I still have almost 3/4 of a tank of oil and we haven't had to turn the heat on yet. The insulation is NICE.

Technological victory!

I have bought a couple of adaptor plugs, and now my mobile phone/radio/mp3 player can plug straight into my new speakers, AND now four (rather than two) of the five satellite speakers are functioning (2-channel stereo not 4/5 channel surround, but it's something).

Now, about that TV plug....

How did I miss the LJ and SG video all this time? It was wonderful!

Got my converter box. I didn't know that Obama is black! Seriously, CBS was so mangled that you had to squint, and the colors didn't come out. Why didn't anyone tell me he's black? ;)

Came into work this morning and the receptionist gave me a Creepy Pop.

Had a posty note from a former student worker. He stopped to say hi and left me a note...he's been graduated for a couple years now. Nice kid. It made me feel good to get a little "how ya been" note from him.

It's the little things! Dana had said this earlier this week, and she's right: the little things mean a lot.

New dog is arriving (late) today, he should be a nice companion for the present pup. Long-time friend is flying with him so I'll have company for a week, too. Hooray for old friends and new dogs!

Is that like a Wet Willie? Doesn't sound like something you would want.

:D It's a Jolly Rancher holiday themed sucker, sucka!

It's true; all my girlfriends have told me that...

Width is more important than length. Even with Creepy Pops. :lol:

I knew someone with a creepy Pop.
I didn't like going round there.

He wants you. Just sayin'.

Now I'm really laughing. Pssst...

psst...he doesn't like girls, not in that way.

lol.

That reminds me of a song from Nathan Barley (did you ever watch that SG?)

"Bad, to have a bad uncle"

I just watched Heroes. I am lovin this season! Really picked it up and threw it somewhere I wasn't expecting.
Hi. I'm the panic and clamour, currently locked behind a door marked "do not enter until morning"
Oh, and *does the happy dance* It's only the third debate tonight! Oh yes. I think so. I got it all planned out. Gonna have my bath and go to bed and study/read til 2 am and then watch the debate on my little portable upstairs. It's a bit of a wavy picture, but I don't mind. There's something kind of nice about watching stuff on a crackly little portable late at night. Like stepping back into my bedroom as a kid...
At some point I'll be let out again and we can dance around the topic of how badly this dissertation could potentially, possibly, probably, almost certainly...go? *squeaks*
Of course that kid would recoil in dismay and confusion at what I plan to watch tonight and would much rather be watching some blood curdling Hammer horror. So I'll leave her where she is in 1982 and get back to where I was...where was I? Oh sorry yes...

There's so much stuff. So many fucking words, all lined up in rank, on rank, on field, on plain, far on into the horizon
In bed watching the debate in the small hours of the morning, with a steaming mug of Horlicks and some honey on toast.
This Catherine wheel of ideas has to stop soon, will there be anything left? Winnowed down to a worthwhile something, or just scatterd worthless husks?
I don't have to be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow [who's Dawn?] so I can be a little frivolous. I must must make mysel go straight to sleep after the debate and not to fight sleep if I start to go halfway through.
It's all too much. The dissertations on the library system are sooo good. Any second now someone's going to cotton on to just how much I wing it...just how many lucky breaks gointo the marks...
So...yeah...'s all pretty groovy really.

I has a ticket

ONE MORE HOUR.

How long now?

HA! The job offer in Hawaii has gotten BETTER (from $13/hr to $20/hr) and I have extra time here in the states before I go to get things wrapped up/see all my friends one last time (again) before we leave. YAY!!

Good on you, Treas!
So, when can I come visit you in HI? :)

Wow, $13 to $20 is a hell of a lot better! Congrats!

Just got back from the most wonderful night, awesome date with my amazing boyfriend. :) We just passed nine months together, and he still makes me feel special.

I like him lots ....I think I'll keep him :D

Good for you Razz!

Thank you, Pie and Clod! I will be in Hawaii right around Halloween... so given time to settle in and actually get some furniture, you can come down for Thanksgiving, Pie... that'll be my daughter's birthday too :D

A good day:
I pruned and sprayed the roses, tidied the garden, bought groceries, and went furniture shopping. I got a queen-sized bed, very strong and solid in excellent condition, for $350, a Queen Anne style wardrobe (that excellently matches the dressing table I got for free from my landlady) which wants a little repair for $100, a groovy-chunky old desk for $150, with a $40 bookcase and nice but paint-stained carpet, the latter two thrown in for free, all delivered. :D
Assembling the bed was a bit of an exercise, especially because my el cheapo toolkit doesn't have a 17mm spanner, and the 17mm socket wouldn't reach all the way down the bolt to the nut. But it is done now. :)
Now I just need a mattress.
and a desk chair.
and a dining suite.
and some tables and lamps and stuff.
and bedding, a big carpet, some plants, a bunch more kitchen stuff, a home theater system ...

And ... Shawnee is FREE! What are the odds she posts here drunk?

Dana - STOP PROCRARSE-TINATING!

Okay - hot on the heels of booking my night of horror with Jeremy Dyson, it turns out I am seeing another two members of The League this week.

Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have written a new series for the BBC called Psychoville (the name given to The League of Gentlemen's previous series when it was shown in Japan). It's filming at the moment. And they put a call out for extras to appear as a pantomime audience for a scene.

AND I HAVE A TICKET!
Not only do I get to see them (they'll be there even if they are not in that clip) but I'm actually helping them out. And doing some acting. In a sitting down kind of way.

I am so excited, I feel like a champagne bottle which has been shaeken up. Although that might be acid reflux. Honestly, I've been sitting here with my hands over my face just wriggling with delight. I've been so spoilt recently.

That's great Sundae! and :lol: at acid reflux!

Dana, I promise you, almost every one in academia feels that way ... I'm winging it, I'll be exposed any day now... relax. By the time you're done, you'll know more about your particular fields than almost everyone.

Lovely, lovely
The temperature is lovely

It's technically on the cold side, at 17 (62.5) because the optimum working temp for offices is given at 18-20 (64.5-68) but I'm really happy. I have the front door closed, and the reception window closed, so I can't be accused of forcing anyone else to endure it - they can put the heater on if they want...

In fact it's my new desk clock that's making me happy. because I love being able to guage the temperature. They think I have a screwy internal thermostat - I know I'm quite accurate in that I'll feel the same at the same temperature.

Anyway, that's all, thnak you.

I'm going to driving school today! That should be fun. We're using rental cars.

Cool. What kind of driving school?

I had a friend who went to a spy driving school. He learned how to run cars off the road, do those high speed reversing direction turns, and things like that.

Sunday night, before heading to bed, I watched a little of the local news. Top story was a little boy who was possibly abducted from a local supermarket while his grandfather was distracted. By the time of the broadcast, he had been missing for the entire day, and the police were very concerned, issuing an amber alert. There was a frost warning for that night, and and in addition to the dozens of officers, the police were adding helicopters with infrared cameras to help look for the boy.

The local news stories like this never have an impact on me, but as I nestled in under our warm down comforter in bed that night, I was thinking about that boy and hoping he was OK.

Well, as it turns out, only a short while after I went to bed, a guy in DC who had just turned off his news received a visit from his friend, accompanied by a woman he didn't know. The woman had this young boy with her who matched the description of the missing boy. The boy said a couple of times that the woman was not his mother. So the guy called the cops. The woman ran away before the cops got there, but she was caught the next day.

I just read about it in the paper this morning, and it was really nice to hear that the boy is fine and is back with his family, and the crazy stranger is in jail.

For once, the sensationalistic local news actually made things better. That never happens.

Great news Glatt.

We had a similar case recently when a local lass went missing. She was missing for about three weeks or so I think. Massive police search operation. Nobody expected her to be found, let alone found alive. It was wonderful to then hear news reports that she'd been found :)

Hi all!

Love it here...but I hate the beginnings of a new job. My training schedule is stretched out over 2 weeks, meeting with each person to describe their job, and I have a lot of down time in between with nothing to do. I know one day I'll be busy but right now I'm bored.

I have a cubie, but I also have a giant window and can see parts of the city from my office.

Hope all is well.

Vote Obama! ;)

Glad you have time for the Cellar, if only for a bit.

I started a new job today, too, Shawnee. Is there anything you can be doing in the down-time? Learning who's who, what's what and where's where? Doing yourself diagrams of workflow or lines of responsibility? Drawing up Christmas card lists? Getting familiar with the in-house computer files/systems? Filing your nails? Mapping any good practices from your previous job (were there any?) to current situations? I'll be thinking of you tomorrow - think of me, too, hey?

All my best wishes to Shawnee and Limey.
Good luck - at least you know your new companies have impeccable taste in recruitment.

*Smiles* how exciting. Best of luck to both of you in your respective New Jobs :)

Which parts?

happy = snow flurries

Only two more sleeps till Dazza gets home!

The tan line thread.

lol...actually I looked out the other day and thought I was looking at the interstate, and I thought "man, the interstate is like a parking lot." Turns out I was looking at an actual parking lot! It is the top of the parking garage. :blush:

Other than that it's just some buildings.

Me so crazy.

Finding my way around has been insane...it's much much bigger than my old place.

:)

Happy... I get a little extra time in Tennessee, and will be getting dancing and fencing lessons for free; also, will be putting my seamstressing skills to work! Me so excited. I love sewing, and I like learning new skills. Not sure how fencing will be useful in a day-to-day work environment, but if I DO decide to get involved with the SCA ( www.sca.org ) then it will DEFINITELY be useful. WHEEEEEE!

We spent hours on the track (well, a big parking lot at the local speedway) practicing slalom, high-speed lane changes, evasive maneuvers, braking while turning, etc.

It was a lot of fun, we burned up lots of gas and tires, and everyone was worn out by the end.

Dazza gets home tomorrow!

yey! *smiles*

Yes very yey! lol It's been a month, and although vinnie (the vibrator) has been working hard, it's just not the same really. ;)

So....we'll see you in a couple of days then eh? :P

You wont be seeing me till next week after tomorrow arvo. :)

Today is my 15 wedding anniversary.

Congratulations!!

Congrats!

WTG - Good for both of you

Hey, congratulations CG!

Congrats!!! Woo-hoo! I wonder if anything "special" is planned. Oh I am so nosy..So, is there anything special planned?


:)

A fresh haircut from the AVEDA salon. I love the way my hair smells right now. MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Pictures?

"Gee, your hair smells terrific."[/Olde Schoole commercial alert]

I've shaken hands with one of my heroes and interacted with another one tonight.

My very detailed and slightly rambling report of the evening is here.

To say it made me happy is an understatement. I am smiling fit to split my lips.

"It's made with real beer, but don't drink it."