Thursday, July 29, 2004  

In liu

Leu

Loo

Liue

OK, in PLACE of a real blog entry, i'm going to post this website bc it is hilarious and will take you hours to read. Be prepared!

ThingsmygirlfiendandIhavearguedabout.com written by an englishdude.

Again, props to Justin @ worrrrrk for the tip.

   [ posted  @ 7:03 AM | ]

Friend o' mine from work sent me this crazy illusion page. If you're prone to dizziness don't look, but if not, be prepared TO BE AMAAAAAAZED! 

   [ posted  @ 8:49 PM | ]

I'm a sales supervisor. I live eat and breathe product knowledge, printer page yield info, toner pricing, furniture specs, 3-ring binder differentials, school supply yin yang, you name it.

Lexmark, a fast growing company, is pushing their products & offering ppl like me big prizes the more we sell. Right now, for example we have instant-rebate on an extended warranty (we call them performance guarantees) so i've been pushing the X6170 for home office use. It's a 4-in-1 machine and outperforms the HP 6110 plus is 100$ cheaper.

Well, today i got to work and my super crabby boss (grr) tells me i need to call our Lexmark rep and talk to him about getting prize incentives in our store for associates who sell lexmark stuff. So i did. Come to find out i was the first to call him. His name is Paul. He was happy i called him so after he was done taking 3 Omx district managers out to lunch, he came south and visited us. Guess what he did tho! 


It was a busy afternoon. I saw a man walk into the printer aisle so i walked over right away, greeted him, handed him a flier and asked what questions he had. He said he wanted a printer and i spent time with him qualifying the purchase, finding out what he was using it for, what his needs were. Did he need digital camera memory card slots? Did he need a bi-pass tray? Did he need to fax? Everything he was telling me pointed me towards the 6170, so i told him about our great deal on the instant free extended warranty and we were comparing it to some HP (this guy was asking very pointed questions...) and then i got called away bc i was the only manager in the building. I told him to look those over, that i 'd be right back bc i had to tend to something at the register and then he laughed at me, handed me his card, and introduced himself as PAUL ____ THE LEXMARK DISTRICT SALES MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!! SECRET SHOPPER!

I totally passed the test he was so impressed with me.

So we talked about a new program they are going to be running called Lexmark Punk'd where his associates are going to do that exact thing, and wear concealed cameras and see how much ppl really know. I LOVE THAT IDEA! It's perfect for training purposes. Plus i'll get real high reviews bc he said i did a great job over and over. I really knew my stuff!

haaaaaaaa!! go me!

   [ posted  @ 8:28 PM | ]

OfficeMax up and cancelled our 3rd party company cell phone plans today with out warning... Here's the story hot off the kt press gazette. 


We had a really awesome company plan thru Sprint - unlimited everything for 15$ a month... Free everything: wireless web, voice mail, caller i.d. you name it. Free long distance. Have had this plan for years. With the merger, they said they were going to be cancelling like a year ago, and then we never heard any more about it.

I got home from work today and realized i threw away $5 in the garbage so i picked up my cell phone (i no longer have a landline) and tried to call the store to tell them not to take out the garbage until they look for my $$$. Well the call was routed to a sprint customer care person who told me i no longer had service. And that if i wanted service, i had to sign a year contract and pay 35$ a month. Well, i don't have 35$ a month. And if i backed out of the contract it's 150$ !! I ain't got that either. Since my ghetto fone is just about dead, i put my jeans and a t-shirt on, got back in the car (after saying a few words i had to repent for) and hauled tail back to work and bought me a TRACFONE!



It makes more sense for me to get one of these bc i don't use the fone that often. So i got a 50$ fone (nokia) checked the coverage maps for the metro area and all of wisconsin to make sure any travels i do will be covered and picked out the correct fone and got a year plan with 150 minutes. Had to put that all on the Discover, of course, bc i basically live pay check to pay check around here. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. I'm not at all happy about this but whatever. Then u just get more pre-paid service cards as you run out of minutes. You-me, whatever. haha.

Just goes to show u that good things don't last forever.

   [ posted  @ 8:17 PM | ]

I tried
to get
a screen caputre for you
(you, who-ever you are...)
but it would not take.
However,
thou hast to watch this
LEGO
SPIDER-MAN 2
VIDEO!!!
It's so cooool!

click link click link click link !

   [ posted  @ 9:21 PM | ]

This is dedicated to me... in my pursuit of higher learning. And many more at despair.com.  

   [ posted  @ 8:36 PM | ]

Try this on for size.

"The inflection of the first declension nouns varies in the singular according to the ending in the nominative. The inflection in the plural of all first declension nouns is the same. [This should give me some type of comfort, i suppose?] This is called the "a" declension because of the predominance of the "a" sound. [What this says to me is that at least i have a NAME for the ENEMY!!!]
 
"Two special rules of declension accent must be observed here. The first is the one learned in the second declension regarding the accent on the ultima. [Until this week, the word "ultima" only conjured up images of automobiles and ink pens. I'm forever changed...] The acute on the ultima in the nominative singular changes to circumflex when the ultima is long exept in the accusative plural. The second rule is new: All first declension nouns remain the circumflex on the ultima in the genitive and ablative plural no matter where the accent started in the nominative singular."

And i'm only on lesson 5.

Don't worry, this SORT OF makes sense. After i read this a few more times, it will surely hit home. Until then, remember: Nominative and vocative forms usually have the same inflection/ending. Thanks. Come back tomorrow.

 

   [ posted  @ 8:20 PM | ]

They've got some pix and testimonials from the EFCA national convention i went to in Salt Lake City now... Click pic to go to link. Still trying to get ahold of the dvd our group put together... it's awesome. 

   [ posted  @ 11:36 AM | ]

I'm going to sound like one of the super-est geeks you know in the universe but tonight i was practically JUMPING OUT OF MY SKIN because with the knowledge of present active indicitative verbs + second declension nouns (lessons 3 & 4) i was able ON MY OWN to translate simple Greek sentences with my limited vocab experience !!! Hah oikos tou anthropoan (phonetic haha sorry) i knew right away meant "the house of the man" -- and "hah anthropos pempei tous doulous tou oikou" means "the man sends the servants from the house." For my own amusement (and more) I'm recording this here because it's finally clicking - and i really am GETTING IT!  


Let me back up a little bit
if you care...

Early 2001 i had borrowed this software from my pastor (at the time) and got hooked on learning the vocab and doing the drills & exercises on there bc it really makes you feel like a superstar when you answer questions right. I had filled up half a notebook with vocab, bible memory (some of John 1 and some of John 14) in the Greek. Then around about lesson 9 i got too busy with other projects and it started getting over my head so i gave up and had to give the software back to him.

I've had a very renewed interest in learning it since i dug out one of my Greek New Testaments (i have... 3...?) and that started me itching to really know what i was doing. Now moreso for the reason that i believe someday I will be working in bible translation of some type (can't put my finger on that one yet... ask me later/pray for me!). So this week i resolved that i should find the software if Pastor Ed would not sell me his. Lo and Behold i found one copy of it left at the Northwestern bookstore in Burnsville and ran that night to get it. So far i have aced all my tests on it up thru lesson 3 (present active indicitative verbs), memorized scripture in the Greek, know my alphabet, can speak and write it, and know about 50 or more words.

Now it seems to be coming to me like a snap. The software is totally multi-media so you learn to pronounce correctly. However it is hollow in the fact that it does not go indepth and you can't ask it questions (so far i've found 2 errors in the program - one question that i keep getting marked WRONG on, i'm sure that is a glitch bc i've checked other sources, and a typo where anthropon was translated "house." )  In which case, i am thankful that back in '01 I secured a copy of "Essentials Of New Testament Greek" by Ray Summers from Broadman Press in Nashville, thru Alibris.com. This is a grammar for Greek and explains things in a lot more depth. Plus, it's well-worn and well-used by a gentleman named Ira L. Howden from Moody Bible Institute in his own hand he penned in the cover (like i do) Jan. 25, 1954. His writing is all over the book!!! So cool!!!

I read somewhere that the very first original greek manuscripts (called Uncials) we have of the Bible were written in ALL CAPS with NO SPACES!!! Crazy. Later (the ones we use now) were written in minusucles (lower case) w/ breaks between the words. It is so cool for me to be able to sit down and read thru John (he uses much simpler words than for example, the Apostle Paul who is super-scholar with lots of big words; same for Dr. Luke!) and read the actual language as it was written. As i read it over and over, i am beginning to pick up on more vocab and parsing the words.

Anyways i'm a real geek now - or should i say, greek, and you'll find me up late most nights sounding like a first grader sounding out words, and either pumping my fists with excitement if i get it something correct, or clenching my jaw if i get it wrong. Perfectionism, the way of all ... all... greatness?

 

   [ posted  @ 8:09 PM | ]

Found these on "King of Fools." If i ever have an executive office, i'm investing in these posters! What a GREAT way to start my morning!!! Laughing my pajama pants off!!! 

   [ posted  @ 6:01 AM | ]

My mom found a blog by a brilliant thinker ["King of Fools"] on her frequent Free Republic visits. This entry made me tear up a bit thinking of lost pets (lost=DEAD) and i added him to my blog roll bc i think he's got the hang of things. Plus, his kid (the "princess") makes terrific art. I want to borrow that image for a CD cover some day. 

   [ posted  @ 5:41 PM | ]

Want a laugh? My mom sent this to me today :) "This Land." 

   [ posted  @ 3:51 PM | ]

OH NO!
IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT, JUST GOT HOME FROM A MANAGER'S MEETING, AND GOT A CALL THAT I HAVE TO COME IN TOMORROW ON MY DAY OFF AT 7:30 a.m. TO BE THE HEAD CASHIER BC BRANDON COULDN'T FIND ANYONE TO WORK FOR HIM!!!!

Grrrrr. And of course i'm not tired at all & had my whole day planned for tomorrow as to when i'd get up, where i'd go, what i'd do................... hahaha!!!

I love my job
yes i do
I love my job
how 'bout you
I love my job
every day
I love my job
hey hey hey 

   [ posted  @ 10:28 PM | ]

OH. I didn't tell you about my 1st church library experience yesterday. We have a great sized library at my church and i finally started taking advantage of it yesterday. I was brave, got there early (we finished with band practice early so i had some time) and picked out this book i've had my eye on to buy... Peace Child by Don Richardson. Yes, another missionary book. I'm not done with the Jim Elliot one yet but I wanted to read this one too. I'm half way done with it already. So far it's interesting but not all that i thought it would be. Well, reading about the practices of savage cannibals should be enough; maybe i watch too much tv or something.
 
Anyways libraries are cool - you can't mark in the book, but you don't have to pay for it and you just give it back when you are done. I was telling all my students about this amazing aspect of libraries at the 3rd service then yesterday, and they thought i was nuts, but that was OK too. And, true.

   [ posted  @ 5:40 PM | ]

Today:
Humidity is 63% . Sure feels like more. Yucky outside.
 
Crazy day at work... Two of our managers (we have 3 total) are doing overnights this week to do EXTREME MAKEOVERS on our office areas and break room... painting, carpeting, getting new furniture and stuff. That leaves us short staffed during the day (plus it cuts into payroll which is another problem leaving us short handed as i just said.) I was literally praying out loud in front of my associates as we were getting steady streams of customers and i had no one to help them... Praying that they would STOP SHOPPING THERE SO WE COULD CATCH UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHHHEEEEEESH! Also, tho our foot traffic was very high, our sales did not seem to reflect that.
 
Then the chick who is supposed to be working in our copy center had some emergency doctor thing and i was left without someone over there for 2 hours - two of our busiest hours in that department and i was the only key-holder in the bldg. It's not like i really know what i was doing over there so i was pleading with customers to be patient and we were just taking orders and telling them we'd have to do it when someone better came in. No one gave me any trouble at all... customers were great so that was totally GOD.
 
Thankfully I have two days off now but i have to go back in for a mgr meeting tonight at 9 for a few hours. Lots of changes happening. I'm amazed at myself how much i've changed and how much more responsibility i seem to be able to juggle. Things that would have made me kick 'n' scream a year ago now just roll right off me. Truly i do see that as God working in my life bc I learn so much doing this type of work that i would have not learned working in a church.
 
Can you believe July is almost over and school starts for some next month? Just insane.
 
 

   [ posted  @ 5:34 PM | ]

News flash: OfficeMax has been nominated for an EMMY for our RUBBERBAND MAN spokesman guy. We're up against Miller Light, Budweiser, and a few other things! Go us! 

   [ posted  @ 7:42 PM | ]

hahaha found this one. Play it when you're mad at people! 

   [ posted  @ 9:10 PM | ]

"The Bottom of the Sea" another game i like - can't get a score much higher than 100 and get half way to the bottom. These games are so hard that i 've never beaten one. Also, love the music on this one. It's sooo peaceful! haha! 

   [ posted  @ 9:01 PM | ]

Ummmmmm, yeah.  

 
Lots of cool photos on this photo blog.
 

   [ posted  @ 8:29 PM | ]

The stats are in... "The Passion" didn't do as much as some thought it would for world evangelism. All i gotta say is: I called that one right. Click pic to go to link. 

   [ posted  @ 9:01 AM | ]

I listen to this guy Todd Friel (OK that's not really him but a drawing of him duh) on 980 AM KKMS radio as often as i can. The freshest perspective on radio in my opinion - he's awesome. Anyways he has a link to this article you should read - I love it and whole heartedly agree with it. Top Ten Reasons Why Not To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart. Church, wake up. It's kind of nice to have someone else be teaching/preaching what i've been saying for a long time.  

   [ posted  @ 6:17 PM | ]

How well do you score? Click link to play game that i am completely addicted to!!  

 
Other games like it can be found on the link on the right there called Ferryhalim.com really cool simple graphics, fun music, fun games!

   [ posted  @ 4:16 PM | ]

It was back to work today... We were short staffed. The store was pretty messy. I take good amt. of pride in how much i get accomplished in a day. We hired 3 new ppl in the time i was gone... It's my job to do all the training. I like that, provided there's enuf time to train people.

I've been reading the Journals of Jim Elliot - i'm about 1/2 way thru. My renewed interest in reading is a good thing. I've had this book since college and never finished it. I've got a growing fascination with foreign missions. It kind of sprang up out of nowhere (which usually means "it's God") and totally am intrigued reading about savages, canibals, little pigme people, and how they are won over to the Lord thru the Gospel - a universal message that is meant to apply to any race.

Rev. 5:9 & 7:9 claim that in the end, at the Throne before God there will be a representation of every tribe language and nation there. The stats i have from Wycliffe (the people who have taken it upon themselves to get a readable bible to every language on the planet and teach the people how to read it...) say

* there are 6703 known languages on planet earth
* work for translaltion is ongoing in 1000 of those
* another 900 have definite translation needs but there aren't enuf translators to do the work
* and surveying needs to be done in another 2000.

Those stats are as of a few years ago. I think it's just fascinating to think about. Well, not just think but to give and pray about it too. Who knows but that someday my passion for writing since i was a little girl may be turned into translating the word of God into a new testament for some unreached peoples. Wow.

 

   [ posted  @ 4:47 PM | ]

My friend Michael (always in search of new good music here...) sent me a tip regarding this artist: Miranda Stone. He saw her at Cornerstone this year and i previewed most of her music /lyrics on her site and found her to be refreshing, talented, and fun to listen to. Her songwriting is GOOOOD. Plus she sort of reminds me of Alanis. :) 


Winter at Nine (Click here to listen)

Don't you feel again the glow of knowing you're on holiday
And you ran around in your nightclothes like when you were nine
And you don't know what it is that maybe, could be coming
Just like Christmas it is, a good surprise for tearing open

No school today only childhood things
No blue sky but happy, happy is
Maybe the thrill of what snow was
Coming back a little bit
Maybe the thrill of what happy, happy was-

Winter at nine

No one's angry in this morning light it's almost like the thrill
Of smashing up your wooden sled, surviving the spill
Barefoot on the Persian rug, I brush my hair until I glow
There is nothing to be done today, no place left to go

No school today only childhood things
No blue sky but happy, happy is
Maybe the thrill of what snow was
Coming back a little bit
Maybe the thrill of what happy, happy was-

Winter at nine


-------------------
20/20 in the Morning (Click here to listen)

I do my penance on the playground swing
Till all of the bells in my sinning heart ring
Driving rain chauffeurs me to redemption
Working out my dishonorable mention
Too little sleep and too much wine
Makes even a bad thing look divine
Gotta own up to my own this time
Learn what to politely decline

This time is the last time , but THIS time is the last time

Every time I go to get up and leave I get
Worn and wasted like the cuff of your coat sleeve
Two feet, two hands, two rubber bands
To mend the cracks of a sorry reprieve
Broken people, they don't need to keep dry
Left my umbrella at home in the closet with my disguise
Wind and rain, wash away all the stains
That I spilled on my lap when I closed my eyes
This time is the last time , but THIS time is the last time
20/20 in the morning, 20/20 in the morning-
I'm not like glue- I did not stick to my plans
I did not leave- till it was out of my hands
Now I'm talking like this, like I always do
This was not fair to me, this was not fair to you

Dollar store lady help me out a bit
I've got 3.95, what can I do with it
Looking for rhymes that are bitter sweet
No you sold out of all your regret songs last week

This time is the last time , but THIS time is the last time
20/20 in the morning, 20/20 in the morning-

   [ posted  @ 5:57 PM | ]

Still sleep-deprived, i arrived last night home free at last.

It is extremely hot and muggy/humid today (same thing) and i already miss the DRY heat of the Utah Valley of Salt Lake. I never would have believed it could be 100 degrees but not feel like it (without humidity). That was nice!

Hey i had a great trip - even the bus ride was mostly bearable because i didn't get car sick at all. Now you know: it takes about 20 hours or so to drive from the Twin Cities to Salt Lake. Went all that way and we didn't get to see the great Salt Lake but i guess walking around in Temple Square was enough to get the picture of what is going on in Utah. I can't say enuf how amazed i was at the vastness and undending-ness of the mountainous region we drove thru. I could not take my eyes off the red hills. WOW.

Anyways it would take days to tell you about the awesome speakers we heard, the amazing times of singing with Chris Tomlin (we heard all the new songs on his album coming out in Sept., and it is by far his best yet. No comparison to the others AT ALL. get it!) And getting to know the students better too. I was blessed with quite a few "alone times" where i could sit and read - i really needed that bc that was pretty much the only vacation i'll be getting this year.

Oddly enough, i could sum up the week of what God did in my life wrapped around the narritives of two biographies i read while i was there. I have not been into reading like i used to be, and I had gone to get some books before I left bc i didn't want to take music with me on the trip. I love reading biographies and autobiographies especially about missionaries bc i find their tales of other tribes and languages so interesting.

Marilyn Laszlo is a former Wycliffe Bible Translator who translated the Bible into the language of the Sepik Iwam people at the village of Hauna. Her story completely has me spell-bound in this small book (with awesome pix) called MISSION POSSIBLE. That was the first I read. Marilyn Laszlo is a former Wycliffe Bible Translator who translated the Bible into the language of the Sepik Iwam people at the village of Hauna.

I also read Nate Saint's story: JUNGLE PILOT. Not as gripping of a tale as the first book, plus i've read about 3 or 4 books on the Auca indians (by Eliz. Elliot) so Nate's story has been retold to me in other books previously.

Anyways i may be posting more later after a nap of a breakdown of what we did during the week. I'm glad to be home and glad to have one day off tomorrow before i have to run back to work. We had a good jr. high service this morning i just played my guitar with another student who brought his acoustic and we sang some hymns and kept it real simple. Really sweet. God did awesome things in all our lives this week as we saw that we are only tiny parts in his very big plan. "It's not about us" we learned.

----///----
On a completely different note, i read this article today about debunking popular PC myths. Found it humorous and interesting.

   [ posted  @ 12:32 PM | ]

I'm outta here :) Catch up with you on July 11th!

   [ posted  @ 5:10 AM | ]

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