The Tide is High

To Procter & Gamble, the makers of Tide To Go:

I absolutely love your product.  Tide To Go is amazing. I’ve honestly considered listing it as a general interest of mine on myspace and / or facebook.  Now, I’ll admit – initially i was very skeptical.  How did Kelly Ripa remove that stain so easily, right at the restaurant?  I just didn’t believe it.  I needed to try this thing. 

Needless to say, I tried it, and wow.  It does for me exactly what it did for Kelly. 

However - there’s a problem; unfortunately, I don’t always have my Tide To Go with me.  In fact, I’d say more often than not, I’m without it. 

It’s more like Tide To Stay.    Tide To Stay in my other purse.  Tide To Stay on my desk at home.  Tide To Stay under my car seat from when my bag fell and spilled its contents everywhere while I was stuck in traffic on I-95 yesterday morning.

Over the past two weeks, there have been several instances in which I’ve thought to myself, “Ugh! I wish I had my Tide To Go!!”  Out with my friends.  At the office.  On a date.   The list goes on and the stains just keep happening.  

Given this, I’d like to suggest that Tide To Go be made into a smaller, more compact version of itself and put on a keyring so I can keep it with my car keys.  The ”To-Go” aspect of my key set is implied by it’s very nature.  If my keys weren’t To-Go, I wouldn’t be To-Go.  And it’s when I’m To-Go that I need Tide To-Go the most. 

I don’t imagine it would be too difficult to make this happen, if the makers of Sharpie can do it, I’m sure you can too.   You’re half way there with the Tide To Go Mini.  Which I havn’t tried yet, but I’m pretty psyched on. 

Anyway, let me know what you think about Tide To Go On The Go. 

Sincerely,

Mindy To-Go Munizaga.

Smokin’ HLBs.

I don’t smoke. However, I would like to be able to take a Healthy Lung Break in the same spirit of those who step out of the office to go “have a cig.”

To once or twice a day, get out of the office for ten minutes or so without a specific agenda like lunch or running an errand, would be incredible. It is absolutely gorgeous out today, and some of us in the web department went outside to take some updated pictures of the exterior of our office building. After a mere five minutes outside, I feel like a new woman. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but no – I wouldn’t take advantage of my Healthy Lung Break – i’m busy, I have deadlines, and (perhaps most importantly) I’m in New Haven, Connecticut – not exactly known for its stupendous weather. So it would really only be a few months when HLB’s would really even be a possibility. 

I think that Healthy Lung Breaks (HLB’s) should be rewarded to all non-smokers. It clears the mind, and even promotes team building because you get to talk to your coworkers. Basically the same things that I imagine the smokers go outside for, without the cancerous side effects.

Not that i’m without my potentially cancer causing vices…

 

Three cans between noon and 4:30pm.  This has gotta stop. 

(And um, w/r/t my recent techno-rambles, I somewhat reluctantly signed up for twitter.)

Although I appreciate the suggestion…

Staying In is the new Going Out. Experiments in agoraphobia.

I spent all of Saturday afternoon and evening at a friends’ BBQ, complaining about how hot it was. Not the BBQ, but the outdoors. Today has been stifling hot as well.

“But Mindy, you’re Australian – isn’t it always supa hot down unda?” – Everyone

(Stop with that ridiculous accent, Everyone)

Yes, it’s very hot during the summer, but it’s a dry heat. I can handle that. That, and the bushfires and terrible droughts. We have Vegemite and Koala’s – fair trade.

—–

Woman: It’s so human out there!

Man: Yeah, if the heat doesn’t get you, the humanity will.

[via overheardinnewyork.com]

—–

Anyway, I’m being serious. The humanity / humidity makes me feel claustrophobic in my own skin -as a result, I spent my entire day today inside, save for a seven minute excursion to the bank.

Earlier this week, I went out for coffee with some friends and said, “I go out almost every night these days, but I lovestaying in. I should do it more often.” After the action packed excitement of a day spent hibernating, I couldn’t agree with myself more. I actually got alot done today within these four walls. (There are more four, I just never counted.) In addition to actual work-related productivity, I did some reading, watched some really terrible TV, tried (in vain) to fix the disk drive on my laptop (help me, Internet), and decided I need a haircut. The whole thing reminded me of a conversation I recently had with Holly:

Me: I’m going out w. Melinda tonight
but like out-out, downtown sort of situation. Kinda feel like hibernating though. It’s early yet, we’ll see
Holly: hibernation!?
you aren’t a bear
Me: hibernation.
in fact i wanted to write a blog post about hibernating
1:41 PM Holly: haha
Me: i have a theory about it
Holly: that’s its nice for bears?
Me: no.
that it’s nice for me.
and that I’ll be a better person if I hibernate
Holly: hah ok
1:42 PM but for how long?
Me: TBA
Holly: I don’t like the sound of this. can you hibernate while I’m in Paris?
1:43 PM Me: it won’t be an extended period of time.
Let me run my theory by you…
Holly: haha ok
Me: If I go out like, one MAYBE two nights a week – good things will happen.
because we already know i like staying in anyway – i just rarely do -let me explain:
1:44 PM 1. I’ll have more money because I won’t have to buy drinks, spend money on gas / train / subway things. Won’t eat out as often and so on.
2. With said saved money, i’ll be able to buy cool stuff – like books, music and movies which I’ll have time to read / listen to / watch. And cool clothes – all the time.
3. Considering the above, when I DO go out – I’ll have rad outfits, and have cool things to say because I’m super cultured from the books and movies, and people will be glad to see me, because they miss me.
the last part of that of course, assumes that my friends like me.
that’s my theory.
1:45 PM Holly: its a good theory, I like it.
Holly: but do your friends like you?
Me: you tell me.

———————

(I never noticed how often I use dashes in internetspeak before)

If you start seeing me less, it’s not because i’m too busy, too cool, or uninterested in hanging out with you. It’s most likely because i’m testing this theory of mine or feel claustrophobic in this North East weather.

Realistically, I highly doubt i’d be able to go more than three or four days without seeing my friends. Even if you / they just came here and hibernated with me – I need the interraction. But it’s still something I consider. Going out is expensive, and I usually have just as much fun staying in (either here, or at someone else’s place) and just enjoying eachothers’ company.

What do you think? Hibernate for the summer? How should I get my hair cut?

And, of equal or lesser importance: should I go to grad school?
p.s. Kara, feel better. I love/miss you. Let’s stay-in soon.)

The “Standard” Resume Debate

I re-did my resume earlier this week for two reasons:

1. My internship is ending, and they’ve asked me to stay on as their web copy writer.  Hooray.

and 2.  For a class assignment. 

In doing this assignment, I’ve been actively disagreeing with my professor about whether a resume  should one-page or not.  Personally, I think that if there’s important and relevant information that can’t fit on one page, you shouldn’t omit it just because it’s not the standard – you want to stand out and get noticed by the recruiter.  Maybe it’s just me, but I think the one-pager is restrictive, and one-dimensional, which is the last thing you want to appear as to a potential employer. 

Because I’m an advertising major, a lot of the times that I’d apply for a job, my resume would be accompanied by not only the standard cover letter, but also a portfolio of sorts, so there’s leniency with “following the rules” in this regard.  I’m pushed to “think outside of the box” and “colour outside of the lines,” so adhering to the standard just seems contradictory to the nature of the work. 

Whatever way you slice it, a resume and cover letter are advertisements.  You really need to sell yourself to the recruiters and get noticed.  With this mind set, and the fact that there really is no cut and dry way of doing this things successfully, I see the “standard” as being a bad thing.  I’m not saying that anyone should make their resume 2 pages if they can fit it all on one, but I hate to think that people leave things out, or literally sell themselves short, because “that’s the standard.”

I’ve spoken to a few people who have been in recruitment positions and asked them their thoughts, and they’ve all agreed with me.  I’ve gotten,

 ”What? One page? No.”

and “It should be as long as it needs to be.”

I’ve also asked a few friends, who have given me mixed responses.  Although they agree with my over-all concept, they also think that having a two-page resume could spell doom, because some H/R departments are very strict and won’t accept them.  Luckily, I also (reluctantly) have a one page resume because i’m not a complete anarchist.  

What are your thoughts, internet?  How long is your resume, and do you think (assuming it’s more than one page) you could fit it into one without omitting something important?  Would you still hire a two-page resume anarchist like me?

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.

I’ve recently had two seperate conversations about teleportation. It was a little odd, but they made sense contextually.  Both conversations started because teleportation would have solved our problems.  I could teleport myself to Boston to see Kara and have some toast with her.  I could teleport myself  to see Jenn, who lives only twenty minutes away.   Teleportation rules.

However, these conversations opened up a whole can of worms.  After putting a little thought into it, I’ve changed my mind about teleportation.  Essentially, I believe that teleportation, although RAD, would mean doom for mankind.  The world would fall into shambles as we all literally became one global community.   You want to hang out with a kid from Madagascar? Oh ok.  Guess what?!  You just got some weird disease that they only have there and you brought back one of Darwin’s birds, now they’re killing the Blue Jay’s that hang out at Sean’s.   This is the end.

Economies would fall apart.  People would become even fatter and lazier as we wouldn’t ever need to walk or drive anywhere.  McDonalds drive thu would be useless, just teleport your food to your couch.  You don’t even have to get into the car.  Double Cheeseburger, no pickles?  ZAP.  Fat.  (Although, this would lower the chances of drunk drivers getting into accidents in the name of 4th meal.  But Teleportation Under the Influence (TUI) would become an issue.)

You would meet every creepo who added you on myspace, in real life.  Rick from Florida thinks you’re cute?  Guess what, he’s in town and wants to meet up.  E-voiding people would become next to impossible.  You can’t put your teleportation machine on vibrate and say “oh i didn’t hear you teleport in.  It was on vibrate”. 

Those PSA’s they run on NBC late at night would be useless.  It’s 11PM, do you know where your children are?  Well, they could be asleep or they could be in Antarctica.   And hanging out with an Antarctic drug dealer as well. 

Technically, would teleportation enable time travel?  If I sent myself from here in Connecticut, US of A back home to Sydney, AU of Stralia, where they’re ahead something like 14 hours- would have I just broke some time / space continuum? 

I just read a little about teleportation in Wikipedia (can you tell i’m bored at work?) and my brain exploded. This is too much.  There’s a reason I didn’t major in Physics.

But I can certainly conclude that I do not support the scientific exploration of creating teleportation for every day use.

On that note, I’m out.

Please teleport responsibly.