HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!!!!

John Towell, my personal hero

If nothing else, this tragedy has demonstrated one of the many reasons I married my husband, John Towell.

John was working at Newark airport when it all happened and watched the whole thing in person. He called me after one of the towers had collapsed and I could hear all the chaos in the background. He then told me to leave work immediately and that we were being attacked - it just didn't make sense, I didn't know what the hell was going on but I ended up leaving work before noon since everyone here at work was gathered up on the 3rd floor watching it all unfold on a TV they had setup anyway. I have been so sick about this, I cry everytime I see a flag or hear the song "God Bless America" - which has been constant. John has been donating everything like crazy - he's really been involved as much as he can be. Thursday he took two trips up to New York/Jersey City to donate truckloads of stuff he bought such as 300 flashlights and batteries, cases of gatorade, hardhats (white ones with the American flag on the front), facemasks, socks that the neighbor bought - and some other items. He then went up Friday night at around 8pm and worked at ground zero till 5am directing the cranes that were lifting the steel. I know he witnessed a lot of gruesome stuff that night but he says he seems to be handling it well. He truly has a heart of gold and I love him for it. My father brought over a bunch of heavy duty face masks last night - the ones that look like gas masks with the filters on them - for John to drop off today. They are no longer accepting outside volunteers in New York, but if I know my husband, he will continue to donate all that he can for as long as he can. I am truly very lucky to have him.

Love you Johnny Boy!

I'm not sure what else there is to say about the World Trade Center tragedy. I am personally spent on it - mentally drained, not sleeping well, and just can't wait for the lump in my throat to disappear. I can't pass an American flag without tearing up - and that is quite often considering they're everywhere. Although I was born in New York, I moved to New Jersey when I was five, but my whole family is still there and just talking to them and hearing the hurt in their voices can make anyone break down. I had a friend who worked for Morgan Stanley on the 68th floor and thank God, he made it out alive. We all want to donate blood but the lines are extremely long and people are being turned away so we're waiting for the opportunity later on in the week. It just doesn't seem real - like some sort of movie - but the looks on people's faces all around you is a constant reminder that it is indeed very real. People are like zombies around here - it's just so sad. I don't know what else to say about it.

God Bless all of those involoved or affected by this horrible tragedy.

uh - I guess that worked. Hooray!

OK - no more posting until this mysterious 'publishing' problem is fixed. Such craziness!

NAKED BOYS, NAKED BOYS!

So last Sunday, me, Kate, Eva (my uncle's wife who's younger than me), and our friend Anna all went to see Naked Boys Singing in New York. We started out by having brunch at The Garage which was pretty good - they had a live jazz band which was pretty good - plus it was right across the street from the playhouse so that was a bonus. We had some time to kill so we walked up and down the infamous Christopher street and browsed through some of the stores, ogling the perverted little trinkets and gay paraphernalia. I even bought my husband a t-shirt that cleverly read "Nobody knows I'm a Lesbian". We then stopped at Jekyll and Hyde for an overpriced drink, and then finally it was showtime!

Now ladies, despite the very obvious warning from title of the show - you are still not prepared for what you are about to see. They waste no time at all showing you what they're all about - leaving no room for any type of inhibitions or prudishness. I can't begin to explain the initial sense of embarrassment you feel when the curtain opens and there on stage appears 10 completely naked grown men - frolicking about and swinging freely in the breeze. The four of our faces turned bright red and we giggled like little girls. But then you get over it and enjoy the show for all the naked humor it's meant to be. The opening act was somewhat of a Mel Brooks Vegas-type act with a song appropriately called "Gratuitous Nudity." Some of the other acts included: The Naked Maid, Bliss of a Bris, Fight the Urge, Jack's Song (aka - I Beat My Meat), Perky Little Porn Star, Nothin' But the Radio On, and several others - all equally entertaining. Definitely a fun girls' night out. The actor's had no problem flaunting their manhood to those in the front row - especially since the audience was predominantly gay men. We were thankful enough to be in the fourth row - which was close enough! But again, we were women so they would have no interest in us anyway - and you'd have to be pretty damn naive to think otherwise!

And finally, some humorous quotes from us girls throughout the show:

(before the opening act) "Are they naked naked??

"I never knew they came in so many shapes and sizes!"

"Wow! That's the first time I've ever seen a real un-cut one!"

(during intermission) A: "What do you think they do during intermission?" K: "Well I don't think it's for a wardrobe change."

"Do you think the muscular Ferris Bueller looking guy might be straight?" (the act that followed this comment was that very guy strapping on knee pads and singing Perky Little Porn Star) "Oh! I guess not!"

"Doesn't that hurt when they bounce around like that?"

"Do you think I can take one home? Just as a best friend, of course."

This is getting bad. I've only be blogging once a week - sometimes once every two weeks. I have no excuse for this - especially these days since I have all the freedom in the world here at work. This will change come tomorrow though. While waiting for the official approvals for my transfer to the other division, they've asked me to start working over there in the morning to at least get myself acquainted with their environment and systems - and then work back here at my current building in the afternoons. Luckily the buildings are walking distances apart - but I hope this goes through soon. I can just see my manager getting testy about this since they're showing interest in me and not her.

Although I'll miss the freedom I've had during this time in limbo, I'll be happy to have a 'real job' again. I think I'm actually going to be happier there - they seem to have their act together, moreso than here that is. Some people might think I'm a sucker for going through two layoffs within a year's time and still wanting to stay here - but I have to say, it truly is a nice company to work for, the people are great, I love the area - and you just can't beat the perks. Ok, well maybe you can, but this place is all for the 'happy and healthy work environment' and are very employee-oriented - something I'm not used to from my previous workplaces. So I'll give it one more shot - and if it happens again....then I'll go postal.

Ok, here's where it starts to get weird. Yesterday, the group that was transferring moved over to our other building in the afternoon - leaving only myself, my manager, and one of the secretaries on the entire side of this floor. To top things off, my manager is out today and the secretary sits down on the other end so I'M ALL BY MYSELF HERE! Security even had the lights turned off on this side of the floor since they didnt' think anyone else was here.

Needless to say, I've been doing minimal work all day and plan on leaving soon - it's quite draining on the whole motivation aspect. Did I mention that I didn't come in till 9:30am and took a nice long lunch to go shopping? Yeah, it's pretty pathetic. In no way am I bragging here as to 'how lucky I am' - no no, it's more like 'how sad I am'. I followed up with the director of the clinical IT division today who apologized for the time it's taking to get a position approved for me since half of the necessary overhead is on vacation. At least there's hope.

HOT HOT HOT

Due to this extremely unwelcomed heatwave we're having in New Jersey, our building was forced to close early due to an order from the township to conserve energy - that and the fact that the backup generators were about to overheat. Everything kept flickering and the network was down so it was impossible to get anything done anyway. No complaints here about that.

Today, however, in an effort to avoid such problems as yesterday, building maintenance has decided to cutoff all unnecessary lighting - leaving only the emergency lights on and whatever light you get from the windows. Unfortunately, I do not sit near a window and have been straining my eyes to read whatever documents lay before me. That is, until the nice girl down the other end offered me a nifty little desk lamp from IKEA that she found in the supply room which I managed to assemble using a letter opener and a small paper clip. Yes, I can be really creative when need be. Gee, that was awfully nice of her. But I'm still hoping we have another early release today.