| Writer's Block: Wake up and smell the coffee |
[09 Feb 2010|08:50am] |
Must stop laughing. Today is Denny's Grand Slam give away, so I just went bounding into our room chirping happily "Honey Honey, guess what, free food!" He didn't kill me, I'm perfectly happy to go up the road a few miles, but I've been up since 7. I think he would have preferred to remain in bed. Poor sweetie.
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| free cat to bad home |
[15 Oct 2009|09:48pm] |
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mood |
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 exhausted |
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So I take my poor half starved dog home (who now eats oyster crackers and udon noodles covered in hot sauce but won't touch dog food at the new house) and she's showing me UPSTAIRS UPSTAIRS FOOD FOOD NOW NOW so I feed her the last shreds of what's in her dish (elie has the new bag of food in his car) and as I put the food dish down Newt stares over and this huge thread of drool pours out of her mouth. Then she sees the dog inhaling her food and begins licking, tearing and eating the upstairs carpet in frustration and hunger (like shred shred shred, pull munch munch swallow)
Free cat to bad home, you can take the half eaten carpet with you. Now they're both showing me empty bowls. Send chocolate for me.
-l.
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| The Workhouse |
[20 Sep 2009|10:14pm] |
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mood |
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 artistic |
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So I'm thinking about taking a art class through The Workhouse (formerly Lorton Prison) if I were to take a class, what class should I take? I feel like it would help with the I don't know anyone anymore and need for creativity.
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| One Month on the House |
[20 Sep 2009|10:04pm] |
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mood |
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 accomplished |
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Today we've had the new house one month! And we've:
Given tours to: Paul, Elisa, Julie, Jeff, Mom & Lucille (The rest of you are welcome to come & visit), special thanks to Elisa & Paul for helping with the new house.
Pulled out the nasty old carpet and carpet tacks from the house (eew!)
Laid most of the new wood floor in the office
Stripped 1/2 of the floor upstairs
cleaned most of the kitchen
figured out how to plug the fridge back in (finding the hole in the wall to go through to the bathroom closet behind after dragging the fridge off the pedestal was horrid)
found & fixed the gas leak
uncovered and moved the dirt around in the pool to determine how cracked the pool is (In ground)
bought new lawn mowers and cut the grass (1 acres worth)
changed all of the locks
painted the upstairs bathroom
destroyed the downstairs guest bedrooms ceiling in a glorious bath attempt (sigh)
bought paint for most of the house
bought a new bed for the house (which we can't sleep on as the floors aren't done)
bought a new dishwasher (which can't get put in until all of the gas lines get moved around the kitchen and then a circuit gets brought up, as it'll be the house's first dishwasher)
played darts (thanks Paul!)
assembled a new utility sink so that the washer and dryer can get reinstalled
pulled LOTS of weeds
changed lots of lightbulbs
bought ceiling fans to replace ones that weren't quite right (not yet installed)
found a bunch of problems with the house
brought dishes and glassware over to the house
convinced elie's laptop's hard-drive to commit suicide rather than assist with another home depot or lowes search (hopefully the new drive will be more willing)
got ooma up and running so we have a 'land-line'
got FIOS installed
got the utilities turned back on
hot water heater relit
I'm sure there's more, but i guess I need to celebrate what we *did* do this month, not how much further I'd hoped we be... Thank you Elie & Elisa & Paul.
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| WAPO: Some Role Models Cheat |
[09 Jul 2009|09:34pm] |
I'm cutting some excerpts out of the Washington Post Article " " but its a horrifying look at a professional athelete's view of why cheating is non-impacting on a pro-sportsman's career.
snip
"McNair's tragic death came as a shock to many people not simply because of how but why: Is he any less a role model because he was not faithful at home? Should athletes as a whole not be considered role models if they make mistakes in their marriage? My definition of role model is someone who leads by example in a specific area; however, it has become an overused phrase that shouldn't necessarily describe professional athletes. We should tell our children to be inspired by the hard work, dedication and sacrifice it takes to make a professional sports team and not marvel about players' salaries, fame and material possessions. "
skip more
"If a pro athlete is unfaithful to his spouse, it shouldn't affect his standing as a leader in the locker room, on the field or in the community. Society's focus on the spoils of success has created a culture where a professional athletes' personal mistakes are not only news but also headlines"
snip
just depressing.
-l.
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| raising mom |
[31 May 2009|05:30pm] |
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mood |
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 aggravated |
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so Mom calls from the Denver airport right as they're calling her flight. Don't forget to turn off your cell phone I remind. "How do i do that" she asks. "Hold down the red button" "What red button" "The hangup button, it turns the phone off if you hold it for a few seconds. Its federal law that you have to turn the phone off, Now to turn the phone back on" ..click.. I guess someone on the other end in the airport can show her that one, because she didn't bother waiting for that set of instructions. Parents these days... they never listen!
-l.
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| Writer's Block: Apology Not Accepted |
[20 May 2009|05:15pm] |
I have absolutely not accepted, and more frequently as I've gotten older. I'm tired of hearing I'm sorry, and then seeing the same exact action the next day with yet another "I'm sorry" Its not an apology, if the behavior doesn't change. It is an apology when the person is making a real effort to try to stop doing something, or genuinely shows a want to make the situation better between you. Too often do I hear the accusational phrase "but I apologized!"
The second point where i refuse apologies is when someone had no bearing on the situation. This is important in today's society. We cannot keep apologizing for sins of the past when all of the people who were affected are DEAD. When all of the decision makers are dead, no longer around etc, we cannot apologize for them. We cannot apologize for slavery. I cannot accept an apology from someone that my father is dead, it was his own dammed set of bad choices coupled with his family not wanting to deal with his actions, not a random person who feels terrible for me now. Don't apologize to me, don't let it happen to someone else, break someone else's cycle. People need to quit demanding apologies, if someone doesn't mean it, they're not going to get it.
/rant.
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| The nearly dead Durso |
[30 Apr 2009|06:51am] |
So I'm totally fascinated by the latest  about how they were going to kill my former principal, his guidance counselor and blow up the school. The details are so specific--the boys were hunting for gas pipes thoughout the building, e.g. the locker rooms that they could hack into and attach bombs to, they were going to stuff paper in the fire suppression systems to maximize harm, etc. It takes how we look at any building and decomposes it into real soft targets without the need for guns.
i'm not sure how the reporters got this much detail this fast, but its a chilling but good way of looking at any building as an unhardened target.
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| swine flu |
[27 Apr 2009|08:30pm] |
my mom did a nice response to one of my cousin's about swine flu. While the initial paragraph doesn't make much sense, swine flu knocked out over 100mil people which was 40% of the population at the time.
her email:
Hi! Most of what is in the internist's post is correct. However, there are some truly basic errors, e.g. RNA is NOT a protein, it is a nucleic acid, as is taught in every high school biology book. Also, influenza is NOT the only virus that enters the cell while all others stay out. All animal viruses enter the cell, are "uncoated", and release their DNA or RNA. But, this post does not really answer the question of "are we in trouble and why". The first part of a definition of a pandemic has already been reached--the virus is easily spread from person to person, and has reached global distribution. There is really no way to contain the spread. The second part of worrying about it is whether it will result in high death rates. We should see that within the next week or so. Thusfar, no one in the U.S. has died of it. It seems more virulent down in Mexico, although analysis of the virus from Mexico and the virus in the U.S. reveal them to be identical.
The 1918 pandemic swine flu was very virulent--estimates of worldwide deaths range from 20 to 80 million deaths. In th U.S., more people died of swine flu than died in the Civil War on both sides combined. (Why is it you never see a swine flu memorial, just war memorials?) If you have even an old edition of my book, you can find a description of it in the chapter on respiratory diseases. It was terrible. People dropped dead in midsentence. Bodies were stacked up like cord wood on street corners when they died in the streets, stores, etc. Wagons came by periodically to cart them off to stadiums where they were laid out for identification. There was a terrible shortage of coffins, and funeral directors could not keep up with the number of bodies. Gymnasiums were turned into hospital wards, with row after row of beds. Happily, we do not see this state of things even down in Mexico where it appears worst.
In 1976, we had a very mild epidemic of swine flu in the U.S. Those of us who are older remember the panic to vaccinate at that time. Then there appeared to be a side effect to the vaccine, of a limited number of recipients developing Guillane Barre syndrome (paralytic). In all, the few cases of swine flu were of negligible significance. The question today is about the possible severity of this swine flu pandemic. Let's hope it stays mild in the U.S. Pregnant women should be especially careful, as they are at higher risk of severe disease and even death.
And I am so glad that we have Obama at the helm instead of the anti-science Bush administration!
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| big foot shoe shopping adventures |
[20 Apr 2009|06:22am] |
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mood |
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 annoyed |
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So I'm one of Julie's bridesmaid's (8.8.9 wedding) and the footwear code is sexy strappy black heels for shoes. Sadly i wear women's 12's (perhaps a bit on the wide, or they just don't scale women's shoes as they get towards the extreme waterski side of things) and I will tell you its easier to find a 5 1/2 than a 12 these days. But I figured prom season is rapidly approaching and younger womens feet are getting bigger (you should see the number of size 11's at Nordstrom's rack these days!! its no longer a 2 foot section with 10 shoes) so it was time to go hunting.
SO at some point I want the explanation of why it is so much easier to remove polish with a cotton ball than with toilet paper and polish remover, because this left little bits of blue polish on my toes (making it look like i had a lovely toenail infection from a few feet away, plus the previous coat of red which also had a teeny bit here and there left--must buy cotton balls ASAP) Someone should really be able to explain this to me in a sensible manner.
Then i went and looked at the selection of the black heels (all 10 of them, size 12 has not caught on in whatever to size 11 in popularity, then again, they're finally making them, but seriously I've been looking already for shoes that I need FOUR months from now, because I actually don't own a comfy pair of strappy sexy heels) How have shoes that are 4" heels in a size 6 (imagine what this scales to in a size 12 heel--why yes, a HARPOON!) become popular? or the lets put a strap across the front and back and use the power of stretch (aka rubber bands and cock rings) to hold the darn things onto your feet, or the best of all, the combo, plus slicer shoes, that use a harpoon heel, and a million elastic straps no thicker than a rubber band to go across the foot, except made out of pleather.
Seriously, nothing with a 2" heel, a reasonable cute base, nothing... ugh! am i a total old maid or what!?! Time for zappos or something...
on the bright side i did find some really flat sandals that were super cute for work. (or had reasonable heel because i'm running up and down stairs all day)
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| Oyamel's Salt Air for Margarita's Recipe |
[19 Mar 2009|08:52pm] |
because washingtonian rocks. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/recipes/4233.html
Oyamel's Salt Air for Margaritas 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
2 cups water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (available at GNC stores)
Combine ingredients. Tilt the bowl away from you and blend with hand-held blender held in the far corner. When there's an inch or so of foam on top, it's ready to use. Skim off foam onto margarita (made with your favorite recipe). When you've used it all up, repeat the process. Juice mixture can be refrigerated for several days.
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| Grasshoppers |
[19 Mar 2009|08:48pm] |
We went to dinner at Oyamel tonight and did their tasting menu. Definitely fun. Most bizzare item was the corn puff cakes with brined grasshoppers on them (you could see the heads with the eyes staring back at you, and play with the legs and everything. Very neat) However the grasshoppers were so brined that they were just too strong and unpleasant icky while soft and otherwise probably could have been palatable. The rest of the food ranging from perfect salsa, chips and guacamole, to braised beef, quail ceviche and other yumminess. They use the salt foam stuff on their margaretias instead of salt rim which is a huge improvement as well (soy lethithan, plus lime juice, and salt water creates foam).
very spiffy.
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| 13 degrees |
[03 Mar 2009|06:24am] |
Its 13 degrees out! Please don't make me go out there! BRRR!
Yesterday we got snow, so i had a snowmonster for a dog. too cute! I love her _icicle fangs_ where the drool froze from the snow.
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| Softworld...revisited. |
[04 Feb 2009|06:49pm] |
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mood |
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annoyed |
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So a recruiter from Softworld called today, I think it was like his 3rd recruiting call ever. Apparantly he hadn't read down far enough into my resume (3 items) to realize that this time last year i worked for Softworld, and that it had been an unpleasant experience. So he introduces himself, and I launch: "Softworld, really! Are you calling because your company has suddenly developed a sense of ethics and is going to send me my last several paychecks that they billed the customer for but never paid me for? Oh you just started working there? Your company is deceitful and generally a shithole, hope they actually pay you, i have no interest in working for them again!!"
poor kid.
-l.
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| kitty powder bombs! |
[27 Jan 2009|09:06pm] |
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mood |
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 amused |
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My evening is complete, I shall keep throwing the Newt, the tabby who always wants to escape, into the yard, into the snow, and then letting the dog jump her so that she's buried and runs screaming into the house. Think flour or other powder bomb but with cat inside and similar howling noises. It might make up for those thunderstorms I had to run into to drag her into the house...maybe.
The LOOK on her face when she saw me laughing my butt off at her tells me that tonight I shall die, so I send my love, and some cat hair (for DNA testing).
please let them cancel work tomorrow.
-l.
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| Ski Liberty Sunday |
[16 Jan 2009|06:29pm] |
We are going to Ski Liberty Sunday (meeting Paul there) if anyone else is going. It should be a perfect 31 with 100% of everything open.
-l.
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