Spider Drama

So now to episode 2 of the battle of the bugs.... Last night Ruby was staying over and it was about 3:00 am and we were just about to fall asleep when all of a sudden we heard Madeha who had just gotten in a few minutes before calling out for anyone that could hear. Ruby and I got up and went out to the living room where she was like, dude, PLEASE tell me that thing in the corner over there is a roach. Yes, she wanted it to be a roach. Because if that was a spider... [shudder]... that would mean it was a huuuuuuuge spider. So I rub the sleep out of my eyes and focus.... sure enough.... it WAS a HUUUUUUUUGE black semi-furry spider! We were all like omg, WHAT do we do. Madeha had the bright idea of chasing it out the door. Now... a) our door doesn't stay open, it swings shut so someone would have to be close enough to the door to hold it open... b) those things move so fast, there was no telling if by aggrivating its current position in the direction of the door, it would actually go that way. I said, we must kill it where it is. Oh and by this time we were both each standing on a chair about a broom and a half's length from the spider. A broom and a half b/c we couldn't quite reach the spider with the broom that Madeha was holding. Since it was in a corner, she said if she she tried to smush it there, it might not die and come running up the broom handle. (I understand greatly this fear... see blog on Debugging). So then she said i'm going to throw this piece of cloth at it. And i was like.... noooo it will come running! She threw it anyway and it pretty much sheilded the spider in the corner. Great. So then she proceeds to bang on the wall with the broom to create some sort of vibration to make the spider move. Now i'm like great, the cop that lives across from us is going to think that the girls across from him are getting mangled. Nothing was working so she moved the cloth with the broom, and sure enough now the spider started moving, and it started moving fast. Ruby is standing on the couch in the living room with just her head poking around the wall to see what we were doing. Madeha and I are screaming bloody murder as she attempts to smack the spider with the broom. I think she got it on 2nd smack! Now she is holding the broom on top of the spider... and we have no idea if it is dead, injured at LEAST, or still perfectly fine in between the bristles. So madeha says, RUBY COME OPEN THE DOOR!! And she's like no way in hell!!! Slowly she lifts the broom... and viola! The spider looks slightly crumpled. Ruby says, be careful! It could be pretending!! This is true... so we stood there on top of our chairs, and examined the spider. Ahhhh... it was definitely dead. We left the spider dead on the floor, and concluded episode 2 of the battle of the bugs!

Bathroom Reading

This actually is a conversation from work from June 7, 2005 and as i was sorting through old mail, i found it and was still cracking up, so i had to add this to my blog. Das is a contractor from India that manages offshore contracters. He sits in the next row:

[13:55] Soumyabrata Das: u still there?
[13:55] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah
[13:55] Soumyabrata Das: in package 68
[13:55] Soumyabrata Das: i have the jcl
[13:56] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: for..?
[13:56] Soumyabrata Das: the sst batch cycle
[13:56] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: oh
[13:57] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: package 68 is the fileset on the mainframe?
[13:57] Soumyabrata Das: yeah
[13:58] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: i put that on Dsname Level?
[14:11] Soumyabrata Das: wht is ur # ?
[14:12] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: 704.683.----
[14:18] Soumyabrata Das: that is ur # ?
[14:18] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah
[14:18] Soumyabrata Das: thats an onsite # ?
[14:18] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah
[14:18] Soumyabrata Das: you are onsite ?
[14:19] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: onsite..?
[14:19] Soumyabrata Das: without my knowledge :-))
[14:19] Soumyabrata Das: aare yaar!! i'm asking for your desk # /
[14:19] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: ohhhh
[14:19] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: hahhaha
[14:19] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: cube 84
[14:21] Soumyabrata Das: dont u have a phone
[14:21] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah
[14:21] Soumyabrata Das: nearby ur desk
[14:21] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah
[14:22] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: are you talking about my work phone or my cell phone
[14:22] Soumyabrata Das: can u pls share that # with me ?
[14:22] Soumyabrata Das: if i ask for ur cell won't u give it to me ?
[14:23] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: yeah you can have it, is that what you wanted?
[14:23] Soumyabrata Das: yeeah
[14:23] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: 919.264.----
[14:23] Soumyabrata Das: some # where i can call u now
[14:23] Soumyabrata Das: grt
[14:23] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: you are calling me now?
[14:23] Soumyabrata Das: yes
[14:23] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: you can call my work number
[14:24] Soumyabrata Das: not connecting
[14:24] Soumyabrata Das: give any # where i can call
[14:24] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: 704.683.----
[14:24] Betsy Thekkekandam/USA/BAC: or you can call cell if you want
[14:25] Soumyabrata Das: better u call me
[14:25] Soumyabrata Das: 704 683 ----


Ok so I called him and said 'hey', and he’s like 'umm who’s this…' and I said 'its betsy, didn’t you just tell me to call?' And he said 'no! I was talking to someone offshore...' (i.e. in India) and I was like 'ummm…' and he goes, 'I think my sametime (instant messanging application) is screwed up…'

So I go to his cube and this entire conversation on his screen was to some GDC contractor chick in India except it was all routing to me!!! I was so confused and so was he! I was like why is he asking if I’m onsite and if i have a phone…..??? duh I sit right next to you practically. And he was like why does she not know how to run a batch cycle and why is she giving me U.S. numbers…. And for each number that he tried to call, he dialed it with the 001 prefix to get to India!

HILARIOUS.

Ruminating on Relationships

There are some things that I just never really understood when it comes to relationships and dating... here is a short list.

1) playing hard to get.

If I have to be aloof for you to be interested in me, then really, what is it that you like... me or the 'game'? People love the competition these days so if you have to play hard to get for someone to like you, then its time to question what exactly it is that they like. You are the same person if you just keep it real and do what you want, so why should that change anything?

1b) playing games period.

Who has time for games? It is both mind jerking and exhausting. If you want to call me, please, call me. You don't have to wait 3 days 7 hours and 42 minutes to call me or else be viewed as a crazy stalker. oh and... I love this one... you ARE allowed to call twice in a row... or even 3 or 4 times. As long as I always pick up or return your phone call promptly (key word), you have no worries. (if neither of these are true, THEN maybe you want to stop calling).

2) who has the upper hand??

why the heck is there even an upper/lower hand? if there is... or better yet if you even think about it and who has it, maybe its time to rethink your relationship. Why would you want to be with someone who thought they had you 'wrapped around their finger' or if you think you have the upper hand and your significant other would do anything to keep you, then do you REALLY care about this person? When you are with someone, you are part of a team... you should trust each other... hold EACH OTHER in the highest regard. It really shouldn't be a one way street here... you should feel PROUD to have the other person by your side.

3) live together to ensure the 'little' things don't annoy you.

I've heard this one a WHOLE lot. The thing with this one that I really don't understand is if you truly love somebody... then those little things won't annoy you! who cares how they squeeze the toothpaste or put the toilet paper on the roll? If that is enough to make you stop liking someone, then you never loved them to begin with.

All in all, when you are with someone, that person should be your #1 confidant. If there is something you can't tell that person, then something is off balance in the relationship. It really is like a team, and if you can't trust the other person to always put your best interests first, then what kind of relationship is that? Some of the most important factors to building this type of relationship are honesty... communication (which automatically leads to trust, another vital factor)... selflessness (doing something for the other person should never feel like a task)... loyalty (you should always be able to count on the other person, be it for help, support, having your back, etc) These are the things that really make a relationship solid... and the things that people most often have to work on I think are the communication and honesty. Just those 2 things alone will help bring everything else in on its own. Give it a try!