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30 May, 05 > 5 Jun, 05
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2 May, 05 > 8 May, 05
25 Apr, 05 > 1 May, 05
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28 Mar, 05 > 3 Apr, 05
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28 Feb, 05 > 6 Mar, 05
21 Feb, 05 > 27 Feb, 05
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31 Jan, 05 > 6 Feb, 05
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10 Jan, 05 > 16 Jan, 05
3 Jan, 05 > 9 Jan, 05
27 Dec, 04 > 2 Jan, 05
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6 Dec, 04 > 12 Dec, 04
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27 Sep, 04 > 3 Oct, 04
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26 Jul, 04 > 1 Aug, 04
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5 Jul, 04 > 11 Jul, 04
28 Jun, 04 > 4 Jul, 04
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31 May, 04 > 6 Jun, 04
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29 Mar, 04 > 4 Apr, 04
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8 Mar, 04 > 14 Mar, 04
1 Mar, 04 > 7 Mar, 04
23 Feb, 04 > 29 Feb, 04
16 Feb, 04 > 22 Feb, 04
9 Feb, 04 > 15 Feb, 04
2 Feb, 04 > 8 Feb, 04
26 Jan, 04 > 1 Feb, 04
19 Jan, 04 > 25 Jan, 04
12 Jan, 04 > 18 Jan, 04
Miscellaneous Thoughts (a.k.a. The Ranting Corner)
Friday, 12 March 2004
Cheap-ass Bastards
Let me tell you a little about my day, kids. There?s so much crap that goes into this job it?s not even funny. Most of the time I find myself blatantly lying to the people we?re supposed to be, you know, helping. But that?s not what?s annoying me right now. Right now, two things are pissing me off.

First, for whatever reason, I can no longer check this site from my desk at work. It?s been ?blocked? by the Helpdesk over at Corporate. So that?s nice. The one place where I used to come when I was bored (read: constantly) to waste time and post funny things for you to look at is no longer accessible.

Second, and the reason for the above title, is that I just had to call our New York office and ask someone there to send me more FedEx Airbills (the thing you fill out and attach to the package you?re sending out, just in case you didn?t know). Why do I need to call the New York office? Why can?t I just call FedEx? Because. My office doesn?t have an account with FedEx. We used to have an account with Airborne Express and it was wonderful. I loved it. Then, for no reason, Corporate stopped paying the bills. Huh? you ask. Stopped paying the bills? How can they do that? Well, they just can. You know how I know? They just did. We are in collections because my cheap-ass company stopped paying the bills for services that they asked for. Classy, eh?

It?s not enough that I hate my job and find it mind-numbingly dull, soul deadening, and just plain irritating. No, that?s not enough. I also have to have no respect for my superiors (with the exception of one or two) or the company itself for that matter. They are constantly crying poverty and getting rid of people. I haven?t had a raise in over a year. There were no Christmas bonuses. The holiday party amounted to some take-out food thrown in the conference room. We ate and then had to be back at our desks forty-five minutes later. At the same time our Big Giant Heads drive Porches and vacation at their houses in the Caribbean. They live the kind of life most people can only dream about.

This was supposed to be a transitional thing, something to pay the bills while I finished my thesis. Now I think if I don?t get out soon I?m going to become impossible to work with. I?m very crabby when I?m here.

But it?s not my fault. I have a bad attitude because my company is full of cheap-ass bastards. So there. Yes. I?m four.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 8:08 PM EST
Updated: Friday, 12 March 2004 8:22 PM EST
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Thursday, 11 March 2004
Bleeding Me Dry
I'd like to take a minute to complain about air travel. I was online today trying to find a decent fare to MN in mid-April for my bridal shower. What I found made me want to pull my hair out.

My first option was to pay a very nice $208.00 for a non-stop out and a short layover in Chicago on the way back. The problem? Each flight was FOUR HOURS LONG.

Now, I've been flying back and forth between Jersey and Minnesota for about six years now and it never takes that long, so I wondered what the problem was. Then I saw the second option, which was $356.00 for a two and a half hour flight.

So basically, if you want to get anywhere in a timely fashion you have to pay through the nose. Why can air travel be both convenient and affordable? It bites that I'm spending almost four hundred dollars (because I'm sorry, but I can't spend four hours on a plane...I just CAN'T) so that I can see my family what boils down to a long weekend. Something is inherently wrong with that.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 7:48 PM EST
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Wanted: A Leg To Stand On
The New York Times reports this morning that: "...the House easily approved legislation on Wednesday to bar people from suing restaurants on the ground that their food makes customers fat."

This of course comes just days after the report that obesity now threatens to overtake smoking as America's number one preventable killer.

The fact that such a protective measure had to be passed makes me once again ask: Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you overeat, you may gain weight and it's no one's fault but your own.

When will we stop passing the buck and start accepting responsibility for our actions?

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 10:54 AM EST
Updated: Thursday, 11 March 2004 11:00 AM EST
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Wednesday, 10 March 2004
Barbarossa
I just got word that a good friend in Savannah, GA just passed his comps! For those of you unfamiliar with the process of "comps", or Comprehensive Examinations, let me fill you in.

First, you select a committee of three professors who you've taken classes from and who will be able to help you write your thesis because their specializations are tied to the area you will be researching/writing on.

Then they give you written examinations. Three of them. On each exam (one for each professor all done on different days), the professor can ask you questions pertaining to any class you've ever taken with them. ANY class. You have to be prepared to write an essay on whatever they ask you to discuss. Sometimes they give you a head's up regarding what to expect, but sometimes they don't.

After the written part for all three is done, you have to have an oral exam in which you sit before your committee and they can ask you follow-up questions pertaining to your written answers. In addition, they can pretty much ask you any question that they didn't already ask you on the written part, but want to test your knowledge on.

After THAT'S done, they send you out of the room and deliberate among themselves. I've heard that this part is just to torment the student. You wouldn't be there if they didn't think you'd pass and for the most part you'd have to screw up pretty bad for them to fail you. But they send you out and they talk amongst themselves for a bit, then call you back in and tell you if you passed or not.

Speaking as someone who's gone through the process I can tell you with little hesitation that it's torture. I've never sweat so much in my life.

So congratulations! I knew you could do it!

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 4:11 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, 10 March 2004 4:31 PM EST
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Lunch!
I just finished eating my lunch (Sesame Chicken, medium) and it occurs to me that this is the first meat I've eaten since the whole Wisdom teeth fiasco. So there it is. I'm back on solid foods. Yay!

In other news, I can't seem to shake this cold. It started in my head and it's working its way down to my chest. I'm snot-girl. Pity me.

On the upside, I think things might be looking up for me career-wise. I'm not going to say anything definite because I've been wrong before, but...let's just say that I'm semi in-play. If anyone who works with me reads this I hope that they will be discreet. Nothing is set in stone.

I have to start thinking about a plane ticket soon. My MN family are throwing me a bridal shower in April, so I'll be going home for that and I can't wait. Money, though, is not something that grows on trees (an analogy I've never understood...why WOULD money grow on trees?) and what with all the stuff you have to pay for before the wedding, things are getting a little tight around our place.

Pumpkin was a disaster last night. I couldn't settle down and fall asleep and I guess all my tossing and turning disturbed her. Her response? Leaving a pile of poo buried in the bathmat. Luckily I saw it before I stepped in it, but you can't tell me she doesn't know exactly who takes the first shower in the morning.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 2:08 PM EST
Updated: Wednesday, 10 March 2004 2:23 PM EST
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Tuesday, 9 March 2004
Jersey Wades Into the Fray
Quote: "We're Americans, we pay our taxes, we love each other and there's no reason we shouldn't be able to express that."

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 2:30 PM EST
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Food for Thought
In an election year, it's best to be as informed as possible, right? Well, this is one of the best articles I've read lately on Bush's track record as our fearless leader.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 9:22 AM EST
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Monday, 8 March 2004
Happy Birthday, Dad!
Today is my dad's birthday and I thought it would be nice to tell him thanks for all the stuff he's taught me (and tried to teach me) like how to change my own oil, how to shoot a gun, how to sand and varnish wood, the difference between a regular and a Phillips screwdriver, how to play pool and ping-pong, how to swing a bat, how to eat chow mein and BLTs (the tomato always goes in the middle so as not to make the bread soggy), how to be sarcastic, how to drive (which my mom also helped with), and how to deal with your first car accident.

Obviously there was a lot more than this, but I've only got so much room here. For the above things and for many others, thanks dad. And happy birthday.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 9:31 AM EST
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Friday, 5 March 2004
Why I Don't Live in Minnesota Anymore
This was the view from my parent's front stoop this morning. Dude. It's March! That should all be melted! In Jersey, we've got some drizzles but it's in the fifties! And that's not all! They're expecting more tonight! Six more inches! Isn't that insane! Are there enough exclamation points in this entry for you! I hope so!


Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 6:29 PM EST
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An Intellectual Dead Zone
After a full week of rest, drugs and the occasional fit of sobs, I'm finally feeling more like myself. Unfortunately, without my Wisdom teeth, I've become a bit of a dolt. Get this: the most intellectual thing I did yesterday was watch the E! True Hollywood Story on the Dukes of Hazzard. That's the not the worst part. The worst part is that I found it riveting.

I've been back to work for odd hours here and there for the past two days. I left early today because, hey, it's Friday for the love of God and I don't feel well. It'll be just me and my assistant in the office again starting Monday so I've got be ready for anything. And I do mean anything. My day job sucks.

Posted by freak2/katertot0208 at 3:07 PM EST
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