Frances.

Just what we need here, another huge hurricane 3 weeks after Charley. And Frances is twice as big. And moving slower, which means much more damage.

Granted, we know better how to prepare this time. Haven't even taken the patio furniture out of the shed from Charley so the only things we need to move inside are the trash cans and some plants. Nonetheless, I don't think I can go another 4+ days without power. OK, take the phones and my Internet - sure, that sucks, but the air conditioning...please, don't take the A/C.

Already gas stations are selling out of gas. On my way back from Boca yesterday, I had to fill up with premium because that's all there was left at the gas station I stopped at. Today I went to 4 different hardware stores looking for lamp oil...no go. We should be OK with what we have, but we just wanted to make sure.

I've been emptying the icemaker every time it fills halfway and puting the cubes in the big freezer. Also filling ziploc baggies with water and freezing them. Tomorrow I'll go to an ATM and get some cash. Other than that, I don't know what more we can do, really.

Pray. And wait.

Because it's going to hit. That much is certain. And at this stage, it doesn't matter where along the Florida coast Frances hits land...this sucker is so big that it's gonna get us no matter what.

So this may be it for a while. For now, I'm safe and OK. I'm sure we'll weather the storm OK physically. We'll see how the rest goes.

PS: my birthday's in 16 days. woo hoo.

I've had a few e-mails from friends and family who told me they'd never thought about gas pumps needing power to pump gas. So I thought I'd take a moment to post a list of things *I* learned we need in case of future storms/power outages. If it helps even one person, that's cool.

• Get your car's gas tank filled. Like I said in my previous rambling, no power means no gas. You should have seen the lines for gas here these last 4 days. When gas stations got generators and opened one or two at a time, lines of cars were running for blocks. People FOUGHT over gas when some idiots cut in line. Do yourself a favor and get gas the night ahead of a big storm, just in case. Odds are by the time you need more, things might not be "normal" again, but the gas will be flowing a lot more freely.


• Get cash. Again...no power, no ATM's. $200 will probably do you just fine for a while. Mom and I have been fine with $150, but you never know. Without power, you can't use credit cards or debit cards so you'll be paying cash for everything. Checks are good to have, too, since some businesses are taking checks. Know where your checkbook is.


• Coolers. Get them out (or buy some) ahead of time. You might want to invest in one or more that have wheels on the bottom. I was wishing for one BIG TIME when I waited in line for ice Saturday. If your power goes out, you should probably empty all ice out of your freezer's trays/ice cube maker into a cooler. We did...but what little ice had already been made in the icemaker leaked over the next 2 days and brought lots of water onto our floor near the fridge.


• Batteries. Stock up on them. Now. Get plenty, they'll last for 5 years or more, most of them. Make sure you have a variety of sizes for any and all gadgets, radios, and flashlights you have in your house.


• Flashlights. Have several. I love Maglights, they're the best. But get a few flashlights...at least one for every member of the family. And make sure there are fresh batteries in all of them, with enough replacements to last a while. Amazing how alien your house is in complete darkness.


• Radios. Make sure you have at least one in the house that can be run on batteries. It very well may be your ONLY source of news in a major power outage.


• Car chargers. If you have a cellphone, invest in car chargers for them. And your PDA (Palm), too, for that matter. Your car will be your only means for charging those batteries.


• Grill - propane. Have a grill...unless you have a gas stove, it'll be your only way for getting hot meals (and cooking up all the food you may have stocked up in your freezer). And do yourself a favor...have at least two FULL tanks of propane. Trust me, you don't want to go waiting in line to buy propane tanks during a major power outage. Propane is rare right now since hurricane Charley hit. People are on waiting lists to get it...along with generators. And cook OUTSIDE. It's not safe to cook indoors with a grill. In fact, it's downright dangerous.


• Generator. If you have one, fine. If you don't, I wouldn't waste money buying one after the power goes out. You need GAS to run generators and depending upon your area, it's probably going to be hard enough getting gas for your car. Around here, there's a $20 limit on gas purchases. So if you already have a generator, have several containers of gasoline ready to go so you can power it. And like propane grills, you must operate generators OUTDOORS. The fumes will kill you...literally.


• Medications. If you know a major storm is coming your way, get your prescriptions all refilled as soon as possible. Most places around here aren't taking NEW prescriptions right now...only refills. Keep all your needed meds in one location, preferrably a large Ziploc bag so you can just grab it and go, if necessary. And it's a good idea to have all of your prescription bottles and prescription #'s written down in a safe place, just in case.


• Battery-operated fans/cordless hand fans. Self-explanatory.


• Screw candles. Get some oil lamps, several of them. Fill them all with oil and have extra oil on hand. And lighters to light them with. Course, note that it's potentially dangerous having flames going during a power outage. Around here the 9-1-1 emergency system was out for the first several days, just like everything else. If there's a fire, good luck getting the fire department to your house in time. Which brings us to...


• Fire extinguishers. 'Nuff said. Make sure they're fully charged, inspected, etc.


• Paper plates, paper/plastic cups, plastic knives & spoons & forks. Plenty of all of them. One of the last things you want to worry about in an extended power outage is washing dishes.


• Police scanner. If you have one, I guess it might come in handy so you can hear what's going on in your area. I wouldn't put this on my Must-Buy list, though.


• Walkie Talkies. Get a set of these (with batteries, car charges, etc.) that can communicate at a 5-mile or greater distance. With no cellphones, they'll be invaluable if you and family members need to be separated from time to time. Need I mention that you should have them both set on the same channel/frequency?


• Games. Cards, dominos, Yahtzee, Monopoly...whatever. Have several choices on hand, things that don't need batteries and things you can play in daylight or by lamp-light. If you have children, this is probably even more important. I can't count how many times I heard a friend's 3-year-old begging for VeggieTales on the TV. I felt for those parents.


• Books. Magazines. Coloring books and crayons. All sanity maintainers.


• Pet food. Another valuable commodity when power goes out. Have plenty of it stocked up, along with your PEOPLE food. And along pet lines, it'd be smart to have pet carriers handy, just in case. If you're freaking out and stressed during/after a major storm, pets pick up on that. They're just as discombobulated as you are, if not more so. Be ready to move them at a moment's notice. You don't want to have to chase after them should they escape your hands outside. It's not "mean," it's smart.


• Manual can openers. If you're spoiled with electric can openers, you're screwed in a power outage. It's not uncommon for people to toss out manual openers. Like operating a computer, it's smart to keep backups.


• Water. It's true what they say. You should have around a gallon of water handy...that's per person...per DAY of outage. It gets hot with no A/C and you need to stay hydrated. We're lucky having city water, but if you're on well water this is CRITICAL. Plus you never know if they're going to call for a boil-water decree. And how can you boil water without power? (Unless you have a gas stove or grill, of course.) We filled several large pots with water just before the hurricane hit and kept them on the stove, just in case.

I've had a few e-mails from friends and family who told me they'd never thought about gas pumps needing power to pump gas. So I thought I'd take a moment to post a list of things *I* learned we need in case of future storms/power outages. If it helps even one person, that's cool.

• Get your car's gas talk filled. Like I said in my previous rambling, no power means no gas. You should have seen the lines for gas here these last 4 days. When gas stations got generators and opened one or two at a time, lines of cars were running for blocks. People FOUGHT over gas when some idiots cut in line. Do yourself a favor and get gas the night ahead of a big storm, just in case. Odds are by the time you need more, things might not be "normal" again, but the gas will be flowing a lot more freely.


• Get cash. Again...no power, no ATM's. $200 will probably do you just fine for a while. Mom and I have been fine with $150, but you never know. Without power, you can't use credit cards or debit cards so you'll be paying cash for everything. Checks are good to have, too, since some businesses are taking checks. Know where your checkbook is.


• Coolers. Get them out (or buy some) ahead of time. You might want to invest in one or more that have wheels on the bottom. I was wishing for one BIG TIME when I waited in line for ice Saturday. If your power goes out, you should probably empty all ice out of your freezer's trays/ice cube maker into a cooler. We did...but what little ice had already been made in the icemaker leaked over the next 2 days and brought lots of water onto our floor near the fridge.


• Batteries. Stock up on them. Now. Get plenty, they'll last for 5 years or more, most of them. Make sure you have a variety of sizes for any and all gadgets, radios, and flashlights you have in your house.


• Flashlights. Have several. I love Maglights, they're the best. But get a few flashlights...at least one for every member of the family. And make sure there are fresh batteries in all of them, with enough replacements to last a while. Amazing how alien your house is in complete darkness.


• Radios. Make sure you have at least one in the house that can be run on batteries. It very well may be your ONLY source of news in a major power outage.


• Car chargers. If you have a cellphone, invest in car chargers for them. And your PDA (Palm), too, for that matter. Your car will be your only means for charging those batteries.


• Grill - propane. Have a grill...unless you have a gas stove, it'll be your only way for getting hot meals (and cooking up all the food you may have stocked up in your freezer). And do yourself a favor...have at least two FULL tanks of propane. Trust me, you don't want to go waiting in line to buy propane tanks during a major power outage. Propane is rare right now since hurricane Charley hit. People are on waiting lists to get it...along with generators. And cook OUTSIDE. It's not safe to cook indoors with a grill. In fact, it's downright dangerous.


• Generator. If you have one, fine. If you don't, I wouldn't waste money buying one after the power goes out. You need GAS to run generators and depending upon your area, it's probably going to be hard enough getting gas for your car. Around here, there's a $20 limit on gas purchases. So if you already have a generator, have several containers of gasoline ready to go so you can power it. And like propane grills, you must operate generators OUTDOORS. The fumes will kill you...literally.


• Medications. If you know a major storm is coming your way, get your prescriptions all refilled as soon as possible. Most places around here aren't taking NEW prescriptions right now...only refills. Keep all your needed meds in one location, preferrably a large Ziploc bag so you can just grab it and go, if necessary. And it's a good idea to have all of your prescription bottles and prescription #'s written down in a safe place, just in case.


• Battery-operated fans/cordless hand fans. Self-explanatory.


• Screw candles. Get some oil lamps, several of them. Fill them all with oil and have extra oil on hand. And lighters to light them with. Course, note that it's potentially dangerous having flames going during a power outage. Around here the 9-1-1 emergency system was out for the first several days, just like everything else. If there's a fire, good luck getting the fire department to your house in time. Which brings us to...


• Fire extinguishers. 'Nuff said. Make sure they're fully charged, inspected, etc.


• Paper plates, paper/plastic cups, plastic knives & spoons & forks. Plenty of all of them. One of the last things you want to worry about in an extended power outage is washing dishes.


• Police scanner. If you have one, I guess it might come in handy so you can hear what's going on in your area. I wouldn't put this on my Must-Buy list, though.


• Walkie Talkies. Get a set of these (with batteries, car charges, etc.) that can communicate at a 5-mile or greater distance. With no cellphones, they'll be invaluable if you and family members need to be separated from time to time. Need I mention that you should have them both set on the same channel/frequency?


• Games. Cards, dominos, Yahtzee, Monopoly...whatever. Have several choices on hand, things that don't need batteries and things you can play in daylight or by lamp-light. If you have children, this is probably even more important. I can't count how many times I heard a friend's 3-year-old begging for VeggieTales on the TV. I felt for those parents.


• Books. Magazines. Coloring books and crayons. All sanity maintainers.


• Pet food. Another valuable commodity when power goes out. Have plenty of it stocked up, along with your PEOPLE food. And along pet lines, it'd be smart to have pet carriers handy, just in case. If you're freaking out and stressed during/after a major storm, pets pick up on that. They're just as discombobulated as you are, if not more so. Be ready to move them at a moment's notice. You don't want to have to chase after them should they escape your hands outside. It's not "mean," it's smart.


• Manual can openers. If you're spoiled with electric can openers, you're screwed in a power outage. It's not uncommon for people to toss out manual openers. Like operating a computer, it's smart to keep backups.


• Water. It's true what they say. You should have around a gallon of water handy...that's per person...per DAY of outage. It gets hot with no A/C and you need to stay hydrated. We're lucky having city water, but if you're on well water this is CRITICAL. Plus you never know if they're going to call for a boil-water decree. And how can you boil water without power? (Unless you have a gas stove or grill, of course.) We filled several large pots with water just before the hurricane hit and kept them on the stove, just in case.

So we have power again...finally. ( Here's a very long, rambling report of the hurricane in my town )

Oh, the Olympics are on TV. Ask me if I care.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten the REST of the story - from my reunion, that is.

Right now, though, we're battening down the hatches here in Florida...Hurricane Charlie is on the way tomorrow. Even though I'm fairly far inland, we're expecting 50 mph winds mid morning tomorrow, and it only gets worse from there. Stuck all the patio furniture in the shed, picked up all the stuff outside that could go flying around in Wizard of Oz fashion, and put fresh batteries in the radio. I haven't been in a hurricane since I was a kid in New York. Pretty exciting. Glad I don't live in Tampa, though. 2 hours away and they're having to evacuate before 6am...at least the people directly on the water are, and the folks in trailers...sorry...MOBILE HOMES.

I'll get to the reunion story again soon.

PS: If we get enough tropical storms this season, there will actually be a Hurricane KARL this year! Woo hoo! I think my legacy is coming.

So I'm back from my 20-yr reunion, and I had a blast. Still waiting on the 3 rolls of film to be developed at Walmart, but in the mean time, here are the highlights.

( A 3-hour delay...where's the Skipper? )

( We don't need no steenking car )

( I never thought I'd say this, but )

( You ain't got no Martians in there, do ya? )

( That's one fat cottonwood, alright. )

( We're in Mountain Time now. Everything's an hour earlier on TV. )

OK, this is winding up to be longer than I thought. So much for just the "highlights." I'll have to continue this incredibly lengthy boring epistle tomorrow. Sue me...my right ear has been clogged for 4 days, ever since I got a haircut and then was rinsing all the little hairs out of my ears in the showers and now it's all muffled-sounding on that side and I hear water squishing around in my head and it's totally different than the usual squishy sounds the inside of your head makes. It's driving me crazy.

Maybe my pix will be ready tomorrow, too, and I can upload some as new icons or something. Betcha can't wait, eh?

Pulled in to the driveway at 15 minutes past midnight this morning, exhausted. Plane out of Dallas was delayed 3 hours...both ways. I'll post later.

But for now I just wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO syrenemyst!

20 years. The reunion.

This weekend.

I leave in less than 7 hours.

Come back Monday.

That is all.

Long time, no hear...I know, I know. Bad, bad me. I haven't had a whole lot of interest in posting lately, nor do I feel like I have much of interest to post. Still, here goes nothing.

About a week and a half ago, I decided to follow through on something I'd seen in the local paper for quite a while. There's a writing "class" that's held every other Saturday and I've had my eye on it for some time. Finally decided to go and it just happens to be about 3 minutes down the street, held at someone's house. She's a writer that has a few books out and supposedly also working on a script for the Sci-Fi channel. And apparently - according to the certificates on her wall - she's also a member of the International Ghost Hunters Society. Um, yeah. Really.

It was a fun 2 hours, though I was the youngest person there by probably 30 years (at least). Twelve other folks and I was surprised at how good some of them were. Course, they've had possibly 40 years of writing practice over me, but still. It was more like a meeting than a class, actually. Every meeting a prompt is handed out and you're supposed to write a piece to read aloud using that prompt. Next meeting is this Saturday and I plan on being there.

Just got back from 5 days in Boca, hanging out with NanoGirl. She had free tickets to a Napoleon Dynamite screening and if you haven't seen it yet (which is understandable since it's a very small release) you MUST DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO SEE IT! It is hilarious. And somehow they found a guy who acted just like me in high school. Unbelievable. Plus we got free t-shirts, buttons, stickers, and lip balm. Seriously. Very quirky with little plot but highly watchable and funny. It was on a Wednesday, the screening, so I went to Boca Wednesday...was already planning on being there for the weekend since we had a writing group meeting.

The 5 days went very well. We spent a mix of time together and doing our own thing (in the same house, of course). She was preparing to lead the meeting and I was writing and working on critiques for other members' writing. Things are going pretty well with us for now, so that's good.

In less than 2 weeks I go to my 20-year high school reunion. Four days in New Mexico. Looking forward to it, even though it's really gonna tap me out financially. Glad I've been on the WW for a while...I'm now under 160 pounds. That's 43 pounds lost in the last 18 months. 20 pounds in the last 2-1/2 months.

That's about it for now. I know, nothing very exciting. What'd I tell you?

From Napoleon Dynamite (great friggin' movie!):

Napoleon Dynamite: Deb just called me. She pretty much hates me by now.
Pedro: Why?
Napoleon Dynamite: Because my uncle Rico's an IDIOT.
Pedro: Do you have anything to give to her?
Napoleon Dynamite: No. Not unless she likes fish.

Gained 1.5 pounds. Ugh. It's all that food I ate in Boca last weekend. Gotta be more careful this time around. I leave in a couple hours for the weekend again. Have our writers meeting tomorrow and I get to spend another weekend with nanogirl.

This weekend, I want to see a couple of movies with nanogirl. Shrek 2 for sure, and also Super Size Me, a documentary about an extremely healthy guy that ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 days and suffered all sorts of health problems (plus gained 30 pounds). It's been getting rave reviews and I've been waiting to see it for months now, ever since I first heard about it from Roger Ebert. Ironically, McDonalds did away with their Super Size meals less than 2 months after the movie first screened. But it had nothing to do with the movie. Yeah, right. As of a few days ago, McDonalds announced an ad campaign to counter the movie. But they're not worried...*ahem*

Downloaded an alternative web browser yesterday (Opera) and I dare say I like it tons better than Internet Explorer, which I've been using for years and years. Cleaner looking, runs very smoothly, includes cool things like a pop-up blocker and automatic form-filler-outer (yes, that's a real phrase) and some automatic mouse gestures (for example, you can go back a page in the browser with a simple mouse gesture...no hitting the Backspace key or the Back button on the browser). Me like. I'll play with it some more, but something tells me that IE's days on my PC are very numbered.

See ya'll Sunday or Monday.

So the weekend went great. I got there around 4pm'ish Friday and, naturally, as soon as I hit Palm Beach county, gas prices rose immediately by 10-15 cents a gallon. That's expected. Ah, civilization...bookstores, movie theaters with stadium seating, Starbucks, indoor plumbing. Refreshing.

NanoGirl and I got along smashingly the entire weekend. Took a tiny nap Friday afternoon, then got up and went to dinner. Saturday we just kinda hung out, went to breakfast, made out in some marathon sessions, took a nap, then went to a surprisingly long but entertaining party with people that were 20+ years my senior, at the very least. Most of them were people Nanogirl knows from WeightWatchers (where she used to work). Some real characters. But I wasn't expecting to stay until 11pm. I mean, hey...these are old folks we're talking about. What are they doing up at that hour?

We never did make it to the movies because we were just enjoying the casualness of the weekend. Sunday we lazed around, read the paper, lazed around, took a nap, went to lunch, and then I left for Sebring shortly after that. There were no heated discussions (though there was a bit of heat), no arguments, just nice peaceful relaxation and comfort in each other's company. I liked that. I hope it happens again this weekend when I go back. We have a writing group meeting, our once a month thing. So I'll be there again in a few days.

So that's pretty much that. I brought home the jobs sections of the Palm Beach papers to read through. So far, nothing, but I've only barely gotten through the Palm Beach Post's section. The Sun Sentinel always has a much more extensive jobs listing. Though I understand they are looking for people at caninecounselors.com (no joke).

In reality TV news, I'm now watching "Next Action Star," "Last Comic Standing," and as of tonight "Joe Schmo 2." Schmo is pretty delicious...it's a total parody of all those dating shows like "The Bachelor" and "For Love or Money." In fact, except for one man and one woman, the whole cast are actors, scamming the guy and gal into believing they're on a real show. I spit soda out my nose at the end, where they have their version of the "rose ceremony," where each of the ladies who is staying receives a gift from the bachelor dude. In this case, it's a piece of jewelry...a specific kind of jewelry.

"Ingrid, would you please wear my pearl necklace?" HA! How all the actors kept a straight face, I don't know.

So I'll be gone for the next day or two, heading to Boca Raton for a visit with NanoGirl. Haven't decided whether it'll be one day or two yet - think I'll see how things go and just play it by ear. We plan on one or two movies...I held out seeing "Shrek 2" so we could watch it together. Might also see "Stepford Wives," which I wanted to see but now I hear it's a stinker. When I first arrive, though, the plan is to take a nap...gotta love a girlfriend who appreciates the importance of nappage. 2-1/2 hour drive...that reminds me, I need to gather some CD's for the trip through cow country.

I just got back from WeightWatchers, where I gained another half a pound...dammit. Guess I need to start exercising again. Dammit.

But Starbucks awaits...*sigh*.

Apparently, my naughty bits are to be heretofore referred to as...
( Read more... )

I told NanoGirl that I'd call her tonight and I did, only to have things nearly immediately go sour. She's having computer problems and said the problem is her keyboard (she spilled water on it 4 or 5 weeks ago, which is generally not good for a laptop). I asked her how she knew it was the keyboard (just curious) and she got all defensive, thinking that I was talking down to her. I was doing no such thing. Despite her relatively minor knowledge of computers (relative to me, I mean), she is highly intelligent and I had no doubt that she knew it was the keyboard. I was just wondering how she had figured it out, what the computer was doing, etc. There was no "tone" in my voice that would convey anything different, and yet she took it as some sort of slam, despite my assurance that it wasn't.

From there, the conversation really just suffered many awkward silences, even when I said that I was planning to come visit on Friday. She didn't sound very excited about the idea, and now I'm not excited about the idea. This whole thing just seems to be so much WORK. I mean, more than what I would deem normal. I don't know how long things will last at this rate. I can only be so patient, only handle so many drastic ups and downs. The last few days have been fine...swapping very nice e-mails back and forth, everything seemed fine. Then this.

Ugh. She asked for my input on the situation and I said that I didn't know what was going on in her head, but from my standpoint, I feel like I'm perpetually walking on eggshells around her. Eventually, after far too many gaps in the conversation, I said, "Listen, why don't we just try this again tomorrow night?" And that was that.

I'm now not looking forward to going for a visit. Should it not go well, I'll just drive back home. I wanted the visit to be fun, but now it just looks like...well, a chore.

Headache still around today, though not nearly as bad as yesterday. Today I really need to get some things done. Still have loads of stuff in the living room and dining room and not a hell of a lot of space to put it. Kinda nice being uncluttered at the moment in my bedroom. But I'm sure my mom would like to reclaim the common areas.

I need to get back to my writing. It's been neglected a lot these last weeks. Haven't touched the novel in quite a while. It's discouraging that there isn't a Starbucks to be seen for 50 miles, since that's where I get a lot of writing done. But there is a Barnie's. Two problems with that: (1) it's in the mall and (2) did I mention that it's in the mall? I may have to bite the bullet and give it a try, anyway. Who knows? It's possible that the mall is prime for people-watching, at least in Sebring terms. Another aspect of getting back to writing is that I wish to enter more contests and submit more short stories to places. I receive a few e-mail newsletters that list tons of opportunties. Course, that'd mean doing more writing in order to have things to submit, but that's the point, really.

While I'm incredibly far behind in checking up on journal friends, I do read the stuff on my Friends pages fairly regularly. Haven't updated my user info in quite some time, nor my list of friends, nor have I even checked for new people in a long time. I used to be religious in checking these things, adding people to my list, etc. Guess I'm far too self-absorbed in recent months. I do occasionally see friends make entries that refer to their new journal layouts and all I really think about that is that I'll probably never see them. I look at my Friends page and that's in MY (sparse) layout. Spending lots of time tweaking journal layouts to me is a waste. For one thing, it doesn't change the functionality at all. For another thing, it doesn't make your writing more or less interesting. And again, for another thing, I won't ever see these phenomenal layouts. The only thing I ever do with my layouts (and that's pretty much a one-shot deal) is pick something that's easy to look at and allows my writing to be legible. No fancy color schemes or fonts, no incredible photos or images or backgrounds. Just plain and simple. Occasionally, I'll snap a new photo of me and play with it a little bit before uploading it as a new icon. That's about the extent of it for me.

I dunno, I suppose there was a time way back when I first began using the Web that I spent inordinate amounts of times tweaking my websites. Now I can't be bothered. I have many other ways to waste my time.

Napping, for instance. Glorious.

I had a headache for most of Monday. Didn't get much accomplished because it just kinda laid me out. I still read the newspapers and drank my morning coffee...my daily ritual when I'm here at Mom's. I actually set up the coffeemaker every night after Mom goes to bed (at 9pm!)...put the new filter in, scoop in the coffee, fill up the water in the tank. Mom thinks it's because I'm sweet and thoughtful. It's really because I'm lazy and it's a habit I picked up when I was still in Dallas. I'd rather just get up in the morning and flip the switch on the coffeemaker than attempt to do all that rigamarole. Course, she gets up between 4 and 5am, usually, so I don't know why I bother making the coffee every night. Hell, I guess I am sweet and thoughtful. Don't let it get around; otherwise, everyone will want me. *cough*

The headache. Yeah. Sucked. Even the light from the lamp was too bright for me most of the day. I slept a long time this afternoon just because consciousness was relatively painless. Watched "Five Days To Midnight" on SciFi - VERY cool. I was impressed. I'm looking forward to the next 3 installments. Then I watched "Return to Titanic" on the National Geographic Channel. Also very cool. And eery. And sad. The technology between the first time Bob Ballard when down there (when he first discovered Titanic) 20 years ago and today's technology is just hugely different. The footage was incredible. So was the damage that was evident when pictures were compared between the two decades. "Salvagers" have done a lot of bad, removing thousands of items from the wreckage and even further damaging the ship. I used to think it was cool, seeing exhibits with Titanic relics. Now I share Ballard's opinion...that it's like robbing a graveyard. Why should the Titanic be any different than the Arizona? It should remain intact and as pristine as the ocean leaves it.

I think I'm going to Boca this weekend to visit NanoGirl for the first time since I left a couple of weeks ago. My room is somewhat situated so I feel OK about leaving for a day or two. Needless to say, I have no intention of visiting my sister, who I was delighted to hear has been sick as a dog for the last day or two. God, how petty am I?

I forgot to mention my take on Ronald Reagan dying this past weekend. He was the first president I ever voted for...I turned 18 two months before the election in 1984. I was proud to have voted...and come to think of it, though I have voted in every presidential election since, he was the last president I feel really proud to have voted FOR. Politics aside, he put respect back into the White House. (Sure, it's long since left again, but still...) He was a great speaker, fantastic sense of humor, and yet took his job very seriously. I've learned a lot more about the man he was these last few days with all the news coverage...apparently, he was one hell of a romantic, too. Sad to see him gone, but truthfully, it was sadder to know that his last years on Earth were really filled with suffering. No one should have to suffer through Alzheimer's. No one. So here's to you, Ronny. You were a class act.

OK, off to bed. My headache is diminished...finally. Not gone, but not as bad.

50 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me

Got this from several folks over at LJ.

( Read more... )

So M, my mom's redneck friend who had her house burn down a couple of weeks ago, attended a ceremony yesterday to thank the man (and his son) who saved her life. Today both local papers ran front-page stories on the event. In short, a 16- or 17-year-old boy saw a fire in M's house, ran home to tell his father, and the father went to the house, broke in, and carried M out. But that's just the short version. The beautiful thing about it is that the man who saved her was black. I can't tell you how many times the "N" word has been uttered by M and even moreso by her husband J. Here's a snippet of one of the articles in today's paper.

At 3:15pm, May 17, Sean was walking home from the bus stop and noticed the flames. He ran inside and told his father, who then dashed outside, went to the burning house, looked inside the open front door and saw no one. He moved to a nearby window and saw several cats.

He then hurried to the back door of the house, knocked and thought he heard a voice. He knocked again, heard the voice a second time, and opened the door.

M had been asleep when he first knocked. She closed the door on him when she saw a large black man entering her house.

At the time, Sean Beuford said she must not have known her house was on fire. He entered the house a second time, told her the house was on fire, picked her up and carried her out of the house to the street.

Cost of replacing fire-burnt wardrobe: $2,000.
Cost of replacing contents of a destroyed home: $25,000
Cost of building a new home destroyed by fire: Over $100,000.

Beauty of being a bigot and rescued by a big black man: Priceless.

C	Creepy
A	Astonishing
T	Tender
T	Trustworthy
L	Light
E	Extreme
P	Powerful
R	Rare
O	Overwhelming
D	Dysfunctional

Paradise, yeah. Right. So two nights ago, NanoGirl calls me and she's upset. It wasn't exactly clear about what, though. Apparently, she's been upset for the last several weeks and hasn't told me. Seems lately that everything has been about me, me, me and I haven't been considerate of her feelings. She doesn't think that I find our relationship very "significant" and my actions seem to back that up.

Say what?

Course, this phone call came about 8 minutes before the season finale of "24" and - so shoot me - I wasn't going to miss that. Fortunately, she at least understands how important the few shows I watch are to me, so she said, "I'll let you go so you don't miss your show."

I did get a few odd bits and pieces out of the conversation. She doesn't feel I'm communicating with her, even though I e-mail her at least several times a day. I'm avoiding her phone calls. (Fact is that I don't answer Mom's phone because she doesn't have Caller ID and I don't want to answer at the risk of speaking to either my sister or M, the crazed wench who is currently living under the same roof as I am.) I am very selfish. Again, the last month or so it's been about nothing but me.

Well, excuse me if the last several weeks have been mostly about me. I had major blowouts with my sister/landlord and I was scoping out a job and got kicked out of my house and had to concentrate on finding a new place to live and realize I couldn't afford my own place (or a roommate situation) and then move my life 2-1/2 hours away. So if I've had a lack of focus or a tiny lack of time, please forgive me.

I e-mailed her yesterday and said that I realize my move was going to put a strain on our relationship. I just didn't realize that there was ALREADY a strain, that it was weeks in the making, and that it would happen quite this quickly. In the past, I've been a firm believer that long-distance relationships don't work. This isn't helping to refute that belief.

I told her I'd call her tonight, and I will. I also said that I was a bit apprehensive about the conversation, since all of this seemed out of the blue to me, and it put me in a small tailspin. I have enough shit to worry about at the moment. Yeah, apparently, I'm still being selfish...trying to put myself first. For once.