Cloud, that is great, thanks.

He wouldn't answer 'cause he was worried they were going to stitch him up for something.

Summer in a cast... irritating.

... and itchy. Sorry to hear that Jinx.

Sorry for the girl, Jinx.
Is there still at least a cool factor to it?

Hang on - homeschooled (and coming up to summer anyway) I guess there aren't as many kids to impress with it. And the worst weather otherwise.

If you manage to get her in a kayak I'd love to see pics :)

I'm going through the volunteer database at the mo.
I have 2.5 days left at school then nothing for 6 weeks.
And I know Mum will e.x.p.l.o.d.e. if I don't find myself something to do during the holidays.

I shouldn't be so mingy about it - even if I get stuck with something I don't like I guess I only have to stick it for 6 weeks. More likely 4 once I get trained up and then start back at school beginning September.
And there is a good chance I'll find something I enjoy... Maybe.
They want volunteers on the maternity ward - welcoming, door monitoring (to prevent baby snatching, sadly) and escorting postnatal parents to the waiting area. Sounds like something I can do.
Another which has caught my eye is pushing the Chaplain around on ward visits. She is in a wheelchair. A good way to sweat off a few pounds? The Chaplin is described as "small", but they want volunteers to push patients to chapel on Sunday mornings too. I reckon I could handle a little old lady or too. As long as I don't have to sit in...

I'll find something.
Watch this space.

Is paid work still not an option at this point, SG?

Apparently there are waterproof liners that can go inside a fiberglass cast so it can get wet. The ER doc said it just depends on what's available at the ortho - but I'm thinking we might ortho shop if it's not available at the one we've made an appointment with. It's important, for swimming and kayaking. I just can't see her having to sit these out or 4-6 weeks.

Yes, she's home schooled, but school has been over since June 1. She has cheerleading camp and then practices comeing up on a few weeks... will have to make due impressing all the kids at the gym (they have summer camp there, as well as members like us) until then.

What I'm looking for is work with children - I'd be willing to take even part time and then any number of additional part time work to support that.
That way I'd still be moving towards my goal of full time teaching assistant position.

From September I will volunteer three days a week.
To be reviewed (by me) at Christmas.
If I'm up to three days a week with no trouble, I'll accept I have to go back into an office short term. I'd still have my volunteer experience behind me if and when there is a vacancy within a five mile radius.

At present the job opportunities locally are limited. In every field, even jobs I do not want to take or am unqualified for.
The only real option available would be the office based admin that brought me down so far last time. And saying that I haven't even seen one of those jobs recently. I do look every week.

I'm also looking at working as a volunteer for the Brownies/ Guides.
Again, that would look great on my CV and keep my hand in.
That's part of the plan which involves taking any job I can to get back in the workplace.

Do they have summer reading programs at the library, SG?
that might be a good place to volunteer. Maybe you could even start one if they don't have one?

Also, get first-aid and CPR certified. that's great on your CV too, when you want to work with kids.

Most kids get waterproof casts in the summer. I'm amazed at the number I see swimming with them. And they're such cool colors too. You can't really write on them like the old plaster of paris ones, though -Sharpie works OK, and nail polish..... but at least they're cool colors to start off with.

Good plan re the first aiding.
I wonder if I could get a discount if I volunteer for them - £117.50 otherwise :eek:

I know they're after drivers - might not be a bad ida to brush up those skills either.

It's a worthwhile investment, though -can you get any help with course fees?

That sounds really high - IS there a local YMCA or something like it? They usually offer courses for about $30-$50. Sometimes they are free.

This is the St Johns Ambulance - it's the standard body for certification. Certainly the First Aiders at school have their qualifications from them.

I'm going to contact them and ask if any discounts apply or if I could volunteer with them in order to obtain a discount.

I'm looking at funding information too, but it's all so complicated and doesn't seem to apply to me...

Well thats good. I'm sure you'll figure it all out. I'd still check with the school or someone who works there ... they may have a less expensive alternative or know about funding/discounts.

yup, looks to me like if you volunteer, they will train you

http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/volunteer/first-aid.aspx

I can't believe there's VAT on First Aid training -that's nuts!

Wow it is hot!! My thermometer says: Welcome to HELL!! :eek:

We lost some trees last year, and without that shade on our house, the AC can't keep up. So I just installed 3 nuclear blast shields over some key windows. It's like a cave in here now.

The film "Inception" was good. That is all. :)

Tell me more. I have many windows that let through way too much hot, Hot, HOT sunlight, and zero birds - not that the birds don't keep trying, bouncing, and dying from impact. :( Aluminum foil taped to the glass is helping, but it ain't beautiful. I sprayed soapy water all over the glass during the worst of it, but a kingfisher hit the window yesterday. Thank goodness he survived. Suggestions?

Our "nuclear blast shields" are just regular light blocking roll blinds. The heaviest duty kind sold at Home Depot. They really keep the light out and even though we've only had them a day or two, it feels like it's cooler in here, and the AC doesn't run constantly. It actually cycles now. We pull them down when the sun is shining directly in the window. It's really dark in here when we pull them down.

It was either the blinds, or getting a new AC that is sized properly. $60 or $6000? Hmmm...

you.
have.
no.
idea.


that is all.

The Bad Seed is out there waiting with her mom. I swear it! She gave me the look of death!

My dad.

I didn't know Dad was a hoodlum. :lol:

That's a cool shot. I like the telephoto compression, especially with the heat ripples in the distance, and I like how it looks like he's the leader of the pack.

Thanks, yeah, I didn't take it (it was in the local paper) but I really like it.

I have a motivational poster to make of that shot, but I will wait a while...

That is really neat! Hi jinx' dad! :)

Movie props are sometimes more interesting than the movie. Just spied a Taylor Guitars logo mug in a film (I have a Taylor) and suddenly this stupid movie earns more claim to my attention.

Spent yesterday reorganizing the dining room into a cyberschool room. Two school issued computers all set up with workspace.
I don't know enough about computers to understand why, but these things don;t work with a wireless network, so they each came with 40ft of wire to connect to the router.
a) it's not long enough.
b) I don't really want 2 40+ ft wires strung across/around the rooms.

I was planning to call tech support tomorrow to ask for a longer length of wire and hopefully some kind of splitter or something (pulling this out of my ass) so that one wire would hook up to 2 computers. Or maybe there's something that will make them work wirelessly?
Also, they only sent one printer/scanner and one cord that hooks into one computer. I guess they'll have to keep swapping the cord out? Lots of their work will be submitter by scanner/attachment.

Make their first school project a task-based IT learning opportunity.

Have decided to feed Diz dried food via a home-made six sided puzzle box.
I meant it to be a cube but the cardboard was unforgiving. One hole.
The hole is quite large - I'll make a series of smaller-holed boxes as he gets used to it.

The idea is that he bats it around to get his food.

Of course as this is dried food only he'll still get his wet food of an evening.
And when the bedroom door is open he can eat the Mia-cat's food - although I have an agreement with my parents to try to keep the bowl out of reach/ not full.

At present, if he knocks the little box he should get food. The hole is that big. Trouble is he butts it with his head, knocking it over and invariably putting the hole on top. I'm not helping - he needs to be motivated to work it out himself. He will not starve. And he has plenty of water (as discussed in another thread) so it's not cat cruelty.

I just wanted to give him a slightly more interesting life. Slightly more natural (in the hunting/ reward stylee) and at least temporarily increase his appetite for his dinner.

I just noticed today... occasionally Dora the Explorer encounters extraterrestrial side characters, and when this happens, they are always, without exception, referred to as space creatures, never "aliens."

That's because Dora is an alien.

I'm being a post ho about being a ho. My cow orker and I were talking about stressful jobs (he just spent some time in the hospital, and was advised to take a week off if his job is stressful...yeah, right... time off, that was funny say it again.) Anyway, I was like (ticking off on fingers) "President of the U.S., Hospital employee, Financial Aid person, Police Officer" and he said "Ho..." and reminded me of this Eddie Murphy skit from SNL, The Velvet Jones School of Technology.

These days, I would add: Financial Aid available to those who qualify! :lol:

Good news/ bad news mixed, so I thought I'd put it here rather than spread it around the happy/ unhappy threads.

I signed on for the first time today.
No worries.
Of course there shouldn't be - I AM actively seeking work after all.
The only position I have found advertised, I have applied for. Fingers crossed. But I'm looking every day, because I really want to work as a Teaching Assistant. I'll step up a gear and start approaching schools directly after the holidays.

Saw an advert in the Milton Keynes Citizen this morning. A temp agency offering permanent positions for TAs. Cuuld it really be that easy?!
Nope.
They want 6 months experience so they can obtain two references. Still - it's a way in. If I don't get this job in Great Kimble (which would be the best possible option) I'll return to Bierton as a volunteer to get more experience. By October/ November I could go back to the agency. Not ideal, because the agency is in High Wycombe - 30 mins train ride away. Which would mean 1.5+ hour commute once I factor in home-station-school. But still, the idea that I could be in employment, adding to a currently poor CV and working in a paid job by end November... Wonderful!

And I still have the Guides to add a string to my bow from September anyway.

No Govt money as yet, sadly. Last received benefit on 5 July.
Bless my parents for understanding. They're completely carrying me at the moment, although luckily I had a stack of tinned/ packet/ dried food for me, and plenty in for Diz. Thank goodness I took up a pet website on their 20% off first time order back in June!

I think Mum is bearing it because she can see I'm so much healthier these days and sees the real joy I got from volunteering. I said to her a couple of weeks back, before my benefit was suspended, that I was so lucky to have found something I wanted to do. Yes she was still being negative and all that, but I said, "Have you ever had a job you liked so much you'd do it for free two days a week?" The answer was no - I knew she was desperately unhappy in her last job, so I was cheating a bit - but it brought home to her just how much I wanted this.

I have a real sense of progress today, despite my hopes being dashed by the agency.
It wasn't a total NO at least. There is a light.

Little known fact:

Every post by Shawnee123 makes me double-take because out of the corner of my eye, her handle looks very similar to Razzmatazz13 on the screen.

So, basically, Shawnee: I pay extra attention to you ;)

Working on hitting the 500 post milestone by Decenber 12, 2012.

As I ran round the lake today, I noticed many of the memorial stones, benches and water fountains were dedicated to members of the medical profession. Even doctors die.

You are probably going to reach your goal if you keep yapping like this! Talk talk talk no one can get you to pipe down.
;)

Crap I'm bored.

I'm almost over this cold so I am feeling a bit too well to sleep all the time, but not well enough to actually do anything.

We're 4 weeks into a 5 week election campaign, I'd decided my vote before they started, so it's the same old BS to watch. And my preferred party is running a pretty mediocre campaign and I'm worried that the other side might get in, which would be worse than that last bloke we threw out three years ago.

And I wasted much of today with computer hardware. I bought an external hard drive, but it automatically installs automatic back-up software, which is not what I want. Wrestled with it a while, found on-line support/forum. Seems it can - in theory - work without the auto-back-up software, so I uninstalled this. Now, as soon as I plug it in, windows shuts down to prevent computer damage, and does a physical memory dump. I have no idea what that is, but it seems serious.

Meh.

Just a big bucket full of MEH.

Why can't we get tablets or drops for the back of the neck to stop bugs biting us, the way cats and dogs get flea treatments? Seems a pretty straighforward concept for this day and age....

Because you would know they're only partially effective, the critters don't.

critters don't think they're effective at all. Mostly, they just don't think, but otherwise they just think it's a strange new game you invented. Who cares, though, they work.

I went to check out the prices for the slow roasted pork I'm making this Sunday.
Went to the local butcher in town - the only one left out of the five I remember from childhood (and maybe even more). Grumpy auld git eventually looked up from straightening the displays to acknowledge me. Note - this was on a Wednesday morning, I was the only person waiting for attention.

Now, okay - I don't usually buy cuts of meat.
I haven't been to a proper butcher since I lived in Leciester and would shop in the covered market.
But I was polite, smiling, respectful - three things he wasn't.
I asked first about when it was best to buy meat to cook on Sunday. Yes I pretty much knew it would be Saturday, but he didn't respond in quite that way.
Instead he said, "Why would you want to buy meat that you're not going to cook for three days?" and looked at me disgusted.
I agreed with him and admitted I didn't really have room in the fridge either.
So I asked if it was possible to pay for the meat today and have someone pick it up on Saturday - basically I don't want to go to town on Saturday, so I was trying to work out if Dad could pick it up.
"No."
Now in hindsight I realise it's because it's priced by weight, so of course you can't do that.
But they take orders for Christmas turkeys in advance, so it wasn't worth the curled lip he gave me.

I then asked if he could give me a rough idea of what a 2.5kg shoulder of bone-in pork would cost. He shrugged and said, "Same as them in front of you."
There were three different cuts of pre-wrapped pork in the tray he indicated. Okay, I worked out that those to the right were bone-in pork shoulder, but they varied in price by £2 ($4) and the weight was not immediately apparent.

So I thought, okay, just come back and hope I get a different butcher.
Although my final question, "Would you be able to score it for me" got a curt, "Yes" I think I'll go to one of the two supermarkets in town that have butchers counters.

I walked home with a real cloud over my head. I said to Mum, "When I'm back on my feet and appear in an episode of Come Dine With Me I will make a special point of saying on-camera that I bought my meat from the supermarket as we don't have any decent butchers nearby and just hope it makes the final edit." Rather pathetic imagined-future-revenge-scenario, but it went some way towards cheering me up.

Made me feel like a was a seventeen year old asking for cooking tips with no intention of buying. Pig.

Tee and Cakes Famous Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes

Shouldn't that be in the bacon thread?

Looks REALLY yummy though.

Ummmmmmmm......

It was deliberate. I'd be happy to see his throat slashed and him swinging upside down on a hook while he bleeds out.
Not that I'm a sociopath or anything.

I got my revenge anyway.
I'm cooking pork shoulder sans bone. I've found another version for the recipe that allows for this. And I got it from Sainsburys, which are having a special on pork with 50% off per kg. So there Mr Surly Butcher.

"the hot rush of brain-and-fat soup you suck from their heads"

what Anthony Bourdain loves most about Spanish prawns

I had Breakfast a la Glatt this morning: a handful of frozen blueberries on top of my rice chex. By the end the almond milk was thoroughly blueberried, much moreso than when I've used strawberries. I approve.

I had breakfast at Glatt's this morning.
Don't tell him though.

Poor, stupid Facebook.

They had this up for me today:
What is that supposed to even mean?

Today is a good day; my name wasn't listed in the local obituary column. I know because I just checked.

I'm hoping IOTD tomorrow is a baby pigmy hippo.

I have recipes

Sorry, you lose.

Dang, losing sucks, eh?

you should know

L


:p:

While out for a bachelorette party this past weekend, we saw Luke Wilson, who apparently lives in town now. My drunken soon-to-be-married friend approached him to ask for a photo, but he said no.

am sick. so made chicken chili (aka white chile). yum!