Author: Angie World

My life is as open as I want it to be. I am a massive coffee addict, a lover of the written word, glitter and anything with Dean Cain in it.
Posted on

Baked Avocado

Today was a soccer match watched at Vickery Park Bar in Dallas, TX.

This is an ode to the amazing brunch I had I this place today. I got the chef’s special: Baked Avocado, avocado, stuffed with chorizo, egg and queso fresco. Served with a tomato medley, hashbrowns and BBQ ranch.

I first saw a picture three days ago on Instagram, I was immediately intrigued. I had to have it, I ordered, hoping to not be disappointed.

I was not, it was pure perfection, the hashbrowns had red onion cooked with them. I wouldn’t have thought of this, I’ve always cooked with white or yellow onion. The red was a milder flavor, not overpowering the potato flavor. The sauce was lightly drizzled on, once again not overpowering.

The flavors all worked together and created a culinary delight that I will think about for days.

I have yet to get a bad meal in this place. This is a pure, old fashioned advert for the place. I don’t get anything out of it, they don’t know me from Adam. I simply believe greatness deserves to bet touted.

Also, no matter how busy, and it’s way busy during these games, I have never gotten bad service.

The wait staff is excellent at their jobs, going about unobtrusively and professionally.

If you are in the area it is a not to be missed experience.

Posted on

Movie Review: Everybody Wants Some!!

I’ll admit it, it’s been a long time since I have gone to to a movie theater to see something other than a superhero or science fiction movie. I had almost forgotten the joys of seeing a film that doesn’t have a hero, no one dies, no fights, well there are fights but they are human fights, no car chases, no explosions, nothing but really great acting, dialogue and character development.

Everybody Wants Some!!, exclamation points are in the title, not added by me.

The movie is set in 1980 and just spans 5 days in the life, the first five days one arrives at college. It is about the guys on the baseball team, and it is funny, smart, endearing and at time one feels embarrassment. Embarrassment if they are from that time and realized wow I did that and that and that and wore that and that and omg that’s my hair.

The soundtrack is one of the best I have heard in years, I tried to download it as soon as I left the theater, however it is not available on ITunes. I am ordering the CD, it is also offered on cassette, if it had been offered on vinyl I would have ordered it in a heartbeat.

I highly recommend this movie to everyone in my generation, Richard Linklater truly captured the period, in speech, clothing, cars, attitude and music. There is not one thing that is not spot on, from a college kid trying to put a waterbed on the second floor of an older home to the types of music that were fighting for domination that year.

I admit I went to see it based on the poster, based on the time period it was set in, I didn’t know what to expect, what I got was a great movie experience.

If you are like me, and have not gone to a movie that is not a blockbuster in a while, I suggest you slow down, choose a movie that is not filled with car chases, flying people, super strength people, drama in a different galaxy. I was not sorry with this selection, I fully understand this film isn’t for everyone, but if you grew up in the era I did, go see Everybody Wants Some!!. It was so fun, I laughed out loud (literally, not the emoticon kind of lol) I winced, I commiserated and I haven’t felt so happy in a movie in a long time.

The movie just made me happy to be sitting in the theater, I can’t even begin to explain it.

The whole experience was terrific, I had never been to the Alamo Drafthouse Theater before and I was delighted with it.

It was almost like going to someones home and sitting in their hometheater room. Only here someone waits on you and brings you food, you don’t have to go get it and you can order whatever you want.

Definetly something everyone should try at least once.

 

 

Posted on

Dean Cain Awesomeness 

Today is the day I have been waiting for since 1993, Dean Cain liked something I said. Well, he liked one of my tweets and yes people I have the proof!

I woke to it this morning, I squealed like 12 year old Angie at a Bay City Roller sighting. 

I scared the Irishman half to death, when I explained my excitement he laughed. Then he became worried, Dean Cain is in my prenup. 

He has been and will remain the prettiest man on the face of the planet. 

The Irishman is a little worried now, which he should be and I am deliriously happy. And I don’t even believe in happiness! 

Happy, happy Wednesday! I hope everyone’s day starts as mine did. With Dean Cain goodness!

  

Posted on

Meeting

I don’t know if I’ve ever told the story of how the irishman and I met. Since I can’t remember and I am quite prolific in my writing, I’ll tell it now. 

I was sitting at work, minding my own business, when this chat pops up. I don’t know this person, I can’t even begin to pronounce his name, and he was rude. No good morning, no introduction, just a demand for information. 

So, me being me, I say to the group of people I’m sitting amongst, who is this person. I can’t even pronounce his name, I don’t know him. If anyone really knows me, I believe you can hear the disdain dripping from my voice. 

A co-worker jumps up, looks at my screen and says oh it’s that Irish guy. Me: “what Irish guy?” Him: “Angie, the only Irish guy that works here.” Me: “No clue.” Him: “The redhead.” Me: “oh, I thought he was Scottish, I was going to have him introduce me to the Bay City Rollers.” The looks at that comment are not worth describing. 

I answer his query and think that is that. Never gave it another thought. Majorly disappointed I have once again missed my opportunity to meet the BCR. The next day I get another chat, no good morning, no how are you, just another demand for information. This time I think to myself oh heck no. I type good morning and sit back and wait. And wait. And wait. 

Finally he gets the hint, says well it isn’t a good morning because he has this issue. I laugh, give him his answers and that is that. 

The next day I get a chat, it says good morning, see I can learn. 

That’s what started the whole thing, he irritated me, then became persistently irritating then won me. 

Posted on

My Adopted State

I’m an Oklahoman, born and bred, everything about me screams Oklahoma. From my love of the University of Oklahoma (Boomer!) to my speech patterns. 

However, I choose to live in Texas, for so many reasons. First and foremost my children are Texans. They will not be leaving the state so therefore neither will I. 

There was a time I seriously considered moving back home. It was right after my divorce, my dad had just passed away and I felt I needed to move back. Especially at the funeral, so many people were telling me I had to move back and take care of my mom. I felt overwhelmed, I already had three people that were depending on me, I didn’t even know if I could handle a fourth. 

I thought and thought about it, I prayed a lot, then one night, after putting my children to bed, I called my mom. Crying, incoherent, she finally understood what I was saying. I didn’t want to move back to Owasso. I had built a life in Texas, I didn’t want to take my children away from their father. 

I’ll never forget what she said; “Angie, why on earth would you think you had to take care of me? I’m a grown woman, besides that, there are three others that live here. They’re older than you and can take care of me. You need to grow where God planted you.” It was freeing, having her blessing. 

So I stayed in Texas, raised my children, made great friends that became family. I have never once regretted my decision to stay and grow where God planted me. 

Even though I didn’t go back home to Owasso, I’m still an Oklahoman in my heart.

  

Posted on

Life

I was going through my photos on my phone last night and came across one that I forgot I took and it was recently. I think I’ll tell the whole story behind the picture, here goes:
Way back in the 1990’s I got a divorce, I worked three jobs, raised three kids and went to school, it wasn’t an easy time in my life. Somewhere in the mid 90’s my ex-husband decided to sue me for custody of our children. I think to say it was rough would be an understatement.
It was while this was going on my art history professor gave us an assignment, go to the museum and choose an ancient Egyptian piece that moves you and write about it. Easy enough, I love the museum and I LOVE Ancient Egyptian, well anything.
So off I went, in search of the perfect piece, so many to choose from, I finally settle on a statuette of Basttet. I have it, I’m done, so I can enjoy the rest of the day, wondering around aimlessly, taking in all of the beauty and wonder the DMA has to offer.
Then I see it, a painting that calls to my soul, my battered and bruised soul. It was a landscape of a cemetery, one that has clearly seen better days.
A cemetery that is on the coast, it has been forgotten, forsaken, the weeds have begun to overtake it the weather batters it and yet it still stands.
It stands, the headstones are weatherworn but readable, the people will not be forgotten.
It spoke to me, I was incredibly battered at that time, alone, forgotten, yet standing, I knew in that instant I wasn’t alone, that someone, somewhere had felt the way I was feeling.
My knees buckled and the tears just flowed, a security guard came over with a chair and said the painting does that to a lot of people. He handed me a tissue and said for me to take my time.
I didn’t write about Basttet, I couldn’t, my heart was too full of what I had just learned about myself from one painting.
My art history professor didn’t give me a pass but she did encourage me to go into some form of writing.
Last month the Irishman and I went to the DMA, I specifically wanted to see if my painting was still there. It was, it still invoked such emotion in my soul I had a hard time looking away from it.
I know whatever life throws at me, I am strong, I am resilient and I am not really alone, God walks with me, Jesus saved my soul.
 

Posted on

Tech Support Contact Tips

Well, hello old friend, it’s been a while, so much has happened, so many things have irritated me, so many things that don’t deserve being put down in print.

But there is one thing that I will put down, I work in tech support for a major telecommunications corporation, I believe I have said that before.

I work in a department that supports not only internet but television and voice as well, here are a few things I would like for you to know, to make it easier on you and me (or someone like me) when you call in for assistance.

 

  1. Don’t yell and scream at me.  I am here to help you.  Have you ever helped anyone who just yells and shouts at you?  I am more willing to help you if you are calm and patient.  It does not matter what happened before you arrived on my line.  I have no control over that and cannot change it.  I can help you however, and yelling doesn’t work.
  2. There are certain things I HAVE to get before I can even start to help you.  I am not asking again because I want to annoy you, it’s because I do not have it, and it is required in order for me to assist you.  Yes, I know it can be frustrating, I agree.  That doesn’t change the fact that I still need it.  You may have provided it to people before me, but that does not mean I see it.  It does not mean “the notes” that you ask us to check are accurate.  Please tell me, so that I know your issue exactly from your mouth and can properly assist.  The reason you are speaking to me is because the people you spoke to before couldn’t help you.  Part of that reason may be because they didn’t understand the problem.

 

III. Part of the information I do require is that you have to be able to authenticate the account and that you are authorized to make changes.  This is not just something made up.  This is in place for numerous reasons, but mainly to protect you, the customer.  Just because you know you are authorized does not mean I do.  I do not know you personally, you are a voice on the other end of the line.  Federal law and company policy REQUIRE authentication.  You don’t want me to break the law do you?

 

  1. Believe it or not, you are not perfect.  I have much more experience with customer problems than you do, so I am coming from more knowledge than you have.  About 75% of issues are customer created.  This means it was not the company who caused the issue, it was you.  Guess what?  We don’t mind.  It’s OK to screw up.  We are here to help.  If you’ve done something you shouldn’t have by mistake and know it, it really does help us if you tell us that.  If we know what you have done, we can then undo what you’ve done.  We really don’t mind that.

 

  1. This technology has been around now for quite some time.  You depend on it now, and it’s a big part of your life.  Take time to learn about what you use.  You did learn how to drive, so learn how to use devices that take up so much of your life.  Believe me, it makes your life so much easier.  Many places have free classes on how to use computers.  TV remotes are nothing new.  We do provide a guide when you get your remote.  Please read through and try and get familiar with how it works.  We know you hate having to call us.  This can be avoided by learning how things work.

 

  1. Going back to computers again.  Computers and the internet is not something new.  I am guessing you aren’t new to it.  You have been using them personally and probably in your job for quite some time.  The name of the browser you use; the address bar is not “technical lingo”.  This is common language you use in relation to devices you have interacted with on a daily basis for many years.  The URL/Web address is something you have been typing over and over.  Again, not lingo.

These are all simple things that in this day and age almost everyone should know. I give a pass to everyone 60 and older. Although, I had a sharp 90-year-old gentleman the other day that was an absolute delight to work with. He was simply amazing; do you want to know what made him amazing? He didn’t scream, he didn’t speak down to me, he said Angie I don’t know if the problem is you guys or me. Can we figure it out? I said absolutely, let me make sure it isn’t us before starting on your end. It ended up being him, but with him following my directions we got him back online in no time and he was able to see the new pictures of his great-grandchildren that had just been posted online. I considered it my best call of the day.

 

VIII.   If you call me, I want to help you, it is not only my job, it’s my nature, I love solving problems. The more complicated the better, there is nothing I love more on my job than getting you connected, being able to watch your favorite shows or talking to your loved ones. It is rewarding to hear the joy in your voice when we work together and get you up and running.

 

My favorite customers are my older ones, maybe because I am fast approaching that part of my life, or maybe some of them remind me of my mom, dad or aunts and uncles. I just want their services to work and the experience be as seamless as possible. They are a joy to work with and I let them know that.

I will be honest, if you come on screaming and cursing at me or another person in my position we will shut down, you will not get the same quality of service you would have if you had come on the line, calmly explained the issue and allowed us to ask the questions we HAVE to, then get to figuring out what is going on and getting you on your way as soon as possible.

I will let you know, for the ones that make disparaging remarks about my pay or my level of education. I am highly skilled at what I do, I am highly trained, not only at the job I do now, but in multiple areas of the major telecommunications corporation I work for. I have been around a long time, I make good money, and I am highly educated. I am from America, I don’t know why I am asked that, given my Owasso accent. Of course since I am in Texas now, I tell them well, not exactly, I’m in Texas and we think we are our own country.

There you have it, my tips for making your tech support experience better, not great, because you had to call in to begin with. But we really do want to help you.

Oh, one more thing, pricing, I’m in tech support, there is only so much I can do for pricing and credits. I have nothing to do with movie coupons, don’t use them at home, don’t care about them and know absolutely nothing about them. Billing is what you want then.

 

 

 

Posted on

Keep Lookin’ Up

Easter was the first time ever, that I had all of my children on a holiday, it was nice, the only one missing in the family was Tessa. It was her mom’s turn for Easter.

I would like to make it clear I don’t consider myself Stacy’s mom, she is my daughter, but I am not her mother. She has a mother, she has a father, and they have and continue to be good parents to her.

I haven’t written in a while because my thoughts are scrambled, there is too much going on in the world, in the United States, in Texas and in McKinney. It’s insanity I tell ya, the world is totally going to hell in a hand basket faster than we can imagine.

So, the Irishman has decided we are married, he told me that we were, I scoffed, he said look it up. Sure enough, in Texas, we meet the requirements of common law marriage. AS a matter of fact, if we broke up, we would have to divorce.

Now he has it in his head that we need wedding rings and has changed his status on Facebook to married.

I really don’t know how I feel about this, in his mind I think he sees it as a renewed commitment to me. To our relationship, to let others know he will not entertain interference from outside forces. Maybe this is more of a reminder for him, than I, that he is in a relationship, that we do live together and have since 2010. I don’t know, it’s just kind of unsettling to come home to ring size papers everywhere.

The days are getting longer, there is no chance of me getting snow this year, I am sad, I didn’t get it once this year. Not one single time, it is disheartening, when there is no snow I believe God is angry with me, that there is something I was supposed to do for him and didn’t.

I’ll have to figure it out before next year, as I want snow, desperately want snow, it is the great equalizer of the world. The way it blankets the earth in pure, sparkly whiteness, making even the ugliest of landscapes beautiful. There is something magical, pure, a giant blanket giving the earth warmth. I miss it, I crave it, I need it and it renews my soul, my soul is hurting this year from the lack of snow.

Yes, I now it sounds crazy and no, I do not care, you have your thing, I have mine.

I do look forward to summer, to being able to have Tess more, to take her to the pool, skating, bowling and maybe a trip to the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. That would be incredible.

That is a trip my mother always wanted to take, so me taking Tessa would be honoring her memory. Then maybe a side trip to Silver Dollar City, how fun would that be! I’ll have to map it out and see how far it is and see if there are hotels near these places.

I know there is around Silver Dollar City, the other is in question.

TTFN, see ya soon, and remember keep lookin’ up, cause that’s where it all is! (Yes a Kidd Kraddick quote to end this)

Posted on

United We Stand

So much horror in the world, brutal, horrible, terrible things happening and yet people still find time to be petty, small minded and mean-spirited. It’s horrifying really, the small things that I witness, women who can’t seem to understand that they should find a man that is free and clear instead of choosing ones that are taken.

Backbiting, backstabbing, being just ugly towards one another, it is rampant, only we can turn the tide. Politicians can’t do it, world leaders can’t do it, even church leaders can’t do it, only the people can.

Us, we are the people, we are the ones that can change this world, we don’t have to wait for an election, we don’t have to wait for Jesus to come back. Do we, as Christians, seriously want him to come back and find us like this?

I, myself, have been judged (by me) and the jury has come back and I have been found guilty of doing some of these things. Not the man thing, that is just not coded into my DNA, but the pettiness, the judging people on outward appearances. Judging people on speech patterns, no not speech patterns, that’s wrong, grammar, that one stays. We have all gone to school, we have all had the same elementary to high school opportunities in this country. I will especially judge if you are a college graduate and it will be brutal if you are a teacher and make these common mistakes.

I cannot seem to change that about myself, I believe that is coded into my DNA as well, my mom told me once that during the sermon she would take apart the preachers grammar. She said that she was shocked by the lack of grammatical skills he had. She said she happily did this every Sunday, until one-day God hit her on the head. She realized she was missing what he was saying, she was so busy being judgmental she missed the message.

Man this is a hard one, I so want to be a grammar policewoman, but on the other hand, my mothers lesson stays with me. Am I missing what people are trying to impart by being so judgmental?

Yes, yes I am, it will still bother me, a lot, but I am going to try and look past the grammatical errors and really see and hear what the other person is trying to impart to me. They might have real words of wisdom, God might even be trying to tell me something through someone else, I have been so busy being superior that I have missed it. Shame on me. I should have learned my mothers lesson long ago.

In this world of terror, we seem to live in, let us, the people, really listen to one another, not rhetoric, not double-speak, but each other. We have so much more in common than we do differences. Let’s not be divided as a people by rabble-rousers, let’s not judge on speech patterns, idiosyncrasies or by regional division. Divided we fall, United we stand. The UNITED States of America. That is what we are, as one, as a people, no matter our skin tone, no matter our way of speaking, no matter our accents, no matter our manner of dressing and no matter which part of the country we live in.

United we Stand. So, let’s stop the judging, start the healing and start some conversations about where we want to go as one.

 

Posted on

Discombobulated 

The world has collectively lost its mind. Everything is upside down, I feel discombobulated, disheartened and at times disgusted. So I decided I needed something simple, something true and earnest in its belief that America is the best country in the world. 

Yes, I am re-reading the Little House books, for the millionth time. At the same time I’m listening to the BeeGees. It just takes me back to a much simpler time. 

A time before cell phones, Internet, Facebook and insanity. There are times, while reading the series, I wish I had lived in that era. Then Laura talks about bathing once a week and I’m out. Hygiene is important. 

There is one thing that has me, very literally shaking my head. I have seen it several times and this is not the first election I have seen it. 

If you are voting for (fill in the blank) delete me from your friend list. More than once I have seen a person say ok. I admit, out of sheer curiosity I have gone to their friend list. Sure enough, the person that said ok is gone. 

Let me tell you something, if the way I am voting defines our friendship, please feel free to not be my friend. But I have to tell you this, I don’t base my friendships on political affiliations. 

I base friendship on kindness, humor, addictions (coffee, reading and shoes) and other commonalities. Seriously, with the majority of my friends, politics only comes up every four years. And if we don’t agree, well we agree to disagree. 

Also, in this country, my ballot is a secret, my business. Not yours. And yours is not mine. 

I do love a good political debate, however in this climate one cannot be had. 

So, from this point forward, I will refrain from discussing politics with almost everyone.