My job as a retail manager requires me to work on a fairly complicated Excel spreadsheet. It's already been pre-formatted so I usually just have to go in and make my changes or additions each week then save and close. But occasionally I do need to hide rows or re-format columns that lose their formulas...probably something funky I did to it. Anyway, I don't know a thing about how to do that so I end up having to track down my boss and get her to do it. She doesn't mind, but I do.
Tonight while Tom is away at a hockey game with a buddy, I thought it would be the perfect quiet night for me to teach myself all there is to know about Excel. Except that it's a very boring program and I don't like working with numbers, charts and formulas. I was a Mac girl in my former life and knew a few design programs all of which were very visual. Fun, exploding graphics in bright colors can keep my attention, but numbers and cells don't. I avoided getting started until 8:45 at which point I knew it was now or never. Thinking about my boss who is 20 years younger and can fix my screw ups with a few quick movements on the keyboard, finally got me motivated.
I put on a tutorial and tried to follow along but 45 min. later I knew that I was done. This was so painfully boring to try and learn that I finally just stopped. I did pick up a few tricks that I know will be useful. I'm one of those people that has to do something over and over to learn it, so I just need to give myself more time on the job before I can be an Excel expert...but for now, I need to just not be an Excel idiot. I wonder if I learned enough tonight to fake my way through or did I learn just enough to make me even more dangerous?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Oct. 23-embracing seafood in Florida
I was raised in the midwest where the only seafood I ever ate growing up was a small amount of tuna fish in a sandwich that was more mayonaise than tuna and the occasional fish stick. So once I was grown and on my own I realized that I had never tasted actual seafood so I was convinced that I hated it.
When I moved to Florida 6 months ago, I've been taking a ration of crap from my new Florida friends about why I don't eat seafood. I'm not allergic, so why would I not at least try it? I keep blaming it on the smell that makes me want to hurl just by walking into a seafood restaurant.
So, I decided to challenge myself to a night of dining out at a seafood restaurant. We had reservations for dinner at 8:00 at a local franchise place that seemed safe and probably a good option for me. I checked out their menu online and I figured I would order a white fish that was flaky and light and probaby wouldn't taste much like seafood. The place was packed out as they must have a good happy hour. We arrived at 7:45 but by 8:30 we still didn't have a table. Tom went to check and they had been trying to find us (so they said) but they couldn't. They ended up feeling so bad about the delay that they offered a free appetized on them. Hmmm...that sounded like a great way to test the waters without wasting my meal and our money on something I might get sick on. So we ordered the crab cake appetizer on the house. They came out and were pleasantly surprising...didn't look or smell like fish. The restaurant was dark so I just went for it. I had my first bite. It was a lot of bread crumbs and lemon flavoring with a small amount of crab. It tasted fine so I took another bite. Kind of yummy actually. I kept on taking bites between gulps of red wine....which helped a lot. I finally finished and ended up eating more than one crab cake all by myself...I felt a sense of accomplishment. It wasn't the main course, but it was crab and I did eat a lot of it.
My main meal was a cobb salad with huge chunks of bleu cheese and it took a lot of bites along with another glass of wine to wash down the taste of crab in my mouth. I'm not sure it's something that I will order again or pay for myself, but I did it. Should I find myself out at a restaurant or friend's house and they serve me crab cakes I could probably eat them again...provided they also give me a large glass of wine.
When I moved to Florida 6 months ago, I've been taking a ration of crap from my new Florida friends about why I don't eat seafood. I'm not allergic, so why would I not at least try it? I keep blaming it on the smell that makes me want to hurl just by walking into a seafood restaurant.
So, I decided to challenge myself to a night of dining out at a seafood restaurant. We had reservations for dinner at 8:00 at a local franchise place that seemed safe and probably a good option for me. I checked out their menu online and I figured I would order a white fish that was flaky and light and probaby wouldn't taste much like seafood. The place was packed out as they must have a good happy hour. We arrived at 7:45 but by 8:30 we still didn't have a table. Tom went to check and they had been trying to find us (so they said) but they couldn't. They ended up feeling so bad about the delay that they offered a free appetized on them. Hmmm...that sounded like a great way to test the waters without wasting my meal and our money on something I might get sick on. So we ordered the crab cake appetizer on the house. They came out and were pleasantly surprising...didn't look or smell like fish. The restaurant was dark so I just went for it. I had my first bite. It was a lot of bread crumbs and lemon flavoring with a small amount of crab. It tasted fine so I took another bite. Kind of yummy actually. I kept on taking bites between gulps of red wine....which helped a lot. I finally finished and ended up eating more than one crab cake all by myself...I felt a sense of accomplishment. It wasn't the main course, but it was crab and I did eat a lot of it.
My main meal was a cobb salad with huge chunks of bleu cheese and it took a lot of bites along with another glass of wine to wash down the taste of crab in my mouth. I'm not sure it's something that I will order again or pay for myself, but I did it. Should I find myself out at a restaurant or friend's house and they serve me crab cakes I could probably eat them again...provided they also give me a large glass of wine.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Oct. 22- technical woes
I thought it would be a good idea to change my email account from hotmail to gmail. I've heard that it's the best and I have to admit, the idea of all the junk mail dropping off sounded good. So tonight I gave it a try and so far...not so good. Setting up the initial account went all smooth and fine, but working in it was not all that user friendly from my perspective. I do tend to get distracted easy, so it was partially my own fault that it was taking me so much time.
What happens is that you set up this new email account, then it takes all of the emails from your old one and transports them into your new one. As they were popping into the new gmail account, I noticed some that I must have missed and never read. One of them was from a friend from Colorado and the display text read, " Sweet...your booty looks awesome on that video on Facebook Karen". Obviously I had to open this email and then try to go to the link to my supposedly awesome video of my booty. Oops...really bad move!! It was a decoy to get me to launch some automatic security program which of course asked for immediate payment as well. It was a continuous circle of pop up windows that kept appearing everytime I would try to close them down. I finally had to shut down the entire computer and re-boot it to keep from buying the supposedly necessary hardware protection.
These are the things that keep me from trying new programs. It was annoying and frustrating and will keep me from ever opening anything again that has a tag line about my booty. I really don't go around having video shot of my booty so why I was tempted by this eludes me. But live and learn when it comes to the computer. It's a scary piece of technology.
What happens is that you set up this new email account, then it takes all of the emails from your old one and transports them into your new one. As they were popping into the new gmail account, I noticed some that I must have missed and never read. One of them was from a friend from Colorado and the display text read, " Sweet...your booty looks awesome on that video on Facebook Karen". Obviously I had to open this email and then try to go to the link to my supposedly awesome video of my booty. Oops...really bad move!! It was a decoy to get me to launch some automatic security program which of course asked for immediate payment as well. It was a continuous circle of pop up windows that kept appearing everytime I would try to close them down. I finally had to shut down the entire computer and re-boot it to keep from buying the supposedly necessary hardware protection.
These are the things that keep me from trying new programs. It was annoying and frustrating and will keep me from ever opening anything again that has a tag line about my booty. I really don't go around having video shot of my booty so why I was tempted by this eludes me. But live and learn when it comes to the computer. It's a scary piece of technology.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Oct 21-Can I deal with the neighbor kids?
When we moved to Tampa last April we rented a home instead of buying until we knew the city well enough to decide where we fit in best. We've been exploring all different areas and spending more time in the parts that we feel a strong connection with. The thing is, there isn't one area of the city that's jumped out yet as our favorite. The one that makes us feel warm and fuzzy and included.
So, we've started to think that maybe the house we're renting is good enough. We do love the house because it's the perfect size, layout, yard, pool, kitchen, bedrooms and distance from our jobs. There's only one small thing about it that's keeping me from purchasing it...the horrible neighbor kids. Seriously, they have screeches so loud pitched that they could break every piece of stemware in my Crate and Barrel store. It sounds like someone is being tortured and burned at the stake every time they are outside playing in their lanai. This family desperately needs an intervention with Super Nanny.
Since we've started to grow fond of the house I decided that tonight I would come home from work and challenge myself to stay outside enjoying our beautiful pool and lanai even if the kids came out and started their nightly screams. I was outside for only about 10min. when it started and immediately it was so painful to listen to that I almost came inside. I seriously considered calling 911 because surely tonight someone was really being burned at the stake. How could such small children produce such horrific sounds if they were just playing and having fun? Is that even possible? I stood by our screen looking over there looking for smoke or the silhouette of an ax coming down on someone's arm. All I saw was 3 children riding those small powered cars around in circles, apparently scaring the bejesus out of each other.
I know I've always had a much lower tolerance for misbehaved children than most people and since the onset of menopause it's gotten worse. I think just knowing that we don't actually own the house and that if we wanted to move we could, makes it bearable. I'm afraid that buying this house would only infuriate me more and I might eventually make that 911 call. So we'll keep looking and exploring other options for our permanent home in Tampa but in meantime I might have to call Super Nanny.
So, we've started to think that maybe the house we're renting is good enough. We do love the house because it's the perfect size, layout, yard, pool, kitchen, bedrooms and distance from our jobs. There's only one small thing about it that's keeping me from purchasing it...the horrible neighbor kids. Seriously, they have screeches so loud pitched that they could break every piece of stemware in my Crate and Barrel store. It sounds like someone is being tortured and burned at the stake every time they are outside playing in their lanai. This family desperately needs an intervention with Super Nanny.
Since we've started to grow fond of the house I decided that tonight I would come home from work and challenge myself to stay outside enjoying our beautiful pool and lanai even if the kids came out and started their nightly screams. I was outside for only about 10min. when it started and immediately it was so painful to listen to that I almost came inside. I seriously considered calling 911 because surely tonight someone was really being burned at the stake. How could such small children produce such horrific sounds if they were just playing and having fun? Is that even possible? I stood by our screen looking over there looking for smoke or the silhouette of an ax coming down on someone's arm. All I saw was 3 children riding those small powered cars around in circles, apparently scaring the bejesus out of each other.
I know I've always had a much lower tolerance for misbehaved children than most people and since the onset of menopause it's gotten worse. I think just knowing that we don't actually own the house and that if we wanted to move we could, makes it bearable. I'm afraid that buying this house would only infuriate me more and I might eventually make that 911 call. So we'll keep looking and exploring other options for our permanent home in Tampa but in meantime I might have to call Super Nanny.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Oct 20- Leave work on time
This is a huge challenge for me ever since I became an empty nester. Since I no longer have to hurry home to my kid I don't feel like I have a good enough excuse to leave work on time. I'm really not a workaholic, it's just that my job seems to take longer than 8 hours a day. If I don't stay late then I'm just working twice as hard and stay even later the next day.
So while I was away on vacation I told myself that I would make myself leave work on time. I even told a co-worker of mine today and she promised to drag me out with her at 5:30 sharp...no excuses today. Being that I've been out of the office for the last 5 days I knew this would be a little tricky for me so I tried to stay focused to get a lot done. But I was helping to train 5 new employees today and everyone wanted to catch up with me on what's been going on in their lives while I was gone. I tried to keep working, but I admit it, I care too much to tell my friends that I don't have time to listen.
So instead of getting my tasks done I heard about a new pregnancy, someone's financial woes, an injustice on the sales floor and a 2 year olds birthday party. Just when my co-worker came by to grab me so we could leave together, we had an unhappy customer explode in the middle of the sales floor. As the only manager left in the store I had to spend the next 45 minutes taking care of getting him what he wanted. It's so sad that he thought our inability to get him 2 metal chairs right this minute could make him angry enough to be completely enraged. Whose life is so screwed up that not getting two metal chairs would cause you to flip out? Really? So sad.
So, I didn't do so well with today's challenge as I didn't get to leave until about 6:20. I'm really hopeful for tomorrow because it's going to continue to be my challenge everyday. Becoming an empty nester doesn't mean you spend more time at work, it means that you should spend more time on yourself. Otherwise, how will I have time to play tennis or blog or run or text?
So while I was away on vacation I told myself that I would make myself leave work on time. I even told a co-worker of mine today and she promised to drag me out with her at 5:30 sharp...no excuses today. Being that I've been out of the office for the last 5 days I knew this would be a little tricky for me so I tried to stay focused to get a lot done. But I was helping to train 5 new employees today and everyone wanted to catch up with me on what's been going on in their lives while I was gone. I tried to keep working, but I admit it, I care too much to tell my friends that I don't have time to listen.
So instead of getting my tasks done I heard about a new pregnancy, someone's financial woes, an injustice on the sales floor and a 2 year olds birthday party. Just when my co-worker came by to grab me so we could leave together, we had an unhappy customer explode in the middle of the sales floor. As the only manager left in the store I had to spend the next 45 minutes taking care of getting him what he wanted. It's so sad that he thought our inability to get him 2 metal chairs right this minute could make him angry enough to be completely enraged. Whose life is so screwed up that not getting two metal chairs would cause you to flip out? Really? So sad.
So, I didn't do so well with today's challenge as I didn't get to leave until about 6:20. I'm really hopeful for tomorrow because it's going to continue to be my challenge everyday. Becoming an empty nester doesn't mean you spend more time at work, it means that you should spend more time on yourself. Otherwise, how will I have time to play tennis or blog or run or text?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Oct 19- wake up call
No, this isn't a euphemism for something else...I really needed a wake up call this morning in my hotel room. I had an early flight out of Denver this morning and didn't pack my own alarm clock and the staff at the hotel I was in didn't leave me with a sense of trustworthyness so I didn't ask for a wake up call. I contemplated the clock radio/alarm clock on the nightstand, but it was looking a little shabby and I didn't trust myself to be able to set it right. And then I had an ahha moment...I could use my cell phone to set an alarm!
After at least 15min. of searching under every icon and scrolling down and back out and then down again I finally discovered the alarm setting hidden under some very random button. I set the time for 6am and crawled into bed for the night. I then spent the next 7 hours worried that I did it wrong, that it wouldn't ring loud enough, that I should have never tried it for the first time on a night where I had to catch a flight. Needless to say, I got no sleep last night. I kept waking up and looking at the bedside clock to make sure I didn't sleep through the alarm. I finally gave up at 5:45 and got into the shower. Just as I was getting out, the alarm went off. I guess I did manage to do it right. I'll definately try it again. Except, I don't remember where the alarm button is hidden on my phone. No seriously, I just tried again and spent another 10min. trying to find that damn icon and can't for the life of me remember where it is. UGHHHHH! I hate it when I have to get out the users manual.
After at least 15min. of searching under every icon and scrolling down and back out and then down again I finally discovered the alarm setting hidden under some very random button. I set the time for 6am and crawled into bed for the night. I then spent the next 7 hours worried that I did it wrong, that it wouldn't ring loud enough, that I should have never tried it for the first time on a night where I had to catch a flight. Needless to say, I got no sleep last night. I kept waking up and looking at the bedside clock to make sure I didn't sleep through the alarm. I finally gave up at 5:45 and got into the shower. Just as I was getting out, the alarm went off. I guess I did manage to do it right. I'll definately try it again. Except, I don't remember where the alarm button is hidden on my phone. No seriously, I just tried again and spent another 10min. trying to find that damn icon and can't for the life of me remember where it is. UGHHHHH! I hate it when I have to get out the users manual.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
fear of disappointing Chelsey
I think I've lived in fear ever since my darling little baby girl arrived that eventually I would disappoint her and I would hate myself for it. And yes, I am not perfect and the world did not revolve around her and I so life happens and you get disappointed...big deal, right?
We were lucky when she was in high school in that I had a great paying job and we had enough disposable income to be able to enjoy our trips where we would frivolously spend a lot of money at the mall. Now that she's in college (lots of moola to the school) and I've quit my great paying job to start over in another profession (lots less income) I can no longer afford the extravagant shopping of our past. So, the past two days of our shopping trip have been me trying to convince her that shopping at Nordstrom's Rack instead of Nordstrom's can be just as fun...right? And that the thrill of the hunt for a bargain might take a lot longer, but it keeps the money from slipping away faster.
I don't think she's been too disappointed (she did find some great buys) and she's sweet enough to never say anything to me. I know I created my own shopping monster from the past, but like I said, it was our way of bonding. We're definately having fun and still sharing stories about what's happening in our lives...I'll never be disappointed in myself as long as I make the time to spend one on one quality time with Chelsey.
We were lucky when she was in high school in that I had a great paying job and we had enough disposable income to be able to enjoy our trips where we would frivolously spend a lot of money at the mall. Now that she's in college (lots of moola to the school) and I've quit my great paying job to start over in another profession (lots less income) I can no longer afford the extravagant shopping of our past. So, the past two days of our shopping trip have been me trying to convince her that shopping at Nordstrom's Rack instead of Nordstrom's can be just as fun...right? And that the thrill of the hunt for a bargain might take a lot longer, but it keeps the money from slipping away faster.
I don't think she's been too disappointed (she did find some great buys) and she's sweet enough to never say anything to me. I know I created my own shopping monster from the past, but like I said, it was our way of bonding. We're definately having fun and still sharing stories about what's happening in our lives...I'll never be disappointed in myself as long as I make the time to spend one on one quality time with Chelsey.
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