January 2011
Red Tape
January 29, 2011
Just finished a lovely conversation with a government employee that I met earlier today. She was here making up some volunteer hours at the information desk and stopped by to talk to me before she left for the day. In real life she works at the Smithsonian and was telling me all about government employees.
Since I'm looking into being one myself I was obviously interested and she told me an interesting fact that I hadn't been aware of until today. Apparently, one year after getting into the system (becoming an employee) it is almost impossible to get fired. I'm not going to go into how this all turns into red tape, I'm sure it is fairly obvious, but the basic formula goes something like this: I can't be fired = I don't really have to work all that hard.
Think about it. Now, I'm sure that not everyone is like this. In fact, I'm positive that a large majority of people out there really want to do their jobs correctly. No, I'm not speaking sarcastically. When I look around me at the Archives I see a lot of people (volunteers and employees alike) who love what they're doing and do a good job at it. But you have to admit that the temptation to not work very hard after realizing that you can't be fired is strong. Especially for people with not a lot of work ethic.
But I'm not just picking on the public sector. Private sector companies of course can hire and fire people at will and it does happen a lot. But I'm sure that anyone who reads this can easily think of at least three people they work with who don't deserve the job that they have now. You know it, and all your co-workers know it, but the people in charge are either oblivious to the fact or won't do anything about it. The person that I myself am thinking about has actually been handled. lol.
I've gone off on a bandwagon here so I'll stop. But just think about this fact: Once you've been a government employee for at least a year, it is very difficult to be fired. Hmmm
Se Fue La Luz
January 28, 2011
Okay, so, man, it's been a rough couple of days! Our power went out on Wednesday around 10:30 and didn't come back on until almost 10:00 last night. Zach and I slept in the living room because that was the only room with a decent amount of heat thanks to the gas fireplace. We had no hot water and no way to cook anything because the oven and stove are both electric (and the oven isn't working right now anyway) as is the microwave. The fridge was also out of bounds due to the fact that it got warmer every time it was opened. (I caved around noon yesterday and opened it up.) We lived off of fiber bars and these weird 'apple snacks' that Zach found in the garage. Fortunately the water still worked, albeit it wasn't at all warm.
We have school again today and it is snowing again. Getting to D.C. tomorrow is going to be a bear. Snowy AND cold. Fortunately I love D.C. so I'll make the effort. Sorry for the short-ish post. Not a whole lot to say. We've been snowed in. OH, but I did buy some BANANA SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER! AND IT SMELLS AMAZING! I haven't tried it out yet. lol. But I will. And I know it's going to be FANTASTIC!!
Preamble to the Constitution (Because it is Beautiful)
January 25, 2011
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Amen.
And for when you want to make me even more emotional...
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
Now please, don't assume that I am advocating a government takeover. Believe me, I realize that it is impossible. I wouldn't even know where to begin (although a student of mine came up to me the other day with a brilliant plan for controlling the world's leaders by adding something (sea monkeys, actually) to the water supply). Simply put, I love the wording (and, naturally, the ideas behind) both the Constitution and the Declaration. I'm proud to say that I've read both of them all the way through and I understand their history and the rights they give me. I think every American needs to do that sometime or other.
That being said, tonight I'm going to go shooting. And then make dinner for Zach and I because my parents are out of the country. Cheers!
Becoming (Slightly) Vegetarian
January 24, 2011
After having some minor successes in losing weight (4.2 pounds in four weeks!) I've sort of come to the conclusion that I need to start eating a bit healthier. Healthier in my book means whole grains, fruits and vegetables. And that's pretty much it.
When I lived in Mexico all we ate was fresh food. I literally went to the market and bought fresh fruits and vegetables every single week. I knew where the food was coming from (local farms) and it didn't have any preservatives or that weird wax coating that you get when you buy food from a grocery store. I knew the owner of the vegetable stand personally and he would give me substantial discounts from time to time (considering that I bought almost $100 in vegetables a week...) We also ate farm-fresh eggs and - when we had meat - meat that had been butchered either that morning or the day before.
We lived off of soup (because it was cheap and easy) and eggs (like, every morning we had eggs). Needless to say, I lost a substantial amount of weight. I was at my lowest weight ever and my waist was 26 inches (an enviable measurement, and one I have not been able to attain here in these United States). I ate less because there were so many people that we didn't all get seconds or thirds and I only ate three times a day. There was no mindless snacking because I was too poor to buy mindless snacks. My one splurge was coffee (at ten pesos a cup you really can't go wrong) and that just served to speed up my metabolism. My body adjusted to the schedule and that was that. With a bit of exercise every once in awhile (like, maybe every other day depending on my schedule) and just basically walking everywhere (so much easier) I really got to be rather svelte.
And then, unfortunately, I moved back to the States. Rejoining our culture left me in a bit of a shock for a bit simply because of the massive amounts of food choices (freeze-dried stroganoff anyone?) and the fact that I now had money. I went a bit crazy the first two months and it didn't help that my sister was getting married and we ate out a lot. I quickly gained twenty pounds and four inches on my waist. Ouch! Fortunately I realized it round about the end of July and curtailed the growth but never managed to actually lose it. I joined a gym but I hate running so I only went intermittently and healthy food choices in my house were (and still are) practically non-existent.
UNTIL TODAY! Well, tomorrow. I've decided to go almost vegetarian, cutting out meats such as beef and pork. I'll eat chicken, turkey and fish, only because they are lean and I really like turkey. Eggs are going to be my primary source of protein (because, for some reason, despite it all, I still really love eggs) and fresh vegetables are going to form the bulk of my meals. I've already started cutting down on sugar and sodium (except for at breakfast) and I hardly ever eat white bread any more. This diet will leave me a bit of room to splurge fortunately and since I don't have some sort of belief against eating animals I'll still be able to do so from time to time. This is going to be a lifestyle change, not just a diet, and I know that in the long run it'll help me to be a healthier individual all around. I'm going to call it the 'Mexico Diet' lol.
Anyways, I'll be posting recipes from time to time along with the makeup reviews and shopping stories. Plus I'll let you all know how it's going. As I said, 4 pounds in the last four weeks is nothing to laugh at and it is mostly due to counting calories on a wonderful app called Lose It that I've got on my iPhone. If you sign up, be sure to friend me (lshafer@ocs1.org). It's online as well, so if you don't have an iPhone you can still participate.
Thanks for reading! Have a great week everyone! Chavo!
Operation: Annapolis Mall
January 18, 2011
Considering that I just finally got everything hung up and organized in my closet again, I figured I'd go ahead and write this post while I still remembered all of the witty things that I intended to say.
Yesterday being Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday holiday, I decided that the best way to celebrate would be to go shopping. I had invited someone along but in the end she had something else she needed to do which worked out very well because I don't think we would have been friends afterward.
This was not to be your normal, everyday, leisurely shopping trip. I had saved up $400 and wanted to hit every store possible. The parameters for the shopping trip were thus: Nothing could cost over $20 total. That means $20 tax included. This way, I figured, I'd get about 20 new items, give or take. Give or take because I assumed that not everything would be $20 but some things would cost less which would mean that I could get one or two things extra. I had never done something like this before. Usually when I go to the mall I see one or two things that I like and I might purchase them after a bit of thinking about it. I usually spend maybe $50 at the most.
One or two things that I did not do yesterday include not going into Sephora or Bare Escentuals. That's pretty amazing. But the trip wasn't about makeup or beauty products, it was all about clothes. In short, how many clothes can one person buy for $400?
It took longer than normal to actually get to the mall because someone had ingeniously crashed their car right on the exit ramp. I felt bad for them, naturally, but it was still a bit irksome. It was three cars, actually. A blue one, a white one and a little Toyota truck. But that's off subject.
Arriving at the mall the first store I went to was New York & Co. I had just found out the other day that they offer a year-long 15% discount to all teachers who can show valid I.D. I already love NY&C because not only am I a small in their sizes (they size things big) but also because they usually have at least three decently priced pieces that I love. I tried about five things on, wandered around the store a bit (they were having a buy one get one half off sale on the entire store) decided on three that I absolutely had to have and then went up to the cash register. I messed up here. I didn't check on the prices. The three pieces should have, by my own rules, cost less than $60. Even with the BOGO sale and my 15% discount the total price for NY&C ended up being $73.31. Not a good start. Still, I loved what I had bought and justified it to myself by saying that. Then I promised that I would be much more careful at the next store.
The next store ended up being Charlotte Russe (which, if you don't believe me when I say different stores size things differently, I just want you to know that I wear a medium from CR) and they also had a BOGO sale going on on their camisoles. Camis were something that I'd mentally put on my list only because I'd been watching What Not To Wear and seen the cutest lace trimmed cami that I wanted. The camis at CR were only like, $7.50 each and the buy one get one half off sale meant that if I bought just a few, I'd be back on track with my budget. I chose three camis and went to check out and as I was standing in line I saw a purple over-shirt thing (which I have no idea what to call) which only cost $19.50 (they sure do like their .50's at CR) and added it to my pile. Total cost at CR: $40.55.
So altogether, by that point, I'd obtained seven new items and spent $113.86 which averages out to about $16.27 per item. I was back on budget.
Unfortunately, after the initial successes, I ended up wandering around the mall for quite some time searching for a store that had clothes that would fit into my rules. I stepped into Forever 21 for approximately fifteen seconds before deciding that, one, their spring line had way too many stripes involved and, two, that the store was a bit too cluttered for me to enjoy it. I walked into Madewell, The Limited, Express, dELiA*s and the Gap but at each store there wasn't really anything worth buying from the clearance rack and the sales they were offering weren't tempting enough for me to buy anything. I didn't find anything at the Gap but at The Limited, dELiA*s and Express I saw some things that I considered buying except they were way out of my budget.
So I kept going. My left shoulder was really hurting by this time and I'd been in the mall for an hour. I ended up in Nordstrom (which was a huge mistake because I've never, ever purchased anything from that majorly overpriced store), but didn't realize what I was doing until I caught myself pricing a Burberry jacket that cost more than my entire credit limit. In short, I couldn't have bought it even if I'd wanted to. (It was exceedingly cute though.)
I finally left Nordstrom and found myself in that weird back hallway that Annapolis Mall has. Like they randomly connected two wings of the mall with a passageway that they haphazardly stuck stores into. It was there that I spied the ESPIRIT store, a store I'd seen many times but never actually gone into. It was there that I struck shopping GOLD!
They were having some sort of mega-sale and most things were 30% off and in the back they had these racks full of $5 shirts and camis. I quickly found the most adorable brown jacket and this amazing blue shirt with a really sweet collar. They were only 30% off but everything else I got (two white shirts, a gray cami and a sparkly gray shirt) was, at the most, $10. So, at the ESPIRIT store I purchased six new things and spent a total of $80.96 which put me at a whopping total of $194.82 which averages out to around $15 per item of clothing.
By this time I'd been in the mall two hours at least and had only spent half of my allotted amount of money. I now see what Stacy and Clinton go through every time they have to spend a whole day shopping with stubborn people. They don't even get to get any new clothes! I found an H&M which is sometimes a bit too European for my tastes but they're always extremely cheap so I went in. Saw a few things but finally settled on an orange and white striped shirt. As I said before, I don't really like stripes (although they're really in apparently) but what caught my attention with this shirt was the sleeves. They're very puffy. lol. So I bought that, a bracelet and some hair clips. Total: $22.11.
By this time I was getting a bit desperate. I'd been through pretty much the whole mall and couldn't really think of anything else I'd seen that I wanted to buy. Express, The Limited and dELiA*s had some items I'd been interested in but they were all outside of the rules. In a last ditch effort I told myself that I'd go to Sears, spend as much as I could (yay!) and if I couldn't spend it all, I'd go pick up some pricier items that I'd seen.
Sears turned out to be just okay. I don't really like their clothes, they're definitely not the first people I think of when I think 'shopping', but they do have this brand that they sell called Apostrophe which has surprised me every now and then. Plus they had pretty much everything for sale at 50% off and who can complain about that? I realized that I'd only been picking up shirts and no jackets so at Sears I picked up two jackets and this really, really cute, cute, cute, cute vest that I have no idea what to wear with. But it is cute. Amazingly cute. I spent $51.81 at Sears.
It was about three o'clock by then and I was bushed. I had been hauling around four heavy bags all over the mall and my arms were tired. Plus my purse kept falling off of my shoulder driving me up a wall and so I pretty much gave up. I went back to Express and bought a bright pink tank with flowers on the collar for $37.00 even and then went to dELiA*s and got a cashmere-feeling sweater (I say that because it is absolutely the softest thing I've ever owned) plus a necklace for a total of $49.56 (the sweater was $46.75 on its own.)
All told I only managed to spend $355.40. I bought 22 new clothing items (accessories included) which came out to about $16.15 per item.
Various other notes: Apparently the thing this spring is either stripes (GAP, H&M, Forever 21, J Crew) or really light pastels like gray, purple, pink and white (NY&C, Charlotte Russe, Espirit, dELiA*s, Madewell, The Limited, GAP). I'm not sure I like either of those trends. I really wanted a whole lot more color. The only place I found that was at Espirit, Express and a little bit at The Limited.
The average price you can expect to spend at Annapolis Mall on a full price item appears to be around $30 - $34. Give or take, of course, depending on the store you go into.
MLK day isn't the greatest day on earth to go shopping. There aren't really many sales like you see around New Year and holidays like President's Day and Memorial Day weekend. Plus the mall is absolutely packed with 'mosiers'. People who go to the mall and crowd up the halls with their slower-than-turtle-speed walking.
And that's about it! Yesterday really was fun now that I've put away all of the clothes and have more options about what to wear. I might do this again, save up $400 and go on a spending spree. It really was nice not to have too many limitations on what you buy. Next time I'll try to focus on accessories or shoes maybe. I don't have many of either of those. lol
Have a great week everyone!!
Things That Still Confuse Me
January 4, 2011
Alright, so I'm finally back. December was the month that I didn't do anything extra. I didn't go to the gym, I didn't diet, I didn't read, I didn't do anything fun at all. Well, except Christmas. Christmas was a lot of fun. I'd go through my haul but that would just make me seem shallow and superficial. Which might be a redundant way to say that. At any rate, long story short, I didn't blog either, obviously. The last post was when...like three or four weeks ago?
Between then and now I've acquired so much makeup that it's not even funny. Plus I have several books that I need to review on here and there's a lot of other stuff that needs to go up. But happy new year to everyone, sorry for the HUGE absence. Now I need to go pack a lunch for tomorrow, take pictures of makeup which I'll subsequently post to Facebook and then here. The books haven't been great hits but they're okay. I'll post those reviews when I finish reading this second one.
So there y'go. I'm back, I'm going to try to get more steady with this thing again, I don't have anything huge coming up so there shouldn't be any issues doing that. Look for some new reviews sometime late this week/early next week.
Ciao!!
