Scream for your team

Against my better judgment, I agreed to get dressed up for Halloween and head downtown to bar hop with Denver's finest.... drunk 21 year olds. The original plan was to go to this house party hosted by a friend of Cherill's...but that plan changed and I found myself with a sick need to put on my 20's Flapper costume and go dancing. So the cab drops us off at 20th and Market. Look to the left - Lodo's. Look to the right - BackFat 41 (aka Market 41). I suggest Lodo's only because they have $2 drinks. We walk in and there are at least 300.....maybe 400 Philadelphia Eagles fans. It is wall-to-wall green jerseys, east-coast loud mouths, and belly laughing. Being the cute girls we are, we were approached by several of the Jolly Green Giants....er... Eagles. One particularly boisterous guy comes up to us and says, "so what are you supposed to be dressed as doll?" And in the wittiest tone I could muster, I say, "a Broncos fan." Oh my. Wrong answer. The crowd got even rowdier. He starts pointing at us saying "get a load of this, this girl just told me she is a Broncos fan." And of course I had to poke the Bear....er Eagle... some more and make some comments about their team. My knowledge of football often makes guys gasp. Same thing here. I think I knew more about the game and their team than they did. We decided our time was better spent away from the drunkenness (and for fear that my sharp tongue and love for our home team boys will get us in trouble)... we left...and made our way across the street to BackFat 41 and danced until dawn.

Happy Halloween to all you ghouls and goblins. Boo!

I HATE that it is dark at 5:20 pm. Boo again!

Potluck Potpourri

We had a potluck at work today in celebration of Halloween. There was such a great spread of good, non-healthy grub. I brought my famous (or infamous) Queso Dip and Pigs in a Blanket (Weenies for Halloweeeenie). I was sooo looking forward to it... then when the party started.... I wasn't hungry anymore. What is up with that? I am always up for some good junk food.

I had to laugh... about 10 minutes ago the guys came through for round two of food.

My stomach still hurts.

Goodness..... I just saw someone go in for round 3.

Out in a field cutting lines with some ho's

Our sister station is off the air. It has been since early this morning....and will be for another couple days. The station's transmitting lines that are out in a field up north were cut by a power hoe. And the ironic thing is that it was done by Qwest. We are owned by the same parent company. Sweet. Good work. The station's internet stream is still working... so the dee jays are doing their shows for the 50 people listening on line. The mood is kinda somber around here.... as we all are picturing $$$ signs burning up.... no revenue for commercials when you are off the air. So to liven things up... we changed the story of how the station fell off the air. Instead of saying... Qwest cut our line with a power hoe out in a field. The new story is....Qwest was out in a field cutting lines with some ho's. One guy kinda laughed... victory.

Email idiots

There is this guy on my Home Owners Association Board of Directors with me who is an email idiot. I sent an email out this morning to my entire HOA board about how fantastic the new carpet in the building looks and Gene (who by the way is in his late 30's early 40's and SHOULD know how to email) hits reply to just me...and addresses the board with a comment on the carpet and includes a question for another gal on the board. I write him back and tell him that he needs to either click "Reply All" on his original email or forward his email to Christel directly. He freaking sends the same email to me and himself again....so basically he hit reply all on the email I sent him. DUH! I had to laugh...and then I forwarded the email to Christel...and copied Gene. How is it that a guy who has taken the time to get an email address and checks his email often.... doesn't understand how to actually send an email? It's not like he's trying to do something "tough" like an attachment (hope you can smell the burning sarcasm). I am cranky today. I will probably read this another day and think... damn Emily... have some patience. But stupid people annoy me.

Testimony

So after knowing this was coming for several years, I testified (finally) this morning in the Hal M. Lawsuit. It was an Arbitration - so don't picture a court room with media chomping at the bit to get a story, cameras, several bailiffs, security guards, a jury and a judge. No. Picture a fancy conference room with about 12 corporate suits from the defense, Hal, his two lawyers (in casual outfits), a voice recorder and a white haired professor looking man with a long horsey face and a sweet smile at the head of the table. The white haired man is the arbitrator. He looked like he should be teaching History 101 in a lecture hall, not officiating an arbitration. They call me in. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. I sit down and Hal's lawyer starts asking me questions. Sweaty palms. Sweaty palms. Sit up straight. Is my neck all splotchy because I am nervous? Focus on the questions. Am I suppose to look at other people while I am talking? That is something I would do in a regular meeting... make eye contact with everyone in the room. I decide no. Puke is starting to sneak up my throat. This is all very intimidating. Keep it together Em. As Hal's lawyer is asking me questions, the defense lawyers are shuffling papers, whispering, passing notes, taking notes with notebooks protecting their coveted words. I had a flash back to grade school when kids used to put their peachy notebooks up to block their work. Now it was the defense lawyer's turn to ask me questions. She was sweet as pie UNTIL she started firing questions. Using terms like "And I quote". Her right eyebrow was frozen in the raised position. I think I must have looked calm as a cucumber....because I sensed she wasn't getting what she wanted from me....and she was frustrated. I told the truth. And the truth is.... I am glad this is over.

XISNE1

My friend who is a fantastic tennis player had XISNE1 on her license plates. For the riddle-impaired... it says Tennis Anyone.

I was thinking today that relationships are much like a good tennis match. The players take turns taking shots or chances. They go back and forth. The ball is in their court half of the time. They sacrifice their body for the good of the game. The grass is sometimes greener on the other side. The spectators watch the game looking from player to player... left to right....right to left....back to player to player... often with their mouths hanging open in amazement. Some people prefer to play in Doubles...which only means there are too many people involved. The most common match is Singles. There's sweating. Cussing. Celebration. Disappointment. And most likely than not, there's a racket. The scoring or points system is unclear and confusing to 99% of the public. Plus the scoring system throws around the word LOVE. I can never remember if the goal is to get LOVE....or get away from it. When you score LOVE... do you win? Soooo.... I must ask, Tennis Anyone?

Old men chasing teenagers - puke!

I just got an email from a 35 year old guy on match. com who says he is interested in dating women who are 18-35. What? You are in your mid-30's and would date an 18 year old? Sick. You're a dirty old man who combs the high schools for a date. Ewh. I don't think I can delete his profile fast enough.

Money sucks!

I was standing in my kitchen re-filling my coffee cup this morning at 8 am and I get a call on my land line. I look at the caller ID... a 800 #. I don't know why I picked up the call...but I did. I never pick up 800# calls. It was my credit card fraud department telling me that my card is being swiped at several places all over the United States. Someone has created several copy cards with the same number and black strip on the back. Whoa. They were alerted when 2 charges tried to go thru at the same time...in 2 different states. In the category of.... something GOOD has to come of this...I had maxed my credit card out in late August. I was mad at myself for letting it get out of control...but thank God I had done that because several charges had been declined... because it's maxed out. Whew. A few snuck thru... but still... whew! I also paid for the Security Plus Coverage on my card, which seemed like a stupid thing to do at the time....but the $24.99 I pay a year has paid it's self back 25 fold. I am not responsible for the fraudulent charges because of this extra coverage. Whew again. So needlesstosay.... I am cranky as hell today. I decide to go thru and really really balance my checking account to make sure that no one has hacked into that too. Come to find out that my mom sat on 3 months of my payments to her.... over $1,100 and decided to cash those checks ALL LAST NIGHT. I had been watching my balance knowing that she is very good about cashing my checks....and I was mentally subtracting that money like it was gone. SOOOO.... I will be in the hole in my checking account. Good times. Money sucks. And I suck at managing it. This is all my fault...which sucks even more.

Marlon Brando

I keep a picture of a young Marlon Brando up in my office to (jokingly) remind myself that.... no matter HOW hot, HOW rich, HOW famous, HOW successful a man is at one time in his life.... he can end up fat, ugly, unpopular and poor (like Marlon did). So he better be a hell-of-a-man to you so that if everything else goes away... he is still worth keeping around. My friend said the other day at lunch... "I had to figure out how I wanted to be loved." I can't stop thinking about her statement. How do I want to be loved? Besides just LOVED WELL....that is obvious. How do I want to be told or shown that I am loved? Do we ever know?

UH NO!

Erin's 30th B-day party was fun. I had a great time. Delish grub...and fantastic company. Today is her actual birthday. It seems weird to me to have friends still having 30th b-day parties...when mine seems 10 years ago.

Date #2 with Framer John was great. I met him at his friend Tim's house for beers, Broncos and dinner. John made corned beef and cabbage. This Irish girls fav. His friends are all super cool.... an older crowd...but nice to be around. We were standing in the kitchen and John layed a big kiss (peck) on me. I thought my heart was gonna jump out of my chest. I was telling myself... breathe.... don't let your face turn bright red.... breathe...... dammit... breathe.... smile. Whew. I think I like this one.

Jiles the "Uh Yea" spinning instructor was in rare form today. He was trying to get us to say "Mary had a little lamb and her fleece was white as snow" out loud to test our aerobic breathing capability. UH NO! No one did it...not one person. We are in the middle of the gym with head phones on.... no one wants to be seen saying some nursery rhyme out loud for no apparent reason. Then, Jiles jumped off of his bike and ran around giving everyone High Fives. I think he saw us rolling our eyes at him... because he proceeded to kick our asses in class. I guess he got the last laugh or the last "Uh yea" huh?

Calls and Close Calls

My date with Framer John went well. He's is a nice guy. His pictures on the website were old... so he looks different now than he did in the pictures. He instant messaged me the next morning and asked me out for this Sunday. We are going to his buddy's house to watch the Broncos game. He said that the boys cook...and the girls just chat. Should be interesting.

I got some great news that made my DAY. My dear friend Susie is coming to Thanksgiving at my aunt Judy's house. She IS part of my family, my heart and my soul... so she belongs at all holidays. I am so happy. Skip skip skipping down the street.

Garrett the "Hot Hockey Player" called me yesterday and left a message. Of course he did. What do guys have? Some sort of 6th sense? That when I am over them.... they call? I didn't call him back. Does that mean I like John?

My grandparents Cheever got in a car accident last night. Everyone is ok. A girl ran a stop sign and side swiped them on the driver side, inches behind where my grandpa was sitting. Everyone is ok. The car is messed up...drivable...but must be fixed. My grandparents were very shook up.... who wouldn't be? They were going to meet my parents to see a movie. My mom and dad came to the scene of the accident, and my dad drove their car home. They have complained to my parents for years now that they don't need the cell phone that my parents MAKE them carry (that my parents pay for). They used their handy-dandy cell phone to call the police and then my parents. I can just hear my grandpa now, "Oh young-un, I used that phone for the first time, and it wasn't half bad I tell ya. I guess I better tell your mom, that rugrat, that she has been right this whole time about those dag-gum cell phones." I can just picture his sweet face and goofy smile. Then I bet he would make a comment about how he is just plain sweet and lovable..... which he is.... from the top of his bald head (another grandpa saying) to the bottom of his feet. My grandparents aren't the only ones who are shook up. I am too. Too close for my comfort.

Gewn stefanie at magnus

I just got an email from a client who is requesting free tickets to the Gwen Stefani concert at Magness Arena...and the client spelled it - Gewn stefanie at magnus. (That is a direct cut and paste). If you are not smart enough to know HOW to spell her name and/or the venue the concert is being held at....or.... you are too lazy to google it....then "NO soup for you... one year". And the horribly sad part is she sent that email to nearly every radio rep in town...dumb ass.

Uncle Paul

I went to lunch with a gal in my office. We walked down to Noodles. As we were sitting there enjoying our rich and cheesey lunches... I looked up at a commotion in the middle of the dining room. There are 4 rather large people shuffling around trying to get settled in a busy restaurant. They are not being loud or inconsiderate, but nearly everyone is staring at them. You see, they are all mentally challenged and look different than some people. Each of them had at least one, dirty, stuffed animal that is being gingerly sat in a chair of their own. I smile. The leader of the group is my Uncle Paul... my dad's younger brother. He is assigning seats to everyone including their stuffed pals. Once they all sit down I walk over to hug my Uncle. He is very happy and introduces me to all of his friends, "yup, she's my niece, my brother George's daughter." He is beaming....and so am I. Ahhhh. It makes me happy to see that he has friends like anyone else...and they like to go grab a bite too. I normally only see him in family situations. As I leave the restaurant I think to myself.... man... my dad would be pissed that he's carrying around a stuffed Pooh bear in public. I don't think I will tell him that part of the story.

Sometimes it's better to not know

My friend and co-worker just emailed me a website that you can look up registered sex-offenders in your (or any) neighborhood. I just looked up my address and there is a convicted rapist that lives next door to me. His place faces my place... so he can see into my place. I am freaking out. It might have been better to just have kept my head up... always be smart and aware of my surroundings...but not to know that everytime I look out my livingroom window.... I can see his place. Blah. I just spent too much time putting all of my loved one's addresses in the search engine. It's smart to be informed. But this single girl might not sleep tonight.

Date

I have a date with a new guy... John. He is the one who I posted about sending me an email this weekend. We are meeting for drinks tomorrow at this Irish Pub that I adore on South Broadway. I actually have butterflies over this one.

Spin this!

I am sitting at my desk still cracking up at the guy who taught my spinning class today over lunch.

First... for those of you who haven't heard of spinning.... it's not weaving and spinning fabric.....like one of the older engineers in my office (with a southern accent) thought. He said "Eh, yea, my wife takes spinning." As my mouth fell open. He' s like 100 years old...and his WIFE takes spinning???? Anyway...he meant weaving and spinning. Ah no - not even close to the same thing. My kind of spinning is a workout. It's a choreographed cycling class to music.... and it will kick your ass.

Anyway. So back to my original point. The very cool gal who normally teaches the Monday class is out of town for a month.... so there has been several different teachers recently. The guy who taught the class today was someone I haven't ever seen there before. He was kinda skinny, had the marks on his nose where his glasses were minutes before, he wore cycling shorts, cycling shoes and a cycling shirt.... and.... yelled out "UH YEA!" at the top of his lungs every few seconds. It made me feel dirty. It was hard to control my laughter. And every so often he would wink at me. Ewh. The icing on the cake was that towards the end of class he starting talking about himself in the 3rd person AND his name is Jiles. Ewh again. "UH YEA!"

Weekend

The weekend is almost over and oddly... I am looking forward to going back to work. Maybe I am simply rested and looking forward to a new day.

My weekend.....was wonderful. Friday night I went to dinner and drinks with Erin and Emily S. We went to a new place (new to me) that I have officially named my favorite pizza place. It's a ma and pop pizza joint over at 22nd and Kearney. The food was great...and the conversation even better. It's good to hang with the girls. Saturday I went and got a massage. Heaven. Then on Saturday night... Bob, Briana and I went and saw Elizabethtown. It was very well done... a wee slow...but I enjoyed it...and especially enjoyed the movie theatre popcorn. Sunday (today) I went to the aquarium store and bought 3 new fish and 2 new water frogs... plus some new tank plants. My tank looks fantastic. I keep intentionally walking into my living room to gaze into the tank. My little frogs have placed stake in their new hiding places. This afternoon I watched and paced through an exciting Broncos win. And now... I am doing laundry. Clean sheets....ahhh.

I got an email from an interesting new guy from match.com. He said the nicest things in the email. I wrote him back. We'll see huh?

Cowgirl UP!

After quite a long break from match.com.... I have posted my profile again. My last break was prompted after I realized that I HATE dating this way. I believe match.com dating suffers from a "kid in the candy store" syndrome. There are sooo many people to choose from... one bad move... and "you're fired." The guys (and I even started doing it) just fall off the face of the earth. For example, I would be talking to a nice guy who I find attractive, we go on a couple dates, little touchy-feely...then POOF.... he vanishes. My personality prefers someone to tell me to - eat shit - than to just ignore me. It's a closure for me...and I don't have to think "damn, did I forget to call him and he's thinking I don't like HIM?" Regardless. I am back in the saddle again....giddy up.

Video i*Pod

The announcement today (that I teased yesterday) wasn't what I thought. It was that Apple is introducing a new i*Pod that users can download their favorite ABC/Disney content and watch the shows $1.99-$2.99 an episode, commercial free. Just in time for Christmas huh?

Nothing like a cup of Subpoena first thing in the morning

This morning our receptionist walked back to my office and told me that I have a visitor in the lobby. I told her that I don't have any appointments and to find out who it is.

She says "It's a guy with a subpoena for you." Nice.

I get up and walk out to talk to him and he says, "Did you know this was coming?"

And I said, "that depends, who is asking me to appear?"

And he says, "Hal Moore."

And I said, "Figures."

And he says, quite loud in our little offices, "You've been served." Sweet.

I called my dad to see if I need to hire an attorney. My dad told me a few months back that I should never appear in a court for any reason without suitable legal representation. Anyone who chooses to represent themselves...has a fool for a client. Great. Fun times. I am just giving a statement, I haven't been named in the case. Still. When I met with the defense lawyers several months back.... they had EVERY email I had sent during the 3 years that Hal worked with us that mentioned his name. Word to the wise, don't forget, every email and document you send out on a company computer CAN be recovered, and can be used against you in a court of law. Ha.

Apple I*Pod

Apple has teased a big announcement for tomorrow. My gut says they are announcing a new I*Pod product that may hurt the radio industry. The new product would allow the user to program in a search for specific news/podcasts updates and new content that would be automatically dropped in between songs on their I*Pod. So basically allowing the average person to program the EXACT radio station they want to hear. Now, how many people will take the time to do all this work? I'm not sure. But my eyebrow is officially raised.

My lunch rocks

I went to dinner with my mom last night. It was sooo fun. Now that we are adults we get along so well. It's funny... once a year... my mom calls me to go to dinner... just the two of us. My dad and bro go hunting on this super expensive guided trip and my mom feels that she needs to even the playing field and take me to an expensive dinner. Honestly, I don't care if my parents spend money on my bro...but it makes her feel better... so I go... hell... free is my favorite kind of food. I picked Elway's restaurant. I have always wanted to check that place out. Much to my surprise the decor was elegant and tasteful and there wasn't ONE picture or statue of John Elway to be found. The food was amazing. I had a filet and asparagus...and am enjoying the left overs today. Several people have stopped by to see where the delish smell is coming from.... ahhh...lunch envy. It's the small things.

The Ex-boyfriend Parade

In recent weeks I have heard from or seen 4 of my ex-boyfriends. Blah. Lucky me. I have already posted about Robert and Lance.

Ryan. I was at lunch with my friends at work and as we were walking back to the office... Ryan walked right in front of us. I don't know if he saw me. My heart jumped out of my chest. Maybe someday I will post our breakup story...but for now I will save you from the carnage. When I saw him, I pointed at him and said "that is the guy who broke my heart." It came out of my mouth before the brain-to-mouth filter could work. I hadn't seen or heard from Ryan in over 3 years...and last weekend Cherill brought his name up out of the blue... she jinxed me. Ha.

Kurt. I dated him for a summer before our senior year in high school. When Robert called me he told me that he and Kurt keep in touch and that he would love to hear from me. I called him and we made plans to meet up at a party last night. He didn't make it. He was too tired after work. Who knows what will happen there...but at the very least I would like to see him to catch up with an old friend. He always made me laugh.

Hey Tom, childbirth is a scream!

So if you have been under a rock and haven't heard that TomKat is breeding, well, they are. Great. Another idiot in the world. I just read that Scientologists believe in something called "silent birthing". The mother is not allowed to scream during childbirth. AND they don't believe in any drugs to ease the pain. I haven't had kids yet, but Bill Cosby once said that his wife described childbirth as it was much like pulling one's lower lip up over one's head. Come here Tom... let me just try that lip thing on you.... and see if you don't scream like a little girl....and ask for a pain killer.

Pet Peeves

I have a ton of pet peeves... here are today's goodies.

One of my part-timers applied for and interviewed for a full time gig at another radio company that will remain nameless. Although I will say the company starts with an I and rhymes with blafinity. And he didn't get the job. He never got a phone call saying he didn't get it. I heard thru the grape vine who got the job and had to do the Marketing Director's dirty work and call my employee and let him down gently. Nice. As a manager I always call my interviewed candidates and let them know they didn't get the job....it's a respect thing. *Shaking my head in disgust*

Halloween party? Anyone?

I am really hoping someone (who lives kinda close to me) will have a dress up Halloween party. I would do it... but my 720 square foot condo is not the place. Any takers?

Mrs. Bronson

I just got a phone call from an older woman who told me her name is Mrs. Bronson. Not Mrs. Jane Bronson.... not Jane Bronson....simply Mrs. Bronson. I have many married friends and none of them go by only their husband's last name. Must be generational, and I suspect geographical too. Or maybe she was a teacher back in the day. Regardless I found it interesting.

The narcissistic side of me...ok one side

I go to the dentist religiously. I make the next appointment the day I am at the dentist....every 6 months baby. I would go every month if my insurance let me. I have never had braces or a cavity and I am positive this is why I like going. Much to my chagrin, my old dentist that I went to for about 7 years wasn't on my new insurance. After many phone calls asking my old dentist to take my new insurance and many NOs.... I had to find a new one. Boo. My old dentist used to bring in all of the other dentists in the office and show them my teeth as his "star patient". The narcissistic side of me loved it. I actually privately thought that he took credit for my good teeth.... but it's genes... my dad has perfect teeth. Anyway....my new dentist, although nice and gentle.... doesn't give me the same parade reception. Guess I will need to find another way to feed that side of me.... shouldn't be that hard. Ha.

Fire, fire alarms & break-throughs

Vegas was.... awesome. I am exhausted which means I took advantage of the debauchery that is VEGAS. A few stories...and the rest have to "stay in Vegas".

Story #1: Several gals are getting ready for the wedding in my hotel room (I provided bloody marys) and a few gals stepped outside of the room into the hall way to smoke a cigarette. Now... you can smoke everywhere in Vegas so who would have thought this was a problem??? Hum. Well the FIRE ALARMS start going off and over the loud speaker "Attention, attention, there is a suspected fire on the 7th floor, the police are investigating." CRAP. All of these tired red-eyed people are pouring out of their rooms into the hallway...as the group of us girls book it down the hall to the wedding. Once we got in the elevator... we erupted with laughter.

Story #2: Cherill's husband sadly learned a lesson that I learned years ago. As we grow and mature, your true group of friends dwindle. You have your core group of real friends now. You know the ones I am talking about...the friends you would walk thru FIRE for. Scot had several friends flake out on him for his wedding and the boys night out...and it was heart breaking for him.

Story #3: Ashlee Simpson was having her 21st birthday party at "Pure" - the dance club in Caesar's Palace. Briana and Gina wanted to go. After some investigation, we found out that the wait in line to get in may be around 2 hours and there was a $25 cover charge. I don't wait in lines.... I don't wait in lines to see C-list celebs.... and I don't pay $25 to get into a club and pay $10 a drink. I just don't. So I went (alone) to the casino next door to our hotel called O'Sheas. I played (and won) at blackjack for 6.5 hours. As I was walking to the casino alone I had this rush of exhilaration "I am alone in Vegas, I am quite self-sufficient." Some might call it stupid...I call it a break-through.

Apparently the champagne was tough to open. 

Vegas Wedding (Left to right, Tim, Dennis, Scot, Cherill & me)