Those are some way cool patterns, to bad I can't sew! I know you ladies will make some lovely outfits though!

Go to the quilting class - Susan would love to teach!

Steampunk is at it's best when it's fully functional.....

Possibly, just ever so slightly NSFW

I would love to KB but it's a long drive from Oregon for quilting class.

I took on a project tonight and even managed to finish it (yay!). I photographed all my sewing patterns so that I have basically an online catalog of what I have. I even cut each photo down to just the pattern, and renamed the files by the pattern numbers.

Amazingly enough, there seem to be exactly 100.*

Oh, and naturally uploaded them, so I can access them on the go when I'm at the store wondering if I have such-and-such pattern or not.

(*-for now! Number does not include multiples of same pattern.)

How many rosebuds can you count?


This is off my "new" rosebush, too!

It's harder to see the buds on the gardenia (the 2nd pic), but it's going to look amazing when it blossoms. I hope it smells as good!

So, you know how my job sucks? Well, Monday my boss was so busy trying to figure out the travel system that she had to actually let me do some work. Shocking, I know - allowing one's employees to perform the job for which they were hired. I got to brief a colonel who's pretty sharp and asked questions that I had to actually think about to answer - but was able to answer, because I actually paid attention to the training I had to take and I actually learned the concepts. And he apparently was impressed by me, as was reported to me the next day.

Then, Tuesday, my boss had left on the above-referenced travel, as had every single other person in my little unit, so I was the only person available to attend the very secretive limited-attendance meeting about up-coming changes and how they would impact us. And I was actually able to articulate concerns that were relevant and insightful. And wrote a summary and ccd my boss's boss on that email.

It was the best two days I've ever had in the 7 months I've been there. I actually got to think. People asked me questions and I answered them. And I demonstrated that I wasn't merely an ambulatory pudding packet. Sure, when I get back from DC I'll be back to data entry and web surfing, but for two days I had a taste of real work. I had to stay late and everything. It was beautiful.

Today I stained part (maybe 1/8th) of my back fence, plus I built a 2nd planter on my hillside.

Fence: Before (left) and After (right)


The new planter

Well, after all was said and done, the Franchise Tax Board just came back to me with good news. H&R Block (meaning me as I do my taxes online) had errors, I do not owe them as much money as I thought. They just sent me a nice letter with new figures and a tax bill that is 1/4 of what it was. Whew!

CONGRATULATIONS!:snap:

YAY!!! I am so beyond happy for you! :D

Great job ABG! All of your hard work has paid off, plus no more papers to write!

Happy dance for ABG!

Congratulations!

con-graduations!!!!

:snap: :snap: :snap:

Congratulations!

Congratulations!!

Congrats ABG!!

I found my missing camera I've been looking for for months. Yea right by my front door so I've looked at it multiple times daily.

Yay!
Happy dance!
:)

Congratulations!

Huge congrats, ABG!!!!:snap::snap::snap::snap:


Oh, and may I buy you one of these?:cheers:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ABG :cheers:

There's a train on the track for the new Terminator: Salvation coaster, and now there's a train on the track for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Orlando- now get to work and finish testing so I can ride more new coasters :D

Yay! Congrats :)

LOL :D

Congratulations, abg!

Congratulations, ABG!

Sadly, some people think that is the correct spelling (without the hyphen)

I've actually seen it spelled like that in our local paper!

One of the games Zach and I play is driving through town and finding all the misspellings. It can be very entertaining, especially when it's a permanent sign! I always tell Zach that's why he isn't going to the local schools!

Some things in life are pretty stinky right now, even so, I am actually in a pretty happy place. That is all.

Hmm... when was the last time you took a shower?

or changed the cat box. ;)

Not since Yosemite ;)

Why do I need to change it won't that confuse the cat?

Well, the catbox must want to change first - any first year psychology student knows that

Our catbox actually killed itself. Seriously- it was one of those self cleaning ones, and it went into hyperdrive and then crashed.

Thanks - now I have an image floating in my head of the cleaning mechanism zipping back and forth through the tray, flinging cat poo and kitty litter all over the place while the cats just sit there and watch it in amusement, their heads moving back and forth like they were watching a tennis match.

I'll bet the cats rewired it. All part of their diabolical plan.

VKBM !!

and lots of ROTFLMAO.....
...and coffee-monitor-spraying-action

Lance and I got engaged last weekend!! I don't think it gets any more seriously happy than that!!! <3

Woohoo! CONGRATULATIONS from the Wolfpack!

Congratulations!

Yay!

Congratulations, I'm very happy for you both.

Happiness abounds! :)

19 Days till Orlando!!

I'm jealous!

For some reason, we're booked with double rooms the whole trip- so there's room if you can get there :)

ConGRATS!

Congratulations!

Congratulations:cheers:

I can't breathe. A community theatre here is going to do 'Rent' early next year. I'm going to audition for Mark. I have never wanted anything more in my life. I must get this part! So e x c i t e d!
:) :) :)

ooooh, i see casting couch in somebody's future.





(Oh, and freaking awesome terrific lovedidid congratuations to Sohrshah and Lance!!!!)

Excited for you!!!

Am I accepting auditions? :snap:

Woohoo! Congrats!
:)

Bought tickets last night to see the Animal Collective at the Wiltern next Friday. Paid a bit of a premium as the show's been sold out for a while and the tickets came from the secondary market, but they weren't marked up too much and it beats driving to Tuscon on a Sunday, the other option we might have had to see them.

That also happens to be the day I'll be participating in a career day at my old high school. A chance to see teachers I haven't seen in a decade and hang out with friends.

All on a vacation day from work.

Is it next Friday yet?

Rose and I both won a pair of tickets to ride Terminator: Salvation the Ride tomorrow night, so we each can bring a guest. If you're interested, pm me here or on facebook.

EEKKKKK I am so very very happy excited. I'm not going to be able to sleep. Is it Thursday yet? lol Is it Thursday yet? lol Now i get to ride Terminator at Magic Mt tomorrow night yay :) And i can have my days off to finish getting ready for Orlando. This totally rocks. :)

Sounds like the perfect prize for you! Well done. Have a great time and give us a full review.

Oh we both will. It is the PERFECT prize quite literally. The best email i've gotten outside of Bon Jovi. :) Tomorrow can not come soon enough for us both. Like little kids at Xmas time quite literally. Was bumming til we got the emails. I am keeping my expectations low but it is a woodie after all. I love woodies over steel anyday. And themed to Terminator is a plus. Only wish is to see the movie tonight but that ain't going to happen.

Congrats CM and MMG!!!

Submitted to quotes :evil:

I knew you'd do that ::p

19 Rides of Terminator: Salvation the ride makes me seriously happy.

One of the best GCI built wooden coasters I've ridden, with an impressive amount of theming done (and there's still a bit of tweaking going on to the second preshow area).

For the non coaster fans here- imagine taking Space Mountain and Big Thunder (at night), putting on some Barry White, breeding them in a night of coastery passion, their lovechild in wood would be Terminator: Salvation.

Nonstop speed from the moment you leave the lift hill, tons of direction changes and pops of airtime- TAKE THE TUNNEL!!- and it doesn't let up till you hit the brakes.

I need a moment alone. :cool:

Yes, it is that good.

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed it - your review carries more clout than any other!

I agree with everything Matt has said in the above trip report. I think nightime rides are the BEST on this ride EVER. No need to go for Fright Fest and in the DARK. It IS darker than dark in that end of the corner.

I went in with LOW expecations and this ride and themeing BLEW me away. The front of the ride is themed (nice big sign and a vehicle out front) so i knew we were in for something. The que area is themed and once into the preshow rooms they are nice and air conditioning. This is very important for Magic Mt in the middle of the desert in summertime heat.

What can i say about the preshow rooms? I wasn't expecting the themeing and the setup to the actual ride. I think this is where it just blew me away right from this point on. You go thru 2 preshows rooms and even though the effects in the last preshow room weren't operational (hopefully on June 28th) it still led up to the urgency of having to rush up the set of stairs to the train waiting for you. It really felt like the robots were trying to get to us.

Once in the station the rows are numbered above with Terminator theming in a way and the trains themselves not only comfy but themed as well. Once aboard the soundtrack starts and you just feel nothing but excitment as if you are being chased by the robots.

The funny thing about this ride is it takes you to the left of the station where as Ghostrider takes you out and turns right. So i was immediately disoriented. The lift hill even gets you up faster than i thought it would.

The ride itself....nice and smooth which is a huge plus for me, pops of airtime (love this in a woodie), soundtrack fits with the going over the top of the lifthill "Here they come!!!" to gunshots as we make our start to the ride that i just can't find the words. Twists and turns and i don't think there is much of anything straight way track. The trains seem to FLY thru the track with speed and no real slowing til you reach the final breaks. I was amazed at this.

I love the comment "Take the tunnel!!!!" and there are effects in the tunnels that weren't operational at all (but hopefully by June 28th).

No bad seat at all. We rode in the front and the back and the middle of the train. The employees seem to be effecient or the ones that were there last night. No real stacking of trains. Getting them dispatched in a timely matter.

So Knott's has nothing on this coaster and i think i just found my FAVORITE Southern California wooden coaster right in my backyard of sorts. :)

of course getting in 19 rides in total throughout the evening wasn't bad at all. I thought we'd only get 3 maybe 4 rides in total but i guess not everyone who won showed up for the KROQ party. And other rides were open and alot of winners went to other rides rather than stick out at Terminator like the coaster enthusiasts did. Thus having the ride nearly to ourselves.

Management did say they nailed this ride and themeing etc. They sure did. If they continue (hint hint was told there's more like this to come in the parks future) then i think we're going to spend as much time if not more at Magic Mt than we do at Disneyland. Sorta Disney'd out for awhile. After last night and seeing the park in the condition it is in after 2 months ago (no trash on ground even for a KROQ event) etc Disney could take a lesson or two from this park.

Hah! I've finally ordered the watch I wanted, after being bitten by an attempt to save a few $. In the end it took too long and cost a little bit more than I hoped, but it's done and I still got a good deal.

Is that watch even real ? It looks like a James Bond Thingy. Cool buy ! :cheers:

...and Terminator: salvation the ride sounds like something we may have to see (eventually...)

It's even cooler than the photo makes it look. It's a self-winding watch (no battery to change), and you can actually see the self-winding mechanism spinning. I love it.

Nice purchase - well done!

Excellent watch!

Due to a previous inability to connect, I just got my GS Cookies. Thanks-A-Lots (not as good as they used to be) and Thin Mints (haven't opened yet).

No, you may not come over

You don't exactly sound happy.....???

I see your box of Thin Mints, and raise you an unopened box of Samoas. I keep forgetting about them.

Oh, I am quite happy about it, even if I am disappointed with the TAL's

I just wished I had order 5 Thin Mints and 2 TAL's instead of the other way around.

You should always order more Thin Mints than anything else!

I had really been enjoying the TAL's the last two years.

:sigh: Live and learn

Just finished writing a damned good test script. I hope you're all impressed.

I think we need to see the test script before becoming properly impressed.

You'll have to come up with a licensing fee.

You realize, of course, that I've made a dozen revisions since posting that. It was "done" in the sense that it functions. Now I'm making it pretty.

Is it an action thriller? Romantic comedy? Epic love story?



Oh: THAT kind of script...

my life in a nutshell.
code,
tune,
test,
rinse,
repeat

eh. its a living

Husband is going back to work Monday.

Still no MRI scheduled. Still no follow up.

But after discussing with Dr. what he's been doing, what he does at work, and that he hasn't had an episode of vertito since it happened 2 weeks ago, he's tentatively back to work.

That makes me happy! And since it's our 15 year anniversary today, I'm double happy. Yay!

(still worried and concerned - but I can be happy at the same time - it's like multi-tasking my emotions.)

happy anniversary...and all those other good things too

:snap:

Stoat says AMEN to that.

He's here sitting in the worlds prettiest spot, and what is he doing on a Saturday?

...Coding.

Your lap?

I've been in such a rush lately, timewise, but also with the happy.

I'm giddy as hell, because my business has finally reached a sustainable point and the hard work is paying off.

I have tapes from 3 video projects on my desk, 2 current design projects, and 2 more coming in another week.

I'm just beside myself, and keep thinking that I'm dreaming a wonderful dream. Yet it's real!! :D

My thanks to Borneio for telling me about this one.

Legoland has posted for a 2-year management trainee program, to which I have applied. Keeping fingers crossed that this turns into something!

Good luck! :)

I can just picture you coming home after a hard day at work:

It's Lego Cindy! LOL!

Haha... I look totally pissed off, that's awesome!

You also seem to have lost your nose.

I signed a lease on a house! In sherman oaks. I'm calling Labor Day weekend for a party :)

Yeehaw.
Congrats.
:)

Does it have a guest room?

Yup it is a 3 bedroom, 1.75 bath. Small house, but it has a backyard and stuff.

So far so good on the application. They emailed me today saying I'd been selected to move forward and had me answer a few more questions including when they can call me for a phone interview. Probably doesn't mean much at this early stage, but hey, progress is progress!

That means you've beat out everyone they didn't call--great!

MONTU! MONTU! MONTU!

Good luck Cindy!

I got a new computer today!!

Yay! New computers are awesome. It's like getting a new bedroom and being told to choose furniture and wallpaper :)

Jive Aces are playing at Atomic Ballroom tonight. There was no way I could go but I'll see them on Saturday night anyway. But I went to my Balboa classes there earlier in the evening and they were just finishing up a sound check. They performed two songs (an original and "Beyond the Sea") for an audience of maybe a dozen or so of us in the building. It was a nice preview of Saturday night.

Have no clue what I'm doing....see next post....

Good luck on becoming this lady.

Just booked another wedding shoot for the 13th! Sending out the contract tomorrow. :D

It's about damn time she called you

Got my ticket to see No Doubt in August here in Honolulu.
Very happy about that.
:)

She's also sitting us at your reception table. :evil:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY

We got a 24" grow light to mount under the cupboards at the end of our kitchen bench, and we're gonna have fresh herbs and lettices and chillis and grape tomatoes.

Take That, oh sunless verandah !!!

Lettuces... suuuuuuuuure ;)

Three glasses of boysenberry wine and now my honey is cutting some cheese for me! It's a good night! :)

Open a window!

I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am seriously going to the park tonight and getting an "I'm Celebrating!" button. Because I am. KITTY!

He's home? :)

I'm in Chicago and I love it here!

Had a great time at the Greek Theatre, watched Prairie Home Companion with Martin Sheen, Sheryl Crow, and k.d. lang. Never been to Griffith Park before, what a great place, beautiful views of LA in the afternoon.

Happy to see that Boris is back. He needed a post in the happy thread. :)

Much to my surprise while looking thru the solicitations for the comics being published in September 09 that I find a comic I co-wrote way back when is being reprinted!! I'm back in print! Just like Edna Ferber!!

I am EXTREMELY

Much to my surprise while looking thru the solicitations for the comics being published in September 09 that I find a comic I co-wrote way back when is being reprinted!! I'm back in print! Just like Edna Ferber!!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited!

http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12873

WoW!

WOO!

Congrats!

WTG!

Sweet!
:)

Congrats, M!

My dad is coming to visit for two weeks in July. We're going to see Harry Potter together opening night, and he'd like to go to Disneyland on the anniversary.

I'd love for you all to meet him.

Congratulations!

Thanks all! Now if everyone here bought a copy.... hehehe ;)

This is uber cool! :snap:

Set a date and I'll request the day off....I need 3 weeks notice to make sure I can be there.

That would be July 17th, no?

No....3 weeks from today is July 7. Might be possible depending when they plan the DL outing.

She said on the anniversary, so it'll be the 17th.



I'm sure we'd be there for dinner, H. :)

I was planning on visiting the park that day already, so we'd love to hang out a bit. :)

Only if you promise to autograph it!

Keep us posted on when it is released.

OK...brain not working well....17th, got it!

Damn... the first time I can't get the anniversary off in 8 years and a swell visitor is coming to town :(

I have to work that day, but they let me out at 4:30 and I should be able to head straight for the park. Given the usual Friday traffic I should be able to be there by, oh, 8pm?

I've requested the day off so I should be able to join you.

Well, it was our Boris kitty's turn for drama this week: he has been throwing up a lot and bleeding from a place that's just not good, not that any place is good for bleeding.... Anyway, we took him to the vet yesterday and they took x-rays. The x-rays showed a spot on his colon that shouldn't be there, so the vet had the radiologist look at it today. Meanwhile, I Google colon cancer in cats and it's not good- very bleak prognosis in most cases. So, I steeled myself for the second cancer call on one of our pets this month. (Haggis suffered from stomach cancer and we had to put her to sleep two weeks ago). They called this afternoon, and our vet told us that the radiologist thought the shadow was just stuff that was passing through, and nothing to worry about. However, he thought he detected some crystals in Boris's bladder and thought we should get some tests done to rule out emerging FUS. The vet said they were barely discernible, and said that so long as Boris was improving with regards to eating, etc, we could wait until next week to bring the poor kid in for more tests. (He was SOOOOO upset on the way to the vet- he cried and cried so much that I wanted to cry! Last night he was a total lovebug- I know he was sucking up so I wouldn't put him through that ordeal again....) So, reprieve on the fatal illness, a possible early intervention on another very bad illness, and one happy and relieved family. :)


Now, if he'd just quit ****ting on the carpet.

Hugs to Boris. Makes our vet woes seem tame.

Took the bunnies in to get nails trimmed, and while there I had the vet check on some worrisome bumps I'd noticed on the back of Munchkin's neck. She figures they're scabs from over-scratching (we had noticed she'd been scratching a lot, and doing a lot of head shaking as if her ears were bugging her). No external signs of mites or flees, and nothing noticed under a scope. But her ears were a bit over waxy. Hopefully it's just discomfort from that and maybe a minor infection.

Which means we've been torturing her since Saturday. Two ear drops in either ear, twice a day. She's been a TOTAL trooper about it though. There was one day that she fought us, but from that experience we learned to do it without having to pick her up and it's worked well. I'm honestly shocked at how well she's put up with it, considering how much of a fight I would put up if someone were chasing me to drop crap in my ears twice a day.

Poor Munchkin. Crazy humans chasing her around her house, dumping wet stuff in her ears..... if she were a cat, she'd poop in your shoes.:D



Boris ate some Fancy Feast tonight- so far, he hasn't upchucked. The vet gave him a shot to quell the nausea and we kept him off food overnight, hoping for a system reboot. He is still acting supremely happy to be home- I wonder if Haggis's trip to the Place of No Return had him kind of freaked? He still pooped on my bedroom floor, but since he hasn't eaten much it wasn't as epic as it could have been.

I'm very sorry to hear about Haggis, WB. I hope Boris continues to improve.

Gatorland?

A magic show at Gatorland?

Yay for happy Boris kitty news! All Boris kitties should be happy to be at home with their humans and not need to make scary trips.

I meant to ask - did Boris at least bring you a souvenir from his travels? ;)

I don't know, but it would make it a bit more magical.

Yay for kitty news!

And Gatorland - tried to go there last time I was in Orlando, but there was a frickin' line, and I had to go pick up my co-worker from the airport.

Bleh...

I thought Gatorland burned down.

In my quest for something to be happy about, I am really happy that I have a great family.

I thought the same thing about the Burning-Man but it was back the next year.

WB: so sorry to hear about Haggis. We're glad that Boris is on the mend, though !!!

MG: I'm so happy I got to meet you !!!! (and don't forget the Pizza Pug...)

Lots of dirt. And cobwebs, which he immediately deposited on the bed. Thoughtful, no?

Lisening to SuperK's SpIn SpIn! SuPeR! and enjoying it a bit too much, I think... :)

Thank you for reminding me to visit! Mmm happycore fix! :) :) :)

Got a letter from our mortgage lender reminding us that our 5/1 ARM is about to readjust. I've been putting off dealing with it so I figured okay, this is a good incentive because the letter will tell me how high the new rate and payment will be.

It's going down. Two full points down! A bit over $350/month lower payment! It'll stay at this rate for another year and then adjust again, and based on recent news it looks like rates will continue to stay low low low for quite some time to come.

Needless to say, I'm pleased.

I have now a place to sit and watch my awesome new TV and Blu Ray. Hurrah!

Obviously photoshopped. The TV is hanging out in midair!

;) Congratulations!

We need more house pics!

That's all the furniture here so far except a air matress. Movers come next Sunday.

I'm am so happy I have such a fantastic mentor to give me insight on staff encouragement and motivation.













I think he should become a consultant!

So, what defines whether you are gf/bf or just dating?

Have you farted audibly in her presence yet?

Okay - I admit - I totally giggled when I read that. But I thought that was more of a spousal thing.

Here I was expecting that from Kevy and along you come... hehehe

What is this, 1954? Get with the times!

The easiest way, for both of you, is to ask her to be your gf.

Just when I was feeling really low and unwanted by the corporate world, I got a phone call from (a bank that uses horses in its ads) for a second interview! (I did the phone interview MONTHS ago and was supposed to hear back from then w/in a week or two, but never did). For the personal b'ker job. (abbreviated to reduce web searchability, but you guys can probably guess who and what I'm talking about)

Budweiser has a bank?

It's true. They are the King of Banks.

Hmm... I wondering if I've ever been "asked" to be a girlfriend or if I've ever "asked" anyone. I guess I've always gauged it by whenever I felt comfortable saying it, or he said it to someone outside. If the other person say "my friend ____" then I dunno.

I'd say that if you're wondering, if you're not there, you might be close.

Rat says: "Does she leave stuff at your place?"

hehe - I don't even HAVE a place. ;)

Thanks BE.
:snap:

IT'S FRIDAY! WEEKEND! WEEKEND! WEEKEND! :cheers: sigh.

A mild happy, but always nice to mention nice things...

So I got two emails of interest today. The first is from the lady who runs a group I'm involved with, mentioning a super secret special project that they need 100 people for. I think/hope, given the timing of the thing, that that means there will be space for me to participate, and I'm SUPER excited about that prospect! Unfortunately, I will not be able to divulge any details until after the fact.

Second is that I got an email from a Company recruiter asking if I was still interested in a part time assistant position I'd sent my resume in on a few months (or something, don't remember) back. Well hey, she could have looked at the resume and thrown it out, so chalk up one for being contacted, and another one for my enthusiastic response. Yeah, so it's CR... but I'm a CR now, so no loss there and a step-up in position/responsibility. Maybe I'll even get to interview for this one.

And this concludes another episode of Moderately Cool News...

I have good news that I think I can actually divulge now.

I fell in love with a high concept pet boutique that is located in downtown LA and approached them maybe 9 months ago about opening a Long Beach location. It has gone from "who is this woman on crack" to "we're interested, can you give me a tour of LB" to "looking for locations" to "signing a lease for a store on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore". The lease was signed yesterday, the keys are ours tomorrow, the built-out starts immediately and our opening date is October 1. I'm so excited I could scream but I'm also scared shytless. Change is good but man is it scary! But, this combines all of my loves into one great package. So, it's back to work full time for me (and Thurston gets to come to work too!). Check out the web site.

We'll be having a big opening party and I hope all of you locals can come.

Cool!!!

Very exciting! Best of luck!

Yay!!

Yay again! Good luck!!

Congratulations, NA! Pussy & Pooch seems like a Lounge of Tomorrow for pets ... it's the perfect business venture for you!
:)

I am so delighted for you. Try to keep the nervous fear to a minimum. Change is good, and this particular change is awesome!

This is awesome news!!!
Congrats and good luck!
:)

<----- thrilled

Don't
Drink
The Koolaid

NA- that's great!!!!! What a perfect, perfect venture for you!

Congrats! I know you and Thurston will be the big stars of 2nd Street. Can't wait to visit you both!

I got an email from Florida...

It's not in Orlando, but about an hour-ish away, a park is looking for a sales manager with 3+ years experience in the amusement industry, preferably from a large/international market.

Hollywood? ;)

Very cute concept, congrats! Barnum, I'm sure, will be delighted to belly up to the bar at your opening.

Congrats NA!

What a great opportunity for you NA. I hope it is both fun and profitable!

Fantastic NA...Twitter and I can hardly wait for the opening!

Ooh! Fabulous! October, hmmmmmmm

And how awesome, everyday is bring your doggy to work day! :snap:

Totally awesome supercalifragilistic VNAM!

Congratulations!

(But know that I'm laughing at you every time you say "pet parent.")

Congrats, NA!!!

So, can I buy stuff and have it shipped out? Especially little kitty treats?!?

Congrats NA!!!!!!

Congrats, NA. It sounds very exciting. What will you be? Co-owner, franchisee, manager? Will Euro be involved? Good luck with it.

Wow! Now that's some kind of exciting!

I think so. I have a lot to learn (obviously)

Chris will be involved only as uch as he wants to visit the store (and see his dog who will be there all of the time.) I am the manager with an opportunity for a percentage of ownership. We're still working out the details on that aspect.

Long term goal - I want to be Marketing Director of P&P Intl. :)

On your first week, I'll bring Emmy in for a bath and a meal at the bar.

Consider it your initiation.

If you survive that, you'll know you really love the new job. ;)

I'll trim her nails for free first.;) I will not be doing the grooming. (Thank God!)

Make sure you have enough staff on-hand to assist with that. ;)

I am so happy for you though. This is right up your alley! (Not to mention almost in your backyard!) :)

Ethel and Lucy must make a visit- congratulations!

Did a major upgrade of on the desktop computer today. We have plans to eventually move it out of the spare room and into the living room. For that to happen the thing had to be a lot quieter than it was.

New power supply, new CPU cooler (Scythe Katana 3 'cause I know Matt will ask), new case fan. What a difference! Barely a hum anymore. Muy pleased.

Oy!

Had a horrible "oh sh*t!" moment last night as I was drifting off to sleep. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't removed the protective plastic liner from the heat sink before installing it onto the CPU. Had to jump out of bed and power the server down. Fortunately it was pretty well idle since I'd powered it up so I doubt it got hot enough to do any damage (the AMD Athlon 64 X2 runs amazingly cool anyway).

Gotta pick up some more heat sink paste and hope the plastic didn't melt onto the CPU. :rolleyes:

FYI...

If you are considering eventually going to Windows-7 you can pre-ordered at 1/2 price until Sat.

Hmmm, that's tempting.

The server continues to run beautifully with Vista, so I'm not touching that. But the laptop with Vista is declining. So I'm debating whether to go with XP. But now that seems like a pretty good option. HMMMMMMMM.

I have to ask what the reviews are on W7, as I haven't kept up on that.

You'll have to decide for yourself, but here is one review I found helpful.

When did this turn into the rocket science thread? ;)
I feel lucky just knowing how to turn it off and on.

Heehee.

Rocket science makes us totally seriously happy. :)

We recently had to trim Ally's nails and it took three of us. Two dedicated to holding her and the third to hold and trim. And even then, it was a challenge.

Congrats on the new boutique, Not Afraid! Sounds like a great opportunity. I hope to be able to visit sometime.

A Job Interview At Last !!!
 

Had a very positive interview for W C Penfold Stationers in the city for a customer service role. I'll know in a week if they want me for the second stage - an interview with the Director of the company !! (eek)

Stoat and I also passed our provisional riding tests on the scooter and in 12 months will have full-fledged unrestricted bike licences. Yay !

I'm so happy I had to have a spoonful of Marmalade. (yes, I know...)

Also in other news:

How the HECK did we miss this???? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to NA. We want pics.

Hugs to all.

A year. A YEAR?! Geebus.

That's not the worst of it! I'm lucky because I'm over (ahem) 25.

Under 25, you need to spend 3 months on the L (Learner) plates, 12 months on the P1 (Red Provisional) plates, and 24 months on the P2 (Green Provisional) plates !!

Does the USA have L and P plates ?

MIssed your post earlier this month, NA...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Lash: no we don't. But I do wish we had the L stickers like England does. I think it's only fair to warn people :P

How that they NOT hire you, Lash!

Translating that from Lisa-ese hurt my brain.

I hit the 70's soft rock jackpot.

You know those late-night infomercials for multi-disc music compilations? Well, recently I've been seeing one that interests me: Romancing the 70's. Yeah, I know that makes me totally lame sausage, but I like what I like. Anyway... I get up here to Dad's, and it turns out he has the whole set! And I have my laptop at hand...

I now have enough music to annoy you by for HOURS, muahahahah!

I forgot how weird first kisses are.... :cool:

I'm still getting my head around this but it definitely belongs in the "Happy" thread:


The couple whose engagement I announced last month in the "So" thread...I found out last week they are also pregnant. (It must be going around.)

And that makes me stunned and speechless, among other things.

Mazel D'ohv!

Congratulations Grandmahop!

:D

:snap:

:D

I just had some happy come my way, although, it's pretty minor and silly...

Was finally re-organizing the linen cabinet and found a brand new long-forgotten stained glass celestial shower curtain which will work PERFECT for covering the panes of our two living room windows that we wanted to decorate with a non-permanent stained glass effect so we can leave the blinds up all the time and still have light and privacy. Now just to get the can of removable adhesive, and then slice this sucker into squares and we're all set. :D

Hi Grandma!!!!!!!!!!!

Very exciting news!

Babies all around! :) Hoping things go well for them, in all ways.

Babies EVERYWHERE!!!

Congrats Lindyhop!

Just registered for my fall classes today, and I've been approved for the BOG fee waiver again for the 2009-2010 term, making my balance due ZERO!!! I am SO doing the happy dance!!!

This semester, I'm taking two dance classes that will force me to take a "break" M-Th at 11am for a couple hours. So, that's 2 hours of high-intensity fun aerobic activity four days a week (goodbye fat!), and then I'll be at Coastline which is within 15-minutes walking distance from our home two nights a week for animation and web interface design (for creating my own video players, etc.), and I'll be doing Dreamweaver online. So, I'm going full-time again, but with a much more open and easy schedule. :D

So I just called McArthur-Burney Memorial Falls State Park. They are NOT going to close. My camping trip is still on! :D

Today, I'm seriously happy.

:)

I have an interview request!!!!!!!!

It's for a clerkship with a federal magistrate judge in Las Cruces, NM.

I just applied for it Monday evening.

I'm going to fall over now.

No Doubt tonight!
:)

Way to go Pru!!!!!!

Yay!

Awesome, Pru!


And congrats, Grannyhop!



And, oh, I hate you, Gemini Cricket! (but really, enjoy the show!)

Yay Pru! Though we'd hate to lose you one must follow the job, of course.

Good news, Pru!

awesome news pru!!!! fingers crossed!!!!:snap:

Though I moved away as you were moving in, I'm in total agreement with CP. Follow your dreams - it's the only thing we should all be following!

:snap:

No Doubt rocked last night. That was an awesome concert. I think I lost like 5 pounds dancing and jumping around last night. Wow. Ms. Stefani is fit fit fit. And all during the concert I couldn't help but stare at Tony. He's a cutie.

Still have Spiderwebs in my head this morning. (The song... not real ones...)

:D

Glad you had a great time! We saw them at Shoreline Ampitheatre (Mountain View) and they were fantastic -- also loved the opener, Paramore.

Pre season football! Pre season football! Pre season football! It's almost football time!!!

5 weeks till hockey pre season!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, are the finals over?

Shuddap. :p

Is this the same Penfolds that makes the great Aussie wine?

Hey, whaddaya know, Orange County allows online traffic school now! Yay!

WOOHOO!

Will you have a review for us anytime soon? ;)

Here, try our 2002 Staplergiovese. Also our BusinessCardonnay is very good.

Nope, different companies. :D

I better have one by November or I'm in trouble.

Auditioned today for "The Drowsy Chaperone" at Diamond Head Theatre. I had a lot of fun at the auditions. There are 3 different roles that they wanted me to read for. I liked doing each one.
:)

Cool! Got a callback for 2 of the 3 roles. Nice!
:)

...and as the third role was for a woman anyhow, it's no big disappointment. ;)

Congrats GC!

Congrats GC!!!!!!!

YAY! So, are you coming to CA or not?

These are the dates they gave me re: the show's run:
I should find out tomorrow or Tuesday if I get cast in the play.
If I do get in, early December is still open for me with no other plays getting in the way. But auditions for "Hair" are on Dec 14. So, the first week/10 days of Dec is perfect for me.
I have to make a visit to see you guys. It's just a matter of $ at the moment. Let's see what I can do. I haven't had a vacation since I started this job in Nov '08. So, I shouldn't have any problem getting the time off from work...

Oooh! I'm in love. Well, that is until he dies. Which may be soon.

SFW Dave Salmoni clip.

Here's another one. Dave Salmoni Showers With Lions

Note to JWBear and lashbear: He's mine!
:D

Sorry, we saw him first!

I don't like a man with too many muscles...

[queue audience participation callback]

Slut!

Just one big one!

I didn't make him for you!

My friend Kim sent me some pictures from the No Doubt concert we went to on Wed.
We were pretty close up.

What was Adrian not wearing? ;)

WOW! Great pictures! She looks amazing!

I need her trainer.

Adrian wore Jockeys and black lipstick. During the encore (Rock Steady, Stand & Deliver and Sunday Morning) he wore a pink tutu as well.

No pants. He wears a tutu at one point in the show. That was fun.

Damn... girl has some nice abs. I'd tap that sh!t. :p

hehehe. You said tap.

I have a second interview! With a judge in Denver.

Sweet!
:)

Congrats Pru!!!

YAY PRU!

Way to go Pru!

Proud of you for taking this step!

So, for those of you playing at home, I have an interview in Las Cruces on 2 September and in Denver on 8 September. Both sound like great opportunities. They are both with federal magistrate judges, which most applicants apparently consider not as prestigious, but I'm all through with that "prestige" stuff. I don't want other people to judge me based on my school, and I won't judge judges based on their perceived rank. In fact, for litigation practice, most of the action is likely before the magistrate anyhow. So if you want the edge on what you'll REALLY be doing as a litigator, that's the place to be. So, that's where I should be, so my future students will have a better teacher. I could probably get an appellate clerkship with a Washington state court, but I really wanted to be in the federal system, and frankly the state courts pay maybe half of what the fed court does - and federal pay is the same regardless of how "prestigious" the assignment is.

I know some folks that just moved to Denver and are loving it so far

Just got back from my callback. Well, I'd cast me. But the competition is fierce. So, we'll see.
:)

Go Pru! Go GC!

Rah Rah, also Rooting for You Both!

Well I'm done. As for a review - I suppose it depends on your perspective. From the perspective of whether the experience was a valuable one that taught me to be a better, safer driver, I give it a 0. From the perspective of whether it let me fulfill the court-ordered requirement in the most effortless, brainless way possible where I didn't have to sit in a classroom on a Saturday morning with a bunch of unhappy people who don't want to be there a good portion of which would have been dumb enough to drive me bonkers, it gets a 10.

There was a big list of sites to choose from, I chose "inandouttrafficschool.com" because it was the 2nd one on the list and the first one didn't seem to be working right. The process was as follows - there were 6 or 8 lessons (I've already forgotten), each being a long page of text. You're supposed to read the text, then click to the next page where there's an 8 question multiple choice test. If you don't get 100% on the test it brings you back to the study material to read again. Of course, if you aren't a moron, you copy and paste the study material into another program and use search to pass the test. After you do all the lessons you take a final exam which is 25 questions randomly selected from the questions you just answered, you need to get 20 or more right.

They even let you do online ID verification (for a fee) by asking you questions about info off your credit report (questions about your residence history, bank accounts, etc.). Beats going to a notary where you pay about the same fee anyway. The whole process took maybe 30 minutes and I just received the "your case has been dismissed" email.

That almost exactly mirrors my experience with online traffic school. It seems to be more about the inconvenience aspect (i.e. "we can waste your time and make you do stupid stuff because the alternative is points on your license") than actual learning.

There was a survey at the end asking me to rate the experience. I was torn. On the one hand, it galls me how utterly useless the whole process is. Whether online or in person no one learns a damned thing from this charade. So in that regard I wanted to rate the course low because I really would prefer if, you know, they actually taught sh*tty drivers something of value. On the other hand, I do not consider myself one of those sh*tty drivers and all things considered I was glad that I had the option of just breezing through this bit of kabuki so I wanted to rate it highly.

I figured that in the end, if you've got enough of a brain to have done it the way I did, then no amount of instruction is going to affect you as a driver as clearly you're smart enough to apply some reason to a situation and any bad driving you do is likely out of choice rather than ignorance. And conversely one could argue that those most in need of learning this stuff aren't likely to figure out how to get through the tests easily, forcing them to actually look at the provided info to learn the answers and hopefully some of it will stick. Hopefully.

Yes, I know how elitist that all sounded.

As a side note, did you know that backing up is ALWAYS DANGEROUS!! Always!!!! :rolleyes:

I was cast as George in the Drowsy Chaperone.
I'm doing my happy dance!
:)
Oddly enough, he was one of the bigger parts I didn't audition for. But the director said I could handle it.

Hooray!

Yay, George !

Time to drop the other shoe and confess that the best part of it all is that I get to do my 20's/30's cheesy gangster voice, see!

That'll have CP checking airfare to Hawaii.

Ya did good George, ya did good.

Congrats GC!

I knew there was a good reason not to leave town this week! I'll be having my 2nd interview with F's tomorrow! :D

Very cool! :snap:

Waaaa! This is so goddamn unfair! I cannot believe I am missing this, no matter where it is in the world. Your gangster voice is my favorite thing ever. :(

BUT - I am super happy that everyone else in the audience gets to be entertained by it. No chance it's going to get recorded? Tell your producer that you need to have at least a few clips for a promotional website...

Ah yes, YouTube promotion, naturally ;)

The complex is FINALLY installing our patio fences right now!!! :D

We've waited almost two years for our patio to be private. I'm just so happy that we won't have to put up with kids constantly running back and forth, plucking our fruit and roses and stealing our garden ornaments.

And, once I get paid, we're so adding some solar lights and making everything really pretty. :) YAY!!

We have fences. I could almost cry. :D

I want to theme the garden as Wonderland, and I just figured out what I'm going to do to our old wooden slat bench this Saturday -

Cheshire Cat.

Each plank will be painted alternately in pink and purple, and then his eyes and face will go right in the middle. :D

The Wolfpack wants to check it out when its completed.

I wanna see that.

Oh, there will be photos! (At least for those who can't be here to see it in person.) :)

Posting from my palm pre. 'nuff said

Congrats! I need to remember or reset my LoT password so I can post from my Pre.

I have air conditioning at home again. The animals are all doing well. I have chocolate pudding. Life is good.

Hurray for air conditioning. Ours was out for two weeks during the last heat wave so I feel for ya.

I have a full time job.

Maybe that should be in the vent thread. ;)

Yay NA! :)

It's FALL! Summer is OVER! And at some point here, the weather will catch up to the calendar :)

not today it aint

Well the much heralded heatwave in the Bay Area this week was like Chicken Little screaming the sky was falling. I still see fog on the bay and it's quite pleasant, nothing like the 95 that was predicted. Of course, I am grateful to be spared hot and miserable Indian Summer this week.

I don't k now what you people are talking about. I'm chilled enough I need a sweater.

Must be a Torrance thing, because it was so hot in Anaheim, I was sweating like crazy.

Our AC is running at 10pm. We tried opening a window and running the fan but the AC just kept turning on anyway...

It's hot out in Dublin.

And in Stockton.

But I guess that goes without saying.

I just went outside and it is still hot. AC and fans running and still feels stuffy in the house. Blech.

Oops, wrong thread. This doesn't sound like it belongs here. :blush:

Let's combine the Serious Happy and Serious Vent thread into the Great Big Serious Thread!!

The Like, I'm Being Totally Serious Right Now Thread

:)

I just finished a full wash, clay bar, wax AND interior detailing of our new car- after a full frenzied day at work. It feels great to have some energy after the work day's done.

What kind of car did you guys get?

Very excited to see the comic I worked on many moons ago is being reprinted and comes out this week!! I hope it turns out good!

I'm back in print just like Edna Ferber

http://marvel.com/catalog/?id=12873

I note that only two contributors got their names in ALL CAPS. :D

"Hey, thanks for the shout out!"

Ahhhh so ends another crisp fall day. The leaves are turning there is just a hint of nip in the air.... Life is good.

Our household is now free of the Apple-proprietary AAC format. Also DRM-free. Huzzah!

WOO!

How did you go about doing that? Software or just re-rip everything?

For the DRM-protected files, software. TuneClone. It creates a fake CD burner on your system, you tell iTunes to burn a disc, the software then converts it to MP3. Essentially the same as burning and re-ripping, but we had a good amount of iTunes-purchased music piled up and this was a much faster solution.

For non-DRM protected AAC files (anything recently purchased, or the large collection of music that we had ripped from CD before realizing that you can set iTunes to rip to MP3 instead of AAC), iTunes has a "create MP3 version" option built in.

Awesome. I'll have to check out TuneClone.

I need to pick up a new desktop to function as a file server (or maybe pick up one of those home server boxes). The majority of my music is on an external drive but I want to re-rip the music I still have the CDs of into a higher quality.

You know you are a luddite when you have no clue what the above means.

I'm with you there. I don't really understand the differences. Maybe I have a tin ear. I suppose I'll be pissed off if it all goes missing, and all the techies will laugh and point.

When I read it the voice in my head was the grown ups on Peanuts - mah mah mah mah mah

DRM = Digital Rights Management. Until about 4 months ago any music you bought from iTunes came with DRM protection meaning you could play the files on only up to 5 different computers and you could burn the music only up to 5 times. They have since stopped doing that and any music you buy can be copied and burnt as many times as you'd like (or at least most, there might still be some music that's protected, but the great majority for sure is not).

The other part of the equation is file format. When you buy music from iTunes, it's in Apple's proprietary "AAC" format. This means it can only be played with Apple products (iTunes, and iPod, Quicktime). Converting the files to MP3 instead means I can play them with whatever software/hardware I want, which for me means I can finally use WinAmp as my music server and easily play music remotely. It also means I can put any of my music on my phone so I don't always have to carry a phone AND an iPod.

My life is so much easier in this respect. Come over to my world.

Were you able to use the free version to complete the job? is it limited by time or by production quantity? (their site doesn't seem to tell)

The free version cuts songs of off at 3 minutes, so it's not a viable option. Due to the amount of purchased music we have accumulated, the cost was worth it to me. If you've only got a handful of purchased albums, physically burning and re-importing the music might be a better option.

Aw applesauce, sheba and 23 skidoo! Hey, Snowflake: I spent part of the day researching the silent film "The Covered Wagon", 1923.

Big hit in 1923! BIG Paramount production, used loads of original Conestogas (if you believe 1923 hype).

I've not seen it in years. Whaddaya researching it for? Anything I can do to help?

Well. Tom and I are writing a book about the time he lived with a Shoshone doctor ("medicine man"/"shaman"), as in he drove the guy around the rez and generally made himself useful. Once, they visited with an Arapaho who was in "The Covered Wagon", via Tim McCoy so we're incorporating Tom's old notes on that. The war raid party in that film is Arapaho from Wind River.

The same Arapaho also accompanied McCoy to London to put on a Wild West show. (Pre-stardom, McCoy worked as a hand on the Em-Bar Ranch in the area of Wyoming we're writing about. He had gotten to know a lot of Arapahos during that time.)

I'll let everyone know when this book comes out.

Please do, I did find much of the Sacajawea book interesting.

Though I must admit almost as much for the Hebard (am I remembering the right name?) tear-down as for the Sacajawea stuff; but then I'm a sucker for pseudoscience and pseudohistory stuff.

Thanks, Alex. It's always good to get feedback. At one point, we even drove slowwwwwly past the house where Hebard had lived, that's how obsessed one of us (not me) became with her. My favorite part of the project was how braindead the D.A.R. can be.

Started the day with new music from one of my favorite bands and news of the birth of a good friend's baby. Hooray for today.

BDBopper, I loved your photos. Let me get in line to say Welcome to the Midwest!

Mmmm, and cheese curds...

Brian, don't forget to remove 5 miles from your "ridden so far" tally for every Butter Burger consumed, and 15 miles for every cake.....


Yes, I'm on a diet again... can you tell?

Werd.

I'm feeling rather topsy turvy at the moment, in a good way. Despite my initial reaction to the diet sent to me by my dr., I'm not finding it difficult to be good. I'm actually enjoying the excuse to look for other food options. And I'm definitely enjoying being on my bike again several times a week.

Meanwhile, I've registered for school! In a week the first online course in what should be a year long program begins. I've already delved into a "teach yourself C" book to brush up on my beyond rusty skills, and I'm really excited about getting back into the learning groove. Especially since it will all be on my company's dime.

It feels like a pretty significant attitude and outlook shift and I'm feeling really good about it. I may very well come crashing down some time in the near future as February looms ever closer, but for now I'm going to just enjoy the high.

You look like you had a fantastic time! I'm so happy for you!

Looks like you're having a blast!

Fun!

Rose got us "Frequent Fear" Passes for Halloween Horror Nights - so we can go back again and again - plenty of time to watch dancing girls, fireballs, and chainsaw wielding maniacs!

Stop me if you've heard this: I think the interview went pretty well. I'm more excited about the job now than I was going in.

But seriously... turns out there isn't one opening, there are 4, and there are two different job descriptions. One is working with the ops costume production folks, and the other is fabric procurement. Both sound great. They asked me which I'd prefer and I said honestly, both sound great and I'd gladly take whichever was offered to me. After asking more questions I said if I had to pick a favorite, I guess I'd lean toward the fabric one, but I'd really be happy in either position.

Sounds like the applicant pool is less than 20 for these 4 spots, so decent odds. The openings are 1-year assignments (and you get to keep your seniority, they basically "borrow" you for a year), which can be renewed based on budgets.

Needless to say, it sounds good, and I really hope I get it.

I hope you get one of the positions, it actually sounds perfect for you!!

I just ordered my favorite jeans in the next size DOWN. Yeah, baby! :D

I got my picture taken with Corey Feldman...

Wild, BD. I grew up about 45 minutes from there. Did you guys make it to Christmas Hell (I mean, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland?) The largest Christmas store on the face of the earth. Acres and acres and acres of Christmas stuff.

My family would go to Zender's about once a year. Glad you had a nice time on the road!

Shouldn't this be in the totally serious vent thread?

Or at least the total serious inoculation thread.

One of the theatres here is doing "Avenue Q" next season! I'm so excited. I'm going to get in that play. I don't know how, but I'm gonna. If it means I have to crew instead of being in the cast, so be it!
WooHOO!

That would be awesome!

:)

Ummm, Matt, they're supposed to scare you.

I hate you, skinny bitch.

He was scared stiff

So, I have a nasty cold, which is making me miserable, and I have to be at this training all week - and I can't call in sick or I get cut from all trainings for a year. Nice.

So, you may be asking: why is this in the happy thread?

Because today I got to be smart again. We had a big group project and I was the one who actually understood what was going on (because this is the third class in a sequence and I actually retain information) and was able to take the lead. And I got to hear: "Leanne! We're really glad you're on our team!" And it's true - we had by far the best, most detailed presentation. (Handled mostly by me.) I even got a "Nicely done" from someone on another team during our potty break.

I have spent a year being told that I can't possibly have any relevant ideas to contribute and that I have no useful skills to offer my employer -- primarily, I believe, because *they* didn't have anything relevant or useful when they were in my position, and they can't imagine - despite ample evidence on the ol' resume - that I could possibly be any better than they were.

Oh, and when I let my contact at the contractor know I was being reassigned, he replied that he feels I represent the best side of the government, with a professional demeanor and asking the most insightful questions he'd heard in a long time. On the one hand, that's really sad. On the other hand, it means I really am that good, and the reason I'm bored out of my mind and feeling like I do nothing is that I'm woefully under-utilized.

Yes, two from me today.

So, I was going to put this in the vent thread, but I'm working really hard on re-training myself to see the positive in situations. Therefore, I'm choosing to post this here.

I have finished a year in hell and it is time for me to rotate. And I actually am going to rotate, which all on its own is a happy thing, as I am so over the interpersonal drama, malicious gossip, and back-stabbery in my current assignment.

And I was all excited, because they said I could *choose* where to go next. I researched it, investigated the people I'd be working with, and went with what *THEY* -- the head of FM and minions -- recommended. I wanted to go to a central staff position instead of a wing position, to get a different perspective. The particular function I chose was cost estimating, because I was promised it's very difficult and if this past year is any indication, I'll need all the difficulty I can get just to maintain a sense that I'm doing any work at all. It was approved. Everyone was there - the Col said it was agreed.

So, turns out, they changed their minds. And didn't bother to tell me. I'm going to Cost Research instead. Now, I had very specific reasons for picking Cost Estimating - specifically that they have a rigorous 3-year training schedule and the people at the top there are universally respected and liked across base. I know nothing about cost research. I spent about 2 hours being angry -- first at them, for pulling YET ANOTHER bait and switch, then at myself for believing that they wouldn't. Who am I, Charlie Brown?

Anyhow, here's where we turn it into a good thing, which I will keep insisting makes me seriously happy, because maybe if I think it enough it will.

1) cost research is kind of a lame job, I suspect, but it sounds REALLY good on paper - specifically on my resume. In fact, as described to me by the FM people (once I found out what was up), it is the perfect addition to my clerkship application resume because it involves research, analysis, and writing up written recommendations. Which is much closer to the myth of clerking than estimating how much a new satellite will cost. This could be a big help.

2) I am now absolved of any obligation to feel loyalty toward my employer. If they put me where I wanted to go, I'd feel pretty crappy about leaving. Whether they really merited that loyalty or not, I'd feel like I owed them something. Now? HA! The bait and switch routine got really old the first year, and they have now attempted to sabotage my second year, too. I owe them nothing, and I should feel free to continue pursuing other opportunities. Since I routinely stab my own self in the back as a result of undeserved employer loyalty, this is a big deal, and a major happy. I DO NOT OWE THEM LOYALTY! YAY!

I'm on a roll - sorry. This one's short.

I normally have very vivid nightmares every. single. night. Lately, I've been having very vivid happy dreams about getting interviews through unexpected connections, arranging for movers and looking at rentals in other areas because I got a fabulous new job, etc.... I *never* have happy dreams. This is refreshing change of pace and hopefully a harbinger of future success.

After two separate bike shops told me that a 20 minute lube/tune up would take several days I just went ahead and did it myself. It's like riding a brand new bike. Yay!

Easier than changing that fan in your bathroom? DudecanDIY.
I'm hopeless at that stuff. You are a genius in my estimation.

Far, far easier. Though I didn't really do much in terms of tuning up the mechanics of the bike (calibrate brakes, or derailleurs), just cleaned the hell out of the chain, re-lubed it and lubed the other joints. But that alone made a noticeable difference in how the bike rides, and it cost half of what I was about to pay to the shops (actually, well under half considering that I have enough of all of the cleaning and lubricating materials left to do it several more times).

Had to switch from the Vent thread to the Happy thread- just got my car out of the shop ($500) and it runs great! I could totally tell my car was happy. They said the only other thing they could think of that it needs is a new muffler (it still has the original, and sounds like a muscle car) but that it could wait until my wallet replenishes itself. The mechanic said that my car is really in great shape, especially for it's age, and well worth fixing as opposed to dumping for a new car.:)

(I really do love my car- best car I have ever owned).

Yay WB!

I loved my Honda, I drove it to death. It was a Hondamatic Accord, not the best car, but, I put some serious miles on that car. Then, one night it wheezed and died on the corner of Polk and Green. I was sad, I had just put new tires on the sucker. The transmission died and poor Babette went to the graveyard.

Sorry for those of you who see me on Twitter and/or Facebook, but I'm too happy and must, must share!

A fellow dance student noticed my weight loss today. :D

It means a LOT, since I'm doing this at an average of 1-1.5 pounds per week, so I don't tend to see it as well. But, she did. :)

Oh, and my new smaller jeans fit even after a couple pre-washings and dryer cycles!

And, I'm physically feeling fantastic. I still have a few minor aches and pains that creep up now and then, but overall, my foot and back pain are almost nil. :)

Got an inquiry from that foods store whose name begins with Whole today. They, of course, want me to immediately drop my wholesale price that hasn't changed in 7 years. :rolleyes:

We shall see. Economies of scale, and all that.

Wow, Gn2! Uhm, yeah- economies of scale would definitely factor into that one.... Get in, get them addicted, then up the price! :D

That's great news, Cheese Man...I'm sure you can make the numbers crunch.




We have great news of our own, switching from the Vent thread to the Happy thread: Munchkin is walking. As in, using her back legs, and traveling in a straight line. We had boarded her for our long weekend away and she has definitely jumped a hurdle in that short time. It's an emotional thing - we were getting worried that she had plateaued and might not get any better. Yay, wonderful bunny!! :D

:) :) :)

Wow!!!!!!!! SuperBunny! Wtg, Munchkins and parents!

Good news, CP!

Great news!

As of tonight, I'm the Vice President of Local B-192. :D

Wow, Matt- congrats!!!!!:snap:

WTG, Matt!

And, super-duper bouncy bunny applause for the Munchykins! :D

Congratulations!

Way.to.Go Matt!!!

Congratulations!

WTG Matt!

Congrats Matt!

RAINNN!!!

Gimme my hundred bucks!

It has mostly stopped raining down here. I want about 23 more days of rain like this morning. I'm sure the drainage systems would figure out a way to adjust.

I have a very happy hubby this morning....made a full breakfast (almost unheard of here). Scrambled eggs/green onions/cheese, bacon and home fries. Yum!

The rain just started up here :)

Wow, had a perfect weekend away in summer heat, then back here for October rain. :)

Some of our Ebay lots are closing for a lot more than we expected. If this trend continues, we should have the cruise paid for in no time! :D

And on the brighter side of the news, one of my former Drowsy cast mates is going to set me up with one of his friends. He's tall, older, cute! We'll see. He's bringing him to the cast party on Sat.
:)

After 1 year of separation and 2 years of divorce proceedings, it appears as though I will likely be legally divorced this Friday. :D

I'll bet Fred Schneider was surprised to hear that!

This is going to be the weirdest post you may ever read from me.

So, I broke out in hives today due to an allergic reaction or due to stress. I guess it's a little bit of both. I really, really want to scratch them but it makes them worse and it becomes painful after awhile.

The doctor I saw said that long warm showers help. So, I jumped in the shower not realizing that the shower was still on full blast hot. In fact, the hottest it could go. And when the hot water hit my skin... it was absolute heaven. It felt so good that it was almost orgasmic. Seriously, the closest I've ever felt to having an O without involving my fist or another man. I stayed in there for about 15 minutes. It was like getting the satisfaction of scratching without scratching.

If you ever get the same thing (I hope you don't) try this. It's heavenly!

:)

Dude. You ate a BAT.

Well, I just read that taking hot showers when you have hives is baaaaad. It causes the hives to get worse and spread. So don't do it.
;)

It is still early, but I was trying to figure out how GC fists himself.

In the normal way, I'd think.

the man has a point, you know? Im still recovering from that ;)

Wishing you very happy freedom, bewitched!

ok, no hot shower with hives. But is the hot shower still recommended for fisting yourself to orgasm??

Free, free, free, free, free, free, free, free, free, free, free I'm free, free, free,free, free, free, free, free, free, free, free...FREE!!!!!!


:D

A Happy Freedom bouquet for you, bewitched!

Huzzah for freedom!

I used to get really bad excema on my calves that responded to hot showers the same way. Leg Orgasms !!!

1) you're not supposed to know about fisting.
2) LOL.
3) Yeah, how does he?
4) I think Alex is thinking of another thing... anatomically, it would be almost impossible for one to do .... well, things... to oneself. Unless you were a contortionist. Or had practiced your way through the karma sutra and found it all so easy.

Today was a happy day.

:) <==== Me

If you don't get more specific we'll have to assume you fisted yourself

Oh, I thought it meant he ear-****ed a Frenchman.

I don't but then, knitting makes me happy. Here's the hubbo keepin' it Scandihoovian in the hat I just made him:

Thanks for the freedom congrats!

Like the hat, Helen!

I've spent a good portion of this page covering my ears. TMI. TMI.

I'm Happy. We're home, we had a jolly holiday, and my bad iPhone pics will be posted sometime. (forgot to take the SLR. Grrrrrrr.)

BD, that definitely sounds VERY exciting!! Keep us up to date. :)

Geeze, the guys working on our house (we're building a new kitchen) let the dog out of his safe room. When they tried to put him back in.... *SNAP*.

Not too serious, but enough that the guy went to have it checked out.

Well, jeez, why did he/they let the dog out, anyway?

Are you seriously happy about it?

More importantly, Who Let the Dogs Out?

We are, for all intents and purposes, done with clearing out what will be the nursery. Still have to unload the big furniture, but that's the easy part. Sorting through the 11 years' worth of accumulation, making the hard decisions about what to toss, and finding/creating space for what to keep is behind us.

Now the rebuilding begins. Today we talked colors, and much to our surprise we came to a consensus in short order. It helps that we were working from an existing color palette, but it was still a nice surprise to actually be on the same aesthetic page form the get-go for once.

Meanwhile I have fully spec'd out a custom closet storage beast that I plan on building myself. Cubes for easy-access storage bins, cabinets w/doors for large storage, and a chest of drawers. It's by far the largest carpentry project I'll have ever done. So far I've had a ton of fun drawing up plans, making materials and cut lists. Hopefully the fun lasts. I think I've come up with a design that, once I learn from my mistakes on the first couple tries, should be fairly easy. Pretty much every piece will be using the same list of cuts, just scaled up or down, and everything is going to be modular so I can focus on individual units that fit together rather than having to build the whole thing at once (which carries the added benefits of being movable/reconfigurable AND if I make the first few units and subsequently give up, I should still have some usable stuff to show for it). Best of all, it should cost 1/2 of what children's furniture stores charge for shoddy furniture.

Tomorrow will be round one of supply procurement. Happy happy joy joy.

Actaully I was more "Soo.." about it, but apparently to distraught to pay attention to where I was posting.

Sounds fun. However, have you thought it through? If your child has access to the bins in cubes once he becomes mobile, the contents will be on the floor every day. Do your chest of draw plans include latches or drawer stops? Also, I can't recall seeing a large storage thingy in a children's furniture store, so I'm curious what it's for and, of course, if it's safe.

Finally, sir, if you do this, you must finish it long before the baby is born, or the odds of your ever finishing it will decrease substantially. After the baby is born, you will be handling a lot more basic things than furniture building, and waking the baby with carpentry noises will not be an option.

Oh no! My entire plan hinged on all of the free time I was expecting to have once the baby was born! If only I had planned it such that I could do a small portion of the project and then decide whether to complete the entire design or just leave it as is.

Just sayin'. Sometimes menfolk have strange priorities. Like the guy I read about who demanded and got a blow job in the recovery room. When he could have been making furniture.

And here I thought you were excited about the prospect of appearing on People's Court.

OMG my man would be so dead if he tried that

Err which one? Making furniture or that other one.

Soooo...GD, what the f**k is that in your avatar?

I finally upgraded my cable from "basic" to digital w/HBO. I'll be paying $5 more a month than I would be for my cable and a separate Netflix subscription.

Now that I'm caught up with the shows I got Netflix for (and the mass availability of shows on Hulu) I really don't have a need for it anymore.

Now to get it set up so my TIVO works with it. I know I have a thread about that somewhere from the last time I attempted it.

I am a conundrummer in a band called "Life"