Happy New Year???

Since I've been under a studying rock for ages, I did not want to take time to plan what to do for new years. When one of my friends was getting a group together to go to one of those DC hotel parties, I just booked. Unlimited drinks, food, etc. and we got a room there so not too far to crawl. What an unbelievable waste of money New Years Eve was. If ever given the opportunity to go to the Grand Hyatt's Downtown Countdown party, just say no.

We went down to the Hyatt in the afternoon and got our stupid wristbands at like 3pm supposedly to avoid the lines later that night. We were starving, so we were going to walk to our favorite Thai place, but it was so freaking cold, we went to the first thing we passed, which was California Tortilla. We didn't want to eat a big meal because the menu for the party was so extensive. Little did we know that the shitty tacos we ate at 5, were going to be basically our only meals until the next day.

We go to the room to get ready, then we keep watching out the window inside of the hotel to see how many people are in line. We think that because we already have our wristbands that we won't have to wait. No such luck. We wait and wait and wait. What we are waiting for, I have no idea. Finally we get into the party and look for the bar. We wait in line for drinks and find out that they have the most random collection of ingredients. Basically gin and tomato juice and random shit that you would not drink. I end up getting a shitty vodka brand and cranberry. I order 3 because I don't want to wait in this line again for awhile. We were only allowed to order one drink at a time. WTF? There were thousands of people in lines everywhere and we could only get one at a time. Stupidity. The music was awful. We kept walking from room to room to room looking for better alcohol options, shorter lines, any of the 5 million food items they were supposed to have or at least some music that wasn't hair band or 80s music. We found none of these.

So then we basically say that after midnight, we are going back to our room. They didn't even do a freaking countdown!!! How do you have a NYE party without a countdown. The name of your stupid party is Downtown COUNTDOWN!!!

I was looking so forward to 2009 too. Hopefully, this is not indicative of the year to come.

Merry Christmas

Gracie does not enjoy her Mrs. Paws outfit and her papa thinks it is mean, but every kitten should be dressed in Santa gear for some pics, right?

I hope everyone had a great Christmas that didn't involve driving and traffic and family family drama. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a drunken bar brawl. I actually managed to have zero traffic and a nice family visit for Christmas.

Well that was lame...

Company X had their big holiday bash on Thursday night. What a waste of time and money! 3 parties ago, the food was actually good. Then they moved the party to a different location last year and the food was barely edible. They had the same location this year and supposedly new catering. The food was on par with the stuff you would buy at Costco and pop in the oven. They had huge lines of people waiting at each station as usual. So, you would wait in line forever, get a sampling of whatever was in that section, take a bite of each, decide it wasn't worth the calories and move on to the next line. Even the desserts sucked. They also do not serve liquor, which makes it a total loss. You can only drink so much shitty wine with crappy food before you want to puke. The thing that really gets me is how much people talk up this party. They act like it is the most amazing display ever. Either they have never been anywhere else, or it proves my point further that I do not belong working with these people. One of these things is not like the others... Anyway, so many people were talking about how fantastic the party was. I found it to be a waste of perfectly good makeup and heels. The one good thing was that I didn't run into any of the dipshits on my team, so that was good. Needless to say, I'm not going back to Company X's next extravaganza. I would prefer that they just took the money and gave us the cash equivalent. Even if it ended up being $20 each, that would be better than the party. My mom's work gives them a grocery store gift card. I'd be happy with that. Then I could buy some food and make something that didn't taste like shit. They could also just take the money and donate it to charity. Basically anything would be better than their lame ass parties. Now my old company, they knew how to throw a holiday party. That is probably why they are not in business anymore.

Another career field that requires zero intellect

Selling cars...When you set out to buy a car, you do your homework. You research online. You build what you want, price it out and find out the "invoice" price. Then you find a place that has the car you want and you keep looking until you find one that gives you the price you expect to pay. The sales folks really serve almost no purpose anymore other than handing you the keys for the test drive. They must sense that they are of almost no importance in your transaction/decision because they say the most idiotic things trying to determine what your trigger points are. They don't even bother to learn the features of the car they are trying to sell. They don't know how to use the features and you have to learn them on your own. If you are selling a car with voice activated navigation, then why don't you know what the commands are for it? They are so proud of their stupid key rings though and also be sure to give them 5s on the survey that comes in the mail so they don't get fired. Please do not buy a car from the Honda dealership in Tysons. My sales guy was not so bad, but the level of professionalism of that place is so low. Aside from it being the absolute longest time I have ever had to spend to complete a car purchase, people were not knowledgeable, two managers got into a big argument right in front of customers, the finance manager was a complete idiot - made a point of checking his personal email in front of me after I had been there for 5 hours, on top of everything they had given me the wrong VIN number, so I had to redo all of the paperwork again on another day and also had to get a new insurance policy. I don't know why I am surprised that people are so inadequate at their jobs. This is the norm these days.

This is our kitchen...We call it the Japan room!

So, much to our delight, we have to buy new kitchen cabinets. This is a line of work that I think everyone should get into. Mainly because there is zero rhyme or reason into pricing, no control to speak of, and a completely ignorant customer base! Seriously, why aren't more people doing this? Thanks to this unexpected $20K expense, we will no longer be going to Japan this spring. YAY!

It has been awhile

I have been trapped under something heavy. I have been studying for a certification that I don't think I want and I still have another month or so to go. My review class is now over, which is good and bad. On one hand, I don't have to sit in class on Monday and Wednesday nights. On the other hand, I don't have any structure keeping me on schedule for reading. Studying is ruining my life. I have devoted basically every bit of "free" time to studying since the end of September and I think I have maybe about a 25% chance of passing. Yippee! Another couple of months before I get what was life back.

Thank God Tomorrow is Election Day

I really don't think I can handle one more political ad or one more random stranger knocking on our door demanding to know who we are voting for and why. Even if I was somehow part of this insane population of people who are still "undecided," what makes you think that your annoying presence and the other 7 knocks at my door on a Sunday are going to change my mind?? If anything, it would make me hate the candidate you are supporting for allowing people like you to hassle me.

Here is a great quote about the "undecided" voter:

"I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."
- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters


I am going to put a sign on the door today that says Do NOT knock on this door unless:
You are delivering a package that I have requested.
You are handing me money.
You are an invited guest.

If you do not meet the above criteria, you are hindering the chances of your chosen candidate winning.

Thank you and have a nice day!