God, I hate Frontier...and I've lost almost 6 years of my career here.

My resume looks woefully inadequate for a new job. I am screwed.

Tags: bwah?, rant, work
Current Mood: frustrated

I am sitting at my desk at work next to my very big window with a panoramic view of the brick church next door...usually red brick that is now black because of the lack of light outside. Note the time......not quite 10 am.

A big storm is a-brewin...60 MPH winds, penny sized hail in the forecast...and I find myself humming "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead."

I need help. :P

And the nice rolls of thunder outside are the PERFECT way to punctuate that statement.

Tags: bwah?, cool, weather

I feel very uncomfortable about this...

O's mother called last night and told us about it. I thought it was a late April Fool's joke. Maybe it still is?

Please?

Tags: bwah?, entertainment, memories

OK... I hate Sallie Mae. I hate dealing with them whenever I have to call. At least this time, the call center people in India spoke clear enough English that I didn't have to put my filter on.

But god...they are still so fucking dense.

ME: "I understand you cannot do that for me. I'd like to speak to your supervisor."
THEM: "I'm sorry, I do not understand that."

What is so fucking difficult to understand??? Let me speak to someone who CAN help me. Bastards.

ME: I want to reapply my last payment.
THEM: If you do that, your other loans will be in arrears.

OK...They use a word like "arrears." Good. They can read the script. Except I deviate from the script every damned time because their script doesn't help me.

ME: No, they won't. My next due date is October 2008.
THEM: Let me just check that. One moment. *hold music* Oh yes, you are correct. You will not be arrears.

No fucking shit, Sherlock.

I finally get through to a supervisor, and decide I've had enough of this calling in and fighting with them over my money every damned month.

ME: Who would I need to speak to about changing my payment amount and have my payment schedule reset.
SUP: You should not do that.
ME: It makes financial sense for me to do what I've asked to be done. Otherwise, I will be paying off my loans for another 10 years.
SUP: With your current due date you won't be paying them off for 10 years. You will pay them off 6 months earlier because you are 6 months ahead.

OK...if the above response doesn't seem wrong to you, go back and read it again. If what logic world does that make sense? Whether the date is 9.5 years or 10 years out, they're still a long way off, especially considering I graduated in '98.

After much time on hold, I didn't get exactly what I wanted. My payment amount was changed from $120 to $250 per month, and my due date was reset to next month instead of 6 months out. BUT...

I get 15 months of payments of $250. Then, 15 months of payments at $199. Then, one final payment of $194.

No. I don't think so.

In a few more months, once I up my emergency savings a little more, I'm paying the whole damned thing off. It's about $6500 now...a far cry from the almost $25000 I borrowed for my two degrees (and a hell of a lot less than some other people had to borrow...) but still too much for me to pay off all at once and retain my financial cushion. $5500 or so will be much more doable, and enable me to keep packing some extra cash away for an emergency day.

I like finance. I really do. But I hate people that tell me I cannot do with MY money what I want to. No...that doesn't fly with me. So, Sallie Mae...you will lose the 7% interest (WTF???) you have been charging me for the privilege of hosting my loans. Hell...it'll be more $$ out of my pocket for a few months, but a lot more back IN my pocket in the long run and a lot less for you.

Just for the convenience, I'd have been okay making the smaller payments as long as they applied them the way I wanted them applied for the long term and paying the interest for that convenience. They fucked themselves on this one.

Tags: bwah?, money, rant, sallie mae
Current Mood: pissed off

It was discovered....by me...maybe a year, year and a half ago...that some of our intranet users were collecting sensitive data from our customers when they called us. I'm talking sensitive data of the social security number, credit card, birth date type of information that could be used to filch identities.

Bad stuff.

Well, I reported it to my then manager who said "I'll take care of it." Most of it got taken care of.

Last Friday, I had a meeting with my manager to discuss my performance eval for last year. One of the things we are evaluated on is if we act in an ethical manner. This, I've always felt, was open to interpretation and my current manager proceeded to tell me what his position is.

I immediately said, "Oh, so like what I did a couple years ago by reporting that some of our internal groups were recording sensitive customer data in an unsecured database that could be viewed through our intranet without a password?" Manager went, O.O ! "What do you mean?" And I proceeded to tell him what I mentioned above.

He asked me to follow up and see if there was any data still being stored. I did so this morning...took me 2 hours of searching and verifying, and lo and behold! What do I find? Customer names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, places of employment, prior addresses...if I were the type of person to either WANT to steal someone's identity or sell this information to an unsavory individual, it would be mighty easy to do so.

So my manager sent this info to his manager and the director of Information Services, who immediately responded and said "Shut it down. Screw the consequences!" Well...not those exact words, but you get the idea. I did some coding magic, and while the information is still in the database, it is no longer anonymously accessible via the internet.

Honestly...with all the stories in the various media regarding identity theft, AND the fact that these people were asked NOT to do this a while ago, WHY OH WHY would they think it would be a good idea??

It would be nice if I get a pat on the head out of this...just someone saying "Nice employee...thank you for helping us not get sued by our customers," but I know I'll get jack. Always happens here.

Tags: bwah?, work
Current Mood: productive