fun with maps

UPDATED! I finally figured out how to resize the image (and I had forgotten a state)! Yay for me! (Thanks Mike!)

totally copying john on this one...

only counting states in which i have slept...i'm almost halfway there!



create your own visited states map

merry christmas to me!

deadPod has been replaced! I can't wait to pick up nano when I get to Houston!

Buying the red one means I'm friends with Bono now, I think. So nobody tell him it just happened to be my favorite color option.

deadpod

I dropped my iPod last night getting off the tube. It was unprotected (despite the fact that I have a perfectly good shock-absorbing ipod carrier at home) and really took a major ding to the casing. The screen looked fine, but no amount of button-pushing seemed to bring it out of the seizure I think it was having. I could hear all sorts of things happening inside my little music machine, which persisted for a long time.

When I finally looked at it again right before going to bed, it had switched itself off. Cautiously optimistic, I attempted to turn it back on, and when it tried to sputter to life (with much noise and complaint), this picture appeared on the screen.

I am pretty confident that means my ipod is now a deadpod. May he rest in peace.

i've been outed

Somebody at work Googled me and now they know I have a blog. "They" likely only means a particular pair of wind-ups to whom I affectionately refer as Statler and Waldorf.

Regardless, it's still a bit unsettling.

sad

A friend who attends All Souls just told me that John Stott won't be preaching this Sunday. He's been ill recently, and apparently not yet feeling well enough to deliver a sermon. I'm so sad! Sad because he's been ill and because I've been looking forward to this Sunday for a LONG time.

john stott

A friend recently sent me this article on John Stott, one of my heroes of the Christian faith.

For an op-ed columnist for the the New York Times, I'm not all that impressed with his overall piece, but I love the respect he has, even as a Jew, for my beloved teacher.

Stott rarely preaches these days, but I get to hear him at All Souls (where he was Rector for several years and is now Rector Emeritus, in case you didn't read those articles) next weekend! I have been looking forward to it for 3 months.

I'm even more excited about that than about my last post.

beaming

God is so gracious. For a girl He's brought from having a self-esteem level lower than the deepest layer of pre-historic frog remains under the Panama Canal...the two totally fabulous and unsolicited compliments I've received this week have been such a joy to thankfully receive without all the old "yeah, but..." tapes that used to play in my head.


COMPLIMENT ONE. IM conversation (paraphrased and reported from memory rather than a direct cut/paste quote) with one of my favorite boys in all the world...

boy: did you get my email?
me: no, what did it say?
boy: i usually read your blog from google, but a couple weeks ago, i read it directly from your site.
boy: your new picture - wow - so cute
me: aww...shucks
boy: i mean, i've always thought you were cute
boy: and i love the picture you have on IM
boy: but, wow
me: i'm blushing
me: you're SO good for my ego!

COMPLIMENT TWO. Email from my mom, who as any mom would, thinks i'm beauty queen material, so this was no surprise to her (direct quote, although names have been changed to protect the innocent)...

"BTW, yesterday as one of our auditors named Johnny Depp who works for Carribbean Consulting Pirates was leaving for the day stopped to sign out and saw your picture on my desktop, said, "family? I said "my daughter" then he said "pretty girl". He is single and really good looking, all the girls here think he is "HOT", just thought I'd tell ya."



I got the email and had the IM conversation within 2 hours of each other. I'm still beaming. Seriously. And the best part is that I actually BELIEVE them both! How fun is that!!

grumble

for the record:

1. yesterday was such a frustrating day at work that if i thought it would help i would have cried, and
2. determined not to miss session with my trainer due to work drama, i decided i would go work out and then come back to the office, so
3. when i got to the gym, I begged my trainer to make it "leg day" so i could box for my cardio intervals (i never ASK for it to be leg day), and
4. we boxed AND she brought out the leg pad so i could try and knock her over with some roundhouse kicks as well, and
5. I tried to beat the pulp out of her, and even though she managed to stay upright i still managed to get out a LOT of my frustration, so
6. even though I came back to the office and was here until 9:45, I felt better, but
7. despite having exhausted myself at work and the gym, I couldn’t sleep last night, so
8. I’m working on about 4 hours of sleep, and
9. despite the fact that I was at the station well on time for the 7:00 train, the notice boards said everything was running about 7 minutes late, so I ran upstairs to get a desperately needed latte, but
10. when I was casually coming back down the stairs, i heard the platform announcer say "...woking..." and saw the doors on MY TRAIN closing and the train started pulling away just as I stepped onto the platform (because the train in front was so late they bumped my train in front of it, my train arrived and was on it's way out of the station, all in the 3 minutes - literally, I’ve timed it - I was gone to get the blasted caffeine), so
11. I had to sit on the platform like a lump, but since I was already "late", i decided to take another train that requires me to switch trains halfway to woking, which I’ve never taken before (but meant waiting for my next train to stop at wimbledon station for 12 minutes instead of 30) and still got to the office before 8:00, and now
12. I’m on my fourth cup of coffee and I’m going to be a bouncing-off-the-walls maniac before the day is over just to keep myself awake, and
13. despite the fact that i'm pre-tired for tomorrow, I have PROMISED myself I’m going to meet up with some friends i haven't seen in a month tonight, and
14. i will only have myself to blame tomorrow.

judging england

I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner in London, hosted by two of my favorite people in this country. As the sole representative for the USA, I was asked to say grace. I think it was the first time ever I've pre-written a prayer, but I've seen people do it before, so I decided it still counts and is actually a cool thing to do.

After the meal and pudding (read: dessert) were served, there was a quiz. I can't describe the amount of pressure I was feeling for our table to win, but imagined it would be a relatively easy road to victory, because honestly...how much does anyone in England know about Thanksgiving? Turns out, the quiz master Googled for days to find the most obscure and random facts about Thanksgiving he could.

After the 10 questions were given, we were told there was a BONUS round. Oh, GOODIE! I LOVE bonus round!! THEN, the quiz master pulled me out of my team's table because I was to be the JUDGE of the bonus round. EVEN BETTER!!

Each team had to send a representative to the front of the room to compete (somehow my team got overlooked...still a bit of a quandary there).

The bonus round consisted of a competition to mimic my accent - which quickly became rather deep east-Texan (because why not?). After 2 rounds and a "speak-off", I declared the winner: a scottish man. Before you roll your eyes, you should note that (a)he lived in Texas for 3 years and (b)he's married and retired. Just, you know, for the record.

Even without a rep in the bonus round, my team won by a land slide. No, it wasn't rigged...

providence

some days you come easy
some days you don't
but even on the hard days
i know what i know.

faith is not a possession but engagement
hope is not a wish but faith

the feelings count but are not the sum
the logic too but not alone

the other would have me disregard what the One has shown
but as my thankful heart sighs my spirit says no.

1 comments

So...we've talked about the "1 comments" thing before.

And...I've switched to the beta version of blogger - presumably the testing platform for new and improved features.

But...I just noticed something odd in my "manage your posts" view.

Compare the "public view" (see this week's entry below - "happy week: day 3")...

...to my "manage posts" view:



Does anyone see an inconsistency here? I think the beta team has missed a much needed improvement. Tear.

too much chocolate?

There was a time when I thought the phrase "too much chocolate" was an oxymoron. Those days are over.

A small group of people in my office have formed a loosely organized ritual of a very tiny dosage of high-end chocolate 3 or 4 times a week at tea time...Cadbury Dairy Milk consumers not allowed (think milk chocolate Hershey bar).

We affectionately refer to ourselves as "chocolate snob club".

We all bring in new and different types of chocolates or chocolate bars in varying degrees of darkness. This club is about quality and palette formation, not about massive consumption of sugary sweets. Example: we recently spent 2 weeks working through a box of Lindt dark chocolate orange ultra-thins (and they DO mean ultra-thin). Those were wonderful afternoons.

So far, Lindt and Green & Black seem to be our favorite brands.

A few weeks ago, I spotted some Lindt bars at Harrods. They were selling 70%, 85% and 99% cocoa bars. Well, being the true chocolate snob that I am, I skipped right over the 70% bars and went for the kill on the 85% and 99% bars.

We spent the last week working our way through the 85% bar, which was rough, I have to admit...the chocolate was so dark and bitter that I could only manage to work my way through 1/2 of a 1" x 1" square at tea time. To my surprise, by the end of the week I found I was starting to enjoy it. So, naturally, I was a bit nervous about the next step...but assumed my palette would continue to develop.

Today, we opened the 99% cocoa bar. It was awful. It tastes like cooked mud. It's not even bitter...it's just...cake-y, sugarless blackness.

We have now decided that the 99% Lindt bar will be the club initiation. If you can choke down a square of that stuff...you're in.

happy week: day 5

Yes, I know I missed a day last week, but for very good reason, which happens to be the TOPIC for day 5. It's Paris. I was in Paris on Friday.

Paris makes me happy. For clarity...visiting Paris makes me happy (read: I have no desire to live there or anywhere in France ever again, but I'm happy to visit anytime).

It makes me happy to be able to communicate with the "natives" in their own language. What's even better...everywhere we went, almost without exception, I spoke French with everyone we had to deal with...and NOBODY corrected my French. This is an amazing fact, and one that makes me very happy - because, like the English, the French aren't hesitant to correct you when you're wrong. I like that, because I WANT to be corrected. My french host mom did me such a great service by relentlessly correcting me on my pronunciation and spoken grammar when I lived there. Bless her.

I never thought I'd be on the road to being tri-lingual! Apparently, I can speak English, French and American pretty well!

happy week: day 4

I love working in a "town center" environment. My office building is literally connected to one of the four main corners of Woking Town Square. What this means is that I can pop out for lunch and accomplish all of the following...

• walk to the mall
• browse through the clothes, handbags and shoes at TK Maxx (yes...TK, not TJ)
• try on a few pair of jeans and 2 pair of shoes
• buy the stuff I fell in love with
• head upstairs and a few doors down to one of my favorite shoe stores and browse around for anything I can't live without
• head up another flight of stairs and across the mall to Claire's (yes, I know I'm not 14, but with a little patience you can find a few age-appropriate accessories in there)
• browse around to find the best selections on the "3 for the price of 2" selection (which is of course located all over the store) and make a purchase
• exit the mall and walk to another shopping center nearby
• find a place for today's sandwich and stand in a decent queue before purchasing
• walk back to the office

...all in just 57 short minutes.

happy week: day 3

As requested, today's little bit of happiness is a bit of explanation about another item on Monday's list: "men who break into song at the very sight of me".

To be honest, there's only one many I know who currently breaks into song when he sees me. I see him about once a month on the north bank of the Thames, under Waterloo Bridge. He's homeless...and I get to chat with him while I'm there with a group of people serving lunch. Lately I seem to be getting "chocolate biscuit duty", which means that instead of standing behind a table for 2 hours serving tea and coffee, I get to carry around a bag of chocolates (usually Kit Kats...mmm, yummy!) and hand them out and chat to people - all in an effort to create relationship, since we tend to see a lot of the same people every week.

Every time this particular gentleman spots me drawing near, he launches into "Only You", which I think is rather nice. After a few bars, we usually chat about the car and bicycle repair garage he's trying to get set up, and various stories from his life that I can't always understand, but he seems to enjoy sharing.

It makes me happy just being there, but being serenaded really is a cherry-on-top deal.

happy week: day 2

...a little more about yesterday's list...

Everything on yesterday's list represents a significant happy thing. For example, it may seem a small thing, but getting a smile from a Londoner during peak commuting time is actually pretty noteworthy.

When it's a woman (which, to be honest, has been rare), I assume it's because she's just a friendly person - good with strangers, I mean.

When it's a man (which is more often the case) I assume it means he thinks I'm cute. What? A girl can dream!

It's even more fun to exchange repeated glances and grins with someone on the tube, and then happen to get off at the same stop he does...and instead of doing what I normally do on the escalator (which is stand, on the right, of course), I skip up the left side of the steps hot on the tail of Mr. Cutie-Pie, grinning to myself about how silly it is to think that we'll get to the turnstile at the station exit and he'll turn to me and finally actually SAY something.

It's REALLY fun to realize halfway up the escalator that your legs are now burning because this is an especially long escalator, but you've shot yourself in the foot by choosing left early on...because the right side is chock-a-block with people and nowhere to squeeze in, so you've essentially committed yourself to walk (it's definitely no longer a skip by the time you get to the top) all the way up. How anticlimactic it is when you lose sight of Mr Cutie-Pie right after coming through the turnstiles and heading for the exit.

Regardless...the silliness of being a girl makes me happy. If it's not fun, why bother?

happy week: day 1

After all the drama I've been on about in the last couple of weeks, I thought it would be nice (for me and for you) to devote an entire week to happy things.

Today, I present a list of things that have made me happy in the last several days:

• Gigantic fireworks shows
• Decent public transport*
• Getting a smile from a fellow commuter that you see daily
• People who smile to themselves on the tube with their eyes closed
• New friends that feel like old friends
• Men that break into song at the very sight of me
• Accents, accents everywhere
• Being from Texas, which, to be honest, makes me happy every day

*It's amazing how stress-free and enjoyable commuting can be when you don't have to pay attention to anything but where to get off the bus/train/tube.

i'm a free bird!

It only took 40 minutes and 6 transfers (between 2 different departments) to get to the right person today to cancel my broadband service with BT today.

I think this little episode in BT's history would do well as a case study for a course on customer service in some business course.

today's total: over 2 hours

for a brief few minutes, i thought everything was going my way when the Customer Options lady finally came back and said "ok...i'm going to transfer you now so they can set up an appointment", but that's when things went downhill quickly. i didn't realize she was sending me to the Incompentents, so when she started in on her "can you tell me what lights are showing on your router?" routine and i tried to shut her down, everything fell apart. so, after sitting on hold while Customer Options lady was (supposedly) explaining my situation and about 20 more minutes trying to reason with the Incompetents, it ended up taking 1 hour and 25 minutes to find out BT flat out REFUSE to send a technician to my flat.

additionally, since the only other acceptable outcome today was to cancel the service, i've got to call back the Customer Options people. yeah, you read it right...i have to call them back, because the Incompetents can't transfer me back to customer service. these people WORK FOR THE PHONE COMPANY and they can't transfer a call?

after spending 1 hour and 1 minute while the phone rang endlessly, i have had to hang up because i have to leave the office to make it to a post-work appointment. so i still haven't been able to accomplish the day's objective.

i am so angry i'm not even sure i can form complete sentences. it makes me want to cry. if you read this and you are a praying person...please pray for the people who work for BT and for my own sanity. i'm not kidding.

50 minutes and counting...

...that's how long I've been on hold with BT today so far. I don't mind because they're playing nice music and I'm playing it on speaker-phone.

The nice people in the Customer Options department are speaking to the Incompetents (read: Faults department) on my behalf right now, because I refuse to speak to the Incompetents ever again, for all of eternity.

Goal of today's call: get them to call out an engineer to my flat. That is the only acceptable outcome. All other offers will result in a "Thanks, but no thanks. Please cancel my account." response from me.

Fingers crossed...