I’m just a dumb blonde-oh wait, no I’m not!

Whew, I’m exhausted. But kind of proud of myself too. You see, on a whim I applied to a job a few weeks ago not really thinking I had a chance of getting it. I knew of this company (yes, they are legit) and they always wanted college educated employees, which I’m not. I knew they had stringent testing just to get hired and lets just say, it’s been quite a few years since I took a test (mammograms don’t count!).

My first shock was that they were interested in me even without a college degree. They wanted somewhat internet tech savvy people for this job and that’s more important than a college degree. A year ago, I would have not called myself tech savvy. I was lucky to be able to get my email and my orders from my ecommerce site. But after building a dozen sites for myself and others, I guess I am now!

So I take the entrance exam. A 2 HOUR entrance exam. A 2 hour entrance exam in which my mother repeatadly calls me to ask me things such as can I pick up some milk for her and am I still coming over the next day. MOM! I know she wasn’t intentionally trying to sabatoge me, it’s just at 81, she has trouble remembering things like not bugging her daughter during certain hours so she can take an entrance exam in peace. Despite my mother, I still passed the entrance exam. It was really difficult and I just had o go with my gut on some of the questions so I was surprised I passed.

Next, they give me a large study guide I have to read through to explain just how to do this job. Now here is where it’s deinitely more of an advantage to train in an office where you can ask questions. So many things seemed contracdictory or needed clarification but there was really no one to ask.

It takes me several days to go through the material but I finally wade through it. I still don’t know at this point if I understand it but I feel like it’s not going to get any easier so I bite the bullet and take the first part of the test. If I pass this part, then there is an 8 hour test afterwards. I told you they like tests!

So tonight I take the first part of the test . I hit the submit button and go to my email where I will find out instantly if I pass or not. I passed!!!  So now I’m taking a break before I tackle the long 8 hour portion of the test. Fortunately I don’t have to do it all in one sitting. Send me some positive energy and prayers that I pass this one!

I started thinking, why am I so shocked that I passed these tests?  I know in my head I’m not stupid. For any "outside" job I have had, I always learned it fairly easily, usually quicker than the other trainees and was often given more advanced tasks. I did well in the college classes I did take. And although I seemed clueless in grade school and didn’t do well (it was the 60’s & 70’s when they used us as guinea pigs and tried the "new math" and "new English" on us, only to change it back when the kids were totally confused); I did do well in high school.

So why do I still feel so stupid most of the time? I’m not sure. It may be because I have always had to work for those grades. It just came naturally to my sister. I never saw her struggle over a text book or have to work for any grade, yet she always made the honor roll.  I also remember when I was having trouble in grade school that my mother who was a teacher, insisted I get my IQ tested. She was worried that my poor grades indicated that my intelligence was sub par. When it turned out to be above normal, then she thought I was lazy for getting poor grades. I  was neither.

If you are still here after this long essay, God bless you. I guess it just boils down to that I know in my head that I’m smart. I just don’t know it in my heart. How do I get it to where I know it in my heart?

Am I the only one who has this hang up?

Biz Tip: Use Feed Agg to submit the RSS feed of your site to it. It willdefinitely give you an edge in your search engine rankings. If you don’t know how to find your RSS feed, click this symbol on your site and look at the address that comes up in your browser. That’s your RSS feed. Copy & paste it into FeedAgg.com and should notice your site going up in the search engine results for your keywords within a few days (I did!).

Today’s Quote: "I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure-which is try to please everybody." Herbert Bayard Swope

Old Fashioned Slang-Gone but not forgotten

Old Fashioned Slang-Gone but not forgotten

I was talking to my kids the other day and said something about how I didn’t want to be an "old fuddy duddy. They laughed at me. What? Why is that funny? Well, apparently by saying that phrase, I was showing I was an old fuddy duddy. It’s an old slang phrase that hasn’t seen the light of day in decades.

That got me thinking about slang. I have always had a fascination for language. Our English of today is very different and almost unrecognizable from the English of a 1000 years ago. Why is that? And where do our slang words and phrases come from? How does one person come up with a new word and soon, a nation is using it? And then why do we stop using a phrase or word? I find all this totally fascinating. I also have a fascination with accents. Of course I don’t have an accent but I love listening to other accents.

I started to think about the slang words that I knew of that are no longer popular. Of course there is groovy which was popular in the early 70’s. Some others I remember are cats pajamas, jeepers, daddyo, sock it to me, far out, gee whitakers, groady. and outta sight.

I asked on twitter and got these: wicked, Groovy baby! Right on! Keep on keepin’ on, cool beans,  cool dude/dudette, Far out!, Can you dig it?, that’s a hoot, Gee wiz, dreamy, Jimmy Hill when someone was fibbing, groovy,  and bees knees.

Are any of these bringing back memories? We have all been an imaginative bunch over the years haven’t we? So do yall have any to add to the list???

I Can’t Help It, I LOVE Sci-Fi

Ok, I know it’s not normal for a middle aged mom and dog nut to love Science Fiction but I can’t help it, I do. I grew up watching Star Trek (the original series),  Lost in Space, and re-runs of The Twilight Zone.

I always wondered what the attraction of Science Fiction is to so many of us, and have come to the conclusion that it’s the possibility.

Science Fiction shows us what is possible, what the future may be and what seems impossible, is really possible. Think about it. If you watch the old Sci-Fi movies of the 50’s and even the Star Trek series of the 60’s, you can see that many of the things they only imagined are now part of our reality,

I’m so psyched that all these Sci-Fi movies are coming out in the next few weeks. First we have the new Star Trek movie . It came out yesterday but I’ll wait a few days for the crowds to die down before I attempt to go see it. I heard on twitter that it was a great movie. That it appealed to broad audiences without offending us Trekkies. I’m still amazed at how much the kid they got to play Spock looks like a young Leonard Nimoy.

Next there is Angels and Demons which may offend those who are Catholic (remember this is just make believe). It comes out on May 15th.

Finally, there is Terminator Salvation due out on May 21st. I absolutely love the 9 Inch Nails song they chose for the theme song. It’s called "The Day the Whole World Went Away" & you can hear it here although I think the version they sing in the movie is better.

Are there any other Sci-Fi movies I haven’t come across yet coming out this summer that yall know about? Let me know if there is. So far it looks like May is definitely Sci-Fi movie month! And I am one happy, middle aged, dog nut mom!

 Today’s Quote: Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough, You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it. Sir James M. Barrie

Today’s Life Tip: For a quick carpet cleaner, first blot the stain. Then dab a bit of shaving cream on the spot, rub in and wipe off with a damp cloth. Let it dry & vacuum & it should be good as new.

Which is Better: Buying Quality or Cheapest?

Buy Quality or the Cheapest?

The past few weeks, I have been one frustrated Momma! My top of the line Maytag dryer AND Maytag dishwasher have both broken. They were both only about 3 years old. The dryer had to have the drum replaced (over $100 just for the part) and it seems ok now. The dishwasher however seems like a lost cause.

My parents grew up during the depression era and were always frugal. One thing they did do was buy nice appliances. The vacuum was always an Electrolux that would last well over 20 years. The appliances were Maytag or Kenmore. My dad always said you might pay more for the appliance but it would save you money in the long run, because it would work better, be more reliable and last much longer.

For many years, I didn’t really listen to him. To be honest, I usually just didn’t have the money to buy the nicer appliances. I used to always buy the cheapest model available. And it would only last me 2-3 years before breaking down. The vacuums didn’t even last that  long. They were lucky to make it a year. With multiple kids and dogs, I think it was just too much for any cheap vacuum to handle.

About six  years ago, when I finaly went through my 2nd vacuum cleaner in one year, I used my tax return money and bought a Dyson. I cringed at the $500 price tag but I figured if it was as good as they claimed, it would be worth it. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was all it was cracked up to be. It still works great and has been worth the money.

Since I has such good luck with the Dyson, I decided to buy other quality appliances when  I needed to replace an old appliance. So I bought a top of the line Maytag dishwasher and dryer. And they didn’t last any longer than the cheaper models I always bought in the past!

So now, I’m wondering. Is it worth it to buy quality appliances or should we just go with the cheapest? I have mixed feelings about it. What do you think?

Today’s Quote: “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other.” —Douglas Everett

Today’s Life Tip: To help your disposable razors last up to 10 times longer, first rinse it thoroughly to get rid of all the hair stubbles. Then dry it for a few seconds with the heat from your blow dryer. Do not store it in the shower.