Saturday, October 12, 2002
Me: I'm unbearably grouchy today.
Hubby: You won't get an argument from me today.
Me: Grrrrrrrrr... *growling and bearing teeth*
Hubby: You don't scare me. I'm meaner than you and that's a fact.
Then he proceeded to sick the dog on me, which is pretty mean indeed. Luckily, Toby the Japanese Spitz is all bark and no bite or else I'd be typing this entry with a fluffy white dog attached to one of my appendages.
Yeah, it's been that kind of day.
posted by Donna, 10/12/2002 05:39:56 PM
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Sick on a long weekend... now that's the pits. It seems that after sitting through The Tuxedo last night only served to aggravate it, because after we left the movie theatre, I found that my symptoms had stepped up a couple of notches. Must've been the stench of stale popcorn and butter on the floor that sent my sinuses into overdrive. I found it rather disturbing to see that our neighborhood theatres, while still fairly new, haven't been maintained very well; already sporting that stale mildewish smell, stained and sticky floors, and the icky damp feeling that you get from older theatres.
The movie was decent, although not one of Jackie Chan's better films in my opinion, but entertaining nevertheless. I still find it hard to believe that he's in his late 40's; with his awesome physique and the incredible feats that he continues to do. Despite what Hubby says, I still think he could be Jackie Chan's body double. (Although he won't admit it, I know he was Jackie's butt-double in the James Brown jiggy butt scene.)
Being at home today is driving me insane. All of the clutter and mess that has accumulated as a result of my hectic schedule is really grating on my nerves. If it were just a matter of cleaning it up, it wouldn't be such a problem because I have no qualms about doing an all-day cleaning extravaganza if that would help -- but being that we severely lack space, it frustrates me to no end because there's no avoiding the clutter. The best I can do is to stack the clutter neatly. Bah.
I think I'll take my folks with me to Sam's Club today. (Can't avoid clutter? Why not go out and buy items in bulk and add to it?) I am out of essential items such as Oolong Tea and Slim Fast meal replacement bars (my idea of home lunch), so I guess it's about that time. At least the West Coast Dock lockout is over, so I don't have to buy any more toilet paper.
Anyway, enough rambling for the morning. I'm off to start stacking clutter...
posted by Donna, 10/12/2002 11:06:43 AM
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Thursday, October 10, 2002
The Two F's. I haven't seen her in years, much to my pleasure. But tonight, she was right here on my PC. In living color and with full motion video and sound. Having been featured on a recent newscast, just a couple of short shots of her at work, the clip was immortalized on a local news website for those of us who were fortunate enough to miss it the first time around. Despite the contact that we last had and the undesirable memories that it produced, I wasn't unduly ruffled by the sight of her, surprisingly enough.
Luxurious hair, perfect make-up and an expensive-looking outfit... the years had undoubtedly been very good to her. (Dare I say it?) Much to my dismay.
I'm ashamed of my natural inclination, which is to wish a 50-pound tip of the scale (in the positive direction) or perhaps at the very least a bad haircut, upon someone who hasn't had the opportunity to wrong me in several years. Human nature? Perhaps. But I really should be above all of that. I am happy to say that it was but a fleeting thought, so fleeting that it entered and exited my consciousness so quickly that it can barely be considered a bonafide "thought."
But then, I find myself doing the next very human thing to do which is to look in the mirror and see me -- Frump Girl who had put on about 10 pounds since our last encounter, and compare myself to her -- well put-together, forever petite and beautiful. "She gained some weight," Hubby was quick to point out. But the really sad thing is that even though she put on a few pounds, I'd still probably be able to pick her up with one hand and toss her across the room. Or was that just wishful thinking? (Of course, I'm just kidding.)
Although I don't normally feel threatened by the thought or sight of Hubby's ex-girlfriends, I have a bit of history with this particular Ex that had left a bitter taste in my mouth. I have found, however, that the old adage "time heals all wounds" holds true. Although not enough time has passed to make the bitter taste sweet, at least most of the bite has dissipated enough to make the thought of her palatable enough.
Nowadays, I just find it amusing to make snide comments and laugh off the hurtful things that she did to me those many years ago. Although I don't think there's a chance in heck that we'll ever become friends, at least I know now that the sight of her doesn't send my blood pressure through the roof any more. It is somewhat comforting to know that I can actually recover from past hurts and not carry a grudge (for too long).
Forgive and forget. Two F's that are easy to say, but sometimes very hard to do.
posted by Donna, 10/10/2002 09:07:08 PM
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Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Just a quick note to the love of my life...
Happy Birfday, Hubby!
posted by Donna, 10/9/2002 10:28:25 AM
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Bugs. It appears that I've caught the bug. It came on suddenly, starting with a little sore throat on Monday night, blossoming into congestion, runny nose, coughing, sneezing and body aches by Tuesday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, I realized that I had a fever and my lightheadedness and achy muscles made it difficult to concentrate on my work at the office. I made it through the afternoon, although it felt like the longest day of my life. I managed to drive home, mostly by auto-pilot while chatting with Derek the entire way on my cell phone to help me get my mind off of my misery. [Don't worry, I use a hands-free headset. I'm a safe driver. ;)] This morning, I felt barely able to move, but managed to get out of bed after lying on my back, staring at the ceiling for nearly a half hour. I phoned in at the office, letting them know that I wouldn't be in to share my germies with them today.
On a lighter note, Derek figured out what was causing problems with users viewing my page with IE 6. After removing a pesky piece of code, it appears that you should all now be able to see my page without the bugs. (Not to be confused with the bug that I seemed to have contracted...)
At any rate, I think I better go back to bed and lie down. I know I'm not drinking nearly enough liquids and not getting enough rest, so I'm going to do that right now so that I can get back into the land of the living by tomorrow...
posted by Donna, 10/9/2002 10:25:35 AM
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Monday, October 07, 2002
Even then. (Disclaimer: I'm not very proud about my attitude, but I'm just being honest. After all, they say that admitting it is the first step to recovery, right?)
There's a man at work, well advanced in years, having reached retirement eligibility at least a decade (or two?) ago. He's a brother in the Lord, a very religious man who many might consider overzealous. He’s eccentric and his personality is oftentimes overwhelming to most. It isn’t uncommon to find yourself stuck in his office for 15-20 minutes while he preaches at you, quoting scriptures one after another in an almost showy manner. Mind you, I love the Lord but I find that most people don’t appreciate that in-your-face method of sharing your faith. It seems that being too overly aggressive only serves to push people away and turn them off about your message. I believe he means well, but yet, it’s been proven that the hellfire and brimstone messages don’t work – at least not in the long run.
He once gave me an entire sermon on why my hyphenated last name meant that I really wasn’t serious about my marriage relationship. He claimed that in keeping my maiden name and simply appending my husband’s last name to mine meant that I could simply run off at any time with little or no regard to my marriage. This made absolutely no sense to me. The fact is, I hyphenated my name because I am an only child and I mostly did it to honor my parents. I also felt that keeping my Okinawan surname would keep me tied to my heritage more closely as well. It had nothing to do with any intentions to be only loosely tied to Hubby.
This man has recently been adopted into our department as a result of the organizational changes that have been occurring in our company as of late. Due to this change, he’s been frequenting our office a lot more and often seeks me out to order supplies for him. Sadly, I have to admit that his eccentricities drive me nuts and I am often terse with him, trying to move our conversations along to make them as short as possible. Although I like to consider myself a relatively patient individual, I find that my patience runs slim to none with him.
I realized this today when he approached me for assistance with the new phone system. Since we’ve recently converted from Rolm to Nortel, there are quite a few differences with the phone instrument and voicemail prompts. Unfortunately, he didn’t attend any of the training sessions and didn’t receive the instructions, so he showed up at my desk this morning saying that he had an urgent message waiting on his phone that needed to be retrieved right away.
My sinful heart sank as I thought, my goodness, I’m going to be stuck in his office for hours trying to teach him how to use the new phone! Grudgingly, I went to his office and gave him the quick and dirty lesson on how to get his voicemail. I gave him a copy of the instructions, highlighted the important steps and urged him to read it. I practically ran out of his office and came back to my desk no more than 5 minutes later.
Later on, I felt bad about my attitude towards him, realizing that God called us to love everyone – not just the easy-to-love people who I get along with really well, but even (and especially) those that rub me the wrong way and make me crazy. I realized that I needed to be kind to him, patient and loving, even when he’s in my face and telling me that despite the fact that I have been married for nearly 9 years, that I have the propensity to up and leave Hubby because I was never really devoted to him merely because I decided to hyphenate my surname. Even then. Even when I feel the frustration level rising because he isn’t really listening to what I’m saying and he’s rambling on and on and on – on a tangent that’s completely irrelevant to what I’m trying to tell him. Yes, even then.
God called us to love the unlovable. After all, he first loved us while we were yet sinners. He didn't wait for us to grow into perfection. (Not that it would be possible anyway.) Even while I was completely ignoring him, uninterested in God; he was there all along, extending his arms to me, offering the greatest gift I could ever receive. Even then.
posted by Donna, 10/7/2002 10:56:40 PM
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Sunday, October 06, 2002
The three F's. On my commute home from work, there's a grassy area on the side of a 2-lane highway that seems to attract roadside vendors. It all started with a farmer from Waimanalo who decided to bring a truckload of corn to sell at $2.50/bag. (I've actually stopped along the way and bought a couple of bags from him in the past.) When the fish are biting, you'll see a guy with a cooler and a sign offering freshly caught Ahi. The next thing you knew, there were people selling "Ono Kine Pasteles." When mango season came around, someone else started selling "Li Hing Pickle Mangos." Then, a guy selling large, decorative rugs decided to set up shop there, too. What really took the cake was a guy sitting under a tent with a little satelite dish and a TV, offering Dish Network service.
Is this a roadside or a swap meet? They're about as dangerous as those sign-wavers who distract drivers and slow down traffic. What's worse is that traffic is trying to merge into one lane right at that spot -- and I don't need to get into a tirade about people trying to merge, do I? As it is, most people aren't very multi-tasking when they get behind the wheel, so when they're looking at the big tiger print rug, they're not watching my bumper which is right in front of them. Get my drift?
Being that Hubby was former HPD, he will often take the liberty of telling me what is legal -- and what isn't. Little known facts that us Joe Schmoe's probably aren't aware of. He said that it's legal for roadside vendors to sell what he calls the three F's: Fish, Fruits and Flowers. So the "Corn Man" (as I like to call him), the guy selling Ahi and the pickle mango people are all within the law. The others need to go to the Kam Swap Meet, pay their twenty bucks for a booth and set up shop over there.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not down on those folks who are trying to make their own little business work. But tell me, how lucrative can selling rugs or TV service on the side of the road be? I realize that you've pretty much got a captive audience (albeit disgruntled, tired, and frustrated after sitting in rush hour traffic for an hour), but do motorists really stop and buy? I mean, the food vendors make sense to me because people are always in the market for food -- but what about the rugs and satelite TV? I'm just curious.
Do you buy stuff from roadside vendors?
posted by Donna, 10/6/2002 12:42:21 PM
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