Hope everyone is having a good weekend! :)
Things are going pretty well with me. Work was busy this week, we're finishing up our training and heading into "transition"...more tests tomorrow. Ugh.
I've had a very good weekend. Friday night I got together with my friend Tracy, we hadn't seen eachother in 10+ years. Tracy & I have been friends since I was in the 2nd grade and moved next door to her on Pound St here in Lockport. It was great catching up with her, we went to the Village Eatery to get something to eat and then sat in the bar for a bit.
Saturday I did some running around, cleaning & laundry and then Darcy and I did a little shopping. I had bought some throw pillows & a gorgeous chenile blanket for my couch and sadly did not heed the "dry clean only" message on said blanket and ruined it. So I had to buy another one. Last night a friend came over and he made us some very delicious white russians and let's just say I really enjoyed them and may have had a bit too much to drink. All in good fun though. :)
Today is a lazy day. I slept in until 11 and don't really feel hungover, just tired and don't want to do anything. I started a new book that Darcy let me borrow, "The Tenth Circle" by Jodi Picoult and I think that's what I'll be doing today. Oh wait, I still have to go get my coffee. The horror!! It's 1pm and I still have not had my coffee...better go do that now!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Saturday
Hello! Once again, I have been lazy about blogging. Shame on me! tsk, tsk. :)
I've had a pretty busy week, some bad parts but a lot of good. First of all, last weekend I woke up to a very angry tooth, I'm talking pain that literally brought me to my knees. I hate my teeth. Anyways, I got in to see a dentist last Saturday and she took some x-rays, saw that in one of the teeth where I have a deep filling that it's all infected & whatnot and needs a root canal. Oh great. So she gives me some antibiotics to help clear the infection up before they can do the root canal. She said I should be feeling better within 24 hours but sadly that did not happen. Sunday got even worse and by 6pm I was in tears and ready to take a pair of pliers and rip out the damn tooth. I called their service and told them that I was getting worse and to please call me back. Plus my face looked like I had been knocked around, not at all attractive.
So I got in to see another dentist in the office on Monday but all he could do was give me more antibiotics because the infection was so bad and he also questioned me about needing to be pre-medicated before any dental work due to my back surgery last year & having hardware in my back. I told him that my surgeon never said a word about this and that I would have remembered if he had because this is an issue that hits very close to home, as those of you know what happened to my mom 13 years ago. So, he got a hold of my surgeon in WA and sure enough, I DO need to be pre-medicated. Glad he told me, especially since I had a bunch of dental work done before I came out here.
Anyways, I finally was able to have part of the root canal done yesterday and today was the first time in a week that my face isn't swollen and my mouth isn't in agony. Yeah! :)
Amy & her family came in to town last Friday and I was able to see them quite a few times which I'm very happy about. One night we went and played miniature golf and had a great time, I love playing that! I wish I had been able to spend more time with them but between me working and them having lots of family & friends to visit with, we made the most of our time.
Then Jason flew in yesterday from Florida, I picked him up on my way home from work and we ended up going to his friend Nathan's house and hanging out with Nathan, his wife, their 11 month old daughter Serena & his wife's parents. We brought over a party tray of pizza from our favorite place, Pizza Oven, and had that with some wings and beer. We got home around midnight I think last night. Today Jason needed to do some running around before he went to his friend's wedding reception (which was the purpose of his visit), so we went out and got his hair cut and found him an awesome suit at Kohls. I picked out his shirt & tie and I have to admit, my brother looked very dapper! :)
Other than that, all is going well with me. Work is going fine, next week is my last week of training and then I go into transition. I am still amazed at how thorough their training is.
Well that's all I've got right now, hope everyone is doing well & having a great weekend!
-M
I've had a pretty busy week, some bad parts but a lot of good. First of all, last weekend I woke up to a very angry tooth, I'm talking pain that literally brought me to my knees. I hate my teeth. Anyways, I got in to see a dentist last Saturday and she took some x-rays, saw that in one of the teeth where I have a deep filling that it's all infected & whatnot and needs a root canal. Oh great. So she gives me some antibiotics to help clear the infection up before they can do the root canal. She said I should be feeling better within 24 hours but sadly that did not happen. Sunday got even worse and by 6pm I was in tears and ready to take a pair of pliers and rip out the damn tooth. I called their service and told them that I was getting worse and to please call me back. Plus my face looked like I had been knocked around, not at all attractive.
So I got in to see another dentist in the office on Monday but all he could do was give me more antibiotics because the infection was so bad and he also questioned me about needing to be pre-medicated before any dental work due to my back surgery last year & having hardware in my back. I told him that my surgeon never said a word about this and that I would have remembered if he had because this is an issue that hits very close to home, as those of you know what happened to my mom 13 years ago. So, he got a hold of my surgeon in WA and sure enough, I DO need to be pre-medicated. Glad he told me, especially since I had a bunch of dental work done before I came out here.
Anyways, I finally was able to have part of the root canal done yesterday and today was the first time in a week that my face isn't swollen and my mouth isn't in agony. Yeah! :)
Amy & her family came in to town last Friday and I was able to see them quite a few times which I'm very happy about. One night we went and played miniature golf and had a great time, I love playing that! I wish I had been able to spend more time with them but between me working and them having lots of family & friends to visit with, we made the most of our time.
Then Jason flew in yesterday from Florida, I picked him up on my way home from work and we ended up going to his friend Nathan's house and hanging out with Nathan, his wife, their 11 month old daughter Serena & his wife's parents. We brought over a party tray of pizza from our favorite place, Pizza Oven, and had that with some wings and beer. We got home around midnight I think last night. Today Jason needed to do some running around before he went to his friend's wedding reception (which was the purpose of his visit), so we went out and got his hair cut and found him an awesome suit at Kohls. I picked out his shirt & tie and I have to admit, my brother looked very dapper! :)
Other than that, all is going well with me. Work is going fine, next week is my last week of training and then I go into transition. I am still amazed at how thorough their training is.
Well that's all I've got right now, hope everyone is doing well & having a great weekend!
-M
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Long time no blogging
Hello! It's been a couple weeks since I've blogged, nothing major has been going on, just lazy I guess. :)
Everything is going pretty well, work has been good...training has been busy and a litle stressful at times but I like it.
Wednesday was Amy's birthday and today is Kari's...Happy Birthday to both of you! :)
Speaking of Amy, she'll be in town this coming Friday for a week and I can't wait. We're going to go and get pedicures together, I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to seeing John & Isabelle again too. This is one of the good parts of being back "home", I get to see Amy more often because she's from this area too. I can't wait until I have some time off work and go out and see her new house, it sounds beautiful!
Jason will also be here in a couple weeks and I can't wait for that too. I have to say how much I love my brother, we were the typical brother & sister growing up and I admit that I was hell to live with but as we've gotten older and especially since we've lost our mom 13 years ago we've become best of friends. I love it.
Speaking of my mom, I got the freakiest phone call the other nite. I didn't recognize the phone # but answered it anyway, this lady says to me "can you talk?" and I didn't recognize the voice so I said "who is this?" and she said "your mother"....I had to stop for a minute and then said "I'm sorry you must have the wrong number" and hung up. Talk about freaky! I wanted to tell her that that was impossible because my mom was dead but that would have been rude. It's funny because sometimes I forget that my mom is gone and then sometimes it feels like it's been forever. Weird.
Not sure what I'm going to do today. I got up and threw some clothes on and headed to the pet store because I realized that my kitties were out of dry cat food, so I ran out & picked that up and got myself some coffee. I've been doing laundry & cleaning. I'm thinking of asking Darcy is she wants to go to the casino either tonight or tomorrow but I know how I am about casinos and not sure if it's a good choice right now because I like to spend money there. ha ha.
Speaking of money, my bank messed up my bank account last week big time. I checked my balance and they were telling me I only had $12! My checkbook said around $175 so I knew they were wrong. I freaked out and sent Matt an IM to ask him for help, he was such a jerk about it and grilled me about did I call the bank? Am I going to get it straightened out? So I just said screw it and told him nevermind, I'd figure it out myself. Fortheloveofgod, I left with nothing. Yes, I know it was my choice but we are still married and he only has had to replace dishes & silverware whereas I have to replace EVERYTHING. I didn't think it was too much to ask, plus I've also told him that I won't ask for alimony. He called me the next day and apologized for being a jerk and I ended up transferring some money from our joint account (my name is still on it) into my personal checking account. He tends to forget that I'm starting over, I took a huge cut in pay and I'm struggling. I hate asking for help but technically, if I wanted to be a snotty about the whole thing I could go after him for alimony due to the fact that we've been married for 15 years and that the standard of living that I became accustomed to has gone down drastically. Ugh. I don't want things to get nasty between us but I feel that I really got the short end of the stick and I'm going to make a list of all that I left behind, try to determine a dollar value and present it to him. I don't want to have to get an attorney but I feel like I might have to, I don't want to get screwed and I think that I've put myself into a position where I am.
Oh-well, sorry for that rant!
That's all I've got for now, I'll try to be better about blogging!
Hope everyone has a nice weekend! :)
Everything is going pretty well, work has been good...training has been busy and a litle stressful at times but I like it.
Wednesday was Amy's birthday and today is Kari's...Happy Birthday to both of you! :)
Speaking of Amy, she'll be in town this coming Friday for a week and I can't wait. We're going to go and get pedicures together, I'm looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to seeing John & Isabelle again too. This is one of the good parts of being back "home", I get to see Amy more often because she's from this area too. I can't wait until I have some time off work and go out and see her new house, it sounds beautiful!
Jason will also be here in a couple weeks and I can't wait for that too. I have to say how much I love my brother, we were the typical brother & sister growing up and I admit that I was hell to live with but as we've gotten older and especially since we've lost our mom 13 years ago we've become best of friends. I love it.
Speaking of my mom, I got the freakiest phone call the other nite. I didn't recognize the phone # but answered it anyway, this lady says to me "can you talk?" and I didn't recognize the voice so I said "who is this?" and she said "your mother"....I had to stop for a minute and then said "I'm sorry you must have the wrong number" and hung up. Talk about freaky! I wanted to tell her that that was impossible because my mom was dead but that would have been rude. It's funny because sometimes I forget that my mom is gone and then sometimes it feels like it's been forever. Weird.
Not sure what I'm going to do today. I got up and threw some clothes on and headed to the pet store because I realized that my kitties were out of dry cat food, so I ran out & picked that up and got myself some coffee. I've been doing laundry & cleaning. I'm thinking of asking Darcy is she wants to go to the casino either tonight or tomorrow but I know how I am about casinos and not sure if it's a good choice right now because I like to spend money there. ha ha.
Speaking of money, my bank messed up my bank account last week big time. I checked my balance and they were telling me I only had $12! My checkbook said around $175 so I knew they were wrong. I freaked out and sent Matt an IM to ask him for help, he was such a jerk about it and grilled me about did I call the bank? Am I going to get it straightened out? So I just said screw it and told him nevermind, I'd figure it out myself. Fortheloveofgod, I left with nothing. Yes, I know it was my choice but we are still married and he only has had to replace dishes & silverware whereas I have to replace EVERYTHING. I didn't think it was too much to ask, plus I've also told him that I won't ask for alimony. He called me the next day and apologized for being a jerk and I ended up transferring some money from our joint account (my name is still on it) into my personal checking account. He tends to forget that I'm starting over, I took a huge cut in pay and I'm struggling. I hate asking for help but technically, if I wanted to be a snotty about the whole thing I could go after him for alimony due to the fact that we've been married for 15 years and that the standard of living that I became accustomed to has gone down drastically. Ugh. I don't want things to get nasty between us but I feel that I really got the short end of the stick and I'm going to make a list of all that I left behind, try to determine a dollar value and present it to him. I don't want to have to get an attorney but I feel like I might have to, I don't want to get screwed and I think that I've put myself into a position where I am.
Oh-well, sorry for that rant!
That's all I've got for now, I'll try to be better about blogging!
Hope everyone has a nice weekend! :)
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Sunday
Good morning...just finished my oatmeal and am drinking my coffee, it is so nice out right now, a little on the cool side but I'm sure it'll warm up.
Not much going on with me, the rest of my week at work went pretty well. Got my paycheck on Thursday and put it right in the bank and it's pretty much gone now but isn't that the way it goes? :sigh:
Yesterday I slept in and got started on doing some laundry, cleaning and whatnot and then around 2 or so I got so sick to my stomach and was throwing up. I have no idea what it was, the only thing I can think of is that I took my medicine twice...it becomes part of my morning routine to automatically take my medicine and I didn't have breakfast right away so I couldn't remember if I had taken it, I swore I hadn't and took it. That had to be it because all I had eaten was oatmeal and a cup of coffee and within an hour or so after getting sick I felt better. Yeah, I bet that was enjoyable to read about. :)
Darcy is coming over at noon and we're going to the galleria to do some shopping, she has something she's looking for and there's something else I wanted to get Amy for her birthday which is on the 25th. This month is flying by! Kari's birthday is coming up too, on the 28th. Busy month for birthdays!
That's really all I've got right now...boring, I know, but hey at least I'm not crying! ha ha
Have a good one everyone!
Not much going on with me, the rest of my week at work went pretty well. Got my paycheck on Thursday and put it right in the bank and it's pretty much gone now but isn't that the way it goes? :sigh:
Yesterday I slept in and got started on doing some laundry, cleaning and whatnot and then around 2 or so I got so sick to my stomach and was throwing up. I have no idea what it was, the only thing I can think of is that I took my medicine twice...it becomes part of my morning routine to automatically take my medicine and I didn't have breakfast right away so I couldn't remember if I had taken it, I swore I hadn't and took it. That had to be it because all I had eaten was oatmeal and a cup of coffee and within an hour or so after getting sick I felt better. Yeah, I bet that was enjoyable to read about. :)
Darcy is coming over at noon and we're going to the galleria to do some shopping, she has something she's looking for and there's something else I wanted to get Amy for her birthday which is on the 25th. This month is flying by! Kari's birthday is coming up too, on the 28th. Busy month for birthdays!
That's really all I've got right now...boring, I know, but hey at least I'm not crying! ha ha
Have a good one everyone!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Wednesday
I'm happy to report that we're having a break from the hot & humid weather that we have had the last few days, I've got the windows open and there's a nice cool breeze coming in. Ahhhh :)
Everything is going much better, I'm feeling more like myself...perhaps even a little stronger & more confident version of myself. I've been doing a lot of thinking and am making a very conscious effort to not be so hard on myself, to not always think whatever negative situation arises that it means there is something wrong with me. It's a struggle, I've always had issues with low self-esteem but I am feeling better, so that's a start.
It helps so much to have a job again, as much as I miss being able to stay up as late as I want and sleep in as late as I want, I do enjoy being back to work and feeling like I have a purpose. It's also been nice to be around new people all day. We spent all of today on the phones taking billing & id card calls and it was fun. I had one call that started off badly but ended well...the lady was trying to make a payment via e-check but didn't understand the difference between a routing number and account number...she was getting very angry with me and kept saying "I don't understand why you are not getting this"...I explained to her at least 3 times that the routing number can be found in the lower left hand corner of her check, etc. etc. We went round and round for a good 7 minutes which felt more like 30 minutes. Finally she told me she had another policy with us and to check that because she knew her account information was in there...she was correct, we did have her info stored in this second policy BUT the so-called routing number that she was giving me was actually her account number. I explained this to her in the most "pcf" (professional, courteous & friendly) way and she got quiet for a second and said "wow, I learned something today, thank you!" and when I was closing the call and apologized for her frustration, thanked her for her patience and she then apologized to me which is always a great feeling when a customer apologizes. Other than that the rest of my calls were great, I had a 72 year old man call who was freaking hysterical...I have to verify date of birth and two other items before I can speak about the policy and when I asked for his dob he said "okay, before I do that I need for you to raise your right hand and solemnly swear that you will not tell anyone how old I am", I cracked up and said "I swear, sir". He was a riot and at the end of the call I gave my speel about how it is my goal to provide excellent customer service, etc and he said "Michelle, if and when you do get a husband in your life he will be very lucky to have you as his wife because you are very pleasant and kind". I wanted to tell him that I do have a husband and that we're getting a divorce and oddly enough today is our 15 year anniversary. ha ha. But of course I just laughed and said thank you. Too funny.
Yeah, so today is my 15 year "anniversary" of being married...I have not been looking forward to this day but I have to say that I am okay with it. I e-mailed Matt on Sunday and said that I didn't know if he planned on acknowledging it in anyway but if he had, to please not, that I couldn't handle it. Luckily he understood. I thought I would feel really sad today but I don't, hopefully that's a good sign.
I'm thinking of stopping over to Darcy's house tonight to hang out, I called her a few minutes ago and no one was home so hopefully she'll call me back.
Tomorrow is pay day!! Woohooo!! I can't wait to get that check in my hand and get it into my account...my checking account is literally echoing because it's so close to empty. :)
I think that's about it from me, just wanted to check in and say thank you once again for everyone's kind words and for reading all of my depressing posts, I'm crossing my fingers that those become a thing of the past. :)
Have a great day/night everyone!!
Everything is going much better, I'm feeling more like myself...perhaps even a little stronger & more confident version of myself. I've been doing a lot of thinking and am making a very conscious effort to not be so hard on myself, to not always think whatever negative situation arises that it means there is something wrong with me. It's a struggle, I've always had issues with low self-esteem but I am feeling better, so that's a start.
It helps so much to have a job again, as much as I miss being able to stay up as late as I want and sleep in as late as I want, I do enjoy being back to work and feeling like I have a purpose. It's also been nice to be around new people all day. We spent all of today on the phones taking billing & id card calls and it was fun. I had one call that started off badly but ended well...the lady was trying to make a payment via e-check but didn't understand the difference between a routing number and account number...she was getting very angry with me and kept saying "I don't understand why you are not getting this"...I explained to her at least 3 times that the routing number can be found in the lower left hand corner of her check, etc. etc. We went round and round for a good 7 minutes which felt more like 30 minutes. Finally she told me she had another policy with us and to check that because she knew her account information was in there...she was correct, we did have her info stored in this second policy BUT the so-called routing number that she was giving me was actually her account number. I explained this to her in the most "pcf" (professional, courteous & friendly) way and she got quiet for a second and said "wow, I learned something today, thank you!" and when I was closing the call and apologized for her frustration, thanked her for her patience and she then apologized to me which is always a great feeling when a customer apologizes. Other than that the rest of my calls were great, I had a 72 year old man call who was freaking hysterical...I have to verify date of birth and two other items before I can speak about the policy and when I asked for his dob he said "okay, before I do that I need for you to raise your right hand and solemnly swear that you will not tell anyone how old I am", I cracked up and said "I swear, sir". He was a riot and at the end of the call I gave my speel about how it is my goal to provide excellent customer service, etc and he said "Michelle, if and when you do get a husband in your life he will be very lucky to have you as his wife because you are very pleasant and kind". I wanted to tell him that I do have a husband and that we're getting a divorce and oddly enough today is our 15 year anniversary. ha ha. But of course I just laughed and said thank you. Too funny.
Yeah, so today is my 15 year "anniversary" of being married...I have not been looking forward to this day but I have to say that I am okay with it. I e-mailed Matt on Sunday and said that I didn't know if he planned on acknowledging it in anyway but if he had, to please not, that I couldn't handle it. Luckily he understood. I thought I would feel really sad today but I don't, hopefully that's a good sign.
I'm thinking of stopping over to Darcy's house tonight to hang out, I called her a few minutes ago and no one was home so hopefully she'll call me back.
Tomorrow is pay day!! Woohooo!! I can't wait to get that check in my hand and get it into my account...my checking account is literally echoing because it's so close to empty. :)
I think that's about it from me, just wanted to check in and say thank you once again for everyone's kind words and for reading all of my depressing posts, I'm crossing my fingers that those become a thing of the past. :)
Have a great day/night everyone!!
Monday, July 9, 2007
Monday
Well I'm happy to report that I'm not crying and have not cried all day today. I did however wake up with the puffiest eyes ever and couldn't even wear my contacts because my eyeballs hurt. How pathetic is that?! Geesh! :)
I'm honestly quite angry with myself for allowing someone to have such an effect on me and make me doubt myself and make me feel like there is something wrong with me. Hey, I know I'm not perfect but I'm a good person and I don't deserve to be treated the way that I was.
Thanks to my brother & my wonderful friends, I am starting to see things in a different perspective and am realizing that there are a lot of things in life that we can't control...people get sick, we lose people that we love, all kinds of horrible things that we have absolutely no control over. I've lost too many people that I love, my mom died when I was only 22, my grandfather whom I loved like a father died this past November, my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago--thank god she is healthy now!!...those types of things I can't control. But what I can control is who I let into my life and how I allow them to treat me. I can't control how someone treats me per say but I can control how I respond to it and if I continue to let it happen. I was raised to always see the good in people and while I do believe that is a good quality, I tend to make excuses for people when they are hurtful...that only goes so far. When someone continues to hurt someone else and it is brought to their attention time & time again and they don't change their behavior...that's a problem and to me, it means they really don't give a shit about your feelings. This applies to my current situation, my marriage, this psycho friend I made at one of my jobs in Washington...anyone.
Sorry for my psycho-babble tangent but hey, I spent the whole weekend in bed crying so I had a lot of time to think. :) I'm trying to make light of a depressing situation and to actually learn from it and not let it happen again.
So, that's that.
I had a good day at work today. We had our first official test regarding what we've learned in the first two weeks and I scored a 92%, a 90% or above was considered a passing grade and only 3 of us officially passed. Geico does put a lot of importance & value on these tests and quizzes that we randomly have but in training, it's used more as a tool to help coach you with things that you need help with and at the same time they praise you for what you've done well.
We also started taking live calls. It's so funny because I was in a call center environment for 2 years at First Healthcare and then 3 years at Medtronic so it's not like the phones were new to me. However, I was nervous because it's new which I'm sure is quite normal. I sat with my friend Chelsea and she listened in on my calls while I took them, she'd point to the screen or write me a note if I was missing something and then we switched spots and I did the same. I felt pretty good about the calls that each of us took. I bet we each took maybe 8 or 9 which was a nice slow start. Tomorrow we'll take about 2 hours and take some more calls and those calls will actually be monitored by our quality team so I'm a little nervous about that, not only do they record your calls but they also record everything that you are doing on your computer. I think it's great for learning purposes but a little intimidating.
Oh, have I mentioned that it is so humid here? Ohmygod. Today when I left work and stepped outside it felt like I was walking in to a sauna. I stepped outside not too long ago to take the garbage out and it is still so humid. Ugh. I did not miss this part of western NY one bit. :) Oh-well.
Well I hope everyone had a good day....thank you to all of my wonderful friends for always being there for me, it means the world to me.
Love,
M.
I'm honestly quite angry with myself for allowing someone to have such an effect on me and make me doubt myself and make me feel like there is something wrong with me. Hey, I know I'm not perfect but I'm a good person and I don't deserve to be treated the way that I was.
Thanks to my brother & my wonderful friends, I am starting to see things in a different perspective and am realizing that there are a lot of things in life that we can't control...people get sick, we lose people that we love, all kinds of horrible things that we have absolutely no control over. I've lost too many people that I love, my mom died when I was only 22, my grandfather whom I loved like a father died this past November, my best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 years ago--thank god she is healthy now!!...those types of things I can't control. But what I can control is who I let into my life and how I allow them to treat me. I can't control how someone treats me per say but I can control how I respond to it and if I continue to let it happen. I was raised to always see the good in people and while I do believe that is a good quality, I tend to make excuses for people when they are hurtful...that only goes so far. When someone continues to hurt someone else and it is brought to their attention time & time again and they don't change their behavior...that's a problem and to me, it means they really don't give a shit about your feelings. This applies to my current situation, my marriage, this psycho friend I made at one of my jobs in Washington...anyone.
Sorry for my psycho-babble tangent but hey, I spent the whole weekend in bed crying so I had a lot of time to think. :) I'm trying to make light of a depressing situation and to actually learn from it and not let it happen again.
So, that's that.
I had a good day at work today. We had our first official test regarding what we've learned in the first two weeks and I scored a 92%, a 90% or above was considered a passing grade and only 3 of us officially passed. Geico does put a lot of importance & value on these tests and quizzes that we randomly have but in training, it's used more as a tool to help coach you with things that you need help with and at the same time they praise you for what you've done well.
We also started taking live calls. It's so funny because I was in a call center environment for 2 years at First Healthcare and then 3 years at Medtronic so it's not like the phones were new to me. However, I was nervous because it's new which I'm sure is quite normal. I sat with my friend Chelsea and she listened in on my calls while I took them, she'd point to the screen or write me a note if I was missing something and then we switched spots and I did the same. I felt pretty good about the calls that each of us took. I bet we each took maybe 8 or 9 which was a nice slow start. Tomorrow we'll take about 2 hours and take some more calls and those calls will actually be monitored by our quality team so I'm a little nervous about that, not only do they record your calls but they also record everything that you are doing on your computer. I think it's great for learning purposes but a little intimidating.
Oh, have I mentioned that it is so humid here? Ohmygod. Today when I left work and stepped outside it felt like I was walking in to a sauna. I stepped outside not too long ago to take the garbage out and it is still so humid. Ugh. I did not miss this part of western NY one bit. :) Oh-well.
Well I hope everyone had a good day....thank you to all of my wonderful friends for always being there for me, it means the world to me.
Love,
M.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Lesson
I've learned a lesson the hard way...which sadly seems to be the only way I ever learn lessons...live & learn though, right?
I'm not going to get into details but I recently got myself caught up in a situation with someone from my past and it has blown up in my face. Here's what I've learned: leave the past in the past. I hate to quote Dr Phil but he is so right when he says that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Enough said.
I spent most of yesterday crying & just feeling so awful about myself. I feel like I will never meet anyone that will treat me well, sometimes I feel like I don't even deserve to be treated well and I should just take what I can get. I know, I know, that is the wrong way to think but it's how I feel right now. I just feel so alone and although I'm not the kind of person who needs someone around me 24/7, it would be nice to have someone that cares about me.
And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine. :) At least I can joke about it.
On the positive side, I did get to talk to Amy yesterday and that was always fun. Amy & her family are getting settled in to their new house and I cannot wait to see it, I saw a few pictures before they moved in and it looked beautiful. I'm dying to see their backyard, Amy has described it as an "oasis". Amy, you always crack me up. :)
I also got to talk with Kari and that is always enjoyable as well. I heard Kurtis in the background and I can't believe how much more verbal he is getting, I could hear him just chattering away. Kari said that he's saying all kinds of things...my favorite so far is how he says "sock"...I'll leave it to your imagination, but let's just say that Kari & John try to keep him from saying this word in public. Too cute.
I also went to JcPenney yesterday and bought 3 more tops for work, they were all 30% off and I think I now have more than enough tops to mix & match with the pants that I have. I have to say that I kind of like dressing up more for work, it makes me feel a little more professional & better about myself.
So, thank you once again for reading my sob story...I'm still a major work in progress.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
I'm not going to get into details but I recently got myself caught up in a situation with someone from my past and it has blown up in my face. Here's what I've learned: leave the past in the past. I hate to quote Dr Phil but he is so right when he says that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Enough said.
I spent most of yesterday crying & just feeling so awful about myself. I feel like I will never meet anyone that will treat me well, sometimes I feel like I don't even deserve to be treated well and I should just take what I can get. I know, I know, that is the wrong way to think but it's how I feel right now. I just feel so alone and although I'm not the kind of person who needs someone around me 24/7, it would be nice to have someone that cares about me.
And yes, I would like some cheese with my whine. :) At least I can joke about it.
On the positive side, I did get to talk to Amy yesterday and that was always fun. Amy & her family are getting settled in to their new house and I cannot wait to see it, I saw a few pictures before they moved in and it looked beautiful. I'm dying to see their backyard, Amy has described it as an "oasis". Amy, you always crack me up. :)
I also got to talk with Kari and that is always enjoyable as well. I heard Kurtis in the background and I can't believe how much more verbal he is getting, I could hear him just chattering away. Kari said that he's saying all kinds of things...my favorite so far is how he says "sock"...I'll leave it to your imagination, but let's just say that Kari & John try to keep him from saying this word in public. Too cute.
I also went to JcPenney yesterday and bought 3 more tops for work, they were all 30% off and I think I now have more than enough tops to mix & match with the pants that I have. I have to say that I kind of like dressing up more for work, it makes me feel a little more professional & better about myself.
So, thank you once again for reading my sob story...I'm still a major work in progress.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Friday, July 6, 2007
I passed
First I want to say thank you for the words of encouragement that I've received since my last post...tears are coming down my face as I write this, my emotions are so out of whack and it's not even "that time". :) So, thank you...it means a lot to me to know that I'm not alone.
On a happier note, I passed my test today. We spent most of the day practicing and then at 2pm we split into groups of four and then the first group took their test and so on. Luckily I was in the first group. We each signed in to our phone, set up net meeting and allowed our "customer" (I thought it was going to be someone from our quality team but it ended up being one of the many 'coaches' that we have) to share our desk top. We were given about 5 minutes to get settled and then received our first call...first let me mention something that is really cool, we have a fairly lengthy greeting that we have to say when we first answer the call and our phone system allows us to pre-record our greeting and every time a call comes in, we hear a beep in our ear & then our greeting automatically plays. Totally cool. So here's my greeting "Thank you for calling geico, my name is Michelle Hoffman and I'd be happy to assist you today. May I start by getting your policy number?"...thank goodness I don't have to say that every single time.
Anyways, back to the test. So, we were each going to be receiving 3 calls. Geico has a grading system for each of their calls, their hope is for each call to be what they call "A Level" and for this test all three of our calls needed to be "A Level" to pass. So, first call comes & I did great...as soon as the call disconnected I remembered that I forgot to tell the policyholder to disregard their cancellation notice that they'd be receiving in the mail as they had just made their payment with me. Moved on to the second call, simple. The third call was a combination of making a payment and id cards, not huge but NY state is the only state that has a "check list" of items that we need to verify before we're able to send the id cards and I knew that I nailed it. I walked out of there feeling pretty darn good. I casually mentioned to my trainer when I was leaving the room (we weren't allowed to ask for help from him, only use our materials) that I forgot to mention that they should disregard the "can notice" (insurance slang..ha ha) and he said not to worry, that I wouldn't get "dinged" for that. I'm thinking "sweet!".
Fast forward to an hour later and we've all taken our tests and one by one are being called to go over how we scored. Unfortunately the coach that called me, Lindsay, had to go into a meeting and was unable to go over my calls with me but she took detailed notes and another coach went over it. He said "You did great, you got 2 out of 3"...I was like "WHAT???". He tells me that I didn't do such & such on one of the calls and I said "yes I did"....I wasn't arguing with him per say but I was debating I guess you could call it. First I was irritated that he wasn't the person that actually called me and he didn't quite make it clear to me which call it was that I had missed, he just mentioned a general situation that came up on each call. I am fuming, mainly because I expect perfection from myself...I know that's a bit of a conceited attitude but I can't help it, that's how I am with work stuff. So we all get back into our training class and I tell Jared (my trainer) that I am very irritated and explain to him why. Those of us that missed a call were able to do a retake and we did that one by one, so in the meantime I am continuing to bitch & moan about how I know I did such & such and that I felt that they were being contradictory, etc etc.
Long story short, shortly before I took the retake of my call I figured out that they were right. I felt so stupid because I was thinking of a different call other than the one I had missed. I have to admit that I didn't quite admit this to those around me because I felt rather silly for getting all worked up and making such a fuss over something that wasn't even the case.
I took my retake of the call and aced it. I got some great feedback both times and feel good about it. I'm still irritated that I didn't get all 3 calls the first time but only 3 people in my class did, some missed 2 calls and some missed them again on their retake and that's our only chance to make it up. Not that they'll get into trouble or anything like that, they'll just get some more 1 on 1 coaching. I love that...actually working with your employees on what they are struggling with....what a concept. Can you sense my sarcasm? ha ha
So, that was my day. I woke up this morning and my eyeballs literally hurt and I didn't know why. Then gradually throughout the day the bones above my eyes just began to throb and then each time I would move my eyes it would kill...a migraine was coming. Grrrrrreat. Luckily I made it through the day and picked up some exedrin for migraines on my way home from work, took 2 and fell asleep for almost 3 hours. I'm feeling much better now, my eyes still ache a little bit but I think I caught it in time. I think it's this darn weather. The humidity is picking up again, tomorrow & Sunday the humidity is going to be really high and on Sunday it's going to be around 90. Luckily I have a/c here but I have to be honest, I don't like a/c...I love having the windows open and actually having fresh air, but the a/c does come in handy when sweat is pouring down your face. :)
I don't know what I'm going to be doing over the weekend. One thing I've learned lately is to try to be better about taking things one day at a time, sometimes I tend to think too far ahead and then I get scared or anxious. Even little things like what I'll do tomorrow, I'm just trying to go with the flow and do whatever it is that I feel like doing and not dwell on it. Probably sounds silly but I'm going to see if it helps.
Well I think I've rambled enough for now...thanks again for your kind words and I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)
On a happier note, I passed my test today. We spent most of the day practicing and then at 2pm we split into groups of four and then the first group took their test and so on. Luckily I was in the first group. We each signed in to our phone, set up net meeting and allowed our "customer" (I thought it was going to be someone from our quality team but it ended up being one of the many 'coaches' that we have) to share our desk top. We were given about 5 minutes to get settled and then received our first call...first let me mention something that is really cool, we have a fairly lengthy greeting that we have to say when we first answer the call and our phone system allows us to pre-record our greeting and every time a call comes in, we hear a beep in our ear & then our greeting automatically plays. Totally cool. So here's my greeting "Thank you for calling geico, my name is Michelle Hoffman and I'd be happy to assist you today. May I start by getting your policy number?"...thank goodness I don't have to say that every single time.
Anyways, back to the test. So, we were each going to be receiving 3 calls. Geico has a grading system for each of their calls, their hope is for each call to be what they call "A Level" and for this test all three of our calls needed to be "A Level" to pass. So, first call comes & I did great...as soon as the call disconnected I remembered that I forgot to tell the policyholder to disregard their cancellation notice that they'd be receiving in the mail as they had just made their payment with me. Moved on to the second call, simple. The third call was a combination of making a payment and id cards, not huge but NY state is the only state that has a "check list" of items that we need to verify before we're able to send the id cards and I knew that I nailed it. I walked out of there feeling pretty darn good. I casually mentioned to my trainer when I was leaving the room (we weren't allowed to ask for help from him, only use our materials) that I forgot to mention that they should disregard the "can notice" (insurance slang..ha ha) and he said not to worry, that I wouldn't get "dinged" for that. I'm thinking "sweet!".
Fast forward to an hour later and we've all taken our tests and one by one are being called to go over how we scored. Unfortunately the coach that called me, Lindsay, had to go into a meeting and was unable to go over my calls with me but she took detailed notes and another coach went over it. He said "You did great, you got 2 out of 3"...I was like "WHAT???". He tells me that I didn't do such & such on one of the calls and I said "yes I did"....I wasn't arguing with him per say but I was debating I guess you could call it. First I was irritated that he wasn't the person that actually called me and he didn't quite make it clear to me which call it was that I had missed, he just mentioned a general situation that came up on each call. I am fuming, mainly because I expect perfection from myself...I know that's a bit of a conceited attitude but I can't help it, that's how I am with work stuff. So we all get back into our training class and I tell Jared (my trainer) that I am very irritated and explain to him why. Those of us that missed a call were able to do a retake and we did that one by one, so in the meantime I am continuing to bitch & moan about how I know I did such & such and that I felt that they were being contradictory, etc etc.
Long story short, shortly before I took the retake of my call I figured out that they were right. I felt so stupid because I was thinking of a different call other than the one I had missed. I have to admit that I didn't quite admit this to those around me because I felt rather silly for getting all worked up and making such a fuss over something that wasn't even the case.
I took my retake of the call and aced it. I got some great feedback both times and feel good about it. I'm still irritated that I didn't get all 3 calls the first time but only 3 people in my class did, some missed 2 calls and some missed them again on their retake and that's our only chance to make it up. Not that they'll get into trouble or anything like that, they'll just get some more 1 on 1 coaching. I love that...actually working with your employees on what they are struggling with....what a concept. Can you sense my sarcasm? ha ha
So, that was my day. I woke up this morning and my eyeballs literally hurt and I didn't know why. Then gradually throughout the day the bones above my eyes just began to throb and then each time I would move my eyes it would kill...a migraine was coming. Grrrrrreat. Luckily I made it through the day and picked up some exedrin for migraines on my way home from work, took 2 and fell asleep for almost 3 hours. I'm feeling much better now, my eyes still ache a little bit but I think I caught it in time. I think it's this darn weather. The humidity is picking up again, tomorrow & Sunday the humidity is going to be really high and on Sunday it's going to be around 90. Luckily I have a/c here but I have to be honest, I don't like a/c...I love having the windows open and actually having fresh air, but the a/c does come in handy when sweat is pouring down your face. :)
I don't know what I'm going to be doing over the weekend. One thing I've learned lately is to try to be better about taking things one day at a time, sometimes I tend to think too far ahead and then I get scared or anxious. Even little things like what I'll do tomorrow, I'm just trying to go with the flow and do whatever it is that I feel like doing and not dwell on it. Probably sounds silly but I'm going to see if it helps.
Well I think I've rambled enough for now...thanks again for your kind words and I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Thursday
It's been about a week since I last blogged...honestly, I haven't felt up to it. I'm back to feeling that roller coaster feeling where I'll wake up in a good mood, then get sad and it'll last throughout the day. It hasn't been like this every day this past week but more often than not. Knowing that the 4th of July was coming up depressed me...for starters, one of my grandmothers passed away on the 4th of July 8 years ago so I always think of her around this time of year. Then just the fact that there was a holiday and knowing that usually Matt & I would do something for it got me down. It's not so much that I'm not with Matt, it's just that alone feeling when in the past I haven't been. Then next week, the 11th, will be 15 years since I got married and again, although I'm still confident in my decision to have left, it still bothers me to know that an anniversary is coming. I don't know how to feel about it. I honestly hope he doesn't acknowledge it but knowing Matt, he will and that is just going to make me feel worse.
I've never been through a divorce so although I think all of the things that I feel on a daily basis are normal, I'm not so sure as this is all new to me. Now that I've started a new job and am meeting new people (I'm in a classroom every day with the same 12 people so we're getting to know each other), it has really made me feel so out of the loop of life. I mean, I'm still not totally adjusted to living here...then I hear the others talking about what they did the night before, their boyfriends/girlfriends etc., and it just makes me feel so out of place. Most of the people in my class are at least 10 years younger than me so on top of everything else, I feel old. I feel like the girl with the pathetic story...35 years old, just left her husband, has no children, living in her grandfather's empty house with two cats and struggling to figure out her life. I try to put a positive spin on things and sometimes it helps but lately not so much. Hopefully these feelings will pass soon.
I'm happy to report that work is going well. For the past two weeks we've been learning about taking billing calls & requests for id cards, sounds pretty cut & dry but just like with any job there's different situations that can come up and with each state there are different rules. Plus geico is so strict as to the "flow" of the call, we are literally graded on what we say, how we say it and there is a call map for each type of call and we have to make sure that we have covered each point. I'm comfortable with being on the phones with customers but I really have never been monitored or "graded" on my calls, so this is very new to me and a little stressful. Don't get me wrong, I love it and think that it's awesome that they have such a high level of expectations when it comes to their customer service, it's just an adjustment for me. Tomorrow I have my first test...I'll be put into a room and one of the people from our quality team (we have a whole department of people who monitor calls all day long and grade the calls) and will be graded on my calls. If I pass this test then on Monday I will begin taking billing & id card calls for an hour or two each day, I won't be on my own and will have a "coach" next to me at all times so that will help. After we all get through this testing we will begin our next phase of training, I'm not sure what that is...I think it's understanding coverage and then learning how to make changes to a policy...but each of us will take maybe an hour of calls a day just to stay fresh on billing & id cards. If that makes any sense...I know I'm rambling.
I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, not so much on the material as I've gotten pretty good at navigating their system and have a decent understanding of the billing & id card process, it's just making sure I say things correctly and hit all of the major points of each call. Wish me luck!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I'll write more this weekend.
Take care! :)
I've never been through a divorce so although I think all of the things that I feel on a daily basis are normal, I'm not so sure as this is all new to me. Now that I've started a new job and am meeting new people (I'm in a classroom every day with the same 12 people so we're getting to know each other), it has really made me feel so out of the loop of life. I mean, I'm still not totally adjusted to living here...then I hear the others talking about what they did the night before, their boyfriends/girlfriends etc., and it just makes me feel so out of place. Most of the people in my class are at least 10 years younger than me so on top of everything else, I feel old. I feel like the girl with the pathetic story...35 years old, just left her husband, has no children, living in her grandfather's empty house with two cats and struggling to figure out her life. I try to put a positive spin on things and sometimes it helps but lately not so much. Hopefully these feelings will pass soon.
I'm happy to report that work is going well. For the past two weeks we've been learning about taking billing calls & requests for id cards, sounds pretty cut & dry but just like with any job there's different situations that can come up and with each state there are different rules. Plus geico is so strict as to the "flow" of the call, we are literally graded on what we say, how we say it and there is a call map for each type of call and we have to make sure that we have covered each point. I'm comfortable with being on the phones with customers but I really have never been monitored or "graded" on my calls, so this is very new to me and a little stressful. Don't get me wrong, I love it and think that it's awesome that they have such a high level of expectations when it comes to their customer service, it's just an adjustment for me. Tomorrow I have my first test...I'll be put into a room and one of the people from our quality team (we have a whole department of people who monitor calls all day long and grade the calls) and will be graded on my calls. If I pass this test then on Monday I will begin taking billing & id card calls for an hour or two each day, I won't be on my own and will have a "coach" next to me at all times so that will help. After we all get through this testing we will begin our next phase of training, I'm not sure what that is...I think it's understanding coverage and then learning how to make changes to a policy...but each of us will take maybe an hour of calls a day just to stay fresh on billing & id cards. If that makes any sense...I know I'm rambling.
I'm a little nervous about tomorrow, not so much on the material as I've gotten pretty good at navigating their system and have a decent understanding of the billing & id card process, it's just making sure I say things correctly and hit all of the major points of each call. Wish me luck!
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and I'll write more this weekend.
Take care! :)
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday night
Wow this week has gone by so fast! I can't believe tomorrow is Friday already. Oh, some good news, I found out that I won't have to work on the 4th of July...nothing like starting a new job and then having a holiday during the 2nd week. ha ha. I think I may have mentioned that since geico is open 24/7/365 that each person has to work 2 holidays a year, well I found out today that when we do work a holiday that we are paid double time & a half. That makes it sound much better! :)
Today was definitely much nicer out than the rest of this week has been, this heat & humidity out here really gets to me. I've become a weather wimp. I can only imagine how I'll be in the winter.
Amy closed on her new house today! Congrats to Amy & her family! :)
Not much else going on with me other than work which I'm still feeling really good about. I'll feel even better when I get paid in two weeks.
Well I'm tired & think I'll go read for a little bit until I fall asleep. I'm still reading James Patterson's latest "The 6th Target", this is the longest it has ever taken me to read one of his books. It's not because it isn't good because it is, it's just that my level of concentration lately has been not so good. I feel like I have ADD or something because I just can't focus. I'm sure it's just all that has been going on lately.
Goodnite!
Today was definitely much nicer out than the rest of this week has been, this heat & humidity out here really gets to me. I've become a weather wimp. I can only imagine how I'll be in the winter.
Amy closed on her new house today! Congrats to Amy & her family! :)
Not much else going on with me other than work which I'm still feeling really good about. I'll feel even better when I get paid in two weeks.
Well I'm tired & think I'll go read for a little bit until I fall asleep. I'm still reading James Patterson's latest "The 6th Target", this is the longest it has ever taken me to read one of his books. It's not because it isn't good because it is, it's just that my level of concentration lately has been not so good. I feel like I have ADD or something because I just can't focus. I'm sure it's just all that has been going on lately.
Goodnite!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The Gecko
Well today was day 3 of me being back to work...aside from being exhausted, I have to say that these past 3 days have been the best beginning to a new job I've ever had. Can you say "thorough"? Or "positive"? Ohmygosh. I cannot say just how impressed I am...there is a part of me that has to admit that I keep waiting for everyone there to stop "acting" because it doesn't seem for real.
I spent Monday & Tuesday in "Geico 101"...which is basically a very, very thorough & clear presentation of ALL benefits, the history of geico, geico's business model and vision, what they expect of you, I could go on & on. We had multiple presenters and each one was so positive & friendly & full of energy...each one welcomed us to geico, told their story as to how they came to geico and expressed multiple times how much they love their job and know that we will too. The hiring process was brought up often in a joking way like "wasn't that easy?!" and then each person would follow that with how geico is looking for only the best people and that they know they are tough as far as hiring but that they obviously saw something in each of us that they were impressed with...they also mentioned that for each person that was in the class that there were at least 25 people that applied and didn't get hired. That made me feel good.
They talked about how our success as "associates" is their success. They are very proud of their training program and I have to say that after just seeing a small bit of it today, they have every right to be.
Today was my first day in the classroom and I was a little nervous about it but within the first hour of being there, I really felt at ease and felt confident that I was going to get all of the training that I needed and I gotta say...it was a good feeling. I know that it's going to be 2 months of training and that makes me feel comfortable just thinking about when I actually start being on the phones...I'll actually know what I am talking about, imagine that.
Just back to the benefits real quick...they are amazing. Medical, dental, vision, profit sharing, vacation time, floating holidays, sick time, discount on my car insurance, discounts with stores, cell phone companies, etc...and more. I'm very impressed.
My couch was delivered yesterday and I'm very excited about that. :)
What I have not been excited about is the fact that it has been hotter than hell here...yesterday was about 97 and very humid. Today was around 89 but even more humid than yesterday...when I left the house this morning at 7:30 it was already 75 out and it felt like I was in a sauna. Thank god for air conditioning!!
On that note, I'm going to go lay on my couch in front of the air conditioner and probably fall asleep.
Jenna, sorry to hear you were under the weather, hope you're feeling much better!
Have a great week everyone! :)
I spent Monday & Tuesday in "Geico 101"...which is basically a very, very thorough & clear presentation of ALL benefits, the history of geico, geico's business model and vision, what they expect of you, I could go on & on. We had multiple presenters and each one was so positive & friendly & full of energy...each one welcomed us to geico, told their story as to how they came to geico and expressed multiple times how much they love their job and know that we will too. The hiring process was brought up often in a joking way like "wasn't that easy?!" and then each person would follow that with how geico is looking for only the best people and that they know they are tough as far as hiring but that they obviously saw something in each of us that they were impressed with...they also mentioned that for each person that was in the class that there were at least 25 people that applied and didn't get hired. That made me feel good.
They talked about how our success as "associates" is their success. They are very proud of their training program and I have to say that after just seeing a small bit of it today, they have every right to be.
Today was my first day in the classroom and I was a little nervous about it but within the first hour of being there, I really felt at ease and felt confident that I was going to get all of the training that I needed and I gotta say...it was a good feeling. I know that it's going to be 2 months of training and that makes me feel comfortable just thinking about when I actually start being on the phones...I'll actually know what I am talking about, imagine that.
Just back to the benefits real quick...they are amazing. Medical, dental, vision, profit sharing, vacation time, floating holidays, sick time, discount on my car insurance, discounts with stores, cell phone companies, etc...and more. I'm very impressed.
My couch was delivered yesterday and I'm very excited about that. :)
What I have not been excited about is the fact that it has been hotter than hell here...yesterday was about 97 and very humid. Today was around 89 but even more humid than yesterday...when I left the house this morning at 7:30 it was already 75 out and it felt like I was in a sauna. Thank god for air conditioning!!
On that note, I'm going to go lay on my couch in front of the air conditioner and probably fall asleep.
Jenna, sorry to hear you were under the weather, hope you're feeling much better!
Have a great week everyone! :)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Last day of "freedom"
Sunday morning and I just finished my breakfast of oatmeal and am drinking my coffee. My last day of freedom...suddenly I feel like I didn't do everything that I wanted to do while I was off. I don't know what those things are though. ha ha. Actually I'm excited to be getting some sort of normalcy back into my life, it'll be nice to have a schedule and will feel like I'm living here rather than just visiting.
I filed my last unemployment claim this morning and I'm so happy about that!! Like I said, it's great that it was there but I'm so glad I won't need it any more. :)
I'm really not nervous because tomorrow & Tuesday I have orientation ("Geico 101" as they call it) from 8:00 to 4:15 and then the rest of my training is 8:15 to 4:30, Monday through Friday. I am curious if I'll have training on the 4th of July which is on a Wednesday...I have a feeling I will because Geico is open 24/7/365. It kind of sucks but oh-well, I have no idea what I'd do on the 4th of July anyways and even if I go see fireworks it'll be at night so it's all good.
I spent the rest of the day on Friday feeling sorry for myself. A combo of my hormones and just all the other stuff going on in my life. I watched movies and listened to music all day.
Saturday Darcy picked me up at noon and we headed to the boulevard mall with Darcy and I bought 2 more tops at Macys. I think I'm set for a while now. I've got more than enough tops to mix & match with my pants. We went to Fridays for lunch and we both were good, we had their strawberry fields chicken salad and that is delicious, it's kind of like the salad at Coho Cafe that Jenna introduced me to. After that Darcy wanted to go to Barnes & Noble and Target and then she invited me over for dinner, so I hung out with her & Fred at their place for a while and we had roast beef sandwiches.
I don't plan on doing much today other than laundry, cleaning and little things to "prepare" for work. My aunt Barb called and wants me to take a ride to Olcott with her to get some popcorn at Bye's, it's a big thing around here. Just a little popcorn stand, I think it's only open in spring & summer and they have awesome popcorn. I have become my aunt's pet project and sometimes it gets a little irritating. I know she loves me and means well but she's never been married, never had children and is the kind of person who can't do anything by herself. I mean NOTHING. She needs company to do even the most mundane things and I'm talking even cleaning, she needs someone there to talk to her. No exaggeration. I'm the total opposite, I like being by myself and I'm okay doing things by myself. The bad part about all of this is that she doesn't understand where I'm coming from and calls me to do stuff with her and I feel bad if I say no. I know that's my problem and I need to learn to say no but I do feel badly because I know she's lonely. It's an awkward situation and I don't want to hurt her feelings but sometimes I just want to be left alone. Oh-well...it'll get better when I'm working again.
Oh! My couch will be here on Tuesday, they'll deliver it between 12-4 and my aunt is going to come over since I'll be at work. This is another reason I feel bad saying no to her if she wants me to do something, because I know that she'll do anything for me.
Anyways, I'm so excited about my couch! I can't wait to plop down on it and read or watch tv. :)
Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and I'll report back tomorrow as to how my first day at Geico went!
I filed my last unemployment claim this morning and I'm so happy about that!! Like I said, it's great that it was there but I'm so glad I won't need it any more. :)
I'm really not nervous because tomorrow & Tuesday I have orientation ("Geico 101" as they call it) from 8:00 to 4:15 and then the rest of my training is 8:15 to 4:30, Monday through Friday. I am curious if I'll have training on the 4th of July which is on a Wednesday...I have a feeling I will because Geico is open 24/7/365. It kind of sucks but oh-well, I have no idea what I'd do on the 4th of July anyways and even if I go see fireworks it'll be at night so it's all good.
I spent the rest of the day on Friday feeling sorry for myself. A combo of my hormones and just all the other stuff going on in my life. I watched movies and listened to music all day.
Saturday Darcy picked me up at noon and we headed to the boulevard mall with Darcy and I bought 2 more tops at Macys. I think I'm set for a while now. I've got more than enough tops to mix & match with my pants. We went to Fridays for lunch and we both were good, we had their strawberry fields chicken salad and that is delicious, it's kind of like the salad at Coho Cafe that Jenna introduced me to. After that Darcy wanted to go to Barnes & Noble and Target and then she invited me over for dinner, so I hung out with her & Fred at their place for a while and we had roast beef sandwiches.
I don't plan on doing much today other than laundry, cleaning and little things to "prepare" for work. My aunt Barb called and wants me to take a ride to Olcott with her to get some popcorn at Bye's, it's a big thing around here. Just a little popcorn stand, I think it's only open in spring & summer and they have awesome popcorn. I have become my aunt's pet project and sometimes it gets a little irritating. I know she loves me and means well but she's never been married, never had children and is the kind of person who can't do anything by herself. I mean NOTHING. She needs company to do even the most mundane things and I'm talking even cleaning, she needs someone there to talk to her. No exaggeration. I'm the total opposite, I like being by myself and I'm okay doing things by myself. The bad part about all of this is that she doesn't understand where I'm coming from and calls me to do stuff with her and I feel bad if I say no. I know that's my problem and I need to learn to say no but I do feel badly because I know she's lonely. It's an awkward situation and I don't want to hurt her feelings but sometimes I just want to be left alone. Oh-well...it'll get better when I'm working again.
Oh! My couch will be here on Tuesday, they'll deliver it between 12-4 and my aunt is going to come over since I'll be at work. This is another reason I feel bad saying no to her if she wants me to do something, because I know that she'll do anything for me.
Anyways, I'm so excited about my couch! I can't wait to plop down on it and read or watch tv. :)
Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and I'll report back tomorrow as to how my first day at Geico went!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Happy Friday!
Today is my last unemployed Friday...it's a little sad actually. If it weren't for the whole money thing and needing food & shelter I could really get accustomed to not working. :)
I just received the official "A-OK" from Geico that I passed all of my tests...credit, background, drug, etc. They are the most thorough employer that I have ever dealt with. So, I am an official Geico employee. I really hope to have a good hair day on Monday because they'll be taking my picture for my badge and we all know that those badge pictures stick with you forever...plus the badge will have the gecko on it, I'm so excited. Yes, I'm a dork.
So the fluorescent lights that I bought are too short. I got up this morning, threw some clothes on and treated myself to a venti americano at Starbucks. Decided to keep moving up Transit Rd and went to Target to get longer fluorescent lights. Went to Bank of America to deposit my second to last government cheese check and then headed back here. I brought the new lights in and they are now too long. Damn it, Jim! I will never admit this to my aunt Barb but she told me I needed to measure the lights and I don't like doing what I'm told to do so I rebelled and this is where it has gotten me: two sets of fluorescent lights and neither fit. So now I have to go back to Target again, bring all 4 with me and return them and in the meantime I need to get out my freaking measuring tape and actually measure the bulbs so I can have some light in the kitchen at night.
It's absolutely gorgeous out today! Yesterday was beautiful too...clear & sunny, in the high 70's to low 80's and a wonderful breeze. I've got all the windows open and it feels so good. My walk along the canal last night was really nice too.
Last night I stopped over Darcy's to see what her & Fred were up to and I spent about 2 hours with them. They have an awesome screened in sunporch off the back of their house and it's got a futon, a couch, recliner chairs, a dining table and a tv...it's the perfect summer retreat. I got dessert out of my visit, some fresh picked strawberries with angel food cake and some cool whip. Yum!!
I had some awful dreams last night. One of which entailed being at Nordstrom buying a prom dress (don't ask) and all of a sudden terrorists coming in and making us all lay down on the floor face down for three & a half hours. I remember thinking that I didn't want to get shot. It was awful. I've noticed that whenever I use the patch that my dreams get even more vivid & bizarre than usual and I've also read that it's a side effect. I don't mind dreams that are so crazy that they're entertaining but dreaming of being attacked by terrorists is not at all enjoyable.
Speaking of the patch, I'm still going strong. I have to admit that last night I was so restless and really, really, really wanted to go to 7-11 but I didn't. I got in my car and drove around, popped some gum in my mouth and that's how I ended up at Darcy's. It took my mind off it and I got to visit with a friend and have some good dessert. I will NOT give in to this nasty habit that keeps taunting me. ;)
I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend. Darcy is picking me up at noon tomorrow and we're going to do some shopping, she wants to go to Barnes & Noble and I want to find another top or two for work. It feels weird to say "work". Anyways, that's all I've got planned so far.
Have a great weekend everyone! Oh and so far so good on the new JUMBO litter box. >^..^<
I just received the official "A-OK" from Geico that I passed all of my tests...credit, background, drug, etc. They are the most thorough employer that I have ever dealt with. So, I am an official Geico employee. I really hope to have a good hair day on Monday because they'll be taking my picture for my badge and we all know that those badge pictures stick with you forever...plus the badge will have the gecko on it, I'm so excited. Yes, I'm a dork.
So the fluorescent lights that I bought are too short. I got up this morning, threw some clothes on and treated myself to a venti americano at Starbucks. Decided to keep moving up Transit Rd and went to Target to get longer fluorescent lights. Went to Bank of America to deposit my second to last government cheese check and then headed back here. I brought the new lights in and they are now too long. Damn it, Jim! I will never admit this to my aunt Barb but she told me I needed to measure the lights and I don't like doing what I'm told to do so I rebelled and this is where it has gotten me: two sets of fluorescent lights and neither fit. So now I have to go back to Target again, bring all 4 with me and return them and in the meantime I need to get out my freaking measuring tape and actually measure the bulbs so I can have some light in the kitchen at night.
It's absolutely gorgeous out today! Yesterday was beautiful too...clear & sunny, in the high 70's to low 80's and a wonderful breeze. I've got all the windows open and it feels so good. My walk along the canal last night was really nice too.
Last night I stopped over Darcy's to see what her & Fred were up to and I spent about 2 hours with them. They have an awesome screened in sunporch off the back of their house and it's got a futon, a couch, recliner chairs, a dining table and a tv...it's the perfect summer retreat. I got dessert out of my visit, some fresh picked strawberries with angel food cake and some cool whip. Yum!!
I had some awful dreams last night. One of which entailed being at Nordstrom buying a prom dress (don't ask) and all of a sudden terrorists coming in and making us all lay down on the floor face down for three & a half hours. I remember thinking that I didn't want to get shot. It was awful. I've noticed that whenever I use the patch that my dreams get even more vivid & bizarre than usual and I've also read that it's a side effect. I don't mind dreams that are so crazy that they're entertaining but dreaming of being attacked by terrorists is not at all enjoyable.
Speaking of the patch, I'm still going strong. I have to admit that last night I was so restless and really, really, really wanted to go to 7-11 but I didn't. I got in my car and drove around, popped some gum in my mouth and that's how I ended up at Darcy's. It took my mind off it and I got to visit with a friend and have some good dessert. I will NOT give in to this nasty habit that keeps taunting me. ;)
I don't know what I'm going to do this weekend. Darcy is picking me up at noon tomorrow and we're going to do some shopping, she wants to go to Barnes & Noble and I want to find another top or two for work. It feels weird to say "work". Anyways, that's all I've got planned so far.
Have a great weekend everyone! Oh and so far so good on the new JUMBO litter box. >^..^<
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Thursday
Not much has been going on with me. Yesterday I was a total bum and spent most of the day in bed because I could. ha ha. I did get myself out of the house for a bit last night and bought myself two pairs of pants and a top for work. Maybe another top or two and I'll be set for a while.
This morning I snoozed my alarm for oh about an hour and a half. On top of the alarm going off every 7 minutes I had two cats taking turns jumping up on the bed and getting in my face and meowing for their food. >^..^< I finally gave in around 10. I have to take advantage of this time as much as I can. ;)
I went out and mowed the lawn and then Teri came over for lunch. After that I headed to a pet store, got the cats some more of their dry food and a new litter box. My wonderful, #1 cat in the whole wide world, Winnie, has a nasty habit of getting in the box head first and then peeing outside of the box. Gross, I know. I've gotten very tired of cleaning cat pee and have tried to figure out something to do. So today I found the JUMBO size litter box in hopes that this gives her some more room and she doesn't feel the need to back up and hang her kitty butt over the side. If this doesn't work, our next step is kitty diapers. Don't know where I'll find diapers for cats but I'll figure something out.
I also went to Target and picked up some basic necessities. I had to buy some flourescent lights for the kitchen as the bulbs blew about a week ago and I've been too lazy to replace them, good thing it stays light out late. I'm going to see if Teri will help me replace them this afternoon, she's coming over after work and we're going to go for a walk along the canal.
I'm pleased to say that I have been 100% smoke-free since Sunday. I've been tempted but have told myself "no!" and have tried to do something to take my mind off of it. If I can get through just a few more days, I'll be fine. :)
Well I'm going to go see what's on Oprah and then get ready for my walk.
This morning I snoozed my alarm for oh about an hour and a half. On top of the alarm going off every 7 minutes I had two cats taking turns jumping up on the bed and getting in my face and meowing for their food. >^..^< I finally gave in around 10. I have to take advantage of this time as much as I can. ;)
I went out and mowed the lawn and then Teri came over for lunch. After that I headed to a pet store, got the cats some more of their dry food and a new litter box. My wonderful, #1 cat in the whole wide world, Winnie, has a nasty habit of getting in the box head first and then peeing outside of the box. Gross, I know. I've gotten very tired of cleaning cat pee and have tried to figure out something to do. So today I found the JUMBO size litter box in hopes that this gives her some more room and she doesn't feel the need to back up and hang her kitty butt over the side. If this doesn't work, our next step is kitty diapers. Don't know where I'll find diapers for cats but I'll figure something out.
I also went to Target and picked up some basic necessities. I had to buy some flourescent lights for the kitchen as the bulbs blew about a week ago and I've been too lazy to replace them, good thing it stays light out late. I'm going to see if Teri will help me replace them this afternoon, she's coming over after work and we're going to go for a walk along the canal.
I'm pleased to say that I have been 100% smoke-free since Sunday. I've been tempted but have told myself "no!" and have tried to do something to take my mind off of it. If I can get through just a few more days, I'll be fine. :)
Well I'm going to go see what's on Oprah and then get ready for my walk.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Holy storm!
Have I mentioned that I just love a good storm?! I know I have but it bears repeating because we had a doozy today and I loved it! I saw the alerts across the bottom of the television and they said that the Niagara Falls area would be hit at such & such time and they were dead on. All of a sudden it got really dark (it was only like 4:45pm), then the rain started pouring down, winds were crazy and then boom!! Thunder & lightning. My poor kitties ran underneath the bed but I sat & watched it. I tried going out on the front porch to sit but the wind was so strong that the rain was coming at me and I didn't want to get soaked. It only lasted about 20 minutes but it sure was fun!
I'm still reeling from the news about Celia. It's a little ironic because I was thinking about her about a week or so ago and how I should send her a card, tell her about my move & my new job and give her my new address & phone number. I feel so awful for her husband and children. :(
My aunt Barb & I went out this morning and bought 2 red geraniums, 1 white geranium and some other plant that will bloom little white flowers...I'm so bad at knowing names of flowers & plants, I really only know daisies, roses & tulips. ha ha. Anyway, we took the flowers to the cemetery and planted them in front of my Grandma & Grandpa's headstone, it looks so pretty. I only hope that all this rain we had didn't wash them away, I'll have to go check on them tomorrow. It may sound weird but I was so happy to be able to do that for them. Like I said, I know that everyone believes in different things but I know they appreciate it.
I got the cutest letter in the mail today from Amy, it's on a plain white sheet of paper and she took stickers & glitter and wrote up "Michelle, How are u? Way to go on the job! Good luck at Geico." She's so creative and it made me laugh, I hung it up on my refrigerator for all to see her beautiful artwork. Amy & her family will be coming into town over the summer and I can't wait. I bought a little gift today to give Isabelle when she gets here and I also bought a birthday present for Amy today...and no, I'm not giving any hints!!
My checking account is looking very sad right now & I can't wait to get some real paychecks under my belt. I'm so excited that this coming Sunday will be the last time I have to file for unemployment...I'm so glad it was there for me but I'll be so happy to not have to file anymore. I had to write a check for $350 to my dentist in WA for what insurance didn't cover when I had all that work done before I left. Thank goodness for insurance though.
Speaking of insurance, I've decided to go with Independent Health through Geico. I had Independent Health when I worked for Ticor over 10 years ago and I really liked it, the plan is very similar to Premera Blue Cross (which I now have through Medtronic/COBRA) but I noticed that the prescription co-pays are lower....like for one prescription I had to pay $35 with Premera and with Independent Health I'll only have to pay $20. Every little bit helps.
Yesterday at Geico they gave me a whole bunch of paperwork which included their dress code, it's "business casual" and they were very clear as to what can & can't be worn. I had fun reading it because some of it is just common sense but apparently there are people out there that lack in that department. They are also very specific about things like skirt lengths and how you can wear "crop" pants but they cannot be more than 3" above your ankle. I was happy that they don't require pantyhose (which I hate wearing!) and that they allow women to wear sandals (dressy ones) because I just bought those two pair of Clarks a couple weeks ago and I love them. Now I definitely have to keep up with my pedicures! ha ha
I do need to do a little more clothes shopping before I start, maybe 2 more pairs of slacks and a few tops. I love to mix & match so I try to buy multiple tops that will go with a pair of pants. Saves money too. They were also very specific as to how many earrings you can wear in each ear..."not to exceed 3 per ear". Whew! I'm safe, I wear 2 in one and 3 in the other. And thank goodness I didn't get my lip or brow pierced because that is not allowed...or that I didn't get the big skull & crossbones tattoo on my face as that is not allowed either. ha ha...don't worry I wasn't thinking of either! :)
Speaking of tattoos, I really do want one. I've wanted one for quite some time and now I'm starting to think about it again. It'd be something small on my back, a fairy of some sort. Speaking of fairies...here's a funny story. A few months back Jenna was telling Randy about how I wanted to get a fairy tattoo and he said "why would Michelle want a tattoo of a ferry?". Long story short, he thought I meant a ferry boat, not a fairy! I found a picture of an actual ferry boat and e-mailed it to him and said "this is what I want". It was too funny.
As you can see I'm very talkative today.
Exactly one year ago today I had my back surgery. I can't believe that a year has already gone by! I never thought that the problems I had would end in surgery, I was so adament in the beginning about not having back surgery but it became my only option. It was a huge success, my surgeon Dr. Price was amazing and Evergreen Hospital was great too...most people already know this but I had two of my vertebrae fused together, L5 & S1, due to scoliosis and degenerating discs. They took a bone graft from my left hip and used that along with rods & screws to fuse it together. Along with the fusion I had decompression surgery for spinal stenosis, before the surgery my left leg would go numb after walking or standing for more than 5 minutes because the nerves were compressed from bone spurs on the vertebrae. I'm happy to say that I can walk for hours with no numbness! Having that surgery played a big part in my weight loss, I had to exercise for recovery purposes and that lead to losing weight. I still have pain but that's normal, it takes a long time for the bones & whatnot inside to heal but I sure have come a long way since. I remember the first few weeks after the surgery, oh it was awful! I couldn't even shower by myself or dress myself, I hated being so helpless. One thing I will always praise Matt for is how wonderful of a job he did taking care of me, I honestly could never have asked for better care. So, happy 1 year back surgery anniversary to me! :)
Oh! I know what I wanted to mention...so yesterday I was enjoying channel surfing on my new digital cable and happened to see that TNT was having a marathon of "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgwick. I had never seen it but had heard good things about it and I really like her as an actress...even if she is married to Kevin Bacon, whom I don't care for. So I sat down and watched it for oh about 5 hours! I did other things while I was watching, like organize my closet & whatnot but yes, I was a major couch potato...or should I say chair potato as I don't have a couch yet. The marathon lead up to a commercial free season premiere and now I am officially hooked on this show.
Okay, I think I'm done rambling now...hope everyone had a good day!
I'm still reeling from the news about Celia. It's a little ironic because I was thinking about her about a week or so ago and how I should send her a card, tell her about my move & my new job and give her my new address & phone number. I feel so awful for her husband and children. :(
My aunt Barb & I went out this morning and bought 2 red geraniums, 1 white geranium and some other plant that will bloom little white flowers...I'm so bad at knowing names of flowers & plants, I really only know daisies, roses & tulips. ha ha. Anyway, we took the flowers to the cemetery and planted them in front of my Grandma & Grandpa's headstone, it looks so pretty. I only hope that all this rain we had didn't wash them away, I'll have to go check on them tomorrow. It may sound weird but I was so happy to be able to do that for them. Like I said, I know that everyone believes in different things but I know they appreciate it.
I got the cutest letter in the mail today from Amy, it's on a plain white sheet of paper and she took stickers & glitter and wrote up "Michelle, How are u? Way to go on the job! Good luck at Geico." She's so creative and it made me laugh, I hung it up on my refrigerator for all to see her beautiful artwork. Amy & her family will be coming into town over the summer and I can't wait. I bought a little gift today to give Isabelle when she gets here and I also bought a birthday present for Amy today...and no, I'm not giving any hints!!
My checking account is looking very sad right now & I can't wait to get some real paychecks under my belt. I'm so excited that this coming Sunday will be the last time I have to file for unemployment...I'm so glad it was there for me but I'll be so happy to not have to file anymore. I had to write a check for $350 to my dentist in WA for what insurance didn't cover when I had all that work done before I left. Thank goodness for insurance though.
Speaking of insurance, I've decided to go with Independent Health through Geico. I had Independent Health when I worked for Ticor over 10 years ago and I really liked it, the plan is very similar to Premera Blue Cross (which I now have through Medtronic/COBRA) but I noticed that the prescription co-pays are lower....like for one prescription I had to pay $35 with Premera and with Independent Health I'll only have to pay $20. Every little bit helps.
Yesterday at Geico they gave me a whole bunch of paperwork which included their dress code, it's "business casual" and they were very clear as to what can & can't be worn. I had fun reading it because some of it is just common sense but apparently there are people out there that lack in that department. They are also very specific about things like skirt lengths and how you can wear "crop" pants but they cannot be more than 3" above your ankle. I was happy that they don't require pantyhose (which I hate wearing!) and that they allow women to wear sandals (dressy ones) because I just bought those two pair of Clarks a couple weeks ago and I love them. Now I definitely have to keep up with my pedicures! ha ha
I do need to do a little more clothes shopping before I start, maybe 2 more pairs of slacks and a few tops. I love to mix & match so I try to buy multiple tops that will go with a pair of pants. Saves money too. They were also very specific as to how many earrings you can wear in each ear..."not to exceed 3 per ear". Whew! I'm safe, I wear 2 in one and 3 in the other. And thank goodness I didn't get my lip or brow pierced because that is not allowed...or that I didn't get the big skull & crossbones tattoo on my face as that is not allowed either. ha ha...don't worry I wasn't thinking of either! :)
Speaking of tattoos, I really do want one. I've wanted one for quite some time and now I'm starting to think about it again. It'd be something small on my back, a fairy of some sort. Speaking of fairies...here's a funny story. A few months back Jenna was telling Randy about how I wanted to get a fairy tattoo and he said "why would Michelle want a tattoo of a ferry?". Long story short, he thought I meant a ferry boat, not a fairy! I found a picture of an actual ferry boat and e-mailed it to him and said "this is what I want". It was too funny.
As you can see I'm very talkative today.
Exactly one year ago today I had my back surgery. I can't believe that a year has already gone by! I never thought that the problems I had would end in surgery, I was so adament in the beginning about not having back surgery but it became my only option. It was a huge success, my surgeon Dr. Price was amazing and Evergreen Hospital was great too...most people already know this but I had two of my vertebrae fused together, L5 & S1, due to scoliosis and degenerating discs. They took a bone graft from my left hip and used that along with rods & screws to fuse it together. Along with the fusion I had decompression surgery for spinal stenosis, before the surgery my left leg would go numb after walking or standing for more than 5 minutes because the nerves were compressed from bone spurs on the vertebrae. I'm happy to say that I can walk for hours with no numbness! Having that surgery played a big part in my weight loss, I had to exercise for recovery purposes and that lead to losing weight. I still have pain but that's normal, it takes a long time for the bones & whatnot inside to heal but I sure have come a long way since. I remember the first few weeks after the surgery, oh it was awful! I couldn't even shower by myself or dress myself, I hated being so helpless. One thing I will always praise Matt for is how wonderful of a job he did taking care of me, I honestly could never have asked for better care. So, happy 1 year back surgery anniversary to me! :)
Oh! I know what I wanted to mention...so yesterday I was enjoying channel surfing on my new digital cable and happened to see that TNT was having a marathon of "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgwick. I had never seen it but had heard good things about it and I really like her as an actress...even if she is married to Kevin Bacon, whom I don't care for. So I sat down and watched it for oh about 5 hours! I did other things while I was watching, like organize my closet & whatnot but yes, I was a major couch potato...or should I say chair potato as I don't have a couch yet. The marathon lead up to a commercial free season premiere and now I am officially hooked on this show.
Okay, I think I'm done rambling now...hope everyone had a good day!
Sad news...
I received some very sad news today...Celia, a good friend from Medtronic passed away over the weekend. I was shocked to hear this news as I'm sure were others at Medtronic. It makes me very sad because Celia had just retired from Medtronic and was finally going to be able to join her husband, Dick, on all of his trips to Arizona and other trips that he has taken since his retirement.
Celia was my supervisor for the first year or two that I worked at Medtronic and after she was no longer my supervisor we became good friends. I remember when I had surgery in December of 2004, she called me at home to see how I was doing and we ended up talking on the phone for over 3 hours! We had a blast talking and I really got to know her...I remember saying to her "You know what Celia, I really like you now that you aren't my supervisor". She just laughed. She loved talking to all of the customers that called in to the customer service department at Medtronic and did everything she could to help them even during the worst of times there. I remember I had e-mailed her a picture of my cat, Harley, with his Christmas tie on...she printed out the picture and hung it in her cube, she kept it up all year long. She always asked me about my kitties and we exchanged kitty stories as she had 3 cats of her own.
Goodbye, Celia...you will be missed. :(
Celia was my supervisor for the first year or two that I worked at Medtronic and after she was no longer my supervisor we became good friends. I remember when I had surgery in December of 2004, she called me at home to see how I was doing and we ended up talking on the phone for over 3 hours! We had a blast talking and I really got to know her...I remember saying to her "You know what Celia, I really like you now that you aren't my supervisor". She just laughed. She loved talking to all of the customers that called in to the customer service department at Medtronic and did everything she could to help them even during the worst of times there. I remember I had e-mailed her a picture of my cat, Harley, with his Christmas tie on...she printed out the picture and hung it in her cube, she kept it up all year long. She always asked me about my kitties and we exchanged kitty stories as she had 3 cats of her own.
Goodbye, Celia...you will be missed. :(
Monday, June 18, 2007
Whew!
Got back from Geico not too long ago and they were able to get the results of my credit report back right away and it was fine. What a relief! I know I was probably worrying for nothing but it was a concern that I had. I know my background check will come back fine, so I should be all set.
They gave me a bunch of information to look over regarding their policies & procedures, health insurance, etc. I glanced quickly over the health insurance and it looks like it'll only be $23 per pay period (every other week) taken out of my check for health insurance. I know at Medtronic I had coverage for both Matt & I and now it's just me, but that still seems on the low side...which I'm happy about. Makes up for the fact that I have to have NY state income tax taken out...I got spoiled in WA.
You should have seen all the hair that they took from me for the drug test. I thought they were going to pull a single strand out by the root. Oh no. They cut a LARGE strand of hair as close to the scalp as possible. Luckily I have thick hair and she took it from the underside in the back but when I run my fingers through my hair I can feel the stubble. I know this sounds so vain but I almost cried when I saw how much she took. She said it only "looks like a lot". No, it WAS a lot!! ha ha
I ran out of cigarettes last night and decided that I would start wearing the patch today. I totally forgot to put the patch on in my haste of getting ready this morning and as I was driving home from Geico I thought "oh I can just stop at 7-11 and buy some more"...then I thought "NO!!". So I stopped myself and put a patch on as soon as I got home. I'm really going to do my best to kick this for good.
I'm looking forward to starting a new job & meeting new people and of course not being on unemployment and having a real paycheck again...but I'm also going to miss not working. I left Medtronic on March 9th so it's been almost 4 months, most of that time was spent in an emotional mess but the last few weeks have really settled down. I have been bored at times and it's hard when you have only a certain amount of money to work with, but I am going to miss staying up as late as I want and sleeping in. I love that part of being off. I don't like schedules! ha ha
Oh-well, that's life. I'm going to go look at some of my paperwork and read more about the health insurance.
Have a good day!
They gave me a bunch of information to look over regarding their policies & procedures, health insurance, etc. I glanced quickly over the health insurance and it looks like it'll only be $23 per pay period (every other week) taken out of my check for health insurance. I know at Medtronic I had coverage for both Matt & I and now it's just me, but that still seems on the low side...which I'm happy about. Makes up for the fact that I have to have NY state income tax taken out...I got spoiled in WA.
You should have seen all the hair that they took from me for the drug test. I thought they were going to pull a single strand out by the root. Oh no. They cut a LARGE strand of hair as close to the scalp as possible. Luckily I have thick hair and she took it from the underside in the back but when I run my fingers through my hair I can feel the stubble. I know this sounds so vain but I almost cried when I saw how much she took. She said it only "looks like a lot". No, it WAS a lot!! ha ha
I ran out of cigarettes last night and decided that I would start wearing the patch today. I totally forgot to put the patch on in my haste of getting ready this morning and as I was driving home from Geico I thought "oh I can just stop at 7-11 and buy some more"...then I thought "NO!!". So I stopped myself and put a patch on as soon as I got home. I'm really going to do my best to kick this for good.
I'm looking forward to starting a new job & meeting new people and of course not being on unemployment and having a real paycheck again...but I'm also going to miss not working. I left Medtronic on March 9th so it's been almost 4 months, most of that time was spent in an emotional mess but the last few weeks have really settled down. I have been bored at times and it's hard when you have only a certain amount of money to work with, but I am going to miss staying up as late as I want and sleeping in. I love that part of being off. I don't like schedules! ha ha
Oh-well, that's life. I'm going to go look at some of my paperwork and read more about the health insurance.
Have a good day!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day to all those wonderful fathers out there! :)
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. It's Sunday morning and I'm waiting for the cable guy. Yes, on a Sunday morning. I can't remember if I already mentioned this but on Wednesday I think it was, I broke down and called Time Warner to upgrade my cable. I was so happy at first to have the basic cable but then started missing the extended channels like TNT & USA, those are my favorites because I'm a Law & Order junkie and it seems like they are always playing one of the Law & Order shows. So I called to bump my service up to the extended service and I was talked into the digital cable...which actually only ended up being $5 more a month after the promotional price of the extended service. I'm such an easy sell. I was surprised when they said they'd have a tech here on Sunday between 8:30 & 10:00 but they obviously work 7 days a week. It's 9:22 right now and I hope they get here soon, last time they were early so I'll cut them some slack today.
I didn't do much of anything yesterday. Funny thing yesterday morning though. Let me backtrack a little...Jason & I have been talking about how he wants to start getting up earlier to exercise & whatnot as he's also famous for snoozing the alarm for as long as humanly possible (I remember both him & my mom doing this at home & it drove me batty), I've been talking about how I need to get back on a 'normal' schedule so that I can get up for work/training next week...it's something we've been talking about a lot and he even e-mailed me an article on Friday about "Early Risers". So, Saturday morning at 6:10 I hear the "ta da!" sound of my phone receiving a text message...wakes me right up, I grab my phone and it's from Jason and it reads "Please don't hit me. I'm trying to be funny". I'm thinking "ha ha ha, Jason. Nice one!". So I laid there for a few minutes but could not get back to sleep. I get up and text him back "Funny". No response. Then I send him another text "Let's go running". Nothing from him again. I'm getting a little irritated because he sends ME a text to wake me up and doesn't even respond. In the meantime I'm wide awake, channel surfing, looking around online, etc. I then send him an e-mail telling him I'm going to kick his ass and we're going to have a Jiffy Mart re-match (inside joke). I decide to get dressed and go out for coffee and some breakfast, get gas and drive around. It's about 9:30 now and I still have no response from Mr Alarm Clock Brother, I'm really tired at this point because I didn't go to bed Friday night until 2 in the morning, so I go back to sleep. I wake up to a voice mail from Jason asking me what the heck I was talking about in my e-mail and why was I texting him so early in the morning? I thought he was joking at first so I called him right back...turns out he did not send me a text at 6:10 in the morning....he had sent me that text FRIDAY NIGHT and I did not receive it until 6:10 Saturday morning. That made me laugh but also added to my existing frustration with Verizon Wireless. That was my funny story for yesterday.
I ended up being a bum for the most part of yesterday and then picked up a chicken finger sub for dinner. I am quickly slipping back into old eating habits and I need to get this under control because I don't want to gain back this weight that I've lost. I also have an even worse habit that I'm ashamed to admit I've picked back up again on & off over the last few months: smoking. I know it's awful and like I said, I'm ashamed to even admit it but hopefully actually putting it out there will make me realize how stupid it is and that I really need to stop. I'll stop for a few days and then start again. I had quit about 4 years ago and was doing so well and was so proud of myself. Stuff started hitting the fan this fall with my marriage and my Grandpa being so sick and then dying, I turned to an old habit for "comfort" and I regret ever letting it back in my life.
I've noticed a pattern in my life...whenever I start to really make positive changes for myself, no matter what it is...it's almost like I unconsciously sabotage myself and then fail. It's like with leaving Matt, as much as I'll always love him, that was a very positive change in my life...the weight loss has been a huge positive change for me...and keeping those nasty cigarettes out of my life was positive too. Not to get all Oprah-y or Dr Phil-ish but I think it's all about self-worth and how although my self esteem has gotten better lately (it used to be in the negative) that I still don't feel worthy of good things. I hope that doesn't sound too pathetic because I'm not trying to sound like a martyr, it's just something that I've struggled with my entire life. Once I get this straightened out in my head I think everything will fall into place.
Now that I've exposed my nasty, nasty habit I am going to use my blog to hold myself accountable and will continue to check in regarding my battle with smoking. Believe me, I know that it's going to kill me...Matt's mom died from it and a good friend from Medtronic was diagnosed with lung cancer last year...I know all of this. I know it's expensive, I know it stinks and I know it looks stupid. I'll get there, I promise. :)
I think I'm going to take a ride down to the cemetery today and "visit" with my Grandpa to wish him a Happy Father's Day. I haven't been to his grave since the funeral. I know we all believe in different things but I do believe that his spirit is in this house with me, I find myself talking to him often...but for some reason I just want to go to his grave and sit there and visit with him & my grandma. I have always found cemeteries to be peaceful and not at all scary or eerie...maybe that's weird, I don't know.
Tomorrow morning I go to Geico to start all my background/credit checks and drug tests...wish me luck on the credit check. :)
I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. It's Sunday morning and I'm waiting for the cable guy. Yes, on a Sunday morning. I can't remember if I already mentioned this but on Wednesday I think it was, I broke down and called Time Warner to upgrade my cable. I was so happy at first to have the basic cable but then started missing the extended channels like TNT & USA, those are my favorites because I'm a Law & Order junkie and it seems like they are always playing one of the Law & Order shows. So I called to bump my service up to the extended service and I was talked into the digital cable...which actually only ended up being $5 more a month after the promotional price of the extended service. I'm such an easy sell. I was surprised when they said they'd have a tech here on Sunday between 8:30 & 10:00 but they obviously work 7 days a week. It's 9:22 right now and I hope they get here soon, last time they were early so I'll cut them some slack today.
I didn't do much of anything yesterday. Funny thing yesterday morning though. Let me backtrack a little...Jason & I have been talking about how he wants to start getting up earlier to exercise & whatnot as he's also famous for snoozing the alarm for as long as humanly possible (I remember both him & my mom doing this at home & it drove me batty), I've been talking about how I need to get back on a 'normal' schedule so that I can get up for work/training next week...it's something we've been talking about a lot and he even e-mailed me an article on Friday about "Early Risers". So, Saturday morning at 6:10 I hear the "ta da!" sound of my phone receiving a text message...wakes me right up, I grab my phone and it's from Jason and it reads "Please don't hit me. I'm trying to be funny". I'm thinking "ha ha ha, Jason. Nice one!". So I laid there for a few minutes but could not get back to sleep. I get up and text him back "Funny". No response. Then I send him another text "Let's go running". Nothing from him again. I'm getting a little irritated because he sends ME a text to wake me up and doesn't even respond. In the meantime I'm wide awake, channel surfing, looking around online, etc. I then send him an e-mail telling him I'm going to kick his ass and we're going to have a Jiffy Mart re-match (inside joke). I decide to get dressed and go out for coffee and some breakfast, get gas and drive around. It's about 9:30 now and I still have no response from Mr Alarm Clock Brother, I'm really tired at this point because I didn't go to bed Friday night until 2 in the morning, so I go back to sleep. I wake up to a voice mail from Jason asking me what the heck I was talking about in my e-mail and why was I texting him so early in the morning? I thought he was joking at first so I called him right back...turns out he did not send me a text at 6:10 in the morning....he had sent me that text FRIDAY NIGHT and I did not receive it until 6:10 Saturday morning. That made me laugh but also added to my existing frustration with Verizon Wireless. That was my funny story for yesterday.
I ended up being a bum for the most part of yesterday and then picked up a chicken finger sub for dinner. I am quickly slipping back into old eating habits and I need to get this under control because I don't want to gain back this weight that I've lost. I also have an even worse habit that I'm ashamed to admit I've picked back up again on & off over the last few months: smoking. I know it's awful and like I said, I'm ashamed to even admit it but hopefully actually putting it out there will make me realize how stupid it is and that I really need to stop. I'll stop for a few days and then start again. I had quit about 4 years ago and was doing so well and was so proud of myself. Stuff started hitting the fan this fall with my marriage and my Grandpa being so sick and then dying, I turned to an old habit for "comfort" and I regret ever letting it back in my life.
I've noticed a pattern in my life...whenever I start to really make positive changes for myself, no matter what it is...it's almost like I unconsciously sabotage myself and then fail. It's like with leaving Matt, as much as I'll always love him, that was a very positive change in my life...the weight loss has been a huge positive change for me...and keeping those nasty cigarettes out of my life was positive too. Not to get all Oprah-y or Dr Phil-ish but I think it's all about self-worth and how although my self esteem has gotten better lately (it used to be in the negative) that I still don't feel worthy of good things. I hope that doesn't sound too pathetic because I'm not trying to sound like a martyr, it's just something that I've struggled with my entire life. Once I get this straightened out in my head I think everything will fall into place.
Now that I've exposed my nasty, nasty habit I am going to use my blog to hold myself accountable and will continue to check in regarding my battle with smoking. Believe me, I know that it's going to kill me...Matt's mom died from it and a good friend from Medtronic was diagnosed with lung cancer last year...I know all of this. I know it's expensive, I know it stinks and I know it looks stupid. I'll get there, I promise. :)
I think I'm going to take a ride down to the cemetery today and "visit" with my Grandpa to wish him a Happy Father's Day. I haven't been to his grave since the funeral. I know we all believe in different things but I do believe that his spirit is in this house with me, I find myself talking to him often...but for some reason I just want to go to his grave and sit there and visit with him & my grandma. I have always found cemeteries to be peaceful and not at all scary or eerie...maybe that's weird, I don't know.
Tomorrow morning I go to Geico to start all my background/credit checks and drug tests...wish me luck on the credit check. :)
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Late Friday night
Hello! It's after 1 in the morning and I should be working on my going to bed earlier schedule, but it is Friday after all. :)
I had a pretty good day...we had another gorgeous day out, nice & sunny and in the high 70's with a breeze but I hear it's supposed to get hot & humid again over the weekend and early next week. I'm so glad my grandpa's house has a/c.
I had my hair appointment today at Beau Cheveux Salon, my stylist was Gina and I was very impressed. Julie, the owner of the salon, used to do my hair for years when I lived here previously but when I called to make an appointment she was booked solid through August. Anyway, I was very happy with Gina. She did a great job on my color as well as my cut and I have to say I have never had anyone so thorough, not just with the cut & color but she explained everything to me...the best way to apply product, best ways for me to blowdry my hair, stuff like that. I walked out with a great cut, beautiful color and a bag full of new products! :)
This evening Darcy & I headed to Ashley Home Furnishings in Amherst and I bought a new couch! The picture really doesn't do it justice, especially the color...in the picture it looks like there is blue in the color but it's a dark sage. I was impressed with the selection and the prices at Ashley and spent a good amount of time trying out this couch. I laid down on it, sat on it, laid down on my back & on my side & on my stomach...every possible configuration I could think of. What I like the most is that it's very comfortable yet firm and that will be very good for my back. It'll be delivered the week that I start training at Geico. They said a possibility of sooner, but we'll see.
Speaking of Geico, I am nervous. I am freaking out about this credit check that they are going to do. Talked to Jason tonight and he made me feel a little better about it, but I have to say that I will be absolutely heartbroken if I don't get a job because of past credit issues. And I'll be livid with Matt...I shouldn't blame it all on him but I have to be honest, I do. I won't bash him any further because it doesn't get me anywhere.
Please cross your fingers that my credit check comes back okay, I really want to work there & I really need this job.
I think I'm going to bed now...have a great weekend!
I had a pretty good day...we had another gorgeous day out, nice & sunny and in the high 70's with a breeze but I hear it's supposed to get hot & humid again over the weekend and early next week. I'm so glad my grandpa's house has a/c.
I had my hair appointment today at Beau Cheveux Salon, my stylist was Gina and I was very impressed. Julie, the owner of the salon, used to do my hair for years when I lived here previously but when I called to make an appointment she was booked solid through August. Anyway, I was very happy with Gina. She did a great job on my color as well as my cut and I have to say I have never had anyone so thorough, not just with the cut & color but she explained everything to me...the best way to apply product, best ways for me to blowdry my hair, stuff like that. I walked out with a great cut, beautiful color and a bag full of new products! :)
This evening Darcy & I headed to Ashley Home Furnishings in Amherst and I bought a new couch! The picture really doesn't do it justice, especially the color...in the picture it looks like there is blue in the color but it's a dark sage. I was impressed with the selection and the prices at Ashley and spent a good amount of time trying out this couch. I laid down on it, sat on it, laid down on my back & on my side & on my stomach...every possible configuration I could think of. What I like the most is that it's very comfortable yet firm and that will be very good for my back. It'll be delivered the week that I start training at Geico. They said a possibility of sooner, but we'll see.
Speaking of Geico, I am nervous. I am freaking out about this credit check that they are going to do. Talked to Jason tonight and he made me feel a little better about it, but I have to say that I will be absolutely heartbroken if I don't get a job because of past credit issues. And I'll be livid with Matt...I shouldn't blame it all on him but I have to be honest, I do. I won't bash him any further because it doesn't get me anywhere.
Please cross your fingers that my credit check comes back okay, I really want to work there & I really need this job.
I think I'm going to bed now...have a great weekend!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Thursday
Good afternoon! It's almost 5pm here and I spent a few hours this afternoon with my aunt Barb, we took a ride to Olcott, which is on Lake Ontario and had a nice lunch. We went to a restaurant called the Harbor Inn, it's a quaint little place. My aunt used to go there every Friday with my Grandpa and there's a waitress there named Sherry that loved my Grandpa, she came over and talked to us about him and how she used to snap his suspenders and he'd laugh...she'd give him extra clam chowder to take home with him because she knew how much he loved it. It was really nice talking to someone that isn't in my family that knew him and loved him. I've been thinking so much about him lately, I think it's because Father's Day is coming up. When I was a little girl my father wasn't really in my life and my Grandpa totally stepped in and it meant the world to me. I remember he took me to father/daughter banquets through school and worked with me on a father/daughter project that I had when I was in Girl Scouts. I still have the plaque we made and it is one of my most valuable possessions. I loved him so much, he was an amazing man...a wonderful husband to my grandma, a wonderful father to my father and my aunts and uncle and a wonderful grandpa to myself, my brother and all my cousins. I love being in his house because it makes me feel so much closer to him.
As you may have noticed I'm a little melancholy today...I mentioned this to Jenna in an e-mail earlier..I apologize ahead of time to any boys that may be reading this...but this morning I was feeling sorry for myself for no particular reason and happened to look at my calendar to double check the time of my hair appointment tomorrow and whattaya know...it's hormone time! Ahhh yes, I do so much love the 3-4 days of each month where I am weepy at the drop of a hat and then the next minute want to rip someone's face off. I have learned the hard way to not make any major decisions or to have any serious conversations at this time because it always ends up biting me in the ass.
Aside from my current hormonal imbalance, all is well. The weather is beautiful today, it's in the low 80's and a wonderful breeze. Zero humidity. Yeah! I love zero humidity and so does my hair.
Speaking of hair, I can't wait to get my hair color touched up & a trim tomorrow...I don't want to start a new job with gray hair that is out of control.
Well that's all I've got right now, hope everyone has a good day.
And Kari, if you're reading this, please know that your friend & their family are in my thoughts.
As you may have noticed I'm a little melancholy today...I mentioned this to Jenna in an e-mail earlier..I apologize ahead of time to any boys that may be reading this...but this morning I was feeling sorry for myself for no particular reason and happened to look at my calendar to double check the time of my hair appointment tomorrow and whattaya know...it's hormone time! Ahhh yes, I do so much love the 3-4 days of each month where I am weepy at the drop of a hat and then the next minute want to rip someone's face off. I have learned the hard way to not make any major decisions or to have any serious conversations at this time because it always ends up biting me in the ass.
Aside from my current hormonal imbalance, all is well. The weather is beautiful today, it's in the low 80's and a wonderful breeze. Zero humidity. Yeah! I love zero humidity and so does my hair.
Speaking of hair, I can't wait to get my hair color touched up & a trim tomorrow...I don't want to start a new job with gray hair that is out of control.
Well that's all I've got right now, hope everyone has a good day.
And Kari, if you're reading this, please know that your friend & their family are in my thoughts.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday
It's Wednesday morning, just had my oatmeal and am drinking my coffee. I didn't manage to find any trouble to get into yesterday. Darn it! It was hot yesterday and it just zapped any ambition that I had. I try not to use the a/c much, don't ask me why but I broke down and turned it on last night. Maybe because I know how much electric bills are around here....it certainly makes up for the lower cost of living. It really doesn't make sense that electricity costs so much here, we have a huge power plant not far from here and we also have freaking Niagara Falls down the road. Go figure.
I did get my lazy butt moving around 7:30 and ran to Walmart, picked up a cd for my friend Darcy to make up for all the cds that she's letting me borrow to put on my iPod. I also bought myself the Law & Order: Trial By Jury DVD set. It only lasted one season but I liked it and only saw a couple episodes. I am a Law & Order junkie and am going through withdrawls because my very, very basic cable package that I have does not include USA or TNT which one of the two channels always seems to have a Law & Order episode on. I may have to increase my cable once I get into my own place.
I stopped by Darcy's after that to drop off her new cd, hung out with her & Fred for a bit and then we ran out to RJ's for some ice cream. A great treat for a hot day. I brought back another bunch of cds to download.
I don't know what to do with myself today. I need to go to the grocery store, the post office and that's about it. I have to admit that as much as I enjoy not working that it does get a bit boring. It'd be different if I was in my own place and could get settled in or had more money to do stuff. I'm looking forward to starting training at geico on the 25th, that'll give me some structure to my life, I can get more of a routine going and start looking for my own place. I can't wait to buy a couch. I really miss having a couch. I also look forward to having a queen size bed again. I'm grateful for what my family has let me use but the twin bed has been a challenge, especially with two cats that like to sleep with me.
I'm also looking forward to meeting new people at geico. That's kind of exciting. It's so funny because for 15 years I've been married and had the "I'm married" mindset, so if I saw a nice looking guy I'd think "he's nice looking" and that's it. But now I am looking at men differently, wondering if they're single, what it'd be like to date them, etc. I've been having fun thinking about dating, it's scary but exciting at the same time. There is a place on Transit Rd with batting cages and I would love going there on a date with someone. I'm not a big sports person but I don't know what it is, I've always wanted to go to batting cages.
I'm looking forward to using the fitness center at geico too, that'll come in very handy in the winter when you don't want to go outside at all around here. I can work my shift, bring my gym clothes and work out afterwards. I figure that'll be a good stress reducer too.
Well I think I'm going to take a shower and get started on my exciting day. :)
I did get my lazy butt moving around 7:30 and ran to Walmart, picked up a cd for my friend Darcy to make up for all the cds that she's letting me borrow to put on my iPod. I also bought myself the Law & Order: Trial By Jury DVD set. It only lasted one season but I liked it and only saw a couple episodes. I am a Law & Order junkie and am going through withdrawls because my very, very basic cable package that I have does not include USA or TNT which one of the two channels always seems to have a Law & Order episode on. I may have to increase my cable once I get into my own place.
I stopped by Darcy's after that to drop off her new cd, hung out with her & Fred for a bit and then we ran out to RJ's for some ice cream. A great treat for a hot day. I brought back another bunch of cds to download.
I don't know what to do with myself today. I need to go to the grocery store, the post office and that's about it. I have to admit that as much as I enjoy not working that it does get a bit boring. It'd be different if I was in my own place and could get settled in or had more money to do stuff. I'm looking forward to starting training at geico on the 25th, that'll give me some structure to my life, I can get more of a routine going and start looking for my own place. I can't wait to buy a couch. I really miss having a couch. I also look forward to having a queen size bed again. I'm grateful for what my family has let me use but the twin bed has been a challenge, especially with two cats that like to sleep with me.
I'm also looking forward to meeting new people at geico. That's kind of exciting. It's so funny because for 15 years I've been married and had the "I'm married" mindset, so if I saw a nice looking guy I'd think "he's nice looking" and that's it. But now I am looking at men differently, wondering if they're single, what it'd be like to date them, etc. I've been having fun thinking about dating, it's scary but exciting at the same time. There is a place on Transit Rd with batting cages and I would love going there on a date with someone. I'm not a big sports person but I don't know what it is, I've always wanted to go to batting cages.
I'm looking forward to using the fitness center at geico too, that'll come in very handy in the winter when you don't want to go outside at all around here. I can work my shift, bring my gym clothes and work out afterwards. I figure that'll be a good stress reducer too.
Well I think I'm going to take a shower and get started on my exciting day. :)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Tuesday
I am such a bum! I set my alarm for 8:30ish this morning, I literally snoozed my alarm until almost 10:30...it was kind of fun actually, I'd listen to the radio for a few minutes & then hit snooze and listen again in 7 minutes. It wasn't until I got a text message on my phone that I got my lazy butt out of bed. I'm going to have to snap out of this routine pretty quickly!
I'm still drinking my coffee & trying to do some creative financing...love, love, love paying bills.
Geico called me about a half hour ago and the HR gal, Emily, congratulated me on the position. I will be going in next Monday morning to do some paperwork, bring my license & social security card and whatever paperwork that proves I'm able to work in the US. They'll begin the background & credit check and then I'll go to their nurse, she'll pull a piece of hair out and do the drug test. The next training class for the day shift, which is what I'll be on, begins on Monday June 25th so I've got this week & next to enjoy being "off" and to get on a regular sleep & wake up schedule.
I also was able to make an appointment to get my hair color touched up & a trim for this Friday. The girl that I used to go to out here that I absolutely love, Julie, now has her own salon but she is booked up until the end of August!! Damn weddings & proms. So, I'm going to another gal in her salon, Gina. I'm sure anyone at Julie's place is awesome so I'll be okay. Now I have to think about if I want to start parting my hair in the middle a la Demi Moore...ha ha ha. What troubles I have, huh?!
It sounds like the people that looked at my Grandpa's house last week liked this house and it's second on their list. Whatever that means. I'd like to see the house sell for my family's sake, but for my own selfish purposes I'd like to stay here for at least another month or so. Even if they put an offer in today, it'd still take at least 30 days so I'm good. I also cannot bear to think of this house belonging to anyone else but a Miller (my maiden name). My grandpa was born in this house and lived here until the day he died. My aunts, uncle & dad grew up in this house..my brother & I spent so much time here, my cousins & I used to play in the back yard...we used to go down in the basement and write all over the chalkboard...have picnics in the backyard...stare at the circa-1970 wallpaper in the bedroom upstairs & count the bizarre objects on said wallpaper...so, so many memories and it just breaks my heart to think of someone coming in here and not knowing the history, our history. There are so many little touches of my grandpa that still live on here. I feel such comfort being here, it's the last piece of "home" that I have here. I really wish there was a way for me to buy this house or someone in our family because as I said, I can't bear the thought of a non-Miller being here and not appreciating all that there is to this house. I know it's just a house, but it's so much more than that to me & the rest of my family. Sniff, sniff.
Okay, I need to go blow my nose and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into for the rest of the day. :)
I'm still drinking my coffee & trying to do some creative financing...love, love, love paying bills.
Geico called me about a half hour ago and the HR gal, Emily, congratulated me on the position. I will be going in next Monday morning to do some paperwork, bring my license & social security card and whatever paperwork that proves I'm able to work in the US. They'll begin the background & credit check and then I'll go to their nurse, she'll pull a piece of hair out and do the drug test. The next training class for the day shift, which is what I'll be on, begins on Monday June 25th so I've got this week & next to enjoy being "off" and to get on a regular sleep & wake up schedule.
I also was able to make an appointment to get my hair color touched up & a trim for this Friday. The girl that I used to go to out here that I absolutely love, Julie, now has her own salon but she is booked up until the end of August!! Damn weddings & proms. So, I'm going to another gal in her salon, Gina. I'm sure anyone at Julie's place is awesome so I'll be okay. Now I have to think about if I want to start parting my hair in the middle a la Demi Moore...ha ha ha. What troubles I have, huh?!
It sounds like the people that looked at my Grandpa's house last week liked this house and it's second on their list. Whatever that means. I'd like to see the house sell for my family's sake, but for my own selfish purposes I'd like to stay here for at least another month or so. Even if they put an offer in today, it'd still take at least 30 days so I'm good. I also cannot bear to think of this house belonging to anyone else but a Miller (my maiden name). My grandpa was born in this house and lived here until the day he died. My aunts, uncle & dad grew up in this house..my brother & I spent so much time here, my cousins & I used to play in the back yard...we used to go down in the basement and write all over the chalkboard...have picnics in the backyard...stare at the circa-1970 wallpaper in the bedroom upstairs & count the bizarre objects on said wallpaper...so, so many memories and it just breaks my heart to think of someone coming in here and not knowing the history, our history. There are so many little touches of my grandpa that still live on here. I feel such comfort being here, it's the last piece of "home" that I have here. I really wish there was a way for me to buy this house or someone in our family because as I said, I can't bear the thought of a non-Miller being here and not appreciating all that there is to this house. I know it's just a house, but it's so much more than that to me & the rest of my family. Sniff, sniff.
Okay, I need to go blow my nose and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into for the rest of the day. :)
Monday night
Hello! Just watching Jay Leno...I love "Headlines"...Wanda Sykes was just on and she cracks me up. I've seen her on Leno before and Ellen as well and she is freaking hysterical. She's in that new movie "Evan Almighty" with Steve Carell coming out in a week or two, it looks very funny.
Speaking of movies, Darcy & I went to see "Mr. Brooks" yesterday...with Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, William Hurt & Dane Cook. I love Dane Cook, he is my favorite comedian and this was a totally different role for him...he's pretty nice to look at too. It was a very good movie, Kevin Costner isn't usually one of my favorite actors but he played a great part as did William Hurt. And Demi Moore, my god she is just beautiful! I'd love to look like her. I was looking at her hair during the movie and it's about the same length as mine but parted in the middle, so of course I'm thinking since I can't pull off the way her body looks maybe I'll look like Demi Moore if I start parting MY hair in the middle rather than on the side. Nice try, huh?!
I didn't do a whole lot today aside from my Danielle Steele moment...Kari knows what I'm talking about, ha ha. Oh I did go over to my aunt Barb's house to get my mail & then invited her to go to Ted's with me for lunch. For those of you non-western New Yorkers, Ted's is a big hot dog place out here. Totally delicious but along with the rest of the food out here, totally bad for you. Had a hot dog, some fries & a chocolate shake. Love the food out here but I am giving in to temptation too often and I don't want to gain back any of the weight that I've lost, need to get myself back on track with eating better & walking every day.
I got off track...not sure what I was planning on saying. Oh, I was hoping to get a call from the HR department at Geico today but didn't. I have to keep in mind that I'm not the only person they're hiring right now...it's amazing all of the people that work there & I know they're hiring a lot of new customer service people. The only thing that needs to be done now is my background check, credit check..the credit check part makes me a bit nervous. I used to have PERFECT credit and then back in 2001 Matt went on his first of many breaks (very sore subject) as a contractor at Microsoft, I had just started at Medtronic and we had tons of credit cards that were maxed out. Long story short, we couldn't pay our bills other than rent & car payments, stopped answering the phone, opening the mail, etc., and eventually ending up going to Consumer Credit Counseling and got on their debt management plan. It took four years but we paid off every single creditor, I was proud of us for doing that because it would have been easy to file bankruptcy. Nothing against people who do, it just wasn't for me. Anyways, although we paid off all our debt it still shows up on our credit reports as "slow pay" and I had one creditor that didn't like the credit program and they started to file a judgment against me, blah blah blah, I paid the balance and the judgment didn't officially get filed but I'm so worried that this is going to be a strike against me. I really don't even know what employers are looking for when they check someone's credit report. We'll see. Also, I'll have to get a physical and a drug test...not just your average pee test, they're going to take a strand of my hair. I'm still on a pain med from my surgery (almost a year ago, can you believe it?) so I'll have to bring my prescription as I know it'll show up because it's a narcotic. But the good news is that I only take 1/2 of one a day and some days I don't even need that. I jinxed myself though, I was telling someone that the other day and today I ended up having to lay in bed for a few hours because the bones where the hardware is in my spine were just killing me. But on a typical day, I feel so much better than I have over the past year or so. Yeah, I'm totally rambling aren't I?!
While I was laying in bed resting my back earlier I dozed off and had such a stream of bizarre dreams. Most of them were around Geico and either my first day or a day of orientation, it was so bizarre that I can't even put it into words but I woke up thinking "where in the hell does this stuff come from?". Funny.
Oh, thank you to Kaelee's/Erin's friend Lorrie for your message on my blog, I appreciate it! It's funny that you mentioned that the NY state insurance test was hard, even the HR gal that interviewed me mentioned the same thing. I'll have to do a lot of studying! Thanks again!
I think I'm going to go finish reading my latest "Marie Claire" and then go to sleep.
Goodnite & sweet dreams to all :)
Speaking of movies, Darcy & I went to see "Mr. Brooks" yesterday...with Demi Moore, Kevin Costner, William Hurt & Dane Cook. I love Dane Cook, he is my favorite comedian and this was a totally different role for him...he's pretty nice to look at too. It was a very good movie, Kevin Costner isn't usually one of my favorite actors but he played a great part as did William Hurt. And Demi Moore, my god she is just beautiful! I'd love to look like her. I was looking at her hair during the movie and it's about the same length as mine but parted in the middle, so of course I'm thinking since I can't pull off the way her body looks maybe I'll look like Demi Moore if I start parting MY hair in the middle rather than on the side. Nice try, huh?!
I didn't do a whole lot today aside from my Danielle Steele moment...Kari knows what I'm talking about, ha ha. Oh I did go over to my aunt Barb's house to get my mail & then invited her to go to Ted's with me for lunch. For those of you non-western New Yorkers, Ted's is a big hot dog place out here. Totally delicious but along with the rest of the food out here, totally bad for you. Had a hot dog, some fries & a chocolate shake. Love the food out here but I am giving in to temptation too often and I don't want to gain back any of the weight that I've lost, need to get myself back on track with eating better & walking every day.
I got off track...not sure what I was planning on saying. Oh, I was hoping to get a call from the HR department at Geico today but didn't. I have to keep in mind that I'm not the only person they're hiring right now...it's amazing all of the people that work there & I know they're hiring a lot of new customer service people. The only thing that needs to be done now is my background check, credit check..the credit check part makes me a bit nervous. I used to have PERFECT credit and then back in 2001 Matt went on his first of many breaks (very sore subject) as a contractor at Microsoft, I had just started at Medtronic and we had tons of credit cards that were maxed out. Long story short, we couldn't pay our bills other than rent & car payments, stopped answering the phone, opening the mail, etc., and eventually ending up going to Consumer Credit Counseling and got on their debt management plan. It took four years but we paid off every single creditor, I was proud of us for doing that because it would have been easy to file bankruptcy. Nothing against people who do, it just wasn't for me. Anyways, although we paid off all our debt it still shows up on our credit reports as "slow pay" and I had one creditor that didn't like the credit program and they started to file a judgment against me, blah blah blah, I paid the balance and the judgment didn't officially get filed but I'm so worried that this is going to be a strike against me. I really don't even know what employers are looking for when they check someone's credit report. We'll see. Also, I'll have to get a physical and a drug test...not just your average pee test, they're going to take a strand of my hair. I'm still on a pain med from my surgery (almost a year ago, can you believe it?) so I'll have to bring my prescription as I know it'll show up because it's a narcotic. But the good news is that I only take 1/2 of one a day and some days I don't even need that. I jinxed myself though, I was telling someone that the other day and today I ended up having to lay in bed for a few hours because the bones where the hardware is in my spine were just killing me. But on a typical day, I feel so much better than I have over the past year or so. Yeah, I'm totally rambling aren't I?!
While I was laying in bed resting my back earlier I dozed off and had such a stream of bizarre dreams. Most of them were around Geico and either my first day or a day of orientation, it was so bizarre that I can't even put it into words but I woke up thinking "where in the hell does this stuff come from?". Funny.
Oh, thank you to Kaelee's/Erin's friend Lorrie for your message on my blog, I appreciate it! It's funny that you mentioned that the NY state insurance test was hard, even the HR gal that interviewed me mentioned the same thing. I'll have to do a lot of studying! Thanks again!
I think I'm going to go finish reading my latest "Marie Claire" and then go to sleep.
Goodnite & sweet dreams to all :)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Treat
I forgot to mention that I treated myself on Saturday and bought myself a DVD at Target, "Music & Lyrics" with Drew Barrymore & Hugh Grant. Never did see it in the theatre but I love both of them so I think I'll enjoy the movie. I try not to buy any DVDs that are more than $10 so this was a treat for me. I also bought a $7.50 DVD, "The Object of My Affection" with Jennifer Aniston & Paul Rudd...I love that movie. Total chick flicks. :)
Then I went to a new nail place that I had seen signs for along Transit Rd...for those familiar with Lockport it's in the plaza where Panera Bread is. Anyways, I think it's called "Nails & Spa"...boring name but it is so nice inside. I had to wait a bit because I was just a walk-in but I caught up on the latest InStyle mag...I had my usual fun of looking through the OPI nail colors and reading the names, I saw this great color and when I flipped the bottle over to read the name I remembered that it was the one that Kaelee had mentioned she tried---"Don't Wine..Yukon Do It", so now I had to try it. Love it, by the way. The gal asked me if I wanted the "spa" pedicure or the regular pedicure and I asked her what the difference was, basically more time spent smoothing your feet & heels and an extra $10...I figured what the heck, I just got a job. ha ha. Oh my god. I think I was in the chair for almost an hour. First, their chairs are amazing...my back felt so good after the little chair massage. The girl was very nice and thorough...she put some green goop all over my feet and then wrapped them up in hot towels and let me sit for about 10 minutes. Long calf & foot massage. It was so relaxing I had my eyes closed for most of it and felt like I was in heavan. Then when I was done I went over to this table that looked like a bar for 4 people, I sat down on a stool and placed my feet in the space between the bottom of the table & the floor, there's a UV light on the bottom side of the table, just placed my feet under the light and I was dry within 5 minutes. I had never seen anything like this for drying nails...there was a section in the middle to place your hands if you had your nails done. Very cool. So if any of you are in Lockport any time soon, I highly recommend "Nails & Spa", spend the extra $10 and get the spa pedicure.
Two thumbs up, way up, from Michelle. :)
Then I went to a new nail place that I had seen signs for along Transit Rd...for those familiar with Lockport it's in the plaza where Panera Bread is. Anyways, I think it's called "Nails & Spa"...boring name but it is so nice inside. I had to wait a bit because I was just a walk-in but I caught up on the latest InStyle mag...I had my usual fun of looking through the OPI nail colors and reading the names, I saw this great color and when I flipped the bottle over to read the name I remembered that it was the one that Kaelee had mentioned she tried---"Don't Wine..Yukon Do It", so now I had to try it. Love it, by the way. The gal asked me if I wanted the "spa" pedicure or the regular pedicure and I asked her what the difference was, basically more time spent smoothing your feet & heels and an extra $10...I figured what the heck, I just got a job. ha ha. Oh my god. I think I was in the chair for almost an hour. First, their chairs are amazing...my back felt so good after the little chair massage. The girl was very nice and thorough...she put some green goop all over my feet and then wrapped them up in hot towels and let me sit for about 10 minutes. Long calf & foot massage. It was so relaxing I had my eyes closed for most of it and felt like I was in heavan. Then when I was done I went over to this table that looked like a bar for 4 people, I sat down on a stool and placed my feet in the space between the bottom of the table & the floor, there's a UV light on the bottom side of the table, just placed my feet under the light and I was dry within 5 minutes. I had never seen anything like this for drying nails...there was a section in the middle to place your hands if you had your nails done. Very cool. So if any of you are in Lockport any time soon, I highly recommend "Nails & Spa", spend the extra $10 and get the spa pedicure.
Two thumbs up, way up, from Michelle. :)
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Friday---what a day!!
Hello! It's Saturday evening and it sure was a beautiful day here in good 'ole Lockport, NY.
Let me tell you, I had one crazy day yesterday!! I had my testing at Geico at 10 in the morning and first let me say that due to my non-working schedule, I've been going to bed very late and waking up very late so it was a challenge for me to wake up on time. I set my alarm for 7:00 and didn't get up until 7:30ish...now anyone who knows me knows that I am very slow getting ready. Amy knows this very well. :)
Anyways, I finally got myself out of here at 9:30 which was cutting it close because Geico is not in Lockport but luckily traffic is not an issue out here so I pulled in to their visitor parking around 9:50. The testing took almost 2 hours and it was kind of intense, or at least I thought so. I was put into a room with maybe 8 other "interviewees" and each of us was assigned a computer, we were given 3 different tests. The first was a reading comprehension test. The second was a 118 question personality test..statements like "I think that rules are made to be broken" and you'd answer 1 if you strongly disagreed or 5 if you strongly agreed, that kind of thing. The third was a combination test. It simulated being in a call center and tested our multi-tasking skills. We were given 20 minutes to learn the 'system' of this fictitious company and then put our headsets on and we had calls and e-mails come in and it was all timed. We had to first determine if the call/e-mail was for the sales, service or claims department...then we had to take the info from that call/e-mail and plug it into 9 various fields and hit "submit" before the timer ran out. Sometimes you'd have a call & e-mail come in at the same time, it was really crazy. We were told ahead of time to not expect to keep up with it all, that it was going to be an unreasonably fast pace...thank god because it was nuts. So in between doing that we'd get a little typing test where we'd have to transcribe someone's insurance claim. It was funny because in the middle of this test I had a "call" come in and the sound on my computer died. I played around with the headset and whatnot and realized that something was wrong and I started freaking out because I was running out of time & my calls/e-mails were piling up. So I got up and found the instructor and he took a look at my computer and determined that it was indeed defective and brought me to a room by myself...which I ended up really liking because then I could talk out loud to myself and no one cared. ha ha. I had to start the whole thing all over and was behind the rest of the class but it was fine. At the end the instructor came in and told me he'd print out my results and see if I passed...came back in and said I passed with flying colors and wanted me to proceed to the next step of the process.
So I went to the reception area to make an appointment for the next step (an actual face to face interview) and they asked me if I could come back at 1:30...at this time it was noon so I figured what the heck. I drove around and found a gas station, grabbed a sandwich and had lunch in my car. Went back at 1:30 and met with a gal in HR and interviewed with her. At the end of that she asked me if I could stick around because she'd like me to proceed to the NEXT step. At this point I figured what the heck, I don't have anything else to do, so I stayed.
The next step was being put into a room by myself for 20 minutes, given sheets regarding another fictitious company along with 5 print outs of customer accounts. I had to study the company info as well as the customer accounts and in 20 minutes the phone in the room would ring and one of the "customers" would be calling me. I was getting tired at this point and a little nervous but it all went well. I took my 3 calls, 2 of which were angry customers and the third was an airhead. Then the HR person called me on the phone in the room and asked how I thought it went, what if anything I would have done differently and I basically told her that I wouldn't have done anything differently. ha ha. Well, only that I did fumble a little bit but that was only because I had only learned of this "company" 20 minutes ago.
So...she comes in and tells me that they'd like me to stay longer for the NEXT step which is shadowing with one of the customer service reps and then interviewing with a supervisor. What the heck, let's get this out of the way I thought.
So I shadowed with this guy Eric for about 45 minutes and got a feel for the types of calls that come in. It was funny because I'm so used to someone shadowing with me at Medtronic, it was nice to be on the opposite end of it for a change.
Did that and then a supervisor named Frank interviewed me for another 30 minutes or so. At the end he said "let me go speak with my manager & I'll be right back". I sat there for about 15 minutes about ready to die of exhaustion and he comes back in and asks me if I have any questions, I said no...he asked me if I'm interested in the position, I said yes...he put his hand out and said "Congratulations, you got the job!!".
WOW!! After 8 long hours of being there, I walked out with a job! I totally did not expect it.
Not to mention when I walked in to the office it was sunny, hot & humid out and when I left it was a freaking torential downpour, thunder & lightning and my nice hair & outfit was soaked by the time I got to my car.
But I got the job!! :)
There is an 8 week training program...can you imagine? They take training very seriously which I totally respect and told them so. Within that 8 week training I will also become NY state licensed for insurance purposes...not quite sure of the exact title or reasoning, but I'll get back to you on that one.
Then when I'm done with the training I will begin a "transition period"...it will take up to 4 months before I'm actually doing the job. I am so impressed that they put so much effort into ensuring that their employees actually know their job.
They have excellent medical/dental benefits, 401K, profit sharing...a credit union in the building...a fitness center that you don't have to pay for and a full service cafeteria which I've heard is very good.
I'll have an odd schedule as they're open 24/7/365....I'll work the day shift which is 9:00 to 5:30, get a 45 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. I'll work four week days and one weekend day. That'll be a change but it'll also be nice because on the weekday that I have off I can schedule dr appointments and whatnot. I'll also have to work two major holidays per year, that's my least favorite part but I figure it's just me and it's not like I have children to worry about so it'll work out just fine.
Geico firmly believes in promoting from within and each person that I spoke to whether it was HR, manager or supervisor had started in the position I'll be in.
I'll talk to an HR person on Monday to schedule my physical and drug test and they'll also be doing a background check but I'm assuming that will all go well. Cross my fingers, ha ha! Then we'll talk more about when I'll start the training, I'll get paid for the training of course and my health insurance will kick in the first day of training.
So, that's my story. I just love the gecko!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Let me tell you, I had one crazy day yesterday!! I had my testing at Geico at 10 in the morning and first let me say that due to my non-working schedule, I've been going to bed very late and waking up very late so it was a challenge for me to wake up on time. I set my alarm for 7:00 and didn't get up until 7:30ish...now anyone who knows me knows that I am very slow getting ready. Amy knows this very well. :)
Anyways, I finally got myself out of here at 9:30 which was cutting it close because Geico is not in Lockport but luckily traffic is not an issue out here so I pulled in to their visitor parking around 9:50. The testing took almost 2 hours and it was kind of intense, or at least I thought so. I was put into a room with maybe 8 other "interviewees" and each of us was assigned a computer, we were given 3 different tests. The first was a reading comprehension test. The second was a 118 question personality test..statements like "I think that rules are made to be broken" and you'd answer 1 if you strongly disagreed or 5 if you strongly agreed, that kind of thing. The third was a combination test. It simulated being in a call center and tested our multi-tasking skills. We were given 20 minutes to learn the 'system' of this fictitious company and then put our headsets on and we had calls and e-mails come in and it was all timed. We had to first determine if the call/e-mail was for the sales, service or claims department...then we had to take the info from that call/e-mail and plug it into 9 various fields and hit "submit" before the timer ran out. Sometimes you'd have a call & e-mail come in at the same time, it was really crazy. We were told ahead of time to not expect to keep up with it all, that it was going to be an unreasonably fast pace...thank god because it was nuts. So in between doing that we'd get a little typing test where we'd have to transcribe someone's insurance claim. It was funny because in the middle of this test I had a "call" come in and the sound on my computer died. I played around with the headset and whatnot and realized that something was wrong and I started freaking out because I was running out of time & my calls/e-mails were piling up. So I got up and found the instructor and he took a look at my computer and determined that it was indeed defective and brought me to a room by myself...which I ended up really liking because then I could talk out loud to myself and no one cared. ha ha. I had to start the whole thing all over and was behind the rest of the class but it was fine. At the end the instructor came in and told me he'd print out my results and see if I passed...came back in and said I passed with flying colors and wanted me to proceed to the next step of the process.
So I went to the reception area to make an appointment for the next step (an actual face to face interview) and they asked me if I could come back at 1:30...at this time it was noon so I figured what the heck. I drove around and found a gas station, grabbed a sandwich and had lunch in my car. Went back at 1:30 and met with a gal in HR and interviewed with her. At the end of that she asked me if I could stick around because she'd like me to proceed to the NEXT step. At this point I figured what the heck, I don't have anything else to do, so I stayed.
The next step was being put into a room by myself for 20 minutes, given sheets regarding another fictitious company along with 5 print outs of customer accounts. I had to study the company info as well as the customer accounts and in 20 minutes the phone in the room would ring and one of the "customers" would be calling me. I was getting tired at this point and a little nervous but it all went well. I took my 3 calls, 2 of which were angry customers and the third was an airhead. Then the HR person called me on the phone in the room and asked how I thought it went, what if anything I would have done differently and I basically told her that I wouldn't have done anything differently. ha ha. Well, only that I did fumble a little bit but that was only because I had only learned of this "company" 20 minutes ago.
So...she comes in and tells me that they'd like me to stay longer for the NEXT step which is shadowing with one of the customer service reps and then interviewing with a supervisor. What the heck, let's get this out of the way I thought.
So I shadowed with this guy Eric for about 45 minutes and got a feel for the types of calls that come in. It was funny because I'm so used to someone shadowing with me at Medtronic, it was nice to be on the opposite end of it for a change.
Did that and then a supervisor named Frank interviewed me for another 30 minutes or so. At the end he said "let me go speak with my manager & I'll be right back". I sat there for about 15 minutes about ready to die of exhaustion and he comes back in and asks me if I have any questions, I said no...he asked me if I'm interested in the position, I said yes...he put his hand out and said "Congratulations, you got the job!!".
WOW!! After 8 long hours of being there, I walked out with a job! I totally did not expect it.
Not to mention when I walked in to the office it was sunny, hot & humid out and when I left it was a freaking torential downpour, thunder & lightning and my nice hair & outfit was soaked by the time I got to my car.
But I got the job!! :)
There is an 8 week training program...can you imagine? They take training very seriously which I totally respect and told them so. Within that 8 week training I will also become NY state licensed for insurance purposes...not quite sure of the exact title or reasoning, but I'll get back to you on that one.
Then when I'm done with the training I will begin a "transition period"...it will take up to 4 months before I'm actually doing the job. I am so impressed that they put so much effort into ensuring that their employees actually know their job.
They have excellent medical/dental benefits, 401K, profit sharing...a credit union in the building...a fitness center that you don't have to pay for and a full service cafeteria which I've heard is very good.
I'll have an odd schedule as they're open 24/7/365....I'll work the day shift which is 9:00 to 5:30, get a 45 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. I'll work four week days and one weekend day. That'll be a change but it'll also be nice because on the weekday that I have off I can schedule dr appointments and whatnot. I'll also have to work two major holidays per year, that's my least favorite part but I figure it's just me and it's not like I have children to worry about so it'll work out just fine.
Geico firmly believes in promoting from within and each person that I spoke to whether it was HR, manager or supervisor had started in the position I'll be in.
I'll talk to an HR person on Monday to schedule my physical and drug test and they'll also be doing a background check but I'm assuming that will all go well. Cross my fingers, ha ha! Then we'll talk more about when I'll start the training, I'll get paid for the training of course and my health insurance will kick in the first day of training.
So, that's my story. I just love the gecko!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
GEICO
Just wanted to say that I had a phone interview with GEICO this morning and it went very well, at the end of the conversation I was asked to continue the interview process and come in tomorrow morning for a face to face and then some testing. The testing part is kind of funny to me, it's testing computer skills, multi-tasking skills and reading comprehension. One thing that I am SO impressed with is their training, they have a solid 6 to 8 week training program, nothing but training. How awesome is that? I mean, not to knock any of my previous jobs but the training that I've received in the past could have been so much better. I really wish that companies would realize how important it is to have their customer facing departments fully trained inside & out. If a customer calls in and the person taking that call doesn't know the products that they're selling and has to put them on hold or transfer them to tech support for the answer to a basic question, that it is a poor reflection on the company. I know it costs money to have an official training program or class but I believe in the long run that it is so worth it.
Things are going pretty well otherwise. The realtor for my grandfather's house contacted me the other day to let me know that some people wanted to see the house. I spent 2 hours scrubbing the rest of the kitchen floor (and yes I used pine-sol!), mowed the lawn and all that good stuff. I don't know what the people thought, they only call me for authorization to enter the house.
The weather has cooled down some the last couple of days and I'm happy about that. I've been keeping busy which always helps my mental state.
I'll write again tomorrow to report how my interview goes! Wish me luck! :)
Things are going pretty well otherwise. The realtor for my grandfather's house contacted me the other day to let me know that some people wanted to see the house. I spent 2 hours scrubbing the rest of the kitchen floor (and yes I used pine-sol!), mowed the lawn and all that good stuff. I don't know what the people thought, they only call me for authorization to enter the house.
The weather has cooled down some the last couple of days and I'm happy about that. I've been keeping busy which always helps my mental state.
I'll write again tomorrow to report how my interview goes! Wish me luck! :)
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Sunday
Hello, hope everyone had a nice weekend! It's Sunday evening and I'm eating some left over pizza from Carrabbas...ohmygod, it is so good. I got the quattro formaggi wood-fired pizza with extra virgin oil, sundried tomatoes, romano, mozzarella, goat and fontina cheeses..mmmm. I thought I'd miss not having a microwave but for one, I don't cook in the microwave...don't know why because I know some people do but I just can't. I only ever used it for reheating things and I've learned since being microwave-less that I can easily reheat things in the oven. Imagine that! :)
I had a pretty good day today, got up and did a little bit of cleaning, had some coffee and then got ready to go to the movies with Teri. We went to see "Knocked Up" and we both really liked it, it was pretty funny...I think it seemed a little long at some points but I'd still recommend it.
I'm really hoping that I hear something from Geico this week, I've heard that they do 1 or 2 phone interviews first before bringing people in for an in person interview. Not to sound concieted but with my experience, I feel that I will hear from them. May not get the job but I do think they'll at least interview me over the phone.
Not much else to report other than I'm feeling better about everything in general. I seem to be having more good days than bad and I'm happy about that. :)
I had a pretty good day today, got up and did a little bit of cleaning, had some coffee and then got ready to go to the movies with Teri. We went to see "Knocked Up" and we both really liked it, it was pretty funny...I think it seemed a little long at some points but I'd still recommend it.
I'm really hoping that I hear something from Geico this week, I've heard that they do 1 or 2 phone interviews first before bringing people in for an in person interview. Not to sound concieted but with my experience, I feel that I will hear from them. May not get the job but I do think they'll at least interview me over the phone.
Not much else to report other than I'm feeling better about everything in general. I seem to be having more good days than bad and I'm happy about that. :)
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Saturday night
It's Saturday night and I'm waiting for SNL to come on...one of my favorite things to do on Saturday nights. I can remember watching it with my mom when I was little and then my friend Tracy & I trying to do our own skits. Good times. :)
It has been hot & humid here. I can handle hot more than I can handle humid. I am not a fan of that sticky heat. Yuck. I think I have become a weather wimp with living in the Seattle area for 10+ years...I was spoiled by the mild summers & winters. Sure, we had a few days each summer where it was in the 90's and we'd have a few days in the winter where there'd be a little bit of snow, but aside from that things were very mild. I always loved the weather there.
Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing. Wasn't in a bad mood, just didn't feel like doing anything but sit inside with the window air conditioner unit running.
Today I went with Darcy to Best Buy & then Carrabbas for lunch...oh, we went to Fashion Bug also and they had some really nice stuff. They have both plus sizes & regular sizes...I'm proud to announce that I shopped on the regular size side of the store! I bought another outfit for interviews/work...it's a black pencil skirt (size 12!) and then a real pretty black/red/white flowy satiny blouse. Don't you just love my descriptions? I just make words up as I go along. I still need to get some new black heels, all the black shoes I have are heeled boots...I do have a pair of non-boot heels but I don't think they'd look right with a skirt. Such dilemmas.
Tomorrow I am going to see "Knocked Up" with Teri (aunt), should be a good time. Teri & I are getting along better than we have in quite a few years....when I was growing up I worshipped the ground she walked on (she's only 13 years older than me) and then we made the fatal mistake of working together and that just about ruined our relationship. In my opinion, family should not work together...at least in my situation that was the case. Oh-well, long story short, we're getting along better and I'm happy. :)
Today Jason moved in to his new home and I couldn't be happier for him. Our dad is going over there tomorrow to help him install some ceiling fans.
Oh man!! SNL is not on tonight, some stupid sports or wrestling thing. Damn it Jim!!
Anyway, I'm excited for Jason and can't wait to see pictures of his new place with his stuff in it. I was lucky enough to be able to see his home while it was being built...I'd love to go visit again soon. Yeah, so Jason, get right on buying me that plane ticket, okay?
Well I think I'm going to see if anything else is on tv, otherwise I'll pick up my book and read a little before I go to sleep.
Have a great weekend!
It has been hot & humid here. I can handle hot more than I can handle humid. I am not a fan of that sticky heat. Yuck. I think I have become a weather wimp with living in the Seattle area for 10+ years...I was spoiled by the mild summers & winters. Sure, we had a few days each summer where it was in the 90's and we'd have a few days in the winter where there'd be a little bit of snow, but aside from that things were very mild. I always loved the weather there.
Yesterday I did a whole lot of nothing. Wasn't in a bad mood, just didn't feel like doing anything but sit inside with the window air conditioner unit running.
Today I went with Darcy to Best Buy & then Carrabbas for lunch...oh, we went to Fashion Bug also and they had some really nice stuff. They have both plus sizes & regular sizes...I'm proud to announce that I shopped on the regular size side of the store! I bought another outfit for interviews/work...it's a black pencil skirt (size 12!) and then a real pretty black/red/white flowy satiny blouse. Don't you just love my descriptions? I just make words up as I go along. I still need to get some new black heels, all the black shoes I have are heeled boots...I do have a pair of non-boot heels but I don't think they'd look right with a skirt. Such dilemmas.
Tomorrow I am going to see "Knocked Up" with Teri (aunt), should be a good time. Teri & I are getting along better than we have in quite a few years....when I was growing up I worshipped the ground she walked on (she's only 13 years older than me) and then we made the fatal mistake of working together and that just about ruined our relationship. In my opinion, family should not work together...at least in my situation that was the case. Oh-well, long story short, we're getting along better and I'm happy. :)
Today Jason moved in to his new home and I couldn't be happier for him. Our dad is going over there tomorrow to help him install some ceiling fans.
Oh man!! SNL is not on tonight, some stupid sports or wrestling thing. Damn it Jim!!
Anyway, I'm excited for Jason and can't wait to see pictures of his new place with his stuff in it. I was lucky enough to be able to see his home while it was being built...I'd love to go visit again soon. Yeah, so Jason, get right on buying me that plane ticket, okay?
Well I think I'm going to see if anything else is on tv, otherwise I'll pick up my book and read a little before I go to sleep.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wish me luck...
I just officially applied to Geico for a "customer service counselor" position...wish me luck, I'm nervous to start the whole job searching process! Yikes! :)
Jaymo
As I type, my brother is either in the process of closing on his first home or has already closed...just wanted to tell him again how proud I am of him!
I was able to see his new townhome while it was in the process of being built when I was there in March and have seen picture updates along the way, it's awesome!
Congrats, Jaymo! :)
Love,
Sista.
I was able to see his new townhome while it was in the process of being built when I was there in March and have seen picture updates along the way, it's awesome!
Congrats, Jaymo! :)
Love,
Sista.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Shoes!
Here's my shoes that I bought....I'm not quite sure how to put links in here, so I hope that this works.
Here's the black pair: http://clarks.zappos.com/n/p/p/7294803.html
Here's the brown pair: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7298602/c/90537.html
If anyone knows how to "name the link" and being able to just click on the say the name of the shoe and then it would take you to the web page without having to have the whole web address appear, please let me know. I hope that makes sense! ha ha. I've seen it done in Kaelee's blog but I am still learning. :)
Here's the black pair: http://clarks.zappos.com/n/p/p/7294803.html
Here's the brown pair: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7298602/c/90537.html
If anyone knows how to "name the link" and being able to just click on the say the name of the shoe and then it would take you to the web page without having to have the whole web address appear, please let me know. I hope that makes sense! ha ha. I've seen it done in Kaelee's blog but I am still learning. :)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Centipede: Part II
I forgot to mention this earlier but I had yet another run-in with a centipede last night. I don't know if it's a friend of the last one or if I actually saw two the last time. Either way, it creeps me out. I was sitting in the recliner and once again caught the little bastard out of the corner of my eye, flew out of the chair to grab a sneaker and in the meantime he had caught my cat Sydney's attention (she loves to go after bugs of any kind) but Sydney wasn't fast enough and Mr. Many Legs ran under the recliner. Not good. I put on my sneakers and stood a safe distance from the recliner trying to figure out my next move. Sydney kept circling the recliner and I was hoping that he'd come out for her to attack but after a good 5 minutes or so I realized he wasn't moving. So I began a process of sprinting towards the recliner, moving it slightly and then moving backwards just as fast...nothing. I kept moving it, running back, moving it, running back. I knew I would not be able to sit in the chair until we got him out of there. He finally went running out and with all those fast legs he ran under the door frame that leads to the upstairs. Grrrr. I slowly opened up the door and Winnie ran upstairs, Sydney had forgotten about him at this point so it was all me. The carpet in the hallway & going up the stairs looks almost like camouflage and I was unable to spot him. I was going to get a flashlight but didn't want to miss him running back into my living area. After about 10 minutes of this I made a run for it, grabbed a bunch of paper towels and got Winnie to come back downstairs. I stuffed the paper towels under the door to at least ensure he couldn't come back through....hopefully.
I know this is absolutely ridiculous and I should not be so distraught over something that is only an inch or two long, even if he does have a million creepy little legs, he's not going to hurt me. But I hate these kinds of things. This is one of the reasons I don't want to live in Florida, there's all kinds of freaky bugs down there.
So, now Mr. Many Legs is still on the loose and I'm walking around with shoes on so I am ready to attack at any given time. Jenna---those adorable pink ribbon slippers you gave me are getting so much use! :) I will try not to kill him with the slippers as they are just too darn cool but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Is there any kind of ritual or seance I can do to rid this house of all creepy-crawly things? Anyone?
I know this is absolutely ridiculous and I should not be so distraught over something that is only an inch or two long, even if he does have a million creepy little legs, he's not going to hurt me. But I hate these kinds of things. This is one of the reasons I don't want to live in Florida, there's all kinds of freaky bugs down there.
So, now Mr. Many Legs is still on the loose and I'm walking around with shoes on so I am ready to attack at any given time. Jenna---those adorable pink ribbon slippers you gave me are getting so much use! :) I will try not to kill him with the slippers as they are just too darn cool but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Is there any kind of ritual or seance I can do to rid this house of all creepy-crawly things? Anyone?
Monday
Hello! Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!
I've been keeping busy and feeling much better emotionally....thank god! Geesh! Let's see...where did I leave off....I managed to get out of my funk Friday evening and chatted with Jenna for a bit, it was nice catching up with her....thanks for listening to my rambling, Jenna. :)
Saturday Teri & Tom came over to do some yard work. The yard has been a mess but the lawn mower was out of gas and I didn't have a gas can. Anyways, Tom mowed the lawn and I helped Teri with the weed whacking....I have to admit that I loved doing it! It's been since I lived at home that I've had a yard to take care of. Mind you, this is a small yard so maybe with a bigger yard I wouldn't find it as enjoyable. ha ha. It was fun though, Tom showed me how to use the lawn mower, filled up the gas tank and left a full gas can. Next time it needs it, which will be any day now, I'll be able to do it myself. We also put a trellis back up that's along the driveway but had fallen down during some wind we had last week.
After that I was inspired to do some cleaning inside. Got out my new Dyson and went to town vacuuming and then got out my new mop, bucket and yes even the "off limits" pine-sol (I'm a rebel) and started mopping. I wasn't satisfied with the kitchen floor so I got out my new scrub brush, got down on my hands & knees and immediately noticed a huge difference as soon as I started scrubbing. After an hour of being on my hands & knees I had only gotten half of the kitchen floor done but could barely move, my back decided it was time for me to stop. I'll finish the rest of it tomorrow as my arms are still sore....it's amazing how out of shape I am to have my arms ache so much from scrubbing.
I am pleased to announce that said pine-sol did NOT ruin the floor as my aunt had said it would. I was worried that after a couple hours that it would eat through the linoleum and I'd walk into the kitchen and end up falling through the floor and winding up in my grandpa's old workshop in the basement. Ha ha ha :) So, there, Aunt Barb!!! :P
I got myself cleaned up and went to Tops & Walmart, picked up some real food and some odds & ends I needed. Oh! I got my brand new "Simply Calphalon" cookware on Friday, how exciting is that?! Got some coffee on my way home and then got ready to head over to Tom & Teri's for a bonfire. Had a great time, Jonathan (cousin) and his girlfriend Britney were there too. Tom is a hoot, he's Teri's second husband and they've been married for just about 10 years. He really is hysterical, we had a good time.
Yesterday Darcy & I headed up to the Galleria Mall and spent at least 4 hours shopping. I have not shopped for that length of time in years! It was so much fun, the mall has changed so much since I had last been there. I am a huge Sephora girl and was THRILLED that one just opened up there on May 4th...they must've known I was coming. For people in WA, the galleria reminded me of Bellevue Square, the size and the kind of stores. I was in heaven. I went with the intention of buying interview clothes but couldn't find anything I like. I'm in an awkward stage right now as far as clothing sizes, the 'plus' size section is now too big for me (yahoooo!!) but the 'normal' section is still a little snug. Maybe 10 more pounds and I'll fit comfortably in the normal section. I'm proud of myself, I bought two pairs of pants before I went to visit my brother & dad in Florida and now they are falling off of me. I'm trying to get them to shrink up but it's not working.
Anyways, I bought two pairs of adorable wedge sandals at Clarks....thank you Jenna for introducing me to the wonderful world of shoes. I never used to be a big shoe person but Jenna always wears such awesome shoes that it inspired me to try something new. Honestly, I have Jenna to thank for a lot of things....she's so stylish and hip and I used to be so conservative and so afraid to wear something 'stylish'. I thought because I had been overweight that I "couldn't" wear stylish things....I was wrong. Thanks, Jenna....you rock! :)
I also bought some anti-bacterial soap, some new body lotion and a chai candle at Bath & Body Works and I have to admit the sales girl there pissed me off. They were having a sale where the anti-bacterial soap was 5 for $10, each bottle is $5 so that was a great deal. However, I had only used said soap when I was at Amy's and wasn't sure if I'd like it here.....I did not want to purchase 5 bottles even though it was a good deal. The chick at the register told me repeatedly how it was a waste for me to buy only one...I must have told her 4 times that I ONLY wanted one. I bit my tongue but I should have told her that I was the customer and maybe I should go elsewhere if me buying one from them was such a waste. Grrr...that's one reason I don't like going into that store, love their stuff but their salespeople are ANNOYING.
All in all, Darcy & I had a great time shopping. We went to "Jack Astors" for a late lunch and had an awesome crab & lobster dip with little slices of pita bread and then I had a delicious caesar salad.
Today I took myself to Panera for breakfast, over to Starbucks for some coffee and then flew up Transit (the main drag in Lockport) to Amherst to go to my 'local' Bank of America to deposit a check. I came back and did some more vacuuming and tidying up.
It's almost 5pm here and I'm not sure what I'm going to do the rest of the evening, I've got a pile of magazines to go through. It's funny because when I'm depressed or in a funk, I can't concentrate on reading anything. I simply want to do nothing when I'm like that.
Amy has an appointment coming up this Friday and I'm so excited for her....Amy, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I'm so proud of you and that I can't wait to hear how it goes! :)
I haven't talked to Kari in a few days, hopefully her, John & Kurtis had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I've got to check Kaelee's blog and see how her weekend in Pullman went.
Take care everyone! :)
M.
I've been keeping busy and feeling much better emotionally....thank god! Geesh! Let's see...where did I leave off....I managed to get out of my funk Friday evening and chatted with Jenna for a bit, it was nice catching up with her....thanks for listening to my rambling, Jenna. :)
Saturday Teri & Tom came over to do some yard work. The yard has been a mess but the lawn mower was out of gas and I didn't have a gas can. Anyways, Tom mowed the lawn and I helped Teri with the weed whacking....I have to admit that I loved doing it! It's been since I lived at home that I've had a yard to take care of. Mind you, this is a small yard so maybe with a bigger yard I wouldn't find it as enjoyable. ha ha. It was fun though, Tom showed me how to use the lawn mower, filled up the gas tank and left a full gas can. Next time it needs it, which will be any day now, I'll be able to do it myself. We also put a trellis back up that's along the driveway but had fallen down during some wind we had last week.
After that I was inspired to do some cleaning inside. Got out my new Dyson and went to town vacuuming and then got out my new mop, bucket and yes even the "off limits" pine-sol (I'm a rebel) and started mopping. I wasn't satisfied with the kitchen floor so I got out my new scrub brush, got down on my hands & knees and immediately noticed a huge difference as soon as I started scrubbing. After an hour of being on my hands & knees I had only gotten half of the kitchen floor done but could barely move, my back decided it was time for me to stop. I'll finish the rest of it tomorrow as my arms are still sore....it's amazing how out of shape I am to have my arms ache so much from scrubbing.
I am pleased to announce that said pine-sol did NOT ruin the floor as my aunt had said it would. I was worried that after a couple hours that it would eat through the linoleum and I'd walk into the kitchen and end up falling through the floor and winding up in my grandpa's old workshop in the basement. Ha ha ha :) So, there, Aunt Barb!!! :P
I got myself cleaned up and went to Tops & Walmart, picked up some real food and some odds & ends I needed. Oh! I got my brand new "Simply Calphalon" cookware on Friday, how exciting is that?! Got some coffee on my way home and then got ready to head over to Tom & Teri's for a bonfire. Had a great time, Jonathan (cousin) and his girlfriend Britney were there too. Tom is a hoot, he's Teri's second husband and they've been married for just about 10 years. He really is hysterical, we had a good time.
Yesterday Darcy & I headed up to the Galleria Mall and spent at least 4 hours shopping. I have not shopped for that length of time in years! It was so much fun, the mall has changed so much since I had last been there. I am a huge Sephora girl and was THRILLED that one just opened up there on May 4th...they must've known I was coming. For people in WA, the galleria reminded me of Bellevue Square, the size and the kind of stores. I was in heaven. I went with the intention of buying interview clothes but couldn't find anything I like. I'm in an awkward stage right now as far as clothing sizes, the 'plus' size section is now too big for me (yahoooo!!) but the 'normal' section is still a little snug. Maybe 10 more pounds and I'll fit comfortably in the normal section. I'm proud of myself, I bought two pairs of pants before I went to visit my brother & dad in Florida and now they are falling off of me. I'm trying to get them to shrink up but it's not working.
Anyways, I bought two pairs of adorable wedge sandals at Clarks....thank you Jenna for introducing me to the wonderful world of shoes. I never used to be a big shoe person but Jenna always wears such awesome shoes that it inspired me to try something new. Honestly, I have Jenna to thank for a lot of things....she's so stylish and hip and I used to be so conservative and so afraid to wear something 'stylish'. I thought because I had been overweight that I "couldn't" wear stylish things....I was wrong. Thanks, Jenna....you rock! :)
I also bought some anti-bacterial soap, some new body lotion and a chai candle at Bath & Body Works and I have to admit the sales girl there pissed me off. They were having a sale where the anti-bacterial soap was 5 for $10, each bottle is $5 so that was a great deal. However, I had only used said soap when I was at Amy's and wasn't sure if I'd like it here.....I did not want to purchase 5 bottles even though it was a good deal. The chick at the register told me repeatedly how it was a waste for me to buy only one...I must have told her 4 times that I ONLY wanted one. I bit my tongue but I should have told her that I was the customer and maybe I should go elsewhere if me buying one from them was such a waste. Grrr...that's one reason I don't like going into that store, love their stuff but their salespeople are ANNOYING.
All in all, Darcy & I had a great time shopping. We went to "Jack Astors" for a late lunch and had an awesome crab & lobster dip with little slices of pita bread and then I had a delicious caesar salad.
Today I took myself to Panera for breakfast, over to Starbucks for some coffee and then flew up Transit (the main drag in Lockport) to Amherst to go to my 'local' Bank of America to deposit a check. I came back and did some more vacuuming and tidying up.
It's almost 5pm here and I'm not sure what I'm going to do the rest of the evening, I've got a pile of magazines to go through. It's funny because when I'm depressed or in a funk, I can't concentrate on reading anything. I simply want to do nothing when I'm like that.
Amy has an appointment coming up this Friday and I'm so excited for her....Amy, if you are reading this, I want you to know that I'm so proud of you and that I can't wait to hear how it goes! :)
I haven't talked to Kari in a few days, hopefully her, John & Kurtis had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I've got to check Kaelee's blog and see how her weekend in Pullman went.
Take care everyone! :)
M.
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