Today, I was immersed in work, as I usually am, even more so lately than anything. Looked like just an ordinary day. And I notice one of the managers hovering around Orlando’s desk, and Orlando is moving things around. At this point, I’m a little confused, because neither of them is talking, maybe just a short word here and there. I try not to stare, and I keep on working.

But I had experienced this a couple times before, seeing the manager standing stoically by a coworker’s desk as they packed their things into a box. But when these things happened, I knew what was going on. You can tell when someone is gonna get the can around here. I had NO idea what Orlando did, or if I even was sure that he was fired. And then he gets escorted out.

I shoot off an email to Sam, saying ‘WTF? Am I missing something?’, but he’s busy working on a project. After a couple minutes though, he turns to me (he’s in the cube next to me) with this really confused look on his face. ‘Did Earl just get fired?’ he whispers to me. I give him the ‘I have no fucking clue!’ look.

And then the news starts to spread. Orlando was laid off. As was my previous manager, Wayne (not the new one, the one I had before). I’m really confused. We’re all really confused. Because the group Orlando was in was barely treading water as it was, to lose Orlando would make it REALLY hard on the rest of the team.

So we’re called into a meeting. And our VP says that our company hasn’t been making money, and we had to cut some people, and he named people who were let go today. Four people. I work for a small company. That’s about 12% of our company right there. He said that we’re in tough times, and they regret having to let people go, yada yada yada. It’s all understandable. The sales haven’t been coming in.

But I don’t have to like it.

And I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Didn’t even get to have one last hug in. One last punch in the arm. One last slap in the belly. I’ve seriously been on the brink of tears. These guys are like my brothers. We’ve got a team back here. Every person makes a difference. I’m flooded with a million memories of my dear Earl (which is our nickname for him.) He always went above and beyond. If I would say I was hungry, he’d make a run to McDonalds. If I needed someone to call a client for me when I was away, he called. If I forgot software at work before going off site, he’d drop it off at my house. He’s driven my drunk ass home many times. Earl’s pharmacy had always taken care of me whenever I was sick or needed a pick me up. His mama made the best Puerto Rican rice and steak ever. He’s our Tech Sup-puertorican. We’re all pretty bummed. And a little scared for our job security, even though it was mentioned that we shouldn’t worry.

Not only are Earl and Wayne gone, but so is Jason. And he’s been here longer than me! Who’s gonna roll his eyes at me when I find out I have a virus on my computer? And Abie, who was an awesome admistrative assistant, upcoming artist, pool player, pole dancer and all round cool cat.

So sad, so sad.

Man. This sucks.

Jason, Wayne, Abie, and my beloved Earl, I will miss you.

Tags: Daily by Yano
8 Comments »

And now, let’s have a moment of silence for George, the bunny next door who passed away last friday. Condolences to Melanie, his mama. Luscious will miss the friend he never met, and Ewok will miss the bunny he never chased. He was a good little floppy ear, may you hop around with Milo in bunny heaven!

Tags: Quickies by Yano
2 Comments »

I’ve been putting off washing my car for weeks. So I washed it on Sunday.

Lo and Behold, it rains.

You know, the one thing I don’t like about Hondas is that the intermittent wiper doesn’t have a timing control. You know, where you can choose from several different intervals to have your wipers wipe when you have it on the intermittent speed? Am I making any sense here?

Tags: Daily by Yano
2 Comments »

So I’m on the bus, spacing out into my own world, and I look a couple seats in front of me. I see the back of someone’s head. ‘Dude, that guy has a pretty neat doo-rag on. Haven’t seen one tied like that before’ So I’m kinda admiring the bandana-type head covering on this person’s head, but something just doesn’t look right. Then this person turns around.

DOH! It’s a nun.

My bad!

Tags: Stories by Yano
8 Comments »

A couple days ago, a young girl sang the National Anthem for Portland’s Game 3. Near the end of the song, she forgot the words, and stood there alone, close to tears. Maurice Cheeks, the coach for the Trailblazers, walked up to her and helped her finish the song. He then persuaded the rest of the stadium to sing along. He wasn’t the best singer, that was obvious, but it took some quick thinking, and a really big heart to go out there and help her out. Things like that just kinda make you’re heart smile a little more.

“Perhaps the only positive in the community has been the classy Cheeks, who finally brought some pride to the franchise before Friday’s Game 3 when he stepped in to sing and help young Natalie Gilbert, who forgot the words singing the national anthem. The crowd joined in for a rare Blazer moment of pride.”

Tags: Cool Link by Yano
1 Comment »

Looked at Noelle’s blog the other day, and it was an ‘Apolo’ anniversary for her. Yesterday was sort of an Apolo anniversary for me, too - the first time I ‘met’ him. I went back in my archives and found this, which, after reading it and reflecting on where I am now, is pretty hilarious:

http://www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/000326.html#000326

For pics, go here:
http://www.yanowhatimean.com/pics/st/apolo/aao_oakbrook.htm

I can’t believe that I couldn’t even say two words to the guy. Last month, I was in Bay City touching his arm and interviewing him about what his plans were for the Worlds, with hardly even a stutter. I guess I was basically in shock the first time I met Apolo, and it didn’t help me that he was shy, too. Way different from the first time I met Rusty (at the Worlds in Milwaukee), where we talked like it wasn’t the first time we met each other. But even with the two different personalities, they’re two great guys. And I’m definitely looking forward to the next time I meet Apolo again.

Oh, memories!!!

Tags: Short Track by Yano
5 Comments »

Well, the weekend is over, and even though my fingers are VERY out of shape, I survived without the internet. And Dave survived without sportstalk radio. Though he kinda cheated when he used my phone to check on sports scores.

Anyway, the retreat was ok. I don’t think I can talk much about it, so any of you people out there that might go through it will experience what I experienced. At times, I was bored out of my mind, other times, I found out a lot about me, Dave, and our relationship together that I didn’t know before. All in all, it was a good weekend. Some of the sucky things were - staying in dorm room style quarters, where the beds weren’t big enough to be called twins, waking up at 7am on a Saturday morning, taking a shower, and feeling the burst of frigid water after someone flushed the toilet, having access to junk food ALL the time (i gained 2 lbs) and feeling like I was in school all over again, and falling asleep during the presentations.

But it was good for me and Dave. It was a good time for us to step back from all the wedding planning and come back to US. Dave and Christine. And the reasons that we got together, and the reasons we’ve stayed together, and what we’re envisioning our future to be. We also got to talk about our families, our values, and, of course, since this was a Catholic retreat, how we would lead our married lives as good Catholics.

During the weekend, we both realized that we had totally forgotten about our 6 year anniversary. Luckily, I was the one that brought it up, and he had thought that it was sometimes in May. I thought it was April 26th. After a heated discussion, we both realized it was April 24th, and that we had both completely missed it. We got a good laugh out of it, since this would be our last ‘Day we started dating’ anniversary, and we’ll be switching over to the ‘Wedding Anniversary’.

As much as I giggle, and drool, and joke around about other various people on this blog, Dave’s my man. He’s the best of them all. He knows me like not many people know me, and he loves me anyway - for all my messiness, forgetfulness, my internet obsessions, the short track activities, he understands that this is my life. He’s one of the greatest people I know. He has everything a girl could want, and I remember long ago, thinking that he was too good of a guy to NOT have a girlfriend, so I tried setting him up with a bunch of different people. Little did I know that I was the one for him. I’m the luckiest girl in the world. And he’s a pretty lucky bloke, too!

Really looking forward to the wedding.

Just so you know right now, I’ll be bawling like a baby the whole time! Who’s bringing the tissue?

Here’s some pics from when we were lounging outside. There was an airport next door to retreat center (about 30 miles outside of Chicago) so there were a lot of planes flying overhead.

Tags: Daily by Yano
5 Comments »

This weekend, me and Dave are going on our Engagement Encounter retreat a.k.a. ‘No Internet for the Weekend’. I don’t know how I’ll last. I’m scared! My fingers will be typing phantom keys. How am I going to update my blog?

Anyway, the Engagement Encounter is requirement that we have to go through to get married in Dave’s church. It’s kinda like the pre-Canaa that some other couples go through. We spend a weekend watching presentations, discussing our upcoming lives together, and meeting new people. Being both naturally shy people, me and Dave are dreading the group discussions. The location is at a retreat house about an hour and a half from where I live, which is in the middle of nowhere. Retreats always make me feel weird. But it’ll be fun to talk about my upcoming life with Dave, we still need to come to a decision about those tents. *wink*

*sigh*

No internet for the weekend! Farewell! I’ll miss you all!

Tags: Daily by Yano
11 Comments »

I love art. I love downloading art from the web and pretending like I’m cultured. So, I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you, whenever the fancy hits me. *bam* I just got hit with a fancy. Here’s a piece of work done by Jack Vettriano, entitled ‘Dance Me to the End of Love’. I love paintings of dancers, and this one just looks so elegant, you can almost hear the music playing in the background.

Tags: Pictures by Yano
4 Comments »

Here’s the Friday Five

1. What was the last TV show you watched?
The WGN Morning News. They’re the best! If we’re not counting the news, then it was Conan O’Brien last night. He’s sexy.

2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem?
Hmm…I’m at work. Can I say more than one? Just had a convo where I listed a whole bunch of complaints. I think I complained about it being Friday and how I don’t want to be at work today.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
Last person I gave a compliment to? I think it was Dan. He’s all dressed up today for a meeting. I think my exact words were, “Wow, you clean up real good. But couldn’t you have at least shaved?”

4. What was the last thing you threw away?
An empty packet of hot cocoa.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
rustysmith.com - it’s been kinda slow in the forums. Been trying to liven it up a bit.

Tags: Weeklies by Yano
Comments Off