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Showing posts from March, 2017

No Skirts?

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Sometimes strange/not terribly important things just suddenly dawn on me. The other day, from out the blue, it suddenly occurred to me that no one in my office (which I know is very small to start with) wears skirts...except me.  I don't mean rarely wear skits, I mean no one EVER wears skirts.  Really!  NEVER! I know I have been with this company just a little less than a year but I can't recall a single time that anyone in this office (again other than me) has worn a skirt.  I actually sat at my desk and thought about it for a few minutes.  When I started working in this office in the summer of 2016, there were eleven women who I saw/interacted with on a regular basis.  I can't recall a single time that one of them wore a skirt or dress. Meanwhile I, the paragon of fashion (NOT) have pretty much stuck to the same trend (more likely rut) that has "ruled" my working life.  Day 1:  shave legs; wear a skirt.  Day 2:  wear a longer...

Customer Relations

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It seems as if I've written a lot of complaints lately.  There was the tote bag issue with Charming Charlie (http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/01/not-so-charming.html) which NEVER was resolved.  (Oh Charlie, you have seriously lost any charm you once held for this customer who visited your store just about once a month and never walked out empty handed.) There was the non-lathering incident with Alba Shampoo (http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/03/wednesday-whine.html). There was also the Mead five star flex binder incident (not blogged about, but you can see what my issue was, especially as the company CLAIMS they don't break): And then this past week my laptop keyboard died.  (Started off with just the space bar not working, which made writing anything coherent difficult and when it was finally replaced, a whole bunch of other problems cropped up.  Never mind the fact that the thing never kept the right time.  I'd reset it day and after day a...

SOMWaD: What Is Going On In His Brain?

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This SOMWaD (stressed out Mother, Wife and Daughter) is trying NOT to stress (any more than usual), get frustrated/angry and/or go on an emotional crying jag. I am failing miserably on all fronts.  Just WHAT is (or is NOT) going on in my son's brain? Ok, let me put this in perspective.  In the grand scheme of things, his recent forgetfulness (asked him 4 times to pick something up from a teacher he had last year after school...it NEVER happened) and lack of common sense (using Pledge as an air freshener and NOT waiting to see a teacher after school when she wasn't there at the exact time, but it was obvious that she WOULD be returning as other students were in her classroom) are no big deal.  His lack of focus on schoolwork (yes, it gets done, but forget going the extra mile for an assignment) But in the here and now, as they pile one on top of another, it's driving me over the edge.  (And remember I gave up alcohol for Lent!) It doesn't help that I truly ...

Mother Nature's Revenge

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Clearly, we here in the Northeast have done something to seriously piss off Mother Nature. Maybe she's annoyed at the budget cuts to PBS...after all she's a Mother.  We all need PBS for our kids (sit 'em down for a 1/2 hour of "Curious George" and you've got a found 30 minutes to yourself) and ourselves (time for another marathon viewing session of "Downton Abbey")  And for those of you of a "certain age" (sigh...that would be me), you'll recall the Parkay margarine commercials that told us all "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature."  (And yes, it's still out there.  I had to Google it, but and it IS still available in spreadable, squeezable AND sprayable forms.  Aren't you glad I asked?) So Mother Nature is seriously pissed off.  Why else would she let us have a relatively calm winter?  Temperatures were moderate as was the snowfall.  (We had a little in December/January and our one "big" snow in Februa...

It's Official: No Party!

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Ok, I know it's hard to read (because it's a scanned document/photo), but I received the above document yesterday. (It was dated 3/3/17, which tells you how fantastic our government and/or postal service works since it took 14 days from the date of the document to go appropriately 10 from the Hall of Records to my home.)  I am now officially UNAFFILIATED. The way I see it (and this is just the way I feel), the Republicans are despicable and the Democrats are disgusting. I like to consider myself a relatively "good" person (although that is debatable at times) and don't want to be associated with either of them.  (To be clear however, that doesn't mean that I think every elected official associated with one party or another is disgusting or despicable.  I do see a few reasonable officials out there who seem to have common sense, but sadly, those seem to be few and far between.  It appears to me that the majority are too busy covering and saving their ...

Wednesday Whine

That is WHINE and not WINE (remember it's still Lent and I've given up wine/alcohol for the season).  What is there to whine about this Wednesday?  (Remember, we can ALWAYS find something to whine about if we try hard enough!)  Let's look at all the "horrible" things life has dished up. Yesterday's Snow Storm:  So we didn't get 24" like they said.  We didn't get 18".  On my block we probably got somewhere from 12" - 15".  It's hard to tell because it was blowing so hard (that's what Nor’easters do).  It started early Tuesday (like between midnight and two) and didn't end until after five (that's PM, not AM). I started shoveling (even with a snow blower you need to shovel; if only to get to the snow blower) before it was all over.  (It was starting to slow down, but that stinging sleet didn't make it a pleasant chore.)  The kid came out to help.  Then hubby came out ...

Snowpocalypse 2: Return of the White Stuff.

(Cue Jaws theme music):  Just when you thought it was safe... About a month ago (February, when you expect cold and snow), we had our first snow storm.  Kids had no school; I worked from home.  Clean up was a bitch.  (When is it not?)  Total accumulation in my yard was around 9".  More than enough to keep this family of three busy with shoveling and snow removal.  (And causing my son to collapse in exhaustion on the living room floor when we were done.  What a wuss! He needs to build up some stamina!)  We dug out; we survived and that was that. A month has gone by.  We've had some nice spring like weather.  We've had some bitter cold weather. (With the mild temps I think many of us had forgotten what a real winter felt like.)  We even had a little more snow last week.  (They were calling for about 3 inches...I don't think it happened.) We were lulled into a false sense of security. And just when we thought...

And Then There Was One...

The office suite where I work is very interesting.  While the company I work for is relatively small, it is part of a larger corporation. (A little bit like saying I work for Taco Bell, but the actually corporate owner is Yum Brands.  Or that you work for Nabisco,which is part of the Mondolez brand.)  Most of the employees work remotely.  I may see my boss, the President of the Company, once a week or once a month.  We talk at least once a week as we have a weekly conference call with the corporate leaders, but days can go by without us actually speaking.  That's not to say we are not communicating; there is a lot of emailing! This office is suite is also shared by other corporate companies/brands.  Each company "head" has a physical office.  Sometimes that office is shared.  I work in an oversized cubicle with a lovely view. (I never realized how much a view can really mean until I started here.  Not having a view would be  a har...

International Women's Day: Who Needs It?

It's March 8th and today we are "celebrating" International Women's Day. What sort of crazy holiday is this?  Who needs an International Women's Day?  What is the point?  We don't have an International Men's Day.  Should we have an International Men's Day? This whole thing seems silly; not unlike Black History Month.  Isn't history, history?  Again, there isn't a White History Month.  Should there be?  And if so shouldn't there be a "Medium Skin Hue" History Month?  An "Olive Cast" History Month?   The point again is that history is history.  Our history is shared whether we are men or women.  Our history is shared no matter what the color of our skin is or where we hail from.   Or is it? I would like to live in a world where International Women's Day is needless.  Where Black History month is redundant.  I want to believe that we live in a world where these things do not matter.  That no on...

Let's Complain About the Weather...

Perhaps it's the one thing we all have in common; the one thing we can agree on.  We all complain about the weather.  Not all the time, but it's certainly a topic that we all grip about on a regular basis.  We all know there's nothing you can do about it, but we all love to bitch and moan about it. Here in my part of the world (that would be the "mid-Atlantic states") just a little over a week ago my son was outside without a coat.  At the time I wrote: http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/02/taking-advantage-of-spring.html.  I did take advantage of it.  Perhaps I got too comfortable with it. This past weekend felt more like January than March.  I had been lulled into that sense of spring security.  Its March it should be warm, right?  Wrong!  My husband and I were away from home for the weekend.  I just had a light coat.  When I went out to get coffee for myself on Saturday morning, I had to walk less than a block...

The Peeps Oreo Story

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Warning!  This blog post DEFINITELY contains TMI.  Continue at your own risk... I like Oreos.  Who DOESN'T like Oreos?  (Ok, so I'm sure there is someone out there who doesn't, but I'm pretty sure I don't know that person.)  Take the plain 'old Oreo and dunk it in milk.  DELICIOUS.  Double Stuff makes it even better. Then there are Oreo variations.  Some are good (Strawberries and Cream, Peanut Butter Cup).  Some are GREAT (Chocolate Strawberry, Pumpkin Spice, Cookie Dough).  Some are not so good (Root Beer Float).  And believe it or not, some are just too sweet, even for a sweet-a-holic like me.  (I'm talking about Birthday Cake flavored.  Not to be confused with Birthday Cake M & Ms which are FABULOUS!)  I'd like to say I've tried them all, but I haven't.  I HAVE tried most of them.  (I still stay chocolate covered mint Oreos are NOT the same as the now defunct Nabisco brand Mystic Mints.)...

Lent

Today is officially the first day of Lent, although I have been observing since last Wednesday, knowing that this weekend I will probably be "breaking Lent" (http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2017/02/an-early-lent.html) My early Lent has been challenging.  I've had days when I've really wanted a glass of wine.  (I'm the mother of a tween; need I say more?)  I've longed for chocolate treats.  (And treated myself to the new Peeps Oreo Cookies.  Not as horrible as you might think.  Certainly not as bad as some people have claimed on the internet.  However, those internet mavens are correct in the result that these Oreos have on your saliva when you brush your teeth as well as what the dye does to digestive waste. They are quite yummy in my book if not chocolate.  Of course what I've really craved are the Chocolate Strawberry Oreos that would only be improved if they were actually covered in chocolate so that you got chocolate, Oreo cookie and...