::*.blog.this.*::

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Thursday, June 30, 2005

.caffine.addict.

that heading up there? yep, that's me. i started feeling the beginning of a headache around 11AM. i think that's my body's way of saying, "hello? where's the caffine? yooooouuuuuuuwwwwwwhhhhhhooooo!" i think it has to do with me upgrading my morning drink from a chai to a caramel macchiato. mucho caffineo, compared to the chai.

so after an early lunch for anita's bday, i made my usual stop at starbucks. everyone seems to know me at starbucks, and the usual morning shift was still there around 1230PM. i try not to be too critical with them, since i see them almost every morning, but sometimes, i just want to say, 'hey, can you stop chit-chatting and prepare these drinks?' there's a line of like 7 people at the register and about 5 waiting for their drinks to be made...gets kind of annoying at times, but what can i do, right? i tried switching starbucks, but this one is pretty convenient and on my way to the office.

so now i'm enjoying my tall, soy, no foam, chai...and no more headache! woohoo!

some other random event - i was walking to the L yesterday, coming up to the monroe/dearborn intersection. i hear ambulance sirens, and try to decipher where it's coming from. then i hear the cop working the intersection traffic yell out , 'YO GET OUT OF THE WAY!' he wasn't yelling at me, but to a few people who decided to dodge across the street before the ambulance got there. the fact that he yelled that wasn't surprising; it was the way he yelled. he sounded panicked. now if you're a cop, shouldn't you show a calm demeanor? i mean, if you don't...who will?

ahhhh, this chai is heaven.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

.SO.ANNOYING.

ever have one of those coworkers who is so completely annoying, consistently EVERY FUCKING DAY?

i work with someone on my project who seems to like passing the buck. asks me to follow up in issues she finds, when she could very easily email the very same people herself to get the answer. then if i don't answer her within 1 day, she will call me to follow up on her email follow up...for example...

we had a live dial test yesterday and during our data consistency checks, she found a 'potential' issue. she asks me about it verbally, then mentions she would like me to follow up with the business side and data services side to see if this will be an issue in our next release. i ask her to make a ticket so our PM will be aware. the ticket is made so all parties are aware.

this morning she emails me asking me if i've figured it out yet, if i've determined if it's an issue or not. first of all - it's not my call. the ticket has been made and the interested parties are aware. second of all - if you're so concerned about it, why don't you email these people yourself?! i know you're technically a 'dev' person, but this project is different than any other project in this company. you've spoken with all these people before so why are you so hesitant to bring up this issue?? and why are you asking me about it? why are you not asking the PM, who is supposed to handle this stuff?

that's not the end of it.

THEN, she calls me about it. 'hey, did you get my email? did you get a chance to follow up?' blahblahblah. so i looked at the live dial data again to make sure i know exactly what the issue is..then i write an email to the interested parties asking them what they think. at the same time, i got an email from my PM and a response from the business contact pretty much determining that this is a non-issue for our next release - that it's not that big of a deal, and we shouldn't waste our time testing another version. well, of course i didn't read these emails until after i send my email. (are you still with me?)

so in the end, the issue was resolved, our PM did follow up, and i end up looking like a dumb-ass since i didn't read those emails earlier...all because i was asked to follow up on it TWICE, from someone who shouldn't be asking me to clear up HER issues. WHY THE FUCK AM I DOING DOUBLE WORK?? there is absolutely no reason for me to get involved at that point, since others are clearing it up themselves! she clearly doesn't know the right process for our project and gets too many people involved, doing unnecessary work. ALL THE FUCKING TIME.

am i being too dramatic? maybe. but this shit happens all the time with her. she'll ask me to follow up on stuff she could clear up herself. another issue i've had is, i'll ask her a question and her responses are so roundabout, and completely confuse me and anyone else who's interested in the answer. i know i'm not alone because a few people on the business side have made a few comments about it. this is really driving me bonkers.

so shame on me for falling into the trap of thinking that it's my responsibility...i won't let it happen again. at least i hope i don't.

i think the only thing i can do now, is make sure i'm on top of my game and try to understand everything she does, so that i can answer my own questions and not have to ask her.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

.i.stink.at.this.updating.thing.

so a lot has happened since the early morning of 6/22. i have a weird theory on why i couldn't sleep during my last post. turns out my dad was in the hospital at the same time. he was going thru tests to see why he was having pain on the right side of his stomach. yes, that's right biology brainiacks, he had an appendicitis. so they gave him some antibiotics and the pain subsided, so they didn't think they had to perform the surgery right away; they scheduled it for 6AM the next morning, still 6/22.

at 8AM, i got out of the shower and see that i have a message on my cell. listen to the message, and it goes something like this:

Mom: "myra, dad's in the hospital. he's scheduled to have surgery at 6AM this morning. call me back"
Me (what!): "WTF..."

i tried calling my mom's cell twice and realized she was either in the hospital where it wasn't allowed or didn't hear it. (i believed the latter.) so i tried calling my brother, and he's the one who tells me it's his appendix. *phew* at least it's no his heart...i have to admit that one of my first thoughts, albeit selfish, was 'what if he doesn't make it to the wedding?' i know i know. just call me bridezilla.

so i called my mom at home, at my brother's advice, and my mom finally picked up the phone and said she just got out of the shower and was about to go to the hospital. she and my dad were still jetlagged, since they just came back from the motherland monday evening...my mom asks me to go to the hospital in the afternoon, so she can go to work and do the payroll stuff, since dad couldn't do it. so i go to work, tell them i have to leave at noon, then head over to the hospital by 1:30PM.

lemme preface this by saying that i HATE hospitals. i really do. i'm scared of them, don't like the smell of them, and having all the nurses as filipino also makes me nervous. don't ask me why. and no offense to anyone's mom who is/was a nurse. i just don't like the environment. i know sometimes they try to make it a nice place to be, but really, it's not. with everyone's rooms open and random issues in every door...it's just not plesant.

so i get to the hospital and try to psych myself up to what i'm about to expect to see. but when i walk into my dad's room, i wasn't quit prepared to see him so small and helpless in the bed. thank god he was sleeping, so he couldn't see the 1-second look of disturbance pass on my face. so i sit down, took out my knitting needles and proceeded to catch up on my new hobby. i had to re-read the instructions to remember how it worked; and as i was reading the 2nd page, my dad woke up and saw me. he said, "oh, myra, you're here." he tried to adjust in the bed, but was too weak to do anything. i had to get him his water and starting asking him how he was feeling, if he felt any pain, if he wanted the nurse... i showed him the tribune and readers digest issues that i brought to keep him entertained. asked him if he wanted the tv on for some background noise. he didn't really want any of these. he just wanted to lay. for the rest of the day he was in and out of sleepiness. we'd talk for a few minutes, then he'd fall asleep. caught up on the motherland and the rest of the relatives who i haven't seen in about 5 years...twas really nice. good father-daughter time. i was his 'personal nurse' for the rest of the day, until i left around 10PM. and it was emotionally draining for me, and physically draining for him.

the nurse came in and told him that if he didn't start peeing (more than 200ML at a time), then she would have to put a cathetar in, since he's intaking all these liquids, but not excreting anything out. she suggested he start walking around the hospital floor to awaken his bowels, and he gave her a look that said 'what, are you crazy??' but the threat of the cathetar was enough to make him struggle to get up and walk around for about 1/2 hour. i walked with him, and again, he looked so small and frail walking around, rolling his IV cart. about 45 minutes later, none of this worked, so the nurse had to give him the cathetar. i cringe even saying the word...so i'm sure it was pure hell for him. my aunt, uncle, and cousin came while the nurse was doing it..afterwards, we went back in his room and tried to talk normally. my uncle's a doc, so he started reviewing his chart and discussing with the nurse... then my mom finally came back around 8PM, the official end of visiting hours. the nurses, however, did not kick us out. was it because we're filipino or what? at any rate, we stayed until we left to eat.

i forgot that i hadn't eaten any solid foods all day, so by 10PM, my dad told my mom that i needed to eat. so we went out to omega's afterwards. then got home around midnight...

i know i just rambled, so forgive me if i'm a bit green with this hospital stuff. i'm just not used to it. thankfully, i'm not used to it.

my dad was originally supposed to be discharged wed night, the evening of the surgery! but my dad was hoping he wouldn't be, since the insurance doesn't pay for hospital stays less than 24 hours. well the 23 hour admittance turned into 72 hours. he wasn't discharged until sat night. they had to keep him there since it was still difficult for him to excrete those liquids, and his abdomen was still distended from being filled for too long. i went home-home to see him on sunday afternoon, and he looked almost back to normal. not eating normally, but pretty much normal. the doc said he can eat whatever he wants. but my mom won't have any of that. she made fried chicken (my favorite!) that night and wouldn't let my dad have any of it. hahaha. as we were eating, my mom got up to go to the kitchen for some water, and my dad reached over to eat some of her fried chicken and rice...i just shook my head at him...

other than that excitement, we're finally settling on invitations and favors. FINALLY! i just want it over with at this point, so we can get on with the other things.

and can i just say that dancing with the stars is the bomb diggity! as well as beauty and the geek. thank god it's on during the summer so i have something more to watch than dawsons! not that dawsons isn't good enough for me, because it is...but you know. variety is the spice of life. mmmmmmK.

also, i'm back to running on the lake during the weekends. i ran about 4 miles this past saturday...well, really run and walk. i didn't want to push too hard. but this weekend, i'm planning on running a lot more. thursday is my last session of physical therapy, which is good because training for the 1/2 marathon in sept starts next monday! if i can't do the full, i may as well do the 1/2! who knows, i may just run that full marathon this year anyways...

*insert evil grin here*

cesare!

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

i.can't.sleep.

...and i know i'm going to be paying for this tomorrow. it's so late, and i can't frickin fall asleep. ugh.

PT this morning was good. worked on more leg strengthening exercises. tomorrow night, i'm going to work out a little harder. maybe 25 minutes of stairmaster, and 3 miles - however long that will take me now. my PT said that i should now try to run 1 full mile before walking; before i was doing intervals of 1 minute walk/4 minutes run. hopefully this weekend, i'll be able to run on the lake. maybe 4 miles or so. is marathon training out of the picture? probably, but a girl can dream, can't she?

wedding planning is starting to pick up. i'm going to email the invitation site tomorrow and see what they can do for us. i also need to make sure i get a clearer picture of the # of invites. i feel like i'm a project manager...where's my ms project plan?

i went to paper source yesterday (monday), and bought some cute stationary. made my first bday card and also sent a thank you card to someone who has allowed me to take over her life for the past 6 months. i gratitude card is nothing compared to the time she's given up for me lately. and putting up with my indecisiveness. poor girl.

real world austin tonight was good stuff. i don't know why i let myself get sucked in...3 seasons ago, i'm sure i said, i'm never watching this again. and look where i am. but it's pure entertainment for me. i'm so past that phase in my life, so it's always entertaining seeing others go thru it on national tv. i can't wait for tomorrow night - beauty and the geek and dancing with the stars...WOOHOO!

ok, i'm going to try to sleep now. obviously, the writing above was just some useless ramblings. i'll try to be more entertaining in my next post.

nighty night, darling.


Thursday, June 16, 2005

duhm duhm duuuuuuuu.

cue the ominous music. they started layoffs today. *gulp* i think i'm ok. i mean, let's face it. i don't make that much money to begin with, so what would their savings actually be? not enough to make it worth their while. we have an all IT meeting tomorrow morning at 9AM sharp. what if they need to lay off a few more people? i bet you if you're the last person to arrive, they lay you off right then and there. it's like, the early bird gets the job. i guess in some ways, it's good that i don't make a lot of money. but seriously, they layed off my project's PM, who was hired a few months ago to take over for our PM consultant who is supposed to rolled off in 2 weeks! so hopefully that means he's staying, since he is way better than this other guy...


anyways, my birthday was a lot more fun than i thought it would be; i had hoped to skip it, since i'm not thrilled to be getting over the hump and into my late 20s. however, m and a planned and put together a happy hour/dinner for me at plush. i think this will be my new stomping ground. good times, good drinks, good food, and good peeps. even though a was not in town, i still surprisingly had a good time. and the group gift this year was a $200 gift certificate to bloomies...WOOHOO! they are so generous. j and i were in rare (yeah, right) form; up to our old tricks. WASTED! mmmmmmK. i felt bad for ab since she had to put up with us at the end of the night. vegas will be off the hook.... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmK.

my parents are still in the motherland, so we'll probably go out to dinner when they get back. hopefully they are able to find some good stuff for the wedding. fyi: in case you didn't know, i'm tired of planning this wedding. have i said that enough yet? we still have to pick out the invites, book the rehearsal dinner location, and a whole bunch of other small things. ugh. and we still have decide on the date for my family shower...

ok, back to work. watching mari run the jim gibbons 5K tonight in honor of her cousin who passed because of leukemia. want to donate for her cause? click
here



Thursday, June 02, 2005

.marathon.training.

so i was reading the cara site, and marathon training begins next week. *sigh*

but maybe i can still do the 1/2 in september?

that's all.