AudreyPodrey.com

Below are some images of our new President, in normal situations that all of us can identify with.   I loved these.  Enjoy.

I am not motivated to write individual posts for each of these movies, but wanted to pass along recommendations for the good ones i’ve seen recently.

The Wrestler - Very good.  Not your typical movie.  I commented to Lance that the story arc in some ways is the inverse of a normal story arc.  It’s been nominated for some Oscars.  Highly recommended.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster - a documentary about the use of steroids.  It was extremely well-done, and makes many thought-provoking points.  It changed my attitude, if not my overall opinion.

Slumdog Millionaire - I thought this was a very good movie.  All sorts of Golden Globes, nominated for many Oscars.  I’m not sophisticated enough to understand all the hype, but i did thoroughly enjoy it.

Notorious - A portrayal of the life and times of Biggie Smalls, or the Notorious B.I.G.  The lead actor did a great job, i thought.  Personally, while i know some of his music, all i knew about Biggie’s life was that it ended too young.  So i learned a lot about the Biggie-Tupac fued.  Well done.

Lance had the fun idea that in 2009 we should play money bridge.  There used to be a game floating around, which Lance played in a few times, but it has died out.  So, if we want to play money bridge, we need to host the game.  Friday night was the first of what i hope will be many games.

I think we will host about once per month.  The conditions of contest are:

• bring a partner - this will be your partner for the evening
• there will be four partnerships
• you play with each other partnership once as teammates and once as opponents at your table
• ten boards per round
• IMP scoring
• stakes are $.50 per IMP per person, or $1 per IMP per partnership

Friday’s game was a lot of fun.  Having something riding on the results, even these low stakes, gave the game a more competetive flavor.  At the end of the night, the results were win $37, win $19, lose $24, lose $32.  Most of the time, the variance in the results will be much lower - we expected the absolute value for each pair to be less than $20.  But we had one match where the result was 56-0.  (In comparison, the other matches were 13-8 and 39-26.)

If you’re reading this and are interested, let us know - we want to be inclusive of anyone who would like to participate.

A few things have presented themselves loudly in the past few days that make me really grateful that i chose to leave my old group at the time i did.  There are a few other things about my new job that are just awesome all by themselves.  I just want to share a few things that have occurred to me lately.

• I no longer have to deal with the zOS operating system. Hurray!
• I didn’t have to login from home and work on my snow day.  There was a constant feeling of playing catch-up in the old position, and i saw quite a few emails from my former group members on the snow day indicating they had worked for a good portion of the day.
• The old division has been completely re-orged.  Re-orgs are common in the corporate world, but there is always a lot of uncertainty in the midst of one.
• I’m going to get to use my statistics degree.  I need to brush up on a few things, but i’m looking forward to that part.
• I get a shiny new Mac.  This software releases on Mac, Windows and Linux only.
• I get to work with my mentor.
• I click really well with my new manager.  I liked my ex-manager well enough, but i often felt like we didn’t quite “get” each other.
• There will be opportunities to meet real customers, and that’s a side of business i am definitely interested in.

I have only been here a few days, but i’m more excited about it every day.

Cindy got tagged on Facebook and wrote 25 random things about herself and posted it on her blog.  I enjoyed reading it so much, i thought i would repeat the exercise.

1. I don’t like olives, but i do like dirty martinis.
2. I think Matthew McConaughey has a sexy accent.
3. I love to play bridge.  I’ve been playing for 10 years.  I have 2000 masterpoints.  When i retire i will probably play bridge every day.  As it is, i play twice a week and often use my vacation days to go to bridge tournaments.
4. I serve my bridge club as Secretary/Treasurer.  When we host tournaments, sometimes i get to handle ten thousand dollars in cash.
5. My favorite ice cream flavor is mint chocolate chip.
6. I’ve been married once.  I was 22.  It lasted 5 years.
7. I’m currently living with my boyfriend.  We have no plans to get married, and we’re both very comfortable with that.
8. I was named after my grandmother.
9. I graduated from NC State with a BS in Statistics and a minor in Math.  The new position i have taken at work will make me use those degrees more than anything i’ve yet done.
10. I can trace my genealogy back to John Alden and Priscilla Mullen of the Mayflower.
11. I was on the swim team in high school.  I wasn’t particularly fast, but i wasn’t the slowest either.  Swim practice was at 6 am, and somehow my teenage self actually got up and participated.
12. I was also in band.  I played the French horn.  For my junior and senior years, i participated both in marching band and wind symphony.  Then, when i got to college, i dropped out of band completely because it was only a one hour credit but took up so much time.  I’ve always regretted that.
13. I am the oldest of three.  My two brothers are my friends, and i feel like we always have each others’ backs.
14. I always notice misspellings and incorrect use of their/there/they’re, to/too, hear/here, its/it’s.
15. I would totally do commercials for Diet Sunkist.  I love that stuff.  Lance calls it “Diet Audrey”.
16. I love reading and try to read every day.  My favorite genre is fantasy.
17. I am a Mary Kay consultant.  So far i have not made any money, but i do get everything for half price.
18. When i am stressed, i can calm myself by looking at my online bank account statements.  Not because i have a lot of money, but because i like monitoring my credit card transactions and watching scheduled payments get made.
19. I do not have religious faith, but i believe in the goodness of people.
20. I get a small kick out of doing my taxes.
21. My favorite beer is Yuengling.  In college and even a few years after, i didn’t care for the taste of any beer.  But now i genuinely enjoy Yuengling, and some other beers.  I also like wine.  Any wine.
22. I am a cat person AND a dog person.
23. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry.  I have a few items that are special to me, and i wear them because i like them, not because they accessorize my outfit in any way.
24. I need quiet time.
25. I like movies that make me cry.  Sometimes a girl needs a good cry.

The Uglies trilogy can be found in the Teen section of the bookstore or the library.  However, i found them extremely entertaining.

The setting is a few hundred years into the future, and society has evolved into a sort of utopia.  There are distinct phases in your life.  You are a littlie from age 0-11.  At age 12 you go to a type of boarding school for four years, and these are known as your ugly years.  At age 16 you get to undergo an operation where you are turned pretty.  When you’re pretty, you get to party for a few years.  There is another operation as you enter middle age, and you become a middle pretty.  A third and final operation occurs before old age, and you become a crumblie.

Technology and government has evolved to a point where the society is completely self-contained.  Everything that is used is recycled.  Nothing costs money.  Everyone pitches in during their middle pretty days and is a functioning member of society.

But of course, there is a problem with how this all works.  It turns out the government is also doing a little brain surgery while doing the cosmetic surgery.  There are a few rebels who live in the woods, refusing to undergo the operation to become pretty, and struggling against the big government entity.

Our heroine is Tally, a teenager who has spent years wanting nothing other than to finally be pretty.  She gets caught up with the rebels, and after a series of hoverboarding and bungee-jumping stunts, she discovers the secret of the surgery.  And now she has to find a way to save herself, and her friends.

I think these books have a lot of good stuff in them, and not just for teens.

I’ve mentioned him, and there has been a picture or two of him on this blog.  But here’s a more official introduction - meet Lance.

Lance is my favorite person.  He makes me laugh.  He can laugh at himself, which i think is important to be able to do.  He’s smart, and loves philosophizing about people and about the world.  He’s good to his dog.  He is always trying to improve himself, and really, what else is this life for?  He is extremely passionate about his interests.  He always treats me with respect, and is supportive of my interests.  He gives a lot of himself to others.

And he’s given a big part of himself to me.  I am lucky - he is my best friend, and i get to hang out with him all the time.  How cool is that?  (-:  I love you, sweet thing.

I would like to share this poem by ee cummings that Lance has made special for me.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
                                    i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I’ve always thought to myself that i will really be an adult when i no longer look forward to snow days.  If i hear about a possible storm coming and think i hope it misses us.

I must still be a kid, because when i heard there was a surprise formation of clouds that was going to dump snow on our area, all i could think was, YAY!  I was hoping all day yesterday, trying at the same time not to get those hopes up too high, that it would snow enough to get us out of work.  I had a dream about waking up in the morning, and seeing only a light dusting and having to go to work, but i slid into a ditch on the way there.  I had another dream that i woke up and looked out the window and there was no snow at all.

Then i actually woke up, and the bedroom had that luminous quality that can only come from light reflecting off of lots and lots of snow.  YAY!

The coolest part about being at home today, is that we can watch the inauguration of Barack Obama.  Echoing many sentiments i’ve heard and seen in other blogs, it is just extremely awesome the progress this country had made.  I’m proud to be an American today.

What does it say about me that i think it would be cool to be the person who organized the inauguration event and all the behind-the-scenes stuff that had to happen?

Saturday night Lance and i got all gussied up and went to the winter party hosted by my company.  It’s utter chaos, but it’s sorta fun.  I like watching all the people walk by in their fancy clothes.

There were hundreds and hundreds of people there.  I saw exactly one person that i knew - my ex-manager.  The one who has been my ex-manager for less than a week.  Yeah, that wasn’t awkward at all.

This photo was the one we took in our kitchen before we left, but we also stood in line at the party and got our picture taken by the professional guy who was set up at the party.  I hope it turns out well.  Having the fancy picture taken was the primary goal for the evening.

Lance was pretty overwhelmed by all the people.  And i don’t blame him - it was definitely chatoic, and big crowds aren’t really his thing.  They aren’t really my thing either, but something about this party makes me want to go and try to have a good time.  If i go again next year i might take a party girl with me who can show me how to do that.

Tomorrow is the first official day of my new position at work.  My office was moved a week ago, and i’ve been in a somewhat awkward transition period for the last week.  I’m physically in my new location and going to meetings for the new group, but still actually working for the old team.  I can’t WAIT for the transition period to be over.  It is extremely stressful doing two jobs at once.

My new office rocks.  It has a window with a nice view and is close to the bathroom and break room.  The people are really nice, too - all sorts of people have dropped in to introduce themselves and say hello.  They didn’t do that in my old building.

I’ll miss the people of my old group, but i’m ready for a change.  Bring on the challenges!  Bring on the new!  I’m ready.