Usually Problematic Service (a.k.a Why UPS Sucks)

Okay, so I am a big grown-up and Christmas is not all about presents...

Having said that, I will NEVER NEVER EVER ship ANYTHING via UPS...especially if it is important and you probably shouldn't either.

Reason? Well, okay, so most of you know that my family and I are separated this holiday season, so that involved sending out our gifts early. I sent mine to my mom, dad and other people via FedEx...everyone got theirs...three days after I sent it. My mom sent mine via UPS on the same day I sent hers out...still not here. Tonight is Christmas Eve...there will be no presents for Christmas...which brings me back to being a grown-up. I don't need the presents, it is not about the material goods...it is however, a matter of principle.

I was less irritated with UPS, you know, holiday rush, fine, whatever, but then I found out that my package is actually in the Phoenix hub and has been here since Wednesday...today is Saturday...what the fuck (well, there goes my no objectionable content flag...) are you doing with my box? No one seems to know why I don't have it (and believe me my mom and Joe have been on the phone with them all day...until they turned their voice recording on anyways.)

So, I will not be using UPS anymore, they have upset my mother and that is unacceptable...me, I'm fine...but don't mess with my mom...

Otherwise, I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday and I'll talk to you soon.



-- Kelly

Some Suggestions Please

Okay, so this is really to help all of us. I mean, there is at least one person in your life that drains the lifeforce right out of you. It may be someone we work with (as in my case), a loved one, possibly a perfect stranger who you just happen to encounter on a near daily basis...whoever it is, there is someone in your life that drives you absolutely nucking futs! So what I would like to see are some suggestions...what can we do with these people? Like for example tie them to a rocket a la Wyle E. Coyote and send them to the moon...or Jupiter...that would be a fantastic suggestion. Or, perhaps lock them in a room full of howling hungry wolves...hmmm...might be cruel to the wolves though. Well, anyway, you get the idea, so...any suggestions? Please...comment away!

-- ylleK (yeah, that's about how I feel)

'Tis The Season...

Well, I suppose that the "you get what you pay for" fairy would tell me "I told you so", but I really don't care. I love my tree.

This is my first for-the-house-grown-up-I'll-keep-it-for-the-next-few-years thing. So I only spent thirty bucks on the tree and I spent more than that to decorate it...if you don't like it BAH HUMBUG! I love my Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

Of course...it looks a million and one times better when it is decorated and I will probably be one of those crazy people this year to wrap empty packages and have them under the tree so if people come over it isn't completely obvious that there isn't anyone here that will have real presents under the tree...cause that is just sad. Also, now there is a tree skirt, but I didn't feel like retaking the picture, so please just use your imaginations!



-- Kelly ( :

It Takes A Minute, But It Is Worth It

Okay, so I was "Stumble!"ing (see a few posts back for StumbleUpon...and I came upon this really great website Click Here to see it too...but be careful...actually pay attention to it, don't think it is a mistake. It made me giggle.

PS: Happy Black Friday!

-- Kelly ( :

The Day Before The Crazy

Well, it is almost that time of year again. I don't know how it will be with Sprint, but I know (and Marvin can relate to this - primarily because I stole the thought from him) for the past couple of years I haven't really seen my family between Thanksgiving and Christmas (this has nothing to do with location - for the past 27 years I have been living close to my family) no, this is because I work in retail and for the past two holiday seasons, I worked in a mall...you know...ridiculous people throwing things, yelling at people, fighting over the very last whatever is hot for the year...we've all been some part of it. Well, this year may be different. I don't work in a mall, but I still work in retail. I am kind of interested to see what I come up against on Friday morning at 7:30 as I help hand out flyers in the parking lot where my store is (we happen to share a parking lot with Toys'R'Us...scary, I know)and then open the store nice and early...we are already the busiest store in Arizona...what will Black Friday bring? Who knows? For now, I will enjoy my Turkey Day and I hope you do too!



And a PS to everyone in Michigan...I was watching the news tonight here in AZ, where the temp was about 65 at 10pm and I have one thing to say to you all...hahahahahahahahahaha...enjoy the snow...I know I won't!!!

-- Kelly ( :

Fool Me...Can't Fool Me Again

Gosh, I really have to thank Katie for this lovely clip...so much that I am going to post the link here on my page...I know most of my friends will appreciate it as much as I did...so here is Our President as we all know and love him...please, please find the sarcasm in that statement.

- Kelly ( :

Damn Susceptibility

So, I was out with some friends from work and they all have "My Space" and so do tons of other people that I know, so guess what...so do I now...so you can visit me at My Space in case this blog wasn't enough for you... ( :

I will try to post in both places (no, not the same things, just to keep you all very busy...well, only if you can't live without knowing what I am up to...boring as it is) so, enjoy and may you waste your precious time on My Space too!

-- Kelly ( :

All Quiet On The Western Front

Wow...my house is empty for the first time in a month. My mom, step-dad, and grandma all went home today and I came home from work to a quiet, empty house...it is kinda nice. Not that I'll be able to enjoy it though...what, with the three people at work that quit yesterday...yeah, that's right - three IN ONE DAY!!! I have to admit the overtime will be nice, but my last day off was Friday (11/11) and my next will be Sunday (11/20) which sucks...and I might not get that off if they are still super short staffed...sure, my next paycheck will all but pay for Christmas this year, but I am already exhausted. (Put it this way, and I know some of you have "been there, done that..." but, I have already worked 24 hours this week - this is about normal so far, three days...average of 8hrs/day, but I still have four days left this week, tomorrow is 11 hours, then possibly eight, then 1 1/2 (meeting) plus eight, then 9 1/2 for a grand total this week of 61 hours this week alone! *NOTE: Math may not be accurate at this point...please forgive the girl who had three hours of sleep* And that is if I actually only work eight on Thursday and Friday.)

Ok, so, sorry to whine and moan about work and overtime - I know, I know, just say no, but you see...if you know me at all, you know that isn't something that I can do - I'm the helpful one who gives up her day off to help out the store, not the one who says too bad, so sad, let the customers deal with it...so I shouldn't really complain. It is, after all, my own fault.

So, moving on to other things: How are you guys? I don't see much of my friends anymore...who wants to visit me next? You are more than welcome to come for any period of time...I have a spare bedroom. Please come visit me and enjoy the 70 degree November afternoons - I know I do ( :

-- Kelly ( :

My Brother Is A Bad Influence

Okay, so today is my day off...I have tons of stuff to do, Law School apps, housework, laundry, you know, the usual...but no.

I was talking on the phone to my brother this afternoon and he said "hey, do you know what is really cool for the computer?" Google Earth was his response (this is the website that allows you to download the very fun and exciting program for free...ok, so I was browsing through that...when else will I get to see the Pyramids at Giza? Seriously. That wasted like a good hour and a half of the day.

So then I get down to business and I realize that my parents should be just about to L.A. - they left for Vegas Wednesday, were going to stay there for a couple of days and then head to L.A. to see Alex...my mom was supposed to call me when they got to Vegas...that never happened. So I called my brother up to ask him to have them call me (cause she never answers her phone) when they got to him and he says again...hey, do you know what is really cool for the computer. I was like, didn't we already have this conversation...but no, this was a different cool thing...if you go to the StumbleUpon website, you can sign up, pick some topics that you like and the program generates in a toolbar and lets you click Stumble! which then takes you to a random web page based on your preferences...so I had to try it. This was the first thing that I found: (Which also, by the way, makes me love Arizona even more!)

So, anyway, I think I will do some more stumbling while avoiding any real work...

-- Kelly ( :

It Could Have Been Worse

Ok,

So I am not going to be applying to Harvard Law School for the Fall 2006 entering class...but it could have been worse.

I finally got my LSAT score the other day, I got a 152. Just about smack in the center of the range. I am okay with 152. I am not going to retake it in December, I am going to apply to ASU and a few other schools and whatever happens, happens.

So besides that, everything else is pretty good, my mom and grandmother are extending their stay, so I'll have more time to spend with them (although I haven't been this exhausted in a long while...my mom is ALWAYS on the go)

So, that's it.

-- Kelly ( :

It's So Nice

Okay, so I don't really want to have a theme running through my blog, but...well, I haven't seen my mom in so long that I think she'll probably be the focus a little bit for the next few weeks...and that's - OKAY.

Anyways...my mom and grandma are here and it is fabulous. I miss them so much...also, what is it about parents that makes everything better when you need it...it is better than chocolate. I know that some of you do not have the relationship with your parents that I have with my mom, but, well, maybe you can have that relationship with my mom (I used to bring home stray children when I was young...she took them in and fed them well) Anyways, I love having her here, but she is also a slave driver...(well, you know, the kind that works her fingers to the bone right next to you)

So, Day One: I mention that I think the patio shrubbery needs some cleaning up (you know how I love gardening *coughsarcasmcough*) my mom really enjoys gardening so I thought we could spend some time pruning shrubs together (god, when did I turn into an adult) So, did we just prune a little...hell no, we ripped out every plant in the patio and threw out the faded crappy patio furniture too. If that weren't enough, we spent the evening cleaning the inside (yes, even though she told me that it looked beautiful and spotless and that I passed the white glove test - this is just her personality and I love her for it)

Day Two: We needed to find plants to replace the ones that we ripped out, so the day began at Lowe's, looking for plants...which we found and the patio is going to look fantastic when it is finished. Then we went to Wal-Mart (hey, they have easy access to groceries) We had decided that we were going to recover or slipcover or something this truly ugly couch, and since we were in Wal-Mart we started looking for fabric...which we found. But now - between my mother and myself neither of us has touch a sewing machine in well ever I think...and we bought 9 yards of fabric to recover a couch. And, if that weren't enough, being the seamstresses that we are, I picked out "heatbond", she was looking for glue and I thought maybe we should buy a pneumatic stapler, cause we really have no idea how to actually make the fabric stay on the couch...I wonder if the 450 straight pins we bought will hold it...this should be interesting. (Worst case scenario we cover it but no one can EVER sit on the couch again for fear of serious puncture woundage)

So, for now, I am back to work today - and slightly interested in seeing what mom decided needed "straightening" while I was gone.

-- Kelly ( :

It's All Relative...

Ok, so it is finally all done. It is Sunday night, 8:30PM, my mom and grandmother arrive in 24 hours, but the house is clean. Why does it matter you ask? Well, because....it just does. It isn't like it was that bad, but now it is perfect - well...as perfect as it can get. I know that even if the house were trashed my mom would love me just the same...she may not like me very much for living in a garbage dump, but she'd still love me.

So why do we torture ourselves when relatives come to visit? Why is it ingrained in us that we have to clean and scrub and vacuum and dust until our fingers fall off? I think I finally figured it out. We do it because we want them to stop worrying about us. If our house is messy, we obviously can't take care of ourselves, so they worry about what else we may be "messy"ing up in our lives. However, if we have a nice clean house, we (hopefully) are carrying that into other areas of life as well and therefore they can worry less. Yeah.

-- Kelly ( :

I Can't Take Credit For This

Okay, first of all, this came from the NBC Website under the Tonight Show and Headlines....so I don't want to take any credit for it...I just saw it and am simply reprinting it here because I think it is hilarious
(I hope that covers me for any um copyright issues...) anyways, here it is...




HAHAHAHA! I love it!!! (OK, so if you don't see the humor, I am terribly sorry...maybe you should check out Jay Leno's website...it made it really funny)

For now, back to cleaning...thanks mom, making me crazy with cleaning...see you Monday

Kelly ( :

Unbelievable

I never thought it could happen to me...everyone else said, just wait, you'll see; really just wait. And I would tell them nah, it is impossible...can't happen. I was wrong.

I got out of work tonight, got in my car rolled my window down (yeah, it is October and NOT freezing cold) and started driving home. A short while later, I needed to roll the window up...I WAS FREEZING. I couldn't believe it. People were right...your blood thins when you are out here...I was freezing driving home and am getting ready to look for a sweatshirt...it was 79 degrees on my drive home...I sicken myself. (Sorry to all of my friends and family on the eastern side of the country who are probably already wearing scarves and mittens, but well...

Now, during the day everything is still wonderful, you know like 95 degrees and sunny, but once that sun goes down 79 feels like 59...which is still probably warmer than lots of other places, but I am (already) used to not being cold.

So I know I will get lots of nasty comments from my cold friends and...I'm okay with that, because in the end, it is still warmer here than there and they all know they can come visit me anytime they want to.

-- Kelly ( :

Some Graduation Pictures

Okay, so I know that it is like five months after the fact, but I thought I'd post some graduation pictures nonetheless...you may think that I have nothing better to write about today and you are partially correct. For the most part I already have some very interesting customer stories, including people who swear and threaten to throw things at the reps. However, that would be boring - instead I am going to show you some very exciting photos...kinda like vacation pictures...only different.

So, this is where it all began...oh, so many years ago.

This is, well, me....what is it about the cap and gowns that can be so, what term am I looking for? Um, non-flattering would probably be the nicest thing that I can say...and seeing as I know my mom reads this I don't want to start swearing uncontrollably

This is Melissa and I...and if you don't know Melissa, well, you should meet her someday...there are some things that I wouldn't have survived through at Michigan without her...

I do think that this is by far, my favorite graduation picture. This is the way the stadium looked on that fabulous day from my seat...beautiful isn't it... (oh, and in case the sarcasm didn't translate through the web, take a better look at the picture...yeah, there you go, now you see all the construction...)


Well, for now, I suppose that is all...maybel I'll bore you with those enraged customer stories another time.

-- Kelly ( :

Don't Mess With Karma

So, I have always been a big proponent of what goes around comes around and karma etc., but until today, it has never been this noticeable...you know, little things, people let me in their lane after I let like five in mine, someone steals my yellow magnetic car ribbon, but they leave me five dollars on my windshield to pay for it...I think I am in the positive karma column, I really try to be a good person, today I realized that it is true...

I was at Panda Express this afternoon getting some lunch. I got my food, went to the cashier, opened my purse and about died...my wallet was nowhere to be found...then I remembered, I had used it to make payments on the phone earlier today and left it sitting right on the table. I started freaking out, apologizing, everything that I could do and I was just about to turn around and leave when a complete stranger pulled twenty dollars out of her wallet and paid for my lunch. Seriously. I tried to stop her, telling her that it was completely unnecessary, that I'd just go home, get my wallet and come back, no harm, no foul. She absolutely insisted, saying that she recieved a big tip from a customer at her job that morning, so this was her way of paying THAT person back. So, a huge thank you to the strange woman who bought me lunch today (not that she'll ever see this, but you know...)

This puts a big positive mark in the "Karma" column...I will never doubt the power of good deeds and random acts of kindness again. So, let this be a lesson to everyone...you never know when you'll need the good karma, so take it from me (and Jason Lee's new show My Name Is Earl) and be nice to people...random acts of kindness, nonrandom acts of kindness, whatever it takes.

-- Kelly ( :

Hail To The Victors!

Read the short passage and select the best answer for the question that follows.

The Michigan Wolverines are the best college football team in the NCAA. Only the best team can beat good teams. The Michigan State Spartans were previously undefeated, therefore they must be a good team. The Michigan Wolverines were able to defeat the Spartans, therefore they must be the best team.

Which of the following, if true, provides evidence of a flaw in the logic of the above passage?

a) There is no flaw in the logic...the Wolverines are the best team and now that Michael Hart is back in the fold they will be unstoppable.

b) The Wolverines are the first team to beat the Spartans this season, this is a truth, so once again, there is no flaw in the logic.

c) It doesn't freaking matter, because I finished the LSAT today and I won't have to ever answer another multiple choice question for as long as, well, until the next multiple choice test I take.

d) All of the above (which by the way, on the LSAT there are no "none of the above" or "all of the above" choices, you have to think for yourself...)

The answer is actually D - all of the above...don't get me wrong, I have family and friends that go to or went to Michigan State, and for the most part I want them to win...I'm not one of those people who always want them to lose...but, when it comes to the best game of all...UM vs. MSU I always always ALWAYS want UM to kick some major Spartan butt. ( :

I have finished the LSAT...my brain is beginning to decompress, somehow I have managed to get tomorrow off too, so I can clean my house, do my laundry and take care of all the other things that have been neglected due to the incessant studying.

-- Kelly ( :

Am I Jinxed?

Okay, so, I am beginning to think that there is something wrong with me, I'm jinxed or otherwise bad luck...let me tell you why...

When I transferred to Arizona with the Discovery Channel Store I transferred into a store that was in trouble. It was a mess and, unbeknownst to me, the store manager was not performing up to standards. Well, long story short three weeks later he was fired...

Now, I am settling into my new job and things are going better than I expected they would...and then, yesterday, I walked into my store and the store manager was leaving. He "resigned" - effectively immediately...I don't know the whole situation, except that it was a complete surprise to everyone on staff...with the exception of the DM seeing as we had a new store mananger less than two hours later.

Now, the NEW new store manager is settling in, making changes, getting things done...apparently he was the store manager of my store a few years ago and now he's back, so we'll see...

-- Kelly ( :

Some Truly Funny Ads

No, I'm not partial because I now work for the company, I really think that the new Sprint ad campaign is great. Have you seen these commercials? I want to help you out in case you haven't...you should just be able to click the Sprint Commercials link in order to see them...the "I Seen It" one is my favorite...I'm still trying to figure out how to capture some of that audio into a downloaded ringer for my phone.

-- Kelly ( :

Sucked In By Convenience

Okay, so I thought that the wireless wonder of Bluetooth would be fabulous...not so much. Everyone that I talked to while using the wireless headset either had horrile reverb of themselves or heard me in echoes...neither are preferable...so the wireless adapter and headset go back to Verizon tomorrow. I guess I'll stick to the wired headsets for now.

On other topics...has anyone ever bought "magic" bubbles - they are "touchable" (I know Discovery Channel Store has them)...anyways, I bought some catnip scented ones for Marley...I'm not sure she knows quite what to make of them. She bats at them and then freaks out - it's really quite funny to watch.

Yeah, well, back to a mix of studying and television...

BTW...Marvin, thanks for updating ( ;

-- Kelly ( :

Old Friends

As much as I love the new television season, with all the great new shows...it really is the old favorites that make it worthwhile...in the past it was Buffy or Angel that would keep me away from everything...now, Lost, Alias and Desperate Housewives can make me completely ignore everything else in my life...I don't answer the phone, the door or any non-emergent anything. When I do chat with people I usually tell them "I haven't seen the latest episode of "Show X" so don't tell me what happened..."

Wednesday was the season premiere of Lost and it was everything I knew it could be...the same cliffhanging greatness that I have come to expect from JJ Abrams...he is truly a master of the suspense drama and keeping his audience interested in what they are watching.and I look forward to it with Alias this coming Thursday as well (last season's finale episode from Alias was quite possibly the very best cliffhanger I have ever seen!)

Tonight, however, the return of Desperate Housewives (DH) should be fantastic! So many secrets...so little time...and DH starts in about ten minutes, so...I'll be unavailable for the next hour or so...television calls.

(BTW, this is a great picture...you should enlarge it to see the details)

Of course, now that I finally have the pictures the way I want them, the show is over...I did have to work on it only during commercials...and it was amazing, also, I'll answer the phone again.

-- Kelly ( :

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Ah...finally, after nine days of horrific training (it actually wasn't that bad...just fairly boring) I have been set free and into the "real world" of cellular retail. It is Friday and I finally got my schedule for next week...which starts on Sunday...

I think I may actually enjoy my job...everyone that I have talked to in the past few days tells me that I sound sooooo much better from when I was at Disovery, which HAS to be a good thing...plus, the commissions seem to be easy to get and VERY lucrative...so we'll see.

Other than that...I am frantically studying for the LSAT - which is in one week. My brain is about ready to explode, but hopefully it will all be worth it next fall.

So, back to the studying...

-- Kelly ( :

I Suffer From TMI

During my training at Sprint I have decided one thing (other than the things that I already decided about that job)...too many acronyms can be a bad thing...

Sprint REALLY likes to use acronyms for things...we have GUEST, CARE, FIRE, STAIRS, and even LAMA...all which are related to customer service and how to handle almost every kind of customer situation...there are acronyms for different websites with resources, such at MyUE, SPOT, HRSS, amongst others...the POS systems are RMS and FDT...I know that there are more that I am forgetting and I know that I won't remember what they all mean when I get into the "real world" (aka The Sprint Store) nor will I remember which ones to use when someone decides to chuck their broken cell phone at me (which I have been told is a possibility) so for now...pile on the acronyms!

TTFN

-- Kelly ( :

Too Much TV...

As the new fall television kicks into full gear I am reminded of one very important fact - I watch entirely too much television...

For the last couple of years I have been able to hide behind the "film degree" preparations, claiming that I was simply "studying"...let's be realistic here...I love television.

I always look forward to the new season, there is so many choices and it is tons of fun trying to figure out what will make it and what won't...I'm usually right (thank you film school)

So far I have seen five or six (lets just say a bunch) new shows and with the exception of Kitchen Confidential tonight I'm not sure...Kitchen Confidential was fantastic! Bradley Cooper, Nicholas Brendon and a great cast - you should really check it out!

I have strayed from sitcoms after Friends and Seinfeld with a few choice favorites that I have always loved (Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc.) but this year I really think that Kitchen Confidential will be truly great! (On a side note I am hoping that My name is Earl will be great tomorrow night too...the reviews are fantastic for it) The other four shows...they can go either way...some of them need to just find their niche, others will need substantial reworking and some change of pace in order to stay afloat...only time will tell with these. For now, I look forward to watching new casts find there places within the small screen.

-- Kelly ( :

In Case You Think You're Too Poor

Well, it isn't a quiz, but it is quite entertaining...

Ever think that you should be making more money than you do? Of course, we all do...but if you ever want to feel better about your salary, check out the Global Rich List and see how you rank...you might be surprised...

-- Kelly ( :

A Blessing And A Curse

My degree in Film and Video has done at least one thing for me so far...turned me into an analyst and critic for whatever I do. It isn't always so bad; take for example my Sprint training classes...I have a ton of stories that would make a great screenplay and some phenomenal characters to work with as well. On the other hand, I can't seem to watch a movie without picking it apart scene by scene and character by character - if my friends and family are lucky I'll do this in my head and not share every character flaw and spotted boom mic with my loved ones.

So anyways, well, actually I don't really have anything else to talk about...but I'm sure that the rest of my training will provide me with some great stories to share later.

-- Kelly ( :

The Search Is Never Over...

No, I'm not going to talk about Katrina...I can't watch the coverage, it depresses me...I know that might be selfish, but I have enough going on; plus, my mom was telling me that after watching several hours of Katrina coverage she was trying to figure out how she could adopt a baby that she saw needed a new family...

So, my search that I thought would be over is my employment search. When I moved to Arizona I thought I would love my old job in my new location - I was wrong. Then I found a new job, hoping I would love it...yet, here I am still searching for a different job. I had day one of training today...it wasn't horrible, but there were several things that I was "misinformed" about regarding my job and that doesn't really settle well with me - so the search continues, although I think it will be outside of the retail realm.

-- Kelly ( :

The Bandwagon Can Be A Comfortable Place

Okay, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start blogging...sounds like exercise doesn't it? Anyway, I don't really have a great post for today, well, I might come up with something later...I would have had a great one had I started yesterday - maybe I'll share that...

September 11, 2005; 6:20pm

There is a fight going on in my orange tree between some quail birds. I don’t know who is winning, nor do I care, but I do wish they’d stop…now they are walking across the roof making all sorts of noises. I hope they tire of it before The Simpsons and Family Guy get started. Hmm…they may be performing a ballet up there…oooh, someone got pushed off. Now they have attracted Marley’s attention, (Marley is the cat if you didn't already know) although the rabbits outside don’t seem to care at all. Oh, wait, I have spoken too soon, now everyone is interested. Marley’s head bobs back and forth as if she were watching the clichéd tennis match, hoping something will get close enough for her to grab for. I don’t have the heart to tell her that the porch is screened in and she’ll get nothing but Meow Mix for dinner tonight. Ah, blissful silence once more. Marley lies in wait for a bit longer before something else catches her eye and then she’s off chasing after some invisible bug.

So, that was yesterday...then I watched the Discovery Channel Special "The Flight That Fought Back" about United Flight 93...made me cry. Now it is Monday. Tomorrow I start my new job with Sprint...maybe this is a perfect time to start this blog...new job, still somewhat new city...we'll see. For now, hopefully this will be a way for me to reach all of my friends wherever they may be...or something as meaningful and less mushy.

So, now my email is down, which freaks me out...it is possible that there is such a thing as too much technology...what would I do if my cell phone service ever went down? I don't have a land line anymore you know...so many wireless connections so little time

-- Kelly ( :