Hey, check out the new stat-free me! I feel so . . . . stealthy :laugh: .

The old journal has run its course so I'm starting a new one. For any new readers that may come here, I'll give you a quick update on who I am and what's going on.

I'm a 37 year old female living in Southern California. I am working on losing weight, but how much I have to lose isn't important. Eating healthily, exercising regularly, and not letting stress and chaos sabotage my good habits are what's important to me.

And things have been pretty chaotic around here. Rumor and speculation have it that my company is going to shutdown the site where I work. So I'm probably going to be unemployed soon. We anticipate an announcement on this next week.

So I've been spending my time looking for a new job and exploring ideas for a career change. I would like to get out of computers and do something more rewarding or at least more interesting.

And while I am eating more junk food and not exercising regularly as a result of all this drama, I'm not doing so badly either. I haven't gone totally out of control with the eating and I do still make it out for a jog or a hike once in a while. If I can just maintain until I finally learn what my future holds, I'll be happy.

So far so good!

found ya!!

you are entering a new stage


complete with new attitude



it will be good !!


the new patio sounds great!! is it all finished now?


off to work right away


juat wanted to send a big HELLO !!

luv ya !

:computer: Pengi

I loved the title for your new journal, Kilogo! I am so sorry to hear about the pending unemployment thing...I can understand b/c am going thru it myself. But you are looking at it the right way...as an opportunity to reinvent yourself. And maintaining your health through this stressful time will really help, I think.

I agree...So far, So GOOD!:rose:

(ooo...I can't believe I beat out Pengii and Mcmarto as the first one to write in your journal!)

Hey, chumlette, looks like you didn't quite beat pengii!!

Anyway, kilogo

I'm glad you've started a new journal, that pm was lovely, thanks. I'm sorry to hear about the job situation, hopefully that will all work out soon - I hope you have fun deciding what it is you want to do. My dad's always going on about how it's not a problem, it's an opportunity, and normally I just want to hit him - but it's nice to know he can be right sometimes - even if it is a slightly scary opportunity.

Anyway, just thought I'd say hi.

Chuckles

Kilogo, Chaos and order is my life. :) So of course i had to take a peek. I understand the job thing too. I know you will find something that will suit you better. I love this line from your beginning post, "Eating healthily, exercising regularly, and not letting stress and chaos sabotage my good habits are what's important to me. " Thats a great attitude and one we should all strive for. Take care. :x

the title of your journal got me in too Kilogo!
i am either in chaos or aiming for complete order( not that it ever happens with a 5 and 2 year old).
i like the stat free you, your outlook is great.its not the amount we need to lose but making the positive steps to getting healthy thats important.
i hope you find a new job that is interesting and that you love!
hugs bell :)

((((((((( Kilogo )))))))))))))

Hey there g/f, I see you got yourself a new "room" here. Well, I like it a whole lot.

I hope I get to see you in some chat soon. Take care now. Just popped in to say hello.

My son just called, and left a message on my "callwave" service to get my butt off the computer, he wants to say "hey!"

Love n hugz,
Sandie

*****You still don't know what you want to be when you grow up?*****

Neither do I!...

I am sooooooo happy...happy...happy..........that you are here ... its all good!

Well...........I had a good day today...not eating wise or exercise wise............but I got together with 2 of my good friends (from way back when...like H.S.)...One of them is now prego.........so we just had a super great time!...........Good friends are everything!

Love ya...........mcmarto!:)

Hi,

I read the many heartfelt responses at the end of your last journal and was touched by it. Good for you; you deserve all of those positive responses.

Each person is unique in their situation and I guess we all just need to honor that in each other. Even you and I who are close to the same height & weight (though, I know...you're not posting stats now!) are in a completely different place with it possibly due to different body builds. You mentioned that the 20 lbs. for you is 'vanity weight' and you know that I support you completely in reaching your best potential on every level (job, weight, etc.).

For me, 20 lbs. on my body feels incredibly unhealthy and uncomfortable - in addition to unbecoming. It really affects the quality of my life greatly and when those feelings are invalidated by others (as has happened several times on this site) it's not a good feeling - but I just choose to not engage with those folks. People can say 'oh, well I meant well' but it should be basic common sense not to invalidate another's feelings by patronizing them. To say 'oh, don't sweat it - your situation isn't really so bad' in response to someone who has expressed that they are in incredible pain regarding their situation seems pretty insensitive to me.

I think that as a former anorexic, I have a unique outlook to the weight issue from the inside out. It's the complusive/obsessive/self-defeating way of thinking and behaving that is distressing in addition to the discomfort in the physical realm. From that perspective, ditching the stats and focusing on the lifestyle process seems like a really liberating move!

I completely understand not focusing so much on your eating/workouts while being immersed in the job situation, but it sounds like you've still maintained somewhat of a handle on that aspect of your life. I admire you for that. In dealing with not having a place to live right now, I'm completely off kilter. I can't even judge that as a weakness - in the greater scheme of things, basic survival is a bigger attention getter than anything else after all!

Hi all!

We are all in a difference place, it is so true Anastasia. And when big life changes come along, like losing a job or searching for a new home, I think the best we can do is hold on. I hope you find the home that is right for you soon. If your weight brings you incredible pain, then this should be a place for you to be able to come to express those feelings without feeling invalidated.

I'm thinking we should all go stat-free. Then we would have to deal with each other just by what we write without preconceptions. What do you think?

Hi Sandie, Bell, LindaSue, MissChuckle, Chum-girl, thanks for stopping by! Chaos and Order seems to be the norm for so many of us. Unfortunately, I'm looking at a lot more chaos than order in the months to come. Opportunity, yes!

It's a tough decision, Mcmarto. What to do, what to be? Here's some things I would like to do:
1. Geologist.
2. Marine Biologist
3. Writer (about things that involve travel!)
4. Navigator for an ocean-racing team

What I really think I could do is to be the technical/computer expert on an ocean-going research vessel. That I could do without going back to school, and it would provide the challenge, uniqueness, and ocean-involvement that I'm looking for. I've looked into this, and found out they use Grad students for this kind of thing because they don't have to pay them much. Bummer. I'm keeping my eyes open for something along these lines.

Pengii -- I put patio pictures up. It's done and it looks great. The bf went out and found a new patio set that he thinks we just have to have. He's not figured out this whole poverty concept yet.

Or maybe we should get it now before poverty actually hits?

Decisions, decisions.

One week from today, and I should know my what my future at this company holds. It is going to be a long, long week.

Snazzy journal title. Me likes. Sounds like you love the ocean as much as I do! I know--while on you're doing computer stuffs on your ocean vessel, you can write about your experience, publish your novel, then... retire! Wouldn't that be ideal? What is it you're currently doing? I figure you work with computers, but what do you do with computers? If you know anything about web design, I could sure use some tips!

I'm glad you decided to stay. :)

-Andrea-

Good day to you Kilogo!

Popped in to say hello, and wishing you good luck next week.

I remember back when I was the only source of income for me and my children, how every time there was even a whisper of a lay off, the torment and fear I went thru. I was so fortunate in that for me, I was never laid off. So I hope that you make it thru this, and if not, then I hope you find something so much better that you will be thanking them for letting you go.

Take care now. Sending good wishes in your direction.
Hugz,:hug:
Sandie

Yes, Andree, that would be the perfect job alright! Absolutely perfect. Know anyone who's hiring?

The rumor mill is a refined and intelligent beast here. Having gone through so many "restructurings" over the past two years, we have come to read the signs and know where to go to get the right information. This is a site-shutdown, Sandie, so I don't think anyone will survive. Unless they offer some of us relocation to another facility.

As of today, we know that the shutdown annoucement will occur Tuesday, Aug. 13. We know that several people will be laid off at this time (although we don't know who). We know that we are not the only site that is to be shutdown. Hmm. By the time of the actual day we may know the list of people, too. None of this has been officially announced, but I bet my bottom dollar that we are right.

I don't think I'll be in the first wave to go. I am the IT Manager here. They have laid off all of my staff in prior layoffs, so I am the only one left who knows anything about the computers here. I suspect they will keep me on, maybe until the very end. Someone has to flick the power switch to "off" on the servers, after all.

But I could be very wrong and Tuesday could be my last day. You just never know.

****

A while ago, back when I was a consultant, I was working on a project with a lawyer in downtown Los Angeles. It costs $21/day to park in their building, but the company validates parking. So at the end of the day I pulled out my parking stub and said, "I need to be validated." The lawyer ceremoniously dubbed me on my head and both shoulders with an imaginary sword and said, "you've done a good job." Cracked me up.

That little story wasn't intended to mean anything. I just remembered it and thought it was funny.

You're right kilogo, that little story was funny. I wonder what made you think of it. Maybe, it's a premonition that you're going to be knighted. Then again, maybe it's not and I just need to get out more.

Good luck for Tuesday, anyway. And I hope that you either get to keep your job, or find something new that is ideal for you.

Have a nice day, and enjoy the order, or the chaos, whatever today brings.

Chuckles

Yaagh..

Today is not going to be chaotic or orderly, I'm afraid. It's just going to be boring.

It's 9am and I've already finished everything I intend to do here at work today.

Unless I get truly bored and decide to crash a server or something. That'd stir things up :) .

Nah, I won't do that. Gotta take pride in that 99.9% uptime, after all.

*****

I ate a pile of ice cream yesterday. Mmmmm, good.

*****

I need to take the baby in for new brakes during lunch. That'll be the highlight of my work day. Tonight we're going to a free concert with some friends.

I'm going to start exercising on Thurs next week. It's just not going to happen before then.

Why yes! I heard that MyDreamJobAttheDropOfAHat was looking for applicants. Just go to www.iwish.com They even let you determine your rate of pay. There are over 100,000,000 jobs to choose from. Simply click on the job you'd like, leave your social security number, and tomorrow, you will be employed. No experience or credentials are required! :P Sigh. Wouldn't that be NICE? Maybe that's what heaven is like. Wait, no. I wouldn't want to have to work in heaven. I just want to sit on my cloud and eat Phili Cream Cheese Bars all day.

Lol. You are far too cute. I loved your validation story, and I love that you're evil enough to even pretend to be contemplating crashing a server. It makes me wonder how many times when our server has gone down, it has been due to somebodys boredom. The engineer of my department IS the type. :laugh:

What type of music is the free concert? That sounds like fun :)

-Andrea-

P.S. iwish is a site I've never heard of. If it really does exist, please note that none of the above pertaining to a job is true! If it IS a real site, and everything I said DOES turn out to be true, please send half your enormous salary my way! :ex: Hehe.

Lawyer jokes are often funny though.

Hasn't Andree told you today you are marvelous? I don't think so. Maybe you should ban her from your journal until she finds you a perfect job or at least send you cash. Immediately. She is big into sending ice cream cakes, I am told. But I've never gotten one.
:(

What kind of ice cream did you eat??? I had a Mr. Softee with sprinkles today, myself...but counted those calories! And got a bit of calcium to boot!!! HA

Take care of yourself, girl.

I'd prefer the cash, Andree. Thank you very much. An ice cream cake would be an added bonus, for sure.

The ice cream was Stater Bros Chocolate with bits of fudge, chocolate, and brownies in it, Chum. Don't remember the catchy name, but it was lovely. mmmmmmmm.

We saw Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers last night, baby!

Yeah, I'd never heard of them either. They are a local blues band, and my friend (Jeanne, for those of you reading elsewhere) is a big fan of theirs.

Fashion Island is an enormous, outdoor mall in Newport Beach, CA. Very posh. It's where the rich and the beautiful hang out around here. They do a free summer concert series, and this was part of that. They set up a stage in the plaza outside of Bloomingdales, and there's enough room for a ton of people to sit and enjoy the show. Plus there are restaurants all around the perimeter where you can eat and drink and be entertained, too. They have reserved seating and a martini bar right in front of the stage for $15 if you want that. Jeanne the long-time Rod Piazza fan got us all free tickets into the reserve seating area, and we got to sit front row, center. Right by the speakers, baby, and they were blasting. I swear, my sternum is still vibrating.

They were really, really good. That Rod Piazza is one sexy, sexy man. Ooofa oofa mmmm mmm mmm. I like. I want. (shh, don't tell).

Like I said, I'm still vibrating. :D

We stayed out way too late and had far too much fun. I seriously thought about not coming to work today. There's little point in being here right now, anyway. But, trooper that I am, I dragged myself out of bed, into the shower, then off to work, and on to Diettalk this morning. Only about 45 minutes late. Yay me!

So. Whatever shall I do with myself today? I think maybe 'll check into prices for flights to Europe. I think a nice little trip to Italy would take away my layoff blues, don't you?

oooo Italy sounds fun. Why not take a long trip to Asia? Cathay Pacific has a special where you can fly throughout Japan, Thailand and I think, China (I know, Hong Kong at least) as many times as you want for a set price. You can stay cheaply (except in Tokyo). You are closer to Asia, that's why I thought of it...LOL

OOOOO...what should you do today? How about play backgammon online? Or type in your name on google and see if anyone's ever written about you???

Well at least you don't sound devastated over this event. Probably because you have had such warning, and realized that it is just another part of reality, and nothing to cry over. Some never learn that. It sure took me long enough to do so.......LOL.

I'm so glad you are all enjoying your ice cream and Philly cream cheese cakes and such. You are making my mouth water just reading this stuff.....oh boy! I have a feeling that before my weekend is over, I'll be having a dip or two of the creamy delight myself.

I have to give you credit girl, for going into work everyday and doing your job as it is meant to be done. I remember every time there were lay off rumors where I worked, how so many would just goof off every chance they would get. And on the day any of them were told they would be laid off, they certainly didn't earn their pay that day at all. I could never understand that. I guess I am just too proud for that kind of thing. If someone is going to pay me for my work, then my work is going to be worth of the pay I'm given, or I don't show up.

I am going away for the weekend, so I hope you have a great time yourself while I'm gone. I'll stop in next week and say hi after I get back. Take care!

Hugz,
Sandie

Kiligo you are so funny. I feel bad that this job is ending but I remember when you first came to DT and everyday were hoping that you would get laid off cause you didn't like your job. Baby thats how it goes isn't it. Being in a computer field I understand more than ever what ya feel about the whole thing. Are you looking for another IT job "just in case" to hold the money over. Just cause your company folded doesn't mean you have to make a career change today... you could take another job and then keep looking for something that appeals or do some moonlighting. I am not all that sure that our jobs have to fullfill all our dreams. I think that sometimes they pay the rent so that in our off time we can do what we want.

have a great day
CJ

Yep, that's how it goes. Nothing to do but move on. A job is only one aspect of life, but it's a big aspect. Moving on to something that's more interesting would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm looking at IT jobs as well as lots of other options.

Looking forward to some time off, too. And buying the occasional lottery ticket. Sudden wealth would certainly facilitate my travel writing career.

Sandie, have fun on your weekend trip! I said that in your other journal but I'll say it here, too :laugh:

I've got company coming tomorrow night so will be entertaining them all weekend. Also have a wedding reception to go to. Busy weekend. So I probably won't make it here much, if at all.

Oh, and I'm taking tomorrow off. Going to the Dr. for a physical. Might as well get that done while I still have insurance, eh? Then going to spend the rest of the day cleaning the house and getting ready for company.

So take care, all. Have great weekends. Be good!

Hey Kilogo!

Did I forget to mention I was going away for a few days?

SORRY!...You know I would never forget you on purpose!...

You have had plenty of visitors here...you are OH...SO...the popular girl!..........Don't forget about me!

Well have fun this weekend..............hope to talk to you soon!

Oh..........did you ever get those breaks done?

mcmarto:D

OK, a poem for Kilogo (and this is going to be a hard one!):

I once knew a girl named Kilogo,
When she tried to leave, all said, "Please don't go!"
She got it into her head,
To stay here instead,
And now Kilogo is here go, not there go..

Man, can't you get an easier name to rhyme???? LOL

Cute, Chumlette! I could have been Kilogo-Purple, perhaps. Now THAT would be hard to rhyme.

Ok, I lied. I came here today. Actually I am at home and procrastinating on cleaning the carpet by coming here first. This carpet is filthy.

McMarto! Well, have a good trip, ok :laugh: . Yes, I got the frickin brakes done. $275 for front brakes. And rotors. And sensors. My car supposedly has a 4-year warranty that includes routine maintenance like oil changes and tune-ups and such. They even changed my wiper blades for free during my last service. But no, brakes are not routine, oh no. THEY'RE not covered under the warranty. B*st*rds.

But it's done and over with. No more annoying brake light on the dash. I hope your car dramas get resolved soon, mcm.

The beloved went out and bought a new patio set yesterday. In spite of my impending poverty, I might add. But he did get a great deal on it and he did ask me first, so I guess it's ok. I'm not impoverished just yet!

So I spent last night assembling it while he cooked. A big table, 6 chairs, 2 footstools and a side table. That took a while! It does look great.

Ok, ok, ok. I need to go steam the carpet. Catch all y'all later.

hey kilogo!! lucky I found your new home!!!

it's such fun putting stuff together, isn't it!!?? but at least you'll have something nice to sit on while your company visits!!

ok, go clean your carpet now & have a fun weekend!!!

Hi kilogo - I'm here avoiding the cleaning too - great minds obviously think alike!!

Well, if you're not going to be posting over the weekend, then I might not get to see you before I go on holiday for 2 weeks (spain here we come!) so I hope everything goes well for you - I'll be thinking of you. Actually, I hope I won't be (not to be tooooooo rude) as I want to leave all my worries at home for the holiday.

Hope you enjoyed doing the carpet and setting up the furniture - sounds like one busy day.

Chuckles

Hey...at least you will have somewhere nice to sit while you look for a job!

hehehehehehe...just kidding!............You are very fortunate to have that home........I am still in a apt...no backyard to enjoy (our landlord is a slob!)...He just refinaced the place and went out and bought a limited edition Harley Davidson!...He spent over $20,000....jerk............I have no working light in my hallway or bathroom for over 2 years now...but he has gotten himself a new ride!

Oh well...thats life!.................I had a great day today...I feel good!...Hey...did you ever see the movie "Bubbleboy"...Its silly...but I found it to be very entertaining...very funny...especially the cult people!........Check it out if you want a good laugh!

Have a great weekend...hope that carpet is nice and clean!

mcmarto:D

Howdy, Kilogo! Just wanted to POP in and remind you to have a fantabulous Saturday (like you needed reminding). But you are probably laying all over your carpet right now, wallowing in the clean, fresh feeling!!!!!:D

Wow Kilo,
You are certainly busy here. what a gathering. I almost didn't post because I knew you wouldn't even miss me with all these people.
Keep those options open for a new job and go for the gusto. :)

OH...your carpet must be oh...so...clean!

Hope you had a great evening.........mine was actually boring...but...relaxing!

Its gonna be a hot one here tomorrow...my sister-in-laws brother will be putting in the rest of those fuel injectors tomorrow.........I hope this is the end of the car saga!

mcmarto:rose:

dont know if i have a great reason to grin lol maybe it is dementia setting in hahahha


had to balance some wines with the african theme dinner I am doing next week... so samples at work lol

thought of you as a couple were awesome south africans

i will send you the wine list with the menu

that should inspire BF to no end hahahah


def take a journey if you can

a sabatical is well in order.... you know you will find work...and work is work


gotta keep ya in top form my friend


luv ya !!! hope your sunday is great !!


:computer: Pengii

Just checkin' in Kilogo...what are you up to today??? I hope you can get in some exercise and some veggies! OOOOOO! What a nag!!! eeek!:D
Have a wonderful day today!!

Hey Kilogo,

Glad to see you in chat tonight.

Just stopped by your journal to say hi.

Hope you have an awsome day.

Take care.

Darlene :bfly:

Hi Fleurange! Thanks for stopping by. Hope all is well in your world.

Chum - veggies, check! Always get those veggies in. And the fruit for breakfast. It's just the exercise I'm slacking on lately. It's tough to mope and exercise, you know?

Peng -- yes, please send the menu and the wine list! That sounds fantastic. What fun to put something like that together. The bf will definitely have to try making your dishes!

Mcmarto -- boring is probably what you need when you're sickly. Get better soon, ok? I've never even heard of "Bubbleboy." What is it about?

Crazy2 -- Gusto is good! Mucho Gusto!! :laugh: The new journal is jumping quite a bit more than the old one. Could it be the stats? Hmmmm.

MissChuckle --- SPAIN!!!!! Good lord, woman, do NOT think about me or Diettalk or anything else but gusto gusto gusto!! I'll be heading over to your journal to hear about your plans and your stories when you get back.

Hi Buji -- I do enjoy making stuff and assembing stuff and working with tools. The bf gets so frustrated when trying to put things together that I won't even let him touch something like that. But he's a great cook!

Ok then, I had a busy weekend. I think I'll start another post lest this one get too long . . .

I love putting stuff together, especially if I get to use the TOOLS!! the electric stuff my sweetie usually hides from me, even tho I'm the one who bought it!!! but if he thinks I'm gonna attempt to do something then he'll jump right in & do it for me...that's the only way I get him to do any work around here! LOL!!!
have a good monday!!!!

So. The carpet is once again a uniform beige, ready for the dog to re-decorate with her muddy paws.

Company arrived Friday about 6. We had dinner out on the patio, enjoying the new patio furniture. The beloved made a moroccan stew with game hens, figs, olives, almonds, and potatoes. No doubt other stuff in there too. It was delicious. We built a fire in the mexican clay firepot (chiminea?) to take the evening chill away, drank wine and talked all night long. Nice evening.

On Saturday they wanted to go to the beach, so we loaded up the beach chairs, umbrella, beach toys, etc and headed off. I live about a half mile from the beach. It was sunny at my place. The beach was absolutely socked in with fog. This is very common in Southern California!! Baywatch is not the least bit accurate, believe me!!!

But the beach was completely mobbed with people. I've never seen it this crowded. Parking lot full, a line of cars out the gate waiting to get in. All to play in the fog. When it was gorgeous a mere couple of blocks inland.

Ah well, the pull of the ocean is strong. We got in, found a parking spot, lugged our junk to the sand, plopped ourselves down, and admired the fog. It was chilly. I soon had a towel over me. The boys tossed the nerf football around a bit. Our guest lady actually got in the water for a few minutes, declared it chilly, and came back out. After about an hour we decided that enough was enough and went back home. Back to the sunny patio with the lovely new patio furniture.

That evening we had to attend the wedding reception of the bf's cousin. She had eloped in Hawaii, surprised the whole family, and so this was just a celebratory reception. Her daddy is very wealthy. Her new hubby is very wealthy. It was a gathering of the rich and beautiful at daddy's awesome estate. So I got myself all tarted up in my new strappy dress and old strappy heels. I felt very strappy.

Daddy's house is a thing to behold. He has a koi pond inside the house. And an indoor-outdoor pool. You can swim right into the center of his home if you so desire. He has an awesome wine cellar. The house is in the harbor and his 90' motoryacht is parked outside. Lovely place. The food was catered and wonderful. The bar served anything you wanted. 100 of their closest friends and family were there. I think Martha herself did the wedding cake. Nice party. We had a good time, but left fairly early to attend to our guests at home.

Sunday was pretty mellow. Our guests left noonish. A friend of mine's glass shower-door broke into shreds on her and sliced her knee open, so I brought her flowers and chatted with her for a while. She's ok, but has stitches and has to sit around a do nothing for a few days. It's driving her crazy.

And today, back at work!!! Tomorrow -- layoff day. If this goes as all of the others have gone, the HR Director will summon me into her office about 5 o'clock, tell me to arrive an hour early tomorrow, at which point she will give me a list of people whose accounts need to be locked out. If this doesn't happen, then chances are I'm on the list and someone else will be disabling me.

Either scenario is very likely. I'm glad the weekend was busy so I didn't have time to dwell on this too much!

Oh Kilogo!

I forgot about tomorrow!...........Your stomach must be in knots!...I hope everything goes as well as it can...I will be thinking of you!

Bubbleboy is a silly movie about a boy who grows up in a bubble...he becomes friends with his neighbor...she is off to get married...he wants to follow her to stop her............it is totally silly but I found it to be rather amusing!...A good laugh when I needed it!

Oh...yeah...I am off to Curves at 2 or 2:30 today...they have an odd schedule...I think this is when they re-open!

mcmarto...check out my stats...its sickening!

Just finished reading your journal. Your stealthy no-stat profile drew me to it! Well, okay maybe not, it was probably more your posts in other journals and miscellaneous threads. And I noticed you were a fellow Southern Californian, so maybe you didn't remove enough stats because you never know who will start cluttering up your journal.

I loved your description of the wedding reception. I don't know anyone that rich! The pool reminds me of a hotel in Rancho Mirage (or one of those Coachella Valley towns--I get them all confused). They have a fake river which comes into the lobby and one can take a boat from the lobby outside to their spa.

My DH and I took our little boy for his first beach visit to Huntington Beach a few weeks ago. This was a Friday so not too crowded, thank goodness. Overcast all day but we all got sunburnt (sunburned?). I knew better in theory but it was so easy to blow off the sunscreen when you couldn't see the sun.

My DH loves to put things together. He ought to get a job assembling bicycles for Toys R Us.

I'm so sorry to hear about the layoff situation. The not knowing has got to be bad, but it sounds like stay or go will be just as bad. I hope this turns into an opportunity for you to find something you really like.

Hey Buji, you schnuck in a post between my two! That's a good ploy to get the DH to get stuff done. I like it! Actually my bf uses the same thing on me. He starts to work on something and I have to stop him before he destroys something and say, "oh no, let me do this." :laugh:

Lutha! Whereabouts in southern cal do you live? See you are corroborating my beach stories: Overcast! And I'm sure the stat-free stealthy me is the draw, for sure. :laugh:

Ah yes, stomach in knots. It certainly is. No appetite, but a lovely burning feeling down there. No doubt ulcer acids. Tonight is liable to be a sleepless one. There's nothing I can do about it, but it will still disturb my sleep, I know.

Brings to mind a song, this does. Tracy Chapman:

You see I've been climbing stairs
But mostly stumbling down
You see I've been reaching high
But always losing ground
You see I've conquered hills
But I still have mountains to climb
And right now, right now
I'm doing the best I can
At this point in my life

Kil
I was just checking in to see how things went today at work and how you are holding up over the strain. Sounds like the weekend was lovely and I am sure you looked great all strappied up.....lol

I am definitly wanting to go snorkeling. you have given me renewwed hope and reason to go back to the swimming pool.
CJ

Alright! CJ's in! We just have to pick a date and do it!

Well, it's 4:15 and no news yet. No summons into the HR office. Tension is mounting. I'm leaving at 5, one way or the other.

Another song is on my mind. This is Blue Oyster Cult:

You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars
I've been living on the edge so long
Where the winds of limbo roar
And I'm young enough to look at
But far too old to see
All the scars are on the inside
I'm not sure if there's anything left of me

Hey Kilogo!

I will be thinking of you tomorrow!

mcmarto:rose:

Good luck, Kilogo...I will check in again later to see how things are going. Waiting sucks.:(

Kilogo, how ya doin???? any word yet? remember, we're here if you need us!!!!!

I can just imagine how you feel..........keep us posted on your day!...mcmarto:rose:

Well, the worst possible thing happened.

Nothing.

That's right. Nothing. Yet.

I didn't get called into any office last night. I came in today, expecting drama to be in process or to be starting soon. But the day went on, and nothing happened. The mucky-mucks all went about their business as usual. The rest of us tried, I guess, but mostly we are wandering the halls whispering, "WTF!!!!" at each other.

Then a rumor started that the CEO of the whole company -- the corporate office on high -- is headed our way and will arrive this afternoon. This rumor isn't substantiated at all so won't be surprised if he doesn't show.

But our President is here today. First time in many weeks she's been on site. She called a lunch-time meeting with the VPs and Directors. They are in there right now.

So maybe this afternoon. Maybe the schedule slipped and it will not be today at all. If not today, when? Tomorrow?

This is killing us. I think we'll all just explode from this stress pretty soon. Then they'll have to pay death benefits instead of severance, which is more expensive. So they'd better hurry.

Thanks for all your support, ladies. And l'il chumlette-girl :D . I'll let you know when something happens. And I hope it's soon!!

Thanks for keeping us up to date, anyways! I've been thinking about it off and on this morning. I hope you learn something soon.

BTW, I would love to go snorkeling with you guys.

Hey Kilogo!

Nothing like prolonging your misery?...eh?

Well I hope your day ended well................talk to you soon!
mcmarto:rose:

What is WTF??? Why are you whispering it? I am intrigued.

I can imagine the bloody mess if everyone exploded. Surely they have bean counters there that have factored that into their calculations. Sheesh. Maybe you should start bringing an umbrella and rain slicker with you to work.

On a serious note, I am sorry they are being pigs about the whole thing. Management never cares how their actions affect their workers. Remember that, Kilogo, when you are in management on your next job...

You are great.

No, really.

You are.
:D

Why do bandaid's hurt so bad when you pull them off?

I always soak them in the shower so that they just fall off!!!

Hey Kilogo...how does the bandaid feel today...???

mcmarto

Somebody needs to put a Scooby-Doo bandaid on my head. It hurts.

We had planned to meet at our favorite Cuban restaurant and have a layoff gathering last night. When it didn't happen, we went there anyway and had a layoff-not party.

shh . . . I got home at 6am.

Anyway, moving right along.

I'm refinancing my house and the appraiser showed up at 9am. Took him about 20 minutes to appraise the place, then I was off to work.

And there's nothing going on today. We are speculated out as to when this is going to happen. This afternoon? Tomorrow? Next week? The CEO on high never did show up yesterday. Our president leaves tomorrow. So who the hell knows? Maybe the uppers don't have the balls to shut the place down in person and will leave it to the VP.

Who knows? I'm really tired of this. And my head hurts. :c(

WTF means WHAT THE FRUCK?? :laugh:

I think I need to go soak my Scooby-bandaided head for a while. Visions my hair getting yanked while taking the bandaid off are making my head hurt worse. Ow.

WTF!

WTF!

WTF!

Are they trying to kill you or what?...Can you just go in and demand to find out what is going on?...Scoobydoo bandaid and all!...

How many mojitos did you have last night?...hahahahahaha

mcmarto!

Sounds like quite a party last night!

Your workplace sounds like an anti-party. Just about as non-party as you can get. Those insensitive jerks!

Well, I hope the refinance will save you some significant $$.

FYI, I started a journal today. If you have a chance--check it out.

Well then, we had our first casualty. A girl in customer service just up and quit. Said, "I can't stand the atmosphere here, this place sucks." Got up and walked out.

She's 27, but she's always struck me as being very immature. She acts like a teenager. Yes, the atmosphere here is terrible, but that's a very immature and unprofessional way to react.

More mojitos are a better way to go :laugh: . I had, um, several last night, mcmarto.

But I had a Jamba Juice for lunch and I'm feeling much better.

And now I get to do all kinds of termination things. Disable her login, discontinue her cell phone, pull data from her computer, that kind of stuff.

Something to do!!

See that's why I think I may not be on the first cut list. Who would do all of this if I were gone?

no mittens ?

puerto vallarta


work sucks, finances suck, mittens suck


you are so much more than a toner changer

I sure hope they let you know soon


as that REALLY sucks


I would eat puffed wheat and beans for 4 months if it meant burning my feet on a hot sand beach for one day


somethings we can't control... but we can control how we deal with those events


I am trying

each day


and you are doing awesome in your present situation


lets celebrate getting older on a beach

a warm beach :laugh:


work, life, all that goes with it... never ends... till we end


a beach might keep us going lol


on a totally dif note my dear stealthy friend


did you have a love for fishing when you ran the charter??



have you surfed?

I have never, but would love to try


nothing grande...just to stand on a board lol


have used boogie boards but never a big board

have been totally smashed by waves as well body surfing lol


would prob hurt myself but not as much risk as jumping out of a plane huh

hahahahaha

or so i hope


hahahahah


anyhow


hope you is good my dear


catch ya later



:hug: Pengii

Ok! Warm beach. No mittens. Sounds like a plan to me! I'll likely be unemployed at that time so we'll definitely do it on the cheap.

Mexico is a good place for that, for sure.

So shall we shoot for late January? Put it between your birthday and mine? Nothing but rabbit food, water, and pumping iron between now and then, and we'll be set!

Fishing. Well no, I can't say that I loved fishing. I facilitated fishing with my boat because that was the only way I could come up with to make money with a boat on the ocean. It was really more of an entertainment job than a fishing job. Make sure everyone has a good time for 4 hours, then take 'em home. I had the tunes going, good food on board, all the beer you can guzzle, and the beautiful California coast for scenery. Most of my clients had never even been on the ocean before, much less ocean fished. So they'd get excited about catching mackerel. I had a great time doing this. The fishing was sort of incidental, though. I always took a deck hand that loved fishing, though, so the people would catch his enthusiasm for it.

You want to hire a panga and go dorado fishing in PV? I could be talked into that.

Surfing? Well, I did try surfing once. I was 16 at the time. It didn't go well. Never did manage to stand up. Surfing is hard work! I could try it again. Warm Mexican surfing might be fun.

The water is just too bloody frigid around here. Wetsuit water, for sure. I don't like it that cold.

Bodyboarding is fun, though. I like that! Not very good at it, but it's fun to try to catch that wave.

But again, not here. Cold water, aaargghh!

(Toner sucks, too).

Oh, BTW. I am a bone-head. A lousy girlfriend. I should really be a man.

I forgot that my bf's birthday is this Saturday.

Completely forgot about it. Honestly, I didn't even remember exactly what date it was. My mother asked me today what we were going to do for his birthday and I panicked. OMG!!! What if it had come and gone and I forgot it! He hasn't mentioned it. I think he was testing me, cuz he knows I'm terrible at remembering things like this.

So now I have to find a gift, think of something to do, and pretend that I knew about it all along but just hadn't been talking about it.

:(

thank god you remembered

dont piss your chef off hahahhaha


are you near any vineyards?

book a culinary/wine B&B

leave a pack of oils on his pillow?

spoil him rotten and reap the rewards the next year??? :laugh:


you have time left to plan thank god !!


I am obsessed with fishing...and always go when ever there is the chance

always love the ocean..but had a blast surf fishing in NZ and esp honduras (tarpon)

only ever stopped at vallarta airport (dreary connection) but area looks good as far as mexican beaches go


gonna look into it and see what it would take


anyhow


lets see how it goes


hope you are smiling my friend


:hug: Pengii

If the bf likes massages,a gift certificate to a great bodyworker is an awesome gift!

Kilogo

I hope you hear something soon on the job front - the wait is very stressful for us, never mind you! - I can quite understand you "forgetting" the b/f's birthday with all that's going on at the moment - but you didn't did you? - you remembered in time. I'm sure he would have forgiven you in light of recent events.

Michaela

Ok, birthday plans are coming together. My friend Jeanne wants to cook dinner for him, so we're going to have a little dinner party at her house. Parties at her place are always fun.

I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday in my best, "oh yeah, I knew about it all along" voice. He said nothing. Then I found out why he's not mentioned it and now why he's pouting about it. He's turning 48. That's almost 50, you know. Oh my my. He's not at all happy about this. So he figures if he just ignores the birthday he won't get old.

I suggested a trip to the Getty Museum and he said he doesn't want to drive that far. I suggested a jaunt over to Catalina but he said, nah he doesn't feel like it. He really is moping about this.

He said he wants champagne breakfast in bed, a lazy day at home, then dinner at Jeanne's that night. That's all.

I can do that. Unless you guys come up with something better! Your suggestions for gifts are great. He's a freak and doesn't like massages, Anast, but I do! For those of you taking notes -- Kilo LOVES massages and her birthday is just 5 months away.

A night at a b&b is a mighty fine idea, Pengii. I'll look around and see if I can find something that won't break soon-to-be-impoverished me.

Hey Mickey! Nice to see you here. LOL on the stressful bit :laugh: . We've got a pool going for who can guess the layoff date. You guys want in? My money is on next Monday. This Friday (tomorrow) is a popular choice, too. Others now think it'll be next month. It's gotten truly stupid, it has.

But forgetting my personal chef's birthday is pretty bad. I don't think I'd forgive him easily if he forgot mine.

He did overcook the fish last night, though. Bad chef. First time using parchment. Says he prefers aluminum foil.

Here's my idea for a gift: a gift certificate to a music store. I know, I know, it's impersonal, but here's my reasoning: When I met him he had big-time financial problems. Mainly because he was throwing away tons of money on stupid stuff. When I took over his finances I cut up his credit cards, put him on an austerity plan until he got out of debt, and now all is well (3 years later). But one of the things he spent massive amounts of money on was CDs. He was a CD junky. He has millions of CDs. He doesn't often listen to them, he just likes to collect them. I convinced him his CD habit was unnecessary money spent. He believed me and he's bought a mere 2 CDs in the last 3 years. Pretty good, eh? But he's been jonesing lately. Keeps mentioning CDs that he'd like to have. DVDs, too. He wants to build a DVD collection as vast as his CD collection.

So if I got him a gift certficate for Borders or Tower or someplace like that, he could CD and/or DVD himself silly and hopefully get it out of his system for a while.

What do you think?

Unless I find the B&B deal of the century. That would be better.

Hey Kilogo!

Glad to hear you are busy at work...jk............I can't believe you all are still in the dark about this...well................I hope you are still doing ok with the eats..........and/or exercise!...But I know its tough to stay on plan with so much stress!!!

I think the gift certificate for CD's/DVD's is a good idea...maybe that and something else that he would like that would be more personal............like you jumping out of a cake!...hooha!...

You and Pengii are tempting me with that Mexico talk...but I will be teaching...I can take a long weekend or something.........maybe if its in Feb. around Lincoln's B-day...or Presidents Day!...I would love it...but the DH will think its crazy!...Oh well...........its my life!

Talk to you soon!

mcmarto:rose:

Take the time, Mcmarto! PV is calling your name. McMarto! McMarto! Can you hear it?

--------
Order
Casualty number two today. Accountant woman quit. She actually gave notice on Friday and tomorrow is her last day. Fine, great, she got another job, good for her.

Well her boss came to me today and asked me if she'd deleted any files. I looked at the backup tapes from a week ago and found that yes, she had deleted massive amounts of files. Accounting records, spreadsheets, tax reports, all manner of stuff. Bad, bad, bad. And this is the sweetest woman you would ever want to meet. Shame on her. I really don't see any reason for doing this. Spite? A power trip?

But I can restore all. And have. And locked her out from any further access. And she is being walked to the door as soon as she arrives tomorrow morning. Dumb, dumb, dumb woman.

--------

Chaos
We have another pool going here. Guess the number of people who will be laid off in the first wave, which might or might not be on Monday. Two bucks to enter. My guess is 76. We have 131 employees as of today. Entries so far range from 26 to 90.

I think your birthday plans sound fine. It's not your fault if he's being mopey! And a gift doesn't have to be "personal" if the person would really enjoy it. My DH already got his b-day gift two months ahead of time: gambling money in Las Vegas. I asked when we were on our way there if would like that, and was that an okay gift, and he said it was great! I also got him a mitre saw once for Valentine's Day and he was thrilled.

As far as your pools for layoff date and number, I think that sometimes humor is the only way to deal with a stressful situation like that. It's either laugh or cry.

Fish for dinner last night--sounds like you're eating healthy!

Hey Kilogo!...Just curious...why would this woman delete all those files?...Did she not do her work...or do something wrong?...Or was she just being mean?

PV is calling my name................telling me to lose weight so you all don' t laugh at me when I get harpooned!....yukyukyuk!

mcmarto:D

Kilogo - my bets are that because of the stress at work at the moment they won't need to lay anybody off. By the sounds of things people are beginning to quit - perhaps that's what they are trying to do. Do you get redundancy payment if they lay you off? Think of the money they will save if you all quit! I think that's their secret plan.

As for your partner's present, I think the CDs/DVDs gift tokens are a great idea - I wish I could get my partner to stop spending money on things like that! He buys no end of DVDs. You must tell me more... I agree with McMarto - perhaps you could just get him a little something personal too. That will buck him up a bit.

Have a great weekend.

Michaela

Has the eagle landed?

mcmarto:rose:

:laugh: Mcmarto. No, the eagle has not landed. It's still perched on high, waiting for the right moment to swoop down and tear us all to shreds. It's not going to be today, obviously, so those with their money on Friday have lost. My bet on Monday is looking very, very good.

I really don't know why that woman would delete those files. She was a very good accountant, very respected. Maybe she wanted the department to feel the pain of her leaving as she wouldn't be around to recreate that stuff. I don't know.

Her boss, the Controller, came into my office and vented yesterday. Told me how disappointed she was in this woman's behavior. Said how she never would have expected it, but in retrospect saw that the woman has some petty traits and hugely overestimated her importance to this company.

In any event, she's gone now.

Mickey, do you get Dilbert where you live? (England??) It's a comic strip about an engineer at a very screwed up company (like we can all relate to). In a strip a while ago someone asked their boss what the Severance Package was in the event of a layoff. The answer: We just make your job more and more miserable until you finally quit and we don't have to pay you anything.

I'm guessing that redundancy payment is what we call severance pay.

But they are going to have to make it a lot worse for some people to quit. Several here will get 10 weeks of salary as severance. Plus unemployment benefits.

No, it's stupid to quit at this point. Wait it out, get all the legtitimate money you can out of this foul place.

Are you all tired of hearing of my layoff woes? I sure am. Perhaps Monday we'll know.
---------
So I guess I'll go with the CD/DVD idea. Will look for a little something personal, too. I need to do all of this during lunch today.
---------
I'm doing ok on the diet/exercise front. I went a little nuts for a while when I thought layoff was going to be on Tues, but it wasn't, and I can't sustain a self-destructive drinking/eating splurge for too many days. So I'm back to eating well, drinking water, and getting a walk in now and then. I have slacked significantly on the exercise, but that won't last long. And I'm hitting the chocolate a bit. But not too badly.

So I'm maintaining. Which is good for me right now.

the cd's sound great !! esp if he has been not getting his fix lol


the evening sounds like it will be very very nice


work sounds like bedlam


that lady maybe wanted to screw them up like she felt she was getting...but so very dumb like you said


your severance package is worth the bullcrap

and you are worth holding yourself together


ol pengii is holding on too :)


hope you have a great day

I am off to recreate africa here lol

:hug: Pengii

Lutha -- I like practical gifts, too. Once I got a cordless drill for Christmas from an old boyfriend and I love that thing. Still use it often.

So my other thought for a gift is a tree-limb saw on a long pole. We really need one of those.

Hmm. Decisions decisions.

Pengii -- Have a great time with the lions and leopards tonight! I'm really looking forward to seeing that menu. I hear you on the organ meats. Especially liver. Gahh. A fellow boater friend once said about liver, "now why would anyone eat a filter?" That's why I was curious about the fuss over foie gras.

I guess I'll have to try it someday.

And truffles. I've never had truffles or truffle oil.

Hey Kilogo!

Well...........maybe it won't happen for another month or so?...Maybe not at all?...How would that make you feel?

Are you still looking for another job?

Well I hope you have fun this weekend!...Glad your in control!
Well ... for the most part!...

mcmarto...:D

Nope, it's going to happen. Soon. No doubt. Our contact up at the corporate office says it will "probably" be Monday.

And as I have not been contacted at all about coming in early on Monday, I suspect I am on this list of ones to go. Unless they call me Sunday night at home. Always a possibility. I don't even care at this point. Just do something!

I am still looking. Not finding. Actually really looking forward to a couple of months off. I can do that. Just not too many months.

So I went shopping during lunch for birthday gifts. Didn't find anything for him, but I did get some awesome shoes for myself :D .

After work I got him some DVDs and yes, the tree pruner. Yeah I know, that's a lot like getting a woman a vacuum cleaner for a gift, but that's ok. I think he'll like it.

And I told everyone who asked who's coming to this dinner party to get him CDs, DVDs, or gift-certificates therefore. So he should be happy. Everyone who didn't ask will no doubt get him wine.

He is grilling birds tonight. Smells wonderful.

The friend Jeanne is making shrimp cocktails and brie for starters, then spinach salad, then garlic pork chops, garlic smashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts for main course tomorrow night. Cheesecake for dessert. I'm bringing a very nice champagne for a birthday toast. Should be a lovely evening.

I'll get fit and healthy come Tuesday, ok? :o Or maybe Wednesday. If we all get axed Monday it's liable to be a repeat at the cuban joint, but worse.

Hi Kilogo, sounds like you've got a good weekend planned. Tks for dropping my journal...hey, what's this I read ... I hope you stay in yr job ... it's really scary to be kept in the dark and not know how secure your job is. You're so positive ... I think you should take a break if you get asked to leave. That's what people here do as well. I'm sure everything will turn out fine - I believe in fate - everything happens for a reason - it may seem bad now but it will become good later on.

You seem to be in control of the situation! :rose:

hey babay !! can i join in on the pool.. my guess it 68 but with our crappy canadian dollar I am prob 65 cents short of a 2 buck hahaha

dinner and such sounds lovely


my african dinner went awesome !!!

they had a photographer there for my food and the room...so hopefully will get a copy of the pics for you so and BF can see my work

you got to get BF to try this scented lamb rack i did wow

i ground cinnamon, green cardoman, cloves...rubbed...then pressed roasted garlic and olive oil on .. did a fresh orange and drippings reduction with this funky mint


i have used a fragrent rub on shanks before but not the rack yummy



you know those 10 weeks could be the best thing that has ever happened to you

you never wanted to change toner cartridges all day anyways

who knows what you might discover


i have decided i have to focus on my dreams to

if you can dream it......

i know you will do it kilogo


just the ****ty waiting part


hang in there baby

and the shoes were a nice perk !!

luv ya !

:computer: Pengii

Wow...your weekend does sound great!

Have loads of fun!...Eat and drink all you want!...Like you said...back on track on Tues...heck...Wed!!!...I think I am following in your footsteps!...I have had 2 bad days now...today makes 3!...I just ate an f'n gyros!!!...mmmmmmmmm it was good!

Oh well...story of my life...talk to you soon!

mcmarto:D

You're probably having fun at BF's birthday party right now. The menu sounded very tasty! Hope you are both enjoying yourselves.

LOL on the shoe purchase

A tree pruner, eh? That one definitely depends on the recipient! I'm curious to hear what he thought of it.

how was the party????


luv ya buddy

:hug: Pengii

Hello everyone!

The party was great fun. Nice people, good wine, good times. The food was, well, extremely high fat. Tasty, for sure. But everyone was sitting around gassy and bloated afterward :laugh: . Reminded me of Thanksgiving.

I presented the tree pruner as a gift from Misty (the dog) and he thought it was a fine gift. Thanked the dog over and over again and gave her a treat for it. That boy has a strong sense of whimsy, he does. He loved the DVD from me, too.

So, good birthday weekend. I think we're just going to lie around and be lazy today. Maybe trim a few tree branches to try out Misty's gift.

Ok, pengii, got you down for 68! Do we think it's going to be tomorrow? Honestly, I don't know. "Probably."

One of the guests at the party last night was my broker. He's been my friend for 12 years now. He presented a few financial options that I hadn't considered before. Amazing what you can do with a little financial wangling if you have a creative mind. So I have some things to think about today.

Gyros, McMarto. mmm mmm tasty. Are you going to follow me when I get ultra-healthy, too?

Kilogo,

You're handling this impending layoff with a lot of humor, that's great! It sucks to get axed, but if you're not happy anyway....enjoy your vacation -- on them!!

I love your idea of shopping for HIS birthday and getting new shoes for YOU!! I can see me doing that. :laugh:

Now, if you had told him the pruner was from you, would he have given YOU the treat? Maybe you should 'fess up! Here girl...goooood girl!!

I'm glad your party went well, sounds like you had a FALUTEN party!

Take care!! Good luck on Monday. Maybe they'll put you out of your misery. At least you wouldn't have to wonder any more.

Girl...yesterday we went to a neighborhood block party...and I ate and I ate.........the DH had a polish platter which I sampled...we had soooooo much gas...hahahahaha...we finished the night off with giant burritos!...oh...

Today...so far I have had some rice pudding...cheese and crackers...and some pringles...probably 500 calories total...it is almost 6!!!...I have been sooooo lazy...no grocery shopping...tomorrow my car goes in to be checked...all day...so I have no wheels..............I am out for a pedicure anyway...lunch too!...Gee...when will the madness end!

Hurry....tell me!...:D

mcmarto:rose:

Man, oh man. Did I miss the office pools??? Aw, shucks...

I am totally impressed with the tree pruner. I hear prunes are high in fiber but will leave you bloated and gassy. Hmmm....

I really think you are a wildly funny person. I missed reading your posts these past couple of days.

Well, what happened today?

What is up?

Are you out at the Cuban joint?...Hope you had a mojito for me!

mcmarto:D

Maybe you have drowned in mojitos. Better come up for air. What's up???

Hellooooooo!

My but it was busy yesterday.

I arrived at work a bit early, unusual for me for a Monday but I had all this nervous energy that got me up early. When I walked through the door there were three men standing in the lobby, just standing there doing nothing. They looked like mafia hitmen. I said "hi", they just nodded at me. Hmm.

Then I walked by the big conference room and in there were all the head honchos, the president included, and also the lowly HR chick. All this at 7:30 in the morning. This was definitely the big day.

So I went into my office, took care of a few things that I remembered needed to be done over the weekend. The meeting broke up at 8 and the president walked out of that meeting straight over to my office. She came in, closed the door, sat down, and said, "this is going to be a very tough day."

Then she went over the details of my package. It's rather complicated, and almost everyone here got a different package. So . . . here's the general idea.

The site is shutting down. Anticipated close date is March 1.

All employees will be kept on for 60 days. This was a huge surprise as I thought lots of people would go on this day. But no. The vast majority of people's last day will be October 18.

The second wave of people will go on December 8.

The third wave will go on January 17. That's my day. I am guaranteed employment here until January 17. There will be a significant bonus for me if I stay the full time. This is in addition to severance.

The last wave stays behind until the bitter end, March 1.

They really want me to stay the whole time. Holy sh!t. This is a MUCH better package than I expected.

So the prez ran through the details of the package very quickly and said she was doing me first because she needed me to take care of a number of security-related network things.

I got the ball rolling on those things and then all managers and supervisors got called into a meeting at 9. There the prez gave a presentation of what was happening and why. Basically we are shutting down this facility and moving a very small portion of what we do to Dallas. When she got to the end and started talking about what a great group of people we were, she actually teared up. Two of the women managers started tearing up, too. Kleenexs were passed around, prez got her composure back quickly and finished the presentation.

They asked us to remain in the room (so we wouldn't run out and tell the troops what we'd just heard, no doubt). Then a VP took a person out individually, went into a closed-door office, and went over their package details. When they returned, the person sat down and the VP took the next person out. We did this until everyone knew their package details. They also learned how they were to present this package to their employees later on in the day. As I already had my package and I don't have any employees any more, I got to just sit there the whole time.

We learned then that the mafia goons were off-duty police officers on hand to ensure a quiet day. When this company shut down its facility in Boston last year they had rioting and looting that lasted for weeks. Since that experience, the company has made it a policy to have guards on hand any time something major like this happens.

At 10:15 we all trooped out to the open meeting area and all employees were called to gather there. There the president went through the same presentation with them. As soon as the presentation was done and for the next four hours, people were called individually into their manager's or supervisor's office and given the details of their package. As they required that a VP or HR Representative was in on the meeting, and there aren't that many of them, this took the full four hours to do everyone.

And I had been instructed to disable email and internet access during this time, so I couldn't even come here to tell you all what was going on.

So we all basically wandered the halls. "Hey, what's your date? Are you Guaranteed or not? Are you getting a Stay Bonus??" My fellow speculators, mostly first-line managers like me, are all staying until Jan 17. Most staffers go on the first or second waves. Apparently just the uppers and one engineer are staying to the end. We didn't get a number of who will go in the first wave, so we don't know who won the pool. Still working on getting that number.

At 2:30 all employees were called in to gather again. The Prez and the HR wenches floored questions about the package and details about the shutdown. "Do I have to pay back my 401K loan?" "What if I quit before my end date" Good questions. That session lasted forever.

Then all mgrs/supervisors were called into a final meeting with the prez to do a post-mortum. How did people take it? Is there anyone in particular that maybe needs some emotional assistance?

Honestly, most people were dancing in the halls. Finally! We knew! We could plan our lives. And the package was better than everyone expected. Towards the end of the day I asked one of the mafia goons if he'd ever seen a happier group of shutdown-ees, and he laughed. He said that we acted more like people having a kegger than people who had just been told of a shutdown.

So afterwards we met at the cuban joint, as planned. Our engineer buddy was really pissy about the whole thing. His thinking is a bit warped most of the time, anyway. He is an engineer, after all. He wasn't happy with his package, he wasn't happy with the decision to shutdown. He wasn't a happy boy at all. So he started doing shots. Oh my my. Many, many shots of Patron. He got completely wasted. As did a few others. I did not. I'm a happy camper today.

We made it home fairly early, all things considered, and today I am back. And here I am until January 17, baby! And I have no real need to get a new job until later in 2003, so I'm doing just fine.

But the best part about it all is that my job now changes. Or soon will change. I will get to design the network at the new facility in Dallas. I will probably be travelling to Dallas a fair amount in the coming months. I get to try to make a buck or two off all of this network equipment that is no longer needed here. Anyone need a CSU/DSU? How about a switch?

No more sitting-on-my-arse boredom. Or less of it, anyway.

And no more excuses for not getting fit and trim. It's time, Mcmarto!! I'm going walking after work tonight!

And Hello, Stacey! Nice to see you here. It was a faluten party, alright :laugh: . You don't get much more high-faluten than when you're passing gas!

Welcome back, Chumlette! I must head over to your journal and see how your trip was. Good I hope.

Today the goons are still here and no one is getting anything done. We are to be putting together shutdown teams soon. Apparently not today. So I get to read journals!

Oh Kilogo!

I am so happy that things worked out...well...sort of!

I hope the package they offered you was good....at least you get to work until after the holidays...and now...you know when your last day is so you don't have to worry as much!

Ok...Ok...I will attempt to get back on track...AGAIN...tomorrow!

Good Luck!

mcmarto:rose:

Yes, you were definitely busy yesterday! I guess we'll have to forgive you for waiting until today to fill us in, considering you were held up in meetings and celebrating/commiserating on the news.

So did you win anything in the office pool for correctly picking Monday as the bombshell day? Or had too many people picked Monday? Or didn't it count since no one will be leaving for at least 60 days?

I'm glad that your suspense is over, at least. And who knows what wonderful job opportunities may turn up by next spring?

Riots and looting in Boston...wow. I guess I have been very lucky not only to avoid getting laid off myself, but also to have only seen a handful of folks get laid off. I can't even fathom the atmosphere which would lead to such violent and antisocial behavior as you describe. I suppose that when large numbers of people together learn that they will be deprived of their livelihood, their unhappiness feeds off of each other.

Do you think that it might have been a planned strategy, letting word of the impending shutdown "leak" out but keeping everyone guessing for a time so that it was more of a relief when the news finally came?

I hope you enjoy your walk after work tonight

so things turned out pretty well???!!! that's good news!!! no more worries for you now!!! ha ha!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!!!

now you can relax & start exercising your butt off!!! hee hee!!!!

Kilogo

It must be a real stress release to know what you are going to be doing - probably for the next 10 months. I can identify with the boredom at work bit - I wish I was much, much busier. At least now you can look a bit further into the future.

What are you all going to talk about at work now????

Michaela

You couldn't have asked for a better deal, my friend. Awesome. And it is funny that the mafia goons had nothing to do. Did they join you for Cuban? I love Cuban sandwiches. But I take off all the meat and give it to DLIP. I like the flavor of the meat without the meat itself. But I digress...YAY! Have you ever been to Dallas before? It is a pretty fun town. I am glad your intellect will be utilized...you will be much happier. And I love your attitude about it's time to begin again the exercise wars NOW, instead of LATER. (Hear that Mc??) Very proud of you and delighted for the news. :D

Thanks, guys! I'm really very happy with how it turned out. Very happy. Debate still rages as to who won the date pool. We were guessing the layoff date, which turns out to be Oct. 18, which no one guessed, so we'll probably all just get our money back. But the number of people to go in the first wave bet is still on. And we still don't know that number. I'll keep you posted :laugh: .

Now that we don't have speculating to do, we're talking about our leave dates and what we're going to do afterwards. And *****ing and moaning about how it was handled, who got offered to move to Dallas, that kind of thing. Most people are happy but there are a couple of vocal *****ers and moaners here.

I have a meeting this morning about IT needs for the Dallas office, so things are gearing up already. Yay!

I've been to Texas on business with this company, twice. Once to Dallas and once to San Antonio. I had a good time, both times. The people there are friendly, as a rule. Highways are confusing as hell. I always enjoy travelling, especially when the company is footing the bill :D

And I walked last night after work. Intended to get up and jog a bit this morning, but it didn't happen. So I'll do it tonight. And the food intake gets healthy again today. No more chocolate! High time, too. The pants I'm wearing today are pretty tight. I feel like a stuffed sausage.

I feel good. Back on the fitness routine. Mcmarto, your turn!

Hi anne !!!

all in all it is as good as it can get huh


and you all know which must be a huge relief !!

lots of time to think about what you might like to be doing


and then severence to take ya into summer

sounds good !!

i am just getting moving

so nice to not have the pressure of the old job

i will find out today if i got the new job

and if not I will be pounding the pavement till i find one


in any event

it is a lovely sunny day


so

taking my dogs to the park for first time in 3 weeks
they will think they are in heaven

i will too lol


then gonna mow and cut my yard

have a bbq tonight and have a seista in my hammock when the day is done


life is good my friend


hope you have an awesome afternoon !!!


:hug: Pengii

your happiness is spilling out all over the journals!!!!!

good for you!!! more more more!!!! keep that sunshine coming!!!!

Hey Kilogo!

Congrats on the walk!...I golfed yesterday for the first time (me thinks this counts as exercise?...no cart...).........and today I have been cleaning the house for 2 hours straight...I am scheduled for a walk at 4:30 !!!...Now if only I could stop eating!!!

mcmarto

maybe after your layoff?


my new job might afford me a beach lol


we will see what works out good


i got an email back fr the little place in PV they have a couple rooms left in january owned by germans clean fr stayed there before nice restaurant and lots of bevvies lol and a bbq pit so we could create our mexican goodies too ( you get to be the margarita maker lol)

sounds good for a budget trav like me...and under 5 mins to beach



you are done the 17th after your bday but still close


lets see how things go


i am willing to put a deposit on a room and work my ass off to get there


we deserve a swim without mittens kilo !!!!!


:hug: Pengii

ps

iced corona and lime is 18 pesos :laugh:


scaring fishes for 1 hour will earn us one



wearing mittens as we do it and I am sure the locals at bar will buy


hahahahahahahahahhaha


:hop: :hop: :hop:

Oh yeah, girl!! Layoff celebration combined with my belated birthday celebration and your pre-birthday celebration make PV a necessity, I think. Late January, early Feb is perfect.

Send me details on the price and let's go for it. I'll deposit with you.

Hell, I don't even have to do ultra poverty-mode for a while. Dos Coronas, por favor!!

Mcmarto -- see, you need to stop Hoovering the food down and get thyself ocean-ready and join us. Don't want the sharks mistaking you for a sea lion, either. Golf is better than lying on the couch gorging on bon-bons, for sure. And a lot more fun. How did you do? Oh wait, it's your first time. I won't ask. I hope you had fun, anyway!

I should talk. Today was supposed to be back on the dietary program day. Well, the bf's mother, aunt, and uncle want to take him out for a birthday dinner at our favorite thai joint. Satay with peanut sauce, here I come. :D

And so I won't be able to get a jog in tonight, either. OH WELL. It's been this long another day won't kill me. I did walk at lunch a bit. I meant to go chocolate-free today, but didn't manage that, either. I had 3 mini peanut butter cups. Consider it weaning myself off chocolate. Tomorrow will be a better day!

Hi Kilogo, I just read yr journal ... that's good that you have yr job until next Jan. That gives you time to prepare. I think it's good that mgmt brief everyone as to when they will be going ahead of time so that they are prepared. Here, we have companies who don't keep their staff informed. Everyone's super worried if they know their company is not doing well. And they tell you at the last minute that you're going to lose your job ... that's why I think your company did the right thing by preparing the staff.

Kilogo, you sound really good. I'm glad. Have a good day!:D

Hmmmm, peanuts and chocolate are such a gorgeous combination - I'm drooling over my keyboard as I'm typing this by the way!

I hope today was/is a better day!

Did you enjoy your Thai last night? I've only ever eaten Thai food once, and my bf stayed home (I went with some girlfriends). I think he was a bit jealous because for days afterwards he said he could smell Thai food on me!!! I've never touched one since, mind you I think he has a very sensitive nose!

Michaela

The thai food was great, Mickey! I love that stuff. We eat it pretty often. We had peanut butter cow, panang, several different curries, oh my yes. All good.

China, I wish mgmt kept people more informed of what was going on. The only reason they gave us 60 days notice was because it's required by law in the event of a shutdown. Always before they'd do a layoff and just walk the person to the door. No warning at all. Buggers.

The head CEO on high from corporate is coming here this morning to talk to us. Now that takes some balls to come here in person. What is he going to say, anyway? "Gee, real sorry you're all out of a job." No one wants to hear him babble. Ah, but we must. I bet he calls in instead of shows in person.

ANYWAY.

I did drag my lazy self out of bed and jogged this morning. Well, more of a walk-jog. Heavy on the "walk" part. But several spats of "jog" in there, too. Hey, I got up and worked out this morning, ok? I'm proud of me. It'll only get better from here.

Yes, the lumbering cow is back.

And I have to get this body bikini ready in time for the PV trip!!

So no chocolate for me today. I have fruit and cottage cheese lined up for breakfast. Ratatouille and salmon for mid-morning snack. Soup/Salad for lunch and mid-afternoon snack. Don't know what's for dinner, but it'll be tasty and healthy as usual, no doubt.

So all is well. Busier than a frickin' bee now. Much better than bored. So please forgive me if I don't make it here too much the next few days!

Hey Kilogo!

Glad you are on the up and up!

I will try to make it in late Jan...early Feb...but its hard for me to take time off during the school year...and I am saving up for Ireland/Scotland too!..........But I would love it...for sure...so keep me on the list!

Hope you have a great day...Congrats on waking early for the jog/walk!

I am off for a root canal in less then 2 hours!...:(

mcmarto

Now you're really getting back in the groove.

Kilogo's movin' and groovin'! (You folks are bringing out my silliness...)

Really, it's good to hear that you can motivate yourself to work out in the morning before work! I haven't done that for years.

Enjoy your newfound busyness. You're forgiven (by me at any rate) for posting less frequently if need be.

Hi kids!

Finally Friday. 1 week down, 21 to go! Lots of people have taken today off so it's pretty quiet. I still have plenty to do, though.

We cancelled the layoff pool yesterday. Too hard to determine a winner.

Food intake was pretty good yesterday. I did not get up and workout this morning but plan to this evening. And the beloved and I are planning to take a bike ride tomorrow morning.

He's cooking birds and potato-leek soup tonight.

Ok, let's talk about goals. :(

I want to lose 20 lbs or so. This can conceivably be done in 10 weeks. Which would bring me to the first week in November. Perfect. Fit and trim for the holiday season. Then my challenge would be to maintain it over the holidays.

But I know my self and 1 lb a week is far more likely. So 20 weeks. Many of those weeks over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Oof, that'll be hard. Not impossible, but hard.

So I guess I'd better get it into a higher gear and get closer to 2lbs/week. I will work out tonight! Hard!

And I suppose I should turn down that cheesecake that someone brought in today :( .

Cheesecake huh? Don't they know you are on a diet???

Right so what's the plan then for this evening with the exercise - or do you prefer to do it in the morning (snigger snigger).

I hope you can lose the weight by the holidays, but if not it's not the end of the world - hopefully you'll have some good habits for the Christmas period - perhaps if you step up the exercise. I for one always use Christmas as a goal then at Christmas eat bigstyle. I put on loads of weight and it takes me until around about May to get back into plan. It happens every year but this year I'm determined not to do it. It is hard, I agree, it just seems like the holidays are full of food and if you're anything like me you just want to give yourself a break from watching what you eat all the time. Hopefully, for both of us, this year it will be different.

Michaela

nix on the cheescake!!!!! it never tastes as good as it looks anyway!!! hee hee!!!!
that's a definitely do-able goal...work out like a fiend & you'll do it!!! it'll be fun too, you'll see!!! :D

Oh aren't you the funny one, Mickey.

If I get a workout, whatever time of the day, it's a good day!

Mornings are best but if I don't get it done then, there's always the evening after work.

Tonight I am going to walk on the beach. So there!

Serious question - how safe do you feel when you are out walking - that's if you walk on your own? I live in a town and don't feel at all safe walking around on my own, unless I'm heading towards the shops. I could imagine it would be a lot worse living in a city or somewhere though. I definitely wouldn't like it if I lived in London.

Good luck with the exercise tonight. My exercise tonight is housework!!! I'd rather be out walking (even if I am scared!).

Michaela

OK...you mentioned the cheesecake in the first post...but then no mention in the second post?...Does this mean you took it to the bathroom and ................ oh ................. flushed it down the toilet?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahah!!!...Glad you are back on plan!...Me too!............Well almost anyway!

mcmarto:rose:

mmmmm, cheesecake. I had a tiny little snarf and that's all. It was yummy.

Mickey -
No, not afraid of walking. I used to hike a lot by myself and would get a little nervous at times. Never know who was hiding in the bushes and there's no one around to help you out if something did happen.

But around people, I'm not afraid.

I walk on the boardwalk along the beach by myself. It extends for miles up and down the coast here in Southern California. In the morning, I see joggers, walkers, bikers, and rollerbladers doing their thing on this path. And lots of Park Service employees cleaning the beach, emptying the trash, cleaning the restrooms and such. Usually a couple of homeless people going through the trash cans, too. And employees of the various restaurants and hotels downtown that walk to work.

So it's a fairly busy place. No trouble could occur without a bunch of people seeing it. Honestly, it's never entered my mind to be concerned there.

Nighttime it's a similar story, just more people.

I walked around London the whole time I was there. Whenever the subway didn't go where I wanted to go. I forget what you call that. The Tube? Maybe I was just naive then. What is it about walking in town that bothers you? Bad neighborhoods?

Ok, it's lunchtime. This hard-working fiend is going to go for a lunchtime walk, too!

Hey Kilago, just checking in on your life and the work saga.

I had the Zone diets prepared food dElivered to me for a month last May when the service had a big sale. Their low-fat/high protein cheescake is out-of-this-world! You can order it on it's own (without the rest of the diet) and have it delivered to your house. I don't even like regular cheescake (too rich for me) but I L-O-O-O-V-E the Zones.

Michaela, I've lived all over this country and in several other countries as well (in fact walking around London where I have spent extended time is one of my favorite things to do) and I always feel safe walking/hiking around - except for notoriously bad neighborhoods. I use common sense and walk during daylight, but one can't live in a box. I was sorry to hear that you don't feel safe up in Lincoln as I was ready to price real estate up there!:D

PS: MIND THE GAP

Well I guess I'm feeling extra-chatty today as I'm back again.

I rarely eat sweets. This little chocolate binge I've been on is very unusual for me. A little taste of cheesecake today and I'll be off sweets altogether for a good long time again. No, really!

Topic of this entry: Travel plans.

Next weekend is Labor Day, after all. We'd talked about going to Yosemite, but with my work situation unknown at that time we didn't make any definite plans. Now that's all sold out and sounds like an overcrowded ordeal, anyway. So what to do?

The beloved wants to just stay home and work on the house. Fair enough, we need to do a bunch of things and since I still have a job I won't be getting them done any time soon. So that'd be ok.

But I'm dying for a lobster. Or two. And we are fresh out of Sambuca. I think a trip to Mexico is in order. The bf is fussing about this a little bit. He says it'll be crowded there, too. Maybe. Heck, it's crowded everywhere around here. He says if we go somewhere he'd rather do a winery b&b thing in Santa Barbara. Way more expensive, plus can you imagine how crowded it will be going to Orange County to Santa Barbara over the Labor Day weekend?? Anastasia and Lutha can. Not a pretty picture.

I think I have him talked into Mexico. If we left Saturday morning we'd miss the mad traffic rush from Thursday night and Friday. I'd like to drive down to our favorite spots just south of Rosarito, which is less than 3 hours away from home. Arrive mid-morning, have brunch, do some shopping, get the Sambuca, then have an early dinner and gorge on lobster. Then drive home. Long day, but I think better than spending the night down there. Cheaper (I'm in semi-poverty mode, you know), and then we still have Sunday and Monday to work on the house.

So what do you think? Mexico for a day, Santa Barbara wine country for the whole weekend, or stay home?

Now, you KNOW you don't want to stay home, Kilogo, but last year I tried to drive to SB for that very weekend...notice I say 'tried' . If you go, plan to drive at unusal hours, say very early in the morning if possible. Either that, or bring along tons of great CD's and lots of water and patience.

Have fun whatever you do.

Hey there Kilogo,

I say Mexaco for the day, then work on the house. My word, you must live in a very exciting location, as compared to me that is. It sounds so exotic and mucho funo too...........lol.

I have to say, I was glad to hear about the job situation. I know what you mean about the going thru all their hulabaloo in quiet and private discussion, then talking to the crowds etc. The company I worked for 21 year at had a huge shutdown layoff for our plant here 3 years back. I was one of the lucky ones, being old enough for early retirement. When the prez and CEO came to the plant to give condolences, not a person there wanted to hear it. He practically got booed out of the place. But a lot of that was because our plant is in a very small town in a very rural area. When it shut down, it was a hard blow to our area. It was the only major employer for miles around. So it's no small thing when that happens in an area like this.

Of course, it's no small thing for any family that is depending on a job regardless of where it is. But I would just think that in a well populated area, where there are more job opporutnities available, it wouldn't be quite as traumatic. I just got lucky for once, but for many here it was almost a death-like blow.

I'm glad to read that bf's bday party went so well. And I agree with you. I wondered too if you'd have gotten a special treat if you'd fessed up about the limb trimmer.........hahaha.

Well things sound like they are going good for you. I'm very glad. You sound up and happy and doing well for yourself. I like to see that for everyone. Just wanted to stop in and say hello. It's been a while. Take care now. Hope to see you in chat again soon.

Hugz,
Sandie

MEXICO!!! MEXICO!!!! MEXICO!!!!

:hop: :hop: :hop: :hop: :hop:

My vote is for Mexico too!!!.........Though I would want to stay overnight!...This is a lot of eating...and...driving in one day!...I assume cocktails will be served???heeheehee!!!

So what are you doing this weekend???

mcmarto

MEXICO

why even think any more about it hahahahah


have a tequila for me !!!



xo

IGNORE DRUNKEN CHEF.

Don't drink tequila and drive back the same night please.

I THINK SHE'S BEEN DRINKING THE WINE SHE COOKS WITH...LOL!!!!

Wow, Mexico sounds pretty good. My husband is always saying he considers anything in Southern California as local (he loves to drive). I just asked him if Mexico was local, and he said yes, but he would never take his vehicle down there. So while I'm not afraid walking alone in my neighborhood, even at night, I guess we're afraid to drive in Mexico...

It seems that having your work uncertainty at least partially resolved has really given you energy! Good luck on reaching your Christmas goal--I think it is feasible.

If you really want to go wine tasting, you could head for Temecula and maybe the traffic wouldn't be as bad as the way to Santa Barbara. But, it would be hotter and probably not so many cute B&Bs.

So, are you back yet? What did you end up doing? How was it, whatever it was??? Don't break your back today with chores. And smooch a lot in between for a little romance. LOL

Ok! Mexico it is. You guys have touched on about all of the things the bf and I have talked about for this trip. :laugh: My car doesn't go to Mexico, either, but the bf's Chevy Blazer is perfect for it. It's done many Mexico trips. And chances are we will have a margie with the lobster. I'm not driving, so I guess I can have as many as I want! But the bf has to behave if he is to drive. So he doesn't want to drive afterwards.

So the plan is this. Drive to Mexico Saturday morning. Do the shopping and lobster thing, but spend the night there. Get up fairly early the next morning and head home by way of the Tecate crossing and make our leisurely way home through the Temecula wine country. Get home Sunday, then spend Monday working on the house.

But that's next weekend -- labor day.

=======

This weekend:
If anyone wants to come enjoy the sun and sand of southern California, this was the weekend to come. Warm, sunny, gorgeous, even at the beach. I think this is the most beautiful weekend we've had all year, weatherwise.

Saturday morning we got up and rode the bikes at the beach up to the Huntington Beach Pier. There we parked the bikes, walked up main street a bit, and found a restaurant with outdoor seating for breakfast. After breakfast, rode home, and got some things done around the house. Misty's tree pruner works really well.

A friend of the bf's came over in the afternoon with his diamond blade hand saw so we could make some progress on this bloody back patio project that has been outstanding for, oh, two years now. That saw did the trick, oh boy. Progress was made.

The friend stayed, the bf bbq'd, we sat around and chatted for many long hours. Regaled the poor man with our trip pictures and home project pictures. They decided to hike Mt. Wilson in two weeks. Yeah, right. More on that later.

Today, more rooting in the yard. I've picked about 50,000 tomatoes so far. Need suggestions on tomato-based sauces for freezing, please.

I'm taking a little break right now to answer the phone and write to you all. My friend Jeanne had a huge NASCAR party yesterday, and she just invited us over for post-party leftovers. Carnitas, mmmm. We were invited to the actual party, sort of. We couldn't care less about NASCAR, but she is into it big time. She invited us to be polite, I'm sure, but she knows that many long hours of watching cars turn left with a houseful of eyes glued to such action is just not our kind of thing. We did intend to go over later after the race was over, but our own little bbq party lasted far longer than expected.

So all is good. But my life is just full of these difficult decisions. Tomato picking or carnitas? Hmm . . . what to do . . . .

Kilogo

Sounds like you've had a great weekend! Shame I couldn't have come over to help you out with that tomato picking though LOL!!

I'm glad you feel safe walking around (otherwise you probably wouldn't do it!). Me, I'm scared of everything, spiders, snakes, the dark - you get the picture - I think I have an overactive imagination.

I'm certainly looking forward to hearing about your trip to Mexico next weekend - it'll be great. We've got a "bank holiday" this weekend, so I'm off work tomorrow, and what do I have scheduled for this extra day off??? HOUSE WORK that's what! Oh well, I suppose that's my own fault for not getting on with it this weekend.

Michaela

sounds like you had a great weekend!!!! good for you!!!!
sorry I can't help you out with what to do with all those tomatoes of yours...bloody marys perhaps???!!!!:D I guess not!!!!

well, enjoy what's left of your weekend & my vote is for mexico too!!!!

I would pick some tomatoes and take them over to your friends house...you know...trade tomatoes for carnitas!!!...hahahahaha!

Glad your Mexico trip is all planned out!...Sounds like much fun!...

In regards to the tomatoes............check out the websites for cooking light or epicurious...they will have tons of recipes!

Have a great week at work!....

mcmarto

:wave: Hi there Kilogo,

Just wanted to stop in, say hey and see how your are doing. Looks like you're doing just fine as can be. Glad to know that.

I'm also looking forward to hearing about next weekend. Sort of like taking a vacation too, by proxy.............hahahahaha. You even get to enjoy the young man too...........now I'm really chuckling.........LOL.

Have a good week lady. Guess you'll be pretty busy at work now too. No more goofing off eh? Oh well, less time for boredom to set in. Ta ta

Hugs, :hug:
Sandie

Fun weekend, Kilogo! What are carnitas?

I think Chum's j/k about the carnitas???...If not...she is missing out!...How were they???...


mcmarto:D

I sure hope you're joking about the carnitas, Chumlette. If not, get thee to a mexican joint and try them! Today! Unless you are a vegetarian, of course. They are pork, cooked so that it tastes incredibly wonderful. I've never made it so can't tell you how, perhaps Mcm can. I understand it's really dietary (not!).

We didn't do carnitas after all. Decided to stick to the home projects and be good. I'll have some in Mexico next weekend instead.

Hey Sandie! Busy instead of bored is MUCH better, for sure. Makes the time at work go by a lot more quickly, too.

I'll give you all the gory details on the Mexico trip, don't worry :D .

Mickey -- anytime you want to come by and pick tomatoes, feel free :) . Too bad about the fear of things. Have you thought of getting a big dog to take on walks with you? Mine would be completely useless if something were to happen, but maybe she is a bit of a visual deterrent. I take her with me sometimes. Housework on a vacation is just not right!

Buji -- Bloody Mary, why not? :laugh: Plain ol' tomato juice is pretty good, too. Garden fresh and organic, can't beat that.

So.

I lifted weights this morning. Yay for me. Today WILL be an exemplary dietary day. I am going to do this in spite of myself.

Hope everyone is having a great day. I need to get at it here at work.

i like the sounds of that kilo


gonna tell myself that all day !!!!


hope your day is great !!!

:hug: Pengii

ps

what do you think of this new page layout??

I think it is harder to read with no message separation???

It is harder to read, for sure. I liked everything in little boxes like it was before. Ah well. John seems to be experimenting with different styles. With luck he'll settle on one we all like.

I feel nauseated as all get-out right now. I had a half-roll of halibut sushi from Trader Joe's (yummy) and some leftovers from dinner last night (pasta with FRESH HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE!). Maybe the combo did me in. The halibut smelled fine, but I guess you never know.

Maybe I'll get botulism and lose 10 lbs in fluids over the next week. Won't that be fun.

Called our usual place in Baja. They are booked solid that weekend. Not surprising, at this late date. We may go back to the drive down and back in one day plan.

I think everyone took a cranky pill this morning before they came to work. Cranky pills are very effective, apparently.

Speaking of which, someone has beaten my bf over the head with an idiot stick. Everything he's done so far today has stupid, everything he's said has been dumb and wrong, and his mere existence oozes stupidity and annoys the heck out of me.

Why is it that he chooses my PMS times to get stupid? Really, really bad timing on his part.

Fortunately, I've learned that he gets a lot smarter and less annoying after a day or two, so I am doing my best to avoid him, keep to myself, and get some exercise. I worked out this morning. I walked after lunch. I may walk again tonight. He has to go to a meeting tonight, so I won't see him til later. Good move on his part! :laugh:

Hey Kilogo...sorry about the man!

Sometimes you just want them to go away so you can have some time for yourself!...........Trust me ... I know!

Please do me a favor and read my last post on my journal and give me some advice!...I am stressing...guess I will be stressed for the next 2 years!

mcmarto:(

Your post about bf was a hoot!

No, truly, I never ate carnitas. Don't care for pork too much, though not vegetarian. DLIP would probably be the one who ate that!

Stay away from cranky pills today!

Hey! Looks like John listened to me. The little boxes are back.

It appears the hormones are back under control today. Whoosh. Family harmony is restored. Your poor DLIP, Chum. Stupid almost all the time! Oh no! Will there be an end to this, you think? I think Mcm was too stressed to get my little joke, poor girl. I hope you're better today, Mcmarto!

We had drama on the beach this morning. Yes, I got up and did the jog/walk thing this morning. As I was jogging along, a cop car came speeding along, fast, up the boardwalk. He stopped right in front of me, jumped out, walked as fast as his studly cop dignity would allow him up the restroom facilities, put one hand on his gun and with the other opened a restroom door. Went down the line of restrooms, opening doors one by one. He didn't find anything.

So I jogged on my merry way, and soon came across a cluster of cops. Many cop cars in the parking lot, a group of cops gathered around a dumpster. One of them tapped on the dumpster and said, "come out!" No answer. He banged on the dumpster, "This is the Police, come out now" No response. He BANG BANG BANGED on the dumpster and ordered "OUT, NOW!", but still, n