archmage45
29 August 2007 @ 10:45 pm
A week of computer issues  
The last week has been fun, computer-wise. On Tuesday (8/21), while I was home studying, the printer died. I spent an hour trying to get it up and running again with nothing to show for it. So when Tigs got home we checked the net for what was on the market, and then hit the stores. We ended up with a very cool wireless photo-printer, with crazy cheap ink. Of course that was another $200 I didn’t expect to be spending this weekend. Anyway, we brought it home, and after a couple of hours and a whole lot of cursing later we managed to get it talking to our router, but failed to secure the wireless network. But it all worked.

Wednesday I registered and paid for the fall semester classes ($600), bought the books for them ($300), and then went on to take the accounting final. I must have done pretty well on it, as I got an A in the class. As soon as it was posted I sent in my reimbursement form. The 4 months of the fall semester, plus the month to wait for the check are going to be less then fun with that, plus the tires, plus the printer all sitting on my credit card. Ug. And then I’ll be taking 2 more in the spring. But by mid-summer I should be making enough to make up for it!

Wednesday night the internet decided it didn’t want to play with us anymore, and it’s been like that since.

Thursday night we called Comcast at around 8, after futzing with the internet and trying to make it work for a few more hours. Shockingly we actually got hold of a real live person, and after he did what was necessary to prove that we aren’t ID10T users he scheduled a tech to come and check things out.

On Tuesday. *sigh* Between 6 & 8, or so they say.

So it was a weekend without the internet. I know for some of you this would be easily as horrifying as a zombie horde coming over the next hill, or learning that Fox is yet again canceling an awesome show that barely got off the ground. In reality it wasn’t all that bad. Besides, it was a busy weekend, so we wouldn’t have spent a whole lot of time online anyway.

On Saturday we started the day by checking out the AKC Obedience trial at the dog club, and hung out there for a while. Then around 11 we headed home, packed up some stuff, and headed out to an all corgi picnic. In spite of the high humidity and very sunny sky it was a lot of fun, and it turns out that a number of ODTC members are also members of the corgi club. (Although none of them were there.) The picnic was in honor of rescue corgis, but it was open to all. Lucy had a somewhat stressful time, but overall enjoyed herself. Plus, there were puppies! (Lucy loves puppies.) The picnic wrapped up around 4, and we went home, all of us feeling tired and worn out by the heat.

Pictures will be posted soon!

At home I decided to treat myself to some painting time. I looked through some of the stuff cluttering the top of my painting table, and picked out the two assassins that were sitting there. The standard GW paint scheme is really boring: black body suits and some details picked out in primary colors. I wanted something a little more interesting to paint, though I did keep the skull masks bone looking. I opted for a dark green body suit with some fairly intense highlights. It’s not perfect, but the effect is close to what I was going for.

Again, pictures will be posted soon!

Sunday morning we went to the farmers market and picked up this week's veggies. When we came home I worked on the minis some more. As it is I still have about an hours worth of work before they’re done. Then they’ll be listed on e-bay. Why will I be selling them? Mostly because I’m not really impressed by the sculpts, they don’t fit into my army, and I don’t have anywhere to keep them.

Around noon we headed back over to the club to watch some more obedience. The main thing we wanted to see was the basic rally. (Since the Monster is signed up for a class in September.) Now, most of the time events are run from basic to open to advanced. Of course, this time it was reversed, so we didn’t get out of there till around 8. A long time, especially since I hadn’t eaten lunch. However it was cool to watch all the different dogs run through the course. Tigs was really good at picking out which of them had the top scores. Then we went home, made dinner, and watched some Reno 911.

Monday night I had my first management class. It’s MGT 105 – Principles of Management. It’s going to be a ridiculously relatively easy course, with about 500 pages of reading over 15 weeks, and some written (easy) assignments. The book though… oh god it is BAD. In the first 10-15 pages there were 3 MAJOR grammatical errors. Major enough that the editor should be shot for incompetence! Seriously they were bad enough that I noticed them! Either way, it’ll be a relatively easy “A.”

Management isn’t anything I need for the accounting certificate, but when I want to take the CPA exam I’ll need to have about 30 credits in accounting courses, and another 30 in related subjects. I already have a significant chunk of that done (more than half), so it’s mostly just filler, since I couldn’t fit another accounting course in with the intermediate accounting and dog agility. With luck they won’t stick all the accounting classes on Tuesday night again in the spring. (Again, dog agility.)

I’ve also managed to squeeze in some Galactic Civilizations time. The first couple of games I played back when I first got it ended quite badly for me. This time I played at the easiest level (rather then normal) and on the next to smallest map. I’m actually doing well in it now, but honestly at this level that’s not all that hard. At this point in the game I’ve hit the middle part where no one is powerful enough to take on anyone else directly, so everyone is trying to build themselves up as quickly and as powerfully as possible. There have been a few little skirmishes, and I’ve lost some ships, but nothing too bad. I also have a couple of battleships currently being built. Once those launch things should move quickly. Plus my culture is dominating most of the map. I’m going to see if I can use it to “encourage” some stars to defect to my Federation.

Tuesday night the cabledude was due to come and fix our line. The window we were given was from 6-8pm. So around 6/6:15 Tigs took Lucy to the park, and I waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

Finally at about 7:50 the Comcast truck pulled into the parking spot in front of the house. The tech grabbed her stuff, came in, and checked the line. The cord was a little lose, but it had a strong signal once she tightened it up. Then we checked the connection, and it worked. She stayed maybe 10 minutes. Where the connection doesn’t work is through the router, either wireless or through an ethernet cable. So last night Tigs ordered a Buffalo router, which should be arriving on Friday. It’ll be nice to have internet on my computer again. And then I’ll be able to upload this massive post, rather then keeping it on a word document.
Or just post it from the laptop, with a 50 ft ethernet cable plugged directly into the modem.
 
 
Current Mood: verbose
 
 
archmage45
25 May 2007 @ 07:25 am
Pre-Balticon  
As soon as I finish eating this yogurt the monster and I are going to take out the trash! Exciting days hua? No, actually we are. But then were going to Gunpowder Falls! I'm not exactly sure what we'll do after that. There are a number of options, and a number of things I need to do before actually going to Balticon, but I'll figure that out when we get back.

Feels so weird not going to work today... Good, but weird...

Have a great day everyone!
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Current Mood: rejuvenated
 
 
archmage45
24 May 2007 @ 06:50 pm
pro & Con  
Balticon starts tomorrow. I must admit I am a little disappointed by this year’s panels. I was hoping for more science and costuming. There seems to be an awful lot of writing panels instead. Not entirely a bad thing this year, considering the Lucymonster factor.

I’m also a little frustrated by the times they’ve got for Larry Niven’s signing times. Friday at 5, and Sunday at noon. Considering that Tigs and I aren’t pre-registered this year, there isn’t any way we can make the Friday one. Maybe, if there is someone we know, who happens to be planning on it, they could take one of my books… Please?

Why aren’t I pre-registered to a con I knew that I’d be going to? Well, mostly because last year I had been planning on joining BSFS as a member, which would have negated any need to register. That however, never came to pass. And by the time I thought about it, the online registration had already closed. We won’t make that mistake this year!!

I’m taking tomorrow off, in what is to be stage 1 of the Lucymonster-Balticon Plan™. My initial plan is to take her to either Gunpowder Falls State Park or the Robert E Lee Park. I’m going to get up with Tigs first thing in the morning, and as she leaves Lucy and I will leave too.

After we get back from wherever we end up going I’m going to go grocery shopping and pick up the stuff to make chilli in the crock pot for the weekend. I’m also looking at other dishes that I can make and bring to the con that are easy, and easy to transport. I was thinking maybe a quiche? Suggestions welcome!


Today is dragging so slowly. I all morning all I wanted to do was go to lunch and read more of Green Mars. I got to do that, and am now 15 pages from the end. 15 lousy pages!! I should have gone back to my office late. Or not wasted time eating. Ah well, I’ll be able to finish it off tonight. Sad that it’s taken me a month to read it, though considering it’s over 600 pages that isn’t too bad. It certainly could be worse, though I think that it’s going to kill the buffer I built up at the beginning of the year. Who knows though, I may squeeze another book in before the end of the month. I’ve gotten a whole bunch from paperbackswap since we started (including Green Mars) and I’ll probably end up with a new book or two from Balticon. It never fails! I’m so glad we have paperbackswap to get rid of the books we don’t want anymore. It helps to bring a little balance to things in our library.

The final Harry Potter book comes out in about 2 months, which means that in about 6 weeks I’m going to have to basically stop looking at the internet. I’m debating which (if any) of the Harry Potter books to go back and re-read. I’m fairly sure I’ll try to squeeze in book 6, but book 5… Maybe. We’ll see.

Gods how this day drags… I gave blood yesterday. It went quickly, but while I was there they had the TV on, and tuned to TBS. Now as you know, Tigs and I don’t have cable (something that my co-workers find absolutely amazing) so it’s weird seeing it. I don’t know what the show was that was on, but it was set in a high school, and I think I have seen it before, and then right after that was The Fresh Prince of Bel Air! I can’t believe they are still showing that! And not only are they still showing it, people are still watching it! No wonder America is getting fatter. Stop watching re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-runs!! The last episode aired 11 years ago this week!!

As is the standard bonus for giving blood I received yet another set of movie tickets. I think I have a total of 6 tickets now, and I know how we’ll most likely end up using 4 of them: Spider-man & Pirates.
 
 
Current Mood: cheerful
 
 
archmage45
08 May 2007 @ 10:54 pm
Busy? Just a bit.  
It was a full weekend once again. Saturday we took Lucy up to visit her doctor in Frederick . We discussed her change in bathroom habits, and they managed to collect a urine sample. It was kind of fun to watch the tech follow Lucy as she walked around the side of the vet's office with a cat food bowl, which she deftly slid under Lucy just as she squatted. They probably called today with the test results from that, but seeing as I left the cell phone at home this morning, I’ll have to wait a bit to find out. While at the vet's, Lucy also got a booster on one of her vaccines.

When we left the vet's office we went back down to downtown Frederick to hit the usual places and walk around a bunch. Frederick does this thing on the first Saturday of every month, a themed event. This Saturday was a celebration of May/Spring and so all the retailers downtown were giving away flowers. You could get a flower in every shop, and if you hit all the shops you would end the day with a huge bouquet. We didn't hit every store, and some seemed to be out, but we still have a vase full of flowers in the living room because of it! Around the 4th time going around downtown Lucy started to show signs of the vaccine hitting her; she slowed down and was walking as if slightly dizzy. So we bundled her back into the car, and drove up the road to Brainstorm Comics.

You might not have known it, but Saturday was the annual Free Comic Book Day. This has always been a pretty big day for me, ever since they started doing it about 5 years ago. Disappointingly FCBD at Brainstorm was only slightly better than Lancaster Comic Shop's showing 2 years ago. It’s especially disappointing considering the events that That’s Entertainment and Sarge’s put on. But we got our books, headed home, and Lucy crashed for the rest of the night! (One of the free comics featured a corgi artist - Christian Slade.)

Sunday felt a bit more like Monday then it usually does - we got up early, put Lucy in the kitchen, and headed to an AKC Agility Trial down in Millersville, to volunteer for the ODTC again. This time was a little different as Kim, Cory, and Alex (aunt, cousin, cousin) came down from PA to see it with us. I felt a little bad about having to work at the event while they were watching, but they all seemed to really enjoy it. Kim was thrilled at all the poodles that were running, and Tigs says she wants a puppy, as Lucy is now old. For the record, Lucy isn’t even a year old at this point. (There were some very cute puppies though. One was named after the [info]tonksmonster.) The boys are going to be pushing to get a dog more often now I think.

When we got home Sunday evening Lucy was thrilled to see us, and all the toys we brought home for her. (Each part of the event you work you get a coupon good for a toy, or $2 off food at the event, or $2 off the cost to register to run a dog at an event during 2007. We aren't going to be running a dog in 2007 and we brought our own food. Between the 2 of us we collected a total of 18 coupons, and brought home 16 toys, with two left over as proof that we were there.) However, Lucy was still worn out from the vaccine, and so we all relaxed on the couch and watched Voyager.

Next weekend is just as booked. Saturday, I’ll be going to a Hirst Arts party up near Harrisburg PA with some people I met on the INTERNET, while Tigs and Lucy will be going back to Frederick to go to the opening day of a new dog park. Sunday we are planning on tackling the BWI trail. Over 12 miles long! It’s the longest we’ve attempted yet! We’re hoping to be up to doing the Maryland portion of the Appalachian Trail this fall (40+ miles).



White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s monthly publication that is about half advertisement and half content. Of the half of the magazine that contains useful content for GW's various games, only half of it (a quarter of the original) is generally interesting to me, and most of it is more entertaining then useful. However, several years worth of issues were taking up space on one of the bookshelves and in the closet. It’s amazing how it grows to fill all that space… Anyway, I decided that to make my life a little easier I would cut up my magazines, taking out the articles that interested me, and the pictures that inspired me. Last night I finished putting all the ones I wanted to keep into page holders that fit in a 3-ring binder. It’s nice being able to flip open an binder and see all the articles that have interested me since I’ve started this, and none of the fluff. Now the only thing I need to worry about is what to do with the gutted White Dwarf issues. I gave a small stack to my cousins this weekend, and they may want the rest. Otherwise they’ll either end up in the dumpster or I may give them to the pediatric ward.
 
 
Current Mood: busy
 
 
archmage45
28 November 2006 @ 09:39 pm
Playing catch-up  
Hi everyone! Long time no update. Sorry about that. I haven’t been spending much (if any) time on the computer at home, and work has been actually busy. I feel a little bad about it, but then I also haven’t gotten any frantic comments or calls asking if I’m ok. So I guess it’s update time!

Work
I am still working at the help desk though Kelly. I actually worked Sunday which was incredibly slow (I think I took 8 calls the whole day) to make up for missing time on Monday and Thursday. I’ll also be working this Saturday in order to get a little overtime. There are some upsides to how slow working the weekend is, all the extra reading time! There wasn’t anything else to do, so I finished one book, and made it half way through another.

Future Work?
So far this month I’ve interviewed at a marketing company (joke interview), Good Samaritan Hospital, Games Workshop, and I have another interview with the city tourism organization Monday morning. Now I love these interviews, they’re great, and it’s all very exciting. The downside to them is that I have to miss work to go to them, and then I have to wait to hear anything. I’ve heard from Games Workshop, and they just can’t offer me the money I’d need, (they offered me less than I am currently making as a temp...how sad is that?) however I’ve put in another application for an accounting position, so we’ll see how that goes.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed, as there are a number of jobs that are out there that offer what I’m looking for. Now I just need one to come through for me…

Home
Have any of you heard about this?!? This is the reason both Tigs and I want an old farmhouse on a couple of acres where no one can come and tell us “No grills on your back porch” or “Your blinds must be white” or “No satanic peace signs.” Seriously why would anyone agree be part of a “community” where they can tell you what to do with the home you OWN!! If you want people to tell you what you can and can not do to your own home, why not just rent?!?

Six Feet Under
Just like [info]writergrl, [info]tigergladys and I finished watching the series finale last night. I thought that Sex and the City was the perfect series finale, but SFU nudged the bar just that much higher. I wish there was a Star Trek series... or even just a solid sci-fi series that HBO would take on. Given the freedom, I think there would be some really strong tales that could be told.

Puppy
We've got Sit solidly understood. Down and Stand are still very iffy. The puppy class is fun, and I think it's helping her with socialization more than learning commands. That's ok, the commands will come with time. [info]tigergladys has been extremely diligent working with Lucy, and it shows.

Thanksgiving
The holiday was spent at my Aunt Kim's house. Lots of cooking, lots of playing with the puppy, and generally a good time (except for Tigs almost choking to death)... now if only we hadn't needed to work on Friday...
 
 
Current Mood: relaxed
 
 
archmage45
06 November 2006 @ 08:31 pm
Election Day Eve  
It's not even 8:30, and everyone is exhausted!! Even the puppy!

The puppy fell asleep on my lap while we were all watching the West Wing. We felt that The West Wing was an appropriate show for election day eve.

You are going to vote tomorrow, right?? I'll be working as an election judge again tomorrow.

I post the picture of the puppy and hamster, cause I know it's the only reason I get comments. ;-)

This is the mini I've been working on. You can see why I hate the sculpt.

More pictures under the cut. )
But the good news is it is painted to a reasonable gaming standard, and I don't have to do anything else to it!!
 
 
Current Mood: groggy
Current Music: the puppy making suspicious-sounding noises
 
 
archmage45
06 November 2006 @ 01:58 pm
He's Back!  
I don't have a happy icon. I need a happy icon. Not only am I once again employed (as of Wednesday morning 8am) but I am making a buck more an hour!

But wait! There's More!

I have an interview in about 1/2 an hour at a place a 3 minutes drive away!

And now, a sleeping puppy:
 
 
Current Mood: ecstatic
 
 
archmage45
29 October 2006 @ 10:54 pm
Did you remember to fall back?  
We did. And now, at about 5:20 it's already getting dark. Fun!

Today's been a fun and productive day, and the amazing thing is, it's not even evening yet!! So far we've gone to breakfast, gone and picked up [info]tigergladys's new fleece, went grocery shopping for the first time in 3 weeks (well, for more then 4 items anyway), and we went on a really cool hike at Soldiers Delight. This last one required Lucy to take a shower as she was a muddy muddy puppy!



It's now 10:46. NPR is playing the original War of the Worlds. We just finished watching the second disk of Gilmore Girls, I've painted that old dreadnought to a gaming standard, which of course means I need to do more to it, but a gaming standard was my goal. Pictures tomorrow, maybe.

Lucy, due to over eating, dehydration, or something she ate/drank while on the hike (including endangered pant life) has given her stomach issues. Messy stomach issues. She's been an unhappy puppy all evening.

Also I won my auction!! Now I just have to wait for it to arrive...
 
 
Current Mood: tired
 
 
archmage45
14 October 2006 @ 11:13 am
Ewww....  
The puppy just walked up to my leg, sneezed on it, and then wiped her nose on my pants.

*Sigh*
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Current Mood: grossed out
 
 
archmage45
27 September 2006 @ 07:08 pm
Assorted Stuff  
A happy belated [info]kazzik Day!




Red Mars
By Kim Stanley Robinson
3.75/4
If you have ever wondered what the colonization and terraforming of Mars would look like, and the group of nuts who would do it, then this book is for you. It's definitely hard sci-fi, and it makes it all look fairly plausible within the next hundred years or so. I think it'll be a while before I get around to the other books in this series, but I will get to them!
I had begun reading this in paperback but the volume I had was misprinted. It stopped somewhere around page 83, and then repeated the previous 30 pages, and then picked up again around 120. I actually threw it out. I think it's the first book I've ever thrown out... But then the library had it in hard cover and it was intact. I would suggest you check out any used copy you might think of getting.

The Republic of Plato
Translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford
So much has been written about this book over the last several millennia. I don't think I have anything worth adding to that massive collection. I will say about this translation that I disliked the translator giving the notes for each section before the relevant section.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
By Richard Bach
3.5/4
My Uncle has been talking about this book for a while, so I finally asked if I could borrow it. It's a short book, but with a strong message to make yourself the absolute best that you can become, that you are only limited by your own mind. I really enjoyed the story, and my only qualm about it was the placement of the seagull pictures. They felt almost randomly inserted, were of poor quality, and rather then having a page of text on one side and a photo on the other, of had them at the beginning or end of each section, but no. Instead you got 4 pages of black and white poor quality photos of seagulls that did nothing for the story. I wonder of later editions clean that up a bit

Blood From a Stone
By Donna Leon
3.5/4
This is the first of this series that I’ve read, and the first murder mystery that I’ve read that didn’t really resolve the mystery, and what resolution there was, wasn’t enacted by the main investigator. Mostly he spent his time talking to people, and getting them to gather the info for them. While I’m sure this is how it actually works in real life, I missed the action or the humour or… the other elements that all of the other mystery books I‘ve read have had. Mind you that was still extremely well written and I haven’t read a whole lot of mystery books, so I will go back and read more of the Commissario Brunetti books!



This past Saturday we took Lucymonster to the vet for her rabies shot and a few other vaccines. She did very well, and the vet seemed to be pleased with the progress she’s making. The vet is in Frederick (actually just north of Frederick) and next to the vets office is a large grass field. Being early Tigs took Lucy to run around the field while I checked in with the vet’s receptionist. After seeing the vet I then took Lucy out to the field and ran her around. She enjoyed chasing the butterflies, and ploughing through the piles of cut grass (it was recently mowed).

After the vets we headed down to 2 Paws Up and got Lucy a new collar. With the additional 3 pounds her old one was getting tight. When she gets a little bigger (closer to her adult size) we’ll be investing in a harness. While we were there a number of other dogs and their families came in, including a pair of pugs, who Lucy then proceeded to play with. It is encouraging that she is less afraid of the dogs that she meets, and is visibly becoming more socialized with the K-9 kind.




I’ve just heard on the radio that Bruce Willis is filming his new Die Hard movie in downtown Baltimore.

Right now.

If you have ever lived in a city and a major motion picture is being filmed downtown, you know the horror that awaits me on the road in about 10 minutes.

Plus, there is an unrelated traffic accident involving a tractor trailer also downtown. *Sigh*

By the time you read this I’ll be home, but I am so not looking forward to this…
 
 
Current Mood: hungry
 
 
archmage45
16 August 2006 @ 06:52 am
This past weekend  
Today is dragging far more then yesterday did. At least it's lunch time. I have meant to write about this past weekend, but it's suddenly difficult to get a lot of time on the computer right now.

Saturday
[info]silentrequiem took [info]tigergladys and I, along with [info]jainasolo5 to see "For the Glory" the Civil War musical. I was impressed by some of the songs and actors, mostly the slaves and the abolitionist. The union captain was pretty good too. The rest of it? Eh, I wasn't all that impressed. The costumes were utter and total crap. In fact tonight at Wal-Mart I saw one of the jackets one of the actors was wearing! Zipper and all! There wasn't really any plot, just songs about the civil war, and no talking, just the songs. I was hoping for something a little more... 1776, a little more story, and much less narrative about the war. Though I don't know how many people are ready for a singing and dancing Abe Lincoln.

Sunday
Montgomery County Fair, again with Tigs, [info]silentrequiem, and [info]jainasolo5. It was fun to go to, not too hot. See Tigs' post for pictures of the animals.

Yesterday
Work went very quickly, as I hope this afternoon will. When we got home we took Lucy out to the park (pictures forthcoming). She wanted to smell everything! We then went home, made dinner, tried to watch a netflix movie, but found the disk damaged, so we watched 6 feet under with Lucy sitting between us. Then we took her for another walk around the neighborhood, and called it a night.

Note to self - Charge and bring in IPod tomorrow... light rock is killing me! **Not sure where the IPod is... bother...
 
 
Current Mood: relaxed
 
 
archmage45
15 August 2006 @ 06:41 am
Puppy Love  
Wrapping up the day here at work. The ice in the bottom of the cup has merged into a ring. Just thought I would share.

So, living with a puppy... it's exhausting. I'd forgotten that. All my prior experience with them had involved my mother, and I find there are more things that I don't know then I realized. For instance, when in a townhouse with neighbors to either side, what does one do with a barking dog? If we were living out in the middle of the woods like we want to it wouldn't matter. We could let the puppy get the idea that barking will be ignored or punished, not rewarded. However, due to the neighbors we have to keep her under some control. Which means at 2 AM we can't let her bark. Can you say "disruption of your sleep schedule"? Sure, I knew you could!

She is mostly paper trained, which is great, except that once she has used the paper 2 or 3 times she doesn't want to get on it again. While I understand that it seems that she has to go 4 or 5 times a night! On top of that she seems to prefer using the living room rug to the newspaper. So until we get that straightened out she has to be closely monitored when out of the kitchen.

She is still a joy though, and I am glad to have her in our family.



Well, due to spending time with the puppy I obviously didn't get the chance to post this last night. That's ok though. Spending time with the puppy is a good thing. Of course what I would really like to do at the moment is go back to bed. However, I still have to go to work. Damn that whole money thing...
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Current Mood: sleepy
 
 
archmage45
11 August 2006 @ 05:36 pm
In today's issue of Car and Puppy Magazine  
I registered the car in Maryland finally. That was more expensive then I thought it was going to be... yay more hidden costs. I was expecting, judging by what the web site said, that the cost would be in the neighbourhood of $120. It ended up costing $291. Once this fleecing was completed I went home and tried to remove my Connecticut licence plates. I got the front one off with no problem, but the back screws were so rusted that I could barely get the left one to turn a full rotation, and the right one wouldn't budge. I struggled with it (on and off) for about an hour before giving up and driving down the street to the nearest car dealership and asked for help. They were very nice, and even put my new plates on for me.
And yes, I spent the extra $20 to save the Bay! )

Then I drove back into Baltimore and picked Tigergladys up and we headed to BWI. Due to a lack of signage it took us a while to find the entrance to the cargo area. I even had to ask the single police officer who was stationed at the terminal entrance where it was.

Increased security = 1 cop I guess.

Anyway we found the cargo area, discovered where to park, and realized we had 30 minutes before the plane was even due to land. So we sat in the car and pulled out our books, and 10 minutes later Tigs finished hers. We then went inside to wait, looking at the board where they posted pictures of a fraction of the different puppies they had received. Then we waited. And waited. And finally at about 2:20 they brought her out to us!

Many pictures can be found HERE at [info]rodenthoarde! Check them out!!



You know those spam e-mails you get that look like they are from e-bay or paypal? I get such satisfaction reporting it to spoof@ebay.com :-D
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Current Mood: happy
 
 
archmage45
09 August 2006 @ 11:30 pm
Still an issue...  
This goes back to something I was poorly articulating in a previous post. Namely the lack of respect Tigs and I get as a couple.


In an age where couples strive to be recognized for who they are as individuals, [info]tigergladys and I have the opposite problem. Most of our correspondence is addressed to one or the other of us, with the exception of a handful of people who send us joint items. Tonight we were again discussing this over dinner, expressing our feeling of frustration at those who continue to, for whatever reason, ignore the fact that we are a not just room mates, but a real couple that has been together for YEARS. We share a bed, a home, hamsters, soon a puppy, and (for anyone who has one and understands) our libraries! We've gone through a lot in the time we've been together, and while there have been some rough patches, and a couple of really rough patches, we've survived, and grown stronger together!

Why then is this still an issue? My theory is that it is sociological, and specifically American. We aren't married. For the last 2 months every day on the drive into work we passed a billboard that said "Marriage works!" And we aren't married. We aren't engaged to each other, and our devotion and love for one another is primarily a private relationship between the two of us into which we have no desire to entangle the Government. That is our choice. Yet because of the choice and the way we go about it our bank is more likely to send us joint mail then some of the people we know, even when that mail should concern the both of us.

Don't think that this lack of recognition is in any way restricted to the mail. It sometimes seems to be mere ignorance that it could even be an issue, and other times just poor manners. Is there a proper way of letting someone know that they are being rude or insulting?

We're unmarried together. In many ways our relationship is more like that of a gay(lesbian,bi-, poly-, etc.) couple then that of a "normal" relationship. And like many non-traditional relationships ours is normal, is healthy, and is thriving!

Maybe we should send out embossed Declarations of Commitment to "officially" announce the fact that we are a couple? I wonder if that would bring us some success on the public front?


In other news we still don't have our puppy. BUT it looks like we are going to try again for Friday! Again, in the afternoon, which is a generally sucky time to have to get out of work, but still, PUPPY!!! There shouldn't be any weather issues as the high temperature is 82!!


Tonight, while at Whole Foods (why are these not everywhere?!?) we decided to try Amy's Cheese Pizza with Rice Crust. It was good. Different, but good.

Keep cool!
 
 
Current Mood: still frustrated
Current Music: Dargaard - The Infinite
 
 
archmage45
08 August 2006 @ 09:39 pm
Waiting for our adopted Welsh Baby  
Two weeks ago we were supposed to get our little girl. Today we were supposed to get our little girl. Still no puppy. Do you know how hot it was at 1:30 when the plane was to land? 86 degrees at BWI. Do you know what the cut off point is? 85 degrees. *sigh* So no puppy. The rest of the week looks to be better, temperature wise, except for Thursday. Either way we should have her by the weekend. Of course should we not get her till the weekend, the plans we've made for the weekend may get screwed up. It's so frustraiting!! Not knowing...

I think I have an understanding of those who are adopting foreign kids, like [info]muskrat_john, who are waiting for the phone call that says "she is on her way!!"

I didn't feel up to painting tonight so I played some Donkey Kong on the SNES. It's harder than I remember.

Gonna go watch a movie now.
Tags:
 
 
Current Location: Home
Current Mood: frustrated
 
 
archmage45
28 July 2006 @ 11:20 pm
TGIF  
So you've checked out the new puppy pictures right?



Yesterday evening I went to the Battle Bunker to play a little Lord of the Rings. Being Thursday (LotR night), and in the middle of a map campaign, I expected more people. There were two guys playing 40K, one guy building some space marines and working on an army list, the red shirt, and me. I spent a fair amount of time looking at some of the new books that are coming out for Lord of the Rings, and talking about all the different games, and only got an extended demo game in, but I had a good time. I'll be going back next week, and hope to meet up with the resident sculptor. I could use a few tips. Actually I could use an in depth class, but I'll take what I can get.

Plus I hope to get a game in!

So glad it's the weekend. Tomorrow will be cleaning and getting the house ready for company on Sunday.


Five on Friday
Something Sweet

1. How often do you indulge in something sweet?
I try to have something sweet every day.

2. What is your favorite kind of sweet food/beverage?
Right now? Ice cream.

3. Do you have a preferred sweetener (artificial or natural)?
Real sugar.

4. Chocolate or fruity?
Why can't it be both?

5. What is the sweetest thing anyone has done for you?
I would have to say... [info]tigergladys walking al the way to Gameboro to buy me an Army Transport Case. An 8 mile trip in the bad weather and worse side walks of Worcester.
 
 
Current Mood: sleepy