Lay Off Season: Part Deux

My company announced today that they need to lower headcount by 2,500 people....out of 6,900 so that's more than a third. They are offering a voluntary package which is a good idea in my opinion because it gives people some level of control in making the decision themselves and it gets rid of the people who really don't want to be there. If enough people take it, then there won't be an involuntary lay off, but I doubt enough will so there will still be a sad day in the future.

Really???

People magazine has announced Johnny Depp as the "sexiest man alive". Don't get me wrong, I like Johnny Depp and I had a huuuuuuge crush on him back in the 21 Jump Street Days, but come on, they just keep recycling the same men year after year and I think they need some fresher guys.














My vote is Tim Riggins from Friday Night Lights. He has a real name, but to me he will always be Tim Riggins.

Step Away from the French Fries

This past month I've been eating like I just got home from being on Survivor. Starting with Vegas, then my dad's visit and then all the stress at work, but I'm done. I gave myself until last Friday (when a big deliverable was due at work) to let myself go, but now I need to stop. This time last year I joined Jenny Craig and lost 17 pounds. I've gained back 12. I wish I could use something other than food to cope with my emotions. I accept what I've done and need to get back in control. It's going to be hard though the next couple weeks as we have lots of food events planned for the T-Day week.

Focus People

I finally started getting caught up on The Biggest Loser. I am about 5 or 6 episodes behind. Yesterday I was watching an episode where they have to eat out the entire week and make healthy choices and their pop quiz focuses on this too. I couldn't believe how hung up these people were getting on which fruits have higher amounts of sugar than others! Seriously people...nobody ever became overweight by eating too many mangoes or grapes.

Violated...But Not Really

Over the summer I endured ten weeks of painful dry needling treatments in my neck and head to try to resolve my health issues from the accident. The owner of the place I went to is the expert is this treatment. He teaches the method and is a leading researcher who authors many papers. I didn't see him, but the other physical therapist in the office. I drove an hour to another state for this. It helped me some, but the improvements plateaued so I stopped going given the distance and the pain involved.

A month or two ago I got a letter from a state board investigator telling me my PT was being investigated and asked me to contact him if I felt there was anything inappropriate that occurred. This perplexed me and I couldn't imagine what he did wrong. He wasn't my favorite person in the world since I felt he was insensitive to the amount of pain the treatment caused, but never anything inappropriate. I put the letter aside and soon after threw it away.

A few days ago this crossed my mind so I wanted to find out what happened. I checked the PT web site and the guy I saw nowhere to be found on the web site. Then I did a google search on him and found that the state suspended his license just a few days ago. I read the entire report and can't even describe how I feel about what he did. INAPPROPRIATE SEXUAL CONDUCT WITH PATIENTS!!! He had an affair with one patient at her home, which the patient said happened while she was a patient, then later changed her story and said it was before she was a patient...ok, this doesn't bother me if it's consensual. Not a good idea for the PT since it was his patient...oh yeah...and he's married...and his wife is PREGNANT! So that's not the worst of it. Two other women accused him of kissing, hugging, touching, refusing to leave the room while they were dressing and a couple other things I don't want to write. The women were completely shocked by this and reported him to the head guy and he reported this to the state board. The PT admitted to some, but not all of the accusations. This guy has completely ruined his life. I hope his wife leaves him and he never works in the field again. I don't know why this bothers me so much since nothing happened to me, but it really angers me that he took advantage of these women. Who knows if there were more that didn't come forward. People don't end up at his office unless they are in horrible chronic pain. Being in chronic pain and having this treatment done is an extremely vulnerable place to be. Then to have the person who you are supposed to trust will help you take advantage of you sexually...I just can't stomach it. This somehow makes me feel violated even though nothing happened to me.

Thank You Veterans

Holiday Letters

I am already in the Christmas spirit! I really missed out on Christmas last year due to the car accident. My husband put the tree up, but we never decorated it, and it was painful and difficult for me to even wrap presents. This year I want to enjoy the holidays as much as I can to make up for last year.

I have already picked out some holiday cards that I am going to get personalized and then I'm going to write a letter to include with it. I love holiday letters and find it fascinating what people write about. The letters that come from my mom's side of the family are often pretty dreadful because they usually detail someone getting very sick or dying. We don't keep in touch with them but I do look forward to these letters so I know what is going on. Then there are people who use the letters to brag. One person in particular I know that is always unhappy about something tends to write letters just detailing achievements of her family. I love reading all the letters though regardless of what tone people take. I want my letter to be something people really enjoy so I'm trying to include many elements into it to make it fun and interesting. Right now I'm thinking of including a couple pictures, my favorite holiday dessert and cocktail recipes as well as Christmas songs I think everyone should have on their iPod. The letter part will be weird to friends that I see often though since they don't need an update so I'm not sure if I will send them the letter with the card or just the card. I'm also struggling with what tone to take. I had a rough year with all the car accident pain and then finding the lump, but I don't want to have one of those gloomy letters. It's the holidays and time to be happy so I'll just leave those things out.

Please give me any ideas you have to make my letter enjoyable to the readers. What do you like to read in holiday letters or what has worked for you in letters you have written???

U2 Tickets...Times Two

Somehow I'm now in the ticket business. Last week the presale U2 tickets went on sale. I was in the third presale group (out of 4) so I knew I wouldn't get the best tickets, but I was hoping for something similar to the last show. I was worried because I was buying tickets for the show in Anaheim at Angel Stadium, which is a baseball stadium, and is much smaller than most of their prior shows on this tour. Their last show in the LA area sold out 96,000 tickets right away and Anaheim only holds about 45 or 50 thousand. Anyway...I got tickets, but knew they were worse...not too much, but the main thing that bothered me was that the seats were under an overhang. I've been to a concert before at Angel Stadium sitting under the over hang and the acoustics were awful and it felt like we weren't really a part of the show. The last show we were in the stadium seats (not on the floor since it was general admission) and in the 20th row. The tickets I just got were around the 30th row...not really sure though because I don't know how many rows are in the section in front of us. Anyway...I had lunch with my husband that same day and told him I got the tickets. He asked where they were and said where we sat at the last show was as far back as he'd want to be...oh uh. I told him we were further back...but still our seats would be better than probably 90% of the stadium. He said it wasn't worth flying across the country to go to the concert for seats that are worse than what we had before. I said fine...if he didn't want to go, I could find somebody in California who would go with me. I really wanted him to go with me though so as soon as I got back to work I checked stub hub for tickets and found seats in the third row. Now I have two sets of tickets! These tickets are pretty expensive so I really hope I can sell the extra tickets. I think I will be able to though given that the show will likely sell out once it goes on sale to the public. I told my husband today about the new tickets and he was pleased...and said if I can't sell the other seats that he would buy them off me and give them to his parents. Now I am just waiting for the stub hub tickets to arrive...

Big Gulp Gate

I have to pack all my liquids in tiny bottles and shove them in a zip lock bag that seems to always break because it's stuffed so full, but Miss Britney Spears gets to carry all the liquids she wants on board...and on to an international flight no less.

See the video of her big gulp...and if you look closely there is another bottle of something in a spray bottle that is much larger than 3 ounces.

The Hybrid Cold Flu

What a week. I've been completely slammed at work and woke up sick on Saturday morning. I'm not sure what it was, seemed like a cold on Saturday, then Sunday I just felt awful and slept all day and then worked in the evening. Monday I stayed home, but worked from home. I still felt bad but it helped to be at home in my pajamas. I took some heat for not being in the office, but I didn't want to infect other people and I believe in taking it easy to get better faster. Tuesday I thought I was feeling better, but after about an hour at work I felt awful again. Today I feel better though...still a little low energy, but ok. Work is still killing me. My neck and back are a mess from the stress so I actually look forward to my thrice weekly chiropractor visits to get things loosened up. Work is still going to be crazy for a while, but at least I'm not sick anymore.