School's Out ... and some other news !

::wipes brow::

Another semester behind me, yay. I'm really fine with the slowly but surely approach to my educational goals; so, each semester is an accomplishment. Looking back, I think this one will conclude with two B's which is just fine by me. Now, moving forward, hmmmm......a year off I think, more on that news to come. Ah, the suspense.

So, my niece and nephew get out of school on May 30th and I know they are looking forward to summer. My niece will be going into the 4th grade next year, I can't believe she will be 10 in the fall, they grow up so fast. My nephew will be starting middle school. He has been in the gifted and talented program in elementary school since the 3rd grade and just found out for middle school that he will be in AP Math, AP Science and AP English - the AP stands for Advanced Placement. I am very proud of him and he is very excited.

Last bit of news, I am super excited that my brother is making the trip to Texas and will arrive here on May 30th...he is mainly coming to see my niece's dance recital but will of course be staying with me a couple days and in Abilene a couple of days. He hasn't been here in awhile so we are all looking forward to having him to ourselves for a few days.

I did have a Sunday Movie night this past weekend and will give you the scoop on that tomorrow. Until then, later.

Sunday Movie Night : Iron Man

So, awhile back I said I was going to start this new tradition of going to the movies on Saturday mornings, it got me up and moving and it was never really crowded. Well, I did that for awhile and then things kept getting in the way; school, trips to Abilene, work, sleep, etc. So, now I have a new plan, Sunday Movie Night.....this is better because I work on Sundays so I am always here and can easily head out to a movie after work.

Last night, was the first newly agreed upon movie night. So, I went with Courtney, Mandy, Brian, Zachary, and Mandy's parents....to see :

Iron Man

Starring : Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges

Synopsis : Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the CEO of Stark Industries which produces advance weapon systems for the U.S. military. Tony's father started the company after WWII, and after his death Tony inherited the company, worth billions. Tony lives the life as a hard drinking, rich playboy ladies man, but he is also a genius who has invented many high-tech items for the company. Tony flies to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapons test to the United States Air Force. On his way back to his plane, his convoy is attacked by terrorists, and Tony is wounded by a Stark Industries missile. Tony is captured and held hostage in a cave with Yinsen, a doctor who saves his life.

Needless to say, he is not impressed with how his weapons are being used and the story continues, don't want to give any more away.

My Review : I thought it was awesome, definitely, 5 out of 5 stars. Robert Downey Jr. did a fantastic job and the special effects were drool-worthy. If you are into live action comic book hero transformation, go see it....maybe twice. And, a small tip, stay all the way to the very end of the credits and you will get a little bonus scene, definitely worth the wait.

Another Sunday Night Movie review next week.

Tag !

I was talking to my friend, Charles, on the phone last night and we were discussing upcoming movies for the rest of the summer. I was looking up release dates on imdb for Dark Knight, which is the new Batman movie coming out in July, when I saw something funny.

On the page it gives all kinds of info on the movie, release date, director, writers, etc. It also lists "tags" for the movie, which basically are keywords that categorize the movie. So, for the new we have LOTS of tags but these are the first 5 that show on the main page :

Violence - Heavy Rubber - Gangster - Gadget Car - Gangster Boss

Then I went to the last movie, Batman Begins, because we were comparing actors/characters from both movies and I noticed the first 5 tags for it :

Haunted By Past - Monorail - Cave - Nipples Visible Through Clothing - Taser

How hilarious is that ? You should check out some of your favorite movies, some of the tags are hilarious.

Do you Woot ?

So, several months ago my brother introduced me to this website called Woot....basically, they sell something new on the site everyday. The item is posted at midnight, and they sell it until they run out. Some things are really good awesome deals, some things are OK and some are just things you probably wouldn't buy on-line.

In addition, they have something called the shirt woot....basically this is a daily t-shirt design. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the shirts are 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, from a themed contest they ran the previous week. The shirts are also sold until they run out, I think they do 1000 a day. They are $10 with free standard shipping + tax. I started ordering shirts for my nephew once I determined he can wear a men's small. I'm going to try one for my niece in the smallest women's size once I see a good design for her.

Anyway, both sites are really kinda neat, you should check them out. Now that I've explained it on my blog, you'll probably see me blog when I buy something.

Here are the links :

http://www.woot.com/

http://shirt.woot.com/

Oh, and I bought today's woot, a DVD recorder for only $59.99 - great deal.

By the way.....

.....in regards to the cat. I know my birthday is coming up and everything, but please, no one get me a cat as a present. If I decide to get one, I have to be ready, pet deposits, etc. and I also think pets are kinda personal and you have to pick one out yourself, not get one as a gift. So, please no LIVE presents for my birthday.

Should I get a cat ?

I go back and forth. I am not going to get a dog because personally I don't think it is fair to have a dog in an apartment and I think it would be too noisy with me working at home.

But, a cat, is fairly low maintenance.

Give me some pros and cons. Here are mine :

Tracy, You are not ______. I love you !

Why does that make me feel all warm and fuzzy when I answer the phone and one of the sales reps immediately says that to me ?? I don't know. It just does.

Sorry, ______.

OK - this was fun

There is this website that basically is a slogan generator. You can put in your name or maybe you have a catch word or nickname you use. Here are a few of the slogans it generated for me that I loved :

• Because Tracy is Complicated Enough.
• All Tracy, All The Time.
• Got Tracy?
• I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Tracy.
• When You've Got Tracy, Flaunt It.
• All You Need is a Tracy and a Dream.
• Got a Tracy? You're in Luck.
• Tracy: The Other White Meat. [lol]
• I'm Cuckoo For Tracy.

and the best one....

Lipsmackin' Thirstquenchin' Acetastin' Motivatin' Goodbuzzin' Cooltalkin' Highwalkin' Fastlivin' Evergivin' Coolfizzin' Tracy.

Go generate your own slogans......[warning some may be a little R-rated with your name in them]

The Advertising Slogan Generator

Have fun !

Quit your bitching and moaning......

...it's a credit card machine.

"Can you make the font bigger?"

"Can you put another space between the state and zipcode?"

"Can you stretch the letters out so they are easier to read?"

"Can you make the tip line longer?"

"Can you add our webpage address?"

"Can you make the total bigger and add more space for the signature?"

Just run the DAMN credit card, get an approval, have the customer sign it and wait for your money - it doesn't have to look beautiful. You and the customer are going to look at it for a lump total of about 60 seconds.....sheesh.

Have a nice day.

Headline of the Day and more

No, this is not going to become a daily feature of my blog. Sometimes when I am working there is a lull between calls so I check on the internet for today's happenings. I saw this headline today on Yahoo! News and just had to post it.

Research: Vitamins may increase risk of death

I don't know why, it just made me laugh. Do a search in your favorite news engine and check out the articles on this new research.

So, last night was a new episode of my show Criminal Minds....love that show. It was awesome. I'm not going to do a recap here this week but I can't say it enough. If you have never seen this show - go rent Seasons 1 and 2 this summer and 3 when it comes out and start watching it next year. It is a great show.

Every week, after the show, there is an amazing fansite that does an on-line chat. They arrange to have the WRITER for that night's episode in the chat and we can ask them questions, it is really fun and interesting. Well, last night, we got a surprise....there were TWO writer's in the chat and TWO of the MAIN cast members. The chat was joined by Matthew Gray Gubler who plays Dr. Spencer Reid and also Kirsten Vangsness who plays Penelope Garcia. It was a wonderful added extra and they actually were filming and took a break to talk to us. Very nice.

No real details to give you on what was said, but they answered lots of questions and MGG stayed with us for a little over an hour before he got called back to the set. Oh. I will say this, the funniest thing MGG said when asked about future projects was that he was working on a sequel that sounds like [and I am doing this from memory] - Palvin Pand Pa Phimpmunks - hee hee.

Sometimes I feel like a big dork for spending time in TV show fandoms....and sometimes I feel really lucky. Smile.

Love you ! [Gotcha Dad !]

So, I realized yesterday that I haven't really posted much this semester about school. I don't know why really. I guess I don't have any dynamic teachers this semester that are interesting enough to talk about and God knows pre-calculus doesn't lend itself to much interesting conversation. Classes are going well, I am expecting 2 As this semester - woo hoo ! I plan to take the summer off, as I usually do, because it is just too hard to take classes in the summer because they are EVERY day. It's just too much.

I'm going to Abilene this weekend to see my sister and family. The kids have all kinds of things going on so I will take all of that in..I am going to do everything in my power to remember to take some pics while I am there because this blog is long overdue for pics.

Other than that, nothing going on .... I need to get over my writer's block, that's for sure. More on that some other time. Later.

Birthdays and 2 litre bottles....

So, Monday was my nephew's birthday, he is now ELEVEN - I cannot even believe it. I remember feeding him his bottle when he was just a baby, when he used to sing/hum himself to sleep. I think his best gift was a book my sister bought him that had 1500, yes 1500, FLOOR PLANS in it. He is a budding architect I am sure and he LOVES to draw floor plans. My sister even gave him some house plan software for his computer a couple of months ago and he calls it his house "game". I love that kid. I told her a few weeks ago, not that I needed to, to never hold him back, never keep him from doing something, because I think someday he is going to do something extraordinary and I can't wait.

OK - who buys 2 litre bottles of soda ? I mean, for home. I used to buy them when we had an office party and I flaked out and signed up for drinks, but do people really buy them for every day use ?

Going to the No Frills Grill of course on Friday and then to the horse races Saturday at Lone Star Park...should be a fun filled weekend. Maybe I will take my camera to the races.

Oh, and I saw this on someones blog today and thought it was freaking hilarious :

Anatidaephobia - the fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.

Later.

Vacation

So, a recap of the vacation. I had a fantastic time. How could I not, the whole family was there with the exception of my brother-in-law, who was missed. I think the best part of the family vacation beyond just being together, is the calmness of it. I mean, we really didn't DO anything.

Each day was waking up and sitting around the campsite just visiting. The kids went swimming most days. We went to the beach a couple of times. We ate out a couple of times and did some shopping but it was mainly, do what you want.

Amazingly we didn't play any cards. Some highlights :

• Visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola - been many times but every time is awesome.
• Morgan ate a raw oyster - for $30
• Took the Gap picture at the beach for Joey
• Shrimp Boil - awesomely yummy
• Played ladders
• Spent one night doing 8 loads of laundry together
• Only opened the laptop a few times
• Mason says I don't snore

Can't wait for the next get together.

My shows are back and I wanna have a party......

YEP - the writer's strike is over. I am so glad that my shows are back and my NUMBER 2 show was back tonight. CRIMINAL MINDS. I don't blog much anymore 'cause I don't think there is any exciting stuff going on in my life.....so I decided maybe I just need to blog about the things that are important to me, even if they don't really matter to everyone that reads this. So, I am starting with that theory now. So, whether you watch CM or not, here is my review of the new episode that aired last night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank you Ed Bernero and team.....definitely one of my top 5 episodes ever.

I have wanted to see Hotch take more of a guardian/mentor role with Reid and I loved their scenes together in this episode. Hotch is definitely at his melting point with all he keeps bottled up inside and behind that 'in-control' exterior.

I think he would have prevailed in a throw down with the serial killer guy but I was more than glad when Reid jumped in - in his moment of terror - to diffuse the situation. I love it when he spews facts like he did and love it even more when in the end he admits that it was probably half made up.

While I think Hotch still has a lot to deal with, I was also glad to see him open up a little with Reid in the car and tell him about the divorce papers. They have a good dynamic and I think Reid was pleased with the interaction too.

I felt bad for Hotch at the end, but I am not a fan of Haley.

I felt the Rossi part of the story was good, it allowed us to see a conclusion to the baggage he brought with him while at the same time served as a lesson to him about being a part of a team.

Best lines

Rossi : Why do you care ?
Prentiss : Because you do.

Welcome to the team, Rossi.

I actually thought the ending of that storyline was a little anti-climactic but in this case I don't think the story was as much about the crime or solving it as it was about the team. So I am OK with it but as someone else said I prefer the episodes to have some level of urgency to them and hope future episodes get back to that.

Overall....fantastic episode. I'm so glad the show is back.

P.S. Joe Mantegna doing the opening quote....not so much.

Do you watch ?

Ready.

I am ready for vacation - past ready. I need to shut my brain down for 7 days. So, only 4 more days of work counting today and then I am off for a week. I cannot wait.

This may be evident in the fact that I was an HOUR late for work yesterday. I know, me, the person who is never late, never calls in sick, etc. I forgot to set my clock forward Saturday night and I was an hour late to work yesterday. I felt like a complete idiot.

So, mentally, I am ready for this break. However, this week there are still lots of tasks to complete in order to be ready to leave on vacation - so that is what I have on the agenda. Laundry, packing, a little cleaning and then I'm out.

Here's where I'll be : Navarre Beach Campground

Maybe one more blog before I leave.

Amended profile

I amended my profile yesterday to add a third favorite TV show to my list : Torchwood

It is a British SciFi show....airs on Saturday nights on the BBC - America channel on cable.

Love it.

Sleepy, but for good reasons

Not much happening on the Tracy front these days....I am soooo sleepy today. Did too much this weekend, or maybe need to do more things every day.

I drove to Abilene Friday, had to be there by 3:00p to pick up the kids from school and pulled into the parking lot at 2:55p - cutting it kinda close but made it. Enjoyed babysitting them for 24 hours....we didn't do much, except stay at the house and play on the computers and watch a little TV, but it is always fun to hang out with them. Somehow, I managed to stay up Friday night until 4:00a though and was feeling it when the kids got me up at 7:30a the next morning.

Got home Saturday night around 7p - tired....managed to make myself go to bed at midnight. Worked yesterday for 8 hours, and was tired.

Last night, I met my aunt and uncle, Jim and Joan for dinner - we ate at The Cheesecake Factory, it was yummy and I now have 4 TO GO containers in my fridge with dinner leftovers and 3 kinds of cheesecake....yum. We went back to their hotel and chatted until about 11:00p and I was tired. Came home and manged to stay up until 2:30a - for some unknown reason and then tossed and turned.

So, needless to say, today I am exhausted.....luckily, so far we have been moderately quiet at work and I have no plans tonight, so I am going to MAKE MYSELF go to bed early.

Ha. We'll see.

My last $20.....

....so, there is this website I go to sometimes and they have this feature called 'Writer's Block' - basically it gives you a question or topic you can write about in your blog when you can't come up with anything. So, here is today's question/topic :

List three things you'd buy with your last $20. One practical, one frivolous and one of your choosing.

OK, I guess I have to make some assumptions here in order to answer this....so I guess I am going to say, this is my last $20 and I homeless, in other words, I don't have all my other stuff.

Hmmm, one practical, probably some kind of container, something I can eat out of, maybe drink out of and carry stuff in. Frivolous, hair clips or rubber bands, I guess...and my choosing, a deck of cards.

What would you buy, assuming the same thing....you are homeless and this is your last $20.

Chinese food, good.

Didn't go to eat Chinese the other night because my friend Charles had to work late. So we went last night, it was yummy. I don't go eat Chinese that often and it is kind of mine and Charles's one thing we still do together I guess. I forgot to bring my fortune home but it was something about working as a team this week.

I started thinking today about what clothes I am going to bring for vacation. I checked the weather.com website for average temp in Navarre, FL for that time of year, and it looks like it could get cool in the evenings. Here are the averages for the timeframe we are there [graphic didn't turn out very good - sorry] :

So this looks perfect to me as long as it is sunny. I think capris and shorts are definitely the casual wear required and possibly a couple pair of pants. Crocs, flip flops and one pair of tennis shoes and I am golden. More planning to come.

Contracts

OK people....I wasn't going to have a topic to blog about today but my customers have given me one, well, one customer in particular.

When you sign a contract with someone, READ IT.

Now, I am not necessarily saying read EVERY word, not many of us do...thus the jokes about the fine print but for goodness sake, read SOME OF IT, like the part that says TERM and the part that says FEES and the part about CANCELLING/RENEWING.

I had a customer call today saying her bank account was overdrawn by $800. Why? Well, I am looking at two contracts she signed with us. One for a retail store and one is for her internet business. Each of them are 3 years contracts, with a monthly minimum fee of $25 and a statement fee of $7. So even if they do not have a single sale, they are billed at least $32 a month. They've been open since 10/2007.

She says she has called in before and cannot understand this and that when she signed the contracts she wasn't really opening her business yet, just getting things in order and never put ANY money in her business bank accounts. So we have been billing her $32 for each location each month for 4 months - we charge non-sufficient funds fees every month, her bank charges non-sufficient funds fees every month and now she is $800 overdrawn from all the fees and she hasn't sold a thing at her business yet.

People, read contracts. Once you sign one, make sure you have money in the bank in case there are fees, which you should know if you read the contract. And, lastly, don't wait 4 months to call and figure it out.

That is all.