Monday, June 27, 2005

Being Polite

Stacy was here baysitting Ava today. She had some guy stop by to visit. Besides having a voice that could be heard blocks away, his language was liberally peppered with 4-letter words. So, I walked outside to ask that he watch his language, especially considering that Ava tries to repeat everything she hears.

Stacy says he's trying to, but he's never been around babies before.

My response? "And I guess he's never been around people either? It's only common courtesy when you visit someone's house."

I wonder why he didn't stick around very long after that? ;))

Cat

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Tabbed browsing

I've discovered tabbed browsing! I didn't even know what it was until this afternoon, and now it's one of those "don't know how I lived without it" things.

For those of you non-techies like me, who have no idea what I'm talking about, it means that when you have more than one internet page open, you can see the name of each page in a tab on the toolbar. It's so much easier than clicking on 'window' and picking from the list, plus you can always see how many windows you have open. (Sometimes I lose track when I'm linking a lot) It looks like this:


Many thanks to Gimikera for posting in her blog how to add this cool feature to my computer!

Cat



P.S...Here is a link to the (quick & easy) download

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Yikes....Foiled Again!

After work today, I got my nails done. The place where I've been going recently has an all spanish-speaking staff, and they always talk to each other and joke around in spanish.

Since my spanish is so bad, I usually don't ever tell anyone that I speak it unless I have to. (Is that voyeuristic of me? Just to listen in on other people's conversations like that? Without them knowing that I understand?)

Today though, the girls were in rare form, teasing one of the other nail techs, and the jokes were getting funnier and funnier until I couldn't keep a straight face anymore. I finally had to burst out laughing.

They all just stopped and looked at me. "You speak spanish?" Just a little, I say.

I guess my secret is out. ;)) Oh, well. At least now I have more people to practice my bad spanish with, haha. I'll have to find someone else to eavesdrop on.

Cat

Monday, June 20, 2005

Boiled Water

Palm Beach County, Florida. One of the richest per-capita counties in the nation.

And I'm afraid to drink the water.

I turned on the TV this morning, and for the seventh time, in just that many days, parts of the county are under a boil-water alert. What happens if those people don't turn on the TV or the radio? Ugh, never mind, I'd rather not think about the answer to that question. And why do we have so many orders to boil our water anyway? Today the reason given is because of the recent rainstorms.

Hmmm. Our weather is tropical. It rains. A lot. And the county sewer system breaks down in a thunderstorm? They didn't plan for rain?

I find myself wondering if other places have the same problem. Is this as common in the rest of the USA as it is here? Maybe that's the reason so many people drink bottled water.

How can I be sure that I've boiled all the germs out anyway? I know they (the mysterious they people) say that boiling for one minute purifies the water, but really, if I know it's been compromised by waste-water, do I want to drink it? Even if I boiled it for an hour, I don't think I'd look forward to swallowing it.

So, for now, I'll stick to drinks that come in a bottle. At least until they get this sewer stuff sorted out.

Cat

Friday, June 17, 2005

We all scream for ice cream!

About a month ago, someone offered me an open invite to come out to dinner with them, since they go out just about every night. Tara has told me twice now that I better call and go out with them, because they're starting to get upset and insulted that I haven't taken them up on the offer yet. I've just been sooo tired, but that's another blog. Anyway, I called them last night to see if I could join them. Here's how the call went...

Hi there, it's Cat.

Oh, hi! We were just getting ready to go out for dinner. Do you want to join us?

Sure, where are you going?

Over to the italian place. Can you come over now?

Yes. I just have some groceries in the car, I have to put them in the freezer, then I'll be right there.

(pause) Oh. (longer pause) Well, why don't you meet us there, then?

I don't know where it is, can you give me directions?

(begins a long, confusing set of directions. I almost don't even know where to turn after I leave my driveway)

That sounds really confusing. I'll just come over. I can be there in ten minutes.

It's really not that hard. (more babbled directions) The thing is, well, if we leave our house right now, we can get there before 6:00. If we make it by 6:00, well, um, we get a free dessert.

WHAT?!?? Did I hear that correctly? These people don't even normally eat dessert! And they surely aren't short for cash. What is it about Florida that makes people so friggin' wierd about stuff like this? I almost felt like telling them I'd buy them the damn scoop of ice cream, but instead I just agreed to meet them there. I could call the restaurant for clearer directions.

I sure had to admit defeat on this one, a free scoop of spumoni was up for grabs!

Cat

Friday, June 10, 2005

Goodbye, Bill

Today is my cubby-mate's last day of work here. He is leaving to pursue a career in real estate, at which I'm sure he will excel. (so, Bill, think of me when you're a real estate mogul!)

We've been cubby-mates for years, though, and who could ever replace him and his inimitable style?

Who will hold my hand when I'm feeling down? Who will tell me jokes when the day gets stressful? Who is going to be my personal secretary when I'm on vacation? Who will be my living thesaurus when I can't think of the word I need? And who is going to tell me who's boffing who?

Well, good luck, Bill. I know we'll still be friends outside of work, but there'll never be another cubby-mate like you.

Cat

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Travel plans

aiiii! I have "bloggers block". Can't think of a thing to write about. Maybe I should start another catfight, hehe.

I am planning a couple of trips to Mexico, I'm excited about those! Going back to Buenavista in September for Independence Day, and then will be traveling in Oct/Nov for two weeks through DF (Mexico City), Oaxaca, and Puerto Escondido. Those three are all new destinations for me, so I can't wait to visit them.

Saludos!

Cat