Update

I know everyone is probably waiting with bated breath about whether I went for the deal or not.

Yes and no.

No, I didn't buy the $50 deal. I reread the comments on yelp and most of them talked about the owners unresponsiveness. Seeing as how the procedure requires multiple visits, the last thing I need is unresponsiveness.

But, yes, I did buy the other more expensive deal.

I'm beyond stoked the possibility of even being significantly less hairy. Some might even say obsessed.

The appointment is a couple weeks out since I read you should wait at least 4 weeks since the last time you plucked because it rips out the hair folical and the laser won't see it. I'll let you know how it goes in case you want to gain some lessons learned through my little experiment.

House cleaning and updating

I cleaned house as far as the blogs listed on my page. I discovered that many of them hadn't posted in a year or more time. It is sad in a sense because it seems like a bygone time.

That said, I'm looking for recommendations for new blogs to follow. Also, if you've been lurking and want to be added...here's your chance.

Leave me suggestions in the comments below. Um, or not.

Is it a deal or a bad idea?

I'm debating laser hair removal. It's one of those things I'd never seriously considered because...well it's expensive and seems superfluous. I mean is shaving really all that hard?

Granted, I'm a 1-2 times a week kind of leg shaver - not cause I'm lucky, mostly cause I'm lazy. And, PC doesn't complain.

Anyway, as I've gotten older I've grown some rogue hairs. In the facial region. Up till now, they've been sporadic and required a every-few-weeks pluck. But something has changed or I dipped my face in Rogaine, because it's become a nearly every day ordeal. Ugh!

Needless to say, it's really cutting into my FB time. Though more seriously, I am scared to death that I'm going to end up like my great grandmother. My lasting memory of her was in the hospital, her stomach was bloated, there were lots of wires, and she had a full chin of whiskers. And, who in their right mind would shave that when she's there on her death bed? It seems rude. I was probably 10 at the time.

That said, I do not want to be that woman on her death bed with a face full of whiskers. I'm not entirely sure I can trust PC to do hair removal in the hospital when we're 90 (ok, I'd be 90, he'd be 95).

So here we are. Laser hair removal. I've read all about it, all the questions to ask...and then there's this coupon for a local place (think groupon but local). For $50, you get 3 sessions of a small area.

I mean my God, for $50 it's almost worth getting just to see what happens - worst case, I'm still fuzzy. Best case, less plucking.

But then you know what happens, right? $50, a life time of not worrying about hair...and then you might think...maybe I could get two and get my underarms done too. Cause that...that's a freaking hassle with the every other day of shaving (I have my limits about areas that can be fuzzy) and the deodorant in the blades no matter how much I scrub under there in advance.

The other deal going on the same service on for-real-groupon is $147. It weirds me out a little that there's such a price difference for the same service (though the expensive one is more convenient, the other requires more energy and planning to get to). But, from the other perspective...if the $50 place is a crap hole...it's not like I'll be physically marred for the rest of my life, just still fuzzy...right? Seems like $100 (for two) is a small price to pay for the possibility of no facial hair and naked underarms.

I've read the yelp reviews on the $50 place. There's 4. Three glowing, one not.

What are your thoughts? I have 12 hours before the deal is gone...

I blame the trains

I think I've become a local. Or, let's say the local behaviors meld well with my natural tendency to be in a hurry and annoyed with others.

It used to be that I people watched on the metro - more amused with the process than worried about whether I was squished or not.

Now, I'm easily ticked because someone thinks they can take up a bunch of room in the train while LEANING on me, when the GD train is nearly empty. I'm not a leaning post. I know you can feel me. In my opinion, I was here first and I will jab my book into you passive aggressively until you move.

In the same vein, I hate when people get all antsy behind me when pulling into one of the busiest stations in the morning. First, I can't go anywhere before the door opens any more than you can. Second, statistically speaking it's highly likely I'm getting off the train at this station. Third, really?

Then there's the people that race for the door to the train after it dings, and then physically pull the doors open. Somehow I don't think it's worth the possibility of losing an appendage when there's another train in about 5 minutes. At worst, 15 minutes. On top of that, I've heard though not yet witnessed, that when people pull the doors like that, it can break them resulting in everyone having to get off and wait for the next train. So this person's unwillingness to wait another 5-15 minutes results in about a 100 people's worth of inconvenience. Oh, and in the time it takes for the next train - you have that original hundred plus the new 100 that would have gotten on the next train as well. I've been told it makes for a wonderful ride.

Then there's the escalators. I totally get that out of towners don't know the rules (stand right, walk left) so I try to be patient - but for the love of god - please metro stations post signs! But there's the stubborn assholes that like to stand in the middle - clearly residents mind you. They're like human speed bumps in the path of making it to work on time. I ask you, who raised these inconsiderate asses? Who peed directly into their cherrios to make it necessary to screw up the commute of everyone behind them? Oftentimes, you catch trains by seconds making that escalator person the difference between making the train or not. Certainly they've been running late and had to race to catch the train, certainly they must have some appreciation for just how much people want to throw them down the stairs. And, yes, there is some possibility that they're thinking, "What's the rush, catch the next one." Um, yes but I could catch THIS one if you freaking moved. Personally, I think if you're going to take a stand about something, make it something kinda cool and newsworthy - not standing in the middle of the damn escalator.

Oh, yeah, and I'm chronically late to work these days. I blame the trains.

A sleeping mask kinda girl

I've been having trouble staying asleep for about 5 months. Or said differently, since we moved into the apartment.

One of the 'bonuses' of our place is floor to ceiling windows in the living room and bedroom. I'd briefly contemplated whether it was due to the sun coming up that caused my little eyeballs to open at 5:30am - 30 minutes before I'm supposed to be officially up.

Instead of using my extra 30 minutes to get to work on time (for a change) I usually struggled to go back to sleep thereby ending up oversleeping.

Why do I mention this you ask? Well, because I recently got a new possession. A sleeping mask!

I don't think I'd ever put money out for one, nor know where to buy one, but as luck would have it it was in the welcome package for a hotel we stayed at a couple weeks ago.

For entertainment sake, I tried it out at the hotel and slept through night. I've now been using it at home with equal success.Victory is mine! Plus, a free mask is way cheaper than blackout curtains.

Never saw myself as one of those sleeping mask kinds of girls...but I kinda like it. 

End is near

Soooooo anyone got anything planned for after the rapture this weekend?

Personally I've been more entertained by the comments on FB than anything else. Thoughts about reducing unemployment, wondering what time it's going to be (5:45 pm is word on the street), excitement over the additional room at the bar for next year's St Patrick's day.

In my day-to-day, I also take every opportunity to bring it up to see how people respond. Sadly, few of my RL friends know about it and it kinda takes the funny out of the joke.

Or is it a joke?

It's kinda weird to think...what if he's right?

Awkward

In the course of my very first job out of college I met a woman. She was older than me - I'd have guessed her to be somewhere in her 40's. To do the math for you, I'd guess maybe a 20 year age gap. Or, at very least 10.

We got along well enough. I don't recall what our connection was exactly, but I do know it was enough to result in us exchanging email addresses when I left that job to go to graduate school.

Now I don't know what it is about that generation of email users, but I've noticed a trend such that my parents' age-ish have a high propensity to send forwards. You know those obnoxious emails that think Microsoft is going to send you money for signing the petition, or that angels will pray for you so you're not late to work if you send the email to 30 friends...those kinds of forwards.

So back when we first exchanged email addresses forwards were pretty popular. I can say I was probably pretty guilty of forwards myself.

Ten years later, with the exception of some of the older folks, I'd say forwards have mostly died out. Sadly, this is not the case for her.

I get a lot of emails of these type. By a lot I mean, probably 5 a week. And they tend to be in little bursts.

So, what do you do? Sure, I can delete them. Which I do. But we're going on ten years of deleting. On occasion when I do take a peek, they're the same old stupid ones from 10 years ago. I don't think I've seen a personal email note in I don't know how long - but easily 7 years at best.

Ultimately, I did what any normal person would do. I just marker her email address as spam.

Problem solved, right?

Temporarily. Appears she's now requested access to chat with me on gmail.

Really? I have zero interest. Zero. So, I declined the invitation.

Problem solved, right?

Ugh, I got another request today. I'm at a loss.

We needed that

You ever have one of those days where pretty much everything pisses you off?

That was my yesterday. Poor PC took the brunt of it since he's pretty much the only one I see on the weekends. He couldn't do a thing right.

Well, in all honesty, he did do stuff that was pissed off worthy. It was just that it was kinda in a string across an entire day.

:(

Anyway, the good news is that despite our bickering most of the day we sucked it up, got dressed up, and headed into the city. Where we found our new favorite bar.

We needed that.

Check out

It makes me sad that I am unwilling to argue for my perspective because:

1) I don't plan to live with the consequences of the decision

2) it doesn't matter because nothing is going to change

3) it's easier than having to stay on the phone with the person and pretend that I care or that something will change

 

In sum, I've checked out.

 

Where's it going?

As part of my birthday resolutions, I decided to increase my water intake. I know this is probably one of the most common health goals but it's extremely hard for me because I absolutely hate water.

Yes, I hate water. Yes, I know it doesn't taste like anything so how could I hate it.

I hate it because it tastes like nothing. Anyone else who hates water understands this. Anyone that doesn't hate water never seems to get this.

Alas. My point.

I came up with an ingenious solution. I developed a "Water Cocktail". It includes, one packet Splenda and one very squeezed piece of lime. This week at the grocery store, I even bought a bag of key limes. A halved key lime is perfect for an 8oz glass.

At the current pace, with access to the three primary ingredients I easily consume my 8 glasses of water. In fact, I might be getting more than my eight glasses. And bonus, vitamin C!

Yes, I know there are some that suggest that drinking more than 8 glasses of water may be dangerous. Some disagree. But either way, I can't stop.

I also sometimes debate whether I'm going to end up with cancer of some sort when someone figures out that the long term effect of Splenda intake is actually harmful. And, I also sometimes wonder where all the water is going because I don't think there's a one to one relationship between intake and output...if you know what I mean.

Also of note, I'm no less starving all the time. Which is unfortunate.

My soul slipped today

It's never a good idea to blog angry. Things are said, they're here forever, etc etc.

So I've waited a few hours to cool down. And I think that while I'm still somewhat angry, I'm mostly disappointed. I'm disappointed that fear and apathy get in the way of doing good work. I'm disappointed that the powers that be squash the efforts of those coming up the ranks efforts to do the work properly – not because there's no budget it to do it or because they personally don't see the value – but because they are not willing to go to bat to say this is the proper way to do it and I'm not going to run a shop that half-asses things before we're told no.

My dream job is melting. What started off as a sandbox of amazing possibility, is turning quickly into a sinkhole of my soul. Initially, I was lead to believe that change was not only needed, but desired. Yet, I'm experiencing more and more roadblocks down to the very lowest levels of the chain. My experience and training is not only questioned, I'm more often not invited to meetings related to my sandbox, and those that are supposed to be advocating for my work has in short indicated that it's basic common sense anyone could do but also that it's meaningless to use in any larger decision making processes.

Which makes sense, because what was being done before I arrived wasn't working, so a new perspective can't possibly be worthwhile to consider – especially since you went out of your way to HIRE this new perspective.

Despite this, I accepted that a portion of my job was too visible and too political to make any good headway. I decided that if I made a strong showing in another area, I'd build some credibility on top of helping facilitate change in perhaps a back-door approach than the other project. Up until today, I was given almost entire leeway to craft the project that used my research experiences and my consulting experiences – I was going to accomplish something cool in application as well as set myself up for several articles in the future and position my organization to be a benchmarking organization.

Then the rug was pulled out from under me. For no reason other than 1) we don't think anyone will care about the results and 2) we don't think anyone would answer surveys honestly (though I'd included ways to ensure more honest responding), a large, important part of my project was vetoed. It wasn't a money or time thing, it was an apathy thing and the person openly admitted that it was professionally the wrong thing to do. And then, the blame was placed on a superior who vetoed it when I know that it was pitched to the superior as 'not recommended' who merely agreed without getting a pitch for why it was important and necessary. Not only do I not like the outcome or the manipulation of the outcome, but I mostly don't like the lying that it was the superior's decision when I know the person wasn't in support of it but wasn't willing to just say no to me directly. It's dishonest, and it's weak.

And, it was today that my soul slipped away from this job. Sadly, I have another six months before I can take a new position for various monetary reasons. It will be a sad journey of working hard to just get to the exit point. It also leaves me in a position of where do I go from here?

I'm considering academia – though I know that is brutal and of late I haven't been setting myself up to be a strong candidate. I'm also considering opening my own firm – but worry about my own abilities in marketing, networking, and selling my skills in a market flooded by others that do similar types of work.  

 

Flowers of Dream State

Confirmed renewal

I had a dream last night (yes, I know no one cares to read about other people's dreams I just have a point to make) that I gave birth*. In my dream it was as though I knew I was pregnant, but just didn't get around to preparing for it. As in, no car carrier thing and no name.

The name and car carrier played a large part because 1) I couldn't update my FB status unless I had a name, and 2) we were on our way somewhere and I wasn't sure how we were going to get the baby clean and in the car with no preparations or a car carrier in time for wherever we were going.

Anyway, immediately upon waking I decided to check out the birth interpretation for dreams.

According to my most used dream interpretation source, giving birth means:

To dream of giving birth or see someone else giving birth, suggests that you are giving birth to a new idea or project. It also represents a new attitude, fresh beginnings or a major  event.  Alternatively, the dream may be calling attention to your inner child and the potential for you to grow. A more direct interpretation of this dream, may represent your desires/ anxieties of giving birth or the anticipation for such an event to occur.
So I guess I wasn't kidding about renewal yesterday. Perhaps it's suggesting that while I'm going to have a new idea, project, or attitude, I haven't really been doing my due diligence to prepare for it - that I'm too focused on schedule and updating FB to fully appreciate where I'm going and whom I've the potential to be.

Or, the dream could also be in part due to my dear friend, Shorty, giving birth last night.

*To a human baby, by the way because apparently that clarification is needed for good interpretation.

Renewal

I thought I knew what spring was, but I was wrong. I’ve heard about the whole renewal business, but living in Florida spring has always looked a lot like summer but a little (very little) cooler. I was baffled by why people were so intrigued by it.

Until I lived it.

When I first moved to Dream State, I really thought fall was my favorite season. What with the cooler weather and pretty leaves. Apple cider, apple butter, bonfires, and smores all helped. Then winter came. And while I wasn’t thrilled with the transition from 70 degree weather to 40s, the snow was amazing. I did a lot of playing in the snow, watching the snow, looking at all the leaves and blades of grass covered in ice. Learning what freezing rain is. All amazing.

I’m not being sarcastic here by the way. I really thought winter was overall pretty amazing.

Eventually with no more hope of snow and a string of way too many days in the 40s, I was ready for summer.

What I wasn’t expecting was spring. Which, as I implied, was pretty much a throw-away season in the south. But here, it’s meant the smallest daintiest of leaves I’ve ever seen. Tulips on top of tulips on top of tulips (aka my favorite flowers). And then the blooms of all sorts of flowers from the bushes to the tree tops. All sorts of colors, shapes, and smells.

In the course of experiencing spring, I’ve also begun thinking about my own renewal. Whether I’ve been taking good enough care of myself, of my little family, of my relationships with others. And, I’d say in most all cases I’ve been kind of not taking terribly good care of anyone or anything.

Since my birthday, I’ve decided to have Birthday resolutions (seeing as how I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions). Among other things, I’ve resolved to drink more water and take my vitamins. (This is actually much harder than you’d think). I’ve also begun being more conscious of how I speak to PC, the support I give him, and the appreciation I have for the things he does do for me (I still make task lists so we can track what still needs to be done). I also want to get to a better place financially – better budgeting, more conscientious of where the money goes, greater awareness into retirement and savings – which admittedly stems in part from my living in Dream State in which the cost of living is significantly higher than what we’re used to and in part due to all the really cool things there are to do here.

All in all, it’s time for a rebirth of sorts – much like I had hoped for when starting fresh here for blogging.