My new laptop

I'm writing this from my new laptop.

Stop. You aren't reading an old post. This is my new, new lap top.

As opposed to the one I got in July after opening a virus (I just looked to link to a post on that, but I can't find it... I think I might have skipped over that story in embarrassment!).

Also as opposed to the new hard drive I got in December after, um, dropping my new one.

The laptop was never quite the same after being dropped. The wrong operating system was loaded on to it (Vista for home) so I couldn't sync my phone, and my printer wasn't compatible with Vista and the port where you'd put a wired connection only worked some of the time.

So I got a new, new laptop this week.

My only request was that it be small. Small, small, small.

The last one was small. It was a Lenovo x61s. It was small (12 inch display) and really light (about 3 pounds), and just so cute.

The new, new one is a Lenovo x200.

I have to admit, when I first saw it, I was a little disappointed. Sulky, even. It looked bigger (the screen is still 12 inches, but it's wide-screen, so it's really about an inch bigger). It's also an inch bigger because there's all this special durability features. It has: "a carbon-fiber/ glass-fiber top cover (similar to the bodies of the latest jet airplanes and Formula 1 race cars) for added strength... And on the X200 and X200s, a magnesium-alloy top and bottom cover help to protect your system against flexing, impact and accidental drops."

As the IT guy was saying this in front of EVERYBODY, you can imagine how red my face was getting.

He got me a race car, in a laptop.

Humiliating.

Let's not also forget (from the Web site):
• Spill-resistant keyboards, each sealed and contained within a tray with special drain holes to channel spills to the bottom of the system to lessen opportunity for damage.
• Reliable, sturdy metal hinge construction designed for daily use.
• Strong Magnesium-alloy top and bottom covers.

Double-humiliating.

And it's an inch longer.

But, it's also about a third of a pound ... lighter.

And it's way more durable. And it has XP. And, well, it works.

So I really, really hope my laptop hasn't been able to see my scrunched nose that I've had for the past three days, because, really, I think it's better. Way better.

And, let's be frank. Even if it were worse, there's not much I can complain about, Miss 'third computer in 8 months.'

Here's to hoping nothing goes wrong with this one!

Training

This week's lack of blogging is due totally to training.

The most boring training ever.

The kind of training that takes you out of the office for four full days.

The kind of training that you leave and think, "did I really learn anything today?"

We're getting a new database system at work, and this week we've been training on how to use it.

Only not really on how to use it. Because we aren't learning with our database information or running realistic tests to manipulate the data.

Instead, we are working with fake data on a company and following a manual that's a gazillion pages long and says things like:
1. Select the Customer tab on the order you saved in Exercise 9.
2. Clik the Taken By link to open the Employees record that is linked to your user account.
3. Write the ID of the Employees record here: ____.

Followed by a screen shot.

Four days of this, people.

Taught by a former 5th grade teacher.

That's not a joke. He really is a former 5th grade teacher. We're his first class that he's teaching on the database system, so I think he's not done learning it himself. And he treats us like 5th graders.

"Am I going to have to separate you two in the back?"

"If you're all done the exercise, why do I still here clicking on your mouses?"

Et. Cetera.

So now you understand that I ssssoooooooooo wish I were able to post more this week!

Off to our last day of training!

How many blogs is too many blogs?

I haven't been posting as much as I would like up here, and you're probably tired of hearing me apologize for it!


I have been online. And I have been on blogs and Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn and goodness, what else is out there? So while I haven't been on this blog, I have been on other blogs.


Doesn't really mean much to you though, huh?

I’m heading up a social media initiative at work, setting up groups for my association on Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter accounts and a new blog.

I’ve got tons of help, and my colleagues are excited about it all, too. But it’s taking a lot of time to get them started, updating profiles and inviting people to join and welcoming people who join, etc., etc., etc.

Not that I’m complaining. It’s actually really fun. (Says the dork who on both Friday and Saturday nights is sitting on her couch with a glass of red wine, Gray’s Anatomy on the DVR, and laptop open. Okay, I am a dork, because nothing about that sentence sounds bad to me!)

So that’s what I’ve been up to. There seem to be so many ways to connect with people, but I still feel like I’m missing out on a lot with all of you! Like I’ve been busy with one thing or another, but still don’t have the time I want to spend on any of it! And I know I’m not alone in that feeling. I am positive I’m not alone in feeling like the time is going too quickly and like one day runs into the other and you haven’t made that phone call or returned that e-mail or made that visit you meant to.

For Pete’s sake, I still have a Christmas present sitting in my living room, waiting to be given to someone who lives 2 miles from me!!

So, indulge me. Just a little bit longer...

Inauguration

I really am so sorry for being lax in posting lately! Please don't stop tuning in, I promise to be better!

So let me tell you about yesterday. Two of my colleagues from Dallas were up with their wives (Mike B., Elizabeth, Keith and Debbie) for the big day. We went to the Texas Black Tie and Boots ball on Monday night, and had a blast.

Possibly, a bit too much of a blast.

Because Tuesday morning came way too quickly, and let's just say I was not feeling my best. AT ALL. But the house got up, bagels and coffee and juice all around, a taxi cab to the metro, and we were headed downtown.

The metro ride, which should take about 20 minutes, was about an hour and 20 minutes. In a packed car that jerked forward and rolled back, jerked forward and rolled back, jerked forward and rolled back. We were bundled up prepared for the cold, only it was very hot and oh, so, crowded. Did I mention the jerking forward? How about the rolling back? How about the fact that I drank so much the night before I almost lost my breakfast a few times?

Yeah, the ride was kind of like that.

But everyone was in good spirits, and we struck up conversation with a group of guys that had decided at 6 p.m. the night before to drive from Atlanta up to DC. And so they did!

We finally arrived downtown, and poked our heads first in my office to freshen up and get some water. I'm at 12th and G Streets. Then we started walking.

We walked with all these people down to the mall:

It really was quite an incredible sight. There were so many people. A lot of roads were shut down and there was tons of security. Lots and lots of street vendors popped up all over the place, too, since there was no vehicular traffic.

The swearing in was first, then the parade. But the parade route was in between my office and the Mall, and there were only a few spots that were open for you to cross over Pennsylvania Ave. One of those was at 12th Street, and we had planned to just walk down that. But so did several other hundred thousand people, so we ended up having to walk back to 18th, then down to the Mall.

We arrived at the Mall closer to the Lincoln Memorial than the Capitol. There weren't quite as many people, and no security check points.

But there were porta potties:

The closest we got to the Capitol was the Washington Monument.


Because right in front of the Washington Monument, it looked like this:


So we backtracked a bit, and stood close to 17th Street to watch the swearing in on a jumbotron. Here was our view:


And yes, that guy's head did get in my way.

But the view behind us, towards the Lincoln, was really cool:



Have I mentioned how cold it was yet? It was cold. We went from sweating in the Metro to frigid outside. I was actually happy for the crowds, who at least blocked most of the wind. Except for the wind on my feet. After standing through the swearing in for an hour, my toes were absolutely frozen.

We were down at 17th and Constitution at at the end of the ceremony, we (and everyone else) started piling off the Mall. Walked with the same crowds up 18th Street to L, where Mike's office is. Freshened up in there, and walked past sandwich shop after sandwich shop with lines out the door.

Mike had the best idea of the day, and we went to Morton's for lunch. Morton's is across the street from his office, but it's on the second floor of an office building. All office buildings were shut down pretty tight yesterday so the public wouldn't come in to get out of the cold or use bathrooms or anything. So most people probably didn't realize Morton's was open since you couldn't get to it from the street. We went up to Morton's and dove into huge hamburgers.

FINALLY, my stomach started to feel better from the night of partying!

We thought that walking that far up away from the Mall would help with catching the Metro, but so did hundreds of thousands of other people. (We discovered yesterday that with over a million people, it's hard to have an original thought). The lines were so long to get into the Farragut West stop that they spilled out of the Metro, up the escalators, and down the street.

Plan B, we decided to walk to the Foggy Bottom Metro on 23rd and I. Here's what that one looked like:

On to Plan C. We walked down 23rd and across the Memorial Bridget to Arlington Cemetery. Did you know if takes much longer to walk across that bridge than to drive it? It does. At least for the whole walk, we got to see a police boat that had run itself into a bank of ice and get stuck. That was entertaining.

Thank goodness we didn't need Plan D, which was to walk along Route 110 to Pentagon City, because we actually got on a train at Arlington Cemetery. Thanks to the help of Google Pedometer, we know we walked 6.2 miles yesterday.

Back home, I was exhausted. Still had a house full of company (and for that company reading this post, LOVED having you. Really. ;-) ). Which meant I needed to feed said house full of company. We did take out pizza, and then we were all in our respective bedrooms by 8:00 p.m.

There you go! The inauguration! Quite a post, huh? I guess now you're sorry I came through on my threat to post more!

But in all seriousness, it was an incredible day. Historic doesn't quite do it justice. It was so moving to see so many people wanting to take part in the ceremony.

I'm still exhausted (thanks to getting up at 4:30 a.m. to take Keith to the airport!), so I'll be in bed very, very shortly! Goodnight!

The Ball

From the Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots ball.... I'm waaaaayyyy too tired to post more, but here are some pictures!

BoMc, Installment #1

We received our first Bacon of the Month Club installment!

There was a slight problem, though. One I need your advice about.

It was shipped to our mailbox, and we didn't pick it up the day it arrived. So when we did pick it up today, the dry ice had been used up, and the bacon was room temp.

Is that bad? I mean, the bacon is smoked already, and the package is vacuum sealed. But does bacon go bad?

I hope not.

Because the bacon came. To be more specific, the Vande Rose Farms Applewood Smoked Bacon arrived. In case you were wondering, "Vande Rose Farms starts by hand-rubbing fresh bacon with the perfect mixture of salt, brown sugar, a little black pepper and a pinch of curing salts crafted by pork expert, Brce Aidells... The final product is bacon with just the right level of saltiness, a slightly sweet finish, and just the right amount of smokiness."

It can be used to make "Vande Rose Farms Applewood Smoked Bacon and Oyster Mushroom Starter," which goes lovely with 2006 Trevor Jones Boots Grenache.

Ok, I'm not going to lie. All that makes me laugh! In a totally good way, but it makes me laugh! Gotta love the entrepreneurs that started this business!

My first AirPass flight

So I actually wrote this post on MONDAY, on the plane. Then completely forgot to post it...

I’m on the plane, on my first AirPass flight. (Of course, it won’t be posted until tonight or maybe even tomorrow, but it’s not my fault that the Verizon network doesn’t reach into the skies.)

I had a slow November and December, travel-wise. Only one tri p each month. But the travel is looking to pick up, peaking with the March tax seminar travel and continuing through the summer. So work got me AirPass.

The point of AirPass is that there is a flat, standard rate on all flights. You pay American a certain amount up front – kind of like depositing in an account – and then you can deduct from it whenever you need to. You don’t have to use your AirPass account to book a flight. Say, for example, I know I’m going somewhere a month in advance. Chances are, I can get a good price on a ticket. So, I just book it on my credit card. But, if, like this trip, I don’t book the flight until two days before the travel, I have the option of paying the full price fare or the flat AirPass fare (based on the number of miles).

Many, many other perks come with the AirPass. The one that is the biggest impetus to me getting AirPass is that you can change flights without any penalty. Even if you buy it at regular fare, you can change it or rearrange flights, or whatever without a fee. I’m embarrassed at how many change fare fees I racked up in 2008.

But then there’s the fun stuff. Like priority on the list for upgrades. Hee, hee, that’s where I am now – in first class. (smile) Priority boarding and lines and lots of airy-fairy stuff like that. Oh, and even when are in coach because you haven’t gotten the upgrade, you get free booze anyway. That’s nice.

Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way interested in status. Nope. Not at all. I didn’t use the First Class check-in line this afternoon. (okay, yeah, I did) Didn’t use the priority line to skip in front of a bunch of people to get through security. (oh, wait, I did that, too)

I think, in fact, I’m going to be very, very good at this AirPass thing. I might become an expert AirPass user. Other AirPass users may ask for my advice on how to be use a good AirPass user.

Really, just wait and see.

A male-like revelation

I love my vacuum. It's a Miele.

It's heavy-duty and gets up Goldie's hair and has fantastic features like retractable cords and good attachments.

My wonderful housekeeper, whom I adore, does not like my vacuum.

I actually think she'd really like the vacuum, if she could figure out how to work it. We had a bit of a learning curve early on, until I showed her that there is a suction button, but then also a brush button that both need to be pushed for the vacuum to work.

And the bag is kind of hidden (another feature I like), so there have been a few times where the suction has stopped because the bag was full.

At each of these occurrences, I made the fix and we went merrily along our way. But the vacuum has been the only thing the housekeeper has ever commented on. And you can really say she's complained about it a few times.

Yesterday she called again to say that on Friday, the vacuum didn't work. She thought it was completely broken.

I went upstairs to check it out, and after hitting the "reset" button (the one that was flashing red as in, 'push me! push me!'), the vacuum did it's job.

But this got me thinking about the times when I've complained to Mike that, yes, we have kitchen knives. But new knives would make it so. much. nicer. to cook and prep and dice and slice.

Or when I've made the declaration that I just can't possibly use the casserole dish anymore because it's so hard to clean, with each usage I can never get the remnants of the meal completely off it.

In other words, I had something that worked just fine. But if I was doing the heavy lifting, it'd make my world (and therefore his) all the better if you just got me one that was better.

So while I used my perfectly good vacuum yesterday afternoon, I realized that I just needed to suck it up (hardy, har, har) and get the housekeeper a new vacuum that she liked.

And that's what I did. I went to Target and got an upright, put it together, and kept the instruction booklet with it (because, after all, I still needed to get one with cool features like a removable canister for easy carrying up and down the stairs!).

I came to the revelation that since she was doing all the heavy lifting in this department, I really, really wanted to keep her happy. And if a new vacuum would do that job, a new vacuum it was.

Taser

Mike got his taser. He's been wanting this for almost two months now, when Officer Gregg (thank goodness) talked him out of getting a gun.

He had wanted a gun because one night, we were up in the bedroom, as was the dog, and a pot fell in the kitchen. We heard the bang, and thought it might be an intruder. I looked at Mike like, "go check that out!" and he looked at me like, "oh s&$t! I'm gonna have to check this out, aren't I?"

He sent the dog down ahead of him, and confronted the menacing pot.

But that got him thinking that he had no "personal defense weapon" in the bedroom (well, in the house, really). He talked about it with David and Gregg at our pre-party wine tasting (look at the photo half way down), and Gregg got him to come around to the taser instead of the gun.

Whew. Dodged a bullet on that one.

Hardy, har, har.

So he finally bought this:

(Good thing he's keeping me safe from the Christmas cookies!)

I really am having a hard time saying how I feel about this. I am very opposed to a hand gun in the house. But the reason for the taser is that - if accidentally shot - it won't hurt a person fatally, nor will it destroy walls or furniture.

It still just seems like a bit much. I don't like having it in the house because that implies that I don't feel safe in the house. And I'd rather feel safe in the house.

So it's a bit of a catch-22 that I can't seem to work my way out of.

Grandmom

Grandmom called me tonight, after I came home from work, while I was making dinner, before I cleaned up from dinner, and before I vacuumed all the dog's beds and started taking down the Christmas tree.

Really, all that detail is integral to this story.

She calls to tell me she just got the nicest note from her nursing home, and she wanted to thank "your dear, sweet husband for his generous donation."

That's a quote.

She didn't thank me.

She didn't thank me for our donation to the nursing home.

She thought perhaps it was his money, and his idea.

I was dumbfounded! I told her I'd be happy to pass along the message, but, oh, by the way, we both had something to do with that.

And she was actually surprised! This coming from a woman who also worked and ran her household and raised four children! When I told my Aunt Jo (Grandmom's daughter) the story, she laughed and said it was inconceivable in her house for her her father to make a decision - let alone a financial decision - without consulting Grandmom. And yet, here she was, just assuming I had nothing to do with the donation whatsoever.

It's funny. It really is.

But I'm not going to lie... it kind of bugs me, too.

BoMc

By popular demand... okay, just one comment... the Bacon of the Month club.


Yesterday we received our first shipment. I hate to disappoint you, but it wasn't actually a shipment of bacon. It as our Official Membership Kit.


Inside, we find our official certificate of membership, which informs us that as members of the BoMc, we "join an elite group of bacon lovers from all over the USA."


We also received a tee shirt with "Bacon of the Month Club" written on the pocket, out of which a slab of bacon is emerging. The tee shirt is an XL, natch.


A pig nose came in the kit, along with two toy rubber pigs, and a pig ball point pen. The pen has a pig on a gymnastics bar, and as you swing the pen, the pig spins around on top.

And a teaser of what is to come once the bacon starts arriving:
"We select different artisan, hand-made bacon, from around the country. Bacons are cured and smoked."



Along with the bacon, we'll get monthly tasting notes, a monthly recipie, discounts on suggested wines to pair with the bacon, and The Bacon Strip - the "members-only" comic strip.

So now we wait with baited breath for the first bacon delivery!

Bizarre day

It's been a bizarre day. I really don't have the time to post right now, but I can't forget to tell you about:

1. Driving 4 hours each way to Lynchburgh, Va., today for a meeting with a vendor. And about the sign on the front of the building door that said, "No firearms allowed."
2. Ironic, since today Mike's new personal defense weapon, i.e., the taser, was delivered.
3. Found a 12th teammate for the American Odyssey relay.
4. And in more irony, also received the first shipment from the bacon of the month club.

Happy New Year! (plus 4)

Whoops! It's January 4th. I guess I've kind of missed a few days posting, huh?

Wow, how do I back-track? We had a great and low-key New Year's Eve at David and Lauren's, complete with a yummy crown roast and lots of great sides. A game of Taboo (during which David and I kicked rear, ending the "Lauren always wins Taboo" streak!), eating and eating and drinking (Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay and Newton Unfiltered Cabernet, plus a Moet white label. Just, 'cause, it's the holidays!)

Here's Goldie and Sadie getting a pork bone as their New Year's treat.

I continued my New Year's Day tradition with Jenelle, going to see a movie. Unfortunately, we also continued the tradition of seeing depressing movies. We saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which wasn't depressing, but was certainly heavy. As Jenelle said when we left the theater, "If there's a Dumb and Dumber 3 next year, that's what we're going to see!"

Then down to Stafford for the Penn State game, and early to bed.

We went to Philly on the 2nd to visit Grandmom. Patricia and Samantha drove down, and Aunt Jo joined us, too. All crammed in to Grandom's room...

Oh, didn't I mention Goldie, too? The nursing home loves Goldie.

And nevermind that empty wine bottle on the table. You'd drink, too.

Dinner at Aunt Rita's with Aunt Jane, too, and some more pictures...

The excitement didn't stop with Saturday, when it was all about sports. Mike, Danny and Jason went to the Gtown/Pitt basketball game, while Melissa and I ate and drank and ate and drank at a restaurant nearby. Later that night, Mike and I went to the Caps game, where we seat-hopped in the third period to sit with Lori!

Today was all about cleaning out. The closets, the kitchen, and starting on the Christmas decorations. It's 7:46 p.m., and I'm calling it quits!

So much to do at the office tomorrow, but instead of going in, I'm driving down and back from Lynchburg, Va., to see my magazine on press. I'm a bit upset about that decision, only because I'm anxious to get to some work that's been piling up. I'll be in the car for at least six hours tomorrow, so feel free to give me a call to catch up!