Several months ago, the powers-that-be at the software company that I work for decided that we needed more office space.  We were bursting at the seams—conference rooms were slowly being turned into offices, people were sharing cubicle space, germs, and whatnot, and parking was becoming scarce.  My solution was to implement a 5-day work-at-home week and to fire a few select people, and that is probably why I am not a power-that-be.

Be that as it may, a large, cavernous space opened up just a few buildings down from where we were located, so the mass effort to move all 100-some-odd employees (and I do mean odd) took place last weekend.  Luckily, I was not involved in the actual move, but I did take time out of my Saturday to unpack my belongings, hook up my PC, and do some general fawning over my new cubicle.  Yes, fawning.  I have a window seat, people.  The window faces the back parking lot, yet LOOK!  A window!

And in addition to a window to the outside, I also have a window between my cubicle and Sophie’s.  While I’m not exactly fond of this particular window (it’s pointless), I can at least spy on Sophie when she’s not looking…

And finally, here’s the space where Lulu deciphers and writes technical crap for a living…

In addition to this move, we have a couple of new security policies.

• We are required to go in and out of the building using a man-trap door.  Yes, I said a man-trap.  It’s too complicated to understand, and unless a shirtless Maksim Chermokovskiy is trapped in the door, I have no interest in explaining.
• We are required to wear a photo ID badge at all times.  Whoever made the badges did not know how to properly resize picture files, so our chins and foreheads are extremely elongated to the point of I could wear anyone else’s badge and no one would know the difference.
• We now have a strict Internet usage policy.  What Internet usage has to do with our move, I’ll never know, but I’ll be sure to vent about that in my next post.  Because I’m a complainer.  And I like to complain about policies.  Especially ones involving the restriction of checking my incredibly shrinking blog stats or Facebook twenty times a day.

At least I have a window.  Hell, at least I have a job…

Related post:  Thirteen Things That Bug Lulu About Living in Cubeville

Hi all!  It’s been a crazy week since my last post…you know, with the election, and the moving of my company’s office, all of the food that I’ve been eating, and various other whatnots.  So, I apologize for being so lazy about posting.  Imagine that.  Lulu…lazy.

Anyhow, in the midst of all the craziness, I attended the BlogHer-sponsered GM Ride and Drive event at Atlantic Station in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday evening.  Now, for those of you who know me, you know that Lulu rarely goes beyond the borders of her office and her home during the week.  It takes something really extra special for me to break my own rules and GR’s heart to not go straight home after work.  And a BlogHer event happens to be one of those extra special somethings.  Okay, a BlogHer event and the opportunity to sit in one of these bad boys:

Fits Lulu perfectly, don’t ya think?  I’ll take that as a yes.

I was given the opportunity to test drive that fine-looking Saturn Sky, but honestly, I was just a bit too intimidated by the sexiness of it all.  It reminded me too much of the sexiness that is Maksim Chermkovskiy…

…who would also fit Lulu perfectly, don’t ya think?  But I digress.

Instead, I test drove this…

…the Saturn Vue Hybrid.  Not so overtly sexual, but definitely something I can handle.  Kind of like Colin Firth…

But, again…I digress.  We’re talking cars here, people.  I must focus.

The Saturn Vue is definitely a small SUV that I could get behind.  I don’t know anything much about hybrids, so it was interesting for me to find out that when the car is sitting still, say at a red light, the engine basically turns off!  Very cool.  Lulu is easily impressed.

I also took a gander inside the Saturn Outlook, which is roomy enough to fit 7, yet not so great on the gas mileage in my opinion (17mpg city):

And finally, the Saturn Aura, a nice, practical-looking sedan:

Sadly, my most favorite car of all was not available at the event—the Astra:

While on my recent trip to Germany, that’s what I was tearing down the Autobahn in.  However, in Germany, they call it a GM Opel Astra…but it’s a GM Saturn Astra here in the states!  Very, very awesome car and fun to drive.  I would seriously consider buying one.  Seriously, y’all.

But for now, I must settle for the payment-free, hubcap-missing, granny-mobile that gets me from point A to point B.  And sometimes to point C depending on the day of the week…

Slam it to the left if you’re having a good time…

Shake it to the right if you know that you feel fine…

Chicas to the front, ha, ha…

Hi, ci ya, hold tight!

La la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la…

Happy Halloween everyone!  With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings, when friends come to call…it’s the hap- happiest season of all!  Hmm…perhaps I’m confused with Christmas.

Regardless, it’s a holiday, y’all.  Or a semi-holiday anyway.  Okay, it’s a pagan ritual that any God-fearing person should really not be celebrating lest they be doomed to hell and damnation.  I, for one, choose not to celebrate Halloween in the pagan sense, but more in the sense of celebrating the Kit-Kat bar.  The great love of my life.

I also choose to celebrate paranormal tales of spookery and ghostly hijinks…whether they are true or not.  And that is why I participated in a ghost walk tour in the small town in which my mother was raised.  Not that my mother has anything to do with it—it’s just that her hometown is apparently overrun by spectral spirits (come to think of it…that kind of explains some things).  The local community theatre was smart enough to see some money in all this supernatural nonsense, so they gathered some facts from the vast number of paranormal experts that visit the area, and they put together a theatrical, ghost-telling stroll through the town square.  Actually, it was quite entertaining!  And theatrical!  Oh people, it was theatrical.

Just to give you a sense of the intense theatrics involved, please watch a few seconds of this video promoting the tour.  I beg of you, for all things holy and non-Halloweenish.  Watch!  And listen!

Bless her heart.

So, here I am with Big H, Phoo, and a gaggle of other friends preparing to be spooked (thanks again Didi for organizing the big event!):

During the walk, we were able to go inside the old Gwinnett County jail that dates back to the early 1800s.  The iron bars are still intact on the windows and cells of the jail.  If you look closely behind the Xerox copy boxes in the following picture, you can see a patch where an imprisoned slave had tried chipping his way out.  I’m pretty certain that the Xerox copy boxes hampered his escape.

We circled and listened to tales about the Gwinnett County Courthouse in the town square, which is now home to the Gwinnett Historical Society.  There has been a courthouse on this square since 1872.

The courthouse was once flanked by two large oak trees, which were sadly used as hanging trees.  One tree was recently removed due to disease, but the other remains and has been proven by experts to have heavy paranormal activity surrounding it.  Looks pretty spooky to me…

We also visited The Singin’ Bean karaoke coffeehouse, which was a war veterans hospital in the late 1800s.  Apparently, three ghosts frequent this establishment.  One of the ghosts, Beau (on old army general), is associated with a tragedy that will befall upon you if you actually see him.  I tried not to look while I was taking the picture…

The tour lasted for approximately 90 minutes—the perfect amount of time, as it was getting colder by the second.  But, I actually learned a couple of new things about Lawrenceville that I had never known before.  My grandmother has owned a home in that small town since the early 1950s, and I thought that I had heard it all.  Apparently, I can tell her a few stories now.  And I will tell them in Madame Macabre’s voice.

Have fun trick-or-treating tonight!  As for me, I plan to turn out all the lights and lock myself in the basement with 4 taped hours of Survivor and a bag of Kit-Kat bars.  No evil spirits allowed.