My Surreality Check Bounced

Darth Vader goes to Disneyland

2011-06-04T12:21:00.002-07:00

So, yeah, it's a commercial. But it's funnier than snot. (And why is not supposed to be funny? I've never figured that one out.)

The CDC wants you to know . . .

2011-05-21T06:38:00.002-07:00

How to prepare for a zombie apocalypse.

Everybody in my family's okay . . .

2011-01-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

but according to my sister, the judge who was shot was one of the good guys, and his loss is going to make a lot of things harder in the area where she works.

Signal boost: How the TSA handles non-standard maxi pads

2010-12-07T12:15:00.002-07:00

TSA Groin Searches Menstruating Woman

I know enough women who use cloth maxi pads or menstrual cups (which may have an externally visible tab to facilitate removal) instead of tampons that I really want to get this information out there. It's got to be each individual's personal choice whether they let this change how they approach air travel while menstruating, but we should know all the facts. Including if sometimes, it really is as bad as we think and they actually are out to get us.

Additionally, I don't really want to think about how RH would react if I were pulled out for this kind of search. My guess would be somewhere between livid and belligerent.

I've heard people suggesting that we write letters to our favorite airlines, telling them that we like their service but may no longer be able to travel with them, due to the emotional stressors of getting through the TSA's increased security. The theory is that the airlines themselves can put some pressure on the airports, who can either make changes to their security vendors or put pressure in turn on the TSA (I'm a little hazy on that last part). Does anybody have any idea if this is worth pursuing? I'm tired of other people telling me that I have to live in fear.

Holy wtf, Batman?

2010-11-02T19:05:00.003-07:00

criminalization of same-sex spouses in Wisconsin?

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-29T16:54:00.001-07:00

No, I'm Not Dead

2010-09-30T03:45:00.002-07:00

(but I'm starting to remember why I almost had an accident with an entire bottle of ibuprofen in my senior year of high school. Thank the gods I've got RH to keep keep me more grounded than my teenaged self).

Somebody actually called me to make sure I wasn't dead, I hadn't updated or been seen online in so long. So here's the short version.

* working diagnosis: fibromyalgia. I have tendinitis in both forearms so bad the swelling is visible nearly up to my elbows. I have bursitis in both hips and every other pain point associated with fibromyalgia. Today, my lower back aches in a way that means a spasm is starting. (I know this because it's the third go-round). Started right after I found out my job was fucked. Too broken to work, but not broken enough to be on disability. And my doctor can't see me again until December.

* complicating factor: anxiety attacks. The good kind featured in the Sopranos, where you can't breathe and you pass out unless you get your head between your knees really fast. Why? The job.

* dreams: shot at last night; tornadoes the night before that. I pull very little rational out of my dreams, but what I do is consistent. Tornadoes mean stress, great change, or both in my waking world. Psycho dreams (shot, stabbed, military service in ancient Rome, plague, etc.) indicate great stress in the world around me.

* the job: fucked, fucked, and fucked. Did I mention fucked? I work for company C, which contracts me to company B, which does IT for company A, the parent company of my actual workplace, where they love me. Company A fired company B and is hiring company D, instead. Company D chose not to take half the staff in our department, and company A walked them off site. We've been at half-staff, and the new sub-contractors company D brought in aren't remotely trained after only ten days. They don't even have computers they're allowed to use. Company D has already transitioned in my new boss, leaving us with exactly two techs to do the job of six.

Company B is screaming at us because we're getting behind. Company D is screaming at me because I drove my I9 to a Pennsylvania location instead of a New York one and didn't do it on their timetable. (And by *I*, I mean *we*--RH and I both had to take half a day off work, because I can't drive long distances right now due to the tendinitis). The local company can't find physical space for all the untrained butts Company D has hired to sit in chairs during ramp-up. My contract through company C ends next Tuesday. And now, company B is telling us to tell the local company that we won't do certain things for company A because we're so far behind it's hitting them in their pocketbook.

And the local company hasn't any authority to hire me directly.

I'm about ready to walk in to the CIO of the local company, tell him that company C is pink-slipping me next Tuesday, at which time I'll be unemployed, because I'm too busy doing my damn job to take time out (and ask RH to take time out) to deliver an I9 to a distant location for a second time. So if they want to retain me, either the local company or company A needs to make me a direct offer. Or company B needs to make me one that comes with a senior tech title, a senior tech pay grade, or both. Because company B has low-balled me something fierce, and there are no other options in this area and this economy.

I do not get paid enough to do this to myself. I need to stop before I end up in a room with no doorknob on the inside. And at a certain point, bosses need to be told to go stick it. I've had to do this twice in my career to this point. Each time, it's resulted in increased respect, and once, in a significant pay raise. I think the CIO is that kind of fellow . . . but he's not the one in control. So I have a council-of-war with my outgoing team lead and my incoming team lead this morning, where they try to convince me I have some other option. Oh, that's not technically what it's for, but that's what'll happen.

I need not to hurt for awhile. I live the job. Whether I want to or not, whether I mean to or not. And I'm tired of being shat on because of it.

On marriage.

2010-08-05T18:29:00.001-07:00

Yeah, this about covers it.

You all probably want to opt out of this.

2010-05-04T18:47:00.002-07:00

Spokeo -dot- com is pretending to be a phone book, and appears to actually be the results of pillaging the Internet for information about people. The resulting profiles are not guaranteed to be accurate, and I suppose that's best, since the one I found for myself includes outright lies on a level that would be considered libelous in any other situation.

I really dislike the fact that someone is guessing at my education level and credit score. If someone actually tried to use this information, I would be very offended by the results.

I'm told there is an opt-out. I'm looking for it right now. But I wanted to post this to let those of you who actually read this blog know that this creepy thing is out there, and you will probably want to opt out of it, too.

(Yes, I'm still alive. Somewhat the worse for wear. In good news, I've recently started a gluten-free diet and have suddenly begun losing weight and having less trouble with allergies that I've had since I was 15. Let's hope the trend holds).

If you're going to screw me, at least buy me dinner first.

2010-03-16T17:30:00.002-07:00

My workplace is in transition. Note, I say "my workplace," and not my company. Since last April, I've been a subcontractor. It has something to do with hiring practices, something to do with too much bureaucracy, and something to do with a very ugly business transition. To wit, my workplace is part of Company A. They had entered into a ten-year contract with Company B to do their IT. Company B brought me on board as a subcontractor (meaning I work for Company C) to help with a particular project, and they liked me so much that they decided to keep me on a growth position.

After five years, Company A filed for termination of contract with Company B, and decided to bring in Company D to do their IT, instead. In legal terms, this is called a transition of services. In common parlance, it's a clusterfuck. About ten days before I would have been a hired on permanently by Company B, all subcontractor conversions were put on hold, and for the next two months, we didn't even know who Company D would be. (We suspect Company A didn't, either). Following that was an uncertain period where we didn't know if our jobs were being whored out to Company D or brought back in-house to Company A. A couple weeks ago, we found out that almost everybody is going back to Company A except for us. We are going to Company D, apparently as a gift for some other things that Company D is doing.

Today, I got to work and found out that Company D had posted all our jobs on the Internet. Over a week ago. And not told us.

We knew we were getting fucked--we didn't know they were going to try and slip us a roofie.

The last time I worked for someplace bound and determined to work me over this bad, it left me with an anxiety condition that I will probably have until the day I die. If there were any other job opportunities, I would go elsewhere. But I live in a fairly small metropolitan area, and the economy sucks right now. RH and I have been trying to buy a house for the last six months, and I can't be without a job and have that go through, let alone make the mortgage. I just don't have a whole lot of choice except to bend over and take it.

But that doesn't mean I can't call it like I see it.

Quick update

2010-01-16T13:47:00.002-07:00

Things not usually heard in the workplace (names changed to protect the guilty):

"You know Jesus? Go to Jesus. Turn around. His left hand is pointing at it."
--Niner (paraphrased)

"There's something bigger than me out here and it wants to eat me"
--Bravo

House summary:
We finally bowed to the karmic whirlpool around the housebuying and gave up on the house we'd been working toward since September. We've found another house we're now in process on. The area is not as good and the external paint job is dreadful, but it's in much better shape and it's much larger. We figure, we're in love with the inside; the outside, we can change.

We're really hoping to be out of the apartment before the roof starts to leak again for the spring. (Not the landlord's fault--flat roofs are a no-no in this part of the country. He had no idea, before he bought the building, and nothing he does will fix the problem--every spring is full of patching between snowstorms and melt-offs, and there's a fresh coat of tar in the summer, and it starts all over again the follwoing spring).

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

2009-12-21T19:57:00.001-07:00

Pete and I can vouch for this, living in upstate New York as we presently do.

Caught in Somebody Else's Karma

2009-12-18T04:50:00.002-07:00

The house-buying is on hold, indefinitely. We expected to sign the papers yesterday or today. Instead, we discovered that the seller lied in a signed statement where she said she was in good standing on her mortgage and wasn't in bankruptcy. Turns out, she went bankrupt ten months ago and hasn't made a house payment since then. For some reason I'm not clear on but our lawyer is, this makes the house a short sale. Which means a) the bank that's foreclosing on her has to approve of the purchase, and b) we don't know if the small amount of profit from the sale that she said she'd turn over to us will be turn over-able. We kind of need(ed) that for repairs.

A friend of mine pointed out that this is starting to feel like karma, and he's right. But it doesn't feel like our karma. Our karma's been consistently sweeping us toward this house. No, this feels more like we've been caught up in her karma, somehow. I suspect you don't develop the kind of drug problem that causes you to lose your home of seventeen years without acquiring some bad karma along the way.

All the same, we've now up to no christmas tree, no house, up to our ears in already-packed boxes, and canceling changes of address and utilities with nothing to show for it. Not a way to get into the spirit of the holiday season. And oh yeah: If we find someplace else we'd rather buy (unlikely, but we're searching again, hedging our bets against that karma thing), we'll be out between $1000 and $2000 we've already put into this process (I'm not sure if we'd lose our earnest money or not since the offer we signed was with the seller, and she apparently doesn't have the authority to sell the house).

I so badly need a mental health day, and my freakin' status as a subcontractor (which is also indefinite, since the entire IT for the site I work at is up in the air) means I don't even get paid holidays, let alone PTO I could use for a mental health day. With three days without pay next week during which we're going to RH's folks' house for the holidays, I really can't afford to take one more day off this pay period. That I'm thinking about it anyway is indicative.

A few thoughts on Christmas

2009-12-11T20:42:00.002-07:00

Funny and a little sweet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0s68-GLGWY

In other news, like I haven't already fallen off the face of the earth--we hope to be moving into a new house next week or next weekend. I may not even be replying to e-mails and I don't know how the move if the internet service will go re: possible downtime. I apologize in advance.

On Houses

2009-10-22T09:28:00.002-07:00

I'm home with a sinus infection today--already got the antibiotics, but the fatigue's just wiping me out and the sinus pressure's threatening to trigger a migraine . . . but I can type with my eyes closed, so you're getting updates. Woohoo! On the plus side, it's the first sinus infection in five months, and only my third of the year, both of which are near-records for me (at the very least, it's the first time I've been in this situation in some years)--so all the word medical professionals have been doing with me to get to the root of the problem seems to be helping.

So . . . there is a house. RH saw it driving by a historic B&B for work and noticed the For Sale sign months ago. But we've been having financing problems (the "temporary" status of my contract job and a couple places he's never owed money to deciding to send him to collections and then failing to clear it up properly), so we've been moping. Without pre-approval, we didn't have any good way of getting a recommendation for a realtor, and without a realtor, we didn't have any way of seeing the inside of the house.

One day, maybe 3.5 weeks ago, we were having brunch in a diner around the corner from it and I was moping and asked if we could drive by the pretty house. And we did, and saw there was an open house scheduled for the following day. We went and instantly knew we were in trouble (we were standing in the basement while the seller's realtor was upstairs with another couple, and I confessed to RH that I was already in love with the inside as much as the outside and we hadn't even seen the upstairs, yet). But we also came away with a recommendation for a mortgage broker (you wouldn't think that would have been so hard, but we'd been having a devil of a time finding one who'd return our calls).

The mortgage broker took our information over the phone, and three days later had us pre-approved for an FHA loan. We had one recommendation for a realtor from her and a couple others from RH's and my co-workers. A week from sitting in that diner, we'd picked a realtor. The following day, we went to a couple of open houses for similarly-priced homes in the area to make sure we weren't getting fleeced on the one we were interested in and that we really were in love with it (as opposed to just finding it in our price range and livable). The day after that, we put in a bid, and at diner+10 days, we'd accepted the seller's counter-offer.

We've now been through the horror of the inspection (which wasn't really that awful, but sure scared the heck out of us at the time) and we're embroiled in the back-and-forth where the seller agrees to do the couple of repairs we can't get an FHA loan without (safety issues) and decides what other things she wants to repair, and we see what kind of a credit against the price we can agree on for the issues she's not going to/doesn't have the funds to address. There are definitely issues with the place (if there weren't, we couldn't afford it), but it's structurally sound, and most of them, we can address on a piecemeal, ongoing basis.

In the wonderful world of serendipity and/or the gods looking out for us, in early September, I was offered the opportunity to cash out stock I had an an ESOP for a place I used to work. On the one hand, the stock was worth a good 25% less than it had been the previous year (when I wasn't yet eligible for a disbursement). On the other, I know enough about how that ESOP works and what their market share is like to predict that a) stock prices will continue to drop for another year or 18 months after the economy really starts to upswing again, and b) they will freeze the share price for those of us no longer employed there at the low point. So I took the cash-out, and even after a chunk was held out for taxes, we probably have enough to handle most of the unanticipated repairs the house inspection turned up that we think the seller will credit for, rather than repairing herself.

The big question mark right now is the loan. My status is still as a contract employee, and as far as the client company is concerned, I'm hired indefinitely and they're trying to convert me to a permanent, direct employee. But the company I sub-contract through is a mickey-mouse operation that may just have randomly picked an end date six months out or something--I have no way of knowing. I'm just trying to remind myself that one can generally obtain a loan up to 2.5 times one's annual income, and RH and I are only trying for once our annual income. And my mother was officially on contract with IBM for 17 years, with her contract sent to end or be renewed every December, and they never ran into trouble with houses or car loans. I choose to hope for the best, and see how I might deal with anything else if and when the issue arises.

We love the house. And we really want to move out of what passes for a ghetto in this area. (I came home to a very low-key stand-off between six cop cars and the house next door to ours last Friday). I'm bringing home boxes like a prayer, spell, or simple good luck charm. Positive thoughts are appreciated. :)

Okay, who's going to go test a Nook?

2009-10-22T09:18:00.002-07:00

It may be me, actually--RH has complained before that he likes the idea of a Kindle, but would really want to try one before shelling out that kind of money. So I found out today that B&N is releasing a competing product, with a couple of features whose absence I've found to be a real deal-breaker in the Kindle. Wired.com's got a good general write-up and a blow-by-blow comparison posted. The release date is purported to be the end of November, and it looks like one can look at it in stores as opposed to having to guess from the online information and/or hope you have a friend who'll let you look at theirs.

It's not that I don't love my books, and gods know there are hardcopies I wouldn't ever let go. I own a few books worth well over $150--rare editions, limited released, signed by the author, etc. But every time I have to move, I move boxes and boxes and boxes of books. Not having to shift that much sheer mass around has begun to be a really appealing prospect. It's the readability/availability/persistence equation that's keeping me in hardcopy.

Is it still geeky when the US government does it?

2009-10-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

Pop culture meets PSA

Things Not Usually Heard in the Office

2009-09-01T11:26:00.002-07:00

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Foxtrot, paraphrased: "So there's really no problem with our wireless?"
Delta: "Can we replace the staff?"

*

Bravo, paraphrased: "How does it look up on the nursing units?"
Echo: "[Our cabling guy] is gonna be busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

Geek Heaven

2009-09-01T11:20:00.003-07:00

When we met RH's folks in Washington, D.C. a month or so ago, we went to a couple of the Smithsonian facilities. And look! Look, look!

This is C-3PO from Episode 6. The real C-3PO actually used. (Yes, I made my husband take a picture of me). We went on to see all kinds of other cool stuff, but this was pretty much the first thing I ran across that day, and right away, I knew I was in geek heaven.

For geeks everywhere.

2009-08-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

A little visual humor.

thought for the day

2009-08-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Red Shoe's Law of Fan Jackassery

economics and science writers

2009-08-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

I find this concerning.

I am such a geek.

2009-07-29T15:27:00.002-07:00

There Are 0 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge:

No Gaps!

Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge:

Philosophy
Religion
Economics
Literature
History
Science
Art

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

And before you ask, no, I did not google anything. I did guess between a pair of answers on one or two of them.

Squee! My mommy's new book!

2009-07-27T16:21:00.002-07:00

The Aztec Eagle

I haven't read this iteration of the manuscript, yet, but I read an earlier one and I always thought this character was going to be the one that really took off. We'll see if I'm right. At least it's available in dead-tree format: The publisher's an electronic press, first, so that wasn't a certainty. And for my own personal collection, I prefer the dead-tree format. ")

Going Federal

2009-07-08T11:16:00.002-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage

I'll be interested to see where this goes.

I find this very affirming, actually.

2009-07-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

14 Ukiyo-e, -6 Islamic, 1 Impressionist, -12 Cubist, -1 Abstract and -7 Renaissance!

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e), "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japaneseand paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries. it mostly featured landscapes, historic tales, theatre, and pleasure. Ukiyo is a rather impetuous urban culture that has bloomed in popularity. Although the Japanese were more strict and had many prohibitions it did not affect the rising merchant class and therefore became a floating art form that did not bind itself to the normal ideals of society.

People that chose Ukiyo-e art tend to be more simplistic yet elegant. They don't care much about new style but are comfortable in creating their own. They like the idea of living for the moment and enjoy giving and receiving pleasure. They may be more agreeable than other people and do not like to argue. They do not mind following traditions but are not afraid to move forward to experience other ideas in life. They tend to enjoy nature and the outdoors. They do not mind being more adventurous in their sexual experiences. They enjoy being popular and like being noticed. They have their own unique style of dress and of presenting themselves. They may also tend to be more business oriented or at the very least interested in money making adventures. They might make good entrepreneurs. They are progressive and adaptable.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Obama's Nerd Credentials

2009-06-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

I laughed so hard my husband came in to see what I was looking at.

Things not usually heard in the office.

2009-05-27T19:30:00.003-07:00

(Names have been changed to protect the guilty. Well, except me. You already know I'm guilty).

"Our wireless is going down more than a $10 hooker." --Bravo

Me: "Bite me."
Charlie: "You know, I have a bumper sticker that says, 'When you say "Bite me" I consider it foreplay.'"
Bravo: "Charlie, do we have to restrain you?"
Me: "He considers that foreplay, too."

Quote of the Week

2009-05-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

"You write. That's the hard bit that nobody sees. You write on the good days and you write on the lousy days. Like a shark, you have to keep moving forward or you die. Writing may or may not be your salvation; it might or might not be your destiny. But that does not matter. What matters right now are the words, one after another. Find the next word. Write it down. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat."

--Neil Gaiman

Unexpected Places

2009-05-07T17:26:00.003-07:00

Crab apple blossoms on the tire of my car.

Our Freedoms

2009-04-21T18:06:00.002-07:00

Friend of mine pointed me to this, and I had to share. I didn't bother to view the ad, I confess. I found the analysis quite interesting without the need to drive my blood pressure up that high.

twitch

2009-04-09T09:24:00.001-07:00

I don't know whether this is cool or gruesome. So of course, I had to share.

A job!

2009-04-09T09:23:00.002-07:00

I have a probably 3+ month contract starting on Monday! I am so incredibly jazzed. So yes, I'm continuing with my business on the side, but it'll be Darn Nice to have some stable income for awhile.

Quote of the Week

2009-04-05T22:45:00.001-07:00

"I'm a time traveler. I laugh at archeologists."

--the Doctor

Quote of the Week

2009-03-27T13:10:00.001-07:00

" . . . it's kind of a nerd dick size thing."

--from a Letterblade fanfic

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz--I know just where the dust mites is.

2009-03-15T12:34:00.004-07:00

There is always a day when spring just arrives, in force, and everyone knows it. This isn't quite that (I'm running around in a t-shirt, but I saw quite a few people in coats), but it's the first fine day with sunshine instead of rain. It's nice enough, RH and I started to open windows to help air out the apartment. When we did, we discovered that half of them were painted shut, none of them are appropriate hung to stay open, and some of the screens aren't mounted right. Well, we're handy. RH sliced the paint bead on some of them, and we wedged a number open with cutting boards and cardboard boxes and wooden hangers until I can buy some appropriate dowels.

We also discovered dust like you wouldn't believe. And because we just discovered it, I didn't think to put on a dust mask, first. The window screen in the kitchen was so filthy you literally couldn't see through it. I wiped the inside with a paper towel, so now we have some light and some airflow, but it's that level of dirty which would fix faster by taking the whole screen out and hosing it off, I swear. And of course, the windowsills are filthy where stuff has gotten in around the storm windows.

Cleaning is not a project on today's list, but it'll have to come soon.

It's so late, it's early.

2009-03-15T02:25:00.002-07:00

Some nights, I can't sleep because I'm too busy plotting how to have my characters do stupid things with a helicopter or escape a forest fire or even just get into somebody's pants. And some nights, I just can't sleep.

Writer, Insomniac, Insomniac, Psychic, Writer. Luck of the draw. Two pair beats nothing, I guess.

Goodnight.

Watchmen

2009-03-14T17:18:00.002-07:00

Saw Watchmen. Oh. My gods.

This is a phenomenal movie. If you get it. If not, you're going to be very confused and wonder why it was 2 hours and 45 minutes long. So, rather than give you a review that might contain spoilers, I'm going to make recommendations regarding whether or not you should see it.

If you were a little old man or a little old lady at 16, whether or not you've since grown out of it, you will probably like this movie.

If you enjoy complex characters, you should see this movie.

If you want a high ratio of explosions to plot, this one isn't for you.

If you like black hats and white hats and riding off into the sunset with the girl, you're in the wrong place. From that point of view, this is kind of an anti-comic book movie.

I think you have to be a little in love with pain to understand certain things. If you're one of those people who wouldn't really trust the sweet if there weren't also some bitter, I think you're safe. If bittersweet stories just depress you, you won't really get it.

Let me say, further, that it's visually amazing, the cinematography is stunning, and the music selection is exquisite. It's also very graphically bloody--not gratuitously so, but if that bugs you, look away from the screen. You'll know when.

(As a side note for those of you who've met my character Joel, Meta-Joel says that Rorshack didn't experience failure early enough or often enough to be comfortable with it. And he seems to think that's the primary difference between the two of them).

Did you ever dream . . . ?

2009-03-13T13:51:00.002-07:00

Did you ever dream that you weren't human?

Last night, I dreamed I was an android and I didn't know it. If I believed in dream interpretation, I could probably read some exciting things into that. But I don't, and it wasn't a true dream. (For more on this, see Journey's Surreality Check).

I learned reality TV hosts should not cryofreeze themselves. It's just creepy.

My inspiration from writing comes from all sorts of sources, and very seldom out of dreams. But this one . . . was almost complete. I have the whole story, from beginning through climatic scene. And I have the beginning of the wrap scene. But I don't have the end. I don't know how the arc is redeemed for the protagonist. I'll keep thinking about it.

Thought for the day:

2009-03-12T17:28:00.001-07:00

"I need hand grenades."

--Riley, in If I Lay Here, by Sarah Payne

I really hate . . .

2009-03-12T16:57:00.001-07:00

web pages telling me that my last name is invalid.

Taking care of business.

2009-03-05T18:45:00.003-07:00

The appointment with the small business adviser was fruitful, if daunting. I have a very long list of steps to go through (some initial, some ongoing--most scary) and my head is crammed full of tax information. I'm a computer geek and an English major--I'm not an accountant. But let's face it, it's still a list and I know what to do with lists. So I have about a dozen things I'd like to accomplish tomorrow (if I get half of them done, I'll be ecstatic. Also surprised) and some for the day after that. I need to convince somebody to do a logo for me and I need to decide what domain name I want to use for a business web page. And I'm supposed to try and think of myself as an entrepreneur, not a screwdriver jockey, if I actually want to bring in customers.

And mostly, I need to not get depressed or scared off and just do the things on the list. But it'd be a hell of a lot easier if I was better with tax forms. Turbo Tax works great for annual taxes, but quarterly stuff and sales tax, I think I'm on my own for.

Adding insult to injury?

2009-03-05T18:40:00.002-07:00

Or maybe hilarity, not insult. I cut my thumb prepping dinner last night. It doesn't hurt much, because we have really good knives. But for all that it's shallow, it just didn't want to stop bleeding. Because we have really good knives. Also because the cut's on the side of my thumb, so whenever I press the pad against something, the scabbing process is impaired.

I was mentioning this to a friend today, and she asked about stitches. I said no, it was shallow. She she asked, "Do you have any skin sealer?"

I thought about it, and remembered somebody'd told me superglue was invented to close wounds.

So yes, I'm wearing superglue on my thumb. (I had RH put it on for me--it's harder to do with one hand). I find this perversely amusing, since I spent a chunk of my high school years trying not to superglue my fingers together. Works like a charm, though.

Doing things right.

2009-03-04T12:15:00.002-07:00

I have this problem, sometimes, of knowing how much I don't know, and so not getting anything done. We've been working on a very low level trying to put our affairs in order to buy a house, when real estate agents keep telling us just to go get pre-approved somewhere. I've also not taken any action on the starting-my-own business front because I can't tell where in the damn paper trail to start, and it seems to be scattered through at least two entities, so I don't know who to ask to advise me.

Knock wood, I think I've got a bead on both of these. I have an appointment with a housing councilor (the federal programs point you to these guys, and it's free) for two weeks from now (soonest they could get me in). And I have an appointment with the local small business development folks tomorrow to find out what I really need to do regarding the paperwork and making sure my little computer-repair sideline is all legal and above-board.

The other journal

2009-03-02T20:42:00.006-07:00

Sorry, I'm running behind. For whoever asked, the Weird Stuff journal is hanging out behind the "Journey's Surreality Check" link at left. Way down in the column--I haven't fussed with this page enough to have figured out how to make all my blog months fold up into years, so the links have gotten kind of pushed to the bottom. Sowwy.

Quote of the Week

2009-03-02T20:42:00.004-07:00

"Another day, another 33 cents. (Platitude has been adjusted for the economy)."

--R. K. Milholland

Quote of the Week

2009-02-17T21:26:00.001-07:00

"I'm tired of heading off on expeditions with no funding and no planning. Rations and a lantern would have made so many things in the last few months so much simpler."

--Derynn

Thought for the day:

2009-02-15T18:39:00.000-07:00

http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/d/20080211.html

Correcting a mis-perception

2009-02-10T20:41:00.002-07:00

I had been so confused by the references to Tim Burton and Coraline, I wanted to post the link to Neil Gaiman's clarification.

. . . and we are the dreamers of dreams, but not usually like this

2009-02-10T19:28:00.003-07:00

Okay, well-known fact: I have weird dreams. Spelunking on Mars, cartoon characters in whorehouses, being Batman, jumping out of a tower window while the seas boil beneath me . . . Yeah. Quite common for me. Much more common than going to the store, being at work, riding up an escalator. My dreaming brain is apparently well-connected with my science-fiction library.

I'm going to put this one in the blog because it was fairly notable, even for me. And heck, the rest of you might as well be boggled. Er . . . I apologize in advance. I may cut the dirty bits out; I haven't decided.

[dream]
I was me, more or less. I was living in a enormous building with lots and lots of other people. A mega-building. I saw tornadoes coming. First one. So we all ran for cover. Then another. After that, there were two together. At some point, we decided it was an unnatural phenomenon, but we didn't know who was behind it. Someone was trying to do evil to us.

After the tornadoes, there was no longer daylight. It was light enough to see by, but all you could see in the sky was a halo of light around the edges of a dark mass.

Someone was trying to kill us. The best and the brightest, especially. But the best and the brightest were hard to kill. Whoever or whatever it was, it was trying to discorporate us. And those strongest of mind were able to hold themselves together. In the process, the animating spirit was somehow separated from the body. The two were congruent, but no longer entangled. And somehow, that gave us superpowers.

I figured out that we had been translocated to a binary star system . . . and the suns were close enough they would have been very large in the sky. In fact, the radiation would have killed everything on the planet, except that we were tidelocked with the dark mass between us and the suns. Something had intervened on our behalf, in placing it there.

And now something else was trying to move the mass that was protecting us. A god, I think. An evil god. By now, there were enough individuals with superpowers that we were able to mount a defense. Arsenio Hall was at the forefront of it. I'm not sure why, but he flew up, pumping his fist, and I knew that we'd been waiting for him. That was the turning point in our defense. I think the other gods began to help us.

Then, I was no longer me. I was a grown up Harry Potter. There was a beautiful woman I was very much in love with, but Apollo had showed up and wanted her, too. And it really wasn't possible to tell a god no. Actually, he wanted both of us. Apparently, the gods weren't picky.
[/dream]

And that's where I woke up. Er, more or less.

What's in a name, redux

2009-02-03T20:48:00.002-07:00

My front-runner, "Computer Housecalls," is taken. Twice. I'm not sure how that works--if the last one's expired, I might get away with it.

The current available leading contenders are:

Computer Fix-It
Will Geek for Food
The Doctor is In: Computer Repair

Computer Fix-It is simple, uninspiring, and toward the front of the alphabet (important for print listings). Will Geek for Food has the highest entertainment value, but is at the back end of the alphabet. The Doctor is In has a place near and dear to my heart, but it gets to be awfully long before you understand what kind of business I'm in.

My advertising plans are business cards, craigslist, maybe the local university's student newspaper, and maybe listing myself in an online directory or two (e.g. Yahoo! Yellowpages) if it doesn't cost much.

Thoughts?

The Stuperbowl

2009-02-03T20:44:00.002-07:00

RH and I went to a Superbowl party. I don't usually do the Stuperbowl, but it was cheap socialization in a city where I don't know many people socially. It even turned out to be a reasonably good game, the Cardinals' efforts to the contrary. (Most penalties since something like Superbowl XII, according to the commentators).

Here's what I noticed about the commercials: All the air time wasn't sold. Not only were NBC shows hawked heavily, we even had a local ad or two run sometime in there. And it felt like about 20% of the advertising was beer. Bud, to be specific. As if we needed more signs that the economy sucks, folks can't afford to advertise . . . but everyone drinks more beer.

Want to suggest a name for my business?

2009-01-29T18:17:00.002-07:00

Due to the utter lack of inspiring job opportunities in this location at the moment, I'm considering paying $50 to legally be a small business and do on-site computer repair. A rent-a-geek kind of thing (except I'm sure Rent-A-Geek is already taken). In order to fill out the paperwork, I need to come up with a name for myself as a business. If you have a clever idea (or even a silly one) feel free to post it, or I'll probably end up being something bland like Computer Fix-It.

Quote of the Week

2009-01-21T12:12:00.002-07:00

"Happy Birthday, Sis. I hope you like the new administration we got you. If not, you can trade it in 4 years."

--my brother (yes, I share my birthday with inauguration day)

Quote of the Week

2009-01-17T12:01:00.002-07:00

"We need a thing, a device--we'll just visualize a Jell-o mold and go from there."

--Robert Gonzales

I liked this.

2009-01-17T12:01:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

Ouch.

2009-01-13T13:36:00.002-07:00

Woke up this morning and couldn't really stand up, I was in so much pain. I think it's kind of a combination of having seriously knotted muscles from the car accident and the move, and having somehow slept on them wrong. Two naproxen and two hours in a hot bath later, I'm able to move and sit well enough that I sat down and did the revisions on my resume. Now I'm letting them gel. I'll fight with a new wireless router tomorrow and probably start the job hunt then, too.

Of course, my job hunting may be limited by the fact that the state of NY won't allow me to register my car without several kinds of fancy statement from my lienholder that I actually own it. And my lienholder just doesn't feel my urgency--they seem to think that the best they can do is fifteen days (more like 12 or 13 now). Good thing there's a grocery store within walking distance. The laundromat would be walkable if there weren't so much slush on the ground and I didn't hurt so much. I'm still working on what to do about this. I know there's a bus, but if I have to roll the laundry along in a suitcase anyway, I'd much rather roll it along sidewalks than haul the suitcase up bus steps.

I need to find a really good massage therapist, pronto.

Quote of the Week

2009-01-13T13:33:00.002-07:00

"CYA* . . . what weak, small-minded people do when they should be doing the right thing instead.

--from "Do You Have a Dysfunctional Workplace?" by Steve Tobak and Peter Galuszka

* stands for Cover Your A#!, of course

We're here . . .

2009-01-08T17:52:00.002-07:00

. . . and online. Cable went in yesterday, but RH's wireless router seems to have gone belly-up, so we had to get a new one today. And I still don't get reliable signal where I've parked my computer in the back bedroom unless the wireless router is on top of the bed, not behind it. (I think I can wall-mount it. I'll check tomorrow).

We can actually find some of our kitchen and about half of our living room floor, and the furniture seems to have found its permanent locations. More unpacking of boxes will probably occur this weekend, along with the obligatory trip to the DMV. I've found a laundromat I can live with, and if the slum-lord (or would that be slum-lady?) from the moldy place would just give us our deposit back, life'd be peachy.

Most folks in this situation would either fold and give us our money back or stop talking to us and let it go to court. This back-and-forth business is really peculiar: Her current offer is half our deposit. When RH told her this wasn't acceptable, and that the problems she'd experienced in the unit were not our problem, she apparently decided to consult her lawyer. And that's the most recent we've heard. I'm glad she's consulting her lawyer. I hope s/he's reliable and gives her good information. 'Cause based on all the code violations, she's probably got a real stinker on her hands if it goes to court.

I haven't even looked at my e-mail, yet, so if I owe you a response, I apologize. It was such a bear to get the wireless going that I think I'll probably hold off until tomorrow.

Binghamton, NY - well, sorta

2009-01-02T17:11:00.002-07:00

We arrived in Binghamton on Wednesday, to a filthy apartment with a wrecked bathroom and black mold growing in a number of places. Black mold is the toxic stuff, for those of you who aren't up on your molds (I know I wasn't). We ended up in a motel. After a day of arguing with the landlady, we just weren't sure that she could (or intended to) fix the problem before we had to remove the moving truck. What's more, the crew she summoned up to begin cleaning and painting (who were also appalled at the mold) were also tenants of hers. After talking with them, it became very clear that this sort of behind-the-eightball behavior and last-minute crap is par for the course with her.

We told her we couldn't take the risk of not having an apartment before the truck rental ran out and needed our deposit back, since the place wasn't habitable. (We're still arguing about this. We'll take her to court if we need to. She seems to be in violation of rather a lot of health codes and tenant rights). We have found another apartment, much nicer, and with a landlord we like. We move in tomorrow.

So we've spent too much money on hotel rooms and we'll have to spend more on a mover to help RH with the furniture (my lift limit still isn't high enough after the car accident, though physical therapy is improving it vastly).

I was going to post pictures of the mold, but RH's laptop doesn't have quite the right hookup for my memory stick and my camera cable is packed someplace in the moving van. Our internet will now be delayed until Wednesday for the new address, so you won't hear from me for awhile. And I have almost no minutes on my little pre-pay phone. I want a particular cell phone, locally, and AT&T had to have one shipped in from another store, so I won't really have a phone for some days. In other words, I'm about to fall off the face of the earth, but don't worry--I'll be back. :)

Cuba, NY

2008-12-30T18:39:00.002-07:00

New York. We did four states today. Of course, we spent all of 45 miles in PA. So far, the weather holds good, but tomorrow looks like snow. We're going to try to be on the road early and in Binghamton by about 10 AM--landlady permitting. Let's face it, there's no sense in beating our keys to our apartment.

The cats have finally adjusted to this hotel routine. Boone went looking for the litterbox in the bathroom before I actually had it set up. Cady no longer immediately hideas in the room. (Only when the food delivery guy shows up).

It was Pete's turn to ache today. After four days in the car, even the healthy begin to suffer. I only drove about 2.5 hours before the muscles just south of my shoulder blades began freaking out. We have reached the point where it no longer matters if the hotel bed is bad--we can't tell.

No internet till the cable guy pays us a visit on Saturday, so don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a few days. Let's hope he actually makes his appointment. It's that whole "cable guy" thing.

Terre Haute, IN

2008-12-29T19:23:00.002-07:00

We've crossed into the eastern time zone. No problems so far. Tomorrow may be interesting--there's some snow along our best-time route, especially as we skim just south of Lake Erie. Depending on what it looks like tomorrow morning, we may decide to take a slightly more southerly route through Pennsylvania and then go north to Binghamton. It adds some time, but it should avoid the snow until much farther along. And in a 22-foot truck, we may have strong feeling sabout this.

Tulsa, OK

2008-12-28T20:41:00.003-07:00

I'm allergic to Tulsa, but here I am, anyway. Knock wood, I don't seem to have any symptoms at the moment except an itchy soft palette, itchy eyes, and an occasional odd feeling in my ears.

Both cats have forgiven me, though the stripey one is still having some trouble adjusting to a nomadic lifestyle. This does not mean they yowl less when crated. Quite the contrary.

And I believe I've had the argument about ten-hour days vs. fourteen-hour days with my brother-in-law at least three times now. So far, cats in fragile health and a back injury keep winning. But having the same argument over and over is beginning to grate. And yet, we owe him sufficiently that I don't feel I can tell him just to shut up. So I keep smiling and putting my foot down. It's a good thing I like my in-laws to begin with. I can't imagine going through this with someone I loathed from the start. Yikes.

Moriarty, NM

2008-12-27T21:58:00.002-07:00

One day out. Still in one piece. One of the cats is quite traumatized and currently hiding under the bed. She gave me a dirty look, scentmarked RH's ankles, and went back to hiding under the bed.

I hurt all over. Thank the gods for physical therapy.

And, since I've been up to my eyeballs and neglecting both this blog and some of my friends: Happy Midwinter Holiday of Your Choice. I love you all.

running to stand still

2008-12-11T06:53:00.001-07:00

Work has been told. My last day is 12/24.
It's beginning to look less like "packing" and more like "packed" (with the notable exception of the kitchen).
Appointment with vet to discuss transporting the cat with cancer this Saturday.
No going away party, it looks like, because almost everybody's just too busy at this time of year.
Of all the unlikely things, I won the Initiative Award at work this year (one of the also-rans in the contest for Employee of the Year). I knew I'd been nominated, but my general impression was that support staff (IT, Finance, Billing, etc.) simply don't win these. Nifty.
A trip to the local army surplus store is in order to round out our winter-weather emergency kit.
RH is trying to sell his truck. We went over every contingency we can think of, and we absolutely can't find a reason we'll need two vehicles in Binghamton. We're making the commitment to live within walking distance of or on a bus line to his work.
I'm wound so tight, it's unbelievable. December is stressful to begin with. My job is beyond stressful. And moving prep takes a certain amount of time. Any two of the three, I think I could handle. All of them is pushing it. I was up before 5AM this morning so I could do physical therapy and go to the chiropractor before work. After work there's a department dinner. No packing will be done today, needless to say.
We have a place to live, but it's a shade on the small side, so packing goes in two categories: Storage and Goes In The House With Us. My stuffed animals have nobly offered to go into storage for six months. Most of my books are also going there. Pete's vinyl, on the other hand, I think has certain climate control requirements.
I'll feel better about the place to live when we have a signed contract in our hand. The landlady seems to be not the most timely. Deposit and verbal assurances have been exchanged, but until I've got that, I don't really have an address to give out.
Within six months, we hope to find a house we like in our price range, and get all our ducks in a row to purchase it. Wish us luck!

A new way of looking at the economy

2008-11-16T12:06:00.002-07:00

You must see this. A friend of mine reported, "I laughed my ass off.....still don't know what I'll sit on..."

Animator vs. Animation

2008-11-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Animator vs. Animation

Quote of the Week

2008-11-04T22:48:00.001-07:00

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

--Abraham Lincoln

He got it!

2008-11-02T09:41:00.002-07:00

Rogue Historian got the call from the City of Binghamton on Friday. They want him to start right after the first of the year! We're so excited. Not only is it a job, and a job he's really excited about, and someplace we can stand to live--have you seen the real estate prices in Binghamton? We might actually be able to afford to get into a house. My friends also inform me that the schools are good and crime is low.

And, check this out, it'll put us about five hours from Boston, 4.5 from Ottowa, 3 from NYC, and I haven't checked how many yet from Conneticuit, but it can't be that many. Which means we won't be far from people I know, including my brother and the vikings we hang around with and some of the rest of that crowd.

Economics and the innocent

2008-10-11T17:00:00.002-07:00

RH and I were at the Humane Society today. At least one of the critters had on his identification card that his owners had fallen on hard times, lost jobs and home, and had no way to keep him. There were a number of other well-groomed, well-fed, people-loving fuzzies there . . . enough to make me wonder just how common this story is and will become. :(

For all you music loveres out there!

2008-10-11T15:50:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM

Trust me on this one.

Fascinating

2008-09-26T05:51:00.000-07:00

Crystal ball, anyone?

Quote of the Week

2008-09-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

"Only when the last tree has been cut down,
"Only when the last fish has been caught,
"Only when the last river has been poisoned,
"Only then will you discover that money cannot be eaten."

--Cree Prophesy

Quote of the Week

2008-08-30T12:40:00.000-07:00

"I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them.? So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the Universe."

--Marcus Cole, in Babylon 5

Been sick.

2008-08-30T12:27:00.002-07:00

Yeah, that's my excuse. All of it. I've spent almost a month fighting off a head cold that turned into a bloody hard-to-kill sinus infection. I'm still not all the way well, but I'm starting to feel like I might be. Someday.

RH is still job-hunting. The economy sucks--go figure. I'm job-hunting again, but given the economy, I'm not hoping for much.

I had no idea.

2008-08-02T15:03:00.003-07:00

I didn't know this was even under consideration. Apparently, there's a suggestion of using cloned animals as part of the meat-and-milk industry in the US. While I understand cloning well enough to know that the health risks at that remove are few or none, I just can't help feeling that, with all the possible applications for this technology, this is way down on the list of what we ought to be doing with it.

I'm actually far more concerned by the fact that cloning is a suggestion for keeping good breeding stock and improving breeds. Genetic diversity, anyone? Hello?

Economic teltale?

2008-07-30T18:52:00.003-07:00

Just for laughs, I just sifted the Tucson want ads, not by IT the way I usually do, but by employer. I swear to you, it's 75% temp agencies and health care. Beyond that, private business seems to have fallen off the map.

Traffic lessons

2008-07-30T17:15:00.002-07:00

Wow, it's been a learning experience of a day. Please note, for the state of Arizona:

The information phone number on photo tickets does not necessarily dispense accurate information. They outright lied (through ignorance, I suspect, but it doesn't change the end effect) about why I had been ticketed. If you have to speak to these people, take down the names of the individuals you speak with. Apparently, the fact that two entirely separate people gave me the same wrong information does not indicate to the traffic camera people that they have a problem.
You are not considered to enter an intersection at a stop line. You enter the intersection at the prolongation-of-the-curb line. If you can stop safely behind this line, you should, even if you're fifty feet past the stop line. If you pass this line, you will be ticketed. This applies at all intersections in the state of Arizona, regardless of whether they are policed by camera or not.
Stop lines are, apparently, decorative. You're not meant to stop at them. You're meant to stop at the prolongation of the curb line, according to the nice prosecutor.

No one I've talked to has ever heard that the intersection doesn't start until the prolongation of the curb line or that you're supposed to stop there, not at the stop line. Even the wrong information given to me by the information line was based on the idea that you enter the intersection at the stop line. No traffic class I've ever taken has told me to stop anywhere but the stop line. If you're actually trying to judge whether you can safely stop at this prolongation of the curb line when the light turns yellow, and you're wrong, you're endangering a whole lot of people. But apparently, this doesn't matter to whoever decided to change the law. RH pointed out that if you're in the left lane of the particular double turn bay near our apartment, and you safely stop just before the p-o-c line, you're well into the lanes used by oncoming traffic.

What's more, if you actually stop with your nose 40 or 50 feet past the stop line, people honk at you and do not go anywhere until you pull through the intersection. I've watched it happen before.

I can't challenge the rationality of this law without becoming a test case, and real honestly, I don't have either the money or the constitution for that. I'm pissed enough that I wasted half a day based on false information and will still have to attend traffic school, on my dime, for following rules taught to me by traffic school itself fifteen years ago. What I can do is tell everybody I know, so that nobody else is driving ignorant. Maybe, if there's enough pressure from enough people, somebody eventually will decide to be a test case.

Question #8

2008-07-29T20:14:00.002-07:00

Is it moral to make money off of healthcare? I'm not talking about healthcare professionals getting paid for their skills. I'm thinking more in terms of profit above that, or flowing upward from the provider and administrator level.

A couple wedding pix

2008-07-27T19:50:00.005-07:00

Well, RH is still in the process of cleaning up some of the wedding pictures, but I'm going to post a couple that didn't need much cleaning in the meantime, because it's taking awhile.

The measure of the man . . .

2008-07-27T19:45:00.002-07:00

Went to happy hour with two of my co-workers this week and we had our stitch-and-bitch. And during the course of the conversation, I discovered they'd both been in the hospital for stress-related breakdowns at one time or another. And I thought to myself, "Y'know, maybe I'm not really a wimp for that whole last long stretch at the last workplace. Six counseling sessions, insomnia, depression, panic attacks, migraines . . . but apparently, at that point, most people fall down. I didn't."

Mind you, I kind of wish I had. It would probably have been better for me. I mentioned this observation to RH this week, and he said words to the effect of, "You're just now realizing this?" Uh, yeah . . . guess I'm a little slow on the uptake.

If I'm made of sterner stuff than some, it seems like there's something better I ought to be doing with it.

My job sucks, part II

2008-07-27T19:38:00.002-07:00

We've just been advised we need to expand our coverage hours by 28 hours a week. We=the four of us who do general tech support. The other tech gave notice in response. He was told not to bother coming in on Monday. I told my boss I can do some things in the short-term that I can't do in the long-term: my husband isn't employed right now, but when he is, it will be banker's hours--that's just how his industry works. We think we're not starting right now, since we're not short a team member again. We hope.

My direct boss is taking two days' PTO. I can connect to our VPN right now, but I can't remote into anything, so I know some piece of our infrastructure is down. But I don't have a building code, so I can't do anything about it until tomorrow morning. So it's going to be my problem first thing in the AM, unless the CIO beats me in. And if I were my boss (who is taking the PTO because he can't afford not to take it--he's way over-worked and over-stressed), I'd be looking at a better opportunity. Heck, maybe he is. It's not like he could say if he were.

I knew this was not a good long-term placement, but I've been just kind of coasting along while we wait to find out about RH's job. No more coasting now. Of course, I checked the want ads this week and they're abysmal. Fortunately, RH is waiting to hear back from both Oregon and Nebraska about positions next week. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Oh my dear gods.

2008-07-15T19:44:00.003-07:00

You really must see this.

This is Stringfever, and these guys are amazing. Be sure and catch this one, too: The History of Music in Five Minutes.

Poorly acted, but cute.

2008-07-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Librarians live.

Quote of the Week

2008-07-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

Overheard at work today:

" . . . and there's some stupid little messsage. And I click OK."

--source unknown

And ladies and gentleman, this is why IT has a job. Thank you for keeping me employed.

Honeymoon Pix

2008-07-05T10:12:00.005-07:00

I know, I fell off the face of the earth again. Here's the nutshell version:

honeymoon (awesome)
confusion over promotion at work
family reunion (great)
re-strained injured shoulder on the way back from family reunion
new position at work
sitting upright hurts, so I'm not really on the computer except at work
outrageous bill for test from last year has gone away
traffic court scheduled for the 30th due to entering the intersection on a "red" arrow at an intersection where there is no red arrow. I hate being an idealist sometimes.
having a great weekend

We don't have the wedding pictures cleaned up, yet, but we had some professional photos taken on the honeymoon that I'll share for right now.

Quote of the Week

2008-05-10T16:00:00.001-07:00

"Los Angeles would be a nice place to live if about 1/2 the people moved someplace else."

--JJ, of Justinland

What did I do? Who did I piss off?

2008-05-10T15:13:00.003-07:00

So, I'm already wrecked because of the tux issue and the $1600 bill, not to mention little things like whiplash and a wedding. I went out out to mail some thank you notes and fill a prescription, and stopped at a Circle K along the way to crash in my little $4 Powerball winner that came out of an idle whim during the last bug big jackpot. I pulled around to the last available parking space, and the truck in the one next to it began packing out. Into me.

Maybe I can blame the stress, or the last accident. But my brain, which usually acts defensively, just could not seem to make the mental gears mesh. It was less like panic than disbelief. Suddenly, I was in a dream sequence, where I either couldn't remember how to put the car in reverse or knew that I'd never do it in time, or both. I had one hand frantically looking for the shifter and the other on the horn, and the guy just kept coming. I don't know what was in his way when he looked over his shoulder before pulling out, but I know that, by the time I laid on the horn, he couldn't see me. Big, big truck on a slight slope with its ass up in the air. I simply was not in the rearview, and he couldn't seem to figure out that that horn might apply to him. I could see him coming, I knew he was about to go into half my car on the front passenger side, and I couldn't do a damn thing.

Either he finally got it or I got very lucky--he stopped about eight inches from my car. I managed to find the gear shift at this point and backed up, and let him pull out, and pulled into a space. I was physically shaking all over. This was an hour ago. I'm still shaking.

What have I done to my karma? I think I need to go looking for an answer. And oh, by the way, the vendor for the alcohol for the wedding can't find her ass with both hands and a road map. And my birth control, which is specialized due to my incidence of hefty side-effects with the generic stuff, is a tier 3 script under my new insurance (it was tier 2 under the old plan). $50 a month. I'd say "fuck me," except that children are even more expensive.

And one more amusing thing . . .

2008-05-09T19:32:00.001-07:00

Wikipedia and the DOJ mix it up.

measles

2008-05-09T19:26:00.002-07:00

So, the grandson of the lady across the hall from me has the measles. Everyone in her family has had a booster. kenilyn found out there were no subs available at the high school where she was observing a class, because they were all at an elementary school in the district where teachers were coming down with the measles. The teachers, mind you, are old enough to pre-date this wave of people freaking out about vaccinating their kids.

And here's the latest surprising information on immunizations. If booster isn't specified, we tend to assume our immunities are for life, but upon what do we base this information? And what happens when the studies have new results, and the insurance companies still don't want to pay for the booster?

Abbott & Costello/Shakespeare cross-over

2008-05-09T19:17:00.001-07:00

Yay, more things to make me smile.

the short version

2008-05-09T18:24:00.003-07:00

One of the groomsmen still hasn't been measured for his tux. It's now a rush order and it has to be done no later than 3PM Tuesday, AZ time. And I just got a bill from a doctor's office. Apparently, my ex-health insurance has decided they don't want to pay for a test that was done most of a year ago. To the tune of $1600. I can't call the doctor's company till Monday.

I can't reach two of the people I'd usually cry on and the third is tied up with family stuff. I know weddings often induce nervous breakdowns in the bride, but I was honestly handling things okay until I saw the bill for the test. I don't have that kind of money. If I knew a week ago, I wouldn't have scheduled RH and me to go to the family reunion, but it's a little late for that now. So here I am, with no way to distract myself, staving off a panic attack by sheer force of will.

A toy.

2008-05-09T18:22:00.002-07:00

I like this. Just now, I needed to know that I could create something not-ugly.

virutal kaleidoscope

Sorry So Quiet . . .

2008-04-16T17:15:00.003-07:00

Like I wasn't tied up enough with wedding details, I was rear-ended on Monday. Not a major wreck, but more than a fender bender. The car is probably repairable, but my neck took some damage. Even with the chiropractor yanking it back into shape, it's probably going to be awhile before I can sit in front of the computer for long periods.

Quote of the Week

2008-04-16T17:13:00.001-07:00

"Isn't it a shame that the noble tradition of the Olympic torch relay, begun by the Nazis in 1936, has become so degraded."

--from "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" (NPR News Quiz), talking about the responses to the protests

How can I pledge allegiance to this?

2008-04-04T08:22:00.002-07:00

One nation, as long as it's an English nation, indivisible . . .

I know, I've been quiet.

2008-03-26T17:09:00.003-07:00

Sorry 'bout that. Wedding mayhem in full swing. A dress gone astray, a need to buy shoes for the second time, a ring that gets a little later every time I ask about it, freakin' $150+ for tablecloth rental, and some other crap I can't pull to mind right now. And my dad is even going to try to learn to two-step (which means I'd better re-visit that--it didn't look that complicated, but it also didn't look that interesting, so I didn't spend much time on it).

A recent infusion of surreality (see the other journal).

And to top it off, I spent most of yesterday puking every two hours. Today, I still feel like I might, but I haven't since this morning, which constitutes an improvement. Diet has gone out the window; I'm just happy anything stays down.

It feels very strange not to be planning for Rites of Spring right now.

And RogueHistorian had a very positive interview this week, for a very promising job . . . in Plano, TX. This would be the very bottom of our desirability list as far as places he's got irons in the fire. I'm not sure we can afford to be picky in the current economy, but I think we'd both be much happier if, say, Ft. Collins or Portland came through, instead.

Quote of the Week

2008-03-26T15:07:00.001-07:00

"I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision."

--Eleanor Roosevelt

stuff

2008-02-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

The new job is not exciting, but it's also not miserable, which makes it a vast improvement over the old job.

Wedding planning is proceeding apace. We're now down to that point where Weird Shit Begins to Go Wrong. The dress, carefully ordered last June, is still not here, because the buying service I used had a vendor go out on them. They're trying to get it rushed from another vendor and I've developed plans B, C, and D. The post office persists in only having ugly stamps to put on post cards (the panther is really creepy), but when I did a Google search on "ugly stamps," I found a number of brides in the same situation who'd discovered unused stamps for sale on eBay. The alcohol vendor we're locked into due to venue doesn't really do anything we want, but has at least been convinced not to do a whole bunch of things we *don't* want. Oh, and the ribbon I tried to order seems to be lost in space; I need to check the credit card statement and see if we were ever charged.

The bridesmaids dresses have arrived; I just have to coordinate a day when everybody can show up for the alterations.

I had three minor problems that could have become major fixed on my car last week. To the tune of $550, but at least I'm not going to lose a belt on the freeway, bake my spark plugs, or have the car catch on fire.

I'm home sick. I tried to head it off at the pass by getting antibiotics for the sinus infection, but I may have contarcted something else on top of that, so I'm going in to the doctor for a follow-up this afternoon. I want to at least not feel like shit by Saturday, when RH and I are going up to Estrella to see gabefinder and marinredwolf.

Yes, Estrella. Which means yes, I sewed (on my mother's 35-year-old sewing machine that has never really worked right and sounds like it's in pain). RH, I confess, is going in the "my girlfriend sewed me exactly enough garb that I won't look 'naked'" look of black jeans and boots and a T-tunic. Though I'm actually very pleased with how the T-tunic came out. Alas, the hooded cloak is now a hoodless cloak and a crocheting bag. If I get ambitious, I might get someone with more costuming experience to tell me how I made all the measurements larger and still ended up with the hood too small--or rather, how to cut one such that the same thing doesn't happen again. But I may just not get that ambitious.

I still have to do my taxes. I dodged them by writing/formatting all the other stuff that goes in with wedding invitations (RSVP cards, informational inserts, rehearsal dinner invitations, and maps). I figure that's fair--I didn't want to do those, either.

And now, I feel like I have sat upright quite long enough, thank you, and am going to go see if I can get more medicine to stay down and then lie at an angle (flat, alas, is not good right now).

Quote of the Week

2008-02-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

"You can sit around and you can put new buckets under your roof all day or you can go and patch the hole."

--Merlin Mann

My Surreality Check Bounced

Darth Vader goes to Disneyland

The CDC wants you to know . . .

Everybody in my family's okay . . .

Signal boost: How the TSA handles non-standard maxi pads

Holy wtf, Batman?

Happy Halloween!

No, I'm Not Dead

On marriage.

You all probably want to opt out of this.

If you're going to screw me, at least buy me dinner first.

Quick update

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Caught in Somebody Else's Karma

A few thoughts on Christmas

On Houses

Okay, who's going to go test a Nook?

Is it still geeky when the US government does it?

Things Not Usually Heard in the Office

Geek Heaven

For geeks everywhere.

thought for the day

economics and science writers

I am such a geek.

Squee! My mommy's new book!

Going Federal

I find this very affirming, actually.

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

Obama's Nerd Credentials

Things not usually heard in the office.

Quote of the Week

Unexpected Places

Our Freedoms

*twitch*

A job!

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz--I know just where the dust mites is.

It's so late, it's early.

Watchmen

Did you ever dream . . . ?

Thought for the day:

I really hate . . .

Taking care of business.

Adding insult to injury?

Doing things right.

The other journal

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Thought for the day:

Correcting a mis-perception

. . . and we are the dreamers of dreams, but not usually like this

What's in a name, redux

The Stuperbowl

Want to suggest a name for my business?

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

I liked this.

Ouch.

Quote of the Week

We're here . . .

Binghamton, NY - well, sorta

Cuba, NY

Terre Haute, IN

Tulsa, OK

Moriarty, NM

running to stand still

A new way of looking at the economy

Animator vs. Animation

Quote of the Week

He got it!

Economics and the innocent

For all you music loveres out there!

Fascinating

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

Been sick.

I had no idea.

Economic teltale?

Traffic lessons

twitch