Saturday, September 22, 2007
[Note - If you're looking for the Cusack/Jackson ghost movie, that's "1408", not "1480".]
The best part of the movie we saw tonight will be reviewing it.
My friend apologized in the parking lot for dragging me out for it, but I can't remember the last time I saw a movie in a theater, so I said "Oh, no, it's ok. Better a bad movie than no movie at all." She agreed. At least we have the experience to complain about over dinner for a few weeks.
The movie was "Silk". The novel may or may not have been good, there's no way to tell short of finding and reading it. The screenplay was terrible. The acting was wooden. You know how you have a runthrough of a play at some point during production, to map out placements, props, lighting, timing, when everyone just walks around and reads the lines? That's what this was like. Just reading the lines. Flatly. There was not only no passion, there was no emotion. Nothing. There was a brief moment (the hung boy) when the lead actor almost used his facial muscles, but the director didn't take advantage of it.
The trek across Asia to Japan could have been interesting, but the director blew it. Distance shots of one terrain after another of plod, plod, plodding. And since the guy went back two more times, we got exactly the same plod, plod, plodding scenes two more times!
My friend complained about the music, but I didn't notice the music.
What finally killed it for me, what destroyed the last bit of charity I may have had for the screenwriter or director, was the "twist" at the end. It was simply impossible. The woman who wrote the letter could not POSSIBLY have known that the woman in Japan and the man had never touched. That she would write what she wrote (hell, that she would write a letter at all!) is simply inconceivable. Unless, of course, as I suspect, the director left out all of the human relations part of the story so he could fit in the plod, plod, plodding.
Unless, of course, I slept through that part without realizing it. I don't think I did, but given the pace of this movie, I could have, I suppose.
My friend started giggling at the "twist" at the end, and her suppressed giggles sounded like sobbing. It was weird, but I was slightly embarrassed that someone might think she was overcome by emotion. "Like, duh? What kind of idiot are you, lady?"
The theater, on the other hand, was very comfortable. Tiny, a few rows of individual comfy bentwood easy chairs, with soft thickly upholstered seats and backs. Low enough that my feet touched the floor, with backs high enough to lean your head against. And every chair had a brightly colored or patterned throw pillow. With a warm afghan or shawl, I could happily have slept through the movie.
.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
1479 Equality
Saturday, September 22, 2007
I'm going to dinner and a movie tonight with a friend. She had received gift coupons to an art theater for her birthday, so we're going to use them. The restaurant is the same one my date and I went to on Thursday, and the theater is across the street from the tiki bar with the music trivia. The movie is "Silk". The reviews weren't wonderful.
My friend was disappointed that I didn't go to it Thursday with the guy ("It's Silk! Isn't that neat?"), but hey, just the name doesn't make it worthy. Besides, I don't especially care for movies on dates. Given the choice between sitting next to a guy looking at the screen, or sitting across from him looking at his face and talking, well, I prefer interaction.
Jasper discovered my bed yesterday afternoon. I was sitting on the bed hemming a dress, and he jumped up. He loved the deep eider comforter, too, but I warned him that if Miss Thunderfoot caught him up there, she'd kill him.
More evidence that he's younger than everyone thinks - he discovered his tail. The comforter kind of pushed his tail up and around as he was snuggling into it, and he acted like he'd never seen it before. Diving, leaping, spinning, in a sea of marshmallow, trying to catch it, looking all around when it disappeared.
The last pool party of the season is tomorrow. At least three people have reminded me to bring a bathing suit. Why? All anyone is going to do is stand around looking at the water. The air may be warm (we seem to be having a brief heat wave, an Indian Summer) but the sun is too low to warm a body.
Which reminds me - autumnal equinox tomorrow. Stand those eggs! I've got one standing on the counter right now.
.
I'm going to dinner and a movie tonight with a friend. She had received gift coupons to an art theater for her birthday, so we're going to use them. The restaurant is the same one my date and I went to on Thursday, and the theater is across the street from the tiki bar with the music trivia. The movie is "Silk". The reviews weren't wonderful.
My friend was disappointed that I didn't go to it Thursday with the guy ("It's Silk! Isn't that neat?"), but hey, just the name doesn't make it worthy. Besides, I don't especially care for movies on dates. Given the choice between sitting next to a guy looking at the screen, or sitting across from him looking at his face and talking, well, I prefer interaction.
Jasper discovered my bed yesterday afternoon. I was sitting on the bed hemming a dress, and he jumped up. He loved the deep eider comforter, too, but I warned him that if Miss Thunderfoot caught him up there, she'd kill him.
More evidence that he's younger than everyone thinks - he discovered his tail. The comforter kind of pushed his tail up and around as he was snuggling into it, and he acted like he'd never seen it before. Diving, leaping, spinning, in a sea of marshmallow, trying to catch it, looking all around when it disappeared.
The last pool party of the season is tomorrow. At least three people have reminded me to bring a bathing suit. Why? All anyone is going to do is stand around looking at the water. The air may be warm (we seem to be having a brief heat wave, an Indian Summer) but the sun is too low to warm a body.
Which reminds me - autumnal equinox tomorrow. Stand those eggs! I've got one standing on the counter right now.
.
Friday, September 21, 2007
1478 Falling
Friday, September 21, 2007
I hadn't updated in a few days, not because I was busy, but exactly the opposite. Nothing happened. I had no thoughts.
Last night was better.
I met a friend downriver for a leisurely dinner on a patio on the riverfront, after which we moved to a "tiki bar" next door, where it sounded like there was a band. There was a band - two guys who managed to sound like five!
Then we discovered that they were running a music trivia thingy between sets, with t-shirts and caps as prizes.
Now, my friend knows a lot about a lot of stuff, like all the fun NPR shows, Monty Python, sports, on and on. He has not only high intelligence, but what amounts to a photographic memory. I swear he remembers everything he has ever seen or heard, and he is incredibly aware of everything going on around him. His mind runs in overdrive. And the thing he knows the most about is music.
After he had quickly won two t-shirts and a cap (a very nice black-on-black that looks really good on him, and which I am holding hostage), he was barred from answering, and then they had to bar him from whispering to the guy next to him.
After that he was so ... cute. Hate to use that word, but it's the only one that fits. When he knew the answer and everyone else was stumped, he was hopping up and down in excitement, and a time or two had to pace to the far end of the bar, presumably to avoid blurting. It was so nice to see him so engaged. It was like he dropped 40 years. I could see what he was probably like as a boy.
I'm still fighting it, but I may be falling in love anyway.
.
I hadn't updated in a few days, not because I was busy, but exactly the opposite. Nothing happened. I had no thoughts.
Last night was better.
I met a friend downriver for a leisurely dinner on a patio on the riverfront, after which we moved to a "tiki bar" next door, where it sounded like there was a band. There was a band - two guys who managed to sound like five!
Then we discovered that they were running a music trivia thingy between sets, with t-shirts and caps as prizes.
Now, my friend knows a lot about a lot of stuff, like all the fun NPR shows, Monty Python, sports, on and on. He has not only high intelligence, but what amounts to a photographic memory. I swear he remembers everything he has ever seen or heard, and he is incredibly aware of everything going on around him. His mind runs in overdrive. And the thing he knows the most about is music.
After he had quickly won two t-shirts and a cap (a very nice black-on-black that looks really good on him, and which I am holding hostage), he was barred from answering, and then they had to bar him from whispering to the guy next to him.
After that he was so ... cute. Hate to use that word, but it's the only one that fits. When he knew the answer and everyone else was stumped, he was hopping up and down in excitement, and a time or two had to pace to the far end of the bar, presumably to avoid blurting. It was so nice to see him so engaged. It was like he dropped 40 years. I could see what he was probably like as a boy.
I'm still fighting it, but I may be falling in love anyway.
.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
1477 I'm Very Bad at Titles
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Blogger has been very shy today. Hardly anything would load for me. It wasn't my connection, other stuff was accessed just fine, but Blogger timed out no matter what I was trying to look at. I'm hoping I'll be able to complete this entry.
---------------------------------
Kitty update:
I am absolutely convinced that the women at the hotel where I rescued Jasper are mistaken that he'd been around since before the flooding. They must have him confused with, perhaps, his mother. When I caught him and thought he was at least six months old, I thought he was going to be a small cat, because holding him he reached from my breast to my shoulder and he weighed less than five pounds. Three weeks later he'd doubled in size, and weighed seven pounds. Three more weeks and now he reaches from my waist to my shoulders, and weighs ten pounds! He's still very muscular.
He's quite the lover. He has developed a new habit - he grooms me. He'll drape himself over my lap, and then lick whatever skin he can find (raspy tongue hurts!) over and over on the same palm-sized spot of my arm or thigh. If he can't get to skin, he'll groom my clothing. We're going to have to discourage that.
---------------------------
I live in a rural area. There are spots around here where there is no cell service. However, I found out today that within an 8-mile radius of my house, there are at least 91 signal-emitting antennas, 52 of which are on 22 high towers, and 39 of which are individual "roof-top" installations. The closest tower is .7 miles away. My house is high, so the electronic garbage is probably all zapping through me right now.
See http://www.antennasearch.com/ for your address.
.
Blogger has been very shy today. Hardly anything would load for me. It wasn't my connection, other stuff was accessed just fine, but Blogger timed out no matter what I was trying to look at. I'm hoping I'll be able to complete this entry.
---------------------------------
Kitty update:
I am absolutely convinced that the women at the hotel where I rescued Jasper are mistaken that he'd been around since before the flooding. They must have him confused with, perhaps, his mother. When I caught him and thought he was at least six months old, I thought he was going to be a small cat, because holding him he reached from my breast to my shoulder and he weighed less than five pounds. Three weeks later he'd doubled in size, and weighed seven pounds. Three more weeks and now he reaches from my waist to my shoulders, and weighs ten pounds! He's still very muscular.
He's quite the lover. He has developed a new habit - he grooms me. He'll drape himself over my lap, and then lick whatever skin he can find (raspy tongue hurts!) over and over on the same palm-sized spot of my arm or thigh. If he can't get to skin, he'll groom my clothing. We're going to have to discourage that.
---------------------------
I live in a rural area. There are spots around here where there is no cell service. However, I found out today that within an 8-mile radius of my house, there are at least 91 signal-emitting antennas, 52 of which are on 22 high towers, and 39 of which are individual "roof-top" installations. The closest tower is .7 miles away. My house is high, so the electronic garbage is probably all zapping through me right now.
See http://www.antennasearch.com/ for your address.
.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
1476 Fatty Acids and Autism
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
"A team of New Jersey scientists believes it has found ways to detect biological risk factors for autism through simple urine and blood tests, a discovery that could lead to groundbreaking medical treatment for the neurological disorder.
The team of 16 scientists, mostly drawn from the campuses of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, say their findings, the result of more than two years of study on how the body breaks down fatty acids, could be a breakthrough for what is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the nation, with no known cause or cure.
The UMDNJ researchers say they have found that children with autism are unable to metabolise key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs."
The story, including possible treatments, is at http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=6075.
The discovery is of course most interesting to people who have or know people who have autistic children, or autism in their families. Daughter, living in NJ and working with nursery school aged children, is very aware of the rise of rates of autism, especially in NJ. She thinks NJ is toxic (duh?), and is worried about having a child there. I'm slightly worried for future grandchildren.
But my immediate thoughts reading this were about Jay, the part about "children with autism are unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs".
A lab report noted that the tumor seemed to originate in an area of the brain that had suffered an old trauma. Jay had difficulty handling the inflammation resulting from the treatments. The intracanial inflammation and swelling, and the steroids necessary to control it, caused more damage than the radiation or surgeries or even the pressure of the tumor itself.
Late in the battle he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which some consider related to autism.
Is it possible that, as in autism, Jay was "unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs"?
Did the tumor happen because of the old injury, and an inability to properly handle it? Could one of those "cocktails" of fatty acids have helped him to avoid the collateral damage of inflammation?
Asperger has been called "the nerd disease". Do brain tumors occur at a higher rate among nerds? Has anyone ever asked? The Albany doctors told me that there is a "brain cancer hot spot" near here, across the river and a bit north of Poughkeepsie, and they could find no unusual environmental factors there. Uh, it's a rural area with a proportionately high population of ex-Evil-Empire employees...
... otherwise known as nerds.
I wonder if any doctor would be interested in this observation?
.
"A team of New Jersey scientists believes it has found ways to detect biological risk factors for autism through simple urine and blood tests, a discovery that could lead to groundbreaking medical treatment for the neurological disorder.
The team of 16 scientists, mostly drawn from the campuses of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, say their findings, the result of more than two years of study on how the body breaks down fatty acids, could be a breakthrough for what is the fastest-growing developmental disorder in the nation, with no known cause or cure.
The UMDNJ researchers say they have found that children with autism are unable to metabolise key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs."
The story, including possible treatments, is at http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=6075.
The discovery is of course most interesting to people who have or know people who have autistic children, or autism in their families. Daughter, living in NJ and working with nursery school aged children, is very aware of the rise of rates of autism, especially in NJ. She thinks NJ is toxic (duh?), and is worried about having a child there. I'm slightly worried for future grandchildren.
But my immediate thoughts reading this were about Jay, the part about "children with autism are unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs".
A lab report noted that the tumor seemed to originate in an area of the brain that had suffered an old trauma. Jay had difficulty handling the inflammation resulting from the treatments. The intracanial inflammation and swelling, and the steroids necessary to control it, caused more damage than the radiation or surgeries or even the pressure of the tumor itself.
Late in the battle he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which some consider related to autism.
Is it possible that, as in autism, Jay was "unable to metabolize key fatty acids which help the body fight inflammation that causes damage to the brain and other organs"?
Did the tumor happen because of the old injury, and an inability to properly handle it? Could one of those "cocktails" of fatty acids have helped him to avoid the collateral damage of inflammation?
Asperger has been called "the nerd disease". Do brain tumors occur at a higher rate among nerds? Has anyone ever asked? The Albany doctors told me that there is a "brain cancer hot spot" near here, across the river and a bit north of Poughkeepsie, and they could find no unusual environmental factors there. Uh, it's a rural area with a proportionately high population of ex-Evil-Empire employees...
... otherwise known as nerds.
I wonder if any doctor would be interested in this observation?
.
Monday, September 17, 2007
1475 Shofar Virtuoso
Ok. Is this only one shofar? Nothing is said of a bugle backup, but there are a few spots where I have to wonder, like when his lips seem to be off it but there's still sound. I don't know. But if this is all one guy with one ram's horn, this is pretty impressive. Any opinions?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=686SoqV70y0)
Later:
I asked a Jewish friend to check this out, and he says that it doesn't sound right, that the reverb is wrong, that he also noticed the sound when lips were not on, and it sounds like there are at least two, not one.
I checked out the guy playing it, and he's not Jewish, he's Christian, he just plays the shofar. The hosts are from some group that fosters Jewish-Christian dialog. That was interesting, because when I first saw the set, I thought "evangelical Christian" before I noticed the Hebrew scattered around. Which then reminded me of an article I'd recently read about how some Jewish folks are suspicious of fundamentalist Christian groups who want to get friendly - because no matter how much they innocently deny it, their purpose is proselytizing and conversion.
Oh, and that's not a ram's horn. A ram's horn is short, usually has only one-half curve. The longer shofars that we usually see these days (better sound) is actually an African antelope horn.
.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=686SoqV70y0)
Later:
I asked a Jewish friend to check this out, and he says that it doesn't sound right, that the reverb is wrong, that he also noticed the sound when lips were not on, and it sounds like there are at least two, not one.
I checked out the guy playing it, and he's not Jewish, he's Christian, he just plays the shofar. The hosts are from some group that fosters Jewish-Christian dialog. That was interesting, because when I first saw the set, I thought "evangelical Christian" before I noticed the Hebrew scattered around. Which then reminded me of an article I'd recently read about how some Jewish folks are suspicious of fundamentalist Christian groups who want to get friendly - because no matter how much they innocently deny it, their purpose is proselytizing and conversion.
Oh, and that's not a ram's horn. A ram's horn is short, usually has only one-half curve. The longer shofars that we usually see these days (better sound) is actually an African antelope horn.
.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
1474 Buncha Bits
Sunday, September 16, 2007
We had the second bylaws revision meeting today. Went very well. Ziggy and I don't get along on some things, but we do seem to work well together. Makes sense, I guess. We've both been well trained by The Company. I had hoped this would be the last in-person meeting of the committee, but we have the election schedule to work out yet, so I guess there will be one more.
------------------------------
I happened to walk into the kitchen today, and caught an interview with Jeff Gordon, the race car driver, on the kitchen TV. (I'm pretty sure that's the name. Young, good looking, right?)
It stopped me cold. For half a second I thought it was Ex#1. Jeff is much better looking, smaller nose and rectangular face, but the two of them have exactly the same mouth and eyes, and exactly the same way of moving them. It's uncanny. I left me wondering what Mr. Gordon's mind is like, wondering how vicious he could be when angry.
------------------------------
A Jewish friend was talking about how one does not write the name of God, and that's why in the blogs of religiously observant Jewish folks, you'll see "G-d". Because you can't write the name.
Um, since everyone knows what you mean by G-d, hasn't that become the name? Simply an alternate spelling of it? What is the purpose of the prohibition? Does substituting "-" for "o" satisfy the purpose of the prohibition? Like maybe when God does a universal Google search for his name, He won't find your (vain?) post?
I find use of "G-d" very annoying. Either write it or don't, but don't pretend the "-" makes a difference. There are many names for God, "G-d" is one of them by definition since we all know who you mean, and, well, you just wrote it, you bad person, you.
-------------------------------
It's hard when nobody wants their pictures in your blog. I had to cut folks out of this one:
Me, feeding ducks. Gully's, Newburg, Mensa Mirthday celebration, August 17, 2007.
.
We had the second bylaws revision meeting today. Went very well. Ziggy and I don't get along on some things, but we do seem to work well together. Makes sense, I guess. We've both been well trained by The Company. I had hoped this would be the last in-person meeting of the committee, but we have the election schedule to work out yet, so I guess there will be one more.
------------------------------
I happened to walk into the kitchen today, and caught an interview with Jeff Gordon, the race car driver, on the kitchen TV. (I'm pretty sure that's the name. Young, good looking, right?)
It stopped me cold. For half a second I thought it was Ex#1. Jeff is much better looking, smaller nose and rectangular face, but the two of them have exactly the same mouth and eyes, and exactly the same way of moving them. It's uncanny. I left me wondering what Mr. Gordon's mind is like, wondering how vicious he could be when angry.
------------------------------
A Jewish friend was talking about how one does not write the name of God, and that's why in the blogs of religiously observant Jewish folks, you'll see "G-d". Because you can't write the name.
Um, since everyone knows what you mean by G-d, hasn't that become the name? Simply an alternate spelling of it? What is the purpose of the prohibition? Does substituting "-" for "o" satisfy the purpose of the prohibition? Like maybe when God does a universal Google search for his name, He won't find your (vain?) post?
I find use of "G-d" very annoying. Either write it or don't, but don't pretend the "-" makes a difference. There are many names for God, "G-d" is one of them by definition since we all know who you mean, and, well, you just wrote it, you bad person, you.
-------------------------------
It's hard when nobody wants their pictures in your blog. I had to cut folks out of this one:
Me, feeding ducks. Gully's, Newburg, Mensa Mirthday celebration, August 17, 2007.
.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
1473 No Bonfire
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I was wrong in yesterday's post. Shortly after sending it off I decided to give up and go to bed, at 7 pm, where I immediately started sweating. Took my temperature. 100.4. Not all that high, but at least I know it's not all in my head, there's something going on.
I took some aspirin, and by midnight the feverish feeling was gone. I felt fine this morning, but I have a feeling I'll be rocky again by sundown. Probably a virus.
The friend I visited last Thursday was also feverish last night, and reports several acquaintances who are ill. A local friend reports feeling icky too. Most of them have a sore throat. I don't.
A friend in Newburgh invited me to a bonfire this afternoon. They're burning the trimmed branches from an apple orchard. There'll be some very interesting people there, and I love bonfires anyway. For all my fear of uncontrolled fire, there's a bit of pyromania in me. But I suspect I'll feel better tomorrow if I stay in and quiet today. So. Disappointment.
Tomorrow is the annual "Thank You" Hudson River cruise and dinner for the maritime museum volunteers, and again I have to miss it. Very annoying. But the second (and I hope final) meeting of the Mensa bylaws revision committee is tomorrow, and I can't miss that. I've got a big emotional investment in seeing that the bylaws are done right this time. If it's nasty weather tomorrow (oops, sorry, all you other volunteers) that'll at least make it bearable.
I've been distracted several times during the composing of this entry by IM-like emails and calls from friends, and dealings with an online customer service department over whether they can get an order to me by Wednesday, so I can deliver a portion of it to Daughter before next weekend, and requests from eBay for help with a very convincing spoof email. EBay confirmed that it wasn't from them, and wants the headers so they can trace it. I don't know HOW to get the headers for my AOL email, but eBay has very helpfully linked some websites that tell one how, so I guess I get to learn something new today.
Anyway, I started this entry at 3:43 pm, and it's now 4:54, and my cheeks are beginning to feel hot. So I guess the virus is waking up and moving again. I kinda figured it would....
Tea time.
.
I was wrong in yesterday's post. Shortly after sending it off I decided to give up and go to bed, at 7 pm, where I immediately started sweating. Took my temperature. 100.4. Not all that high, but at least I know it's not all in my head, there's something going on.
I took some aspirin, and by midnight the feverish feeling was gone. I felt fine this morning, but I have a feeling I'll be rocky again by sundown. Probably a virus.
The friend I visited last Thursday was also feverish last night, and reports several acquaintances who are ill. A local friend reports feeling icky too. Most of them have a sore throat. I don't.
A friend in Newburgh invited me to a bonfire this afternoon. They're burning the trimmed branches from an apple orchard. There'll be some very interesting people there, and I love bonfires anyway. For all my fear of uncontrolled fire, there's a bit of pyromania in me. But I suspect I'll feel better tomorrow if I stay in and quiet today. So. Disappointment.
Tomorrow is the annual "Thank You" Hudson River cruise and dinner for the maritime museum volunteers, and again I have to miss it. Very annoying. But the second (and I hope final) meeting of the Mensa bylaws revision committee is tomorrow, and I can't miss that. I've got a big emotional investment in seeing that the bylaws are done right this time. If it's nasty weather tomorrow (oops, sorry, all you other volunteers) that'll at least make it bearable.
I've been distracted several times during the composing of this entry by IM-like emails and calls from friends, and dealings with an online customer service department over whether they can get an order to me by Wednesday, so I can deliver a portion of it to Daughter before next weekend, and requests from eBay for help with a very convincing spoof email. EBay confirmed that it wasn't from them, and wants the headers so they can trace it. I don't know HOW to get the headers for my AOL email, but eBay has very helpfully linked some websites that tell one how, so I guess I get to learn something new today.
Anyway, I started this entry at 3:43 pm, and it's now 4:54, and my cheeks are beginning to feel hot. So I guess the virus is waking up and moving again. I kinda figured it would....
Tea time.
.
Friday, September 14, 2007
1472 Time Passing
Friday, September 14, 2007
I don't understand how time can pass so slowly and so quickly, both at the same time.
I don't feel so well, haven't for a few days. I have that loggy feeling like you get with a fever, but there's no fever. That cottony feeling like when you haven't slept in 36 hours, but I've had plenty of sleep. The achy feeling like the leg muscles were overused and put away wet, but they're working just fine. It was 72 degrees outside today, but I felt cold. I want to crawl into bed.
I ordered some clothes from my favorite online store today. They're having a sale - all jackets are 25% off. Plus, they'd take $25 off any order over $75. PLUS, I had some coupons for $20 off any order. I can use one coupon per order. So I bought some blazers and jackets.
My first version of the order came to about $180. They took the $25 off, and then my $20 coupon. I sat there and thought about that for a minute before hitting the "place order" button.
An aside - Some Mensans thought Jay and I were terrible, because even though Jay took the test and qualified for Mensa, he never joined, for the simple reason that since I was a life member, there was no advantage to paying small fortune for a second membership. He got all the benefits through me. The way I see it, it's silly for more than one member of a household to join, except for bragging rights. I've had some members get angry at me for that. I guess they don't want to admit they want bragging rights. It sure isn't altruism toward the organization.
So anyway, I thought about the order a bit, and then went back and started over. I broke it up into two separate orders. This way each of the orders got the $25 discount, and I could use a $20 coupon on each. So instead of saving $45, I saved $90.
I'm rather pleased with myself.
.
I don't understand how time can pass so slowly and so quickly, both at the same time.
I don't feel so well, haven't for a few days. I have that loggy feeling like you get with a fever, but there's no fever. That cottony feeling like when you haven't slept in 36 hours, but I've had plenty of sleep. The achy feeling like the leg muscles were overused and put away wet, but they're working just fine. It was 72 degrees outside today, but I felt cold. I want to crawl into bed.
I ordered some clothes from my favorite online store today. They're having a sale - all jackets are 25% off. Plus, they'd take $25 off any order over $75. PLUS, I had some coupons for $20 off any order. I can use one coupon per order. So I bought some blazers and jackets.
My first version of the order came to about $180. They took the $25 off, and then my $20 coupon. I sat there and thought about that for a minute before hitting the "place order" button.
An aside - Some Mensans thought Jay and I were terrible, because even though Jay took the test and qualified for Mensa, he never joined, for the simple reason that since I was a life member, there was no advantage to paying small fortune for a second membership. He got all the benefits through me. The way I see it, it's silly for more than one member of a household to join, except for bragging rights. I've had some members get angry at me for that. I guess they don't want to admit they want bragging rights. It sure isn't altruism toward the organization.
So anyway, I thought about the order a bit, and then went back and started over. I broke it up into two separate orders. This way each of the orders got the $25 discount, and I could use a $20 coupon on each. So instead of saving $45, I saved $90.
I'm rather pleased with myself.
.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
1471 Flunking Football
Thursday, September 13, 2007
On King of the Hill this evening, Peggy Hill gets in trouble with the town for flunking the star football player.
I did that once, with pretty much the same result. It was 1966, G----sburg High School. I flunked the star football player (probably Algebra II).
The coach came tearing into my classroom and angrily told me I couldn't do that. I (all 4'10", 98 lbs, and 21 years of me) stood my ground and informed him I had to, that I had no other choice. He said he'd take it to the principal and the school board.
I got battered from several directions, but I prevailed because I was on firm ground.
I had told the boy he was likely to fail. I had always stayed every day after school for an hour to help anyone who wanted to come in. The kid missed class at least one day every week for practice, but he never came in after school to catch up on what he'd missed. If he hadn't warned the coach, it was because of his own arrogance, figuring that he would be allowed to coast.
Uh uh. No coasting past me. And it wasn't fair to the other kids, who worked for their grades.
My grade stood, the kid didn't play the next quarter, and they stopped having sports practice during school hours.
Unlike King of the Hill's booster club, G----sburg "got" it.
.
On King of the Hill this evening, Peggy Hill gets in trouble with the town for flunking the star football player.
I did that once, with pretty much the same result. It was 1966, G----sburg High School. I flunked the star football player (probably Algebra II).
The coach came tearing into my classroom and angrily told me I couldn't do that. I (all 4'10", 98 lbs, and 21 years of me) stood my ground and informed him I had to, that I had no other choice. He said he'd take it to the principal and the school board.
I got battered from several directions, but I prevailed because I was on firm ground.
I had told the boy he was likely to fail. I had always stayed every day after school for an hour to help anyone who wanted to come in. The kid missed class at least one day every week for practice, but he never came in after school to catch up on what he'd missed. If he hadn't warned the coach, it was because of his own arrogance, figuring that he would be allowed to coast.
Uh uh. No coasting past me. And it wasn't fair to the other kids, who worked for their grades.
My grade stood, the kid didn't play the next quarter, and they stopped having sports practice during school hours.
Unlike King of the Hill's booster club, G----sburg "got" it.
.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
1470 Conservative v Liberal
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Another one of those "duh" studies. They've discovered that the brains of people who define themselves as politically liberal and those of people who define themselves as politically conservative work differently. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/237131/
No kidding.
Let's take politics out of it, and just define the people as conservative or liberal. Now what they've "discovered" is simply the definitions of conservative and liberal.
Sheesh.
.
Another one of those "duh" studies. They've discovered that the brains of people who define themselves as politically liberal and those of people who define themselves as politically conservative work differently. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/237131/
No kidding.
Let's take politics out of it, and just define the people as conservative or liberal. Now what they've "discovered" is simply the definitions of conservative and liberal.
Sheesh.
.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
1469 DoNotCall; Museum Cookbook
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
If you registered your number on the national 'do not call' registry as soon as it was available, as I did, then you will have to reregister soon. Numbers stay on the Do Not Call list for 5 years, then they either fall off, or you have to re-submit them. The registry was started on September 15th, 5 years ago.
---------------------------
If your otherwise well-mannered rescue kitty, who doesn't really understand houses and litter boxes, has been unpotting your houseplants and using the dirt on the carpet for potty purposes, and I won't name names here (but we know who you are, Jasper!), well, said kitty also doesn't know about bubble wrap - and it works just fine.
---------------------------
I went to the museum yesterday and finished up my work on the membership database. As the next set of memberships and renewals come in, I'll be handing them off to the new (old) guy.
Betty has warned me that "He won't read instructions. You have to tell him everything." Well, I'm sorry, but I spent several hours writing up a cookbook, and he WILL by damn read it! Working with that database is non-intuitive, and things can get weird randomly, and I cannot sit around and hold his hand forever. I intend to hand him the cookbook (4.5 pages, step by step for each of the four tasks) and then retire to a corner with a book. I refuse to hold his hand. He will be forced to use the coookbook.
-----------------------------
After the museum, I had dinner in Poughkeepsie with a friend. We talked about mixed signals and motives and, I don't know, I think we're a bit clearer on where the line is drawn. The main trouble, of course, is that I'm not completely sure myself where the line should be, so it's no wonder he's thinks he's getting mixed signals.
I'm trying. I know what's right, but it's hard.
.
If you registered your number on the national 'do not call' registry as soon as it was available, as I did, then you will have to reregister soon. Numbers stay on the Do Not Call list for 5 years, then they either fall off, or you have to re-submit them. The registry was started on September 15th, 5 years ago.
---------------------------
If your otherwise well-mannered rescue kitty, who doesn't really understand houses and litter boxes, has been unpotting your houseplants and using the dirt on the carpet for potty purposes, and I won't name names here (but we know who you are, Jasper!), well, said kitty also doesn't know about bubble wrap - and it works just fine.
---------------------------
I went to the museum yesterday and finished up my work on the membership database. As the next set of memberships and renewals come in, I'll be handing them off to the new (old) guy.
Betty has warned me that "He won't read instructions. You have to tell him everything." Well, I'm sorry, but I spent several hours writing up a cookbook, and he WILL by damn read it! Working with that database is non-intuitive, and things can get weird randomly, and I cannot sit around and hold his hand forever. I intend to hand him the cookbook (4.5 pages, step by step for each of the four tasks) and then retire to a corner with a book. I refuse to hold his hand. He will be forced to use the coookbook.
-----------------------------
After the museum, I had dinner in Poughkeepsie with a friend. We talked about mixed signals and motives and, I don't know, I think we're a bit clearer on where the line is drawn. The main trouble, of course, is that I'm not completely sure myself where the line should be, so it's no wonder he's thinks he's getting mixed signals.
I'm trying. I know what's right, but it's hard.
.
Monday, September 10, 2007
1468 Ninja Warrior
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1anoHXphvas)
Nine-minute video, worth every second. He's good. Gypsy, your man will like this.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
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.
.
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.
.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
1465 More Yesterday
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
I forgot two things that happened yesterday.
When I was crossing the bridge over the Hudson, from Dutchess (yeah, that's spelled right) into Ulster county, at a hair after 1 pm, two police cars came tearing across the bridge, lights flashing, sirens on, high speed, headed for Dutchess. A little further on, there were two more.
Four police cars screaming east across a long bridge into the next county.
Now if police are coming in mass from a county across the river, how many police on the east side of the river responded? Seems like something big and unplanned went down. I'm intensely curious. I may never find out. The Poughkeepsie paper pretty much ignores the rural northern part of the county, and the Kingston paper - well, it's across the river, we don't exist.
When I passed Piper's office going home after the museum at 6:30 pm, Piper's car was there (he usually leaves about 4:30). He always knows everything that's going on, so I parked in a lot up the street, but when I walked back, his car was already gone.
---------------------------
The membership office at the museum is on the second floor in the back, on the Rondout Creek, overlooking the marina. The windows and back door (in my office) were open yesterday because of the heat.
The Sloop Clearwater was moored against the dock right outside (man, the mast on that thing is TALL!! The sails are HUGE!! How does the ship stay upright?) Anyway, they were varnishing the decks, and the fumes were coming right into my office, and I got sooooo high.
.
I forgot two things that happened yesterday.
When I was crossing the bridge over the Hudson, from Dutchess (yeah, that's spelled right) into Ulster county, at a hair after 1 pm, two police cars came tearing across the bridge, lights flashing, sirens on, high speed, headed for Dutchess. A little further on, there were two more.
Four police cars screaming east across a long bridge into the next county.
Now if police are coming in mass from a county across the river, how many police on the east side of the river responded? Seems like something big and unplanned went down. I'm intensely curious. I may never find out. The Poughkeepsie paper pretty much ignores the rural northern part of the county, and the Kingston paper - well, it's across the river, we don't exist.
When I passed Piper's office going home after the museum at 6:30 pm, Piper's car was there (he usually leaves about 4:30). He always knows everything that's going on, so I parked in a lot up the street, but when I walked back, his car was already gone.
---------------------------
The membership office at the museum is on the second floor in the back, on the Rondout Creek, overlooking the marina. The windows and back door (in my office) were open yesterday because of the heat.
The Sloop Clearwater was moored against the dock right outside (man, the mast on that thing is TALL!! The sails are HUGE!! How does the ship stay upright?) Anyway, they were varnishing the decks, and the fumes were coming right into my office, and I got sooooo high.
.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
1464 Back to the Museum
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
First, a kitty update. Jasper has doubled in size in the five weeks I've had him! He couldn't possibly be as old as everyone thought he was. He wants to eat constantly. He still doesn't meow. He "eee"s and trills. (Say "purrrr" while vibrating the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and that's a close approximation of the trill.)
Miss Thunderfoot is still in a snarling growling chasing slapping snit. She shows no signs of accepting Jasper's presence.
I went to the museum today. I haven't handed off the membership data base to the new staff guy yet. He's anxious to pick it up, but I want to write a cookbook for him, so today while processing checks and stuffing envelopes, I wrote down every detail of every step, and typed it up this evening.
Daughter and Hercules closed on their new house today. Saturday is moving day (they hired professional movers) so I'm going down to visit Thursday and Friday to help as I can. I'll spend Thursday night with my other friend.
.
First, a kitty update. Jasper has doubled in size in the five weeks I've had him! He couldn't possibly be as old as everyone thought he was. He wants to eat constantly. He still doesn't meow. He "eee"s and trills. (Say "purrrr" while vibrating the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and that's a close approximation of the trill.)
Miss Thunderfoot is still in a snarling growling chasing slapping snit. She shows no signs of accepting Jasper's presence.
I went to the museum today. I haven't handed off the membership data base to the new staff guy yet. He's anxious to pick it up, but I want to write a cookbook for him, so today while processing checks and stuffing envelopes, I wrote down every detail of every step, and typed it up this evening.
Daughter and Hercules closed on their new house today. Saturday is moving day (they hired professional movers) so I'm going down to visit Thursday and Friday to help as I can. I'll spend Thursday night with my other friend.
.
Monday, September 03, 2007
1463 Vengeance
Monday, September 3, 2007
Picked up along the way somewhere: "While 82 percent of women say they have 'sought revenge' against a previous significant other, only 19 percent of men responding said they've been the victim of acts of vengeance from a previous significant other."
There a very large disparity in those numbers. The 82 seems too high, and the 19 seems too low.
On the 82% of women, one possibility is that seeking revenge is not the same as inflicting revenge. I have at least two exes upon whom I would have liked to have poured wrath. One of them would have been so easy - a short call to the IRS, and his ass would have been grass. I toyed with the idea for a long time. I got a lot of satisfaction from thinking about it. But I didn't do it. I also got a lot of satisfaction from thinking that I'm a better person than he was. So am I part of that 82% or not?
On the 19% of men, that seems low because almost every divorced man I know (and almost every man I know now is divorced - at least once) feel that the ex-wife got vicious and vengeful. Outside divorce, on the other hand, it's possible that the women were very sneaky, and the men didn't realize the source of bad things that subsequently happened to them. Like if my ex had been audited, he'd have never known it was I who reported him.
The other possibility is that it's the 19% of men who are deserving of revenge from the 82% of women!
I have a friend who has had some scary problems with women. He's been seriously stalked by several, and suffered some frightening acts of revenge. I have to wonder why he seems to be a lightning rod for female anger.
Does he lead women on, play them, make them think there's more to the relationship than there is? Does he lie to them? (That will guarantee anger!) Does he lead them into thinking about and planning for a wonderful future together, and then they find out it was all fantasy? Or is he simply drawn to the crazies?
Anyway, he's one of the 19%, and he himself alone accounts for several of the 82%.
When women act unreasonably time after time, there's got to be a reason. I wonder if he takes any responsibility for it.
-------------------------------
I switched from the (groundwater-based heat pump) A/C to (oil furnace) heat last night. All summer long water from the well has been running through the A/C, and now that's cut off. The only time the well pump runs now is when I turn a faucet on.
Since a few hours after I turned the A/C off, the water has been full of silt. It's so muddy I can't see through 2" of water in a glass. I let the kitchen sink faucet run for a while last night and it cleared up after a while, but the mud is back in full force today. You won't believe what it does to the toilets! I bought some bottled water to drink while I wait for the silt to settle down, but I'm desperate to do some laundry. I have enough clothes to go five weeks between laundry in a pinch, but I'm pushing six now, and I don't have any clean sheets left, and I'm down to holey stretched-out underwear.
(Yeah, I know. Extreme. I hate doing laundry. It should be easy because my laundry room is next to the kitchen, not in the basement, but I hate it anyway. I've been known to buy more underwear so I could put off laundry. When I do get around to it, I dedicate a day and do 8 or 10 loads. (I get away with so few loads because I have an oversized washer.))
I don't understand why the silt appears AFTER the A/C is turned off. Seems like it should be muddy when the water is being roiled.
.
Picked up along the way somewhere: "While 82 percent of women say they have 'sought revenge' against a previous significant other, only 19 percent of men responding said they've been the victim of acts of vengeance from a previous significant other."
There a very large disparity in those numbers. The 82 seems too high, and the 19 seems too low.
On the 82% of women, one possibility is that seeking revenge is not the same as inflicting revenge. I have at least two exes upon whom I would have liked to have poured wrath. One of them would have been so easy - a short call to the IRS, and his ass would have been grass. I toyed with the idea for a long time. I got a lot of satisfaction from thinking about it. But I didn't do it. I also got a lot of satisfaction from thinking that I'm a better person than he was. So am I part of that 82% or not?
On the 19% of men, that seems low because almost every divorced man I know (and almost every man I know now is divorced - at least once) feel that the ex-wife got vicious and vengeful. Outside divorce, on the other hand, it's possible that the women were very sneaky, and the men didn't realize the source of bad things that subsequently happened to them. Like if my ex had been audited, he'd have never known it was I who reported him.
The other possibility is that it's the 19% of men who are deserving of revenge from the 82% of women!
I have a friend who has had some scary problems with women. He's been seriously stalked by several, and suffered some frightening acts of revenge. I have to wonder why he seems to be a lightning rod for female anger.
Does he lead women on, play them, make them think there's more to the relationship than there is? Does he lie to them? (That will guarantee anger!) Does he lead them into thinking about and planning for a wonderful future together, and then they find out it was all fantasy? Or is he simply drawn to the crazies?
Anyway, he's one of the 19%, and he himself alone accounts for several of the 82%.
When women act unreasonably time after time, there's got to be a reason. I wonder if he takes any responsibility for it.
-------------------------------
I switched from the (groundwater-based heat pump) A/C to (oil furnace) heat last night. All summer long water from the well has been running through the A/C, and now that's cut off. The only time the well pump runs now is when I turn a faucet on.
Since a few hours after I turned the A/C off, the water has been full of silt. It's so muddy I can't see through 2" of water in a glass. I let the kitchen sink faucet run for a while last night and it cleared up after a while, but the mud is back in full force today. You won't believe what it does to the toilets! I bought some bottled water to drink while I wait for the silt to settle down, but I'm desperate to do some laundry. I have enough clothes to go five weeks between laundry in a pinch, but I'm pushing six now, and I don't have any clean sheets left, and I'm down to holey stretched-out underwear.
(Yeah, I know. Extreme. I hate doing laundry. It should be easy because my laundry room is next to the kitchen, not in the basement, but I hate it anyway. I've been known to buy more underwear so I could put off laundry. When I do get around to it, I dedicate a day and do 8 or 10 loads. (I get away with so few loads because I have an oversized washer.))
I don't understand why the silt appears AFTER the A/C is turned off. Seems like it should be muddy when the water is being roiled.
.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
1462 Tired, or something....
Sunday, September 2, 2007
I'm tired. My legs feel heavy. Roman told me Friday that my bounce had been gone for a few days. He said "You're not smiling. Well, you're smiling, but not big smiles, not like usual."
Yeah. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's that the summer is leaving, and I hadn't used it up yet. Maybe it's that two of my friends are sad and one is stressed, and there's nothing I can do, and it's bringing me down. I don't know.
I feel like I want to curl up in someone's arms and suck my thumb for a while.
_________________________
The past week was a bit busy. I had lunch with friends three days, dinner once, took a friend out for lunch for his 60th birthday (another of those three-hour lunches), and spent a full day (16 hours) and one evening helping a friend move boxes and files, and a huge file cabinet, from Long Island to Poughkeepsie.
There was other stuff in there, but durn if I can remember what.
I've been exercising my arms. I'd lost a lot of weight, and I hadn't realized I'd lost muscle, too. (From lifting and exercising Jay that last year, I had a lot of muscle.) So with age and mass loss, my skin doesn't fit any more. After 50, it doesn't tighten up very well on its own. I had big swinging sacks under my upper arms, and my shoulders were getting very small.
I've been doing simple stuff, like
It's starting to show results. I'm slowly filling my skin.
.
I'm tired. My legs feel heavy. Roman told me Friday that my bounce had been gone for a few days. He said "You're not smiling. Well, you're smiling, but not big smiles, not like usual."
Yeah. I don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's that the summer is leaving, and I hadn't used it up yet. Maybe it's that two of my friends are sad and one is stressed, and there's nothing I can do, and it's bringing me down. I don't know.
I feel like I want to curl up in someone's arms and suck my thumb for a while.
_________________________
The past week was a bit busy. I had lunch with friends three days, dinner once, took a friend out for lunch for his 60th birthday (another of those three-hour lunches), and spent a full day (16 hours) and one evening helping a friend move boxes and files, and a huge file cabinet, from Long Island to Poughkeepsie.
There was other stuff in there, but durn if I can remember what.
I've been exercising my arms. I'd lost a lot of weight, and I hadn't realized I'd lost muscle, too. (From lifting and exercising Jay that last year, I had a lot of muscle.) So with age and mass loss, my skin doesn't fit any more. After 50, it doesn't tighten up very well on its own. I had big swinging sacks under my upper arms, and my shoulders were getting very small.
I've been doing simple stuff, like
- hoist a bottle of green tea up and down behind the neck,
- shoulder rolls with wrist weights,
- the kind of half-pushup where you lean at an extreme angle against a countertop and push back and forth,
- stand with your back to the counter, hands behind, and lift and drop your body,
- stand in a doorway and push against the frame in various ways,
- raise your tail off the chair by lifting on the arms of the chair.
It's starting to show results. I'm slowly filling my skin.
.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
1461 Vacation or Not?
Saturday, September 1, 2007
A friend and past coworker pointer me to an article about The Company, and its relaxed attitude toward vacation and time off. The reporter makes it sound good, but the friend and I are both suspicious.
Back in the 90s and earlier, when we all worked in offices in the labs, there were always problems about vacations. Workloads, schedules, and due dates never took vacations into consideration. It was very difficult to actually take more than one or two consecutive days off. If you wanted a whole week for a trip or something, you had to work enormous amounts of overtime before and after the vacation to get everything done, and that was more stress than no vacation at all.
They allowed you to carry over vacation into subsequent years, but only up to a certain number of accrued weeks, and then you'd start losing it. So they'd pressure people to take time off, which could put you in a bad position - take vacation and miss a deadline, or don't take vacation and have HR coming down on your manager? In our last position, one of our coworkers hadn't taken any vacation in like five years. He wanted to, but with overlapping projects, there just wasn't time. Believe it or not, a management suggestion was to take every Friday off, and work two hours overtime every day he came in. Viola! Vacation taken, projects covered. Everybody happy, right?
We were all "professional", which meant we were paid a flat salary, not by the hour, and we didn't have to punch a timeclock. However, we still had to fill out a timecard every Friday. We'd just write the total number of hours across the face. It had to be a minimum of 40 hours. If less, the missing time had to be coded as vacation, illness, personal business, or comp time. Comp time needed permission, which was rarely given, since it was taken for granted that you'd work a minimum of 10% uncompensated overtime per month.
There was a state law that you couldn't work unpaid overtime for more than a certain number of weeks at a time. I think it was something like five or six weeks. I often had managers call me in and tell me that I was over the limit, and I should stop writing more than 40 hours on my time card. Most people just shrugged and wrote 40 hours no matter how much time they put in. I stood firm. I told them that the timecard was a legal document, and I would not lie on it. They could either pay me for the extra time (called "project pay"), give me comp time off (I think it was something like one hour off for every four overtime), or accept a slipped schedule.
They usually gave me the extra project pay and begged me not to tell anyone I was getting it.
It was the usual practice to assign fewer people to projects than even the best estimates required. A manager once told me that 15% overtime was planned in.
And you know what really got me? The people who took on extra projects, and who worked overtime constantly, and who made it known that they were putting in enormous amounts of overtime, thinking they were demonstrating team spirit, loyalty, and dedication, were downgraded on appraisals for "poor time management". People who lied on their timecards were seen as "efficient".
Aaaaaagggghhhh!
So, now they're not tracking vacation time? People can work from home, even from a beach, eh? Well, that takes care of that pesky state law, doesn't it. I wouldn't be surprised if 30% OT is planned in now. And with everyone working at home or otherwise "in secret", a worker who feels pressured to get up from the dinner table and go back to the PC won't even realize that it isn't just him. That The Company has found a way to get all employees to work almost constantly! All day every day. Even on vacation. Which they aren't tracking. Heh heh. Nice tradeoff.
Most people never follow the links. Hint: If you follow this one, you'll find out who "The Company" is. Not that it ever was such a huge secret....
.
A friend and past coworker pointer me to an article about The Company, and its relaxed attitude toward vacation and time off. The reporter makes it sound good, but the friend and I are both suspicious.
Back in the 90s and earlier, when we all worked in offices in the labs, there were always problems about vacations. Workloads, schedules, and due dates never took vacations into consideration. It was very difficult to actually take more than one or two consecutive days off. If you wanted a whole week for a trip or something, you had to work enormous amounts of overtime before and after the vacation to get everything done, and that was more stress than no vacation at all.
They allowed you to carry over vacation into subsequent years, but only up to a certain number of accrued weeks, and then you'd start losing it. So they'd pressure people to take time off, which could put you in a bad position - take vacation and miss a deadline, or don't take vacation and have HR coming down on your manager? In our last position, one of our coworkers hadn't taken any vacation in like five years. He wanted to, but with overlapping projects, there just wasn't time. Believe it or not, a management suggestion was to take every Friday off, and work two hours overtime every day he came in. Viola! Vacation taken, projects covered. Everybody happy, right?
We were all "professional", which meant we were paid a flat salary, not by the hour, and we didn't have to punch a timeclock. However, we still had to fill out a timecard every Friday. We'd just write the total number of hours across the face. It had to be a minimum of 40 hours. If less, the missing time had to be coded as vacation, illness, personal business, or comp time. Comp time needed permission, which was rarely given, since it was taken for granted that you'd work a minimum of 10% uncompensated overtime per month.
There was a state law that you couldn't work unpaid overtime for more than a certain number of weeks at a time. I think it was something like five or six weeks. I often had managers call me in and tell me that I was over the limit, and I should stop writing more than 40 hours on my time card. Most people just shrugged and wrote 40 hours no matter how much time they put in. I stood firm. I told them that the timecard was a legal document, and I would not lie on it. They could either pay me for the extra time (called "project pay"), give me comp time off (I think it was something like one hour off for every four overtime), or accept a slipped schedule.
They usually gave me the extra project pay and begged me not to tell anyone I was getting it.
It was the usual practice to assign fewer people to projects than even the best estimates required. A manager once told me that 15% overtime was planned in.
And you know what really got me? The people who took on extra projects, and who worked overtime constantly, and who made it known that they were putting in enormous amounts of overtime, thinking they were demonstrating team spirit, loyalty, and dedication, were downgraded on appraisals for "poor time management". People who lied on their timecards were seen as "efficient".
Aaaaaagggghhhh!
So, now they're not tracking vacation time? People can work from home, even from a beach, eh? Well, that takes care of that pesky state law, doesn't it. I wouldn't be surprised if 30% OT is planned in now. And with everyone working at home or otherwise "in secret", a worker who feels pressured to get up from the dinner table and go back to the PC won't even realize that it isn't just him. That The Company has found a way to get all employees to work almost constantly! All day every day. Even on vacation. Which they aren't tracking. Heh heh. Nice tradeoff.
Most people never follow the links. Hint: If you follow this one, you'll find out who "The Company" is. Not that it ever was such a huge secret....
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)