I wondered what to call tomorrow, when the dates all line up, and got caught up in this page. Interesting stuff, that all comes down to essentially nothing. :)
But there is one way 11-11-11 is extremely meaningful to people in my life.
I work at a chiropractor, and the three doctors use bubble forms for each patient. You know, like students use for standardized testing? They are SO EXCITED to be able to just draw one line across for the date bubbles. They'll never be that lucky again.
The even better part is that it's a Friday, when we have the most patients. Maximization! :)
Is 11/11/11 going to be special for you in any way?
I will be blogging at Romance Junkies tomorrow, and then very late in the evening, it will be my turn to post the recap/review of Supernatural at Supernatural Sisters. I've been trying SO HARD to avoid spoilers for this episode, but I opened a Google alert for one of the boys and saw the major detail I didn't want to know. *scowl* I shall endeavor to enjoy it anyway. Come over and chat about the show and let us know what you think!
Showing posts with label Weird Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weird Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Yesterday's Near-Death Experiences
Today I am nowhere but here. Tomorrow I will be at The Qwillery, so come join us! I'm giving away a gift certificate to the online bookstore of your choice.
So yesterday morning, I arrived at work and hit the bottom step to the employee entrance. In a split second, that foot shot sideways, and I came down on my shin (dented, bruised) and knee (scraped, bruised, still achy). The knee slam aggravated my right hip, too.
On the way home last night, I'm driving along, slowing as I near a busy intersection. Now, I'm on a major road that has no stop signs or stop lights for at least 5 miles. There were cars ahead of me and behind me, and stopped on either side, exiting side roads. I locked on the guy on my right for some reason, maybe his car was inching out. He was watching to his right. You know how you just KNOW something is going to happen, even if you don't think it in so many words?
Yeah, he pulled out, still not looking in my direction, making a left turn across my lane. I did the slam-and-swerve, as his rear fender filled my vision. I had two seconds of resignation, sure I was going to spin him around, but I swear I missed his bumper by just a couple of inches. I thought he bumped me on the way by because my car lurched, but it was either my car settling after the violent stop, or the car behind me bumped me. I actually have no idea if there was a car behind me, because I was too busy watching the jackass in my rearview mirror, continuing on down the road without even a flash of brakes.
Guess I jammed my right wrist and the seatbelt had fun with my left shoulder and neck. Those are better than they were last night, but still twingy. And I'm still pissed at the MFer who can't look both ways.
And THEN! This is the best one. I was sitting at the dining room table, using my laptop. Frisbee jumped up behind me, as she is wont to do, and stretched up to put her paws on my shoulders. Then she tried to sit back down, but her claws got caught in my sweater. I gagged and choked a "help!" until Number Two came out to unhook those claws I couldn't reach.
*glares at needy cat*
So far, today has been a much safer day.
What's your most memorable near-death experience?
So yesterday morning, I arrived at work and hit the bottom step to the employee entrance. In a split second, that foot shot sideways, and I came down on my shin (dented, bruised) and knee (scraped, bruised, still achy). The knee slam aggravated my right hip, too.
On the way home last night, I'm driving along, slowing as I near a busy intersection. Now, I'm on a major road that has no stop signs or stop lights for at least 5 miles. There were cars ahead of me and behind me, and stopped on either side, exiting side roads. I locked on the guy on my right for some reason, maybe his car was inching out. He was watching to his right. You know how you just KNOW something is going to happen, even if you don't think it in so many words?
Yeah, he pulled out, still not looking in my direction, making a left turn across my lane. I did the slam-and-swerve, as his rear fender filled my vision. I had two seconds of resignation, sure I was going to spin him around, but I swear I missed his bumper by just a couple of inches. I thought he bumped me on the way by because my car lurched, but it was either my car settling after the violent stop, or the car behind me bumped me. I actually have no idea if there was a car behind me, because I was too busy watching the jackass in my rearview mirror, continuing on down the road without even a flash of brakes.
Guess I jammed my right wrist and the seatbelt had fun with my left shoulder and neck. Those are better than they were last night, but still twingy. And I'm still pissed at the MFer who can't look both ways.
And THEN! This is the best one. I was sitting at the dining room table, using my laptop. Frisbee jumped up behind me, as she is wont to do, and stretched up to put her paws on my shoulders. Then she tried to sit back down, but her claws got caught in my sweater. I gagged and choked a "help!" until Number Two came out to unhook those claws I couldn't reach.
*glares at needy cat*
What? I wanted petting.
So far, today has been a much safer day.
What's your most memorable near-death experience?
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Stinky Car Newspaper Trick
I don't think I drove my car all weekend. When I got in to go to work Monday, it reeked. As if the windows had been left open in the rain, then closed for a time. Except nothing in the car was wet.
I drove with the windows open, parked under a tree at work, got in, and...ugh.
It's gotten worse every day. I checked under the hood and under the car for dead animals, but didn't see anything, and there's absolutely no odor until you open the car door. I delivered all the cardboard recycling to the township bin, hoping it was just an old pizza box. Under the boxes were blankets from last spring's soccer season. Threw those downstairs to wash. Nothing else in the trunk to smell bad.
So of course it smelled worse the next day.
I checked under the seats in case something fell out of a grocery bag. Pulled out the floor mats. Kept removing things that had no chance of being the cause:
And still it reeked.
I thought about taking it to be detailed, which would get the floors shampooed. But I don't have the time or money for that. I thought about shampooing them myself. But I don't have the time or equipment for that.
So I turned to an old remedy I've used for other things. I think it's an old Heloise tip, suggested to get cigarette smoke out of a suitcase or something.
I've...
STUFFED MY CAR WITH NEWSPAPER!
It would probably work even better if I stuffed the whole thing, but...yeah, I don't have time for that.
So I did this around 2:00 this afternoon, and when I took the pictures at 6:00, it was already working! The odor was about half ugly festering evil, half newsprint. I work at home tomorrow, so sometime in the afternoon I'll see if it worked completely. And I'll let you know!
But FYI, it totally works to get cigarette smoke out of fabrics and other items that can't be easily washed.
Anyone have a favorite Hint from Heloise?
I drove with the windows open, parked under a tree at work, got in, and...ugh.
It's gotten worse every day. I checked under the hood and under the car for dead animals, but didn't see anything, and there's absolutely no odor until you open the car door. I delivered all the cardboard recycling to the township bin, hoping it was just an old pizza box. Under the boxes were blankets from last spring's soccer season. Threw those downstairs to wash. Nothing else in the trunk to smell bad.
So of course it smelled worse the next day.
I checked under the seats in case something fell out of a grocery bag. Pulled out the floor mats. Kept removing things that had no chance of being the cause:
And still it reeked.
I thought about taking it to be detailed, which would get the floors shampooed. But I don't have the time or money for that. I thought about shampooing them myself. But I don't have the time or equipment for that.
So I turned to an old remedy I've used for other things. I think it's an old Heloise tip, suggested to get cigarette smoke out of a suitcase or something.
I've...
STUFFED MY CAR WITH NEWSPAPER!
It would probably work even better if I stuffed the whole thing, but...yeah, I don't have time for that.
So I did this around 2:00 this afternoon, and when I took the pictures at 6:00, it was already working! The odor was about half ugly festering evil, half newsprint. I work at home tomorrow, so sometime in the afternoon I'll see if it worked completely. And I'll let you know!
But FYI, it totally works to get cigarette smoke out of fabrics and other items that can't be easily washed.
Anyone have a favorite Hint from Heloise?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Floods, but No Drowning
I've been dreaming a lot about floods lately. Not surprising, considering Irene inundating the east coast, and more recently, Lee giving Pennsylvania the worst flooding in nearly 40 years.
Still, odd, because we weren't personally affected by the flooding. My old employer was—15 feet of water in the basement—and near my inlaws, Swatara Creek went 20 feet over flood stage (which is 7 feet). But our house/town, and my work/town, were fine. I didn't even get any water in my basement this time. *knocks on wood*
But here it's river and creek flooding. My dreams have been about ocean flooding. Not coastal...well, the first dream was coastal. I was visiting somewhere, maybe Rhode Island, and getting ready to come home, and my car got washed away and stuck on a sand dune in a pile of wreckage. I climbed down the side of the dune/wreckage and pulled it free (with my left hand). At first I thought the rear end was smashed and it was driveable, but when I pulled it free and dropped it to the sidewalk, it had key parts missing. Like wheels. So I thought, "This is stupid. Just wake up." And I did.
Last night, though...
The dream started at work. I was supposed to be working on the schedule going forward for all the new people (5, when we only have 2), but I messed it up. Then it was time to go. One of the new people was riding with me. We waited for my husband, who was driving around from the back lot, and it took too long so I decided he'd left already.
So I was driving pretty fast down the street. I saw a woman on her front lawn take a picture, aiming down the street and kind of up at the sky. I wondered what the heck she was taking. We just had pretty basic cloud cover.
Then a piece of the sky collapsed. It made me jump. I'd only seen it out of my peripheral vision, and then the sky looked whole again, like the clouds had sealed up the hole. But there had been hard matter that broke out of that hole, like snow falling off a roof, and that was weird.
Wait, it gets weirder!
My car was speeding along, and I realized the entire sky was solid. And then the road was in a giant tunnel, and pieces of the roof had broken out, and I could see light through them. The tunnel was getting narrower and narrower, but we were flying, and we were goign tcome out the end before any roof fell on us or the entire tunnel collapsed.
And then we did. We crashed into the ocean. I had time to mentally freak that the ocean was in Pennsylvania. I saw waves and a whale's tail, which told me there was no modifying this situation so we could get out of it, and I had another person in my car. All this happened in an eighth of a second, and then I slammed awake.
But as soon as I closed my eyes, it was there again, in all its detail. I was able to push it away, but the imagery and sensation lingers.
I'm pretty sure I know what it means, but I'm curious to hear other interpretations. Ready...GO! :)
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Keeping-Your-Sanity Tip of the Day
If you have a bottle of dish detergent—the hand-wash-dishes-in-the-sink kind—and it's almost empty, and the top of the bottle is little so you can't set it on the counter upside down, and you decide to set it in a cup so you can efficiently and frugally use every last drop of soap in the bottle—eventually—and finally you do use the last drop and now the cup is dirty...
Well.
Be warned. If you put that cup as is into the dishwasher?
You're gonna wind up with suds all over your kitchen floor.
And it's gonna be on a day your kid's homework won't print on your printer, so you have to finally get around to running to Staples to get new ink for her own printer, while it's raining and putting on a spectacular lightning show.
On the same day that same kid's soccer practice was called halfway through due to that same lightning, throwing off your entire schedule.
If you're lucky, you'll have a husband willing to stand in the kitchen for over an hour, watching the dishwasher while you run another cycle, because the leakage was just so odd, with it being mostly suds, and you found no obvious problem with the door or drain, but the unit is so freaking full of soap...
So just save yourself the trouble and rinse out the damned cup.
Well.
Be warned. If you put that cup as is into the dishwasher?
You're gonna wind up with suds all over your kitchen floor.
And it's gonna be on a day your kid's homework won't print on your printer, so you have to finally get around to running to Staples to get new ink for her own printer, while it's raining and putting on a spectacular lightning show.
On the same day that same kid's soccer practice was called halfway through due to that same lightning, throwing off your entire schedule.
If you're lucky, you'll have a husband willing to stand in the kitchen for over an hour, watching the dishwasher while you run another cycle, because the leakage was just so odd, with it being mostly suds, and you found no obvious problem with the door or drain, but the unit is so freaking full of soap...
So just save yourself the trouble and rinse out the damned cup.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Aliens Among Us
I went out to the curb a few minutes ago to put some trash in our brand-new, never-used, gigantic new trash can.
It rained last night/this morning, so the can was wet. On top of it, inside beads of water, were clusters of one to three maggot-like worms. I don't think they were maggots, though it's been a long time since I've seen any live, and never in water. They were tan, and had a bubble inside them. After I lifted the lid to put my trash in, the water ran off, but the worms stayed. A couple stopped moving, like they needed the water, but some went crawling like they were looking for another puddle. I was annoyed, because this is a BRAND NEW CAN, and I have NEVER seen anything like this around our garbage in the 11+ years we've lived here.
I came in, did some stuff, grabbed the camera, went back out, and...
They were gone.
Every single one had disappeared. They weren't on the sides of the can, or around the can, or in the can. So now I'm thinking they were an alien race in larval stage, and in the short time I was gone, they changed into their next stage, something bigger and more mobile.
Or birds ate them.
It rained last night/this morning, so the can was wet. On top of it, inside beads of water, were clusters of one to three maggot-like worms. I don't think they were maggots, though it's been a long time since I've seen any live, and never in water. They were tan, and had a bubble inside them. After I lifted the lid to put my trash in, the water ran off, but the worms stayed. A couple stopped moving, like they needed the water, but some went crawling like they were looking for another puddle. I was annoyed, because this is a BRAND NEW CAN, and I have NEVER seen anything like this around our garbage in the 11+ years we've lived here.
I came in, did some stuff, grabbed the camera, went back out, and...
They were gone.
Every single one had disappeared. They weren't on the sides of the can, or around the can, or in the can. So now I'm thinking they were an alien race in larval stage, and in the short time I was gone, they changed into their next stage, something bigger and more mobile.
Or birds ate them.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Too Much Sleep?
I've been trying to be responsible lately, with the whole sleeping thing. So the last two nights I've gone to bed early. Today I even slept until almost 6:30 because Number One needs nothing from me, Number Two only needs my presence most mornings, and even that's not until we're ready to go to the bus stop. But I've still been tired mid-afternoon, and there have been other odd effects:
Like, this morning, I conditioned my hair twice.
And then, after I returned the dog to the house, I went out to do my morning exercise walk--in flip-flops.
Actually, those could be explained by a busy brain as much as a tired one. In the shower, I was deep in thought about a client's manuscript. I rinsed my hair, and somehow that was triggered as "shampoo out, conditioner in" even though I was actually ready to get out of the shower.
The flip-flop thing was just unthinkingness. I realized it on the second hill. I was working way too hard to keep my shoes on. LOL I have these Adidas flip-flops that have cushioned insoles and silky fabric, so when I've had them on for a little while, the cushion compresses and they're roomier and also therefore slippery. It actually made for a decent walk, though, because I used all the muscles in my legs more. But I had to come down the last hill barefoot--it's so steep, I was afraid I'd break the thong of the flip-flops, and they're new.
Anyway. My brain doesn't feel like it's working right today.
I also had this weird dream last night. It was a "back in school" dream, though not one of the typical anxiety ones. I was in a big room stuffed with stuff. Kind of like on Fringe, where the lab they're given is a storage room for old furniture and equipment? One of the things was a big unit of old-fashioned mailboxes. They took a key but also had a combination--you put in the key, then turned to the proper numbers. I had three mailboxes and opened two of them (my mother had sent me some weird stuff) but for the life of me, I couldn't open the third one. It had something important in it, I knew it...or hoped it, though I always have hope there's something important and there never is. So I think I understand the metaphor. *sigh*
So I guess we can come to the conclusion that it's not "too much sleep" so much as my brain is weird. And I'm sure no one is surprised by that.
Like, this morning, I conditioned my hair twice.
And then, after I returned the dog to the house, I went out to do my morning exercise walk--in flip-flops.
Actually, those could be explained by a busy brain as much as a tired one. In the shower, I was deep in thought about a client's manuscript. I rinsed my hair, and somehow that was triggered as "shampoo out, conditioner in" even though I was actually ready to get out of the shower.
The flip-flop thing was just unthinkingness. I realized it on the second hill. I was working way too hard to keep my shoes on. LOL I have these Adidas flip-flops that have cushioned insoles and silky fabric, so when I've had them on for a little while, the cushion compresses and they're roomier and also therefore slippery. It actually made for a decent walk, though, because I used all the muscles in my legs more. But I had to come down the last hill barefoot--it's so steep, I was afraid I'd break the thong of the flip-flops, and they're new.
Anyway. My brain doesn't feel like it's working right today.
I also had this weird dream last night. It was a "back in school" dream, though not one of the typical anxiety ones. I was in a big room stuffed with stuff. Kind of like on Fringe, where the lab they're given is a storage room for old furniture and equipment? One of the things was a big unit of old-fashioned mailboxes. They took a key but also had a combination--you put in the key, then turned to the proper numbers. I had three mailboxes and opened two of them (my mother had sent me some weird stuff) but for the life of me, I couldn't open the third one. It had something important in it, I knew it...or hoped it, though I always have hope there's something important and there never is. So I think I understand the metaphor. *sigh*
So I guess we can come to the conclusion that it's not "too much sleep" so much as my brain is weird. And I'm sure no one is surprised by that.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Triumphs and Frustrations
Today was loaded with triumphs and frustrations.
I spent the entire--and I mean ENTIRE day working on the kids' computers. They had a .NET problem for the past year that I've tried to fix intermittently, but never could get working right.
Triumph
Today I found the right utility and got that taken care of on both computers. That enabled me to load service pack 2 on both, so they're fully updated now.
Frustration
Number One's computer is having major problems, though. I bought Registry Mechanic and ran that, hoping the startup problems it detected would solve the issue, but it didn't.
Triumph
I researched the problem, and many similar issues seemed to be solved by replacing the PSU (power supply unit). So I went and bought a PSU and swapped them out. That's the triumph. I'm always proud of my success at techie stuff like that. But it's marred by...
Frustration
It still didn't solve the problem. So I'm going to have to take the computer to someone, unless one of my super-smart blog readers can tell me what is probably wrong when the computer turns on but won't boot up--the power button stays orange and everything has power, especially the fan, which revs to jet engine levels. We power it down, then try again. And again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. And then one more time. And then it boots, and is fine. Until we shut down or restart, and go through it all over again.
Triumph
My iPod case broke this weekend. It was nothing special, just a slip-in case that came with my iPod Photo years ago, and I use it for my iPod Classic now. But the clip came off, and since I primarily use the iPod when I'm working out or grocery shopping, I MUST have a clip.
So at Staples I also bought a new case. And while I was at it, I grabbed some new earbuds, as the old ones were getting grody (a novelty, since they usually crap out before then). The case is leather and has windows, so I never have to take the iPod out again, and the earbuds slipped divinely into my ears and stayed there without wedging or compressing, which means they won't hurt even when I do an hour on the treadmill or a marathon shopping session.
The even bigger triumph? I saved 9 bucks with my toner recycling rewards. \o/
Your turn. Any triumphs or frustrations today?
I spent the entire--and I mean ENTIRE day working on the kids' computers. They had a .NET problem for the past year that I've tried to fix intermittently, but never could get working right.
Triumph
Today I found the right utility and got that taken care of on both computers. That enabled me to load service pack 2 on both, so they're fully updated now.
Frustration
Number One's computer is having major problems, though. I bought Registry Mechanic and ran that, hoping the startup problems it detected would solve the issue, but it didn't.
Triumph
I researched the problem, and many similar issues seemed to be solved by replacing the PSU (power supply unit). So I went and bought a PSU and swapped them out. That's the triumph. I'm always proud of my success at techie stuff like that. But it's marred by...
Frustration
It still didn't solve the problem. So I'm going to have to take the computer to someone, unless one of my super-smart blog readers can tell me what is probably wrong when the computer turns on but won't boot up--the power button stays orange and everything has power, especially the fan, which revs to jet engine levels. We power it down, then try again. And again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. And then one more time. And then it boots, and is fine. Until we shut down or restart, and go through it all over again.
Triumph
My iPod case broke this weekend. It was nothing special, just a slip-in case that came with my iPod Photo years ago, and I use it for my iPod Classic now. But the clip came off, and since I primarily use the iPod when I'm working out or grocery shopping, I MUST have a clip.
So at Staples I also bought a new case. And while I was at it, I grabbed some new earbuds, as the old ones were getting grody (a novelty, since they usually crap out before then). The case is leather and has windows, so I never have to take the iPod out again, and the earbuds slipped divinely into my ears and stayed there without wedging or compressing, which means they won't hurt even when I do an hour on the treadmill or a marathon shopping session.
The even bigger triumph? I saved 9 bucks with my toner recycling rewards. \o/
Your turn. Any triumphs or frustrations today?
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Or is it EVP?
I had a weird moment the other night. I was getting into bed, and the "in use" indicator on the telephone on my nightstand was flashing. It was, like, one in the morning, so there was no reason for that. I picked up the phone, and the screen said "line in use." Trepidatiously, I hit the "on" button. Static. And then an electronic noise similar to a fax machine, but not exactly like a fax machine. I turned the phone off and then on, and it was gone.
"This is how every paranormal horror movie starts," I thought.
But then I figured it out. The TiVo/DVR was probably calling in for updates. That had to be it.
Right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a deficiency of book discussion on this blog, and I harbor a fairly high level of guilt about it. I'm so afraid I'll miss one friend's release or announcement, that I just don't mention any. Ditto when I read books by people I know--I don't want anyone to feel bad that I neglected to post about their book, so I don't post about any reading, most of the time. But there is one surefire way to make absolutely certain I'll post about you and your book--be a guest blogger! :)
So tomorrow I'll be thrilled to host MJ Fredrick, author of Hot Shot, Where There's Smoke, and last week's release, Beneath the Surface. She'll be talking about writing as escape, so don't miss it!
"This is how every paranormal horror movie starts," I thought.
But then I figured it out. The TiVo/DVR was probably calling in for updates. That had to be it.
Right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a deficiency of book discussion on this blog, and I harbor a fairly high level of guilt about it. I'm so afraid I'll miss one friend's release or announcement, that I just don't mention any. Ditto when I read books by people I know--I don't want anyone to feel bad that I neglected to post about their book, so I don't post about any reading, most of the time. But there is one surefire way to make absolutely certain I'll post about you and your book--be a guest blogger! :)So tomorrow I'll be thrilled to host MJ Fredrick, author of Hot Shot, Where There's Smoke, and last week's release, Beneath the Surface. She'll be talking about writing as escape, so don't miss it!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Taking a Breath
I finally have a moment to do so!
*inhales deep*
Wanna see what I've been doing around the web?
At Supernatural Sisters, I explained why I love the classic episode "Roadkill." (Classic as in "prior to season 4")
At the Gabwagon, I expressed my disappointment at how the RWA annual general meeting proceeded last Thursday.
Coming up, I get to be a guest at the fabulous Magical Musings, talking about how evolution of a career often brings you back to basics. And about how I type with my cat stretched across my wrists. That will be on Thursday, but check out their other great posts in the meantime. I love reading what those smart ladies have to say, though I confess to rarely having comments.
So. Taking a breath? Last week was of the "incredible that I made it through" variety.
Monday
I already posted about this. It was slightly better on Friday. I also have to work a couple of days this week, and I'm feeling more confident. Though the file I couldn't find was apparently where it was supposed to be, which made me feel dumb.
Tuesday
Harry Potter was excellent. Mostly. I'll do another post later that has spoilers, but don't want to bury them here. I think it was the most well done of all the movies, and so much better than the last one as far as cohesiveness and narrative flow. Most of the things they changed, I understood and thought they did well. A few didn't make sense why they changed them, and two big things bothered me a lot and made me afraid for the last movie(s). But, as I said, more later.
Wednesday
Tuesday, of course, ran into Wednesday. When teenagers go to sleep at 4:30 a.m. (ish), they don't really want to get up in the morning. I was aiming for home at noon, but got them all delivered by 1:00. Then I barely had time to get some work done before I drove to DC with Number One, who got to go to her first booksigning ever and meet authors who write the stuff she reads, not just people who are her mother's friends first, authors second. We had a nice dinner and some great conversation, and got home about 10:00 p.m.
Thursday
Up at 6 to drive back to DC with Misty Simon and Vicki Smith. It was a pretty smooth ride into DC, despite being rush hour (and just after) and we got to the hotel in plenty of time for the main meeting, which was half fiasco (see Gabwagon post). The rest of the day was awesome, though. I got to see a bunch of people (though not as many as I would have seen if I'd been attending the actual conference, which makes me sad, but maybe next year I can make it work!) and spend quality time with Agent Awesome. Cathy McDavid and Libby ICanNeverRememberHerLastName had their second annual wine party, which was tons of fun. I didn't want to leave, but finally forced myself to. We got home about 2:45 a.m.
Friday
More freelance work in a.m., outside work in p.m., birthday cake shopping that failed, birthday dinner that did not.
Saturday
Sleeping IN. More freelance work. Soccer game beach party.
Sunday
Two people ended up dropping by, one foreseen, one a pleasant surprise. I had a very nice visit, but spent so much time trying to get Number One's birthday present to work right that the freelance work delayed grocery shopping, which I now I have to do tonight while Number Two is at soccer practice. But the good thing is that, despite some running around and the tightness of scheduling that working outside causes, this week should be MUCH more breathable than last. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funny Story of the Week:
I took my husband's car to DC, because it's a hybrid and bigger than mine, so more comfortable for passengers. The speedometer is lined up differently than mine is--that's my only explanation, unless it's flat-out wrong, because I had it on cruise and I never set it that high. Then there's the fluctuating speed limit on route 15. Not excuses--I deserved to be pulled over. Just reasons.
So it's 1:30 in the morning, three women in a car, all dressed up. He asks where we're coming from, I say DC. Asks if I'd had anything to drink. I said about "this much" wine, showing a couple of inches, a few hours before. It was actually that much twice, but in a small plastic cup--really less than a full glass overall, and I finished the last bit about...I don't know, 10:30? But of course he wouldn't take my word (and rightfully so) so guess what?
I got to do my first ever field sobriety test and BreathalyzerTM! Of course, I passed with flying colors. And get this--he gave me a warning for the speeding. That has NEVER happened to me before in my life.
Misty said it was the cleavage shirt.
*inhales deep*
Wanna see what I've been doing around the web?
At Supernatural Sisters, I explained why I love the classic episode "Roadkill." (Classic as in "prior to season 4")
At the Gabwagon, I expressed my disappointment at how the RWA annual general meeting proceeded last Thursday.
Coming up, I get to be a guest at the fabulous Magical Musings, talking about how evolution of a career often brings you back to basics. And about how I type with my cat stretched across my wrists. That will be on Thursday, but check out their other great posts in the meantime. I love reading what those smart ladies have to say, though I confess to rarely having comments.
So. Taking a breath? Last week was of the "incredible that I made it through" variety.
Monday
I already posted about this. It was slightly better on Friday. I also have to work a couple of days this week, and I'm feeling more confident. Though the file I couldn't find was apparently where it was supposed to be, which made me feel dumb.
Tuesday
Harry Potter was excellent. Mostly. I'll do another post later that has spoilers, but don't want to bury them here. I think it was the most well done of all the movies, and so much better than the last one as far as cohesiveness and narrative flow. Most of the things they changed, I understood and thought they did well. A few didn't make sense why they changed them, and two big things bothered me a lot and made me afraid for the last movie(s). But, as I said, more later.
Wednesday
Tuesday, of course, ran into Wednesday. When teenagers go to sleep at 4:30 a.m. (ish), they don't really want to get up in the morning. I was aiming for home at noon, but got them all delivered by 1:00. Then I barely had time to get some work done before I drove to DC with Number One, who got to go to her first booksigning ever and meet authors who write the stuff she reads, not just people who are her mother's friends first, authors second. We had a nice dinner and some great conversation, and got home about 10:00 p.m.
Thursday
Up at 6 to drive back to DC with Misty Simon and Vicki Smith. It was a pretty smooth ride into DC, despite being rush hour (and just after) and we got to the hotel in plenty of time for the main meeting, which was half fiasco (see Gabwagon post). The rest of the day was awesome, though. I got to see a bunch of people (though not as many as I would have seen if I'd been attending the actual conference, which makes me sad, but maybe next year I can make it work!) and spend quality time with Agent Awesome. Cathy McDavid and Libby ICanNeverRememberHerLastName had their second annual wine party, which was tons of fun. I didn't want to leave, but finally forced myself to. We got home about 2:45 a.m.
Friday
More freelance work in a.m., outside work in p.m., birthday cake shopping that failed, birthday dinner that did not.
Saturday
Sleeping IN. More freelance work. Soccer game beach party.
Sunday
Two people ended up dropping by, one foreseen, one a pleasant surprise. I had a very nice visit, but spent so much time trying to get Number One's birthday present to work right that the freelance work delayed grocery shopping, which I now I have to do tonight while Number Two is at soccer practice. But the good thing is that, despite some running around and the tightness of scheduling that working outside causes, this week should be MUCH more breathable than last. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funny Story of the Week:
I took my husband's car to DC, because it's a hybrid and bigger than mine, so more comfortable for passengers. The speedometer is lined up differently than mine is--that's my only explanation, unless it's flat-out wrong, because I had it on cruise and I never set it that high. Then there's the fluctuating speed limit on route 15. Not excuses--I deserved to be pulled over. Just reasons.
So it's 1:30 in the morning, three women in a car, all dressed up. He asks where we're coming from, I say DC. Asks if I'd had anything to drink. I said about "this much" wine, showing a couple of inches, a few hours before. It was actually that much twice, but in a small plastic cup--really less than a full glass overall, and I finished the last bit about...I don't know, 10:30? But of course he wouldn't take my word (and rightfully so) so guess what?
I got to do my first ever field sobriety test and BreathalyzerTM! Of course, I passed with flying colors. And get this--he gave me a warning for the speeding. That has NEVER happened to me before in my life.
Misty said it was the cleavage shirt.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Status Report
I am wayyy behind. I spent much of today dealing with Verizon's nationwide meltdown, which entailed going to the library to check e-mail and retrieve a file I needed for a client for a new, rush job. The meltdown seems to have been averted, and everything is now accessible to me from home.
But I didn't get any new writing done on Zoe yesterday, and today looks bad, too.
I did the preliminary edit and most of the formatting for book 1, just waiting for some details from that client. Book 2 is in the works. Judging contest entries--well, since today's Wednesday, I should have three done. I have one. Deadline is weeks away though, so that's okay.
But lookee!
*Post to Gabwagon and Supernatural Sisters blogs
*Do short writeups for book sequels
I actually did something completely enough to cross it off!
Oh, and in other good news, a really great guy was helping me with the PDF thing and magically, it was fixed. I suspect the Verizon problem was the culprit, their glitches interfering with my PDFServlet thingy. Yes, I'm a techie, can't you tell? The new DVR receiver arrived this morning, so I need to get that installed and set up sometime. But not now. Now, back to rush job for Cool Client!
*rushes off*
But I didn't get any new writing done on Zoe yesterday, and today looks bad, too.
I did the preliminary edit and most of the formatting for book 1, just waiting for some details from that client. Book 2 is in the works. Judging contest entries--well, since today's Wednesday, I should have three done. I have one. Deadline is weeks away though, so that's okay.
But lookee!
*Do short writeups for book sequels
I actually did something completely enough to cross it off!
Oh, and in other good news, a really great guy was helping me with the PDF thing and magically, it was fixed. I suspect the Verizon problem was the culprit, their glitches interfering with my PDFServlet thingy. Yes, I'm a techie, can't you tell? The new DVR receiver arrived this morning, so I need to get that installed and set up sometime. But not now. Now, back to rush job for Cool Client!
*rushes off*
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Five Things Make a Post
CE Murphy is always saying that on her blog, and I keep thinking of little things to post, and that sounded more interesting to put in the subject line than something generically random.
1. I have a vacation story I forgot to tell. It's not that unique, but still amazing. We were down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the edge of the national park, and nearly 600 miles from home.
So on Wednesday night of last week, I was walking back to our cabin from the pool. There's a couple sitting on the porch of the cabin next to ours, and the guy calls out to me. A few questions about our hot tub, our grill, etc. I, cold and wet and anti-social, kept trying to escape into the cabin, but he kept calling out to me. Finally, he asked where we're from.
Me: "Pennsylvania."
Him: "Us, too!" Before I can ask, he adds, "Harrisburg area!"
Okay, that's freaky, so I stop and actually give him my attention. "So are we!"
Together: "Mechanicsburg!"
Turns out, they live literally about a block away from us. Their street is behind our house, on the other side of the parallel street. He had his granddaughters with him, and Number One had come outside when she heard me yelling across, so he asked how old my girls were. Turns out...his younger granddaughter and Number One hang out in the mornings before school.
I apologized to him for being so rude. I told him if I was never going to see him again I wouldn't care, but since I could run into him at the grocery store... He didn't really listen, so I don't think he even noticed my rudeness.
2. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. In fact, some of you may think this isn't me, that my blog's been hijacked.
Scratch that. Very few of you will have any idea what I'm talking about. Where's Kim W. when I need her?! Oh, well, I'll say it anyway.
Terrell Owens has earned my respect.
I know. Totally O.o and :o and whatever the emoticon is for "are you out of your freakin' mind?"
You may know I really, REALLY don't like reality TV. I don't watch any, and never have. But on vacation, the kids wanted to watch Super Stars, and I was reading in the same room (family togetherness, 24/7) and got...well, hooked. It's going to be a regular Tuesday-night family date now.
The premise of the show is that a celebrity gets paired with an athlete. The kids wanted to watch because their favorite dancer from DWTS, Maks, is one of the celebrities. And it's a really fun show, with fun personalities. All except one. And no, that one is not Terrell Owens.
T.O. is the most loudmouthed, obnoxious member of the NFL. He is arrogant, disruptive to every team he is on...and, unfortunately, talented enough to make them tolerate it. But on Super Stars, he's met his match.
His partner is some supermodel I've never heard of. She spends all her time pooching her lips and smoothing her hair off her face. She wore goggles in one of the events--the only person who did--so she wouldn't mess up her eye makeup. And she continuously harangued her partner.
EVERY other team was supportive of each other, no matter how poorly they did, and even of other teams. By last night's show, the second round of competition, there was true camaraderie among everyone--except her. She is so friggin' SNOTTY. They got eliminated in the first round, but due to injury were brought back. No matter how poorly she does, everything is T.O.'s fault. She drops non-stop F-bombs, says "you call yourself an athlete?" and "you're not worth the millions they pay you" and so on. She's HATEFUL.
And here's why I respect T.O. He's totally the kind of guy who can give as good as he gets. But it wasn't that kind of environment, and he NEVER said anything back to her. He tried, very hard, to be a good sport, to cheer her on, to be a team player. He took her crap and refrained from whacking her upside the head, which I, a non-violent person most of the time, felt was completely justified. The worst he did was say, "I feel sorry for your boyfriend" as they walked away and he probably thought they were off camera.
Good for you, T.O. Impressive stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, well, 5 things can't make a post when you're this long-winded. Plus, I can't remember what else I was going to post about. Hope I wasn't too boring--I promise, tomorrow I'll be shorter and more interesting. I think.
1. I have a vacation story I forgot to tell. It's not that unique, but still amazing. We were down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the edge of the national park, and nearly 600 miles from home.
So on Wednesday night of last week, I was walking back to our cabin from the pool. There's a couple sitting on the porch of the cabin next to ours, and the guy calls out to me. A few questions about our hot tub, our grill, etc. I, cold and wet and anti-social, kept trying to escape into the cabin, but he kept calling out to me. Finally, he asked where we're from.
Me: "Pennsylvania."
Him: "Us, too!" Before I can ask, he adds, "Harrisburg area!"
Okay, that's freaky, so I stop and actually give him my attention. "So are we!"
Together: "Mechanicsburg!"
Turns out, they live literally about a block away from us. Their street is behind our house, on the other side of the parallel street. He had his granddaughters with him, and Number One had come outside when she heard me yelling across, so he asked how old my girls were. Turns out...his younger granddaughter and Number One hang out in the mornings before school.
I apologized to him for being so rude. I told him if I was never going to see him again I wouldn't care, but since I could run into him at the grocery store... He didn't really listen, so I don't think he even noticed my rudeness.
2. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. In fact, some of you may think this isn't me, that my blog's been hijacked.
Scratch that. Very few of you will have any idea what I'm talking about. Where's Kim W. when I need her?! Oh, well, I'll say it anyway.
Terrell Owens has earned my respect.
I know. Totally O.o and :o and whatever the emoticon is for "are you out of your freakin' mind?"
You may know I really, REALLY don't like reality TV. I don't watch any, and never have. But on vacation, the kids wanted to watch Super Stars, and I was reading in the same room (family togetherness, 24/7) and got...well, hooked. It's going to be a regular Tuesday-night family date now.
The premise of the show is that a celebrity gets paired with an athlete. The kids wanted to watch because their favorite dancer from DWTS, Maks, is one of the celebrities. And it's a really fun show, with fun personalities. All except one. And no, that one is not Terrell Owens.
T.O. is the most loudmouthed, obnoxious member of the NFL. He is arrogant, disruptive to every team he is on...and, unfortunately, talented enough to make them tolerate it. But on Super Stars, he's met his match.
His partner is some supermodel I've never heard of. She spends all her time pooching her lips and smoothing her hair off her face. She wore goggles in one of the events--the only person who did--so she wouldn't mess up her eye makeup. And she continuously harangued her partner.
EVERY other team was supportive of each other, no matter how poorly they did, and even of other teams. By last night's show, the second round of competition, there was true camaraderie among everyone--except her. She is so friggin' SNOTTY. They got eliminated in the first round, but due to injury were brought back. No matter how poorly she does, everything is T.O.'s fault. She drops non-stop F-bombs, says "you call yourself an athlete?" and "you're not worth the millions they pay you" and so on. She's HATEFUL.
And here's why I respect T.O. He's totally the kind of guy who can give as good as he gets. But it wasn't that kind of environment, and he NEVER said anything back to her. He tried, very hard, to be a good sport, to cheer her on, to be a team player. He took her crap and refrained from whacking her upside the head, which I, a non-violent person most of the time, felt was completely justified. The worst he did was say, "I feel sorry for your boyfriend" as they walked away and he probably thought they were off camera.
Good for you, T.O. Impressive stuff.
~~~~~~~~~~
Okay, well, 5 things can't make a post when you're this long-winded. Plus, I can't remember what else I was going to post about. Hope I wasn't too boring--I promise, tomorrow I'll be shorter and more interesting. I think.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Retreat Craziness
Oddly, all the craziness--or, at least, all the craziness I captured--was on Saturday.
First, we wanted to go for a post-dinner walk. But the weather wasn't quite cooperative. So Mandy suggested we use the excellent canvas bags Joyce and Kristine gifted us with:
But it cleared up for a while, so we managed to get out.
Then we hazed Elizabeth.
She was a new member on her first retreat! Had to do something! Actually, someone said something about how we should make someone lie down on a grave, and she volunteered. Said it was peaceful.
Remember the weird circle from two years ago?
It's still there.
Misty decided the weird circle demanded more weirdness, though.
Supernatural fans know what a weird circle in a cemetery means, but the only zombie we encountered was Megan:
Vicki demonstrated how NOT to ride a playground dog:
And then we went to the other cemetery, which we haven't done before. I don't know, it's just not as creepy without the fence:
I don't think we'll be going back. I mean, how much fun is a cemetery if you can't bring coat hangers?
Saturday night we played our game. Here's Beth, posing after she won putting Johnny Depp together, defaced as he was.
We laughed harder than at any other retreat game, and that's saying something. Joyce hyperventilated and had to sit down:
Gotta love David Beckham as Spock played by @ZacharyQuinto.
We were equal opportunity defacers, of course:
But honest, among all the insanity, we did work!
Now, don't you want to have a retreat of your own?
First, we wanted to go for a post-dinner walk. But the weather wasn't quite cooperative. So Mandy suggested we use the excellent canvas bags Joyce and Kristine gifted us with:
But it cleared up for a while, so we managed to get out.
Then we hazed Elizabeth.
She was a new member on her first retreat! Had to do something! Actually, someone said something about how we should make someone lie down on a grave, and she volunteered. Said it was peaceful.
Remember the weird circle from two years ago?
It's still there.
Misty decided the weird circle demanded more weirdness, though.
Supernatural fans know what a weird circle in a cemetery means, but the only zombie we encountered was Megan:
Vicki demonstrated how NOT to ride a playground dog:
And then we went to the other cemetery, which we haven't done before. I don't know, it's just not as creepy without the fence:
I don't think we'll be going back. I mean, how much fun is a cemetery if you can't bring coat hangers?
Saturday night we played our game. Here's Beth, posing after she won putting Johnny Depp together, defaced as he was.
We laughed harder than at any other retreat game, and that's saying something. Joyce hyperventilated and had to sit down:
Gotta love David Beckham as Spock played by @ZacharyQuinto.
We were equal opportunity defacers, of course:
But honest, among all the insanity, we did work!
Now, don't you want to have a retreat of your own?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Bye-Bye!
We have this corner cupboard in the kitchen. It's above the countertop, and you know how they are--wedge-shaped, very deep, and very difficult to get into. So last weekend were were collecting things for the Post Office's canned food drive, and I said there might be some things in there. Sure enough, we found some things.
That expired in 2003.
But that's nothing. We have Vicks Vap-o-Rub that expired in 1999 in the medicine chest. Don't ask why it's still there.
Okay, so, I'm off. Not quite yet. I'm about done with my computer stuff and packing my work items (laptop, Neo, updated iPod, etc.), so I'm going upstairs to pack and then I'll be offline (kind of) until Monday morning!
I'm so excited!
That expired in 2003.
But that's nothing. We have Vicks Vap-o-Rub that expired in 1999 in the medicine chest. Don't ask why it's still there.
Okay, so, I'm off. Not quite yet. I'm about done with my computer stuff and packing my work items (laptop, Neo, updated iPod, etc.), so I'm going upstairs to pack and then I'll be offline (kind of) until Monday morning!
I'm so excited!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Of Spoon Thieves and Gas Incentives
When I left my mother's house to go to college, I took three mismatched spoons. I still have them.
The spoons from the silverware set we bought when we first set up an apartment 17 years ago? Gone. I think we have one left.
Then there are the 10 or 12 spoons I bought by themselves a few years ago. Three of those left.
Luckily (for me and other frugal shoppers), our local Linens N Things is going out of business (I am very sad for those employees). I got a set of 10 spoons for $6.99.
I have no idea where those old spoons went. I thought they'd gotten dropped below the silverware tray in the drawer, but Number One and I cleaned it out a couple of weeks ago, and they weren't there. So I thought they'd fallen out the back of the drawer down in the pan cupboard, but I dug that out, and found only one of the two grapefruit spoons we used to have (no idea where the other one went, as we have almost never used them.
I remember being a kid and my mother saying my brother must be smuggling spoons outside to dig in the dirt or something, because they'd all disappeared. So either I generate a teaspoon black hole in my house, or this is a universal phenomenon, like socks in the washing machine/dryer.
How about you? Do you lose spoons inexplicably?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of our local grocery store chains has gas stations in their lots, and one of their incentive programs is that you earn a point for every dollar you spend (pretax) and for every 100 points, you get ten cents off per gallon of gasoline. They also occasionally have extra incentives, where if you buy 6 of 8 particular products, you get an additional 20 cents off per gallon.
In the past, I've gotten up to 40 cents off at a time. But thanks to Vicki, I became aware of last week's promo, which was 40 cents off if you bought three bulk meat items. So I got snow crab legs (which were muy yummy) and boneless pork chops and skinless boneless breasts (that were MAMMOTH and stuffed nicely with the crab meat). AND I got up to 90 cents off a gallon. Not nearly as good as Vicki got, but still pretty damned good--$1.09 per gallon!
But I'd counseled J to run his tank down as low as he could, because he has a bigger tank than I do, and I wanted to get the most of this savings. He took me at my word. But when we got in the car to go to dinner last night, and he hit the fancy button that gives us a rotating display that includes how many more miles you can go on the gas you have left...
...it said 0.
Thank God the local station is only a mile from the house, and half that is downhill, so we could drive without using the gas motor, but then we have to go UP hill, and I was very afraid we'd be pushing. In the rain. That wouldn't have been good. Needless to say, we made it, and that damned car lies, because it only took 14.6 gallons and it's a 17.1-gallon tank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm feeling a bit down tonight. I really don't know why.
--Maybe from watching The Lake House today, but probably not, because as much as it made me cry (even the third time watching it!), it's a lovely, happen-ending movie.
--Maybe from the whole NaNo thing. I'm a Capricorn, and live up to the sign description when it comes to competitiveness. Just ask Misty. :) I'm just as driven when competing against myself as against other people. So even though I'm (usually, but not every day) leading my Buddies on NaNo (Mary's way ahead of me, now), and even though I will have absolutely no trouble winning NaNo, I probably won't make my goal and beat my previous record, which beat the one before it.
It shouldn't be a big deal. There's no concrete reason why I need to do it, just personal challenge. But I haven't written all weekend (a NaNo double-first) and so I let that personal goal go. Which makes me feel bad about myself and my discipline and focus and blah blah blah, so I get determined to do it anyway, but then I feel despair because at this point, it will be so hard to do. So why bother?
Such is the circle of my mind.
--Or maybe from realization and acknowledgment. When you got to a conference, there is usually a small group (or several) of professionals at a particular level of success who are really, really close friends. Like BFFs to the Nth degree. And they all started being successful at about the same time, growing their careers on similar (though often quite disparate) tracks. And you look at them, and hug your own BFFs to the Mth degree close, and know that you'll be just like them someday. And then something happens, and those other friends start getting successful, and you don't, and you watch them flying, and are so happy for them, but the dream has broken down. The time has come when you can no longer fool yourself into thinking that you'll catch up. Can the friendships be sustained when you no longer commiserate on the same things? Will they start looking at you differently because you're just not at their level? Even if things don't change at all from their perspective, can you keep your own from changing? Admitting that maybe not can be a mood dampener.
ETA: Or MAYBE it's the fact that we haven't had any SUNSHINE for, like, a WEEK, and it's been dreary and drizzly and downright rainy and windy, not to mention dark REALLY REALLY EARLY. Thank God for Teresa! I feel inexplicably better. (And thank you to Cindy for linking to Teresa about Cats in Sinks and therefore exposing me to the most reasonable explanation for my kinda sad mood. Sheesh. And I'm supposed to be smart and self-insightful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So. That's kind of a bummer of a note to end a Sunday night post on. Let's end with this, instead.
SPOILERS!
The spoons from the silverware set we bought when we first set up an apartment 17 years ago? Gone. I think we have one left.
Then there are the 10 or 12 spoons I bought by themselves a few years ago. Three of those left.
Luckily (for me and other frugal shoppers), our local Linens N Things is going out of business (I am very sad for those employees). I got a set of 10 spoons for $6.99.
I have no idea where those old spoons went. I thought they'd gotten dropped below the silverware tray in the drawer, but Number One and I cleaned it out a couple of weeks ago, and they weren't there. So I thought they'd fallen out the back of the drawer down in the pan cupboard, but I dug that out, and found only one of the two grapefruit spoons we used to have (no idea where the other one went, as we have almost never used them.
I remember being a kid and my mother saying my brother must be smuggling spoons outside to dig in the dirt or something, because they'd all disappeared. So either I generate a teaspoon black hole in my house, or this is a universal phenomenon, like socks in the washing machine/dryer.
How about you? Do you lose spoons inexplicably?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of our local grocery store chains has gas stations in their lots, and one of their incentive programs is that you earn a point for every dollar you spend (pretax) and for every 100 points, you get ten cents off per gallon of gasoline. They also occasionally have extra incentives, where if you buy 6 of 8 particular products, you get an additional 20 cents off per gallon.
In the past, I've gotten up to 40 cents off at a time. But thanks to Vicki, I became aware of last week's promo, which was 40 cents off if you bought three bulk meat items. So I got snow crab legs (which were muy yummy) and boneless pork chops and skinless boneless breasts (that were MAMMOTH and stuffed nicely with the crab meat). AND I got up to 90 cents off a gallon. Not nearly as good as Vicki got, but still pretty damned good--$1.09 per gallon!
But I'd counseled J to run his tank down as low as he could, because he has a bigger tank than I do, and I wanted to get the most of this savings. He took me at my word. But when we got in the car to go to dinner last night, and he hit the fancy button that gives us a rotating display that includes how many more miles you can go on the gas you have left...
...it said 0.
Thank God the local station is only a mile from the house, and half that is downhill, so we could drive without using the gas motor, but then we have to go UP hill, and I was very afraid we'd be pushing. In the rain. That wouldn't have been good. Needless to say, we made it, and that damned car lies, because it only took 14.6 gallons and it's a 17.1-gallon tank.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm feeling a bit down tonight. I really don't know why.
--Maybe from watching The Lake House today, but probably not, because as much as it made me cry (even the third time watching it!), it's a lovely, happen-ending movie.
--Maybe from the whole NaNo thing. I'm a Capricorn, and live up to the sign description when it comes to competitiveness. Just ask Misty. :) I'm just as driven when competing against myself as against other people. So even though I'm (usually, but not every day) leading my Buddies on NaNo (Mary's way ahead of me, now), and even though I will have absolutely no trouble winning NaNo, I probably won't make my goal and beat my previous record, which beat the one before it.
It shouldn't be a big deal. There's no concrete reason why I need to do it, just personal challenge. But I haven't written all weekend (a NaNo double-first) and so I let that personal goal go. Which makes me feel bad about myself and my discipline and focus and blah blah blah, so I get determined to do it anyway, but then I feel despair because at this point, it will be so hard to do. So why bother?
Such is the circle of my mind.
--Or maybe from realization and acknowledgment. When you got to a conference, there is usually a small group (or several) of professionals at a particular level of success who are really, really close friends. Like BFFs to the Nth degree. And they all started being successful at about the same time, growing their careers on similar (though often quite disparate) tracks. And you look at them, and hug your own BFFs to the Mth degree close, and know that you'll be just like them someday. And then something happens, and those other friends start getting successful, and you don't, and you watch them flying, and are so happy for them, but the dream has broken down. The time has come when you can no longer fool yourself into thinking that you'll catch up. Can the friendships be sustained when you no longer commiserate on the same things? Will they start looking at you differently because you're just not at their level? Even if things don't change at all from their perspective, can you keep your own from changing? Admitting that maybe not can be a mood dampener.
ETA: Or MAYBE it's the fact that we haven't had any SUNSHINE for, like, a WEEK, and it's been dreary and drizzly and downright rainy and windy, not to mention dark REALLY REALLY EARLY. Thank God for Teresa! I feel inexplicably better. (And thank you to Cindy for linking to Teresa about Cats in Sinks and therefore exposing me to the most reasonable explanation for my kinda sad mood. Sheesh. And I'm supposed to be smart and self-insightful.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So. That's kind of a bummer of a note to end a Sunday night post on. Let's end with this, instead.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I've Been Greeked!
I know some of you will know what greeking is, but for those who don't...
When doing layout, say of a magazine or brochure or something, and you don't have actual text to include yet, you insert greeking. It's usually fake words made up to look like real words to emulate the real flow of real writing, but without using real writing. An example would be like the following:
That's a little heavier on the Zs and Vs than it should be, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I got my Google alert today for myself, and it included my usual two Monday blogs and this.
It looks like they took individual lines and partial sentences from a whole bunch of different sites, including my bio from somewhere I have it posted and an Amazon search that included one of my titles and my name. I have no idea what the purpose is, unless it's a placeholder for a future article.
Weird!
When doing layout, say of a magazine or brochure or something, and you don't have actual text to include yet, you insert greeking. It's usually fake words made up to look like real words to emulate the real flow of real writing, but without using real writing. An example would be like the following:
Whyn Zey Zvzmevy ztyppyz inte thy tellveem, thy culminetien ed e lidytimy ed yddevt gevy hyv zetizdectien tevzyving en yuphevie.
Oncy, zhy weulz hevy tyyn eny ed thy tuxyze-zhivt-unidevm weit ztedd eddyving eveunz tveyz ed chempegny. With e littly vizien enz mevy hevz wevk, meyty zhy’z hevy gettyn te tycemy thy menegyv tyhinz thy zcynyz, liky thy wemen in thy cevnyv giving inztvuctienz te thy tenzlyezyv. Tyn yyevz ege, zhy ceulzn’t hevy yvyn yntyvteinyz thy izye ed evviving hyvy ez e guyzt.
Tyllyn Steny eppyevyz et hyv zizy, enz Zey zmilyz up et him. “Leekz gevgyeuz, zeyzn’t it?” Shy zeuttyz hy cevyz eteut thy gelzyn light zhimmyving en thy zilky vittenz ezevning thy tetlyz, ev thy lecy clethz enz cuvteinz zvepyz yvyvywhyvy. Hy’z gvewn up in thiz wevlz, enz hy wez e guy. But zhy’z yevnyz hyv wey hyvy, hez wevkyz hevz te meky thy menyy thet hez peiz dev hyv tickyt te thiz tynydit. Shy vyvylyz in yvyvy zyteil.
That's a little heavier on the Zs and Vs than it should be, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I got my Google alert today for myself, and it included my usual two Monday blogs and this.
It looks like they took individual lines and partial sentences from a whole bunch of different sites, including my bio from somewhere I have it posted and an Amazon search that included one of my titles and my name. I have no idea what the purpose is, unless it's a placeholder for a future article.
Weird!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
I'm Such a Rule-Follower
I've seen this meme twice now, and I feel too guilty ignoring it again. So I'm taking a page from Megan's book (not her book, actually, though that's a lovely set of covers--scroll down if you click over, see her meme post) and posting just a PART of me.
I didn't realize my lips are so damned crooked!
Wanna hear something weird?
I took Number Two to a local college's women's soccer game today. Guess who their opponent turned out to be? Never mind, you'll never guess. I'll tell you.
Ohio Wesleyan University!
What do you mean, so what? Haven't you memorized my bio? Sheesh. OWU is my alma mater! The reason I can check "Graduated College" in all those surveys. Anyway, I rooted for them instead of Messiah. They lost, 7-1. Messiah is scary good.
Football tomorrow! Man, I love fall weekends.
Take a picture of yourself right now. Don’t change your clothes. Don’t fix your hair. Just take a picture. Post that picture with no editing. (Except maybe to get the image size down to something reasonable. Don’t go posting an eight megapixel image.) Include these instructions.
I didn't realize my lips are so damned crooked!
Wanna hear something weird?
I took Number Two to a local college's women's soccer game today. Guess who their opponent turned out to be? Never mind, you'll never guess. I'll tell you.
Ohio Wesleyan University!
What do you mean, so what? Haven't you memorized my bio? Sheesh. OWU is my alma mater! The reason I can check "Graduated College" in all those surveys. Anyway, I rooted for them instead of Messiah. They lost, 7-1. Messiah is scary good.
Football tomorrow! Man, I love fall weekends.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
They're Getting Smarter, But *I'M* Not Stupid
When the phone rings at 4:19 a.m., it's never a happy call.
I should be glad that the one that came in this morning wasn't, say, my stepmother with news of my brother in Iraq. Or a frantic call from my mother-in-law asking us to meet them at the hospital. And I am. But I'm more pissed off.
We all know about phishing scams, right? Where you get an e-mail all set up in stolen HTML from a credit card company with a link for you to "verify your information." Well, they've gone low-tech.
Phone rings. I say hello. It clicks to a recording with a woman (who sounds just like most recorded messages) who says she's from Members 1st Federal Credit Union and my card has been suspended. To reach the security center, press one.
Now, I'm a pretty good waker-upper. It's really rare that I don't just snap into awareness and process things normally, even if I'm really tired. And I often start waking up sometime between three and four, and then keep waking up every 20 minutes or half hour until the alarm goes off. So 4:19 a.m. isn't a vulnerable time for me like it might be for a lot of people (clever bastards).
I don't have a Members 1st account of any kind, and neither does my husband (to my knowledge! LOL). And the recording didn't say what KIND of card. And since it was a recording and not a live person, they didn't say WHOSE card it was, which would be stupid because anyone could answer the phone. Every Christmas, when we go shopping for presents, our bank calls to verify purchases, either because we had a lot in one day or because we had a big-ticket item. If it was my husband's card, they won't talk to me. It has to be him. And it's a live person. So I knew from the get-go that this was a scam. But I was curious. So I pressed one.
The recording said again that my card was suspended, and to reactivate, press one. I did, and it asked for me to enter my card number. I mean, come on! THEY called ME. They're supposed to know my number. The whole thing is so obvious to be laughable. But it's also scary, because it will work. They will reach elderly people, people of diminished capacity, young people who don't pay attention or who are too busy thinking of sex and music to use logic, or even smart people who don't wake up that easily or are too distracted to think and who will pull out their Members 1st card, or even a different card, assuming that must be what the nice lady on the phone is talking about, and enter the number. And bam, credit card fraud that will kill their credit and follow them forever.
That really pisses me off.
I wasn't aware before today that this was a widespread issue. I checked the Members 1st web site today and they referred to it as "Vishing"--like phishing but with V for voice. Spread the word, so no one you know gets accidentally caught by this crap.
On a happier note...
...or at least, a more amusing one...
After the call, I had more vivid, intense dreams (I've been having them every night for ages). This one had something mundane, like housecleaning (dishes? laundry?) or soccer or something, with a mystical element. I remember waking up amused and thinking "mystical laundry" or whatever, but now I can't recall what the mundanity was. Anyway, between the call and the dreams, I was a little unfocused. I was thinking about our long-distance away games Saturday morning and thinking that was tomorrow, which means I was forgetting that today was only Thursday...
And then I remembered! Supernatural starts today! Woo hoo!
To whet your appetite:
(I didn't actually watch it myself, but enjoy!)
I should be glad that the one that came in this morning wasn't, say, my stepmother with news of my brother in Iraq. Or a frantic call from my mother-in-law asking us to meet them at the hospital. And I am. But I'm more pissed off.
We all know about phishing scams, right? Where you get an e-mail all set up in stolen HTML from a credit card company with a link for you to "verify your information." Well, they've gone low-tech.
Phone rings. I say hello. It clicks to a recording with a woman (who sounds just like most recorded messages) who says she's from Members 1st Federal Credit Union and my card has been suspended. To reach the security center, press one.
Now, I'm a pretty good waker-upper. It's really rare that I don't just snap into awareness and process things normally, even if I'm really tired. And I often start waking up sometime between three and four, and then keep waking up every 20 minutes or half hour until the alarm goes off. So 4:19 a.m. isn't a vulnerable time for me like it might be for a lot of people (clever bastards).
I don't have a Members 1st account of any kind, and neither does my husband (to my knowledge! LOL). And the recording didn't say what KIND of card. And since it was a recording and not a live person, they didn't say WHOSE card it was, which would be stupid because anyone could answer the phone. Every Christmas, when we go shopping for presents, our bank calls to verify purchases, either because we had a lot in one day or because we had a big-ticket item. If it was my husband's card, they won't talk to me. It has to be him. And it's a live person. So I knew from the get-go that this was a scam. But I was curious. So I pressed one.
The recording said again that my card was suspended, and to reactivate, press one. I did, and it asked for me to enter my card number. I mean, come on! THEY called ME. They're supposed to know my number. The whole thing is so obvious to be laughable. But it's also scary, because it will work. They will reach elderly people, people of diminished capacity, young people who don't pay attention or who are too busy thinking of sex and music to use logic, or even smart people who don't wake up that easily or are too distracted to think and who will pull out their Members 1st card, or even a different card, assuming that must be what the nice lady on the phone is talking about, and enter the number. And bam, credit card fraud that will kill their credit and follow them forever.
That really pisses me off.
I wasn't aware before today that this was a widespread issue. I checked the Members 1st web site today and they referred to it as "Vishing"--like phishing but with V for voice. Spread the word, so no one you know gets accidentally caught by this crap.
On a happier note...
...or at least, a more amusing one...
After the call, I had more vivid, intense dreams (I've been having them every night for ages). This one had something mundane, like housecleaning (dishes? laundry?) or soccer or something, with a mystical element. I remember waking up amused and thinking "mystical laundry" or whatever, but now I can't recall what the mundanity was. Anyway, between the call and the dreams, I was a little unfocused. I was thinking about our long-distance away games Saturday morning and thinking that was tomorrow, which means I was forgetting that today was only Thursday...
And then I remembered! Supernatural starts today! Woo hoo!
To whet your appetite:
(I didn't actually watch it myself, but enjoy!)
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Consumering
It's a good thing the grocery store is less than a mile from my house. I'm there too many times a week. Yesterday I $75 worth of grocery shopping in the early afternoon. Two hours later, Number One comes home and needs cotton balls for her science experiment. So out I go again. It's like that several times a week.
Remember last month, how I had to fight with AT&T Wireless because they held on to my account for an extra day so they could charge me for another month? Remember how I asked politely, then less so, then yelled at the rep, and he put me on hold for 15 minutes but gave in at the end (sullenly and reluctantly)?
I just got my first Credo Mobile bill, and I had slightly less than one month prorated, and they started the billing on 8/11. Well, that doesn't work. AT&T didn't relinquish my account until 8/14. The day I activated the phones was the day I added the text service, and that prorated fee started the right day. 8/14. Could be infuriating, right?
But I called Credo, got a rep right away, explained the situation, and was given an immediate $6 credit with no argument. It's nice not to have to fight.
(I know $6 isn't much, but when you have a nearly $200 phone bill, every little bit helps!)
So kudos to Credo, and I heartily recommend them as a long distance and mobile phone company. (Don't forget, they also donate 1% of your bill to charitable causes AND give you free Ben & Jerry's ice cream!)
One of my pet peeves is slowness. It's a flaw in me, of course. I should have more patience. But people who walk slow bug me (when I'm behind them). Ditto people who drive ten miles below the speed limit. Sometimes they seem slow when they're doing the speed limit, but then I can't be annoyed because they're being good. Slow talking, slow thinking, even slow pacing in a book, movie, or TV show drive me nuts.
I like to use the U-Scan checkout at the grocery store so I have control over my scanning and bagging (mostly the bagging). I don't care if someone has six items or sixty-five. I don't mind waiting when the stations are full. But last night there was a woman who moved slower than molasses. I couldn't stand watching her, even though it didn't directly affect me. She wasn't old, and didn't appear to have any kind of physical deficiency (though that's not always apparent). She'd finished checking out and started moving her bags from the scale to her cart. I think she had one bag left when I moved past her and started my scanning. Granted, I only had one item, but I was done and out of there before she was.
That grocery store has a clerk who's often there when I am. She's very sweet, always greets me and asks how I'm doing and stuff. But it's kind of disconcerting when she's walking along, sees me, and stops to say hi and beam at me as if I'm a close friend and it makes her day to see me. Like it violates the code of comfortable customer service.
I know. I'm weird.
Hey, look at that! My post had a cohesive theme today!
Don't get used to it.
Remember last month, how I had to fight with AT&T Wireless because they held on to my account for an extra day so they could charge me for another month? Remember how I asked politely, then less so, then yelled at the rep, and he put me on hold for 15 minutes but gave in at the end (sullenly and reluctantly)?
I just got my first Credo Mobile bill, and I had slightly less than one month prorated, and they started the billing on 8/11. Well, that doesn't work. AT&T didn't relinquish my account until 8/14. The day I activated the phones was the day I added the text service, and that prorated fee started the right day. 8/14. Could be infuriating, right?
But I called Credo, got a rep right away, explained the situation, and was given an immediate $6 credit with no argument. It's nice not to have to fight.
(I know $6 isn't much, but when you have a nearly $200 phone bill, every little bit helps!)
So kudos to Credo, and I heartily recommend them as a long distance and mobile phone company. (Don't forget, they also donate 1% of your bill to charitable causes AND give you free Ben & Jerry's ice cream!)
One of my pet peeves is slowness. It's a flaw in me, of course. I should have more patience. But people who walk slow bug me (when I'm behind them). Ditto people who drive ten miles below the speed limit. Sometimes they seem slow when they're doing the speed limit, but then I can't be annoyed because they're being good. Slow talking, slow thinking, even slow pacing in a book, movie, or TV show drive me nuts.
I like to use the U-Scan checkout at the grocery store so I have control over my scanning and bagging (mostly the bagging). I don't care if someone has six items or sixty-five. I don't mind waiting when the stations are full. But last night there was a woman who moved slower than molasses. I couldn't stand watching her, even though it didn't directly affect me. She wasn't old, and didn't appear to have any kind of physical deficiency (though that's not always apparent). She'd finished checking out and started moving her bags from the scale to her cart. I think she had one bag left when I moved past her and started my scanning. Granted, I only had one item, but I was done and out of there before she was.
That grocery store has a clerk who's often there when I am. She's very sweet, always greets me and asks how I'm doing and stuff. But it's kind of disconcerting when she's walking along, sees me, and stops to say hi and beam at me as if I'm a close friend and it makes her day to see me. Like it violates the code of comfortable customer service.
I know. I'm weird.
Hey, look at that! My post had a cohesive theme today!
Don't get used to it.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Pretty Cynical
I love Marines commercials. They're very emotional, and make me think of the best of our armed services. This one has some pretty awesome scenery and cinematography, not to mention choreography.
But...I don't buy that they are actual Marines.
I mean, sure, the military homogenizes its ranks. Everyone wears the same uniform and has the same haircut. But they aren't all the same height and body shape. Maybe they scoured the ranks--or deliberately put together the ranks--to find such for this commercial. Maybe the best use of the Marines' time is drilling for hours and hours to do a cool bit on a commercial so they can recruit more guys who are 5'10", 175 lbs., and can stand stock-straight while spinning and tapping a rifle. And maybe it's worth the extreme budget to ship them out to all those different sites, risking their lives on a mountain edge. For a commercial.
But it just seems to me more likely that those guys are actors.
Anyone know?
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