Diary of an extremely bored continuing education student

(Please note that this journal entry was handwritten on paper at 9 am this morning from an office building in downtown Dallas where this author was trapped all day in a frigid conference room.)

One thing I will never quite understand is what the purpose is of doing what I am doing today. I currently hold a casualty license with the State of Texas Department of Insurance. That license permits me to adjust and pay claims on any property and casualty insurance policy in the state, which includes property, automobile and liability. But every two years, I have to renew my license, and to do that, of course, means that I am to pay the fee, but also that I have to take thirty hours of continuing education courses.

Hence, the reason why I, a property insurance fire adjuster, am sitting here listening to boring stuffy attorneys lecturing on health care liability issues, playing Six Degrees with P (I'll explain that game in a second) since he was also bored out of his mind and scribbling my blog entry. So, here I sit. This is a huge, rotunda-like room that is set up like an amphitheater. The speakers are down at the bottom annd the tables are set up in round semi-circle fashion, and there's a huge screen for Power Point presentations behind where the speakers are sitting. I'm looking around at everyone else sitting in this room and they all look as bored as me. I actually do know a few people here since I used to work for the same company as P. S, P's boss is here, along with her friend D, also a former boss of P's. There is another adjuster here, R, that P works with that used to be my investigator, and this guy B is here that I talked to a few years ago about transferring to his liability unit. It's funny how things don't or do work out.

I thought that I would write much more than that, but the little game of Six Degrees that P and I had going really heated up. We got the idea several years ago from that game on the internet called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon...click on that link for the basics. We just took it one step further...basically we give each other two actors/actresses in Hollywood, and the other has to come up with the movies/actors that link the two together. The mission is to get as few links as possible, and add them up as you go. Whoever has the fewest points at the end of the game, wins. P smoked me, 81-95. But it was a fun game and it made the time pass today VERY quickly. I can't even imagine how slow my day would have been today if P hadn't been there. I really wanted to bring my laptop with me, but I figured that would have made it a little TOO obvious that I wasn't interested in the seminar. But it's over now, and I walked away with a certificate for six more hours of CE credit. I now have only eleven hours to go until I have enough hours to keep my license for another two years. They did feed us today and provided drinks, but I feel like a cow from the food. P told me that they served turkey sandwiches last year, which would have been fine, but oh, no...they had a choice of roast beef wraps or tuna/chicken salad on white bread, chips, vegetables, grapes, and of course, a dessert. Blah. I did the best that I could, but hey, I was starving! Anyway, no chance we're missing the gym tonight after that little sinfest. As soon as P is done mowing the lawn tonight, we're going. No ifs, and, or buts. Then to Chili's to pick up some salads, and straight back here for stitching, laundry and nails. What an exciting life I lead.

"Remember, fish are friends, not food!"

Recognize that quote? Yes, I had never seen Finding Nemo until last night, and I must say, what an utterly delightful movie! I have been wanting to see it for a long time. I don't say this very often about movies, but I definitely want to buy that one on DVD. I just thought it was fantastic. If you haven't seen it, see it...you will not be disappointed. It is highly entertaining. The only blemish about it was Ellen Degeneres, who I consider to be one of the most irritating human beings on the planet. I thought the best parts about it were the totally rad sea turtles, the sharks in rehab (hence the above quote), the aquarium fish, and of course, Nemo. Very Simba-like in character.

Meme-time...must wrap this up fast! I hear the lawnmower has been turned off!

The Friday Feast!

Appetizer What movie soundtracks do you own? Oh, gosh, a TON. Braveheart, Footloose, The Bodyguard, Titanic, 50 First Dates (that's the most recent one I bought), Last of the Mohicans, The Three Musketeers, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Now and Then, Pretty Woman, Private Parts, Don Juan de Marco, Batman Forever...I think that about covers it, but I'm sure there may be a few more.
Soup How much cash do you usually carry with you? No more than $20, tops.
Salad Are you more comfortable around men or women? Why? I'm equally comfortable around either, but I think if I had to pick, I'd say I'm a little more comfortable around men. Sometimes I feel like women are looking at me in a competitive way, but I never know for sure. Men are a little more basic...and I mean that in a totally good way.
Main Course What is the most mischievous thing you remember doing as a child? I was SUCH a boring kid. I never did anything bad. I think I ate a dog biscuit once when I was about seven, and when I was in high school, I went with a group of friends to toilet paper another's house. That's about it. No hell raising of any kind.
Dessert Who is the funniest member of your family? He's not really so funny anymore, now that he's had a lot of marital problems, but my uncle M used to be the FUNNIEST person I knew. When my sister and I were kids, he used to do these impressions of the Count (from Sesame Street) that just had us rolling. I have this picture of him with carrots stuck up his nose so he looked like a walrus. Hysterical. And the worst joke he ever played on me was to put this really realistic huge tarantula in a paper bag and hand it to me on Halloween. I thought I was having a heart attack. It scared me really badly! But I laughed like crazy after I realized it was a rubber spider.

The Friday Five! Perfect timing after the desserts I had today...

1. What is the best dessert you've ever had? While I sure do like those Rocky Road bars that I make, I'd have to say that the best dessert I've ever had is creme brulee. Julia Roberts said it best..."It's irritatingly perfect!"
2. Is there a dessert that just plain grosses you out? I wouldn't go so far as to say it grosses me out, but I don't quite understand the point of rhubarb pie. It just seems strange to me.
3. Straight out of the container or with lots of toppings .... tell us how you like your ice cream. With toppings, preferably mashed in to the ice cream like you get at Marble Slab or Cold Stone. Which is why the Ben and Jerry varieties are so perfect...they've got the stuff blended into the ice cream.
4. Cookie dough, brownie mix, cake batter or the finished products? Cookie dough. YUMMMM. I've got some horrendous stories about a bin of chocolate fudge peanut butter cookie dough...let's just say that was part of my demise and how I fell off the edge of the cliff I was walking when I was following my competition diet.
5. You've just invented a great new dessert .... what's in it and what is it called? Heath Mountain...the richest, most delicious coffee ice cream with Heath Bar bits mashed into it shaped into a mound like a volcano with Heath Magic Shell frozen all over it. I don't know if they make Heath Magic Shell, but this one would be a thick Magic Shell...at least a quarter inch thick.

I think that's all the memes for today...oh, by the way, I got a comment asking what a meme was. A meme is an idea that is shared and passed from blog to blog...or, in more simpler terms, the daily questions that you always see me writing in my blog and responding to. Hope that helps.

P's in, and ready to go to the gym. Chest and tris tonight. Fun. Happy Friday to all!