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March 31, 2006
What are they smoking on Capitol Hill?
"I say let the prisoners pick the fruits," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, in this CNN.com article. What a great way to get an already unhealty American population to consume more fruits and vegetables. I know I'd rather eat fruit picked by a sociopath who's already blown his chance at life than by an immigrant who's hoping for a chance to give his family a better life. Who's going to change the linens in my hotel room where I've left my personal belongings while I go spend my day at the beach? another convict?
But more disturbing to me is seeing the main reason other members of the Republican party are supporting the guest worker legislation is for party preservation, not because it might enhance the lives of people who'd like to come live here. Have we forgotten Native Americans are the only group who did not enter this country looking for a better life. What's the difference between a person who enters through the Statue of Liberty or one who enters through the southwestern deserts?
Posted by Anna at 12:01 PM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2006
Song of the Day....
"Under the Boardwalk" by John Cougar Mellencamp
Posted by Anna at 2:45 PM | Comments (2)
Song of the Day....
"Under the Boardwalk" by John Cougar Mellencamp
Posted by Anna at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2006
How to tell you've been on second shift too long...
1. You don't know what time it gets dark.
2. You think 10:30 IS first thing in the morning.
3. You haven't eaten breakfast in 7 years.
4. You don't think it's odd that your neighbors are up at 3:30 in the morning.
5. You can't remember the last time you woke up to an alarm clock.
6. You're still saying "good morning" at 2:45 pm.
7. You refer to 6:00 am as "the middle of the night".
Posted by Anna at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2006
Rude Awakening...
I have a prepaid cell phone, which I use for road trips, an added feeling of safety when I come home from work at 2:00 in the morning and to bitch at the phone company when my landline goes out. But today, I was jarred from my sleep by the sound of my cell phone. Wondering who in the world would be calling me on it, I stumbled from bed and found it in the pile of stuff I'd removed from the pockets of my work jeans when I did laundry yesterday. It showed one text message, from a number I did not recognize, which read "U awake". Of course I was awake, and even though I knew it must have been sent to me by mistake, I felt the need to reply. My sleepy fingers struggled with the keys, but I was satisfied with the result. "No, I wasn't. But since I am now who are you and why are you waking me up?" I've heard nothing back.
Posted by Anna at 1:59 PM | Comments (2)
We're Almost the Best!!!!!
As if Gridges, Crawdaddy's, World Food Market, the Soup Kitchen, and I weren't enough great reasons, here's one more. Cookeville makes #2 on list of affordable U.S. Cities.
Posted by Anna at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2006
My Saturday Adventure....
Today has proven rather exciting, it started a couple weeks ago when I developed a craving for Bourbon Street Chicken. I found a recipe online, but since I live in Tennessee, it's not quite that easy. In the great state of Tennessee, the availability of alcohol is not a foregone conclusion, in some counties you can buy it in a bottle, but not a glass, in other counties you can purchase it in a glass but not a bottle, and even if it's available in your county in one form or another (or both) it may not be available in your city, depending on the attitude of the voting public. The county I live in hasn't approved liquor stores, and since I don't drink this was not an issue until I needed a bottle of bourbon whiskey for my chicken. I thought I may be able to get around this dilema by unleashing the power of the Internet, but I've learned it's illegal for internet retailers to ship alcohol into Tennessee.
SO last night at work I broke down and asked a group of my co-workers where the closest liquor store was, they gave me a vague set of directions consisting of "Take 12th street down until you come to the stop sign, turn right, there's a little liquor store on the right, you can't miss it". The sun was out, it was a perfect day for a drive, I was hungry, and the directions were so simple anyone could find it, so I headed out of town with visions of perfect Bourbon Street Chicken dancing in my head. I reached the stop sign, turned right and started looking for the store. Every store I passed was a potential suspect, but most of them looked more like convinience stores or thrift shops so I drove on. After several miles I decided I must be the one person in the world who could miss it, so I turned around and went back, almost as far as the stop sign before turning into a convienience store to ask for directions.
Just my luck, the store was closed for a couple hours so the owners could attend a funeral, but a sweet little lady in the parking lot was happy to give me directions (after filling me in on the person who the funeral was being held for, which she was too grief stricken to attend herself). Her directions were "Go back out here, a little bit down, when you come to the bottom of the hill, it's on the right. There's a bunch of little places right there, but one of them's the liquor store." So I set out again, certain I would find it with those directions, and after coming to the bottom of the third or fourth hill and not finding it among the clusters of three or four businesses along the way, I once again backtracked to where I'd spotted a sheriff's deputy tucked away watching the cars go by. Lucky for me, he hadn't found anyone to chase off after, I pulled in along side him, lowered my window, turned down my radio and looked over. "I'm lost, can you help me?"
"I'll try" he said. "I'm looking for a liquor store, isn't that sad?" He was nice enough to say "No ma'am" even though I'm sure he was wondering what kind of looser alcoholic I must be to ask him for directions to a liquor store. "Are you from around here?" he asked, a question which would seem extraneous to most people, especially considering that if I was from around there, I would surely know where the liquor store no one could miss was located, but I know having that piece of information is critical to his ability to give me appropriate directions.
If I'd answered "yes" his directions would have been something like "Well, go down here a bit until you go past ol' farmer so-and-so's place. Course, he died about ten or twelve years back and they sold the place to someone from California or Texas or somewhere. When ya get past there, you'll see the field my mom's uncle used to hay, back before the arthritis in his knees got so bad he couldn't drive the mower anymore, then there's a road on either the left or the right, I can't remember which, but you'll see a house that used to be green, they painted it 3 or 4 years ago, I'm not sure what you'd call the color now. The liquor store is just a sneeze away, on the right." But since my reply was "No, I'm from Cookeville" he knew I would need the "outsider" directions, which were "Go down here about 6 miles, when it turns into a 40 mile an hour zone, go 2/10ths of a mile, and Country Cabin Liquor is there on the right." Finally, I found the store which I hadn't missed after all.
I had no idea what to expect when I walked in, it wasn't my first time in a liquor store, but I felt like a man in the tampon aisle anyway. My eyes glazed over as I stared at the wall of bottles with labels bearing the words "Bourbon Whiskey", how on earth would I know which one was best for my purposes? Finally I just grabbed one that wasn't too high priced, and headed toward the front of the store. Then in a stroke of inspiration, I thought I should also get a bottle of red wine for making Ropa, everyone says it's much better with regular wine than cooking wine (which I normally use because it IS available in my county). I wandered among the aisles of wine trying to figure out what was what, eventually deciding to just give up and go home, then wandering some more waiting for a creepy patron to leave. I thanked the girl for carding me, took my bottle of bourbon and left with visions of perfect Bourbon Street Chicken, once again, dancing in my head.
Posted by Anna at 5:25 PM | Comments (1)
March 14, 2006
Now Discover Your Strengths
Have you ever read a book so great you couldn't wait to pass it on, and couldn't bear to part with it either? That describes how I felt about reading "Now Discover Your Strengths" by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton. Designed for managers, but relevant to nearly everyone, this book will take you on an adventure of self-discovery you will not soon forget.
The authors begin by laying the groundwork for focusing on your individual strengths, and managing rather than attempting to fix your weaknesses. Backed with research by the Gallup organization (most popular for the "Gallup Poll") they identify 34 distinct areas of strength, and provide glimpses of each strength using quotes by people identified as top performers in their organizations. Each book contains a one-time use code for an online assessment to identify the readers top five strengths, which can be referenced in the book for more information.
For me the entire process was energizing, not that it's changed who I am as a person, but it's changed how I look at myself. Gallup press has released several "strengths based" books geared for certain professions, I've not read any of them, but I recommend them based on my experience with this book.
Strengthsquest: Discover And Develop Your Strengths In Academics Career And Beyond (for high school and college students)
Living Your Strengths: Discover Your God-Given Talents and Inspire Your Community
Teach with Your Strengths : How Great Teachers Inspire Their Students
Soar with Your Strengths
Posted by Anna at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2006
Disappointment....
I just missed my chance to be scammed out of thousands of my hard-earned dollars by someone who's grasp of the English language was at best questionable. After making out something that sounded like my apartment had been selected by the US government to receive $150,000.00, I decided that anything that had to do with both money and the US government using non-English speaking telemarketers was nothing I was going to get tangled up in. As politely as I could, I said "I don't think so" and hung up.
In the 15 seconds it took him to redial, I recalled recent news articles about various local people who'd fallen prey to the scammers, and patted my head for not being one of them. So when I heard the broken English on the second call asking me why I'd hung up, because this was an "official" call, I was ready "I'm on the no call list" I said and hung up again. I guess it worked, because he's not called back.
Perhaps I should have stayed on the line longer, given him a few of my bank account numbers, perhaps my social security number as well, after all, it's the US government sending me the money, right? Maybe even wired him a few weeks pay in order to help out with shipping and handling. I guess even opportunity has gotten into the technology age and started ringing instead of knocking.
Posted by Anna at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 5, 2006
Sheep Shootin'....
This is fun, and just a bit addictive!
Posted by Anna at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
March 2, 2006
Opening of Short Season....
After two nights of being too warm at work, and sleeping with the window open last night, I've decreed that today is officially the opening of short season. (Unless something shifts in the cosmos and it starts snowing before 3:00 pm.)
Posted by Anna at 12:28 PM | Comments (1)