100 Things...2 years later....

Someone recently left me a comment on my 100 things post and I found myself re-reading it. It's funny how 2 years and 2 months later so much of it has changed and how much is no longer true! Here's an update for you!!

1. I love dark chocolate covered strawberries. - Still very VERY true.
2. I am an extremely picky eater, there are very few things I will eat. - MUCH less true. Even though I still don't eat most meat, I've really broadened my diet considerably.
3. I bought my first purse at the age of 26. - Still true!
4. I broke a rib once falling off a chair I was standing on trying to get a book off a bookshelf in my parents' library. - Still true!
5. I can't live without post-it flags. - Still true! I love these things!
6. I never wear make-up, but my toenails are always painted red. - Still mostly true, right now they are more of a deep plum.
7. I hate flying during daylight and try only to fly late at night. - Still mostly true. I'll fly any time of the day or night, but if I choice, I still prefer flying at night.
8. I went to two different high schools and will never forgive my dad for moving me during those years. - Still true! SO SO true.
9. I am a white girl who thinks Asian men are HOT. - Still true!
10. I have never in my 27 years had anyone ever call me their girlfriend. - Not true Eharmony boy has referred to me as his girlfriend before.
11. I don't understand the "high" people say they get when they work out. Working out doesn't make me "high" it makes me hungry. - Still true!
12. It bums me out when people don't notice when I get new glasses. - Still true!
13. I get new glasses at least twice a year. - Still true!
14. Taking photographs is the only thing I've ever felt good at. - Still true!
15. I love the Food Network, even though I can't cook anything. - Not true at all. I'm an excellent cook now and make almost everything I eat from scratch.
16. I've seriously considered hiring someone to cook dinner for me so I don't have to eat out 7 days a week. - See above.
17. I have a huge crush on Anderson Cooper. - Still SO SO very true!
18. I make a huge deal out of my birthday and like it when other people do too. - Still true, but I think once my next birthday rolls around, it will be less true.
19. I went through my college graduation ceremony, even though I didn't technically graduate until two years later. - Still true!
20. I've had the same bathing suit since I was 16...and I've only worn it a handful of times. - Recent trips to tropical locations have rendered this untrue. I now own 3 NEW suits.
21. I like swimming but hate having to be that naked in public. - Still true!
22. I have a 401k, but have no idea what it is or how to get my money. - Still sort of true. I know what it is and contribute to it, but have no idea how to get my money.
23. I am deathly afraid of needles. - Still true!
24. Massages make me tense and I hate both giving and getting them - Still true!
25. Sometimes I eat pizza 4 days a week. - Not true, but I do eat it once a week still, but now it's made from scratch by me.
26. I've never called in sick because I was actually sick. - Still true!
27. I can't live without caller ID - Still true!
28. I refuse to buy anything from amazon.com because I think their "prime" program is elitist. I shouldn't have to be in a special club to get my stuff on time. - Still true!
29. I can't stand people who use "street talk". - Still true!
30. But I use the phrase "true that" way too often. - I don't really say this anymore actually.
31. Doctors scare me and I almost never go voluntarily. - Still true!
32. I don't handle disappointment well. - Still true!
33. I can function perfectly on no sleep for several days. - Still true!
34. I eat ice cream with a fork - Still true!
35. I've never played air hockey - Still true!
36. My grandfather taught me how to play cards and I almost never lose. - Still true!
37. Boys won't play cards with me because of it. - Still true!
38. I never answer the doorbell, even if I'm home (unless I'm expecting someone). - Still true!
39. I'm a neat freak, but I almost never make my bed. - Still true!
40. I hate sleeping alone. - Still true, but it's gotten easier.
41. Stupid-funny movies irritate me (anything with Jim Carey/Adam Sandler etc.) - Still true!
42. I hate staying in hotels. - Still partly true.
43. I keep my apartment very dark, I always have to remember to turn lights on when people come over. - Still true!
44. I hate carrying an umbrella, I would rather just get wet. - Still true!
45. Crooked pictures drive me crazy. I go around various restaurants, people's homes, libraries etc. straightening them. - Still true!
46. My wisdom teeth were supposed to be taken out 10 years ago, but I chickened out and just deal with the pain of teething. - I had them out successfully!
47. I went to my senior prom with some guy I met at Taco Bell. - Still true!
48. I will never set foot in another Taco Bell - Still true!
49. The only perfume I will wear is Romance by Ralph Lauren - Still true!
50. Gerber Daisies are my favorite flower. - Still true!
51. I've never gotten flowers from anyone...ever. - Still true!
52. I always read the sections of the paper in a specific order. If someone else is reading my next section, I wait. - Still true!
53. I get anxious if I don't know what time it is. - Still true!
54. It only takes me 15 minutes to get ready for work in the morning. - Still true!
55. I have "empty box syndrome". I almost always keep the box that things come in, so I have it when I move. - Still true!
56. I moved 6 times in my childhood. - Still true!
57. I have the same thing for breakfast almost every morning - Poptarts. - Not true at all. I have a bagel with peanut butter or I splurge on raspberry scone from Starbucks
58. In my lifetime I've had 3 dogs (only one at a time), Moon, Anton and Ginger. - Still true!
59. When I was in First Grade, my cousin used to drive me to school everyday in his Mustang. - Still true!
60. that was the last time I was ever "cool" - Still true!
61. That cousin and I have the same birth date May 13. - Still true!
62. I loathe Fox news and won't even be in the same room if it's on. - Still true!
63. I own over 300 books, and I've read all but 2 - Still true, though I'm pretty sure the number is closer to 500 now...
64. I read the White House press briefing transcripts...because I think they are funny. - Don't read them anymore. I miss Scott McClellan
65. I hate wearing shorts and don't even own a pair. - Still true!
66. All the keys on my keyring have to face the same direction. - Still true!
67. I do my taxes by hand, I'm too cheap to even use Turbo Tax. - Still true!
68. I refuse to ride the bus. - Still true!
69. All but 2 photographs up in my apartment, I took. - Still true!
70. I never tell people who come over that I took them. - I tell most people now.
71. Sometimes I type too fast for my computer and it takes a second for it to catch up. - Still true!
72. I love my label maker, everything in my house is obsessively labeled. - Still true!
73. If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life it would be tiramisu. - Still true!
74. I love putting the little check mark next to my completed tasks in Outlook. - Still true!
75. I own lots of beautiful jewelry, but never wear any of it because I hate looking "accessorized". - Still true!
76. The only thing I miss (aside from my friends) about living in the Midwest is central air conditioning . - Still true!
77. I am incapable of flirting. I once used a Lord of the Flies reference as a pick-up line. It didn't go over very well. - Still true!
78. I won't read certain books/magazines on the train because I don't want people to think I'm vacuous. - Still true!
79. I hate it when people use dinner and diner incorrectly in writing. - Still true!
80. I've only worked at two places my entire life. - Still true!
81. I am excellent at holding a grudge. - Still true!
82. I didn't vote for the first time until the 2004 election. - Still true!
83. My screen name (kaibigan) means friend in Tagalog. - Still true!
84. I hate shaking hands with people. - Still true!
85. My refrigerator contains nothing but Diet Dr. Pepper, ketchup and a jar of pickles. - Not true at all! I have all kinds of healthy foods in there now!
86. I don't have a take-out menu drawer, I have a take-out menu binder, separated into sections by cuisine type with each section in alphabetical order. - Still true!
87. I can't go anywhere without chapstick. - Still true!
88. People who automatically know where North/South/East/West are without using a compass intimidate me. - Still true!
89. I love a good snowball fight. - Still true!
90. Even though I don't use AOL anymore, I still pay for it. - Not true! I finally canceled it!
91. I like Pepsi better than Coke - Still true!
92. My favorite song is Winter by Tori Amos. - No longer true...I have many favorites now.
93. Ironing is very cathartic for me. - Still true!
94. My handwriting is all capital letters, a carryover from my days as a draftsperson. - Still true!
95. I absolutely hate having my picture taken. - Still true!
96. 6 months after getting my driver's license I backed into a friends car while she was in the passenger's seat next to me. The insurance company laughed at me. hard. - Still true!
97. I won't buy holidays versions of my favorite candy (with the exception of York peppermint "batties" at Halloween) because I don't like cutesy food. - Still true!
98. I couldn't swallow pills until I was 16. - Still true!
99. I thought I was a boring person until I filled this out. - Not true. I'm facinating! LOL
100. Thinking of 100 things about myself took me 4 days.

Whoa.

I'm on a conference call and all of a sudden I hear something weird on the other line and my person says. "Um I've got to go, we're having an earthquake!"

Talk about getting the news as it happens!

Hope you CA people are all safe!!!

Here's what I found out.....

My $ breakdown was pretty much as expected. Most of my money goes towards travel, which I knew, though I'm not sure I knew it was that high. Pretty much I'm not cutting out any one thing, but just going to scale back across the board.

Here's how it broke out:

Travel - 32.96%
Photo Business Expenses - 23.69%
Food - 15.32%
Bank Fees - 7.14% *now that I"m all paid up, this amount will go to 0%
Coffee - 6.18%
Entertainment - 5.86%
Misc/Personal Care - 4.67%
Home - 4.18%

Back on Track

Writing out my vows this weekend has really helped me focus and get out of my funk. Day 1 of the twitter weight loss challenge went great, and I also worked a bit on my finances. I am VERY proud to say that my credit card bill for this month was.....

$0.00.

I nearly fell off my chair. I logged into my account because I noticed they hadn't sent me an email with my statement for this month. Imagine my surprise when I realized that they hadn't emailed me my balance because my balance was ZERO! I'm not sure if I'll stay with my 100% cash system, but we'll see. Tonight I will be going through the last 2 months of credit card bills and really taking a hard look at where my money goes. I took a glance while I was printing the statements out and in the last 30 days I spent $125 at Starbucks, so there's a chunk of money that can (and WILL) be significantly reduced. I'll let you know what the rest of the breakdown is. I honestly have NO clue, so it will be fun to find out.

Fun? Ok that might be an overstatement...but still.

My Vows

No, I’m not getting married, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the changes I want to make in my life. I want to make some vows to myself for the things I am going to do to make my life better.

Health

- I vow to lose 25lbs.

* I already participate in The Active Academic, and have also joined a Twitter Weight Loss Challenge that starts on Monday. This vow will be my focus for the next 12 weeks.

- More long-term I vow to deal with my intense iatrophobia and have check-ups at the doctor, dentist and OBGYN. I also vow to consider returning to therapy (I had a terrible experience in therapy several years ago (I went twice and somehow annoyed my therapist so much she asked me not to return and refused to give me a referral to anyone else, and have been reticent to go back).

- I will cook more often and continue my goal of reducing processed foods in my diet.

* In the past year I have significantly reduced my intake of processed foods, cut out 90% of my soda drinking and started cooking from scratch, but I want to expand on this. First up is making my own pasta sauce.

Financial

- I vow to rebuild my second savings account and get serious about having a financial cushion.

- I also vow to spend the extra money coming to me in October on a trip to California, but to save every penny of my holiday bonus in my second savings account and keep it there.

* I recently got out of debt and now want to take that second step of rebuilding my savings. I vow to go through the last two months of bills and figure out where my disposable income is going and to put myself on a budget.

Social

- I will go out and explore the city more.

*I bemoan that I’m unhappy in NY, but I haven’t truly “lived” here. I don’t go out, I don’t experience the city. Even if it means I sit outside my favorite bar once a week alone and have a martini, I WILL start experiencing life again.

Career(s)

- I vow to give myself a 5 month job hunt reprieve, but to start seriously looking on January 1. When my lease runs out on August 1, 2009, I will NOT renew it.

- During this 5 month hiatus, I vow to focus on my photography/photo editing free-lance work and to continue my Photoshop education that I have recently been neglecting.

Charity

- I vow to continue to give back.

* I will continue to actively participate in the solider pen pal program I am a part of.

Environment

- I vow to continue to do my part for the environment.

* In the past few years I have diligently been recycling, switched to environmentally-friendly cleaning products and bringing my own bags to the grocery store. I will continue with these endeavors. I also hope to start shopping at my local farmer’s market and supporting local businesses where I can.

Personal

- I vow to get over Tennis Guy and to not accept less than I deserve in my personal relationships.

Interview Update....

I called the company back and she interviewed me on the phone on the spot. I wasn't a match for what they were looking for, so I'm not a contender for the position.

Oh well. Sigh.

OH MY!

I got an interview!!!! *I think

One of the jobs in Chicago I applied for left me a voicemail today! They said they were calling in reference to my resume, which certainly SOUNDS like they want to bring me in. Hurrah!

The only issue is how to interview. I put my parents Illinois address on my application and wrote in my cover letter I was "in the process of relocating"..but obviously I'm still living in NY full-time. I guess when I call them back I'll just explain that I "split my time" between the two places and ask if we could do a phone interview. That's ok right?

Progress!

I met a guy recently who I thought had date potential. He was attractive, intelligent and we clicked instantly, but I got a hint of a "player"vibe from him.

Normally I wouldn't go with my gut and would continue pursuing him, hoping that I was either 1) wrong or 2) going to be "the one" he gives up his harem for, but I'm done with bad relationships with toxic men and wasting my time.

I am going to trust my instincts, politely decline any future dates and MOVE ON!

Hurrah for the first step in getting a romantic backbone!

You can't make this stuff up....

I work for a privately owned company. It's owned by one older gentleman and his wife. To call them eccentric is the understatement of the century and there is obviously some dementia or other mental health condition as well. It's not the easiest working situation, but it's certainly never dull. Take today for example:

One of my duties for today was to organize a birthday party, including cake, champagne and candles for a co-worker. A co-worker that he refuses to call his real name and instead calls by a fictitious name. The cake says Happy Birthday "fictitious name". It is nowhere near his birthday. The owner knows this and doesn't care. He has prepared "fake" speeches to read and attendance is required for everyone in the company.

At least now the insanity comes with booze and cake....

What Happened

I just finished reading the former White House press secretary's book, What Happened. Though I am clearly not a Republican, I have always had a fondness for Scott McClellan. During his tenure as press secretary I read his press briefing transcripts daily. I had mixed feelings though, when I heard he had written a book. I think it's tacky to write a book capitalizing on your job and exposing "company" secrets. In the end though, curiosity got the best of me and I bought the book in an airport on one of my recent trips.

Within the first few pages, and certainly by the end I realized how different his job was to any other position in the world. His was not a a typical job in which you may receive mis-information that you in turn pass along to a small group of coworkers and all is forgotten by the end of the week. He was put in front of the world on a daily basis and part of his job unfortunately involved unknowingly (for the most part) deceiving the entire country. He wrote the book not to capitalize on the experience, but to apologize for it, and in that regard, I respect him for writing his story and attempting to restore the credibility he lost during those years.

I am admittedly a news junky and make a point to get my daily news fix from a variety of U.S. and foreign sources, so I didn't really expect to learn any new information in his book and for the most part I didn't. In regards to the war and the reasons behind our engaging in it, he did mostly just confirm what eventually came out in the media eventually so there was no surprise there, and the same with the Valerie Plame leak, though he did clear up some timeline questions that I'd had regarding that scandal. Most surprising was a relatively small part of the book near the end where I learned more about the federal governments handling (or not handling as the case may be) of Katrina. They were wildly cavalier about the severity of the storm and largely ignored it until way too late in the game. I shouldn't have been surprised though. Time after time the government of the past 8 years has shown a disregard for truth and information and instead has pushed an agenda based on politics and spin. In all fairness though, the 8 years prior to that did the same thing, and, as Scott points out in his book, it's indicative of a large problem in government which is the culture of deception.

Overall I'm happy I gave in and bought the book. Though it definitely has some style problems, he jumps around time-wise and is hard to follow at times, and I could have done without of a few (of the many) personal attacks on Condoleeza Rice, I was glad to have read his side of the story. At the very least it makes me feel at least a little bit better about my own job.

Coming Out of It

I've been trying to keep my head above water lately, and there are days when it feels like I'm in a bathtub and days when it feels like I'm in an ocean, but I'm starting to come around I think. The soldier I've been writing to in Iraq sent me a letter and some photos this weekend, which did wonders for regaining some perspective on life.

I've been unhappy lately, probably since I came to New York 4 years ago, maybe even before that. The events that lead to my escaping Illinois and coming here were traumatic and life-altering. It was one of those moments that defines a piece of you by what you choose to do with the event. I chose bitterness, resentment and hate. I chose to take a path that took me even farther away from my true self. So far away that I almost don't know who that is anymore.

Let's hope I can find it buried underneath the sea of bad choices.....

I interrupt this moment....

I'm still in my "moment" but I wanted to share a funny story from work today:

I have one MAJOR pet peeve and that is fingerprints or marks on my computer screen. If anyone comes anywhere near my screen with a finger or pen, I have minor convulsions and have (embarrassingly) been known to bat the President of my company's hand away when it gets too close to the screen when he is pointing out errors in documents to me. Needless to say, I NEVER touch my own screen.

Today I needed to make a personal phone call at work in private. Having forgotten my Blackberry at home, a co-worker said I could borrow her phone and handed it to me. I was in such a rush to get downstairs to make my call, that I didn't look at it.

I get outside and take the phone out of its case to dial and I realize she gave me an iPhone....no keys or buttons, just a touchscreen.

Crap.

I made multiple attempts, but I just could NOT bring myself to touch the screen to use it. Luckily I bumped into another coworker who was heading out to run an errand and borrowed his phone.

Guess I can cross iPhone off my Christmas list.

A Moment.

I'm having a moment. A moment where I feel lonely in this world. A moment where I feel overwhelmed and powerless. A moment where I feel it just shouldn't be THIS hard.

Be back later when my moment is over.

#1...Sent!

I sent out job application #1 today. I think I may finally be in a groove with this whole cover letter thing. Normally they make me want to find the nearest sharp object and stab myself repeatedly, but this was seemed to come a bit easier. Perhaps doing it while sitting outside on the patio of my favorite local pub with a glass of wine was the trick.

Edited to add:

Damn damn damn! I just realized I had a spelling error in my application for that job! Sucessful instead of successful. Grrrrr! I HATE it when I do that.

A Summer Treat!

A friend of mine recently told me about a pool/spa that's about a 45 minute train ride away from my apartment. It's a bit pricey, but a daily pass includes access to their gym in addition to their various pools and the photos look beautiful. I can't afford to go too much, but it looks like a perfect occasional summer treat for myself! The prices are cheaper during the week, so I think I'll play hooky one gorgeous summer day and have some fun!

Waving Goodbye

I have never felt like I was on the same life path as the rest of my peers. Growing up the daughter of a teacher turned principal, I was certainly never going to be the kid who everyone wanted to hang out with. My family also moved quite a few times during my youth, and those being pre-email and instant message times, the few friendships I did make were usually short-lived. The few attempts I've made at romantic relationships have never been successful and/or healthy and the older I get, the slimmer the pickings seem to be. Always one to be independent, be it due to nature or nurture, I've never been a person who excelled in relationships or socialization.

Already someone whose life-long independence has spawned many feelings of loneliness, I've gone through my nearly 30 years of life watching others around me be successful at exactly the things in life that I have not been. The years post-college started the "bridesmaid" years where my friends all seemed to get married en masse. In recent years even my sister, younger than me by 8 years, got engaged (though it was subsequently called off). Though I am, of course, happy for the love that my friends and family have found with their partners, the happy times also stir up some ugly self-reflection and questioning of "what is so wrong with me that nobody wants to love me?". I hate that I can't be selfless in these moments and not have the happiness of others link to my own inadequacies.

Now it's on to a new phase. The "marrieds" are spawning and my email inbox is flooded with sonogram photos, birth announcements and first birthday party invites. The gap between me and my friends on the path of life is widening and I can't even see them in the distance any more. The people I care about most in the world are creating their own beautiful families and I'm still the girl in the corner at a junior high dance chewing on her hair. My support system has done what you are supposed to do, grow up, find someone who walk the path of life with and, if the two of you choose, have children. I certainly don't fault them for having new lives and a shift in priorities, but I can't help but selfishly feel abandoned and even jealous that they all have managed to do something I have repeatedly failed at.

I don't want to be someone who can't be happy for other people, or who finds that the happiness of others causes pain, but I fell that is slowly who I am turning into. I have a constant internal struggle between relationships I desire to have and my inherent belief that I am just not capable of, or built for, love and cohabitation. I know I need to accept that it's ok if I am alone and develop my own life, outside of the pressures of society (and my mother) to "settle down" in traditional ways, but I don't know how to do that when everyone else around me is traveling down the same path together and I'm far behind waving to them in the distance.

The Month of No Purchases

I recently paid off ALL my debt and since then have been successful at keeping myself out of debt, but I'm just barely breaking even. I depleted my savings in order to become debt free, but if I'm serious about my job hunt and moving, I am going to have to start to rebuild that as quickly as I can. One of the ways I'm going to jump start this is to declare July the month of NO non-food/basic essentials purchases. Every month I look at my credit card statements and see hundreds of dollars that didn't need to be spent. I've always had trouble with creating a budget because a significant portion of my income is overtime and my paycheck fluctuates greatly each pay period.

Hopefully a month of no purchases will help jump start my savings. It would be nice to have more than $0.06 left over in a month (which was what I currently have left in my account after paying my bills).

Any tips for saving money and/or saving on food would be MUCH appreciated! How do you budget savy people survive?!

Settle a Disagreement!

Internets I need your opinion! Here's the situation and please let me know who you think is right!

I am one of 3 assistants at work who all share an office. We all support different departments and people and technically our jobs should not in any way overlap. Except that because I show up on time, stay late and do not leave my desk for hours at a time during the day to run personal errands and/or get my nails** done like my two co-workers do, I end up doing quite a bit of their work. Their bosses (who are higher than mine) come in and routinely ask me to do things for them, simply because I was the one in the room when they came in.

**their bosses KNOW they leave, but never do anything about it and it's my #1 (daily!) complaint to HR.

Here is the disagreement: *I* believe that if the task is an immediate task (e.g., "go get me coffee", "get person X on the phone" etc.) it should, of course, be done by the person who was asked (aka usually me). However, if the task given was something for the future (e.g., "set up a meeting next week with Y", "make my travel plans for October") then it's perfectly ok to take the note for the person's actual assistant and have THEM do it. My coworkers, however, think whomever is asked should be the person who does the task, no matter when it is for. It should be noted that they are rarely, if ever, asked by my boss to do things 1) because I'm always at my desk and 2) because the department I work in has very specific knowledge that they wouldn't necessarily know how to do.

Thoughts?

I don't get it.....but I'm doing it.

Can someone explain Twitter to me? I recently joined the craze, but I'm not sure I get it! Have I really hit the age where technology is outgrowing me and I can no longer keep up???

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th to everyone out there! I'm enjoying my day off by organizing my kitchen cabinets and scrubbing the fridge!

While I'm up to my elbows in old leftovers and breathing in the smell of Method's Cucumber All-Purpose Cleaner (LOVE this stuff), here's a few fun 4th of July facts from MSN.

10 Surprising Facts About the Fourth of July

Everyone loves Independence Day, the quintessential American holiday, full of parades, picnics, and ... surprising facts? You bet! Be the life of the party--share a few of these tasty nuggets of knowledge with your fellow picnickers this year.

1. Independence Day commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.

2. Fireworks were made in China as early as the 11th century. The Chinese used their pyrotechnic mixtures for war rockets and explosives.

3. Uncle Sam was first popularized during the War of 1812, when the term appeared on supply containers. Believe it or not, the U. S. Congress didn't adopt him as a national symbol until 1961.

4. There are many precise rules for taking care of the American flag. And speaking of flag traditions, we're sorry to report that contrary to legend, historical research has failed to confirm that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag.

5. Not all members of the Continental Congress supported a formal Declaration of Independence, but those who did were passionate about it. One representative rode 80 miles by horseback to reach Philadelphia and break a tie in support of independence.

6. The first two versions of the Liberty Bell were defective and had to be melted down and recast. The third version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to 1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall.

7. The American national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," is set to the tune of an English drinking song ("To Anacreon in Heaven").

8. The iron framework of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

9. The patriotic poem "America the Beautiful" was published on July 4, 1895 by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates.

10. Father of the country and architect of independence George Washington held his first public office at the tender age of 17. He continued in public service until his death in 1799.

Random Act of Kindness Day

This morning on the train a woman spilled her coffee on her outfit and the woman sitting next to me rummaged through her purse and handed the other woman some tissues so she could clean it up. I thought to myself....that was really nice.....

A few moments later I was at Starbucks and noticed the older gentlemen in front of me had left his briefcase on the floor in front of the counter and I ran after him to return in.

What a great way to start my morning!!