Wednesday, June 30, 2004  

Yesterday I went downtown Minneapolis with a group of students and another leader to set up 2 prayer stations. I've never done this before and it turned out to be very cool (despite the heat, which was not.)

We set up these two folding tables with brackets in it to hang banners on the table - red cloth / white letters saying real big "Prayer Station." We put one on each street corner. This is down where busses are constantly unloading and a lot of foot traffic is happening.

You station some people by the actual table, and then one or two people about a half a block down on both sides handing out little slips of paper that say

PRAYER STATION AHEAD

DO YOU NEED PRAYER FOR
health
finances
family
crisis

--and then it has our church address and phone number on it.

I was suprised about a few things. First of all surpised to see how many people actually came up to US without us asking, wanting prayer. That was super cool. Also suprised at the # of people who angrily walked by when we asked if we could pray for them, saying they wanted prayer that "Bush Gets Defeated." Not that Kerry would win, or anything else, but that Bush gets defeated. hahahaaha!!!! So i would say, "Well i'll pray God's will..." And that would make them more mad (as if to say they thought God might be on GW's side??) and they'd walk away at a quicker pace. Silly.

Gotta love the people who act like they're in a huge big hurry. Can't stop or talk or even take the slip of paper to see what is going on, tho you know they are curious as heck.

Also love the philosophical guys who are either drunk or high who wanted to talk to me about the physics of prayer and how we are all gods and we should not mess with nature by praying. So i asked him, sir, that sounds to me like you think that prayer might actually work then? That only confused him more. I just let him talk his confused babble (we are not there to evangelize - only to pray, unless someone asks us a pointed question like how to get to heaven) - and then he said his peace and walked off saying "So i guess you can pray for clarity for me." Yesss!

And it was a pure pleasure to actually get to lay my hand on people's shoulder or take their hand and pray over them for a quick 10 second prayer - you'd be amazed how many people would let us pray with them. One gentleman named Aaron, dressed in Army uniform, asked humbly that i pray with him for his brothers and sisters in Iraq for safety and for his family.

A lady named Diane walked up to me with tears in her eyes (out of no where) asking for prayer for her friend Lori who is a recovering addict and needs help.

An African lady who spoke basically no english with a headdress on (I wrote her name as Latidi phonetically) let me pray for her even tho i don't think she understood my english.

A man in a business suit, who must have been walking a long ways to work was sweating and in a hurry, but asked that i pray for his kids.
He kept walking but i prayed anyways.

A group of older ladies walked by and as i smiled at them and said my "Could I pray for you today???" initially said no but then the one lady named Priscilla turned around and said, "No, wait - you can pray for us for travel safety." And then made her 2 friends stop and bow their heads with me as i asked God to give them a good safe travel.

One lady told me to pray for her husband Gary, he was going thru a very rough time.

Same with a lady named Christina - her and her husband were seperating and her kids needed food and clothing and she was working two jobs to provide for them and i prayed for God to give her laughter and joy and all her other needs.

A couple people had no requests off the top of their head so we bowed and i prayed just a thanksgiving prayer with them!!

One lady wanted me to pray for her foster daughter, Alliyah, who has 3 different living situations to face right now and as i prayed for this young girl i almost started crying cuz i could just sense how sad this caring mom was - and as she walked off i told one of the students i didn't want to start bawling and then HE got tears in his eyes too! And i watched her walk down the street and she turned around and looked at us again - kind of with a look that said we were God-sent!

Everyone else had cool stories too... I look forward to going again!!
 

   [ posted  @ 6:18 PM | ]

On Friday morning i'll board one of two busses that will hold over 100 students and leaders and head off to Salt Lake City for the EFCA National youth convention! You can check out the website here with all the going's on. Because of that i won't be posting (unless i find an internet cafe' of course) and you'll all just have to become regular readers of the blogs on the right hand column. I will be posting probably later tonight about our Prayer Station adventure yesterday - it was my first time out and i have a lot of cool stories from it! Serena vs. Jennifer 10 a.m. in all time zones today. WATCH IT! (i set the vcr.) 

   [ posted  @ 4:44 AM | ]

Been real busy - and getting ready for my trip out to the wild west! Going to play tennis tonight. Are you watching Wimbledon???

   [ posted  @ 2:46 PM | ]

 



I may be the only one who finds this funny but let me tell you a quick story.

Part of my new job as a sales supervisor is to learn product info. Thankfully, some manufacturers make it easy to learn. Such as HP's "Infolab" or Lexmarks new "learnlexmark.com" rewards contest.

We have a competition company wide to see which store can rack up the most points and there are cash payouts as well as prizes you get for how many points you earn after you take quizes (which you can keep taking over and over until you get them all right. Only your highest score is counted.)

This whole stupid week i've spent my extra time at home on learnlexmark.com trying to get the maximum individual points = 7200. So tonight, i finally get the total points. Yes i know that i am a loser. I don't need to be reminded of this, but there are a lot of cool prizes to choose from like tents, camping gear, video gift cards, swiss army knives, candles, blah blah. So i thought i'd check out this hot item. It's a VillaWare 5100 Ice Cream Maker, Stainless Steel. Before i redeem my points, i decided to see what this thing really is. So i got on Amazon.com and started reading the customer reviews. I love reading those reviews sometimes because it shows you truly the stupidity of Americans - how we all think we are so smart.

If you want a good laugh, go and read all 33 customer reviews about people's expectations of this 60$ ice cream maker. I was laughing so hard!!! (Kind of reminds me of the ebay thing on gottaloveem's blog.)

By the way, i still haven't decided if i will cash my points in on this ice cream maker. I am craving ice cream really bad tonight but don't feel like getting in the car to drive across the street to get some !!! haha!

   [ posted  @ 5:53 PM | ]

. 


This picture is entitled "all roads lead to office max" because you'll notice the left/right arrows which essentially point you to a parking lot that leads to my store, even if you try to get away from it.

My good friend Hector, who was promoted to supervisor right after me is leaving now for a new store. I keep getting passed up for all the promotions. It's either because i'm a girl (oops excuse me, woman) and because i don't share all the dirty jokes and grab my crotch all the time and adjust myself like the boyz do (i'm one of the only girls at the store i work at, including associates. Our guyz seem to only hire more guyz. And guyz, stop grabbing yourselves! For pete's sake if it's not working out, get new UNDIES! SHEEEEESH!) or something else - like i won't go work for peanuts and sit in traffic for an hour just to get to work.

I made it clear i'll go to another store but they have got to pay me more. I know i'm getting ripped off.

"They better start treating us software people better. I could program a virus that would rip that place off, big time, big time." -Mike Bolton - Office Space.
"I could set the place on fire." - Milton.

Aside from that i love my job and am just biding my time. I can't believe i leave for Salt Lake City in less than a week. That freaks me out. haha

   [ posted  @ 4:38 AM | ]

My counter says this is my

701st

post on this blog. OK that's cool.

I've never heard it put quite this way. Awesome article i read tonight on voting one's conscience. The investigation continues. Here is an exerpt.

When Clinton left office we had large budget surpluses, an unconstitutional, Gestapo-like Patriot Act had not been passed into law, we had not experienced the massive terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, our troops were not languishing in another no-win, meaningless war half way around the world, gas prices were not climbing to over two dollars a gallon, and millions of illegal aliens had not been promised amnesty.

To be sure, the reason for much of the country's positive readings at the end of Clinton's term had more to do with the fact that Republicans in Congress often actually behaved like conservatives (unlike now) and served to stalemate a Democratic White House. In Washington, D.C., gridlock is always a good thing!

...Therefore, when it comes to voting, Christians are obligated only to cast an informed vote based upon their convictions of right and wrong. Who wins and who loses is God's business, not ours.


I remember in '96 not voting for Dole. I remember in '00 the first time i ever voted Republican in any election. I'm not so sure what to do this election - i believe the two-party system we have now is a complete failure and it may take some time to break it down. Anyways just a good article i read. "The Spirit of Fear Controls Many Christians."

   [ posted  @ 6:21 PM | ]

After all my singing about Cheese Curds, i have finally found a home. This week is the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival, in Ellsworth Wisconsin. Where-ever that is, i'm going there. Who's with me????? 


Click the picture to go to the festival website (imagine).

If you don't know what cheese curds are, click here.

   [ posted  @ 9:11 PM | ]

I named it

"The Fathers Day from Hades."

Sheol.

Gehenna.

Hell.

I won't get into a big long work blog entry today but we had about an hour where every inquiring mind walked into my store and i was the only management person in there (the other guy called in bc his girlfriend is sick & pregnant)

- alarms are going off.
- there is a man who is not getting any help in CopyMax so he decides to go behind the counter and start looking for his order to pick up (which is done completely wrong and has to be redone)
- i am helping someone pick out wireless networking equipment
- more alarms are going off at the digital cameras because people are looking at them and tripping the anti-theft sensors
- no one but me has the code to shut off the blaring alarm
- Sean has questions about this check-printing software, does it work with Quicken, what paper do they need - everyone is talking over the radios
- the only cashier i have has to go help the furious copymax customer who is tearing thru all of our files and helps himself to walk behind the counter omg.

I'm there sick - runny nose. Headache. Have been up since 5 a.m. for church and had 10 minutes when i got home to quick change, eat, and get in the car and get to work. Had not had enough coffee to get my engines running right. Talking to this lady trying to help her pick out a stupid daily planner - my nose is running and i'm pretty sure the snot might drip on the floor if i don't get a tissue soon but she keeps asking the stupidest questions - grrrrrrrrrrr!

haha
it actually was only bad for that little bit. We missed our store daily sales goal by just a few hundred bucks. I went to work thinking, "It's Father's Day. We won't be busy at all! Everyone will be out on the boat, out doing the grill, no one will need office supplies!" But i was wrong. We had the uneducated white-trashy customer crowd today, who comes in, asks a lot of questions and ends up not buying anything after you spend 20 minutes with them showing them the benefits of HP printers over loser Epson printers... grrrrrr!!!

OK enough of that. The day is over. I get to go and open the store at 7:30 a.m. can't wait.

Thank you Jesus for a job.

   [ posted  @ 7:53 PM | ]

A friend o' mine from Chicago land tipped me off to this band - his roommate is a member of, and i've been listening to their mp3 samples - really good crisp stuff. And awesome site too. Fun to look around. Let me know what you think about it! 


Umm, kinda like click here or the picture too.

   [ posted  @ 3:43 PM | ]

Someone on the youth ministry listserv i subscribe to posted this article today. It's a long one but well written and very thorough if you ever care...

Is Islam a Religion that teaches peace ?

This is probably a sad attempt at a post today but i will probably blog more later tonight!

   [ posted  @ 2:32 PM | ]

Last night was COOOOOOOOOOOL! I met the Russian tennis finalists from the French Open - we talked and they signed autographs and left me notes that they loved Christian Music and that i should listen to it to. Ok so it was a DREAM - but it was still funny. They came to office max to buy legal pads (50% off clearance) - and went to pay with a check and the one girl had "republic of russia" on the address part of her check and i didn't know if our check machines would accept that money. LOL

The store closes at 9 p.m., and in my dream there were customers in there till close to 11 p.m. and no matter if we locked the doors they kept coming in and Hector had pulled every cash drawer but one, so there was a line of 20 angry people ready to pay. And the one man was super ticked at me because i would not let him pay with his CULVERS GIFT CARDS!!! This must have been in my dream because Hector and i were debating yesterday how we can never say no to customers and where to draw the line. It's become a hot debate now because with this new company, there's pretty much nothing you can say NO to - and the bigger fit a customer throws, the more money it seems like we're supposed to deduct. I'm torn with this whole issue because it would seem we are going to go out of business with the way we bend over for people, but whatever. I could write a 10 page long entry on this.

It does feel good to never have to say no, but is that what a real manager does? Doesn't have to make any decisions? Just give people whatever they want? For example, a lady came in yesterday and bought a 300$ laser copier thing and had a 10$ off coupon if she spent 50$. And she is standing there in all seriousness asking my associate telling him she wants 40$ off because she's spending 50$ 4x over. Get it? So he calls me over there and I have to make the choice. I'm like ma'am, your coupon is for 10 dollars. That's all i can do. She literally wanted us to ring that coupon 4x (that's called fraud ahem) because she felt so important that she is buying this monster machine. Stupidity. But we're not allowed to say no.

So

I told her i'll go check next week's ad to see if it's going on sale (it wasn't) and when i get in the office, i'm radio-ing my manager going DWIGHT NOW WHAT?????????? WHAT DO I DO????? I can't ring in a coupon 4x - people get fired for stuff like that. He said just make her happy and price over ride the machine down 10% and still give her the coupon on top of that. I should have just told her if she can't afford this machine to pick a cheaper one. But she had already spent a half our with Dan picking out this machine... I'll probably go to work today and see that's she's returned it bc she's too stupid to know how to plug it in.

So that's what i did. Simply because she threw a fit.

But when Hector came in (my other sales supervisor) we were debating this and he said he thinks i did the wrong thing. That we can't just give stuff away because people ask for it. But according to my manager and everyone else, that's really what we are supposed to do. Make the customer's experience the best. Well i'll see my manager today. I thought about some other things i could have done later. Like tell her if she buys the extended warranty, i'll take 10% offf the machine haha. Or tell her that she needs to sign up for MaxPerks so she'll get a lot of $$ back in the mail.

Oh well. No one has probably read this far. Toodles.

   [ posted  @ 7:44 AM | ]

Mom sent me this pic yesterday on the email. I'm adding it to my biiiig file of GW Bush pictures. He is so adorable.  

   [ posted  @ 6:34 AM | ]

Did i really miss a day of blogging???!

OK well I did want to post something which is more for my reference than probably yours.

On the way home from church Tuesday (we had prayer station traning for outreach, more on that next week) - i was listening to one of my favorite radio stations, KKMS 980 AM.

They were doing a pretend interview with John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrams Progress. And he was talking about the 7 signs a person is truly a Christian, comparing a born-again experience to the first birth of a baby. It was really cool. Kind of like a check-list.

2Co 13:5
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified.

So check this out. And yes i know this will be super simplified bc as i was driving in traffic i was taking notes. I can barely read them.
1. New babies cry out to God. Did you cry out to God at your conversion? With tears?

2. New babies crave the mother's breast. Did you crave the milk of the Word? He made the point that we place so much emphasis on "follow up" of new converts. However, a new baby would be craving to be feasting at the table of God... You would not have to be constantly on someone's back asking if they are going to church or reading their bible or memorizing scripture. They would naturally want to do this on their own. He also brought up a statistic that for 40 people "saved" at an evangelistic crusade (i think he was hinting at billy graham) that they called, only ONE was found to still be in the faith. The rest had merely responded based on emotions, which is why i discredit that form of evangelism in most instances.

3. New babies can't live with out hope. New Christians rest in the hope of Christ's promise.

4. New babies look like their daddies. New Christians, made in the image of God, look like their Dad. Similarities should be easily recognized.

5. New babies take comfort in their parents. New Christians take their comfort from God.

6. Growing children learn the customs of their home. New Christians learn the customs of God's house. They enjoy sermons. They enjoy fellowship and learning to live in community.

7. Growing children express their needs and wants to their parents. Growing Christians tell God their needs and desires.

Well that's real brief. Of course it could be expanded and added to. I may use it for teaching someday.

   [ posted  @ 10:10 PM | ]

This dude's writing 52 songs in 52 weeks and he's doing a super great job! I know i've commented on his blog before, but I wanted to do another review here because i'm so super impressed. That is also why he's in my blogroll.

I was thinking this weekend how i never write songs anymore. I was thinking WHY?? I have more time now than probably ever before and i just don't get the inspiration. Anyways, i really like his writing style and sound - I hear a lot of different artists in his music.

And he gave me permission to teach my youth this song - love it. Love the harmony, love the content:

"Be the Body."

As you rise to leave this place
Be the body, be the body
Every stranger, every face
Be the body

To the suffering in the street,
Be the body, be the body,
To each hungry soul you meet,
Be the body.

When your faith is just an ember
Take this bread and you will remember
When your heart is dead from sin
Take this wine and live again

To the ones who haven't heard yet
Be the body, be the body
To the ones who don't deserve it
Be the body

To the child with tear stained face
be the body, be the body
Let her know that warm embrace
be the body

When you're worn down from the miles
Take this bread and rest awhile
When you are broken by your sin
Take this wine, come home again

When you're beat down from the fight
Be the body, be the body
In the dark and lonely midnight
Be the body

Greg Adkins - acoustic guitar, vocals
Danny Rosenbalm - electric guitar, B-3 organ, Background vocals
Brent Conner - bass guitar
Scott Bradford - drums

----
Here's another i love... Click to listen

The Best That I Can

You have saved me from myself
You have found me when I'm dried out
At the bottom of the well
Bleeding where I fell
You have seen me fall apart
You have let me break your heart

You have loved me anyway
There are times I don't deserve
Even the smallest drop of grace
I have no words to say
I abandon you again
Your forgiveness never ends

I wish I had a bigger heart
I could love you just a little bit more
A little more
I wish that I had longer arms
I could raise them even higher off the floor
Off the floor
I wish I had a bigger voice
Maybe then my song could rise up and soar
to heaven's door
But the way that I am
I am doing the best that I can

You have opened up my eyes
I was drowning in an
endless sea of selfishness and lies
But I have said goodbye
to the way I used to be
Now that I can finally see

I wish I had a bigger heart
I could love you just a little bit more
A little more
I wish that I had longer arms
I could raise them even higher off the floor
Off the floor
I wish I had a bigger voice
Maybe then my song could rise up and soar
to heaven's door
But the way that I am
I am doing the best that I can


Greg Adkins - grand piano, acoustic guitars, bass, vocals

   [ posted  @ 7:48 AM | ]

This was COOL! I didn't even try to rig it for this outcome!

You're GI Joe with the Kung Fu Grip!! You're
strong, tough, and know how to kick some butt.
Don't forget though, no matter how tough you
think you are, you're still just a doll. God
Bless America.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

   [ posted  @ 11:07 AM | ]

 


For those of you who like the bizarre and unusual, you should check this out... a cult in my area (only about 10 minutes from my house) called the Temple of ECK - i've been reading up on it because someone left one of their tracts in my store a few months ago, and driving past the temple a few times (it is beautiful but also super creepy with it's Egyptian and babylonian flair) had me curious what is going on around here.

From their site: A pale golden ziggurat crowns the Temple. The stepped, pyramidal roof is reminiscent of architecture common to ancient Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. The design symbolizes mankind's spiritual journey up the plateaus of life. Humanity starts at the level of the human consciousness and makes its deliberate way to the summit, which is God Consciousness.
The guardian of the Temple of ECK in Chanhassen is, of course, the Living ECK Master. The Temple is a gathering place for inner and outer study. Seekers of truth come here physically, in the dream state, in contemplation, and via Soul Travel to study the holy works of ECK. ECK Worship Services are provided for the public and ECKists who choose to expand their states of consciousness.

Reading their history and trying to figure everything out, it had me thinking how non-christians must view church websites and our "insider" jargon and shop-talk... we make no sense either. This one is WAAAAAY out there though!

   [ posted  @ 10:42 AM | ]

Man alive. Well somehow I have made it thru this expensive day thru faith and prayer... I'm trying to keep laughing about it so I don't get more edgy than i already am. I ended up signing up with AAA so a guy could come start my battery and as i turned that key, let me tell you, i was praying in Jesus'Name that that thing would start.

It started.

Then he tells me to leave it run, but that I should not tempt fate, and since my car is 5 years old and about 50,000 miles, i should get that battery replaced because it might not take another charge. So he told me to go to Checker in Eden Prairie, which had the battery i needed, but no one can install it and I sure the heck don't know how to put a battery in. The guy hands me a wrench and i just laughed at him and said hey I'm a girl i have no idea how to install a battery, i'm sure i'd just make it worse. Then he was going to come out and show me, but his manager told him he was not even allowed to be in the parking lot with me - all they are allowed to do is lend us a tool. I understand that but i was laughing. Then they made a phone call to TiresPlus and hooked me up for an installation over there. I so appreciated them... I told them i wish i could have given them my business bc they were very helpful.

So then i have to go Tires Plus which ironically there is one right across the street from where i live, but i went to the one in Eden Prairie, thinking my battery is going to die any minute... And they hook me up with the new battery and service it for me. Then i was good to go. Now i notice my stereo is making electronic beeps everytime i push the buttons. I imagine it was supposed to do that all along but there was not enough battery power to make it do that?

What do i know. I fear this is the first in a long line of car troubles... It's one thing and then it's another and another and another. I have a feeling my brake pads are wearing down. Lots of squeeking going on... Gee if i were in the Word Faith movement i'd call that negative confession... shut up kt!!! AHHHH!

Anyways it was a pleasant drive home and here's a pic of the scenery.

 

   [ posted  @ 2:19 PM | ]

At this hour as I write today, I should be on stage in the commons warming up with the praise team. However, I’m stuck in Shakopee because for some strange reason my car battery is completely dead. And thus begins another red-letter day for kt.

Everyone I know either lives outta town or does not have jumper cables and I am finding out too late I should have signed up for triple-A when I was thinking about it last year. Normally you can sign up online, but wouldntyouknowit, their website is down. And no service station is open this early on a Sunday.

So I sit.

I felt awful calling my students telling them I can’t make it in. I had to do this to them back in November when there was a bad snowstorm. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a 17 year old, to figure out songs and warm everyone up within 20 minutes. Grr.

And what’s worse, I can’t figure out why the battery would have been dead. All the lights were off. Doors were locked. Today when I opened my trunk to put my guitar in there, there was no light. That was my first clue. When I got in the car, no lights came on, and when i turned the key, there was nothing. Like a bad dream. LOL

I can’t help but thinking God knows what He is doing – what if He was preventing me from an accident that would have happened or let’s see what else, what if he’s working on Steve’s faith (the guy who has to lead in my place today) and this was adding to lessons He’s teaching him. Or maybe it’s just a mishap and these things happen. I don’t have to be anywhere until tomorrow at 2 p.m. when I go back to work. I’m sure by then I’ll work something out.

Maybe I just need to go back to bed and pretend this never happened.

Thank the lord for credit cards.

   [ posted  @ 6:15 AM | ]

 


I'm super proud of my mom! She got published on a GOP site with her tribute to Pres. Reagan! Here's the link She's going by the name of "Neenah" in this case.

I hadn't watched much of the funeral proceedings this week but did watch the burial service last night as the sun was setting and cried like a baby even tho i never knew much about Reagan. I was really inspired by it all... Legacy, making your life count for something big. He was a cool guy!

   [ posted  @ 8:13 AM | ]

I've not had a day off since Memorial Day so this is a 3 day weekend i will surely enjoy. I have a lot of running around 2 do today but it will be fine. I got paid so yeaaaaaaaah!

Last night we had a leadership meeting for the trip to Challenge 2004 (National Convention for the EFCA) and i also got to meet some of the parents of the girls i'll be "chaperoning." One mom started to cry when i told her how much of a leader her daughter is and how i see Jesus in her kid. That was cool :) I'll be with a group of 6 or 8 freshman and it should be a fun trip. We're going to drive 105 students and 15 leaders on chartered busses 20 hours straight out to Utah i think, and then be in Salt Lake City for about a week, and then come home in two 10-hour pushes. Can't wait.

On my way out the door, Pastor Craig asked me how much gas i had in my car, and i said a quarter of a tank (it took me 90 minutes to get to church bc of stupid traffic grrrrrrrrrrr so i was a half hour late to the meeting). And he said he was going to follow me to a gas station and put gas in my car for me to bless me :) Wow that thrilled me to pieces. Isn't God cool?

Then i went over to check out my friend Steph's parent's new dwelling. I'd call it a house but it is SO SMALL i can't even tell you. They are going to tear it down eventually and build a duplex in it's place. It only has 40 more square feet than my apartment!!! Some old granny used to live there and it consists of a bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen. Steph currently lives in the living room with a curtain for privacy and there is no where to sit in the house besides the small kitchen. No tv! I would dieeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! They are fixing up their old townhouse bc that is what her dad does, buy, remodel, resell. Oh yeah and they have a very oddly shaped bathroom. The basement is a mud floor!

Well i got my replacement printer from the extended warranty i purchesed - haven't used it yet but i hope it's fine. I have to ship back my old one today which means i gotta go pick it up from the service center and drop it off at UPS. I've been able to successfully sell several of those plans now at work bc i can speak from experience that it WORKS. Plus they pay for shipping!

At 4:30 this morning, my cell phone rang. Local number on the caller i.d. I could not figure out who it was so i didn't answer it. Turns out it was Honeywell, the alarm people from the store, saying there was a burglury alarm that went off at the store and they've dispatched the police to check it out. (The man from Honeywell left a message.) I'm first on the call list but GIVE ME A BREAK! LIKE I'M GOING TO GO DOWN THERE AND LOOK FOR THE ROBBERRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! I CAN JUST SEE ME DOING MY TAE-BO MOVES ON THE CREEP!!! WHATEVER! [Or, I could sit him down on the furniture pad and explain to him how much Jesus loves him, has a wonderful plan for his life, and that he should repent of his sin and turn to the Lamb of Glory hallelujah. Which do u think would work?]

So i did not do a darn thing and just went back to bed. Then they call the next person on the list until they get someone who will go. I know that is selfish of me bc Mikey and i are the only ones who live in town and everyone else commutes for like 30-60 minutes to get to work, but whatever dude. I'm not going down there i'm too scared. (Because the police come, check out the place, and then leave if they don't find anything suspicious.)

It was probably the new fans we have for sale that someone didn't shut off on the way out which tripped the sensors. I watched the news this morning to see if there was a breakin but it was just the Reagan funeral so who knows. I am not calling the store to find out bc who ever had to come in is probably mad at me for not going in!

OK bye.

   [ posted  @ 7:56 AM | ]

Gee it is sure hot here in Minnesota. I'm pinching pennies so i refuse to turn on the a.c. I think that my fan works OK for now.

Anyways quick update on my little work fiasco with the scheduling conflict. I was there for over 2 hours when Jim (the guy i now report to) says he read my note (which i wrote with a big black marker on a big piece of paper and left on the desk for all to read in the office) and he told me tough, get over it, it's my fault for not checking the schedule, that it's not his job to memorize the schedule, and as he talked down to me in a very condescending tone, he threw in a few curse words. So i smiled my cocky "you're a jerk, loser" smile, and just said, no it's not my fault. We've never not had a Sunday night crew and i spent all last week talking to Dwight about it and he doesn't have a clue what is going on in his own department. And so i just laughed at Jim and said there's no way you're blaming this on me and there's no way i'm taking the heat for it. Then he just laughed and walked away.

Justin and I went to IHOP then after work with his girlfriend Miccy, and this was at 2:30 a.m. (Justin is the guy that is filling in for what Mike used to do on the night crew so Mike can do what i did, and so i can be a sales supervisor). Poor little waitress girl i felt so bad for her bc it was only her and the cook there and the cook got injured trying to fix the milk machine while we were there, and had to LEAVE the ONE waitress there by herself LOL!!!! She did a great job and had to learn how to make pancakes. The 3 of us were the only ones in the store.

She called the owner (who lives 2 hours north of here) and he told her that they can't close it but she has to tell anyone coming in that they have no food besides pancakes because that was all she knew how to make. Yummy tho. We all gave her a big tip.  

   [ posted  @ 10:43 AM | ]

Wow - memories. I dug out a box of old floppy disks today in search of a text document i wrote about my faith when i was in high school. I did find the document, however converting it to a program that can read it was only partially sucessful and it is cut off in the middle and i can't find the 2nd half of the document. Anyways i was looking through another disk and found this one i made a few years ago of my nephew Jonah, entitled "Jonahman." I love this picture!!!  

   [ posted  @ 11:24 AM | ]

I'm a dork. But you should watch these out-takes if you like Office Max's Rubberband Man. :) Click on image to go to site.  

   [ posted  @ 7:24 PM | ]

I got to use what little RUSSIAN i know today with an older Russian couple who were picking out some office supplies at the store. They spoke VERY little English so we did a lot of gesturing but when they were done, i said thank you in russian which is pronounced "spy-see-bah" or something close to that. "thank you very much" is "balzshoyes spyseebah" (phonetic there!) And they were so happy and were smiling and laughing. I was racking my brain to remember anything else but was too chicken to try it.

That was super cool. I think they left very happy.

Office Max's mission is:
A Relentless Focus on the Customer Experience

:)

I rock. I say that my mission is "To make the customer's dreams come true." haha.

Then, the carefully placed house of cards totally CRUMBLED at the close of day when i realized that there was no night crew scheduled. I had conversations all this past week about me training someone for my job TONIGHT with both the assistant managers. They did not correct me on this. My STORE manager returnts from a 1 1/2 week vacation tomorrow morning and he is going to be so super duper ticked angry because receiving is a total crap hole and nothing was done all weekend for logistics (not my job anymore so i won't touch it!) and since there was no night crew, what usually is 8 hours of very productive off-hours work will not be done tonight. All i have to say is
i am
thankful
i don't work
with Izzy (the boss)
in the morning.

Because he is going to be so angry.

I left a note for Izzy and Dwight (the logistics manager who will get fired over this fiasco, i hope.)

I told the truth.

We'll see what happens. In a way, i am delighted this happened, because there is no leadership in that department if i am not in it. On the other hand, i will probably get blamed for this whole thing somehow. I hope that does happen. I'll shine a very bright light on one of the most unfortunate managers i've ever worked with... Bye bye Dwight. Gee i should run for office. I can play politics with the best of them. And i am NOT going back to logistics unless they give me more money. And that's all. Thank you have a good night and please come again.

   [ posted  @ 6:58 PM | ]

The Russians are coming! That was me on the couch, bawling my eyes out as this match finished up this morning in the women's semi finals. Two Russian friends who really beat all odds to get to the finals of the French - beating out all the greats before them like the Williams sisters and Amelie Mauresmo... It was a bad match over all, boring. Dementieva was so nervous she had to go take a bathroom break after the first set! They are friends who used to play tennis for pizza when they were kids. This was a big day. So Myskina dominated the match and when they trophy ceremony happened i was CRYING! lol Of course i was rooting for the underdawg barfer, who lost badly - I usually root for the underdog (and the fact that Myskina is scary looking!) Poor Elena has her head in her little towel crying over her loss... Made me get all emotional! Just trying to imagine what it would feel like to come all that way. No Russian woman has ever won this championship. OK there i posted my thoughts. 

   [ posted  @ 7:34 AM | ]

Greetings.

I just finished watching my boyfriend Tim Henman LOSE in the semi's ... now i'm very sad. And tired. Oh well. It just wasn't meant to be and he gave it his best. Tennis is almost over for a few weeks. But i have good news on that front: i found two teens who want to play tennis with me so i'm so excited!!! After we play tennis we are going to have Bible study too.

If all goes well that will be on Saturday.

I can never find anyone who will play tennis with me. And now i found double.

I will have to blog more another time about work - it has been a good week. I was off on Sunday and Monday and i work straight thru until Thurs. night now. That's ok then i have a 3 day weekend. Just like the good old days.

That's it.

   [ posted  @ 10:43 PM | ]

I was happy to see this article's title in the headlines of my Earthlink homepage:
"Girls Pushing for Modest Fashion Options"
In 2002, a group of Arizona teens submitted a petition to the Phoenix division of the Dillard's department store chain asking for more modest clothes. The chain began carrying more conservative styles.

Nordstrom spokeswoman Deniz Anders said the company has been hearing for about two years from customers who want more modest looks, and Nordstrom tries to carry a broad array of styles in its stores.

Read entire article


It's interesting to me, because at our Sacred Conference this year with Bob and Dannah Gresh, for our youth, the guys and girls were seperated and we had a gooood talk. One of the things purity conferences like that are discussing are teaching girls how to help the guys in their quest for purity by not dressing like hookers. In the 80's youth ministry used to get away with talking about "abstinence." Now we have to shift the discussion to purity and integrity... So there was even a fashion show for us gals, and it was very good for the teens to see you can still dress up really cute and trendy, but you don't have to be half naked to do it. Now i see the trend at these types of conferences are hitting the main stream consumer market. Dude that's cool stuff.

In other KT news....

I'm really liking my shift back to daytime at the store. I don't have to do ANYTHING but help customers and stand around and talk all day. No job responsibilities other than that... Well the occasional thing requires my manager's key turn to go get something that is high ticket merchandise or open the safe to get someone change or whatever, but it's sooooooooooooo less stress than when i worked at night. I'm beginning to see a lot of "issues" after only two days of this, but me not being a manager (only a supervisor) i am letting things easily just roll off my back. My store manager is on vacation this week, so maybe when he gets back next week it will not be so pleasant. But for now, i'm rubbing it in everyone's face that i have a great job. LOL (while i am agressively sending out resumes to try to find something that might pay me more, salary.com says i'm right about where i would be doing this type of work for the area i live in.)

And, tennis is coooool. Good matches on tv today and i got to watch it all before i had to be at work.

Have you laughed out loud today? It's healthy. Try it.

   [ posted  @ 8:27 PM | ]

 


My friend Brandon sent me this one! Good stuff...

THE ROBIN WILLIAMS PEACE PLAN

This may very well be the best thought out item we have read since 9/11/01. Leave it to Robin Williams to come up with the perfect plan ... what we need now is for our UN Ambassador to stand up and repeat this message.

I see a lot of people yelling for peace but I have not heard of a plan for peace. So, here's one plan.

1. The US will apologize to the world for our "interference" in their affairs, past &present. You know, Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Noriega, Milosovich and the rest of those good ol' boys: We will never "interfere" again.

2. We will withdraw our troops from all over the world, starting with Germany, South Korea and the Philippines. They don't want us there. We would station troops at our borders. No one sneaking through holes in the fence.

3. All illegal aliens have 90 days to get their affairs together and leave. We'll give them a free trip home. After 90 days the remainder will be gathered up and deported immediately, regardless of who or where they are. France would welcome them.

4. All future visitors will be thoroughly checked and limited to 90 days unless given a special permit. No one from a terrorist nation would be allowed in. If you don't like it there, change it yourself and don't hide here. Asylum would never be available to anyone. We don't need any more cab drivers or 7-11 cashiers.

5. No "students" over age 21. The older ones are the bombers. If they don't attend classes, they get a "D" (for "deport") and it's back home baby.

6. The US will make a strong effort to become self-sufficient energy wise. This will include developing non-polluting sources of energy but will require a temporary drilling of oil in the Alaskan wilderness. The caribou will have to cope for a while.

7. Offer Saudi Arabia and other oil producing countries $10 a barrel for their oil. If they don't like it, we go some place else. They can go somewhere else to sell their production. (About a week of the wells filling up the storage sites would be enough.)

8. If there is a famine or other natural catastrophe in the world, we will not "interfere." They can pray to Allah or whomever for seeds, rain, cement or whatever they need. Besides, most of what we give them is stolen or given to the Army. The people who need it most get very little, if anything.

9. Ship the UN Headquarters to an isolated island some place. We don't need the spies and fair weather friends here. Besides, the building would make a good homeless shelter or lockup for illegal aliens.

10. All Americans must go to charm and beauty school. That way no one can call us "Ugly Americans" any longer. The language we speak is ENGLISH.....learn it...or LEAVE...

Now, ain't that a winner of a plan.
The Statue of Liberty is no longer saying "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses." She's got a baseball bat and she's yelling, "You want a piece of me?"

If you agree with the above forward it to friends.

   [ posted  @ 8:46 PM | ]

Did you know that when I was only 14 years old, i watched Jennifer Capriati take to the semi's of the French Open and she had never even been there before?? She was the youngest player - and still holds the record - to ever qualify in the semi's of the French Open, at 14 years old. We are the same age! Crazy huh? (But i didn't get into drugs like she did haha.) Anyways she beat the tar out of Serena today. 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. Yeah she fell apart in the 2nd set. It was not a super match but these are two incredible players so i loved watching it.

At 28, now she's the oldest woman left in the final 8 (which is now the final 4). Crazy huh?

I was totally rooting for Jennifer. Had to watch the match on tape but not knowing the outcome (and getting to ff thru all the commercials) made it just as exciting. What is the DEAL with women's tennis? No one comes to the net anymore. First serve percentages are atrocious. Men's tennis is the same way... it's all power and no finesse. I don't know. I still love to watch the game but i get all giddy when they rush the net because that's when things get interesting. So, both Williams sisters are OOUUUUUUT of the competition, and my boy Tim Henman is still in it !!!  

   [ posted  @ 8:12 PM | ]

[=Links=]

[=Designed By=]