Weird Al

No, I'm not a closet Weird Al fan. I AM a Weird Al fan. I went to his concert 2 or 3 years in a row. I miss those days.

Wasting time on 'Best Week Ever' today, I surfed into a site where someone listed their top 10 favorite Al videos. That led me to the realization that even though I knew some of these songs rather well, I had never seen some of the videos. White & Nerdy is still my favorite, but there are some other great videos.

Assuming Al does a tour for 'Straight Outta Lynwood', PUNK, we are SO going!

Link to behind the scenes of White & Nerdy.

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Holidays

I hate the holidays. That's no big surprise. It seems like it gets harder every year. People don't get it. Holidays are for kids. Guess what. I don't have any. And, I'm definitely not a kid. I don't have parents. So holidays are just damn depressing. I find it an unnecessary chore to put up the stupid tree. I didn't bother this year. We put up a couple strands of icicle lights outside, but there are a lot of dead bulbs and one section died all together. Hope someday I'll get back into the holidays, it used to be fun.

I think I got it to work...

Ok, looks like I may have had some luck in the blogging department. I love Firefox. And I love geeks who make extremely useful extensions for Firefox. I now have an editor right in my browser which I can use to dual post to my blog and to Myspace.

It wasn't completely painless - I had to change my blog over to WordPress because Sblog isn't supported by this extension. That's something that I was going to have to do at some point anyway. The transfer/import was rough in a few places but I think I cleaned it up as much as I needed to. Only trouble is that my comments didn't transfer. And if you comment my blog or myspace, it'll only be at one place.

Main blog is now located at... http://www.geminidreamz.com/wordpress.

Even though I'm not having the best week in life in general, I'm having a great week as a geek.

On a side note, I found a really kickass service called goosync which will sync my PDA calendar with my Google calendar. Woohoo!!! No more Outlook!!!

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Not a happy Mary

As it turns out, the doctors office doesn't own the equipment - it gets brought in 1 day a month to do surgeries and they wont do it for less than 3 patients cuz it's a whole ordeal to set up and tear down... and a couple people canceled so that made me the only patient for Monday.

So, 6 more weeks. It's not even the waiting that pisses me off so much... it's the fact that I have suffered in glasses for two weeks only to have to start all over again next month. I don't see well out of my glasses. I have no peripheral vision. The glare is atrocious at night.

That's life I guess. Or at least that's my life.

Update: Come to find out that one of Dan's sisters is pregnant. Isn't that the icing on the fucking cake.

Mondays

The only good thing about Mondays is TV. There's only two days a week that it's even worth turning the TV on. That would be Mondays and Thursdays.

- Free Shit!!

This site offers a free download of one free software every day. Full versions of software that will normally cost you.

"Basically, every day we nominate one software title that will be a Giveaway title of that day. The software will be available for download for 24 hours (or more, if agreed by software publisher) and that software will be absolutely free. That means - not a trial, not a limited version - but a registered and legal version of the software will be free for our visitors*.The software product will be presented in its full functionality, without any limitations save for those mentioned in Terms and Conditions."

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com

LASIK - WOOHOO!!

-
My eyes are still dilated so staring at this monitor is rather unpleasant. Driving home was no fun at all... I left the eye doc just as it was getting dark. As soon as I got off the express way, it started raining. I felt worse than driving drunk. Ahh well, I made it home and assuming the surgery goes well, it's all worth it.

Zune

I was almost considering one of these. I've never been a fan of anything Mac so I really tried to avoid the iPod. Not that I like Microsoft or anything, but I figured it'd be more to my liking than the alternative. The only reason I want a MP3 player is to be able to play MP3's in my car. After doing some research, I found an adapter so I can use my Pocket PC to do just that. I'm fine with my 2GB SD card for now. As soon as SD cards get bigger and cheaper, I'll just get a bigger one. The more stuff I can do with my single device the better. I do hope they get a good combination of Pocket PC and cellphone one of these days.

Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing: Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, Andy Ihnatko unloads on the Zune with both barrels, calling it a "complete, humiliating failure" and a "colossal blunder," because Microsoft has taken the user out of its design considerations and put the music industry (in the person of Universal's Doug Morris, "a big, clueless idiot" ) in their place. Yes, Microsoft's new Zune digital music player is just plain dreadful. I've spent a week setting this thing up and using it, and the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face.

"Avoid," is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that's so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity...

The Zune is a complete, humiliating failure. Toshiba's Gigabeat player, for example, is far more versatile, it has none of the Zune's limitations, and Amazon sells the 30-gig model for 40 bucks less.

Throw in the Zune's tail-wagging relationship with music publishers, and it almost becomes important that you encourage people not to buy one.

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- Personality

As if it wasn't obvious, I'm an ISTJ personality type.

ISTJs are often called inspectors. They have a keen sense of right and wrong, especially in their area of interest and/or responsibility. They are noted for devotion to duty. Punctuality is a watchword of the ISTJ. The secretary, clerk, or business(wo)man by whom others set their clocks is likely to be an ISTJ.As do other Introverted Thinkers, ISTJs often give the initial impression of being aloof and perhaps somewhat cold. Effusive expression of emotional warmth is not something that ISTJs do without considerable energy loss.

ISTJs are most at home with "just the facts, Ma'am." They seem to perform at highest efficiency when employing a step-by-step approach. Once a new procedure has proven itself, the ISTJ can be depended upon to carry it through, even at the expense of their own health.

ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don't keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. And when asked, they don't mince words. Truth wins out over tact. The grim determination of the ISTJ vindicates itself in officiation of sports events, judiciary functions, or an other situation which requires making tough calls and sticking to them.

ISTJ = Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging
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10 Years

10 Years Ago...

I was a senior in high school.
I was 17 years old.
I was looking forward to moving out of my mom's trailer.
I was working 2 jobs.
I was partying at any opportunity.
I smoked cigarettes.
I drove fast.
I got very little sleep.
I was envied.
I was on top of the world.
I felt invincible.
I couldn't wait to get older.
I hated my friends' curfews.
I thought the crew would never die.

- Lasik

I'm going to try again for Lasik. The more I've thought about it, the more I realize that I owe it to myself to get a second opinion. I have a coworker that had eyes worse than mine (hard to believe) and got Lasik, so I got the name of the place that he went to. I have an appointment in a couple weeks at this place. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm hoping for the best. I only have to be out of my contacts for 3 days before this appointment... I can handle that.

- Pandora

- Pandora and I've quickly become a fan.

"Can you help me discover more music that I'll like?

Those questions often evolved into great conversations. Each friend told us their favorite artists and songs, explored the music we suggested, gave us feedback, and we in turn made new suggestions. Everybody started joking that we were now their personal DJs.

We created Pandora so that we can have that same kind of conversation with you."

Even cooler is Open Pandora - it's a stand alone application for Pandora instead of listening in your browser.
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- Finally

Guess What! I finally unpacked my shotglasses.... and I've only lived at this house for 15 months. That's longer than the entire time we lived at our last house tho.


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- Flying Toasters

I'm a screensaver freak. I was a huge After Dark fan, but after Windows 95, it just caused problems. This cool site has a clone of the popular "Flying Toasters" saver.
http://uneasysilence.com/toast/

- Hypoallergenic Cats

-

ALLERCA has produced the world's first scientifically-proven hypoallergenic cats. These cats allow some of the millions of people with feline allergies to finally enjoy the love and companionship of a household pet without suffering from allergic symptoms.

They're about $4000 for these cats, but I'll tell ya something.... if Dan or I was allergic, I'd really consider it.


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- Burned Out

-
So, of course, I let them see that I'm good at what I do and they wanted more of me. I'm working practically full time at a day job. Exactly what I didn't want. Yeah, we need the money, so I'm trying to just muddle through for a while. Don't get me wrong - I like my job, but lately I feel like it's getting the best part of me and my life 'outside of work' is suffering.

I have this giant 'to do' list that's just staring at me. There's not much more frustrating than leaving things undone for weeks at a time. I haven't done my grocery shopping simply because I haven't found the time.

I'm a night person living in a daytime world.... like my mom used to say "burning the candle at both ends".
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- RSS to Email

With the addition of more work hours, I've decided that I need to be able to access my email, calendar, and stuff from any computer I sit down at. So, I put a forward on my geminidreamz mail to my gmail inbox. I spent some time organizing my Gmail with labels and filters so I can handle it being my main inbox. I got a great gmail notifier for Firefox and I customized my personal Google page.

Anyway, I love my RSS feeds. There's a couple that really build up before I get a chance to read them. Download Squad is the main one. I know I can look at it on my main Google page, but I want it to stick around and show full articles. I found a free service that will send my RSS to my inbox - http://www.rssfwd.com/rssfwd/index . Now, if I can find a easy way to get my Gcal to sync with my PDA, I'll be happy as can be!
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- Getting Reorganized

-
I really miss having more time on my hands. I keep thinking back to my year in TN... I guess it was just a long vacation. I actually had hobbies. Hobbies. What a concept. My little part time job has become practically full time. It's amazing when I get a chance to actually clean up my desk and get a few things done. This weekend, I've spent more time in my office than I have over the last month. I'm grateful when I get some "mary" time.

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- LASIK

I was supposed to have Lasik last week. I was really getting excited about it. I knew there was still a possibility that when I went in for my workup exam on Tuesday, they'd say that my corneas were actually too thin to have the surgery. Somehow, I let myself get my hopes up despite this fact. I know my eyes are terrible. I've been saying for over 10 years that I want to have eye surgery. I had to wait for my prescription to be stable for 3 years. I used to have a dramatic change in my script every year. Now, I'm in my third year with relatively the same script. But, as it goes, my eyes are actually too bad for the current Lasik technology and there's a significantly higher chance that my corneas wouldn't stand up to it. Well, life goes on I suppose. I was so upset when I left the doc's office last week. I look at it now and I know I should be thankful that at least I can wear contacts. Two weeks in glasses (prior to the workup exam) was more than enough.

The (somewhat hopeful) good news is that there's a new device/technology (or something) coming out later this year and the doc said that it's made just for people like me. I'm on the waiting list.


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- eBay vs. Google

- eBay really needs to get their head out of their ass and stop pissing people off. We all know they own Paypal, but they shouldn't block Google payments - it may be stiff competition, but don't they already make enough money taking a percentage of winning bids?

eBay is banning sellers from requesting payment through Google Checkout. The online auction giant updated its Safe Payments policy this week to add Google's new payment service, Google Checkout to its list of online payment methods not permitted on eBay.

Article at auctionbytes.com
eBay's policy

Payment Services permitted on eBay: Allpay.net, Bidpay, Canadian Tire Money, cash2india, CertaPay, Checkfree.com, hyperwallet,com, Moneybookers.com, Ozpay.biz, Paymate.com.au, Propay.com, XOOM

Payment Services not permitted on eBay: AlertPay.com, anypay.com, AuctionChex.com, AuctionPix.com, BillPay.ie, ecount.com, cardserviceinternational.com, CCAvenue, ecount, e-gold, eHotPay.com, ePassporte.com, EuroGiro, FastCash.com, Google Checkout, gcash, GearPay, Goldmoney.com, graphcard.com, greenzap.com, ikobo.com, Liberty Dollars, Moneygram.com, neteller.com, Netpay.com, Nochex.com, paychest.com, payingfast.com, Payko.com, paypay, Postepay, Qchex.com, rupay.com, scripophily.com, sendmoneyorder.com, stamps, Stormpay, wmtransfer.com, xcoin.com

- Worth Watching...

- http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8520847761350501823

A former ACLU staffer has produced a great, 40-minute video on understanding your rights when you get pulled over by a cop.This "flex your rights" video which uses dramatizations with actors to illustrate how you can protect yourself using 4th, 5th, and 6th ammendment rights during commonplace encounters with police.

The film seems pretty cheezy, but the info in it is great. The info conveyed in the film is extremely useful to avoid nasty searches, seizures, and mishaps which could land a well-meaning person in jail or just ruin their day.

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- Garfield deserves better...

-

Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties
Reviewed by: Scott Chitwood
Rating: 5 out of 10



Cast:
Bill Murray as Voice of Garfield (voice)
Breckin Meyer as Jon Arbuckle
Jennifer Love Hewitt as Liz
Billy Connolly as Dargis

Summary:
Despite a cool animated cat, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" is just as bland as its predecessor.

Story:
When Liz goes to London for a conference, Jon decides to fly there as well and surprise her with an engagement ring. Little does he know that Garfield and Odie have tagged along in his luggage. Once there, the fat feline gets mistaken for a missing cat named "Prince". Prince is the heir to an eccentric animal lover's fortune and now owns a large castle and is pampered by a large staff of servants. It turns out that the woman's nephew, Dargis, attempted to dispose of Prince to win the fortune. However, his plans fall apart when Garfield was mistaken for Prince and returned to the castle. After the accidental switching of identities, Prince finds himself dealing with Jon and Odie while Garfield finds himself in the lap of luxury. But what will happen to Garfield and the other animals when Dargis attempts to finish him off once and for all?

"Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" is rated PG for some off-color elements.

What Worked:
If you liked the first "Garfield" movie, you're probably going to like this sequel. It's more of the same in a slightly different package.

One of the strongest points of the film is Garfield himself. His animation is very good and the voice of Bill Murray is perfectly suited to the personality of the character. Any time he's on the screen, the movie is at its best. And like in the previous movie, he's well paired with the cute live action Odie.

Besides our established heroes, a few additional characters have been added to the mix. Garfield's look-alike, Prince, is well-voiced by Tim Curry. The pampered pet has some amusing moments as he discovers what the real world is like. Bob Hoskins is also funny as Winston, the bulldog assistant to Prince. His constant praise of Garfield/Prince is funny, even when he has a fart delivered to the face. (Yes, there are a lot of farting jokes in this movie.) Other notables in the voice cast include Rhys Ifans and Vinnie Jones.

I'll also add that my kids enjoyed this "Garfield" sequel. While they did get quite antsy in the last third of the movie, it generally kept their attention quite well.

What Didn't Work:
I already mentioned that this movie is very similar to its predecessor. Unfortunately, they repeated many of the same mistakes. Breckin Meyer is still incredibly wooden and boring. There's no chemistry between him and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film still doesn't hearken back to the best of the Garfield comic strips from the early 80's. And despite a few good jokes here and there, this sequel is just as bland as its predecessor. It's just not as funny as it could have been.

Despite making many of the same mistakes, "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" manages to make a few new ones, too. First of all, it uses the tired old plot of "mistaken identity". This story has been done so many times in so many different incarnations and it simply doesn't work anymore. There are also a couple of poor musical numbers. One takes place while Garfield makes lasagna with other animals and another is done to "The Jeffersons" theme song.

I suspect most adults will find themselves bored midway through the film.

The Bottom Line:
Only see "Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties" if you saw and enjoyed the first "Garfield" movie. Everyone, except for children, will probably be bored.

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- Cancelling Service

- How to cancel a service
After reading posts about people who have had to beg to be disconnected from AOL, J2, and Sky TV, Vodka offers the following advice:

I've worked for a telecommunications company that I would prefer to go unnamed, and I'd like to offer some tips to anyone trying to disconnect a service they no longer want. The biggest tip is to call well outside of normal business hours -- in my company, customer service was open 24/7, but the retention department closed in the evening. If you call, say, before bed, or during the middle of the night, you'll just be talking to a regular CS rep who has no incentive whatsoever to keep you as a customer. It can turn a twenty minute phone call into a two minute phone call.

Second, if you get a rude rep, hang up and call right back. Some reps, especially in commission driven departments like sales and retention, are especially pushy, where as if you call back you might get someone who is right at the end of his shift and just wants to get you off of his phone.

Third, there is one reason for disconnection that will work for almost every service--moving. Tell them you're moving out of the service area, or moving in with someone who already has the same service, and they should be required to cancel everything for you.

Also, it would be helpful to remember that the representatives in retention are paid to retain you as customers--threatening to record the call, asking for their name or ID, or asking for a supervisor will not do anything. All calls are recorded and the representatives have responses they are required to give for every customer question or complaint. The rep who actually gets in trouble will be the one who disconnects you immediately without trying to retain you, not the one who spends twenty minutes using every tactic in the book the company wrote for him.

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- Another Day

I was at work today and someone asked me the date. I stopped and thought and eventually came up with the 14th. I thought to myself, the 14th? I know that's something. When it came to me, I wished I had gone through the day without realizing the date. Today is the 2 year anniversary of losing my mom. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about her. I rationalize it to make it easier, but I still miss her a lot.

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- Webby

- Webby Awards are out. There's always a few great sites that I've never stumbled upon before. For instance, my blog is listed in Technorati now (yeah, I'd heard of it, but never looked at it). So check it out, my geeky friends.
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- Spamming

If anyone noticed, I turned off comments for a while because I was getting a lot of spammed comments... I just upgraded my blog version and it has a nifty little verification feature for comments so hopefully I'll stop getting the spam. Feel free to comment on anything now! And PS, click on my Google ads once in a while .

- Magnetic Fingertip???

-
Implanting a magnet in your fingertip adds a sixth sense...
This morning's Wired News has a fascinating article on the practice of implanting small, strong rare-earth magnets in one's ring-finger. The result is a kind of "magnet sense" -- people who've had the implant report that they can tell when a wire is live and when they're going through a magnet security-scanner at a store, even when their laptops' hard drives are spinning up.

Quinn Norton of Wired News has had the operation and writes in detail about how it felt, what the problems were, and what she was able to do once it was in place. The most amazing part is that months after the magnet implant fragmented and Quinn lost her "sixth sense," it reassembled itself (magnets tend to draw towards one another) and the sense returned.

What if, seconds before your laptop began stalling, you could feel the hard drive spin up under the load? Or you could tell if an electrical cord was live before you touched it? For the few people who have rare earth magnets implanted in their fingers, these are among the reported effects -- a finger that feels electromagnetic fields along with the normal sense of touch...



According to Huffman, the magnet works by moving very slightly, or with a noticeable oscillation, in response to EM fields. This stimulates the somatosensory receptors in the fingertip, the same nerves that are responsible for perceiving pressure, temperature and pain. Huffman and other recipients found they could locate electric stovetops and motors, and pick out live electrical cables. Appliance cords in the United States give off a 60-Hz field, a sensation with which Huffman has become intimately familiar. "It is a light, rapid buzz," he says.


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- Another Year

Another birthday. Another year older. Just another day that almost nobody remembers. It's funny how I almost look forward to my birthday each year. It's really no big deal. I got a little excited when I got a phonecall this year from someone who always used to remember my birthday, but hasn't for the last few years. I thought she was calling to wish me a happy birthday, but it just happened to be coincidence that she called that day. So, it came and it went. Just like any other day.

The trouble with my birthday is that while I slightly look forward to it, I know that following right behind is the impending doom of June. I have a lot going on this June. That could be good or bad. The good of it is that maybe it'll keep my mind from wandering back to past June's. The bad of it is that it gives more opportunity for this June to inflict new pain.
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- Rock On, Chicks!!

- PeopleNews

Dixie Chicks Regret Bush Apology
Monday May 22, 2006 3:15pm EST



Back in 2003, Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines created an uproar when she told a London concert audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas."

Though the group received death threats and was banned by many country-music radio stations, Maines says in the new issue of Time magazine that she has just one regret: saying she was sorry. "I apologized for disrespecting the office of the President," Maines says. "But I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel he is owed any respect whatsoever."

Maines and bandmates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison are back with a new album, Taking the Long Way, in stores Tuesday, and a new, no-apologies attitude. The CD's first single, aptly titled "Not Ready to Make Nice," is selling well on iTunes but has been picked up by few country stations.

"I guess if we really cared, we wouldn't have released that single first," Maguire tells Time. "That was just making people mad. But I don't think it was a mistake."

After a decade together and more than 20 million albums sold, the Chicks have earned the right to be called Dixie Women. All are married with children ? Maines, 31, is mom to sons Jackson, 5, and Beckett, 22 months, with actor husband Adrian Pasdar; Maguire, 36, and husband Gareth have 2-year-old twins Kathleen and Eva; and Robison, 33, and husband Charlie are parents to Charles, 3, and 1-year-old twins Henry and Julianna.

But time and family have not mellowed them. Says Maines of the controversy she caused in 2003, "It was awesome ? to be angry, to be sure that you're right and that the things you do matter. You don't realize that you're not feeling those feelings until you do. And then you realize how much more interesting life is."

- NOT COOL!!

-
Well SUCK IT American Idol! I demand a RECOUNT! I tried to vote for Chris last night and it was always BUSY. Something's fishy here!

He's still going to be big.


Update: From People magazine website: "The luck has already started. The band Fuel has offered him a spot as their frontman. They first hinted that they were eyeing Daughtry in March when the group's Web site said they were looking for a singer and liked his performing style."


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- Lite Brite

-
http://www.sfpg.com/animation/liteBrite.html#
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- Day Without An Immigrant

Ya know, I didn't even notice. In fact I wish more of them had taken the day off. I had to call Dish Network (another customer service nightmare) and one barely English speaking moron gave me the run-around for 5 minutes trying to tell me the basketball playoffs were over while I'm bitching because the only channels in my area showing the pistons game that was going on as we spoke was blacked out. I insisted on speaking to his superior to which I was put on hold for 10 minutes and then finally thrown back to the main menu where I had to wait for another level 1 moron. The next moron also was not great with English, but was a bit smarter (different accent on this one - don't know what, I can't tell the difference). STOOPID F&CKERS!

- Light Fixtures

I don't know much about electrical work. I know that I hate doing it. Hubby and I were putting a new light fixture in the kitchen today, and of course it's not a nice clean-cut simple job. We've replaced light fixtures together before... a couple times without any trouble. What we pulled down was a florescent fixture - piece of shit. The trouble was, up in the ceiling, there was a red wire, and a white wire. There was a black wire up there too, but it was capped off and tucked way up in there - not used. No fucking ground wire to speak of. So anyways, we wrap the ground wire from the new fixture around the ground screw and around that black wire just for good measure. Hubby couldn't remember if the old fixture had white to white and black to red or vice versa. I'm saying "I'm pretty sure you should go with white to white, but I'm not sure about the ground." See, back in TN, we had a similar problem and we had a light throwing sparks all over the place, so I'm really apprehensive about this kind of stuff. So, I'm one of those nagging "please stop for directions" kind of wives. We've got an electrician that lives next door and a carpenter across the street, so there are people to ask.

Anyway, I'm totally nervous as we test our little rigged light... Hubby goes to flip the breaker back on - damn thing wouldn't stay on. Hmmm. "GO ASK THE NEIGHBOR!" He finally agreed. Unfortunately, electrician neighbor wasn't home. Carpenter neighbor has company, so we didn't want to bug him. To make a long story short, hubby took the ground wire off of that black wire which is for only god knows what and then we crossed our fingers and tried it. No sparks (Phew)!! Did I mention I hate electrical work???
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- Thoughts

Naiveté and ignorance is highly under-rated.

- ~~~~I~~~~

-
~~~

I Live: in Michigan (god help me)

I Work: because I need the money

I Talk: online

I Wish: I had been born in Tennessee

I Enjoy: my computer

I Look: at Myspace a lot

I Find: less free time than I'd like to

I Smell: fresh air

I Listen: to the radio

I Hide: my worries

I pray: sometimes

I Walk: less than I should

I Write: in a journal once in a while

I See: a bunch of crap on my desk that I need to organize

I Laugh: not often enough

I Can: think

I Watch: TV with my husband

I Learn: that everything changes

I dream: some weird shit

I Want: to be happy

I Cry: when I'm depressed

I Read: blogs, emails, and RSS feeds

I Love: my husband and my animals

I Sometimes: eat too much

I Hurt: my back cleaning the garage last weekend

I Fear: having no one

I Hope: to improve a lot of things

I Break: my nails

I Eat: food

I Quit: sleeping 'til noon

I Bathe: when I have time (usually I shower)

I Drink: too much pop (and I miss calling it soda)

I Save: too much stuff

I Hug: my husband

I Meditate: rarely

I Play: Bejeweled

I Miss: my mom

I Hold: my cat

I Forgive: when someone apologizes

I Drive: when I have to get somewhere

I Have: hope

I Don't: have enough energy

I Made: a website

I Believe: michigan sucks

I Owe: on a couple credit cards

I Feel: hungry

I Know: that today is Thursday

I Wonder: where I'll be in 10 years

- Happy Easter... n'stuff.

-
Happy Easter. Saturday evening I decided to run to the grocery store to pick up a few things for Easter dinner seeing as most of the family is out of town and we had invited Dan's Grandma to our place. We decided to get some Arby's for dinner on Saturday, and I wasn't sure where the closest Arby's was... I hopped online and found out it was on State Rd. Cool, I'm thinking. I can check out the Kroger downtown Davison. I usually shop at the one in Burton. Well, OMFG. Quite a nice store, quite like the one I shopped at for a year in Knoxville. (yeah, i'm bitching about that again)... Only bad thing was (yep, you guessed it)... it was filled with Michiganders. Jam-friggin-packed with typical rude-ass people reminding me why I hate crowds.

Unrelated story... we watched a movie on HBO last night - "The Upside of Anger". I wasn't thrilled with the movie, but I was impressed with one aspect. One of the main characters worked at a radio station and they used a real radio station... 101.1 The WRIF.... and Arthur P had a small part in the movie.

- Bye Bye Bucky

Awww... it's not like I expected him to win, but he should've lasted longer than a few of the ones that remain. Damn, I wish Simon had been right - I'm definitely ready to see Ace go. Gawd, this show has totally sucked me in...

- Luck

-
Going to a casino came up in conversation not long ago with a woman I know. She said "I'm one of those people you hate to go with because I always win". So, why is that?

My husband and I went to Soaring Eagle yesterday before going to have dinner at his Grandpa's place. We met up with with a couple of our neighbors at the casino. They really enjoy going - even though they lose. I don't get the fun of that. Maybe if I was rich and had money to throw around, it would be more fun. But I just don't see it. But, then again, all I drank all day was Diet Coke. Maybe it's just one of those things where I need to be intoxicated to enjoy.

- Bundled Services

Bundles rule. I so miss Knology. I wonder when this screwy area will (if ever) get a nice convenient and inexpensive bundle of services like that. TV, Phone, and Internet all by one company for a good price and they did it well. Here, everything pretty much bites - Charter for cable and they're expensive and they suck. My DSL was fine until I let them give me the higher speed for $5 more a month - now my connection seems less reliable... but then again, they don't know what the hell they're doing right now anyway - AT&T, SBC... WTF??? And I can't have DSL with them if I change my phone to Vonage (or the like) - that's how they give me a good price on DSL - they charge me up the ass for phone service. And don't get me started on my cellphone - "the network" needs to build another friggin tower in Davison or Burton dammit. That's why I'm paying up the ass for my regular phone - cuz my cell ain't worth a shit here.... and I'm stuck under their f-in' contract. The contract didn't bother me when the service was good.... and I could actually USE my minutes...

(Wouldn't it be cool if that were a real drug?)

- More Idol Ramblings...

-
Chris totally kicked ass with "Walk the Line". I was a little worried when he said he was going to do it because of what happened with Ayla doing a popular song. Walk the Line got big recently because of the movie. That was friggin awesome.

Video

- Mondays

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For the last couple years, they were pretty much my favorite day of the week... The rest of the world went back to work on Mondays and I would go do my grocery shopping or whatever when the stores were less congested. Now, like everyone else, I have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to go to work. I hate being like everyone else.

Other than that, the job is going well. My coworkers are nice and the job doesn't require a whole lot out of me. I'm supposed to be trained to do phone interviews this week. I'm not especially looking forward to that. I really not fond of talking to people on the phone. Ahh well, life goes on.

- Poor kitty...

My baby is a conehead. She got in a fight with one of my other cats a couple weeks ago and got a pretty mean gash on her front leg. Since then, she was licking it and it got pretty infected. I took her to the vet and they gave her a shot of antibiotics and gave us a cone for her to wear so she can't lick her leg. Plus, I have to give her Penicillin twice a day for 2 weeks. Hopefully that'll teach her not to piss off Merlin at least.


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- Idol Ramblings...

This is my first season watching American Idol. I've got a job now and the show is incredibly popular. It's often a topic of conversation among co-workers, neighbors, etc. I was really surprised that Ayla got voted off tonight. She was one of my favorite girls. Another contestant who still remains kinda gives me the heebie-jeebies to watch... this person (in my mind) bears an uncanny resemblance to someone I used to be very close to. It's quite a mind trip to watch that person sing... especially a country song.

- Finally Updating

I've been really lazy about updating my website since I moved it onto my computer. I'm finally starting to get it done though. I have a lot of work to do with it, but at least I'm starting to make a little progress. I'm archiving a bunch of stuff and making "Fun Stuff" more extensive.

- Drain It

- Home

-
Another summer day
Is come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home

Maybe surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel all alone
I just wanna go home
Babe I miss you, you know

And I?ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you
Each one a line or two
?I?m fine baby, how are you??
I would send them but I know that it?s just not enough
My words were cold and flat
And you deserve more than that

Another aeroplane
Another sunny place
I?m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
I got to go home

Let me go home
Cause I?m just too far from where you are
And I gotta go home

And I feel just like I?m living someone else?s life
It?s like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right
And I know just why you could not
Come along with me
But this was not your dream
But you always believed in me

Oh, Another winter day has come
And gone away
And even Paris and Rome
And I wanna go home
I said let me go home

And I?m surrounded by
A million people I
Still feel alone
Oh, let go home
Oh, I miss you, you know

Let me go home
Cause I?ve had my run
Baby, I?m done
I gotta go home
Let me go home
Cause t'll all be alright
And I?ll be there tonight
I?m coming back home
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- Website problems...

Not that anyone noticed, but my site has been down for a few days. I'm not sure exactly what the cause was. It happened when I tried to fix file sharing between my two computers. I'm now thinking that may have been just a coincidence though. I changed a lot of settings and things and finally got it back up. One large frustrating mess in a week that really didn't need any more stress.

- I don't wanna...

- I don't wanna go to bed. Not fair. I gotta get up at the ass-crack of dawn to go to work. I'm not tired. I'm a nocturnal person with a day job. Ick Ick Ick.
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- Job

So I start a new job Monday. Well, paperwork and training anyway. It's been two years since i had a "real" job. I'm not thrilled about it, but I guess it's time to get back to reality.... whatever the f*ck that is. My life has been through a lot of changes in the last couple years. I can't think of one that has been for the better. All of the changes that I was excited about, I failed to make them happen or make them stick. Life goes on, I suppose.

I guess I'm a little nervous. I'm honestly baffled as to why these people chose to hire me. I went in for a second interview a few days ago and I had to go head to head with another woman who also wanted the position. She was clearly more of a "people" person. I may have computer skills, but I felt more like they were looking for personality. That's a trait in which I'm seriously lacking. I was seriously shocked when I got the call on Friday asking me if I wanted the position. Maybe the other woman ended up turning it down?

- Small Small World

My 12 year old neighbor told me to sign up for a myspace so I could check hers out. That was a couple weeks ago. Today, a friend sent me a link to a myspace blog written about him by someone else I know. So I start browsing and happen across several people I know. I predict that pretty much everyone will have a web presence in a few years. The web is a beautiful thing (except of course for spammers and the like). http://www.myspace.com/lunargeek if you're interested.

- Rant

I'm sitting here in the middle of the night, can't sleep, just thinking about life in general. I can't help but think of what has been said to me more than once about the way people see my life through rose colored glasses. But, I'll tell you something... I'd trade it without a second thought if could have what you do.

Resent me because I haven't had to work in the last couple years. Take a moment to remember that I made a brave attempt to find myself in those couple years, but I've lost more than I've found. The only one person who ever loved me unconditionally is in a box on top of my desk hutch. Ever think that you were born in the wrong time and place?

So like everyone else, I'm trying to make the best out of life. Looking for work has proven to be a bitch of a task. Ain't it great to be living in the one state in the union that is losing jobs? Yeah, I could go on for days about the things I hate about Michigan, but that one is just reality. I read in the newspaper that job recruiters are coming from Wyoming and other states to try to hire people from MI that can't find jobs here. In every interview I go on, I'm trying to sell myself over the 30 other people applying for whatever crumby position I'm trying to acquire. Social and sales skills are not my strong points.



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- The Book of Daniel

Well so much for that show. Guess it was too controversial for TV. Seems to me we have a lot more controversial shows out there than that one. Closed-minded people suck.

- Websites

Learning to host my own site is a major job! You think everything is working then run into some silly little snag. Well, dammit, I want everything to work! I keep saying I'm almost there. I hope I really am this time.

- New Show

-
If it wasn't for all the critics talking about this show, I would've never checked it out. I'm sure there are lots of other people that feel the same way. It was actually banned by a couple NBC stations. The ratings are probably tripled as to what they would've been otherwise. It's a crazily good show actually. I don't know if it'll last, but I think it's cool.
Click for full story.
"Whatever else you may have heard about The Book of Daniel, it is first and foremost a show about a true-to-life, loving, complex family. It is also witty, earnest, intelligent, overdone, overly ambitious, wildly entertaining and superbly cast ? which are just a few of the things that the people who decided to protest the show before it even aired have failed to mention." Article.
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- Happy New Year

At least I can be thankful for one thing - the holidays are over. Just 3 or so more months of winter.