And to all a goodnight

So, here it is: November 30. Thirty days and at least 30 posts. Thirty posts of nonsense. At least I did it, and I'm proud ... I think.

So, what's in store for next month? Probably nothing. Doing NaBloPoMo at least got me to remember that I have a website that needs looked after. And it got me a couple of hits and a couple of people that asked for a resume, so I guess that's good. Now to make this place into something functional once again ...

Irritated

Word to describe me in this moment: irritated. Very.

I should not be left with too much time on my hands or too much time to think about things otherwise I end up angry (and maybe more so than I should be) and irritated (probably as much as I should be). I'm a logical person that makes lists of pros and cons and when I'm like this, the cons tend to have a little more weight than usual.

Perhaps tomorrow will be better?

***

Now I'm firing up Illustrator to work on a logo. Wish me luck!

Thanksgiving

I'm writing this as I watch the House marathon on USA. I probably could have stayed in bed all day watching this.

I woke up this morning at 5:30 to my brother's cat trying tosnuggle up to me in bed as my cat hissed and growled. She was not having the foreign cat take over her bed. Not at all.

I officially woke up later, completely missing the parade, so that my family and I could go put the fun in dysfunctional with the extended family. It wasn't bad, really. It was nice to see people I haven't seen for a while. It was fun to watch my aunt argue with my crazy great uncle about everyone in the family voting for Obama but him, and then telling him that yes, Hawaii is, in fact, a state, so Obama was born in the U.S. It doesn't matter that it isn't part of the mainland. Hilarious.

We headed back home for dinner, and I had my first gluten free Thanksgiving. Honestly, it wasn't much different from any other Thanksgiving other than the fact that we had to make sure to make gluten free gravy. I don't eat stuffing or pumpkin pie, so I wasn't missing out on anything other than the dinner rolls. Next year I'll make sure to either make my own or place an order at the gluten free shop.

So, all in all, an all right day, I guess.

Quotes of the Week

Names have been omitted to protect the innocent, and I would like to thank my friends for entertaining me through IM, email, and text messages throughout my work week.

"**** said her pee isn't orange yet"
"You two are the gross duo"

"Since when did William Penn discover Pennsylvania? I thought he founded it..."

"Teachers: retards of the business world"
"Mom said don't say 'retard'"
"But they are!"

"Who pissed in HER Cheerios?"

And, my favorite:
"I don't want to eat food that has a penis on it."

Reincarnation

The vet called my mom yesterday with the results of KD's bloodwork and told her that in his next life he would like to come back as one of our family's pets. I have to admit, that would be a pretty sweet gig. Our pets are beyond spoiled.

Her bloodwork came back normal for what tests were done; we're still waiting on the thyroid workup. She got really sick last Sunday, but she seems to be better now. All 4.25 pounds of her.

Text Message Round Up

I'm set to clean text messages off of my phone, and here are a few that are just too good to send off into oblivion.

Random Stranger: Why do you say one thing @ do another so what should i do?
Me: Huh? Wrong number dude.

---

Phil: quirk
Me: Cheese doodle

---

Me: He's been in meetings since u called
Ryan: AKA avoiding stroke boy and his sidekick crime fighting contacts

Ryan: Pondo (ETA: as in Ponderosa)
Me: Ew.

Me: FYI - it's pmissile's g'day
Me: Or bday - predictive text is gay

Ryan: Mmm cheesy cream of potato soup
Me: Mmm vacation

While waiting in the ER
Ryan: My mother needs breath mints every time we come to the hospital
...
Ryan: Why is twinkle twinkle playing on the intercom system? :-(

Productive

I have nothing exciting to report for the day. You can stop reading now.

The day went like this: woke up at 3:30 on the dot after falling asleep at 2:30 as usual. Was awoken by one of the dogs at 5:30 because she was cold. She wanted under the covers with her head on the pillow and snuggled. Woke up 10 minutes late and got to work five minutes early. Drank a sugar free Red Bull and got hives. Then froze in my office for three hours while I finished all of my pending client updates.

Then I went outside and was cold. Got coffee. Got hives.

Came back to work and figured out how to fix my broken asp email form - CDO not CDONTS. It works. Did a little dance on the inside. Turned over all updating responsibilities to a client. Breathed a huge sigh of relief. Password protected a directory on IIS with out bringing down the site. Breathed another sigh of relief. Left work only 30 minutes later than I wanted to. *knocks on wood* My to do list for tomorrow is doable. Finally.

Went to dinner with Mom and Dad for Mom's birthday. Had a mango Mai Tai and grilled garlic shrimp. Very sleepy now. Just realized alcohol makes me very sleepy, and I'll have to remember that for Sunday nights when I can't fall asleep before 4:00AM.

*Yawn*

Food Poisoning

I think I had food poisoning. Or, at least, I ate something that I shouldn't have. Ew.

It's 9:30PM on a Friday night, and I am at home. Boo.

I'm not sure exactly what happened. Ryan and I went to grab some dinner at Eat 'n Park. He got his usual, and I got something new: BBQ chargrilled chicken, chili, and a baked potato. All of it was gluten free according to the Celiac-friendly menu, even the bbq sauce.

We finished dinner and headed to the mall. We stopped at Staples to get my dry erase markers, and then headed to the AT&T store. I started to not feel well, but I thought it would pass. Then as we started to go up the stairs to the second floor of the mall, I got really dizzy. Then the skin on the back of my head and neck started to tingle. Then I felt nauseous. Ryan took me back into the mall so I could use the restroom.

Of course, what I ate was not staying in my stomach. So I crossed my fingers that the bathroom was empty. It was for about three minutes, then this obnoxiously loud woman and her daughter came in and spent way too much time in there. The woman yelled at her daughter for leaving her shopping back outside the door of the bathroom instead of taking it into the stall with her all while I'm trying to keep my dinner down so as not to disgust. Finally they left, I wrapped my bout with nausea up, and left.

So, here I am. Ryan drove me home. I still feel like crap ... and to make things even better, I'm going for bloodwork in the morning -- fasting bloodwork -- so I can't even get some 7up in my system. Boo.

Four Things

Four Jobs I've Had

1. Web designer/developer
2. Marketing director of a community college
3. Marketing manager for a newspaper
4. Graphic artist for a newspaper

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over

1. Field of Dreams
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
3. Better Off Dead
4. Stranger than Fiction

Four Places I've Lived

1. In my current home
2. In a different house in the same town
3. In a different different house in the same town
4. In room 1321 in Tower C at the University of Pittsburgh

Four TV Shows I Love

1. Heroes
2. House
3. Clean House
4. The Office
   

Four Places I've Visited

1. Chicago, IL
   
2. New York, NY
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Orlando, FL

Four Of My Favorite (Gluten Free) Meals

1. Rey Azteca's chicken taquitos with cheese sauce
   
2. Amy's Organic Tamales Verdes
   
3. Grilled buffalo chicken salad with fries, a hard boiled egg, and ranch dressing
   
4. Turkey sandwich with DeLane Bakery's millet and potato bread (with Miracle Whip, Guigissberg Swiss cheese, and potato chips) and a dill pickle spear
   

Four Sites I Visit Daily

1. Google Reader (news, blogs, design repositories)
2. Gmail
3. Google Calendar
4. Lifehacker

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

1. On vacation again
2. Chicago, IL
3. Somewhere I haven't been before?
4. Probably in bed, under the covers, sleeping

Tag, you're it! If you're stuck for a NaBloPoMo idea, you're welcome.

Thank You, Pennsylvania

It has been two hours and thirteen minutes since the Pennsylvania polls have closed. And I am proud to live in a BLUE state. Thank you, Pennsylvania.

Today, I voted in the first Presidential election where I was actually aware of the issues. I am aware of where I stand on the issues. And I am proud to have voted in this most historic election, and I am patiently awaiting the final tally.

Yes we can, Barack Obama. Yes we can.



Rest in peace, Tim Russert. You were sadly missed this Presidential election.

Vacation

Unfortunately, my vacation is over, or, at least, nearly so.

231 hours of not working. Or, at least, not doing the work I get paid for every day.

Ok, so maybe not 231 hours exactly. 36 minutes of my vacation was spent working past five on my last pre-vacation day to try to wrap everything up. And about ten minutes were spent being angry that someone called me from work and woke me up on Monday, and then another five minutes or so on Tuesday being angry because I found out why I was woken up and it wasn't because someone died or a client's site crashed. So, 230 hours and nine minutes of work-free vacation?

I can say that this is probably my first real work vacation. Sure, I've had the opportunity to vacation time at my other jobs, but this is the first one I have taken where I have actually relaxed and not worried about work at all.

When I interned right out of college, I didn't expect any vacation time. I did receive pseudo-vacation time in the two weeks after I quit. That time was spent searching for a new job with a non-bitchy boss. Before my two week non-vacation was up, hired at the local newspaper. A little over a year in at the paper, I took my week's worth of vacation and I can't even remember what I did. I think I went to see a band? A half a year later I was on my way out again, starting a new job at the local community college. Sure I took a few days off inbetween, but those days were spent trying to find proper work attire and making sure that no loose ends were left at the paper. I took no time off at the college except for utilizing our half day Fridays and half a vacation day throughout the summer -- which were often spent checking work email anyway. I think if I would have taken a week of vacation, my boss would have cried - literally. A new job opportunity came along before I could take any vacation there, and I only had a few days of down time before I started my current job. So, nearly a year later, I actually took my first official vacation.

Aside from whatever vacation I took at the paper, all of my other downtime was when I was transitioning between jobs. And that, my friends, is not exactly a relaxing time off.

So, tomorrow it's back to the grind, and I can honestly say that I'm not looking forward to it. I got so much accomplished at home this week that I'm hesitant to go back to work so that all of my personal life goes back to being shoved into whatever free time I can muster. I do know this - there will be no more of the working until 7 or 8 every night to get "caught up." Caught up never happens, and I have to accept that.

Hello, World

To some, first impressions are everything. To others, first impressions are just that – the first, not the last. I’d like to think that I discount first impressions, but in all honesty, I don’t. I tend to give them a little more weight than the subsequent conversations and encounters. I’d like to think that I have a sixth sense about people, whether they are good or bad, arrogant or timid, likable or an asshole. Not to toot my own horn, but 99% of the time, my first reaction or sense of a person is hardly ever wrong.

I knew within minutes of meeting the new girl during my sophomore year in high school that she was snarky and sneaky and would spill her guts about whatever had been said to the next “cooler” person she could find. I warned my friends; they didn’t listen.

I knew within seconds of meeting my assistant at one of my jobs that he was going to be a pain and not do any work. He was “let go” with in two months and not by my doing.

I can usually sense if someone is “questionable” before they even speak. If you pay close attention to me, you can probably notice that I avoid even walking past certain people because they set off some sort of trigger in my brain that says “don’t go there.”

So, what kind of first impression do I think I give?

I’m sure it’s not completely favorable. And probably not completely unfavorable. I’d like to hope that it’s average.

I probably come off as either shy or snobby. Shy because I’m hesitant to talk to people I don’t know very well, and snobby because of the same. I’m not sure why it works that way, but I’ve been called both. I take offense to neither. I know I’m not a snob – at least not a snob about superficial things like clothes, cars, and money.

If you ran into me on the street, I’d hope that you’d realize:

• I don’t care what you think about me. Sure, I may give it some thought at first, but, honestly, in the end, I know it doesn’t matter. I’ll shrug it off, good or bad. This is me, take it or leave it.
• I do not accept laziness or stupidity as an excuse for anything. Stupidity and laziness go hand in hand, and if you’re either one, you better be willing to prove yourself to me if you want a moment of my time. Bad grammar, malapropisms, etc. make me want to mock you mercilessly. Sorry. Also, not being able to do things for yourself (things that you should be capable of), make me want to slap you. If you can’t take the two minutes to try to figure it out for yourself before you ask me, why should I take my time to help you? Don’t ask others to do what you can’t do for yourself.
• I’m open minded about everything except close mindedness. If you make a racist, sexist, homophobic, or classist joke that isn’t funny and/or is tasteless, I probably won’t want to talk to you anymore. I know that some of these jokes are funny, and I’ll laugh. But I also know that some are just in poor taste.
• I’m a geek. If you don’t even try to learn how to use a computer, and you’re under the age of 70, don’t waste my time.
• I don’t care how much money you have. Seriously. You can be trashy with money or without money.
• I don’t care what clothes you wear as long as they cover what they should. Seriously. Cover up.
• I don’t care where you come from. Seriously. You could be from outer space, and I wouldn’t care unless you tried to eat my family.
• I don’t care how “cool” you think it is to act stupid/trashy/slutty/skanky/frat-boy/sorority-girl/etc. It isn’t. Grow up, cover up, get a job, and contribute to society.

I think too many people waste their time trying to be something they aren’t, rather than accepting who they are. I won’t waste your time trying to fake an impression of what I think you want me to be, so why should I accept anything less from anyone else?

Things I Have Learned This Week

I have learned the following things during my vacation:

1. Some people are born annoying, and you cannot change that no matter how hard you try. Was it necessary to wake me up on Monday morning? I think NOT.
2. Some people have no boundaries and will cross lines to annoy you because they think it is appropriate. I don't know how some people don't get beat up/yelled at/slapped every single day.
   
3. The week before the election is probably not the best time to take a stay-at-home vacation. If you choose to take your vacation during the last week of October, turn your phone ringers off.
   
4. It can actually snow a lot in October. Perhaps I should have gone to Florida?
5. I do not like tofu.
6. A flu shot doesn't hurt at all. I'm just going to cross my fingers to hope that I don't get the flu at all this year.
7. Vacations are way too short.
   

Nobody's Poet

My evening, paraphrased:

Ryan: (singing) If you like pina coladas ...

Me: Huh?

Ryan: (still singing) ... pina coladas

Me: That's a terrible song ... about cheaters ... like that stupid Hinder song.

Ryan: Blah blah blah Hinder sux blah blah blah total suckage.

Me: I know, totally, but seriously ... that song is TOTALLY about cheaters. CHEATERS! The guy takes out an ad in the paper because he's sick of her; she takes out an ad because she's sick of him. Then they totally answer eachother's ads. Hello -- cheaters! Then they just laugh and get drunk and do it.

**uncontrollable laughter***

Ryan: Get drunk and do it?

Me: When, really, they should be like, "W-T-F? See you later ... but like C-U-L-eight-er ... with an eight. ... Seriously, WTF?

Ryan: ...

**uncontrollable laughter, snorting, and crying**

End scene.

Personality

Source: Toothpaste for Dinner

Exactly.

Resignation

After the week from hell that I had last week, I am grateful for a new week.

Last week, I resigned to the fact that I don't play well with others. I won't go into detail, but let's just say that I had a terrible week that I hope to never repeat again. I also think that last week will probably result in it being suspected that I have an "attitude problem", when, in actuality, it's not an attitude problem. It's me trying to get things done well and done properly within a reasonable time frame. And it's me being an adult and not a "kiddo." (I'm 25, not 5. Unless you are over the age of 70, you are one of my parents, or you are one of my aunts or uncles, you are not allowed to call me kiddo. I don't call you old lady/man, now do I? Of course not, it's innapropriate.) And it's me standing up against someone that probably has never had to deal with someone that doesn't let people walk all over her and doesn't let stupid, illogical things continue to happen. Solution: The wheels have been set in motion. Here's to hoping that the results will be positive.

Last week, I resigned to the fact that if I eat anything containing wheat gluten, I'm rendered useless for the next hour or two while my body becomes bloated, gassy, nauseated, itchy, and pretty much "gross feeling". I went for my wheat gluten allergy test on Thursday. While it can come back negative, that won't mean much of anything though. Negative doesn't necessarily mean negative, but positive definitely means positive. So, yeah, it's not definitive. Either way, I'm pretty sure that people don't feel like this every single time they eat. Solution: I stopped eating wheat gluten and yeast; now I feel a million times better. I think I feel ... normal.

Last week, I resigned to the fact that my mouth is expensive. My dental work (a.k.a. surprise root canal and porcelain crown) were not covered by my dental insurance because I haven't worked at my company for a year yet. My "dental agenda" with my dentist was also kind of rushed, so things are happening a little quicker than I had planned, which means I'm paying for things earlier than I had planned. I'm done with dental work until it's the new benefit period with my insurance. I'm crossing my fingers, and eating only soft foods until then. Solution: I set up a budget/debt reduction plan to pay everything off as quickly as possible. I think I'm comfortable with it.

The week ahead will be another whirlwind of working late to meet a deadline, writing articles for approval, and then going to a friend's wedding on Saturday.

Can it be September? Please?

A Relationship in 140 Characters or Less

Some of my saved text messages from June 20-July 25.

Me: I'm sitting in Subway waiting for your watches while two men are having a Bill Pullman/Paxton debate.

---

Ryan: U smell

Me: U break remotes

---

Ryan: I think this weird sheetz employee is stalking me

---

Ryan: Nerdle

Me: I hate motorcycles-HATE

Ryan: Haha

Me: Peewee on a motorcycle! omg

Ryan: Is it homo blue?

Me: No idea. Almost wrecked because I was laughing so hard

---

Ryan: "Do you know how bad water tastes when it's not what you want" what the hell is that moron talk

---

Ryan: Intardnets down there eh?

Me: Yes

---

Ryan: They can test for strep in the office?

Me: Um - always ...

Ryan: Don't remember that ... tonsils are swollen

---

Ryan: Behold the power of cheese!

---

Ryan: Shoulda stayed home

---

Ryan: Damn windmill blades

---

Me: Shake shake shake uh shake it!

---

Me: Ewww ... schweatty ballz!

---

Ryan: He prolly eats people

Ryan: Gravel voice Rawr Rawr rawr

---

Me: 1) WTF is up w/ ur away msg at home, 2) I have ur expense check, 3) tweet

On Editorials, Politics, Economic Devlopment, and Spamming in Johnstown

At 12:24 AM last night, I received an email with the subject line "Your Tribune Democrat Editorials, Your Politics and Economic Development in Johnstown, PA". I immediately thought to myself, "Did I write an editorial? Did someone submit one under my name? Who in the hell is Brett Barndt?" I opened it thinking that it had to be from either someone who knows me, someone who knows of me, or someone (local) who reads my blog.

Actually, the sender was none of the above.

You can read what he wrote in this PDF of his email. To summarize, Brett wrote a long, rambling email to the new(ish) publisher of the Tribune-Democrat (our local paper), Robin Quillon. That's not all, he decided to put everyone in the world in the carbon copy field, including me. I exaggerate, but there were over one hundred people CC'd on that email. [I, of course, removed all CC'd email addresses from the PDF, hence the large blank space.]

The actual content of his email was a little (or a lot of) ranting and raving about the closed mindedness of the Johnstown area. Sure, I see it all the time, but I don't need some random person spamming me about it. I was irked that someone didn't know proper email ettiquette -- and blatantly spammed me. Internet: don't spam, and if you must send out something that may be construed as spam, Blind Carbon Copy it people! No one needs their private email address plastered all over the internet.

And then I received the "reply all" response from the Tribune's publisher. I hate reply all emails unless they are necessary to continue a conversation and keep everyone in the loop. Luckily none of the other 100+ recipients of the email decided to spam me with reply alls. I would have had to hunt down Brett and smack him with a newspaper.

I mulled over responding. I hesitated. Should I? Will I be the next rant victim? I thought it over and figured who really cares. I sent it to both Brett and Robin.

Brett,

Thank you for your unsolicited email - I love spam.

Honestly though, I do appreciate the sentiment with which it was sent. I know where you are coming from; I read the paper daily, and I was formerly employed by the offending paper. Notice that I said formerly. Sure, I didn't like some of the items they published, but that's how the world works. You can't please everyone. However, it was the terrible pay and the PeeWee Herman-esque (former) publisher that made it way too easy to NOT feel bad about seeking alternative employment. (See related post)

I understand that you are trying to make a point: the newspaper shows a one-sided, closed-minded view of Johnstown. However, your email came off like the entire Johnstown area is closed-minded and, to that, I take offense. I am not narrow minded. Neither is my family. Nor are my friends.

I see the one-sided, often right-winged views are more prevalent than the left-winged views. However, I do know who that paper caters to -- mostly the older and elderly population -- many of which do agree with that viewpoint. Printed newspapers will fail eventually if they do not remedy this. The younger population is trying to gain some exposure and respect and many of us are more liberal and left-of-center.

But, back on point: the spam. Spam is any unsolicited bulk mail, and that is what you sent. No one that you had emailed had asked for such a message except for the Tribune -- that's what their editorial section is there to accommodate. My other complaint is that you blatantly published everyone's email address. There is no need for this, and it is completely uncalled for. That is a violation of everyone's privacy. (See common email etiquette and courtesy.)

See the BCC field? That means blind carbon copy. BCC is your friend. Use it - don't abuse it. I don't mind it so much with my publicly published email address that you used, but had it been my private address, I would have done a little more than send you a polite email complaint.

Thanks again for sparking debate and discussion -- something the area needs more of. Next time, please use a less obtrusive medium where people can ELECT to read your opinion instead of having it forced on them. Newspaper readers ELECT and CHOOSE to purchase the newspaper. Website readers choose to read websites. Forum users choose to read forum posts. I however, was FORCED to receive your unsolicited email. I could have hit delete, sure, but it never should have reached my inbox without my asking for it. (On a side note, if you're going to send a gigantic rant to 100+ people, you may
want to ramble less and proofread more. Just a thought ...)

And, Mr. Quillon, you are just as guilty of this crime by hitting REPLY ALL. Sure you had to defend yourself, but did you have to drag the rest of the Johnstown population into it? (See "Reply-All Isn't Always Necessary)

Sincerely,
Jaemie Gyurik
jaemie.com

Shortly after I hit send, I received a nice reply from the Tribune's publisher apologizing for the offending "reply all". He seems like a nice guy, and I think he'll do the Tribune a world of good after what happened to it with the last publisher (a.k.a. PeeWee).

As for Brett, calm yourself down. Keep up the debate IN THE PROPER MEDIUMS AND CHANNELS, but don't make Johnstown look as bad as the New York Times did, OK?

Five Star Day

• Followed through on to-dos, and I was VERY busy. VERY BUSY. I am completely overbooked with client work. The good: I am not bored. The bad: I am not bored.
  
• Much was accomplished through meetings and the computer -- I am a web developer, you know.
• Hang out? On my way.
  

Say No to Voccio

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank every one who emailed or called about Friday's post. I loved reading what you had to say about this particular candidate and listening to your calls, and I encourage you to relay that information to him personally.

I can now say that I personally created a "viral" email message. It went through the city of Johnstown in a matter of hours, and I have the web stats to back it up. Thank you to everyone who passed along my message and forwarded my letter to Pee Wee to your friends and families.

I created the button included in this post using artwork from peewee.com

Toilet Paper

Since I don't really have any ideas about what to talk about today, I am going to take this opportunity to discuss bathroom etiquette in the workplace. More specifically, I am going to talk about women's bathroom etiquette in the workplace. Mind you, the incidents that I am talking about — and maybe you've witnessed these things where you work, too — took place at my former workplace, not the present.

Proper Workplace Bathroom Etiquette for Women

1. Ladies, I realize that we usually have longer hair on our heads than men. However, I do not understand how this hair ends up on the toilet seat, in the toilet bowl, and on the toilet's handle. Other hairs … maybe. Hairs from the head? What the hell are you doing in there? Head stands? Swirlies?


2. Ladies, I realize that work is not your home no matter how many hours a day you spend there. I realize that some of you think that it is not your job to replace the toilet paper roll when it is empty; you think it's maintenance's job. Wrong. If you waited for maintenance to replace the empty toilet paper roll at home, you would be waiting a very long time. You better get some snacks.


3. Ladies, I realize that some of us do recognize the importance of replacing an empty toilet paper roll. Do note that I said REPLACE. Pulling the replacement roll out of the cupboard in the bathroom and placing it on top of the empty roll does not count. Most office bathrooms do not have locked toilet paper dispensers; you can, indeed, remove the empty roll and, *gasp*, replace it with a new roll.


4. Ladies, I realize that if there are three sheets of toilet paper left on the roll, the roll is not empty. However, for all intents and purposes, it is empty. What is the point of leaving THREE sheets of toilet paper on the roll? Use it and replace the roll, or take two minutes to replace the nearly empty roll with a new one and place the nearly empty roll back on top. Problem solved.


5. Ladies, I realize that a lot of us don't like to admit that we poop. Men don't like to even acknowledge that women poop. World, women poop. On that note, I would like to let the world know that while many may think that men have more disgusting bathroom habits than women, I beg to differ. There were many days when I would enter the women's bathroom at work only to find that someone had a) not flushed (or had not flushed completely) or b) not cleaned the bowl. Ladies, when there is one toilet for all the women in your office, please take a moment or two to clean up after yourself. Our bathroom at my last workplace had a toilet bowl brush under the sink and toilet bowl cleaner in the cupboard. Do you think anyone cleaned up their poo? Of course not.
   

You know the saying that goes "treat others like you would like to be treated"? I say, treat your workplace bathroom like your bathroom at home. Or, at least, treat it like the cleanest, nicest bathroom you have ever been in.

I'll Make an Excellent Parent, No?

I can tell that I am going to make an awesome parent. Super awesome.

I fell asleep while watching television at Ryan's tonight, and woke up to a loud bang, followed by a stream of obscenities, then "There's blood everywhere!" Half asleep, I asked what was wrong. Slightly dazed and confused, I stayed where I was, trying to wake up, as his mom came downstairs.

Ryan continued to lay on the floor as I listened to what was going on. Then I heard him mention that his toenail was gone, and that was it for me. I was staying put. Apparently, he caught his toe on a speaker as he went to walk through a doorway, and managed to do some damage.

At the mere mention of blood, I was nauseous. Then he had to keep talking about losing three quarters of a toenail. Ew.

When I have children, they will need to be wrapped in bubble wrap and not allowed to move. I can deal with poop and vomit, but I'll pass on the blood.

WARNING: Jaemie Is Not Suitable for Minors

Remember my post from yesterday? Well, surprisingly (or not surprisingly) enough, I got a response at 5:46 AM this morning.

Chris seemed to have "appreciated" my post and even forwarded it along to my former Tribune co-workers who "may" remember me. Cool beans, right? Someone must have Googled himself or someone knows how to check his web stats.

Anywho, Pee Wee has deemed me NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS. I am so proud. Seriously.

Just Say No

Artwork from peewee.com

When he served as publisher of The Tribune-Democrat, Chris Voccio made it clear he was no fan of governmental regulation.

Now, the Upper Yoder Township resident wants to become a lawmaker for the state House of Representatives in the 72nd Legislative District.

Oh brother …

No way. Not ever.

Dear Voccio Pee Wee⁽¹⁾:

There is no way in hell I would ever vote for you. EVER. You are the most condescending, snobby, arrogant, sexist, chauvinistic person that I have every encountered in my entire life. I'd rather have George W. Bush as my state Senator Legislator, honestly. At least he gives the appearance of respecting women and those less fortunate. In actuality, he may not, but at least he puts on a good show. You, on the other hand are something else.

I remember the first day I started working for you, and I thought you were nice. It was surprising that you cared enough to know my name and say "Hello, Jaemie" every time you saw me in the Tribune building.

Reality check.

You are not nice. I don't know if you even have an ounce of respect for anyone here in Johnstown. The entire time I worked for you at the Tribune, all you ever talked about was Texas and Greenville. This is Johnstown, buddy. If you're going to be a Johnstowner, lose the back story and eat a Coney dog⁽²⁾ for good measure. Johnstown is Johnstown, not Greenville. Not Texas. Not Rhode Island.

You said:

I believe that an economy with low taxes and limited regulation will thrive, while high tax, high regulation states like Pennsylvania will suffer. We must foster job creation by giving job creators reasons to do business in Pennsylvania and making it easy, not difficult, to conduct commerce here.

Bullshit. Yes, Mother, I said bullshit. The entire time I spent at the Tribune was spent fully expecting my position to be eliminated. While I was there, several people were "let go," reasons unknown. Sure, you babbled something about performance or not bringing in enough money. That is a load of crap. Smelly, smelly crap. You were just thinking about what kind of profits you could make if you eliminated a position or two just to impress the bigwigs down in Alabama. (You can tell Alabama Blue Cross Blue Shield that they can shove their health "insurance" where the sun doesn't shine. I'm lucky that I wasn't diagnosed with cancer while I was working for you — I'd be dead by now. Instead, I am still paying for a biopsy that I had 16 months ago because they can't figure out how to send one bill and/or actually cover necessary procedures.)

Remember that time in summer 2006 when all of our employees were afraid to return from vacation? Why, you ask? Because you kept firing people when they returned. What did you think they were going to do? Thank you for letting them take a paid vacation, shake your hand, and walk out the door? Yeah, right.

Remember when I got promoted to Marketing Manager, you wouldn't acknowledge my presence? Apparently I became a moron when I got PROMOTED. You could only talk to me through other people. Did we suddenly revert back to fifth graders?

Remember that time when you hired me to do the Johnstown Magazine website for you as a freelance project? Remember? It was cool until you told me to eliminate ALL OF THE WHITE SPACE. Forgive me for not acknowledging your super graphic and web design skills skillz. How could I have been so stupid? I don't know. You thanked me for my hard work and excellent design (until you relieved me of my site maintenance duties) by later asking me if I could give you the contact information for a guy I graduated high school with so that he could help you with a "web project." Not that I would have helped you with it anyway — why would I make two conservative Republican websites? That's totally against my principles.

That was a bad networking move, Pee Wee. Perhaps some day you'll need my expertise or assistance for something, and, you know what, you will never get it. Burn those bridges, my friend. Burn those bridges. You can join my other favorite ex-boss, and she can help you with that. A-S-S-H-O-L-E-S. Say it with me now kids …

Yeah, perhaps these are poor reasons not to want to vote for you. Perhaps. But, in all seriousness, I will never vote for you because of your character. You lack the personability and compassion that my DEMOCRAT self prefers to see in candidates. As much as you proclaim to want to diminish the role of government, I beg to differ. I have seen you in action in big business, and, honestly, you suck. You're all about the money, and I would bet dollars to yeast-free donuts that you'd be the first one to vote yourself a pay raise if the opportunity presented itself.

So, in closing, I leave you with one positive comment. Thank you for leaving religion out of your campaign website (thus far). I'll give you one rusty iron star for that one. I doubt, however, that this conscious omission will be your saving grace. (Your lovely "conservative publication" with it's whopping 75 subscribers tells another story though.)

Sincerely,
The girl voting for anyone but you

P.S. Remember that time when you wanted to rename The Tribune-Democrat so that it didn't have the word Democrat in it? That turned out well, didn't it?

⁽¹⁾ On my first day of work at the newspaper, I decided Voccio looked exactly like Pee Wee Herman. He even had on a grey suit and red tie — except he was wearing cowboy boots. See for yourself.

⁽²⁾ This is a Johnstown tradition. I, however, think Coney dogs are gross.

A List of Sorts

I'm not one for making resolutions for the new year — why start the year off with such daunting tasks ahead of you? I haven't really made a resolution or goal for the year, well, in years.

This year, however, I have decided to set a few goals. Some are private, and, maybe, perhaps, I'll share them later on in the year. The others are nothing special; just a few things that would make me happy.

• Read more books. I don't think I actually read a book the whole way through last year. Shame on me.


• Create more art, photographs, writing … I have been slacking in the (personal) creativity department for way too long.


• Learn more about my allergies. At the moment, it seems like I am allergic to the world. Before, I just had to worry about pollen, dust, and mold. Now most of the food I ingest causes some sort of reaction. This has got to stop. Seriously.
  

I think that is a good start for the year. I shall start by rereading the first Harry Potter and working my way through the end of the series. I know the rest of the world has finished the seventh book, but I haven't even read the fifth one! Don't worry, I'll read some "grown up" books, too. I have an entire collection of yeast-free, wheat-free, gluten-free books to sift through.

Oh-Eight

I'm sitting here, well, technically I'm lying — or is it laying? I'll never fully grasp that grammatical concept. Anyway, my cat has decided that my chest is a convenient place to take a nap, and I'm forced to crane my neck to see around and above her to type this post. Why not make her move? She's cute. And old. And very, very bossy. I just watched The Biggest Loser while eating two hot dogs. But I was drinking a diet Sierra Mist, so I think that cancels out the hot dogs, right? Right.

Good-bye 2007, hello 2008.

So, what happened in 2007 that was significant?

January: I had a job interview at the local community college, and was hired as their marketing director. I was offered the job at the best time possible — just in time to cause a little bit of panic in my bosses at the newspaper where I was working. I was the only one that knew all the little details of two of the events we were holding in January, and they knew that I could walk out the door at any moment. (Don't get me wrong, I didn't do EVERYTHING myself -- I just did a lot of the planning and had all the intricate details stored in my brain. People, did you ever hear of not putting all of your eggs in one basket?) That was nice considering my extremely crappy pay. I, of course, stayed and managed to throw both the Women's Showcase and the Bridal Showcase. I, of course, got to hear every complaint about everything that did not go well. I even managed to throw together the Women's Showcase even after some odd, unknown illness spiked my blood pressure super high, causing me to have an emergency visit with my doctor. She sent me for a CT scan and bloodwork — nothing was wrong.

February: I was surprised by an article on February 4 that said that my new boss — and supervisor — was resigning from the college effective June 1. I started my job as the marketing director at the community college on February 5. I turned 24 on February 6. February was a short month.

March: My new supervisor was hired. I talked to him once on the phone. I knew that things would be interesting.

April: April began kind of slow, then the pace picked up when I had to begin planning a golf outing (I have never golfed, and I don't intend to start), a farewell party for the college President, and various commencement items. I spent way too much time at work because the former marketing director was disorganized and, apparently, did no "marketing." Also, my "assistant" was let go, and I had no help with anything — not that he did much in the entire two months I had worked there anyway. April should have been a good indicator of what was to come.

May: I participated in the aforementioned farewell party, golf outing, and commencement ceremony. Ryan graduated at said commencement ceremony. I was given time off for spending way too much time at work. I had successfully managed to grow out my hair for one full year.

June: I began to realize that my new boss was kind of, sort of, demanding.

July: I realized that my boss was actually unrealistically demanding, and I decided that I would be able to calm him down and reign him in. He made me go to a really boring "Marketing Your Community College" conference in Philadelphia with him. All in all, the trip was not that bad. The only downside to the trip was that I really didn't have anything to talk to him about, which lead to awkward, uncomfortable silences in the car. I was also given skin and blood allergy tests. The blood tests came back with me being allergic to green beans. The skin tests had me severely allergic to yeast and moderately allergic to mold and pollen. I was very upset that I was not tested for any wheat allergies.

August: I decided that as much as I wanted to donate my hair to Locks of Love, I really couldn't continue to look like crap for the one or two more years would take to grow it out. Thus began the new "sassy" hair, and I found someone that can cut my hair short without making me look like a boy. Both the hairdresser and I are sad that we did not take before and after photos.

September: I decided that my boss is way too demanding and contemplated finding alternative employment. Apparently a one week turn around time is NOT appropriate for a 5,000 copy, 2-sided, glossy print job. I thought it was perfect, my boss said it was unacceptable. My boss thought that everything should happen instantaneously. I began to not answer my phone every time my boss called and began to count how many times he called me daily. The most? 27 times in one day.

October: I submitted my resume to a local IT company on the off chance that they would want to hire me at a comparable salary. I was offered a second interview and was subsequently hired. I told my boss that I was offered another job for more money, and he pretty much gave me the blow off. I came back the next day and told him that I would be leaving the college. I knew at that moment that he thought I was bluffing. It was a great feeling. I suffered through the next two weeks, listening to whining from him, listening to him demand that I get all marketing projects completed through February, and enduring a wonderful meeting where he pretty much told the rest of my division directors that he was screwed because I was leaving. Good. Somewhere throughout all of that, Ryan was also interviewed and hired by the same company.

November: I tried (and failed) to participate in NaBloPoMo. I began my new job as a web developer, and now work with mostly men: thirteen men and three women. I would like to print a fake diploma from Google University in web development. Considering that my degree is in communication, I am completely self taught in web development. I think I am clever. (Whatever.)

December: Did anything significant happen in December? Nope.

So, that was my 2007. Nothing major, except for changing jobs way too many times. Hopefully your 2007 was good. I hope you have a happy and healthy 2008!

Giving

Every year since I have had some sort of income that allowed me to have a few extra dollars, I have donated either money or books to holiday toy/gift drives. It's hard for me to believe that some people are such Scrooges at this time of year. Sure, I understand the frustration of seeing people who cannot support themselves, yet they have a ton of children. It's not the smartest way to live, but it isn't the kids' fault either. And, don't forget, sometimes there are circumstances in peoples lives that force them to utilize the welfare program — it happens.

I donated to the Today Show Toy Drive again this year. Today I purchased the Harry Potter set from their Amazon Wishlist, and I will purchase a few copies of the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle when I place another order (and have my credit card handy -- Amazon, what happened to my saved card?)

If you have a couple saved gift certificates or you are already placing an order with Amazon, what's another $10?

Geeky

It's nice to go to work and not have to worry about what your boss will say to you. And to not worry about what you say to your boss so that you don't make him angry. And to not agonize over how to ask a question of your boss because you know that either way you ask it, you will get snapped at because your question, though it makes perfect sense to you why you would be asking it, is absurd. It's nice.

I started my new job yesterday. Everyone there seems genuinely nice and happy that I have started. I hope this continues.

Pain in the Neck, Take Two

For those of you that know me (or have followed my Flickr or my Twitter, you know that I am a sickly person. I'm allergic to the world. My cholesterol was crazy high. My body is attacking my thyroid. Life is fun, no?

In September of 2006, I was referred to an ear, nose, and throat specialist. The specialist said that my thyroid was enlarged, and I was sent for an ultrasound. The ultrasound found three masses on my thyroid that were over one centimeter in diameter. This, of course, concerned my doctor, and she sent me to have the masses biopsied.

The thyroid biopsy was one of the most awful experiences that I have ever had to endure. After that, childbirth has to be a piece of cake. Needles were jammed into my neck to retrieve tissue samples. Thankfully, the masses were benign. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease. This pretty much means that my body attacks my thyroid and doesn't produce enough thyroid hormone. Fun times.

Over the past year, my doctor and I have been working to normalize my thyroid hormone levels and to monitor the masses . Everything has been pretty normal until recently. My thyroid has been aching, and, as my doctor confirmed, enlarged once again. She is concerned. I am concerned. I have to go get another thyroid ultrasound even though I just had one in August.

The doctor said that I don't have to worry about another biopsy yet. Yet.

You know, of course, that is all I can think of now.

Hello, goodbye

Today was my last day of work at the College. As happy as I am to be moving on and moving in a new direction, today was bittersweet.

I love(d) my job and (most of) the people there. Unfortunately, when I said that I had received a job offer for a higher salary, I got nada. I got a "you're not going to make a lot of money here" and "you won't get large raises" speech and a "I wish you could just stay" speech. But that was it.

It seems like a lot of my coworkers are sad to see me go. I received a lot of phone calls and emails once the announcement was made that I was leaving. Most told me how that I accomplished so much in such a short time or how they're happy to see that the College actually has marketing now.

I'm glad that the College has "real" marketing now, too. I'm just sad that I won't be there to see it through for this academic year. It's not my responsibility now. It will become someone else's baby, and someone else will have to deal with all of the crap.

The crap. The crap that I will no longer have to deal with. That, that crap, I will not miss one bit.

I begin my new job as a web developer for a local company next week. I'm a little excited and a little anxious. It should be challenging and a great learning experience. And I get to be a geek again.