p.s. no fatties

I am pretty observant with others' conversations. I am not trying to be nosy, I just have a natural reception to what others say. Of course though when I need to be, I can't pay attention to save my life. Yesterday morning, I was preparing my coffee in my work's lounge. There were two coworkers in there with me and lady #1 is preparing a cheese sandwich. Lady #2 is stirring in hot water into her oatmeal but does not take her eyes off Lady #1's sandwich.
Lady #1: "WOuld you like a piece of my sandwich?"
Lady #2: "No thank you, I don't eat anything with fat in it?"
I am the last person to judge anyone based on their appearance, but seriously, how much can you avoid fat in your diet? I also wanted to chime in, "Really? B/c it doesn't look like you don't eat fat." But of course, that is just me without my morning caffeine. I pretty much obliterated any chance of diet in my life. I stopped caring and if I crave something sweet or greasy, I allow myself to do so. So I will probably gain a good 30 pounds this year.

Near brush with death..or so it felt like it

Considering today is New Year's Eve, I had a hard time motivating myself to get ready for work. I was fortunate last year to spend my holidays in England; however, starting a new job, I have to accrue vacation time.
I am trying to cut down on my carbs but this morning I decided to treat myself to a bowl of Ramen noodles and toast bread. I ran out of my favorite flavor (Creamy Chicken) so I settled for my second choice of Oriental flavor. I realized that I was short on time so I tried to speed up my eating. I made little "tacos" with the bread and as I inserted it into my mouth, the crust of the bread lodged into my throat. I thought if I swallowed harder, it would make its way down but to my dismay, it was going down the wrong pipe.
I started coughing. I thought, should I cough into my bowl of soup or on the table. I opted to purge my partly chewed breakfast onto a napkin. I then noticed that drips of blood were splattering on the napkin. I started to freak and I couldn't breathe. I tried yelling for my mom and I began to bang on the table to get her attention. I still made it to work, busted capillaries and all. I look like the weeping mother from I Am Legend. I am now sore and my eyes hurt when I blink.
Happy new year to me!!! I am thankful that it did not happen while I was driving seeing that I tend to eat my breakfast while on my way to work.
Lesson well learned.

Endings

I came to work today and not even 30 minutes pass when my mother calls and tells me my aunt passed away. I feel overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow. I could have gone this past Sunday to see her but I chose not to b/c I was tired. I spent Sunday morning working in our yard and I made plans to see her this weekend. When I spoke to my mother, I began to cry. I am not sure if I am crying b/c I feel guilty or it hurts to hear my mother cry. I regret not being able to speak to her one last time. I didn't even care much when my grandmother passed away seeing that I was never really close to her. I wasn't close to my aunt either but she is probably the only aunt I have fond memories of. When I was little, my mother and I would stay with her and my aunt would make me snacks and I would sleep with her. She is now in a better and less painful place; I hope she left peacefully and I hope she left knowing that I do care for her.

Maybe...

I have a semi-date tomorrow. I met this guy about a month ago and we haven't officially declared any kind of non-platonic chemistry between the two of us. I am trying my hardest to get that fabrication out of my head. For as long as I can remember, I tend to like a guy from afar, latch myself to them (from afar) and fabricate this image of them. And it only gets worse; I never am able to get close to them thus I punish myself with guilt and sorrow and every other kind of negativity I can think of.
So here I am, trying to heal my wounds from my "flavor of the month" and R comes along. I don't know what to expect and in all honesty, I don't even know if I like him. I am hesitant to say anything b/c maybe he is in the same predicament I am: he is getting over someone. I decide I am taking it for what it is and I am not going to jump to conclusions. Jumping to conclusions has only created problems and heart ache for me; I think it is time to start a new approach to conversing with the opposite sex.

Week #10: Finito

I really did enjoy this training program. I do feel that I had an inkling of an idea for all the topics we learned about; however, it is always nice to get a refresher or an update on these topics.
Of the 23 things we learned, I really enjoyed LibraryThing, RSS feeds, and online photo editing tools. I now use LibraryThing to catalog books I have read and am able to see what others are reading based on the books in my catalog.
Every morning, I check Bloglines and I get to see my "daily dose of imagery" of artsy photos and cute animal pictures along with my Postsecret.
I did not care too much for the Zoho writer but I am sure it might come in handy at a later date. It is a little difficult to really delve into these topics b/c like any item that you are interested in, that item acts an unravelling thread of a sweater which is neverending. I hope to get internet at home so I can really research all capabilities with the internet. It is getting to the point that it is just as bad as television (sitting and staring at a screen for large amounts of time).
I am not really sure what suggestions I have to refine this training. I think having a focus group type discussion might help conjure up ideas.
All in all, I am happy that I took part in this "journey" and hope to continue learning Web 2.0.
Also, I really enjoyed the Wandering Eyre speaker at the very beginning of this course; she really motivated me to brush up on my internet skills.

still week #9: Podcasts

Finally, a category that I know absolutely nothing about. I was ashamed to ask friends or coworkers about podcasts. I did know that dealt with some kind of audiostream that you connect to online but I was not sure how you access them. I have an ipod and whenever I update my ipod, I see the podcast tab and I never knew what to do with it.
I decided to browse the podcasts at Podcast Alley and chose to listen to IndieFeed. It seems pretty cool. I would like to research some more and I definitely think I will be using podcasts from now on. I now have a way to listen to indie groups. I normally listen to KTRU online; however, I don't think it is a podcast since you cannot upload/connect to past shows.

Week #9.2: Ebooks!

When HCPL notified employees of their Emedia launch, I took a peek to see what it offered. I was not too impressed with their collection but now that it has been a few months (maybe several), I see that it has grown immensely.
I would still like to see more variety with their "indie" music but I assume most musicians do not go that route. I browsed in the fiction and there is a title I would consider reading, Miss Understanding, which is one of the featured books. I am also happy to see that F.G. Gerson's 21 Steps to Happiness is available for download. When that book came out, I ordered it through ILL (from HPL, not HCPL). I was unable to read it and now that HCPL offers it, I can download it! I also think it is a good idea to include juvenile selections as well.
I do have a few suggestions about the site. I think users should be able to search by publisher (I am quite partial to Red Dress Ink) and users should be able to select how many items can be viewed per page (10,50,100).
Have downloadable books will make it easier for me to broaden the subjects I have read. I don't really care for audio books seeing that I find it hard to do my work and listen to what the speaker is actually saying. Maybe I haven't tried the right books...