Spinach is Back!

Fresh spinach--not the bagged kind unfortunately--should again be available in your local grocery stores. I am so excited! I eat spinach nearly every day so it's been a really rough couple of weeks for me. So guess what I'll be buying when I grocery shop tomorrow?

Noted on DC Blogs!

Special shout out to DC Blogs for listing me on Sept 22. I just noticed a huge spike in hits that day and had to investigate. Go check it out for yourself.

Well, It's True

We are officially moving our offices to Herndon, just a few miles from Jeffro's office, matter of fact. However, they understand that many people will not want to go, will help us with our job search, let us take time off to interview, give us references, etc. so this provides a perfect out of my job for me without anyone's feelings getting hurt and without having to sneak around and interview. So I am taking the easy way out.

I hate what I do--the actual tasks themselves are boring and not what I want to be doing--so there's no reason to stay. I had two very interesting conversations yesterday that confirmed that I should leave:

1. My boss has said she's not leaving anytime soon, so that doesn't give me any promotional opportunity to stop doing the work I don't like doing. And doesn't give me any hope of getting out from underneath her micromanaging thumb.
2. The CEO, who it was rumored wanted to promote me, gave me no indication of that in a closed door conversation with him. Rather, he staunchly defended my boss (despite rumors that he and my boss were clashing) and he made it really clear that he didn't mind her micromanaging style because it got results. Who cares if everyone is unhappy because of it? Basically, reading between the lines, if it's a choice between her or me, I'm not wanted there. I was very surprised at his lack of support.

So I thought the writing on the wall seemed really clear, and like I said this is a great opportunity to get out without having to sneak around, plus I can get great references. Who can beat that? So ladies and gentlemen, I'll be gone hopefully before our move in January.

Going to Herndon

Well, it seems the rumor about our company moving to Herndon is true. The CEO called a staff meeting for tomorrow morning, and today all the senior execs from the department that would be taking our space were over in our area with their blueprints, floorplans, and tape measures, practically kicking people out right then and there. I am not happy. And I will not be going.

Tired of Work

I am so sick of going to the same place every day dealing with the same psycho annoying boss and all the crap. I have *got* to continue to send out resumes, but this week has just completely gotten away from me and I haven't had any time. I vacuumed and cleaned Monday night (much needed), last night was drum class, and tonight I have to finish a speech for Toastmasters and pay some bills. Maybe watch the Lost recap show, we'll see. I just hate work with a passion. It's so useless and pointless and unsatisfying. I only get 4 hours every night to get everything packed into my "life" before I'm exhausted. Four hours to do whatever hobby you are interested in, try to work out or do something good for yourself, plus make dinner and do all the errands, chores and crap that have to get done in life. I'm sooooooo sick of it. Whose idea was it to work 8 hours a day? Tack on a commute and you've used up 11 of your 16-ish viable hours in a day. What a stupid, ridiculous society we live in where we get four hours at night before we're too exhausted to do anything else and have to go to bed. Then you get up in the morning and start all over again. What kind of life is that?

Why doesn't anyone ever tell you how bad working life really is? Well, maybe they do but you just ignore them anyway and hope and wish and wait to be grown up so you can get a job and start your life. Then you find out that there is no life. That it's ridiculous and stressed and packed with a bunch of crap you absolutely don't want to do--shouldn't have to do. One of these days I'm just gonna go wacko and do something nuts like quit, sell my place, and move to the backwoods. Excuse my rant, I just had to get that off my chest. I'm so over my life right now. It's all just a bunch of crap.

A Day At Tarara

For our third anniversary Jeffro and I decided to do something different than the usual "go out to dinner" and we took a little day trip, as I am always wanting to do. We went to Tarara, a Virginia winery out near Leesburg. I highly recommend it for a day away. We went to their Great Grape Wine Festival, which had all sorts of food and craft vendors, live music, winery and cave tours, kayaking and canoeing on their lake, and hayrides sans hay. All summer long they apparently have live concerts on the weekends at sunset, and many people get married there in their pavilion. They also have apple and blackberry orchards, so you could have picked your own apples. (Next year I would love to go with Lady Brett and DH or MJ, this place is right up their alley.) But the best part was--despite being completely out of chardonnay and pinot gris, my two favorites--their wine wasn't half bad (usually VA wines suck)!

What To Do?

I can't believe this . . . this is a typical example of what not to do by email. I had a phone interview yesterday and wrote a nice thank you note. She replied and all was well. 10 minutes later I got another email from her that was accidentally sent to me when it was supposed to go to some guy, presumably her boss. Here's the email:

I did a phone screen on her. I don’t think she has what we need for DOM but could be a good candidate for Marketing Manager. Unless you see otherwise I am going to TD her this week and let her know the Marketing Manger could be a better fit.

Presumably TD is turn down or something. Question is, do I write her back and let her know this didn't get to the right person, or do I just let it go? If I write her back, I could potentially embarrass her and not get offered the MM job. If I don't, and she discovers her error, she may wonder why I never said anything. So here is your job, and time is OF THE ESSENCE, write a comment and let me know: do I write her back? Vote yes or no.

Your Midweek Update

Well, I emerge finally after my crazy week that actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But I am glad that it's halfway over. I heard back from the interview last week, they hired someone else who had already worked in the industry. I had a phone interview today, not sure how it went, but I think it went ok. So we'll see what happens. I will write my thank you note after this. And I had a call about another potential interview. So I'll just keep sending things out and interviewing until something hits.

I'm actually feeling a little under the weather, so I'm trying not to get sick. Keep your fingers crossed.

Caution: Busy Week Ahead

I was so zonked this weekend I hardly did anything at all except run some errands and go to a book club meeting today that was extremely boring. The book sucked and I didn't get through 1/2 of it, so this meeting wasn't really all that great. I'll stick it out for a few more meetings and see if the book choices get any better, otherwise, I'm ditching it.

Some cool things this weekend: had a call from a very old friend who I hadn't talk to in probably 2 years. Turns out he moved back to Phoenix, and since Jeffro and I are headed there in October, I made plans to see him during that visit. My neighbor is fostering a cute little boxer puppy, so I got a chance to get to visit with her. So very cute! Wish I had time, space, or energy for a puppy.

This week is going to be very busy. My Thurs drum class got moved to Monday night, and I have a parking committee meeting on Tuesday, so the beginning of this week is basically shot. I can't wait till Weds evening when I will get my first moment to breathe.

The exciting news of the week is I have an interview on Weds that could potentially pay big bucks, so I've spent a little time this weekend trying to start preparing.

That's it for now. I probably won't have a chance to blog until at least Weds. Have a good week!

So. Tired.

Jeffro and I are just exhausted. This was a really busy week for some reason and just flew by. My interview on Thursday went pretty well, but it's basically a ton of work for less money than I get right now and a worse commute. So I'm thinking probably "no" even though the place would be a great place to work, probably my ideal job situation. This weekend we're slowing things down and taking it easy, trying to get some much-needed rest. Jeffro took this photo when we walked the dogs last night. A lot of dog owners were out, so there was a lot of socializing going on. This is my dog with neighbor dog Murphy, a shih-tzu who is a princess whose mother dresses her up in little outfits.

Another Interview

I don't want to curse myself, but I have an interview this week. I had a phone interview with this organization yesterday (happy birthday to me!) and I have an interview either Thursday or Friday this week, we are firming up the date. I don't want to get too excited, but this could be really, really cool. I'll write more details if something comes of this whole thing.

They Say It's Your Birthday . . .

Yes, it's true, today is my birthday and I took the day off work. Actually they give you your b-day as a holiday. My question is, who ordered up this crappy weather? Usually the weather is just gorgeous. Even five years ago, when the day was tragic, I remember ironically blue skies. The only good thing about this kind of weather is the dogs let me sleep in. I plan on getting a pedicure and doing a couple other little things to celebrate today.

This weekend was pretty good. I decided to use my grill one last time during the season and had Lady Brett over. Last night Jeffro and I went to see Marah at Iota, and it was pretty decent, except the lead singer was sick and I think they probably cut the show short accordingly.

Tonight to celebrate, Jeffro and I are having dinner at Circle Bistro and I'm looking forward to it.

Got a Bite

Well, I sent my resumes out this past weekend and I have a bite already! I had a call today to schedule a phone interview. It's one of the jobs I really wanted to be considered for. Yeah me! The interview is not until the 20th, but I can be patient. Woo hoo! Great way to start the weekend.

September is National Piano Month

Check it out and go buy one, take lessons, go crazy!

Steve Met His Fate

It was reported today that Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray when filming a special off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It's always been my theory--and his death confirms this--that people who tempt fate like this, and do really stupid things thinking that they won't get killed, will get killed in the end. I do feel badly for his family (he has a young son) but he just kept pushing everything his entire life. What do you expect? If you don't want to die early you should just be a stupid paper pusher like the rest of us. Of course, that doesn't guarantee anything, and hell, he was probably a lot richer and happier than say, me, but it sure makes it a little less likely that you're gonna be killed by a stingray. And personally, I found him extremely annoying and never watched his shows.

The Heat Is On!

Well, it's official. I've jumped in with both feet to the world of job hunting. After a few extremely frustrating days last week I decided I've had enough. No one's come through on verifying those rumors from a few weeks ago, so I gotta do what's best for me. Plus I'm not making enough money to even cover my bills, so it's time to move on. I've finished updating my resume and turned on and updated all my previous search engines, so I'm back in business!

This was a pretty good and busy weekend. I got a lot done. Jeffro and I actually made inroads on cleaning up the basement to get his stuff moved in, so that felt really good. I just don't know where all the time went this weekend, and I'm very happy for this additional day. Which reminds me, I better get to vacuuming.