Posted by barb on Jun 15, 2006 in
Random Thoughts You know the saying, “you don’t need to be good, just lucky?” Well, it’s a good thing I’m usually pretty good, ‘cuz I’m sure as hell not lucky.
The traffic report on the radio mentioned an accident on I-66 this evening, so things were backed up a little bit from the Beltway to Nutley – exactly how I usually get home. Sometimes I ignore the warnings on the traffic report, and about half the time I regret it and half the time I don’t see what they were talking about. This time, though, the Beltway was backing up about three miles before the I-66 exit, so I bailed out on Chain Bridge Road.
Big Mistake.
Chain Bridge is always busy, but not usually stopped for longer than one red light, except at the first light into downtown Vienna. Today, however, it was a nightmare. In fact, it was closed in the middle of Vienna, and there was a one-lane detour around the problem. A one-lane detour that took 45 minutes for a net distance down Chain Bridge of one mile.
I can’t win. Traffic around here sucks.
Tags: rant
Posted by barb on Jun 12, 2006 in
Random Thoughts One good thing that’s coming out of the change of contractor in charge of my position at work is that I’m getting the big honking raise that I requested!
When I was originally hired, I didn’t yet have my Master’s degree – I was a semester of paperwork away from it. So, they hired me as a person with a Bachelor’s degree and two years of experience, and they gave me the impression that I’d be compensated when I actually got the piece of paper for the Master’s. Of course, they were just blowing sunshine up my ass.
I looked at the change of guard as my opportunity to rectify the situation. Forunately, my manager saw it the same way, and I’m walking away with a 20% (!) raise. Yay me!
Tags: work
Posted by barb on Jun 5, 2006 in
Random Thoughts A bike. On the beltway. Not a motorcycle. A bicycle. Human powered. WTF?
On my way to work this morning, I had many things that I was thinking about committing to the blog. But just as I passed the Kennilworth ramp, I saw a bike coming on to the beltway. I did a double take. Triple take. Possibly a quadruple take (though that one might have been in the rear-view mirror). What was a bike doing coming onto the beltway? I’m scared to ride on little local roads. The rider must have gotten there by mistake, right? But in my second, third, and fourth looks, I couldn’t see any look of “oops” in the cyclist’s face or posture. He should have realized his mistake and turned around, but he kept going.
What I can’t figure out is where he thought he was going to go. The next ramp off was at the BW parkway – another road it is illegal for him to ride along. But it’s morning rush hour, so if he wasn’t getting off there, he’d have to cross through the merging traffic to continue on. But at least he was wearing a helmet. As if that would do any good against the traffic travelling at 70 mph along the beltway.
I just hope he doesn’t take anyone with him when he dies in a messy accident. And I hope whoever hits him on the beltway can forgive themselves – he’s the one who isn’t supposed to be there.
Tags: life in the city, rant
Posted by barb on May 22, 2006 in
Random Thoughts Believe it or not, there’s only a touch of sarcasm in that title.
About 4 years ago, I moved from one side of the Beltway to the other, but my job stayed on the other side of the Beltway. I had good reasons for this move – namely to be with my honey – but it increased my commute from less than 10 miles to more than 30. Perhaps in a rural area this might not be a huge deal, but in Washington DC, this is a gigantic deal. My commute that had been about 20 minutes, on a bad day, was now an hour on a good day.
To mitigate the commute, I talked to my employer about telecommuting two days per week. I wanted these days to be the same every week so that my managers would always know where to find me (though, one of my “customers” couldn’t seem to figure out the schedule, no matter how often I told him). I decided to telecommute on Mondays and Tuesdays for a few reasons including many of my meetings being on Thursdays and Fridays and wanting two days in a row at home so I could get and keep my momentum. This seemed like a good idea for a long time, except that I ended up commuting Fridays, often at 5 PM (because of a late meeting that couldn’t be moved to any other time). Fridays. On the Beltway. Add an accident or some rain, and my commute would balloon to two hours or more.
In the last couple months, though, my Friday meetings have migrated, and they are now on Mondays. I’ve switched my telecommuting days from Monday and Tuesday to Tuesday and Friday.
Why, oh why, didn’t I push for this sooner?
I left work at 3:30 this afternoon and got home at 4:10. Forty minutes. After 3:30. That’s how long it takes without any traffice. Yay!
I can tell you that I’ll fight any change that requires me to commute Fridays again. I love this, and don’t mind Mondays so much anymore.
Tags: work
Posted by barb on May 19, 2006 in
Random Thoughts Imagine a box of tampons costing half of your monthly income.
Sound ludicrous? That’s the situation in Zimbabwe.
Feed your family? Pay rent? Or buy sanitary products?
From this article in the UK Sunday Times:
SHE has been arrested 22 times, tortured so badly that her front teeth were knocked into her nose and had an AK-47 thrust up her vagina until she bled. Thabitha Khumalo’s crime: to campaign against a critical shortage of tampons and sanitary towels in Zimbabwe, one of the least talked about and most severe side-effects for women of the country’s economic crisis.
[…]
So desperate is the situation that women are being forced to use rolled-up pieces of newspaper. Zimbabwe already has the world’s lowest life expectancy for women — 34 — and Khumalo believes these unhygienic practices could make it drop to as low as 20 because infections will make them more vulnerable to HIV. “It’s a time bomb,” she said. The shortage is forcing schoolgirls to stay at home when they start menstruating.
[…]
When an MP raised the issue in parliament, government ministers fell about laughing and dismissed the matter.
Read the whole article.
Head over to here to see what you can do to help.
[Via Feministe]
Tags: rant
Posted by barb on May 4, 2006 in
Random Thoughts Small, black, enclosed tent in the sun + throngs of 6th graders = margaritas!
Tags: rant, work
Posted by barb on Apr 28, 2006 in
Random Thoughts Andrew is wearing his “camel pants” today. Hee hee hee.
At least they don’t stink anymore 🙂
Tags: my man
Posted by barb on Apr 27, 2006 in
Random Thoughts
- I saw the coolest company name this morning on my way to work: Cleany Boppers. I don’t know what they do, and I can’t say they’re any good at it, but clever name!
- Tried the new Diet Dr. Pepper Berries and Cream this morning. It was good, very berry-y, but almost too sweet.
- The ads I see while watching TV tell me that I don’t watch the most sophisticated shows. (Car title loans, “your job is your credit” car dealer, we-take-anyone insurance, if-you’ve-been-injured-then-sue law firms, payday loans)
- Is it just me, or are car manufacturers making blinkers really hard to turn on? My car seems fine, but a least half the cars I encounter on my way to work seem to have trouble with it.
- It looks like I’ll be back up to half-time soon – someone at work looked for money to pay me to work on E/PO, and found some! Yay!
- Ares has been in violation of House Ordinance 0001-A, which states that “no kitten shall display his or her tumbly in the house except when cleaning his- or herself.” I’ve had to take drastic measures; namely, petting him to within an inch of his tiny self.
- Why do all of the animated movies coming out in the next couple months look completely uninteresting? Does Disney or Pixar not take pride anymore to produce quality stories along with their quality animation?
- The sudden car crash interrupting a random conversation is now officially cliche.
- I’ve officially become addicted to scrapping. There, I’ve said it.
Tags: pets, scrapping, work
Posted by barb on Apr 14, 2006 in
Random Thoughts I give you one guess as to what kind of car was sporting this license plate:
ROWXCOL
Gave me a smile!
Tags: geekery
Posted by barb on Apr 13, 2006 in
Random Thoughts Well, it’s better than last year — I’m going home before everyone else arrives for work today. And, maybe even before traffic.
Tags: work