Road Warrior

I've been on the road... A LOT. With my new position came a new territory to market our program to, including Ventura County, Kern County, Santa Barbara County, San Luis Obispo County, and parts of Los Angeles County. I'm basically driving all over these counties trying to find new business. It's been a challenge, but I get to meet some cool people and discover more of Southern California. I also found out our Chatsworth office is about 20 minutes away from April's house (a.k.a potential sleepover location in the future...thanks Brill!).

Anyways, being on the road so much has opened the door to some weird/interesting sightings on my way to meetings or while stuck in traffic. For example, on my way to Edwards AFB (the same day I discovered that California has a 14 freeway), I saw a dog that looked like a mini horse, or maybe it was a mini horse that looked like a dog. Whatever it was, it was weird. I wish I had the guts to pull over and take a picture of it, but I was in the middle of nowhere and afraid I would be captured by some mutant freak out of a horror movie.

Last Friday while on my way to Pasadena, I saw some more interesting things on the road. And, since I was stuck in morning rush hour traffic, I decided to be reckless and snap a couple pictures for you:

I know I should have zoomed in a bit, but I was driving 30mph so it was tricky. You can kinda see it in this picture...the lady in the car has a face mask AND gloves on. Not to mention, she also has her seats covered by some linen (I'm assuming it's anti-allergen/anti-bacteria fabric or something). I felt bad for her because she doesn't even trust the air in her personal vehicle. Maybe she's sick and doesn't want to spread her germs, but I like the idea of someone out there being (WAY) more afraid of bacteria than I am - makes me look like less of a freak :)

Okay, when I saw this one, I immediately thought of Albert because he likes Math and I think if he were into tagging he would spray paint math equations.This picture is of a freight truck with a math equation scribbled on the side of it in white. I kinda wanna keep a piece of chalk with me from now on and write random equations on trucks. It's not vandalism if it's taught in school, right? Hahaha.

That's all I got for now, but I have quite a bit of road trips happening this week so I hope I have more to share with you. I may not have the most glamorous job, but it does have its perks :)

Hip Fractures Suck

...no, I don't have one. But Frank Gore does, which is why I was horrified watching the game the other night. This also means I'm without my star Running Back going into "qualifying" weekend for our fantasy football league (aka I need a significant win to clinch a spot in the playoffs next weekend). Sad Face. Major Sad Face. I'm a bit anxious going into this weekend's game, especially since I'm matched up against Albert, who apparently has been rooting against me the whole season (thanks for that beb :P).

In any case, the following is long overdue...

To: bestniner2010@yahoo.com
From: OCWordSlinger
Re: Until Next Season

Dear Frank,
I've only heard the nicest, most respectful things about you - how you're a great team player, how you're going to be one of the best RBs of all time, how you work hard and love what you do. So, I can only imagine how much you must HATE finishing this season on the sidelines. Although the injury has ended your season, it's not the end of your career. That's one silver lining. The team does have a chance to win the division this season, but it's going to be tough and most of the fans want a coaching change so maybe it's a good thing for you to have a chance to observe the rest of the team. Basically I want to say, yeah it sucks you got injured but there's next year to look forward to. I'm sure you've already heard that a hundred times today, so I'll stop there.


I also want to thank you for being the most consistent player on my Fantasy team. I know I don't have the best record in the league, but I could always count on you to get me points and give my opponents a run for their money. You were one of the main reasons that I kept up with the 49ers  this season even though the team fell short of fan expectations. Although I am biased toward quarterbacks, you've made an argument that I need to watch other players - not just for looks but talent as well. You've made a fan out of me.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

P.S. You may want to suggest that the team draft a sexy QB. My theory is, if a team has a well-mannered, handsome quarterback with a sense of humor, then they're gonna win games. Just a theory, but look at the top teams in the league...QBs are pretty good looking and/or have a great personality that makes them wildly popular which can also be perceived as "sexy".

Countdown to Monday

I have never looked forward to a Monday because of sports so much in my life...

For the record, I don't know who these guys are and I don't know if they still play for their respective teams. I just needed a picture that illustrated the rivalry and this worked.

Well, I was looking forward to the 49ers playing Arizona too, but the 49ers aren't doing that great this season and the Cards are doing worse so I lost some of my interest in that game mid-season. I still watched...and was horrified. I'll explain that later.

Anyway...the Jets play the Patriots this coming Monday! AND they play at Gillette Stadium (aka Patriots' field). It doesn't help that I keep SportsCenter on in the background while I'm at home and listen to sports talk radio any time I'm in my car. They are hyping this game up like crazy and I'm TOTALLY buying into it. Besides, it's Tom Brady going head-to-head against Mark Sanchez - how can I NOT be into it?!

For those of you who don't follow football, The Patriots and The Jets are division rivals. The Head Coach on each team have wildly different coaching philosophies from the other and its reflected in their players. Both teams have a 9-2 record. And, let's not forget, they arguably have the hottest QBs in the league. This week's game is basically a battle for first place in the division and spot in the playoffs. The two teams have already played each other once this season (in September) and the Jets won.

In case you're wondering who I'm going to be cheering for...

...I've loved him longer :) Beat the Jets!

False Start

Definitely didn't want to get out of bed and go to work this morning. My alarm went off at 4:45am. Snoozed all the way until 5:25am. Finally dragged myself out of bed to get ready for the day. Finished getting ready, feeding Pepper (my pet rabbit), letting my mom know about all the goodies from Albert's family, and was out the door by 6:25am. Being quite proud of myself for getting ready and getting all my morning chores done in record time, I decided to reward myself with some Starbucks for breakfast.

I arrived at the Starbucks near my work at precisely 6:55am (beat rush hour traffic!). As I stepped out of my car, I made a mental note that I should check my Starbucks Rewards Membership account once I get into the office...that's when I realized that I had left home without my work laptop. I sat in my car with my head hung low and sighed to myself, "What a fucking idiot!"

I passed on the Starbucks and went straight to the office. Dropped all my other stuff off and told the other manager what had happened and said I had to go back home to get my laptop. Unfortunately, rush hour traffic was well underway and the commute that took me 30 minutes to do less than an hour before turned into a 45-minute commute both ways.

Monday Morning: 1

Michelle: 0

Done with designing...

...so it seems all I've been wanting to do with this blog is change the design. There's a lot I've been wanting to write about for this blog, but I've been writing posts for our corporate blog at work so that's kept me pretty busy. Now, I'm having writer's block for the other blog so I'm back here, where I can just write whatever without having to worry about being "corporate" or not. Plus, I think I've finally found a design that suits me.

Fantasy Football Update: I'm sucking. I've officially dropped to 8th place (4th place in the other league, but that one doesn't have money involved). I do want to give a shout out to Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills.

I have no idea who this guy is, but he scored me 34 freakin' fantasy points this past weekend. I still lost my game, BUT I'm glad I picked this guy up because Hakeem Nicks got injured during his game against the Eagles and will be out for a couple weeks.

I also cheated on Tom Brady by playing Mark Sanchez one week. Both QBs are punishing me. Brady does fantastic the week I play Sanchez, then Sanchez does awesome the following week when I play Brady. It's like they both know. It'd be crazy if they are actually reading this and coordinating when the other one plays well. It's highly unlikely since Tom Brady could give two shits about what the Jets do, but it's just a thought. Well, since there are no more Bye Weeks, it's Tom Brady all the way (sorry Mark!) until the season is finished. 

Work Update: Good news, I was promoted last month. My new title is REALLY fancy: Business Development Executive. Unfortunately, I do NOT make an executive salary BUT it'll be really pretty on a resume (hahah). Bad news, one of my favorite coworkers of all time, Pam,  resigned from the company and move back to her home town of New Iberia in Louisiana. Luckily, she got a Facebook account so we've been keeping in touch that way. With those two changes, work has been VERY different from what it was just two months ago. New boss, new project office to work with, new territory - all of which I'm trying to get used to without Pam to provide the comic relief or a lunchtime bitching session. I'll write more about all of that in separate blogs, but that's a quick summary of what's been going on at work.

Home Update: My mom and brother moved back into the condo in Diamond Bar. For a while my grandpa and his wife were staying with us too, but they moved in with other relatives in Garden Grove. So, in a matter of weeks I've went from living by myself, to living with four other people, to now living with two other people. It's been quite a challenge for all of us to get used to each other and the living habits we've developed over the past year and a half. I do think about moving our EVERY day, but I figure I have to stay put for now and try to save a down payment for something. It'd be nice to move into a place I own instead of one that I'm renting.

Well, that's all I've got for now. I hope to post more stuff up soon. Thanks for reading!!