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By kilax, April 19, 2008 11:01 am

I attended a career fair at a local college this week. No, I’m not looking for a new job – I was doing recruiting!

The college is internationally known, and has a very prestigious reputation. It draws students in from all over the world.

It was very interesting to be on the other side of the table during this career fair. It was only last year that I was interviewing as well!

The students were very aggressive in promoting themselves. I’ve already received quite a few follow up emails.

Part of one email made me laugh out loud in my office for a good twenty seconds:

If you are not hiring any internship recently, could we still keep touching?

Yes, I know what the person meant, and I don’t mean to make fun of them… but I thought I would share!

I’ve been tagged! Follow the extended post for the Fluff Five Meme from Lumpy. Continue reading 'Probably shouldn’t write this here'»

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By kilax, April 18, 2008 5:48 am

Would you open a department/specialty store credit card just to save money on a purchase? How much would it have to save you – $10, $50, $100, $500+?

I am annoyed by the sales clerks at Target / Macy’s / wherever that continually ask me to open a credit card, and try to entice me by saying, “It will save you $20 off your purchase today!”

Guess what? $20 isn’t enough for me. It’s gotta be at least $100. And even then… I’m not so sure.

My sister worked at Sears for awhile and was required to open a certain amount of new credit cards a month. Any insight into this?

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By kilax, April 17, 2008 6:04 am

A few nights ago, I was playing fetch with Data. I picked up both his yellow ball and his orange ball and said to him “I am going to throw both of these down the stairs at the same time. You bring back the one that is your favorite color.”

He brought them both up, together! Holding one completely inside his mouth, and the other with his teeth. He never does that.

What a little overachiever.

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Today’s Idiom: a wet blanket – one who spoils fun

One of my college friends was a total wet blanket – she always wanted to go home early so she could spend hours talking to her long-distance boyfriend.

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By kilax, April 16, 2008 5:57 am

Update: It is also radioactive girl’s birthday today! Happy Birthday! Wow… July’s the month to get busy!

There are four blogger birthdays this week (that I know of!). Today is Diane’s, so Happy Birthday Diane! (And feel better soon!) Friday belongs to Gina and sizzle. So… Happy Early Birthday Gina and Happy Early Birthday sizzle! And Lisa’s is this week as well… Happy Birthday Lisa!

And… I want to tell you about the book I bought Gina for her birthday. I have this little problem with thumbing through quite a bit of the books I buy for my friends… hey, it happens.

I read about Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure in some magazine I got in the mail in March. The premise of the book is, you guessed it, six-word memoirs of authors. Some of my favorites are:

“No shit I’m critical – you’re flawed.” – Elizabeth Koch

“I am awfully bored at work.” – Chris Ponchak

“Didn’t fit in then; still don’t.” – Bob Fingerman

“Asked to quiet down; spoke louder.” – Wendy Lee

Of course, I could go on and on… I recommend picking up a copy of the book, just because these memoirs really make you think.

Right before I bought the book I found out that another blogger – Freak Magnet – created her own six-word memoir on her blog! What a fun idea for us bloggers! Has this gone around all ready and I missed it? I’ve seen it a few other places since I originally wrote this post…

Anyway, here’s mine, which took a while to think up. Please share yours in your blog, or in the comments!

Always known as “the loud one.”

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Today’s Idiom: Pyrrhic victory – a too costly victory

Getting our neighbors to quiet down was a Pyrrhic victory – we now live in peace inside our home, but are uneasy being outside our home… and I feel guilty for being so spiteful and mean-spirited.

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By kilax, April 15, 2008 5:43 am

Dear JCPenney/Worthington Clothing Co.,

I don’t blame you. I blame myself for buying your shirt and taking it home, only to have to return it after getting a second opinion (thank heavens for my husband’s honesty).

But I just wanted to let you know – the Pleat detail shirt? It doesn’t look so good on us bigger girls. We like to wear shirts that make our bodies look slimmer, or at least in proportion. We don’t like shirts that make us like we’re wearing shoulder pads, ready to step out onto the football field.

It looks good on Natalie Portman. But not on me.

I appreciate that you offered it in my size. But I just wanted to give you a heads up on this one – there might be a lot of returns.

Thanks for trying,

kilax

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Today’s Idiom: the sword of Damocles – any imminent danger

Even though my boss gave me a raise, I sometimes feel like the sword of Damocles is hanging over my head – at any minute, I could be kicked out of there.

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By kilax, April 14, 2008 5:46 am

Notice a similarity in the two books I just added to my amazon wishlist?

It’s a fantasy I can’t give up. Although before, it was fueled more by my desire to travel and experience new cultures, than by my frustration with our country’s… politics.

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Today’s Idiom: to throw cold water – to discourage a plan or idea

Kim kept talking to Steven about traveling over the summer, but he threw cold water on the idea by asking “and how are we going to pay for that?”

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By kilax, April 13, 2008 12:08 pm

A few updates and housekeeping items:

• Seinfeld: The show was last night! Steven and I made a whole date of the evening – getting dressed up, eating at some foo-foo vegetarian restaurant just west of the Loop prior to the show (overrated), then going to the show. We really liked the first comedian (I wish I could remember his name!), and of course, thought Seinfeld was hilarious. This is the first stand-up routine I’ve been to, and I had a lot of fun. I’m sure it’s a bit different than going to a “local” comedian, but I think it is something I would like to do more often!
• Roadwork: All of the highways we use in the Chicagoland area are under construction – for anywhere from 6 months to the next two years! There are no longer shoulders – they have been turned into narrow lanes. So, no shoulders on each side makes for interesting driving. Going anywhere takes nearly twice as long now.
• Domestic: Steven gave me a $75 budget to spend on Bath & Body Works wallflowers (air fresheners) yesterday. Imagine my excitement when I found out they were having their 50% wallflower sale! I think I am truly a domestic wife now.
• American Airlines: I am flying AA to Columbus tomorrow for business. Think my flight will actually take off? It sickens me how the airlines are always screwing the passengers over…
• Bowling: I am never teasing Steven about having a sore arm after bowling again. My right forearm is killing me. And to make matters worse, I had a nasty run-in with the metal part of a clipboard last Wednesday just above my right elbow. So the top of my right arm feels infected and sore, and the bottom part feels tried and sore.
• Cubs: We may actually go to a professional baseball game this summer with my sister and her boyfriend. Is is possible that this will be the year I start to care about sports? Probably not. But it will still be fun to go!
• Idioms: I think I will post the idiom Monday-Thursday. Well, if I post all four days.
• Too Long: Do you ever get sick of reading really long posts like this? Sometimes I like to read short and sweet posts.
• Comments: I really appreciate and look forward to all the comments I get on my posts. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day! And I try to reply to each comment in the comment section, but as you’ve probably noticed, I don’t always get to them all (especially on the more “private” posts, it seems). Awhile ago, I added the “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” application to the comments section, so you can see what other people are commenting, and if I am commenting too. Do you think I should keep this application? Do you prefer that I send you an email when I reply to your comment? Or do you prefer that I just keep it as is, and you can manually look for a response the next time you visit? A few people send me email replys, and I think it’s kind of nice, because honestly, I sometimes forget to check for a response when I come back!

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By kilax, April 12, 2008 8:04 am

Guess what was ready for me to pick up last night…

I worked and went to high school with this really annoying, know-it-all kid who thought he was better than me… and liked to bowl. He always talked about bowling at work. His high score, his new bowling ball, his bowling shirt, blah blah blah. Oh my gosh! I just wanted to punch him in the face. I think a lot of people did.

Poor kid.

So I always kind of thought that bowling was for geeky know-it-alls who didn’t like to associate with the rest of society, or really know how to have fun.

But Steven likes to bowl, and he’s not like that at all. And I actually enjoy bowling with him. And I get to look at his cute little butt when he gets up for his turn.

Anyway, I found out I was wrong about bowling. So… how did I end up with my own bowling ball?

Steven has wanted one for awhile, so I thought, “what the heck, if he is getting serious about it, I might as well give it a shot, so we can have something fun to do in common.”

But I honestly didn’t think a custom bowling ball would improve my game at all. For me, bowling is all about having fun, and not being too serious about the score. My high is usually somewhere between 40-60.

With this new ball though, all 3 of my games were over 100! Now, that isn’t much for someone who has been bowling for a long time, but for me, it’s a BIG deal. I felt like the new ball just glided off my hand, down the lane… beautifully.

Maybe that kid was so excited about bowling because it actually is that much fun? Or maybe I just had an “on” night…

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By kilax, April 12, 2008 12:24 am

I usually don’t do two posts in one day, but I have to share this story with you, before my normal post for today.

We had to call the cops. Again.

But this time it wasn’t about our next door neighbors! (Progress!)

Around 11:30 pm we heard bangs and muffled noises outside, so we looked out the window to see 4-5 people, wearing helmets, and having a “fireworks” fight in the guest parking area between the houses across the street from us. They were shooting off roman candles at each other, and running around, screaming.

At first we just watched them, with “wtf” expressions on our faces, but they started hitting cars and houses, so I just went for it, and called the cops again.

I know you are thinking I am a party pooper who doesn’t like to have fun, but this is effin’ ridiculous. They were out in the late night, being dangerous, littering, possibly ruining other people’s property, and being LOUD. I don’t care if this makes me a bitch.

Funny enough, when I was on the phone with the dispatch, they got a call from another person in my neighborhood complaining about the same thing.

So the people sneak inside and shut all their shutters. Four cops cars come, and out pour cops, flashing their lights and seeing all the waste from the fireworks.

A cop drives up to my house, because I told the dispatch person I knew what house the people were in. I tell the cop what happened, and what house they are in.

They make the people come out and clean up all the litter. I hope they also told them never to do it again, because this is just effin’ stupid.

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By kilax, April 11, 2008 5:54 am

Aside from your family, friends or pets, what would be the most difficult thing for you to give up in your life?

Reading. I love having something to read, something to keep me entertained. When I lived in Italy, I was constantly in search of printed items in English… just because I missed having something fresh to read everyday. I get bored on the train, or airplane, just sitting there, feeling like I have nothing to do.