Sara Mooney » General

They Just Don’t Make Things…

Sara — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 07:58:08 +0000

… like they used to.

About every other year, I need to replace my jeans. I pretty much live in jeans since I work at job that allow me to dress comfortably.

Denim is generally a fairly tough material, but the past few years the manufacturing has become chintzy. It seems like designers are more worried about the whiskering and worn, broken in look than the actual quality of denim. Which… well… leads to pretty severe degradation of the fabric. Two years ago, the jeans I had for 3+ years actually wore at the hip area where I used to carry keys. That’s to be expected.

But I had a pair of Lucky Brand jeans that I purchased in February that just magically got holes in the butt area. Glad I was at home when they appeared! I would have at least expected the jeans to hold up for a year and a half, but nope. Done. Kaput. The denim was soft and worn. I guess too distressed to hold up. Definitely not worth the money paid for them. I had another pair of Lucky jeans purchased around 2003 that held up for 4 years. I wonder why their manufacturing quality standards changed?

Needless to say, I’m sticking to my Levi’s from now on. The last 2 pairs I purchased (six months before the Lucky Brand) still look decent, minus the cuffs which are starting to wear. If I want distressed jeans, I’ll do it myself.

Photo: BLUE – Jeans by Marianone (Flickr user name) and used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license.

The post They Just Don’t Make Things… appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Always in Beta

Sara — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:34:27 +0000

Clean? Here? Never...

Had do get a new theme. Obviously, it’s still being cleaned up. Please bear with us while we tidy up a bit.

The post Always in Beta appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Fortune Cookie Wisdom

Sara — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:48:41 +0000

Do not worry about a holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role.

Attention grammar police: This is written exactly as on the fortune cookie paper. Trust me. I had to do a double take as well!

If only more people would take this advice. Sometimes a person isn’t cut out to be management, and can better serve the organization in another role. Management takes mad skills, and I respect anyone who can relate, motivate, and actively engage their team without underhanded tactics.

The post Fortune Cookie Wisdom appeared first on Sara Mooney.

People are People

Sara — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:53:00 +0000

Working in the entertainment field places me in contact with the famous and superstars on a regular basis. I’ve been lucky to simply shake hands (Criss Angel), speak with (John Schneider and Warwick Davis), or give a tour of our stage (Anthony Daniels). Some I almost stepped on their head (Michael Jackson), or simply been thanked for holding a flashlight so they could see the steps better (Roy Disney). And I can’t begin to count the number of big-name bands that I designed or ran lights for their shows (DJ Skribble, NFG, Eric Benet, the Amazing Bacon Brothers…). Yet I’ve never asked for an autograph or picture. The reason why? They did their job, I did my job. Sure, they may hold fame and fortune, but they got there by doing their job and doing it well. We all simply work to live. Some simply tend to have more extravagant lifestyles than our own.

The post People are People appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Life in the Desert

Sara — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:26:00 +0000

Great, but blatant advertising.

The post Life in the Desert appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Life without TV

Sara — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:09:00 +0000

I think I made up my mind. I no longer have the want or need for cable television. Took the first step today by returning the digital HD DVR to Cox. The only reason to keep the box was for the digital music channels (yes, I’m that addicted to music). Although, I don’t get pricing levels. Price for the HD DVR and 6mb/s internet: $127.58. Price for expanded basic and 6 mb/s internet: $99 and change, or $47.95 for the cable alone. That’s really disproportionate. I watch 1 or 2 hours of TV per week — yes, that little — but can always catch up on those online. And there are also great services like Netflix for movies, Hulu to catch up on previous seasons, and all the major networks keep the current season streaming on demand. So, why should I pay $50/month for cable?

The post Life without TV appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Vendo-Man-Tic

Sara — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:26:00 +0000

Wish we could get one of these in Las Vegas!

The post Vendo-Man-Tic appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Same City, Different Feeling

Sara — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:54:00 +0000

Once again, I’m back in Montreal, QC. Needless to say, the past 5 days have been very interesting. First, I’m traveling with a group of people from work. I’m staying in the Opus Hotel that I stayed at in March, but there isn’t over a meter of snow on the ground. In fact, the construction of their new restaurant/bar is complete and the doorman/valet even remembers me and is still helping me learn French. But the most interesting thing was the work retreat to Orford. Two days of meeting and team building exercises at Hotel Cheribourg. Normally, I’m the cynic who really does not like these kinds of corporate enemas, but this group of people and the setting made all the difference. We took a school bus up there (yes, it even said “Special” on the front), and enjoyed a wonderful woodsy setting. What made it so good is the fact that we took the time between sitting in the meeting room to go outside and move around. The first day included a “Lost” teambuilding exercise. Broken into 4 teams, we had to build a raft. And have it float. And race it! The coordinators threw in a lot of contingencies to see how each group reacted. I had fun, even though I don’t exactly enjoy being in charge of a group. I’ll do it if I have to, but it wouldn’t be the first choice of role. And the food! Three and four course meals… fish, seafood, pork, chicken… soups (all cream, which I’m not a fan of) and salads… bread… cheesecake, chocolate cakes, fruit… I gained back the 3 pounds I lost last week. Top the first day off with a campfire and toasted or flambéed marshmallows, and you have a good corporate meeting. Then again, I do work for a circus, so why would I expect our meetings to be normal!

Back in Montreal yesterday and today. Saw a guy wearing one black sock and one white sock on a balcony talking on his cell phone. I witnessed a group of students forming the first protest (or extremely large pub crawl) of the school year. Saw a policeman on a Segway-like trike riding in the bike lane. Witnessed a crazy man (or high, or both) wandering around outside of headquarters as I was leaving.

And then I went shopping. Finally got an argyle sweater that I wanted for so long. Nice and thin so that I can wear it in Vegas without roasting. And I even bought socks to match!

All said and done, though. I wish I wasn’t leaving tomorrow. I’d be getting that tattoo on Saturday if I was still here.

The post Same City, Different Feeling appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Sara — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:30:00 +0000

“I don’t know where I’m going/but I sure know where I’ve been…”

This trip made me realize a few more things:

The Northeast really isn’t that bad of a place to live. There are still farmers and their markets. The job market doesn’t suck any more than anywhere else. The roads still are bad, but what do you expect with freezing and hot/humid weather in the same place. Could it be that I’m considering moving here when my contract is finished? We’ll see…
Travelling this much does NOT make me happy. I miss cooking for myself, the cat, and – label me a geek – my iMac.
My mood hasn’t been the greatest. Probably due to the fact that I haven’t gone to the gym in a week and a half and my diet sucked! Too many hot dogs, chips, and fried foods.

The post appeared first on Sara Mooney.

Updates

Sara — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:53:00 +0000

A few things:

Back in Montreal again. No snow! In fact, I got a slight sunburn from eating lunch outside earlier this week. Thoroughly enjoyed the BioDome, Insectarium, and Botanical Gardens yesterday. From all the walking, I should be back in shape in no time!
I love Coffee Crisps!
Stumbled a site called GarageBand tonight. Great site for independent/undiscovered artists. Although, I do want to give any band who thinks about placing a song on there some advice: Tune your guitar before you record and post. Crap in = crap out. I can forgive muffled recording because you can only afford so much gear, but out of tune is inexcusable!
The guy who keeps setting his car alarm off needs to have his head right next to the horn so that he can hear how annoying it is.
Yummy. Baked chicken. And rice. Yummy.
Damn the Penguins! They beat my Flyers. Hockey season is over for me. Poop.
Back to music: I get the feeling that Pittsburgh, PA, will be the next hotbed for music. Just a hunch, but I’m starting to see a lot of decent music coming from that area. Hmmm…. ponderous. I’d give a Pittsburgh band props if they could work the word “gumband” (Pittsburgh speak for rubber band) into a song.

The post Updates appeared first on Sara Mooney.