Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Spring Bank Holiday??????
Geez, some people will do anything for a holiday
Whatever you're celebrating, celebrate it well. I'm off to clean out the upstairs master bedroom which has become holding area number 2 for all the things we didn't know what to do with quite yet. Time to get ready for company - my family will be here in 4 weeks. I can't wait. Just as excited about visiting as Linus and Teel I'm sure. I have forwarded the on call cell phone to the next unlucky victim in line so I'm off support and the day is MINE!
Hope you enjoy yours too!
Ooops, almost forgot - congrats on the loss MEL!!!!
Happy- Nice to see you! Yes, my kids were bright red and as cold as ice cubes when they came out of the pool but they were smiling. They went right into a warm bath and all was well. Fancy a raccoon moving in, must have heard you were wildlife friendly and needed a few stones washed in your pool... he will be in it, they love water Sorry he was being a naughty critter and attacked your tomatoes, they are so michievious. You need to get a moisturizer with sunscreen in it that you put on every morning after washing your face, that way it is taken care of. Get out the aloe vera and be kind to your sore, red skin, ouch
Mel-so the neighbours were out in force yesterday and talked your ears off? Hope your holiday has some outside time involved in it. Congratulations on your weight loss, that is terrific! six inches!! golly, do your clothes still fit? I'm going to drink more water, hydration, H20, go, go go!
MEADOW!!! I KNEW I FORGOT SOMEONE!!! And it was your post that gave me an idea too! I have been wondering about my rosacea and read Shad's post about sunscreen but then promptly forgot again till this morning when I read about the kids.......so I went into the bathroom and got the new sunscreen out and put it on the chair I take for the rides. There will be no forgetting the sunscreen now!! Sorry I left you out! Hope the kids are not as pink or purple or you either for that matter! LOL Love the AB pic you posted the addie to. Is he sitting there thinking of us?!?!? Hope so!!! Good luck with the water drinking!! "Time to move, Time to make it happen!!!" <------your own words coming back!!!
Happy~ I am sorting the junk again too. Where in God's name does it all come from?!?!? More for the trash room/gargage man! Bet you're looking forward to the visit and hope you get time to spend with them!!! good luck!
Well I finished cooking, finished Jen's short visit with kids in tow, and now need to clean and get ready for food shopping tomorrow.
Can't go out with a dusty chair!!! See you all tomorrow and have a great afternoon.
The Ode of Remembrance from the Ode to the fallen by Binyon.
"They shall grow not old. As we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them".
They shall not grow old..."
May Memorial day be special to you all.
Have a great day. Mine has turned from reasonable to lousy and getting worse by the minute. So I'll be back late tonight with the tales of woe and the weigh in from this morning as well - which wasn't as bad as feared. (That's the only reasonable part of today)
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
Posts: 8,905
S/C/G: Stuck/Working on it/Good 2 Go
Height: Fun Size
Oh Shad, this job has been quite the pits for you, hasn't it? I'm sorry you are suffering the trials of the imbeciles, but to be quite honest with you, hearing your stories makes me realize that my place is... um I guess ... "normal / typical / what you can usually expect" in the SAP world. Good God in heaven. At least I know it's not me that's crazy and there's some small comfort in that.
And that was a nice quote. Very fitting for a Memorial Day. We await your day's adventures, while those of us facing the dark side of space dream of a peaceful night's rest
Oooooh and tonight I tried some sockeye salmon - it was much redder than the artificially tinted pink atlantic salmon I usually eat. I've heard they recommend that you eat wild salmon now. Why? because it's twice as costly? Have they farmed all the nutrients out of the other salmon? Anyway it was delicious the fresh brocolli was good, crisy fresh cold veggies and a bowl of strawberries and monster sized blueberries for dessert - with just a dollop of whipped topping. Umm umm ummm. I picked up some shorts for DH today and they literally fell off his hips. He said he has lost 20 pounds since we've moved into the house. I'm sure it's alot to do with all that sweaty yardwork he's been doing. Why can't it be that easy for us???
It's not so much the job that's the problem - or at least the work that I am doing, it's the weird and wonderfulness of the way the project is planned. They have been working on this for nearly three years. Sure it has to be right - tax payers, the Government, users have to be confident and happy. For three years they have been paying these tech heads big bucks, there have been two aborted attempts at go-live and now they still haven't got it right 5 weeks from the third go-live. What the .... have they been doing? And there is no money left in the kitty for paying overtime or printing manuals. Yesterday was supposed to be a day where the two main trainers were to sit together with an expert or two and figure out how we are going to train the main General Users course next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Tuesday. So what happens. The first expert is caught up in data conversion 'bugs' and the second, third and forth experts arenot available because they have meetings all morning (yep double booked their calendars) and more meetings all afternoon. The other trainer is told that she must finish something by 9.00am and is given more 'extreme emergency' stuff halfway through. I'm left high and dry and wondering whether to start something else or not.
Finally they all show up (together) and whinge about having to sit around waiting for a trainer. That was about the time I lost it.
Funny thing about all this is, it happens on just about every project, but not to this extent. Usually there is a start and end date not just going on and on and on and on. Interestingly enough - I happen to think SAP is a wonderful program. I am probably one of it's best advertisers. Yes it is expensive, very expensive, millions of dollars expensive, yes if not used properly it is absolutely frustrating and more expensive. And what happens when the system goes live, the trainers finish up, the tech heads are still there, still getting big bucks and still not getting it right? Well we blame the trainers of course because they were supposed to train the system to the people! Now on Monday I have to say to these people. This will be your new system. Don't click this, it doesn't work. Yes the Activity Partner, the Business Partner and the account holder are all the same person - don't let's worry about conformity here. It's to see if you are awake. Let's not say the hyperlinks cause a major disruption to the Portal, lets not say, don't click the back button on the Intranet because it will freeze the system and you will have to shut down and reboot. Hello frantically - is anyone out there enjoying this lesson?
Tutai, tutai, tutai.
Anyway, I'm over it now. Went out at lunch time and gave the plastic fantastic a bit of a meltdown. Bought myself a new ring. Gold filigree with peridot and citrine. I'll try putting it on the scanner tonight and see if I can show you my latest bit of jewellery. Now I really will have to start pulling my financial wings in if I want to go on holiday next year.
Went to DB1's place last night and introduced him to the joys of the internet. He really is enjoying himself with his new computer and good on him. It's nice to see such enthusiasm and yes I suppose one could call it glee - old fashioned word, but he is really happy. Won't be able to stop him soon. He's already talking digital camera and scanners and printers etc. His photos of his orchids will be all over the net. Just watch out.
Best go prepare my running sheet for Mondays lesson. There's a few things that need changing around, a few more exercises to go in, etc. Not feeling so good this morning, thought I was getting cold or flu yesterday - today the lungs and ribcage hurt but I can't afford to be sick until 9.30pm on Friday and then only until 7.30am on Saturday. It's all the down time I have at the moment.
Oh yes, weights and measurements
Weight 71.5/ 72 Up .5kg
Upper Chest 36/ 36 Same
Bust 40.5/ 41.5 Up 1 inch
Lower Chest 33/ 33 Same
Waist 32.5/ 32 Down 1/2 inch
Upper Hips 39.25/ 38.5 Down 3/4 inch
Lower Hips 39/ 39 Same
Top of Arm 12.25/ 12 Down 1/4 inch
Top of Leg 20.75/ 20.75 Same
All in all considering the bad couple of weeks, it's okay.
Back to basics challenge for June - to lose 2kg (4.4lbs) Anyone want to join.
Thanks for the vibes, hugs, and cyber sympathy. It all helps.
Happy-sockeye salmon, my favourite, it is expensive here too but probably not quite as dear as in your area. Bit of dill and lemon, tummy is so happy. Lucky hubby with the shrinking waist, yes, it isn't fair at all
Shad-: Yikes! Disorganization to the nth degree or what?! Do you have one of those stress balls to squeeze while you are trying to communicate with these people? Wow, I don't understand it all but I get the idea that things are going backwards instead of forwards and that everyone is scratching their heads and wondering why sigh, you can only try
I rode on the bicycle for 20 minutes or so while watching House Doctor last night, that Ann Maurice is a hoot! The way she slaps beige and neutrals all over the place and stages the homes, fascinating! For a clutter bug like me she is like an preying mantas going to chomp me up I think drinking water/herbal tea and staying hydrated helps me exercise, maybe my brain needs to be drowned out before my body can move
Hey all you chicks in the world, how is the weather? It is buckets of rain here and not due to let up till the weekend. Isn't that a cheery notion?
Yum. I like sockeye salmon too!!!!!!
Cant wait to see the ring Shad!!! I LOVE semi precious stones. My wedding ring is garnets set in gold.
Meadow!!!!! Great riding!!!! Beige is NOT a colour.LOL!!!
Happy~my DH needs to eat up to 4000 cals a day to MAINTAIN 140 lbs. ARG!!
OUr weather has been 20C and sunny with a light breeze for 2 days.Pretty much perfection!!!
Ended up with 5 kids today and spent the whole morning outside. Did some digging and weeding.
DH worked late. He got a call from an employer from 10 years ago with an awesome offer. 3 weeks ago would have been perfect,sigh. He is really happy with his new situation. The other may have more of a "future" but it is all a crap shoot. He decided if it aint broke, dont fix it.
Puttered around. Quiet night here.
Shad~ Sending love and hugs to get you through the week and the "cold".......it should only be that simple huh? Maybe some day govt. agencies will listen to KNOWLEDGABLE people and save some time, $$ and aggravation on the rest!! Good luck and hope it gets done! let us know if DB posts his orchids and you your ring!!! Wear it in good health....you deserved a treat!
Happy~ My DH was the same way. He'd go out and mow the lawn and lose 10 lbs! Happy sockeye eating! can you tell I'm NOT a fish eater! LOL
Meadow~ RIDE?!? Did I read right??? LOL Good for you. I just got an idea....I could tape the Designer Guys and watch them while pedaling.
Holly~ Don't it stink when offers come in after the deed is already done?? Life and it's little jokes. glad he likes the new one so much! good luck!
It's dark and dreary and I feel like going back to bed. The new exercises were too much for me. Had to go and get more xrays. I'll be glowing in the dark soon. Nothing was wrong and 8 hrs later they said I could go!!! Now I'll do it my way and start off one at a time and a LOT slower than they suggested. What do they know anyway?!?!?......they're not IN this body of mine. Feeling good but could use a nap. got up around 6ish cause the cops needed to get into a womans apt. She had fallen.
She's OK but i lost my dream time!!! LOL
Happy Wednesday!!
Not too much time for personals, so just an update on what I've been up to (shamelessly copied from another thread for those who don't hang around there, apologies if you do )
Very very good holiday. Summary, to be split into the good, the bad and the cheese...
The good:
Our studio was in a typically Greek village on a cliffside. This meant lots of steps, hills, a nice walk to the main town along the cliffside (downhill going there, very much uphill on the way back). Boy did that work my legs.
Walking up volcanoes. Also good for working the legs. I was one of the first of our (big) group to make it, and very proud of myself.
Ditto walking up to mountainous headlands to see ancient Greek remains. Admittedly we parked at the end of the road and only walked the rest, but that's because I was with my mother. I was up for walking the lot, but I can't kill her off just yet. She has many medical conditions and wasn't exactly as keen on the exercise as I was (she didn't do the volcano either).
My thighs. Not even the tiniest bit of rubbing on the days I wore skirts and dresses. The first time I've escaped that on a holiday since I was about 12. Admittedly I mainly wore shorts if I was walking a long way, but one day I must have walked for over an hour without any rubs. And I swear that when I looked in the mirror they almost looked as though they didn't touch under my skirt.
The bad:
Beer. Ouzo. Wine. I went with a vague idea of only drinking in the evening and drinking water until then. Well, that didn't work then. My resolve crumbled within the first 24 hours. Oops...
Not drinking enough water. See above.
The size of the swimming pool. I say swimming pool. I mean jacuzzi. We were on a cliff side. Just about the only thing they had space for was a tiny little dipping/jacuzzi pool. You could touch both sides at the same time. Not exactly going to get me much exercise. In truth, it wasn't really swimming weather. Lovely and sunny, but more walking around sunning yourself rather than needing to cool off every 30 minutes. So my idea of swimming lots while I was over there kind of didn't happen.
Birthday cake. Not a Greece thing, although it was my birthday while I was over there (cue Greek birthday cake). But this morning I had to do the buying cakes for people at work thing. Why did I choose cakes I really like? It struck me later that the sensible thing to do would have been to buy cream cakes which I don't really like eating rather than little chocolatey bite things from M&S. Then I wouldn't have been eating them all day.
The cheese :
My nemesis. Feta cheese and bread (my other holiday nemesis) for breakfast. Peppers stuffed with cheese for lunch (well, at least there was some veg there...) Fried cheese (saganaki is one of the most wonderful foodstuffs on earth. Shame it's essentially fried cheese in batter ). Baked cheese. We went to one taverna quite a lot (mainly due to the quality of its saganaki ). They noticed we liked cheese (my mother would have cheese sauce on her meat. I wasn't that bad). So instead of the little glasses of sweet wine at the end with the bill. They brought us a slice of cheesecake. This cheesecake was seriously the most delicious cheesecake I have ever eaten. Ever. And I've eaten a lot of cheesecake. So we had a few more slices over the course of the week. I think I ate more cheese in a week than I have done since Christmas. A lot more.
The damage:
2lb on this morning. I'm quite pleased with that. I reckon I must be retaining some water as I've been drinking nowhere near enough of it (trying to persuade myself that anyway!), so I'd steeled myself for about 2lb of fat and a bit more water. So no worse than I expected, and possibly a bit better if there is some water there. And I trust myself to get it back off again, which is why I let myself do what I want in the first place rather than trying to diet on holiday.
Madcat, Hollyhock and I have a June challenge called Back to Basics. What we want to do is to accept that to lose weight we have to eat within our range, exercise frequently and drink the water. That is what helped us before and no doubt will again. If anyone else wants to join - you'r welcome - I'm up to lose 2kg this month.
The stress here at work is not helping however I am just going to have to rise above the madness. Afraid things are a bit awry with the good folks in this asylum and as a consequence I go home eat and go to bed and am letting myself talk myself out of exercising and eating the good stuff. So it's time to get tough.
I looked at my contract last night and can't get out of it before September or there will be penalties, so I might as well relax and go with the flow. Ultimately, it won't be me that suffers, it will be the system users, so why should I care - probably because I was reared with the saying that if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I'm too old to change my ways completely now. I can accept the new and it is not all bad, just to my way of thinking not good enough for the working people. I've said it before and now wheels are starting to turn in the back of the brain. It may be time to move on to something completely new.
YP - good to see you back and so glad you had a great time. I'm with you 110% on cheeses. I just love them. I would (if I could) have them with every meal. But.......
Hiya Mel and Holly and Happy and Meadow. Where are Teel and Tig? Evening Linus + bump
Gotta go. Have a test this morning to see if my training is going to be good enough. Better figure out what I am going to read from the OnDemand board. One no longer has to know ones subject - just read it from the online screen documentation and then get the good folks to do the same. Should get plenty of practice on the enter key.
I was in Tucson, Arizona last week for a conference. I learned that I don't like Tucson. I have cactus allergies and they were in full bloom. I did wake up at 5:00 AM and go running so that was the saving grace of it all from the weight standpoint.
This past Saturday was a 5K and I came in third in my age group. It was an extremely hard race for me - hot and humid after getting home from the dry desert. I ran only the first mile and then ran and walked the second. The third mile I walked more than ran. My slowest time in a very long time. Drat. Still. I got a medal so No Whining accepted. Reat.
The weekend was great overall. Slim and I went for a ride on his Harley and had a great time. We went to a Harley Art event in the local park one day and felt very Bikers. We went for a ride down the beach highway another morning and had breakfast at a new place. I love breakfast. And we went to the movies. Twice! We saw the new Star Wars and the Kingdom of Heaven. Great weekend!
Hurricane season officially starts today so Slim went to the store to stock up on batteries and water. He also replaced some of our ailing gas cans. Hopefully we won't need them as frequently this year as last. Every area has its challenges. Arizona is too hot for me. Maine is too cold. Kansas has too many tornados and California has too many mud slides. And that's just the USA!
The thugs had a glorious time. Slim had evidently painted The Fort the appropriate camouflage. The thugs buried each other in the sand box right before they were supposed to leave to go home. I hosed them down before leaving. Of course, one of them thought he might return the favor and hose me down. He forgot that I raised his father. The water line was redirected to the other hose.
Shad ~ I so much commiserate with where you've found yourself on your project. I've grown so weary of the project that I am on and the daily nonsense and posturing. You can do it until September, though. Keep pressing that <Enter> key. Use whichever finger is appropriate.
S'Mel ~ aka GlowWorm ~ you are right that you are the one that knows what you can do. Take care, Dear One. Don't make me come up there!
Holly ~ it is so hard to know what to do when the 'Awesome Offer' appears out of the blue. Okay, I'd take it. But we're all different! And so are our circumstances. Actually, I am in awe when I read about all the kiddos you have at your house. I'm good with kids, but not when they outnumber me QUITE that much!!
Meadow ~ House Doctor? Beiges and neutrals? For real? I actually have no style sense at all. I can make beiges and neutrals clash. Oh, and about AB. Isn't there a new movie coming out?
happy ~ there is something about farm salmon having PCBs, I think. We were supposed to stick with farm salmon because the wild salmon were being fished out, but now the farm salmon has chemicals. Whatever. I love salmon. My favorite sushi is salmon. My favorite dish that Slim makes is Thai salmon. Yum to salmon.
linus and bump ~ {{{{HUGS}}}} Keep well. Stay well.
teel ~ Glad you had Bob the Builder to work on your shower. Now, I've just read that sentence. No comment. Are you all packed for traveling?
blush ~ glad the van's back on track again, so to speak.
Yp ~ Congrats on all the hiking! It will definitely make a difference in the pounds (and not meaning money) department!
FINALLY caught up. If I left anyone out, please forgive Old Age and the Failing Computer Battery.
Miss Tig! So good to see you here again. sorry about Tucson! I would have come and picked you up in the race with my We could have ridden the last mile! If you do come up....bring the marmalade! glad the thugs liked the fort. They can defend it every time they come!
I just heard about the huricane season over the weekend! 5 tornadoes the other day! Welcome home!
Shad~ Too bad about the contract. You know things could be worse.....I could be one of the students! Hope it all goes a well as possible. I have great faith in your abilities as yuou know! LOL Hang in there. Good luck with the back to basic thing!!! Me too!!!
YP1~ Welcome home to you also! glad the trip was so nice for all that hiking. Loved the post. so informative and made me hungry too! do you have any photos?!?!? I am always asking that question.....I'm an armchair traveler!
Well chicks.....I did the food shop but it was a quick one. Seems I had a cyst in my eye and it broke. Never even knew it was way up under the eyelid!!! Is this NOT my year?!?!? so much for the Year of the Effing Rooster.....must not be my animal!!!
I feel fine now after the drops and willy came inside the store and checked my groceries and packed them on the self serve. Getting all kinds of attention!!! Loving every minute of it too!
I am gonna do some cardio and pedal for awhile. I am in a challenge today for a POP day. also joined Shad and the rest for Back to Basics!!! Hoping to lose one lb a week and do all my assorted exercises Nothing too aggressive....just the basics!!!Have a great night to all!!!
This is a Shad loving session. Tune out if it gets too cheesy.
Yesterday we had a session where the trainers had to put on a demonstration in front of their peers. Demonstrating the training strategy.
Trainer numero uno (by his own admissions) took centre stage and executed a flawless performance if you were an accountant - the one that was there understood everything - no one else understood a lot including me. Sure it was easy enough to do because the training tool took you through it and if you didn't know an answer you simply hit enter and lo the answer is forthcoming! But no one could do the transaction in real life - apart from the accountant.
Then another trainer came in and hummed and hahhed his way through the transaction but - at least I understood what he said and we could do the transaction in the system with the aid of the training tool. Then oh blessed sound, the fire alarms went off and we all had to evacuate the building by the stairs - from the 12th floor. So down 12 flights of stairs we went and then had to hang about while the fire person got his breath back (yep totally out of shape, sorry MEL) and told us we were too slow getting down the stairs. Considering the Fire Wardens were in the front we had no choice about the time we took, they dictated the speed. Most of us could have gone a lot faster. Then it was back up in the lift to carry on. Unfortunately we had run out of time. Oh how sad. So the boss trainer decided that since I was the 'least' experienced I still had to do mine. No problem. The HR people had gone. The big bosses had gone, I'm left with a proper training class and a bunch of trainers. So I went through my spiel, had a few jokes, made them do things they didn't want to do and for my pains scored the highest marks of the day. 5's all round (top mark is 5). So there put that one in your pipe and smoke it. Management has left me an email this morning asking me to do it all over so they can see what I did. Sorry no can do, tied up with meetings most of the day and going over my running list so that I can do the real thing properly on Monday. Don't have time for posturings and criticisms - I might yet get to like this contract.
Good to hear from Tig again. Sorry you had an ordinary trip to Tucson. But good that you kept up the running and exercise. Maybe I was lucky in Arizona, I went to Chino Valley and didn't find the heat too bad at all. My sinuses went somewhere else and I could breathe. Oh happy day. Maybe I should move there. They aren't performing too well here at the moment either.
Weekend will be busy again. Painting, sanding, cleaning up, etc etc. The roses are coming into bloom again and Mr Lincoln is outdoing the lot. Lovely red rose that. I'm about to go look at my time sheet for the week. It should be around 40 hours. I've just been packing up and going home regardless at 4.00pm. Next week will see it rise again no doubt.
Back to basics is working okay but I've run out of food in the house so will have to shop after the dentist tomorrow. Today's food will be bought (very carefully) in the shops. I've decided that gym will be 2 nights on and 1 night off as it becomes very hard to do a full days work and a work out every night of the week and it is tough on the body. Maybe I am getting old.
Nice to see you! Yes, my kids were bright red and as cold as ice cubes when they came out of the pool but they were smiling. They went right into a warm bath and all was well. Fancy a raccoon moving in, must have heard you were wildlife friendly and needed a few stones washed in your pool... he will be in it, they love water 
Sorry he was being a naughty critter and attacked your tomatoes, they are so michievious. You need to get a moisturizer with sunscreen in it that you put on every morning after washing your face, that way it is taken care of. Get out the aloe vera and be kind to your sore, red skin, ouch 
More for the trash room/gargage man! Bet you're looking forward to the visit and hope you get time to spend with them!!! 
See you all tomorrow and have a great afternoon.
Shad,This has been a rough go at this job for you. Sending you peaceful vibes 
At least I know it's not me that's crazy and there's some small comfort in that. 
the fresh brocolli was good, crisy fresh cold veggies and a bowl of strawberries and monster sized blueberries for dessert - with just a dollop of whipped topping. Umm umm ummm. I picked up some shorts for DH today and they literally fell off his hips. He said he has lost 20 pounds since we've moved into the house. I'm sure it's alot to do with all that sweaty yardwork he's been doing. Why can't it be that easy for us???
: Yikes! Disorganization to the nth degree or what?! Do you have one of those stress balls to squeeze while you are trying to communicate with these people? Wow, I don't understand it all but I get the idea that things are going backwards instead of forwards and that everyone is scratching their heads and wondering why 
Now I'll do it my way and start off one at a time and a LOT slower than they suggested. What do they know anyway?!?!?......they're not IN this body of mine. Feeling good but could use a nap.
)
I went with a vague idea of only drinking in the evening and drinking water until then. Well, that didn't work then. My resolve crumbled within the first 24 hours. Oops...
Not a Greece thing, although it was my birthday while I was over there (cue Greek birthday cake). But this morning I had to do the buying cakes for people at work thing. Why did I choose cakes I really like? It struck me later that the sensible thing to do would have been to buy cream cakes which I don't really like eating rather than little chocolatey bite things from M&S. Then I wouldn't have been eating them all day. 
:
). Baked cheese. We went to one taverna quite a lot (mainly due to the quality of its saganaki 
Oh, and about AB. Isn't there a new movie coming out? 
We could have ridden the last mile! 