Saturday, June 30, 2007

Home Again!

Today I am being lazy. I slept in (well, mostly slept) until almost 9:30! (This is very rare, even on weekends I'm usually out of bed by 8 at the latest.)
Yesterday was an interesting travel day. It was so very hard to get motivated and out the door, but I managed it and managed to get to the airport early. I did, however, forget to gas up the rental, so it cost more than it should have. Oops.
I'm glad I got in early though. For the first time in 2.5 years of lots of flying, I was actually at the airport when there was a security shut-down. I had just gotten off the phone with Gak and had gone over to Starbucks to get a Chi and a scone (addicted...) for breakfast/lunch when there's this announcement. (I tend not to pay a lot of attention to these as there are always tons of announcements looking for passengers and announcing flights etc.) I pay attention to this one because it sounded different. It was an announcement from the sheriff's department telling all airlines to stop boarding planes and shutting down security.
Huh?
What's going on?
I never did find out, but about 20-30 minutes later the head of security or the airport or something was walking by with his radio. I heard something about 'found the person involved' and that everything was good to go again. Needless to say, this made my flight delayed a little bit as the inbound plane had been sitting on the tarmac for about a half hour and wasn't allowed to come to the gate and offload passengers so we could get on. Oops. I also had a small delay in Cincinnati, but nothing unusual there.
I did manage to watch a beautiful sunset out the window of the airplane on my second flight. It is amazing how fast the sun sets when you're flying east and north. I guess when I fly west to China in August it'll set really slowly. Although, I think I might be on a polar flight, instead of directly across the Pacific. We'll see and I'll let ya know.
Today is a lazy day. I think I'll try and do the laundry tonight so I don't have to tomorrow. I was originally supposed to go up to Kanobels with Kat and company, but I begged off cause I'm too tired. I would have had fun, but I also would have had to been up and moving well before 8 am. I knew that wasn't going to happen. Oh well, next time I hope. Tomorrow is hopefully a lazy day as well. Gak's been working all day for the last week and is exhausted. (His boss was on vacation and since he's the only employee..... at least this means lots of overtime in the next pay check.)
Peace to all and may your travel adventures be few and the sunsets beautiful!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

California Days

I haven’t posted since Monday for a couple of reasons. The first reason is the fact that I’m in California, and that always tends to mess up my posting schedule. The other is the Internet access here in my hotel, has been flaky all week and kicking people off at regular intervals. Therefore, I’m writing this all out before I try and connect again and post. (You’d never notice if I didn’t tell you, but I told you and now you know.)
My trip out here Tuesday was fairly uneventful. I had a slight delay in both Allentown and Atlanta. Nothing major, just a few minutes because the planes were running about 10 minutes behind schedule. My friend Ed is the one who took me to the airport, since Gak has to open and close all this week because his boss in on vacation. We went out for breakfast first and he had the kids with him. It’s always great to see those two. Nik is getting so big! And Katie is fun.
Yesterday was a decent training day. There were a few bumps though. The guy who set it up, didn’t think about who was going to be in the class and only told me 5 people, there were about 12 or 15. There was another big, potentially cranky, part is that remember this time last year, my trip to Kansas City? Well, the guy who was making my entire week miserable left his old company and is now working for this one. I had no clue and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant surprise! He managed to not be too much of a pain this week, but I think if I had to deal with him any more, I would have lost it.
Overall the training didn’t go too badly. The biggest problem being that the people who were in today’s class (and for about half of yesterday’s) really didn’t need to be there. They were techs and operators, not administrators or reporters. They got some good out of it, but way more information than they needed. Oh well, I can only do so much when the guy setting it up and deciding who is supposed to be there doesn’t listen or have a clue. Good people though, other than Mr. Pain.
Last night was a very good, very late night. I’m in the Huntington Beach area. My aunt and uncle live in Upland and my brother works in Cabrillo. Well, in LA terms, that’s relatively close to each other. This doesn’t happen very often and is cause to gather. We met at around the halfway point for everyone in Pasadena. (I swear, I can’t tell where one “city” ends and the next begins.) I do believe I told you about where we were going to gather for dinner on Monday. It was a very yummy time. There were five of us. My Aunt and Uncle, my Brother and his new Girlfriend.
Yes, that’s right, my brother has a girlfriend that he was actually brave enough to introduce to us.
I like her. She seems very nice, has a great sense of humor (or at least one compatible with the family’s sense of humor), smart and pretty. I think Uncle Richard really likes her after her comment about loving the pizza in Italy, but hating the pasta, because he thought the same thing. I’m not sure how old she is, but she’s about Jon’s or my age. She’s an actual actuary. I’m not sure I’ve ever met one of those before. But this makes her fit in just fine, she’s geeky in her own right and just obsessive enough about stuff to fit in well.
I’m also jealous.
Huh?
I had a hard time figuring it out, but I’m jealous of her.
Why? Because she’s another girl who’s taken supreme spot in my brother’s life who’s not Mom.
I know this is silly, but I actually feel a little jealous. I don’t know why. I’ve met some of his other girlfriends before, but none of them made me feel that way. I guess it just brought home exactly how far apart we really are now. I miss him very much. We used to be very close, but have drifted apart the last several years, thanks in part to living on opposite coasts.
Thinking about this makes me wonder if he’s ever been jealous of any of my boyfriends in the past or my husband now. (They were trying to describe Gak and Jon referred to him as a ‘gentile giant’; so I know my brother likes Gak, which is good.)
Oh well, I guess I’m just a little sad that I don’t have my brother close and that we’ve drifted apart. I truly do like this girlfriend. I hope he brings her to my cousin’s wedding in August; I’d like to see her again.
In other family news, my Gram’s MRI yesterday went very well and I think she was supposed to get final clearance from her regular doctor for her surgery today. Mom will be going down on Sunday to do the last minute organizing of stuff and deciding what to take with her and things like that on Monday. So, as far as I know, her surgery is still set for Tuesday. It’ll be a very tense day for me, but there are a lot of people praying for my Gram and she’s in extraordinary health otherwise for an 84-year-old lady. I’m sure she’ll do just fine. I have all the faith in the world in this new doctor. From what my mom says, he’s the best on the East Coast at this and is a very nice and good person on top of it, so I know he’ll take great care of my Gram. All will be well, even if I am a little scared.Well, I guess I should finish wrapping this up. I should see if I can’t reconnect and send out the emails and post this. I’ll deal with catching up on my friend’s postings and other stuff later, Saturday at the latest. Peace to all and may you have easy weeks and good family moments.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Weekend Adventures!


MomsShawl
Originally uploaded by Addey Rat.

Well, this was a busy weekend. It was quite full of friends and fun times. I'm tired.
This picture is of the project I couldn't mention last week. I was making a shawl for my mom. When she was over for Mother's Day last month and we were looking at dresses for me to wear to my friend's (non)Wedding and my cousin's wedding in August, she was ogling my wedding shawl. The shawl was made for me by a friend at work for my wedding and is fillet with a picture of a rose on it. It is quite lovely. I decided I needed to make one for mom. Last year for Christmas I made a wrap for my grandmother, so I figured Mom could use one too. A friend from the crochet board I belong to sent me this pattern. I followed it almost. I made it one row of hearts shorter and did a shell boarder instead of fringe. (I did this partially because I'm not a fan of fringe, the edges were curling in too much for my liking and I wasn't sure I had enough yarn left to make good looking fringe...) Mom loves it! I gave it to her yesterday.

Now for the rest of the busy weekend. Michelle came up Friday evening. We had a pretty laid-back evening. The three of us went out to dinner and then hung out at the house. We watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Michelle clipped the blanket she made for our friend Isis who is having a baby soon and I worked on the shawl for mom.

Saturday was a good day overall. Michelle and I did my normal Saturday routine and then went shopping. I bought more yarn. (Hey, it was on Clarence for less than $2 a skein and there was just enough to make a Project Linus blanket out of.) Michelle bought some denim to make a blanket for me and Gak. I'm helping her by cutting apart some old jeans that we have and we found some neat denim to use as accent squares. We just need to figure out a flannel or other woven material to use for the flip side. Saturday evening Scott and Kat came over for dinner and Killer Bunnies. We had a very fun time. About halfway through the game Joanie showed up and then about a half hour later Alan came over too. We had a lot of fun. Kat and Scott went home around 10:00 and then we moved to the living room. I finished up the shawl while we (almost) all watched Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. This was the first time that Joan has seen it. She said she was too sober to understand it. She's probably right, but I still find it funny anyhow and it was a lot of fun to watch Joan watch it.

Yesterday was a very beautiful day and the main reason Michelle came up this weekend. The PA Ren Faire was holding their annual Celtic Fling weekend. It is always a lot of fun. We had the best weather we could have had. The Faire was full of happy people and there was a lot of great music to listen too. Mom met Kat and Zoe, Scott, Michelle, Joan, Ant and Mel and Gak and I there. You should have seen the look on Mom's face when I gave her this package wrapped up in red tissue and tied with a white yarn. It was even more priceless when she opened it up and tried it on. You'd have thought I'd given her the moon or something. I'm so very glad she enjoyed it.

Most of the day was quite good and a lot of fun. It wasn't so fun when we get there and as we're getting ready to head up to meet mom, realize that Kat locked Scott's keys in the truck. (Thank goodness for AAA!) Also, poor Ant landed on the ankle Scott recently broke. That wasn't a good scene at all, but I think it worked out in the end. There were certain times Ant just couldn't win yesterday. That and Zoe is becoming a real stinker at times. Especially meal times. She's gone through periods of eating very little, but a few days latter she'll eat everything in site. Some days it's been hard to get her to finish her meal, but yesterday... ugh! There's often wining, but now she's outright crying, and I don't mean fake tears either. She's definitely having problems lately. I hope we can find some answers soon or Kat's going to loose all her hair and Zoe will be one miserable little girl, especially once first grade starts. (Yes, I know she just finished Kindergarten a few weeks ago and there's the whole summer in front of us, but it approaches faster than I like to think about...)

Tomorrow I fly out to California. I'll be just south of LA. This means that Wednesday I get to have dinner with my brother, aunt and uncle. It should be fun. The place we're going to is in Pasadena and is called Thaitalian. If you couldn't guess, it's a Thai/Italian fusion kind of place. My brother says it's very good. I'll let you know. Hopefully the training this week will go as smoothly as last week.

I've decided not to take the first half of next week as vacation days. I'll be staying home instead of going down to MD while Gram has her surgery. She can only have one person in the room with her at a time, so any more than that will be in the way. Mom thought long and hard about if she wanted me there or not, but decided to just call with info like the last few procedures. I can always take the last part of the week off or whatever as needed, since I don't have any travel scheduled then. The next week I'm going back to California, but that's OK.

Well, I guess I'd better finish making sure I've got everything together for this trip. Peace to all and hopefully you'll all have wonderful weekend adventures!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Florida Wrapup

I really had a good week this week in Florida. Even though it rained most of every day that I was down there. I was working with a site that I've always, well, almost always, enjoyed working with. I say almost always because the first several months I worked with them, many years ago now, they had someone else in charge that hated our system, well, windows computers in general, and was just a royal pain in general. The guy who took over after him is very easy to work with and friendly. The whole group there is for the most part.
I ended up leaving yesterday afternoon instead of this afternoon. (I'd be waiting for my next flight if I'd left today...) Yesterday morning turned more into a Q&A session as opposed to a formal training. The topic was one that the guys I was working with had been doing for years, but needed a bit of a refresher for some things and shown some of the new stuff as well. I think it went really well. I know I enjoyed myself.
My flight home yesterday was mostly uneventful. There were a few minor delays, but nothing too exciting. The biggest excitement was when I got to my airport. I hadn't seen that many planes moving around at the same time, almost ever. They were all 'big' planes, not regional jets. The place was so full that they actually used both, yes both, luggage returns. It was packed. This meant it took a bit longer to get home, but I was very glad to be home.
I went in to the office quite a bit late today, but that's ok. I did today's "work" yesterday by flying home. I had a few things I needed to get done around the office (including finishing my visa paperwork for China). I wasn't overly productive, but I did manage to get stuff done. I still have a few things that need my attention on Monday, but they can wait.
This evening Michelle is on her way up to visit. We've got a pretty good weekend planned. I'm not really sure what's going on tonight or tomorrow, but Sunday we're planning on going out to the Ren Faire grounds for their Celtic Fling weekend. Good times to be had by all. Mom, Kat, Zoe, Scott and who knows who else will probably be joining us. It will be fun.
I just thought I'd drop in and give a quick little update on my world.
Peace to all and may you have a good weekend ahead of you!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Jacksonville Jaunt

Well, I've been pretty lazy about updating this week. I could have on Monday, should have yesterday, and finally am doing it today.
The trip down here Monday was fairly uneventful even if both flights were full. I'm staying close to the airport, so there wasn't even a major drive to deal with. (The plant is about 15 minutes from here, but there's more "stuff" here than over by the plant.) I did have an issue getting to the hotel, thanks to me not always dealing well or expecting frontage roads. They honestly don't exist much, if at all, at home. They always throw me for a loop when I have to deal with them. (But I can handle a traffic circle or make a left by going right with little issue... Thank you New Jersey!)
Monday afternoon I tried to go to the gym, but my directions weren't quite right and I just couldn't find the road I was looking for. (It's like at this edge of town if you step foot off of 95, you fall off the planet and there's nothing, except maybe a gator, but I haven't seen any yet.) I did however manage to find a yarn store. I found some yarn I'm going to use for my cousin Ben's baby that's due in September. Very bright and happy rainbow colors. I spent more then I wanted too, but this project is worth it and the yarn is washable! (A big plus when making anything for babies... or people like me who spill things...) I also picked up a skein of something luscious to make a scarf for myself this winter.
Yesterday was a very long day. I was at the plant for just under 12 hours. Oh, did I tell you, I have a 7am start time all week. This means I need to be there shortly before 7. Ugh. (Not sleeping well hasn't helped this out any....) I did a session on a topic I'm definitely not the expert on and then had a 3 hour (yes, 3 hour) break before a 1.5 hour session with some operators. I did get a little bit of excitement, I had to actually fix a problem. (I rebooted the computer and it started working again, go figure.) That and two of my field service guys are here this week installing some new stuff (hopefully). I hung out with them for a few while killing time before my next class. (Hey, the area they were in was nicely air conditioned and my classroom this week doesn't seem to be. The thermostat says 72, but it lies. It may be 72 in the hall, but it's at least 77 or 78 in the room.) The training went well and I was beat at the end of the day. I was super lazy and didn't even bother to turn on my computer, let alone check email or anything.
I spent the evening in front of the TV crocheting. Not gonna tell you what, because it's a surprise for someone who reads here from time to time. All I'll say is, I'm very happy with it and I'm sure they'll love it!
Today turned into a somewhat long day. I was figuring I'd be done by 3, but it ended up being more like 4:30. That's OK. I had another group of operators in the morning and then a class I'm much better at the rest of the day. I'm working with some really great and friendly guys. They've been asking some really good questions and really want to know what I'm telling them.
Tomorrow should be an OK day as well. I've got an all day (probably a 6 hour class or so) class and I'll probably only have 6 or 7 people I'm guessing. It'll be nice. Like I said, I'm working with some really cool people, so it makes the long days seem not quite so long.
I keep meaning to see if my two field guys want to do dinner, but I haven't. They're good guys, but not ones I've been overly friendly with over the years. I'm sure they wouldn't mind me tagging along for dinner, but some times it is nice to have time to myself at the end of the day. As much as I don't like it some nights, there are others where it is nice to go out by myself. I don't have to talk to anyone other than the server and I don't have to be polite or nice to company. (I'm always nice to the servers, they control my dinner... that and I tend to be a very polite person anyhow... I guess that's how I'm so happy without coffee...)
I have no idea what the point to the entry is. I'm just rambling a bit off the top of my head. I once heard someone describe someone talking like this as diarrhea of the mouth... although to me that would imply a lot more cursing and bad language. Not something I use much of usually.
Ok, I really am rambling now. I think I'm going to look at a few more pages and then camp out in front of the TV again.
Peace to all and may you have a good rest of the week!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

(not)Wedding

Well, yesterday was interesting to say the least.
Gak had off yesterday because we were supposed to go to my friend Alan's wedding that afternoon. I played lazy bum all morning and didn't do much other than play around on the computer and crochet a little. Around 1:30 or 2:00 we start getting ready. Well, Gak gets ready and I fiddle with yarn for a while longer. We end up leaving the house right about 3:30 since the wedding is at 4:30 and about 30-40 minutes away depending on traffic lights.
Mind you, I haven't had a warm fuzzy feeling about this girl since I met her several years ago now when Al first started dating her. And I didn't like her kids either. (That's saying something, if I don't like someones kids... that takes a lot.) Well, almost 3 years ago now Al got her pregnant. None of us were happy with him about it, and despite the fact that he's wanted kids for a long time, wasn't sure this was the best idea ever either. But they stayed together and he has a 2-year-old little girl now. (Mind you, thanks to my overly stupid travel schedule, his work schedule and her... I have yet to meet the little girl, much to my, and Al's, dismay.)
They'd been talking marriage since just after the baby was born. They finally set a date about a year ago. Most of us kept saying, yeah, ok, whatever. Well, this spring we all got our invitations, so we figured he was actually going to go through with it. Mind you, I've tried very hard, with little success, to be supportive of his decision. I mean, I truly hoped they would prove me wrong. I want Al to be happy. I want him to have a family and enjoy them. I just didn't see that in this situation.
Yesterday was supposed to be the wedding.
Yes, supposed to be.
Gak and I were about 10 blocks from home when my phone rings. It's Kat. Gak answers it and the next thing I hear is "WHAT?!?!?! You're kidding me!!"
Uh.... please enlighten the driver here....
Well, to make a long, loud story shorter, words were said and Al called it off Friday night or Saturday morning. I believe what the final straw was is when she called his mom a bitch. Now, don't get me wrong, Al's mom is a lot of things, but she's not a bitch. She's a little flaky and weird, but not in a mean or evil-spirited way. She's just a little odd. I can deal with that, we all are.
So, instead of having a wedding, we had a party at my ex-boyfriend's house. (He was best man after all... they've known each other since the 3rd grade.) That in and of itself was a little weird. I mean, I hadn't been to the house since I had picked up the last of my stuff. It went amazingly well. There were several potentially weird conflicts that could have happened. I mean, John and I didn't exactly end things on a happy note. One of my other 'friends' from that group is the only one who responded when I sent out a note asking where I stood with everyone after that and basically ripped me a new one. Andy showed up as did Andy's brother (who was in the wedding party too). Kat was there of course. Andy's brother has real issues with Kat, and some days we're not too sure how Andy will be. But everyone had a good time. We ended up walking down the street to the bar and restaurant and enjoyed ourselves for a bit. Then half the people, including us, went home and the other half piled into the van and went to Alan's parents, where they were having a party of sorts.
It wasn't all fun and games though. There were some tense moments shortly after when the wedding was supposed to happen. Her Step-dad has a notoriously short temper. She had actually thought Al was kidding when he called it off and called him at 4:30 to see where the heck he was and yell at him for being late. (I wasn't there yet, but apparently you could hear him from across the street as he told her the whys and wherefores of the deal... and she called back again wondering why he was late... I mean, there's holding out hope and then there's ridiculous!)
So yes, yesterday was quite interesting. Not quite what I had figured on happening, but I'm glad I went. Alan seems comfortable with his decision, just worried about getting custody of his daughter. He wants custody, he's wanted children too long and he loves his daughter too much to walk away from her. I think that's one of the only things that is hurting him right now, is what's going to happen with his daughter. We all told him to get his butt down to the courthouse before the courts open Monday morning and file for full custody. First in usually has a better chance of swaying the judge. We're all behind him 150% in his wanting his daughter. We're all behind him 150% whatever he decides. It's been rough for him and the hard part is just starting. We will see though. I just hope this means I may get to see my friend a little more often. (According to him, we didn't see much of him because he just wasn't allowed out of the house. I won't go into what I think about someone who does that to their other half...)
Well, I'm off to go hunt some things in Norrath. Peace to all and may even the oddest situations turn out for the best.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Why is "no" so hard to say??

Well, it's been a bit of a Friday.
As you remember Wednesday, I gave you a snapshot of my totally full schedule looks like. Well, remember how I told you I had about 4 people who were interested in training but hadn't gotten back to me. Well, I got an email this morning.
"When during the week of the 4th of July can you come down? M, T or Th, F?"
What?
You've GOT to be kidding me! (I've found myself saying this phrase a lot in the last few days...)
Well, no they aren't kidding.
Oh, and they have 1999 vintage software.
Yes, you read that right. Software that is 8+ years old.
I'm afraid to even look at the computer, much less touch it. This is when we'd just moved to a Windows platform and 2 GB was a HUGE hard drive, and we were using two 2GB drives!
There's only one person, well, make that 2 people who would possibly know this version of the software. Neither one of them are me (I started in Sept of 2000). And both of those individuals are swamped.
After talking with my boss, I politely wrote them and told them we'll help them get out their reports, but there wasn't much more we could do for them without upgrading their system.
Why is 'no' such a hard word to say? It took me all day to convince myself that I really didn't have any room in my schedule and that I really couldn't help these people.
Other than that, it hasn't been that bad of a day. Just one of those days where nothing goes quite right.
This weekend should prove interesting. My friend Alan is getting married tomorrow. I'm feeling pretty mixed about it. I really like Al. He's been a good friend to one extent or another for well over 10 years now. I'm not sure he's doing this for the right reasons, but I stand behind him no matter what he decides. He's my friend and I'm happy for him if he's happy.
Well, I'm tired. I did the insomniac thing last night/this morning and it's catching up to me. Peace to all and may you be able to say no when you have to.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Busy Bee

Well, I gave myself a 6-month review today.
Bee's don't have anything on me for being busy.
(I can also blame my boss for my state of business...) My boss last week asked me how my schedule looked for the rest of the year. I told him June was pretty busy, July had a few things and August was going to be tricky due to the China trip and my 2 days of vacation (a Friday and a Monday) that I was taking to go to my cousin's wedding, but nothing was really set in stone.
Never, ever, ever say you're not that busy, even with the caveat of "but I've got some stuff possibly lined up".
Today alone I tentatively booked two trips and scheduled a third. I've still got three or four more people that have expressed interest in training that I haven't heard from in a couple of months and need to follow up with.
July is booked solid, even on the off chance that KC falls through again (which it might). I'm not sure I can squeeze anything else into August with the funky scheduling of my other trips. September I'm calling full, but I'm sure I'll be convinced to add something else to before the end of August. October and November are looking blissfully open. I know that won't last long, but I can dream can't I? December has a regional training scheduled, which should go off, but is mostly taken up by holidays.
So, as far as my review of myself goes, my overall travel time for the year may be down, but I'm scheduling things nicely, and a fairly large number of those are 'new orders' as opposed to things that were sold with an initial build. (Therefore the money goes to service instead of projects. Yes, it's all supposed to go to service but it doesn't when it was billed with a project...) Last year I was able to significantly increase the amount of income with only a small increase in travel. Hopefully this year will be more of the same. I do know that at the end of the year, I will have one big disappointment on my review. I was tasked with creating a "Big Book of Knowledge" essentially for people, and I haven't had time to think about it, let alone get it started. Unless October and November hold open, it won't happen this year. This isn't something that I can do a day here or there, at least not at first. And I haven't had a 2 or more week stretch since I talked with my boss about it where I haven't been furiously trying to play catchup on all the normal paperwork and stuff while in the office.
Ok. I just needed to vent and be a little cranky about my (what looks to be) 5 month travel spree. Peace to all and may you find time to breathe.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tuesday, Just Plain Old Tuesday

So far this week is going better than last week. I'm not sure how much I'm accomplishing at work, but I'm not running around in little circles getting very dizzy and almost nowhere. I'll take it.
Speaking of work, it's official, I will be going to China in August. Now all I have to do is finish up the paperwork to get a Visa, book travel and figure out what, exactly, the course will cover in two days. I know what the target audience is, but I really haven't done any major training that required translation before, so I'm not sure how much info to put in and all that jazz. It'll be fun figuring it out though.
Next week I'm off to Florida for three days of training and then out to the L.A. area the following week. Michelle is coming up to visit next weekend and this weekend is Alan's wedding. (I'm not going to post my views on that here until after the wedding....)
It looks like life is getting pretty busy again. And I just got home. Oh well. Life happens.
I just thought I'd take a few moments and catch everyone up. Still no news about the lady's car our air conditioner decided to use as a landing zone (more like leaning zone I think, but I'm not sure...) I hope you're having a good Tuesday.
Peace to all and may you have a few mundane days now and again.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Almost Grumpy Weekend

Sorry to leave anyone hanging about the AC situation. I was generally out of sorts a bit this weekend and writing just wasn't going to happen.
Friday night Gak, Kat, Zoe, Scott and I went to Zerns, a local 'farmer's market'. It's part farmers market, part flea market, overall fun. We browsed for a bit and had some food and it was a good evening. Hot, but a good evening. I ended up sleeping (or trying to sleep) in the back bedroom because it was so warm. Gak has a fan that blows right on him in the bedroom, but I don't get any of it because he's in the way.
We were told that on Saturday our landlady and her husband would be over between 9 and noon to put the 2 remaining AC units back in. So, this means I get to stay home and try and be nice and not get my normal Saturday stuff done.
I get a call at about 10 asking if they could come up. (I was thinking you told us between 9 and noon, so duh, of course.) I said sure. The landlady's husband spent about an hour and a half fiddling with the AC units. The only way they will ever leave the windows is if someone undoes about 3 screws in each one and removes at least 2 pieces of board holding the window down and 2 pieces under the units themselves. So much for the thought of removing them for the winter, but I'll burn... er cross... that bridge in October or November. I like my landlady's husband, he's nice and friendly. Sometimes the landlady isn't.
I was supposed to do my Saturday errands (groceries and laundry) that afternoon, but I just didn't feel like dealing with the Laundromat on a very warm, and probably crowded afternoon. We had enough food in the house to last another day or two anyhow.
Gak had told me on Friday that I was going orienteering on Sunday and he hadn't planned any thing. I really, truly appreciate the thought, but it just didn't happen. I was tired, out of sorts and the events this week weren't where I really wanted to go. Well, I wouldn't have minded Hibernia, but it was feeling like a bit of a haul. That and yesterday wasn't exactly a nice day. I did my Saturday errands instead, after taking Gak out to breakfast at the dinner.
I was having a bad allergy day, so I took a benadryl and was knocked out most of the day. I really do feel bad that I haven't gone orienteering in months. I do enjoy it and I miss it. I really need to go. Maybe I'll make it this weekend, but I'd better check to see if there's an event. It is also Father's day.
Ok. I really didn't mean to ramble on this long. We still have no idea what we're responsible for with the damages to the car. Gak talked to the lady Thursday evening, but we haven't heard back from her. If we don't hear from her today, he's going to call her. We don't need this hanging over our heads any longer than it has to.
Here's hoping this is a much better and more peaceful week. Peace to all.

P.S. I also realize I didn't update you about Gram. Good news is that Mom and Gram love the new doctor and she's been aproved for the procedure and has it scheduled for July 3rd. Bad news is that she's got a laundry list of tests to get done before then and her surgery is more complicated than about 90% of them that have been done because of everything that needs doing.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Monday Again????

Today has been yet another Monday this week. I know I just posted yesterday and I don't usually post two days in a row, but I'm cranky and need to growl at the world a bit.
I am home for two weeks, two hole glorious weeks. This was supposed to be a break from the hectic schedule I'd been keeping on the road.
Whoever told me that lied.
This week at work it has been a conglomeration of 'hurry up and wait' and a million little forest fires that need attention. This morning I finally get numbers from my trip in two weeks and confirmation on what I'm teaching. OK, I have to modify one training manual to chop about half of it out and steal, errr... actually use, a manual from someone else on something that I'm only half familiar with. (One of those things I've been trying to get to for, oh, 4 years now.) I confirm with my printer about the new books and get the first one sent off no problem. I then open up the other manual and gasp in horror. Well, maybe not gasp, but groan silently to myself. The formatting is a horror. I go along fixing the font and other little details and suddenly notice that on a majority of the 120 slides there are anywhere from 1 to 7 'invisible' text boxes or line boxes. I have to fix this too. And it's lunch time by now. So, I go warm up my lunch and growl at the computer for the next hour or two as I fix all this crapola up. I get it to the printer and it goes on it's way.
Then I get a call from Gak.
There's a problem.
What??
The air conditioner that was in the back bedroom fell out and hit a car.
What??
Was??
How bad??
Yes, Yes, and I don't know.
Crap. We can't afford this. We're just keeping ahead of the bills as is. (Yes, there are several things we could do to make bill paying easier, but we all have a few vices...) What's worse is I never got renters insurance and I never bugged Gak into taking care of it either. So, whatever the end result is, it'll be out of our own pockets.
So, to make a long, unhappy story a bit shorter, Our landlady pulled the other two air conditioners from our apartment and the ones from the upstairs apartment. She was going on about the fact that you're supposed to screw them into the window frame when Gak was talking with her. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to put screw holes into my landlady's brand new aluminum windows. She's got something in the works and we'll eventually get our AC back. It's supposed to be hot tomorrow; I'm not looking forward to that.
The day only gets better, I assure you. I almost completely botch dinner. I all but killed the pasta dish thing I was microwaving and I heat up the grill for the pork chops without the grill plates. (They're still sitting in the sink.) I manage to make something edible, but just.

I'm also worrying about my Gram. Her appointment was today. Mom hasn't called me, so I'm hoping it's just because they were running around like crazy and not because of bad news. I really don't need any more Monday-ness today.
Well, I think I'm going to go log into the game and create me a lowly little newbie and smack the bits out of poor hapless little things. The only question is, what class? Do I want to get up-close and personal or zap them from a safe distance? Ah, who am I kidding, I'll probably just log my 25-ish monk in and pound things with her.

Peace to all and may your weeks not be filled with Mondays.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Wobbly Wednesday

OK, I just needed a title, so this worked.
This week has been interesting so far, I guess. Monday was a Monday, but I managed to get things done. I put out most of the little fires that had started while I was away and I didn't create too much of a mess. Yesterday was another Monday. One of those days where you feel like you're chasing yourself around in circles and not getting much done other than getting dizzy. Hopefully today will be better.
I'm writing this from home. Back in March when I went to the doctor she gave me paperwork to have blood work done. Guess what I haven't gotten around to yet. And she wanted a 14 hour fast, not a 12 hour fast, so that means I have to wait until about 10am to go. This is why I just haven't gotten there yet. I am going soon after I finish writing this and run through the shower. (I know, it would be safer just to stand there and let the water fall on me.) I'm really not worried about it, the last several times I've had blood work done it's all been fine. That's good, because with Dad's history of high cholesterol, I guess I should keep an eye on things.
Tomorrow my Gram has an appointment with the new doctor as a screening for the kidney procedure. I hope it all goes well and they can do it and soon. It would be a huge weight off of all our minds. There would still be risk of course, but it would be much, much less. I know that it will take a load off of Gram's mind too. Not to mention, she'd be in a lot less discomfort. She's had to have a stent in place off and on for over 6 months now and it is really hurting.
Well, I guess this turned into a medical update. I guess that's where my head is this morning. Tonight Gak is getting together with friends to play Warhammer, which is good. I'm glad he's got a 'guy thing' to go do and get out of the house. Tonight I'll probably spend on the computer and/or working on some craft stuff. I'm in the middle of a tank-top that I'd like to get done in the next week or so. I've also got some sewing stuff that I should get done as well. It'll be nice to have an evening to myself to craft and stuff.
Ok, I've got to go grab a shower before I head out. Hmm... does this mean I get to have an early lunch out today? No, probably not. I'd better take a granola bar or something with me though, I'll need it after fasting that long. Peace to all and may your lives not be filled with Mondays.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Sunday, Sunday....

Well, not much going on right now. I have to update my links bar, my good friend Ed just started his own blog to help us keep track of where he is.
Yesterday was a good day for the most part. When I got home Friday evening, for some reason neither computer was connecting and there weren't any lights on the router other than power and Internet. I was tired so I said I'd troubleshoot it in the morning.
Well, it was an easy problem. The router died. I guess it overheated or something, but it stopped working. And we haven't even had it a year yet. Stupid Lynksis, normally they make decent stuff.... Oh well. This gave me an excuse to shop though. After picking up Gak at work, we went down to Microcenter near my parents' house. I ended up picking up a wireless router because it was actually cheaper than a wired one! We also stopped and had dinner with my parents. That was a nice evening.
The install for the router went quite easily and we're both back up and running. Well, mostly. Gak somehow came down with a worm. He's rebooting every hour or so now, which is really annoying when we're playing. He's trying to fix it and I hope he does. We are looking at replacing his computer in a month or so. All he really needs is the computer itself, he's got a brand new monitor, speakers etc. We saw some yesterday that were a good deal so we'll probably head back there when we do go shopping.

I've had a realization this morning. I miss orienteering. I haven't been since March. One thing or another has been getting in my way. Today I could have gone, except for the fact that I overslept and there wasn't an event I really wanted to go. Then take the fact that we have friends coming over around 2. Unfortunately, Sunday is the only time most of us can get together, which is also when orienteering is. Maybe next weekend I'll be able to convince some people to go with me, since I won't be heading out to Kansas City. I really wish I could figure out how to both get together with my friends and go play in the woods more. Oh well. I'll figure something out.

Since it is now after noon and people will be over in an hour or so, I guess I should run through the shower and get dressed. It should be fun at any rate. Peace to all and may you find time for everything you enjoy.