Bfth's Boring Blog

  10 years ago this was my view.  I had just started a new job as a Sales Operations Analyst. 10 years later this is my view. I'm still a Sales Operation Analyst.   And I technically/sort of work for the same company. How it began:  I interviewed with the president of the company; which was part of a (small) corporation.  The interview went well.  I thought we would work well together.  Quickly (which was pretty amazing), I was called back to meet with the head of HR.  That went well too.  Then I was asked to come back one more time to meet with the VP of Sales & Marketing.  (It's important to note that I would not be working for him, but we would interact.)  This interview went, okay.  I didn't get the same "feel."  I remember thinking if I don't get this job, it's going to be because of him. I got the job. I started on June 28th, 2016 in a medium sized office suite that also housed other companies that the corpo...

 Sometimes a stranger can make your day brighter.  If you are lucky, that stranger can become a friend...or at least the possibility of being a friend... Let me explain... I took Friday off to attend a shareholders meeting at Skytop .  This was my second shareholders meeting.  The last one was back in 19** (yes it was that long ago), when my mother and I did a long weekend at Skytop for the first time in a long time.  (Other memories of that weekend:  I hadn't accrued my "week" time and they didn't like to give you a day when you hadn't accrued the full week...yes, you can roll your eyes here.  I remember soaking in the hot tub on Friday afternoon and it was heaven.)  Now that I am living in the vicinity, I figured it was time to attend another one. So Friday morning, after a lousy night's sleep, I drove up and found my way to the ballroom/boardroom where the meeting was being held.  I found a seat and settled in among all the men in their j...

...Here I am stuck in the garage with you.   ...Here I am stuck in the garage with you.   I know I have written lots of crazy blogs. This may be one of the craziest. And of course, it's all true, which makes it even more crazy.   It was your average ordinary Monday. My husband and I had to run to the post office to pick up a package that was too big to fit in our mailbox as well as make a quick stop to CVS. As usual, we went out to the garage, clicked the button on the wall of garage bay number 3 (it's the 3 car garage attached to the house; not to be confused with the detached garage on the other side of the house which we rarely use...so many garages!  Why?) which opened the garage door, got in the car and ran our errands. It didn't take us long and when we got back, my husband clicks the remote, the garage door opened, and we pulled in. We got our stuff out of the car, and we close the garage door using the button on the side of the wall. So far a typic...

 You can't have one without the other, right?  Today, the joy wins out, but let's start with the sad... Since my mother died in July of 2022, I've kept some of her clothing.  No, we did not wear the same size, but I've kept a long sleeve button down (I use it as a cover up) and a sweater.  She also had two pairs of sandals.  (Again we are not the same size, but...)  One pair I'm pretty sure she never wore...and to be honest neither have I, yet...But the other she wore a lot.  I can remember her wearing them.  So of course I've been wearing them.  Not to work or anything like that, but around the house and outside.  I knew they were starting to go, but...I was walking around the patio this afternoon and...Well...see for yourself... IBut let's move on to happier things... I've mentioned the coffee house that is opening in my town in the Poconos.   ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/fridays-special-surprise.html )...

 So far this year I've taken 5 full days off and 3 half days off.  Actually I thought I had asked for a half day on the 17th, but it turns out I put in for a full...a fact I didn't realize until I logged in at work in the afternoon.  I started doing stuff and then realized I probably shouldn't be...talk about lack of awareness!  Oh well, I still have plenty of time to take off this year (before the days disappear).  However, once again my "vacation" is really not one, but a way to accomplish things that I can't do when I'm in an office.  How sad is that?  (Or is this a fact of life for others?  I'm guessing it is... Tell me that it is!) So what was today's "vacation" about?   Well I took the day off because like in April, I had to go to the MVC ( https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/04/a-visit-to-mvc.html ).  Only this time it wasn't for MY Real ID, it was for my son.  While he is perfectly capable of doing this o...

If you know me, you know that I have not a sports fan. I'm just not into it. I don't watch any sports really. I mean, yes, I watch the super bowl, but I don't even remember what teams played. And in all honesty I was watching for the commercials and the halftime show.  (Let me just say that although I'm not part of the bad bunny demographic, I thought his show at the game this year was really good. Am I a fan? Not really. Do I have any of his music? I do not. But it was entertaining and upbeat and we need that.  End of comments.)    I am so not sports oriented that while I may be able to name a few local teams, I most definitely could not name them all!  There's the Knicks and the Nets (so far so good), the Jets and the Giants, the Yankees and the Mets...and???If I could name more I would and those I would name or guess to name, I might not know what sport they play. Is a baseball? Is football? Is it basketball? I don't know.  (Don't hate me) ...

  I t's Flag Day here in the U.S.  I've written about this before:   https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2018/06/june-14.html .  What do you know about this holiday?  Let me put out some facts  On June 14, 1777 the Second Continental Congress resolved:  "that the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."  (No mention of Betsy Ross...unfortunately her story probably is just that and not fact.  Sorry Betsy.") "In 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand, a young schoolteacher in Wisconsin, asked his students to observe what he called the flag's "birthday." He had them write essays on what the Stars and Stripes meant to them... Cigrand spent the rest of his life expanding it. He wrote articles, gave speeches, and pressed anyone who would listen to set aside a day for the ...

 You KNOW I'm a walker.  I'm also an EASY hiker. (Meaning I'm a bit too old and uncoordinated to do anything difficult, but if anyone wants to try with me I'm willing!)  When I spent most of my time in NJ, I would walk before sunrise and then go off to work.  During Covid, I was doing some serious walking (because I didn't have to be any place...I just had to get home and get to work.)  I have done over 5 miles in a stretch.  Which for me is a lot.  It also takes a lot of time because I don't do a 12 or 15 minute mile.  I USED to be able to MAYBE hit 17 minute mile, but these days I'm more 20 minutes or even 21.  Not great, but... I still try to walk when I can wherever I am.  But it was a LONG cold winter so walking outside wasn't really a thing for me for a LONG time.  (Much too long.)  But I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, even if I'm not moving as fast or as far as I used to. When we moved to the Poconos, I t...

  Dear Dad, If the world was fair (and we know it is not) we would have been celebrating your 90th birthday today. I would have taken the day off and come down to see you.  And in the fantasy world, Steve & James would have come too.  You would be 90, but mobile.  I would have brought you a cake (vegan so I could eat too).  We would have talked about the Knicks win last night.   You LOVED basketball so much and I wish you were here to watch these games.  Let's face it, I don't care about the game (sorry), but I am thrilled at how NY is doing (except for game 3 which was cursed with bad juju and we don't want to talk about that) and how this uniting the tristate area (and other areas as well I suspect).  Again, while I am not a fan of the game or any team in particular, I LOVE the enthusiasm and the joy that this is bringing to the area.  Anything that brings people together is a good thing in my book. I think of all the games you...

  We don't really go on vacations.  I take vacation days from work, but are they really "vacations"?  So far this year I've taken time off to go the MVC (or for you non-NJ people...DMV).  I've taken time to take my son to the MVC (a different one because the one closest to us didn't have appointments until the end of July/early August).  I've taken time off to pick up my son from college.  I've taken half days for medical appointments.  As a matter of fact, the most vacation time I've taken over the past year has all been geared around "things" that had to be done and couldn't be done on a weekend.  (Or avoiding going back to NJ with the sinkhole issue on Route 80.)  As a matter of fact, the last "real" vacation I took was in September of 2024 (which had been planned in May of 2024) when I met my college friend, MA, in Orlando and we spent just under a week (Saturday-Thursday) at Disney World.  And that was the only time I c...

  I'm getting old...We all are right?  But I THOUGHT I was going to write a blog post and call out something that I wrote 10 years ago.  Only I didn't write a post 10 years ago about what I thought I wrote about.  (Is this making any sense?)   What I was remembering was a social media post I made on this day 10 years ago, which had a ton of photos as was labeled:  We didn't Go ANYWHERE today...I swear!!  Because 10 years ago today was not unlike today.  It was the day BEFORE a big birthday for me.  And I decided to do something fun on that day.   I took the day off of work.  I dropped my son off at school and a couple of hours later, my husband and I got in the car and drove to Skytop  for lunch.  It's a long drive just for lunch, but I wanted to do it.  So we did.  We left our home in NJ and drove to the Poconos.  At the time, the resort was undergoing some work, and you couldn't enter the pr...

  Okay, I don't have a tail, but that's how I feel.  I'm spending more time than I should chasing down companies that I do business with following up on issues that I shouldn't have to.  Or maybe I'm expecting too much?  I'll let you tell me.  Landscaper:  Okay, as a reminder, the person who did the outdoor maintenance in PA (there's no lawn, but bushes and trees grow like crazy) was deployed overseas this year.  So he gave our business to another company, which was fine.  I tried to reach out to them via their website and got no response.  When I called, I did and in March the owner came out to look at the yard (there was still snow at this point).  In April, I called again because it was just about time for a spring clean-up.  He came back, accessed again but no work was done until a couple of weeks later.  It was still early spring, but he and his team came and put out TONS of...