muskrat_john is currently dealing with a flooded basement, and has suffered some losses to his graphic novel collection (hardcover 300 and Girl Genius vol. 1). From this loss he posed this question:

What games or trade paperbacks would you grab first, if you only had a few minutes?

I'm presuming that basic necessities are taken care of here. That said I'd probably grab the 3 core D&D books. I'd think about some of the warhammer stuff, but they take up too much space. Plus then I'd want to bring my paints and stuff … too much. As for books, I would probably grab something I haven't read yet, and something I have read a number of times. Maybe the Chronicles of Narnia?

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Last night before agility class I touched up the paint in the dining room. I took care of the inevitable spots where the tape pulled up some of the paint, or didn't keep the trim paint out, or a spot that just didn't get enough coverage. It was kind of hot detail work in generally uncomfortable places (along the baseboard, in the corners, etc.) but it didn't take too long. After I finished that I went up to Trader Joes for some needed groceries, and then we went to class.

Agility went pretty well. The buildings air conditioner kept things tolerable, but it was still warm. Were focusing pretty heavily on weave poles right now because I'll be running Lucy in the Weavers class this weekend, and she doesn't really have them down yet. Aside from that we had a bit of a hiccup with the dog walk. I think this is due to a combination of factors, including the fact that the ramp is warped, and she slipped off of it during the walk for the animals demo. We'll see how it goes.

When we got home tigergladys went and watered her gardens while I took down the x-pen in the dining room. We then swiffered the floor, put down the rug, and took the dining room table from the living room (removing our one and only zombie barricade) and brought the chairs up from the basement. We even put in both of the leaves to the table, which means we can put all 4 chairs under the table without them sticking out several inches each.

After that was all set I pulled out the drill and installed the window shades. We had to get ones that are a little too long, which isn't too big a deal, as they can be shortened (in spite of what the twit at Home Depot said). However one of the ones I put up was actually too short! Somehow it was either mispackaged or mislabeled. This is also not a big deal because it is the right size for the blue/craft room windows.

This is the first room in the house that really looks done. While we've done the bedroom and the library, there is still a ton of clutter in each of them. The library has mismatched shelves, and the books aren't in any order. The bedroom has all the fragile stuff in it, mostly all boxed. The dining room however looks done. Sure, we still have to hang pictures, and put the books on the dining room shelves, but it's not cluttered or messy.

Next up is either the hallway or the living room. The living room is going to be a major pain. MAJOR. So it might just be better to hold off on that till we can devote some serious time to getting it done. It's probably a weeks worth of work to get it done, and unless we take time off of work to do it, it'll probably consume a whole bunch of evenings plus a couple of weekends. And of course during that time the living room will be rather unlivable. Probably more of a July project, when I'm done with my accounting class.

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Amazon still says that my D&D books are due to ship today, but the internet says that it probably wont ship till next week.

Not that I'd have any/much time to read them anyway. *sigh*

First off a slightly belated Happy Birthday to tritoochietops

Plans for tonight:
Continue painting trim in dining room
Paint second coat in bedroom closet, and in hall closet, and maybe in library closet
Paint shelves for the closets.

Not plans for tonight:
Reading the new D&D rule books - In spite of the fact that I preordered them and they were released today, Amazon didn't feel they needed to get them to me today. In fact, Amazon doesn't think that I'll need them till Tuesday.

I’d like to get as much painting done tonight as possible that way over the weekend while it’s dreadfully hot I can hide in the shade and move as little as possible.

This month’s First Saturday theme in Frederick is “I ART Downtown Frederick” Not nearly as exciting as it was when it was Literacy month and they had all those tables of books. Since Tigergladys has to work a half day, and we won’t want to be walking Frederick during the worst heat of the day, we’re probably going to be making a somewhat later trip then we usually do. This isn’t as big a deal in June as it is in November because the sun doesn’t set till much later.

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1. What's your weather?
Hot & humid

2. Where are you on your way to?
My CPA license

3. Are you good with directions?
Somewhat

4. Do you know your neighbors?
Not yet

5. What do you smell?
Not much

6. When was the last time you had your hands in dirt?
A week ago?

7. When was the last time you had your hands in clay?
Same time as the dirt. Depends where you dig in our yard.

8. When was the last time you had your feet in mud?
A very long time ago.

9. When was the last time you had your feet in sand?
3 years ago? Maybe 4

10. What part of your life could use a serious cleansing?
The house, my desk at work

( Bold the ones you've done! )

Well, we all survived Pet Expo, but it was a long weekend! And we were only there for 2 of the 3 days. With all the running around, and moving equipment, and then packing equipment, and then unpacking equipment I was so sore yesterday. Tigs and I even swapped Lucy’s classes last night; I took her to rally, and she took Lucy to agility. It was a little rough for both of us, but overall I think it went well. I wanted to do agility, but my legs were too sore.

The coolest thing about the Pet Expo had to be being invited to the judges dinner on Saturday night. Now, sure, I had a final I needed to do by midnight for my econ class… but dinner out with the judges? At a nice restaurant? Did anyone think I would miss that? I will admit I was a little hesitant, and it took Tigs telling me to go (though it didn’t take all that much effort on her part), but I went. And it was fun, and the food was really good too!

Unfortunately the grades for the class haven’t been posted yet. Coming up, I have Intermediate Accounting II and Advanced Accounting II this semester on Wednesday and Thursday nights. It’s going to be a tough semester, and maybe I should have picked a fluff course to go along with the whole home buying process. We’ll see. That is why my minis are staying all packed up. In fact that makes tonight my only real night freedom before I start with this round of classes.

In housing news we’ve decided we’re going to put in an offer for the house, and with the fed rate cut last week, and the fed rate cut predicted for tomorrow, now is such a good time to be getting a loan! Plus with the decline in sales of existing and new homes (reported last week and yesterday respectively) I’m sure that the seller is feeling worried, which to be honest is where I want him. Now the question is can we draw this out so that we sign the paperwork at the end of March, so that we don’t have to make our first loan payment until May.

Do you think it would be unethical to print out a bunch of articles about the housing market, and the economy in general, and leave them in the seller’s mail box?

Oh, and apparently last night was the State of the Union . You know, I watched/listened to ever single one of these from around 1990 on until a couple of years ago. I just can’t stand to listen to him. Next year I’ll listen. Besides, from what I’ve heard, I didn’t miss anything.

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So far tonight, my planed night to relax before everything goes completely nuts:
Laundry
Dishes
General tidying up
Burning hands from the dishes
Fail to locate camera to list minis on e-bay

Tuesday night was rough. Lucy was very much not in the mood to listen to me, and was very much in the mood to herd me. At home this isn’t such a big deal. Out on a hike, likewise, not a big deal. During agility class, as we are running side by side, and she decides to leap up and grab at my shorts and I’m in significant danger of falling on her or stepping on her, then it becomes a bigger deal. On top of the danger to her, there is also the embarrassment of having your dog not listen to you. At all. In front of the entire class. The worst part of the embarrassment is that I feel like I should know how to correct it, and I don’t. So I get frustrated, and when I get frustrated I also tend to get mad. I don’t like getting that way, because while the emotions are mine, I take it out on Lucy, and on Tigs. I get snippy, and short, and I hate it when I take it out on them.

Aside from that it’s been a decent week. I’ve gotten my grades back on all the assignments and tests for both classes, and so far I’m getting an A in both. I’m not entirely thrilled with the A in accounting though, because it’s a curved A. I’m going to have to work harder between now and the next test (2-3 weeks). I really wish that school ran on 7 week quarters, rather then the 15 week semesters. I felt so much more motivated during the summer sessions to get stuff done because I only had so much time to do it in. With 15 weeks, it feels like forever. That’s plenty of time to get everything done! Until you realize that it’s 3 weeks till the end of the term, and you now have that time to do 12 weeks worth of back homework. Personally I don’t want to spend December freaked out about school. I’d like to be comfortable with my grades and my work by that point.

I started painting up another warlock. I decided on an orange robe, something a little different, and also in the theme of the month. At first I was unsure about the color choice, but I kept at it, and wanted to see if I could make it work. At this point the robe needs maybe one more highlight, just on the very edges, and then on to the his face and hands. I really like the figure too, as there are a lot of neat little details like the frog on his shoulder, and the claw coming out of his backpack. Pictures eventually. I’d say soon, but really I can’t promise that.

( Stolen from silentrequiem )

( Friday Five! )

Damn. I was going to make pumpkin bread tonight, but the pumpkin went bad. *sigh*

Because memes are more interesting then writing (yet again) how I‘m still taking accounting, and how there is still a ton of homework for it.
Stolen from tritoochietops ( Book meme )

( Five on Friday )

For the second time this year I have a flat tire. Nothing so dramatic as the last time but still annoying. The day started out with me planning on stopping at D&D for coffee. It's been a long week, and I felt like a treat. As I was leaving for work I noticed the car was driving funny, so I pulled into the plaza right across from our neighborhood, and found the rear right tire was flat. I called Tigs, I called work, and then I called AAA. The wait time was 90 minutes for someone to get to my location!

Wait, what?!? 90 Minutes?? I couldn't even count the number of garages I could walk to in 90 minutes from my house. Are none of them with AAA?

tigergladys came to visit about this point on her way to work. Having done this before she showed me what to do, and kissed me for luck. So I moved the car to a flat spot in the parking lot, and pulled out the owners manual. I read the section on changing a tire (as I'd never done it before), took out my donut and the other tools and got to it. Getting the lug nuts loose took some work (aka me jumping on the wrench), but once I did the process went fairly quickly. I got the donut on and was ready to go. However I was still without coffee, and my hands were black with grime and grease. D&D was just around the corner. I stopped, washed my hands a bunch, and then got a large coffee and a sausage egg and cheese bagel sandwich. I made it to work only an hour late!

In calling around to the various garages in the area, getting all 4 tires replaced (they’re due) and getting the car aligned is going to cost me around $300. This on top of the registration and book costs for my next set of classes, and having just renewed our car insurance. And here I wanted to spend some money on some fun stuff. Or you know, pay off some debt, or save it for a down payment on a house. Oh well.

( Do, re, memememe! )

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Class tonight. I’ve done most of my reading, and will finish it in the hour before class. My hope/plan is to get ahead on the reading, so I can focus more on the exercises. Of course being a plan, we’ll see how long it lasts. I really want to get this stuff completely though, so that when I move onto the more advanced classes I can feel comfortable with the skills I've learned.

( Star Trek Personality Test )

It’s been a while since I last posted, and I actually have something worth posting about. And no, it’s not a painted mini. As you can imagine having a puppy that was just spayed can kinda take up a lot of time. So I haven’t touched a mini since I put away the Aragorns. Never fear though, there will be more soon-ish.

Onto the News! (This was written last week, and so is more back story then actual news)

I have a job! Exciting, hua? I’m going to be working at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore !! I’ve already filled out the paperwork and done the blood test, and yet another TB test. Monday is orientation, and then its on from there. The plan then is to take advantage of their educational benefits and get me my masters degree. Then I can get me a job that will pay me enough to get a house! Getting a house is the big life goal for the next 2-3 years. After that, I’m not sure what the big goal will be. Probably fixing the house up!!

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It is now a week into the job. Monday was orientation, and then I started actually working on Tuesday. It's been rather hectic as I come into the job with next to no hospital experience, and no experience with how an OR is run. I've spent a lot of time attending meetings and listening to people talk about things I don't know. I've also been going through what laughingly could be called their personnel files, and their payroll records, and trying to get those all updated. Both of these projects could take me well into the next several weeks. Lots to do, which keeps me from being bored.

Oh, and I have my own office. No window, but it's better then a cubical!! Oh, and I gave blood yesterday!

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We’ve been watching The Dog Whisperer from Netflix. The whole premise is that these people in LA who have dogs with issues call up Caesar to come and help them figure out what to do. The problems are usually aggression, nervousness, boredom, and lack of dominance in their lives. Basically the dogs are treated like rational humans, rather then as… well... dogs! It’s a great series, mostly because the owners are the ones with the problems, not the dogs! Watching the realization come over the owners is always the best part of the show. Well, that, and watching Caesar imitate dogs. He has this fantastic bond with his own pack, and just watching the show has shown Tigs and I a few things we could be doing better, so we’re working on that.

Happy Endings
I had higher hopes for this movie, and for the most part, they let me down. The most amusing thing about it was the written commentary that occasionally popped up during the various scenes. They made the movie interesting. Without it, it was mostly a bunch of people doing stupid things, and mostly I didn’t care.

( Five from a former Friday )

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I have a stack of books sitting next to me right now that I need to enter into 50bookchallenge before this years challenge ends!

Anyway, off to the library!

Now if only I was retiring!! I’m gonna have to wait some years yet before I can do that. Oh, but how I look forward to retiring! That is of course presuming the world doesn’t go to hell in the next 40 or so years. If it does… well… remind me to take up a few more hobbies that would prove useful should civilization collapse. Shooting is one. I’ve already got some practice at archery. My skill with plants isn’t what it should be, and I’m guessing that growing my own food will be important. Some woodworking skill will also be important. It’s interesting though, that even should civilization collapse, it’s corpse will remain, and so there will be a lot that can be scavenged. The danger will be all the toxins. I’ll probably need to look out for a Geiger counter, or at least some radiation tags. What pleasant thoughts for a Friday morning!

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It’s now afternoon. I have an interview scheduled for Monday afternoon about 3 minutes from where I live, and I expect to hear back from the temp agency on Monday morning on another position that I think I would enjoy. At this point though I am more concerned about getting something that pays, and hires… oh, say on Wednesday.

Remember to Vote on Tuesday!!!

Lucy will like that I’m home on Monday, at least for some of the day. I’ll even be able to bring her with me when I bring Tigs to work, and probably bring her when I pick her up.

Is it weird that I feel like rewarding myself? I feel like I’ve accomplished something, and that I should be recognized for it, but honestly I can’t figure out why!! It’s like want to celebrate finishing this job, which in a way makes sense, but only sort of. My contract was ended, it’s not like I had an end date and I made it, or I finished my work (though I have finished today’s work), or I have a job lined up for Monday, or even Wednesday, yet I want to reward myself. How weird is that? The good news is that I am getting a reward for myself on Saturday morning. That’s when Tigs and I will go and pick up the various packages we have waiting at the post office.

I’ve painted up my old school (2nd edition?) Chaos Dreadnought. It actually doesn’t look too bad, though I really hate the sculpt. It just doesn’t look enough like the rest of the army to fit in. However it will serve until I can finish scratch building one from my leftover defiler parts.

Gods, it’s actually 40 minutes till I can call it a day, and I have NOTHING to do except this. I could find something to do, but really, who cares? It’s my last day. More tea, that’s what I can do.

Things I am thankful for: Good books
In my childhood I wasn’t much of a reader. I could read, and I could read with a comprehension level far beyond my age, but I just didn’t care to. There was still so much to see, and so much fun to be had just playing. Yet in 1987 Star Trek The Next Generation aired, and I got hooked. I wanted more! I was introduced to the novels, and read some of them. Then in 5th grade I was introduced to Narnia and I started to see how interesting books could be beyond the final frontier. Since then I have read lots of fantasy and sci-fi, some thrillers, some mystery, some romance, a bunch of chic lit, some general fiction, and even some non-fiction. All of it has provided some escape. No, not escape exactly, more going to see something, then trying to get away from it. Though I must admit it was useful when reading was a good excuse to avoid doing my chores!!

Time to clean the desk and call it a day.

Meme stolen at phaser point from onomatopoetry

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE

Name: David
Birthday: April 13th
Current Location: Work.
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: brown, almost black
Righty or Lefty: Sinister Lefty!
Zodiac Sign: Aries


LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE

Your fears: Too many
Your perfect pizza: Mushrooms, sausage, onions
Your current obsession: Finding a job?

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW

Your thoughts first waking up: It’s too early!!
Your best physical feature: I think I have nice hands
Your bedtime: Around 11
Your most missed memory: If it’s missing, how do I know I miss it?

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:

Pepsi or Coke: Water, tea, or coffee
McDld's or Burger King: Popeye’s
Single or group dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: New Balance
Lipton Tea or Nestea: *Gag*
Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?

Smoke: No
Take a shower: Yup
Think you've been in love: Yes
Believe in yourself: Yes

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH

Drank alcohol: No.
Gone to the mall: Yes
Been on stage: No
Eaten Sushi: No
Been dumped: By work
Gone skating: No
Dyed your hair: No
Got asked out: I have an interview on Monday


LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER:

Played a stripping game: Yes
Gotten beaten up: In 3rd grade
Changed who you were with to fit in: A bit.


LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLD:

Age you're hoping to be married: *Shrug* Who needs the ceremony when you have the personal commitment. That’s what counts anyway.
Age you hope you die: I think making it to 80 would work. However 200 would be cool too.
Age you want to have kids: Not really
Name 3 things you want to do before you die:
1. Travel the world
2. learn to sculpt decently well
3. own a house with Tigs!

LAYER NINE: IN A GIRL/GUY

Best eye color: I’ve always liked blue eyes
Best hair colour: I prefer my blue eyes with dark hair.
Clothing style: Whatever fits them best.
Serious or funny: Both

LAYER TEN: what were you doing:

1 MINUTE AGO : Drinking tea
1 HOUR AGO: getting an interview
1 DAY AGO: at work, job hunting
1 YEAR AGO: Working at my old job, counting the minutes till I got my Christmas bonus.

LAYER ELEVEN: FINISH THE SENTENCE:

I LOVE: Virginia
I FEEL: anxious to get another job, maybe one I like!
I HATE: feeling like I let my family down
I HIDE: my thoughts
I MISS: That Christmas bonus!
I NEED: to get a job!
I WANT: to be paid an obscene amount to paint and sculpt minis.

You went trick or treating as CorranHorn.
SimonTam gave you FancyImportedBeer.
Snarf gave you ARustyRazorblade.
Dax gave you TheGobletofFire.
Horatio gave you TheRedPill.
You had a ace time until SallyBowles burned down the church.

What's Your Trick-or-Treat Haul?
Shiver My Timber--A Pirate RPG

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I got told today, about an hour before going home, that my position at Johns Hopkins will be coming to an end as of the end of work on Friday. The official explanation is that with the return of an employee from FMLA that TPTB want the department to trim their temp staff. So far tonight I have applied to about 40 different jobs. Most of them I am overqualified for. Unfortunately my BA in History and Political Science makes me overly qualified for a whole lot of things, and qualified for nothing. Expect more posts in the near future about job hunting...

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November is the month of thanksgiving, so I'm going to begin a series of posts about things I am thankful for. This is something I've been thinking about for a while, and I think that writing it down, putting the thoughts to paper (or LJ), will further my effort to be a better person. So, without further ado, day 1!

I am thankful that I have a home. Home to me is some place that is yours, some place that you can go and be safe from the world, even a little. Home to me is a place where no one can tell you you don't belong, and where the people in it love you. Home is the place where they leave the light on for you, where the door is always open to you. I had this originally (and where I developed my concept of home) in my childhood with Mum, Dad, Anna and all our pets. Now home is a place I've created with tigergladys and our rodenthoarde. Without home, the roof over my head would be only that; shelter. I can have shelter anywhere, but to have a home takes effort, it takes being there for the other members of home, and I have been blessed with people who have and people who now love and care enough to make where I live a home.

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NASA has announced that the mission to service Hubble will launch sometime in mid 2008. This should extend it's lifespan to 2013 or so! My computer backgrounds (which are mostly pictures from the Hubble) are safe for a while longer!

Written over the past week at work, in between writing about Raoul.
( Trick or Treat )

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Some reviews!

Casanova – Fluffy but fun. I was a little surprised at the R rating considering there wasn’t any nudity, the language wasn’t anything beyond what you see on TV and the violence was mild save for an inquisitorial torture session that was well below what you might see on 24. The costumes, sets, mat paintings, and cgi were all very pretty, if mostly inaccurate. And the pigs were very cute! If you are looking for a 2 hour fluffy love story with some decent actors check it out. Definitely a renter though. I doubt you’ll want to add it to your collection.

House season 2 – Wow! Seriously wow! There were some really good episodes, and I can not wait for season 3 to come out on DVD. Yes, I know it’s still on TV right now, and I’ll have to wait nearly a year to see what happens, but I want it NOW! So good!

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Monday night Tigs and I did some preparing for the change of season. Well, I cleaned the hamster tanks and helped her sort her wardrobe. The dresser is a little full (and by a little I mean some of the drawers didn’t close all the way), so we looked through everything, and bagged stuff she didn’t like or that didn’t fit for goodwill. Her summer clothing is now all packed away, and her warmer winter clothing is all in the dresser. We also found some of my clothing that had been mixed in towards the end of packing in Worcester . This included a stash of socks, which is very exciting for me as I’ve had to toss a number of them lately due to holes in the toes.

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There is a Jimmy Buffett song that starts with the line “A broken promise I’ve kept too long” This line resonated for me most recently as I’ve been trying to deal with my feelings towards old friends and ex’s, the ones who hurt me. I’ve always felt strongly that people are in general good at heart, and that while they may screw up, it usually isn’t a malicious act. But am I right? More and more I’m beginning to think I’m wrong about that, at least in some cases. You see, even after they hurt me, I still cared about them, even forgave them without their asking for it, and kept it all to myself. Now ask just about anybody and they’ll tell you that isn’t healthy behavior. If one of my friends did that, I’d tell them to stop sucking it up and let it out! It’s ok to be angry about getting hurt. Getting angry is good, it’s a release. You don’t have to act on that anger and go out and shoot people (in fact if you let it out rather then pent it up for 20 years you are less likely to shoot a bunch of Amish school girls).

So the hurt is still there, and somewhere down deep where I buried it, the anger is too. I’ve been writing letters, and I have more to go, trying to confront that anger. And the more I think about it, the more letters I add to the list. I think the letters help. They are concrete physical manifestations of my feelings in black and white. Actually blue and white, but it works the same way.

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On Soap
For years now I’ve experienced a burning sensation when I am exposed to too much soap. Doing a sink full of dishes would make my hands burn for an hour at least. Showers weren’t much better. Little amounts I could handle, say washing my hands, or a couple of dishes. I was always frustrated by that, and when I told someone about it the reaction was always a look, half a step back, quick sniff, and then saying something like “Allergic to soap hua? That sucks.”

Last night though, without even noticing, I did 3 loads of dishes. And no burning! Was it a miraculous cure? No. It was merely a cleaner soap, one that is without additives. What is this magic soap? The Method! http://www.methodhome.com/ Even better is that it’s not just dish soap. It’s a whole line of products that don’t aggravate my skin! It’s amazing what natural products can do, and not do!

Another thing that natural, healthy products have managed to do is to help me lose weight. I’ve found that not only do healthy foods taste good (often better then the alternatives) but I eat less of them because my body knows that it’s taken all the nutrients that it needs. I’ll have to post some of my favorites for you soon. This is actually a well known phenomena when it comes to pet food (advice we were given often when we were talking about getting a puppy, and something we did already for the hamsters, and have for years!), however people seem to forget that it works the same way for us. We are still meat machines that need fuel and like any machine, we need high quality fuel to run well. It also helps to cook your own food, rather then rely on pre-packaged crap or fast food. Something we've learned by being poor. I'm down from almost 200 lbs to 170 without really trying! That whole lifestyle and exercise thing really works. Try running with your puppy every day and eating healthy food, and it's amazing the things that happen.

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Good night all. I'm being licked, which means it's time for bed.

I just had a feeling of déjà vu. I used to have it happen more often, and it was a very strong feeling. Yet at the same time it seemed to lack any emotional impact or jarring effect, which is odd, considering all my prior experiences with déjà vu.

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I’ve only got about 15 minutes of work left at this point. Tonight is grocery shopping. Again. I’m out of bread, and it’s hard to spread PB&J on thin air. Doable, but hard, and then getting it to work… not so much.

It’s also time to wash out my water bottle. It’s beginning to taste a little funky.

If I get some painting time in tonight I should finish up Rocket Girl and maybe Hero. I finished Demo Man and Animal, but I need to take some pictures of them that don’t look like crap. What I need to do is to take the pictures in daylight, with a neutral backdrop. I should really consider making a photo display base. Speaking of Rocket Girl, I decided to use “Tanned Flesh” to paint her skin, and yet again GW used a purple as the base color in that mix. Why purple? How many people do you know who are purple?? And does anyone have a good idea on how to paint Asian skin? *sigh*

After I finish with Hero and Rocket Girl I’m gonna hold off on the other 6 Last Chancers and work on something else.

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This past weekend while out doing our errands we ended up in Glen Burnie looking for an AC Moore and a Petco. The Petco doesn't open till the end of the month (would have been nice if the web site has said that!) and the AC Moore was nowhere to be found. However it wasn't a total loss as we swung by the Games Workshop Battle Bunker (their Big stores) and Tigs got a chance to check out the new location. It's much nicer then the old one; more open and better lighting! They didn't have a printed schedule, but did have the board with their events listed. We then left and headed to the plaza across the way where there was a Petsmart! Still needing matting for some pictures we headed up to White Marsh to go to the AC Moore that we know is there. We got the matting, and Tigs picked up a new cross stitch pattern.

Speaking of, if anyone has a spare cross stitch frame that they want to send, it would be an awesome care package.

And since we were there we stopped at the GW store at that plaza and got their schedule! It's pretty much the same for the basic events, with only the special events differing. However just having been to the Battle Bunker it felt cramped and uncomfortable.

When we finished there, we then headed to the comic store on the way home to get the stuff from our box. The only thing this week was the new White Dwarf. So even though I had been to 2 different Games Workshop stores, and the comic store, I only got a single magazine. I'm so proud of myself for my restraint!

I plan on further testing this restraint by going and gaming at the Battle Bunker on Thursday evening. Going to actually try playing Lord of the Rings, rather then just collecting and painting the minis!

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As I wrote above, tonight was grocery shopping. Between sales and coupons we managed over 20% savings, and got enough food to get us through the next two weeks (give or take)! Yay!!

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Stolen from Newness of Life

5 Things in my Refrigerator:
1. Couscous
2. Strawberries
3. Fruit muffins
4. Hot dogs
5. WATER!

5 Things in my Closet:
1. Craft stuff
2. Boxes, lots of boxes!
3. Christmas stuff
4. Swords and other items of potentially sinister purpose
5. Monkey puppet

5 Things in my Purse: I'm substituting my wallet for this question
1. 2 nearly maxed-out credit cards
2. AAA Card
3. Drivers licence
4. A metric ton of store cards
5. "In case of emergency..." card

5 Things in my Car:
1. Window reflector thing
2. A book
3. Various Google maps directions
4. Sunglasses
5. Lots of pennies

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I need to update 50bookchallenge...

Books 22-24
Why do men have nipples?
By Mark Leyner & Billy Goldberg, M.D. 3/4
A good bedside or bathroom read. Funny, quick, and shockingly informative.

The Tao of Pooh
By Benjamin Hoff 3.5/4
I've been wanting to read this one for years, and I found it and the Te of Piglet at a yard sale for a buck! It would have been worth it at cover price. Another relatively short read, but if you want a true example of an original western Taoist look no further then our favourite bear of little brains!

All Creatures Great and Small
By James Herriot 4/4
The vignettes in this volume are so lovingly told as to bring this rural community to life. I was a fan of the show from my childhood, but picking up the book makes it so much more vibrant. I'm so glad that the other volumes in this series are sitting right on that shelf just over there! A must read!

So, guess who got called back for a second, follow up interview at Games Workshop?

*GRIN* I didn't expect such a quick response, especially considering my prior history with communications with GW. So because of that I didn't have the cell phone with me, and so missed the call. I will however call him back tomorrow, and schedule the interview. His message said he hoped to do it tomorrow or Friday. Because I couldn't get back to him before close of business today it'll have to be Friday. That gives me all week to enjoy the feeling before having to worry about them offering me something that A) I want. B) Fits the schedule I need to keep (aka M-F 1st Shift) and C) $.

archmage45's Past Lives

V V V

928 BC: Roman Senator

970 AD: A servant to royalty

1773 AD: A grave robber

'What were you in your past lives?' at QuizGalaxy.com

And why didn't anyone tell me the Klingon look was in this season?

It’s the end of the day, and I’ve wrapped up everything I was working on, so now again time to type.

Tonight Tigs and I are going to go see “An Inconvenient Truth” with ellisdsme and silentrequiem. I‘ve been wanting to see this since I first heard about it. I’ll give you a review tonight or tomorrow.

Tigs and I have also been catching up on some pop culture in the form of Desperate Housewives. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it as much as I have been, but it is really smarty written, and also funny! I think the best part is that when the characters do something, there are consequences. It really isn’t a show you can jump into the middle of, at least, not and get the whole effect. I’m going to have to wait till August for the release of season 2 on DVD so we can netflix it, but I think it’s actually worth the wait!

Just about time to wrap up the work day. See you all after the movie!

( But first, a Meme! )

Take the quiz at dicepool.com

Ah, the d10! While you aren't actually a true regular polyhedron, you are the only die that makes logical sense--metrically speaking. Chances are, others see you as over-analytical or a goody-goody. While that may be true, you also have a gift for patience and tolerance. Growing up you probably had a calculator wristwatch that you never really needed to use (since you were faster on your own), and you probably aced all your classes (except for gym). You use the metric system almost exclusively, but are able to quickly convert in mid-conversation for the sake of your backwards Imperalist friends. You've coded in at least two different programming languages, and have created more original gaming systems than you'll ever admit. You're generally not a show-off, but you do take pride in being called either a geek or a nerd.

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I took some pictures today of random bits of Baltimore and I thought I would share! ( Enjoy! )