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T h e A d v e n t u r e s o f C h i c a g o J o

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And You Thought I Had Nothing to Say...

2005-05-13� � 5:50 p.m.
Yes, this will have lots of small sections on various topics instead of one, big, cohesive entry where I tie everything up together neatly at the end.

It�s just not been a diary-writing kind of two weeks.


Last weekend I had people from Texas over. There was always rumor to the adventures one gets into when in the company of one of the folks, and it didn�t disappoint.

Margaritas for Cinco de Mayo. Tons of all-you-can-eat sushi with plenty of sake. Ending up at Chicago�s Scientology center at 10:30 on a Friday evening and staying for nearly two hours. On and on and on. It was rather surreal, actually.


I�ve been running a lot, actually. My friend Oz and I are following a marathon training program this summer in prep for Chicago�s 26.2 mile jog on October. To get ourselves motivated and really get going, we signed up for a 10-mile race at the end of this month.

Now, with the amount that I run, you�d think that 10 miles would be a typical jog in the park.

Not so.

However, I�ve worked up to seven easy(ish) miles, and I have two weeks until the race. If the weather would quit being such a drag, I�d work on it even more.


For those of you who already read him (and, really, you all should be...), you already know that a couple months ago, Dangerspouse offered to mail out CD mix tapes to readers. Lo and behold, Danger apparently forgot to check his daily stats to see that he was a bonafide cool kid. He ended up with over 150 requests.

150 CDRs. 150 envelopes. 150 postage stamps.

It adds up.

So when I got mine, I sent back a thank you card with a few bucks in it. No big deal. I appreciate his time spent, and I also realize that he got bitten by the freebie mob and spent a good amount of his hard-earned dough on it too.

In response to the thank you card, he sent me a thank you email that said I should expect another surprise soon.

Remember the time Oprah paid for the toll for the person behind her and then had the toll attendant tell the person that they too had the option to pay for the person behind them since Oprah had already paid their way and eleventy-million cars (or something like that) kept up the niceness?

In yesterday�s mail, a postcard announced that I now had a year�s subscription to Runner�s World magazine, compliments of Danger.

Oprah taught me right. (Uh-huh!) Danger�s gonna get something shiny in return. Until I find something worthy, go click his link so he feels even more popular than a $5,000 Britney Spears pregnancy test.


Speaking of Oprah, last night�s episode was all about the wrap-up to her weight loss boot camp program.

Since they were talking about it, I ventured to the downstairs workout room and ran during the rest of the show.

See... Oprah teaches me right once again! (Uh-huh!)


On a semi-personal note, from a conversation with someone yesterday: Is it really that weird that I don�t know anything about Benito�s dating past? Is it really that much of an anomaly that I don�t wanting to know anything?

I�ve seen too many completely reasonable, bright women crumble under their own suspicions, want to claw the mental images from their inner eye, and who always wait for the proverbial hat to drop based on past issues their boyfriends had.

I�d prefer not to look at the caller ID and freak out about who�s calling him and her motivation. I don�t want to see his IM list and be able to count the number of people he�s smooched on. I don�t want to think of him at one time ever doing so much as gazing at someone lovingly and wonder if she was better/smarter/prettier/sexier/whatever than me. (As if!)

Even if he�s cheated before, it doesn�t mean he�ll do it again. Even if he used to tell one girl she was a dumb cow, he�s not doing it now. Even if he used to love someone else, he doesn�t let on that there�s anyone but me.

Is it really that weird to give someone a clean slate? to allow their current actions to dictate the trust given? to let them choose who they want to be in the relationship?

I think not. He might have chosen to divulge his past to a previous partner; but with me, it�s none of my business.


In work issues...

It�s no secret that I�m a long-term contractor for a very large consulting firm. I�ve been here for nearly two years now -- something essentially unheard of in contracting (unless you have a government contract).

It�s recently been pitched that I was being considered for fulltime, permanent employment. If I didn�t get an answer in two weeks (a.k.a. by today), I was supposed to have an extension added to my contract until August 2006.

Now, this is cool. Contract companies make it notoriously difficult to receive benefits without taking a huge cut in pay. I, however, held out for so long that I now qualify for one week of paid vacation and paid holidays while at my current salary that was negotiated when they thought I was only going to be around for a few months.

I have no issue with what�s going on. I get (over)paid for my work. I don�t take a hit when I take some time off. I have a great insurance dealio through ehealthinsurance.com that costs me a few pesos a month in exchange for not going to the doctor unless I�m bleeding profusely or have a bone sticking out.

My only complaint about not being a fulltime, permanent employee at this time is that I�m working here without getting employment credit with the company. So if I am ever given actual employment here, my vesting starts at day zero. I�d be 40% vested right now if I was a real employee, and I don�t like it when my time doesn�t count -- especially when it comes to something financially related.

Anyway, in hush-hush(ish) news, I found a job online that I�m actually applying to. It�s just a couple dollars less per hour than I make now (note that fulltime employment pay is considerably different than contracting pay), is 50% travel, and sounds like something I�d really enjoy.

My current company knows that the lowly contractor that I am has spoken of looking for a job, as I have only three months left on my current contract, no employment offer, and no new contract yet in-hand.

So who knows. Maybe this will pan out to become something. Maybe this won�t. It�s just odd to even be applying to something different.

Note to self: Ask bosses for positive recommendations to perhaps light a match under said heinies to get me a fulltime, permanent job offer or a shiny, new contract with a 3% pay raise.


Two mornings ago I woke up to hearing running water in my bathroom. I never detailed the previous plunging I had to do for an unknown issue with my bathroom�s toilet (hence Benito coining the term �Joop,� swearing that I must have taken a huge Jo-poop to clog the toilet), but it was forceful and ferocious as anyone can be with $10 of plastic and rubber in an in-and-out motion.

All has been calm with that clogging-for-no-reason toilet, so I was a bit worried when I heard a trickle at five in the morning.

I stumbled up and turned on a light, only to reveal Hambone peeing in my toilet:

Apparently the lid in his bathroom was put down, and he had enough sense to seek out another toilet for his use instead of peeing in a corner square of carpet, never to be found (but always smelled) again.

I swear that he�s a genius. For that, I can�t help but love him.


All right. I�ve stayed after at work long enough. I�m going home. G�nite, all! �



Miss something?

Moving Day - 2008-02-15
Working from Home is Glorious - 2008-02-13
Speaking in Tongues - 2008-02-07
I Have My Reasons - 2008-01-25
Got an Itch, Fix it, Shine it Up, Sing it Out - 2008-01-23

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