Wednesday, May 31, 2006

End of May

Grah I'm doing my best not to simmer in my annoyance. The day started out harmless enough. I woke up earlier than usual feeling groggy from sleeping later than usual but that was okay. I was supposed to drop by my new bank before coming in to work to pick up my cash card for my payroll account. Exciting, I know.

I got up at 8 and since I don't have to leave for work till a quarter to 11, I had a wee bit of time to dilly dally. I had breakfast which was at least nutritional, if not mouth-watering, I looked over last night's design, mentally revised a few details to remember to actually do later, listened to mother dearest prattle on about her itinerary for the day. I even decided to replace the song collection in my phone...which ended with me mucking things up. Not only did I manage not to add new songs, I actually wiped out the ENTIRE song folder. Nice huh?

So on my merry musicless way I went. Traffic was heavier than expected and the sun was too cheerful for comfort. And I was getting impatient.

I got out at my stop with not a lot of time. I had allotted at least half an hour for the bank thing, in case I need to wait, fill out forms, think of a PIN etc. Pressed for time, I took a cab, the cabbie was useless, then we had to deal with one way streets. The map the "helpful" lady had drawn me yesterday was inaccurate, no it was plain wrong.

Needless to say I was beyond frustrated. I directed him back to my building and went to work 15 minutes early. I accomplished nothing.

Oh and lookit, 2 feet of files to translate today.

May Day

Boohoo. I'm a little down at the moment because my dsl connection abandoned me a few days ago, never to be heard from again. Apparently some important cable or hub (in my grief I can't remember the proper term for it) was damaged a couple of weeks ago during a typhoon. Presently I am using a dial up connection [Jax, thanks for the access info!]. I doubt I'll have a dsl one set up anytime soon. The horror! Why is this happening to me? Gmail actually gave up while I was trying to log in, said that it was taking an abnormally long time. Can you imagine? I'm actually sick to my stomach, I'm that upset...well okay maybe I'm just hungry.

Anyway I should keep this short if I want this entry to be published. My eyes beg rest. I'm in the middle of finishing a simple little layout but I will finish it tomorrow evening. For now sleep awaits.

Friday, May 26, 2006

Grupo Reposo

I finished a layout design for a brochure recently. For a street art festival. It started this evening actually. One of the reasons I left my old job is that I wanted more personal time. And I'm getting what I want. Score.

Geh Deutschland!

Much of Europe Bans Smoking; Germany Keeps Puffing Away

Go Germany!

Earlier this year I cut down on my smoking. Drastically. From about a pack a day for 3 years (and from about half one a couple of years before that) to what prolly adds up to two sticks every week, I guess I've pretty much kicked my addiction. It wasn't the first time I decided I was going to quit. I don't really want to quit. But I seem to have lost my taste for it somehow. I suppose it would be much much better if I stopped altogether but I happen to like smoking. Okay I no longer do but I still like the idea of a cigarette. It never lets you down, it's never far away when you want it, it never pretends to be anything else, it doesn't make promises it can't keep. The great Oscar Wilde said this about it: “A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?” I couldn't agree more. It's a dependable, constant and comforting friend. I realize I'm making a dangerous stand here, countries left and right being fascist about it, increasing smoking bans in public places and all that. But...oh for feck's sake, I'm trying to get off the fence here for once and forming an opinion but I can't do it with all this work I have to do. Teehee. Where was I? Oh I really have to go :(


But the point is this: Go Germany! Oh and people should stop smoking at some point in their lives...and I'm back in the middle of the road.

Baba Alla

Okay to give a backgrounder of how I came across this site...Some time ago I found a funny clip on http://hedonistica.com (don't be alarmed, it's just a site of hilarious/shocking/silly video clips. It was so good that it deserved a second viewing and which I decided on this morning, and then I skimmed the viewer comments afterwards. The last one was by this guy claiming to be the director of the clip and explained that someone had edited out the first bit of the one on the site and he pasted his link in. It is this: http://yakovlevi.com/.

Now I have just finished watching all of it...and I must say I...well I don't know know how I feel about it yet. On one hand I find many things interesting that people don't/dislike, even funny at times, so I feel a little bit like that...yet on another hand, I'm not sure what kind of message this clip is sending out, if there is some kind of lesson to be learned from it, because I didn't find it. But then again its main purpose is prolly for pure entertainment and nothing else. So yeah I've decided I like it enough to put it here.

Um I don't think it's something you should look at while at work...and if you're going to watch it in the privacy of your own bedroom, it might be best to call your friends over and you can take turns holding each other's hair when you throw up.

Best of luck.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

New

So yeah I've been the new employee for about 3 weeks now, I think I'm at the end of my third week. I'm quite happy. If I had known how liberating resigning would feel, believe me I'd have done it a whole lot sooner. Hihi but I guess everything has its season. It's been grand so far. These are the differences between my previous and current jobs: 1) Unlike my last job, I don't work overtime for this one, well not yet and I'm going for never. But if I MUST, I will actually get paid for it, I'm through with all this flexi-time business; 2) I have to look like I belong in an office...I realize that this will take some time to sort out, yes I really miss my jeans but it's like playing grown-up when I put on work clothes (I suppose there's something wrong with feeling like a child at my age but that thought belongs in another entry); 3) I have my own office supplies, there was an abnormally high incidence of pencil theft at my old workplace; 4) It's pretty much the same thing here day in and day out, I do a lot of research and that's pretty much it, no more talking to socialites and pacifying artists, I have to do my drinking after work hours, none of that lovelily frivolous stuff. They've got us working assembly-line-like over here. Fun!

I got my employee ID last night! It was so exciting. I have one of those neck strappy things you hang your ID and your zap card from. Zap card! It's the first I've ever had one of those. It lets me know that I'm me when I tap it against the electronic box by the entrance. I will always know who I am. ANYway, the most exciting part of my new job is the coffee machine in the pantry! Yes yes I know, there is a pantry too! I don't drink coffee now but the machine (it's one of those amazing nescafe gadgets) dispenses hot chocolate. It's my new work best friend, although some of my new colleagues (hihi) have gone out of their way to be helpful. That's really nice of them. I'll prolly cry about that soon and marvel at how lucky and blessed my life is.

Yes it is a progressively soul-shrivelling environment. But I'm not whining just yet, at the moment everything is different and shiny and new.

Strike a pose

Let me introduce you to someone very dear to me: Cybex girl. She can be found in the elevator lobby on the third basement parking level of that Podium mall. She's so good. I recommend everyone to strike this pose at least once a month. There's nothing to it. Do it! All together now!

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Eeep

OMG. I was replying to an email my best friend sent to our yahoogroup earlier this morning. I saw that I received it on my comp at home and didn't have time to reply to it because I had to get ready for work. Anyway I forwarded it to the only web based email account I've got that isn't banned on my work pc. So I got to work and finished my reply and hit the send button. And the site prompted me to add the new email address...of the yahoogroup.

I died a little bit inside. I was mortified. I hardly ever send personal updates to that group, save for silly one-liners and the occasional link to schfifty five type sites. I ran through the paragraphs I had written him in my head and died a little bit more. The only reason why I ever tell him anything is because he tells me everything, even providing details that I don't want to hear...so I tell him things just to shut him up really.

So what did I do?

I was already thinking of composing another message saying haha it was all a joke nobody read that last post remember we had a virus messing up our group before what was that all about right...that sort of thing. Lame but I HAD to do something.

Turns out I didn't have to do anything in the end. The email account I used isn't subscribed to the group. Naturally. Hihi. Yay. Yay. I'm safe.

Okay I'm never going to do THAT again. Oh but I know I'll forget and I will do it again.

Ponderful

Excellent. I deleted the nonsense that was here a few months back. Yay I feel cleansed. I think that's why I have such a bad memory. Eeep something bad happened (something bad happened!?)...oh no I still remember it...what do I do...help help hilf mir. Delete From Memory. No more bad stuff. Some could say it's repression. Or selective memory/amnesia. Hihi I say what nonsense. But is it...if I'm not careful, I might start deleting people from my memory.