Hi there! Official Intro to The Michele Zone

[Michele Zone]

This is my Official Intro. I already spouted off elsewhere without first introducing myself. I actually have manners. I just don’t always know where I left them.

(Warning: You are now entering The Michele Zone. Please bring your sense of humor.)

The name is Michele. (I bet you guessed that.) I am still a college student but I will probably be launching my own business -- any minute now -- rather than getting a boring old job with a nice steady, secure paycheck. Sort of like that Chinese Curse: May you live in Interesting Times.

My academic background includes an AA in Humanities and a Certificate in GIS. I will soon complete my Bachelor’s in Environmental Resource Management with a Concentration in Land Use Planning and Policy. I have also picked out the college where I intend to get my Master’s in Planning and Development Studies.

I do not have a business yet, but I do have a business card, a website, and some ‘customers’. I have traded skills with a friend who has been hosting my website on her business’ website (as well as doing the design and webmistressing). I recently designed a brochure for her, tweaked her logo, and critiqued her catalog so she could improve it.

I also have been doing pro bono consulting work for a homeless shelter where I did an internship last year. I am nearly done automating their paperwork system to the degree they desire, except for this little detail of designing a database for them. I have been saving that baby for last and hope to begin wrestling it to the ground sometime real soon. lol.

On top of that, I do pro bono consulting concerning environmental and planning issues for a friend who is basically a full time political activist in New Mexico. I have ‘fed’ her information and resources, given her a strategy based on economic analysis and legal standing and will be helping her lay the ground work for their newly minted official planning organization so they can do economic development as part of their overall aim of protecting an underprivileged neighborhood that has, historically, suffered enormously from social injustices.

Additionally, there is all that research I have done concerning the rail plan in my county. I put my school project up on my website, listed the url in a brochure I designed, and then handed it out to a few planners and other folks in my county. As I understand it, a lot of planners (and other folks) are not happy with the existing plan and have argued against it kind of ‘from their gut’ but did not have any hard data to really back them up. I have the research. But I have not yet figured out how to really get the word out that there exists many thousands of dollars of research done by a college student (moi) across 4 different classes (including 2 of my GIS classes) available for use by the local planners. (Any suggestions would be welcome.)

I am looking forward to joining in, biting off more than I can chew, sticking both feet in my mouth, and other rituals of being the latest newbie.

 

[PlannerGirl]

Wow welcome and by all means keep up the humor-we love that sort of thing here-afterall we are "squares" and planners ;-)

PG

 

[SGB]

Welcome! Loved the intro. Hope you enjoy the organized chaos here.

 

[Tranplanner]

*singing* "Michele, ma belle..." I love that song.

welcome!

 

[Michele Zone]

Organized chaos? This is really sedate, compared to what I am used to dealing with. lol. I usually hang out in a very different part of cyberspace. I have been meaning to go find this portion of it for a while. But, you know what road is paved with Good Intentions. I finally got here. At long last. Better late than never and all that.

I am glad my humor is appreciated. In another forum, they tried to get up a lynch mob and run me out of town for my sense of humor. (Of course, it might have had something to do with posting all that humorous stuff while awake for 40 hours straight coming off of serious meds. Gee, some people are so sensitive. lol)

 

[donk]

welcome

we can always use another comedienne.

 

[el Guapo]

Welcome

 

[Chet]

Who said organised? Welcome.

 

[Downtown]

Good lord girl, I'm impressed with your ambition! Always happy to have the funny girls join the group. Welcome!

 

[biscuit]

Welcome.

 

[giff57]

Organized chaos? This is really sedate, compared to what I am used to dealing with. lol. )

That's because we are a bunch of dorks

 

[Cardinal]

I think we got ourselves another Commie Planner here! Watch out, this site is filled with gun-totin' conservatives!

But seriously, don't fret. In a few years that idealism and ambition to solve the world's problems will all be burned out of you, and you can go about your day quietly reviewing subdivision plats and wasting time on Cyburbia. Hey! You're already here! Congratulations, it has begun.

 

[Budgie]

Howdy !!!

A hungery activist planner is exactly what these old farts around here (myself included) need to hear from. Howdy! You should apply your trade to Curry County, NM. IMO, Clovis is the armpit of the country. No offense intended, but having lived there for three years, I think I'm qualified to make this statement. Where else would you build your town to the northeast of the stockyards.

 

[nerudite]

Wow... you must be busy with all that do-goodin'. I hope you find time to post some more around these parts...

 

[H]

welcome

 

[NHPlanner]

welcome :b

 

[Habanero]

Yay! Another female!

 

[Runner]

Great intro, welcome aboard!

 

[Suburb Repairman]

Wow! You've been busy! It's good to see there are still a few "activist planners" out there! Welcome from another poor starving college student!

 

[Michele Zone]

Tranplanner – are you making a pass at me? Or do you just not speak any French? Lol. (Nevermind. If you are in Canada, you can probably drool and ogle all you like and ‘no harm done.’)

Donk – thanks. Comedienne sounds so much classier than ‘class clown’, which is what I usually get called (when they are being NICE about it!).

Hey, Downtown. Please, let me set the record straight before you go ruining my reputation: I am not ‘ambitious’. I am just entertaining myself until The Grim Reaper decides to take me away from all this.

Giff57 – yeah, I kinda noticed that you’re a bunch of ‘dorks’ (not the word I would have used, though). I was beginning to wonder if I really wanted to stay on this track or if I should change career plans. Then I noticed that some folks here are SimCity addicts. I figured we had at least one thing in common and I would give everyone a second chance. You can’t be all bad if you play SimCity.

Michael Stumpf – Listening in on my conversations with my career military husband and then posting the ugly things he calls me to the world wide web is a blatant violation of my privacy. I must ask that you cease and desist immediately. (Actually, he has never called me a ‘Commie Planner’. He, does, however say that we live in “the communist country of California”.)

Oh, and ‘don’t get your hopes up – I ain’t that easy to break’. I sleep with one of those ‘gun-totin conservatives’ and this November will be our 19th wedding anniversary (I was a ‘child bride’). If he can’t change my evil ‘do-gooder/commie’ ways in spite of all that sex, please don’t think you have a snowball’s chance in hell.

(No offense intended. You sound reasonably polite. You may make a good ‘sparring partner’. In addition to sleeping with folks who don’t agree with anything I say, some of my best friends see the world very differently from me. I call that ‘enrichment’.)

Budgie – I am not a ‘hungry activist planner’ (you and Downtown are just hell-bent on destroying my well-deserved reputation as an unemployed bum, aren’t you? lol). I am just a mom whose kids are nearly grown. I have ‘special needs’ kids who kept me way too busy to pursue a career. I got addicted to the constant state of crisis and am too old to have any more brats of my own. So I figure it is time to adopt a county (or even a region) and take care of my 400,000 (geographically) ‘closest friends’.

In other words: The minute my life was no longer a living hell, I took off for Southern California (last year) on short notice to get my GIS certificate in 8 weeks of ‘summer school’. (And we won’t go into how folks with respiratory problems shouldn’t visit the smog.)

Habanero – Me thinks you have never been a role playing gamer. I have and I was frequently the only girl there (back when I was a girl). This has given me assets like feeling perfectly comfortable to be the last female (at nearly 4am) still at the going away party for GIS school (which was 2/3 male to begin with).

Someone made some comment to me later about ‘respectable women’ not hanging out with the guys like that. I told her “I have been married nearly 18 years and I am one of the most respectable women you will ever meet. You only got to worry when you are alone with ONE man.” (Sheesh. Anyone ever heard of ‘women’s lib’? Huh? Have we? How are we going to reach equality if folks get weird about us attending a graduation party with our peers, just cuz most of them are – eeek! – MALE!!!!)

Glad to see you are one of those brave Amazons who doesn’t mind going toe-to-toe with the guys. This world needs all it can get of such types!

Suburb Repairman – see my note to Budgie about my so called ‘activism’. And: “I am NOT a starving college student. I am the wife of a high ranking NCO and we eat regularly. Now, the state of our 12 year old car is another story…” (Just playing with you. My husband is also a college student and we live on one income. Can you say ‘Toaster leavins’?)

Have I missed anyone? (I probably have. It is not intended as a snub. That is ‘just a bonus’.)

 

[Cardinal]

Michael Stumpf – Listening in on my conversations with my career military husband and then posting the ugly things he calls me to the world wide web is a blatant violation of my privacy. I must ask that you cease and desist immediately. (Actually, he has never called me a ‘Commie Planner’. He, does, however say that we live in “the communist country of California”.)

Hmmm... I don't know of anyone here who has hunted a spouse on the web, but one or two spouses have joined in the discussions here. As a "right-thinking" military man, I'm sure the hubby would be welcomed by many of our veteran planners.

Oh, and ‘don’t get your hopes up – I ain’t that easy to break’. I sleep with one of those ‘gun-totin conservatives’ and this November will be our 19th wedding anniversary (I was a ‘child bride’). If he can’t change my evil ‘do-gooder/commie’ ways in spite of all that sex, please don’t think you have a snowball’s chance in hell.[/B]

The conservative contingent does seem to hold sway here. Another liberal voice will be very welcome. (Actually, I am in the middle myself - although I hold some very liberal and very conservative beliefs on certain topics.)

[(No offense intended. You sound reasonably polite. You may make a good ‘sparring partner’. In addition to sleeping with folks who don’t agree with anything I say, some of my best friends see the world very differently from me. I call that ‘enrichment’.) [/B]

I've always enjoyed having friends with very different views than my own. It does lead to greater undertanding, and there is always the potential for them to see the light. The important thing is to keep an open mind and agree to disagree. For the most part, that happens here.

Once again, welcome!

 

[Tranplanner]

Tranplanner – are you making a pass at me? Or do you just not speak any French? Lol. (Nevermind. If you are in Canada, you can probably drool and ogle all you like and ‘no harm done.’)

I speak "passable" french...ma belle femme est franco-ontarien. I just couldn't remember the rest of the words to the song at that moment. Plus, I didn't want to give you the wrong idea...

It is pretty hard to drool and ogle without a pic though

 

[donk]

Darn, to find out you are older and married.

I had an image of a cute naive go getter in my mind.

 

[PlannerGirl]

hey Mike I think Chet and I hold up the liberal end of the stick pretty darn well round these parts ;-)

 

[Jeff]

Can I get some of those meds you're on?

 

[Greenescapist]

Can I get some of those meds you're on?

I thought the same thing. Ritalin perhaps? It can't be weed considering the sheer length and snarkiness she's put into her messages!

 

[Belle]

Welcome!

*singing* "Michele, ma belle..." I love that song.

Lately I've developed a penchant for this song as well...

 

[Tranplanner]

Welcome!



Lately I've developed a penchant for this song as well...

Sont des mots qui va tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble...

I finally remembered!

 

[Jen]

Hello Mish, so you're banking away good karma working pro bono, eh? That works for me too!

Welcome to cyburbia!

 

[Michele Zone]

Darn, to find out you are older and married.

I had an image of a cute naive go getter in my mind.

Hey, I am a cute, naive, go-getter. Most people do not think I look 38. "Older and Married" does not rule out make it impossible to be cute, naive, or a go-getter. So, what's your point? lol

 

[Michele Zone]

Can I get some of those meds you're on?

Pay attention: I came off of them! lol. Has to do with my remark about how it is a bad idea for someone with respiratory problems to spend 8 weeks in smogland. But, I am 'clean and sober' now. (Well, relatively so.)

 

[Michele Zone]

I thought the same thing. Ritalin perhaps? It can't be weed considering the sheer length and snarkiness she's put into her messages!

Do you want a run down of my present meds? Or the ones I spent so many painful months coming off of? (assuming I can remember all of them). Or, hey, maybe neither. I didn't come here to whine about my medical issues.

I have time to put into my posts because I am still recovering from nearly dying 2 1/2 years ago, as well as from all that smog last summer. The good news is that nearly dying got the doctors to finally run some tests and find a better name for my problem than 'over active imagination'.

Since getting diagnosed, I have been able to go to college every term for 2 years straight (and counting). In many ways, I have a very full life these days but it isn't nearly as busy as it used it be. But, being pronounced medically handicapped and too sick to remain the families domestic slave has freed me up to finally pursue a career. God knows a sick person like me needs an easy desk job. You got to have energy to do laundry and clean toilets.

So, I have a lot of days when hanging out on my computer, looking for interesting folks to talk to, is about my speed. Other days, I actually do school work, pro bono work, etc. Although I am going to have to look into getting 'credit card enabled' (and maybe set up my website to accept credit cards) because a friend of mine is threatening to refer me paying clients from another state. God, my life is getting complicated now that I am hardly ever bed-ridden.

 

[donk]

So, what's your point?

I should have added young.

 

[Michele Zone]

I should have added young.

"Young" is a very relative thing. I am the 'baby' when I go 'home' to visit my parents. My father was nearly 41 when I was born and my mother was nearly 29. My sister and brother are 6 1/2 and 4 1/2 years older than me.

The rest of the time, I am married to a man who is 17 days younger than me (and about 17 years less mature) who made a career of the army -- very much a young person's game. He did not join until he was 20 when most folks go in at age 18. Additionally, we got married at age 19 and we are fast approaching our 19th wedding anniversary. He is older than some of his bosses (although he 'looks 38' even less than I do). We have 2 teenaged boys. Most men around his age who have made a career of the military either a) are on wife number 3 or 4 or b) are 'newlyweds' with an infant or toddler.

This means that I am ancient and archaic and decrepit -- as well as a font of wisdom, knowledge, and experience to guide clueless folks who are new to the army culture -- most of the time. Then I go home and my mom, now in her 60's, deems me to be competent to do the same jobs she deemed me to be competent to do when I was 10 years old (like straighten out the cluttered draws of her sewing machine cabinet).

If my marriage were to end, I would scheme to marry someone substantially older than me (preferably with failing eyesight) who can view me as 'a pretty young thing'. Having spent my 20's and 30's as an OLD (and ugly) person, I would like to be 'young and beautiful' in my 40's and 50's -- if I can arrange it.

So watch your tongue, you young whippersnapper! lol.

 

[bocian]

welcome!!!

 

[The Irish One]

congrats on your upcoming anniversary and welcome to Cyburbia