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Thursday, August 16, 2007

More Hours in My Day, Please!

Well....I went to my second meeting on Monday at the TOPS Chapter I originally planned to join. I really do like it; the ladies are really nice, and I do think I should join. I was going to on Monday; I'd already filled out all the paperwork, and they gave me my membership binder. But I didn't turn in my dues yet since I am still so stunned by my weigh-in. I started walking from the park n'ride to the ferry dock and back most days at the end of last month, which totals about an extra 3 miles walking each weekday. The walk in the morning is relaxing (and getting up 1/2 hour earlier has been surprisingly doable) while the walk in the evening -- when I am tired, hungry, the sun is beating down on me, and there is an ever-so-slight upward incline -- is exhausting (especially a day like yesterday when it was in the mid 80s; today went better). But I vowed to do it each day I possibly can. I also have definitely cut back on my portions and snacking. I knew I had lost about 2 pounds, based on our new digital bathroom scale. But to my shock, their scale showed no change (a "turtle" in TOPS lingo). How does a person weigh themself on the same scale, with the same amount of clothes (or lack thereof) at the same time of day, and one shows a loss and one doesn't?? Makes no sense, and it was very discouraging for their scale to lie and show me no encouragement for how good I've been. I totally plan to keep on keeping on and do even more than I have been. At the same time, part of the reason one goes to TOPS is to receive recognition for what they have done right. But I'll go back this Monday and see what happens. I had even taken a 3-mile round trip walk last Sun. afternoon, and it's unheard of for me to do that on a Sunday. I really do like walking. But when the days get short and the weather gets wet and blustery, sadly just a couple months away now, I will need to shift my walking to my Nordic Track Walkfit for the next several months....

I just found out this afternoom that the lady my employer hired to handle the hotels and the conference sponsorships, who has been having health issues and has only been at work about half the time lately (if that), was advised to resign by her doctor. We have been very shorthanded as it is, with one of the Program Directors on maternity leave and not scheduled to return till late next month. A young woman had been hired to take over her work and didn't give the job a chance; she lasted two whole weeks. (Then she had the nerve to expect reimbursement for the bus/ferry pass my boss agreed to pay for when she was an employee.) Now my boss is on vacation this week, and the owner (his mom) is about to go on vaca. She and the office manager were running a seminar today and again tomorrow, leaving just the office assistant and me. I am trying to confirm the last few speakers for several conferences that are not going to get done on time (for marketing purposes), meaning none of us will get the extra on-time bonus for those, and dealing with two program chairs who are acting like primadonnas. I am doing my best and my bosses totally know that, but I hate missing those bonuses. But what can I do; we can't twist peoples' arms to join our faculty or doubt them when they say they have a conflict. I am also trying to get mini-bios written for several upcoming brochures, get the proper accreditations sent in for each, call speakers to find out when they are sending their materials for the course books, and somehow answer calls from people registering or asking questions, which the assistant usually does, but he has to watch the live feed from the current conference and handle issues regarding that. I do like my job and am treated well, which is a nice switch from other places I have worked, but this is one of those weeks I wish I could clone myself!

I just signed up with a new web host tonight for my site evergreenrefuge.org (and likely my church site olallabiblechurch.com as well), and I am already blown away by their service. I have been pretty much satisfied with 2mhost.com, the host I've used the past four years. Their uptime and customer service has been very good. But they are in Egypt, of all places, and sometimes there's been a bit of a language barrier when I've had questions. I also decided I wanted a Christian web host. And I wanted one that had the ability to host more than one site on one account, so I could consider moving the church site there too. After much online searching I found a small host called hostingtruth.net and was impressed with their prices and features. But I was even more impressed to receive prompt, courteous and understandable answers from the owner (!!!), Scott, at all hours of the day or evening!! I got my complete instructions on accessing my new file manager less than an hour after signing up! WOW!! I can already say I highly recommend hostingtruth.net, and likely wll have even more glowing things to say once I've had the pleasure of using their service!!

I was very glad to finally finish my pretty peach afghan with the burgundy popcorn flowers and green leaves (wove in the last of about 380 ends Sunday, yuk -- I think that's the last time I pick a pattern with that many ends to weave in). It came out really pretty. But it is still in a plastic bag on our new couch; I'm afraid to display it lest the dogs (especially Heidi) mistake it for a chew toy. So will have to decide what to do about that! Picture coming when I ever decide what to do about my camera situation! On the new ghan I started in the Fanfare stitch, which was supposed to be soft green, soft peach, deep teal and soft taupe, I ended up ripping out about 30 rows since I decided the peach (while beautiful on its own or with the soft green) clashed with the deep teal and the taupe. So now this ghan will be soft green, deep sea green, deep teal and soft taupe. I hated to rip all that out, but I like this combo much better, and plan to make a solid color ghan (likely the Sand Dollar join-as-you -go hexagons pattern) using the peach! Wel, enough of this gab for now and on to trying out my new web host!!