Lowe's...My Favorite Store

Didn't do too much Friday night or Saturday morning due to fighting off this damn cold. (Which, not a cool thing to have FOUR DAYS BEFORE SURGERY.) I did go for a walk around the lake before it started raining though. When I got back, I called MomTook to see if she wanted to ride along to Lowes and Bed Bath & Beyond with me. Figured it was a good time to make the trip since it was crappy out anyway. She needed to get out of the house herself, having been abandoned by Geritol for hunting, so I picked her up and off we went.

First off was BB&B. I found a very nice shower curtain and liner for the bathroom since Kermit's going to replace the doors (which I didn't like anyway) with one of those bow-shaped curtain rods. It's a simple white fabric curtain like what they use in hotels. (Their "hotel brand" white curtain was fifty damn dollars, but they had a nearly identical one just a few curtains down that was only twenty, so I nabbed that one, of course.) I also found one of those rain shower heads. I figure since they had to remove the old one anyway they can just put up the new one instead. With all these additions, I'm going to want to shower there instead of in the master bathroom.

Then it was off to Lowes. I got some more knobs to replace two that were broken from Kermit the Kontractor's guys going a bit haywire with the drill. (Not that I mind replacing the cheap wooden knobs he used on the closet doors anyway.) I also picked up white paint to brighten the archway between the dining room and living room. Oh yes, and a can of silver spray paint since the two curtain rods from my old apartment that I was going to use in my study are the same design but TWO DIFFERENT FINISHES. (Yes, I am an idiot. A forgetful idiot.) Basically I picked up little things to finish little projects around the house.

Afterwords, I hung out with MomTook at her place. She of course fed me. Of course it was delicious. I was going to go out to watch the ALCS when I got home, but decided it would be better to relax and heal a bit. Plus the Sox always seem to lose playoff games when I watch them in a bar. (Hey, it worked didn't it? They POUNDED them!)

It's clear and unseasonably warm today, so I'm outta here.

Finally Friday

Although nothing's been fully resolved, PhillieFan has indeed shown up the past two days. Hurrah! The cracks are slowly but surely being fixed, just as my bathroom is almost looking like a bathroom again.

It's unseasonably warm for the second day in a row. Yesterday hit the low seventies and today's supposed to be even warmer. It's not even nine and it's already 64 degrees outside. In October. In the Adirondacks. Amazing. I may even *gasp* sunbathe during lunch.

Anyway, I'm hoping to take it easy this weekend because I'm in such bad shape for my surgery as it is. Dr. Z wants me to come along to the martial arts tournament, but I have to weigh which is less stressful - getting up at 5 in the morning and driving a total of six hours but having an all-day distraction from things or sleeping in and resting but risking getting caught up in all the shit that's going on. I have to decide soon though. Argh. In any case, at least Sunday should be restful.

Going Nuts with the Waiting

Ended up not going to Karate last night. I just couldn't deal with teaching kids after just teaching on Monday. Got an e-mail this morning from Sensei saying he was going to be there, so it looks like my Brown Belt test is going to be delayed yet AGAIN. Hence with the waiting.

Dr. Z still hasn't made any decisions and is pretty much pretending issues don't exist. I need to pin him down at least a little bit so that I can eat and sleep again. In the meantime, with the waiting over here.

PhillieFan is supposed to show up tomorrow, but we'll see. In the meantime, waiting for a working tub.

Surgery is a week from tomorrow. I'm dreading it but all there is to do is...say it with me...wait.

I hate waiting on things I can't control. Sigh.

*Snore*

Quiet Tuesday here. On a positive note, we finally had a sunny day after almost two weeks of heavy clouds. It's not supposed to last, but it certainly was nice while it lasted.

Found a Mexican tortilla soup recipe to conquer in my quest to learn how to cook. I just need to go to the Big Grocery Store for green chiles. (The Local Health Store didn't have them.)

I'm going to help out in Karate tonight. With so many things out of my control right now, I want to exercise what control I DO have with getting my brown belt. Not that I have any say, but at least there's something I can DO to sway things my way. (Unlike the Dr. Z thing and the surgery thing and the tub thing.)

Well, that's about it. They can't all be interesting days, after all.

Just Another Manic Monday...

...wish it were Sunday. Not. With everything up in the air I'm glad to be kept busy. Had not one but TWO pre-op appointments today. Joy. The first one was with the pre-admission staff. At first I did NOT get the warm fuzzies because after waiting for a while I finally called THEM and the person they first transferred me to took a message. The woman who called me back though was really good.

Then it was time to go to the doctor's office. After a rushed visit with the petite, perfectly groomed, fake RN (who was TOTALLY in a sorority in college and probably a cheerleader in high school), I went for bloodwork. I did find out that I won't be able to do physical activity for two freaking weeks. Great. As if I'm not out of shape enough. I also found out that all my piercings are going to have to come out. Pain.

At Karate, I showed Sensei my kata (since I was literally the ONLY STUDENT who didn't get any training during the class - I trained some orange belts on THEIR kata and then when Sensei grabbed the black belts, who were the only other ones training people, I had to go with the colored belts and WOW is this a run-on sentence of Dickensian proportions) and he was VERY pleased with what he saw. He made noises about scheduling a brown belt test, but we'll see if it actually, you know, HAPPENS.

A Good Saturday

The sun was actually out for a brief time yesterday morning. It inspired me to get a lot done, including going to the dump. (I even did all my recyclables.)

Went over to MomTook's fairly early as CrazySis had woken up at 4:45 in the damn morning and was on the road by 6:00. It was great to see her and PoopsALot even if I missed out on a road trip. Of course, since CrazySis is due in a couple weeks I'll be making a road trip up to her place soon enough.

Left around 4:00 or so and chilled and had dinner before going out to see MMAMusician's band. They rocked, as always, and were playing the Maroon 5-type stuff that was perfect for the sucky week I had. However, I bumped into these three girls out together and this couple who had just gotten married that day after living together for twelve years and having four kids. We all had a blast and I even got up and danced for a few songs. Since I was wearing my hot new jeans, I did not mind shaking my ass in front of MMAMusician. (See: Smoking hot.) The bride was making all these comments back to him during one of the songs and at one point he goes, "I'm being sexually harassed up here!" Hee. Too bad his hot girlfriend was there and accounted for.

I left around 11:30 shortly after the other girls did since the set was going to end at midnight anyway. Came home and watched the ALCS until it went into extra innings at 1:15 in the damn morning. They got CLOBBERED in the eleventh inning anyway, allowing SEVEN RUNS, so I'm glad I went to bed. Thank god there's five games left.

Since it is SNOWING, I plan on staying in and watching the football all day. And eating. A lot. I weighed myself this morning and thanks to all the stress of the month instead of gaining back the weight I lost backpacking, I've lost another pound and am down to 99. Not good.

I Hate This Week

Well, Day Three of contractors is going on. I got my ass out of bed at 6:30 but they didn't show up until 8:00 today. Of course, I'm just happy they showed up at all. (I've now had enough experience with contractors to not take that for granted.) Kermit the Kontractor also showed up. Turns out I'll get to see PhillieFan next week as he'll be back to patch the drywall yet again.

I ended up not going to Karate last night. Even some most righteous tunage just couldn't get me pumped up enough. I almost did it...I was like..."YEAH! Let's GO...ummm...sit on the couch like a lump." Oh well. Between the contractors being here and them using the spare room as storage, I haven't been able to practice my kata anyway.

On a positive note, I'm pretty much all caught up at work. Just have to finish up my monthly report. Yay!

Also positive? Tomorrow's Friday. That means the end of the Week from Hell. Double yay!

Blah

Well, on a positive note, I finally got around to setting up my receiver. The surround sound doesn't do much with cable, but the difference while watching DVDs is awesome. Still can't get the optical cable to work for some reason. It appears to be carrying the light signal, but maybe it got damaged somehow.

Once again, it was a day of distraction with the contractor here. It was good because it forced me to work and keep my mind off of things. Otherwise I would have spent yet another day crying off and on. Looks like I'll have a third day of distraction too - although things are looking a lot better, they still need to do all the finishing work.

So...yeah. STILL no resolution on anything. Well, I'll drag (and I mean DRAG) my ass to Karate. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually get promoted. I ain't holding my breath though.

In Media Res

Yes, everything's still up in the air. With Sensei out last night, no brown belt nor resolution on the FakeDaughter issue. Dr. Z and I had another very tough discussion where we clarified things further, but still no resolution on that either.

And finally, the tub. I thought it was going to be a one-day job, but not so much. I got your in media fucking res right here:



I will say that as distracting as construction is, it's exactly that. Distracting me and taking my mind off of all the shit that's going on.

So, yeah. Everything's to be continued. Argh.

A No Good, Very Bad (Mon)day

Ugh.

Well, good things first. Yesterday was beautiful as promised and I managed to put away the hose and lawnmower for the year and take out about half the screens. I was surprised at how much more light comes through after taking out the screens and washing the windows. Dinner with JewishMom was also very nice. We had barely seen each other all summer and it was good to catch up. In addition, the Sox and Pats both won. The Packer lost, but you can't get them all, I suppose.

Today, however, has SUCKED. First off, it's been gray and drizzly ALL DAMN DAY. Secondly, my run, which I thought was going well, ended up being a terrible 27:19 5K. Then to top it all off, Sensei sent a note around noon saying he wasn't going to be there for the adult class tonight. There's yet another couple days I have to wait for my brown belt test while fucking FakeDaughter fucking smirks at the purple belts who are a HELL of a lot better than her.

So...yeah. Sucktitious Monday here, folks. God, I can't wait for it to be over.

Next up: Whether Kermit the Kontractor shows up tomorrow and my tub actually gets fixed after being broken for a YEAR.

Boring Weekend

The other awesome thing about Friday that I forgot to mention was the fact that it was sunnny, dry, and EIGHTY-TWO FUCKING DEGREES. In the Adirondacks. In October. Awesome. Not so awesome? Having Mr. Z run me through my kata later that night and finding out that I've forgotten about four of the middle kata. Well, didn't forget completely, but extremely rusty on them.

Also not awesome? Trying to get back into running after nearly a month off. Friday I ran 5K in 27:31. That's over two minutes off my PR, but staying under 28 after being out of it that long isn't bad, and I got it down to 27:05 yesterday. I should be back to my old sub 25:30 times before too long.

Yesterday it poured (and thundered at times) all day, so between that and angsting over the Mr. Z situation, I did absolutely nothing aside from the running. Seriously. I started off strong, with the running and a little vacuuming and even some reading, and then 2:00 hit and it was Couch Potato City and I was the mayor.

Today is supposed to be a beautiful fall day - dry, sunny and 50's, so I'm doing some of my winterizing projects. The duvet and kitchen rug are in the washer for one last wash (they can't go in the dryer and have to dry outside) and since I already did the last mow of the year I'm going to hose down the lawnmower and bring it in. I'm also going to start taking the screens off of the windows I don't usually open. Window washing, trimming down the garden, and doing one last hedge trimming before I bring THAT in for the year are next, but I'm not sure if I'll get to them.

And...while I was writing this JewishMom called. We'll be getting together for pizza and perhaps a movie tonight. Coolness. I need to get out of the fucking house.

Postivia

Well the handyman Dr. Z recommended not only showed up when he said he would - he was EARLY! On top of that, he fixed three doors that needed realigning due to settling for TWENTY BUCKS. That's right. Less than $7 a door. You rule, Ed.

In other good news, hey, it's FRIDAY! Yay! Nothing planned for this weekend and I'm alright with that. The forecast has changed from unseasonably warm and sunny to rainy and cool anyway. Maybe I'll do more house projects.

And so it goes...

Not much has happened since Monday. I did find out on Tuesday from Mr. Z that Sensei is considering promoting me to brown belt again. I thought it might happen last night since that's about the amount of warning one gets, but Sensei didn't say a thing about it. We sparred last night and ClimbingSensei clocked me good on the back of the head. I had to take a couple seconds to shake off the stars. RetiredSensei wasn't wearing a shirt under his gi and I had the disturbing revelation that at 65 (or so) he has an amazing chest that most 30 year old men would kill for.

Managed to get ahold of the handyman yesterday to fix the doors (and potentially the support walls outside that need to be remortared.) He's supposed to come by around 11. I also pinged Kermit the Kontractor about replacing my tub, but we'll see if it happens in the next two weeks like he originally promised. I've now been tubless for a year.

Well, that's it for now. We'll see what today brings.

Coming Back with a Vent

Wow...I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize that I hadn't posted at ALL in September. Well, I'm back, but having the shittiest week in a long time (and it's only Tuesday morning).

Good stuff first: The Colorado trip was pretty awesome. I climbed my first 14er, which was tough but so worth it. It was only Dr. Z, Slave2Fashion and I, unfortunately. Three people just isn't enough when they're the only ones you're going to see for five days.

Now all the bad shit. In barely over twelve hours, I shit you not, I found out that FakeDaughter got promoted to brown belt while I was gone, Dr. Z and I had a major falling out (I still don't know what's going to happen), and my Title Insurance just got back to me saying they don't have to help me with the Zoning Board issue.

First, FakeDaughter. It was bad enough when Sensei hurried to promote her to my level and then said we couldn't spar, but giving (and I do mean giving) her a brown belt when he said *I* wasn't ready was a real slap in the face. And I feel like by waiting until I was gone he went behind my back so that he'd be able to promote her first. When I saw her belt last night I literally had to go to the ladies room to compose myself.

Then after class I had it out with Dr. Z. I won't go into it except to say I finally called him on all the bullshit he's put me through in the past year. Once again, I have no idea if I'm going to retain my one close friend here or not.

Oh, and in addition I found out yesterday that I have no choice but to go under general anastesia for my surgery at the end of the month. This despite the fact that I have a history or horrible recovery from it.

So like I said, suckiest week ever.

Last Busy Weekend

Well, this was the last busy weekend of the summer. Sigh. We had our last canoe race of the year on Saturday. It was awesome - we took 8 minutes off last year's time and that was with a nasty headwind. (Yes, two extremely windy races in a row. Ouch.) In addition, I somehow reinjured my wrist two days before. Amazingly enough I was still able to paddle. My wrist certainly isn't happy with me today, though.

MomTook was supposed to come up in the afternoon, but because it was the first hot enough weekend day of the year, they had decided to put some turkey in the smoker and she had to watch it since Geritol was out. I ended up coming down for dinner. I had never had smoked meat before, and...wow. It was turkey breast, which is usually the driest meat on earth, but this stuff was so juicy and tender it practically fell apart. Yum! I got to take some home with me and I can't wait to make a sandwich with it.

Sunday was a monster hike up Noonmark. We ended up getting rained on, but made pretty good time. It was the longest hike I've done all year. My legs were killing me, but then I realized that I had run a ridiculous amount last week and my muscles needed a break. Hence today I will be only walking into town to buy VeggieSis's birthday gift.

Farewell, Fun Runs

Today was the last Fun Run of the season. Sigh. I did pretty well - did the 8K route in 42:01. It was a meatgrinder of a course. I do not exaggerate when I say that the entire first 4K was uphill, and not a gentle climb either. The one good thing is that it was an "out and back" route, so the entire second half was downhill, which is where I finally got ahead of a guy I had been chasing the entire first half. (Not by much though. He was only 30 seconds or so behind me at the end.) Everyone else was either way behind or way ahead of me, which has been the case most of the season - I'm a better than the casual runners, but nowhere near the raving lunatics. Lex Luthor said I did amazing for my first year, which is high praise coming from a hardcore runner like her.

It was just hard to believe that I won't see her, FakeGay, Coach Hottie, or the track teams till next July. It's also sad because it's the first summer activity to come to an end.

Not that I'm going to stop running anytime soon, of course. Even up here there's still plenty of warm enough weather to continue for quite a while before I take it inside.

Hump Day

I usually hate the phrase "hump day," but this week feels like I am indeed trying to get over a mountain and over to the downhill known as "the weekend." I can't believe it's only freakin' Wednesday. (The fact that it's cool and overcast doesn't help.)

Made my calls to the contractors yesterday. IronDad promised to show up this week. Turns out there was a nasty storm upstate so he's been by the border cleaning that up. Kermit the Kontractor still hasn't returned my voicemail.

Dr. Z and I got a new personal best around the lake last night - under 26 minutes to complete a lap. Yay! Of course, we almost got rammed by a couple who obviously didn't know how to steer a canoe. I canNOT wait for the tourists to leave. Two more weeks.

Tomorrow is the last fun run of the season, followed by Saturday being the last canoe race. I can't believe summer is coming to an end already!

I Hate Contractors

Since nothing much happened yesterday, I'm going to bitch about contractors, this rant being brought to you by seeing Kermit the Kontractor's truck parked in SneakyNeighbor's driveway across the street.

First of all, I've been waiting since last OCTOBER for my tub to be fixed. Yes folks, I haven't had a bath in NINE MONTHS. (I DO shower, so save the BO comments.) I saw Kermit a couple weeks ago (only because I was outside about to go for my run and he was once again parked across the street, not because HE EVER CONTACTS ME) and he said he'd be around soon to fix the tub. STILL hasn't come. I know it's the busy season for contractors, but maybe he should have kicked Tony the Tub Guy's ass back in winter.

Secondly, IronDad STILL hasn't shown up to look at the two dead trees in my yard. It's been a MONTH. Once again, I know he's busy but godDAMN. Unfortunately, because he's also a friend I can't really yell at him.

In any case, I'm going to force myself to call both of them today.

Man, I have GOT to learn how to do this shit myself.

Blech...Monday

Had a ridiculously busy weekend. Friday night was Karate and italian with Dr. Z, as usual. Saturday was the toughest canoe race in my life. Not only was it freezing cold with windchills in the 40's, the wind was so bad that three boats capsized. And these were three hard-core racers who know how to paddle. The one other couple in our class beat us, but our terrible trim really sets us behind on windy days.

Got home late Saturday afternoon in time to have Celena pick up my old hand-powered lawnmower. It's nice to get it out of my yard now that I have an electric. Barely had time to eat supper and relax before the Mole called me. We hadn't talked in a while and ended up chatting for like two hours. By the time I got off the phone it was almost bedtime.

Yesterday was hiking. Unfortunately Dr. Z wasn't feeling well so we kept it short. (He, of course, was far too stubborn to call it off despite the fact that he's STILL sick today.) We chilled and watched television in the afternoon until I kicked him out to go have dinner with MomTook and BabySis. It was delish, the redone kitchen looks amazing, and it was great to see BabySis. Once again, I got home just in time to catch the season finale of Ice Road Truckers and then hit the hay.

So far it's been a quiet Monday. Thank God...I need the rest!

I Deserve a Good Paddling

Just spoke to Grace over at Mac's and my paddle will be ready for Dr. Z to pick up at noon. She still hasn't cut it - guess it's the whole Adirondack pace thing. (Considering I need it for tomorrow's race.)

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to having my own racing paddle. Not only will it be lighter and sized more appropriately than my old laminate one, it will be one less thing I have to borrow from Dr. Z.

Still haven't gone for a run. It's a beautiful cool, crisp day, which means I can give my legs a rest and go later without frying in the heat. (And yes, up here you can feel autumn and the leaves start changing in mid-August.)

Other than that, it's shaping up to be a quiet Friday, which is not a bad thing.

Hurlage

Just got back from the Fun Run. Although my time was still better than the last time we ran this particular course, my stomach was bothering me the entire time. And I, Pip, for the first time ever, crossed the finish line and puked. Yeppers. Hurlage. Blowing chunks. The technicolor yawn.

I think it was the popcorn. I ate a bag of microwave popcorn around three. I thought three hours would be plenty of time to digest, but I guess the "extra butter" part takes a bit longer.

In other news, I bought a graphite racing paddle after the Sundowner on Tuesday. Although they said "no problem" to getting it cut to size before Saturday's race, I STILL haven't heard back from them. Considering it's Thursday night and they're all the way out in Lake Clear, I am NOT impressed. I will have to call tomorrow. And most likely make a hell of a long trip. (Which is better than if they call and the damn thing's not ready.)

Sigh

Well, it's been a shitty couple of days. Last night I got to Karate after reviewing kata all day for my brown belt test only to have Sensei pull me aside almost immediately. I thought it was to officially tell me that he'd be looking at me tonight, but turns out FakeDaughter thinks I've been hitting her too hard in the ring and doing it on purpose. Like I would have something against a twelve year old kid young enough to be my daughter. He told me he wanted to talk to me, her and Dr. Z after class, so I assumed the test was off.

Wrong-o. After being forced to run warm-up yet AGAIN and getting through class, turns out it's on. Too bad I failed for some unknown reason. I mean, last time this happened I forgot a kata, so at least I knew what I had to work on. This time, I did the katas I was asked, and thought I did pretty damn good at them. So after failing and trying to hold back tears, THEN I get to get yelled at for going too hard on FakeDaughter in the ring.

Then today I only knocked off 13 seconds from my 10K time despite the weather being that perfect cool and dry weather where personal bests are set. I know a big part of it is that my leg muscles are really sore, but between that, the bad race result on Sunday and last night's debacle it makes me wonder what the hell I'm spending an average of three hours a day training for.

Weeks like this just make me want to be a couch potato. Sigh.

Ack! TWO WEEKS?

Augh...can't believe it's been two weeks since I've updated. I have a legitimate excuse though. We had the rare dry hot spell all last week, so I used it to FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY stain the deck and porch. And now that I've gotten up close and personal with the sanding and staining, I can tell you that pressure-treated wood will indeed become water-damaged if not sealed. That wood just drank up the stain. It looks great though - I am really happy with it! However, it just took hours and hours to do, thanks to all the 2x2 railings. Exhausting!

In running, I had two awful weeks at the Fun Runs thanks mainly to the same heat. Finally got back up to speed (pun intended) tonight and cranked out 4.2 very hilly miles in 32:25. I definitely needed it as I was getting discouraged.

Had a canoe race on Sunday which marked the one year anniversary of my canoe racing. Unfortunately we were the last boat in. Sigh. We did knock four minutes off our time from last year, so I suppose that's something.

And in other athletic news, I must retire for the evening because there's a high probability that I will be TESTING FOR MY BROWN BELT TOMORROW. Insanity!

Zoom!

Not much new since this weekend.

Monday and yesterday were both very boring, which is probably what I needed after a weekend that included a canoe race and the Ironman.

The only real news is that I did break my personal best on the 3.6 mile route yesterday - 30:17, baby! I'm taking a break today though because I am starting to get bad aches and pains in my legs. We'll see how the Fun Run goes tomorrow.

I also assembled and tried out my new electric lawnmower. It was a bit awkward at first because in my almost-thirty years I've never used a power mower, but it cuts SO much better than my old hand-powered one. Good thing, too. My lawn was starting to resemble a meadow. Now I just need to get out there and do the edging.

Awesome Weekend

Hey All,

Wow, what a weekend. Friday night I got all the way through Chinto with Mssrs. Z and S. Happiness! Of course, we'll see how much I retain.

Saturday I was up early for the first canoe race in over five weeks. To bad it sucked muchly. First of all, forget our specific class; there were NO other rec canoes at ALL. So now Dr. Z is all upset about probably having to move to stock class. Telling him that I went to the Wenonah website and priced the stocks at $2000 didn't help. Oops. I did offer to go in with him on it, seeing as it's only used for racing and I'm his partner. Secondly, the people running it were MORONS. They were SO disorganized (paperwork not there until right before the race, failing to give classes the correct start time, and an inability to read the results) it was ridiculous.

Sunday I went for an early morning hike up Ampersand. It was perfect timing because I left just as the IronPeople were getting out of the water. The bike route is a terrible time for cheering/spectating/etc because they get really spread out over the 112 miles and you only see them for an instant. We ate lunch at a new outdoor grill/cafe place and then I was able to watch the marathon section with JewishMom. It was great. I took a break from 5-8, and then headed up to the skating rink to watch the IronPeople come in. It was SO much fun.

Rain...Still...

Yep folks, it's still raining. And not yesterday's "patchy rain with sun peeking out occasionally" rain but "dark and gray and soul-sucking neverending rain."

Had sparring last night in Karate, as predicted. I did eehhh...accidentally hit FakeDaughter in the eye several times. Don't know what the hell was up with that. I was trying to avoid it but it was like she kept hitting me in the fist with her eye. Got ten pushups for that one.

Went out to SL for lunch with Dr. Z. The hotel restaurant we usually eat at out there has gone to pot under the new management, so we'll be switching over to Granola Healthy Restaurant in the future.

Still haven't decided about this week's Fun Run. I hate to miss two weeks in a row, but it's pissing out and their routes are always a stretch for me. Combine those two and it's a good recipe for getting sick right before our first canoe race in five weeks. I'm leaning towards not going, but I know Dr. Z will be disappointed.

Rainy Wednesday

Not much new...the Sundowner time trial went fairly well. Dr. Z and I posted a 59 minute 6-miler, which is a good time for us. It was definitely a good practice for Saturday's race.

My title insurance actually got back to me yesterday. I nearly had a heart attack that somebody actually responded to me with The House Thing. Maybe I can finally get started on putting this whole thing behind me once and for all.

Didn't go for a run this morning. I was supposed to do a light 2-mile jog but it's rainy and cold out and I'm feeling run down. I suspect my thyroid is off again, dammit. Unfortunately my next appointment isn't until September. Tonight will most likely be sparring night at Karate anyway, so I'll still get a good workout in.

Other than that, it's just a cold, rainy, boring Wednesday.

New 5K Personal Best!

Had Karate last night...not much new there, although I started learning Shinto. Oh. My. God. OVERLOAD. I'm psyched to be learning a new kata, but god DAMN am I going to be on this one for a while. Mr. Z made me feel really good by saying that my Gojushiho pattern was miles ahead of FakeDaughter's.

Ran my 5K route today for the first time in two weeks. (I've been doing a 3.6 mile route.) I blasted through my previous best of 28:26 with a time of 27:01. That's right, bitches. It's amazing because just a month or so ago I was trying desperately to break thirty.

Tonight's the first Sundowner Series paddle, whatever the hell it is. Mr. Z aren't sure, exactly. It's not really a formal race, per se. Oh well. It's paddling and that's all that matters.

Okay, break time's over. Back to work!

I Don't Feel Like Blogging

Don't know why, but lately I just haven't felt like blogging.

Anyway...

Picked up my new dresser and rug on Saturday. They both look awesome! I'm especially happy with how the rug looks in the living room. It's PERFECT. The dresser is a bit more particleboard than I'd like, but is the perfect size and style for my bedroom.

I also finally got a real lawnmower. It's electric instead of gas, but I think that will work out a lot better for me, especially with my teeny tiny lawn.

Went for a long hike with Dr. Z yesterday. We needed it though - we're severely undertrained for September's Colorado backpacking trip. The plan is to do a long hike once a week until it's time to leave.

Oh, also - received three more stripes in Karate on Friday. Found out that when FakeDaughter showed Sensei her katas, she received a total of four, so Dr. Z was a bit pissed (since he seems to think I'm better) and gave me three to match her rank. I'm going to work even harder on my katas and hopefully get ahead of her again.

In other news, I was sick as a dog last Wednesday. I managed to make it through work, but just barely. I crashed all evening. Not surprising since I had had body aches and a fever of 100 degrees all day. (Doesn't sound like much, but my temp usually runs around 96 on my thermometer.)

Alright, work is busy so enough updates.

Update (Mostly Bitching)

Went down to Connecticut for Fourth of July. It was a long (five hours each way) trip, but well worth it. I had an absolute blast, got to see my extended family for the first time in years, and got the hell out of Dodge, as the saying goes.

Shit has been stressful here. The situation with the house has reared its ugly head after months of nothing happening. In the meantime, neither Zoning Board member nor lawyer will return my letters or calls while Evil Neighbor keeps harassing me. Also, in the past month I've had to scoop up THREE piles of dogshit from my yard. Dr. Z says there's no dog deterrent and the only thing to do aside from fencing my yard in is to call Animal Control and rat out Evil Neighbor for letting his dogs run around unleashed.

Screwed up my kata in front of one of the senseis in class last week, preventing me from getting a promotion. What really bugs my shit is a.) this has bitten me in the ass before and b.) it will probably be forever until I get another chance. I am SO pissed off at myself.

Also, thanks to several unexpected medical and dental bills, I'm down to pretty much NO money until Monday.

Gee, aren't you glad I updated?

The Week So Far

Sunday, MomTook came over and we spent several hours planting the stuff I bought on Friday at the farmer's market. We also added two more buckets of horseshit for fertilizer as most of the flowerbeds are in sand. In addition, MomTook brought some evening primroses and a whole bunch of irises, which we used to fill out the south bed. I also went for a short paddle with Dr. Z. It was supposed to be two full laps around the lake, but I wore out too quickly. Guess those two weeks off affected me more than either of us thought.

Yesterday was work and karate. Nothing much of interest happened. (Except Sensei seems to be pushing more and more towards self-defense, which is making me nervous as I don't want to change schools, especially with the next-nearest ones so far away, but I don't want to be miserable either.)

Today is HOT. I mean, 88 degrees hot. My run was really tough, even though I went at 9:30. (It wasn't just the heat - it was very windy AND I stupidly didn't hydrate or eat beforehand.) Tonight is paddling - I'm sure the lake will be super-crowded with this weather, but it will still be awesome.

Oh, and just found out - CrazySis's bun in the oven is a BOY! Hooray and congratulations to her!

The Strongest Woman I Know

Okay...so...

Went hiking today with Dr. Z and JewishMother. It started off as normal, although it was my first long hike of the season.

About a third of the way up, a guy coming down tells us that a woman has seriously broken her leg near the summit and that the bone is nearly breaking through the skin. Dr. Z of course takes off at a dead run, having medical training. After clearing things with JewishMother, I ran up a rock face to catch up with him, figuring it would do no good to have the one person on the mountain with medical training injuring himself while rushing to help someone.

After sprinting about three miles and 2000 vertical feet we get there and a guy with at least first aid training has nicely splinted her leg and the group of a dozen hikers have covered her with coats. Seeing that she's shivering from shock, I add mine. Now, this woman has a tib-fib break so nasty it's nearly a compound AND SHE'S LAUGHING AND JOKING WITH EVERYONE. I mean, god DAMN. You'd need to hook me up to a morphine drip to be that comfortable with an injury like that. And this is a SIXTY YEAR OLD WOMAN. Wow.

Anyway, there were very high winds today, so we didn't think that they'd be able to Medivac her out, but low and behold, the chopper came. After some of the most impressive piloting I've seen, they get close enough to drop a guy out with a gurney. We get her in and then he has us basically line up along the trail and hand her up until they get to the copter. I'm at the bottom of the line so I don't see them get her in, but when they take off they have her HANGING OUT ALONGSIDE THE CHOPPER. Craziness. I thought they'd at least have her IN the copter with her head and feet hanging out. Afterwards, Dr. Z saw blood on his hands and think it might have been a compound (i.e. piercing the skin, i.e. VERY much worse). (Not that we were going to remove the Ace bandage to find out.)

We actually did end up finishing the hike after they flew her out, but even the amazing views were anti-climatic after that. All I can say is that I hope to be half as tough as this lady. Oh, and this mountain that took us almost all day because it's so long and steep? She told us that she does it as a "morning walk" in an hour and forty. WOW.

Randomania

So far it's been a fairly quiet week. Such is how it is for me in the summer. Just the nature of the job. Spent most of yesterday getting ready for next week's trip down to Atlanta. Now that I'm prepared I'm looking forward to it rather than dreading it.

Had sparring at Karate last night. TattoedButSweet and I went to kick at the same time and got tangled up. I ended up landing right on my lower back and pelvis and am still paying for it today. On the bright side, Sensei finally was free to help out the adult class and gave me mondo instruction on the art of fighting taller opponents. (He himself is only 5'4".)

Ran my 5K in 29:05 today. That was WITH high humidity and a stiff back. Unbelievable. Once I break 29:00 I'm going to slowly lengthen my run. I'm also bringing my training shoes with me to GA. (I called the hotel yesterday and confirmed they have a free gym with treadmills. It's going to be too damn hot and humid to run outside.)

Will hopefully be paddling after work seeing as I have a 9 mile race on Saturday. Don't know though - we had thunderstorms all afternoon and although they've left, the wind is still pretty fierce. We shall see.

Yes, Another Four Months Have Passed

Da-yumn. Where DID all the time go? Anyway, I'm not going to even bother to try to catch up since my last post. I'm just going to blog about today.

Dr. Z. stopped by during lunch to drop off some goldfish a client of his had given him. He very thoughtfully helped me get the tank started and the fish acclimated. I've named them "Rocky" and "Apollo" in light of the scales they're both missing from fighting. I just hope I don't kill them. So far the cats actually don't seem very interested in them at all. They must be more into birds, as they can't stop watching the feeder.

Very quiet at work so far this week, but a lot of people are on vacation and my manager PeppyBarb is offsite visiting a client. I'm trying to get ramped up on a new acount.

Other than that, it's a quiet Thursday. In the World of Sports, I ran my third sub-30 minute 5K in a row today. My new time seems to have stabilized around the 29:30 mark. I am very pleased. There will be paddling on the lake after work providing the weather holds.

Monday, Monday

Goddamn...yet again almost another month has passed by without my posting an update.

Well, let's see, today I scheduled a root canal and have to see my accountant. Is that a Monday or what?

In other news, I completed my first road trip last weekend. I went down to Boston to see my endocrinologist. Thanks to the endof the month sneaking up on me I didn't have time to plan a proper trip. I did however get to see StarWarsGeek. He kindly let me crash on his futon and we got to watch Battlestar Gallactica together just like the old days.

Yesterday I went over to MomTook's house to visit with her, CrazySis and PoopsaLot. The original plan was for everyone to come over to my place to save CrazySis the trip in her iffy car, but both of us have cabin fever in a major way, so we overrode MomTook and went down to Lewis. It was a blast and CrazySis made these insanely good brownies.

I don't know how to end this, so...The End.

ACK! A MONTH!

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I knew it had been some time since I've posted, but DAMN.

Let's see...PhillieFan is long gone, having fixed all the drywall cracks. He (or someone from Kermit the Kontractor's team) will be returning though, as several more have popped up in the old ones' place. (Including in two corners of the LIVING ROOM, which I already PAINTED.) Not much else new with the house.

Went to the Saranac Lake Winter Festival the other week. Picked up a cute purple scarf at the craft fair and...HELLO, CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL.

And..oh yeah...THREE FEET OF SNOW IN 24 HOURS. The HELL? After two days straight of shoveling I am SORE, people. And that's with my neighbor snowblowing my driveway and Dr. Z coming by yesterday to help me shovel and dig out my car. The best part is that although the snow has finally stopped,, shoveling is still pointless because of the damn wind. ARGH.

Friday! WOOHOO!!

Thank GOD it is finally Friday, even if I am on call all week. (So far I'm 2 for 3, getting paged in the middle of the night Tuesday and Wednesday but not last night.)

Wednesday was pretty awesome. I met Dr. Z at Dunkin Donuts for some pre-surgery caffeine and sugar. At first there was panic, as a water main had broke, leaving DD unable to brew more coffee. I got the second-to-last cup of the high-octane stuff. While we were eating, we saw SuzieQ.

Surgery day itself was pretty cool. Since I had never even seen surgery before, I really didn't do much other than keep Dr. Z company and turn off the anaestesia when he told me to. Hopefully next time I'll be slightly more useful. When I started my car up to go home, the Check Engine light came on. I was still able to get home, but aggravated that I was going to have to take it all the way to E-Town to get fixed.

Yesterday was really busy. Work is just piling up - a far cry from last week when I had just about caught up on everything. PhillieFan came and put another coat of plaster up. The drywall looks SO much better now. I started up the car and no more light, thank God. Turns out it was just the supercold (-30) weather we had had the other day. To replace it, my washing machine decided to stop taking in cold water - it will only fill with hot. I called at noon and Sears rockingly said they would have someone here TODAY to look at it. Not so rocking? The window. He'll be here between 8 and 5. Good thing I work from home. Yeesh.

God Inc. Episode Four

The latest episode of God, Inc. is up. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Taf3KI09WFM&eurl=

In other news, PhillieFan is now three hours late. I love contractors. Also, the mailman left me a nastygram because the pathway isn't shoveled when IF HE USED THE ONE COMING FROM THE DRIVEWAY IT WOULD BE. I hope he slips and falls. Just not, you know, on MY property.

I Hate Icestorms

Well, IronMom finally called at 7:00 on Friday night to say she couldn't make it to Karate, so I spent a wild Friday night watching my Scrubs DVDs. Am I a party animal or WHAT?

Saturday was really very quiet. I hung around the house in case PhillieFan showed up, which he never did. I only left to make a quick run to the dump. Saturday night was spent at Momtook's house for a birthday dinner for Geritol and VeggieBro-in-Law.

Sunday I spoke with Mr. Partridge about my legal issue with my house. He used to be on the Zoning Board so he was able to give me some actual names to contact. (As opposed to my two UNANSWERED letters addressed simply to the Zoning Board.) The rest of the day was pretty much watching the playoffs. The Bears won, which, boo, because now New Orleans will have to face them, but the Pats won so yay.

And this morning what started off as a picturesque snowfall turned into a nasty icestorm. (Which was REALLY fun driving to the drugstore in.) Hopefully it will be over and the roads cleared before Karate tonight. Other than that it's work, work work. Boy do I miss getting MLK Day off.

YAY! FRIDAY!

Well, PhillieFan showed up...8:30 instead of 7:30, but I was still happy. The drywall cracks are really coming around. PhillieFan also said he'll be back tomorrow if Kermit the Kontractor sends him to Lake Placid. (I guess they're working four different job sites right now.)

Work was crazybusy - I'm in the middle of an insane audit. At least it made the day pass quickly, even though I didn't tie up as many loose ends before the weekend as I was hoping to.

It hit 34 today, so I went for a run. Did 5K in 32:22, which isn't bad considering it's been too cold to run since Monday and Karate's been low-key, cardio-wise.

Also got a call from Dr. Z. He made it out of the wilderness and "cheated death once again" as he likes to say. He's started heading home in the pouring rain.

Other than that, it's finishing up work and waiting to hear from IronMom as to whether she's going to Karate tonight or not.

Same Old, Same Old

It's been a very quiet week, with everything kind of in limbo. However, one of the "limbo" items finally had some movement when one of Kermit the Kontractor's guys, PhillieFan, came over to do more work on the drywall cracks after no one had showed up since BlueEyes made a brief appearance last Wednesday. Hopefully he'll be back tomorrow morning as he promised. I know this is how contractors work but it's STILL annoying as hell.

In other limbo news, there were a bunch of children's promotions at Karate last night, but I'm still at green belt. However, Sensei looked at my kata and said it was much better than the first time he saw it. Hopefully that means I'll finally get my blue belt promotion soon. Although I usually don't care about rank, every time I put on that green belt now I'm reminded about how I screwed up my test, so I just want to be able to put it all behind me.

Also, I got a postcard from Dr. Z, Marcus and FNG today. (My backpacking buddies from the Colorado trip.) It was a very nice surprise. Man do I wish I was canoeing down the Buffalo with them.

Best Show Ever

God Inc.

The "episodes" are 5-6 minute clips on YouTube, but they are BRILLIANT. There's three so far:

Episode 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2f4heaG288&NR

Episode 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySqceK4SUi0&NR

Episode 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gx_EYv8JYI&eurl=

Go. Watch.

Back...Again

Well, I'm back again, this time with a New Year's resolution to post at least weekly.

It's been a fairly quiet week. Kermit the Kontractor sent one of his guys to fix the drywall cracks on the second floor. (It's from shrinkage (...hee) as the drywall and plaster dry out.) He's been in and out all week, but didn't come by yesterday, but that's how contractors roll. Of course, Kermit STILL hasn't found someone to fix the damn tub. It's only been over 2 and a half months now. Gah!

Doctor Z is leaving for his annual canoe trip, so no Karate class tonight. I was going to ask IronMom if she was planning to be there (since she's the only other one who ever shows up), but she wasn't in class yesterday. Oh well.

Tomorrow's supposed to be a washout (like today), but Sunday looks 40 and sunny. I sent an e-mail to JewishMother to see if she wanted to go hiking. I really hope she says yes.

Almost Friday

Not much went on today. There was road construction all day long (how unusual...not) that made the house shake but that's about it. Looks like they're getting ready to pave the first five or so meters of everyone's driveway. Since mine is gravel you'll get no complaints from me. It was loud though. I will be so happy to never hear heavy equipment or power tools again.

The weather was absolutely beautiful - 50's and sunny, which is hella unusual for this time of year. Perhaps it's compensation for the sucktacular summer and fall we had. I went for a short walk during lunch, which was lovely.

Well, not much else going on. So far I've made it through two nights on call without being paged. I had insomnia last night so I'm praying to make it three.

WOOHOO!!!

Let's see. Yesterday I was nearly in tears because

1.) I was SO stressed out about work

2.) I found a whole bunch of new what-had-BETTER-be settling cracks upstairs, causing me to spend hours on the web attempting to find more information and frantically looking up inspectors because I was freaked out about structural issues.

Well today I'm STILL worried that my house may be doing more than just settling, but:

1.) Work is now under control. Busy, but under control.

2.) DEMOCRATS in the HIZZOUSE!!!

• House is now under Democrat majority.
• Senate is tied.
• Governorships is now under Democrat majority.
• Rumsfield is GONE.

It is a Good Day.

Monday Already?

Didn't get to post on Friday due to having to actually, you know, work. I went to a fundraiser for the local humane society. It wasn't one of those super-fancy fundraisers - pretty casual. It was a lot of fun except for the "concert" which featured local college kids, some of whom needed more, erm, practice.

Saturday was pretty much a lazy day. Dr. Z and I watched a bunch of "The Adventures of Pete & Pete" episodes back to back. (P & P is a very bizarre but most excellent show that lasted on Nickelodeon for three seasons back in the early Nineties.)

Sunday I went out to Plattsburgh with MomTook and FINALLY bought a new television to replace my broken one that's had a horribly blurry, sometimes hourglass-shaped picture for TWO YEARS. This means I get to make my First Trip Ever to the dump to get rid of the old television.

So now it's Monday again. Sigh. Nothing much new foreseen for today - work, Karate training and Monday Night Football with Dr. Z. An average Monday.

She's Baaaaack

Well after being gone for nearly seven months I've decided to dust off the ole' blog and at least attempt the occasional entry or two. To keep it short, since April I've:

• Bought my first house
• Moved five hours away
• Bought my first car
• Learned how to drive
• Took up canoeing and started paddling competitively
• Went on my first backpacking trip - five days in the Colorado Rockies
• Received a promotion
• Took up Shorin Ryu Karate and gotten to green belt
• Attended my sister's wedding

Suffice it to say, I've been FREAKING BUSY here, people.

Whew.

LiveBlog of Scrubs

This one's for Jay...

8:33: Church choir...hee. Cox's "spiritual" dancing...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

8:35: Baby Dominoes - Bwahahahahahahahahaha!!!

8:36: Constant pages...ouch. That's hitting a bit TOO close to home.

8:39: "Inflatable five!" Oh how I love The Todd.

8:41: "Maniac" in barbershop quartet with Ted pouring water down himself? Brilliant.

8:45: Love the Wizard of Oz, although "thanks" for getting "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" stuck in my head.

8:47: "And where do we meet up in heaven?"
"BY THE MILKSHAKE POOL ON THE LESBIAN CLOUD!!!"
"I love religion."
Best exchange ever.

8:49: "DEAD PEOPLE SHOULD BE DEAD!!!!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!

8:55: Okay, can someone get the tissues? God DAMN I hate this show sometimes! And...wow does "Ted" have a great voice.

Closer to Success...

I just found out that my offer on the house I want has been unofficially accepted, which is great news. My realtor and the contractor (it's a new build) are just hashing out contract details. I should be in escrow within 24 hours. I am SO psyched! I found out the flooring allowance - I've chosen light bamboo for the first floor and will go with beige-ish carpeting (still needs to be picked out) upstairs. The benefits of buying a house while it's still being built. I also found out that the countertops will be tile. It's more work, but I really do prefer the look.

In driving news, I had my third lesson today. Hill stops and main roads were the lessons of the day. I'm FINALLY at the point where although I'm still not a great or even good driver, I'd feel comfortable getting behind the wheel and practicing by myself.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be calling a lawyer and house inspector.

Notes from a Greyhound

Dear Big Black and Canadian:

Your phone is in fact NOT surgicially attached to your ear. You do not need to talk on it for five hours straight. Shut that shit off before I ram your cellphone so far down your throat that your doctorcan use its camera for your next colonoscopy.

Thanks,
The girl across from you who keeps giving dirty looks


Dear Travelling Suit:

This may be difficult to believe, but your precious luggage doesn't get its own seat on a full bus. If you really want it to ride in comfort I'll be happy to stow you in cargo.

Thanks,
A light packer


Dear Headache:

I'm so glad you returned. After all, I hadn't seen you since yesterday and really missed you. I assume Big, Black and Canadian invited you. Good thing I have no Advil on me.

Go away,
Pip


Dear Girl in Front of Me:

Thanks so much for getting on your cellphone as well. Now I have annoying phone conversations in stereo sound.

Shut up,
Pip


Dear Lead-in-the-Ass:

While we're all relieved that you are obviously concerned about your passengers's safety as evidenced by your refusal to go over -40 mph, we'd also all like to get back to Boston sometime before the next ice age. Please pick up the damn pace, especially since the highway is deserted. And no, the eighty-year-olds passing us do not count as "traffic."

Thanks,
A better driver than you.


Dear Cellphone Part Three:

Ah, I had forgotten: stereo sound is so Eighties. Thanks for correcting my oversight and giving me Cellphone Assholes's latest in full surround sound.

Not!
Me.

Quiet Weekend

Didn't do much over the weekend except take a ton of Dayquil and Nyquil, watch television and pray for death. I had to cancel on both StarWarsGeek Friday night and SevenofColorado last night.

I'm feeling better today, although probably won't be attempting Tae Kwon Do tonight. (Which is fine anyway because the cats will stage a coup if I don't go to the grocery store and buy more cat food before supper.)

Didn't Mean To Disappear

...but it's been a crazy month. Thanks to a huge project I was working 65-hour weeks while being on-call AND getting back into Tae Kwon Do by going six hours a week. The result?

I've managed to give myself the kind of flu where even after taking Nyquil and Dayquil for 24 hours my temperature is 99.3 degrees.

Better than the 101.4 it was, I suppose.

My Mom Rules

E-mail that showed up in my Inbox this morning after U2'a sweep of the Grammys:

--------

Hee hee -
Just wanted to congratulate you on all the awards your rock group took at the Grammy's last night. Be sure to let Bono know we're all very impressed!

Love MOM

--------

I love my mother.

Also: My appointment with the Famed Podiatrist that UsedCarSalesman recommended is this afternoon, so hopefully he can figure out what the hell is going on with my foot and I can get on the road to recovery. Stay tuned!

BlogSpot Hates Apple

This is my first post from my new iMac, and I have NO formatting options nor do I have the "Edit HTML" tab.

WHY must you hate Safari?

For SHAME, Blogspot!

How Life Is

Jay asked an excellent question: "So, other than your foot and your ass, how's life?"

The problem is that even when I AM healthly, my life is pretty damn boring. Now that I pretty much spend all day and night in my apartment, it's even moreso. It's funny - I never appreciated until now what a huge part of my life Tae Kwon Do really is. Of course, when I'm healthy I do spend about 15 hours a week there.

So...how's life? Outside of either setting up, waiting for, or going to doctors' appointments (which would fall under the "foot" category), pretty much it's just work, television and the occasional dinner with SevenofColorado or StarWarsGeek. In other words, fine, but dull.

Another Techie Question

I still haven't dealt with the last techie question (getting digital feed to work for my DVD audio), but have another one:

How can I get my damn PC to play nice on my Mac Airport router with WEP enabled? Right now I'm wide open, which scares the HELL out of me, even with setting the unit power to 50%. If I had my own house, it wouldn't be a big deal but I live in a large apartment complex. I can only get it to work without WEP.

HELP!

Happy February!

Although I don't usually quote Garfield, he was right in that "February is the Monday of months."

Not much new here. Most of this week has been spent waiting for my podiatrist appointment on Friday. The anti-inflammatory (basically prescription-strength Aleve) he prescribed doesn't seem to be doing much. Maybe now he'll actually, I don't know, RUN SOME TESTS. It's frustrating - I've had six different doctors either scratch their head or throw a prescription at me , which would be fine IF THEY WORKED. At this point, I'll be happy to at least start definitively ruling shit out. (Like the ARTHRITIS you SCARED ME HALF TO DEATH WITH before telling me to come back a WEEK AND A HALF LATER. Like, nice TO BE CONTINUED, DOCTOR, but I don't want a part in your heart-stopping SERIAL.)

I'm going to tell him, "Look, I realize you can't fix this until you know what it is, so let's get with the diagnosing, okay? Tests, biopsies, scans...bring it on. PLEASE." And if he gives me a referral to a rhuematologist like he was hinting at last time, I'm going to force him to run at least some basic RA and gout tests before I waste my time waiting for ANOTHER specialist to be able to fit me in his schedule.

My toes don't hurt, just look bad, but I seem to have a huge pain in my ASS. *grins*

My Weekend

Friday after work I went to the other Apple store to try my luck again. I had to wait a bit, but once I got someone, she stood there for a good half hour at least answering all my questions. I walked out with an iMac, Microsoft Office, a 3 year extended warranty, a subscription to mac.com, and a nearly $1800 charge on my credit card. Ouch. Can I just say how much I love it though? Since everything is contained in the flatscreen monitor (kinda like a tablet PC on a stand), it takes up like no room. The keyboard has not one but TWO USB ports to plug stuff into. (Something I have looked for for months in the PC world). The keyboard and mouse also work with my work laptop so I'm no longer killing my back.

StarWarsGeek picked me up since he wanted to see my new toy and we were going to watch Battlestar Galactica. It was wicked easy to set up. That was also the last time I really played with it since I can't use the Internet with it while on-call until I buy a router. Battlestar Galactica sucked (for them) by the way. Next week has mucho Starbuck, which, yay! Unfortunately the preview has her suddenly turning into an alkie, which...WHAT? I *hate* character assassination. It's why I stopped watching ST:DS9 after they turned Kira into a high heel wearing softie.

I was paged at 2 Friday night and stayed on the phone until four. Not usually a problem on the weekend, but I had to be up at eight for a facial. (Yeah, I know, but it was the only time she could fit me in and I was't expecting to be up all night.) I was the living dead but the facial was great. However, people need to stop asking about the pain of my piercings and tattoos because...well, piercings are over in an instant and tattoos have nothing on the pain of what they call "extraction." (I.e. They squeeze out all and any gunk in your pores.)

Came home and chilled out for a while. I ended up going to bed pretty early since I was so sleep-deprived. I slept for ten hours. Luckily I was much more productive yesterday - did laundry, grocery shipping, the bills, cleared off a spot on my desk for my new iMac, and even gave myself a manicure.

As for today, well, they call it "Monday" for a reason.

Yum!

My Indian neighbors are cooking some garlicky curry type thing. It smells too good for me to be mad about it infiltrating my entire apartment. I'm tempted to knock on their door and get the recipe. If they weren't, you know, busy cooking and eating dinner.

Ignorance can be Bliss

I went to the podiatrist yesterday. Seems that what started out as a "small infection that should start clearing up in a couple days" a month ago is actually "inflammation that along with chronic hip pain points towards fibromyalgia or arthritis."

I've been put on prescription-strength Aleve for the inflammation and have to go back next Friday, but the doctor's already mentioned going to a rhuematologist. Joy.

On a brighter note - tonight is dinner night with SevenofColorado. Yay! And tomorrow I finally get to go to the tailor's and pick up my new clothes I bought last week. Double yay!

ER in the ER and Sucky Customer Service

It's certainly been an...interesting weekend here. Lump #2 was painful enough that I couldn't even wear sneakers comfortably, so I called the doctor. Unfortunately neither she nor the same-day clinic had any openings, so you know what that means. Yes, I went to the ER for the first time.

I have to admit I talked to some pretty cool people during my three hour wait - AnkleExpress, who ended up having sprained and possibly fractured her ankle in a spill down the stairs and was waiting in a wheelchair, CrazyGrandma, who had bandages from her feet to above the knees and despite being the most injured waited the longest, and NoPants, a nice-but-not-the-brightest-crayon-in-the-box type whose girlfriend had come in with a siezure.

I was finally called in and explained the whole story to the PA, who like the three doctors before her was baffled. She ended up writing a prescription for a different, broader spectrum antibiotic and instructed me to come back on Sunday to have it rechecked.

I pretty much took it easy the rest of the weekend, soaking my feet and watching television. My hair was driving me insane on Saturday, so I called a random salon on Newbury ST and begged for an appointment that day. I managed to get one with Giovanni, who did right by my hair. After the slaughter seven months ago I was very afraid but he did a great job.

Saturday night my personal laptop refused to boot up in anything but Safe Mode after a reboot for a Norton update. I decided to rectify this problem by finally making the switch to Mac. (My laptop is over five years old anyway.)

I went to the Apple store today and loitered around the laptops and desktops for HALF AN HOUR with no one saying as much as "I'll be with you in a minute." Now, I understand that it's Sunday and you're all busy, but I watched as people looking at $15 accessories were helped when I was looking to put down FIFTEEN Gs on a NEW COMPUTER. I finally left in disgust.

I then went back to the ER since I was already halfway there. It was really bizarre because the television in the waiting room was set to NBC, which played two back to back episodes of "ER." I only waited about 90 minutes this time and was taken back. I was put in the "splint room" for some reason. It was a two-bed room, with a car-accident victim in the other bed.

The PA reviewed my file and I explained that the antibiotics weren't helping. He took an x-ray and said there wasn't any infection in the joints, which is good. Unfortunately this means Doc #5 struck out too. He told me to finish the antibiotics, start using Lamisil in case it's fungal, and make an appointment with Podiatry because "They look at this kind of stuff all day." He told me to make sure to mention I was in the ER twice with this so that they would try to get me in sooner. Unfortunately he couldn't give me an ETA of their wait for appointments.

As I was getting my stuff together, I heard the Doctor Lecture going on behind the curtain. Seems that this kid (More ink than brains) was not wearing his seatbelt, but somehow miraculously had no more than some bumps, bruises, and strained muscles. The doctor likened the impact to falling from a four-storey building. Is it wrong that I think it would have been good if he had, maybe not nasty internal injuries, but some nice orthopedic injury to make him learn a lesson - say, a broken tib/fib or fractured ankle? I only say this because the kid was totally, "Uh...whatever, man" during the lecture. I really have a hard time believing that he's gonna start wearing a seatbelt.

So, yeah. Do I know how to party it up on the weekend or what?

I Rule, My Feet Suck

I managed to get up this morning at six and walk for an hour. (I would say at the crack of dawn, but it was still pitch black outside.) It was nice though - I walked along the beach and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Definitely made it worth waking up at an ungodly hour. (It wouldn't have been so bad, but my business line woke me up at 12:30 in the morning. They didn't even leave a message. I've become addicted to the caller ID on my business phone, but from now on that bad boy goes OFF at night.)

Also, my toe seems to have halted its onward growth of The Lumps That Won't Go Away. It's even, dare I say it, looking better. I've been soaking my foot in salt water hot enough to cook my toes, a trick I learned healing my piercings, and it seems to have helped. Unfortunately, I now have ANOTHER one on the big toe of my OTHER foot. I am PISSED. I actually suspected a couple days ago because the knuckle had started itching just like the other toe had in the beginning, but didn't look because I didn't want to even think about having the same problem all over again.

At least I already have an appointment with a supposedly excellent podiatrist set up, even if it's not until the ninth. In the meantime, my left foot will now be joining the other one in the soaks.

Sigh.

Restaurant Review

SevenofColorado and I went to Finian's in Quincy Center last night because I had a $20 "New Neighbor" coupon. That they sent after I had already been living in North Quincy for four months.

Unfortunately they probably NEED to send out these coupons. Our waitress was a very nice older woman, but horribly slow with the service. Also, the chicken fingers I ordered were drier than the Sahara. Even *I* can fry up some chicken fingers better than that.

The one saving grace was their Spanish Coffee, which was delicious. Or maybe that's just the Kahlua in it talking.

GO HUGH!

Major congratulations to Hugh Laurie for winning a Golden Globe. (Not to mention giving one of the funniest acceptance speeches I've ever heard. "I'm going to pick out three names. The rest of you can lump it." HEE!)

A/V Geek Question

I have successfully hooked up my cable box to my receiver, with my television receiving a composite video-only input. I attempted to hook up my DVD player to the receiver via a digital optical cable, but it didn't work, first giving me audio only, then nothing. I plugged in a composite A/V cable instead, which works. Although it won't make much difference for my old television I would strongly prefer to have digital sound.

So...what's going on? Anything I should check before I put out for another optical cable? (I can't think of where I went wrong. You plug one end in the optical output of the DVD player and the other in the receiver where it says "Digital Optical Input - DVD." Not exactly brain surgery.)

Another questionnaire

I don't know why I like these things so much, but here goes...

TEN Random Things You May Not Know About Me:

1) I once one a gold medal at a national level Tae Kwon Do tournament
2) I have a mild thyroid condition
3) I am deathly allergic to seafood to the point where touching shrimp has caused me to break out in hives.
4) I'm left-handed
5) When I was very young my great-grandparents babysat me while my mother worked.
6) I have seven (biological, adoptive, step and ex-step) grandmothers.
7) I was a scarily obsessed Star Trek geek as a teenager.
8) I remember nightmares I had as a four-year-old.
9) My little toes are both so messed up from sparring that they have almost no toenails.
10) I can wiggle my ears and flare my nostrils.

NINE Places I've Visited:
1) New York City
2) Spain
3) France
4) Texas (Austin and Houston)
5) Canada (Montreal and Vancouver)
6) Nebraska
7) Mexico
8) Caribbean (Barbados, St. Martin and Martinique)
9) Florida (Tampa, Fort Myers and South Beach)

EIGHT Ways to Win My Heart:
1) Flowers. I LOVE fresh flowers but never buy them for myself.
2) Know your football and baseball.
3) Make me laugh. For real. Funny is so important.
4) Cuddling. It's very stereotypical, I know, but we can cuddle WHILE watching football.
5) Like animals. Kick my cats and I kick you. Hard. Plus a man who volunteers at the local shelter and/or donates to the ASPCA is hott.
6) Distract me when I start obsessing over something I cannot change.
7) Be a little take-charge. Sometimes, those of us who have stronger personalities attract men who are a little passive, and while I understand that, it won't win my heart. I've broken up with some otherwise wonderful men because I had a bigger set than they did.
8) Be as much of a dork as I am. Watch Battlestar Galactica. Listen to embarrassing music. I don't have the time or knowledge to be cool.

SEVEN Things I Want to Do Before I Die:
1) Go to Ireland and Scotland, drinking REAL Guinness and standing on many remote cliffs overlooking the ocean.
2) Own my own place.
3) Take lessons, buy a car, and start driving again.
4) Find that special someone.
5) Become a fourth degree black belt. (That's Master level.)
6) Have a big birthday bash with all my best friends attending.
7) See David Bowie in concert.

SIX Things I'm Afraid Of:
1) Stinging insects - bees, hornets, wasps, etc. My biggest phobia by FAR. I freak the fuck out around those things.
2) Crowds - sets off my claustrophobia something fierce. (You would hate it too if you were only chest-high to everyone.)
3) Dying alone in my apartment, with no one knowing.
4) Losing friends and/or family.
5) Waking up from surgery still intubated.
6) Airplane takeoffs.

FIVE Things I Don't Like:
1) Insects.
2) Coconut.
3) Vertical blinds.
4) Bananas.
5) Tomatoes.

FOUR Ways to Turn Me Off:
1) Patronize me. I can have boobs AND understand football.
2) Not watch any television/be a PBS-only snob.
3) Have horrid grammar. I try not to be all grammar police on people, but constant egregious misuse of the English language drives me insane.
4) Be an Ugly American.

THREE Things I Do Every Day:
1) Stretch my back multiple times. I REALLY need to get a separate keyboard for my laptop.
2) Daydream about being swept away by one of my current male obsessions.
3) Eat something that only a twelve year old would consider "food."

TWO Things that Make Me Happy:
1) Walking around during the perfect night, with a crisp breeze and a full moon.
2) A good laugh, be it from a funny e-mail or witty conversion with a friend.

ONE Thing On My Mind Right Now:
1) How the hell am I going to arrange my surround speakers for decent acoustics in my weirdly-shaped living room?

Pardon Me While I Bitch

Sorry, but it's been one of those weeks:

1.) The tattoo thing still has me so angry that I can barely concentrate on work, so I haven't gotten much done this week. Plus, it's not like I can even FIX the tattoo until it's healed. What REALLY pisses me off is that there's "blowout" on one of the clock hands, which can't really be fixed. (Blowout is when the ink "bleeds" a bit, so it's not a nice sharp line.)

2.) My toe is looking even WORSE, so venting via Tae Kwon Do is STILL out of the question. Once again, I'm supposed to WAIT for it to magically clear up on its own. However, for this I'm going to call UsedCarSalesman, who said he knows an excellent podiatrist he's referred other people to.

Okay, bitching done. On the bright side, I'm hanging out with SevenofColorado tonight, which will be Most Fun. Also, tomorrow night is the new Battlestar Galactica episode. Yay!

ARGH!!!

Well, the "scabby, multicolored flakey" phase of my tattoo is finishing up and I am NOT happy. Check it:




No, not the color. That's just my camera being stupid. It's the missing spots of color. I am NOT happy. I know it's not the tatooist - as you saw, it looked great pre-healed. It just lost pieces of color during the healing process, which I've heard can happen. It is also easily fixable. I'm just really annoyed because now I have to trek all the way back out to Davis Square to get it touched up. (Not to mention go through the whole "can't sleep on my side for a week" thing again.)

Well, I have to let it finish healing anyway. Maybe once it's completely finished it will look better. Since my other tattoo is on my lower back, I couldn't inspect it as closely so I don't know if that went through the same thing.

I'm also not ecstatic about the shading.

CHRIS GARVER, WHERE ARE YOU?

New Ink!

This is for Liz, since she has a seeming inability to see photos attached in e-mail.

*grins evilly*

The Year in Review

Stole this off of Liz's blog because I don't feel like working:

1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?

Stayed by myself for a week in a city where I didn't speak the language.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Oh god...I always make all these grandiose resolutions and never end up keeping them. And of course I made more for this year. I believe I've already broken about four of them. *LOL*

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yep! CrazySis! Hence the introduction of Poopsalot.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Nope, thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit?

Spain and France.

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?

A car and a significant other.

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

November 4th, when I arrived in Madrid and KornGirl wasn't at the airport. Because it was the most terrified I ever was. Also September 11th and October 13th, when I tested for and received my black belt, respectively.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting my black belt.

9. What was your biggest failure?

My social life.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Well the saga of The Right Amount of Synthroid continues, but otherwise just one bad flu.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

The material for my duvet cover. LOVE!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

SevenOfColorado, for moving out to Boston.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

My father's. As always.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Well I live in Boston, so rent. Moving and the trip to Europe also ate up he-yuge chunks of money.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The movie adaptation of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe." Too bad the special effects disappointed. Some great sets though.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?"

"Somebody Told Me" by The Killers

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder - Hmmm...slightly sadder.
ii. thinner or fatter?-- About the same.
iii. richer or poorer?-- Thanks to inflation and no raise, actually poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Everything. Working on some big goals. I didn't accomplish much this year.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Watching television.

20. How will you be spending New Year's?

Alone at home. See above re: my social life.

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?

Not really, no.

23. How many one-night stands?

One.

24. What was your favorite TV program?

Toss up between Scrubs, House and Boston Legal.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

No.

26. What was the best book you read?

A Movaeable Feast.

27. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?

iTunes.

28. What did you want and get?

A redesigned bedroom. My black belt.

29. What did you want and not get?

Driving lessons and a car. My CISSP.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Oooh...tough one. For now I'll say King Kong.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I actually went home. Was supposed to do a 16-mile hike, but got rained out so we went shopping in Lake Placid instead.

.32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A relationship.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?

Work-from-home chic.

34. What kept you sane?

I'm not.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I love me some Jason Isaacs.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

The continued existence of the Patriot Act.

37. Who did you miss?

Sarah. Bitch moved out to Framingham and suddenly she's too good for me. We need to go on vacation so you can be a bad influence again!

38. Who was the best new person you met?

PoopsaLot.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005

Sometimes it's just not your year.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way. Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's DOA. It's like you're always stuck in second gear. When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month or even your year."

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Today was my first day back to work. I managed to sort through my e-mail last night, so although I was pretty busy today it wasn't too overwhelming. (Plus a fair amount of people took today off.)

The Handyman came and fixed my bedroom window, which had gotten stuck slightly open after I had flipped it down to clean the outside. (NOT a good thing in this weather.) He also looked at my water heater. He tinkered with it a bit, but didn't see anything wrong. I guess running out of hot water in the shower in fifteen minutes is NORMAL, even with a 40 gallon tank and a specialist being sent by building management because I was using so little water that they thought my meter was broken. *sighs* (Since it started out hot and got cold pretty fast, I was sure that the bottom element had burned out.)

And tonight I desperately need to go grocery shopping. All in all, a fairly typical Tuesday.

Happy Holidays

Hello Everyone!

Hope all those who celebrated had a wonderful Christmas. Also, happy Hanukah and Kwanzaa to everyone right now. I'd add in a happy Winter Solstice/Yule for the Pagans, but that I'd be pretty late on that.

I had a great time with MomTook and the sisters. I saw Poopsalot, who is an absolute delight and getting huger every day. I received much needed bedding, an iron, a set of canisters, a meat temperature fork (for the New Years Atkins plan), a shirt, a keychain, an iPod dock and neoprene cover (Babysis was in horrors when she found out mine was "naked"), and a Guinness glass. Everyone seemed to like my gifts, which is the true joy of gift exchanges after a certain age. MomTook stuffed us all and sent us home with food. Of course.

So now I'm home and on a vacation of doing nothing. It's wonderful and a good way to prepare for the New Year. That and, you know, not lose my vacation days.

Leaving on a Greyhound

Well, I didn't finish everything I wanted to, but I'm packed and ready to head Due North for Christmas. Some laundry, a couple work items, and I'm out of here. I wish anyone reading this a very happy holiday.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Aside from working like a dog all week, I was paged FOUR times last night, including once when I had just gotten downtown to finish up my Christmas shopping. I was in the middle of looking for a certain item for Dugan when my pager went off, which meant calling in, trekking all the way BACK to Quincy, working the problem, and trekking back INTO Boston.

I did manage to finish everything up, except that one item for Laura, which I had to give up on temporarily because unlike the other stuff I had to buy, I'm not sure where I'm going to find it.

Anyway, I have a kajillion things to do between today and when I leave for the North at 1:00 tomorrow. However, after that, it's a week off for me. Hooray!

Random Thought for the Day

I learned last night that heated car seats are very distracting to me, to say the least. An automobile should not be warming my loins for me.

No Creative Title Today

Last night's holiday party was an absolute blast. The company rented out the Museum of Science. The entrance to the hall was lined by waitstaff holding platters of glasses of wine. There was live music - harpsichord and violin. I also got to see former coworkers I haven't seen in months.

Ended up not having time to go to the doctor's today, but my ear is better. Unfortunately my toe is looking a bit worse instead of better despite the antibiotics, so it's back to the doctor at 5. lucky me.

LUSCIOUS!!

*dies laughing*

My favorite evil wizard has been profiled by Forbes. Bravo for the perfectly straight tone kept by the writer throughout the article.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/12/01/potter-malfoy-wealth_cx_de_05fict15_1201malfoyprofile.html

Thanks to Mer for posting this.

Medical Mayhaps

I haven't had to go to a doctor in over six months, but am now making up for it with a vengeance.

My toe was itching, swollen and red on Friday, so I went to the doctors when I woke up Saturday and it was even worse. After an hour of waiting, I found out that I had managed to get an infection. The doctor said that it was a good thing I came in because it was starting to spread and would have been a lot worse if I had waited even till Sunday. Antibiotics four times a day and no Tae Kwon Do for me.

Unfortunately I was stupid enough to not mention my month-long earache (because I was so annoyed about waiting for so long and my toe was THROBBING) and I woke up this morning with my ear hurting bad enough to make me eye my cat's Tresaderm drops. Guess I'll be calling AGAIN today. At least they can check my foot while I'm there. Sigh.

On a bright note, there's a company holiday party tonight. At the Museum of Science. How cool is that? I'm tempted to dress up since I live in jeans, working from home.

Dusting off the Blog

Sorry for the...gulp...two month absence. It's been a crazy fall, is all I can say. I'm not even going to try to cover everything that's happened.

Anyway, saw "King Kong" today with StarWarsGeek. Most excellent indeed. I was saddened to learn that Peter Jackson is now taking a (much deserved) year break as I am anxious to find out what his next project is going to be.

Also stumbled upon this, which is playing on television right now: Dracula 3000, starring Coolio and Casper Van Diem. Oh Sci-Fi Channel, how I love your staggeringly bad movies with even more staggeringly bad "stars."

(Best quote from IMDB regarding this film: "This is, by far, the single biggest waste of hours you could otherwise spend contemplating the importance of dish towels and their effect on your life." )

All Things Korean

I finally got my black belt yesterday. It's still hard to believe. It's a good thing that the belt has my name embroidered on it, else I'd be tempted to give it back saying, "This can't be mine!" I should have pictures soon - I didn't bring a camera, but some of the other people did and I should be getting copies.

I was looking forward to breaking the belt in today, but I was on the phone from 3-6 a.m. because the firewalls in Korea went down for the second time this week. I CANNOT wait till they are upgraded. I am SO TIRED right now. Thank GOD I'm no longer on call.

Spam Sucks

I have enabled word verification for comments in this blog. I didn't want to do it because I hate those stupid wavy letters too, but after getting two spam comments minutes after publishing my last post I decided it was time.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but blame the stupid spammers.

Fun, Excitement and Frustration

Fun:

I went up north this weekend with VeggieSis. Thanks to traffic and bad weather (and the fact that VeggieSis drives like a 75-year-old despite being 22), it took six hours to get to MomTook's house. The hike was called off because it was pouring rain all weekend, so we went to Lake Placid instead. (Dragging CrazySis away from her house and PoopsaLot, who should be renamed GrowsaLot.) We did some shopping, and I went a little crazy at the Gap Outlet.

Excitement:

I got a call from the TKD studio on Thursday. The Black Belt ceremony is TONIGHT! Woohoo! I still can't believe I'm actually a black belt now.

Frustration:

Ummm...*LOL* Now I can't remember what I was going to put under here. It definitely includes trying to plan my damn trip to Spain to visit KornGirl. (Very difficult since we only communicate over e-mail and there's the six hour time difference.)

These Are the People in Your Neighborhood

I haven't mentioned this, but a major shout-out needs to go to Neighbors 2.0 . They've been here for slightly over a month now and it's wonderful to have normal adult human beings as neighbors. I now officially love my place (Despite a dream last night that I was the only person in the building who did).

Also, I found out from one of the maintenance guys that they will eventually be converting the building to condos like its sister building on the other side of the parking lot. I walked by a realtor's office the other day and saw that I could afford a top-floor two bedroom apartment in the other building. Hopefully this means I will be able to purchase my current place which, although a corner apartment, is one bedroom and only on the fourth floor.

It's My Party

Thanks to everyone who's wished me a happy birthday. I'm blown over by the amount of e-mails, e-cards and in one case a very strange voicemail with a certain insane acquaintance singing "Happy Birthday" in Pig Latin.

Since it's a Wednesday, I don't really have any special plans. I DID go to the dentist today because of a really sore spot on my gums which turned out to be nothing. The hygenist thinks I got a popcorn kernel stuck in my gum and it went in deep and irritated it.

I had a birthday dinner last weekend with Caitism and SalemGirl and although was supposed to go up North to go hiking with MomTook, VeggieSis and BabySis this weekend and celebrate my birthday, it's been pushed off to the weekend of the ninth, but I shall still be celebrating with the family (for the first time in at least ten years) then.

Random Thought

I was flipping through the channels, stopped on Sci-Fi for one of their wonderfully cheesy movies and realized:

Corbin Bernsen is the poor man's Sam Neil.

Sorry you couldn't afford the real thing, Sci-Fi.

The Physical Toll of TKD

Warning: this is not for the easily squeamish.



Well, I've known for a while that practicing Tae Kwon Do so much had caused pretty thick calluses to develop on my feet to the point where I could probably walk over hot coals without feeling it.

I bought a callus/corn remover the other day to take care of at least some of it. Well, I just used it for the first time and took off (and I wish I were exaggerating) a total of a ping-pong ball sized clump of dead skin. The scariest part? I still have plenty of callus left.

Shut Up, Romney!

Shut.

Up.

Romney.

Attempting to block access to the day after pill, suggesting WIRETAPPING MOSQUES and indirectly INSULTING THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA AND MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS as WEAK LEADERS. And that's just in the past 24 hours, people.

To all Massholes: I apologize for voting for this fucktard. I have no idea what the hell I was thinking.

To all Americans: This asshole is a strong GOP candidate for the next Presidential election. Keep your eye on him.

*Yaaaaaaawn*

Well, yesterday was pretty Monday-ish.

It started with tripping over one of my cats' scratching posts. My little toe caught on the base and was ripped in the wrong direction. It was bad enough that I still have it taped, but I can move it (albeit painfully) and it's not turning colors, so it's just a really bad sprain.

I was having my business line installed so I spent the whole morning frantically picking up my apartment so it was at least decent for the telephone guy. The window was from 8-12, which, four hours? Shut UP, Verizon! 12:00 and still no one had showed up, so I called Verizon, which has one of those INFURIATING voice-response menus. If you're going to force me to deal with a computer, at least don't make me TALK TO IT.

Anyway, the telephone guy claimed he couldn't get in touch with me, which, it was an additional line so HOW BOUT CALLING MY EXISTING LINE, CHIEF? Even the customer service woman, was all, "I don't know what his problem was." Luckily, they got out a guy who knew what he was doing by 1:30 and in a jiffy he had the wiring done. Additionally, he split the jack so that it has two jacks, one for each line.

I headed to Best Buy before going to TKD to pick up a business phone and a keyboard, but only had a little luck. It seems that both Best Buy and Staples only carry wireless keyboards now, which - NOT. I simply wanted a USB keyboard with a USB port in it for my mouse. I will have to search online for it. I did at least get a phone. It will be awesome - mute button and speakerphone - no more holding the phone to my head during those long meetings. It also takes two lines, so with the split jack I now can answer both lines from the same phone. SWEET! I just need to buy longer phone cords so that the phone can actually sit on my new desk. (More on that in a separate entry.)

So after that, I get to TKD and have absolutely NO energy. UsedCarSalesMan and several black belts told me I did well at the test and I didn't get pulled aside for any criticism, which is a good sign. (Either that or they're giving me a break before tearing into me. *G*) It was wierd - I hadn't realized how much the test had taken out of me until I tried to work out. I survived Advanced class, although it wasn't my finest performance by far.

So that was Monday. At least now my apartment is clean for the first time since Momtook and I redid the bedroom.

My Mother the Designer

In my neverending attempts at catching up in this blog...

MomTook came down over Labor Day weekend to help me redesign my bedroom. She arrived late Friday night with all her supplies. We woke up early Saturday morning raring to go. First we needed fuel though, so we tried out the diner down the street. I have to give it my wholehearted stamp of approval.

We did the first coat of paint and then went down to the fabric district in Boston. A whole bunch of walking around later, we had AMAZING duvet cover fabric, fabric for two throw pillows and new knobs for the nightstand.

We ordered Chinese food and painted the second wall coat and all the furniture. We stopped at eleven and were up again at 6:30 Sunday morning.

MomTook did all the sewing while I put final coats on all the furniture and assembled the chair I bought for the reading nook.

And now, what all the sweat and tears brought:

Before:



And after:




Does my mother rock or what?

Time Keeps on Slippin'

Wow...I can't believe I haven't updated since 9/1. My bad. Of course, last I checked Laura hadn't updated since early AUGUST, so at least I'm not the WORST. ;-)

Yesterday was my black belt test. I got up at 7:30, thinking I had to wash my good uniform. Turns out my good uniform was actually the ONLY clean one (I have four) and had simply fallen into the very back of my closet from when MomTook came down last weekend and we redecorated the bedroom. Anyway, I had three loads of laundry done by 9 in the morning.

I left for the dojang at ten, wanting to get there an hour before the test. There were a LOT of people testing (32) and the air was electric with tension. Although a lot of people were already there when I arrived, I'm very glad I didn't get there any earlier. I was a bit "overstretched" by the time the test started as it was.

There is a tradition of the black belt test being held behind curtains and kept secret, so I won't go into details about the actual test, but I was very glad when it was finally over with. I think I did fairly well. The few little mistakes I made were due to nerves rather than forgetting or not knowing anything. The test actually wasn't that long. I was so relieved and full of adrenaline at the end that my hands were literally shaking.

We all went for a celebratory dinner at Chef Changs after. (We always go there since the owner attends TKD and gives us a big discount.) Pretty much everyone had a nice 22 oz Sapporo to take the edge off.

In a way, the whole thing was very anticlimatic because what happens next is that those who need to improve things will be pulled aside and told so and after they have fixed whatever they need to the black belt ceremony will be held for everyone. One of the blackbelts said it usually takes about a month or so, so it looks like I WON'T get it for my birthday. Ah well.

So it looks like the bid for black belt continues. I really hope I don't get pulled aside, mainly because I like to think I did well. Plus, I have many aches and pains from training so hard and my body is screaming for some time off.

O Frabjuous Day!

...I know, not an original title, but it's how I feel.

1.) It's September 1st, the official kickoff to my favorite time of year, Autumn. (Yes, I know it's not actually the Autumnal Equinox, but still...SEPTEMBER.)

2.) The Evil Neighbors are moving out as we speak. I bumped into one of the guys yesterday and he mentioned he's moving to Dorchester. How...appropriate for a pot-smoking partier. There's an adult lady helping out (the other dozen or so people are in their early twenties), making me wonder if she's a parent and if so, if she knows how much her kid(s) party.)

3.) I actually got a good (if not filled with REALLY bizarre dreams) night's sleep after having awful insomnia the night before.

Now if the normally quiet upstairs neighbor(s) can NOT spend the entire evening talking and yelling loudly on their balcony like they did last night, life will be VERY good. (From 4:30-10 or so, folks, but at least it booted my ass out to Tae Kwon Do when I was thinking about not going.)

(Of course it doesn't matter if they do tonight since I am having a good-bye dinner with Korngirl, who is being a BITCH and LEAVING ME for a semester abroad in SPAIN. *sniff* At least I'll get to visit her. Hooray for Madrid!)