I hope everyone had a good Christmas and Hanukkah! I'm so lucky that I got to celebrate both! I just got this email and I thought it was pretty funny.

CHRISTMAS PARTY ANNOUNCEMENT
FROM: Heide Oravetz, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 01, 2008
RE: Christmas Party
I'm happy to inform you that the company Christmas Party will take place on December 22, starting at noon in the privatefunction room at the Dealership.
There will be a cash bar and plenty of drinks! We'll have a small band playing traditional carols...feel free to sing along.
And don't be surprised if Steve shows up as Santa Claus!
A Christmas tree will be lit at 1:00pm. Exchange of gifts among employees can be done at that time; however, no gift should be over$10.00 to make the giving of gifts easy for everyone's pockets. This gathering is only for employees!Kevin will make a special announcement at that time!
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Heide
************************************************** *
FROM: Heide Oravetz, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 02, 2008
RE: Holiday Party
In no way was yesterday's memo intended to exclude our Jewish employees.
We recognize that Chanukah is an important holiday, which often coincides with Christmas, though unfortunately not this year. However,from now on we're calling it our "Holiday Party."
The same policy applies to any other employees who are not Christians or those still celebrating Reconciliation Day.
There will be no Christmas tree. No Christmas carols sung.
We will have other types of music. Happy now?
Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Heide
************************************************** ***
FROM: Heide Oravetz, Human Resources Director
TO: All Employees
DATE: December 03, 2008
RE: Holiday Party
Regarding the note I received from a member of Alcoholics Anonymous requesting a non-drinking table ... you didn't sign your name. I'm happy to accommodate this request, but if I put a sign on a table that reads, "AA Only"; you wouldn't be anonymous anymore.
How am I supposed to handle this? Somebody?
Forget about the gifts exchange, no gifts exchange are allowed since the union members feel that $10.00 is too much money and executives believe $10.00 is a little chintzy. NO GIFTS EXCHANGE WILL BE ALLOWED.
************************************************** ***
FROM: Heide Oravetz, Human Resources Director
To: All Employees
RE: Holiday Party
What a diverse group we are! I had no idea that December 20 begins the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which forbids eating and drinking during daylight hours.
There goes the party! Seriously, we can appreciate how a luncheon at this time of year does not accommodate our Muslim employees' beliefs. Perhaps the Grill House can hold off on serving your meal until the end of the party- or else package everything for you to take it home in little foil doggy baggy. Will that work?
Meanwhile, I've arranged for members of Weight Watchers to sit farthest from The dessert buffet and pregnant women will get the table closest to the restrooms.
Gays are allowed to sit with each other. Lesbians do not have to sit with Gay men, each will have their own table. Yes, there will be flowerarrangement for the Gay men's table.
To the person asking permission to cross dress, no cross-dressing allowed though.
We will have booster seats for short people.
Low-fat food will be available for those on a diet.
We cannot control the salt used in the food we suggest for those people with high blood pressure to taste first.
There will be fresh fruits as dessert for Diabetics, the restaurant cannot supply "No Sugar" desserts. Sorry!
Did I miss anything?!?!?
Heide
************************************************
FROM: Heide Oravetz, Human Resources Director
TO: All F****** Employees
DATE: December 05, 2008
RE: The F****** Holiday Party
Vegetarian pricks I've had it with you people!!! We're going to keep this party at the Grill House whether you like it or not, so you can sit quietly at the table furthest from the "grill of death," as you so quaintly put it, and you'll get your f****** salad bar, includingorganic tomatoes. But you know, tomatoes have feelings, too. They scream when you slice them. I've heard them scream. I'm hearing them scream right NOW! I hope you all have a rotten holiday!
Drive drunk and die,
The Bitch from HELL!!!!!!!!
*********************************************
FROM: Joan Bishop, Acting Human Resources Director
DATE: December 06, 2008
RE: Heide Oravetz and Holiday Party
I'm sure I speak for all of us in wishing Heide Oravetz a speedy recoveryand I'll continue to forward your cards to her. In the meantime,management has decided to cancel our Holiday Party and give everyone theafternoon of the 22nd off with full pay.
Happy Holidays!
Joan

I'm turning 30 in February. I am really not worried about it nor am I depressed. According to some, their 30s were the best years of their lives. I truly hope they're right.

When I turned 21, I felt really strange. I felt that I hadn't accomplished a thing. Now that I'm turning 30, I can say that I've accomplished more than when I turned 21 . However, proportionally speaking, I feel that I've screwed up way more!!

So I would like to focus on my 30s and do whatever it takes to make them good. And when I turn 40, I would like to say that the 30s were great and that proportionally speaking, I did not screw up as much!

I continue with my question... who cares about people like Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag? How about the Kardashian girls? I truly don't get it... I am so tired of the media turning these nobodys into idols and role models. I mean, COME ON!

On a side note, have celebrities always been given preferential treatment by law enforcement? I wonder because nowadays they are almost immune to any sort of responsibility with the law... hmmm...

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle"

I've liked this quote for quite sometime. Although there seems to be a discrepancy as to who said it, whoever did, is brilliant. I've used it as my profile quote on myspace as well as part of my signature on my email.

Unfortunately, I feel that the majority of people don't feel the same. People are not kind nor do they care how you feel. And the old "treat others as you would like to be treated" has gone down the crapper. People treat people like shit, hence they like to be treated like shit too.

I see this often at work. Two wrongs don't make a right but I'm tired of being kinder than necessary as nobody is kind to me or my team.

I am not, by far, Emily Post. I don't follow etiquette protocols to the T and I'm fine with that. I do, however, follow it more than others. Way more than others actually and unfortunately it's not always seen as a good thing.

I have a friend who more than once flaked out at the last minute. She will RSVP yes to something and will wait until the last minute to notify me that she is unable to make, like our party last weekend. It was not a sit down dinner so the fact that she couldn't come was fine. What bothered me was the excuse why she couldn't come and the fact that it came via text message 23 minutes before the party start time. Not that she had to be there right at 7pm but still. A friend mysteriously shows up in town and mysteriously has tickets to the basketball game and mysteriously made plans to meet other mysterious friends downtown after the game. Please, spare me!

Another one of my friends was invited to spend Thanksgiving with some relatives who he is not too close with but since he lives far away from his parents, these relatives often invite him to functions and such. He supposedly told them that he would more than likely go to their place for Thanksgiving but he would call to confirm. It’s Wednesday before Turkey Day and no call has been made yet. When I asked him about it he said he no longer wants to go there because some of his friends are having a party. Yet, no call has been made.

These are just two very recent examples that bothered me. Not to mention people that RSVP yes and are “no call no show” or people that don’t even bother RSVPing.

I had a situation once where a friend was coming for Thanksgiving dinner. The morning of Turkey Day, she calls me to say that her husband is coming too. Mind you that space was limited at my previous home. Of course I said “that’s fine” but I said something along the lines of “I wish you would have given me more time.” Anyway, I moved the tables around, changed the glasses, added a place setting, all set. I get a call from her around 3pm (3 hours before showtime) saying that they were no longer coming to dinner. Did I mention that she was responsible for bringing wine to dinner? We had a VERY limited supply of wine that Thanksgiving because 7-11 didn’t carry wine (or didn’t have any) and the grocery store was already closed.

I invited people from work for my last 4th of July bbq. I had 3 no, 1 yes who did not show up and 3 no responses. How can you say yes and not show up? Not even bother calling! And the people that did not respond?? I don’t get it! One of those who did not respond still hasn’t sent a “thank you” note for the wedding gift I gave him last December.

Anyway, like I said, I’m not Emily Post. There are 3 weddings that I did not go to and still owe them a gift. But at least I RSVPed accordingly…

A while back I saw some show on TV about dreams. I don’t remember the whole show but one thing that I never forgot (and it’s quite obvious when you think about it) is that your dreams normally incorporate things that you did/saw/thought of during the day.

Isn’t it obvious? Well, I never thought of it and now I can’t stop analyzing my dreams. I have been having dreams rich in details lately and I try to analyze the most memorable parts of the dream. For the most part I can connect the pieces but there are times that I just can’t seem to figure it out. Sometimes, it will annoy the crap out of me as to why I dreamt that if I can’t make the connection.

Anyway, like I mentioned before, I have been “dreaming a lot” lately and always complicated plots and with deep feelings. I have started talking in my dreams too, which is never a good thing. At any rate, during my most recent “talkie” I kept saying “Fuck You! Fuck You!” which woke Seth up. He woke me up and I was clearly disturbed. I still remember the dream and why I dreamt it. It wasn’t so much of the “Fuck You! Fuck You!” and who I was saying to, it was more the feeling of frustration I had earlier that evening.

I guess what prompted me to write this is because I still haven’t figured out last night’s dream. The place is somewhere I’ve been before, in a situation that I have been in before but yet the players are different this time and they don’t really go with that place. I can, somewhat, connect the feeling but not the situation or place. I’ll have to file this one in my unsolved mysteries files.

I wonder if someday, I will see some of the places I see in my dreams. Whether it’s a street, a house, or a parking garage, I wish that when I see this place, I remember that it was in my dreams. This will prove that our dreams are way more prophetic than we think….

Probability is a factor of our lives. There’s a probability that we’ll wake up late one morning. A probability that we’ll get stuck in traffic. A probability that we’ll trip on the steps. A probability that we’ll burn our tongue with soup. A probability that we’ll get dumped. A probability that we’ll get fired. A probability for everything!
And although we accept that it’s something imbedded in our daily grind, we can’t help but to think “What If...”

What if I hadn’t hit the snooze button 3 times? What if I had taken the side streets instead of the highway? What if I had climbed the steps slowly? What if I had waited for the soup to cool off. What if I had been nicer to my mate? What if I had worked harder?

Sometimes the answer is simple but sometimes it’s not. I am not sure how others feel but there are times that I would give my kingdom to see the other side, the “what if” world.
The world where my parents hadn’t gotten divorced. The world where I hadn’t moved to the US. The world where I had dated girls in high school. The world where I would have worked harder in high school to get into a college right off the bat. The world where I hadn’t met some of my closest friends. The world where I came to Disney in 2001 not 2002. The world where I went back to Texas instead of staying in Florida. The world where I had stayed at Disney instead of coming to UCF. The world where I hadn’t made a series of poor decisions that led to major troubles in my relationship. And the list goes on and on and on and on.

Some people accept that things are the way they are due to the choices we made in the past. Some people live in the past and can’t accept the present the way it is and suffer immensely. And then there are others, like myself, who dream about the “what ifs”. Practical? It is not! Beneficial? Definitely not! Then why the hell do we do this? Is it simply my curious nature? Or am I on the borderline of not accepting the present the way it is? I would like to think it’s my inquisitive nature traveling away on a quest for “knowledge” of something that did not happen. The probability that things could have been different than they were, whether good or bad, happy or sad.

I've always liked this song and it's now playing on Pandora.

"Time of Our Lives"

there's a time for us to let go
there's a time for holding on
a time to speak, a time to listen
there's a time for us to grow
there's a time for laying low-down
there's a time for getting high
a time for peace, a time for fighting
a time to live, a time to die
a time to scream, a time for silence
a time for truth against the lies
a time for faith, a time for science
there's a time for us to shine
there is a time for explaining
there's a time to understand
a time for hurt, a time for healing
a time to run, to make a stand
oh, this is the time of our lives

Ai lov rairin laic dis. Mai frend Nena end ai faundaut dat dis meics os lef teribli. Der is en ecshuel cors dat tiches pipou tu rid end rait in inglish bai lernin ir fonericali. De aidia is djinios bicous it meics sou moch isier for de lerner to meic de conecshon of de uord in inglish end espanish.

Sou eniueui, Nena endai ol-ueis chet laic dis on MSN. Uel, not ol-ueis bot moust of de taim ui du. De problem is dat aim guerin it confiusd uif riel inglish. Aive cot maiself taipin somescin tu ei couorquer in dis Niu Inglish dat Nena endai meirap. It ol-ueis meics mi lef uen ai du it bot et de seim taim aim uorid dat ai uil endop ecshuali sendin somescin laic dis tu dem. Or eniuan els for dat merer.

Nena fainds it ameizin dat ai quen taip laic dis sou fest. Ai scinc is bicos its olmoust laic mai neiriv lenguash, portchiuguis. Eniuei, ai uil trai tu blog laic dis gouin foruard.

2000

Rodrigo
I beg you to stop thinking you're fat. You're not! Perhaps you're not in shape but you're far from fat. This will be your frame of mind for the years to follow. Think about this... You were at 178 lbs in December 2000. By October 2001, you were at 187. By March 2002, you were at 192 (counting that you were working out the past year or so). Then, in the Fall 2002, due to poverty, you'll go back down to the 180s only to go back to the 190s in the Spring 2003. By the end of 2003, you'll have gained some weight but only because you stopped exercising. In the Spring 2004, thanks to the South Beach diet, you'll go back down to 188 lbs. And you should have kept yourself at about that...

2005-2008
After that, you won't take any diet seriously as you did at one point. You'll yo-yo up and down, up and down, and up up up and AWAY! Even when you were working out until your back injury, you'll never let yourself go back to 180s-190s. Today, in 2008, you're heavier than ever (even bigger than1998-1999), at 236 pounds. You'll be depressed and hate yourself. Although your approach of indifference and enjoying what you eat makes you "happy", it doesn't. You'll be lying to yourself to cover up for a deep sadness and unhappiness with yourself.

So please, I beg you to watch yourself. Don't tell yourself that your fat and don't let yourself become fat.

Love,
Rodrigo (the fat one, in the future)

Fall 1996

Dear Rodrigo,
I know you don't love your Economics class. But I really wish you would pay more attention to the material. Out of all your High School classes, this will be one of the ones which you will benefit the most. The stock market project should be taken seriously as it might be the best thing you learn in High School. Don't argue with me, just get crackin' on those stocks!

And when, during a current events discussion in the same Economics class, you're asked about girls in sports, don't make up a story that sounds like the girl on the wrestling team from Saved by the Bell. You'll hate yourself for it later.

Rodrigo

February 1989

Dear Rodrigo,

Don't be upset that you're not having a birthday party. It's Summer and you're away from home and from your friends. I know that you already understood that but think about how great it is that you're spending your birthday with your mom and your brothers, together. Two years from now, will be the last time the four of you spend your birthday together. In fact, 1991 will be the last time you celebrate your birthday with both your mom and dad (separately but in the same day). The years that follow, you will not be with your mom on your day. And the ones after that, you won't even see your parents, your brothers, your grandparents... You'll have good times with other people, but not them. The ones that you didn't give importance to on your birthday in 1989. Cherish this moment because you won't forget it.

Rodrigo

WHO CARES ABOUT THE HILLS AND ITS CAST? I cannot stand them! They are not celebrities. They are nothing. Why do people waste time with this morons????

What happens when we realize that we don't like the person we've become? I'm thinking I would like a new model 1000 deluxe personality.

Does anyone know where I can buy one? Perhaps Neiman Marcus?

Renee says:
i want candy!
Rodrigo says:
I have creamy white chocolate
Rodrigo says:
in my pants
Renee says:
LOL
Renee says:
gross!
Rodrigo says:
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!
Renee says:
dirty
Rodrigo says:
I'm laughing hard here
Renee says:
same here
Renee says:
HARD
Renee says:
Hard Candy
Renee says:
sticky and sweet

SUMMER ABROAD WITH THE GAYS, part III
As you can see, it's a no go. Unfortunately, I know for a fact that she's full of crap. One month ago, they needed families. It took her this long to address my request, of course there's no need for additional hosts now.

From: Ms Program Director
To: Rodrigo
Date: 7/2/2008 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Homestay Program

Hi Rodrigo,
I'm sorry about the delay in responding to your e mail We have been very busy at the Center this summer where we serve international students with very unique and challenging needs.
I am glad that you are very interested in international students, specially in doing 'homestays.' We have done this for several years now and have therefore developed relationships with many families and individuals. For this new program this summer we have found families from the network we have established these past years.
If we have any need for additional homestays in the future we will let you know and advise prospective students if your situation is a concern to them.
Thank you for your interest.
Ms Program Director

SUMMER ABROAD WITH THE GAYS, cont...

It has been over two weeks since my email to Ms Program Director... Believe it or not I still haven't received a response. Not even a "I'm sorry but we don't want your kind".

Not sure how much longer I will wait before I go over to her office. Just kidding... I can take the "no" without problems. But jesusmaryandjoseph, tell me "no" already.

Humans are self destructive by nature. Some are more than others but everyone has that fault in them. And it seems like we hurt the ones we love the most.

I hurt someone I love deeply today. As cliche as it sounds, knowing that my actions caused someone so much pain hurts even more.

I need to do something to make it go away both for me and for this other person.

SUMMER ABROAD WITH THE GAYS

We are trying to host a foreign student for one month this Summer. The idea came up when my co-worker Janet was talking about the students she has hosted and whatnot (you might have read the entry about the Japanese students at Gucci). It's a program that the Multi Cultural Center here at the university has for foreign students who want to improve their English skills.

Janet referred me to "Ms Volunteer" who coordinates the "host parents". By the time I called her, Janet had already talked to her about my "situation" so she was very upfront about it. Although she would love to have us be part of the group, she was not aware of the Program's guideline and that it was up to "Ms Program Director" to select the families. She gave me Ms Program Director's phone number and informed me that she was already aware of my "situation". We talked a little bit more about the students and whatnot and her only concern about us is if the student would be comfortable with this "situation".

So I emailed Ms Program Director last Friday but I still haven't heard from her... I have a feeling it will be a no but if that's the case, would it be discrimination?

I heard something interesting on NPR yesterday. Some economist from The Financial Times said: "Debt is your future self sending money back in time to your past self".

I told that to one of my friends and he said he is paying for all the drinks he had back in the day. I am also paying for that but most of all I'm paying for my shopping sprees, aka daily trips to Banana Republic.

A while back, I talked to another friend about our past debt and whatnot. Interestingly enough we were able to define the difference between our debts. In college, she lived on her own and although she got some sort of an allowance, she worked for her spending money. Her acquired debt was more along the lines of living expenses. My debt on the other hand was different. I lived at home with my parents, so living expenses were covered. And because they were covered I was able to splurge on life's treats (shopping, partying, eating out, shopping, high cell phone bills, eating out, partying some more).

Nowadays the roles have reversed. She is in a much much more comfortable situation than I am. The debt she is acquiring is for life's treats and mine are for living expenses. She's smart though and she's not letting herself drown on life's treats whereas I was stupid and I drowned. I totally drowned... I have a life preserver now and I'm swimming back to the shore...

I spoke to my friend Tina (who was born and raised just outside the City) about my encounter with a rude New Yorker in Boca Raton last weekend. That's what prompted me to blog about their behavior.

Anyway, she finds them to be more arrogant here in Florida than up in New York. I asked her why is that? They are on vacation, they should be working on relaxing not getting aggravated.

She laughed and said she had no idea. Perhaps New Yorkers (in general) are a demanding group of people. But what bothers her the most are the New York transplants who have been in Florida for years and continue to bitch about the Sunshine State. Her suggestion is to have them pack their bags and move back to the Empire State (which is actually what her sister is trying to do). I mean, if Florida is really that bad, then what the hell are they still doing here!!???

Update to my thought about New Yorkers...

I come from a city in Brazil called Sao Paulo. It's not only known as one of the largest cities in the world but to locals, it's the New York of Brazil.

With that being said, Paulistas (people from the state of Sao Paulo) and Paulistanos (people from the city of Sao Paulo) are seen by the rest of the Brazil with the same admiration and disgust as the rest of the US sees New Yorkers.

Oh crap!!! I guess I am the equivalent to a New Yorker in Brazilian terms...

I don't understand why New Yorkers who spend "the season" down in South Florida believe they are entitled to treat everyone else like crap.

They are all obnoxious, rude, demanding, condescending, arrogant, etc etc etc. You would think that these are all folks from the City but much to my surprise they are not. A lot of them are from other areas outside New York City.

Is being nasty and rude a taught subject in New York schools? Or is it something people pick up as they go along?

Hold on! I think I'm actually talking about two different things:

1) New Yorkers (statewide) are rude.
2) New Yorkers in South Florida have a superiority complex.

In regards to topic #1: I can't make that assumption. It's not fair to say that about all New Yorkers. I have a few friends from that state who happen to be very nice. I've also worked for a New Yorker (from the City) who was great. It's just that the majority that we came in contact with here in Florida happen to be rude.

This leads to topic #2: I truly believe that New Yorkers who spend "the season" in South Florida feel that locals owe them something. Kinda like: "We are here pumping up your little economy, so you must cater to us."

Perhaps we are only seeing the bad New Yorkers here in Florida. The ones with enough money to spend the season here in Florida are rude here and up there too.

Math, part II

Just wanted to let everybody know that Gucci took the rings back.

Math

Math is universal. Numbers are the same regardless of the country you are in. But listen to this...

Janet, my co-worker, is currently hosting a Japanese student who is taking classes at the University of Central Florida. Along with otherUCF employees, Janet is part of this group that always volunteers tobe host parents. Anyway, she has had students from Japan and Slovakia but she has never had the kind of issue she encountered last weekend.

Asuka (Janet's student) and another Japanese student (let's call her Yoko) went to the mall last Saturday to shop. They came home with lots of bags but Janet didn't think much of it. Sunday, Janet dropped Asuka and Yoko at Yoko's place. When she came by to pick up Asuka, Yoko's host mom said "Janet, we have a problem." It turns out that Asuka and Yoko purchased a ring at Gucci for $1400(each) thinking that they were $140. All charged to Yoko's dad's credit card. In addition to that, Yoko's host mom found out that Yoko has charged over $7,000 to her dad's credit card in less than one month!! In what? God only knows (but that's besides the point).

Now this is where my math thing comes in... One thousand four hundred(1,400) is the same number in the USA as in Japan as in Brazil as in Australia. One hundred and forty (140) is also the same all over the world. The currency value is not the same, however 1400 and 140 are universal. There is no language to it. To sign a credit card receipt showing 3,000 and still not realizing that something was wrong, in my opinion, is just plain stupid.

Even if in Japan they use decimal points instead of commas to indicate the "thousand" house, it would still be wrong. 140.00 and 140,00 look pretty similar to me. 1,400.00 and 1.400,00 also look similar, doesn't it? Yoko's host mom told Janet that the girls said they only bought the rings because they figured that $140.00 was a good deal. But not if itwas $1,400.00, which showed that they have a sense of value. Just not...hmm... intelligence. Yoko's host mom is taking them back to Gucci next Saturday to return the rings. I wonder if they'll take them back....