more random

While traveling Wednesday I thought 'well, at least I'll have something to write about tonight.' It didn't happen. I got to the hotel tired and out of sorts and the last thing I felt like doing was actually booting up the computer and 'dealing' with writing.
I figured Thursday evening I'd write. Nope. Went over to the Falls and didn't feel like writing when I got back.
Friday while sitting in the airport I wrote a nice long post about everything and what's been on my mind. It's still sitting in my bag.
Yesterday I spent most of the day in Norrath or taking a nap. A good Saturday, but not very informative.
The main thing I wanted to say this week is that I still don't like airports and this new ban thing isn't making life any easier, but not much harder. Just more stupid.
My biggest adventure really was the fact that I left my schedule at the office. *Sigh*
The other big thing I wanted to say is that I'm bored with work. I like the teaching part of my job. I enjoy it and working with people. Everything else has become very unchallenging and downright boring. This is a problem. This is why I'm not getting anything done at the office. This is why I'm out of sorts and cranky at night when I realize I wasted the day at work. Hopefully I'll be able to talk about this with my boss this week, since I'm here and we'll be able to do something. The more bored with whatever task I'm set, the less likely it is that it will get done. Just look at my college career. I did fairly well on my exams. Papers that just felt like busy work, forget it. I've got several that I still haven't even looked at and I've been done with those classes for at least 8 years. (*gasp* Has it really been that long??? I guess it has...)
Oh well... I've got to hop in the shower and stuff. Gak and I have friends coming over in a bit to continue the Werewolf game we started 2 weeks ago. Catch ya later and peace to all!

Random

OK. This is a pretty random posts. First off, I finally have a half decent shot of me on a cloud up in the Barren Sky. Was fooling around to see how the screen shots would look with this new setup. So see, this is me, at least until I change armor. I miss my nice green armor from the level 45 - 50 days.

Yesterday was a Monday. Got several things done for my trip this week, and then nothing. I couldn't even figure out what to post here.

This weekend was interesting. Friday was good overall, but a bit stressful. My sister called me up Thursday to see if Gak and I wanted to go with her, Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jerry to take her mom out for dinner for her birthday. (OK, so she's not my sister, but as close as I'm ever going to get to having one.) Another friend was supposed to come as well as my sister's daughter. My sister has been going through a very messy time with her husband. Make that soon to be ex-husband. Normally I don't think divorce is a good thing, but there has been too much hurt and too many changes in this marriage for things to get better. So, needless to say things are tense and that's why my sister and niece have been spending time at my place. Well, he flips out (that is becoming a common occurrence, once he called my place about every 5 minutes demanding to talk to her and know where she was and who was here) and almost wrecks the evening before it can start. Well, we're resilient people and our other friend, since he's the root of the 'problem' says he'll just not go so even if her husband shows up, no problems. We don't like the solution, but it's the only one viable in this situation. Dinner goes off without a hitch. Musikfest is going on right across from where we ate so we go wander there for a bit. My niece sees the various rides and has to go on them. Well, we convince her to wait a few and then my sister tells us to wander on a bit and they'll catch up since she has my cell number. This means I get to herd Uncle Jerry. Yes, herd is the right word here. He's a very trying individual some days, but I love him anyhow. We end up not wandering far because while we're standing around he starts talking to the Vespa dealer that's got a tent right there. Uncle Jerry would kill himself on one of those. Never mind that he just had a qintuple bypass recently and is steal healing from that. Anyhow, we end up meeting back up and heading over to the band we want to see. We catch the last few minutes and then head home as it is now very late. My sister and niece are staying with Gak and I, maybe for the weekend.

It turns out they just stay that night. Saturday evening I get a call saying that my sister is going to meet at the diner with the man to discuss the rules and divorce. With the way he's been acting lately, I'm glad they're in a public place. I worry. He used to be the nicest person who I could have a wonderful conversation with. Now, I don't even know him. Last time I was over at their house, he didn't even acknowledge me when I said hi. He flips out and snaps at the smallest thing. This has roots from several years ago, and he's always had a slight paranoid streak, but nothing unusual. Now I don't even recognize him. Anyhow, apparently the meeting went OK because no emergency phone calls, no police sirens (I live near the police station), no sister camped out in the back bedroom.

She stops by on Sunday to pick up her stuff. (While I'm in the shower after my adventures in the woods. Lets just say I had fun, but no time.) She tells Gak that everything went OK. He apologized (again) for Friday and that his reaction scared himself (yeah... right... I've heard this one before). He also said he'd sign anything she gave him (again... yeah... right... I'll believe this when it happens...).

Other than that it was a normal weekend. I ran in the woods Sunday. I had to leave early because my parents were coming up for supper and were going to get to my place around 3. They brought Gak's anniversary presents to me. He got me this really cool poster (I'm actually using the same image on my cell phone) and a stuffie from Megatokyo (see links). This is my favorite web comic out there and really enjoy it. Go, read it. No, wait. Go next week, they're having server issues and they might not be resolved until then. The stuffie is of Boo, the temp service conscience. He's a hamster. Anyone who knows Baulder's Gate knows who I'm talking about. Yep, the same Boo, with strap on wings. And he squeaks! He lives beside my monitor at home now.

Well, I'm done ranting and being random. I hope you're weekend was good, with maybe not so much drama. Sorry this turned into an epic post, but I just needed to get that out.

Peace to all and travel safe. I'll be in upstate New York from tomorrow afternoon through Friday, so maybe no more posts.

Travel

As my blog's title states, I'm a traveling ratling. More often than not, that means I'm on a plane. I do get to drive to a few locations, but not many. As my faithful readers (do I have any readers other than my husband??) know, I'm on the road many, many weeks out of the year, probably at least 15 or 20 a year.
I don't normally comment on world events or politics or things like that. I'm not really that involved with them, so I don't have much to say. The events of yesterday do impact me though, so I think I'll comment this time.
I fly through one of the country's smaller airports, it has 12 gates (I've been in ones much smaller). In the past 5 years, the only two noticeable changes in security is the fact that I have to take my checked baggage over to the TSA people now instead of the agents putting it on the belt behind them and that I have to take off my shoes. No real changes in anything. And this goes even for the big airports I fly through too.
I read the NY Times article this morning and then went to their readers' blog thing. It made me sick how many comments were political in nature, both right- and left-wing.
Sure, it's inconvenient not to be able to pack my own drinks. What I find stupid is that you can't take something that's been through security and you purchased near the gate. I also find it stupid that if I want to shower on my trips (even the 1 or 2 night ones) I have to check my luggage. When I'm gone overnight or two nights, my stuff fits into a bag that is smaller than some other women's purses! How silly to have to check it. I will though. I'll hate it if I have to start checking the ipod or game boy. I don't read well on flights and get nauseous. I refuse to check my prescriptions (allergy) or my wallet. My company 'strongly discourages' you from checking your laptop. If where I'm going has a computer I can use and I burn my presentations to disk (or flash drive) that'll work, if not, the computer gets carried, or checked if I have to.
One of the posters over at NYT mentioned something about all this screening of passengers is all well and good, but how do we know that the airline people or the people working in the stores won't 'do bad things'? We don't. Pure and simple. We have to trust, and trust seems to be in short supply these days.
I have a lot of trust. I trust the people on the roads I drive every day not to 'do bad things' and run me over. I trust the people at the grocery store to not 'do bad things' and provide fresh and safe food for me to buy. I trust my coworkers to not 'do bad things' and not come in and shoot everyone dead. I have found over the years that it is so much easier to trust people then it is to not. Most people are good people. I have a lot less stress this way. I try very hard not to worry about what I can't change. I try and change only what I have control over, and I don't have very much control over much.
I will continue to fly. I will continue to trust. Most importantly I'll continue to love; love my husband, my family and my friends and as many people as I humanly can. Peace and love to all.

A Howling (?) Good Weekend

This weekend was full of adventures of various kinds.
There were the mundane ones like remembering everything that was on the grocery list that was still on the kitchen counter or trying to get the laundry done before our friends came over.
There were the adventures in Norrath that Gak and I had with some of our friends. I grouped quite a bit on Saturday with my friend Syn and several other guild members. I even managed to get a level in. I almost got one in Sunday as well! (Shhh don't tell anyone... they might expect that more often. :P )
There were the afore alluded to adventures with family. My sister is having a rough time right now for various reasons. She and her daughter needed to get out of the house Saturday. Ok, no problem. Sleepover at Aunt Addey's and Uncle Gak's! Sunday the little bear woke up around 9 and was content to watch the Danger Mouse DVDs she started the evening before and munch a bowl of cereal. We let Momma sleep until about 10:30. I don't know all the details and probably wouldn't post them anyhow. Needless to say, this is the first good sleep my sister has had in a while and I wasn't about to disturb it. I'm just glad that I can be there for her when she needs me.
Then there was Sunday. I'd been looking forward to Sunday afternoon for several weeks. Gak invited two of our gammer friends over (originally my sister and her daughter were going to be there too) for a game. We were going to do a Vampire game of Gak's creation. It went through several metamorphosis and ended up a Werewolf game. (Much to my happiness!)
It started out with character creation. We were creating us. Yep, we were playing us. This was going to be fun. Then we start out on our adventure. And what an adventure it turns in to! The player interactions were great. I managed not to use too much player knowledge. It was easy for the other two not to because they'd never played this system before. I think the most fun was watching Scott just melt down as his mind broke. He really had a hard time dealing with things there for a bit and Stew wasn't helping things any. I admit, my 'character' mind broke a few times, but I had such a blast. I'm not sure when we're getting together again for this adventure, but I'll keep ya posted.
Well, I've got a few things to finish up before I head out for the evening. Peace to all and howl at the moon from time to time. It's fun!

South Dakota

My trip to South Dakota was a good one... Once I got there that is.
I've added two new airports to my 'don't fly through' list: Minneapolis/St. Paul and Boston Logan.
On my way out to South Dakota I flew through Detroit, to Minneapolis to Aberdeen, SD. Detroit isn't one of my favorites, but it really isn't that bad. I have a long enough layover to get where I'm going, but not so long that I'm bored. We board the plane and get out to the runway. Wait, there's bad weather in Minnesota, so we're asking to be routed around. OK. No problem. Wait, problem... the clearance takes 25 minutes to get and I've got a 30 minute layover in Minnesota before my next flight. Crap. Needless to say, after running as best I could through the Twin Cities' airport, I miss my flight. And there was no one around to get help from. Finally I find someone and then get booked on the 9pm flight. I was supposed to be on the 5pm flight. Oh well. I've got time to go find supper now. That was the hard part of getting to South Dakota.
I love the directions on how to get to the site from the airport: Turn right as you leave the airport and then make another right once you get to Groton (about 18 miles away) on 37. You should see the plant to your left soon after turning. I had an enjoyable day working with a few people from the site and things went well. I went out again on Thursday morning for about 2 hours to do some more work, since I didn't have to be at the airport until about 10:15 for my 11:00 flight. (There is only one 'gate' and they don't let you through security until about 10 minutes before boarding.)
Minneapolis was fun again, but I made my flight this time. This time I went through Boston instead of Detroit. I got to the gate for my Boston flight right in the middle of boarding. Not bad. Get routed around bad weather again so sit on the runway for a while. No big deal, I've got a human layover this time before my final leg.
Boston. Boston is just stupid and sucks. I was flying on North West since that is the only line that flies into and out of Aberdeen. The last leg of my flight is operated by Continental instead of NW, but no big deal. Wrong. Big deal at Boston. You have to leave the NW terminal (yes, back beyond security) follow the hard to find and almost non-existent signs to the other terminal and wait in line in security again. How stupid is that? I mean, all other airports I've been to with more than one terminal have managed to create buses or trams or something that go between these terminals and across the tarmac without making people go through security again. And once I got to the right gate, nothing was posted so I wasn't sure. To top it off, I was starving because I'd had a granola bar and some raisins all day. It's now just about 5pm. I grab a snack, since Gak and I are going to dinner when I get home. Luckily the last flight wasn't that long or delayed. We did get to land through a thunderstorm though. Kinda cool.
Well, yesterday was an adventure of another kind, one that I'm not quite ready to share. Partially because it's family and partially because I don't have all the details.
Peace to all in Norrath and Beyond. I should be home all this week.

SWEET!!

Wow is all I have to say.
My new computer rocks. I got home about 8pm Friday night. Gak had pizza waiting for me and my computer set up. We chowed down on the pizza and then headed into the world of Norrath. Together. For the first time ever. Needless to say we had a blast. We took names and killed lots of stuff. Mind you, my computer was set up at an end table beside the sofa so I was sitting on the floor. I didn't care. The monitor was so clear and the computer was so fast I didn't mind.
Saturday while Gak was at work I again ventured into Norrath. I was grouped with a few people and had some fun. People laughed when I told them I was sitting on the floor. Gak and I did a hit-and-run raid on IKEA after he got off work Saturday. We got 2 new desks and a second chair. We got the first desk put together Saturday night. Mind you, this was around going out to dinner and the fire company carnival with some friends.
Sunday we both grouped up with some long-time friends of ours. Much mayhem was created. There was much dying. Mostly our prey, but occasionally us. I think there was a little more mayhem than usual because of Team Speak. I thought I wouldn't like TS. I was wrong. Typed conversations are fun, but actually being able to talk to people is so much more fun.
Last night both Gak and I were able to attend the raid. About 2 or 3 hours in (I forget really, it's all blurry) someone on TS finally realized that both Gak and I were online at the same time. Everyone laughed and told them they were being very observant tonight and to look at the boards more...
I'm tired today. I go to South Dakota tomorrow. I'll be home Friday.
Peace to all, and may the heat be not so bad.

"The Beast"

I mentioned earlier this week I was getting a new computer. I ordered it from Dell on Saturday morning. It was 'tennativley' scheduled to ship by Monday the 31st with 3-5 day ground shipping. Cool! I'll have it by the time I get back from South Dakota next week.
Surprise!
I was driving up the PA Turnpike when my phone rings. Expecting it might be Gak I answer. No, it's an automated call from UPS telling me my Dell order will be delivered sometime between 8 am and 7pm tomorrow (i.e. today) the 27th. *GASP* I don't even have a desk for it yet!
I call Gak and tell him the good news.
It came in today and he picked it up at work. (Very convenient Gak working at a UPS store for when we receive packages etc.)
He took it home this evening and set it up. He has named it The Beast. It makes his computer look tiny he says. It's a Dell XPS400. Sweet! Mostly bottom of the line, but I did make a few improvements. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_400?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

I can't wait to get home and play with it. I'm kinda bummed that Gak got to open it first, but that's OK. It's mine. And now we can game together. I am glad in a way that Gak got to open it because he is lovingly installing EQII on it as I type from my hotel room and patching it tonight. How did I end up with such a sweetie???

Peace to all and Gak and I will both see you in Norrath soon!

Traffic Trials

I'm tired. I hate the Blue Route. (Yes, that's a 'name' of a local road...) I-95 isn't much better...
This weekend was quite enjoyable. We visited both friends and family in Maryland. Saturday after Gak got off work, we went down to visit my friend Michelle from college. It has rained a lot in the last week, with some pretty nasty storms (i.e. it was raining sideways!). It rained a bit on our way down. The oddest thing though, is that the Blue Route and I-95 slowed to a crawl at various places and for quite a bit of the trip after the rain stopped. No real reason. No accidents, no construction and the toll areas were clear.
We get to Michelle's and decide what to do about dinner. Then the skies open up and the rain starts at full force. We run for the car and get drenched. I drop them off at the door and then have to find a parking space. Even more drenched. It's all good though. We have a good meal, wander around some shops for a bit and then go back to her place and watch Clue.
Yesterday morning Michelle and I go to the gym. Gak and I are planning on heading to the aquarium for a bit before heading over to my cousin's house. My aunt and uncle are in town from California and they, my cousin and his wife, Gak and I and my parents are all getting together for a cookout. I thought Mom said between 3 and 3:30. Nope, between 2 and 3. Oops.
Gak and I go to the Inner Harbor, but the line for the aquarium is about a mile long and we don't have all day. Oh well, we'll just have to go back. We wander around a bit and visit the USS Constellation. It's a good thing Gak was in the modern Navy, not the Civil War era Navy. My hubby can't clear the ceilings below decks. In some cases, I felt very tall... and I'm not.
We head over to my cousin's house and since we're running late, I hit every traffic light on our way back to Towson. My cousin and his wife have a beautiful house and a friendly and cute little dog. We had a wonderful time. It really is amazing how similar the people in our family are. The only thing that would have made it any better is if my brother and my cousin Rachel had been there.
We leave Ben's around 8. We should have been home by 10:45 or so. I-95 cooperated this time and we get back to PA in good time. Then we get back onto the Blue Route. We're about 50 miles from home at this point and should be home in about an hour (or less....). Suddenly, we stop. We creep at 10 miles an hour or less for 12 miles. It is now 11:15 and we still have almost 45 minutes left of driving ahead of us. This time at least it was a known cause. Construction. I'd forgotten about it, as it is only on the northbound side right now. And they took it down from 3 lanes to 1. Yep, 1.
Needless to say I got home exhausted and around midnight. As odd as this sounds, I was too exhausted to sleep, but I couldn't stay awake. Not a very restful night. Oh well. It'll just be a tired Monday.
Peace to all and somebody take a nap for me.
Oh, as an after thought... I ordered a new computer Saturday morning so now Gak and I will both be online at the same time soon!!!

Not too bright....

Some days I'm not too bright. Ok, many days I'm not too bright. Yesterday was right up there in the Not Too Bright list.
Saturday we all went out for a friend's birthday. HUGE dinner, good friends and a nice evening. That ended around midnight (yes, early I know, but not early for me...).
Sunday morning I wake up and realize I never talked to my friend Uday about carpooling to the O-event at Daniell Boone. Crap. I call him and he's about ready to head out the door. I live about a mile away, so I throw my stuff in my bag, kiss Gak good morning and head out the door.
I remembered all my O-gear. Well, except the bug repellent (which I rarely use) and sunscreen. Remember that I forgot the sunscreen; I can't forget that information today.
We get to the Wa Wa for dark fluid of wakefulness +2. Uday doesn't have his wallet. No problem, I was going to give him cash for gas anyhow. We make it out to the event on time, early even. There was still some setup stuff to do, so of course we help out. Mind you, by now it's just about 10am and already above 80 (or so I'm guessing). And Sunny. And a little humid. And did I mention I forgot my sunscreen and that Boone doesn't have a lot of shade?
This was a unique event, the event director was calling it a 'spell-O'. You had a short or a long option. There were lots of controls placed out there. You get to choose which ones and which order. Ok, nothing unique there, that's a score-O. But wait, each control has 2 or 3 letters associated with it. If you're doing the long course, you must spell out, in order, Daniel Boone Homestead. Those of us doing the short course had to spell Go Orienteering. Ok, so this is a score-O with a twist. Other rules included not getting more than 2 of any one letter on a single side of the creek and you must stick to paths, roads and clearings (makes sense as Boone is a pricker bush haven). Sounds like fun. It was. Except for the heat. And did I mention I forgot my sunscreen?
I ended up not getting all my controls because I nearly fell over from the heat. I ended up off a path (what I thought was a path died in the middle of a patch of prickers) at one point so my legs are all scratched up. And of course, I forgot the sunscreen. And I wore a tanktop to be cooler. Therefore my shoulders are nice and toasty red.
*sigh* Sometimes I'm not too bright. But I did have fun....
Peace (and no sunburn!) to my friends in Norrath and beyond.

Ugh

This has been one long and not overly productive week. I haven't even taken the time to write about how unproductive I've been.
My trials from my last expedition to the woods aren't quite over. Not only did I get that nice massive bruise, but what I thought was an infected cut turns out to be poison ivy. This is the first time in my entire life that I've ever had poison ivy. My doctor thought it was an infected cut as well when I went to my appointment and put me on some antibiotics. 4 days later and the itching was still as bad as ever and spreading. Uh-oh. I guess it's not an infection but poison. He then gave me a steroid cream for it. Just getting that was an adventure because my normal pharmacy was out and "we can get that for you tomorrow..." just wasn't going to fly. Luckily a nearby pharmacy did have it and I'm feeling a lot better. I still itch like crazy at times, but the area of the rash is much smaller and not so bad looking. At least my bruise healed well.
I haven't had a very productive work week. It's a combination of still being exhausted from last month and coming back from a vacation week. Both things make it hard to concentrate and care. I'm planning on getting work done from home next week. I've got a couple of big projects and they go so much quicker when I can spread out over the entire apartment and tell Gak to go away for a bit.
This weekend looks to be hot and humid and nasty. I'm still trying to decide if I'm heading out into the woods on Sunday.
Now I've completely lost my train of thought. My buddy Don came up and distracted me yet again. I'm not going to even begin about the 2-hour lunch some of us had yesterday. shhh....
Oh well... Peace to all my friends in Norrath and beyond.