Leanna

Unfortunately, not great. I don't think I followed the recipe correctly. It was a complete mess! I'll try again though. :)

I am DEFINITELY using this word, lol!

Those sound good Babs! I am not a big fan of zucchini, but I would try that! If you have any recipes for the chips, can you post them here? Thank you. :)

I also made Kale chips for the first time ever. They turned out well, but very spicy. I think I accidentally sprinkled a little too much cayenne on them:

Stir-fry tonight. :)

Sorry to hear you're sick Rob! Hope you feel better. The good news is, you have the right mindset and an excellent attitude! I was also one of those smokers who used to smoke regardless of how crappy I felt. Even when I had a migraine, I would force myself to get out of bed and have a cigarette. The addiction had such a hold on us when we were smokers. Quitting shows us how silly we were -- I couldn't even imagine lighting up now while sick. That sounds like a terrible idea to me!

It really is a terrible job, but most call centres are willing to hire just about anyone, so it's hard not to get sucked in. I was among the top agents at my old job and consistently received positive feedback from customers, but in the 1.5 years I was working there, I only received one bonus. A girl who was constantly late and was off "sick" every week received more bonuses than I did. They do bonuses quarterly and they pull agents off the floor to tell them, so we knew who got a bonus and who didn't. It was embarrassing and very demotivating. Even though I worked my ass off and was good at my job, I didn't get bonuses because I wasn't buddy-buddy with my supervisor or management. I wasn't sleeping with anyone in management and I didn't smoke weed/hang out with them after work. It is all about favortism. My supervisor was actually in a relationship with an agent (they lived together), so she was untouchable -- she could do anything without getting in trouble, including dropping calls and making personal phone calls while at work.

Yummy! I wish I could eat eggs. They make my mouth water whenever I see pictures of eggs, haha.

Also, in regards to asking questions while on the floor, there is usually only one or two supervisors per about 100 agents. You were expected to "find the answer yourself" with your limited resources. You were made to feel stupid for asking questions. Sometimes we could call the higher techs, but if you have 100+ agents calling, there's a huge waiting time to get in touch with someone. At my most recent call centre job, there was no way to jump between the higher tech line and the customer, so my customers usually had to wait 10-20 minutes before I could even reach someone.

I have worked in call centres since 2007. They are very hostile environments and it's a very stressful job. Training is typically between 1-4 weeks. Many people quit before they finish training. As an agent, you are supposed to take a lot of abuse for customers. Often times, you get in trouble for disconnecting on a person who is yelling/swearing/threatening you. The tools that a call centre rep uses every day can be very overwhelming as you have to have 10-20 screens open. While you're taking calls, you are usually expected to upsell and respond to emails. Every move you make is monitored and every call you take is recorded. I have watched people escorted out of the building for getting upset at a customer who was verbally abusive to them. I have also watched management walk around with "pink slips" and fire people. A family member died and when I asked to take some time off to be with my dad, my supervisor told me that, "Oh, your dad is older. I'm sure he's dealt with death before. He'll be fine." There is a lot of gossip and drama. It's a lot like high school. Some people do whatever it takes to fit in. It's all very childish and unprofessional. Bonuses (if any) are only given to those who are favourites of management. The call centres that are outsourced (let's face it, all of them are) have limited resources and the agents aren't trained probably and don't have access to all the tools. They are expected to read from a script and are given sh*t pay. The reason why call centres outsource so much is because they can pay someone from India about three times less than what they pay us. Of course there is the other side of this, where some agents are just downright nasty to people. It is a soul-sucking job, so there are people who lash out at customers because of how they're treated on the job. There is also agents who will call someone they know on their work phones so they don't have to take calls, or there are those who sleep with management. I'm sorry you had such a crappy experience. When I worked at a call centre, I tried my hardest to help everyone I could. That's why my feedback from customers was usually positive.

That curry looks amazing! I'll have to try it some night. :) Definitely let us know what you think.

Dinner for the last two nights. We made tacos tonight and chicken nuggets/carrots/potatoes the night before:

Taking a break from the gym today to clean and pack.

Accountability is a big thing to getting fit! Great idea. :)

I really love this thread! I get so inspired by things people make. :)

I KNEW I recognized that name! Also, you have a really yummy tasting soup named after you. :P

The younger a person is when they quit, the less at risk they are of developing smoking-related illnesses. I have always believed this. I also believe that quitting while you're young can be a bit easier than quitting after 30-40-50+ years of smoking. I wish people my age would quit more often, as tomorrow is never guaranteed -- we are not invincible or free of disease.

Thanks Scott! Steve's cooking tonight. I've been cooking pretty much every day this week, so it's his turn, lol. Your dinner looks delicious! I could live off of brussel sprouts, hehe. I love them.

Sounds like a wonderful day to me! :) Happy 10th Valentine's Day together. :D That's huge.

Big hugs ((((((Jimmy))))))))). I'm sorry you had such a terrible V-Day. :( I hope today is much better -- you deserve it!

I made stuffed peppers tonight with ground turkey and pesto instead of tomato sauce:

The day is half over, but it's still a NOPE day for me. :)

I don't know why I can't do the elliptical. My feet and legs always hurt too much for me to do long stretches on the machine. It might be because I have a lot of weight to lose still and the machine makes me put too much pressure on my ankles.

- 30 minutes on the treadmill at 3.0 mph. I have only been able to do up to 2.5, but I really wanted to push myself today. - 20 minutes on the exercise bike. - 30 minutes of walking. - 20 minutes strength training. - 25 minutes of aerobics. - This is kind of embarrassing, but 4 minutes on the elliptical. It's a machine that really hurts me, so I have been trying to build up stamina every time I hit the gym.