Saturday, May 30, 2009

Found on Facebook

This week I was befriended by Dave S., who many of you may remember from high school. He's married with two kids, and living outside Sacto. Which is very odd, since I still think of him as a teenager.


Today's earrings: squirrels

Bedtime reading: Slow Dollar, Margaret Maron

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Too rushed to put on earrings this morning

First thing this morning, I had a counseling session with the nice man from the city's homebuyer program. He asked where I am in the process. I told him. He asked some questions. I answered. He said, "Oh. You don't really need counseling." Not with my relatives, no, I don't. But we had a nice time talking real estate, and he signed off on my certificate thingie. Now, if I can get a loan and the person who currently has dibs on the apartment loses their financing or something, I can buy the place. Not holding my breath.

All that made me quite late to work, so I stayed very late at the office. When I finally got on the bus for home, we were first passed by a string of fire trucks, then stopped at Grant because the fire dudes were setting up shop on the corner there. Huge crowds of people were gawking at I don't know what. No smoke or flame visble that I could see...

I walked home.


Bedtime reading: Risk, Dick Francis

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

And so I'm back

The trip was lovely: much lazing about and playing with Tiger. Tiger is adorable. I think he likes me. His parents are nice, too. :)


Today's earrings: bees, typewriter keys

Bedtime reading: Risk, Dick Francis

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Greeting from New York City!

I believe I checked off every item on my to-do list for the past week - much to-ing and fro-ing - except I didn't vote this morning. I feel bad about it. I always vote. *sigh*

But! Now I am here in NYC. K greeted me, gave me food and water, and has gone back to bed. I will follow her example soon.


Bedtime reading: Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman

Friday, May 15, 2009

Up ridiculously early

I hate when I wake up at four in the morning and can't get back to sleep. As you might expect, I was not terrifically productive today.

And I'm really tired.


Today's earrings: amethysts

Bedtime reading: Banker, Dick Francis

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Guiding Light

My boss spent about 45 minutes this afternoon catching me up on The Guiding Light. It seems that two of the women characters are falling in love, and my boss is part of the on-line chatter about it all. My contributions to the conversation were along the lines of, "Philip's not really a Spaulding, you know," and, "for some reason, I remember the black cloth mary janes Holly wore when she was in jail."

Surprisingly, I finished the work I meant to finish.

Then I went to a class for first-time homebuyers. I found out the names of some of the standard forms, but other than that? Dinner with T&S was more informative.

I got home to a message from b2 that the Bad Man had left the island, and then I watched Sam Winchester break the last seal and set Lucifer free.

It's been a full evening.


Today's earrings: coffee cups, suns

Bedtime reading: Banker, Dick Francis

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

More computer fun

Got home tonight to find that I couldn't get online. Had a nice chat with the help dude at my ISP, and discovered that it wasn't them; somehow, Explorer and FireFox had gotten set to a proxy server that was refusing connections. Proxy server? huh?


Today's earrings: lizards, rocks

Bedtime reading: "Like Little Ducks Each Day," R.A. Lafferty

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The song in my head for the past week

Look around
We’re living with the lost and found
Just when you feel you’ve almost drowned
You find yourself on solid ground
And you believe

There’s good in everybody’s heart
Keep it safe and sound
With hope, you can do your part
To turn a life around

I cannot believe my eyes
Is the world finally growing wise
‘Cause it seems to me
Some kind of harmony
Is on the rise

- - Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, and Joss Whedon



Today's earrings: bees, crows

Bedtime reading: My Aunt Christina, J.I.M. Stewart

Monday, May 11, 2009

Stewartia





Today's earrings: flowers, other flowers

Bedtime reading: My Aunt Christina and Other Stories, J.I.M. Stewart

Friday, May 8, 2009

Weekend Plans

There's a white sale at Macy's.


Today's earrings: turtles, other turtles

Bedtime reading: Longitude, Dava Sobel

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Dinner in the Berkeley hills

Dinner was quite nice, lovely wine. I told them about my dream apartment, and they did what I should have expected they'd do, which is apply their considerable expertise to an analysis of the proposed purchase. I wasn't prepared for the examination (I ought to have been; I have met them before, after all), and I didn't do a very good job with some of their questions. Like, why I want to move, and why I want to move there. The location seems self-evidently desirable to me, so I didn't have a good counter for their low opinion of the neighborhood, that sort of thing.

It was nice evening. I just wish I'd prepped more.


Today's earrings: owls, estrogen molecules

Bedtime reading: Longitude, Dava Sobel

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Still playing with computer security

I really hate this stuff.

I mean, I had a nice enough day, totally unbusy at work, talked to T&S and we're having dinner tomorrow (we're meeting at North Berkeley around 6; just call if you can come), I went by Green Apple then stopped for Thai on the way home. I'd be in a good mood, if it weren't for my computer's insecurities raising my blood pressure...


Today's earrings: squirrels

Bedtime reading: Longitude, Dava Sobel

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Mostly fixed

The evil pop-ups have gone away, which is nice, but now all google results redirect to various third-party sites. It's annoying. Guess I'll have to go buy something after all. *sigh*


Today's earrings: flies, amber

Bedtime reading: Soon I Will Be Invincible, Austin Grossman

Monday, May 4, 2009

Evil pop-ups

My computer got malware over the weekend, due (in part) to my failure to do anything to prevent it. I was planning to go buy some anti-evil software this evening. The remaining IT dude here suggested I try his favorite free download first. So I'm doing that tonight. If it works, free solution! If it doesn't work, I'll buy software tomorrow.

I'm not really expecting it to work, so I'm blogging from the office.

eta: I think it worked.


Today's earrings: rockets, men

Bedtime reading: "Eurema's Dam," R.A. Lafferty

Friday, May 1, 2009

The song in my head for the past two days

Hey look me over, lend me an ear,
Fresh out of clover, morgaged up to here,
Don't pass the plate folks,
Don't pass the cup,
I figure whenever you're down and out,
The only way is up
And I'll be up like a rose bud,
High on the vine,
Don't thumb your nose folks,
Take a tip from mine,
I'm a little bit short of the elbow room,
But let me get me some,
And look out world, here I come

- - Carolyn Leigh


Today's earrrings: compasses

Bedtime reading: Sabre-Tooth, Peter O'Donnell