Early Christmas for me too

Okay, so to recap, I accepted a job back in August.  The background check took forever.  I finally got cleared, and then there was some issue getting a start date.  Meanwhile, I had arranged to leave my previous job near the end of September (giving 4 weeks notice) on word that I would likely start in October, soon after my background check (which would take "about two weeks") had cleared.  I have been unemployed since October.

Well, during all that time, I applied for, did testing for, interviewed for, and was offered another position.  The interview was Monday.  They called today to tell me if I accepted the position, they wanted me to start on January 3rd.  HALLELUJAH!

So I have a new job--I'm a statistical analyst now.  The position is with the state, it's full time regular employment, and I will get to manage and maintain a lot of information and databases, so that's all pretty darn cool!

Alula

Christmas Came early!

So little mans Christmas present this year is this absolutely adorable black lab puppy! We had some friends send us the little puppy for Christmas. I even have trouble getting mad at him when he pee's on the floor. That will not last but right now I can live with it. Pictures to come if I can get him to sit still long enough to not be blurry. His name is Leo right now but that might change.

Sale!

Hey all I have decided to sell my Harry Potter stuff. Not the books the other stuff figurines, toys, games and random stuff. Currently it is all sitting in my storage unit and I am in need of money so I might not get much but I thought I would try. If anyone has any ideas about where to sell these items let me know. I have pictures of everything but I don't know how to price these items. All well I just hope to get something for the stuff.

Ever have that kind of day......

Did you ever have that kind of day when you are just in a bad mood and the stupidest things that normally wouldn't annoy you on that day are annoying the heck out of you? Well today is my day I am in a bad mood and am and snapping at the stupidest thinks, like my friend who is staying with us right now put a soda in a glass bottle in the freezer this morning and forgot about it so I get home to an exploded cream soda bottle in my freezer. I text my friend saying I don't want to clean it up and she said she will. But I still have glass and sticky soda in my freezer and it is bugging the heck out of me because I don't know when she is going to come and clean it up. Mr man told me to leave it alone and let her clean it up but for some reason it is bugging the heck out of me right now. See bad mood, hopefully tomorrow is better. And the fact that I don't have any money because of the storage unit management from hell that even after I pay the balance and wipe out my account still haven't changed the lock back so that I can get into it until I called today but I don't have a car to go get my Christmas stuff. Why am I so completely ignored? I will be in a better mood tomorrow. I need a drink.

Caffeine by a Thousand Quarters

Girlfriends, I will now continue my streak of posting about the only exciting thing in my daily life since I have not yet been allowed to start my new job.  Actually, I also wanted to give some credit to Mr. Borealis, who forgot our anniversary this year, but then made up for it by taking me to The Melting Pot for dinner, where he had roses delivered to our table.  :)  That man makes me smile.

This month (so far, knock on wood), I have had record sales of my books.  That's not a lot--about 4 books in the last 5 days across all the venues it's sold in--but it's a continuing trend of rising sales across the last several months.  I haven't been paid for any sales yet because most of the places I am selling the book have a minimum earnings threshold for issuing a paycheck.  However, looking at all totals together, I've earned over $10, which is kind of an accomplishment when I'm only earning about $0.30-$0.40 per book.  It's not a ton, but it's enough for fancy coffee once a month.  It's enough to look forward to checking my sales figures.  It's enough to justify writing more books.  

Check this out...

This morning, I noticed a review was posted for our friend A.L. Tyler's book.

http://missbeckyraymond.wordpress.com/

Generally, I agree with this review.  I have found it to be a decently good read (though as an editor, I may be biased).  :)

Alula

Early Christmas Decor

Yes, the blog has skipped Thanksgiving altogether and gone straight to Christmas.  What can I say...I just purchased my $9 turkey at King Sooper's a couple of days ago, I took down my Halloween stuff and stowed it in the basement, and I was feeling the need to decorate.  So this year we are festive early.

Notice the tree above (as always).  There is a holiday music radio thingy at the bottom of the page, and a widget to your right that lets you download free holiday tunes.

Enjoy, everyone!

Alula

First Fundraiser

My child came home today with his first fundraiser that is selling the same stuff that we did as kids you know wrapping paper and candy. The kids are now selling cards for a website and the people who buy the cards go to a website to buy the stuff they want. Fundraisers have joined the online world. And yes the kids still get prizes for selling a certain amount and of course the lowest prize is still sweet smelling pencils. This brings back memories not all of them good.

I can't believe this is actually working

Well, I haven't started my new job yet.  For those of you who are counting, I was told I would likely start in late September/early October, because the background check process started in late August usually "takes about two weeks".  It is now the end of October, and I've been told by former colleagues and associates that they are only now receiving background check forms.  I wish I had been given a better time estimate, because it would have greatly affected when I left my last position.  But what can one do?

I've been using the time as constructively as possible to market myself and my book.  (Actually, books--I released another one this weekend.)  I am really excited about it, because having the books on sale actually works.  I have sold more than 10 copies to people I don't know.  I sold 2 copies of the sequel novel on the day it was released--also to people I don't know.  I have been told (by people I don't know) that they have really enjoyed the books.  As an introverted weird kid, this is all freaking me out a little, because I never thought actually trying to sell my books would work.  I currently have 5 star reviews on both Nook and Kindle that I did not ask for--readers spontaneously did this themselves.  How bizarrely weird and cool is that?

I guess only time will tell if it's beginner's luck, but I have my fingers crossed that it's a start to a writing career.  It would be absolutely neat-o if I could make enough money to justify staying at home and writing all day.

Alula

Feeling the Stress

I didn't know my kid starting school would result in some stressful times. We have a craft fair in November and I have a ride to get to the area but not one to get home until the following Tuesday which would mean my son would miss 2 days of school and I am not sure that I want to do that. Well if anyone has an idea let me know. I think its OK he misses one day but 2 seems a little extreme. But I could just be over thinking it.

Feeling the Crunch

We found a house in a really nice neighborhood, closer to Mr. B's job, that we are thinking about buying.  It's huge and in a nice family neighborhood; we're having a structural engineer out to see it on Monday to check out some things we were worried about in the basement.

I left my job at the evidence room yesterday (after posting two weeks notice).  My new job is supposed to start soon, but I've been having some trouble getting my background check processed.  I am currently unsure when the new job will start, and I must be a grownup now, because the lost paycheck is now bothering me.

I published my books (yay!)  and told some people, many of whom actually know me (yay!) and I've sold a few copies.  I'm currently trying to advertise the heck out of it, so if you want to spam my blog across wherever you happen to be going (you know, facebook, twitter, Google+, etc.), please do.

I guess I'm stressed because of the new job, and the impending move before me.  It would really be nice if I didn't have to work while taking care of the move, but there's a snowball's chance in hell that my book takes off that dramatically before the end of the year.  If we move, we have to pack, and then unpack, and then find renters for our condo, and on and on and on... And I know this will fall on me, because my husband has a job and thereby can't contribute to the process (I have a job, and do the majority of the daily chores, but somehow this reasoning never works for me).

Spreading the word

For anyone I haven't told yet: addisynltyler.blogspot.com.

Grandparents...

My dad got a call today from my aunt. Apparently my grandma (the crazy one in LA) is very out of it and confused. She either took her whole week's worth of meds or none for several days and set a fire in her kitchen on accident. And then she couldn't find the alarm pad that she sets every day. My aunt and my cousin took her to the ER. My dad and my other aunt are headed out there tomorrow. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Insurance

Well as of September 1st I will be joining the millions of Americans that do not have health insurance, I feel like now I am going to get really sick and go into even more debt. My insurance really wasn't covering much and making me pay a whole lot that kept going up. Well I will just have to take it one day at a time. Being without insurance is kinda scary even if it wasn't doing much for me in the first place.

Ripping off the band-aid

On this day, I published my fiction via two major online digital venues.  I suspect that a print on demand paper copy will also follow.

Even having edited the damn thing at least 10 times in the last 7 years, I still didn't feel it was at 100%, but I am willing to accept that my perfectionist tendencies make me perpetually try to improve things that don't need it.

It is now out there.  Wish me luck, email for details.

Alula

The new room

My house now has a guest room (yay?).  It was supposed to be my crafting studio, but it was converted to a guest room in anticipation of Mr. B's relatives staying with us over the weekend of his sister's wedding; after all the work, the relatives never showed.  This is where I would typically go on a rant about how this is the story of my life with his family, where they steal my personal blah and then I put in a lot of work to do blah for them and then once it's theirs they don't need it because of blah....but I am trying to let it go.

I will be reclaiming the room as a creative space, but just so the rest of you know, I now have a guest room with a queen sized bed.  I gave over my old twin set to my brother's daughter, and I hope she gets some good use out of it--it was a good set for me.

My husband got a job offer contingent on background check, and we might be moving south (only about an hour from where we are now, close to where the RenFest is).  My job job hasn't been quite as expected; it's alright, but more stressful on certain days than anticipated.  I am driven to get published as quickly as possible.

I restocked our fish tank last weekend, and we now have small schools of bloodfin and black skirt tetras, and some orange and green swordtails.  I am looking to add a cory or two, and perhaps some snails.

 I've lost about 15 pounds since the start of June, and still have 30+ to go.

Alula

School supplies

I know it's a little late for new year's resolutions but by this time next year I want to be shopping for school supplies (for myself)

How to....

Ok yes you are all going to laugh at me but how do I defragment my hard drive on my Windows 7 toshiba laptop? If anyone know how please send me step by step directions. I know this is probably very simple but then anyone knows me know that I turn the simplest things very complected in my own special brain. Well let me know and have a good laugh at my expense.

Seeking book reviewers

All,

I have happened into a situation where I am seeking people to review a book (for a friend).  Basically, you get free books in exchange for reading and then posting your thoughts online.  Would anyone here be interested?  Or, do you know any serious blogger types who would be interested?  Or, do you read or know of any good book blogs that could be contacted in the spirit of this effort?

Thanks,
Alula

Things not to do at your bachelor(ette) party

Ladies,

Maybe it's just me--I am willing to accept that possibility.  People are different.  They should tailor their various functions to their needs and desires.  Tonight, I attended one of the most bizarre bachelorette parties I think I ever had, and it got me thinking about all of the weird wedding-related things I've seen in the last 5 years.

Tonight, I attended a bachelorette party where (I don't know how or why) all of the mothers were invited.  The mother of the bride was there.  The mother of the groom was there.  The mother of the maid of honor was there.  Bridesmaids' mothers, and even grandmothers, were there.  It felt more like a wedding shower than a bachelorette party, but all of the women there seemed to think it was cool to get drunk.  So I am sitting there watching middle-aged women being all, "we're such cool moms, we're at a bachelorette party!"  They're downing alcohol like no tomorrow, the bride and her friends think it's funny at first, but it took very little time before they started getting disgusted.  This is unfortunately happening at a Hard Rock Cafe, and the second a Go-Go's song comes on, moms are singing and dancing at the top of their lungs in the middle of the restaurant.  (OMG.)  One bridesmaid finally had to tell her mom to stop because she had several drinks already, was still drinking, and was planning to drive herself home right after dinner.  (The mom, of course, seemed to think she was too cool to leave at this point and wanted to stay the rest of the night--which moms had not been invited to--going bar hopping with the wedding girls.)

Lesson: If you think you're a cool mom, great.  Go drinking with your friends.  Your kids don't want to see that.  Be an even cooler mom and let your daughter hang out with the real cool people--her friends.  

I should note that for this same wedding, all male relatives were invited to the bachelor party too.  My husband went for the early evening activities, but left before things got too weird, apparently.  I later found out that both the father of the groom and the father of the bride stayed the entire party.  The FOB ended up having to escort around the groom because he was too smashed to walk.  They lost two of the groomsmen in Denver.  The next morning one of the groomsmen woke up in the groom's mother's house wearing a woman's tank top with no clue where his shirt was or how he ended up at the house or wearing what he was wearing.  

Lesson:  Seriously--this is how you want your bride's father to see you?  Really?

I attended one bachelor party (that should be a red flag already) where the bride had required the groom to invite her friends (ironically, I wasn't one of them).  See, the bride had a lot of friends, and apparently all of them needed to be in the wedding; the groom, for whatever reason, didn't wish to involve himself in the wedding plans.  She had 15 female friends she wanted in the wedding, plus her brother.  The groom wanted me, my husband, and a friend from high school who couldn't make it.  Result: Eight of her friends, plus me (so that I could walk with my husband) stood on her side of the wedding party.  Her brother, my husband, and her seven other friends stood on the groom's side.  (Yeah, the wedding party pictures were unique, to say the least.)  Her reasoning was that because her friends were on his side of the wedding, they should be invited to the the bachelor party; and even though I was a friend of the groom, my invite was to the bachelorette party (which I ditched to hang with the...er, guys).  We ate dinner, and then were supposed to hang out at Dave & Buster's for a while, but all of the bride's friends were underaged, so we had to wait for an old enough (25 years) cousin escort to get them in.  That was supposed to be the evening, but the best man (bride's brother) was a cool guy, and wanted to do a "real" bachelor party.  Somehow I find myself in a car calling my older brother for advice on strip clubs, we drive to one, the bride's friends are standing there grossed out, and everything is awkward.

Lesson:  If your bride is making attendance of her friends at your bachelor party mandatory, RUN. Don't plan adult activities for under-aged groups.  And for goodness sake, if you are the best man, ask someone beforehand where the good strip clubs are; avoid asking your cool female friend to hunt down the information for you on the spot, which generally can result in a lot of her family members calling the next day with awkward questions.  

Alula

The Sims 3 CRC Installation Error

File this one under total weirdness.  I went out and bought The Sims 3 as a celebration for getting a job; I have been a fan of Sims games since the beginning.  Mostly I don't play the game a lot.  I enjoy designing the houses and living spaces and then watching the people mill around in their perfect little word, filled with resources, like it's a digital ant farm or aquarium--very soothing.

When I bought the game, I tried to install it on my desktop that evening after spending all day backing up my laptop.  Mr. Borealis had been on me for a while to let him upgrade the system on my Dell Studio 15 from Vista to Win7, so I figured I wanted this done before installing my new game.  The problem was, while Mr. B worked on formatting my laptop and installing the new OS, I could not get Sims 3 to install on my Desktop due to a recurrent CRC error that stated the .exe file on the disk did not match the .cab file, and that the disk must be corrupted, and to contact the software vendor.

I started looking online to find that many, many unfortunate game owners have had this problem, and EA Games either can't or won't fix it satisfactorily with a patch.  Their offered solution is to defrag your disk (which, let's face it, never works), to check for system updates, etc., etc.--"It must be user error, because we here at EA Games are gods."  There were more helpful solutions online from other users, and after trying it the EA Games way and failing to install 5 times, I was willing to try everything.  I tried installing as admin, popping the disc in and out repeatedly, clicking to ignore the error (resulted in a disk authentication error), copying the disk to the hard drive and attempting install from there--all to no avail.

Eventually, I begain to notice that the .exe file it was complaining about was not for the game itself, but for the EA Media Downloader.  So when the disc complained again, I opened up the install file and just deleted the contents of the Media Downloader folder because I hadn't planned to spend more money online.  I just wanted to play the game I had payed $50 to play.  TADA!!!!  After deleting that file, the game installs and plays perfectly.

Oddly enough, the game produced no errors when I tried to install it on my laptop.  Both machines were running Win7 at the time of installation, and both had well above the game requirements.  Several other users in online forums have reported similar anomalies, where the game seems to "like" certain machines and "not like" others for no apparent reason.

EA, get your act together.  Based on the input I read from other highly dissatisfied customers, your inability to patch this has led others to give the game horrible reviews, alter the game in ways that has affected the game performance to get it to even play, and even pirate the game to get what they paid for.  Is this the type of press you really want?

Alula

Lean Pockets Culinary Creations

Ladies,

I had to post a quick review here of a product that I recently discovered in my grocery store.  Maybe they had been there for a while, but I only recently noticed them.  The Hot Pockets brand has added some new flavors to their Lean Pockets "health food" line.  Granted, these items are microwaveable frozen things that don't really fill my personal definition of a healthy food due to the preservatives and general lack of fresh plant matter, but they are pretty good for sticking to a diet at 250-270 calories per pocket.  

Usually I like the Ham & Cheese, or the Turkey & Cheese, and there's also one that has broccoli thrown in the mix for color.  When I recently went to the grocery store to refill my freezer's emergency stock, I noticed new flavors, deemed the Culinary Creations line.  Admittedly, some of the flavors looked kind of weird, but my curiosity was piqued so I grabbed a few.  My verdict is that they were pretty good--at least, they added some variety to the Something & Cheese that I usually buy (they all kind of tasted the same before--not bad, just not distinguishable).

The Chicken, Bacon, & Dijon impressed me--I will definitely be buying this one again.  The Spinach Artichoke Chicken was okay, but didn't wow me.  I'm thinking that it may have something to do with my attempting to eat a food containing artichoke as a breakfast food; for lunch or dinner, it probably would have scored higher marks.  (Also note that artichoke does not mix well with Rockstar; learned the hard way so you don't have to!)  I will probably try the Garlic Chicken White Pizza and the Chipotle Chicken next.

Alula

Some Good News

I got a job!  It's an evidence technician position.  I'm starting Monday.

Alula

My body, Acting out

It is now (officially) a month since I first started feeling ill.  In retrospect, I'm wondering at the fact that it happened right after I graduated, and had a sudden resurgence in the last week of my job.  I blew out an eardrum, then had a wicked cough and sore throat, and this week, nausea, aches, and fatigue.

I'm beginning to work on a new theory here (it's not pregnancy--yes, I'm sure), because I'm starting to think these symptoms are in part psychosomatic.  I think my body is physically rebelling against my not being in school and over worked; I went two years being swamped with relatively good health.  Even being overweight, I had great scores on my cholesterol and blood pressure, and that's something coming from a family history that's horrifically bad on both fronts.  Now I'm sleeping, watching television, catching up on reading, and have time to write and publish--so why do I feel so crappy?

Every time I sit down to write I feel like I need to be doing something; mostly, I think I need to be finding a job.  I think I put in 10 new job applications today.  I finally have my husband's full support to focus on getting published, and after years of dreaming of doing just this, I suddenly have some subconsciousness need to avoid.  Last night I stayed up until after midnight researching jobs and property in Montana (would I *really* do it, now that my education isn't in the way?  I have no idea).

Munchkin, thank you for agreeing to hold the whip on the publishing cause.  I need it.  Until I adjust to this strange new way of life, I need someone providing structure for me.

Alula

This is what I am up too!

Pray their is more to fallow or I am going to fail my class!

The Last Day

Today was my last day at my job.  I'm pretty darn depressed about it right now; I really love this job.

I love the people I work with, the work I do, and the work environment.  It's hard to find something that good, and it's very hard to leave something that good.  My coworkers took me out to lunch today, and even got me a graduation/going away present--they got me a Longs Peak bench mark paperweight.  It's symbolic because I have graduated, and hence hit a "peak" in my life worthy of noting and measuring future accomplishment against.  I believe I will return to get my PhD and become a researcher; I feel that I belong with these people.  Onward to the next big thing, the next bench mark, as it were.

In answer to Fuzzy's question, I've been sick.  For the last month.  I was sick all of last week, but worked anyways in a desperate attempt to finish up all of the work I had left before leaving my job.  I failed, but it's okay because it's all ongoing type work that I can continue to contribute to (blah blah blah "but you're not getting paid" and whatever else--it's called pride in workmanship, people; my name is going on it, and I will be satisfied before I call it done, paid or not).  Then, I forced myself to take a camping vacation last weekend, where I unintentionally hiked a nearly 3 mile trail with a runny nose, cough, and not as much water as I would have preferred.  I complained the whole way, which probably wasn't much fun for the others on the hike, but I didn't die, which was a plus.

All in all, I am expecting to have a low week.  I am crawling into a hole to reflect and figure out what I'm going to do with myself now.

Alula

Melted

Re: Fuzzy's post

I melted. Hotlanta is too hot for it to still be May. But otherwise a normal boring life, not getting up to anything crazy. Spring start-itis is over, and into the summer doldrums.

~DoHP

Hello?

Hey just wondering where everyone has gone?! Just curious, love you all!

Blogger was down?

All,

Something was going on with Blogger at some point this week.  It deleted my most recent post (Pictures from my Illness) so I reposted it; it had posted before, as evidenced by the fact that it through on my feed reader.  It also deleted a comment that Fuzzy left somewhere--the comment was emailed to me but then mysteriously never appeared on the blog, and when I tried to go to moderate the comment I got a message that Blogger was running in "read only" mode for maintenance.

Bottom line--if anyone posted anything and it went missing, please repost it.  It was not maliciously removed; Blogger was just having some issues.

Alula

Pictures from my illness

Thought you might enjoy pictures of my quality of life while I've been sick this week.  

This is what it looks like when I lie down: 

Note the expression on Count's face--it says "try to make me move and I will hobble you, warmth bringer."

Here is what it looks like when I get up:

Alula

Gross

So Sunday night I came home from a whirlwind weekend feeling pretty low.  I had some bad allergies and muscle aches, which I had attributed to walking five miles for various graduation functions, volunteer shelving at the library, cleaning out and doing home improvement on 3 of our upstairs closets, being outside too much during allergy season, and generally not sleeping well for a collection of reasons.  I hurt, but I thought it was nothing.

Monday morning I woke with a major sore throat, which I thought was just a run-of-the-mill head cold.  I got them all the time as a kid.  I wrote in to work that I was taking a day to sleep it off.  Within an hour, the pain had moved from my throat to my ears, and I texted my sister (the audiologist) for advice and my mom for a heating pad.  I took some OTC painkillers and laid down to ride it out after a Google search turned up that most doctors recommend the same unless the ear infection is "serious" or lasts too long.  

Within three hours, I was in so much pain I was unable to get up from the couch.  I still hadn't heard back from my mom or sister.  Then fluid started to come out of the afflicted ear, the pain dropped substantially, and I thought I was going to be okay--I texted my sister with this information, and she quickly called back to tell me that the relief had come because my ear drum had burst (relieving the pressure) but that I was in for a good deal of new trouble soon.

I went to sleep with a tissue pressed against my leaking ear, and I woke up at 4 in the afternoon once again in too much pain to do much of anything about being in pain.  My mom dropped off a heating pad and I put on a brave face while she fixed me some noodles; she had the kids with her, so we both wanted her out of my house before anyone got infected, but she promised to send my sister over.  My sister stopped by after work with her ear scope thingy and gave me a look before saying that yes, my right ear drum had perforated and was leaking blood and pus, and the left ear drum looked like it could follow.  She asked for my insurance card and started making calls while I continued to lay on the couch moaning pathetically.  My husband got home somewhere in there, they shuffled me into less revealing sleepwear and then Mr. B whisked me off to the after hours ER. 

My heart rate was 150, my white count was 20 (the doctor told me she considered 7-9 to be "high range"), and I was severely dehydrated.  When I told them that my ear drum had popped after only about 4 hours of ear pain preceding, they went into emergency containment mode thinking I might have Bacterial Meningitis because it had come on so fast and so serious; however, this was quickly discounted due to a lack of other symptoms.  They IV'd me and put me on drugs to calm my body down.  Four hours later they were still looking for the missing infection somewhere in my body to make my white count so high, but they never found it.  They sent me home with prescription painkillers, antibiotics, and advice to stay on the couch for a while.  On the bright side, everything that happened during the visit--the EKG for my heart, the medications, the blood tests, everything--only costs us $100 because we're on Kaiser right now, and have a flat rate for ER admissions.  

I now have temporary hearing loss in my right ear until the ear drum closes and heals, and my ear is discharging some gross stuff.  The biggest issue has been the pressure--the tear in my ear drum is small, which is good because it will likely heal on its own, but is bad because it doesn't drain efficiently.  Fluid keeps building up until it reaches critical mass and pushes out, and the pressure is hella uncomfortable.  

Exciting, right?  My word of the week is gross.

Alula

I refuse to take the train again!!

OK so in an attempt to save money on gas, I took the train back home from a visit to the city. Plus I really needed to get away from my mother we can only stand so much quality time together with out problems. So me and little man took the train home. The trip was long, tedious and boring! So I refuse to take the train again, making it a little difficult to get back to the city for a plane ride to my uncles wedding. So my insane solution to this since Mr. Man said to take the bus if the train was so bad, once again I refuse got my fill of buses in high school. Basically that was Mr. mans way of saying he won't drive us down and my step dad has his head buried in books. He offered to come get us the day before the date to leave on the plane, which is another bad idea that seems like it would be more stress than its worth. Well any way my insane solution was to ask my mother to come get us. This will put my mother and Mr man under the same roof, and they really don't get along so well. And since they are both trying to not stress me out due to last months miscarriage will therefore make it more stressful by completely and utterly ignoring each others existence. And added to that since my mother I think is feeling a little left out since we are all leaving for the wedding she doesn't want to go to anyway, feels that getting us 2 1/2 weeks before the trip to the wedding is a good idea. I was thinking a week would be a better solution, that got shot down real quick. The only good thing is that my mother will go wine tasting with me which is kinda fun to get a sample of the drink all the flavors and textures is actually fascinating. So I will be leaving home 2 1/2 weeks before we leave on the 31st to spend 11 days on this trip and I haven't even figured out how I am getting home yet. Lets all count down to my descent into insanity and my doctor said I need to not be very stressed for the next month, yeah she has never met or dealt with my family. Oh add school work to my stress load and a way to active 3 year old at least my sister will be around to help with him. And I might be having another one eventually Mr. man and I talked about it, OK I talked he didn't say anything back, I decided we would just leave it up to mother nature. One thing I refuse to stress about. I seem to be refusing a lot of things lately must be me attempting to control my life in some way. I am starting to get my energy back and my blood chem levels are also back to where they are supposed to be. I still have a bruise from that blood draw. Well that's the rant for now, keep a look out for another one in the not so distant future.

The month of April

I had initially planned to put these topics into separate threads, but no one wants to hear me talk that much, so here is a condensed version.

After literal months of applications and rejections, I got picked for further consideration on three positions recently.  One evolved into a phone interview (have since heard back that I was not selected), one a face-to-face interview, and one was testing (which I aced, and am now expecting a recruiter to contact me for interview).  I am keeping my fingers crossed on these last two and really hoping for a job.

My old red '93 Isuzu Trooper finally hit a point that drove my husband to buy a new car.  Old Red decided not to start after we refueled at a gas station, creating quite a scene, and then periodically would or would not start--ended up dropping it off at my dad's for repair, and he has decided (for the time being, at least) that he will be resuming ownership of the vehicle as a spare, as the car is worth nothing with the cost of repairs.  So, Mr. B went out and overspent exactly like I didn't want to and got himself a shiny new 2011 Subaru Outback; it's a nice car, but it was outside of our set budget, and I am a little pissed about it because my husband seems to think I only became opposed to the cost after the purchase (to which I replied, "I have been saying I don't want to spend that much for weeks.  I said I didn't want to buy it on the lot.  And when they refused to drop the price, I said you were getting handled.  What part of all of that sounds like I wanted to do this?").  It's not that we can't afford the car, but it was outside what we wanted to spend--I told Mr. B that if he really *needed* it that badly that he could have it, but I find new cars pompously arrogant and unnecessary.  Why buy new when you know a used car is just as good and half the price???  --Anyways, I am now driving his old Outback.  (I'll post some fond memories of my Trooper when I clean it out and take some pictures.)

I finally got to attend StarFest.  Last year I was presenting at AAG in Washington, DC, for work.  The year before I was presenting a group project for my MLS (while Brent Spiner was wandering the dealer's room, mind you--I cried when I found this out).  This year, I feel I finally had my priorities straight--this event is part of my personal history and heritage.  It's what my husband and I did every year before attending Prom that night.  I had fun, and feel that my "old self" life goals have been recharged and my direction in life has been reaffirmed and is a little clearer.

Q took me to The Golden Spoon.  The prices are good, the frozen yogurt is good, and the calorie count is fantastic.  I did the math and one could literally eat a pint of this stuff and then work it off with a half hour of dancing.  Amazing.

I bought a game for the Wii out of curiosity.  It's called Just Dance 2, and as the title suggests, you pop it in and "just dance".  The songs are great, the moves to the songs actually match the music videos in some respects, and when run on the shuffle mode, this can actually make for an impressive cardio workout.  The game takes advantage of your (or my, I guess, if I'm the only one) compulsive need to dance in front of the bedroom mirror when a catchy song comes on the radio.  You watch the characters on the screen and mimic them like you are watching yourself in the mirror, and the game tracks your accuracy using the Wii remote you hold in your right hand.  My husband has demonstrated to me that this game can be played from the couch, but that's really not the point--there isn't a strong point or reward system in the game, so the satisfaction really comes from rocking out and bogeying down to your favorite tunes (you can even buy more from the game store).  So far, so good--I've had the game for about two weeks now and it's still holding my interest and making me sweat.  The first time I played it my arms hurt so bad that they woke me up that night, if that's any indication of the level of workout you can get from this.  In terms of cardio, it's much more entertaining than the programming provided on the Wii Fit, though the Fit still provides necessary Yoga, Balance, and Strength training that this game does not.

Alula

Update

Well the mystery is solved I was pregnant, but I ended up miscarrying and lost the pregnancy. I'm going to see my doctor on Monday to see what she thinks happened. Apparently I don't have my IUD in anymore according to Mr Man it fell out a while ago and he says he told me but I don't remember him telling he probably told me in his upside down backwards way that if I am not following won't catch. Well that's the update on that.

Kindle Library Lending

Amazon just posted this notice today.

Fuzzy, it looks like you'll be able to start checking out ebooks on your Kindle later this year!  WOOHOO!  They don't list the specific libraries they have "partnered" with anywhere, but I'm suspecting that this is actually a partnership with Overdrive (which already has partnered with the libraries).  If that is the case, then you'll have to come down here and grab library cards to our local libraries with this service to get in on the action.  Hopefully you'll have the same level of access on the Kindle that is available on the Nook; how sweet would it be in your remote location to still be able to browse and check out books to read for free from the library?  I bet you could put audiobooks from the libraries on your new MP3 player, too.

interesting news

OK so here is the deal I have been feeling sick food smell make me want to run to the bathroom because some smells turn my stomach lets add in extreme exhaustion. Oh and being late on my period. But no one get excited, because I do still have my IUD in. So according to my doctor she thinks that I have one of the following: a kidney infection (minus the back pain), My body might be rejecting the IUD (does not account for the missing period), My ovarian cyst are bursting (that hurts and doesn't account for the stomach sickness), stomach flu (not sick all the time), pregnancy (the home test said negative), or my body is just completely messed up. The doctor said she wants to see me if I don't get better by the end of the month. So if I have to sit and wonder for the next 2 weeks then everyone else get to as well. So I don't know what my body is doing and I don't like it. But its only 2 weeks more my doctor also told not to do another pregnancy test for a few weeks. She said that my ovarian cyst can mess with the hormone production. But who knows I sure don't.

A suggestion for the Barnes & Noble Nook

Recently I have found myself having a specific desire for my Nook that is going unfilled.  I couldn't find a specific venue on the Barnes & Noble site where I could submit this suggestion, so I am throwing it into the universe in hopes that my wish comes true.

Here's my situation: I find myself in locations where I do not have a wifi connection wishing that I could check in on all of the blogs that I subscribe to.  I tend to read the news online, but my blogs are starting to serve as a personalized magazine or newspaper subscription--I sit down to them to get the latest news and gossip, and I would like this experience to be on-the-go with me without an internet or 3g signal required (like a real magazine).

Here is what I want from Barnes & Noble:  I would like a way to tie RSS feeds to my Barnes & Noble Nook account.  Ideally, this service will collect all of the posts from blogs I have subscribed to and turn them into discrete chunks that are sent to my device like a subscription (kind of like like listserv messages getting collected into a "digest" before they reach my inbox).  I figure the size of each "magazine" could be picked by the user (i.e., daily, weekly, monthly).  The digest will be updated and added to my device along with regular syncing and checking for new material, and that way, I have an easy access to my stuff on my Nook.  I realize this probably creates some problems with formating and possibly with storage capacity (i.e., if whatever you subscribe to has a lot of images in the text), but why not set up the "send to Nook digest" with settings to just exclude images (or use the provided alt text) or understand that the images might be a little wanky in the feed if you choose to include them (in some feed readers they already are)?

Barnes & Noble, please consider providing this service through your device.  It would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Alula

Amazon Cloud Player

Today I stumbled upon Amazon's new service, the Amazon Cloud Player.  This service allows you to upload all of your music files to a free online cloud storage locker hosted by Amazon.  The first 5GB are free, and your music purchases from Amazon don't count toward the storage limit.  You can buy more storage space for a very reasonable yearly rate if you need it, though I have just discovered that my current library of music sits at just about 4.8GB, and I could probably prune down the files I want online if I had to.  In the past I have traditionally used MP3 downloads from Amazon because the prices were better than iTunes, but more recently the prices from most services have more or less leveled out.  Oh, I should probably also mention that the Amazon Cloud Player, while being designed for music, can also store other file types.

The reason this service is a big deal is that digital licenses aren't required to upload your music, which that (if you're anything like me) the old files you had copied from CDs you purchased that don't have digital licenses attached can be uploaded to a place where they are stored and protected (YAY!).  And from the cloud storage, your songs can be streamed to any compatible device, and downloaded to your computer or device.  I note the downloading feature for Mr. Q, who recently went over to the dark side by purchasing a Mac.  At least for now, it appears that Amazon is taking a cheap shot at iOS by purposely making the streaming features of the service *not* work on iOS devices (there is, however, a download for Android).  I found another review where someone confirmed that this is not a Flash issue; however, a possible work around is that while you can't stream, downloading to iOS systems still works.

Of course, this awesome system does not come without its troubles.  The music industry is peeved that Amazon dare offer a streaming service where people can play the music that they have rightfully purchased and own, and will likely bring a lawsuit concerning digital licenses (read more about this issue here).  Obviously there is potential for abuse here, though I don't see how it could be any greater than any other cloud storage system, and those exist in abundance.  Personally, I think the music industry will end up having to let this one go or lose their case--it's overstepping the copyright to say that I can't store files I own in a legitimate cloud service.  If I were using it for criminal purposes instead of solely for personal use, then they would have a case, and I'm betting that existing anti-filesharing efforts would already net these culprits (i.e., when your ISP or Amazon notices that your IP address or Cloud account is seeing 50GB worth of downloading music files every day, something is probably up).

So, I encourage you all to check out this great service--this is a fantastic way to archive your music files to be sure you don't lose them when your computer dies and takes iTunes with it or your MP3 player get dropped in a bath tub.

Alula

The New Season of Our Lives

I am coming to realize that this year is holding more change than the typical year in our group.

Munchkin, your timer in the margin is getting set to run out, and there will be another new baby in our next generation and a new dynamic in our group and interactions.

Q, your husband will be out of school and starting into the "real world" with a career.  I also suspect that you will be facing some decisions soon about school, work, and family.

Lady A has a new boyfriend (you don't know him), and is considering going on a spirit quest to figure out what she wants from life.  Our Ambassador sent me an email that he has been accepted to graduate school to study history and will be moving back home from China this summer so that he can start in the fall.  (Ironically, there is a better than normal chance that one or both of these individuals will live in my spare room at some point in the coming year.)

I am finishing and leaving school, at least for the time being, and (HOPEFULLY) getting a job in the mean time.  I plan on spending more time with family and my books.  Mr. Borealis is looking to make a change in jobs if he can, and now he will be the one in school instead of me.

We have officially launched our business, and we have a website, and it will be interesting to see where that goes in the coming year.

So in preparation of these events, we have business to attend to:

-We need a new counter for our blog.  What's our next "big thing", y'all?

-Since the Ambassador will be back in town, would we like to do another pool on his life?  (Lady A has informed me that she finds this idea distasteful, but I feel we have only done this in good fun.  He's a cool guy with a fast-paced life who would probably be thrilled to know a group of women was gossiping about him.)

-If we were a television series, all of these changes would definitely demarcate a cliffhanger ending and start of a new season.  It's time for a new blog theme--thoughts on what it should look like or incorporate?

Alula

Just when I thought I was done...

The graduate school has fired off a new form for me to fill out before I can graduate.  I need to petition the school to have two classes I took as an advanced undergraduate student towards my MA.  Yes, being punished for overachieving.  I call 'em like I see 'em; and this smells like bull to me.  (sigh--doing the paperwork because I understand the need to formally document things 'for the record', but still smells like a delay tactic to get another semester of tuition out of me.)

I am still unable to finish my incomplete from last spring; the professor hasn't posted the assignments I need to do yet.  I am down to 4 weeks to finish this thing, so ready to be done with it, and the professor won't post the work I need to do.

I am once again on the publishing bandwagon; I need to get this done.  Recently I agonized over whether or not I should push to try and get in to my desired PhD program since the deadline has passed.  Mr. Borealis has been put in a situation because he thought, with 2 master's degrees, that I would have a job by now.  He dislikes the idea of my unemployment more than he dislikes the idea of my staying in school to keep a job.  But, I don't think I can get back into the program until fall of next year.

So now, I think I have resigned myself to focusing on writing and getting published until that time rolls around. Once again, seeking editors.

Alula

Keys!

Hey Ladies,

My schedule for the next two weeks has left me with two days off, it's been rather stressful and tiring. We are getting loads of beautiful new shoes so there is tons of work to be done. In the last week I have sku'ed over 1000 socks. There has been much work drama their in the last two months, one of my female coworkers got promoted to an assistant manager and consequently turned into a She-wolf. Mrs. Shewolf, as we will call her from here on out, has been making a huge distinction between "boy" and "girl" jobs. The boys are expected to do all the stock work, take out the trash, clean the store, check in the repairs, and sell the shoes. I being a girl am expected to dust and watch the boys do everything. If fact she chews me out of I cross over and get caught doing "boys" work. I however think this is nothing short of BS, and have been totally disregarding her, earning myself much street cred' with the man folk. I now get things lifted out of the way for me, and men scurrying up ladders to grab things for me, and let's not for get amazing shoulder rubs. The old saying "You catch more bees with honey" is really working out for me. Then we have tonight...

Why do keys go missing? I was at work tonight ready to leave after a long long day; one of the many days in my long long week, and alas, no keys. My guy coworkers were like "WTF Q?" So after walking me to my car, only to find my car locked and my keys sitting on the passenger's seat it was decided that I would wait inside with one of my managers until Mr. Q could bring me the spare, since we live about a half hour away from my work. I am going to hear about this for weeks.

Slave Labor

OK so I got in trouble with Mr Man completely my fault I did something really stupid. And so being the chicken I am ran away to be in the area at my mothers house, where I was promptly put into slave labor. So far I have cleaned, cooked, sorted files and drove my mother around. I guess it really isn't slave labor when she is buying me things like a MP3 player I have no clue how to work as of yet. I will be painting sometime next week, but tomorrow we are finishing things for the craft fair coming up Saturday. Also my sisters state drumline competition is coming up, call me if anyone wants details on the when and where. BTW scratching a mans car while washing it really makes them mad at least mine mad.

2 Deaths and 1 Birth?

Ladies -

I am currently awaiting the news that two of my relatives have passed away, and to see when I go into labor.

My Great Uncle on my mother's side is on his second trip to hospice, and is now on only morphine, and to my knowledge doesn't even have a feeding tube anymore. He really is a remarkable man. Though he is mentally retarded (and yes I will not be PC because that's what he refers to himself as) he has a wonderful big heart, tons of friends and loves Elmo. He deserves to be remembered as the gentle, kind and childlike giant that he was once he passes.

Also, my Great Grandfather J (on my dad's side) is now on his second trip to the hospital and has had a relative with him non-stop each day to make sure he's got someone there is he goes. This has incredible strength and perseverance. At 67 years old he obtained his private pilot's license (he's the only other pilot in my family) strictly because he wanted to. He's had girl friends that just love him silly, and drove himself from place to place without issue until just the past couple years. He will be dearly missed by everyone who's met him when he passes on to the next life.

In the face of all this sadness, I am planning on bringing joy to my families by adding my newborn boy. This could happen as soon as Monday. I sincerely hope that I my Great Grandpa J can hold on long enough to let me get up there to introduce him to his first Great Great Grandchild. I've been planning on making that trip up there before he died since I found out I was pregnant. Though I would still make the trip for the rest of the family's sake, I specifically wanted to go to see him and let him meet the baby.

At this time, I pray for an easy passing for both my relatives if it is their time to go, and I pray for a delivery without complication.

~Munchkin

Working on the mountain again

OK so yes I said last year I would not work on the mountain again this year (the amusement park like thing that is at the top of one of our local (smaller) mountains. But they invited me back and are willing to work with my crazy schedule I have for this summer. Including a trip to see my least favorite uncle get married and a much anticipated out to see Mr. Mans family. That will be a fun trip because Little man gets to learn to swim, hence going in the summer instead of spring like usual. Well I'll see how it goes working again they are actually adding a zip line and a bungee jump off the mountain this year, I hope their safety stuff is up to code. Well that's all from me and this crazy side of the state. Oh and little man recived a Thomas the Train bed from his dad and he loves it.

Sad news

This morning my grandmother passed away.  She had a stroke several weeks ago.  The doctors had her in rehabilitation therapy, but I guess she developed some chest congestion over the weekend, and she died early this morning.  It was kind of unexpected, because she was in therapy to get better.  It wasn't until yesterday they started to say that she likely wouldn't be with us much longer.

To clarify, this was my grandmother in North Carolina.  She was my dad's step mom, but she married my grandfather when my dad was still a child, so she was responsible for a good deal of his upbringing.  My dad was with her when she passed this morning.

I have an email out to my graduate advisor now to see if I can reschedule my comprehensive exam (supposed to happen this Friday) in the event that it conflicts with the funeral.  No word on when the funeral is going to be yet. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if that exam can't be rescheduled; the bloodsucking leach of a graduate school requires students to register in the semester they take the exam, and it is only offered once per year.  The cost of the required one credit hour?  ~$2,500.  If they do not let me reschedule for an unexpected death and postpone my graduation by a year, I will be pissed.  I have been studying like crazy for this stupid test.  ANd it really is a stupid test--the MA is made up of two parts: 36 credit hours worth of classes, and a 4-hour written exam.  Anyone who thinks these two aspects balance 50/50 needs a brain scan, because if 5 semesters of graduate study can be cancelled out by one 4 hours exam, there is something wrong.  That alone really has me hating the school right now.

I'm feeling a little surreal right now.  I put off calling because initially things were so confused, and my dad went out to help his dad, and he promised to keep us all informed via email (he did).  Then she was busy doing her physical therapy and seemed to be improving and all her kids were coming out to see her, but she was having trouble during the downtime and had to be sedated because she was pulling at her tubes (she had a feeding tube and sometimes a breathing apparatus because she lost control of the right side of her body).  Then she had to be sedated more and more, and she wasn't aware of who or what was around her--I never got a phone call.  I should have called, even if she wasn't aware when it happened.

Alula

From 0... to 100!!!

As some of you may know, the laptop that I've had for approximately 3 years has been giving up on my for the past 6 months. Luckily, thanks to my family and generous husband I've been able to upgrade form my old Toshiba Satellite to a custom beauty and it all started with this one sleek piece.

Before you is a Black Widow SopranoRS Case from my brother, and the other piece you can view is a Rocketfish 500 Watt ATX gaming power supply (it glows blue!).

Then we have our mother board and CPU. The motherboard is a real beauty, an Asus EVO, complete with artfully crafted blue heat-sinks over many of the capacitors to keep the entire thing running cool as a cucumber. The CPU happens to be an AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4GHz. Processor gets a Windows rating of 7.4 and uses all 4 cores to the max!

Now let's show the last few components. We have a 1TB hard drive (the only piece of this new beast I should have looked into more fully as it pulls my Windows rating down to a sad 5.9), an ATI Radeon 5750 graphics card (Windows rating of 7.2), and an LG 24x DVD drive. The operating system is Windows 7 Home premium, and I had to make sure that I got Office 2010 right away so that I could actually open my files again (2007 was accidentally removed from my laptop when I reformatted it, and I couldn't find my disk).

Munchkin 2 has some amazing power, and shouldn't have to be upgraded for at least a couple of years, unless I want my Windows rating to jump into the 7's with a solid state hard drive. The final pics are of the beautiful monitor I procured courtesy of Craigslist,and the tower lit up for the first time. Just to make it painfully clear to everyone who thought I could play WoW on my old laptop, I most certainly could not. I never realized that you could actually see the rain that everyone spoke of, I thought it was an exercise in imagination. My first time logging into WoW with Munchkin 2 I was swimming with my Goblin in the ocean, and crystal clear raindrops were bouncing off the water around me. It truly was a 0 to 100 moment!

~Munchkin

Darn baby store

Gimme at least three years before y'all make me go back to the baby store, kthanks

A quick book review: A Discovery of Witches

Picture links to B&N nook page!

I tried to come up with a super quick two work book review, but the only one that would come to me is READ IT. So instead I'm going to use a lot of exclamation points and incomplete sentences. Here goes:

*engage caps lock* *establish Kermit flail* BIG LIBRARY!!!! VAMPIRE SCIENTIST! WITCHES! SCHOLARLY RESEARCH! MAGIC, ROMANCE, MYSTERY, AND TIME TRAVEL!!! Bring a French-English dictionary, it might help. Another recommended reading companion is a giant cup of tea.
I might add something more sensible later, but this is an awesome book, and I am eagerly anticipating the sequel.

A How to: Dye yarn

Since Q is looking at a next crafting step of coloring her own fiber, I want to share my knowledge.

Finished products!

Materials:
- Fiber to dye (I normally do 50-100g batches), must be protein (animal) fiber, or animal fiber blend, or nylon
- Acid dyes, I use Jacquard
- Vinegar, preferably the really cheap white vinegar, you will use a lot of it.
- A bucket
- A dedicated dye pot, I use a cheap crock pot.
- Metal or plastic measuring spoons (These will also be dedicated to dyeing, so don't use your nice ones)
- Plastic spoons for mixing
- Mason jars
- A mask
- Gloves ( I like Nitrile, but vinyl or latex would work as well, but you can't go around doing "Two by Two, hands of blue".)
- An apron, or painting clothes, I use an old lab coat, this gets messy


***NOTE: Anything that you use for dyeing needs to be dedicated to dyeing or at least to crafting, and not EVER used in food preparation once it has been used for dye.***

1. Soak your fiber in warm water with vinegar added. The vinegar will open up the proteins in the fiber, so that is important. For yarn you want your yarn in a skein, not a ball. Make sure your skein is tied off in at least two, preferably three places.

Yarn bucket

2. Prepare your dye. Wear your mask while working with the dye powder, once it's mixed it's not necessary. Start out with about 2 cups of warm water in a mason jar. Add 1-2 teaspoons of dye powder to the jar. This can be in any combination of colors. For my blue-grey yarn I used 1&1/2 teaspoons of silver grey, and ~1/4 teaspoon gunmetal.  Mix with a plastic spoon.

Supplies!

Write down your recipes. Or you will forget them. This is important if you want to make the same color more than once. You can test your color by wiping the back of your spoon on a paper towel, a coffee filter, or I use my lab coat. Once you have a color that you like, add a glug of vinegar, no need to measure.

3. Combine dye and fiber. There are two methods that I like.

A) Kettle dye. 

This will produce generally one all over color for your fiber. There will be some natural variations in how the dye is absorbed, and that is good, but it will be all one color or close to it.

I do my dyeing in my really cheap crock pot, but you can also do it on the stove in dye only cookware. Add enough water to the pot to submerge the fiber in. Then add the fiber, and a glug of vinegar. Then pour some your your already prepared dye over the fiber. Mix with a spoon or other stirring utensil. If the color does not appear saturated enough, add more dye.

This yarn is in progress

B) Saran-wrap method.

This method is good for combining multiple colors on one skein of yarn/piece of fiber. Lay out a piece of Saran-wrap that is a little longer than your fiber. Place a second piece of Saran-wrap so that it overlaps the first piece by about an inch, so that you basically have a double wide piece of Saran-wrap.
Lay your fiber on the Saran-wrap longways and apply your dye. You can use squeeze bottles (hair dye bottles work well), spray bottles, eye droppers, or just pour the dye onto the fiber. You don't want too much extra liquid on the piece.

Colored with leftovers from another project

Gently massage the color into the fiber. After you are done with one side, flip the fiber over and apply dye to the other side if needed. Once you are satisfied with the colors, fold over the short ends of the Saran-wrap and then roll the fiber into a fiber-burrito (roll down the long way of the fiber). This doesn't need to be super tight, just not sloppy. Place the fiber-burrito into a (dry) crockpot.

This burrito is not for eating

For both methods - Cover and "cook" for about 30-45 minutes. The kettle method will simmer, and the Saran-wrap will steam. The heat is important for getting the color to set, but the acid in the vinegar actually does most of the work. You can also leave dyed fiber in a black plastic bag in the sun or a car trunk, but that takes longer.

4. Rinse and dry. Once the fiber is done cooking, rinse it with warm water, gradually decreasing the temperature. You don't want to rinse hot fiber with cold water, or it will felt (I have yet to try this out as a method of actually felting something, but it might be a way to felt with a high degree of control). Once the fiber is rinsed, then comes the really fun part. Take it outside and spin it to remove excess water. Optional: sing "I whip my yarn back and forth."  Hang it up to allow it to dry. Unused exercise equipment comes in handy for this. Put your bucket under the drying fiber to collect any drips. Once it is dry, use it as you normally would.

Have fun, and don't be afraid of color!

This didn't fit anywhere else, it's my first dye project from a class.

Which turned into a gorgeous pair of fingerless gloves.

~DoHP

P.S. If the color doesn't turn out the way you want it to, resoak it and dye it again! Works best if the second dye is darker than the first.

felting wool

I know it looks like poo right now!

Ding!

Musing--Freelancing?

Yesterday I got a phone call from my former academic advisor (for my MLS).  Somehow she was talking to someone who runs a museum/archive for one of the national parks and they need a website, can't hire a professional, and my name came up (lol!).  She called and left me a message asking how my job search is going, and if I would be willing to take a look at this particular client's website needs and how much I would charge.  I also keep getting emails from people I don't know either through my school listserv or saying "hey, I know (insert name here) and s/he said you might be able to give me advice on blogs/websites/digital collections".  It seems that librarians I know have recognized that I have an above average knowledge of these subjects relative to the field, and that I can also relate things in a language they understand.  It probably also doesn't hurt that I've been consulting for free--I did this for several classmates while they were building their capstone e-portfolios.  I'm also doing it for my brother now.  (Munchkin--I meant to tell you I met with my brother, we talked, and it went GREAT.  Your emotional intelligence astounds me, and your methods worked great despite my own social awkwardness.)

I'm kind of wondering if I should go freelance, at least until I either locate a "real" job or figure out if it's worth the time and effort.  Along this line, I started thinking about how Fuzzy (at one point) was talking about selling her business paperwork skills to crafters who may need help navigating these issues to run their businesses (I still think this is a fantastic idea).  I wonder if I could market my skills through our business and offer to build/manage/consult on client crafter websites?

Yes, I realize we still need to get our own website up and running.  At this point, it's mostly an issue of buying a domain name and figuring out if we want to host it separately.  This costs money, not a lot (maybe up to $15/yr on the domain and around $10/month on hosting), and I would be willing to front these costs for the business if my own financial outlook were slightly more certain.  I figure the website has been my arena, so it only makes sense that I would invest those startup costs and earn them back from online sales; that way if the website tanks due to my own ineptness, only my time/money investment, and not the business's, is lost.

I'm thinking this kind of "consulting" model could bring in more business for us by roping in crafters who already run their own sites.  Links between sites can really boost your search engine listing, so if we were to say "hey, we'll do some free consulting for you to improve your traffic and website navigability" in exchange for some friendly linking to each other's sites, everybody wins.

What does everyone think?

Alula

Crazy Family

OK so yesterday was a family get together on Mr Mans side. His aunts, uncles, grandmother and various cousins and the such. And of course little man and I went but Mr Man didn't. So I got the third degree from the family on when we are getting married (never) and when we are having another baby (who knows). That family is crazy, nice but crazy. I did get to play with little mans cousin who is this cute little 10 month old. Well that was my Sunday.

Sigh...

Alright Ladies, this is really getting ridiculous. Mr. Munchkin is on the phone arguing with his mother again. They have had a really rough time in his family getting along since the end of October. This situation is totally stressing me out and making me crazy.

He's been on the phone 25 minutes so far this time (a marathon talk for him and his mom) and I heard him raising his voice. I have no clue what the conversation is about because he locks me out of the conversations. What should I do?

~Munchkin

Vacation!

Hey Ladies,

I remodeled the bathroom this week! I though you would like to see, but Blogger would not let me the the photos in order so here ya go. Mr. is off pouting cause I yelled at him for trying to kiss my neck as I was trying to figure it out. Sorry Mr. Q.

Before!

See Q rip off wall with gloved hands!

Half way done!

Almost!

Done!

Apollo say's HI!

NOOKstudy--I wish I had had this when I was in school...

During the last month Barnes & Noble made available a new, free, downloadable service called NOOKstudy.  I stumbled upon it earlier this week while downloading some free ebooks for my Nook.  The name is slightly deceptive (in my opinion) because NOOKstudy is not a feature for the Nook device (at least not yet).  It's a download for PC or Mac that provides access to your Barnes & Noble ebook library on the computer, and more specifically, it provides access to certain etextbook services.  In the FAQ section, B&N claims that this is because the computer is the most universally owned student electronic, making the PC/Mac the natural vehicle for the first incarnation of the NOOKstudy service.  I can imagine that DRM, etextbook formating for a smaller screen, and syncing might be issues if this service were to extend to ereader devices in the future, but I bet that B&N is already looking into it.

NOOKstudy differentiates itself from the regular downloadable Nook applications with several polished services, and most notably, textbook DRM.  Through NOOKstudy, you can purchase etextbooks that can be downloaded to 2 computers associated with your account, or rent the textbooks for cheaper than the purchase price for the semester that you are taking the class.  This probably works the same way that checking out an ebook from the library works--you get a digital download with an expiration date, and after that date, you can no longer access the book.  A further difference between the NOOKstudy application and the regular Nook app is the ability to highlight text, insert digital notes, import your own documents (think class syllabus, notes taken during class in a Word .doc, or downloadable handouts created by the professor), and group documents using tags or by course.  The system is fully search enabled, and offers features like being dictionary or online lookup services from within the application.

I really wish I would have had this during all my years in college.  I have literal stacks of textbooks and notebooks in my basement that I have to search by memory to find what I'm looking for, and it would be so much easier to have it all inside my PC, where I could search my class notes like I search my email!  As a student of library science, this level of control to digitally organize and search pleases me.

Also, the ability to rent certain textbooks digitally would have been nice, because some textbooks really weren't worth the purchase price to use for one semester.  I have to wonder if some universities will fight this transition to digital tooth and nail because it's likely to put university bookstores out of business.  For example, you don't get a resale value on a digital rental.  I had professors in college who authored their own textbooks and then released new editions every few years so students would be required to buy the book new every semester (heavily devaluing the used resale value), thereby keeping their royalty checks up.  If students can now rent that textbook for $50 instead of buying it for $200, some of these money hungry, empty-student-wallet-squeezing, arrogant professors might decide to not release the book in digital form to support their profits.  As a student, if I saw this happening, I would elect to take the class from someone else--when I'm already paying 10-20K a year in tuition, I shouldn't have to buy an over-priced textbook filled with information I can find online that I will probably crack twice over the course of the semester (midterms and finals).

I do have one question/concern for Barnes & Noble regarding this service, and this has to do with renting vs. buying.  If I rent a textbook, and take notes throughout, would I lose access to my notes once the rental expires?  Also, what if I rent a book, and then like it so much that I decide to buy it--will the program automate the process of moving all of my notes and highlights from the rental file to the purchased one, or do I have to do that myself?

One thing I might suggest to B&N to include in this service is academic file sharing, similar to the LendMe service they have on the Nook devices, where you can digitally loan a file to a friend for a limited amount of time.  There's another free research aid that I have used a lot at work called Mendeley, which works kind of like iTunes for your PDFs.  You can upload your PDFs and tag them, do full text search across your library, create research groups to share what you are reading and learning, and even upload them to the cloud to have online access to your PDFs anywhere.  It's spiffy, and the base level membership is free (you pay more for more online storage, but I have never needed more than the basic level).  It would be very neat if B&N would incorporate this type of group sharing and collaboration into their NOOKstudy, thereby making it a social learning tool--this type of service might be able to overtake online learning systems like Blackboard.

Looking forward to future improvements on this product, B&N.  Keep up the good work!
Alula

DecalGirl: Before the Storm on Nook

Here are the promised pictures of my new DecalGirl decals on my Nook.  The larger decals were not as easy to apply as the smaller ones I put on my phone, but still applied without a lot of drama.  The design I picked was Before the Storm for the Nook; I picked this design because I keep my Nook in the Brontë Cover in Storm offered by Barnes and Noble, and I wanted something that would match the black cover.

I should also note that as I have read my Nook in garish light before and been slightly bother by the glare coming off of the shiny white plastic, I elected to pay the extra $5 to get the Matte/Satin finish on this cover.  I have the regular shiny finish on the skin I used on my phone, and I have to say, I think I picked right in each case.  The shiny finish skin on the phone is reminiscent of shiny plastic (like the shiny white plastic on the Nook) and the matte/satin finish is very much like a matte finish plastic (like the matte finish used around the page turn buttons on the Nook).

I was initially worried about a functional aspect of this skin, because of the Nook home button.  For anyone who doesn't have a Nook, this is a "soft" button on the Nook that does not click because it is touch activated.  The skin now covers this button, but the home button still works through the skin.  Some other reviews I read online complained a little that the cutout window for the touch screen was a little small; I will concur with this opinion--the touchscreen is still fully accessible, but the skin could have been a little more generous in this area.

 Nook before--notice the grey on black touch "n" button just above the touch screen.  This button will be covered by the DecalGirl skin, but will still be fully functional after the skin is applied.  Also, while the skin does have the arrow page turn icons included in the design, the pips that tactilely indicate the page turn keys can also be felt through the skin.  I do have screen protectors for both the touch screen and the display screen, and these need to be put on before applying the skin.  Note that while applying the skin, I did have some trouble repositioning the skin because it stuck to the touch screen protector and would peel it up when trying to move the skin around for placement--be ready to iron out any bubbles that might get under there in this process, and do it at a time of day when you are the least likely to experience high frustration.  I recommend Zen music and chai tea.

 Front of Nook with the applied skin and the matching background.  The background seems to not have formated as well as the one for the LG Vortex--on the Nook, there is a white information bar at the top with title, time, etc., and the image seems to get shrunk a little to allow for this bar.  If you look closely in the picture, you can see how the Nook has added black margins along the sides of the image to account for the image resizing for the bar at the top.  This has caused a minor misalignment with the edges of the skin, but not enough to bother me, as I'm only using this as the Nook home screen (I have a series of images from my own creation and downloaded from online that I like to use as screen savers).

 The back of the Nook with the skin.  Note that the skin is elastic enough to be pressed in and cling to the "n" brand icon on the back of the device, which is a nicely stylized touch.  As with the skin I applied to my phone, the skin can easily be pressed and worked around the rounded edges of the device to prevent and get rid of sticker edge bunching.

The Nook, with skin, inside my Nook cover.  The browny-orange-black stencils go much better with the tan inside of the cover than the white of the device, and the black goes well with the outside black of the cover.  Also, the skin serves as a surface protector for my Nook, while the Brontë cover is firm and sturdy enough to offer decent device protection from light drops and bumps.

Alula