|
Sorry about the delay. I spend so much time staring at a computer during the day I can't bring myself to do it at night. I am afraid it is only going to get worse. Per the Prez's money-saving initiative, the contractors that work in our area will be gone 30 Sep and we will get all their work. This is good for you taxpayers, as you will no longer be paying the middleman, the contractor, to do government work, you'll be paying us Federal employees direct, which is cheaper, but we're going to be SWAMPED and my eyes will not be in a condition to stare at a computer once I get home. So bear with me for a while.
Something actually did happen during my vast, or at least half-vast, silence. My father had a bypass after he flunked the stress test. I was surprised they could do such surgery on an 82-year-old, but the cardiologist said they do them all the time on people who are 90 and older.
Dan's shoe inserts are in at the foot dr. He's pleased. He was afraid he was going to miss half the summer.Current Mood:  busy |
|
I have been trying to Friend you ever since you set up your new Live Journal and it won't take for some reason. Can you please Friend me so I can Friend you back?
More later, I want this to stay at the top so as to increase the chance she'll see this.Current Mood:  tired |
|
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc--a bunch of religions have holidays at this time of year. I hope yours is wonderful!
While we're on the subject of religion, I suggest that all you Christians go over here: http://ravingtheist.com , and welcome this guy aboard. I thought at first he'd been hacked, or it was a tasteless joke. He used to be ravingatheist.com . However, Christian blogger http://dawneden.blogspot.com knows him in real life, and she says it's a genuine conversion, so let's welcome him to the family and wish him a merry Christmas. I don't know if he started studying Western civilization and found all roads lead to Rome, or God slapped him upside the head on the road to Wheeling, as if he were St. Paul, or what happened. The last time I looked at his site, he had posted no details. I hope he does, because I'm curious.
I recommend a doggone good read: Dog's Best Friend, by Mark Derr. This is an old book, I just found it, but it's in print--if the bookstore doesn't have it you can order a copy through Amazon. It tells about the myriad things dogs do, from the sublime--saving lives--to the silly--playing Frisbee. I couldn't put it down.
We had an unexpected ice storm Tuesday, and I think our installation is short of salt (the cost has gone up 300% around here), so they did not salt. I was wearing ice treads and could still barely walk. It has been a long time since I was as relieved as I was when I made it to my car.Current Mood: tired |
|
*burp*
We're still enjoying the leftovers.Current Mood:  full |
|
I'm sleepy today.
We keep getting a pop-up message wanting us to update our credit card. We don't pay with a credit card. Called the provider--they have no idea why it's there and can't get it to go away. They promise they're not going to cut us off. So we'll see what happens. If anyone wants to send me anything really important, like a really good joke, though, you had best send it to my office just in case. (They have to be G-rated to come to the office, otherwise they will get blocked & I'll never see them anyway, so just hold any slightly risque jokes till we get all this sorted out.)
I went to the library today. Big deal, you say. Well, in a way, it is, because I hadn't been for several weeks. I had a sinus infection during the entire month of October, and didn't do anything other than go to work. A few days I couldn't even do that. I didn't even put up Halloween decorations, other than hanging a creature on the door, and Dan didn't come home so he wasn't there to decorate either. We're going to decorate for Xmas this weekend. Pending further disaster.
Isn't this exciting? Aren't you glad I updated?
In other news, the mechanic says the Ford is healthy. (I bet the company that built it wishes they could say the same! Ha!) I am wondering at what point we are in an official depression. Has anybody had time to look this up? I sure hope it doesn't take a world war to turn things around like it took to turn around the last depression.
We went to Perkins this a.m. and got pancakes (me) and French toast (Dan). Hadn't been there for a while either. The manager mentioned his wife has also been sick for a month; the way he described her symptoms, it sounds like the poor soul has exactly what I had in October.Current Mood:  sleepy |
| » Post-election Novena (Important!) |
|---|
Well, the U. S. election has come and gone, and across this divided land, men of good will, and even men of bad will, have finally come together in a mighty chorus of agreement: "THANK GOD THAT'S OVER!"
Regardless of whether your candidate won or lost, you have to live with the winner for the next two or four years, depending on the office. Therefore, Christians of the Roman persuasion have organized a rosary novena, starting today and running through presidential Inauguration Day, asking God to guide our leaders, tne new ones and the re-elected ones, to lead us wisely. We invite everyone to join. If you're a Christian and your tradition doesn't include the rosary, or if you're a member of another religion, say whatever prayer is appropriate for this intention. The novena is open to residents of every nation--our president, who has his finger on The Button, has international impact. So--ready--set--pray!
In other news, Dan and I just got back from the eye dr; we both get new glasses. I sure wish I could wear contact lenses. Unfortunately, my eyes are too dry.
Happy birthday to Lady Heartilly!
Nov. 10th, 2008 @ 05:02 pm
|
| » Dan Continues His Winning Streak... |
|---|
...at the dentist. He's never had a cavity. He's scrupulous about brushing, but I think he also inherited either his dad's or my dad's good teeth. My mom was also scrupulous about brushing and still ended up with a lot of cavities. So I think heredity has a lot to do with it. (Keep brushing anyway, fillings are expensive.)
Does anybody reading this vote in the presidential election? If so, have you picked a lesser evil? I never vote for president because your vote doesn't really count. The electoral college can pick anybody they want. If I did vote for president, this year I'd be having a hard time deciding who's the lesser evil. I wish we had a political party that Christians could support without reservations.
Oct. 13th, 2008 @ 04:25 pm
|
| » A Little Irony is Good for Your Blood |
|---|
In the 2004 Presidential election, the unauditable voting machines used in Ohio were made by the Diebold company, whose owner had promised to "deliver the state for President Bush." Someone certainly delivered the state for Bush, or we think they did--hard to tell when there's no audit trail--and Bush went on to serve the 2004-2009 term. Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, who just happened to be a Republican, like Bush, saw nothing wrong with the Diebold promise. Blackwell also wrote a new absentee-voter law for the state. This law was duly passed.
Times changed, and the Ohio secretary of state is now a Democrat. She is, if you can believe this, actually enforcing this absentee voter law! Blackwell is therefore suing the state. Which, since he wrote the law, means he is essentially suing himself.
Oct. 5th, 2008 @ 10:43 am
|
| » The Fiscal Year's Over |
|---|
Where I work, we are all very relieved.
Today Dan went through a corn maze. He was in there for an hour. He got lost! It must have been one hell of a tough maze. Dan NEVER gets lost. In 29 years he has only been lost once, in lovely Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is so confusing that my aunt who's lived there all her life has been lost there.
Oct. 4th, 2008 @ 06:30 pm
|
| » Do you like Japanese food? |
|---|
If so:
http://www.justbento.com
http://www.justhungry.com
(Hon-dashi will be found at the Asian grocery in a red-and-white box. The way to remember it is, to think "You ain't nothin' but a hon-dashi..."")
I like Japanese food because, unlike Chinese food, you can make it yourself and it'll taste like it does in the restaurant. Still working on getting Dan to try most of it. The problem is, although Japanese food is delicious, most of it LOOKS like you just did an autopsy. So he squints at it suspiciously and then says, "Maybe I'll try it next time."
I think there is a conspiracy. Against me. Every time the powers-that-be shuffle the seating around where I work, they put me beside a drama queen. NO MORE DRAMA! (she yelled dramatically)
Aug. 17th, 2008 @ 09:44 am
|
| » Oops! |
|---|
Well, I should know better than to make promises in the last quarter of the fiscal year. I apologize. However, I'll update every week starting 1 October.
We have to go in every Saturday from now till the end of FY and "entitle" payments (this means you write up all the paperwork saying it's OK to pay the contractor, and then the disbursing area cuts him his actual check). Poo. I don't mind the extra money, but they insist on doing it on Saturday, rather than throughout the week, which is a big nuisance and very disruptive.
Dan & I went to see The Dark Knight. I swear, these Batman movies get worse and worse. It was too long and terribly depressing, and also most of it seemed to have been filmed by the light of a 40-watt bulb and was therefore difficult to see. Heath Ledger's performance is everything the critics say it is, but don't waste your time and money. (And why does Bruce Wayne put on that obscene-phone-caller whispery voice when he's Batman? All it does is add sleaziness. Yuck.)
Many, many years ago way back before Dan was born, I read an article about a set of identical quadruplets who all became mentally ill, poor souls. Wondered about them for years. I finally got hold of the book about them. (It was published in 1963! I was 4 years old!) I thought the book was a biography, but it turned out to have been written by a bunch of psychiatrists, so it's only part biography, and part Freudian blah-blah, because at the time everybody blamed your mom if you were mentally ill. I'm working my way through the biography part, will write a review once I finish. I will tackle the Freudian part, and if it's not too stupid, and not too full of $10 words (we don't have a medical dictionary), and I will review it too. I must say that if the book weren't about such a sad topic, I'd be enjoying reading it; since it was published in 1963, it was written in English, not Feminist, and it's just such a relief not to have to wade through a bunch of awkward "he or she" and "him or her" constructions.
Jul. 20th, 2008 @ 04:26 pm
|
| » Mea Culpa |
|---|
I missed last week; I completely forgot it! I apologize. But nothing happened anyway.
My former sister-in-law, or whatever you call your brother's ex-wife, is terminal. I haven't seen her in years, I guess I will just send flowers. This all happened quite suddenly, apparently.
I bought a rice cooker; dr advised me to switch to brown rice, and I just can't cook the stuff. Either it boils over or it comes out half raw. According to all the happy people who wrote to Amazon, this particular model will cook brown rice.
Jun. 15th, 2008 @ 11:47 am
|
| » I'm Normal and I Can Prove It |
|---|
I had my first EKG a while back and I had a Q-wave, which can mean you had a heart attack, so I got sent for a nuclear stress test. The cardiologist said as far as he can tell my heart was fine and explained that in a minority of people a Q-wave is normal.
I am normal, I tell you! I am!
To have a nuclear stress test, you have some kind of radioactive stuff injected into a vein, and then they do an MRI-type scan. Then you go walk on a treadmill for a few minutes while you chat with the cardiologist and he studies your EKG that's running while you walk. Then they finally let you go get the caffeine you haven't been allowed for 24 hours before the test. Then you get one more scan, and that's it.
If I begin to glow in the dark, somebody's got some 'splainin to do.
May. 29th, 2008 @ 12:20 pm
|
| » Chinese Belly Dancers in Cowboy Hats! |
|---|
Among the many acts performing today at the International Festival. I thought their routine was kind of cute, myself. And where but the U.S. would you see Chinese belly dancers in cowboy hats?
Do the rest of you old folks notice more hostility between ethnic groups these days? I do. I think it's a darn shame. It seems like the more that businesses and the government talk about diversity, the less we have. Maybe we should all just ask businesses and the government to stop making an issue of it and just all get acquainted at our own pace. I'm not proposing revoking anti-discrimination laws, I think we need those, but I think diversity programs and classes and whatnot mostly annoy people and in reaction they cling to their own little group more than they would have otherwise.
Yipe. Sorry about the long silence. My life is so boring I didn't think anyone would notice. I promise to do better.
My dr. tells me I have a bad case of Americanitis and to lose some more weight. So it's Japanese food for me! This is not a big sacrifice because I like it anyway, but we didn't often have it because Dan's not big on soup and pickles, and how can you have Japanese meals without soup and pickles? However, he has agreed to try different versions till we find something we both like.
Apologies again, especially to Koko! If you get a chance, head east and visit, and we'll spoil you. Seems like the least I can do.
May. 17th, 2008 @ 07:53 pm
|
| » Hi Everybody |
|---|
Sorry about the long silence. Because of the BRAC, we have had a lot of new work come in and we are all working a lot of overtime, and so the last thing I want to do on my own time is stare at a computer. I hope all is well and that everyone had a nice Halloween, Xmas, Easter, and all other holidays in that time period.
Mar. 23rd, 2008 @ 06:10 pm
|
| » Still Alive |
|---|
Sorry about the long silence. At the end of the fiscal year, about the last thing I want to see at the end of the day is a computer. Then after 30 September, it takes me a couple of weeks to recover.
The kitten was duly captured and taken to the animal shelter, where he was much better off. I hope they found him a good home. He was a cutie.
Dan is interested in Vikings. So are a lot of other people, it turns out. There's a local Viking historical society of about 300 people.
Oct. 14th, 2007 @ 02:29 pm
|
| » Various |
|---|
There's a tiny kitten, about a month old, hiding under my porch, and it's too frightened to come out. I left it alone for about 3 days, hoping it would get hungry enough to come out, but the mewing just got weaker, and I was afraid it would die (at 98 degrees outside--yipe!) so I have been feeding and coaxing it. It still won't come out, though if I go back inside and come back out half an hour later the food has disappeared. Then again, since it's been 98 degrees out, I haven't been hanging around outside coaxing steadily. When the weather improves I'll try again.
I broke my toe. Ow.
Has anyone else noticed the population getting steadily stupider? (Is that a word?) This isn't a political joke along the lines of the famous headline "How Could 46 Million Americans Be So Dumb?" I'm serious. It seems like the average person these days is too stupid to pick his nose. It's almost impossible to get anything done without repeated requests, not because they're not cooperating but because they're too stupid to understand what you're asking.
Aug. 25th, 2007 @ 09:52 am
|
| » Fair |
|---|
The fair we went to was, at best, fair. The contractor wouldn't let Dan on the merry-go-round (too tall & too heavy), and that's his favorite ride. Poo.
He did get to see the horse show.
I got an award from the other Government thugs for keeping my jackboots well polished. Grin.
Is there an epidemic of wanting to learn going on? I certainly hope so. And in the last two weeks I have explained to two people who Martin Luther was and his connection with the Lutherans. Normally I get one every six months, if that.
Aug. 11th, 2007 @ 09:44 am
|
| » No, the Last Word is NOT "Scar" |
|---|
And who else immediately turned to the last page? Fess up!
Yes, I thought so. Me too.
Back after I see who kicks the bucket. Or bumps the log, as we say at our house. My mom has George Bush Disease, things come out garbled, and once she meant to say someone had kicked the bucket and came out with "He bumped the log."
Jul. 21st, 2007 @ 12:11 pm
|
| » A Cautionary Tale |
|---|
The background, in which one Episcopal priestess attacked another:
http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/4248/
I'm not an Episcopalian, so I ain't got a dog in this particular fight, but I wanted to seize the opportunity to remind everyone that Children and Family Services (or whatever it's called in your state--the people who can take your kids away) is frequently used as a weapon, as we see here. If you are homschooling or if you are involved in an unpopular political cause, such as 2nd Amendment activism, you must be particularly careful.
This concludes today's public service announcement.
Jul. 15th, 2007 @ 05:56 pm
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
alashiya's journal