FMD's Place

Something New

2011-07-20T00:17:00.005-06:00

Since I'm sick and can't do much of anything, I've been checking out apps for the new phone. I have to say, so far I'm really pleased with the phone, and I've certainly gotten more use out of it than I got out of all of my previous phones combined. But back to the apps.

I've downloaded quite a few wallpapers that I enjoy, and I've ended up trying several that I didn't like. They're easy to uninstall, so it's fun to be able to test them out. I finally started trying out some other apps, one of which is the Blogger app. I just downloaded it and figured I'd give it a test run. There were seriously mixed reviews, with many people seeming very unhappy with the app. There were enough good reviews to tempt me, so here we are, testing the waters.

I've just tried adding a picture, but it's not really showing me if it's going to work, or where it's going to insert it. It will be a mystery until I've published the entry!

I don't really have too much else to say at the moment, as my intent was mainly to test out this app. Perhaps I'll do another entry later talking about my favourite apps to date. Now I am going to see how well this posts. Have an awesome night, everyone!

EDIT:

It was not being friendly about editing once I had published the post. I can't find a way to view and edit code either. For now, I'm just testing to see if the edit works.

EDIT #2:

The first edit worked, but I'm not thrilled with the app. I don't have the option to see or edit HTML code, and I cannot choose the picture placement. I guess the application could be somewhat useful for a quick post, but I don't see why anyone would want to bother with it when they could just go to their blog on their browser, and post with full functionality. I'll be uninstalling the app right away - it's definitely not for me.

EDIT #3:

Okay, I'm laughing at myself now. I should have tried going through the browswer before shooting my mouth off! It's WAY too tiny on the phone screen to be able to edit - at least it was when I went in just now. I'll have to play around some more, but if I can't get the pages to be significantly larger, then I can see where I would need a blogger application to blog from the phone. Mind you, I probably would never bother with that - I'd just wait and do it when I got home and could use the computer. :)

And yes, I did the last two edits (and moved the picture) on my computer. I also noticed one other thing I'm not thrilled with - the formatting from the app is atrocious. It put a lot of extra spaces in between paragraphs, and even though I remove them with each edit, it doesn't take them out. I've tried again one last time here, so I'll see what happens. But that's enough for me tonight - sleep well, everyone!

Things You See When You Don't Have A Gun

2011-05-05T20:57:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking lately about the irritating things that I see on my television set. There are truly horrible commercials that make me wonder who on earth authorizes and pays for them, hideous fashion trends, and copycat shows, to name a few things. It would take me a week to type out an entry about all of the things on television that drive me nuts, but there are a few things that truly make me grit my teeth.

There are all sorts of fashion trends that make me raise my eyebrows, but one that I truly cannot stand is the trend of the last few years of women wearing clothing that is two sizes too small. I see this on most television shows and commercials, not to mention on a daily basis in real life. Ladies, no matter how tiny you are, if the clothing is too small, it makes you look fat. Honestly, it does. I personally know a couple of women who don't have an ounce of fat on their bodies - they are pretty much skin and bones. They have a penchant for wearing clothes that are too small, and they look like they have rolls of fat hanging out all over the place. Then there are all of the larger women I see following this dubious fashion trend. Ugh. Just ugh. And girls, when you are wearing blouses with buttons, it does NOT look good when the shirts are stretched every which way, with buttons threatening to pop off at any second, and there are gaps all the way down the front of the shirt. You might as well take the shirt off and just let the girls hang loose. It really would look better than us having to watch them struggle wildly to make the great escape. Just sayin'.

What is it with all of these paranormal shows doing their investigations at night? In my experience, there are just as many - often more - paranormal experiences during the daylight hours. I'd like to see a crew do an investigation during the day. Not only would they be more likely to have something happen, they'd have the added bonus of being able to see when something was going on.

I find all of the copycat shows very annoying. A unique show comes on television, and within a year or two there are a bunch more cropping up left, right, and centre. It gets boring after awhile, so I really do wish that people would be more original and come up with some different concepts when they decide they want to be on television. There's precious little on television that's half-decent to begin with - it would be so nice to have more original, well-done shows to choose from, instead of all of the hastily thrown together copycat programs.

There are some wonderful, creative commercials on television. IKEA, Volkswagen, Geico, and Telus have given us some fabulous ads to watch. But for every great commercial, there are many absolutely horrid ones. The first that springs to my mind is Always. "Have a happy period" my ass. I rarely let commercials influence my decisions in purchasing products, but I have to say that the Always commercials piss me off so badly that I refuse to purchase anything with that brand name on it. Their commercials are so condescending and demeaning - I don't understand why anyone thought they were a good idea to begin with. Obviously there are women who buy their products, but I am definitely never going to be one of them. I've talked to several other women over the years who also refuse to buy the Always brand because of those commercials. Mind you, I did try their products many years ago, and quite frankly I found them very inferior to other products on the market. So unless they've seriously improved over the years, I don't understand why anyone buys them anyhow.

The Toronto Blue Jays have a particular commercial on television that has my brain going in circles every time it comes on. Not to mention it has the hair on the back of my neck rising and my teeth grinding. I couldn't even tell you what the commercial is about - I hear Superbad start blaring out of the television and my brain scrambles from wanting to resurrect James Brown so I can throttle him, to smashing the television to bits with a baseball bat, to hitting the mute button on the remote control, then back to wanting to resurrect James Brown and throttle him again. Since I am not into playing with necromancy, and I don't own a baseball bat, James and the television set are on pretty safe ground. My most realistic option is hitting the mute button. But I have to say, that gives me NO measure of satisfaction once that horrible song has started up.

I usually enjoy the Geico commercials, and have to give them props for authorizing some very entertaining ads. However, the cavemen commercials totally sucked, in my opinion. I absolutely hated them, and honestly found them a bit offensive. I wasn't thrilled with the commercials with the older gentleman (seemingly a boss) either - the only thing that saved those was the gecko.

Oooh, back to fashion for a moment, then I'm done for now. Another trend that I hate the look of is the low-rider pants and jeans. I've never liked the look of them, and I've always thought that waistbands should be at the waist, not anywhere below it. It's much more flattering. The worst thing about the lower waistlines is more pronounced "plumber's cracks", on both women and men. Plus, I don't need to see what panties, or gods forbid, thongs that people are wearing. If you insist on wearing these pants, then for pity's sake make sure that you wear a top that is long enough to cover them, no matter what position you're in.

I don't know about you, but I certainly feel better for getting all that off my chest! There are certainly things on television that I do enjoy, and I will probably do up a blog entry about them one of these days. As for the stuff I don't like, for now I'll just keep crossing my fingers that we start getting more original shows, that fashion starts focusing on clothing that actual fits and is flattering, and that company owners start showing some intelligence when approving of the commercials that flog their products. I know, it's unrealstic, but a girl can dream, no?

RIP Misty Girl

2010-04-06T23:19:00.004-06:00

Misty

August 17, 1997 - April 6, 2010

RIP, Misty Girl. I love you, Little One, and thank you for sharing your life with me. Now you are healed again, and with your sister, your Grandma, your Uncle, and all the other relatives who will keep you safe until we are together again. I will always miss you, Pumpkin.

RIP Ladybugs

2009-10-31T15:33:00.003-06:00

Lady
March 10, 1992 - October 31, 2009

Safe journeys, Baby Girl - I love you and miss you. Thank you for choosing to be part of my life.

Another Batch

2009-08-27T21:46:00.002-06:00

I did some more iced tea experimentation the other day, and of course I have to share the results with you. This time I decided to try a pear flavour, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I have some White Pear Tea, and I must admit that I'm not overly fond of it on its own. I thought that if I paired it (pardon the pun) with some black tea, it might turn out to be quite tasty. I'm happy to say I was right.

So on to the recipe. I used three bags of Orange Pekoe tea, and four bags of the White Pear Tea. (I should explain - that is white tea, flavoured with pear.) Once again I made the sugar syrup to add to it, but I did not use lemon juice in this batch. It has a very nice flavour, and the pear is much stronger than I thought it would be. It's not too strong, though - just perfect for me. It's not my favourite batch, but I am enjoying it, and will probably make it again one day.

Not much else for news at the moment, so I shall wish you all a very good night. Take care!

Blueberry Goodness

2009-08-21T22:10:00.002-06:00

This afternoon I decided to make the blueberry iced tea, and it turned out quite well. I used three bags of Orange Pekoe, and three bags of herbal blueberry tea. While it was still hot, I didn't get quite the blueberry flavour that I was hoping for, but once it cooled off the blueberry taste came through much better. I also added lemon juice, because I like blueberry and lemon together, and I'm glad I did - it added a nice touch. I can't say this is my favourite blend so far, but it is very enjoyable, and I know I will make it again.

I must give a big thank you to my buddy Brooke. She is also a fan of iced tea, and we've been chatting about our yummy adventures in brewing. Not long ago she mentioned that she made sugar syrup for her tea, rather than just stirring the sugar directly in to the brew. She said she found it worked much better, so I decided to give it a try. I was amazed at the difference. When I add the sugar directly to the tea, it tastes good, but there's a harshness about it. When I use the sugar syrup, it is much smoother - almost silky. It so easy to make, too. I put some sugar in a glass mug or measuring cup, add a bit of water, and toss it in the microwave for about a minute. I start with thirty seconds, then put it in for a fwe more seconds at a time until the sugar is all completely dissolved, and there is a syrupy texture. Once that's done, I add the lemon juice to the syrup. This also makes a huge difference to the lemon juice - the flavour is still there, but it's not quite as tart. Once again, it makes for a smoother flavour and texture. I will definitely continue to use the sugar syrup, and once again, a big thanks to Brooke for letting me in on that!

Oooh, there's a lovely thunderstorm starting up! It's actually been rather toasty in here this evening, so this sudden blast of cool wind coming in the windows is lovely. And of course I love thunderstorms at any time, so I am going to settle in and enjoy this one. Have a wonderful night, everyone!

Apple Pie, Pasta, and Reincarnation

2009-08-15T22:30:00.005-06:00

I finally made the apple pie iced tea, and wow, is it good. I used a couple of bags of Orange Pekoe, and a couple of bags of Apple Spice tea. The particular Apple Spice that I buy (Tetley's) really tastes like Apple Pie filling to me - it's lovely. I figured that just using the Apple Spice tea would have been a bit too heavy on the flavour, and I'm happy that I decided to cut it with the Orange Pekoe - it's the perfect taste for me. I didn't take pictures this time - mainly because it looks the same as the last batch.

Last night I put my chef's hat on ( see?) and came up with a version of Alfredo sauce. I cooked up some diced bacon and sliced fresh mushrooms, then added a bit of butter, cream, Parmesan, Romano, and Swiss cheeses, a little nutmeg and garlic powder, and then let it simmer down for several minutes. I then poured it over Rotini pasta and chowed down. It was VERY good, I must say, although certainly not something I'd want on a regular basis. It's quite rich and I admit to having some heartburn to deal with afterwards. Still, it was a lovely treat, and I will likely make it again one day. I ended up with enough for two meals and had the remainder of it for dinner tonight. I'm planning a chicken and vegetable stir-fry with rice for tomorrow, so that will be much healthier and lighter.

I've told a couple of people this in the past, but it bears repeating now. When my time comes and I'm floating around in Spirit, if any of you are there with me, and hear me talking about reincarnating, especially as a woman, please slap me upside the ectoplasm and knock some sense into me. I'm not going to go into gory details, but there are aspects of being a woman that truly suck, especially as one gets older and is in the peri-mentalpause stages. And those flipping Always "Have a happy period!" ads do NOT help my state of mind. Happy period my ass. I swear, whoever came up with that assinine slogan should be shot. Honestly, I refuse to buy their products just on principal due to the stupidity of those ads, and I'm betting I'm not the only one. Too bad for them though, because these days they could be making a ton of money off me. Hm, if I die before the git that came up with the slogan does, I think I'll make it a point to go haunt him for awhile. Or her, but come on - it has to be a man that thought that gem up. No self-respecting woman would be that stupid. But I digress. Just remember to give me that smack if you hear me planning a comeback, please. You can even quote this blog post at me if you need some additional persuasive material.

Not much else to natter about tonight. The weather has been much cooler - it's pretty much autumn weather now. I've even noticed a few leaves starting to turn. Of course this all suits me just fine. Autumn is my favourite season, and I'm loving this cooler weather. The only downside is that it got so chilly in the house today that I actually had to close the windows. It's supposed to be a bit warmer over the next few days, so I'll still get some fresh air in here. For now, I'll enjoy not having the heat, and will wish you all a very good night.

Refreshing!

2009-08-08T21:10:00.009-06:00

I've always loved iced tea, but I find that most commercial iced tea mixes contain far to much sugar. Because of that, I didn't drink it very often, as sugar just makes me thirstier. Not to mention it's just plain not good to have too much of it. So in the last year, I've gotten more into making homemade iced tea, which is so much better than the commercial powdered preparations. I never did it much before because by the time I thought about it, I wanted some right at that moment, and as it takes awhile for the tea to cool down, it's not exactly an instant drink.

I tend to drink a fair bit of hot tea at home, but I don't normally finish a whole pot. One evening I was about to dump the remainder of the tea down the drain, when it occurred to me to pour it in a jug and make a bit of iced tea to have the next day. After doing this a few times, I started brewing tea specifically to make my own iced tea, and I've been enjoying it immensely. Normally I use Orange Pekoe tea, add a bit of sugar and lemon juice, and let the concoction chill in the fridge for at least a few hours. It's very tasty and refreshing.

Recently I was digging through my tea cupboard, looking through all my herbal and flavoured teas, and it dawned on me that I could probably come up with a wicked iced tea blend. So today I decided to experiment. In a large Pyrex pitcher, I used three Orange Pekoe tea bags, two Mandarin Orange Spice herbal tea bags, and one Peppermint herbal tea bag. Once they had all steeped, I removed the tea bags and added a bit of sugar and lemon juice. I am very happy to say that this is probably the best iced tea I have ever had. Very refreshing and delicious.

I must say, when I use lemon juice, I use organic, not from concentrate lemon juice. I would advise that if you try making your own iced tea, use that, or squeeze juice from fresh lemons. Stay away from the usual bottled lemon juices - I find they have an odd flavour, and are not as good as the fresh (or organic squeezed and bottled) juices.

I will definitely be making this blend again, and I'm looking forward to playing around with some other flavours. I am already planning on doing a mix with some Apple Pie tea that I have, as well as another with an herbal blueberry tea. For the next couple of days I will be enjoying the current recipe, and I will leave you with a picture to drool over.

Relief!

2009-07-19T00:17:00.002-06:00

It's been quite hot here - certainly far too hot for me. It was so bad earlier this evening that I was breaking into a sweat every time I blinked. I finally decided that a cool shower would be in order, and just as I was getting organized for that, a thunderstorm rolled in. The cool shower felt wonderful, but poor Misty (my youngest baby) was not a happy camper, as the thunderstorm had intensified quite a bit. She stayed in the bathroom with me, sucked herself up to the side of the tub, and even tried to get in the tub with me a couple of times. At one point she knocked the towel stand over - now that made me jump, so I can only imagine how much more it freaked her out. She was definitely happy when I got out of the shower, so she could lay shivering on the floor by the couch. Of course, that position wasn't as good as her spot in the bathroom, since the couch is right under the windows, therefore closer to the thunder. But she seems to think it's a safer spot, so that's what counts, apparently. I do feel sorry for her, though. Between the static filters on the furnace (which were going nuts due to the wind from the storm), the thunder, and the wind, she was a nervous little furry wreck.

It was still pretty toasty in the house at that point, but then another thunderstorm rolled in, along with some stiff breezes, and things started cooling off quickly. That storm gave way to more, one with very high winds and a few minutes of heavy hail. That one sent the rain barrels, chairs, and a few other things flying around the yard, and the wind actually blew a screen out of sister Judy's kitchen window, and blew one of her cupboard doors open. I didn't have any issues like that - just a bit of water to mop up on one side of the bedroom window. A friend of mine said that her neighbour's greenhouse was blown over, and actually blown down the street. So it got pretty wild and wooly out there for awhile. While it was hailing I was in the kitchen, and I ended up checking up the stairway as it sounded like the hail was actually coming in the house. As it turned out, it was just slamming into the door quite aggressively. I'll have to check when I take the dogs out again and see if there are any dents in the door.

Of course I enjoyed every second of the wild weather. I love thunderstorms, and while I don't normally like high winds, I do enjoy them when they come along with the rain and thunder. It's so beautiful to sit and take in the energy of the storms, to listen to the thunder and the rain, and watch the lightning flashing across the sky. Usually we have fairly short thunderstorms, so I was thrilled when they lasted all evening this time. I'd have been out during some of it if Misty wasn't so afraid. I couldn't take her out, and I definitely could not have left her alone in the house - either way, the poor baby would have been totally freaked out. I vividly remember taking her out once last summer. The storm was almost over, so I thought it was safe, but just as we were heading back in the house, there was a very loud clap of thunder. The poor girl jumped a few inches off the ground. It was actually funny to see, but I really did feel sorry for her.

I think the storms are over with at this point. There hasn't been any wind or thunder for close to an hour now. I'm a bit bummed about that, as it's supposed to be hot again tomorrow. I was really hoping that the storms would hang in there for awhile longer. Misty certainly doesn't share those sentiments, though, and she is very happy now that everything has quieted down. She's happy with the cooler temperatures - like me, she can't stand the heat - but of course she doesn't understand that if it weren't for the storms, it would still be roasting. So while I'm not looking forward to more heat tomorrow, I'm definitely enjoying this blissful chill tonight.

I don't have any links to post this time around, as I just wanted to pop in and natter about the beautiful storms. I am going to relax a bit more, then take the dogs out and head to bed. Misty is finally relaxed enough that she is sleeping - and dreaming. I love watching dogs dream - they chase things, bark at things, wag their tails - too amusing. Misty tends to growl and bark, and I really do wonder what on earth she is after. Ah, now she is up for a drink of water, so this would be a good time to take them for their last potty break of the night.

Sleep well, everyone!

Humans Frighten Me

2009-06-23T13:24:00.004-06:00

I came across a link the other night, which I found quite fascinating, but very sad. Not only because of the reason for the link, but because of the way it illustrates how frighteningly horrid humans often are.

I don't even recall how I came across this link - likely through some other site that I was wandering through. It is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum site, and there is a ton of excellent information on it. Looking through the site spurred me to search for sites on Nagasaki, but unfortunately so far I have not come across anything as detailed as Peace Museum site. I did find one link that totally appalled me. It had very little in the way of pictures or information on the Nagasaki bombing, but it did have a large section where people had left their comments. I was saddened, horrified, and quite frankly, disgusted at the number of people who said they were still glad that the bombs had been dropped, and they felt the Japanese had asked for it.

Several people stated that the Japanese had committed atrocities, so they didn't feel sorry for them. I damned near choked when reading comments like that. If these people honestly think that other nations - including the US, Canada, and their allies - did not commit atrocities, then they can think again, and they need to start using the brains God gave them. In any war, there are atrocities committed by every side. Of course not all people are involved in them - you can bet your butt that not all the Japanese military personnel were involved, either. But there are a lot of psychotic individuals out there in all countries, and wars are like a giant sandbox to them - a huge playground where they can get away with satisfying their sadistic urges. So I was appalled to read those comments - appalled at the blind stupidity of these people, and at the hate they still carry. Some even mentioned that the Japanese would have used the bombs if they'd had them - well, maybe they would have. Maybe not. No one will know. The point is, the use of the bombs was a huge atrocity in itself, and would have been no matter who used them.

Some people stated that the war would not have ended as soon, and that more people would have died. Perhaps that is so, but two entire cities were demolished, and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed - some quickly, which was a blessing, but others suffered agonizing deaths. Yet others still suffer to this day from the affects of the radiation. Many people died who could have been saved, had it not been for a publication ban by the invading forces that prevented news of the disaster from reaching the appropriate agencies in Japan. This ban did not just affect the situation for a short period - it was a few years before much-needed assistance was able to be provided. Assistance was provided by other countries, as they heard the news long before people in other parts of Japan did. But while that was wonderful, it was not enough. Yet the people managed to hang on, survive, and rebuild - and forgive. Amazing.

I would like to think that if the people in power at the time had realized the full repercussions of the bombs, they would have chosen not to utilize them. But I'm afraid that I'm simply doing some hopeful dreaming, because I suspect that they still would have gone ahead. It really saddens me - and frightens me - to see what humans do to each other. It's truly disgusting, and more disgusting to me to hear and read about people justifying - and actually approving of - actions like this.

However, in spite of my rant, it is not that site on Nagasaki that I wish to give you the link to. It is the link to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum site that I was impressed with, and I highly recommend it. It has good information, and is done well and respectfully. It is a wonderful tribute to the citizens as a whole, and to several individuals who they have information on - both survivors, and those who did not make it. In spite of the horror of the subject matter, there is a very positive feel to the site. As awful as humans can be, we can also be incredibly resilient, and come together to work wonders. Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki literally rose from the ashes to become thriving, vibrant centres of life - a very positive recovery and an awesome testament to human determination and strength. The Peace Museum not only focuses on the horrors of the bomb, but also on the rebuilding of Hiroshima, the diligent work of the medical and military staff who were aware of what had happened, and the aid and support provided by people in other countries - including the US - as the news of this horrid tragedy became known. So without further babbling, here is one of my all-time favourite links:

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

May all who were affected rest in peace, and may their loved ones find peace as well.

Dine and Dance

2009-06-21T00:37:00.002-06:00

I had a different, but fun, afternoon today. I was invited to attend a dance recital that my niece was participating in. There were several groups from her dance school, and they all put on great performances. My niece and her group did very well, and it was fun to watch her. She's been dancing for several years, and is very good. Her group has won several awards for the routine they performed today, so I am very proud of her and the other kids.

There were a couple of groups of wee tots performing, and they were adorable. They would constantly watch each other to see what they were supposed to be doing, they would forget steps, and of course there were a couple that were very shy and took awhile to get going.

There were a couple of ballet routines that were very lovely, several tap routines, some jazz numbers (which is my niece's area) and a couple of rap routines. I am definitely not a fan of rap, but it was entertaining watching the kids dance, regardless.

We were not allowed to use flash photography, and were not supposed to take videos of the performances. As it was quite dark in the theatre, the few pictures I took didn't turn out very well. I can understand them not wanting flashes being used - although there were many people using them anyhow. But I must say that I was not too impressed with them not permitting the parents to take videos of the performances. They announced that videos would be available for purchase later, and I honestly think that's tasteless. The parents already have to pay a fair amount for the classes, the costumes, and the tickets to the performances, so it really irks me that the school charges the parents for videos. Of course, a lot of the parents do their own videos regardless, but it's just the princple of the whole thing that I find distasteful.

At any rate, aside from that, I really enjoyed the whole thing. Afterwards we headed out for dinner, and had a pleasant visit. I wasn't thrilled with the food, I must say, but the company was good, and it was a nice way to cap off the afternoon.

I don't really have any other news at the moment, so I'll wander off for now. I hope everyone is having a good weekend, and I shall be back in a day or two with more links!

Pompeii and Pumpkin Pie

2009-06-14T00:49:00.015-06:00

Don't faint, but I'm back again. I've been trying to decide how I wanted to deal with this blog. I was obviously not really getting into blogging about little happenings in my life, but I was feeling like I wanted to get back to the blog. So it hit me the other day that it might be nice to share some favourite links - both old and new. For awhile, at least, that's what I'll be doing, with some other odds and ends thrown in.

I had a nice, relaxing evening. I made homemade pumpkin pie - yes, the pastry was homemade too - and watched The Grunge 3. I'll do a bit of a review on that later, but I will say that I have mixed feelings about the movie. I also spent some time surfing for interesting sites to visit. I chose two sites to share with you this evening, and I hope that you enjoy them.

Tonight I wanted to continue along the lines of my previous post, focusing on ancient ruins. I've always been fascinated with Pompeii, and I came across a site that has an enormous amount of pictures of Pompeii. I've just started going through it, and I'm very impressed with how well the site is organized, and with the sheer volume of pictures. I tend to find many sites a bit disappointing as they don't have nearly as many photographs as I'd like to see, so this site was a pleasant surprise. As I view the pictures, I feel both excited and sad. Excited to be able to see the streets and buildings that were so full of life many centuries ago, and sad to think of all those lives cut short. It's chilling to imagine being there at the time - the shock, the panic, the resignation of knowing that death was imminent. It's wonderful, however, that the ruins are so well-preserved, and that we are privileged to be able to see them today.

Pompeii In Pictures

I have another link with pictures of various ancient Egyptian ruins. Ancient Egypt has always been dear to my heart, and there are many sites on the internet with beautiful pictures and a lot of good information. I found this site to be a bit different from the norm, so I thought it would be an interesting one to share. It's one of those that doesn't have nearly enough photographs to suit me, but the ones that are there are interesting. They are all in black and white, with many panoramic views. There were some different treatments than usual - the Avenue of Sphinxes at the Luxor Temple surprised me, as it was certainly not like any of the pictures one would normally see of it.

Journey To the Ruins of Ancient Egypt

As a bit of a companion piece to the Egyptian link, I thought I would do a brief review of a book I read recently. It is titled Ancient Lives - The Story of the Pharoahs' Tombmakers, and is written by John Romer. I found this book quite fascinating, and very well-written. It is an account of the lives of the tombmakers in ancient Egypt, based on various writings and records that have survived through the centuries. The author provides vivid descriptions of the land and the tombmakers' village, and gives a wonderful insight into the lives of several individuals. I was impressed with how well the author brought the time and people to life, without resorting to fictional supposition or flights of fancy. In cases where he was speculating on events, he clearly stated that, and provided reasons for his guesses. This is definitely an intriguing history lesson with a twist, and I highly recommend it.

I hope that you enjoy the links. Oh, and by the way - the pie is delicious!

Underground City

2009-06-12T11:17:00.007-06:00

I'm back after a lengthy absence, and I have something quite interesting to share. I've always loved reading about - and occasionally having the good fortune to visit - old houses, archeological sites, antiques, and museum exhibits with old clothing, furniture, dishes, and such. I find it fascinating to view these things and consider the people who lived in the buildings, walked the streets, and used the items.

As a teenager, I was very lucky to have been able to spend some time in France and England, and it was so wonderful to walk through the old buildings - the energies were incredible. In France, we were able to vist some ancient Roman ruins, and a wonderful archeological site that was in the process of being excavated. How intriguing to walk on roads that until recently had not been trodden for centuries, to see silent buildings and courtyards that had once teemed with ancient life. Even in these places, the energies of past inhabitants were strong, echoing through the now-empty streets and walls. I could easily imagine turning a corner and encountering a toga-clad individual, who would have looked far more appropriate in those settings than we did in our modern clothing, with our cameras slung around our necks.

In light of my fascination with all of that, I was quite excited when I came across this link that someone had posted on a message board I belong to. It's an underground city discovered it Turkey, and I found it to be amazing. It was incredible viewing pictures of tunnels, rooms, and stairways that had not been walked for many years. I can just imagine how incredible it must have been for those who discovered it, and have been opening up the various levels. I'd love to be able to pay this place a visit, but since it's a bit too far away for that, I have to be satisfied with the pictures. I thought it might be interesting for others to see as well, so without further babbling, here is the link:

Underground City of Derinkuyu

Enjoy!

Tag - I'm It! (And Movie Reviews, Too!)

2008-02-23T16:54:00.003-07:00

My lovely friend Brooke tagged me with this fun little assignment, so I shall put my answers down here. I don't know enough people who blog to tag six people, but I'll at least tag Judy!

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Sooo, six unimportant things...

1. I love fiddling with all sorts of artsy things - painting, drawing, jewelry making, candle making, and of course photography, to name a few.

2. I love reading, and much prefer it to watching movies or TV shows. I like the characters and scenes to develop in my imagination, rather than being laid out for me in a movie or TV show.

3. I usually can't stand movies that are adapted from novels, as I find that they always tend to leave important parts out, and add things in that were never in the books!

4. I love to cook and bake, and while I cheat a lot these days, I generally prefer making things from scratch rather than using mixes.

5. I've always been drawn to Ancient Egypt, and to England in older times (around Medieval times), so I'd love to be able to travel to both places and spend some time in the old structures.

6. I have a very hard time finding shoes that fit properly, so when I do find some good ones I tend to buy at least two pairs.

There are my six things, I've linked to Brooke, and now I just have to let Judy know that she's tagged!

Now, in spite of my second statement in the above exercise, I do enjoy watching the odd movies. Especially good horror movies. I don't like the blood and gore ones - to me there is no need to get so graphic, and it just spoils the psychological horror element. I like horror movies that build the suspense up, provide good but non-gory jump moments, and that make me think and use my imagination. One of my favourite horror movies is The Changeling, which a lot of people find quite boring as there isn't a lot of action in it. However, I think it's done very well, with nice build-ups, and some very unnerving moments, with nary a gory scene to be witnessed! Unfortunately those kind of movies are few and far between these days, but I did come across four of them recently that I really enjoyed.

I should clarify that, because I actually bought these movies quite some time ago, but it wasn't until recently that I actually got around to watching them. The first one I watched was The Grudge. Not Ju-On, the Japanese original (although I'd love to see that), but the American version with Sarah Michelle Gellar. I was really not expecting to enjoy it, but it was on sale, and I'd heard a few people talk about how much they loved it. To my surprise and delight, I really liked this movie. It's definitely one that makes wonderful use of the psychological build-up, and it certainly makes the viewer think. I actually found myself looking over my shoulder a couple of times after watching this movie, and that's very unusual for me! I'm really impressed with the movie and the Japanese director - he certainly knows how to work the horror thing. He did a great job of building up the scares, and kept any gory stuff to a bare minimum.

I went out and bought The Grudge 2 after that, and was surprised to find myself enjoying it almost as much as the first one. Again, I found it to be very well done, and there were a couple of interesting twists that I wasn't expecting. I normally don't find sequels to be all that good, so this one was a refreshing change of pace. The Grudge 3 is being filmed this year, last I heard, but it looks like they will use a different director, which I think is probably a big mistake. I will probably buy it (it's not being released in theatres, but is going straight to DVD), but I'm a bit worried as to how they will pull the third one off.

The next movie I watched was White Noise, which was another movie I was not expecting to enjoy. Still, it had been on sale when I got it, and I just had a feeling that it would be good to pick up. I'm glad I did, as I quite liked it. It wasn't my favourite movie, but I thought it was quite well done, and I liked the fact that it was another one that wasn't gory. I don't normally watch the movie with the commentary on, but I did for this one, and the director indicated that there had been some scenes that were fairly graphic. They decided to cut them in order to keep the rating, and I'm very glad they did, as I know that the graphic nature of those scenes would have spoiled the movie for me.

One of the things I liked most about White Noise is that I found it fairly believable as far as the recording of EVPs went. I've done some EVP work (electronic voice phenomena), and I have to admit that this movie actually had me thinking that I might not want to do any more! However, I got over that fairly quickly, especially since I did find the antagonist side of the story to be pretty unbelievable - at least to me. Even so, it was done well, and was quite entertaining.

In the last couple of days I've watched Stephen King's Rose Red, which was actually a mini-series on TV. I'm glad I didn't watch it on TV though - it would have been most annoying to go through 6 episodes of it. With the DVDs I was able to watch it all at my own pace. I have seen a few movies that were made from Stephen King's books, and I have to admit that I haven't liked any of them. The books were wonderful, the movies not so much. However, Rose Red was written as a mini-series, not as a novel, so I figured that would make a huge difference - at least for me. I was right - it did make a difference, and I really enjoyed Rose Red. This was another tale where the build-ups were done very well, the scares were quite good, and there was no gratuitous gore involved. There were even some quite humourous moments. The sets and special effects were very well done, and the cast were very well matched to the characters. If you're a Stephen King fan, I would definitely recommend that you see Rose Red.

One other movie I watched was The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. Now, I've read the books, and I adored them, so I was quite nervous about this movie. It certainly wasn't my favourite movie, but I have to say that I really did enjoy it. The cast was a quirky bunch who totally suited the quirkiness of the subject material. I really got a kick out of watching them get into the parts. What really surprised me was that the directors remained quite true to the books. There were parts I would have liked to see in there, but of course with time and budget constraints, not everything can be included. Overall I thought they did a very good job with this movie, so I think that if you've read the books, you won't be disappointed with the movie. To me, it just added a little something to the whole experience, and after all, the books are quite the experience!

I'm done babbling on about the movies now, and I shall wander off to have a little nap, I think. I still have a few movies sitting in the cupboard that I haven't watched yet, so maybe I'll haul one of them out later! Have a good evening, everyone!

EDIT: Oooh, I almost forgot! You may have noticed - or maybe not! - that I've made a couple of changes. I've changed the main picture on my page, and I've changed my profile picture. The main picture is one that I took the night of the eclipse - the moon peeking through the trees. I love that shot, and I decided it would be very nice on the blog. The profile picture is a full moon shot I took shortly after I got the new camera. I figured it was fitting!

Watch the Birdies!

2008-02-23T16:12:00.005-07:00

As promised, another entry! I'm sure some of you will need smelling salts after this - two entries from me in one day! Actually, there will be yet another entry today, because I figured that with this batch of pictures it was best to post the other stuff I had in a separate one.

This morning I was out with the dogs, and of course hauled my trusty camera out with me. Lady got me up at the ungodly hour of 7:30, so I was literally up with the birds, who were just starting their daily routines. I see Blue Jays around here occasionally, but I never have my camera with me at the time. This morning I looked in the neighbour's tree, and to my delight a lovely Blue Jay landed in it. Unfortunately I had my camera set on automatic (due to the funky light at that hour of the morning) and discovered that automatic and digital zoom don't work too well together. Oh well, at least I got a picture! There's also a bonus picture of a squirrel in the same tree. I didn't see the little dude until I started zooming in to catch the Blue Jay. Here they are!

Pretty Blue Jay

Cheeky Squirrel

This next batch is of a couple of House Sparrows (also known as English Sparrows) who are setting up a nest in the neighbour's eaves. There are House Sparrows nesting in his eaves every year, and I have to wonder if it's the same couple, or at least some of their offspring. I think it could be the same pair, because over the years they've stopped giving everyone who walks past holy hell, and have taken to just keeping a sharp eye on us. So they've obviously gotten used to us being nearby.

Hanging Out On the Wall

Hanging Out On the Front Fence

Keeping An Eye On Me From the Back Fence

The Other Half of the Couple Near the Nesting Site

This Drainpipe Seems To Be a Favourite Perch

Another Couple of House Sparrows (Perhaps Relatives?) in the Neighbour's Tree -
One of My Favourite Shots!

I was out a little later and discovered a couple of very tiny birds in our tree out back. They are probably about a third of the size of the House Sparrows, so you can imagine how tiny these little ones are. This one was obliging enough to stand still just briefly enough for me to snap a picture. It took quite a bit of searching, but I finally found out what kind of bird it is, and I've had it confirmed by a couple of other people who have them in their areas. This is a Common Redpoll, which is a type of finch. Very lively little dude, and very pretty.

Common Redpoll

So there you have it - some of the neighbourhood wildlife! There are so many different birds in our neighbourhood that it's a bit mind-boggling - I've never seen such a variety in one area before moving to this neighbourhood. I'm starting to develop more of an interest in the different types that we have here, so you'll likely see more pictures as time goes on. At any rate, that's it for this entry - on to the next one!

Don't Faint!

2008-02-23T15:54:00.005-07:00

Okay, don't faint or anything, but I'm back! Things have been crazy at work for the last several months, so I haven't had the energy to get to the old blog for awhile. I'll try to do more entries from now on, but we'll see how that goes. At any rate, I'm back for the moment, and I have pictures! What a surprise, huh?

The lunar eclipse was lovely the other night, and I got some very nice pictures. I didn't get quite as many as I would have liked, because I hit a wrong button in the dark and screwed up all my settings, so I had to reset the camera. At least I managed to get a few shots before I made that wonderful mistake, so here are a few of them:

I had to fiddle with settings to get the last picture, and finally found one that worked - the fireworks setting! It's going to take awhile to get my settings back to normal, but thankfully I was able to get something that worked for the last shot.

I've had a very nasty cold/flu all week, so I was kind of laughing at myself that night. I was standing out on the sidewalk in my nightgown and winter coat, and I was thinking that probably wasn't the brightest thing to be doing while I was sick. But I think the fresh air actually did some good, and I had fun getting the pictures, so it was worth it. I'm starting to feel a bit more human today, although the damned cold is still hanging in there quite tenaciously. Hopefully it's on its way out.

I have some other pictures to post - once again taken in nightgown and winter coat! I will post them in a separate entry, so I'll close this one and get to work on the next batch of pictures!

Moonshine

2007-05-27T16:17:00.001-06:00

I've been fiddling around with the new camera for awhile now, trying to get some decent moon shots. I figured it was just a matter of hitting on the right settings, but no amount of playing with ISO, shutter, and aperature settings seemed to be doing the trick. I decided to just play with pre-sets - like the night program - and as I was flipping through I hit on the manual setting. To my amazement, the moon suddenly came into perfect focus - no shiny white blob sitting on my screen. I never would have thought it would be something that simple, but I was quite pleased. I was also very startled - it was a good thing the camera was on the tripod, otherwise I likely would have dropped it!

At any rate, here are a few of the pictures. These first three are on a tripod, on the maximum 12X optical zoom, and I've just cropped the pictures - nothing else was done to them. The colour variances are due to different light simulations on the camera. The silver one is just on the regular, natural light setting, the more vivid yellow is a flourescent setting, and the less vivid yellow is the cloudy setting.

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

This next shot was taken with the digital zoom, which ends up making the total zoom (optical and digital combined) 48X zoom. Now, I normally avoid the digital zoom like the plague, because it's usually horrible. The pictures tend to be either very grainy, or as with most I've seen, very fuzzy and out of focus. I just decided to give it a try when I took the dogs out, and just took a handheld shot with the digital zoom. I was extremely shocked to see it come out so well, I must say.

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

I am still blown away by the clarity in those moon shots. I'm thrilled to bits, and am so very happy that I chose this camera.

I did have an issue with my tripod. I have two - a very good one that I got for my 35mm Canon SLR, and a cheap light-weight one that I got for my old digital camera. The good tripod is awesome, but is far too heavy to cart around. So I tried the cheap one the other night, but unfortunately the new camera is too heavy for it, and it just won't hold up. It's very disconcerting to get a shot centred, then watch the subject slide around on the screen while the timer's counting down, because the tripod legs are starting to buckle. So I decided that for my own sanity, and the safety of the camera, I'd best see if I could find a more sturdy tripod that was still light enough to carry around. I think I found one this afternoon, so I shall give it a try a bit later and hope that it holds up.

I took a walk around the neighbourhood on the long weekend, and got a few nice shots. I haven't re-sized many of them yet, but I will be doing that soon and putting them up on the Echoes in Time site. I did get a couple done though, and I quite liked the way they turned out. The first one was with the zoom lens, the second with the Super Macro.

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

(c) Fullmoondolphin 2007

That's about it for now. Have a good week, and take care!

The Slimy Side of Life

2007-04-15T18:53:00.000-06:00

As of today, there is a slimy side to my life - Slimy the Snail, that is. Slimy is the newest addition to the aquarium family. He's a Golden Snail, and I must say he's certainly an active little guy. I've never had a live snail before, so it's quite a shock seeing this shell moving around the aquarium under its own steam! Here's a peek at him:

This was taken just after I put Slimy in the tank.

This was taken shortly after the first one - Slimy quickly decided that he wanted to explore his new home. No laying about for this little dude!

I was originally going to get a bottom feeder fish of some sort, but the lady at the store recommended that I go with a snail instead. Since the bottom feeders they had grow to about 6 inches, I'm rather glad she suggested the snail, as I would have been a bit concerned about the frogs with a fish that large!

I've also got a new camera, thanks to some bonuses at work. I received an award for 5 years' service, and an award for our Safety Program, and had to choose something that I wanted. I was thinking of a video camera, but then decided this was the perfect opportunity to upgrade to a new digital camera, since I would get more use out of it. Plus, it would have been a long time before I'd be able to get one myself! I decided on a Canon S3 IS, and I have to say that I'm thrilled with it. The 12X optical zoom is wonderful, the colour is very true, the image stabilization works extremely well, and the video function is awesome. So in a way I got a decent video camera in the bargain anyhow. I wouldn't have been able to get this camera had it not been on sale, so I'm thinking that there was no accident with the timing of the bonuses. They were actually supposed to have been done at the beginning of January, but were delayed. Which is a good thing, as it turns out.

Slimy's pictures were taken with the new camera, and here are a couple of other ones:

The super macro function - very clear and crisp.

The zoom function works very nicely, and is very stable.

Snow mould on the front lawn. Nasty, nasty, stuff!

See? The Easter Bunny IS real!

This large guy was on a neighbour's front lawn - too cute!

The rest of the test pictures are on the Echoes In Time site, if you want to go take a look at them. There are two new albums - "Spring In the Air?" and "New Camera", and I've also updated the "Fauna" album.

Since it's been awhile, just a quick update on other news. I've slowly managed to get the dental work done. Just had the last bit of work done last Wednesday, and of course it was the worst of it all. A root canal. Ugh. Actually, the procedure wasn't bad at all, except for having to stay in the chair for about 2 1/2 hours. The tooth wasn't nearly as sore as she kept telling me it was going to be - not for the first night and the next day, at any rate. However, it was pretty damned nasty for the two days after that, although that was only when I brushed it or inadvertently bit down on it. It's still pretty tender today, but it's doing better, and I was even able to chew some soft food on it without aggravating it too badly.

There really isn't a lot of other news to speak of. Just mainly focusing on work, and trying to rest in the evenings and on weekends. The fibromyalgia's been worse since Mom got sick, and I think work is not helping it to get any better. But I have to work, so all I can do is rest as much as possible when I'm not working. Of course I end up spending a fair bit of time on the computer, and I've found a site that I think you might all like.

They give away free software programs and games on a daily basis - a different one each day. You have to download, install, and activate them in the specified time period in order to have the full version on your computer. The only thing you don't get is tech support and future upgrades. But I don't care about that - if I can get a full program or game free, I'm not going to complain about not getting tech support or upgrades! They give away one game and one program per day, so I check the site on a daily basis. I've gotten quite a few games, most of which are enjoyable. I didn't like a couple of them, but that's no big deal - I can just uninstall them. I haven't come across many software applications that I wanted, although they did have some that I'd have loved to get just before I found the site! I have downloaded a couple, but haven't had the occasion to try them out yet, although they sound very useful. At any rate, if you want to check it out, go to Giveaway of the Day .

There's not much else in the way of news, so I'll wander off for now. Take care everyone!

Something Fishy...

2007-03-04T21:26:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile, but I'm back! There really hasn't been a whole lot going on - nothing overly exciting, at any rate - to blog about. However, a couple of weeks ago the aquarium cracked while I was cleaning it, so I had to get a new one for the boys. So I figured I'd post some pictures of the new aquarium, and the new additions to it!

The boys went from this:

To this:

And here is the latest view:

Here are the boys in their new home - Tiny Tim is in the back, and Tom Thumb is nearest the camera:

Here are two of the new tankmates - I got four Tiger Barbs today, and managed to get two of them to pose for a picture:

I also managed to get some good pictures of the bubbles from the aerator. They occurred by accident, really, but as soon as I knew how it happened, I was able to get more good shots! Here are a couple of them:

Other than that, there really isn't much news. The organic foods have been working very well for me. I haven't found a place that sells organic meat for reasonable prices yet - most of them charge an astronomical amount of money. I will keep looking, though. In the meantime, I've switched to mostly organic veggies, fruits, eggs, and dairy products. They also make organic potato chips and chocolate - and they are SO good. For the most part, I find that the prices are quite comparable, except for the dairy, which is quite a bit more. But it tends to even out for me in the end, because I'm not buying the "convenience" foods anymore.

Other than that, really no news to report! So I hope you enjoy the new fishy pictures. Have a good night, everyone!

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

2007-01-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been going through some peri-mentalpausal issues, and this has led not only to my finding a nice little herbal concoction to try, but also to giving some more thought to the food I'm eating. I've been considering buying more organic food for quite some time, but I thought it would be a lot more expensive, so I've not really looked at too many of the products. However, in light of some of the issues I've been having, I decided this weekend to check out some things.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the produce really is a minimal increase in price, so I picked up some spinach, carrots, celery, and potatoes. I also decided to try the milk and cheese, although I must admit that the dairy products are quite a bit pricier than their non-organic counterparts. I really do like the milk, though - I do find it has a better flavour, and as I told a friend of mine, the best way I can describe it is that it tastes cleaner. For me, it's worth the price increase, and as I will not be buying other items that I normally buy, it won't really increase my grocery bill.

I also find that the vegetables taste a lot better, and I feel better about cooking with healthier food. Hell, I feel better just to be cooking again, period! It's been awhile since I had my kitchen in decent enough shape to really do much cooking, but in the last week I've gotten it cleaned up quite well, so I'm making myself cook dinner each night, and I started making lunches for work this morning. Much better - and tastier - than the cheap little frozen things I've been getting for lunches and dinners.

I belong to a board where the members sometimes post pictures of the food they cook, so I've been taking pictures of my last few dinners. I figured I'd share them with you - aren't you lucky? This first one was my dinner on Saturday night - a very yummy steak with teriyaki sauce to dip in, rice with teriyaki sauce mixed in, and sauteed mushrooms and carrots. It was wonderful, and had the added bonus of providing some extra iron which is something I need now.

Steak Dinner

On Sunday night, I had to do something with the leftover rice, so I picked up some steak strips that I found at the grocery store. They looked decent, and while they weren't my favourite (a bit too tough, like most grocery store meat), they weren't too bad. They worked quite nicely in this teriyaki stir-fry that I whipped up:

What's Cookin'?

Ready To Eat!

Tonight's dinner, which I am very much enjoying as I type, is spinach salad, roasted potatoes and corn, and a breaded stuffed chicken thing - stuffed with a bit of cheese and broccoli. I'm enjoying the veggies the most, but the chicken is quite good, and adds the extra protein that I'm also missing. I don't eat enough meat, so I'm trying to remedy that. At any rate, here is tonight's fare:

Chicken, Spinach, and Taters - Yum!

So far I'm doing pretty good with reasonably healthy meals, and I've been having fruit for an evening snack, so hopefully I can keep up the good work here! Not only will it be healthy for me anyhow, but I'm hoping that it will help somewhat with all this peri-mentalpause shit. I'm not prepared to consider HRT, so I'm trying more natural remedies, including dietary changes, first.

So fingers crossed I keep all this good stuff up, and that between the meals and the herbal supplement there will be a bit less "mental" in the "pausal"!

Cheating, Updated Pictures, and Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, a certain someone has been harrassing - er, reminding - me that I haven't posted a blog entry for quite some time. I spotted a cute little questionnaire on this certain someone's (*cough* Brooke *cough*) blog, and decided that it would be fun to fill out. Then I thought, "hmm, I could fill it out and post it on my blog..." Yeah, it's cheating, but what the heck!

At the same time, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year - may 2007 bring you what you need, and hopefully what you need will also coincide with what you want!

This little questionnaire appears to be one that you tag other blogging friends with, however, I'm not going to do that. What I will do is highly suggest that Judy and Lex take a peek at this, because I suspect they'll both have fun with it! *evil giggle* Without further nattering, here is the questionnaire:

Four jobs I’ve had:
Sales clerk in a retail clothing store.
Cashier and Assistant Manager in a convenience store.
Various different positions in a banking career that lasted WAY too long.
Accounting clerk in a land surveying company.

Four Places I’ve lived:
Ottawa, Ontario
Air Force Base in Alberta
British Columbia
City in Alberta

Four favorite foods:
Borscht
Perogies
Lasagne
Teriyaki Stir Fry
There are SO many others – it was hard to just pick four!

Four movies I could watch over and over:
A Nightmare Before Christmas
Sleepy Hollow
The Mummy *
The Mummy Returns *
the newer ones, with Brendan Fraser

Four TV shows I enjoy:
Keeping Up Appearances
Are You Being Served
Most Haunted
The Red Green Show

Four places I’ve traveled:
Seattle
France
England
California

Four places I’d like to visit:
I’m going to break this into two sections – places I’ve been to, and places I haven’t yet been to.

Places I’ve been to:
England
Queen Charlotte Islands, BC
Canmore, Alberta
San Diego

Places I haven’t yet been to:
Greece
Italy
Scotland
Ireland

Four websites I go to (almost) daily:
GhostPlace.com
User Friendly.org
Something Positive.net
Assorted blogs and friends’ sites.

There! I had a bit of a giggle with that one, and I hope some of the rest of you have fun with it too.

One other bit of news before I go! Judy and I made a trek to our favourite cemetery over the Christmas holidays, and we also wandered around the neighbourhood on Christmas afternoon. So there are a bunch of new pictures on the Echoes in Time site (link on sidebar - yes, I'm too lazy to put it in the post!), in the St. Joachim Cemetery section, and the winter section.

Once again, a very Happy New Year to you all! (((((((HUGS)))))))

EDIT: I was going to add a couple of pictures to tease you all with, but Blogger is up to the usual trick of telling me it's uploaded them, then not putting them in the post. Sigh. I even deleted the entry and re-posted it, with no success. So if you want to see the pictures, just head on over to Echoes in Time.

Winter Weirdness

2006-10-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

Winter certainly did come in with a bang. As I noted in the previous post, we did get snow. We got quite a bit more snow after I'd posted. It continued to snow quite steadily well into the night, and the wee hours of the morning. I headed out around midnight and took a few pictures to share with a couple of friends in snow-less climes. As you can see from the first picture, it was snowing quite heavily - it was still doing so when I went to bed a couple of hours later. The second picture shows how much snow had piled up on the barbecue cover, so it gives you some idea of how much was accumulating. I can tell you there was even more of that by the time I had to clear the car off the next morning!

Let It Snow

Buried Barbecue

I wandered out with the dogs the next morning, to be greeted by a very weird sight. The Chokecherry tree still had most of its leaves, but during the wee hours of the morning a very strong wind had swept through, resulting in a lot of leaves being scattered all over the yard - on top of the snow. It was quite strange to see, and since the tree still has quite a few leaves on it, I suspect we'll have even more leaves scattered around soon.

Leaf-Covered Snow

I had to get a picture of the plant pot that sits on the deck. The pot is a fair size, and used to be filled with sand and used as an ashtray. It's been empty for quite some time though, so it really is filled with snow.

Pot O' Snow

I'm still not thrilled with all this white shit, but as there's nothing I can do about it I will head out this week and see what kind of pictures I can shoot. I might as well use this winter weather to my advantage, as it will make for some beautiful shots. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to go, although I do plan on heading to my favourite cemetery. I do have to head to the vet tomorrow, which is out of town, so perhaps I'll take the camera along, as there may be some interesting opportunities out in the countryside.

I've updated the Echoes In Time site again, this time adding a winter section - Winter Frost. So far it's just a few snapshots that I've taken, including the ones I've posted here. There are a few leaf pictures that I'm pleased with, but I'm hoping to add to that album with whatever I get this week.

Now I am off to bed, so I shall wish you all a good night and pleasant dreams!

Nooooooooooooooooooo!

2006-10-28T13:35:00.000-06:00

Winter's Here!

It had to come sometime, I suppose, but I really wish it had held off for at least another week or so. Partly because I was hoping there would be no snow for Hallowe'en, and partly because I'm on holidays, and I would have really liked to have not seen any snow during my vacation! It started snowing last night, and is still snowing quite steadily this afternoon, with no signs of letting up anytime soon. Grrrrrrrrrrr...

I'm a bit cranky anyhow, as I ended up being sick for the first week of my vacation, so I didn't get to head out and do some of the photography I was planning on. I'm planning on heading out next week, but it would be nice to not have snow to contend with. However, I'll have to make the best of what I'm given, and I have to admit that I should get some pretty pictures, if there is still snow kicking about.

Speaking of which, I did get some pictures in the back yard over the last couple of days. I've updated the Echoes In Time site with them, but I'll post a couple here for you.

This first one is a bit of a poser for you - can you tell what it is? I have posted that answer on the Echoes In Time site, so don't go look there first! Now, no cheating, and take a guess at what this could be:

Mystery Photo!

Here's another picture I rather liked. I don't normally go for these type of pictures, but the arrangement and colour caught my eye, and I decided to take a shot and see how it turned out. I'm quite pleased with the result!

Rusty Wheels

One more - taken before the snow fell. This little guy is buried under quite a bit of snow at the moment:

Dewy Leaf

That's it for now! If you want to see the rest, you can wander over to the site and take a look. The new additions are all at the end of the Miscellaneous section, with the exception of the Dewy Leaf one, which is under Flora. However, since you've already seen it, you don't really need to look there. Unless of course you want to see a larger version of it.

With the weather being the way it is today, I'm thinking it's time to go curl up on the bed with the girls. I'll read a bit, and perhaps even have a wee nap. So I shall wish you all a good day, and a pleasant rest of the weekend!

Echoes In Time

2006-09-21T20:24:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted for awhile because I've been busy working on a new site for myself. Since I've been taking and posting so many pictures, I decided to open a site to keep my pictures on, so I can just provide a link rather than posting so much on the sites I post to, and on my blog. I will still post a few pictures here, but will leave most on the site. Here is the link, if anyone's interested:

Echoes In Time

I've had quite a lot of fun fiddling with the site, although I will admit it's been a lot of work putting the pictures up. First they have to be re-sized, then uploaded, then individually inserted into the photo albums and labeled. It didn't help that the largest album had to be re-done not once, but twice! Ah well, I learned a few things from those bloopers! Even in spite of that, I have been very much enjoying myself. I used one of their templates, as I liked it and I figured it would be much less work. I decided it would be enough work just getting the pictures up!

Of course, as soon as I get one batch of pictures up, Judy and I make another cemetery trip and I have a whole new batch to work on! Case in point - we just went to the old cemetery again yesterday evening. I was going to work on getting those pictures up tonight, but I think I'll give it a rest until tomorrow. I'm quite tired and am enjoying just lazing around. So you'll have to wait to see them! Mind you, I doubt anyone else is as excited about them as I am! LOL!

I have really been enjoying these cemetery jaunts. They are so peaceful, and it's very refreshing to be out wandering around all the wonderful old trees and gravestones in the crisp autumn air. Although when I was laying on the ground getting macro shots of a certain interesting mushroom it was a bit more than crisp, I can tell you! You'll see which mushroom I'm talking about when the Old Cemetery III section goes up in the next day or two.

I've also been playing with Paint Shop Pro more lately. Mostly it's just to re-size the pictures, with the occasional minor cropping job. However, due to the cloudiness in the last couple of visits a few otherwise lovely shots were a little washed out, and I discovered that the saturation tool works wonders. It boosts the colour just a touch to have the picture looking just as I saw the scene with my eyes, but doesn't alter anything like fiddling with the brightness and contrast does.

The only major artistic fiddling I've been doing in Paint Shop Pro is to render some shots in black and white, and some in sepia, for those who enjoy that. I do like the effect, but I prefer the pictures in colour, as that is how I saw them. I will be posting sections for the black and white and sepia in the next few days.

All of this picture-taking has led to me realize that I have to upgrade the old computer. There is simply not enough space on the hard drive. It's a 9.53G drive, which was top of the line when I bought the computer. Putting Windows XP on the computer ate most of that up, and it's very frustrating having to keep transferring pictures to CD in order to free up a bit of space. Of course I need them all archived on CD anyhow, but I would prefer to also be able to leave them all on the computer. Fortunately adding a hard drive and a bit of extra memory isn't overly expensive these days. Since I don't have an extra bay for another hard drive, I will likely go with an external one. I've been doing some hunting around, and today a tech friend of mine told me about the place where she gets all her stuff. I was quite impressed with their selection and their prices. It's also close to home, so I will likely pop in and have a chat with them one of these days.

The only other bit of news I have at the moment concerns the girls. Lady gave me the biggest scare she has ever given me to date. About a week ago I woke up to her having what I thought was a seizure. I jumped out of bed, and she would not respond to me at all, even though her eyes were open. I was afraid she was dead until I noticed that she was breathing, so I just sat there, petting her and talking to her. She suddenly started wagging her tail and licking my face, and behaved like nothing had happened. Until she got up and noticed she had peed, then she got feeling a bit guilty. The vet's office made me an appointment for later that morning, and off we went - Lady behaving as though all was normal, me with swollen eyes from bawling all morning, and very shattered nerves.

The vet questioned me about what had happened, and immediately assured me that it had not been a seizure, but was a cardiac arrhythmia (she also calls it a "heart faint"), where her heart actually stopped beating for a short time. The brain panicked because there was no blood flow, and the panic caused the seizure-like behaviour. She became unconscious, which was her brain and body's way of giving the heart time to re-start. The vet ran some blood tests and took some x-rays, and these confirmed her diagnosis, and showed that Lady's heart is a bit enlarged. So Lady is now on heart medication, and is doing quite well. She's actually quite a bit perkier since being on the medication. She just went for her one week check up on Tuesday evening, and the vet was very happy with her progress. Which made ME very happy too!

Another issue has been that Lady occasionally pees on the bed during the day when I'm at work. I figured she was sleeping more deeply because she's older, and just wasn't waking up when she had to go. I asked the vet about it, without telling her what I thought, and what she said confirmed what I had been thinking. She said it was because she slept more deeply and simply did not wake up. However, she threw a surprising twist into things. She told me that the reason this happens is because older female dogs often have a large drop in estrogen. So next week I will have to start adding a bit of tofu to Lady's food, as the vet said that often raises the estrogen levels. If that doesn't work, then she will consider putting her on synthetic estrogen pills. I'm not big on synthetic medications, for humans or animals, as our bodies are not made to process them properly. So we'll have to do some chatting about that. Hopefully the tofu will do the trick, and that discussion will not have to take place. I have to say, though, tofu would NEVER cross my doorstep for any other reason but this!

At any rate, that episode of arrhythmia was very terrifying, and I hope to never have to go through that again. The news was good in some ways, but of course Lady will have to be closely monitored from here on in, and will be on the heart medication for the rest of her life. For the moment, all is well, and that's the main thing.

I think I'm done babbling for now. I've been very tired this week, and I'm just relaxing and getting ready for bed. I've just made some herbal tea, so I will do a bit of surfing while I drink that, then hopefully get an early night. Take care everyone!

Grave Thoughts

2006-09-09T19:31:00.000-06:00

There are two old cemeteries here that Judy and I have been wanting to visit for a long time. They are both huge, and appear to be one very large cemetery, as they each lie on either side of a very busy street. I drive by, or rather between them every weekday morning on my way to work, and I've always thought they looked lovely. Judy and I finally went to one of them, and I'm here to tell you that it is by far one of most gorgeous cemeteries I've had the pleasure of visiting.

We wandered over there on Thursday evening, but after a couple of delays en route we ended up not having enough light left to get the pictures we wanted. We still enjoyed strolling around, but we opted to forego our shopping plans for the next afternoon and head back to the cemetery. I am so glad we did. It was a perfect afternoon - very warm, but with a cool breeze, and lots of shade from all the old trees in the cemetery. The cemetery itself is extremely peaceful and has a wonderful energy.

We explored the oldest section, which is nothing short of stunning. The monuments and gravestones are works of art, and many of them are quite old. There are several stones that are so eroded the inscriptions can no longer be read, and a good number of the stones and monuments have quite nice collections of lichen growing on them. Not that that's necessarily good for the stones, but it does look lovely. Of course, due to the age of that section, there are a lot of children's graves, infant and child mortality being what it was. Those are always sad to see, and some of the inscriptions are just heartbreaking.

Speaking of heartbreaking, at one point in time some vandals spent one night doing a ton of damage in both of the cemeteries. From the article I read, it sounds like the focused on the old sections. They broke many gravestones and monuments, and while they were repaired, it is still easy to see the damage. It made me extremely angry and sad to see all that desecration. Some stones have been patched together, but others are still in pieces. I think they may have been repaired at one time, but fell apart again. I felt compelled to take pictures of many of the damaged stones - it just seemed like someone needed to acknowledge them and pay respect to them, and that was my way of doing so.

Two were particularly heartbreaking for me. One was a beautiful work of art on the grave of a four-year-old boy. While it does not show clearly in the picture, this little guy is holding teddy bears in his arm, and flowers in his hand. Due to erosion over the years, it's hard to make out the teddy bears unless you are standing right by the stone. Here is the picture of that stone:

Broken Hearted

As you can see, repairs were attempted, but were not overly successful. Pieces are missing, and the little guy's body has not been set back in proper position over the feet. Still, at least a good bit of the statue remains, and it was not destroyed entirely.

The other heartbreaker for me can be found in the PhotoBucket link that will follow at the end of this blog entry. It is a picture of all that remains of an old gravestone, and that is simply the base. The entire upper portion of the stone is gone, so there is no name, date, or anything else to mark the grave of the individual whose body lies there. I keep wishing I had a fair bit of money, then I could call the cemetery, find out who is buried there, and have a new stone made for him or her.

It really angers me when people do that kind of senseless damage. It is so horribly disrespectful, both to those who are buried there and to their families who are still alive. I can only imagine how people felt when they discovered that their relatives' graves had been vandalized. It would be very traumatic, to say the least. On top of that, works of art have been badly damaged, and in some cases destroyed. These old monuments and gravestones are wonderful pieces of art, and were made with care, respect, and great crafstmanship. If some vandal were to take a knife to the Mona Lisa he or she would be prosecuted quite strongly. I honestly feel that the same should happen with those who vandalize cemeteries like this - not only are they destroying works of art, they are grossly disrespecting the resting places of those who have passed on - or at least of their remains. I know they are not there in spirit, but their remains still deserve respect.

I could rant about this for quite some time, but I suppose I'd best let it go for the moment. At any rate, Judy and I had a wonderful time wandering around the cemetery, and we got some lovely pictures too. I took 185, and while Judy didn't take that many I know she took quite a few as well. Actually I took 185 yesterday afternoon - the night before I took 107! Although some of those were full moon shots that I took after we'd come home. Still, I have a whack of cemetery pictures! I've put less than half of them on PhotoBucket at this point in time. I may add more later, but for now I've put up most of my favourite shots.

If you'd like, you can check them out in the following link:

Click Here To View Cemetery Pictures

I'm also posting a few of my favourites below:

Broken Cross

Old Graves
I was asked if these five graves were from the same family. I honestly don't know. I just loved the way they looked in their little group, and had to get a shot.

Autumn Leaves
This is one of my favourite shots. It was a picture that I thought would not turn out well, so I was all prepared to delete it after downloading the pictures. I was shocked when I opened it - I absolutely love the way it turned out.

Serenity
See? How could anyone not want to hang out in this gorgeous place?

You can see larger versions of the above pictures in the PhotoBucket link, as well as many others shots of some wonderful old stones and some lovely views of the cemetery. One of my favourite spots in the cemetery is an old crypt. I was fascinated with it the minute we walked in the cemetery on Thursday evening, and I'm still fascinated with it now. You can see a couple of pictures of it in the link.

I'm going to shut up now, and let you all get to looking at the pictures, if you so desire. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. I can't wait to get back there and take some more!

Have a wonderful night, everyone!

EDIT: Judy posted her pictures already - I didn't think she was doing it until tomorrow. So make sure to head over to Showers and Sunflowers and check Judy's pictures out!

Vacation!

2006-09-01T19:47:00.000-06:00

Woo-hoo! I am officially on vacation! It feels kind of weird, as it's been awhile since I've had time off - other than being so sick earlier in the year, but I'm talking enjoyable time off.

I worked late last night and got everything all caught up, so all I'll have to go back to is whatever mess people at work leave for me. So that felt good. A friend was visiting my sister, and they invited me to join them, so I had a nice visit after I finally got home. Not to mention a yummy dinner that they provided. Very nice way to start my vacation!

I got up this morning and debated how to spend my day. I knew I had to go out at one point to get my brother-in-law's birthday present, as well as pick up a card for him. But I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with the rest of my day. I was thinking of doing some more cleaning, but then I decided that since it was the first day of vacation, I was going to simply be lazy and do sweet tweet.

Once that decision was made, I decided to treat myself on my first morning off. I made a lovely pot of perked coffee, then made pancakes and eggs for breakfast, with a glass of orange juice on the side. Then I fiddled around on the computer for awhile, and had a brief chat online with a couple of friends. I was debating what I might want to do next when my eyes decided it was time to slam shut, so I ended up whiling away the afternoon with a nice long nap. Ahhhhh, vacations are good!

So now I've been to the store and am spending a nice, quiet evening at home. I have some spooky shows to watch tonight - Most Haunted, Rescue Mediums, Psychic Detectives, Ghostly Encounters - but since most of them are re-runs I will likely spend most of the evening in front of the computer and doing a bit of reading. As well as plotting what I want to do on the rest of my vacation!

My sister and I are planning on visiting a huge cemetery in the city. It's actually two cemeteries, one on either side of the road. They are both very large, and quite old, so I'm thinking there should be some lovely old tombstones and hopefully a few interesting energies. I drive by, or rather, between, these cemeteries every day on may way to work, and I just love them.

There are a couple of stores I want to get to. One is my favourite witch store. I was there a couple of weeks ago, but they had run out of the stuff I'd gone to purchase, so I have to go back for it. There is a metaphysical store not far from there that I used to love - they actually used to be in the quarters that the witch store is in now. Since they moved, I'm not as fond of going there - the staff are all part-timers, and aren't all very knowledgeable. Plus, the energies in the store just aren't the same - it seems to be more about making money now, and less about the products and the spirituality. Still, I do like checking out the new stuff - I've gotten some lovely items from that store. So I'd like to go there and peek around, then head to the witch store for my stuff, and for a dose of wonderful energy.

I wouldn't mind doing a run to Wal-Mart, as the Hallowe'en decorations should be coming out by now. It's always fun to browse through them, and I usually find something that's reasonably priced to add to my collection.

There are several other things I'd like to do too, but I only have a week, and I also want to get some good lazing-around time in! So I'll just play things by ear, and see what develops. Speaking of developing, that brings to mind a few pictures I took this morning!

The Girls!

Lady

Misty

I found another web this morning when I took the girls out, and just had to try and get pictures of it. It was very close to where the other web I'd posted had been, but this one was in an even more awkward position. I'm wondering if it's the same spider, since it is so close to the old web. I don't like this picture as much as the previous one, but I still thought it turned out well enough to post!

Charlotte's New Web

I think that's about it for me tonight! Have a good night, everyone, and a wonderful weekend!

Autumn's Coming!

2006-08-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

Autumn's coming! Autumn's coming! See? The leaves are turning!

Autumn Leaf

They've been turning for a little over a week, but I just spotted that little guy on the ground out back, so figured I'd snap a picture to preserve him for posterity!

I am so happy that autumn's on the way. It's my favourite time of year to start with, and it's already much cooler out in the evenings, which is helpful when it's hotter than blazes during the day. So I'm feeling better, and have a bit more energy.

I'm also doing a ton of housecleaning right now - finally getting this place straightened up! I've been cleaning like crazy, but have been very baffled as to where I was getting the energy from. Then the other night I remembered that I had done a spell awhile back to give myself the energy to get some work done in the house. I'd forgotten all about it. I'm pleased to see that it's kicking in, though!

In light of this housework roll that I'm on, this is going to be a short entry. I just had some other pictures I've wanted to post, but Blogger has not been cooperative with that in the last week. Every time I've tried to post them, it hasn't worked. I thought I'd give it a shot again this morning, and was very happy when the pictures uploaded!

These first ones are of a gorgeous sunset that I caught the tail end of a week or so ago:

These are another sunset, a few days later. A storm was rolling in, and created this wonderful picture in the sky.

These were taken just the other night. I wandered out with the dogs, spotted this beautiful sky, and had to run back in for the camera!

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed the pictures, and now I'm off to do some more cleaning. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Nostalgia

2006-08-03T23:32:00.000-06:00

I've been home sick the last couple of days, and this morning I found myself feeling rather bored, but with not enough energy to do much of anything. So I hauled out the camera and looked around to see what I could take pictures of. My eyes lit on a toothpick house that my Dad built many years ago. It's in remarkable shape, especially considering the amount of moves it's been through. The only thing missing is the front porch, which apparently fell off many years back. I don't recall ever seeing it with the porch, so it either fell off before I was born, or when I was very young.

The house is a replica of the one his parents owned, and I'm told it's quite a faithful reproduction of the real one. The real house is long gone, and last I heard the property it sat on is vacant. Rather sad, but it makes the toothpick version even more precious.

I also have a small outhouse that someone made for my Dad when he was in the Air Force. I've always gotten a giggle out of that outhouse, and decided it was worthy of photographing too.

So here are some things from the good old days - I thought I'd share them with you!

Front and Side

Front and Other Side

Back View

I can just picture this house sitting on a grassy lot, with a garden patch or two off to one side, a dirt driveway winding up to the front door...

I also got some interior shots, although it was a bit hard to get many to turn out through those teeny windows. Still, a few were okay, and I must admit they have a bit of a spooky feeling to me - very much the abandoned house feel.

Front Entrance

Upstairs

Downstairs

I really like the upstairs interior picture. It actually looks like floor and wallboards to me. The floor reminds me of the old plank flooring, which I would love to have in my house. It's interesting, but when I look at those interior pictures, especially the upstairs one, I can almost hear footsteps echoing across the floorboards...

Now for the outhouse - this little piece of carpentry has always made me grin!

Outhouse

Two-Seater!

I also took some pictures of some candles I made several years ago. They're a bit dried out, and the colours have bled a bit, but I still like them. I think they'll be scheduled to be burned this autumn or winter though.

Candles in Music Note Holder

Ankh Candles

I've made several of these candles - some plain tapers, some pillars with pictures and designs. All except for the ones pictured were given as gifts, so I didn't have any photographs of them. I enjoy making them, and I love burning the tapers. I think it's time to make some more - maybe this time I'll make a bunch for myself!

That's it for tonight. Nothing earth-shattering, but I thought some of you might get a kick out of the pictures. They had me waxing nostalgic, so I figured I might as well take you all down that road with me! Take care everyone, and sleep well!

Spiders I Have Known

2006-07-30T00:22:00.000-06:00

Today was a rather sad day, in some ways. I finally had to get rid of the spider that was living in the corner in my bathroom. On the one hand, I was quite sad, as I'd become accustomed to her hanging out there. On the other hand, I couldn't wait to get the vacuum out, as her web was getting quite large, and so was she, for that matter. Plus, it looked like she had a nice batch of eggs waiting to hatch. So the other day I decided it was time for her - and her offspring-to-be - to go.

As she tends to spend a lot of time away from the web, I decided to wait to vacuum it up until I actually caught her at home. That happened, unexpectedly, this afternoon. Normally Mrs. Spider doesn't spend much time in the web during the day. I usually catch her that at night, but it's normally too late to fire the vacuum up. So Judy, you'll be pleased to know that she and her babies are now residing in the depths of my vacuum cleaner, and it's once again safe to use the bathroom!

Rest in peace, Mrs. Spider and family...

In other spider news, I had taken the dogs out for a bathroom break one day last weekend. As I walked by the swing, I just happened to catch a glint of something out of the corner of my eye. It turned out to be a beautiful, pristine, delicate spider web, with a very tiny spider in the middle. I took a lot of pictures, not expecting good results as the sun and the web were at awkward angles, but I managed to have one turn out beautifully. Here it is:

Charlotte's Web

I also got some pictures of a weed that was growing out back. It had the most beautiful tiny pink flowers, and even though it was very windy, I managed to capture a couple of good macro shots. I particularly love the way the stamen in the first shot look like little pink-and-white striped witch's stockings!

Witch's Stockings!

Pretty Pink Weed

I am just waiting for laundry to finish before I head to bed. Doing the laundry gave me a bit of a turn today. I had bought two sets of sheets awhile ago - a lovely apple green set, and a pale yellow set. I've been using the green ones, and because a certain dog who shall remain nameless upchucked on the bed this morning, I had to wash the bedding. I decided that instead of using the green sheets again, I'd wash and use the yellow ones. I pulled them out of the package, unfolded them, and turfed them in the washer. As I was throwing the pillow cases in the washer, I noticed a small dark spot on one of them. As I was about to inspect further, the small dark spot started moving. It was so small that I couldn't make out just what it was, although from the way it moved I think it was a baby centipede.

It gave me some anxious moments. I killed it and disposed of it, but then started wondering where it had come from. Was it in the sheets in the packaging? Were there a million more of them crawling around the sheets? Or was it on the floor in the laundry room, and just crawled on the pillow case when I had put it on the floor? If it was in the sheets in the packaging, how did it get there? Did it crawl in from the warehouse? Or did it crawl in when the sheets were made in Bangladesh? Did I now have a gazillion eggs of some exotic insect waiting to hatch and take over my home? Should I wash the sheet set and trust that would kill whatever was there? Should I throw them and the packaging in a bag, seal it up tighter than Fort Knox, and take the set back to the store for a refund?

Okay, so it gave me more than a few anxious moments. I decided to wash the sheets. After all, they were being washed in hot water, and being dried on a hot setting. Surely that would kill anything that might still be there. Besides, I tossed some bleach in as well, so that would also help to kill any critters that may be lurking. I hadn't seen anything on the other pillow case or on the two sheets when I'd unfolded them all, and even though it was a tiny critter, it was still sizeable enough that I'm pretty sure I would have noticed any more of them.

Throughout the day I would think of the sheets, and envision them freshly laundered and on my bed. Teeming with creepy-crawly insects. I could see the little buggers crawling all over the bed, getting under the sheets and the mattress protector, and laying eggs in the mattress. I would have to throw out my mattress, rip up all the carpets, and throw out all the other furniture in my place, as they would have invaded everything in short order.

Once the bedspread was dry (it was okay as it had not yet come in contact with the infested sheets), I got a grip on my imagination and bravely pulled the sheets out of the washer. I inspected them as best I could and saw no further signs of insect life. In the dryer they went. As I waited for them to dry, I was cautiously optimistic that they'd be okay, and I might not have to get rid of all the furniture and carpets - perhaps just the bed and the bedroom carpet. Hm, perhaps I still might want to reconsider using the sheets...

Finally the sheets were dry. Out of the dryer they came, to be inspected as thoroughly as possible once more. Again, there was no sign of insect life. They were reinspected as I courageously opted to put them on the bed, and all looked fine. So far I've not seen hordes of teeming insect life running rampant on the bed - or even one insect, for that matter - so I'm thinking I'll be safe.

Of course, it's impossible to get into all the folds of the material, and unless I pick the hem out, I can't see inside that. So who knows what might be lurking and waiting to crawl out in the middle of the night? If I'm not up by 10:00 AM, Judy, sneak cautiously downstairs, can of Raid in hand, to check and see if the girls and I have been devoured by ravenous exotic insects. If we aren't there, then you'll know that the little buggers are able to eat bone and all, so you'll just have to burn the house down immediately - it's the only way to save yourself!

Oh, um, you DID check the backyard first, just to make sure we aren't out on a puppy potty break, didn't you? Judy? Judy? Oops...

Okay, the other sheets (the green set - the safe ones) are almost dry, and I am just about to head to bed. I'll wish you all sweet dreams - I'll likely be wide awake all night, waiting for millions of critters to crawl out of the hems, and the vengeful ghosts of Mrs. Spider and her spiderlings to launch their own attack (if the aren't still alive in the vacuum bag and crawling out to get me as I write). Eep.

Thank the Gods and Goddesses

2006-07-27T00:57:00.000-06:00

Here it is, just after midnight. I should have been in bed awhile ago, but this has turned out to be a really good evening, and I guess I just don't want it to end. So I figured before I hit the hay I'll do a quick blog entry. Well, I intend it to be quick, but I know how I get when I go off on tangents in these things, so we'll see how long it gets!

I've added a couple more links to my favourite general websites. Ted's Caving Page is a very well done and intriguing site. Basically the tale of a caver who's discovered a new cave within a cave - very creepy, and well-written. It really got a lot of people going, as they weren't sure if it was a real story. As it turns out, it's not real, but there are still people who think it is. I definitely recommend this one, but be prepared to spend a lot of time in there - it's quite lengthy.

Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About is one of my all-time favourite sites. In fact, I was going to post a blog entry last night, just to add this link, but then I ended up reading the damned thing over again! It's another one I recommend, and I'm fairly certain that it will appeal to the sense of humour of those who usually comment here. I find it absolutely hilarious - one of the few sites that actually make me laugh out loud while I'm reading. The neighbours probably think I'm nuts, but who cares?

Now, on to the thanking of the Gods and Goddesses part. I did a ritual and some spellwork awhile back, and part of the spellwork involved asking for help in getting some bills paid, and getting my finances in better order. I've been stressed about finances for several years now, and it seems every time I start to get ahead, I get shoved back again. I've been doing some praying and some small bits of spellwork on this since the ritual, but nothing major. I'd actually forgotten that I'd included that in my ritual spellwork. However, I was reminded of it tonight.

I was paying bills, which always stresses me out to no end, when I realized that I actually had enough money to completely pay off one of the bills that I make monthly payments on. Now, it wasn't a large balance, however, I did not expect to pay it off this soon. I double-checked to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything, and then put the payment through. It was such a wonderful feeling, although I admit that I also felt weird. When I'm used to making monthly payments on something, it takes awhile to sink in that I don't have to worry about it anymore. I was kind of looking over my shoulder waiting for something to bite me in the ass, but so far my ass is intact, so I think all is well!

I had forgotten about the spell (which is actually a good way of strengthening a spell - to just put it out of mind once it's been done), and hadn't been consciously doing anything differently regarding finances, but I was able to keep enough money left over from the last paycheque to pay off one bill, and also to put a tiny bit more on a couple of other ones. Another example of how well spells can work.

Another weird thing is that my mind started jumping in the mix. "So what? So you paid it off. Look how much more you have to still pay on other things." I firmly told my mind to "shut the hell up. I paid it off, damnit, and it's out of my hair, thank you very much." My mind keeps trying to pipe up again, but I give it a very stern look (you know the look, Judy - Dad's "look" - ) and it shuts up.

Anyhow, not major news to most people, but great news for me, and I've had quite a nice evening since then. It's also helped that it's cooled down out there! It clouded over late this afternoon, and a nice strong wind picked up. By 8:00 pm I was able to open the windows, as it was very cloudy, VERY windy, and was sprinkling. It rained quite a bit through the evening, and my place cooled down enough that I could actually turn the damned fans off. Yes, I said "damned fans". I love fans, as they do help, however, they've been running constantly in here for several days, and they give me a nasty sore throat, nose, and sinuses.

So the coolness really made me happy, and paying off that bill was an added bonus. Of couse I was a bit concerned that too many good things were happening to me in one day, but then I decided that I'd just take it and enjoy it, since lightning hadn't come through the ceiling to strike me down yet. (Knock on wood...)

I was going to post a couple of pictures for you tonight, but that function isn't working at the moment. So I shall sign off, say my thanks to the Gods and Goddesses, and any in Spirit who helped me to come to this wonderful moment of having one bill out of my hair, and I shall wish everyone a good night, and pleasant dreams!

Good Thing I Don't Believe In Hell

2006-07-24T23:58:00.000-06:00

It's a good thing I don't believe in hell, because if I did I'd be thinking I was in it, what with the weather we're having. It's way too damned hot - hell, all I have to do is twitch an eyebrow and I break out into a sweat. My feet are constantly burning, and by the end of the day my ankles are tending to swell.

The dogs aren't faring too well either. Lady has diarrhea something fierce, and Misty is starting to get it too. They're going to the groomer tomorrow to get their fur coats shaved off, so that should help a bit. As for me, I think the only thing that will help is if I fill a pool full of ice and lay in it all day. God, that sounds like an awesome idea...

I've been pining for a couple of the mountain lakes around where I grew up. Mountain fed, very cold, and most invigorating. The one I went to most often was Irrigation Lake, just outside the town I lived in. It was a great place to go swimming. Nice and cold, and no leeches to worry about. Of course there were some squeamish moments when they'd stock the lake with trout, because all the baby trout would hang out close to shore in the swimming area. But once one got over the fish heebie-jeebies, it was fine.

The other lake was Sunset Lake, just outside a small village about 20 minutes or so away from the town I lived in. It was a beautiful lake, but extremely cold. One did not dive in - that would likely have caused instant heart failure. One had to slowly walk out into the lake, advancing step by step as each body part turned blue. Okay, so the body parts didn't actually turn blue, but after a swim in the lake every part of the body was numb for awhile. Seriously. It was heaven to swim in on a hot day, although anyone not used to mountain lakes would not likely be too thrilled with it.

At any rate, I've been yearning to go for a swim in either one of those lakes. I must admit, just thinking about it makes me feel a tad cooler. I'll have to keep that thought in my mind as I try to get to sleep tonight!

Okay, enough whining about the heat. For tonight, anyhow. Tomorrow is another day.

I've added a couple of links to the sidebar, and will probably be adding a few more as time goes by. Lex put a link on her blog to mine, so I thought I'd link hers here. I am honoured to do so - I get a real kick out of reading her entries. She has a great sense of humour, and a heart of gold. Check her blog out at Ms. Self Destruct. Thanks for linking me, Lex!

In the Hallowe'en section, I've put a link to The Haunted Studio. This is another one of my favourite sites. The artist does some fabulous paintings, and I'm determined that I'm going to buy a print or two one of these days. Some of the paintings have ghosties hidden throughout them, and while they can't all be seen on the computer, I'm sure it would be great fun to try and find them all in the actual paintings or prints. The artist also does commission work - you can send him a picture of your house and he can turn it into a haunted house for you - or even just do a beautiful painting of your home, if you prefer. Of course you know me - I'd be going for the haunted house look all the way!

That's it for me tonight. My eyes are wanting to slam shut, so hopefully I'll get to sleep. God, I can't wait for autumn... Sweet dreams everyone, and sleep well!

A Beautiful Night

2006-07-16T00:28:00.000-06:00

It is a beautiful night here. A nice cool wind is blowing, the odd flash of lightning brightens the sky, and all is fairly quiet. I am enjoying this cooler weather so much, and I am so relieved that we haven't ended up with the endless hot weather that had been forecast in the spring. It's still pretty toasty out there during the day, but at least we've had some cooler breezes, and a few days of cooler temperatures, to help us get through the season.

It was reasonably nice this morning too, so I wandered out with my camera, hoping to get some video of some other birds. Of course they were all playing somewhere else - I think they knew I was looking for them! Since I had no birds to play with, I decided to get a couple more videos of the girls. That little adventure was swiftly curtailed when a rather large and curious bee decided to check me and my camera out. I didn't get the bee on video, nor did I attempt to try. I was more concerned with getting away from it than asking it to say cheese. I decided to transfer the video to the computer, and I had to giggle when I got to the end. I figured it would at least give Judy a chuckle, if no one else, so here it is - the Bee Attack video!

Bee Attack!

A little while after I had posted my last blog entry, I happened to look out my window to see a beautiful sight. There had been a rain storm, and just as the sun was setting, the clouds began to break in the west. The neighbour's trees looked gorgeous - grey storm clouds behind them, and the setting sun lighting them up on the sides. It was still drizzling a bit, but I just had to run out and get a picture. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, so thought I'd share it with you.

Sunset on the Trees

I don't really have much else to natter about tonight. I'm just about to head to bed, so I shall wish you all a good night, and sweet dreams!

The Birds and the Bees

2006-07-13T20:16:00.000-06:00

Hah! THAT got your attention, didn't it? Sorry to disappoint you all, but this isn't going to be a chat about sex.

I got home from work to find Judy and her hubby out in the front yard. Hubby was working hard on the flower beds, and Judy was snooper - er - supervising. The flower beds are looking very nice, and I decided to grab my camera and take some pictures. As I was trying to get a few macro shots of the marigolds, I kept getting chased by a wasp who felt I was infringing on his territory. When I finally got my shots and went around to the other side of the flower bed, a rather large bee went flying by - thankfully it did not decide to chase me! At any rate, the bird pictures I took the other day and today's bee encounter inspired tonight's blog title.

I'm not going to post all the pictures I took this evening, but I cropped and resized a few of my favourite shots to share with you. Judy likely has some similar pictures, as she was out there with her camera too.

My Favourite Flower Bed

I love the shape of that flower bed! The next batch shows some of the marigolds in the garden. I really like the way these turned out.

The next set are a few of the coleus plants - very pretty colours.

I have no idea what this next flower is, but I love it. I also love the pink rose and the wee baby tree.

Pretty White Flower

Pink Roses

Baby Sumac

The weather has been cooler the last few days. I am thrilled with that, and I hope it stays this way. Since it's only the middle of July, I won't hold my breath, but I'll certainly enjoy it while it lasts. It looks like we're in for some rain tonight, and rain always makes me happy! I heard one peal of thunder a few minutes ago, but nothing else since.

I have one small rant before I close tonight. A coworker quit - his last day was last Friday. He left one hell of mess behind him, and we are about ready to tear our hair out trying to sort everything out. Many things that he said were done have not been done, and other things were done but were screwed up royally. I am very angry and disappointed in him, to say the least. So is everyone else, so for his sake I hope he doesn't contact anyone in the near future, or his ears will likely be ringing for the next decade.

I don't understand why anyone would pull that crap. He lied to many of us, and totally let the company and his coworkers down. I can understand him not caring much about the job, especially as he knew he'd be leaving, but it boggles my mind that he would not have done the best he could before he left. When I left the bank, I was there until 7:00 PM on my last day, just to make sure that things were done and in order before I passed the job on to the new lady. I hated the bank, and was thrilled to pieces to be leaving. I did not care about the company at all by the time I left, but I DID care about my reputation and about my coworkers. I would not have dreamed of leaving things in a mess, nor would I have remotely considered putting my coworkers in a position where they had to sort out a pile of errors. If there had been things I could not have finished, I would have made sure to organize them and leave detailed notes so that the person who got them when I left would know exactly what needed to be done and would not have had to scramble trying to figure out what was done and what wasn't.

I know that everything will get sorted out eventually, and all will be running more smoothly soon, but it just really irritates the crap out of me that he left us all in this position. He's created some icky Karma by pulling this, and I know it will bite him in the ass one day. Still, I wouldn't mind giving that ass of his a good swift kick right about now...

Okay, I'm done ranting, and I'm done with pictures for tonight! Take care everyone, and have a wonderful night!

Fly Away, Little Bird...

2006-07-08T22:06:00.000-06:00

I was out with the dogs at one point today, and spotted a large flock of wee little birds playing around in the yard. They are often on the fence and in the trees, and I decided today that I'd take a few pictures of them. They also like to play on the large chain link gate that my brother-in-law is putting up, and I managed to capture a video of a few of them on it. Of course I just have to share all of this with you...

To begin with, I'll show you the video of the wee birds. There aren't a whole lot of them on the gate in this one - sometimes I go out and there are birds sitting in almost every opening. But I still thought this was cute, and it gives an idea of how tiny the little guys are.

Cute Little Birdies!

Now for the pictures. I couldn't get close enough to get quite the shots I'd have liked. No matter how slowly I moved, they'd only let me get so close, then off they'd go. That means there isn't as much detail as I'd like, and I ended up cropping the pictures so that the wee critters could be seen a bit better.

In the first picture, I didn't notice that I'd actually captured three of the little guys until I went to crop it. Then I had to re-crop as I'd cut off most of the third one's head. See if you can spot the third critter!

Feathered Trio

Keeping An Eye On Me...

Staring Me Down!

Curious Couple

Remember the Chokecherry tree with the lovely white blossoms that I posted in the spring? Here's the same tree, with plump, ripe little berries. The tiny birds love this tree - little wonder! - but there are also larger birds that hang out in it too. I spotted a larger bird just off to the side of where I'd taken this picture, but by the time I snuck around to get a better angle on it, it had taken off.

Chokecherries

That's it for the pictures. I had fun taking them, the dogs enjoyed wandering around without me bugging them to hurry up, and the birds - well, I think the birds just thought I was crazy. I did get more video of the dogs, but as they were just wandering about sniffing, I figured you all wouldn't be overly excited about that!

It's been quite toasty again today, although a bit better than earlier in the week. However, last night we had a wonderful thunderstorm, which cooled things down immensely. As soon as it started, I raced around flinging all the windows open. Words can't describe how glorious it was to feel that cool, fresh wind blowing in through the screens, and how delicious it was to smell the fresh, clean rain. It stayed cool through the rest of the night - I actually had to turn off my fan. As a matter of fact, it was almost too chilly to leave the windows open, but after all the heat we've had there was no way in hell I was going to close the windows! It was so refreshing, and it was wonderful to wake up to a cool house this morning. Unfortunately it's been sunny and toasty all day, so things have heated up again. Still, it's not as bad as it was, so I'll savour it for now as the temperatures are supposed to continue to climb infernally again...

I know I'll be bitching about the cold when winter comes, but this looks good right about now. Actually, I'd settle for temperatures of between 15C and 18C for the rest of the summer. I'm not going to get them though, so I guess I'll just keep hiding out in the living room, with the fan going, and ice cream to help cool me off!

Speaking of ice cream, I think I'm going to go and have some. So I shall wish you all a good, cool night, and sweet dreams!

Anyone Have A Spare Oasis?

2006-07-05T18:47:00.000-06:00

It is still very hot here, with little relief in sight. It was supposed to cool down quite a bit tomorrow, but that forecast has now changed. I was so disappointed, as I've been looking forward to the cooler weather! Ah well, I suppose I can't do much about it. I have to admit I was very tempted to check out jobs in Inuvik, though. It was 10C there yesterday - sounded like heaven to me!

The forecast is calling for 14C next Tuesday, but I'm not holding my breath after the big change to tomorrow's forecast. I'll certainly be thrilled if we do get down to 14C, though. Problem is, it's going to be around 21C or 22C the following day. That's still better than what we've been getting to date.

All of the old furniture is out of the house now, and I had decided awhile back that I was going to use bookcases for end tables, as that would provide more storage. I had gone to Canadian Tire to buy the bookcases, but they were out of stock. The salesclerk took my name and number, and promised to set two aside and call me as soon as the new ones came in. I hadn't heard anything from them, so while we were out grocery shopping on Sunday Judy suggested that we pop in to see if they were in stock yet. Thank goodness we did, as they were in, but there weren't many left. I still haven't received a call from them...

At any rate, I bought two of them ($15 per bookcase - can't go wrong there!), and so far have put one together. I think they will work quite well. They are a lot narrower than a normal end table, but I'm already getting used to that, and I think it's a rather interesting look. It will be more interesting once I get books in it, but hey, one step at a time! In this heat, getting one of the suckers put up is good enough for me. This is what it looks like at the moment:

The more I see it, the more I like it, and I'm very pleased to have the extra room for books. I was running out of room anyhow, so this solves that problem quite nicely. Now it's just to decide which books I'm going to keep in them.

I was starting to babble on about another topic, which the heat has brought to the front of my mind, but it's a bit too long to add here, so I'll save it for another entry. For now, I'm just going to try and cool off, so I will wish you all a good evening, and pleasant dreams!

Happy Canada Day!

2006-07-01T17:25:00.000-06:00

I'd like to wish a Happy Canada Day to all Canadians, and a happy 4th of July to all my American friends. I hope everyone enjoys their celebrations, and that you all stay safe.

So far we've had a very nice Canada Day weekend here. The weather is a lot hotter than I'd like, but I know there are a lot of people who are thrilled with it. Last night I left work early (as I had gone in early) and came home to find out that my brother-in-law had decided to haul all the old furniture out. It's nice to get it out of here, but man was I sore from all that! Today Judy and I decided to take advantage of the long weekend and head out to the flea market. We haven't gone there for ages, so we really had a great time wandering around, in spite of the heat. We also made a quick stop at the new Goodwill store that recently opened in our area. I must admit that I am even more sore after all that, but it's well worth it to have the furniture out, and to have had a fun day of excursions!

I didn't buy a lot of stuff at the flea market, but I did get a couple of little treasures. I got a nice little sandalwood fan - much sturdier than the usual paper ones - and a lovely little CorningWare casserole. It's quite small, and was only $6.00. I've never seen one that size before, so it was a nice addition to my collection. At Goodwill, Judy spotted another Corningware piece, and it was only $3.99. I've been wanting this particular piece for a long time, but it's usually $25.00 or more, and I was not willing to pay that much for it. So I snapped it up pronto at $3.99!

So we had a fun day, and tonight I am just relaxing and will likely watch a movie or two, since I picked up some cheap ones last weekend. Oh, and I'm also enjoying my new computer stand. I got it set up last night, thanks to some help from Judy, and I'm quite pleased with it.

Yes, that's one of my own dandelion pictures as a screensaver. Said screensaver is on Judy's old monitor, which I'm also enjoying. Mine has gotten too dark, so it's time for a new one, and she kindly lent me hers until I get one. Thanks, Judy!

I don't have much else to natter about this evening, so I shall wish you all a good night. Celebrate safely, and enjoy!

Just Fiddling Around

2006-06-29T22:07:00.000-06:00

I decided it was high time that I put some of my favourite website links on the sidebar. Had I known how involved it was going to be, I would have promptly knocked that decision unconscious and just gone for a nap. For the most part it was quite easy, but there were a few links that became very involved, as Blogger didn't like the URLs for some odd reason. Most sane people would have simply opted to leave them out and get on with life, but in my heat-induced delirium, I had to get all stubborn and determined to get them to work.

I did get them to work. Except for one, which I finally gave up on. In spite of the fact that it took a very long time to figure out which bits Blogger didn't like on a couple of the links, I am quite pleased that I persisted. I don't like to let machines get the best of me, so it's always a lovely feeling of accomplishment (and smugness!) when I figure the problems out.

The first set of links is a random collection of some of my favourites, in no particular order. The other links are organized into categories. The links are only a handful of the ones I have in my Favourites - I couldn't even begin to guess how many are in there. I had to categorize my Favourites folder as I had way too many links saved. I have about 30 sub-folders in there, many of which contain a large number of links. I thought that the ones I posted here might be of interest to some of you. There are a few I'd like to share my thoughts on.

I stumbled across the Essex Mountain Sanatorium website by accident one day, and I was immediately hooked. I've never figured out why, but there is something about the place that draws me. It's unfortunate that it was demolished, as I would have loved to have visited there some day. I love abandoned sites, especially sanatoriums, hospitals, and prisons. There are a few links on abandoned sites and urban exploration in my list, but Essex Mountain Sanatorium will always be my favourite.

The Asylum Eclectica is another site that I can't get enough of. It's full of all things morbid, and I will freely admit that I love looking into morbid things. The webmistress has a wicked sense of humour, so that's another plus for me. I get a huge kick out of her, and there is a lot of fascinating information on that site.

Tara Hill Designs is an awesome online store. The owner makes a variety of wonderful runes, wands, ogham staves, and a few other things. The first set of runes I bought were made by her, and to this day they are my favourites. I also bought a wand from her, and I love it. She is wonderful to deal with, and her prices are very reasonable. What's not to love?

I love post-mortem memorial photographs - they are so beautifully poignant. The sites I have listed for post-mortem photography are some of the best I've come across. They treat the subject matter with a great deal of respect. The Antique Photo Album site really tugs at my heart. She's done a beautiful job with it, and the music really gets me.

The Ossuary at Sedlec is awesome. Due to limited burial space in Europe, bones were removed from graves to make room for newer burials. The bones were stored elsewhere, and the places they are stored in are known as ossuaries. The Sedlec Ossuary is phenomenal, as far as I'm concerned. An artist was commissioned to create a chapel with the bones, rather than just leave them heaped up somewhere. He did a breathtakingly beautiful job, and the detail and craftsmanship are awesome.

Of course I love all the links I posted, but the ones I've nattered about hold a very special place in my heart. I hope that you enjoy some of these links too.

It was a bit cooler today, and is certainly cooler tonight. There's a beautiful cool breeze coming in my windows, so hopefully that will lead to a better sleep! I was going to write about a couple more things, but I'm so wiped from the heat we've had that I simply can't write anymore. So it will be nice if this coolness tonight helps me to catch up on a bit of sleep!

I do have one thing to leave you with. My coworker's daughter bought a puppy, and I had to take a picture to show you all. She is just too adorable for words - a tiny little fluff ball, with more energy than the Hoover Dam...

How Cute Is This?

On that note, I shall wish you all a good night, and pleasant dreams!

Attack of the Killer Worms

2006-06-25T20:30:00.000-06:00

All right, it was only one worm, and it wasn't a killer attack worm, but I took the dogs out for a potty break and ran across the largest earthworm I've ever seen around here. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. This worm was around six inches long, and usually the ones I come across here are about three inches at most. This one was alive, and I felt very bad as I ended up stepping on it after I'd cleaned up after the dogs. It had shifted position slightly, and I wasn't really paying attention to where it had got to.

I only stepped on it's back end - at least, I think it was the back end, as it was moving in the other direction. It's kind of hard to tell with earthworms. The interesting thing about earthworms is that you can cut them in pieces, and they will grow new heads. So while I was feeling bad for injuring the poor critter, I was hopeful that it would survive quite nicely. When I went out with the dogs again a few hours later, I was fascinated to see what appeared to be the back end of the worm laying in the dirt, drying up, while the longer portion of the critter was nowhere in sight. I'm thinking the injured portion fell off, and the rest of the worm went on it's merry way.

Continuing on with the worm theme, Misty has had a fascination with earthworms since she was a puppy. She's into the dead ones, though. The live ones do nothing for her. Morbid dog. Anyhow, she loves to hunt them out in the grass, and as soon as she finds one she'll roll all over it. She also likes to bring them in the house, but after stepping barefoot on several disgusting dried-up earthworms, I've gotten wise to her tricks. I can usually tell when she's hiding one in her mouth to bring inside - the look of sheer guilt on her face generally gives her intentions away.

When I got back from shopping today, I took the camera out and stood there in the blistering heat getting video footage for you all, and I was fortunate enough to capture Misty in full earthworm roll mode.

Lookin' for Worms

I also managed to get some footage of Lady wandering about, keeping a watchful eye on me and the camera. Sorry for some of the Blair Witch-type shakiness in this one!

The Investigators (and More Earthworm Rolls)

No, Misty didn't manage to bring her beloved earthworms in to the house.

As you can see, I've figured out the picture link for the videos. Actually, it's not the link I had been trying to use. That one does not have any options to resize, so I gave up on it. This one is a great link, because it embeds so the video plays right on the blog. However, it would not work previously - Blogger kept telling me that the tags weren't closed. Which was why I had been using the other link. From what I can see, the tags certainly are closed, but I figured out what Blogger was having an issue with and added another tag. It still should have worked with the original coding, but Blogger didn't like it. I'm happy to say that Blogger seems to like my tweaking, and the links now work!

I've also fiddled with the appearance of the blog - no doubt that's rather noticeable! I'm quite pleased with the effect, and just so Brooke doesn't have to give me credit again, yes, that's another moon picture that I took myself. I took a whole series of moon pictures that night - the clouds were moving rapidly, and I got some awesome shots. I posted some of them in an earlier blog entry, and I thought they would be nice to use for the main blog page.

I hope you enjoy the videos, and I wish you all a wonderful night!

Testing, Testing

2006-06-24T21:28:00.000-06:00

I've been fiddling around for longer than I care to admit on making some changes to my blog. It all started innocently enough. I went in to add two more links. That was it. No plans for anything else in there. Then I got all ticked off because the side bar was showing up at the bottom of the blog, instead of staying at the side near the top. After a few attempts at deciphering code, and not being able to find anything amiss there, I decided to re-load my template and start from scratch. No luck with that manoeuvre. Even more annoying was that I had to re-insert my links again. Fortuntately I'd had the foresight to copy them.

I finally realized that it was those honking big video links that were causing the problem. However, for the life of me I can't figure out how to make them smaller. The first one I posted was small. The rest are all huge. The code's the same in all of them, so I have no idea what the hell is going on. I did have one bright idea, which is why I'm doing this post. Just to see if said bright idea is right.

In amongst all of the fiddling and deciphering, I started putzing around with a few other templates, and decided that I very much like this present one. Clean, simple, black as night. Since I've always been a lover of the night, that suits me perfectly. Now that I've got this one going, I'm not quite sure why I didn't pick it to begin with.

Of course changing the template led to changing the profile picture, and we won't get into all the details of that little adventure. All I'll say is it that Blogger was annoying the hell out of me. Fair warning - your URL for your profile picture can only have 68 characters, and the file size can't exceed 50 kilobytes. It would have been nice had they stated that right in the section that one posts the URL in. However, after some resizing and other putzing I got what I wanted. Although that all led to me fiddling in my graphics program to crop some pictures, as I wanted a different effect than I had to begin with in them. Oy...

So it's done - sort of. I know I'll be putzing around with more pictures, but for now, I like it. Now to try a movie link and see if it comes up at a more reasonable size. Okay, it's still the same big honking picture. Back to the drawing board!

I was just going to delete this post, but I figured you could all use a good laugh, so I'll leave it up. Besides, it will inspire me to keep trying to figure this damned thing out!

I'm just going to try to post a text link for a video here, to see if that works. If so, I'll change all the other picture links to text links - saves on bandwidth too!

Misty on the Run!

Excellent. The text link works. I have changed all the picture links for the videos to text links, and I will just keep posting them that way from now on, as I cannot for the life of me find anything on PhotoBucket that explains why the sizes are coming out so large. The only thing I could think of is that the link with the smaller picture was a smaller video file - but that really shouldn't affect the size of the link picture.

Okay. I'm dong nattering about all this crap. One bit of news - the lady with the brain stem infection is back at work. She came back mid-week, and is doing quite well. She's still a bit tired, but other than that she's mending nicely and happy to be back on her feet. So we are all relieved, but still keeping an eye on her until she's right out of the woods.

That's all for tonight, folks! Sweet dreams for everyone!

Summer Solstice

2006-06-23T23:23:00.000-06:00

I'm posting this a couple of days late, but I wanted to wish everyone a very happy Summer Solstice. I hope it was peaceful and enjoyable for all of you. Wanting to send you good wishes at this time has also led to what will be a very different blog entry for me. I don't normally write much about my spiritual path and beliefs, but I'm feeling a need to share a bit of it this evening.

I was planning on doing a small ritual for Summer Solstice - I didn't want to do a full one as it was rather late by the time I got started. Most of the time I kind of wing it with my rituals. I allow God and Goddess and my guides to direct me as they see fit, as they usually know better than I what is needed at the time. This time was no different, and much to my surprise I ended up doing a full ritual, complete with tools and spellwork.

It's been quite a long time since I've done a ritual. I've done some very short mini-rituals - very mini, as a matter of fact. I've been feeling that it's time to get back to them, and to get back to spellwork. So while I hadn't planned on getting back to it with such a bang, I was very pleased with the results, and it felt wonderful to do a full ritual again.

A good chunk of the focus was on bringing energy into my life, and bringing balance to the energy coming in. I'm pleased to say that I noticed a difference immediately. There have been a lot of things in my life that have simply been overwhelming, to the point of my being pretty much stalled when it comes to getting things done. Even work has been a struggle - I've been having to force myself to get things done. I've been a bit freaked out because I have a fair bit of extra work coming up next week, and it's stuff I haven't done, so I needed training on it. I was getting a bit panicked, as I was concerned that I would not be able to handle it in light of how overwhelmed I've been feeling.

The morning after the ritual, I was delighted to find that I had more energy to face the day (in spite of having got to bed quite late), and was able to focus much more easily at work. I started the training for the additional work that day, and was able to focus on it and pick it up very quickly. Today I continued the training, and did everything on my own. It went very smoothly, much more quickly than I expected, and there were no errors. I was very relieved, and very happy. Not to mention very thankful that I had been guided to working with energy and balance in my ritual and spellwork. Had I not done that work in ritual, I know that things would not have gone so smoothly at work.

Not only have I noticed an immediate increase in energy and focus, but I've also noticed a marked increase in balance. A huge issue for me, especially at work, has been the energies of others. At work, it's mainly one person who is putting out some very negative, frantic, and unbalanced energies. This has been affecting the entire staff in the office, but as I have always been strongly affected by the energies of others, and as I work most closely with this person, I've found this coworker's energies have been affecting me very strongly. Since doing the ritual and spellwork, I have found that they are not affecting me nearly as much, and my own energies are more balanced, which at the moment is helping to block the chaotic energies of my coworker.

I have never had a problem believing that spells actually work, as I've always had very good success with any spellwork I've done. Even so, I always find that I'm amazed and delighted each time, as it is so wonderfully awe-inspiring to see such tangible results. This time I'm especially delighted, as I think this will help to get me more motivated, and will give me more energy, to get stuff done around the house. Not to mention that it will help to minimize the effects of the chaotic energies of the coworker, and THAT is definitely a most welcome change of pace!

Well, I'm rather pooped, so I am going to shut this down and wish you all a wonderful sleep!

Olives, Anyone?

2006-06-18T00:53:00.000-06:00

First off, an update on my coworker with the spot on the brain. She came in after her neurologist appointment, and had some good news, although to be honest there is still concern. He told her that she had an infection in her brain stem, and has her on antibiotics and steroids to clear it up. So in a way it's good news, but is still a pretty big concern until it actually IS cleared up. Still, better news than it could have been. We aren't sure how long she'll be off work, but no one is too worried about that. The main thing is she takes it easy until she's healthy again.

There is no news about our other coworker's dad. II would think that means that as of Friday afternoon he was still alive, because I'm fairly certain we'd have heard if not. I just hope and pray that he's healing. If not, and if he's not meant to live, then I hope and pray that he isn't suffering, and that he passes fairly quickly.

Now, on to the olives. We have a Russian Olive tree out front, and it's been flowering like crazy. I went out and took some pictures of it, but they didn't turn out very well. The leaves and flowers are quite small and abundant, so it's very hard to get in there and have the camera focus without the poor piece of equipment having a nervous breakdown. It also didn't help that the first time I went out to get pictures it was extremely windy, so it was impossible to keep anything still long enough to get a decent picture. But the second attempt the next day didn't produce much better results, even though there was very little wind.

At any rate, I told Judy I'd post them here for her to see, as she also had been trying to get some pictures of the flowers. So here they are, Judy! I'll post the original shots and a couple of crops that I did of them.

This is the original shot. In quite close, so you can imagine how small the flowers and leaves are.

Cropped version.

Another crop.

This is the original of the second one that turned out semi-decently.

Cropped version.

Of course the focus is all out of whack on them, but the other pictures I got were horrid - at least you can get an idea of what the flowers are like from these two pictures.

If it stops raining before the flowers are gone, I'll go play some more and try and figure out how to deal with the focusing issue. If I can't sort it out before the flowers are gone, I guess I'll just have to wait until next year!

I think that's it for me tonight. I'm very tired and about to head to bed. As a matter of fact, I'm not even going to bother proof-reading. So have a good sleep everyone!

Just for Judy...

2006-06-15T23:25:00.000-06:00

Okay Judy, you asked for the pee movie, you've got the pee movie! There's also the other movie with Lady trying to get away from the camera... LOL!

The Infamous Pee Movie

The Great Escape

That's it for me tonight! Sleep well, everyone!

I'm Drowning!

2006-06-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm not really drowning, but if this storm keeps up, I very well may be! It's been raining fairly steadily all day, and this evening it poured. And poured. And poured. And poured. And poured. You get the picture. It would slow down for a few minutes here and there, but for the most part it poured buckets. I told Judy that we were going to need oars - and an ark. It's been a long time since I've seen a downpour like this here.

I took the girls out during one lull, and they weren't too happy about it. Neither was I, since Misty refused to leave the deck until I went out there with her. So all three of us got soaked. Yes, I did say it was during a lull, but it was still raining quite hard. I tried to get some video footage through the door (no way was I about to take my camera outside!), but it didn't turn out very well. I did see some rain - got a decent shot of drops in a puddle, as well as water streaming off the roof. I also got a good shot of the Chokecherry tree waving wildy in the wind. However, the video was very choppy and I suspect would have made everyone seasick, so I deleted it.

The rain slowed down considerably about 15 minutes ago, and so far it's fairly calm out there. There are still some ominous looking clouds out there, and it's still intensely humid, so we may get some more rain before the night is over. I've been enjoying it very much, I must say. It's so cozy sitting inside, listening to the rain pour down. Now that it's settled down to a drizzle I'm missing it. We got a few peals of thunder, but nothing to write home about - once again I was disappointed to not be treated to a rip-roaring thunder storm.

Misty was pleased, though, I'm sure. She does NOT do thunder well. I vividly recall waking up one night to a small furry dog climbing over my head, and firmly planting herself right in front of my face - sucked up so close that I couldn't breathe. That was the spot that was furthest from the window, where she could still firmly attach herself to me. I managed to move her enough so that I could breathe, but the poor thing shook like a leaf until the thunder finally quit. She really is pathetic when it comes to thunder (and many other loud noises), so my heart goes out to her, poor baby.

In other news today, I would like to ask anyone reading this to send some prayers out for a couple of coworkers. Last weekend the father of one coworker fell two stories and landed on his head. He was in and out of neurosurgery a couple of times that we know of, and the last update as of a couple of days ago was that he was not doing any worse, but also not doing any better. He was responding to pain, but not to any other stimuli. The family was summoned home (his parents live on the other side of the country), and all the doctors can do at this point is wait for the swelling of the brain to go down, and see what happens from there. It is not sounding good. So prayers are needed for this man and the family.

For the last couple of days another coworker has not been feeling well. She's been dizzy, disoriented and a bit naseous. She was thinking it might be the flu, or that perhaps she was pregnant. I was feeling it was something else, and wondered if it could have something to do with some medication she's on. Tuesday afternoon she was feeling so poorly that she went to the doctor. She called and left a message yesterday morning saying she wouldn't be in but to call her back and she'd tell us what was going on. We called, and got no answer. This morning she called again, with the news that the doctor decided to do a CT scan, and they found a spot of some sort on her brain. She is seeing a neurologist tomorrow, so we should hear something further after the weekend. We are all quite worried as this seemed to come on very suddenly, and she told one of the girls that she is more disoriented today than she was yesterday. So she seems to be sliding downhill quickly with this situation. We are fervently hoping that this is something they can deal with effectively and quickly. So prayers are definitely needed for her as well.

I was very upset by the news, but even moreso because she and I had been talking about how ill she was feeling on Tuesday morning, and we were both hoping that it was because she was pregnant. She's been trying for several years, and she would have been thrilled to get that news. When she told me what was going on this morning, I couldn't help but feel very sad, and a bit angry on her behalf, over how far removed the reality was from the hoped-for diagnosis.

With such nasty things going on with two of our coworkers this week, I must admit that I'm feeling a bit jumpy and hoping nothing happens to anyone else there - or to anyone in our families. I was just thinking that the old saying - "it never rains but it pours" - seems very fitting this week - not only with my coworkers, but also with the weather. There's almost an eerie synchronicity there.

There's not much else to talk about tonight. I'm exhausted, so I think I will pack this in and head to bed. I wish you all a wonderful night, and very sweet dreams!

Screen Debut

2006-06-14T22:47:00.000-06:00

I managed to get some better footage of Lady this evening, so here she is, making her screen debut!

A Star Is Born

Of course, she still wasn't being overly cooperative - she just wanted in the house! I did get some footage of her moseying around the yard, sniffing at everything, and trying to get away from me. It was not quite as clear though, so I opted to leave that one out.

I think I am going to end up having the movie bug. It really is quite fun to make these little clips, and I know that one day I will be very glad to have video footage of the girls. Of course I have pictures of them, but to have video footage once they have passed will be priceless.

Enough of that talk. I'll be crying buckets in a second!

Today was - and still is, for that matter - extremely muggy and warm. Apparently we had some thunder showers, but I missed the thunder. We did get a fair bit of rain where I work, but I didn't hear any thunder. When I was last out the sky was getting clearer, but it's still extremely warm and muggy, so I'm thinking we're in for more rain. Of course that suits me just fine, especially if it results in cooling things down. It's weird to have it so humid here though, as we normally have pretty much non-existant humidity. It's been so humid that even my carpets feel damp. (No, Judy, neither of the dogs peed on them! Although Misty did pee on the deck, but that's another story, and I'll send you the video clip of that. Talk about hamming it up for the camera... I wonder if that would fall under the method acting category...? LOL!) Anyhow, as I was saying, my carpets felt damp, as did my nightshirt, the quilt on the bed, and pretty much everything else. I was commenting at work that all the paper felt damp, and my coworkers said they had noticed that too. Very strange for this neck of the woods.

At the moment the breeze coming in the window is starting to feel cool, for which I am very grateful. I was a bit worried about what it would be like trying to sleep tonight, but as long as the breeze stays cool like this, it should be fine. It's very nice to have windows that I can open in the bedroom now - I'm enjoying being able to have fresh air in the room while I sleep. The bedroom used to have a large sealed window (well, two windows, but set so that they looked like one divided window), and while that was wonderful as far as soundproofing went, I did miss not having fresh air in the room. So I'm quite enjoying the new windows, although still shuddering every time I think of the horrendous clean-up that was involved when they were installed. I shall always be eternally thankful to Judy for helping me with that. Thanks, sis! *muah*

Speaking of bedrooms, it's about time I started thinking of getting my ass - and the rest of me - to bed. I really only planned on posting the video of Lady, so I didn't have anything in mind to babble about. Not that that's ever stopped me... Anyhow, I wish you all a very good night, and sweet dreams!

Grab the Popcorn!

2006-06-13T22:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, I've finally gotten around to playing with the movie feature on my camera. I can see that I'm going to have a great deal of fun with this! I don't have sound on my camera, but that's not the end of the world.

At any rate, I've taken a few little movies of the girls, and figured I'd throw them in here just to see if they actually work on the blog. I've only got two of Misty loaded into Photobucket right now, as they take so damned long to upload. However, the third one has some of Lady in it. I would have gotten more footage of her, but she decided that she just wanted in the house, and there was no convincing her to stay out and do her screen test! I will post the other clip once I get it in Photobucket, but for now, here are two cute (well, I think they're cute!) clips for you!

Misty Wandering

Misty on the Run!

I think I'm going to try and get the other one loaded now, so I will skedaddle out of this blog entry!

Ahhh, Refreshing!

2006-06-10T21:39:00.000-06:00

We had some more hot weather, then much to my delight we had a few rainy days. It actually got quite chilly yesterday, which surprised me. I wasn't about to complain, though! It was supposed to be cool, cloudy, and rainy for the next few days as well, but what did we get today? That's right, sun and heat! However, this evening it clouded over, and we're getting lovely coolness and lots of rain. Yay! I even heard a lovely bout of thunder a couple of minutes ago.

I doubt that my brother-in-law is as enthusiastic as I am though, considering that he just sprayed weed killer and fertilizer on the lawn about an hour or so before it clouded over. Ah well, at least the fertilizer will just soak in and still do some good.

I'm not hearing any more thunder, which is sad. I love thunderstorms, so I was looking forward to it - oooh there's another one! I guess I spoke too soon! Mind you, it sounds like it's quite far away, so we may not get much of it anyhow. Much as I'll be disappointed if the thunderstorm passes us by, I'm still very happy to have the rain and the cooler temperatures. It's very refreshing.

The one bad thing about the rain is that it keeps me from taking the camera outside. I know I could use baggies and whatnot to keep it dry, but frankly that's a pain in the butt, so I just don't bother. Since we did have a sunny day, I decided it was a good time to haul the camera out with me. I didn't get too many pictures, but I did get some cute ones of the girls. I was in the midst of trying to get some interesting foliage shots when I got chased in by a bee, so I don't have much else to share besides puppy pics tonight. But hey, they're the best anyhow!

I can rarely seem to get Lady to put her head up or pose for me - she's always so intent on sniffing around out there! Here area couple of her doing her thing - at least the head was up!

And one in her usual sniffing mode:

Misty tends to pose better, although often that's simply pure luck by catching her snapping her head up to listen to noises in the neighbourhood. Here are some good ones of her:

This one made me giggle, and I had to fiddle with it in a program I just installed:

The only fiddling I did was to add the text. I think I am really going to enjoy this program. It's a freebie that's been recommended to me by tech people for a few years, but I've never bothered with it as I have other graphics programs that I like very much. I decided to give it a try, though, so I'll have fun playing with it for awhile! It's called IrfanView, and you can check it out by clicking on the name.

It's pouring again - just in time to take the dogs out! Oh well, at least I don't have to worry about them getting into the weed killer now! I shall wish you all a good night, and sweetest dreams. Take care, everyone!

Birthday Girl!

2006-06-09T19:02:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post to wish my friend Brooke a very Happy Birthday! Yes, today is the day, and I'm hoping she's out doing something fun and relaxing to celebrate! You hear that Brooke? You are to have fun and relax, damnit! Anyhow, I hope you're having a wonderful evening, Brooke - many happy returns to you! XOX

Sandman Time...

2006-06-05T00:15:00.000-06:00

I've just finished my laundry and taken the girls out for their last pee of the night. It's time for bed, but I decided to do a quick blog entry while I'm finishing my tea.

Speaking of laundry, I washed my orange skirt with some of my lighter tops and my underwear. The lighter tops came out unscathed, but I now have peach-tinted panties and one peach-tinted bra. I put them back through the wash with a bit of bleach, but they are still peach-tinted. I'm slightly annoyed, especially since the tint in the panties is a bit mottled. The bra seems more uniform, though. Ah well, I'm the only one who sees them, so it's not a huge deal.

I have to say, this heat is really going to do me in by the end of the summer. I'm hoping we don't have the long, hot, dry summer that has been predicted, but from the look of things so far, I'm afraid that's exactly what we're in for. It's a good thing I went out and bought a bunch of summer clothing, or I'd honestly be concerned about surviving this one! I'm even thinking about hitting a couple more stores to look for a few more pieces of summer clothing...

When I was younger, I loved the heat. The hotter, the better. I remember visiting relatives in Ontario for the summer, and loving it when it got to over 105 F in the shade. I would be sicker than a dog there now. Not only do they get wicked heat, they also get horrid humidity to go along with it. Ugh! I found that after hitting the ripe old age of 30, I couldn't tolerate the heat as well. Every year that goes by, I find it gets worse. I wouldn't wish for winter all the time, but I would love to find a place where it sat at a nice, balmy 17 - 20 C all spring and summer, and for the fall and winter I'd be very happy with some nice, crisp, mid-to-late autumn weather. So far I haven't come across a place with my ideal weather - if any of you find somewhere like that, let me know, will you?

Yesterday was quite hot but very windy, which kept things reasonably cool in the house. In spite of the fact that all the plants were being blown wildly about, I managed to get a couple of shots which I was quite happy with.

This was my favourite of the day:

These next two are from the same plant - I'm not sure what it is, but it grows in a large patch each year in the back yard, and it's gorgeous:

These two I took today:

They are different angles of the same dandelion, and I have to say I was quite startled at the results. I love dandelions, but I've never been quite that up close and personal with one before. If someone had shown me these pictures, and not told me what they were, I'm not sure I would have been certain they were pictures of a dandelion. At first I thought the little hook things must have been tiny bugs, but then I realized they were part of the flower. Have I mentioned how much I love the macro feature on my camera? Oh, I have? Okay, then...

The first picture, with the wee white flowers, and the dandelion are considered weeds. I'm not sure what kind the first one is, but I know it's some sort of weed. I figure anything that pretty can't be bad, so I just don't see them as weeds. I see them as beautiful plants and flowers.

I am done my tea, so it is time to go visit with the Sandman and wish you all a good night. I am too tired to bother with proof-reading, so if there are any glaring errors in spelling or grammar, that's just too bad. Have a wonderful sleep everyone - sweet dreams!

More Critters!

2006-06-01T23:51:00.000-06:00

Relax, folks. This isn't about the same critters I nattered about yesterday. I admit that this first picture is in a similar vein, but I think you'll all agree it's much prettier and promotes a more peaceful feeling. I had to take this with the zoom function, as the butterfly wouldn't let me get very close:

I had no idea the fly was there until I was cropping the picture afterwards. So that's bonus addition! I'm not normally a huge fan of flies, but I had to admit that it added something to the picture.

These next two critter pictures are much more warm and fuzzy. Literally. Here are my babies:

Lady, sniffing around to make sure no other dog has been cavorting in her territory while she's been in the house.

Misty in mid-scratch - "ooooh yeah, that's the spot!"

Sister Judy and I always giggle about how she reminds us of Ed from The Lion King when she scratches and performs other bodily functions. I just happened to be a nano-second away from snapping her picture when she got the itch, and started "Ed-ing out" - talk about being in the right place at the right time!

Now, let me just go sift through the picture files and see if I can find anything else to entertain you with. I'm sorry, but there are no more critter pictures for you. I'm sure you're all very sad to hear that... hehehehe! Ah yes, I've come across a few more pictures to share with you.

Here's the Chokecherry tree as of a couple of days ago. The blossoms are all gone, and the berries are starting to grow.

I just liked the way this picture turned out - an artistic experiment on my part. It's the hinge off the milk door at the back of the house.

What's a milk door, you ask? Back in the old days, houses used to have a cupboard-type thing by the back door. It opened from the outside, and the inside. The milkman would put the milk inside the cupboard, rather than leaving it outside on the steps. You don't often see houses with milk cupboards anymore, so it's kind of neat to have one. Not that I've actually seen inside this one - the doors are firmly sealed shut from many layers of paint on both sides. It would take a heck of a lot to get them open! Here's a picture of the door from the outside:

Raindrops on the plants. This is actually some type of weed, but I have to say that I simply look at weeds as plants. I find most of them quite pretty, although I appreciate that many homeowners and gardeners are not fond of them.

I think that's about it for tonight, folks. I didn't really have anything to babble about - just had a bit of a stressful evening (my bank pissed me off - I have payments showing as late because people on their help line had given me the wrong information about cut-off times for same-day online payments), and found it soothing to share some pictures. However, I also had some good things going on this evening. My fluorescent light in the kitchen has been very wonky lately, so my brother-in-law installed a new light fixture. It's nice to be able to go in the kitchen, turn the light on, and actually have some light! Woo-hoo! And I had a nice chat online with my dear friend Brooke, who managed to help calm my nerves from the stressful bank crap. Thank you, Brooke! You're the bestest! So all in all, the good stuff outweighed the stressful stuff - now I just have to get my stomach and all the muscles in my body to unwind! LOL!

I discovered a few more pictures to share, but I shall save those for another day. I'm sure I'm far more interested in all these pictures than anyone reading this blog is, but hey, it's my blog, so I can inundate you all with them if I want to! hehehehe! For now, I shall wish you all a good night, and very sweet dreams!

Itsy-Bitsy Spiders

2006-05-31T22:37:00.000-06:00

Okay, so one's not so itsy bitsy. The other two aren't all that big, though, so for the most part the title stands.

I think I have mentioned before that I love the macro function on my camera. I fiddle with all sorts of things to get interesting shots. My friend Muriel is prone to taking pictures of all sorts of insects and spiders, and when I got my camera she told me that she just knew I would be taking creepy critter pictures as well. Considering my absolute terror of insects, I told her there was no way in hell I'd be getting that up close and personal with them. However, I've found myself trying to snap close-ups of a few creepy critters, much to my horror.

Spiders normally don't bother me too much - after all, they eat insects. Gotta love that. Although the behemoth I found in the backyard one night last summer had to go. She was enormous, with a web to match, that stretched between the garage and the deck - a span of about 10 feet. It was very dark, and I hit the web with my arm, which thankfully stopped me from walking through it. It actually stung my arm, so I jumped back and turned on my flashlight, only to be confronted by this web that appeared to have materialized straight out of a horror movie. I was even more horrified to encounter the web's creator and inhabitant, and was profusely thanking God that she was on the opposite side of the web from me.

I had never seen a spider like that here, and had no idea if she was poisonous or not, so I decided she had to go. It took about 1/2 can of Raid to kill her. Normally I would simply squish a spider or insect - I prefer to opt for a quick painless end for them. But this one was too large for me to even consider trying to squish. *shudder* I found out later that she was harmless, and actually quite common here. It's just that people don't normally encounter them, as they come out to spin their webs and feed in the dead of night, and then destroy their webs and go into hiding by morning. So next time I encounter one, I'll take a picture and leave her be.

But I digress. As I said, spiders don't normally bother me, and I will usually let them live in the house. Unless there's a gathering of three or more in one room, or one is perched on the bedroom ceiling over my pillow. Or if the are in the sink or bathtub. Our house spiders are quite large, and very fast. So I am not about to attempt to capture one to set it free. If it's in the wrong spot, it's toast. I did have one living in the corner in my bathroom for several weeks, and I was fine with that. I told her that as long as she stuck to her corner, we'd get along famously. I even took a couple of pictures of her, which I submit for your viewing pleasure. Don't mind the dust and the odd stray hair - I couldn't vacuum them up without destroying the web. Most of what you see is actually the web, though, not dust or hair. So here she is:

Wanna Use My Bathroom?

Unfortunately, this little (okay, rather large) lady crawled into my sink the other day, so she is now in spider heaven. Hey, don't look at me like that - I warned her that she was toast if she didn't keep to her corner! Anyhow, I didn't see her in the web for a few days, so that confirmed that it was indeed her that I squashed in the sink. I was about to vacuum the web, but noticed that another spider has moved into it! I know it's a different one, because it's smaller. Not a lot smaller, mind you, but still noticeably smaller. So the new tenant shall remain there until she too breaks the rules and goes where all my house spiders should fear to tread.

This little guy was hanging out on the window in my office the other day. I have a window that looks out onto the hall, and he (or she) seemed to like it there.

Office Buddy

This one was perched on a shovel in our back yard. Fairly small - certainly smaller than our house spiders. It was larger than the one in my office, which was actually quite tiny.

Spider on Shovel

So as not to finish off on a creepy crawly note for you all, here are a couple of more serene shots. We had about a week of lovely, cool, cloudy, rainy weather, and I've captured a few pictures to remember it by. Maybe they'll help soothe me during this long, dry, hot summer we're supposed to have. Ugh. I thought I'd share one with you all, just so you can see how lovely it was.

Cloudy Days

To finish off, here is a shot I really like - new growth on the Chokecherry tree trunk. I do love that tree...

New Life

There. I'm done for tonight, I think. It took me ages to get these pictures uploaded - for some reason Blogger was not being cooperative this evening. So I've pretty much lost track of anything else I was thinking of saying! This post is probably long enough anyhow (hey! quit nodding your heads so enthusiastically!), so I shall wish you all a good night, and sweet dreams!

Delivering as Promised!

2006-05-15T19:28:00.000-06:00

Okay folks, here are the pictures I promised!

To begin with, here's the little guy on his way home:

Contentment

Homecoming Outfit

This one summed up EVERYONE's feelings!

Welcome home, little angel!

Here are pictures of the chests I bought:

Pictures of the Chokecherry tree in bloom:

Our cherry tree out front:

I think I'll stop at those - I figure that's enough pictures for one day! I have some other lovely pictures I've taken, which I may post another day. I know, no one but me likely cares, but it's my blog, so I can post what I want! hehehehehe!

Have a lovely night, all!

I'm Baaaaack...

2006-05-15T09:35:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been awhile since I last posted! I can't believe how time flies. It's already the middle of May, and WAY too hot already. We are supposed to have a very hot, dry summer, which I am SO not looking forward to!

So, what's been going on since January, you ask? Well, you probably aren't asking, but humour me here, okay? Anyhow...

The big news is that the wee boy (who I've talked about in previous posts) went home last week - woo-hoo! He is doing extremely well, and is as cute as a button. There is an awesome picture of him on "going home day" that I shall post later on. Of course his parents are thrilled, as are his siblings. It was such wonderful timing too, as he was home with just enough time to settle in before Mother's Day.

There's not a whole pile of other news to tell. I've been putting my place back together bit by bit. I got some new furniture, which I will post pictures of later. I swore I'd never buy a sectional again, but of course that's what I ended up buying! I'm not thrilled with it at the moment, though. The first one had squeaky springs, so they replaced it with a new one, and the new one is horrid. I will have to call them and have them replace this one too. I had a good feeling about the couch to start with, so hopefully the third time will be the charm.

I'm most excited about the chests I got. I picked up two beautiful bamboo trunks which I am using as a coffee table. There were also two smaller trunks that aren't quite the same, but go very nicely with them. I don't like everything all the same anyhow, so they work beautifully. I am going to have a glass top made to cover the two large trunks, just to keep them protected from spills. I may use the smaller ones stacked as an end table, and if I do, I'll have a glass top made for that as well.

Hmm, what else...? Oooh yes. We have a lovely Chokecherry Tree (bush really, but it grows like a tree) in our backyard. It blossoms fairly early in the spring, and smells divine. Each year I keep wishing I could bottle that smell, and this year it dawned on me that I should try infusing an oil with the blossoms. So I've been working on that the last few days, and I'm crossing my fingers that I can get it to work. I noticed some scent in the oil yesterday, and added more blossoms - I think I put too much oil in originally - so here's hoping it will be stronger this evening.

I bought some new sheets yesterday, as well as a new cabinet. I have some cabinets with drawers that I bought to store all my ritual and working supplies in. They are matching cabinets, and there were three styles. I bought two of them awhile back, and they are perfect for my needs, but I've been debating about the third one for a few months. It dawned on me yesterday that it was the perfect size to store my tarot and other divination decks and paraphernalia, so I decided to get it. I have to take this one back, though. Some turkey actually taped up one side of the packaging - with the tape sticking directly to the finished wood surface. Plus one of the drawers has a big spot where the finish has come off. One or the other, and I would have just done what I could to fix it, but in this case I figured I might as well exchange it for one that is in better shape!

I've run out of things to natter about at the moment, and I should really get my butt in gear and get some work done here, so I shall sign off for now. I will likely post some pictures tonight. Have a good day everyone!

Spam

2006-01-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, there is now a word verification feature in place when you leave comments on the blog. This is because I have begun to be hit by spam. So far it's just from two idiots, but one is being persistent, and I can't be bothered to keep deleting his/her comments. Interestingly enough, I was going through several other blogs via links from elsewhere and discovered that this twit has been spamming left, right, and centre. He or she keeps posting under different usernames, but it's the same person, with a link to the same blog, each time. Of course, comments can't be left on that particular blog - gee, I guess the twit doesn't want to get spammed or something... *rolling eyes*

Anyhow, if you get a response on your blog, telling you that your blog is "inquisitive" and saying they're a park ranger, asking you to check their blog out - it's spam, kids.

Good news though - the wee baby is doing well. Still on the critical list, and will be for some time yet, but he's holding his own, gaining weight, is off the ventilators, and off the meds. So yay for him! We are still asking that prayers keep rolling in - this kid has a ton of people praying for him, from all over the world. I will post some pictures of him in the next day or two.

Not much else for news - I have the flu at the moment, so my brain isn't into thinking too much! So I shall toddle off for now - I just wanted to give an update on the baby, and let you know why the word verification feature is up for comments. Have a good night, everyone!

Taking the Bad With the Good

2006-01-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

We're getting more of the white shit. After a fabulously balmy winter, things have cooled off considerably tonight, and the snow has been falling for a bit. Fortunately it's a light snow so far, but it's steady, with no signs of stopping soon. So if it keeps this up, I may be greeted with a fair bit of white shit in the morning!

The good news is that it's so late in the season that it will still be a short winter, even if we get a lot of snow and cold weather now. It's funny though - on the way home today, I was happily thinking about how much I've enjoyed this winter - especially the road conditions. It looks like it's a good thing I was enjoying it while I could!

I got to work this morning to discover that our computer system was down. Yay. I asked our IT manager what was wrong and when he expected it to be back up. He said, "is it down?" I said, "well, yeah." He said, "well, no one told me about it!"

So it had been down for some time already, and none of the employees had mentioned it - even though they were not able to do their work because of it! One of the girls told me that she had mentioned it to one of the other guys, as he is often the one who gets asked to help when there are system problems. I told her that was fine, but she really had to talk to the IT manager about these things, not this other guy. At least she mentioned it to someone though - I still can't believe no one else said anything!

At any rate, the system was down for the entire morning, and even when they got it up and running again, one of the guys still spent the rest of the day dealing with it, as there were printing issues and a few other issues that had to be fixed. By the time he left tonight, there were still some problems that weren't solved. One of the major problems is that the old IT guy left last month, and no one else knows how he had things set up. One guy in our office (the poor man who spent all day on it), and the new IT guy in our head office have been working on things, and they are slowly able to figure them out, but it's been frustrating as hell for them as they don't know what the ex-IT employee had done. I feel sorry for them, but they'll get there in the end - hopefully without having nervous breakdowns!

So it was not the most productive day, although fortunately I had some stuff to do that didn't require the system. I didn't get all the stuff I wanted done today, but I did manage to clean some other odds and ends off my desk, which was good.

In other news, I've been having a heck of a time the last few days as I have not been able to sleep. Sunday night I did not sleep at all. I dozed for about an hour, but it was one of those dozes where you are still awake, and you know you are awake, yet you are having very funky, weird-ass dreams. I hate those, because I think, "oh, I dreamed, so I must have slept." Then I realize that no, I was wide awake because even while I was dreaming I was thinking about how pissed off I was because I was still awake and couldn't get to sleep!

Of course, this made for a rather interesting day on Monday. We're finishing up year-end stuff at work, so I had to go in. I was actually quite wide-awake at that hour of the morning anyhow, so I figured I'd be fine. Then around 10:30 my body decided that it wanted to sleep. Immediately. I managed to keep on slogging through, although as I was waiting on one person for the stuff I had to finish up, and he did not get the stuff to me that day, it turned out that I could have stayed home. I left an hour early, as I decided I was way too tired to face driving in rush hour traffic. Judy, bless her heart, played games with me that evening, so that I could stay awake until bed time. I knew if I fell asleep during the evening, I'd be up all night again.

I did manage to get a bit of sleep Monday night, although it wasn't very deep. I kept tossing and turning and waking up all night. Still, it was a lot better than Sunday! So Tuesday was a bit less foggy, and more productive. I was still wiped though, and through the evening, I could tell it was going to be a sleepless night again. So I broke down and took a pill. It's actually a mild anti-depressant that was prescribed to me for the fibromyalgia. One of the big issues with fibromyalgia is that one doesn't get a proper sleep - you can sleep for 8 hours, but it's not a deep sleep, so you don't get the sleep you need. This medication is widely used for fibromyalgia - not for depression, but because it helps to put the patient in the deep sleep phase. As an added bonus, it also helps with some of the digestive issues involved with fibromyalgia.

Anyhow... I took one of these pills last night, and thankfully had a very good sleep. I am still exhausted - it will take me awhile to recuperate from that one sleepless night! But I felt much better, and I've decided to keep taking the pills for the next few nights, in order to help get my sleep back on track. I rarely take them, simply because I don't like taking anything unless it's absolutely necessary. However, these aren't addictive, so there are no worries there, and they do help, which is definitely needed at this point! So I'll be a good girl and take them for awhile!

One last note. Friends of mine have had a baby boy. The birth of a child is always wonderful, and this one certainly is. However, the trouble is that he had to be delivered very early, due to the mother developing preeclampsia, which caused her blood pressure to go through the roof. They were unable to control the blood pressure, and had no choice but to deliver the wee boy. And when I say wee boy, I DO mean wee. VERY wee. He was 14 ounces at birth. Yes, you read that right. I said 14 ounces. Less than a pound.

The little guy is holding his own - he's an amazing fighter. There have been some issues - bleeding in the lungs, a need to be on a boatload of meds, etc. However, all things considered he's been doing very well. At last update tonight, he had gained weight and is now 1.07 pounds. The lungs are fine at the moment, and he is on a regular respirator. They've been able to discontinue several of the meds. They've actually had to sedate the little monkey as he's been very active and there is a danger with all his moving around that he could do damage to his tiny little veins, as there are all sorts of things that are plugged into said veins at the moment. On his first full day of life he actually grabbed and held on to his Daddy's finger. So, all things considered, he's doing very well, and it looks like he may very well make it. I've actually felt from the beginning that he had a good chance of making it, and every day - hell, every minute - is a gain.

In spite of how well he's doing, he's far from out of the woods yet, and he has a very long haul ahead of him. We all belong to an online forum, which has a huge membership. There are tons of people praying and sending positive energies to the family, and to him. And of course many of the people on the site have had them included in prayer circles in their churches, and have just had their own friends and family praying for them. I would like to ask that any of you who are reading this also please include them in your prayers, and send out positive energies if you can. I know the ones being sent already are helping immensely, and adding more can only help even further.

So in all of this long, convoluted blog entry, a theme emerges. Taking the bad with the good. Yes, it was crappy that it started snowing, that our system went down, that I haven't been able to sleep, and that my friends and their wee angel are having such a hard time of it. However, the snow is lovely, it will be one of the shortest winters ever, and it's been awesome so far, our computer system did get up and running for the most part, I got work done that I wouldn't have had the system been up, my lack of sleep led to me deciding to use medication that will help, and the wee angel is hanging in there, fighting with all his might, and has drawn a great many people to unite in sending out positive, healing energies and prayers on his behalf. Not only will this help him, but it helps all of us who are involved, and I can't help but think that all that positive energy and love going out will spill over into the world and the universe, and will have a positive effect in some way.

In all of the less than optimal things, there are many positive things. And at the end of the day, I can't help but smile and be thankful for all of it - the bad and the good.

Blessings to you all, and may you all sleep well and have sweet dreams. Good night!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2005-12-31T18:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know I've already wished you all a Happy New Year, but hey, I found myself with an opportunity to do so again, so - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I also managed to get pictures of all three of the boys last night, so I thought I'd post them here for your entertainment:

Tiny Tim

Tom Thumb

Tad - giving me the finger! You think maybe he didn't want his picture taken? ROTFLMFAO

I didn't notice that on the camera screen, but I sure laughed when I brought it up on the computer monitor! I guess I'll have to revoke some of his privileges!

Oh, and if anyone is interested, here's a link to a bunch of other pics I've taken - I picked a few of my favourites and put them in this album. As you can tell, I LOVE the macro feature! LOL!

PHOTO ALBUM

Some of these pictures you'll have seen already, but there are several new ones there, and ones I haven't posted yet.

Have a great New Year everyone - be safe, and be happy! (((HUGS)))

Another Year

2005-12-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Well, another year is almost gone. I can't believe how fast it flew by, but then again I find they go faster and faster with each passing year. It makes me think about when I was a kid...

Summer vacations lasted forever, Christmas break seemed to last for a month or more, even though it was only two weeks, and even Easter break, which was a week, seemed like a long time. Now, a month seems like a couple of days, and a year seems like only a month!

I know that a lot of it has to do with the fact that kids tend to live in the moment, and focus on what they are doing at the time rather than trying to focus on a hundred different things at once. As we get older, we have so much going on in our lives, and so many different worries and stresses, it's difficult to focus on one thing at a time and just enjoy each moment as it comes. Because of that, time seems to fly by faster as we get older. I also recently read some article that mentioned there was something to do with a substance in the brain that decreases as we age, and that also makes time seem to go faster. I don't recall all that it said, but that's mainly because I didn't really buy what they were saying - it did not jive with my common sense - so I didn't really opt to retain it. :)

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions or anything, as I find it's so often quite a futile exercise, but I think I might just make one this year - to try and be aware to live in the moment a bit more often, and to not worry so much. Now, me being a consummate worry-wart, that should be quite the challenge. But hey, it's worth a shot!

I am also planning on getting back into photography more again. My beloved digital camera is motivating me. It's helpful because I can see the results of playing with different settings right away, so it gives me a better idea of how things might turn out by using similar settings on the 35mm SLR. It will be interesting to compare results between both mediums. I will always prefer film over digital, simply because there are things that digital cannot pick up on. However, digital has some very good points as well, so I will certainly enjoy both!

Speaking of photography... Yes, I have taken some more pictures. I was out with the dogs today, and Mother Nature's artistry motivated me to snap some pictures! So here are a few of my favourite shots of the day:

This frosty leaf on the deck was my first inspiration...

Yep, same leaf, different angle.

Yes, my friends, there are actually still a few patches of green grass about! This pine cone seems to be enjoying the greenery.

This pine cone, on the other hand, looks a wee bit chilly. As you can see, not all is green in the yard! But you have to love the way Mother Nature has painted this little guy and the surrounding vegetation (as well as the leaf on the deck) with such lovely frost patterns.

This is my favourite shot of the day. I spotted this leaf hiding in between the deck boards, and just had to see how the shot would turn out. And yes, the decking is going to be replaced one of these days!

Ooh, I almost forgot a couple of other random shots (taken over the last few days), four of which were from a Backgammon session Judy and I had:

Me waxing Judy's ass.

New game set up.

Judy waxing my ass...

...and not being a very gracious winner, I might add!

My collection of things that hang off my ceiling fixture over the bed - two witch balls, a hanging red stained glass tea light holder (which is awesome), my pyramid with crystals, and my acrylic light pull. I have a crystal pull of the same size and shape somewhere around here - as soon as I find it I'll be replacing the acrylic one with it! At any rate, this collection of hanging goodies does lend a very nice, peaceful energy to the room.

Depressed snow shovels, pining for more snow. Hmm, do you think we have enough of them?

Aww geeez, Mom's at it again with that camera... C'mon Mom, can we please just go in?

And on that note, I think there are more than enough pictures here for one night! So take care everyone, and I wish you all a joyous, healthy, peaceful, and safe New Year!

A Christmas Wish

2005-12-25T00:55:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send out a little Christmas wish for all my family and friends. May your Christmas be happy, healthy, loving, and peaceful, and may you be showered with blessings - not only at Christmas, but throughout the year to come.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Birds, Fish, and Frogs

2005-12-18T01:12:00.000-07:00

I am just unwinding from the annual company Christmas party. I am happy to say it was another success, especially with respect to the food. The hotel cooked up an awesome banquet, which we had served buffet-style. There were more salads than you could shake a stick at, veggies and dip, cold cuts - and that was just on the first very long table! Once we got past that table, it was to discover an equally long table with buttermilk mashed potatoes (yum!), mashed sweet potatoes, roasted winter vegetables, vast quantities of turkey (hence the birds reference in the title), salmon in dill sauce (the fish reference), dressing, and gravy that was to die for.

I had a bit of Caesar Salad, a bit of Waldorf Salad, potatoes, turkey, dressing, and spiced cranberry sauce. Oh, and gravy, of course! I'd never had Waldorf Salad before, and I have to say it was VERY good. I found it rather amusing to note that the sweet potatoes did not go over well - there was barely a dent in them! I can't stand them, so I was curious to see if anyone else would tuck into them.

After that mass of food was done with (I shudder to think how much was left over!), it was on to dessert. The dessert table was just as loaded down with food as the dinner tables were. There were shortbread cookies, gingerbread cookies, some awesome looking cakes, eggnog mousse, various bits of Christmas baking, and an awesome bread pudding, with Saskatoon berries, white chocolate, and truffle sauce. I stuck to a small bit of bread pudding and a shortbread cookie, both of which were awesome. I've been wanting to taste something with truffles for ages, and I got my opportunity with the sauce for the bread pudding. I would never have thought of using truffles in a sauce for dessert, but it certainly worked very well.

I made sure to keep my portions quite small, as I didn't want to be stuffed like the poor turkeys, but even at that I was still quite full by the time we were done. I was amazed to see how much other people were eating - I have no idea where the heck they put it all! One of the ladies and I were discussing how we just could not eat as much as we used to be able to, and it got me to thinking about a conversation my sister and I have had on that subject a few times.

We talked about how we could eat a lot more in our younger years. Christmas dinner was our prime example. We'd get up Christmas morning, and have coffee and open presents. Then we'd have breakfast - not just toast and jam, but the whole bacon and eggs type of breakfast. For the rest of the day we would be constantly munching on Christmas goodies - sugar cookies, shortbread cookies, butter tarts, mince tarts, nuts, chocolates, mandarin oranges, and whatever else might be around. Then there would be the big Christmas dinner. We would usually have a couple of helpings of dinner, and then finish it off with a little bit more mashed potatoes and gravy. Then dessert, which was more of the Christmas baking. Later in the evening, it would not be unusual to find us munching on a bit of cold turkey, or even having a turkey sandwich. Of course there were also the Christmas baking and goodies that were still being munched on.

To even try to imagine myself eating like that now is enough to make me ill. Of course, we didn't eat like that on a daily basis, but these days Christmas eating is a whole lot different. We still get up and have coffee and open presents, then have breakfast. It's usually something along the lines of bacon and eggs still. After that, no one even wants to THINK about eating any food, so there is rarely any munching going on through the day. By the time the big Christmas dinner is ready, I often find that I'm just barely recovered from the big breakfast. One helping of Christmas dinner is more than enough - I find myself quite stuffed, and I certainly don't have any room or desire for second helpings. We'll usually have coffee and dessert afterwards, although we tend to have to wait a bit to let supper settle. Dessert consists of Christmas baking, and I usually find that a couple of cookies is all I can manage to get down. There is definitely no munching on anything in the evening, except perhaps for the odd chocolate if we have any around. There are certainly no turkey sandwiches being made!

What gets me is that when I was able to eat those large amounts of food in my younger days, I was a heck of a lot less rotund. Now I can only manage to eat a small fraction of all that, and there's a lot more of me! Go figure, huh? In light of that, it's just as well that I can't eat anywhere near that much anymore!

I bet you've been wondering where the frogs from the title were coming into play. If any of you were thinking we had frogs' legs at the dinner, you're way off the mark. I was playing about with the digital camera again, and decided to see how it would do when faced with the aquarium. The cheap freebie digital I had didn't work well at all. This one, on the other hand, is awesome! I managed to get a couple of great pictures of two of the boys, so here they are!

This is Tad, my eldest wee froggy. Okay, so it's not ALL of Tad - he was hiding behind some of the plants. But still, there is his back and his hind leg!

I believe this is Tom Thumb - kind of hard to tell when he and Tiny Tim aren't out together, and Tiny Tim was hiding very successfully. I'm pretty sure this is Tom because Tom's always been the more curious of the two, while Tim tends to be shy. When I started snapping pictures, this guy wandered out front and centre to see what was going on!

I love the picture of Tom. I took a few pictures in the macro mode, and a few in regular mode. The regular ones turned out, but I couldn't really see much other than that it was a frog. However, these shots in macro mode amazed me - I couldn't believe the detail! I told one of the girls at work that they remind me of the stuff you see in National Geographic, with all the detail and colour. Unfortunately, the pictures don't show nearly as much detail once they are uploaded to the blog - the originals look a lot better. However, they still look pretty good here. I have to say, the more I fiddle with this camera, the more impressed I am with it. It's encouraged me to take some similar shots with my Canon 35mm SLR, using my macro lenses. I'll be interested to see how they turn out.

Well, that's enough babble from me tonight! I have wound down from the party, and am now feeling quite sleepy. So I shall toddle off to Dreamland and wish you all sweet dreams!

Moonbeams and Make-Up

2005-12-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

I belong to a few message boards, and the other day a lady on one of them posted a topic about make-up. She wanted to know which brands everyone preferred. That got me to thinking, and posting, about some of the issues I've had with products over the last several years, particularly hair and facial cleansing products.

I have always had oily skin, and because of that I have never been able to use a moisturizer. Yes, I know they make them for oily skin, but trust me, none of them worked for me. Over the years I've spend a lot of money on trying products, each one touted to be the best, and sales clerks assuring me that they would work like a charm. Were they guaranteed, so I could get my money back if they did not work? Of course not. However, I would dutifully shell out the bucks and take the products home, only to find that anywhere from five minutes to an hour after I'd used them, my face would look like I'd soaked it in a bucket of oil. One of the worst culprits was a very expensive dermatologist-recommended product, made specifically for extremely oily skin.

I gave these products a fair trial. I did not simply use them once then give up on them. I was well aware that it could take a week or so for my skin to adjust to them, so I would persist, hoping to wake up one morning to see my face radiating vitality, baby-smoothness, and shine-free perfection. All that happened is that I continued to wake up to skin that appeared to be oozing more oil than an Albert oil well. I would finally admit that the product of the month was not going to work, and I would honestly be relieved to go back to soap and water, which didn't produce quite so much oil.

Many years ago I found one brand that worked. Alouette. I loved it, but I have to admit that I eventually got tired of the steps involved, and stopped using it. A few years later I tried it again, only to find that the product had changed a bit, and was no longer working quite so well for me. So off I went on another round of fruitless searches. By this time, my sking was developing dry patches - while still being quite oily, of course. So it was becoming imperative that I find a moisturizer I could use.

My sister Judy had been raving about a new moisturizer she was using. I was reluctant to try it, because she had a problem with dry skin, whereas I was still battling oil, so I did not think it would work. But I figured what the heck - I'd spent a small fortune over the years already, what would another $10.00 hurt? To my astonishment and utter amazement, the moisturizer worked like a damn! I was overjoyed! Now, I know that everyone's skin has its own agenda, but I figure if this stuff works on Judy's dry skin, and my oily-with-dry-patches skin, then it ought to work for everyone! So I shall recommend it to all and sundry. It's Nivea Soft, and not only does it moisturize beautifully without causing an oil spill, it also smells heavenly. While I'm at it, I would also like to say thanks again Judy, for talking me into trying this product!

After all these years it's wonderful to have a routine that works for my face. I cleanse with regular Noxzema, and follow up with the Nivea Soft. Every few days I exfoliate with the Noxzema and a facial scrub pad. Works like a charm - when I do it, that is. I will admit that I get lazy and skip it at times, but those dry patches start cropping up and send my scurrying back to my beloved jars soon enough!

Another huge issue I have is with hair products. I have very fine, porous, curly hair. Now curly hair is dry, and requires a good conditioner. Fine, porous, curly hair can be a royal pain in the tush, because many conditioners tend to weight it down and make it go into the strangest contortions imagineable. Curly hair always does its own thing, thank you very much, but with the wrong products, it's a nightmare. I can't count the times I've heard each and every strand laughing demonically at me as I try to make it do something that will, at the very least, not scare small children to death.

When I was younger, my hair was very oily, so the conditioner issue wasn't quite as bad. However, as I got older, it became less oily, so of course any hair that was more than an inch away from the scalp became drier. I finally found a shampoo and conditioner that worked wonderfully, but it was hard to get hold of. My hairdresser moved away, and I could not find the product anywhere else, so I spent almost as much on trying different hair products over the next few years as I'd spent on finding facial cleansers and moisturizers. In that time, I also started developing allergies to many hair products. Consequently I have spent the last several years putting up with a scalp that is constantly itchy and sore. It always felt like there were wee little critters running around it, tickling and biting. And no, I did NOT have an little critters, thank you very much! Not only did my scalp feel like that, but also my neck, ears, and shoulders - wherever the hair touched.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago I decided I'd had enough, and did not want to keep spending more money on hair products that did not work. So off I went to the nearest hair salon to try and track down the stuff I used to get years ago. I ended up being referred to a hairdressing supply store that is right near my home. I never knew it existed, but boy am I glad I know it's there now! They carry every product imagineable, and while I was at first horrified to discover that my old favourite was no longer made, I ended up having a very nice chat with one of the ladies there, and she pointed me in the direction of my new love. Nioxin.

Nioxin is a line of hair products for thinning hair, but it's also a treatment line. It is often recommended for problems such as psoriasis, sensitive scalps, and allergic reactions. I had actually used it several years ago to clear up a very bad allergic reaction, but I thought it was only for treatment, and not to be used regularly. I have now discovered that it can be used regularly, and I am ecstatic to report that it works like a damn! No more itchy, sore scalp, ears, neck, and shoulders, and the conditioner is awesome. It's a tad pricey, but it's worth it not to have to be constantly going through the nastiness I've put up with for so long!

Now that I'm sure you've all been thrilled to pieces reading about the trials and tribulations of my skin and hair, I shall move on to other things, that no doubt will thrill you equally as much. Tomorrow is the full moon, and it looks absolutely beautiful tonight. There are wispy clouds rapidly moving through the sky, creating breathtaking views. If it wasn't so cold out there, I would be tempted to stand outside for quite some time just gazing at the moon and clouds. However, since it is rather frosty, I decided to simply haul the camera out and take some pictures. Here are some of them, for your viewing pleasure:

There! That was one hell of an exercise in patience, let me tell you! I figured out how to get two pictures per line (so to speak) easily enough, but I think Blogger was not too happy with me posting so many pictures at once! Every second or third picture would not work, and I'd have to upload it again. Ah well, it kept me out of trouble, and they are working now! Aren't they pretty?

I also managed to get a couple of shots of the tree at work, showing the star topper this time, and also showing the lights a wee bit better. I figured I'd just post one of them though, since you've already been tortured enough with all the moon pictures!

Since I have nothing else to babble about at the moment (okay, I heard that chorus of "thank God!"), I am going to shut this down and head to bed. It's going to be a long, busy day of finishing off the shopping for the Christmas party, so I'll need all the rest and energy I can muster! Sweet dreams everyone, and sleep well!

Dragonflies and Baubles

2005-12-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned the other day, we got a new tree and put it up at work. I had completely forgotten to take pictures of it, but I took the camera in today and snapped a few shots. Unfortunately the lights don't show up that well, as the only picture I got where they did show was a wee bit fuzzy, to say the least. I guess I must have wobbled a bit on that one! At any rate, it does look very nice - see?

In my quest to get the right angle and the lovely lights, I didn't notice that I had totally cut out the tree top! LOL! So I shall try and fit that in when I try to get another shot with the lights showing more clearly.

We got some lovely ornaments, but my favourite ones are the acrylic dragonflies. They look awesome in the tree, especially when the lights reflect off them. And yes, I did go back and get some for my own tree at home! Here are a couple of the ones on our work tree:

Yes, I wobbled a bit on that one, I think. But I kind of like the effect, so I decided to keep this picture!

This one is much clearer, and I love the detail that comes out in the macro mode. Aren't these little beauties just gorgeous?

I was fiddling with more moon shots tonight too. They came out very fuzzy, becasue there's quite a cloud layer starting to build up. But I kind of liked the colour variations, so here are a couple of pictures showing that. I love the blue-tinged one, and no, I did not do any colour masks or anything on it - these pictures are just as they were from the camera - just cropped a bit. So here is the moon, waxing ever closer to fullness:

We're having our company Christmas party this weekend, so this week will be full of shopping and last-minute details for me. I spent all day today working on some of the final details, and I must say it was fun. The most fun for me is sorting out the presents. We give gifts in recognition of years of service - 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 25 years, and 30 years. This year we have 4 people at 5 years, 4 at 10, and one at 30 years. So I was the lucky one who got picked to figure out what to get for each of these people! One was easy, since he made a point the other day to tell me what he wanted! The others were a bit tougher, but after making calls to one spouse, and several co-workers, I managed to sort it all out.

I don't like to just choose one-type-fits-all kind of gifts for these things. The big boss wanted to give each group the same thing (different budgets are allotted to each group of service years), but I was not too thrilled with that idea. I like to make sure that each person is getting something he or she really wants. I see no point in spending the money on something that is just going to sit and collect dust, and be turfed in the trash a few years down the road. So after the spousal and co-worker consultations, I ended up with some awesome ideas. I found out what hobbies each person was passionate about, and I am getting them gift certificates to their favourite stores pertaining to those hobbies.

There are two exceptions. One will get a portable DVD player, as he doesn't really seem to have any hobbies. Although I am going to try and get hold of his wife tomorrow, just to see if she has any other ideas. The other is the co-worker who already told me what he wanted, so he will be getting an MP3 player. He asked for an iPOD, but it's been mentioned that it might be better to go with some other brand, so that we're buying the features he wants, rather than the name. He doesn't care - so long as it's shiny, has bells and whistles, lots of memory, and plays MP3s, he's a happy camper! So I am now involved in researching MP3 players, and figuring out what will be the best choice for him.

With all of that planning, I have at least one full day of running around picking up all the gift certificates and such, plus doing some other Christmas party shopping, as I have to buy small presents so that each person attending receives something. The last couple of years we've gone with Christmas ornaments and decorations from a few local dollar stores, and they seem to be a big hit, so I'll likely do that again this year. Then I have to get everything wrapped and ready to go, along with trying to find time to squeeze in some actual work! It will be a busy week, but should be fun.

I am looking forward to the party - especially the dinner! The menu was finalized today, and we will be have a wonderful buffet, with roast turkey, dressing, gravy, potatoes (both mashed and sweet potatoes), veggies, several salads, cheeses, veggies and dip, salmon in dill sauce, an assortment of desserts that sound like they are to die for, plus several other things that I can't remember at the moment. I read the menu out to one of the guys' wives over the phone, and we were both almost drooling over it!

I have decided to take a cab there and back, since the company will pay for it. That way I don't have to pay for parking, and I can have a drink or two since I won't have to worry about driving. It is being held in a fancy-schmancy hotel downtown, and I hate the area it's in, so it will be wonderful not to have to worry about driving there and wandering back and forth to the car on my own. I worked right in that area for 10 years, and it's not a good area, to say the least.

I was going to try and come up with something interesting to ponder about in this post, but I think I've babbled on enough at the moment! Besides, I'm just about ready to head to bed, so I will shut this down for the night and wish you all sweetest dreams. I am off to dream of MP3 players, Christmas dinner, and dragonflies and Christmas tree baubles!

Is It Time For Bed Yet?

2005-12-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am so tired today. I got a fair amount of sleep last night, napped today for a couple of hours, then ended up going back to bed and napping for a couple MORE hours, and my eyes are STILL wanting to just slam shut and stay that way! I guess I must not be quite as over that flu as I thought I was!

I made myself cook a really good dinner though, as I figure the better I eat, the more I'll fight off any other flus and colds that are going around. So as I type I am enjoying a steak that I roasted, along with a potato that was roasted with the steak, some corn, and a bit of leftover stuffing. I have the most divine steak sauce - a sesame-based sauce - from one of our local restaurants. I absolutely love the stuff, but I've just used the last of it for dinner, so I'll have to stop in and get some more soon.

The weather took a major turn, warming up significantly and even raining on Thursday. Thankfully most of the snow was melted off the main streets by the time it rained, and the temperatures didn't hit freezing again yet, so we didn't have the nasty ice that I was worried about. It ended up getting up to about 7C (44.6F), so that was a major improvement from -29C (-20.2F), which is what it was with the windchill on Monday. As a result of these balmy temperatures, most of the snow has melted, and it's rather dirty looking out there!

See? Dirty, icky looking remnants of snow.

And in this area, no snow whatsoever. Just dead, icky lawn.

I think the snow shovels need therapy though. They are looking highly depressed and are NOT happy that the snow has melted. I keep telling them not to worry, that there is more snow on the way, but I don't think they believe me yet. The only one who doesn't seem too concerned is old Grandpa Shovel - he's just happy to be hanging out and not having to do any work!

"Awww man, what happened to the snow? It's never coming back, is it?"

I had a lot of fun spending a couple of hundred dollars on Thursday. It was even more fun since it wasn't my own money! I hauled our receptionist out of the office and we went and bought a new Christmas tree and decorations for the office. We got a lovely pre-lit 6' Christmas tree on sale for $75.00 - can't beat that! I have to admit, I'm highly tempted to consider that for my own place - I may have to keep an eye on the after-Christmas sales. At any rate, the tree is set up and decorated, and it's gorgeous. We got some lovely ornaments. In fact, there are some acrylic dragonflies that I have decided I must get for my own tree...

One of the pre-lit trees they were selling was a 15-foot beauty. Take a wild guess at how much it costs. Go on. Guess. I'll tell you at the end of the post. Now, aside from the cost of the tree, I had to wonder what on earth would possess anyone to buy it? Yes, it's beautiful, but it's also HUGE. Who in their right mind would want to struggle with setting that behemoth up and taking it back down again every year? You'd have to be constantly going up and down a ladder just to set it up, decorate, then un-decorate and take it down again. Not to mention the headache of finding a spot to store it. Granted, it would look awesome in a room with cathedral ceilings. It just exhausts me thinking about all the work involved! Thank God it's pre-lit - can you imagine fighting with putting the lights in something that size?

It's quite lovely out tonight - 9C (48.2F) at the moment, with clear skies and a lovely waxing moon:

It's supposed to be dipping down again next week, and they are calling for snow on Wednesday, so I guess I'd better enjoy this mildness while it lasts! As there isn't much news I shall head off for now. I've made a nice pot of coffee, flavoured with cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, and vanilla, and I am going to enjoy that with an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie - or two. So I shall wish you all a wonderful night, and sweetest dreams!

Oh yes - the tree. The cost of the monster Christmas tree is $800.00. Spare change, anyone?

Ho Ho Ho...

2005-12-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

I'd best get the whining out of the way first. We got more snow yesterday - quite a bit more snow, as a matter of fact. It was -29C with the windchill. So all in all, it was a rather miserable day yesterday, weather-wise. Of course the roads were loads of fun to drive on (insert heavy sarcasm there), but I must admit I was extremely surprised to find that most people were driving well. Except for the twit in the 4 wheel drive that spun out trying to make a left turn through a red light. However that was not a surprise - it's often the 4 wheel drive vehicles that get themselves in trouble because their owners are WAY too overconfident and cocky. Before anyone gets upset, I am not lumping all 4 wheel drive owners in that category. Many know how to drive their vehicles and do not have, or cause, problems. I'm talking about the twits who think it's cool to own a 4 wheel drive vehicle, but haven't got the faintest clue how to handle it.

Anyhow, it was damned cold and nasty around here yesterday, and here are a few pictures to at least show off some of the snow:

This is my car, which faithfully got me to work through the rather nasty snowstorm we were getting. You can still see some of the lovely snowflakes falling in the picture. Ugh.

View down the alley - and yes it was very dark and dreary.

Tail end of our parking lot. Most of the vehicles hadn't been there all that long, and were already getting covered in snow.

I wish I had thought to bring my camera out a bit later on. One of my coworkers drew a happy face in the snow on my windshield, and about an hour later the happy face was almost filled in by a new accumulation of white shit. By the time I left work, it was completely filled in, although thankfully it had quit snowing by then!

Today was nice and clear, so no more snow, although it was still flipping freezing. It's supposed to warm up quite a bit over the next few days, so that will be a most welcome change. Although considering the amount of snow we have now, and the state of the roads, I am devoutly hoping that we do NOT get the rain that they keep saying is going to come!

After freezing my bunyakas off every time I went outside today, I came home and made a nice dinner and popped an Apple Crisp in the oven. It smells divine in here, and that makes it feel nice and cozy. I can't wait until it cools down enough to dig into it! It's still chilly in the house, but I have my little wood stove going, so that adds to the coziness, and is helping to warm me up! Hmm, I'm thinking I might have to make a cup of tea to go with that Apple Crisp. Yum!

I will be heading out to do a bunch of Christmas shopping for work in the next day or two. The boss asked me to go buy a new tree, so we'll be needing decorations to go with it. We have a small tree that used to sit on the table in our reception area, but we have a larger area in the new office, and the tree is just too small for it. So it should be fun doing all that. I think I'm going to go for one of the pre-lit trees, since I hate putting the lights in. I also have to do some shopping for gifts for our Christmas party, so I'll likely incorporate both bits. That should make for a nice afternoon out of the office!

There's not much news around here, so I shall wander off for now. Besides, it's time to check on the Apple Crisp, and see if it's ready to much on yet! Sweet dreams, everyone!

A Wee Break

2005-12-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

We had a bit of a break from the snow today, although the temperatures didn't improve. Still, it was nice to see clear sky for a change!

See? Look - lovely clear blue sky behind the tree, and no added snow on it! Woo-hoo!

It's funny, because normally I love overcast days. I'm not a huge sun worshipper, and prefer clouds and rain to clear blue skies. I must admit, even during the winter I'm not big on clear blue skies, as it generally is a bit colder (although at these temperatures it doesn't make that much difference!), and my eyes are so sensitive to light that the sun is annoying at best, and even worse when glaring off white snow. However, when we've been getting snow for a few days in a row, the lack of clouds is rather welcome!

There are those who aren't overly thrilled that it stopped snowing:

"Aww man, we haven't even been able to clear this up yet. I bet if it had snowed some more they would have let us have at it! Why did it have to quit snowing? Well, at least Gramps is happy - he still gets to hang out behind the cardboard..."

Don't worry guys. I was just out with the dogs, and it's snowing again. Not much, granted, but there are wee little flakes drifting down. So I have no doubt you'll be put to work soon, and then you can be happy little snow shovels again!

This next picture is rather interesting. I was sitting here at the computer, and sensed that there was a spirit or two hanging around the doorway. Now, that's not unusual here - there's always someone dropping by for a visit. However, I figured it might be a good idea to grab the camera and see if anything would show up. I usually don't have success in capturing anything on camera, but I thought it was worth a try. I felt like Great-Great-Grandpa was around, so I asked him if he'd like to get in the picture. I took five pictures in a row, all from the same angle, and was quite surprised to actually get an orb in one picture. The other four had nothing in them. Usually I'm very sceptical of orb pictures, as they are so often dust or reflections. However, since I'd taken five in a row - with no waiting in between - and none of the other pictures had orbs, I'm fairly confident it's not dust or a reflection. With knowing that Great-Great-Grandpa and at least one other spirit were here at the time, I think I may actually have finally captured something.

Hopefully this will show up reasonably well on the blog. I did not alter the picture other than to resize it (smaller), and to lighten it up so that it could be seen better. The orb was very visible on the original picture, but it was fairly dark in the area it was hovering in, so I figured it would not show well when the picture was resized. At any rate, it's the small white circle (sphere)down near the bottom of the kitchen cupboard, on the right, just above the base.

The other thing that makes me skeptical is that digital cameras tend to create false orbs (pick up on dust, reflections, etc.) more often than film cameras do. However, I again have to take into consideration that the other four pictures did not have anything in them, and if the camera was going to create a false orb in one, it should have done so in at least one or two of the others. So for me, that pretty much rules out false orbs created due to dust and reflections. Plus I have a feeling this one is genuine.

Anyhow... I just thought it was interesting, and I was quite startled to have actually gotten any results! I'll have to try this experiment again in different spots in the house - once I've gotten things reasonably cleaned up. I'd hate to subject your eyes to the piles of stuff scattered about at the moment!

I am also considering trying another EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) session. Two of my sisters and I did a couple of sessions awhile back, and were astonished to have obtained some very good results. I had done a session one night where I left the recorder running in my living room. Everyone had gone to bed, so there was no one up and about, and no one could have gotten into my living room anyhow without waking me up. I did not get voices, but I did get some very interesting noises. Some were right beside the microphone, while others were further away. Some actually sounded like someone tapping on the microphone. I used an external mic, so it wasn't anything in the recorder. The most interesting noise - to me, at least - was the clear, unmistakable sound of dishes being moved about. I am sorry to say that yes, I did have some dishes in the living room, left there from a snack earlier that evening.

I was a bit disappointed not to have captured voices, but I was quite impressed with some of the noises - especially the dishes - that had come up. When my eldest sister came to visit a while after that, I played the tape for her and Judy. The three of us then decided to do a question and answer type session. We wrote down 15 questions, and then started the tape. I would ask a question, wait two minutes to give the spirits time to answer, ask another question, wait two minutes, and so on until the 15 questions had been recorded. Of course we heard nothing while we were recording. Other than our own fits of giggles! It really is hard to sit quietly and not giggle when the three of us are together!

However, when we played the tape back, we were astonished and pleased to find that we had gotten a few results. Not every question was answered, of course, but there were some audible voices after a few of them. We ended up doing another session, asking the same questions, and again got results. I'll note a few of the more notable ones here.

I can't recall which question this one followed. It didn't pertain to the question, but I can still remember the chills I got when I heard the voice. It was the first response we got, and since I really wasn't expecting anything it startled the hell out of me! It was a very clear whisper, which sounded male, and said one of my sister's names quite clearly. We were quite certain it was her husband who had passed away several years prior.

We asked how many spirits were present, and heard a clear male voice, which we recognized right away as Dad's voice, say, "seven".

We also heard a female voice, which we thought was Mom, who had recently passed, and it said one of my nephew's names. The voice was clear but faint.

We asked about the family dog who had died many years before, and I was very startled to clearly hear the sound of a dog licking. It was very clear, and quite loud, compared to some of the voices we had heard. She almost always accompanies my Dad when he visits, so I was not surprised she was there. I was surprised to hear the licking sound, though.

We also asked about a budgie that we had had for several years. He too had long since passed. Again, I was very startled to hear a clear, loud chirp - unmistakably that of a budgie. If any of you have had budgies before, you'll know what I mean about the unmistakable sound of their chirps.

There were other voices, some of which we could not quite make out the words, but which were clearly voices. And there are some things that were said that I cannot recall now. I'd have to listen to the tapes again. Needless to say, the results impressed us a great deal, and I'm thinking it might be good to give it a try again, and perhaps take some pictures at the same time. I think I would once again use the question and answer format, as I found that more successful than just leaving the recorder running.

I did try with just the recorder going two other times. Once in the laundry area, with no results whatsoever, and once in my bedroom. I turned it on just before going to sleep, and left it running. I was a bit startled to hear some odd noises when I replayed it, but the more I listened, the more apparent it was that it was just me snoring! There was nothing other than that - I probably scared the spirits off! LOL!

There's no major news today, so I think I'll wander off for now. I've rambled on enough anyhow! Have a wonderful night everyone, and sleep well!

And So It Continues...

2005-12-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

It's still frigging freezing, and it is still snowing. Thankfully it's a relatively light snowfall, but it's steady, so the white shit is accumulating. The roads are also getting icy, which makes it interesting to drive. Not that I find it that bad, but the way some people are driving, it's pretty unnerving on the roads.

"Does she have pictures of this new accumulation of snow?" my fair readers ask.

"Well of course I do! Would I let you down by not taking more pictures?" I reply. "Here ya go!"

More white shit. I have to admit, it sparkles real pretty...

And yet more pretty sparkly white shit.

It's even settling in on the trees now. We're doomed.

The shovels are getting excited again, though. They seem to be quite pleased with the new batch of snowflakes.

"Yay! More snow to play in! Look at Gramps hiding behind the cardboard, though - I told you he couldn't hack it anymore!"

Misty is a happy camper. She loves the snow, and it doesn't seem to matter how cold it is outside - she could stay out there and play in it for hours if I let her. Silly girl.

Hey Mom! I like this stuff!

C'mon and lay in it with me Mom! It's fun! And look - it sparkles real pretty too!

Yeah, yeah, Misty. Whatever. Oh all right. Yes, it DOES sparkle real pretty. But I am NOT going to go lay in it with you, thank you very much.

C'mon Mom! Let us in - it's cold out here! Aw, put the camera down and let us in! Lady, I think it's your turn to fix the cyborg eye on Mom...

Well, that's about it for pictures, folks. I know, it's disappointing. I'm sure you just can't get enough of looking at all these snow pictures. Not to worry, one of these days I'll take pictures of something else to post. What, I'm not sure yet. But I'll think of something. Until then, you're stuck with these!

It's supposed to keep freezing and snowing through the weekend, then it's supposed to warm up considerably during the week. As a matter of fact, they're calling for rain next Thursday. Now, if people think the driving conditions are getting interesting now, just wait until it rains. Mind you, the weather forecast can change more often than I change my underwear (no comments from the Peanut Gallery on that, thank you), so for all I know we could end up at -40C (-40F) with a raging blizzard by Thursday. Ooooooooooooh. Sorry, God, I take that back. Honest, I was only joking. :D

Let's see, anything of interest to report today? Oh, yeah. I was unplugging my camera after downloading the pictures, and the cable slipped, resulting in the camera dropping to the floor before I could catch it. Scared the beejeezus out of me! I had a fairly cheap digital camera that I just barely bumped (and I do mean just barely), and the LCD screen broke. So I was quite freaked about my new less cheap camera hitting the floor. Thankfully all seems to be well though. Guess it goes to show that you get what you pay for, no? I have to say my heart's still not quite settled down after that one!

I was just debating what on earth I was going to have for dinner. I really didn't feel like cooking, what with it being Friday night and all, but I wanted something more substantial than toast. And trust me, I didn't even feel like cooking toast! It's pretty bad when making toast or opening up a can of soup and nuking it is too much work, isn't it? LOL! Anyhow, I remembered that I had some frozen french fries in the freezer (I guess that's kind of the obvious spot for them, now that I think about it - mind you, they'd keep nicely outside right now too), so I decided to throw some of them in the toaster oven along with a few chicken fingers.

I don't usually eat french fries. I think it's mainly because the ex used to eat them all the time - he'd have had them for every meal if I had let him. So we used to eat them way too often for my liking, and I got to the point where I couldn't stand them. I used to cook two separate meals so that I didn't have to eat french fries. That was back in the day when I was young and really dense. Trust me, that would not happen now. Anyone in the house would damned well eat what I cooked, and be happy with it. None of that restaurant style ordering shit nowadays.

Anyhow, as I was saying, I don't usually eat french fries. But every now and then I get a hankering for them. They have to be the shoestring kind though - not the big fat ones. Ick. So awhile back I was perusing the frozen veggies and such and spied a bag of frozen shoe string french fries. Yeah, I know - logical place for them. I got them, had them once, and then forgot all about them. So it was kind of a nice surprise to remember them tonight. A nice hot comfort meal on a frosty winter's eve. And yes, Brooke, it IS winter. Maybe not technically, but trust me, around here winter usually hits a heck of a lot earlier than December 21!

As there is no more fascinating news to tell you, I guess I'll wander off and check out some other blogs while I'm waiting for din-din to finish cooking. So have a great night all, and stay warm and safe!

I Give Up

2005-12-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

I have set up a practice blog, in which to play around and learn all sorts of wonderful bloggy things. What I really want to do is learn how to make my own blog skins. I have come across some lovely skins that I've tried to use. The ones I like the best simply do not work. Go figure. So I figured that it might be fun to just make my own. That way, I get what I want in it, and I have an enjoyable time creating skins to fiddle with.

I thought the practical solution would be to find some tutorials for making blog skins, so off I went to search for them. I did find several, but I have to admit they weren't very helpful. Although one of them at least gave me a bit of information that helped me make sense of the current template I'm using, so I was finally able to figure out how the heck to get a section in there to link to other blogs. I am proud to note that I now have a links section on the sidebar! Okay, so it's not heavily populated yet, but trying to sort through the tutorials I found was giving me a headache, so I am quite happy with the links I have up!

I am going to continue in my search for tutorials, but I have to say that it's a good thing I have some knowledge of HTML, or I would never have made sense of fitting the links section in this template! I can see that this venture is not going to be quite as easy as I first thought it would be! Don't get me wrong - I wasn't expecting it to be a cakewalk. But I've designed several web pages and I figured a blog skin wouldn't be that much more complicated. I am quickly realizing that I was in error with that line of thinking!

Still, I think I will eventually enjoy this - especially when I find a tutorial that is reasonably coherent! In the meantime, I'll fiddle around with things on my practice blog, to learn more about how the current template is put together, and that should be helpful when it comes to starting from scratch.

Let's see, what other news is there to report? Not a lot, really. I accomplished a fair bit at work - got some stuff off my plate that I'd been wanting to get done, so that's always a good thing. Of course I also ended up getting a few things come in that I could have done without, but hey, that's to be expected!

After work, I just came home and fiddled on the computer, and tried to keep warm. Yes, it's still the major deep freeze out there. And now I am about to head off to bed! So I shall wish you all a good night, and pleasant dreams!

Holy Icicles, Batman!

2005-11-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Brrrrrrrrrr, it's frigging frosty out there today! The temperature earlier in the day was -13C (8.6F), with the windchill making it -20C (-4F). If that wasn't bad enough, tonight it's headed down to -18C (-0.4F), and tomorrow is supposed to be -19C (-2.2F). Now, those figures do not include the windchill, which will end up bringing it down to about -25C (-13F) to -30C (-22F). Fun, no? Oy...

I just took the dogs out (of course they decide they need to go right when I start blogging!), and it's rather deceptive out there. The wind has died down, so it doesn't feel too bad when you first head out. It's rather charming - dark, snowy, the smell of wood fires burning... But after a couple of minutes, the fingers, nose and ears begin to get a wee bit nippy, and then the cheeks start to go (face cheeks, people - my toasty warm coat covers my butt nicely, thank you very much!), and I realize that it is not QUITE so nice out there as it first appears!

We've been getting more snow all day - steady, but not a whole lot more yet. However, it's supposed to keep snowing, and I must say the clouds are looking quite pregnant, so we can look forward to the birth of Mrs. Snowcloud's gazillionuplets. It's sounding like those snow shovels might just get a workout after all!

Oooh, they already DID get a bit of a workout! See?

"Hey, check it out! We got to work! We got to work! I don't know about Gramps, though. Look at him, just hanging there on the fence. I don't think he can hack it anymore..."

As I was freezing my ass off waiting for my car to warm up, I decided to take a couple of quick shots of our alley at work - just to prove that yes, we did get more snow there!

Alley - well, what you can see of it...

Loading area right beside where I park my car.

Yeah, they aren't the most exciting shots on earth, but it was dark and as I said I was freezing my ass off. What the heck do you expect? Geeeeez...

Pic I just took of our back yard - see how good I am to you guys? I go out and freeze my ass off again just to get you pics of the back yard and the hard working shovels...

Ooooooooh, even more damned white shit. Yay.

That's it for pictures tonight. I am not going out to take any more for you. I am staying by my electric wood stove and keeping warm and toasty, thank you very much. I have been freezing all day. It's so flipping cold in our office you could quite safely store meat in there. Thank God I went out and bought heaters for myself and the two other ladies in the office. We have a couple of guys who come in with enough layers of clothing on to easily clothe a small town, and they keep turning the heat down because they're too hot. Oy. Today I told them I was going to import penguins, as they'd be right at home in our office. Silly twits. (The men, not the penguins.)

I got home and it was quite nippy in here too, so I cranked up the old electric wood stove (okay, it's new, but let's not get picky), made myself a huge cup of steaming tea, and am now reasonably toasty. So you can see why I intend to stay here and not head outside any more than I absolutely have to. Hmm, I think maybe I'll litter-train the dogs this winter...

I have officially been de-modded! It was rather funny, because I popped into the site just when the site owner had starting working on the de-modding process. It was certainly odd to be there. When I first popped in, I still had access to everything. Then suddenly all the moderator icons (for moving topics, locking topics, etc.) disappeared. Then my link for the Moderator Options disappeared. Suddenly my name was no longer on the list of mods in the forums. The last thing to go was the actual Moderator Forum, where all of us mods - er, all of the remaining mods - discuss issues that are not for the eyes of the general members. That actually stayed open to me for awhile, and I was starting to wonder if he'd forgotten about it. But no, that finally disappeared too. So now I am officially back among the general ranks!

It's actually quite sad, I have to admit. Every now and then I keep thinking that perhaps I should have just stuck it out, but I know it was time to quit. In many ways I also feel relieved, and I expect it won't take too long before the sadness goes away.

I did get a fair bit of amusement out of things too. When a mod quits (doesn't happen often, but there have been three of us so far), the site owner gives us special titles. One was Angel, the other I can't quite recall at the moment, and mine is Domina. Domina??????? Sounds like a kinky S&M porn star, if you ask me! Now, the hilarious bit was that I decided to look it up on Yahoo search, just to see what would come up. Found a few links to a Domina hotel chain, one to a horse named Domina, and the rest were pretty much S&M and fetish sites! LMAO!

Then I did an Italian to English translation (the hotel chain was Italian, so I figured it was a safe assumption that's where the word originates), and it came up with "it dominates". That was from a site called Babel Fish, which translates many languages, although there are some questionable translations at times, especially when trying to translate complete sentences!

I also just did a Latin to English translation, from the University of Notre Dame Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid, which came up with this gem:

"domina -ae f. [mistress of a household; wife , mistress, lady]; of abstr. things, [ruler, controller]"

I think I'm going to have to have a wee chat with the site owner about what he was thinking when he chose that particular title! I am sincerely hoping that he was focusing on "lady". As a Newfie friend of mine would say, "me shattered nerves"!

Well, I think I've about run out of scintillating things to tell you tonight, so I am off! Have a wonderful night, everyone! Ooooooooh, and Judy - thanks for the linkage and comments on your blog! XOX

A Mixed Bag of Nuts

2005-11-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

First off, I will state that I am exhausted and my eyes, brain, and fingers are not necessarily well coordinated tonight. So if this entry does't make sense, just view it as an article solely for your amusement. :) Since I am so out of it tonight, I will simply regale you with a run-down of my day - you lucky ducks!

Today was a bit of a mixed bag of nuts. It started off last night. I could not sleep to save my soul. Tossed and turned, tossed and turned, read for a few minutes, tossed and turned, tossed and turned, read for a few minutes - and so on and so on. Until about 5:00 am, when I finally fell asleep. For a short period. Then awake again, tossed and turned, fell asleep, woke up again...you get the picture! All told, I had about 1 1/2 - 2 hours' sleep. Got up at 7:00 am, to be greeted by steadily falling snow. Yay.

The good news was that my sinuses weren't as bad today (yay!), thanks to the Sudafed, so off I went to work. After sweeping the car off. Yay. Filled up with gas on the way, and got more good news. Gas prices are much lower than when I last filled up - cost me about $10 less to fill my tank. Woo-hoo! Stopped and picked up cream and doughnuts for the office, then I was on my way.

I got to work, started feeling queasy, but not as bad as yesterday, and I think it was mainly just from lack of sleep. Got the urgent stuff done that had piled up over the last couple of days, and watched the snow continue to fall steadily. Yay. Actually, I have to admit the snow looked quite pretty, although the constantly dropping temperature was not quite so pretty.

I had to leave early to go to the bank, and one of the managers told me that I'd better leave earlier than planned, as there was quite a bit of snow accumulating. Leave earlier? Okay. Hey, who am I to argue that? :) The roads weren't so great where I work, but as I headed towards the bank, they began to get clearer - it was soon apparent that we got more snow around our office that other areas of the city had received. The great news was that I made it to the bank quite quickly, thereby ending up at home a lot earlier than planned. Yay!!!!! :)

Of course I took some snow pictures when I took the dogs out. You didn't think you were going to escape more pictures, did you? Here they are:

There, Miss Pseudo-Snow Brooke! How do you like them apples - er, snowflakes?

Snowshovels ready and raring to go! I think they look a wee bit disappointed that they aren't required just yet...

I wish I had taken some pictures around our office, as we did get quite a bit more snow there. However, it's still coming down out there, so I expect there'll be even more piled up tomorrow. My brother-in-law said that it's supposed to be down to about -20C by the morning, so it was deemed wise to plug the vehicles in tonight. It's hard to believe that it was almost like summer here about a week ago, and now the temperatures are dipping to deepest winter! Ah well, not surprising around here!

After taking the pictures and bringing the dogs back in, I sat down and paid bills. That is never a fun thing, but at least there is some satisfaction in getting it done and out of the way.

A good friend came over this evening, so we spent a nice couple of hours chatting, eating pizza, chatting some more, eating strawberry-rhubarb pie, and chatting some more! We don't see her that often, so it was wonderful to get together.

After she left I moved the car and plugged it in. Of course I had to brush it off again first. That's three times I've had to brush the damned snow off the car today. That is one part of winter that I absolutely hate, I must say. I can't do much about it though, unless I move somewhere warmer, but I already covered my reasons for not going there in the last post. Gee, my brain must not be doing too badly, since I remembered that!

I am now winding down for the evening, and hoping that I will sleep through the night. I think I will, because I am SO wiped right now. However, after last night's stint, I'm actually quite nervous about going to bed, as I'm worried I'll be up all night again! I'm thinking it might not hurt to have a good stiff drink before hitting the hay. Gin and orange juice, I think. After all, the orange juice will be very good for my flu! ;)

I think I've pretty much run out of things to say, so I shall bid you all good night, and sweet dreams! Hopefully I will be more wide awake tomorrow and will have something more interesting to write about!

Ugh - It's Here!

2005-11-28T19:37:00.000-07:00

I was sitting at home today, feeling sorry for myself and fiddling on the computer, when I looked up at the window. To my horror, there was an abundance of fluffy white material falling from the sky. I grabbed my trusty camera and caught this shot:

Okay, so it doesn't quite convey just how much was falling, but if you look closely you can see the little buggers. Yep - all those white specks are fluffy little wee frigging snowflakes...

Now, I haven't been looking forward to snow season anyhow, but being that I was at home with the flu, I was even less pleased to see it. Of course, there was the compensation of having an excuse to haul out the camera... And yes, I still have the flu. I was actually feeling a bit better the last couple of days - until we went grocery shopping yesterday. By the time we got home and I finished putting stuff away, I was completely wiped. I still was feeling not too bad, flu-wise, but I was totally exhausted. I was awoken this morning with a major sinus headache and a nauseous tummy - I thought my head was going to split. Actually, I knew it wasn't going to, but I was kind of hoping it would, so it would at least relieve some of the pressure.

I took my trusty Sudafed and got ready for work, deluding myself that I might actually feel better by the time I was done. After I was all ready, I finally conceded defeat and called in sick. Sat at the computer for a bit, forced some coffee and English muffin into my queasy tummy, and ended up going back to bed, where I remained until about 6:00 this evening. I am glad to say I'm feeling somewhat better now, although there's still a lot of room for improvement! Oh yeah, and before I retired for the afternoon, I managed to get some more snow pictures when the dogs had to go out:

See? I TOLD you the fluffy white stuff was here!

More fluffy white shit.

What's she talking about, Lady? This isn't shit - it's great stuff!

Eh, she doesn't have a clue, Misty. I mean honestly, can't she tell how neat everything smells with snow on it?

It sure does, Lady! Humans are sooooooo weird...

Yeah, yeah - whatever, girls. You can have the snow - you don't have to drive in it. Well, it wouldn't be so bad if the roads were even reasonably maintained here. And if people would learn to drive properly in it. There are people who've lived here all their lives and have never figured out how to drive properly in snow and ice. Twits.

The good news is that it quit snowing, so we didn't get much more than what was on the ground in the above pics. And quite a bit of it has blown away, so the sidewalks and roads are clear. Well, our sidewalks and the road directly in front of my windows are clear, anyhow. Can't speak for the rest of the city... The back lawn still has some left on it - I have to admit it looks pretty sparkling on the lawn. The flash kind of ruins the effect, but hey, if I didn't use the flash, you wouldn't be able to see anything but blackness...

Yes, I know it doesn't show up very well, but all the white specks you see in the above two pictures are the little sparkly bits. There's a bit more snow still than those, but the darkness and the flash kind of negate them. Aren't you glad I posted those exciting pictures for you? C'mon, admit it - you know you're thrilled!

I have to admit if I didn't have to drive - or rather, be on the road with the above mentioned twits who can't drive - in the fluffy white stuff, I'd love it. Snow really is beautiful, and I love the way it muffles sound. Traffic sounds less harsh and jarring, kids playing, birds chirping - everything sounds softer and more peaceful. If I could just stay home all winter and have everything I need within walking distance, I'd love it!

Ah well. I guess bitching about it won't do anything except make me feel marginally better! It's going to snow when it's going to snow, so I'll just have to put up with it. I could move somewhere warmer, but I don't do the heat well, and then there are all those weird bugs that crop up further south. Ugh! We have enough weird bugs here - I don't need to have to learn to adapt to new ones! So I guess I'll tough it out here and whine at you guys on my blog every now and then! Gee, aren't you lucky?

Well, since I didn't have anything exciting to report today, I think I'll leave off for now. Hmm, I seemed to be able to blather on an awful lot for someone with nothing exciting to say... hehehehehehe. I've been getting chills every now and again today, and I have another one coming on, so I shall leave you all alone now (yeah, yeah, I can hear all of you saying "thank God!") and go turn on my little electric wood stove. Have a good night, everyone!

RIP, Shadow

2005-11-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just got word from my sister that they had to put their dog, Shadow, down today. He had bone cancer, and had hung in for several weeks, but the time had finally come to put him to rest. I expect he is now making acquaintance with several other doggy spirits, and will be having a wonderful time romping about with them, pain free and whole once again. RIP, Shadow.

On my end, I'm still feeling flu-ish, but a bit better yet again, so that is a good thing. I slept for most of the day, which I'm sure helped. When I got up, I had planned to have cheese and crackers for dinner, as I really didn't feel much like cooking. But then someone upstairs started cooking what smelled like pork chops. The scent was too tempting, so I ended up hauling a steak out of my freezer and roasting it. Had that, a baked potato, and made some Stove Top Stuffing - well, the generic equivalent - which I was suddenly craving. It was more work than I had planned on, but it was very enjoyable, and I am now sitting here with a carafe of tea and letting my supper settle.

I didn't take any more pictures today - mainly because I slept through most of it! But here are a couple of leftover shots from the other day for your viewing pleasure!

This is the lovely huge tree in our backyard. It's a beautiful tree, although I don't view it with the same enthusiasm in the summer when it's full of wasps...

The neighbours across the back alley have these lovely trees. The leafless ones are absolutely stunning when in full leaf, however, the twits took out some of the trees, so they aren't nearly as gorgeous as they used to be. I really have to wonder what some people are thinking, sometimes... I considered that the trees they took out may have been diseased, but that didn't make sense - the others would have been too, considering how close together they were planted. Ah well...

These are two gorgeous trees a couple of doors down from us. They can be seen over the top of our fence. I am waiting for the perfect night shot - with the full moon peeking over them. They look awesome then, but of course I never have a camera with me at those times! Now I'll take this wee digital out with me more often, so I'll be able to catch that spectacle next time it occurs.

Well, I think that's about it for picture, folks! I guess I'll have to get out there and start snapping some more! I have to say, I much prefer 35mm, but the great thing about digital is that I don't have to wait to have film developed, nor do I have to pay to have film developed! For snapshots and such, I am very much liking the world of digital cameras!

Oooh, I will leave you with this rather amusing link that a friend of mine sent me! And now I shall wander off to buy my pirate outfit...

Pasta, Anyone?

Swimming in Tea

2005-11-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm glad to report that after vast quantities of tea, and a wee nap, I'm feeling a bit better this evening. Fingers crossed that continues!

So since I was not doing much today, I'm getting a bit bored. So here I go a-bloggin' again. I know, I'm just blogging my ass of these days, aren't I? Sorry Linda - I hope this doesn't scare you again! Muahahahahahaha!

Anyhow, I took some more pictures this afternoon. I know you're all dying to see them. Right? First ones are part of a set that Mom had - we each inherited a couple of pieces when she passed away. These particular pieces aren't the ones I inherited - I actually found them on eBay and decided to add them to the couple of pieces I had. This particular pattern is not easy to find, so when it comes up I like to snag it if it's a reasonable price. At any rate, when I got home, snivelling and feeling sorry for myself, I decided to make eggs and toast and tea. Plopped down in front of the computer with my food, my carafe of tea, and the necessary sugar and cream for said tea. Took a picture. Told you I was bored.

Okay so it was more than one picture. Sue me.

Little Miss Attitude was at it again, so had to get some more pictures of that! Lady even chimed in with her own bit of sassiness:

Oh man, she's got that shiny little box out again. Might as well just settle in here - it'll probably be awhile before we get back in the house...

Oooooooooooh, do I hear her footsteps approaching? Hmm, should I bother to get excited yet?

She's here! She's here! Are we going in? Are we? Are we?

I wouldn't count on it, if I were you Misty. Geez Mom, put that camera away and let us in, would ya?

Oh-oh. She's still fiddling with that shiny box... Should I bother heading downstairs Mom?

Sigh... She's STILL playing with that shiny box! Guess I'd better use my evil cyborg eye to try and hypnotize her into coming downstairs...

Nothing but attitude from those two, I swear.

For those who know my penchant for ghost sites and discussion boards, you'll understand me when I say that I wonder if I can pass this next picture off as a ghost picture. Sadly, I'm quite certain I could. Even for many who realize that the figure is obviously a reflection of me taking the picture, I'd be willing to bet that several people I've run across would be happily convinced that the white column of light (which is of course a reflection) is a bona-fide spirit. Oy... Anyhow, I just took this picture to see how it would turn out - you know, still fiddling with how the details show up! And yeah, I was bored.

Well, that's about it for now. I am trying to figure out what I feel like eating. Don't want eggs again. I don't think I want soup. Nope. Don't want soup. Maybe cereal... Actually, what I really want, oddly enough, is a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Although I suspect my stomach would be ticked at me if I actually ate it. Sooo, cereal it will probably be! Off I go to stand in front of my cupboards and stare at the contents! Have a good night, everyone!

Yeah, Yeah, Call Me Stupid...

2005-11-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

I am still feeling crappy, but did I stay home today? Nooooo... So yeah, call me stupid.

The problem was, I called in to work, to tell them I wasn't going to be in. Only to discover that the receptionist isn't in. The answering machine was telling me that we were closed. Now, I had slept in, and we had been open for about 1/2 hour. So I finally got hold of one of the mangers, to find out that not only was the receptionist not in, but the other female in the office was away sick today too. Now, we females seem to be the only ones who are remotely concerned with making sure the phones get answered. Two of the guys know how to work the phone system, but they conveniently forgot. So guess who decided she'd better head into the office? Argh.

However, I doubt I'll be staying for long. I decided to have some coffee and eat something, to see if that helped. Sometimes it does. However, it doesn't seem to be helping this time, and I'm feeling crappier now. So I may end up leaving again fairly soon, and leaving the boys to fend for themselves today.

Another whining session ended...

Just Rambling On

2005-11-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

I didn't really have anything exciting to write about today, having been home sick all day. (*cough* *cough* - Yes I'm whining! - *cough* *cough*)

I haven't been feeling great for the last couple of weeks. Tired, congested, overall icky. Then yesterday afternoon I came down with a case of the chills, a nasty headache, and a very naseous tummy. I finally went home early and plunked myself down in front of my toasy little electric wood stove and nibbled all night. I found that the only time my tummy wasn't naseous was if I kept it from being remotely hungry. This morning I was still feeling headachy and nauseous, so I opted to stay home for the day. I hate doing that, but I figured it's better than sitting at work not doing anything because I feel too sick to work, and spreading the germs around to boot. I'm happy to report that I'm feeling a touch better this evening, so fingers crossed that trend continues!

Okay. Whining session completed.

I took a few more pictures of the girls when I got home yesterday. I figured since they were going outside I might as well take the camera with me and play with it some more. I was kind of amused when I downloaded the pictures and spotted a bit of an attitude in them:

Okay, Mom, we're waiting!

I said, we're waiting...

Let us in, Mom!

Are you coming, Mom, or are you waiting for Christmas?

Geez, talk about attitude, huh? Cheeky little devil!

By the way, don't you just love that carpeting on the stairs? (Sarcasm? From me? Couldn't be!) I have that in my bedroom too. You can't tell from the picture, but not only are there black swirly bits in it, there are also some orange swirly bits. Niiiiiiiiiiiiice, huh? Oh and even better - it's that old bar carpeting that's actually very good quality and never dies, no matter what is done to it. It will last forever! Woo-hoo! *snicker*

On another note, I've still been sad about the decision to quit modding, but I am enjoying not having to worry about keeping an eye on the boards and making sure no blood is being shed anywhere. It's nice to be able to pop in, read and reply to what I want to, and then pop back out again without having all the mod work to deal with. So I imagine after awhile I'll feel less sad about the whole thing.

Hmm, not much else to natter about tonight, so I think I'll wander off and perhaps make myself a cup of tea. Have a wonderful night, and sweet dreams, everyone!

EDIT: A slight bit more whining here. Ended up with a migraine tonight. Ugh. Not the pounding, puking, any speck of light sending swords through the eyes kind, although I do have a nasty headache going now. But it's one of those "vision" ones. Like looking through water for about 20 minutes or so. No pain, but then once the vision clears up the headache kicks in. Thankfully it's not as bad as the usual kind I get, but still it pisses me off. However, it's now down to a dull roar, so I shall head to bed and try to get to sleep.

Second phase of whining is completed...

It's Just the Pits!

2005-11-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

Armpits, that is.

Yes, you read that right. You don't need to go clean out your cyber ears. Well, maybe you do, but that's got nothing to do with what you just read.

This whole train of thought didn't actually start with armpits. It started with shampoo. You see, several years ago, I began having allergic reactions to different shampoos. I had never had a problem with this before, so it took quite some time to figure out what was causing my scalp to itch so badly. Not only did it itch, sometimes it would get quite sore. It wasn't until I tried some Avon shampoos that it came to light that I was having nasty reactions to the shampoos. The Avon ones caused quite a mess - severe itching and soreness, accompanied by nasty bumps and a very red scalp. My hairdresser was horrifed to see the state my poor scalp was in, and she was the one who pinpointed the problem.

At first it was just the Avon shampoos that caused a huge amount of grief, but I did realize that the milder yet highly annoying irritations I'd been having before were also likely due to shampoo. With the Avon incident, my hairdresser had me use a wonderful product called Nioxin. This is a treatment line of shampoos, conditioners, and various other bits and bobs that is targeted for thinning hair - which I also have a problem with in one spot. However, it is also often recommended for people with sensitve scalps, psoriasis, and allergic reactions. It cleared the problem up quite nicely, but it didn't occur to me to keep using it on a regular basis. Plus, I was not pleased with the conditioner that she had sold me. My hair is very fussy about conditioners and products.

There was one type of shampoo that I used to get from my hairdresser that I did not react to. Unfortunately, my hairdresser left, and I no long went to that salon. The product line is very hard to find, so over the years I tried a variety of different shampoos and conditioners, with varying results. Most I simply couldn't use, and some were not too bad, although I still had reactions to them. I finally decided today that I had to find my old shampoo - enough was enough, and I'd had enough of the itchy, irritated scalp. I hit one salon, which did not carry that line. However, they referred me to a place that carries pretty much all salon lines. I was most impressed, I must say. However, they did not carry the line I wanted. After some discussion, it turned out that my favourite line had been discontinued.

After a brief bit of shock and horror, I spoke with one of the staff and unburdened my scalp woes to her. Along with the tales of how fussy my hair is - believe me, it gets quite perturbed if a conditioner is too heavy, too light, too whatever. She recommended that I use Nioxin. I was intrigued, as I thought it was only a treatment shampoo that was not to be used on a regular basis. After some discussion around that, it turned out that I had misunderstood, and that I can use it all the time. So home I came with shampoo, conditioner (different type than the first one I'd tried), and a lovely little spray bottle of leave-in reconditioner for those days when I'm too pressed for time (aka slept in) to do the full wash and condition routine.

I love using this stuff. It smells strongly of peppermint, and is very cooling, soothing, and invigorating. The scent alone makes me feel like I'm in a spa. I came home and washed and conditioned my hair, and I'm pleased to report that although my scalp is still itchy, it's not as bad as it was. It may take several days for the treatment to take full effect, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this stuff works. Especially since I quite like the conditioner - my hair has not been this soft and manageable for donkey's years!

(Just what the hell are donkey's years anyhow?)

So where do the armpits come in? I was telling a friend of mine about this shampoo tonight, and that led to a discussion on another allergic reaction that I've recently developed. In the past year, I have suddenly developed an allery to deodorant and antiperspirant.

Again, it was an AVON product that first brought this to light. I had used this particular product for years, and loved it. So imagine my horror when I one day developed a horrid itch which then turned into a nasty and painful rash in my left pit. I didn't connect it as an allergy at first - I was actually figuring that I must have breast cancer and that was how it was showing up (lymph nodes, and all that), and that I was shortly going to die. Yeah, so I freak myself out when unusual things happen to my body - but that's a whole other story.

I picked up one of those deodorant crystals and discontinued using my AVON stuff. Just in case I was wrong and I wasn't actually dying. It took several days, but the rash cleared up and I was breathing huge sighs of relief. Then I tried the antiperspirant again, just to see how things would go. Within 5 minutes, my pits started itching madly. So I promptly scrubbed them with soap and water, and opted to use the crystal.

I've tried a couple of others since - Soft & Dri, which I had used for many years with no trouble, and a natural brand that I had not tried before. Within a few days I started reacting to the Soft & Dri. So I knew that was now out. The natural stuff actually worked nicely for a few weeks. Then all of a sudden I started reacting to it a few days ago. Argh. So it's back to the crystal.

Now, don't get me wrong - I like the crystal. It works nicely. Which surprised me, because I had tried a crystal deodorant a few years ago and let me tell you, it did NOT work. Ask my nose. It remembers. Vividly. However, the crystal is a bit of a pain - not quite as quick to put on. It works though, so I will keep on using it. I'm just praying that it keeps working, and that I don't develop an allergy to that too!

In fact, I'm praying that both the new shampoo and the crystal keep working. Mainly the crystal though. If I have to, I can just shave my head. (Don't panic Judy - I'm not planning on it.) But what the hell am I going to do if the crystal deodorant fails to keep working, or if I develop an allergic reaction? A shaved head is one thing - stinky pits is a completely different ball of wax!

So keep your fingers crossed for me, okay? And for yourselves too - you never know if you'll be sitting next to me sometime, and I'm sure you don't want me to be deodorant-free!

On a completely different note, I gave my notice at the message board I moderate at. I feel guilty because of the timing. One mod just quit, and two other ones (husband and wife) have a mother in the hospital - she's had a stroke. After I'd given my notice, the wife posted to say her mother had taken a turn for the worse, and it seems it's only a matter of time before she dies. Oh, and to make things even more sad, my fellow moderator (the daughter) is pregnant with her first child. What a nightmare for her... It was a huge shock to all of us, and we're heartbroken for the family. The timing of my quitting sucks big time, in light of that. However, I had to quit - it's too time consuming now, and I just can't do it any more. So I stuck by my decision, and so far everyone's been great about it. I feel really sad, as I enjoyed a lot of aspects of it, and I've been doing it for a long time. It was really hard to quit. I also feel relieved, though, and I feel like a huge pressure has been lifted. So that's a good thing, and it tells me that I've made the right decision.

Anyhow, that's about it for tonight. Except to ask you all to please remember my co-moderators and their Mom in your prayers, if you can. Along with the rest of the family. If she must pass from this, and cannot recover, then I pray that she is taken quickly - for her sake and the sake of her loved ones.

I am wiped, and it's WAY past my bedtime. So hopefully all of the above made some semblance of sense. Sweet dreams, everyone!

Three in a Row!

2005-11-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

This is the third day in a row that I've posted. Are you scared yet? muahahahaha!

No pictures tonight, though. Judy and I were out shopping for a good chunk of the afternoon - ugh. Now, I don't mind the "fun" shopping. For example, we made a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up the new Def Leppard DVD, and to look at cases for the new camera. There were two DVDs left - and there were two of us. Must have been meant to be... (cue Twilight Zone music) There were several camera bags, but none that overly thrilled me.

Then we hit a nearby dollar store and had fun wandering around there. And yes, we both ended up spending money. We really HAVE to stop going into the dollar stores...

On we went to Staples, so Judy could mail some parcels. No, Staples doesn't do mail, but this particular one has a postal outlet in it. So don't all go running to your nearest Staples until you've ascertained if they have a postal outlet or not! Anyhow, I checked the camera bags in Staples, and was quite disgusted with the meagre assortment, and the poor quality of what was there. They sell some fairly expensive cameras there, so I would expect that they would also sell bags that will adequately protect them. Apparently that's too high of an expectation.

In spite of the lack of camera bags, those excursions were quite enjoyable. However, the "non-fun" shopping was about to follow.

On to SuperStore, for the dreaded grocery shopping. I would not mind grocery shopping, except for the fact that the majority of customers in the grocery stores seem to feel it's mandatory to turn into rude assholes in order to do their shopping. Now, I was raised to say "excuse me" if I needed to get past someone, and to say "thank you" when they moved for me. It is pathetically obvious that people are not raised that way anymore, and haven't been for the past generation. I am sick to death of people shoving by my, cutting me off, barging in front of me to the shelf I am just about to pick something up off of, etc., etc.

After getting highly irritated by all the rude assholes, I then get quite perturbed by looking in the produce section. The prices are fairly high. That would tick me off to begin with, but if the produce was edible, I could live with it. However, when a good chunk of the produce is already starting to rot, and they are still demanding the same high price for it, I get really ticked. Take the tomatoes we saw today, for example. There were some that were underripe, but most of them were overripe to the point of being rotten. Many had black, mushy spots on them, and the ones that didn't yet have signs of rot were still too far gone to even consider eating.

Not too many years ago, the produce that was too ripe to eat would have been pulled off the shelves and thrown out. In fact, it would have been removed before it got to that point, and been donated to the Food Bank while it was still edible. Things that were a bit questionable but still saleable were significantly marked down in price. These days, produce that is rotting and sporting obvious signs of decay is left in the bins, and the consumers are expected to buy it at the regular high price and be damned happy to have it.

This consumer will not be happy to have it, nor will she remotely consider paying for it. Hell, they couldn't even pay ME to take the rotting garbage off their hands. What on would possess them to even think that anyone would buy that crap?

Oooh, and I almost forgot about the cheese. Judy pointed out a package of shredded cheese to me. The cheese was moldy. Not just a wee spot of mold. I'm talking enough penicillin to vaccinate everyone in Canada. Okay, maybe Alberta. Oh all right, maybe a small rural town in Alberta. Fine, so it's not the same kind of mold that penicillin is made out of. But you know what I mean, so don't try and tell me you don't!

Anyhow, the point is that there was a LOT of mold in the package, and it was still parked on the shelf waiting to be sold at the regular high price. There is no way in hell the employees didn't know it was full of mold. Those mold spores have been having an orgy in that package for several days - probably a week or so. There is absolutely no way anyone could have missed it.

Now, when I worked in a grocery store, we had to check all the produce on a daily basis. Anything that had the slightest bruise on it was taken off the shelves. At least once a week the packaged meats, cheeses, etc. were checked for expiry dates and for any sign of deterioration. The least speck of mold - or even a suspicion of mold - was grounds for immediate removal of the product from the shelves. Anything past its expiry date was also removed. All other products in the store were also regularly checked for expiry dates, and removed if they were past them. Canned goods were frequently checked too. Anything that was dented or that just didn't look quite right (rust, any suspicion of a bulge, etc.) was immediately removed. The main concern was that customers were getting what they paid for - fresh produce and dairy products, and other products in the best condition possible.

These days I find things being sold that are right at the expiry date, are moldy, rotten, dried out - and don't even get me started on the state of many of the canned goods that I find on the shelves! It disgusts me that stores are now more concerned about the almighty dollar than they are about their customers.

Hmm, this ended up being an unplanned rant, didn't it? hehehehehehe

The good news is that we finally got out of the damned grocery store, and they also happened to have a camera case that is most suitable to protect my new baby. Plus we had a very tasty dinner - we stopped at Burger King on the way home to try out the new Shroom and Swiss Angus Beef Burger. I would highly recommend it, especially if you've never had Angus Beef before. Absolutely delicious!

Well, I'm wiped, so I think I'm going to head to bed with a good book. Hopefully my little rant made some sort of sense - being so pooped God only knows what it came out sounding like! Have a wonderful night, and sweet dreams everyone!

Don't Faint!

2005-11-19T12:25:00.000-07:00

Woo-hoo - two days in a row here! Now don't faint, anyone!

I figured I'd post a couple more pictures, just because I can! Muahahahhaha! The ankh set that I had made a few years ago, and yes, the keyboard that I mentioned in the last post! That one's mainly because Brooke seemed so attached to the cola bottle in the monitor shots - I figured I'd give her another fix of it! ;)

Now this one is kind of boring - okay, very boring - but it just shows the detail that the macro feature can pick up. And there is an even more advanced macro feature that I haven't tried yet!

And just for you, Judy - the girls!

Those were taken on the old freebie camera I got - I'll have to take some new ones on the good camera and see how they turn out!

Well, that's it for the moment - I think I may go have a nap now! This blogging is hard work. ;)

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

2005-11-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Gee, I guess it's been awhile since I last posted! LOL! Ah well, hopefully I shall be posting more often from now on.

One of the main reasons I haven't been doing anything with the blog is because I moderate on a very busy message board site. This takes up most of my online time, and the site is getting even busier as time goes on. However, I have decided that I am tired of spending so much time dealing with problems on that site, so I am going to resign from my moderating position. I tried to resign once, but the site owner kept "forgetting" to de-mod me, so I ended up staying on. This time I shall not give in! Of course the fact that the site owner has also been ticking me (and some of the other moderators) off lately is helping to strengthen that resolution! That is not the reason I'm resigning though - it's simply that I am tired of spending so much time on moderating there, and I am not enjoying it anymore. So it's high time to move on to other things - one of which will be spending some time on my blog!

This is a good time to get back to it, too, because I got myself a digital camera! :D I am feeling a bit guilty for buying it, as I already have new furniture to buy, so I really shouldn't have spent the money (well, the credit) on it. However, I already love it, so I suspect I'll manage to get over the guilt at some point! Anyhow, I told sister Judy that I would post some of the pictures I took here, so here they are! Fair warning - they probably won't be all that interesting! LOL! But I'm just showing the pics off - I'm very pleased with the quality.

This is one of my favourite candleholders - thanks Judy! (((hugs))) :

These next two are shots of my monitor at work - don't ya just love the screensaver pics?

This next one isn't really earth-shattering - like the other ones were, right? - but it's a picture of the full moon from the other night. Considering that it was very dark out, I was really quite impressed that it turned out at all.

That's about it for the moment - I doubt you'll be overly excited to see a picture of my keyboard at work, or the macro pictures of a candleholder thats full of wax... They were interesting exercises for me to see what the camera could do, but they don't make for scintillating viewing! I'll try to get some more interesting shots in the next few days!

Holy crap! I just scared myself quite nicely! I decided to preview the post, to make sure the pictures were showing up. It looked very nice, so I figured I'd save it as a draft and then go back and finish up in a bit. But I looked at the draft, only to see there were no pictures showing! Thankfully they are still here - I would not have been thrilled to have to go back and add them in again! Whew!

Well, I don't really have a whole pile to say tonight - mainly because I'm so tired my brain is shutting down and my eyes are rebelling against me keeping them open! So I shall wander off for now, and will probably post more this weekend. I have some more pictures planned, so most likely you'll be seeing at least a few of them in my next post! ;) Take care everyone - it's good to be back!

Hugs,
FMD

Tag!

2005-06-20T21:02:00.000-06:00

Okay, I was tagged the other day - okay, a few days ago - okay, okay! - SEVERAL days ago... Anyhow, as I was saying, I was tagged by my good friend Brooke. The game is to answer the following questions, then tag five other friends with blogs to do the same - and of course they are to continue by tagging five other friends - well, you get the picture. It was kind of a fun exercise, although some questions were a bit tougher than they seemed at first. Here are my responses:

Total Books Owned: Haven’t got a clue. Closest I can get is – LOTS!

Last Book I read: AT BERTRAM’S HOTEL by Agatha Christie. I love Agatha Christie’s books, and I usually end up going through my large collection of them and re-reading them every couple of years or so. This is the year!

Book sitting on my coffee table I am planning on reading: You mean I’m supposed to be able to actually find a book on my coffee table? Under all that stuff? Hmm… Well, I did just happen to pick up Llewellyn’s 2005 WICCA ALMANAC the other day, and it is actually sitting on my coffee table! I am looking forward to diving into it, as it looks like there are some very good articles in it.

Five books that mean a lot to me: Wow, that is a tough one! I’ve read so many books that mean a lot to me. Interestingly enough, some of the ones that are most meaningful have been children’s books. Well, here are my five top picks:

THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. I have loved these books since I was quite young, and they are another set of books that I tend to pull out and re-read every now and again.

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame. A truly charming children’s classic!

Anything by Agatha Christie. I find her books thoroughly charming, delightful, and even though I’ve read them many times over, I always find something that I missed, and they always get my brain working.

Anything by Scott Cunningham. Scott Cunningham was an author of books on Wicca, magick, etc. I love his style of writing, and when I began to study Wicca and witchcraft his were the first books I was guided to. I have most of his books, and am planning on getting the few that I don’t have. I find them to be an excellent resource and a wealth of information.

So far, anything by Anne Rice. I got highly involved in her Vampire Chronicles series, and have been collecting all of those books. I also got caught up in her Witches of Mayfair series, and am collecting those as well. I love the way she writes, and I love how she has developed her characters. I find her books truly fascinating, and can get completely lost in them for hours on end!

There are so many other books that are important to me – it was hard to pick just five. Okay, so I cheated and lumped several together…

Now - tag time!

I don’t have five people with blogs that I can tag – only one! So Judy, tag, you’re it! Answer the above questions on your blog, and tag five other people with blogs to do the same. Have fun!

How Will They Know?

2005-06-09T17:44:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, an internet friend of mine informed me that he had been in an accident with his motorcycle, and I was quite worried about him for awhile as he was in shock and was very upset, so it was hard to get the full story out of him. I finally managed to ascertain that he was not badly injured and that his beloved bike would be okay, after a few minor repairs. The accident was not his fault, by the way - it was discovered that a minor structural issue had caused the trouble.

So I moved on from that, being thankful that my friend was all right. Then today, another friend popped up on my instant messenger at work to inform me that a lady who was part of a site we work for had suddenly passed away this morning. It was a huge shock, and I must admit that I am still finding myself having a hard time believing it even now. I was not a close friend of this lady, and had not communicated with her for quite some time, but in the past I had always found her to be very nice and I liked her very much. It is quite sad to think that I will not see her around the site anymore...

This is the first time I have encountered the death of someone that I know via the internet. In the case of this lady, another member of our group was informed by her husband that she had passed away when she had tried to email her this morning. As our group actually works together online, it is unlikely that we would not hear about it if anything were to happen to one of the members. However, there are other sites that I belong to where a member could pass over and no one would ever hear about it. Their family members may not know they belong to the sites, or they may not know their user names and passwords in order to get in and pass along the news. One site in particular is kind of like a huge cyber-family, and members get very concerned if anyone disappears for awhile. We've had a couple of long-standing members vanish with no explanation or warning, and I know that I, and some others, have often wondered if something had happened to them.

In the past I have thought about this issue, and realized that if I were to pass over, or become to ill or disabled to contact anyone, the people in the sites I belong to would never know about it. This lady's death has brought this back to light again, and I have decided to do something to ensure that my cyber friends will be notified if anything should happen to me. I am going to make a list of all of the sites I belong to, with my usernames and passwords for each site. I am also going to make a list of the email addresses of people that I would like to be notified. I am going to put this list in a safe place, and ask my sister if she would be so kind as to retrieve the list and make the necessary notifications should anything happen to me. If she does not feel that she would be up to doing that, then I will appoint someone else and ask her to pass the list along to them.

In the midst of all of this sadness today, there were a couple of sunny spots. The same dear friend who notified me of the death of our co-volunteer is having a birthday today, and that is always a happy occasion! I will not say her name on here, as I'm not sure if she'd appreciate that, but you know who you are, Cupcake, so a HUGE Happy Birthday to you! May it be blessed with love, peace, and happiness!

I was also able to skip out of work early today, which is always a bonus! I actually was off on some work related stuff, but it beat being in the office! Every Friday we have a barbecue at work for lunch, so I had to pop out and shop for supplies for tomorrow. This got me out of work about an hour early, and I must say it made for a nice change.

There were a few other bright spots to the day as well, so as with all things in life, there was some good, and some not so good. I wish that the not so good stuff hadn't been quite so sad, but I am confident that this lady is in a good place, and that she will be fine. My prayers are with her, her family, and her friends at this time - may they all find peace and healing.

Rest in Peace, Sam - you will be greatly missed.

What on Earth Are People Thinking???

2005-05-14T11:18:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I last tossed an entry up here, but I've been very busy and VERY tired! We still haven't found a new receptionist, and don't get me started on the issues we've had with temps! We have a decent temp now, thank goodness - well, the other ones were decent - they just didn't stick around long. Not their fault - illness, etc. Still, it was very frustrating, as every time I'd get one trained to do what I needed her to do, I had to start all over with another one! Anyhow... The workload is insane, added to by a conference that had to be organized that the bosses kept making changes to. Grrrr. Ah well, the conference is this weekend, so that is now behind me. Thank the gods.

Now, on to the real reason for this little rant. Yes, it's a rant. Absolutely. Guaranteed. The rant is about - get ready for it - resumes. You know, the things on bits of paper that are supposed to help someone get a job. Those little "blow-your-own-horn" epistles that are meant to be reasonably professional, both in looks and in content.

Now, I say "reasonably". And I mean it. I am anal about my own resume, or any other written work I put out. But I am not QUITE as anal about other people's efforts. However, I still expect some thought to go into them. As well as some proof-reading. After going through over 100 resumes in the last few days, it has become very obvious to me that a great many people simply have no concept of the notion of proof-reading. Nor do some of them have the vaguest idea of what spelling is - or grammar - or punctuation - or sentence structure - I could go on with this list, but I shall leave it at that.

Quite frankly, I was astounded and horrified by a great many of the submissions I received for the post we are trying to fill. The position is for a receptionist/administrative assistant. It was clearly stated that experience was required, both with reception, AR/AP, and with a variety of different computer programs. We naturally received several resumes from people who had absolutely no experience whatsoever. I can live with that. Employment counsellors and agencies have a tendency to tell people to apply even if they don't have experience. Fine.

What I am having a very hard time dealing with are those individuals who submitted resumes in which they waxed poetic about the plethora of skills (or as one woman kept putting it, "many skill" - oy) they were endowed with, yet their wee written works of art were littered with spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and too many other errors to list here. Do people not bother to proof-read their resumes - or for that matter even use spell-check, at the very least? Spell-check is definitely not foolproof, but believe me, a good chunk of the wealth of spelling errors I've come across would definitely have been caught by it.

Two resumes still have me shaking my head - I doubt that I will ever forget them, as they were immediately seared, rather painfully, into my memory banks. Both candidates blithered on and on about the vast array of computer programs they had expert knowledge of. One candidate could not get the names of many of the programs right. Someone needs to tell her that "Simple Accounting", for example, is NOT a computer program. That's just for starters, and the one that was stuck in my brain with a huge ice pick - at least, it felt like an ice pick. Although trust me, she did even worse with mangling some of the other program names.

The other one had a list about 1/3 of a page long - a double column list, mind you! - of the programs she had tackled and wrestled into submission. One of which was meant to read (at least I HOPE it was meant to read) ACCPAC/Simply Accounting. You guessed it - that is not what it read. Instead, my horrified eyes were almost burned out of my head when I saw "ACCPAC/ACCPAC Simply". Yes, you read that right. Don't feel bad, because I had to go back and torture myself by reading it a few times just to make sure that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me, or that someone hadn't snuck some hallucinogenic drug into the HVAC system in the office.

By the way, this woman also had several spelling mistakes and grammatical errors spattered throughout her resume.

Now in both cases, especially the second one, a simple round of proof-reading would have caught the errors, and these ladies could have repaired them and ended up presenting a couple of very good resumes to me. The layouts were professional and eye-catching, and the supposed experience levels would have been perfect for the position. This would also apply to a good chunk of the other resumes that I gleefully fired in the garbage.

Take this next one. Please. You can have her. Honest. The resume itself was fairly good, but the whole effect was shattered by the heading on her resume and cover letter. She had her first name in the left hand corner, and her initials (in a large and very childish-looking font) in the right hand corner. That was it. No surname. Anywhere. A dear friend of mine did say that at one point in time people were told not to use their last names on resumes. That is not a fad that took place where I live, thankfully. But perhaps it is one that this woman encountered in the past. However, that is not a fad that is in existence anymore - in fact, it is highly unprofessional to send anything like that out these days. And even if it HAD ever been in vogue here, I still would not have accepted a resume like that. I'm sorry, but if you are applying for a job, I need to have your name, thank you very much. Otherwise, I am left wondering if you have some sinister past that you are trying to hide, and if I can expect the office to be visited by mobsters wielding semi-automatics in the near future should I hire you.

Ooooooooooh, yes. I almost forgot about this little gem. I received a resume from a woman who sounded fairly professional and conscientious, and her resume would have reflected that but for one wee detail. Okay, it wasn't exactly a wee detail. This lady had to make some changes on her resume. Instead of taking the time to find a computer, or even a typewriter, for crying out loud, she opted to simply cross out the outdated information and write the new stuff in by hand. Yes, that one went in the garbage pile too.

Now, these are only a few examples of the nastiness I had to wade through. Believe it or not, some of them were much worse than the ones I've reviewed here. It's bad enough to get severe eye strain by scouring through 100+ resumes, but I can deal with that if the resumes are of a reasonable quality. However, it annoyed the heck out of me to have to strain my eyes over a lot of the garbage that I received. Do these people honestly expect to get hired with resumes like that? Yes, that is a serious question, folks.

To begin with, why would anyone think that a resume full of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors is appropriate in applying for a receptionist/administrative assistant position? The applicant would have to answer phones, type correspondence, and deal with many aspects of the accounting functions. Do they honestly think that if they cannot make the effort to ensure that their resumes are error-free they would have a chance in hell of being considered for the position? Honestly, if their resumes are that bad, I shudder to think of how many errors one would find in their work! I for one do not wish to hire someone to do the work, then have to re-do it all myself in order to ensure that she or he hasn't screwed it up. The whole point here is to hire someone who can be trained and will be capbable of doing the work on her or his own.

Everyone makes mistakes. I would not be surprised to find a few spelling errors in this blog entry, even though I've proof-read as I go along, and will have gone back and proof-read again before posting. But since it is only a blog entry, I am not going to get as anal as usual about errors. My work is another matter, though. I am very meticulous in ensuring that it is error-free, and yes, I do expect the same conscientiousness from whoever ends up being my assistant. I don't expect that there will never be errors, but I do expect the person to check, then check again, to catch her or his errors. And yes, even then, some might get missed at times - it happens to all of us. However, the point is that if someone is too lazy to make sure that their resume is at its best, she or he will most likely be too lazy to ensure that her or his work is at its best.

Okay, I think I am done now. I know, I can hear you all saying "well, it's about damned time already!" That's all right though. It's my blog, and I can be as wordy as I want to be. Nyah! Nyah! Seriously, though, I feel a little better after ranting, so hopefully this will have put me in the proper frame of mind to begin filtering through the "acceptable pile" in order to narrow that down so we can start interviewing next week. Wish me luck! Oh, and thanks for letting me rant! (((hugs)))

So Much for Vacation...

2005-04-08T18:28:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official. Our receptionist quit today, as she got the job she had applied for. I was not a happy camper, to say the least, although it is a good move for her, and I'm glad for her sake.

However, her leaving means that I will not be able to go on vacation again (just like last year), as it will take a few months to get a new person trained and up to speed so that she or he can cover for me. I had just gotten the one we have now almost at the point where she could take over, so I'm not thrilled about having to do this all over again. Mind you, I'll be pushing the training big time, and the new person will be well aware of that before they agree to taking the position. Still, it's going to be a long haul, so I'm not pleased.

The internet hook up went without a hitch, thank goodness. So we're back up and running with that. The locksmith changed the locks today, so that's done. And the janitor has been selected and will start on the weekend. So at least all of that is out of my hair now.

Not much else to report - I'm just going to go eat my pizza, groom my dogs, and wallow in self-pity over the loss of our receptionist...

Moving - Aaarrrggghhh!

2005-04-06T19:52:00.001-06:00

If my bosses ever decide to move our operation to a new location again, I swear I will simply walk out the door and not look back!

Yes, we have moved to a new building. The move was made last Friday (April 1 - go figure) and we are still in the unproductive-post-move state. (It is now Wednesday, April 6 - in case you hadn't noticed the date on the blog entry.) I suppose we have been productive in some ways, since we've gotten everything unpacked - more or less - and things are straightened up - more or less. However, if I have to meet with one more janitorial service, one more locksmith, or one more anyone else, I think I shall go mad! And I swear if anyone comes up to me and asks me to order one more new thing for the new office, I will quite cheerfully - and forcefully - stuff them into one of our sparkling new garbage bins!

Oh, and did I mention that we have been without internet access since Friday? At the last minute, it was decided that we needed to keep our internet access at the old location for a couple more weeks, as we have data collection equipment there that had to be kept operational as it couldn't be moved on time. This was mainly due to someone not setting the move of the equipment up on a timely basis, but enough about that. At any rate, due to the fact that we were not able to give our internet service provider and the telephone company (don't even ASK me how much fun it was dealing with the phone company on this move!) enough notice, we were not able to have our high speed internet connected at the new location until April 7. We do have dial up access, but trust me, it is pretty much useless for most of what we need to do.

However, all this ended up being a moot point for me, as our accounting system crashed - quite spectacularly, I might add - on Monday. Well, it could have happened on the weekend, but I just found out about it on Monday. And no, it had nothing to do with our move - it is all located in our head office, which is in another city. So we couldn't have done any work on the system even if our high speed connection had been working.

Oooooh, and did I mention the bugs? There is an abundance of insect life in our office - thankfully mainly one kind of insect. However, it is one of those kinds of insects that I absolutely detest. Okay, so those who know me are well aware that I detest pretty much any insect. These ones, however, are almost at the top of my list. They are called sow bugs. Harmless really, although they breed like rabbits. And they are ugly as hell and hell and have FAR too many legs. (Actually, I think it's just little hairs or something that grow out around the sides of their bodies - but it LOOKS like a bazillion little legs!) Our receptionist and I ran across (and killed) 9 of them in space of about 15 minutes yesterday morning. We run across them constantly throughout the day, but that 15 minute stretch had to be a record!

AND - I think this is the last "and" - our receptionist applied for another job because of the move. She hadn't heard anything from them, but I've felt all along that they would call her. Sure enough, I came in this morning to find out that she is leaving at noon tomorrow because she has an interview. She was one of most upset people on staff about the move, but she has now decided that she doesn't mind the location, or the drive, and she is not really wanting to leave. However, this new job is closer to home for her, and if they pay enough, she will take it. So I am crossing my fingers that the pay is shitty and that the job is not what she wants. Well, I am crossing my fingers for my sake - she's almost trained to the point where she can take over my job so that I can actually take holidays. And I DO NOT want to start over again with anyone else. Besides, we all really like her, and she fits it - we're an odd bunch (but fun!) so it's not always easy to find someone who fits in so well right off the bat! However, since it is very close to home for her, which would be ideal, I hope for her sake that it works out and she gets the position. (grumble, mutter...)

The good news is that the accounting system is now back up and running - albeit somewhat sluggishly, I am told. And the better news is that no data was lost, which is a HUGE relief because originally it looked like several months' worth of data had been dumped. Our IT tech told me that once the system was back up and running, I'd have to check to make sure everything I'd entered was still there. My response was "I won't remember what the hell I entered, so how will I know if it's there or not?" Ah well, fortunately that is no longer a concern...

When we originally found out about the new location most of us were less than impressed with the area. For one thing, it's a somewhat scuzzy area, and for another it pretty much doubled the travel time for everyone. However, I must admit that so far I am not minding it. The building is basically being gutted and renovated, so our space is quite nice. (Although I firmly believe that men should have no say whatsoever in the design and decoration of any space - especially after seeing a few of the dumb decisions that were made by my boss.) The drive hasn't been too bad yet this week, so other than taking longer, at least the traffic has been okay. The area is still scuzzy, but it's reasonably quiet, so fingers crossed that there will be no problems. Overall, it's not so bad. Much as I hate to admit it.

Now if only all these people I've been meeting with all week will get all their quotes in to me tomorrow morning, so that I can make decisions, hire janitorial staff and locksmiths, and then actually get some work done!

Oh yeah - and please cross your fingers (and whatever else you can) that the high speed internet hook up goes off without any glitches tomorrow, because if I have to deal with the phone company again - or even the internet service provider, for that matter, I will most likely stuff a few choice people from both companies in our shiny new trash bins...

Absolutely Tragic...

2005-03-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Here's something to put everyone's daily problems into perspective...

Tragic News

I first read about this this morning, and our receptionist and I were following updates on the radio all day - what a tragic and senseless event...

I knew as soon as I read the first bit of news that the officers were dead, but that was not confirmed until near the end of the work day. Thankfully the scumbag who did this removed himself from the gene pool afterwards - saved tax money for prison or the possiblity of someone else having his death on their conscience.

It just boggles my mind, that some scuzzy little sleazebucket drug supplier was able to destroy so many lives like this. Not to mention the lives he's destroyed through supplying drugs to begin with. But the officers, and their families and friends - along with probably every other police officer in the country - have been irrevocably and traumatically altered.

While I know they are certainly not at peace yet, I pray that the officers do find peace soon, as do their families, friends, and fellow officers on the force. May they have much healing and love sent their way.

And yes, I've prayed for healing for the scumbag drug dealer too. I always try to dredge up compassion on some level for even the most nasty individual, but there are times when it is very difficult to do - and this is one of those times. I also believe that everyone must pay the price for their actions - and in cases like this, the price is high indeed, and I believe that the individuals who make these kind of choices deserve to go through whatever nasty experiences they have coming to them in "payment". I do hope that his soul learns and grows from all of this, but frankly, I am far more concerned with sending healing energies to the officers, their families, friends, and fellow officers. As well as to the family of the man who did this.

It's occurred to me that there will be people out there (in the general public, I mean - not necessarily anyone reading this blog) who will be thinking "oh, he must have had such a horrid upbringing and life - it's not his fault." To that I say "bullshit". I have met people over the years who have had childhoods and experiences that even the worst horror movie could not come close to capturing. And while many of them do have problems, they certainly have not, nor will they ever, do anything like this. So for me, compassion - yes, to a degree. Excusing it and hoping that he gets an easy time of it in Spirit - not a chance.

Well, that's enough ranting about that. For some reason this is very close to me, and I have not figured out why yet. I have known a few people in the RCMP - some well, some not so well - so I am fervently hoping that none of the officers involved were anyone I had met through them - or God forbid, one of them. Well, one is retired, and I don't know about the others - it occurred to me that it would be horrid to see one of their names involved, even though I have not seen them for many, many years.

At first I thought it was close to me simply because I knew some people who'd been in the RCMP. But I realized right away that was not it. Then I wondered if it was due to the fact that it was so close to home. That was not it either. Then the thought that one (or more) of the officers might have been someone I had met before occurred to me - and that I'm not getting a sense one way or the other on at the moment. Hopefully that is not it either. But I'm sure in time it will become clear why this is so close to me.

Anyhow, have a good night everyone. I know that I am simply being thankful tonight that I am not personally having to deal with this issue, or one like it, and that my problems in life are not so large compared to what the spirits of the officers, and their family and friends are going through tonight. Peace, everyone...

Ooga Booga!

2005-03-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, I believe I've mentioned in my profile that I'm a medium, which basically boils down to the fact that I spend a fair bit of time talking to and dealing with spirits. There are always spirits around the house - mainly family members and friends who have passed on. This is wonderful, in my view, and I'd be very disturbed if there weren't any here.

However, there are spirits around everywhere - not just in the house - which is also just fine by me. We have one at work who I must admit tends to amuse me now and again, and he just pulled another prank yesterday.

I guess a bit of background might be in order though. It wasn't long after I started with this company that I thought we had a spirit around. And that was confirmed when I was there alone after hours, and would hear someone moving around the office - sometimes downstairs where my office is, but most often upstairs. I could hear someone walking around, sometimes dropping things, and also dragging things. I could also feel a presence quite often out in the back bay - and I would also hear noises coming from there. So I sat down and tuned in one day, and found that yes there was a male spirit around. Cool, not a problem.

He never did much besides make noises and make his presence felt, until one day awhile back. A co-worker and I were out in the back bay having a smoke break, and the boss came in to use the washroom (the men's washroom is in the back bay). He left, and my co-worker and continued chatting. Suddenly we heard water running, and I figured someone was in the kitchen (on the other side of the wall from the men's washroom)and had turned the tap on. But the water kept running, and it sounded a bit too loud to be in the kitchen. So I went to open the door and check it out, then realized that the noise was coming from the men's washroom. The hot water tap had been turned on full blast, and was merrily gushing away. Now, we knew that the boss hadn't left the tap running, as we had actually heard it come on several minutes after he had left. And we knew that no one had gone in there after he did - no one human, at any rate!

The funniest part was that one of the other guys had to use the washroom shortly afterwards - and I had told him about our ghostly friend. He came out of the washroom and was laughing quite hard - he said that when he was washing his hands, a bunch of water suddenly came splashing out of the sink at him. He had a couple of quite wet spots on his shirt and pants from it. Startled the heck out of him, and there was no reason for it to have happened normally. He also proceeded to tell me that he'd come in to work a few times and found the tap in the men's washroom blasting away at full force. He just figured someone must have used it after work and forgot to turn it off, but we now suspect that is not the case.

Anyhow, that's the background on him - on to yesterday's episode! Once again, our little friend chose the men's washroom to play in. I was out back having a smoke break, and two of the field guys were there chatting with me. They had come in about 15 minutes earlier, and one of them had used the washroom then. After that, no one else had gone in there. As we were standing there chatting, we heard a loud bang - something had fallen. We all looked around trying to find out what it was, and suddenly I felt that I should check the bathroom. So in I went, and didn't notice anything unusual, until one of the guys came in behind me and said "oh, the toilet seat fell down." The one who had last used the washroom confirmed that it had not been down when he left - although as I pointed out to them, it's a men's washroom - it's not likely the seat would have been down! ROTFL

Anyhow... I felt that this was our ghostie playing tricks, but I didn't say anything to the guys. Although it was amusing watching their reactions. I think they were thinking along the same lines that I was - "If the seat was going to fall after the one guy had used the washroom, why would it have taken 15 minutes to do so?" Of course, it's possible that it could have simply been a coincidence, but I did feel that it was my little friend, and he's been a bit more active with the noises and stuff lately, so... At any rate, it was rather amusing, and as usual I can't wait to see what he does next!

Okay, Just Knock Me Out for a Week or So...

2005-02-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, I think my momentary insanity has finally passed - more or less. (No comments from those of you who know me well...) I have finally finished the saga of the cupboard. I was engrossed in putting it together until just after midnight (or thereabouts - may have a been a touch later, but who's counting?), and I am happy to say that the cupboard is now completed.

The doors are wonky though, but I'm here to tell you that I absolutely refuse to try and fix them tonight. All the holes were pre-drilled, and it looks like someone went a little off kilter on the assembly line with the holes for the hinges. So I'm going to have to figure out where to drill new holes so that everything will line up properly. Or better yet, I just might rope one of the brothers-in-law into assisting with that little project...

At any rate, the cupboard looks good, aside from the doors, and it looks like I'll have a LOT more storage space now. So that is all good. And while I admit I was tempted to take the damned thing back because of the wonkiness of the doors (I don't care if wonkiness is not a word - it is now, because I've just made it up. You'll all just have to deal with it.), I quickly decided that there was no frigging way in hell that I was going to take that damned thing apart again, nor am I about to pack it up and cart it back to the store. I won't be able to move for a week as it is, I'm not about to add more strain to the old bod by hauling that thing around again! Besides, the more I look at it (and think of taking it apart and hauling it) the more charming the wonky doors look. *grin*

At any rate, I'm rather proud of myself for having gotten the whole unit assembled, and in a relatively short period of time too, all things considered. Did all the 8 million screws by hand - no drill for this chick. Well, I have a drill, it's just not variable speed, and I shudder to think of what the results would have been had I attempted to use it. I used it once to hang a picture and just about went through the concrete wall, so I learned my lesson on the importance-of-having-a-variable-speed-drill-that-I-didn't-think-I-needed-when-I-bought-mine. Ahem...

Well, that's that update on the cupboard saga. I am now off to enjoy my tea, eat a delicious lemon square that Judy made this morning, and relax. Hopefully I'll be able to get up again when it's time for bed, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Have a great night everyone!