burnt toast

i went to a toastmasters meeting last night. i want to gain experience "schmoozing" so i can become a better networker (it's all a part of "the plan"), so i figured, what the hell. it was...ok. this particular club is full of business folk - mainly project managers and self-employed professionals - which is great, but this is not the crowd i want to spend my free time with after a long day at work. the presentations were based on the members' issues at their jobs, and one guy works for a semiconductor company, so ugh! like i want to go back to that life! the so-called 'table topics' focused on absolutely negative subjects like gas prices, the credit crisis, and...the superbowl? i was assigned to be the "um counter" or something like that, so each time a speaker said 'uh/um/ah/you know/so/and/well/but" (you get it) i had to add to their tally. at the end of the meeting, they asked me to go down the list and literally call everyone out with their "um counts." i felt awful! and then, in front of everyone, they asked what i thought of the meeting. bad mistake. i spoke my mind, which always offends someone. all i said was, "it's more structured than i expected," and people totally flipped out! heads turned around, they approached me after the meeting to find out more about "what i meant." sorry. you asked.

the gist of it is, this club is not what i am looking for. everyone was really nice, but it's not a fit for me. i am going to gain my schmooze skills by simply attending more networking functions, beginning this friday at a 'wine, women and wealth' seminar. sounds good to me!

and on another note, i finally take my LEED AP exam on tuesday. yeah, THIS tuesday. passing this test is also part of "the plan."

ok, back to data entry (from home...i couldn't face the office today or i would have caused damage to my cubicle). yes, today i get to spend my entire day entering data into an excel spreadsheet. and yes, i went to grad school for this gig. and yes, i am supposed to say i am grateful for this job because everyone else is being laid off and i can still pay my bills which allows me to live in an apartment that gives me allergies. i wonder if it's the carpet or the cats that pee on my front door? they touch the mini and they die.