Blue and Harry Potter

There's only one person in this whole world who may care a teeny tiny bit about this paragraph, so sorry if you feel like you've wasted your time. But I'll make it short. I think I'm taking a liking to the color blue. For me, this is kinda major because I used to NEVER like anything blue... okay, not never, but you know what I mean. I changed the color choices of my blog. (Doubt you guys noticed.) And I chose a couple of shades of blue! Ho ho.

Okay, now, a more interesting topic. The final chapter of the Harry Potter saga "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is coming out on July 21! Woohoo! I know this is old news, but I simply cont wait to get my greedy little hands on that bloody book. (That last sentence was supposed to be said with a British accent.) But when it's all over, I'll be so sad. My version of the magic kingdom will be gone - disappeared like magic. Boo hoo. Boo hoo hoo. Hoo. And I liked reading Harry Potter more than Lord of the Rings. It's an easier read. But Orlando Bloom as Legolas is so freakin' hot! Those pointy ears, his cryptic way of speech, and his skills with the bow and arrow... Rarrrgggh!!! Ho ho ho...

Okay, I just admitted that I've read all the Harry Potter and LOTR books. Is this a geek moment??? Hmm... =)

Geek Moment #5 - Addictions

My friend and I were talking about smoking and the difficulties of quitting. I was telling him that he KNOWS it's bad for him, so why doesn't he just muster enough will power to quit! He agreed with me, and he said he's tried to quit, but it's so extremely difficult. It's an addiction. It's hard. Then he asked me, "Have YOU ever been addicted to anything??" I thought hard for a couple of seconds, trying to think of something I've ever been addicted to... Drugs? No. Alcohol? No. Stealing? No. Food! Ummm... no. I finally thought of something. "Well... the only thing I've ever been addicted to is... reading." I don't think there's a geekier answer out there. We laughed so hard, tears spewed! But it was true at the time. Books were all I could think about. I couldn't wait to get home and start reading. I knew I had to stop reading when the wee hours of the night started creeping up on me, but noooooo, I was ADDICTED. Ho ho ho. But yes, reading is an easier habit to quit than nicotine. The two can't really be compared.

P.S. This is pretty obvious, but no, I did not have a boyfriend at the time. =D

Bathroom Etiquette

I never thought this would be something I would do, but it is my duty, as a woman who uses public restrooms, to share with those of you who don't have common sense when it comes to bathroom etiquette.

A lot of guys out there, I've learned, are shocked when I share horror bathroom stories with them. BTW, I was never the cause of any of this "horror," just a victim (because I follow my guidelines below.) When I tell them my stories, they're wide-eyed and shocked. "REALLY?! I thought ALL women are clean!!" No no, boys. Bad things happen in there. Things you may want to cover your ears and eyes... and many times, noses for. There are gross things like finding a pad in the waste basket that is wide open with not the expected menstrual blood soaked in there, but a huge smear of poop. Or being surprised by finding little, er, big, surprises in the toilet. I'm sure many women have experienced finding the toilet seat covered with pee, but sometimes it's worse - it's all over the floor as well. You have to do a balancing act while trying to pee, and when you're unlucky, your coat or hand bag, falls on the floor! Or once in a blue moon, you'll actually even think someone exploded in there, and traces of their poop can even be found on the stall walls. Come on, ladies! Not all of us are delicate flowers, but... come on! That's just gross!

So here are a few things EVERYONE, including men, should practice when using public restrooms. No actually, when using ANY restroom.

1. Dispose of your trash properly. Make sure any poop stains, blood stains, whatever stains are not visible to the next person using the toilet.

2. When doing a #2, flush immediately after you unload. Don't wait around for the wonderful aromas to waft around. You may like smelling the kids you've dropped off at the pool, but I'm sure no one else does.

3. Ladies, if you must squat to pee, please wipe off any excess pee you've gotten on the toilet seat. Sitting on a wet seat is not fun.

4. Make sure you've flushed your toilet seat cover down the drain along with your business.

5. Before leaving the stall/room, check the toilet. Did you leave any skid marks in there? If so, flush again.

6. And one last thing that some people do that annoys me. Why do you need to flush the toilet when you come in? There's nothing there. And these are not low-flow toilets, so A LOT of water is being wasted. (Water levels are low this year.) Please don't do this unless you have to.

7. Oh! This is the last thing - WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water! MANY people do not do this. You may think that your hands are not dirty, but think about all the things you've touched that other people have touched. And I bet some of those people didn't wash their hands... Eewww...

If all of you would just follow these simple guidelines, our bathrooms would be so much cleaner. But then again, I wouldn't have any new bathroom horror stories to tell...

I'm Complaining A Lot But...

Okay, just two complaints today... so far.

1. I hate traffic. We just moved to a new office which is closer to home (yay), but for some reason, well, the reason is good ol' traffic, it took me LONGER to get to work today than before!

2. There's this client I'm working with who is the pickiest and most anal SOB... EVER! I'm so ready to kill him already!!

Okay, no more complaining... no more complaining...

Hidden Personalities

There's this person I know, whom I will call my "friend," who is usually really soft spoken and speaks properly ALL the time. You know, always saying "thank you," using "may I" instead of "can I," and saying "certainly" instead of a common "sure." Stuff like that. And by soft spoken I mean you have to ask this person to repeat things all the time because the voice is barely audible.

I was with this person one day and were hanging around some black guys. These guys were young, really outgoing, and fun. Here comes the interesting part. My friend does a total 360. My friend starts speaking loudly, with incorrect grammar, and wild arm gestures. I found the quick transformation so incredibly strange. I understand some people can act a little differently around different groups of people, but moving from one end of the spectrum to the other with a snap of the finger was quite amusing to watch. Confusion completely washed over me. I didn't really know what to make of this. Is this a subtle form of stereotyping? Or a poor attempt to assimilate? Or maybe this is my friend's true personality? It was just so weird!

Fraud and the Pissed Off Me

I am so pissed off right now. Steve and I went to Mexico in January and someone there got a hold of my credit card number and got $1700 from a Western Union type place in Belize! I got a call from Citibank asking if these transactions were authorized, and of course, NO. We never went to Belize. So I had to cancel my credit card, go through the whole affidavit and notarizing process, thinking it'll be taken care of, and I won't have to worry about anything else. A few weeks later, I receive a letter saying that if I STILL don't recognize these charges, sign the goddamn letter and mail it back, otherwise, they'll put the charges back on. I thought this was ridiculous because I had already signed the goddamn affidavit saying that I didn't, but I signed it and mailed it back right away. Luckily, I've made copies of everything I've done for this annoying ordeal. SO! I find out that the charges are back on my card because they said they never received that ridiculous letter I signed saying that I STILL don't authorize the charges. This is so goddamn annoying. I already said once that I did not authorize the charges. Must I say it again?? I hate repeating myself. It seems to me that this may be a way of making either lazy or unaware credit card holders pay for unauthorized charges. Shame on them!! They are supposed to offer protection when they give out the goddamn plastic, and now that customers get ripped off by frauds, they make the victim pay?!?! That's outrageous. This process is sneaky and unethical. I totally feel victimized! Well, I'm calling again tomorrow morning to complain. This better have a good ending. God! So pissed off...

Pet Peeve #2 - Littering

Okay, I am on a roll tonight!

This is something I truly truly cannot stand. People LITTERING!!!! I was never aware of this extreme pet peeve until one day, I was stopped at a light behind another car. That driver opened his/her door and dropped a bag of garbage on the road. Oh my god! I was shocked and, surprisingly, absolutely furious! I was so tempted to follow that person to his/her destination and let him/her know how bad littering is. Gosh. I sound so uptight, but that's what a pet peeve is, I guess. I didn't follow him/her. What would I say? "Hey! You littered back there! Couldn't you have waited to throw away your trash later? In a trash can???" That person would have totally thought I'm a wacko. Okay, so if you don't want to piss me off, DON'T LITTER!!!!