I'm wearing a button down collar shirt today that I got a few years ago, and I think it's time I took this work shirt out of rotation due to the yellow stained underarm areas... I'm trying not to spread my arms too much today so I'm avoiding describing anything that would require large sweeping hand motions and I'm lucky not to have any meeting or conferences or any interactions that require I raise my hand.
I've almost finished my personal email account transition from hotmail to gmail. I'm enjoying, but am still confused by, the conversation collapsing feature -- especially when it's to or from email addresses in which multiple people are involved. I'm on two email groups and it takes me a bit longer to realize if I've read a message or not.
My last admittance makes me sound like an imbecile, but to be fair, I have a horrible short term memory.
I have a selective accent. I like to say words with "orr" like I'm from New York. So, I'm hArrified about my hArrible short term memory. And, since I live in Boston, I might admit that I can occasionally act retaahhhded (although I really don't use that word -- only to illustrate my comment). Wicked.
Somewhere between graduating college five years ago and the present day, I've become less "screw the man" in my ideology and a bit more mature... or I guess practical in my thinking, which is unfortunate. Somedays I wish I could be less concerned with adult matters -- saving for retirement, making car loan, student loan, credit card payments on time, worrying what kind of home I'll be able to afford when I eventually get sick of renting. I wish I could return to the screw the man Lany of yesteryear... and not feel compelled to work a 40 hour, Monday - Friday job.
I love and hate reuniting with people on Facebook, because there's that part of me that compares myself to my old classmates. I hate that about me. I also hate that my friendships with some people make me feel inadequate -- and not because of anything the other person has done, it's just a difference of priorities, and therefore different lots in life.
This time I've spent writing my thoughts should have been devoted to a project that I really don't like at work. It's not the work so much, but that I'm not the one to make the final decision... I'm just doing the research. But once that decision is made, I'll have to be the one to hear the complaints from the stakeholders.
I wish more people would send positive comments. (I'm thinking about this project at work.) I just wish people thanked each other more... or thought first before making stupid remarks. And I wish I had the balls/stupidity to finally tell people that I DO think they're fucking morons, and I wish they were just as dumb to think that I was kidding, so that I wouldn't create a bad relationship.
I went to a casino for the first time ever on Saturday and won a little bit of money playing black jack, thanks to my mom's guidance. It was such a rush, holding the chips in my hand when I went to cash out. This will be a very occasional outing for me... and I'm glad to have waited this long to ever go. I think I have an addictive personality about some things... or to be more positive, when I get into something, I do it 100%. So.
My birthday is coming up and I'll be 28. I'm overall content where I am in life, but I always wonder what the next is for me.
I've been collecting redeemable bottles at my desk to help out my rugby team's bottle drive fundraiser and it took me practically three months to collect $2.
I can't wait for spring to be here. I could be having an awful day, but if it's sunny and mild outside, that silver lining trumps all. My body was tricked last week into thinking it was spring and while I had nothing spectacular to look forward to one particular day, I was just so happy. I can't wait for that Saturday or Sunday to come when I can walk outside without a coat -- just walk around my neighborhood and people watch while I eat ice cream.
I locked myself out of my home this morning and disrupted my morning routine. I LOVE my morning routine. I am anal retentive or mildly OCD about getting ready for work. I am absolutely not being sarcastic when I say I enjoy keeping a schedule in the morning. And since this morning's circumstances delayed me about 40 minutes (closer to the time more people leave for work), my favorite neighborhood coffee shop was busier (yes, though delayed I stopped for coffee), and the T was that much more crowded.
I'm now going to return to my research project.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Taxes
I just attempted to prepare my 2008 taxes online. I've done it myself for a few years and it's been straightforward: I'm single with no dependents, I only have 1, maybe 2 W2's, and I haven't owned anything of significance. I also never reported the interest paid on my student loans, which I know means less of a return for me, but I couldn't figure it out (I'm not very good with holding onto forms I get in the mail)... so anyway, it's never been all that confusing.
The only differences this past year were that I bought a car and reported the excise tax paid and I bought (and sold) company stock through my employee stock purchase plan.
So, I don't get who these people are that both Turbo Tax and H&R Block are talking about when they say they've found their clients an additional $2500 of returns. Do you have to own a home? A hybrid car? Have 3 kids? Be a student?
I have no idea. I know I'm not one of them, though.
The only differences this past year were that I bought a car and reported the excise tax paid and I bought (and sold) company stock through my employee stock purchase plan.
So, I don't get who these people are that both Turbo Tax and H&R Block are talking about when they say they've found their clients an additional $2500 of returns. Do you have to own a home? A hybrid car? Have 3 kids? Be a student?
I have no idea. I know I'm not one of them, though.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA
This morning is an example of the quintessential New England wintry mix.
Commuting is easy for no one between snow covered sidewalks and slush covered streets, it's a day best spent in your flannel sheeted bed surrounded with books, music, movies, coffee, and, if you're lucky, a cat to curl up beside you... and if you're even luckier, a loved one to share your coziness.
Well, since I didn't have the foresight to bring my laptop home last night, I trudged into work.
On any other day, walking ten minutes down Prospect Street to the Central Square T Stop would be no big deal. Even in the rain, this is manageable, not ideal, but manageable.
Ugh, today sucked. I guess drivers didn't realize that they would still splash the pedestrians on the sidewalk. This time, it wasn't just rain water it was dirty slush that actually sticks to your pants.
And, I've said this before (not in blogging but to myself... and my therapist) Cambridge does not have enough sewers... neither does Somerville! You know where the sidewalk descends to meet the street? Why is there no sewer there? My only thought is it has something to do with the subway. Those puddles are practically of manhole depths! And you have no way of knowing how much of your foot will be submerged unless you just walk right through or see the poor guy ahead of you have his entire calf engulfed.
When I decided to write about the morning's commute, it was intended as a call to drivers on Prospect Street to stop being self-centered schmucks and move away from the puddles in the lane closest to the sidewalk, especially when they see pedestrians brace themselves by using their umbrellas to cover their legs.
So, there's that, but this has also turned into a call to city planners: I beg of you, I plead you, to research the feasibility of more sewers!
Commuting is easy for no one between snow covered sidewalks and slush covered streets, it's a day best spent in your flannel sheeted bed surrounded with books, music, movies, coffee, and, if you're lucky, a cat to curl up beside you... and if you're even luckier, a loved one to share your coziness.
Well, since I didn't have the foresight to bring my laptop home last night, I trudged into work.
On any other day, walking ten minutes down Prospect Street to the Central Square T Stop would be no big deal. Even in the rain, this is manageable, not ideal, but manageable.
Ugh, today sucked. I guess drivers didn't realize that they would still splash the pedestrians on the sidewalk. This time, it wasn't just rain water it was dirty slush that actually sticks to your pants.
And, I've said this before (not in blogging but to myself... and my therapist) Cambridge does not have enough sewers... neither does Somerville! You know where the sidewalk descends to meet the street? Why is there no sewer there? My only thought is it has something to do with the subway. Those puddles are practically of manhole depths! And you have no way of knowing how much of your foot will be submerged unless you just walk right through or see the poor guy ahead of you have his entire calf engulfed.
When I decided to write about the morning's commute, it was intended as a call to drivers on Prospect Street to stop being self-centered schmucks and move away from the puddles in the lane closest to the sidewalk, especially when they see pedestrians brace themselves by using their umbrellas to cover their legs.
So, there's that, but this has also turned into a call to city planners: I beg of you, I plead you, to research the feasibility of more sewers!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Out there
From: Mamlok, Elena
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 11:06 AM
To: Mamlok, Elena
Subject: Confidential PowerPoint left at the printer
Hello all,
Just wanted to announce that a presentation stamped “Confidential” has been left out, in the open, on the file cabinet next to the printer – the printer our entire department uses.
And if you ask me, it’s a load of crap.
See you at the holiday party!
Elena
Monday, December 8, 2008
Red Eye
I went to Aurelia's Oratorio yesterday at the American Repertory Theater associated with Harvard. It was phenomenal! If you have the opportunity, go see it while it's there! Really, amazing.
Just a moment before the show began, the seat next to me was occupied by the ticket holder and next to her, her friend. I overheard this stranger say "Just because I'm using eyedrops doesn't mean I have to stay at home".
Ew.
She then proceeded to use a sort of wet nap but with much stronger smelling disinfectant to clean her hands and then took out a tiny bottle of eyedrops. This bottle was smaller than those bottles of re-wetting drops you use for contact lenses. It was the sort of size that holds a quantity big enough for say... a dosage of medicine you might need for a 10 day period.
I think the woman next to me had conjunctivitis! And she sat down just moments before the show started that she didn't have enough time to take care of this issue in the bathroom! Had there been more time, I would have expressed my discontent and utter grossedoutedness (it's a word.). Instead, I shifted over as much as I could in the other direction while in my seat and made sure not to use the arm rest that connected our chairs.
Just a moment before the show began, the seat next to me was occupied by the ticket holder and next to her, her friend. I overheard this stranger say "Just because I'm using eyedrops doesn't mean I have to stay at home".
Ew.
She then proceeded to use a sort of wet nap but with much stronger smelling disinfectant to clean her hands and then took out a tiny bottle of eyedrops. This bottle was smaller than those bottles of re-wetting drops you use for contact lenses. It was the sort of size that holds a quantity big enough for say... a dosage of medicine you might need for a 10 day period.
I think the woman next to me had conjunctivitis! And she sat down just moments before the show started that she didn't have enough time to take care of this issue in the bathroom! Had there been more time, I would have expressed my discontent and utter grossedoutedness (it's a word.). Instead, I shifted over as much as I could in the other direction while in my seat and made sure not to use the arm rest that connected our chairs.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Social Networking
My facebook page reached its all time high earlier today when I befriended my 421st closest bff. Perhaps because my newest and long lost bff claiming to have graduated from my high school the same year as me is a complete mystery, or perhaps because I'm wanting to become more private, I deleted 64 of my 421 bffs. Additionally, I've taken the first (and second and third steps) to cancel my myspace page.
The myspace page is not as big a deal, except that now I realize I'll have lost all my blog posts there. Ugh. Well, it takes 48 hours to cancel, so I'm going to do a whole lot of copying and pasting, even though I don't think I have any right to my posts per myspace's agreement with its users.
Okay, I've now verified that my myspace page is gone. Yup.
I was told the cancellation would take 48 hours, but I guess they were able to rush that order. Ironically I was going to write that perhaps I was being a bit impulsive... and clearly, I was. I guess what will be missed the most is that I used to re read my posts and have a nice chuckle from time to time. One of my favorites was a fake email I wrote to a guy I had briefly dated. He didn't call me back so I went so far as to create a fake email address for him so I could send him an email and bcc my friends so they would see my charming neuroses. I made sure to include my 7 working email addresses, went out of my way to excuse him for not having returned my email saying he probably got the calendar date confused, so Of Course! I could reschedule, and even included a google map to my apartment in case he wanted to chat in person and perhaps forget where I lived. Sigh. The best part of that was my bcc'd friends were horrified I'd do that, until I revealed it was a joke. Good times. Another one that made me laugh was my Good Hair Day post. Vain? Yes. Entertaining? To me, yes.
In any event, I guess I thought it'd be a good idea to sort of "clean house" on facebook, but it's so political. Do I delete certain high school friends? Some of whom I might walk past on the street and maybe not recognize. And I can't delete anyone from the rugby group or a theater affiliation because I'll start popping up as a person s/he may know. I'm probably giving this way too much thought. And, clearly, the whole idea of maintaining more privacy is shot now that I'm writing about it.
The true test will come when I'm at work next and can't look at those 64 deleted friends' pages or search for music on myspace. So... what other sites will be the object of my distraction?
The myspace page is not as big a deal, except that now I realize I'll have lost all my blog posts there. Ugh. Well, it takes 48 hours to cancel, so I'm going to do a whole lot of copying and pasting, even though I don't think I have any right to my posts per myspace's agreement with its users.
Okay, I've now verified that my myspace page is gone. Yup.
I was told the cancellation would take 48 hours, but I guess they were able to rush that order. Ironically I was going to write that perhaps I was being a bit impulsive... and clearly, I was. I guess what will be missed the most is that I used to re read my posts and have a nice chuckle from time to time. One of my favorites was a fake email I wrote to a guy I had briefly dated. He didn't call me back so I went so far as to create a fake email address for him so I could send him an email and bcc my friends so they would see my charming neuroses. I made sure to include my 7 working email addresses, went out of my way to excuse him for not having returned my email saying he probably got the calendar date confused, so Of Course! I could reschedule, and even included a google map to my apartment in case he wanted to chat in person and perhaps forget where I lived. Sigh. The best part of that was my bcc'd friends were horrified I'd do that, until I revealed it was a joke. Good times. Another one that made me laugh was my Good Hair Day post. Vain? Yes. Entertaining? To me, yes.
In any event, I guess I thought it'd be a good idea to sort of "clean house" on facebook, but it's so political. Do I delete certain high school friends? Some of whom I might walk past on the street and maybe not recognize. And I can't delete anyone from the rugby group or a theater affiliation because I'll start popping up as a person s/he may know. I'm probably giving this way too much thought. And, clearly, the whole idea of maintaining more privacy is shot now that I'm writing about it.
The true test will come when I'm at work next and can't look at those 64 deleted friends' pages or search for music on myspace. So... what other sites will be the object of my distraction?
Monday, November 24, 2008
Local Woman has Mixed Reaction about Company Decorations
In a long time coming of events, resident woman, Elena Mamlok is premiering her first person blog.
So, I came into work today and was surprised by the abundance of holiday decorations. My building is just for my company -- not an office building comprised of several companies.
Without decorations, the building is gorgeous. It's about 5 years old, it's won awards for being a green building, it's bright, colorful -- as far as corporate offices go, I think this is the best in which I could be immersed.
Anyway, the first floor which is sort of a large open atrium has a Christmas tree, the large banisters on our huge stairwell leading up the open plan second floor are wrapped in lights and greenery. There's a huge poinsettia at the top of that stairwell. Every floor has its own poinsettia by the coffee station and an ornament-clad wreath by the elevators.
So.
The decorations are all beautiful... I'm just not sold on their complete appropriateness for the workplace (I say as I'm posting this during work). I always have a hard time with "holiday" decorations because they're never inclusive of all holidays. They're not winter decorations. If they were, then we'd have spring decorations, too. And we don't. And we didn't have autumn inspired wreaths... or posters of swimming pools and ice cream cones in the summer (really, what would be a summer time decoration?)
Am I hyper sensitive? Perhaps. But I've always believed companies shouldn't have religious symbols or decorations. Inevitably, someone is excluded. (Would I be happy if there was a menorah? No. Because it would only be added to acknowledge a holiday that's not as significant to Judaism as Christmas is to Christianity.)
I do plan on attending company holiday parties, but I have the choice to attend or not. And I'm actually planning one for my department. I guess, somewhat lucky for us, since we have no budget, there will be no decorations.
So, I came into work today and was surprised by the abundance of holiday decorations. My building is just for my company -- not an office building comprised of several companies.
Without decorations, the building is gorgeous. It's about 5 years old, it's won awards for being a green building, it's bright, colorful -- as far as corporate offices go, I think this is the best in which I could be immersed.
Anyway, the first floor which is sort of a large open atrium has a Christmas tree, the large banisters on our huge stairwell leading up the open plan second floor are wrapped in lights and greenery. There's a huge poinsettia at the top of that stairwell. Every floor has its own poinsettia by the coffee station and an ornament-clad wreath by the elevators.
So.
The decorations are all beautiful... I'm just not sold on their complete appropriateness for the workplace (I say as I'm posting this during work). I always have a hard time with "holiday" decorations because they're never inclusive of all holidays. They're not winter decorations. If they were, then we'd have spring decorations, too. And we don't. And we didn't have autumn inspired wreaths... or posters of swimming pools and ice cream cones in the summer (really, what would be a summer time decoration?)
Am I hyper sensitive? Perhaps. But I've always believed companies shouldn't have religious symbols or decorations. Inevitably, someone is excluded. (Would I be happy if there was a menorah? No. Because it would only be added to acknowledge a holiday that's not as significant to Judaism as Christmas is to Christianity.)
I do plan on attending company holiday parties, but I have the choice to attend or not. And I'm actually planning one for my department. I guess, somewhat lucky for us, since we have no budget, there will be no decorations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
