We finally bought a new answering machine yesterday. I’m a little sad in some ways…I’ve had that thing since ETBU days! It was probably at least eight years old. Lots of great messages have been left on there.
It was getting a Voice Modulation Problem. (It’s a very real condition.) 
It was doing this thing where the volume level would not stay put. Sometimes it would only allow you to hear the message in a whisper (and wouldn’t let you turn it up) and sometimes it would scream the message at you as if wild banshees had called.
Let me tell you, it has blasted me out of bed several times. So, it needed to go.
For those who have called recently, you’re in for a surprise! My entertaining message about Joe Black’s office is gone! haha!! David wants to leave the message on that boring generic one that comes with the machine. I might overthrow that decision and record one, but I’m not sure yet. That’s really a harrowing experience for me, having to play back the message to make sure it’s okay. (My East Texas accent is getting more pronounced with each passing year here. Even my grandparents have commented on it. Uh-oh!)
So, now we have 4 house phones and 2 cell phones. This is completely out of control! We both hate talking on the phone and now we’re overrun with them. I guess there’s no escape.
Have a great weekend!
Athene 
This week has been pretty quiet. We did get a chance to see two movies, which is really unusual. This was my early week at the bank, meaning that I get off at 3 or 4 every day. I like this deal!! I have to go in at 7 am, but that’s okay because I love getting off that early.
We saw both “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” and “Lady in the Water.” Girlfriend was okay, but it was one of those movies where I would have been mad if we had actually paid to see it. It was basically one long unfunny joke. I laughed at some moments, but the best parts were in the tv commercials. “Lady in the Water” was really pretty good. I wouldn’t have minded paying for that one. It wasn’t really that scary, other than stuff jumping out at you — WHICH I HATE . It was mostly a drama. I liked it for its originality. I’m really tired of sequels and remakes right now!
This week we’re getting “Ant Bully”, “John Tucker Must Die”, and “Miami Vice.” Yes, I think I can pass on all three of these. I am debating on Ant. I will wait and see how busy we are with it this weekend, and see how everyone reacts to it, and then go from there. It might be okay.
I’m finally starting to talk to my co-workers at the bank now. I’m proud of myself for this! I have no idea why it takes me so long to warm up to people, but I have found that this is usually for the best.
So far, one person told me that she likes me because I bring a sense of calm to the place. I thought that was cool!!
Another person told me that she likes me because my handwriting is actually worse than hers. YAY for me! I’m glad I can be a confidence booster, hehehe. Yes, my handwriting always wins awards for being most code-like.
Tomorrow, after work, I am planning to go visit my friend Donesa. She is one of those people who I am always thinking about, but since I am such an awful communicator, I never seem to talk to her. So, I’m glad that we’re finally going to see each other. Looking forward to it!
Always,
Athene
This has been a pretty quiet week. I’ve pretty much completed the bulk of my training and am working by myself in a teller drawer now. Things, I think, are going well! I am definitely enjoying the relaxed environment. It’s nice to be able to actually sit down during the day!
David and I just got back from Longview, where we ate the universe at Papacita’s Mexican Restaurant. This is still one of my favorite restaurants. They have great fried zucchini. Yes, I realize this is not exactly considered Mexican food, but it’s really good. They also have great quesadillas, but today I just needed zucchini.
David is supposed to work on refinishing our bathtub this week. I’m excited!! I have hated the bathtub ever since I moved in. Every time I scrub the thing, I just think about how much better it could look. Our tub sort of favors the “before” picture on the refinishing kit box, so I’m hoping we’ll also look like the “after” picture. hehehe. My grandfather said it would probably be easier just to buy a new tub and put it on top of the old one, so I hope we’re not in for some impossible project.
Have a great week! More to come…..
Athene
During my week in Longview, I realized something unfortunate! Longview Sonics do not carry sweet tea! I don’t know what is wrong with them. The East Texas area really should be overpopulated with people selling sweet tea, since it is the thing to drink around here. (Actually, this is probably true for Texas in general.)
I went to Sonic with plans to get a sweet tea to maybe keep me awake during the afternoon part of the training. (I wasn’t bored, just low on sleep.) Since they didn’t have sweet tea, I decided to try to unsweet peach tea. I had been told that it tasted fine without the sugar. WRONG! That was an experience. It tasted like peachy pond water.
Of course, Longview does have a McAllister’s deli, famous for their sweet tea. Maybe Sonic didn’t feel obligated to compete.
Training is over and it was really good. I am glad to be finished driving to Longview!
Athene
I got a note in my statement from my credit union today. They are joining a really neat new program called “AllPoint”, where you can use thousands of ATM machines absolutely surcharge free!! That’s exciting!! I think this is an idea whose time has come.
What is really impressive is that this gives the card holders access to over 32,000 ATMs for free. And, the most amazing part is that even Marshall is included! (How unusual is that!) Most of them are in gas stations or grocery stores at ATMs that are not owned by banks.
I find it interesting to see that banks are finally realizing that the more access they give customers to their money, the better off the banks are. The more access you have to the money, the more likely you are to overdraw your account! The bank makes out a lot better off of a $30+ overdraft fee than they ever would off of a measly $2 ATM fee. I predict that this program will spread like crazy.
On a side note, since I seem to be on a tea tasting tour, I finally tried McDonald’s sweet tea today. (Micky D’s Sweet Tea, to be exact.) The tea has been out for awhile, but because Marshall’s McDonald’s are owned by people in Shreveport, many of the Texas McDonald’s commercials don’t apply to us. Annoying.
The tea was somewhat mediocre. Sonic still wins overwhelmingly! That’s some of the best stuff known to man right there. Cheddar’s is a close second.
Today was my first “official” day of training with my new job! For those who may not know, I resigned from Woodforest National Bank last month. (This was very exciting! This change was very long overdue! Once I got over the initial shock of finally making that decision, I have been surprisingly happy and content.) It was hard to leave some of my co-workers, and I have missed them more than I realized I would. I also keep having small flashes of thoughts of things I needed to do, or customers I needed to followup with. That’s weird to me. But, it is definitely for the best.
I started my new job with Capital One early this month. I have really enjoyed it so far! Plus, the bank is even closer to my apartment than Woodforest was, if you can imagine that! I keep telling myself that I should walk to work! I think that would be fun. I’m in the drive through, which is just icing on the cake to me. It’s really great to actually be able to sit down during the day, unlike Woodforest where you were expected to stand through basically the entire shift…sometimes 11 hours!
At any rate, today was my first day of classroom training. (I’ve been observing other tellers up to this point.) Unfortunately, I was extremely sleepy because I got caught up playing “Cranium” with three other guys from the cinema, and we were up very late!
(Side note: Cranium is a really great game!! Blake, Steven, and James came over from the cinema and we played three games of it. I can’t think of a time that I have embarrassed myself more thoroughly. We laughed the entire time. Watching Blake trying to act out “kindergarten” to get someone to guess it was just classic. I actually lost ALL THREE GAMES. I think I should have gotten a mercy win just for making them laugh at my rendition of “Wild Thing”)
So, I was very sleepy. I think I held it together though. At one point, the guy across the table from me starting giving me a weird look, so I hope I wasn’t nodding off. I remember how hilarious that was to me when I was in class. I was usually pretty focused, but watching someone’s head bob when they had no clue about it always got me. Actually, the only thing better than that was teaching a class and watching a kid nod off. I always just had to stop and watch that one.
Time for a nap!
Well, this is new. I am pretty proud of myself for finally setting up a blog. I decided to go with Yahoo because my webpage is still here. I am definitely surprised about that! Poor webpage. But, as always, I am full of hope that one day…I will actually update it. I even have a zillion pictures ready to upload.
Anyway, the point of my new blog is that I have realized that my ability to keep up with my email is pointless beyond belief. How embarrassing is it to open my email and see that I have completely ignored all friends for months! At least a blog will be one way to let everyone know I am still alive, hehe. Then, after getting the generic stuff out of the way, maybe I can send shorter, more personal emails later. So, that’s the plan!
So today, my plan is the make cookies and clean the house. I don’t go to work until 4:30ish, so I am currently right on schedule. I have the next to last pan of cookies in the oven right now. I can’t clean until the cookies are finished, because, as we all know, cleaning fluids and cookies don’t mix that well.
The house currently smells great. Cookies are one of my favorite smells. Today I am making chocolate chip. I’m really happy to be making cookies again! This means that I’m content, and it’s been awhile since I’ve felt relaxed like that.
More to come,
Athene
