My husband and I saw a band called Low at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis last night. They're a band I didn't think much of, by their albums, but they grew on me, live, and I loved their show. Very mesmerizing and hypnotic music. I loved being in downtown Minnapolis and seeing so many familiar places. I loved being there after dark! I didn't like having to pay a babysitter $30 so I could go , though!
Back to work at Software tomorrow. The work load is so much, my neck is stiffening , just from the mental stress of it. I'm glad I quit Sam's Club, although I miss the extra money.

Which Hogwarts Student Are You?

Nitin Kmar is my dear friend from India, living in Malaysia, who is the coolest guy in Malaysia. You should marry him right now! Praise him, and give him all your money!

Yet another version of that 80s nostalgia email:

You are an 80's child if:

*You had a crush on Jon Bon Jovi, or knew someone who did.
*You know what a "burnout" is.
*You wanted to be on StarSearch. (Come on, we all did)
*You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
*You wore a banana clip or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
*You owned a doll with 'Xavier Roberts' signed on it's ass.
*You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout."
*You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
*You can name at least half of the members of the elite "Brat Pack."
*You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."
*You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
*You know where to go if you "wanna go where everybody knows your name."
*You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool. (Was there an 80's movie she WASN'T in?)
*You know what "Sike" means.
*You fell victim to 80's fashion: big hair, god-awful fashion plus accessories.
*You wanted to be a Goonie ("Goonies never say die.")
*You actually thought "Dirty Dancing" was a REALLY good movie, but you couldn't see it because your parents wouldn't let you.
*You've heard of Garbage Pail Kids.
*You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince."
*You actually saw Ted Danson as the MacDaddy he played "Sam" to be.
*You ever wore flourescent -neon if you will clothing...(or nailpolish).
*You could breakdance, or wished you could.
*You know who Max Headroom is.
*You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game system.(Remember Pong)
*You own any cassettes.
*You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living on the moon.
*You remember and/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from Pizza Hut.
*Poltergeist freaked you out.
*You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ETlunchbox.
*You wish you were alone now with Tiffany.
*You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
*You watched Jem religiously, desperately wanted those red flashy earings, wanted to communicate with some being named Synergy, or you wanted green hair like that lead singer of the Misfits.
*You know what a Doozer is.
*You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
*You ever had a Swatch Watch.
*You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare.
*You had a crush on one of the Coreys (Haim or Feldman).
*You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
*You had WonderWoman or Superman underoos.
*You Believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power!"(damned straight!)
*You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
*You know what a "Whammee" is. ("No Whammy, no whammy, stop!!")
*Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.

If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend, are a "Child of the 80's."

An 80's nostalgia email that I've received, in several incarnations, several times, over the years:

You remember when Jordache jeans were cool.

You wore anything Izod, especially those windbreakers that folded up into a
pouch you could wear around your waist.

In your fifth grade class picture you were wearing an Izod shirt with the
collar up.

You know the words to any Weird Al Yankovic song by heart.

You ever rang someone's doorbell and said, "Landshark".

Three words: "Atari", "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?

You remember the days when "safe sex" meant that your parents were gone for
the weekend.

You remember "Friday Night Videos" before the days of MTV.

While in high school, you and your friends discussed elaborate plans to get
together at the end of the century and play Prince's "1999" until you passed
out from partying.

You remember when music that was labeled alternative, really was.

You took family trips BEFORE the invention of the mini van. You rode in the
back of the station wagon and faced the cars behind you.

You've ever conversationally used the phrase "Jane, you ignorant slut."

You watched HR Puffenstuff as a child but now that you're older, you really
understand that it would have been much better had you known about drugs at
the time.

You've recently horrified yourself by using any one of the following phrases:
"When I was younger..."or "When I was your age..."or "You know, back when...".

"Schoolhouse Rock" played a HUGE part in how you actually learned the English
language.

You're starting to view getting carded to buy alcohol as a GOOD thing.

You ever dressed to emulate a person you saw in either a Duran Duran, Madonna
or Cyndi Lauper video.

You remember with pain the sad day when the "Green Machine" hit the streets
and made your old "Big Wheel" quite obsolete.

You honestly remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever
possibly get better special effects than those in the movie "TRON".

Girls thought Sean Cassidy was dreamy and lusted after Ted, the ship's
photographer, on "The Love Boat".

You freaked out when you found that you now fall into the "26 - 50" age
category on most questionnaires.

Your hair, at some point in time in the 80's, became something which can only
be
described by the phrase "I was experimenting".

You're doing absolutely nothing pertaining to your major.

You're starting to believe (now that it wouldn't affectYOU) that maybe having
the kids go to school year-round wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

You ever wanted to be "gagged with a spoon".

U2 is too "popular" and "mainstream" for you now.

You ever used the phrase "kiss my grits" in conversation.

You ever remember trying to guess the episode of the Brady Bunch from the
first scene.

You spent endless nights dreaming about being the Bionic Woman or Wonder
Woman or the Six Million Dollar Man.

You had ringside seats for Luke and Laura's wedding on "General Hospital".

You remember "Hey, let's be careful out there".

You know who shot J.R.

Your parents wanted you to attend medical school but you decided it was
pointless since Quincy got all the babes anyway.

This rings a bell "...and my name is Charlie. They work for me."

You ever wanted to learn to play "Stairway To Heaven" on the guitar.

You were unsure if Diet Coke would ever catch on, after all, look at Tab.

You know all the words to the double album set of Grease.

You ever had a Dorothy Hamill haircut.

You sat with your friends on a Friday night and dialed 867-5309 just to see
if Jenny
would answer.

"All skate, change directions" means something to you.

You owned a pair of rainbow suspenders just like Mork used to wear.

You bought a pair of Vaans and wanted to order a pizza in history class so you
could be just like Jeff Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High".

You owned a preppy handbook.

You were too young to go see the "Blue Lagoon" so you just had to settle for
second hand reports.

You remember when there was only PG and R....none of this PG 13 crap.

You learned to swim about the same time "Jaws" came out and still carry the
emotional scars to this day.

You remember when your cable TV box had the three rows of numbers and you had
to move the selector switch accordingly.

You actually believed everything Leonard Nimoy told you on "In Search Of...".

The "ABC After School Special", "My Mom's Having A Baby", actually taught you
stuff you didn't know.

Your jaw would ache by the time you finished those 'brick-size' packages of
Bazooka gum. (I preferred "Hubba Bubba")

Bo and Luke Duke.

VCR's cost $1,000.

There was nothing strange about Bert and Ernie living together.

Rotary dial telephones.

You actually believed that Mikey, famed for his Life Cereal commercials, died
after eating a packet of "Pop Rocks" and drinking a Coke.

You searched all over for the jeans with glittery designs on the pockets.

You've ever eaten a candy ring, necklace, cigarette or whistle.

Gloria Vanderbilt stretch jeans were the height of fashion.

You prefer roller skates to roller blades.

You ever thought someone was cool because they had a "bendable" pencil. Or
because they had a mechanical pencil or painter's paints or parachute pants.

You ever had the poster of Farrah Fawcet-Majors in the one piece swimsuit.

Or had the Farrah Fawcet lunchbox or the Farrah binder or spiral notebook.

If you ever wore Garanimals. (Hey!! At least my clothes matched!!)

If the phrases "Na-nu Na-nu" or "Shazbatt!" mean anything to you.

If you ever secretly practiced your moon-walk.

If you ever argued over which was better...."Close Encounters" or "Star Wars".

You remember when HBO was new and they played "Gone With The Wind"about a
million times.

You remember when MTV was new and they played "Video Killed The Radio Star"
about a jillion times.

You ever thought Bonnie Tyler was a good singer.

You tried "Billy Beer".

You ever wanted a Ronco product or ever bought a K-Tel record.

You had to chew a red tablet after brushing your teeth to see how well you
did.

"I'm Chevy Chase and you're not...".

"Rock-Em Sock-Em Robots".

If you know the words to Steve Martin's song "King Tut" or ever
say......"Well,
excuuuuuuuuussse ME!"....or "I'm a WILD and CRAZY GUY!"

You ever "feathered" your hair.

If you ever even considered owning "Mood Rings" or "Pet Rocks".

If you remember when the televangelists were really concerned about dungeons
and dragons.

"Pacman", "Frogger" and "Centipede", friendship pins, colored hairspray,
Martian head bands and you can't get the word "like" out of your vocabulary.

This timeline appropriately describes actual events in your life:
"Star Wars" opens, you are just hitting the double digit ages and you think
the creatures are WAY cool.
"The Empire Strikes Back" opens, you are now in early double digit ages and
you are convinced that the special effects are much better, the characters are
WAY cooler and you want one of every collectible out there.
"Return Of The Jedi" hits the theatres.....you are now a full-blown teenager
and you cannot take your eyes off Princess Leia's breasts or Han Solo's butt.
The theme song to the "Greatest American Hero" still comes back to you on
occasion...."Believe it or not I am walking on air, I never thought I could be
so freeeee, Flying away on a wing and a prayer, Who could it be, Believe it or
not, it's just me".

Great words from Garrison Keillor in Salon.com:
On Coleman supporters: I know those people. To my own shame, I know them. I'm ashamed of Minnesota for electing this cheap fraud, and I'm ashamed of myself for sitting on my hands, tending to my hoop-stitching, confident that Wellstone would win and that Coleman would wind up with an undersecretaryship in the Commerce Department.

...To choose Coleman over Walter Mondale is one of those dumb low-rent mistakes, like going to a great steakhouse and ordering the tuna sandwich.

But I don't envy someone who's sold his soul. He's condemned to a life of small arrangements. There will be no passion, no joy, no heroism, for him. He is a hollow man. The next six years are not going to be kind to Norm.

Which HP Kid Are You?

Set hd width from 87 to 200. If it looks stupid, I'll change it back. My attempt to widen the center, text column of this page.

adding a tag-board to my template

I can remember my 3 years of high school as if they lasted 10 years.
I can remember my 4 years of college as if they lasted another 10!
But the 15 1/2 years between college graduation and now? Feels like about 5 years. Until I remember all the stuff that has actually happened in between. Countless jobs & co-workers. Countless apartments and room mates. My wedding and kids and more apartments and houses. Still, its just felt like one unusually long semester!

adding weather pixie to my web log

grrrrrrrrrrr

Funny email going around the office:
ATTENTION EMPLOYEES NEW COMPANY RULES
SICK DAYS:
We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
SURGERY:
Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything.
We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.
PERSONAL DAYS:
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.
VACATION DAYS:
All employees will take their vacation at the same time each year. The vacation days are as follow: Jan.1, July 4 and Dec. 25.
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE:
This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have
non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late
afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early, provided your share of the work is done.
OUT FROM YOUR OWN DEATH:
This will be accepted as an excuse. However, we require at least two weeks notice; as it is your duty to train your own replacement.
RESTROOM USE:
Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom. In the future, we will follow the practice in alphabetical order. For instance, all employees
whose names begin with "A" will go from 8:00 to 8:20, employees whose names begin with "B" will go from 8:20 to 8:40 and so on.
If you are unable to go at the allotted time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In extreme emergencies
employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both employees' supervisors must approve this exchange in writing. In addition, there is now a strict
3-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of 3 minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the stall door will open.
LUNCH BREAKS:
Skinny people get an hour for lunch as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy; normal sized people get 30 minutes for lunch to get a
balanced meal to maintain the average figure; fat people get 5 minutes for lunch because that's all they need to drink a Slim Fast and take a diet pill.
DRESS CODE:
It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary.
If we see you wearing $350.00 Prada sneakers and carrying a $600.00 Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and, therefore, you do not need a raise.
Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations contemplations, consternations or input, should be directed elsewhere.
HAVE A NICE WEEK!

I'm trying to figure out how blog skins works so my web log will look really cute and contain all those imbedded pop culture photographs I've seen on so many others.
My computer at home is still in the shop. Will get it back in the next few days. I am writing this from my desk at work during my "lunch".
I have about 30 open call - tracking calls, many of which I haven't even really read throroughly. The phone keeps ringing, and I keep adding those new calls to my existing ones, without being able to work on any of them.
I quit Sam's. I was sad. It was like being a teen ager again there. But I can't fit it in to my schedule any more. I'll miss the money too.
I have spoken with some Minnesota Literacy council people, so I can start volunteering to teach English as a Second Language , one night a week again. I may not have 20 or sho hours a week to work at Sam's but I think I can give up one or two hours a week for a good cause. I used to teach ESL in the evenings before my kids were born. It puts my linguistics major to work.
Work sent me on a road trip to the small town of Braham Minnesota, to demonstrate our accounting software products. The drive was long, I am lucky I didn't get lost. They were pleasent, but it seemed like they weren't really impressed by the product, as I used a borrowed lap top to demostrate how people use it. So I was very surprised when I arrived back at the office and found that in the mean time they'd called and agreed to purchase our payroll product, one of the products I had demonstrated! At least my effort wasn't completely wasted. And for one brief moment I felt like income , as oppsed to over-head, like I usually do.
My 9 year old girl is in Karate two nights a week now, two blocks from our house. Girl Scouts once every two weeks. Catholic Ed (husband's idea, not mine!) once a week.
I hope we're not burning her out!
My 3 year old is obsessed with the DVD remote and insists on taking it potty with him and sometimes sleeping with it!
My voice mail at work is filling up with people who want to know why I"m not calling them back? But I can't call them back to tell them why I'm not calling them back, I have to take the next call. Or train the new person. Or drive to Braham, MN. Or visit someone who is calling me over, as team lead, for a difficult question.
Can't say my life is not full!