Un-Snow Day, Take Two

Apparently, our society is one that rewards the lazy and unmotivated, while those that actually care and try get screwed.

Okay, so maybe I am blowing this just a bit out of proportion, but I am miffed/ticked/pissed off. Today at work, we received an email detailing how we should record our time for Wednesday when the campus was closed due to the adverse weather conditions. Individuals who were scheduled to work, but did not make it into work that day, get to claim their hours on their timesheet under the code WTHR. People like me, however, who actually showed up and worked MORE than their eight hour shift, do not get to claim any time using this code. Basically, if I had given in to my desire to say screw it and call in, I would have gotten a paid day off; but because I was one of the few dedicated workers who actually showed up that day, I am to receive no compensation. (Keep in mind, I had no choice but to show up - we have months worth of data that relies on certain things being done each day).

I know I am whining, but I needed to take a minute to complain.

On a completely different note, can I just say how proud I am of my oldest nephew, who is seeded third for wrestling sectionals tomorrow? :-)

Un-Snow Day.

Normally, I love my job. (Well, except for one tiny part, which in reality is not all that tiny.)

Today, not so much.

Working at a university has a lot of GREAT benefits, not the least of which are vacation time, sick time, nine paid holidays each year, and dirt cheap dental and health insurance. However, my position as a research technician, while affording me all of these great benefits, has one major drawback - it doesn't matter what day of the week it is, whether or not it is a holiday, or if campus is closed due to a winter storm - I still have to go to work.

Research must go on.

As I was getting ready to get in the shower this morning, my phone started ringing. Having woken up with a severe headache, I grumbled as I went to see who was text messaging/calling me at such an ungodly hour. I opened my phone to see a message from the university saying campus is closed and classes are canceled due to adverse weather. "That's great," I yelled at my phone, "but I still have to [insert expletive here] go to work!"

Which is unfortunate, because I really could have used a snow day.

WTF, mate?

Yesterday morning on NFL Sunday Countdown, Chris Berman wished Chris Mortensen a Happy Groundhog's Day.

I sat on the couch for several minutes feeling like I was in some sort of alternate universe, a la one of my recent blogs, which can be found here.

Am I missing something?

25 Random Things About Me.

I have now been tagged by four of my friends on Facebook, so I suppose I better get to it.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. One thing I wish I had never done is color my hair.

2. I pluck gray hairs out of my head with tweezers. Unfortunately, there are too many for me to be able to pluck them all.

3. A pet peeve of mine is when people flick cigarette butts out of their car window while driving.

4. I have trouble making the simplest of decisions.

5. I am an emotional eater. Not so much when I am sad, but definitely when I am angry, frustrated, or some other similar type of emotion.

6. My favorite number is the number eight.

7. My favorite color is purple.

8. I often get asked what high school I attend.

9. I am a creature of habit, and I greatly dislike change.

10. One of my biggest weaknesses is my inability to confront people when I am upset.

11. I long to work a single job without having to put in overtime. As it is, I not only work overtime at my main job, but I also have a second job.

12. I am eternally grateful for those in my life who truly accept me for who I am, and around whom I am able to be my complete self.

13. I often correct grammatical errors in books while I am reading.

14. I greatly miss being a college student.

15. Foul language cracks me up (hence why I love Foamy the Squirrel so much).

16. Sometimes I snort when I laugh.

17. I dyed my hair purple once after I lost a bet.

18. I have had my car broken into twice, and my credit cards stolen three times.

19. I rarely like pictures of myself.

20. I have been listening to the new Kevin Rudolf CD, In The City, on repeat in my car for well over a week now.

21. I don't wear a watch. It's not that I don't like watches, I just haven't found a watch I like since my last one died several years ago (not that I have looked too terribly hard for one, though).

22. The color I wear most often is gray.

23. Music has the ability to lift my mood in a way few other things can.

24. While I am by nature not prone to spontaneity, I do tend to be impulsive in matters of the heart, which often results in my being hurt.

25. I would rather spend the rest of my life alone than spend it with someone who didn't place the same meaning and value on love that I do.

26. Reading through the blog entries I wrote on Xanga in 2005 and 2006 seems like a completely different life to me. I have changed a great deal since that time period, and in my opinion it has not been for the better.

27. Recently I have become extremely forgetful. I used to be able to remember great amounts of detail without a problem, but now it seems I can't even remember the smallest things.

So, I threw a couple of extra things in there. What can I say, I was on a roll. As always, I am not going to tag particular people. If you want to do this, then you will. If you don't want to do this, then you won't. It's as simple as that. :-) I hope some people do participate though, because I would greatly enjoy reading your answers!

Say What?!

I woke up today thinking it was Groundhog's Day....

In the shower, I thought about what I would change my blog background to after today. I also thought about writing a blog regarding one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray, as a tribute to the day. I wondered whether or not Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, and if we could expect six more weeks of winter or an early spring. On our way out the door to work this morning, I even turned to Brent and said, "Happy Groundhog's Day!" It was when I said this and saw the expression on his face that it finally hit me - it isn't even February yet. I don't know what kind of dreams I had last night, but somehow from the time I fell asleep to the time I woke up, I fast forwarded through almost two weeks. (I hadn't even taken any NyQuil before bed that could explain my perceived jump into the future.)

Wishful thinking? Perhaps, although I can't think of something that is happening in the next two weeks that I would want to avoid so badly I would completely skip two weeks of my life.

What's most disturbing to me is the fact that I didn't just wake up thinking it was Groundhog's Day....I went on thinking that for an hour as I got ready for work. I would understand if I had only mistaken the day in the first few moments of waking up, where your mind is still groggy and disoriented....

Exhaustion must be taking more of a toll than I originally thought.

Demotivators.

For several years, I have been a fan of Despair, Inc., although until recently I had never ordered anything from the site. I am always on the prowl for catchy and interesting t-shirts (meaning t-shirts that make me laugh, regardless of whether or not anyone else thinks they are funny), so when one of my co-workers was ordering from the website, I decided to finally buy my all-time favorite t-shirt, titled Burnout. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my co-worker also ordered me a second t-shirt I had been eyeing as a gift. Thus far today, either t-shirt would have been appropriate.

Epic FAIL.

Apparently Murphy is at it yet again, and I shouldn't have posted yesterday about losing at Dr. Mario. It appears, despite what I originally thought, it CAN get worse. :-D I'll let the pictures do the talking. (Brent is always P1 and I am always P2. This time we are Jesus and Dr. Phil.)

I clearly have to up my game.

Game Over!

Shortly before Christmas I suffered from a brief moment of insanity and bought a Wii for me and Brent. It happened after I bought a Wii for my sister's family for Christmas. I made it about a week, staring at the Wii, before I had my break with reality and decided dammit, we needed a Wii too. (Keep in mind, I haven't had a video game system since the Super Nintendo, and I have no real interest in video games. Brent, on the other hand - LOVES video games.) Since we've had the Wii, Brent and I have spent a majority of our time downloading and playing old school Nintendo and Super Nintendo games rather than playing games specifically created for the Wii, although I did buy NHL 2K9 at the same time I bought the game system. As fabulous as NHL 2K9 is, the game we have played the most is the one and only Dr. Mario. Many a late night we have stayed up competing against each other in this often frustrating but nevertheless thrill of a puzzle game, starting at level 0 and not stopping until we have completed level 20. Now, as Brent can tell you, I am anything but a good loser. I am constantly complaining and yelling every time he does something to cause extra blocks to fall on my playing field. Nothing is worse, though, than losing by a matter of a milisecond, such as in the picture above. I am P2 (Chuck Norris), and Brent is P1 (Steve Urkel). I had been ahead in this game and about to win (I swear Brent had at least three or four viruses left to clear when I was getting ready to clear my final virus), when all of a sudden he had cleared his screen. I was honestly in shock.

(Not to mention lucky I was wearing the wrist strap on the remote. *laugh*)