Month: November 2011

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Let’s talk about hold music

Shall we? You know, that crap “elevator” music you must endure each time you’re put on hold on the phone. Now riddle me this… WHY on earth must it be so terrible? Always??

 

A few weeks ago while on hold I had to listen to “That’s Just the Way It Is” by Phil Collins, which on its own isn’t too obnoxiously unbearable, but throw it into a never-ending string of mind-numbing shit songs and I was ready to chuck my phone across the room by the end of the first refrain. Then this morning I again found myself on perma-hold, being serenaded by the worst light jazz channel I’ve ever heard.

 

Why do companies think their customers, patients, etc., want to hear note after note after note of horrendous music, when they’re probably already in a bad mood about whatever it is that’s causing them to call in and be stuck on hold in the first place? And who picks this stuff out anyway? I’d like to meet the person who decided that oh yeah, EVERYONE wants to listen to Kenny G for 45 minutes while we ignore their call. I would swiftly kick him/her in the shins and duct tape headphones on them to pump in their nauseating choice of songs.

 

Come on, mix it up a little for us! I don’t know about you guys, but personally, I would LOVE to hear some Snoop Dogg for my “on hold” station. That is my JAM! I would rock the socks off some hold time if I could be rollin’ down the street sippin on gin and juice. Or rockin rough and stuff with my afropuffs – hey rage, rock on wit yo bad self! Yeeeaahh, I could be on hold all day listening to Doggystyle.

 

Seriously, throw us a bone here, on hold music administrators. Like I said, chances are pretty good that we’re going to be pissed off when you finally decide to answer our call in the order in which it was received since we’ve been sitting there so long waiting to either chew you out because some worthless product failed us again or to make an appointment for a procedure that no one in their right mind would enjoy. So it would be in your best interest to not enrage us further by making us want to pluck our eyebrows out with your god-awful music, but maybe try to soften the blow to your eardrums a bit by lightening our mood with a little rock ‘n roll, hip hop, or even some Christmas carols this time of year.

 

But please, for the love of god, PLEASE don’t make me listen to any more Phil Collins. Cuz that’s just not the way it is in my book.

 

 

 

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It’s a start

So of course I wanted to do a whole Thanksgiving weekend recap post with lots of pictures and stuff, but, as usual, I haven’t had a chance to wrangle them all up yet. BUT, I was able to get our Christmas tree last night and begin decorating it, so I’ll just show you that for now instead. A little teaser of our holiday weekend, if you will.

 

Step 1: put the lights on, along with D’s little ornament from Auntie A.

 

 

It’s just a little tree this year, but with the Hawaii trip coming up and all I knew I’d want to take it down before we leave. And the fewer ornaments to mess with because of that, the better.

 

 

So that’s how the festivities of our holiday weekend ended last night. I promise to get the full pictorial post up soon, for we really did have a fantastic long weekend. I hope you all did too!

 

 

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SALE!!!

Because who doesn’t want a Cyber Monday sale, AM I RIGHT? Hopefully you’re not all Black Friday-ed and Small Business Saturday-ed out, or whatever they call all these monstrous Thanksgiving weekend sale days. For here’s one more!

 

Remember the DIY Blog Critique Workbook I mentioned the other week? The most amazing instructional guide for making over your own blog that ever existed? Yeah, that one. Well guess what? It’s now ON SALE!! Yippee!

 

Starting tomorrow, Monday, November 28, just click on the button below and enter the code CYBERAWESOME at checkout to receive 25% off the regular price. For just $10.50, you get the complete workbook in all of its 43 point glory, including the super handy spreadsheet to track your progress. That’s only $0.24 for each of those 43 points! You guys, it is SO worth it.

 

But don’t dawdle, because this sale only runs from midnight until 11:59pm EST on November 28. So on your marks… get set… SHOP!

 

 

 

Again, yes, the links herein are affiliate links, but you all know by now that I did purchase this for myself and have loved using it.

 

 

 

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Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, wherever and however you may celebrate it. Eat, drink, be merry, relax, watch some football, and take time to really enjoy everything for which you have to be thankful. And then eat some more. For if you’re like me, the subsequent Thanksgiving meals are just as good as the original. Turkey and stuffing and probably more pie at 9pm? Why thanks!

 

There are far too many who will not be happy this Thanksgiving, so please let our thoughts be with them as well. If you are so inclined, maybe volunteer an hour or two at a local food pantry or donate to your city’s rescue mission or maybe even take some leftovers to a family you know who needs them. I’m sure they would be eternally grateful.

 

I’ll be taking a break to spend the long weekend with family and friends, so I’ll see you next week. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

p.s. You might want to check back sometime on Sunday, though. I may or may not have a special treat in store for you...

 

 

 

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7 years + 1 week ago

7 years and 1 week ago today, I started my current job. I meant to write about it on the actual 7 year anniversary, but then I just never quite got around to it. So I figured 1 week late isn’t too bad, right?

 

7 years. That sounds like a long time. Does it feel like it’s been 7 years? Yeah, I guess it actually does – R and I got married, we bought a house, we had a baby, and a bunch of stuff in between. My company has been through a lot of changes since the day I started, too. A LOT. We grew immensely. Then the markets around the world crashed and we shrank. Immensely. We’re now going on what, 4 years of cutbacks in my office? 4ish I’d say. And yes, I know how fortunate I am to still have my job. Trust me.

 

This is the job for which I’ve worked my entire financial world career so far. It’s what I longed for when I started on Wall Street, what I found myself daydreaming of when I took that year off to bartend and play, and what I worked my way up to each year since beginning at this company. To be perfectly honest, I don’t see myself going anywhere from here. And that is 100% ok with me.

 

I have the flexibility to leave early enough in the afternoons that I don’t feel like I never see R and D, I get a nice chunk of vacation time each year, I get over a week of paid sick days annually, and we have outstanding benefits. And I don’t want the added responsibility a move up the next rung in the ladder would entail. I don’t want to manage people, I don’t want to manage a portfolio, I don’t want to deal with investors. I’m good at what I do, and I like being right where I am.

 

Funny, though, how now my daydreams are constantly away from my office. Of spending days at home raising D, of not worrying about how many sick days I have left for the year, of not having to make sure there’s someone around who’s capable of covering my work when we go on vacation or I need a day off.

 

Will there be 7 more years for me here? We shall see…

 

 

 

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Capture the Everyday

Remember Mel from Week in My Life fame? Well she also does a weekly link-up entitled Capture the Everyday. The challenges are to capture images that represent our everyday, with a different “topic” each week. I haven’t linked up before, but this week’s was just too fitting not to participate – capture something for which you are thankful.

 

I am so incredibly fortunate to have many, many things in my life for which to be thankful – my health, my sanity, my family, my friends, my well-being, my home, my job… But when I think of for what I am most thankful, the answer is pretty obvious. This…

 

 

And this…

 

 

And this…

 

 

And this…

 

 

And this…

 

 

Head on over to Adventuroo to see more of this week’s Capture the Everyday:

 

Capture the Everyday from Adventuroo

 

And for what are you most thankful now, in this season of giving, as well as in your own everyday?

 

 

 

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It was a great weekend

So that weekend that was shaping up to be so much fun didn’t disappoint. Starting with girls’ night out on Friday, we had a blast! Unfortunately, I have to admit that this was probably my least favorite of the Twilight movies so far. It just seemed kind of… bland? I guess that would be the best word to describe how I felt when we left the theater. Kind of like wait, what? That was it? That’s all they gave us?! Now if you haven’t seen it yet and are planning to, you might want to skip the next few sentences… Adios… Go on…

 

But those who’ve seen it, are you with me? I mean the wedding scene was pretty and all, but it lasted like 7 seconds. And the wedding night, which we were all so fervently anticipating, was over in about 4 seconds. Come on!! That was the best part of the whole book and you just skimmed over it?? It was actually almost comical. Boo, jerks. And then the rest of the movie kind of dragged. It’s hard to put my finger on, but I was just left with a blah feeling at the end. Oh well, we still had a blast getting together, and now we know they better step up their game for the final movie next year!

 

Saturday we got the Thanksgiving food shopping done, and I can’t wait for that feast! We are so fortunate to be able to put all the food on our table that we need and want, and this year I’m especially thankful to be celebrating the day at home, just our own little family of 3.

 

Then the Packers game yesterday was a great time too. Even this Bears fan does (usually) have fun at Lambeau Field. We left at 7:15 to head up to Green Bay, picking up our friend L along the way. Once there we met up with a group of about a dozen other people for tailgating, including our good friends J and K who live in Minneapolis. It was a very fun day, the Packers won, and we got to spend some time after the game in Curly’s Pub behind the radio sportscasters, since another one of our friends is one of the main personalities. Our table was right behind theirs and overlooked the players’ parking lot, so we got to watch all the Packers getting into their ridiculously pimped out trucks and SUVs to leave. Pretty cool.

 

The drive back went smoothly and safely, and we got home shortly before 8. It was a long day, and D was already in bed by the time we got home, but she had a lot of fun playing with Grandma. And Daddy had a lot of fun playing with the Packers fans. See…

 

R mugging with St. Vince after the game

 

And now we have a short week before the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Hooray!