Record Setting

I'm setting a record of all time for blog posts in a day. I just wanted to point out that you shouldn't miss the video of James wapping (as in the kind of "wapping" in Hooway for Wodney Wat) Amy in the face with a metal ring when you look at the Picasa web album. Classic.

Second by second play of Vranka

Vranka is my new favorite actress. Ms. LeStrange has pretty cool hair, but you can't beat the green skin tan. Vranka doesn't even have to act, she plays herself so well. Kind of like the guy who got my email address at Uncle Mike's missionary reunion. (Grandpa wanted me to go, yikes-o-rama.) Grandpa tried to give him my number, but I jumped in and said that I don't call back. Besides, it's easier to reject in writing.

Clark and Lana win

My absolutely favorite kiss of all TV time (not that I've seen much TV):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi6E_M2YTp4

Bloggerooski

I don't know why that link didn't work. Actually, I just wanted to see who reads my bloggerooski. So while I'm here giving you the real link, let me just tell you about a few things:

I was going to post a picture of my lost sunglasses, but I found them. In my purse! Who ever puts sunglasses in their purses? (I'm kind of ashamed to admit that I even have a purse, I rarely use it. They seem so girly.)

On to more interesting news. I couldn't find anyone to go skiing with me, so I ended up going myself. That cute guy was there again. Each time I've gone, we've flirted a little. Today he asked what I was up to, I told him I quit my job, and he asked why I hadn't skied every day this week. I said, "Well, I thought about it yesterday, but you weren't here, were you?" He was disappointed when I said, "Just kidding." Then he asked about my major and what I was doing on Sunday. I said, "Going to church. Oh wait, it's conference. I'm watching it for four hours. Are you going to ski?" I take from his answer that I finally found out if he's Mormon or not. Too bad. I kind of was hoping he'd ask for my number anyway. I went up the lift and down the hills with a lady from South Korea. She was really nice. I felt bad that I couldn't understand everything she said until she'd said it a few times. Her name is Yon Hee (sp?). She has been here for two and a half years with her husband's job. They'll be going back in a year and a half. She asked me if I was Mormon and said her son is. (He's sixteen.) I told her she was a nice mom to let him go to the church he wanted. I hit some bigger hills and bumps today. There was powder! I haven't really skied in real powder before. My knees are SORE.

When I was returning my rentals, I asked what he was going to do after ski season (unfortunately, I don't remember his name). He wasn't sure, so I asked him if he rock climbed and told him about Moab. Darn.

Grandpa's taking me to Uncle Mike's missionary reunion. Awkward. I think he wants me to get some dates. He is so funny. Almost every time I see him, he says, "You've got to find a nice young man!"

Ow, my knees.

http://picasaweb.google.com/michelleglauser

Michelle's shout out to Google

For any readers out there, if you have not tried Picasa and all other Google products, you may want to, they will revolutionize your life . . .

I think maybe we should try to come up with a name for people firm in the faith of Google. Googlers is more for people work there. How about the Google Gospelers? The Glovers? The Gogglers (porbly not)? Meh.

Anyway, the photos, you want the photos. First, you need to read the description of my Picasa web album:

Some of these photos are way old (can you find the one from the good old days at Golden Swirl during high school?), but fun anyway. I especially like goofy ones, like James smelling my armpit. Ha ha. Or the blob of chocolate that Mom (Mom, can you believe it?) dumped on the brownies, or me losing at Spongebob Squarepants Life against Gretchen, or Anna trying to keep Jared from running away during Wright family scripture time . . . I guess the artsy ones (Island Park and San Francisco) are nice too. Be sure to notice the change in pixellation as digital cameras got better. Those good old MVCs that took a 3 1/2 inch floppy, oh where have those days gone? Now we've got old ladies fighting to pay for a gig with hot pads!

Click here to see the album!

Time-Consuming Fun

Organizing and re-naming photos is sure time-consuming, but fun. I'll be posting a bunch that never made it to the blog, so be ready!

Theme Song

For those of you who didn't know already, this song by Augustana has been my theme song for the last few months (thanks to Amy for buying it for my iTunes):

"Boston"

In the light of the sun, is there anyone? Oh it has begun...
Oh dear you look so lost, eyes are red and tears are shed,
This world you must've crossed... you said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
You said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

Essential yet appealed, carry all your thoughts across
An open field,
When flowers gaze at you... they're not the only ones who cry
When they see you
You said...

You don't know me, you don't even care, oh yeah,
You said
You don't know me, and you don't wear my chains... oh yeah,

She said I think I'll go to Boston...
I think I'll start a new life,
I think I'll start it over, where no one knows my name,
I'll get out of California, I'm tired of the weather,
I think I'll get a lover and fly em out to Spain...
I think I'll go to Boston,
I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town, to leave this all behind...
I think I need a sunrise, I'm tired of the sunset,
I hear it's nice in the Summer, some snow would be nice... oh yeah,

Boston... where no one knows my name... yeah
Where no one knows my name...
Where no one knows my name...
Yeah Boston...
Where no one knows my name.

Bao Xishun

Click here.

Schmoozin' Around, the novel

Last Wednesday, I finally wrapped up all of my projects. My shelf taping, shelf reading, and other assignments were complete. My office was totally impersonalized. I transferred all files to the shared drives. I finished the document about how to do everything I do. Wil and I finished approving 35 documents on the 21st and the last 2 on the 22nd. My work was done, as far as I could go (the printer was being lame again). I gathered up my things, went into Wil's office, and closed the door to show him the document. I ate my last yogurt there and took some silly pictures with Wil, which I transferred before polishing my desk to leave it nice.

Three hours later, I was on the train home, blackberry-less, badge-less, and job-less--by my own choice. I would have given two weeks, gladly, but I wanted to be able to slip away quietly, and also, every time I mentioned anything about ever leaving, Wil went weird.

I never did post all the pictures I took to show the massive project of the new training manuals. Here they are. (They are without fancy formatting, or caption ordering of any kind. Just guess: Me, exhausted from slaving away all day to do my regular duties, staying up late and getting up ridiculously early to write the book. The laminator and computer nearest to the printer, three of which burned out three different times and brought the wrath of other units upon me. Wil's office, messy? No! The infamous shredder that Wil saves papers for shredding, surrounded by bags of shredded, outdated documents. New, incomplete manuals lined up alphabetically around Wil's office. The only way to fit all the documents in one area for distributing.




After the fateful day, I went to Moab with the Bankheads (thank you Bankhead family, you are very accepting, generous, friendly, and hardcore). We got in a good hike and some awesome rockclimbing (pictures will be posted eventually, I am especially proud of my climb up the Flakes of Wrath). The ride back was nice, it was just Jace and I. We talked about a lot of random things and just enjoyed the scenery of Utah. He sounds exactly like Paul. We compared job notes and how we hated not working hard. I remember Dad saying a long time ago that I should go out with Jace. He's dating Kelly, so not now, but maybe later. I wonder if he'd think that's too weird. Paul mentioned to me that he kept forgetting Jace is my same age (well, six months younger), because he thinks of me as so much older. It took me the full 24 hours with the Bankheads to view Jace as even close to my age, he seemed so old to me. Ha. I told Jace that I love that the Bankheads are straightforward, the way I am. It is so refreshing to have people cut right through the bush. For example, most conversations would go something like this: "Thank you so much for letting me come with you. I would really like to reimburse you for the expenses." "Oh, you don't have to do that [meaning: "you'd better or I will make sarcastic jabs at you"]." This is how one of our conversations went: "Speaking of money, I can pay for half of the hotel room." "No, you don't need to pay anything. However, you should offer to pay for gas." Perfect. Short, sweet, and complete. I didn't have to dig for real meaning. I knew that he was sincere and I knew what I should do. We filled up on my card. Why can't normal people communicate like that? Steve and I had a conversation about the things we love in Crucial Conversations, which by the way, I asked if I could keep since I love it so much. He said that he sugarcoats or backs off. I told him how I think Mike and I have reacted to our parent's lack of communication in opposite ways. I am too blunt, which takes people off guard and intimidates them, and he is too vague or he avoids talking about issues. I think we both need to moderate, although probably me more than him. I think Mike and I just haven't had many opportunities to become friends with each other, and it's hard for us to get past our communication differences.

So far, I have had no wish to return to the Library. There were too many things that I couldn't deal with anymore. Why make a job that people love miserable for them? Amy says she thinks I'll be pleasantly surprised when I go work for another company and discover that not all companies are like what I've seen. People actually want to work and do their best and communicate, or they are let go. I have, however, thought of numerous things I should have done or that need to be done, such as cover my assigned windows on Thursday (if I had any). Today I found out the newsletter for April is lost forever, because it was the one thing I forgot to transfer onto the shared drive. They'll have to start from scratch, which makes me feel bad. Bertha, my coworker, finally passed away after a horrible bout of pemphigus. I'm glad for her. It looks and sounds miserably painful. I didn't go to the funeral, I would have been going for the wrong reasons. I wish her family had done an obituary. I would have liked to read that.

I think my eyes are feeling better because I'm less stressed. I don't wake up in the morning and think, "I really just want to go back to bed and sleep all day," although I have been sleeping a lot more, maybe as catch up for the last year. (Early to bed, late(r) to rise, and long naps, all combined make it hard to get up anyway.) I don't feel constantly weighed down. I can actually get in the shower and not worry about all the things I need to do, all the people I need to re-win, etc. I feel rather free, although I know I will have to grow up and go back to working or studying some time.

I think it really says something about those who contacted me. They will never know how much that reaching out meant to me. Brett and Steve wanted to see if I was okay. (By the way, Steve is engaged, woohoo! He is so amazing.) Ashley T sent me an email about how she appreciated my work and hoped things went well for me. The director of the Library emailed me, but that wasn't comforting at all, it was just weird. It didn't say anything at all that I expected. Part of me hoped that others would call and apologize for all the criticism and lack of communication. No one deserves attacks like that. I firmly believe in giving feedback, making changes, etc., but not in generalizing one person's ideas and actions into an overall judgment without even trying to work together and move on. Certainly people are wondering what happened last week. I'm glad to hear some people are being proactive (finally) and moving on. I would have done so earlier, but I wanted to have things wrapped up first. I wonder if those who move on will do the same favor to the unit. Probably not. Others don't care about their jobs the way I did. They weren't willing to work longer or to have more late nights. I wonder how Kristin is. She is such a kind, helpful soul. I wonder why she stays. She would be awesome in cataloging, reference, you name it. And, she'd be making more. I think she's a bit afraid of change. I felt that every time I tried to push her in a new direction. I hope the best for her. I miss those new part-time guys. They are so cool. I hope all the shelf taping gets finished before the end of March. I did what I could. I hate missing deadlines. I know people were mad about me trying to force deadlines, but if they weren't doing anything effective about it, why couldn't I have my team or the trainees or missionaries help? What's wrong with cooperating to get work done?

Wil's been taking it hard, but it doesn't help that he's been sick recently. Brett will be awesome. I talked to him on the phone a few times today. I let him know when he called last week that I love the Library and am willing to help whenever I can. He wants me to write a farewell for the newsletter, which I think is really nice of him. I really loved my job and made it my life, but I have been so worn down that what I've tried to write so far just doesn't show the dedication I felt for my job.

So, you've probably been thinking, "Hello! Get to the point! What are you going to do now?" This week I'm taking off to relax a little and to study. Study for what, you ask? For an interview with Google, scheduled for Jamesy's first birthday. Over the weekend, Paul drilled me with tough questions that could be asked. I've been reading books about Google as a company and its products. I've been playing with the internet more than I think is healthy, but I've enjoyed it and discovered some really cool things. I want to be a Google expert before they call on Monday. Then, while I wait for an offer or a rejection, I think I'll do some subbing for a little extra cash. April 16th I'll find out about the Columbia Publishing Course for which I applied. I'm hoping Google will take me after the summer program. That would leave room for me to do some really random traveling in May and June. If the localization coordinator position doesn't work out, there are some other cool positions I've seen . . . Also, I would like to go to Germany and study American Studies. (I know, that seems paradoxical, but I've decided it's cool: an American in Germany, studying America. Nifty. Nah, it's not what it seems. American actually combines quite a few of my interests: linguistics, lit theory, American literature, culture, etc.)

Another thing I've been doing is sitting at Egg Products for Dad while he does deliveries (he has another worker who doesn't show up). It's perfect for studying, reading, and listening to music. I've actually enjoyed the orders I've had to fill and wouldn't mind doing that every day, for a bit of monetary compensation.

So, here are some of the nifty things I've discovered in my Google gallivanting (only those that I didn't already know about--Google Earth, Docs and Spreadsheets, among others were discovered and appreciated long ago):

The classic Family Dog episode (see the others on YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr92CNDrXxw

The popular searches measured by Google: www.google.com/press/zeitgeist

The fun holiday logos designed by webmaster Dennis Hwang: http://www.google.com/holidaylogos.html

The translate this page button, the send to button, the highlight and word finder buttons, Google calendar, AutoFill, Google Scholar, Book Search, Patent Search, Web Accelerator, putting Google search on your own page, AdSense, and Google Page Creator.

Image of the Flakes of Wrath in Moab, though misleading (this climb is turned to the left, you don't climb against that big rock jutting out showing on the right. Use Google Images to find some others that were less linkable, I hope this one works!): http://olliesrockgym.com/v-web/gallery/albums/TriptoUtah/Flakes_of_Wrath.thumb.jpg

P.S. Yes, I do miss my blackberry.

UTA, Family, Entertainment, and Travel. They all have me in common!

Well, I guess I will just do some updating. Have you ever noticed that you think about what seem to be really interesting subjects, and you want to share them with the world (a.k.a. your blog), but once you think about signing in and writing a little something, it's gone? Oh well, maybe I'll think of some of those things as I go. I won't comment too much about each activity, I hope, but here are some things I've done recently:

1. Finished and had Wil approve 35 documents in one day. (That's a record!)

2. Refused thus far to provide a number of overtime hours I've worked. What's the point? If they have to have a number, then they should pay me. Otherwise, they don't need a number! They're asking me to report what I considered a donation. No!

3. Sat through a meeting that was supposed to be how each of us could work together better, but it turned out to be a "why we don't like Michelle" meeting instead.

4. Been prejudged by several people without being able to give an explanation later that they would listen to.

5. Apologized to a girl who has been giving off bad vibes in my direction for a LONG time for reasons unknown to me. She gave me some good feedback, and I hope she can be a bit happier despite my presence.

6. Attended a UTA public hearing, where I asked a lot of questions, gave a lot of feedback, and worried about getting home from institute with the new schedule. (They want to combine three routes that go to the U and have them end at 6!!!!!! AHHHH!)

7. Talked to a guy at the UTA public hearing who knows German and two of my uncles about careers with UTA.

8. Got Sica, Dad, and Heidi upset with me because I was at the UTA hearing too long with the car, which I had to use because public transpo wouldn't get me there quick enough.

9. Rejoiced that the 39 is going to go every fifteen minutes, and much later, so I can get home on my late nights!

10. Spent a weekend without texting on my blackberry, because my heart was shriveled from too much criticism. I was sent in to the lions!

11. Once again had to make Bryce change plans as Dad's car broke down after it was too late to hop on public transpo and make it on time.

12. Went to Divine Comedy at BYU and thought it was hilarious, but groaned at the cracks against people like me. (Not just about the University of Utah, but also about how people in Salt Lake are crazy.)

13. Had a fabulous time talking to Bryce.

14. Laughed at the "Do not walk here alone after dark" signs from the 70s that still adorn the south side of BYU's campus.

15. Filled out a bracket a few days too late (luckily/unluckily I hadn't been able to follow the games til then) and did fairly well, except for darn old Maryland.

16. Taught my cousins how to play Settlers and watched them totally run me over!

17. Did I ever mention this? I watched Sica's bowling competition. Awesome!

18. Played "How Firm a Foundation" too fast for the liking of the Relief Society chorister.

19. Messed up on one measure during three of the four verses of the closing hymn in sacrament meeting. (Remind me to post a blog about interesting things that have happened during sacrament meeting.)

20. Cleaned out my disgusting bathroom, including vacuuming, scrubbing, cometing, spraying, and vinegaring everything, as well as ripping out rotten pieces of wood and tile and moving nasty spider-ridden sticky bug traps.

21. Went to lunch with my grandma, to a mediterranean place. I managed to steer the conversation away from myself as much as possible, and not laugh when she ordered a hamburger and some fries (which were good, just not mediterranean).

22. Had my first hayfever attack of the season, but I think it must have been something at Aunt Linda's.

23. Celebrated Grandpa's 81st birthday with the whole family.

24. Gathered email addresses and phone numbers at the party so we can actually be friends with our aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, and nieces! Woohoo!

25. Wondered about what Bryce thinks and if I should call him or leave the ball in his court.

26. Got to number 26 on a list of things I've done recently and realized that it was pretty pathetic but decided to proceed to number 27 anyway.

27. Wondered about places to go: Los Angeles with Tanya, Chicago with Scott, Jerusalem with young single adults on the adventure tour, the cruise with Grandpa, Europe with Bryce and friends, Columbia with Kelli, Kiel or Leipzig . . .

28. Marveled at a lady (in place of another who is sick) who wrote a letter of recommendation for me although she barely worked with me. Not only that, but she's currently in France.

29. Played with Jamesy boy, as he is in town and cuter than ever, smiling all the time.

30. Got to number 30 and thought of one, no two more things.

31. Went to Heidi's production of Much Ado About Nothing and laughed at her role of Dogberry, a ridiculous officer. She played better than a lot of the other kids--she was loud enough to hear and animated.

32. Attended a meeting with Elder Jensen (again) and Elder Eyring. Elder Jensen was funny. He talked about texting during sacrament meeting and not trusting people who wear bowties. He also said that as a lawyer, when he takes people to court, he thinks, "This is probably the only time they will go to court. I need to make it the best possible experience for them." Interesting. Elder Eyring talked about keeping journals that point out the hand of God in our life (I've definitely got to work on that), focusing on our real business, and serving others.