Happy Beatles Day!

(Originally written on September 9, 2009)

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Today is nine-nine-nine, the day that the remastered collection of all of The Beatles’ albums and The Beatles:  Rock Band are being released for purchase.  Most people probably just assume that today, of all days, was selected for these releases simply because it’s cool that all three digits of today’s date are one in the same.  However, in all actuality, today was most likely chosen because the number nine had a very distinct significance to John Lennon.  He believed in numerology, as have many other rock stars (Jimi Hendrix and the number seven, for example), and was obsessed with the number nine – it literally controlled his life (think Jim Carrey in The Number 23).  I’m not going to go into detail about that; I just wanted to point it out.  If you’re interested in learning more, I would highly recommend reading Take a Walk on the Dark Side:  Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses by R. Gary Patterson – it is one of my absolute favorites, very intriguing and entertaining.

So – Happy Beatles Day!

Well, while everyone else was having fun today enjoying The Beatles’ remastered classics and Rock Band, I was sitting through forecast training in Connecticut.  It was a

three-and-a-half hour drive away one way, I had to be there and at the ready at 9am, and I didn’t get to leave until 3:30pm.  Yea, I got caught in rush hour both ways.  Let’s just say that today was definitely a very long day for me.  And the training was incredibly painful – as in having-your-toenails-pulled-out-with-pliers painful.  I mean, even after telling the guy doing the presenting that I have a Bachelor’s in Statistics, he still went through all of the basics (I was the only trainee).  It’s comparable to having someone today sit you down and insist on teaching you how to multiply, step by step, regardless of the fact that you told them that you already know how…for six-and-a-half hours.

Oh well, at least it’s over.

Pee on the Seat

(Originally written on September 3, 2009)

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So, as a woman, peeing in a public bathroom facility is much more “invasive” than it is for a guy.  You know, with the whole we-can’t-pee-standing-up-without-straddling-the-toilet thing.  Therefore, to help cushion their concerns and fears of contracting a disease (which I find to be ridiculous, really) and/or coming into contact with bacteria via the toilet seat, most women do what I like to call “hovering”.  And as a child in the first grade, I believe, I clearly remember when one of my friends told me even to go so far as to flush using the bottom of my foot so that I wouldn’t get bacteria from the flusher on my hands.

Well, I, too, used to hover…but then I lived in a dorm with hall-wide sink/showering/toilet facilities during my freshman year of college and got over it.  Now I’m satisfied with merely wiping down the seat with toilet paper before sitting down.

And this is where this post title comes into play:  every time I use the bathroom in the B&B office, there is always pee on the seat.  Always.  And I’m not talking about just a drop here and there – it’s normally close to a 360-degree coverage of the seat!  And toilet seat covers are provided in each stall.

I know for a fact that I am the youngest person in the office and I find this really disturbing.  And disgusting.  I cannot believe that women ranging from their mid-to-late twenties all the way into their fifties – full-grown, adult women – think that it’s okay to just pee all over the place.  And you wonder why people initially started to fear bacteria and/or disease from toilet seats…

Okay, so if you do still chose the hover method, at least clean up after yourself – it takes all of two seconds and you aren’t being rude and inconsiderate by leaving your pee for the next person to clean.  I’m not asking much.

Come on, ladies!

Go Phils!

(Originally written on September 2, 2009)

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I went to my very first Phillies game last night and had an absolute blast!  Yesterday at work, Wolverine (the guy who’s responsible for training me – and that’s Wolverine as in University of Michigan, not X-Men, very important distinction there…) told me that our boss had given him tickets and then randomly asked me if I wanted to go to the game with him.  I guess it wasn’t too random:  whoever was originally going with him cancelled last minute, then he asked another one of our coworkers who wasn’t able to go, so then he asked me.  And I thought, “Hey, why not?”  I mean, a major-league baseball game sounds much more entertaining than yet another night alone at the B-Dub.

Our tickets were “Diamond Club”, so we had a credit of $30 apiece on our tickets.  BUT we didn’t find that out until after we had already bought beer and brauts.  So…I decided that I was going to buy a jersey with it.  I settled on number 26:  Chase Utley.  He is H-O-T hot and, even better, his at-bat music is Kashmir by Led Zeppelin!  And I also later found out that he (recently?) signed a seven-year contract, so he’ll be with the Phils for a good while.

Anyways, our seats were in the sixth row, right behind home plate.  It was AWESOME!  And it actually turns out that we were all over ESPN Sportscenter last night because the Phillies’ pitcher threw a two-hitter.

First Day on the Job

(Originally written on August 24, 2009)

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As the post title implies, today was my first day on the job at B&B!  Although, the guy who’s supposed to be training me is out of the office closing on a house and they didn’t really know what to do with me in lieu of that fact.  But I think I’m really gonna like it here.

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I sat in on a flu meeting today that covered both the seasonal flu and the swine flu and how they’re trending (B&B is in the over-the-counter drug industry).  HOLY SHIT – it’s really scary.

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I awoke yesterday morning only to find a late-night text from Mario:

I miss you already. : (

Ugh!  Why does he have to do that?

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I’m definitely going to stop drinking after tonight (I’m finishing off the two mix-six packs that I bought yesterday:  mostly local microbrews that I’ve never heard of before – I had to give ‘em a try!).  When I got dressed this morning, I couldn’t fit into a pair of dress pants that I’ve never had a problem fitting into, which knocks out half of my “temporary” clothes to tide me over until I find an apartment because all of my other pants are from the same store in the same size, just in different colors.  Beast told me that it’s probably from all the beer I’ve been drinking.  Well, my wardrobe is reason enough to take some time off the sauce!  Besides, of my two favorite coworkers (so far, that is), one of them is pregnant and the other one has a six-month-old baby, so neither of them drink…

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So, as I referred to above, until I find an apartment, I am residing in the Best Western – which from-here-on-out will be referred to as the B-Dub.  Oh my god, when I worked out in the hotel exercise room this afternoon (this was my first time; I just checked in yesterday), they had absolutely no air-conditioning on!  I had to turn it on myself when I came in, which really didn’t do anything on my behalf because even at full blast it would probably take longer to cool the room than the 30 minutes that I spent on the treadmill.  AND there was no door on the hinges of the entry to the exercise room (which was so conveniently located directly in front of the air-conditioning unit across the room)…and everyone in the hall seemed to make an effort to stare at me as they walked by.  It made me really uncomfortable, especially since I was sweating more intensely than usual due to the lack of AC.