Enjablog

- Have a second run-through of the 1/2-hour presentation last 2 hours. Started at noon too. I had a lunch date at Chipotle. :(
- Re-do someone else’s slides because it looked like $50+ million dollars were just coming out of nowhere. (Yeah, it’s no wonder these contracts have cost over-runs…)
- Stay at work 2 extra hours pretending to be Kinko’s.
- Fall down half a flight of stairs.

Pleasant surprises:
- NewGuy has been helpful! Maybe the Useless Duo were just a couple bad apples. NewGuy (last year’s intern) has been here 3 days and we’ve been able to leave him with small tasks that he can do without supervision and his questions usually only take a few minutes to answer.
- Intern tries hard. I haven’t really worked with him enough to decide yet, but so far he hasn’t asked me how to copy/paste. And he made a pretty slide for our presentation. (To be fair, the other guys waited almost a year before asking me for help with copying/pasting. I know I’m not helping their cases.)

Ok, off to bed. Need to be out of the house by 6:05. *gasp* I’ve been so spoiled living close to work.

Friday — Got out of work relatively late. Big presentation at work this week and we were trying to get everything QAed and commented before the weekend. So… our dry run went 2.5 hours over with comments on pretty much every slide. But I was assured this was a good presentation. Awesome.

Got home and watched Happy Feet. Wow. The opening sequence was pretty much an animated version of March of the Penguins. Then, there was a lot of cheering and breeding. It was … different than I expected. I thought it’d be more of the cute baby penguins singing and being cute. But there was a story line that went with it and stuff.

Saturday — Got groceries, hung out with my gramma, ran errands… Went over to Ben’s for board games and booze. It was loads of fun. SPJ even came down from NY to hang out. There was boggle, clue, guitar hero II (2 player!), poker, and, of course, celebrity. Some memorable celebrities: Livvy’s mom, GOP (Which, btw, Ian and I later figured out was supposed to be God. Oops.), George Washington Carver, Claude Debussy, and Don Hyatt. Ah, friends…

Now, I’ve just started trying to remember as many of the celebrities as I can. I’m up to 33. Out of 52, I think. Must… keep… remembering…

Sunday — loafed around and slept a bunch. Went over for Gilmore Night at Ian’s parents’. The electricity went out. It was very exciting.

Monday — Slept a bunch again. Went over to hang out with gramma, Yenny, Sonny, and Anna. Sonny and Anna got me a hokie vase! It’s so cute. It’s not actually hokie, just hokie-colored. It’s under our TV now. :)

QOTD: “Oh, that’s just cervical mucus. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Man, casseroles are so easy to make. I put this together for a party last weekend, but didn’t end up making/serving it, so I baked it up tonight and had way too much food for myself. But that’s ok. It was pretty good and sooo easy.

Hearty Tuna Casserole
INGREDIENTS
3 cups uncooked egg noodles
2 (6 ounce) cans tuna, drained
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 tomato, chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add noodles, and cook until al dente; drain.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine noodles, tuna, celery, and green onion. Stir in sour cream, mustard, and mayonnaise. Season with salt and thyme. Spoon 1/2 of the noodle mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Arrange a layer of zucchini over the mixture. Top with the remaining noodles, followed by a layer of zucchini. Top the entire casserole with cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle the casserole with tomatoes before serving.

Notes: I didn’t follow most of the recipe, so that might explain why it wasn’t as awesome as the reviews said it would be. I used regular noodles (whole wheat, actually, for most of it and a handful of regular noodles because I didn’t have enough), frozen veggie mix instead of celery, and no thyme. And I forgot the salt, but I didn’t notice a difference because I don’t salt my food much anyway.

I think next time I would put a layer of cheese between the noodle layers. I think this would also have made a good cold pasta salad.

QOTD: “If counseling were a competitive sport, I would totally win.”

So, you know how I have really vivid dreams sometimes?

NewGirl and I were trying to explain to TLD a few weeks ago how most people don’t know while dreaming that they’re actually dreaming. He didn’t understand. “Things in dreams don’t make sense. How could they possibly be real?” he asks, while conscious.

After last night, it’s clear that my subconscious is on crack. And my conscious is just on vacation for not figuring out I was dreaming.

One of the VPs at work was Willy Wonka. NewGirl, SkunkNut, and I were Charlie. Not like, each of us were Charlie. Three individual human beings were one character. And yes, I recognize (now that I’m awake) that in real life, they’re not called characters, they’re just people. And as a person, only one person gets to be one, not three.

The chocolate factory was a cover for a sweat shop for naval architects. We (Charlie) were chased around the fake store by Willy Wonka and kept getting blocked by homeless people with shopping carts.

And, um, yeah, I just woke up confused. Not thinking, “That clearly was a dream.” The sad part? I couldn’t even figure out a way to write about this pretending like it actually happened. Right, sad. That’s the word.

Ohmygod Lost! I have new favorite characters now! The writers are totally manipulating me and I’m ok with that. ohmygod ponies!!!1!!1!eleven!

It’s that time of year again… Boobs need saving.

Please give if you can/want. Thanks!

Last night, one of the managers on our floor left a note for another manager with a talk-bubble coming out of the Angry V-Line face. It was completely relevant to the message he needed to pass along too. *Awesome*.

Whereas May 22, 2007 is National Maritime Day,

Whereas no one cares about this holiday,

Whereas every time this holiday is mentioned, someone brings up Flag Day (which is not the same, but similar in that it is also a holiday),

Therefore, be it resolved that:
If you see a ship, drink a shot;
If you see a cargo ship flying an american flag, finish off the bottle;
If you see a Navy vessel, gargle salt water.

Boss taught me about V-Lines a few weeks ago:

1. First you start out with the (cross-section) of the ship’s hull:

2. Then you add the innerbottom (lowermost deck).

3. The V-Lines get added, which show the maximum heel of the ship at maximum draft in a damage situation (read: Whatever is inside the “V” won’t get wet)

4. This means that you can’t place non-watertight penetrations, like some kinds of pipes, passageways, etc., going through watertight bulkheads outside of the “V”. So those things cannot be here:

Or here:

And ever since then, I’ve been teaching everyone else in my department about V-Lines so I can draw this diagram for them. This series of drawings and explanation was actually NewGirl’s handywork after I asked her to draw this up in CAD. We then proceeded to print out a sheet of 20 of these faces and left them around our department.

The best part? We left one on Boss’s monitor and now he wants a T-shirt! He came by the next day, and while he was sitting in my office waiting for me to find/send him some files, he was writing/drawing in his notebook. When I finished, he showed me the mock-up he had drawn of the Angry V-Line Face on a T-shirt. Apparently, he got bored waiting 5 minutes.

Also priceless: Boss Jr asked why there was a V-Line on his desk. Uh, because it’s a face? And it’s funny..? Sigh…

Ian and I have started being handy around the house and are finally replacing our leaky faucets. So exciting!

Advantages of new faucet:
- Does not leak
- Has a spout that rotates
- Handles are much easier to turn on and off when hands are wet or dirty

It also reminds me of Gonzo’s nose.

We’re going to get another one like this to put in the master bath and a different one by the same company for the kitchen. Out of all the faucets at home depot, there were only a handful that we could agree on. And most were this brand (Pegasus). They have a lot more character than the other ones we saw.

Oh, and Kohler faucets are pretty, but ridiculously expensive! That’s the only brand I had heard of before we started looking around, but I had no idea how much they cost before. ~$250-300 for a bathroom faucet. *gasp*

Also on the list:
- Shower heads
- Curtains
- Paint!

I had an appointment to see a counselor today and in the pile of paperwork was an “Issues Check List.” I just found it really funny.

Please indicate which issues you are currently experiencing:
Sadness
Depression
A plan for suicide
Recurring thought of hurting someone else
Fatigue
Increased energy
Trouble sleeping
Early morning waking
Increase in sleeping
Increased or decreased appetite
Problems concentrating or thinking clearly
Increased irritability/agitation
Relationship Issues/Problems
Parenting Issues/Problems
Legal problem
Abuse (of self or other)
Financial issues
Medical issues
Forgetfulness
Shy, uneasy with others
Perfectionistic
Unassertive
Aggressive/Violent behavior

It reminds me of those livejournal “quizzes” people pass around. Highlight the ones that describe you and then post it up for your friends to do the same!

Anyone looking for a place to live in Reston? 2BR, 2FB w/ attached garage condo for rent. Less than 3 miles away from the Reston Town Center and the Dulles Toll Road.

Rent includes: water, trash service, pool and tennis passes.

A friend is moving on to bigger and better things, but his home is getting left behind. I promise he’s not a slum lord. At least not the bad kind. ;)

The whole family got together yesterday for an early Mothers’ Day. Did lunch, ate too much, and took a nap. Good times…

Today, had brunch with Ian’s family. Pretty much the same. Ate a bunch and took a nap. ;)

We did stop by Home Depot to pick out new faucets though. Got one for our second bathroom. Once we get that installed and see how hard it is, we’ll get one for the master bath and one for the kitchen.

Virginia Tech Commencement Address:

Revel in the joy of this day. . . Celebrate your accomplishments. . . Celebrate all those lives that have touched yours and helped bring you to this point. Reach out and hug them if you can.

Congrats, Class of 2007.

I just got off a phone call with customer service reps from Geico and Allstate. Between the salutations, pleases, thank yous, and well-wishes, the call took 2 extra minutes for all the politeness between them. Not that that’s a bad thing. Just thought it was funny.

“How are you?”
“And how are you?”
“Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.”
“Thank you! And please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”
“Thank you for calling Allstate.”
“Thank you for calling Geico. Have a nice day!”
“Thank you! You have a nice day too!”