Keeping Up With The Joneses

paving the way

Just when I thought no more pieces or parts could be jarred from my car, they paved one of the back roads I take to work. I am thinking I have lost many bolts, screws, springs, rubber bands (whatever a car needs in order to function). It is so much smoother now and the rest of my journey to work is pretty good until I get about a mile from work where the road has as many pot holes as a flea-collarless dog has fleas. Hope that road is on TDOT's list of future paving projects. Do they take nominations?

punch to the gut

My youngest nephew went camping this past weekend with his fellow Boy Scouts. Sometimes his dad and mom go on these camping trips, but they did not go this time.

My sister-in-law to my nephew: "What was your favorite part of the trip?"

My nephew (in typical teen speak): "You guys were not there."

leaf raking

This weekend, I neglected the raking of leaves in my yard, although many of my coworkers raked their leaves. My friend, LT, was in town and was part of the reason I neglected my yard. I also was not in the mood to rake. I decided if I waited another week, the rest of the leaves on my trees would most likely fall and I will only have to do this chore once. My guilt for not doing anything about the leaves this weekend led to a dream last night that my neighbor across the street brought over his entire family to rake my leaves. I tried to explain my reasons to them in my dream. They were not very understanding. Then, I woke up. Some people might take that as a sign and come home after work to take care of things. It was dark when I got home so the leaves were not so bothersome. Along with my escape from actually raking the leaves, I was one of few coworkers whose arms were not sore yesterday.

birthday trip destination change

Barcelona, Spain was to be the destination for a birthday trip next year with friends as I previously reported. We are now thinking it will be San Francisco, California. Here are the top ten reasons I picked a place in the States and San Fran in particular:

10. The plane ride will not be as long, so my patience will not be tried as much as with an international flight...very little jet lag, too.

9. There should not be a language barrier, except maybe learning California phrases like, "Let's catch a wave."

8. No foreign currency exchange will have to occur and I will not have to put on my reading glasses every time I have to use a coin or bill.

7. The trip will not require more than a week since we can get there faster.

6. I have always wanted to go to California.

5. The travel reservations do not have to be made as far in advance.

4. There should not be that many cultural differences if we stay in the States.

3. I will be able to identify most of the food items.

2. They have a lot of vineyards.

1. Aaron Spelling's Charmed was filmed there (just kidding about this one).

purpose in life

I stopped by to see my nephews one night last week. For an Eagle Scout project, my oldest nephew was working on a project submission in which he had to write down his purpose in life. When he told me, my response was, "Hmmm. You are awfully young to have to come up with that. I don't even know my purpose in life at my age...and let's not say my age out loud."

As his mom and I rode with him to pick up his brother, we tried to help him with this project. I made suggestions such as, "You could say your mission in life is to make the women in your life happy, especially your mother and aunt. You could say you want to make the world a better place. You could say you want to get a Jaguar like that one." I pointed to the car next to us as we sat at a light. His mother had some better suggestions, but all of our suggestions were met with a rolling of his eyes. We made sure we were stopped when making most of the suggestions since he was driving and it is not as safe when the driver is rolling his eyes.

I had to leave their house before we had a concrete purpose for his life. As I drove home, I tried to come up with my own purpose...still not sure what it is.

more than human

Sometimes it is hard to be human, because that means we make mistakes. Apparently, there are those in this world who are more than human who love to shine a spotlight on such mistakes made by others because they themselves do not make any. Recently at work, I have wanted to quote the scripture about those who have no sin can cast the first stone. It seems very appropriate, but I have refrained from quoting it so far. Some around me might actually think they can throw a stone.

My work group has many opportunities to make mistakes that can be seen by lots of people. We handle internal and external communications for the company. We are also very busy and that generally sets up communication folks for some sort of failure. The biggest problem is that our mistakes are seen by lots of people. Did I mention that already? The more-than-humans who pull reports all day long are most likely making some mistakes, but not as many people know about them. Our mistakes are published in e-mails, on web sites, in videos and in newsletters. The best thing about web mistakes is the ability to quickly correct them. Printed mistakes...not so easy.

I should take the high road and let the more-than-humans point fingers if it makes them feel superior, but that gets really old really fast. A mistake I made last week is continuing to haunt me, even beyond Halloween. When I think I have moved on, someone else calls about it, e-mails about it or mentions it in conversation. There is really too much other stuff going on for me to dwell on it. I hope with time, the more-than-humans will also move on to more important things, like collecting stones.

sushi or not sushi

Our department had lunch yesterday at Goten Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar near our office. We have a monthly lunch to celebrate birthdays during the month. I have not been to a Japanese steak house since I was in China. Yep, I went to a Japanese steak house in China, one of many odd experiences during that trip.

Along with our meal prepared on the hibachi grill in front of us, AB, AS and I decided to get some Sushi. LT will be so excited to read that sentence. I am not a risk taker when it comes to food and have not had much Sushi. AB and I discussed what to share and decided to avoid any of the options with "roe". This was after she explained that roe is fish eggs. AS kept saying, "You don't even taste them." AB and I kept saying, "Eewww!" We got a New York roll that had crab and cucumber (no roe). It was delicious. We also sampled the Philadelphia roll that AS ordered. It had smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese...also delicious.

With the Sushi, soup, and salad, I was almost too full to eat my hibachi-grilled Beef Teriyaki. Our chef was difficult to understand, but when we thought about what he might be asking in this particular meal preparation situation, most of us figured out what he was asking. I think I answered his questions o.k., but I am still not positive.

more news about chicken

I recently noticed that the Mrs. Winner's near my house and work were altering the outside of their restaurants. I thought, "Isn't that nice that they are updating their look." Then I realized they updated their look and changed the name to Church's. I guess they were bought out by another chicken place. I had not gotten the memo. I am really not as obsessed by chicken restaurants as one might suspect from my recent posts. There is just a lot going on in the chicken world these days.

a small but powerful gesture

As I drove home from work yesterday, I cut through another neighborhood to get to my own. As I turned onto one street, I noticed three young girls standing near the road. They were approximately 10-12 years old. As I got closer to where they stood, I wondered what it was they were planning on the day before Halloween. When I got next to them, they all raised their hands in claw-like poses and growled at me. It made me laugh and made my otherwise gloomy day much brighter. The stress of the day started to melt away. I would thank them, but will probably not see them again.

new season

The new television season began a few weeks ago. A new show called FlashForward is intriguing, but I am not sure it will become a must see for me. I always seem to be doing other things when this show is on and it is one that you really have to sit down and pay attention. I may need to record the series and watch the episodes back-to-back to keep up. There are few shows that get my full attention these days. The Mentalist is one, because I don't want to miss one minute of Simon Baker's screen time. The Closer is another, but it is a show that has new episodes during the summer and is now showing repeats. What I have found about both of those shows is that I don't like to watch an episode that I have already seen. I don't know why that is, because that is not true for some Law & Order episodes that I have seen multiple times.

I have mentioned before that I love Fox's Glee. Other new shows I like include the comedy Accidentally On Purpose and Mercy, a hospital drama that has not gotten kudos for its reality. I have almost lost interest in Eastwick, based on the movie The Witches of Eastwick, which I liked. I have yet to see Trauma. Based on the previews, it looks like it would be good. I have also not seen Modern Family, which is touted by critics as the breakout new comedy. As is generally the case for me and spin-offs, I am not sold on NCIS: Los Angeles. I love the original series and I really like looking at Chris O'Donnell, but I am having a hard time getting into the show.

Returning shows I like are How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, NCIS, Brother and Sisters, Law & Order, Monk, The Office, 30 Rock and Bones. I have not watched Bones in the past, but TNT started playing repeats during the summer and now I watch it. It helps that I finally got a DVR to record shows when I am not home or two shows are on at the same time when I am at home. You can skip commercials and decrease the viewing time, which is another plus to DVR. The only shows I can say I don't want to miss an episode this year would be The Mentalist, Mad Men, Big Bang Theory and Glee.