All Hollows' Eve

Those who know me well know I really don't care for Halloween. It's all well and good for kids, and it's sweet to see the little ones dressed up and screeching around the neighborhood yelling trick-or-treat and collecting their candy. But as an adult, even that excitement comes with a lot of effort. I have some friends and co-workers who really get into it, and lemme tell ya, sometimes it's downright frustrating.

So Halloween dawns again, and the first hurdle of the day to tackle was candy at work. I'm not talking about one candy dish that can be ignored throughout the course of the day. I mean goody bags on all of our desks and BIG baskets of candy on every filing cabinet, from the one at the front door all the way to the bathrooms in the back. No one could go anywhere without being faced with candy. And it was the good stuff, too. How do you say no to the good stuff when it's everywhere?!?

At the end of the day, I noticed that our office did a pretty good job of polishing off a good several pounds of candy. I said a silent prayer of thanks that I had remembered my gym bag and promptly went there after stepping off the train...only to be confronted with more food! This was just downright appalling. Food at the gym. Halloween treats. The so-bad-it's-good stuff. Yes, at my gym. Now please tell me what makes any health club manager think rolling in trays of cupcakes, popcorn balls, candy, and brownies is good for the members? Most of us are there for one of two reasons: We either have a weight problem and wish to correct it, or we're happy where we're at and wish to keep it at that and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The calorie and fat laden food, though surely yummy, was an unnecessary temptation (although a realy nice gesture nonetheless).

But the biggest, weirdest, slightly spooky oddity of the day was my walk home tonight. There was no one on the street. Not a car. Not a person walking. No kids shrieking. No trick-or-treaters. Nothing. It was definitely weird, and I almost feel as though there's some joke I am missing out on.

Oh- and the biggest, baddest travesty of all: Where the hell are the Halloween cartoons this year? Did I miss them all whilst in France, or are the networks just screwing with me? No Great Pumpkin? You've got to be kidding me.

My New Favorite Lunch Spot

It's divine.

Does This Mean We'll Never Have To Hear About It Again?

Because, seriously, I've so had it.

Merry Halloween

Biggest atrocity of the month: My neighbor has her Christmas tree up. And it's lit. I was so boggled by the sight, I couldn't do anything but stop and stare from my parking space.

I mean, if you have to have your tree up so early, you can at least put on pumpkin ornaments or some Halloween garland, right?

In other news, whilst shopping at Target for a devil's tail tonight, I plowed smack-dab into the beginnings of the yuletide season. There sat the big snowmen and reindeer, perched precariously on the shelves on the far back wall, right where Halloween ended. Apparently, Thanksgiving no longer exists.

Today's Post Should Be Brought to You by Oil of Olay

So, while driving home from shopping with Mom on this cold, gray, supposedly autumn day, I looked at my hands on the steering wheel and thought, "My, they're looking a little dry. I should really moisturize when I get home." Looking in the rearview mirror, I spied a horror of all horrors! Pulling down the visor and opening the small mirror, I closely inspected what I believe is a beginning of a wrinkle. Right there, under my left eye. I smiled; it crinkled. I didn't smile; it was still there. Faint, but still there. Mom, I never should have scoffed at the idea of using Oil of Olay when you tried to give me a helpful hint or two about aging graceful. Cher had it right: If I could turn back time... Agghhh!

Vive La France

My time in France was phenomenal. Business was good and vacation even better. Started out in Paris, arguably one of my favorite cities, and spent the day visiting some of my favorite places. It was like saying hello to beautiful old friends.

The adventure began the following day with a flight to Nice, where we picked up a car and drove to Cannes (home base for our stay). We had the most fantastic, spacious room with a huge terrace where we sipped multiple bottles of the most delicious red wine every night.

Drove west the first day, stopping in the most picturesque seaside towns including Theoule-sur-Mer, Agay, Cap du Dramont, St. Raphael, and St. Tropez. The next day saw us traveling east, past Nice (which is not nice from what I saw--terrible construction and traffic) to Monaco where I saw Prince Albert and was mesmerized by the deepest, dreamiest shade of blue water I have ever seen.

Additional days saw us trekking through the woods on the island of Ste. Marguerite and stepping around the spooky fortress known for holding the Man in the Iron Mask. The "dorms" were like an aqua-shaded Dacau. It gave me bad chills.

Spent four hours finding a room the last night in Paris because pre-planning everything isn't the way we roll. Our saving grace that night was the late-night hotel bar, where a whopping glassful of Calvados played its mind-altering tricks on me--flying high that night and being a sloppy wreck the next morning. It was somehow all worth it.

This was undoubtedly one of the very best vacations I have ever had with experiences unrivaled by many I have had in my lifetime. The scenery was stunning; the camraderie fantastical. I feel so lucky to have had such a wonderful experience.

Returning to Chicago saw a wicked chill in the air and the leaves crunching under my feet. Dear Ex-Beau must have missed me quite a bit as evidenced by his emails and calls, and I somehow have been put into the most tranquil of moods because I handled it all in stride and even enjoyed our last conversation.

Vacation is good for the soul. This one inparticularly so. It's hard to believe it's over, and though I won't soon forget it I wish it could've lasted just a tiny bit longer--if only to have savored some of the minute details a bit more.

Foray Into Technology

Even though I work with high-tech industries, some of the technologies I personally use can be considered a bit antiquated.

So when my VCR decided to die last week, I made the decision to enter into the here and now and ordered myself up DVR courtesy of Comcast. It seemed worth $9.99 a month to record all the shows I want directly into the little gray cable box.

With impending travels, I made sure that this was done this morning. So at 8:30 the cable guy arrived and presented me with a gleaming new silver cable box which had the technology to record all of my favorite shows with a click of a button.

It's super-easy to use. I even did a "test record" to make sure it was working. And it is. And I know I am going to luuuurve it!

My only problem--and I take large issue with this: Because the cable guy had to give me a new cable box, the guide is still downloading all of the programming from here to eternity. I don't know why this is taking 3+ hours but it is. So I've been forced to set the timer for the "to be announced" programs on the channels and at the right day/time that some of my favorites appear. I only hope that this works. I don't see why it shouldn't. However, with all the new programs airing this fall, I certainly can't remember everything I'd like to record. Therefore, issue #2. And I leave for France in 30 minutes. This won't be rectified by then.

So, I take a shot in the dark. And if it works, great. And if it doesn't, it's only a few weeks. After all, it's just TV. I'm still basking in the glow of upgrading to the here and now.

Do As I Say, Not as I Do

The Head Honcho in the office has some unorthodox business practices that often leave me shaking my head. For instance, Head Honcho would rather lash out at an employee who has done something "wrong" (this is a subjective view on Head Honcho's part) in front of co-workers and/or business associates rather than take said wrong-doer aside and privately discuss a given issue. This is because Head Honcho believes in governing the employee pool by making an example out of the wrong-doer.

I don't know anyone who thinks this is (a) showing good business acumen or (b) effective, but I'm not the Head Honcho. But this goes to show that when dealing with Head Honcho, everything is a free-for-all.

Head Honcho and I get along for the most part. I do my thing and I do it well, and most importantly I try to warp my sense and reason so as to hold firm to my ethical principles while still being able to talk a language Head Honcho understands. It's tiring but effective.

The past few days Head Honcho has been asking for an oral report on the status of a key account we are meeting with next week. I have been at a loss because it's not so easy to provide a report on something you have nothing to report about. This is because the key account is less than cooperative. This is also a big crux in the issues on which I am to report. Luckily, I hit information pay dirt yesterday, and a co-worker and I ambled into the front office to share the news with Head Honcho.

I expected to be met with some sort of positive comments. Instead I received, "Can you please put this in an email for me? I'll take it from there. We'll make this work and turn it around."

Um...Ok. So I did. This morning. Because I was busy and so was Head Honcho and it could wait. So I fired off a quick, concise, for internal-purposes-only email to Head Honcho, detailing my conversation with the key account in question. I had done just as was asked of me.

In return for this precious information, Head Honcho forwarded the email directly to the key account- both key account's Head Honcho and my counterpart there- and in a heartbeat ruined my relationship with my counterpart and possibly the key account.

Who does that?!? What made Head Honcho think it was even remotely a good idea? I am mortified--not so much for myself (of which I am a bit) but for the company as a whole. It's hugely unprofessional and hugely uncalled for. There is nothing to do to save face. In a couple words, we're screwed.

If I had been thinking, I wouldn't have done what Head Honcho said. I would have known he likes to make examples of people in public forums (regardless of whether it is a staffer or an outsider) and would've just "forgotten" to provide the update. Sure, it would've made Head Honcho's wrath fall upon me, but that could've been easily forgotten soon enough. I am livid thinking about what tomorrow holds when I open my email. I am destroyed over the fact that I am now faced with a huge obstacle that wasn't there before--and at the worst possible time. I am disappointed that the fearless leader decided that it's Ok to treat accounts like this.

Yeah, it sucks.

Super Size Me

The fantastic thing with Netflix is I can catch up on the zillions of movies I always meant to see and never have. Honestly, if it's come out in the past 2-3 years and I haven't seen it on a plane (which is where I tend to watch 99% of the movies I see), then chanes are I haven't seen it -- until it comes to the top of my Netflix queue.

Which is exactly what happened with this movie. I always thought this would be an interesting documentary, and I wasn't let down. Morgan Spurlock not only came up with an astounding powerful experiment but he was also his own guinea pig. This wasn't something he went into lightly. After having the brainstorm to eat nothing but McDonald's (King of all fast-food) for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (the very idea turns my stomach), he consulted three doctors plus a dietician and her exercise staff. He saw these professionals three to four times during the course of his month-long "diet." And the results were worse than what the health professionals themselves predicted. And that's what was really scary.

It wasn't just that Spurlock gained 8% additional body fat in one month. It's not just the fact that he gained 20+ pounds in one month. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he was moody, lethargic, and had a decreased sex drive. All of those things- while hugely shocking- are almost to be expected. How can one NOT gain weight, increase over all fat content within their body, and feel the results? What was REALLY stunning was the fact that the doctors, after putting Spurlock through a battery of tests prior to his McDiet, didn't think there would be much effect to this really uber-healthy man. And instead his liver was practically failing him. His cholesterol and blood pressure were through the roof. He doubled his chance of heart failure.

He proved his point. At what cost...who knows. And when I think about the risks he took to prove a point...well, some may call him stupid for it. And maybe he is a little nutty. How many people do you or I know that would take their life in their hands to prove a point? But he was successful in proving it. And kept risks to him and him alone. Better than any lab-controlled experiment, and I'm sure that was one of the points toward complete credibility. But I digress... Though I personally don't know anyone who eats fast-food on a daily basis, there are many people who eat it once, if not more, a day. And this is only part if the obesity problem we have in our country. It was really eye-opening.

I personally don't care for fast-food. If I have it once every six months, it's fine by me. With that said, watching this movie truly sickened me. Giving up 1.5 hours to watch something like this is worth it just for the interesting social commentary this presents. But there is something else there, on several deeper levels. I'm so happy I finally got around to watching this. It seems important that this voice be heard and this message be understood and spread. It's worrisome to think what will happen if it's not.

1998-era Nike Shorts

I admit that I am a bit of a pack rat. This makes sense for things of a sentimental nature. You can wrap your mind around that. But what about clothes? Think about it.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, yet I continue to have drawers-ful of old T-shirts and shorts followed by a closet-ful of skirts, dresses, and suits--some dating back 10 years. There's no reason for it aside from the fact that they're in good condition and since I've long had a more...classic...taste in clothing, much of what I continue to hold onto hasn't gone out of style.

I know I should dump the things I never wear...and one day (probably sooner rather than later) I will. However, the old shorts and T-shirts are harder to part with. These are perfect for going to the gym or cleaning the house. They're (remarkably) in good condition. There's no reason to toss them if they can still be utilized.

I was wearing one such snazzy little gym outfit of navy and white Nike soccer shorts and a T-shirt when I ran into Walgreens after working out this evening. I knew I looked like crap, but it was just a quick run; in and out.

And what do you know, but a 30-something girl walked up to me and said, "Excuse me. I know this is going to sound weird, but where did you buy your shorts?" At first I thought a friend of hers had put her up to it. Me, the butt of some joke. (Don't put it past people. I have a friend who would do something like this just for the sport of it.) I sheepishly responded, "These?! Um, they're about 8 years old from SportMart or Sports Authority."

This girl was sincere in her disappointment. She looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Awww, that's what I thought. I had a few pairs like that about that long ago and I got rid of them. I miss them so much and haven't found anything like them since."

I just smiled apologetically, but deep down I was beaming with pride. Sometimes, holding onto things that you do use may seem ridiculous but makes good sense. And sometimes makes others just a teeny bit jealous, too.

Go Bears

My evening plans include a bar stool, some But Light, and da Bears.

Conflicted as I am (after all, The Amazing Race is on tonight right at kick-off), the game wins out based on the fact that this could be a nice little match-up from two teams who have yet to lose a game this season.

Too bad my DVR service doesn't begin until Friday. That would've solved all of my problems.

Best Thing in the Whole World

Being adored by Diva Niece. And I certainly adore her right back. She is soooo cute and soooo smart and sooooo funny. And just this little peanut of a little person. She's awesome.