First up were the Patriots and the Bills.  Bills.  You had this game in the bag.  WTF were you thinking?  Patriots, thanks for the Fantasy Football points.

Next up were the Chargers and the Raiders.  If it were 2008, I might have just dismissed this game and hit the sack early.  But it’s 2009.  LaDainian Tomlinson is not what he once was.  Philip Rivers is not at the top of his game either. On the Raiders’ side, there is a new coach in town (albeit a scary one).  And to be honest, my other interest in the game was for Fantasy Football.  The team I was up against this week was dependent on several players in this game.

So, I’m watching the game and I’m surprised to see that there is actually a GAME on.  If the Raiders can learn to pass and catch better, they could be dangerous.  Their defense was holding the Chargers much better than expected.  Put JaMarcus Russell on a weight-loss regimen and give him an old tire to throw passes through, and you may have a decent team by mid-season.

On one sour note, I will continue to voice my dislike for Cris Collinsworth.  I’m not sure what you won your Emmy’s for, but you’re very annoying.  I’d love to see the day when the likes of Michele Tafoya, Suzy Kolber, Andrea Kremer, or Pam Oliver could replace your ass.  That is all.

All in all, I’m really excited that football season has arrived.  All we need now is some cool weather for BBQ-ing.

I can say that the last few weeks have been c-r-a-z-y…at the very least.  Mom went through a major surgery.  SCARY.  Uncle passed away suddenly.  TRAGIC.  Forced to resign from work.  FRUSTRATING.

Being out of work…what does this mean for “Admin by Day”?  Nothing.  I will still write.  And you all get the opportunity to follow along with me.  You can see where *this* Admin by Day goes from here.

Am I too old to still be wondering what I want to do when I grow up?  I’m 31.  I know it’s never too late, but I can’t help but wonder anyway.  BFF says I need to make a list.  What do I enjoy?  What do I dislike?  I am going to have to put a lot of thought into this.  Serious thought.  I need a job to pay the bills, but I know I should also be pursuing bigger things.  List.  Soon.  Very soon.

On a good note though, I have some new-found confidence.  ”Watch out other job hunters!  I’ma coming!  Step aside.”

*****

Admin Tip of the Day:  Color coding.  It works.  Multi-colored plastic tabs can be found just about anywhere nowadays.

Life is so many things, isn’t it?  It can most definitely be like a box of chocolates.  It can also be a 5 gallon container of lemonade.  It can be a train wreck waiting to happen.  It can be the hail mary pass that skims the tips of your fingers but never ends up in your hands.  It can be the smile of a child.  It can be a beautiful sunset over a lonely plain.

How do you prepare for the road ahead?  Quite simply, you cannot.  One step at a time.  Pay as you go.  Make it up as you go along.  Trial and error.  Educated guess.  Process of elimination.  Not one single thing in this lifetime is certain.  In my case, and my opinion, life has been nothing but one crazy thing after another.  And I know…I know.  I should take what I have and make the best of it.  I should use my experience and knowledge to move forward.  But gosh darnit…I’m tired.  I’m throwing in the yellow flag.  Foul on the play.  Haha, joke is over.  C’mon.  Can a sista have a timeout?  I have no right to ask for a smooth ride, but maybe for a block or so?  A short ride?  A quickie, if you will.

Argh…I’m just venting.  Ignore me.  My brain cells are fried.  Until tomorrow, ta ta.

I admire the female sports casters/announcers/personalities.  It really takes ambition, dedication, and hard work to make it in a “man’s world”.  And each year, I see their rapport with the players build.  Every year, I also look forward to the colorful commentating of the likes of Chris Berman, Deion Sanders (yes), Stuart Scott, and even Dan Marino.  Darryl Johnston (Moose!) and Troy Aikman will have a special place in my heart, whether I’m watching an old “classic” on NFL Replay, or watching them cover a game.

But good Lord, there are also some wankers out there in the sports world as well…aka Chris Collinsworth.  What in tar-nations is this fool thinking?  And why did NBC bring him on board for Sunday Night Football.  This moron is off his rocker and people pay him for it.  Ugh!  I wish I could turn off his voice while the game is on.

Anyway, my devoted readers, expect some blogs about football over the next several months.  I will try not to be too obnoxious…but I’m a fan…what can I say?  My team = Indianapolis Colts.  Other faves are NY Giants and Philadelphia Eagles.  Teams I will be following and rooting for as well = Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, and AZ Cardinals.

With that being said, I’m off.  Apparently, there is a preseason game I failed to put on my calendar.

Everyday, I learn something new.  Whether it’s because I’m constantly doing things wrong, or because I’ve opened my mind to my life and the world around me, I don’t currently know.  But one thing that I do know is that those I’ve looked up to over the years because “they’ve got it together” really did not.  No matter how much we think we’ve got things all figured out, we really don’t.  Life always seems to have something new in store for us.

But you know what?  It’s okay.  As long as I get out of bed in the mornings, I’m going to give it a try.  Some days I will bring my A-game, and other days I will just show up to the game.  If I get an elbow to the face, so be it.  Maybe tomorrow my elbow will feel frisky…  Hmmph…

*****

Admin Tip of the Day:  Dymo label/tab printers are the best!  They will be your best friend when you’re working on a filing project.  Some models can handle multiple types and sizes.  Two Dymo printers are even better.  Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.  Done!

Example.  I follow one of my most favoritest singers in the world on Twitter.  I started following her about a month ago.  She’s got an *amazing* set of pipes!  Love her music, her voice, and her attitude.  It’s been mentioned to me that she likens Janis Joplin.  Janis is GREAT!  Hands down.  But I’d have to disagree with that statement.  The girl I’m following is, BETTER! 

So I’ve replied to two of her tweets.  How many replies constitutes Twitter-stalking?  I’m sure she has a bazillion fans, so does she ignore the replies?  Not sure.  I just wanna ‘be cool’ and appear to be a good fan.  I don’t necessarily want to seem like an annoying Tweep.  Know what I mean?  Any suggestions?     (Did I mention she’s awesome?!?)

Anywho…  Yeah, I have some of my weirdest and best thoughts in the shower.  Although, most weekday mornings, I have to admit, I’m already thinking about what the heck I have to accomplish/do at work that day.  If there is a pill that makes you not think about work until you get there, I want it!  Can that prescription be ready in an hour?

On the topic of music.  One of our drives on the desktop at home has crapped out on us.  Or rather, it’s still doing it’s job, but we can’t see it from our laptops.  Hubbs has tried everything.  The down side?  I can’t sync my iTouch because it doesn’t see most of my tunes!!!  So I asked hubbs if I could just copy all my music to my laptop.  It’s 160G for Fat-Jesus’ sake!!!  I can barely fill 4G’s of music on my iTouch.  Well, I’m not going to point any fingers, but *that guy* has yet to copy my music over.  I’ve been asking for two weeks now.  We leave for vacation in a few days and I want to be able to sync up all of my tunes.  So I’ve decided to roll up my sleeves and do it myself.  One way or another, I will figure this out. 

*****

Admin Tip of the Day:  Calendar Management

When serving multiple Executives/Bosses, this can seem a daunting task.  Ask your boss/es what their ground rules are for meetings, time between meetings, a.m./p.m. preferences, etc. early on.  (i.e., I’d prefer long meetings be done in the morning…or, I’d like to keep most meetings under an hour whenever possible…)  Once you get to know them better, it will flow like butter 99% of the time.

Set ground rules early + Stick to them = Happy Boss

Outlook 2003 For Dummies is a good read.  If you want tips and tricks to working with this tool, read it.  You can probably find a used one for a very reasonable price.

Until next time, be careful and don’t be an idiot driver!

Sh*t happens sometimes.  I messed up.  Fine.  I’m woman enough to admit it.  I’M SORRY!  My sense of humor has never been conventional.  And now that I was finally trying to live and enjoy life, it seems that I must either chose a different path, or get in line with the other sheep.  I used to pride myself in being a sheep, until my eyes opened one day.  I see so much more now.  But alas, not everyone goes through life with their eyes open.  What shall I do?

I don’t know what I’ll do.  But one thing is for sure…this will take some serious thought…

By Saturday morning, it was just too much.  I called the doctor’s office to see if they would see me as a walk-in.  As luck would have it, they could not.  So I scheduled an appointment for Monday.

Monday rolls around and I’m still in pain.  I visit with the Doc and he’s puzzled.  He decided to send off a culture to the lab for further analyzing.  In the meantime, he prescribed an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory.  I have to give it to this medical office…they are up with the times.  The Doc carries around a computer with him and puts most of the info in there instead of writing directly on the chart.  Also, he can send the prescriptions directly to the pharmacy.  I don’t even have to waste gas dropping the darn thing off!

Well, in theory that’s great…

When I called the pharmacy later that day to find out how much these bad boys were going to cost me, they told me they hadn’t received any new prescriptions for me.  It was too late to call the doctor’s office.  Haha, joke’s on me…no relief in sight for my dilemma.

Next morning, I call the doctor’s office.  They verify that the prescription went out late and apologized.  Okay.  Now to call the pharmacy with the same information.  The pharmacy tech couldn’t find anything in the system, but she was kind enough to call the doctor’s office for a verbal request.  Thank goodness for someone with scruples!

So….I rush over there during lunch hour, grab my meds, pick up lunch (because I knew I’d have to eat to take them), then rushed back to work.  I painfully scarf a Chik-fila sandwich.  Then I get my meds ready.  Lo and behold, the antibiotic is GI-NORMOUS!  HELLO!

Q: What do you prescribe a girl with a sore, swollen, tender throat?

A: A giant horse pill of an antibiotic…

Brilliant.  Genius.  I’ve never seen such common sense before.  I nearly threw up trying to swallow that dumb thing.  Pffffffttttt!  Just another day in the life of me…

On a lighter note…

I was successful in getting some packing done last night.  I’d say at least 60%.  I can’t wait until we’re in the air, over the Gulf of Mexico, and onward to the Caribbean! 

*****

Admin Tip of the Day:  Always use spell check.  Always.

Until next time, be careful and don’t be an idiot driver!

Then Saturday night, I started cooking and preparing for Father’s Day lunch at our house.  I prepped a brisket and started cooking it at 10pm @ 275 degrees.  At 4 in the morning, I woke up and lowered it to 250 degrees.  I let it cook like that until about 1pm.  It…was…delicious!  I also slow cooked some sausage, made some pasta salad, borracho beans, and guacamole.  I think it was a good meal all around.  Then bro and sis went to the store for some sweets later.  Yummy!  It was a fun day.

Besides this, we’re creeping closer and closer to our vacation to Puerto Rico.  With any kind of luck, I WILL get 75% of my packing done tonight!!!  I have no excuse.  The only thing on TV tonight, is “The Closer”…but that’s over by 9pm.  Here I come luggage, I shall put you to use!

Also, I’ve got school coming up in mid-July.  Gotta say, I’m kinda looking forward to it.  I’m going to try to pay my tuition this payday, then get my books the next.  You know how expensive books can be…aye!  But either way, I’m ready to start getting more classes under my belt.

Other than this, been thinking about future entrepreneurial adventures.  I think my partners and I will be having a business meeting soon.  I must try to organize my thoughts onto paper.  Lots of ideas, always rolling around in my head.  We’ve done a lot of brainstorming and researching…time to take the next baby step toward making this happen.

*****

Admin Tip of the Day: Make time to read operation manuals for office machines.  You’ll be surprised to find out what some of them can do in addition to their primary purpose.

Until next time, be careful and don’t be an idiot driver!