Well, this is both amusing an disappointing at the same time. I didn't update last month because, well, there wasn't much to update.
I spent September cleaning. And rearranging furniture; I did some of that, too. That's basically all I did. ^^;
Weight hasn't really changed much; September's weight check was 194, October's is 195.5 (as of the 6th, when I finally remembered to weigh myself).
I think it's safe to say that the biking I was doing was making a definite difference, weight-wise. ^^;
So, now I'm thinking of joining a gym again, simply to keep myself from spring boarding and gaining it all back. So long as I don't go over 200 again, I should be ok, but I still want to get back down to 160, which is what I was in high school. :/
In the mean time, there is progress in other areas!
For October, I was able to type up 10 pages (that I remember), and wrote 5 more.
And the best part is, I have now paid off 2 of my credit cards! Woo! Considering one of them had an APR of 31.99% (for no reason that I know of!), I consider this a good thing.
The bad news is I forgot to renew the other (which has the lowest APR at 17.24%), as I was going to use that for holding stuff (car, hotel room) for the final vacation of the year, but realized they never sent me a new one when it expired, so I have to use the high interest rate one instead. :( Unfortunately, too many people are counting on my being there, so not going would let down a lot of people. Especially since the room is being held in my name.
Flip side type good news is, I've finally convinced my friend to only go to one convention next year. That being Anthrocon (Anthrocon.org), which is basically the largest of the conventions we go to.
Hopefully, I'll be able to spend the winter building up more stock. I seem to have a semi-steady work schedule, right now, so there's always that chance. ^^
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Monthly Update: August
This was one of those months where I was very busy and getting a lot of things worked on - but nothing actually got done.
During August, I was mainly getting ready (or trying to get ready) for a convention a friend insisted we had to go to. (Thankfully, the next one isn't until November, and will be much closer to home).
So, I worked on ponies, and I worked on jewelry, and knitting, and all sorts of things. But, like I mentioned earlier, I didn't actually get anything of consequence finished.
So, here's my update for August:
Scarved knitted: 1
Weigh-in: 196.5
Yes, I got one scarf started and finished. That's it. I also gained weight, though that was to be expected. I don't exactly eat healthily while at conventions. Typically, what's in the con-suite, providing there is one at the convention. Or fast food. Neither of which can be very healthy, much less contributing to weight lose. Le sigh.
I shall also have to be doing more sit-ups, though; the mirrors in the hotel rooms' bathroom made this painfully obvious. Yes, I said mirrors; the vanity was a corner model, and the mirrors made use of this design by being done in tri-fold. Nothing like seeing an ugly, yucky gut that you don't like from three different angles at once. XP (I imagine, if it was nicely proportioned and therefore went along with the rest of my body, I wouldn't mind so much, but in this case it's like I'm proportionate and then there's this sudden lump that looks very out of place. Bah.) Worst. Hotel. Mirrors. EVER. :P
In the mean time, the cold is back, so I'm back to drinking hot cocoa. I'm trying to limit myself to one cup a day, though. I can have tea any time I want, since it's a lot more healthy to have than pop and hot cocoa. I have, however, noticed that my interest in soda (which honestly wasn't all that high in the first place, since I had to give up caffeine in high school) has been going down. Not sure what to make of that, really.
During August, I was mainly getting ready (or trying to get ready) for a convention a friend insisted we had to go to. (Thankfully, the next one isn't until November, and will be much closer to home).
So, I worked on ponies, and I worked on jewelry, and knitting, and all sorts of things. But, like I mentioned earlier, I didn't actually get anything of consequence finished.
So, here's my update for August:
Scarved knitted: 1
Weigh-in: 196.5
Yes, I got one scarf started and finished. That's it. I also gained weight, though that was to be expected. I don't exactly eat healthily while at conventions. Typically, what's in the con-suite, providing there is one at the convention. Or fast food. Neither of which can be very healthy, much less contributing to weight lose. Le sigh.
I shall also have to be doing more sit-ups, though; the mirrors in the hotel rooms' bathroom made this painfully obvious. Yes, I said mirrors; the vanity was a corner model, and the mirrors made use of this design by being done in tri-fold. Nothing like seeing an ugly, yucky gut that you don't like from three different angles at once. XP (I imagine, if it was nicely proportioned and therefore went along with the rest of my body, I wouldn't mind so much, but in this case it's like I'm proportionate and then there's this sudden lump that looks very out of place. Bah.) Worst. Hotel. Mirrors. EVER. :P
In the mean time, the cold is back, so I'm back to drinking hot cocoa. I'm trying to limit myself to one cup a day, though. I can have tea any time I want, since it's a lot more healthy to have than pop and hot cocoa. I have, however, noticed that my interest in soda (which honestly wasn't all that high in the first place, since I had to give up caffeine in high school) has been going down. Not sure what to make of that, really.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Book Review: Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress
This is a book that was actually published back in 2007, but my brother found it at one of the Half-Price books we frequent, and it looked amusing, so I decided to get it.
Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress, by Shelly Mazzanoble, basically documents a "normal girls" introduction to playing Dungeons and Dragons, and some of the perceived stereotypes surrounding the game and genre as a whole.
Frankly, I suspect the only reason she was introduced to the game and started playing at all is because she works for Wizards of the Coast, but that's neither here nor there.
This books is a very interesting read, and highly amusing - she has her character essentially making diary entries after some of their adventures. I found some of the perceptions of both herself and her friends regarding DnD to be interesting, as I never encountered them.
Then again, I was already on the inside, having been introduced to DnD by my older brother when I was... Seven? Eight? Something like that. We grew up in a neighborhood with mostly old people, so there weren't really any other kids for us to play with. The group consisted of myself, my brother, and a few of our friends from school, only one of which lived close enough to allow for our parents having no trouble with our walking over to their house. So, we played at home, with the one kid being allowed by his folks to walk to our place (or bike, either way).
The whole take on many people outside the game's opinion about what they think they know about DnD (and how off they are!) came as a surprise. I wasn't really aware of some of the ideas of what some people think it means to play DnD.
Shelly Mazzanoble presents both the stereotypes and a look into the concept of playing DnD in a humorous, jazzed up way, and I think anybody who is interested in DnD, or would maybe like to get their girl friend (or boy friend!) playing, you should probably pick up this book. Not only does she gloss over some of the campaigns her group was in, she also goes over some of the terminology and etiquette of the game, along with some safety concerns (dice + cat/baby = bad), and for a newb, that's all to the good.
I did, however, have one problem with it, but in the face of everything, it's most likely a minor quibble. Ms. Mazzanoble is a fashionista. That is, she's into fashion, and she likes shopping, especially for clothing. I am most decidedly not, though I will admit that I like shopping, to a degree. Consequentially, there were some things mentioned in her monologue that I didn't understand, and still don't completely. To me, Jimmy Choo sounds like a sandwich shop. Apparently, it's a brand of shoes.
Quibble aside, I found the book to be amusing, and think I might try making myself a dice bag out of lace, just so I can try tricking the guys into thinking I'd accidentally brought my hand washing instead of my dice bag. ^^
Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress, by Shelly Mazzanoble, basically documents a "normal girls" introduction to playing Dungeons and Dragons, and some of the perceived stereotypes surrounding the game and genre as a whole.
Frankly, I suspect the only reason she was introduced to the game and started playing at all is because she works for Wizards of the Coast, but that's neither here nor there.
This books is a very interesting read, and highly amusing - she has her character essentially making diary entries after some of their adventures. I found some of the perceptions of both herself and her friends regarding DnD to be interesting, as I never encountered them.
Then again, I was already on the inside, having been introduced to DnD by my older brother when I was... Seven? Eight? Something like that. We grew up in a neighborhood with mostly old people, so there weren't really any other kids for us to play with. The group consisted of myself, my brother, and a few of our friends from school, only one of which lived close enough to allow for our parents having no trouble with our walking over to their house. So, we played at home, with the one kid being allowed by his folks to walk to our place (or bike, either way).
The whole take on many people outside the game's opinion about what they think they know about DnD (and how off they are!) came as a surprise. I wasn't really aware of some of the ideas of what some people think it means to play DnD.
Shelly Mazzanoble presents both the stereotypes and a look into the concept of playing DnD in a humorous, jazzed up way, and I think anybody who is interested in DnD, or would maybe like to get their girl friend (or boy friend!) playing, you should probably pick up this book. Not only does she gloss over some of the campaigns her group was in, she also goes over some of the terminology and etiquette of the game, along with some safety concerns (dice + cat/baby = bad), and for a newb, that's all to the good.
I did, however, have one problem with it, but in the face of everything, it's most likely a minor quibble. Ms. Mazzanoble is a fashionista. That is, she's into fashion, and she likes shopping, especially for clothing. I am most decidedly not, though I will admit that I like shopping, to a degree. Consequentially, there were some things mentioned in her monologue that I didn't understand, and still don't completely. To me, Jimmy Choo sounds like a sandwich shop. Apparently, it's a brand of shoes.
Quibble aside, I found the book to be amusing, and think I might try making myself a dice bag out of lace, just so I can try tricking the guys into thinking I'd accidentally brought my hand washing instead of my dice bag. ^^
Adventures in Plumbing, Part 2
Last time, it was the drain connection for the kitchen sink; this time, it was the toilet.
More specifically, it was the connection between the toilet tank (that holds the water supply) and the bowl (where the water drains to). Not as bad of a problem, and certainly not as smelly to fix. The clean up? That was a bit more irritating.
I knew the connection needed something, as one of the bolts holding the tank onto the bowl started dripping a few months back. Didn't think that much of it, though, as it stopped. Then started, then stopped, and finally Mother and I decided it was just condensation, and ignored the issue. Which was a mistake.
I was alerted to the problem yesterday when I went downstairs to do some laundry, and saw the trail of water coming out of my Dad's workshop. Which was odd, as we'd not had any rain the night before, so there was no reason for there to be any water there. Saw the huge puddle, and saw it was coming from the ceiling, did a few calculations, and figured it was the toilet. So I went back upstairs, and sure enough the one bolt was dripping again. Rapidly. I wiped up the floor, put a large plastic container under the drip, called Mom to have her pick up some new bolts on her way home (she expressed that it might be the wax ring), and went downstairs to clean up Dad's workshop.
Unfortunately, the area that was getting wet was right where Dad keeps his sandpaper stock. Most of it was salvageable, as far as I could tell, but I had to chuck the coarser stuff. The belts he kept there only got mildly damp, so they should be okay (I hope). I was able to mop up most of the water, and had to move some of his tools away from the damp, but I don't think the tools themselves got wet. Still, I put a small fan aimed at the wet ceiling to get the floor boards dried a bit. Needless to say, I put plastic containers and coffee cans to catch the drippings, and towels went into the wash first.
Then I went back to what I was doing, which was trying to find my head so I can get ready for a conventions we're leaving for in 2 days.
When I went back downstairs to change the loads, both the puddle and the trail of water were back. The ceiling was dripping more than ever, so I went back upstairs, and found that it was dripping from the other side too, now. Rapidly. I had some difficultly fitting a container on that side to catch the water, as it's so close to the wall and that's where the water connection is, but I managed to do it finally, using a funnel, with a towel to keep the funnel from falling backwards into the container.
I did not turn off the water supply, though, as this was not something I wanted to tackle on my own, and Dad was home and would most likely need to use the toilet at some point. I waiting with that until Mother got home with the news parts. The repairs was fairly simple, if a bit time consuming.
We turned off the water and flushed the toilet, to get the water out of the tank, disconnected the supply hose, used a towel to mop up the rest of the water, then used a slotted screwdriver and a wrench to get the bolt loose. This was a bit on the difficult side, since they were rusted pretty badly. We actually took the slot off of one, as the bolt head broke when we used the screwdriver on it. That one, we used a wrench to loosen the nut that held the bolt on the bottom. Tried taking the screws out then, but they wouldn't budge, so went on to remove all of them, and took the tank off, to discover there were more nuts, between the tank and the bowl, to hold the screws and rubber washers inside the tank in place. Took those off, then went about cleaning. Rather, Mother took those off, while I cleaned.
If you haven't changed these bolts recently, or haven't had reason to remove the tank, the underside can get very mildewy and gross. We used a Mr.Clean bathroom spritz on it, which worked fairly well. Actually, it turned out it wasn't the bolts at all.
Connecting the toilet tank to the toilet bowl, there is a large rubber stopper to keep water from dripping in the connection. This was partially dissolved from being in contact with the water for so many years, so this needed replacing too, and was the main source of the water. Luckily, the kit Mother picked up contained a new one of these, along with the new bolts, so it was a fairly simple matter. We followed the instructions, being careful not to over-tighten anything, and got the toilet put together in fairly short order. Which is to say, about two hours.
Though apparently we didn't tighten them quite enough. I woke up to Mother telling me the back bolt (there's three, one on either side and one in the back middle) was dripping. She'd put a container under it, but would I please tighten it up while she's at work? She thought I might have to drain the tank again and tackle it closer to the tank, as the nut probably wasn't tight enough. In this case, I dislike it when she's right; I tightened it on the bottom a bit, then concluded that she was right - it had to be the upper nut, because tightening the lower one wasn't doing any good. So, went through the whole fiasco of emptying the tank again, and this time used a wrench to tighten the between nuts a bit (the instructions said only to hand tighten them, but this was apparently not quite tight enough). Got everything put back together, and it seems to be fine. Granted, I have a plastic container behind the toilet, just to be sure, but it seems to be fine.
The worse part about the whole process was the mildew. Since it was the tank we were dealing with, except for a bit of rust (some of which comes from the water itself, given the content), the water was fairly clean. It certainly went faster, cost less, and smelled better then the repair to the kitchen drain!
More specifically, it was the connection between the toilet tank (that holds the water supply) and the bowl (where the water drains to). Not as bad of a problem, and certainly not as smelly to fix. The clean up? That was a bit more irritating.
I knew the connection needed something, as one of the bolts holding the tank onto the bowl started dripping a few months back. Didn't think that much of it, though, as it stopped. Then started, then stopped, and finally Mother and I decided it was just condensation, and ignored the issue. Which was a mistake.
I was alerted to the problem yesterday when I went downstairs to do some laundry, and saw the trail of water coming out of my Dad's workshop. Which was odd, as we'd not had any rain the night before, so there was no reason for there to be any water there. Saw the huge puddle, and saw it was coming from the ceiling, did a few calculations, and figured it was the toilet. So I went back upstairs, and sure enough the one bolt was dripping again. Rapidly. I wiped up the floor, put a large plastic container under the drip, called Mom to have her pick up some new bolts on her way home (she expressed that it might be the wax ring), and went downstairs to clean up Dad's workshop.
Unfortunately, the area that was getting wet was right where Dad keeps his sandpaper stock. Most of it was salvageable, as far as I could tell, but I had to chuck the coarser stuff. The belts he kept there only got mildly damp, so they should be okay (I hope). I was able to mop up most of the water, and had to move some of his tools away from the damp, but I don't think the tools themselves got wet. Still, I put a small fan aimed at the wet ceiling to get the floor boards dried a bit. Needless to say, I put plastic containers and coffee cans to catch the drippings, and towels went into the wash first.
Then I went back to what I was doing, which was trying to find my head so I can get ready for a conventions we're leaving for in 2 days.
When I went back downstairs to change the loads, both the puddle and the trail of water were back. The ceiling was dripping more than ever, so I went back upstairs, and found that it was dripping from the other side too, now. Rapidly. I had some difficultly fitting a container on that side to catch the water, as it's so close to the wall and that's where the water connection is, but I managed to do it finally, using a funnel, with a towel to keep the funnel from falling backwards into the container.
I did not turn off the water supply, though, as this was not something I wanted to tackle on my own, and Dad was home and would most likely need to use the toilet at some point. I waiting with that until Mother got home with the news parts. The repairs was fairly simple, if a bit time consuming.
We turned off the water and flushed the toilet, to get the water out of the tank, disconnected the supply hose, used a towel to mop up the rest of the water, then used a slotted screwdriver and a wrench to get the bolt loose. This was a bit on the difficult side, since they were rusted pretty badly. We actually took the slot off of one, as the bolt head broke when we used the screwdriver on it. That one, we used a wrench to loosen the nut that held the bolt on the bottom. Tried taking the screws out then, but they wouldn't budge, so went on to remove all of them, and took the tank off, to discover there were more nuts, between the tank and the bowl, to hold the screws and rubber washers inside the tank in place. Took those off, then went about cleaning. Rather, Mother took those off, while I cleaned.
If you haven't changed these bolts recently, or haven't had reason to remove the tank, the underside can get very mildewy and gross. We used a Mr.Clean bathroom spritz on it, which worked fairly well. Actually, it turned out it wasn't the bolts at all.
Connecting the toilet tank to the toilet bowl, there is a large rubber stopper to keep water from dripping in the connection. This was partially dissolved from being in contact with the water for so many years, so this needed replacing too, and was the main source of the water. Luckily, the kit Mother picked up contained a new one of these, along with the new bolts, so it was a fairly simple matter. We followed the instructions, being careful not to over-tighten anything, and got the toilet put together in fairly short order. Which is to say, about two hours.
Though apparently we didn't tighten them quite enough. I woke up to Mother telling me the back bolt (there's three, one on either side and one in the back middle) was dripping. She'd put a container under it, but would I please tighten it up while she's at work? She thought I might have to drain the tank again and tackle it closer to the tank, as the nut probably wasn't tight enough. In this case, I dislike it when she's right; I tightened it on the bottom a bit, then concluded that she was right - it had to be the upper nut, because tightening the lower one wasn't doing any good. So, went through the whole fiasco of emptying the tank again, and this time used a wrench to tighten the between nuts a bit (the instructions said only to hand tighten them, but this was apparently not quite tight enough). Got everything put back together, and it seems to be fine. Granted, I have a plastic container behind the toilet, just to be sure, but it seems to be fine.
The worse part about the whole process was the mildew. Since it was the tank we were dealing with, except for a bit of rust (some of which comes from the water itself, given the content), the water was fairly clean. It certainly went faster, cost less, and smelled better then the repair to the kitchen drain!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Update for July
Thought I'd forgotten about it, didn't you?
I haven't! I've just been forgetting to actually log in and do it. ^^;
So, here we go~!
Weigh-in: 192.5 ....Blargh! I really need to start doing stomach crunches.
Pages written: 5
Pages typed: 3
WIPs: 2 cross-stitch patterns, 12 MLP customs
Basically, I've been busy, but haven't actually completed a project just yet.
Edit: Ah, yes; I also restarted and completed the "New Super Mario Brothers Wii" game.
I haven't! I've just been forgetting to actually log in and do it. ^^;
So, here we go~!
Weigh-in: 192.5 ....Blargh! I really need to start doing stomach crunches.
Pages written: 5
Pages typed: 3
WIPs: 2 cross-stitch patterns, 12 MLP customs
Basically, I've been busy, but haven't actually completed a project just yet.
Edit: Ah, yes; I also restarted and completed the "New Super Mario Brothers Wii" game.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Current Projects
Okay, I currently have two projects going, which I hope to have some kind of payoff in the long run.
The first is of the kind that can move quickly, but be kinda boring during the run of it. An online-only friend of mine does work with iron-fuse beads, and has a lot of fun making coasters and figures using 8-64-bit characters and items from older video games. I've been working on getting some designs together that would fit the coaster size, using paw prints, various kanji, and cross stitch and beading patterns. The hardest part of this is trying to get the designs into a 22x22 or 23x23 area, and nothing larger, as this roughly translates to a 4x4-inch block.
My main thing is getting all the graphs done before I buy the beads, so I can figure out how many beads of each color I need. Part of me just wants to go and buy 2 of X colors, and 6 of white (which is the main background for most of the graphs), but my worry is that I'll run through them too fast. So, trying to get the graphs done first.
The second project I'm working on is a needlepoint design of my own doing, which I hope to have done in time for the State Fair. This being a compass rose that I'm currently entering in my bead graph program. Given how it's going so far, I fear this may turn out for the 2011 State Fair, instead of this fall, but we'll see what happens. I'm currently laying out the basic compass, and will be adding details after I'm done with that. The bad news is, the way the Beading program is (this being the 2.0 version), I have to do the design in four segments, each 180x180 beads. Since the fabric I have is 10 stitches per inch, this basically translates into a 18"x18" area, or one quarter of the 3'x 3' design. Which is what the fabric is.
And thinking of that, the fabric is exactly 36.5", so i may have just shot myself in the proverbial foot by making the design just that little bit too big. ^^;
The first is of the kind that can move quickly, but be kinda boring during the run of it. An online-only friend of mine does work with iron-fuse beads, and has a lot of fun making coasters and figures using 8-64-bit characters and items from older video games. I've been working on getting some designs together that would fit the coaster size, using paw prints, various kanji, and cross stitch and beading patterns. The hardest part of this is trying to get the designs into a 22x22 or 23x23 area, and nothing larger, as this roughly translates to a 4x4-inch block.
My main thing is getting all the graphs done before I buy the beads, so I can figure out how many beads of each color I need. Part of me just wants to go and buy 2 of X colors, and 6 of white (which is the main background for most of the graphs), but my worry is that I'll run through them too fast. So, trying to get the graphs done first.
The second project I'm working on is a needlepoint design of my own doing, which I hope to have done in time for the State Fair. This being a compass rose that I'm currently entering in my bead graph program. Given how it's going so far, I fear this may turn out for the 2011 State Fair, instead of this fall, but we'll see what happens. I'm currently laying out the basic compass, and will be adding details after I'm done with that. The bad news is, the way the Beading program is (this being the 2.0 version), I have to do the design in four segments, each 180x180 beads. Since the fabric I have is 10 stitches per inch, this basically translates into a 18"x18" area, or one quarter of the 3'x 3' design. Which is what the fabric is.
And thinking of that, the fabric is exactly 36.5", so i may have just shot myself in the proverbial foot by making the design just that little bit too big. ^^;
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Monthly update: June
Okay, I was busy all month, yet didn't get a lot accomplished. This is mainly because one of the things I was busy with is prep work, and that's unfortunately time consuming.
Weigh in: 192
Yup, still on a plateau. This despite biking to work whenever I could. I imagine this means I need to actually start using the weight bench sitting in the living room.
Book: Pages written: 1/4
When did I inherit the pet writer's block? And what happens if I send it home? I have sections that I want to write planned out in my head, but I'm not to where they would happen in my book just yet. Considering writing them out anyway, so I have them later, but I'm not certain that I want to have fragments of stories going.
Pages typed: 5
The stack of papers on my desk is slowly getting smaller. Then again, the reason I'm going at this slowly might be because once I'm done with this section, I'm back to full writing, and there's that writer's block I'm dealing with.
Ponies: --Made the decision to sell the Chibi and generation 3 lines. I don't like where these lines have gone lately, style-wise, and I don't necessarily have the space for them. I have also decided to store my Generation 1 ponies for the interim, as having even the few I have out on display takes up space I don't really have while rooming with my parents. This has meant getting them out of storage, photographing them for my records, making a file of their conditions, and either storing them properly or selling them online. There's a pony meet coming up the first week if August, so I hope to bring my extras and G3s there to sell, and so I've been getting ready for that. I'm also considering holding a raffle, in order to raise some funds while getting these cleaned up, but that entails cleaning them up anyway.
--Custom-wise, I spent most of the month prepping the baits I have. Not only is this time consuming, but it's rather boring. And painful. I managed to cut the top of my index finger while cutting the magnet out of a G3's hoof, and I've bruised my thumb using my hemostat to pull hair out of the heads, along with bruising my palm while using a jeweler's type flat-head screwdriver to pry said magnets and their caps out of the hoofs. Dad let me borrow his wood carver's glove, which helps, since it's Kevlar, and therefore is supposed to not cut. Which does not mean I want to test the theory, but at least I theoretically don't have to worry about that now.
Bead work: I spent most of the month sorting beads from the bags I put them in after I finished the designated projects. This was something I had been putting off for well over a year, so it's about time. I also started making a necklace, but that was stymied by the above pony projects.
Music study, Language study, Cross stitch: No change.
Weigh in: 192
Yup, still on a plateau. This despite biking to work whenever I could. I imagine this means I need to actually start using the weight bench sitting in the living room.
Book: Pages written: 1/4
When did I inherit the pet writer's block? And what happens if I send it home? I have sections that I want to write planned out in my head, but I'm not to where they would happen in my book just yet. Considering writing them out anyway, so I have them later, but I'm not certain that I want to have fragments of stories going.
Pages typed: 5
The stack of papers on my desk is slowly getting smaller. Then again, the reason I'm going at this slowly might be because once I'm done with this section, I'm back to full writing, and there's that writer's block I'm dealing with.
Ponies: --Made the decision to sell the Chibi and generation 3 lines. I don't like where these lines have gone lately, style-wise, and I don't necessarily have the space for them. I have also decided to store my Generation 1 ponies for the interim, as having even the few I have out on display takes up space I don't really have while rooming with my parents. This has meant getting them out of storage, photographing them for my records, making a file of their conditions, and either storing them properly or selling them online. There's a pony meet coming up the first week if August, so I hope to bring my extras and G3s there to sell, and so I've been getting ready for that. I'm also considering holding a raffle, in order to raise some funds while getting these cleaned up, but that entails cleaning them up anyway.
--Custom-wise, I spent most of the month prepping the baits I have. Not only is this time consuming, but it's rather boring. And painful. I managed to cut the top of my index finger while cutting the magnet out of a G3's hoof, and I've bruised my thumb using my hemostat to pull hair out of the heads, along with bruising my palm while using a jeweler's type flat-head screwdriver to pry said magnets and their caps out of the hoofs. Dad let me borrow his wood carver's glove, which helps, since it's Kevlar, and therefore is supposed to not cut. Which does not mean I want to test the theory, but at least I theoretically don't have to worry about that now.
Bead work: I spent most of the month sorting beads from the bags I put them in after I finished the designated projects. This was something I had been putting off for well over a year, so it's about time. I also started making a necklace, but that was stymied by the above pony projects.
Music study, Language study, Cross stitch: No change.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monthly Update: May
It's a bit late in the posting (I was offline all week), but there are both good things and bad things at the same time for this update.
Weight: 192
-At least it's still going down, but I appear to have hit a plateau. This is kinda annoying, but I also can figure out why. I was going to up my exercise, and I did - at the end of the month, and not soon enough to make much of a difference. That and my screwy schedule, which led also to me going off on my eating habits, are what I blame. Better luck for myself this month. ^^;
Pages written: 5
Pages typed: 16
Jewelry Made: 0
Art done: Made a badge for an online/convention friend, and inked some images.
Custom Ponies completed: 0
Custom Ponies in the works: 5
Ponies cleaned for later customising: 37
-Acetone is much more tolerable outside, but still reeks. Bleh.
Other; Brushed the kitty. A lot.
So, yeah; the month has been fairly productive, just not where I'd like to end, wight-wise. I'd hoped to be down into the 180's by now. on the other hand, I'm only what, 3 pounds away from being in the 180's? That's not too bad.
Weight: 192
-At least it's still going down, but I appear to have hit a plateau. This is kinda annoying, but I also can figure out why. I was going to up my exercise, and I did - at the end of the month, and not soon enough to make much of a difference. That and my screwy schedule, which led also to me going off on my eating habits, are what I blame. Better luck for myself this month. ^^;
Pages written: 5
Pages typed: 16
Jewelry Made: 0
Art done: Made a badge for an online/convention friend, and inked some images.
Custom Ponies completed: 0
Custom Ponies in the works: 5
Ponies cleaned for later customising: 37
-Acetone is much more tolerable outside, but still reeks. Bleh.
Other; Brushed the kitty. A lot.
So, yeah; the month has been fairly productive, just not where I'd like to end, wight-wise. I'd hoped to be down into the 180's by now. on the other hand, I'm only what, 3 pounds away from being in the 180's? That's not too bad.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
It's convention time
-I am not going to AC this year.
This was mainly a financial decision, and I'm glad I made it. Granted, I'm not going mainly because I don't want to send $200 on gas getting there and back, but it's still something that gets me out of going in the first place.
It helped that we wound up on the waiting list for a table in the Dealer's area; we could respectfully bow out without losing any money on the venture. I hope to be able to attend AC next year, but in the mean time, it looks like my first (and maybe only?) convention this year will be MFM, in Olive Branch, MS. New location, so I should check it out this year, and the Dealer's tables still cost quite a bit less than the ones for AC. Then again, AC is a much larger convention, so that could always account for the price difference.
I realize this is a strange thing to mention, going to a convention, just after mentioning other financial decisions. This is also a case of the business partner insisting on going to at least one convention, though, as a vacation to get away from her unpaid day job as her mother's full-time care taker.
Le sigh~. At least I can limit the damage a bit.
This was mainly a financial decision, and I'm glad I made it. Granted, I'm not going mainly because I don't want to send $200 on gas getting there and back, but it's still something that gets me out of going in the first place.
It helped that we wound up on the waiting list for a table in the Dealer's area; we could respectfully bow out without losing any money on the venture. I hope to be able to attend AC next year, but in the mean time, it looks like my first (and maybe only?) convention this year will be MFM, in Olive Branch, MS. New location, so I should check it out this year, and the Dealer's tables still cost quite a bit less than the ones for AC. Then again, AC is a much larger convention, so that could always account for the price difference.
I realize this is a strange thing to mention, going to a convention, just after mentioning other financial decisions. This is also a case of the business partner insisting on going to at least one convention, though, as a vacation to get away from her unpaid day job as her mother's full-time care taker.
Le sigh~. At least I can limit the damage a bit.
Finincial Decision A
I have made a rather big financial decision in the last few days.
Mainly, I have decided to stop focusing on my credit cards long enough to build up the money to pay back the last of the loan I took out from my 401(k) a few years ago. This will actually take me until the first pay period in October, and basically entails me making the basic (or close to basic) monthly payments, instead of much higher payments that I had already planned to do.
This is a good thing, I feel.
The bad news is, at the end of that month, I plan on taking out another 401(k) loan, which I would rather not do, but I will be using what I get from that to pay off a loan with a much higher interest rate. Paying 6.25% in interest is much better than paying ~27% in interest for the same amount. And yes, the loan I am going to be paying off with this does indeed fall into the, "what was she thinking?" camp of questioning. (The answer being that I thought it was a good idea at the time.)
I am actually beginning to feel there should definitely be a cap on how much interest a bank can charge people.
Do you know, I did the math, and if you take out a mortgage on a house for $100,000, with a horrendous interest rate of 10%, over 30 years you'd be paying the bank a total of $297,000? In essence, you're paying the bank double the amount of what your house is worth, just to borrow the money from them. Granted, the incredibly low interest rates we have going on right now are very nice, but with a 5% interest rate, you're still essentially paying the bank twice the amount you took out.
This is actually making me dread buying a house, but I still want my own place, eventually (read as, not my parents').
Mainly, I have decided to stop focusing on my credit cards long enough to build up the money to pay back the last of the loan I took out from my 401(k) a few years ago. This will actually take me until the first pay period in October, and basically entails me making the basic (or close to basic) monthly payments, instead of much higher payments that I had already planned to do.
This is a good thing, I feel.
The bad news is, at the end of that month, I plan on taking out another 401(k) loan, which I would rather not do, but I will be using what I get from that to pay off a loan with a much higher interest rate. Paying 6.25% in interest is much better than paying ~27% in interest for the same amount. And yes, the loan I am going to be paying off with this does indeed fall into the, "what was she thinking?" camp of questioning. (The answer being that I thought it was a good idea at the time.)
I am actually beginning to feel there should definitely be a cap on how much interest a bank can charge people.
Do you know, I did the math, and if you take out a mortgage on a house for $100,000, with a horrendous interest rate of 10%, over 30 years you'd be paying the bank a total of $297,000? In essence, you're paying the bank double the amount of what your house is worth, just to borrow the money from them. Granted, the incredibly low interest rates we have going on right now are very nice, but with a 5% interest rate, you're still essentially paying the bank twice the amount you took out.
This is actually making me dread buying a house, but I still want my own place, eventually (read as, not my parents').
Feeling hopeful
I am feeling more hopeful for an outcome of my future.
My Aunt Sally, back about 3 years ago, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and had to undergo treatment for it. Ultimately, she lost both breasts, but the cancer has not come back, for which she is thankful.
Needless to say, this puts myself at a rather high risk for said cancer. One of the people I follow on Twitter recently forwarded this to everyone:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8714085.stm
I consider this then to be very good news. From the sound of it, their main concern is the vaccine causing people to not make the protein at all. I have no idea how they would make a vaccine target a protein only if there is too much of the protein made in the body, though. Then again, I'm not a specialist in that field, so there's no logical reason why I would know it.
Regardless, for the health front and the war on Cancer, things are looking up.
My Aunt Sally, back about 3 years ago, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and had to undergo treatment for it. Ultimately, she lost both breasts, but the cancer has not come back, for which she is thankful.
Needless to say, this puts myself at a rather high risk for said cancer. One of the people I follow on Twitter recently forwarded this to everyone:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8714085.stm
I consider this then to be very good news. From the sound of it, their main concern is the vaccine causing people to not make the protein at all. I have no idea how they would make a vaccine target a protein only if there is too much of the protein made in the body, though. Then again, I'm not a specialist in that field, so there's no logical reason why I would know it.
Regardless, for the health front and the war on Cancer, things are looking up.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Whelp, so much for that.
Next week, we're back to yo-yo scheduling. I was looking forward to having a steady sleep schedule, but alas, that happiness is not to be. Once again, I am going from opening to closing in the course of one week.
I can't tell if our new scheduler is trying to stress-test us, or just trying to make everyone dislike her. Most people are in the latter camp, from what I can tell.
What I find ironic is, our employer is big on everyone being healthy, and yet allows our scheduler to deny us proper, steady sleep cycles. Heck, most of the Department heads are required to have said unsteady sleep schedule.
Giving that there are many studies that have been published regarding the health benefits of steady sleep, I really have to wonder just how healthy our employer wants us to be, if they're allowing this. Then again, I've been wondering about it for a few years now. Back when I first started, I'd wondered to one of the managers why we weren't able to get steady schedules, and was told, "so customers know when to find you."
Um, what? They'd know when to find us if we were set in our hours, not the opposite! We still have people who call for a coworker, expecting them to be there at X time because, hey~! They were yesterday/last Monday/last week/ whenever, and are rather surprised to discover, no, they won't be in for another 5 hours, because they're closing. Or, that they're already gone for the day because they opened. Yup! Customers sure know when to find the person they're looking to talk to about their order!
My main concern with not having a steady sleep schedule is, if we're going from leaving work at 2:30 one day to leaving it at 10:30(pm) the next, and said person has been going to bed around 8-9pm, they wind up being shorted on sleep. If they've had enough opening shifts in a row, they might not be able to sleep past 8am on the 3rd or 4th day, when they have to work that closing shift, so they're denied sleep on both sides of that shift. Conversely, if they go from closing for awhile, they're not going to be able to fall asleep early enough to get proper rest before that opening (or mid!) shift.
If someone is not able to get enough sleep, for one reason or another, they can sometimes take drastic measures in order to fall asleep - alcohol, for one. Another is sleeping pills, and those also have side-effects to worry about, which can sometimes be worse than drinking yourself to sleep. Not getting enough rest, in addition to making someone lethargic and exhausted, can also lead to anxiety and depression, which I'm sure isn't something our employer really wants to deal with.
At the moment, the rumor mill at work is churning enough to say the store manager himself doesn't care about what our new scheduler is doing to us, so the only recourse we have is to call and report the problem. If enough of us call, we might be able to have something done.
It shouldn't take that kind of drastic action to have something corrected that should have never even been put into practice.
I can't tell if our new scheduler is trying to stress-test us, or just trying to make everyone dislike her. Most people are in the latter camp, from what I can tell.
What I find ironic is, our employer is big on everyone being healthy, and yet allows our scheduler to deny us proper, steady sleep cycles. Heck, most of the Department heads are required to have said unsteady sleep schedule.
Giving that there are many studies that have been published regarding the health benefits of steady sleep, I really have to wonder just how healthy our employer wants us to be, if they're allowing this. Then again, I've been wondering about it for a few years now. Back when I first started, I'd wondered to one of the managers why we weren't able to get steady schedules, and was told, "so customers know when to find you."
Um, what? They'd know when to find us if we were set in our hours, not the opposite! We still have people who call for a coworker, expecting them to be there at X time because, hey~! They were yesterday/last Monday/last week/ whenever, and are rather surprised to discover, no, they won't be in for another 5 hours, because they're closing. Or, that they're already gone for the day because they opened. Yup! Customers sure know when to find the person they're looking to talk to about their order!
My main concern with not having a steady sleep schedule is, if we're going from leaving work at 2:30 one day to leaving it at 10:30(pm) the next, and said person has been going to bed around 8-9pm, they wind up being shorted on sleep. If they've had enough opening shifts in a row, they might not be able to sleep past 8am on the 3rd or 4th day, when they have to work that closing shift, so they're denied sleep on both sides of that shift. Conversely, if they go from closing for awhile, they're not going to be able to fall asleep early enough to get proper rest before that opening (or mid!) shift.
If someone is not able to get enough sleep, for one reason or another, they can sometimes take drastic measures in order to fall asleep - alcohol, for one. Another is sleeping pills, and those also have side-effects to worry about, which can sometimes be worse than drinking yourself to sleep. Not getting enough rest, in addition to making someone lethargic and exhausted, can also lead to anxiety and depression, which I'm sure isn't something our employer really wants to deal with.
At the moment, the rumor mill at work is churning enough to say the store manager himself doesn't care about what our new scheduler is doing to us, so the only recourse we have is to call and report the problem. If enough of us call, we might be able to have something done.
It shouldn't take that kind of drastic action to have something corrected that should have never even been put into practice.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Plumbing "fun"
At least, this appears to be the case. In addition to screwy scheduling this week, we got to play with plumbing! And not in a fun way.
These past few weeks, Mom and I have been hearing a dripping sound (as in, leaking water) coming from the drain in the kitchen sink, but haven't seen anything. There's no leak that we can see, so we didn't know what to make of it.
We know now.
Monday night, Mom goes to get a pot out to make a hot dish, and finds a puddle of water on the bottom shelf of the cabinet. Next to the sink, where no water should logically be. So, after dinner, I take all the pots and pans out of the cabinet, and we take a look. At the puddle of water coming from soaked plaster at the back of the cabinet, and plaster dissolved in puddles of goo. We obviously have a leak somewhere, but in the wall?? Come on, now!
So, we try to take the shelf out so we can break up the wall and get at the plumbing. These cabinets are original to the house, which was built around about the 1920's. At least, that was the date on the news papers we took out of my bedroom walls when we re-did the sheet rock and insulation back when I was a kid. Regardless, these cabinets were well built. Enough so that Mom had to take a reciprocating saw to the shelf and cut it in half in order to get it out, complete with using a rubber mallet to get the pieces out. There were three-inch nails holding that shelf on, spaced every four or five inches apart. Brick shit-house? Verily.
Mom gets the shelf out, then takes the saw to the back of the cabinet - puddle of water, food particles, mold, the works. The drain pipe leading from the sink to the main assembly to take water out the house from the kitchen sink had not just one, but three holes and a major crack in it. You know the smell you get when your garbage disposal stops working and/or the sink otherwise backs up? That's what it smelled like. Instant. Migraine. Mom took the drain assembly apart, and I got to take the broken pipe out. Did you know, if you need to turn a pipe counter-clockwise, you need to have the pipe-wrench upside-down? I put it on right-side up and it wouldn't grip the pipe in the direction I was turning it. Talk about annoying!
But,m we got the drain out, and I had to stop Mom from throwing it away - we'd need it for the length. Went in to work and talked to one of the guys in plumbing. He got us the parts we needed, and told us how to make a cheap pipe tap - to get the old, broken pipe bits off the T-section of pipe it connects to. Take a pipe of the appropriate diameter, cut four strait cuts all the way through the threads and down to the solid pipe. Next, make four more cuts about 1/4-3/8" away from the first one, angled to meet the first cut at the bottom. You now have a tool to get the old flashing out, and make sure the threads of the old pipe will take the new piece. Woo.
I got to make that. Wasn't terribly difficult, since Dad has hacksaws in his workshop. It's in with the real pipe taps now, so we have it for later.
Anyway, the whole job cost us maybe $15.50, which certainly isn't bad, considering it's a plumbing job. We did have trouble getting the PVC to go in, though - we forgot, in the course of getting supplies, that the exterior 2x4 the pipe went through was just big enough to fit the pipe; with the extra part on it, it wouldn't go in, so we had to cut at the 2x4 to make it fit. We tried the reciprocating saw, and chisels, then I finally dropped out of the battle. I had gotten a migraine from the smell, and it was just getting worse and worse, until I was to the point of tears. Mom excused me to take my shower and go to bed. She and Dad finished it up, and Mom got the idea to get the 2x4 widened by using a spade-bit in the drill. This apparently worked great! She was done by the time I was done with my shower.
Luckily for me, the drain for the bath tub and the drain for the kitchen sink are not connected. I know the one for the washing machine downstairs and the kitchen sink are, as the washing machine has a water capacity greater than what our pipes can handle, and makes the kitchen sink make gurgling noises.
And believe me, once I allowed myself to acknowledge what I'd been sitting, kneeling, and lying in (gotta get the right angle for those pipes!), I really, REALLY wanted to shower. Mold, mildew, old food particles, dissolved concrete, and (most likely, given the source) e-coli bateria. Along with who-knows-what other bacteria. Apparently, if I don't pay that kind of thing any attention, and therefore don't think about it, it doesn't bother me.
The kitchen floor has since been scrubbed three times, and Mom bleached the cabinet. I hope to never have to deal with this kind of plumbing situation again, and if I ever look at a house to buy (I hope!), I shall need to ask how old the plumbing is.
Yuck.
These past few weeks, Mom and I have been hearing a dripping sound (as in, leaking water) coming from the drain in the kitchen sink, but haven't seen anything. There's no leak that we can see, so we didn't know what to make of it.
We know now.
Monday night, Mom goes to get a pot out to make a hot dish, and finds a puddle of water on the bottom shelf of the cabinet. Next to the sink, where no water should logically be. So, after dinner, I take all the pots and pans out of the cabinet, and we take a look. At the puddle of water coming from soaked plaster at the back of the cabinet, and plaster dissolved in puddles of goo. We obviously have a leak somewhere, but in the wall?? Come on, now!
So, we try to take the shelf out so we can break up the wall and get at the plumbing. These cabinets are original to the house, which was built around about the 1920's. At least, that was the date on the news papers we took out of my bedroom walls when we re-did the sheet rock and insulation back when I was a kid. Regardless, these cabinets were well built. Enough so that Mom had to take a reciprocating saw to the shelf and cut it in half in order to get it out, complete with using a rubber mallet to get the pieces out. There were three-inch nails holding that shelf on, spaced every four or five inches apart. Brick shit-house? Verily.
Mom gets the shelf out, then takes the saw to the back of the cabinet - puddle of water, food particles, mold, the works. The drain pipe leading from the sink to the main assembly to take water out the house from the kitchen sink had not just one, but three holes and a major crack in it. You know the smell you get when your garbage disposal stops working and/or the sink otherwise backs up? That's what it smelled like. Instant. Migraine. Mom took the drain assembly apart, and I got to take the broken pipe out. Did you know, if you need to turn a pipe counter-clockwise, you need to have the pipe-wrench upside-down? I put it on right-side up and it wouldn't grip the pipe in the direction I was turning it. Talk about annoying!
But,m we got the drain out, and I had to stop Mom from throwing it away - we'd need it for the length. Went in to work and talked to one of the guys in plumbing. He got us the parts we needed, and told us how to make a cheap pipe tap - to get the old, broken pipe bits off the T-section of pipe it connects to. Take a pipe of the appropriate diameter, cut four strait cuts all the way through the threads and down to the solid pipe. Next, make four more cuts about 1/4-3/8" away from the first one, angled to meet the first cut at the bottom. You now have a tool to get the old flashing out, and make sure the threads of the old pipe will take the new piece. Woo.
I got to make that. Wasn't terribly difficult, since Dad has hacksaws in his workshop. It's in with the real pipe taps now, so we have it for later.
Anyway, the whole job cost us maybe $15.50, which certainly isn't bad, considering it's a plumbing job. We did have trouble getting the PVC to go in, though - we forgot, in the course of getting supplies, that the exterior 2x4 the pipe went through was just big enough to fit the pipe; with the extra part on it, it wouldn't go in, so we had to cut at the 2x4 to make it fit. We tried the reciprocating saw, and chisels, then I finally dropped out of the battle. I had gotten a migraine from the smell, and it was just getting worse and worse, until I was to the point of tears. Mom excused me to take my shower and go to bed. She and Dad finished it up, and Mom got the idea to get the 2x4 widened by using a spade-bit in the drill. This apparently worked great! She was done by the time I was done with my shower.
Luckily for me, the drain for the bath tub and the drain for the kitchen sink are not connected. I know the one for the washing machine downstairs and the kitchen sink are, as the washing machine has a water capacity greater than what our pipes can handle, and makes the kitchen sink make gurgling noises.
And believe me, once I allowed myself to acknowledge what I'd been sitting, kneeling, and lying in (gotta get the right angle for those pipes!), I really, REALLY wanted to shower. Mold, mildew, old food particles, dissolved concrete, and (most likely, given the source) e-coli bateria. Along with who-knows-what other bacteria. Apparently, if I don't pay that kind of thing any attention, and therefore don't think about it, it doesn't bother me.
The kitchen floor has since been scrubbed three times, and Mom bleached the cabinet. I hope to never have to deal with this kind of plumbing situation again, and if I ever look at a house to buy (I hope!), I shall need to ask how old the plumbing is.
Yuck.
She's out to get us, really.
We have a new scheduler at work now. She's apparently a bitter, mean woman at heart.
You tell her what you'd like for a schedule - and she takes your preferences, and smiles and nods. Then, she schedules you for the exact opposite.
For example, after she apologized to me for scheduling me for so many opening shifts, I told her to not worry about it, I like the opening shift. So, what do I get for the last two weeks?
Close, close, off, midshift, open, open, off, open, open, close, midshift, open, off, off. It's like, the yo-yo schedule of doom.
Apparently, I'm not the only one she's doing this to, either. One person reports that she told her she didn't care whether people liked there schedules, and she didn't care what their preferences are. This makes me wonder if the poor woman is already a burn-out case after being on the job for only what, two months? Regardless, she's made quite a few people unhappy.
On the plus side, my DH comes back from vacation this week, and suddenly I have a steady schedule again. I open, form Monday through Friday, with the weekend off. I find this very weird, actually; I'm not used to having the weekends off, so it kind of wigs me out.
Still, if my DH coming back form vacation is what gives me a steady work schedule, she might not be allowed to spend two weeks in Hawaii anymore!
....
She'd better come back with a tan.
You tell her what you'd like for a schedule - and she takes your preferences, and smiles and nods. Then, she schedules you for the exact opposite.
For example, after she apologized to me for scheduling me for so many opening shifts, I told her to not worry about it, I like the opening shift. So, what do I get for the last two weeks?
Close, close, off, midshift, open, open, off, open, open, close, midshift, open, off, off. It's like, the yo-yo schedule of doom.
Apparently, I'm not the only one she's doing this to, either. One person reports that she told her she didn't care whether people liked there schedules, and she didn't care what their preferences are. This makes me wonder if the poor woman is already a burn-out case after being on the job for only what, two months? Regardless, she's made quite a few people unhappy.
On the plus side, my DH comes back from vacation this week, and suddenly I have a steady schedule again. I open, form Monday through Friday, with the weekend off. I find this very weird, actually; I'm not used to having the weekends off, so it kind of wigs me out.
Still, if my DH coming back form vacation is what gives me a steady work schedule, she might not be allowed to spend two weeks in Hawaii anymore!
....
She'd better come back with a tan.
Friday, May 14, 2010
WLM, you're officially in "creepy program" status.
Okay, I don't normally use WLM chat. (Windows Live Messenger, for those who don't know.) Point of fact, I have had it for a few years now, but took a long break from using it, mainly because I'd used it to talk with certain people, who mainly were not on when I was, so I stopped using it. For about a year.
Now an online friend (who I have met IRL) introduced me to one of his online friends, a girl who lives about 2 hours North of me (which contrasts nicely with the one who lives two hours South of me; is it too much to ask to have a friend in the same city as myself? *laughs*). She uses WLM pretty exclusively. So, I'm back on the program.
And one of the first things I notice is that this program is now offering suggestions to people! Some of which are very creepy.
Yeah, we have two heterosexual females chatting with each other using this program, and it's asking us to find out what our future baby will would like.
O_o
This makes me wonder just what the programmers think people are mainly using their chat program for. Do that many people really use WLM chat for make-out sessions that the programmers think a baby breeding program would be great, regardless of the supposed genders of the people doing the chatting? What happens when you have five people in a group chat?
Currently, it's asking me how old I'll look, which isn't -quite- so creepy, but still not something I'm going to ask it to find out for me.
Now an online friend (who I have met IRL) introduced me to one of his online friends, a girl who lives about 2 hours North of me (which contrasts nicely with the one who lives two hours South of me; is it too much to ask to have a friend in the same city as myself? *laughs*). She uses WLM pretty exclusively. So, I'm back on the program.
And one of the first things I notice is that this program is now offering suggestions to people! Some of which are very creepy.
Yeah, we have two heterosexual females chatting with each other using this program, and it's asking us to find out what our future baby will would like.
O_o
This makes me wonder just what the programmers think people are mainly using their chat program for. Do that many people really use WLM chat for make-out sessions that the programmers think a baby breeding program would be great, regardless of the supposed genders of the people doing the chatting? What happens when you have five people in a group chat?
Currently, it's asking me how old I'll look, which isn't -quite- so creepy, but still not something I'm going to ask it to find out for me.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monthly Update - April
Good times and bad times.
Pages written: 8
Pages typed: 4
Weigh-in: 193.5 pounds
I gained half a pound this month. Boo~! :P Better than I could have done, though. I need to reinstate the exercise, as I have been slacking off on that. I still have 53.5 pounds to go before I meet my goal, and barely 7 months to meet it in. So, I need to lose about 8 pounds a month if I'm going to meet my goal. This isn't too bad, and definitely doable.
In the meantime, I have a to-do list for the day, so I need to get back to it. :)
Pages written: 8
Pages typed: 4
Weigh-in: 193.5 pounds
I gained half a pound this month. Boo~! :P Better than I could have done, though. I need to reinstate the exercise, as I have been slacking off on that. I still have 53.5 pounds to go before I meet my goal, and barely 7 months to meet it in. So, I need to lose about 8 pounds a month if I'm going to meet my goal. This isn't too bad, and definitely doable.
In the meantime, I have a to-do list for the day, so I need to get back to it. :)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Woo~!
Right - Mother is working on making me some more pants, seeing as the ones the sis-in-law bought me for Christmas back two seasons ago are, well, old.
Since my Spring dress that I wore to work last week fit me like a tent in the hips area, she had me take my measurements while she played with the dough for a strawberry-rhubarb pie.
I have lost 4" in the hips since the start of this year.
Woo~!
*dances*
Since my Spring dress that I wore to work last week fit me like a tent in the hips area, she had me take my measurements while she played with the dough for a strawberry-rhubarb pie.
I have lost 4" in the hips since the start of this year.
Woo~!
*dances*
Saturday, April 17, 2010
And so it begins
Spring is in the air. The days are longer, it's warmer out, and the stop sign is back at the bottom of the hill up the road. (It gets taken out for the duration of Winter, as there are some vehicles that have difficulty stopping there when having to also contend with snow and ice.)
Another sign of Spring is people start working in the gardens, and their flowers and other plants start coming up and blooming.
Mother's tulips in the back yard have finally bloomed, and they were beaten by a few days by the daffodils I didn't even know she had planted. This morning, Mother roto-tilled the garden, so it's nicely aerated for when we finally plant later this season.
Now, there are a lot of people who are already starting their gardens. They've bought their plants, and some of the are even in the ground already. My household is not among them for one very simple reason.
Planting outside right now is a Bad Idea. Sure, the weather is pleasant; Spring came early this year. We've had very nice weather for over a week, and even if we've had a few rainy days (April showers~), overall the weather has been very nice, so people are taking advantage of it. Farmers, also. There's only one problem.
It's still very possible for us to get a frost. And really, one frost is all it can take to kill all those spring flowers, tomatoes, and other edible items that people are already planting. Like it or not, this frost risk will continue until about mid-may, which is typical for Zone 4.
So, much as we'd like to otherwise, we're waiting with planting our garden. We've got the dirt all ready to go, and we're trying out a lean-to structure for the cucumbers this year (seeing how it works; it was in my Gardening Club magazine a few months ago), but the planting itself will have to wait.
Which is just as well, since Mother is still not quite certain what she wants to plant this year. I do know, much to my regret, what will not be planted.
Corn. We won't have corn in out back yard garden, and we haven't had it since I was a kid. Because the squirrels come along and bite the cobs off before they have a chance to finish growing. They did when I was a child, anyway, and ever since that year, Mother has refused to have corn in the garden. They did the same with sun flowers, so we don't have those either.
Le sigh~.
In the meantime, another sign of Spring is the rhubarb has come up. It's already up to my knees, actually. So, since my cooking club magazine had a recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-down cake, I'm going to try making it. We've already cut some rhubarb, actually. Much to our surprise, it's already starting to flower, so we'll have to watch for that and nip off the buds before they can fully bloom (if you don't, the rhubarb goes rather sour).
We also had some fun digging up one of the plants today. One of our co-workers had Rhubarb in her garden when she first moved in. For maybe a day or two. The previous home owners decided they wanted the plant, so despite it not being on the list of things they could have from the house, they came by when the new owners were at work and dug it up. So, she's been without rhubarb for quite some time. We asked her if she would like on of ours (they're trying to take over!), and she said yes. Turned out to be five smaller plants all clumped together from one root ball, though; it came apart, but with how hardy rhubarb can be (in my experience), it should be fine, once she has it in the ground.
Another sign of Spring is people start working in the gardens, and their flowers and other plants start coming up and blooming.
Mother's tulips in the back yard have finally bloomed, and they were beaten by a few days by the daffodils I didn't even know she had planted. This morning, Mother roto-tilled the garden, so it's nicely aerated for when we finally plant later this season.
Now, there are a lot of people who are already starting their gardens. They've bought their plants, and some of the are even in the ground already. My household is not among them for one very simple reason.
Planting outside right now is a Bad Idea. Sure, the weather is pleasant; Spring came early this year. We've had very nice weather for over a week, and even if we've had a few rainy days (April showers~), overall the weather has been very nice, so people are taking advantage of it. Farmers, also. There's only one problem.
It's still very possible for us to get a frost. And really, one frost is all it can take to kill all those spring flowers, tomatoes, and other edible items that people are already planting. Like it or not, this frost risk will continue until about mid-may, which is typical for Zone 4.
So, much as we'd like to otherwise, we're waiting with planting our garden. We've got the dirt all ready to go, and we're trying out a lean-to structure for the cucumbers this year (seeing how it works; it was in my Gardening Club magazine a few months ago), but the planting itself will have to wait.
Which is just as well, since Mother is still not quite certain what she wants to plant this year. I do know, much to my regret, what will not be planted.
Corn. We won't have corn in out back yard garden, and we haven't had it since I was a kid. Because the squirrels come along and bite the cobs off before they have a chance to finish growing. They did when I was a child, anyway, and ever since that year, Mother has refused to have corn in the garden. They did the same with sun flowers, so we don't have those either.
Le sigh~.
In the meantime, another sign of Spring is the rhubarb has come up. It's already up to my knees, actually. So, since my cooking club magazine had a recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Upside-down cake, I'm going to try making it. We've already cut some rhubarb, actually. Much to our surprise, it's already starting to flower, so we'll have to watch for that and nip off the buds before they can fully bloom (if you don't, the rhubarb goes rather sour).
We also had some fun digging up one of the plants today. One of our co-workers had Rhubarb in her garden when she first moved in. For maybe a day or two. The previous home owners decided they wanted the plant, so despite it not being on the list of things they could have from the house, they came by when the new owners were at work and dug it up. So, she's been without rhubarb for quite some time. We asked her if she would like on of ours (they're trying to take over!), and she said yes. Turned out to be five smaller plants all clumped together from one root ball, though; it came apart, but with how hardy rhubarb can be (in my experience), it should be fine, once she has it in the ground.
Apparently, progress
This week has brought a pleasant surprise.
A few days ago, I was going through the laundry trying to find a pair of shorts that I figured would fit me, if I wore a belt. Main reason being I had spent the previous day working on a report that involved digging around in a very dusty area of work, re-arranging the things that were in said area. Net result? My pants were filthy by the end of the day. Unfortunately, it was also my last clean pair of pants; all three are now in the wash. When I explained to mother why I was looking for shorts despite it still being relatively cool out (I believe it was somewhere in the mid-fifties, maybe mid-forties), she asked me why I didn't wear the medium-blue pair she'd made me awhile back.
I could not remember a pair of medium blue pants made for me at all.
Still she dug through the basket of shirts and shorts that I have yet to put away, and pulled out the pair she meant. And yeah, I remembered them - I had to stop wearing them a few years ago because I'd out grown them, girth-wise. When I told her this, she responded with the ever-popular, "Well, you've been loosing weight, right? Try them on and see if they fit."
A-heh. They did. Do? Whichever. I can fit into a pair of pants that I have not been able to fit into for years. ^^
This makes me very happy. I still have a gut, mind you, but it is apparently a rather smaller gut - before, there was a good 2-3" between the button and the hole for it to close these pants.
I think I am definitely making progress, and I have used neither Acai berry nor an expensive gym membership to do it! Woo! :D
A few days ago, I was going through the laundry trying to find a pair of shorts that I figured would fit me, if I wore a belt. Main reason being I had spent the previous day working on a report that involved digging around in a very dusty area of work, re-arranging the things that were in said area. Net result? My pants were filthy by the end of the day. Unfortunately, it was also my last clean pair of pants; all three are now in the wash. When I explained to mother why I was looking for shorts despite it still being relatively cool out (I believe it was somewhere in the mid-fifties, maybe mid-forties), she asked me why I didn't wear the medium-blue pair she'd made me awhile back.
I could not remember a pair of medium blue pants made for me at all.
Still she dug through the basket of shirts and shorts that I have yet to put away, and pulled out the pair she meant. And yeah, I remembered them - I had to stop wearing them a few years ago because I'd out grown them, girth-wise. When I told her this, she responded with the ever-popular, "Well, you've been loosing weight, right? Try them on and see if they fit."
A-heh. They did. Do? Whichever. I can fit into a pair of pants that I have not been able to fit into for years. ^^
This makes me very happy. I still have a gut, mind you, but it is apparently a rather smaller gut - before, there was a good 2-3" between the button and the hole for it to close these pants.
I think I am definitely making progress, and I have used neither Acai berry nor an expensive gym membership to do it! Woo! :D
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Not the screen!
Argh! I really, really do not like my laptop at the moment.
I'm sitting here typing, and the screen goes black. No warning, just -blip!-down it goes. The lights are on (ie, the computer is running), but no one is home. To say this in frustrating is the least of the things I could state about it.
The most frustrating thing about it is when it does this while I'm online, there's no way for me to save what I'm doing.
So, what have I been doing? Forced shut-down, that's what! Hold down the power key, and force it to shut down that way. Wait a bit, turn it back on, and I have a screen again! But while the wallpaper is there, the icons come back slowly. This is the second time this has happened in the last three, maybe four, days. Diddle the mouse - nothing. Try a few keys - nothing. Have to forcibly turn it off.
I am not happy about this. On the plus side, I use Fire Fox for my web browser pretty exclusively, and anytime Fire Fox shuts down unexpectedly (like, as what happens in a forced turn-off), it automatically asks if you want to restore the previous session when you open it again.
Alas, my local "tech support" is working 12-hour days, and most likely would repeat what my brother recommended: take it in for diagnostics.
Well, I've done that before, back when I first started having screen issues; they company I bought the lap top from told me it was most likely a software issue, and if that was the case, their warranty-included hardware diagnostic would run me $60 that I don't want to spend.
In the meantime, since this did start recently, it's most likely has the root problem in one of the programs that were installed recently. So, I'm going through my list of programs in the "Add or Remove Program" portion of my control panel, and getting rid of stuff I don't use. And something very important has come to my attention: I don't know what half of these programs are for.
This is extremely annoying, because it means that I don't know if it's safe for me to uninstall them of not. The one that I presume is the problem told be it's being accessed by another program and would not be uninstalled. I find this very disturbing, and also annoying.
Hey, Microsoft! How about making it so the programs in the "Add or Remove Programs" area also give a little description for what they do?
I'm sitting here typing, and the screen goes black. No warning, just -blip!-down it goes. The lights are on (ie, the computer is running), but no one is home. To say this in frustrating is the least of the things I could state about it.
The most frustrating thing about it is when it does this while I'm online, there's no way for me to save what I'm doing.
So, what have I been doing? Forced shut-down, that's what! Hold down the power key, and force it to shut down that way. Wait a bit, turn it back on, and I have a screen again! But while the wallpaper is there, the icons come back slowly. This is the second time this has happened in the last three, maybe four, days. Diddle the mouse - nothing. Try a few keys - nothing. Have to forcibly turn it off.
I am not happy about this. On the plus side, I use Fire Fox for my web browser pretty exclusively, and anytime Fire Fox shuts down unexpectedly (like, as what happens in a forced turn-off), it automatically asks if you want to restore the previous session when you open it again.
Alas, my local "tech support" is working 12-hour days, and most likely would repeat what my brother recommended: take it in for diagnostics.
Well, I've done that before, back when I first started having screen issues; they company I bought the lap top from told me it was most likely a software issue, and if that was the case, their warranty-included hardware diagnostic would run me $60 that I don't want to spend.
In the meantime, since this did start recently, it's most likely has the root problem in one of the programs that were installed recently. So, I'm going through my list of programs in the "Add or Remove Program" portion of my control panel, and getting rid of stuff I don't use. And something very important has come to my attention: I don't know what half of these programs are for.
This is extremely annoying, because it means that I don't know if it's safe for me to uninstall them of not. The one that I presume is the problem told be it's being accessed by another program and would not be uninstalled. I find this very disturbing, and also annoying.
Hey, Microsoft! How about making it so the programs in the "Add or Remove Programs" area also give a little description for what they do?
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monthly update - March
Whup! I almost forgot to do one of these! *^^*
Okay, here we go: Another month virtually wasted, though I have started a few projects.
Pages written: 6
-Had writer's block for a bit, but managed to get over it by switching to one of the three perspectives I'm working with.
Pictures taken: 75
-This is both for the jewelry I made last year and for some custom creations that I find I need to remake. With the former, I intend to put a sort of catalog together for when at conventions. In the meantime, I hope to also sell some items through either etsy.com or e-bay. I also took some photos to sell other items on E-bay, but I will not be counting those here.
Weigh in: 193 pounds
-This is better than I thought, as it means I'm still loosing weight. This is actually a surprise, given how much chocolate and sugar was consumed in March. Hopefully, now that Easter is over, I'll be able to resist more of this, or at least ration more sensibly.
Now, obviously there is a reason why I'm calling March a month that was virtually wasted. The above is really all that I managed to accomplish. I spent way too much time on the computer - specifically, online. Reading the archives for www.girlgeniusonline.com and delving into the associated Wikia. I really need to manage my time better.
Okay, here we go: Another month virtually wasted, though I have started a few projects.
Pages written: 6
-Had writer's block for a bit, but managed to get over it by switching to one of the three perspectives I'm working with.
Pictures taken: 75
-This is both for the jewelry I made last year and for some custom creations that I find I need to remake. With the former, I intend to put a sort of catalog together for when at conventions. In the meantime, I hope to also sell some items through either etsy.com or e-bay. I also took some photos to sell other items on E-bay, but I will not be counting those here.
Weigh in: 193 pounds
-This is better than I thought, as it means I'm still loosing weight. This is actually a surprise, given how much chocolate and sugar was consumed in March. Hopefully, now that Easter is over, I'll be able to resist more of this, or at least ration more sensibly.
Now, obviously there is a reason why I'm calling March a month that was virtually wasted. The above is really all that I managed to accomplish. I spent way too much time on the computer - specifically, online. Reading the archives for www.girlgeniusonline.com and delving into the associated Wikia. I really need to manage my time better.
I understand being out of work, but~
I find it very interesting, now that we've been having a lot of people come in for interviews since my work is hiring for the summer, how people dress themselves for a job interview.
When I was in 9th grade, I was taught that you're supposed to dress for the interview, not for the job. Regardless of whether you're interviewing for a position on Wall Street, or the thrill of flipping burgers, you dress nicely for an interview. Decent shirt (ie, with a collar), slacks or a modest skirt (both of these should be ironed), maybe a light jacket or sweater that looks nice (ie, not a falling apart mess), and descent shoes (with socks of some kind). You're outfit should not be too tight, but also should not be falling off of you. If you wear makeup, do it modestly, and don't wear loud jewelry. It might also be a good idea to take out the eyebrow/lip/nose/tongue piercings, while you're at it.
Now, I can understand how, if you've been out of work for awhile, you might not be able to go out and buy a suit or something, but it doesn't take much effort to put on a descent shirt, and iron a pair of slacks. I imagine you *could* get away with wearing jeans to an interview, so long as they don't have any holes, and both fit and are worn properly.
We have people showing up in t-shirts. One guy was wearing a V-neck sweatshirt over a t-shirt, and had matched this with khaki cargo pants with ragged bottoms and what looked like mildew stains all over them, tennis shoes, and a baseball cap. Was he going to an interview, or to the ball game? I can guarantee that if I had showed up to my job interview with my current company six years ago, wearing a t-shirt and wrinkled pants that didn't fit properly, I most likely would not have gotten the job. Even more so if the t-shirt had holes in it (yes, this has been the case with some of these people).
I can see the idea of business casual for an interview, but this is more like go-get-a-burger casual.
On the plus side, they're showing up to their interviews on time - typically about 10-15 minutes early, actually - but this does not give them time to go home and change clothing. This is true of all but one person, whose interview had to be rescheduled; we suggested he iron his shirt in the mean time, which he laughed at the very idea of doing so.
Seriously, people - the person doing your interview is someone you want to impress. You will not do so by looking like a slob! If they think you look good on paper, you better make sure they also think you look good while you're sitting across from them during an interview. After that - if you're hired, it's whatever dress code the business has set up.
When I was in 9th grade, I was taught that you're supposed to dress for the interview, not for the job. Regardless of whether you're interviewing for a position on Wall Street, or the thrill of flipping burgers, you dress nicely for an interview. Decent shirt (ie, with a collar), slacks or a modest skirt (both of these should be ironed), maybe a light jacket or sweater that looks nice (ie, not a falling apart mess), and descent shoes (with socks of some kind). You're outfit should not be too tight, but also should not be falling off of you. If you wear makeup, do it modestly, and don't wear loud jewelry. It might also be a good idea to take out the eyebrow/lip/nose/tongue piercings, while you're at it.
Now, I can understand how, if you've been out of work for awhile, you might not be able to go out and buy a suit or something, but it doesn't take much effort to put on a descent shirt, and iron a pair of slacks. I imagine you *could* get away with wearing jeans to an interview, so long as they don't have any holes, and both fit and are worn properly.
We have people showing up in t-shirts. One guy was wearing a V-neck sweatshirt over a t-shirt, and had matched this with khaki cargo pants with ragged bottoms and what looked like mildew stains all over them, tennis shoes, and a baseball cap. Was he going to an interview, or to the ball game? I can guarantee that if I had showed up to my job interview with my current company six years ago, wearing a t-shirt and wrinkled pants that didn't fit properly, I most likely would not have gotten the job. Even more so if the t-shirt had holes in it (yes, this has been the case with some of these people).
I can see the idea of business casual for an interview, but this is more like go-get-a-burger casual.
On the plus side, they're showing up to their interviews on time - typically about 10-15 minutes early, actually - but this does not give them time to go home and change clothing. This is true of all but one person, whose interview had to be rescheduled; we suggested he iron his shirt in the mean time, which he laughed at the very idea of doing so.
Seriously, people - the person doing your interview is someone you want to impress. You will not do so by looking like a slob! If they think you look good on paper, you better make sure they also think you look good while you're sitting across from them during an interview. After that - if you're hired, it's whatever dress code the business has set up.
Friday, April 2, 2010
This Change is Bad.
Back about 2, maybe three weeks ago, I found I was almost out of shampoo. Since I bought the last bottle at Target, I figured I would just back there and buy it again - it was both a nice size, nice price, and I could get the top open easier than the normal bottles the grocery stores carry.
I normally use Aussie brand moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. Well, Target had the conditioner, but they were out of the shampoo in the same size. They did, however, have the "aussome volume" type, so in addition to another bottle of my moisturizing conditioner, I bought the shampoo and conditioner for that.
This type of Aussie product is supposed to "help hair that's fallen flat," and I have to admit my hair does seem very limp sometimes. This was the main train of thought that prompted me to try it out.
I don't think I'll be trying it again after these bottles are gone.
I have not noticed any discernible difference in the volume of my hair. I have, however, noticed a definitive difference in texture and handling. For one thing, it's harder to get a brush through my hair now. For another, I used to have lovely, silky hair - I loved the feel of it. Now my hair feels tacky, like it's slightly sticky, or - you know that feeling when you've got sweaty or otherwise wet palms and you pet your cat or dog? Yeah, like that. Needless to say, this will not do.
It has also made my scalp itchy, so I'm wondering if I'm actually allergic to whatever they've used for the floral scent it has (the moisturizing type smells more like coconut; before the redesign Aussie did, it smelled like nothing, which was one of the reasons I liked it). Makes me think I should just return it to the store, but I'm not sure if I can.
Regardless, I do not consider this a good product.
(Look, ma! I remembered to use tags! :D )
I normally use Aussie brand moisturizing shampoo and conditioner. Well, Target had the conditioner, but they were out of the shampoo in the same size. They did, however, have the "aussome volume" type, so in addition to another bottle of my moisturizing conditioner, I bought the shampoo and conditioner for that.
This type of Aussie product is supposed to "help hair that's fallen flat," and I have to admit my hair does seem very limp sometimes. This was the main train of thought that prompted me to try it out.
I don't think I'll be trying it again after these bottles are gone.
I have not noticed any discernible difference in the volume of my hair. I have, however, noticed a definitive difference in texture and handling. For one thing, it's harder to get a brush through my hair now. For another, I used to have lovely, silky hair - I loved the feel of it. Now my hair feels tacky, like it's slightly sticky, or - you know that feeling when you've got sweaty or otherwise wet palms and you pet your cat or dog? Yeah, like that. Needless to say, this will not do.
It has also made my scalp itchy, so I'm wondering if I'm actually allergic to whatever they've used for the floral scent it has (the moisturizing type smells more like coconut; before the redesign Aussie did, it smelled like nothing, which was one of the reasons I liked it). Makes me think I should just return it to the store, but I'm not sure if I can.
Regardless, I do not consider this a good product.
(Look, ma! I remembered to use tags! :D )
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Con dragging
Well, looks like I will definitely be dragged to a convention this year, whether I want to spend the money or not.
*sigh* At least it's a big one, I guess. Lots of people.
That being said, since it is a big convention, my business partner (who is the one dragging me along) and I have opted for a table in the dealer's area, since my being in the artist's alley area is always questionable. I get dragged along for two reasons: to keep her company, and to keep her from spending way too much money, as she is unfortunately in the habit of doing.
This mainly came about because one of her commissioners (who is also a friend of hers) found out that she wouldn't be going, and decided he absolutely had to see her at the con, so someone else he knows is there. In theory, he's going to pick us up, after picking up his friend in Chicago, and we'll be driving out. In practicality, I've checked out the price of Greyhound bus tickets.
So, I'm going to be spending some time getting ready for the convention. We have a button maker, now, and I should be able to have some fun making a few buttons. I've also decided that, if I'm going to be dragged to a convention this year, I might as well have something in the art show, so I'm also working on a few pieces for that.
*sigh* At least it's a big one, I guess. Lots of people.
That being said, since it is a big convention, my business partner (who is the one dragging me along) and I have opted for a table in the dealer's area, since my being in the artist's alley area is always questionable. I get dragged along for two reasons: to keep her company, and to keep her from spending way too much money, as she is unfortunately in the habit of doing.
This mainly came about because one of her commissioners (who is also a friend of hers) found out that she wouldn't be going, and decided he absolutely had to see her at the con, so someone else he knows is there. In theory, he's going to pick us up, after picking up his friend in Chicago, and we'll be driving out. In practicality, I've checked out the price of Greyhound bus tickets.
So, I'm going to be spending some time getting ready for the convention. We have a button maker, now, and I should be able to have some fun making a few buttons. I've also decided that, if I'm going to be dragged to a convention this year, I might as well have something in the art show, so I'm also working on a few pieces for that.
Friday, March 26, 2010
High expectations, ignorance, or high laziness?
Today is one of those days when I really have to wonder if we're truly passing along enough information to the generations after ours. Either people have high expectations of what certain products can do, they're ignorant, or they're laziness dial is turned to "high."
One of our garden people, "English Major," wound up having to take a break this afternoon. Not because she had been on her feet for too long, but because she was getting some really stupid questions - ones that would make a lot of people go, "well, duh!" to. But of course, we're in retail, and customers tend to have this problem with someone giving them a look that can translate to, "are you that %^&*ing stupid?"
What set her off? A customer that did not understand how they actually have the spread fertilizer over their lawn to get it to work. He could not just leave it in a pile in one area, as it will not spread itself, and most likely someone else will not do it for him without being paid. He also did not understand that no, English Major would not go home with it to do it for him, as she has to stay at work.
This is right up there with the customers that don't understand that when they take the can of paint home, it will not put itself onto their walls, they have to do that part. And no, the paint will not come out of the can striped like the picture in the book shows it on the walls - you need to tape it off and do the stripes yourself. In two colors. Yes, that means you have to buy two colors of paint. No, we can't give you half a gallon of each color in a one gallon can and have them stay separated.
Teacher Girl in receiving had to go home over her lunch break today, as her kids are off, and her 16-year-old did not know how to order a pizza. Seriously, whut? O_o
A few years ago, we had customer in the store that wanted something to kill the bees in their yard. The bees were visiting the flowers in their yard, and the flowers would die shortly after, therefore the bees must be killing the flowers. Ren Faire tried explaining the idea of pollination to them. They thought she was lying, and demanded to speak to the manager. He also tried explaining pollination to them. They were having none of it, and left to go to an actual flower store, figuring that the people there would know what they're talking about, as we apparently did not.
English Major has also recently had to explain the concept of photosynthesis, and that yes, plants needs sunlight (and water!) to live, and without those they will die. I think I learned the basics of photosynthesis in what? Fifth grade? Fourth?
I think we're doing a little too much hand-holding here. Somewhere, something in the information age went horribly wrong, and people are not getting the right information. I'm not certain that having classes about these basic topics would be a good idea, but it certainly shouldn't be able to do harm.
One of our garden people, "English Major," wound up having to take a break this afternoon. Not because she had been on her feet for too long, but because she was getting some really stupid questions - ones that would make a lot of people go, "well, duh!" to. But of course, we're in retail, and customers tend to have this problem with someone giving them a look that can translate to, "are you that %^&*ing stupid?"
What set her off? A customer that did not understand how they actually have the spread fertilizer over their lawn to get it to work. He could not just leave it in a pile in one area, as it will not spread itself, and most likely someone else will not do it for him without being paid. He also did not understand that no, English Major would not go home with it to do it for him, as she has to stay at work.
This is right up there with the customers that don't understand that when they take the can of paint home, it will not put itself onto their walls, they have to do that part. And no, the paint will not come out of the can striped like the picture in the book shows it on the walls - you need to tape it off and do the stripes yourself. In two colors. Yes, that means you have to buy two colors of paint. No, we can't give you half a gallon of each color in a one gallon can and have them stay separated.
Teacher Girl in receiving had to go home over her lunch break today, as her kids are off, and her 16-year-old did not know how to order a pizza. Seriously, whut? O_o
A few years ago, we had customer in the store that wanted something to kill the bees in their yard. The bees were visiting the flowers in their yard, and the flowers would die shortly after, therefore the bees must be killing the flowers. Ren Faire tried explaining the idea of pollination to them. They thought she was lying, and demanded to speak to the manager. He also tried explaining pollination to them. They were having none of it, and left to go to an actual flower store, figuring that the people there would know what they're talking about, as we apparently did not.
English Major has also recently had to explain the concept of photosynthesis, and that yes, plants needs sunlight (and water!) to live, and without those they will die. I think I learned the basics of photosynthesis in what? Fifth grade? Fourth?
I think we're doing a little too much hand-holding here. Somewhere, something in the information age went horribly wrong, and people are not getting the right information. I'm not certain that having classes about these basic topics would be a good idea, but it certainly shouldn't be able to do harm.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Time for more exercise
Aside from the crafty stuff that I've been doing lately (and it's so nice to have inspiration again!), I've also come to the conclusion that my diet and exercise regiment are not where they need to be.
I'm also assuming that I've probably gained weight instead of loosing it this month, even before I get on the scale in about a week and a half. Point of fact, if I see that I've not gained weight again this month, I will be pleasantly surprised. If I have somehow still managed to loose weight, I will be amazed.
Mainly because, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Easter is upon us, and that brings some treats that I don't normally have access to the rest of the year. I've been munching on chocolate and caramel (or peanut butter) eggs after work, and when you couple that with the transition to a new position at work (one that's less strenuous!), yeah - I've probably gained back some of what I lost.
This is despite the fact that I have had only the one can of pop in the last month, and have not had any hot chocolate. I've been having enough chocolate all by itself - it doesn't need to be hot! So I've been drinking tea instead, and having not enough water to drink. Which is to say, I've a sneaking suspicion I'm also currently dehydrated. I also have not been using enough lotion on my skin, but that's another matter.
So, what am I going to do about the exercise issue? Join the gym, as I mentioned in the past before?
Well, no, actually. Since we have that Nordictrack gym set up in the living room, I really shouldn't have to. I fully intend to start riding my bike to work, as soon as it becomes warm enough to do so, which also has the added exercise of having me bike home. Plus, there are plenty of biking trails in the area, so I shouldn't have to worry about that, and the cardio will take care of itself. I might still ump some rope, though. The exercises that I should be doing are simple enough that I really don't need to set foot in a gym; the workbench we have here and a set of good weights should be all that I need to get myself where I want to be.
I consider this to be very good news, as I'd really rather not spend the money any way. I had Dad show me how to use the machine earlier this evening, so I should be able to start working out with it in the morning - providing I can get my butt out of bed early enough!
I'm also assuming that I've probably gained weight instead of loosing it this month, even before I get on the scale in about a week and a half. Point of fact, if I see that I've not gained weight again this month, I will be pleasantly surprised. If I have somehow still managed to loose weight, I will be amazed.
Mainly because, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Easter is upon us, and that brings some treats that I don't normally have access to the rest of the year. I've been munching on chocolate and caramel (or peanut butter) eggs after work, and when you couple that with the transition to a new position at work (one that's less strenuous!), yeah - I've probably gained back some of what I lost.
This is despite the fact that I have had only the one can of pop in the last month, and have not had any hot chocolate. I've been having enough chocolate all by itself - it doesn't need to be hot! So I've been drinking tea instead, and having not enough water to drink. Which is to say, I've a sneaking suspicion I'm also currently dehydrated. I also have not been using enough lotion on my skin, but that's another matter.
So, what am I going to do about the exercise issue? Join the gym, as I mentioned in the past before?
Well, no, actually. Since we have that Nordictrack gym set up in the living room, I really shouldn't have to. I fully intend to start riding my bike to work, as soon as it becomes warm enough to do so, which also has the added exercise of having me bike home. Plus, there are plenty of biking trails in the area, so I shouldn't have to worry about that, and the cardio will take care of itself. I might still ump some rope, though. The exercises that I should be doing are simple enough that I really don't need to set foot in a gym; the workbench we have here and a set of good weights should be all that I need to get myself where I want to be.
I consider this to be very good news, as I'd really rather not spend the money any way. I had Dad show me how to use the machine earlier this evening, so I should be able to start working out with it in the morning - providing I can get my butt out of bed early enough!
Clockworks and welding
We started carrying a few books on Welding at work, and like the idiotic person that I am, I started looking one over. And it has all these fun projects in it that you can make. So, naturally, it started giving me ideas on some fun things I could make for selling at convention, down the road.
I'm still not certain whether picking this book up was a good idea or a bad idea. I am, however, fairly certain that I would not be able to make any of the projects without either a) a full workshop or b) my own home out of the city, as the ordinances governing use of that kind of fire power is pretty extensive. I have enough problems with the mini torch I currently use for soldering! So, probably won't happen any time soon.
In the meantime, I was recently introduced to the comic Girl Genius, which is online at www.girlgeniusonline.com . This is a very fun comic, and it took me about a week to get to the current story. On the plus side, the card game my older brother bought me for Christmas a few years back now has some relevance - I might even figure out how to play it, now!
The crazy thing is, some parts of the comic look familiar, so I suspect he showed it to me in comic-book format some years ago, and I wasn't interested in it at the time. Which wouldn't surprise me any; I went through the same thing with the Xanth series.
The bad news is, this comic has gotten me interested in Steam Punk, which looks rather fun. Which also has relative jewelry that goes with it. So, naturally, I've looked into it and have started working out some pieces. The nice this about this genre is, most of the metals used are copper, brass, and maybe silver, which makes it more affordable to work with. I checked one of my suppliers, and I can get the relevant wire through them with no troubles - sold by the spooled pound, even. And the price is certainly better than buying it by the foot at work, that's for sure!
Since I've some money left over from the bonus I received last weekend (having used most of it to pay some bills), I have looked at and bid on some junk watch lots on ebay, which I plan to hock for some parts for the jewelry I have planned. Meanwhile, I'm resisting the urge to look at other people's designs, as I like to try keeping from being influenced enough to make a design to similar to someone else's. I'd much rather that happen by sheer coincidence.
I'm still not certain whether picking this book up was a good idea or a bad idea. I am, however, fairly certain that I would not be able to make any of the projects without either a) a full workshop or b) my own home out of the city, as the ordinances governing use of that kind of fire power is pretty extensive. I have enough problems with the mini torch I currently use for soldering! So, probably won't happen any time soon.
In the meantime, I was recently introduced to the comic Girl Genius, which is online at www.girlgeniusonline.com . This is a very fun comic, and it took me about a week to get to the current story. On the plus side, the card game my older brother bought me for Christmas a few years back now has some relevance - I might even figure out how to play it, now!
The crazy thing is, some parts of the comic look familiar, so I suspect he showed it to me in comic-book format some years ago, and I wasn't interested in it at the time. Which wouldn't surprise me any; I went through the same thing with the Xanth series.
The bad news is, this comic has gotten me interested in Steam Punk, which looks rather fun. Which also has relative jewelry that goes with it. So, naturally, I've looked into it and have started working out some pieces. The nice this about this genre is, most of the metals used are copper, brass, and maybe silver, which makes it more affordable to work with. I checked one of my suppliers, and I can get the relevant wire through them with no troubles - sold by the spooled pound, even. And the price is certainly better than buying it by the foot at work, that's for sure!
Since I've some money left over from the bonus I received last weekend (having used most of it to pay some bills), I have looked at and bid on some junk watch lots on ebay, which I plan to hock for some parts for the jewelry I have planned. Meanwhile, I'm resisting the urge to look at other people's designs, as I like to try keeping from being influenced enough to make a design to similar to someone else's. I'd much rather that happen by sheer coincidence.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Kicked the habit?
I am happy to announce that I have official kicked my normal medical habits! At least, I appear to have.
Normally, once a year, I get Bronchitis. Which I find pretty annoying, especially since Bronchitis is considered a "smokers disease." Not only do I not smoke, I'm actually very allergic to cigarettes; the scent gives me very bad headaches, to the point of my eyes not focusing. Yet, every fall, there I would be, coughing up yellow junk. XP This started in high school, and I've just put up with it ever since.
Typically, I would get Bronchitis in the Fall. For some reason, a few years ago, it suddenly switched to being in the winter - specifically, in February. I have no idea why the switch happened, but I still found it annoying.
Especially when you factor in sick time - every February, I would completely burn through my sick time, so if I wound up sick from something else in March, I would be out of luck, and wind up going to work with the flu (or whatever).
But here we are - it's March, and I've not had Bronchitis yet. I might have finally gotten over this stupid virus!
Which is good, since I was developing a tolerance to Ammoxicilin. ^^; Now all I have to do is go the rest of the year without getting it, and I should be good. :)
Normally, once a year, I get Bronchitis. Which I find pretty annoying, especially since Bronchitis is considered a "smokers disease." Not only do I not smoke, I'm actually very allergic to cigarettes; the scent gives me very bad headaches, to the point of my eyes not focusing. Yet, every fall, there I would be, coughing up yellow junk. XP This started in high school, and I've just put up with it ever since.
Typically, I would get Bronchitis in the Fall. For some reason, a few years ago, it suddenly switched to being in the winter - specifically, in February. I have no idea why the switch happened, but I still found it annoying.
Especially when you factor in sick time - every February, I would completely burn through my sick time, so if I wound up sick from something else in March, I would be out of luck, and wind up going to work with the flu (or whatever).
But here we are - it's March, and I've not had Bronchitis yet. I might have finally gotten over this stupid virus!
Which is good, since I was developing a tolerance to Ammoxicilin. ^^; Now all I have to do is go the rest of the year without getting it, and I should be good. :)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
And now -- a rant
Okay. So I have mentioned before that I have no love life, and I haven't had a (decent) guy ask me out, or even flirt with me, for years. (By "decent guy," I mean one who's within five years of my age, doesn't smell like a bottle/stale cigars/really bad BO, doesn't have massive gaps between his teeth, is intelligent, has a good sense of humor/is silly (thereby also enabling him to laugh at himself at times), and is fairly cheerful most of the time. Artistic ability/creativity would be nice, too, but isn't required)
Well, last Thanksgiving, we younger people (ie, myself, my brother, and his wife) somehow got onto this topic.
Now, I will be the first person to admit that I have no clue why guys don't ask me out or anything. I mean, I work in a home improvement store, for crying out loud! There are guys everywhere, and I don't mean my coworkers (who I won't date, on the principle of the matter).
So, what do I do? I know how to build things, if need be. I also read online comics, occasionally watch anime, play video games and DnD, and I like to design stuff, and do craft-y things. I'm not in the "too tall" department or the "fatty" category, I have nice teeth and I bathe regularly (nightly, actually; I like feeling clean).
What don't I do? I don't wear perfume - I'm allergic to most of it, so why bother? I also don't wear makeup, and I'm starting to wonder if this is part of the problem. I don't believe I should wear makeup in order to attract a guy; I never have. I don't see the point of dolling myself up in order to attract a guy who would be waking up next to me and seeing me in the morning every day before I have any on. Add to that the simple fact that mother never showed me how to put any on, and doesn't normally wear any herself; I haven't found it necessary. But now I'm starting to wonder if that's why no-one has asked me out in so long; I'm not wearing makeup, therefore I must not need to attract a guy - I already have one? Where's the logic in that? It's like that idiotic song - "she must be somebody's baby, she's so fine" - what? Based on her looks you're going to assume she's already taken, without even asking her? Even without her wearing a ring? Ch-ya! Maybe all the guys on the corner are letting her "walk on by" because they don't have the guts to ask her out! Ever think of that?
So,what got me started on this little rant? A comment, that my brother's lovely wife made in ernest enthusiasm, that effectively ended the minor conversation we were having about relationships. I mentioned that I still didn't have a guy, and what does she say?
"Yeah, we really need to get you laid."
Ex-cuse me? I do not feel that in order to get a guy, much less keep him, I should be expected to automatically put out for one, thankyouverymuch. Quite frankly, after how I was treated in grade school AND high school, I'd like the guy I'd be seeing to be sincere about liking me before I jump into bed with him! I'm certainly going to wait until I'm married, thanks!
Not that she would likely understand about that. She is quite preppy, a "closet Goth," has bad manners, and a high tendency to whine. The exact type of girl that I got along with the least in school. Frankly, the main reason I'm cordial to her is because my brother loves her. I'm not particularly keen about getting to know her any further than I already have. I still can't believe her attitude - my brother opens the Christmas present from our mother to reveal the shirt Mom made for him to wear to work, and she yells, "You are NOT wearing that around me!" right in front of our mother. And needless to say, my brother now cannot find said shirt. She was born with arthritis, though, so I have to admire her determination to not let that stop her in any way, but I still think she was most likely coddled too much as a child.
I let both that comment and the comment about me "really needing to get laid" slide, but the latter of those two has been causing me to seeth for the last few months. They had a mutual friend of ours over during the holiday season, and I didn't visit once - only saw him during Christmas dinner, as they brought him along to keep him from being alone for the holiday. Now, I like him, he's a nice guy - but he's also from overseas, doesn't have a college education, and isn't terribly ambitious, so I feel that relationship is doomed from the start. This doesn't keep my sister-in-law from trying to convince me otherwise. Which is -why- I didn't visit him at their place during the holiday. Because I wouldn't have put it past her to have him try something.
Ch-ya! "I really need to get laid!" Yeah, right! With my luck, I'd either wind up with an STD or an unwanted baby! How many STDs did you wind up with before you met my brother, lady? 5? 10? What's that? "You used a condom?" Well la-te-da - condoms can and do fail, moron! Have you ever stopped to consider that there might be a reason I don't "troll for guys" in a bar (aside from the cigarette smoke issue)? Hah! Troll for sex is more like it! I want a relationship, not a one-night stand, for pete's sake!
And the worst part? I can't believe how irritated and angry I am with her over this! A wise man once said "I will not allow someone to sully my soul by causing me to hate them," and I try to live up to this, I really do. She's making it a bit challenging.
*sigh~* Maybe I should just move to another state or something. Except, I like it here - Nice and green, when there isn't snow on the ground. It's just, you know, lacking in guys, or something.
Well, last Thanksgiving, we younger people (ie, myself, my brother, and his wife) somehow got onto this topic.
Now, I will be the first person to admit that I have no clue why guys don't ask me out or anything. I mean, I work in a home improvement store, for crying out loud! There are guys everywhere, and I don't mean my coworkers (who I won't date, on the principle of the matter).
So, what do I do? I know how to build things, if need be. I also read online comics, occasionally watch anime, play video games and DnD, and I like to design stuff, and do craft-y things. I'm not in the "too tall" department or the "fatty" category, I have nice teeth and I bathe regularly (nightly, actually; I like feeling clean).
What don't I do? I don't wear perfume - I'm allergic to most of it, so why bother? I also don't wear makeup, and I'm starting to wonder if this is part of the problem. I don't believe I should wear makeup in order to attract a guy; I never have. I don't see the point of dolling myself up in order to attract a guy who would be waking up next to me and seeing me in the morning every day before I have any on. Add to that the simple fact that mother never showed me how to put any on, and doesn't normally wear any herself; I haven't found it necessary. But now I'm starting to wonder if that's why no-one has asked me out in so long; I'm not wearing makeup, therefore I must not need to attract a guy - I already have one? Where's the logic in that? It's like that idiotic song - "she must be somebody's baby, she's so fine" - what? Based on her looks you're going to assume she's already taken, without even asking her? Even without her wearing a ring? Ch-ya! Maybe all the guys on the corner are letting her "walk on by" because they don't have the guts to ask her out! Ever think of that?
So,what got me started on this little rant? A comment, that my brother's lovely wife made in ernest enthusiasm, that effectively ended the minor conversation we were having about relationships. I mentioned that I still didn't have a guy, and what does she say?
"Yeah, we really need to get you laid."
Ex-cuse me? I do not feel that in order to get a guy, much less keep him, I should be expected to automatically put out for one, thankyouverymuch. Quite frankly, after how I was treated in grade school AND high school, I'd like the guy I'd be seeing to be sincere about liking me before I jump into bed with him! I'm certainly going to wait until I'm married, thanks!
Not that she would likely understand about that. She is quite preppy, a "closet Goth," has bad manners, and a high tendency to whine. The exact type of girl that I got along with the least in school. Frankly, the main reason I'm cordial to her is because my brother loves her. I'm not particularly keen about getting to know her any further than I already have. I still can't believe her attitude - my brother opens the Christmas present from our mother to reveal the shirt Mom made for him to wear to work, and she yells, "You are NOT wearing that around me!" right in front of our mother. And needless to say, my brother now cannot find said shirt. She was born with arthritis, though, so I have to admire her determination to not let that stop her in any way, but I still think she was most likely coddled too much as a child.
I let both that comment and the comment about me "really needing to get laid" slide, but the latter of those two has been causing me to seeth for the last few months. They had a mutual friend of ours over during the holiday season, and I didn't visit once - only saw him during Christmas dinner, as they brought him along to keep him from being alone for the holiday. Now, I like him, he's a nice guy - but he's also from overseas, doesn't have a college education, and isn't terribly ambitious, so I feel that relationship is doomed from the start. This doesn't keep my sister-in-law from trying to convince me otherwise. Which is -why- I didn't visit him at their place during the holiday. Because I wouldn't have put it past her to have him try something.
Ch-ya! "I really need to get laid!" Yeah, right! With my luck, I'd either wind up with an STD or an unwanted baby! How many STDs did you wind up with before you met my brother, lady? 5? 10? What's that? "You used a condom?" Well la-te-da - condoms can and do fail, moron! Have you ever stopped to consider that there might be a reason I don't "troll for guys" in a bar (aside from the cigarette smoke issue)? Hah! Troll for sex is more like it! I want a relationship, not a one-night stand, for pete's sake!
And the worst part? I can't believe how irritated and angry I am with her over this! A wise man once said "I will not allow someone to sully my soul by causing me to hate them," and I try to live up to this, I really do. She's making it a bit challenging.
*sigh~* Maybe I should just move to another state or something. Except, I like it here - Nice and green, when there isn't snow on the ground. It's just, you know, lacking in guys, or something.
Day dreams, or life dreams?
"A daydream is a meal at which images are eaten. Some of us are gourmets, some of us are gourmands, and a good many take their images precooked out of the can and swallow them down whole, absent-mindedly and with little relish."
-W. H. Auden
I was just wondering - where does the day dream stop, and where does the life dream start?
You know; you probably often day dream yourself. Where you're going with your job, what you'd do if you had the time/money/connections/whatever. Children certainly day dream all the time; it's part of imagining what you'd be when you grow up. I certainly still day dream; I would like to think most people still do (just not in traffic).
I currently have two Life Dreams that I'd like to see accomplished, and a third that I fear will never be fulfilled.
The first one has more to do with my crafts and suchlike. I would love to be able to support myself with my crafts; I wouldn't have to answer to anybody as a boss, except maybe a business partner. It would be even better if I was able to support myself with my crafts while being able to have a nice house on a bit of land (about an acre) somewhere in a country-ish location (because then I'd be able to breath), but I digress. To be able to work on my own crafting projects, or a project for someone's commission, that would be wonderful.
But there and again, I also want to make a difference in the world, and to that end, I still want to be a math teacher. My main regret on this dream is that it's taken me so fricking long to actually act on it. I still don't really know what I'm doing as far as that goes, so hopefully Ill be able to make a few calls tomorrow and find out what I'm doing. I feel that I should be able to make a difference by helping the young people growing up in the world today realize that math is important, even if it doesn't look like they'll be using it right away. The down side of this is, given all the budget cuts and that there are a lot of teachers who are now finding themselves out of work, it doesn't look like I'll have much of a chance to act upon it. This doesn't mean I won't try, though.
The dying dream has more to do with my love life than anything else. I mean, when I was a kid, I figured by now I would be happily married, maybe with my own kids. I certainly didn't see me being single with only ever having had one boyfriend. Also, I didn't figure on this little fact causing me to put up with what I consider a great annoyance in my life, but that's a rant for another blog. The downer is, this whole I-have-no-love-life-and-no-prospects thing is starting to make me bitter, depressed, and very mopey most evenings, and it's not a state of mind that I like to be in. The "great annoyance" that I mentioned is my sister-in-law, but as I stated a bit a ago, that's a rant for another blog.
I still think dreams are important to people. Loose the ability to dream, and I feel you loose a good chunk of your imagination. Loose a good chunk of your imagination, and all you've got left is reality. :/
(And reality can really suck! ;P )
-W. H. Auden
I was just wondering - where does the day dream stop, and where does the life dream start?
You know; you probably often day dream yourself. Where you're going with your job, what you'd do if you had the time/money/connections/whatever. Children certainly day dream all the time; it's part of imagining what you'd be when you grow up. I certainly still day dream; I would like to think most people still do (just not in traffic).
I currently have two Life Dreams that I'd like to see accomplished, and a third that I fear will never be fulfilled.
The first one has more to do with my crafts and suchlike. I would love to be able to support myself with my crafts; I wouldn't have to answer to anybody as a boss, except maybe a business partner. It would be even better if I was able to support myself with my crafts while being able to have a nice house on a bit of land (about an acre) somewhere in a country-ish location (because then I'd be able to breath), but I digress. To be able to work on my own crafting projects, or a project for someone's commission, that would be wonderful.
But there and again, I also want to make a difference in the world, and to that end, I still want to be a math teacher. My main regret on this dream is that it's taken me so fricking long to actually act on it. I still don't really know what I'm doing as far as that goes, so hopefully Ill be able to make a few calls tomorrow and find out what I'm doing. I feel that I should be able to make a difference by helping the young people growing up in the world today realize that math is important, even if it doesn't look like they'll be using it right away. The down side of this is, given all the budget cuts and that there are a lot of teachers who are now finding themselves out of work, it doesn't look like I'll have much of a chance to act upon it. This doesn't mean I won't try, though.
The dying dream has more to do with my love life than anything else. I mean, when I was a kid, I figured by now I would be happily married, maybe with my own kids. I certainly didn't see me being single with only ever having had one boyfriend. Also, I didn't figure on this little fact causing me to put up with what I consider a great annoyance in my life, but that's a rant for another blog. The downer is, this whole I-have-no-love-life-and-no-prospects thing is starting to make me bitter, depressed, and very mopey most evenings, and it's not a state of mind that I like to be in. The "great annoyance" that I mentioned is my sister-in-law, but as I stated a bit a ago, that's a rant for another blog.
I still think dreams are important to people. Loose the ability to dream, and I feel you loose a good chunk of your imagination. Loose a good chunk of your imagination, and all you've got left is reality. :/
(And reality can really suck! ;P )
Saturday, March 13, 2010
I am lucky.
I know I can sound whiny about things sometimes; time, space available, finances. But there's something that I have come to realize recently, and I feel it needs to be said.
I am lucky.
Not only to be able to take the time to do crafts like I do, but to have space to do them in, even if I feel I could use more.
I have access to saws and tools for working with wood, thanks to my Dad. I have access to sewing machines, and even an embroidery sewing machine, thanks to my Mom. I have access to information about both subjects due to their interest in the topics, and I have access to using their items, which is something that I feel I've been kinda taking for granted. I realize that, once I move out*, I won't have as ready access to these items as I do now, and I also won't have as ready access to my parents as I do right now.
Even though my Dad can grate on my nerves sometimes (and give me instantaneous stress headaches with his swearing), I am thankful for the access that both he and Mom have provided for me and my brother, in allowing us to follow through with what we want to do.
I think I shall see about getting both of them something nice for Father's and Mothers day, this year. ^^
*It will happen. maybe not this year or next year, but it will happen.
I am lucky.
Not only to be able to take the time to do crafts like I do, but to have space to do them in, even if I feel I could use more.
I have access to saws and tools for working with wood, thanks to my Dad. I have access to sewing machines, and even an embroidery sewing machine, thanks to my Mom. I have access to information about both subjects due to their interest in the topics, and I have access to using their items, which is something that I feel I've been kinda taking for granted. I realize that, once I move out*, I won't have as ready access to these items as I do now, and I also won't have as ready access to my parents as I do right now.
Even though my Dad can grate on my nerves sometimes (and give me instantaneous stress headaches with his swearing), I am thankful for the access that both he and Mom have provided for me and my brother, in allowing us to follow through with what we want to do.
I think I shall see about getting both of them something nice for Father's and Mothers day, this year. ^^
*It will happen. maybe not this year or next year, but it will happen.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
It's good, but it can get ugly - fast.
Okay, so one of my friends on Twitter recently Re-tweeted this lovely link: http://www.alternet.org/rights/145956/utah_governor_signs_controversial_law_charging_women_and_girls_with_murder_for_miscarriages
And I can see points for how this is good, and points for how this is bad.
First off, a bit of background on myself: As far as the abortion issue is concerned, I technically fall into both camps. Which is to say, I'm Pro-Life, but I'm also Pro-Choice. And what I mean by that is, I'd rather people not get abortions. There are plenty of people in this country and Canada who are unable to conceive, and they would LOVE to be able to adopt your baby if you don't want to (or simply cannot) keep it. Second, I've seen pictures of what happens to a baby when it's aborted; I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Frankly, I would prefer that the only time a baby is aborted is when the carriage of or birth of the child would endanger the mother's life. But, ultimately, I also believe it should be a woman's choice. This doesn't mean I have to like or even agree with the choice, but it should still be their choice nonetheless.
From what this bill was borne from, apparently a teenager accidentally got herself pregnant, her boyfriend threatened to leave her if she had the baby, and since she didn't want him to leave, she paid someone to beat her up, with the sole purpose of trying to loose the baby. It didn't work, but she still did this. Under this new law, she would have been charged with attempted murder of the unborn child. Since she was already 7 months along (iirc), I can see the reasoning in this; babies are born prematurely at 7 months. If someone pays someone to abort their baby in any way, then I can see them being charged with murder for that. (As I recall, the normal cut-off for being able to abort a baby legally is 3-6 months, I think. Could be as little as 3; not sure on that.)
But, there are a lot of gray areas, here, and that's what concerns me the most.
When I was in high school, I remember one of the math teachers had a miscarriage; her body suddenly rejected the baby, from what I understand. For the next few weeks after it happened, she walked around with such a haunted look on her face, it was painful to see her. And then, of course, you really don't know what to say to a person in that kind of situation; "sorry for your lose" just doesn't seem to cut it.
The thing is, under this law, all it could take is someone saying, "X did it on purpose!" to cause the woman in question to not only be traumatized by her sudden lose, but further traumatized by suddenly being arrested and charged with murder. Don't try to tell me it would never happen; everyone knows how vicious and vengeful women can be - especially if it's a question of woman Y being upset because her boyfriend left her for woman X, married woman X, and when tried to have a baby, she miscarried. If the woman is still seething enough, well hey~! Having your ex-boyfriend's wife charged with murder would be a grand revenge if a woman is that vindictive.
-Will- that ever happen? Possibly not. But it's still possible that it could. There's also the possibility of idiot kids playing that as a joke, not knowing how far it could go, but that's another matter.
Thing is, there are all kinds of ways a woman can lose a baby, on purpose or not. My great-aunt lost her baby when someone on the bus pushed her when she was 6 months along, and she fell - on the baby, who literally burst out of the uterus wall. Lots of blood, and the ambulance wasn't able to get there in time to save the baby. Said great-aunt had to have an emergency hysterectomy, to top it all off - no kids again, ever, and iirc, that would have been her first. Now, under this law, who would be charged? the person who pushed her, or my great-aunt, for not doing enough to fall differently (so as to save the baby)?
So, I like it, and I don't like it at the same time. Regardless, makes me glad I don't live in Utah.
And I can see points for how this is good, and points for how this is bad.
First off, a bit of background on myself: As far as the abortion issue is concerned, I technically fall into both camps. Which is to say, I'm Pro-Life, but I'm also Pro-Choice. And what I mean by that is, I'd rather people not get abortions. There are plenty of people in this country and Canada who are unable to conceive, and they would LOVE to be able to adopt your baby if you don't want to (or simply cannot) keep it. Second, I've seen pictures of what happens to a baby when it's aborted; I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Frankly, I would prefer that the only time a baby is aborted is when the carriage of or birth of the child would endanger the mother's life. But, ultimately, I also believe it should be a woman's choice. This doesn't mean I have to like or even agree with the choice, but it should still be their choice nonetheless.
From what this bill was borne from, apparently a teenager accidentally got herself pregnant, her boyfriend threatened to leave her if she had the baby, and since she didn't want him to leave, she paid someone to beat her up, with the sole purpose of trying to loose the baby. It didn't work, but she still did this. Under this new law, she would have been charged with attempted murder of the unborn child. Since she was already 7 months along (iirc), I can see the reasoning in this; babies are born prematurely at 7 months. If someone pays someone to abort their baby in any way, then I can see them being charged with murder for that. (As I recall, the normal cut-off for being able to abort a baby legally is 3-6 months, I think. Could be as little as 3; not sure on that.)
But, there are a lot of gray areas, here, and that's what concerns me the most.
When I was in high school, I remember one of the math teachers had a miscarriage; her body suddenly rejected the baby, from what I understand. For the next few weeks after it happened, she walked around with such a haunted look on her face, it was painful to see her. And then, of course, you really don't know what to say to a person in that kind of situation; "sorry for your lose" just doesn't seem to cut it.
The thing is, under this law, all it could take is someone saying, "X did it on purpose!" to cause the woman in question to not only be traumatized by her sudden lose, but further traumatized by suddenly being arrested and charged with murder. Don't try to tell me it would never happen; everyone knows how vicious and vengeful women can be - especially if it's a question of woman Y being upset because her boyfriend left her for woman X, married woman X, and when tried to have a baby, she miscarried. If the woman is still seething enough, well hey~! Having your ex-boyfriend's wife charged with murder would be a grand revenge if a woman is that vindictive.
-Will- that ever happen? Possibly not. But it's still possible that it could. There's also the possibility of idiot kids playing that as a joke, not knowing how far it could go, but that's another matter.
Thing is, there are all kinds of ways a woman can lose a baby, on purpose or not. My great-aunt lost her baby when someone on the bus pushed her when she was 6 months along, and she fell - on the baby, who literally burst out of the uterus wall. Lots of blood, and the ambulance wasn't able to get there in time to save the baby. Said great-aunt had to have an emergency hysterectomy, to top it all off - no kids again, ever, and iirc, that would have been her first. Now, under this law, who would be charged? the person who pushed her, or my great-aunt, for not doing enough to fall differently (so as to save the baby)?
So, I like it, and I don't like it at the same time. Regardless, makes me glad I don't live in Utah.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
To go, or not to go?
Okay. One of my online friends (the one that lives closest to me, actually - which is to say, 2 hours away) still plans on going to AC this year. Which is to say, Anthrocon. Its a Furry Con.
I've gone to Furry cons; 3, specifically. They're rather fun. The genre itself has a rather annoying stigma that came about because of a lot of assumptions and few facts on people's part, though, and I find that rather annoying. Otherwise, though, they're fun. Not a lot of bad things to say about a group of people who are basically out to have a good time, and try to make sure everyone else at the con is having a good time, too.
Regardless of this, AC was not in my original plans for this year. But, my friend is arranging a ride with a couple of guys she met online, and she'd like me to come along. For one thing, she's never met these guys in person before, and for another, that makes for another driver for the trip to Pittsburgh. The main problem is, I did the math. Even if I eat fast food for the entire trip, given what our other friend (who usually books the hotel stay for our group of friends) has mentioned the cost of the hotel being, I'm looking at about $400 in expenses, not counting the $45 for registration.
Now, if the arranged ride *does* fall through, that would basically leave me and she stranded, and no way to get to the con. We could always "go Greyhound," of course, but if we do the 21-day advanced purchase offer, that's still $280 for two tickets. Not sure that I want to do that (as I'm not overly fond of taking the bus anymore), more we could do that.
Should I go, I want to have items in the Art Show; from the looks of the numbers in the past, I could potentially make back to money invested in going to the convention this year. Instead of being in the Dealer's Room, I could go for Artist's Alley instead - they take care of the taxes portion of it (one less thing to worry about, though I would still need to file), and it doesn't cost anything to get a table - just an entry into the raffle they have for participants. The year I did the alley was actually the most profitable convention run I'd ever had.
So, the potential to make back what I spend for/at the convention is there. It's just a matter of whether I want to spend the money in the first place. I've already rearranged my budget, and it is feasible; all it would do is delay completion of two cards by about a month, which isn't too bad. And it would be great to see my friends that would be there again.
I think, for now, I'll wing it and see what happens. :/
I've gone to Furry cons; 3, specifically. They're rather fun. The genre itself has a rather annoying stigma that came about because of a lot of assumptions and few facts on people's part, though, and I find that rather annoying. Otherwise, though, they're fun. Not a lot of bad things to say about a group of people who are basically out to have a good time, and try to make sure everyone else at the con is having a good time, too.
Regardless of this, AC was not in my original plans for this year. But, my friend is arranging a ride with a couple of guys she met online, and she'd like me to come along. For one thing, she's never met these guys in person before, and for another, that makes for another driver for the trip to Pittsburgh. The main problem is, I did the math. Even if I eat fast food for the entire trip, given what our other friend (who usually books the hotel stay for our group of friends) has mentioned the cost of the hotel being, I'm looking at about $400 in expenses, not counting the $45 for registration.
Now, if the arranged ride *does* fall through, that would basically leave me and she stranded, and no way to get to the con. We could always "go Greyhound," of course, but if we do the 21-day advanced purchase offer, that's still $280 for two tickets. Not sure that I want to do that (as I'm not overly fond of taking the bus anymore), more we could do that.
Should I go, I want to have items in the Art Show; from the looks of the numbers in the past, I could potentially make back to money invested in going to the convention this year. Instead of being in the Dealer's Room, I could go for Artist's Alley instead - they take care of the taxes portion of it (one less thing to worry about, though I would still need to file), and it doesn't cost anything to get a table - just an entry into the raffle they have for participants. The year I did the alley was actually the most profitable convention run I'd ever had.
So, the potential to make back what I spend for/at the convention is there. It's just a matter of whether I want to spend the money in the first place. I've already rearranged my budget, and it is feasible; all it would do is delay completion of two cards by about a month, which isn't too bad. And it would be great to see my friends that would be there again.
I think, for now, I'll wing it and see what happens. :/
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Month Tallys - February
Not quite two steps forward, one step back, but that still doesn't change the fact that I got virtually nothing done this month!
Pages wrote - 10? I lost track of where I was last time I summarized. I know I didn't spend a lot of time writing this past month.
Projects done: Done? Nothing. Started? One. A cross-stitch work has been laid out on the fabric, but I still have not started stitching as of yet.
Weight check: 195 lbs. I lost .5 pounds in February. I know why, too; I spent way too much time being mopey and depressed, so while I worked out quite a bit (lifting heavy things at work will do that for you), I also indulged in chocolate and other snacks a bit too much. On the plus side, I'm still losing weight; just not as much as I'd hoped to loose this past month.
March shall be better. :)
One thing I need to seriously consider, though - do I want to spend $20 a month on a gym membership? My transfer back up to the services desk went through (yay). On the plus side, this gets me away from the annoying boss and back with one I get along with better. On the down side, it's less labor-intensive, so I won't really be getting my exercise at work anymore.
Cons: Don't want to spend the money.
Pros: Better work-out stuff than what I have at home (like the weights, for one).
-They have a pool, which is nice for during the summer here.
-They have a bike rack, so I don't have to drive there.
Blah.
Pages wrote - 10? I lost track of where I was last time I summarized. I know I didn't spend a lot of time writing this past month.
Projects done: Done? Nothing. Started? One. A cross-stitch work has been laid out on the fabric, but I still have not started stitching as of yet.
Weight check: 195 lbs. I lost .5 pounds in February. I know why, too; I spent way too much time being mopey and depressed, so while I worked out quite a bit (lifting heavy things at work will do that for you), I also indulged in chocolate and other snacks a bit too much. On the plus side, I'm still losing weight; just not as much as I'd hoped to loose this past month.
March shall be better. :)
One thing I need to seriously consider, though - do I want to spend $20 a month on a gym membership? My transfer back up to the services desk went through (yay). On the plus side, this gets me away from the annoying boss and back with one I get along with better. On the down side, it's less labor-intensive, so I won't really be getting my exercise at work anymore.
Cons: Don't want to spend the money.
Pros: Better work-out stuff than what I have at home (like the weights, for one).
-They have a pool, which is nice for during the summer here.
-They have a bike rack, so I don't have to drive there.
Blah.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Come on, Yahoo!
Since when do I suddenly receive actual SPAM through my Yahoo! account?
Before this year, the only spam type stuff I received was from companies that I'd done business with and had given my email address to in order for them to contact me about my order. At least those ones, I'd requested their contact. That I receive spam from them? Meh. At least, with Jo-ann fabrics, I get coupons along with the ad-spam.
Now suddenly, I'm getting things like [my email addy] Hey!; [mema] job positions!; [mema] Look!! and they're getting through Yahoo!'s filter, skipping my spam folder, and going right to my regular in-box. Considering that one of the reasons I got the Yahoo! account in the first place was that they promised no spam unless you'd signed up for it from X company, I find this to be very annoying.
I'm also wondering if it's because they have my email addy right there in the title. Then again, that thought makes me wonder if some weirdo's targeting me specifically, or if they're using some weird program to automatically attach people's email addresses into the description line of the email.
Regardless, I find this very annoying. Maybe I should see if something in the policy changed. :/
Before this year, the only spam type stuff I received was from companies that I'd done business with and had given my email address to in order for them to contact me about my order. At least those ones, I'd requested their contact. That I receive spam from them? Meh. At least, with Jo-ann fabrics, I get coupons along with the ad-spam.
Now suddenly, I'm getting things like [my email addy] Hey!; [mema] job positions!; [mema] Look!! and they're getting through Yahoo!'s filter, skipping my spam folder, and going right to my regular in-box. Considering that one of the reasons I got the Yahoo! account in the first place was that they promised no spam unless you'd signed up for it from X company, I find this to be very annoying.
I'm also wondering if it's because they have my email addy right there in the title. Then again, that thought makes me wonder if some weirdo's targeting me specifically, or if they're using some weird program to automatically attach people's email addresses into the description line of the email.
Regardless, I find this very annoying. Maybe I should see if something in the policy changed. :/
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Its the most dangerous time of the year.
Easter is coming up. This is a bad thing. Not that I don't like the holiday or religion its associated with; I'm just fine with the religion, actually, so long as the participants don't try to shove their beliefs/the way they interpret their beliefs down my throat.
The problem is, I like chocolate. And I like jelly beans. Outside of chocolate, I think jelly beans may very well be my favorite candy. I like Brachs the best; they're the ones I grew up with, though, so that may be expected. Peeps? Not so much. I don't like the gritty sugar coating on them, so don't normally buy them.
The main thing is, even with some self-restraint, I'm most likely going to start sugar overdosing, because of all the candy that's only available this time of year. Not that I'm going to try making a giant Cadbury's Cream Egg or anything (I don't have the egg mold yet, for one thing), but this is still not going to end well.
Easter candy is already out on the shelf, and the holiday is more than a month away. I think this is going to be the biggest test on my resolve to change my eating habits. ^^;
The problem is, I like chocolate. And I like jelly beans. Outside of chocolate, I think jelly beans may very well be my favorite candy. I like Brachs the best; they're the ones I grew up with, though, so that may be expected. Peeps? Not so much. I don't like the gritty sugar coating on them, so don't normally buy them.
The main thing is, even with some self-restraint, I'm most likely going to start sugar overdosing, because of all the candy that's only available this time of year. Not that I'm going to try making a giant Cadbury's Cream Egg or anything (I don't have the egg mold yet, for one thing), but this is still not going to end well.
Easter candy is already out on the shelf, and the holiday is more than a month away. I think this is going to be the biggest test on my resolve to change my eating habits. ^^;
Yay, photo?
Well, finally got off my butt and took a photo of myself, both for use herein and on Facebook. I'm sure my sister-in-law will hate it and demand another be taken, but meh.
Naturally, it's going to be a bad image - I took it myself, while holding the camera. ;)
On the plus side, I didn't have to upload the image to a website in order to upload it here. That's a nice thing. :)
in addition to uploading an image of myself, I've also changed my profile a bit. *shrug* Not sure if it was necessary or not, but changed some information anyway.
Naturally, it's going to be a bad image - I took it myself, while holding the camera. ;)
On the plus side, I didn't have to upload the image to a website in order to upload it here. That's a nice thing. :)
in addition to uploading an image of myself, I've also changed my profile a bit. *shrug* Not sure if it was necessary or not, but changed some information anyway.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Attack of the flowers!
Well, one thing I forgot about before I went and tool my scheduled days off - we got the Hyacinths in before I left. Now that I'm back, they're blooming.
Don't get me wrong; hyacinths are lovely flowers, with a wonderful scent. It's just, the scent is very strong. One or two, that I can handle. But, the more plants you add, the stronger the scent gets, and the more powerful, and the less they smell all that good. So, yeah. Fifteen of the suckers? Not a good thing.
Within five minutes of getting up to the front counter to get a radio, I knew the hyacinths were blooming. And I though, "Wow, that's a nice scent." And then the full power of these plants hit me, and I started sneezing, and my eyes itched (honestly, it was only the right eye; not sure what's up with that). The next thing I knew, I had a headache. Not just any headache - the kind that feels like someone is pounding a nail through your brain, about two inches past where the pain from a sinus headache is, and it went along my entire head to the back of my neck.
It got to the point where I was actually sucking on Hall's cough drops, not because I needed it, but because with the menthol taking over my nose and mouth, I didn't smell the hyacinths as much.
The crazy thing is, I didn't react like this to them last year; not this badly, anyway. the year before that wasn't a bother, and the year prior, I don't remember reacting to them at all. So, it's like my allergy to them is getting worse and worse every year. That, or we're going to have one heckuva pollen count this year. O_o
I'm not the only one in the store that's allergic to them, either. Half of the cashiers are. Brian in hardware is, Michelle, the department head of garden, refuses to have them in any quantity in her department.
I'll be very golad when it gets warm enough outside that we can move these plants out there. One things for sure - I'm gonna see about picking up some pain medication before going to work tomorrow morning.
I wonder - if I got enough people in the store to sign a petition, do you think we could have the buying office stop having us get these plants in? :D
Yeah, probably not. :(
Don't get me wrong; hyacinths are lovely flowers, with a wonderful scent. It's just, the scent is very strong. One or two, that I can handle. But, the more plants you add, the stronger the scent gets, and the more powerful, and the less they smell all that good. So, yeah. Fifteen of the suckers? Not a good thing.
Within five minutes of getting up to the front counter to get a radio, I knew the hyacinths were blooming. And I though, "Wow, that's a nice scent." And then the full power of these plants hit me, and I started sneezing, and my eyes itched (honestly, it was only the right eye; not sure what's up with that). The next thing I knew, I had a headache. Not just any headache - the kind that feels like someone is pounding a nail through your brain, about two inches past where the pain from a sinus headache is, and it went along my entire head to the back of my neck.
It got to the point where I was actually sucking on Hall's cough drops, not because I needed it, but because with the menthol taking over my nose and mouth, I didn't smell the hyacinths as much.
The crazy thing is, I didn't react like this to them last year; not this badly, anyway. the year before that wasn't a bother, and the year prior, I don't remember reacting to them at all. So, it's like my allergy to them is getting worse and worse every year. That, or we're going to have one heckuva pollen count this year. O_o
I'm not the only one in the store that's allergic to them, either. Half of the cashiers are. Brian in hardware is, Michelle, the department head of garden, refuses to have them in any quantity in her department.
I'll be very golad when it gets warm enough outside that we can move these plants out there. One things for sure - I'm gonna see about picking up some pain medication before going to work tomorrow morning.
I wonder - if I got enough people in the store to sign a petition, do you think we could have the buying office stop having us get these plants in? :D
Yeah, probably not. :(
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Some answers are better than none.
I was able to contact St. Cloud State and received some answers to my questions. Some of them, anyway.
First off, as Akita Daigaku is/was considered a different entity, I would indeed have to apply for admission to St. Cloud State in order the attend classes there. This isn't too bad, since the application fee is only $20.I've actually printed it out already, I just need to fill it out.
Financially, I have to send in official copies of my transcripts from previous schools along with my application (or rather, have the schools send them in), and they'll go over how many of my credits can transfer, then determine what grade level I would be. For example, if they determine that 60 of my credits would apply, then I'd be a junior.
It will also be a good idea for me to call the department specifically and speak with one of the advisers in the education department. I would be able to see what is required, and get the information I need to continue with what I want to do.
Application will be filled out tonight, and I plan on both calling my old school to have them mail out an official transcript and St. Cloud State to speak with an adviser tomorrow afternoon, once I'm off of work.
First off, as Akita Daigaku is/was considered a different entity, I would indeed have to apply for admission to St. Cloud State in order the attend classes there. This isn't too bad, since the application fee is only $20.I've actually printed it out already, I just need to fill it out.
Financially, I have to send in official copies of my transcripts from previous schools along with my application (or rather, have the schools send them in), and they'll go over how many of my credits can transfer, then determine what grade level I would be. For example, if they determine that 60 of my credits would apply, then I'd be a junior.
It will also be a good idea for me to call the department specifically and speak with one of the advisers in the education department. I would be able to see what is required, and get the information I need to continue with what I want to do.
Application will be filled out tonight, and I plan on both calling my old school to have them mail out an official transcript and St. Cloud State to speak with an adviser tomorrow afternoon, once I'm off of work.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The "hmm" of the moment
Or wanting to teach, anyway.
I've been looking at prospective schools to go to in order to get a teaching degree, then move onto teaching high school math. From what I can tell, it looks like I have to get a teacher's degree for grade school before I'd be able to get certification for high school. I'm currently looking at 3 prospective schools - the University of MN, which I'm rather close to, St. Thomas, which I'm also close to, and St. Cloud State, which is about an our away. Of these three, the last looks to be the least expensive, at about $220 per semester credit, as opposed to, oh, $500-650 per semester credit.
This has also opened a bunch of questions in my mind.
-I already have some history with St. Cloud State, as they're the school I went through to take a semester at Akita Daigaku in Japan. Would I still need to apply?
-I'm currently on Financial Aid probation with my current school, because I have too many credits for any of their programs; would I still be on this if I go to St, Cloud State or another college?
-With my current credits, how do I stand with what I would need to take for the basic degree? What would I need to take?
-Most importantly, since I was already kinda-enrolled there, am I able to see or speak with a student counselor at the school?
I'm going to make a few calls to the school tomorrow, and see what I can find out. :)
I've been looking at prospective schools to go to in order to get a teaching degree, then move onto teaching high school math. From what I can tell, it looks like I have to get a teacher's degree for grade school before I'd be able to get certification for high school. I'm currently looking at 3 prospective schools - the University of MN, which I'm rather close to, St. Thomas, which I'm also close to, and St. Cloud State, which is about an our away. Of these three, the last looks to be the least expensive, at about $220 per semester credit, as opposed to, oh, $500-650 per semester credit.
This has also opened a bunch of questions in my mind.
-I already have some history with St. Cloud State, as they're the school I went through to take a semester at Akita Daigaku in Japan. Would I still need to apply?
-I'm currently on Financial Aid probation with my current school, because I have too many credits for any of their programs; would I still be on this if I go to St, Cloud State or another college?
-With my current credits, how do I stand with what I would need to take for the basic degree? What would I need to take?
-Most importantly, since I was already kinda-enrolled there, am I able to see or speak with a student counselor at the school?
I'm going to make a few calls to the school tomorrow, and see what I can find out. :)
Well, I'm on Facebook. Have been for about 6 months now.
And, I have no idea what I'm doing on it!
I guess it's kind of like a blog on steroids, or a cross between and blog and twitter. At least, that's the way it seems to me. I already have both of those; not sure I see the point of doing it with both combined. :/
Still, it enables me to get in touch with some of my high school friends. Which is both good and bad - good, because I can find out what they're up to. Bad, because I can't remember the names of half of them! *^_^*
And, I have no idea what I'm doing on it!
I guess it's kind of like a blog on steroids, or a cross between and blog and twitter. At least, that's the way it seems to me. I already have both of those; not sure I see the point of doing it with both combined. :/
Still, it enables me to get in touch with some of my high school friends. Which is both good and bad - good, because I can find out what they're up to. Bad, because I can't remember the names of half of them! *^_^*
Of Valentine's Day and Boyfriends Past.
Well, another Valentine's Day has come and gone. Now that it's over, hopefully my depression will recede a bit. I actually felt a bit like Charlie Brown (from Peanuts) usually does at this time of year - "I know no-one likes me [romantically] - does there have to be a holiday to rub it in?"
I have been without a boyfriend now for... about nine years, I think. I have had one steady boyfriend in my life, during college, and I'm not entirely certain I could really call him a ""steady" boyfriend, considering all the times we broke up and got back together. He was the first guy who ever asked me out, though, so maybe I cut him more slack than I should have.
Let's see... How many excuses did he come up with to break up.
-My older brother wasn't protesting the relationship enough.
-I didn't care about my appearance enough (this one came after he'd seen me around campus wearing my optivisor, which I'd become so used to wearing that I'd forget it was on when the lenses weren't down).
-I was too stupid for him (and the only reason I didn't slap him and get out of his car after that one is because the light we were at turned green).
-I'm not "his type" (which is to say, I'm blond-ish and he likes black hair, and I'm white instead of Japanese).
-I was "too nice."
-I'm too tall (read again, not a cute little Japanese girl).
Then there was the last time he broke up with me - he just called and told me he wanted to break things off, as they weren't going anywhere (which isn't a shock, he'd spent more time with his guy-friends than with me, then went to Japan for a few semesters). Around a week before his birthday, which was just oh-so-nice of him. Because his birthday is February 11. Which means he broke up with me not-quite two weeks before Valentine's Day. (The last time he'd given me a Valentine's Day gift was for the year we started dating - 1999, I think. He gave me a large stuffed puppet frog and was holding it with a rose in it's mouth, then took me out for dinner. I'd have been happy with a tulip and a regular sized-chocolate bar, along with some time together; I told him this. Since then were were usually broken up for the months around Valentine's Day.) After Valentine's Day, the group of us (we were in the same DnD group at the time) got together, partially to hang out and watch Anime and partially to celebrate his birthday, and his best friend at the time (who had been actively trying to break us up by monopolizing said ex-boyfriend's time (which I'd say he succeeded at), since he didn't have a girlfriend) casually glanced at me then asked him how he was doing. Well, he was great! He'd been the most wonderfully stress-free for the last two weeks, it was awesome.
It took a lot of effort to not cobber him with a pillow. -.-'
And those were just the reasons I remember.
Now, he did have some basis for considering me stupid - he's a computing major. I know very little about programing and upkeep on computers, having majored in Jewelry Manufacture and Repair; there really wasn't any reason for me to take a course on how computers work beyond the basics. Certainly no reason for me to know programming languages. I had no need to know what kernels and binary and all that crap was. I certainly wasn't as bad as some people, though - I knew the CD-ROM tray in a computer was not a coffee holder, for example. I knew how to turn the things on, I used word processors and played some games on them. My first computer I ever used was an Apple II+ that we played games on, complete with a 5x5 floppy drive, when I was a kid. I still have the disks, actually; just no computer to run them on, as Dad got rid of it. I just had no interest in finding out how they function beyond knowing their basic components (hard drive, motherboard, CPU, drivers, etc.). Because of this, he considers me stupid.
He did try to get back together with me a few years ago, actually, via IM. I reminded him that I wasn't his type and he'd be better off trying to find some Asian girl. He agreed with me, then went to take more semesters in Japan. That really should tell me something about his own intelligence, I think. :/
Don't get me wrong, there have been people who have asked me out; no dates came from them, though, much less a relationship. One guy asked me out at work, while I was still in college, and I actually gave him my cell phone number. Which he called at midnight, drunk as a skunk, and left a message asking me what I was doing. The next time he called me was a few months later, and he refused to tell me why he wound up in jail for a bit. Needless to say, I didn't call him back. Changed my phone number, actually (bought a new phone, so~). Aside from that, there was the new coworker who asked me out - he was baby-faced, looked maybe twenty and claimed to be in his mid-forties. Yeah, someone in her mid-twenties really wants to date a forty-something that looks younger than her. Uh-huh.
Aside from that, there's the usual lot of guys who flirt with you on the job, but all of them have been in the 40-60 age range. Or the kind that's obviously wanting you between their sheets, and I've no interest in that. It's rather a turn-off, actually. I don't want a one-night stand, I want a relationship! Is that really so much to ask?
Apparently, yes. :/
I have been without a boyfriend now for... about nine years, I think. I have had one steady boyfriend in my life, during college, and I'm not entirely certain I could really call him a ""steady" boyfriend, considering all the times we broke up and got back together. He was the first guy who ever asked me out, though, so maybe I cut him more slack than I should have.
Let's see... How many excuses did he come up with to break up.
-My older brother wasn't protesting the relationship enough.
-I didn't care about my appearance enough (this one came after he'd seen me around campus wearing my optivisor, which I'd become so used to wearing that I'd forget it was on when the lenses weren't down).
-I was too stupid for him (and the only reason I didn't slap him and get out of his car after that one is because the light we were at turned green).
-I'm not "his type" (which is to say, I'm blond-ish and he likes black hair, and I'm white instead of Japanese).
-I was "too nice."
-I'm too tall (read again, not a cute little Japanese girl).
Then there was the last time he broke up with me - he just called and told me he wanted to break things off, as they weren't going anywhere (which isn't a shock, he'd spent more time with his guy-friends than with me, then went to Japan for a few semesters). Around a week before his birthday, which was just oh-so-nice of him. Because his birthday is February 11. Which means he broke up with me not-quite two weeks before Valentine's Day. (The last time he'd given me a Valentine's Day gift was for the year we started dating - 1999, I think. He gave me a large stuffed puppet frog and was holding it with a rose in it's mouth, then took me out for dinner. I'd have been happy with a tulip and a regular sized-chocolate bar, along with some time together; I told him this. Since then were were usually broken up for the months around Valentine's Day.) After Valentine's Day, the group of us (we were in the same DnD group at the time) got together, partially to hang out and watch Anime and partially to celebrate his birthday, and his best friend at the time (who had been actively trying to break us up by monopolizing said ex-boyfriend's time (which I'd say he succeeded at), since he didn't have a girlfriend) casually glanced at me then asked him how he was doing. Well, he was great! He'd been the most wonderfully stress-free for the last two weeks, it was awesome.
It took a lot of effort to not cobber him with a pillow. -.-'
And those were just the reasons I remember.
Now, he did have some basis for considering me stupid - he's a computing major. I know very little about programing and upkeep on computers, having majored in Jewelry Manufacture and Repair; there really wasn't any reason for me to take a course on how computers work beyond the basics. Certainly no reason for me to know programming languages. I had no need to know what kernels and binary and all that crap was. I certainly wasn't as bad as some people, though - I knew the CD-ROM tray in a computer was not a coffee holder, for example. I knew how to turn the things on, I used word processors and played some games on them. My first computer I ever used was an Apple II+ that we played games on, complete with a 5x5 floppy drive, when I was a kid. I still have the disks, actually; just no computer to run them on, as Dad got rid of it. I just had no interest in finding out how they function beyond knowing their basic components (hard drive, motherboard, CPU, drivers, etc.). Because of this, he considers me stupid.
He did try to get back together with me a few years ago, actually, via IM. I reminded him that I wasn't his type and he'd be better off trying to find some Asian girl. He agreed with me, then went to take more semesters in Japan. That really should tell me something about his own intelligence, I think. :/
Don't get me wrong, there have been people who have asked me out; no dates came from them, though, much less a relationship. One guy asked me out at work, while I was still in college, and I actually gave him my cell phone number. Which he called at midnight, drunk as a skunk, and left a message asking me what I was doing. The next time he called me was a few months later, and he refused to tell me why he wound up in jail for a bit. Needless to say, I didn't call him back. Changed my phone number, actually (bought a new phone, so~). Aside from that, there was the new coworker who asked me out - he was baby-faced, looked maybe twenty and claimed to be in his mid-forties. Yeah, someone in her mid-twenties really wants to date a forty-something that looks younger than her. Uh-huh.
Aside from that, there's the usual lot of guys who flirt with you on the job, but all of them have been in the 40-60 age range. Or the kind that's obviously wanting you between their sheets, and I've no interest in that. It's rather a turn-off, actually. I don't want a one-night stand, I want a relationship! Is that really so much to ask?
Apparently, yes. :/
Friday, February 12, 2010
Should be peaceful.
One of the things that I am looking forward to for this summer is taking a nice long vacation. For about two weeks, I just want to get out of the city, and get away from my job for awhile.
It's my hope that I will be able to go somewhere without my parents for awhile, and be by my lonesome for a bit. I'd like to bring my crafting materials with me (which is to say, either the yarn, the beads or both, but nothing else.)
I will also be taking my computer with me, but since I don't have wireless drivers on my laptop, I won't have internet access. This should make it a lot easier to get some actual work done. And since I have quite a bit of my music on my computer's hard drive, I won't be without songs I like.
I can think of much worse summer vacations to take, and so am looking forward to this.
Not quite sure when I'd be going though. Probably sometime between June and July; if I'm lucky, I can avoid the neighborhood noise of people setting off their own fireworks. On the other hand, that weekend is also primo vacation time, so with my luck the area would be rather crowded. :/ That, and there's no guarantee I'd be able to get the time off from work that weekend. Probably better to go sometime in June, then. :)
It's my hope that I will be able to go somewhere without my parents for awhile, and be by my lonesome for a bit. I'd like to bring my crafting materials with me (which is to say, either the yarn, the beads or both, but nothing else.)
I will also be taking my computer with me, but since I don't have wireless drivers on my laptop, I won't have internet access. This should make it a lot easier to get some actual work done. And since I have quite a bit of my music on my computer's hard drive, I won't be without songs I like.
I can think of much worse summer vacations to take, and so am looking forward to this.
Not quite sure when I'd be going though. Probably sometime between June and July; if I'm lucky, I can avoid the neighborhood noise of people setting off their own fireworks. On the other hand, that weekend is also primo vacation time, so with my luck the area would be rather crowded. :/ That, and there's no guarantee I'd be able to get the time off from work that weekend. Probably better to go sometime in June, then. :)
Need a vacation
So, I put in for some vacation time while at work today. Specifically, I put in for seven days off, which will use 3 days of my vacation time.
Meaning, two scheduled days off, three vacation days off, and two scheduled days off again.
I had it approved by my department manager and turned it in to the scheduler before I left (which is to day, I put it in her mailbox, since she wasn't in today), so now all I have to do is wait to see if I actually get the time off or not. (Just because I put in for it doesn't mean I actually get it.)
So, in about three weeks or so, I'll have some time off. What do I plan to do with said time off?
Sewing projects. Crafting projects. Cleaning projects. Though honestly, I might skip that last one. ^^;
Still it's going to take time to get all of my fabric sorted through and the clothing made, so I might as well take some time off to do it. :)
Meaning, two scheduled days off, three vacation days off, and two scheduled days off again.
I had it approved by my department manager and turned it in to the scheduler before I left (which is to day, I put it in her mailbox, since she wasn't in today), so now all I have to do is wait to see if I actually get the time off or not. (Just because I put in for it doesn't mean I actually get it.)
So, in about three weeks or so, I'll have some time off. What do I plan to do with said time off?
Sewing projects. Crafting projects. Cleaning projects. Though honestly, I might skip that last one. ^^;
Still it's going to take time to get all of my fabric sorted through and the clothing made, so I might as well take some time off to do it. :)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
New Glasses! Woo!
I love my insurance. I really do.
This is the second time getting new glasses that I either paid nothing for them, or very little for them. And all it took was upgrading my vision plan from the basic to the premium back about three years ago. I was finally able to get a new prescription and new glasses for the first time in nearly four years.
Last time, not-quite-exactly two years ago, I wound up having to go to Vision World, as my insurance (at the time) did not support my usual place, which was Lens Crafters.
It's an interesting contrast, both in terms of service and doctors.
Has the prescription done by their in-house optometrist. He did not use those numbing drops, saying they were not necessary. He also was able to tell me my prescription hadn't changed much, I went out to look at frames, but none of the clerks offered to help, nor did they come over to find ask if I was finding everything okay. Since I'm blind without my glasses, I need to have someone there to help me, even if it's just the clerk; otherwise, I have no idea whether the glasses look good or not. So, this wasn't a lot of help. A few days later, I went in with a coworker who was determined to help me find glasses that actually looked good on me. We went through quite a few of the frames, and finally chose a wire-rim, rectangular frame set in a very dark purple.
Did all the paperwork, they ordered the glasses, and I had to wait 2 weeks for them. This, I was not used to. Vision World doesn't have an on-site lab (at least, not the location I went to), though, so I had to wait for the frames to be sent out and come back. This really wasn't too bad; just something I wasn't used to. *shrug*
Alas, when I picked up my glasses, they neglected to tell me that I cannot use Windex to clean them any more - they just tried to sell me some of their cleaning stuff. Since I'd been using Windex to clean my glasses for years, I passed on it. So, it took a couple of months, but around about last year I suddenly noticed I was getting a crack in the right lens. Had no idea why; I hadn't used 409 on them (which I already know is a no-no), and didn't think they'd been bent at all, so couldn't figure it out. It was a small crack, though, and since Vision World did not warrant the glasses, I decided to just live with it.
Well, couple of months ago the crack started getting longer. And then I noticed two other cracks next to each other starting to form on the left lens. I put up with them for a few more months, then last week decided I had enough and checked my covereage for replacement lenses. This resulted in checking who I could go to now, and lo and behold - Lens Crafters was now on the list.
So I stopped in last week, between all the fabric runs I made, and spoke with one of the clerks. I didn't have my card on me, but she was able to pull up my information, and determined that it would cost me more to get replacement lenses than it would to get new glasses. I didn't have my prescription from Visions World with me, though, so I didn't even bother looking. The lady told me they can use a prescription if it's less than two years old; after that, it's best to have your eyes checked again.
At work the next day, I called Vision World, and asked if they could fax me a copy of my prescription, as I could not find it. I remembered to check the fax machine before I left, and it was there. I am lucky. My last prescription was done on 2-15-08 - I had just over a week to spare.
So after work I went back to Lens Crafters, and the lady (a different one this time) helped me find new frames. Now, I had specific ideas for frames in mind - I likes how the rectangular ones looked, but I had a problem with them. When I drive, I keep my head level, and don't normally tilt my head to look down at the speedometer - I just move my eyes. And I found out the hard way that I have to reposition my head (and therefore be a bit uncomfortable) when driving so I actually have the speedometer in focus when driving. So, I wanted something the same general shape, but with a deeper bottom, specifically so I could look down and actually see the speedometer in the car. Also, since my insurance would cover frames up to $150, I wanted something in that range, and not in gold (gold washes me out, so I don't wear it; why should my glasses be gold toned if none of my jewelry is?). I also wanted to avoid having a wide leg, so I can see into my blind spot without any trouble while driving, and didn't want anything with a name brand printed on it.
So, we looked around for a bit, and there were some promising ones, but nothing that really worked. there were some good ones from DKNY, but they also had the brand name printed on the sides in large letters, so I didn't want those. Some nice floral ones, ones with rhinestones. We finally drifted over to the clearance area, and she pulled out a set with teal frames, slight liquid-y decoration on the stems, more oval lenses that were deeper than my previous pair. And she thought they looked good on me. We tried the other two colors, but the teal looked best. They fit all of my criteria, so I went with those.
Then it came to the lenses themselves. We basically went with what I had the last time, which was polycarbonate with anti-scratch and anti-reflective coatings. And she proceeded to let me know, yeah, they changed Windex, it's got ammonia in it know, and the new polycarbonate used for lenses are allergic to ammonia. In addition, the ammonia will also strip the coatings off. Being told this was good - I did not know the polycarbonate formula had changed. But a few interesting things that this lady did which the lady who placed my glasses or at Vision World did not - she measured the center of my eyes, to make sure they'd align properly, and she marked on the faux lenses the frames had in them where my eyes are when I'm looking strait ahead, then input the distances of those marks from the frame edges into the computer. The downside was, they were out of stock on the version they would need for my glasses, so once again, I had to wait to get them.
But they called my this morning, and I picked my glasses up this afternoon. I had them adjusted, the lady put smaller pads on them, and I can now see the speedometer without tilting my head or sitting uncomfortably. They are a wee bit blurry, but my last pair was too. The lady who adjusted my glasses to fit told me that since the prescription was so old, it's possible my astigmatism has changed. She suggested trying them for a few days, and if I want, I can have my eyes re-examined, and if the prescription is different, they'll replace the lenses for free if it's within... I think she said 3 months, but it might have been thirty days.
I can tell you that my eyes are definitely changing to adjust to this set of glasses; they're a bit tense. these new glasses are definitely larger than the last pair, so I'm back to looking a bit owlish, but I can see again, so I'm good. ^^ d~
This is the second time getting new glasses that I either paid nothing for them, or very little for them. And all it took was upgrading my vision plan from the basic to the premium back about three years ago. I was finally able to get a new prescription and new glasses for the first time in nearly four years.
Last time, not-quite-exactly two years ago, I wound up having to go to Vision World, as my insurance (at the time) did not support my usual place, which was Lens Crafters.
It's an interesting contrast, both in terms of service and doctors.
Has the prescription done by their in-house optometrist. He did not use those numbing drops, saying they were not necessary. He also was able to tell me my prescription hadn't changed much, I went out to look at frames, but none of the clerks offered to help, nor did they come over to find ask if I was finding everything okay. Since I'm blind without my glasses, I need to have someone there to help me, even if it's just the clerk; otherwise, I have no idea whether the glasses look good or not. So, this wasn't a lot of help. A few days later, I went in with a coworker who was determined to help me find glasses that actually looked good on me. We went through quite a few of the frames, and finally chose a wire-rim, rectangular frame set in a very dark purple.
Did all the paperwork, they ordered the glasses, and I had to wait 2 weeks for them. This, I was not used to. Vision World doesn't have an on-site lab (at least, not the location I went to), though, so I had to wait for the frames to be sent out and come back. This really wasn't too bad; just something I wasn't used to. *shrug*
Alas, when I picked up my glasses, they neglected to tell me that I cannot use Windex to clean them any more - they just tried to sell me some of their cleaning stuff. Since I'd been using Windex to clean my glasses for years, I passed on it. So, it took a couple of months, but around about last year I suddenly noticed I was getting a crack in the right lens. Had no idea why; I hadn't used 409 on them (which I already know is a no-no), and didn't think they'd been bent at all, so couldn't figure it out. It was a small crack, though, and since Vision World did not warrant the glasses, I decided to just live with it.
Well, couple of months ago the crack started getting longer. And then I noticed two other cracks next to each other starting to form on the left lens. I put up with them for a few more months, then last week decided I had enough and checked my covereage for replacement lenses. This resulted in checking who I could go to now, and lo and behold - Lens Crafters was now on the list.
So I stopped in last week, between all the fabric runs I made, and spoke with one of the clerks. I didn't have my card on me, but she was able to pull up my information, and determined that it would cost me more to get replacement lenses than it would to get new glasses. I didn't have my prescription from Visions World with me, though, so I didn't even bother looking. The lady told me they can use a prescription if it's less than two years old; after that, it's best to have your eyes checked again.
At work the next day, I called Vision World, and asked if they could fax me a copy of my prescription, as I could not find it. I remembered to check the fax machine before I left, and it was there. I am lucky. My last prescription was done on 2-15-08 - I had just over a week to spare.
So after work I went back to Lens Crafters, and the lady (a different one this time) helped me find new frames. Now, I had specific ideas for frames in mind - I likes how the rectangular ones looked, but I had a problem with them. When I drive, I keep my head level, and don't normally tilt my head to look down at the speedometer - I just move my eyes. And I found out the hard way that I have to reposition my head (and therefore be a bit uncomfortable) when driving so I actually have the speedometer in focus when driving. So, I wanted something the same general shape, but with a deeper bottom, specifically so I could look down and actually see the speedometer in the car. Also, since my insurance would cover frames up to $150, I wanted something in that range, and not in gold (gold washes me out, so I don't wear it; why should my glasses be gold toned if none of my jewelry is?). I also wanted to avoid having a wide leg, so I can see into my blind spot without any trouble while driving, and didn't want anything with a name brand printed on it.
So, we looked around for a bit, and there were some promising ones, but nothing that really worked. there were some good ones from DKNY, but they also had the brand name printed on the sides in large letters, so I didn't want those. Some nice floral ones, ones with rhinestones. We finally drifted over to the clearance area, and she pulled out a set with teal frames, slight liquid-y decoration on the stems, more oval lenses that were deeper than my previous pair. And she thought they looked good on me. We tried the other two colors, but the teal looked best. They fit all of my criteria, so I went with those.
Then it came to the lenses themselves. We basically went with what I had the last time, which was polycarbonate with anti-scratch and anti-reflective coatings. And she proceeded to let me know, yeah, they changed Windex, it's got ammonia in it know, and the new polycarbonate used for lenses are allergic to ammonia. In addition, the ammonia will also strip the coatings off. Being told this was good - I did not know the polycarbonate formula had changed. But a few interesting things that this lady did which the lady who placed my glasses or at Vision World did not - she measured the center of my eyes, to make sure they'd align properly, and she marked on the faux lenses the frames had in them where my eyes are when I'm looking strait ahead, then input the distances of those marks from the frame edges into the computer. The downside was, they were out of stock on the version they would need for my glasses, so once again, I had to wait to get them.
But they called my this morning, and I picked my glasses up this afternoon. I had them adjusted, the lady put smaller pads on them, and I can now see the speedometer without tilting my head or sitting uncomfortably. They are a wee bit blurry, but my last pair was too. The lady who adjusted my glasses to fit told me that since the prescription was so old, it's possible my astigmatism has changed. She suggested trying them for a few days, and if I want, I can have my eyes re-examined, and if the prescription is different, they'll replace the lenses for free if it's within... I think she said 3 months, but it might have been thirty days.
I can tell you that my eyes are definitely changing to adjust to this set of glasses; they're a bit tense. these new glasses are definitely larger than the last pair, so I'm back to looking a bit owlish, but I can see again, so I'm good. ^^ d~
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