As You Wish

Wow it's been a while. I've missed you all. I have been commenting, but for some reason I just haven't been in the mood for writing. I have lots to write about I just didn't want to type it all out. For now I will just give an update of what we've been up to and I will go into detail at a later time on some of these things.

• I bought my very first SLR. Can you say EXCITING? Oh man! I decided to go with the Canon 40d and it's absolutely amazing. So far I'm totally satisfied with this large purchase. I haven't downloaded any of the photos I've taken, but when I do I will post them.
  
• Andrew and I have been working on building a deck in our backyard. I have quite a few pictures to post of our progress, but I still need to download them. Maybe in the next few days you will get to see our progress thus far.
• I officially need a new job. It's not that I don't like my job; I really do like it. I have a great boss and coworkers and the work isn't too incredibly hard. The reason I need a new job is because our office building has been infiltrated by creepy crawlies of all kinds. I will name what I've come in contact with up to today: crickets, mormon crickets (yes there is a difference), lizards, snakes, beetles, flies, spiders, vinegaroons (a type of spider), and I'm sure I've missed something, but you get the point. I have seen each and every one of these inside the building and most of them in my office. I can't handle it anymore. I am constantly on edge and paranoid and I think if it doesn't stop soon I will need therapy because of it.

• My friend and neighbor Mrs. V is 9 months and 5 days pregnant as of today. We look like we could be sisters. This picture was taken outside the movie theater. It was unintentional, but Mr. and Mrs. V and Andrew and I all showed up to watch Wall-E at the same time. That was one of the best movies ever.
  

(Picture me shaking my fist in the air at the clip)

Today I was looking on the internet for one of these:

I couldn’t think of what it might be called, so I searched the site using:

• Cubicle panel clips
  
• Cubicle panel accessories
  
• Cubicle panel fasteners
  
• Cubicle panel connectors
  
• Cubicle panels
  
• Clips

Not one of those gave me what I was looking for. I knew those darn things had to be somewhere on that site because my boss ordered some panels along with the aforementioned “darn things,” but for some reason I couldn’t find them. I also scanned through the catalog and couldn’t find them. I didn’t look through the catalog with an eagle eye though because it’s 4,070 pages.

I resorted to the only thing I could think of that would help me. Nooo I didn’t go ask my boss what they were called, of course not. I called Andrew. He knows I’m special and he doesn’t judge me for it. The longer I can keep it a secret from the people I work with the better, especially my boss. So when I called him this is what happened:

Me - I need help. I’m going to explain to you what I’m looking for and hopefully you can tell me what they're called.
Andrew - Ok.
Me - You know what a cubicle looks like? You know how there are those things that hold them together?
Andrew - …?
Me – When you have two sections of panels and you need to hold them together there are those things…
Andrew – I know what you mean I just don’t know what they are called.

He then proceeded to go to the site I was looking on.

Andrew – I think I found them.

Mind you about 2 seconds had gone by.

Me – What did you type in?
Andrew – Cubicle.

I typed Cubicle in the search.

Me – grumble grumble That is exactly what I was looking for.
Andrew – Did you try using Google to figure out what they were called?
Me – No because I wanted to order them from this specific site.
Andrew – The Google machine can still help you figure out what they’re called.
Me – Yeah well I didn’t think of that.
Andrew - You just need more experience Googling stuff.
Pause…
Me – I’m missing the part of my brain that knows stuff.

Ok so I'm not really a "miner", but I do work for a mine now. I have been working there for two weeks now and I think it is finally time I talked about it for a minute or two. I got a job with this mine which is about 45 minutes from where I live which might not seem that appealing, but they gave me a company vehicle to drive, so I won't complain too much. Let me take a minute to add that if you have any questions about mining go ahead and ask. I have been around this business my whole life and I take it for granted sometimes that people just know what it's all about. I will warn you though I won't go into too much detail about the mine I am working for because...well...I don't want to get fired.

This is a piece of equipment used to drill holes in the walls of the underground to put explosives in.

The wire mesh and those dark squares are used to hold the ceiling in place.

It's always nice to know which way the exit is.

This sign says "primary escape."

This is called a refuge chamber. If there is ever an emergency underground this is where we are supposed to seek shelter. This thing is tiny and God help the people that would be stuck in this thing with me if we have to use it. Like I said before I am slightly claustrophic and this pop can just isn't big enough.

This is an example of what it looks like underground. There are no lights other than the cap lamp on the forehead of your hard hat, so it's very dark. Imagine a night when the moon is hidden behind the clouds and it's really dark...take that and multiply it by about 100...that's what it's like underground. Completely and utterly pitch black. You can't even see your own hand in front of your face if you turn your cap lamp off. I am going to go ahead and confess now that I am afraid of the dark, so once again God help those around me if my lamp ever goes out.

When I looked straight down this is what I saw. Water. If you dig far enough into the ground you will eventually find water. This is why mines have a dewatering system in place. Unfortunately it doesn't always get all the water and because I am height challenged the water at some points came close to my knees.

I had to go to our local clinic today for a physical and drug screen for my new job. Let me start by saying it was such a pain. As you might have read here you know I hate doing a urine test. Today I managed to make it through peeing in a cup with out urinating all over myself (score for me). The worst part of today was not only did I have to pee in a cup, but my company also requires a hair sample to be taken. Apparently drugs can stay in your hair for a long time and it is a pretty accurate indicator of whether or not you have done drugs. The nurse asked me to sit in a chair and she separated my hair and cut a chunk out of the back at the root. That's right I said a chunk. I was very unhappy when I turned around and saw the amount of hair she cut off. It isn't at all noticable when you look at my hair, but I found the spot later in no time at all. Yes I am bitter, but I will get over it.

While I was sitting in the waiting room a guy and his 3 or 4 year old daughter walked in. I then witnessed this conversation between the two of them:

Girl - "What is that?"
Dad - "Chalk."
Girl - "Cock?"
Dad - "Chhhalllk."
Girl - "...Cock!"

I thought to myself oh the innocence of youth...how cute.

I was offered a job today and I accepted it. Yay yay yay! I am so happy. I will be working in an office which I am used to and I am pretty excited about it. I will blog more about it later, but that's all for now.

I was given the task of delivering a welcome basket today to an interviewee. When a qualified candidate (interviewee) is asked to come in for an interview for a salary position they are given a basket of welcome gifts. This basket (which is actually a lunch box with the company logo on it) includes a water bottle, keychain, calculator, clock, pen, chocolate, some information about things that happen locally, and a small vile of gold flakes. It might not seem that exciting, but hey its better than nothing.

I was asked to deliver this basket of goodness to the hotel where the guy will be staying, so...I gathered the items, set my cell phone on top of it, grabbed my purse and headed out the door. I took the basket into the hotel and left it, went to the store, and drove back to the office. This is when I realized I left my cell phone in the basket at the hotel. Thankfully this guy wasn't supposed to show up until later in the evening, otherwise he would have thought this is an awesome company because he just got a free phone. I don't think so. Like the idiot that I am I got to walk back into the hotel and ask the front desk for my phone. That was awesome.

I'm going to start with today and work my way back to yesterday. I know its a little backwards, but...whateva.

I was given the task of looking for new service awards for Newmont's employees. (Newmont is where my temp job is taking place; I will explain more at a later date.) Right now they only receive a Carhartt jacket which is only cool to some people. Today I was looking online for a good knife that can be engraved with Newmont's logo. While looking at one of the websites I came across a small knife with a description that read as follows: "Is junior having problems at school? Is he being bullied or pushed around? You've tried self defense and psychology, new clothes and biting venacular, but nothing seems to be working. That's why you should invest in personalized junior aluminum folding knives." My thoughts...WTF?????? I was truly disturbed by this and I had to tell practically everyone that would listen to me what a horrible idea that is. I would have blogged earlier, but they frown upon doing personal business while at work. I finally read more of the description and it said, "Okay we're just kidding...Really don't give them to children." I still feel disturbed by this and I don't think saying "just kidding" makes it ok. Here little guy, you can't stick up for yourself, so take this knife to school. You might get expelled or the bully might take it from you and stab you with it, but that's okay. Argh!

Ok now back to yesterday. I see quite a few names in the course of a day and I just have to list a few of the honorable mentions:

• Clifford Hanger
• Holly Wood
• Mrs. Moore-Mann
• Richard Seaman
• Michael Hunt (the key to this name is saying Mike followed by his last name, sorry if you got that already, but I wouldn't have gotten it)

That's all for now. I still have five more days at this office, so hopefully more blog-worthy things happen.

I am currenty working a temporary job for a couple of weeks for a mining company in our area. They have an office in town which houses most of the human resources department. If you have ever wondered what the HR department talks about I am about to tell you (don't worry I won't divulge all your secrets).

Yesterday several of the ladies were talking about bras. That caught my attention, so I started listening to what they were saying. One of them noticed I was now listening to them and she asked me, "How do you put your bra on?" I was confused at first because I wasn't aware that there was an abundance of ways. She then went on to ask, "Do you clasp your bra in the front and twist it around or do you put your bra on and then reach your arms around back to clasp it?" Seven women were polled and four out of the seven clasp their bras in the front and twist it to the back, two put on their bra and clasp in back, and one wears sports bras all the time. If there is any interest in knowing, I clasp my bra in front and then twist it.

Now you know what the ladies in HR talk about. Aren't you jealous you don't get to do my job?

My least favorite thing about looking for a new job is the drug test. I hate having to pee in a cup. It is such a pain to actually get your pee in the cup without peeing all over yourself. Mabye its just me that has that problem, but I don't like it. I mean I really don't like having to fill out application after application in hopes that someone will call, but the drug test is the worst.

Guys have it so easy because they have a 99.9% chance of getting it in the cup. I'm not saying I would prefer to be a guy, but they have a dangly doodad they can practically just poke in the cup and do their business. Ok I'm done poking fun at guys (hehe poke).

The best/ worst part was when I couldn't pee enough to fill the cup past the line. The line was about a half an inch from the bottom of the cup and I couldn't do it. I filled it about halfway as much as she told me to. She didn't say I had to try again or anything, but I felt my insignificant amount of pee was sad.

That's all for now. I just had to talk about pee for a minute.

I'm sure most people have heard the saying "to make a long story short." Well...this is not the case here. This is just going to be long and possibly boring, but I have to vent and what better way than in a blog?

I am currently looking for a new job. Not because I want to. No. Its because my boss told me on Monday that the end is near.

About six months ago my boss told me that a company from back East was contemplating buying his business. This was great news for him because he really wants to get out of a manager position and ween himself out of working. Over the next few months he would give me the update, "maybe next week we will hear something." I got quite accustomed to hearing that and I started to believe that it wasn't ever going to happen.

At one point an employee of the company came and had a meeting with us just to let us know what was going on. He made the company sound spectacular. They had better benefits, possible raises all around, travel for orientation and training, and all we had to wait for was the approval from the parent company. "Maybe next week we will hear something," he says. He assured us that even if the parent company decided they didn't want to go through with the purchase they would still buy the my boss' business. We all had a renewed hope and I admit I was excited. All we had to do was be patient and wait for the go ahead.

In December my boss told me that they got the go ahead to buy his business and the only thing left to do was sign paperwork. He told me he would have to make a trip back East to sign paperwork the week of January 7th. It was all starting to finally come together and he was so happy. So was I. I was finally going to have good insurance (not that my insurance is horrible, but should I ever need to see a doctor I would have to go to the emergency room because that is the only place that is in my insurance company's coverage), a retirement fund, more money, more experience, etc etc etc.

Last week on Thursday my boss told me that the company called him and said they decided not to go through with the purchase. At this point my boss was very discouraged, as was I, and he told me that I was going to have to go part-time sometime in the future. On Monday this week I asked when he was thinking about making me part-time and his response was, "Well I was thinking and I think this will be your last full-time week. I don't know when I will need you after that, but I will call you when you should come in." WTF? I really wasn't expecting this that soon. I thought maybe in a couple of weeks I would start working part-time, but no.

On Tuesday he said he wanted me to work half a day Wednesday and take the rest of the week off. I think he thought he was doing me a favor by letting me have the rest of the week to look for a new job, but really by the time we had that conversation I already exhausted most of my options for new employment. He wants me to come in for a couple of days next week to wrap some things up and try to teach him practically everything I have been doing for the past year. That should be fun. Neither of us has a very long attention span and he is not very good with computers.

A bit of good news: our neighbor called and told me she had a proposal. My response was, "I don't think Andrew will approve, but that's ok go ahead." She told me that her office's front desk needs to be covered for a couple of weeks while the woman who works there is on vacation. The even better news is that before I started working at my current job I was working at the front desk of this office, so I know exactly what to do when I show up. I only hope that while working for her I can find a new job in the next couple of weeks. I am keeping a positive attitude about the situation because I'm a believer in everything happening for a reason. This is a crappy situation, but Andrew keeps assuring me that in a few months I will look back at this and laugh. I hope so.

Nothing much to report on. We made it back from vacation. It was nice to get out of town for 2 weeks and relax, but I have to be honest...I was so happy to get back home. Andrew's parents were more than hospitable, it was to see some of his friends, and my friend Janice's wedding in Vegas was very cute.

I ate as much as a person could possibly eat while we were gone and I'm glad to be back trying to eat healthier. We decided we would eat whatever we wanted to while on vacation, but as soon as we were back home again we would behave ourselves and try to lose some weight. I think we both gained about 10 pounds while we were gone and I pretty much hate myself for it. Ok now I'm over it.

I don't have any pictures today because my camera died on the second day of vacation and I didn't take the cord to recharge it. Thankfully Andrew had his, so I will post some later.

Today I had to call into a conference hearing and I was a bit nervous about it. I don't really know why...I wasn't the one the hearing was for, but nevertheless I was still nervous. I just knew that once it came time for me to speak I was going to be a complete idiot and they were going to be recording every second of it. I would love to go into detail about the reason for the hearing, but unfortunately I'm not allowed to. So...just to be sure I was on time for the hearing I called a few minutes early and I was the first one to the "room." I decided to take a couple of big drinks of water before anyone else called in, so when it was time for me to talk I wouldn't have cotton mouth. Right after taking the drinks the phone beeped to let me know that a couple of other people were now on the line and then it happened. I had to burp. I thought to myself oh great, just perfect, yeah sure why not burp right in the ear of a judge and administrative representative that would be real professional. I'm sure by now Andrew is laughing his butt off because he knows what my burps are like and let me tell you they are not petite by any means. You will be relieved to know that the urge went away and the rest of the conversation was completely painless.

After the hearing was over I decided I should make a trip home to use the bathroom. I no longer use the bathroom in our shop because a couple of months ago I saw a gigantic black widow spider right next to my bare bottom while going pee and that cured me of wanting to use that bathroom. Plus, the guys here use my bathroom, so it is so gross (picture me shaking my fist at those dirty men). Anyway...we only live about 3 minutes from my office, so I don't see it as that big of a deal. I walked out the door of my office and clicked the lock button on my key fob. You might be thinking to yourself oh you silly girl you should have clicked the unlock button because you're getting in your car. Oh no, that's not the reason I did it at all. I clicked the lock button because at that moment in time my brain farted and I thought that would lock the door to my office.

Last night was our company Christmas dinner. We went to a nice, fairly new, Basque restaurant. I ordered the Lamb Chops. I hadn't eaten lamb before last night, so I guess it was time to try it. I told Andrew quite a while ago that the next time we went out to eat and lamb was on the menu I would try it. He called me on it last night and I was pleasantly surprised. There wasn't much meat to it, but the meat that was there was very good. I also really enjoyed the soup, beans, salad, and bread. It could have been the fact that I was so hungry by the time we ate that I would have been satisfied with just about anything, but it really was an enjoyable dinner.

A few of the topics discussed at the dinner table last night:

• Trucks
• An undisclosed man's buttcrack that goes on for days
• My boss's wife trying to sell everything he owns (she works in sales)
• Trucks
• Men sitting to pee
• My boss was bent down to tie his shoelaces and one of the guys said, "While you're down there..." How original.
• My boss's son ate all of the jelly filled doughnuts that did not belong to him. His response, "No name fair game." And, "They looked so good I had to have one and once you've had one...well...you have to have 5 more."
• Trucks (I'm not saying this to be annoying, this is really how many times they talked about trucks, which if you didn't know already I am not interested in.)

When Andrew got home from work yesterday he came through the front door which is a rare occasion. He usually enters the house through the garage. I greeted him at the door and he handed me an envelope that had been sitting outside. Our lovely neighbors Annie and Jim left us a Christmas card on the doorstep which included a letter inside. Jim wrote what I think is the quote of the year, Winnemucca is "the land that green forgot." What more can I say? I mean this is the epitome of greatness. If you live in Nevada, anywhere other than Lake Tahoe, this should hit home.

We are leaving for Montana tomorrow, so... Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year just in case I'm not able to write for a while. We will be gone until January 6th! I'm so excited.

After my last post I was reminded of another story about my precious letter opener.

I believe it happened sometime last week when my boss was sitting straight across from me at my desk in silence. He noticed he had some unopened mail and instead of using words to ask for what he wanted he just slid his hand over the top of the envelope as if he were opening it and made the noise "sssshhhick." For some strange reason I understood what he wanted and handed him my trusty letter opener.

Maybe I am just easily amused, but I found this quite funny. Speaking of easily amused, I have another quick story to tell. The door that goes from my office to the shop only opens if you turn the knob to the left. It never fails every time my boss goes to open that door he runs into it before realizing he must turn the knob the other direction. Every time!

Gotta love the little things in life.

So once again...you know I'm crazy right?

If you were not already aware I am a very jumpy person and I guess you could say I am also a little paranoid. Even the littlest things will get a good 3 foot jump out of me. For example I know Andrew is in the house because I just stopped talking to him to go to the kitchen. Not even a minute later he "sneaks" into the kitchen behind me and pokes me or says my name. This is always followed by a jump, scream, and a pain in my chest. Don't ask me why, but this is what happens. It used to bring tears to my eyes when something would startle me. It wasn't necessarily crying, but more along the lines of watering.

Whenever I have to stay at home alone overnight, or anywhere for that matter, to be comfortable I need to have a sharp object somewhere in my vicinity just in case. Occasionally Andrew has to go work in Carlin and he stays overnight which leaves me home alone. One of the first times I had to stay by myself I will admit I was a little nervous, so I decided to keep something sharp by the bed. My "weapon" of choice happened to be a pair of scissors. I forgot the scissors were there and when Andrew came home he questioned them. I explained to him my paranoia and he replied, "How are you going to protect yourself with a pair of dull scissors?" The right answer (or at least the answer that would make sense to Andrew) would have been "it just makes me feel more secure." The answer I actually give is "I would stab or cut the intruder." Thinking about this now it does sound silly, but it made sense at the time.

My most recent encounter with needing a sharp object was yesterday at work. I was alone (which isn't new because I am at work by myself quite often), so I made sure all of the doors to the shop were locked. A couple of hours later I heard a noise in the shop, so instantly my instinct to think the worst kicked in. I decided I should probably go check it out, but first I needed some kind of protection. I looked at my desk and saw the letter opener which has a pretty good tip on it and I stuck it in my pocket. Of course there was nothing out there and I didn't have to use the letter opener, but at least I was prepared.

When I told Andrew about my ordeal he once again asked the logical question, "What would you do if you came in contact with someone?" (Note: my memory is horrible, so these quotes may not be word for word.)

I answered, "I would stab the person."

Andrew - "What if they had a gun?"

Me - "I would run, its harder to hit a moving target."

Andrew - "What if they had a knife, would you have a knife fight?"

Me - "If they are close enough to stab me I would stab them."

Andrew - "Where would you stab them?"

Me - "In the eye."

So...if you are ever thinking about sneaking up on me be careful because I might have a sharp object (or something of the sort) in my pocket and I might have to stab you in the eye. You have been warned!

Wouldn't it be awesome to take a year off from whatever it is you do and travel? Take a look at the following link and see how to make that possible.

Take a Year off to Travel the World

I am the Office Manager for a small company; let me give you a rundown of what goes on here. I as the Office Manager take care of all office duties including, but not limited to: answering the phone, invoicing, collections, accounts receivable and payable, HR, shredding paperwork, and making sure my bosses head is on straight. Our other two employees (not including my boss) weld, machine, and occasionally use their mechanical skills. We have a shop which houses my office and a decent sized area inside and outside to weld and machine. In the area behind our shop we have a few service trucks, forklifts, trucks, dirt, weeds, etc.