SmartCarleen

Now and Forever

2009-12-30T17:45:00.000-08:00

OHMIGOSH - Two blogs, two days in a row! I'm on fire!

When I moved into my new apartment I knew I MUST have internet, but cable TV? I wasn't so sure. I couldn't remember the last time I turned on the TV to watch something specific, something I was really looking to watch. Every once in awhile, I would turn it on while I was cleaning up my room or just before bed to watch Law & Order re-runs. So I decided, what the heck, why do I want to pay for a service I don't even use? I decided not to subscribe, even though I have never lived in a place that didn't have at least 70 channels.

I'm about a month an a half in and so far I don't miss it. Over the holidays, I rented a bunch of movies from Blockbuster and racked up quite a rental bill, so I decided to subscribe to Netflix. That way I can watch instant movies AND get unlimited DVDs (2 out at a time) in the mail. I can even catch up or start watching TV shows that I didn't have time or access to before. Maybe I'll get tired of this and end up ordering cable TV, but for now I'm content with what I've got.

So the whole point of my mentioning that I don't have TV is that I don't watch TV for news. Most of it is all teasers and crap stories anyway. I usually listen to American Public Media's (APM) Marketplace for my news. It is described on the APM website as "hosted by Kai Ryssdal, award-winning Marketplace is public radio's daily magazine of business and economics. Airing weekday mornings and evenings, it boasts the largest audience for any business program in the U.S. on radio, cable or network television."

I like it because I can download a podcast (a digital recording) of each episode and listen when I have time. When I have time is usually while I'm getting ready for work in the morning or while I'm driving to or from work. Sometimes episodes pile up on me and sometimes I listen to the podcast on the same day that it was published. I do not like driving because I always feel like I could be doing something better with my time, but this helps keep me entertained during traffic or while blow-drying my long hair.

SIDE NOTE: Not sure if you knew, but my hair is not blonde anymore. It's actually been varying shades of red for the past few months. It'll probably be back to blonde by summer, but I am having a ton of fun as a red-head right now. I think it really makes my blue eyes stand out and still looks good with my fair complexion.

Certainly, not all of the stories are interesting to me, but even when they aren't I usually learn something new. The two following stories have perked my ears over the last couple episodes. Neither of them are very long, so don't be afraid to click the link and read the whole text.

How to pick a great wine from the seller - This story is about a book "Drink This: Wine Made Simple" by Dara Moskowitz. Dara talks with Marketplace's host about how to pick a wine and mentions specifically: "there's essentially no correlation between price and value [with regard to wines]." This is something not many people know and I sometimes forget! I still have yet to find my favorite wine, but I like some of the things the author suggests in the interview to help you find out.

Divorced couples aren't the half of it - While wrapping up 2009, Marketplace has been doing a series on business or finance stories that haven''t made the major headlines unlike health care reform, recession and Tiger Woods. "This year will record the lowest divorce rate since 1970...Today's low divorce rate is part of a steady decline that has now lasted 30 years. Yes, you heard that right, divorce has been falling for the last three decades." I am nowhere near getting married, but I found the details of this story pretty interesting. you have to click the link to read the rest.

So now the theme of this blog is outed. The song Now and Forever - Richard Marx, is a nod to those who have made it to the only other option for a ending a marriage (a.k.a. 'til death do us part).

It's Been Awhile

2009-12-29T17:45:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a really long time since I last posted and because of that, this blog is named for It's Been Awhile by Staind. I TOTALLY love lala.com and I love that when you search on Google for a song (i.e. "it's been awhile") you can immediately play it from lala without leaving your search results.

I'm LITTLE now! I'm a little more wordly (I went to England for three weeks), a little less mobile (I tore my left Achilles tendon and I'm still recovering), a little less crowded (I have my own 1 bedroom apartment!), and also a little more caffeinated (I drink coffee on a regular basis).

I guess I at least have to list all the places I've been since my last blog:

Long Island, New York - April 20-24
Seattle, Washington - May 28 - June 1 (This was a fun vacation trip)
Minneapolis, Minnesota - June 7-12
Chicago, Illinois - June 21-28
London/Birmingham/Solihull, England - July 24 - August 13
Dallas, Texas Oct 13-18 (part work, part vacation)
Arlington, Virginia Oct 27-31

Phew, that's a lot of flying! Right around the time I went to England I made Gold Frequent Flyer status with American Airlines. I've got a couple fun vacation cruise trips coming up in January (Catalina & Ensenada) and February (Western Caribbean), but no official travel plans for work.

My Achilles tendon injury has kept me from going on a couple of fun trips and at least one work trip because I couldn't walk on my left leg for almost 7 weeks. I was using crutches and a scooter (coolest ride EVER!) to get around. It was a pain and I ust could not wait to walk again. I got the cast off and was able to walk just in time for my work holiday party.

I LOVE my new apartment. The boxes are nowhere near unpacked, but it just feels awesome to finally have my own place. I have a parking spot (high on my priority list), a dishwasher (also high), and a mirrored closet (low, but still nice!). The best part is that it is half a block down the street from my most favorite person on earth! My littlest sister. She has been one of the biggest helps to me while I couldn't walk.

I can't talk about help though without thanking Alison, Jason, and my dad for moving me in to my new place. I felt so guilty just having to sit there and watch, but thanks to their help and some über-downsizing of crap that I've been doing over the last year, it only took a few trips from the storage unit and from my old apartment. Most of the stuff I downsized, I've been collecting up and taking to the goodwill, unless it's just ratty, then I'll throw it away. I still need to get rid of stuff I will never use again, like textbook from college talking about Microsoft Office 97. In that case though, I think I want to do some art project with it.

For Christmas season, while I was decorating, I wanted a wreath to hang on my door, BUT I didn't want to have to store it for 11 months of the year. About the same time I had been collecting up a Sunday newspaper and a bunch of holiday advertisements fell out. DING! A light bulb went on. I could make a wreath out of scrap holiday newspaper ads!

The first version turned out fabulously (if I do say so myself)! I told Jason about my idea and he made a wire frame and started threading some ripped up ads on it. We finished it, and then I eventually went to CVS and bought a 99 cent red bow. I have all sorta of ideas about how to do this again next year, especially to make it look a little less trash like. Maybe make a bunch to give to friends/family, too. The best part is that the paper has already been used (read), re-used (made into a wreath), then you can take it off the wire frame and recycle it!

Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

2009-03-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

~~This episode is brought to you by the letter C.~~ Oops, sorry that was for Sesame Street not smartcarleen. The title of this blog is the title of one of my favorite songs by the Spin Doctors.

So I just got back from Minnesota and it's got me thinking about three things: ibuprofen, being a tall blonde, and embarrassment.

First let me give you a quick run-down of my trip. Left San Diego on Friday around 1:15pm PST, connected in St. Louis to Minnesota and arrived in Minneapolis around 9:40pm CST. Stayed at the Minneapolis City Center Marriott. Assisted with the 2.5 day Admin 101 training class at a health center outside of downtown Minneapolis. Flew back from Minneapolis around 3:15pm CST (connecting in Dallas) and arrived home around 8:40pm PST.

I have a Costco sized bottle of ibuprofen at home and I neglected to pack any of it on my trip, or any of my trips this year for that matter. Fortunately, I didn't need it in New York or Ohio, but on this trip I would have killed for just 20mg, let alone 200. Since I was meeting up with our main trainer Ian, I flew from SD to St Louis and then prepared for the second leg of the flight to Minneapolis. I immediately got a migraine as soon as I got on the second plane. After suffering miserably for what seemed like forever, I asked the flight attendant for some ibuprofen when she came around for the beverage service. They didn't have any on the plane, but the flight attendant walked around asking anyone who was awake and finally got a hit. Lesson learned and I'll be packing extra on my next trip. Thank goodness for generous people.

Something I noticed while I was in Minnesota, is that they don't have a whole lot of tall blondes, well not many where I went anyway. One night at dinner Ian and I were waiting to be seated, and I was looking over a group of people for the hostess. One of the guys in the group walked up to me and said "Are you looking for me?" I just laughed at him and said "Not unless you are the hostess." Also, I guess Ian and I looked more like a casual traveling couple than co-workers on a business trip, the casual traveler is the only part I agree with. One homeless guy on the skyway turned to Ian and said "Man, you're really lucky..." I looked at the homeless guy an immediately knew what he meant by the way he was looking at me, but I didn't feel it necessary to go into details about exactly what Ian and I were, so I just looked away and pretended to blush. I think Ian felt the same way so he just laughed and said, "oh, yeah," as in "Oh! I get it. Yeah, sure, whatever." The homeless guy helped us find the Irish pub we were looking for and ended up being really nice even though he wouldn't not stop telling us about how much he wanted to pee. On the last full day at lunch, I came out of the cafeteria to find a table of men in scrubs staring at me. After a quick inventory to make sure I didn't have any crazy hair or toilet paper stuck to my shoe, I realized they were looking for a different reason. After that, I wondered just how much I could get away with in Minnesota. Thanks goodness for good genes.

Speaking of getting what you want, every once in a while I run across a girl who is used to getting just that. She acts like she is the queen of the territory and rarely hears the word "no." She isn't necessarily a person you should worry about angering, just someone who knows exactly what to say or do in order to get her way. I met one such girl on this trip and it immediately made my face turn red. I think I am used to getting my way and something just out of my reach only makes me want it more. I wonder if people who meet me for the first time get the impression and I feel entitled to EVERYTHING and think I might throw a hissy fit if they tell me no. After thinking about it for a while, I realized that stuff that I do rarely embarrasses me in the moment, only when I see someone else do the same or similar action do I feel disconcerted. Maybe it's because I feel sorry for someone who just doesn't know that they have no rhythm or coordination or common sense or whatever, that I immediately recoil and think "Ohmigosh, am I like THAT?" Sometimes the answer is obvious, but most times I have to rely on asking a close friend for a more (but not completely) unbiased opinion. Thank goodness for honest friends.

You're Not The Only One

2009-02-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

Time out for a random rant: One day I was looking at my phone, avoiding someone who called, and thought that the little icon for voice mail was odd. The other icons made sense: an envelope for mail or text messages, a little battery for the battery, a tower for signal strength, etc. Then it dawned on me, it's the ribbon in a cassette tape! A CASSETTE TAPE? Really? Who's genius idea was that? I haven't seen one of those since junior high when I tried desperately over and over to record my favorite song on the radio, but was always unsatisfied because I never got the timing quite right or the annoying DJ was talking over it. As phone are getting fancier, so are the voice mail icons and many make more sense, like a little speaker over an envelope. Alright I'm done.

So I haven't posted in a while, mostly because I have been in SD for all of February. I decided this blog doesn't just have to be about my travels, especially because things happen here too. This blog is name after a line of lyrics in Evanescence's The Only One. I think the song is about reassuring someone that they aren't alone, but I'm taking it out of context and giving it a new meaning. Read on...

In the first week of February we had the Pre/Post-sales consultants mini convention. Two days of showing cool stuff we've done in the app (well I haven't done anything cool yet) and sharing bugs or enhancement requests with development. It was a blast, I finally met a bunch of people I'd either heard about or only talked to on the phone. We had a poker tournament the first night and one of the guys went to the bar across the street and raced a goldfish. On the second night several of us went to dinner at a wine bar called 3rd Corner in Encinitas. The food was DELICIOUS and the wine was really good too. then we all came back to the office and played Rockband down in the playroom. Well the boys played and I watched. I'm way too uncoordinated for that kind of thing.

The second week was pretty uneventful, just a lot of conference calls and working on finishing up the mini projects I had been assigned. Oh and I got assigned my first three clients as primary consultant (or did that happen the week before, I can't remember).

In the third week we had two clients, one of them mine, come in early in the week to do kick-off meetings, and then later in the week many more clients came in for the Admin 101 training. I really like assisting on the training classes, I just like being able to give and answer to a question that the trainer might not have been thinking about or help the trainer out preparing instances. Plus I always learn new things or am reminded of things I forgot. The sour note for the week was that apparently my client who came in early apparently didn't really like me or the Engagement Manager. There were some disagreements on implementation strategies, someone thought I wasn't experienced enough and some other bad timing coincidences that could not be avoided that led up to him asking for a new consultant and EM. Anyway, my boss didn't reassign us...he always has our back, but I guess he did make some sort of small compromise to help the client get over it. I'm not going to let it bother me though, my other clients seem perfectly happy with me and if this particular one can't be it must be something else that's bugging them or they have unreal expectations. I'm going to continue to be nice to them as always, you know, kill 'em with kindness. Like the title implies, they aren't the only ones that I'm responsible to and I honestly can't expect every client to be fun and easy to work with. In fact, when I was on the other side of the table I'm pretty sure I was one of those ones the consultants talked about later, "Wow she was such a b....." Haha, it always makes a difference to have the tables turned on you. This will really help me build up my diplomacy skills and patience.

Snow Patrol

2009-01-28T20:44:00.000-08:00

We'll do it all, everything, on our own,
We don't need, anything, or anyone
If I lay here, if I just lay here,
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Brutal storm arrives in Ohio - "With a mix of snow, ice and freezing rain overnight, today's morning commute could be horrible compared with yesterday's drive because of a winter storm that has killed at least 19 people nationally."

OSU CLOSED WEDNESDAY, Winter Weather About to Pound Columbus - Better bundle up, Buckeyes. The Weather Channel is calling for an inch of snow tonight, as well as two to four inches of snow tomorrow morning. Snow isn’t anything new here—seems like we are getting into an every-other-week pattern with the winter weather.

YAY Ohio! I arrived here in Columbus, OH on Monday night at about 11:30pm. Headed over to baggage claim and then on to Budget car rentals. As I was walking out to the car I notice that its a relatively new Mustang (SWEET!). I packed the big suitcase this time and it barely fit in the trunk, but I jammed it all in there and started the car. Someone left it on a pop station and Just Dance by Lady Gaga was on, so I was grateful not to have to wade through random radio stations to find music I knew. At this point, I hadn't been out of the airport really yet, so didn't really have an idea of what was waiting for me just outside the parking garage. All I knew is that Columbus felt WAY colder than New York.

SNOW! It was falling, and I was having trouble trying to read directions on my phone, have an eye on the road, boogie to the good music and keep from fishtailing. The fishtailing definitely freaked me out at first. I finally found my way to the hotel and checked in, then promptly crashed.

Tuesday at Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC) went well. I made it to the office in the Mustang in one piece, but not without getting lost. I told the people in the office that I was from San Diego and hadn't really seen or been in snow like this before. They were concerned and one of the sys admins offered to pick me up on Wednesday because there were some major storms coming in that night (see news articles above).

Good thing he did pick me up! My Mustang's doors were frozen shut and there was a huge layer of snow and ice over the entire car. The snow continued to fall until early afternoon and then its started to warm up. What I mean by "warm up" is that the snow started to melt a little making some slush, not that the air temperature was by any means warm.

When I got back to the hotel, I asked the check-in guy in the lobby to take a picture of me doing a snow angel. He sorta laughed but was totally game for it. He got 4-5 pretty good pictures of me in my work clothes (no hat, gloves, jacket, anything) freezing in the snow. I got some pictures of the angel later on without me in it too. NOTE: Laying in the snow is the inspiration for my musical title and excerpt of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

I decided to explore a little bit, because earlier on our way to lunch I saw a Target and a Famous Footwear right down the road. By then the snow had melted on the main roads and freeways, or was at least packed down enough for me to drive on. Unfortunately, my car wasn't any less covered in snow and ice that it was in the morning. I spent 45 minutes chipping away at the ice with a tiny little scraper the rental agency threw in there. This time no one was on the road, so the fishtailing didn't bother me so much and actually started to be fun (don't worry g-ma, I didn't do anything crazy). I liked it so much that I drove all the way downtown and just cruised around for about half an hour until I got hungry.

I headed back toward the hotel and found an "El Vaquero: Authentic Mexican Food" restaurant to eat at. I was skeptical about what Ohio peeps thought "authentic" Mexican would be, but I was pleasantly surprised. I chowed down and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for bed.

I think this snow thing is pretty cool, but I'm glad to only have to be in it for a few days. I'll take a 65 degree average winter over 20 degrees any day. Miss you San Diego!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

2009-01-23T06:33:00.001-08:00

The lovely (and tough) Pat Benetar is the inspiration for today's title.

Before I go into the details of my post, I have to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALI!!!!"

So yesterday was my second and last day of formal training for my new job. All went well, I'm having great fun with my co-workers. My boss, took us out to an Irish pub for dinner, most of us had fish and chips. YUM! A good end to a great trip... or so I thought.

When we got back to the hotel, one of the East Coast managers was waiting in the hotel bar for us so we could all have a few drinks. I had met him during my first week of work and had seen him in the office earlier in the afternoon and somewhere along the line must have given him the impression that I was a run-of-the-mill, fragile, easily offended girl. Maybe it's the blonde hair, the fact that I sometimes wear pink, or maybe that I was relatively quiet during the political discussion the boys were having in the office before dinner. Who knows? He did get one thing right, I am a girl (no matter what Kris says).

All of us were chatting away having a great time, but it seemed like he would stop himself from finishing some of his sentences/stories. He would look at me and then make a comment about not wanting to be inappropriate, or something, I can't remember his exact wording. Finally I looked him directly in the eye and said, "Look, you don't have to censor yourself around me. I'm a big girl and this isn't the first time I've worked with guys. You aren't going to offend me or hurt my feelings."

To which he replied with a very proud look on his face, "You don't know me."

"YOU don't know ME!" I immediately retorted. I have seriously no idea how I pulled it out so quickly, but I did. I almost regretted it the second it came out of my mouth (keyword: almost), after all I was the new kid on the block, I didn't need to go around pissing senior managers off.

My boss thought it was a most excellent come back and promptly gave me a fist bump. At first the manager didn't say anything, but he looked a little stung. So I decided to dig myself in deeper by saying, "You know, if you come through with that new account, I'll be back out here in NY and then you can try to offend me all you want."

He looked at my boss and said, "Did she REALLY just say 'if I PULL-THROUGH with that account'?"

Thank goodness my boss had my back and simply replied, "Yep!"

So the manager and I verbally sparred back and forth the rest of the night. It was pretty fun and THAT was a fabulous end to an awesome trip.

UPDATE 01/28/2009: I later found out that before this night the manager had been worried about sending me to client sites, thinking that they would eat me alive. Little did he know...

Downtown, where all the lights are bright

2009-01-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

I've decided that since I love music so much I'm going to attempt to make my blog titles music themed. This particular post is about my night in Times Square and I thought Downtown by Petula Clark was very fitting.

The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares and go
Downtown where all the lights are bright,
Downtown, waiting for you tonight,
Downtown, you're gonna be alright now

This post is actually a copy of an email that I sent out while I was in New York:
Tonight I went to Times Square and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Then Ian and John (coworkers) left me to go to a basketball game, so I wandered around and did some shopping. I bought some new boots and a cute little dress for work. Then, amazingly, I found my way back to the hotel all by myself without getting lost. Then after I was already in bed watching Nancy Grace (do not like her) John and Ian called and wanted to get a few drinks at the bar, so I put my jeans back on and headed down for a glass of wine. Now I am getting ready to go to sleep. I'm ready to wake up early and do it all over again.

My hotel is in between the Empire State Building and Grand Central Station. I took a bunch of pictures and I'm hoping to get more in daylight tomorrow.

So Ohio next week has been confirmed. Ohio State University Medical Center. This time I will be on my own, without any coworkers. I leave Monday afternoon and return Friday evening.

You're Gonna Make It After All...

2009-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

YAY! First blog post ever!

OK, now that that's over with...

I started this blog because it's a new year, I have a new job and not-new family and friends that want to keep up with all of the great stuff I'm doing these days. I can tell some people are getting tired of my mass emails, so I figured I'll put the information out here and those that are interested can come get it. I didn't really like spamming anyway.

I started my new job as a Consultant on January 5th, 2009 at a software company called Service-now. It's GREAT! I love it, I don't mind going into the office at all (I worked from home with my old company for most of 2008). The office is right on the beach in Solana Beach and dress code is "whatever-the-heck-you-want-to-wear," there are people in suits and ties and other people in flip-flops and shorts. They have a kitchen fully stocked with snacks, drinks, and single serving Campbells soups for those days when you have to work through lunch. They have a free lunch every Friday, which I really like, not only because they bring in great food, but also because everyone comes down to the kitchen and it becomes social hour.

On my first day I didn't have a computer so I spent some time reading and re-reading the healthcare and 401K forms. After a while I got a little bored with that so I decided to walk around and meet new people. Most everyone I passed in the hall said something like "You're new! Who are you?" I also am friends with several people who work for the company already: Jerrod, Bow, Aaron, Kenny, and Doug. Little did I know that knowing these people would be the "golden ticket" around the office, even with the CEO.

So after about two weeks of listening in on existing account phone calls, rearranging my office a few times and doing odd jobs here and there to learn the tool, the company sent me to New York for training. I knew before I started that I'd be going out there so Mom bought me a really nice full length wool coat from Macy's. I also went out and bought a luggage set from JCPenney.

I packed enough work clothes for two days, a pair of jeans for after work and a few other things, but it was still hard to fit it all in the smaller of the two suitcases I bought. I REALLY, REALLY tried not to be normal me who packs everything for every possible situation (anyone need socks and a toothbrush?). Anyway, on Tuesday January 20th, I parked my car at my mom's and I'm all ready to go to the airport when my mom looks at me and starts singing the theme song to the Mary Tyler Moore show. I've decided that it's now my personal theme song. If you don't know it, I included the video and lyrics below...

Love Is All Around by Paul Williams

Who can turn the world on with her smile?
Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Well it's you girl, and you should know it
With each glance and every little movement you show it

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all

How will you make it on your own?
This world is awfully big, girl this time you're all alone
But it's time you started living
It's time you let someone else do some giving

Love is all around, no need to waste it
You can have a town, why don't you take it
You're gonna make it after all
You're gonna make it after all