Mi**ion A**omplished!

(My apologies for the asterisks, but I'm hoping to avoid a gaggle of political Google hits)

Amway, I managed to pull myself together for one more year, and got my Christmas cards done and sent as of yesterday... woo-hoo! I guess I won't break tradition yet this year.

Record Snow

As for the rest of the news lately... well, we just recently dug (or melted) out from Columbia's record snowfall within 24 hours (something like 16 or 18 inches, I think... happened on the 1st), and I dug out my own driveway all by myself for the first time in my life. THAT was fun.

The DirecTV Capers

In addition to scrambling to get my cards together and sent, I've also been scrambling to catch up with the tv shows I had saved up in the DVR cuz something went capput with the system weekend before last. I called Customer Support, and after conducting various and sundry tests, with mixed results, we concluded that something was wrong with the DVR, and they sent me a new one. So I had 7 days to get everything that was saved on the old one watched cuz they would be lost forever when I sent it back.

So I got the old DVR cleared out, the new one set up... and had the exact same problem. I spent another 3 hours on the phone with 3 different reps from DirecTV, and it was finally concluded that I needed a Service Call. That happened yesterday evening, and all is well again. I just have to reprogram the new DVR. But still... between getting the Satellite issue fixed, and the cards sent out, I feel like a bit of a weight has lifted, and I have some freedom again. I believe I'll curl up with a few of the books from my favorite authors that recently released (and I've been waiting on for FOREVER... or at least several months).

Ms. Pukesalot Visits the Vet

Ms. Pukesalot had her follow up appointment at the vet on Monday. Well, lemme back up a sec… I don’t think I’ve blogged yet about her original vet visit last month. See, the cat stopped eating. For something like 4 or 5 days. I was worried there might be something wrong with her teeth, so I took her in to get checked out. Turns out, she was just sick of her old food or something, cuz she was just fine.

However, in the process of running some labs to check her kidneys and liver before putting her under anesthesia for the teeth cleaning, we discovered that she had some elevated protein enzymes in her kidneys. Nothing drastic, but something the vet wants to keep tabs on. And, coincidentally, requires a special low-protein cat food… which she likes just fine, so it all works out.

However, during our follow-up visit, the enzymes actually went up a tad, so we’re not out of the woods yet. Guess we’ll see how things are going in another three months. I know Ms. Pukesalot just can’t wait to visit the vet again. This last time, she actually almost managed to crawl down the sleeve of my coat… and for a fat li’l tabby, that’s quite a feat.

Gram in the Hospital

And last but not least, Gram was hospitalized last night. She’s been sick with intestinal issues (the kind that really dehydrates you, especially when you’re not drinking enough water as it is), and was not getting any better. After Mom got the call from Meals on Wheels that she was unable to come to the door, and Pop couldn’t get a very coherent conversation out of her, he called the ambulance to take her to the hospital.

On a side note, I’d like to say that it was really nice of Meals on Wheels to be that conscientious about their customers… and also for Gram’s apartment manager to give Mom a call to let her know that the ambulance had picked her up.

Amway, Gram is currently admitted and they’re rehydrating her, and getting a little food into her, and getting her the medicine she needs (which she wasn’t taking cuz she wasn’t getting out of bed to do ANYTHING for two days). I think she’ll be okay, but we’re swiftly approaching the point of having to determine whether she can continue to live alone. A very difficult decision to make, and one that has been the source of many a contentious discussion lately.

Welp, that’s about all I have for now. Work keeps me hoppin, so I really need to focus on contracts right now. If I don’t get back in here before Christmas… well, then: Merry Christmas!

Motivationally Challenged

So I’m having a somewhat difficult time getting into The Christmas Card Endeavor this year. Oh, I managed to start playin with pics and throwin together the design for the actual card a few weekends ago… but my momentum has kinda fizzled since then.

I’ve always viewed the creation of my Christmas Card in 5 steps:

1) Going through the cards I received last Christmas and throughout the year to update my addresses
2) Designing the Card
3) Writing the Newsletter
4) Printing the Card and Newsletter (hopefully a much less time consuming proposition now that I have my laserprinter)
5) Throwing everything together and mailing them

So far, I’ve got about 85% of Step #2 completed… and that’s about it. Of course, I still have a little bit of time left before my December 1 deadline, but so far, prospects for my motivational momentum are not high. Doesn’t help that I have been sucked up into a flurry of book buying and reading lately. This past weekend, when I wasn’t running errands, Christmas shopping with Pop, getting ready for Sunday dinner or logging my newest books in the database, I really, really, really tried to sit down and work on my card. But all I wanted to do was sit down and curl up with a book. So, I did. I have no discipline at all.

Pop thinks I should just take a break from them this year. I dunno… I’ve been doing them for 12 years now. At the very least, I’ve always written a newsletter. So… we’ll see what I feel up to in the next few weeks. I hate to force myself, cuz I never want my annual labor of love to become a chore I hate to do.

Bus Snob thinks I’ll get back into the swing of things if I get back to bloggin. I dunno… I seem to be doing that this week, but I’m not noticing a difference in the ol’ motivation department. At least not yet.

Ah well… guess we’ll see.

On a Side Note…

So it seems Pop’s faithful li'l Nissan truck (the one that was already well into middle age when they left San Diego 12 years ago) finally kicked the bucket rather unexpectedly yesterday. So, the folks are thinking up options for a new vehicle very soon. Mom’s none too thrilled to be spending the weekend before Thanksgiving car hunting (especially when they have a guest coming for dinner), but life sometimes fails to acknowledge convenient moments to throw shit at us.

Mom told me this morning that they're thinking of sending the ol' dood to stay with Paulie at the junk yard. You know, providing some sort of familiarity and a poetic destination for both of them since they shared a garage for so long at one time.

Yeah, sounds pretty silly, but sometimes one just needs to be a li'l silly to feel better about things.

We Reap What We Blog

So I know they always say to be careful what you blog about cuz you never know who’s gonna read it. And even without such precautions, I usually try to be as fair in my treatment of most folks in my blog as I am in real life, cuz… well, I tend to be diplomatic that way, anyway. Boring, I know, but it’s that damn curse of seeing too many sides of any situation at any given time. Really sucks in an argument.

But anyway, I have recently discovered that there’s more to be careful about in blogging than being nasty at people. Case in point: After calling up my folks a few weekends back to tell them about the excitement of the snake in my living room, we all decided we’d refrain from sharing such excitement with my grandmother, as she’s absolutely terrified of snakes and such knowledge might make her a tad less inclined to want to visit.

Of course, I wanted to blog about it, cuz it was… well, certainly something worth sharing with whoever wanted to read about it. But that was that, and I forgot all about it.

Until last night, when I get a phone call from Mom, telling me I really oughtta put some disclaimers in my blog. Seems I completely forgot that one of my three regular readers just happens to know Gram… and writes to her regularly. And frequently likes to mention items in my blog as a point of conversation. Which is always nice, and I’m not upset at all… but I’m told Gram just about had a heart attack when she read about it. Oops.

So… note to self: try to remember to include blog disclaimers when attempting to avoid grandparental heart-failure. :)

Potato Chips and Broilers

... don't mix.

Words of wisdom for the week: turns out, popping a potato-chip-encrusted casserole under the broiler to help it brown faster is NOT as brilliant an idea as it would first seem. What it does, in fact, is burst into spectacular flames within 2 minutes.

Good news is: my smoke detector works. Plus, tuna casserole has handy ingredients that are always around, and it doesn't take too long to throw together another batch... though we did eat pretty late. Thankfully, my guests (Mom and Pop) were very patient, and even brought over a fan to help pull the smoke out all the open windows. Though, Pop did complain about being cold. lol

Much like my experience in Iowa, where I belatedly realized that a AAA Membership could come in mighty handy (which I hooked myself up with as soon as I got back home), this experience has convinced me to purchase a fire extinguisher post haste. I kept trying to remember all the rules about what kinds of fires were safe to put out with water. At least it was pretty contained in the oven... plus, once the fire ate through all the oil in the chips, it ran outta steam rather quickly, so I figured it was pretty safe to douse the blackened embers.

I set out my handy dandy ionic air purifier this morning, too, in hopes of combating the wonderful lingering aroma. I highly suspect, however, that I'll have to wash the curtains and all the furniture covers before it's all over. *sigh*

I do never seem to do anything halfway.

Snake in the Grass... er... Carpet

So imagine my surprise this past weekend when I walked into my living room to witness a small snake hightailin across my carpet in true sinuous fashion. At first I thought he was a rather large worm... and then I thought he was a rather fast large worm. At that point I decided he probably wasn't a worm, but by time I got close enough to check, he was already under the sofa.

Of course, this was not MY preferred destination for the li'l creature, but the good news is: he was fast enough to slip right past the nose of my sleeping cat... which, I imagine, was why he was bookin it. Actually, he probly would have been perfectly safe had she been wide awake, since she's a big fat fraidy cat and normally spends at least 5 minutes analyzing something before cautiously approaching it. But he had no reason to know that.

Of course, the cat didn't stay asleep long once I started the commotion of partially pullin out the sofa, extending the recliners on each end of the sofa, grabbing and emptying the bathroom trashcan (the closest one around that was solid, rather than wicker with great big holes), and running to find a flashlight and a yardstick.

As it turned out, he wasn't all that difficult to corral. Once I found him, of course. But then, all I had to do was nudge him along with the yard stick, and direct him towards the trash can laid on it's side, and he slid right in. Then I had to take a few pictures (which I will post as soon as I get organized), then escorted him out back, where there's a great big mess cuz of the construction back there, anyway. He happily lost himself in the grass, and I asked him kindly not to come back to the house because co-habitation was not an option.

I looked him up this morning, and I don't think the li'l dood was poisonous. He was dark, with a little orange band around his neck, and a thin sliver of orange at his tail... and that seems to best match the description of this guy: Prairie Ring-Necked Snake. Still... I'm sure all parties involved are much happier with him outside.

So amway, that was my excitement for the weekend.

October's Almost Gone

And I haven't posted anything for over a month. Oops.

Just had a lot goin on... primarily my trip to San Diego a few weeks ago. Just got back last weekend. Was a great trip... got to see Beav, Mrs. Beav (& the little Beav Jr.'s), Halloween Nut (& her two Jr.s'), Shorty (& visited Red's grave), and I stayed with Radish & Company. Complete with requisite roadtrip to Santa Maria for more tat work (Halloween Nut also got her first tat ever). And Radish and I spent the entire time I wasn't out visiting either watching movies or curled up with a book. I'd brought along a new series of books I wanted to get her hooked on (Sherillyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series... and I succeeded, by the way), and also a bunch of books for myself, so we had plenty for the two weeks. I haven't had a more relaxing vacation... well, ever. It was great. Mom teased me about enjoying spending most of my vacation reading, but I told her that Radish and I are kindred spirits that way. :)

The train trip out was great (had a roomette to lay out and sleep for two nights), the train trip back sucked (attempted and failed miserably at getting comfy in a coach seat for two nights... my back was wrenched for four days after). Since a roomette costs an arm and a leg, I figure next time I'll try the train with a roomette for the trip out, and the plane for the trip back. 'Specially since by the end of a vacation I'm thoroughly exhausted and three days travel is just WAAAAY too long to contemplate, let alone execute.

Since I've been back, I've been scrambling to catch up with my tv shows. There are entirely too many good ones this season. I'm back to being a slave to my tv. *sigh* I know, I know... I don't really HAVE to, but I kinda have to. lol Fortunately, DVR's are awesome. *grin*

I came back to work on Monday, which was mostly in good shape during my absence. I've never been important enough in my workplace for everybody to start fussin when I'm about to leave for two weeks. lol I'm still gettin used to it. Good news is: it looks like we're splitting the department up, and I may have decent chances for another managerial kind of position. Bad news is: I've spent a good portion of the last week putting out fires and fixing some messes that folks knew about and some that I accidentally came across. It's been a trial... especially since I'm PMS'ing this week... but it's Friday, and that makes a whole lotta things better.

I'll probably be spending most of the weekend helping Mom prepare for her haunted house for Halloween on Tuesday. She's really gettin into it this year. So, of course, I'll be brushin out the ol' reliable witch's costume to hostess the night. I've certainly gotten a lotta mileage out of that costume.

After October craziness is over, I'm gonna have to start hunkerin down and focusin on this year's Christmas letter, if I want to get it out by December 1st. The end of the year is just such a busy time. And I know that IHOP Buddy is itchin to get away... anywhere, soon, so we'll probably be figuring something up together, too. Mom's kinda ditched the whole "Chicago for King Tut" trip in December, but I think that's okay. There IS such a thing as too much to do. :)

Okee, well, I'd best put my firefighter's hat back on and dive back into work. Just got back in from a VA appt... they're gonna start me on a new drug for my migraines. Umm... I've already forgotten the name. I'll get some generic version in the mail soon enough. I believe it's primary function is to help prevent seizures. *shrug* Guess we'll see.

Until later...

Human Kindness

I heard this story on the news this morning, and it really spoke to me. I think most of us have a certain amount of basic human decency and kindness... we're just comfortable with different levels of helpfulness. Most of us are happy to help friends and family when they are in need. Many are comfortable helping complete strangers who come to them in need. And there's even no few of those truly giving folks who automatically volunteer to help, wherever, whenever and to whomever there is a known need.

But this guy works on a completely different level... he goes out of his way to find people when they are most in need and least likely to ask for help. Gotta admire that.

------------------------------

Morning Edition, September 5, 2006

Samaritan Patrols Bridge for China's Lost Souls
by Louisa Lim, NPR

The Nanjing Bridge was once hailed as a triumph of Chinese engineering -- the longest road and railway bridge in the world. Now it has a different type of notoriety: The span, which crosses the Yangste River in Nanjing, China, has become a popular suicide spot.

The bridge is unbearably hot and noisy and the sun beats down on tourists posing for pictures against the shoulder-high railings. Behind them, it’s a long drop to the muddy, brown waters of the Yangtse.

For the past three years, one man has chosen to spend every weekend patrolling the bridge. During the week, Chen Si is a manager in a transport company. But on the weekends, he patrols the span, seeking out the despairing and the depressed to stop them from throwing themselves over the bridge. So far he has saved ninety-nine lives, sometimes even putting his own in danger.

"Often it really is a life and death struggle. They’ve already climbed over the railings, and I’m left hanging onto them by an arm. I have to drag them back over," Chen says. "Sometimes after I’ve saved someone, when I’m not paying attention, they jump. And there are those I don’t reach in time."

China's Suicide Epidemic

The juggernaut of economic change has brought with it new pressures: the dismantling of the Communist system has removed old certainties and safety nets provided by the state; support networks have disappeared as people travel farther afield to find work; and then there’s the burden of expectation carried by the only child, a generation without siblings resulting form China’s single-child policy.

The result has been a suicide epidemic. Suicide is now the leading cause of death for Chinese men between the ages of 15 and 34. Chen, who is 39, says that today’s young people are emotionally ill-equipped.

"When I was young, even though we didn’t have to meat to eat, the suicide rate was very low," Chen says. "Now, even though we all have meat to eat, there’s a lot of jealousy and spiritual emptiness. People are no good at dealing with stress nowadays, particularly the single-child generation."

Chen Si is always on the lookout, his eyes constantly darting back and forth. He has learned the telltale signs of desperation.

"From the crowd of people, I’ll single out those who look depressed, those whose psychological pressure is great," Chen explains. "Their way of walking is very passive with no spirit, or no direction. I’ll go and talk to them."

As Chen patrols the bridge on his motorbike, a lone figure suddenly catches his eye. It’s a skinny, hunched twenty-something man in dirty clothes carrying a plastic bag.

"I can see your mood’s not right," Chen says to the young man. "What’s the matter?"

The man tells Chen that he has nowhere to go. He traveled more than a thousand miles to find work but he lost his identity card and can't find a job.

"Give me some time," Chen says. "I’ll think of something."

The Power of One

Shi Xiqing owes his life to an encounter with Chen Si on the bridge just a month ago.

"I had just got to the bridge and was sitting there," Shi says. "There were a lot of cars, a lot of people. My mind was racing, and I felt dizzy. I wasn’t thinking of anything. I don’t know how he found me. I hadn’t climbed over the railings, but I was already thinking about it, and he knew it."

A father of two, Shi Xiqing runs a small recycling shop stripping metal parts from old appliances. His sixteen-year-old daughter fell ill with leukemia eight years ago, and he still owes $15,000 that he borrowed to pay for her treatment. In recent months, he fell behind on his rent payments, then he couldn’t pay his children's school fees.When he no longer had the money to keep his business afloat, the pressure was too much. For his wife, Guo Mingzhou, the implications of that day are still unthinkable.

"My daughter said to me, 'If he leaves this world, we should go with him,'" Guo remembers. "We couldn’t go on living. I don’t have any work. I don’t have any skills. Even now I can’t bring myself to think about it."

With his stained, brown teeth and chain-smoking habit, Chen Si seems an unlikely guardian angel. But he’s still watching over this family, phoning them every week, talking to their creditors, thinking up ways to solve their problems.

With each new life he saves, Chen's burden grows. His own wife disapproves of the hours he spends on the bridge and his habit of bringing home those he’s saved from suicide. He wishes there was more government support, or even a charity that could help.

"What should I do with the people I save? I don’t have that much money," he says. "When I save people, I don’t want to just cheat them into living another day."

Murphy's Law # 54,235,856

So it's been a month since my last post. Just been rediculously busy at work... trying to juggle the excruciatingly slow process of training the Hand-Shaker, and actually getting the increasing influx of work done.

And, of course, I still try to stay off the 'puter at home... 'cept for bills. So yeah, it's been a while.

Amway, Murphy's Law # 54,235,856 is: *drumroll please*

In twelve years of driving, you can manage to NEVER lock your keys in the car, despite following the precaution of keeping an extra key in your purse at all times. And the ONE time you forget to switch the extra key to your fanny pack for a day at the fair, will be the VERY FIRST time you lock your keys in the car. In the parking lot of a grocery store in a completely different state.

Why can't I have any car adventures at HOME? Like completely running out of gas while driving down the street (which happened at Great Lakes) or being involved in a spectacular car crash complete with hospital visit to staple my scalp, demolished car and no way to get home (that one was St. Louis). At least I've always been accompanied by friends for these adventures.

Ah well... the rest of my visit to see my friend, Coffeehead, in Iowa was great. I drove up last Thursday, and drove back Sunday. We ate out a lot, I got to see her lab and greenhouse experiments at school/work (and got to take home some orphaned succulents), we went to the Iowa State Fair (complete with a visit to the famous Butter Cow), made Cinnamon Cheesecake, and watched lots of movies.

Aside from her small incident when a car ran into the bus she was driving just before I arrived (she had to work her second job at CyRide on Thursday)... and, of course, the locked keys in the car... I couldn't have asked for a better visit with an awesome friend. :)

Good Luck

So my thoughts are with a couple of dire situations in the public eye: one near, one far.

Air Conditioning... Give Me Air Conditioning!

First, to the poor folks in St. Louis, who had a nasty storm knock out the power to 500,000 homes and businesses just before an equally nasty heatwave this week... triple digit heat. Power companies are STILL struggling to get the power back up, and the national gaurd is actually evacuating the most susceptible (old, sick, etc.) to air-conditioned facilities. So far, I believe there have been 22 deaths across the country related to the heat.

Good news is: the weather finally turned today, and we're only in the 80's, with a series of thunderstorms passing through. While my head is feeling the dropping barometric pressure, it's definately a good thing for folks without air conditioning. Of course while I totally feel for them, I have to wonder at how spoiled we are. A century ago, this would simply be a fact of life. But then... a century ago, we'd be losing a lot of the old and sick.

One (More) Clusterfuck, Made to Order

Then there's the (additional) mess in the Middle East, with Israel bombing the crap out of Lebanon trying to rout out Hezbollah. Personally, I cannot imagine living amongst the mess that Israel has for so long, so I can't really judge... but I can't like the systematic butchering of innocents in the pursuit of their quest. I can't help but wonder where the vicious circle will end... of retaliation for retaliation, with each side hating and villainizing the other just a little more each time to the point that all is left is hate and self-righteousness. And I don't doubt that each side truly believes they are the true victims and in the right. And I also don't doubt that the circle must end... just not sure who or what's gonna be left once it does.

Good news is: ummm... nope, no good news in there at all.

Dream Chronicles

So this morning I was reminded of the drawbacks of waking up to the news. My alarm first goes off at 6 am, and I typically fall back in and out of a light sleep for the next hour to hour and a half… and boy, does my brain pick up on a lotta info during that time. And sifts it into some seriously odd dreams. I can have 6 or 7 mini-dreams during this time.

This morning, I vaguely recall dreaming about the doctor and two nurses being charged with four counts of murdering their patients while trapped in one of the hospitals during the chaos in New Orleans after Katrina. I don’t remember much, except trying to talk to them and understand what exactly happened and why they did it. Personally, not knowing the details, I can only imagine what kind of horrid choices they had to make during those days.

I also remember dreaming of Tropical Storm Beryl, and being relieved that he seems to be staying away from land. No real interaction in this dream… sometimes I think my subconscious just absorbs the news, but doesn’t necessarily create a scenario out of it.

The only dream that really stayed with me in any detail was a real shocker… and I can’t find any references to it in the news. So that one could have been a Ms. Pukesalot’s Mom-Brain-Special. I remember watching a deep blue (Blue Angels kinda blue) mid-size passenger aircraft attempting to lift off. But it seems to be having trouble keeping it’s butt up. The tail end keeps dipping down, and I can tell the pilots keep trying to bounce it back up. It’s in the air, but not far off the ground. Suddenly, the tail end completely bounces up and flips the whole plane over… the momentum smashes it down into the ground, and it bursts into a spectacular explosion of flames.

That’s pretty much all I remember, except standing there shocked and having no idea what I could do to help. What anybody could do to help, actually. Not a pleasant dream.

But, since the rest of the support staff are out early this morning for one form of training or another, I vowed I’d make a concerted effort to get in on time. Somehow, that sense of urgency stayed with me this morning, and I finally managed to cut off the dreams. I’m kinda thinking that was a good thing, for more reason than one.

Weekend Blues

So I've had better weekends. As can be surmised from my previous post, I managed to electrocute myself. Not badly, though. It didn't even really hurt... was just an extremely odd sensation. And alarming... convinced me to wait to flip over the outlets (I was tired of not being able to use upward facing nightlights... I have no idea why every single outlet in my duplex was installed upside down) until morning (with daylight to work by) to retry, utilizing the correct procedures (ie: shutting off the power... duh).

And as I also indicated in my previous post... my head had something to say about the short burst of electricity that coursed through the left side of my body. I'd been fighting nausiating migraines for about a week by that point, anyway, so it didn't need much nudging.

Didn't get much done in the way of my database, as I'd hoped. In fact, I didn't get on my computer once. I ended up missing a day and a half of work last week, and I still couldn't put a single minute of it to good use. I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but sometimes I really, really, really wish I could just chop my head off. *sigh*

But... Mom asked me on Saturday to help her pick out custom framing for some more of her prints, which I was happy to do. She does so much for me, and I'm glad I have something I'm good at (and enjoy) to help her with when she asks. Then we rushed a quick trip through Hobby Lobby before I had to pick up Gram for her appt. I think my head might have stood a better chance through the day if it hadn't been so hot out. It doesn't handle heat very well at ALL.

So I popped a probably inadvisable amount of pills both Saturday and Sunday, and I cried off of Sunday dinner. Which the folks then cancelled altogether cuz Pop wasn't feeling so well, either. So i didn't feel TOO bad for messin things up. Of course, the upside of cancelling dinner was that Mom and I could watch our Sunday night shows.

Unfortunately, however, my cable went out (yet again) Friday night, so I was unable to watch OR record the two sets of shows I try to keep track of on Friday nights. Mom recorded the first two hours of our Sci Fi shows (Season Premieres), so we were able to watch those, but I'm now trying to find additional airings of my Friday USA shows. Inconveniences, inconveniences.

But... things are definately looking up... at least in the pain department. After so much concentrated medications in my system, I was pretty out of it yesterday at work. But as they wore off through the day, the pain didn't come back (at least not full force) so I didn't need to take more. And today I'm actually almost back to feeling normal. I can still feel the miraine lurking in the shadows, so it's not banished altogether. But lurking is vastly preferable to full blown attack, so I'll take what I can get. :)

And work is definately picking up again... lulls are few and far between these days. So all is well. In fact, I'd best get back to it.

Until next time...

Weekend Lessons

Lesson #1:

The little hammer-wielding man who resides in my head does NOT like being electrocuted.

Lesson #2:

I will never ever again forget to flip the breaker before attempting to rearrange an outlet.

Catchin Up

So a lot’s been goin on lately, and I just haven’t felt inclined to blog about it. Well, correction… I’ve thought plenty about blogging, but just couldn’t muster the motivation. That’s the downfall of shaking one’s life up a bit… leaves less time to write about it, and the longer you don’t write the more there is to write about and then it’s waaaaaay too much work.

But… here I am. Primarily cuz my workload at work has significantly dropped this week, and I’m having my usual “difficulty-switching-gears” issue. I have plenty of back-burner stuff to do… and even a few of my normal duties, but my brain just doesn’t wanna slow down. Instead, it’s zoomin about in the cosmos not really settling or focusing on anything. So I figured I’d try to give it something different to focus on.

So let the long-due disgorgement commence…

New at Work

So… first on the list of news is our new “new-girl” at work. I have high hopes for this one. She’s a bit odd (just like the rest of us), and incredibly organized in her own fashion, and catching onto most everything I’m throwing at her rather adeptly. I think she will be a good fit… so long as she stops trying to shake my hand every evening to thank me for putting up with her. lol I’m gonna have to call her the Hand Shaker.

The Hand Shaker has been with us for a week and a half now. Last week saw a full concentration of training. That could be another reason why I’m burnt out at the moment… you never quite realize just how much information is bumping about in your head until you start to download it. This week has been a little more lackadaisical… she’s starting to work on some of her other duties and catching up with me if I do some new things she hasn’t learned yet… while I’ve been savoring keeping my thoughts to myself (and saving my voice) while I work. I can only take so much concentrated interaction with another person all friggin day.

So that’s pretty much it for work. We’ll see how the new dynamic works. If nothing else pulls her away (as happened with the LAST “new-girl”… now the new Office Manager) she should be able to help distribute my typical workload a little better. As she’s learning and creating her own work-guides, I hope to update MY office procedures guides so that all of the support staff can fill in as necessary (such as when I’m gone for two weeks in October). My guides are so old and I’ve incorporated so many changes to procedures that it’s a bit of a mess right now, except for what’s in my head. Well, okay, that too.

Unfortunately, these procedures updates are one of my “backburner” stuff I just can’t get motivated to work on. Mebbe this afternoon. Or whenever.

Holiday Festivities

So my last few weeks have been filled with all sorts of socialization… at least, it’s been a lot for me. IHOP Buddy and I are fully reconciled now. She came to visit the Thursday before the holiday weekend (the holiday being the 4th of July), and I took off of work a little early and we went shopping. And, of course, IHOP. All I have to say is: it’s a good thing we don’t go shopping together often. lol I’m not a huge fan of clothes shopping… but my weaknesses are books and home décor. And she just loves to shop, period. So get us together, and nobody’s really around to say: hmm… do you REALLY need that?

Amway, then she invited me to a BBQ at her place that weekend, along with a fireworks show for the evening. Her hubby, as a truck driver, had been haulin a bunch of fireworks recently (obviously) and one grateful guy gave him an entire crate of em’ as thanks for helping to unload. Of course, I appreciated the invite, but worried about my usual 11th-hour social freeze-up. But, we determined that since I’d get there earlier than her other guests, and I always had the out of retreating to a new Playstation game she wanted me to see anyway if my anti-socialness got the better of me, then I’d be okay. And I was. Except, of course, for the inevitable migraine, but I always have drugs for that, so all was well.

So, BBQ and fireworks at her place (which were awesome) was on Saturday. Then, my folks did our own holiday BBQ at THEIR place on Sunday, which lumped into our usual weekend family dinner. Which are Sundays again now… not sure if I ever mentioned that. The only reason it’s an issue is cuz Mom and I have to tape our Sunday night shows now to coordinate and watch later in the week.

Gettin (more) Organized

So by time the actual 4th of July came around on Tuesday, I was definitely ready for some serious me-time. I went nowhere and saw nobody. I’d already celebrated the holiday plenty. And, after another show-and-tell session with my artwork a few weeks prior (this time with Mom) I finally realized that I really ought to document my collection. Mom even suggested I might need to add a rider to my homeowner’s insurance for it. I’m not entirely sure about that yet… I’ll see what things look like after I get it all into the database I created over the holiday.

I still have a lot of work to do on it. I’ve pretty much customized the actual database to my needs, and entered the basics (item, artist, format, size, etc.) of most of my artwork. So far, 400 and some entries. Of course, a lot of that is in the format of art cards, bookmarks, and various and sundry. But still… that’s a lot of artwork. If nothing else, it will be good to have a handy reference on hand to determine what I already have, and what I need to finish collections, etc. Much like my books and movies databases. But once I start digging out records about prices and framing and such… then the database will hold a completely different value to me as well.

I hope to work on some of that again this weekend. Of course, now that Pop is working all week at his new job, Gram’s hair appointments are on Saturdays again, and we (the folks and I) are taking turns each Saturday to take her. This week is my week, so I really won’t have a whole day this weekend to focus on the database. But perhaps that’s just as well, since I tend to single-mindedly work myself into a migraine if given the opportunity.

Movies

Movie Rental Blues

So I’ve seen more than my usual share of movies lately, too. Firstly, there’s that monthly coupon at the local movie rental gallery I usually end up forgetting until the very end of the month and rushing into the store to use before it expires. Which coupon, of COURSE, I have to use, cuz… well, it’s there.

And, of course, the last week of June was a really bad week to rent a bunch of movies, especially since they’ve reduced their rental times down to five days rather than a full week, and I had entirely too many things going on. I ended up watching two of the movies with the folks the day they were due (at 11 pm, and we finished the second one at about 10:50 pm), one of the movies on my own earlier in the week (for some reason, nobody else wanted to watch “8 Below” after I told them I cried myself into a migraine watching it… never mind that also explained I was hormonal at the time and it wasn’t really THAT bad…) and I ended up keeping one of the movies over another week cuz Mom and I really wanted to watch it together.

That one was called “Stay”. Very odd movie… but it doesn’t really let you go… keeps you hangin in there just to see how it ends and what the hell is going on. And I think it’s worth it. Mom and I looked at each other after the movie was over and were like “Okaaaaaayyyy”… but then the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It’s definitely one of those movies that makes ya think.

Last Minute Movie

Amway, the Thursday that IHOP Buddy came up to visit (I know I’m hopping all over the last few weeks, here), she happened to have a coupon for 2 free tickets to see the Da Vinci Code. Now, let me explain here, that I have two women in my life that absolutely adore the Da Vinci Code… at least the book. I haven’t read it yet. These two women are Mom and IHOP Buddy. And both have been very excited in expectation of the movie come out. Well… IHOP Buddy even went one further and bought the video game (this is the game she wanted me to see over the weekend at her place), and the coupon for free movies came with the game.

Now, IHOP Buddy really wants to see the movie, but she doesn’t like goin to the movie theater. So as soon as she heard that Mom really wanted to see the movie too, she immediately offered me the coupon. The only catch was that the coupon expired the very next day: Friday, and the last day of the month. So I called up Mom and asked her if she’d be willing to drop everything (including our usual Friday night shows) to go to a movie the next evening. And, of course, she was happy to do so, so that’s what we did. I liked the movie … and had a steady stream of commentary beside me of what meshed with the book and what didn’t, so I was able to follow along well enough.

I also liked the game, too, when I got to play it some at IHOP Buddy’s place the next day. But, then, it’s a mystery/puzzle game, and those are always a plus in my book. :)

In the “WTF!!” Category

The other movie we saw recently was “Pirates of the Caribbean II”. That was this past weekend. Another one Mom (okay, and me, too) has been impatient to see. We don’t see too many movies on their opening weekends, but Saturday happened to be Mom’s birthday, so it was already a special occasion. Now, I have to give fair warning about the movie: it was as great as the first one (a bit more slapstick goin on, and playin up the yucks with absolutely impossible physical situations, but still fun) but I would highly recommend that anybody who cares about the characters NOT see the movie. At least not yet… not until the third one comes out. Cuz they leave the damn thing in an absolutely ridiculous mess. Mom was not happy… she kept saying “I really would have gone to see the third movie anyway without them doing THIS!” Not a fair move, really. But in future, the series will be a fun set to watch all in a row.

As it is, we watched the first Pirates at Mom’s place before leaving for the theater, and it was definitely a good thing, cuz I would have missed a lot of references… it had been a while since I’d seen it. So we decided we’ll have to watch both I & II in a row before we go see the third one, too. Whenever it comes out. Probly a decade or so, with the way they left things. *snort*

Girl’s Night Out

The last movie on my list will actually constitute a first for me. At least the first in a long while. The Receptionist and I were talking a few weeks back about wanting to see a new movie out, “The Lake House”. It looks very interesting, and since her hubby died last year, she hasn’t really had anybody to go out and do stuff with. So I asked if she’d like to go together, and she readily agreed. Now, I don’t usually do social stuff with coworkers… with the single exception of going to the movie theater with a coworker once several years ago. We’d both felt like idiots for wanting to see TITANIC a second time, but had recognized kindred spirits in each other, so we went. That was the only movie I’ve ever seen more than once in the theater.

Amway, the Receptionist and I ended up asking the other support staff if they wanted to see “The Lake House, too, and we now have a group of us who will make a girl’s night out of it at the movies. We’re just not sure when. We had this discussion before the holiday weekend… and that weekend was obviously not a likely candidate for the outing. Neither was this past weekend, since I was doing other things with Mom for her birthday. And this weekend is out cuz the Office Whisperer is out of town. So… if the movie is still in theaters, we may actually try for next weekend. I guess we’ll see.

Odds & Ends on the Home Front

So I’ve been remiss in keeping up with updates on the construction taking place back behind my home. I wake up every morning to all kinds of wonderful saws and hammers and machines of various and sundry size. I’ve been periodically taking pictures of the progress over the last several months. I really will have to post those. The first building certainly looks to be shaping into an apartment building.

Plus, they’ve been widening out a little path that leads from my own duplex complex down to what I presume used to be a small path in the woods, and will now be a full sized street to the new apartment complex. They’ve been ripping out lawns and driveways of the duplexes along an existing street that leads to that path… I think to extend utilities and such down to the new construction. I’m just glad I don’t happen to live down that particular street.

Also, it seems I have my particular duplex to myself for a while. Not sure how long, but my immediate neighbors moved out about a month ago. Sad, though… I kinda liked them. I’d be far happier to see my OTHER neighbors go… the ones who seem to find it amusing to let their dogs leave all sorts of presents ALL over my lawn, and sometimes practically in my driveway. *snort*

Oh well. If I weren’t such a wuss, I’d confront them about it… but I am, so there it is.

Bon Voyage

So I’ve bid a fond farewell to my size 14 pants… yay! (actually, they’re stowed away in the closet… you know, just in case. I’m not necessarily a pessimist… just a realist) Amway, my weight-loss goals are very close to full realization. I am, in fact, quite comfy in my 12’s… and they even leave a little bit of room for growth. Which I don’t intend to fill. In fact, after losing my first 25 pounds the first few months on the strength of simple moderation alone, I am now working through an actual regiment of diet pills for a month to help work out the last 10 pounds of my goal. And a very strong possibility of size 10’s.

My attempts to restart an exercise regimen have still received abysmal results… but then at the moment, with as much concentrated caffeine as these pills seem to be pumping into my system, I’m afraid I’d have a heart attack if I tried. Seriously. And I certainly can’t starve myself on these things, either. They have me munching on something small between meals every other hour or so. But that’s okay… I feel fairly good so far… and just trying to be really careful with my head, cuz my migraine meds happen to have even more caffeine in them.

Amway, I may give the exercise thing another try after the month of pills is over.

Gaming vs Reading

So I share a joke with IHOP Buddy lately that when she has book(s) she really wants me to read, I’m in the mood for playing video games… and when she really wants me to play a game, I’m in the mood to read. lol In addition to the Da Vinci game, she also just finished up a game called Bard’s Tale that she adored and can’t wait for me to try cuz she thinks I’ll like it. She even sent it home with me along with a bevy of books. We weren’t talking for so long that she accumulated quite a few books to share during that time. Of course, she doesn’t officially work, so she also has far more time to read than I do, and our quasi-bookclub is a tad disproportionate. lol

Amway, I’ve been in the mood to read, so I haven’t had time to try the game yet. She popped in to chat one day last week with a “Well?!” and I’d totally forgotten about the game. I’ll get to it, though. I just finished one book last night, and I’m not sure what I’ll start on next. Of course, I hope to work on my database this weekend, so I’ll have to weigh what I want to get involved in and how much. *sigh* Decisions, decisions. My life really could be far more complicated…. lol

He Touched My…

So I think I’ll conclude today’s disgorgement with a funny story. Again… involving IHOP Buddy. When she came to Columbia before the holiday, one of our stops was Sam’s Club… a huge wholesale place that she doesn’t have near her town so she likes to stop by whenever she visits. With a hungry family of four, wholesale in bulk comes quite in handy.

Amway, as we left the store, we had to pass the inevitable dood at the door who checks everybody’s cart against their receipt. And this dood was thorough… poked through every item in the cart, moving things around to see what was underneath and such.

So he finished up, and we continued our way to the parking lot… and as soon as we were out of ear shot, she turned to me, all indignant, and exclaimed “He touched my bread!” Now, given the amount of pure indignance she imbued this statement with, my ears first tried to complete her sentence: “He touched my breast!” Perfectly understandable, considering the two words sound an awful lot alike.

Now, I couldn’t recall ever seeing him get that close to her in order to commit such an offense, and it took at least a half a minute of trying to figure that out before my mind finally registered what she’d actually said. I totally busted up laughing, though she was still fuming over the man poking her bread. And, of course, that was even funnier.

After I explained, she finally saw the humor of it all (but then my faulty hearing has been the source of much humor over the years)… and her bread really did survive the close encounter in much of its original condition. *grin*

Wow… so I’ve wasted quite an impressive amount of time today. Only 2 ½ hours left in the workday to muster some motivation to start on those guide updates. Ah well… perhaps tomorrow will be a more inspirational day. :)

Hangin up the Hat

So my brain has officially hung up it's hat for the day. And I still have an hour and 45 minutes left before quittin time. *sigh*

Hectic day. Had to power through an advertisement (4 pages of steps for those suckers) at the last minute cuz the PM (Project Manager) didn't know if he had authorization to proceed with the project until this morning, and it advertises on Monday, and the ad had to get to the papers by the end of today. That was this morning. It actually wasn't that difficult... I've done enough advertisements now that the process is pretty streamlined. It's just all the friggin interruptions that got me frustrated. And I normally don't mind interruptions at all... just not when I'm on a deadline, here.

Of course, I strongly suspect PMS is contributing to my overall irritability. Most things I normally roll with are seriously getting on my nerves this week.

Amway, add onto that our temp, who's a very nice girl, but hasn't really been focusing on her work. Granted, she's having a complicated pregnancy and has a lot on her mind, but she's not helping me much, here. Everything I give her, she's working by rote... not really paying attention to what she's doing, so I end up catching a lot of obvious errors. Now, I'm not sure how much of that can be attributed to being a million miles away upstairs, how much to simple inexperience, and how much to a crappy teacher (me), but either way, I'd get much more accomplished if I just did the work myself in the first place. But we have to keep her busy.

So that has contribued to my irritability, as well.

Then, this afternoon I was treated to a self-taught crash course on hooking up the laptop and projector, and using a jump drive. Our old Office Manager was the one that worked with all that equipment. None of us had done it before, the Office Whisperer was swamped getting the presentation ready, the Receptionist is completely lost when it comes to this stuff, so it was up to me to figure it out.

I had to wheedle a half hour out of the folks who had a meeting in that conference room right up to the time of the presentation. The set-up actually went fairly well, but the jump drive and I had to come to terms a time or two. It wasn't saving the correct file. It faked me out into believing I'd successfully saved over another file of the same name (last year's presentation). I didn't learn the error of it's ways until I finally managed to download the file onto the laptop, brought it up, toggled the display... and my boss (yes, my boss was giving this presentation) immediately pointed out the obvious fact that the date is 2 years old. This was while we were surrounded by the rest of the big-wigs he was presenting to, cuz the powerpoint file was so damned big that it took 5 years to upload then download, and I was late getting started, and the meeting was already 10 minutes underway.

So I ran with the jump drive back to my desk (on the other side of the building), resaved the file (another 5 years), ran back to the conference room (boss had already started the presentation using his little powerpoint print-out), downloaded to the laptop again (another 5 years) and finally slunk out of the room.

On the upside, my brain has successfully handled everything thrown at it today. On the downside, my brain has endured waaaaaaayyyy too much pressure today. I get the impression I'd never hack it in the corporate world. lol

Amway, time to go pack up all that equipment again. BUT! I now only have an hour left before I can go home. :)

Pep Talks for the Clinically Insane

Insanity

So my newest ex-friend has completely blocked me from MySpace. At least I assume that's why my Inbox is curiously empty of all of our interaction, while everybody else's is still there. Somehow, I find this funny. I'm sure the dood is convinced I'm one of those certified internet wack-jobs, and he' d best protect himself from me. Odd, since my probably ill-advised blunt-fest was essentially telling him to back off. With a little bit of not-so-necessary embellishment. Regardless, hermits are hardly prone to stalking.

But it makes one think: do certified internet wack-jobs really think they're wack-jobs? What's the difference between wack-jobs and regular peeps with odd circumstances? And how do you know you're not one of 'em? Radish was giving me a pep talk the other day... I was freaking out a bit at 1) being so rood to Evil Twin (I hate being rood to anybody) and 2) how negatively I reacted to a little bit of flirting. I mean, I've obviously not developed as healthy an outlook as I thought I had. But that's a whole nother issue. Something about iron grips and suffocating or some such.

But I had to wonder later: do the clinically insane get pep talks from their friends, too?

Normal

Ah well... back to normal life. It's actually resuming at a very convenient time. I've needed all my focus for work. This week has been busy, busy, busy. The Office Manager left us a few weeks ago, and the Office Whisperer has been out this week for conferences and to prepare for her daughter's wedding. The receptionist and I have had help from a temp, and said temp has been extremely helpful, but I've had to spend as much time showing her how to do stuff as I have getting my own work done.

But... it's Friday, Office Whisperer is back next week (as the new Office Manager), and we will already be getting our newest support staff addition in a couple of weeks. It'll be hectic for a while, but I'm confident all will work itself out soon. :)

And I have to find out what Pop wants for his Father's day dinner this weekend.

Questions

How is it that I can exercise great tact… feel practically compelled to do so, for 90% of my life… but feel compelled to equally great bluntness (to the point of rudeness) when 1) hormonal, 2) not feeling well, or 3) threatened? When the hell did I reach the point of feeling threatened over simple flirting? Why can’t I keep my mouth shut until AFTER I reason myself out of a panic... and, yes, dire need to commit sabotage? How am I able to logically understand and dissect this psychological morass of a vicious circle when it comes to physical relationships, but have absolutely no clue how to break it?

Why do some people go on about one’s “refreshing” candor, claim they have the intestinal fortitude and thickness of skin to not be shocked by much, yet run screaming when that candor takes on a sharp edge? Is it the content of what I have to say that is so objectionable, or my delivery? Is it unrealistic to think somebody could handle my bluntness… throw it right back at me, even? Is it unrealistic to think that anybody would even want to? Will I ever get to know somebody long enough for them to understand what’s behind the blunt… BEFORE I bonk them over the head with it? How much is too much or too soon to warn somebody about certain panic triggers?

Fuck it… I knew there was a reason I liked being a hermit. Good news is: I have plenty of time to blog again. lol

Today's Chickweed

I rather like today's 9 Chickweed Lane. Of course, Thorax is a hoot any day of the year, but he has some particularly interesting thoughts this week.

It's a little small to read, so here's today's Meditation of Thorax:

"People of religious distinction maintain that human beings, exclusive of all other creatures, possess souls and are, therefore, entitled to admittance into heaven. Human beings alone lie, libel, slander, devise progroms, murder for recreation and perform crossword puzzles. This says nothing new about the human condition, but it illuminates what a sould contributes to it.

It also clarifies the entrance requirements for heaven."

Backlog

So, yeah... it's been a while since I've shown my face here in blog-world. But I have a good reason for it... I think I've mentioned in past that I can only focus on one writing endeavor at a time. And I've had quite an interesting past week.

Just about as long as I've been involved in the fascinating world of the internet, my mascot has been a li'l treefrog. Most of my online friends are aware of this. Well, I discovered a week ago that I'm not the only one so enamored of the green li'l doods. A rather intriguing guy on MySpace discovered the same commonality and just had to pop in to comment on the observation. And we've been sharing very interesting e-mails back and forth ever since.

I'm not quite gettin excited about this guy yet, but I'm having a lot of fun so far, and there are definately possibilities for further development. And he's even earned himself a blog-name: my Evil Twin. lol This has been a recurring theme in our communication.

Amway, I HAVE had quite a bit to mention here... including the Office Manager's last week a few weeks ago. And Pop's new job at a new hospital. And the Staff Advisory Council Fashion Show I got roped into creating programs and appreciation certificates for. And thoughts on my birthday and getting older. And the horrid bug that decided to buzz directly into my ear at 2:30 in the morning the other night. I'm tellin ya, there's a prominent list of occurences that can cause adrenaline to course through your veins in 1.2 seconds... and that is one of them. I couldn't get back to sleep for hours.

But mostly I wanted to say thank you to one of my faithful readers... a cousin in Kansas who has always encouraged my writing, and happens to be a writer herself. Amway, after I mentioned my birthday a few weeks ago, I suddenly received a surprise birthday card in the mail! It was so unexpected, but very sweet, and I thank you very much. I know you're so good at that sort of thing... and I also know Gram appreciates your remembering her more than words can say. I'm not so good at the thank-you card thing... and I'm increasingly getting worse at the letter-writing thing. So I hope that a thank-you here is sufficient to express my thoughts. :) I really need to get your e-mail addy.

Welp, that's about all I have for now. I just don't have the mental umph to address all the other stuff right now. Who knows how long I'll be focused on writing back and forth to my Evil Twin. Perhaps our communication may progress to another format soon and I can get back into the mood to blog again. We have somewhat of a date to IM this weekend, so that may help. :)

My Birthday Stripper

I couldn't resist sharing... a friend posted this for my birthday today on the message board I belong to. Been having a rough several weeks, so laughing definately helped this morning. :)

I have more thoughts about my birthday, age and life in general (birthdays are good for that) but I'll get to those later. I WILL however mention that a very good and long-standing friend (I hate to call em "old" friends, makes em sound... well, old) has invited me to visit her in Iowa this August. I haven't seen her since she drove down to help me move into my LAST apartment. It won't be a long visit, with my vacation days sucked up by my San Diego trip in October, but we don't need an awful lot of time to catch up and just hang out. :)

Amway, here's my Birthday Stripper:

Not a Good Week

Just feelin kinda anti-social this week. Wrestling with a migraine more days than not... dealing with issues of coming in late to work because of it... almost had a visitor for the end of the month, then not. Things just aren't working out well this week.

But it's Friday. The work week is over, at least. Mom has yet to tell me what she wants for Mother's Day dinner... though she's already informed me she wants me to butcher her bushes over the weekend. Nice. *sigh*

Next week will be a new week.

Progress!

So I finally pulled out my old set of pants... those one size down from the ones I've been occupying for the last year or so. And they fit! Woo-hoo! A tad snugly, but they fit. I seem to have hit my low (about 20 pounds away than my heaviest) working with nothing but a little bit of restraint. I've been at the same weight for almost a week. Now I really need to get that exercise regime started.

Still having mixed results getting up early. The problem is falling asleep earlier at night. NOT, mind you, getting to bed earlier. I just end up laying there for an hour or two trying to fall asleep. I realize that forcing myself out of bed earlier in the morning should help wear me out earlier at night, but that's easier said than convincing myself first thing in the morning.

Oh well, perhaps wearing these pants will help be incentive. They fit great standing. Sitting, well... don't tell anyone, but nobody should notice the button popped open while I'm at my desk.

Mother Nature

Gotta love wakin up to an awesome thunderstorm. :) The non windy-and-likely-to-turn-into-a-tornado kind, of course. Even better when it lightens up enough for me to drive to work, then gets right back to business. Not sure how long it's supposed to keep up, but I'm pretty happy. We've needed the rain. Plus, there's just that simultaneously calming / thrilling feeling about rain and thunder.

Now, if it could just do all that without the low weather pressure that sets off my head. *sigh* Every silver lining's gotta have a cloud. lol

Welp... that's about all the time I have for commentary this morning. I've several piles waiting for me on my desk. BUT... at least we have 3 of us here today, instead of just the 2 we had yesterday. Eep!

Follow Up

Good News: I found my change purse! Complete with both checks, safe and sound. The grocery store had it after all. *whew* No need to clost out my account.

Bad News: My mind is still irreparably lost.

And as a related side note to the security issue: beware of e-mails from "PayPal" claiming to be a receipt for a purchase you didn't make, complete with a handy dandy li'l button to dispute the charge. *snort* Fockers. They're gettin better... they actually used my paypal disposable address, whereas I've been able to spot them a mile away before cuz they used one of my other addys. Still makes me a tad worried, though, as they've obviously gotten themselves a hold of PayPal's address list.

Plus, I was stupid enough to activate my HTML to see the message. Now they know it's a valid addy and will continue to phish/spam it. Oh well... the beauty of disposable addys are that they're... well, disposable. :)

Doh!

The Change Purse Saga

So this has been a really "blonde" week for me. Started this weekend when the folks and I went out for lunch and to run errands. All this togetherness is not a normal occurence, but Pop is a vitamin nut and has been insistent that he come with me vitamin shopping so he knows I have something better than the generic Wal Mart brand. Honestly, he does get horribly picky.

Amway, we had Chinese for lunch, and my fortune cookie was too good to ignore. Something about something wonderful was about to happen to me. *snort* So of COURSE I had to play the numbers on the back of the fortune, right? So we head to the grocery store next and I proceed to play those numbers on a Lotto and a Powerball ticket. (Neither even remotely won, by the way.

This is the last time I can recall seeing my change purse. I only just discovered it missing yesterday. Fortunately, the only money I had in it was some small change... literally. I'd just spent my last bills on the lottery tickets. UNfortunately, I also keep a couple of checks folded up in the pocket of the change purse just in case I happen to find myself somewhere that doesn't take plastic. And I'm fairly positive I also keep one convenience check from one of my credit cards (I THINK I know which one) in there, too, for a similar but larger scale emergency.

I called up the grocery store yesterday, but they informed me they had no wallet in their lost and found. I'm gonna run by after work anyway, just to make sure, cuz my report of a lost "wallet" might have been misleading and they may have looked right over a change purse.

Still to be on the safe side, I called up the bank (thankfully it's my smaller local bank account, not my primary national bank that has all my real money) and had those checks cancelled. Plus, they strongly suggested I come in to close out my old account and open a new one, since my name, account number and routing number are all readily available on those lost checks. So I'll be leaving work a little early tonight to take care of that. *sigh*

Thankfully, I discovered when I contacted the credit card company that nobody can really do anything with the routing numbers of the convenience checks, and all they (the cc co.) needed to do was cancel all open checks they've issued. This is a relief, as this is one of my oldest credit card accounts, and longevity counts on your credit report. I'd have lost quite a bit of credit power if I'd had to open a new account.

Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't experienced more inconveniences such as this. I am SO absent-minded. I'm constantly paranoid that I've forgotten something somewhere... except when I actually do so, and then I completely forget to check. *rolling eyes*

Fortunately, this little fiasco didn't cause any major hardships. I double checked and I still have all of my cards and my ID in the purse, so that saves me a WHOLE bunch of work and worries.

Hey... Where's My Keys?!

My second blonde moment is far more embarassing. I mean, forgetting an article somewhere is far more prevalent than trying to walk away from your car with the engine still running. *smacking forehead* I honestly didn't hear the thing still on. I'd driven Mom to lunch since she's torn a ligament in her foot, and dropped her off at the door while I went to park. And true to absent-minded form, whenever something shakes up a mindless routine (such as parking a stupid car), my brain evidently ceases to notice the obvious.

Thank goodness my car is smarter than I am. It wouldn't let me lock the door, and when I went to grab my keys to hit the remote lock, I discovered they were not only still in the ignition, but also still powering the car. *sigh*

Good news is: My brain is USED to expecting the unexpected at work, so I've managed to stay on top of everything here. At least I think I have. I was just commenting to the Office Whisperer today that I kinda LIKE all the interruptions. I not only like the challenge of the juggle, but it also keeps the job from getting boring.

Just so long as the Alzheimer's doesn't kick in TOO early.

Mentalrobics

Boy am I gettin plenty of it at work... mentalrobics, that is. This much keepin my brain on it's toes will surely be my best defense against Alzheimer's. At least I can hope, anyway. I DO have a family history of it.

Not much to report... stayin ultra busy at work (in case I hadn't mentioned), with a modest amount of office drama goin on. Some very happy news: Mom earned Employee of the Month for May! She really deserves it... poor woman's about to overload with 2 huge endeavors that have been plopped in her lap recently, on top of her regular work. She's been threatening to move to Alaska and become a hermit, more often lately.

Home life is pretty much the same. Home life never changes, really. I get home, eat dinner, curl up with a book (I'm goin through em like mad again these days... it's great). Cat pukes, I mutter grumble for a bit, then clean it up. Watch my shows on Friday night. Weekends have dinner at the folks' place, chores, errands, and more reading. Sometimes a movie thrown in... we finally watched Batman Begins (or, as Mom calls it: Baby Batman) on Easter, which I bought a while back (based on rave reviews) to help fulfill my obligation to Columbia House DVD Club but never got around to watching. Not too bad. We liked it... Mom and Pop had never seen the other Batman movies, and Mom said she now HAS to see em. I warned her to expect mucho camp... but fun.

Still working on getting up a little bit earlier each morning in order to implement that exercise program. I'm having mixed results, but positive overall, I think. I'm still doing very well with my so-called "diet"... still keeping my portions small and the crap out, and losing just a pound or two more each time I check the scale. :) And I've had my second official "You're losing weight!"... this one from Pop on Easter. I was extremely gratified.

Easter was very nice. We had a nice dinner official holiday style: in the middle of the day. Then munched on leftovers for dinner. I'm not sure if I've explained before, but Easter is a very vague holiday for me. Mom being Greek Orthodox, we always celebrated the Orthodox Easter while I was growing up... but all the kids at school would celebrate the regular one. I ended up not really subscribing to either. But for Gram's sake, we now usually end up celebrating both. Normal Easter was last Sunday... this year, the Orthodox Easter falls just a week away: next Sunday. So we get another great dinner. Two for the price of one... can't beat that. :) Though, with the way Mom's been feeling this week, I may be cookin our second Easter dinner.

Okay, that's about it for now. I DID want to mention one interesting side effect of all the windy storms blowin through these parts... TONS of dandelions EVERYwhere. Hell, some lawns are practically pure blankets of white. Interesting effect. lol

Welp... back to the grind. No time for pretty colors... just wanted to check in. :)

Just Not Normal

So at least 4 or 5 more tornadic storm systems have swept through the central portion of the country, north south and middle, since that first one I mentioned several weeks ago. The latest one, last night, hit Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. I think I heard news this morning of three tornados converged in one place... possible Iowa City, it was pretty heavily hit and sustained quite a bit of damage. *shaking head* This is simply not normal. Perhaps this is part of a longer weather cycle, like they're trying to say about the increased activity and severity of the hurricanes. Or mebbe Mother Nature is raisin the stakes in fighting back. Who knows.

Welp... we're supposed to get more storms this weekend. I sincerely dislike the fact that I've stopped happily anticipating the prospect of a thunderstorm. *sigh*

Death Psychic

So I came across this thanks to an odd friend of mine... who most probably picked it up from even odder friends of his...

Check it out... find out how YOU'RE gonna die: The Death Psychic

Evidently, my rather inopportune demise is as follows:

As the unfortunate target of a serial killer, your head is put into a vice and crushed.

Ew.

It's almost pertinent, though... my head DOES frequently feel like it's in a vice.

Rollin Right Along

So I'm just rollin right along on the positive train. Yesterday, when I picked Gram up for her eye appointment (3 1/2 hours total time to accomplish a 5 minute laser procedure... *shaking head*), she looked at me and asked "Are you on a diet? Are you losing weight?" I was tickled pink. :)

I haven't told anybody about my weight loss goals... primarily cuz half the time (okay, more than half the time) it's a passing inspiration that never seems to last long enough to actually start sacrificing something. But since my migraine cleared up last week, I've been pretty successful at keeping my intake down. And I'm not even eating anything special... just my usual meals, only smaller portions. And I've cut out the crap... amazingly, I've not felt inclined to touch my jar of peanut m&m's I keep eternally refilled at my desk at work. Of course, such disinclination will probably not last long (especially around hormone munchie time)... and then I'll face my true challenge. But I'm seeing results (pants are definately gettin looser)... so hopefully that will be enough to keep up my motivation. I've done it once... I can do it again.

And I'm feeling really good. I think both kinds of my preventative medication were suppressing me... either physically or emotionally. I was totally unmotivated to do anything other than survive the next day. But I'm feeling incredibly positive... motivated, energized, clear-headed. Of course, it could be for any number of factors... not just the discontinuation of the meds. The onset of Spring, the increase in workload at work, my upcoming trip to San Diego in the Fall, my healthier diet. But I don't discount the absence of those meds, either.

When I discontinued the Propranalol, I thought I'd rather deal with the physical downer of the Amitriptyline rather than the depression. But now I don't think I want either of them. I've been relishing my sense of accomplishment at work... successfully tackling each new set of tasks handed to me at an increasing rate, with efficiency. On the Amitrip., I couldn't even get my brain in gear until about 11:00. I simply can't afford to do that now. Especially since the Office Manager gave her notice on Monday, and we're all going to have to start incorporating her work into our own until we can find a replacement.

Now don't get me wrong... I'm back to the condition I was in before I started trying ANY of the preventative meds: my neck is in constant discomfort... threatening to stiffen up at any time and trigger a migraine. But I think I'd rather take my chances with the pain. At least for now. I'll probly change my mind the next time I'm struck with another doozy.

However, I'm also hoping to experiment with a different tact: exercise (adrenaline does wonders for pain)... which I've been hoping to do anyway for the weight loss. I've been gauging myself in the evenings when I get home from work, and I've just been too exhausted to exercise. So I'm going to try mornings again. Yes, a huge laugh to anybody who knows me well. I'm NOT a morning person. But... without the Amitrip., I may have a chance. I did it once before (morning exercise) for a while... but it didn't last long. I think the effort died a tragic death after I accidentally locked myself out of the apartment for my morning walk, and I had to walk to my folks' place to get the extra key they keep. But I have a treadmill now... so we'll see.

I've been slowly working my way to getting up earlier (and going to bed earlier, too) each morning. I'm having mixed results, but I don't mind taking this effort slowly. I've burned myself out too many times in the past by doing too much at once.

So that's where I'm at for now. We'll see how it goes. :)

Ack!

Who let loose the floodgates?

So my workload is definately picking up... as I knew it would ever since the office meeting a few weeks ago in which we were informed another department would be shifting their workload our way. Which is good inasmuch now we know the work will be done consistently. Not so good inasmuch we're gettin plowed (and not the good kind). All I can say is: it's a damn good thing my head's finally straightening out. Whew.

But overall, I think the change is more good than not... at least so far. We support staff have had a few discussions lately, ourselves, about the possibility of asking for another pair of hands to help out. We'll see.

Good news for the day

IHOP Buddy IM'd this morning... I received it as an offline message cuz I wasn't online yet (gettin plowed), but she offered quite a bit of explanation for why she's been closing in on herself. Which is definately not a good thing for a natural extrovert. But I'm glad she's ready to reach out... a good sign that she's on her way back up. We may actually see a visit to IHOP on the horizon. :)

Random thought for the day

I did, indeed, visit my chiropractor yesterday after work. I hadn't seen him in a while, so we had to catch up and he wanted to know what I'd been doing for fun lately. I took a bit too long to think about that for his liking, and I suppose I had to agree. My idea of fun is having my home all to myself for as long as I can manage. lol Pretty pathetic, eh? Oh well.

Amway, I told him about Boomer's visit, saying that an old Navy buddy came to see me for Christmas. I talked about the visit a little, then he kinda laughed after I fell quiet for a bit. Said it was so strange hearing the term "old Navy buddy" from so young a person. He expected to hear that sort of thing from his clients with WWII stories, but it was a tad disconcerting hearing it from me. I never really thought of it that way, but I guess that COULD sound a little strange. I had to laugh with him. But honestly... I think 12 years is plenty long enough to have had old Navy buddies. :)

On the Positive Train

Positive Thought for the Day:

I don't hurt as much as I did yesterday. In fact, I hurt a whole lot less. I think this thing is finally breaking... yay!

Now I just need a chiropractor appt. to get back into whack after being all tensed up for so long. :)

Positive Thought for the Day

Okay, so I've decided I'm getting too negative lately, and need to start focusing on the positive. I'm not oblivious to the fact that my inner "victim" has never really been entirely vanquished... and it will grasp any opportunity I let slip, to re-assert itself. Which is why I usually endeavor to keep perspective and temper negative with positive as much as possible. Seems I've lost sight of that lately. So...

Positive Thought #1

My loss of appetite lately (stemming from constant pain and/or nausea) has resulted in my landing at the bottom of my typical 10-pound flux. Now, I know this is not a HEALTHY way to lose weight, but... mebbe it can help me outta the habit of bad-for-me munchies, which I may be able to maintain once I'm done with the current battle with my head. Hell... with such encouraging results, I may even be inspired to start up my exercise regime again, and I can get rid of the rest of the 20 pounds keeping me from my ideal weight.

This would be helpful for my trip to Santa Maria in October. I'm tellin ya, there's nothing quite like strippin down for my tat artist to survey what work needs to be done, and being at least 40 pounds heavier than when she first started that work (even though I was a bean pole at the time). Almost makes me feel like I've betrayed her for letting her palette and all her hard work go to pot (or at least stretched out a tad). The only good thing about it is: with the extra padding, the new tat work doesn't hurt HALF as much as it used to... lol

Positive Thought #2

I did a pretty good job of earning my keep right at the end of my work day yesterday... even through the blinding pain of a full blown migraine. At the last minute, The Boss needed some dollar figures researched, calculated and compiled in presentable form... and he needed it for first thing in the morning. The other girls were on their way out for the day, so it was up to me. I wasn't thrilled, but the task wasn't really that difficult. I knew how and where to find the information he needed, it didn't take me long to type up the page or so of lists, and I can throw together a spreadsheet (including formatting and calculations) in my sleep. Complete with revisions from the boss, I managed to accomplish all within about a half hour. *patting self on back* Then I got to go home and O.D.

Of course, if I'd been unfamiliar with any part of the process, it would have been a much different matter, since I was having a difficult time thinking clearly. But I guess it's a good sign that I understand the ins and outs of the department fairly well... and gives me small piece of mind that I actually still can be useful when needed, despite any given state of pain. I have hope that my migraines (and thus, myself) may not become a liability to the department anytime TOO soon.

Grrr...

So I'm beginning to get really, really, really, REALLY tired of trying to figure out why I hurt. Every single day. Complete with nausea, rediculously sensitive sense of smell (and light and sound, but every little nauseating smell is the worst), and complete inability to concentrate. Is it the weaning off my preventative meds? Addiction to my pain meds? Hormones? Weather pressure changes with all these storms? Spring induced sinus issues? Too much reading? Not enough exercise? Too much junk food? Not eating enough? (which is more the case these days, since I've lost all appetite) Ergonomics at work (or lack thereof)? Bad posture? All of the above? What?! I'ts friggin driving me buggy, and it's been going on for two weeks. No wonder I've been so damned grumpy.

I'd be willing, at this point, to offer everything I own to anybody willing to chop off my head.

*deep breath* Okay, I'm done with the melodramatics... but this really is getting quite frustrating. And I HAVE noticed that my posts of late have morphed from morose to disgruntled. 'Course, I'll take disgruntled over depressed any day (which may be the price I'm paying for my choice regarding the Propranalol), but I need to start focusing on some positive, here.

Either that, or I just need to get laid... an ever-popular suggested solution from more than one friend of mine. lol *sigh* I need to lay off the romance novels.

One Time Offer

Couldn't resist sharing this e-mail I received today:

---------------------------------------------

This coming Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06

That won't ever happen again.



Thank you for your undivided attention. You may now return to your (normal ? ) life, whatever that may be...

Tipping the Fulcrum

You know, sometimes it's hard to have faith in the world when you read shit like this:

The Hot Zone: Child Bride

I mean, I've been reading heart-wrenching stories in which people do horrible things for a REASON (like Canada's thousands of seal pups slaughtered for their pelts)... hell, even terrorists have a purpose for which they're fighting. And that's hard enough to swallow... but cruelty for the simple sake of cruelty? Yeah, that's part of human nature, too... and that's downright disheartening. I know that the point of this story is to celebrate the perseverence of good over bad, but still. One can't help but feel horror for the existence of the bad in the first place.

I've always believed that not only the human race as a whole, but each individual person, is equally capable of great good and great bad (and everything in between). Our experiences and our choices determine the extent to which each shade of the spectrum forms our lives. And for the most part, I think it's been a pretty even draw throughout the course of human history. I've had discussions with friends who are convinced the world's goin to hell in a handbasket... that it's much worse now than it's ever been. But just read a little bit of history, and you'll have people insisting we don't know how good we've got it right now.

I honestly dunno. I seriously doubt human nature has changed that much. Only our implements of joy or destruction. And you know... whenever I wonder if that balance will ever be tipped, I never once really believe it'll slide over to the better. Unlike our optimistic president who has such a great vision for the future. I have to give him that much, though I don't agree with his methods. Me? I just wonder when we'll eventually destroy ourselves. Or our habitat. So I guess my best hope is that we'll be able to maintain the balance.

Damn, have I really gotten this friggin cynical?

Oh, Good Grief!

So some folks really need to get a handle on their priorities. We had another sweep of tornadic storms come through Mid-MO last night, and the local tv stations switched over to non-stop weather coverage.

Now, let me explain non-stop weather coverage. You see this great big radar weather map to track exactly where the danger is and where it's projected to be and when... you get one person after another (to relieve each other when their voices get raw) keeping everybody up TO the date on what's going on, warnings, tornado sitings, accidents, damage, etc.

Personally, I'm GLUED to these proceedings until I know the danger's passed my area. And even when it's past me, I certainly don't begrudge this important information to the folks who are ABOUT to get it. And I'm certainly NOT fussing about missing E.R. It is irritating as all get-out watching these newsfolks having to respond to complaints, apologizing and EXPLAINING on air why they're overriding E.R. to help friggin save lives. *snort*

Amway, true to form, the dangerous parts of the storm skimmed JUST north of Columbia. Thankfully. I'm tellin ya... this place is charmed. Though I have to admit: my enjoyment of a thunderstorm is severely diminished when I know tornadic conditions are out there, and I may have to dash into the utility room with Ms. Pukesalot (which event, I gaurantee, will inspire her namesake) at a moment's notice. Even though I know I'm watching the (theoretically) bad part skirt right around on the radar.

This really is unusual weather for us. I mean, thunderstorms are a regular staple... but I don't recall, for as long as I've been in Columbia, them turning tornadic this often. We're supposed to get more storms this weekend... guess we'll see how it goes.

Sentimental

So I must be getting sentimental in my old age... or mebbe it's just poppin up it's head more often again. I remember I used to be quite sentimental... then I woke up to the world.

Or mebbe it's just nice to see a positive story amidst the rest of the madness and chaos in the news. I mean, what is UP with charging a man with death for choosing a different religion? You know, I really do try to keep an open mind about other ways of thinking, but there are some things I simply can't respect. Seems "death" is the answer to everything for seemingly whole socities. Pfft...

But that's another story. I'm not here to get riled up... I just wanted to share a cool news story I just read. Even brought a tear or two to the eye. Though, even in the story, I simply can't wrap my mind around some mentalities. Roaming about in gangs and indiscriminately committing violence during a celebration? *shaking head*

Okay, I'm getting sidetracked again. Here's the story:

Transplanted Organs Create Family

And for when that link disappears, here it is in full:

Transplanted Organs Create Family

Recipients invited to donor's sister's wedding

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- As Larry Levinson watched news footage of a Mardi Gras riot in Seattle five years ago from his hospital bed, he got so mad that a nurse unplugged the television. With a heart as weak as his, he didn't need the stress.

But a 20-year-old man who died in the melee would end up saving Levinson's life.
Levinson received a transplanted heart from that young man, Kris Kime.
This weekend, Levinson will be there when Kime's little sister gets married. Several other recipients of Kime's organs are invited, too.

"To me ... it was just like inviting my brother," said Kirsten Kime, 22.

Levinson, 67, had been on the transplant list for years with cardiomyopathy, an illness that weakens the muscles of the heart. He was near death on February 27, 2001, as thousands of Mardi Gras revelers packed into Seattle's Pioneer Square district.

"I had a few days left," Levinson said from his home in Gig Harbor, about 25 miles from Seattle. "My heart rate was running at about 15 to 20 percent and I was having heart attacks, angina attacks."

As the party raged into the early hours of the next day, roving groups of young men beat people at random. Some wielded brass knuckles. Others swung skateboards like baseball bats.
Kris Kime was caught in the melee while trying to help a woman who had been shoved to the ground, witnesses said. He was pummeled, fell and bashed his head. He was declared brain dead less than a day later.

The story was big enough that Levinson and others in line to get transplants put two and two together after doctors told them their new organs came from a 20-year-old man who had died of head injuries.

Jessie Bettes, a 51-year-old Boeing Co. employee, received one of Kime's kidneys. Ray Page, 63, got the other. Ray Allison received Kime's lungs. Martha French was given Kime's pancreas.
The Kime family has organized reunions for the organ recipients a few times over the past five years. Every time Kime's mother sees Levinson, she puts her ear to his chest and marvels that her boy's heart is still beating.

Page said he will not be able to make the wedding because he has to work, but he sent Kirsten Kime and her fiance some margarita money to spend on their honeymoon in Mexico. Bettes hopes to go, if she can fight off a bout of laryngitis. Levinson said he will be there in the first new suit he has bought in years.

"You need to understand: We're family," Levinson said. "So it didn't surprise me at all that I got invited."

In death, "Kris is so much bigger than Kris was," said Jill Steinhaus, executive director of the Living Legacy Foundation, a branch of the LifeCenter Northwest Donor Network, which helped arrange the donation. "And that's really because of his family and the people who received his organs. They will never forget that young man. And they won't let us either."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

Rough Weekend

So the weekend was a little rough. Dunno if my head is reacting to weaning the prevantative medication out of my system, or if it's simply about due. Who knows. It's not really over yet, either... I took Monday off, but I don't dare miss too many days. With job security at the top of my fuss list, I can't afford to become a liability.

So it's a balance... by time the pain meds from the night before start to wear out of my system and clear my mind a little, well, then I start hurting again. I can't really take an effective dose at work, so I work through and take some when I get home... but the pain's to a point that I have to take a double dose, and the cycle starts again.

Oh well... I've done this enough times to know the cycle will break. Eventually, anyway. For the moment, well... I'm still a bit groggy, but fortunately this is Spring Break week, and it's pretty quiet at work. No huge issues to wrap my mind around. And until it wears off, I don't hurt. Gotta be thankful for whatever I can get, eh? :)

Whoa...

So here (supposedly) is another pic from the storms a few weekends ago... taken in Sedalia, which is about an hour and a half away from me. The Office Whisperer's daughter, (who works at an insurance agency and is, understandly, pretty busy these days) sent it to her.

Either way, it's pretty cool pic. :)

Kamikaze Birds

All I can say is that there must have been tons of worms on the wet streets this morning. I had to maneuver around no less than 10 swooping, hopping or running birds (robins mostly) recklessly insinuating themselves directly in my path… all within perhaps 2 miles that I drive before I reach a major city street.

‘Sokay… I’ve had to test my driving reflexes quite a bit this week. On my way to work yesterday morning, I literally faced some sort of medium sized terrier calmly trotting down my side of the road directly towards the car. Fortunately, I wasn’t going very fast on the small road… but even after I stopped completely, he just kept coming as if nothing were out of place in the slightest. Afraid that the impatient guy behind me would just try to gun around me, not knowing why I was stopped in the middle of the street, and hit the dog (which has happened in the past), I finally beeped the horn at it a couple of times, and it meandered off to the side of the road. *shaking head*

And then on the way home later in the evening on that very same road, I had to wait for a family of deer to cross a carlength or two in front of me. As a rule, of course, if you see one there’s always more, so I just stopped until I could see no more coming, through the dusk. Three passed immediately, and then there was one last straggler that was novel enough to try angling back to pass behind me.

Honestly, though I’m a huge animal lover, I hate these kinds of encounters… precisely BECAUSE I’m an animal lover. Not only do I fuss about how I COULD have hit them and I may not be so lucky next time, I also fuss about who else will probably hit them. The evidence of such is quite readily available everywhere you turn around here. One of the things I’m not thrilled with about the place. I’ve come to the staunch conclusion that wild animals and cars should NOT cohabitate.