A Happy Announcement!

I am most pleased to announce that I have finally put new pictures up on my webpage so check it out whenever you've got the time :) There's still many pictures to be put up, but it will involve more rearranging of my webpages, and that takes time...and when taking into account the fact that it is 4:50am and I'm tired, you can perhaps imagine why I am quitting the updating process momentarily. I'll keep you posted about new additions. Until then, may the water always keep you afloat, the land always meet your feet first, and the sky always lovingly embrace you.

Bet you couldn't guess it...

A NEW EPISODE OF KRAP (Katie's Random Advice Post!!!)

Here's a short one, but a good one I think. This advice goes out to someone specific. No, not the President, not my friend Jenny, no, not even God. This advice goes to the owner of any big factory, especially the owner of GB Packaging.

You see, while I was walking my way from the punch clock, through the corrugators, past the conveyors, to where I typically reside at machine #2, I had a few thoughts that led me to a conclusion.

1) Conveyors are fun. Just turn 'em on, set down a piece of cardboard, sit on it and ride all the way from one end of the plant to the other.

2) There are many places to hide. A person could sneak behind a huge roll of paper, duck under a machine, or lurk between the racks of cutting dies. The possibilities are endless.

3) The plant is huge! It takes a good couple minutes to walk just one half of the plant (of course, that's considering walking around machinery). The plant has some divisions with walls and machines, and part of an upstairs, but it's overall one BIG room, with a few small rooms tucked in here and there.

Conclusion: The GB Packaging plant would make a GREAT playground :)!
I'm not talking for little kids here, I'm talking older teenagers to adults. I'm thinking laser tag, paintballing, capture the flag, hide and seek, ghost in the graveyard, and any other far ranging game. Just think--a huge place with lots of obstacles, the lights could be turned down to a minimum or just turned off and people could wear night-seeing goggles. Oh, it would be awesome! So that's why I think the owner should set aside like one or two days a year where no machines are running and the plant is closed off to everyone but a group of paying playing customers. The cost wouldn't be much--maybe like $10-20, depending on how long and how messy it's going to be. Considering how much damage will likely occur to the plant, the measley funds from the customers isn't much, but what's a few hundred thousand dollars? ;)

Yeah, it'd cost quite a bit to fix whatever is broken and clean up the mess, but a day and night of chaotic revelry seems worth it. So, anyone know any such factory owner willing to take on this awesome idea? No? Well, let me know when you do ;) And then it'll be time to kick some paintball ass! (...if I had a paintball gun...that I knew how to use...bleah, don't bother me with details...)

Hm, couldn't say it better myself

This comic from Penny Arcade sums up my type of dilemna pretty well, so I thought I'd share it with you. Check out Tycho's latest post on Penny Arcade if you've got time too--if you liked the comic, you may just enjoy part of his commentary ;)

Summer workin, had me blast...

100 degrees farenheit in some areas of the plant this evening. Sweat streaming from my forehead, under my safety glasses, either into or past my eyes, along my nose, and finally flying off my face and onto a passing stack of boxes. I walk towards a fan, my refuge, only to be assualted with a blast of warm air. So I reach for my water bottle that I filled a half hour before and take a swig...only to cringe and swallow the "room temperature" water like it's grape flavored Pucker. Another day, another couple paper cuts smarting from sweat, dirt and paper fibers getting inbetween the layers of skin. Oh the joys of working in a packaging plant. I mean, as I pointed out today, some people pay good money to sit in a sauna all day, and we actually get paid AND get exercise while getting our sauna on--what a sweet deal, hm? Well, one other benefit is: No work on July 4th...and possibly no work Sat. July 5th. What would that mean? A long weekend. Oh, the fun that could be had on a 3 day weekend ;)

Feliz cumpleanos a Lea

Tonight four of us girls went out to celebrate Lea's 23rd bday--hey, her golden birthday, I hadn't even thought of that. Anyways, it was a good time, though Amy, Jenni and I separated from the rest of the group after a while since we really didn't mesh that well with her work friends, and we were in the mood for a more low key, non-bar type night. It worked out well I think--and I hope she had a good time. Once we left the sports bar, we headed to Barnes & Noble, where I lamented not being able to read the new Harry Potter book for quite a while. And then we wandered our way towards Caffe Espresso for some coffee and conversation. Another successful Espresso visit without running into the ex! Yay! I'm on a roll here ;) It was great catching up with Amy and Jenni, so I'm really glad I thought of switching shifts for tonight so I could make it out.

Other than that, there's really nothing new going on. Next weekend I get to dogsit, which ought to be a blast :P But at least this week I'm on 2nd shift so I can sleep in. Unfortunately, that means my days will sort of disappear, since I'm not a morning person. I'm still working on getting a pair of rollerblades and doing some biking...eventually one or both of those things will happen. My room decoration is also a work in progress. ::sigh:: so unmotivated sometimes. I'll work on it ;) And I'll also get those pics up this week. If I don't, you have my permission to leave nasty comments ;) But for now, it's bedtime, so check ya later!

I could catch the bouquet

I've gone to two weddings in the last month, both of which gave me opportunities to snatch the bouquet for myself. I actually had it in my hands in one, and in the other, I probably could have jumped for it if I wanted to. But never have I really put that much effort forth. I guess I've always figured, there's someone else in the crowd who desires to get married more than I do and she should get the bouquet. Not to mention, the whole traditional dance with the garter guy--considering that it's usually some 12 year old who catches the garter, you can perhaps guess why I wouldn't be so anxious to be the lucky dance partner.

Aside from that, weddings tend to give me pause, encouraging me to think about the choices I've made and the experiences I've had that have brought me to the point I am at, somewhere I really hadn't ever imagined myself. But I don't think I'm sorry. (Not that I have much choice in the matter anyway) Thing is, yeah, I am pretty sure I'd have been happy with Mike N., and if he had been good to me, I would have loved him my whole life. However, that's not the way things went, and yeah, it's been a rough and shitty road but is where I am so bad? For some reason, as I was watching the bride and groom dancing for the first time as husband and wife, I thought to myself: someday I will have a love like that. Someday, I will enjoy my wedding like that with a guy who beams a great smile when he looks at me. It might not be anytime soon, but I know it's possible. I will be dancing with a special guy who won't just be "moderately happy with me"--he'll be VERY happy with me, the kind of happy that comes from knowing someone really understands and appreciates you and being granted the awesome chance of being able to spend the future becoming even closer to that person.

Sorry if this sounds overly sappy--it's just the way I am sometimes. I have no idea what my future will bring, but I do know that even if life isn't exactly the way I plan, there are wonders in it I have yet to discover, experiences I have barely touched upon. And when I do find a love that special, there will be no doubt, no doubt at all.

The Good, the Bad, and the Tired

Right now I'm tired, but I felt the need to blog before bedtime--oooh, fun alliteration!
To start things off, here's the good:
*I'm surviving at work and actually getting the hang of things there.
*Talked to Mike Z online today and he might just miss me a little :)
*Finally picked up the V-ball pictures from Shopko.

However, here's the bad:
*Work has me tired out and it tends to take up most of my day.
*Mike Z is far away and I miss him.
*I can't seem to get the picture CDs I got to work on MY computer--they work on my parents' comp, but not mine for some odd reason...stuipid CD-ROM drive.

Brit: Take care this week and I'll be thinking of you and your family, hoping things get better soon.

Madtown Mischief

A good time was had by me in Madison this weekend. I visited Mike Z. from Sat-Mon, and it was well worth the trip. ::sigh:: Problem is...now what? We didn't talk about our status or anything--no mention of going out or dating or whatever. I thought about bringing it up, but I didn't want to push it, considering that it was the first weekend I've spent with him and I won't see him again for a few weeks. And...that sucks. It wouldn't be a big deal except, I had a really good time with him this weekend, and so now, well, I have a bit of an attachment to him :-} One could say: I miss him. We seemed to get along really well, and it makes me think that I'd be willing to go through the effort to have a relationship with him, but does he feel the same way? We talked about seeing each other again--he might come up to GB in July, and I might get to Madison again in July. I know that I can handle the long distance deal, but could he? To me, 6 months doesn't sound like much time at all to deal with long distance. I mean, with Ex-Mike I struggle through 3 years, and that was with him, a guy who turned out to be so not worth it. But Mike Z...he seems like a genuinely nice guy, which worries me. I'd rather not jump into an emotional trap, so I'm trying--unsuccessfully--to keep my eye on the reality of the situation, that this is a risky business.

Sorry if I sound disjointed, I'm pretty tired and I have to go to bed so I can wake up for work in 5 hours :P Switching between a nine hour 2nd shift to 1st shift in mid-week really sucks, by the way. Oh and Waking Ned Devine is a fun movie :) Later!

Which sounds better? Auntie Katie or Aunt Kate?

Tonight I became an aunt! I now have a little 8lb and something nephew named Matthew Christopher. Supposedly he's really cute: my brother Scott said this when he saw him, "I thought babies were supposed to be ugly." so you know he must be cute :) Of course, I was still at work at 9:15pm, when the tyke was born, so I'll have to see him tomorrow afternoon before work. I'm REALLY glad everything went well with the birth and I can't wait to see my first little nephew :) From now on I get to spoil him rotten ;) Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! ::sigh:: The joys of being an aunt.

Let me tell you a little something about conveyors

If you're looking for traction, you probably don't want to try looking for it on a conveyor belt--just fyi. And no, I didn't fall...yet--but I did have a grand old time trying to push bales of boxes and yanking straps off those bales all while standing on rolling cylinders. I'm sure the guys in the breakroom and on the forklifts near by had a great laugh watching me pulling on those plastic bands with all my might, nearly doubling over backwards, with sweat pouring down my face. Stupid 9 hour shifts til 12am :P

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY :)

Someday we'll find it, the basement connection...

And that day is today! YAY! I now have a cable internet connection down here on my own computer in the basement--my soul rejoices!! This means being able to check email, chat and blog all within the comfort and privacy of my own room :) Which means, I'll be online to chat more often and I should be able to update my blog more often too. Speaking of which, yesterday I dropped off some film to get developed, and once it does, I plan on putting some pics on the web (since I ordered a photo CD) so we''ll all get to enjoy V-ball pics, those fun pics Jenny and I took from on top of the roof at Chancellors, and perhaps some other random photos (maybe even more eventually--once I figure out the scanner upstairs). Oh yes, things are looking very nice :) Check ya later!

The Red Pill

Reality is just setting in that I am actually going to London and other parts of Europe this fall. Tricia just got back from a backpack tour of England and listening to her describe some of the places she traveled reminded me that...hey, I'll be going there too; I'll be seeing and doing many of those things. And it made me sit back and think: wow. Just..wow.

Long time no blog

Sorry about the long delay in blogging. I've been busy with work, family and friends I guess. Last Sunday I went to my friend Cathy's college grad party and had a great time. I hadn't intended on staying that long, but a cute young mechanical engineer major changed my mind :) His name is Mike (but I'm trying not to hold that against him) and he's a year younger AND he's going to be in Madison from this Friday on, BUT he's really cool and we ended up going on a couple dates the last two nights and having a great time :) Tuesday we went mini golfing, dinner at Olive Garden and chilled at my place and last night we went to see Finding Nemo, got some frozen custard, and then chilled at my house yet again. So yeah, two dates and then he's gone for the summer :( HOWEVER, he said he wants to keep in touch and we exchanged email, screen names and I got his number in Madison. One intial meeting and two dates isn't much to go on, but what the heck, why not see what happens? Perhaps he can work towards redeeming the name of "Mike"...or maybe he'll mess it up even more, who knows? I'm hoping for the best, which is about all I can do--that and probablyi make a trip or two to Madison this summer ;) I mean, I have a few friends down there to visit anyway.

Not a whole lot going on otherwise. Well, except Lea had her baby :) A little 7lb 3oz boy named Drew who must be quite intelligent since he stopped crying about 30 sec after I first picked him up. Beth is still VERY pregnant and fastly approaching her due date--tomorrow. In other news, I feel really out of touch since I haven't been online for the last few days to check my favorite websites or check my email or to talk to online regulars like mi amiga Jenny :( I hope things are all well. Hopefully I'll catch ya later. :)