The Plus Side of Insomnia

I've been having a tough time sleeping lately. Falling asleep is no problem, staying asleep is. Even with the CPAP for the sleep apnea. Of course, that could be part of the issue itself. Either type of mask I wear has been causing me to break out in eczema right around the nose. It's pretty embarassing, as some days it is so bad I look like a junkie. ;( Finally getting that under control, but it makes wearing the mask at night irritating.

Anyway. I've been waking up around 1am-2am just about every night. Dogs love it because they get to go outside. To get back to sleep, I put the TV on for background noise, with the sleep timer. Our local "government" channel (not PBS) usually has clips of ballets and operas, etc, at that time of night. So it's relaxing go to sleep music.

The other night, they had something else on. Some guy dressed up as Thomas Jefferson was speaking before a crowd. Turns out it was the last 20 minutes of a presentation from 2001. But it was fabulous. I stayed up for the credits and wrote the guys name down. It's Clay Jenkins, and he does what is called the Jefferson Hour.

Long story longer, I've subscribed to the podcast (first one ever for me). Have about five downloaded to my iPod so far. Was listening to one last week, titled "Civility" (show 904). Imagine my surprise when about 20 to 25 minutes into it, he started discussing the very thing I posted about last!

If you have time (and the interest) I recommend listening. It's pretty interesting. At least to this history buff, and self- professed geek. ;)

It's all about the words

Apparently the iPad has negatively affected my blogging. That, and work. I'm too lazy now to break out my laptop at home - it takes half a lifetime (okay, ten minutes or so) to turn on, and I'm too paranoid about fires while I'm at work to leave it on full-time. It's too time consuming to type a blog post using the on-screen keyboard of the iPad. It's also been busy at work, with no breaks to blog during. I've also been making a concerted effort to leave my desk for lunch. So. Until I get a wireless keyboard for the iPad at home, posting will continue to be sporadic.

Words have really been on my mind lately. Anyone who's known me for a long time will recognize that I've always been a word person. I love words. It's why I'm fairly good at crossword puzzles. (Hey, I'm up to Wednesday on the NYT puzzles!!!)  I love the sound of them, the feel of them, the weight of them as I move them around in my head. I know I don't measure my words as carefully as I should a lot of the time. It's so easy not too in this fast-paced, hectic sound bite we live in.

However, this is something that is really starting to bother me. Especially since our state legislative session has been in full swing. Whether it's what they themselves are saying, or the words in the bills, or the articles and online comments...words have been flying around like crazy. Big words; and I'm not talking syllables. Yet no one seems to be measuring them. No one seems to be weighing them. No one seems to be sounding or feeling them out first.

Breakitis

Or, When To Use Force (And When Not To!)

I think VW car designers and engineers must make too much money. Seriously. To them it must not mean much to have to take their car in and pay someone $30-50 to change the headlight. If it did, they wouldn't have placed the battery right behind the access to the front driver headlight.

Sheesh. I have small hands and that was tough. Naturally, I used too much force pulling the first cover off and broke off a little protruding piece of plastic. Turns out that was the guide for putting the cover back correctly. Oops. The tricky part was manouvering the cover out without harming the battery wire, and then getting the second cover off, bulb out, replaced, and back in. The back in part was awful. That's the part where I actually screamed in frustration. Could not get it anchored and that stupid locking ring fastened.

Wanna know why? I wasn't using enough force. Sigh. Once I got frustrated and shoved that thing in there it stuck like a charm. Naturally. [rolling my eyes] Then of course I couldn't get the cover back in. Because I broke the guide off. Pffffttt. Finally figured that out.

But I got it changed. Myself. And saved about $50. It only cost forty minutes of my time and some frustration. Hooray for me.

Feeling Guilty? There's an app for that!

The Catholic church is going digital and entering the 21st century. A little bit, anyway. If you're too busy to go to confession, or just don't like going, you can now download a church-approved Confession app. No fooling!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12391129

D Day, My Way

Well, it is a Monday and a half!

Whiteout snow conditions (boss is actually considering a snow day, which says a lot considering where I'm located!)

My little sister's mom is trying to laugh off the fact that the week before they got all the dogs fixed, her eldest daughter took her dog to a friend's and let him mate with the friend's female dog. So now there is soon to be a litter of puppies to find homes for. I told her to let the daughter and friend deal with it. It's their fault, why should the rest of us have to get involved? At the very least they should just turn the pups over to the humane society for placement. They stand a better chance of getting good homes. This "friend" of the daughter has got to be the most irresponsible person I have met when it comes to dogs. They have something like 5 chihuahas and none of them are fixed. They keep having puppies. Gee, wonder why! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

And then there are the local politicians (republicans) that are trying to...[political rant ahead, don't follow the link if you're sensitive or not interested!]

What did I expect?

Blogging has dropped off the radar for me the last months or so. I miss it, but somehow it seems "easier" to do the quick little meaningless soundbites on FB.

Possibly I've just been avoiding doing any thinking. At least, the thinking I should do for blogging. Life is pretty much the same in my universe. Work. Home. Family. Friends. Pretty short and sweet. [g]

Little Sis did decently at the climbing comp in Boise. She only made one climb out of three, but that happened to a lot of the climbers. Even one of her friends on the team, who is really good. The trip turned out to be fun, driving was pretty decent, and I really need a GPS for the car. LOL. I got around quite well, it's just that I did do some doubling back due to missing exits where two interstates connected/overlapped. Hate those. Especially when you think you're just on an on-ramp and geez, turns out before you actually get on the interstate you are past the first exit for that interstate, with no signs indicating so, and it was the one you needed!!!!

Had fun shopping, found a lovely basket - finally - for my Wi.i accesories. It even fits (barely) on my coffee table shelf. Just need to put a wee bit of felt on the bottom. Scratches the wood when it is pulled out. Oops.

So what else is new?

Hornet's Nest

I am madder than a hornet's nest. My little sister is going to regional rock climbing comp this weekend. We have been planning this for months. I even requested this Friday off because it's an eight hour drive. In winter. Through a pass.

Her mom just informed me she thought we were leaving after work. She scheduled their state licensing inspections for Friday. God. I am so mad I can hardly see straight. I hate driving at night. I will be so sleepy by then it will be dangerous! The roads will be so much worse at night. I also have poor night vision. There will also be less traffic on the road if we did get into trouble. Frankly I just want to tell her to take a flying leap and that I am leaving in the morning. If she still wants to come she can drive herself later. What the hell was she thinking? Who the hell leaves for a full day's drive at the end of a work day in the middle of a very rough winter?

I know I've mentioned several times that I took the day off since it's an eight hour drive! She does crap like this all the time. Changes at the last minute and the rest of us just have to do it her way no matter how it inconveniences us. As usual she gets her way. Gack. I need a chill pill. I'm going to bed.

Going over to the Dark Side

Well, it's finally happened. Ver.i.z.on has the i.Ph.one. And I'm seriously considering buying one. I'm eligible for the new-every-two program in June. I could upgrade now without any fees, and not have to pay full cost. But am thinking of waiting until June. Then applying that $50 credit. Unless they'll give it to me now.

Unfortunately that means I'll have to upgrade to a "real" data plan. So. Do I really want to pay that extra $29/month? Not really.

But I'm tired of carrying a phone and my iPod. Combining it into one would be lovely.

And I've been seduced by A.ppl.e's touch screen. I have yet to try any other maker's version that I like as much.

Ah, well. I'll just enjoy this jaunt to the Dark Side. [g] Who knows? Maybe I'll run into Lu.ke Sk.y.walke.r while I'm there!!!!

Critter Carols

'Tis Winter Solstice Eve

It's Winter Solstice tomorrow, and there's a total lunar eclipse tonight, and it's a full moon! It's the first time since 1378 that there will be a lunar eclipse for the Winter Solstice.

I'm thinking of getting up to see it. Shouldn't be too hard. The dogs wake me up between midnight and 4 am every morning anyway. Now if there will only be clear skies tonight!

Maybe that accounts for the Congress repealing DADT. Still can't quite believe they did that; especially with the Reps gaining more "power" come January.

Maybe it was part of a backroom deal to get the '01 and '03 tax cuts and unemployment continued, and that ridiculous payroll tax reduction (what were they thinking?). Not to mention the inheritance tax break. Gimme a break.

warning - political rant ahead

I really do wish someone would stand up and say "Hey. We know it bites big time, but we are going to have to go back to the tax levels before 2001. We know the economy is still fragile. That's why we are going to do this slowly over time."

They could have done that and saved face for all. Except maybe the Reps with the highest earners. But they could have negotiated it to extend the income tax cuts for everyone making less than $500k, instead of $250k, etc. And gradually lowered that to get us back to 2001 tax levels. But nooooo. We have to keep it going, and add stuff to decrease the money coming in even more!

It boggles my mind how they can cut the payroll tax 2% for the next year. Isn't social security hamstrung already? For Pete's Sake.

And this one Rep. I heard on the news. OMG. He brought up the usual talking point that the extension of uneployment benefits should be paid for first (fully funded), but when asked if that should apply to the continuation of the tax cuts, he said "No, it's not the same thing." Really? Then what the hell is it?

You're still reducing money the government has to function. Front end or back end, it is the same thing. And arguably the cuts of  '01 and '03 helped place us in the current mess we are in. Reducing income while increasing or maintaining spending never leads to a positive cash flow. I can tell you that from personal experience. And don't give me that "It's not money the govt has anyway". Well, it is money the government used to have, until they gave it away without funding it.

I'm also tired of all the whining that comes when anyone tries to close loopholes for those making millions and so on. Let's face facts. The rich have a lot more opportunity to take advantage of tax shelters and loopholes than the average person. I can't hire Suz.e Or.man or her like to give me tax advice. But the rich can. There are so many ways to set up your money and estate to avoid taxes upon your death. Give me a break. They don't need that inheritance tax exemption for up to $5 million and a reduced rate!!!! They should have kept it at $1m and just reduced the rate to 35%.

I should stop now. I can feel myself tensing up. Which is why I haven't posted for awhile. Too much going on that I'm thinking about but makes me mad. On a local political level as well.

Repubs here gained advantages in our state legislature riding on the "economic woes" ticket. Their first stated agenda item? Eliminate ab.or.tio.n in this state. For the third session in a row, they're going to try to get a bill passed stating conception begins at birth. Even though the people of this state, by fairly decent margins, have voted no on two constitutional initiatives that tried the same thing. What the hell are they doing? The people of this state have said no twice already. Yet they are going to waste precious time and money on this issue, instead of facing the budget shortfall and economy. I'm going to pull my hair out.

Anyway. It all just drives me crazy. I'm going to stop now and think about the eclipse tonight, Solstice tomorrow, and the 3-day weekend coming up.

DADT Repealed Finally!

It being Saturday I just now got around to checking the headlines. It's about damn time "Don't Ask Don't Tell" was repealed. It actually gives me hope for the future of this country. Now let's see how they implement it.

Gobble Gobble

It has been awhile, hasn't it? Need to get back to posting here. I've been distracted by Fa.ce.book, but really. I just can't condense my thoughts to the small postings they allow. I like this much better. Whether it's read or not!

Had a successful Turkey day this year. Mom & Dad flew in the Monday before, and left for home yesterday. I think they were secretly a little glad to head out as the weather has been a bit chilly. Below zero, snowy, windy. Not normal Thanksgiving weather. At least, not in the past 10 years I've lived here.

Cooked my first turkey ever, with Mom's expert guidance. Tried a new recipe that left me a bit disappointed. Put an orange, onion, celery, and thyme in the turkey cavity instead of stuffing. We made that separately. Rubbed butter all over turkey, sprinkled with salt & pepper, then roasted in oven bag. It was good, but I was expecting more of an orange flavor. I'm still in search of that recipe my Aunt N cooked one year. She said it was from Em.eril, but when I asked her about it several years later, she didn't remember it. It's the best turkey I've ever had.

Anyway. Hosted my little sis' family and a few friends. About 14 of us total. It was fun, and a good day. But exhausting. Shanni stayed the night at the last minute, because we were going shopping in the morning. Hit the stores around 9 or 10 am, which got us past the madness. Except Macy's and Joann Fabrics. But those 2 were bearable. Worst was the cash register line at Joann's. Small store w/only 2 cashiers. But got yarn at half price plus so it was worth it. We were home by 3pm, and I got half my Xmas shopping done. The rest online over the weekend. So just a few little items to finish up and I'm all set.

With Mom & Dad here we managed to finish a few house projects. Nothing major. Dad and I got my adjustable shelves installed upstairs. Love them.Two shelves 6 feet long and 12 inches deep each. Adjustable to whatever height I want. Now to get the books on them and the boxes emptied and papers sorted.

The Two Rs

Today is all about the Two R's - Ranting and Raving.

What is it with people? Aggghhhh. I could just pull my hair out. My one remaining coworker was out for a week, in last week, and out from noon yesterday to 1:30 today. All on business, but still out of the office. Since our other coworker left over a week ago, I am the one that has been helping train our new admin on the mail & on all sorts of stuff pertaining to her position as assistant to my coworker, and taking all phone calls. All this while helping my boss with this week's governance board meeting, a 2-day in house seminar I put together for a major carrier and partner of ours, helping with accounting functions, and my regular job. Which just so happens to include one of our week long seminars next week, where I have 90+ people attending.

My coworker is pissed because I asked her to take her phone off of mute/do-not-disturb. She has "too much to do" and has "renewals". Tough. S%*@. I told her I'm busy too, and am not going to field her calls for her. I've been taking them for the last 2 weeks. I told her if she didn't want to take her phone off do not disturb, I'd just forward the front desk extension directly to her instead of me, because I'm not going to deal with her cranky clients. (Justifiably cranky because she is never here and never takes phone calls when she is!)  Then she could sort through the resulting voice mails. She got all pissy, but took her phone off DND. Hah.

I am just too cranky and tired and over-worked to deal with her you-know-what. It has been an insane 4 months for me at work and I am just out of all patience!!

Math in the Real World

My worst classes in school were math. I hated it, struggled with it, never saw the point. Really, I'm only half-joking when I say I did okay in math until we hit fractions. And percentages. I still shiver internally a little when I see that percentage symbol or have to figure out a percentage. (At least now I can use my cell phone when at the store and people think I'm just texting, not trying to figure out if that discount is really worth it.)

I'm sure in my day I complained bitterly about math having no use in my daily life. Well, I learned an object lesson today that it does. And I'm glad I muddled through somehow.

I finally got Lo.we.s to give me a final quote on the windows I want replaced on the house. I've decided to do all five. Well, the whole thing has been going on since the beginning of September. They keep losing my paperwork, and then never got back to me with the final price of the labor. I went to the department manager and told him since it was apparent they didn't want my business, I was just going to go somewhere else. That got them moving. Hah.

So today at lunch I went in to get the final estimate and place the order on the windows. Well, because they took so long to get back to me, the 15% sale on the Pe.l.la windows was long over. Luckily I had a printed estimate with the sale price. They honored it because they never called me back with the final cost so I could place the order.

All we were waiting on was the contractors charge for finishing out the window install. He hadn't submitted it because I wasn't sure how many windows I was going to replace. They charge $139 to install the actual window, then it's so much per linear foot to finish it out.  (FYI, this does not mean the square footage). Their installation price is $139 per window. So really, it should have just been a few hundred dollars more, right?  Wrong. More like $800!

Thinking Too Hard

A few weeks ago while on the road for work, I stumbled across a new show on TLC. I'd seen previews for it, but hadn't particularly decided to watch or not to watch. I had some time to kill before taking our national faculty out for dinner, and seeing as how the hotel cable channel lineup was limited, I decided to watch. And have been watching ever since.

It's called Sis.ter W.i.ves, and follows a polygamist family in Utah. Up until now, I had assumed that all FLDS believers lived on compounds and kept out of the mainstream. You know, those weirdos that marry 12 year olds, and subjugate the women. Well, you know what they say about "assume". It makes an "a$$" of "u" and "me". I know better.

But anyway. This family is really interesting. It's one husband and three "wives", and among them they have 13 children. From teenagers to a newborn. (OMG! Can you imagine the chaos?) They all live in the same "house" but have separate apartments. So it's more like a three-plex. The husband is about to marry a fourth wife (at the instigation of the first).

Bits N Pieces

Exercise Status: 30 minutes Zum.ba, 20 minutes Treadmill

Okay, it's official. I make lousy coffee. If you're ever at my house & want coffee, I advise you to make it yourself or go out and buy it. Ughh. I bought a mocha on the way in to work today. McD's, which isn't the best, but it's cheaper. And right now they're playing mono.pol.y, so...I was going to buy anyway from one of the coffee shacks, so why not get McD's and play the game? Anyway. It isn't the best, but I finished it fast, and wanted more. So I poured a cup of the stuff I made this morning, and it's awful. I think I need to take some lessons.

Had a good evening yesterday. On the way to the gym I managed to talk to my sister's oldest, G. On the way home from the gym I got to talk to all 3 of my brother's kids. Only niece I didn't get to talk to was the one year old because, well, she's one. But I heard her babbling in the background. I had a lot of fun. And am thrilled my nephew N even talked to me a bit. He usually doesn't.

And inbetween all that I managed to survive Zu.mba. Well, 30 minutes of it. Then I escaped and did another 20 minutes on the treadmill.

Now I just need to get my sister, brother and sister-in-law on the phone! :) Not adding my parents to that list, because I talk to them weekly. It's the others that are hit and miss!

Pumpkins Growing in Trees? It must be Global Warming. ;)

Due to lots of rain, this pumpkin vine in Iowa spread up into a tree and is sprouting pumpkins.

Check out the bottom right corner.

At least they don't have to worry about the bottoms flattening out and getting mushy!

Wonder how big they can grow before they'll drop?

I found another story about one that grew up into an apple tree and was sprouting next to apples. What a hoot. You could even see them in the pictures.

I want one of these. Of course, I'd actually have to have a tree in my yard. Which I don't. Bummer.

Side note: This reminds me of the PS2 game I have for "The Nigh.tm.are Bef.ore Xmas". In particular, the spot in the game where you have to get to the giant tree and use the branches to get to the top and collect all the items in it. I swear they're pumpkins or something. I should get that out this weekend. Seems like a good time of year for this game. ;)

Ahh, Autumn. What a glorious time of year!

Halloween Howlings

This has to be one of my most favorite months of the year. Halloween is, hands down, the funnest, least stressful holiday for me. What's not to like? It's all about fun and food and dressing up.

And October feels like such a powerful month. Especially here, where the air is rich with the changing season. There's a feeling of power in the air, of change, of expectation...It lends itself to a magical spooky holiday so well.

It's funny that I do love Halloween so much, considering I really do not like to be scared. As little sis' older sibling found out when she scared me a few years back and I nearly clocked her. Actually, I think they have all figured that out. The hard way. [g]

Several years back (okay, over a decade ago!) I went to Ha.llow.een Hor.ro.r Nig.hts with a friend of mine. Talk about stressful. For those of you not from the central Flor.ida area, it's a special event Uni.ver.sal Studios theme park does at night during the month of October. When I went, they had mist/fog machines, haunted houses galore and I don't know what else. I pretty much went through the haunted houses clutching my friend in front of me for guidance as I buried my face in her back. You want scary, go there. OMG do they know how to do scary. (And this year is special - it's the 20th year they've been doing this!)

All the employees wore costumes too. And some of them just wandered around the park. You'd be standing there and some monster or ghoul or axe murderer would walk up behind you. When not burying my face in my friend's back, I walked in circles. Seriously. With each step I would spin as I moved. So no-one could creep up on me. Ackkk.

But when all is said and done, I did have fun that night. Especially once we realized some of the regular rides were open and there were no lines. Although I'm not sure my friend N did! She probably had no clue what a chicken I am until that night. LOL.

This year should be less fear-filled. No big plans. Shanni is old enough I doubt we'll trick or treat. She's probably going to a party with friends now that she's in high school. So I have no costume picked out. And I won't be buying candy since there aren't a lot of kids in my area. Maybe I'll have a party for us "adults" at my house. Without scary movies. Or I'll never get to sleep. ;)

Reaping the Whirlwind

What a month. What a summer. Where in the heck did it go? Because it is officially fall now. Sheesh. I had a wonderful time in SF with my sister the last week. Of the 10 days gone, I had to give 2.5 to a work conference (which paid for my ticket out there!!!). That was additionally beneficial because I WON AN IP.AD.

Yes, you read that right! One of the conference vendors donated a 32GB WiFi iPa.d. Not 3G capable, but who cares? No 3G phone service where I live anyway! So it's basically a larger iP.od touch, but oh, so much cooler! Also at the conference I got to meet up with Janet W for dinner. That was a lot of fun! She even brought me some books! Whoo-hoo!

I can't believe how much my nieces have grown! Especially G, the oldest. What a young lady she is. It's wonderful! We had so much fun playing, even if I had a few headaches while I was there. She was extremely understanding. She is a really good kid. Especially with her 1 year old sister. Very patient, and more gentle/tolerant than you might expect a 7 year old to be!

S, my 1 yo niece, is hilarious. Shy at first, but once she warmed up to me it was great. She walks holding on to just one of your fingers. Actually, it's not really a walk, more like a full-speed-ahead charge! When you give her that finger to hold onto you'd better be ready to move! She's chattering up a storm, and is a great eater. Particularly loves bananas. Her favorite person is her big sister G. Wants to have and do everything her big sister does. It's so cute. Gonna be interesting when she gets a little older. [g]

I even got to spend some one-on-one time with my sister, which was fabulous. Those moments are too few and far between. She is such a good mom, both kids are wonderful. She is also amazingly patient, although she doesn't think so!!!!

My bil was on work travel the last half of the week, and we couldn't have timed our flights any better. His flight had landed at the same terminal I was leaving from right before my sis was dropping me off. He walked up just as I was starting the goodbyes. Which was fortuitous because I hate saying goodbye in the first place, and saying goodbye to niece G is much worse! She was just starting the "I don't want Tia to go" and the "Why does Tia have to go" bit when she spotted her daddy walking up. :) A great distraction!!!

(Please pardon the exclamation points. I blame it on excessive tiredness and coffee)

Other People's Words

Found an interesting link on BBC today, about the difference between religious tolerance and freedom that I think is worth sharing:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11200987

From there I found another link about the meaning of the word "liberal" that I thought fun. And confusing in a light-hearted sort of way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-10658070

Just some things I'm thinking about lately. Especially the first one. It amazes me how people can believe in religious freedom so fervently, yet show very little tolerance. For me, they should be one and the same. I've been reading up on Is.la.m, and am finding (duh!) that the basic beliefs are extremely similar to Chri.sti.ani.ty (gasp!), J.ud.ais.m, and other religions. If people would just take the time to shut their mouths and use their brains to learn about what they don't know, instead of blindly following the loudest pack leader...