Jim Emerson's 102 Movies to Become Movie Literate

Stolen from Chris. Numbered movies are the ones I have seen.


2001: A Space Odyssey
The 400 Blows
8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Alien
1. All About Eve
Annie Hall
Apocalypse Now
2. Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
Blue Velvet
Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
3. Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
4. Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise
5. Chinatown
6. Citizen Kane
7. A Clockwork Orange
8. The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
9. Dirty Harry
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
10. Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
11. Double Indemnity
Dr. Strangelove
Duck Soup
12. E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
13. The Empire Strikes Back
The Exorcist
14. Fargo
15. Fight Club
Frankenstein
The General
16. The Godfather
17. The Godfather, Part 2
18. Gone With the Wind
19. Goodfellas
20. The Graduate
Halloween
A Hard Day's Night
Intolerance
It's a Gift
21. It's a Wonderful Life
22. Jaws
The Lady Eve
Lawrence of Arabia
M
Mad Max 2
23. The Maltese Falcon
24. The Manchurian Candidate
Metropolis
Modern Times
25. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
26. North by Northwest
Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
27. Psycho
28. Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
29. Rear Window
30. Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
31. Schindler's List
The Searchers
The Seven Samurai
32. Singin' in the Rain
33. Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
A Streetcar Named Desire
34. Sunset Boulevard
35. Taxi Driver
The Third Man
Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
36. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
37. Vertigo
38. West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
39. The Wizard of Oz


A few glaring omissions there in what I haven't seen.

Quick update

I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, so the antibiotics seemed to have done the trick. The occasional nose-blowing or remnant cough, but no big deal.

John arrived safely and it's really great to have him home again. We haven't really done much other than hang out at home, but we've both been tired, so resting is good.

I'm going to test drive 1 or 2 more cars before making my final car decision. Going to try and test drive another car tonight. I test drove the Pontiac G6 last Thursday night and I liked it, but John is correct when he says I need more to compare it to than just my current car. So I will try a couple more.

Feeling better

By the time Friday morning came around, my cold from hell felt as though it was moving down into my chest and getting worse. I was getting worse and not better, and I think it could have turned into pneumonia had I not gone to see a doctor. I went to the doctor on Friday and didn't have any trouble convincing her that I needed medication to get over this illness. Started the meds on Friday, just in time, I think. Too bad I hadn't been able to start them earlier in the week.

Yesterday I was feeling noticeably better, but as expected, that feeling lasted pretty much only when I was resting. Getting up to walk down the hall was tiring. These drugs are hefty and make you tired and weak. I skipped church yesterday on recommendation from my mother. I also had to miss Cinco, which really sucked because I feel like I don't get to see anyone anymore.

Today I am another notch better. My cough is sounding fairly weak compared to what it was. I am going to try and get a few things done today, including laundry. I may make a quick run to the grocery store, but that is as far as I want to venture.

Sneezing is good, right?

My cold has gone into sneezing stage. I am sneezing all over the place, steadily going through my box of Puffs Plus. If I had to talk all day, I would be coughing more. I took yesterday off as a sick day, as I did today, and will tomorrow as well. I've got to get well before John arrives next week.

At this point, I am not sure if I'm going to make it to Cinco de Mayo. I don't really want to sneeze & cough all over people who aren't sick. It will depend on my progress, and whether or not the doctor gives me any medication tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am catching up on a lot of TV. Makes me feel lazy, but I can't really do anything else. I've checked in with work but I am not working from home. I need the break from it so I can rest. Friday and Monday were stressful and I think one of the reasons why I've had this cold come back full-force.

At least the gunk is coming out of me rather than staying in me. I just hope it ends soon.

I give up

I'm getting worse again, so I called my doctor this morning.  She is normally booking into June 4th, but I caught a cancellation for this Friday.  I'm guessing I'll still be sick by then.

 

I need the codeine cough syrup.  Someone give me the codeine cough syrup.

New or same old, same old?

I'm coughing again today, worse than I have been for about a week. Not sure if it has anything to do with my being out for a walk for an hour yesterday. My neck was cold because of the wind, maybe I wasn't dressed warmly enough? Other people are wearing t-shirts, and I still have a scarf. All I know is that I have a nasty sounding cough again today.

I am also stressed about work, which I can't discuss here. That's likely not helping.

I hope this is only a minor setback. I don't want to be full-blown sick again. That is, if I did actually get over what I had for the past month.

Just say no

I tried to test a new recipe today, in anticipation of Cinco de Mayo. It involved deep frying. I went out and bought myself a thermometer so that I would be able to tell if/when the oil was heated to the right temperature. While the oil was heating, I worked on the chocolate sauce. That seemed to be going relatively ok until my uncle called to chat. I either should have stopped cooking or not picked up the phone... but I tried to multitask. The end result was that the thermometer broke, leaking its insides into the oil. I hadn't even made the dough, but it was this early on that I decided to call it quits. Deep frying is tricky, and since I'm not prepared to go out and buy a deep fryer just for the sake of experimentation, this is as far as I'm willing to go.

Happy Birthday John!

Today is John's birthday. If you would like to wish him a happy birthday, please do so today.

Dirty Dancing

Saw an ad for this on TV this morning. Back in theatres for two nights only, in celebration of its 20th anniversary.

We're getting a Fairweather again

The sign is up on one of the new buildings out east for Fairweather. Hunh. Never thought they'd come back to SJ.

Car Search: Part 1

My car is ending its lease next month. I have two choices: buy out the lease; or lease/purchase a new car. I am now starting to look at new cars to see if there are any that I prefer over my current car.

Goal:
Find a sporty sedan, similar to my current Grand Am GT. Must be a GM vehicle so I can apply my credits toward the lease/purchase. Want XM factory installed. Don't want to lose any features I already have.


Saturn Aura

I started my car search on Tuesday by stopping by the Saturn dealership. I specifically wanted to look at the Saturn Aura, recently awarded North American Car Of The Year. I asked about the hybrid model, but that is not going to be available until the fall. It is also going to be a 4 cylinder vehicle, which is a step down from what I have now, and not what I'd prefer.

Likes:
I liked the fact that it has won an award. It also seemed very roomy on the inside. The seats were comfortable. Windows were built to reduce road noise.

Dislikes:
It seemed very blah on the inside; I found it boring. It struck me as a good family sedan, but it didn't feel like "me". I'm not ready to settle down yet when it comes to my car.

Pumpkin Patch open again

Today's the day, the Pumpkin Patch has re-opened for the season.  Yay, fresh produce and ice cream!

Where's the syrup?

Over 2 weeks ago, I mailed some maple syrup to John.  I wrote "maple syrup" on the customs form, so there was nothing to hide.  I sent the package by Air Mail.  It still hasn't arrived in SoCal.

 

Somewhere in Canada, Customs agents are enjoying pancakes with my syrup.

Weekend & Monday

I had a fairly decent weekend. Friday night I watched TV and talked to John on the phone.

Saturday was such a beautiful day that I wanted to be outside in some fashion. I spent some time taking out my driveway markers, pulling the compost bin around the yard to pick up branches, and picked up garbage that had made its way onto my property. Before going outside, I spent some more time in the basement, doing some more keep/toss/donate. I went to church as usual, then off to dinner with my grandfather, Dad, stepmother, aunt, uncle, cousin & wife, and my two brothers. My older brother made a quick trip down this weekend to do some audio wiring at my Dad's house. We celebrated my grandfather's upcoming birthday and afterward spent some time at his house. Afterward I came home and watched some TV. John wasn't feeling well and we didn't get to chat.

Sunday meant I had a lot left to do. I wanted to get my grandfather's tax return done right away, so he would know if he owed or was getting a refund; it was the latter. I had laundry to do. I also wanted to continue with the basement organization. I worked away at that for a while, and then my Dad and brother came over to start drilling the hole for the sump pump. I now have a big hole in the basement and the pump is ready to be installed. Dad still has to come back with some additional materials to finish the job. After the work was done, my brother went back to my mom's to shower, then we ordered Chinese food for the three of us and had dinner together.

I went to the dentist today for my checkup and cleaning. No cavities and they told me my gums were looking better than usual.

Tonight my mom came over and I helped her with a written report she needed to do for a training course. In exchange, I got a bag of ketchup chips and she took 4 items to iron for me (she has an obsession with ironing). Everyone wins.

Today at work was very frustrating. Work would be a lot less stressful if you were allowed to tell people off. Incident #1 involved wasted time. That makes me angry. The second incident involved someone masking their criticism with attempts at humor. I often bring my or my mother's baking in to work so it will be eaten instead of going to waste (or eating all of it myself). I don't do it every week, but maybe a couple of times a month. On repeated occasions, one of my co-workers has made comments like "I wish you hadn't brought that in" while smiling and making it sound like a joke. Today's comment was: "There's the culprit. I should string you up by your..." It was said with what she thought was humor, but after hearing so many of these comments, combined with her previous comments telling me I was too thin and needed to eat more, I had had enough. I turned around and said to her, "It's not like I'm shoving it down your throat. It's up to you whether you eat it or not."

This woman obviously has food/weight issues; I am not insensitive to this. I don't walk into her office and sit and eat cake in front of her. I don't do anything to purposefully make her feel bad. I am just very frustrated that I can't bring in food without her being all passive-aggressive at me. I feel like she thinks I'm the devil because I'm skinny and bring in cake. I'm sorry if you find it tempting and it doesn't fit into your diet, but that is something you need to address by yourself without criticizing others. If you can't stand the cake, get out of the kitchen.

Progress

On my lunchhour yesterday, I had purchased a departmental afternoon treat of ketchup chips, so I wasn't very hungry when I got home last night. I did a few things on my PC, then sat and had a choice to make: do I sit on/get sucked into the couch tonight, or do I go down to the basement and get some things done? I decided to choose the basement.

I managed to transfer books into 5-6 plastic bins, and organized by author. I still have a couple of boxes of knick-knacks, misc books and papers to go through, but most of the books are done. I wish I had my bookcases back (they had to be thrown out after they got too moldy from the first flood), but there's not much sense in buying bookcases until I get the basement issues sorted out.

I also bagged up the clothing I wanted to donate, but I still need to go through my closet and be a little more picky about items that I don't wear.

Definitely some progress made last night. I hope to continue it this weekend and get it done. I do have some plans for this weekend, though. My older brother is coming down tomorrow to do some wiring in my Dad's new house. My aunt, uncle, cousin & wife are coming up this weekend as well. Since we will all be here, we're taking my grandfather out for birthday supper. His actual birthday is next Saturday.

I am hoping to break out the BBQ this weekend too. I'm looking forward to having John do some grilling when he gets here (3 weeks to go).

I'm guessing this is a no, but I will ask the question just in case: Does anyone want a copy of Anne of Green Gables & the sequel on VHS? If you want them, they're yours. I upgraded to DVD a couple of months ago.

10 Things I Hate About Commandments

This is hilarious

Things & things

I am gradually getting better. The last 2-3 days have seen me not needing to use cough drops, cough syrup, or Advil, so that is a definite improvement. I still have a cough, but it is not as bad as it was. Also am still quite tired. I can't seem to get enough rest.

Since the rain has ceased, my basement is now drying out. Hopefully by tonight I can return some items back to the floor.

I'm bored. It's not that I don't have a lot to do around the house, but that I can't get motivated to do any of it. I need to do some spring cleaning, especially the windows. I also need to continue getting items out of cardboard boxes and into plastic bins in the basement. The desk in my home office is piled with crap that needs to be sorted and filed, but I somehow seem to keep on ignoring it. I think what I need to do is make a to-do list so that I can concentrate on picking off one item at a time, instead of it feeling like I have more to do than I can handle.

There are a couple of tasks I want to make sure I tackle this weekend, though. One is to buy a mat I saw in a Home Depot flyer which goes under your BBQ to collect any stray drippings. With the weekend scheduled to be sunny, I'd like to break out the BBQ and grill something for a change. The second is to replace the filter(s) in my air exchanger. I haven't touched it since I moved in, and the filters are likely long overdue for a change. I also have a bunch of clothing and other items that need to be dropped off at Value Village.

I've been too much of a couch potato recently. I have been finding too many things on TV that I want to watch. Now that spring is here, and the daylight lasts longer, I need to get back to walking. I take walks for enjoyment, and rain and high winds are not enjoyable situations in which to walk. Thus my spring recommencement of regular walks has not yet begun. Today is pretty windy out, and I need to run an errand at lunchtime, so I think I will start back again tomorrow.

I may also try to go out and look at cars this weekend. My lease expiry date is only a few weeks away, and I need to know what I'm going to do. I'd prefer to have a new car, but only if I like it better than my current car. So, first step is to look at new cars and see if I like any of them. I plan on looking at the Saturn Aura, the Pontiac G6 and Grand Prix, and maybe a few others. If the Grand Am was still available, I'd be strongly considering getting it for a third time in a row. No-can-do this time though. I currently have $1859 in credits from using my GM Visa, so that will help the price a bit.

Funny

3 weeks and still going!

I just reached the end of week 3 of my cold, do I win any kind of award?  I am getting better, honest.  I'm down to only coughing when I have to talk for a while, and last night I didn't wake up coughing or have to hack anything up.  I am still feeling pretty exhausted though.  Some day, I will be well again.

 

My Dad's been very busy, and as a result, hasn't had time to install a sump pump for me in my basement.  It rained all day yesterday, the ground is still hard, and the water table is high... you do the math.  Dad came over last night to have a look and we did manage to uncap a pipe and get some water flowing back out again, but couldn't get the cap off another pipe.  He just called and said he had 2 sump pumps being shipped up.  Not much we can do until it stops raining and dries up, then we can get it/them installed.  We may put two pumps in, on opposing corners of the basement.

 

I'm all set for my lawn care this year.  I'm sticking with the same people who did my mowing last year, and also getting them to do the fertilizer & weed killer.  I had two separate companies doing those jobs last year, and the fertilizing/weed killing was costing a fortune.  By combining it with lawn mowing, I can get a better price.  It's also a lot cheaper because it's a smaller company with lower prices vs a larger business who seem to charge a premium for those services.  I'm looking forward to spending a little bit less on that this year.  I'm glad this is all arranged before the start of the season, so I'm not calling around trying to find someone after their schedules are booked up.  Fertilizing is going to start around the beginning of May, and mowing around mid-May, dependent on weather.

 

Speaking of weather, enough with the below-average temperatures already.  It's barely warm enough to rain.  I'd like to be able to stop wearing my winter coat.

New Maroon 5 video

This is the new video from Maroon 5 called Makes Me Wonder. It made me wonder if they were thinking of O'Hare when they filmed it (see pic below).

O'Hare

This is O'Hare Airport in Chicago, the walkway between terminal B and C.

Drink crystal dilemma

Look in my fridge and you will usually see a pitcher or two of juice, grape and orange. For over 20 years I have purchased and enjoyed drink crystals from Crosby Molasses Co. A few months back, I began to notice a trend at both Sobeys and Superstore of the product starting to disappear from the shelves. I filled out customer comments, talked to product managers, and still didn't get any closer to an answer on why the product wasn't available.

Last week, I wrote to Crosby's directly, figuring that if the product was not available at any of the grocery chains, perhaps they've decided to stop manufacturing them. The answer I received was quite different than what I expected. Crosby's told me they are still making them, are more than willing to sell them to the chains, but that some chains have delisted the product. Delisting not only means that they no longer stock it on their shelves, but that individual store managers can't special order the items in for customers. Crosby's said that none of the NB grocery outlets were ordering the product anymore, and I fear that may be a national decision. They suggested I could get a local corner store to order it for me through a wholesaler, or it may still be carried out-of-province. Crosby Molasses Co. is a company located in Saint John. I can drive there in a matter of minutes, yet I can't buy this product anywhere in the province. So much for supporting local companies.

Armed with this knowledge, I set out to write emails to 3 grocery chains:

Atlantic Superstore: They answered me the next day. They said "procurement in Brampton" were delisting the crystals in favor of the new singles crystals (I assume they mean that Crystal Light product). They said they only had so much room on their shelves, and had to get rid of the old to make way for the new. Sort of understandable. I wrote them back and pushed a bit more, asking if they could at least list the product so it could be special ordered, without the stores actually having to stock it.

Co-op: Co-op doesn't sell the product, but I asked if they could start to stock it, or if they would special order it for me. Their response was that they didn't list the product either, but that their private brand crystals were made by the same company. I could buy those and it would be cheaper than the name brand. I have purchased their brand before, and it is a decent substitute... but it's still not the same. I know my juice.

Sobeys: They have yet to answer my email.

Once I noticed that Sobeys was trying to get rid of the product, I bought what remained of a case of grape that had been reduced to clear. I will live off that for a while until I figure out what to do. I am out of orange, so I've had to use the Co-op brand, which isn't as sweet. I may try using less water and seeing if that makes a difference. I also stopped by the Bilk Barn and bought some of their orange drink crystals to see if it was anywhere near the same.

If any of you reading this blog live elsewhere in the Maritimes, would you take a look the next time you buy groceries and see if you find Crosby's drink crystals in Grape or Orange?

Which Serenity character are you?

Your results:
You are Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic)

Kaylee Frye (Ship Mechanic) 75% Inara Serra (Companion) 75% Zoe Washburne (Second-in-command) 75% Dr. Simon Tam (Ship Medic) 70% River (Stowaway) 65% Wash (Ship Pilot) 55% Derrial Book (Shepherd) 50% Malcolm Reynolds (Captain) 40% Alliance 20% Jayne Cobb (Mercenary) 0% A Reaver (Cannibal) 0%	You are good at fixing things. You are usually cheerful. You appreciate being treated with delicacy and specialness.
Click here to take the "Which Serenity character are you?" quiz...

A couple of feasts...

This Week

Appetizer
When you were a child, which crayon color was your favorite?
I don’t remember specifically. Purple has always been my favorite color though.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest), how likely would you be to change jobs if it required you to move?
I could be in that situation if John is unable to move here. I would have to move and change jobs to live in SoCal. Other than that, it would depend on where I was moving to. A move within the Maritimes doesn’t interest me.

Salad
Take all the numbers in your birthday and your phone number and add them up, one by one. What’s the total? [I assume they mean month and day]
72.

Main Course
Have you ever “re-gifted” anything? If so, what was it and who did you pass it on to?
Yes, I will admit that I do this sometimes. Yankee swaps at work are usually regifted snowmen knick-knacks. People at work love them, and I don’t like having them hanging around in a box in my house, so everyone is happier.

Dessert
Name something you need from the store.
Parmesan cheese.

Last Week

Appetizer
When you travel, which mode of transportation do you prefer?
The fastest way possible is always preferable. I don't like traveling, but I have fun once I arrive. I hate long car trips and get carsick, so I can't read while riding in the car. I usually try to be the driver so I have something to do. Flying would be my preference, that way I can still read or watch something, and there is a bathroom to use without having to interrupt the trip.

Soup
Have you ever met a blogging friend in person?
That’s how I met my husband, so yes. :)

Salad
When was the last time you were really, really tired?
I’ve been tired a lot while having this cold. It’s making me exhausted.

Main Course
If you could have dinner with any one fictional character from a book or movie, who would it be?
So many to choose from. One would be Bridget Jones, and we could discuss our mutual admiration for Colin Firth.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: One day, I hope to see my grandmothers again.

2 weeks, 2 days, cough cough

It's been 2 weeks and 2 days now since my cold from hell began. As of today, I am significantly better, but still have some remaining annoying symptoms. Every morning I seem to be in a contest to see how much green stuff I can expel. I head to work, though I am feeling more energetic than last week, I still find myself tired. I have no recollection of pressing snooze twice this morning. I was so deep in REM sleep that I could barely keep my eyes open to get in the shower. Every evening, around 10pm, I begin to cough a lot more to the point of extreme annoyance. Perhaps my house is too dry. But I am feeling better.

This really is just a bad cold. Why has it hit me so hard? From talking to others, I am not the only person being hit hard by whatever bug is going around. It makes me feel like a loser though. I can't get over a simple cold? I guess the answer is that this is not a simple cold.

I've spent a lot of time this week researching flight options for John's visit next month. I've been a little pushy about getting something booked, in part because a seat sale was just announced yesterday and I want to make sure we have the best options available. I'm also lonely and want to be able to mark on the calendar when he will be back. Sometimes I handle our separations ok, and sometimes I don't. I don't seem to be handling this one very well. I'm not sure if that's because I've been sick and generally miserable from that, or if I am just growing tired of continually having to be apart. I just want to hop on a plane and go see him. Oh, to be rich.

I have two upcoming trips for work. First up is a meeting in Washington, DC, in mid-June. I booked my flights for it today, after a week of staring at the flight options, not knowing what to pick. Do I stay extra time to do touristy stuff? Do I try and get home as soon as possible? What will it cost me above what my company will pay? Do I try and have a stopover in Toronto? I seem to be even worse than usual this week at making decisions. After an email yesterday requesting our arrival & departure dates, I had to book something today so the hotel reservations could be finalized. I ended up trying to balance low cost to me with some time for seeing the sights. I'll leave here at 6:30am (I don't relish that) and arrive in DC by 10:30am. That will give me the afternoon and early evening to sightsee. I have a dinner to attend that night, and then my meeting the next day. I'll have my evening free, then head home the next morning. I won't arrive home until supper time. The hotel we're staying at is within walking distance of the White House, Smithsonian, and many other things. The key will be choosing what I want to see most and fitting it into my limited time frame.

The second trip is my annual conference. I just found out this week that it is being held in Palm Springs. Quite a relief for me, as the other choice was Florida during hurricane season. This location is perfect for me to be able to see John: it is only 1.5h away, and his mom lives nearby. I still have to put some thought into this trip and decide when I'll go, what vacation time I want to take, etc. The conference always occurs around my birthday, so I will likely be away again this year.

Going postal

Having had many comments from people saying they couldn't find my postal code online, I called Canada Post last December to ask if it could be remedied. I spoke with someone at the Rothesay Ave post office, who understood my issue, and we chatted for a few minutes on exactly where my house was located. He said he would submit a request to have me added in, but mentioned it may take a month or two to show up because the database is only updated monthly.

I am working on some address clarifications for work today, so I decided to check and see if it had been fixed yet. Lo and behold, I now exist! Yay! A big thank you to the man who followed through on his promise.

Now if I could just get my letter carrier to realize that my neighbors' mail doesn't belong in my mailbox, I'll be all set. This seems to be an issue, for some reason, as I repeatedly get my next door neighbors' mail. Their last name is sort of close to mine, but I have also gotten mail for my neighbors two doors down, who have a very different last name. I think he's not reading the street numbers properly, and is just getting everything mixed up. This only started happening in the last few months. The letter carrier I had when I first moved in came to my door to drop off a parcel and seemed very attentive to names, so I am guessing he's either moved on to another route, or he takes vacation and I get stuck with the person who isn't as detail-oriented. I've been considering sticking a label inside my mailbox with my house number and last name on it, but the last thing you want to do is piss off your letter carrier.

I guess for now I will continue to walk next door and drop off my neighbors' mail. I don't mind doing that, but many of us don't have mailboxes on our houses because our mail comes to group boxes. I'm always worried the mail I leave on their doorstep (if they don't answer the doorbell) will fly away, so I try to prop it under something heavy. I have a rock on my doorstep for that purpose. I may have to donate a rock with my next mail delivery.

A bit better

Feeling a bit better today. Last night I turned the corner from sore throat into head cold stage, so that's usually the sign that I am on the mend. Also a sign that I may go through a box of Kleenex in the next few days, but so far so good.

I decided to work from home today. I have a lot of stuff to do that doesn't require me to be at my desk, so that works out well. I have the stove going, my XM radio on, and get to work in comfy clothes while drinking as much fluid as I can. This chair isn't quite built for all-day use though, so I think it's time to get up and take a break.

Need to get better before JCS night!

Making up for lost time

I had successfully made it through this winter without getting sick or taking a sick day... until last week. My sore throat started last Tuesday morning and is still scratchy a week later. The norm for me is usually a couple of days of sore throat, then it breaks and I am into a massive head cold. That has not yet happened, and I am still stuck in scratchy throat stage. I left work around 2:30 this afternoon and came home. I probably shouldn't have gone in at all.

Fearing some kind of infection from the fact that it has lasted this long, I called my doctor's office on the off chance there might have been a cancellation today. Ironically, my doctor called in sick with the flu. I am not the kind of person who requests medicine every time I get sick, but this just doesn't seem right based on how I usually react. I may try and get an appointment with the clinic tomorrow if I am still feeling the same. I am just not getting any better at all. My only change has been from shooting pain in my throat to scratchiness. Other than that, I am exhausted all the time, have no energy, have a slight nagging cough, and just feel generally miserable.

I've gone ahead and kept planning for JCS night this Friday... surely I'll be better by then?

Praise?

Proof that critics are running out of ways to express praise.

The quote which appears on a book I just bought reads: "Literary crack cocaine."

Uh, yeah.

Tidbits

My boss called me over to his office and did a quick performance review on Tuesday. I was given a raise (first in two years, other than cost of living adjustments) and a bonus. That was nice to hear/get. Need that extra money for immigration costs and wedding.

I went to see my eye doctor about the return of Creepy Red Eye, aka episcleritis. Since it's idiopathic, it's hard to tell what is causing it, so they can only treat the reaction. I have drops to use 4x a day for the week. If it reoccurs again, I will have to go see my doctor and be tested for a bunch of possible diseases, most commonly rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. It could also just be that my eyes freak out and get inflamed sometimes, and it's not indicative of anything. I really hope that is the case.

I keep getting wrong numbers on my landline at home. Most of them have been from some dopey guy looking for "Squirrel". How many times will it take him to realize he's repeatedly calling the same wrong number? This morning at 6:20, it was a call from another wrong number. I said hello 2-3 times. Upon realizing I wasn't who they wanted, held the phone away from their mouth and said "Oh shit, I called the wrong number" and hung up. Jackass. You could have at least apologized for waking two people up. GRRRRRR! Another particularly annoying caller shows up as "Unknown" and then hangs up as soon as the phone is answered.

On top of all of these wrong numbers are the numerous 800 lines that are telemarketing calls. I don't understand why they are allowed to block their name. If you're calling on behalf of someone, you shouldn't be allowed to block your name from the caller ID.

Weekend

I had a good weekend this weekend, especially seeing as how I had John here in person instead of via PC.  Makes the relationship a bit easier.

 

After picking him up at the airport on Friday, we came back home and had lunch.  After lunch, I headed back to work and he went to rest/watch TV.  Friday night we cooked some pork chops for supper and watched an Audrey Hepburn movie, Funny Face (which features the dancing scene recently used in the GAP ad).  I seem to be continuing my feelings toward Audrey Hepburn movies as being meh.  I still have My Fair Lady to watch, which I have never seen, so I will give Audrey yet another chance.  I did like her in Charade with Cary Grant.

 

Saturday was a lazy day.  We lounged around until heading out for church.  We had dinner at Vito's before the play, then on to see Glass Menagerie.  While I thought the acting was well done, I didn't care much for the story.  I'm looking forward to Cabaret.

 

Sunday we woke up and went to pick up my Dad & family at the airport.  We dropped by to see my brother and leave him some stuff I'd bought for him in Calais.  Then it was on to lunch at Swiss Chalet, and shopping for some more clothes for John.  His goal is to be able to leave enough clothing here that he won't need to bring any with him on future visits.  On Sunday night, John went with Stew to see 300, and Jenn and I hung out and watched some of my Melrose Place Season 1 DVD.

 

That was pretty much my weekend.  Simple, but special because I got to spend it with John.

Visit Eve

It's Visit Eve today, and I am pretty excited. Our last couple of visits were usually dampened by me worrying about our impending civil nuptials. With that out of the way, I can just relax, be happy, and enjoy his visit. I spend a lot of my time worrying about pretty much anything, but right now I just want to leave that behind, focus on the present, and be happy. I think I deserve that, so I will focus on making that a reality. It is going to be great to see him feeling better while on his new medication.

I took my car in today for round 3 of the "Fix the ABS light" game. This time it was an old code that didn't get cleared. All of the sensors are showing in the normal range, nothing is acting up, so I hope this is the end of the problem.

I need to run out at lunch and/or after work and get some groceries. Maybe with John here I won't be as tempted to succumb to having popcorn for supper.

John will be working while he is here (as will I) so I need to get my office cleaned up. My office is one of those rooms I stick stuff in to get it out of the way of the living room or bedroom. As a result, I have papers piled everywhere that I need to go through, organize, file, etc. I'm going to try and get that done tonight so it leaves space for him to work and also has me ready to do my taxes. I think I may be missing a slip, but once I go through those papers, I'll know for sure.

One more sleep!

TV notes

Random, haphazard thoughts on TV.

In between the events of my weekend, I spent time trying to catch up on all of the things my TiVo has been recording lately. I watched some movies fully, others bored me so I deleted them. TiVo is recording more than I can watch, but whatever I can get to, I'll get to, and what I don't, I don't. All of the movies it is recording are older movies, so it's been a lot of black and white, golden Hollywood moments. Mostly this is due to the fact that Rogers gave us TCM and AMC.

I'm looking forward to the return of Six Degrees this week. Not that it's a great show, but it's nice that they're at least burning off the episodes so we can see the rest of what they've filmed. It was really frustrating to be watching Vanished, only to have Fox put the remaining episodes online. That's a great idea, which I am all in favor of, except for the fact that they block you from accessing the shows online if you're located outside the US. Thanks for nothing.

I wonder if Six Degrees will actually pick up a bit in ratings with the recent announcement of Bridget Moynahan being pregnant with Tom Brady's baby? Possible, but not likely. The show has pretty much been marked as a goner anyway, so a small ratings increase would be irrelevant.

Smart Woman Survival Guide returned with new shows this weekend, that was good to see. No sign of Rumours, which the CBC seems to have abandoned but made no announcement. Little Mosque On The Prairie rolls on, but I don't think it's retaining the ratings that the CBC hoped for. Unfortunately, the writing is to blame. When you can see the 15 or 30 second preview for the upcoming show and already feel like you've watched the whole show, you know you have a problem. It could be so much better if they didn't fall into typical sitcom scenarios where you can predict the plot a mile away.

Air Farce is celebrating their 300th episode on March 30th with a live show.

March is a wasteland of shows taking breaks, and I find that a bit frustrating. You never know if a particular show will be running on a given week, or if it's taking a few weeks off to premiere a mid-season replacement.

I'm tired of hearing reports of how Autumn Reeser (Taylor) "revitalized" The O.C. this season. Am I the only one who found her incredibly annoying? The forced pairing of her and Ryan was useless and really didn't make any sense. It was like the writers were saying, "Hey, we have these two characters, let's just put them in a relationship even if it doesn't make any sense for them to be together. The show's ending anyway." You know what: she didn't "revitalize" it that much, because now it's canceled. I don't dislike her as an actress, but the character was just annoying and had no chemistry with Ryan. They should have ended the series last season when Marissa died. To end this rant on a bright note, SoapNet is airing The O.C. from the beginning starting on April 9th. I miss the glory days of the first season of this show, so I may re-watch some of it, while I still have my Dad's satellite dish hooked up.

Speaking of said satellite dish, I've been recording tons of original Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes. Really enjoying them, and since they're only half hour installments, they're easy to watch.

Two of my favorite shows at the moment are Ugly Betty and Men In Trees. Ugly Betty is campy and just so much fun to watch; pure entertainment. I actually wasn't expecting to like Men In Trees, but I have grown attached to it. I think Anne Heche has had enough time out of the limelight to do this role and not have people only think about her past actions. I think she's doing well in the role and I hope she continues to grow the character.

ER is boring me. I'm not sure why I'm hanging on to watching it. It has finally reached a point where all of the original characters are gone, and the ones currently on the show don't do anything that isn't frustrating or boring. This is another case where TV critics attribute the revitalization of a show to an actor, in this case, John Stamos. Yeah, he's a more famous actor than most on the show, and perhaps he draws fans who previously didn't watch the show. So far the character hasn't really done anything to write home about. I suspect next season will be the last for ER.

When actors who are in a show together end up dating in real life, why do writers seem to want to pair them together onscreen as well? I don't understand why they have bothered to pair Cameron and Chase on House, other than the fact that they are engaged in real life. Can't people just work together? What's the harm in that? At least this has only taken the tact of them sleeping together and hasn't become a huge storyline on the show... yet.

Desperate Housewives. Better this season, but just put Gaby and Carlos back together already. How long is Carlos going to live at Mike's house?

I do like the addition of Logan (Chris Noth) to Law & Order: CI, but Vincent D'Onofrio, Super Genius, is still my favorite character on the show. It took the Captain (Eric Bogosian) a while to grow on me, but he's ok now. I do miss the ADA (Courtney B. Vance), though.

On regular Law & Order, I am not a big fan of the new female lawyer, nor the new female detective. They're meh.

Why can't ATV air Ebert & Roeper at the proper time? Why do I always end up getting pieces of CSI: Miami reruns?

Another weekend down

I had a reasonably good weekend. It began Friday night when Jay came over. We had some Chinese food and watched Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent. Decent movie, seemed like a bit of a different vein for Hitch, but the best part was watching the special features after the movie. I think I got much more out of certain aspects of the movie after having the extra commentary. Later that evening I had my usual Friday night phone call with John.

Saturday I slept in. I decided with the impending rain that I had better clean out the snow that had been gathering at my basement door, and also clean off parts of the deck so I could walk down to the compost bin. Unfortunately, that meant some strenuous shoveling because there were a couple of layers of snow and ice to get through. Took me a while, but I managed to get most of it cleared away and it was likely a good thing that I did. I didn't end up having any flooding problems this weekend, so that was good. Dad found a sump pump that he thinks will be good for the basement, so that needs to be ordered & installed. With the weather warming up, I'm going to have to keep an eye on things down there.

Going through 2 layers of ice pretty much wore me out, so I crashed on the couch after that. Went to church, and then afterward ran around picking up some groceries for my mother. She's been pretty sick with strep throat and hasn't been able to leave the house in a week. She also had to cancel her trip to Montreal to see my brother, SIL and nephew because she's nowhere near well enough to travel yet. I hope she can reschedule and get to Montreal at another time.

Sunday was a better day than I expected. I had to go in to work at 1pm to help install a piece of equipment. I wasn't convinced that it would work, but it worked on the first try and I was done within half an hour. I made a couple of catch-up phone calls after I got home. My grandfather called around supper time asking if I would go out and bring him some food, which I did. He's still not feeling that well. I think we'll have to start getting someone in to cook meals for him. Sunday night T-L dropped by to chat and give me a card. It was nice to see her, we hadn't chatted in quite a while. Later, I chatted and then phoned John. Can't wait until he arrives on Friday.

Thankfully ok

It was a worrisome day today, but thankfully John wasn't in any kind of extreme danger.

It's hard being across the continent and getting a phone call that says your husband has been taken to the hospital. Even just as a precaution, that's not something you want to hear.

I'm very thankful this didn't happen while he was home, alone. Caly isn't very good at using the phone. Lots of people were around to notice he wasn't doing well. It's good to have people who care.

10 weird things

Having been tagged by Mare, I refer you to an old blog post in which I actually voluntarily listed the things that made me weird. I do need to add a 10th point though.

10. I eat popcorn as a meal. Regularly.


Updates:

6. I do like hot chocolate, that's the only opaque beverage I'll drink.

7. My aversion to food shaped like animals actually happened earlier than I realized. Apparently, Nana used to always make molasses cookies in the shape of gingerbread men. My mother says I found this upsetting and Nana started using a flower shape instead. I have no memory of that, but it's an interesting story.

Caly

A couple of pics of Caly from my last trip:

She was looking very cute and I went for my camera, but then she moved and just looks annoyed in this pic. She got blinded by the flash.



Couldn't get her looking at the camera.


She seemed to be good with me right off the bat on this trip. I think she's learned that two people giving her attention is even better than one.

Mmmmm, chocolate

Someone just walked into my office and offered me the last piece of Leonidas Belgian chocolate from a box she brought in. Her husband frequently travels to Belgium for work.

She didn't knock, but she came bearing gifts, so I'm not cranky about that one. :)

I miss the Leonidas stand in Moncton. :(

Just knock

In my office, I sit with my back to the door. I don't like doing that, but it's the only way I can sit. My chair back is high and obstructs the view of my phone, meaning that people can't tell when I am talking on the phone. This would not be a problem if people walked up to my door, knocked, waited for me to say "hello" or some kind of response, and then proceeded into my office.

Instead, I am constantly bombarded by people walking straight into my office, without knocking, chatting away at me [in some cases very loudly] like I am able to listen. Not only are they disrupting my phone call, but they're also wasting their breath because I am trying to concentrate on whatever problem the person on the phone is having. Other people walk in so quietly, without knocking, that by the time they are standing beside me and begin to speak, I've jumped 10 feet in the air because they scared me. I am often absorbed in my work and don't hear someone enter. My co-worker has to answer the "Is she on the phone" question multiple times per day. I can only imagine how aggravating that must be after the 10th time in the run of a day.

Knocking and waiting for a response doesn't seem to be in some people's realm of capability. How about this? Walk up to my door, come in, and step two steps to the right, then they would be able to easily see if either my in-use light was lit, or they'd be able to see the receiver's cord stretched out, indicating that I am holding the receiver to my ear. Simple? You'd think so.

This has been annoying me to the point where I have thought about trying to place a light on the wall above my desk that will indicate when my phone is in use. I've searched around on the internet for such a device, but all I can find are circuit diagrams of how to make one.

I just don't understand what's so hard about knocking before entering.

Tired

I'm feeling the jet lag today. I didn't begin to attempt sleep until 1:30am, and had to get up at 7am for work.

I had a tight connection and a bad flight yesterday. It started out by the plane sitting on the tarmac in Vegas for an hour, waiting for a storm to pass and a place in line to take off. Since I didn't have much time for a connection in Montreal even if things were on time, I was starting to wonder if I was going to have another overnight visit with my brother and SIL.

The flight itself was annoying, to say the least. The people in the row behind me seemed to enjoy using my chair back as support, so I got jostled around every time they moved. The man in front of me couldn't seem to decide if he was going to sit straight up or recline, and thus kept hitting my laptop. While trying to watch a movie through this, a flight attendant walked by and suddenly there was water all over my head and running down my neck. I was pretty pissed off, and about to point out to her that she should watch where she was going, but the speaker came on and they asked if there was a doctor on board. Complaining about water when someone is sick is petty, so I mopped myself up and silently thanked the fact that she hit me instead of my open laptop. When we landed, we needed to wait for EMTs to board before we were allowed off. I had to run for Customs, so I didn't have time to stop and complain about the water incident. I made it through Customs without a problem or wait, but then had the usual 20 minute wait for my luggage. It came off the belt and I grabbed it and ran for the agent. I then ran for the connecting baggage drop-off, and thankfully this time I made it. While I enjoy seeing my brother, I really just wanted to get home.

The flight to SJ was ok for the most part, with the exception of the guy sitting next to me who didn't seem to understand or care about having his carry-ons stowed. He had two, and they both sat at his feet. He had them between his feet, of course meaning that he encroached on my space. I am not a large person, but I like my personal space. I was annoyed, but didn't make a big deal out of it. At least I didn't get water dropped on me again.

I wasn't feeling too bad when I arrived at work this morning, but I'm now feeling pretty tired. I am looking forward to going home, starting the fire, hitting the couch, and catching up on the TV I recorded when I was away.

Technically no longer single

Last Friday, John and I went to the Old Orange County Courthouse to become legally married.

It was not exactly what I had in mind anytime I pictured myself getting married. For me, weddings always involved my church, statements before God, and the joy of leaving the building as husband and wife to go celebrate with family and friends. I intend on having that wedding... just not right now. The civil wedding plans were a necessity in order for us to submit John's immigration application with a much better chance of being accepted. In the government's eyes, if you're getting married anyway, just do it and then apply for immigration. They don't make any allowances for religious beliefs, and we don't feel like gambling on an unmarried immigration application and taking even more time to get answers.

It took me a while to work through my feelings about a civil wedding. At first I didn't seriously consider it an option; it was a last resort. As time wore on, and I thought about my dislike at the idea of having a hasty, unplanned church wedding for the sake of the government, I had to look at this option realistically. I spoke with a lot of people about it, being the type of person who relies on input from others to make decisions. My friends and family all seemed to say "why not?" (except my mother, as could be expected.) My priest was hesitant, but understanding the reasons behind a civil wedding and that it was not intended as a replacement for a church wedding, he accepts this decision and will marry us later in the church. After months of thinking, talking, and deciding, I was finally accepting of going forward with a civil wedding as a means to an end, with a promise of the religious aspects to be fulfilled at a later date.

It's kind of funny because I spent so much time leading up to the wedding worrying about how much things were going to be different and how much my life would change. Now that it's over, well, things are pretty much exactly the same. We are still apart, having to chat via IM or phone, both frustrated and lonely. John kept telling me things wouldn't be changing after we got married, and he was right. :)

The ceremony itself was the epitome of short & sweet. The whole thing was complete in under an hour and we didn't even have to refill the parking meter. We arrived, filled out our forms on a terminal, and we were the first ones called in of the bunch of us who were waiting. The deputy clerk verified our IDs, took our money, and had us sign the paperwork. She then took us to a corner room with a podium and we stood there and had the ceremony. We recited vows and that was it. I was pretty nervous leading up to it, but about halfway through my vows it hit me that this ceremony was just another step in the paperwork process -- I'll still have my opportunity to don the white dress and recite the vows surrounded by people who care about me.

After the ceremony, his mom took some pictures of us out in front of the courthouse. Then, as is the custom after a wedding, we went to Sam's Club. Seriously, we did. It makes for a funny story... "So, what did you do after you got married? Did you have a reception or celebration?" "We went to Sam's Club." I've been laughing about that ever since, LOL! After stopping there, we did go to Olive Garden for lunch. It's just that we were done at 11am and it was still early for lunch, and I wanted to stop there at some point on my visit. What? You wouldn't have done the same? :)

Had it not been for John's mom coming down and joining us to be our witness, the ceremony would have been incredibly lonely. While a wedding is technically just between two people, it is really an event that should be shared with others. We purposefully didn't ask for anyone else to join us for the civil ceremony, but I have to say that I am looking forward to having lots of people around for our church wedding. I'll try and keep that in mind when I start thinking about the money we'll have to spend to hold this event.

Since I arrived in Vegas yesterday, work colleagues have been asking me why I am not on my honeymoon or why John wasn't joining me in Vegas. What some fail to realize is that we won't really and truly feel married until it happens in front of our family and friends, and [for me] God. I am not wearing a wedding band, I did not wear a real wedding dress, and I will not be changing my name right away. All of those things will happen with and around the church wedding. Technically we will have 2 anniversaries. Some people have asked me which one we will celebrate. That's the least of our worries!!

We started to fill out the paperwork for immigration this weekend before I left for Vegas. John has to get police clearances and medical examinations completed before we file. Those will take some time to assemble, but I hope not too long. As expected, once we began actually filling out the paperwork, it created more questions. As we detail everything, we're also gathering questions which we will need clarification on. At least we have a decent legal contact now who will answer our questions.

I left SoCal on Monday in yet another tearful goodbye. I spent some time walking the Strip tonight but with the cold wind and being by myself, I wasn't finding much to do. I don't gamble, drink, nor can I afford to see a show right now. I have already filled my suitcase to the brim with a couple of items I bought in SoCal, so I can't do any more shopping because I don't have any more room (plus the stores nearby are expensive). Now I just want to go home. If I can't be with John, I just don't feel like being anywhere other than home. I leave tomorrow, and then it's back to work on Thursday.

For pics, click here.

V-day

A happy valentine's day to you all, if you choose to have one, or if you choose to ignore it, happy wednesday. I received a dozen red roses today (my favorite) from John. Thanks :)

A large storm is coming our way today, so tonight for me will be spent at home, avoiding the storm and chatting with John. Pretty much a usual evening. We'll go out for dinner next week when I'm in SoCal.

An update on my car: I happened to be talking to one of my co-workers in PEI yesterday and mentioned how I wasn't looking forward to paying in the $400 range to fix it while only having a few months left on the lease. He mentioned that he had a local supplier who sells a cheaper version of the part I need, sort of the no-name brand of part, with a 1 year warranty. Since I won't have this car a year from now, that makes no difference to me. So, I am able to get the same part for $78 +tax, then take it and just pay the 1h labour for installation. I should end up coming in under $200. That is a huge help in the money department.

Week of broken items

Yesterday the ABS warning light came on in my car. Not wanting to mess with my brakes, I took it in to be looked at today. The good news is that nothing is wrong and I am driving around safely. The bad news is that the speed sensor needs to be replaced in order for the light to go out. That sensor does not come separately, of course, but as a part of the whole wheel bearing assembly. Even after my discount, this will cost me over $400. I can ignore the light, but my lease is up in 3 months and I have to turn the car back in without problems like these. I still haven't done anything to fix the cracked front bumper, which will be an even more expensive problem. I just replaced a different wheel bearing a month ago. No more 4 year leases for me -- next time I am going to purchase or make sure my warranty is the same length of time as the lease.

My zipper also broke off on my winter jacket. This has been a pain in the ass the last few days. Now I'll have to get a new zipper put in it, which is annoying because I'll have to be without it while I drop it off to be fixed. It's just never the same when you have to rip open the original seams and re-sew a new area.

Basement

I am posting in chunks today, as the thought of a mondo update has been keeping me away from blogging.  So, small updates it is.

 

The only good side effect of the extreme cold is that my basement has not flooded again.  My Dad hasn't had the time to come over and start ripping up cement to make a big enough hole for the sump pump.  He is actually in Ontario getting cataract removal surgery today.  I hope he makes out ok.  They do one eye today and the other eye next month.

 

I did put a dent in some of the reorganization I needed to do in the basement.  I sorted and sifted through my stuffed animal collection, picking out animals which I feel could find a better home than in a box in my basement.  I hate giving animals up, which is why I am still left with 5 large plastic bins full of them, plus the animals I keep upstairs.  I sorted them and put them into a different bin depending on the type: my oldest animals, which I am keeping for sentimental reasons; my Beanie collection, and miscellaneous animals which I want to keep but aren't necessarily part of a category.  I ended up with a box of animals which I couldn't remember who gave them to me, or they didn't really hold any significance, so I decided to donate those animals to another home.  DARE is always looking for donated animals to give to children, so that is where I send them since my Dad's company is involved with the program.

 

By the time I was finished sorting and putting the animals into the bins, my label maker ran out of tape.  I bought new tape but haven't yet made it back down to the basement to label the last bin and begin the even larger project of sorting through my books.  That's the next step in the process.  A lot of these boxes haven't been sorted through in any kind of detail since I moved into my house, almost 3 years ago.  Some books have been boxed for even longer than that.  Should be interesting to see what long-lost items I find.

 

This is also a necessary step to make room for a large comic book collection which will need storage space in the [hopefully] near future.  Plastic bins are nowhere near as fun for Caly to pee on.  :)

Ring

I dropped my engagement ring off to be sized on Thursday January 18th. They said it would likely take two weeks, but they would call if it was done earlier. I left them my work phone number, since their operating hours were 10-6 during weekdays and 10-4 on Saturdays.

They called and left a message on Friday January 26th that my ring was done early... but they called at 5:40pm and I had already left the office. Since that was the only number I gave them, the message sat on my voicemail at work until Saturday at 3:30pm, when I happened to stop in my office and pick something up. By then it was too late to drive to Moncton to get it. I cursed myself for only leaving one phone number, for not thinking to check my work voicemail from home, and for a rare time where I didn't stay late at work and would have been here to get the call.

Last week was insanely busy. In order to be to Moncton before 6pm, I would have to leave work at 4pm. There was no way I could leave early last week, and also, strange as it was, there was no work reason to go to Moncton. I debated driving up on a few different nights, first Friday, but then I saw the forecast was for snow. I thought about Wednesday, but I couldn't leave early. Finally, I resigned myself to getting up and going on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse and at the last minute, the forecast changed and the weekend storm again prevented me from going. Still cursing myself at this point, and starting to go insane... I don't have John here, this ring is all I have, dammit!

Finally, this week on Monday, I decided I was leaving work at 4pm and driving to Moncton come hell or high snowbanks. It was a pretty windy drive, and biting cold, but the roads were bare most of the way so the drive was reasonable.

So I finally got my ring back, it fits much better now that it is 1/2 size smaller. They also cleaned it and buffed out the scratch I had put into it. I am relieved to have it back.


Morals to this story:

1) Winter sucks and often changes your plans
2) Leave 2 phone numbers or obsessively check voicemail

Garbage

A few days ago, when I was at a remote location, I replaced some equipment.  On the old equipment I wrote "GARBAGE" with a Sharpie and left it by the door, since it wouldn't fit in the garbage can.

 

This morning I picked up a voicemail from someone at that location asking me if they should throw it out.  Apparently I wasn't clear enough.

 

*bangs head on desk in frustration

Weird USB Drives

You all know how much I love stuffed animals, and how I can't stand to see them in "pain" to the point where I am unable to eat food shaped like animals. The pics below are of the winner of the top ten weirdest USB drives of 2007, according to fosfor gadgets.




































I admit, the bear is cute, but the fact that you have to remove its head in order to use the drive... I find that a bit disturbing! I'm trying to pretend that this bear is just sticking his head in the USB port to look for something. That takes my mind off the fact that his HEAD WAS REMOVED. Poor bear!!!!

Identity crisis

One L. Two Ss. It's really not that f***ing difficult.

This happens to me too often for it to be a typo or bad luck, and it's usually the same people over and over again. People just don't give a crap how they spell my [real] name. I think that's rude. It's especially annoying to see my name incorrectly spelled when 2 lines above the body of the email, in the To box, the email server has correctly resolved my name and displays it. Hey, shit-for-brains, look up! See that name? Yeah, that's how you spell it!!!

I have enough trouble with my last name as it is. Having my first name misspelled just adds to it. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

Seriously though, how do you handle these people who don't seem to give a crap? I want to, but can't, be unprofessional about it at work. I am, however, incredibly sick & tired of seeing my first name get mangled. I've come to expect it with my last name, but come on -- my first name is not difficult, and the company address book can tell you how to correctly spell it. Any suggestions?

I just realized

that I will be on the West coast for the Oscars. I won't have to stay up until 1am to see the end of the show! Woo-hoo!

Lonely finger

If you see me not wearing my engagement ring, it is just because I dropped it off for sizing yesterday at itaCast in Moncton. I've had it for 10 months now and it has been loose all but a couple of days during that time, so I decided it was time to have it fit me a bit better. Unfortunately when I sized myself initially, I didn't take into account that it needed to fit more snugly -- until now I'd never worn a ring on a regular basis.

It may take 2 weeks to finish the sizing, but I trusted getting it done there instead of locally. They do all of their own work on-site so it doesn't get sent away, and it was cheaper because that was where we bought the ring initially. If anything ever did happen to the ring during sizing, dealing with the store that sold it to us, they would be more likely to help us out.

I've never been a ring person, but I adapted quickly to wearing my engagement ring. It feels odd now when it's off my finger. I'm wearing my high school grad ring right now so I don't fall out of the ring-wearing habit. I keep doing a double-take though when I look down and see the crest instead of my diamonds & sapphire. :)

If anyone is looking for jewelry, I recommend going to itaCast. They have good stuff, and the prices are better than anything else I've seen. They'll even build something based on a picture or your own design. I'm glad I followed Jenn's recommendation. :)

Friday Feast

Appetizer
What comes to mind when you see the color orange?

Halloween, my favorite holiday.


Soup
Did you ever get in trouble while you were in school? If so, what was it for?

Once for looking out the door and down a hallway. Once for joining the crowd and slamming desk lids. I lived in fear of getting in trouble, so I really never did anything to get into the situation.


Salad
Which topping(s) make up your perfect pizza?

Ground beef and bacon


Main Course
Do you believe in UFOs/aliens/etc.? Why or why not?

I think there are other beings out there in the universe. I am not convinced that they do anal probes, though. I don't think alien visits to Earth are as widespread as some think. We're just not that interesting. It's hard to believe that humans are the only things out in space though.


Dessert
What color is your bedspread/comforter/quilt?

A light shade of purple, of course! What other color would I have?

Unfortunate event #2

This is not turning out to be a great week. On Monday night, I was at home, watching TV. I decided I'd better head downstairs to check the fire, and I was greeted with another flooded basement. I had been downstairs a couple of hours previously and it was dry, so needless to say, I was pretty surprised to see the amount of water.

My first thought was that the same problem I had before was back again. I checked the door and it was not flowing in through the area where I previously had a problem. There are 3 holes in my cement floor for pipes, two are in the future bathroom and one is by the sewer pipe in the storage room. What happened was that the water table reached so high a level that it came up through the holes and overflowed. The all rain-no snow winter we've been having has meant an excess of water hanging around, and Monday's rain was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The ditch that runs through the back of my property was also water-logged and stangnant, when it is normally supposed to be flowing. This wasn't helping the water level either. I called the City to come and look at the ditch, since it was them who required it to be installed. While they couldn't dispute that it was having an effect on the water table, the ditch itself wasn't directly causing the flooding in the basement. They were supposed to go back and look at the ditch yesterday and possibly clean it out a bit to get things flowing again. I haven't heard back from them, but will have to keep an eye out and see if the ditch gets better.

I called my Dad, who is in Boston with my brother at the diabetic clinic this week. I explained how the water was coming in. Supposedly double drain tile was installed when my house was built, but as anyone who watches Holmes on Homes knows, who knows if that is actually true. Dad recommended a sump pump as my cheapest, easiest, and likely best solution to prevent that from happening again. Once he's back I will have to get his help to get one installed.

I rushed around and got everything up onto plastic as best I could that night, but I now have some empty, soggy cardboard boxes hanging around. I plan on investing in some big plastic Rubbermaid totes to replace the large cardboard boxes I was using. I was also lucky that John had installed a door for me over the holidays. It had been lying on its side on the floor, and may have been damaged if it hadn't gotten installed.

I'm worried about finishing my basement though. Thankfully I had not invested in refinishing any more of the basement yet. I would like to get my bathroom finished next, and that would have a ceramic tile floor, so not a big deal if I had to deal with water again. The hard part is thinking about finishing the rest of the flooring. I had no plans anytime soon to put anything down in there, but it makes me wonder if I ever want take that risk. Realistically, after the sump pump is installed and working, the chances of my having another flood are reduced. There is always a risk of a crack in the cement, but you never know if that will occur in any home.

So it's been a stressful week for me. I've had no success changing a circuit board on my mother's hard drive, so all of her data is lost (unless I want to pay $125 on eBay for the same model and hope it works). Now I have a basement that is again recovering from a flood. Someone reminded me yesterday that bad things happen in threes. I hope that third thing is the work-related problem I'm having today and not anything else personal. I've taken enough hits right now, thanks!

Playing ostrich

I bought a new PC a few months back. My old one has been sitting around on the floor, waiting for me to find the time to set it up and give to my mother. I finally decided that I should stop putting it off and get started on it this weekend. I'll ghost her hard drive, leaving her with a usable PC and then I can take her existing hard drive and pick away at the new install as I have time over the next few evenings.

I go over to my mom's house, which is empty because she's working this weekend. I try and boot into Ghost from her floppy, just to make sure it works. It doesn't start the first time, but comes right up again on the second try. Ok, I should be all set. I hook up the secondary hard drive, and turn on the PC. It will not boot. I won't boot from the floppy, the old hard drive, nothing. I put it back the way it was; it still wouldn't boot. Angered, I disconnected everything and trudged to work, where I could plug the two drives in and do the ghosting. Everything went fine while at work.

I returned to my mom's house, hoping to be able to plug the drive in and have the PC boot up. Still no luck. Great, this means I have to spend the weekend totally setting up her PC so she has something to use. Not how I'd planned to spend my weekend, so I was a bit cranky about that. I spent last night installing XP, SP2, and the 68 updates after that. Then I imaged the new install so that the next time I had to do this, I wouldn't have to go back so far. When all of that was complete, I called it a night.

I got up this morning and turned on the PC, aiming to get the programs installed and the data moved over onto the new hard drive from the old. I started by installing anti-virus. This is the part where things take a big nose-dive.

I am sitting here, watching the status bar for the install, and all of a sudden I hear a noise that sounds like "pewwwwwwww" and the distinct smell of smoke. What in hell was that? The PC was still going, so it couldn't be the power supply. The install was still running, so it wasn't the hard drive. I walked around and started sniffing the PC, trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Couldn't see it right away. I walked back around to the PC, where an error message had popped up. "Write delay error on D:". Oh crap. That was the ghosted drive that just went up in smoke, the one with all of her data on it. There are no other backups.

Irony: the model name of the drive that burned is "Fireball".

Now I have to tell my mother that she has lost all of her data, and though it wasn't exactly my fault, she had entrusted it to me. I'd like to stick my head in the sand right about now.

A Not-So-Merry Christmas

My younger brother is, again, back in the hospital. It's the safest place for him right now. His swelling/bloating is so bad that he can't wear anything on his feet and his clothes are too tight. His kidney biopsy results came back and thank God the damage isn't progressing as fast as they thought. The kidneys are inflamed but he is not in dialysis stage yet, and they are giving him a new drug that will try and get him under control. The drug is new and not extensively used yet, so that is why he must stay in the hospital so they can monitor its progress. He won't be leaving the hospital this time until the fluid retention is gone, which means he will be in the hospital over Christmas. He also has MRSA, a form of staph infection, which means you have to dress up in gown, mask and gloves in order to visit him.

His "loving" girlfriend is still leaving tomorrow for Ontario, despite his poor health and hospital admission. If John were in the hospital, I wouldn't be leaving him behind. But at least it will be better with her gone -- she won't encourage him to ask for early discharge or get into any arguments.

So I guess this means I will be packing up some Christmas dinner and taking it up to him at the hospital. We can't bring his gifts up to him because he can't really use them, and with the staph infection, it's better to have as little exposed to it as possible.

Christmas Meme

Stolen from Mare & Kowy. First meme I've felt like answering in a while.


1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate. The only opaque beverage I like. I don't like eggs, even nogged.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Actually, neither. Santa would leave unwrapped presents on the couch, in the same room as the tree.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored all the way. I dislike plain white lights. They're BORING. Christmas is colorful in my world.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope. I don't need mistletoe to get kisses, I just ask John. :)

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Following Nana's rule, December 1st. As a kid, we never decorated until after my Dad's birthday on Dec. 9. Lately I will begin decorating on the first weekend after Dec. 1 as I don't have time during the week.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Hmmm, good question. Likely turkey.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
The year my dad gave my mom her sapphire ring was memorable. It was the happiest I'd ever seen her. Also, the year my younger brother opened up a present and saw that it was clothes, then chucked it over his head and kept on going with the other presents. Or the year my older brother caught my younger brother downstairs in the middle of the night, called out to him, and my younger brother ran screaming back upstairs and slept in way past the wake-up time.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Our Gr. 4 teacher deemed it her duty to tell us. I found out about the Easter Bunny after seeing a receipt. My mom had asked me to go through a stack and forgot she had written "Easter Bunny" on it.

9. Do you open a gift on christmas eve?
I used to, but I don't anymore.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Usually with a lot of frustration. By the time the tree makes it into the house, I'm tired and frustrated. As for decorations on the tree, I like lots of lights, and there must be Bubble Lights. I prefer real garland to beads. I have many ornaments that were gifts or mean something, so it is always a very personal tree.

11. Snow! love it or dread it?
Right before and during Christmas, I love it. After Christmas, no thanks.

12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, but I have weak ankles and don't last too long before needing a break.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
The year I got my first TV for my room. I still have that TV, it's in my office at home. I asked for one for a couple of years and was so excited to finally get one. And it was a color TV!

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Spending time relaxing. It's so stressful leading up to Christmas that I really enjoy the break from work and shopping and preparations.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
I don't really have anything specific to Christmas. I usually only do moco cakes around xmas.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Spending Christmas Eve with family, usually my mom's side. We used to host big parties with all of my aunts, uncles and cousins. This year I am not sure if anything will be happening, which makes me kind of sad. Hopefully something will develop.

I also always make a point of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch.

17. What tops your tree?
A star.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
I'll admit I am selfish; I do like receiving. But I take great pains with giving and work hard to make sure I don't give a crappy gift.

19. What is your favorite christmas song?
Good King Wenceslas

20. Candy canes:
Tasty, but only the traditional ones. Flavored candy canes = yuck.

21. Favorite Christmas movie?
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

22. What do you leave for Santa?
We used to leave cookies & milk. Sometimes a carrot for the reindeer.

But? But?

There will not be a Fromage 2006. I was looking forward to more Ed The Sock skewerings of videos.

Yodel

My brother made it through his biopsy today without problems. He seems to be doing ok and can go home tomorrow. Phew.

I went to the funeral parlour tonight in support of a co-worker who just lost her daughter. The lineup took an hour to get through, the amount of people there was incredible. She seems to be holding up fairly well considering the situation. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to lose a child though. Keep her in your thoughts/prayers.

I received notification tonight that my blog is now eligible to switch over to the new beta version. Great! Only when I tried it, it notified me that it couldn't process it. Apparently I have too large a blog, with posts and comments combined. Yay. So I'm stuck in the old version until they get more support for it.

I had some very confusing conversations about life insurance today. I signed some paperwork to increase my policy, but it isn't finalized because I didn't have a void cheque with me. After a conversation with my Dad tonight, I'm not convinced I should have proceeded with it. Since I still haven't handed over the money, I have time to take the paperwork and consider my options. I think I will do that. Despite (or maybe in spite of) my past financial background, I find investments of any kind to be very confusing. I don't fully understand them and I don't think I asked enough questions of myself today before going in to see the agent. I think I will take some more time to think things over.

It's in cases like these where I feel kind of dumb. I feel like I should know more about financial things, seeing as how I studied them for years. I guess that explains why I didn't make a good accountant. I just don't like admitting that because I worked so hard toward it.

Scott, Mare and Jack came over to help hang my outside lights on Sunday. Thanks for the help! My house is now finished being decorated, with the exception of getting a tree. That task will be next weekend's project. Dad is taking me up to the tree farm again, past Browns Flat, to cut one down. With the chain saw, of course. :)

Caution: contents under pressure

Just because a bottle of water is not carbonated does not mean that it is not under pressure. I exploded one on myself this morning at work. It was funny, after I cleaned everything up.

Saturday is my Dad's birthday, but I hope to still be able to make it to the Pub. Been a long time and I could use some karaoke. I could use some fun, period. Between my family crap and work crap, I'm not really having a good time anywhere.

I started my decorating this week. I have all but two sets of lights up inside. I need to purchase another timer, slap them up in the window, and then I'm all set. I did an online shopping blitz this week and now have most of my presents purchased. All that is remaining is to buy a couple of things for John's sock, and to do the bulk of the purchasing for my grandfather's sock. I should be able to knock that stuff off in one trip. Wrapping Central is set up in my basement. Still need to talk to Dad about going to get a tree, perhaps next weekend.

2 weeks to go until John arrives. I am really looking forward to some more quality time together. I'm glad it isn't as long between visits this time.

Oh hey, I got some news this week. I have a meeting for work that involves me going to Las Vegas at the end of February. Haven't been to Vegas before, and it is within driving distance of John. Something to look forward to in the middle of winter.

Help with lights

If anyone could spare the time this weekend, I could use some help with my outdoor Christmas lights. I just need to get two strings along the gutter of the front of my house, which involves a ladder, and not something I can do myself. My very tall younger brother usually helps me with that, but he's not well enough to stand on a ladder right now.

If you could lend me a hand, please let me know. I'd appreciate it!

Tired, already and still

Wow, am I tired. I just got back from vacation and already I could use another one. In the couple of days I have been home, events have been going so fast & furious that I definitely know I’m not in Kansas (or California) anymore.

My brother’s diagnosis of Lupus has been met with his unrealistic expectation that he will get better. His condition will not improve, but according to the doctors, it is quite manageable. Unfortunately his home situation is causing stress that isn’t helping, but he refuses to stay anywhere else for a while to rest and get away from the tension. He’s an adult and has to make his own choices, but he’s making poor ones right now. It’s difficult as his family to not step in and take over and just start telling him what to do. He doesn’t seem capable of taking care of himself. I keep waiting for the mechanism to kick in that will make him realize he needs to smarten up and straighten his life out. He has made a couple of positive steps this week, so I am hoping that trend will continue, if he can just stay out of the hospital. My mother had to take him up to the hospital again last night because his blood pressure was dangerously high. The doctors were checking for risk of stroke from blood clots, but they did eventually send him home.

I got stuck in Montreal coming home from California on Monday night. While I was angry that they wouldn’t hold the plane for me, it did give me a chance to see my older brother and sister-in-law. I haven’t seen my SIL since April and my brother since my grandfather’s funeral in June. It was a quick visit but any visit is good with them.

My older brother and SIL have actually decided to come home for a visit this weekend, and it will give him a chance to talk to my younger brother in person. YB looks up to OB, and it will make YB feel better to have a visit with OB. They are flying down tomorrow and arriving in Fredericton, so I have to drive up there to pick them up. With the possibility of bad weather, I wrote to my Dad (who is on vacation) and asked to borrow his truck for tomorrow, in case I need it.

I have not been feeling very well since I got back. The mental stress with all of this family circus has been taking its toll already. I am also jetlagged and feel like a cold may be inevitable. I feel like I could sleep for a couple of days straight.

One positive thing that happened this week with regards to my brother’s health is that he was able to finally reach the clinic in Boston and make an appointment to go down the second week of January. They specialize in diabetes but also look at your overall health. He’ll get better attention and more doctors who know what they’re doing.

Other than family issues, not much else has been going on. I aim to try and decorate for Christmas this weekend, before things get any busier. John shipped me his old TiVo, which I have installed and it seems to be working quite well so far. I am feeling the usual bout of loneliness after having been with John for a week. Welcome back to reality, which contains cold weather and stress.