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Friday, December 31
Happy New Year
That was enthusiastic, wasn't it?
I hope everyone has a good one. Be safe.
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Thursday, December 30
Nice by Nature
I gave a ride to a stranger (named "Keeta" or Kieta" or something similarly phonetic) on the night before I left for my parents' (it was 4 degrees out and she was freezing). Turns out she lives in Cris's old apartment complex (she could have just said the name of the complex instead of giving me directions the entire way). She was happy for the ride and I was happy to help, but now for the stern lecture part: To all of the women that I know, don't let me catch you doing this. :P Technically she shouldn't have accepted the ride (granted she was in a tough spot, but she didn't know anything about me; *I* know I'm safe, but she didn't). No getting into a stranger's car at 2 a.m. :P For that matter, no getting into a stranger's car at all. Carry a cell phone. End of lecture. For now.
I bought a $100 shiatsu massage pad from Linens 'n Things the week before Christmas and didn't realize until I got home that it wasn't on the receipt (the woman at the checkout lane scanned a $3 box of mints on the counter by mistake). So I had to go back after Christmas to pay for it. The manager said that was the first time someone had done that while he was there, which is pretty sad (he did give me a big discount on it, which was nice of him). I'm dismayed by the fact that most people are honest only if they think they're being watched or might get caught.
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Wednesday, December 29
Nature in All Its Glory
The rest of my Christmas pictures coming soon, but for now, a few of my favorites:
Sunset1
Sunset2 (my favorite)
Sunset3
Sunset4 (panoramic and kind of big)
Moonrise
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Tuesday, December 28
Back in the Saddle
Figuratively. I haven't ridden a horse in 15 years. But I'm back and work and things are bordering on a return to normality, such as it is. I finally reassembled the mass of components and cables that create my electronic window to the world in all its dizzying array of colors (aka "my computer" or, to those who know that scoffing is hazardous to one's health, "my baby") and the cable company finally installed an outlet in my bedroom, so I once again have joined the throng of faceless avatars on the World Wide Web (although I haven't downloaded the pictures from my camera yet; maybe tonight). I did have a few problems that Cox (my cable company) could have warned me about (and made my life so much easier); I had to call them once to have them "reset" my modem so it matched my new IP number, and I had to call them again to reactivate my e-mail because "we deactivate our clients' e-mail addresses when they move" (what? why? what the hell? and most importantly, why didn't you mention this 2 weeks ago so I could have warned people?). Luckily, the vast majority of my e-mail goes through my own domain, so I don't think I missed anything. I think I'm up to something like 57 e-mail addresses now. Go me. Anyway, so a couple of you have seen me back on ICQ by now (with the appropriate "It's alive!" comments). I'll be around more, although I won't be around as often as I used to be (I simply have too much to do at my house for the next several months). But everyone can e-mail and message me now to tell me how much they love and miss me. :D
Big paragraph on house updates. Skip if you don't care.
The house is going well. My bedroom is almost finished (I painted the trim and bought some new curtains; yes, they make the room really dark, I'm a vampire, remember?). I still need to paint the trim in the guest room (and install a new light fixture, although I'm being nervous about that because traditionally electricity and I have not been the best of friends), and then it's done. The bathroom is pretty much done (I want to tile the rest of the tub/shower walls eventually, but it will hold for awhile, unless Tim really wants to come help me *cough*). The living room has been done for awhile, although I have spent almost no time in it (I haven't even hooked up my DVD player and I've had the tv on for a grand total of 26 seconds to make sure I could get the SciFi Channel before turning it back off). I still need to get the chimney fixed before I can have a fire, but that's pretty low on the list (I probably shouldn't be playing with fire anyway). The kitchen is done enough for now (the cabinets are painted and the kitchen boxes are unpacked; the next steps are "upgrades" rather than "improvements," like new counter tops and can lights in the ceiling, which are going to be down the road a bit). The breakfast nook is a hodgepodge and needs work (it has *all* of my plants, my fish aquarium and my microwave at the moment), but I'm going to have to rent a wallpaper steamer for it and that's more work than I want to do right now. I need to paint the dining room and entry way (I have the paint, I just haven't had the time), and do a whole list of repairs that my dad left: strip/reprime the outside window frames and trim, reglaze the windows, apply a layer of fibered roof coating to the new garage roof, reinsulate the attic, etc., some of which I can't do until the weather warms up. And I still have to unpack all of the boxes in the basement (all I've unpacked so far is my kitchen boxes and my work clothes). The basement also needs to be painted, but it's pretty low on the "to-do" list (although I might repaint the parts that are lime green just so people quit teasing me).
Work has been busy so far this week (year-end deals and all that). It's really cut into my napping time. :P
Hope everyone is well.
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Abbreviations for Fun and Profit
It's hard to take a document seriously when it defines "short-term disability" as "STD" and proceeds to talk about the plaintiff's "STD claim" and "STD benefits" (are there any?). Labels: proofreading
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Monday, December 27
Every Little Bit Helps
I'll have Christmas and house updates later. Right now I'm being gloomy about the disaster in Southeast Asia. If you have a moment and a few bucks, every little bit helps.
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Thursday, December 23
Happy Holidays. :D
My computer is still in a box in my basement, so no regular updates yet (and I have a pretty good collection of pictures on my camera to post once I can download them). Everything else is going well (doors back on the kitchen cabinets, kitchen boxes unpacked, painting in my bedroom done, etc.). Sooner or later I'll have a functional house for everyone to come see.
In the meantime, since I don't have my e-mail address book (and because I was a slacker and didn't send cards this year; next year for sure), happy holidays to everyone. :) Tomorrow I have a 6-hour drive to my hometown (no breaking into my house), followed by a 2-day visit, then back on Sunday night so I can officially turn over my apartment keys on Monday. Somewhere in between there I'm sure there will be some exorbitant gluttony, a family fight or two, a lot of damn cold weather and a distinct lack of sleep for a certain nocturnal geek forced to conform to an alien schedule. Ah, Christmas.
Drive safe to those of you driving. Have a safe and happy holiday. :)
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Sunday, December 19
Yes, I'm Still at Work . . .
I've had three people call today and repeat, in nonsynchronous repetition, the phrase "Are you *still* at work?" Yes, I've been at work since 1 p.m. (it's now 7:30 p.m.). Getting called in a Sunday kind of sucks as far as taking up time on the weekend goes, but on the upside I just made enough to pay for all of the Christmas presents I bought yesterday.
Okay, back to work.
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Friday, December 17
T'was the Friday Before the Night Before Christmas . . .
Random Posts. Keep up now. Chop chop.
I spent all of Thursday "polishing" my apartment for the final inspection (which involved moving 3 more carloads of stuff, including my plants and posters, and cleaning everything from top to bottom). I have developed a strong loathing for cleaning. Not every day cleaning, mind you; I'm not a slob yet. But the serious break-out-the-sponges-and-toxic-chemicals cleaning. I'm amused that all of the cleaning products are scented in some way (my favorite being "fresh" scent; fresh what? Pine? Lobster? Diapers?), since lemon-scented sulfuric acid (a) doesn't smell anything like lemons and (b) dissolves the inner lining of my lungs just as easily as non-scented sulfuric acid. I realized today that I sound like I have a cold, which is a direct result of breathing vapors that humans really aren't supposed to be breathing ("use only in a well-ventilated space"; yeah, right. It's a bathroom with no windows . . .). All I have left to do is vacuum and do the final walkthrough. Yay.
I'm kind of in a transitional state now. I lived in my apartment for over 5 years, but my apartment is definitely not "home" anymore. It's empty and antiseptic and smells of harsh chemicals. My house isn't "home" yet, either, though. It's still creepy at 3 a.m. and I have to keep a radio going while I'm working to break the silence. I can't find most of the stuff I look for yet ("It's in a box *somewhere*") and I have yet to make anything except toast in the kitchen because I haven't put the doors back on the cabinets yet (which is a prerequisite to unpacking pots and pans, you know). I wake up sometimes not quite sure where I am. But I'm sure I'll adjust eventually. Especially after I finish a few more rooms and add those "finishing touches" that make it more familiar (like hanging pictures). I still need to go out and meet my neighbors, too (before I get the "weird guy on the corner reputation"). Too little time.
I had one little "heart warming" story from yesterday that I thought was worth sharing. While shopping at Lowe's (yet again) I heard a woman talking on her cell phone, apologizing profusely to the party on the other end about being late, looking absolutely frantic as she asked for directions to some item or another. When I was checking out later, I saw her come to the front with one item and scan the checkout lanes. I flagged her down and offered to let her cut in front of me (I had a cart full of stuff, but there wasn't anyone behind me). I swear she almost cried. She gave me this incredulous look like I was the first person who had actually been nice to her all day, then proceeded to thank me until my ears turned red and other people turned to see what the commotion was about, then gushed out this story about what an awful day she was having. It's amazing the effect little gestures can have.
Last point. My favorite song of the moment is Peter, Paul and Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane." I dunno why. I've been singing it for the last three days. Lisa thinks its funny that I've spontaneously adhered to a 60s folk song.
Off for the weekend. Hopefully I'll have my Internet back up soon.
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Wednesday, December 15
Out of the Loop
I feel some oddly compelling (dare I say driving?) obligation to post some sort of up-to-date pithy commentary of some sort or another (something simply bristling with brilliant insight and glowing with grandiose understanding), but that would be completely out of place on this Web log. Not to mention I'm completely out of the loop. I don't have Internet access at home (although I do have new cable outlets now, at the cost of ugly black cables stapled to the side of my pretty brick house) and my newspaper subscription hasn't caught up with me yet, so my current knowledge of world events is at a 5-year low (I think I heard something about China invading Belgium, but I could be mistaken). I'm out of touch with all of my friends and acquaintances, too (I'm sure seeing my ICQ indicator at "Offline" is disconcerting for some people, sitting there inert like some sort of tombstone). At least, I think I still have some friends. I'm sure they'd have called me if they'd died or anything, right?
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Monday, December 13
Which Day Is It Again?
I woke up this morning after sleeping 11 hours (because I'd only slept 2 in the previous two days) trying to figure out where I was and where I was supposed to be (answers: (a) in my own bed, but in a new bedroom, and (b) going back to work after a 5-day hiatus). So I'm back at work (minus my belt because it's in a box *somewhere* but a frantic 10-minute search came up empty). I'm also posting from work because (*gasp!*) my baby is in a box (well, actually "boxes" plural) in the basement, far, far away from the dizzying world of electronic splendor that is the Internet. I've placed an order with the cable company to come install some cable outlets in my house and switch my service over, but it's not going to be until later this week (and in the meantime, I have to decide *where* to put the computer: I'd like to put it in the living room so I can see the television while I'm on the computer, but it really doesn't match the decor of my living room and wherever I put it will be kind of "in the way," so it might go in my bedroom instead).
My family was here from Thursday through last night and I'm ever so grateful for the amount of stuff that we accomplished. My dad and my brother put a new roof on my garage (the old one was shot), installed a garage door opener, installed a ceiling fan in the living room, installed two new outlets in my bathroom and two in my kitchen and rewired a couple of other outlets and installed some new outside lights. My mom painted the trim in my living room and my sister and my brother's girlfriend painted the cabinets in my kitchen. We all moved furniture from my apartment to my house and from NFM to my house. I sat around and played on my computer (just kidding; I sanded the bathroom walls, assembled my living room furniture and ran errands, since I was the only person who knew how to get around Omaha). I actually have pictures, but unfortunately I need my computer to download them.
Next up: a year's worth of sorting, organizing, unpacking and finishing (my house is a disaster right now). I still have four rooms to paint, plus various repairs and upgrades, and my dad left me with instructions on how to reprime and reglaze the windows (as soon as it's nice enough out). At least I won't be bored anytime soon.
How is everyone else?
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Tuesday, December 7
Too Little Time
I've been lax in posting lately (sorry). Too little time. Between work and working on the new house and packing and moving, I'm swamped. I'm expecting an influx of carbon-based entities that share at least half of my genetic signature this weekend (i.e., my family is visiting), so I'm frantically trying to get last-minute details done. I also found out today that I can't switch my Internet account to my new location until I cancel it at my old location, so there will be a gap in my Internet coverage starting this weekend (until I can get a guy to come hook it up at the new house, whenever that will be). So I'll probably disappear from online for a few days, at least.
Hope everyone is well.
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Sunday, December 5
A Star in the Sky and the Crimson Horizon
I'm often asked (oh how often I've been asked) whether I like my schedule and whether I'd like to switch to a day shift (and I'm teased, no, prodded mercilessly by certain friends of mine who shall remain unnamed, although one of them starts with an "L" and ends with an "a" and sits across from me in my office, about adjusting my schedule so that I go to bed as soon as I get off work at midnight, leaving me with the majority of the daylight to lounge around). To them I usually say something pithy like "how many people could get off work at 5 p.m., go to bed at 6 p.m. and get up at 2 a.m., and how many people would want to?"
Tonight, however, I'm switching over to the other response I give. I love the night. I've been a night person since college, when I used to go walking around town at 1 a.m. when the streets were quiet and the stars were a familiar companion. There's just something about the night, something more primitive and exciting, a throwback to our prehistoric days when we huddled around a fire while staring into the black, only today I'm not really that afraid of being mauled by a sabretooth tiger and dragged away into the dark.
One of my favorite advantages to my schedule is that sometimes I'm awake during that quiet time just as the sun begins to peak over the horizon, washing out the stars that still shine over half the sky, just as the city is waking up. And it affords me the chance to skip out into the frost-shrouded morning in a t-shirt with my camera and shake hands with the sun, wishing it well in its voyeuristic scrutiny of the day-people, before settling into my bed.
And now, philosophy done, poetry put aside, I wish you all a beautiful day. Good night. :)
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Friday, December 3
Knock Knock
Overheard in my hallway today (keep in mind it's only one side of the conversation):
"Knock knock . . . knock knock . . . orange . . . knock knock . . . orange . . . hello? . . . What? You have to play along! . . . knock knock . . . orange! . . . no, wait. @#$%! Knock knock . . . banana! . . . knock knock . . . aren't you, no, wait, orange you glad I didn't say banana, @#$%! . . . I can't even tell a third-grade joke right. Just open the @#$%ing door." Labels: overheard
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From the Archives
While going through boxes tonight, I found a picture from my sophomore year of high school. As I recall, this was from Homecoming, when three or four of us built a water balloon cannon (operated by having one person sit down, brace the cannon with his feet and pull back a piece of innertube, at which point another person would load the cannon with a water balloon; the first person would then release the innertube and launch the balloon). As I recall, we had several "misfirings" when the parts didn't line up right, resulting in a burst balloon inside the cannon (and one very drenched operator). By the time of the parade, though, we had it functioning well enough to shoot water balloons into the crowd and at the other floats. Today, of course, you can buy water balloon launchers off eBay for $20, but we had to make our own.
Note, also, the styling early 90s fashions. My big black cargo pants and my black army surplus jacket (back before school shootings made such fashions undesirable). I also had more hair.
I think this was the original picture that went into the yearbook (I think they threw all the original photos in a box during the last week of school and let people sort through and take whatever they wanted).
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Wednesday, December 1
Insert Funny Title About Phones and Flowers Here
This is kind of cool and kind of funny at the same time. :)
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