What is it, Tuesday?

We were able to pick up the pups from their weekend of doggy-camp last night. Big Dog had a grand time, which we anticipated, and Little Dog finally warmed up to the staff after a day or two. So, $350+ later, we have them home again. The best part of all this is that they could barely lift their heads they were so tired once we got them home. I could walk around freely without having a dog-nose up my ass all night. It was great.

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Here at work, there is a woman whom i have never seen eye to eye with in the 6 years that i've been here.* Somehow, she must have realized that she can make one's day miserable simply by making a phone call and utilizing a level harassment that is only available to those with such a grand sense of entitlement. Demanding and self-important are not nearly strong enough words to describe the kind of Bitch** she really is. I. Hate. Her.

Today, i was on the phone (speaker-phone) with the receptionist*** at the building B works in and was trying to walk her through setting up a piece of equipment she had never used before. I could hear B walk into the room, as her voice is unmistakable, and berate the receptionist about what she was doing with the equipment. Telling her she is doing it wrong, is going to break it, etc. Basically she was telling her she is stupid and doesn't do anything right.
Wow. I was stunned into silence and i don't know if she realized i was listening on the phone.

I feel like i just listened in on a domestic violence emergency hotline call.

People like this should not be allowed to interact with others.

Hate her.


*This will certainly get me fired.
**From here on, to be referred to as simply "B".
***This girl is a real sweetheart and works directly for B. Should not have to deal with being brow-beaten on a daily basis.

Mama needs a new pair of shoes...

Mohegan Sun was very nice; we had a lot of fun there. Of course i'm saying that because we came out alright with the money and made it so that i don't feel guilty for spending money that we don't have (dontcha just love your credit cards?).

The only trouble that i had there was trying to getting my drink on. Yes, that's right.

I was really looking forward to getting plastered, so much so that i found a hotel nearby that had a shuttle-bus to the casino so that we wouldn't have to drive back at night. (I certainly couldn't stay IN the casino as $200 a night is way to rich for my blood. Hopefully now that i've been there, i'll start getting comps in the mail...) I hardly ever get to do something like that. Neither The Boy or i are very big drinkers, but under the right circumstances, i like to throw back a few. Woot. Look at me go.

So, with the drinking. I was under the impression that while gambling, the casino feels you should be cross-eyed and drooling so that you part with more money and make financially debilitating mistakes at the table games*. I mean, what's the point of throwing your money away if you're doing it while sober? That's just stupid.

There i am, sitting at a machine just plugging away at about 4 in the afternoon. Constantly scanning the croud for a girl with a tray... nothing. Drink, please? No, nowhere. Not until about 7:00 when we moved to the $1 machines** did the waitresses come out in full force.*** And was able to score 3 whole drinks over the period of about 2 hours. Woooooo. Fun. See? Now i'm spending more money.

So, other than paying $12 for two 4 oz drinks at the bar (the servers bring complimentary beverages) and having to chase the liquor-bringers, we had a really good time.

And The Boy scored an $864 jackpot on a slot machine. HA! There's the fun. I knew it was in there somewhere...



*Those games are HARD, man. I don't understand any of them. Blackjack, sure, but what the hell is a double-down? You just made Blackjack too hard for me. And is Baccarat really that popular? There were scads of Mini-Bacc tables and people had these little cards and golf-pencils. What's that about? Who can do that when they're drunk?

**I'm not stupid, i know there's more of a chance for them to pay attention to you at the higher priced machines. But, hello? I gave that first chick a $5 tip for one stupid drink. I'm a nice patron.

***and walking right past me.

Ugh... late night, no coffee

The Boy and i are going away this weekend and i'm totally not ready to go; i haven't started packing anything. But on the other hand, i would love to just drop everything this instant and get in the car and get out of here. At this time tomorrow... well, i'll be sleeping (its 8:30am for chrissake). But later on tomorrow, i'll be at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, just throwing my money away to appease the Slot-Machine God. He shall be pleased with me, i think. Yes, very pleased.

I really can't afford a casino weekend, but The Boy and i need a weekend away and we only get one chance per month as we have his children in the house every weekend but one per month. So this is it. Our weekend. Away. Connecticut is close enough to not need to take a long weekend from work, yet far enough to be off of this god-forsaken island. Plus, there's the opportunity to spend gobs of cash with little or nothing to show for it. Perfect.

I miss traveling like i used to. There was a time when my cousin and i vowed to go away every year to a different country for at least a week. We started when we were 20 yrs old (we're only 6 months apart and at the time we were really close, almost inseparable) and continued on for 3 years in a row (Paris, Rome & London) and then we stopped after that last time. I imagine* it was due to our lives changing and all that sort of thing.

So, since that last one, i've been trying to get whoever i'm dating to come on board with this fly-on-an-airplane-once-a-year thing. The year after London was Las Vegas, then last summer was Quebec and Montreal. Granted, we drove up to Canada, (but you know, we left the country so it all equals out). The difference is, back when i was living at home with Mom, these yearly excursions were supplemented throughout the year with mini-breaks and long weekends here and there in the mountains or at the shore. Now i'm living with The Boy and do not have a disposable income (stupid mortgage) and there are children (though certainly not mine) and dogs (which are just fuzzy children) and Boy has stupid job that doesn't let him take time off (he's a Very Important Person) and I really miss leaving at a moments notice.

With all this in mind, i would feel like a real shit if i ever mentioned going away with a girlfriend or something and leaving him behind to deal with all of those things listed above (especially the fuzzy 'uns; they're such a handful) and spending money that we really can't afford to waste.

I hate having to be a responsible adult.

This is possibly the worst punishment i could have ever thought of for whatever i did when i was a kid.

Cheers.


*I'm pretty sure i know exactly why we stopped doing that. But i just don't have the stomach to let the real answer sit here where it could quite easily be found. I'm using my name here, for god's sake.

Just an update...

Little Dog is doing fine with the other dogs*. However when it comes to the people, she is 'backing away with all of the fur on her back raised'. All in all, they're not terribly concerned about it.

Problem children. What's a mother to do?

She'll be fine for this weekend. I'm sure of it. And if she's not, i'm going to have a good time anyway and she'll be mad at us the whole time. A price i'm willing to pay (twice, even).

Meanwhile, Big Dog has been home all day alone and is confused about where her sister is (keeps checking different rooms for her. It's cute.) She's SO much calmer without the little one chewing on her face all day. Interesting...


*I know how worried you were.

Pictures, finally. Let's try this, eh?

Ears a-flailing in the breeze.



Little Dog chasing Big Dog.



Little Dog trying to maim Big Dog. Vicious beaties.



Sniff sniff..



Little Dog, Big snow.



And finally, SnowFace

Little Dog goes to school

This morning I dropped Little Dog off at her first day of Doggy DayCare. *sniffle* They grow up so fast, don't they? I safety pinned her little name tag to her jacket and sent her on the big yellow bus; the big yellow bus to the rest of her life. Sigh...
















Here's Little Dog. She's a bit of a handfull. In fact, while i was growing up and asking for a puppy every christmas and birthday of my young life, if i had known that they could ever be like this one, i would have shut my mouth and happily played with my Sit and Spin.
The Boy already owned Little Dog when i moved in with him, and from the start I knew she was more dog than i could handle. But doesn't she look all innocent there, knee high in a pile of snow? Kind of sad-looking with the blizzard's wind in her face? Yeah. She' something.
Nervous and tightly wound, she has the ability to sproing from a deep sleep at any sudden movement in the room, to accompany you to the refrigerator for a glass of water. But she must get into the kitchen first, of course, as she is WAY more important than you. This is truly a benign example; there are plenty of things that piss me off about her more than this issue.
Anyway. The Boy and i are going away this weekend and needed to find a place for the 2 pups to go for 3 nights. Our normal dog-sitter was unavailable* and i had to find someplace new. Now, i've been reading about this Doggy DayCare place nearby for a few months now because it sounds ever-so-cool (if only i could afford it on a regular basis). If i were a dog, i would love this place. They have piles of dogs playing all day long, inside and outside, they don't get crated for any reason but get separated into large pens when its sleepy time or before their owners come to pick them up. They also have boarding or "Overnight Camping"** that includes the regular daytime-playtime. Neato. Sign me up.
All dogs need to have a temperament test before they can stay there so that there aren't any doggy fights and everybody plays well together, yackity-smackity. I had NO DOUBT that Little Dog was going to be a problem. Poor thing is so nervous around new people that all of her hair stands up on her back, her tail droops between her legs and occasionally, oh yes, occasionally she'll just pee. Leak, really. Yay. I must admit that this behavior has improved dramatically since acquiring Big Dog last year, but still it can be a problem.
In the end, our temperament test went pretty well on Sunday, but they still wanted to make sure that Little Dog didn't have a heart attack or anything and suggested we drop her off for a day's worth of daycare before the long haul this weekend.

Her big brown eyes suggested a sort of accusatory abandonment as they walked her to a doggy play room this morning. I know she'll warm up once she gets used to it and she'll be fine. She'll rough and tumble with everyone there and the girls who work there are very nice. They also told me i can call as much as i want, it's no trouble at all.

I'll be calling every hour on the hour. I'm sure of it.

Maybe they'll let me talk to her....

*I am not too proud to say that both of our dogs are a challenge and the fact that the sitter only owns a 2 lb monkey-dog (Brussels Griffon) is not lost on me. Mine are hard dogs to live with. HARD. I'm sure she was not in the mood.

**I know. But its just so cute.

Posting pictures is obviously too hard for me.

Big Dog relaxing in the snow; where she belongs, really.

Yesterday i put together this whole post with pictures and everything (which was really hard for me for some reason) and when i went to publish it, the whole thing dissappeared. Grrr... I was totally fed up and decided not to bother anymore for the rest of the day. That'll teach you, Blogspot. I'm feeling a little stupid about the pictures. I really not stupid, this shouldn't be so hard.

Well, there's one to start up there.
I'm going to have to find a better picture host so that i don't lose my mind with this stuff.

So in other news, my job has become more and more obnoxious and i'm not sure for how long i'm going to be able to live with it. My boss is fairly new, started last April (though i'm not; i've been here for 6 years) and is trying to make us 'team players'. This is so not fun. I am not a team player and in fact, do not play well with others whatsoever. Honestly, since i've been working here i've learned a lot about myself. It has come to my attention that if i don't like someone, it becomes painfully obvious to them and anyone else around us that i'm not interested in what they have to say. I never realized i could be so unforgiving, but yeah. Don't talk to me. I DON'T LIKE YOU. loser.

So, its hard for me to get into the team-mentality. Especially since most of my responsibilities are mine and mine alone. So let me live in my crappy cubicle with my crappy job and let me just rot here. I'm happier that way.

We've been having weekly meetings which would be fine if they didn't last for 3 or 4 HOURS and keep us here until 7:00pm. I'm not a manager, people, there is no reason for me have to get comfortable with that. I've got a life outside of this place, even if it is kind of monotonous and sad. It's mine and I like it. This past wednesday, Boss was talking about ordering-in dinner for our next meeting so that we are more comfortable and so that he seems like a 'good guy' i'm sure. How do you say "What, are you kidding?" in a professional manner...

Happy Friday, all...

I had no idea

Over the weekend, The Boy acquired an entire 1st season of a show that i had never seen nor had i ever heard of.
I'm so hooked now; i totally heart this show*. Have you ever heard of "Veronica Mars"? The writing is shockingly good and waaay smarter than a typical teen show. Which makes me imagine that it is not, in fact, intended for the teen population, but rather for those of us that never want to grow up. You know who you are.

Basic synopsis: Girl lives with father who is a private detective; Girl solves cases by doing PI things + trying to solve big case that has plagued her family involving her best friend's murder.
See? GOOD show. Watch it. Now.

Puppy pictures still to come - going to lunch now.

*Of course I feel the need to use this phrase because i sort of felt like i should be 17 years old in order to watch a UPN show.

Snow: A love-hate relationship

So then, the northeast got completely clobbered by a blizzard this weekend and I for one am glad that it happened over the weekend. I think we got something like 10 or 12 inches near me.
I love snow. I love watching it fall and cover up all of the imperfections of the world and make everything glow a shimmery white. It makes everything feel so peaceful and beautiful.

However, i also hate the snow. It just makes everything SO much harder. Like, for instance: my boss deemed it necessary for all in our department to be at work at 5:30am on snowy days. You're probably thinking, "that's insane!" Of course it is.

He does have his reasons, of course. I work in the Building Operations department who is soley responsible for snow cleanup, therefore making it necessary for everyone to get here early so that no one else has to walk through a foot of snow to get to their desks. But well, since i'm office staff, i only have to be here at 7:30am in the snow.. which is a whole 2 hours later. So, i guess i don't really have the ability to complain there. Except that i know what today's going to be like. I can already hear it going on in the hallways.

Everyone here complains* like its nobody's business. And for some reason, it's always me that they wander over to during the course of the day to put in their complaints in for further review. I don't know why they think I can do something about this stuff, but I certainly have nothing to do with it. Obviously, if i were in charge, we all would have had off today.
Maybe i'll leave early in protest.

In other news, the dogs had the time of their life yesterday in the snow. A foot of snow is ever so much fun to run around in, then throw your doggy-sister into a good mound of it. Then try and chew her face off. They're just darling.

You'll see what i mean when i get the pictures up here. Shortly...

*So not me

Hey, look! I'm a-bloggin'!

Well then. I've taken the plunge and started a blog. Though i've been happily reading other people's blogs for a long while now, i thought it was about time i found a more constructive way to waste my (and my employer's) time while i should be, i dunno, working. Or maybe even doing school-work. You know, something beneficial.

But, alas, here i am.

While its going to be hard to come up with something interesting to write for my imaginary friends on a regular basis (i'm sure i'll have millions), i didn't have any trouble coming up with the name. "Your biting sarcasm wounds me, Madam" was the subject of an email to me from a good friend who was living in another country when he wrote it. I had always thought that if i was ever going to write a book, that would be the title. You totally can't beat that.
Thanks, Aaron; I do my best.

A little about me, just so you can form an instant opinion of me and judge away: I'm 25 living way too far east for my comfort on Long Island, NY. If you know the area, you'll know how awful it is to live in the middle of Suffolk County when you would much rather be in Manhattan every weekend. Or you know, living there, being 25 and doing the "I'm 25 and single, living in Manhattan, jogging in the park every day and walking dogs for a living. And going to Columbia for my 2nd Masters. Studying, i don't know, sculpture from the years 1830 - 1835 created in the round, in a small town just on the outskirts of Lourdes, France by men named Ramone." You known something interesting like that.

But instead, i live about an hour and half away from this dream life, in a house that i hate with a man that i love, who has 2 kids from a previous marriage. We have two badly trained dogs (who mean well, but don't usually care to listen) and a house full of fur.
I work in telecom and am trying to go to school part-time to finish up my bachelors (finally).

Also, you should know that i have a deep love of commas, that, knows, no, bounds.

Its a disease, i think.