rorqual

We were awoken this morning (late morning, but still morning!) by one of the neighbors banging on the door to say the house next door was on fire. Which it sure was, though the firetrucks were pulling in as we were leaving (five of them! Very impressive), so even at that point it seemed like everything would be under control pretty quickly. The firemen seemed chill, though I suppose they do this all the time - nevertheless, I found that even more reassuring as we watched them go into the house. I'm in a rowhouse (end unit); this was the attached house on my right, so though I was pretty sure my place wasn't going to be reduced to ash, there was a clear potential to do some damage to it. We and the ferrets had gone out the front, but it seemed like the action was in the back, so I scampered off (without shoes, as they were not on my Need To Get list as I left the house) among the firetrucks to see what was going on around back. I got stopped a couple of times by firemen, but when I told them I was next door and wanted to see what was up, they let me scamper on.

The back of the house was much more exciting. It looked like the fire started on the second floor, a room which in my layout is a small bedroom - the firemen had ripped out the whole window, and there were smoke-marks coming up out of the window towards the roof. When I got back there, the firemen were pulling down the gutter and wooden edging under the roof; I assume to make sure there was no combustion going on up there. The room must have gone up almost entirely - the firemen threw the remains of a box spring (just the springs), a badly burned door, and a lot of woodwork out the window, so I can't imagine there was much left in the room after the fire. (The helpful firemen knocked out all the windows on the second and third floors, too. When I asked if I could go back in my place, they said it was fine, but if I smelled smoke, to let them know and they could 'open some windows' for me. No thanks, firemen!)

Fortunately, all this was on the opposite side of the house from my place, the upshot being there was no damage, even cosmetic, to my place at all. There's a smell of smoke in the air, but no worse than if someone was having a barbecue (well, much less yummy), so I'm totally fine. The folks next door obviously have a lot of work to do, but the structural integrity of the place seems fine. For me, it was a drill for my Fire Emergency plan, which was pretty successful. I made it out of the house with: two ferrets (in the carrier, not a pillowcase), the laptop and iPhone (with chargers), my purse and wallet, and fully dressed - I thought that was pretty good. I left the car keys behind (mainly because I'd taken them upstairs in my rush, and put them down somewhere stupid), and had no shoes, but most importantly did not have any of my Critical Papers (deed, insurance info, etc). That can be fixed by buying a little fireproof box for them, which I will do asap. But really, though I would have hated to lose all my stuff, I would have been able to go day by day with what I had. Plus, really, all that matters is the ferrets.

What's your fire emergency plan? :)

Current Mood: pleased

Not as sad as the otter story I swear!!

NJ Man Slits Throat of Girlfriend's Ferret

The ferret is (amazingly) fine. I am horrible because these are the thoughts I immediately had upon reading this story.

1 - I would like this person to suffer (I don't think that's the horrible one, actually; I'm pretty sure if I came home and someone had done such a thing to one of my guys, and I knew who it was, my first call would not be to the cops.)

2 - (this is the horrible one) Why in heaven's name would you cut its throat? There have to be 10 better ways to kill a small animal.

I am so going to hell. First, I am going to go smooch the weasels, though. If they let me near them.

(Okay, cute ferret story to make up for it, and a good illustration of the difference between Otto and Butters.

So, I got home yesterday, and let them out, and went upstairs to take a shower. They, of course, frolicked up behind me, to keep company. I started the water, and put my hand in to check the temp. Then, since Otto was there, I held my arm down so he could drink the water off my fingers. The first drop or two dripped on his head, since he was looking down, but then he looked up and licked a bit. Then, because he has a short attention span, he romped off.

I checked the water again - much better - and Butters appeared on the bathmat. So, I repeated the process with Butters; reaching down to offer him water. Some dripped on his head - and he shook his head, and sneezed, and whuffled at the water on the carpet - but at no point did he look up to figure out why he was getting wet. I had to poke him on the head to get him to look.

So sweet, the Butters....and so simple.

(Does it undermine the story if I say I just this minute, I heard Otto coughing, so I went into the ktichen to check, and found he was choking on a string coming off of one of his toy mousies. And when I extracted the mousie, he immediately hopped up and tried to grab it back from me. Sigh.))

Current Mood: weaselly

I was going to write a nice wordy entry about all the things I got done today, but I am feeling deservedly lazy, so you get a list.

1 - Got up at a reasonable hour and began errands.
2 - Bought a hoe, two tomato plants, one rosemary plant.
3 - Went to the post office.
4 - Went to the bank.
5 - Went to the grocery store.
6 - Went to the Starbucks (first iced chai of the season!)
7 - Came home and considered planting the plants. Saw neighbor and neighbor's barky dog in their yard; decided to skip plants for now. Plants happy on porch and will live another day.
8 - Cleaned ferrets' room. No help from ferrets. Bastards.
9 - Cleaned and organized spare room, which has been needing that for ages. Included stacking up

joshthestampede's stuff he denies having left here. Considered taking documentary photo for proof.
10 - Put giant CRT monitor on craigslist. If you want a 19" ViewSonic CRT, let me know.
11 - Cleaned bedroom. Sorted stored clothes, made goodwill bag, and trash bag (why did I pack and keep the twill skirt with the rip up the side? When was I going to ever wear that again?)
12 - Cleaned bathroom. Celebrated clean bathroom by dropping glass on floor and shattering it. Cleaned bathroom again.
13 - Came downstairs, got sandwich, and collapsed on couch.
14 - Got up again to write this, becaus after working all morning, too fidgety to sit still. Also, wanted chips with sandwich.

I have stuff to do tonight, but I pretty much don't have to get off the couch until like, 6. And tomorrow is still the weekend!

Current Music: Food Network - Cake Challenge

- I am currently totally underwhelmed by my root canal. It was painless, and even sort of tedious. It did not live up to its fearsome reputation. And for that, I am grateful.

- The worst part is, due to a couple of poorly placed meetings before I left work, I am starving, and I can't eat for another hour. My borscht beckons!

- There's a totally hot dental hygenist in the practice. He looks like a jazz musician: laid back, sunglasses indoors...very smooth. I get the nice old lady who wants to talk about her house, but I can live with that.

- As it stands, I have three more appointments scheduled, and at least four more to schedule. Yup.

Off to take some preventative ibuprofin!

Current Mood: toothy

I realized at the Starbucks this morning, that I like my tea the way some people like vermouth in their martini - just wave the teabag at the hot water; just hint to the water that there's tea in the vicinity, and that's about enough for me. The time it takes me to walk from the counter to the milk&sugar bar is long enough for that teabag to be in there. If it's crowded in Starbucks, that can even be too long.

Having that great revelation was not the only thing I did today, though. I also got my hair cut, spent too much money at the mall, resisted spending even more ("You do not need a $230 nine inch copper frying pan. God HimHerItself does not need a frying pan that expensive. Step away from the Williams-Sonoma."), did not buy a hoe (not due to expense, due to laziness), went to Subway, and came home. Now I am roasting beets for another borscht, in anticipation of my Dental Adventure on Tuesday, after which I will only want soup I am sure. I will also clean the house and take a nice hot shower, and maybe watch some tv. A full day! I've also made tea.

Does anyone read this lj anymore? Now that most of my friends are on facebook, I assumed not, which was fine when fb would import my lj entries and put them on my feed, so people would know they were there. I have to say, the most annoying thing about the fb redesign, is that new things don't come to me anymore, via the feed. I only have 25 friends (I know y'all are shocked I have any at all), and I am just not going to check all their walls all the time to see if they've posted anything new which didn't get picked up on the feed. Grr. I have heard that fb is actually bowing to pressure, and going back (at least in part) to the old scheme; I saw my Invites moving around all over the page just the other day, so that may be true, and it seems like people's photos are back on the feed. Dunno if this will make it; though - guess I will try and write a note and say that there's a lj post, and see if that note at least gets picked up.

Ah, self-promotion. Such a burden.

Current Mood: rainy

I am making breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs, toast and tea). Otto is just about to get into the trash - no, he's in the trash can. And now he's out. I have to figure out how to discourage that. Butters is in a bag, making happy rustling noises. There's reggae on the radio. The day was lovely, with just the right balance of going out and staying in. The weekend was lovely as well, with some socialness, and some pleasant at-home time. I am off tomorrow, for a variety of appointments, none of which are stressful. My crocuses (crocii?) are blooming. In a minute, I will go settle in for an evening of book-reading and reality tv-watching. And I will stay up late!

Overall I am very happy. Though I do hate the new fb layout, and wonder if this will even show up. If you see it on fb, can you comment, so I am clueful?

Current Mood: mellow

Okay - *that* was the last snow; the one that happened Sunday night, after I wrote the previous post. The one that required me to take off work yesterday, and virtually forced me to stay in bed until an unreasonable hour. After that, I was required to make an apple crumble out of the slowly-dying apples (which was yummy), after cleaning off my car, and then I simply had to lie on the couch watching TV - to recover, you understand. It was brutal!

I'm pretty sure it's done now, though. It was a nice end to winter...now if only it weren't so bloody cold!

Current Mood: winterrific!
Current Music: Simpsons

I suspect the little bit of snow from this morning was probably the last reasonable snow of the year (and it wasn't really that reasonable). When I went out for the paper there was still a tiny, tiny bit of snow falling, but not much. Still, enjoyable for what it was.

I am glad I live in a place that has seasons. In the summer, when I am so hot I can't possibly be any hotter, I look forward to the nice crisp snap of fall. In fall, when it gets rainy and miserable, I look forward to the bright snow, and being inside and looking out at the cold. In the winter, when it's not snowing, and it's not going to snow (like now), I can't wait for the first warm breezes of srping, and I miss the trees being green. And once it's spring, which is also rainy and miserable (like fall, but with a different color scheme), I want it to be properly hot and sunny for a change. Rinse, and repeat. I think that description sounds like I am never satisfied, but actually, I am always in pleasant anticipation.

I've only been to California once, and south Florida once, and both places were indeed lovely, but I don't know if I'd want it to be like that every day. Proper seasons give you something to apprecate; good weather gets taken for granted. Better to be aware.

In other news: I shut Otto on the porch for five hours the other night by accident; I only realized it was there when I was heading to bed and I couldn't find him. His feet were cold and he was cross with me, but he was fine. Butters is getting darker for summer already; I suppose they get ready for the seasons in their own way. I had both a dental and an eye appointment last week; everything is fine in general, but I have many unhappy returns to the dentist to look forward to.

Current Mood: anticipatory
Current Music: NPR

I haven't posted much recently; no particular reason. However, I feel a bit like an absentee blogger, so I though I'd pull something else I wrote and put it up here. I (like most of America) participate in a football pool during the season; not for money (because that would be Wrong, and also because when we started it most of us did not have any), but for pride. Typically, the winner every week gets to Command the others to do something; often, it's writing something about football, but sometimes it's on other topics. During the past year, one of the winners commanded us to spend time with our families, or to say something about our families (or, alternatively, to write about why the Cowboys suck). So, I wrote about my dad. A couple people said nice things about it, so I report it here for the Internet's amusement. It's this, or liveblogging the Oscars, people, and nobody wants that.

******

Since I can't spend time with my Dad, I will tell y'all a story about him which represents very much the kind of guy he was. When I was in 5th Grade, I had a science teacher I totally loved. I mean, I thought she was beautiful, brilliant, and awesome - I loved her in way which only a ten-year-old kid can crush out on someone.

Every day I would come home from school and tell my parents about everything I learned in school (because we were that kind of family), and one day, I came home and told my dad about the things we had learned that day about electricity - specifically, series and parallel circuits. Now, my dad was an electrical engineer - not in a degree-holding kind of way, but in a practical, hands-on, building-stuff kind of way, and he certainly knew his circuitry (and honestly, it's not complicated - series circuits are in a row, and parallel ones run side by side, as you'd expect).

So, I tell my dad about what I learned in school that day, about how my wonderful teacher taught me about how these circuits run, and he promptly broke my wee little heart by telling me she was wrong - she'd gotten them switched around. I insisted that of course she was right, she was the teacher, and he must be wrong, she could never be wrong! I was totally outraged.

Well, the next day, he drove me to school, and went in to see the teacher - much to my dismay.  And, nicely and clearly, he explained to her that she'd gotten it backwards, and showed her the right stuff, and explained the difference. And she, being a 4th and 5th Grade science teacher who was basically teaching all kinds of science out of a textbook, was actually pretty happy to have someone share some helpful information - and that day in class, she taught it again, the right way, citing my dad in the process.

That taught me a few good lessons, which I think he always lived by, and wanted me to do so as well:

1 - If you're right, you're right, no matter what the Authority says.
2 - If you hear something that's wrong - just wrong - you shouldn't sit by and keep your mouth shut about it, if you can help.
3 - You can correct someone in such a way that they learn something, and are happy to do so. No need to be a jerk.

So there you go, Internets. If you wanna see the slide rule I inherited from him, y'all come on by...:)

Current Mood: copypasty
Current Music: Oscars

I am de-xmasing my house today; pulling down the lights and tossing all the pine boughs I had on the stairs. To some degree, it's a form of sympathetic magic - I am very ready for spring to come, and if this helps, I'm all for it. And in part, it's because it's actually beautiful spring-like weather today, which makes me want to Out With The Old. But to a large extent, it's because all the xmas lights on the steps burned out (cheap! I got them from the supermarket and they were cheap (vs just inexpensive; my Target lights would burn from October to May without a problem)). And that's depressing, so I am going to put up the summer lights I got from

mcfurrin (for xmas, ironically), so my front hall is not dark.

Currently, the hall is light by the light of the roomba (whose battery charging issues I seem to have fixed), and the Blazing Sun, since it's actually nice enough to have the interior door open. The ferrets were perplexed; I think they forgot there was an outer door. They tried to open it with their pointy noses, but as it was both latched, and sticks, it did them no good. So off they went to drag the draft snake around the kitchen. They like to barricade themselves under the radiator with it. Weirdos.

Unfortunately, it's turning out that replacing the xmas lights will be a bit of a task. The summer lights I got for xmas are too short for the hall, and the ones I had from last year are not working. Woe! Back to Target I will have to go this week. I also apparently need a new router, as I keep being booted indecorusly offline for no good reason. And iSobel does too, so I know it's not Kara. Is this burst of Spring causing things to kick the bucket? I always hear that people who are very ill sometimes hold on until spring...if the same is true for electronics, what else will be going today? Luckily, I think it's supposed to get cold again soon, so I'll have a reprieve. And it's just as well - I apparently have forgotten how to get out my car like a lady, when I am wearing a skirt and no tights. I did not flash anyone, but only because nobody was standing across from me. Shocking!

Random note: my mom has been cleaning out the attic and called to ask me what of my many childhood stuffed animals I wanted to keep (Don't throw away Raggedy Ann and Andy!). She also is going through a lot of my dad's old stuff, most of which is mundane and can go, either to the poor/er or the trash. She did say she would save for me anything which was particularly interesting, which apparently includes (and I quote) a "velvet smoking cape" which he bought in England ages ago. Not much comes up when you google it, so I am assuming she meant a smoking jacket, but even so, I can't imagine such a thing on my dad. She assures me he used to wear it around the house for fun. She said it was "kinky". And unfortunately, I *do* think that word means what she thinks it means, and now I have a very odd image in my head.....sigh.

Rest of day: Sandwich, cleaning kitchen, dealing with stack of nonsense on side table, laundry, tv, NYT, nice hot shower. First: cup of tea!

Current Mood: nostalgic
Current Music: Little Jackie - The Stoop

Otter tours Scotland in a postbag.

Y'all know I am still making up for the saddest story I ever posted, which I report at every opportunity because I hate everyone and want you to suffer. But, a postbag! Does that help?

(no, I know nothing can make up for little bloody otter footprints. i know. i am going to hell. and not just for this, let me assure you.)

Current Mood: unrepentant
Current Music: American Idol (shut up)

When it's alive, a tree is a wonderful, graceful thing, which leans and bends with the slightest breeze. When dead, however, it becomes a time-bomb of deadly needles, which will explode all over your house if you just look at it crosseyed. Or at least, that's my experience from taking out my xmas tree this afternoon. There are needles in every room downstairs, even ones I didn't take the tree into. There are needles stuck to cobwebs on the ceiling; there are needles under the kitchen sink. I think my house actually grew another room to put needles in. And best of all, I forgot (unitl I got there) that the porch door doesn't actually open all the way. It only opens part way, which is far less than a usual door's width. But, it opened enough for me to get out, and reach in and put hands on the tree. By the time I got it all the way out the door, it was a shadow of its former self, and my porch was the quiet forest floor. But I still count that as a victory.

Now, while the roomba cleans the living room, I write to you. In order to give maximum space to cleaning, I am in the hallway, not near the computer. I can bring the keyboard over here (thank you

kyriotate!), but not the monitor (without pulling the laptop out of its hookups), so I can't at all see the screen. It's an interesting experience. I know there will be significant editing after the fact.

I woke this morning to find one of my pipes had frozen. To be precise, I found that the hot water in the kitchen didn't work, and deduced the rest, but it was in fact correct. So, like a good homeowner, I trekked off to the Home Despot, and bought insulation, and some tape for the predicted leaks, and then I came home and took a hair dryer to the pipes. It turned out to be frozen where it runs over the basement door (the door to the outside), which made perfect sense, since when I poked around, I found that there was only a nominal "seal" at the top of the door, and the wind was quite definitely sneaking in. Wrapping the pipe (once I defrosted it - no leaks, either - yay!) was not possible for me in the tight space, so instead I cannibalized the water heater insulation I bought last year (before I realized it was already insulated), and stuffed it above the door. Then I weatherstripped the heck out of it, and hopefully, that will solve all my problems. In any case, I have water for now.

Other than that, it's bloody cold, which I think everyone is aware of by now. My house is fine, but far from toasty. And I am sad there's no sign of snow. But, undecorating trees and then cleaning up after the destruction does serve to keep one warm. Tonight: dinner out (somewhere warm) and BSG. Tomorrow, nerdy friends. Sunday, football (Don't tell anyone Internets, but I'm not a full-time Ravens fan. Still, I hope they win - I love the way the city gets so excited, and all the lights turn purple). And then, best of all - *two* more days off! I haven't even planned that far in advance.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous

I don't tend to go much for the arbitrary-calendar-day-meaningfulness thing, so the fact the year ends in a different number now typcally doesn't mean much to me. This time, though, over the last few weeks, I've actually been feeling that 2009 could be Quite A Year. So hopefully that will be a good thing, if it's anything at all.

Last year averaged out to good. Some very good things (good travel, new friends or re-found old friends (and given how much I hate people, that's a miracle), a few really good days), plus a lot of good-but typical stuff (existing friends, mainly, plus a whole bunch of extremely enjoyable days), and a few not-so-great, crazy-making things (none of your beeswax, nosy parkers) - but overall, I had a good time, and gained no new scars. I'm a fortunate girl, and I was reminded of that a number of times this year.

Next year, I hope to do more of the same, plus a little less of the wacky stuff (though I doubt that will happen. When I was in college, I looked back on some of the stuff I did in high school and thought I was an embarassing idiot...and then when I was in grad school, I looked back on some of the things I did in college and was appalled I could have been so stupid...and then when I was out of grad school I looked back...well, you get the drift. I think as people get older, it's not that we get smarter or more rational...we're still led around by the same stupid impulses we've always had, we just get better at recognizing them, and handling the aftermath. But we still are idiots.) I hope to be, at least, a different idiot in the new year. Just for the change....

Happy new year!

Current Mood: oddly optimistic

1 - It's totally easy to tear down a washing machine.

2 - I miss doing laundry more than is probably healthy.

3 - I actually can spend a whole day playing computer games and watching movies, and not feel restless at all.

4 - Though tomorrow, I may leave the house, to avoid being a total loser all weekend.

5 - I hate zombies.

6 - I love portals.

7 - I would make a great hermit, though having someone to bring me drinks and occasionally distract me, lest I get big plate-sized eyes from starting at a screen all day, would be good.

8 - I need to train the ferrets to bring me drinks.

Off to a hot shower!

Current Mood: hermit-y
Current Music: washer, spinning!

Though I am a fan of Christmas songs in general, I have the softest spot for the carols, maybe because they are sort of simple and for everyone to sing. I am becoming more and more a-religious as I age, but it's the religious songs which are the best, I think. I do like the classics of my parents' age too, the While Christmases and Frank Sinatra and that sort. Heck, I pretty much like anything I can sing, though if you've known me for a while, Internets, I've probably already tortured you with the singing.

Today was a very mellow xmas indeed. Slept in waaaay too late (perhaps a bit more tired by previous evening's xmas party than I had any right to be), crawled out of bed, made sure I had the last of the mousies in the box for the ferrets, and let them out. We all went downstairs for xmas breakfast (for them: big dried cherries; for me: tea and cinnamon crumpets), and then it was mousie time! They were so pleased to get all their toys back, and they ran about and hid them most enthusiastically. In addition, because the weather was so nice, I could open the back porch up, and they had fun playing out there as well. I listened to xmas music and variously set up my new wireless keyboard/mouse (thanks,

kyriotate!), cleaned the kitchen, and made caramels. I'm actually still making caramels; they are cooling now and waiting for me to cut them. I don't have a candy thermometer, so it's a bit of an adventure, and they may turn out as a very nice sauce, rather than an actual candy treat. Cream, butter, and sugar, though - cant go too far wrong!

Now, chicken and carrots are in roasting, I am downloading Left4Dead (I'm told it's a traditional xmas zombie game), and getting used to the weird layout of this keyboard. I have.....wait for it.....not a damn thing to do until Monday. Well, tomorrow a guy comes to (hopefully) fix the washing machine, but that's about it. Woo hoo! I don't even know what I am going to do with myself. Beyond awesome.

Happy holidays!

Current Mood: xmassy
Current Music: Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

I was supposed to have an opthamologist appointment this morning, but the doctor got sick and cancelled, so I was suddenly left to my own devices. So, I did what I was going to do if I was still sighted *after* the appointment, and got a tree. I went to a fancy nursery near my house, knowing I would pay more but sort of hating the big-box store tree experience - plus, support your local businesses, people! My virtue was rewarded with $20 off my tree (I dunno - the nursery is at the intersection of three nice neighborhoods, and maybe I looked too poor for it, so the guy gave me a break), plus free greens, which he fetched out of the trash rather than making me pay $3.50 per sprig inside. I think I've complained before about how growing up in the country spoiled me, and I find paying for greens to be outrageous when you can just cut them off trees for free...so free greens really tickled me. Plus! Some poor sucker at the nursery actually took the air conditioner I've been carrying around in my car for a year! I am glad I moved it out of the trunk, otherwise I would have forgotten it was there.

I went grocery shopping as well, and got leeks and potatoes for soup. It's a perfectly rainy day for soupmaking, and if I don't do it today, the whole weekend is supposed to be wretched, hooray!

I have put the tree up; it fell on me no less than seven times, but I managed. I've wrapped the lights (fell two more times), and now I think I'm ready to release the weasels. The next few weeks will be a parade of weasels, wet from the tree water, leaping onto the couch and generally disporting themselves about in a reckless manner. I may make them into hats. For xmas!

Otherwise: lunch, more tea, hot shower, Dark Knight, dinner out (hopefully lovely beer-battered fish; we shall see). Bed, rinse, repeat.

Current Mood: xmassy
Current Music: WTMD

This is the last post I will make from my desktop computer. After I am done here, I will shut it down, crack it open and pull the hard drive (because, though I think I've moved everything over to the new laptop that I'll ever need, I can't convice myself that I haven't left *something* critical on here - so just in case, I'll keep it until it becomes obsolete), and then hook up the laptop to the old monitor and keyboard. The old tower will be trashed, and thus goes only the second computer I ever actually bought myself. My first was a VIC-20 (shut up), which we plugged into the tv, and which ran programs off of cassette tapes. After that was a series of servers which I got after they'd outlived their usefulness at other people's jobs - and they were fine, but I finally decided I needed something a tiny bit more current. I bought a computer my first year of grad school; actually

kyriotate made the call for me - and the combination of paying for it with my credit card, and having it shipped to his address, triggered the fraud alert system at my credit card. Not enough to keep them from letting me buy the computer - oh no; I got that fine, but when I got to New York and tried to buy books for school, *that* purchase wouldn't go through. It was good fun, standing in line with 20 books, slowing down 500 other students who need to buy books before the first week of class, and arguing over the phone with the credit card company that yes, I was who I said I was, and I'd like to pay for my books now please.

That one lasted for ages, until I couldn't play games anymore, and realized it was time to move on. This one I've had for less time, but seems to have taken it harder; over the last few months, it's started making the lovely griding noises that convinced me I needed to start thinking about a replacement. And though I thought I'd never choose a laptop, I accidentally fell in love with one over the summer, and finally bought my own. Which brings us to this rather sad day.

It's been a good computer, and I hate to see it go. But, times change, and it served me well.

Now I have to figure out where I'm going to put my printer, which is currently balanced on top of the tower.

Current Mood: progressive
Current Music: faint grinding noise

Things I have done today:

1 - worked
2 - had a bath
3 - had a nap
4 - had some soup
5 - messed about on the internet

Things I have left to do today:

1 - mess about on the internet
2 - watch bad reality tv
3 - read
4 - eat popcorn
5 - drink coke
6 - go to bed late

Things I will not be doing tomorrow morning:

1 - getting up at an ungodly hour for work
2 - working

Current Mood: vacation-y
Current Music: SG-1

I don't know how this happened, but somewhere along the line, I decided I need to do the following today:

1 - Bake an apple galette (sort of a rustic tart - I haven't made one before but it seems pretty straightforward)
2 - Make applesauce (because I want applesauce, and because someone brought me soup the other day, and I wanted to give something back when I gave the tupperware back)
3 - Make soup (an Irish cheese soup, though I think over the week I've eaten most of the cheese. But there's potatoes and leeks and carrots too, so I think there will be enough stuff in the soup)
4 - Clean the ferrets' room (done)
5 - Do laundry (in process)
6 - Finish updating some stuff on Brigit (poor neglected Brigit)

It's really the cooking that's a bit out of hand. Applesauce is the least important, but the easiest. The galette is the most challenging (since I haven't done one before), but I promised it to someone. And the soup is what I will eat this week. And laundry is laundry. I think Brigit may get overlooked...again. I now live in a house with four internet-capable devices, so it's inevitable one will fall behind. I don't know how people with multiple kids manage.

I also need to dig up my spare wi-fi router, so I can take it home with me for Thanksgiving and upgrade my mom's system. Just because she lives in the country, doesn't mean she has to live in the dark ages.

Other than that - it's a beautiful day; I have the door to the porch open because it's so sunny, and I am waiting for the sun to come into the upstairs hall at the right angle so I can hang a new picture I have. I guess I should put that on the list.

My butter is almost room temp, so I am going to go peel apples.

Current Mood: unafraid of pastry
Current Music: NPR - The Splendid Table

Ladies, and gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my new laptop! Yes, I am coming to you live from my couch, on a normal sized keyboard (actually, after Brigit, I think this computer is huge), as I install, uninstall, update, add, edit, and delete a variety of stuff on the new machine. Eventually, I will transfer all my data from my old desktop, figure out how to attach my existing monitor and keyboard to this one, and allow my rattling, slighty burny-smelling desktop to retire gracefully. It was the first computer I ever bought, having gotten most of my computers as other people's cast-offs, and it did a good job. But today ushers in a new era of computing. Aren't you glad you were here?!?

ETA: Also, I'm usually not a design nerd, but I have to say the way the machine was packed into the box was pretty nicely done, and made getting it out a total breeze. Also, I'd like to thank FedEx - I left a note begging them to leave the box (because they weren't supposed to leave it, they needed me there to sign), and they didn't - but they did leave the delivery supervisor's number, and when I called him, he sent his driver back within 45 minutes. This is in direct opposition to the last time someone shipped me something using FedEx, where they couldn't find my house (!!!), yet claimed they were leaving notes at it (they actually claimed both things - not that they were at the wrong house, but that there was no house - but where did they leave notes?), and actually shipped my package back to Canada before they worked it out. So, 50/50, not bad.

Current Mood: advanced
Current Music: whirr

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rorqual

August 2011

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