My Last day at work this Year

is tomorrow. Happy hour tomorrow night with the gang from the office. It should be fun. It has been a great 6.5 years there and I will miss them. However, I am sure that we will cross paths. So, I look at this time as a new beginning. My new adventure begins in January.

Cliches

All good things come to those who wait.
All good things come to an end.
When one door closes, another opens.
Everything happens for a reason.

Yes, these are just some of the many things I have heard this week now that I know my job of 6.5 years is coming to an end. Thankfully, I have had many, many positive notes from soon-to-be former colleagues. They are refreshing to hear. I put all the positive comments together in a note for myself, as a reminder, that I am smart enough, good enough, and gosh darnit, people like me. Ah, Stuart Smalley was great. ; )

So, January will start a new year and new endeavors and I welcome them!

Quirky waitress

OK, so last night after the movie we decided to go out for a bite to eat. Soup at Panera Bread actually. We walk in and the girl behind the counter is singing Christmas carols. She was very "chipper". A little too chipper. And I believe she took a liking to us (because we were the coolest people there:) as she kept stopping over to talk to us while we were eating. Not like, how's your food, but very personal stuff like"my boyfriend is in Vegas right now and called me to say he was at an all nude strip bar"; she continues: I was like, what do you want me to do about it? We mentioned we had just seen king Kong and she carried on a conversation about that, getting a bladder infection from holding her pee too long and then went off onto the Brokeback Mountain movie and how she wanted to go see that. 'Cuz the guys are so hot. Hmmm. Very bizarre little college girl working at Panera bread. Entertaining, but not, because we wanted to talk to each other but she kept popping her head into our conversation. She even tried to take away the food my friend was eating while he was still eating it?!? Very bizarre. He and I had a good laugh about her. She was either heavily caffeinated or...Ah, to be 20 again. I felt so old.

King Kong - My review

Well, my friend and I went to see King Kong. He was much more brave than I was. You might say that I was rather whimpy even or that the special effects were so good it scared me out of my seat a few times. Luckily, he was there to let me know that it was just a movie. The special effects were very good and the creatures were very disturbing at times. I had to look away many times although I ended up peeking thru my scarf to see if the creepy scene was over. All in all, I say, GO see it! King Kong is the creature you grow to love.

King Kong

Tomorrow's the day it opens in GR. I will be attending tomorrow night with a friend. It should be fun (and scarey). Just looking at his face scares me!

Shopping for the perfect Garage Fridge

My sisters and I decided we would go in on a Garage fridge for my dad to replace the old one that finally bit the dust. Not wanting to spend a fortune on such a storage device, I did some shopping online and at various big box stores and found fridges for around 300. However, ABC Warehouse, had one advertised for $257. By the time we add in taxes and delivery, we are looking at the magic 300 and some change. Dreading ABC warehouse, I thought perhaps I could call the store close to my dad's house, order it and set up delivery for after Xmas. Sounds easy right? Well, they referred me to the local store who could set everything up. So, off I trek in the cold blustery snow to one of my least favorite appliance stores to get the $257 garage fridge. (I should have known it would be a challenge when there were NO cars in the parking lot other than what seemed to be employee cars. I was the ONLY customer stepping foot into the store.)
Low and behold, ALL of the sales people are sitting around kibbitzing, and like a vulture looking for the latest road kill, the closest salesperson to the door swooped in for the kill.
With flier in hand (printed off their website) I go back to the Refrigerator section. Salesman closest to the door follows me all the way back.
What can I help you find? A garage fridge, I say and show him the one I am looking for. He walks me over there and shows me the model in the ad. Hmm. It is marked at 317 and not marked on sale. But I have the flier with the lower advertised price.
His sell begins. "We do not have ANY of those in stock." (Of course not, that's just what you advertise to get me in the door) Well, can you check your computer and see if one of the other stores in MI has it? "Well, uh, well."
Finally I have persuaded him to check the inventory levels. Sure enough, 0. No guarantees that we will have any by xmas. Once again I tell him, that's fine because my dad will be out of town until New Years.
The bigger story/sell now begins (trying to make me worry that my dad will not have a garage fridge for the holidays). Let me see what I can do. [He walks me down the fridge aisle to the more expensive models and says he can sell me the 499 fridge for 399.] whoopee! Such a deal!
but really, I am only here for the garage fridge, an overflow fridge, nothing fancy, nothing pretty, just something to keep some beer and a few odds and ends cold. Lots of hemming and hawing now. He casts judgment on the sale fridge (and essentially me and my sisters for wanting to buy it) and really wants me in the upscale model. No deal. I am here for the $257 model.
If you and the store would like a sale tonight, please, take my money. I don't want to miss the sale price.
He clearly does not want to do this. However, I am persistent like the Boston Terriers we had that would not let go of the sock when you were playing tug-of-war. He takes me to the register to ring up the $257 fridge. Well, you know, you should really buy the extended warranty on this item because the Garage is VERY hard on the compressor. No, thank you. Dad had the last garage fridge out in the garage for 15+ years. I explain I don't think it will be an issue since he has insulated garage doors, etc. I just want the fridge delivered to my dad after new years!
Finally, I have a receipt for $314 which includes the 257 fridge 40 delivery and taxes.
I am sure his commission was next to nothing, although it was more than ANYONE else in the store was getting since I was the only customer. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Hopefully, they will get the fridge I ordered, if not, I will get another (better) one for that price. Just because of all the grief I went thru to order dad's xmas fridge. It will be fun. I hate going into ABC Warehouse, but would only be able to find that "deal" at the scratch and dent store.

Turkey day has come and gone

It seems as though Thanksgiving was ages ago. However, I am pretty sure it was just a week ago based on the calendar. Time has flown by fast this year. I cannot believe it is already december and there are 22 days until Christmas. Wow. Well, most of my shopping is done. Just a few more little things to get. Pics are from Thanksgiving. There was turkey, pork, (and lamb for the Australians) attending. There were 3 pies and one fancy mereinge dessert. Too much food for the size group we had but there were plenty of leftovers for those that do not mind eating them. It was a very nice evening for all with no family fueds which makes it a bonus.