Thursday, February 28, 2019

Incompetent colleagues

I work with a few bad apples. Otherwise, things are good at work.

First, there is a person who is older than I am. He is also a team lead like I am. He is highly incompetent. He didn't do his job on a straightforward task. It was to the point where I actually knew more about what he was supposed to do than he did. I don't even work in that area these days. I have dabbled in it in the past.

He blamed getting the information "at the last minute." I corrected him by saying that communication wasn't there between he and his teammates. Additionally, if he is going to write something that he is unclear about, he needs to ask.

Then, there's my incompetent colleague whom is supposed to take over some of my job responsibilities and isn't even close. She was asked by someone to provide status in an e-mail initially. This woman then pinged her on our corporate instant messaging app. The newish incompetent colleague ignored responding to both methods, as I had expected.

I asked her to write back. She said that she would do so "with [my] exact wording." I told her that she needs to think for herself. I'll need to have yet another talk with her. She is unfit for this position.

Finally, there is this woman who pinged my incompetent colleague. She assumed that our work needed to be done today. I asked her politely whether the deadline had changed. My team completes our work at least a day before the deadline, which would make it Thursday and not her made-up deadline of Wednesday. Luckily, the manager who is in charge happens to know how my team ticks and he is actually our manager. He said that we could take our time and that the deadline was indeed Thursday.

Ah, the joys of dealing with people who need help doing their jobs at the most basic level.

Wednesday, February 27, 2019

More snow

It has been a rough winter. When I wake up on Wednesday morning, snow will begin to fall for the entire day.

Oh, joy! We are expecting anywhere between ten and fifteen centimetres of snow.

I work from home on Wednesdays, so I'm good staying home. I am looking forward to warmer weather, though.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Awards and a spanking over chiffon pants

I am back from the gala. The good news? I won two awards. It's such a humbling experience. I am ecstatic!

My outfit turned out nicely. I had a black sweater with gold buttons on the shoulders. My brown chiffon pants were comfy. The downside? It was gusting at around 40 km/h when I left home to drive down to the venue. I was freezing in my chiffon pants. After the event was over, the winds had died down and I was a happier camper.

I let my guy know about my awards.
"I'm so proud you you, sweetie," he said.
"Thanks! It means a lot," I replied.
"I'd love to caress your legs with those chiffon pants on. I bet they look good on you," he imagined.
"Let me know and I can wear them. You can spank me with them on or off, if you like," I replied.
"I love both options," he hinted.
Sweet!

Monday, February 25, 2019

My outfit and shoes for the gala

My working overtime on Saturday kind of worked out nicely. I get Monday off. Later on tonight, I will be heading to a formal gala.

I have my outfit. It consists of a nice black sweater with gold buttons on the shoulders. It brings a nice, classy touch. It's also a comfortable sweater. I have never worn this one before, but I did get a grey one at the same time and have worn it for years.

My brown palazzo pants are still a go. I like the contrast of colours, rather than dressing all in black and feeling like I am at a funeral.

I am going with black socks and a pair of brown suede lace-up shoes. I have a pair of black leather dress shoes with chunky heels. The downside is that the temperature is supposed to dip down to -11°C. My brown suede shoes will keep me warm. The black ones will not. We also have snow and ice on the ground. Warmth and traction trump everything here. I don't care if my footwear may look odd to some. I need my feet to stay warm and I need to be safe.

I'm ready. Here's hoping that being a finalist turns into some sort of acknowledgement of the work that I did last year.

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Overtime and contact

I worked overtime on Saturday. I'm tired.

I noticed that my guy was online. I tried contacting him on our work instant messaging app. My guess is that he was so into whatever he was doing workwise on his laptop that he didn't see any of my messages.

Oh, well. There's always tomorrow.

I did manage to finish my work. I now have Sunday and Monday off. Yay!

I'm exhausted. I'm off to bed.

Saturday, February 23, 2019

Work keeps me busy and my guy's love gets me through crazy times

Work is keeping me busy. I'm working this weekend.

When things get this hectic, I long to see my guy. He is away on business, equally as busy as I am.

I miss his kisses, hugs, and cuddles. I miss caressing his head and waking up next to him.

All of these thoughts are comforting. His love and support get me through this weird work period. I am thankful that I am grounded.

Friday, February 22, 2019

Introducing me to a new employee

Thursday was a busy day at work. I could write about tons of small, but significant details. I will need to spread it out.

Our team has a new software developer. Sharky, who is the manager of this team, made us all huddle around the new employee and introduced him to us, one team member at a time.

When it came down to me, I got this introduction:
"This is Cutiebootie. She is our writer. She is demanding, but she's pretty good," he said.
I looked at him.
"Just joking," he said to me.
"That's the nicest thing that you have ever said to me!" I exclaimed.
Our entire team laugh. My job is done.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Shopping and decluttering thoughts

I like that my guy and I have been in the same shopping frame of mind for a while. We don't crave shopping at stores like we used to. We are content with what we have. We go shopping for things that we need.

He likes that I tend to buy practical items. I do like pretty things, too. It's okay to splurge now and again. It's a deathtrap when you do it daily and end up amassing a ton of stuff that you truly don't need or use.

I was in the groove decluttering last month. It has stopped since I went on and returned from vacation. However, it came back the other day when I looked at purchases that I had made in 2013 and wondered why I needed all these items.

My decluttering kick is slowly coming back. I'm glad.

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

What top goes well with palazzo pants for a black tie gala?

On Tuesday, I was asked to be a part of a black tie gala. The main reason? I am a finalist for at least one award.

Here's the weird thing. Apparently, I'm not eligible for this award if I don't go. It's odd to me. I would like to think that it was worded this way because it would look weird to win the award fair and square, and not be in attendance.

Anyway, there is never a guarantee to win anything. I should just go, have free food and booze, and be thankful to have been nominated. However, I have a good feeling that my hard work all last year has paid off.

The bigger concern is what to wear. I don't go to such formal events.

I have two items of clothing that are chiffon and look fancy: a black skirt and a pair of dark brown palazzo pants.

The black skirt is too large on me. I have lost weight since I last wore it a good eight years ago. The palazzo pants fit perfectly and I like how it flows on me.

Here's my question: What top to I wear with palazzo pants? A nice, slightly fitted black sweater? A cap-sleeved sweater with a blouse underneath? I haven't got a clue.

It's the main reason why I didn't jump on being a part of this event. I am not fancy. I like wearing jeans and a t-shirt. I like staying at home, in my pajamas, snacking and drinking pop.

It's only for a couple of hours. I will be okay.

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Hacked information in the wrong hands and my cell phone reported lost by someone

Here's a follow-up to my post on how a few personal details can get into the wrong hands and how worried the guy is about his actions.

A few months ago, my Starbucks account was compromised. I was at the car dealership, waiting for my car to be done with servicing. I logged into my Starbucks app and noticed two transactions that were foreign to me. One happened in Miami. The other in New York within five minutes. There was no way that I was in two states in that period, especially when I was still in Canada.

I called Starbucks support and the woman was helpful. I didn't like when she asked which card it had come from. I have Starbucks cards in both the United States and Canada. Sure enough, it came from a U.S. card. The balance wasn't huge. The person purchased a drink and some food. Nevertheless, Starbucks reimbursed the funds and cancelled that card for me.

My Starbucks account had my phone number there. If this guy logged on and used that card, he likely got my cell phone number. I have since removed my cell phone number from the account, as it's far from being mandatory.

As for tracking me with check-ins on Yelp and Twitter, he has too much time on his hands. It was a good wakeup call for me. I stopped the Twitter check-in from Yelp. I tried it out on Saturday and all was good.

I don't go down without a fight. I'm interesting that way, as I like to gain a bit of information about this person.

On my Twitter account, which was still public, I replied to my own tweet. I addressed the guy who stalked me. I said that he has been reported. He was messing with the wrong person. I have both voice recordings with his swearing and threats thanks to an app that I have. I recommended that he back off, as he was messing with the wrong person.

It is all true. I lucked out and bought an app that tells you whether phone numbers are safe to pick up. You can also report numbers that are considered nuisances. It also records all calls for protection and potential evidence down the road.

He got scared. This part of the story is still speculation, though.

On early Monday morning, just after I had posted my last post, I got an e-mail alert acknowledging that I had reported my phone lost. Really? It wasn't me.

I got that issue resolved online. As a security measure, I have a PIN associated with my cell phone provider on my account. This person reported my phone lost through the phone, which the person at my provider confirmed.

The woman with my service provider said that it is likely that the person entered his phone number incorrectly when reporting his phone stolen over the phone. Part of me hopes so. The other part of me thinks that this guy panicked and thinks that reporting my phone lost will help slow things down. Revenge? Perhaps. It's dumb, though.

The other thing is that my phone number, if you searched for the first seven digits, comes out being with a different cell phone provider. He would have to do a ton of digging to figure out that it's with my current provider. So, it leads me to believe that my number was reported by accident. I can't prove anything here, though.

Ah, the joys of having information in the wrong hands in a digital age.

Currently, my Twitter account is private. We'll see if that helps, too. I have learned so much this episode. Hopefully, we have reached its end.

Monday, February 18, 2019

Compatibility when waking up in the morning

When my guy and I were in the States, his phone would wake us both up. He had to go to work and he set his alarm for 7 am.

We are different. I hear an alarm and I get up automatically. He hears an alarm and hits the snooze button a few times.

The first time I heard his alarm on this trip, I woke up. I went into my usual wakey-wakey mode with him.
"Wakey wakey!" I said to him.
"I want to snooze," he said.
"How many times?" I asked him.
"Four times," he replied.
"That's a lot," I noted.
When his phone's alarm when off the fourth time, I put his phone on his head.
"You're mean. We aren't compatible," he whined.
"Do you want to break up?" I asked him.
"No. You're such a morning person and I'm not," he whined.
When it was finally 7:48 am, he woke up, got out of bed, and got on with his day. He's so boyish.

We suggested that he set his alarm to 7:30 am. He was much better after that.

Of course, on the weekend, he forgot to turn off his alarm.
"Alarm, sweetie," I said to him, which prompted him to turn it off.
I do miss seeing him snooze all day. He loves his sleep so much. I love sleep, too. I just am not a snoozer like he is.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Optimistic outlook on my finances

It's a long weekend for folks here. Let me tell you that it's much needed.

I am optimistic about my finances this year. A loan that I have had for nearly five years ago will be paid off at either the end of May or early June. This loan was to consolidate a large amount of debt. It frees up money to put towards other debt, which won't be a whole lot when I get there.

The toughest part is getting through the next three months. Last year, my debt situation required that I dip into my retirement savings. For years, I did not touch it. I had no choice last year. You get dinged for taking this money out before you retire, which will be reflected in my income tax return. My thinking is that I had to deal with being behind with my debt payments that it was worth the risk taking money out of my retirement savings.

With the loan payments being over in early summer, I will be able to put money back into my retirement savings and build it up. This plan makes me happy.

I have come a long way. It will be nice to get back to having my finances back in check.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Learning from checking in on apps and broadcasting my location on social media

I had something odd happen to me yesterday. Some may consider it scary. I have a feeling that I have put some of the puzzle pieces together.

After work, I went to Starbucks to get a beverage. The baristas there were nice. I ordered my drink through the app like I usually do, went through the drive-thru, got my drink, and drove home.

I normally check in using my Yelp app. Some people are afraid of having their location shown. For me, I used to be in this camp. My thought is that checking and then leaving is okay. I'm gone that any stacker can't catch up to you.

Well, here's the odd part. I must have been twenty minutes away. I got a call from this Starbucks location. It was the cafe's phone number on my phone. It was one call after the other for a total of four calls. No message was left.

It then shifted to a completely different number. When the third call came in, I was waiting at yet another drive-thru. I answered the call and stayed silent.

The guy on the other end knew my first name and my phone number. He was wondering why I wasn't answering. Well, I was at a drive-thru deciding on what I wanted to order. He eventually hung up and called back for a fourth time.

I had placed my order. I picked up and said hi. He proceeded to say that I had checked in on Yelp and asked, "Why the f*ck do you check in so many times?" I decided to hang up on him. I didn't like the swearing and I didn't understand why he was so upset.

I have an app on my phone that not only blocks these calls, but I can report them to a database and add my comments. I did just that.

I see a couple of things that contributed to this incident:
  • When I checked in on my Yelp app, it also broadcasts that check-in on Twitter. The guy saw my tweet on Twitter. I looked at the interactions and found one hit in my statistics. Only my friends on Yelp know my check-ins and they are decent people who would not harass me.
  • As for getting my phone number, my Starbucks app was compromised a few months back. My phone number was likely obtained from that incident.
Put my tweet and my phone number together, and you have someone out there who doesn't have a life.

I also feel that he has a software application where he can change the phone number that ultimately gets displayed on your phone when you receive a call. It seems rather clean that he used the Starbucks number to call me four times, and then used another one with a different area code exactly four times in the same rapid succession.

When he swore at me, it was quiet in the background. He obviously was not at Starbucks. You cannot be in two different cities in the Greater Toronto Area within seconds.

When I was in Dallas, I disabled my check-ins being broadcast to Twitter. I don't know what possessed me to put it back on, but I have decided to permanently stop it.

It's quite the lesson. The good news is that I have set up these precautions and will see if it makes a difference.

Friday, February 15, 2019

Thinking alike with the same e-card

My guy and I were apart this Valentine's Day. We don't treat this day as being terribly important. We both agree that love isn't just celebrated on one particular day in the year. Rather, it's spread across it.

The funny thing this year is that we both sent the same e-card to each other. We know each other so well and have the same tastes in puns that it's not surprising.

Here is part of mine that I received from him:

I like that he called me good girl. It's rare, but I will take it!

Thursday, February 14, 2019

New percentage calculation at work

I have a love for numbers. My guy does, too. We are math nerds.

I recently had to do an online course at work. You need to pass a final exam at the end of this course to get credit for enduring it. The course is roughly eight hours in length. Doing a final exam is painful.

You need 90% to pass the test. I ended up with exactly that percentage... or so I thought.

When I got to the very end of the test, it said that I got 9 out of 10 questions answered correctly. The percentage calculated was 89.88%. What?!

I asked the person responsible for creating the course a question on how this percentage is calculated. She admitted that something was odd. I managed to contact the training support group to get credited for taking this course.

I have never seen a weird percentage calculation like what I got. I told my guy this issue and he laughed.
"It doesn't surprise me that you'd be outraged about the calculation. It's what I love about you," he reminded me.
"You're sweet. You'd react the same way," I replied.
"That's true. We love math."
We do.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Issues with the new employee continue

I haven't talked about the new employee for a bit. She is definitely the most challenging person to understand. This post explores a lot of my thoughts that I have shared with various folks for the past month.

We have a new authoring tool that most of our team has been gearing up to move to. I have said to this person that she is not ready. She doesn't have the basics down with our current authoring tool. My team consisting of this woman and two students are staying on our current tool.

She is stubborn and adamant to learn the new tool. Her reasoning, according to what she told my two students, is that there isn't a relationship between the two authoring tools. Um, that's because you don't understand the existing tool well enough to see that your transition to the new one will be difficult if you don't have a decent foundation on how things work.

Before the Christmas holidays, I had instructions for my two students to look at the training materials on the new tool. I specifically told the new employee that she wasn't ready and to focus on learning our current tool. What does she do? She watched one of the videos on the new tool.

She has raised a number of red flags in my eyes. The first one occurred during her third interview (it was my second one with her) where she said that she was a "slow learner." I brought that up to my manager, but he dismissed it. He thought that the extra time she spends after work to learn would make her catch up.

I was right. Hiring a slow learning in an IT field is bad.

She has been with the company for over two months. She cannot grasp simple things like knowing that the entire team is away on an all-employee meeting, which means that the team will not respond to her e-mails. She couldn't attend because she had a medical appointment that day and worked from home. Yet, she constantly sent out e-mails and even texted one of my students over work when she got to this offsite meeting that was not urgent. She does not take into consideration whether folks are physically able to respond to her e-mails. She is only thinking about herself.

Most of our department has to do a test that grants you access to this new tool, but for the production (live) environment. I said to this new employee that her main focus is to get up to speed with work so that she takes over one of my documentation software release duties. Her deadline is later than everyone else's to do this test. My manager made the same comment in a departmental meeting last Thursday.

What does she do? The following day, she takes this test. She hasn't gone through all the training materials or videos. She just did the test over and over again (you select either one answer or some combination) until she passed it.

I was annoyed. I told her so on Monday. The fact that she just asked for access to the test environment and was absolutely afraid to even log on was a joke. Now, she has access to a production environment where she could mess up everything with her current "knowledge" that she allegedly proved to possess on this test.

I told her she put the cart before the horse.. How meaningful are the answers that she memorized to ultimately pass this test? Not all that meaningful at this stage.

She doesn't listen. She has difficulty comprehending simple concepts. Yet, she does whatever she feels like.

She pointed out that she's not a linear learner. Yep, it shows. She is all over the map to the point where none of us truly knows what she is thinking. She has no sound judgment about much.

I had a talk with my manager on Monday night. I told him that my students and I have been drilling her with exercises and explaining concepts in multiple different ways. It is the plan that he first devised. It doesn't appear to be helping. I levelled with him and said that she wasn't a fit for this job. He nodded.

The problem is that the company is under a hiring freeze. We let her go and I am back to doing everything. I personally don't want her becoming a permanent employee at this company. She is not pulling her weight. I don't always want to be saving the day because we can't get another employee to fill the void.

On Tuesday, my manager wrote an e-mail to her and copied me. It was a snowday. He basically reinforced that she needs to work on understanding concepts and her job. All of us have noticed that she is great at memorizing, but does not understand what she is spewing out. She doesn't have critical thinking skills. She can't think for herself.

I had this chat with my guy when we were in the States. He agrees that it's probably better to get rid of her than having her pull down everyone.

The current plan is to have my students work with her on simulating a documentation release. We are assessing how she will do within the next two weeks. I have a feeling that she will be at the level that she is currently at -- slow and incompetent.

She's a nice person. She's just not suitable for this job.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Thoughts, winter storm, and cuddles

I have a lot to say. The problem is that I said a ton on Monday at work that I am too tired to write about it right now. I'll give it a try in a future post.

In the meantime, a winter storm is brewing. It starts in a few hours. When weather forecasters recommend that you work from home, you do just that. It's estimated that 15 to 20 centimetres of snow will fall. Add to this mix strong winds and freezing rain, and it makes sense to just stay at home.

On Monday night, I went to the grocery store to stock up on food. I enjoy cooking at home these days. I make the time.

My guy is still in India. He is fortunate to not endure all this wintry weather. He told me that he prefers sleeping, especially on snowy days. I like the thought of cuddling up next to him on a snowy day. I wish we had a fireplace!

Monday, February 11, 2019

Sleeping in and departing home

My guy loves to sleep. I affectionately call him my sleepyhead.

In Dallas, I left a day before he was scheduled to head back home. I let him sleep in till noon. I then gently woke him up by squeezing his arm. He took the pillow off his head.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I replied, kissing his head. "I have to go."
"What time is it?" he asked me.
"It's 12:15 pm," I replied.
I hugged him in bed. He caressed my head. It was a nice, loving moment.

Like the gentleman that he is, he helped open the hotel door for me as I got my luggage out to the hallway. Naturally, we kissed and hugged.

I love our quiet moments. They are memorable and are full of love, even when he just woke up and is in sleepyhead mode.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Bonuses have finally been reinstated

For the past three years, all employees in my department at work have not got a yearly bonus. The company went through a rough patch and decided to halt paying out bonuses for this long.

Needless to say, it doesn't help morale. I work hard. Every performance review has been positive. Yet, I don't have a bonus to show for it.

Last year, all of us did not get a standard of living increase on our base salary. Within the next seven days, three women colleagues will be leaving the company. All are talented and well-liked. Gone.

We got the news on Friday that we will be getting a bonus. That's encouraging news. I am thrilled. However, the damage has been done and many have already left the company.

I look forward to getting my bonus. Naturally, it will go to both savings and debt payoff.

This year will be a transformative one, which I am excited about. I have been working hard reducing my debt and increasing my credit score. I am seeing results, which motivate me.

It would be nice to get my bonus soon. I could do so much with it.

Saturday, February 09, 2019

Fond memories of pancakes and breakfasts

On Friday, we had a farewell lunch for a couple of folks on our software development team. They are leaving the company next week.

I have got to know them well over the years. They are wonderful people and hope that they enjoy their new positions.

We went to a diner roughly fifteen minutes from work. It felt familiar to me.

I realized that a few years ago, my guy and I stayed at a hotel close by. The following day, we headed to this eatery for breakfast. Since we had last been to this place, it has had a complete makeover.

When we ate there, I had ordered a pancake special. I remember not being able to finish eating everything because the portions were huge. The pancakes didn't taste that great.

On Friday, I ordered the French toast special. It was yummy.

It was nice being back here. I thought about my guy, cherishing all fond memories that we have had and continue making.

Friday, February 08, 2019

Unexpected money

Something unexpected happened to me the other day. I'll need to explain a bit of background.

On Wednesday, I received a notification e-mail from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), indicating that I had a new message waiting for me. I was pretty busy with work that I didn't have a chance to log on to the site and check my account.

I check my finances fairly often. I logged into my bank account after work and noticed that I had more money than usual. I looked closer and it said that I got a tax refund. That's funny. I haven't filed my tax return for 2018 yet.

I didn't know if it was a mistake with the deposit. Years ago, my back accidentally deposited $15,000 into my chequing account. I didn't touch it. A day later, the amount reversed by my bank. I wasn't sure if it was the same thing.

I finally got around to logging on to my CRA online account. My tax return for 2017 got reassessed and I ended up with a refund, including interest. Nice!

The amount pays for my recent round-trip flight to Dallas and my car rental. Yay!

Wednesday, February 06, 2019

Goodbye, Google+

When logging into Blogger a few minutes ago, I noticed a bunch of warnings about deprecating Google+ functionality. Google+ is disappearing for good. I didn't love it when I first tried it out with my blog, so there's no loss on my end.

I tried to like it. I never switched over to Google+ comments for my blog. I have always used Blogger comments because they suited my needs. I like how my replies look -- indented from visitor comments.

Google tried hard to get into the social network realm like Facebook. It tried Hangouts, which I have turned off permanently in Gmail since day one. I didn't like it, either.

It's funny, but I like Gmail. I own a Google Pixel 2XL phone. I love Google music. The company has decent products, but social networks isn't one of its strengths.

Tuesday, February 05, 2019

Bending over has a time and a place

My guy and I went grocery shopping together on my first night in Dallas. We both like shopping together. It's simply a fun outing.

We placed a bunch of our groceries and purchased items on the backseat of his rental car and headed back to the hotel. He had placed a jug of milk in a plastic bag on the floor of the car, behind him. I went over to fetch it once we had parked.
"It's okay. Let me go get it. I want you to bend over for more important things," he said to me.
"I like that," I replied.
Shopping needs to always end on such a spicy, fun note.

Monday, February 04, 2019

Updates on my eye, Valentine's Day, cooking, and my guy

I have a few updates on various things.

On Friday, I went to see my ophthalmologist. My right eye is still doing well. I had my eye injection. I still see him every fourteen weeks, which is my favourite number.

He asked me an interesting question. He asked whether I have any new year's resolutions. I'm not the type to declare them. I have goals that I feel are attainable, such as decluttering in phases.

Then, there's Valentine's Day. One of my students indicated that she was bummed out not having a boyfriend to enjoy this day. I had to tell her that the day is overrated. Love happens all year round. Valentine's Day is just a reminder to those commercializing on this day to get flowers, candy, and hit a nice restaurant. It also tends to alienate those who are single. They need to know that they are loved by friends and family.

I cooked up a storm on Sunday. I made broccoli cheddar soup for the first time in my life. The recipe called for eight tablespoons of butter. Really? That seemed like way too much butter. I put in four tablespoons and felt that it was a ton.

My guy has made it safely to India. I have a feeling that he will have a tough time adjusting to the timezone, which is normal for him. I hope to hear from him when he isn't working or sleeping.

Sunday, February 03, 2019

Travel, caffeine pills, and savings

My guy has left for India for business. Although I always miss him when we are apart, it doesn't feel as bad this time. It's likely because we spent a decent amount of time a couple of weeks ago that we are good for the time being.

He has recently stopped drinking coffee. The problem is that he isn't a morning person and needs something to wake him up.
"Let's go to to the drugstore to get me some caffeine pills for my trip," he said to me.
"Sure," I said. "I have a rewards card if we go to Walgreens," I said.
"Sounds good. Let's go there," he said.
I am the one who is the researcher. I found the local Walgreens in Dallas on my maps phone app and he drove us over there.

Sure enough, caffeine pills were on sale with the rewards card. It was several hours after I had landed and did not have a chance to pull out the physical plastic reward card from my wallet in my computer bag. Instead, I had loaded it on my Google Pay app. It scanned nicely at the store and my guy got a decent discount.
"I'm so happy. I bought one bottle and got one free with your rewards card," he said gleefully.
"I love when you're happy about saving money. You are my Cheap Bastard," I noted.
"Yes, CB is happy to have you with me in many ways," he said.
He's sweet. We both love saving money. It's helpful and feels good.

Saturday, February 02, 2019

TV remote and memories of movie-watching

One of the many fond memories from time spent with my guy the other week was watching movies in bed. Instinctually, he would head over to the microwave oven and pop popcorn for us. We both love popcorn.

He watches more movies than I do. He doesn't mind watching movies that he loves again and again. Neither do I.

At one point, he wanted me to have the TV remote. He put it on my tummy. I was propped up against a pillow and was lying at an angle. The remote slid down my tummy to my crotch.
"Hey, I'm you, sweetie," I said, picking the remote up and having it stand erect from my crotch.
"You're funny," he said.
It's a fun memory to have.