WTF?

Is a cell phone really this important? I suppose by the point this woman swallowed the phone whole, the argument had surpassed rational thought, but still. I can't even imagine...

Who did I tick off in China?

Apparently someone over there is very unhappy with me, as evidenced by the insanely-attached price stickers that I tried to remove from some bathroom light globes last night. Of course, I can't locate my WD-40 anywhere (which I'm sure will turn up in some random box of stuff at some point), but rubbing alcohol seemed to help a bit. After spending wwwwaaayyy too long on a project that should have taken a couple of minutes, I finally got the stickers off and put the light globes up. At least in the end, they look quite nice :)

A note to the sticker-putter-on-er: I'm very sorry...please ease up on the adhesive.

On a side note, sometimes I'm amazed that I'm actually a writer when I come up with things like "sticker-putter-on-er". Thank God I have an editor at work...not that he'd change that himself, but he'd certainly come back with a whopper of a comment about it. And of course, at work I'd actually think of a term that made sense, but this is a blog for goodness sake.

What's missing?

I'm thrilled that after passing in the House, the Senate rejected the bill that would have opened up oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Thank goodness.

That said, what exactly are the republicans missing about the oil issue? They keep pointing to this as something vital to national security. Here's an idea - why don't we try reducing the amount of dependency we have on oil altogether - both foreign and domestic? Oh wait - we're already doing that in some ways, such as moving toward more hybrid vehicles and working on alternative sources of fuel. And here's the very obvious beauty in that approach: we don't have to depend on foreign countries to keep us running and we don't have to disturb a pristine area.

I know, I know - the national security slant is just something to get people to rally behind the bill. But still - are people really buying that? I guess they must be, which is so disappointing.

Another thing that bugs me about this bill (among other bills) is the way a bazillion unrelated things get mashed together to be passed all at once. For example, this bill included money for hurricane victims, help for low-income families, and money for troops in Iraq. What exactly do those things have to do with drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? Nothing, except supposedly money garnered from the drilling would go to support those additional items. Somehow, I think we can figure out how to address those other issues without oil.

Anyway, you can bet that when elections roll around again, democrats who voted against the bill will be burned at the stake because they voted against helping hurricane victims or something stupid like that. It's so frustrating. I wish that there was more political middle ground to grab a hold of right now.

And another one...

A friend sent this one to me...

http://www.jokaroo.com/funnyvideos/christmas_light_show3.html

Where do they come from? Mind boggling...

Weird request

I recently got a really weird email from someone who saw my profile on an online dating site. Here's the gist of the conversation...

Him: Hello. I saw your pictures and profile, and like what I see. Can I ask you a question?
Me (curious): Sure, no harm in that...
Him: It involves me cleaning while you watch. Can I elaborate?
Me: No thanks.

I was tempted to email back with a "yes" just to figure out what the hell would come after that, but decided that it was just too creepy. I have no idea what that guy would have said next, but maybe that's a good thing. Weird.

Vegas, baby!

I got back from Vegas on Monday night, and I had a wonderful time. While there, I saw the Cirque du Soleil show, "O", at the Bellagio and it was fantastic. I simply can't imagine how much work that must be to put on a show like that.

In addition, we did a lot of shopping, checking out the various casinos, drinking, and gambling. I didn't make any money, but didn't lose a lot either. I found out on the last day of the vacation that I should have just been playing blackjack because I was fairly good at that. Oh well - next time!

I think that my favorite part of the trip was the Paris. It's so adorable and the shops are really cute. It was tres me :)

Some people have too much time on their hands

I realize that's a very general statement, but who has enough time to do something like this? And by the way, watch the whole thing...I'm not saying that it's not impressive, but why?

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/wmv/xmaslights.wmv

I'll bet his neighbors are livid.

Thanksgiving

Well, it was an interesting start to the holidays this year. On my way home from work yesterday, I was just merrily heading home, thinking about seeing my family on Thanksgiving day and all of the good times we would have together. A couple of miles away from the place that I'm staying, I was rear-ended. Thankfully, neither of us were hurt, although the cars weren't quite as lucky. My car was OK, and will probably just need a new bumper and maybe a little look-see at the underside because it's running kind of loud now. The other person's car has a rather bent up hood. Overall, not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things though. My back is kind of sore, but it's not too bad. I've been taking some Ibuprofin today and just trying to lay low. I'll keep an eye out on it the next few days and make sure that it doesn't act up.

Anyway, Thanksgiving day was really great. I went over to my parent's house and we had 19 people there (including my new little nephew). It was a really good crowd and everyone was excited to chat and spend time together. I had a wonderful time playing with my niece and nephew, talking with my sisters and other family, and holding the new baby. My mom knitted the baby a little pumpkin hat, so he wore it tonight and looked so cute.

So, overall everything went really well. If I think back on this last year, I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm going to take a page from my friend's book and do a little list...

Things that I'm seriously thankful for:

• My family and friends, who have helped me through the worst times in my life and helped me to come out on the other end.
• My job, which keeps me challenged and well paid.
• My home, which will just get better and better with each new thing I do to it.
• A home away from home whenever I need it with people who love me and will never give up on me.
• My health, which at the moment is still a bit down in the dumps because of the cold, but is otherwise sound.
• My brain, without which I would be nowhere.
• My experiences, which have helped me become the person that I am today.
• My counselor, who is a very knowledgable woman and has helped me to see a lot of things more clearly.

And, things that I'm thankful for, but are silly in comparison to the things that I've listed above:

• Victoria's Secret, without which I would have no adorable pajamas or underwear.
• Coach, without which I would not be known to my friends as the Coach handbag girl.
• Zappos.com, without which I wouldn't have such fabulous shoes with free upgraded shipping.
• Tiffany's, without which I wouldn't have my adorable ring (a present to myself after the divorce) and a color for my bathroom.
• My bed, which is (using a term from Kati), heaven on a bun.
• Fabulous parties with Kati and A.
• My upcoming trip to Las Vegas.