Goofy Thinks

With all the craziness going on with work lately (WAY too many stories to vomit back up here), I came up with a goofy thought today:

What would happen if I quit my job?

Hmmm....well, first of all FEAR. Yikes! No money coming in. But...I DID just get a bonus. And we still have some money left from the sale of our old house. I could survive on jelly sandwiches for a while (I don't like peanut butter). And if I couldn't get a business started on my own quickly, I could always get a part-time job somewhere and make some sort of money.

Second, there's also our second adoption that's in process. What about that? I don't think it would be a big deal...we qualify without my income. I checked this last time our social worker visited. I was just curious, and now I'm glad I asked. To adopt, you have to have household income of 125% of poverty line for your state. We are in Kansas and our poverty line is $17,170. Yeah, I was pretty shocked at how low that was too! We might have to re-do paperwork. Or we could just keep quiet and follow the 'if no one asks, we won't tell' philosophy.

The third issue is Burnt Bridges. I work for a company (A) that has placed me at another company (B) to do contract work. Company A can kiss my ass. I don't care about burnt bridges there. At all. However, Company B could be a potential future employer or future client, and/or folks that I work with may be those that I would want to reach out to in the future for business, mentoring or a free lunch (see jelly sandwiches, above). So I'm a bit concerned about that. But just a bit. A teensy-tiny bit.

I read an article recently that likened starting a business to learning how to swim. Sure, you can go the pool, dip your toe in, dry off, go home. Then come back the next day, dip a foot in, dry off, go home. Or you can overcome your fear and jump in. Provided, of course, you have an idea of how to swim and have some good help there, if you need it (a life preserver of sorts). I've been dipping my toe in for about 10 years now. It's freaking soggy! But...I just might be in the market for a swimsuit soon!

Done with Harry? Now what?!

Me personally...I'm not done with Harry. I'm taking my darn, sweet time. I just watched HP4 last night. I plan on going to see HP5 in the theatres sometime this week. Then I will (hopefully) receive HP6 and HP7 in the mail from Amazon.com. I've already read HP6, but I want to re-read it again. Then, and only then, will I pick up and lovingly read HP7. I can't wait!

I want to wallow in all things wizardly. Yep, I'm OCD like that. And I rarely eat my dessert first.

So, I'm petrified that someone will spoil HP7 for me. I'm afraid to go to the theatre to see HP5, for fear that some blabbermouth fan will bust out with "Hey did you know how it all ends? Well, let me tell you? ...blah, blah, blah". SHUDDER.

Anyway, even though I'm not 1/2 way through my Harry Plan, I've already started looking for the next big thing. I've found a few books that are similar in theme and tone as the HP books. If you're interested, they are:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians - think Harry Potter with Greek Gods instead of wizards
The Bartimaeus Trilogy - a young magician and a smart-assed demon; very well-written

I read the Percy Jackson series in about two weeks. There are three books out now, and more to come. The Bart Trilogy I am listening to on audio. I would highly recommend the audio - there are lots of characters and the narrator does a good job of keeping them all straight and sounding different.

Happy reading, whatever you are reading!

Goofy Takes a Class

Is it Goofy to take a 'Soup & Stew" class in the middle of summer? Why of course it is. And that's exactly what I did last night.

I went to a place called the KC Culinary Center (http://www.kcculinary.com/) in downtown Overland Park. It was not a hands-on class, so basically we just watched the chef create wonderful, delicious stuff, while we sipped wine and had some breadsticks, cornbread and foccacia.

We learned how to make Beef Stew, 5-Onion French Onion Soup (complete with garlic crouton and Gruyere cheese on top), New England Clam Chowder (surprisingly easy!), and Chicken Noodle Soup (with homemade noodles).

On that last one, there was a bit of pasta-making. Pasta dough is easy: flour and eggs. Stir a bit, roll out, cut with pizza cutter. So far so good. But then you have to let the noodles "dry" for 2 hours. Goofy has no patient for slow food. The chef asked, "Is this too hard for anyone?" Of course, I raised my hand. I asked, "What is you just want dumplings instead?" The answer? No drying! Just make the dough, spoon and drop into the boiling soup. So Goofy will be making Chicken DUMPLING soup, thankyouverymuch.

He also threw in a recipe for quick Drop Biscuits that I definitely will be using. Bisquik? YUK.

All the soups were yummy. I met some interesting folks, had a glass of wine and had a blast! I can't decide which soup to make first. They were all yummy and fairly simply. I might go for the Stew recipe - that one was hearty enough to be a meal alone.

So, Dear Readers...What have YOU learned to do lately?

I am a Dork

Such plans I had! They were perfect. Until they weren't.

I read Harry Potter before Harry Potter was cool. Bet you haven't heard of Percy Jackson. He's the next cool Potteresque dude. Check him out here. But I digress...

So, anyway, I am obviously looking forward to the seventh and last Harry Potter book (insert teary eyes here). In preparation, I had a plan:

1. Rent movie - Harry Potter #5
2. Go to theatre to see Harry Potter #6
3. Read book - Harry Potter #7

...all within the same week, thus making for a Harry Potter Extravaganza of the highest order. I had my butter beer and chocolate frogs at the ready, but alas...

Does anyone see the giant FLAW in my plan? See it? SEE IT?

There is no Harry Potter #6 movie! Yet. #6 is Half-Blood Prince and it's not due out until November 2008. The movie available for rental would be #4 (Goblet of Fire) and the movie in the theatres is #5 - Order of the Phoenix. Then INSERT BIG GAPING HOLE HERE ...then #7 book (Deathly Hallows).

I have to READ #6! Which is totally okay, but it will add an few days to my plan. But there's no way I can do all that by Saturday night. If you've been living in the Chamber of Secrets, midnight Saturday night is when book #7 arrives.

And, just to add a Dark Mark on my perfect plan, the Goofy family reunion is this weekend. We will be driving to Azkaban, Iowa on Friday. There will be no midnight madness at Border's on Saturday night (Cagey, you gotta represent for me, yo!).

If my perfect plan had been, er..perfect, I would be surfing the 'net for a Borders in Iowa. But alas, I will be reading #6 on Saturday instead of #7.

At least I have some good driving time in which to read. I promise only to read while I'm not driving, okay? I'm just not ready to join Moaning Myrtle yet.

Cheers!

Goofy is Furious

I am furious. I am not furious often. I am usually goofy. But I am now furious. Half of my blood is Irish, so furious is not a small thing. It is a big thing. I am FURIOUS.

Why?

Let me tell you.

I was talking to my manager this afternoon. He mentioned that someone in our department had mentioned that it was odd that I was out of the office "so much recently". I suppose "so much recently" means being an hour or so late on Monday, then having a doctor's appointment on Tuesday and busting my butt to get there by 10:30am. Neither of which I will post as billable time.

The "someone" is yet un-named, although I have my suspects. I'm furious because, c'mon, if I wanted to punch a timeclock, I would work for McDonald's. I'm a professional. I'm in my forties. Do I really need to put in "face time" to be productive? Does this "someone" see how much I work in my home office? Do I really need to be "seen" to be productive? How 80's is this entire topic?

I left the office with a smirk on my face. Whatever. They can kiss my ass. Then, as I started thinking about this more on the drive home, the Furious came out.

Jeez. There's been some shit coming down for the past year regarding my current work situation and I'm thinking this is the straw that broke Goofy's back. Normally I would just blow this off, but I can't. It's stuck under my skin and won't go away.

What's SO ironic about this is...I'm a contractor. All the regular employees get a once a week "work from home" day. I don't. I haven't minded. So some idiot decides to mention that I'm "not in the office" much this week. Why in the world do they care?

I'm thinking...life is too short for shit like this...

NOTE: I posted this last night, then deleted it today, then decided WTF and re-posted it. I'm not as peeved today.

Busy Goofy Catches Up. Kinda.

Okay, so I've been way too busy to blog. Since May. Or maybe I just haven't had anything blog-worthy. Or maybe a bit of both. Either way...I am BACK! Please hold your applause until the end.

I'll try to catch you up on all the Goofy Goings-On, but it might take a few posts. So my plan is to post shorter, more frequent posts. So here goes...

The latest fun in the Goofy household is the arrival yesterday of Alex's NEW TWIN BED! And HEADBOARD! With SIX-DRAWER DRESSER! And matching MIRROR!

...all in five flat boxes which appeared on our driveway. Gulp. Annie get yer screwdriver.

No boxes were damaged in shipping. This is good. But each one weighs about 70 pounds. So they will inevitably be damaged by one of us trying to move them. We will have to tear the boxes apart in the garage (their current location, after Mr. Goofy dragged them in from the driveway), and carry the contents upstairs to Alex's room.

I foresee a few walls being dinged.

And of course, our pride as parents is on the line. I'm sure at some point Alex will ask, "Do you guys know how to put this together?" He's in that annoying "question your parents' knowledge" stage, so everywhere we go its, "Do you know where you're going?" "You don't know how to get there." "You don't know how to do that", "You're lost", etc. It's funny, at first, then it starts to get under your skin.

So, the Goofy weekend will be filled with much unpacking of parts and pieces, much swearing, probably an injury or two, and hopefully, in the end, a new bed for Alex.

...which he will promptly roll out of in the middle of the night. And then blame us for putting it together wrong. Sigh.