misty d hudson

New Apartment Woes

2010-06-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

The downside of living in apartments outside of Utah means the possibility of inheriting a home from a smoker is significantly greater.

When I first moved in, my home smelled horrible. Granted, it wasn't as bad as say, my mother's home, but it still made my head throb.

The first thing I did was to run over to the Dollar General to purchase Febreeze and Glade Plug Ins.

I sprayed Febreeze on everything except the ceiling. It cut the majority of the smell, but I could still feel the stinging in my lungs after about an hour of sitting in my home.

Frustrated, I turned to the Interwebs. There are tons of home remedies, and I decided to try the inexpensive suggestions.

I purchased the best air filter money could by. Thankfully, it was only $9. I bought cotton vent covers for the air vents. I purchased a vanilla saturated special square to put on my expensive new air filter. I even bought charcoal briquettes and put three in the bottom of each vent. Well, that's a lie... Brandy put them in the vents.

After two days of not smelling an improvement, I went a little more drastic last night: I put charcoal briquettes on four of the six vents in the house. The ones I didn't treat were the ones in the kitchen and bathroom. This is because there are doors which open up over them.

They have been in place for over 12 hours now, and I believe this has done the trick. However, this means the problem lies in the air ducts.

The cleaning of air ducts can become very expensive, and I doubt the management company would be willing to pay for this.

There are some inexpensive things I can try to eliminate the smell in the vents, which I might try at the end of the month.

I'll need to have a final solution (that's for you, Abby) before the fall. I don't feel it's a good idea to keep the briquettes in and on the vents when the heat is being used.

Anyone out there have any recommendations for eliminating cigarette smoke odor?

UPDATE:

Sunday night I emptied an entire CAN of Lysol Odor Neutralizer into the vents, hoping it would kill whatever nastiness lived in there. I'll be able to tell when I get home Monday evening.

Sent from my BlackBerry device from Cincinnati Bell Wireless

My Mouth is Wet, My Throat is Dry

2010-06-06T07:44:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning I was aware of my throat.

And then I got a sense of dread--something is up. It's normally not a good sign when I'm made aware of a part of my body I usually don't pay attention to.

I drank more water which lead to an emotionally scarring event I didn't drink water for the rest of the day on Friday.

I did not get a lot of fluids on Saturday, and I could feel myself draining. To my symptoms I added fever and coughing. I wanted to believe so desperately I was sick due to spending time with a croupy three year-old over Memorial Day Weekend rather than being the subject of some horrific children's song about a lady ingesting a spider.

By the time 5:00 pm rolled around, all I wanted was to go to bed. I made myself some dinner hoping it would give me some umpf, but we all know this didn't happen. I mean, you read the title of this post, right?

I went upstairs to go to bed, but the well meaning Tiny followed me up there. She wanted her hair braided and wanted to play. I complied with both until I just couldn't stay awake any longer. Poor thing, all she wanted to do was play and have fun, but mean old Auntie Misty shot her down for sleeping.

I woke up coughing in the middle of the night, and I generally feel like hud today. My symptoms today include mild fever, gravely voice, coughing, and a tickle in the back of my throat.

I sure hope it's the croup, and not some exotic spider sickness or something.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Spider

2010-06-06T07:09:00.000-07:00

If you read my other post, you know I wasn't feeling well on Friday, and was drinking a lot of water.

Thursday I filled up my huge, metal water bottle one of my NASA colleagues had given to me prior to leaving for the night. I put the cap on thinking "I'll drink it tomorrow." Now, I did NOT screw the cap on, but I just put it on there.

At 10 am, when I was taking the last swig of water, I felt something in my mouth. It had the consistency of a wad of paper or wet popcorn. I quickly spat the contents back into the water bottle and looked. I was honestly expecting to see paper. I mean, there's a TON of paper at NASA. It's totally possible it was paper.

The picture in this post is what I found.

To my credit, I didn't freak out as much as you might imagine I would. I calmly seperated the creature from the water. Then it was sticking to the inside of the water bottle, so I had to bang it a few times to get it out onto a paper towel.

Then I counted the legs. Four times.

I shivered, threw it away, and asked a coworker for gum. She and I talked for a bit about the incident and then I had to vomit.

Needless to say, this event left me traumatized and I couldn't stand the thought of drinking anything for the rest of the day. This fear spilled over into Saturday, causing me not to drink until about noon.

Since then, I have been plagued with a sore throat. This has caused a nagging thought in the back of my brain that I might have some sort of exotic spider sickness. Not the cool kind which renders me the female version of Peter Parker, but the kind that leaves me dead. Or vomiting spiders. Or some such horrific scene.

Lessons Learned: ALWAYS cap your drink, and never use a container for drinking if you can't see through it.

Fireside Bank STINKS!

2010-06-03T10:41:00.001-07:00

Remind me to tell you the story of how Fireside Bank makes it's customers break state law because they are too cheap to spend 50 cents to mail something to Ohio.

S.T.A.R.T.

2010-05-02T21:14:00.000-07:00

I got a new bank here in Ohio. It's U.S. Bank, and so far, I have been as happy as a clam with everything. The reason I went with them vs. another bank in the area is due to their S.T.A.R.T. Savings program.

What I have done is set my account up so each time I use my debit card, $1.00 will be transferred into my savings account. Some people might see this as the acme of foolishness, but it's a way for me to think about how I spend my money. It is a way for me to save without really thinking about it, and a way that isn't painful.

I believe this also follows a principle from George S. Clason's book, The Richest Man in Babylon. Most people, Clason included, will tell you the secret to wealth is to pay yourself first. Well, I'll pay God first with tithing and pay myself second.

I'm half-tempted to post my success/struggles by how well I'm saving here, so I have some sort of accountability, you know? But then again, do I want every Tom, Dick, or Terri to know how much money I have in the bank? Not that my identity is worth stealing, but there are some things which should be kept private. Abby has thoughts on this, I'm sure. I'll wait for her to make my decision for me.

Okay, now that it's officially Monday, I'm going to head off to bed. Time for me to get some sleep before work tomorrow. You know, with the huge report I have to do for NASA.

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

2010-05-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Including me, now.

Just like before, I'm going to keep the name of my employer a secret, so I'll call it NASA. That stands for Not Another Silly Acronym.

I'm beginning my third week at NASA. I'm a little nervous for this week, though, as I will be working more independently than I have before. Lemme explain.

Each month, certain firms renew their contracts with NASA, as we have thousands of firms which have contracts with us. It is my job to make sure all of their data is correct in our system, and send them any information about the renewal of their contract.

This is on top of sending out initial quotes for our services and then the the original contracts. It's a lot to take in, but they say I'm catching on very well. I like to think so.

I did make a mistake on Friday, but as soon as I realized what I did, I went to my boss and told her what I did. She was fantastic at making a mole hill out of my mountain, and said she was impressed that I came to her right away. I thought it was the end of the world, but she made me feel great and like it was a non-issue. She said "That's what training is for." She's a great woman, that Jo.

I've been training with two different women. The first one, Meredith, is a great gal. She is the one who is teaching me about the reports and what-not. Once I get on my feet, I hope that part of the job won't be as intimidating.

The second, Angela, is the one who was teaching me about the quotes and contracts. She's a very nice woman as well. It seems like nothing could ever stop her from smiling.

That's the news on the job front. I love that I'm working again. What I love the most, however, is that I don't have to ask if I can go to lunch, I can just go. Also, I don't have to go through the humiliation of asking if I can go to the bathroom.

Good News

2010-04-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Hooray for this!

I have been offered the job! I will start on the 19th of April. Now, what do I call my company when I speak about it on the Internet? eBay was Hell, Inc. EWI was The Non-Profit. What do I call this place? I want something that has nothing to do with the industry in which I'll be working.

Gainful Employment???

2010-04-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

I just got a call from my handler at the employment agency telling me that they should have a decision by the end of the day.

Again, I was told I was the front-runner, they were impressed with me, etc. It's nice to hear and all, but I really want a job! The consulting I've been doing is nice and all, but I'd love to have a full-time gig.

Oh, and health insurance. Lots and lots of health insurance.

Please keep your fingers crossed, say a prayer, send good vibes, etc.

A Month Later...

2010-04-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Man, before I knew it, a month is gone. I thought I'd be all crazy with the posting, but I wasn't. Sorry Abby and crazy stalker person.

This past weekend was the LDS General Conference. It is always a great weekend for me. I try to do my best to watch all the sessions when they happen. I know that in the age of the Internet and Podcasts, that we can watch things at any time. But I feel incredibly guilty if I'm doing other things when Conference is scheduled. I always feel like something big is going to be announced and I'll miss out. And guilt. Don't forget the soul-smothering guilt I feel. It's like when I'm home from Church. Even if I'm sick, I still feel like I'm going to get called into the principal's office. But it's worse, because it's God.

I don't know if there are any blessings that are denied someone by watching a "rerun" of Conference instead of watching it live, but I never seem to want to be in the position to find out.

Also, I did a lot of Tweeting about Conference. I lost some followers, but in all honestly, I didn't even know they were following me anyway.

In addition to all of this, Sunday was Easter. Easter is a special time for me, as it was on Easter Sunday in 1995 when I was baptized.

I was wanting to have lamb for Easter dinner, and I wasn't so sure as to which recipe I wanted to use. When I mentioned this to the BFF, he suggested lamb curry. I am a huge fan of lamb curry, and he got me a recipe. I combined the recipe BFF gave me with a chicken curry recipe Brandy has, and it was good. I put the mixture in a crock pot, and it turned out very tender. Though, I must warn the Interwebs to add the raisins before eating. Otherwise, you get grapes. Anyway, this has now started a new tradition of having lamb curry for Easter dinner. Hopefully if/when I get married, I marry someone who likes 1) lamb and 2) curry.

2010-03-05T16:23:00.001-08:00

I got the book, Sarah's Key, & I'm going to start reading it soon. I'll let y'all know what I think.

Job News

2010-03-04T17:25:00.000-08:00

Today when I was at Brother & Sister Sober's house (or Harry & Maria), I got a call from Amy, my handler at the employment agency I've been using.

Amy was letting me know she had spoke with the company I interviewed with on Tuesday. Jo and Toby were impressed with my skill set and how well I interviewed. They told her I was the front runner for the position!

HOORAY!

They had one more interview today, and they should be making their decision over the weekend, and I should know something on Monday or Tuesday. Holy crap, it looks like I could have a job by the end of the month! Holy sweetness!

Note to self: start looking for apartments in the area.

I Don't Have to Hide Behind Internet Anonymity

2010-03-04T15:35:00.000-08:00

"but I choose to because I know what a psycho you are and you might start prank calling me or sending the cops to my house."

30 IS NOT the New 20

2010-03-03T13:14:00.000-08:00

When I got home today from the running I had to do, my little niece, Tiny, came to sit on my lap and tell me about her day.

She related to me how she had Phys Ed today, and they did gymnastics. They did a log roll, and egg roll (mmm... egg rolls...), and a somersault. I got a kick out of how excited she was to show me these things.

Ever wanting to engage the kid in conversation, I ask her about a cart wheel. She was a little reluctant to show me, as she isn't as good at it as a log roll. I mean, honestly, all you do for that thing is lie down on the floor, put your arms above your head, and roll over. Along with spending about 10 minutes researching if you should be using the word "lay" or "lie" in your blog. You know, so you don't look like a tool.

Then I got a bright idea. I'll go outside and do a cart wheel for her. Yeah... not a good idea. I could blame the current weather or the ground or what not, but I'll man-up and put all of it on me. I fell. It wasn't a hard fall, nor embarrassing--but funny. I am happy I was able to get myself up in the air, I just had some problems with the landing.

But now my right shoulder is sore. It's the arm I land on first, so I'm guessing it's complaining from taking all of that pressure. I mean, if we're going to get technical, we've got my weight times how fast I was going to equate to the pounds of force on it, right?

All of this is to say that 1) my body is older than I feel and 2) I need to work a little bit harder on my Memorial Day Goal.

I just hope no one got a picture of the middle-aged woman doing a cart wheel and falling on her bum.

...

2010-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Speedway SuperAmerica LLC Employee Gives Customer Dis-Service

2010-02-24T20:59:00.000-08:00

I just got an email from Werf¹ relating his most recent trip to a Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, which "is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corporation."²

I purchased a medium hot chocolate. After completing the transaction I decided to get a bag of mini crullers, so I stepped aside. It was then that I looked at my receipt and noticed she had charged me for a large, [which is] 20 cents more.

When I got back to the front of the line, I pointed out the mistake and asked if she, Dani, could just take the difference off the doughnuts. She said she didn't know how and that she would have to ask Chris.

Just then he came around the corner and Dani proceeded to say something like: "This guy says I rung him up wrong and he wants his 10 cents." I politely said that it was 20 cents and she ignored me. I asked Chris if he could just take the 20 cents off the doughnuts. He told Dani to just manually discount the price of the doughnuts. She said, "What is Mark gonna say?" She was referring to the GM. Then she said in effect, "Just tell him that some butt-head customer wanted his 12 cents back?"

At that point I had had enough of her lip. So I bit mine and left. She is the one who answered the phone when I called to talk to a super or manager. She was equally belligerent then.

The manager will be in tomorrow morning.

Oh, I forgot that Dani was ragging on a previous customer and the miscommunication they had. She called him a bonehead. That bonehead happens to be my neighbor's boyfriend. He's very nice and polite kid. When he saw me walk in the store he asked me a follow-up question that he and I had just earlier this week. Very genuine kid. Comes into my store from time to time, too.

At this time, I should point out that Werf shops at Speedway SuperAmerica LLC frequently. Werf loves to save money, so Werf participates in the Speedy Rewards program, with a balance in excess of 100,000 points. Werf estimates a normal week results in 1-2 visits to the store located at 7819 US 42 in Florence, KY.

This is frustrating to both Werf and myself, as normally we both have received excellent customer service there. They have this to say in regard to their service:

At Speedway SuperAmerica, we have a dynamic, diverse work force. Our employees are the difference at Speedway SuperAmerica. Their drive, passion, and commitment to excellence truly make Speedway SuperAmerica a leader in our industry. ³

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by all of this, really. It is just so bothersome for me that good customer service is becoming the exception rather than the rule. We, as consumers, expect belligerent, rude people to serve us. We are, for the most part, conditioned to not speak up for ourselves when it comes to the money we spend on the goods/services we receive. We do not want to become an inconvenience to those we are paying to serve us.

All I can do is publish this on the various Social Media Outlets I use, and encourage Werf to send a letter to Mr. Tony Kenney, President of Speedway SuperAmerica LLC, and never patronize their location at:

7819 US 42
Florence, KY 41042

¹   #1, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=werf
²   Who We Are, http://www.speedway.com/aboutUs/Default.aspx
³   Welcome from the President, http://www.speedway.com/aboutUs/Default.aspx

Memorial Day Goal

2010-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

98 days until Memorial Day. This is the first goal date I have. I want to lose 10% of my body weight by this day.

To achieve this goal, I pledge to myself that:

I will go to the YMCA at least three times a week for the rest of the month of February.
I will make better choices about the food I eat.
I will drink more water.
I will not consume more than 1,400 calories a day.

Hooray! I feel very excited about this.

Go Away, Little Girl

2010-02-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

A quote from one of my favorite movies, Grosse Pointe Blank:

Do you really believe that there's some stored up conflict that exists between us? There is no us. We don't exist. So who do you wanna hit, man?

To whomever is Mr./Ms. M: I hope that hiding behind Internet anonymity while belittling others makes you feel better about whatever drama it is you are currently having in your life.

Small Business Merchant Solutions

2010-02-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

I am doing some research into banks/companies which offer merchant solutions for small businesses. I need something which deals with ACH, Credit Cards, Checks, E-Checks, etc.

Does anyone have any personal experiences with certain banks or companies which have been good to you/your firm in this area?

Any information you have would be great, even if it is someone to stay away from.

Job Interview

2010-02-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

Had the job interview today, here's the low-down:

I went in today and met with two people. Gal 1 was very nice, but she was HR, you know? She was cordial but reserved. When I got her talking about the family & service aspect of the company, she really opened up. She spoke a lot about the right fit for the company, and that they could teach anyone how to do the job, but that they were looking for a particular kind of person. She seemed to give me the indication that I was a good fit for the company, but not for this particular position.

She then passed me off to Gal 2. Gal 2 was much more personable. She and I had the chance to talk more about what skills I have and how they'd be beneficial to the company. She told me that I had beat all of the other applicants out so far, and asked me about my availability.

My only complaint was waiting for 40 minutes after my set meeting time to meet with HR. I understand that meetings are never over when they are supposed to be, but wow... 40 minutes.

As with other jobs I've had since I've been blogging, I'm not going to name the name of the company, and ask you to do the same. I actually know people who've had their careers negatively impacted by the things they have said in a blog, Twitter, etc. They are great, well-meaning people, but I'm learning from their mistakes.

Now, to get the job and find a place close by where I can live and stay in my Ward...

Snowpocalypse!

2010-02-05T07:07:00.001-08:00

Was the snowpocalypse canceled? Because, I didn't get the memo.

Also, I should so totally become a meteorologist. Check me out: Today there is a 15% chance of vagueness with a 25% chance of inciting panic.

I wonder how much these folks pay for their schooling?

What the French, Toast?

2010-02-03T18:56:00.001-08:00

There are some shenanigans going on in my family right now. We could all use some prayers/mojo/good thoughts.

Dairy/Lactose is of the DEVIL!

2010-01-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

I'm at Melissa's house watching her kids (or currently ignoring her kids, as the case may be) while she's at the eye doctor with her eldest.

She just found out that said oldest kid has to now go on a dairy-free/lactose-free diet. For six months. To make life easier on herself, everyone in the family is going dairy free.

Do any of you out there have any suggestions, tips, tricks, websites, books, witch doctors that might help make this a little bit easier on her?

Any and all recomendations will help. Especially those witch doctors.

From My Cell Phone

2010-01-25T11:23:00.001-08:00

Now this is what I love about the state of technology... I can blog from my cell phone.

Sicker Still

2010-01-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

I was going about my day yesterday and I noticed I started coughing for what appeared to be no reason. This is not the sort of thing which fills my heart with songs of happiness and love. It fills my heart with a dread similar to IRS audits and and wrecking someone else's car.

I've been invited to a party tonight, and I'm on the fence as to if I go or not. I mean, I feel perfectly fine, but I'm starting to have more productive coughs (see how I kept that nice and free of grossness?), and I don't want to be hacking and spewing over everyone and all of the deserts.

Which then begs the question "Do I go to Church tomorrow?" I want to go to Church, but I don't want to get people sick, you know? Presenteeism causes so many more problems than people think. There are too many people in my Ward who I do NOT want to get sick. Ugh. Decisions!

Other than that, I've got a job lead from the Employment Agency I have decided to use. The lead is for a company here in my area, and hopefully I'll have an interview soon. I had to take all of the usual tests for Excel, Word, typing speed, and data entry skills. I got a 97% on my Excel, and 100% on my Word. Hopefully this will land me a job. I want a job!

Come On, Get Down With The Sickness

2010-01-22T04:31:00.000-08:00

I've got some sort of nasal congestion going on in my head. Normally I wouldn't be too worried with a cold, but I have a job interview (hopefully soon) and I'll be singing in about a month, so I need to be in tip-top shape! Ugh, stupid cold.

In other news, I'm going back to bed to sleep the cold away. Adieu.