A short list of why I haven’t been around lately (in no particular order):

• The iPhone 3 GS launched: I spent a great deal of time reading all the rumors before the launch; watching the keynote about the upcoming launch; waiting for my new iPhone 3 GS to arrive at my doorstep; and playing with the all the nifty new features.
• Conference Calls: A conference call is where at least 2 or more people willingly call the same phone number and then immediately regret having called. I get to do this at least 6 times a day.
• Email and Instant Messages: When I am not on conference calls I spend time writing and answering emails. I handle an average of 2,000 work emails a month. Which may not be much to some people, but to me it is a bunch when I spend at least 6 hours a day on the phone. If you are doing any calculations around this, then you see that I only have two hours a day to answer right around 92 emails (if we are assuming an 8 eight day).
• Crying over my external hard drive Early this year I had an almost completely fatal hard drive crash (fatal for the hard drive and almost completely fatal for me). The hard drive was an external backup drive that I had recently used to back up at least 3 computers to prior to wiping their drives. After I finished wiping the drives of those computers the hard drive decided that it couldn’t be bothered to mount on my desktop anymore and died. The drive was mirrored and both of the 500GB drives (equally 1TB total) decided that they couldn’t be bothered to mirror themselves or maybe they were doing their job and mirrored all the corrupt files (I just haven’t decided which one it was). Either way - they are dead and there is a whole draft post sitting around on just how horrible it all was/is.
• Watching the Harry Potter movies: I went to the 12:01 am showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was awesome! But to get ready for the premier, I had to re-watch all of the prior 5 Harry Potter movies (at least twice). As of today, I have seen the HP6 twice (once at midnight at once at the IMAX) and plan to go at least once more before it leaves the theaters. I will then be taking time away from my dear, loyal readers to buy the DVD when it becomes available and watch it at least once more.
• iTunes: Since my hard drive crash, I have spent many hours trying to recover my media files from my iPod. Apparently, this is something that Apple decided was not something that they would support. It was convoluted to say the least, but I have now successfully recovered almost all my media files and put them back into iTunes (after writing that last sentence, I have realized that I truly am a masochist [spelled correctly on the first try - thank you very much :-)]).
• Eating, sleeping, and showering: Time that I didn’t spend on one of the above activities was probably spent on one of three activities - it takes a lot of time to eat and sleep and shower. I never really realized just how much time they take until I didn’t have any time to spare anymore.

Hopefully, things will get back to normal sometime soon and I can resume my regular irregular posting schedule.

I’m sure at this point you are asking why we didn’t just go on opening weekend. The answer is a simple four letter word - WORK! We had plans to go and when were ready to go and purchase the tickets, I found out that I was going to have to take care of some previously unscheduled business.

I have seen every TV episode of Star Trek and every single movie (no matter how painful it was to watch). So I thought this would be a good place for me to make known my list of favorites and in what order that they are my favorites. I might even add the reason for each here and there.

And now for the list of Star Trek movies in my order of favorites:

1. Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (STII - 1982) - This was by far my favorite Star Trek movie ever. It had everything a movie should have and more. I could do without the creepy bugs that still haunt my nightmares from time to time and gave me a deathly fear of earwigs, but otherwise it was and is one of my favorite all-time movies. And the best one-word line in a movie ever: “KHAN!!!!”
2. Star Trek (STXI - 2009) - I definitely rate this as one of my favorite Star Trek movies. I rated it below Wrath of Khan, but it was a hard decision. I thought the new actors were hilarious trying to imitate the original actors - I particularly liked the young Scotty and young Bones was laugh out loud funny. I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t already seen it, so I will end my comparisons there as far as characters go.
3. Star Trek: The Search for Spock (STIII - 1984) - Okay, okay, okay, this movie could have been better than what it was. It had so much potential that it didn’t live up to, but I still loved this movie.
4. Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (STVI - 1991) - I really debated about where to put this one. There are parts of this movie that I really loved and there are parts that never did sit right (maybe they weren’t meant to), but either way it ends up right here.
5. Star Trek: First Contact (STVIII - 1996) - I know you are supposed to hate the enemy in these movies, but I loved the Borg Queen in this one.
6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (STI - 1979) - I almost had this one at number four, but it played out more like a long episode than a movie. It would have been one of the best STTOS episodes ever though had that been the choice for it on my list.
7. Star Trek: Insurrection (STIX - 1998) -Don’t get me wrong, I liked this movie. I loved Data running amuck in it and singing. I movie was humorous and well acted, but the plot was full of holes and the movie seemed like just another episode of the show.
8. Star Trek: Nemesis (STX - 2002) - Good movie - bad ending.
9. Star Trek: Generations (STVII - 1994) - STTOS cast members + ST:TNG cast members made for a likeable movie overall, but nothing really stood out for me with this movie. It was a movie made to give us the transition from one crew to another and it worked.
10. Star Trek: The Voyage Home (STIV - 1986) - There are people that liked this movie, I am not one of those. There were some great one liners that have managed to stick in my brain even after all these years, and that is about the nicest thing I can say about this one.
11. Star Trek: The Final Frontier (STV - 1989) - It is last on this list for a very good reason. If you have seen this movie, then I am pretty sure that you agree with my placement on the list. This almost rated a one-word review from me: “Ugh!”

Note: In case you didn’t already figure out the cryptic numbers after the movie titles, they are the original order number and the release date. Also, if you are interested in getting the whole collection (1-10) on DVD in one whack, you might consider taking a look at them here.

Now back to my original topic, the new Star Trek movie… Now that I have seen the movie I wish I had checked out some of the spoilers and/or bits of online information. Apparently there were some guest appearances by some other actors from some of the various TV series that were hidden within the film (kind of like how Steven King and Alfred Hitchcock would show up in their films). Which means that I want to know how many I missed while I was just watching the movie. I will go see it again just to see  where it was that I missed them (not that I really needed a reason to want to go again).

I have been sitting at my laptop for hours trying to decide what to write about. Of course I checked all the usual inspirational places: YouTube, StumbleUpon, and Amazon (hey, you gotta start somewhere). And then I went to the not quite so obvious inspirational places: Archie McPhee, ThinkGeek, and Threadless. Of course, they all had some very interesting and entertaining things, but none of them had anything that spoke to me to write about (of course several of them did get me to part with a few bucks here and there and several sites sent me in directions of other sites that didn’t have anything I wanted to write about either). So of course I just started surfing around trying to find something more interesting and entertaining than the thoughts that I had rattling around in my head: “Did I send that email with the meeting notes?” “When is payday?” “Did I actually have anything to eat today?” “Crap, I forgot to feed the dogs.”. You know, all the usual stuff that noone else wants to hear about. So then I started to wonder if I should start browsing through all my books to find something that would spark a random thought or two that would result in a posting. And that was when I noticed something interesting enough to post - my battery indicator on my laptop had turned red.

10 minutes remaining (it takes time to make links)….

I get the red battery whenever I have 30 minutes or less left in battery life on my laptop. Now most people would go hunt down the nearest outlet to give the poor thing some juice. Me? No, of course not. I can’t have a full battery. I get around 4 hours of life out of my battery when it is fully charged, so why would I need to keep the power cord handy? And when I am busy I just ignore that poor little battery light. Not to mention that the power cord and the outlet that it is almost always plugged into, reside in a room that is not the same one that I am in with my laptop most of the time. Yes, I know - it is a laptop. I can travel with it to the other room and plug it in. But where would be the fun in that and besides how else would it lead me to something to post about? When the indicator turns red, I can check to see how many minutes I have left before it goes to sleep to save itself (it had 22, hence the countdown at the top). At 10 minutes I get the warning that I am about to enter the aforementioned power save mode.

5 minutes remaining…

See ya!

This plan was working out just fine until I realized that I had a rather important meeting to attend and didn’t think that having two+ inch roots showing was going to look all that professional, so I made an appointment to get my hair colored (one color all over - even though I really am dying to get some pink highlights). The appointment day came and off to the stylist at 7:30 am (the only time I could find in my crazy schedule) I went. I sat down in the chair and explained that I just needed a trim for my haircut. I also explained that I needed my hair colored back to match my natural shade of blonde. Since I had two+ inches of natural colored hair already showing, she did not seem to think this would be a problem.

The stylist, who has been doing this for around 20 years, mixed up the permanent hair color mixture and started painting my hair. The haircoloring stuff looks a lot like the color of mashed plums, but the pre-color never looks like the end color so I thought nothing of it. She finishes her masterpiece of a paint job and off I head to sit under the dryer. While I sit and wait I read all the work emails that I have missed in the 30 minutes of sitting in the chair. The next step, of course, is to wash off all the extra mix from my hair (which she does most effectively) and then head back to the chair for a trim.

We get back to the chair where there is a mirror and OMG my hair is red! Red! A color not even close to anything natural for me. It is not fire engine red, but it definitely has fire like characteristics. And it is definitely not anywhere close to my natural color. The stylist sees my face and she runs off to mix up a new batch of goop, so we can start the process over again. Paint… Bake… Wash… She gets it closer this time. But not my natural color and my hair wouldnt survive a third treatment. The end result is that my hair is no longer red, but it is also no longer blonde. I am now a brunette with the ever so slight tint of a redhead (which may explain a lot).

What did I learn from all this?

Next time I’m just going to go ahead and get the pink highlights.

Where was I……..?

Oh yeah, I think I remember.

So what does that have to do with my becoming a food snob? It has everything to do with it. I now go to restaurants and order my food EXACTLY the way I want it. I went to a local restaurant tonight and read through the menu. The food all looked pretty good, but nothing sounded quite right. They had a pretty good selection of stuff, but I wanted one part of a meal but not necessarily the other. So I waited politely for the server to come back by (he had already been around to check on us three times while I read the menu - in all fairness it was a six page menu and I had to flip back and forth through various pages before I could make up my mind). When he did come back, I was ready to order.

We were with a group of people and I let everyone else go first (it was a pretty good sized group). They ordered pizza or pasta or burgers or steak - as per the items listed on the menu. It probably took abput two minuyes for everyone else to order. Then he got to me [pause for dramatic effect] and I started to order. I ordered a turkey burger, well done, on a sesame seed free bun, mayo, lettuce and tomato only, swiss cheese, with a side of ranch, no onions, no pickles, wedge shaped fries with ketchup, and an unfiltered wheat beer in a very frosty glass if you please.

The sever just looked at me and said, “that was very specific.” I just smiled and thought “oh my gosh, there’s no telling what I’m going to end up just with now.”

So we waited for our food and engaged in some lovely conversation. By and by, my tasty, perfectly chilled beer showed up. More conversation. Then the food showed up and I took a good long look at it. I poked it, opened it up, checked it, double checked it, and triple checked it. And you know what, it was EXACTLY what I ordered.

We left a very good tip!

Whew! That was a close one - turns out I am happy and I will try not to stay away quite so long the next time.

The company is nationwide, so I have people on both coasts to talk to. The meetings have started as early as 7 AM and have ended as late as 7 PM (now that was a fun day). Of course some of the meetings are productive, but most of them are just to pass information on to other people that didn’t get to attend other meetings. So if you were lucky enough to have made it to the first informational meeting at 7 AM, then you get to hear it all over again at the second informational meeting at 7 PM. If this company ever goes global, then I can look forward to 3 AM meetings [insert sarcastic 'joy' here]!

Now as if just having one meeting per hour for 12 hours wasn’t enough, there are times when I am required to attend two meetings at the same time (and of course neither one can be re-scheduled for someone so ‘bottom of the food chain’ like me). This has become such a common occurrence, that I carry two telecommunications devices with me at all times. Both phones are commonly in use together - this requires knowing for absolute certain which call is on which device (some information is confidential even between the departments that I work with - like I didn’t already have enough to deal with). It also involves remembering the code to mute the call for each type of conference call you may be connected to (even though it is the same company - we don’t all use the same type). I gave up trying to remember the mute codes and now I just use the mute button on my phone - which is much more reliable than my memory.

All this talking/listening on the phone has resulted in some extreme auditory related issues: nightmares where I wake in a panic to the sound of a dial tone in my ear; I swear I am still hearing certain people’s voices even after a call ends; and thinking that I hear people typing and eating even in an empty room. Oh and I now immediately cringe at the sound a speakerphone makes when it is too close to a cell phone (I honestly would rather hear nails on a chalkboard)!

I would ask these people if they have ever heard of email, but I know that they have because I have almost 900 saved work emails from the month of February alone (this does not include the 100 or so I trashed - nor does it include the 20+ per day I get personally or blog related). When do these people find the time to type up an email when they are on conference calls all the time?!?!

Oops, gotta go - I’m late for a meeting!

5 Things You Can Say…
when someone asks you why you are wearing a White Knot or when you have the opportunity to talk about Marriage Equality.

1. I wear a White Knot because I support Marriage Equality. Everyone should have the right to tie the knot.
2. Marriage is about committed couples—all committed couples—who want to make a lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for each other. This can only strengthen family and society.
3. Denying committed couples the security and legal protections of marriage hurts them; it’s wrong to make it harder for committed couples to take care of and be responsible for each other.
4. People can have different beliefs and still treat everyone fairly. That’s why our constitution exists to protect everyone equally, including minorities.
5. What if you were told that you couldn’t marry the person you loved? What would that do to you? And what if you got married, and someone tried to take it away?

This is something you can do easily - heck if you email me your mailing address, I will even mail a handmade white knot to you at no cost (please put White Knot in the subject line).

Found on Card Carrying Lesbian.

This post makes me think that I might have been spending too much time on Twitter because I had a really hard time typing over 140 characters for this post.

I worked at a company where we had several copies of the program floating around for use by the very smart people that worked there. I admit to having played with the program a time or two and managed to learn more about math just by trying to figure out how to print a formula than I did in all my years of high school. Granted my math skills are not completely lacking, but just opening Mathematica and looking at the welcome screen made me feel like I flunked out of Business Math (I would have said Contemporary Math - but I almost flunked out of that - while I passed Business Math with flying colors so it must be easy - oh and for the record I took Contemporary Math before my brush with Mathematica which probably would have changed the outcome at least gradewise).

Bottom line is that the whole program is great. But I seriously doubt it will be on my software wish list anytime soon. If I want to feel like my math skills are rusty, then I will just go to the grocery store and try to calculate the latest buy one get one half price promotion (okay I kid, but there are days…).

For the record - nobody paid me to write this. Although, I am open to the idea. I am also open to the idea of being paid NOT to post (not as a blackmail sort of thing - more as a stop writing those horrible run on sentences before my eyes start bleeding sort of things). However, since I am currently posting at the average rate of one rambling post a week, then I seriously doubt that I will start seeing the big bucks start coming my way for either option.