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December 21, 2005

whoosh

here comes the migraine again. trying to finish a project before i leave, and being heaped upon due to the absence of my boss... i'm not very friendly today. i'll be closing my door in 5 minutes to code for a few hours uninterrupted.

------

last night, while returning from a satisfying mexican dinner at our mediocre "authentic" mexican restaurant, some jackass decided to try to pass me at about a full 25mph while i was trying to park in our barely-wide-enough-for-one-car street. i stopped, but if i hadnt, the jackass would've hit me. he came speeding up behind, and in fact, when i signalled to back into the parallel spot, he just kept coming. as i cut my wheels to maneuver in, he came speeding around... in too much of a hurry to wait 5 seconds for me to park.

if he'd hit me, it would've totally been his fault and i would've actually enjoyed giving that fucker a ticket. in lieu of a ticket, perhaps a few fists in the face. seriously.

the spirit of the season.

i miss the days when i was younger/faster/smaller, and could spar with my dad for a while. now we're both older/slower and don't recover as fast, and we could really do damage.

must put energy into physical labor.

December 20, 2005

massive cranial pain

yeah. it's everybody's favourite: migraine. trying to manage.

thinking about physical violence towards the whistler down the hall. he keeps whistling "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" over and over and over. he's just had knee surgery, so i'm betting if i take a metal baseball bat to his kneecap he'll lose the whistle in a hurry.

i dont understand how someone 150# overweight had knee surgery. And he's walking everywhere without crutches. (but has them in his office). They must be some damn good drugs. Doesnt matter, since he doesnt do any work to anyone's knowledge.

coffee machine was broken this morning. had crappy conference room coffee.

might get a cup while i'm out at lunch. could do wonders for my mood.

umm... crud

so...

boss's boss is out this week. boss's dad died last night. one coworker is out with the flu. another is leaving town Thursday. it's going to be a rough week.

December 19, 2005

pegged.

so -- my goals today:

eat lunch with a friend.
go to the post office.
go to the bank.
go to target. kroger. lowes.

were replaced with:

get rear-ended in traffic.
wait for the cop. exchange information.
visit the insurance agent (nearby).
stand in line at the post office.
run to the ATM at the bank and pay the car payment.

is it friday yet? *sigh*

(and yes, i'm ok. the bumper may be slightly bent, but only the dealer will be able to tell.)

slooooooooow

i feel like i'm stuck in slow motion, but moving at the speed of light in no particular direction.

however, i do think that having some decor up in the house makes it actually FEEL like Christmastime, instead of just another work week. And that feels good.

Today, I have to go to Target, Lowes, Kroger, the bank and the post office. Tonight, I'll wrap presents, and hopefully get the back door re-weather-stripped.

And then, my friends, I can relax just a little more.

December 16, 2005

i've always thought

James Garner was attractive when he was younger.

December 14, 2005

slow.

been jonesing for new tv.
been stressed beyond belief.

while out shopping, i finally used up a 2-year-old Best Buy gift card and bought myself an episode of Doctor Who on DVD. I don't regret it, although I wish I'd gotten a different one. the one I really wanted to see was "King's Demons" but instead I got "The Visitation". It had lots and lots of extras, which was good, because it reminded me of how many good episodes I want to see again.

Like the Key to Time series. Or the e-Space series. or the whole Black Guardian/"Mawdryn Undead" series. Frankly I could skip most of the 6th Doc's episodes, but those are the ones I've seen the least of, too, because that was the beginning of the end, and our local PBS affiliate quit showing them for a while.

And now, goddammit, I want to see the new stuff. I want to see the new Daleks and the new Cybermen, the crazy robot versions of the girls from BBC's What Not to Wear, and the robotic Anne Droid from The Weakest Link. I want behind the scenes stuff. I want to know why the Tardis is suddenly clean and perfect now... despite being a decades-old Police Box.

Mostly, I just want the fun back in my tv.

December 12, 2005

it's a trivial pursuit

ok...

(photo removed for Nala's sake)

i've been wanting to do a trivial pursuit night again for quite some time, and we haven't, that i can easily recall, since moving away from our old neighborhood.

you all know what it is. it's our favourite! haunted hankie time!

seriously, kel&mr.p, and max, email me and let me know what dates are good. we can potluck it, or just have snacks.

ok, spoon, go home.

I have to say, as with the last concert I went to, I was more impressed with the opening act than the headliner.

Ok Go is my new favourite band. Sure, that'll last, at most, a few months, but they were SO good, we would've stayed through another full set, I think. They held the audience's attention, and ENGAGED the audience, who was there to see Spoon. Even during their tear-down, the audience was SCREAMING when they played the new album track (off the actual album, not live) and did a beautifully choreographed dance number. It was a perfect show.

Spoon, however, was about as dull and boring as listening to ... well... the sound of your own heartbeat. Just because you're loud and screamy and your sound board operator doesnt know his ass from a hole in the ground, doesnt mean you rock. Mrs. T and I left early (before 11) as I was trying desperately to find anything to cure my boredom. The crazy looking guy next to Mrs. T was entertaining for about 30 seconds, and after the two fags in their mid-40s who were looking to pleasure the guys from OK Go backstage finally left, I had nothing left to hold my interest.

I'm ultimately glad the tickets were cheap. I got to hear a band's work before I bought their album. I'll get to say "I saw them when," and I know now not to go to a live Spoon show ever again. Love your studio work, but hate your "mad at the world/can't be bothered" live concert style. (which seems to be a theme this year. Are you listening Ryan "king asshole" Adams?)

Of course, I bought the new Ok Go album when I was out shopping yesterday, only to find it on iTunes for $5 less. Guess what's going back.

Giga's Cookies from the 1930s

This weekend, I made about 30 dozen cookies... give or take a few. Yes, it was fun. Yes, it was time consuming. Yes, it was delicious.

Nobody showed up to help/join in the mayhem, which was fine... it always seems like this happens, though. I worked from 7:30-5:00 Saturday (not counting the trip to the grocery store), and 7:30 - 11:30 Sunday.

5 or 6 dozen oatmeal-pnutbutter-chocolatechip. 3 dozen jubilee jumbles. 10 dozen great cookies, and 10 dozen oatmeal raisin. And, 3.5 dozen of these, molasses crinkles.

I still didnt make the oatmeal scotchies, or the second batch of molasses crinkles. The molasses crinkles are my favorite holiday cookie. My second favorite are the scotchies. My all-time anytime favorites are the great cookies, but Nala's right -- they're better frozen.

I miss the days of the old Apt. of Love, where Max P would come over with his cookie gun and we'd try to make all the cookies in one evening.

December 9, 2005

photographic evidence

the eastern Euros are taking over, and in my gmail box is the proof.

my aunt sent photos of her grandson's 8th birthday... and his heritage is all there in his face. Those genes are definitely the dominant ones. His features certainly do not fit in with the rest of my clan's phenotype.

of course if you heard his name, you'd know his heritage immediately.

SPOOOON!

so, tonight, my concert buddy, Mrs. T, and I are going to see Spoon and OK Go, at the Newport... The tickets were $5 apiece, but with "convenience charges" and "processing charges" and "shipping charges", it ended up being $8 apiece, which is still a damn good price to go to a concert. I hate Ticketnazi though -- there's no reason we should pay over 50% more just to have you print the ticket and send it in the mail. Suckasses. The show benefits a local charity, which makes me think Ticketnazi is even more evil.

I personally cant wait. Good music. Good friends. Shitty "remodeled but still reeking of urine" venue.

It should be fun.

i'm a disorganized fuck.

this morning, i got a fairly early start, but because of where my various items have been packed away, i still couldnt find my 10G hard drive. it's either in a) the Jay-suite-closet, b) bins in the cat room, c) bins in the basement.

Last i recall, it was in a 9x13x2" box. However, I may have pulled it out to save room.

I'll try to find it at lunch, and then reassemble a laptop when I get back to the office.

December 8, 2005

fighting.

i've been having a hell of a time this past few weeks.

i'm fighting a cold.
i'm fighting deadlines at work.
i'm fighting stupidity on several levels at work.
i'm fighting my sanity.

today, i missed a deadline. again.

i was also given the information about why we were bending to a particularly evil client's wishes to continue service (for 6 months!) when we quit providing service to everyone else: because we were asskissing to try and get some of their other business.

i was also given a "new logo" for our department, made with truetype fonts, in Microsoft Powerpoint using WORDART. FUCKING WORD ART. And I had to use it in several different documents.

And then, I'm told that some folks who don't know the first thing about PDFs are trying to edit them, but they're having trouble. Umm. I told you you wouldnt be able to do more than the basic spelling/word replacement.

tonight, one of my dutch ovens' enamel came off all over one of my pieces of roast.

and, i got auction-sniped on a set of dr. who videos with the first few episodes, ever.

i've been an asshole the past couple weeks. i'm trying to not be, but it's REALLY hard.

December 6, 2005

of cooking and serving...

lately, we've been doing a lot of cooking in the house. i even pulled out a couple cookbooks to get tips/ideas for desserts to use up some of the eggs and flour, as my cookie baking day is coming up this Saturday.

(which reminds me, I must email folks by tomorrow noon)

in one of the cookbooks (dated 1946), table service is explained and diagrammed two different ways: one, if you're doing it yourself, and one if your maid is doing it for you. this goes along with what beverages to serve with which course, and where to best set up your dining area.

Buffet service has become a feature of simple home entertaining. In these days of small houses and smaller apartments, it is the only way that a number of guests can be entertained. The buffet type of service can be carried out with success and charm if the menu is thoughtfully planned, even though there is not a maid in attendance.
The table should be arranged well in advance, the details of its setup depending upon facilities in the individual home.
If your dining-room is large, leave your table in the center of the room and arrange it as shown in diagrams VI and VII. Guests follow the arrow. After helping themselves or being helped to the various dishes, guests go to the living room to eat.
If it is necessary to conserve space, a round table may be pushed into a corner and arranged as shown in Diagram VIII. An oblong table can be used against a wall as shown in Diagram IX.
It is well to experiment with the actual dishes you plan to use, to see which position is best from the standpoint of convenience and appearance. The general rule is that everything should be so placed as to be accessible for guests to help themselves and the grouping as a whole should present a balanced pattern. Sometimes members of the family or designated guests serve certain dishes
Try to provide a place for each guest to sit; although it is quite correct for people to stand while eating at a reception or tea, at a buffet meal of this type they are more comfortable sitting down.
If space permits, card tables or miscellaneous small tables may be set up in advance with covers and flat silver. In this case, the silver is not laid out on the buffet table. This work can be done early in the day or someone can put up the tables quickly and cover them after the guests have gone into the dining room. If the living room is not large enough for this arrrangement, use occasional tables.

Is it any wonder these women were on drugs? Seriously, between the pierogies and the entertaining stress... why did they even get out of bed?

(Bree Van De Camp would be proud.)

December 5, 2005

toast! of course!

it's an inside joke, but it's funny to a few of us. it's not worth sharing right now.

but it really means a lot that Max took the time to work his magic in MSPaint. :) thanks, Max!

oh, tax, how i love thee...

so...

you may've read nala's ranting about gift taxes on employee incentives. we were just told that the tax we will have to pay will be directly taken out of our paychecks. this includes our $100 yearly bonus and our stupid gift cards for going above and beyond on a project.

interesting.

i wonder how this will hit me come February.

an awesome bday cake!

If anybody wants to share tonight, let me know. Evebird, that means you. I'll cut small pieces if more folks show up.

PS. Annalisa says, "Anyone who turns down cake is a total moron."

monday morning quickie

friday: frantically clean house.
saturday morning: frantically clean house.
saturday afternoon: pierogies. pizza. birthday cake arrives. got presents (which nala documented very well, already)
saturday night: dishes. more cleaning. tv with nala and jeremy.
sunday morning: cleaning. more dishes. more tv. made cookies and coffee. then had breakfast at the usual, GVKH, with jeremy.
sunday afternoon: more cleaning. laundry. ebay for pasta maker.
sunday evening: slacking. attempt to have nice birthday dinner ruined by poor service at poor choice of restaurant, followed by them not being able to make the dish i wanted. got up and left because i got sick of being treated like shit while 3-4 other tables ordered and had their food. ended up having decent dinner at scary korean which we found out is closing -- the building is being demolished.

still havent cut the cake. it seemed rude not to share.

December 4, 2005

a wishlist

of course, now that the birthday is over... here's a list of stuff i'd like to have:

A pasta maker would come in handy for making pierogies or any other rolled dough

bowls/beaters/dough hook for my mixer (dormeyer silver chef)

1961 Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook, First Edition, preferably first or second printing, but absolutely MUST BE HARDBACK and NOT the 3-ring BINDER.

things like that would be awesome. of course, so would money.

December 2, 2005

face off....

ok, i keep hearing all this "FIRST FACE TRANSPLANT EVER!" all over the news, but I definitely remember watching a special about face transplants on one of the Science channels (Discovery, TLC, etc) in the last year or so, with Nala.

Something about the person having their complete face ripped off and then having to replace it.

I wish I could remember more details, because this is bugging the crap outta me.

yargh.

to say i've been stressed the past couple weeks would be an understatement. this week, especially, what with the deaths and the emails and the emotional crap in the background. everybody at work says i've been a total asshole for days.

and today, the fucking migraine hit. damn you, migraine!

of course, i'm in the midst of a hellish project at work. i've been trying to get a bit done towards cleaning the house (and my mega list of crap that needs done at home) every night, and while i have been, i feel like it hasnt been enough.

today, i also need to run to target and lowes. *sigh* and then my head will explode.

busy busy busy. ironing sweeping vacuuming mopping. then, i need to organize receipts and put clothes away. something i've been neglecting for months.

of course, i also wanted to try and make something for dinner/dessert tonight, too. and i have to pay bills.

if i get it all done, then i might be able to destress this weekend while eating a fuckton of pierogis.