It looks like little Jingle is getting into the blog scene just like his mom. Only 5 weeks old, and he is already typing in complete sentences!!
http://www.jinglesreflections.blogspot.com/
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Friday, October 03, 2008
A Face A Mother Can Love
I finally figured out who Jingle reminds me of when he wears his favorite hat...
Happy 1 Month Birthday to my little Magoo!Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Delivery
The doctors’ plans were to start labor induction the night of September 2, and they said “hopefully you will sleep through the night and the ‘real’ pain will begin tomorrow”. I found this quite amusing – after all, how does one get a good night’s sleep when they are told: 1) You are about to have a baby (one month early) and 2) You will soon be in a lot of pain but “don’t worry”. Also, the nurses come in and out all night to check vitals, so a sound sleep is unlikely. At least Mr. Mingle was able to sleep in the room with me on a little pull-out couch so that was comforting throughout all of the other ‘activity’ swirling about.
The induction started (and I will spare you the details) but I was not in much pain throughout the night and was able to catch a wink here and there. My smaller belly was proving a problem for their monitors however and they were not able to track the baby’s heart rate consistently, and they were never able to accurately monitor the contractions throughout the entire labor. If the baby’s heart rate dropped off then they would race in, wake me up to turn me on my side, and give me oxygen. Within seconds the baby would be fine, and I’d go back to trying to sleep.
By the morning, I had dilated to 4cm with very little pain so the doctors were happy with my progress. (10cm is the goal.) I, however, in classic Mingle fashion, was starving and was concerned that they would not let me eat since many of the books said that you wouldn’t want to eat while in labor… My nurse told me that I should listen to my body since no one knew exactly how long this would take and if I was hungry then I should eat. (Which I did.)
My mom showed up around lunch time to bring Mr. Mingle food and visit us. I still was not feeling much pain but was hungry again. (surprise, surprise). So, we all ate a little lunch, and then watched “Little Miss Sunshine” which seemed like a good way to divert my attention from the labor contractions I was now starting to feel, as well as give us something to look at other than staring at each other with total shock at what was soon to come. The contraction monitors were still not picking up anything, so they gave me a manual button to push every time a contraction started. ‘oh, there’s a little pain.. [CLICK]’. It was strangely satisfying to be able to click each time a labor pain started because it was my way of conveying to the nurses and doctors that I was in fact starting to feel pain. “See, see?! [CLICK] I am starting labor!!” I also wanted them to know this because I had concerns that if they thought I was going nowhere, then they would up the medication (which would then up the pain…). It was all a little game….
By early afternoon I had progressed to 6cm, again with little pain – another good sign.
Pop and J stopped by for a visit in the early afternoon, and then we sent everyone away at 5pm or so to get dinner because we started to think the baby would not come until the next morning and there was no reason to hang around.
I ate a little more, and then started to feel regular contractions around 6pm (click, click, click). Sometime between 7-8pm the “real” pain kicked in (CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK) at which point I barely had time to breathe to say to Mr. Mingle, “IT IS TIME FOR THE EPIDURAL NOW.”
For the next, what seems like 30-45 minutes is a blur. The anesthesiologist came to administer the epidural “oh, I see you have a nice tattoo on your back…” “SHUT UP AND RELIEVE MY PAIN” (but I didn’t say that) “uh-huh… it means l-l-l-o-o-v-vee…” The contractions were coming non-stop and it seemed to me like it was taking for-ever for the medicine to take effect.
Within minutes of it taking effect, the baby was ready to come out. All of a sudden the room went from having 4 people to at least 10. There were doctors, nurses, and pediatricians all rushing around. I could hear everyone but had my eyes tightly closed because my single job was to push. This, by the way, is not that easy! Mr. Mingle was great, as were the doctors and nurses, all quietly encouraging me – “That’s it Mingle, you are almost there” (but I didn’t really believe them); “Just one more” (yeah right), “there you go..”
And then I heard these words “Mingle, open your eyes and look at your baby”
Wow…both relief and trepidation flooded through me. Trepidation because at this point it was not clear if the baby was breathing… “Is he breathing??” cough, cough – yep. Sigh….
And then they swept him over to the pediatricians, but at this point no one had told us yet if it was a boy or a girl. “Is it a boy or a girl??” The main doctor had just assumed it was a girl, but hadn’t actually checked so called over to the Pediatricians, who responded,
“IT’S A BOY!!!!”
After they cleaned and wrapped him up, they brought him over to us and set him on my stomach. And it’s true - when you first see your baby, all of a sudden, the pain, the trepidation, the pregnancy - it’s all worth it.
Baby Jingle was born on September 3, 2008 at 9:30pm:
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
The Day Our World Changed
On Monday night, September 1, Mr. Mingle and I were enjoying a leisurely walk along the Municipal Wharf in Santa Cruz admiring the fantastic weather and the barking seals down below. We were staying in a nearby B&B, figuring it would be our last night as a duo, instead of a trio, since the baby was due in a month or less. We even took a picture to make sure to show my pregnant belly, which still didn’t look very big, and would often elicit comments of “you don’t look pregnant at all!” 
We had been warned a couple of weeks prior by our Doctor (Dr. Eager) that it was likely our baby was to be born ahead of the scheduled due date of October 5. However, based on the last appointment we had with her, it seemed likely that we’d be able to at least make it to the next appointment with Dr. Eager on September 10, without having the baby first. This was comforting to us because by that point he would be 36 weeks old.
In the meantime, the hospital had become a second home and I had to go in two, sometimes four times a week for close monitoring. Both my health and the baby’s health was good, however the baby was tracking smaller than ‘average’, which, based on our prior experience with the first pregnancy, made the doctors very sensitive to everything. In our opinion we found them on the alarmist side because it seemed as if they were looking for problems, and so it was hard for us to ever feel completely at ease.
They were monitoring the baby’s amniotic fluid, the baby’s heart rate; the baby’s growth (smaller in the abdomen then Dr. Eager would have liked); and my blood pressure (95% spot on). These monitoring appointments were with a group of very kind nurses who were always so positive and cheery. If they wanted the baby to move so they could see if his heart rate increased they would literally clap and cheer “Come on baby, let’s do some moving today!!” I would leave most of those appointments feeling good that the baby was doing well and we would at least make it to 36 weeks. However, they were also under strict orders by Dr. Eager, who also happens to be the head of the department, to track me closely so any change in either my condition or the baby’s had them sending me over to Labor and Delivery for further monitoring. Two Friday’s prior they had tracked me with one single high blood pressure and sent me over to Labor & Delivery, where I then had to sit in a little room for hours where they discovered that it was one single instance of high blood pressure. But just to make sure, they had me come back on both Saturday and Sunday for 3 hours each… but I digress…..
On Tuesday September 2, when we got home from Santa Cruz we went over to the hospital for what we thought would be a normal cheerful monitoring appointment. After all, I was so relaxed from our night away – how could I possibly have high blood pressure? And the last amniotic fluid check had been off the charts high for our little one, so we thought we were sitting pretty, and may actually make it out of the hospital in an hour. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
During the appointment, the nurses thought the fluid was too low, and they were not happy with it. They called my doctor, who just happened to be the one on-call in Labor & Delivery for this week, and she said “send her over!”
We get over to the other hospital, waited about an hour until Doctor Eager showed up.
In the meantime, the hospital had become a second home and I had to go in two, sometimes four times a week for close monitoring. Both my health and the baby’s health was good, however the baby was tracking smaller than ‘average’, which, based on our prior experience with the first pregnancy, made the doctors very sensitive to everything. In our opinion we found them on the alarmist side because it seemed as if they were looking for problems, and so it was hard for us to ever feel completely at ease.
They were monitoring the baby’s amniotic fluid, the baby’s heart rate; the baby’s growth (smaller in the abdomen then Dr. Eager would have liked); and my blood pressure (95% spot on). These monitoring appointments were with a group of very kind nurses who were always so positive and cheery. If they wanted the baby to move so they could see if his heart rate increased they would literally clap and cheer “Come on baby, let’s do some moving today!!” I would leave most of those appointments feeling good that the baby was doing well and we would at least make it to 36 weeks. However, they were also under strict orders by Dr. Eager, who also happens to be the head of the department, to track me closely so any change in either my condition or the baby’s had them sending me over to Labor and Delivery for further monitoring. Two Friday’s prior they had tracked me with one single high blood pressure and sent me over to Labor & Delivery, where I then had to sit in a little room for hours where they discovered that it was one single instance of high blood pressure. But just to make sure, they had me come back on both Saturday and Sunday for 3 hours each… but I digress…..
On Tuesday September 2, when we got home from Santa Cruz we went over to the hospital for what we thought would be a normal cheerful monitoring appointment. After all, I was so relaxed from our night away – how could I possibly have high blood pressure? And the last amniotic fluid check had been off the charts high for our little one, so we thought we were sitting pretty, and may actually make it out of the hospital in an hour. Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
During the appointment, the nurses thought the fluid was too low, and they were not happy with it. They called my doctor, who just happened to be the one on-call in Labor & Delivery for this week, and she said “send her over!”
We get over to the other hospital, waited about an hour until Doctor Eager showed up.
“Well Mingles, I think it’s time to deliver”.
“What? Now?!”
“Yes, I think we shouldn’t wait anymore. Your baby is strong and healthy and will survive the birth, which most likely will be a [non C-section] delivery [although induced]”
“Well.. can we at least go home to get things?? Can we come back tomorrow?? Or do you literally mean NOW?!”
“Mr. Mingle can go home to get things, but you have to stay here. We will start induction tonight”
Dr. Eager left the room at this point and Mr. Mingle and I just stared at each other. “What did she just say?” we were stunned. “but, but, but I left work on Friday with every intention of going back tomorrow…”
Already it was clear that our lives were now out of our control, and was in the hands of our baby kicking within…
To Be Continued….
“What? Now?!”
“Yes, I think we shouldn’t wait anymore. Your baby is strong and healthy and will survive the birth, which most likely will be a [non C-section] delivery [although induced]”
“Well.. can we at least go home to get things?? Can we come back tomorrow?? Or do you literally mean NOW?!”
“Mr. Mingle can go home to get things, but you have to stay here. We will start induction tonight”
Dr. Eager left the room at this point and Mr. Mingle and I just stared at each other. “What did she just say?” we were stunned. “but, but, but I left work on Friday with every intention of going back tomorrow…”
Already it was clear that our lives were now out of our control, and was in the hands of our baby kicking within…
To Be Continued….
Friday, July 25, 2008
A Proud Wife, Part II
Last night I finally had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Mingle act in his first performance of The Full Monty, and I can honestly say it was a treat! Their opening night is tonight, but unfortunately for me it coincides with the closing weekend of a show (a little known musical called West Side Story) for which I’m playing the trumpet in the pit. So, I attended the Sneak Preview last night, since I just couldn’t wait any longer to get my first glimpse of The Full Monty! (Of course, it’s so sad that due to both of our busy schedules in recent weeks, I have to travel to Half Moon Bay to see my own husband naked on stage instead of my own home, but I digress….)
Back to last night… I knew what to expect throughout the entire show because Mr. Mingle has been telling me all about the actors, lines, songs, dances… etc… however to see it come together before my eyes was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I missed the first couple of numbers, but saw the rest of the show and laughed throughout. They did a really good job of casting regular guys for the role – no offense Honey – but these are not men with a lot of dance experience, and that’s what makes their casting perfect. It’s totally believable that they are a bunch of down-on-their-luck fellas that are trying to do something totally new to them to make some money, and in the process, do something they can be proud of.
I always get a little emotional when Mr. Mingle is on stage in a big scene because it makes me so proud, so I wasn’t sure how I would react last night. I thought for sure I would cry when he sings a heartfelt song to his son, but I held it together then. It wasn’t until the very last scene – the ultimate strip tease – when all of a sudden the emotions poured in. When Mr. Mingle joined the stage, I started to tear up unexpectedly, because I thought…”OMG…they are actually going through with this….” and I was utterly amazed at the “cajones” that all six men had to perform this role. Yet, at the same time I could not stop shaking from laughter with the thought of, “my mother and aunt are coming to see this …”
I look forward to seeing it again and again, because I know that each time it will get better, and I’ll find new and different things to laugh at and enjoy. In the meantime, I can think back to my two favorite numbers and just smile today…. One of which, in my opinion, is an Ode to Napoleon Dynamite – one of the guys does this dance number that so resembles Napoleon at the end of the movie I couldn’t help but giggle, and the other number was one of my favorite songs going into the theater, but it wasn’t until seeing the play that I realized Mr. Mingle and his cast mates do the entire number dressed only in their underwear. I’m telling you… not just anyone could do that!!
Back to last night… I knew what to expect throughout the entire show because Mr. Mingle has been telling me all about the actors, lines, songs, dances… etc… however to see it come together before my eyes was a lot of fun. Unfortunately I missed the first couple of numbers, but saw the rest of the show and laughed throughout. They did a really good job of casting regular guys for the role – no offense Honey – but these are not men with a lot of dance experience, and that’s what makes their casting perfect. It’s totally believable that they are a bunch of down-on-their-luck fellas that are trying to do something totally new to them to make some money, and in the process, do something they can be proud of.
I always get a little emotional when Mr. Mingle is on stage in a big scene because it makes me so proud, so I wasn’t sure how I would react last night. I thought for sure I would cry when he sings a heartfelt song to his son, but I held it together then. It wasn’t until the very last scene – the ultimate strip tease – when all of a sudden the emotions poured in. When Mr. Mingle joined the stage, I started to tear up unexpectedly, because I thought…”OMG…they are actually going through with this….” and I was utterly amazed at the “cajones” that all six men had to perform this role. Yet, at the same time I could not stop shaking from laughter with the thought of, “my mother and aunt are coming to see this …”
I look forward to seeing it again and again, because I know that each time it will get better, and I’ll find new and different things to laugh at and enjoy. In the meantime, I can think back to my two favorite numbers and just smile today…. One of which, in my opinion, is an Ode to Napoleon Dynamite – one of the guys does this dance number that so resembles Napoleon at the end of the movie I couldn’t help but giggle, and the other number was one of my favorite songs going into the theater, but it wasn’t until seeing the play that I realized Mr. Mingle and his cast mates do the entire number dressed only in their underwear. I’m telling you… not just anyone could do that!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Privileged
I’ll admit it; I have officially become hooked on Gossip Girl. Thanks to nothing else being on TV this summer, and me having too much time on my hands, I have fallen in to the latest CW trap.
It was while I was watching the latest episode tonight when I heard my first intro to a new show coming this fall to CW called Privileged. My ears perked up when I heard the announcer say, “Meghan Smith didn’t know what she was getting into..”
Meghan Smith is the lead character?? No way!! I was certain I had misheard, so I went online to read a synopsis of the new show. And sure enough – I had heard right! OK, so the name isn’t spelled the same, and the story isn't exactly my life, but it is still pretty cool to see my maiden name used for a main character. And if I imagine hard enough – I can make the synopsis below work for me at 23 too…
"Twenty-three-year-old Megan (Meghan) Smith has a Yale (Davis) education, a relentlessly positive attitude and a plan to conquer the world of journalism (business), despite the fact that she is currently slaving away at a tabloid rag (boring financial job). Meg(h)an’s plan is thrown off course when, in one whirlwind day (summer), she gets fired (decides to look for a new job), meets cosmetics mogul Laurel Limoges (finds out about NOVA) and becomes the live-in tutor for Laurel’s twin teen granddaughters in the heady Palm Beach world of wealth and power (goes to Osaka to teach English). The girls (students), Rose and Sage (Saichi, Fukimi, Yuki, to name a few), are beautiful (short), rebellious (shy) and less-than-thrilled with their new tutor (because she is not a Western male), but Meg(h)an is determined to win them over as she enjoys the perks of her new job – breathtaking private suite (sleeping on the floor), gorgeous convertible (bike with squeaky breaks) and live-in chef Marco (English roommate Maja)…."
I can’t wait for this new show to start, but in the meantime I need to go watch some more trash because CSI Miami is on now....
It was while I was watching the latest episode tonight when I heard my first intro to a new show coming this fall to CW called Privileged. My ears perked up when I heard the announcer say, “Meghan Smith didn’t know what she was getting into..”
Meghan Smith is the lead character?? No way!! I was certain I had misheard, so I went online to read a synopsis of the new show. And sure enough – I had heard right! OK, so the name isn’t spelled the same, and the story isn't exactly my life, but it is still pretty cool to see my maiden name used for a main character. And if I imagine hard enough – I can make the synopsis below work for me at 23 too…
"Twenty-three-year-old Megan (Meghan) Smith has a Yale (Davis) education, a relentlessly positive attitude and a plan to conquer the world of journalism (business), despite the fact that she is currently slaving away at a tabloid rag (boring financial job). Meg(h)an’s plan is thrown off course when, in one whirlwind day (summer), she gets fired (decides to look for a new job), meets cosmetics mogul Laurel Limoges (finds out about NOVA) and becomes the live-in tutor for Laurel’s twin teen granddaughters in the heady Palm Beach world of wealth and power (goes to Osaka to teach English). The girls (students), Rose and Sage (Saichi, Fukimi, Yuki, to name a few), are beautiful (short), rebellious (shy) and less-than-thrilled with their new tutor (because she is not a Western male), but Meg(h)an is determined to win them over as she enjoys the perks of her new job – breathtaking private suite (sleeping on the floor), gorgeous convertible (bike with squeaky breaks) and live-in chef Marco (English roommate Maja)…."
I can’t wait for this new show to start, but in the meantime I need to go watch some more trash because CSI Miami is on now....
Monday, June 23, 2008
RE: Mingle's Reply to Mingle's Earlier Blog RE: Bad Email Etiquette...
You may think I'm kidding, but here's yet one more today:
But after all I've written about MD emails, he is actually not the one that takes the cake around here. The one that drives me to my last nerve and back when it comes to email etiquette, is the sales guy Nemo, who thinks the Subject line is where you are supposed to make all of your changes.
Many emails had gone back and forth about this one customer's invoice, and this was the final question from MD:
"Nemo: Is this what you need?" (He even used punctuation!!!)
Nemo's Subject Line on his reply (with nothing in the body): "RE: T-Bank Fee Schedule-Nemo's Reply to Mingle re all up front-Nemo's Further Reply to Mingle -Nemo's Reply to Accounting -Nemo's Reply to MD Yes"
Oh, honestly - what is wrong with these people??
From one of my employees to MD: Attached is my Travel Auth request for [travel to] Metaire, LA. Please review and approve it.
MD Reply: Tough duty going to NO
Mingle Reply to MD Reply: I take it this means "approved" in MD language? ;)
MD Reply: Tough duty going to NO
Mingle Reply to MD Reply: I take it this means "approved" in MD language? ;)
(if you can't beat him, join him when it comes to using the infamous wink)
MD Reply to Reply: Of course ;o}
MD Reply to Reply: Of course ;o}
(The infamous wink above forces MD to up his game with one better)
Many emails had gone back and forth about this one customer's invoice, and this was the final question from MD:
"Nemo: Is this what you need?" (He even used punctuation!!!)
Nemo's Subject Line on his reply (with nothing in the body): "RE: T-Bank Fee Schedule-Nemo's Reply to Mingle re all up front-Nemo's Further Reply to Mingle -Nemo's Reply to Accounting -Nemo's Reply to MD Yes"
Oh, honestly - what is wrong with these people??
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Plagued by Punctuation - Or Lack Thereof
Major Dick, the head of our entire division is a horrible abuser of email. If he wants info about a certain project for example, rather than email all of us involved with the project at once, he will send an email to each of us individually so we are working at cross-purposes all trying to respond. He is also a constant user of “LOL” when he hits reply, and he really likes ;) too. But these things are not what drive me crazy. The part that I absolutely can’t stand is that the man has no grammatical English skills when it comes to writing. So, not only are we trying to answer his questions, we may not even be providing him with the answers he’s looking for to begin with, because no one understands what he really wants. This often leads to email chains of 10-20 replies. I would like to add here that he is a 60-plus year old white male, born and raised in America – English is not his second language, it is his only one.
So much time is wasted trying to figure out what Major Dick wants. I've started not responding to as much as I can get away with, and now I get less emails from him. I still see my boss, Joker, jumping at Major Dick's emails, trying frantically to please the man, but I've come to my very professional opinion of "why bother?" If Dick truly wants something he can either call me, or figure out how to put a complete sentence on paper, but until then, I will resist the reply button! Of course there are times when I'm forced to reply and in those cases I try to answer his question in the same words (or less) that he uses, just so I don’t unwittingly introduce a new topic or open the door for more confusing questions/statements. To give you an idea, these were literally cut and paste from emails over the past 3 weeks. Mind you, these were not cut and paste from larger paragraphs, or sentences, these "statements" were the only things in the bodies of the emails. Sometimes he’s responding to a question we have asked, sometimes he’s asking a question, and other times he’s just commenting – although it doesn’t really matter if you know the subject matter here. I do, and that doesn’t help me . (Names have been changed, but otherwise everything is the same.)
MD: “Am not worried about the upload of the current, if we change systems doubt either it won't do the upload or be so cost prohibitive we would not purchase the upload…either way plan to wind down the existing BT or manual move”
MD: “K so Bank A and Bank B would be billed this month?” (Sent today, June 10)
Mingle Reply: "yes" (I didn’t want to introduce more ‘words’ or ‘grammar’ into the email, since I actually understood his question)
MD Reply to my Reply: “Being June or May?” (What part of “this month” in his own question was confusing to him??)
MD: “Sally: if they come in house with us with the web no issue, there is a product; no final product for them to take the web into their site....we will need Tim to coordinate, yes we have the old web with license banks, but not the new” (Again – this is not a fragment of anything larger)
MD: “Joker/Mingle...missed this one working backwards in my email...at least sally and I recall the discussion”
And for one that came today and sent me over the edge to write this blog entry:
MD: "Bob we are confuse, unclear to use where you are getting the type info not true to the work being delivered"
I sent this last one to Mr. Mingle who actually works with people to whom English is a second language, and he sent me the following response. Perhaps he’s onto something -
Mr. Mingle's Response:
Here is Dick’s original statement.
"Bob we are confuse, unclear to use where you are getting the type info not true to the work being delivered"
I tried to guess at what I think he is saying, and tried to put it into plain English:
"Bob, we are unclear as to where you are getting the info which is not true to the work being delivered." [This, by the way was surprisingly accurate, I’m quite proud of Mr. Mingle for being able to translate Major Dickese]
Then I translated it into Korean, which resulted in:
브라이언, 우리는 당신이 점점 불투명으로 어디에있는 모든 정보가 배달되는 작품을 사실이 아니합니다.
Then I ran it through a different translator back into English, which resulted in this:
"Bra slang, us you this the work where all information where little by little opaquely in where is are delivered the fact is not."
I'm pretty sure this confirms that Dick is a non-native English speaker using translation software to communicate with you guys.
So much time is wasted trying to figure out what Major Dick wants. I've started not responding to as much as I can get away with, and now I get less emails from him. I still see my boss, Joker, jumping at Major Dick's emails, trying frantically to please the man, but I've come to my very professional opinion of "why bother?" If Dick truly wants something he can either call me, or figure out how to put a complete sentence on paper, but until then, I will resist the reply button! Of course there are times when I'm forced to reply and in those cases I try to answer his question in the same words (or less) that he uses, just so I don’t unwittingly introduce a new topic or open the door for more confusing questions/statements. To give you an idea, these were literally cut and paste from emails over the past 3 weeks. Mind you, these were not cut and paste from larger paragraphs, or sentences, these "statements" were the only things in the bodies of the emails. Sometimes he’s responding to a question we have asked, sometimes he’s asking a question, and other times he’s just commenting – although it doesn’t really matter if you know the subject matter here. I do, and that doesn’t help me . (Names have been changed, but otherwise everything is the same.)
MD: “Am not worried about the upload of the current, if we change systems doubt either it won't do the upload or be so cost prohibitive we would not purchase the upload…either way plan to wind down the existing BT or manual move”
MD: “K so Bank A and Bank B would be billed this month?” (Sent today, June 10)
Mingle Reply: "yes" (I didn’t want to introduce more ‘words’ or ‘grammar’ into the email, since I actually understood his question)
MD Reply to my Reply: “Being June or May?” (What part of “this month” in his own question was confusing to him??)
MD: “Sally: if they come in house with us with the web no issue, there is a product; no final product for them to take the web into their site....we will need Tim to coordinate, yes we have the old web with license banks, but not the new” (Again – this is not a fragment of anything larger)
MD: “Joker/Mingle...missed this one working backwards in my email...at least sally and I recall the discussion”
And for one that came today and sent me over the edge to write this blog entry:
MD: "Bob we are confuse, unclear to use where you are getting the type info not true to the work being delivered"
I sent this last one to Mr. Mingle who actually works with people to whom English is a second language, and he sent me the following response. Perhaps he’s onto something -
Mr. Mingle's Response:
Here is Dick’s original statement.
"Bob we are confuse, unclear to use where you are getting the type info not true to the work being delivered"
I tried to guess at what I think he is saying, and tried to put it into plain English:
"Bob, we are unclear as to where you are getting the info which is not true to the work being delivered." [This, by the way was surprisingly accurate, I’m quite proud of Mr. Mingle for being able to translate Major Dickese]
Then I translated it into Korean, which resulted in:
브라이언, 우리는 당신이 점점 불투명으로 어디에있는 모든 정보가 배달되는 작품을 사실이 아니합니다.
Then I ran it through a different translator back into English, which resulted in this:
"Bra slang, us you this the work where all information where little by little opaquely in where is are delivered the fact is not."
I'm pretty sure this confirms that Dick is a non-native English speaker using translation software to communicate with you guys.
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Proud Wife
There was a period of time there where every musical Mr. Mingle was cast in, he had to take his shirt off. It was a delight to my girlfriends and me, however Mr. Mingle was starting to feel typecast. He was literally getting some calls because he had taken
his shirt off, and they needed his body type in the show. Cabaret out at Pleasanton Playhouse was a good case in point.First, there was the King and I which started it all off, where he played a monk/guard, and at that time had only recently started
working out and losing weight. This led to Joseph and the Amazing… where he played a guard but with even less clothes on. Then came Cabaret, where Mr. Mingle was one of the four well-built dancing Kit-Kat boys.After that who could forget the outfit in Pippin? Although technically he wore a shirt throughout the whole show, it had such a unique cut that it showed his whole chest anyway. And finally, Damn Yankees – where cast as a baseball player, he and his teammates had a scene in the locker room where he had to strip down to a towel on stage during one number. This last one was during the summer of 2005.
Since then, Mr. Mingle has happily been moving away from these shirtless roles, and into more
serious acting, which he generally prefers. Last year there was Shakespeare, this year it was Chekhov/Tennessee Williams. He loves these roles, although I must admit I 
am less of a fan of the serious plays. I will watch every opening night that I can, and I love seeing him onstage, but I don't usually enjoy the serious ones so much – they make me think too much. I, however, live for the musicals where I can see him dancing on stage. (Anyone attending Fossie's 30th Birthday to see the Mr. Mingle dance will understand why this is such a 'joy' for me.)
So, I was very happy when Mr. Mingle announced that he was going to audition for a musical in Half Moon Bay this month. A musical? Hurray!! The audition was on Saturday, and he was called back for further auditioning on Sunday. By Sunday night we found out that he got the lead!! No more playing shirtless monks, guards and baseball players with no lines. No sirree… because now my husband is the lead in the musical The Full Monty!!
Take a moment to think about that one folks…..
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I See London, I See France
Mr. Mingle came back with Underground underpants. Wait, what??
Mr. Mingle and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in London and Normandy France. Finding ourselves with leftover pounds (both money and weight) at the airport before we departed, we stalked up on chocolate and saw these boxers with the map of the London Underground and thought, “what the heck? Let’s get them!” Personally I was hoping they'd have boxers that said "Mind the Gap" – the most popular phrase on the London Underground, but alas none existed. But never mind, you don't want to hear about Mr. Mingle's pants! (Nor, I'm sure would he wish me to be writing this.)
After I left Maryland on my business trip I flew straight to London where I was met by Princess Di at the airport. She lives in a house just outside of London and was very nice to put us up the whole week we were there. When she bought the house a year ago they had completely gutted it and it is still in the process of being put back together. I knew this, yet was still surprised when I walked in and saw that there was no finished room downstairs – no kitchen or sitting rooms. So, immediately we headed upstairs, the finished portion of the house, where she showed me our room for the week. I seem to have this knack of visiting people when they have just moved into their homes and are still living among boxes – but this certainly took the cake! However, it was a warm and welcoming home with a comfy bed, a working and clean bathroom, and not to mention free, which we were ever so grateful for. The exchange rate right now is a real killer – everything we bought was double in price of what we'd pay here, including coffee. (Travesty!)
Mr. Mingle and I just returned from a wonderful vacation in London and Normandy France. Finding ourselves with leftover pounds (both money and weight) at the airport before we departed, we stalked up on chocolate and saw these boxers with the map of the London Underground and thought, “what the heck? Let’s get them!” Personally I was hoping they'd have boxers that said "Mind the Gap" – the most popular phrase on the London Underground, but alas none existed. But never mind, you don't want to hear about Mr. Mingle's pants! (Nor, I'm sure would he wish me to be writing this.)
After I left Maryland on my business trip I flew straight to London where I was met by Princess Di at the airport. She lives in a house just outside of London and was very nice to put us up the whole week we were there. When she bought the house a year ago they had completely gutted it and it is still in the process of being put back together. I knew this, yet was still surprised when I walked in and saw that there was no finished room downstairs – no kitchen or sitting rooms. So, immediately we headed upstairs, the finished portion of the house, where she showed me our room for the week. I seem to have this knack of visiting people when they have just moved into their homes and are still living among boxes – but this certainly took the cake! However, it was a warm and welcoming home with a comfy bed, a working and clean bathroom, and not to mention free, which we were ever so grateful for. The exchange rate right now is a real killer – everything we bought was double in price of what we'd pay here, including coffee. (Travesty!)
Princess Di's home is in the centerMr. Mingle flew in a couple of days later and we spent the first 5 days exploring London and the surrounding areas. Some of the highlights were visiting Wimbledon with Princess Di and Queen Maja on the single sunny day we had in England. Going to the British Library – I had never heard of this one before, but it was well worth the trip! They have a wonderful collection and display of old manuscripts including some Shakespeare novels, musical scores from Beethoven, as well as the original Magna Carta. It was also a good shelter from the rain, as that was one of the 2 very, very rainy days we had (the rest were just off and on).
One night we went to the theater and saw the musical Avenue Q which I highly recommend to everyone. It's a musical that won the Tony a couple years back in NY and is basically like Sesame Street for 30+ year olds. Since they use puppets as main characters they get away with singing songs like "Everyone is a Little Bit Racist" and "The Internet was built for Porn". It's hilarious, and was well worth the money. One day we took a day trip out of London to Oxford and saw a little bit of that city. Unfortunately that was the rainiest day of all and most of the exploring we wanted to do was by foot and outdoors. But we got a glimpse of 30 minutes of sunshine when we went to see Christ Church College, and this was one of the settings used for Harry's Hogwarts College so that was a fun site to see.
After a week in the London area, Princess Di, Queen Maja, Mr. Mingle and I hopped a ferry and went over to Normandy, France where Di’s parents now live. We stayed with them for 3 nights and had a very fun and relaxing time exploring the Normandy area and visiting with our good friends. Normandy is best known for the D-Day beaches where the Allies landed to kick the Germans out of France in WWII. We visited some of the sites of this event, and saw the large US Cemetery there. It was very moving and I wish we had had more time to spend.
Besides getting a WWII history lesson we also spent plenty of time eating and filled up on more than our fair share of cheese and croissants (hence the extra pounds at the airport). We also went to a jazz festival in a nearby village and saw a concert that was a tribute to John Coltrane, the saxophonist. The music was good, but strangely they also had a narrator who talked all about John Coltrane, in French. I was the only one of us who has never taken a single lesson in French so just sat staring blankly (and dozing once), but even the others had trouble getting the whole story and I think were all glad when the concert ended. But it was fun to walk around the village afterwards and hear other musical groups playing all over the place, and of course we ate. They had this one vendor who specialized in everything sweet, so we stopped by there and got hopped up on sugar. Di got a crepe with lemon and sugar, Mr. Mingle and I shared a beignet (big fluffy donut) in sugar, and Maja ordered churros. Little did we know that the smallest order of churros she could get was 12! So, we all helped finish those and by the end were literally bouncing off the walls. A short while ago, this crazed self portrait would have been due to alcohol consumption, but now it's all sugar:
Mr. Mingle, Queen Maja, Princess Di, Mingle
Thank you to our friends who were such gracious hosts in London and France! It was a wonderful vacation, and may be the last one Mr. Mingle get for awhile with just the two of us!
Mr. Mingle, Mrs. H, Queen Maja, Mrs. Mingle, Princess Di, Mr. H
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Not To Be Confused With Oakland, CA
I’ve just finished my second business trip to Oakland, MD and I’m happy to say I finally figured out where I was in the overall Maryland geography. I may as well have been in West Virginia. Both times I flew into Baltimore because that is where my coworker lives and works, so she picked me up and then we drove 3 hours west, to the furthest western tip of Maryland – literally a hop, skip and jump from West Virginia. The town was cute, but where I stayed was better because it was called the Wisp Mountain Resort and was located at the base of a “ski resort” (not to be confused with ski resorts you may know in Lake Tahoe) and beside a beautiful lake called Deep Creek Lake. I think that’s what they did – dammed a creek. But it was pretty and at least provided some highlights to the overall drab business trips to Oakland. This place was as opposite from Oakland, California as you could possibly get. A tiny town with only two main streets, every person was white and I only saw American-made vehicles. Walking down the street for the first time, I literally felt like I had stepped back in time to the 1950s. It was the first time in my life that I felt like a big-city girl and was shocked at the small town in the middle of nowhere.
I’ll admit, I’ve become a food snob since living in SF because I’m surrounded by such great food of all ethnicities that chain restaurants have become drab in comparison. But the places I usually travel to for business only bring me to food chain/big box towns and cities, so that now I’m excited to see a Ruby Tuesdays (one of the better ones in my opinion). I joked once that an Oregon client was so excited about my visit because it meant that her company would pay for us to eat at Olive Garden, and they “absolutely loved Olive Garden!!!” But in Oakland, MD, when inquiring about restaurants, two of the main recommendations were Denny’s and Sheetz Gas Station (“where the fries are great!!”). This same girl went on to give me a comparison of a few Sheetz Gas Stations she had been too..”Cumberland and Hagerston are really big, ours in Oakland is small”. Sadly, I did not get fries at Sheetz, nor step foot in Dennys while there. Or should I say luckily? In fact the resort hotel I was staying at (which was $73/night since it was in the middle of nowhere) actually had a fantastic restaurant thank goodness.
But these business trips in general kill me. Literally. I have to put my best foot forward, be patient, bite my tongue when asked questions I consider ridiculous. This time it was the following interaction that really epitomized the whole visit:
When trying to figure out how to get information from one place to another:
Mingle: “You could copy and paste it into a Word Document”
Customer: “I don’t know how to do that”
The customer was deadly serious, and it’s not the first time I’ve heard things like this. Whereby I boldly declare, “yes you do – right click, choose copy. Open Word (the one with the “W” yes) right click, choose paste.” The customer was so excited to learn this ‘new’ thing she was beaming.
Now is the point when maybe I should mention – I am traveling to banks to work with people who handle our money.
Right click – copy. Right click – paste. That will be $1,000,000 please.
I’ll admit, I’ve become a food snob since living in SF because I’m surrounded by such great food of all ethnicities that chain restaurants have become drab in comparison. But the places I usually travel to for business only bring me to food chain/big box towns and cities, so that now I’m excited to see a Ruby Tuesdays (one of the better ones in my opinion). I joked once that an Oregon client was so excited about my visit because it meant that her company would pay for us to eat at Olive Garden, and they “absolutely loved Olive Garden!!!” But in Oakland, MD, when inquiring about restaurants, two of the main recommendations were Denny’s and Sheetz Gas Station (“where the fries are great!!”). This same girl went on to give me a comparison of a few Sheetz Gas Stations she had been too..”Cumberland and Hagerston are really big, ours in Oakland is small”. Sadly, I did not get fries at Sheetz, nor step foot in Dennys while there. Or should I say luckily? In fact the resort hotel I was staying at (which was $73/night since it was in the middle of nowhere) actually had a fantastic restaurant thank goodness.
But these business trips in general kill me. Literally. I have to put my best foot forward, be patient, bite my tongue when asked questions I consider ridiculous. This time it was the following interaction that really epitomized the whole visit:
When trying to figure out how to get information from one place to another:
Mingle: “You could copy and paste it into a Word Document”
Customer: “I don’t know how to do that”
The customer was deadly serious, and it’s not the first time I’ve heard things like this. Whereby I boldly declare, “yes you do – right click, choose copy. Open Word (the one with the “W” yes) right click, choose paste.” The customer was so excited to learn this ‘new’ thing she was beaming.
Now is the point when maybe I should mention – I am traveling to banks to work with people who handle our money.
Right click – copy. Right click – paste. That will be $1,000,000 please.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Does Your Boss Speak to You Like This?
Many of you have already heard this story, but I can't resist including it here because I still think of it often and wonder,... "What the Hell??!!"
(As a primer on the chain of command... I report to Joker who reports to Major Dick. LulaBell is my counterpart)
On Tuesday, January 15, I attended a meeting in Major Dick's office with Joker and LulaBell because LulaBell wanted to give Major Dick an update on a project she is working on. I attended for moral support.
During the course of the meeting Major Dick started to ask Joker and I questions that weren’t related to LulaBell's topic. I was afraid that she wouldn’t have a chance to complete her update and also get Major Dick's “blessing” on the project so at one point I interrupted him in the middle of one of his questions and said, “Major Dick, I know that you like to veer off into other topics, so before you do, I just want to make sure that LulaBell has gotten what she needs out of this meeting.” He gave me a slightly bemused look, but then let LulaBell continue. Shortly after this the meeting ended.
About an hour later Major Dick came into my office, sat himself down and said, “I have a question for you”
(As a primer on the chain of command... I report to Joker who reports to Major Dick. LulaBell is my counterpart)
On Tuesday, January 15, I attended a meeting in Major Dick's office with Joker and LulaBell because LulaBell wanted to give Major Dick an update on a project she is working on. I attended for moral support.
During the course of the meeting Major Dick started to ask Joker and I questions that weren’t related to LulaBell's topic. I was afraid that she wouldn’t have a chance to complete her update and also get Major Dick's “blessing” on the project so at one point I interrupted him in the middle of one of his questions and said, “Major Dick, I know that you like to veer off into other topics, so before you do, I just want to make sure that LulaBell has gotten what she needs out of this meeting.” He gave me a slightly bemused look, but then let LulaBell continue. Shortly after this the meeting ended.
About an hour later Major Dick came into my office, sat himself down and said, “I have a question for you”
Mingle: “Ok…”
Major Dick: Don’t worry it’s not related to anything that we’ve discussed, and you don’t even have to answer
Mingle: Okayy…. (could this be that he finally realizes my value, or he wants to ask a delicate question about one of my coworkers??)
Major Dick: You see, men of my generation often wonder why women of your generation would get a tattoo. (At this point he stared pointedly at me and it was obvious that he had seen my tattoo which immediately made me uncomfortable since it is on my lower back, just above my rear and the only chance he could have seen it is if I might have bent over to pick something up)
Mingle: oh! That is not the question I was expecting! And I’m a little concerned that you have even seen it – I can’t even see it! (what the hell??)
MD: More to the point – why bother to get one?
Mingle: Well… again, I must say I’m a little concerned that you have seen it at all but…
MD: Oh, well it was sometime in the old building…
Mingle: (oh great… now he admits that he has seen my tattoo which resides just above my ass 6 MONTHS ago, and has been dying to ask me this question ever since) Huh….well, in my case it means love..
MD: oh! you don't have to tell me!
Mingle: Well - you asked! (and damn it I'm not letting you off this easy Buster) It’s in Kanji which is Japanese and as I think you know I lived there for awhile. It has meaning to me.
MD: oh ok. I just thought since you mentioned in our last meeting that I like to veer off on other topics it reminded me that I’d been meaning to ask you this so I thought I would. Since we have this open communication….
Mingle: Again, I’m surprised you have seen it (and would dare talk about it. And where on earth do you get the impression that my attempt at keeping a meeting on track opens up the door for you to ask me this question??)
Major Dick: When I used to live in Texas the cowboys often had their names on the back of their belts and the joke was that if they fell down drunk in a ditch someone could walk by and know who they are by their belts. (Smirk and Stare)
Mingle: That’s not what my tattoo is for. (Phone Rings) I have to get this Major Dick – it’s a customer. (Go away now you gross, inappropriate man!)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
It's Time...
I’ve been thinking about the blog lately – how I miss typing stories about inane things that happen in my life and complaining about work. Oh so much to talk about! But since last July it’s been difficult to come back to the blubbering blog entries that I so enjoy. However, I think I am now at a happy point that I can mention that which has not been discussed and can move on to the more mundane, less fascinating but oh so amusing aspects of life that I like to ramble about.
So, to begin the therapy session of my blog entry …. As everyone already knows who reads this blog – two months after my director oh so embarrassingly announced to the company that I was pregnant, Mr. Mingle and I lost the baby. Sad, confused and devastated pretty much sums up the next couple of months, however, our loving, understanding family and friends helped to keep our spirits in check and we knew that we were not alone. It must also be admitted here that the cats took on an even more important role in the Mingle household – they became our pseudo-children (not that we weren’t already obsessed cat-loving people).
Most of my anger was directed at work since that barely paused in the wake of our loss. My co-workers, although understanding, did not once address the elephant in the room once I returned, and my bitterness grew as the 4th Quarter sucked and all I could think about was how I was supposed to be on maternity leave and shouldn’t have been there to deal with all of the work crap in the first place. I had to train and hire new people, and it was hard to think- they have no idea what just happened to me a short few months ago, and I have no desire to talk to them, but I pushed on and just did the best I could. The 4th Quarter was really tough and I have never been more excited for a New Year to start because it really gave me the feeling of starting fresh and putting a difficult year behind us. That is not to say we wanted to forget what happened, because we never will, but it was important and helpful for me to look ahead and hope that 2008 would be happier than 2007.
Fortunately 2008 has kick-started us into a happier place. We started by celebrating Christmas in SunValley, Idaho with Mom, J and family and enjoyed the holiday in one of the more perfect snow settings you can imagine. (Complete with spending Christmas Eve dinner with Billy Baldwin and family, but I digress). I also got in a couple of fantastic days of skiing which I haven’t done in 6 years so it was so nice to do a physical activity again and see that I can still do it!
In January we celebrated Matt’s birthday with a weekend in Napa and were able to relax and enjoy each other’s company with more joy and less sadness than at the end of last year. Let me be clear however, that Mr. Mingle and I were still able to joke together and appreciate the lighter moments in life even when our loss was most near. I feel this is an aspect to our relationship that keeps us strong (as well as goofy) and helped us get through last year as well as we did.
Now we are back to our same old shenanigans (one of our favorite words) where he is acting in a play and I am playing the trumpet for an orchestra pit. We like to be busy, it’s who we are, however this time around we are not keeping busy to try to forget what happened, but we are doing the shows we love because we enjoy it. Things will happen, life goes on, and in looking back on last July and the loss of our baby, I am grateful for having been given that experience at all since I learned so much from it. The loss will always be in our memories and it will be hard for us at times even going forward, but the one thing I know for sure is – we can handle it.
So, now that the blog therapy session has come to an end, it’s time for me to get back to work and kick some ass so that I can return to the more amusing blog entries that I so enjoy writing.
So, to begin the therapy session of my blog entry …. As everyone already knows who reads this blog – two months after my director oh so embarrassingly announced to the company that I was pregnant, Mr. Mingle and I lost the baby. Sad, confused and devastated pretty much sums up the next couple of months, however, our loving, understanding family and friends helped to keep our spirits in check and we knew that we were not alone. It must also be admitted here that the cats took on an even more important role in the Mingle household – they became our pseudo-children (not that we weren’t already obsessed cat-loving people).
Most of my anger was directed at work since that barely paused in the wake of our loss. My co-workers, although understanding, did not once address the elephant in the room once I returned, and my bitterness grew as the 4th Quarter sucked and all I could think about was how I was supposed to be on maternity leave and shouldn’t have been there to deal with all of the work crap in the first place. I had to train and hire new people, and it was hard to think- they have no idea what just happened to me a short few months ago, and I have no desire to talk to them, but I pushed on and just did the best I could. The 4th Quarter was really tough and I have never been more excited for a New Year to start because it really gave me the feeling of starting fresh and putting a difficult year behind us. That is not to say we wanted to forget what happened, because we never will, but it was important and helpful for me to look ahead and hope that 2008 would be happier than 2007.
Fortunately 2008 has kick-started us into a happier place. We started by celebrating Christmas in SunValley, Idaho with Mom, J and family and enjoyed the holiday in one of the more perfect snow settings you can imagine. (Complete with spending Christmas Eve dinner with Billy Baldwin and family, but I digress). I also got in a couple of fantastic days of skiing which I haven’t done in 6 years so it was so nice to do a physical activity again and see that I can still do it!
In January we celebrated Matt’s birthday with a weekend in Napa and were able to relax and enjoy each other’s company with more joy and less sadness than at the end of last year. Let me be clear however, that Mr. Mingle and I were still able to joke together and appreciate the lighter moments in life even when our loss was most near. I feel this is an aspect to our relationship that keeps us strong (as well as goofy) and helped us get through last year as well as we did.
Now we are back to our same old shenanigans (one of our favorite words) where he is acting in a play and I am playing the trumpet for an orchestra pit. We like to be busy, it’s who we are, however this time around we are not keeping busy to try to forget what happened, but we are doing the shows we love because we enjoy it. Things will happen, life goes on, and in looking back on last July and the loss of our baby, I am grateful for having been given that experience at all since I learned so much from it. The loss will always be in our memories and it will be hard for us at times even going forward, but the one thing I know for sure is – we can handle it.
So, now that the blog therapy session has come to an end, it’s time for me to get back to work and kick some ass so that I can return to the more amusing blog entries that I so enjoy writing.
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