Ignorant Historian

I apologize for wasting your time if you read this.  I’m sure there is something (anything) else that is a better use of your time.

I love this time of year, truly, but it is exhausting.  Some people have jobs that have stress throughout the year, but mine seems to pile up in the first 4 months of the year.  But that’s where all the fun and joy seems to fall, too, so I wouldn’t change it.

Since I’m tired after working a 11-hour work day (I’m writing this Tuesday evening), I’m going to write about the first thing that comes to mind.  Technology.  Perhaps this comes to mind as in the last month or so I’ve gotten both a Nook and a Windows 7 phone (yes, my 6th cell phone in 9 years).  Plus, I’m currently listening to the chapter on media from Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer’s The Millennials.

(Side note: Jess talks about how his journey with media began with Oregon Trail…didn’t it for most of us older millennials?  I loved that game, especially since it counted as “school!”)

When I got my last new phone a year and a half ago (I had to get another so soon as I’m switching back to AT&T for work…4th company switch!), I talked about how much cell phone technology has changed.  My phone is, of course, not only my only phone and how I primarily communicate (via text), but also my mp3 player, GPS (haven’t used it yet, but will the next time I need directions), and the camera I use more often than not (to film video, too).  If I wanted, I could use it to check email or watch videos, but I haven’t done that, yet, either.

I love the all-in-one-ness of today’s cell phones, and I assume it will continue.

Interesting statistics (sorry, that’s what you get for me writing while listening!): 13% of my generation (born 1980-2000) write blogs.  Millennials like me (with graduate degrees) are most likely to use social media.  Ha, am I just a statistic?

So what are your thoughts on the technology trends?  What are your hopes?  Your concerns?

Today’s a big day for me.  While many people may not have school or work today, I have what is usually one of the busiest work days of my year.

We open our main tax site on Martin Luther King, Jr. day.  I suppose it doesn’t have to be on this day, but we usually start on the first Monday after January 15th, which is MLK Day.  It’s just how it lands.

But even more than that (though the first day of tax season would be busy, regardless), today is busy because it’s also the MLK Day of Service through our United Way.  I love that they do this–in high school, I participated in and even helped plan a Youth Day of Caring, which is the same concept, just over Spring Break (and just youth).  I think it’s a great way to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.  MLK Day is perfect timing for us, too, as we use the wealth of volunteers to stuff bags that we hand out to all of our tax clients.  Without the volunteers, I’d have to spend at least a couple of weeks doing it myself.

And without our tax volunteers, we couldn’t help even half as many people as we do.  I’m very thankful that people readily give up their time to do boring things like stuffing bags and doing taxes.

So with that said, it’s time to…

Go!

Well, my body is definitely showing it’s age.  Or really, it’s showing it’s age plus 40.

Saturday, as I was bending sideways to set an empty laundry basket on a chair a pain akin to being stabbed hit my lower back.  This isn’t anything new, as it happened Labor Day 2008, but it wasn’t like I was expecting it, either.

By limiting what I did and taking Tylenol at regular intervals, I was able to tolerate the pain with a slow, limping gate.  I thought I was on the mend, but then after a night of waking up every time I wanted to roll over because I couldn’t (I’m a very active sleeper, apparently), I realized that I had a problem.

It took everything I had to get out of the bed in the morning.

Perhaps I would have continued to wait it out on a normal week, but knowing that I’m scheduled to board a plane in the wee hours of Wednesday morning (can you imagine walking–let alone hauling luggage–through the airport like this?), I had to seek treatment.

So instead of heading off to my Sunday school Christmas party, I headed out to a nearby urgent care.  The doctor was great and easily detected the muscle spasm.  I’m now on a course of steroids and have muscle relaxers that I only plan on taking to sleep.

With the muscle relaxer, I was able to sleep well last night and even could get out of bed when the alarm went off.  Though under the influence of the drug (at least that’s what I’ll blame it on), I decided to push back my wakeup alarm 3o minutes.  Not sure why I made that decision, though I do remember doing it.

So, here’s to getting better!  Between the bum back and the end of the cold, I think I’m ready for work…where I am going to be filmed for a video to play in our waiting area.

Let’s just hope I still have my voice.

1.  What food did you used to dislike but now enjoy?

Just the other day a friend made me pizza that I used to hate–I disliked all veggies on pizza. This pizza had spinach, tomato, feta, chicken, and the like on it…and I loved it. I’ve been more and more adventurous with food, and for the most part, I’ve been liking what I eat.

2.  Where is your hammer, and what did you last use it for?

In my closet. I used it to hang up some pictures, when I moved.

3.  What are your ideal working conditions?

When I hear that term, “working conditions,” I think of The Jungle. Glad I’ve never had to work under conditions even 10% that bad.

If I had my way, I’d work in a warm office (check) with a window. Lamps (check) instead of florescent lights. In my pajamas. With a Diet Dr Pepper tap. So yeah, my “working conditions” aren’t perfect, but they’re pretty close!

4.  When did you most recently have ice cream?

I plead the 5th. I am Game On! Okay, Tuesday.

5.  How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews on books?

I don’t enjoy it, but I do it as necessary. I prefer NOT to review a book I didn’t like, unless I feel like I need to dissuade others or make a point about the book.

I’m in the mountains.

Or what passes for mountains here on the East Coast.

Thanks to some so-boring-my-eyes-will-fall-out work training today through Wednesday in this “exotic” location, I’ve decided to take the rest of the week and spend it in my friend’s mountain cabin not too far away.

And I do mean in it.  Except for the hilly walks I’ll *have* to take, since we’ve started a new round of Game On! this week.

I’ll be joined by several families this weekend, but for the first 48 hours there I’ll be alone.  I’ve never been alone alone before.  I’m looking forward to the lack of distractions, and the time to read (ha, haven’t gotten enough!), worship, and reset my priorities.

So with that, I’ll see you all back here, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Monday, October 18th.

With pictures.  And maybe video.

This picture is what it looked like at the cabin the last time I was there, this summer.

Snippets from posts about the summer I moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina:

Saturday, July 16, 2005

I went to the mall today and actually ran into people I know.  I wasn’t expecting to do that this quickly!

Tuesday, July 25, 2005

I need to lay off the Pepper. I don’t feel good after drinking it…but it tastes so good!

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

I’m excited for classes to get started. Can I start this Thursday instead of next Thursday?

[And now, the story you want to hear:]

Friday, August 12, 2005

Sorry I’ve been posting so much recently, but this story I really can’t pass up. I don’t want to draw attention away from the more serious elements of my blog (wherever they exist) but I really got a kick out of this. One fact that might help you understand the story is that I really don’t like being around animals of any kind, though in high school I did do nature events where we had to identify different species and stuff.

Yesterday, as I was going out to my car (I park in a parking garage) from a glance at a distance I saw something in front of my car. I thought, “great, a cat. I don’t like cats.” Well, it wasn’t a cat. Guess what it was? When I asked that to a couple of friends, I got various responses including a beaver and a dead body, both wrong. A turtle! Okay, so that’s not that exciting necessarily, but this was a particularly clever turtle, and rather large too, about 10 inches in diameter.

So, as I contemplated this turtle, I thought about what turtles are known for: their cowardice. Okay, so if I start backing out, the turtle is just going to go inside his shell, so if I can just stradle him with my tires, I’ll be okay. Not that big of a problem, since he was about halfway between the tires. So I back up just enough to where he would almost be under my car, and got out to look to make sure that he didn’t move to where I would run over him. Like a turtle, he hadn’t moved. Well, I just didn’t feel comfortable with trying not to hit that little sucker, so I decided to try to move him. “Be brave, Ronnica!” I thought. So I tried to grab the turtle to move him to safer spot with my bare hand. I wasn’t about to touch him anywhere except on his shell, but with one hand I couldn’t lift him like that because he was too big. However, I did scare him so he started running away (pretty fast for a turtle)…right under my car. He’s smart too, he went right in the middle where I couldn’t get him and couldn’t scare him out the front (which I can only assume he thought I planned on eating him: turtle soup anyone?). So, knowing that he now was deathly afraid of me I got in my car quickly (in case my moves turned him into a fighter) and drove out of the parking space successfully without the slightest crunch.

Since we all enjoy laughing at me (or the 22yo version of me), here’s another couple of posts from my Xanga days.  It’s amazing to me how much it reads just like a journal, and an un-interesting one at that. And clearly I didn’t know that it’s a big blogging no-no to write about your company on a blog.

Sunday, April 17, 2005
Today has been totally awesome…everytime I turn around I see another blessing from God!

This morning Dana and I went shopping and I bought an outfit for the Spring Banquet. It’s so cute! Then we went to lunch at Ted’s…it was delicious and complete with a Dr. Pepper to go.

At work I got trained on the Service Desk. It was a great change from regular cashiering and chances are I’ll be doing SD not too unfrequently now. It’s sad to see what people try to get away with. And not just your “average” criminal either. Anyone, from someone who looks like your grandma to someone who looks like your minister try to mess with Wal-mart and get money for free.

Being at the Service Desk is nice because the customers come and go, and I have a chance to walk around a lot as well as talk to people. I haven’t really had anyone get mad at me…yet. Though I’m sure that will happen soon.

Sorry to ramble on about Wal-mart. It’s just been cool to see how God’s been placing opportunities for me to develop relationships with my co-workers right in my lap!

Thursday, May 26, 2005

As most of you know, I work at Wal-mart. It’s a pretty decent job, and it’s a company that really looks out for the little people. However, over the past few months, one thing has became more and more obvious to me…

Wal-mart is obsessed with Sam Walton. Not just a little obsessed…majorly obsessed. The other day I took the time to look at how many mentions of him there are in the breakroom alone (it’s not just a closet, it’s 2x as big as the normal classroom at OU). There were 6 portraits of him, of only two different poses, and 12 quotes of things he said. This is in the breakroom alone, not counting the many quotes and pictures there are of him throughout the store. Every month in the employee’s magazine, there generally is an article that is republished from a speech he said back when he was still alive. Oh yeah, if you didn’t know, he died some time ago, in the early 90s I believe. That just makes everything more creepy. It makes me feel like he’s Big Brother or something.

Enough of that; I just had to get it off of my chest. It’s been bugging me. In less than a month, I’ll no longer work there.

What are there only 435 of in this whole country? (answer after the break)

I love wearing heels. Tax season, however, doesn’t love heels.  While I do spend a significant portion of my day behind a desk, slumped over a keyboard, I also get up frequently to give a new client paperwork to fill out, answer a question, check a volunteer’s work, shred something, file something else, get an envelope…you get the picture.

During tax season (especially February and April), I’m always doing 3 things at once.  Or more.  With only three days left of tax season, you know things are crazy.

But today, I’m wearing heels.  The reason lies in the answer to that first question (bonus points to anyone who figured out the riddle before reading on).

So, what are there only 435 of in this whole country?

Representatives.

As in The House of Representatives.

And one of those Representatives is visiting our small little site (need I remind you that it’s my site…as in I run it?) on this very day (and no, he doesn’t even happen to be my Representative, thanks to the screwy district lines).

So, on top of my usual busy tax day at our outlying site, I am spending the first few hours of my day in my office schmoozing up Congressmen Bob Etheridge, anyone he happens to bring with him (do they have an entourage? maybe not…but if he was a Senator?), several members of the IRS, some other colleagues, whatever media we can attract, as well as a handful of tax clients (which could be a handful in themselves).

That’s a lot of people to have in our little 4-room office.

I don’t really know what to expect.  I’m not to be the main act, but I’m definitely supposed to be the puppet-master.  Not sure how I’m going to pull all those strings.  If you think about it, pray for me between 9:30 and 10:30 Eastern!  I’ll update you all once I get some down time (ha ha!).

Updated:

Congressman here and gone.  Media here and gone.  IRS here and gone.  It went well…only briefly talked to Congressman Etheridge, but enjoyed chatting it up with volunteers, tax clients, and IRS higher ups.  Was told that I have a very welcoming and reassuring personality…that’s a first.  The important thing is that it’s over…3 more days!

What, a new post on the Ignorant Historian? I must admit, I never thought that the tax season would swallow me whole as it has.  I had those three days of much-needed relaxation, and then I’ve had three crazy days of taxes…and it’s just the beginning.  Until April 15th, I’ll have little free computer time.   Not that it’s a BAD thing…I love what I’m doing and I still have time for other priorities, but unfortunately blogging seems far down that list.

I don’t WANT to quit this blog, but at this moment, I can’t think of what to say.  I prefer to hold to a if-you-don’t-have-anything-to-say-don’t-blog philosophy, but clearly this post goes against that idea.

I do have a couple ideas for meaningful posts rolling around in my head.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, really) to share those posts with you in the next week(s).

Perhaps you could help me out, though…what would YOU want me to blog about?  I need some help to get back into a blogging mindset!

Thanks each and every one of you for taking the time to read this here blog.  Your comments have been encouraging even when I haven’t had the time to let you know that.

Oh my, this weekend was exactly what I needed after a crazy 3 months of travel, emotional highs and lows, sickness, and more work than I felt like I could handle at the time.

Start of the weekend: Friday was a good-busy day at work with an encouraging visit from a big boss and full of “snow day” excitement. That really doesn’t go away when you grow up, does it? Oh yeah, and did I mention, I got a raise? After work the day got better as I got to go HOME. As much as I love the people in my small group, I was craving time away from people.

Saturday we woke up to a blanket of snow, and the cold stuff still falling (actually, a lot of sleet later in the day). I do love snow…as long as it stays outside and I stay in. Still haven’t touched the stuff (though I’m going to have to make a run out to my car to get another can of Diet Dr Pepper this morning). Spent the day doing a little laundry and a lot of reading. Started The Help…so good!

Sunday church was cancelled and the city was just starting to wake up from the snow.  Five inches of snow may seem like nothing to others, but that’s a lot here in the South when we don’t have the capabilities to do much with it.  Another day of reading The Help, with a short break to watch Hairspray with the roommate.

And then today, the party continues.  Of course, I can’t quite neglect work like I have the last two days, but I really just need to make a few calls to cancel our appointments and handle any new emails/voice mails that come in.  All which can be handled here without leaving my comfy reading chair.

I will be going back to work tomorrow, possibly.  Though honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they cancel school again (I don’t work in a school, but that’s how we determine if we’re open or closed for taxes).  Even if I have to go in to work, it’ll be at noon at our yet non-busy site.  Not bad!  When this is all over, I’ll be ready to be around people again.