I'm feeling a whole lot better then I was at the beginning of the week. I still have a little bit of a cough that creeps up on me now and again, but aside from that, I'm good to go!

School - started Advanced Accounting 1, terrible first class, but it can only improve. Oh, and I finished Intermediate 2 and Advanced 2 with A's.

Tomorrow the D&D core books should arrive. I am unreasonably excited about this. I also have a gaming day planned with my cousins in a couple of weeks. We're going to be playing some Lord of the Rings, but we haven't picked the scenarios yet. Need to do that so we can pull together our army lists.

I'm going to be interested in seeing what comes out of the Obama camp now that the primary season is over. Clinton would be a bad choice for the VP slot, but at the same time she needs to be asked. I think she would make a good Secretary of State, but I don't really know what she wants (aside from the presidency, which she isn't going to get).

It looks like summer is going to arrive this weekend. Highs in the 90's, and staying there for the foreseeable future. We get to see how cool the house stays. Even in the 80's the house isn't bad, and the basement is great.

Off to class!

I tossed a very simple chili into the crock pot this morning. It's just beans, tomato and seasoning. I turned it on low, and left for work. It should make a filling, long lasting series of meals. Tonight for dinner I had a bowl, and it was yummy. Not as good as it is with all the other stuff in it, but still warm and filling. Goal accomplished!

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I've been meaning to write about agility, but I keep getting sidetracked. Mostly I've been the one working in class with Lucy for agility, while Tigs has been focusing on the obedience/rally & tracking side of things.

Lucy is a very driven dog and not the most patient either. Start line stays (when you sit or down the dog prior to beginning your run) are a struggle, and she isn't the most forgiving of any mistakes or breakdowns in communication on my part. If I am not giving her the direction she's looking for she tends to react in one of two ways: she either nips at my pants, or she runs off to do her own thing. Mind you, this is entirely my fault as the handler, and simple little mistakes can turn into big misunderstandings in the ring. Body position is a big deal. For instance, I have a tendency to stoop slightly when giving Lucy commands, (I'm not entirely sure why) but Lucy responds better to me when I stand (or run) with my back straight. Slight changes to how I hold out my arms can change the direction Lucy will go in, and I have to keep talking to her and directing her (not exactly easy when running at the speeds Lucy goes) otherwise we run into the nipping issue.

The thing about all that, is that I'm learning. I can actually see progress! On my end!

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I managed to see the eclipse last night. I didn't think I would, because it had been snowing up until I went into class at 6. But when I got out at a little after 9, the sky had completely cleared. It was great!

Of course its supposed to snow again tonight, and then turn into sleet and freezing rain tomorrow. Ah well, I guess it still is winter.

Books I've completed in January:

….

Ok, I hope you enjoyed the review of all the books I finished last month. As you can see I am well on my way toward completing my goal of 50 books by the end of the year. I'm close to finishing 2 books, but if things continue at this pace, I'll be lucky if I read 25 books this year.

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1. Which open-all-night establishment has been a lifesaver for you?

The grocery store

2. What open-all-night establishment is closest to where you live?

Giants grocery store

3. What nonexistent open-all-night establishment could you really use in your life?

Hobby/game/comic store. Heck, it would be nice if one of these existed nearby even if it wasn't 24hours/day.

4. Which open-all-night establishment in your town is least likely ever to see your

patronage in the wee hours of the morning?

I actually can't think of anything else around here that's open all night.

5. Have you ever purchased anything advertised on television late, late at night?

Never.

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In case you didn't notice, today is Super Tuesday, and also Fat Tuesday. I won't be voting until next week, and I don't expect today to really bring a democratic front runner. I was going to vote for Edwards, but now I'm leaning strongly towards Clinton.

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Once again the temperature is crazy hot at work. 26.9 degrees!! It felt like I should have been wearing a towel while sitting next to a pile of rocks that I should pour water on. Luckily they did, eventually get the things working, and by 3 it was back down to a reasonable 22.6.

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So Lent starts tomorrow. I'm curious what you are all giving up? Of course that only goes for the Christians on my f-list… for everyone else, what would you give up if you had to give up something?

Me? I'd be giving up… Honestly I feel kinda stripped down as it is.

There's a science blog that I read, called Centauri Dreams. Its charter, as taken from the website:

In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities.

He usually updates at least once a day, and it's a nice way to keep up on what's being looked at out there. Mostly he focuses on extra solar research, but he does make note of interesting things going on within our star system.

Today he wrote about extra solar terrestrial planets, and it makes me wonder what I'll see in my lifetime. Will I, by 2050, see a picture of an extra solar planet? Will we have launched a true interstellar probe? Or even an extra solar one? To reach even the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, at the speed of the fastest man made object (Voyager 1) would take 74,000 years. That's at 1/16,000 the speed of light. We need something that goes at least 1,000 times faster then that to be at all useful. And even if we had something that would go that speed, how to slow it down so that it doesn't just shoot through the system and keep on going?

So what then, if interstellar exploration will be limited to telescopes within the solar system during my lifetime? Well, there's still a lot of mystery about our own system. We've only scratched the surface of our own little rocky planet, and have at best stirred up a little bit of dust on the other worlds of the Sol system. Mars is still a tempting target, and I expect I'll live to see humanity set foot on it. Exploration of the asteroid belt I'm willing to bet will turn up some unexpected finds. I also think I'll see some international regulation about space trash, after a tragic loss of life from a stray piece of metal. We'll also find a couple of objects that will pass us closer then the moon.

In the last 2 hours of work the temperature climbed from 22.5 degrees to 25.4. I was sitting there sweating. In scrubs! Ug!!

tigergladys actually called out sick today, and went to the clinic! We'll see if the prescriptions actually work. She has bronchitis with fluid in the lungs (walking pneumonia? they didn't test to be sure) and an ear infection. Lucky her, and guess who gets to go to rally tonight. Lucky me.

Snow! Finally some snow! I must admit I was a bit jealous that those north of here had already gotten snow, where as we’ve only seen cold winds, and a tiny bit of ice. Up until yesterday anyway! Now we have about 1.5-2 inches of snow on the ground, which looked peaceful as it was coming down. Of course it’s cold out and so cold in the house too. It was a mere 55 degrees in the living room this morning. Brrrr.

Not that I’m looking for an excuse to turn on the heat. I like my BG&E bills to stay down below $70/month, and while the house is chilly it isn’t cold. I do however need to get another sweater, as Tigs has all but stolen it from me, only to return it long enough that it starts to smell like me before she steals it again. At this point I only have that one sweater and a Naugatuck High School Chamber Singers sweatshirt. Hmm. That means its 12 years old now.

The group project for management class was completed successfully. I’m pretty sure that just about everyone in the class will be getting an A. Unless of course the participation reports that are getting turned in strongly say someone didn’t participate.

Meeting with the mortgage councilor on Tuesday raised more questions then I think it answered, and I’m not really sure I’m comfortable with the answers I did get. That means it’s time for some verification from an independent source!

Accounting class last night was… well it was mostly empty. There are about 25 students total (maybe more), and I think there were only 8 that showed up. That’s rather poor turnout for the last class before the final. The final is going to be a lot of theory, rather then problems, which I must admit I prefer when taking multiple choice tests. He hasn’t graded the extra credit yet, which was actually the thing I was most looking forward to getting back. He did let us out early due to the weather, which was nice.

This weekend I made a stew, using up a lot of left over stuff that we had in the house. Some potatoes, red beans, 2 onions, a bunch of garlic, mushrooms, and some vegetable broth. Final verdict – eh. The textures are good, but the flavor is a little lacking. I may try adding some mustard, which I found works really well for bland chili.

Five on Friday
1. Eat nothing but chocolate or go without chocolate for the rest of your life?
I’d probably go without. Eating nothing but would get old real fast.
2. Stub your toe or get a paper cut?
Stub my toe. Paper cuts seem to last longer
3. Write the news or make the news?
Ohh…
4. Lose 10 pounds or gain 10 IQ points?
Gain 10 IQ points hands down!
5. Wear a costume to work or wear normal clothes to a Halloween party?
Costume to work, again, hands down!

6. If you're dressing up (yourself or your kids) for Halloween, who are you/they going to be?
I’m going to go dressed as an accounting student.
7. Handmade costumes or store-bought?
I’m going to say the pieces are all individually store bought, but I’m putting them together.
8. What age did you last go trick-or-treating?
I think I last went at 18, but mostly cause I was going around with my sister and several of the houses we stopped at hadn’t had anyone else come by. So they split the candy between all of us.
9. Have you ever egged someone's house on Halloween, or done any other such "trick"?
Never.
10. Do you believe in ghosts?
I believe that there is a whole lot about the nature of the universe (multiverse?) that we don’t understand.

It finally feels like fall, and we’ve gotten 3 days of rain to help make up for the long dry summer!! The downside to this is the fact that everyone around here has forgotten how to drive in anything except clear dry roads. The number of accidents has to have doubled for the last couple of days.

This afternoon we took Lucy to the dog club and practiced both agility and obedience, as well as gave her lots of time to play with her puppy friend Tonks. Now she's all tired out, and the house is quiet. She isn't even crying that Tigs is sitting in the dining room next to it's cage.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow! I'm taking Tigs out on a date. I'm afraid I can't tell you where, because she doesn't know yet. But I know it's something she's definitely going to enjoy. :-)

2 weeks ago the new power cord for my X-box arrived. For the first time since then I actually used it! Last night I began a game of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic . I played for a little over an hour, and so far I like the way the game progresses. I can definitely see why the game is popular, and why is spawned a sequel. The game play is pretty smooth, and as it’s d20 based I know how just about everything works. I’m not sure when I’ll get some more time to turn on the X-Box, but when I want something with a little more story than Halo I’ll probably be playing Knights of the Old Republic .

Today’s high is 81 degrees. 81!! Did someone forget to remind Mother Nature that summer is over? And that we are now a month into autumn? I’m willing to bet that by the time October is over it will go on record as one of the warmest in history. Not because there have been a ton of record highs on individual days but because overall the month has been 10-15 degrees warmer then usual. Crazy. And I am SO ready for cool weather. Not that we had a particularly hot summer, but I just haven’t been feeling in the fall mood. I haven’t even gotten any candy corn yet!!

So you know we got a guinea pig right? While at work today I’ve been reading up on them, and as crazy as it sounds I’m seriously considering getting her a cellcage mate. On the pro side is the fact that they are social animals, and Tigs and I are away 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, plus we have a puppy. On the con side is the worry that if they don’t get along we’ll have to separate them, just as Yann’s had to be separated.

I had my first test in 102 tonight. Of course I've already done 5 chapters worth of homework and quizzes, and have another 5 (or 6?) to go before the end of the summer. Not an easy class, and the teacher is radically different then the one I had for 101. I'm learning a lot from both of them, but I really preferred the previous ones style. Anyway, he handed the test out early to those who were "ready" for it. This means I got out early, as it was a 50 question multiple choice test. It was nice to spend the better part of the evening at home, even when that means being with a whiny puppy who has lots of energy when it's too hot to go outside and be active.

I can't wait for fall. Cooler temperatures, and I'll be out of this class. Of course I'll be in 2 other classes, plus Lucy's agility class, but I'd really rather that then this heat and humidity. It's going to be in the upper 90's all week, and breaking to hit the upper 80's for the weekend. It'll feel like a cold snap.

Oh, and congrats to fearofbutterfly on the new unexpected addition to her family! It's a very cute hamster, and I think she's going to be a great hamster-mom.

What’s a favorite shortcut of yours? I don't know that I have one...

What’s something you insist on doing the long way? Just about anything crafty. I just seem to have this compulsion to do it the hard way. Even if it isn’t a model I particularly care for. I get a little OCD about it.

What does your favorite pair of shorts look like? My favorite pair of shorts is a linen pair, off white in color.

Excluding classical music, what’s the longest song in your iTunes? While I don’t have it on ITunes, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterly is probably the longest at about 17 minutes.

What’s the title of a short story you really like? Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe.

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Written Friday

In a highly hopeful move, last night I spray primed 6 minis: the elementals and the mounted and on-foot version of Khamul the Easterling. I’m going to bring them with me to the Craft & Movie night at Gaers. I want to try speed painting the elementals, and getting all 4 of them done that night. I have no idea how that’ll go, especially as each one is completely different from the others. My goal for the fire elemental is to get this effect. The water and the earth elementals are going to be the easiest. Air? I don’t know. I want to avoid blue. I’m thinking maybe tans & browns, like a tornado? We’ll see how that goes.

And I know Gaer sent out the e-mail, and is hosting, but CRAFT NIGHT ON THE 16TH!!!

Today is going to be hot! It’s already hot actually, but it’s going to get hotter. This morning we set up 2 fans for Lucy, and I froze her 2 water bowls last night. When I get home this afternoon I’m going to see how hot it is, and if the A/C needs to be turned on. We’re hesitant to do that, as BGE just raised Maryland ’s energy rates by 50% last week, and they just raised them significantly last year. But if it’s too hot, we’ll have to. It’s cruel not to. Besides, I’d be miserable too, and I get whiney when I get too hot. No one wants that!! :-)

Tomorrow Tigs has to work. A crappy mandatory sort of thing, but the overtime will be nice. My plan is to take the puppy out for an early hike, maybe to Soldiers Delight, and then to come home and work on homework. I’ve got 3 chapters worth of exercises to do, and at least 2 chapters to read and outline (should probably do 3) for Monday.

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tigergladys has left for work, I've got some coffee, and am now going to run the vacuum quickly before Lucy and I head out. When I got home yesterday the house was thankfully cool. I think the 2 fans and blocking all the light from coming in helped a lot.

I had things I wanted to write about... Last night in fact something happened that I said out loud to tigergladys that I wanted to post about, and now I can't remember what it was.

Nope, still can't remember. Ah well.

Yesterday we were considering going down to DC to see all the cherry trees in bloom, however the unseasonably cold weather combined with Tigs suffering from bronchitis (again), and having no idea where to park in DC for less then the down payment of a small house made us head out to Frederick instead. We walked around the down town area about 3 times, hitting the usual places (Two Paws Up, Ten Thousand Joys, and The Trail House) and Lucymonster visited with everyone she could!

When we got home we snuggled on the couch and watched the first disk of the first season of Star Trek Voyager. I really think that they should have spaced episodes 2 and 3 farther apart. They were really too similar. In fact the treknobabble was almost exactly the same.

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What if Joshua Bell played for over 1,000 people, and they didn't even notice?

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I tried to sign up for my summer classes. It seems I have to take a placement exam before they will let me, so I'm gonna get out of work a little early tomorrow and do that. Can you say waste of time? I have 2 college degrees done already, what are the chances that I'm going to fail at an exam that covers such things as basic mathematics? Needless to say it's silly, but then I was expecting a good portion of this whole exercise to be silly. I just need to remember that the goal is worth a year or 4 of silly. Besides it's free!

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What the hell is up with the weather? Seriously, I left New England, and expected that wild shifts in temperature wouldn't follow me. Well, it seems they did. It was in the 80's this week, and it snowed yesterday.

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I've posted a couple of role playing things to e-bay. They are items I've never used, and I know I'll never use, so I'm clearing the shelf space for things I'd rather have! Like seasons 4 & 7 of Voyager!

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I was looking for some computer game recommendations. Both Tigs and I really enjoyed Diablo II and are looking for something else pretty much exactly like it.

I was also thinking of picking up one of the Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic games. Which one should I go for, or does it not matter much?

Along the same lines, what is everyone's experience with The Sims?

It rained. It iced. It sleeted/hailed. It snowed.

This was after the temperature was up to maybe 80 this week. Last night we lost power. Last night we lost power half way through baking a pot of corn pudding for dinner.

This is what it looked like at around 7 or so last night. It had just switched to snow.


Luckily at this point (just after noon) most everything is melting away. It's still cold out, being about 35 degrees or so, but with luck this will be winter's last gasp before spring officially takes over next week.

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1. Are you a fan of soup?

Oh yes!!

2. What is your favourite kind of soup?

Pumpkin soup is up there, but my all time favourite must be clam chowder in a bread bowl

3. Are you a fan of nuts?

Some

4. What is your favourite kind of nut or dish containing nuts?

honey roasted peanuts

5. If you had to eliminate either soup or nuts from your diet for the rest of your life, which would you choose?

Nuts, I couldn't live without soup!

I’m of two minds about this whole daylight saving time thing. On the plus side is the extra hour of light at night during which we can do stuff. Said stuff includes painting, playing with the puppy outside, and generally fun activities. On the negative side it means that the sun is barely up by the time I get to work, I lost an hour of sleep last night, and it screws up my internal clock for at least a couple of weeks. *sigh*

There are two things you can count on in life. Last night I started to tackle the taxes part of that duo. I say started because Tigs and I moved last year. For those of you who have not moved to another state in your adult life, let me share the excruciating joy that it brings at this time of year. You see, even if you have an insanely simple set of federal taxes, the states in their infinite wisdom have to have a special form for those who leave or come to either of their fine dominions. This form of course requires at least 2 other forms, possibly more, to complete. These forms are not included in the booklet they send you (if they sent it to you) and so require multiple trips to the computer to print out.

Helpful hint, make sure you print the correct year's forms!

In over 3 hours of work, I finished most of my taxes (I think) and started Tigs’. So far things look good, especially seeing as we were both unemployed for at least a month, maybe more, so our rebates should help us to pay off our debt. Always a plus!

Last night we also finished off DS9. The final scene in Vic’s with most of the main cast still makes me tear up. I remember sobbing when it first aired. Tigs pointed out something about it too. I don’t remember exactly how it was phrased but it was something like “Well, I guess you liked it at least $700 worth” and it’s true. I really do like it that much. I probably like it more then that, although what kind of Quark fan would I be if I spent more for it than I had to?

I haven't touched the keyboard in weeks. Tonight I'm getting back on the bench! Well, actually it's a chair, but you get the idea. Also, I think I'm going to replace this icon with one of Odo playing the piano at Vic's. I'll probably have to do the screen capture myself, but that's ok, it'll make it more personal that way!

1. At your next birthday celebration you can have any flavor, shape, size, and style of cake you want. What do you choose? (bonus: post a photo or link to a photo of your ideal birthday cake)
Maybe something that looks like this:


2. For friends and loved ones: do you buy a birthday cake or bake one for them?
If it’s something I can make, I’ll definitely go that route.

3. Do you prefer sumptuous flavor or incredible decorations?
I prefer flavor.

4. What interesting cake, frosting, and filling combination would you most love to try?
I guess a peanut butter fudge cake, with a really light frosting, or maybe no frosting at all, and instead a scoop of french vanilla ice cream to go with it.

5. Tell us about a school subject or hobby that is a "cake walk" for you.
Most of school was pretty easy for me…

Wednesday night when I was driving home along the Northern Parkway I drove over a broken piece of cement which ripped a hole in my front passenger side wheel. I pulled off into a gas station to take a look at my now very flat tire. I then pulled out the cell phone to call AAA, when I realized I don’t have my wallet on me. So I called Tigs and asked her to find my wallet and bring it to me. This was made more then necessarily difficult because I didn’t know where to tell her to look for it. In the end it was found on the chair I had put my pants on the night before. It must have fallen out. So then I gave her the directions on how to get to where I am, except I gave them to her wrong, so she got a lot a little lost trying to get to me. Eventually she made it, and I decided to limp the car one lot over to the Mr. Tire that was next to the gas station. I did, and they put on the donut for me, but couldn't put on a new tire for me till Thursday. Fine, Tigs followed me home, and I went back the next day, and they put on a new tire for me. $65, plus all the time it took on Wednesday and Thursday to do it. Fun hua? And what timing… stupid cars…

This weekend is going to contain one of my favorite activities, and one that we had to give up due to the fun winter weather. Admittedly it hasn’t really been that bad a winter, but it’s been unpleasant enough to keep us from going out on hikes with Lucy! Not this weekend though! A high in the 50’s tomorrow, mostly sunny… perfect! Sure it’ll be muddy, but Lucy loves muddy hikes, and it’s such fun to watch her enjoy herself and the satisfied look she has at the end make any cleanup totally worth it.

Coming up we have a prescheduled hike we’re doing. It’s to raise money for the SPCA. There are prizes given out for the most donations that are given by both teams and individual entrants. While I don’t expect to place in any of those categories, I would like to be able to say we did it for something. We’ve already received some pledges but we are slightly short of our goal. Unlike NPR I promise I won’t hold your programming hostage until you give us money. I don’t think you care about my posts that much honestly. Instead I’m merely going to ask, if you can, please donate. Thank you. (It's in tigergladys' name since the car had to be in mine. Compromise. :) )

http://marchfortheanimals.kintera.org/voconnell

In the list of things I never thought I would blog about, Brittany Spears would have probably been in the top 10. Well, today I cross that one off the list. When I heard about he antics with Paris Hilton, I shrugged it off. When I read about her divorce from K-Fed, I figured it was about time. Yet when I saw the picture of her shaved head, and read about her new tattoo, I thought “how sad” and today she is checking into rehab. Child star, pop idol, and now… the butt of the tabloids. tigergladys and I were talking about it, and we decided that besides rehab, Ms. Spears really needs a mentor. She needs someone who has been there and done that, and come out the other side stronger then before. We figure either Cher or Madonna would be the ones to do it. In favor of Madonna is the fact that they’ve already… been acquainted. Either way, just leave her alone for a bit to get herself grounded.

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There has been some car news today. In spite of it being a week now since we sent in the paperwork, we have yet to receive our check from the bank, and the dealership has been calling. The bank is supposed to send the check overnight… Of course when I call the bank, and the dealership, I get voice mail. Now, the big reason we haven’t gotten the check is two-fold. First there was the big storm that hit last week, and delayed everything. Second was the fact that Monday was a holiday.

**UPDATE** I finally got through at the bank, and the check was sent out yesterday. According to Fedex it was delivered this afternoon, and so with luck we will be dropping that off tonight. Fun fun… Must remember to get the oil change coupon from the dealership too…

**UPDATE II** The fedex envelope was here when I got home, and Tigs, Lucymonster and I went to drop off the check. So now, officially, the car is tigergladys, and no longer on extended loan from the dealership. Oh, and Lucymonster pooped in the back seat, after we bought her a snazzy new harness from the organic dog food store just up the street from the dealership. Oh, and they gave us 2 free oil changes for the annoyance of having the multiple phone calls at work.

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Did anyone else notice that it’s gotten warm again? I was so thrilled yesterday, and even more so this morning when I left the house, and only had on my jacket. No sweatshirt, no sweater, no gloves or hat… And the jacket was mostly just because! I feel a little bad for my big winter trench coat. It never got cold enough for it to come out. I’m gonna have to get some leather lotion for it. I don’t want it getting all crappy from disuse. On the other hand, I drove home with the window down!

Cor blimey, I taste like Tea. I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. What Flavour Are You?

So, Bank of America came through and got us a loan. *Thumbs up And last weekend we went and got a Kia Rio. Not the happiest choice, but as with much in life it ended up being an economic decision. Of course there are various repercussions because of that choice. For instance our car insurance is going up. We are currently looking around (once again) for better rates. Due to state law we have to get more coverage for a new car then we do for one that’s 17 years old.

I wish I had more to write about, but honestly the car thing has really sucked up most of my attention and energy. I’m hoping to get a little painting in at some point soon, and this weekend we are all going up to Lancaster to show off the new car and visit my Aunt Kim. I owe my cousins a game of Lord of the Rings too, and they want to play the Amon Hen scenario. Tigs is going to take Lucy to see someone she met on the internet through Dogster at the Manheim Township Dog Park.

As much as I don’t really want to address it, I have to. The New Englander in me forces it. You friggin Mid Atlantic wusses! Come on! I can see why things were closed yesterday. Nobody wants to be on the road when the snow and ice are pouring down from above. Fine! But what’s your excuse today? The roads are fine, there isn’t any more precipitation in the forecast… sure it’s kinda cold… but is that all you’ve got? And while we’re on it, why the hell did it take you so long to get the roads clear in the first place? The storm started Tuesday evening. By Wednesday morning the highways should have been cleared at least, and the primary routes too! Cleared and salted. Doesn’t matter if the storm is still going… There is no excuse for such poor showing on your part!

Ok, I feel better now.

Oh, a cool thing that Tigs and I have been doing the last couple of days is paperback swap! You know those books you buy, read, and then they sit on your shelf, collecting dust, knowing you’ll never read them again? It turns out you can take those books, and send them to someone who wants them, and then find a book you like, and someone else will send them to you! For free!! The only money involved is the $1.59 that you pay to the post office to send the books that you are sending out. Between us we listed over a hundred books, and have at last count 11 that will be mailed on Saturday! The really amazing thing though? It has to be the books people want from us! For instance, I have a book called Freezer burn, a fun little joke book of oxymorons that was funny once. This was the first book that got requested from us.

To start this entry off, I offer you this public service announcement. It is in fact the end of January. The cold weather should no longer be shocking. Furthermore, it’s not even that cold out. I have not even unpacked my winter coat in preparation of colder weather, you Mid-Atlantic wusses. Also, flurries do not constitute a weather emergency. There is no need to stock up on water and batteries if a few flakes fall from the sky. Driving like crazy people doesn’t help either. If it bothers you that much go home, or go south.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way, I would like to point you over to rodenthoarde for some pictures of Lucy making friends at the AKC agility competition this past weekend.

Still waiting to hear about the loan. We should have heard yesterday, but they had to do something or other, which delayed them getting back to us. Theoretically we should hear something today/tonight. It’ll be nice finally getting an answer, rather then just sitting here waiting. Until we find out exactly how much money we’re dealing with there really isn’t anything more we can do. Frustrating to say the least. I keep checking to make sure I have the cell phone on me, and that the volume is up. Please call, and please have good news!

Tonight is puppy basic obedience class. Prior to that will be some cleaning, and taking Lucy for a long walk. I’ll also be getting the ingredients for a stew ready to toss into the crock pot tomorrow morning before work.

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Now, because I have little else to write about offer you these reviews.

Story of the Weeping Camel
The filmmaker so lucked out on this one. It looks like he was doing what might otherwise be a rather dry documentary about a Mongolian ranching family, but when the camels give birth and one of them delivers a white camel and then refuses to accept it, you have the makings of cinema gold! Check this one out!

Grey Gardens
Every family has its share of crazies. When it’s the Kennedy family, and the crazies are/were themselves rather famous in their own right, it becomes fascinating viewing. Also depressing. I wasn’t really sure what to make of this one. I felt sad for them, and while I understand the voyeuristic desire to see into their lives, I don’t know if much was accomplished here.

Dark Days
Homeless people living in the tunnels beneath New York City. They have homes, electricity, pets, hot food… it’s not what you would expect, and makes for fascinating viewing.

Ushpizin
I don’t think I can sum this up any better then Netflix, so here’s their description.
“A downtrodden couple finds hope and good fortune -- amid unexpected houseguests -- in this humorous take on religious Jews living in a modern world. Moshe (Shuli Rand) and his wife are given a sum to help prepare for the holy holiday of Succoth and end up hosting two unannounced guests (rather, escaped prisoners). The couple must deal with their boorish visitors, who reveal Moshe's not-so-holy past, while upholding their faith.”
I really enjoyed this film, even though I felt like I was missing out on a fair amount of some of the “in jokes” that are culturally based. And it’s very helpful to know that $1US = approximately 4.5 Israeli Shekels.

49 Up
Imagine if 42 years ago you filmed a group of 7-year-old children from London, and then revisited them every 7 years. This is the most recent installment of the series, and it does a good job of catching you up from the beginning, which means that you don’t have to watch the whole series to watch this one. It really is intriguing seeing how much changes in 7 years and it makes you think “what was I like 7 years ago?” The answers for this group is certainly worth watching.

The other night (Tuesday night) I was playing “Rain, rain, go away” which is a simple little tune, and I can play it without screwing up too often. However the duet part that the teacher would play along with the student was shown. I figured out how to play that too, but then when I tried to play them together… well, it didn’t work out so well. I can’t seem to get my hands to do different things at the same time. I can’t even get started without screwing up. The main song starts out; half note, half note, quarter, quarter, half. The duet part is all quarter notes. All in 4/4 time. It shouldn’t be that hard, but it is. *sigh* Maybe if I try just getting my hands to get the timing down, without worrying about playing a song. Worth a try anyway.

Puppy class went well. Lucy wasn’t too embarrassing, except for the time she got away from me and decided to run a lap around the instructor before I could snag her again. That incident was quickly forgotten when Lucy and Hiker were playing with each other and got their collars stuck together. That incident was also quickly forgotten when during an exercise where we exchanged dogs one of the women there got bashed in the face by the dog she was holding (not Lucy) and got a little bloody nose! It was purely an accident, the dog just jumped up when she bent down, but I felt how embarrassed the dogs owner was. She just put her face in her hands and looked horrified. The woman who got the bloody nose was totally fine about it, and gave the impression that her puppy had done that (or something similar) to her before.

Next week is the last class. We are working on “paw” and “touch” as the tricks to show off. She has “touch” down pat, but “paw” still requires a bit of hopping. Last night for instance when I asked her for her paw she looked confused at me, lifted both front paws up, waved them, and then stuck one of them into my hand, all while looking at me with an expression of “How do I do this?!?” on her face.

On schedule for tonight is calling the car insurance company and the credit card company and seeing if they would be so kind as to lower the rates for us. Aside from that, no big plans.

According to weather.com Saturday is supposed to hit almost 70 degrees. This is very reminiscent of last year about this time when Tigs and I traveled down from New England looking for a place to live, and the weather was unseasonably warm. The same thing happened in March when we again came down. I wonder if it will again be an warmer then usual winter. Over the next 10 days it isn’t even supposed to get below freezing, and most nights it wont even get down into the 30’s!! The average temperature this time of year is a high in the low 40’s and a low in the low 20’s.

There is one thing that global warming is doing for us. It’s keeping our heating bills down!

Oh, I know what I’ve been meaning to write about, a gift I got from Eric. I had to wait a while for this one, as the post office… well, lets just say the post office has been a real pain in the ass this holiday season. Their hours are exactly wrong to be able to go there any day of the week other then Saturday. Anyway, the Saturday after Christmas I went and picked up this long skinny package. I got it home, opened it up, and… well… ( see for yourself! )

( And because I’ve been talking about it )

And can I just say how depressing it is seeing people post their first 10 books of '07 in 50bookchallenge already. *Sigh* I've only finished one, and it was one I started last year!

And while I'm posting pictures...( my painting desk! )

Five on Friday

1. What are your five favorite stores?
The Book Barn - Luckily/sadly in New England
Games Workshop
That's Entertainment - Sadly in New England
The Whiz - Also in New England
Ikea

2. Is there any store you absolutely hate going to?
I've never been a big fan of going to the Mall.

3. Do you pay with cash, credit, debit, or something else?
Credit since I get points!

4. Do you prefer to shop in person or online?
I definitely prefer shopping in person. I like to be able to feel the things in my hand.

5. In the last six months, what single purchase has been the most important to you?
I think most of my expenses in the last 6 months have been involved in moving, and that is most definitely important to me! (Though I really would like this and this)

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This morning at work I was a little stressed (and by a little stressed I mean it felt like I had been punched in the gut) to find that the piece of amber that is set into the ring I wear had fallen out. As soon as I realized it (about 8:15 am) I checked everywhere in the building I had been, didn't find it. I walked all the way back to the car during my lunch break, checking the ground as I went. I then searched the car, and then the ground again on the way back. It wasn't until the end of the day when I went into the bathroom to change and I looked into the bottom of the bag that had my shorts in it did I find it. Now that I've found it I now need to figure out how to reattach it to the ring. I was thinking super glue, but wasn't sure. Any ideas?

The temperature is down to 76 degrees! And tonight it's going to get down to 70!!! I can't believe how happy that makes me... Maybe I'm actually getting used to the weather?

( Hot Dog! )

I've finished the 3 books that trigger a 50bookchallenge, however it can wait till tomorrow.

Keep cool everyone!

3 posts yesterday... Odd for me.

Another scorcher out there today. According to the weather channel it is currently (at 4:10 pm) 97 degrees and feels like 103. I've already 2 liters of water, and I'll be refilling it before I go.

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For those not in the know, today is Cow Appreciation Day. In honor of this fine (if hot) day I would like to share my most recent up close and personal cow experience. Back on 7/1/06, when tigergladys and I were on our hike we stopped off at the park's farm and checked out the different animals. They had 4 cows out in the field, all pressed up against the west side of their fence, trying to enjoy as much shade as was possible. One of the cows there, a red and white one was just the cutest thing on 4 hooves.



She was young, with big brown eyes, and a little smile, and as was giving her a good rubbing I decided to scratch her neck and chin.



If any of you had ever met Cedric you will recognize this face. She was in heaven!



This kept up for a few minutes, after which she lay down in the grass and stretched, making the same groaning sounds as Cedric used to make.



I gave all the other cows scratches too, but none of them appreciated it like the red one did.

I hope you all have an udderly fantastic Cow Appreciation Day!

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At 4:23 the weather channel now says it feels like 104!! Fantastic!