the beauty of the road trip

Ahh the fun that can only come from a southern destination.
somehow I can find my way around central jersey even though I haven't lived there in almost 10 years but I can't seem to distinguish between the town of "lightfoot" and nonsense... the kind that you only find below Richmond - which is also my personal Mason-Dixon Line
so the trip to Corolla Beach started out at 6 pm on the Friday before New Years... Now even better the rain starts right about the Lorton exit off 395 and continued to Virginia Beach.
highlights of the trip -
pulling into a gas station to pee and turning around for fear of being shot
Then passing the ol alma matter, Virginia Wesleyan off 64 wooo!
We passed a sign that I thought was warning drivers of deer but instead had a picture of a bear!
So I observe this by saying simply "bear"
Jason slowed the car and said what, to which I responded "bear"
I was too excited to see my guest bear sign to realize why Jason was freaking out. Duh
Situation has been averted after we concluded there were in fact no bears. Poop.
but good news I have seen Sonic the American drive-in in every town and gas under $3.00 god I turned into my parents

And the list continues:
a hammock store!
Fireworks!
treated lumber outlet! Wait no that's no fun
Curious signs for trymynuts.com

Pictures

The first snow of the season - the boys LOVE it





















This is Deuce eating the snow but I don't have a flash on my phone so it's hard to see - but if he can eat something he will!















The beautiful orchid Jason's mom got for me for my birthday - I haven't killed it!

Shop 'Til You Drop - from Mental_Floss enewsletter

With all the hubbub over mental_floss’ free shipping, we figured we’d give you some free shopping facts to go along with it. Enjoy!

:: Americans walk the way they drive – on the right. You’ll notice that most malls and airports are designed so that gift shops and clothing stores are on the right side as you enter, and food courts are on the left. Studies have shown that shoppers will cross the line of pedestrian traffic to eat, but not to browse or make an impulse buy.

:: Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first store on the corner of 14th and Sixth in New York City in 1858. He introduced several new practices that revolutionized the retail industry, including a “same price for every customer” (no haggling) policy, listing his final prices in newspaper advertisements. In December 1870, Macy’s became the first store to host an in-house appearance by a special guest would go on to play an important part in retail sales: Santa Claus.

:: Men look up when browsing, women look down. Retailers know that men don’t comparison shop as much as women do, so they’ll stock their higher-priced brand name products on the upper shelves, and the less expensive store-brands at eye-level. Men are notorious impulse buyers, and men shopping with their children are even more so. They are more inclined to toss an item Junior has plucked off a shelf into the basket rather than start an argument and risk a tantrum.

:: James Cash Penney originally called his chain of retail stores The Golden Rule as a nod to both his devout upbringing (his father was a minister) and his overall philosophy of life. Penney emphasized customer service above all else. He made a point of remembering the names of his regular customers, as well as their sizes and style preferences. When World War I broke out, he paid those J.C. Penney employees who left the company to serve in the armed forces or the Red Cross a monthly salary while they were gone.

My fancy picture - not so much

Courtesy of Cade Martin - photographer extraordinaire

Language Barriers are the ONLY explanation for this one...

From a REAL email sent to my company -

I have accessed the informationon of the memebership of the ****. My basic problem is the channel of payment for membership fee and the procedure of effecting such payment.Becoming a member of **** has always been my heart desire to take my career to the next level. My desire to attend the forthcoming annual conference in Las Vegas somewhere in June, 2006, will be a most infectious desire to my career development.You can only develop this hot desire in me before I get to my career plateau if I got REGISTERED.My expectations cum my queries if answered will be most welcomed. DICKENS.

Is this for real? The "sexual innuendos" are bad enough but it really could be a breakdown in translations. YIKES!

Casual Dress : the NEW definition

No one was more excited than I when I heard that my company was going to Casual-mode for the remainder of winter (hopefully) - this meant I could wear jeans whenever I wanted to. Now mind you - this being a "professional" place to work I didn't expect what I have seen - how dumb was I?

Here is a list of what I do NOT consider appropriate for Casual Wear (or any other wear actually - it is offensive however you spin it)

• Track suits - believe it or not you will NOT look as cool as a Beastie Boy whilst wearing one
• Velour suits - once again this look went out with J-Lo's street cred
• Being bra-less - hmmmm need I explain this one? The Potato in my department decided to do this today and ick I tried not to look but ick!
• Too tight t-shirts - if I can see your love handles from across the office I can only imagine what you look like up close
• Anything you would consider "Club Wear" - you bought it to go out and look like a hussy so why would you wear it to work?
• Oh also, not everyone can wear jeans - they do show off a lot more of your figure than pants and ick again on the too tight rule - damn there are some "Shelf Asses" around here!
• Sweatwear - sweatshirt, sweatpants, sweatsuit, anything made of sweat material should be reserved for the gym
• And the ever faithful baseball cap - oh how I love the company logo hat - you are inside and my mom always told me it was rude to wear a hat indoors

WTF is going on at DC101?

so I was listening to DC101 in the shower and heard a girl complaining about something happening 3 times...turns out that was just the beginning. They've been playing the Beastie Boys Fight for your Right since 8 PM. I don't know what is going on...can anyone tell me why they are playing the same song over and over? At least its the Beastie Boys.

What are they feeding you?

I share a bathroom with some of the most disgusting women that I have ever seen.
I usually don't mind the piss-covered seats and general lack of cleanliness but today I almost passed out...seriously people if you have to go that bad and let the dead thing that crawled up your ass out why can't you go to the public bathroom on the 1st floor? Why subject your co-workers to the stank of yourself. God I am so grossed out - and it wasn't just one person but ewww ok I can't talk about it anymore I might puke on myself.

(Note: Sorry for going off in such an offending manner - but it's my blog and I do it to fulfil my needs not yours. So there.)

Your prayers have been answered...

My picture from Halloween - thanks to Chuck's Blog I have successfully pirated my pic of me as Margot Tennenbaum (NOT Ash-hole Tisdale thankyouverymuch)