Archive for March, 2007

3 sets of 10 reps of Channel-Surfing

Friday, March 30th, 2007

I can only stay committed and diligent to my diet and exercise regimen for short periods of time. (This is also actually true of other things in my life…like not using my Visa.) I spend a month or two being super-good at attending the gym regularly and limiting my intake of Krispy Kremes and Skittles. And then I get a little lazy and clock, um, like one day a month on the treadmill…after a few slices of chocolate cake. Apparently, I’m not very self-motivated in this area. But no one should be expected to work out without their iPod which recently and inexplicably broke…right?

Well, who needs iTunes when you can just cease the practically-intravenous flow of calories from a soft drink that is also known for taking blood off the highway?

Lucky for me, I benefited greatly this month from having a nasty little cold (thus, no appetite) and the strict limitation of the rat-poison-otherwise-known-as-Dr.Pepper. So even though I have not been spotted doing many crunches lately, in the last three months I still managed to lose 2 1/2 inches in my waist and a few more pounds.
To my credit, I have been fending off a pretty mean craving for a glazed doughnut, and it doesn’t help that I pass the “Hot” sign at Krispy Kreme almost daily. But isn’t it awesome to benefit from little-to-no effort? Score one for the regimen of changing the channel a lot on my TV…without a doughnut!

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Thanks for choosing Taco Bell, may I take your order?

Monday, March 26th, 2007

“Over the course of a disastrous 15 minutes, UNC made one field goal. One. ( I guarantee you I’d make no fewer than three shots from halfcourt if you gave me 15 minutes.)”
- Kevin Hench, FOXSports.com (full article: http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/6609762)

Amen, dude! I made the unforeseeable mistake of picking UNC to win this year’s big dance. Bye-bye office pool winnings. (Just for the record, I picked Ohio State last year and they botched it…if they win this year, I’m gonna be ticked.)

I’m so disappointed in UNC’s indescribably-awful performance. One brick shot after another sent this team from a ten-point lead with seven minutes left to a fourteen-point deficit in overtime. How is it possible for a number-one seed to suck that bad?? I’m with Mr. Hench: I could make more shots blindfolded hurling the basketball backwards over my head then these guys did. They would have had a better chance retreating to the locker room and letting the marching band take their shots instead. That would have been less shameful.

In the words of my brother-in-law, these guys are gonna be rolling burritos next season……

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On any day that doesn’t end in "Y"

Monday, March 19th, 2007

I’m amazed by the complexity with which seemingly simple activities are often conducted. It should not be hard to get exactly what you ordered at a drive-thru window. It doesn’t seem as though it should be insanely difficult to find a decent dry cleaner. But I have found the mother of all overly-complex situations…Credit cards.

I don’t feel as though credit cards should be complex at all. It’s a little plastic card…you swipe it, get your stuff, pay the bill later. Simple. However, the little inserts full of fine print in my monthly statement would beg to differ. I marveled today while I read an “important notice regarding your credit card.” It reads as follows: “If during any four month period immediately following a billing period in which a late and/or overlimit fee is assessed, you pay at least the minimum payment each month but the total of your payments does not at least equal the sum of the finance charges billed, plus 1% of your new balance, plus any assessed fees, your minimum payment will be changed to the greater of….”

Shouldn’t it read something more like: “If during any four month period, you write us a check to pay this bill and you don’t use a green ink pen, raise your right hand, while facing north, and recite the alphabet backwards while simultaneously jugging three oranges, on the third Wednesday, after the first Monday, between 4pm and 5pm, during a leap year, we will increase your minimum payment, take out your knees, shave your dog, set your car on fire, bankrupt your brother-in-law’s tractor dealership, and destroy the livelihood of you and everybody you ever met.”

Why? Why do they do this? I’m convinced that credit cards companies are singlehandedly plotting to take down the entire capitalist system…preferrably scheduled for the third Wednesday, after the first Monday, between 4pm and 5pm in the next leap year.

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Board the A-Train!

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

I’m most definitely a very passionate person. This is true of everything in my life…when I’m in, I’m all in. And it’s a huge production. Good or bad. And everyone in a fifty-foot radius knows about it. In fact, in the interest of warning people, I should probably wear a sign that says, “Join the party, or get out of my way.”

My company puts on four major trade shows every year, and as a rep, I get to spend a lot of time helping with the planning of each show. So on show day, I’m either running around visiting with my clients who are participating or running around helping my bosses pull things together. Today was Day One of a huge local business expo that we host, so I spent the better part of my day racing around in my heels, chatting with people and chasing down items, tickets, supplies, etc.

Today’s show closed three hours ago, but I’m actually still on a kind of natural high. As it turns out, all that bubbly energy of mine goes into hyperdrive when I’m part of organizing a huge event. I’ve always kind of dreamed of a job in event-planning, but I usually shake it off since I lack patience and easily escalate any minor setback into a major catastrophe. (Sidenote: I’m NOT the best person to have around in case of an emergency.) However, I had so much fun today, seeing my clients smiling and witnessing the success of months of planning. I love my job, but my inspiration has been renewed…something I desperately need lately.

My fortune cookie at lunch yesterday said that I will have success in a business of my own. So perhaps today was awesome practice for my dream of starting my own company someday. Join the party, or get out of my way!!!

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