2985 Mid-June Doldrums

Sunday, June 13, 2010

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather
because it's safer to harass rich women
than motorcycle gangs."

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I haven't been very bloggy lately. I don't know why. I guess because there's not a lot happening in my life right now that I want to save for later reference (the REAL purpose of this journal), and nothing I have to let off steam about.

There are a few troubling things. First Woman has, I think, been self-adjusting her meds, and I think she is headed for a major crash. She's been taking violent offense at the most innocent things and attacking people left and right, to the point where people are very angry with her. She's the president of the local Mensa chapter, and people would like to remove her or have her censured. I'm worried that attacking back will push her into something drastic, like suicide. That's not excessive. I understand she has attempted it before.

I would feel very guilty if I saw it coming and did nothing, but a) I don't know what I could do, since off her meds she would see nothing wrong with her, it's everyone else who's wrong, and b) I am frankly very afraid of her. I know that's my problem, that I'm afraid to say anything to arouse her anger, but there it is. Do they make courage pills? Usually it's the family who sees what's happening and steps in or contacts the doctor, but she has no family, and at this point, no friends. Last night I sent an email to that effect to several active Mensa members, particularly those whom she has attacked, asking if anyone has any experience with interventions, and have not yet had any response.

A little compassion is in order, but I suspect her outrageous attacks have killed it before it could start.

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In other news, still no closing date on the new house. The sale of stock is going to pay for it, to be replaced when this house sells, but the stock market has been especially volatile ever since I signed the contract, so I hesitate to sell until I absolutely have to. Worse, the sale of my BP stock was going to be a large portion of the payment. Ick. BP, by the way, is listed as a "buy" by most market analysts right now, because the price is low, they have oodles of assets, and they won't be allowed to die. That "too big to fail" theory. Uh huh.

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Some cool things from Google maps:

The first find is a natural surface formation in Alberta, Canada. See http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=50%C2%B0+0%2738.20%22N+110%C2%B0+6%2748.32%22W&sll=45.504618,-73.568459&sspn=0.007986,0.021136&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=50.009739,-110.114443&spn=0.008233,0.022724&z=16.

The second is in Australia. Some people have said they're buildings, but I don't think so. I think they may be something like mine entrances. Anyway, they look like USB cords and plugs. See http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&q=Waubra+Victoria+3352,+Australia&sll=-37.571029,143.851835&sspn=0.013912,0.01929&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FUPuxf0dV8aPCA&split=0&hq=&hnear=Waubra+Victoria,+Australia&t=h&ll=-37.329065,143.610352&spn=0.003839,0.006448&z=17

Of course, you can use the controls on the left of the map to zoom in or out for a better view.
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A not-so-cool-thing.

This is downright scary! I don't understand how something like this is legal, unlicensed. Is it real? Switched.com thinks it is.

It's a laser pointer, portable, and powerful. The cautionary note from the company's own literature:

Warning: Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power. It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts, use with extreme caution and only when using the included eye protection. Customers will be required to completely read and agree to our Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form.

I don't know how big or heavy it is, although the pictures make it look like a Star Wars light saber, and I understand that it's meant for wonks who want to build their own home theaters and stuff, but hey! The darn thing is dangerous! And if it's as "portable" as it looks, it is a weapon. Blinds instantly and permanently? Sets fire to skin? Not just burns - sets fire to! And unlike a gun, you don't have to aim for it to have effect. Just wave it around.

The kicker - it costs $197.97. Less than a handgun.

The company ships it with a CD about the dangers, and a lengthy instruction sheet, but you know darn well wonks and miscreants who buy this thing will take it out of the box, turn it on, and aim it at the nearest wall, or randomly out the window, without reading or watching anything. Or at poor kitty. Oops - dangerous moth there, kitty! Fwooooomph! Moth caught you!

Info here:
http://dvice.com/archives/2010/06/spyder-iii-the.php
http://www.wickedlasers.com/lasers/Spyder_III_Pro_Arctic_Series-96-37.html
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2400 Annoyed

Monday, May 18, 2009

Frost warnings for tonight. High twenties low thirties predicted. It might get all the way up to a high of 50 F tomorrow.

I don't understand.

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I got annoyed at the morning news. They did a piece on a woman with a "pea-sized" brain tumor who had a new, immediate, non-invasive treatment "by robot! whoop whoop" which required very little recovery time.

Of course that drew my attention.

They then showed a focused narrow beam radiation doohicky swinging around her head, shooting beams from multiple directions, all of which converged on the tumor.

Thud.

That's fractionated radiosurgery. It's not new! It's been around for more than a decade. Jay had it in 2000. The improvement is not the "robot" or the converged radiation. It's the preparation that's improved enormously.

Back when Jay had it, the radiologist had to map the beam directions by hand, so that they could enter and exit from as many directions as possible, all crossing at the tumor, without hitting certain areas of the brain, the eyes, the optic nerves, throat, and so on. He then fed the coordinates to the machine.

The big news is not the "robot". It's that now that CAT and MRI scans are digital, a computer can do the mapping, and feed the coordinates directly to the machine. That's faster, but not a great leap in "robotics".

But I guess that's not as sexy a story.

It also annoyed me that they presented it as a cure. Like, just snap your fingers, ten minutes with the machine instead of 10 hours in surgery, and voilà, all fixed. Yes, they actually said something like that.

Sorry folks, but if her tumor was malignant (which, without biopsy, they don't really know), this probably bought her six to nine months, and it can't be repeated. So she is likely to end up in surgery anyway. If it's operable. Otherwise, she's SOL.

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The Man and I were supposed to get together again this week, but a work emergency has come up, and it may be another two weeks. Hearing this, I of course got annoyed and depressed.

Thinking about it, I realized that over the past two years, almost all my interests have died one by one, and my life has devolved to The Man, Daughter, and the internet. I don't do much of anything else any more.

• The only bar in the village has closed, so there's been no afternoons of throwing the bull with the guys for a long time now.
• Since the market dip, Piper has been too busy for our walks, and manages lunch only about once a month now instead of the old once a week.
• Friends have gradually moved away, or have become much less active (I'm surprised at how many people my age have aged so quickly).
  
• I've gradually wandered away from the dance community. I find I've lost interest in shows and haflas. I went to Rakkasah Spring Caravan only because the Gypsy needed someone to work her sales booth while she rehearsed and danced. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone.
  
• I haven't been to a Mensa activity since February, when I realized that of the ten people I'm most likely to see at functions, I enjoy only three of them. The other seven are major stressors, and I don't need that. So I see Roman, Angie, and Nate occasionally outside Mensa, and since Roman has realized that, after two years, The Man is not a flash in the pan, his phone calls and invitations to lunch have tapered off. I guess we weren't friends after all. He was just waiting for another chance at reconciliation. ('Taint gonna happen!)
• Last month I resigned as Mensa Ombudsman when I realized that there were some conflicts brewing, friends would call or email and tell me about shouting matches in restaurants, and it looked like FW would be at the middle of all of them. I don't care to mediate a conflict involving FW (whom The Man teasingly calls my psycho ex-girlfriend).
• And so on.
  

I didn't replace those activities with anything else. Some days lately I don't even bother to get dressed. When I don't see The Man, I go into hibernation. I've gained 12 pounds in the past eighteen months (that's like 20 on a regular-sized woman).

That has to stop.

Over the weekend I went looking for activities.

I have signed up for two dinner groups, two movie/discussion groups, got on the mailing list for a science cafe, and joined a group in Woodstock that takes dogs for easy hikes. Their flyer said they welcomed people without dogs, and I miss my dogs. I'm hoping I can enjoy theirs. A friend has been trying to talk me into a line dancing thingy she goes to, but I'm not sure I'd like that. It's "called", sort of like square dancing, and I can never remember what name goes with what pattern. I also joined an over-50s singles group, but only because they have interesting activities - like a dinner cruise down the Hudson next month. I'm not looking for pairing up, and I may not last long with that, anyway. I remember those groups as being more than a bit vicious (but maybe I won't get into trouble if it's obvious that I'm not competing. "I don't want your man, lady. I have a perfectly good one of my own.")

So, we'll see. I have a feeling I may have some problem getting off my butt - sometimes it seems like too much trouble to get up, dressed, and out - but at least I've found some directions I can go.
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1519 Settling In

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I'm in the hotel, after a frantic morning. I set the alarm for 7 am, planning to leave the house by 8:30, but then didn't wake up until the alarm STOPPED buzzing at 9. I made it out of the house in a record 20 minutes, made it to the airport just barely in time to get my suitcase checked onto the plane.

The Mommy Letter (informational letter you get from Mensa when you register for the gathering) said to arrange for a taxi from O'Hare to the hotel by calling a taxi from a courtesy phone. By the third try I was almost in tears - the guys who answered the phone barely spoke English, and I couldn't understand the letter of the door they wanted me to stand at and the number of the taxi that would come, and the first two hung up on me when I couldn't understand the number. The third guy was nicer, and worked with me until I got it. ("E, as in fervid." "E as in Edward?" "No, E as in fervid." "Like, A B C D E?" "No, A E E E." "Oh, D, as in dog?" "No. E as in David." "Ok, I've got it. A B C D!" "Yuh." "Uh, that's the door under construction that doesn't have a letter on it, right?" "Yuh, that one. Next one up from E.")

At the desk, they asked me if I really required room 906 (or whatever), and when I said no, they moved me to a "preferred" floor. My room is HUGE! Beautiful matched cherry furniture, a king-sized sleigh bed with five pillows, sofa, free wifi, etc.

The hotel is pretty fantastic, too. They have a 60,000 sq. ft. indoor waterpark, with slides, water cannons, whirlpools, and movies you can watch while floating in an innertube. On the other hand, a cup of tea in the cafe is $3.

FW's plane was delayed out of Newburgh. No idea when she'll get here. If she runs into the same taxi guys I did, she might flip out and go home, and I'm not kidding. I wouldn't blame her.

....FW just called my cell. She's here, her room's on the 3rd floor. (I'm on the 10th.) We're going to hunt down some food in about a half hour. (She's got big ideas about famous Chicago restaurants. We are NOT in the city - we're out in the middle of nowhere. I didn't see so much as a Denny's driving in. It's gonna be the hotel food or nothing.)

....Later - checked with the desk. The nearest restaurant is a 10 minute drive away. Nothing within walking distance. Ate in the hotel restaurant. Ten buffalo wings with celery, tea, key lime pie - $23 with tax and tip.

Located the Mensa gathering registration desk. All set.
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1467 Since Thursday...

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Thursday I went to NJ. The 2.5 hour trip took 5.0 hours because of an accident on (the OTHER side of) the Garden State Parkway.

Explored the kids' new house. It's very small, but it's in a pleasant neighborhood, I think.

Then I went to meet a friend for the evening. Daughter gave me directions and a map, and the 40 minute trip took me 75 minutes, because I had to keep pulling over to consult the map, kept missing turns, and most of the turns where that happened you have to go quite a distance to find a "jughandle" to make a U-turn, so I was very late meeting him. Central NJ is one of those places where it really is true that "you can't get there from here". But it worked out ok, and we had some good talking time together. Which we needed.

Friday I went back to the kids' new house and spent the day spackling and sanding walls, and the evening helping pack. The moving truck was to come Saturday morning.

The drive home was uneventful. I don't remember what time I got home, but I didn't get to bed until after 4 am Saturday. I got up about noon, handled some business, and then the power went out about 6 pm (storm with very bad very close lightning). That also means no water, and no house phone.

Lit some candles, read some magazines, called Daughter (cell) - move went well, bed was set up and made and they were going to sleep in the new house, but they couldn't find their pillows. My power came back on at about midnight. I had some research I had been doing on the internet, so I got back to that, and didn't get to bed until, again, 4 am-ish.

A friend and I planned to hike around the lake at Mohonk Mountain House (do go look at these pictures, too), so I was up at 7:30 am Sunday. The hike around the lake was nice. I've been there many times before, but on the Overcliff/Undercliff/Tower trails. The lake trail was new to me. It was short. So then we got feisty and decided to walk the 1.5 miles back to the day-hike parking area instead of taking the shuttle. Piece of cake, right?

Well, the trails were marked with "to 'name'" signs, but badly marked. Hell, half the trails led to 'name' one way or another! We had a map, but at an intersection, there was no way to tell exactly where you were on the map, which intersection, which made the map useless. I was confident that we'd eventually find the parking lot, because when we left the hotel grounds the shuttle road was to our right and to the left was a steep dropoff to the valley below (the hotel is on a ridge, as you can see from the photos. The mountain drops off behind the hotel). So as long as we didn't cross the shuttle road or fall off a cliff, we'd be heading the right direction. But my companion panicked. I think if she'd been able to tell them accurately where she was, she'd have called 911.

When we finally came out on the highway, she insisted that we had to turn to the left and go down the (steep!) road to get to the parking lot. I knew that the parking lot was on the ridge at the top of the mountain, to our right, up the road, but she was so freaked at that point I knew there was no point arguing. So I just followed her, and hoped she'd reconsider or figure it out on her own. She didn't. We went down about a half mile of "trucks use first gear" road, when I flagged down a pickup truck and asked the driver "Parking lot that way, right? (pointing up.)" He confirmed, I called to my companion (who wasn't interested in anything I had to say at that point), and we turned around and started up again. She started sticking her thumb out, and (wow) the fifth car or so stopped and picked her up. I chose to walk. Those last fifteen pounds, dontcha know....

When I got to the parking lot, she was nowhere to be seen. I called her cell and left a message that I hoped she got home ok, and I went home. Did some grocery shopping on the way home, and arrived to find a message from her that she had complained to the gate staff and customer service people about their maps and signs, and they had refunded her money.

As a member, she had paid $2 for the day. I had paid $21. It had never occurred to me to complain. I still wouldn't. They've been using those same maps for thirty years that I know of, and they haven't lost any guests yet. We just didn't use the map properly, didn't keep track of where we were, didn't really think about it. She had the map in her pack and had spent more time waving it around and complaining than looking at it.

Well, except for the minor hysterics, **I** enjoyed the day.
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1451 Saturday and Sunday

Sunday, August 26, 2007

FW's birthday party was yesterday. It went well, a lot tamer and quieter than I'd expected, especially after FW had spent the past several days putting together mix disks consisting mainly of Rolling Stones and Funk. She was planning on a lot of dancing, and I went geared up for dancing, but --- there wasn't any. They didn't look like a dancing crowd. It was all sitting and conversation. I may have been the only one who noticed and appreciated the music.

She made me the official photographer, so I had something to do (I'm very shy and quiet around strangers).

I got asked out by one of her male friends, a guy she'd met on an online dating site. Incidentally, another nudist. I didn't exactly say no, but I did tell him I'm involved and not available. (But it really is actually a "No".) He responded that FW has my number, so he'd check again sometime. But FW insulted him badly at the end of the evening, so I may be safe. I can't put FW on the spot by asking her not to give him my number, but now it's unlikely he'll be calling her anyway.

Another guy asked if I was a nudist, too. FW laughed and said no way! My eyebrows shot up, and I said that I don't even ever expose my legs. I wear yoga pants with my bathing suit. That surprised FW, but it's true.

I stayed late and helped clean up. Got home around 10 pm, found a phone message from Roman who wanted to know how it went. Called him. We talked about sites for photo storage -the conversation got rather frustrating. Not unusual with him.

Nothing much else. I'm just taking today to recover from the past four days of activity. "Down time."

Oh, and even though it LOOKS like I talked about people here, there's a lot of observations I didn't divulge! I'm being very good. Really.
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1445 Auction / Bylaws Meeting

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Roman, FW, and I were supposed to go to the auction together last night, but FW cancelled out, so it was just Roman and me. This was his first estate auction, and I was afraid it wouldn't be "his thing" and he'd be bored. Actually, I think he was, but he's trying awfully hard these days to humor me. In return, when I looked ahead and saw that there was nothing I had marked on the last four pages of the catalog (of 16 pages total), I suggested that we could just leave early. I think he was grateful.

When I say he's humoring me, over the past two years I have twice invited him to the county fair, and both times he made a face and told me he doesn't care for fairs, and he clearly had no interest. Last night I mentioned the fair, and we are now planning to go together. Hmmmm. I may have to be careful about that. It begins to look like he's doing things with me not for the things, but for the with me part. I probably shouldn't allow that.

I did well at the auction. I bought a gorgeous blue and white Chinese vase, and a Swarovski crystal chandelier for the dining room. My dining room set is 1880s Berkey & Gay, and the chandelier that had been in there is modern smoked glass. This one will go so much better. It's not the "wedding cake" style - it's all curves of brass with scattered strings of crystals. It gives the impression of a graceful woman with long crystal earrings.

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The first bylaws revision committee meeting was this evening, and it went really well! I was surprised at how well. We all seemed to be on the same wavelength. We got through about 1/3 of the material, and so far it's looking good.

The member about whom I had been worried and I had had a small spat about a week ago, and we were being very respectful of each other's thoughts and comments. And I think my ranting in this journal two entries back really did release steam, so I wasn't tempted to push buttons (although I DID mention a few things that had gone wrong with the previous revision, and I really didn't have to do that, and I am a tiny bit ashamed that I did. I promise to control myself better in the next session.)
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1136 Annoying Stock

Sunday, February 25, 2007

I canceled a planned outing with FirstWoman last night because I was tired, frustrated, and full of inertia. I just didn't want to make the effort. I canceled rollerskating with Angie this evening for the same reason.

I'm frustrated and feeling guilty because I've got so much to do, and it's not getting done. Every time I start something from the "to do" list, something happens and I get sidetracked.

This afternoon I decided I MUST start pulling together the tax stuff for The Angel, and start looking into selling more stock for Piper's planned portfolio balancing. The first thing I picked up from the financial bin was a proxy packet from my favorite stock.

This particular stock is one that I have told Piper I will not sell! No way! Not for nuthin! I like it! The stock has gone up steadily for the past six years - it is now worth more than five times what it was in 2000, and it pays good dividends. He agrees that I'd be crazy to sell it - in fact, I should buy more.

The company is being "acquired". A smaller company in the same industry is going to buy it out for 26 billion dollars. For each of our shares, we stockholders will get .67 share of the smaller company, and a bunch of cash.

I am being asked to vote my shares, for or against the acquisition.

Naturally, I need more info.

Three hours, and a trip around the internet, later, I voted a resounding NO!!! (Not that I have enough stock for them to notice....)

First of all, I will end up with 1/3 of my investment in equity, and 2/3 in cash on which I will have to pay capital gains tax. I would prefer a straight stock trade. Gimme a bunch of yours for all of mine. This deal amounts to selling 2/3 of a stock I never wanted to sell at all. I could turn around and buy more stock, but I'd still be out the tax.

Since the announcement, my company's stock has continued its rise, but the stock of the smaller company has fallen. Analysts seem to think that it is a "fair" offer to the stockholders, since .67 share of the smaller company plus the cash offered equals slightly higher than the current price of my company, BUT, and here's the scary part, most of them think that the smaller company is going to hurt themselves badly, that they really can't afford the 26 billion. So those ".67 share"s could be worth even less in the future, even though after the acquisition, it will be the largest company in the world in this industry. (A giant, but an injured giant.)

I am exceedingly annoyed.

That, The Amazing Race, and several phone calls, absorbed the afternoon and evening.
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Daughter and Hercules have been househunting in central NJ. Yesterday she said that they'd found the perfect house, and they had submitted an offer. The house had been on the market only one day. Today she called and said that someone else had submitted a bid, too, and it had apparently been accepted, even though their offer was probably higher. I wish I knew more about NJ real estate law, and how offers should be presented.

Emotional roller coaster for the kids. This is the second time that's happened to them in the past month.

I advised her to leave their offer "live" while they continue looking. The other buyers' deal may fall through. Besides, the real estate market is in decline, and in six months they may be able to get more house for the same money.
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