An Engineer's Guide to Cats

OMG. This guy is the male me.

Sundays

I love Sundays. My plan for today is a pot of Millstone Hazelnut Cream coffee, the DVD of Project Runway, Season 1 that a friend lent me, and my sadly neglected cross-stitch.

First though, I need to find handcream - I was cleaning again, and the bleach dried out my hands until they're in danger of cracking as I type. Ouchie.

Well, I went a-hunting yesterday and came up empty*. My stereo and my boombox both died so to listen to CDs, which I do a lot, I have to either use the laptop or my TV, which has a DVD player and a VHS player built in. I thought my needs were simple. All I want is something fairly small with either a 3 or a 5 disk changer. That's it. I've been to 2 Walmarts, Sam's Club, Target, Best Buy AND Circuit City and almost totally struck out.

But, I was quite irritated with Circuit City. If I hadn't been heading into hour 7 of my shopping spree, I'd have kicked up much more of a fuss. First, have you tried to find someone to help you in one of those places? Holy crap. I had to actively discourage probably 7 helpful employees at Best Buy. Circuit City? Total wasteland. The only thing I found even close to what I wanted was an under-cabinent kitchen radio thing with a 3 disk changer. The sample model was displayed with a prominant $79.99 price tag. The only ones they had on the shelf looked exactly the same but rang up at $99.99. When I demanded to know the difference, the cashier called over someone who said something about the more expensive one having a digital tuner - and of course they didn't have the cheaper one. Normally, I'd have left with that one, having paid $79.99 as was displayed. This time I was tired and hungry and my feet hurt so I said, "fine, never mind" and walked out, leaving $200 worth of stuff on the counter. I will not go back to a Circuit City.

* Maybe not exactly empty-handed... I did my heavy, once every other year, stock up on cleansers and such at Sam's Club and I found a jewelry store going out of business (discounted shiny things!) and I hit the bookstore pretty hard (they actually gave me two discount cards free, and comp'd my yummy coffee drink) and - gods help me - I've started my Christmas shopping so not really empty handed, just without a stupid cd player. *growl*

Anyway, coffee's ready and the race is over so I'm going to go immerse myself in Project Runway goodness.

Emptying My Brain...

which probably won't take that long.

I'm on linkedin, and whilst exploring the edges of my network, I discovered that I am only three degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon. This entertained me enormously. I totally win that game!

The plumber came to the house on Wednesday so hopefully my water situation is fixed. And, since I was honest before I thought better of it, they left a message for my landlord, which accomplished more with one call than I've managed in several weeks with several calls - he showed up too. I like how the city said that it was totally my fault, but there is water gushing out onto the street one house down. Quite the coincidence, no?

After a rather dry spell, I have more than 4 hot prospects for jobs anywhere but here. Each of them could work so we'll see. Two of them are through recruiters, who are typically scum of the earth so I'm not holding my breathe but with three friends finding jobs and moving away in about a month, I'm increasingly desperate to get outta here.

Interestingly enough, the idiot (my boss' boss) came into my office earlier this week and went on for quite a while on what an excellent job I was doing. He also said that many people have come to him lately to tell him what a good job I've been doing. I can't help but be suspicious - this is the first time in more than a year and a half that he's had anything good to say to me or about me so I wonder what's up.

A fun little side effect from this: the asshole (my boss) is back from surgery. I've been handling an issue with one of his suppliers since he's been gone, with every intention of dumping this back in his lap the minute he walked in the door. Well, I tried, and he thwarted me. I noticed that he's been a bit bitchy lately, but I figured it was the pain medication. Then I pushed a bit about him taking this mess back and it turns out that the idiot told him that I was doing such a good job with it that he wanted me to keep it and that the asshole was to leave it alone. Nice. THAT made him a pleasure to deal with.

How does one convince a cat not to use the carpet as a pee-pad? The Peanut leaves her droppings in the litter box, but has started peeing on my carpet and as a result, my house stinks of cat pee. She'll stop it or she'll go live (or not, as the case may be) at the pound.

My landlord apparently kept his promise to fog under the house for bugs. I have a weird taste in my mouth, and I've been killing "waterbugs" and escorting others outside all evening. Yay.

If I win the lottery, I am totally getting one of these. Oh, how I want one. Drool. Actually, I want two. One to drive and enjoy and one to take apart. Probably it'll never run right again and I know that I wouldn't be able to stop myself, so I'm better off getting one to play with and one to dissect.

It's twenty after one and I haven't eaten lunch yet, let alone dinner. No wonder I'm dizzy. Must find food... Later!

Huh. This Is Interesting.

This gives you quotes, but doesn't tell you who said them until the end. The thing that gets me is that there are several things that I just don't agree with either one of them. But, I try not to talk politics to friends, if I'd like them to stay friends.

So, just because it's kind of neat...

click here for survey

It's Time For Some Campaignin'

This is hilarious.


http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

Now I've got this stuck in my head on a loop - so I thought I'd share.

Arrrg. Polly Want An Explaination?

This is so typically my life... I sucked my whole office into Talk Like A Pirate Day, and so all of my receiving inspectors were zooming around the building today in an eye patch and a big gold plastic hoop earring (Robert looked particularly fetching) and who should decide to spontaneously visit but the global director of quality, straight from Germany... my boss' boss' boss (I don't actually know how much higher he is, but it's a lot.) boss. Scurvy rats that they are, they blamed me. Apparently, they don't celebrate talk like a pirate day in Germany. Weirdos. I attempted to explain my reasoning, which as you know, tends to the obscure and finally just gave up and invited him to join us for lunch. It never occurred to me that he'd say yes. Actually, he seems like a nice enough guy. Now all of the management that were planning on sucking up to him over the lunch they'd planned are not overly happy with me, and the top quality guy thinks I'm really strange. Nice, huh?

I have to say that trying to explain Talk Like A Pirate Day to a German was nearly as enjoyable as attempting to explain Halloween to a Japanese colleague at my last company. "Well, once a year, we put dead people in the yard and send our children out to solicit candy from strangers. Perfectly normal. Wanna cut up a pumpkin?" Speaking of which, it's about that time of year again.

And it's weird - last week, it was summer. Two days ago - POW - it suddenly became fall. Very strange.

Silly Blogroll

So I REALLY need to update my blogroll, but it's apparently been so long that it doesn't know me anymore. I got it to send my password, so I know that I'm still in there somewhere. However, every time I try to sign in, it takes me to the page where it sends new users. Dang it.

I'm going to have to delete and start over, aren't I?

A Glimmer of Hope... Maybe

I'm trying not to get my hopes up. But this has been quirky enough that, given my history, it could actually turn into something.

I applied online (yay for indeed.com) for a job that sounded pretty cool - near Chicago. This was end of July, beginning of August timeframe. An HR guy emailed me with some questions - am I really okay with traveling - that sort of thing. He also mentioned that there wasn't currently a budget for relocation. I replied back and asked if there was any way to negociate a sign on bonus or something. He didn't respond to that, but he did set up a phone interview. I talked to him, and he recommended that I talk to the hiring manager, so we set up another phone interview, this time with the hiring manager.

This phone interview also went very well. He wanted me in the facility for a walk-thru that week, and said that it was rare to find someone as qualified as I am who is still willing to travel. All's sounding great so far, right? I had a couple of concerns about the company, but I was very interested in getting back to Chicago by hook or by crook so I figured I'd go to the interview, arrange to stay for a weekend and if nothing else, I'd have a weekend in Chicago.

I emailed a friend in Chicago and said maybe I could make her Labor Day picnic after all.

Then the HR guy emails me and says that I need to call him so he can "walk me through" the travel reservations. Um. What? When I called him, he said that they did not have a corporate travel so I had to make my own reservations, pay for them and then they'd decide what to reimburse me for, since I was planning on staying a weekend and not flying back right away. Then he reiterated that there were "zero dollars" in the budget for relocation. I took the weekend to think about it and decided to take a pass. Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but at this stage in my career, I'm just not willing to pay for the priviledge of attending an interview... especially if I'm wasting my time. Given the joy of my life lately, even if I was willing, I can't afford to move myself - and wouldn't that just suck eggs? I find the perfect job and can't afford to take it. That'd be just perfect. (That post will probably remain in edit, my life sounded so depressing that I disgusted myself.)

Anywho, I called and left a message for the hiring manager saying "Thanks, but no thanks." A week or so later, he emailed me a really nice letter about how disappointed he was and he hoped I'd let him know what concerns I had. I figured, what the hell? so after I thought about it for a few more days, I emailed back and really laid it on the line. I wasn't willing to pay to attend an interview. I was very leery of a company that wants me to travel 70% of the time but doesn't have a corporate travel office. I wanted a company that would at least help (and by that, I mean pay for) relocation. My experience regarding management from GE is not positive - I actually used the term "slash and burn budget planning" - and so on, figuring I'd never hear from him again.

A week ago, I got another email from him - with a seven paragraph answer to my concerns - point by point. Pretty cool. So I called and left a message for him that I'd like to discuss his email. He called me today and told me that the HR guy was gone and someone else was handling this project, and he thought things would be must smoother now. It turns out he's traveling the east coast next week - Albany to Raleigh. So he's going to drive down and meet me here next week... and then we'll see.

I have to think that he's really interested, considering everything he's already put up with, and I don't mean to be a pain, but I really really don't want to be in this position again. I don't like moving. I just what someplace stable with not-asshole people. Is that so much to ask?

I told him that I was interested but he needed to be aware that if things progressed, the negociation would start with relocation - and he said he was okay with that. So, we'll see. Wish me luck!

Hmm. Maybe Not A Bad Thing...

What with various goings on here I've gotten a bit behind in my cleaning. A bit meaning that the place is a sty and I can't stand it anymore. So I woke up from the couch this morning with the TV blaring and all the lights on, stumbled to my feet and started cleaning. Until the cute cable guy showed up, I didn't even remember that I hadn't showered, brushed my teeth, my hair or even changed clothes. The glamor, it's sometimes overwhelming. I'm sure I impressed the hell outta the cute cable guy.

At any rate, it's a good thing I got a bit done before his arrival 'cause I've been glued to my laptop since he left. He didn't actually DO anything - disconnect and reconnect a couple of cords, set up my wireless for me (which I'll deny if the cable people ask 'cause he's supposed to charge me $200 for it) but for the first time since the last cable guy was here, the internet is working.

And the last seven hours are a bit of a blur - no clue what all I've been doing but it occurs to me that perhaps the internet not working was better for me, and my house, than it being operational. Maybe...

Beachy Keen

We were very lucky - aside from some downed tree branches, Hanna was pretty much just a rainstorm. Here's what today looked like:




Believe it or not, I was up at 7:30 AM this morning to head to Atlantic Beach. We were hoping to find treasures washed up from the storm, but there were hardly any shells at all.

I was somewhat successful at capturing a picture of what I think is a sandpiper, although it took a couple of attempts.



Curses, missed! Hold still, birdie!



Gotcha!

And I was fascinated by the play of the sun on the water. I tried to capture it, unsuccessfully - but you can see my tattoo, kinda!



We ended up walking for miles - to the pier and back. The distances always get away from me on the beach - I keep thinking at I've hardly moved, and I'm leauges from where I started.

I was fascinated with patterns made by the pier too. (I'm easily fascinated, but you knew that.)



Last week, a friend and I went up (down? over? I have no clue.) to Beaufort and then took a water taxi to Shackleford Banks, which is a nifty little island. I didn't see any of the horses on the island - my eyes were glued to the ground, and my quest for shells. As I should have expected, I got so wrapped up in the shells that I failed to pay proper attention to the waves. I bent over at the perfect time and was swamped from behind by a sneaky wave. Turns out, when 90% of you is dripping wet, it's not really wading anymore. Anywho, here are most of the shells I found last week:



Also, some of them are broken, but spend enough time tumbling around that they are very smooth and rounded - a lot of them look like guitar picks. I found myself quite fascinated with these as well.



So they live now in a pretty candy dish and the shells live in a glass thing. I still have to figure out what to do with all of my new rocks. Anyway, it was a couple of very good weekends.

Knitting On My Mind...

I talked to my friend T today, and she mentioned that her daughter, the lovely P, is 6 months old now. How quickly time flies. And between that, and dumping all the pictures off my camera and onto my shiny new laptop, it occurred to me that I could start posting pictures of things I said months and months ago that I would.

So, here's the blanket that I knitted for P and also a picture of her using it. I lucked out - the yarn I bought exactly matched the colors of the nursery, in spite of my having only seen it once, several weeks before. Go me!



And without further ado, my first (and so far, only) completed knitting project - there's tons of mistakes in it, but they're hard to see in the pictures.



I'm about a third of the way done with another blanket, this one for my best friend's second daughter, due in October. It's been so hot and humid here that it's been hard to work up with will to do anything under a bunch of hot yarn. Hopefully I'll manage shortly. I'll, one of these days, post pictures of this one too.

Happy stitching all!

Genius, Sheer Genius.

I was wandering around cyberspace the other day, and ended up spending a couple of entertaining minutes over at Jennifer Crusie's blog. Someone there was ranting about how cars are obviously designed by men because if a woman designed a car, there'd be convenient purse storage built in. How awesome would THAT be?

That is the kind of thinking that I would really REALLY like to see my company exhibit. What do we do instead? Come out with a refresh dryer - almost two years after everyone else. *headdesk*

I'm Back! And to celebrate... a meme

Thanks, Thim.

YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED!!

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog; some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. Well, I put the first one in Thim's comments - but to recap, for whatever reason, I'm pretty much incapable of passing one of these things up. 80's surveys, true loves, favorite music, culture, you name it, I've almost undoubtedly filled it out. It's like a sickness.

2. Do I get extra credit if it's random AND weird? Well, anyway, I think in cartoons. The images I have of people in my head are all cartoons. I see myself as kind of a female Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs, of course) but with glasses and a bun.

3. Sorry, three, but I'm not fond of odd numbers. I prefer even numbers, and my favorite number is two. I almost didn't rent this house 'cause the street number is odd.

4. I have a magnetic personality. No, really. Watch batteries last about a month if I'm lucky, I set most security systems off just being near them and I can't keep credit cards in my jeans pockets 'cause I'll magnetize the stripe and they don't work anymore.

5. I LOVE auctions. I just went to another one last weekend. I did manage to restrain myself and did not buy another table. Actually, it was kind of amusing - I walked out of there with a crystal vase and a drill press, as well as a rug, a couple of tool boxes (one full of tools) and a pair of handcuffs. I prefer to think that I have many facets...

6. I fear clowns, but I am phobic about cockroaches. If I ever encounter a clown cockroach, I'll probably expire on the spot. (This is not as far fetched as it sounds, a co-worker is actively plotting. As soon as he figures out how to get the shoes on their little bug feet, I'm toast.)

7. Here's something weird... I'm not normally claustraphobic - I've whiled away happy days in caves so tight my bag was tied to my ankle so I could drag it behind me as I bellycrawled and squirmed my way through cracks in the earth... but I really don't care for highway tunnels. How strange is that? Squeezed in the dirt, hours from the surface in the pitch black? Not a problem, as long as I can keep my imagination in check regarding what's in the dark with me. Four lane, well lit tunnel thru a mountain? I'm white knuckled and shaking until I'm through it and well away.

There you have it - 7 little nuggets about me. Here's a free number eight - I never really tag people for these things. So if you're reading this, let me know and I'll totally take credit for tagging you. :-)

holy smokes...

It's the middle of August already!!! How the heck did THAT happen?

Nothing new here, although I did have 2 porch adventures in the last week.

The first was not so good - the cats started acting really weird (around 1 am) so I left the lights off and went over to peek out the window onto my porch, and found that there were people - scraggly looking men I did not know - sitting on my porch swing and rocking chairs and talking, just like it was their porch and they were shooting the breeze. Be proud - my usually non-existent common sense reared its ugly head and I called the police to chase them away instead of stomping outside and confronting all four of them with nothing more than righteous anger and a screwdriver.

The second was kind of funny - I was out watering my flowers around 3 am ('cause I do things like that) and I dumped water into a hanging basket and SOMETHING flew out at me. I shrieked and stumbled backwards, and the poor drenched rudely awakened little finch, who had been peacefully sleeping, bounced off a couple of walls and flew into the darkness. Sorry little bird, but you scared the CRAP outta me.

That actually leads me to another incident from a while ago, which just goes to show that you never know who's watching... I was wandering around my house at 2 in the morning in a t-shirt when it occurred to me that I needed to water my plants. I almost just went out in the t-shirt but decided that there were too many scary wandering people in my neighborhood for that (and that was BEFORE the freaky porch people) so i went and changed, and watered as usual. A couple of weeks after that, I was talking to a neighbor and she said something about telling a story of what she'd caught me doing - which made me try to think back and remember everything she could have conceivably caught me doing. Turns out that one night, she and her husband slept downstairs with the windows open 'cause their air conditioning wasn't working - and they ended up watching me water my plants at 2 am... so it's a good think I wasn't wandering around outside in a t-shirt. You just never know...

Good news - I finally bought a laptop, which should be arriving the end of this month so I'll be online again shortly. Yay! Work was kind enough to block ALL popups, which is making many things more difficult - including using the company computer to search for my next job. So, I got a Dell Studio 17. Anyone have one already? Thoughts? Also, I'll be attempting to set up my wireless, with some form of password protection or something so I should spend some time REALLY upset with the evilness that is do it yourself IT stuff. Should be entertaining from a safe distance.

well, it beats the alternative...

which is being (depending on the question) dead, unemployed, unhealthy, or toothpicks.

other than that...
i didn't get the last job i wanted. now i'm waiting to hear on another one - but i wanted it and i think i blew the interview. i sent all 14 pages of the application by fax last week, and called this morning to see if it all arrived. someone from the company called my house later this afternoon, so i've decided that the hr lady knows i didn't get and doesn't want to talk to me directly. *sigh*

i spend a weekend with my brother recently, who was downsized the day he got back from vacation. nice, huh? i'm going to lose him. he routinely drinks so much that he remembers nothing of what he did. he just got hammered friday night - and then couldn't leave the house all saturday 'cause of the trips to the bathroom. my grandfather died at 48 from alcoholism, my cousin at 47. scott is 32. AND he also routinely gets really drunk and then thinks it's a great idea to get into a car and do burnouts and doughnuts and such. he and his dear friend "smiley" (yes, they really call him that) have already totalled one car that i know of. just hell.

but i had an adventure yesterday...

i've had a spider relocation program in place for years. usually, i ignore them but if they venture into reach of the four footed furry ones, i'll escort them to safer territory.

my dedication to my program was tested last night. omg. one of these days i'll post the pictures. spidey was beautiful - kinda marbled browns and creams - but WAY too big for comfort. s/he measured more than 4" from leg to leg. it blended very well with my living room carpet - i nearly stepped on it by accident. it got to spend the night, and today, in a clear takeout container while i looked up whether it could kill me or not.

i still don't know what type of spider it is, either wolf or some sort of fishing spider, but it bounced a lot when i took it outside and released it onto my back porch. given my doorjambs, there's every chance it beat me back inside, but i'll be better prepared next time. this time was... startling.

so, wish me luck with the job thing. and the spider thing. and the being-completely-lone-in-less-than-15-years thing. that's going to rock.

Hi!

Not a lot new in my world. I'm still in North Carolina, still job searching, still still still...

I'm in a class today - DOE: Beyond the Basics. "Since factor E is aliased with the four-factor interaction ABCD, we can state that E=ABCD. This means that E is confounded with ABCD..." And it's about 60 in this room - my fingers are about to freeze off. Brrrrrr! Which is funny 'cause it's over 90 degrees outside.

I didn't get the first job I went out and interviewed for, which is okay 'cause there were problems within the company that worried me. I haven't heard from the second one yet. That one interests me - I'll be bummed if they don't call. I'm being very picky. Very very very picky. NOT getting into this mess again, if I can help it.

Let's see... went to a fossil festival over Memorial Day. They have basically a giant sandbox where you can dig around and keep whatever you find... so I have over 100 teeny tiny sharks teeth. I like 'em!

I finally stained the bookshelves that dad made me for Christmas. I haven't installed them yet, but at least they're the right color now.

I still have a bunch of flowers to buy and plant, but I did put trailing petunias in my amnesty day planter - the one that looks like a wrought iron spiral staircase. It looks really nice.

It turns out that a fair number of the trees in my neighborhood are rotten on the inside, but it's a historic neighborhood, so no one is allowed to remove any of the trees - they'd rather they fell on the historic homes apparently. My across the street neighbors had their Expedition smushed in a thunder storm last week. The tree did manage to miss all of the houses though, so that's something.

I vacuumed my whole house on Friday and yesterday I noticed tumbleweeds of kitty fur again. One of these days, I'm going to shave them both bald.

I finally found a mission style coffee table that I like and a desk chair, both of which should be arriving this week. Once I buy the end tables that I've picked out, my living room will be done. Whoot! Entry is done, dining room is done, kitchen is done. Then just the library and the whole main floor is the way I want it. Yay! Progress, I'm making progress!

Ooh, we're getting into stuff I don't know - I need to pay attention. Later!

Project GMTFOH

That would be Project Get-Me-The-F*ck-Outta-Here, and it's underway. It has been since the end of March. I'm home now 'cause I had an interview on Friday. I have another phone interview next week with what sounds like a cool company - so maybe I'm getting somewhere.

Another Bad Day...

this morning, i rolled out of bed totally bummed that it was monday, but otherwise, my world was humming right along.

then my brother called. he won't be visiting me this weekend because there was a motorcycle accident this morning and his best friend is dead. did your heart just stop for a second? mine did. i'm not sure it's restarted. rich was 31. he leaves a wife and a 12 year old son.

now, i probably WILL be home for my birthday, to bury someone i've known for more than 20 years. i was at a funeral last week for a coworker. hell, i'm still not over burying my cousin last fall.

from this point on, i'm planning on trapping those i love, wrapping them securely in bubblewrap and hiding them in the basement where they'll be safe.

the icing on this cake? the little card on the door when i got home tonight saying they cut off my gas. no clue wtf THAT's about so that's something else to figure out tomorrow.

hope your day is going better, and for the love of all whom you hold dear, if you have a motorcycle, be careful. or better, get rid of the damn thing before it kills you.

Still Alive...

Although it's hard to tell sometimes, I know.

So, I've made it a year, my indentured servitude is over and now I'm revving up the job search again. Must escape. Must escape soon. I won't bore you (right now, ha!) with long boring tales of my miserable job but let me just say that the idiot (my not-so-esteemed fearful leader) asked me last week for 300 degree liquid water, then grouched at me for trying to make things complicated when I was confused. *headdesk* This sort of thing is not unusual.

As predicted some time last year, I now love my house. *sigh* Amazing the difference that a good bug guy and a couch can make, isn't it? There's still stuff to do, to be sure, but several rooms are the way I want them and it's so nice - I actually kind of feel like a grown-up. Sorta.

I made a cherry pie for pi day, and made it in my special pi plate so that made me happy. And I sucked my office mates into it and made them bring round food. Yay for pi!

Once I get past taxes, the hunt for a computer to call my own will commence. Yay for being online! *sniffle* Oh, internet, how I miss thee!

Well, it's very late and I'm quite sleepy. Take care!

Merry Christmas!

I am aware that I haven't been a little ray of sunshine lately - hell, I haven't been here lately, but I'm here this week and whatever you celebrate, and with whom, have a safe and wonderful holiday!