End of The Voice

The Voice ended last night and I have to say I could have skipped the whole show after the first show. I had the winner pegged immediately. I'm glad Javier won; he is very good.

I'm also pleased to see how the coaches acted with their contestants. If I was on the show, I would want Blake. He is so nice and caring. You could tell that he will be friends with Dia their whole lives. Of course, that may be because he has that Oklahoma hominess that I'm used to.

My husband said that if he was going to buy an album, it would be Dia's. Although he did say that Javier was the best voice. So I'm glad that the two of them were the top.

I can live without hearing Beverly WOOOOO her way through a song. Whitney wondered if she had severe headaches from the way she threw her head around.

Most entertaining song this week was the duet between Vici and Cee-Lo. From that performance, Whitney wants to see Cee-Lo in concert because it would be a spectacular show. I might have to go along with that.

Signing Bonus

I was asked today if we can do "signing bonuses" for new hires. Really? We aren't a professional sports team. We are a university. Where people are usually happy just to have a job. I know that they are really trying to hire this person, but I can tell already that he is going to be a PAIN. No I don't know what his net pay will be. No you can't offer more than anyone else is making with the same level of degree. If this guy is so good, does he have any other job offers? I didn't think so. He should be greatful to get a job working at this place which does look good on anyone's resume.

While the Cat is Away...

The mice will play. At least that's how the saying goes. My boss this week is in Ethiopia teaching a class. Our associate director had to go out of town unexpectedly for the week. So that leaves me in charge. This usually happens a couple of times a year. The first is always the big meteorology conference and half of our building empties out. So being in charge is never a problem that week. There is another conference during the year they go to but it is only for a couple of days, not a week. But if I'm left in charge at other times, it never fails that something MAJOR goes wrong.

One year I had to deal with an employee who hadn't paid state taxes in three years and was about to be terminated if the situation wasn't rectified immediately. One year I had to deal with a hostile work situation. This year I already know what the problem is going to be this week and warned my boss before he left. I'm prepared to handle it because I have past experience to go by.

But still I wonder what else will go wrong. I will pull on the supervisor hat (which I totally dislike) and make decisions. I once had a boss who said to not to worry about things because we aren't dealing with life and death. Take a deep breath. He had been a Colonel on an Air Force carrier so he knew a little about life/death situations. I try and remember his advice when it seems like the world is collapsing. Because it isn't. Everything can be fixed somehow. It may not be the ideal answer, but it can be fixed.

It's HOT!!!!!

It's 101 as I type this. Oklahoma is about to set a record tomorrow for most days over a 100 in a month. Tomorrow is supposed to be 105 with a heat index of 115. I have no idea when it will be in the 90's again. Isn't that sad that you hope for 99 degrees?

Thank goodness for air conditioning. Thank goodness for a work office where I am so cold I actually wear a sweater. Thank goodness that Whitney's work doesn't go swimming when the heat index is to high so I don't have to worry about her getting sunstroke. Thank goodness for air conditioning (yes I said it a second time I mean it soooo much).

Those 98/99 degrees are just there to tease us. It will never be that cool.

Mistaken Identity

We have three bird feeders in our yard. One has safflower seeds, one has sunflower seeds and one is a hummingbird feeder. I love to watch the birds in the morning and evening fighting for their place at the feeder. Some of them are smarter than others and gather all the seeds from the ground. Mostly it is finches, cardinals and sparrows. I do have one large bird that looks like a pigeon but Dan thinks it is a dove that hangs out on the ground by the safflower seeds.

Yesterday though we had the strangest siting ever. The hummingbird feeder is right by the living room window. We had a hummingbird that caught my eye and then just a couple of minutes later, another bird went to it. But it wasn't a hummingbird...it was an ORIOLE. I didn't even think we had those kind of birds in Oklahoma. I kept looking at it going why is there an oriole here? It was orange in all the right places. We even got the bird book out and found its picture. And it was at the HUMMINGBIRD feeder! Drinking from it. For five minutes. I couldn't believe it. Obviously this bird did not know what he was supposed to be doing.

Would You Like a Side Order of Heart Attack With That?

State fair season is upon the country and so brings a new round of "What Can I Fry". Last year the Texas State Fair introduced us to fried butter (basically a donut with a wad of butter inside) and fried Coca-Cola. This year, the San Diego County Fair has fried Koolaid. That doesn't sound appetizing to me. It is dough with powder koolaid mixed in. There also is fried spaghetti/meatballs at the Minnesota State Fair. Texas has fried beer, peanut butter and lattes.

I hope that these places have automatic defibulators standing on the ready for the cardiac arrests that amount of friedom must have.

This Week in Review (And yes I know it is Thursday)

I figured I would get my reality tv review in early eventhough the So You Think You Can Dance results show is tonight.

The Voice

Well we all know who is going to win this one. It was pretty obvious from day 1 that Javier had it in the bag. And yes he is that good. For the semi-finals, I think Cee-Lo had the strongest team. Either of his members would be good in the finals. I personally find Beverly's WOOOOO in every song annoying. The judges all wimped out except for Adam awarding equal points to each of their singers and leaving it up to America. Hey, isn't that what next week is for. Thank you Adam for making a statement and actually doing your job.

They are holding auditions for season 2. I will not be auditioning since I cannot sing. A blind audition would not help me at all.

So You Think You Can Dance

Week two brings us all 20 dancers again in the same partnerships as last week. And another guest judge, Debbie Reynolds. I understand she was a dancer a long time ago, but please bring back rotating GOOD judges who can actually comment on the dancers constructively. I really didn't need a Woody Woodpecker impression or telling the dancers that I want to take you home with me. Really, I can do a better job than that. There were not any real standout dances last night. And finally we showed the first cracking of a dancer in a different genre. Four dancers go home tonight. Last week I was so wrong about the bottom 3. I didn't like Sasha/Alexander. I think Clarice/Jess didn't do well. Wadi was terrible at the cha-cha although his partner did very well at it. Of course, I don't really like his partner so she could go home. I thought Tadd did an awesome job at the Viennese Waltz (I'm sure he has taken classes other than his freestyle B-Boy stuff). Also Miranda/Robert did a really good hip hop number. They were in the bottom last week, maybe because of his Wooing. He didn't do that this week so hopefully that will keep them out of the bottom. Iveta/Nick weren't that great but I find it hard to believe that the judges would send the only ballroom/tap dancers home. So if they are in the bottom, sorry for the other couples, you are gone.

So we can see how my predictions do tonight.