Christmas time!

The wine party was great - but I did not win, which was sad.  I splurged on some Frank Coppola wine.  It was fancy! And just so you know - bacon wine, not that impressive.  It doesn't really taste like bacon.  At all.

Christmas time is always so busy, mostly because it creeps up on you so fast.  They started playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving.  Everyone was so pissed that they boycotted Christmas music until a week after Thanksgiving.  And guess what, BAM, it's Christmas.  Already.  What?!?!

I love Christmas.  It goes against every hipster bone in my body, but I can't help it, I love it.  Finding the perfect gifts is the best.  I got my parents an iPad.  It's used, and not the newest model, but they are going to love it and I cannot wait to give it to them.  I'm also very much looking forward to hugging my niece and never letting her go for the 24 hours I get to see her.

I wish it was mandatory to have off the day after Christmas as well.  I'm leaving straight from Paoli after the markets close, catching the Amtrak train there and then traveling to Harrisburg on Christmas Eve.  The day after Christmas, I'm waking up before the sun to catch a train back from Harrisburg to Paoli to go straight to work.  It's a lot of work to get home for less than 48 hours - but did I mention Christmas is my favorite holiday?!

This is certainly not a deep post or one with any original thoughts.  I leave you with this article.  Last post, I mentioned a few things I wanted to blog about, one being social media and bullying.  I read this article about a girl who committed suicide because of bullying.  While the article brings up some interesting points, I feel like it only address symptoms, not the cause of the problem.  We all know kids suck.  There's been bullying forever (I just watched Karate Kid, bullying was a thing).  Sure, I'm super happy I didn't grow up with the pressure of social media.  But I also grew up with a bunch of kids whose parents were not divorced, who were super involved in their life, and who taught them if they didn't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all.  You had to sit down for dinner and talk about your life, with people that demanded manners and full sentences.  For the most part, if you were caught making fun of someone, you were scolded by your peers, not rewarded.

I just think there's been a deterioration of the American family.  There's an overall lack of community.  Maybe I'm just making this shit up, but don't you think there's a deeper overall problem?  It's like the school shootings and the immediate jump to gun control.  It's not guns people.  Guns have been around since we invaded America.  What's the bigger issue?  Seriously.  There has to be one.  Why can't we find it?

Parole Diaries

In my ever expanding trash TV knowledge, I want to share a gem with you.  Parole Diaries.

Yes.  It is as great as it sounds.

This fulfills a very specific genre of television for me:  watching other people eff up their lives.  Because, as much debt as I'm in, as I live paycheck to paycheck, as I constantly trip in the middle of the street and embarrass myself by saying ridiculous things or drinking too much, there are TV shows about people who have actually messed up.  It makes me go easier on myself.

First, I was watching Intervention.  Usually with a glass of wine.  It got too real for me though.  I could almost imagine myself being entangled in those stories.  Then I went on to 16 & Pregnant and onto Teen Mom.  (Which I'm watching right this second, in fact).  Thank goodness I didn't get pregnant as a teen.  I feel bad for them - they are so young, dumb and naive 

For example, one girl is on probation facing jail time.  Instead of quitting smoking pot, she wants to go to jail to serve out her sentence so she doesn't have to pass anymore drug tests.  But they want her to go into prison a day before she gets to go see Kesha in concert.  And she has a problem with that!  GIRL, get your act TOGETHER!

Is it bad I find this stuff entertaining?

So, back to Parole Diaries.  Which is apparently on "black" TV.  I didn't know that.  It's a great show.  Just watch it.  The good people succeed, the bad fail, and the world is right.  It's a great show.

Also, sex offenders are creepy and can't use the internet.  Ever.  Who knew?

I heart Chicago

The amount of stories I have to write about from this past week is staggering.  Unfortunately, in this age of "Omg, you have a blog and you wrote what you think about us? You're fired." Means I can write very little about my trip to Chicago.

Chicago is a great city.  This time, I actually got a chance to walk around and see the city, which is beautifully decorated for the holiday season.  There's a cupcake ATM, a lit up Trump Hotel, waterways through the city, and a clean, friendly feeling around the city.  I was able to visit my good friend Brittany again.  We've been friends since middle school, and being able to share memories and stories, old and new, over martinis is something I love.

The first stop we made after the hotel was the Blue Man Group show.  Way better and funnier than I thought it would be.  One of the girls in our group got pulled up onto stage which made it even more entertaining.

Next stop was dinner.  More on dinner below.

Next stop was the liquor store.  And boy, did we need it.

The rest of the trip was stressful and awkward, to say the least.  We worked out of our Chicago office when we weren't in training, and their connection is s....l........o..............w.  It was also cramped.  And loud, as there's no carpet or curtains or fabric of any kind absorbing noise.  However, the people that work there are awesome, so, some saving grace.

What I will say to the dinner awkwardness - imagine having dinner with 8 people, 4 of whom run the company and are oblivious to how utterly angry the other 4 people are at the table because of the way the first 4 treat the second 4.  Now, imagine the most important person being slightly intoxicated.  And asking hard and opened questions.  Whose answers cause arguments that attract attention from surrounding tables.

Now, imagine looking forward to that every single night of your trip.

If you can imagine that, you can understand why I now will stop talking about my long ass business trip to Chicago.

Stuck late at work, again.

In the industry I'm in, there are lots of RFI and RFQ posts we have to respond to.  These all have deadlines, most require us to overnight mail a big box full of documents.  (Yes, I think its a huge waste of resources when we have computers.)  So, we usually use the 7 p.m. deadline so we can drop the box off downstairs before the UPS guy comes and takes it.

Last night, it was 7 p.m. and we were not done.

Someone calls around, no mailing place is open except for FedEx a few blocks away.  We call, their driver will be there until 8:10, even though they close at 8.  At 8:02, I run out of the office with a box.

I realize how ridiculous I look, running down the Philadelphia sidewalks in a dress and boots, but I don't care.  This project doesn't get turned in, I'm going to be pissed.  Because I'm running.  And I look ridiculous.  And it's 8 p.m. and I'm still working.

I get there, the doors are locked,  I run around the building and find the FedEx van.  I get there, out of breath and ask the lady "can you take this box, it is all good?"

"Well ma'am, this is a UPS label."

"Oh...man..."

Never ending pause....

"Well, there's a UPS truck sometimes still loading just down the alley, let's go see if they are still there!"

I thank the lady profusely and wish her a happy Thanksgiving.  The UPS truck is abandoned, so I call back to my company.

"I found the FedEx truck, but it's a UPS label."

"So they took it, right?"

....

"No, but I'm at the UPS place now, can you call here and tell them I'm at their loading dock in front of their truck, please?"

___

Later when I got home, I just took a breath and said out loud, "that was absolutely ridiculous."  And I completely got how insane everything was that just happened.  Welcome to the real world.