TTC/Reading update

I'm attempting to blog via Blackberry. I've already lost one draft.

So far I've taken the TTC two days in a row. I finished one book and will likely finish a second tonight. If I can get one more done by the weekend I may just let myself read a non-work book. I know - I'm a rebel! Not.

Must read. So bye bye car, hello TTC

As I have mentioned in the past, I LOVE MY CAR. I love driving. I've only been driving since 2006 so perhaps if I had started way back in the 80s when I was a teenager I would be sick of it by now. But no. I love it. However....

I have to sell my books and to sell some of them (not all of them) I need to read them. Buyers want to know what kind of "content" there is -i.e. is there sex, smoking, drugs. Does the dog die at the end? What is it comparable to? I need to know what I'm selling.

The problem is, I'm not finding much time to read these days - I drive to and from work, talk to friends at lunch, have stuff to do at home (laundry, weeding, raising dudes, ironing, watching The Bachelorette) and fall asleep pretty quickly at bedtime. When oh when am I supposed to gain my valuable product knowledge? So I'm making a serious personal sacrifice.

For the next two weeks, starting Monday, I'm going to try to take the subway to work. That way I'll get an extra hour or so of reading time everyday (more if there are delays! Hooray! And we all know there will be). I'm not sure WHEN I am going to have my sales appointments but 2 weeks of reading plus a bit more on my vacation will surely prepare me. Let's hope I can stand 2 weeks of delays, B.O., etc.

Why aren't you working? I am!

I am lazy and take my car to work most mornings when I could easily walk to Woodbine and take the subway. One of the main reasons I don't take the ttc to work is that people irritate me in the morning (and at noon and on the way home) and the trains are full and unpredictable and I would rather be sitting in my air-conditioned car listening to the radio or a CD of my choosing.

Driving to work last Thursday I was struck by how many people seemed to be out on (the) Danforth walking around wearing shorts. My first thought was - "hey losers, get a job" but then I decided to force myself to be kind and think of why these people weren't in semi-dressed up work clothes going to work all bleary eyed before 8:30 am.

So this is what I came up with:

-they are *(@$&(* bloggers who think that what they do is work

-they are part-time workers who don't start til the afternoon or later in the morning or til midnight

-they are doctors currently on their day off

-they are professional dog walkers on their way to pick up some pooches

-they are kept men/women whose sugar-daddies/mommas have sent them for coffee

-they are unemployed people desperate for work on their way to buy more printer ink to print more resumes

-they are hard-working people currently on vacation

-they are teachers/professors who get summers off

-they are ill people currently on medical leave (get well soon!)

So I am trying to have an open mind and not run them over with my car.

Top 20 Under 40, etc

Google Top 20 Under 50 and all you get are gift ideas for under $50....


I am starting to feel really old. I know 40s are the new 30s and grey is the new black and you're only as young as you feel, etc but what's with the constant lists celebrating young up & comers? There are constant lists posted online and in newspapers and magazines of Top this and that under 40, under 35, under 30! You never see lists of top Whatever under 50. No, by 50 (or any number over 40) you are supposed to be successful and if you're not you're a FAILURE. If you are, well it was expected of you so don't ask for any attention.

Not that I am worthy of any accolades - unless there is a Diet Coke Consumption Top 10 under 50! Top 20 People who need to do their laundry Under 45. I'm sure theres a top 10 Under 43 for something out there that I can qualify for before I'm too old if I can only find it...

Rock of Ages - a musical for people who like Two & A Half Men, perhaps

Those who know me know I'm not a snob and I'm not a prude. In fact, I'm very often accused of saying "inappropriate" things at work. So I was surprised at my reaction to the musical Rock of Ages, which I saw with my friend "S" on Saturday night.

What I Liked:

- the narrator was generally like-able and reminded me of people I went to high school with.

- the songs were almost all familiar

- the llama's appearance at the end made me laugh

- I appreciated the Canadian touches

- Franz-y

What I Didn't Like

- too many crotch shots

- if your job as a waitress doesn't work out, be a stripper! Really? Really?

- low-brow humour geared towards the lowest common denominator - so sex jokes, bathroom humour, etc

-plot clearly contrived to link together the songs they had rights to.

Overall it was fun but I really wish it had only cost me $40 instead of $100. I've seen lots of musicals in my life and sure, some are better than others (Drowsy Chaperone YES, Cats NO) - part of the experience is going, seeing the crowd, cramming into the teeny tiny seats, waiting in the endless lines for the ladies' room so no regrets.

Is it really enough?

Is using hand sanitizer in the washroom REALLY as good as washing your hands with soap and water? I know that some people definitely skip the washing and just use the sanitizer but I'm not sure that's enough for me. Personally I wash my hands, dry them then open the door with one hand, getting sanitizer from a dispenser beside the door with the other hand then rub them together. Am I being overly clean?

I had a boyfriend a long time ago whose mother turned the taps on for me in the washroom at a wedding reception. Why? Did she think I wasn't going to wash my hands? Did she used to be one of the fancy washroom attendants? Had she always dreamed of having a potential daughter-in-law to bond with over personal hygiene? I don't know. It seemed weird but whatever. I washed my hands and we went on our way. Maybe she had suspicions that I was going to flounce back out to the wedding reception with peed on hands! As if (as if I pee on my hands and as if I wouldn't wash them.) And remember there was no hand-sanitizer back in the day a long time ago!

My thought is that there are lots of germs out there and if my hands can get a good wash 3-4 times a day that's not a bad thing. I don't have confidence that the hand sanitizer is getting under peoples fingernails. Would you eat a meal prepared by someone who had only used hand sanitizer? Would you let them operate on you?

Charo is a CRAZYPANTS

Seriously, how old is that woman? I just saw her on Dancing With the Stars wearing an outfit suited to a 4 year old, and sporting the same old I Dream of Jeannie hairdo she's had for 40 years! Duncan asked me who she was and what she's been on in the past. My only answer "The Love Boat". Perhaps I should investigate...

Hmmmm, not impressed by her resume. She seems to be the latina Paris Hilton of an earlier generation - famous for being famous. On lots of variety and talk shows. I remember her singing and playing guitar but mostly just shaking it and saying "cuchi cuchi." Whatever.

There seems to have been some disagreement about her birth year -some say 1941, others 1951. I always felt that Ginger Spice was older than she said she was too - either the heavy make-up makes some people look old (and the tanning) or I'm not a great judge of age (very possible).