Working hard...

I have been working way too hard lately... I haven't had enought time to update this thing!!

I am really liking my new hours... I like to be able to get out at 5pm... so beautiful.. I just have to get used to the drive in the morning. Right now I just fight to stay awake as I drive in. But I hope I will be able to figure out something for myself to help me stay awake.

One of my roomates is interviewing here today. It would be cool if we both worked here and our hours are similar... we could car pool or something. Who knows thought if all will work out for him to work here... only time will tell.

I have finally brought my A+ book into work so I can start reading that. I also have the Lance Armstrong book "It's Not About the Bike." For anyone who hasn't read it... its soooo good! You are so missing out...

Enjoy your weekend!!

New Schedule...

I now have a new schedule!! I am working 8-5!! Woo hoo!! I so prefer the hours (much more time at night) but the drive is going to be a lot worse... now that I go at rush hour. I am willing to take that sacrafic though!!

I tried to take a new way to work but got a little bit lost... had to pull out my map. I ended up back on track and then about 10 minutes late to work. So... I will stay a little bit later tonight. Had I not gone out of my way I would have been early.

A little horror this morning. I was walking out of the house, looking down... I was putting something in my purse. Just as I looked up I planted my face smack dab in the middle of a spider web!!! It was so gross!! I can still feel it on my face. The scariest part... the spider ended up in my hair!!! Ugg!! Nasty!

Monday already

I had a great weekend... and I barely left the house!! I can't believe how much we got done in cleaning and moving things around so the room would be open for the new roomate!! I got rid of a lot of paperwork that I no longer needed. It was nice to look around and see the place clean as well. We have just gotten so used to the place being just the 3 of us that we had gotten a little relaxed at cleaning up the place.

I did go to Walmart 2 times on Saturday. Once to do grocery shopping and then later at night because a pan broke and we needed to get a new one. I don't mind the Walmart that is close to where I live... it is very similar to a store that I was used to before. It has everything there... but the best time to go isn't a Saturday afternoon. There were so many crazy people with their kids running every where. It was a mad house... I did survive though!!

F-R-I-D-A-Y!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, I am so excited that its Friday!!! Not that I have much planned for this weekend. One of my roomates is on call and we have another person moving in after next weekend so we will probably spend most of the weekend cleaning and moving things around to get ready for another body in the house. I am pretty excited about the new roomate. He also worked with me before and I think he just needed a good change so he is moving too. He was also one of the people who helped move me down here. I know that he has been talking with the people at my job and he may be working here too!

Also, I got a reward today!! Go me!! There is a thing called a COO award that they give out to people they think are doing a good job. I got one... I got an "at-a-girl" and $100. So I thought that was pretty cool. They also sent an email to the whole company stating that I got the award. I was somewhat embarrased (as I often get when I am recognized for something) but I was very excited as well. Here is what they said about me:

Tier I Tech Support
Kristie – Our goal is to get to 70% of our trouble tickets handled by Tier I Tech Support. This is a lofty goal but we are moving in the right direction! Kristie handled 189 calls and opened 125 tickets during the month of July 2004. She was able to close 80 tickets which is 64% of her ticket opened total – nice progress! The tech support calls often take a little longer to handle with an average talk time of 9 minutes and 12 seconds. Kristie came in with an average talk time of 8 minutes and 22 seconds in July - 50 seconds ahead of the average. Thanks to Kristie for taking care of our customers and helping to maintain our industry leading churn rate!

I am pretty proud of myself... pat my own back (wink, wink).

Have a great weekend!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!

Are you ready to celebrate my birthday... why not right??? Well... I am here at work right now... really getting wild... oh yeah!! Actually I have spent most the day getting yelled at from customers... lucky me. My friend here did give me a cute little present (a little puppy stuffed animal... it is so soft and cuddly) and a balloon. So fun!! That did make my afternoon a little brighter.

I also got the most beautiful pair of earrings for my birthday... I absolutely love them. They are blue sapphire.. Fabulous!! I got them a 'little' early (which I didn't mind... wink, wink) and I have been wearing them constantly.

I have started a new little "diet" idea... we are looking to see how many calories that we take in everyday so we are keeping a log of what we eat. We are also trying to pair that against the correct amount calories (and the correct amounts of protein, carbs, and (un)fat) along with working out. I am looking to get back down to my previous... pre-move size. I know that I may not get down that far... there were some circumstances that caused the lack of eating that I don't want to duplicate... but I am hoping to a least trim down to a more respectable weight and maybe get a few little muscles that I can show off.

I can't believe that its already into August... this summer just flew by!!

Another day in my life...

See, here is the excitement for the day... this morning I worked out. I felt the burn. And yes, I really do sweat. Its crazy!!

So after cleaning up after the big workout I made some banana bread. Unfortunates it wasn't ready by the time I left so I had a roommate take it out of the oven. I am so ready to have some tonight when I get home!!

I also did a load of laundry before work. Ugh... it' s never ending!! I guess at least it's not too hard. And there is banana bread waiting for me at home...

I know there is a place I should be able to work out for free around my place of employment so I went hunting today at lunch. I found the building that this workout place is supposed to be in but I never actually found the room. So the hunt continues.

After lunch I was going to get into the elevator and who else is waiting to get into the elevator but the CEO of the company. The wild thing is he remembers things about me. He knows the shift that I work on and he carries on conversations with me. I thought that is pretty cool!

Now I am just waiting until the end of my work day so I can get home. I am so ready for my schedule change. And I say that every single day. I so can't wait!! It should be soon.

Also, for any of y'all who have a few dollars laying around... my birthday is coming up on Monday. Presents would be nice... lol!

A whole week...

I can't believe how long its been since I wrote in this blog... work is definitely getting in the way!! Right now I do like my job... I just feel so useless... I need to ask for help so much. I look back at my last job and remember knowing a lot of what I was doing. But then if I go back to the beginning I was asking questions all the time. So, I guess it will just take some time to get myself up to par (or as they say... ramped up).

I have got a magic deck going. One that I actually created (with some help... ok... a little bit more then some). And it is doing alright. I am having fun playing it. I will probably create some more decks eventually. It is fun!

One thing that is so nice about living here is the fact that cars don't have rust!! I love that. So... people buy so many different kinds of cars and drive them all the time. It is sooooo cool to watch for cars on the way to work!! I enjoy seeing all the different kinds.

So... if you remember me talking about how I kept slamming the same toe (and same toenail) into things... then you will be glad that I told you... the nail came off this past week. I am so disappointed... everytime I look down there all of the other nails are so beautifully painted and then that one... only about 1/4 of actual nail. The rest is dark from the scap trying to heal me. Hopefully it won't be long before there will be enough nail there to paint!

I am going to a wedding next weekend so yesterday I went to Target to get them a gift. I found the registry and looked for a cute gift... I got them some of the kitchen things that was on their registry. Then I needed to get something to rap it all in. So I go to that section of the store and found a cute bag and some paper to go in it. I take my time and find one that wasn't beat up. I was so careful when giving it to the check out lady. After she rang everything up she just thru it all in a bag... everything on top of the bag that I took so long to find. Now it is all beat up. Pissed me off a little bit. Ok... I am still a little mad about it.

But... on a happier note... I got a birthday present yesterday.... and I love it... very pretty!!!!!

Tour de Lance

I have been getting into the tour lately... and go Lance!!  He has been doing very well.  I haven't watched the tour in the past but man is it crazy.  It also makes me want to bike.  Well, first I need to get one... but who's counting!

Another busy day here at the office.  I am getting better at answering the phones but I am still slower than I want to be.  They want us to average a 7 or 8 minute talk time.  Well, I am way over that.  I did talk to my manager and he said not to worry about it at all since I am new here.  So that is cool. 

I have a little something for you to check out.  If you have volume make sure turn it on.  Its pretty good!!

 

Welcome to my weekday

I am crazy sore today!!!  I have been very good about working out lately so my body is trying to adjust to the routine.  I have the hardest time getting myself to work out but when I am done I feel so good!  Today was back and biceps.  Yesterday was chest and tricepts.  Last night I felt bruised  in those two areas... it had to be from the workout... crazy!!  Tomorrow is a light day... I will see how my body feels but I will probably run and do my pilates.
 
I have a couple hours until work starts and I have to finish getting myself ready.  I did some shopping yesterday... I had a ton of fun.  I was able to get a ton of really cute shirts and most were $3 each... and that is not a typo... really $3 each.  And a lot of them are Express shirts.  Got to love Marshalls.  I should be a spokesperson for them.  I think I would do well in that job.  But anyway... I am sure that I will be wearing one of my new shirts to work!!!  That is too much fun!
 
 

Sunday

Well,  the weekends almost over... too bad... back to work tomorrow.  I want to find out what time Marshalls opens up to see if I could go tomorrow before work.  I am looking for anything that wouldn't cost much money.  I love that I can generally find a pretty cute shirt for under $5.  And generally they are name brand shirts (Express, Esprit, BCBG...).  I love that store!!
 
Watched 2 movies on tv this weekend.  One was Simone and the other was Basic Instinct.  I really liked Simone... it was a very cute movie.  It makes you think a little bit... about how it really is starting to happen with all of the animated movies and how it could get so far as no one could tell if the person on the screen is real or not.  Also, it makes you realize that probably a lot of what the celebrities do to make themselves look cool is completely made up.  And most of us that watch don't know the difference.  Basic Instinct was alright.  It did have a good ending to make another movie out of it.  I am surprised they never did.
 
Never did get to the burger place this weekend... never went downtown.  Not like its a big deal though... plenty of time to do that anyway.
 
I am going back to working out tomorrow.  I am better about working out when I have a job.  Lately I have been working out in the morning before going to work.  I found a good routine in a magazine that I am following for lifting but last week the weight I used were not heavy enough so I am going to be going up in weight this week.  I also try to run and work on my abs everyday.  See how that will go... I defiately have gained some weight that I need to get rid of.   And that is what I am working on doing now!

Busy... Busy... Busy...

Hello again... sorry it has been so long since I last wrote.  I have been really busy at work.  I have a new work schedule... I now work 11am to 8pm.  So... I have been getting up at about 7:00am and working out, doing some things around the house, and then going to work.  When I get home I get pretty lazy and I don't get onto the computer.
 
It looks like today maybe  a lazy weekend.  Watching the Tour de France right now and then later probably working on organizing the comics. 
 
I really have going downtown on my mind.  There is a place called The Vortex that has been rated with the best burgers.  I am really hoping to go there to check it out.  If I do I will let you know how it goes!

Shoe, shoes, shoes...

I was able to go shoe shopping today. We went to Off Broadway Shoes and I had so much fun. Can't wait until the paychecks start coming in and I can really do some shopping. I also want to get a few more jeans since I can wear them to work. So, I am all ready to do some more shopping... there is a mall by my work that I can go to look for some clothes... I will be able to go at lunch. I really like that (and I am sure that Discover likes that too)!

I also got a Nintendo Game Boy Advance. It is pretty cool. I am playing Zelda on it right now and having a lot of fun. I am up to level 6... and enjoying myself.

Hard Rock

I had the most fun the last couple days!! Yesterday after work we went to basically an adult arcade. It was a lot of fun playing all the different games. They also have a large restaurant and billiards but we didn't eat or play that. We pretty much stuck with the video gaming. It was a little getto but still very fun. A few people from work were supposed to meet up with us but things happened and that didn't work out. Oh well, I still had fun anyway!!

Last night we also played a little Magic. It was fun although I only won once. I am trying to get them to play more with me but I guess since I am not much of a challenge they don't find it as fun. Oh well, the only way I will get better is by practice!!

Today we went downtown to the mall and to Hard Rock. I love the big city and I love Hard Rock!!! It was the fabulous!! I got a glass while I was there and I now have change in it. It is sitting on my desk next to the computer. I have it next to my other Hard Rock glass from when I visited NYC.

The rest of the night will consist of gaming probably and then tomorrow I need to go shoe and grocery shopping. The shoes that I have been wearing are getting a pretty funky smell so I need to get some new ones. I am looking to go to a place called Broadway Shoes Warehouse (or something like that) and it has a ton of name brand shoes at like 1/2 the price. And I love when I can get a good deal.

Check ya lata!

I like to... party all the time...

Another day of work. We are getting more into what we will actually be doing which is really nice but we will be in training until Monday.

We have been watching Lance on television thru the Tour de France. Pretty cool to watch since it is something that I have never watched before. Although I have not been into biking before I really want to start. There are so many mountains around here though it seems like it would be a lot of fun.

Other than that it has been pretty uneventful.

Poof!

So the day so far has consisted of Magic. I am definitely learning the game. And I am told that for all of you who are in the know I am to tell you that I played the Zombie hand... and am not really a fan of playing against it. I don't know how many more times I can play against the hand and still be friends with its owner!! Other than that though I am having fun and I actually have won a few games... go me!!

I also remember a first that happened yesterday that I forgot to post earlier... I saw a lady walking around downtown with a live bird on her shoulder. Probably a parrot but still... she was just walking it around like you would a dog but it was on her shoulder. I have never seen someone just walking around town like that before... crazy!!

Fireworks!!

The fireworks yesterday were fabulous!!! They lasted about a half hour and they were gorgeous. They had them done to music and it was so fun to watch. There were some that were huge, some that sparkled, some that looked like shooting stars, and some that were done in shapes (like stars, hearts, and smiley faces).

Before the fireworks there were a lot of festivities that we were able to watch. We got downtown at about 1pm and went first to a comic book store. It was pretty huge and very cool. We will be going back to that one soon. After the comic book store we went to a mall where we were able to watch Spiderman 2. It was a pretty cool movie... if you haven't seen it yet its a good one!! We then went to the fireworks area and walked around everything. There were so many people there!! I want to find out how many people were actually there. But we found a curb to sit on and played Zelda and listened to the music that played. The Spin Doctors were there (do you remember the songs that they had on the radio??) and played for about an hour. I guess they are going to go on tour again soon... if you were interested. Diana Degarmo (from American Idol) sang the national anthem. She did a very good job. I guess she has a single out but I haven't heard it yet.

Working for the weekend...

I had a really good first week of work. I have definitely met some fun people and I really think I will like the job. All of us newbies went out for lunch on Friday and had a lot of fun joking around. Luckily we have really gotten along pretty well which makes learning really fun!! Also since we are the first group to go thru the orientation process like this they are very open to our feedback.

This weekend should be pretty fun. The only real plans that I have is to see the fireworks tomorrow night. The rest of the weekend (and Monday) are really for relaxing. Sounds nice to me!!

Day 2

I found out that there is a small gym that can be used by people at our company just down the road from where I work. It is too far to walk to (and the roads are busy anyway) but I thought it would be cool to go there in the summer (especially when it is way too hot to be walking outside anyway) and go for a lunch time walk. First though I need to get my car back so I can drive there!! Oh well. Am having fun anyway. I bring a book or magazine and my lunch and sit outside (there is a very beautiful area right there that I can sit at). Unfortunately today has been rainy so I couldn't stay out there all of my lunch hour. But it was nice to be out there for a while.

We came home and worked out. It was a leg day and my legs now hurt!!! It will be so much fun working tomorrow...

Working woman

I just had my first day of work. Right now I am going in at 8:30am and getting out between 5 and 5:30 but this is for training. I will be training for the rest of this week and next week (minus Monday which is a holiday). It was really fun... there were 6 of us "newbies" who are in training together. There are 2 of us girls and 4 guys. We are the ginney pigs since they haven't ever done this kind of training before. The girl and I got along right away and were having a lot of fun training together unfortunately we are not in the same department (although we are on the same floor of the building). We will be meeting with HR tomorrow for most of the day for training about the company and our benefits that we will be getting.

When I start actually doing my job I will be on the 5th floor of a 5 floor building and overlook I-75 (although it may not sound cool I am so excited... this is something that I was really hoping... I wanted to work in a place where there would be windows and I could see the "city life"). I also don't know what my hours will be (I could go in anywhere between 8am and 11am and get out after 8 hours of work... latest being 8pm). I am hoping to have a shift that starts at either 8am or 9am but I am not getting my hopes up since I will be new.

I met the COO of the company today. He was walking around while I was doing some job shadowing and the guy I was shadowing introduced me to him. Everyone in my department seem really laid back and we joked around while I was learning how they take calls and whatnot. I worked with the head of the Tier 1 Tech. Support department and his second in command. They were a lot of fun. I found out that the department head (Joe) grew up and lived in Queens, NY until he was in his mid 20's. When he interviewed me I thought he had the accent but I didn't want to ask anything. It was pretty cool. Also, the guy I shadowed lived in Long Island, NY until he was 16. So I was having fun listening to their accents!!

Last day of freedom...

This is my last day before I start a new job... and I am excited... especially that I will be making money and will be able to meet some people from the area. But at the same time I have really enjoyed the freedom of not having the commitment of a job. I am just hoping that I get along with everyone and that I can have fun while I am there. I always really enjoyed the people that I worked with before and hope that I can find something like that at this job.

So, how am I spending the last day of freedom? Well, without a car it makes it difficult to go anywhere so I am staying at home and painting my toenails, watching some TV, cleaning up a bit, and playing some games on the computer. Should be relaxing. Which is good.

I am looking forward to next weekend being that it is going to be the 4th of July. I absolutely love fireworks and we will be going downtown to watch the fireworks. I can't wait. It should be really crowded but really fun.