Christmas

Had a wonderful one! I was allowed to go over to the sister's place, on the provision that a; I don't touch anyone, and b; wash my hands a lot. Which I did. Everyone like their scarfs. Margaret admitted that she never wears her, but Jackie wears hers (Margaret's)! Don told me how he loves his chenille scarf and how he wraps it around his neck and head on cold winter days until the truck heats up. They all commented on how my knitting/crocheting/looming had improved since last Christmas! Hmmmm, thanks!

Don and the sister gave me Don's late mother's knitting stuff! Oh my! Tons of small diameter knitting needles and a whole set of circular knitting knitting needles, plus some yarn! At least, (I think), $300 worth. Jackie also gave me the niffy knitty loom set!!!!  I have tried out the circular needles to try and make BF a hat to go with her scarf, and yes, the Knitting For Dummies book wasn't quite forthcoming about what they meant about straighting out the starting . . .loops. It said, "if you don't, you will be chasing your tail";. What this really means, is, you will be knitting a mobius rather then a band! So I will be frogging it (which is a nifty knitting word meaning to unravel!). Also, it's apparent that one skein is not enough for a hat. At least with one hundred starting stitches. I need a pattern! But I will tell you THIS, my twisted knitting looks good and it's sooo addicting!!!

My sister got a kindle! As part of her self stated plan to bring her into the 21st century! She read the instruction on it (note; there are buttons on the side for going to the next pages, the five way button, takes you to the next section). But she didn't buy any books, saying she has two physical books to read right now!!! I think she misses the point, senor! The sucker will hold 3,500 books!

So now I have to find out how to buy her the kindle verison of the books I was going to buy her for her birthday and get them on her kindle! (I have already buy her a Queen Victoria penny from the British Mint. Hopefully it will get here in time for her birthday.)

Since I was sick, I was not allowed to help with the food. So I watch my sister make the enchiladas, and the beans and the rice. She make the regular ones and a variation with cream mixed with chicken broth. Both were really good. I had meant to bring over some movies, but I had forgotten. So we watch the football game , parts of Ben Hur and some other stuff.

Knitting!!!!

Okay, have subcomed to every one's (and I mean everyone I work with has had this cold) head cold. I took Tuesday off from work, sorry, but when I wake up and it's almost one in the afternoon, that means I'm not going to be able to get my self together enough to do a good job at work. Yesterday (Wednesday) felt pretty good. Went to the gym and then on to work for lunch. Faded a bit towards the end of my shift. This morning, pretty much like Tuesday. Thank God I don't have to work tonight.

Have finished everyone's scarf accept the BF. I am on the the third skein on it. Had a talk with the sister about the scarves. I'm going to give her Margaret's scarf and Margaret's going to get her scarf, as the sister's scarf knitted up with a rather strong orange note and that color doesn't look good on her. Fortunately, Margaret's favorite color is orange!

Have been using the knitting needles today instead of working on the scarf. . .I want to actually knit, okay? I can now cast on, ya! I can do the knit stitch, and I can do the purl stitch. I just can't do them together. I end up with three extra stitches at each change over, and sometimes, a loop of  yarn around the bottom of the knitting. I can not figure out what I am doing wrong. At first I thought it had something to do with where the yarn was when I started (front or back), but experiments with that hasn't worked out. I'm going to find some knitting video's and watch them.

In progress

The Christmas Scarves

I have finally gotten to the end of the first two scarves! It took two and half skeins each. I have managed to make a few mistakes. One, every now and then I would forget a loop. I would then do two stitches at once. I have since found out, that I'm suppose to take the new loop off, (and hold it) and then complete the stitch I missed, and then put the new loop back on and complete that stitch. As a consequence, there seems to be a bit of a curve here and there!

However, I have really bunged up the casting off of my sister's scarf. I managed to miss a loop/stitch. I kept wondering why the yarn was getting tighter and tighter, and then I saw I had missed a loop about 4 stitches back. I took the cast off apart and tried again, but it doesn't look right either. So, tomorrow I am going to try again. At least if I really mess it up, I know I will be able to crochet an edge on it.

I have also found out that one needs to pay attention to which way the needles are wrapped. I messed up on both scarves. When you wrap it the opposite way, it reverses the stitching. On my niece's scarf I did at the first quarter mark, and again at the end to try and make it look like a design. At the very end of my sister's scarf, I did the same thing due to low light. So, this has been a learning experience . Tomorrow I will start on the Brother-in-law's scarf and the BF's.

Since the BF didn't like the yarn I had bought for her scarf, and admired the niece's yarn, even although it had sequins on it (!), I bought some bright blue, sheeny yarn today for her scarf. She saw it tonight and approved of it.

********

The Senate has finally passed the tax bill, which also has an extension of unemployment benefits in it. The president is expected to sign it into law January 1st. So, I am thinking my benefits will continue after the run out date at the end of January.

The Loom Part Two!

I have a real bad case of knitting fever! Thanks to BF, I took a look to see if there was looms for regular weight yarn, not just chunky. I discovered that there are. . .adjustable ones. They can handle anything from fingerling yarn to super chunky yarn! It depends not very much how many needles there are, but the distance between the two rows of needles. And then I found out that you can do more then one stitch! You can do Fair Isle knitting on these, Cable stitches, and you can decrease and increase. In other words, while regular knitting might be a bit more versatile in number of possible stitches, the knitting loom or machine can do an awful lot!

And then I stupidly went to to Barnes & Nobel after work and looked to see if they had any books on it. Yes, they did. I am now the proud possessor of Knitting Board Basics by Pat and Kim Novak (mother and daughter team). Which cost me $28 for a machine I don't possess yet! What really sucks is that I went online to Amazon this morning and discovered I could have gotten it for $16 plus shipping from them. On the other hand, I wouldn't have it in my hot little hands right now! I would have to wait for it to show up in the mail, and I really don't think I could have handled that! Lust! Lust!

The loom I have now, can do some of these things, but only with chunky yarn. I want an adjustable loom/machine so I can use the cheap yarn. Yes, I have been thinking about this for a while, not the loom, but this. Since I'm stuck at home with just a part time job, why don't I knit up a bunch of scarves and sell them at flea markets, swap meets and festivals around here after my unemployment runs out (I spend around two hours a day looking for a job. There just isn't that many jobs available where I live.  I have all this time to do it in. Instead of wasting my time looking at crap online, knit!

The Loom!

I would love to put a picture in here of a full skein of yarn knitted up on it, but. . .my picture on the computer, broken (as are ALL my cell phone pictures on it, why?), and I can't figure out why. Blogger won't except pictures from my phone, so there you go.

The instructions for the loom, made by Michael's, were rather scanty, and as I used it, I figured out what I was doing wrong. Only one row of yarn, not two, and when you pull the loops off, the last one must be by the knob at end that you started at. Other then that, it's really easy. I need to buy a couple more skeins to make the scarves

The bad thing is, I stopped by Wallyworld last night to buy some cat litter, and I checked out the small craft section, and they had basically the same loom by Boye, that cost less then nine dollars! The Michael one cost $19, on SALE. True, it came with a hook and a needle, but even if you bought the Boye loom and a hook and needle, it would be less then $12!  And the Boye loom looked like it had twenty pegs, vs. the 18 pegs on the Michael's. I feel cheated.

The sister wants to know if I can return it, but I don't know, I've used it and I'm sure I've scratched up the sides of the pegs with the hook.

Also have started using the Knitting For Dummies.I have finally conquered casting on. I understand how to do it now! No more thumbing! I am working on pearling and knitting, and not dropping and adding stitches. I have figured out how I am adding them and I can say, I haven't dropped any stitches yet [Okay, I dropped one, but that was deliberate as I hadn't remembered how to double the extra stitches yet. Also, there is a section on how to fix mistakes in the book :)] did. I have kept it at 24 stitches, by doubling up the extras (!), but I'm having a real problem remembering whether I have just purled or knitted. Also I am suppose to be doing the seed stitch, but I'm doing it wrong (purling vs knitting) and I am doing what I think is the garter stitch. But right now, I'm just focusing on the basics, and trying to get comfortable knitting and trying for the subconscious rhythm.

It's that time of year again!

Yes, with the cold weather I feel the urge to start crocheting and kitting! My sister gave me $50.00 bucks for my birthday and I have spent it and more. I am going to make scarves for everyone again because I can afford that, even although I don't really think any of them wore them . . .tough! It's the thought that counts, right! Besides, if it snows this winter they might actually wear them!

So I bought a reference book on knitting, Knitting For Dummies. Looks good, but I think it cost $25 dollars as I also bought a paperback as well and the bill was over $30.00. Then I went to Jo-Ann's. Apparently I have missed the velor yarn season, or it hasn't happened yet. That sorta screws my plans for BF's present. However I did buy some yarn, checked out their "So You Want To Learn How To Knit" kits, and instead of the Boyle one they have at Wallyworld, with the stitch holders, gauge thingy, etc, all they had was one with two knitting needles, a tapestry needle and two skeins of yarn, with a instruction booklet! Screw that.

Then I went to Michael's in the hopes they would have the velor yarn, but nope, not one skein. So I bought some more yarn and a yarn loom. More money. .

The Knitting For Dummies book has a section on circular knitting. I don't know if I will ever be able to handle this mentally, but I want to try. I also have some ideas for knitted tubes. I don't know yet whether this are done on one of those circular looms, or with the round needles. I would like to make a long tube and then crochet it into a scarf. Also try making little circles and making a scarf out of them, joined together into rows, like chain mail.

I survived Thanksgiving!

I only ate one plate, (okay, I had a second helping of the sweet yams, about a tablespoon)! My sister gave me very, very scanty leftovers to boot! Who can blame her, she doesn't want to pick me up again from the ER. Dinner was wonderful.

A very strange thing happened. Their standard guest, who has never demonstrated interest in me over ten years, kept looking at me! I would glance his way, discover he was staring at me and then he would quickly glance away. Over and over! I don't think he has ever seen me as a brunette, with short hair.. Go figure. It would never, never work, even thought he is a extremely nice man, because he is allergic to cats! Enough said.

******

Saw my doctor again. She was very pleased with my blood pressure, 117 over 79! She says that shows I have been working out. I told her I didn't get my mammogram as I came at the scheduled time, only to be informed that my appointment had been 3 hours before, and my order hadn't been faxed over, and there was nothing that could be done. My doctor (actually a physician assistant) apologized and said it would be rescheduled. Like it's her fault!

As a special birthday present I got a flu shot! Hurts like a tetanus shot. My arm still hurts a bit and it's been 5 days!

*****

BF has seen therapist. Therapist should be disbarred. However, BF has realized she needs to be proactive in her own care and is planning steps to help herself.  That is the good. The bad is, she has her prescribed anti-depression meds, but isn't taking them. She is coming out with two view points about them that don't agree. I'm going to talk to her about this.

So still going to gym

And I love it. I've really gotten in to sweat equity. I start out on the ab coaster, which is a device you kneel on and place your arms in a upright position on a holder and grip the handlebars. Then you contract your stomach muscles and lift your knees up and then slowly dropped them back down. I always feel like I'm just swinging (and a lot of people using it ARE), and only do 3 to five reps. However about four hours later I start thinking about throwing up, so I am doing something.

Then I do 30 minutes on the rower with the dial on 20. I decided to go back down to 20 because it was bothering my neck and shoulders. I have also decided to stop waiting for the wheel to stop rotating and I just do it as fast as I can. This causes an increased caloric count, and no tugging on my neck. I start to sweat ten minutes in.

Then I do thirty minutes on the ellipsis machine. I don't use the arms right now. I prefer to read my book instead. I'm on level six. This does bother my knees a bit, but not enough for me to go back down to level 5.

I know I'm having an effect on my body. My bra is winkling again, even on the second row of hooks. My boobs don't touch anymore, in the bra or out! The new regular pants fit right out of the dryer. I can zip and button them up with out sucking in my gut. My new shirts are baggy! My towel now touches at the edges when it's wrapped around me. When I started it had a 3 to 4 inch gap. I'm cycling lower and lower on the scale. Last week I hit 203.2!

So this week went I went and exercised for 30 minutes (had to go to work and had left the house late), I understood the look I got from a woman in the locker room. She was a very large lady and I had seen her exercising. I changed into my towel to shower and placed my gym bag back in the locker. As I walked up to the locker to do this, I heard her say, "I don't weight my self to often because of the water loss." As I walked by her she glared at me for being skinnier then her. I pretended to take no notice. I have never been mad at someone for being smaller then me. It's stupid and a waste of time. But it's really weird for me to be the target of her anger. I still need to lose around 60 more pounds. I'm FAT! I have an apron for God's sake! It's so sad, because what she's really anger at is herself.

Daniel Craig Movies part 4?

You know that I am Daniel Craig mad. You know I have been buying his movies used on the internet. Well there are some I can't get as they are region 2 only. One of these is Some Voices. I am not alone in this. The other people on DedicatedtoDaniel.com's forum either want it or live somewhere in region 2 or have a region free DVD player. But Amazon started offering it as produce on demand DVD for any region. Since this is one of the two holly Grails I don't have, the other being Hotel Splendia, I decided that the $19.00 movie would be my birthday present to myself. I promptly posted on the forum that it was available. Another member posted that she has seen it as well and had already ordered and received it! However her copy cut off at 52 minutes. The movie is 101 minutes long! She told Amazon and they sent her another copy. Same problem.


So I was aware I might have the same problem. I got it yesterday. I put it in and ran it on fast forward twice. Yep, cuts off at the place as the other member's. So today I get to contact Amazon and tell them.

I'm so worried

BF is having a really hard time. Everything has combined in her life to knock her down. It's so bad her therapist wanted her to put herself in the hospital! But she declined because she can't make it financially on disability.But I'm afraid she does need to go in. I don't have any of her family's telephone numbers. They were on the phone I lost. About the only thing I could do is go to the street where her mom lives and start knocking on doors because I don't remember exactly where she lives. I don't know whether I should do this or not. The only good and bad thing is, she has given up on the "boyfriend". Just about everything he told her was a lie of some sort, but she feels so low she wanted to still have a relationship with him. But he's off/on as to seeing her and she can't take it. The bad thing is that this makes her feel even worse.

******

The cousin came back on Face book and yes, the marathon chat sessions have started again. Poor dude, I know he feels all alone by himself in that house. And he's uses to a busy household. The only thing he really has to occupied his time, (besides work) is helping the partner do research. He helps out by gathering material for her.

So, the gym is doing something for me after all!

I might not be losing weight, but I am definitely converting fat into muscles! My former regular pants can now be pulled off without unbuttoning/unzipping them. My "new" regular pants are the pair of pants I bought by accident over a year ago. They were hanging in the right size section at Wallyworld and I just grabbed them and bought them with out trying then on. When I did try them on, at home, they wouldn't even go all the way up my thights! And now they fit! I have gone down one pantie size and now can buy hipsters instead of the hideous "granny" panties. I am now using the second row of hooks on my bra instead of the first, and the bra fits better then it ever has! The cups are filled better! No winkles! Also, I do have to say, my new shirts feel a little. . .big, but I when I look at myself in the mirror it appears to be alright.

When I started at the gym, I think their scale weight me in at 210/212? I now weight 205! A couple of days ago I went down to 203.8! So there is a slow effect going on. Personally I think it's because of the rowing machine! I started using it about. . .a month ago? At first I did ten minutes, and then increase each time until I was at 30 minutes. I'm afraid I did start at the highest numbered setting because after all, I am used to picking up 33 pound balls of dough at work. And before I got fired, I was carrying vases around, that greatly varied in weight. Only half of the dial on the rowing machine is numbered, but it has the capacity to be turned all the way around. I'm assuming that it gets harder to do as you turn it, pass the numbers. So I'm starting to slip it pass number 20. The effect has been, a, changing fat into muscle, and b, I can longer wear the full lenghts coat I've had for over 15 years. It barely fits on my shoulders! I move my arms and I can feel the lining snapping  tight on my back! Even although I wore this coat when I weighted 236 pounds, it won't fit around me! I can make the edges touch and that's all. It's my butt!!! It's so big! It's so round! It's so firm! We can also blamed the ellipse machine for that too! Actually I luv my bootie!

Again With The Shed!

Yes, I noticed a while ago that the duct tape had been cut and someone had been in there again. And again, besides from the first time (when the house behind me was being built), and one of the car ramps that Daddy made, and Crystal's mattress, nothing that I can detect has been taken. I was, and still am discouraged about my ability to keep this from happening. Also, I keep waking up around 6:30 A.M. and I hear what I think is the doors on the shed being opened. And about ten minutes later, being closed. I keep chickening out because a., survival instinct says don't go looking for trouble, and b., I'm SOO tired. Menopause is kicking my butt, in relationship to sleeping. But I am going to try again.

So, plan C, or what ever. . .Yes, I am going to tape it up again. But this time, on the inside of the doors, I am going to tape strings of jingle bells. Maybe THAT will work.

Okay, had a minor talk with Best Friend

I'm a little reassured. She sounds like she knows what she is doing. But I'm still faced with the fact that she wants to have a relationship with a guy who's a convinced felon, has never had a full or part time job, no car and very little prospect for improvement.

On the other hand he does keeping asking her what does he have to offer her?

I still think he's stringing her along for sex.

I also asked her about the fun option. It turns out I am wrong, there is no fun option or any other kind of option Zousk doesn't ask questions like that. What she does have is a statement that she wants to have fun in her profile. . .I'll hate to think an simple statement like that could be seen as a sexual invitation. It looks like the school teacher is just a pervert.

*******

My cousin and partner have quit Facebook! I got a email from him yesterday, saying they were both now too busy with her going to university to stay on it. I emailed him back saying I understood. Man, I'm going to miss our little chats, and right now even leaving status updates seen a little hollow since he won't be able to read them. I really felt connected to him through our chats.

The only upside to this, is that I won't have to feed the partner's turtles anymore since they are now gone from Fish World. And this means I can get rid of my fish tanks. . .I know they aren't real, but stupid hind brain sez's I'm killing them! But my fish tanks are a total waste of time, and it's not like anyone else is playing that game with me.

Sometimes You want To Beat Your Friends With A Stick!

And this is one of them. My best friend has finally gotten off of E-Harmony and switched to Zouks. I was pleased about this, because she had set her options on the Harmony site to world wide, so most of guys she e-mailed with were not close enough to actually date. (Please paid close attention to that little factoid, for some unknown reason, she keeps setting herself up to fail, and I don't know why.)

So enter the Zousk web site and she sets it to local and starts getting hits from local guys that she can go on a date with. GOOD! GREAT!

Goes out with one guy, like him a whole lot, they text back and forth, he sets up a second date and NEVER shows up for it. At this point I'm afraid she will never date again. But miracles of miracles, she sets up two dates on the same day, a week later!

The first guy, all she tells me is that she ended up in a local park making out with him. . .WHAT!

The second guy she meets at a local restaurant and they have dinner and talk about their work and stuff like that. The date lasts about one hour as it is freezing cold in the restaurant. She hugs him good bye.

The next thing I know she is having sex with the first guy on the second day. Turns out he lives in the same apartment complex! Also, he has no job, no car, and oh ya, a prison record for drug dealing. Also, has never had a real job since prison record keeps him from getting hired. She believes all of this, because everything he says is the truth. . .of course.

At first it's just for sex. . .oh really, best friend? She does believe they are having a relationship, even although he keeps telling her he can't provide for her, since he doesn't have a job.

I believe he is saying "You are not my girlfriend, I am just stringing you along for sex."

She is hearing "When I get a job, I will take care of you and we will get married!"

Why do I believe this? Because this weekend we went to get our eyebrows done again and we stopped in a formal dress shop there and she looked at the red bridesmaid dresses and asked me if I would mind wearing red since it is his favorite color!

She is also talking about going places with him, in her car and her money.

Frankly the only thing this guy has going for him is that he hasn't taken her money. . .so far.

She is completely besotted with him.

And oh ya, the second guy? She didn't hear from him until the next Saturday at 9:00 p.m. when he started texting her about jacking off about thinking about her breast. She texted him back that she didn't know him, was really uncomfortable about this and she was turning off her phone. She is completely in the dark of why a school teacher would do that.

And here's why. . .she very casually and very, very quickly mentioned and moved on from the fact that when she set her options on this site, she didn't pick "I want a relationship." She picked  "I want to have fun." Apparently she is completely clueless that means sex with no strings attached.

For the first two weeks I was going with this from her viewpoint, and then three days ago my sub-conscious reared up and smacked me. Oh! He's a complete loser. He's probably lieing to her. He's NOT her boyfriend.

And the fun setting? I am going to explain that to her. I know she will reject my explanation. I will try to tell her my opinion on her "boyfriend", but I have no hope she will dump him.

Would having a talk with the "boyfriend" be of any service?

Got the blower motor replaced

On the 6th. I also asked them to replace the bulb in the top brake light as it was out again and that's not one I can do. So I drove there, dropped it off and went over to my bank across the street and deposited the money I had saved up for the job. There was no way I was going to walk back with that kind of money in my purse.

So they called me about 3 hours later, and I walked back. The estimate I signed before asking them to do the light as well was for $320.00. What I paid was $375.00! They charged me $47.00 to do the light. The real kicker afterwards was that BF told me one of the bottom brake lights was out. Yep, they charged me $47 and they didn't even buy me a new bulb! They took the bulb out of the lower light and put it in the top!

I also asked them how much it would be to replace the water pump. My car is now passed 100,000 miles and I know that's something you are suppose to do as preventive maintenance.Their estimate was $475. I texts Bob and he told me to shop around. Unfortunately I think I will have to.

I'm being some what productive

Which is amazing because my neck is tweaked! This is the third day of the tweaked neck, and I truly believe my muscle relaxers would really, really help, but I just can't find them. The last time I remember having them is on a house sitting trip to Jackie's. I tried a viocodent the first day, BA! Did nothing for the pain and just made me lie around in a stupor until eleven p.m. So, I have been taking three aspirins at a whack and that does help. I managed to mow the lawn, most of it at least, before I chopped the extension cord in half with the mower!

So, applied for five jobs today, the job applying has been a little messed up because of A. neck,  and B. Cousin. My Cousin is pretty lonely, even although he won't admit it! I know this because this is week two with out the partner or Big H at home, and he has talked to me on chat four times this week! For over two hours each time! I don't mind even although it really does screw with my will power to look for a job.

The new kitchen and bathroom are coming alone, and the washing machine and "tumble" dryer have been moved to a utility shed out back. He always refers to the dryer as the tumble dryer! I asked he why (since I am not aware of any other kind of dryer) and he said because it was so posh! The kitchen is now 99% done, and he is awaiting  the arrival of a silver microwave to replace their old white one. He sent me a picture of the kitchen.

Some Thoughts On The Stuxnet Worm

This, in blinding 20/20 hindsight is the next step of malware, not as a destructive nuisance or financial gain spammer, but as a designed weapon. The only reassuring (HA!) thing about it, is that apparently it takes a nation state to achieve such a thing, according to the article I read.  How BIG of a nation state? Could a large multinational company be capable of having the personnel, knowledge and money to do the same thing to a rival's software?

This is A. The first KNOWN instance. Perhaps we should be reviewing records?

B. It's awfully wasteful not to use it again, because they have infiltrated many industrial systems using the same software, (apparently unintentionally).  I'm sure they (who so ever this mysterious nation state is) have other enemies.

C. How much of an effort is it to crack another software program? Considering this system was NOT connected to the net, but was infected by datastik, which is how it spread outside the intended target (which is how we came to know of it)! It wasn't necessarily cracking the software that was the problem for these guys, but the delivery of the worm

We will being seeing more of this, I'm sure.

Solutions, bad solutions. . .completely proprietary software designed for each company. This would be VERY expensive, and I'm not even sure it would work. It would have to have no net connection and be completely controlled as to access. IT would and maybe will come to look very different, also became very boated. Also, good chance of working for same company for entire career will come back. Japan going to have an advantage. They already have components of this kind of social system in their society.

I think open archatech is going to take a dump. Maybe a two layered system? First layer, open, connected to the net, second layer, internal, closed and perhaps hand entered information only? In other words a drawbridge between the open and closed, that can filter out malware. I don't think this will work. And, I don't know enough about this subject to even speculate on it in any reasonable way.

Joined Dedicated To Daniel

This is a wonderful site. It has been up for five years. It has pictures (many that I have never seen anywhere else), a collection of articles from various sources, and a forum. The forum is very important, because they cover just about anything you could think of about Daniel Craig, from the jewelry he wears, to his smallest TV role! I have been reading their posts for four days now, and I'm not even close to being half way done with their material!

Also they have posted stuff to various sites, some of which are no longer working links. But some of them still work and because of that, I got to watch Daniel Craig in The Visitor, which was wonderful. He plays a psycho who was going to do a home invasion robbery, but because he's carrying a suitcase (which he obtained by assault), they think he's the visitor they have been expecting. So he moves in and works at ingrating himself with them while at the same time working to destroy their lives. Because for him, it's fun! Psychopath! Or maybe sociopath.

I take back what I have thought about Daniel Craig not flowering as an actor until he took his American roles. Because this is an earlier one, and he is just great in it. And, oh ya, there's a sex scene!!!

I have been trying for over a year to join, but couldn't figure out how to. Their registration button is disabled because of scammers. Finally I spotted the e-mail address for requesting to join and sent the Web Mistress a e-mail. Got a reply almost immediately and joined!

It's nice to know I'm not the only crazy person out here!

Had My Doctor Appointment At the Communtity Clinic

I saw the nurse practitioner again. She is very nice and VERY consciences. It did take a long time but that was because of my mistake. You see, they have a very strange sign in sheet. Basically it's a row of stickers (pink), that they rip off and do what ever they do with them when you sign in on it (one strip per signature) . I did not know this. My sign in sheet had been completely stripped already. I thought it was like a transfer process onto the lower sheet, so I signed (with no ink showing, idiot me) on the waxed paper part. After an hour or so, when they started processing people who came in after me, I went up to the desk and asked. I still had to sign in, and got paperwork (same stuff as before, apparently they didn't realize I had been there before), and filled it out. After about another hour, and some questioning of what I was there for, I was shown into a room. Waited another hour for sure. The NP came in, ID ed me as having been there before, and asked them for my previous paperwork. FYI, always take all meds to appointment, didn't know that. We talked a bit about what I was there for, effects of meds, hot flashes, and then she left me so I could get into the gown. She preformed a very, very through exam of my breasts, and then gave me a pap smear. AND then, augh, a kit for collecting stool samples. If there's any blood, colonscopy. . . . The nurse explained how to collect the sample. She said from the top, the part that wasn't wet. . .I didn't ask her what she meant. Noooo, don't want to know. The only part I understood was no chunks!

So, I am getting a mammogram from the hospital (waiting for appointment), and I don't have to pay for anything. There are different insurance programs that are taking care of it.

However I still want to find out why happened to me Christmas night and why my chest keeps on hurting.

******

The city has decided it's response to the shooting shall be the enforcing of a curfew for the underage people. Wait! Isn't this the curfew they had when I was in high school? What the hell? Haven't they been enforcing it ALL along? Hummm, a thought here. If they HAD, then maybe my city wouldn't have such a bad gang problem? Jeez!

****

Had a nice long talk with cousin on Face book. This last weekend was the weekend that they moved the partner and Harrison up to his Mom's so the partner can start at university. However he didn't talk about that, and I didn't press him too. I'm thinking that he's rightfully depressed about it.

We did talk about tattoos and it turns out he wants one, but can't get one. He had a heart valve operation about the age of 12, and that will always prevent him from getting one, due to the risk of infection.

Turns out Sonja (partner) has a dolphin on her shoulder/back!

More Info On Shooting

Turns out the family that lived in that house had moved out two days before. The party organizers were gang members. They were charging $5 a head for entrance to the house. The shooter was from a rival gang.

Too bad the neighbors didn't know the family had moved out and called the police when the party started. Then maybe that 14 year old would still be alive.

Of course I'm rather freaked out that there's gang activity in my neighborhood. Why this comes as a surprise to me, I do not know! I hear gunshots on a fairly regular basics. The ghetto bird keeps me up at night. There is graffiti everywhere. I live in a sea of unkempt lawns. There are people going through MY backyard, but I'm surprised that there's gang activity here? Head buried in sand time. . .

Last Night There Was A Shooting

On the next street down. I had just gone to bed. It was just a little after one a.m. Suddenly I heard a gun being fired. I thought it was one gun being fired, with little minute pauses, as if the shooter was shifting aim. I thought it was around ten shots. Afterwards I could hear some people briefly shouting and talking. Then about ten minutes after that, I heard sirens and the ghetto bird started flying over head. I thought the gunfire was at the park (about a block from where I live). I was wrong. The ghetto bird was circling RIGHT over head and shining it's light in MY backyard. Goosie kept bouncing from the bed to the window. Still, I just thought it was the "normal" bit of shooting off one's gun that had happened. There was more sirens and it all took about an hour to go away or at least subside to the point where I could go to sleep.

This morning when I went to work and drove out of the cue-de-sac, I realized that street was cordoned off with yellow tape and there was a news van parked on it. At this point I realized that what ever had happened was rather bad and someone must have died. Took me forever to find out what had happened.

It turns out there was a party on the next street, that was very well attended. Three guys arrived and one of them started shooting. Other people shot back. A fourteen year old girl died on scene. Six others were taken to the hospital.

I'm sorry she's dead.

I hope they catch the guy.

Got most of the Broken Electronic Stuff OUT!

Got what was stored by the side of the house, (two VCRs, the fried microwave, still reeking of brunt, charred marks on the back vent(!), boomboxes, etc), and BF's stuff out of her bedroom and off to the dump it went!  I still have some stuff, the broken oil filled heater, a little heater, florcensent bulbs, batteries, stuff like that. But I filled my trunk up with the stuff that I took. So two weekends from now, I'm going back.

I didn't have any wait at all at the hazardous waste center, I was the only one in line! Took me less then ten minutes, most of which I was filling out the form. I didn't even have to get out of the car. The man opened my trunk and took everything out, commenting "Lots of units, eh?", while I shrunk into the seat. . .

Then I went and got my oil changed.

I have my laundry in the washer. And I still have to apply for a job. For me, this is a productive day.

The newspaper says that the weather will cool tomorrow. Man, I sure hope so. It's over 100 F today. I'm broiling.  Not washing dishes until it's cooler.

Mr Traffic Has Passed Away

There was a phone message on my phone today when I got around to looking at it. It was from Mr Traffic's brother. He said that Mr. Traffic had passed away around a month ago in Florida. I presume that he went down there to be with his sister and brother in law.

I have been thinking of him for a while now, wondering whether he was alive or not.Well, now I guess I know why. I'm sorry my friend that we parted under such bad circumstances. I wished you had never shown me that picture.

I still have his novel on CD, what am I to do with it?

Got a Used Microwave off Craig's List!

For only ten dollars. A little smaller then mine, but it works! On my old one, the control panel was shorting out, so I had no timer, and I could not control what temperture it was heating to. In fact I completely stopped using it after last week, when I got sucked into a online app and forgot I had my oatmeal in there. It was the smell of the smoke that  alerted me to it. I never used it again after that, because the smoke smell never went away! I figured I had fried the control panel for good.. So I have been looking at Craig's list ads for a replacement. I had found a couple, (some were even free!), but no one returned my emails. This ad had a phone number so I called and got the lady right away. She lived in the next town, but was coming to mine for an appointment so we agreed to meet up in a local shopping center.

The microwave was dirty, with dirt, not food, and she said it had been in her garage, and the sprinkler had been getting on it? But I took it anyway, (ten dollars!) and put it in my truck. Then I noticed that there were ants running around on it! I tried killing them with a lint roll, but most of them successfully fled back into the microwave.

I got it home and cleaned it up, killing an ant every now and again. Tested it out on a cup of tea. Works!!!

Hopefully I have killed all the ants. . .

More Random Daniel Craig Stuff

I now own 15 Daniel Craig movies! There's not much left for me to buy. The ones I'll really like to see, I can't get, like Some Voices,  apparently only issued in region two, Hotel Splendide , that one just never shows up in search engines, and that BBC production where he plays Geordie, Our Friends In The North. Have never seen that for sale, but there are clips on You-Tube, so someone has it.

What I WILL NEVER Buy, The Trench. You couldn't pay me to watch a movie about trench warfare in WWI. Nope.Never! What I will buy is Sword Of Honor, and Copenhagen. I may buy The Golden Compass, but Craig's Lord Asriel could have been played by a standee of Craig in costume. Maybe they cut all his good bits out. I would have liked for the other two to be made, but darn those idiot Christians, who just couldn't get that it was FANTASY! It wasn't real. It wasn't your God, it wasn't even suppose to be THIS universe, but noooo, they just couldn't stand for God to be treated in that manner. BA!! So, anyway, pulling myself together here, I got The Mother at long last!

And Boy, is it good! Yes, Craig makes love to the mother of his girlfriend in this, and it's all done so beautifully that you never stop to think about it being soooo unlikely to happen in real life. Not with a 68 year old woman and a 35ish man.  It just seems real, and that's good writing and acting. At first Craig's character Darren seems to be beautiful and sensitive, being the only person who pays attention to May after her husband dies, but bit by bit, you see his flaws show up, the drug taking, the drinking, and the lust for her money. And then the kids find out! Since Daren is the daughter's boyfriend, it's revenge time for Paula against her Mom. It's sad, sometimes painful to watch, but it's so good.  I really like this movie.

And after listening to the director's commentary, I find out that it was done by the same people who did Enduring Love! Which I keep thinking about. Because that movie's message seems to be, we all fall in love and completely fuck our lives up. There is no one in that movie who hasn't trashed his life for love in that movie. So, exactly what is enduring about love? That we keep succumbing to it? Or that we are willing to throw everything away every single time it's offered to us? That seems to be what the movie is about really.

It looks like there is a chance for Bond 23 to be made after all with Daniel Craig. I really hope so.

Really have signed up for Healthy Way LA

Finally got my birth certificate in the mail, and trotted down to the Healthy Way LA office at the county urgent care place. Went smoothly. Had to find some paycheck stubs from when I signed up for the ORSA, but I store those in my glove box anyway, so that wasn't a problem. Because my income is so low I don't have to pay anything.

I did ask her what I was getting by doing this (I find it does help to be an idiot sometimes), and she told me I could now have a primary care doctor, (my old doctor, YA!). It  also appears that I will continue to keep on going to the county urgent care. So, basically, it appears what I am getting is my old county health care that I had before they changed the rules. . .

So, is this a way to exclude illegal immigrants? Because I had to produce my birth certificate and paycheck stubs to get this. This would exclude them, yes? So, this is how the county is trying to save money, by only giving legal inhabitants the ability to get "full service" at the county? The illegal immigrants will still be able to go to the urgent care, and the ER, but not apparently the other stuff? I'm probably wrong. It's unethical to denial them medical care.

And, oh yes, at the end, the clerk chirped brightly, that since I had shown up with all my documentation, that I was getting a $10.00 food coupon (Ralph's or Food For Less), good for a month, so spend quickly!

More bad water news

Just discovered that the kitchen sink faucet and sprayer have been dripping. I have no idea how long this has been going on. But since there is no pipe connecting the faucet to the rusted out drain, it's been dripping on the wooden floor of the cabinet. Totally soaked. I will take a picture tomorrow. So this means since I can't get it to stop dripping, I have to replace either the faucet or the rubber disk thingy, what IS it called ? This isn't like the other faucets I've replaced the disk on. I don't know how to even take this one apart. I see I'm going to have to do some research on the web. Also I don't know if fixing the faucet is going to do anything for the sprayer. More research.

Right now, I've stuck a bucket under it. Damn. Why do I feel this has something to do with me turning the hot water heater to vacation two weeks ago? I don't see how any of these things could be connected to it, but the timing. . .

Not so sucessful today

Didn't really want to work on the kitchen, because if you knew how many dishes I have to wash . . .But I did managed to make myself do three panfuls. There's so many dirty dishes on the right side counter that there's no way I could empty the sink so I could put the dishpans in. So I washed the dishes on the clean counter, with the rinsing dishpan on the stool, and put the clean dishes out to dry on paper towels next to the dishpan I was washing them in. I also had to heat the water to wash and rinse them with on the stove. I need a turkey stock pot if I'm going to keep this up, you know, if the bad thing happens and the handy man snaps the wall pipe. Let's not forget how old these pipes are and that they have been screwed together for longer then I have been alive. It's a possibility that the pipe will break. It could be rusting too.  So long term plans say turkey stock pot, crock pot over night for days I don't go to gym to wash. If it breaks. I can do this. It will be really inconvenient, but livable. Just like Little House On The Prairie!!!

Finally Coming Clean

So, I've always had the messie part on the title of the blog, but never explained it. Well, combo of ADD and defunct water system in the house, and overwhelmed with 12 cats, and coupled with reoccurring bouts of depression. . .

This currently is what the left side of the kitchen looks like. I can assure you the right side looks just as bad. So does the rest of the house. I haven't clean (or before) since I lost my job.

Today I start cleaning, so I can get the handyman in to replace the pipe. I don't think it will be Friday after all. Maybe Monday.

So, I will document cleaning process. This will keep me going, because it's so easy to just keep sitting in front of this computer. So, have moved all the dishes over to right side of kitchen. I am going to tackle the mail next. Then I will clean the surface, so I have somewhere to put the clean dishes, after I wash them, to dry.

Still have nagging feeling about looking for a job today. But I will, around five. This is somewhat more important RIGHT now.

So, here is the kitchen counter after I got rid of the mail I thought safe to. Next up; the microwave (baking soda!) and then on to the little counter and spice bottles!

So now have to scrub doors on kitchen cabinets on this side. Also take a little whack at walls, and then move onto other side. I actually use the little fishes to hold spices when I cook Indian.

Ya, finally changed the background image!

Now, my twitter page and my blog match! Still working on the Facebook page, but there will be no link because I'm not telling anyone who I am in this blog.

One thing after another. . .

Talked to Carlos Castro, (academic advisor at CTU) and told him I wanted to cancel because it was illegal for me to go while getting unemployment, this morning. He then connected me to Ken Carter, Student Manager, who tried to talk me into continuing, telling me it wasn't illegal. I told him, "Sir, I wish to stop this process." He then admitted defeat and hung up. So I guess it's done. As far as I know, I have no further involvement with the cancelling process (FAFSA). God, I hope this is true.Will ask BF, but would she know. Maybe I should call up the local college and ask them?

*****

I got up this morning and went and filled my mug at the laundry sink (only source of water in house), and realized that the hot water pipe into the house was leaking in two places. And here I thought that smell was the cat's spraying the swamp coolers. So, I have turned off the water to the tank. Drained a bit out via the faucet, so it is no longer dripping. Now I will turn the heater OFF, and start cleaning, so in two days time, I can have a handyman come in and try to replace that pipe. Stupid old house.

Well, No, I'm not going CTU after all

After freaking out about the cost, which I realized would cost me between $30,000 and $60,000, I listened to BF and considered the more practical aspect of going to public school. Which meant I probably could get a Bogg wavier for, since I'm so poor. The only practical aspect to CTU is this, they are available 24/7, (but I found out you do have to attend class every 15 days). That's it. I don't know about the actual degree, but I'm sure I could get something in that line from a Cal State.

Which now brings us to the second point of why I won't be going to CTU. It's illegal. I cannot go to college while on unemployment. I had not realized this. My sister pointed this out to me. I had completely missed the point of the acceptable training programs/schools that are partnered with the unemployment. Yep. . .

So I call my academic advisor, and left him a phone message about this (telling him I was cancelling the whole thing). He hasn't called me back yet.

But I do realize that once I'm off unemployment, I am going back to school. I don't know if it will be the back end or the front end of web development, but it's a field I'm suited for and I can make money in. So, that's where I intend to go.

******

Have started applying for jobs down in the LA area. I'm never going to get a job up here.

******

The pump on the ultra cool is working again, don't ask me why. I could theorizes that maybe it has something to do with the tank being completely dry when I turned it on, but that doesn't always hold up. It's a mystery.

****

I missed work yesterday. I was the opening driver. I had a gal balder attack. It was my own fault. You see i discovered that Wally world had a version of Girl Scout Thin Mints. They were delicious and I practically ate the whole box. Then I made my self pan fried burritos. It never even cross my mind about how much fat I was eating. I guess it was (I know it is), reaction to the stress of signing up for CTU and realizing I couldn't go.

I woke up with it. I called the supervisor at the store as soon as it turned nine, (the earliest I thought she would be there). Then I called the community clinic. Turns out they only operate Monday to Friday. So I called my sister and had her take me to the county urgent care. I lied a little and told them my pain rating was 8, (actually it was a 5). I promptly got in and saw a doctor within a half hour. I then got two shots. One for the pain and the second for the nausea. I also got a prescription for the same. He asked me if I wanted my gal balder out. I said that it had been offered to me once but I cancelled it because I couldn't afford to take two weeks off, and they wouldn't tell me how much it would cost. So, I think I may be getting it out. Eventually. On the other hand, this is what I thought about the last gal balder attack as well. . .

They had me lie down for a while at the clinic. Then they let me go. I spent about an half hour on a bench outside, tying not to pass out, because I was so sleepy, while waiting for my sister to come and get me.  She took me home and I passed out for five hours. Then I got up and went to Wally World and got some nonfat stuff to eat. Ate, then went back to bed. Not a very productive day.  So, tonight I am working. Lets see what the consequences will be.

Well It's Done. . .

And I am so scared! I applied this morning to Colorado Technical University Online. Then I filled out the FAFSA. I'm going to get a degree in Information Technology with a concentration in Web Development.

And I start Aug 13th!!!!

And I still have to look for a job.

I called the unemployment check line again. . .

And yes, I'm getting another check. I have no idea whether I'm getting a extension, i.e; the First extension, or the extension the house just passed, or whether it's the Federal insurance program I've read about on the unemployment web site. It's all very generalized, nothing really spelled out, it just lists programs and doesn't mention dates, or amounts, or when they kick in. The claim forms don't say anything either. It's always been, one, how much they are taking out for taxes, then TWO, how much money is left in my claim which is open until my firing date NEXT year. Until the claim form before last which just listed the taxes. And the last claim form was just like all the others, listing taxes, amount of claim money that's left. It's all very confusing, and I don't understand what's going on. Why can't they just put on the claim form, what week of benefits I'm in, when the benefits ends, and whether I'm on a extension, when that ends and if I'm getting another one?

A Indian-British Grocery Store Opened In Town!

It also has a small Indian restaurant attached! I'm so happy because it carries my favorite British products;

And I scored! I got this giant 240 teabag box for only $17.00! Let's put this in perspective, I had been driving an hour away to get the 80 tea bag box for just under ten dollars at the closest Cost Plus Market! My Gosh! I have so many, and a source to buy more, that I am able to make ice teas with them!

 Adding even more delight, they also carry these! I cannot tell you how good these are, and how good they are for you. Completely full of fiber they are. There is nothing to compare to them on the America market.

And these! These are chock full of oats! And soooo tasty!

************

Unemployment checks. . . .I fear I have made a major mistake. I sent in my claim form Friday. I called the DIY phone line yesterday night and this morning. Last night it said my last check was from July 10th, paid on July 20th. I'm confused. The strip at the top of the claim form had gone back to the usual format, listing how much money was left in my claim. The claim form before it hadn't listed that, and only mentioned my IRS deductions. If this goes true to form, then tomorrow they should had processed my claim form. I will call them tomorrow and find out. Otherwise I will be living on my pizza earnings, and I should have not spent the money I did. And, let's face it, I shouldn't be regardless. I haven't gotten any bites on any of the applications I have filled out. I should just assume the worse and save as much money as I can. Should have all along. The manager at the pizza place, says one of the employees in the other store, who's is also drawing unemployment and working part time, is getting food stamps. She wants me to try and get them as well. But I don't know. Is this other person a driver, because that changes things. I mean tips! I get tips, and the amount changes from week to week. How would that effect things?



******


I went to the local community clinic as suggested by the county, since I haven't been able to get an appointment. I also know that the pizza place manger has a appointment there as well, because she makes too much money for what is now the new rules under the recession . They told her on the phone she would have to pay $40.00. So, that's what I was expecting, but no! I didn't have to pay anything! I got a three month prescription for my high blood pressure and cholesterol meds, and yes (!) a prescription for an antidepressant. And boy, do I need it! I don't know whether it's menopause, or my situation, or both, but I keep switching back and forth between being really, really depressed and being okay, happy. When I'm depressed, I can even have a happy sexual fantasy. My imaginary lover cheats on me, tells me he never loved me, etc. And of course no . . .shall we say, release for me when I do this.This is DEPRESSION! I so glad the nurse practitioner prescribed me the antidepressant. Of course it's a half dose of the normal amount, but maybe that will do.

And in six weeks I go and get a physical!

Got two Used Tires For the Front OF Car

And it only cost me $20.00 for both! That included putting them on. So, now I don't have to worry about that for a while.

old tire, very bald

new used tire

I got the brakes done today

Last night, once again I fell off the wagon and stopped off at a fast food place on the way home and got deep fried zukienie. With ranch! Yes, I'm actively trying to kill myself with a heart attack. To say nothing of heartburn. . .

But anyhoo, as I drove out of there with my window down, I could hear the screamers on my brakes being reflected off their wall. Couldn't hear it at all with the window up and the ac on. So, off to the car place this morning. I was quite fearful, because nowhere in this blog have I got it recorded whether I've had the rotors done. I've never had the drums turned. That could have upped the bill from 300 to 600 dollars, which I DON"T have. But, fortunately for me, it was just the brake pads that needed to be replaced. $161.58. Yaa!! Well there went this month's tips, but I could afford it. But they did caution me on my tires. They are bald, and I know they are bald. There isn't exactly any grooves left in the tread. So, I'm moving on to used tires. I just have to find some in my size, which I don't think is going to be easy. Tomorrow I start looking.

*****

I talked to the guy from the online tech university again. I need to find someone in this field (Info technology with a concentration in web design) and see if it's something I can handle math wise. I also need to find out whether the student loans will be deferred until I'm out, and yaa, check out the university's rep, and compare prices with other's. And of course, look for another job . . .!

******

Just watched "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". Fabulous movie. I had no idea what was going to happen. Truly enjoyed it, and I have done a little research, and it turns out they filmed the whole trilogy, and the other two films are being released here this year.

Coupled with the news that Daniel Craig has signed on to play the reporter in the English version, my cup runeth over! I foresee a happy afternoon comparing the two version, ( I can tell you right now, BF is going to hate the English version, for the sole reason that Daniel Craig will be in it). It will be fun fighting the tide against her disdain!

Things are escalating on the ghost front

.Lately, BF has started to see the ghost at her place. It's a male figure wearing a hat, and he stands on her balcony. She says that he wears the hat "gangster" style. She said that she woke up from a nap on her couch and saw it, and it scared the crap out her. She seems to be unafraid of it, (once she figured out that it was it and not an actual man standing on her balcony) and sorta appears to enjoy it. She then dressed it down for scaring her. She says that she has seen it a couple of times now.

I never told her, but I have seen a figure of a man on her balcony out of the corner of my eye, myself, twice. I never told her, because I didn't want to frighten her. I really thought she would freak, but here she is, all accepting of it, because the cats aren't scared. I really, really don't like this development. I feel like she's giving it power by being accepting of it.

I don't think it's an human being. I have never gotten that impression in the 45 years I have lived with it. As far as I can tell it's mischievous and also does seem to like angst. Which is why it mostly messes about with her and not me. I'm 52, she's 34, and hasn't worked through her crap like I have.

What the hell do I do?

The house passed the unemployment bill!

Yes! I going to keep solvent! And I called the unemployment check line before the news broke, and it said I was getting another check! I'm soooo happy. It's not like I'm not looking for a job, but it's like this. . .I'm over 50, I'm over educated for the jobs I have experience in, and have no experience in the jobs I should be working in because of my education. It's a catch 22 situation. In other words I'll never even gotten an interview. The closest I got was that application verification call I got on the hotel clerk job. And that's it.

I need to go back to school and get another degree, one that I can get a job with. The BA I have, Art History, well, that was suppose to be a gateway degree. I was suppose to go on and get a master's degree in Library Science and Information Technology. I just couldn't get a good enough job to fund it.

Soooo, I am thinking of just getting a Bachelor's in Science in just Information Technology (with a concentration in web design, why waste my art degrees, AA in computer graphics, or at least I'm asuming they would be involved with this). My general education credits from the BA would be transferable, and all I would have to do is (mostly) do the computer classes. I would do this on line. And I would have to get loans. But in the end I could have a good job, and get out of this half life.

Auragh! The Feds Shut Down Over 70,000 Blogs!

On one server, just to get a couple of blogs that were doing terrorism stuff. So, ALL those blogs are gone, and the owners have lost their data, and they won't be getting it back. This scares the crap out of me for a couple of reasons.

1. I'm not thrilled the Feds can do this. I don't think they should be able to do this to innocent people .
2. Can't they be more selective and just take out the actual blogs instead of the whole server?How about IDing the terrorist's blog and then informing the other blog owners they have to remove their blogs to  another server?
3. The article say the Feds were looking at other sites as well. What about MY blog?
4. How do I save a copy of my blog?

I did a (very) little checking and It turns out that I can mirror my blog.

1. I don't know how to.
2. I don't know where.
3. Unless it's free, I'm screwed.

Will do more checking

The Stress Is Getting To Me.

Every day I wake up with a headache, and my chest hurts 24/7. I need to buy some tums or something. I afraid to look at the figures for my bills, because I'm afraid that even if I get food stamps, I still won't be able to keep all my utilities on. There's no way I can pay my credit card bills. This is a real shame, because with the payment plan I've been on for a year and a half, I could actually see the the end of the tunnel in around two years time.

What I have to do is turn the water heater off, don't need hot water right now. I don't like washing my clothes in hot water anyway, and I have the gym to wash me at. I have no idea what I'll do in the wintertime. I let that take care of it's self at that time. Let's not get  my worrying ahead of it's self.

Also, cable has to go. I cannot let BF pay for that AND the gym. I have to keep the Internet on, so I can look for jobs. I can watch shows online. I also have a lot of DVDs and still have my VCR and some tapes. Wish I hadn't done that purge last summer, now. Still I don't think I will suffer all that much from loss of cable. I'll just have to give up my ADD ways and do one thing at a time!

Monday I'm going to call the nice lady at the newspaper and ask her about the list I put myself on. Like when will they call me? I need that job.

*******

I want to clean the house, (nope, not one lick of work done during the last six months, the dishes were never washed, the floors not swept, I barely threw the trash away, depression, anyone?), but it's TOO HOT! There's a tropical depression in the area, and swamp coolers don't work in humidity. And the temperature has been hitting 107 F. The cats are lying around in the hallway like dead furry slugs. Me? I'm not wearing anything but panties and flip flops and I'm still so sweaty and grimy. I also have to wonder if the headache is a sign of over heating. I should, even although I know I can't afford it in the long run, go to the dollar movies. I could be in a nice air conditioned movie theater, watching a movie I've never seen for as little as $1.50. This is why everyone used to go to the movies in the '30s.

Goosie is enjoying her food

I bought Shophicat (hopefully spelled right) from Petco and a small bag of that kitty crack dry food that goes for $15.00 for a five pound bag, ze Fancy Feast dry cat food. And it's working! Goosie is happily eating twice a day, plus the crunchies. Of course she doesn't even eat half of the can, but it's good to watch her plowing through the wet cat food in a straight line. She eats about 1/3 of the can. No, the rest doesn't go to waste. I just shove the plate out into the hallway and the other cats are on it.

Have yet to see her gain any weight, however. But she's not meowing all the time when I interact with her now. She will actually let me pet her without meowing. Still hoping everything will turn out okay.

******

My unemployment claim form says continued claim form. I think I'm going to get one more check and then I will be living on the pizza place job. At this point, I will have to stop paying on the credit cards.  I don't think I'm getting anything more then a one week extension. I will try for food stamps.

I'm going to buy a big bag of rice and bags of dry beans as a back up food supply.

On Hold. . .

Have been on hold with the county health care system for 22 minutes now. I had called them for almost 25 minutes before I got something other then a busy signal. I called every five seconds. I put them on speed dial.

So, I wait. Thank God I like classical music.I'm going to wait 30 minutes and then do the star option, which supposedly will let me stay in que.

********

Watched the World Cup over at BF's. I couldn't find anything on line that listed any of the sports bars up here as doing the World Cup, and the TV guide said it started at 10:30,(in reality, more like 11:30). Since none of the local sports bars were listed I didn't think they would be opening that early. So, hence BF's place. Instead of alcohol, I drank diet pink lemon aid, and eventually, ordered a pizza.

It was a great game! But, I was really surprised at the English ref constant issuing of yellow cards. It's like they couldn't play more then 30 seconds with out that whistle going off!

*****

Just tried the star key option. Doesn't work for me! Crap, I hope I'm not caught in a loop. OOPS, the number 1, not star key. Have done it. Am waiting for call back. I can't do anything else until this happens. I cannot take the chance of missing the call. I have only been trying to make an appointment for 4 months.

******

It is FOUR hours later. I am still ON hold. I have left my number on the call back option twice. It is a trap! It only rings once, and then hangs up. Even although the second time I had the phone open and was looking at it, I still could not hit the accept button fast enough before the system hung up on me!

So, I wait, using up minutes. I have been on hold now for 37 minutes!

******

Whoo Hoooo! I'm third in line! Been on hold now for one hour and ten minutes! Please God, let there be some appointments left when I speak to a live person!

*****

No appointment, it's filled. I can try healthy way or go to some other clinic which is taking over their  appointments. I'm so pissed that I'm crying.

I Took Goosie To The Vet

She has been so cranky and getting so skinny (so I thought), that I was convinced that the stromactis was acting up again. Yes, I am aware that somewhere down the line Goosie will have to have all her teeth south of her fangs pulled. And then get a steroid shot every month. But, no, no bad teeth this trip. Lots of gingivitis. . .but no abscesses. And her weight, just a little lower then the last time we were there. The vet was easily able to pry open her mouth and examined it. No temperature. Nothing in her ears. Just to be on the safe side, I opted for a senior blood panel test. Which came back completely normal! Total cost of visit, $238.00.

AND IT WAS WORTH IT! To know that she didn't have FIP again, to know her mouth (so far) is okay, to know it wasn't leukemia, or diabetes, is beyond worth to me. Of course I still don't know why she is so cranky, but the vet said that could be an age related personality change. Or maybe her teeth just hurt.

Of course, that WAS my new tire money. . .maybe I can buy used ones.

******

Still watching soccer. Have gotten the 11th off so I can see the final, (hopefully in a sports bar). Went out with BF to Burbank, so I missed the second lot of the quarter finals. But, I have them set up to record on the DVR, hopefully ALLof the games will be recorded.

While we were in Burbank we went to the Brow Bar in the mall. I had my eyebrows threaded. I have never had anything done to my eyebrows. I pluck them, but have been aware since my eyelids started sagging, that the shape was no longer right for my face. Well, that got corrected today! They look good! No stray hairs.

However, the technician halved the width of my brows. This was virgin hair, folks! No one else was making sounds in their chair, but I was! I was making little hissing and moaning type noises as she rolled the thread around and pulled out my hair. This wasn't what I wanted to do. WHAT I WANTED TO DO WAS SCREAM MY FREAKING HEAD OFF! Thank God it only lasted ten minutes!

*****

Talked to Aunt Rita via chat on Face Book. Nigel did the typing. However very little question were asked on either side. On my side, it was because I had not prepared myself, properly. On her end, I think Rita was confused by the medium. Nigel typed, "it's an age thing," to me. We sorta made a date to do it again in August. I will have better questions by then, and hopefully Rita will have wrapped her head around the concept.

Ah Damn It!

The pump has stopped working again! I got up to refill it and was surprised to see how little water it had used during the night. That's because the pump had stopped. No matter how many times I press the button, it won't turn back on.




*****

July 3, 2010

After reviewing my blog I realized that I hadn't blogged about this. Last summer, at the end of the summer, the pump stopped working on the ultra cool. But it was the end of the summer and I could hack it. As it turned out, it was the pump switch that stopped working. You see every now and again I would press the button, and one time it started again.

That's what happened this summer. I tried the button and it started. Lasted three days and then stopped again, have been trying the button, but it hasn't turned back on yet. I'm using it as a fan to blow more air through the other $100.00 swamp cooler I bought. I really thinking of returning the $100.00 swamp cooler and getting the $100.00 AC unit. It said on it, that if you used it the way the manufacturer said, it would only cost $45.00 a year to run. The $100.00 doesn't really do anything beside put hot moist air into the room.

Unfortunately I threw out the receipt for the ultra cool unit. If I still had it I could get a whole new one, to replace it.

DVR FAIL!

I recorded the second showing of the Japan vs Ghana game. I manged to miss the live showing. "Ah Ha!" I thought, as I spotted in the on-line guide. And then I watched it. All through the scoreless regular game and then on to the added time, two sets of 15 minutes each. I knew from reading on the Internet, that all the goals had been scared on the added time. The first 15 minutes goes by. "Oh wow," I thought, "All scored in the LAST 15 minutes!" And then my DVR recording ended! Because even althought it was a second showing, somehow the guide people hadn't given it enough time! I'm so pissed.

My Haunted House

There has always been "something" here. It always scared me as a child. I could feel it and hear it walking up to me as a child. It would get to within three feet of me and I would take off and run to Daddy or if he wasn't here, out the front door. Daddy would always look surprised when I rushed up to him, out of breathe, panting but he NEVER asked me why. And I would stand there for a while and then wander off!




At night, me and Jackie could feel it moving around the edge of our beds, like something was walking on our beds. Jackie is much less sensitive then me and to her it was like a small dog was walking there. For me it was like a two foot centipede was crawling on the edge of the bed. This didn't bother us. You see, it had always been, since I was four. We thought it was our nerves! It actually didn't occur to me that this shouldn't been happening until I was in my thirties! Then I asked Jackie if she had felt it too (for me, since I still lived here, it was ongoing). And she said yes, and then she thought about it, and what it meant, and got scared.



When I was 25, and taking a nap, it kissed me. I was lying on my back, and had my eyes closed. It was a bright sunny day. Suddenly, the room went dark, like someone was leaning over me and cutting off the sunlight falling on my eyelids. At the same time I felt pressure on my lips. Well, that was the end of the nap. For decades after that I slept on my stomach or side, for fear it would happen again.



And then, there was the unplugged computer monitor that on occasion glowed in the dark. I would look at it, knowing that for one, it was off, two not plugged in and roll over and stare at the wall and pretend it wasn't happening. Also, I could hear things being moved around in the dark.



It takes thing. Sometimes it doesn't return them. Most of the tea spoons are gone now. The most prominate example is the time I was doing my income tax about three hours before they were due. I did what I always do, do them in pencil twice on a separate piece of paper, and make sure the math was coming out right. Then I did it in ink on the actual income tax forms and then went to attach the W2 wage statement to the forms. They weren't on the desk any more. Now mind you, I had looked at them each time to get the figures off them when doing the math. I looked at the floor. Nope, not there. Not in the living room. Not in the dining room. Not in the kitchen. Not in the hall way. Not in my parent's bedroom, nor in the other or in mine. Not in the bathroom. No where to be found. I made three circuits of the house. Nada! By this time I had 45 minutes left to mail them. I screamed into the air in the living room, "You give them back! If I don't mail them on time there will be a penalty payment, and I can't afford that! Please!" I made another circuit. I found them on the floor in my old bedroom.



I could feel it in my bedroom closet. At least, that spirit. That one, the one who tried to scare me wasn't "nice". I knew where it was located. In my bedroom closet. Three feet in and three feet into the backyard, but I couldn't feel it when I was IN the back yard. This is why I haven't used my closet for like 20 years. This came to a head, just before we went to England, about 19 years ago. I used to play a video game called Bubble Bobble. One time I woke up in the middle of the night. I was facing the window. Out in the back yard, like a balloon, I could see a glowing sphere. It slowly rotated. At the same time my hand was crawling across the bed to the switch for my nightstand light. As it rotated one of the faces from Bubble Bobble came into view on it. At the same time my hand hit the light switch, a horrible thought occurred to me. What if because it was glowing it was being reflected on the window, then maybe it wasn't OUT in the back yard, but IN my room, by parallax displacement, about two foot above my head. I carefully looked up. Nope, nothing there. I got my bible and prayed. I knew from talking to people that I couldn't cast it out of the house. It had to be Daddy and Daddy didn't believe, or even seem to be aware anything was happening. Every time I talked to him about it, it was like it got erased. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I asked God to keep it locked up, to keep it from bothering me. Not to cast it out, but to make it leave me ALONE. And that worked. In fact, I think that one has moved on. I can't feel it any more.



Now there is another and that is the one that takes things and moves thing around. It's just mischievous. It likes to bother BF. It liked to turn on her bed room light. She slept with a face mask. When she got up, it would be on and she would ask me if I had been in her room at night. I would always tell her, "Yes BF, for some unfathomable reason I felt the need to go to your room at 3:30 a.m. and I forgot to turn off your light when I left!" And then I would look at her. She would gulp and looked uncomfortable . One time, she came home and found a bag of potatoes chips scattered around her room. In her bathroom they were lined up in rows. They were even inside her pillow case! Since she has moved out, it has gone to visit her! She knows when it is there by how the cats act. and she knows when it found out where she went. She was in her apartment and she took a nap in her bedroom. Her front door was locked with two locks. When she got up, she found the door wide open, both locks unlocked! Since then it has visited her on a regular basic.

Do you believe?

Ah Man, The USA Is Out Of The World Cup

I'm heart broken. I really wanted Donovan to pull the USA"s butt out of the fire again. Score a miraculous goal once again. But it was not to be. But I still have England! England better win against Germany tomorrow. Regardless, of whether MY favorites go on, I've asked for July 11th off, so I can see the final. I'm thinking of going to a sport's bar for this. I'm also thinking of asking BF to go with me. However I don't know whether she could stand to spend that much time watching soccer!

I have watched most of the previous games, about eight of them I think? Yes, I make swooshing noises when the ball is kicked, I scream when players trip over each other, and shriek when a goal is scored! I scare the crap out of the cats! I have figured out most of the basic rules, and now am moving on to the formations.I think I will keep on watching soccer. I have discovered the sport search button on the guide!!!!

Cousin Nigel gets on Face Book and gives tips as to rules, and results. We also do a  little chat about it as well.

Must find out how long soccer season is. I think I'll start looking at leagues. . .


*****

I have been giving Goosie cans of Fancy Feast. She seems to be more happy. Still really skinny, but doesn't spend all her time meowing that meow of discontent. She actually purrs. Maybe canned food is the cure.

Well, I am getting better at last!

I  can sorta breathe out of both sides now. Production of snot has really slowed down. Still have terrible cough however. Still much more energy and much more focused.

So now I can devote my attention to worrying about Goosie.

She is sick again, that is plain. She is very skinny and where she was cranky before, now she is filled with devil spit. She complains all the time. She rubs her face against my hand (the mouth again?), but then slashes me. She slashes me if I stop as well. There's no pleasing her. She is spending a lot of her time underneath the bed, that's a change, and she is drinking a large amount of water. She eats a little. Appetite not good.

So, the mouth again, or kidneys, or the return of FIP? I don't have any money. The most I could give up is $100.00. Maybe they would accept barter. I have my Hallmark Star Trek orderments. . .

But, first, I'm going to try the broth and syrine on her. Maybe she will scream again.

Wow, I am still so sick!

I have been on the amoxcillin for four days now, and it's like I'm taking a sugar pill! I keep running a fever at night and my throat has been dusty. Right now, it has gone very wet. I am blowing my nose, coughing up stuff, the gummy stuff is gone.

I have to work tonight. Also must get paperwork from work so I can fill out unemployment stuff and mail it off. Also need to mow lawn. Very badly. The grass stalks are up to my knees! Still haven't put handcart wheels on mower. Need a vice grip and cannot find mine. So I'm just going to drag mower out there and just try to keep it balanced on three wheels.

Washed my hair at last. The guy two houses down was staring at me this morning as I watered. I looked like I had a fright wig on, as I haven't combed or washed my hair for three days.

****

Have gotten into World Cup Soccer! Will write separate post about that when I feel better.

Went to the doctor

Yes, it's bronchitis. I have a prescription for penicillin and cough syrup. I was right, there was only five people before me when I got there at 10:20. Was out by noon. Of course the pharmacy is closed on Sunday, but what the heck.

I am really sick!

I am going to have to go to the county tomorrow. I am coughing my lungs out, and I feel like I can't get enough air to boot. I feel like I just took a drag off a cigarette, that deep down burning in the bottom of the lungs. . .got that.

Ran into former supervisor at Wallyworld the other day. He lost his job about a month ago. He tried (or so I've heard) to try and get another supervisor to be a better supervisor. Unfortunately, this other supervisor is related to management. Had a little chat with him. It's nice that he has enough manners to speak to me, even although he doesn't like me.

Have been talking to Nigel on chat! Yes, thanks to losing my day job, I have now gotten into such bad habits, that I'm still on the computer at one a.m. and can talk to him. It's great. He's such a funny guy. Harrison is soooo cute. I wish I could hold him. He's such a little darling.

Enduring Love, post script. . .

Actually it turns out that's not the end of the stalker (Rhys Ifans), when Joe (Daniel Craig) stabs him. In the credits, there a scene of what I assume is a mental ward. It slowly pans across a variety of inmates, and then goes into a room where a man is writing at a desk. The man stops writing, turns his face towards the camera, and smiles. Yes, it's the stalker! And THEN you start wondering about the films title, and exactly who's enduring love is the movie all about. . .

Daniel Craig, Captain's Log Supplemental. . .

I bought Enduring Love (used), and re watched it. It was actually quite good. This makes the third time I've seen it. And the reason I think it's better the third time around is, because I think that the movie I got from the Library is missing scenes! It looks the same, packaging is the same, etc, but I think it's been edited. I don't think it's like whole scenes have been removed, just parts of existing scenes. It's like a edited for TV movie, as to running time for time slot. The missing parts make the movie much more connected and intense. Of course the only way I could prove that the library copy has been edited is to get it again, and play both copies at the same time. One in the DVD player, the other in my computer, and then see if there's any discrepancies. I'm very temped to do that.

I'm becoming rather suspicious of the movies at the public library now. I can see clips on You-Tube that have missing scenes from movies I have gotten at the library, and yet there's no mention on the library version that it's a edited copy. . .