Moved..

Because I am a dork and didn't put the link in here before... Uprightsimian has moved :)

If you still give a rat's ass about my stupid ramblings:

Marbles Behind the Sofa

they have more options for me... and besides Trace told me all the cool kids are on Livejournal.

Happy Xmas

Xmas shopping almost complete. The earliest I have ever been ready!

And this was just too good not to post! I wonder what is wrong with our driving? - Thanks Amanda!

The incomparable Jack Black!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones

Frickin Brilliant!!

Blah blah blah

I have been trying to get my feet under me in my new job. So far so good :)
The last month has been a bit stressful and I haven't had time to really post much. Between starting the new job, having panic attacks that they will fire me (stupid insecurity must stop) and dealing with family health issues (Grandma is quite ill, Mom has more blockages in her heart and may need another bypass, Sister has neurological damage in her spine which affecting her hands, StepMom falling and hurting her knee -results of the MRI and decision about surgery to come -, da Finn needing an MRI and possible surgery on the left shoulder - damned rotator cuff ) and just general change of seasons crap..I have been up to my eyeballs in stress.

I must apologize for being out of contact with my dearest friends lately. I have no excuses just the explination above.

So shout out to SUG, Mel, K, D, Pia, Ange, Donna, Shawn, and all my other peeps.

Radio Silence

Okay..so I took a month off from blogging. Not because I was exhausted or had nothing to contribute to the world (which is usually the case), but because i had so much bottled up inside me and I couldn't let any of it out without jeopardizing certain pans in certain fires.

End Radio Silence -

I officially gave notice at my firm on Monday. I was hemming and hawing about when to do it due to the potential giant karma doggie bite (which may still nip my patootie) by not telling them BEFORE taking advantage of a certain employee benefit of a week of lodging on the French Riviera in the company apartment. The debate was: If I tell them now - will they revoke my week in the sunny French South with 4 friends and da Finn thus causing 5 people to have spent some serious dosh on plane tickets to a place with no where to stay and thus making me dig around for a hotel room/house would have cost an astronomical amount of money and they would have all either beat me about the head and neck or made me pay them the money that they spent on their transpo??... With the fear of the karma pooch firmly in my brain (thanks K), I decided that I would not tell them until I came back from my holiday..

When I told K that my company didn't know, she warned me of the karmic payback on its way eventually..UNTIL I informed her that the reasons (aside from the primo offer I got) I had NOT told them were:

1. My fully paid summer holiday which was promised to me when I signed my contract never happened - thus the 1 week in June and 1 week in September - holy back to the US system Batman...save me
2. The position I was hired for I am STILL not doing
3. The emergency "short term" customer engagement I was asked to take (and being the good company girl I stepped up to the plate) which was only to last for 2 months tops.. - I AM STILL DOING
4. The 50% allocation that I have for that project is actually 5 people at 100% allocation worth of work and the customer will NOT pay overtime but expects me to get everything done.
5. After telling my boss I wasn't happy and this was not good (6 times I might add) - I was told that "I can't say No to the customer." and then proceeded to "sell" the other theoretical 50% of my open time to ANOTHER customer...which I shouldn't be in project work to BEGIN with!
6. Have I mentioned that I HATE being spoken about like a frakin horse? You don't "sell" me to anyone damn it!

After informing her of the 6 items above she assured me that the possibility of karmic chomping is minimal :)


So..I have accepted the offer officially from my soon to be new employer and I sign my contract this week. I am officially free from my current employer as of 24 September and start at the new joint 1 October. I have it in writing that my full summer holiday is guaranteed to me next summer and I can even take some winter time too! Did I also mention that this new job has Z-E-R-O project work and I am entering management? I will give more details on the job when I officially start as I don't want to tempt the gods into having something bad happen before then.

Okay..so the trip..


Ya know..I thought that when we landed in Nice that the part of my froggy heritage would come screaming to the forefront and I would have some sort of epiphany or swelling of familial pride...yeah..didn't happen. I kept waiting for it..and waiting for it...and...nada.. However! - some highlights:

- French people on scooters are frakin insane...and so are italian ones..Sure pass me on the left while I am taking a left turn..go right ahead you FREAK!

- NEVER have a 3 burner ceramic topped stove...ugh

- 2 balconies is ALWAYS a good thing

- When in the Cap Martin/Menton area - go to Italy for cheap wine..hey it is a 5 minute drive to the border

- The Mediteranian ocean is amazing

- French people in the area we were in are REALLY nice

- My french language skills are crap - and finally K and D believe me...I have been saying it for years..but now it is proven - thanks papa..

- K and D are really good cooks - despite a 3 burner ceramic topped stove

- In France poop is le poop...in Italy il poopo .... not really..but we had fun saying it

- Never try to get a car the size of an army tank into a parking spot in France unless you are parallel parking...oy vey

- We really ARE that funny

- The A8 is NOT as easy to find as you think when exiting the Nice airport - okay it probably is..but not for me...Look kids Parliment..Big Ben

- Dudes named Christophe who are waiters in Au Grand Inquisiteur rock

- DON'T drink the desert wine..unless you have NOTHING else

- K doesn't really like going down winding roads on the side of a mountain

- Finns have NO sense of distance and a freakin crazy if they expect me to walk up over 2000 steps in 29 degree Centigrade heat and 80% humidity..freaks ALL OF THEM!

- 7 euro for a beach chaise lounge all day is AWESOME

- The countryside and views in the area of Cap-Martin, Menton, La Turbie, Eze...all fabulous

- We are a curse to K and her ankles

- I haven't laughed that hard for that many days in a very long time

- The French Riviera in September is still H-O-T

I am sure there are TONS of things I am leaving out..but that is the general summary...

Absurdity

Ya know when you were a kid and they told you never stare directly at the sun because you will go blind...

Well..I am not blind..but I have a lovely yellow dot right now in my field of vision. Silly me decided it would be a great idea to use my mobile phone as the reflective service for viewing the eclipse today...um..yeah..not gonna do that again. .

I am sure the dot will fade...however...I wonder how my eye doctor would react to me coming back and saying .."umm...er...I burned my retina..."

Then again..could I sue Nokia for making their N82 reflective and there by causing my "dot"?... Something absurd to ponder..

And on a lighter note..

Since I went on a rant in my previous post, I figured I would lighten it up a bit.

Streakers hit Charles polo match

Three male
streakers invaded the pitch being watched by the Prince of Wales during an annual society polo event. The naked trio emerged from the grandstand during a match between England and Australia at the Cartier International event in Windsor.

Two returned to the stand but the third was cheered as he fled stewards and hurdled two metal barriers to escape. Prince Charles, who was overseeing the event in place of the Queen, watched the spectacle from the royal box.

The Cartier International, held at the Guards Polo Club within the
grounds of Windsor Great Park, is one of the most glamorous dates in the social calendar. Some 25,000 people attended the event, which took place on the hottest day of the year so far. The intervention of the streakers, who stripped off during the final chukka, temporarily halted play.

However, England went on to win 10-9 and lift the trophy.
England team captain Luke Tomlinson later said it was not the first time he had played in a match interrupted by naked intruders.

"You are so focused on the game you hardly notice. It brings a bit of
humour in and the crowd seem to enjoy it," he said.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the club said: "I think it is the hot
weather and the Pimms to blame. These things happen."

I love Pimms..and it has been known to release some of my inhibitions as well.

I just love the British sense of humour.