A Treasure Found at Home

my ecto profile disappeared. *poof*

now i hardly remember what i was going to write about. same ‘ol, same ‘ol, i suppose.

• cryptic requests at work about things that don’t exist or which only have half of the info i need to help them.
• random conversation bits from the next cube, ‘you remember that doom game, doom?’
• and how i ‘discoverd’ today that getting lunch is not enough to raise the blood sugar and fill the tummy. you must also *eat* the lunch. doh!

four hours from now i’ll be getting my hair done for the playa! so. excited. it’s like i’m almost there!

last night i drove to sp guy’s house to bring down some more burn stuff and to spend some quality time with my cat before i disappear into the desert for 10 or so days. (sp guy would be playing tennis and working, so i knew i wouldn’t be spending time with him.)

galahad was happy to cuddle with me in the guest room, which he’s claimed as his own safe haven, when i showed up. moving into the ‘master’ bedroom was a little stressful. once he realized walter was not waiting around the corner to sniff at him, all was well. we cuddled up in bed with only a few minutes of getting settled we drifted off. actually, i’m not sure if galahad actually sleeps or just hangs out next to me awake, but he does seem to like it.

about an hour later sp guy came into the room quite suddenly and *turned the light on*. luckily i’m ‘the logical one’ and my logical brain was on the task telling me this wasn’t something he would normally do. he looked very happy so i groggily, yet accurately, guessed that he’d fixed the difficult bug he’d been working on for a couple days. he said he wasn’t sure if it was completely fixed, but he did find a huge tangle that he sorted out and things seem to be running better. yay! then i asked him to bring me
my knock-me-out allergy meds and some water.

about 3:45 galahad started meowing meowing meowing to be let out to explore the house. i learned last time that walter would not be waiting at the door and it was safer for me and my poor tender hands if i didn’t try to leave the room while holding the sharp clawed, excitable cat.

for the next couple hours i was getting up and letting walter in. then galahad letting himself in while i had walter on the bed–a not super observant dog who was still focused on the magically opening door and missed the cat jumping on the bed. walter went to investigate the open door and left the room. i closed the door. then galahad wanted out again.

finally, i left the door open. walter came back in. later galahad came in but this time they noticed each other. galahad under the bed making ghost sounds and curious walter snuffling. but i called him back up to sleep with me. then it was just the explosion sounds from sp guy’s tv (he falls asleep on the couch) disturbing the silence. luckily, they didn’t last long.

i love my animals, but i have to say i’m going to enjoy not having anyone step on me or whine or meow at the door while i’m sleeping in the desert next week!

listening to: Indigo Girls:Galileo [Live]:[5:30]

Technorati Tags: boy, cat, dog, pets, sleeping

edit: i wrote this tuesday but ecto ‘published’ it as a draft. is this ecto or my server?

i got my new plates in record time at the dmv this morning. i walked in at just exactly the right time, there was one person in front of me at the desk and one guy in the appointments line, then me in the no appointments line. by the time the woman at the desk was finished getting her number, there was a line of 6 or 7 people behind me.

as the woman handed me my number and i read it, i heard it being called over the loudspeaker at exactly the same time! so i walked right down to window 5 where my paperwork was checked and some new stuff was printed up. the whole lot was unstapled, shuffled, and restapled into new piles. some were filed and some were handed back to me with the instruction to go to window 17 for the plates.

again, no line. the woman flipped through the papers, grabbed some plates and some registration stickers and i was on my way!

so so easy.

it was less than an hour round trip. i didn’t even need to circle for parking when i got there! and since everyone left for work while i was gone i got a prime spot right in front of my house!

now to order a parking sticker for my neighbourhood and also a toll tag. rock on, i am good to go or to park! in about 10ish or less days i’ll even have the pink slip (which, no, isn’t actually pink)!

last night was my first 00 meeting in 10 weeks. apparently they started timing check ins while i was gone. w00t! burning man puts a hiccup in our schedule, but i’d like to have one at my hose soonish to bake some cupcakes and perhaps talk about body image. i think it could be a good topic for us. we’ll see if it flies.

and now back to work where i am again running into communication problems. i’m not sure if it’s the esl factor, but i just don’t think it’s all that hard to comprehend that if you ask me to create and email address that you’re going to give out to people, that the email you expect them to send must go somewhere. and, if you know when you start that you don’t yet have all the info, then a super immediate omg omg it must be done now emergency emergency cry is probably not appropriate.

my firefox trackmenot plugin is searching for ‘backgammon weeds’.

Technorati Tags: 00, car, ease of living, work

today i’m feeling grateful

• i’m not addicted to drugs
• i haven’t let my gangrenous foot go for four years so that my leg has died, it’s gotten in my blood, i’m going crazy as a result from brain damage, and i never told my mom ’till now because i didn’t want her to worry
• i’m able to understand and follow simple directions

you know, sometimes the little things are so little they’re overlooked, but they’re so so so important to being able to function the way i do. i might not always deal with my stress in the ‘best’ way, but there are still a lot of other options i don’t choose!

i went with buttons to do a lot of burn shopping this weekend. we returned some stuff to a sport store, got pedicures, and then spent over 2 hours in target. really. we closed the place down. it was exhausting.

the only essential thing on my list was juice, but the selection there was sub-par so i’m saving that for a mid week run.

i still need to remember to print out people’s snail mail addresses if i want to send mail, and buy stamps, and also make memorials for aj, grandpa, and grandma for the temple. ;-( of course i keep putting that off. i think i’ll just print pictures of them and write a note on the back, maybe a mantra, and roll that up and tuck it away somewhere in the temple. it’s not going to be complex, but it’s not so surprising i keep putting it off, either.

thursday i get my hair braided! then i drive down to sp guy’s with the remainder of the stuff for the playa. packing the car while working from ‘home’ friday and as soon as flo’s hair is done that night she’ll hop on a train to svale and … playa here we come!

i made it to shambhala this morning again! it’s so nice to be back; it feels like home and people still ask me lots of questions. it won’t take much to get back into the swing of things, i’m just sad i won’t be able to be involved to the same degree for the foreseeable future.

tomorrow is also the first woman’s circle meeting i’ve been to in 10 weeks. i had to take some time off for the db class. i have mixed feelings about the whole endeavor, as i think i have all along. when we’re all back from the playa i hope to have some more focused meetings. talk about our body image or or relationship to money or what our hopes and dreams are and what we’re doing to try to instigate achieving them. i think we could do so much more with it than we are.

gratitude list

• naps
• coffee
• crepes
• small friends meeting
• scratch on palm healing quickly
• db class is over
• inexpensive pirate stuff in the mall
• time at home
• radio
• sp guy and i learning to navigate relationship better
• coffee card from mom
• liquid wrench

08-17-06

Originally uploaded by Hjem.

i stayed at sp guy’s house last night. i was so exahsted and knew i still had to fix my error from work, so i just asked if i could stay with him. he agreed and asked if i had the time and energy to go to the store for him.

i’m one of those up and down every isle shopper. i did skip the frozen foods, but i started on the right hand side of the store and worked my way to the left where they have their bakery.

and this is what i found. there are just so many things wrong with this i’m not even sure where to start. i mean, christmas cakes in august? what, they couldn’t come up with *any other* shapes to show off this approach to cake design? like a sun or a beach ball or even some autumn leaf shape or a book for back to school… the possibilities are endless! why christmas? it just makes them look silly.

plus, while grouping cupcakes together to make a shape isn’t a new idea, frosting them like this is something i’ve never seen. i do think it would look better… and be more obviously cupcakes… if they frosted them individually and then grouped them. this way you lose all the fun and cuteosity of the cupcake experience. until you have it in your hot little hand, that is, but eating it is only part of the fun.

when i get back from the burn i’m going to be baking again. cupcakes. not for christmas. and not all iced like one sheet cake. i’ll show them how to do cupcakes right.

i’m sure most of you have seen this by now, but i’ve gotten the link about three times and it never seems to get old. *almost* makes me wish i had a treadmill.

enjoy!

Technorati Tags: dancing, music, video

i spent a huge amount of time working on one request today and now i realize i did one of the parts wrong. one of the time consuming, rsi inducing, mind numbing, repetitive, horrible parts. and now i have to do it again.

but, at least i don’t have my friend’s boss, who is super stickler for the rules that people don’t even know about man.

i’m heading to sp guy’s place and will correct my mistake from there.

i really hate the huge, ginormous requests.

Technorati Tags: mistakes, waisted time, work

• web tracking says my amazon box is here
• free caffeine at work
• french toast with fruit
• running into t on the train
• big orange loud-purr cat
• b organized maslow discussion
• no plans tonight – clean and go to bed early!
• housemate is out of town so it’s really time alone
• no signs of the raccoon in a while
• ecto–from many blog mentions
• itunes plugin for ecto: Ani Difranco:The Million You Never Made:Not a Pretty Girl[4:19]

the last two together could be summed up as ‘new toys!’, but really i’m grateful for both of them.

Technorati Tags: books, gratitue, house stuff, shopping, work

a couple nights ago i dreamed i was a student in a high school and there was a school shooting. then i dreamed about things going very wrong at burning man. last night more dreams of death and distruction. i can’t remember them as clearly since i woke up briefly around 3am. by the time my alarm went off and woke me up again at 6:30, all i could remember were feelings of death and fear and destruction and ick.

yesterday was very long. i woke up about 4:45 and finally gave up trying to sleep about 5:30 when i got online and started work. it ended after almost but not quite making an offer on a condo, a full day of work, getting my first real bikini wax, being rear ended by an ambulance (a tap at a stop sign), and a long and interesting discussion about maslow and peak experience, and an argument with sp guy — i think i was lights out around 10:45. i would have been happy to wake up and find it was the weekend. instead i’m at work sneezy with puffy eyes and exahusted.

i can say the waxing was a much better experience this time around that the last time when i let a friend’s housemate practice on me since she was in beauty school. much. better.

i just can’t wait to get to the playa and sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep. then wake up refreshed and not worry about the time or email or unfinished projects.

the pest report on the condo is full of notes on fungus and recommendations to replace window sashes, door frames, floor boards around the back door, and the bottom of all the outside walls. uh… no, thanks.

the search continues. unless by some miracle my agent thinks they’ll make all the repairs before i buy it.

doubtful, someone with more money and less fungus allergies will buy it and repair it as they can.

i got a card reader today that will also read the card in my phone! right on hooking up my technologies.

i was forced to buy the card reader today because i took 20 pictures of the condo i’m about to make an offer on to show my parents. *fingers crossed*

i lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer. i took a few nice photos last saturday when we had our girls night out, but they’re trapped on my camera.

i had hoped to deliver proof to my flickr photostream that i don’t just drink sodas from machines without care for which buttons i’m pushing and walk around in jeans showing off my cat scratches. i do clean up good. and sometimes i even go to nice places.

i’m sure it’s somewhere! and i’m sure it’s not that hard to replace. but it’s frustrating to be unable to keep track of my things again. it’s not even a sign from the universe that i need to slow down. it’s a sign from me.

now, where is that out of the closet pile? i’m sure i could find a few more things to give away to help clear the clutter to help make things i want to keep easier to find and also to make it more likely one of these condos i’m seeing today will be big enough for me and my cat.

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were moderately low which suggests you are, at times, overly flexible, improvised, and fun seeking at the expense of reliability, work ethic, and long term accomplishment.

Extraversion results were medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting.

trait snapshot:
messy, disorganized, not rule conscious, rebellious, rash, weird, ambivalent about chaos, likes bizarre things, anti-authority, not good at saving money, not a perfectionist, leaves many things unfinished, low self control, strange, desires more attention, romantic daydreamer, abstract, impractical, unproductive, leisurely, likes the unknown

i have a high degree of self control, but see the blind authority following bit above. i apply it when i feel it needs to be applied — and when there might be some who can hold out longest contest involved.

i’m not unproductive as a trait, either. there are certainly times (er.. um… now) when i could be getting more work done, but there are times when i juggle several things at once and get a ton accomplished. in fact, i was once ‘warned’ to be careful how well i did things or i’d just get more and more and more.

i brought glahad down to sp guy’s house this morning to see if he’ll get along with walter enough to stay here over the burn. walter is all kinds of crazy excited about galahad, but gahalad doesn’t seem to be as excited about walter.

galahad spent the day lying in his litter box. i pulled him out when i got back after work. i took him into the bedroom and locked walter out. galahad was pretty comfy, hanging out by the window on the dresser. sp guy tried to put him on the tall dresser, thinking he’d be even more comfortable since walter certainly wouldn’t be able to reach him. unfortunately for sp guy, galahad doesn’t have quite the same logical reasoning.

now walater is with me on the couch and galahad is still under the dresser watching closely for black paws.

we’re watching some show about mummies.

if you’re near philly, and interested in seeing some weird medical abnormalites, go here: http://www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp

the other friday night i was out with sp guy in the city. we were going to see a post-work movie and were meeting some friends at a thai restaurant they picked. sp guy and i got there first and were chatting while we waited to order. i was facing the wall, which was completely covered in mirrors so i could see everything that was happening on the street.

as we talked a particular guy caught my eye. he looked familiar as he walked by, but i couldn’t place him. he came back up the street a few seconds later and stood outside wrapping up a phone call. i looked and looked and was sure i knew him from *somewhere*. finally, he entered the restaurant and walked right into the room on the other side of the wall i was facing.

all i heard was, ‘mumble mumble kristy mumble mumble.’ the guy was ish — i knew he looked familar!

then i sounded like a total dork trying to explain to sp guy who that guy was and why i recognized him but really don’t know him at all, i just know his name, sorta, but not really. oh, look, time to order!

 via boing boing

i do still knit. not really fast and not really as often as i’d like, but i’m still at it.

when i was in colorado after my grandma’s funeral i went to the little knitting store on the high street of the town my parents’ rented condo is in. i really wanted a book of sock patterns, but all they had was a ‘book’ a few pages thick with about six patterns in it. i thought it would be nice to 1) make socks for my sock loving friends and 2) make arm warmers from sock patterns for my funkier friends. i bought the six sock book and have been working on a nice pair of orange socks with a twisty pattern that i have recently accidentally started twisting in the opposite direction from the twist i started with…which is why it’s now on hold.

i just look at it and wonder how successful i’ll be at frogging while using double pointed needles (dpns). it’s a daunting thought and so the half finished sock just sits on my dresser and mocks me with it’s wonky twist pattern.

but, that wasn’t the point of this post, truly. the point is that while i was in the store the woman told me that socks are going to be all the rage soon! i wondered a) how she knew this and b) did this mean there would be two sock patterns in the magazines next season? or would books be published?

when i got back i decided to check knitty since it had been a long time. and there was their summer issue chock full of hand warmers and socks!! and today they published their surprise pattern: a universal toe up sock pattern!

that woman in colorado was right! this is exactly what i wanted… and at a much lower price than i expected, too.

• pirates! in an adventure with ahab: a novel
• apples
• five hour conf call ended 1.5 hours early
• remembered court appointment!
• long chat with hamster_grrl
• sp guy
• galahad didn’t throw up on my bed today
• new brown sweater
• i’m not on a reality show
• little kitty snores
• no one can see me over IM
• there is yogurt in the fridge: dinner

i heard the hot rod lincoln song on the radio this morning on the way to work. you know:

My pappy said, ‘Son, you’re gonna drive me t’ drinkin’ …
If you don’t quit drivin’ that – Hot … Rod … Lincoln!’

i really miss hearing music from the 50s and 60s on the radio here. i mean, the last time i unexpectedly heard the everly brothers was in the middle of the simon and garfunkle concert. sp guy is going to lend flo and i his satellite radio for the drive to the desert. i hope she lets me indulge for a little in boy bands who wore matching clothes.

i also love car songs.

i got in to the office to find my kfog local scene cds were delivered yesterday. i bought 2 and 3. yay, music! i’m in that mode where i just want to buy lots of music… but my bank account isn’t in quite the same state. maybe after burning man, and jon’s wedding, and the tx state fair… that is, if i still haven’t found a house.

today is a FIVE HOUR conf call/webex thing. i don’t have a working headset for my phone here, and i also don’t really know how to mute my phone. those aren’t really related issues. luckily someone suggested we start taking small breaks. whew!

i’m almost completely done with my burn prep. i just need to haul everything to sp guy’s house (where we’ll be packing the car) and sort through what i really want to take, what i want to leave, and what i want to give to ootc.

i’m really excited about the week off! i’m looking forward to walking to center camp in the morning and getting a latte. which, i have to admit, i was forsquare agains for a number of years. then, suddenly, when i ended up there one morning i found out what a nice experience it can be. it’s not too hot, it’s not too crowded, it’s not too high energy.

i just wish sp guy could make it out for at least part of the week. i think he’d really love it, he needs a vacation more than i do, and it would be fun to share this thing i love so much with him.