Ten Thursday Thoughts

1. I have not been able to post, and it is irking the cheese out of me.

2. I have had silly computer problems in the evening. I don't feel like fighting with my laptop, and I get sleepy and I decide to go to bed instead.

3. My laptop is NOT acting all janky tonight! Glory!!!

4. Every night I've been writing in my journal that I want to get to work "dirt early" this week. That means around 6:00 am. Or even 7:00 am.

5. Is that working out? No. Because when it is dark outside, it is nighttime. I don't care if it is 6:00am-7:00am. If it is dark outside, it is not morning.

6. Tomorrow is not only Friday, but it is payday. That already means that the blinds of my mind are already half closed. My paydays are not good and productive workdays.

7. This mindset is not a good thing, as I have a TON of stuff to do tomorrow.

8. Can you believe that January is almost over? So that means that we only have 11 months left to get it all done. All of it. Whatever "it" is.

9. I am tired of these debates. I can't tell if this is serious or some awful reality show. Whatever it is, it is awful.

10. Questions of the week: Do we really want Trump to be president? Do we really want to hear and see his Don Rickles/Rodney Dangerfield shtick act for the next 4 to 8 years?

I don't. All I know is that I am going to miss President Obama. Really.


That's it for my Ten Thursday Thoughts.

Not much substance today.

Heck man, I just wanted to post.

Some Things Shouldn't Be Microwaved...

So...

My coworker Lady M brought in what I thought was microwavable popcorn.

"You want this, LadyLee?"

I, like I said, thought it was some microwavable popcorn. I rarely eat it. I prefer to pop my own.

I like to pop it on the stove top with a little olive oil and sea salt. You know, like we did before the invention of microwaves.

But she handed me the package. It was not popcorn.

It was microwavable pork rinds.

"Ewwww," was my immediate response.

"Don [her husband] bought those," she said. "You can have them."

Who on earth thought of the idea of microwavable pork rinds? Why would one even want that?  Can't you just go to your local 'hood gas station and buy a bag of pork rinds? Why go through the trouble of placing them in the microwave and waiting around on them to "pop" or warm up, or whatever they do in the microwave.

Needless to say, I didn't want them. But others in the cubicle area were interested, and Lady M went downstairs and "popped" them in the microwave.

There were even instructions.

I'm a bit taken aback with the instruction to "Watch!!!" Those three exclamation points make it loud and clear: you best not walk away from it.

I bet the smell of burnt pork skins is worse than the smell of burnt popcorn. Any day.

It looks simple enough.

Looks like some pork skins. I tasted one. There was salt on it.

Why would one put salt on an already inherently salty pork skin?

I don't know.

"Don needs his behind whooped for buying those," I said.

"They're Laury's," she said.

And we all know about Laurys season salt.

"That ain't the same Laurys, hon," I said. "Nope."

No it is not. But it's obvious that there is a market for microwavable pork skins.

And I'll let ya'll deal with that. It's definitely not for me.

A LadyLee Adventure: Uber Eats

So this past Wednesday, I decided to do something adventurous for lunch. I decided to try Uber Eats.

This is a part of the Uber brand. We all know about Uber, and how it's much better than a cab. I'm surprised that they haven't ran the taxi businesses out of business. I have taken Uber a couple of times myself. It is nicer and cheaper, that's for sure.

But within the uber app in certain cities, there's the Uber Eats option. I never paid it any attention but for some reason earlier this month, I came across an article or something related about it. I decided to try and use it this week. And I'm glad I did.

It is available from 11 am to 2:00 pm in the downtown and Midtown Atlanta areas. I work in the heart of midtown, so that works out well enough. There are 5 or 6 lunches or desserts to choose from, ranging from $3 to $12 (those are the prices I've seen thusfar). So you pick what you want from the app and an ubereats driver brings it to you. They have many of the meals in hot or cold storage packs or something like that. You just have to run out to the curb and get it.

Easy enough.

I perused the choices in my area and I made my order.

(That's a picture after the fact. You see the bowl is empty.

I ordered the Singapore noodles from a vietnamese restaurant on the north side/Asian side of town.

Woooo wee... that was some GOOD eating. All they needed to do was throw a cup of veggies over in there. But it was good. It was hot.  And I had a coupon.  My meal was $5!

The meal came to my job in about 2 minutes flat. I was leaving the cubicle area when I noticed on the app that the car was coming up the street on the side of my building. I had to step double-time to catch it at the front of my building. The driver was already parking her car.

I will be ordering that again once it comes back up in rotation. Yeah!

This uber eats is a good idea and option, especially when it's too cold or raining out. I will be using it again.

Sister Callie and Mitch on Some Mornings

I look for the cats in the morning before I leave for work to make sure they're not closed up in my bedroom. I usually can find them, as they are eating or looking out the windows. But some days I can't find them, and I get frantic if I'm running late.

Sometimes I forget to look up...

I forget that they tend to hang out on the beams.

.
I feel silly for not looking up over my head.

Yet Sister Callie and Mitch are looking at me from up there and probably thinking "Look at that fool running around calling our names. She's too silly to look up and see us. Ha ha."

Humph.

They've been getting into fights up there lately, and I am sure someone has fallen.

Don't hurt yourselves, cats. I don't want to pay hefty vet bills.

And for goodness sake, don't take out that ceiling fan!

Please, don't.

Twelve Tuesday Thoughts

Here we go with the Tenn Tuesday Thoughts!

1. I was out of town last week for training. I bet you didn't even know, did you?

2. On January 10th, I did all of my posts for the week. This is why they were so short and random.

3. LadyTee spent the night before taking me to the airport on January 11th. That was fun. It felt like we were 10 years old.

4. She looked at me crazy when I said I was going to sleep upstairs.

"You gonna leave me upstairs?" she asked.
"Yep," I said.
I have a king sized bed downstairs and it didn't bother me to sleep down there with her. I just know if I sleep upstairs, I am more apt to get up at the time that I want to get up. I don't know what that's about. But I wanted to be sure that I wasn't running hard for my airplane.

5. I flew to San Francisco for a 3 day training course. That meant traveling all day Monday and all day Friday.  I had layovers each way. Those were some LONG flights. Wow!

6. I had a layover in Las Vegas. Why the heck do they have slot machines AT the airport, right as we get off the plane?

What the world??

I didn't play. I don't do slot machines. I like poker. So if there was a  card table when I got off  the plane... let's just say that would've have been a great 1.5 hour layover.

7.  They even have the police in San Francisco!!

I  saw this caw while I was waiting for the rental car shuttle. I made sure to sit on the bench and be extra quiet.  I held my luggage tightly, and I was on my best behavior. There is no way I wanted any mess with the police so far from home.  No way. No sir.

8. I was glad to get to my hotel. I'd arrived at the ATL airport at 9:00 am eastern time, and made it all the way to my hotel by 9:00 pm Pacific time. I was tired, but it was one of the few times while traveling that I had good stamina. I was glad of that. I slept pretty good, too.

9. I rented a Prius. I went back and told the people that the car didn't work. They said just put it in drive and it would go. And it did. Just strange that a car switches over to whisper queit electric when it is in park or at a stop. That was unnerving but I got over it in a few days.

I like bigger cars now.  But this car was nice and zippy, just like my Protege Pam.

10. I am always happy to go to airports that are smaller than Atlanta's airport, as it isn't such a huge undertaking to get to the terminals and gates!

11. On the way back to Atlanta, I had a layover in Los Angeles. I just KNEW I was gonna see some movie stars! But I realized quickly that I would not, for I was flying Southwest Airlines. Ain't no way anyone with some real money gonna fly that airline. I felt like we were treated like cattle. I want the flights back on Delta, where I can pick my seat instead of first come, first serve. I don't care to sit in middle seats AT ALL. 

12.  I had a great time in San Francisco.  But this mini- jet lag issue I have right now... ugh.  It is most definitely for the birds, honey.

Really tho.

That's it for Twelve Tuesday Thoughts.

More interesting posts about my week in San Fran to come :)

Happy MLK Day

If Animals Were Anything Like People

Watch What You Say

I see some interesting stuff during my lurk time on Facebook.

I saw something that make me think about thinking about what I say.

Be careful what you say when you are alone.

Because you never know who's listening.

For example:

Man... I bet that chick thinks before she speaks next time.

But this is a reminder of that piece of scripture that says...

Out of the heart, the mouth speaks

LadyLee's Favorite Gospel CD

I know I listen to quite a bit of ratchetness...

But someone asked me if I like Gospel music. Yes I do. I have a playlist of around 100 of my favorite songs. I just don't come across a lot of gospel music, It's always been my routine that when I hear a gospel song I like, I pull up the CD. Usually, that is the ONLY song on the CD that I like. That bothers me.

With that said, because of that, I can't say that I have bothered to dig around for some good gospel music. I have clung to my nice little gospel playlist. I will sometimes leave my satellite at home on the channel that plays black gospel. I will hear a song I like, then I will go look for it on my spotify and add it to my playlist. That's as far as that goes. I will also grab whatever other songs off that CD that I like.

Hence, my 100 song playlist. Put that on random and I good. Edified and uplifted all day long.

There is one CD I will listen to from top to bottom... Deidrick Haddon's League of Xtraordinary Worshippers

Here are a few songs I like:







That last song makes me want to do church spins and church jogs in my cubicle. If I want to wake up, that's what I play right there.

This year I may make a better effort to find more gospel songs and not get stuck on my favorites. I am more than sure that there's lots of great gospel music out there. And I can find it!

Our President before He was President

I love this picture.

One thing I know for sure...

I am going to miss this president when he finishes his term.

I truly am.

Monday Funnies

So when I first saw this picture on Facebook, I thought it was a stripper working the pole and men throwing money at her...

And this was a depiction of a child's view of her mother's job and desiring to be like her. Hmm.

Thanks for the patient explanation, you dear Mother.

Thank you very much... because you know the teachers had to be whispering about you in the teacher lounge, lol.

Ten Thursday Night Thoughts

1. This week has gone by in a whirlwind. Usually I am happy about that, but I have not been able to log any time in the laboratory.

2. Why have I not been able to log any time in the lab? It's because I'm trying to do a very complicated travel authorization. We have a new system for doing this and it's giving everybody problems.

3. I do what I can and keep it moving.  Not my fault that the system is janky. I've been hung up on trying to explain why I need a rental car, because the taxi fees are around $250-$400. Lord have mercy. No one wants to believe me. I think I proved it all today. (Glory!)

4. I am learning that it is NOT a good idea to try to travel after the holidays. Everybody is still trying to get back in the groove. Including myself.

5. I've eaten pretty clean this week. Lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of leafy greens. I am very much proud of myself for doing so. Lady M brought me a few ounces of homemade beer cheese potato soup. And then came the Cowgirl Cre with a plate full of gyro meat and salad. Ugh!  (I enjoyed the soup and the few slivers of meat I snatched from Cowgirl Cre's salad).

6. I still have to work on my water intake, though. Sigh. But I've been drinking a lot of hisbicus and roasted dandelion tea, though. And it's been giving my kidneys the business, lol.

7. I haven't been watching much news. I feel a little smarter and brighter due to that.

8. One night, I didn't turn on the TV at all. I listened to the radio. That was an awesome night. I really felt smarter and brighter that night.

9. Lucy Jr. was running rough on the way home. This means I have an ignition coil failure. This wasn't in my plans for tomorrow. Not at all.

10. I will take her in to get repaired first thing in the morning to the Lexus shop I like. If I have to wait more than an hour, I will just call Uber and take that to work. Uber is the BOMB. Whoever thought of it is a GENIUS!

Ha! That was a FAST 5 minute Ten Thursday night thoughts! I think I have 20 or 30 more thoughts to lay out.

But I won't put you through that.

Assuredly not!

New at Sharbucks...

We have the best bootleg Starbucks coffee station in the cubicle across from my cubicle called Sharbucks. If you are unfamiliar with it, I have given a virtual tour in an older post.

It's a nice little place and good for workplace morale. All we need is a barista.

And every once in awhile, there are special free offers. This winter it's hard lotion bars, made by Lady M. 

They are a loving concoction of beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil. They are wonderful, just right for ashy hands and elbows!

The ladies love it!

So now, in addition to having our morning coffee, we don't have to deal with dry skin!

Monday Night Ramblings!

'Tis Monday!

Happy New Year!

And I am back at work. No, I ain't whining about it. Although I could've used another week off. That would have been just fine and dandy with me.

I refuse to hate Mondays. This is a day the Lord has made. I WILL rejoice and I WILL be glad in it, doggonit.

(That's what I say every morning, especially on Mondays).

I have been off since the December 23rd. Let's just say I didn't plan on getting much done today. And today was just a day to get my mind straight. I suppose. There was no way I was doing anything crucial in the lab today. I think I decided that last night while journalling.

My boss sent myself and a coworker a document today to look over before he sends it to our director. I don't know why he's so nervous about it. I've spent some time editing and going back and forth with him about it. I want to send an email in all caps that says....

"I DON'T WANT TO READ THIS ANYMORE."

I decided to incorporate my new Quote of the Year in this case instead...

"It's not what happens to me that matters, it's my response to what happens to me that matters."

I know this is a little situation, but hey, might as well work on what I worked on much of last year: respond without anger, indignation, or agitation. I spent much time thinking about this last year. It works 99% of the time. And that's good enough  for me.

So Iwent over to my coworker, who sits cubicles up, and who I co-wrote this piece of regulation with, and I said...

"Hey brutha! You get that [email]!? This what we gonna do. How 'bout you read this, and I glance over it, and be done with it. I'm not spending more than 5 minutes on it."

(He blinks hard and grins whenever I call him "brutha"... I think this is because he is Chinese, and he is not my brother).

"It looks fine, whatever," he said. "It's alright."

*crickets*

"Did you even open the email, brutha?"

"It's fine," he said.

Hmmm... I don't know if he looked at it or not. I went back to my cubicle.

So I did the right thing. I read through it (albeit quickly), and I even asked my coworker a technical question.  And I did that in 10 minutes flat.

And I felt good about it!

I am glad I didn't respond with a crazy email. And I have a very nice (and VERY fine) supervisor. I don't want to upset him at all. No way, man.

Anyway, I received some Christmas gifts in the mail early Saturday morning. I decided to buy myself some things I like or need.

I bought a couple of satin pillow cases and some ink pens.

 I have been wanting some satin pillow cases.  And those pens are now my official favorite. I was getting some training at our sister fed agency down the road from my current job, and they gave me one of these pens to write with.

Let's just say I took the pen. I wouldn't call it stealing. When I go back, I will return the pen. That is all.

I have been needing some knives. I only have 3 or 4 knives right now. It's funny how those disappear. Same thing with spoons and forks. I have to buy new ones every once and awhile.

But I was looking for a specific brand of knife, a brand I'd been using for years. I bought them at Wal-mart years ago, but I could never find them again. I decided to look around on Amazon (which for some reason is always my last thought), and I saw what I wanted.

This knife set has been in my Amazon cart since October. I decided to buy it. It was only $50. They had some that were upwards of $200. I am not a professional chef, hence I ain't paying that much for a set of knives. No indeed.

There was this piece here, though.

I didn't know WHAT this was for. (Now how am I suppose to cut anything with this? I thought.) It turns out that it is a knife sharpener. That let's you know I am not a knife connoisseur.  Good to learn something new, though!

I love chopping fruits and veggies, so it's been a joy these past couple of days to grab a knife without having to search for one or clean one.

I've enjoyed all these gifts to myself. I may do that again next Christmas. I usually do it for my birthday (and I still have my coin jar, so that will definitely be done). But it was nice to do something for myself this Christmas... on purpose.

That's it for me. Got to make sure I stay in the swing of blogging. I know this is "out of style" now, but it is my personal therapy. Thank goodness for that.

It is COLD in the ATL. It was warm last week. Now it needs it to be either/or, because I am confused.

And what's with all the flooding? What the world is going on with the climate?

I am sure it's the same way in your neck of the woods.

So everyone...

Stay warm...

Stay dry...

Stay safe...

On purpose. 

RIP Natalie Cole, February 6, 1950 - December 31, 2015

Bad news on the first day of the New Year.

Natalie Cole passed on New Years Eve.

When someone who I grew up listening to dies, it reminds me of how we are getting older.

A couple of my favorite songs.

This was a song I remember from my childhood. I would sing along whenever it came on the radio.



And this one is for Cowgirl Cre. She and sisters use to sing this one when they were little. I'd never heard it until I was in my mid-thirties...

***HAPPY NEW YEAR***

STAR DATE

2016.01.01

*HAPPY NEW YEAR*

...from Your Friendly Neighborhood Oldgirl...



Happy New Year!

May this be a year all your dreams come true!

I'm posting the quote I posted last year at this time, originally copied from blogger Chele.

Each year has its lessons, and this year has been no different. I reflect on them, and I learn from them.

Hopefully these lessons will be building blocks and stepping stones for my future.

That has always the been the case... and this past year is no different.

I am a better me because of it.

And I am sure you are too.

**HaPPy NeW YeaR**