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Emails

My brother hurt his foot yesterday. He went to go lean on what he thought was a wall, but ended up being a door that opened on him. He kept on leaning and fell to the ground. Today, we had planned on going to the movies. There was a slow period at work today, and I decided to send him an e-mail...and this is how it goes:
_____
From: Luv
To: Andy
Subject: hey weirdo

Whatcha doin?
_____
From: Andy
To: Luv
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

uhh nothing much
are you going to the movies as well
_____
From: Luv
To: Andy
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

I think so...what time is the movie playing at?
Also, how's the limp?
I don't think you should go to the movies, it would be bad for your foot.
You should stay home. hahaaaaaa.

_____
From: Andy
To: Luv
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

Hey...my foot is willing to work itself to go to the movies
besides ever heard of keep moving your foot it will get better
NB said he wil decide the time its after 6tho...
_____
From: Luv
To: Andy
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

In my medical opinion, the findings indicate that Andy the Weirdo should
keep his foot elevated and not moving at all times. This would mean that he
needs his mother's assistance each time he needs to go to the toilet and
each time he needs to take a bath for the next two days. Commencing Monday,
Andy the Weirdo can again begin to do mild to normal activity with his
foot. He may still need his mother's assistance to go potty, though.
In conclusion, Andy the Weirdo should not go to the movies as he will
injure his foot further.
End of discussion. Muhahahaaaa <-- evil laugh.
_____
From: Andy
To: Luv
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

Andy the Weirdos foot is magically feeling better
_____
From: Luv
To: Andy
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

I will have to inspect this myself. I will use the following methods:

Poke with sharp object
Prod with sharper object
Stretch the foot
Flex the foot
Punch the foot
Stand on the foot

And any other actions I deem necessary to determine whether Andy the Weirdo's
foot is able to take Andy the Weirdo to the movies.
After this examination, if Andy the Weirdo can still walk, he MAY be able to
go to the movies.
Muhahahaaaa
_____
From: Andy
To: Luv
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

........im telling MOMMY
_____
From: Luv
To: Andy
Subject: RE: hey weirdo

Cry baby.
_____

Yes, this was while I was at work. I was still being very productive in between writing to my little brother. It was just one of those days, y'know?

So...where have you been?

There's been this pickup truck parked in our parking lot for about four weeks now. About two weeks ago, I left a note on the windshield warning the owner that we would have his/her vehicle towed. The vehicle has not moved.

The security patrol in the area came in about three days ago to talk to me about this pickup. They told me that I should just get it towed because they haven't seen it move either. Finally, I had some time today to make one phone call and get that vehicle taken away.

Alas, one phone call was not enough. Apparently, there are different types of towing. The type of tow I needed was a 'private impound' and apparently again, there aren't very many towing companies that do this. After several phone calls, I talked to one towing company who said that although they didn't do this, they did have a number of someone who did. Success.

I called this towing guy. He picked up, I told him what I needed and I asked him if he could do that for me. His reply, "Well, it depends. If it's a nice car and the owner will be in tonight to pay me the $100 fee, I'll do it. If it's a piece of shit that no one's going to claim, I won't." I told him that it seemed like a piece of junk to me. I also told him that he could just charge me the $100, as long as the vehicle leaves the lot. (Why would I care...the multi-billion dollar corporation I work for would pick up that tab). He asked me the type of vehicle, and when I told him he said "Actually, I can recoup my costs with that. I impound it, keep it for three months, and I could sell its parts for about $500." Who knew, I could get that thing impounded for free! I told him to come and take it and he told me he'd be there in 20 minutes.

In 20 minutes, it was a done deal. Vehicle gone, no charge, security patrol off my back.

Literally, two hours after the vehicle was towed away, one of my co-workers came up to me and said someone wanted to talk to me about the truck that was taken away. Huh? He claimed to be the owner.

"Hi sir, how can I help you?"

"Well, my truck was parked out there and now it's gone."

"Yes, it's been parked out there for about four weeks now. I noticed that it hadn't moved in that time."

"Yeah"

"So...where have you been?"

"I've been around"

"Here's the number you can call to claim your vehicle, sir"

"The brakes were shot. They were totally gone. I left it there, I was gonna come and get it eventually."

"You can certainly give that gentleman a call, and he will be happy to take you to your vehicle. Have a good day, sir."

It's been four weeks since this guys truck's been sitting out there...and he decides to come in two hours after it gets towed? What did he do, come and check up on his vehicle every day? Unbelievable.

On a side note, when I was telling my co-worker B (that's the one that was part of the hair disaster story) that I was going to get the vehicle towed, she said "Have you checked the back for any bodies?" After I gave her a dumbfounded look, she said "Oh nevermind, I think I've been watching far too much CSI."

Everyone's crazy.

Never Good Enough

I came to the realization some time ago that I will never be good enough for my mother. I will never be educated enough, I will never be successful enough, I will never be thin enough, I will never ever make the right choices.

My mom wants her daughter to be perfect to a fault. At times, it gets to the point where she's downright degrading. When neither of us backs down on a subject, she blames me for making our family unsuccessful. Then she always claims that she has failed in life. Oh please.

Don't get me wrong, my mother is a wonderful person and I love her a whole lot. She always wants the best for her children, it's just that her methods of getting the best aren't always the best (that was a funny sentence).

My issue with all of this is that because my mom is always trying to get me to perfection, she's missing out on all the good things. She always says "You're 99% good and I don't need to talk about that, I need to talk about that 1% so that it can be fixed." Then she talks about that supposed 1% anytime she gets a chance. I have yet to hear what that 99% actually consists of.

Our most recent clashes have been with my weight. I know that I need to tone up a little bit, but I certainly do not need to lose much weight. I'm happy to stay the size and weight that I am. I exercise so that I can be healthier, not so I can be thinner. My mom thinks my weight is out of control. We have had many heated discussions about my weight. My mom says that I am wrong when I say I don't need to lose weight. Honestly, if I did not have a strong self-esteem I would've fallen into some ugly eating disorder by now because of this. My brother, who's 15, started to diet and control what he ate because of the way my mom talked to me about MY weight. He decided that he better start limiting his food intake before he was a target of my mom's weight fixation. He has lost so much weight as a result of this, and my mom cannot connect this to the way she has been treating me.

Recenly, my mom wanted me to start taking these herbal weight loss supplements. OMG! What a load of bull. This herbal weight loss thing puts you on their pills, and also puts you on a very very limited diet. Yes, you lose weight...but it's not because of the pills, it's because of the limited amount of food you can eat. Basically, you starve your body to get some quick results, and the herbal weight loss people say it's because of their (very expensive) pills. The most astonishing part of all this is that I told my mom I don't want to take pills because there could be side effects -- she told me that because it was all natural products there were no side effects. She argued this point! My mother is a health care professional! She has a bloody science background, but she's convinced that these pills have no side effects because they are "all natural".

Many people have told me to just talk to her, just tell her how I feel. It doesn't work. The more I tell my mom, the more she uses against me...it's gotten to the point where I've just stopped telling. I feel such a sense of loss with this because I can't have an open relationship with my mom. So much has happened in my life, and my mom has absolutely no idea of any of it. All the big life altering moments that have happened to me, I have never told my mother. I don't think I ever will. To be honest, she couldn't handle them.

My mom loves me in her own convoluted way, and that's the same way she shows me her love. I have accepted that, and I must live with it but it doesn't mean I have to respect her execution. Even though I've come to the conclusion that I will never be good enough, it still hurts everytime I come face to face with it...and that happens every time I have a conversation with my mother, or every time my mom looks at me and has the disgusted look in her eyes. God I hate that look.

Awesomely Pathetic

Part of a conversation I had with a good friend of mine:
*****
"Hey Loveleen"

"KAAAT! How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Headache. Ugh."

"Yuck"

"What have you been up to, Kat?"

"Not much, I've been working a bunch of overtime."

"Aah. That's always good for the heart."

"What have you been up to lately?"

"Absolutely nothing. How's that for an exciting life?"

"It's very exciting...just about as exciting as my overtime."

"Haha. We're pathetic. But I still love us."

"Me too. We're awesomely pathetic."

"Hey! I like that!!"
*****
And that is the story of how Awesomely Pathetic was born.

The (almost) Hair Disaster

About six years ago, I found the perfect hairdresser. He's great at what he does, and his prices are very reasonable (ie. $15 a haircut). I have gone back to this hairdresser each and every time I need my haircut (well, except once...and that's a hair disaster story for another day). I absolutely love my hairdresser, and I recommend him to everyone I can.

On Friday, my co-worker and I were chatting and she said she had a hair appointment on Saturday. She said she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her hair. She is very very particular about her hair and her hair colour. Anyway, I told her to go see Dino (my hairdresser). I gave her his number, and she booked an appointment with him and cancelled with the other.

I had made a mental note to call her on Saturday to see how the appointment went. Earlier this evening, I decided to give her a call. Her husband picked up...

"Hi, is B home?"

"No, sorry she's not"

"Oh, is this N?" --> N is her husband

"Yes"

"Hi N, it's Loveleen" --> Loveleen is my real name, hence Luvish.

"Hi Loveleen"

"I was wondering how B's hair appointment went"

"Oh, it was a disaster." --> my heart dropped.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she came home and she was crying."

"No" --> at this point, I am also ready to cry.

"In fact, I think she's out right now getting her hair fixed." --> Oh my.

"Is she?" --> I'm making a mental note to take flowers to B later tonight, and beg for forgiveness.

"Nah, just kidding."

"What?!"

"She was actually really pleased with it."

"She was?"

"Yeah, she really likes the colour."

"N, I am going to kill you!"

**laughter**

"I can't believe you would do this to me. I was close to tears!"

"Hey, I gotta have a little fun. I'll let her know you called."

After the end of that conversation, I was shaking! I know how peculiar B is about her hair, and when her husband told me it was a disaster I felt like the worst person on the face of this earth. I could not believe he would do something like that to me. My heart was pounding and I ended up with a headache.

I did end up talking to B later, and she did confirm to me that she liked her hair. She got a good laugh out of what her husband did to me too. I still don't find it funny.

On a side note, I took Amanda B's advice and bought myself some lightbulbs. I got the energy efficient bulbs, and now I am back to normal light. Thanks! Also, the green light bulb has been installed into my parent's room...heehee.

The Eerie Green Light

My living area is downstairs, while my parents are upstairs. My hallway light downstairs burnt out today. So I, being as handy as I am, shouted to my dad, "Dad! My hallway light is out. Can you replace it?" My dad grumbled back, "She just can't let me sleep in peace." Problem was, my dad wasn't sleeping at all...he was watching TV, go figure.

Anyway, I left it at that and went into the laundry room to do some laundry. About five minutes later, I headed back to my room. I noticed that dad had come downstairs and replaced the light bulb. He replaced it with a green bulb. GREEN. What the...?

"DAD! This is green!!!"

"Yeah, I know. You can see in the dark now. You can even leave it on all night, it's only 25 watts."

"It's still green!!!"

"It's better for your eyes."

"DAD! GREEN!"

"Let me sleep in peace."

"Dad, you're watching TV you are not sleeping."

"I will be."

"Yes, but you...aargh, nevermind. This green is giving me a headache."

I am now in my room. That green light is still on. It's shining through the bottom of my bedroom door, giving my room this eerie look.

I asked my dad to replace my light bulb, and that's exactly what he did. I have now learned my lesson, the next time I ask him to do this, I will be more specific on the colour of the bulb.

I am now stuck with the eerie green light until it burns out. I hope it doesn't take long.

**sigh**

Life and Times of Management

You know, I never truly appreciated my managers until I became one myself. Being on "the other side of the desk" gives you a whole new perspective on life. Suddenly, you can be labelled the big bad manager that the employee has to stand up against. On the flip side, you can also become a mentor to someone who wants to become like you. Either way, big shoes to fill.

I got to work at 7.50am this morning, I left work at 8.45pm this evening. My only break was 20 minutes long to quickly eat some lunch at 2pm this afternoon...and that was only because I was getting a headache from the hunger. I worked late today because I had so much catching up to do and had to come up with some new coaching ideas; the real work happens after everyone has gone home.

I've been in management for a couple of years now, and in that time I've had to make some tough decisions. I've also had some very rewarding experiences, mind you. Please don't get me wrong, I love my job. At the end of the day, you hope that the decisions you've made are the right ones for everyone involved. Of course, the decisions must be right for the business as well.

So, when you come across a good manager, please pass along a quick "thank you"...you have no idea how far that will go. I know from experience that it can be a pretty thankless job, and that you have to learn to thank yourself at the end of the day. When someone else utters those two precious words to you, it makes all the long hours worthwhile.

Thank You.

Speed Demon

If it's a nice day, I often go out bicycling to get some exercise. Now, I'm nowhere near the stamina of those pro bikers that can bike across Canada, I'm just a pleasure biker (if there is such a term).

As I was biking on zero avenue today (as today was a nice day), there was this speed reader posted along the side of the road which would tell you what your speed was when you drove by. It's sort of a counterattack against speeding, and was posted along zero where a lot of people do speed.

Anyway, as I was biking closer and closer to the speed reader, I would see the little screen change as cars would whiz by. "Your speed is 90 km/h...Your speed is 93 km/h...Your speed is 84 km/h" and so forth. Then, along came Luv on her bicycle, huffing and puffing away, trying to go as fast as possible. I didn't think the speed reader would actually catch my speed, but it did. As I biked by it said, "Your speed is 23 km/h".

I started laughing so hard, that I had to stop my bike, get off of it, sit myself on the ground and wait for the laughter to cease. An RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officer driving by, stopped her vehicle and asked if I was ok. That just made me laugh even harder.

I am such a speed demon.

Destined for Great Things

Have you ever had the feeling that you're destined to do great things? That there's a meaning to your life, that there's something big you're meant to do? Then, you go and do something so mundane and repetitive that the great things feeling just comes crashing down? It happened to me today.

I was feeling great, on top of this world, nothing was going to stop me. Then, I went grocery shopping. A little background here. I'm single, no dependants, yet once a week I do the grocery shopping for a family of four. My dad doesn't have the time to do it, my mom doesn't want to, my brother's too young and my grandma's too old...which leaves me. Grocery shopping makes me feel like a housewife (not that being a housewife is a bad thing). I'm in my early 20's, I should be carefree with no one to worry about but me. Least of all ensuring the family has enough food. This week, I was one day late in doing the grocery shopping (I usually go every Sunday, this week I ended up doing it on Monday). As a result, my brother didn't have anything to take with him for lunch at school today. The horror! It was all my fault. Why? Why is it my fault? I am not his mother! Ugh.

So, I was having these thoughts as I was grocery shopping today. I can't believe something so mundane can make me feel so angry. It's almost as if I feel like the grocery shopping is getting in the way of me doing great things! How silly is that?

I should really count my lucky stars that I do have a family to worry about. There are many out there that don't, and would love to be in my place. Even with that, I still feel like the grocery shopping for the family should not be my responsibility to shoulder.

The next time I have this great things feeling, I should try and define what exactly the great things are. For all I know, I could be doing the great things right now, but I'm not realizing it because I'm letting myself get frustrated. Maybe the grocery shopping is one of those great things I'm destined to do. **sigh** But it just doesn't sound exciting.

It's Official, I Should've Been a Blonde

My windshield has been cracked for quite some time now. Actually, there's a story behind that too. So, let me start at the beginning.

Several months ago I got a small crack on my windshield. I didn't think much of it because it was small and it was on the passenger side. After some time, I (in my great wisdom) decided to take my car through a car wash. I was all by myself in a very powerful car wash...and in the middle of it, my windshield crack started to creep very quickly across my windshield. I was SO scared. I thought my windshield was going to crack through and water and soap was going to start pouring into my car and get all over me. Sitting there, watching the crack moving across like a snake trying to decide whether or not I should jump into the back of my car to protect msyelf, was quite a scary scene. In the end, my windshield (and me) survived the car wash...my nerves were another story.

Last week, as I was getting into my car I noticed that the seal around my windshield was coming off. It looked as if it was ready to fly off at any minute. I immediately forgot about this little tidbit until I told my best friend lastnight. After she inspected my car, she said "Luv, you must get this fixed. This isn't even legal anymore. And you're always driving on the freeway, if something hits it, it'll be gone." That lit a fire under my bum. I thought, "I guess it's about time I paid for this and got it fixed." If it wasn't so bloody expensive, I would've gotten it fixed right away.

This morning, I called an auto glass place close to my work. The glass guy told me to come in at about 9.30am and drop off my car. He said he'd need my car for about 4 hours, and he'd give me a courtesy car to drive back to work. Excellent, I had a plan in place and the windshield was going to get fixed.

9.30 rolls around, and I go to drop off my car. When I hand him my car keys, I pulled off just my car key (as I have a bunch of keys on my key chain that belong to work and always have to be in my custody). Well, (in my great wisdom...this comes up a lot doesn't it?), I didn't give him my alarm remote because I didn't think I had set the alarm on my car when I parked it in the glass guy's lot. I drove away, quite certain that my car would be ready to go for 1.30 and I could come back and pick it up.

Once I got back to work, I was in a conference call for about an hour and a half and then I was busy doing a bunch of other things. I didn't get back to my desk until 1.00pm, and as I sat down I saw that I had some messages. When I picked up my messages, the first one was from my mom, it was left at 10.30am and she said, "Hi, ummm, the glass guy called and you left your car alarm on. When he tries to go into your car the alarm gets set off and he can't do anything with your car. Give him a call at ...". At his point, I am mortified. The worst case scenario has become reality, how stupid could I be? The next message is from the glass guy, "Hi, ummm, you left your car alarm on and you didn't give me your alarm remote. I can't do anything with your car, give me a call at ..." I now want to crawl into a dark hole and hide forever. I call him back, he picks up and I say, "Hi, this is the idiot that set her alarm. I am so incredibly sorry." I then told him how to disable my alarm without the remote. He then asked me, "So, when are you picking up your car?"...I told him whenever he wanted me to. I again apologized and hung up. At this point, I've got that gross feeling at the pit of my stomach...it's that "I am so completely and utterly stupid" feeling. How could I have been so blonde?

So, 3pm rolls around. This is the time he had given me, but told me to call him first just to make sure it was done. I called, he said my car was ready. I drove the courtesy car back to the place...but I made a quick stop at a restaurant nearby and picked up a gift certificate for the poor glass guy. First of all, I am embarrased as hell and second of all, I'm driving a courtesy car. When you suddenly drive another car that you've never driven before, it feels so odd. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I drove into the parking lot in one piece...I was so relieved in fact, that I almost burst into tears (ugh, how girly is that?).

I saw the glass guy, apologized profusely, gave him the gift certificate as a peace offering, and he was all really good with it. He told me I didn't have to do that, I told him that if I didn't I wouldn't have been able to sleep at night. I paid my fees (which hurt), apologized again, got into my car and drove off hoping to never embarass myself like that again.

Why do things like these have to happen to me? I should've been a blonde...at least then I would've had an excuse.

**sigh**

Today I Choose Life

Hi,

This was written by Kevyn Aucoin about a month before his untimely death. The sad irony never ceases to amaze me whenever I read this. I came across it again just tonight as I was cleaning out some of my old files from my comp...hope each of you take something away from this one.

L.
- - - - - - - - - -

Today I choose life -

Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain. To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices - today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it. To embrace the fear of not knowing, of not having control over much of anything except my reaction to it and the control I have over my self and my actions. I let go of my sadness over past hurts to make room for today's journey. I've heard that life is a series of old doors closing and new doors opening, but it's hell in the hallways. The fear of not knowing - were the next 30 days shown to me, would I want to go through the motions of reliving what I had been shown? Or would I want to prevent problems and change my own destiny? Well, I cannot tell the future but I can choose to direct my heart and soul towards good and loving acts - to say a silent prayer for the happiness of all - for the good to shine through. Just by thinking one positive thought I am redirecting my moment, my day, my life. Today I choose -

Kevyn Aucoin

The Best Hiding Spot

I have a little brother who's 15 years old. In the last couple of years, he's gotten taller and stronger than me. With this growth spurt of his, I haven't been able to bully him around as much as I used to...although, I still do bully a great deal. So, when I take something of his and he wants it back, he can just physically over power me and take it...until today.

I took one of his sheets of paper that he needed for his homework. He needed it a great deal because he came chasing after me, and tried to take it from me. After a few minutes of wrestling, running, and then wrestling some more, I had a stroke of genius. I took that piece of paper, folded it a few times, put it in my bra, and said, "Come and get it."

Needless to say, my brother screamed like a girl and ran the other way.

Point for me.