Oh G-d another rant...

For all the women who insist in driving the largest SUV they can find, STOP. Seriously. You have proven time and time again that you can not drive or park them properly. I would normally chalk this up to having ovaries makes you incompetent at driving, but I have proven that theory wrong by driving and parking a box truck with no problem. Sorry ladies, get another excuse. Oh, but it is my husbands car. Really? Then let him drive drive it. Chances are he'll do a better job at it than you will. Learn to drive your damn vehicle before somebody shoots it. (with a .40 caliber hollow point through the engine block) Honestly, I drive one of the smallest cars you can get and I park in the middle of a parking space and without fail some damn expedition, excurstion, escalade, or surburban parks beside me inside my space and dings my car. While I have great insurance coverage, I do not enjoy the thought of filing a claim for the mulitple little dings and dents you have put in my car. Instead I would rather key the fuck out of your car (or shoot it) or at the very lest ding you back. I know this leads to more paint needed on my car, but at least I get the satisfaction of causing you grief. So, in closing, if you ding a Mini and have a paragraph about proper parking engraved in your door, don't be surprised. Fuckers!

summertime lists, some from years gone by

Cafe Intermezzo...black light..."where am I"....."didn't Dr. Stearns give you that as a gag gift?"....extended hugs....severe ankle sprains....dancing....Waffle House hacky sack...collect calls from Amsterdam...$2 SHOTS!...."so I guess this means you aren't gay"....73 in a 45 MPH zone...Bells Ferry park...Starbucks hacky sack...frisbees...nipple rings, mine and his...purple monster...Thrill Kill Kult...housesitting...swings...dogsitting...Westview fountains...Chi Omega fountain...Dinky..."I'm drunk, right now I'm so in love with you"...spelunking cockroaches...unicorns...more extended hugs *URGH*...Cheshire Bridge Crawl...nice boots...KPC late night...plinko...crack smokers...stargazing...Sidepockets...drunken kung fu...I hate flying...Ellijay...damn park rangers...R. Thomas...and it just goes on...



see, only makes sense to me. :)

Herrin Hospitality at Lazy Danes Farm

Finally made it up to Mocksville, NC to visit the Lazy Danes Farm. Yes, the danes are lazy and they really don't like hats. The weather gave me some trouble on the drive up and I found myself trapped in Spartanburg, SC. I was very happy that I had gotten beer before I headed out. At least the room had a huge whirlpool bath.

Of course no simple tub could keep me from my intended destination. Arriving at the farm I found a Denise standing at the end of her drive to make sure there were no crashes while driving in (of course she could have been waiting for a good laugh if there was a crash). The food was amazing. Getting beat by little girls playing Wii was embarrassing. The Pone Stoneies or Stone Ponys were yummy. Not sure if I will ever be able to look at a strawberry the same way again. All in all a great short visit with an amazing family doing some great things with their land. Of course it ends with a snowball fight. Thank you Herrin family for being so wonderful!

Get high with a little help from my friends

Tria gets me 'high' :)
Every autumn I find myself feeling nostalgic and thinking back on the many adventures I have had over the years. Some of those memories are so fresh in my mind that I feel they will never leave me. Of course others are just a blur of a time that will never return. And others are well, just a blur for various other reasons.

This short term memory impairment is what started the summertime list. The first list was written in 1998 and it still makes me laugh. I am sure that if anybody else looked at one of these summertime lists, they would not have a clue to meaning of the list of random words and quotes. For me it is a reminder of where I have been and where I want to go. One day I may post some, but I may keep them all to myself.

Needless to say, this years summertime list has been written and put away in a safe place for future enjoyment. I must confess this years list was one of the happiest yet. I am a lucky girl with amazing friends and I think I am really starting to know who those people are.

how you want those hasbrowns?

Look out randomness below.....


I have missed hockey and I am so glad the season has started again. I am even happier I was there for the opening game.

Hockey love boys and girls.



I got to hang out with The Loose Skrews two nights in a row.

Skrews at Lenny's for Horrorfest '09



I can not wait to get back to work


My dogs all need puppy boot camp


I should have had the Moe's burrito instead of the pizza at Phillips


My beetle and moth problem has been solved by a large spider taking up residence on my front porch.

Gravity sucks, without it we'd all fall off


I am dying to go for a hike, but am afraid it will end up being a swim.


If I cut off my head would I say "me and my head" or "me and my body" (The Tenant-Roman Polanski)


At some point I think I just cracked

Whew!

Tushula called me today and updated me on what changes are being made and yes I will be on another team, but only until my promotion to TSS II. Once I return to work my metrics (I hate using metrics to measure performance, but that is another story) will be reset and I will only need three CSAT scores of 100 to be promoted. Translation; do my job right, get promoted in a month or so. Funny, every time I go out for 6 weeks I come back and get promoted within the month. I will be so relieved once I am back on Tushula's team.

Losing "the greatest generation"

I have always considered myself lucky to know many people from the WWII generation. Some were servicemen, others were the women who kept this country running while our men (and boys) were away in Europe and the Pacific. The stories they have shared with me and the wisdom they have gave will stay with me always.
This past Thursday I lost one of those friends. Andy had volunteered to fill in as my "adopted" grandfather since I had lost the only one I ever knew. He would sing to me and always had a smile. He told me I was beautiful anytime he saw me, then we'd compare tattoos. Andy outlived his wife, several of his children, and most other people from WWII. His health had started to decline, but he bounced back every time. Well, almost every time. I will miss Andy everyday, and I am sure I will expect to see his smiling face when I go to the American Legion. Rest in peace my dear friend, you deserve it after a long life bringing joy to so many.

A good day for some rehab

Pigeon Hill did not beat me! I made it up the hill, over to little Kennesaw, and back to Burnt Hickory Rd. Along the way I found some little lizard and toad friends, enjoyed the view, and thought about how amazing Dr. Morrison is for getting me back to my life. Yay, Dr. Morrison

And his trusty PA Todd!

They are an awesome team. Thanks to their dedication, knowledge, and hours of chopping away on my spine I am able to enjoy the view again.

Climb around on some rocks

Meet some new friends

And get the blood flowing to have that glow of a person beyond happy to be pain free.

Look out, I am back and I am heavily modified for improved performance.

Back on the trails

Tomorrow I will start hiking again. I find myself torn between taking the easier Cheatham Hill loop (and finding the hidden cemetery where I have spent many hours hiding in the past) or going all out and going up Pigeon Hill. The thought of being back out by myself makes me happy and sad at the same time. So much of my time has been spent on the mountain trails. Being out there is sure to bring back memories of my youth. Watching trains, sneaking around in the dark, playing frisbee, hacky sack (always with the damn hacky sacks), car tagging, and just being with good people who always made me smile.
There has been a lot lately that has made me feel nostalgic for days gone by. Rocky Horror is playing at the Strand theatre, listening to a lot of G. Love and Special Sauce, starbucks sunsets, talking with old friends, something in the air. Where did that life go? Many of the people that made those years special are still close to me, but some may be gone forever. My circles of friends continue to grow and I can only hope that more memories will be made everyday. Still, I hold on to those times that made me smile. Getting back on the trails is just one of the ways to keep them close.

Just a little maybe

My amazing holiday weekend

There were margaritas, fireworks, old friends, wonderful kids, and insane husbands. It has been a long time since I have felt so good after a weekend. Getting to see Erin and Denise was a much needed reminder of how important it is to not lose touch with people you care about. Especially the people that knew you when you were an awkward pre-teen and liked you anyway. I am sure I will be smiling about the memories made this weekend for a long time, much like I still about the memories made so many years ago. I am truly blessed.

Do I have to go to work this week?

For the last month I have been tracking testing and documenting a problem with sending electronic statements. At some point during the process a security file is being corrupted and causing fatal exception errors. Running a recovery utility on the file corrects the problem until statements are generated again. What is frustrating to me is the fact that only 5 offices are experiencing this. I have tested the data in XP SP1-3, Vista, Server 2003, using pervasive versions 7.9, 8.6, 9.5, and 10.10. So far the error can not be recreated in house. QA now has me running PC audits on every computer at each of the 5 offices. Personally I think it makes more sense to only run on the server and any computer that is used to send statements. One thing I have done is set up a test database at one office to force the statement run over and over until the error occurs. (did I mention the errors do not happen with every statement run) All I can do now is present everything I have gathered to QA and let them deal with it. Once it is off my plate I will be so relieved.
If I can make it to Friday I will be having a girls lunch with some old friends that I have not seen in years. I can't wait to catch up.

Sleep? Random and unorganized thoughts

I should be sleeping.

Instant karma isn't gonna get me, but instant migraines are. Four of the last five days have involved migraines.

At walgreens tonight getting some lip balm, at the check out line there were three kids in front of me. They had several items of candy each and asked the cashier to not bag them because the plastic bags are bad for the environment. I get to the check out and offer to take the bag they didn't want because it is great for cat box cleaning. When I walk out into the parking lot, these environmentally friendly kids are hopping into a non hybrid Chevy Tahoe.

My dreams lately have been stranger than normal. I wish I knew why people from my past keep showing up and why the interactions with them are so bizarre.

I am hoping tomorrow the QA team will finally accept that I have gathered every piece of information possible about an error in sending e-statements.

Nuno wrote his name on the back lawn with round up grass and weed killer. He is now on lawn restriction. He also wrote all the dogs names on the lawn too.

I am on a boat.

Now I think I will go to sleep and see who is gonna be there tonight.

Atlanta bars have one problem...

really bad bathrooms. What is it with the non flushing toilets? I can appreciate the graffiti scrawled by the many druken patrons, but please fix the damn toilets. Last nights find was especially funny. Granted I have done some bad things to this very bathroom, like spilling fake blood everywhere, but somebody decided to make it smell a little better.

Yes, those are rose petals on the floor. They almost helped. Still the toilet did not flush.

And I just had 2 Sweetwaters.

Part time model

Once upon a time I modeled for art classes and now I model for Tress (and whoever else needs to fill a gap in thier portfolio). Tress needed some more bridal pictures so I squeezed into my wedding dress and let Brandon give me a faux hawk. The results?

Tress was also kind enough to take some pre-surgery pictures for me. Something for me to look back on when I was in pain and wondering why I let anybody operate on me. Most people don't notice the lump on my spine right away but believe I always felt it.



Ten days after surgery when I was finally home my back looked like this...

Next photo shoot with Tress will be of my new spine, minus staples, extreme swelling and straight as it should be. After that will be a "mess the dress" session with Regan and Tress both.

Dr. Knoxville or How I learned to stop worrying and love Jackass

Once upon a time I hated Jackass. I flatly refused to watch even a half second of a single episode. I dated a guy who watched it, then married a guy who loves it. still I hated it and would not watch. When I heard they were making a movie I knew there was no way I could get out of seeing it, my husband was much to excited for me to deny him the pleasure of torturing me for almost 2 hours. I went with much grumbling and complaining. Then I saw "the rental car smash up derby" I was hooked. See, I once had a ford rental car for 2 weeks, and that is exactly what I had wanted to do to it. From that moment on, I was a full fledged Jackass fan. Now I watch every episode I come across. I own both movies, the wildboys series, and proudly wear my Bam element shirt. I realize that with every minute I am exposed to Jackass and it many related shows I lose a few more brain cells, but I don't care. I love Jackass, there I said it.

Insomnia and my very first post here

It is 3:00 A.M. and I still am not asleep. My day started at 6:00 A.M. and I haven't even had a nap yet. I have insomnia again. Some days I can sleep all day, others I can't sleep at all. Needless to say it makes for interesting mood swings. How did I get this way? Dilaudid and Morphine given to me post surgery. I even had my very own dilaudid overdose via PCA, followed by a shot of naloxone. I do not recommend trying this for yourself. The movies that depict people coming around slowly after a shot of naloxone to counteract an opiate overdose lie. What actually happens is that in a split second your body goes from barely breathing and hypotensive to extremely hypertensive, rapid breathing, with your heart racing. The added benefit is that if you just had surgery, you can feel everything. For me that was just no good. After having one vertebrea removed, osteotomy on a second, followed by a 5 level decompression stabilized with rods and screws, you really do NOT want to feel that. So, after a couple more days of a PCA loaded with dilaudid I started to become immune to it. Once I convinced them to take the evil PCA away I was switched to oral morphine. I took it as directed, even less than directed some days, but still suffered withdrawl symptoms. Yuck. This is the lasting side effect, screwed up sleep patterns. Oh well, small price to pay to be pain free and happier.