Random Thoughts and Musings

I have received an email repeatedly over the last week or so which warns against purchasing gift cards, or using gift cards already in your possession.

First and foremost, I ask anyone who has my email address to please (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!) research any “facts” before forwarding them onto me and anyone else in your contact list. In fact, if you use email at all, please do this!

Second, I would like to say that yes, there are many stores who are suffering right now, who have overextended themselves, and who are being forced to cut back. Yes, this could posibly affect you, if you are in possession of any gift cards.

Third, please check this list: Snopes Research, which will help you to properly understand how much of the information being passed around currently is truth, how much is fiction, and how much is simply outdated information that is being added to the email to arouse fear and panic in the general public.
xoxo

(This is one of my personal photos, on tripadvisor.com. Go here to see the others.)

Is it possible to get into a habit of something after only doing it twice? If so, this is a **hard** habit to break. In more ways than one!

For the last two years, during the 2nd weekend of November, I have gone (with friends) to Jamaica for four or five days.  We went to an all-inclusive resort, adults-only. Clothing-optional (clothing discouraged, in fact ). Hedo II, for those in the know.

The first time I went, I was very hesitant. I thought I would be miserable and uncomfortable there. I thought I would have a hard time letting loose. I thought I would be too worried about “life” to really have a good time.

Boy, was I wrong!

I didn’t even bother putting on a bathing suit when I went to my room to “change.” I just put on a bathing suit wrap, wore it as a dress-type shift. I slipped into my flip flops, grabbed a towel, and headed for the beach with my friend (her husband had already disappeared to explore the resort). Once we crossed the (invisible) line from the “prude” to the “nude” beach, we dropped our wraps. No questions, no hesitations … it just … happened.

We stopped at the beach first, dropped our stuff on the sand, and went out into the water. It was beautiful, warm, delicious on the skin. We’d been hot for the last couple of hours, traveling through customs in the airport, then to the resort from the airport on the shuttle “bus.”

After a little while at the beach on one of the provided floats, we grabbed our stuff and headed towards the nude pool. It has a swim-up bar, and a couple of tables and benches in the water. We met up with our other friends, grabbed some drinks, and sank into the blissful awareness that we did not have to worry about a THING! Anytime anyone went towards the bar, we could call out our drinks and they would magically appear. It is amazing how much you can remember when you don’t have to worry about anything else!

Not too long after we got into the pool, we realized we were hungry … but were told if we just held out for half an hour, the jerk chicken would be arriving (4:00 on the dot every afternoon!). When we heard the call, two of us took orders and went to grab our portions. Yes, it really is better in Jamaica. In the pool. Naked. Yes, really.

The whole vacation runs pretty much like this … you move from pool to hot tub to beach to pool to someone’s room to pool to beach to hot tub to pool … oh, with stops in the dining room during meal times! The dance club is awesome at night, the water slide runs during the day, there are activities you can (and will, believe it or not) participate in each evening. There are three restaurants on-site: Jamaican, Italian, and Hibachi. The Hibachi and Italian restaurants have a Jamaican flair, and are incredibly delicious.

The drinks flow freely, but since they are there all the time, most of us don’t feel the need to drink much. There are no other stresses - there is no need to *force* yourself to relax with alcohol! The only “appointments” you have to make are for dinner reservations in the restaurants (if you choose to eat in one) or massages/waxes/manicures in the spa (spa activities are not free, sadly. But they are no more than if you pay for them at home).

One of the things that makes you feel great from the moment you step into the resort is when the staff looks at you and says, “Welcome home!” in their beautiful Jamaican lilt. I miss Jamaica this year … I wonder if it misses me?

So, tonight when I finally fall asleep, I will be dreaming of where I *should* be this weekend: in the pool in Jamaica, cuddled up to my friends, floating around and drinking a Purple Rain.

xoxo

“The Johari Window was invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness. By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.”

~ The Interactive Johari Window, http://kevan.org/johari (2006)

So, since a lot of my Plurk friends were doing this on the board, I thought it would be fun to put mine in a blog. I have done both the “Johari” and “Nohari” links (positive, and negative). Have at me!

Positive

Negative

xoxox

I have seen so many negative comments about the election. In truth, I see these kinds of negative comments about EVERY election. It drives me BONKERS!

YES, the President is elected as our leader. As our representative in the world. As the face of our nation.

However, he or she is NOT a sole administrator. The President does not hold dictatorship over our nation. Instead, there is a whole SLEW of people who help to draft, vote for, and revise all of our policies. It will *NOT* be the PRESIDENT’S fault if something goes wrong in the next four years.

It will be ALL of our faults.

Why are we tearing each other down because of who we decide to vote for or against? If we all agreed on everything, there would be absolutely no need for a democracy - we would all simply point to the same person, who would lead us in any way they saw fit.

Of course we disagree on who should become President, and why! Of COURSE we disagree on which course of action is the best. These disagreements lead us to bigger, better, brighter things. They lead us to CHANGE. Again, if we did not disagree, we would all simply shuffle from one action to the next, with no change.

Please stop belittling one another. Please stop threatening to be miserable for the next four years if *your* choice is not the popular choice. Please stop telling me you’ll be okay if, and only if, your candidate is the one who is elected. Seriously?

If you see the election as the do-all, end-all … you obviously do not understand how our country operates.

Once our new President is elected, there will be change: of that I am sure. Whether is is positive or negative is up to us! Give whoever is elected a chance: play along nicely, open your hearts and minds, and give a little room for success. If we are constantly at one another’s throats, calling names, belittling, degrading, tearing each other apart … how will we EVER keep the real enemy off our shores, out of our homes, away from our families?

Unity. Solidarity.

The colors are not Red, White, OR Blue. They are Red, White, AND Blue.

Start showing it, people. You never know. Something great might happen.

Are you a responsible American citizen?

If so, you have (or will, before polls close tonight) expressed your opinion on national matters by voting in this year’s presidential election. If you are not going to be responsible enough to vote, I hope you’re polite enough to not shove your irresponsible opinions in the faces of your responsible counterparts. Thank you.

I had a bit of an ordeal today getting out there to vote. Tween woke me up early this morning, unable to talk properly, throat swollen, face pale. I stayed with her until I could get someone else to come to the house to watch her so I could sneak out for a few hours - mostly so that I could vote! Once I got to the polls, my name was not listed in the appropriate precinct. Apparently, the address update I performed twice before (once by phone, once by mail) in the last six months.

However, they were able to find my registration information in the computer, then have me fill out the official address change form, and then I had to wait while the system was updated in the main office. Once updated (about 30 minutes later), I was able to place my vote!

Frustrating … but it was handled. What was more frustrating is that I just spoke with someone on the phone two days ago who said I was good to go! Pinky (my registration office representative) said she would follow through and find out where the glitch happened, and then call me to let me know.

Anyway.

If you are an American Citizen, and you are a responsible citizen, get out there and vote! There are organizations available that are giving rides to those who need them. Come hell or highwater … if you do not vote, and things do not go your way, you only have yourself to blame!

Today was my first full day at Cal’s. I wasn’t sure what to expect, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it once I’d been on my feet for 5 hours, and I wasn’t sure if they would like me. I come off as sweet and innocent when you first meet me, because I’m quiet and like to get a feel for the lay of the land. Once I’m in my comfort zone, I give as good as I get - and better. I know most people don’t expect it, and many people don’t like when their own medicine is dished back out to them!

I was also unsure about working with SwiftLink, the system they use for everything. It actually wasn’t too bad, and I learned quite a bit because we were one person short and VERY busy!

Each time I met with them last week, the owners told me that the business had been very slow for months, and that they were straining to keep up, but that they knew the potential was there and wanted to stay on top of their game. Today, everyone kept staring in wonder and saying, “What in the world? Where did all this business come from?” because we had no less than 30 customers walk through the door (this is a lot for a small-town, small appliance store!), plus all of the service calls coming over the phone. Incredible! It really set me up to be able to dig in and get my hands dirrrrrty!

Overall assessment: I’m still excited to go back to work tomorrow, and I still think I’m going to love this job.

I treated myself to lunch at Taco Hell and a Sweet Tea from Top’s (a local burger joint with the BEST sweet tea in town!). While I was in the Top’s drive-through, the girls saw the boxes of cookies piled in my poor lil Jetta. They got all excited and started asking to purchase them.

Now, technically, our troop has NO MORE BOXES to sell. We didn’t even have enough to do booth sales with, because the first weekend in booth sales sold ALL the freakin cookies!

However, it just so happens that our Troop Leader sent out an all-call to say another troop had totally over-ordered their cookies and needed to get rid of them.

SO, I took an order for another 12 boxes of cookies. This puts my Tween at 12 boxes CLOSER to her goal of 600 boxes. Know what that means? THAT means that the troop can fenagle the rest of the sales so that she can actually get her goal prize: a digital camera. How cool is that? It’s nothing fancy, but she really wanted it, so I really wanted her to have it. I think she’s only like 18 boxes shy of the 600 now. If I hadn’t gotten the freaking FLU during the cookie sales month, she would have sold over 1000 boxes, easy. I mean, she sold 500 boxes in just FIVE days of sales! How awesome is that? She was a go-getter and I’m so proud!

Anyway, had to brag on mah gyrl cuz I’m proud! AND, had to send up another shout-out for the Blessing-filled week we’ve had!

WOOT!

Let me see if I can quit bouncing around long enough to blog this.

I went to my 2nd interview with the appliance store today. I met with the wifey unit, and we discussed everything from home schooling (which she does with their five kids) to impossible parents to medical benefits. I really think this interview was to see whether or not she and I would get along if we had to work side by side (not a likely possibility - she tries to keep her office hours at home, and I would be working in the office if I got the job).

Overall, we had a pleasant conversation. I always get nervous when someone speaks a lot about their Faith or the Bible, because while I am a Christian, and I do have a great deal of Faith, I do not like for anyone to put their religion or practices on me. I am not a Bible-studier. I feel my connection with God comes from my connection with God, not how many Bible verses I know (or, in my case, DON’T know). I pray, I attend Church, I get involved with causes to help others, I live my life in a manner which suggests I want to make life better for others, not just for myself.

We discussed money a little bit, and I told her that their payscale is lower than even the low end of what I wanted to accept from an employer, but that I would be willing to cross that line for their company. I just feel very strongly about this company, and these people.

The husband unit came into the office then, and we discussed my references, and the glowing reports he received from everyone (thank you, everyone!). They both said that their biggest concern is that I was looking at five years as long-term, whereas they would prefer I would be with them for the endurance of the business. I saw that as a good sign.

We spend some more time speaking a little about religion, about the Volunteer work I was always involved with in Jacksonville when I was in the Navy (Thanks, Sidyen, I love you dearly for bringing that up!), and how we can implement that into their business and not lose out on a lot of money.

We spent some time discussing where they hope the business will be in five years, where they hope I would fit into the business, and how they think I would be an asset to the company.

And then …

THEY OFFERED ME THE JOB!

I’m so incredibly pleased! They are even starting me at a few cents higher (in this small town, in this economy, the few cents makes a HUGE difference) than what they initially offered. I think by my 90-day review, I’ll be making at least as much as I wanted my minimum pay to be (which isn’t a lot, trust me). And, they do annual raises - guaranteed, paid holidays (the major holiday days), discounts on appliances (new or used), and they promised not to micro-manage me! WOOOT! It doesn’t get any better than this! Well, a $30k/yr paycheck would be better *L* but, in time, good things will come.

This week has been truly filled with blessings. First the house, then the job! YAY!!

I start tomorrow, because they have a “meeting” every Friday to discuss the previous week’s accomplishments and the next week’s goals. I’ll be meeting the rest of the crew, right away. AND, they provide breakfast biscuits and OJ. Woot!

The gentleman I hope to be working for soon has called TWO of my references in the last half-hour. WOOOT! This has to be a good sign, right? I have an interview with him & the wife unit (she runs the office portion, he runs the service calls & the technical portion - it is an Appliance Repair Shop) today in two hours.

Please, please, please let this be a good thing. PLEASE let this be the job I need. PLEASE! I’m so excited, I can hardly contain myself.

And, thanks to my Twitter bud @jacklhasa, I am rocking out to Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of…). WOOT! Sent, btw, via POWNCE - another tool ya’ll need to be grabbing if you don’t already have it (my profile here … but it is new, so not yet decorated!)

Pray, wish me luck, and cross your fingers please!!!

Necessary evil? Or just target expensive practice?What’s your take?(Thanks for the link, Tomnibus)

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