Off Topic by Allison Werner

Ooops!

Allison Werner — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:11:00 GMT

Well, it isn't like I haven't had spare time, just haven't updated in a LONG time... maybe I'll get back to this some day... or maybe not...

This is Why There is Tylenol

Allison Werner — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:44:00 GMT

I'm going to go completely off topic again... eh, anyway...

There is a reason for Tylenol, and Tylenol is good... it takes the pain away from banging your head against a wall, something you may decide to do after you do something like wax your upper lip...

It also can remedy the aches of slamming your head into a cabinet door, after you do something like wax your eyebrows...

Prepare yourself, take the Tylenol BEFORE you warm up the wax

And So It Begins...

Allison Werner — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 16:29:00 GMT

Today, I embark on a mission... a personal mission to bring good grooming to each of my five ~~hounds of hell~~ puppies. You see, it is a personal mission because there is not a single one of them that enjoys the process of receiving a haircut. It's not a cake walk for their so called stylist either. Instead, it is a battle of the wills... and I am not sure I can win.

It started with the "momma" dog. She was the first, and at the tender age of 6 months, after her fine puppy fur transformed to an adult matted mess, we brought our little cotton ball to a groomer. There is a lot about timing that can make or break you, and our timing was excruciatingly bad. I dropped her at the groomer for an 11 a.m. appointment, and fought my way back to get her during one of the worst thunderstorms/ tornado watches we have had in the last 7 years. After traveling about 8 miles through torrential downpours and non-working traffic lights, I arrived to find a shaking bundle of pink skin, in the groomer's den that had no electricity. Of course they had electricity when they shaved every bit of hair off of her, leaving her to be a tremoring pile of pink skin and bones. Then they put her in a cage to wait for me to come and save her.

A traumatized puppy had realized she was shorn, and refused to move for the next week. This was reinforced by everyone that saw her asking "What did you do to her?" She knew she was no longer the beautiful cotton ball that was brought to the groomer that morning. Subsequent haircuts taught us to tell her how pretty she was throughout the process, and to constantly reinforce that she is a "Pretty Momma".

Now, 6 1/2 years later, she has taught her babies well. They all tremble at the sight of the professional buzzers we bought to make sure her day at the groomer's never has to be relived. We do the haircuts ourselves, in the comfort of their own home. They are free to take needed breaks from the buzzing, wrestle their stylist, play with their "humans" and cry at their loss of hair... and so it begins...

Trying Something New

Allison Werner — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:27:00 GMT

How to Pursue Your Dreams and Obtain Them

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This is for anyone and everyone who has a dream that they want to pursue.

Steps

Remember, everything you do in school is going toward that future dream. Math, English, History, Everything ties into a career. The more good grades that you have the better, so treat that Major Exam like you treat your life.
Read, Read, Read books that have subjects that relate to your dream are stocked full of inspiring ideas.
Hold on to your dream and never let go.
Never let anyone bring you down.
Now it gets harder. Figure out exactly what you need to do. College, grades, classes, groups, and run them through your head like a checklist.
Always apply for as many colleges as you can, because you can always have more options.
Remember: Options are good.
Have a fall back plan. A part-time job is a good idea while you are in college.

Tips

Hold on to your dreams.

Warnings

Remember to remember the things that are going on around you, no matter how much you want it, continue to live in the present.

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Pursue Your Dreams and Obtain Them. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

I just had to see how embedding an article works on a blog So there you have it, what do you think?

Airing Your Dirty Laundry

Allison Werner — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:35:00 GMT

Last night I had another Continuing Education class over at the college. Instead of learning the valuable information I thought I would be acquiring, the last 30 minutes were dedicated to the adjunct professor letting the students know about the "politics" involved with his role. It seems there had been some duplication of efforts between him and a full time faculty member on some project the college had them both working on. He was supposed to report to this full time faculty member, instead of her reporting to him.

His stance was that he was being treated unfairly, as a result of being an adjunct professor compared to the woman who has made her career the education of others. He was very vocal about all of his "other life successes" and was of the opinion that he should be the project lead, based on experience. Oh, and since he was only getting a "stipend" for this project since he was in a supporting role, and not the lead.

I know, I also feel that I know way too much about this situation. A class of students, who are not in a position to assist in his cause in any way, shape or form, should not be his platform to vocalize this perceived injustice. I know too much about the situation, because he chose to air his situation with a class. It's not just the web where people feel compelled to air their dirty laundry anonymously... it's everywhere!

Am I The Only One That Doesn't Know What They Want?

Allison Werner — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:13:00 GMT

How often do people really know what they want? Maybe it's just me, but right now, it's hard to develop the solid picture of my "dream job" or even what I want for dinner tonight! There is no description of my life's purpose written down anywhere (at least that I am aware of) for me to refer to.

Take dinner tonight for an example. Hubby is going off to watch football at a friend's house. My girl and I are in for a "girls night", meaning there will be the smell of nail polish (and remover) in the air, (which really doesn't go well with the stronger scent of hair dye but I digress...) We can have anything in the house for dinner... from salads (typical girl meal I know), to fish & chips (since Hubby doesn't eat these, this should be my first choice), to grilled cheese and soup, or anything else that is within my limited cooking capacity.

It should not be this hard to decide what we are having!

Now on to the dream job. I know there are certain elements that I know must be a part of any position I consider. I am concerned with the commute (although the shorter the better, it has to be under 40 miles...) but other than that, I have to work with nice people. It could be on-site, off-site with some contact in the office, on a team or not, casual or professional office, big or small firm... the list of possibilities are endless! I have worked in different size companies, from small with about 10 employees to large with hundreds and thousands of employees and consultants.

The only part that matters to me is the culture of the office. I don't dream of being in a small firm again, nor do I dream of being in a large corporation again. I dream of actually looking forward to going to work. Most people have it in them to do any type of work. What matters most is working with people that will motivate you to do it, because they are a joy to work with, not because it needs to be done!

So... I guess it would be easier to figure out where my "dream job" is by finding out where the nice people are... Any ideas?

Re-Energize Yourself

Allison Werner — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:57:00 GMT

Yeah... I need to re-energize myself... One of my podcasts made some suggestions, so I thought I would just get some additional options out before I forgot them...

Take some risks

Not major ones, just minor risks to elevate your excitement
Find a new place to eat lunch
Download some new software

Change 1 habit

Should be eliminating a bad habit
Could be starting a healthier habit
Could also replace a bad habit with a better one

Pamper yourself

I like this one!!

The Telephone Game

Allison Werner — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:05:00 GMT

Yeah... it's time to go off topic again...

Why is it so hard to be understood correctly? I can communicate my perspective of a topic effectively, and yet my words are twisted when they are re-communicated to someone else. You know, the old "telephone game", and yet no one seems to be aware that they are the ones doing the twisting. Baffling, but yet at the same time, common.

If I were to mishear, or misinterpret something, I would ask for clarification. If we are speaking of directions, I would clarify that I heard correctly what was being said or instructed. Why don't others clarify their interpretation, prior to recommunicating their new found "expertise?"

Yet again, this was just a bit of my mind wandering off again, but if you have answers, I would love to hear them!

An Off Topic Opinion on Opinions

Allison Werner — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:04:00 GMT

It had occurred to me over my morning coffee, while enjoying a fleeting few moments of "spare time" that everyone can offer me their opinions, however, the ones I am most inclined to listen to are the ones that I solicit directly. The problem with this approach is that I am not the type to request an opinion, I want direction!

I will ask, "How do you think I should approach this?" or "Is this the best course of action?" but I don't like to hear about the past tense of a situation. "If you would have done...", "You should have done...", "If you could have done..." are not my favorite phrases...

Sometimes when I am explaining the chaos that is in my head, the first result people have is "Oh, you should have said..." That doesn't help me, the situation is over! There is no going back and changing what has been done, said, ignored, addressed or changed already. Tell me how to handle a situation going forward, and I will listen...

That was my "off topic" rambling for today... now back to the job search.

Why I am Home Today

Allison Werner — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:19:00 GMT

In case you thought it was so I could stay home and watch General Hospital in real time instead of off the DVR box, you thought wrong. I have been laid off. Apparently my position was one of the thousands eliminated after GMAC had a 2.8 billion loss in the second quarter of this year.

For today, I am revisiting what I feel my purpose in life is, and for tomorrow I have already started dreaming of a better one. I'm pretty sure I will be ok, one foot will go before the other and all will work out eventually.

Relaxed...

Allison Werner — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:19:00 GMT

I have had a few days to relax and recharge my batteries a little. Vacation is necessary, not a luxury, and it brings so much value to every day you are out of your routine, it can't be measured.

I was running out of steam for about a month before my vacation, and the last week before my vacation was so busy and spent working on catching myself up before leaving the office. People may have thought I was crazy, but I wasn't, just in need of some time off!

When you go through your daily routine, week after week, life just seems stressful. It's hard to escape it when you are doing the same thing day in and day out. Taking some time off even just an afternoon or one day, can help bring your view of life back to a positive one.

I only have about 15 hours left of my time off... so I better go enjoy it! I still have podcasts to listen to and TV shows that I have not gotten to see yet!

Too Much of What? Too Little Where?

Allison Werner — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:53:00 GMT

Yeah, it's been a while... My mind has finally wandered Off Topic again and with that several things come to mind for this title...

Too Much Time at Work... Too Little At Home
Too Much of A Good Thing... Too Little Sleep at Night
Too Much Time Outside... Too Little Time Inside My Brain

I know, I have spent my valuable time on everything from my brother's Stephen King book I borrowed to earning my badges on Pogo.com. I have been updating my ipod, my email, my feed reader and everything else instead of posting here. One dog got a haircut this weekend, I drank way too much coffee, overdosed on the entire last week of General Hospital, and... had to color my hair twice in one night (hard to believe, but even I don't play with the right colors sometimes)

Any way you look at it, I have spent more time "absent" than "present"

Can You Read My Mind?

Allison Werner — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:26:00 GMT

Probably not... I am not a mind reader, so I don't expect anyone else to be one either... Just sayin'. If you can't read my mind, I won't hold it against you, so you better not hold it against me.

I think about thousands of things every single day. My mind just spins to the point it makes me dizzy. Split second decisions happen every second of my day. Should I go a different way to work? Stop and get a coffee on the way home? Make another phone call? Should I call and say I will be late? Do I need to stop at a store on the way home?

Did I do the right thing? Should I watch t.v. or go straight to bed? Glass of wine first? Make a fresh pot of coffee? Ice cream?

You get the idea... sometimes I am thinking about so many things, I forget about others. I'm sorry, but just realize it wasn't an intentional slight... I just can't do everything, remember every thing, and make the correct decision every time. Sometimes, I can't read my own mind, so like I said don't hold it against me.

PodCasts and Me

Allison Werner — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:51:00 GMT

I started off with one pod cast on my ipod. I selected the "Official General Hospital" pod cast as the "official podcast of my ipod" only problem is, after the 1st 3 video pod casts, there have been no more There hasn't been an update since November of 2007.

Now I subscribe to about a dozen more, some I can keep up with, some I can't, but at least there is new material to check out for those times that I am laying around doing nothing (heh... ok, you know that doesn't happen) or when I have my ipod stuck in my ears while running around doing laundry or cleaning... maybe a power walk (ok, that doesn't happen often either, but it does happen).

My favorite podcasts are tied between the motivational (i.e. MorningCoach) and ones that offer relaxation and stress reduction ideas. The other thing my favorites have in common are the length. They are about 15 minutes long. I have to save the longer ones for "uninterupted time" which occurs less often than "laying around doing nothing".

Too Busy For Words

Allison Werner — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Yeah, it's the beginning of summer. I am too busy for words right now. I figured out sometime before Memorial Day that every weekend between then and Labor Day was spoken for. Plans every weekend mean no time for rest and relaxation during my favorite season.

I know this is off topic, but I like to rest and relax in the summer. The weather is warm enough to basically do what ever makes you happy (unless you like to ski... then you have to wait) if you want to lounge around on a beach... go for it (Just keep in mind those 10 pounds you didn't lose should be covered so the rest of the beach goers don't have to suffer)

What ever you want to do, shouldn't have to have a purpose. The only purpose that is important is to relax on purpose, not by accident. Some of my plans include rest, but not relaxation. Schedule in your times to relax... you will be much happier.

Allergies

Allison Werner — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:14:00 GMT

Ok, it's peak allergy season here in New Jersey. If you don't have pollen allergies, you have no idea how lucky you are. I haz them. They SUCK!

I spent half my weekend spitting up green goo because I let them go too long. The most energy I can muster is to sit here at the computer and cough... go me.

So... sorry I was away for awhile, but I am back now. I realized when times are good, I blog. When times are bad, I like the feel of paper and pen, it soothes me. My journal knows what was going on in my brain, but the whole world doesn't need to know...

For now, I am off to spit out more green goo... enjoy yourself, that way at least one of us is.

New Jersey Diners

Allison Werner — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:20:00 GMT

Ok, so my Uncle broke his leg in 4 places, my cousin flew in from Texas, and after taking a peek at a hospital lunch tray, we were off to the local diner. I guess I take diners for granted, since I live in New Jersey, I forget that they aren't on every corner in the rest of the world.

It wasn't until we had ordered that my cousin told me his girlfriend back in Texas would be upset. She is originally from NJ too, and loves diners. It's more than a place to sit and have a cup of coffee, or grab a meal fast when you are out and about for the day, it's someplace where every one can order what ever they are craving at the moment... Just the mention of disco fries (french fries with brown gravy and mozzeralla cheese) on the phone was enough to make her drool (sorry)...

I guess it's just a little slice of New Jersey culture that most of us take for granted.

Spring

Allison Werner — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:33:00 GMT

I know, this isn't completely off topic, but spring finally seems to be coming. Not on time of course, but it is at least better than 40 degrees and raining weather we have had since the beginning of March. Remember, this blog is my outlet, and today the weather is ok, not the typical for around here...

So, with spring comes not only my allergies, but yard work. That's what the husband is working on. Me? I am just working on inside work, so the weather isn't even bothering me! Spring cleaning... that's another post.

Bad Days

Allison Werner — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:07:00 GMT

Did you ever just plug along... day by day... off in the world you live in, and out of the blue...

B lame A Man

Something comes from no where and hits you like a ton of bricks? I hate those days. Ok, hate is such a strong word, I genuinely have disdain for those types of days. The problem is, it's extremely hard to go back to the pre-BAM days, once a BAM day happens.

Please, for all that is good in the world, no more BAM days.

The Need for Down Time

Allison Werner — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:10:00 GMT

This blog dwells heavily on what to do with down time or as in some circles, spare time. There is a reason for it. Human nature requires down time. A person that is always on, will crash eventually, and crash hard. A person that spends their work week engaging others in conversation, needs some quiet time to a least recharge their vocal cords, or let their partner rest their ears.

I am a person that talks too much. It's my nature, and I have been ~~falsely accused of being~~ called a "chatterbox" since I learned to talk. I need down time to recharge my vocal cords. I need naps, coffee, and quiet time. Listening to myself talk is exhausting. How much down time is needed depends on the person, but every soul on this earth needs time to just be.

Time to go off topic, time to enjoy their surroundings, time to reflect on their future or their past. I like to plan, I like to write lists, I enjoy spending time in the mind of Allison Werner, just figuring out what does being me mean.