not proud

i'm sorry, but i cannot deny that i like this song:

when it comes on the radio, i actually turn the volume up. obviously, this is serious.

can we still be friends?

martha

this is what i made yesterday:

these are why:

never underestimate the demands of a great shoe.

google favourites

so, my google phone flags my contacts as favourites based on frequency and length of phone calls. i'm sure there's some fancy algorithm behind the calculations here so, i mean, this must be scientifically accurate information.

here are my top ten "favourites," according to google:

1. cute guy

2. my sister

3. my mom

4. my manager

5. college boy

6. my other manager

eerch!

hold on. what? what did that say? really?

yes, friends, you read that right: two of my managers in my list of favourites.

in the top ten, no less!

my managers are my favourites?! does that mean work is my favourite?!?

i can't go on with the list. this is just too sad.

...

...

i think i am going to go eat some ice cream ...

it's a sad, sad life i lead ...

the gravy

my boy jerry takes care of me. when i visited the woodworths this summer, mike made fun of me for how in love i am with my jerry jetta. but i cannot deny it: he is amazing. pretty, fuel efficient, powerful, acclaimed, sporty ... without belaboring all the features that i have already mentioned, i must tell you about some that i have grown to love over the past 3 months:

• sunroof. pretty sure i have already mentioned it, but i had to say that i *love*, love, love my sunroof. there is never a time when i drive without it open. man, that was a great choice, christianna. really. good job.

• courtesy blinkers. they blink, blink, blink and then turn off when you change lanes. talk about awesome. i will no longer ever be one of "those" people, driving down the highway unaware that my blinkers are confusing drivers on all sides.

• heated seats. now, i admit that living in sunny socal really limits the need for heated seats ... but ... i have horrible back trouble most of the days, and these heated seats provide the right amount of relaxing warmth for my whining muscles. ahhh. not the manufacturer's intended purpose, i know, but perhaps all the more valuable for it.

okay, ryan, i'll stop rubbing it in now. hope you get yours soon.

lasting impressions

chatting with a co-worker tonight, griping about the same old office complaints ...

... i got an unexpected glimpse of the impression i leave on some people:

"i'm starving and talking to you made me think of jerry's."

[nose wriggle]. funny.

...

what do i make *you* think of??

pump gas much?

so ... it's been a while, okay?

i stopped at the shell last night to refuel.

as i sat for about 5 minutes, waiting for the outside "stalls" to free up (since they are the only pumps with diesel) i realized that my tank was on the other side of the car and promptly pulled into the empty diesel stall in front of me.

i put him in park and climbed out. i swiped my card and waited. and waited. oh, i have to put in my zip code. hmm ... where's the key pad? oh. found it.

i grabbed the nozzle and put it into the tank. when i squeezed the handle, nothing happened. huh? oh, i have to push the fuel type button.

i squeezed the handle again and the diesel started flowing.

finally.

i didn't remember that refueling was such an ordeal ...

thanks, jerry, for being so fuel-efficient.

workaholic

i left my client's office at 9 last night only because i had to pee and i have no key card to get back into their office. i went home and worked until 4am.

c'mon, who's jealous?

my greasy lover, bacon

i wonder if you really could travel back in time ...

good boy, jerry

welp, after entirely too much concentration wasted on work endeavors, i had to check yahoo one last time before hitting the sack tonight. on the main page, yahoo! finance was featuring an article called "The 5 Best Low-Cost, High-Mileage Cars", which conclusively and with authoritative finality answers the question, "what car would you buy that is well made, gets good gas mileage, and doesn't cost much?".

of course i had to check out the lineup. and guess who's number one, friends!

i couldn't agree more: jerry, you're awesome.

(in case you wanted to ask: no, i don't know who else made the list. i got carried away in celebration for my boy and stopped reading at #1.)

been around

when i was talking to my mom the other night, she said she had a great idea to set me up with a guy she works with.

only problem is ...

... i already went out with him.

like 5 years ago.

man, i've been around too long ...

a mutual error

i was in chicago for work, participating in a team-building activity called "planks" at the time the 2-hour house season premier aired. the activity was kind of an interesting puzzle thing, and i like puzzles, but my team didn't win or get any prizes. *and* i missed house.

i was so annoyed.

so i got home from my trip around midnight on monday this week and turned on the tv to catch up on my house-watching, only to find that direct tv had recorded the episodes but wouldn't replay them! can you believe it? what's the point of recording the show if it can't be replayed? the dvr just sat there "searching for authorized content" for 5 minutes, then asked me if i want to delete the show.

uhh ... no! i don't want to delete the show! i want to *watch* the show! seriously, people.

i answered "no", and tried again. but same thing. and again.

i was even more annoyed than plank night.

but -- what can you do?

[grumble]

so tonight, i watched house online. my first time online. kinda cool set-up: fox.com posts the full episode 8 days after initial air. means i have to wait a week -- but it's not like i have oodles of time to just sit around watching house all day anyway.

the only really annoying thing, i suppose, is that each full episode is sponsored by a single advertiser -- which means that each regularly scheduled commercial break consists of only one commercial -- but it's the *same* commercial every 15 minutes. and you can't skip or fast forward or anything.

in tonight's case, the advertiser was northwestern mutual. life insurance. blah-blah.

on the third time through this riveting juxtaposition between baseball and blah-blah, i noticed something interesting in the commercial: the company can't even spell their own legal name right.

ha ha.

well, in all fairness, their tagline is, "put our strength to work for you." they said nothing about putting their spelling skills to work for you.

okay.

what i did this summer

in case you haven't noticed, i haven't been blogging much. not for lack of things to write about, but for time to write about them. not only has work swallowed me alive, but i have been insistent that i wouldn't allow work to consume all my waking hours.

lately i have taken advantage of the opportunity to use some of my pto before work gets even worse and i am completely unable to take the time off. and i have been busy!

so, in honor of school starting up again, i thought i'd do a quick, "what i did this summer" post for all.

• jun 6 - 7 visit woodworths in tahoe, ca
• jul 2 - 9 visit all kinds of family in ogden, ut, and eagle, id
• jul 30 - aug 5 visit inge & jared in houston, tx
• aug 8 - 9 california all-state ysa conference in santa monica, ca
• aug 14 - 15 becky's wedding in las vegas, nv
• aug 21 - 24 visit woodworths in san jose, ca
• sep 3 - 8 bumbershoot in seattle, wa
• sep 11 - 13 help mom & dad pack in ogden, ut
• sep 20 - 23 annual training for work in chicago, il
• sep 23 - 28 visit eden & clint, et al, in boston, ma

i'll elaborate on the details in the coming weeks -- when i find time to post some pictures. because a picture-less post is hardly worth the read, let alone the write.

chegou!

finalmente.

:)

recognition

got the following email from a client today, at the end of our 2008 audit:

"Had a good time, too. Next week I'm visiting my proctologist and I'm sure that will bring back fond memories of the 2008 GT audit. LOL"

thanks, dude. it's nice to get a little recognition for a job well-done.

computer expert

every morning, when pat asks me a computer question, this is actually *precisely* what i do.