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February 27, 2006
Merci....
If I worked for the advertising agency which holds the "Liquid Plumber" account, these girls would be my poster child.....
For more long hair viewing enjoyment, check out this site.
Posted by Anna at 1:09 PM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2006
Happiness Is......
... finally bringing home the fabulous globe from Pier One that I've wanted forever and a day!!!!
... getting the last two boxes of chocolate/mint Girl Scout cookies on sale at the front door of Wal-Mart!!!!
... opening windows to let in fresh air for the second day in a row, even though its still February!!!!
Posted by Anna at 4:07 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2006
Spam.....
The guy in line behind me at SAM'S club the other day was buying several multi-packs of Spam. I didn't ask him what on earth he needed so much Spam for, sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Posted by Anna at 9:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2006
The Problem with Women....
Here it is girls, this is what's wrong with us. I can't claim credit for this astonishing observation, the recognition for this insight belongs to my landlord. While fussing at him to get rid of the verbally abusive worthless drunk man who is supposed to be under a restraining order, and who's bike is now chained up outside his girlfriends apartment, he bestowed this jewel of knowledge on me. "That's what's wrong with women, they keep letting these men back into their lives, and then they get beat up". Never mind that he was talking to a woman who successfully keeps those men out of her life, and never mind that in this case it's a man who is what's wrong, somehow the woman draws the blame.
It's not this man's fault that he can't stay away from alcohol, and it's not his fault that he thinks the best way to show a woman you love her is to call her a f*****g crackhead at the top of his lungs for the entire neighborhoods enjoyment, she GETS beat up. And since she is the one with the problem, there is no legal recourse the landlord can take to prevent him from being on the property except to evict her.
I feel bad for her, because now she will be thrown out for his behavior, even though when he's not around she's a decent neighbor but I am not going to fear for my safety when I take my garbage out. And I am not going to sit in my apartment in the middle of the summer with doors and windows closed because I don't want to hear his offensive language, when I could be out enjoying the sunset. But, she's the one with the problem, so she must be kicked out.
Posted by Anna at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
Lost, Reward for Return.....
I went to the doctor today and discovered I'd lost about 6 pounds since my last visit. I believe I lost those pounds at work, somewhere between the scrap room and the QC lab. I'm asking everyone to be on the look out for them, and if they see them to please return them to me because I need them. (I'm also accepting donations of unwanted pounds.)
Posted by Anna at 2:23 AM | Comments (4)
February 20, 2006
Role Reversal
I know that you can get a note from your doctor to get out of work, but could I get a note from work to get out of my doctor appointment today?
Posted by Anna at 2:04 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2006
Deep thoughts.....
Does the superlative apply to happiness? A person can be smart and still wish to be smarter. A person can be strong, and still wish to be stronger. But could a person who believes they are happy wish to be happier, or does the wish to be happier imply they have not yet achieved happiness?
Posted by Anna at 12:43 AM | Comments (0)
February 18, 2006
Small World
Yesterday morning I picked up my phone to call work, and discovered my line was dead. This is an annoyance I've become used to in the time I've lived in this apartment, it seems like everytime it rains hard my jack goes dead. I quickly switched the phone from the bedroom jack to the kitchen jack, and still no dial tone. Luckily I had gotten myself a prepaid cell phone for my road trips last Christmas, so I grabbed that and called work, then the phone company. The girl at the customer service desk assured me that I would have my phone back by that night, but when I returned home after ten hours of work my phone was still out.
A loud knock on my door about 9:30 this morning jarred me from my sleep, I looked out and saw the phone company truck in the parking lot, so I threw on my yoga pants and a sweatshirt and let the repair man in. He'd already checked outside, and determined the problem must be on my end of it. After cutting through the mess of wires that is my phone line and finding where it comes into the building he still couldn't find the problem, so he went back outside to do more checking. He returned, fussed over the wires some more, went back outside mumbling something about maybe they'd moved some wires around. Several minutes passed and he returned with a second tech, and they continued puzzling over my wires. We were talking about the snow outside, and I mentioned that I was from Minnesota, and the second tech said "really, I'm from Minnesota." So I asked where in Minnesota he was from and he answered "Duluth". I told him I'd spent most of my life about 90 miles from Duluth, when I told him which towns I'd lived in he answered with a very Minnesotan "ah, da Range" and I knew he wasn't lyin'! The first tech asked me how I'd decided to move to Cookeville, and I told him I'd picked it off the map, which most people find hard to believe (it was a little more of an educated choice than just throwing a dart, but still the same effect). The second tech said he'd found it on the Internet, and had been here just over a year. So while the first tech rewired a new jack for me (after discovering one of the wires in my line was dead and that my kitchen jack was not too far from dying of corrosion anyway) we chatted about the contrast of life in Minnesota to life in Tennessee, and the places we both knew.
(P.S. If you've been calling and not getting an answer, my phone is back in service now.)
Posted by Anna at 2:01 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2006
Unconventional Valentines
It seems that most people either really love or really hate Valentines Day. Not many fall into the middle ground of "take it or leave it". I'm one of the people who would not miss February 14th one bit if it dropped off the calendar altogether. I feel being guilted into expressing love by the mass-merchandisers negates any true feeling. Soon the trinkets, chocolates, flower arrangements and cards full of tired clichés will disappear from store shelves, and we can move on to the next holiday.
I propose a more unconventional gift to those you love, one you will not find on any store shelf. It's simple to make, and costs only a little of your time, it's called a living will. A few months ago, I began making mine, and was amazed at how uncomplicated the process was. I obtained the forms from my doctor during my regular annual checkup, he gave me two simple forms to complete. The living will form was just a couple check boxes, and a few lines for me to make more specific instructions and then a place to sign it and have it notarized or witnessed. The Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare form is again a couple of check boxes and the place to provide the names and contact information of the people I want to make medical decisions for me in the event I'm unable to, and then a place to sign and have it notarized or witnessed. Naming a Power of Attorney for Healthcare is not the same as naming a Power of Attorney. Laws vary by state, but in most states unless you specifically name someone those decisions default to a spouse first, and in the absense of a spouse, the parents. I was surprised to find in some states any concerned individual can be named as guardian, including a third party you never knew.
Until Terri Schaivo's case pushed the need for advance directives to the forefront last year, I could see no reason in making one, I'm much too young to be thinking of those things. My opinion changed watching what her family struggled through. To me, the most important reason in taking the time to make a living will is to spare my family unnecessary suffering in what would be a traumatic situation anyway. This may be the easiest, and most important way you can tell your family you love them.
More information on Advance Directives is available from the following sites:
End-of-Life Choices—Make Your Wishes Known
Compassion and Choices
Five Wishes (by Aging with Dignity)
U.S. Living Will Registry
Posted by Anna at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2006
Common Sense
I'm glad to see Britany Spears has come to her senses about driving with her four month old baby sitting in her lap (story here). We constantly hear about the dangers of not using seatbelts, and the forces that come into play in an accident (or, as my mother would say, "when a situation develops") and sometimes it just becomes background noise. I didn't realize how powerless a person really is in those cirucmstances until I was a passenger in an accident on my Christmas vacation. I couldn't even keep my glasses on my face, they flew off and landed on the floor at my feet (unbroken, thankfully). Not only could she not have full control of her vehicle with a baby on her lap, but if something had happened, he would have been crushed between her and the airbag or steering wheel.
Posted by Anna at 2:49 AM | Comments (2)
February 9, 2006
Isn't this georgous!!!
I saw this globe in my Pier 1 Imports store, it's much more amazing in person that in the picture. It is definitely going to be in my "home-office" when I get a real home!
Posted by Anna at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
February 5, 2006
Self Discovery
How do you respond to a threatening situation? Which reptilain response is characteristic of your style? Fight, Flight, Freeze, Food or Sex? According to the Assessment in "Who Are You: 101 Ways of Seeing Yourself" by Malcom Godwin my style is "flight". To find yours, answer the following two questions and then look at the key underneath to find your style.
Your attractive companion at a party gets drunk and behaves very embarrassingly to the other guests.
Do you:
1. Become aggresive and force him or her to leave?
2. Quietly withdraw?
3. Get bored and find the buffet?
4. Find you are sexually excited by the wild behavior?
5. Become helplessly embarrassed and do absolutely nothing?
You have been told you have one day left to live.
Do you:
1. Rage against death and try to find a way to avoid it happening?
2. Ignore it all and carry on as if nothing is going to happen?
3. Throw a party and eat the finest meal you can buy?
4. Throw a wild party and make love to as many partners as possible?
5. Sit alone, paralyzed by fear?
KEY: 1 = Fight, 2 = Flight, 3 = Food, 4 = Sex, 5 = Freeze
I really didn't think I was a runner, but after much introspection, I've come to grips with the reality. The epiphany that brought me to terms with this revelation came this afternoon in the memory of a conversation some years ago. A good friend asked me why I always cracked a joke when something made me uncomfortable. It struck me today that using humor to deal with an awkward situation is a form of withdrawing, or, in other words, Flight.
If self-discovery is your thing, this book is full of fun ways of finding you. It's a quick and easy read, but I can't say every assessment makes sense to me, for example, I'm still working on which animal lives in my heart, it's either the dog or the rat.
Posted by Anna at 7:28 PM | Comments (3)
February 4, 2006
Personal Note.....
Confidential to the gentleman who verbally berated me in the Wal-Mart parking lot this afternoon: Did I ruin your day or are you always that rude?
Posted by Anna at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)
Head Scratching Headlines...
Who is writing headlines for CNN.com? "Arson feared in 6 church fires". Hello???? If you have 6 churches on fire on the same exact night, in the same exact time frame, it is arson, churches are not known to spontaneously combust.
"Investigators are trying to determine if a string of fires at churches in central Alabama were started by an arsonist, a state official said Friday", the story begins. But that's not really what the state official said, what the state official said was "We're clearly investigating these as arson". Did I miss something? Is "trying to determine" the new "certainty"? Please, somebody, fill me in. I so hate being out of the loop.
Posted by Anna at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)
February 2, 2006
Put your cell on ICE
If you had a medical emergency or were in an accident would emergency personnel know who to contact? Emergency agencies in my area are promoting a new campaign, which urges people to designate an emergency contact on their cell phone by entering the letters "ICE" (In case of emergency) next to the name of the person they would like contacted. Details are available here.
Posted by Anna at 2:21 PM | Comments (2)