Suzanne Calling

I had a blast on Sunday with Paula and Jeffrey, and wish they lived closer (or I had unlimited frequent flier miles, take your pick!). To continue on with that camraderie, I visited with another of my YaYa sisters last night. I've known Elaine for wow, over five years now. Time flies. She was one of the founding members of the YaYa thread on that board. One of the other members of the group, Beth, was a regular patron of my store and invited me to join it. Join I did. When our vacations overlapped about six months later, Ed and I made plans to meet up with Elaine and Beth at WDW. Since then, I've been fortunate to either have an overlapping vacation or get a heads up that she was on her way down here. Hanging with Elaine is always fun-I love her very dry wit (in some ways, her humor so mirrors my dad's). Last night, we walked the Boardwalk, had a lot of fun (calling the hotel we were in the Carp had her laughing), rolled our eyes at the events that have transpired a...

Once again, Gameboy has succeeded in having multiple versions of a game. For his birthday, we purchased him Mario Kart DS. He plays Mario Kart on the Gamecube all the time. Seriously. He still plays the Gamecube more than the Wii. I think that has to do with the jittery hands he has due to his meds. The Wiimote is not very forgiving of that condition. We went and picked up the Wii version after dinner tonight. He'd been given birthday money from Mema and AJ (Jane), which was enough for a game. He waffled between that and a Pokemon game, but Mario Kart won out. Strangely, the child who reads instruction manuals for pleasure didn't bother this time-he dove right into the game because he only had 90 minutes until bedtime. This left Mom to figure out something for him: how he could play as his Mii. I am really showing the decline of age, I cannot read those things without glasses. I didn't find the answer to that question. Apparently, others have-or they've playe...

Back before G4 was TechTV, it was ZDTV, for Ziff Davis Television. We got that channel back in the days before the changeover and Ed, then I, got hooked on the incomparable Leo LaPorte's shows, Call for Help and The Screen Savers. Call for Help was his live question and answer program where users could call live and ask tech questions about their computers. Sometimes, it'd be a caller who was overwhelmed by a new computer. Other times, people asking questions about ethernet , pc-mdia cards and how to create firewalls for their new BBSs. Leo handled all those calls with patience and tons of humor, too. The Screen Savers was a show that featured all sorts of news about computers and the people who used them, kind of like a Today show for the tech world. Leo and his cohost, Kate Botello, held court for an hour each weeknight and educated and informed while making people laugh at their exploits. As much as we enjoy our Food TV, back in the late 90's, you could find me wa...

Today, I start training. Woohoo. Two weeks of classroom time. Did I ever tell you that I love training? Wait, maybe you have a clue, because that's what I want to do for this company. I'm impressed. Training was originally scheduled to take place in Orlando. Instead, the location was moved, so that we didn't burn up so much gas each day. When I got that information, I also was told "come hungry, we'll have breakfast every morning." Never had that before! Sweet. The only thing it changes is my plans for visiting a friend. Originally, WDW would have been on my way home from class. Now, I'll head east after I'm done training one night. This means I don't have to deal with the rush hour traffic, too. Cool.

This week, the topic is Mondegreens. What are those? Songs where you hear something other than the lyrics spoken. This was inspired by hearing "Circle of Life" while borrowing Jane's van (and thus, her CD changer). First up, the song that made me think of it, Circle of Life from the Lion King. Thanks to one of my CM's at the Disney Store, I cannot hear that song without thinking they're singing "Pink Pajamas, Penguins on the bottom" underneath the main melody. Next time you listen, you tell me you DON'T hear that! Secret Agent Man. Currently, Chase is using the song in their Fraud Protection ads, but when I was a kid, I thought it was "Secret Asian Man". Still sounds that way. Obviously, this singer (in this case, Johnny Rivers) did not have a voice teacher that was a stickler for diction like Mr. Thayer. Back then, I wondered why anyone would have to keep being Asian a secret. Blinded By the Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band....

Thank you, Gershwin Brothers. One thing that my six years of participating has brought me is friendships. Great friendships, with people who would do anything for you. This week, I get to see two (three) of the people that I met through my connections to that place. In a few minutes, I head to the Port of Tampa to pick up Paula and her hubby from their cruise. As their flight doesn't leave Tampa until 7pm, we'll do something together. We're finally meeting face to face after numerous phone conversations and even more IMs, thanks to meeting on the YaYa thread. Then, later this week, I get to met another-one I've met a few times before. Part of my excitement about moving to Florida is that I'd get to meet my friends from time to time. Some may find it strange that I found my friends on a message board, but I think it's cool to find like minded individuals. So for that reason, I'm getting ready to leave for my day with friends and have that song going t...

The past week has brought more traffic to the blog in one day than it gets in a typical week. Partly in response to a "Google is your friend" comment. Anyway, there are other things that get hits on a fairly regular basis, thanks to our friend, Google. Not a lot of them, but heck, I'm about to put stuff up on eBay, so this might help. Might hurt, but what the heck! In any event, this is almost like having an index at the back of the book. If Google's webcrawler picks these up first, then people can go right to the post in question. Various hits, in no particular order (and I'm skipping the one that currently gets the most, because I don't want to add more to the search engine!) ** "Rack 'em and Stack 'em. I'd titled a blog entry a while back with this. Growing up within a 90 minute drive of four major (and several minor) airports, you tend to hear that phrase a lot-and know someone who works in the airline industry. I just used the p...

I finished my tenure with my current employer today. The day went as many of the past three months have-skeleton crew. I did have the holy grail-an 8 hour shift. Quite a few of my coworkers popped in to say goodbye. It definitely warms my heart to know that as much as I will miss them, they cared enough to come in person to say farewell. I'm excited about the path ahead, but a little wistful about those who won't be joining me...

**Please note, this post was written in 2008, over 7 years ago.  This is not current, but remains to detail the DISboards bannings.** The other day, I wrote of my banning from the Disboards, a site I belonged to for six years. I was banned for participating in another site, as were approximately 35 others. The list will be posted further in this entry. If you skip this post because it doesn't mean anything except to the participants, I don't mind. This is mainly out there for the hundreds (over 7,500 now!**) of Google searches that have been directed to my blog since the bannings. Lord knows, anytime anyone asks a question on the Disboards, it'll be poofed faster than you can say "delete." Curiously, I received an anonymous comment that rambled on and on. It rather reminded me of Socrates, my older brother who has delusions of grandeur. When I first read the comment, I thought, "Oh goody, a moderator has come to call me a bully." Wanna re...

This is the time of year in retail that we management types get our annual reviews. This years was going to be unusual in that my employer has frozen everyone's salaries. Tough times call for cost containment. I was okay with that news, but not the cut in hours. In any event, getting a review when you know you're not getting a raise despite your efforts is weird. Stranger still, getting your review the last week on the job. This is the second time for me, I think I blogged about the other occasion two years ago. (Back in the days when my friends complained I didn't write enough!) Anyway, Monday night, my boss and I did my review. On the sales floor. In a half hour. That was a first. Mind you, in that time, we only had one customer walk into the store, so it wasn't like the customers were hearing what was said. Not that I would have minded. It basically was a valentine to Suzanne. Yes, there are areas where I need improvement. I look as that as creating int...

My Stupid Leg! (trademark pending) Longtime readers probably have noticed a strange thing-there have been very few mentions of RSD/CRPS, Venous Stasis Ulcers, Plantar Faciitis and all the other things that go along with the valve incompetency, Factor V Leiden lately. Far be it for me to not mention something positive. I think I'm turning the corner with this thing. No, it's never going to be normal. I've accepted that. I will live the rest of my life with pain-but I'm learning how to deal with that pain without the need for vicodin every eight hours. Thank God for that-because that crap SUCKS. Here's a status report on the issues, with a rundown on the improvements: 1. Venous Stasis Ulcers: The open wounds are gone, but the affected area is still road rashy and may be for another year. Once you have the darn things, it's not a case of IF they come back, rather it's a WHEN they come back. It's a bummer, but I've still got two legs to stand on....

This had me laughing out loud! It's too good not to share! I have to add this, there will be NO Rickrolling on my blog. I'll let the other 3,099,307 people do that on their blogs!

This blog topic has been waiting in the wings since Thursday's interviews. However, I knew I needed to do the story of Gameboy's arrival in this world, the recap of my job interview and Soundtrack Sunday, so I figured that it would wait until Monday. Little did I know that it would hold more importance to me. In life, we all endure people passing judgment on our abilities before they know the facts. Some examples, mostly from the retail sector: Working at Montgomery Ward, I was the quasi manager of the small electronics area. I call it that, because there was a Divisional Merchandise Manager who oversaw Appliances, TV/Stereo and Small Electronics. Within those three areas, there was someone who handled the work that in any other department of the store was the responsibility of a manager. We were commissioned, so we really didn't care-it gave us busy work in the slow hours throughout the week. Anyway, I was the top dog in my department. This was 1989, and the era o...

The post I made earlier today fulfilled my Blog365 obligation. As a result, I was going to skip SSS today. However, even though I've done the 180 something consecutive post, the inner Mary Poppins told me I needed to have a Spoonful of Sugar and talk about songs that make me happy. What makes me happy? Why, Disney songs, of course! I vividly can retell the memory of my first Disney movie: Pinnocchio at the Lynbrook theatre, 1969. I made my Dad take me out of the theatre as soon as Monstro appeared on the screen because I was terrified. However, one song stuck in my head "I've Got No Strings" and I'd sing it a lot. In third grade, a schoolwide musical production cemented my favorite character and movie. We performed Mary Poppins. I'd auditioned without singing, but Marjory Loonin asked me to go up with her to sing because she was too shy to do it alone. That earned me a place in the chorus. I got to sing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" ...

I think it's pretty clear that I love Disney. There's Mickey shaped DNA in my body (along with all that weird stuff). A fellow coworker, when I started working for the Disney Stores, suggested that I join the DISboards. As I'd been pretty active in some other Disney fan sites, I didn't follow her lead for a couple of years. In 2002, I finally jumped in. I started hanging out on the Cast Member board, because DUH, I was a Cast Member. I found the DISabilities board, which made sense for my medical woes and Gameboy's newly diagnosed issues. The Budget Board was great for information on saving money for those twice a year treks to the House of Mouse. One day at work, sometime in 2003, a fellow CM and I were working in the store one night when she came to me and excitedly said "Those two ladies are DISers!". Beth and Von were regulars of a 'clique thread' and had chosen our store to meet face to face while Von was visiting Northern Virginia. Th...

In the time without a router at home, I was shirking my reading. I had lovely, lovely blogs bookmarked on my laptop, but couldn't access them on Ed's machine. In the past few days, I've been making the rounds and catching up on a month of reading per blog. Imagine my surprise when I go over to Underpaid Princess's and find this waiting for me: How cool is that? I enjoy reading her blog, because I understand the venting she does. She's also got a great sense of humor. Heck, I started my blog to vent my frustrations and keep in touch with a handful of you. Who knew that a couple of years later, I'd get a nice award from a bloggy friend and have a lot more of you along for the ride? Thanks! Oh, I'm supposed to tag some of you. Trust me, this isn't easy-there's a wealth of distinctive blogs out there, but I'll say: Wandering Saffa Chick (who should be home from her honeymoon and telling us about married life by now!) Functional Schmunctional...

I told of Job A, Job B and Job C. I had interviews yesterday (for ease of those who know the particulars, Job D and Job H, formerly Job A and Job B). The first interview was really panel interviews with Job D. Technically, I've had one before, but not a true panel. This time, I met with two different panels with three people on each. I felt it went very well. For the first time ever, I got the same reverential tone used for "What was it like working for Disney?", but for "What was it like working for [meal prep place]?" Too funny. I also showed them Clumsy Suzanne by spilling the water they gave me all over my right hand before going into the second panel. I skipped shaking hands and told them why-it was a good icebreaker, but kids, don't try this at home-leave it to the professionals! After completing the two panels, the facilitator informed me I'd hear back in two weeks to find out if I was a 'bench', which means when we have a position...

Last month, Lotus had a Birthing carnival on her blog. On the day in question, I was just not up to writing two birth stories. I decided I'd share them later on. What better day to share a birthing story than on the anniversary of it occuring? April 17, 1996 dawned a perfect Maryland spring day. We were two weeks from God turning on the heat full blast, as always happened the first week of May. I was on day three of my enforced maternity leave and had an appointment with my midwife at 11am. Based on LMP, I was due April 8th, (but I know the child was conceived on CD4*, so that was WRONG) and by their calculations, I was 9 days over. At this point, I still was scheduled to have my child at the practice's birthing center, attached to the back of their offices. It was like a luxurious bed and breakfast. You were attended to by the midwife and could labor in whatever manner you were most comfortable. My visit was more of the usual. My midwife decided I needed to have a ...

Due to the reason for the job search, I told my boss I was interviewing for jobs. She wasn't happy, but understood that I had to do this. Last night at work, we had two managers and no other employees. The normal complement would be two or three employees, a stock person and a manager-this is how soft our business has been lately. So, two people-instead of four. Today, I was put through the third degree why a couple of things weren't done. Things that you could not do AND help the customers (like spend an hour in the stock room putting stuff away). We also provide a wedding gift registry and April is a HUGE month for this segment of our business. We provide complimentary gift wrap for those purchases and guess who had to wrap them all. (Seriously, it feels like Christmas at work with all the gifts I'm wrapping) Of course, it didn't matter that we still got a lot of things done on the sales floor. the other things weren't. Instead of asking questions, my bo...

interviews on Thursday. The corporate trainer for another area will be interviewing me at 3pm. This was added to the interview already scheduled with Company A on Thursday. It's all going according to the usual routine...

Woohoo, the new router is up and running and I am sitting comfortably at the couch. Yay! According to Ed, the replacement router was a breeze to set up. My Stupid Leg prefers this method of web surfing. Ed prefers this method, too, because it means he has his computer back. For me, it means I get to chat with my buddies on AOL/Yahoo again. I feel so out of the loop. Oh, and the new router means we can catch up on all those polls on the Wii...

Thanks to Mandy , I'm borrowing this one today. Thanks! ONE WORD ANSWERS, ONLY, if you're planning on stealing this one, too: You're Feeling: peckish To Your Left: table On Your Mind: snack You Sometimes Find it Hard To: rest The Weather: windy Something You Have a Collection of: Toppers (Antenna, but that's two words) A Smell that Cheers You Up: coffee A Smell that Can Ruin Your Mood: smoke How Long Since You Last Shaved: hours (but it'll be weeks before I have to again) The Current State of Your Hair: bushy The Largest Item On Your Desk/ Workspace Right Now (besides computer): lamp Your Skill with Chopsticks: clumsy Which Section You Head to First In the Bookstore: educational and After That?: romance Something You're Craving: chocolate Your General Thoughts On the Presidential Race: bored How Many Times You've Been Hospitalized this Year: 0 A Favorite Place to Go for Quiet Time: library You've Always Secretly Thought You'd Be a Good: teacher Som...

While we were waiting to visit Aquatica, we killed some time window shopping at Downtown Disney. I had fun taking pictures at the World of Disney and Lego stores. Heck, I had fun taking pictures before we got there. So, for a Monday giggle, take a look at these: Goofing off while Ed pumps gas: Trying on hats. He tried on LOTS of hats: Wearing his Alter Ego: Having fun with the close up: Pretty pink Legos. Guess they wanted to have ALL kids coveting more bricks that hurt parent's feet: Guess these won't be retreads someday: Chef would take handfuls of these and say "I'm rich!": Ooooh, wouldn't these look great on a Toa: Bright orange, just the thing for Indy to be trying to find: Hope you enjoyed!

I just got an email from Wee World that chose my topic for me. It said that I should come choose my prom wear. Uhh, that ship sailed YEARS ago. So, with that in mind, the topic is PROM SONGS! :) Mine was "I'll Be There" by the Jackson 5. No, I am not THAT old. The silly cheerleaders who were on the prom committee had a serious thing for Michael Jackson (this was the era of "Thriller" and the early days of MTV), so they went for prepubescent Michael. You know, about the age boy he's attracted to now. As a prom song, this really bites. It's a lame song. Mariah Carey covered it years later and it was still lame. The year I graduated, 1984, we had some decent songs to choose from. In fact, 4 years later, Giggle's class chose a song from 1984, Alphaville's "Forever Young". Much more appropriate and catchy. I think that what makes it worse is that my then boyfriend wouldn't go, and I went with a friend. Yes, I went with a fri...

We finally made it over to Aquatica , Sea World's new waterpark. The day started when my alarm went off at 7am, which I promptly shut off. Then the phone rang at 8am and we slowly got in gear. The park was scheduled to open at 10am, so we figured if we got there by 11am, we'd be fine. WRONG! If you're going, plan on being there at park opening. We arrived to traffic signs everywhere that said the park is full, visit Sea World next door. They also said the park would reopen at 3pm. All three of us were disappointed, but we drove over to Downtown Disney and looked around at World of Disney and the Lego store before Chef Jr. complained of hunger. We walked into the Earl of Sandwich and saw a line that was nearly as long as a queue for an e ticket ride. Out to Crossroads and one of the restaurants there. We were seated immediately and had food in less than 10 minutes. (and I think we still would have been waiting to order at Earl's) At 3pm, we were on Internati...

Interview with company A on Thursday. Gameboy's birthday. I'm hoping that birthday karma will factor in. Company C bowed out, but there are other things to apply for to add to the mix. We still haven't gotten a phone call to come get our kid, so I'm assuming the camping trip is going well. Payday. Ugh. 60 hours equals too little money. Even if I didn't spend a dime from this one and the next one (another 60 hours) I don't have enough to pay just the bills. More month than money really sucks. Know anyone who wants to buy a kidney? Mine are in pretty good shape...

Howdy, my job search is doing what it always does. This is what happens: 1. Suzanne decides it's time to find a new job or sees an ad for something she REALLY wants to do. 2. Suzanne applies for the job. (job A) 3. Suzanne doesn't hear back about the job (but in this situation, has a contact at corporate) 4. After a month, Suzanne decides to go troll the waters for other fish. 5. Suzanne starts applying for other jobs (job B); sometimes interviews are conducted. 6. Interviews go well, very well. 7. When Suzanne doesn't want to get her hopes up about the job just interviewed, she hears back from the job she thought wouldn't happen. This is what will happen next, based on my past: 1. Suzanne has interviewed for job B, sent her resume directly to the person responsible at job A and emailed back the person she contacted on a lark at a third company (where she said she's looking for a corporate trainer position) and the recruiter wants a resume ASAP. (job C) 2. Suzanne ...