Serial posting here... I've got two films in mind to rent tonight. Feel free to add your suggestions, though. I'm thinking about Monster's Ball and Mulholland Drive. Anyone seen these? What did you think? No spoilers, I beg you.
1. What happened on Friends last night? Dolt that I am, I forgot to tape it while I was out.
2. Anyone know a good movie to rent tonight? The last movie I rented was In the Bedroom, so I'm looking for an Oscar-quality film. No Jean Claude van Damme or Jim Carrey stuff, please. And no teenage sex comedies.
Friday Friday Friday... Last night I went to my journalists' meeting and listened to Major Applewhite speak. (For those of you who don't know him - and I didn't until last week - he used to be a star quarterback for the UT Longhorns. I think. Now he has a radio show and does some sports reporting on TV.) He was okay, didn't say anything brilliant. As I am wont to do, however, I did notice a few missteps in his speech. He was talking about how he wears makeup on TV and noted that his girlfriend "dragged him to the mack counter." (He was referring to MAC Cosmetics.) It was especially funny because he made fun of his fellow players' inarticulate post-game comments to the media. But anyway...I'm sure you're dying to hear more, but let's move on.
I didn't go to the gym last night. My boss wasn't at work all day Thursday, so I was free to leave whenever I wanted. So I had my gym bag packed and it was all planned out. I would leave at 3 or so, go to the post office and mail some stuff, then go work out. I finished at the post office and was about halfway to the gym when I stopped and went back home. I just didn't feel like it, you know? Every fiber of my being was telling me to go home. So I did. And I enjoyed it. I watched Friends and played with the kitties and just had a grand old time until I had to leave for the meeting. I think it's okay to cheat every once in a while and stay home. Life is too short to torture yourself.
Jen's Calorie Saver of the Day: I think I'm going to make this a new feature. Every day, I'll tell you how I watched myself and ate less food. Today, I had a meeting with some of my coworkers. Everyone was eating these oblong raisin-biscuit-bagel things that they stole from another department downstairs. They looked really good, covered with honey-peanut butter spread and stuff. Boy, I wanted one of those bagels. I haven't had a bagel in a while. But after the meeting was over, I didn't go downstairs and scarf one. I had already had a granola bar for breakfast, you see. So instead I went to Starbucks and got a grande nonfat caramel macchiato. I saved probably 300 calories, since the bagel would have been like 450 and the macchiato was probably 150 or so. Cool.
So I go into the office and announce myself, only to find out that I am not going to see a doctor...I need to see a contact tech or whatever. Fine. So I go over there and wait five million years while they pull my chart. The girl peers at it and looks up at me. "Are you here for contacts?" she asks. I explain my eye-pain problem, and she gives me some more contacts to try and see if they hurt. Okay, fine. I tell her also that my eye sometimes hurts even when the contact isn't in there. "And you told Doctor (name) that?" she asked. "Yep." "Okay," the tech says, "I would recommend that you see another doctor, just for a second opinion."
I grew suspicious at that point. "What's wrong with Doctor (name)?" I asked. She got a guilty look on her face. After I swore not to tell anyone, she told me that this doctor I saw was apparently the crappiest doctor in the whole firm, "and that's why he's always available." Makes sense, since my appointment was originally supposed to be with another guy and he cancelled, so out of desperation I went with this guy.
So I'm going to try these contacts and then maybe hook up with another ophthalmologist. I won't divulge the name of the sucky ophthalmologist here...I'll only say that his last name begins with H and has eight letters, and he's part of a firm with two locations in Austin. Just some medical advice there for you Austinites.
Today is a good day. It's Thursday, almost the weekend, the magazine stories are done, yay yay yay...and my boss is working from home today! Can we say "early exit?"
Last night Mark and I ended our Internet problems and signed up for NetZero Platinum. That's their top-of-the-line service, which is just a basic dialup like AOL but costs about $9.95 instead of $22. There is a small bar at the bottom of the screen that has to remain on there at all times when you're logged on, but it is very small and doesn't contain any ads, so I'm okay with it. It's much better than NetZero's free service, which only allows you to log on for 10 hours a month and forces you to watch ads and click on pop-ups. But hey, it's free ...
Today I have to go get my eyes checked. Or rather, my right eye. You see, I've been wearing contact lenses since sixth grade, but lately it's been very painful to put one in my right eye. I have no idea what the hell happened. So the eye guy turned my eyelid inside out and put some yellow drops in there, then said that he saw nothing wrong. He suggested that my contacts might not fit me right. So I called him back later with the lens measurements. No response till Monday, when they asked me to come in for a followup. I swear, unless I actually see a doctor and get something done this time, I'm NOT paying a copay...
I didn't go to the gym yesterday. I played hooky and took Mark some dinner. He was working late, as usual. I'm not going tonight, either, because I have an evening function to attend and there may be some drinking involved...but not too much. I hope this will be a good networking opportunity for me ... lots of people in my field will be there ... in this economy, it's good to have your options open.
Okay, I very nearly had a heart attack just a few minutes ago. I'm trying to finish a story for next month's magazine and I made some interview notes in word on my new laptop. But as fate would have it, I couldn't get it to print. So Tech Guy comes to fix it. After a couple minutes of fussing, he asks if I'm going to lunch soon and takes the computer down to his office where he and Computer Guru can work on it some more. When I come back from lunch at Whole Foods, the computer is back - but my interview notes are missing. I felt like crying, but luckily Tech Guy calls me about 15 minutes later and tells me that he found it. Apparently, the file was hidden in some dark corner of my C drive.
So whew. I think I might have gone postal if it had been lost forever. Another lesson learned today? Back up everything. Put those little unused floppies to good use.
I'm going through Internet withdrawal. Or rather, I was yesterday. They took my computer at work so they could set up my new one, and it took forever. So I went home to work on my home computer, but the AOL account I use is messed up. So that meant no Internet until this morning. My inbox was jam-packed to say the least. My mom, who pays for the account (I used a screenname on it), called AOL yesterday to find out why we were being locked out. Turns out they cancelled it because it had been created by a minor - my little sis, Kat. My mom thinks it's because she was on one of her "free" months that they gave her because of past problems. They offered to send her a free modem when hers conked out, and give her 2 free months of AOL in addition, to keep her from cancelling. But the modem never came, and the 2 free months were wasted. So she called a bunch more times and the modem finally came. October was the first month that she was actually getting free and using. Mom thinks that they got all concerned when they found out she was getting a free month, and dug up something to cut her off.
But anyway, moral of the story: AOL is evil. Don't use them.
I got a new Compaq laptop at work (the laptop is my main computer, since I travel a little; it's hooked up to a full size monitor and keyboard and mouse). But they haven't bought the little doohickey that allows both the keyboard AND mouse to be hooked up to the laptop. So I can use the regular keyboard, but every time I need to use the mouse I have to reach over to the little crappy laptop "mouse." It sucks.
I know this is really boring. But hey, so is my life. I just got off the phone with Randalls customer service to bitch them out for not signing me up for the Continental One Pass miles promotion. The way it works is, you are supposed to get frequent flyer miles with every dollar you spend at the grocery store. I turned in my signup sheet a LOONG time ago. But when I handed it in, the guy looked mystified, as if he had no idea what to do with it. After a while, I got suspicious and sent an e-mail to headquarters, where their people confirmed that I was NOT signed up for the promotion. What idiots. But they've agreed to make my miles retroactive all the way back to the time I first signed up for the grocery store discount card, which was in like June. And I only signed up for the promotion in September, so I'm ahead. Score!
This IS supposed to be a weight loss journal, isn't it? Right. So I got home about 11 a.m. and worked through the afternoon, then raced to the gym and did 40 mins of cardio and 20 minutes of weights. I walked in and I was like, I'll do weights first this time, so they're not hanging over my head while I'm pedaling away on the bike. So I went to do them, and the first machine I sat down on, someone else was already using. Sort of. This guy had "claimed" both the hamstring and quadricep machine and was alternating between the two. When I sat down on the hamstring machine, he was over talking to some guy. But then he raced over and he was like, "Sorry, I'm using this one." That's when I saw the Starbucks frappuccino cup sitting near the machine (weird, I know). Well, buddy, if you're using it, how about actually working on it instead of leaving your trash beside it to hold it for you? What a jerk. I never, ever leave the machine I'm working on. I use it till I'm through, then I graciously give it up to someone else.
Oh yeah, which reminds me of another gym pet peeve: Not wiping machines down after using them. I am amazed at how many people will sit down on the recumbent bicycles, huff and puff for 40 minutes on high speed, and then get up and walk away, leaving a lake of sweat on the seat and seat back. So gross. Whenever I'm finishing up on the treadmill and getting ready to get on the bike, I always keep a close eye on which bikes were wiped down, and then try to get one of those. I mean, come on people, it's really not that hard to clean up after yourself. The nice gym people even provide paper towels and disinfectant spray for you. Have some manners.
I am majorly PO'd this morning and it's all because of AOL. I use a screenname on my mom's account to sign on at home (read: free Internet). Well, last night, I typed in my password and dialed away, only to be faced with the "Invalid Password, please re-enter" screen. I retyped it, and promptly got kicked off. I repeated the process a couple of times ... no dice. So I called my parents' house. "Why did you change my password?" I angrily asked my little sis Kat, who informed me that she hadn't been able to sign on either. Chastened, I gathered my mom's personal information and called AOL, ready to impersonate her and kick some customer-service-representative ass.
After holding for 20 minutes, a smartass guy named Phil or something picked up. I gave him my mom's screenname and some other stuff, and he asked whose name the account was in. I gave him my mom's name. "That's not the name on the account," he informed me. "Well, it sure as hell is deducted from my checking account," I said. "I'm not denying that," Phil said. "But the account is not in your name."
"Are you sure?" I asked. Why would my mom open an account in someone else' name?
"Well, get whoever's name the account is in to call back," Phil said smugly. I'm sure he was rejoicing in the fact that someone had held on for 20 minutes and got nothing out of it.
But in other news ... I raced home from work early yesterday and managed to beat the 5 p.m. Monday crowd at the gym. By 5:10, I was out of there and on my way to the grocery store. Yay. I love it when I get things done. But it doesn't really matter, since I forgot to buy a million things and I'm going to have to go by the mucho expensivo Randalls to pick them up. After all, you can't have penne primavera without the penne, right?
Lesson learned today: (1) When you are giving away tickets to an advance screening of a new movie, people will fall all over themselves to claim them. (2) Never address an e-mail to all company employees when you have the "return receipt" function turned on in Outlook - unless you want a million return receipts.
Just realized the main reason for my lack of callbacks: Columbus Day. Oh good lord, this stinks. I need to get this crap in SOON and I'm powerless. Hopefully my boss won't blow his top when he realizes there's NOTHING done on the story.
Eats:
1 Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub from Subway: 370 cals
Ah, Monday. At least things are winding down here at work. I've only got 1 easy story to finish, if these stupid judges would only call me back, and then it's smooth sailing until the middle of December. Mmm.
Yesterday I finally managed to watch my bootleg Ebay-obtained copy of Jaws of Satan. Basically, there's nothing remarkable about this movie, other than that it marks Christina Applegate's feature film debut. It's a contrived story about a snake (or snakes? I'm not sure) that terrorizes a small Alabama community. Eventually, it comes to light that the snake is actually possessed by Satan. But an evil influential businessman is preparing to open a greyhound track in town, and he pressures the mayor to keep the snake epidemic quiet, lest potential dog-track betters be scared away. What happens next? You'll have to find out yourself (if you can find a copy of this movie) ...
But overall, it was good. Good in that really bad way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Next up is the somewhat heavier In the Bedroom, with Sissy Spacek. I'll let y'all know how it turns out.
Going to the gym today. Hoping to leave work early and beat the 5:00 crowd, then maybe toodle down to HEB and pick up sustenance for the week.
Eats:
1/2 serving Carnation Instant Breakfast, coffee flavor. Blah, not too great. 200 cals I'm guessing.
I went shopping today for some new winter duds. This weekend marked the first "cold" days we've had here in Austin and I was really looking forward to some new sweaters. But I didn't find my stuff at the mall, oh no. I walked around Foley's, and The Limited, and Express, and even Gap before I realized that I wasn't really crazy about any of this stuff (except the ridiculously expensive sweater sets at Foley's) and it wasn't even on sale or anything. I am a diehard bargain shopper, and it's rare that I buy anything for full price.
So, thoroughly disgusted with the mall, I got in my car and headed over to this little shopping area in the village of Sunset Valley. Twenty minutes later, I was inside Ross. I seriously do not know why more people don't go to this store. First of all, they had racks and racks and racks of junior and misses clothes. Second, much of it was by respected companies like Express and Liz Claiborne. Third - and most importantly - it was CHEAP. All of it. Not a thing that wasn't on sale. I was in heaven. Well, not exactly. There were a LOT of people in there, and the aisles were so narrow that you had to practically push to get through, but I'm willing to sacrifice that for a good deal.
Here's what I bought:
1 black duster sweater-coat thing by Rampage, perfect condition, $19.99
1 pair of black pants from the Limited, also perfect, $14.99
1 ribbed poorboy magenta turtleneck sweater by Express, nada wrong with it, $3.99
And there was also a black sweater set that I wanted as well, but prudence made me put it back. I don't know if I can ever shop at the mall again. Well - Foley's is having a nice little jewelry sale, so I might go back tomorrow and pick up some earrings, for myself and for stocking stuffers for coworkers, my sisters, etc.
As far as exercising, I went to Gold's at about 11:30 this morning and did my 40 minutes of cardio. I didn't do any weights because I worked all my major muscle groups yesterday and I've heard you aren't supposed to work them two days in a row. But that means I'll have to fight for the machines tomorrow - when the gym is hella crowded - and that sucks.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
