Adventure, Pondering, and Life

BIG CLIMB for Leukemia

2009-03-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

Sorry I have been not blogging lately.. I have forgotten :) Fatima reminded me of my Blogging obligation so here goes!

I am doing the BIG CLIMB for Leukemia and Lymphoma! Yeah. I have never climbed anything substantial before. I am an elevator girl. BUT, they have been posting this for a while at my gym and at the Smoothie place so I figure I should do my part for society!

I came home and mentioned it to Breia and you know how we get... Ok... LETS DO IT! We decided we would see if we could actually climb that many stairs and headed to the gym. On the stairmill we realized it would not be as hard as we thought so we signed up and are going full spead ahead!

TEAM NAME: I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN!

MEMBERS: Amy Roberts. Breia Goo, John doe #1, Jane Doe #1

Can you tell me need more members? We need at least 4 people on our team by March 16th... Right now we are in search of at least 2 more people! ARE YOU INTERESTED?

CLIMB DATE: MARCH 22, 2009 - SUNDAY

START TIME: 2:30PM

STATUS: Climbers

NOW, we are looking for people to climb with us desperately, but if you don't want to climb, you can feel free to donate to our cause...

http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb?px=1124949&pg=personal&fr_id=1040&et=JGC8Gx

Even $10 helps! Our goal is to raise $2000 as a team! Help us to our goal!

I asked my brother to donate and he gave $100... then I asked my parents to donate and they told me they discussed it and thought they donate enough to life and don't need to donate more.... UHHHHHH LAME!

Anyways... if you can, I would really appreciate it!

My first climb practice was 20:30Min
Second Time: 14:20 MIN! WHOO HOO!

Fashion Magazines Need a new section!

2009-02-10T17:01:00.000-08:00

SO... is it weird that all my weird magazine talk starts at the Gym? Here's my newest thing...

After perusing Shape magazine at the gym and reading the ARTICLES... I came up with the perfect section to add to fashion magazines...

CLEARANCE RACK MUST HAVES!

In this economy or in ANY economy, people are always looking for deals. We peruse the clearance racks looking for that special something that we think is the best deal. Slapping our way through the racks looking for the perfect shirt to wear out that night. What should I not pass up?

Figuring the magazines are watching the style trends and they know what styles are coming and going, what should I be buying?

I know the typical staples.. white button down, black t shirt, nice jewel tones. But what should I be looking for that didn't pickup this season but will definatly be coming back in the near future?

HMM.. Just my thoughts. Maybe I should write this article and submit it to a magazine... That could actually make me moola!

Self Diagnosis - I wonder if I am right...

2009-02-07T03:16:00.001-08:00

I think I have self diagnosed myself with Exercise Induced Asthma. The reason I say this is, today I did Active Recovery at my gym. This is an extreme cardio that I do once every 7 weeks. It is intended to get your heart rate up extremely high and then quickly back down. When I bring my heartrate up that quickly, I feel like I want to die. Is this normal or is this Exercise Induced Asthma?

I mean, I can eliptical for hours but I can't run for 10 min. I have never been able to. I am thinking maybe this underlying factor could have always been to blame!

Here is what emedicinehealth.com has to say:
-----
Exercise is a common trigger of asthma attacks.

Exercise can even induce an asthma attack in people who have no other triggers and do not experience asthma under any other circumstances.

People with exercise-induced asthma are believed to be more than usually sensitive to changes in the temperature and humidity of the air.

When you are at rest, you breathe through your nose, which serves to warm and humidify the air you breathe in to make it more like the air in the lungs.

When you are exercising, you breathe through your mouth, and the air that hits your lungs is colder and drier. The contrast between the warm air in the lungs and the cold inhaled air can trigger an attack. Once the attack is triggered, the airways begin to swell (bronchospasm) and secrete large amounts of mucus.

The swelling and extra mucus partially block or obstruct the airways. This makes it more difficult to push air out of your lungs (exhale).
----

Maybe this is why when I work out HARD it feels like my throat is thick with heavy spit that I just can't swallow. GROSS I know.. sorry.. but it is interesting none the less. And I do breathe through my mouth when I workout REALLY hard on cardio.

I always thought I was just a spaz who could not run, but maybe there is a bigger cause to this crazy issue I have with the act of running...

I just had a physical on Wed and would feel stupid going back in to ask about this. Maybe I should ask DR Chris next time we play bar trivia... he is a wise DR Chris and maybe he will have some answers... I know Jonell will read this and laugh :)

SPELLING

2009-02-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

I must Reitterate that I KNOW I CAN'T SPELL....

Just in case you forgot :)

Spell check is for LOSERS :)

On a side note...

2009-02-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

I feel like by blogs end like Lenny on Law and Order right before they go to the opening theme music
If only I could truly be as witty as the late Lenny Brisco... RIP

Volunteering for the American Red Cross

2009-02-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

In an effort to be a more productive person, I decided to volunteer for the American Red Cross. They have a lot of jobs that need to be done so I am sure I could find something that would be right up my alley.

The interview process is suprisingly long... apparently, they won't take just anyone's free time... you even have to have 2 references! Can you believe that?

I met with Britt at the Seattle AMR office and looked through the possible volunteer opportunities. The one that struck my fancy is the Public Information Officer for the Disaster Action Team. The job discription is as follows:

Disaster Action Team Volunteers:

Help when it really matters. Members of the Disaster Action Team provide 24 hour immediate assistance to those affected by disaster. locally, we respond to a disaster once every 42 hours. Team positions includeL client caseworker, material and support services, shelter team worker, feeding associate, Public Information Officer, Didadter Mental Health. No experience necessary. Must be available for major community emergencies. Valid drivers license required. Traning you receive is the prerequisite to national volunteer opportunities.

Public Information Officer:

Represent the American Red Cross in emergency situations. Help spread word of our disaster assistance by talking with the media. Some experience preferred. Training Provided.

So... apparently this positon is hard to fill. Britt told me many people come in and say they just want to be on TV. I said... Did I forget to mention I just want to be on TV? Don't you love Amy's Humor?

Needless to say, I signed up and I have my first Red Cross Training meeting on Wed. Feb 11th.

Who has two thumbs and feels like she is doing something to better the world?

THIS GIRL!

Chris' Web Series

2009-02-02T22:41:00.001-08:00

Check it out!

http://www.everyotherwednesday.com

DYSON

2009-02-02T22:34:00.000-08:00

I think DYSON made Vaccuums cool. I mean.. who ever would say they wanted a Vaccuum for Christmas until the Dyson came along and people were like.... NOW THAT'S A VACCUUM!!!

I just saw a Dyson and it made me think of that. I really want one and it is something I would not be dissappointed to get for a present. Many people would me like ... great... I get a vaccuum.. now I have to actually CLEAN my house.. but I think DYSON makes vaccuuming fun...

Want to count how many words I misspelled in this blog? It could be fun!

Nordstorm Layoffs - Another Option?

2009-02-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

So.. I was talking to my friend about Nordstrom Layoffs. I don't understand why these big companies who layoff people for the high up levels are still posting available positions at Retail. Why don't they cut down on layoffs by offering the option of a Demotion/reassignment to work at the store level so they at least have a job and can maintain their benefits. They would be hiring this position anyway so it seems it would cut down on paperwork wouldn't you think?

Just a thought...

Pretty in Pink

2009-01-30T01:05:00.000-08:00

So in preparation for trivia next Thursday where the theme is the 80s, I was surfing TV and found Pretty in Pink. PERFECT! RESEARCH!

So I am watching and realize the hot guy in the movie looks familiar... where have I seen him before?

I proceed to IMDB him like anyone would nowdays and LOW AND BEHOLD!

He was the Billionaire on Lipstick Jungle! No kidding...

Just thought I would share :)

FitDay.com

2009-01-29T15:07:00.000-08:00

This one is for Jonell :

Jonell said I was obcessed with portion size because I was doing the chip thing and stuff... It is more because I was recording my workouts on FITDAY.com. It is a cool site that you can track your workouts, food, etc.

So since I was tracking my workouts on there, I figured I would play with tracking what I eat on there too just for fun... not for obcession :)

BUT, to know what you eat is interesting so thus the whole chip bag and such.

Check it out if you are bored... kinda interesting site and it is free so WHOO HOO!

Breia and I are going to the gym now so we don't feel guilty about the FABULOUS NACHOS we are going to eat at TRIVIA tonight!

Starbucks Layoffs - Another Option?

2009-01-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

Man.. another layoff round hits Seattle. Starbucks announced today that they will layoff 350 people on February 11th. My friend called me to say he thinks he will be laid off in that group. It makes you think, why aren't there other options?

SUCH AS:

I think Starbucks should take their least productive stores and sell them off to franchise. Being that Starbucks does not franchise period, this could be a one time deal and offer to buy a Starbucks franchise. They could sell these for high amounts of money... Say they sell the bottom producing 100 stores for franchise.. even 1000 stores. They still contain the majority of Starbucks stores as corporate run stores and then can boost their instant profits for the time being.

I am just saying... People think layoffs first when they should think outside the box to try to solve some of these financial problems plaguing our country..

Thats all I have to say about that :)

250 Calories in 1 SERVING of Pagliacci SALAD? ARE YOU KIDDING?

2009-01-27T19:48:00.000-08:00

Can you believe there are 250 Calories in 1 serving of Pagliacci Salad but in a piece of Small pagliacci pizza, there is only 190 calories? WTF?

Why should we bother eating that salad?

I will never order that agian after finding this out. I mean it is a pretty good salad, but I would rather eat pizza for that matter! SERIOUSLY!

There isn't even much meat in the salad.

After watching Oprah today and finding out a sandwitch that looks healthy from Arbys has 700 calories and a Arbys melt that is SMOTHERED IN CHEESE only has 300 calories...

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE SHOULD HAVE CALORIES ON MENUS THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

DIET COKE = HUNGER?

2009-01-26T05:01:00.000-08:00

Breia read an article linking Diet Coke with Hunger. Something about Aspertame and increased hunger thus resulting in Diet Coke leading to Weight Gain.

I don't know if this is true but I have been cutting down on Diet Coke lately in favor of Water as I wanted to drink less caffine so I could sleep more.

The other day I drank a few Diet Cokes. I noticed I was extremely hungry and I had eaten alot that day. I also did not go to the gym that day so if that was a factor also I am not sure.

I drank a Diet Pepsi and an RC cola another day and was not hungry at all. BUT, Diet Pepsi and RC do not have Aspertame in them either as far as I know.

IS it the Aspertame or is it something else? The fact of the matter is I like Diet Coke more than Pepsi and RC but is that because it is more bubbly or the addictive tendencies of Aspertame itself?

No idea... Something to ponder...

A bag of Chips VS a Serving of Chips

2009-01-26T04:49:00.000-08:00

Today, I went to the grocery store. I had a craving for Baked Lays Sour Cream and Chedder so I bought a bag. Once I brought it home, I was starting at it on my counter. I didn't really want to eat them right then because I knew it was going to be a pringles moment, Once you pop, you can't stop.

SO, I looked at the serving size, it said.. 9 servings per bag, 120 calories. I was thinking about it... 120 calories is not that bad... how much is a serving really???

I pulled out 9 ziplock bags. Maybe this will keep me from eating half a bag of baked lays. I open the bag and start dividing. I start small... a small handful in each bag. I don't even know if this will make 9 servings.. these bags look PITIFUL!

I fill all 9 bags... it looks like there are 5 -7 chips in a bag. SAD. After all of this... I know I don't want to just eat one bag.. It ruined my whole chip experience LOL.

This reminds me of an episode of Oprah! Oprah was talking about her weakness being Blue Tortila Chips. If Oprah opened a bag and seperated it into servings herself and then posted the calorie content next to them, I doubt she would want to eat them either.

SAD SAD NEWS IN THE CHIP WORLD TODAY...

Could you imagine if you did this with all your food? Little tupperware single serving sized? MORBID I KNOW YES... but it gets to your Psyche. Like a can of Fruit or even a bag of Carrots.

THIS IS TOO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT TONIGHT :)

Guilt and Going to the Gym

2009-01-26T04:48:00.000-08:00

Thought of the DAY:

It is a lot easier to just get off your ass and go to the gym then spending the whole day feeling guilty for not going to the gym. Once you go, your concience is clear to go about the rest of your day guilt free :)

A Cool Bike/Spinning workout to do on your own!

2009-01-25T03:41:00.000-08:00

BIKE OFF 200 CALORIES (From Fitness Magazine)

TIME (MINUTES) RPE* HOW TO PEDAL SONG

0:00-3:30 3 Easy Pace, seated. Toward end of song, add resistance"Pocketful of sunshine" -- Natasha Bedingfield

3:30-8:00 4 to 6 Standup. During each chorus increase pasce; decrease for each verse. Toward end of sonfg, add more resistance"Give it 2 me" -- Madonna

8:00-8:30 6 Sit down, maintaining resistance level and pace."Who Knew" -- Pink

8:30-11:30 6 to 8 Add resistancel increase it a little bit more every minute as though climbing hillSame Song

11:30-14:30 8 Stay seated , maintaining resistance level. Continue "climbing" at a slower, steady pace."One" -- Mary J Blige and U2

14:30-16:00 9 Increase resistance and pace slightly, then standup and pedal as fast as you can.Same Song

16:00-20:00 4 Reduce pace and derease resistance to zero. "American Boy" --Estelle featuring Kanye West

**Rate of perceived exertion(Your level of intensity on a scale of 1 to 10)

Babys R US - Not user FRIENDLY!

2009-01-25T03:34:00.000-08:00

So Friday night, Before the CHICKEN Debockel... BTW, I am a bad speller and I am very aware of this already thank you very much :) ... I went to Babys R US to purchase a Baby Shower Present for my friend Lori. I made it to print off her 15 page registry and then was looking for what I was going to purchase...

Lori wanted Bottles and Passifiers. OK... EASY... but being a new mom, I assume she has registered for these things so I will get her the ones she registered for...

I start going through pages and pages of this damn registry while standing infront of the FOOTBALL FIELD sized bottle wall. THIS IS NOT MADE FOR THE PERSON WHO DOESN'T HAVE CHILDREN!!!

Courtney suggests we just follow a pregnant woman around and pickup whatever she gets... Good idea... but no!

We finally find the bottles on the registry but finding the registry vs the wall was a whole nother scenerio.

Needless to say... I finally found the items I needed... but

COULD SOMEONE CALL FOR A TOUR GUIDE FOR BABYS R US?

Romono's Macaroni Grill - Dont order Skinny Chicken!

2009-01-25T03:30:00.000-08:00

Ok... Courtney and I went to Romono's for dinner on Friday night. Thinking we would be all HEALTHY.. we decided to order the SKINNY CHICKEN. This was a chicken breast, grilled with blasamic viniger and honey. It came with Broccoli and Asparagus. It sounded good... until it arrived!

We took a bite of the chicken and looked at each other. This is .... INTERESTING... Take another bite... no, it is just NOT GOOD!

As we each keep eating our broccoli and asparagus, we are wishing one of us would have ordered something different so we could have at least shared ONE good meal!

SERIOUSLY... who screws up CHICKEN??? IT IS FREAKIN CHICKEN! How do you make CHICKEN BADLY???

As we were leaving.. we saw someone else who ordered it... we felt very bad for him...

Wheel of Fortune

2009-01-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

As Breia and I sit her competing on Wheel of Fortune we wonder...

Why the hell do people buy vowels when they know the answer to the puzzle. If you really want to throw away $250, I'll take it!

Next, it's all about the THEME...

This week happens to be TEACHER week. The first puzzle is 3 words. The second word has an appostrophie and so the first letter guessed is S. One S. Did I metion it is a place? I tell Breia... it is Your Principal's Office. She said.. if you get that with one letter, that is un real. then they guess an R, then an E. I say OH MAN... I AM SO CLOSE.. IT IS VICE PRINCIPALS OFFICE..

Needless to say... I think I take WHEEL today... UNTIL TOMORROW MISS GOO!

Hobbies

2009-01-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

I think I need some new hobbies. Other than the fact I should learn how to spell as a new hobby.

Thursdays are reserved for Bar Trivia.
Tues/Fri X Gym

I nees like a mon or Wed activity. Maybe Ballroom Dancing at Dancesport? I kinda want to learn the jive.

Thats all I have to say.

To Run or Not to RUN... The St Pattys Day Dash

2009-01-20T21:50:00.000-08:00

Breia is trying to convince me to run the St Pattys day dash. I say I can eliptical for an hour but I can't run half a mile. I think I need running lessons. If you can remember the infamous Friends episode with Rachel and Phoebe running, yes, I am Phoebe. I run like an idiot.

The high point is the fun run is only 5K so it is pretty short and totally do-able. SO... here's what I am thinking. When I am elipticaling, I will try to run first. Maybe start with 3 min. Cause lord knows that is all I will be able to do. Not that I am not thinking positively, but because I know my vast running ability. I do have until Mid March so I should be able to do this...

Lets invision myself running on the beach in Mazatlan and Hawaii when I am there on vacation... ahh yes... the wind in my blonde braided dreads... the sand at my feet... the white macramae bikini... Straight up Darryl Hannah...

Think about it.

How to get in a Weekly Magazine

2009-01-20T15:46:00.001-08:00

In all of my Gym goings, I have been reading alot of magazines. This has brought about my brilliant deduction.

I KNOW HOW TO GET YOUR PICTURE INTO US WEEKLY, OK MAGAZINE, or any other magazine of your choice!

When you are flipping through those magazines, how often do you see the section where they are comparing 2 people in the exact same dresses to see who looks better in it? Now how often do you look at one of those people and wonder... Who the hell is that?

THIS IS THE PLAN!

1. Watch some awards show, go to Wire Image and check out the red carpet pictures.
2. After you do this, find some dress that you think will make the best dressed or worst dressed lists.
3. Then, go to the designer store and buy the dress... yes, this will cost you quite a bit, but being a celeb is expensive!
4. Wear the dress out to a Hotspot in Hollywood, NY, or anywhere where there might be paparazzi around. You can always pull a Kathy Griffin and call them yourself.
5. The paparazzi will recognize the dress and take pictures of you just because of the dress and then sell the pictures to the magazines.

INSTANT CELEB!

If you do this 3 or 4 times, you could be the next no name Hollywood Socialite!

I am not promising anything. but I am pretty confident this would work wonders!

The GYM - Why does cost motivate?

2009-01-20T15:39:00.000-08:00

So in my latest gym kick, I joined a new gym. This gym is not an ordianary gym, it is a personal training gym where they like to take things to the extreme. For some reason, just working out at 24 is not enough. The mere 20$ a month is costs me to have my membership is just not motivating enough to get me there.

HOWEVER.. the rediculous price of the X-Gym somehow motivates me to go to the gym. Is it merely because I know if I miss one session it costs me around $40 or if it is because I like to get my ass kicked every time I go. Needless to say, I go, and that is truly what matters. I wonder how long I will need this motivation to go to the gym.. because this is rediculously expensive, but, I suppose my health is worth the cost. :)

I am currently going to both gyms, X-Gym and 24 hour fitness so now my $20 a month is getting used also! WHOO HOO!

So apparently it takes at least $40 -- 2 times a week to get me to the gym. Maybe I need a better hobby :)

The Life of MVP Gold!

2008-01-08T23:59:00.001-08:00

The Life of Gold

For those of you who don’t know the wacky world of Amy… here it goes!

I have to travel a lot for work and I also travel a lot for fun. To Maximize my travel benefits, I am a member of every frequent flyer club known to man… but, the only one that truly matters, is Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

For the most part, I travel on the West Coast and that mainly consists of Alaska Airlines travel. Sometimes Southwest sneaks in there but truly, I am not a fan of them not assigning seats and having to wait in a line just to try to get a good seat on the plane. Now when I travel Coast to Coast, I mainly go on Delta and Northwest, Alaska Airlines partners in order to max out my rewards. Gotta love the more bang for your buck!

Alaska Airlines operates their Mileage plan on a tier level. First tier is everyone in general who takes one flight here or there. Second tier is MVP. These people are like me. Travel a lot for work… a few coast to coast trips a year… you must accumulate 20,000 actual flight miles on Alaska Airlines or 25,000 Actual Flight Miles from the combined Partner Airlines, IE Delta, KLM, Northwest, ETC.

After my travels this year, I was MVP in August. At that point, knowing I was traveling a bit more throughout the rest of the year, I aspired for MVP GOLD! MVP Gold is the 3rd and highest tier of the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. To Achieve this lever, you must travel 40,000 actual flight miles on Alaska Airlines or 50,000 actual flight miles on combines partner airlines… To break it down… Your butt has got to be in the seat for 50,000 miles high above the vast land we live on!

Through some good working and 2 mileage runs over the year totaling me $400 ($200 per mileage run) I have finally achieved the coveted GOLD status.

You may think I’m crazy for wasting $400 on such a status but OH NO MY FRIEND! It is well worth it!

Being that I live in Seattle where the GREAT HUB of Alaska Airlines is, I get to truly reep the rewards of the status.

Today I am headed to San Jose for work. A week ago when I logged on to check out my seats online I began with my first Perk of Gold STATUS!

PERK 1: I was upgraded to first class a week ahead and FREE!!! SCORE! Lucky me!

I get to the airport today and usually can just go to the lovely MVP/First Class line which is FABULOUS, however with the new setup Alaska has at Seatac, there was no need because there were 10 lanes open and waiting to check your bag! I checked my bag and proceeded to security where a second perk was about to arrive!

PERK 2: No waiting in Security Lines! WHOO HOO!

This is a great perk that I also got as an MVP! However, I still love it as gold!

I proceed to my gate and hangout waiting to board. When the time comes, MVP GOLD can board right along with First Class!

PERK 3: Board anytime you want!

ROCK! I don’t have to wait in a boarding line, I just go to the GOLD/First Class Side and walk right on!

Jealous yet???

So I am currently sitting in First Class – Seat 2 A as I write this… After I boarded I was greeted and given a nice bottle of water.. Oh how LOVELY! After taking off, my drink order was taken and at 10,000 feet I was served with an Ice Cold Diet Coke in a GLASS cup (No plastic in FIRST CLASS!) with ice. What more could a Diet Cokeaholic ask for? Well, maybe a straw would have been nice! But I’m not picky! ;)

With my Lovely Diet Coke, I received a nice bag of peanuts. Gotta love the snacks! After sitting for a moment the flight attendant came around with some warm, yes WARM mixed nuts! I wish my dad were here… for some reason I know he would definitely appreciate this feature!

Oh just as I was writing this, my Diet Coke became empty and the Flight Attendant was quick to offer me a refill! God love the life!

Now I don’t want it to sound like I have never been in First Class… I have… I am just now under the realization that this can be my lifestyle for the next year as MVP GOLD rather than a once in a blue moon thing!

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!!

I just had to share this great flying experience with you as I lounge in my oversized First Class chair!

If anyone wants to travel this FABULOUS service can be yours too if you travel with me!

Where shall we go? The Sky’s the LIMIT! ;) (You like that???)

Happy Travels!

Jet Setter – Didn’t I swear I would never do this again?

2007-12-17T14:58:00.001-08:00

Jet Setter – Didn’t I swear I would never do this again?

Current mood: tired Category: Travel and Places

7:36AM PST – Somewhere over Wyoming?

Delta Flight 1066 SEA – ATL

Departing: 6:00AM – Delayed: 6:15AM

Mileage for flight: 1500

Total Miles in Account: 100,653

Listening to: Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi

Watching: Arctic Tale – (When I say watching, I mean it is on the Giant Screen in front of me while I occasionally look up to see a polar bear or a penguin…)

Magazine: Games – I like the crosswords… they are closer to my level than the NYT.

Snack Served: Delta Airlines Snack Pack: 4 Wheat Crackers, Tomato Herb Cheese, Oreo Cookies, and Raisons

Drink: Sprite Zero

I have officially become one of those people. Ipod in the ear, Laptop on my lap, and neck pillow. Oh yes, I did say Neck pillow. For those of you I did not tell, I am on yet another mileage run. Worth it? That is yet to be determined.
I was 4000 miles short of MVP gold status on Alaska Airlines and decided it would be "Worth it" to suck it up and fly coast to coast for the day spending $200 for the last of my 4000 miles.

Being that my cohort, partner in crime, Mileage run buddy is MIA this trip, I actually have time to kill while sitting here on the plane. I was planning on sleeping since I still have yet to sleep and it is almost 8AM but the sun has risen and sleep is not on the list for this leg.

I have a 1 hour layover in ATL before heading to my eastern most point of Columbus Ohio. Once I reach Columbus, I have a 2 hour layover before heading right back to ATL where I will wait 3 hours before returning home. Plan as of now, home at 12:30AM and with no checked baggage, VICTORY! Straight to the car to head home. What a way to spend my day off…. We shall see if it ends up as smooth as that.

IPODS: My brother Joe bought me an IPOD before I went on tour and I hate to admit it, but I have never really used it to its potential. When I first got it I had problems uploading songs and never really changed the original songs that were on it. Admitedly, I am not as much of a "music Listener" as much as I am a "TV watcher". But for the sake of this trip, I thought what the heck and brought it along. With my newly uploaded songs, not half bad I must say… I am onto Maroon 5 as we speak. This is my "Workout Songs" playlist I am listening to now… maybe that is why I can't sleep… Who knows… I may just have to switch to my "Christmas Songs" playlist.

Turbulence…..

What do people really do with computers on a plane? I mean… the majority of things I do on my computer are Internet Based. Though now I am writing this blog Mid Air, I still have to wait until I land to post it.

I could be looking up jobs online but no internet.
I could be checking the Woot of the day but no internet.
I could be checking my email and IMing people but no internet.
I could be doing my event recaps but NO INTERNET.
I could be Christmas shopping online but NO INTERNET
I could be downloading new songs for my IPOD but NO ITNERNET
I could be working on my Taxes Per Diem Schedule but NO INTERNET

I am coming to the conclusion I am addicted to technology. From Cell Phone to Internet to having my computer on me at all times, what would I do without Technology?

(BTW, I am chair dancing to Maneater right now, You know you love it!)

So I am really working on my taxes… How good am I? With the work I do, I have to keep pretty good track of where I travel all year for my per Diem Write Offs and such. After the problems last Jan, I have kept a log of all the cities I have traveled to this year to make it easy. Now, I am starting a 2008 schedule because I already have some work planned for January! WHOO HOO!

BTW... I am posting this from OHIO.

Joe's Blog from Dell Urban Challenge! - YES I did win a LAPTOP!

2007-08-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

Dell Urban Challenge
Earlier this week, my sister Amy told me about a promotion Dell was putting on called the Dell Urban Challenge. It sounded like a lame attempt to do an Amazing Race-style competition in 9 cities across the country, Seattle being one of them. I was reluctant at first, but seeing as I had nothing better to do, I decided to be her teammate for the race.The race began last night with an e-mail clue to where we needed to be by 9am this morning to officially start the race.
Find the Dell Lounge at this nightclub where the main, blue, and card rooms cometogether to complete the triad.
Amy easily determined this to be the Trinity Nightclub down in Pioneer Square near 1st and Yesler. She picked me up this morning and we arrived at Trinity around 8:30am. We were the first participants to arrive. We got all registered and had our first real chance to understand the complete rules of the race.
As teams registered, they would be assigned a color group and given corresponding t-shirts. The colors, coincidentally, corresponded to the 8 colors available in Dell's new line of laptop computers, consisting of white, black, yellow, red, blue, green, brown, and pink. Each team would be competing solely against the other teams of that color group on a race around the city. At the start of the race, each team would receive a series of 8 riddles, or clues, to locations around the city. At each stop, you had to get your gamecard stamped with one of the 8 stamps (each again, a color of the new laptop line) and the first team from each color group back to the starting line with all 8 stamps would win 2 brand new Dell Inspiron 1521 laptops, in any color they choose, valued at $1,253 each. Additional rules: any mode of transportation is acceptable, only one person from the team is necessary to get each stamp, but both team members must reach the finish line together.
We were assigned the color Blue and proceeded to wait around while the other teams arrived. We had no clue how many teams would be participating, and heard anything from 100 - 300 teams had pre-registered, depending on who you talked to. We proceeded to scope out the Blue competition, determine who the real threats were, and were convinced that these two bicycle messenger guys looks like the most difficult competition. Around 10am the teams were all assembled at the starting line (a Windows Vista "Start" button, classy), and we there had to have been no more than 30 teams total. That's not much competition! But we identified 5 Blue teams, including ourself, which doesn't take a math genius to determine we had about a 20% chance of winning. Not too bad. Red group was the first to start, 4 teams assembled at the starting line, and off they ran! Next up was the Brown group, but only 3 teams this time! Amy flexed her muscle with the event organizers and the Dell reps there, pointing out that there were 5 blue teams but only 3 or 4 each of the other colors. In the interest of fairness, (or something like that ;-)) Amy and I switched colors to the Yellow group which only had 3 in it. Brown started, next up was Yellow. We threw on yellow t-shirts over our blue ones and lined up at the starting line with the other 3 teams. AND WE'RE OFF!
Having arrived so early, we had parked at a parking meter just across the street from the club. We had the plan, Amy would drive, I would jump out and get the stamps as necessary. The 8 clues were as follows:
Come find this f-oto studio in Pioneer Square, take some pictures and showyour top model flare.
You might understand why there is such a demand if you come to this "MarineMichaelangelo's" land.
Dancing, drinks and hanging bras; bull riding and cowgirls. Yeehaw.
Its door is one less than four with jazz music that's played around greatdecor.
The name is the color of some types of grapes, and grapes are the ingredientsof some of its tastes.
This famous wall of stickiness was created because of this theatre wherepatrons waited.
On your Qwest to the next location: you'll find us where you can buy sportsgear of the animal that can fly.
In the midst of the busy downtown, just a step off the street; find your Zenin this small park-retreat. Think water, trees and concrete.
A few were easy, but we wanted to hit them in the most efficient order to save time. Our modus operandi was to keep moving, figuring out the next clue while we're driving to the ones we know. Fortunately, we had both secured our "phone-a-friend" lifelines to handle any Google searching we needed. Amy's friends proved one thing, they can't Google worth a darn. Fortunately I called upon my long-distance phone-a-friend Andrew all the way in Birmingham, Alabama to save the day and do research on those clues we didn't know.
Flying down to 1st Avenue, clue #3 was obviously Cowgirls, Inc. a club Amy knows well, we pulled up to the stop light, I jumped out got the stamp and jumped back in before the light turned green. Following down to the Seahawks team store at Qwest Field, Amy pulled a questionably-legal left turn around a car waiting in the turn lane to knock off clue #7. After a quick spin around back to 1st Avenue, we headed towards the Triple Door jazz club (clue #4) on 2nd and Union, but on our way Andrew decrypted clue #6 to be a reference to the Gum Wall in Post Alley at Pike Place Market. I jumped out and ran a few blocks around to cover the length of Post Alley on foot, only to have that "duh" moment when I realized the clue was referring to the Market Theatre which is at the other end which I later tracked down. We continued up to knock off clue #4 at the Triple Door (which we were the first team overall to reach, always a good sign), and then zigzagged a couple blocks down to 4th and University where Amy knew of a wine bar named "Purple" which was the solution to clue #5. We dropped back down to 1st Avenue, and caught the Wyland Gallery (Wyland is a marine life artist known as the Marine Michaelangelo) which Andrew pointed out was about a block south of the Seattle Art Museum around 1st and Seneca as clue #2. As we were driving south on 1st Ave. we were stopped at a light and looking everywhere, until we looked right to the side of us and saw the trademark lime-green shirts of the Dell challenge workers. I jumped out and got the stamp while Amy maneuvered over to the curb. Back to the car, with only 2 clues left, which we determined were both in Pioneer Square, we high tailed it back and tracked down the Waterfall Park (clue #8) on 2nd and Main. Andrew's incredibly resourceful google searching decrypted clue #1 to be "The F-Stop" photo studio about a block from the finish line. We decided to drop back and park in the same place we started, and while Amy parked the car I ran out to track down the final stamp. After running up and down the block, Amy came back and met up with me, finish line clearly visible across the street, all the staff cheering us on, and we finally found a small non-descript sign above a door. We went down the stairs and found the final stamp there (and much to our surprise, found out that we were the very first team to find it). We got the stamp and raced back across the street in glorious Amazing Race form, to the thunderous cheers of the green-shirted staff waiting to validate our results.
AND IT'S OFFICIAL! If Phil Keoghan from the Amazing Race were there it would go something like this... "Joe and Amy... you're the first team to arrive!" We not only were the first yellow team to arrive, but also the first team overall, defeating both the Red and Brown teams who started before us. Right on our heels the first Red team arrived and Brown shortly thereafter. Much celebration occurred as we all would be the proud recipients of new Dell laptop computers.
The organizers severely underestimated the resourcefulness of the Seattle teams, as they had expected the challenge to take 90 minutes or so, though after our team starting at around 10:12am, we actually finished shortly after 10:45 about 35 minutes later. We have to send in notarized affidavits of eligibility this week and then sometime after will receive information about how to order our new laptops. Woohoo!
The Dell marketing reps who attended the competition were pleased with the results and the excitement of the event. They were in communication with the events going on concurrently in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Austin, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and apparently heard similar positive reports from the other sites (and also a lot more participation than Seattle). Amy and I may have to participate at the next challenge. :)
I don't think we would have been nearly as successful without the successful team of Amy's mad driving skills and her maneuverable Dodge Neon, my crazy running all over, and Andrew's amazing puzzle solving and Googling skills. Andrew will receive an appropriate reward for his services. :)
Much video and photos were taken, and we were told to expect to see a fair bit of post-event promotion on the Dell Lounge website in the coming weeks and months. I'll be sure to post some updates if it appears.

Comcast DVR

2007-08-07T04:04:00.001-07:00

So I have a Comcast DVR and it seems to SPAZ out every once in a while. Well, more than every once in a while... at least once a night. It seems to reset itself and then it takes a good 10 minutes before it responds again. Pretty annoying if you ask me. Is this normal? If I recall at my old place I never experienced this happening... then again.... I didn't have a DVR box either... just a simple cable box. Anyways... Thats my annoyance of the moment.

Back to Blogging

2007-08-07T04:02:00.000-07:00

Hey All -

I am going to make an attempt to blog again and update my website! STAY TUNED!

Airplane Comfort

2007-06-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

I would title this blog something creative like Airplane Inginuity but then again... I don't think I can spell it right so that is why I stuck with Airplane Comfort. No matter what the title, the content remains the same. For my welcome back to blogging regularly debut, I present this question:

Why are there so many advancements in Car style and comfort yet airplanes still have the same old crappy seats and tray tables?

We seem to find it easy to make airplanes bigger and faster yet with the many advancements in aviation, people tend to not care about comfort. WHY IS THIS? How many years have you flown and still sat in the same 24 ABC, DEF setup? Same crappy tray table with the cup holder ring to hold your drink. Same button you push that sometimes works to recline your seat. SAME UNCOMFORTABLE, CRAMPED PERSONAL SPACE!

I will give props to some airlines that spend the money for the new planes with digital tvs in every seat. BUT SERIOUSLY! With all of the technology advancements, why is there still not enough room to put your laptop and cup of diet coke side by side on your tray table? Do people not like a tasty cool beverage while they are getting work done on their 4 hour flight? I sure do!

One word: Tempurpedic! Would it kill you to invest another $5000 in a million dollar airplane to add Tempurpedic seats? Oh I can feel it now... I know you can too. Sinking you bottom into the soft cozy comfort of the tempurpedic, butt molding love. Reaching to your left and pushing in the end of the arm rest where, click, out pops a cupholder! Oh yes, a retractable cupholder built right into the arm rest. No need to take up space on that tray table! No need to move everything to make way for that window sitter with IBS. Oh no! You are in Luxury now!

Ponder this: Why is all of the luggage storage overhead?

Look at charter busses! They store the bags under the seats and sit the seats on the luggage hold. You would not have to lose precious room under the seat in front of you but you would not have to Lift your bag over your head to get it into the hold. Simply, slide it under the seat and then step up to your seat. Doesn't that make more sense?

Oh... After being hugely interrupted by Julia calling... I have no idea where i was going with this. I will have to write more another day about another thing...

Amy's Road to Fame

2005-04-14T22:37:00.000-07:00

How has this come about? Well, it is a long story... no a short story rather. I was watching the Miss USA pageant... I know it is cheesey but it is a secret love of mine... Beauty pageants that is :) Anyways... I was watching the pageant and they were asking every one in the top 5 to give one piece of advice to women around the world. Cheese I know but you gotta listen. One of the girls... I can't even remember what state she was from, but she said,

"My piece of advice is: You can be whoever you want to be, but if you want to be it, you have to start TODAY."

WOW... What a profound statement to be made from a beauty queen. I guess it really is a scholarship Contest after all! Either way, it got me thinking. What do I want to be? Well... I think it is obvious and anyone who knows me would say that I always say I want to be famous. Even though it is usually a humorous remark.. It is undeniably true. I WANT TO BE FAMOUS. The question is how? I have decided I want to act. I want to be on TV and I want to be in films. NOW.... HOW DO I GET THERE? I can be anything I want to be... But I have to start TODAY. SO I go to the Internet.

First I think of people I know who act. Well, there is Yugi at Kona Kitchen who is always in some movie or another. There are people I know from radio like John Curley and people like that... But even though I know these people, I am not the kind of person who will just go up to them and say I am going to be famous, help me get there. I am more casual about it. Maybe that is my problem. I like things to come to me. I know I have talent and I always hope people will recognize that talent and then I will be famous. Apparently, this does not happen. I KNOW.. SHOCKING THAT IT HAS TAKEN ME THIS LONG TO FIGURE THIS OUT! I have officially decided to be pro-active about this and start cashing in favors and asking people to help me.

I have heard that Seattle is becoming a great place to start an acting career, but hearing and seeing are two completely different things. This guy I work with, Paul, has a wealth of information about acting. It's random but he knows a lot of people too so we often find ourselves talking and I am always trying to think of ways to become famous. Paul said there are a lot of casting agents in Seattle and all I have to do is take some headshots and go around and meet them. Apparently, actors are known to be undependable and if I stress the fact that I am dependable, I can start growing my resume. I can sell anything so now I have to learn to sell myself.

SO, I look online and happen to run across a top casting agent here in Seattle. This Casting agent is agent to people like Jeff Probst, Rob and Amber from Survivor, John Curley, and even Yuki. I was thinking... how odd that all the people I know use this "great" casting agent. I wonder if I could go meet with him and sell him on how great I would be on TV. Wait... I need an angle and I need some headshots.

After thinking and reviewing this website I figure it out. VOICEOVERS. If I can start out doing voiceovers then I can move on to doing commercials and then full TV. I have experience doing voice work... HELLO RADIO! I knew it was good for something. Is a voiceover tape different from a radio soundcheck? This I will have to look into. EXCITING!

Then, today, Paul mentions he got an e-mail from one of his friends last night. This friend was going to be shooting a commercial here in Seattle for a technical College and needed some people to act in it. Naturally, he thought of me. He talked to his friend and his friend was very interested. HOW COOL IS THAT? This commercial will be produced by Comcast for use on Cable TV. DUDE... Can you imagine? Flipping through TNT primetime in the Daytime and all of the sudden seeing ME?????? Talk about needing a TIVO! I would be rewinding and watching myself 24 hours a day 7 days a week! I fascinate myself! LOL Anyways... I will keep writing about Amy on the road to stardom.

I am planning on taking some test headshots this weekend. I just got my hair done so I might as well give it a whirl. Start with some amateur pics and see what I can do. I am sure with the way things are going I can get some nice pics out. WOW... I am excited. More to come!!!

Spellcheck: The Necessary Evil

2005-03-16T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ok... I try to spellcheck everything I do, send, etc. Especially at work. I do this by enabling the automatic spell check feature on my computer and e-mail. BUT. There are soo many issues with it. How about that simple, everyday words are not included in spell check!!! I work in the internet industry. Apparently, internet must be spelled with a capital I. I do not need or want it to have a capital I, but then again... Mr. Spell Check says it should so I surcome to the life. THEN.... What about the word WEBSITE. Spellcheck says NO, TWO WORDS. Who writes Web Site? I will be looked at as a moron. Internet Language says it is ONE WORK. Then we can go on from there and go to WEBPAGE, ETC. SEO, PPC, SEARCHABILITY.... All words I write on the daily basis, all words my spellcheck does not like. POO ON SPELLCHECK!

THEN....

Lets talk about automatic spell correction. When I write it will automatically change the word to the correct spelling. WHAT THE HELL! I love this feature, HOWEVER, I will never learn to spell the word correctly if It never tells me I was spelling it wrong to begin with! I mean COME ON! What are we teaching our youth???

Explain this to me. Spell Check is as readily available as a Calculator. YET, in school, You can use Spell Check on anything you want, yet calculators are forbidden on many tests. THAT IS NOT RIGHT! What is life coming to?

I think spell check needs to automatically update every month with new terms related to the world. Not Dictionary terms, EVERYDAY TERMS you are likely to use and the correct spelling of them. THAT IS ALL I ASK!!!!

OH BTW.. apparently, SPELLCHECK is not a word EITHER!!!

Brother Joe's Blog About The Amazing RACE!

2005-03-09T15:05:00.000-08:00

http://ar7travelblog.blogspot.com

BONFIRE BIRTHDAY!

2005-03-09T15:01:00.000-08:00

Anyone want to come to my birthday party?

Here's the info!

BONFIRE BIRTHDAY PARTY!

Where: Ballard - Golden Gardens Park 8498 Seaview Pl. NW,Seattle,WA
When: Saturday, March 12, 3:00pm to 11:30pm

Hey Guys! It is my birthday! The big 24! I wanted to invite you all to a picnic and BONFIRE! We are going to hang out and picnic and roast marshmallows over the campfire. All are welcome!

Pray for nice weather! Bring your friends and turn this into a big party! I said starting at 3pm but come whenever! We will probably play games on the beach and hangout and stuff!The park is open until 11:30 then those left can figure out if we want to go somewhere after. The park rules are "No Alcohol" so I take that to mean "No Alcohol that is Seen :)" I will see what kind of drinks we can make up! We are hoping it will not rain! Lets all take a minute to bless the Birthday Gods and Pray for one of these Sunny Seattle Days and Clear warm Seattle Nights...

We have been known to see them every now and again! Dress warm and Bring Blankets. If we want to be really cheesey and bring guitars and ukes and sing campsongs that is cool too! We will bring stuff for smores and some food and drink. Bring whatever you are in the mood for. Never know how warm or cold it will be and how many people will want to hang out if it is freezing! If It does look like it will rain, I will send an e-mail on friday after I check the weather and devise another plan. Friday is my actual birthday and I think I am going out then too if anyone is interested let me know!!!I do not have everyone's e-mail. If you know someone who should be on this list, please add them or invite them for me! The more the merrier!!!Some more directions:I-5 Northbound or Southbound: Take exit to 85th St and head west. Follow 85th West to dead end at the bluff. Take a right turn and go downhill . Go under the railroad tracks and arrive at the entrance of the park.

Snowboarding

2005-03-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

The season is ending and no one wants to go with me! Anyone still down for some quality time on the slopes? I want to go sunday but I do not know if I will be recovering from my birthday party Sat or if I will be able to go. If someone wants to go with I AM SOOO DOWN!! LET ME KNOW!

My Reality DREAMS DASHED :(

2005-03-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

SO... needless to say, I never heard back from the APPRENTICE. What a crock. If they do not want someone like me I don't know who they want! They do not know what they are missing I tell you! There will always be another reality show out there to audition for. Actually.... Amazing Race applications are fue FRIDAY! If they extend it I would so audition. It is family so it would have to be Me, My bro Joe, My Cousin Darryn said he would do it, and then we were trying to get either his wife Lisa or my other Cousin Blaire. Neither of which are as excited about it as the rest of us. If they extend it then we would have time to apply. I have the perfect idea for an audition tape too. I will leave you in suspense. Incase I actually do use the idea!!!!

If anyone hears about any more auditions coming to town make sure you let me know!!!!

Apprentice Seattle Audition Article

2005-02-28T10:26:00.000-08:00

If there were 2 people who stood out at the UW audition out of the 30 people who were there, is one of them me??? Read this article. Sounds like it could be!!!

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/213692_apprentice26.html

My Apprentice Audition

2005-02-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

Friday - February 25, 2005 -

I get up to go to a work meeting at the Seattle Chamber of Commerce from 7:30-9:30am. Things were cool. I was using it as wakeup time to get me ready for the audition.

Went back to work from 9:30-10am then LEft to go wait in line at the audition. I come home, pick up Courtney and we head out. No idea of how many people are in line or who even knows about it. This was a special audition for UW students, faculty, and alumni. I would have never even known about it if it was not for courntnet receiving an e-mail from the business school.

We get to campus and park in Padelford, probably as close to the hub as we could have gotten. Everyone says you should dress for hte apprentice audition like you were ready to go to a job interview so I wore my Black Banana Republic Skirt and a Maroon Banana Republic Shirt. Not a bad outfit but we will have to see what everyone else would be wearing.

Court and I get to the hub and go looking for room 108 where the auditions will be held. We assume it is 10:30 and the auditions are a t 1:00 so there will be a line already. We keep looking around and find the room... no one is there. What? Are we first in line? I want to be there early, but First? That is never good. I do not want to look too confident and crazy psycho.

We deceide to go get a soda downstairs in the Hub Cafe. Gotta always have me a DIET COKE! We come back and still no one. We see people who are setting up the room but no one there who "looks like they would audition". There is a certain type of people who audition for reality tv.. IE. People like me. :) I did not see anyone. There were some nice chairs in the hub so court and I claimed some. About an hour later, a guy and girl walk up. Guy in a suit, girl in a nice coat. Are they auditioning too??? This is odd actually seeing others here too. They walk around and proceed to sit in the general area. Still an hour before audition time and there are only 3 people here. Not quite what you would expect for an Apprentice Audition.

By 12:30 a few more well dressed people have shown up... likely fellow auditioners. We also see a group of 3 people walk by. One shorter guy with two taller girls... fairly plain, yet you can tell they are wearing designer jeans and one is caring a LV bag. I point them out to court. Those are the casting agents. She said I was thinking that but they are so plain. I said no... You have seen one person in the biz you can pick any out. They all have that same look about them. Nice clothes, nice big purse, and look like they just got off a plane. LOL

They set up standards and say the audition will start in 15 min and anyone here for it should get in line. I know I was there first but being the first person in line is not at all appealing to me. I am developing a strategy even though I am not even on the show... YET. I casually walk over to the line and end up # 15 or so. Not a bad spot.

In the research I have done on the net, I would assume these to be group interviews. Then the guy comes out and annouces the casting people will spend about 5-10 min with each person. WHAT? That is cool but not at all what I would expect. Now I will have to wait a while... was this a good strategy to be so far back in line???

We see people go in and then come out... another in, another out.... This is not so bad. When they come out, they start talking about what they were asked. They say pretty general questions. General Questions? What is that about? OK.... we'll see what more say. One girl says they asked her why she wanted to be on the show... she was so young... only 22. I was thinking... They asked that because the next one is old versus young.... hmmm... maybe I should tailor my answer to accomodate that fact....

I keep waiting. Court by my side.... she is more nervous than I am. I do not get nervous. I just talk faster. I notice something else. No one is coming out looking happy. Why is that? If I had jsut finished this audition, I would come out with a big smile, not one of these blah faces. They guy says it is because they aren't really interviewing as much as they are having conversations with the auditioners. I was thinking GREAT! That is my kind of interview! I know busines school people are not used to those kind of interviews, but for me, that is all I do.

Pretty soon I am in the front of the line... I am next. Ok... Courtney says her stomach is in knots and she is so nervous. WAIT... she is not auditioning.. I am. What a good friend to have sympathy pains for me. LOL I am getting excited. SO excited that this could be the beginning of life as I know it. I try to pump myself up. I am thinking I need to bonk heads or smack myself to get me crazed. But I just start making jokes... the energy is there. Time to screw on perma-smile... it is my turn.

The door opens. I see a table at the far end of the room with both the casting agents sitting there and a chair in front of them. That is my chair and it looks like a runway up to it. Time to walk the runway. Head up, big smile, lots of energy. I walk in. I get halfway down, they look up. I say HI! How are you! They are suprised. They say.. wow .. start off with some energy. That is great! Point AMY!

I sit down... Hand them my resume and we begin... or did it begin when I walked through the door??? The blonde says, so I see you have a bachelor of Arts in Communications. I said, Yes I do! From UW in fact, GO figure! The brounette points to my resume and the blonde stops. You were on the radio??? I was thinking to myself... YES! MY uniqueness. I say YES I WAS.. she says tell me about the morning show. OH LORD.. Where do I begin. I start telling about my life on the morning show. WHat I would do and so on. I told her about going to the ALAMO premiere and interviewing people on the red carpet. Like Billy Bob THornton and Dennis QUade. She says... WOW.. and you were not nervous? I said I do not get nervous.. I jsut talk faster. She was amused.

She says did you ever do any crazy stunts? I started telling her about throw down til you throw up and sewervivor. SHe is amazed I am so energetic telling a story about something so disgusting. I tell her I have pictures if she would like to see. :)

Then we go into what I do now, Internet Marketing. I tell her all about internet marketing and what we do. I said how I work in a small office and how that is nice but nothing like working in a big company like the trumps. She said, is that why you want to be on the apprentice... I want to give her props for her segway, but I let it slide.

I say no, I want to be on the Apprentice becuase It is a way to get to the top without working your way up. I have heard so may times how you have to work your way up and how you have to go work this job because when I was your age I had to go do that. I know you have talent but If It took me this long to get here... you should have to do it too. YOu are young and you have time to succeed.

Way to go Amy. Talk about how much it sux to be young in business!!!

They seem impressed with my answers.. but who really knows. They ask who I would want to be an apprentice for: Donald or Martha. I say I am very creative and so Martha would be the obvious choice, however, I really htink I would fit better with Donald. He works on a lot of the promotional marketing side and coming from that world and working on the streets and in management, I have a lot of knowledge that would work well for me with him.

They say thanks for coming and I am done. I stand up and ask. Where do we go from here? When will I find out anything? They say if I were to be chosen I should get a call in the next week. If not, then pretty much tough luck until next time. I was like sounds good! Thanks for having me! They say it was great meeting me and i turn around and walk towards the door. They say THANKS again. I say thank you too and I walk out. I leave with a smile. I WAS AMY. There was no more AMY I could be in that interview. I could not ask for more.

I made sure I left with a big smile on my face... Unlike my competition. I knew I did the best I could and that was all I could ask for. I am sure they said the typical line of we will call you if you get chosen because they can't make any promises, however, I am still optimiztic. No one else at this auditon was quite like me. Many business students and marketing professionals, but lacking in overall personality. THat is something I do have.

Now I wait a week and see how long it takes them to call. I will stay informed and stay excited!!!

Apprentice 4 Auditions - T minus 2 days

2005-02-23T11:59:00.000-08:00

This question comes from my Apprentice Research. I was looking into what exactly is asked at the auditions for The Apprentice. Though it is hard to find any information about this, I found most information says they sit you around a table and have a group interview/discussion. The Producers/casting agents have everyone introduce themselves and say:

Name
Age
Current means of income/ Current Job
Where are you from
Fun Fact about yourself

Thus where I got the last blog wondering what is the funnest fact about myself :)

Next, I found they asked the group a question and had them deliberate/debate the subject. The first season of apprentice one question was: Discuss Business Ethics. This season I heard in one city, they said: Discuss Whether or Not Prostitution Should Be Legalized.

I am thinking about these topics. Are they simply finding different ways to ask the same question? Are they not asking the difference between Morals and Ethics in both questions? Business Ethics are simply separating the Moral world from the Business world and what is acceptable on both fronts. Prostitution and the legalization is about the same thing. Whether or not the government should be able to decide a moral issue. ( I will go into my pondering in a Moral vs Ethics specific blog soon)

thinking about this, what other questions could they possibly ask? Should Marijuana be legalized? Should Gay marriage be legalized? Should Euthanasia be legalized? I could see all of these topics discussed and all coming back to the topic of Morals versus Ethics and Business and Governments role in both.

If this is an interview I guess I am sure doing my research. I was thinking about neat things the Producers could to for an interview. I think I would get a tub of Drinking straws and throw them in the middle of the table. I would say work together and build something. You have 10 min. Then I would want to observe and see how the group worked together. Who stepped up to lead, who delegated, who was a follower, who had the creative mind, who could play well with others. It is amazing how the simplest task can cause so much drama and how a little think like build something with straws could turn into either a train wreck or the next Eiffel tower. 10 minutes. In a typical job interview that is how long you have to wow the person before they are trying to get you out of your office. What can you do in 10 min to change your life for the better? To show someone else all about you? That is like saying I can pile my whole life and thoughts and job skills into a blog or onto a resume. A piece of paper can never tell you how I work with others or how creative I am.

WOW TANGENT! I do not know how that started. I think I should work on staying on topic and answering the questions rather than asking them.

Blog to come: Morals vs ethics

NBC Apprentice 4 Casting in Seattle

2005-02-22T17:24:00.000-08:00

Well, the day comes nearer and nearer and I am ready and psyched. You are reading the blog of a future member of Apprentice 4. I bet you feel special now! I heard you have to say some fun fact about yourself before the interview starts.

What is a fun fact about me?

I used to wear a shirt that said "I Am Special" all through Elementary school? That might say something I do not want to say. It does say I am funny though. They never knew just how special I would become!

---OR----

I once did red-carpet interviews at the Premiere of The Alamo? I guess that shows I can think on my feet. I don't know what else that says. That I am cool and I know a lot of people??? Well DUH! I am Abby Fabulous! LOL

---OR---

I made my radio on-air debut at an event where we locked people in port-a-potties to win money and that is how I became a radio personality.

---OR----

THe first time I ever hosted a club night for the radio station I worked for I was talking on mic on the stage and I was looking over at someone and completely fell off the stage. I then got up and said "Well at least the dj booth cushioned my fall!"

Any suggestions???

BLOGGING RETURNS! - ODE TO FLOSS!

2005-02-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

I have heard many people miss my blogs so I am going to make a conscious effort to blog agian...

Lets talk about the miracle of FLOSS! Oh my Dentist will be so happy about this! Dr. Burns! This one is for you!

Why did it take so long to come up with these little floss sticks? Has anyone tried them? I don't know if it is just me who has never discovered them or if they are truely this new, but there are little disposable floss sticks at the store that you buy in packs of like 50 or 100. They are so neat. Pre-strung floss on like little tooth-pick things that makes it so EASY to floss. Who would have thought. Easy to floss? That does not exist! No biting your fingers while you are trying to get to those back teeth. Now this little gizmo does it for you!!! I have seen the toothbrush ones on TV but I was always thinking they were so expensive and what is the point of spending all that money on FLOSS! BUT, these are like $2.00 for like 50 or 100. The only problem is I think I am addicted. I will use like 3 a day!!! I am weird but Dr. Burns will be happy... especially since I haven't been to the dentist in like 2 years. Don't you hate it when you graduate college and that lovely dentil coverage that your parents have just goes away? SUCKS. I don't think you will ever get as good coverage as your parents have LOL

The weird thing is I was watching Nick and Jessica and that is why I went to buy floss in the first place. I saw Jessica had not been to the dentist in like 2 years and then had like 3 cavaties and I did not want that to be me. Not that I have ever had a cavatie but now it not a good time to start. LOL

Has anyone else discovered the greatness of these disposable floss sticks? I think I need to go buy like 4 more packages so I have one for my car and one for my desk at work LOL!

Thats all I have to say about that!

Politics.. a couple reposts and a new thought!

2005-01-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

Democratic Politics in General

My theory on why Kerry lost the Presidental Election!
The democrats are looking further into the furure than this 2004 election. I think they are looking more toward the 2008 election. Figuring as of now, they have no one who could last 2 terms, they look at who might be ready in 2008 to run and sustain for 2 terms. What name comes to mind??? Hilary Clinton. Heres the theory. If a democrat were to get elected, and the democratic party is preparing Hilary to be the first woman president, she would not be able to run in 2008. She would not be able to run until 2012. But... since there is no one who could take 2 terms now as a democrat. A republican would be running in 2012 who was an incumbant and then that pushes Hilary off to 2016 and that is just too far off for the democratic hopeful. SOOOOOO.... instead... they forgo the 2004 elections by putting in a rag like Kerry who they know is about equal to Bush so why not let Bush fix what he started. Then in 2008, Hilary Clinton can run without running against an incumbant because there will be a fresh republican and a fresh democrat running. This wouldgive Hilary the best odds of winning the Presidency for the Democrats. If the Democrat were elected in 2004, they would again run in 2008. If he lost in 2008 to a Republican it would all be over. If he were to take two terms unlikely... Hilary could have a chance to run in 2012. Thats my theory. Anyone need a flow chart to understand my reasoning? I would be happy to provide!!!

Political Suggestion #1
I have to say first of all... I really don't care that Bush was re-elected. I do care that people are willing to leave the United States just because they did not like the election results. It's a democracy! We all get a vote! What more do you want??? UTOPIA????? Obviously we all think for some reason Bush deserves to be president again so we need to suck it up for four more years. Here's the THEORY!!!OK... this still needs some research.. but.. instead of moving to canada to protest the president... why don't we do something about it to make sure it does not happen again! Before the next election, democrats can move into the strictly republican states that are smaller in number or more borderlined and register to vote in those states to make their vote count more. After my research here is what I have found...1. You only need to live in a state for 30 days prior to an election. This means you can move to a state 30 days before the next presidential election in 2008 and register with proof of residency and a photo ID and then vote in the election. After that you can move back to your home state. Throretically, you would not even have to transfer your drivers license. This only has to be done after living in a state for 30 days (I believe). Proof of residency could be a lease signed at an apartment building.

Here is the way I see it.

For the democratic party to have taken over, Kerry would have had to win at the least 17 more electoral votes, possibly New Mexico, Iowa and Nevada. In these states Bush won by the least margin. Lets look at the states one by one.
1. New Mexico - With 5 electoral votes, Bush won by about 9,000 votes.
2. Nevada - With 5 electoral votes, Bush won by about 20,000 votes
3. Iowa - With 7 electoral votes, Bush won by about 10,000 votes

States like California and New York have an excess of democratic voters so here is what we do. People who live in New York and California can move to states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Iowa and register to vote in these states and swing the election. After the 30 days is the election and then they can move back to their home states.

IS THIS LEGAL??? I have no idea... but it is a good theory!

OR---

Instead of spending so much money just on advertisements, the democratic party can offer scholorships to students in California and New york to attend schools in Iowa, New Mexico, and Nevada. The students could then vote legally in these states. Since they are sponsored by the democratic party, they would likely vote for their side.

OR-

Take money from advertising and pay for people from California and New York to spend a month in an apartment in these other states and transfer their voter registration to these states... I guess that brings new meaning to buying the vote. They can say it is for an archeological dig or something like that. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person to this up these weird scenerios. It is entertaining me now at least tho.

Political Suggestion #2
Over the last few days I have seen a lot of episodes of law and order and the west wing and stuff like that. This thought was mostly from flipping back and forth between Law and Order SVU and The American President... both on tv at the same time. If you have seen The American President you know that the end of the show deals with trying to pass two different bills through congress... gun legislation and a fosil fuels package and in the end he chooses to throw out the gun legislation because it didn't address the issues with hand guns. At the same time, SVU has a case that comes down to ballistics to match a gun and bullet to a case. Here's where I start thinking.... In many cases now, people are convicted because of things like ballistics matching a bullet in abody to a gun then the gun to the owner by registration. BUT... they have to have the gun before they can match the bullet from the person to the gun and in many cases, the gun gets thrown out or in a lake or something and nothing can be done to prove the bullet came from the gun.

Here's how it works... (I think I have seen this too many times on TV)

To match a bullet to a gun the forensics lab shoots the gun into a tank of water and compares the striations on the bullet from the tank to the striations on the bullet from the body. Aparently, these striations are like fingerprints and are unique to each gun. Here is where I come up with my theory. Why don't we have sample bullets on file from every gun that is sold. These bullets can be on file in a computer or in the "National Bullet Bank" (you like that ?) THEN, when we have someone shot and pull the bullet out, we can put it into a computer and see who owns the gun that it was shot from... like the national fingerprint registry. This would help many cases get solved if we made it mandatory that anyone with a registered hand gun bring their gun in to have a sample bullet shot and we could from this point on have a file.

WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA!!!!

Even if the gun was a street gun or a stolen gun, we would have a better idea of where it was from by tracing hte path back. What do you think? Does this make sense to anyone else??? Maybe it is jsut another one of my weird ideas to solve the worlds problems with a simple solution. Maybe I should go talk to Bush and let him know my plan to help solve murders and help fight the hand gun problems.

Political Suggestion #3
Everyone says the USA is unhealthy. Whether it is because of fast food or business, it is there. Why doesn't the government give tax rebates for gym memberships or let you write off a home gym area jsut how you would write off your business. How great would that be? I recently heard Seattle is the one of the Healthiest cities. I don't remember where I was having this conversation. I wonder why SEATTLE is considered healthy??? Compared to LA on the whole Smog side I could see Seattle being HEALTHIER... Maybe it is because we don't have a Subway or eL-Train or MAX train to get us around faster so we have to walk 20 blocks to catch a bus. Who knows! All I know is if the government will spend millions of dollers trying to find out why america is so unhealthy wouldn't you thing that money would be better if it were put to work? As in tax refunds for home gyms or gym memberships? I think all in all everyone would be happier... the republicans get their tax cut and the democrats get their healthy USA.

Pondering Political suggestions...

2005-01-08T23:15:00.000-08:00

Everyone says the USA is unhealthy. Whether it is because of fast food or business, it is there. Why doesn't the government give tax rebates for gym memberships or let you write off a home gym area jsut how you would write off your business. How great would that be? I recently heard Seattle is the one of the Healthiest cities. I don't remember where I was having this conversation. I wonder why SEATTLE is considered healthy??? Compared to LA on the whole Smog side I could see Seattle being HEALTHIER... Maybe it is because we don't have a Subway or eL-Train or MAX train to get us around faster so we have to walk 20 blocks to catch a bus. Who knows! All I know is if the government will spend millions of dollers trying to find out why america is so unhealthy wouldn't you thing that money would be better if it were put to work? As in tax refunds for home gyms or gym memberships? I think all in all everyone would be happier... the republicans get their tax cut and the democrats get their healthy USA. I need to start labeling my Political suggestions... I will repost my old ones and start a list of them all in order... is this #3 or #4?

NEW PICS!!!

2005-01-03T01:55:00.000-08:00

I love my Digital camera! Check out all my new pics UP!!!

I WENT SNOWBOARDING!!!!

2004-12-27T13:32:00.000-08:00

FINALLY!!! Thats all I have to say.. KIDDING!!!

I did get the chance to go snowboarding yesterday at Crystal Mountain. I had never been to crystal before and was not as impressed as I thought I would be. I think it was just because there was not as much snow as I thought, but at least I got to go right??? It was good. I went with Yee Ning and Breia and her friend Alexis. Breia had gone a few times before, Yee Ning Once, and Alexis had never been so it was fun. We alltook a beginner class because it was the same price as jsut a lift ticket.

It all came back. I was having so much fun. The beginner run at crystal is jsut that.. beginner. After a few runs I was ready for more. This sunday the plan is to go to Stevens. THEY JUST ANNOUNCED THEY ARE OPENING TUESDAY!!! I am excited!!! If anyone wants to come with hit me up! I think we have a bunch of people rarin to go! advantage cards are available at Costco for 2 for 89$ That gives you your first ticket free and every one after that at a discount. GOOD DEAL. Same price asyour first ticket so I fully suggest you get some!

I will have Pics up soon from my NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!!

I love it! WE didnt take pics onthe slopes cause we forgot the cameras in the car! Sunday we will make sure to take slope pics tho!!! WHOS COMING???

So much to say... This will be a long one!

2004-12-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

I have been told I have been slacking in my blogging. I guess that means I have a lot to carch up on. With work I have not had the beautiful 3am thoughts that I usually have but it was a long weekend so let me start there.

Lets talk SNOWBOARDING FIRST!

What's up with this weather. We finally get blessed with snow all last week. By Thursday the passes had 30+ inches of Fresh powder and I was ready and waiting to get out on the slopes. I made all these plans to go to Stevens on Sat... then on Thursday, Stevens announces they will not open until Sunday. I thought that really sucked.. but there is Always Snoqualmie! Then Friday Snoqualmie decieded to close too because of what is now being called THE PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. IT rained 5 inches and melted all the beautiful snow. WHAT THE HELL!

We finally get this great snow and then it goes and melts. Needless to say.. my weekend packed with snowboarding did not happen.

Instead I went to the mall and windowshopped. SOOO MANY PEOPLE. I hope the economy is benefiting from this because I have worked at a mall for the last 3 christmas's and I have never seen so many people shopping. IT IS CRAZY! And things are not as cheap as they should be. I remember getting great deals at Christmas time but this year I am not seeing any steals. WHATS UP WITH THAT... Maybe it is just becuase I am lacking in that great MALL DISCOUNT I so loved. There is still time. I get paid on Friday.. we will see if I can find any super deals!

SUNDAY.. I went to Portland for the day with my friends to visit some friends from high school. We decided since we were in Portland, we would check out the mall and see if we could find any more deals. Sadly... even without tax.. things were too expensive and there was no one I was really shopping for. I did however find one shirt to get for a gift. Listen to this...

STUPID RETAIL PEOPLE!!! I can say that because I used to be one of them. I bought this shirt. Nothing special.. simple shirt. I take it back to my friends house and deciede I should get it in another size. So I run back to the mall to exchange it while I was in Portland because this store was not in Seattle. I assume I will have to fill out a form or something for an exchange.. no big deal. So the lady exchanges it for me and asks for my ID. I say "My address is different so let me jsut tell it to you when you are ready." After taking 5 min to write my name on her form she is finally ready to take my address. I wasnt too pissed yet because i had a Washington Id in Oregon so I will give her the benefit of the doubt even though the name is clearly printed on the ID. So she asks for the address. I start with my street... "blah blah blah... 65th Ave NE, Seattle" Mind you I am watching her write this... She starts writing seattle on the street line of her form. She writes the S then stops... thinks.. and asks... "Seattle? How do you spell Seattle?" In a condicending Amy tone I say... "S-E-A-T-T-L-E" SHe goes on and says... ok... "What City?" I WAS LIKE WHAT??? SEATTLE IS THE CITY>.... SEATTLE WASHINGTON!!!! What the hell! I am not from Portland but I know how to spell PORTLAND and I know it is located in OREGON... Freaking stupid HOLIDAY HELP!

OK... I had to vent. THat was my long LONG weekend. I hope I do not run into any more stupid retail people before the holiday is over... PLEASE SPARE ME!!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, LET IT SNOW!!!

2004-12-08T13:13:00.000-08:00

FINALLY!! It is snowing in the mountains! You know what that means? I GET TO GO SNOWBOARDING! I know I have been talking about this since like JUNE... but now I finally get to go. Lets hope I remember how it is done!

Abby's SNOW REPORT!

Stevens has had about 24" since Monday but they still have not announced if they will be open on Sat.

Snoqualmie has had 20" since Monday and still has not announced that it will beopen on Sat either.

CRYSTAL has had 24" of snow and WILL BE OPEN ON SAT!!!! WHOO HOO!!!

You know that now that Crystal mountain has announced that they all will be open! Now I must make an Ode to Snowboarding!

Ode to SNOWBOARDING!

Oh the Weather outside is Frightful,

But snowboarding is so Delightful.

And since I don't work let's go!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Well it doesn't show signs of stoppin',

And I gear I will be rockin'

Got my board all waxed and you know,

I wanna go, I wanna go, I wanna go!

When it finally opens up

I will jump in the car and head up

To the pass and I'll strap my board on

I'll be crusin down the slopes until DAWN!

Well... The reports say the passes might open

And My toes, they aren't yet frozen,

Snowboards in my dreams don't you know

TIME TO GO, TIME TO GO, TIME TO GO!

That is my ode to Snowboarding... Anyone else wanna come out this Sat and rejoice in the first day the pass will be open? SHARE MY EXCITEMENT! I'm glad it's snowing on my parade!!!

I'm still around...

2004-12-07T23:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since my last blog. I keep trying to think up new theories and insiteful comments to blog about but I am running dry. I have been busy with working.. YES, I finally got a job. I could tell you all about Web Optimization now and Pay-Per-Click advertising.. But I don't think I need to occupy my blog with that.

Tonight is Chaunakah so for anyone out there... HAPPY CHAUNAKAH! I think I spelled that right.. I had to look it up :)

Sad to say my life has gotten boring. I KNOW! Amy's life boring? THAT CAN"T BE! But it seems all I do is go to work and then come home and sometimes go to the gym and then sleep. I think I go to the gym for interaction. Our office at work only has about 5 people in it at any given time. The gym is always busy so I can find people to talk to. Thats at least good. Hmmm.... Im boring right now.. I should be sleeping... but I am so not tired.

New Theory

2004-12-02T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here goes:

THE SUCCESS OF TV SHOWS RELYS SOLELY ON THE THEME SONG.

Lets break this down more...

Teen dramas and Comedys must have theme songs with words to be successful. The OC has California, Smallville has Somebody Save Me, Dawson's Creek had I Don't Want to Wait, Friends had I Will Be There for You, Frasier had Salad and Scrambled eggs, The Nanny had the Nanny song, etc. Always recognizable catchy tunes associated with the show. This isn't just now either... look back at Fresh Prince, Growing Pains, Sesame Street! From a young age we can still remember the theme songs from these shows. If you are in a bar you should start FRESH PRINCE KARAOKE... the whole bar will know hte song and I am sure they will sing with you! LOL

What about Primetime Dramas.. They need a catchy song with lots of beats and no words... Look at NYPD Blue, X-Files, ER, Law & Order, Judging Amy, Crossing Jordan, CSI... catch the drift???

Now try to think of theme songs for half ass shows... like... Joey. What is the theme song for Joey? I don't know... I have watched the show but have no idea what the theme song is. I cant even think of the names of crappy shows right now to state my point. BUT... try to prove me wrong!

When it rains... it POURS!

2004-12-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

SO the saying goes April showers bring May flowers... I think it should continue April showers bring may flowers and June weddings.

Soo.. Earlier this year I found out that my friends Kristin and Richard were getting married. They are getting married this coming June. They are the first people from my class in high school that I was and are close with to do so. We were all happy and being the first to take the plunge made for lots of gossip. I think we might have even found out about this one last year... i dont remember. Needless to say... That was #1.

THEN... A few weeks ago I found out another friend from high school is getting married who was in the same group. I heard it through the grapevine that Kristin and Jeff are now engaged to me married... from what I hear... also in JUNE! I was like OH GOD!! ANOTHER!!!! That makes two couples from high school both engaged now and both where I know both the bride and the groom. And that was #2.

WELL>>> Today I get a phone call from another friend from high school who I also hung out with in college. I thought he was going to talk about snowboarding but then he busts out the words... I HAVE NEWS! I was like oh crap.. there goes another one. YES INDEED... my buddy TJ is now also engaged to his woman Jamie. WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO? Of course I had to call everyone I knew from high school to tell them about the engagement. I probably will still find more people to tell via IM when I get the chance. TJ said he knew I would tell people so he didn't have to call every random person. Maybe someone reads my blog who knows them and will find out this way too! WHO KNOWS!

Anyways... I can't believe so many people are getting married. SOOO YOUNG. It is crazy. At times like this I thank god I am single... But then again.. I guess I need a date for all these weddings!!!

Im conversation with Jonel at Lunch

2004-12-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

First... What do I do while I am on my lunch break at work??? I IM and update my BLOG! How much of a dork am I???

In the midst of trying to find a blog topic Jonell IMs me and she came up with many a topic... for instance...

What is up with holiday flavors of Lattes at Starbucks??? Gingerbread Latte??? How can you really drink a cookie? REALLY! Don't you think it tastes like you were dipping a cookie in milk and then heated up the milk with the crumbs in it and added some instant coffee to it??? SOOO DISGUSTING! I do not understand the beauty of some flavors. Jonel really likes the Pepermint Mocha. Now I am fine with Pepermint... Mint is all good when it is Pepermint. BUT.... When you start using things like Spearmint in your coffee it tastes like you are drinking ans swallowing your gum. Makes me crings. Thats like having things that are bubble gum flavored. Who was raised to swallow their gum??? Then why do you want that flavor in things you eat????

Let's take this further...

How about warning labels on food. Jonel was watching The Sweatest Thing... Great movie by te way... and they two guys towards the end are eating chips and read the bag. The bag says May cause ANAL LEAKAGE! Who would put that on a product???? And lets be serious... is that the most political correct way to describe the potential effects of eating the product??? I would rather eat greasy fatty chips than any chips that say may cause ANAL LEAKAGE!!!! Further more I can believe I am even devoting part of my blog to this! Who out there ever reads the warning labels on their food???

That's like Nutrasweet... isn't that the one that causes cancer in labratory rats and they have to put that on the can of pop it is in??? At what point do they actually have to put it on the product. I mean... if it kills lab cocroaches it is ok but if it kills something in a lab that is bigger than a tennis ball then they have to publish it on the product. Is it a size differential... Bigger than a Tennis ball bad... smaller good??? Then wouldn't you think they would test it on the runts of the litter so that they would not have to taint their product with a warning label???

I really don't think my blogs I write during the day are very intersting. I much more enjoy blogs I write at 3am. I think I am much more tangental at that wee hour of the morning! I could devote a blog to things I have learned at work. Like Pay-per-click advertising. Maybe I will save that until this weekend where I can devote a whole blog to Things I learned my first week at work! That might be fun!

Kent, WA Makes National News!!!

2004-12-01T13:09:00.000-08:00

It is not very often that our little cities in Washington make National news so why is it when they do... it always involves a TRAILER PARK????

Aparently Sunday night some dumb ass in KENT... age 24 mind you... 24 and still a dumb ass... Decided he would heat a lava lamp on the stove and KILLED HIMSELF DOING IT!!! So the story goes he was heating the lamp on the stove when it exploded and a shard of glass went into his heart and he stumbled to his bedroom and died. The police don't know why he was heating hte lamp on the stove and found no evidenc of drug or alcohol use in his system.

Isn't it obvious why he would heat it on the stove??? He wanted it to melt and the bulb was dead so obviously the next logical step would be to heat it on the stove! RIGHT..... only if you are from KENT!!! Not to dis on people who live it kent because it is a nice city. There is shopping and some stuff to do and they do have 4 high schools to choose from... BUT COME ON!

They make it a point in the story to also say that he was found in his trailer park. I was thinking... does that even need to be said? COME ON! Like any kid in a real house would do something so STUPID! Not to say that trailer park kids are a little lower on the IQ scale but really... They only lead the life they were taught!

HOW ABOUT THE KIDS FROM LAKE SPANAWAY HIGH SCHOOL???

Arrested for plotting to bomb their school so they could prove that Bush has done nothing to fend off terrorists. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT??? Who wants to bet me they are from a trailer park??? Anyone???? Going once!!! Anyways... I think the story was 2 guys and a girl... (No... it was not in a pizza place) ... had drawn maps and plotted to overtake Spanaway Lake High School. The guys were 18 and the girl 16. Doesn't that make you think that it would have happened before the end of this year??? FREAKY!!!

You know what is even weirder about things like this? I bet now in school people are voted most likely to bomb their college... OR maybe even if they vote in middle school they can be voted most likely to bomb their high school!!! That is so crazy but so realistic too. And I bet after someone being voted that because they were such a loser they might actually do it to prove the fact they could!

OK... WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO?????

Holiday Commercials... Again... Yes AGAIN!

2004-12-01T01:18:00.000-08:00

I think the best holiday commercial is the Frerrero Rocher Commercial where the people are ringing the doorbells to make a song. I think the song is Deck the halls but I am not sure. I love it. For some reason it reminds me of the Cosby show and their doorbell never working and Cliff always trying to fix it and it still never working... but then one time he fixed it and it really worked and played a song. Gotta love that Cosby Show!

OK... I commented earlier on how much the Old Navy holiday commercials SUCK! I need to continue this. I heard today that Old Navy has made 6 holiday commercials all with those damn singing children. I think I have seen 3 so far and they all need to go. What ones are there... There is the one where they are in the supermarket and they are singing in the produce section. Then there is one in the Bakery I think.. isn't that the "Hey there Katie whats up?" I think it is. I think there was another one on when the Produce one was on too. These commercials need to be stopped. It is bad that they exist but worse that they are played constantly. My brother Joe even commented he stayed home from work sick one day and say the Old Navy Commercial about 10 times. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT??? I suppose it is memorable... but it really doesn't make me want to shop there because I hate the commercial soooo much. I guess I have killed this subject to death.

On a side note... I know it is not a holiday commercial but I think the HP Photosmart Commercials are simply brilliant. If you haven't seen them you are truely missing out. They are playing a song that is about pictures... a catchy song I might add... and the people are holding picture frames up to their faces while some of the frames turn into real lifelike pictures and others stay frames.. It is very neat and I love how they do the commercial. They have a couple versions all equally good. I think it is a combination of the song with the special effects of the commercial that make it so good.

Am I missing any good commercials? I just started a new job and sad to say I am missing my TNT Primetime in the daytime. I really don't know how to go through life without my Law and Order fix.

The World of Fees!

2004-11-28T23:22:00.000-08:00

Why do some places charge everytime you use your debit card? I can understand they get charged by the company... BUT I also know no processing company charges 39 cents per transaction for credit purchases. Especially if it is VIsa and Mastercard... they are cheaper to process than Discover and American Express because they are bigger companies. Small businesses get charged between 9 and 15 cents per transaction and bigger businesses get charged much less... maybe 3 cents per transaction. SO tell me how companies as big as McDonalds and Taco Bell can charge between 39 and 59 cents per transaction? THATS HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!! They not only are letting you use the service they already offer, but they are then making money off the deal. I understand that the machine to process the cards costs money too... but for companies as big as these... that will be paid off in one days worth transactions.

This is just fast food... How about gas stations!

I went to a gas station that posted a price of $1.89 a gallon. I was thinking... WHAT A GREAT DEAL! (I remember when gas was $0.99 a gallon bt that is a whole nother blog) Anyways, I went to the pump and put my card in and then looked at the price and it said $1.95 a gallon. I was like WHAT THE HELL! It says $1.89 on the sign! Then I look at the small print. THAT IS A CASH ONLY PRICE! WHAT THE HELL!!! If I use my credit card they can charge me that much more a gallon? Like the price of the credit transaction directly effects their processing fee? I DON'T THINK SO! I hate fees that don't make sense. How funny is it that if the fee is justified I have no problem paying it. It is these damn hidden fees and the unneccessary fees that kill me.

We are in an initiative state. WHERE is the initiative that regulates fees on credit/debit transactions???

Parking Downtown Seattle Afterhours

2004-11-24T01:51:00.000-08:00

OK.. I often go downtown after 6pm and can never figure out if I can park in some places. I know you can park in any meters after 6pm but what about those loading zones that are yellow and say loading 6am-6pm and below the yellow part it says TOW AWAY ZONE. How confising can they be. Does that mean between 6am and 6pm I can be towed if I park there or does it mean I will be towed anytime, expecially between 6am and 6pm. Worry no more! I found the definition on the City of Seattle Website with the sign definitions! Check it out! We can be the informed few who park closer to where we are going!!!

http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/parking/parkingload.htm

Load Zones
Generic Load/Unload Passenger Load/UnloadTruck-only Commercial Vehicle Load ZoneHow to License Your Vehicle as a Truck
A load zone is a type of curb use that restricts a portion of the curb for loading and unloading activities. It is second in the prioritization of curb use in Seattle. Seattle uses four distinct types of load zones which are described below along with their curb colors. Some load zones are metered and some are not. Some load zones are in effect only for certain hours (such as 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.) while others have no hours posted and are in effect 24 hours a day. The sign for each load zone will have specific information for that load zone posted. Seattle also designates Bus Zones, which are indicated by an alternating red and yellow curb.Loading and unloading activities are not the same as parking, and load zones should not be used for parking. Using a load zone for anything other than it's intended purpose can result in a fine. Some load zones are also Tow-Away Zones when not being used for loading and unloading activities.In addition to the load zones described below, the City also designates curb space for bus zones and taxi zones. Businesses interested in possibly locating a load zone adjacent to their place of operation may call (206) 684-ROAD (7623). A Temporary No Parking Zone can be requested for uses such as allowing a moving van to park adjacent to a building for loading or unloading activities by calling (206) 386-9012.

Generic Load ZoneTime limit: 30 minutes (unmetered)Sign Wording: "Load and Unload Only"Curb Color: YellowPurpose: To be used for several types of loading and unloading activities, including dropping off or picking up passengers, loading or unloading items from private vehicles (such as personal or company cars or trucks), and loading or unloading from items from commercial delivery vehicles.
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Passenger Load ZoneTime Limit: 3 minutes or 15 minutes (may be metered)Sign Wording: "3 Minute Passenger Load and Unload Only"Curb Color: WhitePurpose: To provide a place to load and unload passengers for adjacent dwellings and businesses. These are intended for quick passenger drop-offs and pick-ups, and should not be used for loading or unloading items from a vehicle.
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Truck-Only Load ZoneTime Limit: 30 minutes (unmetered)Sign Wording: "Truck-Only Load Zone"Curb Color: YellowPurpose: The purpose of this load zone is to provide a place to load or unload products, merchandise, or other objects. Only vehicles licensed as trucks may use this type of load zone. See How to License Your Vehicle as a Truck for more information.
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Commercial Vehicle Load ZoneTime Limit: 30 minutes (metered)Sign Wording: "Commercial or Permit Vehicle Load Only"Curb Color: YellowPurpose: Commercial Vehicle Load Zones (CVLZ) are for commercial service delivery vehicles to conduct loading and unloading activities (such as trucks that deliver or pick up beverages, food supplies, large merchandise, etc.). Regular Truck-Only Load Zones do not adequately meet the needs of these vehicles. A Commercial Vehicle Permit is required to use a CVLZ. For information on Commercial Vehicle Load Zones or Permits, call (206) 684-5086.

Washington Laws you may not know!

2004-11-24T01:30:00.000-08:00

Did you know it is illegal to drive over a fire hose???

RCW 46.61.640Crossing fire hose.
No vehicle shall be driven over any unprotected hose of a fire department when laid down on any street, or private driveway, to be used at any fire or alarm of fire, without the consent of the fire department official in command.

Did you know it is reckless driving if you have your arm around someone while you are driving?

RCW 46.61.665Embracing another while driving.
It shall be unlawful for any person to operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of this state when such person has in his or her embrace another person which prevents the free and unhampered operation of such vehicle. Operation of a motor vehicle in violation of this section is prima facie evidence of reckless driving.

Did you know it is illegal to carry an animal on the outside of your car unless it is in a proper harness? I guess this law allows me to create a harness and strap my dog to the front bumper of my car as long as he is belted in tight. This could be funny. Can you imagine people with live dogs harnessed to the front bumpers of their cars as dashboard ornaments???

RCW 46.61.660Carrying persons or animals on outside part of vehicle.
It shall be unlawful for any person to transport any living animal on the running board, fenders, hood, or other outside part of any vehicle unless suitable harness, cage or enclosure be provided and so attached as to protect such animal from falling or being thrown therefrom. It shall be unlawful for any person to transport any persons upon the running board, fenders, hood or other outside part of any vehicle, except that this provision shall not apply to authorized emergency vehicles or to solid waste collection vehicles that are engaged in collecting solid waste or recyclables on route at speeds of twenty miles per hour or less.

Did you know it is NOT illegal to operate a bike under the influence??? Give it up for drunk bike riding!!!

RCW 46.61.790Intoxicated bicyclists.
(1) A law enforcement officer may offer to transport a bicycle rider who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or any drug and who is walking or moving along or within the right of way of a public roadway, unless the bicycle rider is to be taken into protective custody under RCW 70.96A.120. The law enforcement officer offering to transport an intoxicated bicycle rider under this section shall: (a) Transport the intoxicated bicycle rider to a safe place; or (b) Release the intoxicated bicycle rider to a competent person. (2) The law enforcement officer shall not provide the assistance offered if the bicycle rider refuses to accept it. No suit or action may be commenced or prosecuted against the law enforcement officer, law enforcement agency, the state of Washington, or any political subdivision of the state for any act resulting from the refusal of the bicycle rider to accept this assistance. (3) The law enforcement officer may impound the bicycle operated by an intoxicated bicycle rider if the officer determines that impoundment is necessary to reduce a threat to public safety, and there are no reasonable alternatives to impoundment. The bicyclist will be given a written notice of when and where the impounded bicycle may be reclaimed. The bicycle may be reclaimed by the bicycle rider when the bicycle rider no longer appears to be intoxicated, or by an individual who can establish ownership of the bicycle. The bicycle must be returned without payment of a fee. If the bicycle is not reclaimed within thirty days, it will be subject to sale or disposal consistent with agency procedures.
[2000 c 85 § 4.]

Good things to think about I guess!

The Thanksgiving Turkey

2004-11-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

While I was trying to find something to blog about I asked Joe for any ideas and he said to write about turkeys so here goes.

Every Thanksgiving the President pardons a turkey. Why? Does saving one turkey make it ok for all the others to die? And what happens with the pardoned turkeys once they die of natural causes. Do they then get eaten? Does anyone really want to eat an old wrinkley turkey anyways?

Why are Thanksgiving Turkeys named Tom? Is it really healthy to name a dead bird? Once someone names a live turkey Tom is it then destin to be eaten? It is like Phoebe on friends with Christmas trees forfilling their Christmas destiny. Maybe any turkey named Tom needs to fulfill its Thanksgiving destiny of being eaten. How much would it suck for your destiny to be eaten on Thanksgiving. Back to the point. WHY TOM? Why not Oprah? (As Joe would ask) Do they name the pardoned turkey? If so, who gets to name it? On the West Wing CJ got to pardon a turkey. I don't remember if she named it or not. I want to name my turkey something that isn't fun. Then I will not feel bad eating it. Like Homer. No one would feel bad saying pass the Homer. If it were Isabelle it might be a little worse. Im hungry... put some Isabelle on my plate. That just doesn't work.

How bout the funniest Thanksgiving moment on TV? I think it would have to be on Friends when Monica has the Turkey on her head trying to make Joey laugh. I wonder if anyone has tried that since the airing of Friends? I would bet some money on the fact they have.

How about Thanksgiving traditions? My family all gets together and before dinner we don't watch football like most families. Instead we play Bingo and the newest thing... Poker... Texas hold'm to be precise. This is because we found one year everyone wassitting around hte TV watching the World Poker Tour and we realized everyone was a fan of the show so we brought the game to life. Gotta love the holidays!

Anyways... I need another blog topic... Any suggestions???

Home Alone... Like he could really pull that off!

2004-11-22T06:41:00.000-08:00

Last night Court and I found Home Alone on TV and decided to relive our childhood movie loves and watch. Have you ever gone back and watched movies you thought were so cool when you were younger and are now thinking there is no way that could have really happened? Let's think about Home Alone. I noticed some things you might not have realized.

1. The robbers say they are coming at 9pm to rob the house. Kevin is at the church at 8pm but still has time to make it home, draw a colorful battle plan, execute teh battle plan, and make himself a nutritious macaroni and cheese dinner! I THINK NOT!

2. Part of his battle plan involves him icing the steps... in real life would the water really have frozen into ice in less than an hour? I doubt it. And how cold would it actually have to be for this to happen??? Much colder than freezing I assume!

3. When Kevin tars the inside basement stairs, he does it from top to bottom. This would be ok because he could go around the house outside, but he already iced the stairs so how did he get out of the basement??? We didn't see Kevin falling now did we!

4. He sets most all of his traps and then sets the rope to the treehouse. How does kevin get back into the hosue without tripping his traps or falling in the ice??? I think the order of events needs to be adjusted!

5. He is in 2nd grade and he knows where the blow-torch is and how to use it? What??? Has be been watching a lot of Macgyver or something??? I highly doubt the kid is that creative and smart!

6. With all that mess how did the house get cleaned up? I always thought the neighbor guy did it but now I am not so sure. Last time I checked this wasn't the story about the magic elves.

Anyways.. Just thought I would give you some water cooler talk for the day!

Who needs a Cyber pet???

2004-11-21T21:57:00.000-08:00

Remember when the cool thing was a tamagochi or a cyber pet of some sort? Who needs one now? We have cell phones that have more to play with than anything else, PDAs that will do almost as much as a lap top and if not, we can take our laptop with us anywhere and using wireless internet, we can do it all! Who even needs a dog anymore? We can take our laptop anywhere and play with it. Just wait until wireless internet is everywhere so you can jsut stay logged on as you drive down the street. It will make so many things obselete! No more onstar. Who needs it when your laptop can provide it? Who needs games? We can play them with people online on our computer! Though this will make a world lacking in social interaction... isn't that how it is? The world will turn into cyberspace.. Kinda like the matrix! LOL I really had a point when I was starting to write this and I seem to have lost it somewhere in the midst of my rambling. I digress. Time for a new blog.

Holiday Commercials

2004-11-19T01:32:00.000-08:00

Now I am a huge fan of creative commercials. Especially ones that involve music and stuff like that. BUT... These new Old Navy commercials have got to stop! The ones where there are a group of kids in the supermarket is SOOOO BAD! If I were in that supermarket produce section with them I would start throwing tomatoes! SOOO AWFUL AND NOT EVEN FUNNY! MAKE IT STOP!!!

On a side note... The gap commercials are quite entertaining and the new one has my man JOSH DUHAMEL in it with Sara Jessica Parker. HE is so hot! He is cheating on me now tho with Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas... TRAMP! She doesn't realize he is my man. I mean we did take pictures together and everything! LOL

How about the new Pepsi SPICE??? I keep seeing commercials for it but havent seen it in the stores. WHO WOULD WANT SPICE IN THEIR PEPSI??? That sounds worse than the Turkey flavored Jones Soda that came out last year. Tasted like gravy soda! YUCK! At what point do novelties go too far??? Who out there is still going to buy a Pepsi Spice even though they know they are going to hate it? I probably will... WHAT AN IRONY.

How 'bout Target? I think their holiday commercials are pretty fun. They play Jingle Bells in two different beats while promoting products with a certain theme. Pretty entertaining. I think I like most of their commercials in general too.

Anyone else out there have any comments on commercials playing now???

The West Wing: A Coincidence? I think not!

2004-11-18T03:29:00.000-08:00

I dedicate this passage to my bro JOE and his love for the WEST WING!

Maybe I am just oblivious or maybe I am just not intune with the history of the United States. You can pick whichever one you favor. Again, I think I have my most random thoughts and random theories late at night... Like 3am as in tonight. I know I write these random posts often and I usually like to let you know my train of thought up to the point where I make my thought. I was looking for things on tv and I came across The Scarlett Letter on Encore or some channel like that. I am bored and I don't believe I have seen it since I was in high school so I deciede to watch it. I never realized Demi Moore was in it but I guess that is beside the point of my whole story. As I am watching I find myself making fun of their fake accents and mimicing them. (I do realize I am a dork and you do not have to remind me of it.) Somehow my random brain thinks I need a new challenge so why don't I memorize something that I can speak with in such a accent. In my head this is just an old english accent so I think hmm... I already know the preamble to the constitution, what about the Gettysburg Address. That would be useful to quote! (RIGHT... next time I find myself at a civil war dinner party or on Jeopardy... whichever comes first.) I look up the Gettysburg address then I think what else could be similar... how about the Declaration of Independence. I know you are all wondering when the West Wing is coming into this... Gimme a minute. I find the declaration of independence online and am scrolling through it when at the bottom I see the names of everyone who signed the Declaration of Independence and I recognize a name. (YES, I did recognize other than one name! Don't make fun of me!) One of the people signing representing New Hampshire was Josiah Bartlett. I am seeing this... Josiah Bartlett! Thats the president on the WEST WING! A Coincidence??? I think not! Now I am just getting into the West Wing but if I am not mistaken, didn't he come from New Hampshire also? Here is another thing to ponder... Am I the only person who did not realize the significance of his name???

After this grand assumption I find myself looking at the names of others who signed the Declaration of Independence... maybe you might recognize them!

Samuel Adams - Thats some good BEER!
John Hancock - Where do you want me to put mine?
Benjamin Franklin - OK... no pun but we just all know who he is!
Thomas Jefferson - We all know him too!

OK.. those are the main ones I recognize.. I am most shocked by the WEST WING name and THE BEER! I don't think I realized the origin of either name! Please tell me I am not the only one!

More things to think about...

2004-11-16T16:14:00.000-08:00

1. Why do drug commercials on TV never tell you what the drug is actually for? Like if you knew what the drug was for you would not want to take it? Wouldn't the best way to sell the drug be to tell people what it was for so anyone who had that condition could look into it? I do not understand some advertising like that. Somehow once you take the drug you then get to ride a bike and frolic in a forest. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

2. Why don't people on tv ever need to use the bathroom? Moreso now will someone once in a while have to pee, but in general, no one ever does. THIS IS NOT THE REAL WORLD! The only time they show people on tv needing to pee the scene includes guys standing at the urinal. WHY IS THIS??? I want to see people having a conversation then one person leaves to pee and comes back. THAT IS REAL LIFE. OR-- Why do people on tv never get solicitation calls? We all get people trying to get money for something or sell something at weird times, why are TV shows exempt from this lovely feature?

3. Why is it that the only part of your body that never stops growing is your ears and nose? When we are older do we find a need to smell more? WHAT IS THAT ABOUT? I could understand if it made you hear better having a bigger ear but most old people can't hear as well so what is the point of your ears still growing??? I bet we will never know.

More things to wonder about...

2004-11-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

Joe was asking why on CSI so they always use flashlights when they are going through a crime scene? Why can't you jsut turn on the lights? Then I thought about it. In most crime scenes people tend to use flashlights rather than turn on the lights. Why is this?

1. Maybe they are using luminol to look for blood and it can only be seen in the dark and it is easier to turn off a flashlight than a light.

2. Maybe they haven't dusted the light switch for fingerprints yet and do not want to destroy evidence.

3. Maybe the murder was committed in the dark and they want to see what the perp saw.

All are nice theories but still wouldn't it be easier to just turn on the lights???

SNOWBOARDING!!!

2004-11-14T01:35:00.000-08:00

Who's going to go with me??? I am so excited to start the season! I need to practice some more tho! By mid-season I should make it off the bunny slope LOL!!!! If anyone wants to carpool we be down for going anytime!!!

Why does it always take two???

2004-11-14T01:25:00.000-08:00

Why is it when you try to open a jar you can never do it but when someone else asks you to help them it is no problem??? Once you hand the jar off it suddenly releases the power to open! WHAT IS THAT ABOUT??? Then again.. it only works when other people are around. When you are alone you can open any jar! Having someone else in the room makes a jar harder to open. I think it is a secret bottling conspiracy!

COMMENTS FIXED!

2004-11-08T15:39:00.000-08:00

I was wondering why no one ever left me comments. Then I went and tried to leave myself a comment and found out that it didn't work!!! No worries friends! ALL FIXED! Now you can leave me all the comments you want! I'M WAITING!!!

What is going on today???

2004-11-08T15:18:00.000-08:00

I think Yee Ning and Liz and I are going to the gym tonight. They have a few classes too but I don't know if we would survive a Cardio Kickbox class. I think we would die. I can just picture us sneaking out in the middle of the class and never going back again LOL. Joe wants to play pinnochle online tonight too so I might so that. Sure sounds like an eventful evening. 7th Heaven is on TV too. . I am working on my 7th heaven-isms. They always have one cheesy line on the show -- Well maybe more than one. I am starting a list.

1. Ruthy says to her mom. "I don't have a box or wrapping paper or ribbon, but I love you" -- GAG ME!

2. Chandler's Foster son sniffs the air and says "(sniff sniff) You smell that? (sniff sniff) " Chandler says "no what?" Then the kid says "Smells like chicken! Bawk bawk bawk bawk!!! CHICKEN!"

3. Lucy gave a sermon at her church and said "What happened to our Sundays?" about 100 times. So now our quote is "What happened to our Sundays!"

BUMMER! It isn't on tonight cause the Lord of the Rings is on instead. I guess that blows trying to get another ism!

DEMOCRATS SCREW CANADA -- MOVE TO IDAHO!!!

2004-11-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

NEW POLITICAL THEORY!

I have to say first of all... I really don't care that Bush was re-elected. I do care that people are willing to leave the United States just because they did not like the election results. It's a democracy! We all get a vote! What more do you want??? UTOPIA????? Obviously we all think for some reason Bush deserves to be president again so we need to suck it up for four more years.

Here's the THEORY!!!

OK... this still needs some research.. but.. instead of moving to canada to protest the president... why don't we do something about it to make sure it does nto happen again! Before the next election, democrats can move into the strictly republican states that are smaller in number or more borderlined and register to vote in those states to make their vote count more. After my research here is what I have found...

1. You only need to live in a state for 30 days prior to an election.

This means you can move to a state 30 days before the next presidential election in 2008 and register with proof of residency and a photo ID and then vote in the election. After that you can move back to your home state. Throretically, you would not even have to transfer your drivers license. This only has to be done after living in a state for 30 days (I believe). Proof of residency could be a lease signed at an apartment building.

Here is the way I see it. For the democratic party to have taken over, Kerry would have had to win at the least 17 more electoral votes, possibly New Mexico, Iowa and Nevada. In these states Bush won by the least margin. Lets look at the states one by one.

1. New Mexico - With 5 electoral votes, Bush won by about 9,000 votes.
2. Nevada - With 5 electoral votes, Bush won by about 20,000 votes
3. Iowa - With 7 electoral votes, Bush won by about 10,000 votes

States like California and New York have an excess of democratic voters so here is what we do. People who live in New York and California can move to states like New Mexico, Nevada, and Iowa and register to vote in these states and swing the election. After the 30 days is the election and then they can move back to their home states. IS THIS LEGAL??? I have no idea... but it is a good theory!

OR---

Instead of spending so much money just on advertisements, the democratic party can offer scholorships to students in California and New york to attend schools in Iowa, New Mexico, and Nevada. The students could then vote legally in these states. Since they are sponsored by the democratic party, they would likely vote for their side.

OR-
Take money from advertising and pay for people from California and New York to spend a month in an apartment in these other states and transfer their voter registration to these states... I guess that brings new meaning to buying the vote. They can say it is for an archeological dig or something like that.

Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person to this up these weird scenerios. It is entertaining me now at least tho.

Still no job... This is getting old

2004-11-07T22:59:00.000-08:00

Well.. Another week without a job. Now some places I am interviewing with say they are not hiring until JAN 1. I am like JAN 1?? I will go crazy by then. I can go get a temp christmas job but I see mto have 3 or 4 inteviews a week and if I get a temp job how will I go on all these interviews??? I am finding a lot more postings lately so that is at least good. I know other people who are still having trouble ... more trouble than I. At least I am getting the interviews. Either way... Thats the story of my life. I must find something new to rand about to keep you all on your toes. Gimme time.. I promise to be interesting!

Another random thought about politics and the world...

2004-11-03T23:15:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days I have seen a lot of episodes of law and order and the west wing and stuff like that. This thought was mostly from flipping back and forth between Law and Order SVU and The American President... both on tv at the same time. If you have seen The American President you know that the end of the show deals with trying to pass two different bills through congress... gun legislation and a fosil fuels package and in the end he chooses to throw out the gun legislation because it didn't address the issues with hand guns. At the same time, SVU has a case that comes down to ballistics to match a gun and bullet to a case. Here's where I start thinking.... In many cases now, people are convicted because of things like ballistics matching a bullet in abody to a gun then the gun to the owner by registration. BUT... they have to have the gun before they can match the bullet from the person to the gun and in many cases, the gun gets thrown out or in a lake or something and nothing can be done to prove the bullet came from the gun. Here's how it works... (I think I have seen this too many times on TV) To match a bullet to a gun the forensics lab shoots the gun into a tank of water and compares the striations on the bullet from the tank to the striations on the bullet from the body. Aparently, these striations are like fingerprints and are unique to each gun. Here is where I come up with my theory. Why don't we have sample bullets on file from every gun that is sold. These bullets can be on file in a computer or in the "National Bullet Bank" (you like that ?) THEN, when we have someone shot and pull the bullet out, we can put it into a computer and see who owns the gun that it was shot from... like the national fingerprint registry. This would help many cases get solved if we made it mandatory that anyone with a registered hand gun bring their gun in to have a sample bullet shot and we could from this point on have a file. WHAT A BRILLIANT IDEA!!!! Even if the gun was a street gun or a stolen gun, we would have a better idea of where it was from by tracing hte path back. What do you think? Does this make sense to anyone else??? Maybe it is jsut another one of my weird ideas to solve the worlds problems with a simple solution. Maybe I should go talk to Bush and let him know my plan to help solve murders and help fight the hand gun problems.

So Bush is still the President...

2004-11-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

After spending all day yesterday watching the nations votes come in... not much changed. On one channel they kept saying "the nation wanted change but after this election we can see I guess the nation really did not want as much change as they thought". WELL!!! Like we really had any good choices??? We had Kerry and Bush... both of which are dumb asses. If we had a good option for a president then Bush would have been gone... however, no such luck. I guess this means my Hilary plan is moving forward. The democrats are going to put all their money into her to run in 2008... I am betting. The question is who will end up running with her??? Anyways.. there is a lot of time to think about that and a lot of time for Bush to either fix his mess or make it worse. We will have to see what happens. Too much power for his own good. Lots of republicans in power too... Aren't they still running the house too??? At least the West Wing is still on making light of everything in the White House. Gotta love it. CJ is going to be the cheif of staff. Half of you do not realize I started talking about a tv show rather than real life. Oh well!

More interviews

2004-10-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

Alas... I continue the interviewing. I figure the more interviews I go on the more chance I get a job I really want. At least more jobs sound more exciting lately... that or I lowered my standards to combat bordom. I have spent all week cooking halloween treats to keep me entertained. Liz and I have made a table full of treats and now we have to keep finding more people to come over and eat them. Anyone Hungry??? Another interview tomorrow.. this one sounds interesting.. well ... alot of them sound interesting until I actually get there and find out what the job is really about. We will see... Until then!

Bordom

2004-10-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

What is there to do when you are unemployed and everyone else is working all day. I swear I have looked at every job site. I can only update my web page so many times. There are only so many people on IM to talk to. I NEED A JOB! I had a call today about a job in makeup. At least that is something I have done that I know will pay every couple weeks. That is a good thing!!! I could go to the gym.. Maybe I will. I think I have seen everything on tv too. I would typically use this time to sleep but seriously. Anytime I try to sleep I get like 10 phone calls. Not that I am complaining. At least it is someone to talk to! I await the time when the roomates get home from work and we all sit in the living room bored together. I could go out tongiht.. IT is a Thursday. But all my going out friends are gone. Mellisa is in Coast Guard Boot Camp, the other Melissa is Backpacking around Europe, Chontelle works early every morning, Liz and Court work early and then Lori and Julia are all the way down in KENT! Arg. I need some more friends :) Maybe I should just call the people I never talk to and start hanging out with them! OR!!! Better yet! I COULD FIND A JOB!!! That would be GRRRRRRRRREAT!!!!

Since when does Marketing = Sales?

2004-10-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

Maybe I am mistaken but my idea of Marketing is not sales. To me, it is more product awareness. Granted an increase in product awareness leads to an increase in sales but lets be serious... they are completely different things. SO then how can someone advertise for a Marekting Manger when the job is really an outside Sales rep? DIFFERENT JOB TITLES! I go into this interview thinking I am applying for a marketing manager position. I get a second interview. I am thinking ok.. this might be a cool opportunity. They are talking about being the marketing Manager for companies like Monster.com, UPS, and Qwest. WHAT A CROCK! It is outside sales reps promoting those companies. But to top it off... it is all cold calling! What is the point in that. When I think marketing I am thinking Campaigns and Advertisements and Product recognition... on a large scale. This is so grassroots... presentations... SALES. I suppose it is somewhat related but a gross exaggeration of what the position truely is!

Interviews like this make me not want to go on any mroe interviews. I get into job and it is nothing of what I expected. Wouldn't it be good if it worked the other direction and it was way better than you expected??? Not very often does that happen. Well... I await another interview... hopefully next time I will know what I am getting myself into!!!

Happy Birthday LIZ!

2004-10-19T23:53:00.000-07:00

It's Liz's birthday today! For those of you who don't know... Liz is one of my roomates! We had fun! Went to dinner at Olive Garden and then to the RAM. It was good to see lots of people we haven't seen in a while like all the old roomates. That was fun.

I also had an interview today with Catalyst Corporate Solutions. They seem pretty cool. They staff management positions with their clients. They are adding new clients liek UPS, Monster.com, and Quest and need Marketing Mangers. I guess they train you for 3-6 months and then put you into the position. They said typically is the company trains you for hte same position it takes 6-8 years and they put you into the same position in like 6 months so that almost sounds too good to be true. This interview only took about 10 min... kind of a primary interview to see if they want to spend more time on you. I have another interview tomorrow from 3-6 where I guess I am shadowing someone who does the job. They want to see how you relate with people I guess. They said they can learn so much more this way than sitting down and talking to you for an hour. I completely agree. SO that is fun. Everyting there is business professional tho. I hate having to get that dressed up. I like it to be an option rather than a necessity. But I guess that is the working world. I just look forward to getting a job that I like and that will entertain me!!!

Anyways.. that was my day. I should go make liz some more cupcakes for her birthday! BUBYE!

My Life in a nutshell... On the Job hunt!

2004-10-18T02:15:00.000-07:00

What's UP??? So I am still looking for a job. I think I am just picky. I do not want to settle on a part time gig and get comfortable. I am looking for that full time job where I can stay there for a while. I hate moving around and training is always the worst part of getting a new job. I like jobs where I already know a lot about what I am doing so I can go in and get right to work. That makes life a lot easier. But if I keep doing the same thing and not learning anything new... that doesn't help much either. There has to be a happy medium. I don't know how I will do if I have to sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day. Will I go nuts??? I guess I will just have to see.

What else is new in my life??? I went and played Bingo with My bro tonight... neither of us really won. I won 25$ but that wasn't much. It was a 100$ prize that I shared with 4 people. Would have been better if I won on my own.
Liz's Birthday is Tuesday. Gotta gifure out what to do. She wants to go to Olive Garden so we will likely do that.

I need some more job interviews. I am getting bored quick. I just need to start some kinda job. I would love a job that lets me travel. Everyone says that traveling for work is no fun, but I have taken work trips and I always make them fun. I guess when you do it all the time it gets old. I just love meeting new people and I think that is the most entertaining part of it.

I need to figure out what else I can add to this web page. Joe said I should not label it My Blogs but My Blog instead. I guess Blog is short for Web Log and that already implies multiple entries. Maybe I will change that. That might entertain me for like 2 minutes. There has to be more things I can add to this to make it more entertaining. I wish I had a DAT player then I could upload and edit the rest of my celeb itnerviews. That would be fun. But I don't. So that is out... Hmmm... Anyone have anything they would like to see on my site??? Let me know! I would be happy to oblige!

Maybe I will go apply to more jobs. And the hunt continues!

Let's Talk Politics

2004-10-13T19:29:00.000-07:00

Ok... Let me start by saying I am not a big Bush fan... but then again... Bush fans are few and far between. With that being said... and knowing the world does not posess a ton of Bush fans, why did the democrats nominate Kerry??? Is he the best we got? How bout my theory. The democrats are looking further into the furure than this 2004 election. I think they are looking more toward the 2008 election. Figuring as of now they ahve no one who could last 2 terms, they look at who might be ready in 2008 to run and sustain for 2 terms. What name comes to mind??? Hilary Clinton. Heres the theory. If a democrat were to get elected, and the democratic party is preparing hilary to be the first woman president, she would not be able to run in 2008. She would not be able to run until 2012. But... since there is no one who could take 2 terms now as a democrat. A republican would be running in 2012 who was an incumbant and then that pushes Hilary off to 2016 and that is just too far off for the democratic hopeful. SOOOOOO.... instead... they forgo the 2004 elections by putting in a rag like Kerry who they know is about equal to Bush so why not let Bush fix what he started. Then in 2008, Hilary Clinton and cun without running against an incumbant because there will be a fresh republican and a fresh democrat running. This wouldgive Hilary the best odds of winning the Presidency for hte Democrats. If the Democrat were elected in 2004, they would again run in 2008. If he lost in 2008 to a Republican it would all be over. If he were to take two terms unlikely... Hilary could have a chance to run in 2012. Thats my theory. Anyone need a flow chart to understand my reasoning? I would be happy to provide!!!

The dramas of Job Interviews

2004-10-13T11:22:00.000-07:00

Had an interview this morning... I thought it would take a while but thankfully it was a short one. Don't you hate it when you are sitting in an interview and all they are doing is staring at you... As if you want me to start the interview??? I don't get it. And the akward silence when they ask you a question. You never know when you are done answering it because they just sit there and look at you. Knowing me... I just keep talking until they finally but in. Then they stop and stare for a little while more... DO I HAVE SOMETHING IN MY TEETH??? I don't know? It is just as bad when they ask you what your strengths and weaknesses are... Like I would really tell you a weakness even if I could think of one. HI, my weakness is I hate getting up in the morning. Does that mean I will be late for work... NO... it means I dread getting out of my warm bed. I might show up without makeup one day because I decided to sleep for another 10 min. Ok... I am done ranting. I really need a job. I can't handle more interviews where they ask the same questions. I can only make myself sound like Superwoman so many times!

How cool are blogs?

2004-10-13T03:50:00.000-07:00

It is almost 4 am and I finally got my blogs up and running! I did it all by myself too which makes me the most proud! I now feel the need to spiff up my blog bio so it is even sweeter! I am soo excited! My brother will be so impressed that I did this all on my own! Big thanks to Jeff for directing me to the Blogger site! It is way fun! I betterget some sleep soon! Got a job interview tomorrow! Soo many interviews... so little time! SWEET DREAMS!

New Website Up and Running!

2004-10-13T02:07:00.000-07:00

Well I have just reformatted my whole website so it is user friendly. Welcome! I hope you like it as much as I do! Be sure to e-mail me if you have any suggestions! I always love to hear constructive criticism!