Ever had one of those weeks that just yo-yo's back and forth on your brain?!
Good thing it's already Friday.
Monday
the bad-Lost my babysitter for Bebito.
the good-My friend was still home on disability and able to fill in for a few weeks.
Tuesday
the bad-Got swamped at work over a huge Singapore shipment.
the good-Left work early---always a good thing.
Wednesday
the bad-Happy anniversary? Yea right. Let's just fight all night instead.
the good-sorry---the above trumps anything else for the day.
Thursday
the bad-Hammered and stressed from the previous night's bawling. Overstressed from Tuesday's shipment that's still on the dock taking up all our space.
the good-Made up with my man halfway through the day. Won tickets to a movie premiere.
Friday
the bad-My temporary sitter is released from her doctor to go back to work several weeks early.
the good-Still waiting. Anybody wanna watch my kid?!?!
Gee, I can't wait until tomorrow. Somebody slap me please!
Friday, April 25, 2008
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
How Are You Affected by Adversity?
I received this email today and thought it was worth sharing.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.'
'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, 'Tell me what you see.'
'Carrots, eggs, and coffee,' she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.
Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, 'What does it mean, mother?'
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
'Which are you?' she asked her daughter. 'When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Everybody likes Ketchup, right? You know how when the bottle is almost empty, you bang the heck out of it to get the last part out? It's a frustrating, sometimes hurtful process that may take a little extra time.
Last night Bebito crawled into my bed with me while I was watching a movie. He then ran out of the room and came back with an almost-empty plastic ketchup bottle.
Nothing to put it on, just the bottle.
Then he proceeded to turn it upside down and bang on it. This went on for several minutes. He tried desperately to get that ketchup all the way to the spout. He shook it, banged on it, moved it in every direction possible. It was very intense. About ten minutes later, I glanced over and saw him with the bottle in his mouth, as he was trying to suck it out instead. Yea, you read that right.
When that didn't work, he went back to shaking it again. I chuckled a bit and finished my movie. When I got up to check on my husband-he may have been sucked into the computer screen for all I knew-Bebito got up too and followed me, as any two year old would. He went into the kitchen, grabbed a plastic bowl from the dishwater, and proceeded to shake the ketchup into the designated area. Once he saw me watching, he developed a new idea.
"Hep me, peese," as he handed over the bottle.
With one good squeeze, the ketchup squirted into the bowl.
"Oh, dats how!"
Then he stuck his fingers in the puddle and ate.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Gunnebo Johnson Coproration
Since I always talk about how much I love my job, I thought I'd show you a little bit of what we do. Although I work primarily in an office, I walk through our warehouse every morning and have had training on our various products. Plus I have to know how to answer our customers when I take the occassional call.
This is where I work. http://gunnebojohnson.com
This is what we make and/or sell.
Our name is unique. Gunnebo Industriers is based out of Sweden and ships us the chain and hooks/attachments that you see in the picture. We are the only US distributor and have the exclusive rights to sell their products to various distributors throughout the world. Although we keep stock of both products in various locations in the US, our Tulsa warehouse makes all of the Johnson products. Our Customer Service call center is based from here as well, which is the department I work in. We sell many of our Johnson products to Sweden and the other Gunnebo distributors Internationally. I do the paperwork for the International sales. But I've already talked about that in past blogs, My day and Busy, busy, busy.
This is my favorite process to watch. In the corner of the warehouse, with a lot of open doors and ventilation (the heat that is produced is immense in the summer), these are created. This process is called ForgeFab™. It starts with various sizes of round, heavy, thick metal. They come in a variety of diameters, from as small as a donut to as large as a living room. The purpose of this process is make a groove to fit the intended wire rope size. The round metal object is burned under high intensity heat, while continually rotating, and after the alloted time, the metal suddenly seperates to make the groove. These are placed inside various blocks, and used on the wire end of crane lifts. (The grey groove in the picture below is what was just created).
This is an example of how our Johnson products are used.
It's a bit weird to blog about, but like I said in previous posts, I really don't have anything else to do while I sit here in front of my computer all day, trying to look busy. So now you can consider yourself a little more educated while I fool my boss into thinking I am busy working.
This is where I work. http://gunnebojohnson.com
This is what we make and/or sell.
Our name is unique. Gunnebo Industriers is based out of Sweden and ships us the chain and hooks/attachments that you see in the picture. We are the only US distributor and have the exclusive rights to sell their products to various distributors throughout the world. Although we keep stock of both products in various locations in the US, our Tulsa warehouse makes all of the Johnson products. Our Customer Service call center is based from here as well, which is the department I work in. We sell many of our Johnson products to Sweden and the other Gunnebo distributors Internationally. I do the paperwork for the International sales. But I've already talked about that in past blogs, My day and Busy, busy, busy.
This is my favorite process to watch. In the corner of the warehouse, with a lot of open doors and ventilation (the heat that is produced is immense in the summer), these are created. This process is called ForgeFab™. It starts with various sizes of round, heavy, thick metal. They come in a variety of diameters, from as small as a donut to as large as a living room. The purpose of this process is make a groove to fit the intended wire rope size. The round metal object is burned under high intensity heat, while continually rotating, and after the alloted time, the metal suddenly seperates to make the groove. These are placed inside various blocks, and used on the wire end of crane lifts. (The grey groove in the picture below is what was just created).
This is an example of how our Johnson products are used.
It's a bit weird to blog about, but like I said in previous posts, I really don't have anything else to do while I sit here in front of my computer all day, trying to look busy. So now you can consider yourself a little more educated while I fool my boss into thinking I am busy working.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Can You Play That Again, Please?
They are doing it again. Only I have no idea what it is this time. Oh, how I hate being obsessed! And they've added another allotment too!!!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Joy of Living in Tornado Alley
I love Oklahoma's tornado season. In 1999, I was living in Washington and flew here with my fiancée to get married. During our layover in OKC, we were told that the flight to Tulsa was cancelled and they would put us on a bus instead. During this drive, I saw the aftermath of the F5 tornado that had swept through the area just three weeks earlier. Along the interstate, I could see the path this tornado took and how big it actually was. Both sides of this major interstate had deep dirt tracks along the grass from the tornado as it followed the road for several miles. Amazing. I am a firm believer that the reason Tulsa has grown is because it was built in one of the few areas that tornadoes destroy. Now I say this, but that doesn't mean we don't get them here. However, I do remember taking cover only once as a child. One time in 28 years is not bad when tornado warnings are on the news every year around this time. This is what we call 'Tornado Season'. In January, we had some tornadoes before the season even began, which hadn't happened in several decades. So why do I love tornadoes when they are so destructive? Well it's not the tornadoes I love, obviously that would make me a psycho-it's the weather that accompanies them.Usually it starts with rain. Sometimes a lot, sometimes a little. From my experience, the rain usually gives up before the tornado forms. This is the part I love. My mother and I used to stand out on the porch and watch for them. We would hear the sirens in the distance and look for the wall clouds forming into tunnels. The weather would be calm, but dark. Gray clouds would cover the sky and the wind would stop. It's not like what you see in the movies. It's kind of peaceful at that time. And quiet. You don't hear the birds or animals, only the calm. And the feeling that surrounds you. Wow. It's kind of a warm stickiness, but not uncomfortable like the typical humidity here. It feels good. And you just watch. And listen. Of course, I've never been in the middle of the path. My accounts are from the sidelines. One time my mother and I were at Wal-Mart and just finished shopping. We came outside and as we were packing the car, my mother looked up and said, "Elizabeth, get in the car right now." I looked up toward her gaze and jumped in. That was the only time I saw her race home like that as she successfully outran a small funnel. Of course when we got home, we didn't take cover. No need. Instead we stood and watched, as we always did.
Tornadoes aren't the only thing I love about this season. We also have notorious thunder and lightening storms. Last month, I stood outside in the dark and watched the sky light up as if I was in an observatory watching it on film. Amazing. First a lightening patch here.
Then another one there. The sky was clear and navy blue. Then lighting would streak through the sky and connected to each other like glass breaking in slow motion. And the sound. Wow. It wasn't scary, but it had power and I could feel it vibrate from the ground into my body. Tuesday night, it hailed so badly that at 3:00 am I was pulling my car into the garage. It hailed twice that night. Last night it stormed so hard that school was cancelled today in my district because the bus routes were so flooded. I don't live in the country. I live in town in the suburbs and in one of the major school districts. In all of my years here, school has never been cancelled due to rain. Now it's sunny outside and the puddles are drying up. That's Oklahoma for ya.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
What is the KBEZ Secret Sound?!?!?!
My entire day consists of listening to KBEZ on the radio at specific intervals, frantically trying to be the 5th caller so I can win the jackpot. Yes, I'm serious. I leave my house by 7:00 am (at least that is my goal). If I'm not at the daycare yet by 7:05, then I wait in the car with all the kids until the allotted time is over. Then I rush them inside, then rush to bring Bebito to his babysitter and then to work.
At 8:05 am, I wait at my desk with ears towards the radio sitting at the desk next to mine (my co-workers know by now not to talk to me or have a CD in the radio at these times-they just sit and laugh at me instead). Again, I frantically dial and dial and dial, hoping to be the 5th caller. I've been putting off my morning rounds until after the contest is over at during this allotment (normally I'm in the warehouse getting the paperwork and back at my desk by this time, but I don't want to risk missing the announcement of when to start dialing, so I just wait).
At 11:05, I do the same thing. Normally I take my lunch from 11:00-12:00, but I have my handy cell phone for this. Once my supervisor asked if I wanted to go to the Chinese buffet. I said yes, but really didn't want to because by the time the radio personalities start the contest, play the one or two songs and return back to the radio to introduce the lucky contestant, it's a quarter past the hour. This particular day, we were inside the restaurant and I couldn't wait to get back to the office so my fellow co-workers could tell me what was guessed. My supervisor said we could sit in the car long enough for me to call a bazillion times from my cell and listen to the guess, but I felt silly since he doesn't participate. It was a long lunch.
The 2:05 allotment is perfect for me. I have no reason to be away from my desk at this time, so I can focus all of my attention to the radio. However, Monday I had a meeting at 2:00 that made me miss it, but I made sure my desk neighbor listened and took notes of what was guessed. You see, I have to listen intensively to find out what the callers guess-usually scolding them for waisting their call on such a silly guess. If I miss it, it's likely that I may repeat their answer if I ever get through the other people flooding the lines at this time. (The radio station finally put a list on their website of all the guesses so they don't get repeated).
Now the 5:05 allotment is the most difficult for me. I leave work at 4:45 and it should be easy, sitting in my car with my cell phone, right? No. The drive from work to Bebito's babysitter takes 15-20 minutes. So if I'm lucky, I can get there with enough time to jump out, get his things together, get him in his car seat and restart the car in time for them to replay the 'secret sound' and let the calls start flooding. However, if I don't time it right, I have to wait in the car and dial, wait for the song to play, and then wait to find out what the lucky caller guessed. By the time I get out of my car, I've been sitting in the parking lot for 10 minutes and have to rush home so my husband can get to his English class. Sometimes I jump out as soon as the contest starts, run up to the door and get the baby back in the car while the song is playing. But it's hard to do when I'm trying to push redial and hold the phone up to my ear to hear if there's a busy signal or a ring. Plus my sitter thinks I'm nuts.
I have been lucky enough to get a ring on four different occasions.
Once I was caller number 3. Not cool. That same day, I was caller number 5, but it was for a different contest and I won lunch and football tickets instead. Another time, the phone started ringing. I was so excited and my fellow neighbor started laughing when a strange voice on the other line picked up and I realized I had misdialed. The last time I got through, I was actually the first caller. Cool, but not so cool when I'm trying to be caller number 5. But I keep trying. My boss called me into his office earlier this week and gave me a piece of paper to look at. I was familiar with the paper since I use it to input the daily call log info for the CSRs in my department. I don't input my info or those who don't take calls regularly. My name was highlighted and he asked me to explain how I made 471 calls in one day. Once he mentioned that he heard about the contest, I blushed and laughed at the same time. Apparently I'm not supposed to make that many calls when the average is usually under 25. Oops. I don't call as many times or use my redial button anymore. But I still have my handy cell phone, right? Now he laughs at me when I call.
What is the sound? Today, they finally gave a hint. They said, "It's all about the car". I'm clueless, but still try calling. I have a few ideas, but nothing that says 'ding ding ding'. I'll think of something. I have the sound memorized and surely I can recognize it, right? Well so far, 87 people have been the lucky caller and guessed wrong. The contest is on it's 18th day of continuously engulfing thousands of listeners and taunting me throughout the day. With each missed guess, the prize increases +/- $30. Oh, did I mention the jackpot is now over $7,600?
Ah, now you understand.
At 8:05 am, I wait at my desk with ears towards the radio sitting at the desk next to mine (my co-workers know by now not to talk to me or have a CD in the radio at these times-they just sit and laugh at me instead). Again, I frantically dial and dial and dial, hoping to be the 5th caller. I've been putting off my morning rounds until after the contest is over at during this allotment (normally I'm in the warehouse getting the paperwork and back at my desk by this time, but I don't want to risk missing the announcement of when to start dialing, so I just wait).
At 11:05, I do the same thing. Normally I take my lunch from 11:00-12:00, but I have my handy cell phone for this. Once my supervisor asked if I wanted to go to the Chinese buffet. I said yes, but really didn't want to because by the time the radio personalities start the contest, play the one or two songs and return back to the radio to introduce the lucky contestant, it's a quarter past the hour. This particular day, we were inside the restaurant and I couldn't wait to get back to the office so my fellow co-workers could tell me what was guessed. My supervisor said we could sit in the car long enough for me to call a bazillion times from my cell and listen to the guess, but I felt silly since he doesn't participate. It was a long lunch.
The 2:05 allotment is perfect for me. I have no reason to be away from my desk at this time, so I can focus all of my attention to the radio. However, Monday I had a meeting at 2:00 that made me miss it, but I made sure my desk neighbor listened and took notes of what was guessed. You see, I have to listen intensively to find out what the callers guess-usually scolding them for waisting their call on such a silly guess. If I miss it, it's likely that I may repeat their answer if I ever get through the other people flooding the lines at this time. (The radio station finally put a list on their website of all the guesses so they don't get repeated).
Now the 5:05 allotment is the most difficult for me. I leave work at 4:45 and it should be easy, sitting in my car with my cell phone, right? No. The drive from work to Bebito's babysitter takes 15-20 minutes. So if I'm lucky, I can get there with enough time to jump out, get his things together, get him in his car seat and restart the car in time for them to replay the 'secret sound' and let the calls start flooding. However, if I don't time it right, I have to wait in the car and dial, wait for the song to play, and then wait to find out what the lucky caller guessed. By the time I get out of my car, I've been sitting in the parking lot for 10 minutes and have to rush home so my husband can get to his English class. Sometimes I jump out as soon as the contest starts, run up to the door and get the baby back in the car while the song is playing. But it's hard to do when I'm trying to push redial and hold the phone up to my ear to hear if there's a busy signal or a ring. Plus my sitter thinks I'm nuts.
I have been lucky enough to get a ring on four different occasions.
Once I was caller number 3. Not cool. That same day, I was caller number 5, but it was for a different contest and I won lunch and football tickets instead. Another time, the phone started ringing. I was so excited and my fellow neighbor started laughing when a strange voice on the other line picked up and I realized I had misdialed. The last time I got through, I was actually the first caller. Cool, but not so cool when I'm trying to be caller number 5. But I keep trying. My boss called me into his office earlier this week and gave me a piece of paper to look at. I was familiar with the paper since I use it to input the daily call log info for the CSRs in my department. I don't input my info or those who don't take calls regularly. My name was highlighted and he asked me to explain how I made 471 calls in one day. Once he mentioned that he heard about the contest, I blushed and laughed at the same time. Apparently I'm not supposed to make that many calls when the average is usually under 25. Oops. I don't call as many times or use my redial button anymore. But I still have my handy cell phone, right? Now he laughs at me when I call.
What is the sound? Today, they finally gave a hint. They said, "It's all about the car". I'm clueless, but still try calling. I have a few ideas, but nothing that says 'ding ding ding'. I'll think of something. I have the sound memorized and surely I can recognize it, right? Well so far, 87 people have been the lucky caller and guessed wrong. The contest is on it's 18th day of continuously engulfing thousands of listeners and taunting me throughout the day. With each missed guess, the prize increases +/- $30. Oh, did I mention the jackpot is now over $7,600?
Ah, now you understand.
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